Page 33 of The Accidental Dragon Baby

Ivo buried his face in his hands. Those books were something of a guilty pleasure, for him to escape into when good alphas seemed to be so rare.

“Which is your favorite?”

“I don’t want to say it,” Ivo mumbled into his hands.

“The Billionaire’s Big Knot? Alpha’s Meat Sausage?” Ace’s eyes were dark, his face lit up with interest.

“No!”

“The Lumberjack’s Knotted Wood? Mountain Alpha’s Wicked Plan?”

“Oh, gods,” Ivo whispered.

“Tell me, then, and I’ll stop asking.”

“Stuffed by the Billionaire,” Ivo mumbled, blushing to his hairline.

“Mmm.” Ace grinned and tapped on his phone, before tucking it back into his pants. “I’ll look into this later.”

Ivo made a strangled sound. “Can we go back to talking about nests?”

“Of course.”

Ace was picking up the scythe when Mary pulled away from Ivo’s chest. When Ivo sat her up, she gave a big, smoky belch.

Ace drew a slow breath. “I’ve never seen her in her dragon form before.”

“I don’t know if she can shift at will,” Ivo admitted. “Into her dragon form, anyway. There was never anyone she could try it with.”

With her mink shape, he knew, except he’d do anything to avoid that right now.

Ace shrugged out of his clothes. With a golden shimmer, he turned into a huge onyx dragon, his scales glittering, his leathery wings snapping open.

Mary stared at him for a long moment. Then she shifted into a tiny purple dragon, with three teeth on her otherwise bare gums.

Ivo melted. He set her down outside the nest, watching as she stumbled forward, her tiny wings flapping.

“Awww!” Ace cooed. He lay down in front of Mary, going still as she flopped onto his snout and patted him with her paws.

Ivo sneaked a photo on his phone just because he could.

It struck him suddenly that she didn’t have a dragon parent, someone who could teach her about her dragon side. How to breathe fire, how to fly. Before he could worry too much about that, he looked up.

Mary puffed tiny ribbons of fire, her wings smacking into Ace’s face. Ace didn’t grow angry, though. Instead, he lifted her up and set her on top of his snout, opening his mouth so he lifted her into the air.

Mary gave a little roar, flapping her wings excitedly.

Ivo bit his lip. Mary was bonding so easily with Ace that it would really suck, if Ace decided to kick them out.

Ace wouldn’t steal her, would he?

As though he’d heard that thought, Ace looked over. “What are you thinking about?”

“Would you steal her from me?” Ivo blurted, then cursed himself. He shouldn’t be accusing his host of kidnapping!

But the dragon only laughed. “Why steal her, when I can steal you both?”

That took a moment to sink in. “B-both?”

---