The year is 1883. Eduard van De Lier is a Dutchman overseeing a spice plantation on the island of Java, in the South Pacific. His obsessive attraction to dark-skinned men is just one of his many secrets. His wife Marien knows of his indiscretions, but as she's content with their Colonial lifestyle, she stays silent. Until a former lover of Eduard's shows up in their parlor with thoughts of blackmail. Reza was a crewman on the ship that brought the van De Liers to Java. During the passage, Eduard spent many a night in the younger man's arms. Two years have passed, and the last person Eduard expects to find in his drawing room is Reza, a letter in hand that could destroy the life he and Marien lead. Seeing him again ignites Eduard's lust for his first dark lover. He hopes to retrieve the letter, either through seduction or subterfuge, and the longer Reza eludes him, the more his desire grows. But they're on shaky ground, and before things can heat up between them, their world explodes -- literally -- when the unstable island of Krakatoa erupts.

All Shook Up

“Oh!” Joey laughs. “And you’re not.”


I have no reply to that. “I’m not saying stick it out with him if it’s not working,” Joey tells me. “God knows, if you’re better off without him, then fine. You can’t force a relationship. But you can’t expect it to come without some effort on your part, either.”


Bitterly, I mutter, “And you know this because you’re in a wonderful relationship…oh wait! You’re not dating anyone, I forgot.”


That earns me another smack. “It’s a lot of dedication and hard work to stay with someone,” he tells me, another newsflash there. Stop the press. “I don’t have the energy to put into something like that but apparently, you do. Just don’t expect it to be all smiles and sunshine when you’re off scowling in the corner, you know what I’m saying? Don’t rely on Timothy to make you happy. Youhave to be the one to make love work.”


Peeking out from the blanket, I look up into my brother’s earnest face. “It’s not like that with us. You and me.”


Chapter 49