General Vedic Merrick watched Mo walk into the mess hall with a young man. He assumed it was the young man that everyone had been so worried about, the one in the infirmary. He didn't remember meeting him earlier and he would have. The guy was young but there was so much life in his hazel eyes that the general found it hard to look away.

But look away he did. It wouldn't do for the young man to see how much interest the general had in him. Vedic knew he wasn't in any position to find a sexual encounter, and an encounter was all it could be. He didn't have time for anything more.

No matter how cute the guy was or how much he wanted it.

Merrick's eyes snapped to Remy when the alarm suddenly started blaring. He was really starting to hate the damn thing. The last time had simply been a mishap in the mess hall. Who the hell knew what it was this time?

When the rest of the crew jumped up and ran out of the mess hall, Merrick jumped to his feet and ran after them. He might be on the run, people might be out to kill him, and he might be at the mercy of a man with a bounty on his head, but he was still a general. He needed to know what was going on.

Merrick tore through the mess hall doors and grunted when he ran smack dab into someone. He fell back, catching himself by putting one hand on the wall. He used the other one to grab at whoever he had run into—then instantly wished he hadn't when he realized it was the sexy man that had been standing beside Mo.

"I'm sorry," Merrick said. He let go of the guy like his hand was on fire. "I didn't see you."

"No problem," the guy said. "It was entirely my fault. I shouldn't have been standing in the doorway."

"Yes, well…"

"But I'm glad I was. I wanted to meet you." The man held out his hand. "My name's Shane, Shane Miller. I'm from Earth."

"General Vedic Merrick of the Federation of United Planets."

"Vedic." Shane smiled. "That’s a very unusual name."

"No, it's not."

"It is for me. I like it."

Merrick couldn't remember ever feeling so out of his depths before in his life and he had once stared down the entire armada of an invading army. He had stood before the congressional body and given speeches. He had fought in battles so bloody, he still didn't like to think of them.

And yet, some skinny little human made him nervous enough that he didn't quite know what to say to him.

"Are you a shape shifter?"

"No."

"Can you turn blue?"

"No."

"Any other color?"

"No." Although red from embarrassment was a distinct possibility.

"Do you have any type of powers?"

"I'm a general."

Shane rolled his eyes. "No, like, can you shoot laser beams out of your eyes or anything? Ohhh, can you fly? Mykel can fly but only when he's an eagle. That would be so cool."

"I cannot fly, nor can I shape shift, nor do I turn any color." Merrick snapped. "I am a general in the Federation of United Planets."

Shane's head cocked to one side. "That doesn't sound like it comes with any powers."

"Oh, believe me, it does."

Shane's eyes sparkled with curiosity. The guy reminded Merrick of a cat. "Oh? Like what?"

Merrick steamed. "I'm needed on the bridge."

Before Merrick could stop Shane, the man leapt, pinning the general against the wall and smashing their lips together. The only reason the small human got the upper hand was because Vedic was so caught off guard.

As much as Shane’s kiss rocked his world, Merrick pushed the man away. He knew in his heart that this could never be.

Even if Shane was his mate.