The pest shrugged and squirmed a little, pulling at his waistcoat.
“Remember, you are the prestigious servant of an earl. We are not on holiday.”
The red light over the hatch blinked, indicating an incoming transmission. Nate peeked out the window again and noticed they were approaching a large, ornate iron gate. Looking at Trouble, he pressed a finger to his lips and touched the intercom button.
“Good afternoon, Lord Deverell,” a baritone male voice greeted as the gates swung open allowing them entry. “I’m Jeffers, the head butler. Welcome to Townsend Castle. Thomas, my assistant, will meet you at the front entrance.”
“Thank you, Jeffers. Will you please send additional servants to help my valet with my belongings?”
Trouble rolled his eyes.
“Yes, milord.”
“Thank you.” Nate frowned at his son. It was time to get serious. The sooner they figured out who stole those damned weapons and how, the sooner they could get back to the Lady Anna and stop living a farce. The intercom clicked off.
Apparently, the pest had decided to behave and take on the role he was to play. He still wore a grimace and was stretching his neck strangely, compensating for the cravat, but he sat straighter and had composed himself.
“Remember, when we stop, you will go through the side servants’ entrance and stay either downstairs or in my room. Likely your own room will be a very small one connected to mine. Try to act proper, no cursing, watch your posture, and for Galaxy’s sake, stay out of trouble.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I got i—”
“Ahem.” Nate gave him an arched look.
“I mean, yes, milord.” Trouble sighed. “I remember the lesson on proper behavior and in case I need further instruction, I have an electronic reference book on my reader in my suitcase.”
Nodding, Nate retrieved the beaver hat from the seat next to him. “Good, go get things settled in our room while I handle things with our hosts.”
The lift came to a stop, the door raised and the steps descended from the vehicle. Nate put on his hat before exiting the carriage. A quartet of servants stood at the bottom of the front stairs, judging from the uniforms, a head servant and three footmen.
A tall, slender, gray-haired man stepped forward and bowed. “Greetings, Lord Deverell. I’m Thomas, the assistant butler. Welcome to Townsend Castle.”
“Thomas.” Nate tipped his head slightly. “My valet will need help with my things.”
“Yes, milord.” He snapped his finger and the three younger men rushed toward the lift and began removing luggage from the storage below the passenger compartment. “If you will follow me, milord, I’ll take you to the study for your meeting, unless you’d prefer to freshen up?”
“No, thank you, Thomas. I’d prefer to meet with their majesties now.”
“Very well, milord.”
Trouble got out of the coach and talked to the footmen.
Giving one last hope that Trouble stayed out of trouble, Nate ascended the wide cement steps leading to the gothic style castle. It was a beautiful structure with ivy clinging to the gray stone walls. It reminded him vaguely of Hutchins Hall, the estate nearest his boyhood home, Hawthorne. Only, Townsend Castle was considerably larger than Hutchins Hall.
The large wooden door opened, revealing a vast marble entryway. It spoke of refinement and wealth, yet it was quite masculine. The foyer was brightly lit by a crystal chandelier that sparkled off the gleaming jade-colored marble. It was like walking into a museum, pristine and showy. It had been a while since he’d been anywhere so classy.
“Might I take your hat and gloves, sir?”
Nate pulled off his gloves, handing them and his hat to Thomas.
Acutely aware of how his boots clicked on the natural stone and echoed in the stillness of the vestibule, he followed Thomas.
The door shut with a heavy thud behind Thomas and the voice that had greeted Nate in the coach spoke. “Thomas, please show Lord Deverell to the study. You are needed in the conservatory posthaste.”
Grimacing, the butler turned to Nate, bowing again. “If you will come with me, milord.” He raised his arm, indicating a door ahead of them and to the left before the hallway became a huge open space. It was massive with two grand staircases along the side walls.
Somewhere in the castle a door slammed and a huge ruckus ensued. It sounded like…barking? The yapping grew louder and frantic clicks reverberated off the marble.
Thomas’ shoulders drooped and he groaned before he quickly remembered himself. He glanced back at Nate and smiled, hurrying his steps. “Right this way, milord.” Thomas reached the door and it swung open.
Around the corner a herd of about ten dogs, large and small, scrambled down the hall toward the entry. Their toenails clicked and scraped, trying to obtain traction on the marble.
“Ho there. Jeffers, the door!” A handsome man with an abundance of short, dark curls barreled around the corner following the dogs, nearly trampling Thomas.
Only Nate’s quick reflexes kept the butler upright. He caught the older man’s shoulder, steadying him, and watched the young man sprint after the pack of wild beasts.
The teenager was dressed for riding, in buff-colored pantaloons and shiny black boots. His blue coattails flew behind him as he slipped and slid over the polished stone. “Sorry, Thomas,” he yelled over his shoulder and continued out the door after the dogs.
Placing a hand against the wall, Thomas took a deep breath. “Thank you, milord.” Under his breath he mumbled what sounded like, “Lord Terror.”
Before Nate could ask what that was about, a squealing, naked, wet, little girl ran past, followed by an older woman.
“Lady Mischief,” Thomas muttered.
Nate blinked. Good Galaxy, he’d landed in a fucking nuthouse. “Pardon?”
Thomas’ eyes widened comically. “Oh dear. Nothing, Lord Deverell, nothing. I was talking to myself. Bad habit, that.” He extended his arm toward the room again.
Entering the dark masculine room brought back memories of Nate’s father’s study at Hawthorne. It had wall-to-wall mahogany bookshelves and large leather furniture. Nate inhaled deeply. Sweet tobacco, bay rum and leather filled his senses, just like the study in Hawthorne Manor. He’d always loved that room.
“Please make yourself comfortable. Is there anything I can—”
Stomping ensued, followed by, “Muffffinnnn!” A tall man, who looked to be slightly older than the one chasing the horde of canines, stuck his head in the door. His golden eyes widened at the sight of Nate. “Oh, excuse me, I didn’t realize we were expecting company.” His dark head popped back around the door and his hurried footfalls trailed off.
A grin tugged at Nate’s lips as he took a seat on a small burgundy sofa vertical to the desk.
Thomas grimaced and glanced at the door. He was obviously in a hurry, but reluctant to be rude and leave Nate without seeing to his comfort. “Milord—”
Nate waved him away. “I’m quite all right. Go.”
“Thank you, milord.” The older man bowed and left the room.
If the household was always so unruly, it was no wonder the thieves had not been detected. According to the information he had, Jeffers, the castle computer, had been out of commission at the time of the theft. Nate had not been given any details about the computer’s downtime, other than to say Raleigh Townsend would brief him when Nate arrived at the castle.
The window to Nate’s left shattered.
Shit. Nate hit the ground, landing flat on his stomach. A white polo ball rolled across the wood floor and onto the rug, coming to a stop inches in front of Nate’s face. What the… He picked up the ball, got to his feet and crossed to the broken window.
“Hello there.” A young man with wide shoulders and a friendly smile waved from atop a sorrel horse. “Sorry about that. I didn’t hit you, did I?”
Nate shook his head. “No, you didn’t hit me.” He held up the ball. “Would you like this back?
”
“Yes, please. Are you the earl?” the horseman asked.
“Yes, and who might you be?” Nate tossed the ball out.
“I’m Prince Colton. Pleasure to meet you, milord.” He tipped his head and heeled his mount off toward the ball.
Colton? The second to youngest prince. Judging from the looks of him and the similarity to the other two gentlemen Nate had seen since his arrival, he realized they were probably siblings. Good Galaxy, the royal family was a handful. He was starting to get a suspicion as to why Jeffers was shut down.
Stepping away from the window, a rustling sound made Nate stop mid-stride. Leaves rained down and a grunt came from above. “Bloody black hole and imploding stars,” a soft masculine voice hissed.
Way up in the tree closest to the window, a boy balanced precariously on a thin tree limb. He reached toward a flat computer screen of some sort that had snagged on an adjacent branch. At his unbalanced angle a fall seemed imminent. Likely a shout to be careful would bring the teen plummeting to the ground, so Nate raced to a set of French doors on his left. Hurrying outside, he got to the base of the tree just as the branch the kid balanced on snapped.
“Whoa.” The boy wobbled and fell against the limb holding the computer, knocking the device loose. “Dust!”
The flat screen clipped only one bough before falling free. Nate caught it before it hit the ground.
The young man gasped, his gaze meeting Nate’s.
Nate started. The boy—no, that wasn’t right, he was young, yes, but not a lad—was absolutely gorgeous. Nate stared into the big gray eyes, mesmerized. The man was simply beautiful. He had a small frame that had, at first, deluded Nate into thinking him a child. A mass of ebony curls surrounded a handsome face, and a full bottom lip was caught between even white teeth.
“Uh, thanks. I, uh— Whoa.” The man’s booted feet slid off the tree, leaving him dangling from his hands ten feet in the air.
Nate set the computer screen down and held his arms out. “I’ve got you. Drop.”
“Uh…”
“Drop.”
“Okay. Please don’t miss.” The man let go with a reluctant whimper.
The negligible weight landed in Nate’s outstretched arms. He bent his knee slightly to keep from jarring the young man. Nate glanced at the handsome face and his gut clenched. Up close the man’s eyes were the color of molten steel. He had flawless ivory skin and full lips. The heat of his body pressed against Nate’s chest made his cock stir. The man was slim and not very tall, but he had broad shoulders that spoke of nice muscles under the well-tailored clothes. What he wouldn’t give to see this slim body completely bare of clothing and those pretty lips wrapped around his hard cock. Closing his eyes, Nate concentrated on getting his pulse back to normal. He was here on a mission, not to get involved. Besides, this was most likely his hosts’ offspring.
He opened his eyes in time to see a pink tongue dart out and wet the beguiling lips. Nate’s cock—fully erect now—strained against the placket of his pantaloons.
The man’s gaze roamed over Nate’s face as long, elegant fingers came up to trace his beard. “Who are you?” he asked in a seductive whisper.
Nate hadn’t even realized he’d leaned forward until the smaller man jerked, nearly spilling himself out of Nate’s arms. Setting the man on his feet, Nate watched him straighten his waistcoat. When he brushed off his trousers, he seemed to realize he had a problem.
Good, the young lord wasn’t unaffected, just surprised. Not, of course, that it mattered. Nate wasn’t interested. Yeah, right. He bowed. “Nathaniel Hawkins, Earl of Deverell.”
The younger man’s gray eyes shot wide and he hastily tried to hide his obvious erection. He squirmed before spotting his computer. Picking up the screen, he held it in front of his groin and met Nate’s gaze. His enticing mouth formed an “O”, followed by an inhalation of air, then the man blinked and shook his head as if to clear it. “Thank you for rescuing me, milord. I, uh, got my screen caught on the way up.”
Nate was about to ask the man’s name and why he was in the tree in the first place when an older version of the young man appeared in the window. “What in stars happened to the window? Aiden?”
The younger man, Aiden, frowned. He darted his gaze to Nate and gave a barely perceptible shake of his head. “I didn’t do it, Cony. I was trying to get a different perspective on the garden.” Aiden glanced back at Nate, his eyes pleading, and bowed. “Thank you again, milord.”
Before Nate could respond the vision bounded off toward the back of the castle. How odd. Apparently the imp didn’t want Nate to mention his fall from the tree. Or did he not want Nate to mention who broke the window?
“Lord Deverell?”
Nate dragged his attention from Aiden’s retreating backside and turned toward the window. “Lord Raleigh?”
Raleigh smiled. “Yes, please come inside. You wouldn’t happen to know what became of the window, would you?”
Nate swirled his scotch in its snifter and uncrossed his legs, settling back into the comfortable leather of the sofa. This place was definitely different from his normal, orderly life.
He’d spent nearly two hours talking with King Steven and King-Consort Raleigh—they’d long since stopped using each other’s titles and started calling one another by their first names. Nate found he liked them both quite a bit.
Both men were a little older than Nate and not what he’d expected. Steven was quite laid-back. He gave the impression of laziness, but his form spoke of anything but. He wasn’t overly tall, but the man was powerfully built, wide through the chest, lean through the hips. He wasn’t a man who laid around all day.
Raleigh wasn’t tense exactly, but he wasn’t as easygoing as Steven. He brought to mind a big cat, always alert and ready to pounce. Like a large feline, Raleigh was tall and athletic looking. Nate had no doubt the man would be as fast as he was strong. It made Nate wonder what exactly the man did for the IN.
Nate took a sip of his drink while he tried to get a grasp on his most recent discovery, that the Townsend offspring were responsible for the computer being off. He’d come to suspect it before Raleigh revealed the truth. “Let me get this straight. The princes shut Jeffers off in order to have an adventure?” Nate frowned. It seemed to him the princes did as they pleased already.
Steven nodded from his seat, an armchair across from Nate. A lock of black hair fell into his eyes. “Raleigh’s children are brats.”
Brushing the hair off his spouse’s face, Raleigh got up from his perch on the wide arm of the chair. “Why is it whenever they do something good and noteworthy they are yours, but let them foul something up and they are mine and mine alone?” He crossed to the desk, sitting on the edge.
“Need I remind you that you are the one who wanted six children?” Steven’s lip twitched and his sherry-colored eyes twinkled. The man clearly took delight in teasing his spouse. “Besides, they do have your DNA, how could they not be hellions? And since I’m quite positive it is your genes, not mine, that make them that way…” He shrugged and caught Nate’s gaze, the mirth evident in his grin and raised brow.
Raleigh snorted. Raleigh was one of the classiest and commanding men he’d ever met—the snort seemed so out of character. It made him appear even more like Aiden.
The thought of Aiden immediately brought to mind the way the man looked in his arms a couple of hours ago, and Nate’s cock began to rouse. He crossed his ankle over his knee again. “Ahem. I thought the two of you only had five children? Was I misinformed?”
Steven chuckled. “We only have five because I managed to talk some sense into him at last.”
Picking up a pen from the desk, Raleigh flung it at the king, then turned his attention on Nate. His gray eyes twinkled. “No, you were not misinformed. There are only five and Muffin.”
“Muffin?” Nate blinked. He assumed they were talking of the little girl he’d seen earlier, but he had no clue who she was…to them.
&n
bsp; Laughing louder, Steven hurled the pen back, clipping his consort in the chest with it.
Raleigh ignored the pen altogether. “Muffin is our eldest’s charge. I suppose in a sense she is our ward, but Rexley found her when she was a newborn. He was shopping with his chaperone and he heard her crying. She’d been abandoned in an alley behind a shop and reminded Rexley of a muffin, all round and plump. It was before he ate lunch.” Raleigh chuckled.
Nate frowned. From what he had learned, Regelence’s citizens subscribed to the artificial creation and incubation method of procreation. It was clear from what was said that the princes were created from such a process, because they obviously had both Steven and Raleigh’s DNA. There was an egg involved, of course, but in most cases during the creation process the egg donor’s genetics were removed until it was inconsequential unless the child being spawned belonged to that woman. “Why would someone abandon a baby that they’d had made. Could they not have designed her the way they wanted?”
Steven shook his head. “I presume she was conceived naturally. But, regardless, our laws do not permit designer babies other than a few minor things. In a case of male mates, the couple is allowed to specify if they want a male or female child. But other than that, and being predisposed to sexually prefer men, in the landed gentry our laws prohibit designer offspring.”
Interesting. Nate took a sip of his scotch. Most planets that utilized the artificial procreation and incubation procedure used the all-or-nothing philosophy. They eradicated all undesirable traits and diseases and did not allow natural conception. “You allow natural gestation?”
“Oh yes. Actually, the ratio of natural-born children to synthetically created children is about eighty to one outside of the aristocracy. The procedure is very expensive. We are a patriarchal society, therefore, among the titled it is nearly one hundred percent. Occasionally, a lord will be born without having been altered to prefer men and…” Raleigh shrugged. “It’s very rare though.”
Nate liked how they did things here. It made sense to him. If everyone were perfect and lived into their hundreds, then the population would be outlandish. Not only that…how boring would it be if everyone were ideal specimens? And same-sex partners were not only accepted, among the landed gentry they were the norm. Too bad his own home planet didn’t have similar values. If it had, he’d have never been forced into that duel… A duel that made him lose his family. Nate shook himself out of his ponderings, it was irrelevant. He was here to investigate a crime. “You said the children shut off Jeffers?”
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