Her cheeks went hot, but she didn’t break his gaze. She wasn’t embarrassed about their marathon of fantastic sex, let alone afraid of him, and she wanted to make sure he knew it.
With a deep inhalation and exhalation, she squared her shoulders, pasted a patient smile on her face, and strode toward the end of the clearing. By now, the students all turned to see what their teacher was staring at. When she was close enough, she could hear their murmurs of “Who is she?”, “Do we have a guest?”, and finally, when she was less than ten feet from them, “Why does she smell like Mr. MacLeod?”
Before either she or Tristan could say anything, one of the little girls said, “I know why! She smells like him because she’s carrying Mr. MacLeod’s baby! My mama smelled like my dad before my brother was born.”
The other students started to chatter, but then Tristan said, “Quiet,” and the students stopped talking.
She moved to stand next to Tristan. Despite the frown on his face, she remembered the patient version of him with the student, and she yearned to have that version of him holding her against his warm chest. That man she could actually like.
But the guarded look he always seemed to carry when she was around was back. It was best to get on with why she was here.
She raised an eyebrow and said, “They must’ve told you I would come to teach. Aren’t you going to introduce me to your students?”
Chapter Five
From the instant Tristan had met Melanie’s gaze, he’d had to battle both his attraction to her and the demands of his dragon.
With the children standing in front of him, his dragon was behaving—for the moment. The beast only thought of fucking her once every thirty seconds, which was only marginally better than having a constant need and desire broadcast inside his head.
When she stood next to him, the mixture of her feminine scent with his, because of the pregnancy, caused an overwhelming protectiveness to rush through his body.
Why did you abandon her? She is ours. We should take her home. Treasure her. Pleasure her. Fuck her.
Not right now. I need to help the young. Or do you want to leave them vulnerable? That thought silenced his dragon. Protecting the young was the most important.
Melanie asked if he was going to introduce her, and he turned to his morning class. “This is Miss Melanie Hall. You’ve probably scented it already, but she is a human female. From today, she’s going to come at least once a week to teach you human studies.” He turned toward Melanie. “They’re all yours.”
He barely registered what she said next as he studied the curve of her cheek, or the way the sun cast red glints in her hair. Her top clung to her breasts as if to tempt him, much like her jeans hugged her nice, wide hips and soft arse, reminding him what it was like to fuck her from behind.
Everything about her body called to him.
He resisted a frown. What the bloody hell was wrong with him? He’d never felt such attraction to a woman before. Determined not to fall prey to her luscious, curvy body, he turned his gaze back to his students. He just caught Melanie telling them to ask her anything, and Misa’s hand shot up.
Mel nodded and the little girl said, “So, was I right? Are you carrying Mr. MacLeod’s baby?”
He watched Melanie cross her arms over her chest. Only through an ironclad will did he avoid looking at them as she said, “Yes. But since dragon-shifters also get pregnant and have babies, how about asking me something related to human ways?”
One of the boys shouted, “I heard that humans like to collect dragon teeth and talons and wear them around their necks. Is that true?”
“Hundreds of years ago, yes, it was. However, since then, things have changed. These days, there is a type of truce between most humans and dragon-shifters.”
The boy looked unconvinced. “Then why do some humans hunt us?”
Tristan was keen to hear her answer. Melanie took a second, and then said, “Because just like with dragon-shifters, some humans will always be jerks and will ignore the rules.”
“Are you one of the jerks?”
Melanie smiled. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve actually studied dragon-shifters for years. Someday, I want to write a book and help get rid of the nasty rumors.”
That piqued Tristan’s curiosity. Was the female being sincere or just saying what the children wanted to hear?
One of the other boys said, “Which rumors? Like, do all humans think we’re strong and fierce monsters? Or I’ve also heard they think we steal their belongings in the middle of the night. And there’s the one about us breathing fire. Or...”
As the boy rattled off all the old stories and rumors about their kind, Tristan watched as Melanie calmly answered and dispelled most of them. Considering how tight-lipped the dragons were, she knew an astounding amount about them. He wasn’t sure if that made him more or less suspicious of her.