Page 26 of The Ruby Dragon Prince
“I met my fated mate a month ago, but I’ve let him be,” Emmerich said. “At least for now.”
“You gave him the door,” Diamant laughed. “That hardly counts as leaving him be.”
“I haven’t chased him through the forest and bred him,” Emmerich said, looking pointedly at me.
I sunk a tiny bit in my chair. So Emmerich knew about that, too? But of course he would. He was the governor of this part of our world.
“Regardless of how it happened or how quickly it happened,” I said, clearing my throat, sitting straighter, and trying to have a little dignity, “it happened. And now my omega mate is quickening. I need to bring him to my lair to finish the breeding process or he will only grow sick.”
“You let him return to the cruel world half-bred?” Diamant asked, his ice-blue eyes wide with alarm.
“He ran off before I could finish things,” I sighed, putting my fork down and rubbing my face. “I didn’t even have time to explain.”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Emmerich said, shaking his head, “but you need to go back and fetch your mate and relieve him as soon as possible.”
“Why didn’t you bring him back when you went over there just now?” Argus asked, disapproving.
“I told you, he refused to come. He feels responsible to his people and to his brother.”
That and finishing the breeding had completely slipped my mind. I wasn’t an omega. I’d never had children before. I knew as much about these things as I did about weaving tapestries or tending flower beds.
I did know enough, though. I knew that my seed had taken in Tovey with extraordinary speed. Although that likely had something to do with the ferocity of my rut and the determination I had to break down every barrier his body put up for me, including forcing my way into his womb.
I couldn’t help but sit back and grin wickedly as I remembered the strength of the breeding orgasm, though. I’d never felt anything like it. I’d never been so completely consumed with pleasure and a sense of conquest and rightness.I’d made my omega submit to such a degree that his luscious body hadn’t dared to do anything less than create new life.
I was lucky that he wasn’t furious with me for the brazen liberties I’d taken with his person and his soul.
That thought made me lose my smile. Dragons were aggressive and rough when they bred by nature, but there was such a thing as too much. At least Tovey seemed to have enjoyed being forced to take my cock and my seed.
Argus cleared his throat beside me, and when I snapped myself out of my heated thoughts and glanced at him, he said, “You need to fetch your mate and complete the breeding. He’s not the only one who needs the relief.”
“You’re going to be more insufferable than usual until the job is done,” Emmerich said, sending me a teasing grin.
I growled, thunked my hands on the table, then pushed myself to stand. “He’s not going to deny me this time,” I said.
He wasn’t going to deny me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make the process easier for him. Omegas needed to nest, and since I wasn’t certain what nesting materials Tovey would choose, I spent the rest of the afternoon gathering everything from silk to feathers and taking it all to my lair. I needed to restore my magic to its full strength as well, and nothing accomplished that as thoroughly or quickly as spending time in my lair.
Every dragon’s lair was different. We’d long ago left the age when dragons hoarded their treasure in deep, dank caves, although I had a few eccentric cousins who still did that. My lair took the form of a magnificent, half-timbered house deep in the woods, atop a gentle hill. It had dozens of rooms, polished wood floors, stained glass in the windows, and large, carved fireplaces in every room.
I knew that Tovey would love it. He might want to redecorate it as part of his nesting time, but if that was the case, so be it.
By the time night began to fall, I had half the lair filled with every variety of nesting materials Tovey could have wanted. He could choose from any number of bedchambers within the lair to make his nest, though I hoped he’d choose mine. Ours. It would be our bedchamber from now on. The only thing that was missing from the lair was him.
When I was certain everything was just as I wanted it, I opened a door from my bedchamber directly into the room Tovey shared with his brothers. Time magic was by far the most difficult to control, but I was skilled enough at it that I was able to open the door deep into the earliest hours of the morning, when all six of the omega princes were asleep.
As horrible as King Freslik was, he’d given his omega sons a phenomenal bedchamber. It was wide and circular, as if it should be at the top of a vast tower. The circumference of the room was divided into sixths, six beds evenly spaced around with their heads against the wall. To the right of each bed was a wardrobe that contained each prince’s clothing, and to the left was a low table. Different items rested on each prince’s table, from books to games to flowers. The room had a single window that looked out into the garden where they’d been the day before and sconces that held lamps, all now extinguished, in the other five spaces.
I knew exactly which bed was Tovey’s without having to tiptoe around the room checking. I could smell his sweet lemon scent, but I could also feel him through the bond that now joined us. It was still new and thin, but I was confident that in a very short space of time, it would be as thick as the roots of the mightiest oak.
Tovey was restless in his sleep, tossing and turning under his plain bedcovers. The room itself might have been worthy of princes, but the comforts King Freslik had allowed his sons werenot. I vowed that Tovey would only ever sleep on silks or the finest cottons for the rest of his life.
He huffed out a breath and twisted as I approached the bed, but when I sat on the side and brushed a hand over his head, pushing his hair back from his forehead, he instantly stilled. The greenish-grey pallor that had been on his face faded to the pink of health as soon as I touched him. I definitely needed to get him back to my lair and finish the breeding quickly.
Tovey seemed to sense I was there. He turned to his back and drowsily opened his eyes. Instead of jerking or startling at the sight of me, he relaxed into a fond smile. I stroked my hand around his face, radiating the love I felt for him and letting him know that everything would be alright.
I couldn’t let the whole thing pass without a little excitement, though. I was a ruby dragon, after all, and Tovey was a ruby dragon’s mate. We needed spice in our mating as much as anything else.
So with a mischievous glint of darkness that I knew he could see in my eyes, I clapped a hand over his mouth to silence any cry he might make and leaned over him pinning him to the bed with my body.
