Garden of Desire: 1 by Delilah Devlin Read Free Book Online

deep breath. “If you don’t want to be his wife, then what do you want?”
    Fahgwat shrugged. “I am not sure. But I would like to learn about love.”
    Martha smiled then. Just looking at Cantor had her wanting sex all the time, too. “And lovemaking?”
    Her cheeks dimpled with delight. “Oh, yes!”
    Martha felt her mouth stretch into a smile. “Cantor doesn’t have any wives. I’m not sure he wants even one.”
    Fahgwat blew out a breath. “I was afraid he had many.”
    “Why would it matter if you don’t want to be his wife?”
    “Only because I thought he would not notice me. His other wives might have been more knowledgeable of his desires.”
    “Do you want to learn about…his desires?”
    “Oh yes! I would learn what pleases him.”
    “And what about you? Would you want to be pleased as well?”
    Fahgwat gave her a sly smile. “How can a man like that fail to please a woman? He is very well made.”
    “He is indeed,” Martha murmured. A very wicked idea blossomed. “Remember what I said about men trying not to show women how much they like them?”
    Fahgwat nodded.
    Martha put her hands on Fahgwat’s shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. “Sometimes, men have to be made to tell. Sometimes, they have to be seduced.”
    Fahgwat’s nod was slower this time. “But I have never seduced a man. I mean, my mother and aunts have told me how to work upon a man’s staff, but I have never actually…”
    Martha’s eyebrows rose. “Well, every man’s a little different. Would you like to learn what pleases Cantor?”
    “Do you know? Have you…”
    Watching the younger woman’s face light with curiosity, the idea became fully rooted. “Yes, but he won’t be bound by sex. Actually, I think he’s spoiled.”
    Fahgwat’s head canted. “Spoiled?”
    “Women fall all over him. Me, included.” She wrinkled her nose. “He gets what he wants too easily.”
    “Ah!” Fahgwat grinned. “Like a child with too many toys. He expects them.”
    “Exactly.” She gave the other woman an approving smile. “You know, I don’t think you’re as fluffy as you look.”
    “Fluffy?”
    “Never mind. Fahgwat, I think we can help each other out.” Wrapping an arm around the shoulder of her newest friend, Martha guided her down the path.

Chapter Four
     
    Cantor paused outside his cabin door at the sound of feminine laughter coming from inside. More than one woman awaited him. For once, he was relieved.
    He’d avoided Little Flower—Daisy—whatever her real name was—all afternoon and evening, using every problem brought to him as a pretext for delaying the inevitable contact.
    He’d taken his dinner with the men selected to guard the sheep that night, huddled around a blazing fire while listening to their endless bragging. Hearing of their sexual exploits had done nothing to cool the heat his body had carried all day from the first sight of the lovely virgin.
    Lovely… untouchable …virgin.
    He’d helped to pull a large piece of farm machinery from where it had become mired in a low-lying trough. He’d climbed a tree to retrieve a lacy bit of underwear that had blown away from a clothesline, and narrowly escaped the owner’s grateful, full-on-the-lips kiss.
    He’d settled no less than three arguments among the ex-cons, listening endlessly to their convoluted, impossibly illogical opinions until his head ached. The last had firmed his decision to flee the planet at the first opportunity. It had been a fight over a bloody window.
    He’d taken his noontime meal in the communal longhouse, when three women approached with their petition. Their request involved a bed beneath a window in the women’s dorm that was vacated when one of Doc’s nurses moved into his cabin.
    “Why do you all want the bed with the window?” he’d asked.
    “Because the sunshine’s so cheerful,” was the answer he’d gotten.
    “How does that matter if you’re busy with your chores during the day?”
    “I’d