The Playful Prince

by Michelle M. Pillow

  Her arms moved lazily, nearly too exhausted to lift up to him. But it felt too good. She never wanted him to stop.

  Quinn brought her again to climax. It was a gentle washing of tremors compared to the intense force they’d experienced in the bath. He drew out the bittersweet moment, so the pleasure lasted a long time. Finally, he let go, releasing his seed into her, letting his body lay his claim on her, marking her as his. She was already marked by him though she didn’t know it. This time, he’d make damned sure she couldn’t take another man to her bed—not Vitto, not Grant, not anyone.

  “Tori,” he whispered down to her drowsy face. Her eyes flitted open, and she made soft sounds of contentment.

  “Mm, you feel so good. Just stay right there, deep inside me. It feels so good,” she murmured sleepily. “I wish I could stay awake to do it again, but I’m just so exhausted.”

  “Tori, listen to me,” he insisted in a hurried whisper. Her tired eyes looked at him. “You are mine.”

  “Mm, all right Quinn, yours,” she mumbled before falling into a deep sleep.

  17

  Tori yawned and reached up to scratch her face. It was early morning, but she’d always been an early riser. Frowning, she kept scratching. Her skin felt like it was on fire. Quinn’s arm possessively draped around her waist, his hand holding one of her breasts. His fingers twitched slightly in his sleep. A light smile crossed her features as she gently pried his hand away. He mumbled in protest and she stiffened. Then, as he flipped onto his back, she was able to slide off the bed undetected.

  Again frowning as her irritated skin demanded attention, she rushed to the full-length mirror. Standing before it naked, she froze in horror. Her face and neck were covered in large, patchy, red bumps, and they itched unbearably.

  “I look deformed,” she whispered in horror. Her heart dropped from her chest. Tori was completely mortified. She glanced back to the bed where the prince slept, knowing she couldn’t let Quinn see her like this—not like this!

  Tori ran to her pack and threw on a black jumpsuit and lab coat. Not bothering with her hair, she ran from the suite. Using the lab coat and hair to hide her features, she hurried past a few of the guards. She was very thankful when they let her by without comment. Reaching Vitto’s door, she pounded on it. It took a while, but he finally answered.

  “Um?” he mumbled, half asleep. Rubbing his eyes, he looked out in the hall and grimaced. “Man, Tori, come on. It’s too early to…”

  Tori dropped the coat.

  “Crap!” Vitto exclaimed, recoiling in shock.

  “We have to go. Now,” she ordered. “I’m heading back to the camp. Get everyone up and meet me there. There’s something wrong with those samples we collected, and I’m going to find out what.”

  “But, Tori,” he began, reaching for her then reconsidering as he pulled his hand back, “your face.”

  Tears welled in her eyes. Between gritted teeth, she managed, “I know. Just meet me back at the camp, okay? I can’t be seen like this.”

  Vitto nodded. Leaning out into the hall, he watched in amazement as she ran away.

  Quinn’s body shook with outrage before he even opened his eyes. He knew she was gone, sensed it before he even reached across the bed. His hand balled into a fist, and he slammed it down hard on the mattress.

  “Sacred cats! She did it again,” he fumed, partly in disbelief.

  Tan fur filled in his body. His eyes dilated and shifted to a pale greenish yellow. Claws stretched from his fingernails and toenails as his hands and feet became thick paws. A roar left his parted lips as they pulled wide, elongating as his body shifted into the form of a cougar.

  With a leap, he tore off of the bed, and it didn’t take long for him to work the doorknob with his paws. Rage made him blind to all reason. Running down the hall on all fours, he passed Kirill.

  The king blinked in surprised and yelled, “Quinn! What...?”

  Quinn ignored him. He tore out of the palace and disappeared into the gigantic forest.

  18

  “Hold still, Tori,” Vitto grumbled under his breath. “I’m almost done.”

  “What is it?” she asked, as he finished running the medical laser over her face.

  “It appears just to be a rash of some sort. What sample were you working with?” Vitto turned to grab an electronic clipboard.

  “The ones we collected from the south section a few days ago.” Tori stood and touched her face. It felt like it was back to normal.

  “You’re still a little red and patchy,” Vitto admitted, “but it should go away in a few days. You’re lucky it wasn’t a lot worse. I don’t want you working with samples until your head is straight. It’s not safe.”

  Before Tori could dispute him, Grant’s voice came through the tent. “Uh, guys, you should see this.”

  They turned to Grant. His tanned face was pale as he solemnly motioned them to follow. Tori and Vitto shared a concerned look before moving to the tent flap.

  “What’s going on?” Tori asked, as Grant grabbed up a pack and moved toward the ladder leading to the caves. Seeing Simon watching them, Tori stated, “We’ll be right back, Simon.”

  “I’ll start lunch,” Simon answered as he nodded. Since he was older, Tori hated to make him climb the rope ladder. Besides, he was better in the lab than in the field anyway, and he seemed to enjoy cooking for the team.

  “I... You just need to see it for yourself.” Grant quickly climbed the ladder up into the cave. Leading the way through the tunnel to the main cavern, he paused. “When we were at the palace, well, Linzi just finished—”

  “Grant,” Tori stated, not wanting the details at the moment.

  Grant cleared his throat. “Well, anyway, you know I think best after sex, ’cause my head’s the clearest. Anyway, something’s been bugging me about this new lower subsystem I found in the east tunnel.”

  Taking off his pack, Grant handed them each a mask and kept one for himself. He moved to the east tunnel and pointed to the hole in the cave floor.

  “Look at the opening. See how it looks chiseled more than formed by erosion? And, look at this. The rim’s covered with that same black moss, only it’s not dying in the air. I know that wasn’t there before when I found this entrance.” Grant pulled out gloves and handed them all round. Avoiding the moss along the edge of the opening, he hopped down into the hole. There was a sound of movement before his light shined up.

  Tori and Vitto followed him into the hole. As Grant led the way, the moss became thicker and longer. Tori’s boot splashed in a shallow pool of liquid, but she ignored it and kept going. The light became dim, and it was hard to see as they made their way along the rocky cave system.

  “Look,” Grant whispered, pointing his light forward. “I think whatever is behind there is the source of the black moss.”

  An iron door was fitted into the wall of the cave. Tori gazed in amazement to see it. “What’s a door doing down here?”

  “I don’t know,” Vitto whispered. “But it looks old, just check out the hinges. They’re rusted. I don’t think anyone has been down here for a very long time.”

  “Let’s open it and find out,” Grant said, his words edged with scientific excitement.

  They all knew it was a little careless to proceed, but no one stopped him from reaching forward. There was always a certain amount of risk in what they did. Tori felt Vitto’s shoulder next to hers. He nodded at her before turning his attention back to the door. She adjusted the mask over her features, making sure she had a tight seal.

  After a short struggle, Grant pulled the door open. Light flooded them from within. Tori blinked, letting her eyes adjust as Grant took a cautious step forward.

  “Motion light sensors,” Grant said, switching off his flashlight. “Whoever was here must have left them connected.”

  “Whoever it was, they haven’t been back in a while,” Tori added.

  Black moss covered nearly everything—tables, chairs, an antiquate
d computer system with a keyboard and desktop monitor. Only peeks of the equipment and part of the metal floor showed through.

  “It’s an old laboratory,” Tori said. “What do you think they were doing down here?”

  “By the looks of it, it’s about a hundred or two hundred years old. All the computer files are probably corrupted by now.” Vitto frowned. “But, one thing’s for sure. Whatever this black moss is, it originated in here.”

  “Guys, look,” Grant had wandered forward and they rushed to join him. He’d found a couple of locked cages with piles of humanoid bones as if whatever was locked inside had just laid down and died. “Do you think they could have starved?”

  “Possible,” Vitto answered. “This place looks abandoned, not shut down. I mean, look,” he pointed to a desk. “Personal belongings are scattered everywhere. You can see the outline of a file and papers right there.”

  “Okay, here’s what we do,” Tori instructed. She looked at the desk and, seeing a long oval object, picked it up and swept the moss from it to study it. On a whim, she shoved it into her pocket. “Grab whatever you can that might have some information on it. The Var palace mainframe is a little outdated so this stuff might still be salvageable. I want to figure out just what in the galaxy they were doing down here. Whatever this moss is, it started here, and it’s slowly poisoning this planet. We could have inadvertently helped it along by clearing the rocks blocking this entrance. The swamp marshes are already dead. And, by the looks of the moss in the cave, it’s mutating to survive in air. It could be nothing or we could have the biggest ecological disaster we’ve ever dealt with on our hands.”

  19

  When Tori climbed down the ladder from the cave, it was to find her camp being torn apart by a group of Var soldiers. She frowned, as she saw Commander Falke order the dismantling of her tent. She started to protest, but she was interrupted.

  “Where have you been? I have guards combing the marshes for your dead bodies.”

  Tori froze. She turned around. Quinn marched up to her wearing one of their lab coats. His bare feet and calves peaked out from the bottom. Remembering what she looked like when she left him, she unconsciously lifted her hand to touch her face. She was relieved to find her skin smooth.

  “Combing the marshes?” she repeated, frowning. “Why—what’s going on here? What’s happened? Are you fighting again with the Draig? Why are you dismantling my tent? And what’s that guy doing with my samples? It took us two weeks to get them collected and organized. He can’t carry them together like that. Oh, he’s contaminating them with… Stop!”

  Tori made a move to go after a guard who roughly carried her samples of marsh mud. The little containers jingled and fell over, mixing together. Quinn’s hand shot out and gripped her elbow, jerking her back.

  Her mouth opened, but before she could speak, Vitto yelled down from the cave. “What’s going on down there, Tor? Are we going to move this stuff down today or what?”

  Quinn frowned up at the man, not letting go of her arm. Looking at Falke, he said, “Help them out.”

  Falke nodded and motioned to some guards to climb the ladder.

  Tori gasped, as Quinn dragged her to the forest. When they were alone, he turned to study her.

  “Are you wearing my lab coat?” she asked, her brow arching in slight amusement. “And are you naked underneath it? What’s going on here, Quinn? I don’t understand.”

  “Are you harmed?” Quinn demanded ignoring her questions. His eyes roamed over her, not with pleasure, but fearfully searching her for injury.

  “Harmed?” she repeated, confused.

  “Damn it, woman! Would you actually answer a question instead of just repeating it back to me?”

  “W—wait,” Tori stuttered, fighting her anger. Her finger lifted, and she pointed it at him. “You storm in here and start tearing apart my camp and you want to ask me questions? What in the hell is going on, Quinn?”

  “We thought you were injured. After we found Doctor Martens—”

  “Doctor Martens?” Tori repeated. The blood rushed from her face. “What’s wrong with Simon?”

  “You weren’t in hiding?”

  “Hiding? I was working!” Tori panted, feeling sick. “What’s wrong with Simon?”

  “Tori, I’m sorry. He’s dead.” Quinn frowned. Her eyes widened, and she slowly shook her head.

  “That’s not possible,” she whispered, beginning to tremble. “He—he was just making lunch. He’s my responsibility. He can’t be dead. We were only in the cave for just a couple of hours at the most. How...?”

  “He was...mauled,” Quinn answered. He shifted his weight uncomfortably on his feet. His heart was still lodged in his throat and he wanted to pull her to his chest to make sure she was all right. He didn’t know what he’d do if something happened to her.

  Quinn had been so angry when he’d left the palace for the campsite. He’d stayed shifted in his cougar form as he sprinted to confront her. Then, he’d smelled the unmistakable hint of blood in the forest. In a panic, he’d found Doctor Martens’ body, but he couldn’t find the others. He’d checked the marshes, the forest, the opening of the cave and couldn’t detect their scent. He’d had no choice but to run back to the palace and get help. Now, looking at her red-splotched face, he worried anew.

  “Mauled?” she repeated, blinking in confusion. “As if by a cat-shifter?”

  Quinn held up his hands. “I know what you’re thinking Tori, but we had nothing to do with this. Let’s just get you back to the palace where it’s safe and then we’ll talk about it. I promise you we’ll find out what happened.”

  “Where’s his body?” she demanded. “I want proof. I want to see his body.”

  “Tori, please.” Quinn reached for her.

  She swatted him away and took a step back. “What are you even doing here Quinn?”

  “I’m helping you. Tori, I promise, we’ll discover who did this.”

  “No,” she shot, her tone unemotional. Her eyes dried, and she stiffened her lips. “We will figure this out. That’s why we’re here. To figure out exactly what is happening on this planet of yours. Doctor Martens was one of ours. If anyone will figure it out, we will. Since your soldiers have obviously carted off the better part of my camp, we will follow you back to the palace. But I want Simon’s body untouched until we get there. I, along with my team, will examine him to determine the cause of death.”

  “Tori, wait,” Quinn called when she began to walk away. She turned to look at him, her face hard. “What about us?”

  “Us,” she snorted, shaking her head as if it was the most stupid thing she’d ever heard. “There is no ‘us’, Quinn. I should never have mixed business with pleasure. But, you can rest assured that it won’t be happening again. All it did was make this situation more complicated than it needs to be. Now you must excuse me, my prince. I have to go and inform my men about our loss.”

  Quinn said no more, watching her go. He felt as if she’d stabbed him in the chest. He was nothing but a complication to her. The realization was almost too much to bear. He waited for his heart to stop beating so that he may fall dead upon the ground. When the ache only grew worse, he forced his legs to move after her. Like it or not, she’d have his help. It was his duty as ambassador to give it.

  20

  Tori took a long, slow drink of whiskey, glad the food simulator was able to materialize the hard liquor for her. It had been a rough day. When Quinn said Simon’s body had been mauled, he’d been kind in his assessment to her. In truth, there was little of it left for her and the guys to study.

  She took another drink, choking down the burning liquid. They’d examined Simon, ran tests on him to try and discover who or what would do such a horrible thing. She’d made the necessary reports to ESC and HIA. They had DNA sequencing started on samples taken from the corpse, but it would be a few days before anything was conclusive. They would be able to narrow down the species, but not the exact person unless the
y compiled a list of suspects and took samples from each one. The problem was, the killer wouldn’t just hand them the evidence willingly. They’d have to take it. Until they figured out who was Simon’s murderer, the black moss project was put on hold.

  Tori sighed. Unbidden, Quinn entered her slightly drunken thoughts. She wished he was there to comfort her. They hadn’t spoken since the forest, and she’d almost instantly regretted her harsh words. Grief had overwhelmed her with the need to strike out, and he’d been the closest thing. She honestly didn’t want to believe that there was nothing between them, for she felt something when she was with him—something raw and powerful and so very real. What she didn’t know was if he felt it too.

  It was a stinging connection inside her that called to him. She recognized it from that first moment their eyes met in the hall. Just the memory of that first meeting made her sick with jealousy. His lips had been pressed to Linzi’s. She’d been shocked to see them thus, but even more than that, she’d been envious. It had taken her awhile to recognize the emotion, but there it was, made suddenly clear now by the haze of hard New Earth liquor.

  Hearing a knock on her suite door, Tori threw back the rest of her drink and wobbled to her feet. She stumbled unsteadily across the palace suite to the door and threw it open. Quinn stood before her, and she blinked to make sure he was really there.

  “Tori, listen. I came to say I was sorry about Simon.” He held a flower out for her. “I know it’s not much, but I remembered Earth women liked flowers.”

  Tori looked at the pale solarflower and then back at Quinn. Oh, but he was handsome. She could stare at him all day. Her hand didn’t move to take the gift. Words welled up inside her, bursting to be free. There was so much she wanted to tell him at that moment, so much she wanted to confess. Her lips parted, held open for an instant before she said, “My face is deformed because of mud and I can’t feel my teeth.”