Page 3

Pierce

There was no way he’d eaten a meal recently.

“No. I’m full, so why don’t you have this one.” Technically, I wasn’t hungry, so it wasn’t a lie. “Eventually, you and I are going to talk about the last time you ate non-cake-related food, though.”

His whole face scrunched up like he’d sucked on a lemon. “Later, Daddy.”

The goal was a lot later judging by his expression. “I think that’s a good plan.”

Giving me a beaming smile, probably because he’d decided he’d won, my new little mate gave a happy wiggle and shoved another bite of cake in his mouth. “They make good cake here, Daddy.”

“They do.” Between the diner, the bakery, and Kenzie the dragon, everyone seemed to do nothing but bake and ask questions. “They also ask nosy things…like what is my mate’s name and what does he do when he’s big.”

That got a giggle from him and he nodded. “And they’ll ask what my Daddy’s grown-up name is and lots of questions about the portal and where he’s from and if he likes to color.”

His list was more interesting than mine, but he probably wasn’t wrong based on the odd questions I’d been asked about ponies.

“I like to color with my little but I don’t color on my own.” It was only fun when someone else was excited about it. “I have lots of opinions on the portal and their mismanagement of it.”

Lots of opinions.

“My name is Pierce and I’m a lawyer from Texas.” There were countless other things he needed to know, but answering his questions was the most important.

“Oh, that’s fun.” Wiggling side to side, my happy mate gave me a beaming smile. “That’s a great secret identity.”

What?

“I’m Merritt when I’m big but you have to give me a little name so I get to be cute…like little bug or the naughty words Lorne’s mates use.” Merritt tried to look innocent but his eyes nearly sparkled. “I’m a good boy, so I don’t use naughty words.”

Managing not to scoff, I nodded. “I’m glad my mate is a good boy. I’m looking forward to getting to know him more too.”

And if guilt would work to keep him from getting corrupted by the locals.

“What does my mate do when he’s big?” I was thinking about his career but he could’ve told me anything and that would have been fine. “I can’t have the diner men knowing him better.”

My stern expression got a giggle from Merritt as he shoved the last bite of cake in his mouth. “Your mate likes cake, Daddy.”

And being funny.

Rolling my eyes got more laughter from him. “The diner men already know that, so I’m still behind.”

Which we were going to fix right now.

“Hmm…” Tapping one finger against his chin like he was an old school teacher in a movie, Merritt gave me his best cute and thoughtful expression. “The men know I’m a traveling nurse. I like talking about my big job. The men know I like mac and cheese. They know I like to color.”

We needed to find other places to eat if I was going to take him out on a date later.

“The men don’t know that I like scary movies and they don’t know that I don’t like bugs. Littles around here like bugs. I’m not from here, so I don’t have to like bugs. I’m nice, though.”

Which seemed to mean he hadn’t confessed he didn’t like bugs.

Got it.

“Oh.” Merritt straightened and perked up with a smile. “They don’t know I like Star Trek not Star Wars . Old ones. Not new ones.”

Since even I knew why he’d have strong opinions on that, I nodded. “That’s important to know. Thank you. Kirk or Picard?”

He giggled, looking adorably mischievous. “I’m going to be Captain Kirk when I grow up.”

A womanizer who made questionable decisions?

“I’m going to be exciting and brave and fight with people.”

So no womanizing?

“Who does that make me then?” There was no logical answer to the question, so I expected the giggle.

“A green dancing girl? A big strong alien? Captain Picard likes naughty aliens too but you’re not naughty like Q.” Merritt said it so reasonably that it took me a moment to realize he thought Captain Picard had a thing for Q.

One of those the lady doth protest too much kind of situations?

Enemies to lovers?

“I’m going to have to think about that.” And possibly rewatch some of those old episodes. Hmm. “How about we watch some of your favorite shows soon?”

“On a date?” Wiggling side to side, Merritt smiled wider. “Mates go on dates. Everyone knows that.”

It was such a logical statement that I realized he’d probably met people who hadn’t dated after they’d realized they were mates.

Had they just moved in together?

“Yes. I think dating is very important because I want to get to know you and not rush either of us. Just because I know you’re mine doesn’t mean I have to take you home tonight.” Hmm. “Even if I want to.”

Yes, admitting that had been the way to go based on his blush and the cute giggle that had escaped. “You want to?”

There was an innocence to the teasing question that made me respond carefully and without too much adult in the answer. “You’re my mate, silly goose. And I’m a dragon, so I want to keep you. But I’m going to be patient.”

His snicker said he liked the answer but the way he started wiggling faster would’ve been a clue too. “Dragons like keeping their mates. I’m a mage. I’m not a goose.”

He could probably turn himself into a silly goose, but since I had no desire to be chased around while he squawked because he thought it’d be funny, I agreed with him. “You’re definitely a silly mage. You think the naughty men are funny and you like Kenzie and the sparkly one that’s always causing trouble. Lorne. Yes.”

Names usually weren’t hard for me but I’d never met anyone with their names before, so it was making it more difficult.

“Noooo…” Stretching out the word, he gave me an adorably wide-eyed frown. “I’m a good boy, Daddy. I just have to be nice. So I’m nice to the naughty people too.”

Bullshit.

“Is that it?” Nodding along with his nonsense, I let out a deep breath. “I’m glad. You look very sweet and nice.”

His snickers were not helping his image, but he was trying, so that counted.

“You look like a big strong dragon, Daddy.” His attempt at buttering me up was appreciated too, though. “And you share and you used good manners.”

Well, he’d helped me use good manners at the very least.

I hadn’t missed the way he’d been helpful every time he thought I was going to say something rude. He was very good at keeping his Daddy from offending everyone in town all at once. “You were a good helper. Thank you for that.”

I needed to get more information about what was going on before I pissed everyone off.

“I’m a good helper.” Sitting straighter, he did a little happy dance. “Mates should be good helpers.”

So it was a mate’s job to keep their mate from being a political disaster? Sounded reasonable to me. “Yes, but they can do that in different ways. I’m good with helping with cake and helping to color and taking care of my little mage.”

His shoulders shook as he snickered and forgot he was supposed to look sweet. “I’m a good helper with silly people.”

Oh yes.

“You were very good with the silly people and you were very helpful when you made a bubble for us.” That’d been amazing and incredibly easy for my fascinating little mate. He’d done it without getting out of his little headspace and it was so subtle everyone had just shifted around us without thinking about what he’d done.

Even two mages who’d walked by had shifted around the bubble without reacting to it at all. At the very least, I had an accomplished mate in several different categories without even taking into consideration how well he was managing me.

“Daddy needed a bubble.” Shrugging, he didn’t seem to realize how incredibly easy the magic was for him. “So I gave Daddy a bubble.”

“You did and I appreciate it.” It’d been exactly what I’d needed in the moment. “I think I’m used to spending more of my day alone and no one does that here.”

At work I made calls and appeared in court, but I had a lot of alone time sprinkled in my day. Hell, even when I went to the ranch to help out there was more quiet time than talking. The locals here didn’t seem to need that and were always around.

They’d even tracked me down at my hotel room to see if I needed anything and to show me around town. That was nice, but after the third round of people to come visit, it’d been exhausting.

“Hmm.” Scrunching his face up, Merritt made a thoughtful sound. “They like peopling, Daddy.”

“I would have to agree.” They liked it a lot. “They’re probably getting enough quiet time when they go home at night and don’t really think about it?”

I couldn’t find a better explanation but Merritt nodded and seemed to agree with me. “People don’t think.”

That was for damned sure.

“They don’t think about talking or making blue banana cake or doing a good job with the portal.” Merritt shook his head like they’d been very naughty.

“We’ll help them fix the portal problem, though.” I wasn’t sure there was anything we could do about the blue cake or their chattiness. “I’m thinking of suggesting that someone gets hired full time to watch over the area and the portal. Maybe two people? A mage and a dragon?”

I wasn’t sure if he was in the right headspace to have the conversation, but he didn’t give me any verbal or nonverbal pushback. He even kept wiggling excitedly as he nodded. “Oh, I like that. We need watchers. The people here get bored watching. There’s bugs. Only Paxton likes bugs. And sometimes it rains. And outside is hot and cold.”

No one had checked on the portal because the outside had bugs and it didn’t have AC or central heating?

Somehow, that did not surprise me.

“So we need to find people who like the outside and don’t mind bugs.” It should not be hard to find dragons who liked being outside, but maybe mages were pickier? “What else?”

Merritt seemed to like the conversation and plopped his elbows down on the table to rest his head in his hands in a very thinky manner. “They have to take notes?”

“That’s a good idea. We need people who will notice changes and be detail oriented.” Most mages I’d met were highly detail oriented, but maybe the locals were the more creative types? “I’m sure there were hints that there was a problem.”

Merritt nodded like that was a very smart comment. “The bugs.”

“The bugs?” People had mentioned the bugs and Merritt was making it sound like the problem involved actual insects. “Oh, what about the bugs?”

His giggle didn’t make me feel any better.

“The bug man.” Snickering, he waved one hand toward the building. “The bug man and his dragon mate.”

The human?

Paxton was the bug man…yes, I could follow connections even if they were haphazardly connected.

“Let me see if I understand this correctly.” Because the pieces I’d been given didn’t add up to anything logical. “The reason the locals keep talking about bugs is that there is a bug man…some kind of scientist from what I think they meant…and he found something wrong with the bugs? Something related to the portal?”

These idiots had to stop getting distracted and actually have the council meetings. I didn’t care who we were supposedly still waiting for—it was time to get all the information laid out. Merritt shouldn’t know what was going on just because he’d spent more time at the diner being fed copious amounts of cake.

“Yes.” Merritt was happy to fill the gaps in my knowledge as he wiggled. “The bug man found new bugs. They’re magic. They poof when you scare them.”

He mimed lifting a rock or log and finding something startling. It felt a bit like we were on Sesame Street , but I got the picture. “Oh, a bug. Oh, poof. Oh, bug all gone.”

Good grief.

“The bugs are doing something to magically hide from people?” Groaning, I scrubbed my hand over my face as Merritt giggled. “I think people have started to tell me this story several times but they always get distracted by weird details about the bug man’s marriage or about how littles like bugs.”

It’d been one of the bugs are sneaky and hide from everyone comments that’d made me wonder if we’d been talking about spy equipment, but I wasn’t going to feel bad about that.

Merritt continued to giggle and didn’t seem to feel bad about my drama. “I’m a good helper, Daddy.”

“Yes, you are.” And there were probably a dozen other things he could clear up too. “You’ve done a very good job of gathering information and making sure I understand what’s going on.”

Maybe it was Merritt’s background in health care that helped him relate to insane people?

Giving me more excited wiggles, Merritt nodded. “I’m smart and nosy.”

I wasn’t sure if I should laugh but as I tried to cough to cover up the one that escaped, Merritt giggled. “Funny Daddy.”

Sure, we’d go with that.

“Silly boy.” He liked my glare and that got more giggles. “You’re going to be my good helper when it’s time to meet with the other crazy men, aren’t you?”

It took him a few moments before he could stop his happy laughter, but eventually he nodded and sat up straight like a little soldier. “Yes. I’m Daddy’s helper and I can talk to the silly men.”

Silly. Yes. Not crazy.

“Silly men. I’ll remember.” Maybe, but Merritt’s barely contained laughter said I wasn’t terribly believable about that. “I would really appreciate help with the silly men.”

And the nosy ones, because a few had started circling around the table and one was getting suspiciously close.

It seemed like we’d lost our privacy to another nosy…dragon?