Page 69 of Walking in Darkness

Their senses were not as keen, and their strength was pitiful compared to that of a paranormal. They were beneath her, and she treated them as such. There were no humans in her court.

“Yes, she’s unhappy that he’s human, not that it matters one way or the other to me,” Hudson said.

As far as Connie knew, her dragons also did not date humans. Unfortunately, those who remained in Queen Abigail’s court felt as she did. The ones who disagreed petitioned other courts and left.

Queen Abigail knew he and Hudson had a sexual relationship. That simply wasn’t something you could hide from a dragon, and he and Hudson had no desire to. He was acceptable to her because he was a red dragon and Hudson’s right hand.

There was no way she’d accept Kit.

Connie changed and tossed his clothes into the hamper. Hudson’s joined his once he’d changed too. Connie followed Hudson into the bathroom and grabbed a couple of towels while Hudson braided his hair. As usual, he had that one braid by his face.

“But it’s not only that. She’s also unhappy about him being a male.”

Connie blinked in surprise. “I’m sorry, what? Hudson, your mother is perfectly aware you prefer males over females.”

When Connie first joined Hudson’s court, Hudsonhadbeen dating a female dragon, but it hadn’t lasted long. She transferred to another court when it became obvious that she was also not going to be his queen.

Before he and Hudson started their relationship, he’d seen Hudson date, and nine times out of ten, it was always a male. Then it hit him what the problem was.

“This is about the line of succession, isn’t it?”

“Sort of, but not really. She knows perfectly well another royal could challenge me for my position. No, this is more about her wanting granddragons, and that certainly isn’t happening with you or Kit.”

Connie was a lot of things, but capable of bearing an egg? That he could not do. “She does know there are ways to get around that, right?”

“Sure. I don’t know why she is so determined for me to claim a female, and I frankly don’t care.” Hudson finished braiding his hair and tied it off. “And if she upsets Kit, she won’t be welcomed back here.”

Connie struggled to hide his reaction. That would not go well with Hudson’s mother. Not at all.

“Enough about her. I’ll deal with my mother if or when the time comes. Today has been stressful for Kit, and we need to concentrate on him.”

Connie followed Hudson out of the bathroom. There was little doubt in his mind that they’d indeed be dealing with Queen Abigail sooner than later.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – KIT

KIT WENT back to his room and changed. Since it was just them, he damn sure wasn’t wearing a normal bathing suit. Oh no. It was white and not lined.

Once he got wet, it’d be sheer, and his mates would get an eyeful.

He was looking forward to using the hot tub, but he also had an ulterior motive. One was that he intended to get some head tonight—he didn’t think he was up to full-on sex—and the other was that he wanted Hudson to have a chance to talk to Connie.

Kit didn’t know exactly what was going on with Hudson’s mother, but whatever she’d said had not gone over well with Hudson. Maybe Kit was being self-centered, but the only thing he could think of that might have the woman up in arms was him.

From what he could tell, Hudson and Connie had an established relationship. The only new thing, or twist, was him. So what was her problem with him?

He wasn’t stupid, of course. Connie hadn’t come right out and said anything, but Kit was more than capable of reading between the lines. Hudson’s mother was a traditionalist.

Now, how her traditional values applied to him? Kit wasn’t sure, unless she had a problem with him being human. That made the most sense.

Kit blew out a breath. That could be a problem. Kit couldn’t be changed into what they were—a dragon. So, he hadn’t even gotten off the starting line yet, and he was already screwed. Did he doubt Hudson would defend him?

Absolutely not.

They’d just started on this journey together, but there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that Hudson would stand up for him. So would Connie. Neither of them struck him as the type who’d take kindly to somebody ridiculing their mate. Actually, he was kinda worried about how Hudson would respond.

Yeah, this had the potential of becoming messy.

He piled his hair on top of his head and secured it. Last thing he wanted to do was get it wet when he was already tired. No way was he in the mood to deal with all that hair.

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