Garden of Desire: 1 (11 page)

“You have to come, Cantor,” Nicky interrupted.

“Yer not goin’ to believe what happened in the pasture.” Akron looked over his shoulder into the darkened cabin. “Oh, sorry to interrupt.  Is it true the young beauty was a virgin?”

Cantor glared. No doubt they all thought he’d swived the girl. Guilt still rode his shoulders that he’d done as much as he had. “Still is. What happened? Did we lose another sheep?”

“You have to talk to Travis,” Nicky said, “You’re not going to believe it.”

Cantor’s curiosity was aroused. “Let me get dressed.”

“Yeah,” Akron said, glancing down his body. “Don’t want the sheep gettin’ nervous.”

Cantor knelt in front of Travis, who was seated on a campstool beside the grazing herds. “You say it breathed fire?”

Travis tugged at the end of his bushy, brown beard and peered down at it. “Singed me whiskers, it did.”

“And it flew?”

“Came down from the sky. Flappin’ its great wings! Didn’t know what the sound was at first, but it made the sheep nervous. Then it swooped over their heads, scatterin’ them. Looked like it was cullin’ the flock!”

Cantor and Darak shared a glance. They had an intelligent predator. “Did you get a good look at it?”

“Like a dragon, it was—and huge!” he said, looking exhilarated despite his close call. “When I waived me torch at it, its head jerked back and belched flames—and the smell! I nearly puked me dinner.”

“You’re sure you’re all right?” Cantor asked.

“It blinded me for a minute or two. I’m right as rain now. But Cantor, we lost another sheep. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him.”

Cantor clapped his shoulder. “Go back to the dorm and get some sleep. Make sure Doc has a look at you first.”

“Yes, Cantor.” Travis stood up on wobbly legs.

Cantor rose to assist him. Over his shoulder, he shouted, “Nicky, give him a hand.”

Nicky stepped close and slung an arm around the other man’s waist. Together they made their way down the hill to the settlement.

Cantor turned back to Akron and Darak. Ivan, the colony’s science officer, joined them. “Ivan, I thought you said there weren’t any large predators here.”

“There’s been no evidence of anything larger than one of those dog-sized rodents that keep eating through the storeroom door.”

Frustration made his reply surly. “You didn’t think it strange that we haven’t been overrun with big rats? What did you suppose was keeping their population in check?”

Ivan shrugged. “Like I said, we hadn’t found anything to indicate—”

“Never mind. Akron, show me where the sheep was taken.”

Akron led him to the top of a knoll. In the gray light of dawn, there wasn’t any sign of a struggle, no scorched earth, or even bits of sheep’s wool or blood to mark the place from which the sheep disappeared.

“You think it’s really large enough to lift one whole?” Darak asked, worry creasing his forehead.

“Looks like it.” He glanced up at the large Scotsman. “Akron, you’re sure one’s gone?”

“Aye, Cantor. I’ve counted heads twice.”

“If the creature’s large enough to carry a sheep,” Cantor said, “it’s large enough to take a slender woman, wouldn’t you think?”

The men looked at each other.

“It’s nocturnal as well,” Darak murmured. “We’ve been here for months, but haven’t seen it.”

Cantor stared down the hill at the quiet settlement. “The women will have to be kept inside at night until we’ve figured out what we’re facing.”

“We’ll need to put together a hunting party, wouldn’t you say?” Darak said.

“Aye. Ivan, do you have the topographic maps of the surrounding region on file?”

“Aye, sir. What are you thinking?”

Cantor reviewed their scant clues. “The creature flies. It’s large. The forest beyond us is too dense for so large a creature to travel through it. Look for higher ground.”

Ivan touched the side of his wrist computer and a holographic image of a file list appeared before them. “Open the planet maps. Show us our present coordinates.”

An image of the settlement and pastures as seen from the sky blinked into view in front of them.

“Find the nearest mountains,” Cantor said.

Images flickered in rapid succession, until the program halted its search on a dark, craggy peak.

“I say we start our search there,” Cantor said. “How far away is it?”

“A day as the crow flies,” Ivan said, “but since Drago left with
The Intrepid
, we’ll have to hoof it.”

Excitement like nothing he’d experienced since his last pirate raid, surged through Cantor. Here was true adventure! “Ivan, plot the route. Darak, choose six men for the hunt and break out the weaponry.”

“We can’t leave the women unprotected,” Darak murmured. “We’ll need electro-stuns for the men left to guard the settlement. We’ll carry laser-swords, guns, and small artillery.”

“Ivan, since we aren’t sure what we face, or even where to look, bring what instruments you need for heat seeking and environmental analysis.”

“Aye, aye. I’m in then?” The youngest of the pirates, his smooth cheeks glowed with pleasure.

“You are,” Cantor assured him. “I’ll need you the most. Now, let’s get back. We’ll tell the others at breakfast.”

“Will we tell them everything?” Darak asked.

“There’s no need to cause a panic. We’d better get back quickly though, before Nicky and Travis have everyone thinking we have a reign of fire coming down on our heads.”

“But what will we say to the women?”

“We’re going hunting.”

“So tell us, Fahgwat, was he gentle?” Kirsten asked, a grin transforming her normally stern countenance almost pretty.

Martha listened for the answer from her seat at the end of the trestle table. She’d lingered over her breakfast, waiting for Fahgwat to come down the hill. By the time she had, the galley was full and Martha knew they wouldn’t have a chance to talk privately about last night’s results until later.

In the meantime, the other women had crowded around their table for the juicy details.

Fahgwat’s cheeks flushed. “Can-
torr
is a
verr
-y giving man.”

“I bet,” Kirsten murmured, taking a bite of onion cake. “You stayed the whole night?”

Fahgwat nodded.

Sighs sounded around the table.

“You aren’t walking like a man shafted you the night through, and you were a virgin,” Pingat said, her narrow, black eyes alight with curiosity.

“Although he did many wonderful things, he did not take me that way,” the girl said, her voice soft with embarrassment.

“Ahhhh.” Knowing looks were exchanged around the table.

“He’s a sly one,” Kirsten said, “he’s still trying to slip the noose. Probably figures if he takes you, he has to keep you. It’s a good thing I’ve turned my attentions elsewhere, or I’d be gray waiting for that man to settle down.”

Pingat turned to Kirsten. “Elsewhere? Have you found someone delicious?”

Kirsten’s face turned pink. “I have. He’s a fine, strong man. Kind to animals—so I know he’ll be good with children. He doesn’t know it yet, but his exceptional cock is mine.”

“Then you’ve already had him?” Pingat asked.

“No. He scarcely knows I exist. And I think he’s a bit shy.”

“Who?” Martha asked, relieved the woman no longer had her sights set on Cantor.

Kirsten leaned over the table and her voice dropped to a whisper. “Akron, the shepherd.”

“Akron?” Pingat laughed. “He spends his days with the animals doing who knows what. And he has no beauty to speak of. How can you give up Cantor for him?”

Kirsten shrugged. “I’m just being practical. We can’t all share the same man.”

“I wouldn’t care if Cantor took a different wife for each day of the week, if I had that luscious man to myself for one of them,” Kamilia said, with a toss of her blond hair.

“Cantor is no prize,” Kirsten said. “The man’s spoiled. When he does settle, he’ll expect a wife to do everything for him. Look at him, now. He has his choice of women and they fall all over him to please him.”

Everyone turned sympathetic gazes to Fahgwat.

“But why choose Akron?” Pingat asked, a smile curving the corners of her lips.

Kirsten tossed a furtive glance over her shoulder before whispering, “Because he has the most amazing cock!” At their interested stares, she continued, “I’ve seen it. It’s massive! The man would only have to cram it inside me and I’d come.”

Pingat shrieked with laughter. “How did you see it? You said the man’s hardly spoken to you.”

With a conspiratorial smile around the table, she said, “I was at the river yesterday, preparing to wash Cantor’s old curtains. I was walking through the trees when I heard a noise coming from the water. He was standing in the river—buck-naked—washing his big cock.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “Just looking at it made my toes curl. The man’s made for me.”

Martha smothered a smile. Kirsten was indeed Akron’s perfect match. The two were of a similar build—tall, broad, and stocky. “What did you say to him?”

“Nothing! I didn’t want to embarrass him. Like I said, I think he’s shy.” Kirsten smacked the table with her broad palm. “But I will have him. Mark my words.”

“The man is doomed. Congratulations.” Pingat gave her a hug. “He’s as good as caught.”

“But what of Cantor’s young miss, here?” Kamilia turned her attention back to Fahgwat. “That man really needs to be brought to heel. He’s toyed with all our hearts.”

“Martha and I have a plan,” Fahgwat admitted, flashing a smile at Martha.

“A plan?” Pingat’s small slanted eyes narrowed to slits.

“We are not going to trick him,” Fahgwat said. “Nothing so devious. We are simply showing him the possibilities.”

Martha recognized her own words. She should have been pleased at Fahgwat’s solidarity with her plan, but a twinge of guilt niggled at her conscience.

“Well, someone needs to bag him,” Kamilia said. “Lord knows, I’ve tried. I wish you both luck.”

“They will need more than luck,” Pingat said, her mouth drawn in a tight line.

“They’ll need help,” Kirsten said. When everyone looked at her, she raised her hands. “Look, we all need mates. It could be our project—our work—to ensure every one of us finds what we need. If we pool our resources and help, rather than competing with each other, we can accomplish more.”

Pingat tapped her chin. “If we put our minds together—our criminal minds—we can’t fail.”

“What do you say, Martha, Fahgwat?” Kirsten said, “Since you’ve already agreed to share your prize, would you like a little help?”

Fahgwat’s eyebrows rose, worry creasing her forehead. “I am not sure it is right to play with his affections. He did not seem very pleased to learn of last night’s scheme.”

“You told him?” Martha said, her stomach plummeting.

“He was so kind. I felt bad,” she said, distress making her eyes large and liquid.

“Honey, you have to look at it this way,” Kirsten said. “Are you doing anything illegal?”

Fahgwat shook her head.

“Are you planning to harm him?”

“Oh no! I only want him happy.”

“We all do,” Kirsten said. “He’s a stinker, but not a bad man.”

Martha leaned over the table, “Haven’t you heard all’s fair in love and war?”

Fahgwat nodded.

“Baby girl, this is both.”

A commotion at the doorway drew their attention. Cantor entered followed by Darak and Akron. The stern set of his jaw and his purposeful stride told Martha something was up. Others sensed the tension emanating from the men for the room quickly fell silent.