“Yes,sir,” Ethan said breathlessly, letting his hands fall back to his sides. Konnor looked him up and down, then came over and tucked in his shirt and buttoned the top button. Giving Ethan a satisfied nod, he turned and left the room without another word, leaving Ethan to scramble after him.

When they entered the comm, Ethan thought he saw Konnor give Larssen a slow wink, but it was over so fast he couldn’t be sure. Larssen stood up, stretching. “I’m going down to grab a quick nap, little brother. We’ll be landing on Lycanus 3 in a few hours, so wake me when we get close.”

Larssen walked toward the door and Konnor slipped in his seat and began checking instruments. Ethan was standing beside Konnor uneasily, wondering what to do next, when Larssen turned to look at Ethan with speculation.

“Hey, Konnor. You think I’d sleep better if your boy serviced me first?”

Ethan froze in horror, his eyes darting over to Konnor, who sat very still, his lips twitching a bit. He glanced over at Ethan, who tried to beg him with his gaze not to send him with Larssen, who was very handsome but stillwasn’t his alpha. Even though Ethan had offered to do this very thing, he didn’t know now if he could go through with it. Konnor hesitated just long enough to have Ethan really squirming and then he shook his head. “No, I might need him here. Maybe later.”

Larssen turned and left,and Ethan sank down to the floor beside Konnor’s legs, his own legs not really wanting to hold him up just then. He hadn’t realized he’d been holding his breath until it whooshed out of him, leaving him lightheaded.

He heard Konnor chuckling and felt his hand on his head, pulling it toward his knee. He wondered what he might do to pass the time. It seemed pretty boring to just sit here at Konnor’s feet. This whole slave thing wasn’t exactly what he thought it might be. Of course, Konnor could make him go clean the floors or something. That idea got him to settle down quickly, and not make any moves that might remind his master he was there. After a while, his eyes began to burn a bit, so he closed them for just a minute. He rested his head against Konnor’s knee, and Konnor’s fingers teased through his hair. Before he even knew it, he dozed off on the floor at Konnor’s feet. He was so tired and worn out from all he’d been through that he fell deeply asleep and didn’t wake until Konnor nudged him. He woke up with a start and was mortified to see that he’d drooled all over his alpha’s knee while he’d been sleeping. He scrubbed at it furiously with his sleeve, but Konnor just gazed down at him with that same half smile playing around his lips. “Leave it,” he said. “We’re about to land. Sit up here on my lap while Larssen takes us in.”

Ethan whipped his head around to see Larssen sitting beside him in the other comm chair, smiling gently as he stared straight ahead. Ethan looked back up at Konnor in confusion as he pulled him up onto his lap. “You slept almost two hours,” he told him, answering his unspoken question. “You were pretty tired, I guess.”

He pulled him back against his chest and strapped them both in for the landing. Ethan was too big to sit on anybody’s lap and his legs hung off awkwardly to the sides. It was comfortable enough for him, Konnor’s warmth radiating through him, butwas that Konnor’s dick growing larger and harder beneath his ass? The idea made him feel warm all over, and he hoped he wasn’t blushing again, even though Katya had assured him his blushes were charming.

They were already almost on the ground, coming in low and fast, the red dust of Lycanus 3 blowing up around the ship to greet them. Ethan could see several people standing on the landing dock as they pulled up alongside it. Through the glass window on the side of the craft, he could see that the men were all large and handsome, like Konnor and Larssen, and they had the same confident air. Thesemust be the Balenescu alphas he’d heard so much about back home. He got that nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach that he always got when he had to meet new people. Especially these people who were all powerful alphas and who all knew exactly what he was by now.

Konnor unstrapped them, and he stood up so Konnor could exit. He walked right behind him, his feet seeming to be unable not to follow Konnor wherever he went. He kept his head firmly down, though, and stayed close to Konnor. The hot, dry air hit him when he stepped off the ship, a welcome change after Europa. He could hear all the men greeting each other with loud talk and laughter. He could barely pay attention to what was said because of his nerves. When he heard Konnor say his name he jumped, realizing from Konnor’s expression that it hadn’t been the first time he’d called him.

“Ethan, I’d like you to meet the alpha of Lycanus 3, my cousin, Lucas.” Ethan glanced up and saw a huge, good-looking alpha nodding to him.

Quickly, he bowed from the waist, respectfully. “An honor to meet you, Alpha Lucas.”

Konnor quickly introduced him to two other men standing on the dock beside Lucas, but the names didn’t register on Ethan, who was beginning to feel overwhelmed again. To his horror, he heard Larssen speak up beside him. “Lucas, if you’d like, Ethan has made a kind offer to take care of all of our sexual needs. Since you’re the alpha, you can go first.”

Ethan sucked in a terrified breath and saw Lucas look from Larssen to Konnor in complete confusion. One of Konnor’s big, muscular cousins standing next to Lucas laughed out loud and said, “Where do I sign up?”

Lucas shot him a quelling glance, and he stepped back, as did Ethan, backing up into Konnor’s warm body and turning his face in toward his chest. Konnor put a hand on the back of his head and spoke up quietly. “Knock it off, Kyle. I don’t think Ethan is quite ready for all that. I’ll explain later, Lucas. For now, I think I’ll take Ethan home. He’s worn out.”

“Of course,” Lucas said. “When you get him settled, come over to my place for a few minutes. I need to talk to you about some things and get your report.”

“Of course,” Konnor said, and put a hand on Ethan’s wrist to pull him along behind him to a large jeep that sat on ridiculously high treads, making it possible to move through the sandy terrain of Lycanus 3. The others all piled on board, and the jeep took off at a more rapid rate of speed than Ethan would have thought possible in the deep sand. The place was like a big desert for almost as far as he could see, except for the faraway mountains that were a deep green. It was a strange, stark landscape, but beautiful in a way. The jeep, driven by the alpha Lucas, traveled quicklythough there didn’t seem to be actual roads, and they soon came to a large grid of houses and shops, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Traveling down a wide space between the houses, which was like a driveway, only with swing sets and lawn furniture at the sides, Konnor spoke in a low voice in his ear. “This is where we live, Ethan. All the alphas live in homes close to each other, with the different ranks spreading out around us. This will be your new home.”

Ethan nodded and settled himself closer to Konnor, who didn’t move away. Maybe that meant that he wasn’t so mad at him anymore. Ethan certainly hoped that was the case. The jeep pulled up to a large home and stopped in front. Konnor got out and pulled Ethan with him, waving at his cousins and his brother. The house was the standard Lycan concrete, fairly large with the big windows Lycans liked to let in plenty of light. Once inside, Ethan could see Konnor wasn’t home much. The furniture had a thin layer of red dust on it, and Konnor flipped on a vacuum switch as they walked in. Right away the vacuum system started its hum and a gentle swirl of dust began as the suction all over the house cleared it away. They stood by the door until it finished and within minutes, all the dust was gone and the air was left fresh smelling and sweet.

There wasn’t a great deal of furniture in the house so far as Ethan could see, but it was functional and nice. Konnor led Ethan down the hall to a bedroom and nodded toward the bed. “Take off your clothes and lie down. I’m putting you to bed for the rest of the day.”

Ethan glanced up in surprise, and Konnor pointed again. “Go. You’re pale and you look exhausted. The fever from the venom has only just stopped, and it’s left you weak. I want to find you in that bed when I get home. Got it?”

Ethan nodded.

“Ethan, I don’t ask rhetorical questions. Do you understand? ”

“Yes, sir. I understand. Stay in bed, yes, sir.”

Konnor nodded and then surprised Ethan by dropping a kiss on his forehead. “I’ll wake you up later and make you something to eat. For now, go to sleep.” Konnor gave him a gentle shove inside and closed the door. Ethan took off all his clothes—Konnor didn’t say to leave anything on—and lay down on the soft bed. Maybe he’d close his eyes for a few minutes, but he really didn’t think he’d be able to sleep. After all, Konnor had to wake him up just before they landed and he’d slept for over two hours then, Konnor told him. Sighing, he closed his eyes anyway, and was completely taken by surprise when sleep swallowed him up.

Late that afternoon, Konnor came back home, feeling ready to get something to eat and just sit around relaxing for a change. He wondered if Ethan followed his instructions and slept the afternoon away. He’d been worried about him earlier that day when he’d seemed to droop back against him after meeting most of his family on the dock. Come to think of it, his family probably was a loud, intimidating group,and Larssen’s teasing hadn’t helped. He wished he’d never told Larssen what Ethan had said. He hated to embarrass him. He’d have a word with Larssen later.

He let himself in and noticed how quiet the house was. Checking the bedroom, he found Ethan curled up with the covers over his head. Konnor left him sleeping and went into the kitchen for a food packet and some beer. As he prepared his meal, he took a long swig and thought about the cereal he’d given his mate earlier. It had been a little mean, and he regretted it now, but he wanted to teach Ethan just how undesirable his little plan to be his love slave really was. Still, he must be starving, and Konnor was trying to decide if he should go wake him when he heard a slight noise behind him. It was a sleepy-eyed Ethan, wearing the shirt from earlier and not much else. His blond hair was tousled and looked soft and silky. The shirt hit him at the top of his thighs and Konnor could see a tiny bit of flesh peeking through. He felt the slam of attraction hit him hard andturned back to the counter so Ethan wouldn’t see his erection.