Chapter 10 Theron
TEN
THERON
My dragon had stopped asking me about mating—or demanding was more like it—because Ledger and I had been sharing a bed for two weeks.
Not that he slept with me all night, because he was worried one of the kids would wake and wander into my room. Fraser did that sometimes, whereas Skye would usually call out. Rory rarely woke up.
Even when Ledger had returned upstairs, I slept better than I had since Vince died.
But I was having some success in getting him to stay longer.
I hated that he left after we’d had sex, as though one of us regretted what we’d done.
I wanted to cuddle him and wake up beside him, even though he stole the covers and he had cold feet which he pressed against me.
But despite our subterfuge, my children were aware our manny had been in my room.
“Ledger's toothbrush is in your bathroom.” Rory took a bite of his toast.
Though Ledger wasn’t with me come morning, he left a spare toothbrush in my bathroom and brushed his teeth before getting into bed at night.
“He doesn’t use the same toothpaste as you, Daddy,” Skye added.
“It's blue.” That was Fraser’s contribution.
My kids sounded like detectives, and I imagined them in my bathroom with a magnifying glass, comparing DNA samples.
I took a long sip of coffee and shared a glance with Ledger. There were pink spots on his cheeks, but he tilted his head and mouthed, “Okay.” I interpreted that I should acknowledge what they said rather than make an excuse.
“Is that okay?” I asked and looked at all three individually. They didn’t know what we’d been doing, thank gods, just that he’d visited me.
“Yes.” Skye resumed eating.
Rory shrugged and said it was fine, while Fraser asked if we could all sleep together in my bed tonight. I suggested we could do that on Friday night and play board games.
Ledger had successfully woven himself into our lives, and my kids had accepted him.
But not just accepted, they adored him, and I’d often find one of them snuggled in with him on a Sunday morning, or the four would be up at the crack of dawn making banana bread, or they’d be digging in the garden for buried treasure.
I’ve never buried a hoard of anything in the garden.
It’s a kid thing. Don’t worry about it.
I should have been happy and content, but I wasn’t being honest with the man I adored. Not only did he not know about shifters, but also, he wasn’t aware he’d been living with and having sex with a dragon shifter. Or that his three charges were also dragons.
How did you tell a human that the man he was hopefully falling for had a beast inside him with wings and fire? How did I say that without “I have to leave” being the next sentence out of his mouth?
I'd rehearsed it in my office as I paced. “Ledger, I need to tell you something about my family,” or “Ledger, there are things about us that are different from what you're used to,” or “Ledger, I'm a dragon.” Every version sounded either terrifying or ridiculous.
I was so scared of losing him I kept putting it off. And there were my children to consider. Asking them to hide who they were was wrong. I thought back to Skye’s nightmare.
But today was Saturday afternoon, and I’d finished work for the weekend. I’d think about when to spring it on Ledger tomorrow, and I strolled into the house.
The kids were in the living room building a blanket fort while Ledger supervised from the couch with a mug of tea and his laptop open on a cushion beside him.
His advisor had been emailing more frequently, and I'd noticed the guilt on his face when he closed his computer without typing anything. If he was behind with his dissertation, it might’ve been my fault because I’d been distracting him morning, noon, and night.
We shared a glance, and I went into the kitchen to slice fruit. The kids weren’t that fussed about eating it, but since Ledger arrived, he’d been encouraging them to try foods of different colors.
“That's my pillow,” Rory was shouting at someone, and I guessed it was his brother. “Give it back.”
“No.”
Ledger suggested the pair share the pillow, but Rory yelled at Fraser to stop it. There was something in this tone that had me pause, and the knife fell from my hand and clattered into the sink.
I shot into the living room as a blast of heat hit me. There was a crackle and flames, and a corner of the blanket fort was on fire.
Fraser was standing in the middle of it with his hands out, and smoke was curling from his palms. I knew what had happened. His bracelet must have come off or he’d removed it. He was upset, and his fire had come out the way it did when he couldn't control his emotions.
The blanket was consumed in flames, and Ledger was already off the couch. He grabbed Skye and pulled her backward and was reaching for Rory, but the fire was spreading across the fabric toward the curtain. Fraser was frozen, too scared to move and too young to pull his fire back.
There was no time to worry about my human mate.
I did a partial shift so scales appeared on my chest. I shoved past Ledger and scooped Fraser up with one arm.
With my free hand, I grabbed the burning blanket and smothered it against my chest. The scales absorbed the heat because that was what they were designed to do.
The fire died against me, and I stamped out the embers on the carpet. Fraser was sobbing against my chest saying, “I’m sorry, Daddy, I didn't mean to.”
“Shhh. I know. It’s okay.”
A small flame was licking up the edge of the curtain, and I could have grabbed it and smothered that too but it was climbing fast and Rory was too close.
I exhaled and the fire in my lungs answered.
This wasn’t a full shift, the house was too small, but I let my dragon out enough that my breath came out hot.
I drew the flame from the curtain how I'd taught Rory to call fire back into his chest. The flame peeled away from the fabric and dissolved, and the room was quiet except for Fraser's crying and the hiss of singed carpet.
Hugging my little boy, I told him we’d learn more techniques to control his flames. This was one of the reasons why other shifters feared us or weren’t comfortable around dragon shifters.
Though we didn’t meet our beast until adolescence, we could produce fire, often with disastrous consequences, hence why the kids wore their bracelets which bled off the fire.
Ours were made of leather with a tiny charm attached.
Wearing them wasn’t about stifling their desires or abilities, it was to keep them and everyone else safe.
When I finally turned around, Ledger was standing by the couch holding Skye, and Rory was pressed against his side. He'd saved them both, but his pale cheeks and trembling hands suggested he was the one who needed saving.
The room smelled like smoke and burned fabric, and I didn’t have the words to explain to my mate who we were and what he’d witnessed.
“What was that?” Ledger screeched.
My children were watching me, one of whom was cradled in my arms. How I handled this affected them too, not just me and Ledger.
“I can explain.” Oh my gods, that was what every bad guy said after they’d committed a horrific crime on TV.
“You breathed on the fire and it went out.” He wrapped both arms around Skye and rested his chin on her shoulder as if he was anchoring himself to her. “And you got—no, had—no, changed… you developed scales.” His eyes were so wide, as though they were propped open with toothpicks.
“Ledger, please sit.”
What good is that? my dragon scoffed.
“I’m fine standing.”
He wasn’t, because he was swaying and about to topple over.
With no buildup or rehearsed speech, I summarized who we were. “My children and I are dragon shifters. We all have dragons inside us, though my children can’t shift into their dragon form yet. We have fire and claws and wings.”
“That’s why the house is hot, Ledger,” Rory offered.
“Yes, it’s because our internal temperature runs much higher than a human’s.”
“Dragons.” With one arm holding my daughter, Ledger took Rory’s hand and sat on the couch.
Even though he must have been scared, he was still protective and loving toward my children.
Fraser peeked out from under my arm. “I didn't mean to.”
“I know.” Ledger beckoned him, and he raced toward my mate and flung himself into his arms, bumping the other two. But they understood Fraser needed comforting, and they shuffled aside without the usual complaints.
Ledger put his arms around my children. “I love you, and I’m not like the other mannies. I’m not leaving, but I am scared and confused, and I need time to think about this.”
He kissed them and got up, promising they could come and he’d read their favorite story in his suite after dinner. After he walked out, I took his place on the sofa, and the four of us huddled together
“He’s still here,” Rory noted.
But for how long? He might pack his things and say goodbye to the kids after he read to them.