Barbarian's Taming: A SciFi Alien Romance (Ice Planet Barbarians Book 9) (18 page)

I look up. “At least it has stopped the metlak.” They throw handfuls of snow down at us as if responding to my words, but do not move otherwise. They will not come down to us. I do not even know if they can. We are at least two body lengths below them, maybe more. I eye the rocky walls. I will need to climb them to get out and lower a rope to Mah-dee. But that is a problem for later. “We are safe for now.”

She shudders. “There is that. I guess we just stay down here until they leave.”

I glance around. The canyon is wide enough that several hunters could walk abreast, but a herd of dvisti would not make it through. As valleys go, it is extremely narrow. It winds in a zigzag, and I wonder where it goes. I grab my spear, rub my tail, and then pick up my fallen pack and sling it over my back. “Since we are down here, let us see where this goes.”

Mah-dee looks up, where the metlaks watch us from above. “Yeah, I guess we might as well.” She pulls her broken snowshoe off her foot, then the other one, and fixes her boots before hopping to her feet. “Snow’s not very deep here. That’s good.” She takes a few crunching steps forward and holds a hand out to me.

Her hand is cold, and I make sure to wrap my fingers tight around hers.

“We’re going to be okay, right?” Her voice is small.

Her worry makes my heart ache. She is normally so confident, so assured. She has kept me strong in many dark days. I must do the same for her. I turn and bring her hand to my mouth, pressing my lips to her knuckles. “I will not let anything harm you, Mah-dee.”

“I know. I just…I’m a little rattled.” She gives a nervous laugh and glances back at the still-watching metlaks. “Those things are creepy.”

“Stay close to me.”

“Not a problem.” She pulls her hand from mine and puts an arm around my waist. “I’d rub your sore butt for you, but I’d rather get away from the metlaks before we fool around.”

I grunt, not entirely sure how to take that. “Let us see where this takes us, then.”

W
e head
into the narrow canyon. It is dark here, almost like walking through a long, winding cave if it were not for the narrow strip of sky above. I keep an eye on the walls of the canyon, in case there is a place where it is shallow enough that the metlaks can get to us. So far, though, the walls grow taller with every step further into the canyon we take. Soon, the walls are so tall that five males standing head to head would not be able to get to the surface…and I would not walk away from that fall with just a sore tail.

Mah-dee cocks her head as we walk, admiring our surroundings. “This place is kind of cool.”

A strange comment. “Of course it is cooler. We are in a valley. It will not be as warm as where the suns touch the snow.”

She laughs. “No, I mean, it’s nifty. Not cold. It reminds me of the Grand Canyon back at home, except like, it’s purple and blue instead of orange and red. Was this carved by a river?”

“Eh, I do not know.” I study our surroundings. I have never considered that. All I know is that here the cliffs almost close overhead like teeth. In some areas, the walls of the valley close in tight and it almost feels as if you are walking in a cave tunnel. “Stay close.”

“I’m close. Any closer and I’d be grabbing on to your tail and rubbing against your ass,” she grumbles behind me. “Though you’d probably like that.”

“Save it for later, when we are by the fire.”

“Flirt.”

I grin with amusement at her words. Perhaps I am flirting. I like to tease Mah-dee. She teases back, unlike her sister, who cried and wept if I so much as looked at her. Not for the first time, I curse the day I grabbed the dark-maned sister instead of the yellow-maned one.

It is quiet as we walk. Our footsteps crunch on the snow, but Mah-dee quickens, moving to my side and slipping her fingers around my belt. “There really isn’t as much snow down here,” she says. “You’d think it’d all fall in and pile up, except it’s not. Maybe this canyon is protected from the weather. Look up.” She gestures, and I obediently glance upward. “One side of the canyon looks higher than the other. I bet it protects the bottom from a lot of the weather.”

“Perhaps.” I pull her closer against me. “It will be all right, I promise.”

“I know. I’m with you.” She looks up at me, and there’s a small smile on her face. “Everything’s okay when we’re together. You realize that, right?”

I feel a surge of affection for her, along with intense possessiveness. Mah-dee is
mine
. No female has ever been as strong, as smart, as clever, as sweet, or as giving. No female is as perfect for me as her. I think of Li-lah and her weeping, and curl my lip with disgust. I was a fool. “I will keep you safe,” I vow to her.

She smiles up at me. “I know.”

“No, you do not understand.” I stop and put my hands on her shoulders, turning her toward me. This feels…important. It feels big. That she must listen to me. That I must spill to her how I feel. “You are my heart, Mah-dee. Without you, I am nothing. You saw me as an exile and still took me to your furs. You are kind and giving.”

Her cheeks flush with color. “Hassen, you make it sound like charity—”

“Was it not giving?”

“I wasn’t thinking about giving! I was thinking about how I wanted to sleep with you!” Embarrassment shows on her face.

“You chose me out of all of the males in the cave. You could have had any of the unmated hunters. Instead, you pick the one that you should hate the most.” I cup her face in my hands. “What did you see in me?”

“You just…looked like you needed a friend. And I did, too.” She puts her hands over mine. “No, it’s more than that. I needed to connect to someone. I felt alone, and lonely, and I felt like…well, that you would understand. That you would know how it felt to be surrounded by people and still feel adrift.” Her fingers brush over my skin. “No one else could relate. And it didn’t matter to me that you were the guy that stole my sister. Well, okay, it did matter a little, but I needed to know how you felt. If you were in love with Lila, I wouldn’t have approached you.”

My lip curls at the thought. “In love with Li-lah? Never.”

“Which is why I wanted you. You made a mistake, but that doesn’t mean you should be punished forever. And maybe I’m looking at it with rose-colored glasses or something, but I know what it’s like to lose your shit during a bad moment and then have people keep throwing it in your face over and over again.” She smiles wryly.

“I…have no idea what you just said.”

She chuckles. “I figured as much. Just know that I see beyond your actions to the person underneath, okay?” She pats my hand. “You’re good people. Don’t ever forget that.”

I feel a warmth in my breast, and smile down at her. Mah-dee sees the true me. It makes me so…happy. For the first time in a long time, I feel content with my place. If I am exiled, so be it. If I have lost the trust of those I care for with my actions, as long as I have Mah-dee, I can live with it. Perhaps I will never get over the shame of disappointment, but it will not destroy me. My mate will not let it. I feel a rumble of pleasure in my chest that I have such a female at my side. “My mate,” I tell her softly. “What would I do without you?”

Her eyes go wide. “Your mate?”

“You have been since the day you claimed me.” I stroke my thumb over her soft, strange, pink mouth. “There is no other for me. There never has been.”

“Not even my sister?” Her voice catches.

I snort. “Your sister is my greatest mistake. I do not think I have ever even liked her.”

Mah-dee bites gently at my thumb when I stroke it over her mouth again. “You might want to learn to like her, since she’s my family.”

“Because she is your family, I will
tolerate
her.”

Mah-dee giggles. “That is a terrible thing to say, and I shouldn’t laugh.”

“You should laugh. You should laugh all the time. I love to hear it. It makes me happy.” I lean in closer. “You make me happy.”

Her smile dims a little. “It feels awful to be so happy when things are so rotten for so many. Can I…” Her expression changes to one of worry, and she clutches at my vest. “Oh my god. Do you feel that?”

“What?” I feel nothing but the warm, content rumble in my chest.

“I think it’s another earthquake!”

The panic in her voice makes me pull her protectively against my chest, and I hunch my shoulders over her smaller form, trying to shelter her with my body. We are not safe here in this slice of the ground. “I have you.”

A long moment passes, and I wait to feel it. I feel nothing under my feet, though, just the warmth of her pressed against me, and the tickle of her mane against my chin.

She stiffens against me and then pulls back, a frown on her face. “Okay, this is going to sound weird…” Her hand presses to the center of my chest. “But you’re rumbling. Baby, do you have indigestion?”

I do not ask what she means. Now I feel it, too. The building, slow thrumming in my chest that is spreading warmth throughout my body. I…dare not hope.

I drop to my knees and press my head to her teats, listening. Hoping.

“Oh,” she breathes, just as her chest begins to resonate. “Oh. I think…I think the ground isn’t shaking. I think it’s me.”

“And me,” I tell her, utter joy racing through me. I hold her tightly, burying my face against her as I listen to her khui begin its song.

It is singing to
me
.

And I am singing back.

“Oh my god,” Mah-dee says, her voice faint. “Is this what I think it is?”

“Let it happen,” I murmur to her, stroking her back. “We are meant to be, Mah-dee. Even our bodies know it.”

“I…guess they do.” Her hands go to my mane, and then she touches my cheek, caressing my face. “I love you, big guy. You know that, right?”

I nuzzle at her teats, wishing she were not wearing so many layers of furs. I want to hear the song in her chest as loud as the one that is rumbling through mine. I want to feel her warmth. I want to lick at her nipples and taste the juice of her cunt. I am hungry for her with my entire body. I
need
her. Right here. Right now.

I push my hand under her tunic and then into the waistband of her leggings. Her small squeak of surprise is drowned out a moment later by the moan of pleasure she lets out when my fingers brush over her curls. She is wet with need, the scent of it perfuming the air and making my mouth water. “I must taste this,” I groan, shoving at her leathers. “Get on your back for me, Mah-dee, so I can taste your cunt.”

She whimpers, sliding to her knees. “Should we? The metlaks—”

“Cannot get here. They are far behind.” Far enough, at least. I lock an arm behind her legs and one behind her back, maneuvering her onto the ground. The moment her yellow mane spreads out in the snow, I pull at her leggings, dragging them down her hips. I am desperate for her. The resonance hums through me, its song more powerful than anything I have ever imagined. How do others fight this? I cannot take another step without pleasuring my Mah-dee. I will die if I do not have her now.

I ache to bury myself inside her, and war between tasting her sweet folds or pushing myself deep into her and feeling the tight grip of her cunt around me. Has it been hours since we last mated? It feels far too long. It feels like forever.

Mah-dee’s soft moan of need decides for me. I must pleasure my mate.
Now
.

I push her legs into the air, using the leather of her leggings as a handhold. Her thighs spread before me, damp and flushed a delicate, soft pink. Between them, her cunt gleams wet for me.
For me
. I growl with pleasure and bury my face there. She squeals with surprise, and I feel the tremor moving through her body when my tongue drags over her folds. The taste of her has never been more delicious. Ravenous, I brace my arm on her thighs and redouble my efforts, pleasuring her with my mouth and my tongue. She cries out and wiggles against me, muttering things like
fuck
and
yes
and
you nasty thing
and
just like that
. All the while, her juices run down her thighs and over my tongue, and the resonance in her chest sings as loudly as mine.

“Even your cunt tastes sweeter,” I rasp between hard, insistent laps of my tongue. “How is this possible?”

“Don’t know,” she chokes out. Her hands wrap around one of my horns, and she pushes my face further into her cunt. “Don’t care. Just…keep…going.”

An easy task—I am ravenous for her. I push my tongue into her core, stroking it in and out as if it were my cock. She cries out, and her thighs quiver against my arm.

“My clit,” she demands.

I push my tongue into her again, and move my hand between her thighs. I rest my thumb on her third nipple and rub it as I drive deep.

She screams, clutching at my horns, and I feel her cunt quiver tight, trying to lock around me. The need to be inside her grows unbearable, and I snarl as I push my leathers down, releasing my aching cock. When I sit up, she cries out in protest, but then I am sinking into her, and her protest chokes into another moan of my name. Being inside her, resonating? My eyes close. There is no sweeter pleasure. I grip her hip with one hand and thrust deep.

This is my home. Mah-dee is my home. Here, inside her cunt, it is where I belong. I pump into her again and feel the walls of her tighten around me, holding me like a fist. I want to thrust into her forever, to feel the slick channel of her along my cock, but resonance is overwhelming me. I feel my sac tighten, and then I am exploding into her with wild thrusts, pumping her full of my seed as it pours forth with brutal intensity. She whimpers my name, her cunt clenching tight, as I thrust into her over and over and over again.

Even when I am spent, my seed slicking out of her and down her thighs as I pull my cock free, I am still hard. Still resonating with need. I rub at my humming chest, both pleased and a little alarmed at the fact that I could take her again even now. And again.

And possibly again, over and over for the next few hours. Or days. No wonder Rokan did not emerge from his cave with Li-lah for days. The resonance need is overwhelming.

“Okay.” Mah-dee slides her legs together slowly, her movements languid. “I can’t believe we just did that.”

“Resonance? It is my heart’s greatest desire.”

“No, you big goof.” She props up on her elbows. “I can’t believe you just threw me down in the snow and nailed me. And it was awesome.” She glances up at the steep cliffs overhead. “You don’t think the metlak are still watching us, do you? That might put a damper on the memories.”

I shake my head. “They give up on their prey easily.” I move over to her side and pull her against me, tucking her body against my chest. “Unlike me.”

She snorts, sliding a hand under my vest and stroking my back. My khui immediately begins to hum loudly, and I feel my need for her rising again. “All of this was just…unexpected,” Mah-dee tells me. “I never thought…”

“All of the other humans have resonated.” I hold her tighter to me, imagining if she had resonated to someone else. The thought makes me want to tear out the throat of anyone who so much as looks at her.
Mine
.

“Yeah, but I’m not exactly…the mom type.” She shivers against me, and her hands go still. “Do you think we just made a baby?”

“Not yet.” Not if my need is any indication. I still hunger for her just as much. I am not sated in the slightest.

“But that’s how this works, right? We resonate until there’s a kid?” She sounds worried. “I don’t know about the timing here…”

“Because I am exiled?” It hurts me to think that she might be disappointed.

Mah-dee punches my side. “No, you dummy. Because we’re
all
exiled. Everyone’s homeless. It’s not just you. It’s all of us. You can’t be exiled from the cave—there is no more cave.” She presses her cheek against my chest, and her leg twines around mine, a movement that makes my cock ache with the need to bury myself inside her again. “I just…don’t want to be a burden in a time when everyone’s going to pull their weight. I don’t know if you have noticed, but I have a bit more weight than most.”