Chapter Four

Tineen Sabre paced through the halls of his mountain, his mind working through the arguments to be made for the proposal he had presented to the Alliance.

A mating that would be to his political advantage. He needed the council’s blessing.

This plan was the last positioning move of a carefully played chess game—a critical step in his plans to take down the Huracán team. A multipronged approach of disinformation, escalation, and lies that he’d had his team quietly enacting since this past winter.

But the mating he’d proposed…this would weigh the game in his favor. He’d make the Huracáns lash out. Make them tip their hands and show their true characters. Then the Alliance would have no choice but to disband and punish them.

Finally. Something they should have done months ago—years, really—before he’d lost one of his men.

Tineen hardly heeded his surroundings as he walked. A solid fortress of rock. The headquarters of the Alaz team of enforcers. His enforcers.

He had led and fought beside these men for almost two centuries, since the creation of the team, established at the same time as the Alliance. Losing even one of his men was unacceptable in his mind. That was an unforgiveable blow that he laid at the feet of the Huracán enforcers.

He and his team had been doing their duty, and his man had paid with his life.

The Alaz team had been sent to help deal with the traitor Rune Abaddon stealing mates. Worse, the woman the Huracáns had been protecting had illegally been mated by Drake Chandali anyway. Putting aside the other mates the Huracáns had illegally claimed, everything about that fight in Yosemite last winter, that entire situation, had been tainted. Stank with the putrid scent of lies and cover-ups.

Only he couldn’t argue his case. The Alliance had “orders” from the High King himself to keep the Huracáns intact and put Drake in charge.

Fucking cowards.

No way had Pytheios dealt with this personally. The council was hiding behind trumped-up orders as an excuse not to have to punish a blood relation of the High King. If the Alliance weren’t going to disband and punish the Huracáns for the results of their decisions, not to mention every traitorous action they’d taken these past few years, then someone had to step up and show them the way.

He had taken the mantle of that responsibility upon his own shoulders. Unsanctioned and in secret.

Rounding the corner, Tineen stopped in the doorway to the war room. Every screen showed the various maps of the region his team watched over, monitoring for dragon fire heat signatures anywhere in the central strip of the north American continent. His territory.

“Leave,” he commanded the enforcer on duty.

Only the two of them were currently in the mountain, working under a skeleton crew while the rest were on special mission at the Alliance’s orders. Without question, his man obeyed, and Tineen closed the door behind him. Then he punched a series of codes into one of the computers, joining a secure virtual meeting room.

He was the first to arrive on purpose, allowing him time to stand himself prominently in the screen, hands clasped behind his back, shoulders straight, ready to state his case again, if needed.

Five minutes later, he hadn’t moved by so much as a twitch when the screen flickered and a room appeared, taking up several screens. The Alliance Council was already assembled around an oval table, facing the camera on their end.

Comprised of one dragon from each of the clans, no way could he miss the fact that Ogun, the member representing the Green Clan, was missing. Had Mathai figured out that the green dragon was after his position as the leader of the Alliance? Ogun had been arrogant, though loyal to the old regime of kings. He’d been Tineen’s biggest ally in terms of how the Huracáns were handled.

“Where is Ogun?” he wondered aloud, because not commenting would raise red flags.

Mathai said nothing.

“Called back to his king,” Zhuron finally answered. The representative of the Black Clan, Tineen’s clan as well, looked as though he wanted to shift uncomfortably in his seat, face pinched.

Ogun seemed to have played himself out of the game. Interesting. And possibly a warning for me.

“Tineen,” Mathai greeted him coolly, as though he hadn’t spoken at all. The tall, lanky man with a shock of white hair at odds with red-tinted dark eyes showed zero emotion as usual.

Tineen nodded in return. Then waited. He wasn’t going to start by asking what they had decided. That put him in an immediate position of lesser power. The beggar coming to the table for scraps.

“You haven’t found Rune Abaddon,” Mathai said.

Tineen hid a frown. This was not what he’d come to discuss.

Rune. One more offense to lay at the Huracáns’ feet. Like salt poured into a wound, the Alliance had sent the Alaz team on a fool’s errand, trying to track down their traitor. Tineen’s men were currently supposed to be scattered across the Americas in a fruitless search for a ghost, leaving the Huracáns to guard the western portion of his territory in his team’s absence.

Fuck that.

Instead, he’d taken advantage of the order, right under the council members’ noses. What the Alliance didn’t know was that he had given his men a different mission.

He’d sent them throughout the Huracán territory to the west, stirring up unrest within the dragon colonies throughout, giving those shifters reason to mistrust their local enforcers. Simultaneously, his men had been rounding up the undesirables and illegals—orphans, rogues, and law breakers—that those excuses for enforcers should have dealt with years ago. Clean out the territory and push out the men who had failed in their duties.

And now to drop the hammer.

“That is true,” he said to the council now. “Rune has gone quiet.”

Not entirely a lie. The man hadn’t popped up as far as Tineen knew, not that they’d been actively searching for him.

Mathai didn’t so much as twitch. “We would like your team to step up your efforts.”

Tineen narrowed his eyes, debating the merits and impacts of that decision.

The Rune mission had given him an excuse for his men to be out in the field and in territories other than their own. The Alliance had just given him even more leeway. That noose he was slowly tightening around the Huracáns’ necks was about to get easier to hold on to. Except…the expectations of the Alliance in terms of actually taking down Rune would also increase. “Why?”

“Because we disagree with your assessment. He’s merely waiting for us to back down. Increasing the pressure may force his hand.”

No shit. Except drawing that fucker out would be a mistake, inviting a worse retribution. Better to cut the head off a snake before taking the rattles, or he risked getting bit.

“I see,” he said in his most neutral tone. “I’ll send out orders immediately.”

Silence fell over the room. Maybe now they would get to the most important point?

Zhuron flicked Mathai a hesitant glance before addressing Tineen. “Your mating suggestion was one we found quite…noteworthy.”

“I thought you might.” He allowed himself a small smile.

They weren’t saying no off the cuff. Already a sign in his favor.

“Tell me,” Mathai said in that ultra-bored way of his. “What makes you think you are worthy of such an…alliance?”

Tineen went into the same arguments he’d already posed to most of the Alliance members both when he first proposed this move but also individually since then. Ending with, “I believe my credentials speak for themselves.”

The alpha of an enforcer team, appointed specially by his king. A black dragon shifter with a connection to royal bloodlines. Even the High King Pytheios himself would see the benefit of such a tie. Especially with the Black Clan now openly siding against him in the Kings’ War. Pytheios would want leadership in that clan tied to himself.

Mathai lifted a single white eyebrow. “Do you have political plans beyond the reasons you’ve stated so far?”

Tineen raised his chin. If all went well, not only would the Huracáns be removed and punished, but so would these men. Weak excuses for leaders, all of them. The High King would need someone familiar with the Americas colony to step up. “I’m a fighter,” he demurred. “Always will be.”

The men in the room exchanged a series of glances. All except Mathai who kept his gaze on Tineen.

“Very well,” he said. “You have our permission to mate.”

Gods damned right he did. “And the Mating Council?”

Mathai waved a hand. “Given the current upheaval in the clans, Pytheios has granted the Alliance in each of their colonies full powers to determine best steps in certain cases.”

As he’d suspected. The Kings’ War was good for something, it seemed.

“Excellent.” He cocked his head. “May I share this news with my intended?”

Beyond a small twitch to his expression that might have been amusement, Mathai merely waved a single hand. “You may not. We’ll observe the traditions properly. As the leader of the Alliance, I’ll be the one to share this news with the female and make the arrangements.”

“As you wish.”

Tineen hung up the video call with a tap of his long, tapered finger then stalked from the room, more pleased than he’d anticipated being at this turn of events—expected or not.

They didn’t know it yet, but the Huracáns were now dead in the water.

…

The second Levi closed the door to his own suite behind him, he was already having doubts about leaving Lyndi on her own to reason herself out of anything good that could happen between them. She never reacted the way he expected. Not once.

What was he thinking?

At the same time instinct told him to stick to his guns. He hit the shower in his own room, tugging another one out as the hot water sluiced over his skin and he closed his eyes reliving every single thing he and Lyndi had just done together.

After dressing, he headed downstairs to find Drake and Finn. The last thing he was going to do was keep this a secret from the men he owed his allegiance to. His teammates had had enough upheaval lately without another surprise.

Levi moved through the empty family room area and found most of the team still in the massive modern kitchen, all pale gray granite and dark wood cabinets. Rivin was already at the sink, cleaning up. Which meant he and Lyndi had missed breakfast.

“Hey,” he said. “Where’s Drake?”

Delaney glanced up from her half-finished plate of chocolate chip pancakes and had to tuck her tawny-colored curls out of her face. “Still downstairs with Finn in the war room,” she answered.

Levi nodded and grabbed an orange from the basket of fruit on the island, then went to leave.

“Hold up there, speedy. Where’d you go?” Hall asked. The green dragon was still sitting at one of the stools around the kitchen island. He was watching Levi closely, jet-black brows raised slightly.

“Showering.” The image of Lyndi, eyes alight and mouth open as she came all over him, had his cock pressing against his zipper uncomfortably.

Hall leaned back and ran a hand over his short hair, the burr of sound just as annoying as his sarcastic smirk now in full view. “Try again. Anything to share with the team?”

Damn. He and Lyndi must’ve been louder than he thought, or he still smelled of her. He had to resist the urge to sniff his skin. Instead, Levi shot Hall what was hopefully an easy grin. “Nope.”

“Not good enough,” Rivin popped off behind him.

“Not even a little bit,” Keighan chimed in.

Even Delaney, who’d been studiously pretending not to listen, raised her head.

He’d expected their good-natured ribbing when this came to light; he just wasn’t in the mood to deal with it right now. Rather than answer, he turned again to leave.

Kanta didn’t let him walk away. “This is a big deal that could impact the entire team,” he pointed out quietly. “The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”

Levi stopped in the doorway, then slowly turned to face them, taking in Kanta’s steady expression.

“Skip the ancient folksy wisdom, please,” Hall begged.

“Aristotle is not folksy,” Kanta replied, about as offended as the man ever got.

Hall ignored him, addressing Levi instead. “The man has a point, though.”

Kanta was right, of course. Then again, Levi already knew all this. The complications with the team were yet another reason he’d stayed away from Lyndi all these years.

“It’s beginning stages, so there’s not much to say. Give us space.” He eyed Rivin and Keighan in particular, but also Hall, who could be a sarcastic bastard when he wanted to be.

“What?” Rivin said, the epitome of innocence.

“Do not fuck this up for me. She’s skittish enough. In fact, don’t bring this up to her at all.”

“I’m sure the guys will be…kind,” Delaney assured him, with warning looks of her own for the other men. Her friendship with Lyndi no doubt drove her support of him.

“She’ll be suspicious if we suddenly aren’t us,” Keighan pointed out, despite both warnings.

“If you can’t close the deal, man…” Rivin let the thought hang.

Unbidden, Levi’s dragon let loose a warning growl that had every man in the room tensing, eyes glowing in direct response to a threat.

“Got it.” Rivin and Keighan straightened at the same time. “Off limits.”

Almost as one unit, they stood and headed out of the room, Rivin slugging Levi in the shoulder on the way by.

Hall, however, rubbed at the bump in the bridge of his nose—one Drake had put there with his fists after he learned Hall had been feeding Rune information while they all thought the man a traitor—as though deciding if he wanted to risk rebreaking it. Apparently he needed a longer beat to reel in his instinctive reaction to Levi’s growl. Dragons didn’t respond well to direct challenge, which was what Levi’s dragon had just issued. But eventually Hall followed the others out.

Kanta, though, risked his neck to come right into Levi’s space, his deep green eyes serious. “Don’t approach this on your own.”

“Which means what?”

“This is Lyndi we’re talking about. She’s family. Not some unknown human who we don’t have an emotional attachment to.”

Levi said nothing, though he listened.

“Where do you see this headed? You’re out of here soon.”

Top of the list of his problems.

Mate, his dragon insisted. Levi rolled his shoulders against the sudden tension that one word sent through him. So damn complicated. “Where this is headed is entirely up to Lyndi.”

Kanta leaned forward suddenly, in his face. “That’s a bullshit cop-out and you know it.”

Levi blew out a hard breath. “Yeah. Well…when I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”

Kanta studied him for a minute then nodded. “Fair enough. I’m an ear when you need one.”

“Thanks, man.” Levi hardly registered Kanta walking out, leaving him in the quiet, only the hum of the dishwasher interrupting the silence and his own thoughts.

Delaney suddenly got up, making him jump, because he’d forgotten she was there. “Anything to add?” he asked.

She shook her head. “You’ll figure it out. Both of you.”

He wasn’t so sure. “Thanks.”

With that, Levi headed down the winding staircase to the next level. They had an elevator system too, but none of them liked to take it, except maybe Lyndi and Drake. Red dragons who lived in Everest had no choice—the size of that mountain made elevators the efficient way to travel. But most of their kind avoided the contraptions. Too easy to be trapped. Probably an irrational fear, given their strength, but there you had it.

Silence came from the open door to the war room, wafting down the hallway to him. Regardless, he knew the room was not empty. Popping his head around, he found the two men seated in front of the paneled wall of monitors.

“Any sign that the fire is starting back up?” he asked.

Neither man twitched nor even turned to acknowledge him. No surprise there. He hadn’t been quiet about coming down the hall.

“None,” Finn said.

Levi stepped closer, casting his gaze over the screens showing the area in Nevada where it had originated. It had been a small flash of a fire but had lit up white on their system that monitored the heat signature. White was damn hot, a sure sign of dragon fire. An interesting trap to attempt, if that’s what it had been.

“Don’t you have bigger problems?” Drake muttered. Even mating Cami hadn’t changed his grumpy ass. Much. Around her, at least, the red dragon softened.

He also wasn’t wrong. “I’ll worry about my leaving in a week.”

Drake grunted. His form of affirmative.

“What do you need?” Finn asked, swiveling his chair around to ask Levi the question.

“I wanted to inform both of you that Lyndi and I…”

Damn.

He had every intention of being straightforward here but hadn’t thought through the wording.

Drake swung around sharply from the desk to face him. “You and Lyndi what?”

“I intend to pursue her. You need to be aware.”

Nothing from his lover’s brother. A wall of silence. Difficult to discern his reaction when his expression was a perpetual scowl.

“You wait almost two hundred years to make your move now? When you’ve been called back?” Finn asked. His expression remained neutral, but his tone said it all.

Levi got quieter in response. “I’m well aware the timing sucks balls.”

“Understatement of the century.”

He ignored Drake’s snide aside. “This is the first time she’s indicated she wanted me to make a move.” Of a sort. After all, he wouldn’t have made a move if he hadn’t seen her face after the announcement of his being called back…or her tears.

“What a dumbass,” Drake muttered under his breath.

“Fuck off,” Levi said, almost affably and quieter still.

Drake looked at him closer, seeming to reconsider his approach. A rare thing for him to reconsider anything.

“Where is this headed?” Finn asked, glancing between the two men.

Levi dragged his gaze to their leader. “Right now, I have my hands full just getting her not to shut me out completely.”

“Do you plan to mate her?” Drake asked.

Finn shot him a look. “When you first started things with Cami could you have answered that question honestly? Even to yourself?”

Levi let go a silent breath, because Finn was spot on. He wasn’t ready to answer that question. Yes would be the shortest path to the truth. But this was Lyndi. He knew her hang-ups when it came to mating. Everyone knew.

“So what do you want?” Drake grumbled. “My blessing?”

“I want no secrets in case this blows up. Consider yourselves informed.”

Through Drake’s grunt Finn stood up offering a hand and a grin. “Good luck.”

Yeah. He’d need it.

…

Sneaking around made Lyndi feel like she’d covered herself in baby oil. Just gross and wrong on so many levels. But that’s exactly what she was doing.

Mind-blowing sex with Levi hadn’t just scratched an itch—it made her burn with a need for more.

She’d had other lovers. Few and far between. Many dragons took human lovers while they waited for their mates, and she vaguely knew Levi had from time to time based on subtle comments. None that had made any big impact on him, though. She hadn’t had human lovers. Instead, she’d taken dragon lovers, mostly while she’d lived in Everest. The pickings were fewer out here. Even back then, before Levi, those encounters had felt…hollow. Just a release. Because she was never going to be the woman those men chose.

In almost every way, things would be a thousand times easier if what just happened with Levi was the same. A release and move on. But giving herself to him had been nothing like those others.

Nothing.

She couldn’t—she shouldn’t—let herself want more. One time was for a small piece of a memory to hold close with fondness after he was gone. More than once, even in the short time they had left, ran the dangerous risk of turning into more than just panty-melting, mouth-watering, heart-pounding sex.

Life-altering sex, a small voice tacked on.

She ignored the voice, and taking the coward’s path of avoidance, poked her head into the family room to find most of her boys lounging in front of the TV in various drooping states across the comfy couches. The baseball game they were watching held zero interest, but at least Levi wasn’t in here, which strangely had her both breathing easier and wrestling with a frustrating tweak of disappointment.

Disappointment was bad. That whispered of a need deeper than orgasms.

“Hey Lyndi-Loo-Hoo,” Mike sung out, swinging his leg over the arm of the couch. She’d long ago gotten used to his almost pink eyes, which reminded her of an albino mouse and somehow fit his goofy, rarely serious personality perfectly.

“Mikey-bo-bikey,” she sang back, trying to sound normal.

“We’re heading to the house in a bit. It’s Attor’s turn to babysit and we thought we’d go with him. Want to join?”

Back to her house he meant. The halfway house for dragon shifters—providing motherless dragons in the Americas colonies with a home so they wouldn’t have to go rogue. Orphans weren’t the most stable of shifters, which was why their communities didn’t take them in. Hell, some of those kids, when she’d found them, had been this side of feral, which was why only the oldest and most controlled—Mike, Coahoma, Attor—had been pulled into the enforcer team.

The other sixteen boys had moved into the headquarters for a short time before Drake had been set as the new alpha by the Alliance. As a visible display to that governing body that the Huracáns were returning to normal, the youngers had moved back to her house.

Luckily, those still struggling with control had bonded to other boys in the house rather than to her, which meant she wasn’t leaving them vulnerable. And Mike, Coahoma, and Attor traded out with her staying at the house so that an adult was always present.

Even with the extra help, she tried to go home as often as possible when she wasn’t on call or training with the team. Every time she did, she sort of expected to see the place leveled. As things stood, pigsties were less filthy. She seemed to be the only adult who bothered to enforce chores. It wouldn’t hurt to have a chance to knock the boys into cleaning up under her stricter eye.

“Sure. Come get me when you go.”

As casually as she could, she wandered into the kitchen. Delaney and Cami glanced up from where they sat at the long kitchen table with their coffee cups. Despite the length of time she’d spent with the guys on the team through the years, Lyndi had to admit she’d needed these women in her life.

Delaney was tall and slender, an elegant flier in dragon form, and as brave as anyone Lyndi knew. Beautiful with her dove gray eyes and cream-colored skin that would tint pink over her cheekbones when Finn whispered in her ear—no doubt naughty things—she had survived the loss of her family and believing she’d set fires to their winery until she’d learned she was a dragon shifter.

Cami, meanwhile, with her dark hair, the smoothest terra-cotta skin, and the deepest brown eyes, was softer, sweeter. Maybe because she’d been raised by a large and loving family. Humans she continued to protect and worry over. Lyndi’s sister-by-blood was exactly what Drake needed to pull him out of his perpetually grumpy state.

Only Sera was missing, still in hiding with Aidan and her son Blake. Maybe someday all of them would reunite, in safety, without having to keep it a secret.

This was not that day.

“Give me one of those,” Lyndi groaned as she made her way to the coffee pot, filling her cup with the needed black brew then stirring in so much cream and sugar it basically turned into dessert.

She dropped into the chair at the short end between her two friends and buried her face in the mug.

“Long night?” Delaney asked, eyebrows raised.

Long life. But right now this was more about needing to find equilibrium and her damn common sense, because Levi leaving her still wanting shouldn’t feel like her life had a gaping, empty hole right in the center. A big fat donut of lonely nothingness.

Lyndi shrugged. “Eventful. Why?”

The silence that greeted her question had her glancing up from her mug to find both women studiously avoiding eye contact.

Oh, shit. Do they know? “Why?” she asked again.

Delaney blew on her own mug of coffee. “You missed breakfast.”

“So?”

“Maybe she took a nap,” Cami said to Delaney.

“That might explain it,” Delaney mused. “Showers can’t take nearly that long.”

Oh good grief. “Stop beating around the bush.”

Delaney grimaced. “We’re sworn to no questions.”

“No questions?”

Cami nodded. “Apparently, according to Levi, though I missed it.”

“I didn’t,” Delaney grumbled.

“Levi said—” Lyndi cut herself off and closed her eyes. Of course they all knew, and he’d told them to back off.

“But if you brought it up…” Cami said. “If you wanted to talk about it…”

Lyndi sighed. She should tell them. Get advice. “Maybe. Later. Right now I’m…” She shook her head. “I’m still so mixed up in my head, I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

Delaney reached over and squeezed her hand. “We’re here if you ever need to vent or talk something through.”

“Thanks.” Lyndi gave them a wan smile.

“Until then, we’ll pretend those bags under your eyes are from the emergency wakeup call.” Cami winked.

Lyndi laughed, relief swirling through her even as she pressed a finger under her eyes. Yup. Bags. “Three a.m. did come way too early this morning.”

Delaney sighed. “I thought we were supposed to have limitless energy as dragon shifters.”

Lyndi chuckled. “Wouldn’t that be nice? Think of everything we could get done if we didn’t have to bother with sleep at all.”

Think of all the fucking… Lyndi jerked her thoughts away from that one.

“Men don’t get it,” Cami said.

“Nope,” Lyndi and Delaney agreed in unison.

“How do they have less stuff to do anyway?” Cami demanded. “Our mates are enforcers and I still get more done in a day. I don’t understand what he does with his time.”

Lyndi grinned. “Drake’s just lazy.”

Which had Cami choking on her coffee. “Lazy. Oh god. Wait until I tell him that.”

“He’s heard it from me before.” Lyndi winked.

Cami wrinkled her nose. “Actually, he’ll probably take it as a challenge and try to prove me wrong in the bedroom.”

If her expressive dark eyes weren’t glittering with an eager light, Lyndi would’ve laughed.

“Prove you wrong about what?” Drake asked as he appeared in the room.

Finn walked in behind him, followed by Levi, and every cell in Lyndi’s body liquified as her mind was bombarded by memories of what they’d just been doing.

With effort, she yanked her gaze to her brother. “That you’re as lazy as the day is long.”

When had she turned into Marilyn Monroe, all breathy?

Drake didn’t seem to notice. In fact, he didn’t even bother to grunt a response as he headed straight for his mate, straddling her from behind on the bench seat, pulling her back against his chest. He slid a hand up under the fall of her hair, no doubt brushing his thumb over the mating mark at the nape of Cami’s neck that matched his own.

Lyndi had the same family mark on her neck, that of the Chandali family line. She would never know what it would be like to receive her mate’s mark.

She slid a glance in Levi’s direction to find him leaning casually in the doorway, arms crossed, stretching out his Hawaiian shirt, with a small, knowing smirk aimed straight at her, his golden eyes glittering, even in the bright kitchen.

Holy hells, that look.

Tension rolled through her in the wake of awareness and he hadn’t even touched her, hadn’t come near her. Lyndi averted her gaze and cracked her neck, trying to ease the building pressure. Didn’t help at all.

Finn, meanwhile, had moved to sit beside Delaney, dropping a possessive kiss on her lips that made her give a hum of satisfaction.

I need to get out of here.

Lyndi jumped to her feet so fast her chair tipped over, clattering on the floor way more than was necessary. Levi passed a hand over his mouth that did nothing to hide his delighted grin, which she ignored, moving her glare to the offending piece of furniture as she righted it.

“I’m going to check on the boys,” she announced to no one in particular, horribly aware that they all stared at her with varying expressions of whatever.

Levi came off the doorframe, amusement gone. “That’s not a good—”

He choked off the words at her scowl. “I’ll be back before dark.”

Not waiting for commentary, because she damn well didn’t need anyone’s permission to visit her own home, she sailed past Levi and out of the room.

“Ready?” she called to her boys.

Mike perked up from his spot. “I thought you were waiting for us?”

Lyndi playfully batted his swinging leg off the arm of the couch. “I need to be back before dark.”

“Women. Always changing the rules.” Mike shook his head as he unfolded his tall, lanky length from where he lounged. “Am I right?”

“Only if you want to get hit,” Coahoma said, ever the sensible one, smoothing back a shock of white hair that tended to flop into his eyes.

Attor, almost as tall as Levi these days, also lumbered up.

“Oh, I have better ways of teaching lessons than physical violence.” Lyndi smiled sweetly and laughed when Mike made a show of gulping down fear and shaking in his vintage combat boots.

Two seconds before all three boys’ gazes shifted to over her shoulder, the fine hairs on the back of her neck shot up with electric tension, the sensation feathering down her spine.

“Got room for one more?” Levi asked from directly behind her, oh so casual and not fooling her a bit. Only now the overprotective babysitter thing was combined with the fucking her thing and twisting up inside her head.

“Yeah, man,” Attor answered, as eager as he ever got.

Lyndi hid a wince.

Outside the bedroom, the man still seemed determined to treat her like a precious jade figurine. Beautiful to look at, but breakable. Better to just stuff her up on a shelf where she’d be safe.

Lyndi would’ve said no, except Attor, as a gold dragon, practically worshipped the ground Levi stomped on. Her gentle, quiet boy was one of the youngest she’d found long ago, though he’d grown up and turned into a gibberish spouting puppy around Levi. No way would she deny Attor time with his hero.

“We’ll take two cars,” she said, doing her best to hide her resignation. Then waited for her self-designated bodyguard to announce that he’d drive her.

“I’ll follow you.” Not waiting for her to respond, he headed to the foyer, hitching his chin at Attor to join him.

Lyndi blinked after his retreating back. That was…different. Maybe sex had mellowed him out? Sure, he was butting in and coming with her, but not insisting on driving was at least a step in the right direction.

“You coming?” Mike paused at her side to ask, searching her face as though trying to determine if she was all right.

“Yeah.” She waved him ahead, happy to let all of the men get well ahead of her until she was alone with her thoughts.

As soon as she passed into the hotshot crew building on the surface, she turned the corner by the row of lockers painted with flames and each with the name of an enforcer. Levi stepped into view and she only had time to gasp as he snagged her by the hand and scooted her backward until he had her up against the lockers.

“What do you—”

He took one quick glance over his shoulder, then shut her up with a kiss that chased her breath and her reason far away. Large hands at her hips gripped and lifted so that she had to curl one leg around him just to hold on.

As quickly as it started, he ended it, pulling back, shoulders rigid as he stared at her. Slowly, he shook his head. “I needed that,” he whispered, low enough that the shifters outside wouldn’t catch the actual words. “You taste like…” He licked his lips. “Ambrosia.” Then he gave a slow, sexy smile of utter satisfaction, even as his hands kneaded into her skin.

The remaining air in her lungs deserted her. Maybe because honesty would have had her agreeing if she’d had anything in her lungs left for words, and she wasn’t ready for whatever this was.

But you want it, her dragon was pushing from the other side. You want him.

Not that this could go anywhere.

Levi had apparently taken her shocked silence as a positive sign, because he grinned suddenly, eyes twinkling at her with something close to tenderness.

A spurt of answering fear drilled into her spine.

“You’re leaving.” The words left her mouth on the sound of accusation.

But instead of frowning or backing off, his eyes glowed hotter. “Not yet, I’m not.”

Before she could react, he pulled her off the lockers and smacked her ass to get her moving. “Let’s go. You can yell at me later after you’ve thought about it.”