Page 64 of Spooks & Specters

Hudson stepped into his hoard, a frown on his face. The wedding band question had been preying on his mind for several days now, and he was still no closer to an answer than he was before.

From the research Connie had done, wedding bands seemed to be a human thing. Kit hadn’t said anything about them, but they were having a human wedding. Why wouldn’t he want that? Hudson didn’t have a problem with wearing the ring, although it would have to be spelled so it didn’t shatter when he transformed. Same for Connie.

He wanted to surprise Kit—and Connie, although he was pretty sure Connie knew what he had planned. Connie was the one who’d done the research, after all, but that was his thing. He liked research. It was one of the reasons he was an excellent Right Hand.

“So, if I was a human mated to a dragon, what kind of wedding band would I want?” Hudson mused as he walked among the treasures in his hoard.

He honestly had no idea what Kit would want, and trying to put himself into Kit’s shoes was not helping.

His mate owned a lot of costume jewelry, but Hudson had never noticed any similarities in what Kit owned. In other words, there wasn’t a certain color or shape Kit tended to gravitate toward.

Well, that wasn’t entirely true. Here lately Kit had become obsessed with pearls, but that was most likely due to the pearl body chain Hudson had gifted him. From what he’d heard, pearls seemed to figure prominently in their wedding too.

Hudson stopped at a chest full of gems, thinking. The pearls on top of the mound of stones glistened in the light. “Hmmm. The stone for the wedding bands could be pearls.”

After a moment of consideration, Hudson pulled his cell phone out and googled what pearls represented. “They can symbolize many things, including love, purity, wisdom, and luck. The meaning of pearls is also varied depending on the occasion, the recipient’s taste, and the color of the pearl.”

Hudson slipped his phone back into his pocket. He liked the idea of using pearls, but he also knew they were delicate. Pretty, but delicate. They were “soft” gems. He didn’t like the idea that whatever gem they went with could possibly erode over time.

There was nothing soft about him, Connie… or Kit, for that matter.

His very human mate had withstood a very traumatic introduction to the paranormal world. There wasnothingsoft about Kit, so Hudson discarded the idea of using pearls. That gem didn’t fit them.

From across the way, another stone caught his eye, and he wandered over to that chest. The fire opal was a beautiful gem also. They symbolized the joys of the heart.

Kit and Connie definitely brought joy to Hudson’s heart. The gem was rumored to attract money—which was always a plus in Hudson’s opinion. But it was also somewhat delicate, same as pearls.

Hudson let it fall back into the chest. From the corner of his eye, a red flash caught his attention, and he turned. The large ruby Kit had commented on the last time he was in there was still sitting where he had placed it.

Bending, Hudson examined it. Rubies had always been his favorite stone. He was drawn to red, of course, but he was especially drawn to the sharp and brilliant red color of rubies.

Pulling his phone out again, he googled the meaning of rubies. “Okay, they can symbolize love and commitment—rubies are a popular choice for wedding rings because of that.”

Hudson glanced at the stone. So far so good.

“And passion—the ruby’s intense red color can evoke emotions of passion, energy, and life.”

He liked those traits too.

“What else? Oh. A ruby’s lush color can signify wealth and success.”

That was another point for using a ruby.

“And finally, protection—rubies have been used in protective amulets.”

His dragon liked that selling point the most.

“And would you look at that. Rubies are as resilient as sapphires and only slightly softer than diamonds, meaning they are among the toughest and most enduring gemstones known to mankind. That’s perfect, then. Rubies it is.”

He could use the ruby Kit had found, but he didn’t want to break it up. Instead, he rummaged around in another chest until he found a pile of rubies and colorless diamonds. All of them were of the highest grade and small, which would be perfect for wedding bands.

The stones sparkled in the light, and Hudson grinned. Oh yes, he liked this idea the most. Maybe there would be enough left over for him to make a matching bracelet for Kit too. Now for the design. He turned his attention to his phone and wedding bands, and by Gaura, why were there so many? Just picture after picture after picture afterpicture.

This… this was turning out to be harder than he’d imagined. There were just so many choices. Damn. Maybe he should talk to Kit. What if his mate didn’t want small stones? What if Kit wanted a big rock that stuck up on his finger? He’dseen Kit wear both. And he wanted his mate to be happy with whatever he wore.

Hudson tugged on the braid next to his face, irritated. He desperately wanted this to be a surprise, but he really needed Kit’s input. For that matter, Connie deserved to have a say on this also. He sighed, discouraged.

He really didn’t care what the bands looked like, one way or the other. There was already a soul bond between the three of them, so the outside trappings of a human marriage weren’t that important to him.

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