Alan sighed as he watched Beth cross the yard to his greenhouse. She was such a help to him. She loved plants almost as much as he did and together, they had cross-pollinated many new species of exotic foliage. His private greenhouse was not only his solace from work, but also a showplace of blossom and vine, an oasis of sweet fragrance and heady perfume that aroused and thrilled the senses of all who came to marvel at it. He put down his potting spade and removed his gloves. This morning he would transplant the graft from their newest creation—a spider orchid in shades of umber and pearl. It had thrived under Beth's tender attentions. He smiled thinking about how her gentle hands pressed the soil around its fragile roots, how she was so specific about measuring its fertilizer and water.
He pushed aside the wave of want and need surging up inside him. He had loved a woman once—a raven-haired beauty with mesmerizing eyes and soft alluring curves. But alas, she belonged to another. The affair had left him with bitter memories that tainted his efforts to pursue others. Then, at age forty, he met Beth. She was thirty, tall and thin with long brown hair that curled softly on the ends. One day she came to visit. She seemed to enjoy his creations and so he took the opportunity to invite her to become his assistant—explaining that he needed someone to help keep notes of his creations. She had eagerly accepted, smiling up at him with her pretty face all aglow.
For months that had worked side by side, sometimes touching hands while moving a transplant to a larger pot or brushing shoulders while staking up an eagerly growing vine. His feelings for her had blossomed and at times he believed she was harboring feelings for him, but they never spoke of their inner thoughts, choosing rather to focus their energies on coaxing beauty out of seed and soil.
Suddenly a shrill scream broke into his thoughts. He lunged through the door of the potting shed, thoughts of Beth's safety filling his mind as he sprinted across the yard to the greenhouse.
Entering the greenhouse he found Beth sitting on the floor, her thin legs spread, her upper body braced by both hands. Potting soil was strewn across her body and sprinkled in her long brown hair. She blinked sad tear-filled eyes up at Alan. On the floor beside her lay his beloved orchid, its new growth broken and mangled, its tender roots exposed.
"I'm sorry."
Alan sucked in a quick breath. The sight of Beth sitting on the floor, her summer blouse and Bermuda shorts covered with dirt, her long legs exposed up to her crotch sent his mind reeling toward the erotic. He felt his prick begin to harden. He crossed the floor and kneeled beside her.
"I don't know what happened..."
He was overcome with wanting to console her and his lusty need to fuck her.
