Page 44 of The Desert Prince's Jewel
“Yes! Mine. You’re mine, Mateo. Now and forever,” he whimpers, and then sinks his fangs into my neck.
I scream, coming so hard I see stars dancing in the corners of my vision. And when I come down from my high, I’m overflowing. Ranbir just keeps coming and coming, and by the time he’s finished, I ache.
My naga, my princes, curls around me, too tightly at first. I wheeze hard enough that he gets the message and unwinds just enough for me to relax into his embrace. And relax, I do, gladly. My body is jelly, and my heart is close to exploding.
Ranbir’s kisses linger on my neck as my eyes flutter shut, and I can’t help but wonder if the Desert Prince fell under my spell, or if I fell under his as he whispers sweet nothings to me until I’m grounded again.
“Why?” As he nuzzles my neck, I whisper, my body firmly wrapped up in Ranbir’s. “Why tell me you love me when you have to go?”
He stiffens, “Go where?”
“Home,” I say, like it needs to be said. “You’re a crown prince. You have the stone. Won’t you go home?”
“I am home,” he says, with such authority that it shakes me to my core. “Of course, I will have to return for my throne at some point. Once news spreads of me reclaiming the Viper’s Stone, I will more or less receive it without being physically present. But that’s months from now. And wherever I go, I hope… I hope you’ll come with me. You are home, Mateo. My fated mate. My everything.”
I bury my head into the sheets, not wanting to cry in front of him. But when the tears do come, I feel content, as Ranbir soothes me, licking me, kissing me, and again drowning me in a symphony of sweet nothings for my ears and my ears only.
“You’re everything I’ve always wanted, and it is right here in my arms. You’re the ultimate prize.”
When I’m hopeful his even breathing means he’s asleep, I whisper back, “I love…”
My voice falters as a lazy grin stretches across his face. The feel of his parted lips and fangs tickles my chest. He brackets my face with his arms and leans down.
“Say it when you’re ready and when you mean it, my precious jewel.”
My heart skips a beat as Ranbir nudges my lips open with his tongue. The kiss is too sensual to be sweet, but it’s just right; everything I’ve ever dreamed of, including all the walls I’ve carefully placed around my heart, comes crashing down.
No matter what happens next, I’m no longer afraid as long as we’re together.
EPILOGUE
RANBIR
Iawake to the smell of roasting coffee beans and the gentle snoring of my beloved mate resting in the curve of my tail. I crack a wary eyelid, not wanting to interrupt our peace, but I know it won’t last, no matter how long I pretend to be asleep. The ball is already in full swing, and while Mateo and I don’t have to attend, we’re expected to be there. And I’m going to make sure we are there, very soon in fact. Not because anyone is forcing me to, but because I can’t think of a legitimate reason to blow off Layla, Sheena, and my mate’s barista friends.
Being weak from what seems like endless rounds of sex isn’t a good enough reason to stay in bed.
But Gods above, I wish it were since I can’t get enough of him.
“Awaken,” I whisper, then kiss Mateo’s cheek, squeezing his lean stomach and firm ass. He’s beginning to fill out and fill in to his height, no longer gaunt from stress and hunger. Now, he’s alithe little vixen who drives me wild. It makes me grin from ear to ear.
“My prince,” he whispers back, chuckling before angling his head so our lips meet. “Have mercy and let your servant sleep. He’s numb from the waist down.”
I sigh into the kiss and then chuckle at his dramatics. The smell of roasting coffee beans perpetually clinging to his soft brown skin is sheer ecstasy. My title rolls so easily from my lover’s lips that it brings an even more delighted grin to mine as our mouths war for dominance, deepening the kiss in an instant. However, it’s a losing battle on Mateo’s part, and soon I sweep him up the length of my chest and have my way with him, laughing all the while.
My mouth aches from the effort of smiling so much so early in the morning, as well as the ache in my jaw from an entire night sucking his cock raw.
I tenderly kiss Mateo as he rubs sleep out of his eyes, resisting the urge to deepen the kiss again before we go for round five. I groan as Mateo reaches down and rubs my slit with a rye grin.
“Later, naga,” he quips, suddenly detangling himself and leaping from the bed before I can smack his ass. “I need to wash up before we’re late.”
With a sigh, I wait for Mateo to finish washing up so I can slip inside. I’d rather wash up together, but no, focus, Ranbir, we’re trying to get to the ball. My scales and skin do not require the attention human skin does, seeing as half of my body doesn’t sweat, but I need to wash the musk of sex from me so it won’t linger in the air and drive me wild.
My eyes dart upward, and I know they gleam with appreciation as Mateo shoots me a shy smile. He emerges from the steamy bathroom dripping wet, toweling off in the doorway for my benefit.
“I would have donated a palace’s worth of gold to that woman for bringing me closer to you. To think she did it for free,” I state, and it’s true.
“Oh? I think she got her money’s worth. Nothing’s ever free in this world,” Mateo says meekly, before raising a black tuxedo to his torso, and then a white one, trying on a rainbow colored mask.
