Garden of Desire: 1 Read Online Free PDF

straw.”
    Cantor realized the people around them had stopped to stare, and he felt his face flush with heat. “Bloody hell! Let’s get away from here. I need to talk to you.” To the onlookers he merely scowled, and they turned away.
    “Is anything wrong?” Darak’s smile slipped. “Has anyone been hurt?”
    “No, nothing like that.” Cantor dragged a hand through his hair. “Look, let’s just find a quiet place and kick back with an ale or two.”
    “Sure. But shouldn’t we get the new arrivals settled?” Darak asked, more questions in his brown-eyed gaze.
    “Right. Responsibility first,” Cantor muttered. Damn! With all the work ahead of him, it would be hours before he could take Darak aside for a talk. He sighed. “Did you bring mattresses with you by any chance?”
    “Fifty. We’ll be purchasing more on the next run.”
    “I thought you said you’d be staying a while this time.”
    “I am, but we need a professional trader. Haven’t you noticed, Guv? Our colony’s growing. We need things .” A bemused expression crossed Darak’s face as he surveyed the swelling crowd. “By the looks of the ladies, we’ll be needing diapers and formula before too long.”
    “Until we hire a trader, don’t you need a rest? I could take The Intrepid out on its next run.” Cantor wondered whether he could convince Darak to take a stint as the headman while he skipped the planet.
    “Oh no!” Darak’s ready grin flashed, and he slapped Cantor’s shoulder. “Adam left you in charge.”
    “Then who will captain her?”
    Darak grimaced, “I need to talk to you about that. Um, I brought you a couple extra people.”
    “What? We don’t have enough already?” Instant indigestion weighed like a stone in his belly. “Please tell me they aren’t women.”
    “One’s a woman—a very special woman.”
    “I wouldn’t care if she were the Queen of Pleasure-givers—we don’t need any more women.”
    “The other’s Drago Chavez. He’s a trader from Arturia—and an ex-Dominion soldier.”
    Cantor’s head whipped around and he stared at Darak. “What? A Dominion man? And you brought him here? Are you mad? How do you know he won’t bring the fleet down on our heads for the reward?”
    “He can’t. He’s in much the same boat as we are. Probably has a price on his head after helping me steal two women from the Hazar’s compound.”
    Cantor raised his eyes skyward. “Wait, I thought you said you brought one . We already have 378 here, why the hell would you need to steal two more?”
    Darak shrugged and gave him a guileless smile. “387 with the prisoners I brought today.”
    Cantor gritted his teeth against his irritation. Darak knew full well how the governor’s duties weighed on him. How the constant demands and attentions of the women chafed—and he’d just added to his burden. What he didn’t know was how he counted the days until he could leave this idyllic wasteland. “This is going to be a long story, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah, but first we have a delicate problem. The woman. The special woman, remember?” he reminded Cantor.
    “Yes, the Queen of Complainers, no doubt.” At Darak’s reproving glance, Cantor shook himself. “All right, how’s this one unique?” Cantor asked, but with only half his attention on the conversation. He’d caught a glimpse of a glossy black-brown mane of hair. “They’re all a pain in my backside.” People stepped in the way, cutting off his view of the dark-haired woman. Could the woman’s hair really be that long?
    “She’s a real gem,” Darak continued, his voice gaining enthusiasm. “But raised for a ha’arem . No experience whatsoever with men or even with the sort of women we have on this planet. She’s a nice girl, and quiet.”
    “She’ll grow accustomed to our ways.” Cantor waited for another glimpse and was rewarded for his patience with the sight of her sweet profile. Her olive skin perfectly suited the dark hair that framed a