Ice Planet Honeymoon by Ruby Dixon
11
KIRA
It’s so odd to me how our roles have reversed, Aehako and I. In my pregnancy, I’m the easygoing one, the one that never worries about anything. Aehako is the one that stresses over the smallest of things. When we get ready to leave the hunter cave the next morning, a thick snow starts to fall, so we unpack our things and stay for another day.
And then another.
It takes three days before the weather lets up enough for us to travel some, and it takes another four days before we approach the valley that holds the main cave of the sa-khui.
“Well,” I tease Aehako as he hauls the sled through the snow, the smoke from the main cave on the horizon. “You did say it would take several days.”
“It might take one more,” he admits to me, pausing and looking up at the gray skies. “I do not like the sight of those clouds.”
If we stop right at the finish line, that just seems silly. “I bet we can make it,” I tell him cheerfully. “I can get off and walk—”
Before I finish the thought, he tugs the sled along, hustling through the snow at a breakneck pace. I smother a giggle behind my thick glove.
Really, even if we stopped for another day, it’d be all right. The “vacation” away from the South Cave has been good for us. I didn’t realize how much stress that being leader was putting on Aehako, in addition to my pregnancy. He worries all the time if his decisions are correct ones, or if the tribe would not be happier back at the main cave. He worries some—like Hemalo and Asha—are displeased with his leadership. He worries he is not as authoritative as Vektal, because he is usually a more laughing sort.
And me, I had no idea my mate was holding all this in. I thought he’d taken to leadership the way he takes to everything—with enthusiasm and a big smile. Turns out he’s been hiding his fears because he didn’t want to burden me.
The guy thinks I’m more fragile than glass, apparently.
So we talk, a lot. We organize supplies in each cave we stop in, and refresh what we need. I start sewing a blanket out of fur scraps just to give my hands something to do, and we talk more. Aehako laughs so much in this vacation that I realize he hasn’t been laughing much in the last few weeks, and I’ve been too preoccupied to notice it.
I vow to make him laugh more often.
So I start sewing something else with the scraps. I tell him that it’s just another blanket, but I make a small, fuzzy loincloth instead, and I stuff the backside full of more scraps so it’ll make the wearer have a massive bubble butt. Another idea occurs to me, and for a moment, I shake my head. That’s not who I am, making obscene things out of leather…but it’ll make Aehako laugh. So after smothering a few giggles, I go ahead and make an “attachment” for the front of the loincloth, too.
All of this happens under Aehako’s nose as we laze about in the hunter caves. He takes naps, so many of them I worry he’s been losing sleep, and he puts his hands on my belly and talks to our kit for hours on end. It’s so nice to be away, just the two of us, that I secretly hope for bad weather on our return trip, too.
After all, we’re in no hurry to get back, are we? Everyone’s an adult. The South Cave can manage itself for a few weeks.
The sled jerks ahead, making me yelp as Aehako picks up the pace. Sure enough, a thicker snowfall is starting to pour from the skies, but Aehako has apparently decided to sprint the rest of the way instead of pausing at another hunter cave. I cling to the packs as we zoom over the snow, and the distant cave comes closer and closer to view. The sight of the large, triangular opening of the main cave fills me with a curious sense of…not exactly homesickness, but a wistful sort of pleasure.
This was my first home here on Not-Hoth. It’ll always hold a special place in my heart.
“Ho,” someone cries, and a fur-covered figure jogs toward our sled.
“Ho!” Aehako pants, not stopping even as the other hunter pulls up alongside us. “We are heading in before the weather hits.”
“I see that! And you brought your pretty mate!” The hunter lowers his hood and it is Zolaya, who grins at me. “My mate will be glad to see the both of you. I suppose I can put off checking my traps for a day or so.”
“Go check them,” Aehako tells him with a friendly shout. “We will be staying for several days yet. Feed your mate’s growing belly!”
Zolaya claps a big hand on Aehako’s shoulder and then nods at me. “Perhaps I shall!” He jogs off again, passing us by, and then we are almost at the cave.
“Ho!” cries another voice. “Visitors!”
My eyes brim with happy tears as more people crowd at the entrance of the cave, and I see humans mixed with friendly blue faces. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed everyone until just now, and I’m filled with a wild, impatient sort of joy as we approach.
I can’t wait to hug all my friends again.
Aehako finally stops his endless jog and pulls the sled directly in front of the cave entrance. His shoulders heaving, panting, he moves to my side and helps me climb out of the massive pile of supplies. Immediately, I’m met with happy squeals. Marlene—ever exuberant—flings her arms around me and Ariana bursts into tears and hugs me, too. I see Georgie, standing next to her mate, and Nora, and it’s all too much. I get weepy, too, and then Georgie and I collapse on top of each other and sob, much to Vektal and Aehako’s chagrin.
“Pregnancy tears,” I explain to my mate as I wipe my cheeks. “I’m happy. I really am.”
My mate looks uncertain, but he’s quickly distracted away as his mother and father arrive. Sevvah and Oshen are enveloped in bear hugs, and then his brother Rokan is there, a faint smile on his face. Sessah—a much tinier, younger version of my mate—is there too, and he beams up at his grown brother, so small and adorable that I realize that our child might look just like him.
And I start crying again. Before Aehako can ask, I blubber, “I swear I’m happy!”
Sevvah just clucks at me, tugging me into her arms. She’s so regal, his mother, with her looping gray braid and the only hint of her age the lines around her eyes. “Of course you are happy, dear heart. You are carrying a kit. If he has not seen you weep at least once a day over nothing at all, then he should count himself very lucky.” She smooths her fingers over my face and then beams down at me. “Come, I will make you something to eat.”
“Now I’m hungry,” Georgie mutters at my side.
“Then I will feed you, too,” Sevvah says easily. “Come sit by the fire while my Aehako greets his friends.”
* * *
Sevvah fussesover me for a while as Aehako meets with Vektal, and then is pulled away for one thing after another. I get it, though. He’s leading the South Cave and everyone’s going to want to know what’s going on there. He’s going to be busy all day, even though he casts several worried looks toward his mother’s cave as if he wants to come and hover all over me.
“His father was like that the first time I carried,” Sevvah says with a rueful smile. “He was at my side so much that I wanted to shove his head into the snow if he did not give me space to breathe.”
I smile at her. “When does it wear off? When does he relax?”
“He does not.” Sevvah chuckles at her own joke. “If he is anything like his father, he will be the most attentive of fathers—sometimes annoyingly so.”
That’s all right with me.
Georgie shows up at Sevvah’s cave entrance just then, and peeks inside. “Knock knock.”
“Come in,” Sevvah tells her. “I was just about to prepare this evening’s meal.”
My friend looks at me, then holds up a soft wrap. “I was actually going to take a dip in the bathing pool and wondered if Kira wanted to join me.”
It sounds like a gossip session, and it’s been so long since I’ve had a long chat with Georgie and Liz and the others that I immediately get to my feet. Then I hesitate, looking over at Sevvah.
“Go on,” the older woman says, squeezing my shoulder. “Food will not be ready for a while yet and if you are out in the open, Aehako can quit casting worried looks in this direction.” She rolls her eyes.
“All right.” I head towards Georgie.
As we approach the main part of the cave, I see Aehako glance over. He’s talking with Rokan, his expression grave. A twinge of worry hits me and I squeeze Georgie’s arm, letting her know that I’ll join her shortly. I head toward Aehako, and when I move to his side, he and Rokan immediately stop talking.
Well if that’s not alarming, I don’t know what is. “Hello, Rokan,” I say easily. “How are you?”
“Very well.” He smiles at me. “It is good to see you and my brother again. I like how happy you have made him.”
“We’re both very happy,” I agree, and Aehako runs his hand down my hair affectionately. I glance up at my mate. “What were you two talking about?”
“Nothing important,” Aehako says, perhaps a bit too brightly. “Maylak is napping so you will not be able to see her until later tonight. Kashrem says her kit is big in her belly and makes her very tired.”
“I know what that’s like,” I murmur, caressing my belly. It already feels enormous…and I’m tired all the time at the halfway point. Just more to look forward to, I suppose.
Aehako puts a protective hand on my shoulder and bends down, peering into my face. “Are you tired? Do you need to rest? Perhaps you should rest—”
“I’m fine,” I tell him firmly. I lean in and give him a quick peck on the nose. “And I’m going to go relax in the pool with Georgie and the others. I promise I’ll take it easy.”
He hesitates, and then nods, rubbing his knuckles along my jaw. “Speak if you need anything.”
“I will.” I smile at Rokan, and then head over to the center of the cave, where the large bathing pool steams and calls invitingly. Megan and Nora are already in it, both of them naked. Georgie joins them, sliding into the pool, and I loosen my wrap and outer layers, folding them neatly before I set them on a nearby rock seat. I ease myself to the edge, wearing nothing but a leather loincloth and a breast-band. No one will think twice if I get completely naked, but I’m still a little awkward about nudity and my changing body isn’t helping things. I slide into the water, and then the delicious warmth of it hits me like a freight train. I bite back a moan of pleasure as the comforting heat soaks into my tired body. “Oh boy, I missed this.”
“I can imagine,” Georgie says. “No pool at the South Cave? You heathens, you.”
“We have a sa-kohtsk skull in our cave that I can put water in, but it never gets very hot or very deep, because getting rid of the water is such a chore. This is…different.” I close my eyes, leaning against the ledge. “This is bliss.”
“I’m in here almost every day,” Megan agrees. “It helps with my fat ankles. Or at least, I tell myself that it does.”
“You just missed Liz, by the way,” Nora says. “She and Raahosh set off yesterday. She’ll be so bummed she missed you.”
I’m bummed I missed her, too. I love her brash mouth and wish I could see how she’s handling her pregnancy. If Raahosh is letting her go hunting with him, I’m guessing he’s not as hover-y as Aehako is. “We’re staying for a few days. Maybe they’ll return before we leave.”
“I hope so.” Megan rubs her belly, which looks twice the size of mine, complete with stretch marks. For all that we’re only a few weeks apart, she looks way more pregnant than me, and I’m briefly envious. Does that mean she’ll have her baby sooner than me? Or is she just naturally carrying larger? I wish we had more answers, but we’re all going to be the first ones to have “hybrid” babies. This is uncharted territory for all of us.
I glance over at my mate again, but he’s deep in discussion with his brother, neither one of them looking over here. I wonder if anything’s amiss. Wouldn’t he tell me if it was?
“So,” Megan continues. “Give us all the gossip at the South Cave. How’s Josie? Tiffany? Claire?”
I settle in and talk about my tribesmates for what feels like hours, who is up to what, Tiffany’s latest craft projects, Farli and her new pet Chompy, who poops literally everywhere in the cave, much to Kemli’s chagrin, and the latest hunting mishaps. I don’t think of myself as a chatty sort, but I find that I’m talking for hours about the smallest details of our life at the South Cave, and Megan and Nora and Georgie all share their own stories with me. There’s a tale of a hopper that got into the storage rooms and destroyed a ton of roots before anyone realized what was happening, and Megan talks about her latest macrame projects. Nora talks about sex—being Nora—and how she and Marlene are trying to design better underwear.
“Where is Marlene?” I ask, curious.
“Probably having sex with Zennek again,” Georgie comments, dragging her hand through the steamy water.
“She’s been insatiable lately thanks to the pregnancy. Me, I get swollen ankles,” Megan complains. “She gets a kicked-up libido.”
“I’m pretty sure Marlene was born with a kicked-up libido,” Nora giggles.
“Like you’re one to talk. We hear you guys going at it every night.” Georgie rolls her eyes. “Your voice in particular echoes really loudly.”
Nora just giggles again. “Can I help it if Dagesh has incredible stamina? Or that he’s turned on by my big pregnant boobs?”
“Ew?” Megan teases. “Did I want to know that?”
“About as much as I wanted to know about your foot thing?” Nora replies sweetly.
Megan groans.
“Foot thing?” I ask, my face scrunching in confusion. “You mean like Cashol has a foot thing?”
“No, like Megan does.” Nora wiggles her brows. “You should see her go on and on about how veiny Cashol’s ‘strong feet’ are.”
Georgie makes a mock-gagging noise.
Megan just groans again and lowers herself under the water’s surface, as if that can hide her from the good-natured laughter in the cave. I try not to giggle too much, but the happiness in the cave is infectious. It’s so nice to see my friends again. I love everyone in the South Cave, but half of our family is here.
It’s nice to come home, even for a little while.
* * *
I toweloff and sit near the pool, chatting with Georgie while I wait for my hair to dry. It’s been the laziest of afternoons, but I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. Tomorrow, I’ll pitch in and help Sevvah around the cave, or Maylak, or sew with Georgie—whatever is needed. Today, though, I’m being a lazy, indolent slug and loving it.
Sessah trots over to where we sit. He’s Aehako’s younger brother, just a small scrap of a boy, but I could swear he’s shot up by several inches in the last few months. He’s got a serious look on his face that reminds me a bit of Rokan, but when he approaches me, his grin is all Aehako. “Mother told me to come and get you,” Sessah says. “She made a meal just for you.”
“I’ll be there soon,” I promise him, glancing at Georgie. “Where’s Aehako?”
“He’s talking with Rokan.” Sessah gives me a toothy grin. “Did you bring me a present?”
I reach out and tweak the long braid over his shoulder. “Your brother might have been making something for you,” I say, knowing full well that there’s a carved slingshot for him in Aehako’s packs. “What are they talking about, your brothers?”
“Dreams.” Sessah’s answer is cheerful.
My blood runs cold. I think of Aehako’s worried confession from a few days ago. “Dreams? What kind of dreams?”
Sessah shrugs, already bored. “I’ll tell Mother you’re coming.”
“Be right there,” I whisper, my gut churning as he races away. The baby in my belly flips and I absently caress it, fighting the panic rising inside me. I think of how serious Rokan and Aehako looked. How they quickly changed topics when I approached, guilty looks on their faces.
Aehako assured me that he didn’t have the “knowing” dreams like his brother does. But…what if Rokan is having bad dreams about us, too? What if something’s wrong with the baby?
What if I’m not meant to have one after all?
I feel cold all over.
“Kira?” Georgie asks as I get to my feet. “Are you okay? You just got really pale.”
I nod absently. “Uh, just gas.” I pat the small swell of my belly. “You know how it is.”
“Boy, do I ever.” She gets to her feet, slightly awkward. “Come hang out after dinner if you’re not too tired? I’ve missed talking to you.” She squeezes my hand and gives me a warm look.
“Will do.” I turn toward Sevvah’s cave, but I can’t concentrate on anything. I can’t concentrate on Sessah coming back out to retrieve me, holding my hand in his smaller one. I pick at the delicious root chowder with chunks of fresh fish in it. Normally I’d devour two bowlfuls, but I have to force myself to eat tonight. My stomach is too upset, and after dinner, I claim fatigue and that I want to lie down. Sevvah helps me set up a bed and a fire in one of the storage caves so Aehako and I can have privacy, and I curl up in the blankets, watching the fire crackle as my thoughts churn and churn.
I keep thinking of Aehako’s guilty expression. Of how he and Rokan both looked uncomfortable when I showed up. How quickly they stopped speaking.
Dreams, Sessah said.
I touch the rounded bulge of my belly. Here I thought all of my dreams were coming true. What if I’m wrong, though? What if this is just another one of life’s cruel jokes?
Do I…need to prepare myself for the worst? Just the thought makes my breath catch. I…can’t. I just can’t. If something happens to my baby or to Aehako, it’ll break me. I’ve been strong through so much, but I can also only take so much. I need to see Maylak and have her tell me what’s wrong, but the thought of finding out those answers frightens me even more.
I don’t want to know. If avoiding her means I can prolong the inevitable, I’m going to hide in this stupid cave for the next few days and beg Aehako to take me home early. I can’t handle bad news about my baby. I can’t.
I put my hands on my stomach and cradle it gently, too terrified to even cry. Under my hands, the little one kicks my bladder and spins, and I’ve never been so glad to have to pee in my life.
* * *
I must driftoff to sleep at some point, because I wake up when Aehako slides into the blankets beside me, and the fire is out. The cave is chilly and he puts his hands on my warm body, rubbing them up and down against my bare arms. “I thought you were going to come and get me when you went to see the healer,” Aehako murmurs against my ear, spooning my body with his bigger one. “What did she say?”
I can hear the hurt in his tone. Does he think I would go without him? He doesn’t realize that I’m in here, hiding from the world. “I haven’t seen her yet. I’ll go in the morning.”
He leans over and kisses my cheek, holding me tight against his chest. “Are you feeling well? Is everything all right?”
You tell me, I want to scream. But I don’t. I can’t be mad at him. If he’s talking to Rokan behind my back, it’s because he’s afraid of upsetting me. He wants to try and “fix” whatever he can without alarming me. It’s sweet, and it makes me love him all the more.
I’m everything to him, just like he’s everything to me. Him…and the baby.
I roll over and face him, studying his handsome, broad features. He doesn’t look devastated or stressed—at least, no more so than usual. Is he trying to hide it from me in all ways? My heart aches with such love for him. I don’t know how I managed to end up here, planets and planets away from my own, to land in the arms of this man, but I’ll be forever thankful for it.
Whatever happens in the future, we face it together.
I cup his face and kiss his mouth fiercely.
Aehako groans in surprise at my initiative. He licks at the inside of my mouth, the ridges of his tongue sending hot flutters through my body. His tail wraps around my ankle, and he slides his big hands over my ass, kneading my muscles. “On your knees, my pretty mate,” he murmurs between kisses. “Let your male take care of you.”
“Yes,” I whisper. I want that. I want him to take care of me. I need it. His touch is like a drug, and I want it to send me spiraling. I bite his lower lip hungrily, and then turn, getting on all fours. With my belly growing, this is becoming our position of choice, and just putting my palms on the blankets makes me get all hot and bothered. Maybe Marlene isn’t the only insatiable one lately.
“Love how needy you are,” he murmurs, tugging my leather leggings down and pushing my tunic up to expose me.
Am I needy? Maybe I am. I need to connect with my mate. I need to feel his touch. I need him to make me forget all my worries.
A little gasp escapes me as he glides his hot, aching length through my folds from behind. I’m wet already, but that erotic touch makes me even wetter. I love the drag of his ridges through my pussy, love how big he feels, how invasive against my spread folds. I lean forward a bit more, pressing my cheek to the furs and arching my back.
“So beautiful,” Aehako murmurs, lightly raking his fingers up and down the backs of my thighs and my buttocks. The touch sends little frissons of shock through me, my nipples tightening. So good. How does he always know how to make it so good?
Then he’s pushing inside me, so big and thick that I can’t stifle my moan of pleasure. He grunts as he sinks deeper, his hands tight on my hips, and I know what’s coming next, but I’m still not entirely prepared for when his spur pushes into my back entrance, pressing in the most exquisite and deliciously unnatural sort of way. It shouldn’t be nearly as amazing as it is, but making love like this makes me completely and utterly crazed with need. “Move,” I whisper, my fingers curling in the furs. “Please, please move.”
He does as I ask, retreating slowly, and then in the next moment, his hips slam into mine. His spur invades me again, and it just makes everything ratchet up to eleven. I gasp with every thrust, whimper every time he pulls back, and within minutes, my toes are curling and my calves feel tight with the onset of an orgasm.
“Please,” I choke out again, and the way he breathes my name on his lips does something to me. The shudder of it starts low in my belly, and the next thing I know, I’m coming, my entire being tightening in a wild, impossible release that feels exquisite and is somehow exactly what I needed.
Aehako thrusts into me, his movements careful and precise until I clench tight around him, and then the breath heaves from his lungs and he’s coming, too, his release making our bodies slide wetly together even as he thrusts deeper. I moan one last time as he covers me, his heated skin pressed to mine, and then he collapses in the furs, his arms tight as he drags me with him.
I squirm on the blankets with him, because his spur is still buried in me from behind, and it’s…not the most easy-to-ignore sensation. Now that he’s sated and relaxed, maybe I can get him to tell me what’s going on.
“So…” I begin quietly. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”
