Luse Cohan didn’t want to go down to Earth. He wasn’t interested in getting a mate for a pompous, gluttonous royal. Nor did he want to be an errand boy for the Royal Guard. He wasn’t sure when or how his attitude had changed, but it had. He was a bitter, jaded male who no longer believed love was possible for any of them. This scavenger hunt for the Royal Family seemed only worthy of an errand boy, and Luse didn’t sign up for the Royal Guard to be an errand boy.

Luse guided the surfacer down into Earth’s atmosphere. He was going in cold. He had no plan for how he was going to convince a male to go with him. He should have brought Cooper with him. Perhaps then he would have an idea of where to find a male to bring aboard the Titan. Despite all his annoyance in the matter, Luse had studied this planet closely. The human males were the closest they had in their quest to becoming an independent world again. But how many would it take before they had enough? Too many.

Luse smoothed his hand over the smooth crystal pane in front of him, bringing up the coordinates of where Elian had met Cooper. Before he did any of that, he wanted to go to the satellite station where Cooper had worked. He wanted to know more about Cooper, and why Elian was so besotted with the human. It was a quarter-mile hike out. It was raining in the jungle surrounding the surfacer. He zipped up his flight suit and opened the door with a hydraulic hiss that echoed into the night. Mud moved beneath Luse’s feet as his boots slipped in the runoff from the rain. The air was pure in this part of their world—nothing like the crowded cities.

The building was tucked away on the mountainside. A large satellite dish was pointed toward the sky. This planet was so simple it was shocking there was intelligent life on it. Their technology was hundreds of years behind those of his world. The lights inside were on. Three males moved around as though they were having a heated debate. All three peaked his interest—especially the one who had their back toward the window. There was something different about this male. Who was he and why was he so upset?

Two of the males left the building and their heated words carried on the wind. They stood next to their transport vehicle. The shorter one with dark hair was pacing. The other was leaning back against the hood of the vehicle with his arms crossed. He stared out into the darkness as though he sensed Luse watching him. “I don’t like this. Where is he?”

“I don’t know. The man was sick. He probably went off somewhere to live out his final days.”

“You really believe that?”

“No.”

“It doesn’t feel safe here. We should quit.”

“Not going to happen. Let’s just see if Fallon can figure out what happened to him.” The guy with dark hair moved in and brushed his hand over the other’s jaw. “Trust me on this.”

They kissed. A jolt of awareness coursed through Luse’s body. What would it be like to have a human lover? Elian has an obsession with Cooper. He doesn’t want to become addicted to these humans. They were nothing more than a commodity he was taking for the Royal Family. He needed to remember that in dealing with the humans. These men were lovers. Taking the pair would make perfect sense. The Royal Family could decide on keeping them together or splitting them up. They got into their vehicle and drove away.

Moving closer to the research center, Luse saw the man inside as though at work. He stared at a glowing screen with words on it. His hand moved over a board in front of him. The man intrigued Luse greatly. He would take this one too. The surfacer would be cramped. He would have to come back for the pair another time. The man inside the center would be first. After a long time, the man came out of the center and got into his vehicle. For several moments, he sat there as though he were lost in thought. Luse moved toward the vehicle and put a tracker on it so he would know where this human was going. He backed away into the forest as the human started the engine and drove off into the night.

The arm of Luse’s flight suit started to glow blue as the tracker buzzed to life. He would follow the vehicle and take the human back up to the Titan.