Barbarian's Bride: Ice Planet Barbarians Book 22
Page 15
Clueless me was like, she is? But then the wheels in my head started turning, and I thought about how that would play out. How the heck do you explain BDSM to a neolithic people who have been very short on women for a very long time? How do you explain to a virgin hero who comes from a culture that’s extremely protective of mates that you need someone to be rough with you in bed and that being kind and gentle will absolutely not give you an orgasm?
Naturally I had to write a story about it. :)
I hope it reads as fun and sincere and above all, as consenting. I liked the angle of Dagesh having to figure out how he can give Nora what she needs without feeling like he’s turning into something that he wouldn’t be happy with. I also liked that he had a safe-word of his own when he felt things were getting out of his depth.
Speaking of Dagesh - someone on Facebook pointed out that in an early book, Dagesh was mentioned as being the sibling of a few barbarians but in later stories, he has no family. They wanted to know why.
There is an easy explanation for this: I am a ding-a-ling. You know how when your brain is all “Say hi” or “Say how are you” and what comes out is “How are hi?” Yeah. That’s pretty much me writing most of my books. Lol. I will think of a character and know that his name is Harrec. I will tell myself, “Write the name Harrec” and what I will write is ‘Hassen’. Because my brain knows which character I’m referring to (the goofball mate of Kate!) but my hands just type the first H-name that springs to mind.
Sorry for any confusion. :)
Speaking of things I wanted to touch upon, I would also like to give a shout out to my good friend Alicia, who read this for me and advised me on aspects of cultural Judaism. If I got anything wrong, it’s absolutely my fault for misinterpreting a conversation. I’ve always strove to deliberately keep religion out of the Ice Planet Barbarian books because for me, I’m writing stories about love that crosses all kinds of boundaries, cultural, alien, or otherwise, and religion often becomes a very hairy situation very quickly and can make readers feel excluded rather than included, and that’s not my goal. That being said, I didn’t want to ignore Nora’s Judaism if the character has referenced it in the past. I tried to represent her authentically without deep-diving into religion itself, and if I messed it up, my apologies.
For those of you that are sad (like me!) that this is the last story of the Croatoan tribe, I’m not leaving the planet! We’re continuing on with Icehome, and I have no doubt that our beloved characters will continue to pop up on the pages. I’ve been asked about prequels. I’ve been asked about the next generation. I’ve been asked to crash an entire new fleet of space ships (lol) so we can have more characters and more romances. :)
I’m not entirely sure what the next series will shape up to be, but rest assured that I’m not done with the planet!
Love to you all!
— Ruby
The People of Ice Planet Barbarians
At Croatoan
Mated Couples and their kits
________
Vektal (Vehk-tall) – The chief of the sa-khui. Mated to Georgie.
Georgie – Human woman (and unofficial leader of the human females). Has taken on a dual-leadership role with her mate. Currently pregnant with her third kit.
Talie (Tah-lee) – Their first daughter.
Vekka (Veh-kah) – Their second daughter.
_______
Maylak (May-lack) – Tribe healer. Mated to Kashrem.
Kashrem (Cash-rehm) - Her mate, also a leather-worker.
Esha (Esh-uh) – Their teenage daughter.
Makash (Muh-cash) — Their younger son.
_______
Sevvah (Sev-uh) – Tribe elder, mother to Aehako, Rokan, and Sessah
Oshen (Aw-shen) – Tribe elder, her mate
Sessah (Ses-uh) - Their youngest son (currently at Icehome beach)
_______
Ereven (Air-uh-ven) Hunter, mated to Claire.
Claire – Mated to Ereven
Erevair (Air-uh-vair) - Their first child, a son
Relvi (Rell-vee) – Their second child, a daughter
_______
Liz – Raahosh’s mate and huntress. Currently at Icehome beach.
Raahosh (Rah-hosh) – Her mate. A hunter and brother to Rukh. Currently at Icehome beach.
Raashel (Rah-shel) – Their daughter.
Aayla (Ay-lah) – Their second daughter
Ahsoka (Ah-so-kah) - Their third daughter.
_______
Stacy – Mated to Pashov. Unofficial tribe cook.
Pashov (Pah-showv) – son of Kemli and Borran, brother to Farli, Zennek, and Salukh. Mate of Stacy.
Pacy (Pay-see) – Their first son.
Tash (Tash) – Their second son.
_______
Nora – Mate to Dagesh.
Dagesh (Dah-zhesh) (the g sound is swallowed) – Her mate. A hunter.
Anna & Elsa – Their twin daughters.
Esther - newborn daughter.
_______
Harlow – Mate to Rukh. Once ‘mechanic’ to the Elders’ Cave. Currently at Icehome beach.
Rukh (Rookh) – Former exile and loner. Original name Maarukh. (Mah-rookh). Brother to Raahosh. Mate to Harlow. Father to Rukhar. Currently at Icehome beach.
Rukhar (Roo-car) – Their son.
Daya (dye-uh) - Their daughter.
_______
Megan – Mate to Cashol. Mother to Holvek. Pregnant.
Cashol (Cash-awl) – Mate to Megan. Hunter. Father to Holvek.
Holvek (Haul-vehk) – their son. Has a pet, Thunder, an orphaned dvisti colt with a twisted leg.
_______
Marlene (Mar-lenn) – Human mate to Zennek. French.
Zennek (Zehn-eck) – Mate to Marlene. Father to Zalene. Brother to Pashov, Salukh, and Farli. Currently at Icehome beach.
Zalene (Zah-lenn) – daughter to Marlene and Zennek.
_______
Ariana – Human female. Mate to Zolaya. Basic school ‘teacher’ to tribal kits.
Zolaya (Zoh-lay-uh) – Hunter and mate to Ariana. Father to Analay & Zoari.
Analay (Ah-nuh-lay) – Their son.
Zoari (Zoh-air-ee) - Their newborn daughter.
_______
Tiffany – Human female. Mated to Salukh. Tribal botanist.
Salukh (Sah-luke) – Hunter. Son of Kemli and Borran, brother to Farli, Zennek, and Pashov. Currently at Icehome beach.
Lukti (Lookh-tee) – Their son.
_______
Aehako (Eye-ha-koh) –Mate to Kira, father to Kae. Son of Sevvah and Oshen, brother to Rokan and Sessah.
Kira – Human woman, mate to Aehako, mother of Kae. Was the first to be abducted by aliens and wore an ear-translator for a long time. Recently re-resonated to her mate a 2nd time.
Kae (Ki –rhymes with ‘fly’) – Their daughter.
_______
Kemli (Kemm-lee) – Female elder, mother to Salukh, Pashov, Zennek, and Farli. Tribe herbalist.
Borran (Bore-awn) – Her mate, elder. Tribe brewer.
_______
Josie – Human woman. Mated to Haeden.
Haeden (Hi-den) – Hunter. Previously resonated to Zalah, but she died (along with his khui) in the khui-sickness before resonance could be completed. Now mated to Josie.
Joden (Joe-den) – Their first child, a son.
Joha (Joe-hah) – Their second child, a daughter.
Shae (Shay, rhymes with play) - Their third child, a newborn daughter.
_______
Rokan (Row-can) – Oldest son to Sevvah and Oshen. Brother to Aehako and Sessah. Adult male hunter. Now mated to Lila. Has ‘sixth’ sense.
Lila – Maddie’s sister. Once deaf, recently reacquired hearing on The Tranquil Lady via med bay. Resonated to Rokan.
Rollan (Row-lun) – Their first child, a son.
Lola (nicknamed Lolo) - Their recently born daughter.
_______
Hassen (Hass-en) – Hunter. Previously exiled. Mated
to Maddie. Currently at Icehome beach.
Maddie – Lila’s sister. Found in second crash. Mated to Hassen.
Masan (Mah-senn) – Their son. Owns a baby dirtbeak named Millicent.
_______
Asha (Ah-shuh) – Mate to Hemalo. Mother to Hashala (deceased) and Shema.
Hemalo (Hee-muh-low) – Mate to Asha. Father to Hashala (deceased) and Shema.
Shema (Shee-muh) – Their daughter.
_______
Farli – (Far-lee) Adult daughter to Kemli and Borran. Her brothers are Salukh, Zennek, and Pashov. She has a pet dvisti named Chompy (Chahm-pee). Mated to Mardok. Pregnant. Currently at Icehome beach.
Mardok (Marr-dock) – Bron Mardok Vendasi, from the planet Ubeduc VII. Arrived on The Tranquil Lady. Mechanic and ex-soldier. Resonated to Farli and elected to stay behind with the tribe. Currently at Icehome beach.
_______
Bek – (Behk) – Hunter. Brother to Maylak. Mated to Elly. Currently at Icehome beach.
Elly – Former human slave. Kidnapped at a very young age and has spent much of life in a cage or enslaved. First to resonate amongst the former slaves brought to Not-Hoth. Mated to Bek. Pregnant. Currently at Icehome beach.
_______
Harrec (Hair-ek) – Hunter. Squeamish. Also a tease. Recently resonated to Kate.
Kate – Human female. Extremely tall & strong, with white-blonde curly hair. Recently resonated to Harrec. Pregnant.
Mr. Fluffypuff aka Puff/Poof - Her orphaned snowcat kitten.
_______
Warrek (War-ehk) – Tribal hunter and teacher. Son to Eklan (now deceased). Resonated to Summer.
Summer – Human female. Tends to ramble in speech when nervous. Chess aficionado. Recently resonated to Warrek.
_______
Taushen (Tow – rhymes with cow – shen) – Hunter. Recently mated to Brooke. Experiencing a happiness renaissance. Currently at Icehome beach.
Brooke – Human female with fading pink hair. Former hairdresser, fond of braiding the hair of anyone that walks close enough. Mated to Taushen and recently pregnant. Currently at Icehome beach.
_______
Vaza (Vaw-zhuh) – Widower and elder. Loves to creep on the ladies. Currently pleasure-mated with Gail and at Icehome beach. Adopted father to Z’hren. Currently at Icehome beach.
Gail – Divorced older human woman. Had a son back on Earth (deceased). Approx fiftyish in age. Pleasure-mated with Vaza, adopted mother to Z’hren. Currently at Icehome beach.
Unmated Elders
_______
Drayan (Dry-ann) – Elder.
Drenol (Dree-nowl) – Elder. Friend to Lukti.
Vadren (Vaw-dren) – Elder. Sometimes bedmate to Kemli and Borran.
Want More Ruby Dixon?
Are you confused about Ice Planet Barbarians? Don’t know where to start? I have a reading guide on my website you can download.
Got Kindle Unlimited and want to go wild reading? I’ve got a few suggestions!
If you’re into snarky, sexy fantasy:
Bound to the Battle God
If you’re into post-apocalyptic settings and possessive dragon shifters:
Fire In His Blood
If you’re into mail order brides (in space!):
Risdaverse Tales (a four story compilation)
Everything is always Kindle Unlimited, so borrow away!