Page 3

Still, this was Al’s brother, and Ezra wasn’t one to be rude unless a situation really, really called for it, so he said, “I’m glad you could make it to the bonding ceremony,” just to make conversation. “I didn’t see your paperwork come through, so I didn’t realize you’d be here.”

“I did not do these paperworks,” Titan said smoothly with a nonchalant little shrug. “I have special permissions from the government to travel to wherever pleases me.”

Ezra resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

How unfair was it that golden-boy Titan got to reap the nepotism rewards when the rest of his siblings had to jump through a thousand bureaucratic hoops to be allowed onto Earth?

Al’s parents had nearly bitten Al’s head off when they’d discovered he’d made first contact without going through the proper channels, even though it had been a complete accident, but Ezra got the feeling that if Titan had been the one stranded on Earth, they wouldn’t have batted an eye.

“Right, well, again, glad you could make it. I’m just gonna…” Ezra ges tured haphazardly in a random direction and started to leave, only for Titan to push himself off the table and step in front of him, preventing him from going anywhere.

“You feel attraction toward me, Ambassador Ezra,” Titan uttered, speaking in hushed tones that were still too loud for the subject matter at hand. Ezra glanced around, embarrassed, but no one was paying them any mind. “I know this is the truth. I sensed it.”

Ezra went from embarrassed to annoyed in a millisecond. “You were using your touch telepathy on me!” That was why Titan had held on to his hand for so long. “That’s like, such a dick move, man.”

Titan shrugged again, eyebrow arched. “I did do this, yes, but I did not need to do it. I sensed your attraction from across the room. You are easy to read, Ambassador.”

“Wow, fuck this.” Ezra held up a middle finger and said, “Read this,” before moving around Titan and making a beeline for the closest server he could find.

“Here you are, sir,” the server said, handing Ezra a flute of champagne upon Ezra’s approach.

This one had no Pop Rocks, but the tray the server held did boast several small containers of bizarre and seemingly unrelated food items, including but not limited to lima beans, mini Vienna sausages, and macaroni and cheese.

Ezra helped himself to a Vienna sausage and nodded politely at the server, who did not nod back, but whose kind smile made Ezra feel welcome…

and like this incredibly bizarre social gathering was totally normal, and not something plucked out of a fever dream.

Unfortunately, Ezra’s newly restored sense of normalcy did not last long. Titan had followed him, and was close on his heels.

“Ambassador Ezra!” he exclaimed. “Why did you give the traditional human symbol of goodbyes when we were still having conversation? ”

Ezra pinched the bridge of his nose. “Dude, what is your damage?”

“There is no need to use formal titles with me. You may call me Titan.”

“No, that’s?—”

Ezra cut himself off with a sigh. Explaining what he meant would not help end their conversation; it would only prolong it.

What he needed to do was speak firmly and directly, cutting straight to the chase, so he could leave Al’s unfairly attractive dickhead of a brother behind him and then never speak to him again.

With that in mind, he downed his champagne all at once to get himself fired up, dragged his arm across his mouth as he winced off the burn, and spun around so he and Titan were once more face to face.

In theory, it was meant to be empowering.

But in practice, it was a mistake, because the second Ezra laid eyes on Titan, his heart lurched in a way that made it feel like the whole world was shifting beneath his feet.

Hot-cheeked and breathless, he stared dazedly at Titan, too stunned to do anything else. The man really was gorgeous—but he had principles, dammit!

Principles that wouldn’t be swayed by hot guys with putrid personalities.

“I don’t know what you think you’ve ‘sensed’ about me,” he said, pointing his empty champagne glass aggressively at Titan for emphasis, “but I’m not attracted to you, and even if I were, it would only be because you picked a nice human disguise.

I may not know you very well, but the little I do know doesn’t make me want to change that. ”

Titan said nothing for a moment, and the pride melted off his face.

“Am I doing the human mating rituals incorrectly?” he asked, speaking with such earnest sincerity, Ezra actually felt sympathy for him.

Sadly, the moment was short-lived. Titan’s confidence came r oaring back, and with a shake of his head, he declared, “No, that is not the case. I am very good at cultures.”

Ezra groaned. “Dude, why are you even trying to do a human mating ritual with me, anyway? It’s your brother’s rehearsal dinner. Keep it in your pants, man.”

“It was your attraction that caused me to notice you, Ambassador Ezra. And I did not tell untruths. I have heard many good things about you. My interest has been picked.”

“Piqued.”

“What?”

“Your interest has been piqued, not picked.”

“Hm, no, I think I am correct. I have done much practice with English since receiving my invitation to the bonding ceremony.”

“Oh my god. You suck.”

This did not deter Titan, who steered the conversation forward as though he hadn’t heard Ezra at all.

“You wish to mate with me,” he said bluntly, and once again Ezra had to look over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening in.

“I wish to mate with you. This is not difficult. After we have rehearsed dinner, you and I shall mate, yes?”

“Bro, no.”

Titan’s face softened with a teensy bit of earnestness that unfortunately made him look even hotter. “But you feel attraction toward my human form.”

“So what?” Ezra gave the room at large another conspiratorial glance, mortified by the thought he could be causing a scene, and even more mortified by the thought that if he wasn’t careful, gossip about his sex life could be spread across the galaxy.

“I’m attracted to a lot of human forms, okay?

That doesn’t mean they’re all great to ‘mate’ with.

” Pointedly, he added, “Some of them turn out to be dicks.”

“Yes, I have a human penis. It is very large. Would you like to?—”

“No! That’s not what I—look. You’re right. You have a very fuckab le body. But man, your personality is a total dumpster fire. I can’t with you right now. Why don’t you go find someone else to mate with?”

“I am related to almost all of the attendees here,” Titan pointed out, which, yeah, fair. “And besides, I do not wish to mate with someone else. I wish to mate with you. You are known among our people as a great ambassador, and I only mate with those who are great.”

“Yeah, same, and you’re not one of them.”

It should have been the end of the conversation—not even the language barrier could have obscured the meaning of a statement like that—but Titan was not deterred.

He took a step closer, entering Ezra’s personal bubble, and leaned in, head tilting just enough to bring his lips a hair’s breadth away from Ezra’s.

“Tell me with certainty that you do not wish to mate with me,” Titan said in a low, seductive whisper, “and I will leave you alone.”

“I—” Ezra’s voice broke, a whimper dying in his throat. His heart hammered. His cheeks burned and, almost as if drawn to Titan magnetically, he lifted his chin as if to claim Titan’s lips. Arousal pulsed through him, urging him just to do it. To kiss him. To let Titan have his way.

But Ezra was stronger than his biology, and even as his body begged him to bring Titan to bed, he held tightly to his resolve.

He did not fuck with assholes, and that meant he would not fuck Titan Leon.