Page 13

Pierce

I wasn’t going to lie…I was curious. But I was also very cognizant of the fact that he kept sliding between silly little and just little, so I wasn’t going to push about the sleep tax or the naughty gleam in his eyes.

Whatever it was, I approved, but it was something I was going to take one step at a time. “Alright, silly boy, jammie time.”

We’d eaten dinner and played toys and had even watched cartoons on his laptop with him curled up in my lap, but he was starting to droop and we had a big day ahead of us, moving from story time to real planning.

The littles were right—it’d been one big story time and we needed to shift things toward the reasonable.

At the moment, though, I had to deal with a little mate who’d decided dramatic was more fun than moving. He flopped back on the bed, closing his eyes. “No. I stuck.”

If we’d been in an area with more space, I’d have picked him up but that just wasn’t possible in the camper. He knew it too. Barely holding back a grin as I huffed, he gave a little wiggle. “Stuck.”

“You’re stuck, huh?” Pretending to tug on him, I sighed. “I guess you are. We’ll have to do showers in the morning. It’s sad that we won’t be able to have fun then. We’ll have to hurry tomorrow instead of being able to go to the bakery.”

Oh, something about that got his attention and he peeked one eye open at me. “Fun? Muffins?”

Fun and food…got it.

“Yes, I thought that would be a good plan but we can’t do it. That’s okay. I like snuggling with you even if you’re stuck.” Stretching out beside him on the bed, I rested my head on his chest. “This is nice.”

It wasn’t a bad option…I was being truthful when I said I liked cuddling him.

Merritt must’ve heard that in my voice because he changed tactics and sighed. “Daddy likes planning.”

He wasn’t wrong and had me trying to hold back laugher as I fought for a good response. “You know your mate very well.”

His next sigh was adorably dramatic and wonderfully manipulative. “I do. I’m smart. Daddy needs to plan.”

His oh well tone made it clear what his next move was going to be. “Showers and fun, Daddy. You’re special too.”

But he was the most special?

Feeling that I was reading that right, I sat up enough to kiss his cheek. “Thank you.”

“Welcome.” He returned the gesture and patted my back. “Up. Not stuck.”

Not big either but after his teasing on the bed tax earlier, I was confident it didn’t matter. He’d shrugged and said to go with the flow when we’d talked about playtime during little time, but I was starting to understand what he’d meant.

Sometimes his little side just wanted toys and attention and sometimes it was much more mischievous.

We were at mischievous.

“I’m so glad we saved you.” Through sheer manipulation and bribery. “Are you sure you’re okay? I don’t want you hurt. It’s fine if we need to stay here instead.”

He didn’t appreciate being questioned but adapted quickly and wiped the scowl off his face to kiss my cheek. “Daddy kisses made it all better.”

There was questionable logic in his newest tactic, but I approved of the new method. “Oh, I’m so wonderful.”

“Yes.” Loving that it’d worked, Merritt sat up and gave me a hug. “Special Daddy.”

Sucker Daddy seemed to be what that translated into.

“Thank you.” Kissing his head, I wiggled down to the end of the bed and squeezed through the small space between the toilet closet and the actual closet. “What pajamas should we bring? I haven’t camped like this before, so I don’t know what to bring.”

I was not going to claim to be an expert at campground planning, even if part of my soul died admitting something this simple was new to me. “We always did outside camping.”

Merritt made a curious, thinking sound as he flopped onto all fours to climb down. “Dragon camping?”

“That’s an interesting idea, but no, tent camping in this form.” For some reason that made Merritt’s face scrunch up. “You don’t like camping?”

He looked at me with a mix of horror and like he thought I was stupid as he patted the walls. “Camping, Daddy.”

No roughing it.

Got it.

“I like this kind of camping and I don’t have to do the outside kind.” I was getting too old to sleep on the ground anyway, dragon or not. “But I don’t know what it would be like to sleep outside like that as a dragon. We never thought about that.”

Possibly because my mother wasn’t into roughing it that much, and she’d probably worried that as kids we’d actually like it.

“I like going, Daddy.” Making vroom-vroom sounds, he wiggled around me, grabbing clothes and a small basket I realized contained all his toiletries. “Do you like going?”

“Like car trips or traveling in general?” When he shrugged and started digging under the sink, I realized he was just curious in general. “Yes. I haven’t had much time to do it lately, though.”

Popping out with a new toothbrush and a second pair of flip-flops and looking very proud of himself, Merritt bounced to his feet. “Work?”

Not wanting to give the wrong impression, I nodded but explained as I picked up my clothes. “Yes, but I’ve been deliberately working too much because I wanted everything ready when I found you.”

That got a giggle from him. “Planner.”

“Yes.” Somehow that was hilarious but it got me another peck, so I wasn’t going to complain. “I was planning for you.”

Making a happy hum, he wiggled and grinned. “Special.”

“Yes.” I was starting to think his confidence in being special was my doing.

Badass Daddy and mate…even when I wasn’t trying.

“You are very special.” Giving him a forehead kiss that time, I looked down at our piles. “Um, towels?”

He snickered but mimed shaking off like a dog. “Dry.”

“No.” My dry response got another giggle but it did produce towels from the toilet closet. “Thank you.”

I’d learn his system eventually, but it seemed like he was having fun taking care of me for the time being. “All set?”

“Yes.” He waved the big pile in front of me and smiled. “All set for fun.”

The little wiggle he did to shift his hips around reinforced my confidence that we were on the same page with fun as long as we had enough privacy for that.

Fingers crossed.

“Me too.” I wasn’t the wiggle to shift my erection type but I let him see how sexy I thought he was and how much I was looking forward to having fun with him.

It earned me a giggle and he shook his head. “Naughty Daddy.”

“Me?” Looking confused, I shrugged. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He didn’t believe me at all and barely held more laughter back as we made our way through the dark campground to what turned out to be a very nice set of bathrooms, in well-tended buildings that sounded very quiet.

“I don’t hear anyone.” It was a simple sentence, but he had to clamp his lips tight to keep from giggling and his eyes lit up with mischief.

Someone had a secret.

“Maybe they’re quiet?” His words sounded more grown-up but it was totally fake, like a kid exaggerating when he was playing pretend. “We’ll have to see.”

“I think that’s a good plan. I like plans.” Oh, that pushed him right into giggles again and his shoulders shook as he barely held the sound in. “Plans are fun.”

He thought that was hilarious, and I was glad there didn’t seem to be anyone around. I loved how funny he was but I didn’t want him embarrassed. With dragon hearing, though, I knew there was no one in the immediate vicinity.

“Ah.” As Merritt led us around what I’d thought was the back of the building, I saw three doors with signs that said they were individual units. “Privacy.”

And the snickers escaped as he bounced up to the door and waited for me to open it, no longer pretending to be big. “Private fun.”

His giggles and excited wiggles had me smiling, which seemed to just egg him on even more. “Fun. Fun. Fun.”

Someone was very excited for fun.

“Let’s see this space.” Yep, he was right. It was perfect for the activities he seemed to be picturing. “You had a good idea.”

That got me naughty snickers that time but Merritt bounced in the large single shower room before plopping his stuff down on a wooden bench. “I’m smart. Daddy said so.”

“Therefore, it must be right.” My dryly delivered reply got another giggle from him as I looked around at the large room with a single semi-open shower on one side and a toilet and sink on the other. “Daddy is always right.”

He wasn’t going to admit that but he did kiss my cheek as I locked the door. “I’ll turn on the water, Daddy. I’m careful.”

Careful not to get sprayed was what he seemed to mean because the way he was bouncing all over did not scream safe to me. “Thank you for that, but why don’t we walk carefully.”

Merritt paused mid-bounce and started a slow, exaggerated walk like he was in an old cartoon. “Slow and steady wins the race.”

“Maybe, but bruised and broken doesn’t get to have fun.” That got a little giggle from him but he didn’t argue about it and walked slightly more normally. “Good job.”

He even managed to reach over the tall half-wall to turn on the spray without getting himself drenched. It was likely for privacy if a family was using the room but it didn’t give as much privacy as someone had probably thought it would.

For us, though, it didn’t matter.

The best part was the large open design where we could both fit under the water and enough privacy that I didn’t have to worry about anyone walking in on us…fun time or not.

“I’m liking this kind of camping more than I thought I would.” That made Merritt laugh as he did his careful walk back over to me. “You ready to get all clean?”

“Ready for water, Daddy.” Raising his arms in a clear demand for me to do the work, Merritt skipped right over the idea of getting clean. “Water and fun and gonna wash Daddy.”

Well, we’d at least gotten back to someone getting clean.

“That’s a wonderful start.” We’d see what happened, though. “Do you need to go potty?”

Again, it was something we’d touched on but his nonchalant approach hadn’t given me a lot to work with. He said he was fine with me helping or exploring that kind of play, but he hadn’t given signs of having a strong response.

It’d been more him wondering what I wanted as his mate and his Daddy.

Which at the time had confused me, but as I got to know his little side more, I was starting to understand. Little Merritt had firmer views on toys and food than he did on nakedness and naughty. He was silly about it if it came up, but for the most part, he bounced from one type of fun to another.

And getting a shower together was just another type of fun.

“Yes.” As his head popped out of the shirt he’d put on that morning so we could rush to the bakery before the meeting, he smiled. “Do you?”

“Yes.” I was just as nonchalant about it as he was, which said I needed to stop questioning fate when it came to our mating. “Do you have car shirts or anything like that?”

“No.” His face scrunched up. “Yes. One.”

Then he shrugged like he had no idea where it was or maybe just trying to indicate it wasn’t that important.

“Would you like us to find some for you once we have more space for your toys and stuff?” I had no idea what we’d be doing once we got the portal nonsense handled, but a top priority was making sure we had everything he needed.

“Yes.” Standing straighter, he did a happy wiggle as I reached for his pants. “I have one. But everyone shows up.”

His family needed to learn boundaries and I completely understood why he hadn’t fought the urge to come find me. “Well, no matter where we end up, we’re going to have privacy and a lock on our door. You’ll be able to run around naked with just a binkie if you want to and no one but us will know.”

Merritt looked like I’d told him Christmas was tomorrow and I had a truck full of presents for him. “Privacy and naked and toys.”

Clearly, those were the most important things in life.

“Yes, and that means we can play however you want and whenever it fits in our schedule without worrying about anyone else.” My family knew better than to just show up after a surprising incident with great-grammy. “And if necessary, we’ll build a wall around it with a gate and everything.”

Back to snickering, Merritt nodded as I crouched down to help him out of his pants. “I want a fort. Oh, a castle. Yes. We need a castle, Daddy.”

Interesting.

“Then we will need more privacy for that and a bit of magic to help with the budget.” And to live in an area where I could bribe the local building inspector not to ask too many questions. “You, my little mage, are incredible at fixing things and finding spells, but what do you know about building?”

Resting his hands on my shoulders, Merritt looked down at me and shrugged. “I can build your leg if you break it. That’s not hard.”

But building a house was?

“Then how about we look for someone to help us learn the right spells to change what we want about our future house.” I didn’t mind a castle but we needed some directions first. “I’ve helped build a log cabin once and a few basic barn-type structures.”

It couldn’t be too much harder, right?

“Just nothing with air conditioning and indoor plumbing, so that’s where we’ll need some help.” If Merritt wouldn’t tent camp, there was no way he was living in a house without a toilet.

Yep.

Scrunching his face up, Merritt didn’t even seem to notice when I stripped off his briefs. “No camping. My castle needs lights and potties and a microwave and a big freezer for nuggets and fries and pizza and ice cream and—”

He could’ve gone on forever, so I didn’t feel bad about cutting him off. “Yes, I think a big freezer is a good idea. But hold on tight and lift up your feet.”

Quickly stripping off the last of his clothes and moving everything neatly up to the bench, I stood and kissed his cheek. “What else should our castle have?”

He seemed thoroughly entertained with that topic, so I encouraged it as I helped him slip his shower shoes on and led him over to the toilet. “I need a playroom and Daddy needs an office and I need a big kitchen and big windows and pretty stuff outside the window.”

It was an interesting list but most of it seemed easy to handle. “An office would be very helpful and I think a playroom is a good idea.”

Merritt just stood at the toilet, so I moved closer and aimed him in the right direction. “And a big garage. You seem like a car Daddy. I want a big lawn mower and a dungeon with a cross thingy.”

Huh?

His brain was a fascinating place.

Giving his cock a shake when he was done, I kissed his head and flushed the toilet. “I think those are all very practical or important things for a house.”

A cross thingy, huh?

“Do you want a dungeon, Daddy?” Merritt seemed curious but not stressed as I led him over to the sink and washed our hands even though I’d done the touching work.

“I think that could be fun, but I never really thought about having one. I was always thinking about the regular big bedroom stuff and a playroom or nursery for my little.” Kissing his head got a smile. “You.”

So if my little wanted a sex dungeon, then that was what we’d build.

“And a big shower, Daddy. We can play don’t drop the soap .”

For goodness’ sake.

What had he been watching online?

“Lorne told the diner men it’s fun.” Merritt turned in my arms and grinned. “He’s naughty.”

Damned right.