Page 29 of The Ruby Dragon Prince
I looked down between my legs then gasped so hard I nearly choked at the sight of a red, scaly, slick-covered egg on the bedcovers between my and Rufus’s legs.
“My brave, strong omega,” Rufus cooed, stroking my body as I gaped at the egg. “You’ve done so well. You are so good, so amazing. I will give you everything your heart desires and make you the happiest—oh? What’s this? Another one?”
I’d barely grasped hold of my shock before my body strained and pushed and contracted again. The sensation of the fullnesswithin me fighting to get out returned, and I watched as the diminished lump of my belly flattened even more. The excruciating pain struck me again, and within seconds, a second, almost identical, red, scaly egg slipped out to join the first between us.
“Twins!” Rufus called out, as if it were the best thing in the world. “You’ve given me twins on the first try. Well done, Tovey.” He kissed my shoulder, neck, and cheek, every part of me he could reach, in praise. “I knew you were the finest omega in all of the worlds.”
I managed only a thin, wheezing breath in reply. My trembling changed from pain to fear and confusion as I stared at the slick-wet eggs on the bed.
Eggs. I’d laid eggs. Dragon eggs.
And I loved them.
I let out a plaintive wail as my fear subsided and a soul-deep affection for the eggs in front of me washed into me, like waves crashing onto the beach in a storm. I didn’t know what to say, I could barely wrap my head around what had just happened, but I knew that I had to protect those eggs with my life.
I wriggled out of Rufus’s arms and curled forward, wrapping my body around the eggs and pulling them close to me as I lay on my side on the bedcovers. Tears suddenly poured from my eyes and I sobbed with emotion, but that emotion was joy and love.
“I know,” Rufus said, shifting to hover behind me, stroking my body. “I probably should have told you what was to come.”
I was too filled with happiness to frown at him or scold him for that glaring oversight. I’m not sure that being told what would happen would have done anything to lessen the shock of it actually happening.
“They’re mine,” I managed to say, stroking each of the eggs as I held them close. “They’re my babies. I don’t understand how,but they’re mine.” I glanced at him over my shoulder and added, “They’re ours.”
“They are,” Rufus said, lying down and spooning me, spooning us. “And as soon as we’ve rested for a bit, I’ll let you choose anywhere in my lair and any materials you might want to build your nest.”
Nest? The idea felt so foreign and yet so instinctual at the same time.
I would think about it later, though. For now, I was so exhausted that I could barely stand it, and with Rufus stroking my back and side, close and protecting me and our eggs, I fell asleep before I could stop myself.
I awoke sometime later.Time didn’t seem to matter in the magical kingdom. It didn’t move the same way between the two worlds, I knew, so it didn’t seem to matter. I was still in Rufus’s bed, but the right way around and under the covers. The eggs were nestled against my stomach, and I had my arms around them.
I yawned awake, feeling so much better than I had in…ever. I hugged my eggs, stroking each of them, then shifting so I could kiss each of them. I wasn’t afraid that I would squash or damage them for some reason. It was as if I knew they were strong and that they would grow stronger. They were warm and felt of life despite being hard and scaly.
I felt life from them, but it was faint, like a tiny shoot or the first signs of buds on flowers. I imagined that a babe growing in my womb would have felt the same way.
“You’re awake,” Rufus said from somewhere beside the bed.
I turned to smile at him. I couldn’t tell if he’d been in the room with me the entire time I’d been asleep or if he had just returned after some errand.
I stretched out a hand to him, and he came straight to me, sitting and taking my hand, then peeling back the bedcovers so he could smile at the eggs.
“I should have explained all this to you earlier,” he said with a sigh.
The harsh aggressiveness that he’d shown me while breeding me, and while stomping around my father’s castle, had faded into a calmer, stronger presence. I’d always known he had that side within him. Knowing that had come with the bond between us. It was lovely to see it now.
“I’m not certain any explanation would have been enough,” I said, pushing myself up to sit with my back against the pillows.
I repositioned the eggs in my lap. I wasn’t certain if they needed to be incubated, like chicken eggs, or if they would be alright on their own. Selle would probably know. He’d read every book known to?—
I gasped and jerked to look at Rufus. “My brothers.”
Rufus was too busy smiling at the eggs to grasp what I’d said at first. He hummed in question, then dragged his eyes away from the eggs to smile at me.
His smile dropped when he saw the concern that had descended on me. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“My brothers,” I said, my heart suddenly racing. “I’ve abandoned them in the middle of the night.”
“Darling, you know time doesn’t pass the same way there as it does here,” Rufus said, rubbing my back.
