Chapter 19

Paxton

"That went. That was." Stopping the ridiculous flood of half sentences, I took a breath. "That went well, right?"

Daddy was trying not to laugh, but he smiled like I was cute. "Yes, it went very well. Alick liked talking to you because he kept smiling at you and chatting. Grady didn't think you were annoying because he didn't frown at you like he usually does everyone."

I was probably on Team Grady when it came to the locals.

"They were very nice. They asked a few inappropriate questions but stopped before it got uncomfortable, and they didn't get weird about the mate thing." Or the me knowing about dragons thing.

That'd been kind of funny, though.

"Did you see their faces when you told them I knew?" People usually looked at me like that when I said something confusing about my job, not because I knew about dragons.

Daddy laughed and nodded. "I think they were expecting a bigger freak-out."

"I don't know why." People were so strange. "You're biological creatures who process energy differently. You're not ghosts."

I had questions, but I was going to be patient about them and hopefully not make Daddy feel like he was one of my beetles.

Snickering, Daddy shook his head as we finally pulled back up in front of his house. "Come walk with me."

That seemed to mean he had questions too, but Daddy looked like he was going to be very Daddy and quiz me, not inspect me.

I'd have rather had inspections.

"Alright." I didn't worry about sighing because Daddy did it all the time.

He pinched his lips together and pretended to look frustrated, but he was having too hard a time not smiling. "So excited to walk with your mate."

Now it was my turn to try to look frustrated at him. "That was not an I want to be romantic with my mate request to walk. That was an I have questions and you're going to start answering them request."

Honestly, I was surprised we'd gotten this far with him being patient.

Daddy had chattered about his family and his job and just everything in general. I even knew that his brother who had moved to Raleigh had pissed off everyone else for moving so far away, and I knew his mother was highly upset that she'd agreed to go on a trip right before Fraser had met me.

Daddy had already started preparing me for the chaos that would descend when she got back from their vacation. The best part was that she was blaming his father and had decided it was somehow his fault. Daddy wasn't worried, though, since it seemed to be just how they operated.

It wasn't a surprise given the rest of the town.

"You're so smart." Daddy leaned over and kissed my cheek. "I'm glad you understand. Let's go wander a bit. Some of the trails intersect by the back of my place, so we don't have to worry about rushing."

Great.

"Thank you, Daddy." My sigh had his eyes twinkling and I decided I could ask about that since it was question and answer time. "Do your eyes do that on their own?"

"Do what?" His head cocked. "I don't understand."

Oh.

Well, that was unexpected.

"Um, they sparkle? I don't have a better word for it, but now that I'm not trying to pretend it's normal, I can say that it's not normal for a human." Being able to point out the weird things and ask questions was really much nicer.

"Hmm." Daddy's brows pulled together. "Let me think about that, but I've never had a random human ask me why my eyes sparkle."

Interesting.

He climbed out of the Jeep and was still looking thoughtful as he came around and helped me out. I got another kiss, but he was still thinking more about my question than he was anything else. "I'm going to have to ask around. I'm not sure I've heard anything about that."

"Okay." I wasn't sure there was anything else to say about it, so I just took his hand and let him lead me around the side of the house. "Do you use these trails a lot?"

Blinking, Fraser looked around like he was just seeing where we were. "Not as much as I should. I think I get caught up in work and those kinds of responsibilities and I forget how relaxing it is."

He tugged on my hand to bring me closer before kissing my head. "How about we make time to walk out here a few evenings a week?"

Oh, date time.

"That sounds like a good plan." The overgrown garden around the house needed a bit of attention, but the path through it took us back to a trail that looked like the one we'd taken the other day. "I'd like to get to know the area more so I don't get turned around so easily."

For some reason that made him laugh. "You aren't to blame for that, cutie. Someone fucked up a spell and made the roads and some of the paths in the area fucking nuts. They fixed the roads but no one thought to check on the trails."

That explained a lot.

My sigh made him try to control his snickers, but it wasn't easy. "I'm sorry. We have some of the main trails spelled to keep tourists safe and no one realized what had happened."

Rolling my eyes, I did my best to give him a stern glare. "You need more checks and balances in your magic systems."

That seemed obvious but Fraser's head cocked. "I'm not sure anyone has ever suggested that. Probably because it's one of those don't offend the mages types of things?"

"You guys need to worry about hurt feelings less and more about reviews and being outed." Again, that seemed obvious but he frowned and looked sheepish.

"Yeah, I guess it's habit?" He seemed to understand that was a bad thing, but he clearly hadn't realized it before. "We probably put up with a ridiculous number of things because we're just used to it."

As he thought about what I'd said, he gave me another peck on the head. "Okay, more logic and less acceptance of stupid is going to be the goal."

"Just don't tell anyone it was my idea." No. We weren't going to do that. "I want them to like me."

Especially his family…and the crazy old men who seemed to rule society…and the people who owned the bakery.

Everyone.

I wanted everyone to like me.

Well, everyone except the lady who ran the dollar store. She was cranky and followed everyone around like she thought they were going to steal. I didn't care if she liked me or not. I did not look like the type of person who was going to steal cheap pens.

"Is that why this hasn't been as difficult on you as I thought it would be?" Fraser was looking very Daddy as he glanced over at me. He was attempting a casual expression, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it. "I was a little worried you'd be overwhelmed by all the changes at the very least."

Hmm.

"Okay, well, I think I got over a lot of my initial panic when the first beetle disappeared when I was trying to catch it. Insects just don't do that." No matter how many times I'd said camouflage or the internet had said weird, they just didn't do that. "I was kind of dumbfounded at that point and I think that would've been the initial reaction you would've been expecting."

Chuckling, he nodded as he turned us toward the left at a fork in the trail. "You've got a point there."

"And I'd been in town for several days before you approached me in the diner. I'd already seen a lot of strange things. There was even a man walking along poking at the street posts making sure they were real? I'm pretty sure at this point he was checking to see if they were a mage or something, but at the time, I thought he was…in need of psychiatric help."

I still thought he needed help, but knowing there were mages had some of it making more sense.

"I heard rumors that some mage was transforming things into random stuff like that to get good gossip?" Fraser shrugged. "Even for around here it didn't make any sense."

Nothing ever did.

"So it was actually kind of nice knowing everyone wasn't a lunatic." They were still weird but we were at a mostly safe level. "You're cute. That helped too."

Laughing, Fraser released my hand long enough to swat my bottom. "Naughty boy."

Oh.

Nope. I wasn't going to react to that.

"You were flirting." He still was. "It wasn't my fault the sexy man said he wanted to do naughty things to me before he said he was a dragon."

"So not enough blood to the brain helped temper your reaction?" Daddy looked very pleased with that idea. "I can understand that."

I managed not to scoff but it was difficult.

"Yes, it's very understandable." It was also arousing because he was nearly steaming as he looked at me.

Daddy liked knowing he was so sexy I couldn't worry.

I wasn't sure if it was a silly Daddy thing or a dragon thing, but I had a feeling it was a mix of both. The magical mates thing was probably part of it. I had a feeling that was going a long way toward making everything seem more reasonable.

"I can also be honest and say that it was nice finding a guy who was really into me and didn't think I was someone he needed to fix before he could show me off." The way Daddy squeezed my hand as we kept walking made it easier to share what I knew he needed to hear.

"The science community and the academics wanted to make me less casual and they cringe anytime I say words like bug to describe something that is obviously not a bug." Rolling my eyes made me feel much better. "No one cares what the scientific name of the spider they're going to squish is."

Daddy coughed, doing his best to cover up a laugh. "No, outside of their very small community, I can promise you no one cares about that."

"I know." People were ridiculous. "But when I tried to date more regular guys who did things like owning their own business or being a personal trainer, they wanted to fix me to make me better to take out in public."

I was fit for public.

I was just awkward.

The growl that radiated from Daddy's chest had me looking up and seeing a bright flash coming from his eyes as their structure transformed for just a moment.

"Oh, that's fascinating." Stepping closer brought us to a halt, but I didn't really notice that as I brought my face to his. "Your eyes changed."

It was an emotional reaction based on his anger, but had it been instinctive? Could he do it again?

"I'm assuming it's a partial shift." I should've been paying attention to the person I was talking to and not seeing him as a specimen, but I wasn't, so I squeaked when he gave me a quick peck on the lips.

Daddy caught me before I fell backward, but my heart was pounding as he fought back giggles. "There's no need to be scared of me."

He was ridiculous.

So I glared at him as I found my footing again. "I had questions."

He was still giggling. "I know."

I was supposed to be the little but sometimes he had the sense of humor of a toddler. We were in one of those situations because he couldn't stop snickering. "You should've seen yourself. Your eyes went wide and you jumped back."

He was being rude and I was going to tell him that but the brat distracted me first.

Picking me up in his arms, he let out another low growl as I wrapped my arms and legs around him. "But you weren't scared of your mate. You were curious and were going to climb all over me to figure out what I could do, but running from me never occurred to you."

"Oh. I." Shoot. I couldn't think when his hands were kneading my ass. "Daddy, you're."

Ugh.

Curling into him, I hid my face against his neck as I groaned. "You're so distracting."

That had him squeezing one cheek and it sent tingles through me as I tried to rock my dick against his stomach. "Such a naughty boy. Calling his Daddy names and trying to get humpies in the woods. I think I have a naughty little exhibitionist."

Me?

I was going to tell him how wrong he was once he stopped making it so hard to talk.

"I thought I was going out with my sweet mate who loves manners and looks so polite, but it seems I have a naughty boy who's doing his best to tempt his Daddy." His gruff words had me shaking my head but I couldn't figure out how to tell him no.

I was his good boy.

Wasn't I?

"No…I…" Shoot. "I'm a good boy, Daddy."

Yes, that was important to make sure he knew.

"Hmm, I don't know. You're still trying to get your tinglies." Daddy's pat to my bottom made me realize I was squirming too much.

Oops.

"I'm…I'm wiggly, Daddy." Yes, I had too much energy to work off. "That's…that's it."

Daddy made another thinking sound, which sent another shiver through me because I was nervous…yes…just nervous. "So you aren't imagining Daddy pulling down your pants and leaning you up against a tree? You weren't thinking about how good Daddy's hands or mouth would feel?"

"I…"

He.

Really?

"Outside?" I realized it was a stupid question after the word popped out but I couldn't catch it in time. "Daddy…"

"Oh, you're pretending to sound shocked. It's so cute, baby." Daddy kissed the side of my head as he made a quiet aw sound like I'd been adorable. "But you don't have to pretend with Daddy. I know how naughty you are. It's okay because even if someone comes by, I have enough magic to make sure they don't see my naked cutie. You'll just have to be quiet, but you can do that."

He had a lot of confidence in something I wasn't so sure I could accomplish.

He also had a lot of confidence in his ability to talk me out of my pants.

I just wished he wasn't so right.

He was very dangerous when he was being cute, but I'd have been able to figure out what to do if I'd had more time. Yes, I was smart and I could've done it. Unfortunately, time was one thing I didn't have because Daddy went still right before I heard something that caught my attention.

People.