Page 4 of The Ruby Dragon Prince (Omega Fairy Tales #1)

Chapter

Three

Rufus

E very minute since the one where my sweet, feisty omega, Tovey, had run away from me had been a torturous exercise in patience.

“Stop pacing the floor or you’ll wear a trough in the marble,” my brother Emmerich laughed at me from the table where he and our cousin Gildur were playing chess. He glanced up at Gildur and said, “It’s like he’s never found his fated mate before.”

Gildur snorted with laughter, but I wasn’t the least bit amused.

“Of course I’ve never found my fated mate before,” I growled. “Each of us only has one fated mate, and we only meet them once. Just because you stumbled across yours accidentally last month doesn’t mean the rest of us are suddenly mewling whelps unworthy of your attention.”

It was meant to be a set-down, but Emmerich and Gildur only laughed harder.

“You have all the time in the world, Rufus,” Gildur said as he moved a piece across the board to capture one of Emmerich’s pieces. I had no idea which piece was which or whether the move was a good one. I had no patience for things like table games.

“You’ve more time than most,” Emmerich agreed. “Dragons live for centuries, millennia, even, and as soon as you’ve bonded with your omega, he’ll live out all those centuries with you.”

I growled, and even though it showed an embarrassing lack of control, twin puffs of smoke curled up from my nostrils.

I walked away from my kinsmen and their game and went to stare out the window at our kingdom, wiping my nose discreetly on the back of my sleeve to clear the smell of smoke. Emmerich and Gildur would only make fun of me if they knew I was so agitated that I was unintentionally smoking.

Staring out the window made my heart and gut clench with longing, though. The parts of our vast kingdom that I could see were beautiful and verdant. It was springtime, and nature, along with the enhancement of the magic that grew in every cell of every creature and living thing in the land, had made it beautiful. The sun was low against the horizon and dipping lower with each minute that ticked past. It would be night soon.

I could just make out the sapphire lake and the dancing pavilion on the island at the bottom of the hill where our castle stood. The castle was large and comfortable with more than enough room for all of my brothers and sisters and cousins, but if given a choice, I preferred to spend time in my lair, which was out of sight to the west of the castle, deep in the forest.

I’d wanted to be around my family while my heart and gut writhed with impatience, now that I’d found my fated mate, but they weren’t turning out to be the comfort I’d hoped they would be.

“I’m glad that your fated mate arrived with the rest of those sad, sorry omega princes, the other day,” Gildur said, then added, “Checkmate,” for Emmerich.

Emmerich huffed impatiently, a thin trail of smoke coming from one of his nostrils.

“They are sad and sorry,” I said, turning back to their finished game with a renewed burst of frustration. “From everything I’ve heard, their father, King Freslik, is horrifically selfish and evil.”

“He only cares about money and the power it can buy him,” Emmerich agreed.

It didn’t soothe me to have my brother agree with me.

“You’ve been up there,” I said, striding toward him and facing him aggressively as he stood. “You know the sort of peril my Tovey and his brothers are in. You’re fated for one of them.”

“I am,” Emmerich said, suddenly smiling with all the besotted affection of a dragon in love.

“Then why aren’t you champing at the bit as hard as I am to go up there and rescue them from that sort of misery?” I demanded.

“I’ve done a fair deal more than you have,” Emmerich argued, still smiling. “I gave them the door.”

“You should have sealed it behind them once they came to us,” I said, furious. If my omega had to suffer one moment more humiliation at his father’s hands, it would be Emmerich’s fault.

Instead of arguing with me, like I wanted him to, Emmerich rested a hand on my shoulder and said, “The time has not yet come when the princes will join us. There are wheels within wheels at work here.”

I pushed his hand off my shoulder and stomped away. “Don’t give me your thin platitudes when every day that passes brings my omega closer to disaster. The time to storm the cruel world and take what is ours has come.”

“Storm into the cruel world?” Gildur asked, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. “To what end? So that King Freslik and every greedy, grubbing human in that world will come to know of our existence?”

I grumbled as I paced away from them, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck. I didn’t like it, but Gildur had a point. Our magical realm was the stuff of secrets and dreams as far as the cruel world was concerned. It wasn’t as tightly guarded as it should have been. Humans had been known to stumble into our realm through cracks in stones and with the aid of magic amulets and trinkets that had been dropped or lost over time.

But if men like King Freslik knew of our existence, everything we had worked so hard for and cherished for so long would be in jeopardy. They would never take us, to be sure, but if knowledge of our world reached the humans, they would never leave us alone.

“You know that Argus is hard at work protecting our interests from inside King Freslik’s court,” Emmerich went on, daring to approach me again. “He’s watching out for the princes. One of them in particular.”

“Are we all to find our fated mates among King Freslik’s omegas?” Gildur asked in a teasing voice. “Is that the way this particular tale goes?”

“Argus is mated to one of the princes?” I asked.

“Not yet,” Emmerich said, “but he believes one of them is fated for him. As for the family connection,” he went on, turning to Gildur, “it’s not that uncommon for blood to be drawn to blood.”

“You make me wish I’d been at the dance the other night,” Gildur said, flashing his charming smile. “My mate was probably there, too.”

“Probably,” Emmerich laughed.

“How the two of you can sit here, twiddling your thumbs, when your omega mates are within your grasp is a mystery to me. I know that Tovey is meant for me. Why waste all this time dilly-dallying and allowing him to suffer at his father’s hands when I could march up there to King Freslik’s castle and claim him as my mate?”

“Rufus, Rufus,” Emmerich sighed, shaking his head. “You always were a hothead.”

“All rubies are hotheads,” Gildur added with a smirk. “It comes with the color.”

I growled at him to let him know what I thought of his teasing.

“Everything happens in good time,” Emmerich said, not helping the situation.

“What if the omega doesn’t want to rush into his fated relationship?” Gildur asked, gesturing with one hand. “What if he needs time to accept what the Grand Design has for him?”

“He will accept it,” I insisted. “He is mine, and I will claim him. Whether he is ready or not.”

Emmerich and Gildur made sounds of incredulousness.

“Our Rufus,” Gildur said. “Always rushing ahead without an ounce of tact or forbearance.”

“What is the point of tact when I could give my omega a better life than the one he has now?” I demanded.

I shook my head and walked away from them. My mind was made up.

“I will go to the cruel world, to King Freslik’s castle, right now and claim my mate, regardless of what you or he wants. He will cry my name in ecstasy as I make him mine and sear our souls together.”

“Never in the history of mate claiming has it ever been a good idea to force an omega to accept their fate,” Emmerich said.

“They all accept their fates in the end,” Gildur added. “It’s best to let them do that on their time.”

I could not have disagreed more. I would be able to protect Tovey once he was mine. He would never have to suffer again. He would be crowned in jewels, wanting for nothing, as we mated and raised our children together.

I’d nearly reached the door, my mind made up regardless of what my kinsmen advised me, when the door opened and one of the castle’s pages entered.

“Your highnesses,” the young beta woman said with a broad smile. “The omega princes have returned to the pavilion for tonight’s entertainments.”

“Excellent,” Emmerich said, clapping his hands together and striding for the door. He walked right past me and had the cheek to turn back and ask, “Well, what are you waiting for?”

I growled at him, then followed him out into the hallway.

Before making my way down to the pavilion, I stopped in my castle bedchamber to change into a dancing costume suitable for the night. I’d never much cared about what I wore or how I looked before, but after seeing the look of awe and hunger in my omega’s eyes the moment we met, I knew I had to dress to impress him. I wanted to see that look in my omega’s eyes again, specifically when he was naked and on his knees with his sweet mouth wrapped around my cock.

And then from the pillows on my bed as I returned the favor and made myself a slave to his pleasure.

I met up again with Emmerich on the path leading from the castle to the pavilion. Gildur had some other engagement, but said he would join us next time.

“Have patience,” Emmerich advised me as we approached the sweet music and magical light bathing the pavilion as the sun set across the forest. “Tovey is your fated mate, but you will not do yourself any favors by approaching him too strongly. He doesn’t even know about your dragon form yet, none of them do.”

I growled under my breath, resenting the fact that Emmerich made our dragon forms sound like something shocking and wrong.

We were dragons. There was no point in denying it. We were only one magical thing in a kingdom filled with every sort of creature that could be dreamed of. I personally thought we were one of the grander and more impressive things about our realm, although I had friends who insisted omega unicorns were the pinnacle of magical perfection. He just liked taking their heats, though.

I forgot everything, including Emmerich, and scanned the pavilion for my omega the moment I stepped onto its marble floor. The decorations tonight were all lilies, both organic and bejeweled. The pavilion was filled with their remarkable scent, but that scent was nothing to the sweet, lemony scent of my omega. He was like a citrus tart that would both bite and delight once I sank my teeth into him.

I was ready to sink more than just my teeth into him. Already, I could feel my cock pulsing with need and my balls hanging heavy in my breeches. The need to find and claim my omega did not only come from my heart. I’d scented him once, touched him fleetingly, and now my body felt poised on the edge of a frenzied rut.

That urgency increased when I spotted Tovey at the other end of the pavilion, standing in a cluster with his brothers, all of them whispering to each other, as if hatching some sort of plan. They were close, the captive omega princes. Anyone with eyes could see that. I would not let my omega’s brothers stand in the way of the two of us being together, though.

I marched forward, making my way directly to my sweet Tovey. The dancers parted for me, half because they didn’t want to be shoved out of the way as I made my way like an arrow to my target and half out of respect. My kinsmen and I were all princes and princesses of this realm and our mother was High Queen of it all. They not only stepped aside, they bowed their heads in deference.

I hardly saw any of them. I wanted Tovey, and I wanted him with single-minded focus.

My omega saw me coming, said something quickly to his brothers, then stepped away from them to greet me with an uncertain smile.

“My prince,” he said, bowing as respectfully as any of the other courtiers.

I liked him calling me his. I did not like him bowing like anyone else. He was not anyone else, he was mine. Others should bow to him.

“I did not ask your name before I left last night,” Tovey said as he smiled, glancing hopefully up at me.

“You left me,” I said, too harsh by far.

Tovey’s uncertain smile dropped to a worried look. “I had to go,” he said. “My brothers needed me with them. Indeed, we’ve all had the most miserable two days. Father railed at us yesterday morning for being ungrateful whores, then refused to feed us at all today.”

The man would pay. I would tighten my claws around his neck and pierce his pathetic throat with them and watch the blood drain out as he flailed and cried for mercy I would not give.

“Rufus,” I said moving to pull my omega into my embrace.

“I beg your pardon?” His voice wavered and he sagged a little, as if his knees might give way.

“My name is Rufus, and you will eat,” I told him.

“I…I….” He swallowed hard, his face pinking as he gazed up at me. “I already ate.”

“Good,” I growled, stroking a hand down his back. “Then you will dance.”

“Yes, my lord,” he said, blinking as though overcome with amazement. A moment later, he shook his head, stood a bit more on his own power, then said, “I mean, yes, I love dancing, and I would be happy to dance with you, Rufus.”

I grunted, half in amusement at his attempt to get some of his own back and half in satisfaction. It would be a pleasure for both of us, forcing him to submit.

It was good that the dance taking place as we joined the others on the floor was the sort that allowed me to hold Tovey in my arms. I didn’t want to let him go at that point. Ever. He would soon learn that the best place for him was in my arms, under me, or above me while straddling my bucking hips. I would teach him all the joys of being a dragon’s mate, and I would give him whatever his heart desired.

“You’re angry with me, aren’t you,” he said once we’d taken a swirling turn around the dance floor. “For leaving last night.”

“You are mine,” I said, simply stating fact.

Tovey jolted and had the audacity to look offended. “I am my own,” he said. “I belong to no one.”

“You belong to me,” I said, pouring my heart into the words. “You are my fated mate.”

“That may be,” he said, lowering his head slightly in consideration and tightening his hands on my arm and shoulder, “but that does not mean you own me.”

“That is precisely what it means,” I told him, surprised that he didn’t know. “You belong to me and I belong to you. The fabric of our souls has been woven for each other since the beginning of our existences. Now that we have met, I am the warp and you are the weft. We twine together, each belonging to the other and a part of each other, to make one whole.”

Tovey’s mouth dropped open and his eyes shone with emotion as he gazed up at me. “I don’t know whether that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard or the most terrifying,” he said in a breathless voice.

“Love is terrifying,” I said.

I was serious, but Tovey burst with laughter. I was about to demand what he meant by his laughter when he said, “You have no idea how charming you are, bluntness and all.”

“I’m not blunt, I’m just right,” I said.

That made him laugh more.

“You find that amusing?” I asked, frowning.

“Yes,” he said, remnants of his laughter still circling around him. “I most certainly do.”

“It was not intended to be funny,” I said. “No one has ever called me funny.”

“No, I don’t suppose they ever have,” he said, still smiling, much to my aggravation.

“I will teach you not to mock me,” I said in my most sultry voice. “I will teach you to offer yourself in whatever way I want, and I want you in a lot of ways.”

Tovey’s breath hitched, and although the laughter remained in his eyes, something dark, sultry, and a touch terrified joined it. “And what if I resist?” he asked. “What if I refuse to give you everything you want?”

I leaned closer to his ear as I pulled him closer and growled, “Then I will take it by force.”

I felt the shiver pass through my omega’s body. I could feel him in my soul. I was right in my initial impression that he was feisty, and the feisty ones often liked a bit of intensity in their mating.

Even as I thought those words, Tovey seemed to grow warmer in my arms. He had been on the verge of saying something, probably taking our banter as we danced to another level, but he grew suddenly silent. I spun him through the steps of the dance, but his body was no longer loose and agile. He’d gone stiff with some sort of worry or alarm.

“What is wrong?” I demanded. Whatever it was, I would solve it.

“I….” His mouth hung open, but no further words came out.

I knew then what was wrong. It was the reason his body felt warmer in my arms, the reason his sweet lemon scent was suddenly overpowering. It was the reason I could see his pulse in the veins of his neck, though I knew no one else would be able to see it.

“No,” he whispered. “It’s not time. Not by far.”

“You see?” I told him with a smug grin. “Nature knows that we belong together, that we are fated for each other. It cannot be denied.”

“But this is impossible,” Tovey said, breaking out of my embrace and rushing to the side of the pavilion. “I’m not ready for this. My brothers….”

He glanced back over his shoulder at the throng of dancers. I turned to look as well, trying to spot any of the other omega princes among the swirling, happy couples. If Tovey was worried what they would think of him or whether they needed him, he need not be concerned. They were as safe as could be as long as they were in the protection of my kinsmen.

“You needn’t worry,” I said turning back.

The rest of my reassurance died on my lips. The space in front of me was empty. Tovey had run.