Heather pulled at her long braid over one shoulder. It was something he noticed she did a lot when she was anxious or worried. “I can speak with them about it, but there’s no guarantee they’ll listen to reason. I don’t blame them. After all these years of struggling to make our own way and fighting for our survival, it’s hard to sit by and let someone else take charge.”
He snorted. “I was just thinking that earlier. That it’s hard for me to step back and let someone else make the decisions.”
She smiled as they shared a moment between them, leader to leader. Then the moment changed to a different feeling altogether—man to woman. Heather looked away from him nervously. It was clear that she wasn’t comfortable with him in that way. Not yet, at least.
“How long will you be here?”
“I’ll stay a few days to make sure that the work gets started on your district.” He sat down on the bench and stretched out his long legs.
She moved to sit on a bench across from him. “I was thinking about that. It’s going to take longer than two years if you’re doing one district at a time, one city at a time.”
“What do you suggest?”
“Focus on the training.”
“We’ll be training some of your people to build the structures. I may have enough people to go out through one or two cities, but not enough to cover the rest of your world. I also can’t continue to expose my people to the dangers these rebels who could turn out to be anyone. ”
“What about bringing some people from other tribes here to train then send them back to start working and training the rest? Also, if you could record the training and send that out, it would give other districts time to learn about the equipment before the rebuild starts.”
“That would be more efficient, and it would help keep Drastan contact with humans limited. It might put both species more at ease with the other.”
Heather sighed as she sat down on the bench across from him, moving a few of her pots out of the way. “I don’t think any of us tribe members have properly thanked your people for everything that you’ve done.”
He shrugged. “We didn’t come here to be thanked.”
“Why did you come here? From my understanding you had been out in deep space for years on a mission, and were due to return home.”
“That’s true. We were on our way home when we came across the distress signal that your government had sent out. I made the decision to come here, not really knowing what we would find.”
“You didn’t have to, and no one ordered you to stay. Why would you stay to help?”
“My people suffered from a similar fate almost a century ago. We even had to relocate our people. Knowing the struggle my own people faced with near-extinction, how could I not offer my assistance?”
She moved across the car to sit next to him on the small bench and put her hand on his. “You’re a good man, Devlon.”
He shook his head. She didn’t really know him that well, but he wanted her to get to know him. He needed to be honest with her.
“I’m flawed.”
She laughed. “Aren’t we all?”
Her scent reached him, and it had deepened with arousal. Her lovely brown hair and golden brown eyes captivated him. Both sparkled with gold in the right lighting. He would love see her in the sunlight. She was in her forties, but she looked like she was ten years younger. Her tribe had just begun to get their second round of treatments and he could see her health starting to shine through. Being this close to her, he couldn’t resist the urge to touch.
Reaching out a hand, he gently traced her cheek with his rough, battle-worn hands. “You’re so soft.”
“I don’t think anyone’s claimed that about me.”
“Why do you say that?”
She lifted up her hands so he could clearly see the dry cracked fingers and palms. These were hands that had seen hard labor.
“I’ve worked my whole life. I grew up on a farm, and as soon as I was able to walk my father had me out in the fields with my brothers and sisters. I thought things might change when I married, but that quickly turned into a disaster.”
This was the first time she had willingly talked to him about her mate. He sat still and waited patiently, hoping she would tell him more of her story.
“I met Mark when I was sixteen years old and he was twenty-four. He kind of swept me off my feet. He was spirited and exciting, and I was naive. I believed everything he told me. Of course it was all lies.”
“Your parents didn’t protect you from this man?”
