Nicolas Callon’s breath stuttered in his chest when he caught sight of Cooper Walsh, hands down the sexiest man in the world—or several worlds as Nicky had recently discovered.

Finding out that he was king of the galaxy had been a little hard to grasp, especially considering he thought he was human, and he wasn’t. He was Venusian, which meant he was born on Venus. Saturians came from Saturn. Terrains came from Earth. Neptunians came from Neptune. And Martians came from Mars.

Duh!

The world he had known for twenty five years ended almost two months ago when he was kidnapped by the Guardians of the Royal Bloodline and taken to Venus. Granted, there had been a lot of chaos along the way, and one really psychotic ship commander that used Nicky as a punching bag on several occasions, but Nicky was pretty sure that was all behind him.

He had Cooper—the man he had been in love with since forever—his brother, an advisor that seemed to truly want what was best for their people, and a really big guardian that dared anyone to threaten a hair on Nicky’s head.

Life was not that bad.

“I’m not going to fight you on that one.”

“Not going to fight him on what one, Coop?” Nicky asked as he walked up and wrapped himself in Cooper’s arms, leaning back into Cooper’s bigger frame. He loved that he could do that now. He had spent so many years hiding his desires for Cooper. Being able to touch him or hold him, or be held by him whenever he wanted, made life worth living.

“Those NSA agents being assholes.”

Nicky’s eyes narrowed. The anger he felt at how Cooper had been treated grew every time he thought about it. “If I ever get my hands on them—”

His eyes widened when he suddenly found himself the object of Cooper’s attention, and one of his mind boggling kisses. He seriously doubted there was anyone in the entire galaxy that could kiss like his Cooper.

Nicky’s head swam by the time Cooper lifted his head. He blinked several times to clear his vision, the only thing he could see was Cooper’s smiling face.

 “No getting mad at the NSA agents for doing their job, baby.”

“Okay.”

Cooper chuckled.

Nicky peeked up at Cooper, once again voicing the question that plagued him almost constantly. “Are you sure you don’t have a problem with me being king of the galaxy?”

Cooper had given up everything to be with him, and Nicky just wasn’t that much. He was geeky, klutzy, forgetful, and got sick to his stomach in social situations. He still couldn’t figure out what Cooper Walsh saw in him.

Cooper carefully extracted the lip Nicky was chewing on and rubbed his thumb across the abused flesh. “I love you, Nicky.”

“Oh.” Nicky’s eyes brightened as his heart filled. “I love you, too.”

He had always loved Cooper, dreamed of him, fantasized.

“Because I love you, I will support anything you choose to do with your life, even stand beside you while you rule the universe.”

Nicky prayed with everything in him that Cooper spoke the truth but the man was giving up so much…his home, his work, even his friends. His friends…

“Oh.” Nicky started to bounce. “I talked to the healer and she said that Patrick and Aaron are responding to their treatments. She thinks that they will come out of their comas in the next couple of days.”

“Oh, thank god.”

The second Nicky had turned twenty five, he had gone through his transformation from just being Nicky Callon to High King Nicolas, ruler of the galaxy. Apparently, that came with a few perks but no one would know what they were until they manifested themselves.

What Nicky did know was that at the moment of his transformation, he had just gotten done having sex with Cooper for the very first time. Hell, the man’s cock had still been inside him. Their souls had been merging, becoming one—another side effect of him being king. When he chose the man he wanted as his mate, their souls became one, entwining their lives for all eternity.

Nicky suspected that his transformation coming while his soul was merging with Coopers, their ability to speak mentally to each other was a side effect. He hadn’t asked anyone about it yet because he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that that was one secret he needed to keep to himself.

The transformation Nicky had gone through had some negative side effects as well, and unfortunately, Cooper, Brian, and their friends Patrick and Aaron had all suffered the backlash.

The force of the power behind the recoil from Nicky’s transformation had stunned everyone to the point of unconsciousness. Only Cooper and Brian’s strong bond with Nicky had allowed them to come out of the coma so quickly. Because Patrick and Aaron weren’t as tight with Nicky, their condition had been worse and would take longer to fade.

“We can see them when we get back to Earth,” Nicky continued. “Baylor said he should have the Royal Court set up by then and we can move in.” Nicky winced as he glanced up at Cooper. “I was hoping we could have mom move in with us.”

Cooper’s jaw firmed. “I won’t live with Frank, Nicky.”

“No, just mom,” Nicky said quickly. “I’m hoping if we give mom an out, she’ll divorce his lazy ass.” Nicky had only recently told Cooper everything that had happened with his father. Cooper knew the man was a jerk and a drunk but Nicky doubted he ever knew how bad things had gotten at home.

Frank Callon had always been careful to never abuse Nicky in front of anyone else, not even Brian, so no one really believed Nicky when he tried to tell them that Frank was beating him. It was only after Frank had sold pictures of Nicky to the media to fund his booze that others began to see what an asshole the man was.

“Done.”

“Yeah?”

Cooper smiled as he rubbed his knuckles over Nicky’s cheek. “Anything for you, Nicky.”

“I just want you.” Nicky blinked. “And Brian and mom, and maybe Baylor and Turlock.” His face flushed. “And a cheeseburger. I’d do anything for a cheeseburger.”

Cooper cocked an eyebrow. “Anything?”

Nicky swallowed hard as he pressed his body against Cooper’s rubbing against him such a way that Cooper was left with no doubt as to what the man was willing to do for a cheeseburger.

“Baylor!” Cooper called out as he kept his eyes pinned on Nicky. “How soon until we land?”

“About six hours, sir,” Baylor replied.

“That just might be enough time.”

Nicky laughed with pure joy as he was grabbed and tossed over Cooper’s shoulder. He had seen the heat in Cooper’s eyes and knew exactly how he was going to pay for that cheeseburger. He couldn’t have been happier, even if he would have to wait until they got back to Earth to get his prize.

Baylor frowned as if he couldn’t understand what Cooper was saying. Nicky did and his cock was so hard he thought it might break off if he bounced too hard.

“Enough time for what, sir?” Baylor asked.

Cooper grinned as he walked off the bridge. “To take a king.”