Page 83 of Edge of Darkness

Kit let his mind drift as he listened to everyone ask Axel questions about Nox. There he sat, surrounded by daemons, dragons, and a werewolf. How was this his life now? It was nuts.

He didn’t know anybody in the group well at all, but he could sense there was a tight bond between these men. But the main thing was that he trusted Austin, and Austin trusted everyone there.

That was enough for Kit.

“Okay, thank you, Axel,” Hudson finally said. “I appreciate you doing this. I know it wasn’t easy for you.”

“No, it wasn’t, but we need every advantage we can get to deal with the Astor brothers. If I should think of anything else, I’ll call you Hudson.”

“Thank you,” Hudson said. “And congratulations again. You seem happy.”

“I am,” Axel said, smiling as he glanced at Terry. “For the first time in a long time, I’m truly happy. I’m at peace now.”

Yep, definitely a story there, Kit thought. Everybody said goodbye, then Kage opened a portal for the two couples to leave by. Kit honestly didn’t know if he was ever going to get used to this.

The few times he’d traveled by the shadows had been absolutely terrifying. It wasn’t something he wanted to do again and didn’t know how Austin handled it.

Now that it was just the three of them again, Kit wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself. But one thing he did know? He was exhausted.

“You look tired,” Hudson said, resting his hand on Kit’s knee.

“I am, even though I haven’t really done anything.” Now that Kit had acknowledged he was tired, the urge to yawn was nearly overwhelming.

“Stress can wear you out,” Connie said, fiddling with a strand of Kit’s hair.

As long as Connie didn’t pull it, Kit was good. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it. He did. That was the problem—it was one of Kit’s buttons, and he did not need it pushed right then.

He liked having his hair pulled during sex, so sue him. Hell, he liked all aspects of sex and normally had a high drive. Thanks to his ex-boyfriend, it had gone MIA for a while, but it seemed to be making a reappearance.

“I—” The yawn that escaped Kit surprised all three of them and Kit giggled. “Wow. Sorry, that came out of nowhere.”

“Why don’t you go to bed?” Hudson asked. “We can discuss what we learned over dinner tomorrow night. How does that sound?”

“Besides, you have to get up earlier now than you’re used to,” Connie added.

“Dinner sounds nice, but isn’t your kitchen staff going to get upset with us if we do it two nights in a row?” Kit asked. “That’s two meals they have to cook.”

“We’ll eat whatever they’re having, we’ll just have it here instead of the communal area,” Connie said. “Hudson and I sometimes do that. So? Will you have dinner with us tomorrow night?”

Kit really didn’t have to think about it. He wanted to spend time with them because he had questions he wanted answered, which included what exactly they wanted with him. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like to do that.”

“Excellent!” Hudson patted Kit on the knee, then stood.

Since Connie was also getting to his feet, Kit took the hint and got up.

“We’ll meet about seven for dinner. Is that okay with you?” Hudson asked.

“That sounds fine.”

“Good. Good. Sweet dreams.” Hudson leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Kit’s cheek. “See you then.”

Kit blinked in shock. Wait. Wait a damn minute. Hudson just kissed him on the cheek. Holy Mother, Hudsonkissedhim.

“Come on, I’ll walk you back to your room,” Connie said, taking Kit by the hand.

Kit blindly followed Connie out of the living area, still looking over his shoulder at Hudson. The shock hadn’t faded when they stopped in front of his door.

“Good night,” Connie said, also pressing a quick kiss to Kit’s cheek. “We’ll see you at breakfast.”

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