Page 4 of The Gold Dragon Prince
“Selle,” I said, then cleared my throat, stood taller, and said with my chin raised, “Prince Selle.”
Recognition seemed to dawn in Prince Gildur’s eyes. “Prince Selle,” he said, his smile growing. “I believe you’re my brother Rufus’s mate’s brother.”
My smile warmed. “Yes, I am. Tovey is my brother.”
It was a stupid, obvious thing to say. It was more or less what Prince Gildur had just said to me.
“Would you care to dance, Prince Selle?” Gildur asked, holding out a hand to me.
“I would love to,” I answered breathlessly.
From the moment I took his hand, I knew. All it took was that touch of skin against skin and every cell in my body rearranged itself to the truth that the man who led me the short distance onto the dance floor was my fated mate.
It was the most curious thing. Tovey had described the sensation, but I hadn’t truly grasped what it meant. But as Gildur took me into his arms to begin the waltz, I felt as though I’d known him all my life and that I would know him every day for the rest of my life.
“You’re not an omega of many words, are you,” Gildur said, telling me, not asking me, with an almost condescending look in his shining, amber eyes.
My dopey smile and my sense of breathlessnessimmediately vanished. “I beg your pardon?” I asked, frowning slightly behind my mask.
Gildur shrugged one shoulder. “I know. I’m overwhelming. Gold does that to people.”
My frown increased. “I’ve never been swayed by gold,” I said. And because I didn’t like the sense that he thought I was as silly as Billi and his friends, I squared my shoulders and added, “I’m more impressed by intelligence and careful thought.”
“Oh, I’m intelligent as well,” Gildur said, laughing.
“And arrogant,” I added, feeling unaccountably annoyed. My fated mate wasn’t supposed to be so full of himself.
Gildur laughed. “Yes, when it’s deserved,” he said.
“No one ever deserves to be arrogant,” I said. “Nothing good ever comes of someone thinking too highly of themselves.”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” Gildur said, as if he were correcting a child. “There’s nothing wrong with knowing when you have advantages and acknowledging them. I’m not about to walk around pretending I’m less than I am. I am a dragon, after all, a gold dragon.”
“Yes, I know,” I said flatly.
Gildur’s smug smile dropped, and I could just barely see a hint of the man beneath the persona he’d put on, like a rich cloak, for some reason. “You know?” he asked.
“Of course, I do,” I said, taking a turn pretending to be smarter than him. “My brother is mated to your brother. I know all about you.”
It was a lie. Tovey had never mentioned Prince Gildur. He’d mentioned Rufus had kinsmen, but he hadn’t had much of an opportunity to explore the world that was now his home. In fact, our other brothers and I likelyknew more from the time we’d spent at dances than Tovey did.
“Oh,” Gildur said, looking vaguely disappointed. He spun me through a few turns in the dance, his expression puzzled. At least he was a good dancer. “I should probably ask you more about yourself,” he said.
“Yes, you should,” I replied with a satisfied grin. Gildur may have thought a lot of himself, but I could already feel where his weaknesses were and that he could be mastered, given time.
Actually, I rather liked the idea of mastering a dragon.
“So, you’re one of the captive omega princes,” Gildur said, prompting me.
“I am,” I said, giving away as little as I could. If my fated mate wanted to get to know me, he would have to work for it.
“That must be…nice,” Gildur said.
I laughed, then felt something, like I knew he liked the sound. “It’s not nice at all,” I said. “Our father, King Freslik, keeps me and my brothers more or less captive in our bedchamber at his castle. If not for the magic doorway, we would have very miserable lives indeed.”
“Thank the Goddess for magical doorways, then,” Gildur said, his smile resuming. “Of course, magical doorways can cause problems as well.”
“Can they?” I asked, my heart beating fast again as I tasted the possibility of learning all the things I was desperate to know about the magical world but had been unable to find out.
