The Protector (Fire's Edge #4) - Abigail Owen Page 0,27

dragonsteel. Levi grunted and adjusted his crotch.

“Someone puts their mouth on your penis.” Elijah again, uber-serious and apparently still hung up on the oral.

“That’s what the teacher told you?” Lyndi asked slowly.

William’s snigger was followed by silence that no doubt included glaring from the younger boy.

“Wait, there’s more?” Elijah must’ve caught the hesitation in her voice.

“Well, the reason you’re being taught this in school at your age is because, other than the…errr…manual version, humans can get STIs from all methods. Dragon shifters are safe because of our advanced healing as far as that goes…but we’ve talked about my expectations.”

She paused and he could just picture the set stare she’d be sending not only Elijah, but all the boys in the room. The uncomfortable gap of silence told him he was right.

Levi had always appreciated how Lyndi treated her boys like adults. Their initiation into abandonment and having to fend for themselves before she found them meant they’d grown up a hell of a lot faster than most. She didn’t treat them like babies to be coddled or cushioned, like most humans did these days. Though she did protect them with the ferocity of the dragon she was, determined to give them a better life than they’d been served up until now. She was straight with them, the way she was with everyone else.

Just one of the many reasons her boys loved her.

“You younger dudes shouldn’t have to think about this yet. But…if you’re even thinking of getting physical with someone else…” she told them.

Curiosity had Levi levering up to his elbows and he smacked his head on the lower hanging disposal. Rubbing at the spot, he still listened intently.

“You come to me first. Uneducated and unprepared is what?”

A pregnant pause and a few twitters, likely the older boys. They stopped, no doubt shushed by a look from her.

“A good way to die,” Elijah mumbled, doubt rife in his voice.

Levi recognized Lyndi’s catchphrase with the boys about everything.

“What if you lose control and use your fire?”

Silence filled the room. He could picture Lyndi, surrounded by boys of varying ages, nodding sagely. “When you’re old enough, we’ll have a longer talk about this. Including why sex is not just about you.”

“Can’t wait,” Elijah grumbled. Then, in a helpful tone, “But you should definitely talk to Mike and the older boys now, though. This sounds important.”

His older brothers groaned.

“Awww, Lyndi-Loo-Hoo.” This from Mike. “We don’t need to talk about anything. We know what we’re doing.”

Lyndi snorted. “I seriously doubt that. Most women haven’t figured their bodies out, and most men, in my experience, don’t know their ass from their elbow when it comes to making a woman feel good.”

A low growl shot from Levi before he could yank it back. Loud enough that the conversation upstairs shut off abruptly.

Damn.

But she’d better not be talking about him. He’d felt her pleasure contracting around his cock, squeezing his own orgasm from him like a fucking constrictor, heard it in her voice and the moans he’d pulled from her with every touch, every inch he’d fed her.

“We’re not even…” Mike again, sheepish now, caught out in his bravado. “You don’t have to worry, because we’re not.”

How could she doubt that she’d raised responsible boys? Levi chuckled and got back to work on the sink.

“Fine but we will talk about this later,” Lyndi said. “How’s school going otherwise?”

The question had the boys off down other topics. Most of them damn funny to be a fly under the sink for. Especially Lyndi’s responses. For a woman who talked about how she’d never felt accepted by her people, treated as an oddity or a burden, she’d certainly found her niche here with the other outcasts, as she jokingly called them.

Levi frowned over the word in his head, turning it over like a garden rock to examine the underside where the dirt and pests hid in the dark.

Outcast.

Without her joking lilt, the word turned ugly. Right up there with shunned or even rogue. It meant she’d felt isolated. Alone.

Something Levi had never dealt with. As the son of one of the upper class, though not remotely close to royal lines, he’d been born with expectations. He’d grown into a damn good fighter, particularly skilled with fire, and had been given the honor of being named by his king as an enforcer.

A man who was now dead… Long live the new ruler, even if Brand had called his ass back. His entire life Levi had been not only accepted, but praised,