Reading about hewo trees and seeing hewo trees in person were two vastly different experiences. The massive trees that housed Vians sounded so beautiful when she’d been doing her research. Standing on the front porch of Erudan’s home, hundreds of feet off the ground? Yeah, way different.

It was almost enough to distract her from the events of the last hour. Almost.

But every time she pulled her attention from the world around her, she was met with the sight of Erudan’s back as he led her onward. She watched the shift of his muscles beneath the snug tunic of his peacekeeper uniform, his broad shoulders and back making her fingers tingle with the need to explore his body. He’d used those muscles—that strength—to defeat the Rargar and save her from a future as a slave.

That fierce male was supposed to be her mate. She’d arrived on Vialea prepared to give her body to Erudan—not her damaged heart. She’d fantasized about finding comfort and pleasure in his arms, anxious to connect with him on a physical level. Celestial Mates had matched her to the massive Vian and she’d been prepared to give everything.

Only to find out he wasn’t willing to give everything in return.

She breathed deeply, inhaling the clean air of Vialea, and let her anger wash away with her exhale. She let go of her remaining fury, embracing a calm that seemed just out of reach. She wasn’t the type to hold a grudge and it’d been obvious he hadn’t been expecting her.

Erudan had paled when he read the document, visibly struggling with a mix of shock and fury. But instead of directing that fury at her, he’d contacted Celestial Mates and demanded answers.

And the moment he’d received them he’d calmly disconnected the call and driven his fist into the exterior wall of the nearest building.

Literally.

Damn, but her mate was hella strong.

A strength he hadn’t turned on her. Nope, he’d released his fury with that single punch, took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and that’d been it.

Now she followed him into his dwelling, swaying with every step as exhaustion pulled at her. He turned on lights while he moved from room to room, giving her fleeting peeks at his body before he moved from that glow of light to fire up another until… Until she could see all of him.

Every glorious inch and not a single one of them the least bit grainy. Erudan in the flesh was sexier than she could have imagined.

She almost wished he had some of those grainy, out-of-focus qualities. Then she might not be staring at him, wondering how quickly they could get horizontal. Or vertical and up against a wall.

Rhea was flexible.

He hit all of her physical hot buttons. Erudan was tall and broad, rippling with well-defined muscles that she wanted to taste. He was raw power from the top of his dark hair to the toes of his large feet. Which made her wonder if the size of feet corresponded to the size of something else on Vians.

She decided she’d stop herself from checking out his package for the moment. Mainly because there was too great a chance of getting caught.

Okay, maybe a little peek when he stood in profile. Because really, how could she not? That bulge practically waved flags and invited her to give a squeeze.

She totally didn’t look twice, though.

Twice would have thrown more fuel on her sex-craving fire. Her core clenched just thinking about how he’d stretch her. She imagined what it’d feel like with his arms wrapped around her. She’d twine hers around his neck and pull him toward her until their lips were so close…

She really did have sex on the brain.

As she stood there, her breath picking up the longer she remained still, another thought slithered into her mind. Maybe Erudan wouldn’t take her face to face. Maybe he’d bend her over, kneel behind her. He’d grip her waist and…

Rhea licked her lips and shivered. That would be hot, but not the first time.

No, the first time they made love, she wanted to hold him, wind her arms around his neck and wrap her legs around his hips…

That was the moment Erudan turned, catching her needy stare. Her face flushed hot, a mix of embarrassment and desire suffusing her. She took a small step forward, but froze in place when he shook his head and she noticed the annoyance that still covered his features.

Right. She was ready to jump on the bang train but he wasn’t.

Yet even in his irritation, his gaze remained on Rhea. Though unlike her, his attention didn’t stray from her face.

Erudan’s fixed gaze seemed to linger, his eyes exploring every one of her features for so long that her exhaustion returned.

Rhea yawned.

Erudan sighed.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and then ran his hand over his face. “I see you are tired. I do not have a shift tomorrow. We will discuss our situation and discover a way to resolve our issue after we have both slept.”

Rhea nodded, agreeing until he got to the last half of his statement. One word snared her last alert brain cell.

She frowned. “Resolve? Resolve what?”

Erudan pressed his lips together until they formed a white line beneath his nose. He waved between them with his hand, gesturing at them both. “I specified our topic. Our situation. Come, I will show you where you will sleep.”

“Where I’ll sleep?” As in alone? Nope, that wasn’t part of the plan. Rhea hadn’t crossed six galaxies to sleep in a cold bed while her mate snored in another room, dreaming of ways to get rid of her.

Rather than answer her question, Erudan turned and walked away, heading deeper into the home.

Stupid male! She hurried after him and he acted as if she hadn’t said a word.

“These are the food preparation and cleansing areas. If you hunger, I will cook for you. You may cleanse yourself if you wish.”

Was his voice a hint tighter? His shoulders tenser? She hummed thoughtfully. Was he aroused by the idea of her all wet and soapy?

“This is my room. You will make use of it tonight.”

Wait. They were back to the big problem. “Where will you be sleeping?”

Erudan didn’t look at her, choosing instead to stare at the ground. “In the central common area of the dwelling.”

Rhea opened her mouth and then closed it again. She propped her hands on her hips, reminding her she still had her personal bag slung across her body. Stalling for time, she gradually lifted it over her head, causing the hem of her shirt to slide up and expose her stomach.

Erudan sucked in a harsh breath. Had his eyelid twitched? Did he flick a furtive glance at her bared belly? And was that bulge a bit bulge-y-er?

Oh yeah, he was attracted her. Good. That was half the battle won. She lowered her bag to the floor, gathered her courage, and dove in to fight the second half of their battle.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Or something…

Erudan had given up the pretense of looking away and focused on her, frowning as she propped her hands on her hips once more. She arched her back, pressing out her chest just a little. She might not have the biggest girls on the planet but they held their own.

When his gaze slid south, she charged. Well, verbally anyway.

“I don’t want to sleep alone. Mates sleep together and we’re mates. You saw the document yourself.” Why he kept denying things she didn’t know, but they were.

A strangled moan escaped his throat and his eyes popped wide for a moment before he narrowed them. “No.”

“What do you mean, no?”

“I mean what I say. No, I do not wish to have a mate.”

“You don’t want a mate or you don’t want me as a mate?” Rhea wasn’t sure where the hell her boldness came from but she wasn’t about to back down.

Erudan took a quick step back, surprise in his eyes while he spoke slowly and carefully, attention elsewhere. “My objection to mating has nothing to do with you.”

Riiight. So why hadn’t he looked her in the eye when he answered her?

Rhea’s lips quivered and tears pricked her eyes. The “it’s not you, it’s me” excuse seemed to span galaxies. His refusal on the heels of her ex’s betrayal just drove another painful spike into her heart. She swallowed against the growing knot in her throat and blinked away her tears. She wasn’t going to cry in front of him. She wasn’t.

Instead of meeting his gaze, she stared at the wall beside his head. “If you didn’t want a mate, why did you apply for one? You had to fill out a profile, answer their questions, list your preferences. It’s not like I ran my finger down the Vialea section of Celestial Mates’ digicomm saying eenie, meenie, miney, Iwantthathottie.”

It’d taken what seemed like forever to fill out questionnaire after questionnaire. She’d had to reveal things about herself she normally wouldn’t have talked about until she’d been dating a guy for a few months. But she’d bared herself, cracking the emotional egg and letting Celestial Mates create a Rhea omelet. Then Celestial Mates had cross-referenced her details with others in their database and then ding, ding, ding she’d been matched to Erudan.

Erudan, who hadn’t said a thing in response. He stood in front of her and silently stared until Rhea huffed. “What?”

“I do not understand your inquiry.”

She shook her head. “Why are you looking at me like that? What do you want to say but aren’t?”

He released a deep sigh. “I do not wish to say anything else this evening. Tomorrow, we will rectify this mistake.”

Rhea felt like she was choking on emotion. “Now I’m a mistake?” It was getting harder and harder to suppress her tears. “But you applied for a mate.”

“No. I did not.” He shook his head.

“But— “

“I did not, Rhea,” he growled and ran a hand through his dark hair. He stormed into the sleeping area, grabbed clothes from a dresser, and strode into the cleansing room. A moment later, the soft patter of water on a hard surface reached her ears.

Defeat pressed down on her shoulders, making her slump as she shuffled into the bedroom. She lowered to his bed, and through eyes blurred by tears, she stared at the closed cleansing room door.

She had to find a way to change Erudan’s mind.

Had to.

Until they consummated their mating, she wouldn’t be safe—from her father or the Department of Population.