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I massaged my temples. “Sierra is not your soldier, Nero. She’s your baby daughter. She doesn’t even speak in complete sentences. So just how much of your lecture do you honestly think she understood?”

Nero opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. His brows drew together in contemplation.

“Exactly,” I told him.

Ever the stubborn angel, Nero didn’t back down. “Well, at least she now knows how to defend herself if someone comes after her.”

And he did have a point. A lot of people were after our daughter. She needed to be able to defend herself.

On the other hand, Sierra had a lot of power. It would be way too easy for her to accidentally blow up something. Or someone.

“Don’t worry,” Nero said, setting his hand on my shoulder. “My training sessions with Sierra aren’t just about sword-fighting and spell-casting. These lessons are about discipline, about learning how to control all that magic she has inside of her. Whether I teach her or not, that magic is going to come out. At least this way, she’ll have some control over it.”

I lowered my head to his chest and blew out a frustrated puff of air. “I just wish Sierra could have a normal life. She’s too young to have to deal with these burdens.”

He folded his arms around my back, drawing me in closer. “We will get her through this.”

“Yeah, we will,” I agreed. “And before we know it, she’ll be old enough to talk back to us. And chase after boys.”

Nero stiffened. “Boys?”

“Yeah, though come to think of it, Sierra’s so pretty and charismatic that I think it will actually be the boys who chase after her.”

“Not if they want to live to see another day.” Nero’s words cut like broken glass against soft skin.

I peered up at him. “Aww, are you going to be the overly-protective daddy who scares his daughter’s suitors away with a shotgun?”

“I can assure you, Pandora, that I don’t require a shotgun to scare anyone,” he said silkily, but the granite look in his eyes sent shivers up and down my whole body. “And that my warning shots shall be measured in megatons.”

“Oh, I can already tell that our daughter will just love dating,” I laughed. “She’ll need to find a guy who doesn’t scare easily. Like maybe the son of an angel.”

“No,” Nero said, his words sudden and sharp, like a guillotine. “The sons of angels are wicked creatures.”

“You are the son of an angel,” I pointed out.

“Exactly,” he whispered against my lips.

And my pulse shot into overdrive.

“You’re agitated,” he commented casually, like he was chatting about the weather.

“Yeah.” A whirlwind of raw, unfiltered need caught hold of me, stripping me of what precious little of my self-control remained. “I am.” I grabbed him by the collar. “Very agitated.” I marched him around my desk and pushed him into my chair.

“It’s been too long since we’ve been alone.” I straddled him, pinning his legs to the chair. “We’ve both been so busy.”

Nero’s eyes burned with magic and fire. “I’m never too busy for you, Pandora.”

Wicked fantasies played out inside my head—until they weren’t just inside my head anymore. The boundaries between fantasy and reality melted, and so did I. His mouth brushed my neck. His hand slid down my leg, tracing the inside of my thigh…

The shrill cry of my phone shattered my thoughts. “Damn it,” I growled, reaching for it.

Nero caught my hand, plucking the phone from my fingers. “No.” He turned it off, then set it on my desk. “Not now.”

“Hey, what if it’s important?” I protested—but not very well.

“This is important.”

He kissed me, his fangs nipping my lower lip, drawing blood. His tongue flicked out and licked it up. “Leda.” His voice was deep, sensual.