He led her to the lake’s edge. A thick blanket lay spread on the ground, secured at the corners with hunks of rock. Two cushions and a small woven basket. Her lips curled. Even if he’d had his staff set up the picnic, the fact that he’d thought of such a sweet, old-fashioned gesture warmed her. And for once, she didn’t tell herself that the gesture was better suited to one of her daughters rather than wasted on herself.

She wasn’t dead, and she wasn’t old. And if she hadn’t already proven that she was a woman by birthing and raising three girls… what proof did anyone require? Why did she keep trying to convince herself her prime years were over? They weren’t, and even if she was a bit past the age most human women settled down with a man—she wasn’t dead yet. There was plenty of life left in her, plenty of passion. And, if her and Maddugh’s suspicions were correct, she wasn’t even fully human. Meaning that physically, she might not be past her youth.

Kailigh glanced at Maddugh, who watched her with warm, sensual eyes, the narrow pupil slits round again.

“Wait until you see what’s inside,” he said, smug.

Settling on the blanket, she arched a brow, curious. What would make a Lord, the richest man for several counties, feel smug?

When he pulled a gleaming bottle of wine out of the basket, and a box of chocolates with a name on the label she recognized as a premium brand that had survived even the War, her eyes widened. These chocolates cost a month’s land lease.

“I’m impressed,” she said. It didn’t matter if he was rich, and could afford it—plenty of rich men were cheap, and would no more shower a woman with a frivolous gift than they would a dog.

And then he pulled out a square, pale-blue box.

“Maddugh.” She heard the amusement in her own voice, and the fine tremor. “All of this isn’t necessary. I’m a practical woman.”

“Be quiet,” he said. “You may be practical, but I am not foolish. Only a woman testing a man tells him not to bother.” His eyes glinted. “It’s a trap—to see if I’m stupid enough to believe your shameless lies.”

Kailigh took the box, held it in her hands, and stared. The constable had brought her a loaf of fancy bread and a container of honey butter as a gift years ago, when she thought she might want a husband after all. It had been a sweet, practical gesture to make towards a working single mother. Food to feed her family. But Maddugh was already providing food, shelter, clothing even.

She opened the box and said nothing for a long minute.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

The necklace was two delicate chains of platinum with pearls interspersed between the links. A dragon dangled on the end, holding a ruby in his claws and with a winking diamond for an eye.

“It’s perfect,” she said. “Forgive me for my silence. I’m unused to receiving gifts of this type.” Or at all.

Because it was perfect. Just enough that she could wear it on an average day and feel a little special, or don it for an evening’s entertainment and not feel underdressed. Anything gaudier and she would have tucked it away in a drawer.

Kailigh looked up. “It’s perfect,” she repeated. “Will you put it on for me?”

He took the necklace from the box, and she leaned forward so he could clasp it around her neck. “It’s not a brand,” he said. “But when you wear it, they will know who gave it to you.”

She was certain ‘they’ would. Leaning forward again, she placed a kiss on the edge of his mouth.

His lips turned down. “Surely—”

Kai lifted a hand. “You aren’t about to pout that I owe you a kiss in exchange for the gift of jewelry, are you?”

His eyes narrowed. After a moment, “Of course not.”

She smiled. He sounded far too sulky to be a man his age. “Good.”

He also had a selection of cheeses and fresh fruit as well as crusty bread in the basket. She relaxed enough to stretch on her back and munch while staring at the clouds as they passed.

“I wonder,” Maddugh said, “if our first child will be a girl? What will a girl be like?”

Kailigh choked on the grape she was chewing, and had to sit up. He patted her back. “Didn’t Persia mention something about a cart and a horse?”

He waved a hand. “It’s only a matter of time. We’re both in our prime and there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t give into me any day now.”

The arrogance… but it was such an open, good-natured arrogance she couldn’t drum up the energy for indignation. Kailigh sighed, and laid back down. “Well, you met us because of what it is ‘like.’”

His expression darkened. “That will never happen again. You were without protection—” He stopped talking when her gaze turned pointed. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, woman. I know you can defend yourself. If you’d been mine—”

She rolled her eyes, and turned her head to look at him. “You likely would have driven me insane. We probably wouldn’t still be married.”

He snorted. “That would never happen. I keep what is mine, Kailigh.”

“It’s not like I’m a chair, to be kept, or a pretty plant. And by the way, the condition of your house plants is deplorable.”

“Forget the plants.”

He rolled, covering her body with his, a movement so quick she hadn’t had time to even react. “Maddugh…”

He glared down at her. “When we wed, Kailigh—and we will wed—then you are subject to my commands.” He smiled, dark and sensual. “As your husband, and as your Lord.”

She just couldn’t take him seriously. “All right, whatever you say.” Kai paused, then smiled sweetly. “And were you planning on dragging me to the altar? Is the process no longer voluntary?”

He lowered himself over her, an inch at a time. “I know what the problem is.”

“Really. Enlighten us.”

“You need more convincing. I haven’t properly displayed my wares.”

His toothy smile told Kai exactly what wares he referred to a split second before he claimed her mouth in a kiss.

He kissed her as if he owned her, as if her submission was a forgone conclusion. Kai knew it was an act—the tension in his body wasn’t just desire. It was his healthy respect for the fact that her fingers were mere inches from the blade hidden in her skirt.

Smart man.

Kailigh relaxed her body, wrapping her arms around his neck in the clearest signal of non-murderous intent she could think of, and then stopped thinking at all. Only felt, the satin caress of his lips on hers, the heat and weight of his body subtly pressing her into the ground. The silk of his hair brushing her face, the strands a little too long for human fashion. And his skin burned under his clothing, an intense heat followed by rippling under the muscles. As if an inner beast was snapping to get out.

She opened her eyes to meet the twin suns staring down at her, pupils’ narrow slits, face taut. Maddugh’s hand bunched in her skirt, pulled it up slowly, his face daring her to tell him to stop.

She wouldn’t—but she would set boundaries. “No sex.”

“What’s wrong with sex?”

Her brow rose in response to his flat query, and the puff of brimstone air he snorted. “Nothing. I just want to hammer home a point—by your position in life, you are spoiled.”

He stared at her, his expression a blend of stony and raw sexual promise. She tapped his nose and he flinched, snapping at her finger.

Her eyes widened. “Hmm… the man is slipping a bit, eh? Anyway… my point?” She bared her teeth in a smile and pointed to her chest. “Not easy.”

His shoulders swelled and he lowered his face until their noses touched. “I already offered to wed you, woman.”

She sniffed. “Even worse. After marriage, men think they no longer have to try at all.”

Maddugh swore, in words she didn’t recognize as any human language. She’d heard a few in her time, mostly from traveling salesmen. Kailigh frowned.

“No sex,” he snarled. “But I want something, mistress.”

“Oh?” The fingers in her skirt tensed. “You’d better not rip my clothing, Maddugh!”

“No sex, no rips. No, no, no.” His voice was dark, mocking. “Be quiet.”

The air on her thighs warned Kailigh even before he pushed them apart, sliding down until he was in position to place a single, scoring kiss on her inner flesh. Kailigh inhaled. If he was about to do what she thought he had in mind…

Her eyes closed, and she sank into the purest bliss she’d ever known in her life. She figured she deserved it by now.

* * *

Boneless, she lay draped on Maddugh’s chest for some time before he stiffened. A moment later, her ears registered the beat of wings in the air, a sound becoming more and more familiar.

Maddugh sighed. “My son. It seems work calls.”

Kailigh lifted her head, placed a kiss on his chin. “It always does, draco.”

She slid off him and packed up the basket as a dragon landed nearby, the sapphire of his scales glittering in the sunlight. The dragon shimmered, contracting in the bone-crunching, muscle-popping contortion that caused an unashamed shudder.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” Kailigh said.

Maddugh eyed her sideways. “Will it be a problem?”

“No. I just won’t ever get used to it.”

He shrugged and Amnan strode forward. Leaner than his father, and darker, a litheness to his steps that, shifter or no, implied a certain youthfulness.

“There will be trouble from the humans,” the son said, glancing at Kai.

“I’ll go—” she began and Maddugh raised a hand, silencing her.

Amnan shrugged. “I gather Gaston is planting the seeds of a rebellion.”

“Of what kind?” Maddugh asked.

“I don’t know. A strike? Maybe. Something less peaceful? We’ll have to wait and see.”

Maddugh sighed. “I hate waiting. Can you encourage things to move along?”

“Precipitate the situation?” Amnan’s brow rose, then his mouth pursed. “If I hasten Gaston’s timeline, it could backfire.”

“Hmm. If an enemy plants a bomb, make sure—”

“You’re the one to set it off.” Amnan backed up, shifting. “Father. Lady.”

She watched him gather his weight and launch into the air, powerful forelegs powering his thrust. It occurred to Kailigh that she would be his stepmother if she accepted the Lord’s suit. Huh.

Maddugh turned to her. “I want you and the girls to stay in the castle for the time being.”

“What?”

“I’m handling a situation and I don’t want you caught in the crossfire.”

Kailigh shook her head. “I understand, but I have my own business to deal with.”

“The trafficker. Allow me to take care of that nuisance as well. I have been remiss, after all—it is my town, no matter what illusion the humans live under.”

Was the man mad? “Absolutely not.” If she had her own fire, she’d be puffing breaths of brimstone as well. “If you think I will sit back and watch my ass spread while—”

He grabbed her shoulders. “Kai, be reasonable. You’ve already been outgunned once—killed if I hadn’t stepped in.”

And wasn’t he a gentleman to remind her of that? “I’ve lived in this mountain town nearly all my adult life, and had several almosts. I won’t stop taking care of business just because of a few kisses between us.”

His expression darkened. “Not a few kisses. A vow.” His hand slid from her shoulder to bunch the fabric right over her heart. “You’re mine—I won’t see you harmed.”

The sentiment was sweet, if impractical. And she was also sure that the sweetness would wear off, in time. Kailigh stepped back. “If you try to chain me, then I’ll run. Vow or no, and take the consequences. My daughter was shot—this is a matter of honor and my reputation. I will not allow anyone to think they can get away with violence against my household.”

They stared at each other, fire flickering in Maddugh’s eyes. “Stubborn female,” he said and stepped back. “And you sound just like one of those damn Fae. I’m fully convinced that is the source of your blood.”

He turned on his heel and strode away. “Leave the basket,” he shouted over his shoulder.

She sniffed, unperturbed by his temper, and picked up the chocolates, following him in a more leisurely pace.