“Uncle Charlie!” Charlie called out from across the room, earning a laugh.

“Yes, well, you’re much funnier-looking than me.” Being around the lad was growing easier. Indeed, Leo seemed to be the only one Charlie could talk to about his own mistake and the consequences of it.

Warmth washed over Leo from the fireplace. He settled Emma against his shoulder, then slid an arm around his wife as he sat. Mina rested her cheek against his shoulder, relaxing slowly as Blade excused himself to go help Will and Rip in the kitchen.

“Do you know,” Mina murmured, “he’s not so bad, after all.”

Leo pressed a kiss into her hair. “Making peace with the natives, are we?”

“They’re your natives. It stands to reason that I’m going to be around them quite often and should therefore make amends.” Her expression softened. “And I like this.”

“This?”

“Family. Even when they’re not truly related, they’re still a family. I like being part of it.” Something wistful flashed across her face, and he knew she was thinking of her own brother and parents. A wound, she’d admitted, from which she’d never truly healed.

“I’ll remember that the next time you call Caine a crazy, overbearing old bastard.” He stroked the smooth skin of her inner arm. “Or complain that Blade’s running a blockade against you on the Council.”

“Yes, well, he might be in for a little surprise.”

“Oh?”

Mina gave him a devilish smile. “He thinks he’s winning me over with his daughter. Wait until he arrives in Council chambers next meeting and realizes his little blockade just might be falling to pieces.”

“You’re making friends then?”

“I’m going to annihilate him.” She chuckled. “Not everybody likes this little scheme he has running about the enclaves.”

“Rosalind?” The pair of women had been wary allies at first, until both realized they had rather a lot in common. And if Mina had Rosalind on her side, matters dictated that Lynch was possibly not far behind…

“Yes.” Mina leaned on his chest, reaching out to coo at Emma. “Blade first, and then your father is going to get his comeuppance at court and I am going to win.”

“You do realize that you don’t have all of the vote yet.”

“I shall. My plans for the enclaves are far superior.”

“Of course they are.” His wife had the unshakable belief that she was correct in most matters, though at least she was well aware of it. “What if the Council swung in another direction?”

“Nobody likes Caine. They’ll vote against him just to block him.”

“Perhaps, but Caine’s proxy has rather a lot of sway with certain people.”

A long, slow silence. Mina looked delighted and sat up straight. “You’re accepting his offer.”

“Yes, I think I shall.” They’d resumed their weekly chess matches—at Mina’s request, surprisingly enough—and Caine often had information waiting for Leo on some of the enterprises he was involved in, as if the duke were following his progress. Caine had certainly never given a damn about airships offering commercial trade before.

He caught her fingers and pressed them to his lips. “You do realize this might mean war.”

“I know, but I like arguing with you in Council.” Leaning closer, she whispered in his ear, “It’s exciting.”

He understood exactly what she meant.

“Let’s say…if you lose the vote, then I get to tie you to the bed and have my wicked way with you.”

“That hardly sounds like losing at all.”

She smiled. “And if you win…”

That fired his imagination. “I get to return the favor.”

Their gazes locked, and he could see the same smile tugging at her lips as he felt on his. “Behave,” he said. “I’m holding the baby.”

“Do you agree?”

“God, yes.”

“Good.” Another slow, heated smile. “I love politics, but I must admit, they just became far more fascinating.”

Agreed. He looked down at the baby resting her head against his shoulder and tried not to think of the proposition his wife had just put to him. “Later,” he whispered in a harsh voice.

“Later,” she agreed with a victorious smile.

God, he loved her.

* * *

It was much later.

Leo swung Mina out into the yard behind the Warren, his veins hot with blooded brandy. One glimpse at her eyes, and he saw the same look in them as in his own. No words needed to be said. It had been a long, pleasant evening with far too much blud-wein, laughter, presents…and heated looks shot across the room. Pressing her up against the brick wall, he slid a hand into her hair and tipped her mouth up to his.

A deep, primal kiss, full of possession. Need burned through him like wildfire and he pressed his hips against hers, one hand sliding down to cup her arse through her bustle.

She moaned a little, her fingernails kneading his chest through his coat. “I’ve been waiting all night for this.” The words were breathy, lost under his next assault. They did something to him that he could never quite explain—set loose the raging hunger within him until his vision darkened and he could barely restrain himself from raking his teeth down her neck.

Her gloved hand slid between them, cupping his erection with devastating intent. Something strangled came from his throat, and Leo became lost in the devilish look in her eye.

“Is it later?” He swallowed, hands sliding beneath her jacket and caressing the stiff, boned curve of her stays through her gown. Lips tracing her jaw and the soft curve of her ear, he whispered, “Because I want to fuck you right here.”

“Do you?”

“Nice and slowly,” he promised.

“Not here,” Mina replied, her fingers curling in his collar as she pushed him away from her. The loss of her talented hand from his cock brought another soft groan to his lips. “Take me home and I’ll let you do whatever you want to me.”

Christ. His erection strained painfully hard.

Snowflakes tumbled from the sky, catching on his lashes. Light gleamed through the arch that led out of the yard, a single gaslight hanging from the gilded steam carriage they’d arrived in.