CHAPTER FOURTEEN: KIT

"ARE YOU for real? But why?"

Kit hadn't been expecting that response, nor had he been expecting how firmly Hudson had stated it. He was pretty sure if he even touched the door handle, Hudson would drag him into the back seat.

But from the look on Connie's face, he'd not only expected it, but also agreed.

"You're protected in here. Out there? You're not. We don't know what caused this, babe, so we're not getting out." Hudson unbuckled and leaned forward. He ran his knuckles down Kit's cheek. "You're a little swollen already."

Kit turned his face into Hudson's touch. "Airbag hit me pretty hard, but I'm okay. Nothing's broken."

"We need to get some ice for you as soon as possible," Connie said, stroking Kit"s shoulder.

"I'm not the only one who was in this vehicle. Are you two seriously okay?" Kit asked.

Connie shrugged. "Yeah. Might be a little sore tomorrow."

"A little soreness is all we'll experience," Hudson said. "But you? You're going to feel like you were beaten."

"Oh, goody." Forget tomorrow. As soon as the adrenaline wore off, he was probably going to hurt.

Since he'd been sitting in the front with Connie, he'd seen the taillights suddenly turn red and had known what was happening. Thank hell Connie had enough sense to take the shoulder.

The really scary thing about it was Connie had just passed an eighteen-wheeler a couple of minutes before everything went down.

Their vehicle might be oversized and stocky, but something as big as an eighteen-wheeler could squash anything. He didn't know if that was something Connie and Hudson could survive, but Kit couldn't.

He could have died.

While Connie and Hudson discussed the accident, Kit was busy having an epiphany as he looked at the destruction surrounding them. He was so very vulnerable.

He could've actually died in this pileup. And not just that day. He and Beckett drove to and from work five days out of seven. San DeLain was notorious for its horrendous traffic.

And it wasn't just the traffic. With guns as prevalent as they were, he could be shot. People went missing all the time for a variety of reasons—either trafficked or murdered or just ran away.

Life as a human was fragile, and suddenly that got brought home to him with frightening certainty. He glanced at Connie and then at Hudson. They had swept into his life like a tornado and turned everything upside down, but he couldn't regret it. Or them.

They were beautiful and terrifying, but they'd made it abundantly clear they treasured him. That they would always treasure him. Did he love them?

Mentally, Kit debated that.

He wasn't sure he'd ever been in love. But what he felt for them eclipsed anything he'd ever felt before. There was something there, and it was growing.

The tentative bond between the three of them fluttered slightly in his chest. It was just a flutter—there and gone—but Kit felt it. His mates were worried about him.

Because of course they were. They knew perfectly well how this could've turned out for him. And they cared. He couldn't stress that enough. They honest to God cared.

Was it love yet? Kit didn't think so, but the foundation was there. They were building on it.

He didn't want to contemplate how either of them would've reacted if he'd been hurt. Never mind how they would've responded if he had been seriously hurt.

Connie made the comment before about Hudson having the capability to burn the world down, but Kit took it as Connie sort of joking around. Now he wasn't so sure.

He knew Hudson was an Ancient, and that he was very powerful, but he didn't truly know his capabilities and wasn't sure he ever wanted to find out.

And there was something he could do to ensure no one would ever find out—all he had to do was drink their blood. His first response was to shudder, but by damn, was he really repulsed by the act itself?

Or was it because someone had taken his blood without his consent? He needed to think about this, because surely, they wouldn't just pour their blood into a goblet and hand it to him to guzzle. Right?

There had to be a way to disguise the taste. Like wine, maybe? They'd promised they wouldn't bite him, and at least right now, he didn't have any desire to bite them either.

All he had to do was drink the fucking blood.

And after seeing what just went down, that was something he really needed to do sooner than later. He didn't want to imagine how either of them would react if he died.

POLICE, AMBULANCES, and fire engines all seemed to arrive at the same time. Things became even more chaotic as emergency personnel swarmed over the place.

A cop stopped by their window, checked on them, took their information, then moved on when reassured they were okay.

Kit was glad the police officer didn't force them to get checked over. It hadn't dawned on Kit to ask if a paranormal could be exposed by seeing a human doctor. Or could they pass as human?

It took almost ninety minutes for Torres and Nelson to reach them. As they walked back through the wrecked vehicles toward where Nelson had parked, Kit noticed Connie and Hudson were on either side of him while Torres led the group and Nelson brought up the rear. He was surrounded by dragons.

He was joking with Connie about having a guard when a blur of movement caught his attention. There was something about the abruptness of it that caught his attention.

Glancing over, he caught a flash of a pale face and brown hair before the person disappeared. He'd barely gotten a good look at them, but still, a chill crawled up his back. Whoever it was, though, they kind of reminded him of—

"What?" Hudson asked, leaning over to whisper in Kit's ear.

"What what?" Kit asked.

"Why did your heart rate suddenly go up?"

Damn dragons. But considering they had a lunatic after them, Kit knew better than to dismiss it. "I thought I saw somebody. No, not somebody. Don. I thought I saw Don. My ex-boyfriend. You know, the guy who set me up for Nox?"

Hudson grabbed Kit by the arm as they walked. "Are you sure?"

"Not entirely. I caught a glimpse of somebody out of the corner of my eye. Whoever it was ducked down suddenly when I glanced his way, so I didn't get a good look, but something about the whole thing made the hair on the back of my neck stand up."

"Good enough for me. Connie?"

"Where, Kit?"

Kit pointed to where he had last seen the guy that he thought was Don.

Connie stared where Kit pointed. "Which vehicle? There are several in that little cluster."

"The white Chevy truck. The one with the front-end damage."

"What luck. I can see the license plate," Connie said.

It wasn't as if they were walking leisurely before, but now Hudson was flat out hustling him along. "Good grief, are you gonna drag me all the way to the other vehicle?"

Kit could just imagine what it must look like. Although Hudson wasn't really dragging him. But they were definitely walking faster now.

"I'm not trying to drag you. I promise. But if that was Don, I want you in one of our vehicles as soon as possible," Hudson said.

"I second that," Connie said, his head swiveling left and right as they walked.

"Do you think he was following us? If that was him?" Kit asked.

"Your gut seems to think it was, and like I said, that's good enough for me. I don't know if he was following us or just happened to be on the interstate when we were. But I'm not taking any chances." Hudson pulled Kit even closer.

If that was indeed Don, was it just a coincidence? He certainly hadn't made a move on them, but then again, he was definitely outnumbered. Of course, there were all the surrounding humans too. Not to mention the cops.

As soon as they reached the other SUV, Kit was hurried inside. Torres and Nelson were upfront, and Kit found himself sitting in the middle of his mates in the back.

Kit rolled his neck. He was getting stiff. Plus, his face hurt, especially his nose. He gently poked at it, but Connie caught his finger and pulled it away. Kit huffed.

"I'll give you a massage when we get home," Connie said.

Kit perked up. That actually sounded good. "Thanks. Things are starting to hurt."

Hudson patted Kit's knee. "After he does that, we'll run you a hot bath. That'll help too. Plus, some ice for that nose."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Kit rested his head against Hudson's shoulder. What had started off as a pleasant morning had turned to shit. He was sad to see his parents leave, but at least he knew they'd be safe now.

And the accident on the interstate? Well, those things happened. It didn't appear as if they'd been targeted, so maybe it was nothing more than an accident.

But if that had been Don—and he was pretty sure it had been—was that just a coincidence too?

Kit's head was aching, so he closed his eyes. There wasn't any point in worrying about it. Nothing bad had happened.

This time.

KIT DRIFTED as Connie and Hudson spoke quietly with Torres, who was Hudson's chief of security. He wasn't sure what more they could do. Hudson had already beefed up security there at the compound, and Kit went nowhere alone. He always had at least one dragon with him.

They arrived home, and Connie and Hudson walked Kit straight back to their quarters. Hudson helped Kit take off his clothes while Connie went to grab some over-the-counter pain medication.

Kit crawled onto the bed and flopped onto his stomach, his arms folded under his head.

Hudson moved Kit's long hair off his back. "Anything new hurting?"

"No. Not yet. What about the ice?"

"Do you want the ice, or do you want a massage?"

Like Kit had to think about that. "Definitely a massage."

"Then we'll do the ice after the massage. I don't suppose another few minutes is going to matter now."

He was probably right. Too much time had already passed. "What about your vehicle?"

"Don't worry about that. It'll be taken care of."

Kit yawned. He was so glad he was not the one who had to deal with all that, considering how he felt.

"Hey, I'm back."

Kit turned over just as Connie sat on the bed. He held a glass of water and a small plastic bottle. Kit took the pain medication and washed it down.

Kit handed the glass back to Connie. "Thank you.

"Get comfortable again. I'll run to the bathroom and get some oil. Be right back." Connie hopped up and made a beeline toward the master bath.

Hudson sat down on the other side of the bed as Kit sprawled out again. Hudson passed Kit a pillow to use, and Kit groaned appreciatively.

The bed dipped again when Connie crawled on it. A few seconds after that, Connie straddled him. Well, that answered how this was going to work.

He groaned again when Connie's firm hands went to work on the muscles on his back and shoulders. He was gentle, Kit had to give it to him, but he still worked all the knots he found.

Kit had never had a professional massage, but it was something he might look into now. This was fabulous. He drifted again as Connie worked him.

At least his headache backed off, although his nose still ached. Maybe it was his cheeks. He couldn't tell because his entire damn face hurt. But he was well aware it could've been so much worse.

He was almost asleep when Connie climbed off him. Funny how he never even popped wood this time. Usually, when they touched him, he did. But this time, their touch wasn't meant to be sexual.

"Okay, babe, up you go. Bath time."

Opening his eyes, Kit rolled over. Immediately, he saw Hudson was no longer on the bed. "Where'd he go?"

"He started your water. Did you not feel him get up?"

"No. I guess I was more out of it than I thought."

"You're welcome." Connie smirked.

Kit laughed softly. "Cocky, aren't you? But I guess it's deserved. That felt fabulous."

"I'm glad it helped. It did help, right?"

Kit nodded, then pulled himself off the bed. "It most certainly did. I wouldn't go as far as to say I feel like a new man, but I do feel better. Thank you."

"My pleasure."

Connie helped Kit undress. Naked, Kit walked into the bathroom. The huge jetted tub was almost full. The water swirled appealingly, and there was a nice lavender scent in the air.

"In you go," Hudson said, standing next to the bathtub.

Kit groaned as Hudson helped him into the water. He sank down into it. Oh yeah, that was awesome.

"Here. I have a towel as well." Hudson held the towel where Kit's head would go. "Go ahead and lean back so it doesn't fall in."

Kit laid back. The tub was big enough he could completely stretch out. "That's perfect."

"I have the ice," Connie said while walking into the bathroom.

"Just go ahead and put it on me. I'm too comfortable to move."

"I would be more than happy to."

Kit groaned again when the coolness covered his nose. The ice pack was big enough that it extended onto his cheek and over his eyes.

"We're going to go back into the bedroom, but I'll leave the door open," Hudson said. "Don't go to sleep, okay?"

"I'm not. But damn, this feels good. Thank you both," Kit said.

"If you need anything, just call out," Connie said. "We'll hear you."

Instead of answering, Kit moaned happily. Soft laughter trailed behind Connie and Hudson as they walked out of the bathroom.