The Playful Prince
Page 1
The Playful Prince
Lords of the Var: A Qurilixen World Novel
Michelle M. Pillow®
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The Playful Prince (Lords of the Var®) © Copyright 2005 - 2018, Michelle M. Pillow
Third Electronic Printing July 2015, Anniversary Edition, The Raven Books
Second Electronic Printing January 2011
First Electronic Printing May 2005
Cover art © Copyright 2015
ISBN 9781452463841
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Published by The Raven Books LLC
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence.
Michelle M. Pillow® and Lords of the Var® are registered trademarks of The Raven Books LLC
Contents
About The Playful Prince
About the Lords of the Var Series
Michelle’s Bestselling Series
Author Updates
Note from the Author
King Attor of the Var
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
The Bound Prince
The series continues…
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About The Playful Prince
Shapeshifter Romance
Cat-shifter Prince Quinn isn’t looking for a serious relationship. In fact, he’s never even considered it. He’s content to enjoy life to the fullest, never taking anything but his royal duties seriously. However, when a new scientist arrives to test for biological weapons, he can’t seem to stay away from her.
Dr. Tori Elliot is at the palace to do a job and no matter what she’s going to act like a professional…which means not succumbing to the seductively sexy playful prince.
About the Lords of the Var Series
The cat-shifter princes were raised to not believe in love, especially love for one woman, and they will do everything in their power to live up to their father’s expectations. Oh, how the mighty will fall.
* * *
Lords of the Var® series is a continuation of the bestselling romance series, Dragon Lords, and is part of the Qurilixen World. They can be read as standalones, but the author recommends reading books in order of release.
* * *
For details please visit www.michellepillow.com
Michelle’s Bestselling Series
Qurilixen World Novels
Dragon Lords Series
Barbarian Prince
Perfect Prince
Dark Prince
Warrior Prince
His Highness The Duke
The Stubborn Lord
The Reluctant Lord
The Impatient Lord
The Dragon’s Queen
Lords of the Var® Series
The Savage King
The Playful Prince
The Bound Prince
The Rogue Prince
The Pirate Prince
Qurilixen Lords
Dragon Prince
More Coming Soon!
Captured by a Dragon-Shifter Series
Determined Prince
Rebellious Prince
Stranded with the Cajun
Hunted by the Dragon
Mischievous Prince
Headstrong Prince
Space Lords Series
His Frost Maiden
His Fire Maiden
His Metal Maiden
His Earth Maiden
His Woodland Maiden
Dynasty Lords Series
Seduction of the Phoenix
Temptation of the Butterfly
Having trouble finding the books?
Updated Buy Links Here
* * *
To learn more about the Qurilixen World series of books and to stay up to date on the latest book list visit www.MichellePillow.com
Author Updates
Join the Reader Club Mailing List to stay informed about new books, sales, contests and preorders!
http://michellepillow.com/author-updates/
To Lesley P.
Thank you for your help on the Lords of the Var® anniversary editions.
Note from the Author
Dragon Lords fans know the cat-shifting Var as being the villains of the story, but every conflict has two sides. With King Attor dead, it is up to the Var princes to pick up the pieces. Though these stories can be read as a standalone series, they do begin where the Dragon Lords left off, most significantly after Dragon Lords 4: Warrior Prince. There is also a prequel story, Dragon Lords 9: The Dragon’s Queen that tells the story of how Attor became the cat-shifter king and how the Var-Draig war really started.
Lords of the Var® are interconnected to many series installments, including: Dragon Lords, Captured by a Dragon-Shifter (the dragon-shifters and cat-shifters in modern day times), Space Lords, Zhang Dynasty and more. To find out more about the books, including reading orders, visit my website, www.MichellePillow.com.
As an added bonus in the Lords of the Var® series, see cameo appearances from some of your favorite Dragon Lords prince and princesses.
To stay informed about when a new book in the series installments is released, join my newsletter mailing list at: http://michellepillow.com/newslettersignup/
King Attor of the Var
“A man cannot bow to a woman and still call himself a man.” - King Attor of the Var
1
Tori Elliot, the very dignified scientist, opened her mouth. Her heart beat furiously in her chest, thumping so hard it echoed in her ears. For a moment, no sound left her as she kept her eyes focused straight ahead. There was a dramatic pause and all around her was dead silence. Suddenly, the twentieth century Old Earth music picked up and her naked body jerked into movement. She belted out the tune into her mouth sanitizer turned microphone with her mirror as an audience. After a few bars, she dropped the mouth sanitizer and danced and sang around her metal cabin. Her arms flung through the air, wild and carefree, as she slowly dressed.
The spacesh
ip she was on belonged to the Exploratory Science Commission. The ESC hired out staff and freelance scientists to large corporations, mostly contracting ecological work with mining companies and wealthy environmentalist groups. The ship had been traveling through deep space for weeks, just now reaching the outer edge of the Y quadrant.
Tori didn’t really care where they were. Her last job, testing mineral compounds fourteen thousand feet below the ice surface of Sintaz, had been a great success. With the bonus the drilling company had given her, she’d made enough space credits to support herself in high style for at least a couple of years. She was going to take that money and indulge in a month long spa treatment on Quazer while she figured out her next move.
The material of the black, skintight jumpsuit stretched as she pushed her arms into it. The outfit molded to her body, covering her arms and legs completely. Even though she didn’t technically work for ESC but was a freelancer, she was expected to dress in uniform when contracted through them. The uniforms all came with a transmitter sewn into the v-neckline, so the company could find them if anyone went missing. There was always a certain amount of risk in what she did, but the scientific rewards were well worth it. Besides, she never took unnecessary chances.
“Doctor Elliot.”
“Ah, crap!” Tori jumped. The Old Earth music automatically turned off as the voice invaded her privacy. Turning to the round cabin mirror, she quickly smoothed down her wild hair and threw it over her shoulders. She stood, watching the shiny surface. It glimmered slightly, fading into a view screen. The image of the ship’s senior ESC advisor, Doctor Fontaine, replaced her reflection.
“Good Morning, Doctor Fontaine,” Tori answered, keeping a rigidly professional expression. Her heart skittered around in her chest from being frightened in the middle of her impromptu dance number. That was the last thing she wanted her colleagues seeing.
“Is everything all right, Doctor Elliot?” Fontaine asked. He was an older man with graying black hair. He wore the black jumpsuit of the company covered by a white lab coat. Tori hadn’t had much contact with him on Sintaz because he stayed up on the surface while she went below ground with her crew. “You look flushed.”
“I was logging in my fitness hours early.” Tori dutifully answered. Okay, so it was a stretch of the truth, but she had worked up a sweat. Besides, she hated logging in fitness hours.
“Ah, quite right,” Fontaine answered, easily dismissing his question. “Listen, we have a minor situation. The Human Intelligence Agency is coming aboard to commandeer our ship. They’ve asked that all personnel records be turned over to them immediately, and we have complied. They have assured us that this should only delay travel for a few days at most.”
“What does the HIA want with a bunch of scientists?” Tori asked, mildly concerned. “Do they suspect something onboard this ship?”
“I don’t have all the details, doctor, but they seemed most insistent that it’s an intergalactic emergency. They’ve requested you to head up the team.”
“Wait, what team?” Tori demanded. Blast it! She was on vacation, as of the completion of the last assignment. She wasn’t ready to take another job so soon. Besides, she hadn’t signed a contract with ESC. They couldn’t force her to do anything. Keeping her voice level, she said, “I’m not personnel. Why were my private records handed over? As of the completion of my last mission, I’m technically a civilian passenger.”
“Sorry, doctor, they had an intergalactic warrant. We had no choice but to give them the qualifications of all onboard scientists.” Fontaine’s expression gave nothing away, but she didn’t expect it to.
If the HIA wanted her to head up a team, she knew she’d have to head up the team. They might pay her, but she wasn’t happy about being forced to do a job. Technically, she’d be given a “choice”, but if she refused they could make the rest of her career a nightmare. When they were finished with her, she’d be lucky to get work teaching school children scientific categorizing on some remote jungle planet.
Well, Fontaine said it was only a few days delay so it shouldn’t be that bad. They probably had a tanker ship carrying liquid ore crash in an isolated area, or some other type of ecological disaster. Why else would they need her? Her specialties were alien biology and geology. Remaining professionally calm, she stated, “Very well, Doctor Fontaine. Please inform me when they arrive. I’d like to be briefed on my new assignment as soon as possible so I can prepare.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Fontaine said. “Your willingness is noted and appreciated.”
“Doctor.” Tori nodded in dismissal. The mirror blipped, and she was once more alone with her reflection. Under her breath, she grumbled, “Willingness my ass.”
What did the HIA want with her? She didn’t feel like working. She needed a break—a long, relaxing vacation in a place that didn’t have arctic temperatures all year round.
Tori sighed, her good humor dampened by the turn of events. The music started again where it had left off, but she was no longer in the mood. Irritated, she called, “Music off. Bed.”
The music turned off, and a narrow bed slid out of the metal wall of the cabin. She threw herself down on the stiff mattress with a thud. Groaning heavily, she stared at the metal ceiling in dejection.
With a grumble, she turned her back on the room, facing the metal wall. “So much for my time off.”
2
“This is the planet of Qurilixen,” Franklin, as he told Tori to call him, said. He pointed to a 3-D map floating above the desk. The small, transparent red sphere rotated slowly between them. There weren’t many bodies of water that she could see, but there was a mountain range and plenty of forest area. It was quite possible the dense forest hid rivers and swampland. By the apparent height of the trees, she’d guess they were surrounded by excessive moisture.
Franklin was a mission director with the HIA. According to him she was now a temporary HIA employee, and he was her new temporary boss. His shortly cropped, dark brown hair was trimmed to military perfection, and he walked with rigid purpose. He was young for a director, but that didn’t stop him from issuing orders with confidence to those around him.
Tori had met his kind before, all work, no play. Not that there was anything wrong with that. She was the same way while on the job, okay, mostly she was.
“And here,” Franklin continued, his hip perched on the edge of the desk, as he pointed at the floating sphere, “is the Var palace. This is where we’ll land and make contact with my agent.”
“Excuse me, sir,” Tori interrupted. She looked at the map and then at him. “But what, exactly, are we landing on Qurilixen for? I need to choose and brief a team, pack my supplies, work on securing permits. In order to do all that, I need to know what we’re up against.”
“Everything you need has already been assembled for you, Doctor Elliot. As for your team, you will command every scientist on board this ship for the duration of this mission.” Franklin paused and Tori instantly filled the silence.
“But, there are nearly a hundred scientists on this ship, maybe more. You can’t mean me to command them all.”
“Yes, I do,” he stated easily as if it was an everyday occurrence to be handed a huge, career breaking assignment such as this one.
Tori swallowed. Even if it were for only a few days, the fact that the HIA picked her out of hundreds to handle their “intergalactic emergency” would do volumes for her record, not to mention her pay demand. She tried not to be nervous. She couldn’t mess this up, whatever it was. She wondered which part of her work record had impressed them. The biological categorizing on Denat 7? The time she was second in command and helped clean up the mineral spill on Merca? Her numerous publications on DNA sequencing and its application to modern exploratory science?
“It’s a simple assignment and you’ll be afforded with the best equipment and protective gear the HIA has to offer.” Franklin smiled at her, but the look hardly passed as pleasant. “I will offer you whatever as
sistance I can. All we ask is that you be quick and efficient. I want you in and out of there fast. Discretion is a very vital key in this matter.”
Tori hid her smile. How discreet was sending down a hundred technologically advanced scientists to a primitive planet?
“And what would that ‘simple’ assignment be?” she insisted.
“One of our agents has detected biological weaponry from Ranoz. They believe they’ve have found the weapon intact. It will be your job to test the Var palace and everyone who’s come in contact with that crate to see if they have been contaminated. It will also be your job to make sure the situation is contained.” Franklin again paused, and Tori wondered if he was doing it for dramatic effect. It wasn’t necessary. What he said was dramatic enough on its own. “You’ll have the team down with you for one day. I expect you to utilize them efficiently and get the job done in that time.”