“I know your ex-husband did a number on your self-esteem, but you’re a good, strong woman. You took up the reins to lead us and care for us. It’s time someone else cared for you.”
“We’re not dating, Mabel, we just had sex.”
“Was it good?”
She couldn’t lie. “It may have lasted twenty minutes but it was the best damn sex I ever had.”
“You still want him?”
Heather hesitated to answer that question. Did she still want him? More sex with him—yes, definitely. She liked talking to him about the tribe, and issues she had. It’d been a long time since she could share that, so that was something she wouldn’t mind having more of either.
“You’re thinking too hard about this, Heather. What does your heart tell you?”
“That I could really care for him.”
“You don’t sound too pleased about that.”
“I just don’t see how this will work out. He’s the commander of the fleet, and he’ll need to lead his people back to his home world. I’m tribe leader and I’ll need to be here to take care of things on Earth.”
“What if you didn’t?”
“Didn’t what?”
“What if you could leave with him, start a new life with the commander on his home world? Would you go?”
“I can’t leave the tribe…”
“Can’t, or won’t?”
Heather stiffened. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
“Of course not. I just want you to be honest with yourself.”
Heather would’ve continued to deny that she had any interest in the commander, but just security came and told her that Leonard had tried to return to his subcar. As she stormed in his direction, the coward broke free of the guard holding him and took off down the tunnel.
“That’s right, you little weasel! You better run!” When she turned to walk back toward the tribe’s main square, the Drastan warriors practically jumped to move out of her way. They had expressions of both awe and fear on their young faces. Some Drastans didn’t look like they could handle a strong woman. If she did go to their home world, it wouldn’t know what hit them.
She headed toward where the medikos were set up to give treatments. She wanted to make sure that all her people were seen before she came in for her treatment.
*****
Later that evening
Devlon walked down the subway tunnel that had collapsed. The workers had done a great job clearing out the rubble. They’d added liquid metal to reinforce the structure of the tunnel walls and ceilings. The tracks were still in good shape. With the new steel beams in place, it would be stronger than it had ever been and would last the humans for many decades before repairs were needed.
He didn’t need to supervise the work, but it gave him something to do to take his mind off both the senior commander and Heather. Heather was a distraction he couldn’t afford to have right now, but damn if he couldn’t stop thinking of her.
He called several times, checking to see how security was holding up and to see if she’d come by for her treatment. Devlon knew he shouldn’t have interfered but he found himself calling the lead mediko for the team and requesting that a full scan be done on the tribe leader. He would explain why when he returned but he thought that maybe there was something that Drastan medicine could do to help Heather have a child of her own. He wouldn’t say anything to her until he knew for sure if it was a possibility, though.
Devlon wondered if her not being able to have a child had contributed to the failure of her marriage. If the problem was corrected, would her husband try to reclaim her as his mate? The thought of another male touching Heather made him angry. He clenched his fists at his sides, trying to keep himself under control. There was just something about Heather that pulled at his deeper emotions. Even his dead mate had never pulled him in so many different directions.
His mating had been arranged, but he’d never regretted it, only that he let his career keep him from being with his family when they needed him the most. When his mate had died, Devlon had still been young, and many assumed that he would mate again. He shared sex with females, but never felt the need to bond with them.
This thing between him and Heather worried him. Was it just the heat between them and that the sex was unbelievable? Or was there more building between them? One thing was for sure, he didn’t like this union that Heather had with another. That male was a worthless piece of shit if he allowed someone like Heather to leave. It occurred to him on more than one occasion to use his resources to hunt this male down and tell him just what he thought of him, but he didn’t want to make things more difficult for Heather when he left Earth.
The thought of leaving for Drasta brought a feeling of sadness he had not expected. His fleet had had a long tour out in deep space, and he was looking forward to returning home before they intercepted the mayday call from Earth. Despite the many issues and headaches that he’d had to deal with since coming to Earth, he couldn’t say he regretted it.
He had beautiful daughters-in-law, was closer than ever to his sons and nephew, and his grandchildren were amazing. His baby granddaughter, Jared’s stepson, and now he had another grandchild on the way. He loved the little ones and wanted to take the time with them he hadn’t taken with his sons and make sure they formed a bond.
Family was the most important thing to him now, and he knew that taking them back to Drasta was the best thing for them. Earth was just too dangerous for mixed-raced children right now. Maybe after enough time, humans would change their attitudes. Not all humans were anti-Drastan, but the small group of rebels out there had proven to be a real threat.
His daughters-in-law argued with him that there were some Drastans that were a threat as well and it was an argument he could not refute. However, he knew that once the high council gave their protection to the human mates and mixed species children, no Drastan would dare go against it. After the communications that he had with his superiors, he didn’t doubt that the council would be on their side. He wanted his grandchildren to have a chance to grow up in a world free of radiation, with technology that promoted growth and happiness. Drasta would give them that. He just needed to help convince his daughters-in-law of this. That was going to be, as the humans said, hard as hell.
