The Playful Prince (16 page)

They continued to walk in silence for a few hours. Falke set a rigid pace, but none complained. Tori was too preoccupied to notice. Quinn stayed close, but his eyes didn’t turn to her, he didn’t smile, and he didn’t talk. Ahead of them Reid laughed and joked good-naturedly with Grant and Vitto. Leading the group was Falke by himself.

“When will we arrive?” Tori asked. It was very warm and sweat had begun to bead on her flesh, making her clothes stick.

“At this pace? Tomorrow.” Quinn finally looked down at her. He’d been doing his best to convince himself that he didn’t care for her, that he only wanted her as a lover, a diversion. He was afraid it wasn’t working.

The silence was killing him inside, but he refused to end it. They came from different worlds. When the job was over, she’d be leaving him behind. Qurilixen was his home and he wouldn’t be running out on it like his brother Jarek. It was his duty to stay, his destiny, and his choice. He was content in his life, or at least he had been until he met Dr. Tori Elliot.

“So we camp?” she asked.

Quinn glanced down to her. Sacred Cats! She was beautiful in his native clothing. He’d been stunned when he saw her in the outfit. He wondered if she knew that the effect the tightened laces had on her backside, pulling the material tight across her butt. He nearly groaned to remember it and had an insane urge to fall behind just to get another glimpse.

“Yes,” he answered, a little too late.

Damn, but he couldn’t concentrate around her. He knew he sounded harsh, but after spending the entire journey walking so close to her intoxicating scent, he was about to go mad with lust. The encounter in the palace hall only fueled his desire for her. He hadn’t meant to take her like that but, when she didn’t protest, he couldn’t stop himself. Afterwards, alone in his home, he’d been confounded by his total lack of control.

“Hey, Tori!” Vitto called. His smiling face turned around amidst a round of laughter. He waved at her to join them. “Tori, come here, you have to hear these stories!”

Tori spared a brief glance at Quinn, before hiking forward to join the men. Grant was laughing so hard that tears formed in the corners of his eyes. Vitto grinned. Reid was chuckling, but a moment’s worry passed over his face as she joined them.

“Ah, go ahead,” Grant said, still laughing. “Elliot here’s just like a man, aren’t you Elliot?”

“Yes,” she drawled, “just.”

Reid’s gaze narrowed, as he blatantly checked her out. His eyes stopped a second too long on her breasts and a smile of male appreciation crossed over his lips. When he looked back up at her, his eyes danced with amusement. His brow rose and Tori had the distinct impression the look of masculine invitation was meant to aggravate Quinn more than entice her. In a low, flirtatious tone, he murmured,

“She looks very much a woman to me.”

Tori blushed, knowing he said it loud enough so Quinn could hear him. Hearing a noise, they all turned to see Quinn righting himself from the ground. He’d tripped. His eyes met Tori’s and he wasn’t smiling.

“Watch out for the path, brother,” Reid taunted. “It has a tendency to jump out at you.”

Vitto and Grant snickered, but hid their expression.

“It’s not the path, brother,” Quinn returned. “It’s the back of your ugly head.”

“I’ll have you know women find my head particularly attractive,” Reid returned, not at all insulted.

Keeping a straight face, he added flippantly, “As well as the rest of me.”

Tori couldn’t help it. She laughed outright at his conceit. Reid was so full of himself, and yet seemed not to take himself seriously at all. Quinn grumbled behind them. Reid’s smile only widened.

“All right, my lady,” Reid said gallantly.

“Back off Reid,” Falke called, his voice full of warning. “I don’t want to have to dunk you in the swamp.”

“Ah, you stay out of it!” Reid answered good-naturedly. Tori blinked in confusion and finally concluded it must be a private joke between brothers. “This is between Dr. Elliot and me. I can’t help it if she’s attracted to me.”

Tori’s mouth fell open at the audacity. In truth, she thought Reid was funny. He was handsome, but she could only think of the moody prince walking behind them. Reid turned to her and winked. To her amazement, she blushed again.

“Stop flirting with Elliot and tell us another story,” Grant interjected.

Tori stared straight ahead.

“Oh, let me see,” Reid began, humming softly in thought. “When Falke was, oh, twenty four or thereabouts, he was already in charge of the soldiers and, being his younger brothers, Jarek, Quinn, and I had to train under him. Well, we’d been at blades for about a week when Quinn decided it would be a good idea to skip practice. Now, understand that Falke was a real taskmaster and didn’t take kindly to us not showing up. When he told our father, which in hindsight he was duty bound to do, the king locked us in the dungeon for a week without food.”

Tori grimaced. She didn’t have too high of an opinion of King Attor to begin with, but to hear he’d lock someone up for a week without food just for being young and obnoxious? It was a little extreme. How hard it must’ve been for them, growing up with such an emotionally distant man as a father. She’d been very lucky. Her parents were both good people who gave all their children lots of love and encouragement. Vitto and Grant didn’t seem all that affected by the fact, so she left it alone.

“Naturally, we tired to escape,” Reid continued, chuckling. “Quinn, being the smallest, was ... um ...

volunteered for the job and--”

“It was your idea to skip,” Quinn stated from behind, his voice not as hard as before. Reid sighed dramatically at being interrupted. “And, if I remember correctly, you two volunteered me by shoving me through the dungeon bars against my will.”

“We’d thought you’d fit,” Reid answered, shrugging. “How were we to know you’d get stuck?”

“I don’t know, logic?” Quinn returned, chuckling slightly. Tori glanced back at him, catching a glimpse of the easygoing prince she’d first met. Her heart skipped to see the soft, kind expression on his face. What had happened to make him so hard lately?

“Ah, logic is overrated,” Reid waved him back. “You were only there for three days so stop being a baby.”

“You threw rocks at my ass the entire time,” Quinn returned. Vitto and Grant laughed. Tori’s mind was still stuck on the fact that they weren’t fed for a week.

“We were bored.” Reid moved closer to Tori and said, “Just picture, Quinn’s scrawny little butt hanging out of the bars. You’d have thrown rocks at it too.”

Tori chuckled, more at Reid’s facial expression than his story. Reid turned his attention forward as the path narrowed. He gallantly gestured Tori to go ahead of him.

Quinn watched in irritation as Tori’s soft laughter rang through the forest. He wished it had been he who put the look on her beautiful face. He frowned at his brother. Reid’s head was tilted to the side and it wasn’t hard to see that he was staring at Tori’s tight pants. Quinn took the opportunity to lay a hand on Reid’s shoulder, gripping into it tightly.

“Watch yourself, brother,” he warned, before backing away once more.

Chapter Ten

“I’ve seen your look before,” Reid said, coming to sit beside Quinn on the ground. He sighed, looking over the campsite. There was a small fire and a couple basic tents. The sky was softening to a light haze of green. The three scientists talked privately amongst themselves, debating some paper they’d brought with them.

Quinn glanced at Reid and sighed, not wanting to hear it. He knew where his brother was going with this. He loved Reid, but right now he was irritated with him.

Reid had spent the entire day being his fabulously charming self, telling stories, drawing attention--something the man did naturally. Though serious about his work, he had a careless, fun air to him that drew women better than a magical love charm. And he had a predilection for bedding many women--sometimes at the same time--and didn’t care who knew it. That Reid didn’t understand the love of one woman didn’t surprise Quinn at all.

“I’ve seen it on Kirill when he looks at Ulyssa.” There was a pause as Reid looked over at Tori. A slight frown crossed his features. “I don’t want to see you fall into the same trap. One brother life mated is bad enough, but two? It will look as if we don’t have the prowess to handle many women in our beds.

Beyond that, you are my brother and I worry. You can’t take life mating back once it’s done. Surely, you’d grow tired bedding the same woman all the time.”

“Who said anything about life mating? As soon as this whole mess is over, she’s gone. End of story.

Leave me be about it.” Quinn reached down, flipping over a rock only to watch the black moss turn grey in the air. He’d never really stopped to contemplate the moss at all before Tori pointed it out. They’d grown up with it. Now he wondered if there really was something to what she said about it slowly killing off his planet.

“Just be careful, brother,” Reid put forth. “You must not allow yourself to become deluded by good sex.

So what if she’s good in bed? It doesn’t mean there isn’t someone better waiting to take her place. And if not better, at least different. You remember what our father said about variety? Without it, a man grows frustrated and bored. With frustration come mistakes in judgment. It’s all the more reason not to bind yourself to her.”

“I’m not binding myself to anyone. Besides, don’t tell me what to do,” Quinn responded, a bit harshly. “I certainly don’t need you quoting our father to me. I know no one is saying it, but we all know this mess we’re in right now is his fault. Where was his infinite wisdom when he risked our people’s lives by bringing that damned weapon here? Sacred Cats! If the people knew the whole truth, they’d probably revolt and kill us all. If you seek to make a point to me, you’d best not do it by using King Attor’s wisdom! Anyway, my personal life is none of your concern.”

“What is happening to this family? First Kirill, now you? Do you honestly think the small reward of having only one woman beats the weakness to be gained by it?” Reid ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “Don’t get me wrong. I like our new queen just fine and I like Dr. Elliot. But, why not halfmate them and take other wives? I don’t understand.”

“You seemed to understand my attraction well enough when you were flirting with her,” Quinn grumbled.

“I was testing her, proving a point. She’ll not be loyal to you. She’s a liability,” Reid answered. “I’m not blind. I see how she ignores you for those human males. You didn’t speak two words to each other on the hike today.”

“I don’t want nor need her to be tested.” Quinn’s eyes turned red with his anger. “Especially by you.”

“What?” Reid taunted. Neither of them had moved from their place on the ground. “Afraid she’d fail?

Afraid I’d be able to woo her to my bed easily enough?”

Quinn gulped and couldn’t speak. Standing, he turned to glance at Tori. Her attention was turned to Vitto and they were whispering. They did indeed look cozy, sitting together on the fallen log. “I’ll be back. I’m going for a walk.”

“A walk?” Reid repeated. “But, we just stopped walking.”

Quinn ignored him, storming off into the forest. He didn’t want to hear Reid’s damned logic. He just wanted his life to go back to the way it was, before Tori Elliot stumbled into it. He wanted to laugh and feel carefree again. Growling, he began to jog. He really needed to get away from her. That earth scientist was likely to drive him mad.

* * * *

Tori sighed, enjoying the cool trickling waterfall spilling over her shoulders. The small pool was carved into the smooth, red tinted rock, which kept it from getting contaminated by the surrounding swampland.

Just to be sure, they tested it before she got in.

The day was so warm and, after hiking for several hours, her clothes had stuck uncomfortably to her skin. Turning, she let the water hit over her breasts. She was about as clean as she was going to get, but she couldn’t bring herself to get out. Her head tipped back, as she thought of what she was doing on the strange planet.

To her surprise, she found her relationship with Quinn stressed her out more than her duty as a scientist.

Just thinking about him made her heart ache and there was nothing she could do to make it stop. She couldn’t run tests, make charts, and develop theories. For in the end one thing remained constant--she didn’t know what Quinn was thinking.

Tori hated uncertainty. It’s one of the reasons she liked being a scientist. She liked having a plan of action. She liked finding a solution to a problem. But, in all her life, she’d never faced a problem like she did now. Part of her said that it didn’t matter at all what she did or felt, and that she would soon be leaving Qurilixen and Quinn behind for good.

Hearing a splash near the rocky shore, she turned in surprise. Quinn came at her, walking through the shallow pool to where she stood. He still wore his clothes. They stuck seductively to his skin where the water splashed up on him.

Tori tried to cover her breasts, as she said, “Quinn, what are you doing here? Someone might see us.”

“We need to talk,” he answered. His face was hard, not giving anything away as he came to stand before her. The breeze blew his untamed hair over his shoulders. His bright blue eyes blazed with a hint of liquid gold-green. He looked fierce, wild. Her heart fluttered in her chest and her knees nearly weakened out from beneath her.

“About what?” Tori asked, breathless. A buzz sounded in her ears, making her feel faint. Her body remembered their last joining in the hall of the palace. She’d never done anything as dangerous as being with him in public. It thrilled her. She wanted to do it again. Her eyes dipped down over his solid frame.

The breeze hugged his shirt to his back, whipping it back and forth over his firm stomach.

“Us.”

She shivered. The admission didn’t seem to bring him much pleasure. It could only mean one thing. He was going to break it off completely. Tori didn’t move. Whispering, she asked weakly, “What about us?”

“How do you do it?” he demanded, his expression becoming almost desperate.