The exiled Aequorian prince, the one who had so easily risen to power in this new world, had been reduced to a starry-eyed fool, and he couldn’t be happier.

He had found his mate.

If his body’s physical reaction had not been enough to convince him, the few hours in her presence had been. Even sitting across the table from her, he had felt the intangible bond growing between them. Listening to her melodic voice, breathing in her unique fragrance was addicting. By the end of the evening, he had already begun to sense her emotions. Such was the way with fated mates. The more time they spent together, the more attuned to one another they would become. Eventually, he would be able to hear her thoughts, as well.

Joy coursed through his veins as he raised his gaze to the sky and silently offered thanks.

She—Ryan—had felt it, too; he was certain of it.

An image of her standing beside her vehicle as she had bid him a good night flashed in his mind. Her big, beautiful, ocean blue eyes had grown large. Her lips had parted in invitation ... Ah, that look! It wrapped around his heart, a lethal snare from which he hoped to never escape.

Unfortunately, it had wrapped around his burning loins, as well.

Though not typically libidinous, the clawing need to reinforce the mating bond through a physical joining was nearly overwhelming. Tiberius had had to employ remarkable restraint over the course of the last several hours. Every object, no matter how mundane, had beckoned with illicit possibilities.

The table in the diner? The perfect height upon which to perch her lovely bottom and feast. The compact sedan she drove would be the ideal prop upon which to drape her delectable body and plunge into her honeyed depths. Even the inauspicious wall behind the club had called to him, inviting visions of her wrapped around his hips while he demonstrated exactly how intense and satisfying sex between mates could be.

Yet, he had done none of those things, nor would he. Not yet. Creating a mutual, lasting partnership with his mate was far more important than relieving the discomfort in his erogenous regions.

While the sweet, subtle perfume of her arousal he had scented as they had parted ways provided welcome assurance that she desired him, it was imperative that she understood the true depth of their connection. Casual sex, as the humans referred to it, was not an option. When they joined, it would be a vow of eternal commitment, and was not to be entered into lightly, but rather done with her voluntary, eager consent and understanding. Anything less was unacceptable.

Before he could make her his forever, he had to first tell her the truth. She was human, and therefore, knew not the existence of his kind, let alone the ways of his people.

That realization emphasized another important point. She did not know what he was.

And that worried him.

Despite their potential, humans were notoriously close-minded when it came to things outside their immediate circle of familiarity. They tended to fear and distrust that which they did not understand. Their innate hubris prevented them from accepting that they were not the only children playing in the intergalactic sandbox. They failed to realize that, in the overall scheme of things, their evolution was still in its nascent stages.

Humans had also proven time and time again to be an intolerant race. Though, from what he could tell, that was based more on circumstance than genetics. Trapped as they were in the confines of their own solar system, they hadn’t even begun to experience the wide and varied wonders the universe had to offer. If they thought physical characteristics like skin color and sexual preferences made people different, he wondered how they would react upon their first encounter with the vaporous puce Erkani of Pfileron!

Eventually, their perceptions would change through a natural progression of growth and discovery, but he didn’t have the luxury of waiting eons. His mate was here now, and he wanted her. The sooner, the better, in his opinion. Still, it had to be done properly.

His destined other, Ryan Winslet, was a female warrior with a strong sense of right and wrong. He could definitely work with that. All he needed to do was convince her that the universe had created each of them with the other in mind.

And if that didn’t work, well, no one would miss a few restraints from the special playrooms on the second floor ...

“Are you whistling?” Quintus breezed into Tiberius’s private office and sank down into one of the custom leather chairs.

“I suppose I am at that,” Tiberius replied, glancing up at his friend who looked slightly worse for wear. Quintus’s shaggy hair was even messier than usual, his shirt improperly buttoned. “What happened to you?”

“A fiery redhead with a passion to match my own.” Quintus grinned unrepentantly. “Insatiable and absolutely fearless. She might even be kinkier than I am.” He waved his hand. “But enough of that. To what can we attribute this sudden cheer? Have you finally partaken of the spoils?”

“In a matter of speaking,” Tiberius replied. “Quintus, I have found my mate!”

Quintus’s expression tightened. In an instant, the amiable rake was gone and the fierce protector had returned. “That seems rather sudden. When and where did you find this hidden gem?”

“Last night, in the bar, talking to you!”

His brows drew together. “Me?”

“Yes! I decided to take your advice and went down to the public level to partake of some refreshment and observe. I heard her speaking to you; warning you off, no less.”

“The redhead’s friend?” Quintus said, his frown deepening.

“I believe so, yes. She was threatening you.” The very idea delighted him.

When Quintus said nothing, Tiberius sat back, realizing that Quintus was not as thrilled with the news as he had hoped.

“Perhaps you do not comprehend what I am saying, brother. I have found my mate.”

“I heard you correctly the first time.”

“Yet, you are not pleased.”

“Let us just say that I am ... concerned. Yesterday, you sat in this very office, lamenting the improbability of finding a life mate here on Earth, and last night, one suddenly and conveniently appears? It seems rather incredible, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I do, which is precisely why I am in such high spirits. May I remind you that you are the one who spoke of my ancient ancestor and how he had found his mate? Do you now question your own counsel?”

“I question anything that has the potential to influence you so thoroughly. Your benevolence is legendary. You tend to see only the good in people. You must agree that there are those who recognize that and seek to exploit it for their own gain. That is, after all, the reason we find ourselves here.”

The heavy mantle of guilt resettled upon Tiberius’s shoulders, the same guilt he had been carrying around since their arrival a year ago. In fact, the only time he had felt some measure of relief had been in those few hours he had spent in the company of Ryan Winslet.

Quintus’s softly spoken words were a timely, if unwelcome, reminder that things were not always what they seemed. Tiberius had been fooled before, badly. Under the guise of creating an alliance, the stunningly beautiful Celusian princess had employed black magic to convince him that they were mates. Falling prey to her trickery had nearly destroyed the royal family and would have been disastrous for his peaceful people.

Given past events, Quintus’s cynicism was understandable and even warranted, but Tiberius had difficulty in putting Ryan in the same category as the deceitful, conniving Celusian.

“Point taken,” Tiberius conceded. “But the Celusians were motivated by greed and a thirst for power. What could one small, female mortal hope to gain?”

“Bait, for one thing,” Quintus answered without hesitation. “This club may not compare to an entire kingdom, but we do now have a considerable amount of power and influence in the greater Golden Beach area. And, as they have demonstrated time and time again, humans worship money, power, and influence almost as much as the Celusians.”

Tiberius thought of Ryan and shook his head. “Not Ryan.”

“All right then, let us assume for a moment that her motivation is not based in avarice. She is a member of law enforcement.”

“Yes, she readily admitted as much. So?”

“Regardless of personal views and good intentions, much of what occurs beneath our roof is considered illegal by local, state, and federal authorities. Those we consider part of our adopted family are loyal to us and go to great lengths to ensure that we at least appear to operate within the confines of the law. However, rumors abound, especially among those who are ... shall we say, displeased by our strong presence in the Golden Beach community. It would be quite a feather in her cap to be the one to expose the truth and shut us down.”

Tiberius sat back and steepled his fingers, considering his friend’s words. “Are you suggesting that Ryan and her friend intentionally entered Bait for such a purpose?”

Quintus scowled, as if he hadn’t considered the possibility that the fiery redhead he had spent the night pleasuring might have been part of a clever ruse. “I don’t know,” he said, getting to his feet, “but I will find out. For both our sakes, my prince, I sincerely hope you are right and I am wrong this time.”