Please don’t let him suggest we go to his room. She’d have to turn him down. And no matter how sweet he seemed at the moment, he was still a demon. Cinn didn’t want to stir up any demonic rages.

But evidently Wade’s imagination didn’t run any further than the deck of his boat. He nodded happily.

“I’ll always treasure this gift, Wade.” Cinn felt like gagging on her own hypocrisy. As soon as Wade was back to normal, she’d return all his gifts.

Just as Cinn was wondering what to say next, Dacian arrived. She closed her eyes. Thank you.

“Hey, Wade, great-looking rod you gave Cinn. She’ll get lots of use out of that.” Dacian slapped Wade on the back.

Wade narrowed his eyes. He might be completely oblivious to Cinn’s distress, but he understood perfectly that Dacian was a rival.

“With me. I’ll teach her how to use it. Don’t you have someone to bite somewhere?” When he wasn’t casting puppy-dog looks Cinn’s way, Wade could be pretty intimidating.

“I’m an employee of the castle. It’s my job to protect Cinn for the night. So I won’t be going anywhere.” Left unsaid was, “But you will.” Dacian held the demon’s gaze. “And right now I’m throwing everyone out so Cinn can work in peace.” He smiled as he said it, but the smile exposed some fang.

Edge was already on his way out the door, and Asima was reluctantly saying good-bye to Teddy. With a huff of frustration, Wade left.

“You might want to take the mittens off Teddy, Asima. They aren’t good for his growth.” Cinn hoped her smile didn’t look as weary as it felt.

“They’re good for my paws, though.” But she pulled them off with her teeth and dropped them on the counter beside Teddy’s pot. “I’ll be back in the morning, and I’ll bring some new music and a new book.”

Cinn controlled her need to scream and scream and scream. Asima’s presence was a good thing, actually. It would be tough on Teddy and Vince if the object of their adoration paid no attention to them.

She looked up at a frowning Dacian. “Thank you. I couldn’t take much more.”

He nodded stiffly. “I know you probably want to be alone, but after what happened in your bathroom, I have to stay here.”

“And why would you think I want to be alone?” She had to tread carefully as she tiptoed around his hurt feelings.

He grew still in that way she was starting to recognize as uniquely vampire.