Rupex is the King of a decimated pride and the captain of the , a starcraft traveling through the Felix Orbus Galaxy on a quest to avoid more loss and heartache. After Queen Fever killed almost all the pride females of cub-bearing age, the Leonids are facing a population crisis. Rupex needs to start living again after losing the women in his life. Could a human surrogate carry his child and reawaken his interest in life? Layla is a scrappy survivor from Sapien-Three, a ravaged planet where most humans sell themselves to the highest bidders in hopes of staying alive. When an unexpected encounter with a towering, savage-looking lion-man shows her a better way, she jumps at the opportunity. Layla knows that being his surrogate could set her up for a comfortable life where she'll never struggle again. She just has to get the proud, stubborn King to see her as an equal and accept her proposal! "Surrogacy is not an option. Surrogacy is medical, clinical, and the father of the child has a purely professional relationship with the mother." "If you pay me, that makes it professional." Layla gave him her best, brightest smile. The elevator car shook with the force of his sudden enraged roar. "This isn't a joke, human!" "I wasn't laughing, Leonid!" "My medical officer has been researching a way to make human eggs compatible with Leonid sperm. It can be done. What cannot be done is artificial insemination. Our systems are compatible but different. I would have to breed you. Do you know what it is like to be bred by a Leonid? It's not a single occurrence. I would have to possess you, over and over, day after day," he panted, towering over her, his glowering eyes inches from her own. Layla shook her head, jaw popping open as his massive frame covered hers. She was able to see ridge after ridge of muscle through the snug material of his uniform coat, and the muscles of his thighs stood out like ropes. And there was something sizable between them, something proportionate to the head-sized paws pressing into the steel walls on either side of her face.