Page 12 of The Ruby Dragon Prince
I met up again with Emmerich on the path leading from the castle to the pavilion. Gildur had some other engagement, but said he would join us next time.
“Have patience,” Emmerich advised me as we approached the sweet music and magical light bathing the pavilion as the sun set across the forest. “Tovey is your fated mate, but you will not do yourself any favors by approaching him too strongly. Hedoesn’t even know about your dragon form yet, none of them do.”
I growled under my breath, resenting the fact that Emmerich made our dragon forms sound like something shocking and wrong.
We were dragons. There was no point in denying it. We were only one magical thing in a kingdom filled with every sort of creature that could be dreamed of. I personally thought we were one of the grander and more impressive things about our realm, although I had friends who insisted omega unicorns were the pinnacle of magical perfection. He just liked taking their heats, though.
I forgot everything, including Emmerich, and scanned the pavilion for my omega the moment I stepped onto its marble floor. The decorations tonight were all lilies, both organic and bejeweled. The pavilion was filled with their remarkable scent, but that scent was nothing to the sweet, lemony scent of my omega. He was like a citrus tart that would both bite and delight once I sank my teeth into him.
I was ready to sink more than just my teeth into him. Already, I could feel my cock pulsing with need and my balls hanging heavy in my breeches. The need to find and claim my omega did not only come from my heart. I’d scented him once, touched him fleetingly, and now my body felt poised on the edge of a frenzied rut.
That urgency increased when I spotted Tovey at the other end of the pavilion, standing in a cluster with his brothers, all of them whispering to each other, as if hatching some sort of plan. They were close, the captive omega princes. Anyone with eyes could see that. I would not let my omega’s brothers stand in the way of the two of us being together, though.
I marched forward, making my way directly to my sweet Tovey. The dancers parted for me, half because they didn’t wantto be shoved out of the way as I made my way like an arrow to my target and half out of respect. My kinsmen and I were all princes and princesses of this realm and our mother was High Queen of it all. They not only stepped aside, they bowed their heads in deference.
I hardly saw any of them. I wanted Tovey, and I wanted him with single-minded focus.
My omega saw me coming, said something quickly to his brothers, then stepped away from them to greet me with an uncertain smile.
“My prince,” he said, bowing as respectfully as any of the other courtiers.
I liked him calling me his. I did not like him bowing like anyone else. He was not anyone else, he was mine. Others should bow to him.
“I did not ask your name before I left last night,” Tovey said as he smiled, glancing hopefully up at me.
“You left me,” I said, too harsh by far.
Tovey’s uncertain smile dropped to a worried look. “I had to go,” he said. “My brothers needed me with them. Indeed, we’ve all had the most miserable two days. Father railed at us yesterday morning for being ungrateful whores, then refused to feed us at all today.”
The man would pay. I would tighten my claws around his neck and pierce his pathetic throat with them and watch the blood drain out as he flailed and cried for mercy I would not give.
“Rufus,” I said moving to pull my omega into my embrace.
“I beg your pardon?” His voice wavered and he sagged a little, as if his knees might give way.
“My name is Rufus, and you will eat,” I told him.
“I…I….” He swallowed hard, his face pinking as he gazed up at me. “I already ate.”
“Good,” I growled, stroking a hand down his back. “Then you will dance.”
“Yes, my lord,” he said, blinking as though overcome with amazement. A moment later, he shook his head, stood a bit more on his own power, then said, “I mean, yes, I love dancing, and I would be happy to dance with you, Rufus.”
I grunted, half in amusement at his attempt to get some of his own back and half in satisfaction. It would be a pleasure for both of us, forcing him to submit.
It was good that the dance taking place as we joined the others on the floor was the sort that allowed me to hold Tovey in my arms. I didn’t want to let him go at that point. Ever. He would soon learn that the best place for him was in my arms, under me, or above me while straddling my bucking hips. I would teach him all the joys of being a dragon’s mate, and I would give him whatever his heart desired.
“You’re angry with me, aren’t you,” he said once we’d taken a swirling turn around the dance floor. “For leaving last night.”
“You are mine,” I said, simply stating fact.
Tovey jolted and had the audacity to look offended. “I am my own,” he said. “I belong to no one.”
“You belong to me,” I said, pouring my heart into the words. “You are my fated mate.”
“That may be,” he said, lowering his head slightly in consideration and tightening his hands on my arm and shoulder, “but that does not mean you own me.”
“That is precisely what it means,” I told him, surprised that he didn’t know. “You belong to me and I belong to you. The fabric of our souls has been woven for each other since the beginning of our existences. Now that we have met, I am the warp and you are the weft. We twine together, each belonging to the other and a part of each other, to make one whole.”
