Page 18 of The Accidental Dragon Baby

That piqued Ivo’s curiosity. He got to his feet carefully, one arm wrapped around Mary. Then he made his way to the wicker basket and tugged it a little way back, to give himself some distance from Ace.

The basket waspackedwith things.

In there were two bottles of water, a large ham and cheese sandwich, several cookies, a T-shirt and pants, and a small but soft blanket. “How did you manage to fit all this in there?”

“Magic.” Ace laughed. “Do you like your gifts?”

Ivo was too busy stuffing the sandwich into his mouth. Three bites in, he set down the sandwich and began sampling the cookies. “So good,” he moaned.

Ace’s smile grew. “Let me know if you have any food preferences. I’ll cook for you myself.”

Ivo’s eyebrows shot up. “Don’t you have a cook?”

“No, I don’t. Raptor cooks most days, and I go next door to steal his food. But we learned to cook together. He’s the one running a restaurant now.”

“So you’re saying thatyourcooking might be restaurant-quality.”

Ace grinned. “Why don’t you be the judge?”

Ivo squirmed and lowered his gaze, feeling self-conscious. “You want me to?”

“Yes.” Ace watched him intently. Except there was something else in his expression, something like hesitation.

“What’s wrong?” Ivo asked.

Ace worked his jaw, a shadow flickering through his eyes. “I need to be elsewhere for a bit. I’ll be back soon.”

Without another word, he stood and walked away, leaving Ivo staring after him.

6

STRANGE BODILY CHANGES

Ace was gonefor a long while. Ivo completed the hooded shelter for Mary and let her play under it, continuing to weave the grass into his own nest.

When he’d used up all the grass Ace had cut, he tried swinging the scythe himself.

Ivo almost cut off his toes.

“It’s safer for me not to try,” he said to Mary. Instead, he pushed the scythe back to the shed, careful to keep the blade as far from himself as he could.

When he returned to his nest, he scooped Mary up and brought her across the creek. She tumbled between the tall grass; Ivo gently wove in the ends of Ace’s twigs so they’d stop popping out of his nest.

He was halfway through fixing what Ace had done, when the man showed up on the other side of his nest.

“Eek!” Ivo scrambled backward and tumbled into the creek, cool water splashing up his shirt and arms.

“Damn it!” Ace leaped forward. With strong, gentle hands, he lifted Ivo out of the creek. Then he sat Ivo upright and examined his hands. “Did you get hurt?”

Ivo stared at his palms. They were pink from where he’d smacked them against the creek bed, but there was no blood. “I think I’m fine.”

“You’re wet.” Ace frowned harder. He pulled off his own shirt with a rustle, scrunching it up to dry Ivo’s face. “I’m sorry for scaring you so badly.”

With every press of that warm shirt against his skin, Ivo caught another whiff of Ace’s smoky scent. There were mere inches between them. And Ace was painfully shirtless, a trail of hair leading down his abdomen, slipping into his pants.

Ivo was suddenly reminded of last night, with Ace on the other side of the thin wall, his fingers dipping into Ivo’s body.

What would it be like if Ace pinned him down right here, all rippling muscle, his mouth hot on Ivo’s skin?

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