Food? My stomach growled as the sweet scent of baked bread filled the room. I couldn’t even remember when I’d eaten last. It had to have been at least four hours before I was taken by River.
The alpha sat on the bed next to me, picking out things from the trolley and putting them on a plate for me. There was so much food! Grapes, bread, jams of sorts, what looked like sausages, and other variants of fruits I couldn’t name.
“Do you like Jubilion juice?” River asked once he’d handed me my plate.
“What?”
“Jubilion juice,” he repeated. “It’s a fruit juice.”
“Yeah, I sort of got that from the namejuice, but what sort of fruit is it?” I asked, sounding a little irritated, even to my ears.
River just smiled lovingly at me, like I was acting perfectly nice. “It tastes sort of like pineapple and kiwi mixed together, but the sweeter versions of both.”
“Oh, that actually sounds delicious,” I admitted, feeling pleased that it made him smile. He handed me a crystal glass with purple liquid in it. I took a tentative sip and hummed happily. It tasted amazing!
River shot me a heated gaze as I licked my lips and soon the entire room was flooded by his lust pheromones.
I was so fucked.
Chapter Five
River
Ember was magnificent. Yes, he’d tried to get away from me, but I understood his reasons, especially if he didn’t trust alphas. He would soon trust me though, our bond would make it so. I should probably tell him just how close he was to his first heat, but I would keep that to myself until he’d finished eating. There was a certain knowledge in my instincts that made me find my way to him before his first heat began, that was always the way it worked for us dragon alphas and likely always would.
Ember panted next to me, his eyes dark. “Could you,” he breathed, licking his lips. “Could you please reign in your pheromones?”
Oh. I hadn’t even realized my lust for him was pouring out of me. My lovely mate was simply too irresistible for me to remain in control of myself. I pushed my pheromones back, even if it felt wrong to do so in the company of my mate. Normally we wouldn’t hide how we felt in the company of our fated mates and I hated doing so now. I wanted Ember to know exactly how I felt and for me to feel free just being in his presence without worrying about what I projected and didn’t.
“I apologize,” I rasped, clearing my throat.
Ember waved it off, eating a strawberry as I seemed intent on ignoring the fact I could smell his slick. My lovely mate was just as horny for me as I was for him.
“So, just to get some things straight,” he said, meeting my gaze. “Alpha dragons have fated mates, and I’m supposedly yours, correct?”
“Not supposedly, you are mine,” I growled, tired of him ignoring the fact he was completelymine.
He took in a deep breath, likely fighting for patience. He would soon find that I was right anyway. His nesting instincts would kick in soon and then his heat would hit and all he’d want was my cock and knot. I couldn’t fucking wait to claim my omega.
Ember’s eyes darkened again and he groaned. “Please, not again.”
I hurried to reign in my pheromones again, giving him a sheepish grin. “I’m sorry,” I said, carefully tucking away one of his red locks behind his lovely ear. “I can’t seem to control myself around you.”
He swallowed, his eyes pinging between my eyes and lips, like he couldn’t figure out what part of my face to focus on. He was getting turned on as well, the sweet scent of his slick so potent in my bedroom that my cock was hardening rapidly. There was no way I could force my pheromones back now, it was simply too late.
In a flash, I had Ember in my lap, his hands fisting my shirt. “What are you doing to me?” he rasped, then his lips slammed down on mine making me growl as I held his hips possessively.
Ember whimpered as he began grinding on my lap, our bond slowly solidifying, making it impossible for us to stop touching. Had he not run off, we would’ve likely already fully mated. But I didn’t mind waiting a little longer for my omega to feel comfortable. I also couldn’t wait to learn of his shifted form. He had to be some kind of flying shifter for him to have escaped, but I would have to wait to figure out what he was. His tongue was now in my mouth, hungry and demanding. It was obvious this was his first real kiss. The knowledge that I was the only one who’d tasted how sweet he was made my dragon purr smugly inside me. I hadn’t spent my two hundred years in solitude, but I still felt like I was new to all of this because of how Ember made me feel. No one who’d come before him could even compare. His scent alone was enough to make me feral for him.
If fucking him right now wouldn’t have hurt him, then I would’ve already had my cock inside his warm hole, but until he’d had his first heat, I couldn’t. But I could do the one thing my dragon needed above all else. In fact, I felt myself kissing his neck, my dragon taking over my body and forcing me to claim our mate. It wasn’t willing to wait any longer. My tongue licked his throat, making Ember moan obscenely as his ass rubbed my length, our clothes annoying barriers between us. My teeth grazed his skin next, making him shiver, and then I latched ontohis skin, piercing into his soft flesh, claiming him as my mate as the mating bite took hold.
“River!” Ember shouted, the scent of his sweet cum and slick so potent it was all I could smell now. He’d come from my bite alone. I hugged him closer, my teeth still inside his neck as he panted for air.
My teeth reluctantly let go of his neck and seeing the claiming mark made me purr louder than ever. I’d finally claimed my omega.
“What…” Ember slurred. “What just happened?”
Petting his hair, I hugged him tighter against me. “I claimed you as mine,” I announced proudly.
