The Rogue Prince (10 page)

“She wanted a ride off Nozando. We’ve done that. If you drop her off safely at Werten, you’ve done your duty by her. You’ll have kept your word.” Jarek tilted his head. “Unless you wish to take her to Qurilixen.”

“I haven’t decided,” Reid said quietly. He really didn’t like that option either. Why would he bring her home, knowing he couldn’t touch her?

“She can mate to one of the soldiers. A Var warrior would treat her well. You cannot hope for a better fate than that for her, especially after what was done to her by her previous lover.” Jarek reached overhead and absently pushed a few buttons before throwing a small switch. Reid watched, not sure what his brother was doing. He didn’t know a thing about flying space crafts. Truth be told, he was ready to be on land, his feet firmly on the ground. Life in space wasn’t for him.

“Husband,” Reid said softly. “What was done to her by her husband, not lover.”

“What?”

“It was her mate. She’s married,” Reid said. He hadn’t admitted the words out loud before now. They stung worse than he’d thought they would.

“You detected her marking?” Jarek’s eyes widened in surprise. “I sensed no such thing.”

“No,” Reid said. “I kissed her and didn’t sense it at all.”

“Then?”

“She told me of it.” Reid lifted his chin. “She abandoned her husband.”

“Was she lying?”

“I don’t believe so. Trust me, I would’ve smelled the lie.”

Jarek frowned. Turning, he looked at the large viewing screen. “She’s human.”

“Yes.” Reid studied his brother’s back, wondering what he was getting at.

“Was she married in the human custom?” Jarek asked.

“I don’t know. Perhaps.” Reid tilted his head to the side, trying to get a better look at Jarek’s face. “Why do you ask?”

“Many human customs are done with pieces of papers and words, unless they are mating to a species like ours.” Jarek sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “If she was married by such a custom, there is no reason she couldn’t marry a Var warrior if she wanted to. We do not recognize human or Federation law. If I remember correctly, often humans force their children into marriage to seal pacts.”

Neither brother mentioned that King Kirill had made such a marriage pact with the Draig Princes. If one of the Draig princes was to have a girl, that female would marry Kirill’s oldest son. They really had no choice as it was to ensure peace. However, on a planet where only one in an upward of a million births was female, it was a long shot that the marriage would even have to be honored. Reid knew Jarek didn’t agree with the betrothal pact.

After a thoughtful pause, Jarek continued, “She would be free game because technically she is not claimed and if she left this man obviously he has no claim on her heart. With you as her guardian, Lady Jasmine would be sure to make a fine match. And, once back on Qurilixen anyone looking for her won’t be able to find her unless we want them to. As your ward, she’d have the unquestioned protection of the Var armies. You know as well as I that we could hide her far away from the palace, in places they’d never dream of looking.”

Reid tensed. “I didn’t say I was her guardian.”

“Would you like me to claim her instead? If you find you have no wish to give her away in marriage, I will be glad to. It shouldn’t be too hard. She’s young and pretty. Someone will take her off my hands. If not a Var warrior, than I’m sure she will be allowed to participate in the Draig breeding festival next year.”

“No. I’ll be her guardian. It is my duty to protect her.” Reid suddenly frowned. Why did he just claim Jasmine as his ward? The last thing he wanted was the woman living in his home, tempting him. Unless, what Jarek said was true and the human marriage was really meaningless. Reid frowned. He really needed to speak to Quinn and perhaps his brothers’ wives. Being human born, surely they would know something of this.

“Is it?” Jarek mused, chuckling.

“Yes. I said I’d watch out for her and I will.”

“Great. Then it’s decided. She’ll come back to Qurilixen with us.” Jarek grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. It was then that Reid realized his brother had manipulated the conversation for his own amusement. Jasmine’s presence tortured him and Jarek knew that. Obviously Jarek thought it was funny to watch his twin brother squirm.

“I’ll get you back for this,” Reid said. Jarek’s grin widened. There was no need to explain, his brother knew what he’d done.

Storming from the cockpit, he ignored Jarek’s laughter. Rick was standing against the wall and smiled as he came by.

“All figured out then?” Rick asked, chuckling. He didn’t even bother to hide his amusement.

Reid growled. He walked faster. Dev would surely be in the VR in training and Reid definitely needed to work off some frustration.

Was the whole ship amused by his torment? Viktor and Jackson were coming out of the lounge. They stopped, smirking at him. Reid’s frown deepened and he walked faster. He had his answer.

* * * *

Jasmine looked around the lounge from her place in the corner, trying to get the nerve to say something to the crew. They’d given up on trying to start a conversation with her. She couldn’t blame them. Each time they tried, she hardly gave them more than a two word reply. Sometimes the men watched old Earth movies, other times they played cards. Jasmine desperately wanted to join in, but each time they invited her she found herself saying no.

For the most part, everyone treated her well. Reid ignored her, but she could hardly complain about that. She still wore the crimson shirt and tight pants she’d arrived it, washing them everyday in the decontaminator.

“I knew it!” Rick announced walking in the door. “We should’ve stayed at the Galaxy Playmate mansion. It’s not like we have anything we need to be doing and Jarek’s insisting we fly around everything worth seeing. Oh, and Viktor, the porn monitor in my room is broken again and I need you to take a look at....”

Instantly the men’s faces paled and they turned to look at her. Rick froze in mid-speech. Jasmine watched him as he slowly turned to her, his face stiff.

“
Oh
,” Rick said, drawing the sound out. “Crap.”

Jasmine sat up. They were all still looking at her. “I’m going to go.”

Jasmine walked to the door, not meeting any of their eyes. She felt horrible. Obviously, she was a burden to them.

“Way to go,” she heard Evan drawl as she left. The lounge exploded with low murmurs as she walked away.

“Okay, okay, don’t get your panties in a twist. I don’t know what the big deal is. Sam never cared,” Rick said.

“Sam was different,” Evan admonished.

Jasmine heard footsteps coming after her. She tensed. Rick called, “Hey, Jasmine, I mean, my lady.”

Jasmine stopped. She looked at him, arching a brow. “I’m not a lady.”

“Oh, the Var call all women lady and insist we do so as well, especially with you belonging to Prince Reid and all.”

“I don’t belong to him,” Jasmine denied. Surely, Reid wouldn’t like hearing Rick say that. It wasn’t like the Var prince actually still wanted her. In fact, he was gone every morning when she got up and he didn’t talk to her when he did see her. In fact, she’d say that he definitely didn’t want anything to do with her.

“Well, you know what I mean. With him claiming you as his and all.” Rick smiled. “Anyway--”

“He did?” Jasmine gasped. “What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, Jarek said you were Reid’s ward. Actually, I was eavesdropping and didn’t hear everything they said.” He gave her a sheepish grin. “But the gist of it is that you’re under Reid’s protection. I mean, have you seen those guys fight? Or shift and fight for that matter? Yeah, they’d rip my balls off and shove them down my throat if I were to even think about--”

Rick paused, looking pained by his own crass phrasing. Despite his rather obvious flaws, Jasmine liked Rick. He never took anything seriously, always was quick with a joke and winked audaciously at her almost every time she saw him--as if he couldn’t help himself. Oh, and he seemed to have an affinity for ancient Earth culture. Panties in a twist? That was one of many sayings she’d heard from the man. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what it meant.

Rick continued as she stared blankly at him. “Ah, yeah, anyway, I did hear that Reid’s going to marry you off to one of the Var soldiers or something. You’re very lucky. I mean congratulations and all that. I know a lot of women like to do the marriage thing.”

Jasmine felt the color draining from her face. Reid wanted to marry her off? Surely Rick was mistaken. Even if he wasn’t, she’d just refuse.

“My lady? You all right?” Rick asked. “Are you waiting for me to apologize for having a big mouth? I’m sorry if I offended you in there with the talk of porn. I didn’t know you were so delicate.”

“I’m not delicate. Apology accepted, though not needed.” Jasmine nodded once. “Good day.”

She turned to go. Rick sighed heavily behind her. “You want to go get drunk or something?”

Jasmine felt her lips twitch despite herself. Trying not to laugh, she kept her back to him as she said, “I don’t drink, but thank you for the offer just the same.”

“Well, why the hell not?” Rick had stepped closer.

The man was trying, she’d give him that. Somehow, Jasmine got the impression Rick didn’t know how to talk to women unless he was coming onto them. It was actually adorable to watch him try to be nice to her. She much preferred him treating her like one of the guys than coming on to her anyway.

Jasmine turned to him. Her smile faltered as she laid her hand on her chest. “Heart condition.”

“Ah, that sucks.” Rick actually looked sorry for her. “Want to come watch us get drunk, then? You shouldn’t be spending so much time alone. I guarantee we can get the rest of the crew to make asses out of themselves. All but Dev. He’s a wet blanket. Though, he’s easy to rile and turns even redder when he’s mad.”

A wet what?
Jasmine shook her head. “No, I--”

“Come on, it’ll be fun.” Rick winked, nodding emphatically.

Jasmine opened her mouth to answer. She didn’t manage to get a word in before Rick continued talking.

“Did we ever tell you the story of how we met up with these Var princes?” Rick asked. He slung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her alongside him as he spoke. Jasmine’s mouth stayed open, but he kept talking, ignoring her feeble protest as she tried to pull away from him. He clearly wasn’t taking no for an answer. His arm tightened on her, not inappropriate, just keeping her in step with him. The weight of it pressed into her and the easy contact was so strange that she finally just went with it. “You see, there was this scavenger hunt for the giant market on Torgan. You ever hear of it? Bunch of ships go around collecting things and then sell them on the market while hoping to win a prize for finding the best stuff.”

Jasmine nodded. Rick failed to mention that Torgan was mostly known as being a black market planet, filled with space pirates and those running from the law.

“Captain Sam, ah that would be
Samantha
, Lucien, Viktor, Evan, Dev and I were a crew. We all got drunk one night, well, not Dev--like I said, wet blanket that one. Anyway, Sam, Evan and Lucien took it to mind that they were going to get a wild beast for the scavenger hunt.” Rick led her back into the lounge grinning. “They were toe up drunk and kidnapped Prince Falke in his shifted form.”

“Oh, you’re not telling her about that!” Lucien protested.

“And why not, rocket boy?” Viktor demanded of his brother. Then, turning to Jasmine, he asked, “Rick tell you that they stole my Torganian Rum?”

“Torganian Rum?” Jasmine repeated. “You mean rum as in
roome-a
? It’s not even liquor. It’s a psychotropic given by Torganian shaman to enlighten their minds. I wouldn’t recommend humanoids drinking it.”

The men looked at her as if she’d sprouted a new head. Evan smiled. Lucien’s jaw actually dropped. Viktor slowly nodded and held out his hands as if to say,
thank you!

“We know that now,” Lucien mumbled, giving his brother a grumpy look.

“So you actually kidnapped a prince?” Jasmine asked, intrigued by their story. “How are you not in jail?”

“Falke fell in love with Sam,” Evan said, smiling wider. “They’re married, even expecting a baby.”

“They’re going to name the baby Rick,” Rick said.

“You wish, fly boy,” Lucien said. “Sam already told me it’s going to be baby Lucien.”

“She did not,” Evan laughed. “Stop telling lies.”

“Good thing she did marry him or else we’d really be in a sling.” Rick finally let her go, but stood between her and the doorway so she couldn’t easily escape. He grinned at her, his eyes sparkling as if he knew exactly what he was doing in making her socialize with them.

“So how many Var princes are there?” Jasmine asked. She noticed Lochlann in the back corner, sitting by Jackson. The man shifted uncomfortably in his chair, but said nothing.

“The oldest is Kirill. He’s just become king and married the woman who tried to have him arrested for some biological weaponry the HIA found on their planet,” Lucien said.

“Ah, then there is Falke, Commander of the Var armies,” Evan added.

“You not only kidnapped a prince, but a commander prince?” Jasmine asked. Curious, she sat down, taking a chair closer to the men. They grinned at her. Rick left his post by the door and went to a cabinet, pulling out a bottle of liquor and some large glasses.

“Yeah, wait until you see him too,” Rick added, setting the glasses down on the card table. He twisted off the bottle cap and began to pour generous amounts. “He’s huge.”

“Anyway,” Lucien interrupted, rolling his eyes. “Next are the twins--Reid and Jarek
.
”

“Jarek is the runaway, out here with us scamps,” Jackson said. Coming forward, he took a glass, lifted it up to Rick in salute and began to sip.

“And Reid is the Commander of the Outlands,” Evan said. He glanced at his handheld and Jasmine could see that part of him wanted to get back to his book. “But you probably know all that.”

Jasmine didn’t say a word. Actually, she didn’t know anything about Reid. How could she? He didn’t talk to her. Her heart flopped in her chest. Reid was a Commander? A warrior? It explained his size and his very toned physique, but knowing he was a warrior made her a little nervous. Strangely, though, she wasn’t scared of him per se, just apprehensive of his vigor and prowess.