“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.
“What do I do?” Tori leaned back, unsure what was wrong with him. His eyes filled with green and the pupils elongated slightly. She panted--excited, fearful, aroused.
“I’m trying to understand,” he admitted, his voice low and soft. His eyes narrowed and moved down her neck to her covered breasts, as if seeing them for the first time. For a moment, he stared at them like a man starved.
“What did I do?” Tori asked again, heated by his possessive gaze on her body. She felt very exposed standing naked before him.
“You don’t trust me at all, do you, Tori?” he answered at length. His hand reached as if he would touch her, but then fell back.
“What are you talking about?” Tori trembled. “I don’t understand what is happening here.”
“I’m talking about testing my DNA for Dr. Simon’s murder. You could’ve asked me for a hair sample. You didn’t have to resort to deceit. I would’ve given it to you freely. But what hurts more is, after all we’ve been through together, that you could possibly believe I was a murderer.” Quinn’s chest rose and fell with hurried, frustrated breaths. “I want to know ... when you and I ... was it just to get a DNA sample from me? Is that why you let me take you in the hall like that? Were you just doing your job?”
“No, Quinn, I ... yes, I did take a sample, but not in the hallway, not when you think.” A blush stained her cheeks as she thought of her back pressed up against the wall. “It was before, when you kissed me outside Kirill’s office. That’s when I took the sample.”
Quinn looked at Tori, his heart beating a thunderous rhythm in his chest. When he’d heard Grant and Vitto laughing about it, he’d just assumed it’d been the last time they were together. To know she took the sample before she’d even known for sure that it was a Var who committed the act, hurt worse. Everything else that he’d been about ready to confess to her slipped away and he couldn’t speak.
“Quinn, you tested fine. It’s not you,” she said, as if that made it all better. Her rounded eyes looked up at him.
Quinn frowned. “I know it wasn’t me. I told you that, but obviously my word wasn’t good enough for you, was it Tori?”
“No, science ... we have to logically deduce--” Tori tried to explain.
“This has nothing to do with science, Tori.” Quinn didn’t want to hear it. She was always about the work! Forgetting about him for work! Running out on him for work! Ignoring him for work! He was tired of being second to her job. “Not everything in the universe has to fit into a nice scientific package.”
“But--”
“This has everything to do with us--you and me.” Quinn’s fingers lifted to her cheek, but did not caress. “It has to do with you not trusting me when I told you I didn’t hurt Simon. You didn’t believe that I just found him. After what we’d been through together--”
“What, I should trust you because we have sex? Because you...” Tori’s face turned red with anger. She dropped her hands from her breasts to scream at him.
Quinn shot forward, grabbing her roughly in his arms. His hand slipped over her cheek, tangling back into her dark wet locks. He pressed her back into the rock, and growled viciously, “Is that all this is to you? Huh, Tori? Is this just sex? Am I just another conquest to fill your time on some planet? Fine, if that’s what you want from me, that’s exactly what you’ll get.”
Quinn wanted to scream with the pain rolling inside him. His lips pushed forward, taking her mouth in a bruising kiss that was meant to punish her for making him feel. He poured all his frustration onto her, prying her lips apart with his tongue, grinding so hard his teeth bumped into hers.
Tori’s arms wound up to his shoulders. She pushed lightly to get him to back off. She tried to kiss him back, but he didn’t allow it.
Mindless with rage, he freed himself from his clothes with one hand, still holding on to her head with the other. Letting his hard arousal free, he drew his lips back. Even now, he wanted her--needed her desperately. He felt a void when she wasn’t around. It was getting worse as the days passed. He was under a spell, her spell, and he wanted to be free of it.
“Quinn,” she whispered. When he looked at her, she didn’t appear to be upset. She looked aroused. It was too much. Her words whimpered from her throat, begging him to continue. He couldn’t stop if he wanted to. “Ah, Quinn, please. Now.”
Lifting her up against the rock, he brought himself right next to her, supporting her with his hands. Her legs wrapped around his back. Her fingers clutched his shoulder, gripping tightly as she opened herself up for him. She pulled at his jaw, lifting his mouth up to hers so she could kiss him. Her kiss was tender compared to his. When he entered the warmth of her body, it was with an urgency they both felt.
“Quinn,” she whispered, over and over. “Ah, Quinn, Quinn....”
Heat curled within them as they joined. He thrust, hard and sure within her, touching her deeply. Tori moaned into his mouth and he returned the sentiment twice as loud. His hips pumped wildly into hers, pressing her back. She couldn’t escape, didn’t want to try. The tension built, washing over her from between her thighs. His eyes possessed her as he stared deeply into her. When his body finally exploded inside her, she whimpered, holding onto him as she reached her own violent release.
A slow clap sounded over the bathing pool. “Wonderful show, my prince!”
Tori yelped in surprise, leaning to look over Quinn’s shoulder. Her body had felt so wonderful pressed into his and now that pleasure drained as cool green eyes met hers from the shoreline. The man stood alone. He was shorter in stature for a Var male with long graying black hair that flowed freely over his shoulders. Even without the gray, she’d have been able to instantly tell his age. There was a strange carriage to him, as if he had power, respect, plans.
Quinn dropped her to her feet and quickly laced up his pants. For a moment, his bright blue eyes met hers. She saw the hard expression on his face, the tense working of his clenched jaw. She read a silent warning in his gaze and nodded. He turned his back on her to face the intruder.
Tori watched his muscles flex, as he took off his shirt and thrust it back at her. Grateful, she pulle
d it over her head. It was damp in spots and stuck to her thighs, but she didn’t care, as she pulled the laces together to hide her nakedness. Pushing her wet hair back from her face, she tried to move to his side. Without even looking, his arm shot out and stopped her progress. He pushed her once more behind his back.
“Lord Myrddin,” Quinn said, his voice flat. His head shifted as he nodded.
Lord Myrddin! Tori tried to lean over to get another look at the man. This time when Quinn pushed her back it wasn’t as gentle. She gasped as she stumbled into the trickling water, wetting the shirt even more.
“My prince,” Lord Myrddin answered.
Tori could hear the smirk in his words, the disrespect. Her body stiffened. Eyeing Quinn’s naked back, she couldn’t help feeling protected. She quietly leaned over to peek between his arm and side, angling her head so Quinn wouldn’t hear her doing it. The man on shore hadn’t moved.
“I’m curious, my prince. Aside from the most obvious,” Lord Myrddin grinned at them with meaning, but the look was not pleasant, “what brings you to my shadowed marshes?”
Tori shivered. This man made her very nervous.
“We were on our way to see you,” Quinn answered. His hand lifted to rest on his hip, unintentionally making it easier for her to see.
“Oh?” Lord Myrddin’s eyes met hers and he nodded briefly. Quinn stiffened. “Why don’t you let your lady out of hiding, my prince, and introduce us?”
“Quinn?” Tori whispered.
“My lady is not prepared for company. If my lord would be so kind as to come back later, I’d be happy to make the introduction at that time.” Quinn’s arm lowered and she frowned. His voice rang with authority, as he stepped forward. Tori followed behind him.
“Ah, if we are doing away with formality, then let’s not pretend ignorance. I assume you are the Dr. Elliot, come to save us from ourselves?” Lord Myrddin asked, raising a brow.
“My brother, the king, requests you join him at the palace.” Quinn didn’t move and Tori thought it better than to speak.
The Playful Prince Page 13
