Dinner was a minor ordeal. Aside from his inattentive, absentee parents, Bael had never met any other Nasc before, but he knew his monarch when he saw him. King Talvéan-Dark-rippled with power and authority, and Bael was totally, unexpectedly in awe. Usually authority figures pissed the hell out of him, but he seemed to have some sort of inbuilt subservience switch when it came to his king.
Maybe this was what it was like being a kelf and driven to serve humans. Bael actually wanted the king to approve of him. Wanted to serve him. Weird.
The king’s consort wasn’t Nasc-she was something not entirely human, but he couldn’t tell what. Regal of bearing, warm and unutterably beautiful, she was a perfect foil for the king’s majestic stillness.
And she was Kett’s cousin! His mind reeled. His queen was Kett’s cousin. They were nothing alike. Quite apart from the differences in their coloring, Kett was all wiry strength, flashing fury and surly, dangerous sexuality. She was like thunder and lightning, fascinating but deadly. Chance, on the other hand, was grace personified. She exuded warmth and charm that only seemed to make Kett look more bad-tempered.
He glanced over to where Kett was poking at her noodles, scowling. She had a great line in scowling. Those wonderful silver eyes of hers blazed and sparked at him across the table. She didn’t seem to be talking to him, didn’t seem to be talking to anybody.
Which made conversation all the harder. Several times Chance enquired of him what his animal twin might be, and each time he fudged the answer, changed the subject. If he told them the truth-if they knew-every Nasc would know. News would spread. The Federación would surely find out.
And then he’d be dead.
“I haven’t met very many Nasc,” Chance was saying brightly now. “Might I know your parents?”
“I doubt it.” Bael tore his eyes from Kett to address his queen. “They died when I was young.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Another silence. Bael watched Kett stab at her food, apparently angry with it. She tangled up some noodles and shoved them into her mouth with a total lack of grace he found weirdly charming.
“Dark is touring ’round, introducing me to all the Nasc we can find,” Chance said. “Sometimes I feel like an exhibit at a freak show.”
“You are a freak,” the king muttered.
“Thank you, darling.”
“In the nicest possible way.”
She glanced sideways at him then flicked her gaze quickly away again. But she was smiling.
“It’s not freakish for me to be non-Nasc,” she said.
“Of course it isn’t.”
With that was the unspoken coda it was something else that made her freakish. Chance shifted and the king flinched, and Bael realized she’d kicked him under the table. He held his breath, but the king just grinned at her. And she grinned back.
“Will you still be here tomorrow?” Miho asked. “The Emperor is coming for tea. It would be fitting for him to meet the Nasc king.”
The Emperor. What kind of people did Kett know?
“It’s been awhile since I saw the Emperor,” Chance said. “If we’re still here,” she glanced at Kett, who shrugged sullenly and said nothing, “then it would be lovely.” She beamed at them all. Miho smiled back. Bael tried to remember if he’d ever gotten into trouble in Xinjiang-the sort of trouble the Emperor might care about, anyway.
To redress the balance, he pulled on one of the few pieces of Nasc news he actually had heard. “Your Majesty,” he enquired of his king, “how is her Highness, your sister?” To Kett, he explained, “She was kidnapped and imprisoned, but the king and his mate freed her.”
“The king, his mate and me, actually,” Kett said, and Bael stared at her, dumb with admiration.
Amused, Dark said, “She is well. Thank you for asking.”
“Do you have a mate, Bael?” Chance asked.
“Uh, no,” he said, his eyes sliding back to Kett, who was sucking a noodle between her lips. His mouth went dry. “I don’t-er, I, uh-no, no mate,” he stammered, watching her lips move, pink and soft and supple.
“Oh, of course. You and Kett.”
“There’s no ‘and’,” Kett snapped. “We’ve only just met.”
“Well, yes, but if he had a mate then he couldn’t be, er, you two couldn’t…”
“What makes you think we have?”
There was silence. Bael thought he heard Miho suppressing a giggle, but he couldn’t be sure he’d actually heard anything through the fog of memories of Kett this morning, Kett last night, hot and strong and naked, her mouth and her breasts and her tight, sweet pussy.
He was glad he was sitting down, because to get a hard-on in front of his king would be pretty damn embarrassing.
“Sweetheart,” Chance said, “I know.”
“Oh, piss off,” Kett snarled halfheartedly, stabbing at her plate again, and the table was silent a moment more before Miho cleared her throat and tried to start another conversation.
“How long have you been in the Realm?” she asked Chance and Dark.
“Oh, not very long. A few weeks. We’ll be going back to Peneggan soon, of course, to Elvyrn for Yule. Kett, are you coming?”
Kett shrugged. Her breasts moved interestingly beneath the thin tunic she had on under her open kimono. Chance had spent a futile few minutes trying to get Kett into an obi and then given up and let her wear the kimono open like a long robe. Bael could hardly object. Fastened up, the kimono concealed all those attributes of hers that he so enjoyed looking at.
“Well, it’ll be nice if you do. Bring Bael.”
Kett shot her a venomous look. It made her eyes sparkle and flash.
Chance grinned at her. “It’ll be fun,” she said provocatively. “I don’t think you’ve ever brought a date to the Yule party.”
“So why start now?” Kett muttered.
“Bael.” Chance reached over and placed her hand on his, and he looked away from Kett for a moment. His queen was pretty compelling. “You must come. Tell Kett to bring you.”
He looked back at Kett, who was scowling harder. She licked a drop of sauce from her lips and he tried not to moan. “Sure,” he said. “I’d love to.”
Kett shoved back her seat abruptly, standing up, the kimono swirling around her, the tunic clinging to her body. Bael lost his breath again. “I’m done eating,” she said when they all stared at her. “Good night,” she added as a sort of afterthought.
Then she stomped from the room in a swirl of silk and annoyance. Bael started rising to his feet.
“I’ll go,” Chance said, moving faster than seemed possible. “You stay here. Dark, be nice to Miho.”
“I’m always nice,” he said, and she just laughed as she left. The king fixed Bael with his dark stare. “The women in that family are crazy,” he said. “Have you met her family?”
“I’ve hardly even met her,” Bael said honestly.
“Hah. Well, if you do, take body armor. I’m not kidding.”
“Right,” Bael said, liking Kett more and more.
Chance caught up with Kett as she stomped around trying to find her room again. Not that there was anything personal in it to mark it as hers. She should probably just find a bed somewhere else and sleep in it. Might get Bael off her back.
Bloody Bael! Rationally, she knew it wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know Chance was going to interrupt them, and he couldn’t help his reaction to her. It was almost genetic. She’d known men who fell into swoons after a mere smile from the beauteous Chance.
“Kett, wait.”
“Speak of the devil.” Kett narrowed her eyes and carried on walking. Well, limping. Fucking leg.
“Are you all right?”
“Five by five.”
“No, you’re about two by three. And the three’s for your leg.”
Kett scowled at her. Chance remained unmoved.
“He’s cute,” she said.
Kett shrugged.
“What are you so pissed off about?”
She stopped, squeezed her eyes shut. Nothing she had any reason to be pissed off about. “Nothing,” she said. “I’m just…cranky.”
Chance touched her arm, and Kett knew she was trying to weigh up the spell. Well, that wasn’t helping with the crankiness. Being trapped in one skin was maddening. How did other people manage it their whole lives?
“Can you lift it?” she asked.
Chance frowned. “No. I…you know I’m still learning. Striker might be able to.”
Kett snorted.
“Okay, he will be able to. Whether or not you can talk him into it, I don’t know.”
“I owe him enough already. I’ll think of something else,” Kett said.
Chance started to say something, hesitated, then said, “It’s suppressing your shifting powers, isn’t it?”
Kett nodded and started walking again. She didn’t ask how Chance knew-for one thing, Chance knew a lot of things without being told, and for another, it had been a long time since she’d appeared in public with all her scars showing.
Of course, the nakedness hadn’t helped with that.
“And you don’t have any idea who did it?”
“Nope.”
“Or why?”
“No, I think I have a handle on the why. You want to keep a shapeshifter in chains, you stop her shifting.”
“Chains? We’re not talking the fun, kinky kind of chains here, are we?”
“No.” Kett chewed her own lip. “I need a smoke.”
“Thought you’d given up?”
“I gave up cigarettes. I need a cigar.”
Chance was quiet as they walked a little farther, then she said, “Kett, what the fuck happened?”
Kett sighed. “I don’t know. I really don’t.”
Chance frowned, but she didn’t press it. “How’s your leg?”
“Five by-” She saw Chance’s face and amended, “Better.”
“You need anything, give me a yell,” Chance said. She pointed to a door. “Think this is yours.”
“Cheers.”
Chance nodded and backed down the corridor. “And Bael really is cute. Fancies the pants off you too.”
“Right,” Kett said, knowing when she was being consoled.
“Have some sex. Really. It’s good for you.” Chance winked as she disappeared around a corner.
“I had no idea,” Kett said sourly, pushing the door open and coming face-to-face with Bael. Well, face to chest, really. He was lounging on the bed, magnificently bare-chested, wearing only the loose pants he’d had on under his robe.
Kett bit her lip to keep her mouth closed as she took him in. Good heavens. Sweet, merciful fuck.
Clearly, she hadn’t been paying attention before.
Bael had wonderful golden skin, a light dusting of hair and the most marvelous musculature she’d seen outside of the army. Or in it, come to think. Really beautifully defined chest, narrow waist, the sort of tight stomach that came from hours of hard exercise. Fabulous arms. Strong biceps and, even better, wonderful forearms. Sword-fighting, bow-pulling forearms.
Last night’s frantic sex in the woods had been too hurried, and too dark, to make out any details. This afternoon she’d been too preoccupied with the throbbing pain in her leg to notice anything. But now she could see old, small scars on his skin. Maybe he was more of a warrior than she’d thought.
“Kett,” he said cheerfully.
Of course, a warrior would have better survival instincts.
“How did you get here?”
He looked nonplussed. “Er, I walked.”
“I mean, before me.”
“I walked faster?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. Of course, she’d been limping around getting lost. Without being able to turn into something with superior tracking abilities, she felt half-blind.
“Kett, Kett, Kett,” he said, swinging to his feet as she shrugged off her kimono. “I know you’re crazy for my body but I didn’t expect you to start taking your clothes off so soon. However, I can’t possibly deny you,” he said, and started unfastening his trousers.
“I’m going to bed,” she snapped.
“Great. Bed is excellent. One of my favorite places to have sex.”
“Not for sex,” she said, because despite his big hard chest and delicious forearms, she was still a little mad at him. “To sleep.”
“Oh.” He looked disappointed, standing there with his clothes half-off. “You’ve been sleeping all day.”
“So?”
“Er. Are you really still tired?”
“Yes,” she said. And because that really wasn’t true and he could tell, added, “And my leg really hurts.”
“Oh,” he said again, looking really disappointed this time. “Really hurts?”
Another exaggeration. But it wasn’t pain-free.
“I could always rub it better,” he offered, brightening. “With some liniment.”
“No. It’s fine.” She shucked the shift she’d been wearing under the kimono and crawled into bed. Bael stood right next to her, all big and muscular and irritating and wrong.
“Or kiss it better?”
“It probably still tastes of liniment,” she said, pulling the covers up to her chin and closing her eyes so she didn’t have to look at his hot body anymore.
“Well, then, I’ll kiss somewhere else better. Take your mind off it.”
Kett swallowed. Beneath the sheets, her nipples puckered. Picking up where they’d left off did sound tempting.
“Because, you know, it doesn’t have to be sweaty, athletic sex.”
And why was she really mad at him, anyway? She was just overreacting. Frustrated.
“It could be gentle, tender sex. Probably still sweaty though. But we could always take a bath together afterward.”
Hadn’t she vowed to try to be more rational? Being mad at Bael for no reason clearly wasn’t rational.
“But if it really hurts,” Bael said, sounding regretful, “then I guess-”
“It’s not that bad,” Kett heard herself saying.
“It isn’t?”
“Uh.” She opened her eyes. He’d turned down the lamp and the room was sultry and dark. The scent of jasmine washed over her again from the blossoms outside. Bael stood by the bed, all big and hard and naked.
“You could try kissing it better,” she whispered, and he grinned and leapt into bed beside her. The mattress bounced and he laughed, and Kett forgot that she was mad and frustrated and laughed with him.
“You’re pretty gorgeous when you laugh,” he told her, wriggling under the covers and pinning her beneath him.
“That’s such a line.”
“No, it’s true,” Bael protested, nuzzling her neck and kissing her jaw. “You’re pretty gorgeous most of the time, actually.”
“Most. Boy, you really know how to compliment a girl,” Kett said. She knew he was flattering her and she didn’t care, because his big, hard body felt really good pressed against her. She wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, felt the muscles tensing in his back. Yeah, really very good.
“Well, the rest of the time you’re absolutely gorgeous,” Bael said, his stubble scraping against her collarbone.
“You don’t half talk rubbish,” Kett said, and he looked up, surprised.
“No, I mean it!”
“You don’t have to flatter me.”
“It’s not flattery.” He kissed her lightly on the lips. “I like everything about you.”
“Now I know you’re lying.” Time to put his mouth to better uses. “Didn’t you say something about kissing me better?”
Bael didn’t argue with that. He dropped his head and obediently nuzzled her breast, licking the underside of it but not touching her nipple, and she closed her eyes. When he wasn’t talking bollocks, he had a great mouth.
His hand was lightly stroking her leg, lifting it gently to rest against his hip as he kissed the curve of her breast. Kett wanted to tell him to hurry up and get to the good stuff, but then it occurred to her that what he was doing was pretty good. Clearly it had been too long since she’d had sex with anyone who had the faintest clue what they were doing.
His fingers were tracing featherlight patterns on her scarred leg. Some of it she couldn’t feel-the skin was numb in places-but some of it she could, and it felt damn good. When he ran his tongue over her nipple she jolted off the bed a little, and forgot completely about any pain in her leg at all.
Bael laughed softly against her breast and swirled his tongue around her nipple. Wow, Kett thought, if his tongue is this talented why does he waste so much time using it to talk rubbish?
He shifted between her legs, and those wonderful bumpy muscles on his stomach pressed against her crotch. She was still wearing underwear-a rather skimpy number Chance had rustled up for her, far more impractical and revealing than anything she’d have chosen for herself.
Bael seemed impressed with it, however. He was sucking one nipple now, his hand stroking the other, caressing with soft, teasing motions. She found herself wriggling closer to him, enjoying the press of his hard muscles against the hot, needy flesh between her legs.
Actually, damn Chance for finding her underwear! She wanted to be naked. Wanted to rub herself all over Bael’s lovely body, feel his hot skin against her wet pussy lips. The hot skin of his stomach, his fingers, his cock.
She thought about how his cock had felt sliding inside her last night and a wave of heat swamped her.
“Bael,” she said, and it came out as a husky gasp.
“Mmm.” His voice vibrated through her.
“I want you inside me.”
His fingers tightened momentarily on her breast. “‘I want’ doesn’t get,” he said, and ran his tongue in a lazy circle around her nipple. “I promised I’d kiss you better and I mean to stick to that promise.”
“Kiss me better later,” she said desperately.
“No no.” He gave her nipple a little flick with his tongue. “I’m not done yet.” His hand strayed from her thigh down to the strip of fabric over her hip. Well, that was more promising. Kett tried desperately hard not to wriggle and writhe against him, and failed utterly.
Bael gave a soft laugh and kissed her stomach. He found the little round scar by her bellybutton and licked it, and she wrapped her legs around his back, squeezing him tightly enough to get his attention.
“You’re killing me,” she said.
“Can’t have that,” Bael said, and scooted down a little farther to nuzzle the inside of her thigh. He licked, nibbled and made a thoughtful noise. “You know, this does taste somewhat like liniment.”
“You eat liniment a lot?”
“Mmm, no. But it doesn’t taste like the rest of you. Not salty,” he licked higher, where she knew no liniment had gone, “or sweet,” he blew on her wet skin and she shivered, “or delicious in any way. However,” he said, apropos of nothing, and sat up.
“What? However what?” Kett wriggled madly. He wasn’t going to just leave her like this, was he?
But Bael laughed and reached for her underwear again, sliding the lace down her hips. She relaxed a little-but only a little, because her body was wound up tight, needing him to touch her again. To taste her.
“However,” he murmured, dropping the knickers on the floor. “I’m wondering if this might taste better.”
And with that, he put his head between her legs and gave her pussy one long lick. Kett shuddered and nearly came, her legs shaking as she moved them wider apart to give him better access.
Bael parted her with his fingers, stuck his tongue inside her and then she did come, a wave of release crashing over her as her body snapped like a spring wound up too tight.
“Mmm,” he said, and the vibrations made her shudder a little more. “That was delicious.”
“Flatterer,” she said, and was appalled to hear her voice shaking.
“I’m sincere! However can I convince you?” He gave her labia a thoughtful nibble.
By doing that, Kett thought, but couldn’t quite manage to get her voice working enough to say it.
“I’ll just have another taste while I think about it,” Bael decided, and sucked her labia between his lips. She gasped, her hips bucking as his tongue teased her delicate flesh. He stilled her with his hands, dipped his tongue back inside where she was dripping wet then circled her clit.
Kett hadn’t really recovered from her first orgasm yet, and she felt the waves building in her again as he licked and sucked her most sensitive flesh. Her heels dug into his back. Her hands clenched the sheets. Her breath came in gasps.
Bael slipped his finger into her cunt and she came again, tightening around him, loving the feel of it inside her. Wanting more. Wanting something bigger, longer, thicker inside her.
“More,” she gasped, her body twisting as he licked and sucked her relentlessly. “Inside me, more!”
Obligingly, he added another finger. Then another. He twisted them inside her and her hips came right up off the bed. But it still wasn’t what she wanted.
“Fuck me,” she panted. “For the love of the gods, fuck me!”
Bael bit the inside of her thigh. “I think I’ve kissed you better enough for now,” he murmured, his voice just a little ragged, and flipped her over onto her stomach. All Kett really registered was that he wasn’t licking her anymore, that her cunt was empty of his fingers, and she was just about to protest when he pulled her up to her knees and slid that big, hard cock of his deep inside her from behind.
“Oh gods,” she choked, shaking as he pushed home as far as he could go, his balls brushing her clit. Her legs wouldn’t hold her anymore, and she had the fleeting thought that this was the first time since the accident that it had been pleasure making her muscles ineffective, not pain.
Then Bael withdrew from her, sliding out with wonderful friction, his hands sure on her hips as he pulled out so far the head of his cock slid against her pussy lips and her brain became useless. He plunged back in again, and Kett’s arms collapsed beneath her, her body falling to the mattress. Her legs would surely have given way too, but Bael held tight to her hips as he thrust into her and back out again, in and out until she was completely mindless with pleasure.
She came again, a series of rolling orgasms that nearly made her black out, and only came to when the friction stopped and she realized Bael was no longer moving inside her. He’d rolled her to her side, and although he was still inside her, his penis was soft. Her thighs were sticky with come. She hadn’t even felt it, her orgasms had been so overwhelming.
Lazily, he nuzzled the back of her neck, pushing strands of sweaty hair away from her skin. “Better?”
She could hardly breathe, let alone speak. She managed a nod and felt his body shake a little with laughter. “Let me know if it starts hurting again. I’ll be glad to treat it.”
Kett smiled, and then she gave an exhausted laugh. “Sure,” she panted. “I like your kind of…treatment.”
He slid out of her, rolling her in his arms so she was facing him. Kett wasn’t usually much of a snuggler, but when Bael pulled her close she curled into him, liking the lazy way he held her as her heartbeat slowed back down, the heat of his body warming her. He smelled good, clean sweat and hot skin, and when his lips brushed hers, he tasted good too.
“Mmm,” he said. “You taste like Xinjiangese food.”
“That’s interesting,” she said, tucking her head under his chin. “We were eating Nihonese.”
“Were we?”
“Yes. We’re in Nihon, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“Er…” Bael began.
She lifted her head. “You hadn’t noticed?”
“Well, Miho was speaking Xinjiangese! Wasn’t she?” he added suspiciously.
“Yes, but then she is Xinjiangese. She just lives in Nihon.”
“Oh,” Bael said, his body slightly tenser than it had been.
“What, don’t you like Nihon?” Kett asked sleepily, snuggling back down.
“Oh no, I like it fine. They just, er, don’t like me much.”
“They don’t?”
“No. Chucked me out a couple of times.”
Kett felt herself mildly amused by this. “Out of the country?”
“Yep.”
“What for?”
He seemed to think about it. “Can’t remember.”
Well, that was kind of adorable. Kett figured it was a sign of her misspent youth that she thought it was cute when a guy couldn’t remember why he’d been deported. It certainly explained much about her taste in men.
“Well, I won’t tell anyone,” she murmured, and closed her eyes, falling asleep in Bael’s arms.
When she woke up, he was gone.