Barbarian's Rescue: A SciFi Alien Romance (Ice Planet Barbarians Book 15)

by Ruby Dixon

  But it does not mean I do not think about it. A lot.

  Suh-mer is not in her hut. The privacy screen is up, but there is no fire lit inside, and it is too cold a night to go without. She is somewhere else, then. The need to see her fills me with longing. She must be here somewhere. I will search every hut if I must, but I need to hear her voice and see her smile.

  The craving to see her, the need to know she is safe, intensifies with every step I take through the village. When I finally find her in one of the empty huts, pushing aside storage baskets, I feel a sense of overwhelming relief. I do not know why I am reacting so strongly to the thought of her leaving my side, but I cannot shake the possessiveness I feel. She is mine.

  It will be difficult to leave her behind to go with Vektal and his band of hunters, I realize as I watch her slight form move in the darkness. Who will look after her when she charges ahead? Who will make her calm when her mind—and her mouth—are full of worries?

  I had hoped to make a chessboard with her, to talk more of the game she loves so much. Now it must wait, just like everything else. I feel a stab of resentment, which is surprising for me. I do not try to let many things get under my skin, but the thought of leaving Suh-mer makes me want to snarl.

  I am becoming just like Bek.

  She turns, and at the sight of me in the shadows nearby, gives a small, startled scream and jumps. “Oh my god! You scared the shit out of me, Warrek! Why are you lurking?” She collapses to her knees and puts a hand to her chest. “If you wanted to say hello, you should have done so. Is something else wrong? Or is there a problem? Is someone looking for me?”

  Her stream of quick, flurrying questions is comforting. I step forward and take the basket from her hands. “I was looking for you. What are you doing here?”

  “Oh.” She pushes her mane back and takes a deep breath. “Well, between Gail and Vaza hooking up, and Kate and Harrec, I figured someone is going to claim the hut. I mean, I guess I could stay, but the thought of sleeping there while they’re all making out isn’t my favorite. I know we did a little heavy petting by the fire and all, but I suspect they’re going to be doing more than petting. And really, new couples deserve their privacy. So I thought I’d see if I could move into one of these huts with minimal fuss. This one has a nice roof on it, and I don’t mind sleeping next to baskets, but I need a spot to put my bed and maybe a fire pit and—” She glances around, sighing. “I didn’t think it’d be much work, but now that I’m in the weeds, it feels like a ton.”

  “I will help,” I tell her, moving the basket to the far side of the small hut. This one is heavily decorated with the carvings of the tribe that lived here long ago. Pictures etched in stone cover the walls, and I gaze at the strange, four-armed people in the carvings for a moment. Were they taken by the orange-skinned strangers, I wonder? Is that why they are all gone? The uneasiness grows in the pit of my stomach, and now, more than ever, I have to fight the urge not to leave Suh-mer behind.

  But I must go with my chief. He will need all the hunters with him, and I do not have any kits or a mate to provide for.

  “You’re so sweet,” Suh-mer is saying happily, as if unaware that I am moments away from tearing off my tunic and throwing myself atop her. “But maybe I’ll just put up with the grunting for a day or two. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping here tonight. It’s a little cold, and I’m not good with fire…though I suppose I could always just steal a coal or two from the main fire pit. That might work.” She dusts her hands off on her tunic. “I’ll be right back. I’ll go grab a coal and work on the fire, and maybe we can get things started here. I really do appreciate the help. You’re nice to offer, Warrek. I know you have to be tired, and I’m sure you’ve got things to do.”

  She moves to step past me, and I put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. “No fire,” I decide. “I will be the one that keeps you warm tonight.”

  “Oh?” A husky note enters her voice.

  “Tonight and every night,” I decide firmly. “You are my female, and I will be your hunter. You and I will have a hut together, and we will play chess and hunt and mate in the furs every night.”

  She gets a flustered look on her face. “Um, so that sounds okay to me. But will anyone care if we claim a hut together?”

  “I do not care if they do.” I put my arms around her, caressing her cheek. “We shall be pleasure-mates in all ways.”

  “Well, since it’s all decided,” she says breathlessly, and then chuckles. “For a quiet guy, you sure are decisive.”

  “I know what I want,” I tell her. “That has never wavered. I have wanted you ever since you spoke of chess.” I pull on the tie at the neck of her tunic. “And since you have taught me about chess, I have decided that I am going to use such a strategy to get my female in my furs.”

  “You are?”

  I nod. “Right now, I am taking my opponent off-guard. Soon I shall rush into her territory.”

  “Sounds dirty.”

  Does it? I like the thought. I tug the neck of her tunic open a bit more, revealing the curves of her teats. She is beautiful in the moonlight, and I want to tell her such things. To give her the words she always gives me, but I have none. “If I were to play chess,” I murmur, “what would be my next move?”

  “Against me?” She slides a hand up my stomach, raking her fingernails across my abdomen, and shivering. “I’d tell you to capture my pawns.”

  Her pawns? The small pieces that have maneuverability? I slide a hand into the front of her tunic, cupping one teat and teasing her nipple. “And then?”

  Suh-mer sighs, a look of longing on her face. “I’d tell you to take my queen. It’s been waiting ever so long.”

  I groan, bending to kiss her. Our mouths slick together, and the taste of her fills my senses. Nothing has ever brought me more pleasure than putting my lips on Suh-mer. It does not matter where—her mouth, her cunt, her soft skin—all of her makes my mouth water with need. “Tonight is our night,” I promise her. “No one will interrupt. No one will tell us to hurry to our furs. No one will be near. It will be you and me and no one else around. We will mate as we should.” I drag my thumb over her nipple. “And we will take our time.”

  She shivers, watching me with luminous eyes. “I like that thought.”

  The wind rips through the hut, blowing my hair around us, and she shivers again. I am a fool, I realize as she steps closer, letting my body block the night breeze. She shivers from desire, yes, but also from cold. There are no furs in this storage hut, no fire. If I were to take her now, it would be on the hard-packed stone floor.

  I can do better for the female that has my heart.

  Reluctantly, I slide my hand out of her tunic and cup her chin. I kiss her mouth, hard and firm, my tongue stroking against hers in that possessive, determined way that always makes her moan. “Wait here,” I tell her when I break the kiss. “I will build us a fire.”

  Her eyes brighten, and she nods at me, tugging her tunic closed. “I’ll clear a bit more of the floor while you do that.”

  My lovely mate. My cock aches, and I want to fling my leathers off and just pull her against me, but I want this to be perfect for her. I must learn to be more patient.

  At least, more patient in some things. In others, I do not think haste is a bad idea. I exit the hut and then race across the village to the hut at the outskirts that the hunters share. My things are there: my furs, my weapons, my extra clothes. I grab my tunics, my supplies bag in case she wishes to eat or drink, and then fill my arms with my furs.

  Sessah enters, lanky arms and long legs folding onto his furs. “What is it you do, Warrek?”

  “I am going to share a hut with Suh-mer,” I tell him. “She is mine.”

  He looks surprised. “You resonated, too?”

  I shake my head. “No. It does not matter, though. I have claimed her, and she has claimed me.”

  “Mmm.” He folds his legs under him and watches me gather my furs. “Is it true? That
there are many females in the second ship?”

  “Sixteen,” I agree.

  “Pretty? My age?”

  I shrug. Or try to. I have so much gear in my arms I cannot see where I walk. I know the hut though, and where the door is. “I have eyes for none but Suh-mer.”

  “Bah,” Sessah says. “Maybe I will join the others and get myself a mate. See which of the newcomers resonates for me.”

  “Do that,” I tell him, and waddle out the door with my belongings. I hesitate a moment and then grab the privacy screen from the front of the hut and drag it along with me.

  “Hey!” Sessah calls. “What are you doing?”

  “You do not need privacy this night,” I yell behind me. “I do.”

  He grumbles something that is lost to the wind.

  17

  WARREK

  I manage to make my way to Suh-mer’s hut without dropping any of the gear overflowing my arms, a small feat in itself. Once there, I drop my burdens and glance around the hut. Suh-mer has cleared a large portion of the floor. Baskets are stacked atop one another in the corner, and supplies have been lumped together instead of spread out. There is room for a fire pit and for us to stretch out in the furs. She has been hard at work, and I am pleased. Suh-mer is not one to sit around and wait for others to do things for her. She is full of action; it is another thing I like about her.

  She is also hugging her arms and doing a little half-dance that tells me she is very cold. I pick up one of the furs and move to her, draping it around her shoulders. “I will make you a fire.”

  “I would love a fire.” She beams up at me.

  Then I shall make it the best, warmest fire I have ever created, I decide. And the quickest, because I do not wish for my mate to suffer from the cold any longer than she must. She is mine to care for, and I want everything to be perfect for her. I drop to my knees and begin placing the gathered stones in a ring to capture the ash, then pull out my fire bundle and begin to build a fire.

  “I guess I can make the bed,” Suh-mer says breathlessly, jumping to her feet. “It’ll probably be good for me to keep busy while you do that, because I’m getting all nervous, and I know I shouldn’t be, but I am.” She gives a little laugh at her own words. “I guess because we’ve been anticipating this for a while, right? Or at least, I have. And now that it’s finally here, I’m all jittery at the thought. It’s silly, of course, because we’ve touched each other in all kinds of ways. But this just feels…”

  “Bigger,” I agree, not looking up from my work.

  “Yes. Bigger.” She shakes out the furs at the far side of the hut. “And I guess everyone’s going to know what we’re up to the moment they see we’ve claimed a place of our own. I probably shouldn’t care about that, but it makes me blush. I suppose that’s normal, though. All newlyweds go through that kind of thing. Not that we’re newlyweds,” she adds quickly. “I don’t want you to think that I’m making this out to be more than it is. We’re just hooking up, right? Right. So if things don’t go the way we want, no harm done either way. We’re both consenting adults.”

  She talks with great speed, and I sit up, frowning. She is very nervous. To be with me? I do not understand why. “What is this ‘noo-lee-wed’?” I ask.

  “Oh, um, it’s nothing. Just a term humans use.” Her words are quick.

  I wait. When she does not offer, I add, “If it is nothing, then say what it is.”

  Suh-mer takes great interest in smoothing a fur blanket. “It’s, you know…”

  “I do not.” Her reluctance to speak of it worries me.

  She makes an exasperated sound and then blurts out the rest. “It’s when humans decide to get married. Newly married people are called newlyweds. Married’s like being mated. But I know we’re not mated, so—”

  “We are,” I tell her calmly. “Do not worry.”

  “We are?” She looks astounded. “Since when?”

  “Since I have decided.”

  “Dude, you can’t just decide that! What about, you know,” She drops her voice. “Cooties?”

  She uses the human word for khui. “If one of us resonates, we shall deal with it then. I will not live the rest of my days waiting for it to happen. I wish to be with no other than the one that holds my heart.”

  “That’s me?” she whispers.

  “Of course it is.” I bend low to blow on the fire.

  Suh-mer gives a happy squeal, and in the next moment, I feel her arms go around my neck, and her light body clings to my back. “Oh my god! I love you, too, Warrek! Why didn’t you just say so? I’ve been stewing for hours wondering if we were done now that we were home! I didn’t know what to think!”

  “Why? What has changed?” I pat her arm, turning my head so I can rub my nose against hers. Or try to, anyhow.

  “Everything? Nothing? I mean, we’re back at the village. I thought maybe it was just a travel booty-call sort of thing. Not that you’re the type to do a booty call, but I didn’t know what to think when we got back and you disappeared on me.”

  “I had to talk to the chief.” I stroke her soft, soft arms. “Let me finish building this fire and I will show you how much you mean to me.”

  “Oh boy, why does that sound so sweet and yet so dirty?” She slides off my back and saunters over to the furs, taking off her boots. “Can I get naked?”

  “The thought pleases me very much,” I tell her, and fight the urge to adjust my cock in my loincloth. Fire first. Warm my mate, then warm her with my body.

  I feed tinder to the tiny flame, making it grow. As I do, Suh-mer hums a tune to herself, and when I glance over, I realize she is under the blankets, undressing. My cock aches harder, and I feel my sac tighten as I imagine her golden skin brushing against the soft fur. She wiggles under the blankets and then tosses her tunic into the corner of the hut. “Oh, I just realized we didn’t put the privacy screen over the door,” Suh-mer tells me. She gets to her feet, fur wrapped around her body, and I realize she is naked underneath. I could peel the furs off of her and bare her cunt for my mouth within a flash.

  Mine. My mate.

  The ferocious, possessive feeling surges inside me once more.

  No other male will ever touch her. Not one of the newcomers. Not Taushen. Not Sessah. It does not matter that we have not resonated. She is mine.

  She places the privacy screen over the entrance and wedges it taut in the doorway. I take a bit of leather and use it to grab a couple of dung-cakes, dropping them onto the fire. I am careful not to touch them—I do not want to handle dung and then touch my female. When the fire is blazing warmth, I sit up and glance around. She is still by the entrance, holding the furs to her teats. As I look over, she smiles—

  —And drops the furs.

  Her naked body is lovely. Bare skin is nothing new to a sa-khui. As a people, we are not ashamed of nudity, and I have seen many of the tribe—both human and otherwise—completely unclothed. It is different for humans, though, and many are shy to reveal themselves. Suh-mer is one of them. Each time I see her bare, it steals the breath from my body. She is delicate and lithe, her form perfect, her teats small and high. She saunters back to the bed, swaying her bottom as she walks past me. It is lovely—all rounded and golden and without a hint of a tail. As always, I am fascinated by the sight of it.

  She bends over at the waist, leaning over the furs, and as she does, I see a hint of her cunt peeking through the cleft of her bottom as she bends over. Her teats bounce as she leans, and I do not know what I want to touch first. I want to put my mouth on all of her. “You tease me,” I breathe.

  “Yup. You like it?” She wiggles her bottom at me.

  I growl low in my throat. Do I like it? I hunger for it—and for her.

  But I do not answer her; I will show her instead. I grab her by the hips and haul her backward. She squeals and flails her arms, trying to catch her balance. After a moment, she topples into my lap, a sprawl of limbs and flying, shiny mane. Her teats bounce as she gasps, eyes
wide. “Warrek!”

  “Shall I show you how much I like it?”

  “Yes, please,” she breathes, a smile widening across her face. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

  I get to my feet and carry her back to the furs. Even as I do, she toys with the long strands of my mane, dragging the ends over her skin and teasing her nipples with it. The sight is a fascinating one, and I’m torn by the desire to watch her endlessly or to touch her myself.

  The need to touch her wins out, though. I lay her down gently in the furs and nip the budded tip of one teat.

  Suh-mer moans, stretching her arms over her head and thrusting them higher. “I thought you were going to go for my butt.”

  “In time,” I tell her, giving her nipple a lick. “I am going to taste all of you this night.”

  She gives a happy little sigh at the thought. “Mmm, I like that.”

  I do, as well. I run my fingers through her shiny mane, spreading it out on the furs around her head like a halo. She has no horns, and while at first I found it strange, now I enjoy that she seems so small and different. I like her differences. They fascinate me and arouse my senses. Her expressions are far more intense than any sa-khui female’s would be; when she is surprised, her brow goes up, and when she is angry, her brow goes down. It does not matter that her eyebrows are gone. It is still easy to tell which touches please her and which do not. She cannot keep it to herself, and it makes it easy to read her.

  Like right now. Her hands have gone to my mane once more, and she is watching me with the softest expression, even as she pulls my mane forward and spreads it over my shoulders like a cape. “You’re so pretty,” she sighs dreamily. “And you have the best hair of any guy here.”