Too Many Temples

By Erik Swill

Looking to spice up his stagnant sex life in Brisbane, self-professed player Adrian takes a weeklong vacation in Bali, anticipating sun, surf, and plenty of no-strings-attached hookups. He doesn’t expect his attraction to the tour guide, Ketut, to become an obsession. As he travels around the beautiful Island of the Gods, Adrian is startled that he might be falling in love after swearing off relationships for good. 

When Ketut opens a window of opportunity for a real relationship in Queensland after the vacation ends, Adrian retreats into his life of commitment-free fun. Unable to forget Ketut, though, Adrian strikes out to the remote Queensland town of Rockhampton to find the man of his desires—hoping he hasn’t lost the chance for true love.

World of Love: Stories of romance that span every corner of the globe.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
• Release date: Jun 28, 2017
• ISBN: 9781635335224

Book preview

Too Many Temples

By Erik Swill

Looking to spice up his stagnant sex life in Brisbane, self-professed player Adrian takes a weeklong vacation in Bali, anticipating sun, surf, and plenty of no-strings-attached hookups. He doesn’t expect his attraction to the tour guide, Ketut, to become an obsession. As he travels around the beautiful Island of the Gods, Adrian is startled that he might be falling in love after swearing off relationships for good.

When Ketut opens a window of opportunity for a real relationship in Queensland after the vacation ends, Adrian retreats into his life of commitment-free fun. Unable to forget Ketut, though, Adrian strikes out to the remote Queensland town of Rockhampton to find the man of his desires—hoping he hasn’t lost the chance for true love.

World of Love: Stories of romance that span every corner of the globe.

Table of Contents

Blurb

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

About the Author

By Erik Swill

Visit Dreamspinner Press

Copyright

I

ADRIAN JUMPED off the back of the doorless minivan with his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He sorted through a wad of rupiah in his pocket and handed several colorful notes to the driver. With a wave and a crooked smile, the driver had already started to merge back into traffic as Adrian voiced an offer to keep the change. Apparently, he was going to anyway.

Adrian had already spent nearly a week drinking, sexing, and surfing badly in the bustling tourist district in southern Bali. He’d had no idea just how accommodating the Balinese were to the waves of Australian tourists who flocked to the island throughout the year. Sports bars playing nothing but Aussie-rules football, rugby, and cricket were more numerous than local restaurants. And many of the Balinese even spoke English with a recognizable Australian twang to their accents.

Adrian loved the mix of cultures in the island’s southern tip but was looking for something that did not resemble the beach bars in the Gold Coast back home. His mates would never let him hear the end of it if he went to Bali for his first overseas trip as an adult and did nothing but watch Australian sports, drink Australian beer, and hook up with other Australian tourists. Excluding a solo Canadian backpacker, that was all he had done up to that point.

With only two days left of his vacation, he was cutting it close. But he remembered Mason, a mate of his, speaking highly about the more posh, artsy villages in the center of the island, away from the beaches and the party scene. He decided that would be as good a place as any to get a different taste of what Bali had to offer. And even if it wasn’t, at least he could blame Mason for having bad taste.

The pleasantly relaxed pace in the village of Ubud immediately impressed him upon arrival. It was modern and catered to the needs of foreign tourists. As a relatively uncultured, novice traveler, Adrian was not open-minded enough to try wiping his ass with his left hand as was standard practice in most places his friends had traveled while following the backpacker trail around Southeast Asia. He booked his stay at a hotel that had toilet paper and a sit-down flush toilet. That was nonnegotiable.

Still, his hotel ended up being a bungalow on the edge of a rice field. It wasn’t as nice as some of the other bungalows in the area, but who could complain with what he had? The bed, with its bamboo frame, sat on a loft above the living room and overlooked the rice fields while facing the sunset. He plopped down on the bed and just stared out the triangular window while watching a few ducks maneuvering around the wet and dry patches of the fields. Shortly thereafter, he dozed off.

Adrian unintentionally slept all night, waking up only to the sound of someone knocking on his door. It had been one of those nights where sleep came quickly and the body didn’t stir until morning. Normally, he woke several times throughout the night, trying to remember whose bed he was in and who he was sleeping next to. Or if the person he was in the same bed with was even sleeping at all. He had met a couple of creeps over the past three years since graduating who liked to watch him while he slept.

Room service. Breakfast.

The knocking on the door continued. Feeling well rested, Adrian climbed out of the sizable bed and down the ladder from the loft to get the door. He opened it to find a guy about his age dressed impeccably in a crisp white shirt, colorful sarong wrapped around his waist, and an ornamental headband that was typical attire for the Balinese. It was only then Adrian took note of his own appearance—skin pinkish-colored from getting too much sun, disheveled hair the color of the sand that coated his flip-flops, unshowered, and still wearing yesterday’s sweaty clothes, which were now wrinkled from sleeping in them. Unable to do anything about it at that moment, he just smiled at the man with the huge grin who had greeted him at the door.

Wow! I didn’t realize breakfast was brought to the bungalow. I thought I’d need to find some food on my own.

No, sir. Breakfast is included with the cost of your room. Excuse me. He walked past Adrian with the box of food and set it on the table. In typical Balinese fashion, the guy unpacked the breakfast and lined it up neatly on the dining table. A variety of fresh fruit had been cut into the shape of flowers, and a few fresh flowers adorned the plate.

My name is Ketut, he said while finishing up the breakfast presentation.

What is that? Adrian asked, pointing to the bread on the plate that looked like it had just come out of a sandwich maker.

Oh, that is a jaffle. With tomato and cheese on the inside. Still warm. Please enjoy, Ketut replied as he started to pack up the lids and plastic wrap that had covered the food. I will come back later to collect the plates. You can place them outside by the front door so I won’t disturb you again.

Adrian heard only a little bit of what Ketut was saying. He could not stop staring at the contrast between Ketut’s white clothing and his brown skin tone. His eyes were stunning too. His body was thin, but his clothes showed off enough definition underneath. Pronounced collarbones, narrow waist, thick forearms—it was Adrian’s ideal.

Adrian was perplexed; he was rarely blown away by a man’s physical beauty. Ketut had this aura about him that demanded Adrian’s attention. Adrian hesitated, never really a good judge of the sexuality of men who worked in customer service. The is he gay or is he just doing his job question always hounded him whenever he felt the urge to make a move.

Adrian tested his luck. What if I want for you to disturb me later?

Ketut continued to gather his loose belongings but glanced at Adrian out of the corner of his eye before replying. Jaffles taste good cold too if you have time now.

That was enough to elicit huge, knowing smiles on both their faces. Adrian grabbed Ketut’s hand and pulled him closer. Their lips locked briefly. Adrian stopped kissing after hearing Ketut moan. It was loud and unexpected; he wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Okay? Adrian asked for assurance.

Ketut did not answer verbally. Instead he resumed the passionate kiss Adrian had started a moment ago. This one went uninterrupted as Adrian let his hands roam Ketut’s fully clothed body. He rubbed up and down his forearms, up to where