The Protector (Fire's Edge #4) - Abigail Owen Page 0,44

it or see it.

Days lost. He could have been making a dent in that wall of dragonsteel Lyndi had built up around her heart. His mission had been a colossal waste of time. He’d never even picked up the trail of Shula’s mate. Tineen was a black dragon, which made that extra difficult. Best guess, they’d killed her.

Levi picked up a pineapple. Early in the season, but his nose told him the thing was ripe.

“You know what they say about men who buy a whole pineapple?”

He turned his head to find a human woman, a lovely blonde with legs worth a second glance, eyeing him with an amused smile and a bucket of innuendo.

“Can’t say that I have.”

“That they’re…available.”

“Is that what that means?” Levi held the pineapple out, cocking his head to stare at it. What new odd human ritual was this?

“Mm-hmm,” the blonde murmured. “Interested?”

In the last twenty years, human women had become much more aggressive. Not that he had a problem with it. Just interesting to see the changes over time.

With a reluctant grin, he put the pineapple back. She was lovely but did nothing for him. “Sorry,” he said.

She shrugged, not even a tiny bit embarrassed and good for her. “Let me know if you change your mind.”

He forgot her as soon as she scooted away, eyeing the other fruit on offer. What signal did a bunch of bananas send?

“If you’d taken her up on the offer, I would’ve walked out and never let you touch me again.”

Levi stilled at the sound of Lyndi’s voice directly behind him. Was he hearing things now? Wishful thinking. Or…

Slowly he turned to find her watching with her dark eyes and serious little face. She wore her usual jeans and tank top. Flip-flops on her feet. And she’d never looked so damn beautiful.

“Gods know I could have used the release,” he said slowly. Then grinned. “But only one woman does it for me and she keeps insisting that there’s no future for us.”

She canted her head, lips still flatly serious but twitching. “I wonder why?”

He stepped closer, inhaling her. How had she got so near him without his knowing, anyway? “I think she’s scared.”

She paused, her gaze sliding away from his, then shrugged, neither a yes nor a no. “What would you do if she said she needed to scratch an itch?”

So he wasn’t the only one whose body was clamoring for another go. Good. Except he wanted more from Lyndi than to be her temporary fuck buddy. He grappled with an urge to take her by the arms and give her a shake.

“I’d say I want more,” he murmured, low enough that even with her enhanced hearing she had to step closer to catch the words.

She blinked. A flicker of vulnerability that normally she wouldn’t allow him to see, which told him a lot. “More than one night?”

“More than just the nights.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “As in afternoon delight?”

“As in not just sex.”

She swallowed. “Sex is all I have to offer. Until you’re gone. We already talked about this.”

That urge to shake her had him clenching his hands. Didn’t she know she was everything he wanted, exactly as she was?

“My leaving is just an excuse. With technology these days, long distance isn’t impossible.” Dammit, why couldn’t she see it? “This could be…” Special. Amazing. Earth-shattering. “Good between us. How about we see where it goes. No pressure. No plans. But also no excuses to say no.”

Mate, his dragon rumbled in his head.

The animal side of him had been getting louder and grumpier with each passing day. Patience, Levi thought back.

He got a growl in return, but the dragon backed off.

“Temporary sex is all that’s on the table.” Lyndi’s chin tipped up, so independent, so damn familiar. What would she do if he kissed her every time she did that?

Worth a try. He leaned forward, watching her eyes widen until he placed a sweet kiss just at the edge of her jaw, inhaling her springtime scent—fresh grass and sun—and enjoying the small hitch in her breathing, puffing against his neck.

He pulled back, smiling at the wary glance she cast about her. “What do you want, Lyndi?”

“I don’t know.” The words were almost wrung from her, such a cloud of confusion in her eyes, he ached for her.

“Then we take it slow.”

She huffed, hunching over crossed arms. “I was trying to do that with just the fucking.”

An outraged gasp had them both looking over at a human woman with a toddler in