Connect your HDD and from a terminal
type the below to infer the UUID from your USB (replace name of your drive):
diskutil info /Volumes/<LabelOfYourDrive>
With above information of your drive you must create the below file:
/etc/fstab
(You can create the file with: sudo vi /etc/fstab)
And add the below line to the above file using the information that you got on the first command:
UUID=<replace here your diskutil info above> none ntfs rw,auto,nobrowse
Once file /etc/fstab is saved you can plugin your usb hdd again, you will note that it is not on your desktop, but it is already available under:
/Volumes/<LabelOfYourDrive>
Therefore as an advise you can create a simbolic link to your desktop with the below command:
sudo ln -s /Volumes/<LabelOfYourDrive> /Users/<your user name>/Desktop/<Label of your drive>
That will allow you to open the drive from desktop and disconnect the drive properly.