Page 7

Titan

Titan’s nightly unconsciousness came to an abrupt end when someone grabbed his shoulder and gave it a firm shake.

He grumbled in the hopes that his vocal protestation would be enough to make it cease, but when it did not, he blinked his eyes open and found Ezra staring down at him, an expectant look on his face.

“Hmm?” Titan hummed, still too groggy to form English words.

“I asked you if you were awake.”

“I was not.” Titan eyed Ezra, who was still nude and delightfully disheveled from their earlier mating session.

A smirk teased the corners of his lips. “However, I am now. What is the urgent matter that caused you to rouse me from unconsciousness, Ambassador? Do you require my assistance in some way?”

“You don’t have to keep calling me Ambassador. You fucked me in the ass—you can just call me Ezra. Also, yes, I do need you to do something.”

Titan’s smirk gained confidence. He propped himself up on one elbow, ready to drag Ezra back onto the bed for another incred ible mating session, only for Ezra to say, “I need you to get out of my room.”

Titan’s confidence deflated. “I apologize?”

“Get out of my room. It’s almost midnight, and you need to get out of here so I can get some sleep before the ceremony tomorrow.”

“I thought humans found it customary for mates to have unconsciousness together after engaging in sexual exploits.”

“Nah, man. That’s only if you like the person. I don’t like you, remember? Now seriously, get up. I don’t want anyone to know you were here.”

Titan was baffled. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and frowned at Ezra, expecting him to laugh and smile his charming smile and throw himself upon Titan so they might mate, but Ezra’s demeanor did not change. Worse, he gestured pointedly at the door. “Out.”

“I thought you were making a humorous statement!”

“A humorous statement?” Ezra arched one of his eyebrows. “Which part of what I said did you think was humorous?”

“The part in which you expressed your dislike for me.”

“Oh. Yeah, no, I meant that. I told you, you drive me insane. You’re a pompous jerk. I’ve been involved with a lot of pompous jerks in my time, and I’m over it. I don’t fuck with them anymore, which means I don’t fuck with you either.”

“But you did ‘fuck with me.’ Quite literally, if I recall the colloquial meaning of the word ‘fuck,’ which of course I do, because I am intelligent and know many things.”

Ezra pinched the bridge of his nose and muttered something that sounded like, “He doesn’t even hear himself.

” He then dropped his hand, looked Titan in the eyes, and said, “That was a mistake, all right? I had dick-brain and I wasn’t thinking clearly, but I have post-nut clarity now and have come to my senses, and my senses are telling me that you need to get out of my room. ”

Titan did not know what “dick-brain” or “post-nut clarity” meant, but he was not about to admit this.

He also did not want to leave the room. He had been comfortable lying beside Ezra in the bed and did not want to return to his own unconsciousness quarters, where he would be alone.

Proximity to Ezra made his nightly unconsciousness pleasurable rather than a biological necessity, and that meant it was something to be protected and treasured. “But I wish to stay,” he said.

“Come on, man. Do you not have hookups on your planet?”

“Is this another attempt at humor? Even primitive cultures have hooks. They are useful for harvesting sea meats.”

“No.” Ezra clawed at his face, then took his hands away with a heavy sigh and peered into Titan’s eyes with fiery resolution.

“What I mean is, have you never taken someone to bed and then pretended like it never happened? Because when I said this was a one-time thing, that’s what I meant, and I need you to understand that.

I really, really don’t want Al or Jude to find out we slept together, and that means we need to act like we’re strangers.

Just two guys who ended up in the same wedding due to like, circumstance or whatever. ”

“Why are my brother and his mate not allowed to know that we have mated? Are you ashamed of our actions, Ambass—Ezra?”

“Yes,” Ezra stressed. “Yes, I am mortified. Why is this so hard for you to understand?”

“But you enjoyed yourself when we were mating!”

Ezra grimaced. “Could you maybe not call it that?”

“But you enjoyed yourself when we were fucking?” Titan amended with a tilt of his head.

“Better. Though it still sounds kind of weird when you say it.”

“Weird or not, my point continues to stand. You enjoyed our time together, and therefore should have no reason to feel shame.”

“Dude.” Ezra let out another heavy sigh.

“Look, yes, I fucking loved the way you fucked me, but that doesn’t mean it was a good idea, all right?

I told you it was only going to be a one-time thing, and yo u have to accept that.

So will you please leave my room and promise me you won’t tell anyone what we did? ”

An unfamiliar feeling twisted in Titan’s chest that took him an increment of time to place.

Was it possible it was… rejection?

He shook the thought away. That was absurd. He had never been rejected before. Potential suitors always wanted to mate with him, employers fought to hire him, his friends found him witty and charming; why would this situation be any different?

Ezra had to be confused, and that was fine. Titan could be patient. It was far from an ideal situation, but it was somewhat exciting—it would be his first time pursuing something he wanted rather than having that thing given to him freely.

And Titan would have Ezra.

No matter what it took, he would make the ambassador his.

Reassured that the situation was under control, Titan left the bed and dressed, pulling on his slacks and shrugging on his shirt. He draped the rest of his clothing over his arm, which he held up to his chest.

“I will tell no one of our exploits,” he said as he approached the door. “But if you intend to keep what we have done a secret, you may wish to cover my mark.”

Ezra’s hand flew up to the—what was the word? The hickey that Titan had left on him. His cheeks bloomed a delicious pink, and Titan wanted to bite him and claim him all over again.

But he didn’t.

He would bide his time.

It would not be the last encounter he would have with Ezra, nor his last night in his bed.

“Good night, Ambassador,” he said, barely holding back a wicked grin.

“Good night,” Ezra mumbled. His hand had not left his neck.

Titan slipped out the door, already plotting his next move.