Prince of Pleasure (3 page)

He was sure most of them had hopes they’d end up mating a man of means. While they were well cared for and wanted for nothing, it seemed a fantasy of most young women to want to mate.

Women.

He never quite understood why they’d want only one man for the rest of their lives. It made little sense to him. If unmated, they could bed any unmated male whose eye they caught. He knew how to please a woman in bed, but out of it, he found them strange creatures. He would never permit himself to be tied to one woman.

Never.

His brother, the king, had disbanded the official harem several years back when he’d taken a mate, but an unofficial one remained in place for the unmated males of the race who resided within the castle walls. As youngest son in the Hawk Royal Family, Rossi had no plans to take a mate anytime soon. He wanted to sow his wild oats, fuck, and be merry. There would be time for mating later, when he had even more full cycles beneath his belt. He was young yet, as far as bird shifters were concerned.

Once he’d selected a wife, his king of a brother appeared to forget what life had been like as a single, unmated male. Now all that fell from his brother’s mouth was how much the man loved his wife, how only one woman would do for him, how no others compared.

Nonsense.

Drivel.

He shuddered at the idea of commitment.

Of family.

Of actual responsibility.

The idea of any sort of permanent time restriction held little appeal to him. As it stood, he could come and go as he pleased and enjoy life to the fullest. He filled in to help oversee the duties of king only when absolutely necessary and only because his other brothers had no interest in the position. Growing up, Rossi often wondered if even Kabril had interest in the throne. All the boys had seen the toll the throne took upon their father. None had been eager or power hungry.

He envied Keonae, his brother who no longer resided within the realm. As always, he did what he pleased and answered to no one. He was hardheaded and refused to conform to what was expected of him. For all Rossi’s protests and pleas to be given less responsibility as he was not truly needed, he still assured his royal duties were seen to. Keonae cared not for those, either.

Ah, to be so free. So unconcerned with duties.

Rossi could only dream.

One of the females danced closer to Rossi, her breasts jiggling under the thin material she wore. He reached up and squeezed one. Her nipple hardened in his hand. Her tongue darted out and over her lips, and he knew she’d do as he commanded. Most unmated females did. He’d bedded this one before, many times, though he couldn’t recall her name. He wasn’t sure he’d ever bothered to ask it. She fit nicely around his body and liked it rough, something he enjoyed as well.

But, alas, his body did not seem to want a repeat performance. Surely he was broken. There could be no other explanation for it. Mayhap the moons’ pull was growing, causing his body to respond in strange ways, bringing on him the stirrings of madness.

Lucy swatted at the man holding her, going for his face, his eyes, any part of him she could get. She’d not be a statistic—if there even was a statistic for women abducted by creatures no one believed were real. She wouldn’t be some story retold on low-budget shows broadcast on cable networks no one had heard of.

No way.

No how.

“Let go of me!” she shouted.

The man holding her laughed. “If you so wish.”

He loosened his hold on her and she began to fall free from the protection of his embrace. A shrill cry tore from her and she clawed at him, seizing hold of him around the waist, catching herself before she would have fallen to her death. At their height from the ground, there would have been no way she could have survived. It would have been like skydiving minus the parachute.

No thank you.

She wasn’t going out like that. She was going to get her damn proof and live to tell the tale. She hugged the man’s waist tightly, her gaze moving up to the massive expanse of his wings. They were stunning. Too bad the guy they were hooked to was a sociopath. He pulled her higher up his body and she gulped.

The jerk laughed. “Look, Manyer,” he said. “She wants my cock.”

Lucy considered kneeing him in the groin—as she suspected males of any species disliked that move—but since he was the reason she wasn’t falling to her death, she resisted. Though the urge remained, Southern hospitality and ladylike behavior be dammed. She wasn’t about to be a victim of a birdman killing.

They remained high in the sky for what felt like an eternity. She’d lost her stomach somewhere over the dotted tree line hours ago. It was cold that high, and despite her efforts to bundle up, she was not prepared for this.

Who the hell would be?

Shivering, she found herself pushing more at the man who had hold of her. She really could not wait to gouge his eyes out. Birdman or not, she’d take a piece of him once her feet were on solid ground.

She lost feeling in her feet first, and then the bitter cold made its way up her legs and over her torso. Her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably and her fingers froze into their clasped state. It wasn’t long before darkness ebbed at the edges of her vision, and Lucy felt her mind slipping into a cold-induced abyss.

She vaguely heard one of the men speaking.

“Is it dead?” he asked.

“Humans break so easily,” said the one holding her as if she were a mere ragdoll, insignificant in his world of being. “I would release her, but I heard a faint heartbeat. If she survives the portal crossing, we can play with her.”

Like hell
, she thought, drifting off.

The clearing of a throat near the entranceway pulled Rossi from thoughts of taking his cock out of his wrap and ordering it into the female’s mouth. His second-to-the-eldest brother, Aeson, stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest and a disapproving look upon his face. A wall sconce illuminated his brother’s face at just the right angle to make Aeson appear sinister when he was anything but.

Rossi sighed, knowing his fun had come to an end. With a wave of his hand, he motioned away the women. “What now? And please know I tire greatly of your lectures. You have become boring, brother.”

“Kabril has expressly forbidden harems.” Aeson remained stoic in the entranceway, as if entering the room more might leave him getting harem girl on him and somehow taint him for the rest of his days. While Rossi didn’t see the issue with such a thing, the disgust coming from his brother said Aeson did not share his view. Oh, how the mighty had fallen after mating.

He is cuckolded by his woman.

“They are not a harem. They are dancing girls,” corrected Rossi, a mischievous smile slipping over his face. “And after all, that is what they were doing for me. Dancing.”

Aeson exhaled so loudly it was easy to hear from Rossi’s spot on the floor. His brother was angry. Rossi nearly laughed.

Once the last of the females was clear of the room, Aeson stormed in, coming right for Rossi. “Changing the name does not win you favor.” Aeson cuffed him behind the ear as if he were still a mere fledging.

Rossi gave an annoyed look. While he disliked being treated in such a manner, it was something he was used to as youngest brother. No matter what his age was, his brothers would always view him as a fledgling.

“Tell me, dear, wise brother, what else am I to do with my time?” he asked, refusing to sit up. Instead, he laid back, placed his hands behind his head and stared up at the ceiling. A good deal of care had gone into its creation and Rossi wondered briefly why he’d never noticed it before. “There is no battle in need of me. Nor do I have any duties left to perform today other than fuck. You just interfered with
that
duty.”

“Really, Rossi, fucking is hardly expected of you,” breathed Aeson. “Must you behave like a petulant child?”

Rossi considered sticking his tongue out at his brother, but realized it would only prove Aeson’s charge. “What? Am I mistaken? Is there an attack upon the castle that I am unaware of that demands my attention?”

“War is close,” warned Aeson. “Do not wish for it to come. You are young and do not fully remember the toll it took upon this kingdom.”

“I remember,” he said softly.

“Yet you sound as if you would welcome war again.”

Rossi sighed. “I would.”

Aeson stood over him, a bewildered look upon his face. “Why would you say such a thing?”

“Do you ever feel like you are lost? That you have no direction, and that regardless which way you turn, you will pick the wrong path?” he asked, tilting his head so that he could see his brother better from his position on the floor. He disliked showing any signs of weakness, least of all doing so in front of his brother, but the feelings of despair had begun to eat away at him more and more of late.

Aeson was quiet for what seemed like a long while. “Have you the stirrings of the mad?”

The stirrings of the mad had claimed more than one great warrior. Rossi shook his head. “No. Nothing as grave as the stirrings.”

“Rossi, we have all gone through something similar.”

Rossi watched his brother’s expression closely, wondering if he was being truthful or simply trying to make Rossi feel better.

If King Latravis of the Falconi did not act soon, they’d all be too old to care. That was saying something, considering they were immortal. Latravis was rumored to be gathering his men, the
Falco Peregrinus
, sworn enemies to the
Buteos Regalis
—the royal hawks. But so far nothing had come of it. Rossi seemed to be the only one in the castle spoiling for a fight. His brothers had gotten soft with their years and after mating.

He was a warrior and ready for battle.

That or sex, which Aeson had already so rudely interrupted.

“You are in no condition to lend a hand,” Aeson snapped. “You have not trained in nearly a week and have spent your time holed away in here bedding whores. Rossi, you know better. You know war is upon us, yet your priorities are not where they are required to be.”

With a snort, Rossi nudged his brother. “You were a famed chaser of women until you mated. Lecturing me changes nothing of your past, brother. I should be afforded the same freedoms to fuck what I want, when I want that you had. That Kabril had as well before tying himself to one human woman.”

Aeson’s jaw twitched. Rossi suspected he’d be on the receiving end of a fist to the face soon enough, but still he pushed onward. Antagonizing his older brothers came too easily to him.

Always had.

He motioned around the room. “You have all seen and done many things in your many cycles. I have been trapped mostly here. This castle feels small, as does this realm, brother. Tell me you do not understand my words and I will do as you wish, but I know the truth. I know that before you met Shelby you were equally as tired with the confines that surround us—with the duties expected of us.”

Aeson opened his mouth and then closed it again. It was true, and Rossi knew as much. Having seven older brothers often felt like he had seven fathers. Aeson patted Rossi’s shoulder. “Mayhap you are correct. Come. I have the perfect solution for you. We shall consult The Oracle.”

Scrambling away, Rossi tossed his hands up, feeling much like the child Aeson insisted on treating him as, despite the fact Rossi was nearly three hundred cycles. “No. I’ll not have that spinner of destinies peering into my future. Already it has shackled you, Sachin, and Kabril to females for eternity. I care not to share your fate.”

Amusement lit Aeson’s face. He dragged Rossi to his feet. The men were matched in height, weight, and build, but centuries of being picked on as the youngest left Rossi flinching.

“Ha,” snorted Aeson. “You fear it because you do not understand the wonder of it. A mate is something to be cherished and to seek out. Once you find her, Rossi, she changes all. She—”

“If you say completes you, I’ll gag,” Shelby, Aeson’s mate, said from the hallway. As a part-human, born and raised within the human realm, her phrases and certain things she said often escaped many of the bird realm inhabitants. Her gaze landed upon several discarded articles of clothing near Rossi’s feet. She had grown on him somewhat and he did not wish for her to view him in a negative light. He did his best to shove them away with his booted foot. But the evidence had been seen.

Shelby frowned, disappointment showing in her eyes. “He’s at it again?” she asked of Aeson as if Rossi were suddenly invisible.

His stomach tightened at her displeasure. The more he thought upon it, the more he realized he felt shame, though he had nothing to be ashamed of. He was unmated. He could conduct himself sexually in any manner he chose. He did not voice as much.

“I am afraid so,” his brother confirmed. “I suggested we have The Oracle summoned, but since you, my lovely and beautiful seer wife, have arrived, perhaps you could enlighten my youngest brother on his future.”

Rossi gasped. His brother wouldn’t dare have his mate do such a thing, would he?

Aeson grinned.

Rossi groaned.

He would.

She licked her lower lip and rubbed her hands together, suddenly taking on an evil mastermind quality that sent a shiver down Rossi’s spine. He tried to back away, but Aeson caught him by the upper arm, locking him in place as Shelby moved in closer.

She laid her tiny hand upon Rossi’s chest, and he relaxed when the skies didn’t suddenly open and drop his mate on his lap. He’d half-feared something that extreme would happen. He knew Shelby was tied to The Oracle. That she had the ability to communicate with it on a level he’d never understand. He had never wanted her using her gifts on him. He wanted no part of The Oracle or its prophecies.