Page 27 of Edge of Darkness

Connie blew out a breath. “Should I alert Torres?”

Hudson thought about it for a second, then shook his head. “No. We don’t have anything to give Torres, and this doesn’t feel like a security threat.”

After all, what would he tell his head of security? That he’d had a weird dream about some guy standing in a field while he and Connie circled the mysterious man in dragon form?

Oh, and that he and Connie had apparently shared the same dream? He wasn’t sure if Torres would laugh his ass off or insist he be checked out by a doctor. Possibly both. But all kidding aside, there simply wasn’t anything concrete to tell Torres.

Hudson looked at Connie. “Unless it does to you? Feel like a security threat, I mean.”

Connie bit his lip but then shook his head. “No. This feels personal. Really, really strange, but personal.”

“I agree. So, for now, we keep this between us. If anything should change, we’ll alert Torres and the rest of the court. Agree?”

“Agreed,” Connie said.

“Okay, good. I’m going to take a quick shower and then we’ll go for breakfast.”

“I’ll get dressed while you do that,” Connie said, standing up.

Hudson pressed a kiss to Connie’s cheek as he passed him on the way to the bath. Connie still had his own place, but he spent the majority of his time at Hudson’s, so more than half his clothes were there.

For all intents and purposes, Connie was basically living with Hudson.

What was between them was still new enough that Hudson wasn’t comfortable with pushing Connie to officially move in, and Connie hadn’t brought it up either. They were content with what they had, so Hudson was more than willing to leave it alone.

For now.

But Connie having another place to call home irked Hudson’s more primitive side. His instincts demanded that Connie be there, close by, so he could easily find him if needed.

Why no, the urge to squirrel Connie away in a cave and breathe fire at anyone who approached them wasn’t like a splinter underneath the skin. Of course not.

Okay, it totally was, but that was a dragon thing. And seeing how Connie was another dragon, he’d probably blow the mountain up if Hudson tried something like that. Didn’t change the possessive instinct, though.

Yeah, dragons absolutely could be assholes. And seeing how he was one of the oldest dragons around, and royalty to boot, he could be a bigger asshole than most. Good thing he wasn’t young and impetuous anymore.

Hudson showered, dressed, then walked with Connie to breakfast. When they arrived, several of his dragons were already there and eating.

Since his home functioned much like a packhouse, he made sure there was room for his dragons to gather. He and Connie went through the buffet line and joined Torres, Parker, and Beckett at a table.

“Morning, everyone,” Hudson said as he sat down, Connie next to him. He was greeted with a chorus of good mornings.

“Beckett? You have anything new to report on Kit?” Hudson asked as he sampled his scrambled eggs.

“There hasn’t been any trouble at the bookstore nor at Kit’s home,” Beckett answered. “I did notice when I walked in yesterday morning a ward had been placed around the building by a magic user though.”

“Huh.” Hudson put down his fork and pulled his cell phone out. No one had told him about added security on Kit. “I wonder if Kage had anything to do with that. He does have a magic user in his clan.”

“Are you texting him?” Connie asked, buttering his toast.

“Yes. I know it’s night over there, but he should still be awake.” Hudson put his phone back in his pocket once he was done. Just because Kage might be awake didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t… busy. He was sure Kage would get back to him eventually. “So? What are your impressions of this human, Beckett?”

Beckett swallowed the mouthful of food he had before answering. “He’s nice. You can tell he cares for his employees—and that feeling is returned.”

“If his employees like him, that’s a point in his favor,” Torres said.

“Agreed,” Parker said after finishing his bite of waffles.

“That bookstore is most definitely his baby, so it’s safe to say he works at a job he loves,” Beckett continued. “And you can tell that too. Everyone who walks in there seems to be drawn to him. He’s got that kind of personality.”

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