Barbarian Lover

by Ruby Dixon

  “I had the translator removed,” I tell him, feeling awkward. Am I truly so forgettable? But as I watch, his gaze devours Georgie, and my hurt feelings dissipate. I’m probably just another human to him, when Georgie’s the only one that matters. It’s clear that Vektal is obsessed and utterly in love with his human mate. I think it’s cute, even if he still intimidates me a little.

  Georgie leans against Vektal and his arm goes around her waist. “It’s good that you arrived,” she says. “We were just discussing things.”

  “How is Haeden?” I ask.

  “Recovering,” Aehako tells me. He takes my hand in his and twines his fingers with mine. “Maylak has worn herself out working on healing him, so I will stay wounded for a bit longer.” He pats his stomach, at the bandaged spot. “I guess you will have to be gentle with me in the furs, my Sad-Eyes.”

  I see Flirty Aehako is back in full force. I snort and ignore his overt words. “And Harlow? Any sign of her?”

  Georgie shakes her head. “I hate that she’s just completely disappeared. Something about it stinks. She didn’t strike me as the type to recklessly throw her life away.” Then, she’s silent again, and I know we’re both thinking of Dominique. Dominique was another redhead who was captured and thrown into the hold with Georgie and I on the alien spaceship. The guards had raped her, and it had broken something in Dominique’s mind. She’d survived the crash, but the moment she had the chance, she’d ran away into the frigid snow wearing only a nightgown. She’d frozen to death.

  The loss of her still hit hard, even after everything we’d been through.

  “Harlow’s smart,” I offer, thinking of her quick mind as she’d pieced together parts for the rock cutter. “Maybe she’ll find her way back.”

  “I think we should send hunters after her,” Georgie says.

  Vektal shakes his head. “The brutal season is coming on fast, and we have twelve—“

  “Eleven,” Georgie quietly corrects.

  “Eleven new mouths to feed. And several of those are bearing young. We must think of the good of all of the tribe, and the hunters are needed every spare moment. If they are not leaving to hunt food, we cannot spare them.” He touches her stomach. “I will not put you and our kit – or all of the other new lives to be born – in danger for one foolish human girl.”

  I don’t like his answer, but as I look at Aehako, he’s nodding. They know the weather of this place better than we do. If they’re worried about not having enough food for the winter, then we need to worry too, I suppose.

  I can tell Georgie’s not happy, either, but she shoots me a helpless look.

  “She’ll turn up,” I say, determined.

  We discuss the second spaceship and its demise. Georgie agrees with Vektal on this one – they don’t want to tell the others. No one but us – and Liz and Raahosh, who were out hunting and saw the craft – will know about it. Georgie doesn’t want the others to panic, not when they’re just now settling in.

  “And if they’re all dead, there’s nothing to worry about, right?” She gives me a determined nod. “Right. Which means we should talk about the tribe split.”

  “Split?” I look at Aehako, worried.

  He nods. “When we were young kits, our caves overflowed and we had a second cave to the south that was also full of families. The khui-sickness took so many lives that we all moved to this cave system, but with the new families, I suggested to Vektal that we re-open them.”

  “Only because you do not want to share a cave with another couple,” Vektal teases. “You are like me and want your mate all to yourself.”

  Aehako gives his chief a lazy grin. “Is that such a bad thing? To want to be able to mate my female without the worry that Asha is going to show up and demand to join in?”

  I make a choked sound. “Um, I’m for a new cave, too.” The idea of Asha watching – much less trying to join – is utterly horrifying.

  Georgie giggles. “You should see your face, Kira. Oh my God.”

  “If there is a new cave, all of the humans must remain with the healer.”

  “Is that fair to the others?” I ask. The last thing I want is to have the rest of the tribe resenting us.

  “The humans are carrying kits,” Vektal argues. “If they are not yet, they will be. They need to be with the healer.”

  I remain silent.

  “I agree with Kira,” Aehako says. “A cave full of elderly and single hunters will only breed dissent. It is fairest to split the tribe evenly.”

  “We only have one healer,” Vektal growls. “She will remain with Georgie.”

  “Calm down, Vektal,” Georgie pats her mate on his big arm. “I’m sure things can be divided in a way that’s fair to everyone. What if we send the single humans to the new cave and keep the pregnant ones here?”

  “What about Raahosh and Liz?” I ask.

  “Their punishment remains,” Vektal declares. “They will continue to hunt until Liz is too heavy to do so. But they can den with us when it comes time for Liz to have her kit.”

  “Then who will be in charge at the new cave?” Aehako asks. His hand tightens on mine.

  For a moment, Vektal looks perplexed. “I was going to send you, but now that you have mated, this poses a problem. Kira will need to stay near the healer.”

  I bite my lip. I guess it’s time to speak up. “Kira doesn’t, actually. I can’t resonate. I’m barren.”

  Georgie’s face softens while Vektal looks confused.

  “She cannot bear children. We have chosen our mating,” Aehako declares, and hugs me close against him. “There will be no kit, but it does not matter. All that matters is that she is mine and I am hers.”

  His declaration makes me weepy.

  “And if there is resonance to another later?” Vektal asks.

  “Then we will handle that as it comes,” Aehako says. “Until that day comes – if it should ever come, I belong to Kira, and she belongs to me.”

  Vektal nods and gives us both a look of understanding. “I would have done the same for Georgie, had she not resonated for me.”

  AEHAKO

  It takes two full days and nights before we are allowed to go and visit the other cave system. Kira has taken to calling them the South Caves, and the name has stuck with me as well. We have said nothing to the others. If I am to be the leader of this small fragment of the tribe, I want it all decided and carved in stone before anyone is moved. Once we are in for the brutal months, the visits between the caves will be few and far between.

  Balancing the tribes is a delicate matter and one that takes many days of discussion between myself and Vektal, and we include our mates, who are the voices of reason when it comes to the human women. If we do not balance things just perfectly, those moving to the South Caves will feel abandoned and useless. But if we take our strongest to the South Caves, then we handicap the tribe cave.

  Back and forth, we argue about who should stay and who should go. Plans change hourly, until I’m ready to tear my hair out if Vektal puts his foot down and says ‘no’ to my suggestions one more time.

  He is the chief, and he is my friend, but he is also incredibly stubborn. A pain in the ass, as Kira says.

  I’m short tempered, myself. Haeden is still healing and Maylak, who is pregnant and must be careful with her own health, hasn’t had time for my wound. It pains me, but not nearly as much as being unable to sleep with my Kira and not caress her.

  She doesn’t have to tell me that she’s uncomfortable sleeping in the cave with my family around her. It’s evident in the stiffness of her body as we undress for bed. Or at least, I undress for bed. Kira simply takes her shoes off and lies down, fully clothed and twitching with every small sound. Every hiccup Sessah makes, every snort my brother Rokan makes in his sleep, every murmur of my father and mother as they mate – Kira hears all of it, and it’s clear she’s bothered.

  There will be no mating until we have our own cave and privacy.

  Very well, th
en. I will just have to push things along. My need to claim my Kira again overrides everything. I hunger to taste her sweetness on my tongue, to mate her mouth with mine, to sink my cock deep into her cunt and hear her bellow with pleasure.

  It’s these thoughts that drive me to suggest a trip to the South Caves the next morning. Kira’s nibbling on one of the root-cakes that she and the human women seem to enjoy so much and chatting with the others by the fire. Vektal is relaxing in the pool while Georgie braids his hair into a thousand tiny braids that stand up straight around his horns and look like a strange nest. Everyone’s relaxed and enjoying themselves before starting the day – a perfect time to sneak away with my Kira.

  When she finishes eating, I pull her aside. “Come with me today.”

  She dusts off her hands and nods. “Where are we going?”

  “To see the South Caves. I want to take a look at how many caves we have and their placement before we make final decisions of who should stay and who should go.”

  Kira tilts her head and gives me a curious look. “You don’t know the caves?”

  I do, actually. I know them by heart, and have been many times. But I’m itching to have alone time with my lovely mate, and this is the best way to do it. “I do, but I wish your feedback.”

  A brilliant smile crosses her face and my cock surges at the sight of it. We definitely need to get away from the others, or else they’re all going to watch while I claim my lovely mate, because I’m not going to be able to resist touching her for much longer.

  • • •

  “Well?” I ask as she steps into the mouth of the South Caves. “What do you think?” I’m anxious to hear her thoughts.

  She gazes up at the high ceiling. “You have stalactites.”

  “I do not know this word.”

  “The rock icicles,” she says, and points at them. “They’re not in the other cave. I think Harlow was right that the elders had rock cutters of some kind when they made your cave.”

  I admit I’m a little dismayed that her response isn’t enthusiastic. If I’m in charge of this cave as Vektal wishes, she’ll be with me. I want her to like it here. I want her to be with me.

  “These caves are very different,” I admit. “There is no bathing pool in the center of the cavern, for one.”

  She gives me a prim look. “That is not exactly a bad thing. The less I see of other people’s junk, the better.”

  I chuckle. Her modesty is strange. She’ll lose it eventually, but for now, I’ll enjoy her blushes and her squirming. “Do you not wish to see your mate naked?”

  “I see you naked plenty,” she says, and her cheeks are pink as she steps past me, gazing around her. “It’s darker in here, and colder.”

  I follow her. “The other cave is warmed by the underground spring, so it stays pleasant even in the brutal season. Here, we would need to rely on more fires.”

  “Fires aren’t bad,” she says, her expression thoughtful. “We still have a lot of people eating cooked food. And the ceiling is high so the smoke won’t be so bad.” She heads toward one of the private nooks that are living quarters. There’s still an old leather screen propped up in front of the cave mouth as a nod to privacy. And she gasps. “My goodness. It’s so big in here!”

  “Is it?” I feel a hint of pride return. “Do you like it?”

  “As long as we don’t freeze in the winter, I think there’s potential,” she says with a small laugh. She pushes into the private cave and looks around. I follow her. It’s been at least fifteen full cycles of the seasons since this cave was inhabited, and I don’t remember who it once belonged to. In the center of the room is a dug-out fire pit with neat rocks circling it. There’s a flat section off to one side that probably housed the bed furs, and a few withered baskets that have been chewed at the bottom. She walks past all this, and then flashes me a smile and sticks her hand out. “Show me which one you had in mind for us?”

  I return her smile and take her small hand in mine. I love the feel of her cold fingers lacing between mine for warmth, and the urge to drag her to the floor of the cave and claim her is nearly overwhelming. I stare down at her, my cock hardening in my loincloth.

  “Cave?” She squeezes my hand. “Aehako?”

  My name falling from her lips makes my balls tighten. Somehow, I manage to focus and turn, judging the maze of small caves attaching to the bigger one. Whereas the tribal cave is built like a ring, this one is more like a horn, where the entrance is wide and open and narrows further down into the side of the mountain. The caves at the front will be for the hunters, I have decided, and the fully sa-khui families. The humans are fragile and do not retain heat nearly as well, so they will need to be at the back of the cave, away from the snowy winds. There’s one particular cave I have in mind, and I steer her toward it. It’s smaller than a few of the others, but it has other charms.

  There’s a screen covering it as well, faded painted symbols dancing along the hide. Kemli had a sister once, Koloi, but she died with the khui-sickness. Koloi enjoyed painting, much like Kemli’s daughter Farli now does. And her old cave still bears the remnants of her fanciful designs. I push aside the screen and duck to enter the cave, tugging Kira behind me.

  Her pleased gasp tells me I’ve done well. “It’s so dark in here, Aehako. But are those…”

  “Designs, yes. The woman who used to live in this cave painted the walls. Do you like it?”

  “It’s so pretty.” She steps forward, toward the fire pit, gazing up where a trickle of light comes from overhead. “Smoke hole?”

  I nod.

  “That’s handy.” She gazes around again, and then points at the back of the cave. “What’s that?”

  I take a few steps into the shadows and recognition dawns. “It’s the skull of a sa-kohtsk. There’s no bathing pool here, so they would hollow the skull out and line it with waterproof hides to make a small bathing pool—“

  Her shriek of excitement echoes. “It’s a tub?”

  I shrug my shoulders. I don’t know the word. “I suppose?”

  Kira hops in place and then bounds toward me, grabbing my hand. “I want this cave. This one’s ours, right?”

  I feel a sweeping sense of pride at her excitement. “Yes. This is what I picked for us.”

  Her arms fling around my waist. “This is wonderful!”

  To think that my Kira would be so excited by a bit of paint on the walls and a makeshift bathing pool. My hands go to her back and slide up and down her spine. “I am glad you like it.”

  “I love it,” she says. “I can’t wait to move in. So much privacy will be wonderful. We’ll have time to clean things up and make it cozy before the winter comes.”

  Winter is her word for the brutal season, so I simply nod.

  She tilts her head back and gazes up at me, and there’s a hint of a smile playing around her lips. I’m entranced at the sight of it. “There’s one thing this place needs,” she tells me.

  “Oh?”

  She steps back and pulls her bag off her shoulder. I know she’s brought a waterskin and some of the root-cakes that the humans love for a meal, but I’m curious as to why we would need them now. She turns her back to me and moves toward the wall, toward the nook of the sleeping area. There’s a bit of a shelf mixed among the spiky edges of the cave, and she places an object there.

  I see it, and a bark of laughter erupts from my throat.

  It’s the courting gift I gave her – the replica of my cock, carved from bone. She’s brought it and made the cave ‘ours’ by placing it here. I laugh long and hard at the sight, and her happy laughter twines with mine. The sound of her carefree laugh – her happiness – makes my entire body react, and I pull her against me. “My sweet mate,” I murmur, and drag my fingers through her hair. “Did you bring that so I could use it on you?”

  Her expression changes to one of shyness and she averts her eyes. But instead of a protest, her hands slide to the front of my tunic and she tugs at it.

/>   Aha. So my mate misses my body as much as I miss hers. Need surges through me. I dig my fingers into the silky strands of her mane and tug it back, exposing her neck. I rake my teeth over the cords of her throat, and then drag my tongue over her skin.

  She shivers. “I’ve missed you, Aehako. I feel like we haven’t had a moment alone in forever.”

  “Look around you, my mate. There is nothing but privacy here.”

  Kira tugs at the front of my tunic. “Then why are you still dressed?”

  I nibble on her throat before releasing her. “So eager. It does a male’s heart good to hear his mate is so anxious to join with him.” I undo the laces of my tunic and then tug the entire thing over my head, leaving me only in leggings and loincloth. I spread my tunic on the dusty floor so my mate won’t have to sit on the cold rock.

  She immediately begins to undo the laces of her cloak, and I stop her. “I will undress you.”

  “Oh?” A smile plays at the corners of her mouth. “Are you going to unwrap me like a present?”

  “Like a bit of organ meat hiding under the ribs of a fresh kill,” I tease.

  Her nose wrinkles. “That…sounds awful.”

  “Ah, but those are the tastiest, juiciest parts.” I undo my loincloth and she watches me undress, chewing on her lip thoughtfully. I toss it down on the floor, and then my leggings, and soft boots. Then I am completely naked in front of her, my cock jutting hard, eager for her body. I clasp my cock in my hand and give it a teasing stroke, just to see her expression.

  She gives a small gasp and her gaze locks with mine.

  “Shall you watch me pleasure myself?” I love how startled she looks at the sight, and I pump my cock again, just the way I like, tightly dragging my circled forefinger and thumb from the base to the crown, and then giving it a small flex of the wrist.

  “I’d say yes any other time,” she whispers, unable to take her gaze off my movements. “But I really want you to touch me. Does that make me greedy?”

  “If it does, then I am the luckiest male to have such a greedy mate,” I tell her, and undo the clasp of her cloak at her throat.