Her smile was an invite to have much more than a seat, but who was looking at her smile? Her nightgown was long, black, and just short of see-through.

Her smile widened as she studied Dacian. “I made sure I was decent for the meeting. And this gown is a leftover from my shallow days. I’ve ordered some plain cotton jammies, but they, um, must’ve gotten lost in the mail.” Her expression said she wasn’t looking too hard for them.

“Ouch.” Vince’s voice?

Dacian blinked and looked down. He’d tightened his grip until the pot was in danger of shattering. He relaxed. A side glance at Cinn caught her glaring at him. Interesting. She must not be a fan of Sparkle’s nightwear.

Sparkle draped herself across a chaise. Her black gown slithered and slid, forming interesting patterns of skin and silk.

Ganymede ignored everyone as he sprawled next to the remote on the couch. “Someone put the damn headphones on me so I can watch the tube while you guys yammer. Oh, and I need my bowl of popcorn. Someone take care of it.”

Everyone looked at everyone else. No one moved.

Finally, Sparkle sighed and unwound herself from the chaise. “Men. Helpless babies.” She thought about that. “Or kittens, as the case may be.”

She somehow managed to get the headphone buds in Ganymede’s ears and then she plunked the popcorn down so hard in front of him that kernels flew in every direction. He ignored her bad humor as he stared unblinking at the screen.

Cinn dropped onto the couch beside Ganymede. Edge and Dacian sank into twin overstuffed easy chairs. Not the kind of seating arrangement he liked. A straight chair was simpler to spring out of if danger threatened. But Sparkle had stuff piled on the chairs grouped around the small dining table.

“So why are we here?” Dacian wanted to be gone. He intended to take Cinn back to her room, where the Bain guy would presumably guard her until morning when Edge would take over. He’d taken Edge’s measure and didn’t doubt the guy could handle the goddess. But he didn’t know squat about Bain. He’d find out, though. Soon.

“I need all three of you together for just a few minutes.” Sparkle had once again arranged her body on the chaise in a lush display of female flesh.

Only a saint could ignore what Sparkle was, and God knew, Dacian wasn’t a saint. An angry hiss jerked his attention to Ganymede. The cat’s gaze was fixed on him with clear intent to do physical damage.

Sparkle’s laughter was low and so sexy it would make a man’s teeth hurt, along with other body parts. “Ignore Mede. He doesn’t understand the game, Dacian.”

“Obviously I don’t either.” Cinn’s voice sounded neutral, but her clenched fists suggested otherwise.