Chapter 10

Grady

Outside angst, fine.

Inside angst, not fine.

Got it.

As far as relationship minefields, it wasn't bad, but I knew I needed to keep an eye out for it to pop up again later. Especially when he was tired. The exhaustion definitely hadn't left him even if he'd disguised it better as we'd walked around.

Little Alick didn't think about hiding yawns.

Grown-up Alick forced himself to look more awake than he actually was.

Grown-up Alick also had a very low worry threshold when he was tired because nothing in that conversation should've upset him…even if I was an idiot who didn't know our history.

All that could wait until he was more relaxed and he'd had time to settle into the idea of having a mate, though. Just because he'd wanted me to come find him didn't mean he wouldn't need some time to adjust.

"Now, what is your favorite way to walk back to the house?" The property around the house was massive and definitely nothing that could be called a yard, but my favorite part so far was all the little paths he'd worn into it.

It looked like my boy needed to pace and wander, and I couldn't wait to see him playing in it when he was little.

Yes, changing the subject had been a good idea. His smile brightened and he kissed my cheek as I stepped back to hold his hand again. "This way. It's the best because it has flowers almost all year round."

As we wound around the other side of the property, he chattered about the flowers and pointed out spots where things were blooming or would bloom another time. "Those come up right at the first part of spring. I had a few mages who offered to make sure they would grow in winter too but that just doesn't seem like a good idea."

How these people hadn't ended up on the news was beyond me.

"Yeah, I think using the flowers as nature intended is probably best." And wouldn't fuck up the ecosystem.

Right?

As we slowly wandered and debated the ethics of magical gardening, we eventually ended up back at his cottage and he took us up onto his back porch. He had a huge oversized swing that I was eyeing carefully but I wasn't subtle enough and he laughed. "It won't fall. The bolts are magically reinforced and the original builder of the house was a mage who built it to withstand nearly anything."

Shrugging, I didn't feel bad. "Some furniture is just not made for real humans, much less dragons."

Grinning, he trailed his gaze down my body. "I think you're just bigger than average, Daddy."

Scoffing, I rolled my eyes. "I'm just a sturdy dragon. That shouldn't make chairs creak."

His giggles escaped as he tugged me closer. "I'm not going to ask you to tell me a story that scarred you, Daddy."

That smile wasn't fooling anyone.

"Hmm, are you going to try to find a spell to show it to you or are you going to find Erin's number in my phone and get the good stuff from her?" My guesses were so right on the money that Alick's mouth dropped open and he nearly fell as he sat down on the swing. "Yep, you're not nearly as innocent as you look."

Landing hard, he grunted and it took a second for his brain to catch up. "I was going to find Erin's number. You're scary smart, Daddy."

I had to laugh as I sat down next to him and pulled him onto my lap. When he was settled against me and I'd given us a good push against the floor to start the swing going, I kissed his head and tattled on myself. "No, that was just what I told Erin to do so she could get some good stories about her Daddy."

She hadn't been nearly devious enough until I'd helped her along.

Alick buried his face against my neck and shook as he laughed. "You're so sneaky. I'll never be able to do anything naughty."

Shrugging, I couldn't resist teasing him. "That means you're going to have to try harder to be good at it."

I was definitely setting myself up for trouble later, but his friends were terrible at being subtle, so I wasn't too worried.

They'd plan something devious.

They'd talk about it in pubic.

Someone in town would accidentally tattle on them.

Yep, aside from ending up with a slightly frustrated boy, I wasn't worried.

Well, I wasn't worried about mischief. I was, however, worried about the swing crashing to the floor, but it seemed to be fine. I was a trust but verify kind of dragon when it came to magic, so I saw the magic reinforcing it when I finally focused on it and went searching for the specific spell.

Alick yawned, mumbling softly as I continued to swing us. "What was that?"

What had he sensed?

Could he feel it because of our mate bond?

"I was testing the magic to see if I could figure out the spell. I'm not really good at it but I do okay." I thought the answer would make sense, but he went still and sat up, looking at me like I'd grown a second head.

"You can use magic?" His question left me confused until I remembered how weird his town was.

"Yeah, but like I said, not very well. My great-grandfather was a pretty good mage from what I'm told, but the dragon genetics run stronger." My brain finally connected the dots and a few thoughts clicked.

Mages weren't another type of human.

Yep, I had questions that we were going to have to come back to later, but for now, I rubbed Alick's back as I rambled. "From what I understand, we were part of a group that went west as some of the first settlers. Probably for the space to fly and the privacy. But back then it was so hard to keep in touch I'm not surprised that we lost that part of our history."

"Didn't…" Another yawn caught him before he could get his thought out and he had to try again. "Didn't you ever wonder where you were from and stuff like that?"

Thinking about the question and hoping answering it wouldn't stress him out, I shrugged. "Honestly, growing up I was more interested in tracking kinks down online and trying to figure out which guys at school were gay. It was a small fucking school and I didn't have that many options."

There hadn't been much internet either…life was hard for a queer, kinky dragon in the middle of fucking nowhere.

Giggling softly, Alick nodded. "Okay, yeah, I can see that. I guess we've just had different focuses here."

Because evidently this was where we'd come from.

Shrugging off the weirdness, I kissed his head and tried to steer the conversation away from stressful things. "I think growing up in isolated communities just shifted how we did things because most of the kids I grew up with had a mix of ancestors between mages, dragons, and regular humans."

"That sounds nice." Voice dropping, Alick seemed to be fighting to stay awake but the rocking was definitely his weak spot when it came to naps. "I just…we had…classes in school and history…we've been…Lorne would be funny as a mage too…"

And then he was out.

No, Lorne would not be funny as a mix of dragon and mage. Kenzie either. Those two would be trouble if they had power and a severe lack of common sense. Some of the other people he mentioned might be able to keep themselves from doing ridiculous things, but no one I'd met so far had enough common sense.

But I wasn't going to point that out to Alick unless I really had to.

No, he was adorable and so endlessly patient with the stupid people around him that I wasn't going to upset him. I'd just watch after him carefully and make sure everyone knew what I'd do to them if they got him injured or hurt his feelings.

I might not be a cannibal but I could wreak havoc on people if it came down to it.

I passed the next hour coming up with good ways to fuck with everyone and browsing on my phone to see if I could find anything that looked like actual dragon history. By the time Jeff texted me, I'd decided there were way too many dirty shifter books and not enough of the authors had actually met dragons.

Or mages.

So I was ready for a less dirty distraction when his text popped up on my screen.

You dead?

It was wonderful to have such a loving and supportive family.

No such luck, dickhead.

His response had me trying not to laugh.

Damn. I was hoping to cash out your insurance. Erin says we need a trailer too.

Barely holding back, I grinned.

Tell her she's going to have to buy it on her own now. My boy will get my money if I get eaten by his neighbors.

Dots danced across the screen but no words appeared.

So I waited.

And waited.

You found him!!

Erin says she's going to kill you for making us wait to hear the news.

Why didn't you call?

Once he started typing, the messages came too fast for me to respond to them, so I just ignored the way they kept popping up and started typing.

I found him about two hours ago. He's taking a nap on my lap, so I can't call now but I'll call you later. He's adorable and has the most insane friends. The whole town he's from is nuts but it's beautiful.

His frantic list of questions finally stopped and my phone was silent for a few seconds.

The mountains you were talking about heading toward? It's a whole town like us?

I was going to blow his mind at some point, but for the time being, I stuck to simple facts since texting was a bitch.

Yeah, mages and dragons and a mix of regular humans. Some humans know and some don't. The locals are nuts, though. It's like living in a TV sitcom. Erin will love it when you guys come to visit. There's a big kink community too.

And more silence.

You're staying? I thought you would but now it feels more real.

I'd always known I'd stay wherever my mate was, but I'd expected the question anyway. Jeff didn't like change and this had been hard for him.

Yeah, this is his happy place. His family is here and all his friends. His work. The area is beautiful, though, and there's going to be lots to use as inspiration.

After sending the message, I decided to be a lot clearer about my expectations and quickly sent off another message.

I'm expecting you guys to come down in a month or so. But we'll do a video call or something like that tomorrow? How does that sound? I want you guys to meet him.

Alick would love them once he got over any nerves he felt about meeting them for the first time.

Deciding to tempt Erin a bit, I kept texting before he could respond.

There's a ton of littles for Erin to play with too. I've only met a few boys so far but the town is kinky as fuck, so there has to be some girls too.

It only took a few seconds for Erin's text to pop up and I almost laughed at the pair of wide eyes she sent me.

Yep, brat. Lots of littles to play with and a whole town full of people who don't seem to be shocked by much. Even you calling Jeff Daddy wouldn't surprise anyone. But they may make weird comments they think are helpful. The whole town is nuts. You're going to love it.

I got back pictures of a party hat, a cake, and toys. Taking that to mean she wanted to play with other littles and have some kind of a party, I responded back with that in mind.

My mate has one friend who likes baking, so you'll have fun with him and I'm very sure all of Alick's friends will love playing with you. But we might have to ease Alick into being little around other people, though. I'm not sure he's been little around family. He doesn't seem to have a wonderful uncle like you've got.

A handful of emojis popped up on my phone, all grins and different little people laughing.

Yep, I'm so wonderful you can't help but smile.

My cheeky response got more laughing images from her and a text with actual words from Jeff.

She's wearing an ear-to-ear grin and keeps giggling like an evil villain. You should be scared.

I almost snorted.

She hasn't met Alick's friends. They're scary.

Having them all in one room was going to be frightening…but really funny.

Don't be surprised when we show up then. You've put ideas in her head and I'm not going to be the one to tell her no.

Had he ever told her no?

Give me about a month to get settled and then you can either stay in the trailer or we'll find a short-term rental or something. There aren't many hotels in the area but there are some BB type stuff.

Hopefully, we could find something that didn't randomly disappear.

Deal. And I'm going to start looking at tickets now so no take backs.

He wasn't five or a little but sometimes he didn't seem to realize that.

Good. I want Alick to meet you.

I wanted him to meet my family, but I also wanted him to see how serious I was about us and how proud I was to be his Daddy.