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

Distrustful, I close them halfway and try to see him from the corner of my vision. “Cover them.”


He knows me better than I thought. Bringing my hands up over my face to cover my eyes, I warn, “This better be good. I thought you meant the house was a mess—”


“Oh, yeah.” He laughs, a humorless sound. “That, too. But this—this isn’t something I can just put back the way it was before.”


“Jesus, Tim,” I say, trying to lighten the mood. “You make it sound like you’ve lost your virginity or something. What’d you do, dye your hair?”


He moves into the bedroom, his voice coming closer to me. “Close.” I hear the grin in his words, he’s enjoyingthis, the bastard. Me sightless, helpless before him. Does this turn him on? Because the anticipation is killing me…


Chapter 54