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planet that already had a high ratio of males to females it seemed as if this sector had even fewer females than what was considered normal. She was silent as she digested his words. Over the last few moon cycles she’d done a lot of work on the expansions here but some things even her supervisors wouldn’t tell her. Like what exactly the males here on this mountain sector did. All males had warrior training but… “Is this sort of like a military, uh, base or location?”
    He glanced at her over his shoulder, his eyebrows raised. “Base is the right word. And in terms I believe you relate to, yes. We do a lot of special operations off planet, usually covert.”
    Oh. She was a little surprised he’d told her. “Probably stuff you can’t tell me about, huh?”
    He grinned. “Probably not.”
    “Where’s your brother this morning?” Screw having self-control.
    Cyn watched her for a long moment before he turned back to the stove. “He’ll be back soon… Our mother left us when we went off to the Samio. She waited until I’d gone since I’m a solar cycle younger than Con. She hated living in a mountain sector so she left and mated with an off-worlder. We heard later that she died in an asteroid storm.” His words were so monotone, as if he didn’t care. But she knew he must, otherwise he wouldn’t have told her.
    Leilani stared at his broad back, not sure why he’d told her something so personal. There’d been no segue into it either. It was definitely oversharing but she’d come to learn that Luminet warriors sometimes just said what was on their mind. For the most part she appreciated the bluntness. “I’m really sorry. That must have been hard for you both.”
    He nodded once. “It was. For my fathers as well. They never looked for another mate.”
    Her heart twisted. Leilani couldn’t imagine leaving her own children. Sometimes relationships didn’t work out, but to leave your kids? No way. She tried to think of something appropriate to say but kept coming up blank.
    Cyn continued though so she didn’t have to. “How is it that you are not mated yet?”
    His blunt question took her off guard, but she figured she should have expected it. As she started to answer, Con strode in on silent feet. She almost jumped, but managed not to show her surprise. The warriors on the planet were so stealthy, she still hadn’t gotten fully used to it.
    “Sit, I’m cooking,” Cyn said without turning around, clearly having heard his brother, though she couldn’t imagine how unless he had supersonic hearing. “Leilani was just going to answer why she’s not mated yet.”
    Her cheeks warmed, though she wasn’t sure why. Con didn’t look at her as he got a drink and joined her, but she was under the impression he was interested to hear her answer. Despite the foot of space between them she swore she could feel his heat radiating and wrapping around her. He had a rich, masculine scent that drove her crazy. Whatever this reaction to him was, she didn’t fully understand it.
    “Well, there’s no real reason, I guess. When we were rescued they told us we’d have a choice who we wanted to mate with. I just haven’t found the right male yet, I guess.”
    “Male, not males?” Cyn asked. He still didn’t turn around and his tone was thoughtful. She wished she could see his expression.
    She stole a glance at Con to find him watching her, that neutral expression in place. It was maddening. Just being near him made her temperature rise yet he didn’t seem at all affected. “Whatever, either, or.” There, that was vague enough. After struggling to survive every day then being rescued, getting mated hadn’t been a priority. She liked not having to answer to anyone, to be free to come and go as she pleased. For the most part. The truth was, she was also scared to completely fall for someone—or two someones. She’d lost everyone she’d ever known on her home planet. It had been hard enough to make friends