Page 2 of The Emerald Dragon Prince
His smile broadened and he chuckled. “My name is Emmerich,” he said, radiating warmth and kindness.
“Emmerich,” I repeated, rolling the name around in my heart and soul. It felt like it belonged there.
“And you’re Prince Rumi,” he went on.
I blinked and lost the dazed and dreamy smile I’d been wearing without being aware of it. “How do you know my name?”
“I know more about you than you might realize,” Emmerich said, moving forward. He walked through the shallow stream to my side of the water. Once he was close, I could smell his alpha scent, like pine and summer grass and freedom. “I’ve been watching you for a while.”
“Watching me?” I asked, my voice trembling. I tensed, forcing myself to behave like the grown man I was and not to melt like a lovestruck adolescent.
Except I was absolutely and completely lovestruck, whether it made any sense or not.
Emmerich seemed to know what I was feeling. Inside and out. He moved right up to me and caressed the side of my face, not like a stranger, but like a longtime lover. I let him without a single reservation.
“I’m not sure how to explain it in a way your mind could accept,” he said, brushing his thumb over my cheek and close to my lips.
I wanted to draw that thumb into my mouth and suck on it. I could already feel the rush of slick building inside me, ready to gush everywhere.
“Try me,” I said, standing taller, although I was still a good foot shorter than him. I was average height for an omega, and Emmerich was tall, even for an alpha.
Emmerich grinned, warmth and affection radiatingfrom him. “Alright, I think I will,” he said, good humor in his voice. “Let’s see if you believe me.”
I sucked in a breath, relishing the way his woodsy scent made me feel and wanting more.
“I’m not from this world. I’m from the magical world. I’m no mere alpha, I’m a dragon and a prince in my own right. And the moment I saw you, while peering into your world to make certain the rules of Nature and Order were being observed, I saw you and knew that you were my fated mate.”
I blinked. His explanation was completely outlandish…and yet, I believed him.
“Is this some sort of fairy tale?” I asked, my heart beating rapidly.
Emmerich laughed low and seductively. “Yes, my love, it is,” he said.
He slipped his free arm around my waist to tug me close. I went willingly into his embrace, circling my arms around him without question. When he tilted my head up so that he could slant his mouth over mine in a searing kiss, I let him without so much as a whisper of resistance.
It was uncanny. I’d never seen the man until minutes before, but as our mouths melded and our tongues played with each other, I knew he was my destiny. Not just my destiny, but my key to freedom, for myself and my brothers. Perhaps for the entire kingdom. It was the oddest thing, but I could feel in the warmth and strength of his body that we were absolutely meant to be and that he had the power to change my entire world.
I groaned deeply a moment later, when slick gushed out of me in such an alarming amount that I was certain it ruined my riding trousers. My body went hot all over, and a desperate pull and hunger swelled in my belly.
I knew what it was as soon as Emmerich ended our kiss and leaned back slightly to take in the sight of me.
“Oh, Goddess!” I gasped. “I’ve just gone into heat!”
“Of course you have,” Emmerich said with roguish a hint of arrogance. Usually I despised arrogance in alphas, but his practically made me salivate with need.
“Please,” I begged, writhing in his embrace, desperately needing to get rid of my clothing. “Please—” I stopped, my mouth open, not knowing how to ask for what I wanted. It seemed far too outlandish to want to mate with this stranger out of the blue, in the middle of a field.
That didn’t stop me from clawing at his clothing to try to get to his skin, though.
“Don’t worry,” Emmerich said, backing me away from the stream and my horse and onto a patch of grass that seemed to suddenly grow thicker and softer and high enough to conceal us. “It’s all perfectly normal and natural for fated mates to go into heat and rut at the first sight of each other.”
“Heat?” I asked panting, my body burning with the need to have this alpha possess me in every way. “Rut?”
Emmerich drew in a long breath, like he was drinking in my scent. “You’re not the only one feeling it,” he growled.
The next thing I knew, we were rolling in the grass, grabbing at each other’s clothing in a mad attempt to tear through it and cast it aside. I wasn’t entirely certain how it happened, but within a surprisingly short amount of time, we were completely naked, our bodies entwined, skin touching everywhere.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” I moaned, flexing my hips to rub my hard cock against him. “This is madness.”
