Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77127 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Pressing his lips together, he inhaled quietly and seemed to be doing his best not to look nervous as he took my hand. “Let’s go.”
Our audience found that to be adorable as well, but they let me lead him toward the door and no one else threatened to eat me, so I thought we were making progress on several fronts. We even almost made it out the door before they tried to kill Alick again.
“Who’s supposed to tell him what a little is?” The ancient-looking man who’d been sitting behind Alick didn’t seem to realize quite how loud he was. “He might not know how to internet that.”
Alick managed to hold in his groan until we actually left the building, but once we had the tiniest bit of privacy, his free hand came up and covered his face. “Mates are always compatible. Mates are always compatible. Mates are always compatible.”
Trying not to laugh, I nodded in case he was peeking and could actually see me. “Yes, they are. I’m glad you know that.”
Sighing again, he widened his fingers so I could see he was looking at me. “You know what a little is?”
“Yep.” And it seemed like he did as well. “And I know what a Daddy is too.”
Alick sighed in relief, but his head fell forward like he was exhausted. “Thank the dragons above.”
His dragon-like curse made me question just how human he really was. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you seem really dragon for a human.”
Laughing softly, he shrugged and stood straighter again. He clearly liked what I’d said but I wasn’t sure why. “I’ve lived here all my life and my friends have always been dragons. I understand the human world better than they do, but yeah, I guess I’m not quite your average human.”
When he peeked over at me as we approached the trailer, I realized he needed a clearer response about how I was feeling.
“Well, I appreciate that, so please don’t change.” Aiming for teasing, I sighed. “And I’d rather you understand the culture than think I’m crazy.”
Snickering, Alick shook his head. “Nope, the bar for crazy is set really high around here.”
“I noticed.” My genuinely dry response and the way I rolled my eyes got another laugh from him as I opened the trailer. “I’m not sure what was more interesting, your friend or our audience.”
“Both.” Grinning, Alick poked his head in the door and looked around curiously. “Kenzie is utterly unique, but so is the way everyone reacts to him.”
“Oh yeah.” Gesturing for him to go in, I waited until he was comfortable and smiled as he inched in slowly. “I’m not sure what I was expecting when I walked in the restaurant, but that wasn’t it.”
My goal had been to find the local magical community I could sense and see if they knew what was going on, but the magic pushing at me had definitely affected my common sense.
Alick knew that too.
Pressing his lips together so he wouldn’t smile, he aimed for an apologetic expression. “I’m sorry you had to keep following me around. I wasn’t avoiding you or trying to make it difficult.”
I winked before giving him a stern glare. “I’m not going to tell you how many times I imagined spanking you over the last few days.”
It took him a second to get his giggles and little side under control before he even attempted to look innocent. “I’m sorry, but I think that proves you know what a Daddy is.”
Laughing, I shook my head and followed him into the trailer. “I do.”
Blushing faintly, he seemed pleased with that as he stepped over to the table. “I’m glad.”
Me too.
“Door open or closed?” Pointing out how excited I was that he understood the lifestyle seemed a bit pushy, so I tried to get us back on neutral ground since I’d already said more than I should have.
Alick gave me a skeptical look but that seemed to be more about changing the subject than the door. “Closed. But was there a reason you stopped flirting?”
Hmm.
“Dragon answer or polite answer?” That got a chuckle out of him as he sat down.
“Dragon.” Looking slightly more confident, he settled back in the small bench and stared up at me. “I’ve gotten used to either very forthright answers or very weird ones.”
Laughing, I glanced toward the restaurant as I closed the door. “Or both.”
He was back to grinning again as he nodded. “Yep. But from you, I’d rather have a straight answer. I don’t need you to bounce around the subject if I ask a question.”
“Because you like it or you know how bad we are at it?” I couldn’t resist teasing him and got the cutest eye roll.
“Both.” Shaking his head, he looked at ease and like we’d known each other for a long time, not just a handful of minutes. “Dragons are amazingly bad at changing the subject and being subtle. Mages are better.”