Prince of Pleasure Read online

  Contents

  Prince of Pleasure

  Copyright

  Mandy M. Roth Featured Books

  Mandy M. Roth, Online

  Prince of Pleasure

  Dedication

  Praise for Mandy M. Roth’s Immortal Ops World

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Dear Reader

  Prince of Pleasure

  (King of Prey Series)

  by

  Mandy M. Roth

  Prince of Pleasure: A Bird Shifter BBW Story (King of Prey Series)© Copyright 2014, Mandy M. Roth First Electronic Printing November 2014, The Raven Books Cover art by Andrea Depasture, © Copyright 2014

  Edited by: Suz G.

  Final Line Edits by: Dianne B.

  Copy Edits: Jinxie

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  All books are copyrighted to the author and may not be resold or given away without written permission from the author, Mandy M. Roth.

  This novel is a work of fiction and intended for mature audiences only. Any and all characters, names, events, places and incidents are used under the umbrella of fiction and are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places or locales is merely coincidence.

  The Raven

  Published by Raven Books www.ravenhappyhour.com ~ www.theravenbooks.com Raven Books and all affiliate sites and projects are © Copyrighted 2004-2014

  Mandy M. Roth Featured Books King of Prey (Bird Shifter Series) King of Prey

  A View to a Kill Master of the Hunt Rise of the King Prince of Pleasure Prince of Flight

  Immortal Ops Series

  Immortal Ops

  Critical Intelligence Radar Deception

  Strategic Vulnerability Tactical Magik

  Administrative Control Separation Zone

  And more…

  PSI-Ops Series (Part of the Immortal Ops World) Act of Mercy

  Act of Surrender Act of Submission Act of Security

  Act of Command

  And more…

  Mandy M. Roth, Online

  Mandy loves hearing from readers and can be found interacting on social media.

  (copy & paste links into your browser window)

  Website: http://www.MandyRoth.com

  Blog: http://www.MandyRoth.com/blog

  Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorMandyRoth

  Roth Head (Mandy M. Roth Fans) Facebook Group:

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/MandyRothReaders/

  Twitter: @MandyMRoth

  Book Release Newsletter: http://www.mandyroth.com/newsletter/

  (Newsletters: I do not share emails and only send newsletters when there is a new release/contest/or sales)

  Prince of Pleasure Book Five in the King of Prey series.

  Youngest born in a family of royal hawk shifters, Rossi is used to dodging responsibility and doing what he wishes. His needs are simple—he likes fighting, and bedding beautiful women. He isn't looking for a mate, so when his meddlesome sister-in-law decides to divine his future, he's stunned to find out he's about to meet her—the one. His mate. And she’s human.

  As one who does his best to limit his time in the human realm, Rossi believes there is no chance he’ll cross paths with the woman destiny has in store for him. After all, it’s not as if humans fall from the sky in the realm of bird shifters.

  Or do they?

  Dedication

  To the Roth Heads! You’re the best group of fans an author could ask for!

  Praise for Mandy M. Roth’s King of Prey World

  5 Clovers–Roth has a deft hand with characterization, and she’s able to lend interest and fun to her characters even in the relatively short time allotted by the story length here…One of the things I like best about Roth’s writing style is her sense of playfulness, and the frequent pokes she takes at her own characters and their situations. — Lee M, CK2S Kwips and Kritiques

  This spicy romance of a Bird/Man and his mate is told easily. The writing is crisp and the characters are well-drawn. I think it is a keeper. — Maggie Anderson, RRT Erotic

  4 Hearts–The story of Rayna and Kabril is one you will enjoy for all its elements which will leave you with a smile and a few laughs. The chemistry between them is there from the first time that they meet. Rayna was the perfect match to Kabril because she is intelligent, witty, independent, and did not shy away from voicing her opinions. She most definitely kept him on his toes, since Kabril is an alpha male who demanded respect without question. King of Prey is an incredible story and I thought that the humor enhanced the fun in reading. I look forward to see what else Ms. Roth will come up with in the future. –The Romance Studio

  4 Hearts–Hot is the best word I can find to describe this explosive story. The connection between Sachin and Paige is combustible. And while I am not a fan of birds in general, I would die a happy woman if I had a birdman like Sachin. Paige and Sachin’s first meeting is heart wrenching. Readers can’t help but feel for the young woman and what she has to struggle through. The lives of the characters are full of love and loss and all the emotions that go with those chaotic events in life. –The Romance Studio

  Chapter One

  Human Realm

  “Here birdie, birdie, birdie,” Lucy Navarre whispered in a not-so hushed tone as she moved through the woods just outside the small town she’d been calling home by way of an efficiency apartment for the past three weeks. Her actual home wasn’t really much of one, but she liked it well enough. Not that one could grow too accustomed to an off-campus condo being home when one was forced to share it with three other girls.

  Somehow, she had.

  She was on borrowed time and funds. Soon, the money she’d made by slinging hash at the diner just a few blocks from the university she attended would be spent. She needed to get her proof and then get back home. Back to her crappy job dealing with drunken, rowdy fraternity brothers as they left bars at closing time and stumbled into the diner wanting food.

  Lucy did what she had to do to make ends meet as a full-time student with an expensive hobby—investigating and documenting the paranormal. She was determined to prove more than the normal, everyday, garden-variety paranormal investigator. Lately, there seemed to be as many experts on the paranormal as there were lawyers. She knew far too many paranormal sleuths who were self-proclaimed experts in the field. And nearly all of them claimed they were scientific in their approach.

  Yeah, sure they were.

  She had no interest in trying to contact the dead.

  Been done.

  And there were about fifty shows on television at any given moment doing it as well.

  Boring.

  And, really, where was the excitement in doing the same thing everyone else was doing? She wanted something more. Something that everyone and their brother weren’t doing.

  She wanted proof of the existence of bird shifters—men who could sprout huge wings and take flight, but who looked like humans any other time. Her guardians had told stories about them when she was a child. Lucy had hung on their every word, committing each tale to memory. She could still recite the tales to this day. Still hear the slow, southern drawl of the man she’d called Pappy telling her all about the men who were like angels, yet sinned like demons when permitted—as any man would, Pappy would say with a wink.

  Pappy had even taken her on hunting expeditions when she was little, the end goal being to see and log data on birdmen. They’d been successful too. She didn’t care if ev
eryone thought they were nuts—she’d been there with him. She’d seen what he’d seen.

  Men with wings.

  “Majestic beings,” she said softly, still remembering every detail of the men—one in particular. They’d left an impression on her.

  When the elderly couple, who had cared for her after the death of her mother when Lucy was only five, passed away, Lucy found herself alone. She’d desperately wanted one of the winged men to appear and whisk her away to somewhere safe and warm. Somewhere she could see her loved ones again. That never happened. Instead, at eleven she’d ended up as part of the state of Mississippi’s foster care system.

  She didn’t want to think any more on it.

  For now, she’d concentrate on what had gotten her through it all—thinking of ways to prove the existence of the birdmen. The nagging need to fill a void she’d had for nearly a decade had become all-consuming, and she’d decided to fill it with researching the tales of the birdmen. Of proving they were real.

  “Tonight is the night,” she said, her voice cutting through the silence that seemed shrouded in darkness around her.

  There should have been something making noise.

  Anything.

  There was nothing.

  Except her.

  And that was far from normal. There should have been the sounds of insects, of the breeze blowing through the leaves, of wildlife, anything. Not utter silence.

  She grinned. “That’s it birdies, show yourselves.”

  All the signs pointed to this night being the one where she finally got the proof she so desperately sought. Well, the signs were really hunches she felt in her gut, but she was willing to bank on them. They’d served her well in the past.

  Her cell buzzed and she took it from her pocket, glancing at the screen. Alice, one of her three roommates, was texting again, wanting to know if she was done playing in the woods hunting fake men with wings, and if she wanted a ticket to a local rock band playing back home tomorrow. If it hadn’t been markedly cheaper to split the cost of a condo four ways than it was to pay room and board at the university, she’d have forgone the entire thing—opting for solitude and no meddling friends. As it was, her pockets were not deep enough to warrant a private room. She took what she could get.

  Lucy sighed.

  Alice and the others simply did not understand her or her ways. Though Alice did try. Lucy had to give her credit for that. Mary Ellen and Amber Lynn made no effort to even try.

  No surprise.

  They were more worried about planning their next mani-pedi party than they were about anything else in life. Their grade point average reflected as much. Damn shame their professors didn’t quiz them on the season’s hottest nail polish colors. They’d have gotten top marks, for sure.

  Alice and Lucy had other goals. Alice was studying business with the hope of launching her own company, and Lucy was finishing up a pre-law undergraduate degree, wanting to go on to law school when she was done. In the meantime, she was putting in all the time she could on her hobby.

  So close to finding answers, she texted Alice.

  Stay safe, Alice returned.

  Always.

  Try not to capture anything we can’t house-train, replied Alice.

  Lucy laughed as she texted, So that is a no to the Lockness monster?

  Will it fit in the tub?

  Before Lucy could reply, Alice sent, Ever thought of spending your Friday night looking for a boyfriend? When is the last time you had sex?

  Lucy cringed. I don’t remember.

  My point exactly.

  Lucy laughed again and put her phone in her jacket pocket. She really did need to find a man and soon. Though, that wasn’t exactly easy. The guys who went to her school preferred skinny girls to her.

  Her flashlight cut through the darkness. Most sane women did not venture into the woods, at night, alone, in search of things that could, in theory, be dangerous. Though she didn’t believe they would be. If Lucy was correct, and she was betting her life she was, what she sought was peaceful and misunderstood. In her short time in the small town, she’d already managed to develop something of a reputation as being anything but sane or rational.

  The crazy girl who hunted for monsters that weren’t real.

  At least according to their narrow minds.

  She didn’t care.

  She knew better.

  She was a woman on a mission, and she could sense deep down that she was close to making a breakthrough. It was the perfect time to delve deeper. The semester had ended at college and the next wasn’t due to start for nearly six weeks. Plenty of time to try to prove her theory.

  Her professors even questioned her interest in her “hobby”—as they called it—cryptology. But she enjoyed it immensely. It filled a void for her, one she’d had from an early age. It wouldn’t pay the bills; the law someday would—at least, she hoped. She was in her junior year, but had at least another year and half to go. She’d be a fifth year senior, for sure.

  She sighed. So many students were anymore.

  She tried to take as many classes as she could to make her money stretch—since the cost was the same for her to take twelve or nineteen credit hours. Apparently full-time was full-time. And she would probably be closer to completion if she took interim courses and classes over the summer, but her passion demanded she give it her attention as well.

  She didn’t fall into the habits of some who took up the torch of studying what most believed didn’t exist. No. Bigfoot and the Moth Man weren’t her thing. She took an altogether different path. One far less traveled.

  Men who could shift into birds.

  The “birdies” she was hunting.

  History was littered with sightings and reports from eyewitnesses. Some labeled what they saw as angels or even demons. She believed the men were something else entirely. From what she’d pieced together, they were real and they weren’t gods or anything of the sort, but rather beings that had come and gone freely since the dawn of time.

  She’d found patterns in the sightings. Narrowed down the best possible locations to perhaps catch a look at them herself and document proof of their existence. With her camera at the ready, she pushed deeper into the woods.

  The bite of fall was in the air and Lucy was pleased she’d had the forethought to bundle up prior to heading out. Still, her cheeks and nose were cold. She ignored the discomfort and continued on. She’d get her proof and others would stop laughing at her.

  She was no one’s joke.

  The temperature dropped even more with each step she took deeper into the woods. She pulled her jacket tighter, thankful she’d paired it with one of her university sweatshirts. The Rebs logo was faded and worn—the mark of a well-loved article of clothing. She’d spent three comfy years donning it whenever she could—wearing it while studying for exams or when she noticed all her roommates were out on dates while she was back at the shared condo reading the latest and greatest on the newest chupacabra sightings. The sweatshirt was something of a security blanket for her. It was there for her when men weren’t. And it didn’t give a rat’s ass what size she was.

  Unlike men.

  Alice was right. She did need to find a guy. One who didn’t care that she wasn’t a stick figure. That she actually enjoyed eating and, unlike some of the girls she knew, didn’t rush to the bathroom to expel anything she ate.

  “Fat chance I’m finding a prince charming who likes curves,” she mused, walking onward. Her sex-starved body would have to wait. She was a girl on a mission and she wasn’t stopping it for anything—not even the quest to get laid. Besides, the men she met never lived up to her idea of Prince Charming. They lacked something he had.

  Wings.

  She smiled as she thought about the birdman that had captured her attention when she was young. He’d been unbelievably handsome. Not to mention, he could fly.

  What little girl wouldn’t grow up with a secret crush on him? Now a young woman, she found it hard
to be bothered with human men. Not when she knew the truth of what was out there.

  Soon, everyone would know about them.

  A tiny pang of worry filled her gut. What if she’d imagined the birdmen? What if Pappy’s stories had been so vivid, so compelling to her that she’d allowed herself to think she’d seen a majestic creature with wings?

  “No,” she said. “They’re real. I know it. He’s real.”

  When she came to a clearing, she paused, staying to the tree line as she clicked off her flashlight and took a seat. This was it. The spot she could trace several sightings back to. She’d been here before, more than once. Nothing had come of it, but that didn’t matter. She knew in her gut this was where she needed to be.

  Something rustled the leaves on the other side of the clearing. She brought her camera up and waited. Excitement churned in her stomach, heightening her senses. She watched, positive this was the moment she’d spent years waiting for. The smell of pine needles increased to the point that it was sickening.

  Another rustle of leaves sounded.

  She put her finger over the button to snap a picture, fully prepared to have her moment. When a raccoon wandered out from the other side of the clearing, her heart sank. She let out a breath she’d been unaware she was holding and then pulled her finger away from the button on her camera.

  Darn.

  She’d been so sure.

  “What do we have here?” a deep voice asked from behind her, startling her, making her drop her camera as she spun around. The camera went off, as did its flash, illuminating two rather large males, each shirtless, wearing leather bottoms and boots that were unlike any boots she’d ever seen. She bent, grabbing her camera and clutching it to her.

  Lucy took a step backwards and lost her footing, her legs going out from under her as one of the muscle-bound men reached for her with an unearthly quickness. There was a loud fluttering sound accompanied by a blur of black that seemed to wall up behind the men.