Page 42 of The Ruby Dragon Prince
I flew at him, jumping into his arms and wrapping myself around him. I was so happy to be home at last that I burst into tears.
Rufus kissed those tears away enthusiastically, then slanted his mouth over mine in a kiss that took my breath. It was wonderful and overpowering. His tongue thrust possessively into my mouth, claiming me as surely as he did when we’d mated. I might have been brave and done what needed to be done for the benefit of my father’s people when we were in my old kingdom, but in that moment, with Rufus welcoming me home that way, I felt like I could melt into a puddle of contentment without worrying or fighting against the world ever again.
“The babies,” I gasped as we both paused for breath. “I need to see my babies.”
“They’re waiting for you,” Rufus said, putting me down and letting me run into the house. Behind me, I heard him say to my brothers, “You’re all welcome in my home. I’m sure Tovey will want you to meet the eggs as well.”
I didn’t pause to see if my brothers were confused by the mention of eggs. I’d explained giving birth to them earlier, but it was one thing to be told something so fantastical and quite another to see it for themselves.
I couldn’t be concerned with what my brothers thought. I rushed up the stairs and down the hall to Rufus’s massive bedroom. I needed to be in my nest, to stay close to my babies and nurture them so that they could come into the world as safely as possible. The nursemaid who had been tending them sat on the bed with them, but as soon as she saw me, she rose with a smile and made way for me.
“Babies, I’m home!” I called out, dashing to the bed and jumping in with them.
I didn’t even bother to kick off my shoes. I threw my body at them, curling around them and pulling them close to my chest and stomach. It might have been my imagination, but I thought they’d grown a little since I’d left them the day before.
Immediately, I could feel ease spread through the eggs and into me. My poor babies had been worried.
“It’s alright,” I cooed to them, stroking and kissing each egg. “I’m home. Papa is home. You know I had to go off and fight for what is right, but that’s all done now and I’ll never leave you again.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Rufus said, entering the room and sitting on the bed with me. He stroked my back and left his hand resting on my side. “A dragon mate’s place is here, in the magical world. What’s mine is yours, and you are free to enjoy it to its fullest.”
“Those are eggs!” Misha gasped before I could reply to Rufus with words of love and gratitude.
“Tovey did tell us he laid some eggs,” Leo said teasingly.
“He said he gave birth to eggs,” Misha corrected him.
“Come and see them,” I said, sitting up and placing the eggs carefully in my lap. “Come and meet your…well, I’m not sure if they are nieces or nephews or one of each.”
“They’re beautiful,” Obi said, stepping ahead of the others and crouching so that he could see the eggs closer. “It’s like they’re made of rubies.”
“That would be the point of being a ruby dragon,” Rufus said with a touch of sarcasm.
“Be nice,” I laughed, swatting him playfully.
I’d never been so happy in my life. We’d been sent to our bedchamber to be miserable, but Father had no idea what sort of beautiful magic lay within the very place that was supposed tobe our prison. He was a small man who would never understand the power of love or imagination.
We stayed where we were for a good hour. I explained everything I could about the house and how it was Rufus’s lair to my brothers. Rufus filled in a few details about how every dragon had a lair, but that didn’t mean it was a dark cave somewhere.
My brothers were happy to meet the eggs, and they each held them in turn. I didn’t feel anxious about them handling my babies. The only thing that made me anxious was knowing we had reached the end of our time together.
“I plan to stay here now,” I told them as the sun began to set outside the bedchamber windows and discussions had started about attending that night’s ball in the pavilion. “This is my home now. Rufus is my mate, and we’ve started a family.”
“Of course you must stay,” Rumi said, resting a hand on my back as he sat by my side. “Anyone with eyes and a heart can see that you belong here now.”
“I feel so awful about leaving you to battle against Father on your own,” I confessed.
Leo made a snorting noise. “It’s not a problem at all. Father is no match for us.”
“I would feel worse if you came back with us than I do parting ways with you here,” Misha said.
“I don’t think we’re really parting ways,” Rumi said with a mischievous smile. “Something tells me we’ll all be living in this kingdom before too long.”
“Why not just come now, then?” Rufus asked, a hint of his usual impatience through our bond making me smile.
My brothers exchanged looks. “You saw what Father nearly did today,” Rumi said. “No doubt he will try to find some other way to make the lives of his own subjects miserable.”
“We need to stay behind for now and find a way to remove him from the throne,” Obi said. When we all stared at him, he shrugged and said, “Isn’t that the point?”
