Page 52 of Wishes and Research

That seemed to be his mantra not to panic, so I aimed flirty eyes at him and stretched out my wings again before flicking my tail in his direction. It got a giggle from him and his little side came back to the surface. “Oh, Daddy, you’re so pretty.”

I was but I was glad he realized it too.

Still, I wanted him comfortable with me in any form, so I lay down on the bed and stretched out, doing my best to stay perfectly still except for my tail. Humans associated wagging with safe animals, so I slowly swished it back and forth as I tried to radiate happiness.

Our bond was so faint it was almost invisible, but I pushed my emotions through it, hoping he could feel it. It might’ve been just wishful thinking, but he smiled wider and wiggled closer as I did my best to show him how happy I was. “You’re so pretty, Daddy. I’m…I’m going to touch you if that’s okay.”

Nodding seemed to be the right thing to do but his eyes went wide again. “My bugs don’t do that.”

Laughter shook through me and puffing sounds escaped before I could stop them. It had Paxton going still again before he frowned at me. “Don’t giggle. That’s not polite. You’re a dragon.”

That did not help my ability to keep my laughter in check.

I did my best but he huffed again and sat up to fold his arms across his chest. “I don’t know how I know it, but I know you’re still giggling.”

Ha.

Mate bond.

But I didn’t have a way to point that out, so I gave him wide eyes and wagged my tail again. I knew it’d worked when he sighed and his arms relaxed. “That’s cheating. You’re like the cutest, most deadly-looking puppy ever.”

I was a dragon, not a puppy, so I huffed and pouted.

It got a wonderful giggle from him and he reached out to pet my head before he’d even thought about it. “Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, you’re not a puppy. You’re a scary dragon. Look at you. You have sharp teeth and big claws. Clearly not an herbivore. Oh, and two forms. That means at some point you needed to be smaller to survive. Even magic has to have logic. I’m thinking dense forests for your original habitats?”

Once his hand had crossed the invisible barrier, his mind crossed it too, and he shifted back over to exploring his new bug. Even his chatter was similar to what he’d said to the actual insects he’d spent the morning chattering to.

“Yes, species evolve in logical ways except when mages get enthusiastic. I’ve been thinking about that and I’m guessing someone got overly excited like they do in the diner.” Shaking his head, he sighed as he shifted to study my wings. “Questions I need to look into. The environment they first evolved in. Is it magic or some kind of outside energy that’s being adapted for use? Did mages and dragons come from the same place?”

He seemed to have forgotten he was naked and didn’t have his camera on, so I was helpful and licked his chest.

Paxton went still before looking down at himself. “Shoot.”

Well, at least I hadn’t scared him.

“We’ll need to do this later once I have a notebook at the very least.” Still frowning, he looked up at me before his smile came back. “You’re a dragon, Daddy.”

With no panic in sight, I inched closer and pushed my way onto his lap. He immediately wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head like I was a large and slightly dangerous house cat. “Yes, you need cuddles. Human or dragon, you said you’re the same, so you need cuddles and attention.”

Ignoring that he thought I was an attention-whore, I snuggled closer and tucked my head under his arm. That got me another giggle and he wrapped us both up in his sheet. “There we go.”

Petting my head, he let out a deep breath and I could hear his heart finally start going back to its regular steady rhythm. “I bet you look beautiful in your big form too, but just imagining that is giving me more questions. How does the physics of flight work? How have you not ended up on the news? What other colors do dragons come in?”

Paxton didn’t seem to need my input to keep going, but I was enjoying his touch and his voice, so I was perfectly content. “Are mages so frustrating because they’re jealous they’re not pretty too? Is that why they seem to have a compulsion to fuck with nature? Oops. To mess with nature. Language.”

I kept my laughter to myself that time but he huffed. “I heard that. Or I did something. You have to stop giggling at me in this form because that’s cheating. Or rude. Or something.”

I was not going to promise that, so I just shifted around and licked his nipple.

Oops.

He flopped back on the bed in shock, his eyes going wide again. “Daddy. That’s. You’re not. You’re not human now. You can’t do that.”

I was pretty sure we’d found a new yellow at the very least, so I nodded and pushed an apology through the bond. Paxton was still dumbfounded and not thinking about anything else, but he shook his head. “No. It’s fine. Wait. Why do I know you apologized?”

And his brain was off again.

Suddenly, my poor attempt at teasing had been pushed to the back of his mind and figuring out how he knew what he knew was primary. “You apologized and I knew what you were feeling. How?”

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