The Rogue Prince

by Michelle M. Pillow

  He was instantly sorry for his harsh words, but the rage still held him in its grip. Jasmine gasped, her face paling. Her eyes rounded, and she looked around at the men. They were staring at her, saying nothing.

  “You’re right,” she whispered. “I know nothing about it.”

  Slowly, Jasmine nodded and wobbled around the table. The men let her go. The fight drained out of her. Stumbling, she made a wide arch around Reid while heading for the door. She didn’t meet his eyes.

  “Why did you say that?” Rick growled when she was gone. “I’m a jerk, and I know never to say that to a woman’s face, no matter what she said about my manhood.”

  “Holy stars!” Evan swore. Hands on hips, he faced Reid. “I can only imagine the circumstances in which she would admit something like that to you. It has taken us four days and liquor to get her to stop flinching when we come near her. Do you think she’ll even be able to face us now? Face you?”

  Reid glared at Evan. It was taking all his concentration not to fully shift and run after her. If he were to catch up to her in his current state, he might actually attack her. Whether he attacked her with fists or with kisses remained to be seen.

  “You have no reason to defend your manhood in front of us,” Rick added, shaking his head. “We all saw the women you were more than able to satisfy.”

  “Listen closely,” Evan hissed, “because this is the only time I will ever tell you what I’ve read in her thoughts.”

  Reid glared at him, doubting Evan could say anything that would ease his rage.

  “She’s married,” Evan said.

  “I know.” Reid nodded. For some reason, he didn’t move as he waited for the man to say more. Evan never spoke of what he saw. For him to do so now meant it was important that he listened. “I never touched her.”

  Lowering his voice so none of the others heard him, Evan continued, “Then did you know that her husband beat her senseless and then locked her in a closet for three days without food while they were on their honeymoon? All because of this problem of hers? Did you know that he’s beaten her regularly ever since then for the last four years? Or that he’s brought home prostitutes and had sex with them while she listened from the next room, telling the women how inadequate his wife was? That he made fun of her with them for not being a real woman? And she was forced to take it with a smile on her face or he’d beat her for daring to talk back to him? The flashes I see in her memories and the feelings inside her are things I won’t soon forget. The man wouldn’t give her a divorce, not the one she’d need according to human law. He’d have killed her first. As far as I’m concerned, she did the only thing she could.”

  Reid’s head whipped to the door where she’d disappeared. “You should’ve told me this from the beginning.”

  “You should’ve been patient with her, and she would’ve told you about it herself. It wasn’t my place,” Evan shook his head in disgust, “it still isn’t my place.”

  Evan crossed over to the table and grabbed a drink.

  “I’ll go after her,” Rick said when no one moved to do so.

  Reid looked up, shook his head in denial and turned to follow Jasmine. Once alone in the corridor, he took a deep breath. He was a fool. He’d seen the marks on her body, knew that she’d been ill-treated. Never mind that he’d done everything he could to stay away from her, he should never have said those words in front of the crew. He shouldn’t have said them at all.

  Sniffing the air, he caught her scent. The sweet fragrance of her mingled with the more potent force of whiskey. He jogged after her, forcing the half shift from his face. She hadn’t made it too far by the time he found her. Jasmine stumbled down the hall, her arm dragging along the metal wall for support as she moved.

  “Jasmine,” Reid said, his tone harder than he meant it to be. His voice was gruff because of the days burdened with unfulfilled passions, because of the rage inside him. Var were passionate, no matter the circumstance.

  “No. Stay away from me!” She stiffened and instantly started to run. Her legs tripped over themselves, and she fell forward onto her hands and knees. The fall didn’t stop her. She began to crawl from him.

  Reid caught up to her and reached for her arms to help her up. “Jasmi—”

  “Don’t touch me!” she cried, jerking away. He had her half way up, and as she pulled from him, she fell down. “Ahh!”

  Jasmine rolled onto her side and grabbed her wrist. Tears were in her eyes when she glanced up at him. Reid scooped her up into his arms, pleased when she didn’t struggle.

  “No medical booths. I can’t. I’m allergic,” Jasmine said. She closed her eyes, cradling her arm.

  “You mentioned that before.” Reid carried her down the corridor. “I’m taking you back to my room.”

  When he arrived at the room, he laid her down on the bed. Jasmine glared up at him accusingly. “I thought you said you were busy men with lots of stuff to do.”

  “What?” Reid asked, confused. When he tried to examine her injured wrist, she swatted at him. He easily brushed her hand out of his way and lifted her arm. Jasmine winced.

  “When you said you wouldn’t give me a ride,” she charged.

  “It doesn’t feel broken,” he said, poking lightly at it.

  “What would you know,” she growled, still angry. He pressed harder, and she gasped.

  “I’ve helped train armies, and I’ve been to war. I’d say I’ve learned a few things about sprains and broken bones. Now hold still while I try to find something with which to wrap it.”

  “Quit ordering me about, your royal-ish-ness,” Jasmine slurred. “I can take care of myself. Just as soon as we land on Werten, I’m gone.”

  “You’re in no condition to be making any type of decision tonight,” Reid admonished, doing his best not to smile at her contrary tone. Sacred cats, but she was an infuriating woman!

  “You’re nothing but a rogue,” Jasmine accused. “Taking hundreds of women—”

  “That was my father,” Reid said, pressing his lips together as he stood. He grabbed a black shirt from the dresser and began to tear it into strips.

  “I’ve heard about you too, your highness,” Jasmine said, closing her eyes.

  “Have you now, fea?” If he could keep her talking, maybe she’d be distracted from the pain as he wrapped her wrist. Besides, he was curious as to what she’d heard. Was that jealousy in her bitter tone?

  “I know you were at the Galaxy Playmates’ mansion,” she shot.

  Reid looked her over, suddenly not liking where this was going. “Who told you that?”

  “I added a few of my own rules to the game,” Jasmine said. “A little truth or dare.”

  “Truth or what?” he frowned, not understanding.

  “The men had to answer my questions if I won,” she said, wincing as he moved her arm. “I know all about you and those three women you were sleeping with when they came to get you to leave the mansion.”

  “Jealous?” he asked, smirking at the look on her face. He was going to have someone’s head. Who in the galaxy told her that one? Reid already knew. Rick. The man had been most impressed by the feat.

  “Not hardly.” Jasmine tried to sit up. He gently pressed her shoulder, keeping her down. Her dark eyes widened as she stared at him. “You probably cry out your own name during sex.”

  “Would you like to find out?” Reid studied her, hoping to see a spark of something in her expression. If she wanted him, showed him some sign that what he felt for her was worth pursuing, that being with her would be worth the potential blow to his honor, he would have proceeded. His shaft was painfully full, always on the verge of an erection since that first moment he’d seen her. He’d been fantasizing about her more than he’d like to admit.

  “No,” she shot. “I don’t care how handsome you are.”

  “You think I’m handsome?” Reid again lifted her arm and made quick work of binding it. Already it was turning purple with a bruise and was starting to s
well. She didn’t seem to notice.

  “You’re a rogue,” she said. “That’s what I think.”

  “You tell yourself whatever you need to, fea.” He answered, enjoying the verbal battle between them. Anything was better than her silence, her emotionless eyes looking at him. His voice dipped naturally as he continued to hold her wrist. “Done.”

  “Huh?” she asked. Her chest rose and fell rapidly. She was breathing fast. Her eyes drifted to his mouth, and he saw the subtle purse of them as if she wanted him to kiss her. She didn’t move.

  “Your wrist,” he said quietly, closing some of the distance between their mouths. His recent anger and his unfulfilled desires made it damn near impossible to concentrate. “I’m done.”

  It went against his very nature to go slow, but he had to. At that moment, he didn’t care if she was married. No man who treated a woman the way she’d been treated deserved her.

  Her lashes fluttered over her eyes. “I can never tell if your eyes are black or brown.”

  Reid let his mouth come against hers, barely touching as he waited to see what she would do. Her smell was in his head, wrapping around him. Every nerve centered on her until he was poised on the brink of pain and pleasure. He needed her. His body needed her until it physically hurt. His hands shook to touch her, flexing and fisting in the effort it took to hold them back.

  “Sleep with me tonight,” she said. Her eyes closed. “I don’t want to be alone.”

  Reid tensed. Was she asking for what he thought she was? Just as he was going to crush his mouth down on hers and obey, a soft snore escaped her mouth. Very slowly, he pushed back from her, trembling violently. Jasmine was asleep.

  With a pained laugh, he sat back on his legs and studied her. He wasn’t a beast. He wouldn’t touch her, not when she was passed out. This had never happened to him before. He’d never been brought to the brink, only to deny himself. Actually, he’d never been so aroused before, which said a lot.

  Crawling to the decontaminator, his groin so tight that he flinched each time he moved, he shut himself in. He stripped off his clothes, letting the lasers run over his body, cleaning the sweat of exercise from his flesh as he touched his hard shaft. Even before he relieved his body of the pressure, he knew it wouldn’t help. Still, what could he do? When he released himself, it was a painful surge that made him bite his lip to keep from screaming.

  “Computer,” Reid said, breathless and panting in the aftermath. The immense pressure was gone, but the desire he felt wasn’t. “Define the human word, rogue.”

  “Rogue,” the computer’s monotone repeated. “There are over five hundred reference listings in the computer. Definition one, a plant that has an—”

  “Computer, in reference to the origins of the Old Star Language pertaining to humanoid culture,” Reid said.

  “Rogue,” the monotone repeated, starting over. “A ne’er-do-well, a scamp, scallywag, charlatan, rapscallion, con man, crook, vagrant, beggar, devil, reprobate. One who is playful, mischievous. A—”

  “Computer, that’s enough,” Reid said. It wasn’t exactly the ‘irresistibly charming sex god’ answer he’d been hoping for. He gave a weak laugh as he stepped out of the small room. Going to a dresser, he slipped on a pair of loose pants. He preferred to sleep nude, but he didn’t want to chance Jasmine’s body rubbing up against his. If it did, he’d be making love to her before he even woke up enough to know what he was doing.

  He glanced at the bed. Her hair spilled over her shoulders, trailing seductively over the crimson shirt. For some reason, he found himself imagining what she would look like in the gowns of his people, dressed as a Var woman. This was a lady built with grace, elegance, and poise. Her very bearing did her proud.

  What was he going to do with her? It was clear Jasmine wouldn’t appreciate being one of his many wives because that’s what he would someday have. And that was if she even chose to be a half mate. After what had been done to her, he could see why she would not wish to try marriage again.

  Reid didn’t see himself giving her to another cat-shifter. He wouldn’t be able to stand seeing her, her stomach large with another man’s child, her body mated to another, belonging to another. The Draig were absolutely out of the question. He’d been at war with the dragon-shifters for too many decades to allow that to happen, even if it would keep her from his sight. Maybe he should just let her go on Werten. She said that’s what she wanted, didn’t she?

  Marrying one female wasn’t an option he’d allow himself to consider. Reid understood his father’s point when he’d taught his sons never to life mate with one woman. Reid’s grandfather had suffered the folly of mating with one woman. She died when Attor was born, and his father never recovered enough to breed with more women and produce sons. Although he took women to his bed, he left Attor without any brothers to help lead the Var nation. So, when Attor took over the throne, he became reliant on a few noble houses. One of those house nobles had even tried to kill his sons, proving that it was wiser to have many children by half mates than risk having a single child by a full life mate.

  Reid sighed, staring at Jasmine. Perhaps he’d been looking at their situation all wrong. Maybe there was no need for them to mate at all. He didn’t have to take her as a half mate to be her lover. Why not teach her pleasure and get some for himself?

  Perhaps this situation with Jasmine wasn’t as complicated as he’d made it out to be. Tonight, for a brief instant, he’d seen that she wanted him as he wanted her. It was a flicker of longing, fear, and anticipation. Tonight, he smelled her desire for him, the fragrance of it. Even now it wafted from her, teasing his senses and driving him mad. There was hope in that pheromone. Maybe all she needed was the right man, a man with experience, a man who knew a woman’s body, a man who knew how to touch. Maybe all she needed was a man like him.

  Reid’s mouth opened, and he was torn between a groan and a scream. Instead, he kept quiet, gently touching her face. Letting a single finger trail over her soft skin, he asked her, “What are you doing to me, Jasmine? Why did you have to get on this ship?”

  Jasmine didn’t move, and Reid never received his answers.

  20

  Jasmine didn’t wake up the next morning though she did moan a lot throughout the long night. Reid laid by her side, her soft body curled into his harder one as he watched over her. He lay on his back, too afraid to turn to her, lest he start making love to her before he could stop himself. Already his desire for her towered from his hips, pushing at his pants until it looked like a tent had been erected.

  He stared at the ceiling, to where the monitor would appear if he ordered Earth porn. If he were a cad, he’d do it. Unfortunately, he was finding he had more morals than he’d ever given himself credit for. Although, this self-denial crap was getting really old.

  At first Reid thought she was just sleeping off the liquor, but as morning turned to afternoon and afternoon to evening, he knew he had to do something. Jasmine was sick. She wasn’t waking up.

  Jarek landed The Conqueror on Werten to refuel. The shift into the planet’s atmosphere was a bumpy ride. Reid was curious to see other planets, but didn’t leave his room. With Jasmine asleep, there wasn’t much option as to whether or not they should leave her behind. Secretly, he was glad for it.

  As the guys stretched their legs on the planet’s surface inquiring after a doctor for Jasmine, Reid stayed by her side. According to Rick, all they’d found was a fueling station and a small settlement. The people of Werten hadn’t seen a doctor for years.

  They’d left as quickly as they’d landed. Take off was just as bumpy.

  Rick apologized repeatedly for letting Jasmine drink. Reid wanted to be mad at him, but he was too worried. If he’d been paying more attention to her, she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to partake of so much. She was his ward, he’d swore to protect her, and he’d been too self-involved with his own arousal to pay the proper attention to her.

  The door to his room opened, and
Reid looked up from where he sat by Jasmine on the bed. He’d dressed, wearing loose clothes to hide his obvious arousal from everyone.

  “Well?” Reid demanded.

  Evan nodded. “I think you’re suspicions are correct. I don’t think it’s possible for her to be allergic to the medical booth. I think her husband must’ve told her that so she’d hide the bruises he gave her. It would look strange if she were seen getting fixed up every week. Medical booths log records of the uses in their database. I’m sure doctor’s records are forwarded to the other alliance doctors when a ship lands. Our booths aren’t set to do that because of privacy laws, but hers most likely would have been. Plus, it probably gave the guy greater pleasure to see her suffering for longer periods of time after the beatings.”

  “You’re sure, then?” Reid frowned, looking at Jasmine, willing her to wake up. “I don’t want to make her worse.”

  “Every book I’ve looked in says she’ll be fine. Maybe we can try it on her wrist first?” Evan frowned. “The new booth allows for lying down, but I’m not sure we should use it until it’s been checked out. It came from Nozando, and if she won it, there might be something wrong with it. The old one is an upright model. Perhaps, one of us can hold her up or something.”

  Reid reached over to his side and grabbed a large bottle of pills. “These were in her bag. I’ve seen her taking them a few times. Actually, more than a few times. She eats them two, maybe three times a day. I can tell because she gets a strange smell afterward, not bad, just different.”

  Evan arched a brow.

  “She smells sterile,” Reid said. “Like a medical ward.”

  “What are they?” Evan asked, taking the bottle and uncapping it. A bunch of small white pills slid into his hand.

  “I don’t know,” Reid frowned. “Anyway, can we analyze them?”

  “Not onboard the ship,” Evan said, weighing them in his palm before sniffing them. “Maybe Princess Tori could when we get back to Qurilixen.”