Mad, Bad & Dangerous

“Question still stands,” Beyla said.

“Big, mad and loud, eh?” Eithne gave Bael an up-and-down. She grinned.

Kett scowled.

“Bael, this is my family.” She faltered in the face of their delighted smiles. “Family, this is Bael.”

He beamed at them all. “Hiya, folks.”

“It’s wonderful to meet you,” Nuala said with a little more fervor than Kett might have liked.

“It’s even more wonderful to meet you,” he replied, bestowing on Nuala a smile that actually seemed to be genuine.

“Kett’s never brought a boyfriend home before,” Beyla told him.

“Usually for understandable reasons,” Tane said.

“Am I your boyfriend?” Bael asked Kett brightly, and she groaned.

“Hey, anyone who gets rid of a pair like that is okay by me,” Tyrnan said, which Kett considered rather rich considering his almost-allergic reaction to Eithne’s boyfriend-who was a garda, a fine, upstanding pillar of the community, and who had the honorable intention of marrying her.

Unlike Bael, who’d just been described as a lunatic, snogged Tyrnan’s daughter until her body turned to liquid then been so insulting that the thickest-skinned duchess in the Realm had nearly vomited in disgust.

Yet her father liked him. Well, he was Tyrnan of Emreland.

“Come to think of it,” Kett enquired of her famously indelicate father, “why didn’t you tell them to fuck off?”

“Your father has refined his manners of late,” Nuala said.

Kett blinked.

“I know, we were shocked too,” Beyla said.

All five of them regarded Bael, to whom Kett realized she was still clinging. Crap. Well, it wasn’t as if they thought she was still a virgin, she thought glumly. And at least Bael looked good-far too good, considering the journey he must have had, sans dragon.

Really good, actually.

She cleared her throat and tried to disentangle herself from him. He held on, grinning like a maniac.

“So, you’re Kett’s family,” he said. “Nice to meet you. This is a great house. Sorry I was so insulting but Kett promised me filthy things if I got rid of them. And hey, you don’t look too upset so I guess it’s all okay, right?”

Kett covered her eyes.

“Hey, your dad likes me,” Bael said, hugging her to him. “Right? Sorry, Kett didn’t give me anyone’s names. It’s almost like she’s ashamed of me or something.”

“Not ‘almost like’,” Kett muttered. She opened her eyes to see Nuala beaming at Bael. Ah, crap. Nuala’s greatest mission in life was to make people happy. Since getting married and having babies had made her so blissful, she was determined that it would work for everyone else too.

There was a light in her eyes that Kett didn’t like one bit.

“All right,” she sighed. “This is my dad, Tyrnan of Emreland. He used to be a highwayman and owns a sword that can kill kelfs.”

Bael looked like a little boy at Yule. “Really? The Naimla? You’re kidding.” He gave Kett a delighted look. “You didn’t tell me your dad was a kelf-killer!”

“He’s not,” Kett said.

At the same time her father said dangerously, “I’m not.”

“Tyrnan has a sort of informal treaty with the kelfs,” Nuala put in quickly. “He holds the sword in safety and promises not to let anyone else use it.”

“Oh,” said Bael, deflated. “Why?”

“Because he’s normal,” Kett said, in the face of overwhelming evidence. One of her father’s best friends was a kelf. Tyrnan had grown up in the sort of house where the serving kelfs were considered affectionately, as sort of pets. Not real people, but nice to have around and quite useful, like horses.

Quietly thanking the gods that kelfs were not indigenous to the Realm of Peneggan, she continued, “And this is my stepmother, Nuala.”

She didn’t add that Nuala was a princess. That sort of thing was only useful for impressing people, and she really didn’t want to impress Bael.

Bael kissed Nuala’s hand and she dimpled prettily at him. “You hardly look older than Kett,” he said gallantly, and Tyrnan snorted.

“She isn’t,” Kett said drily.

“Just as well then,” Bael grinned. “And you must be twins,” he said to Beyla and Eithne, who giggled in harmony.

“Triplets,” they chorused.

“There’s another one of you?” Bael asked happily.

“Yep,” Tane said. “Me.”

Bael put his head to one side and regarded the petite blonde girls, just like their mother, and the dark, stocky boy, much more like his father.

“Right,” he said. “You look like Kett.”

“I do not,” he and Kett yelped at the same time.

Bael grinned. “You have this two-part harmony thing going on here,” he said. “It’s cute. Well, folks,” he picked up the duffel bag he’d slung on the floor earlier, “not that it hasn’t been wonderful to meet my darling girl’s family,” here he gave Kett a squeeze, which made her scowl and Nuala beam, “but I really need some private time with her. Shall we retire, sweetheart?”

“I, er…” Kett panicked, remembering her earlier promise to him. “I haven’t finished eating.”

“I’ll have a tray sent up,” Nuala said.

“And Bael will need a room,” she attempted, because she knew if they shared one, she’d end up sleeping with him again. And while sleeping with Bael was always going to be wonderful, she really didn’t want to deal with the whole mate issue anymore. Best to make it clear to him that-

“Oh come on, Kett, don’t be coy,” Tyrnan said, and she glared at him.

“Yes, darling, we don’t mind at all,” Nuala said happily. “You’re an adult now, and you can have whomever you like to stay.”

“I’m an adult,” Eithne piped up. “Why can’t I?”

“You’re an adult when I say so,” her father said, making Eithne scowl.

“That shirt is really transparent,” Bael said to Kett, who winced and gave in.

“Okay,” she said. “Night, everyone.”

They wished her good night, Nuala even going so far as to give Bael a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She was absolutely glowing with happiness, Kett thought glumly as they left the Gold Salon. She’d be so disappointed when Kett broke the news that Bael wasn’t really her boyfriend.

“So,” Bael said as the doors closed behind them and they stood in the grand lobby. “Does this count as private?”

“There are six footmen within sight,” Kett said. “What do you think?”

“I think you promised to go down on me, and I can’t wait,” he said happily, as Kett turned red and tugged him toward the stairs.

Her bedroom hadn’t changed since the last time she saw it, which made it unique in Nuala’s house. Wisely, her stepmother had eschewed her usual decorating taste and furnished Kett’s room in neutral shades with plenty of texture coming from warm woods, rugs and leather upholstery. Kett, against all her expectations, felt more comfortable in this room than in any other.

Bael strode in like he owned the place, tossed his duffel on a wingback chair and threw himself at the bed.

“I am knackered,” he announced.

“So you’ll just want to go to sleep?” Kett asked, not sure if she was hopeful or disappointed.

He cracked open one eye. “Eventually,” he said, and grinned.