Chapter 13

Paxton

"I'm hungry." And I was in a bed…and naked?

Oh.

Fraser's laugh was more of a Daddy snicker, so I didn't feel silly burying my head under the pillow. He would've been disappointed if I'd acted like a boring grown-up. "That does not surprise me. You burned a lot of calories today."

Somehow he made that sound dirty.

"I walked a lot." He laughed again…so he'd definitely meant it as dirty as it'd sounded. "It makes you hungry."

He snorted. "Yep, just walking makes you so hungry your stomach growls."

He was such a dork.

My huff had him jerking in silent laughter because the bed shook.

I was in Daddy's bed.

"Thank you for my reward?" Yes, that was an appropriate response even if I wasn't ready to stop hiding yet.

"You're welcome." Daddy shifted around and ended up stretched out down the bed so he could curl around me like a big spoon. "I like rewarding you and I liked taking a nap with you."

That was good.

"I might've stayed up too late last night researching new topics." I wasn't sure how to list off everything that I'd looked up, so I didn't bother. "I probably should've gone to bed earlier."

Daddy's thinking sound made me want to squirm, so I tried to pull the covers over my head too. "I think my boy understands that wasn't a good idea and that there will be consequences if he stays up ridiculously late again. Right?"

Sighing just made him let out a frustrated sound. "Yes, Daddy."

I probably should've been glad he didn't make me say just how late it'd been when I'd gone to bed, so I decided not to be too dramatic. "I'll be good…and…and you can help me pick a bedtime if it's too hard?"

Yes, the internet said he'd like that.

Oh, he kissed my shoulder.

"I think that is a great idea and I'm very proud of you." Snuggling closer, he seemed happier, so I knew I'd made the right choice. "You need to be completely awake to think when you're working. So it's not just about me worrying."

He had a point.

"There was something I was going to ask you, wasn't there?" Something was dancing at the back of my mind but I just couldn't catch it.

Unburying myself, I wiggled around until I was looking at Daddy, who was back to trying not to laugh. "I forgot something."

"Yep." He wasn't being helpful at all. "You did."

Daddies were just as frustrating as the internet said they were.

"Um, we did the hike and you led me to that area with the decomposing logs." He'd done a good job with that. "We chatted and you told me stories. You're a good trail guide."

Some people were just boring, and it helped that he spoke a language I could understand.

"Thank you." Daddy kissed my nose. "Keep going."

Ugh.

"I…I found my beetles." Oh. "Um, I got video of them and I took notes."

I was starting to remember what I'd forgotten.

All the weirdness.

"You found a lot of them." Daddy didn't move away but he looked more serious somehow. "It was interesting to watch."

He'd watched the beetles.

He'd watched the beetles disappear.

He'd watched the beetles disappear without going into shock.

"I'm…I'm going to have to transcribe my notes later." Swallowing, I stayed focused on the logical parts. "It's a longer process that way but I make better notes when I talk through it in the field."

I saw Daddy nod, so he didn't think it was silly. "I could see that. You were very detailed as you were talking. I caught the notes you made on the habitat and about their behaviors. They're hard to see, though."

Oh.

Yeah, he'd seen the weird bits.

"Um, yes. They camouflage very well." Or something like that. "When we were done for the time being, we walked back and you…well…you were very Daddy."

I was not going to blush.

I was not going to blush.

I was not going to blush.

Daddies took care of things because they were control freaks who were just very sweet looking.

"I was glad you let me be very Daddy." He brushed his lips softly against mine, heat and something else close to it in his eyes. "I thought that was very special and I loved that you trusted me so much."

I could feel the relief flooding through me but I tried not to show it because I didn't want him to think that I'd been worried about his reaction. I had been worried. But it seemed rude to point that out. "I'm glad."

Yes, polite and not worried.

Daddy looked like he was trying not to smile. "Good."

I felt less silly once he gave me another kiss, but I knew we weren't done with our conversation yet. "You…you got me lots to drink and you made me a big lunch."

I'd been so full it was wonderful.

Daddy snickered. "And now you're hungry again."

"I am." Lots of exercise. "Um, and then I got my massage, but we…I was tired and telling you about something."

What had I said?

Being tired fried my brain.

"Oh, the man at the bakery." He'd been weird. "He said stuff and I told you about it."

Nodding slowly, Daddy waited quietly.

"Um, we talked a bit about my beetles." I was pretty sure I'd told him they disappeared. "Then there was something about me deciding if I was a mage or a dragon?"

That was where the other random details got fuzzy, but the important blanks were starting to be filled in. "You…you didn't tell me I sounded nuts and I don't think it was just Daddy silliness."

My beetles kept disappearing.

Poof.

I had it on camera.

The locals were weird.

Like, not normal kind of weird.

They'd talked about me being mated, not married, and everyone thought Daddy was going to keep me.

"Um, there are a lot of my beetles here." That was curious in itself. "I didn't expect to find so many."

Daddy nodded slowly and spoke very carefully. "We have some very interesting local flora and fauna."

That was an understatement.

"Um, do you know why things are so interesting around here?" Wait. "Is it why the trails are so weird?"

Daddy couldn't seem to decide if he wanted to laugh or not, but he nodded. "Yes, it's all connected."

Nothing made sense but it was starting to make sense.

"Should…should you be explaining this to me?" Was he allowed to? "Do I want you to explain this to me?"

Daddy finally laughed but he shrugged. "Oh, those are very good questions. Yes, I can explain it to you, but I'm not sure if you want me to or not."

Well, that was a frustratingly Daddy answer.

"What happens if I tell you that I don't want to know yet?" Were there rules? "Do I have to know? I mean, I might want to know, but I need to know the…"

Ugh.

Daddy managed not to laugh but it looked hard. "I think you're very curious and that you want to know. You can decide that we should just shelve the conversation for now, though, but it will have to come up again as we get closer."

"Because you're keeping me." I was starting to think that hadn't just been me thinking that he was happy to have a little or a sub.

"Yep." Daddy grinned and kissed my nose. "We don't have to live here if you don't want to, though. I know you have a career and mine is probably more mobile."

Wait.

"What do you do besides lead hikes? You said you did it part-time but then I got distracted. Everything around here is so distracting, Daddy." His snicker said he agreed.

"I teach history and government at the local high school." Daddy's answer was such a surprise I must've looked silly. He laughed and kissed my nose again. "We're on summer break."

Yes, that made sense.

Nothing else about the town did, but his schedule was logical.

"We can discuss job mobility later." Yes, we didn't have to rush into things. "There are…there are probably other things to figure out first. Since you're keeping me and all."

Pressing his lips together, Daddy nodded and took a second to respond. "Yep."

My sigh did not help his ability to control his laughter. "Stop looking so cute. I'm trying to behave."

We had very different definitions of that.

"You're being ridiculous." That just made him giggle and hide his face against my head. "Ugh, fine. Dragging this out isn't going to work. You'll just spend the next few days giggling and making weird comments while the old men at the diner ask me stupid questions."

"Unfortunately, you're right about that." Daddy pulled away, giving me one more kiss. "How about you sit on my lap? We'll wrap you in the blanket if you want."

Hmm.

"Is this an I'm going to need a quick getaway kind of thing?" I didn't even know where to start guessing, but his shrug didn't make me feel any better. "That's not helpful. You were supposed to say no."

He scoffed.

Still not helpful.

"I'm just trying to figure out how to explain this. I've never had to do the whole telling someone new thing." Daddy looked so frustrated about not knowing whatever he was supposed to be doing that I couldn't resist kissing his cheek.

"Yes, let's cuddle. I like sitting on your lap." And it would make him stop pouting. "Help me. I'm stuck."

Somehow I'd gotten wrapped up in the sheets, and since it was probably his fault, I made him fix it. The slow and slightly frustrating process eventually came to an end and I could move, so I climbed up on his lap and brought the sheet with me.

Neither of us needed to be distracted and my body seemed to think wrestling with the sheet had also been wrestling with Daddy.

"That's better." He looked down at my lap and snickered. "You think so too."

"You're going to distract us." Somehow, Daddy being nervous made me feel more confident. "It's okay. My beetles disappear. I know something is weird and I'm actually glad to be able to talk about it."

Even I'd started getting tired of saying they were just well-camouflaged.

"I can see that." Finally back to looking more relaxed, Daddy settled back against the head of the bed and did a very good job of pretending to be confident. "Okay, so the reason the bugs keep disappearing is that they're magic."

I'd thought he'd say that, but I really hadn't thought he'd say it.

"Okay, well, is it an evolutionary process?" How did we get insects that disappeared? Was calling it magic a colloquial term for some kind of evolutionary process? The local language was weird enough that nothing would've surprised me at that point.

"No." Daddy sighed and rolled his eyes.

I knew that look. "It was one of the men in the diner?"

Daddy should've laughed but he didn't.

He sighed again and nodded, giving me the same the locals are weird expression that I'd come to associate with all their strange questions. "More than likely. My best guess at the moment is that one of the local mages did something to one generation of beetles and then they spread. It was probably intended to be harmless, but dragons above, they're just kind of stupid."

After meeting the locals, I decided not to tell Daddy that was rude because he was right.

"Dragons?" Oh. "Someone at the bakery said I had the appetite of a dragon. I think he was being offensive, though? Is that…is it a slur?"

Had I been rude just quoting him?

Daddy laughed, shaking his head. "No, but a mage will use it that way sometimes. They're dramatic and judgmental."

I didn't know what to say to that description, so I just skipped over it. "What are…what are dragons?"

That was the strangest question ever.

Daddy's eyes sparkled again, though…oh, they actually sparkled. I had to push all the odd things that were falling into place to the back of my head as he grinned. "We're impulsive and playful and have a thing about making the mages insane."

"That…that would be interesting to see if it's based on exposure or genetics." Yes, some of their behavior could be species-based.

Oh, Daddy was another species.