Page 42 of The Accidental Dragon Baby

Ivo’s cheeks turned pink. “I saw you with your friends. When I ducked into the cubicle, I heard your voice right outside. I recognized it.”

So he’d known exactly whose cock he’d taken, and he’d moaned and begged for more. Ace’s insides grew hot. “You didn’t ask Uriel to help you with your heat?”

Ivo squirmed and looked uncomfortable. “I did.”

Jealousy stabbed through Ace. “Why did you go to the glory hole, then?”

“Just because I asked Uriel to help with my heat, doesn’t mean he did. He turned me down.”

“Who in their right mind would turn you down?” Ace asked, aghast.

He tried not to focus on how he’d been Ivo’s second choice.

Ivo dropped his gaze. “It’s not my secret to tell.”

“I didn’t know he had secrets.”

“Crap.” Ivo winced. “Pretend I didn’t say anything. Please?”

Ace filed that away to examine later, concentrating on the positives. “Okay. Was I your first, then? For this heat.”

Ivo squirmed. “Yes.”

Possessiveness filled Ace’s chest. Carefully, he reached over, touching his fingertips to Ivo’s shoulder.

When Ivo didn’t recoil, Ace pressed his entire hand to Ivo’s back. Ivo shivered and sighed.

He trusts me.

There were several other things they needed to talk about. Things likeIvo was pregnant with Ace’s baby.

But what came out of Ace’s mouth was, “Who gave you those scars?”

Ivo’s entire body twitched. He grimaced and scooped Mary into his arms, holding onto her for comfort. “It was the first time I was kidnapped.”

“‘First time’?” Ace asked, his stomach sinking.

Ivo nodded. “You saved me from the second kidnapping.”

“Fuck.” Ace wanted to rip several throats out.

“I was seventeen, and I was... naive. Sick and tired of everything going wrong in my life. There was this guy at a corner shop that I’d pass by every day on my way home from school. One day, he said he knew of a job opening that would let me put my skills to use.” Ivo’s shoulders hunched. “Turned out, all they wanted was my fur.”

Anger flashed through Ace, hotter than before. “They sliced the fur off your body?”

“They wanted to use it to make enchanted cloaks. Mink fur is water-repellent, but you can spell it to turn it into armor. At the same time, they were doing experiments to see if I could grow it back.” Ivo shuddered. “I guess they thought it would be easier to harvest fur if we could just regrow it.”

Ace’s stomach turned harder. He stared at Ivo’s scars, clenching his fists so hard, his nails were starting to draw blood. “Did they get caught?”

Ivo shook his head. “I got out when one of them slipped up and didn’t lock my cage properly. But I felt terrible about leaving, because they had so many other minks there. And other shifters, too. But I couldn’t find the keys.”

“Your parents?” Ace asked.

Ivo shook his head, sagging with relief. “My parents were already dead. They’d both fallen sick the year before. I never thought there could be a worse fate for them, until I’d gotten kidnapped and saw the other minks.”

“Fuck,” Ace whispered.

“When I got home, I tried to get my foster parents to help, but they wouldn’t. I tried to go to the police, but they wouldn’t listen to me, either. By the time I found someone brave enough to come along, the poachers had moved their base, and I couldn’t find them anymore.”

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