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

righteous path.
    “What did you purchase from Mr. Chang, may I ask?” Ivy inquired. They stood by tidy piles of twisted, dried roots, powdered seeds, and sea urchins forever frozen in ferocious positions. Harley waited for her to notice the dried, coiled rattlesnake that reposed near her elbow.
    Harley laid his bundle on the counter and started unwrapping it. “I was most pleased to discover he has peach pits—very difficult to find, believe you me. The Arabs believe that peach pits boiled in water ease the necessity for—”
    “Peaches!” Ivy raised her stunned eyes to Harley’s face.
    “Yes,” Harley said guardedly. “Peach pits. Why is this so amazing?”
    “Mr. Park!” Chang cried happily. “You have already brought your friends to see me.”
    “Yes, Chang,” said Harley. “The lady here wishes to purchase some medicinal opium.”
    But “the lady” was still fixed on the peaches. Eyes wide with horror, hands shaped into claws, she pivoted mechanically toward the door. “Neil! Did you hear that? Peaches! Captain Park here was purchasing peach pits! ”
    Neil came forward from the shadows, rubbing his handsome face wearily. “Yes, my dear.” He sounded like a henpecked husband. Harley wondered if he’d been married before. “But didn’t Caleb say it would be an Indian who would find the peaches he was looking for? Captain Park here is hardly an Indian—”
    But Chang interrupted then. With arms wide, a smile erupted on his face, and he gestured to Neil. “Mr. Neil! So good to see you again, too. I have made up a special batch of that prick tea for you. I found rhino horn.”
    There was a brief silence, both Harley and Ivy Hudson staring dumbly at Neil.
    Then Neil exploded into a round of nervous laughter. “Oh, ha ha! He means thick tea! He makes this very thick tea for me.” Quickly he strode to the counter and gripped Chang’s arm. He spoke through clenched teeth. “Thank you for making me that thick tea again. I’ll take all of it. And now. Miss Hudson here would like some laudanum.”
    But Chang waxed enthusiastic about the tea and wanted everyone to know how good it was. With idealistic eyes, he told Harley, “Rhino horn makes for very thick prick!”
    Harley chuckled. “That’s just a lot of hot air. A very expensive way to drink bones, if you ask me.” Harley did feel sorry for poor Neil. If he needed an aphrodisiac to find success with ladies, Harley was already way ahead of the game. Way, way ahead.
    But Neil cried defensively, “Bones, right! I drink it for strong bones.”
    Offended, Chang spat, “Next time I give you Spanish fly!”
    Harley burst out in a hearty round of laughter. “Spanish fly, ho! Watch out for this fellow here, Neil. Spanish fly will cause immense gaping boils all over your body. Not worth the risk for the, er, stimulating effects.”
    As Chang angrily slammed Neil’s package of prick tea onto the counter, Ivy turned to Harley with a desperate air. She had not appeared to follow the tea conversation nor care very much, and she now took Harley by the forearms. “Tell me, Captain Park.”
    “Harley, please.”
    “Harley. What led you to purchase the peach pits?”
    Harley cleared his throat and looked at a mummified monkey that was posed on a branch. “Well, ah.” Did she really want to know? Or would his answer offend her? He looked back into her questing eyes. “I happen to be burdened with an abundance of, shall we say, appetite ? Peach pits and camphor—particularly if it’s recently left over from a funeral—are held by the Arabs to reduce the appetite.”
    “Appetite.” Ivy appeared to mull this word over. “But what is so bad about having an appetite?”
    Harley shifted uncomfortably on his feet. He wasn’t sure whether to be amused at her ignorance or aroused by her interest. “Well. When the appetite is of a carnal nature, let’s just say it can ‘get in the way’ of certain daily tasks.”
    Ivy’s lovely berry-stained mouth