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have to pay the bills.” Hugh unbuttoned said trousers and pulled them off. “Well, pay the bills

out of the accounts, naturally. I’d never expect you to buy my clothing out of pocket.” Hugh had

turned pink, but Finch suspected it had little to do with modesty. “Although I daresay that if you

did, I’d wear anything you picked out for me. You have marvelous taste, Finch.”

“Thank you.” Finch’s mouth was entirely dry. He’d gotten used to Hugh’s handsome face, and

while he found it no less nice to look at, it no longer dazzled him into utter bumbling stupidity.

The same could not be said for Hugh’s body, which was now entirely on display save for the

tiny, thin, and very expensive bit of cloth covering his loins. To make matters worse, Hugh had

inordinately beautiful legs. Finch wasn’t sure exactly how legs could even be beautiful,

especially covered, as Hugh’s were, in fine dark hair. Yet it was inescapable: Hugh was

beautiful from the silky hair on his head down to his rather elegant feet. No wonder humans

used to slay dragons—they were far too impossibly good looking.

“You are, as always, very welcome.” Hugh took off the underwear and tossed them on top of

his pile of clothes. He stood there, utterly nude and utterly unashamed, and why not? There

was nothing at all for him to be ashamed of when it came to his body. Finch, on the other hand,

flamed with hot embarrassment.

“Do you… ah… always nap in the nude, sir?” Finch desperately hoped Hugh wouldn’t require

it of him. He was certain he wouldn’t be able to control himself.

“Nearly always, yes,” Hugh said, then transformed.

Despite his thirteen years under Hugh’s employ, Finch had never once seen Hugh turn into a

dragon. He’d known it was possible, of course, but there’d never been a time in which the

change had been necessary. He’d assumed that it was a quick thing, rather like ripping off a

coat, but whether Hugh slowed the process for Finch’s benefit or whether it was simply the

way nature intended, the shift from man to beast took longer than Finch expected.

First, scales tumbled over Hugh’s shoulders and up his neck. They spread over his body

gradually, one slotting into place beneath the other like shingles on a roof. While they did,

Hugh’s body started to change. Black claws pushed their way out of nail beds, and the bones

in his handsome face began to reshape themselves, elongating his mandibles and doing away

with his human features. At the same time that his wings appeared, his pupils narrowed into

slits. From there, Hugh’s body continued to reshape itself as he expanded, losing more and

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