Barbarian's Beloved

by Ruby Dixon

  “Your hands are already on my hips.” There’s a tiny smile playing at the edges of her mouth, but she doesn’t open her eyes. Her head is tilted back, as if she is lost in the moment, in the sensations moving through her.

  I can feel those sensations. Every clench of her body, every ripple of her cunt, I can feel it along my cock. I can feel the humming song of her khui as if it is mine. It feels…too intense for words. And I know my hands are on her hips, but I want more than lying passively beneath her. I want to do more. So I decide to show her instead.

  I hold her hips tightly and when she starts to rock once more, I pull her up a little higher, until she is almost off of my cock, and when she slides back down again, I raise my hips to meet her. My thrust feels far more powerful that way, and Air-ee gasps in shock. Her cunt tightens around me. “Oh, yes,” she breathes. “More.”

  With a low growl, I do as she wants. She is on top of me, but I am in control of every thrust. I pound into her, the friction between us the sweetest torture I have ever felt. I love her little whimpers that turn to grunts, I love the way her teats bounce wildly as she rides me, the abandon on her face. I love that she took over the moment and claimed me as hers just as surely as I have claimed her as mine.

  And I want to come so, so badly. I want to spill my seed inside her and stay buried deep in her cunt until she has wrung every last drop of my essence from my body. I want to release and know what it is like to have her take all of me. But I want her to come one more time, because I swore it would be so. Even as I clasp my mate and drag my cock in and out of her, I focus on her pleasure and not mine. If I think about how good this feels, I will lose control. I think of her and the way her lovely mouth works in a silent cry as I slick deep into her. I think of how her nipples are taut with need even though I am no longer touching them. I think of my spur and how she rubs up against it every time she pushes down on me.

  “Tell me what you need,” I demand even as I thrust into her once more. “I want you to come again.”

  She moans and shakes her head, clearly unable to speak.

  That means she is close. I am too close to pace myself, so I reach for one teat, teasing the nipple as she slides back down on me. Air-ee gives a little cry and her hips jerk, and then she is grinding down against me, gasping and wild. I can feel her cunt tighten like a fist around my cock, and I clench one hip even as I flick her nipple. “Come, my sweet mate. I need it.”

  Air-ee gives a fierce little cry, her legs clenching tight against my hips, and then I can feel her release rippling through her like a wave. The breath hisses from my throat and I lock onto her waist, driving into her with my cock. One rough thrust, then two, and then I am coming as well, my release blasting through me like the deep, intense shudder of an earth-shake. I keep thrusting, my movements ragged, but all I know is that I cannot stop. Not until every last drop of my seed is deep inside her. At some point I grab her and we flip again and then she is under me as I pump into her.

  Then all the breath is gone from my body and I collapse on top of her, sweaty and sated. She murmurs my name and smooths my mane back from my face, panting.

  I hold her close, dazed. Being with her was the most intense experience of my life. Mating with Air-ee is better than even the finest hunt. It has ruined me for everything else.

  Air-ee’s teats push up against my face as she sucks in a deep breath and then sighs. “Mmmm.”

  Her contentment sends a pleased ripple through my body. I pull her closer, rolling our tangled limbs until I am beneath her once more and she is sprawled on top of me. “I can still feel your khui singing,” I murmur as I slide a hand up and down her side, fascinated at the softness of her skin, the warmth of her body, the way she feels against me. I am addicted to my mate.

  “Mmm,” she says again, and rests her head on my chest. “Yours, too.” She sounds so content.

  “That means we will need to mate again.”

  “Mmmhmmm.” That time, she makes the sound decidedly pleased, and I grin.

  “That means we probably will not leave this cave until the celebration is long over.” I had thoughts of taking her out and introducing her when she was pleasantly distracted from coming, but I find I do not have it in me to leave this cave. The tribe can wait until tomorrow.

  Or the day after tomorrow. It makes no difference to me.

  “I’m in no hurry,” she murmurs, and caresses my chest. “I like being here with you.”

  I smile absently at that, because I feel the same. “I suppose it is good we are in the storage cave. We have enough supplies stored away that no one will need to come looking for us for at least a turn of the moon. We can leave that screen up until we’re ready to come out.”

  Air-ee’s laughter fills me with joy. “That might be a while.”

  “I am in no hurry,” I say, repeating her words. “No hurry at all.”

  22

  ZOLAYA

  PRESENT DAY

  I miss my mate.

  Every hunter misses his mate when he goes out on the trails, of course. Most of the females stay back at the safety of the village, raising the kits and tending to the fires. Some hunt with their males, but my Air-ee has never been a huntress. I do not mind that. She has other strengths, including her clever head and her gentle nature. But today, when Vuh-ron-ca and Ashtar have returned to the tribe with Shail and Vaza, and Leezh and Raahosh’s kits?

  Today, I wish for a brief moment that my Air-ee was a huntress so she would be at my side.

  It is only my longing for her that makes me think such things. I love who she is. I do not care that she is happier sewing and tending to our son. I just miss her so fiercely that my heart aches in my chest. I miss my cheerful, clever little Analay, too. I wonder about the kit in my Air-ee’s belly.

  I should not be here, at this beach, helping this strange tribe. I do not say such things aloud, but I think them.

  I think them a lot.

  I think them every time I see a happy couple embrace. I think them every time Raahosh grabs one of his little daughters and pulls her into a fierce hug, clearly elated that they are by their side. And I think them every time I retire to my furs alone and my tangled mane gets caught under my shoulders.

  My Air-ee would laugh at the state of my mane. She would make me sit down and rest my back against her legs while she put my hair in one of her fransh braids. Then she would fuss over my leathers—and me—before I left for a day’s hunt. When I returned home that evening, she would exclaim over me, greet me with happy smiles and kisses. Analay, Air-ee and I would spend time by the fire together, telling stories or going over Air-ee’s lessons for the kits. We would talk about my hunting and our plans for the newest kit. It is a simple life, but one of such joy that I did not realize how much I needed my mate until I was gone for so long.

  Worse, I worry that she needs me.

  I worry that her mind-avalanches, which have slowed with our resonance and her easing into the tribe, have returned. They still flare from time to time when she is stressed or anxious over something. Together we have worked out a system, and when she has times of struggle, we breathe together every morning, I keep my hunts short, and we spend time talking about her fears. She rarely has to resort to her tea or to using the healer.

  But I have never been gone so long in the past, and I worry that without me there at her side, she will let the mind-avalanches take over. Analay knows sometimes his mama gets upset quicker than other mamas, but he will not know how to help her calm herself.

  I think of my Air-ee, and I think of the kit in her belly. I think of my son.

  I am tired of waiting to return.

  The chief and three of the hunters—Rokan, Aehako, and Bek—returned with Vuh-ron-ca and the dragon-male a short time ago. They returned last night, tired but happy to be back, and brought new people with them. Some have left. Others have come. The tribe here is large enough. They do not need me.

  Not like my Air-ee does.

  I think on

this and decide to speak to the newcomers. To Ashtar, who can change forms into a massive golden beast they call a “dragon” and to Vuh-ron-ca, his human mate. They sit by the fire on the shore, talking to Han-nah and a few of the other human females. I have waited for them to break away from the group so I might ask about my Air-ee privately, but it seems that Ashtar and Vuh-ron-ca have no desire to move anytime soon. Impatient, I head over to the fire anyhow.

  I move to stand near the group. Nay-deen and Dev-ee pick at trail rations, while Ashtar stands behind his mate, his hands on her shoulders. He nods in greeting at me when I crouch near the fire and pretend to stoke it higher.

  “Oh, Zolaya, Maylak wanted me to talk to you,” Vuh-ron-ca says, smiling at me. She pulls the blanket on her shoulders closer around her body and one corner ends up in the fire pit.

  I carefully fish it out before it can catch on fire. I have never seen a female so clumsy and absent-minded, but it only endears her to me. My Air-ee is flawed, too, and I would change nothing about her. “What did the healer say?” I force myself to remain calm. I know that it is not bad news. If it was something terrible, they would have told me yesterday when they returned. If Air-ee was in danger, they would not sit here happily near the fire as if they have not a care in the world.

  I tell myself this, but I still worry.

  Vuh-ron-ca smiles at me. “Maylak said you should be part of the next group that comes back. I’m guessing because your baby is due soon. Your mate is so big!” She puts her hands out to mimic a rounded belly and her blanket goes into the fire once more.

  This time, her mate calmly retrieves it and steps on the corner that has begun to burn.

  “She is very big, yes. Our kit will be due in the next turn of the moon.” If this healer knows of my mate’s mind-avalanches, she is clever enough not to say in front of the others.

  “It must be hard being away from her,” Vuh-ron-ca says sympathetically.

  “It is,” I agree and get to my feet. If Maylak has said I should come home with the next group, that means my mate needs me. Air-ee must be struggling enough that she has gone to Maylak for help. She needs me. Only I can calm her down when her mind-avalanches begin. The healer helps, but she is not Air-ee’s mate. “When do we go? Tomorrow?” Somehow I will find a way to wait that long.

  Ashtar frowns and folds his arms over his chest. “No. Not tomorrow. My mate needs time to rest. She is exhausted from the travel.”

  “Then leave her here,” I say simply. “You and I can go. You can change into your drag form—”

  The two other females, previously silent, burst into giggles.

  “Dragon,” Vuh-ron-ca says, and she sounds a little choked. “Not drag.”

  “Drakoni,” Ashtar corrects us all. “And I do not go without my mate. I do not go anywhere without her.” His tone is possessive and firm.

  I cannot argue with him. I will not. If I were in his place, I would do the same. Air-ee would not leave my sight. And yet here I have gone off with the others and left my mate for over a turn of the moon. I am a fool. “Then when?”

  “Maybe next week?” Vuh-ron-ca asks, glancing up at Ashtar.

  “Maybe,” is all the golden male says.

  A week is seven days. Far too long.

  I will just have to leave on my own.

  23

  ZOLAYA

  That afternoon, I finish filling one of the caches we have set up near the Icehome encampment. I help Raahosh, M’tok and O’jek finish a stone wall for one of the island clan homes. There are not enough caves dotted along the shore for all the people here, so stone huts are being created along the sheltering walls of the cliffs. They have tops similar to the ones back in Croatoan, with a framework peak holding up a massive, stitched leather skin. Just the sight of the roof rising over the new hut fills me with a sense of yearning. I think of my Air-ee, her belly big with my kit, Analay cuddled in her arms as they sit near the fire and wait for my return.

  Another week, Vuh-ron-ca says, if I do not go on my own. It will be dangerous to leave and cross the mountains on my own. The brutal season is beginning its slow descent, and that means that the valleys will be filling with deep snow and the suns will hide, making everything dark and cold. It is not so bad here along the great salt lake, where the worst storms happen on the other side of the mountains. But to get home on foot? It will not be easy.

  Of course, the thought of waiting another week—or longer, if Vuh-ron-ca is too tired to travel—is torture. With three, maybe four hard days of travel, I could be in my mate’s arms once more.

  That decides me.

  I quietly pack my bag and pull one of my fresh kills from the cache. I can smoke the meat for traveling, and snow will provide any water that I might need. I stoke a fresh fire away from the others, cut my meat into strips, and then sit by it, sharpening my weapons while I wait for my food to be ready. It will be too dangerous to go out at night. Morning, then. First light. I am…excited. I think of my pretty mate and my small son and I cannot wait to hear their voices once more.

  Lost in these happy thoughts, I do not notice Taushen until he sits down across from me at my fire. “What is this? Smoking meat?”

  I wrap a bit of leather around a spearhead, anchoring it, and glance up at my fellow hunter. “I am leaving in the morning.”

  “Hunting?”

  “No.” I shake my head. “To Croatoan.”

  His eyes go wide and he looks surprised. “Raahosh has consented for you to go?”

  “I did not ask him,” I tell Taushen mildly. Raahosh is acting chief with Vektal’s return to the tribe, because a chief cannot be in two places at once. But I am not certain I would like Raahosh’s answer, so I will simply go and face the consequences if there are any. All I care is that my mate waits for me at home.

  “Ah.” Taushen studies me, saying nothing more.

  “What?” I look up and the lake winds rip my mane around my face, snarling it worse than it already is.

  He gestures at my head. “Do you want my mate to fix that for you? She is quite good—”

  “No,” I snarl at him, and again Taushen looks surprised at my response. How do I tell him that it is something Air-ee and I share? That I do not want anyone else touching my mane but my mate? I would rather be disheveled and look like a thicket of hraku than have someone other than Air-ee touch my mane. “No,” I say again.

  “I see.” He gets to his feet and moves to my side, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “Good luck to you, then.”

  “Do you leave to go tell Raahosh?” I ask, curious. It is not in Taushen to tattle like a child, but his leaving is rather abrupt.

  “Of course not.” He sounds offended at my suggestion and stalks off.

  I consider his back as he leaves, wondering if I should apologize. Perhaps when I am done with my preparations. I return to working on my weapons. If I will be alone, I will need twice as many good spears at hand in case there are problems, because I will be relying only on myself.

  A short time later, Hassen arrives. He comes and sits next to me, watching me work my spearheads. I nod at him in greeting, and all is quiet for a long moment. Then he says, “I heard you are leaving in the morning.”

  “Eh? Who told you that?” Surely word has not spread this fast.

  “Taushen. He is also telling Ereven and Cashol.” Hassen grins. “Care for company on your trip? I miss my mate and do not mind a little walking if it means I return to her arms that much sooner.”

  “Ho, Zolaya,” Cashol calls out from behind us.

  “Wait,” Ereven yells after him. Then, suddenly, there are four hunters sitting at my fire. The other two have dropped to the sandy ground across from us and look at me with expectant eyes.

  I decide I will not apologize to Taushen. I will choke him instead.

  “You are leaving?” Cashol asks. “I can be ready to go in the morning as well. My Meh-gan needs me—”

  Ereven gives him a friendly shove. “Not as much as my Claire needs me. And I have two kits to go home to. I should be the one going with Zolaya.”

  I frown at them. “No one is going with me.”

  “It will be an easier trip if you have a companion,” Hassen says reasonably. “Someone to watch your back.”

  “We can all go,” Cashol adds. “We all have mates waiting for us.”

  “We cannot all go,” I tell them. “Who will help the Icehome tribe to hunt and fill their caches for the brutal season?”

  “Mardok?” Cashol suggests.

  Ereven jabs him with his elbow again. “And who is going to teach Mardok, eh? You have seen the way he hunts.”

  They all snicker. It is true that Mardok is a big, muscular male…but is terrible with a spear. His talents lie in other directions, like Har-loh with the ma-sheens.

  I shake my head. “Taushen is here, and Mardok, and Raahosh. Rukh. But there are still many mouths to feed and those from the island are unused to the snows. It will take time for all of them. We should not all go now. Perhaps I should not even go now—”

  “If you are not going, then we will,” Hassen says, gesturing at the others.

  I growl at him and snap my teeth. “I am still going. It was my idea.”

  “You are all fools.” Raahosh’s hard voice carries across my fire. I roll my eyes. Taushen. He has never known when to keep his mouth shut. Of course, he probably thinks I insulted his mate, so I should not be too upset. But still. “What is this about leaving early?”

  I glance up at the tall, lean hunter with the gnarled horns. “I am leaving in the morning. My mate will be having our kit soon.”

  “Not for at least another turn of the moon. Vuh-ron-ca and Ashtar will fly you sooner than that.” He crosses his arms over his chest and glares down at the lot of us.

  “I am not waiting for them,” I say calmly. “I am leaving in the morning. If she has the kit early, I want to be at her side.”

  “We all miss our mates,” Ereven says, his teasing manner gone sober. “We all want to go home.”

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