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

My copy of the credit card receipt comes back with the waiter’s number written on it below my signature. I leave it on the table with a larger tip than necessary, and under the number I write, My loss.Damn newfound conscience. I peel out of the parking lot and tear down the road, heading for the highway and berating myself for each mile that widens the distance between me and the perfectly willing man back there who could be sucking me off right this moment. Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, I start to thumb through the contacts on my phone for Joey’s number before I realize how stupid it would be to call him now. And what, brag because I resisted temptation? Does that somehow make me a better man?


Chapter 52