Page 55 of Training my Human

“Going to look for cigarette butts and coffee cups?” I joked.

“You forgot tire tracks.” He winked. “Think of me poking around as showing the Little Fella we’re not mocking his fear. We’d probably be nervous, too, if we were mythical creatures.”

Put that way, I guess I should be more understanding.

When I arrived at the barn on my bike, Maddox’s truck was already parked. I entered the loft and immediately spotted Abaddon sitting on the shag carpet, dragging a piece of string for Princess, who raced after it.

He glanced at me. “You’re late.”

“Sorry. My last client wanted a little something extra added to his tattoo.” Wait, why did I apologize?

“You are forgiven this time, only because my protector showed up earlier than usual.” With that, my dragon turned back to the cat.

I turned towards the kitchen where Maddox, with a welcoming smile, stood with a dish towel over his shoulder. “Hey, babe. Supper’s in the oven. Should be ready in half an hour. Made that dish you like with the chicken, rice, and garlic.”

Fuck, I loved that man.

I froze as the thought hit me.

“Everything okay?” Maddox asked with a creased brow.

No. I’d never had the L word pop into my head before. It terrified.

“I’m fine. Just a long day. Let me get changed and I’ll be right out.” While I took the time to remind myself it was too soon for love, I swapped my leather pants and t-shirt for a tracksuit. Sometimes a girl just wanted comfy cozy for lounging in and even better, Mads didn’t care what I wore.

I emerged to find him on the floor, wrestling with the dragon.

“I’ve got you now, you giant lug,” Abaddon squealed, wrapped around his neck, legs locked around the ankles.

“Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that.” Mads tickled the underside of Little Fella’s foot. You’d think a creature that went barefoot all the time would scoff.

My big and ferocious dragon giggled and squealed, “No. No more. Argh,” before slipping around into Maddox’s arms to be cradled.

So cute.

“Pip’s back. Should we tickle her?” Maddox asked in a loud whisper.

“Only if he wants me to get him healthy snacks and no more chips and cookies,” I warned, wagging a finger.

“My servant lacks a sense of playfulness,” Abaddon confided.

Not true. I just didn’t know how to amuse a dragon. Or anyone of a young age. I’d grown up an only child who’d only begun socializing in kindergarten—and poorly, at that. Granny raised me like a mini adult so I had little in common with other kids.

“Pip’s got a lot of things on her plate.” Maddox came to my defense.

“If her plate is too full, I will eat it.”

Mads opened his mouth to explain and I shook my head. “Thanks, Little Fella. Appreciate it.”

“As if I’d let food go to waste,” he scoffed as he hopped from Maddox’s arms. “I’m going to the washroom to make room for the meal.”

Because we all needed to know he was taking a shit.

“Good thing he’s cute,” I muttered. “Did he show you his wound?”

Maddox nodded. “Yeah, and it’s not a full scale like I thought it might be, but rather a neatly excised section.”

“Excised, as in cut?”

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