Grinning at her reaction, he lifted the girls by the backs of their shirts and turned them away from her. Once released from his hold, they shot off into the room like bolts of lightning flying off his fingertips.
Jezibaba watched Professor Hottie turn and walk slowly toward her. His guard was up now, wondering who and what she really was. But she could tell his worry was mostly for the children and rightly so. They would need a champion or two… or seventy… before they were old enough and strong enough to take over her work.
When Professor Hottie stopped, her heart fluttered in response to the dragon’s protective stance. Goddess, it would have been nice to have had someone like him guarding her while she was growing up. It might even be nice to have someone like that having her back now.
One of the advantages of being older was that she knew better than to take her attraction to the dragon shifter seriously. She wouldn’t call it being wiser exactly. More like street smart and maybe she was simply not stupid enough to fall too hard for a nice ass anymore. Most nice asses had a matching one sitting on their shoulders. She’d learned that the hard way, as she had every other hard lesson.
Bottom line for her flutters? Her insides needed to stop that shit. No way was she letting a dragon into her pants just because he cared for her future replacements. No witch with any sense would stoop so low. Even if dragons hadn’t been on her don’t-fuck list, they had a tendency to mark females they slept with so no other dragon would go there. She was not getting a dragon fire created v-jay-jay tattoo guaranteed to wilt the dick of any future lover she took.
Her attention left her thoughts and returned to him when she realized he was scanning her face and not her legs anymore.
“You’re the Jezibaba. I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. I’m Professor Damien Smoke.”
A sharp retort about his oversight was on her tongue. It hovered there letting her taste the pleasure it would give her to say it and see his eyes flash in anger. But the nastiness just wouldn’t come out. Damn her weakness for sexy men.
“Quite understandable given the circumstances, Professor. Your primary focus wasn’t on me,” she answered calmly.
“No, but we both know my attention could be on you if you wanted it to be,” Damien replied smoothly, grinning when her eyebrows shot up again. “Sorry. I can’t seem to behave any better than the girls today. It’s just that you’re every bit as mesmerizing in person as I imagined you being. Of course you were alluring even before when I thought you were just… never mind that. Perhaps I better shut up now.”
Pretending not to care was a trick to pull off, but she’d had a lot of practice doing so in her life. “No worries, Professor. Power. Glamour. It momentarily draws attention. You’ll forget me a few minutes after the warlocks and I leave. In my experience, most unnatural enchantments never last longer than that, though I promise you, I do nothing to draw it on purpose. It is innate.”
Professor Hottie looked thoughtful for a moment, opened his mouth to speak, but then appeared to change his mind. When her stomach dropped in disappointment, Jezibaba narrowed her eyes.
“I came here on business. Point me to your headmaster,” she ordered, wanting to move things along. Action would no doubt lessen the distraction Professor Hottie presented.
Chuckling, Professor Hottie reached out and lifted one of her hands before she could stop him. Magic buzzed along her palm and down to her fingertips. He kissed the back of her hand reverently as was due someone in her position, and then shocked her by placing her palm flat on his well-endowed chest. The contact was just as nice as she’d expected it might be.
“The unfortunate headmaster of Witchery U stands before you—guilty as charged. I’m the one you seek, but you can call me Damien.”
Jezibaba slid her hand away, remembering the heat of his muscles even after the contact was broken. Damn dragon. Damn sexy, panty-melting dragon. He’d made her touch him on purpose. Why was he being so charming? He was hiding something—trying to distract her further. That had to be the case. Well, it wouldn’t work. She’d dealt with sneaky dragons before.
In fact, there wasn’t much she hadn’t dealt with in her tenure as the current witch protectoress. Professor Hottie might be teaching the future versions of her—and lucky them for it—but she had been taught at the school of hard knock spells, troll curses, and angry gods with vendettas.
“I’ve come about two of your students, Professor. Apparently, they’ve been chosen as my potential replacements,” she stated stiffly. “We’re not taking them today of course.”
She turned around to the grumbling warlocks behind her who had quietly filed inside the building behind Nathaniel. “No, we are absolutely not taking them. They’re children. Did you hear me? Children.”
She turned back to the sexy dragon and smiled as neutrally as possible. “We just wanted to make you aware of their futures, Professor Smoke. Perhaps recommend you take a few extra precautions with their safety.”
“You’re talking about Hildy and Carol,” Damien stated.
“Yes,” Jezibaba confirmed. “I am speaking of Hildy and Carol.”
He nodded as he thought about it. “I knew those two were powerful. We always look out for those with that level of magic at their beckoning—mostly because they be a danger to everyone—but they’re only ten. Real power doesn’t manifest at such a young age. I find it hard to believe they’ve been singled out already.”
Jezibaba nodded and frowned. “Indeed. You echo my concerns, Professor Smoke. This early tapping of my prospective replacements is a strange situation. I’m sure in a couple of decades their power will make it obvious they should be considered contenders. Though it’s not unheard of to be singled out early. In fact, I was chosen before I was born. When I got my menses, I fully expected the warlocks to come get me, but they never… what now?”
Jezibaba stopped her story and shook her head at the rumbling and groaning going on behind her. Her gaze met the sexy dragon’s. “I could write a damn book about the fragile sensibilities of warlocks. They don’t like to think about the fact I’m female in all regards.”
Professor Hottie’s responding grin made her day. It was nice to finally have someone recognize the political agony she bore for the sake of doing her job.
“So you were chosen shortly after your passage into womanhood?” he prompted.
She snorted at his words. “More like I was expecting someone to come collect me. Passage into womanhood? You’re obviously much better with nice words than I am. Not surprising, given your profession, I suppose.”
“On the contrary, you might be more surprised by my past than you ever imagined. I wasn’t always a teacher. Perhaps we can have dinner sometime and share our stories. I would like that very much. But for now, let me tell Ms Turner to finish the lesson. We can go to my office and talk about what measures need to be taken for the children’s safety. Have their parents been told about the prophecy?”
“No,” Jezibaba said firmly. “And we have no intentions of telling them until it is unavoidable. There is enough drama happening. The Council of Witches and the Fates have chosen my successors, but I will choose their protectors. There is discord in both of the children’s families and no one is going to take their normal life from them a moment sooner than necessary if I can prevent it from happening. That is my firm decision about the matter.”
Her eyes blazed with determination and only softened when Professor Hottie bowed to her.
“I agree with you and it will be my pleasure to see your will about this manifest,” he promised. “Now excuse me for a moment and I will join you in my office.”
Charmed despite her misgivings, she fought off her urge to sigh in frustration. “Why did you have to be a damn dragon?” she whispered under her breath.
For a second time that day, she couldn’t stop herself from staring at Professor Damien Smoke’s perfect ass as he disappeared into the classroom.
Click Here To See All The Titles In The Baba Yaga
Saga!
Robyn’s Book List (in correct reading order)
HOT DAMNED SERIES
Fashionably Dead
Fashionably Dead Down Under
Hell on Heels
Fashionably Dead in Diapers
A Fashionably Dead Christmas
Fashionably Hotter Than Hell
Fashionably Dead and Wed
SHIFT HAPPENS SERIES
Ready to Were
Some Were in Time
No Were To Run
MAGIC AND MAYHEM SERIES
Switching Hour
Witch Glitch
A Witch In Time
Magically Delicious
HANDCUFFS AND HAPPILY EVER AFTERS SERIES
How Hard Can it Be?
Size Matters
Cop a Feel
If after reading all the above you are still wanting more adventure and zany fun, read Pirate Dave and His Randy Adventures, the romance novel budding novelist Rena was helping wicked Evangeline write in How Hard Can It Be?
Warning: Pirate Dave Contains Romance Satire, Spoofing, and Pirates with Two Pork Swords.
About Robyn Peterman
Robyn Peterman writes because the people inside her head won’t leave her alone until she gives them life on paper.
Her addictions include laughing really hard with friends, shoes (the expensive kind), Target, Coke Zero Cherry with extra ice in a Styrofoam cup, bejeweled reading glasses, her kids, her super-hot hubby and collecting stray animals.
A former professional actress with Broadway, film and T.V. credits, she now lives in the South with her family and too many animals to count.
Writing gives her peace and makes her whole, plus having a job where you can work in your underpants works really well for her. You can leave Robyn a message via the Contact Page and she’ll get back to you as soon as her bizarre life permits! She loves to hear from her fans!
More Fun Ways To Connect With Robyn
@robynpeterman
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www.robynpeterman.com
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