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“Six-feet-two... and I don’t care what size you are. Let’s get this over with.”

Conn nodded. “Very well. Remove your clothes then. It’s easier to search you naked. The compulsion marks aren’t visible through clothes.”

“What do they look like? Maybe I could save you some trouble.”

“Swollen red bug bites,” Conn said with a snicker as he shifted. True to his word, he kept his size similar to the one he used as my brother.

Rasmus turned his back to us and pulled his shirt over his head. I stared at the width of his shoulders.

“Stop drooling,” Conn whispered in my ear.

“Shut up,” I told him and turned my back.

Conn laughed his scary laugh, and my face turned red. I was doing okay until he teased me.

“Aran’s having some trouble with her libido. I’ll restrain her if she gets handsy,” Conn said in his gruff demon voice.

I suddenly knew what a fiery hell felt like. My face got so hot ya could have cooked on it. I knew it wouldn’t hurt him much, so I turned and kicked Conn squarely on the leg. He’d yelped like I’d broken it.

I had no idea why he was performing for Rasmus... and truthfully, I didn’t want to know. I just wanted him to stop.

“Ready,” Rasmus said. “I’ll remove the rest only if you find nothing.”

Determined not to fan my face, I turned around and lifted my chin. It fell open the moment I realized how wrong I’d been about Rasmus. He looked twice as good as Jack ever had. I blinked and shook my head to clear it.

Conn snickered as he opened the cage. A stripped-down Rasmus walked out to face us. I reached across the room with my power and slid a chair over to him.

“Ya’re too tall for me to see the top of yer head. Have a seat.”

He looked down at me from his greater height, nodded, and sat.

I glared at a grinning Conn over his head. My demon friend might be reformed, but he was evil enough to enjoy my physical discomfort.

“Pull the tie from his hair. We have to check his scalp as well. The marks can be anywhere.”

My hands trembled as I undid Rasmus’s ponytail. I lifted the strands and fanned them out. “How will I know when I’ve found something interesting?”

Conn pitched his voice soft and low. “Come on, Aran. It hasn’t beenthat longsince you had a man. Seven years is a long time, but no one ever forgets what it’s like.”

I removed my hands from Rasmus’s hair. “I swear by The Dagda that I will remove yer man parts if ya keep tormenting me, Conn. I’m having a hard enough time as it is.”

Conn stepped back and laughed so loudly the basement walls shook, but he also held up two sets of sharp pointed claws and said nothing. It was all that saved him from feeling my wrath.

To my utter shock, Rasmus man-snickered, and then laughed out loud himself. The sound gave me butterflies in my stomach, but the vibrations reached much lower. My willpower was barely strong enough to keep my eyes from seeking his lap.

If he’d had a dad bod or a beer belly, I wouldn’t have suffered so much. But no, the man had hard abs plus muscles above and below them, for Goddess’s sake. What man with silver at his temples looked like that? I doubted any did but him.

Playing it as cool as I could, I parted his black strands and searched for anything resembling a bug bite. I worked from side to side of his head, careful to avoid stepping in front of him. I knew if I met his eyes I’d have to leave the room.

I griped while I worked to ease my discomfort. “Men are all alike—every last one of ya. All ya’re good for is tormenting and teasing the woman trying to help ya. Those parts between yer legs make ya freaking idiots.”

When I was done with his hair, I used the hair tie to give him a man bun. His hair was longer than mine, even after Mulan magickly grew it six inches.

I moved my gaze down his neck and nearly missed the red spot hidden behind his left ear.

“Is this one?” I asked Conn, folding Rasmus’s ear so he could see better.

Conn walked around me, lumbering worse than a Big Foot impersonator. What on Earth was he doing? He was agile and quiet in any form he took. Normally.