Page 70 of Magic and Mayhem

I wasn’t sure if all dragons slept like the dead or just Kenzie, but I knew I’d never worry about accidentally waking him up at night no matter what time I had to leave for work.

The smell of coffee greeted me as I came down the stairs and only the fact that Kenzie was holding the steaming mug kept him from bouncing like an excited rabbit.

Or a very excited dragon.

“Are you ready, Daddy?” Naked as the day he was born, Kenzie carefully handed over the mug before he started rocking back and forth. “I’m ready because I don’t need to put on clothes just to take them off.”

“Very good point.” Giving him a quick kiss to make him giggle again, I nodded toward the back of the house. “And thank you for my coffee.”

“You’re welcome, Daddy.” Bouncing, he gave me a beaming smile. “I like taking care of you.”

“You take very good care of me.” Following him through the house, I did my best to look relaxed and confident. “Now take a deep breath before you start floating away too.”

That had him laughing as we headed out the back door. “I’m not a mage with a cold, Daddy. I fly. I don’t float.”

That was good to know.

“But how do you fly without being seen?” As odd as the town was, I hadn’t actually seen any dragons over the mountains, so I knew there was some kind of trick to it.

My naked cutie hopped off the back porch, too excited for stairs. “The mages have a spell that keeps us invisible when we don’t want to be seen. It’s like a battery we have to recharge once a year and mine is on my birthday so I don’t forget.”

That was good to know and something I would have to put in my calendar too.

Kenzie the dragon didn’t need to make international news just because he lost track of what day it was.

“Good. That’s one less thing for me to worry about.” I’d find a new one to take its place, so the list wouldn’t go down at all but he didn’t need to know that.

“That’s wonderful.” Kenzie finally stopped bouncing and took a deep breath, closing his eyes and looking perfectly at ease. It seemed like he hadn’t been exaggerating his comfort with being naked outside and I couldn’t help but imagine him just as comfortable with his friends around.

Yep, I was going to have to keep that in mind too.

Dragons equaled naked.

When he opened his eyes and smiled, his sparkle was back. Just knowing it was his dragon side coming to the surface had me marveling.

A fucking dragon.

“How about you sit on the steps, Daddy?” Frowning thoughtfully, Kenzie scrunched up his face. “And maybe set the coffee down? Just for a second?”

That probably wasn’t a bad idea but it made me chuckle. “Yes, no burns we don’t want to have to explain.”

I’d never live it down in town either.

“No burns. No worries.” Nodding to himself, Kenzie took another deep breath. “I’m going to shift into my small form first so you can see what it looks like. Then when you’re ready, I’ll show you how big I get.”

Small then big.

Got it.

“Is that going to be hard on you?” What had I read about shifting and magical creatures that might actually be sound knowledge? “Is this something we should stretch out over a few sessions so you don’t wear yourself out?”

How much of this was magic and how much was physics I’d have no way of understanding?

Would he make himself sick doing it too much?

I felt better when Kenzie started shaking his head, but I didn’t like how little I knew about the process.

The whole fucking thing needed to come with an instruction manual.

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