Page 42 of Edge of Darkness

Straight up panicking, he panted, trying to regain control as that fucking scent filled his lungs. “Oh gods,whatis that?”

“Connie? What’s going on?”

That delicious scent wrapped around him, yanking him into the room. He padded across the carpet, heading straight toward Hudson, which seemed to be the source of that maddening scent.

His thoughts churned as his dragon roared in his head. Nothing mattered except for that damn scent. He wanted to roll around in it, cover himself completely with it until it saturated every cell in his body.

The power of it took him by the throat and sank its fangs into him. It whispered dark, needy things in his ear that Connie was totally on board for.

His cock sprang up, his balls high and tight to his body. Suddenly his clothes were too tight. He ripped his shirt off, leaving grooves in his skin as he did so, but he didn’t care. He needed… he needed….

Dragon gods! He breathed deeply. That scent. Connie prowled toward a surprised looking Hudson. Straddling his lap, Connie sank his claws into Hudson’s thick hair and yanked his head back. His lips crashed down on Hudson’s.

Connie dominated the kiss, demanding Hudson’s compliance. Growling harshly, he sucked on Hudson’s tongue. Pleasure and need stormed through Connie, robbing him of his ability to think.

Something was wrong.

The thought kept repeating in his head. Of the two of them, Hudson was the more dominant. What was wrong with him, and why the hell was Hudson putting up with this attack? And it was definitely an attack of sorts—he’d crawled into Hudson’s lap and practically mauled him.

Ending the kiss, he stared into Hudson’s eyes, eyes that were the color of Hudson’s dragon. “That scent. Gods above,whatis that scent on you?”

“Breathe, sweetheart. I need you to gain control. Don’t make me force the issue,” Hudson said quietly. “Concentrate.”

“But that scent,” Connie whined, then leaned closer and licked Hudson’s throat. “It makes me yearn. I wanna fuck you.”

“Get control, Connie. I need you to fight the siren’s call of that scent. Can you do that for me? Don’t let your dragon take over. I need you to be in control.”

Connie shuddered on Hudson’s lap. He chanted the word control in his mind, for all the good it did. “I can’t. It’s that scent. It’s making me wild.” Connie began slashing at Hudson’s shirt.

Hudson didn’t say a word, he simply stood with Connie in his arms. Connie was aware they were moving, but he didn’t care. He was too invested in sucking up marks on Hudson’s neck.

Connie wanted to strip Hudson down, mount him, and fuck him into next week. He’d fuck him, then feed him. Torch anything that came near them. He’d lock Hudson in his hoard so nobody could take what was his.

Some small part of his brain that wasn’t hopelessly lost in the scent coming from Hudson screamed that his thoughts and actions were really, really wrong, but Connie couldn’t figure out why.

Then another random thought popped into his head. Hudson was strictly a top. The few times they had tried with Hudson bottoming had been disastrous.

Then that thought was lost under another wave of pleasure.

A few seconds later,thatwave of pleasure was buried under a wave of actual water. Pool water. The iciness of it snapped Connie out of the spiral he’d been in. Stunned, he stared at Hudson, who was still holding him. Underwater. In Hudson’s pool.

Holy shit.

Now that his mind was clear, he remembered everything that had happened over the past several minutes. He’d lost his mind. Literally. Hudson caressed Connie’s face, and Connie nodded. He knew what Hudson was asking even without words being exchanged.

Yes, Connie was back in control.

They surfaced, and Connie immediately began to babble. “Oh gods, Hudson. I’m sorry. I’m so very sorry. I didn’t mean to…. I don’t know what came over me. I’ve never acted like that. Ever. It was like I completely lost—”

Hudson pressed a quick kiss to Connie’s lips while still treading water. “You did lose control, but I know why. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“Why? And no, I’m not okay. Please tell me. Is something wrong with me? Am I sick? Have I been cursed? What the hell is going on?” Connie nearly sobbed.

By Gaura’s scales, he’d lost control more here lately than he cared to think about.

Hudson flipped his wet hair out of his face. “Fuck, Connie. I was so scared, so damn worried. You don’t know how sick I was about this, then you reacted exactly the same way I reacted, and I had hope that—”

“What?” Why did Hudson look relieved? What was there to be relieved about, because Connie certainly wanted to know. “What iswrongwith me?”

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