My palm slapped my desk, the sharp crack echoing through the room. “You’re wrong. So wrong it’s painful to listen to. I don’t know how the academy allows you to teach this bullshit when you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Kragmane’s brows shot up, his chalk hovering midair. “Excuse me?”
“No. You’re excused.” I leaned forward, every nerve alight with indignation. “Human women are not opposed to sex. We don’t go out of our way to avoid it. We don’t consider it a terrible burden that we reluctantly allow when a man whines long enough. In fact—” I let my gaze sweep the room as I stood, then back to Kragmane, “—human women enjoy it. We desire it, crave it, and—when it’s with someone we actually want—it’s one of the most pleasurable experiences we can have. Human women love to fuck.”
Zypher let out an amused chuckle, and I felt Gabriel stiffen on my other side.
“I’ve done decades of research, young lady,” Kragmane began, face flushed with anger.
“And I’ve spent decades living in the human realm as a human,” I cut him off. “Plenty of those years were spent enjoying a man in my bed.” My feet carried me to the front until I was bent, face-to-face, with the ignorant dwarf. “If he was good enough, we wouldn’t even make it to the bed. Sometimes a man can make a human woman so desperate to fuck that she has him bend her over and take her right there. Contrary to the bullshit you’re teaching, if our partner is worth a damn, human women fuck. And, speaking from personal experience, we fuck a lot.”
Kragmane’s mouth worked like a fish on land. “This is… this is utterly disgraceful behavior!”
“Disgraceful?” I barked a laugh. “What’s disgraceful is that you’re up here teaching nonsense about a subject you clearly know nothing about. And do you want to know why you think women hate sex, Professor?” I leaned closer, my voice dropping into a sharp whisper that carried to the back row. “Because no woman alive would climb into bed with you.”
The class broke into chaos—howls of laughter, shocked squeals, someone pounding a desk in glee. I turned back to my classmates. I spotted Zypher first, leaning back, the picture of casual elegance, an amused smirk on his face. Gabriel, on the other hand, glanced around the room as if looking for someone to murder. That strange, unwanted pull forced my eyes to Dante and Vallynn next. Both males looked as murderous as my vampire mate.
Kragmane was nearly the color of boiled beets when my attention returned to him. “I’ll have you disciplined for this disruption, Ms. Knight! You cannot speak to me in such a manner!”
“Oh, but I can,” I cut in, straightening and stepping back, arms crossed. “While you’re scribbling potatoes on the board and pretending to understand human intimacy, I’ve actually lived it. From where I’m standing, your decades of research don’t amount to a damn thing if they’re filtered through your failure to attract a woman.”
The laughter grew louder, rolling like thunder through the lecture hall. A wolf shifter at the back fell out of his chair, howling with delight. I barely noticed Zypher and Gabriel moving from their seats toward me.
“You’re not an expert on mating, Professor Kragmane,” I added coolly, voice sharp enough to cut glass. “You’re just bitter no one’s ever wanted to mate with you.”
Kragmane’s sputtering fury was drowned out by the uproar. His stubby fingers clutched his lecture notes as if they could shield him from the reality crashing down; the room wasn’t laughing with him anymore. It was laughing at him.
“Time to go, Dilectus,” Zypher purred in my ear as he gently took my elbow and guided me toward the door. Gabriel flanked my other side like a wall of simmering violence, his fangs flashing when anyone so much as snickered in my direction.
“That was reckless,” Gabriel muttered, lips turned down in a scowl.
“Reckless?” I shot back. “That man was spreading straight-up lies. Lies that get women in the human realm hurt by human men. Not to mention the damage from him teaching it to supernaturals who visit the human realm.”
“I believe you set the record straight, Dilectus. Word will spread through the academy after your… memorable delivery.” Zypher grinned, eyes twinkling with mischief.
Before I could decide whether to be concerned about how my actions might be twisted as word spread, a deep voice cut through the corridor.
“What are the three of you doing?” Caulder demanded as he moved toward us.
My heart squeezed at the sight of him, and my body threatened to sway forward. I gritted my teeth and focused on the open book in his hands to keep from lunging at him. Whatever draw he held wasn’t something I wanted to explore. It only left me feeling guilty and unworthy of the two males at my side.
Zypher shrugged, grin widening. “Ah. Professor Thrackborne, Bechora has just finished giving an impassioned speech on the sexual desires of the human female.”
Thrackborne’s brows dipped as Zypher’s words sank in. A puff of smoke blew from his nose on a heavy exhale. “What exactly have you done, Ms. Knight?” he grated between clenched teeth.
“Someone had to put that stupid dwarf in his place,” I snapped, the flames of my anger stoking anew. “He seems convinced human women don’t enjoy sex at all, but he’s so fucking wrong.”
“What my Dilectus is neglecting to say is that she made itquite clear she thoroughly enjoys fucking,” Zypher said, humor lacing his words.
Thrackborne’s grip on the book tightened as more smoke poured from his nostrils. Before any of us could comment, he tore the book clean in two. That seemed to amuse even Gabriel, who chuckled alongside my demon mate at the sight of the two halves hanging from the dragon’s hands.
“Detention. All three of you,” Thrackborne snapped. “Report to my office at dusk.”
I stared at his back as he stomped away, not sure what to make of his strange behavior.
“Well, it seems we have successfully distracted him from Miles,” Gabriel said.
Pressing my lips together, I turned to Zypher. He seemed pleased with Professor Thrackborne’s reaction, though I wasn’t sure why. Noticing my attention, he smiled and slipped a hand into mine.
