Page 18 of Walking in Darkness

“Do you have any idea how much of a pain in the ass that’ll be as far as providing protection goes?” Connie demanded of Hudson, ignoring what Kit said. “And not just your protection, but his too. We know Lennox is targeting him. Kit may be our mate, but he is unclaimed.”

“Connie,” Hudson warned.

“Wait. Wait. Hold on just a second. What do you mean by that?” Kit demanded.

“Just what I said. You are unclaimed. That means you could have a claim forced on you!”

“Dammit, Connie!”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Kit whispered.

“Notus, Kit. You should know we wouldn’t do such a disgusting act. But Lennox? He absolutely would. Is planning to,in fact. Dragons are damn hard to kill, but do you want to know what could destroy them?” Connie snarled.

Hudson jumped to his feet, grabbing Connie by his arm and pulling him up too. “That’s enough.”

Connie fought not to yank his arm away from Hudson. It was not enough. This was dangerous. Connie’s vision sharpened, a sure sign his eyes had changed.

He glared at Hudson, unsurprised to see that his king’s eyes were also those of his dragon. Hudson was pissed at him. The need to lower his gaze and apologize hammered inside his head, but he refused to give in to that need. He was in the right, dammit.

“Connie.”

Connie shivered, his eyes involuntarily closing at the low, menacing growl that Hudson’s voice had turned into. Shit. Hudson was really,reallypissed. Connie was about to get disciplined if that look on Hudson’s face was anything to go by.

And the thing was, he totally deserved it, even if he was right. He didn’t want to fight with Hudson. That was a battle he would not win since Hudson was stronger than him. He also didn’t want to fight with his lover. Unable to help himself, he tilted his head, bearing his throat to Hudson.

“Okay, shit, stop. Please. This is getting us nowhere,” Kit said breathlessly.

Hudson grumbled, but the sound wasn’t quite as terrifying as before.

“Jeez, Hudson, you sound rabid. I’ve never heard you sound like that.” Kit rested a hand on each of their arms.

“He’s pissed at me,” Connie said quietly, opening his eyes. “I’m sorry, my King.”

“Look, I got snappish about going home, and I’m sorry. I knew Connie wouldn’t try to stop me from leaving, so that’s mybad. But Connieistrying to tell me something, and I think I need to know what it is. Everybody just take a breath.”

Connie felt the tension drain from Hudson’s body. He let go of Connie’s arm, but clasped his hand and kissed his fingers. “Did I hurt you?”

“Of course not,” Connie said. Hudson’s grip on his arm had been tight, but he hadn’t bruised him.

But the truth of the matter was, Hudson was an Ancient, and extremely powerful, both mentallyandphysically. He could’ve forced Connie into submission with brute strength or the power of his mind, a neat little trick that royals could do to their followers. He’d done neither.

Kit blew out a breath. “Well, that was fun. Not. Jeez.”

Connie wrapped one of his arms around Kit’s waist and pulled him closer. Since Hudson was holding his hand still, Connie pulled him into the hug as well. “I apologized to Hudson, but I owe you one too, Kit. I’m sorry.”

Kit patted Connie on the back. “It’s all good. I’m sure this won’t be the last argument the three of us have.”

Hudson pressed a kiss to Kit’s temple. “We didn’t mean to scare you.”

Kit sighed. “And I didn’t mean to be a bitch.”

“Why don’t we sit down and try this again,” Hudson said. “This time calmly.”

Once more, they parked Kit between the two of them. Hudson had his arm on the back of the couch around Kit, and Connie had his hand resting on Kit’s knee. He needed to be touching Kit right now.

“As inelegant as Connie’s words from earlier were, he had a point. You are an unbound mate. Certain species, like werewolves, bite their mate during a mating.”

“Usually where the neck and shoulder meet,” Connie said, running a finger down Kit’s neck and tapping the spot. “Thatway, it can be seen. The mark proclaims that the person is mated. It’s something they’re proud to show off.”

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