Page 14 of The Emerald Dragon Prince
Rumi
Coming out of what felt like the deepest sleep I’d ever had in my life and having no idea where I was was disconcerting enough. Waking up with my body feeling overstimulated and alive far beyond what I was used to nearly sent me straight into a panic.
“It’s alright,” Emmerich said, reaching for me and pulling me into his arms. “You’re safe. You’re well. Everything will be alright.”
I might have been nearly thirty years old, but I threw myself into my mate’s arms as if I were Obi’s age or younger. Nothing felt right. I couldn’t catch my breath through the odd, powerful sensations that pulsed through me. Fear and arousal blended together within me, which I didn’t think was supposed to be able to happen.
Then again, the fear might have been mine and the desire Emmerich’s. The bond between us had opened to thepoint where I couldn’t distinguish my emotions from his anymore.
“I don’t know what’s going on,” I said, trying not to pant to the point of hyperventilating. I needed something, needed him, but my thoughts flew back to everything I’d just left behind, my brothers, Osric, and the war. “How did I get here when we were in the middle of fighting a battle?”
I could tell Emmerich wanted to continue to hold me, even though he let me pull away so I could look into his eyes. “The war is still raging,” he said. “The dark sorcerer cast some sort of spell to cause Osric’s men to turn on each other.”
I blinked as memories came rushing back at me. “Nikkos.” I whispered the name, turning my head away from Emmerich slightly as I remembered the moments before everything had gone black.
I’d been rushing to help Cousin Osric’s soldiers, trying to make the ones who had turned see sense and doing whatever I could think of to stop the others from turning. It was a futile effort, since everything was being controlled by magic that I couldn’t see or perceive. I was determined to do something, though.
And then Nikkos was standing right in front of me with a sword. The otherwise sweet and harmless omega had a look of pure hatred in his eyes as he raised his sword. I was lucky that I held a sword of my own, but all I could do was raise it to defend myself.
Nikkos had far more skill with a sword than I could ever have imagined. That alone would have struck fear into my heart. But as we battled, something about the omega kept flickering and slipping. It had to have been the spell that turned him. I’d never been so close to magic that was so dark and vicious before. It was enough to trulymake me believe that friendly, kind Nikkos truly despised me.
And then came the blow that turned everything black. I felt Nikkos’s blade slice into my shoulder and sear across my entire body to my opposite hip. I felt it go deep, and all I could think about was whether the blade would reach and harm my baby.
“Rumi?”
Emmerich’s concerned touch shook me out of my memories. I shuddered and snapped my eyes up to his, grateful beyond telling that he kept his hand on me and that we were safe in the dragon castle.
“Whatever spell was cast over Nikkos and the others, it was terrifying,” I said in a breathless whisper. “We have to fight against it, but I have no idea how.”
I startled myself with my own words. They seemed to be pushing me into action.
“We have to do something about it,” I said, twisting and scooting to the side of the bed so I could get up.
Emmerich didn’t stop me from standing, but as my legs wobbled, threatening to fold as I supported my own weight, he reached out to steady me. Feeling his hands on me felt so good that I let out a hungry moan.
A second later, the reality of what was happening, how I felt, hit me. I wore only thin pajamas for some reason, but even that delicate fabric was too much for me. I wanted to be naked, spread wide open, and available for my alpha to do whatever he wanted with me.
“I’m in heat,” I gasped, glancing up at Emmerich.
Through the concern that radiated from my alpha I felt a burst of pride and lust. “Yes, you are,” he said, his mouth twitching like he was trying not to smile.
“How?” I asked. I pressed a hand to my belly where,sure enough, the almost imperceptible bump where my baby egg waited inside me had grown. “How can I be with eggandin heat?”
“I don’t know,” Emmerich said, his eyes growing dark with desire as he drank in the sight of me, shivering and vulnerable beside him. “I’m still not certain what Mother did to heal you myself.”
“Mother?” I asked. “Queen Gaia healed me?”
I had the sudden, wispy memory of Queen Gaia standing beside the bed, smiling at me and making me feel as though everything would be alright, even in the darkest hour.
A rush of understanding from Emmerich through our bond pulled me back to the moment. “I couldn’t heal you while you were paused. Your body couldn’t knit back together until I lifted that spell. You’ve been paused for so long that your body must have reverted back into heat.”
“I was barely out of heat when you paused me,” I said, nodding slightly.
It made sense, which was something of a relief. For my mind, at least. The wave of warmth that struck me and the desperate urgency that had slick dripping out of me was anything but a relief, though.
“It’s coming on strong,” I said, taking a deep breath and trying to keep my wits about me. “I’ve never had a heat come on this strong before. Should that be possible? I’ve only just healed from a sword wound.”
I pulled at the buttons fastening my pajama top with the intention of exposing my chest to see what it looked like, but as soon as my bare skin was exposed to the air, I groaned with the need for so much more.
