Page 8 of The Ruby Dragon Prince (Omega Fairy Tales #1)

Chapter

Seven

Rufus

T he second I stepped through my hastily conjured door I thought better of my actions and almost turned back. Patience. I had to learn patience or I would end up in another dungeon cell while my sweet omega had all my magic.

The door was no longer there, of course. Not only did Tovey still have the lion’s share of my magic, whether he knew it or not, I’d overextended myself. Instead of lasting for an hour, as I was certain the door I’d opened in the broom closet had, the one I’d made in the hallway evaporated the instant I was through.

“Dammit!” I roared, startling one of the servants in my mother’s castle, where I’d returned. “Tovey!”

I wasn’t certain whether I was shouting his name as a way to call to him or as a curse. Omega mates were supposed to be sweet and biddable, or so I’d always believed. But even though Tovey had let me catch him and breed him in the forest, he was turning out to be a clever omega with a mind of his own.

If I was honest with myself, I loved that. I loved the idea of having a mate who would keep me on my toes and who was as strong as I was.

Not in that moment, however. The few touches, embraces, and kisses we had shared reminded me that our union had already been fruitful. Within a year, I would be a father and Tovey would be a papa. These things didn’t happen as straightforwardly with dragonkind as they did with humans, though. I needed to find my mate again and bring him back to my lair as soon as possible to complete the breeding, for his own comfort and my peace of mind.

There were things to do first. I glanced around to get my bearings in the castle, and as soon as I figured out where I was, I turned and stormed off toward the family portion of the castle, intent on locating any of my kinsmen as I could. As much as it grated on me, I would need their help if I was ever going to convince Tovey to leave his brothers and take his fated place by my side.

I was lucky to find Emmerich and our eldest brother, Argus, enjoying a light repast together in one of the smaller dining alcoves that looked out over the castle’s enchanted rose garden. Our cousin, Diamant, was there as well, which made me happy. If any of my kinsmen were as hotheaded and prone to action as me, it was Diamant, even if, as a diamond, Diamant preferred pleasure and leisure to fighting.

“Rufus. Have you decided to join the servants, then?” Diament teased me as I walked into the room.

I glanced down at the drab servants’ clothing I still wore, grunted, and without much thought, transformed the clothing into a more suitably noble shirt and breeches with a red waistcoat.

“I need your help,” I addressed my kinsmen, marching up to the table with the assumption that they would do my bidding without question.

Emmerich and Argus exchanged knowing looks.

“What do you need our help with?” Argus asked, leaning back in his chair and hooking one strong arm over its top. He wore a clever grin that made me want to growl at him. He might have been the eldest, with streaks of silver in his hair to prove it, but that didn’t mean he knew better than me.

“My fated mate refuses to come here to make his life with me until a dastardly plot hatched by his father is foiled,” I said. “So we all need to band together to go to the cruel world at once, terrorize King Freslik into abandoning his plan, and bring my Tovey home.”

My declaration was met by silence underpinned by barely concealed laughter.

“Have a seat, Rufus,” Emmerich said, gesturing to the seat beside Diamant on the other side of the table. “We were just talking about King Freslik and his dastardly plans.”

Emmerich’s calm made me feel foolish. I resented that, but the way he and Argus looked at me with fondness and amusement cooled the anger and righteousness I felt. They didn’t have to say a word to scold me, but I knew they were right.

“Being a ruby dragon is a curse,” I growled, yanking out the chair next to Diamant’s and plunking into it. “This temper never does me any good.”

“At least you come by it naturally,” Diamant laughed, reaching around the end of the small table to thump my shoulder. “And temper can be tempered, if you’ll excuse the word, into righteous action and power.”

I nodded at him, stroking my beard. Diamant would know. He’d served as governor of the troll and ogre province of Mother’s kingdom for a century during the last millennium. He knew how to combine his temper with patience to bring Mother’s most unruly subjects into line.

“Which of King Freslik’s plots has young Prince Tovey so determined to choose his people over his mate?” Argus asked calmly, reaching for the glass of wine at his place.

I was grateful that one of the servants brought me a plate of the same fare my kinsmen were eating and a glass of wine. It gave me a moment to push aside my anger to remember the important details of what Tovey and his brothers had told me.

“Something about the king and a Lord Groswick planning to tax the farmers and make their lives miserable,” I said after taking a large gulp of wine.

Argus and Emmerich looked at each other and made long, low sounds, like they’d figured something out.

“That must have been why the two of them left the council chamber together when we broke for the midday repast,” Argus said.

I nearly fumbled the chunk of meat pie that I’d just speared as I glanced at him. “You know about this plan already?”

“Not per se,” Argus said, shrugging slightly. “I am part of King Freslik’s council, and they have been debating the management of the kingdom and ways to squeeze more money from the peasants all morning.”

I would have choked on my bite of pie if I hadn’t just swallowed it. “You’re the one who has infiltrated King Freslik’s council?”

Argus smiled and pretended to bow as much as he could while seated. “In disguise, of course,” he said, adding a wink.

“Which councilor are you?” I asked. Not that I would know. My experience of the cruel world consisted of that one journey there that I’d just taken.

“I shall never disclose my secrets,” Argus said, touching his nose as he looked across at Emmerich.

Emmerich nodded sagely and winked in return.

I grunted as I ate another bite. “The two of you are as thick as thieves,” I said once I’d swallowed. “Your secrets will take us all to our graves.”

“Nonsense,” Emmerich laughed. “Our secrets keep us, our mates, your mate, and the entire magical kingdom safe from interference by the likes of King Freslik and his sycophants.”

“The fewer people who know just how much of a hand we have in other worlds the better,” Argus said.

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant about other worlds but decided against it. I was vaguely aware that there were thousands and millions of worlds that made up the Universe. I wasn’t the sort to be interested in all any of them other than the one where I lived my life, served my mother, and took care of my mate and our family.

Which brought me back to the matter that had spurred me to act in the first place.

“I cannot let Tovey continue on in the cruel world for long,” I said, fighting to be practical instead of full of zeal. “We are mated now. I bred him last night. Well, half bred him. I need to complete the breeding as soon as possible.”

I admitted the last bit in a somewhat sheepish tone, bowing my head slightly. It wasn’t polite to talk about such things at the table, but it was important that my kinsmen knew my reasons for haste.

“Already?” Argus asked, looking startled. “You’ve only just met the lad.”

“I met my fated mate a month ago, but I’ve let him be,” Emmerich said. “At least for now.”

“You gave him the door,” Diamant laughed. “That hardly counts as leaving him be.”

“I haven’t chased him through the forest and bred him,” Emmerich said, looking pointedly at me.

I sunk a tiny bit in my chair. So Emmerich knew about that, too? But of course he would. He was the governor of this part of our world.

“Regardless of how it happened or how quickly it happened,” I said, clearing my throat, sitting straighter, and trying to have a little dignity, “it happened. And now my omega mate is quickening. I need to bring him to my lair to finish the breeding process or he will only grow sick.”

“You let him return to the cruel world half-bred?” Diamant asked, his ice-blue eyes wide with alarm.

“He ran off before I could finish things,” I sighed, putting my fork down and rubbing my face. “I didn’t even have time to explain.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this,” Emmerich said, shaking his head, “but you need to go back and fetch your mate and relieve him as soon as possible.”

“Why didn’t you bring him back when you went over there just now?” Argus asked, disapproving.

“I told you, he refused to come. He feels responsible to his people and to his brother.”

That and finishing the breeding had completely slipped my mind. I wasn’t an omega. I’d never had children before. I knew as much about these things as I did about weaving tapestries or tending flower beds.

I did know enough, though. I knew that my seed had taken in Tovey with extraordinary speed. Although that likely had something to do with the ferocity of my rut and the determination I had to break down every barrier his body put up for me, including forcing my way into his womb.

I couldn’t help but sit back and grin wickedly as I remembered the strength of the breeding orgasm, though. I’d never felt anything like it. I’d never been so completely consumed with pleasure and a sense of conquest and rightness. I’d made my omega submit to such a degree that his luscious body hadn’t dared to do anything less than create new life.

I was lucky that he wasn’t furious with me for the brazen liberties I’d taken with his person and his soul.

That thought made me lose my smile. Dragons were aggressive and rough when they bred by nature, but there was such a thing as too much. At least Tovey seemed to have enjoyed being forced to take my cock and my seed.

Argus cleared his throat beside me, and when I snapped myself out of my heated thoughts and glanced at him, he said, “You need to fetch your mate and complete the breeding. He’s not the only one who needs the relief.”

“You’re going to be more insufferable than usual until the job is done,” Emmerich said, sending me a teasing grin.

I growled, thunked my hands on the table, then pushed myself to stand. “He’s not going to deny me this time,” I said.

He wasn’t going to deny me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t make the process easier for him. Omegas needed to nest, and since I wasn’t certain what nesting materials Tovey would choose, I spent the rest of the afternoon gathering everything from silk to feathers and taking it all to my lair. I needed to restore my magic to its full strength as well, and nothing accomplished that as thoroughly or quickly as spending time in my lair.

Every dragon’s lair was different. We’d long ago left the age when dragons hoarded their treasure in deep, dank caves, although I had a few eccentric cousins who still did that. My lair took the form of a magnificent, half-timbered house deep in the woods, atop a gentle hill. It had dozens of rooms, polished wood floors, stained glass in the windows, and large, carved fireplaces in every room.

I knew that Tovey would love it. He might want to redecorate it as part of his nesting time, but if that was the case, so be it.

By the time night began to fall, I had half the lair filled with every variety of nesting materials Tovey could have wanted. He could choose from any number of bedchambers within the lair to make his nest, though I hoped he’d choose mine. Ours. It would be our bedchamber from now on. The only thing that was missing from the lair was him.

When I was certain everything was just as I wanted it, I opened a door from my bedchamber directly into the room Tovey shared with his brothers. Time magic was by far the most difficult to control, but I was skilled enough at it that I was able to open the door deep into the earliest hours of the morning, when all six of the omega princes were asleep.

As horrible as King Freslik was, he’d given his omega sons a phenomenal bedchamber. It was wide and circular, as if it should be at the top of a vast tower. The circumference of the room was divided into sixths, six beds evenly spaced around with their heads against the wall. To the right of each bed was a wardrobe that contained each prince’s clothing, and to the left was a low table. Different items rested on each prince’s table, from books to games to flowers. The room had a single window that looked out into the garden where they’d been the day before and sconces that held lamps, all now extinguished, in the other five spaces.

I knew exactly which bed was Tovey’s without having to tiptoe around the room checking. I could smell his sweet lemon scent, but I could also feel him through the bond that now joined us. It was still new and thin, but I was confident that in a very short space of time, it would be as thick as the roots of the mightiest oak.

Tovey was restless in his sleep, tossing and turning under his plain bedcovers. The room itself might have been worthy of princes, but the comforts King Freslik had allowed his sons were not. I vowed that Tovey would only ever sleep on silks or the finest cottons for the rest of his life.

He huffed out a breath and twisted as I approached the bed, but when I sat on the side and brushed a hand over his head, pushing his hair back from his forehead, he instantly stilled. The greenish-grey pallor that had been on his face faded to the pink of health as soon as I touched him. I definitely needed to get him back to my lair and finish the breeding quickly.

Tovey seemed to sense I was there. He turned to his back and drowsily opened his eyes. Instead of jerking or startling at the sight of me, he relaxed into a fond smile. I stroked my hand around his face, radiating the love I felt for him and letting him know that everything would be alright.

I couldn’t let the whole thing pass without a little excitement, though. I was a ruby dragon, after all, and Tovey was a ruby dragon’s mate. We needed spice in our mating as much as anything else.

So with a mischievous glint of darkness that I knew he could see in my eyes, I clapped a hand over his mouth to silence any cry he might make and leaned over him pinning him to the bed with my body.

“You’re coming with me now, my sweet,” I growled into his ear. “I haven’t finished breeding you yet. And I promise you, I will show you as little mercy this time as my cock plunders you as I showed you last time.”