Page 41 of Gold Sector

And we’re both naked.

“It’s an old joke my brother came up with when we were young,” he goes on, his golden gaze grabbing and holding my focus. “He usually calls me Rumpelstiltskin when he wants to goad me. Just like I call him Silverstiltskin in return.”

I keep staring at him, lost as to what any of this means.

“His affinity is for white gold,” he goes on. “Referring to him asSilverstiltskinpisses him off. But I’m not exactly a fan of being compared to a conniving imp either.”

“I don’t…” I cough, my throat drier than I realized.

Oros reaches over for a bottle of water and brings it to my lips. I have no idea how that appeared nearby or why he had it ready, but I’m thankful anyway.

“I gave you that necklace as a sign of affection,” he tells me. “Not because I expect something in return. And certainly not your firstborn. I would never take a child away from an Omega. That’s cruel.”

Okay, some of the earlier conversation is coming back to me now.

The shower.

His story.

The links my mind made to me being the miller’s daughter.

I set the now-empty bottle of water aside and touch the coin hanging from my neck. “The Gold Sector Prince said gold is coveted,” I whisper, recalling how my mind made the jumps earlier. “He told me it’ll impress the Royal Court…” I try to yank on the chain again. “I don’t want to impress them. I…”

“Taliana,” he says, his hand covering mine. “This necklace isn’t about impressing them. It’s about me marking you.”

I blink at that. “What?”

He blows out a breath, reminding me that I’m practically curled up in his lap because his chest is rightnext to my arm. “There’s something about your scent that makes my dragon crazy. I made the necklace as a sign of favor,myfavor, because I… I want you to wear my mark.”

Frowning, I run my thumb over the coin and note the engraving. I can’t tell what it is, exactly, but it’s indented with some sort of symbol. “Oh.”

“Oh,” he echoes, huffing a laugh. “You have no idea how profound this is.”

“Do guardians typically want their Omegas to wear their marks?” I ask slowly, trying to guess at what he means.

“No, little diamond. No, they do not. In fact, only Alphas courting an Omega mate do such a thing.”

“Oh,” I say again. Or, well, my lips form the shape. But it comes out barely audible.

Because Oros just insinuated that he made me this necklace… as a sign of courtship.

He wants me.

An Alpha… wants me.

And he knows about my wolf.

Which makes this even more impactful. Because a Drakonian Alpha wants to court me.

“I…” My brow furrows, my mind catching up on something else he said. “Because of my scent?” He said my scent was driving his dragon crazy.

“Yes,” he answers without hesitation. “You smell like a field of wildflowers, one my dragon very much wants to roll in.”

I blink at him. “You smell like a bonfire to me.”

His nose wrinkles. “Is that good or bad?”

“Good,” I tell him. “Very good.” My cheeks heat at the admission, then burn when he smiles.