Page 27 of Spooks & Specters

“Thirty-minute break is all I’m asking.” Kit looked around. “Didn’t you say this place was secluded?”

“Yes. Why?” Hudson asked.

“How do dragons feel about curling up in the sun and taking a nap?”

“YES! We love it, don’t we, Hudson? Red dragons, in particular, like the heat. By Gaura, I can’t remember the lasttime I did that. What do you say, old man? How about a short nap in the sun?”

Hudson didn’t want to admit it, but he liked the idea. A lot. So did his dragon. “But what are you going to do, Kit?”

“Lean up against one of you and take a nap. What else?”

“There we go!” Connie exclaimed. “There’s your answer, Hudson. Can we change now?”

“Well? Get on with it. Let the dragons out to play.”

How could Hudson say no to that? Chuckling, he let Connie pull him a safe distance away.

Chapter Three

THE CHANGE swept over Hudson, power rushing through his body. He loved that feeling. Stretching his neck, he listened to it pop. As he’d once described it to Kage, the change was like a really good stretch after a hard sleep. Tucking all of this into that tiny human form definitely had its drawbacks.

His territory and the compound were already spelled for privacy. Last thing any of them needed was to end up on YouTube, although most humans wrote stuff like that off as a hoax. It had happened to other courts, but not his.

And he absolutely bragged about it when given the chance. Of course he did—he was a dragon.

Since Kit was standing a good distance away from them, he and Connie tussled for a few moments. They pounced on each other and rolled around, shaking the ground. He tossed Connie off of him—gently of course—then whacked him with his tail. Never one to miss an opportunity, Connie trapped Hudson’s tail in his mouth and gnawed on it—again, gently of course.

Amused, Hudson looked over his shoulder at Connie, his head tilted in ajust what do you think you’re doinglook.

Connie pranced in place, Hudson’s tail still in his mouth.

“Oh my gosh, are you doing tippy taps?” Kit spluttered. “You are, aren’t you! And I was just sitting here thinking you two remind me of a bunch of cats playing around, then you go and do that. Because that? That’s straight up a dog move.”

Both dragons turned to glare at Kit.

“So, you can do the creepy head movement even in your natural form, huh?” Kit crossed his arms and stared back at his mates.

Hudson sniffed arrogantly. They were neither cats nor dogs. Both of those animals were not nearly magnificent enough to even be in the same classification as a dragon, although felineshifters would argue that point. They were wrong, of course. Just ask a dragon. They’d tell you so.

At least Kit’s comment got Connie to drop his tail, so there was that.

Connie huffed, tossed his head, then presented Kit with his back. Kit snorted. Since Connie was facing Hudson, he slowly winked. Kit had once said that Connie gave off golden retriever energy, and he was right.

But only they got to see it. To everyone else, Connie was the Right Hand of the San DeLain Fire Court—a dangerous dragon, indeed.

“Okay, naptime. Assume the position.”

Bossy human. Still, he and Connie did as they were told and assumed the position—which was basically what cat owners called a loaf, dammit. Since he was bigger and taller than Connie, he rested his head on Connie’s back.

Kit curled up next to one of Connie’s forelegs, and Hudson let the end of his tail rest against Kit. This way all three of them were touching.

The warm California sun beat down on them, and Hudson sighed, content, and closed his eyes. He’d had a nice snack, his mates were with him, and he was warm from the sun. What more could a dragon ask for?

AN INDETERMINATE time later, something roused him from his nap, and he twitched.

What in the world? Why did it feel as if…. Wait. Something… something was tickling him on one of his back legs. Was something climbing on him? A bug, maybe? But… no. That wasn’t right. Couldn’t be a bug. He was in his natural form. He couldn’t think of any bug that would be big enough to tickle him in this size.

There was a rolling purr that came from the vicinity of his hip, and his eyes flew open. Oh no. It couldn’t be.

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