Training Ivy [How The West Was Done 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read Online Free PDF Page A

suddenly pop! Everyone looked to the north just in time to see some outlaw somersaulting over. It wasn’t until we got back to the depot that we heard a Good Samaritan had picked him off.”
    But Harley wasn’t allowed to revel in his daring feats, for the tall, aggressive fellow addressed him with flashing eyes. He was an exceptionally handsome man, his cornflower-blue eyes so piercing it was as though he imagined Harley without any clothes on, but his attitude was annoying, at best. “That’s the first I’ve heard of this! I’m head of security, and this should’ve been reported to me immediately.” His accent was Australian, like one of the hardened convicts that usually emigrated from that continent—one of those ruthless “Sydney Hounds” that had run roughshod over San Francisco.
    “We tried, dear Neil.”
    Dear Neil! She called this potato-head “dear!” Perhaps he was only a brother…
    “We tried, but you were nowhere to be found. You were obviously over at my father’s house.” Turning back to Harley with her shining face, she said, “Everyone was marveling at your shooting ability. We saw you as a speck on the prairie, but you must’ve been eight hundred yards away from that outlaw.”
    Harley shrugged, as though he plugged outlaws every day of the year. “I’m a good shot.”
    Neil insinuated himself once more, practically stepping on Harley’s toes to get between him and the woman. “What happened to the outlaw once you shot him?”
    Harley drew himself up. He was just as tall as this pesky guy. “He leaped on his horse and hauled off toward Sherman Summit, so I imagine I’ll see him around again eventually. The workers spiked past there on April the fifth. He must work for the railroad. I’ll just look for any fellow limping about with blood gushing down his thigh.”
    “Who are you, anyway?” Neil, Head of Security, demanded to know. “You haven’t given your name.”
    Harley extended a reluctant paw for Neil to shake. “Captain Harland Park, chief surveyor for the Union Pacific.”
    Neil gripped his paw much longer and much harder than propriety required, to show his superiority. “Oh. Yes. I was expecting you.”
    “And I am Miss Ivy Hudson.” She put the emphasis on the “Miss.”
    Harley was glad for an excuse to wrench his hand away from Neil, and he bowed deeply over Miss Hudson’s hand. He caught a whiff of pine trees emanating from between her uplifted breasts. “Ah, yes. I’m supposed to go meet with your father posthaste.”
    Neil said, “Miss Hudson needs to do some shopping first. Perhaps you could go on ahead and—”
    Ivy interrupted. “But I would like to go inside this pharmacy. It looks Oriental. Do you think this proprietor would have any laudanum?”
    “I have no doubt that Chang Xiānshēng would carry that commodity,” Harley responded smoothly. “He has a wide variety of Eastern items—feline placentas, testicles in jars, all manner of herbs from Kwangtung.”
    Neil was horrified, as Harley had hoped. “Testic…Now listen here, my good man—”
    “Oh, that’s wonderful!” Ivy clapped her hands. “I knew I’d see interesting and exciting things out here in the Far West. Please, Captain Park. Do introduce me to Mr. Chang.”
    Ignoring Neil’s entreaties to avoid that disgusting establishment, Harley led the delightful Ivy into the dusty, still shop. He’d been so gratified to find a pharmacy like this in such a backwoods burg as Laramie City. Harley’s mind was entranced with things of a mysterious, foreign nature. He’d ventured to Mecca, had investigated brothels in India for the British Army, and had been impaled through the jawbone by a Somali’s javelin. In accepting this Union Pacific position his hope was to explore the Far West and study the Indian tribes while earning a paycheck.
    Now, apparently, he’d discovered a vibrant, adventuresome woman interested in the same sordid things. Already Harley was tempted to stray from his