Garden of Desire: 1 Read Online Free

this, but you’d better get used to it,” she said with a tilt of her head toward Drago and Calandra. “With almost four hundred sex-starved ex-cons and a hundred pirates, the colonists have been humpin’ like bunny rabbits.”
    Fahgwat didn’t have any idea what a bunny rabbit was, but she understood the other woman’s meaning. “Will I be expected to…hump like a bunny rabbit?”
    Mary grinned. “The men might hope so, but they’ll leave you alone if you tell them you’re not interested. They may be pirates, but Cantor keeps them in line.” Her gaze flickered over Fahgwat’s body and her expression grew speculative. “I have the feeling our governor will be very interested in them behavin’ like gentlemen around you.”
    “I will be very grateful if he would make it so,” Fahgwat said fervently.
    Mary glanced at her with raised eyebrows. “You ready to conquer a new world, Little Flower?”
    Fahgwat summoned a smile she didn’t really feel. She’d fled her home to escape a life of servitude and find adventure. She had the sinking feeling she was about to find more than she had bargained for.

* * * * *
    Cantor left the communications shack heading for the landing field. Nicky, the colony’s quartermaster, followed on his heels. The last shuttle from Arturia had just cleared the outer edge of the atmosphere. Cantor wanted to be on hand to greet the new arrivals.
    “I hope they’ve brought more beds this time,” Nicky said. “Mine’s getting awfully crowded these days.”
    Cantor glanced back at the younger man. “You are looking a little haggard. How many of the lovelies joined you last night?”
    Nicky’s olive skin flushed, but he grinned. “Four. There wasn’t room to roll over, so I slept on top of one.”
    Curious, despite his own lack of interest in sexual games, Cantor asked, “The same four?”
    “Yeah. I think we’re compatible.” A smug note crept into his voice.
    “And how did you arrive at that conclusion?”
    “All of us snore.”
    The younger man’s answer surprised a bark of laughter from Cantor. “That’s it?”
    “Course not.” Nicky waggled his dark eyebrows. “We’re all horny as hell and don’t care much whose hand or mouth is busy with whom. My cock is never cold!”
    Cantor laughed louder. “Then I’m happy for you and your cock. But doesn’t the noise get to you sometimes?”
    “Noise?”
    “The complaints and demands—the arguments.”
    “Ah!” Nicky’s brown eyes warmed and his expression grew syrupy. “Reminds me of home. My family was loud. Italian, you know. My girls love as loud as they fight—and the making up…” He sighed.
    Cantor grimaced. He couldn’t imagine how a man could think with all the noise four women would make in a tiny cabin. As he neared the broad grassy field at the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean, a warm, salty breeze greeted him. He inhaled deeply. Captain Adamarik Zingh had chosen well. Their new world was very like ancient Earth.
    “So, have you picked your mates?” Nicky asked.
    “No,” he replied without looking at the other man. “And I’m not going to choose.”
    “Playing the field, are you?”
    “Trying not to lose the game.”
    “I don’t understand you, Cantor. Every other man on this planet is damned happy with the turn of events. Nearly four hundred women to choose from!”
    “Things would have been a helluva lot less complicated if the Captain had stopped at the hundred we needed.”
    “But what a delightful gift he’s given us! He couldn’t have left all those women behind to face the warden’s ire.”
    “No, I suppose not,” Cantor murmured. “But you notice he’s not here, is he?”
    Nicky slapped Cantor’s back and laughed. “But he left the best man in charge, didn’t he?”
    “I’m thinking he’s laughing his ass off!”
    Nicky’s brown eyes twinkled with merriment. “From what I hear, it’s not likely he’s giving you a thought. He’s too busy getting to know his