Barbarian’s Bride by Ruby Dixon

5

NORA

Iwake up to gray, wintry skies with two pathetic, pale suns overhead and the cootie-thing moving in my chest. I shudder, because no one told me that I'd be able to feel it moving. I swear it feels like it's squirming or drumming or something in my chest, and I'm not sure I like the sensation.

"You all right, Nora?" Georgie asks, holding out a cake of the ultra-spicy alien food.

I nod. "I'll manage." I take the cake from her and nibble on it cautiously, and I'm surprised when it doesn't taste nearly as awful as before. That's…confusing. I look around, curious. Is my vision better? Does everything smell…louder than before? Can smells even be loud? I rub my weird chest, contemplating that. The cootie is supposed to equip us for better life out here on this icicle-crusted planet, but I didn't expect to feel different.

I do, though. It's hard to say just HOW I feel different, other than the jiggling worm in my chest. Things feel sharper, or I feel more alert. Just…different. I look around and everyone's got creepy glowing blue eyes. Funny how it looked kind of normal in the big blue aliens, but on us it looks unearthly. I try not to stare too much at the others, because I imagine I look just as strange.

A girl sits next to me, the one that cries a lot. She's got soft-looking dark hair and a pretty face, but she also looks utterly miserable. She clutches furs to her chest as we talk about nothing in particular. I'm having a hard time concentrating, because it keeps feeling like my cootie is moving. "Do you feel yours?" I ask the girl—Ariana.

She shakes her head, her eyes brilliant blue.

"Huh. Maybe I got a super-active one." I tap my chest, as if I can tell my cootie to calm the fuck down, but it just keeps on doing its thing. The wind tears at our clothing and our hair as we finish our food, but I have to admit I don't feel nearly as cold as before. It's still not quite what I'd call “comfy” but I no longer feel as if my lungs are going to freeze with every breath I take.

I'm about to point this out to Ariana, when I see movement out of the corner of my eye.

It's one of the male aliens, walking past. I think I recognize him from before, the one with the long braid and the staring eyes. He stares at me again today, and as I watch, he runs smack into another alien, who frowns and gives him a shove. The starer looks flustered, and I giggle to myself.

That draws his attention again. Ariana's saying something to me, but I'm not listening. I'm fascinated by the sight of that big alien as he approaches. For an alien, he's kinda…handsome. His horns are tall with just a hint of curl to them, and he's got a long, thick braid that falls heavily to his waist. He's not wearing the furs like he was earlier—instead, he's bare to the waist, and I can see an amazing set of pectorals and pale blue skin. He hesitates…and then approaches where I sit.

And I keep smiling at him. For some reason, the sight of him just makes me…happy. Like everything's suddenly falling into place.

As he moves closer, the cootie in my chest practically dances with delight. It moves so violently that I press my hand to the front of my tunic, startled, but I can't bear to look away from the guy approaching. I can hear the cootie in my ears, and it's moving so much that it sounds like the hum of a thousand bees. I want to get to my feet, because it feels strange to just keep sitting when everything else seems to be surging inside me.

Before I have a chance to stand, though, the guy moves to my side. He drops to his knees in front of me.

Oh.

He gives me a wide-eyed look, his gaze on my breasts. For a moment, I want to joke that my eyes are up higher, but then I realize he's humming as much as I am. That my cootie isn't squirming in my chest. It's resonating.

To him.

He's my mate.

Oh.

As I realize this, Tall, Dark and Braided puts a hand over his heart as he gazes up at me, and I practically melt at the sight.

"I'm Nora," I tell him. I sound all breathless and husky, even to my own ears, but I can't be embarrassed. Not when he's looking at me like he wants to eat me up with a spoon. Those eyes. I could drown in them. And those big shoulders. He's got strong features on his face—a large nose and wide mouth—but the more I look at him, the more I like the way he looks. The more I want to stare at him.

And he can't take his eyes off me. "I am Dagesh."

I'm pretty sure I can't pronounce it like he does. He swallows half his name in this weird, throaty sound, but more than that, I'd forgotten how deep and delicious his voice is. When he talks, I swear I feel it between my thighs. I want to say hello, but it just comes out as a little moan.

I can't even be embarrassed about that, either. Does it matter if I'm moaning? I know I don't give a fuck. All I know is that I need to touch this guy right now. Hopeful that he won't mind my impatient hands, I reach out and brush my fingers over the hand he has placed on his heart, where his khui is loudest. Mine is so dang loud it's like a drum is beating in my chest, and my nipples are so hard they feel as if they're going to stab through the leather of my tunic. "Are you…I thought mine was moving."

"It resonates," Dagesh tells me in that syrup-rich voice. "You resonate for me. You are my mate."

"Oh." Fuck yeah I am. I can't stop staring at his chest, where my hand is resting over his. He's resonating so loudly that I can feel it thrumming through my skin, and it's just making me…aroused. Actually, right about now, everything is making me aroused. I could rip off all this leather clothing right now and tackle him in the snow, and I don't think I'd care. My lips part, and I try to think of something to ask him. Anything.

My mind is a blank. I just want to keep touching him.

Does…does he want to touch me? Ever so slightly, I press on the hand under mine.

Dagesh gets to his feet. He holds his hands out to me, a clear indication he wants me to stand up, too. I do, and he hauls me up to my feet as if I'm light as air. I've never felt “light as air” in my life. I've always been the girl that needed to lose ten pounds, the girl that developed boobs before anyone else, the girl with the butt that was too big to fill out her jeans right…but with his big hands on mine right now? And the way he stares at me?

I feel like a goddess.

I'm practically beaming as I stand next to him. Our khuis sing to one another as we stand, hand in hand, and it really does feel like a song. It's like they're humming to one another, the sound becoming more urgent the closer we stand.

Then, Dagesh scoops me into his arms.

I bite back a sound of surprise, because he hefts me into his arms as if I weigh nothing at all. He cradles me against his chest and turns away from the others, walking quickly through the knee-high snow as if it doesn't bother him in the slightest.

"W-where are we going?" I ask as I slide my arms around his neck, breathless.

"To fulfill resonance, my pretty one," he tells me. "We will find a private cave and become mates."

Well, that was rather sudden and decisive. I like it, though. "You didn't even ask me," I point out, a little amused. "Shouldn't you have asked?"

"What is there to ask?" He looks puzzled as he carries me away. "It is resonance. Our khuis have decided we are mates. There is nothing else to be decided."

Well, he’s very confident about that. “You’re lucky you’re cute, then.”

"Cute?" He makes a face as he heads toward the fire that’s been built for us humans. He settles me onto my feet, lays out a fur for me to sit on, and then gives me the cloak off his back.

I curl up under it as others begin to trickle toward the fire, and I’m not entirely surprised when Dagesh sits next to me and pulls me against him. I want to keep touching him. I want to feel what it’s like to have sex while resonating. I want a lot of damn things, and right now, they’re all tied in to him.

“No-rah,” he breathes, his hands roaming over me. A moment later, he’s got them under my tunic and he’s pushing at my pants. Others sit down nearby, but no one’s looking over at us. It’s like they know exactly what we’re doing, and they’re giving us privacy by deliberately not looking in our direction.

Part of me wants to tell him that I want to go somewhere quiet where we can be alone, but the other part of me is far too hot and bothered to care. Under the furs, I shove my pants down to my ankles and slide to the ground. Dagesh is immediately on top of me, tugging my feet free from the too-big leggings and then spreading my legs.

A moment later, he’s inside me.

I let out a gasp of surprise, because he’s big. Not that I mind big. I like big. I was just hoping for an ounce of foreplay. It doesn’t seem to be in the cards, though, because he pumps into me twice, grunting, and then collapses.

And…okay. It’s not exactly a stellar start for my life on an ice planet.

My new mate groans, burying his face against my neck. “I am sorry. That was too quick. I…I did it all wrong.”

“It’s all right,” I murmur, glancing over at the people near the fire. I stroke his long braid, needing to touch him. Needing more than a quick pump and dump. “Maybe we…maybe we go someplace quiet and get to know each other better?”

Dagesh looks up at me and our eyes meet. I can tell he’s chagrined by how fast that was, and how it’s obvious I didn’t enjoy it like he did. He nods, then fumbles with my pants under the blankets. I help as much as I can, and when I’m dressed, Dagesh gets to his feet and adjusts his loincloth, then picks me up, blankets and all.

Without a word to the others, he turns and begins to head away from the group, heading for a distant snowy hill.

“Should we say something?” I whisper. “Tell them we’re going?”

“They know we are resonating. We will be back later. They will not wait for us.”

“Oh, okay.” I watch his face as he carries me like a bride over the threshold. He seems…a little stiff. Embarrassed. It wasn’t exactly great sex. In fact, it might hit a record for the fastest sex I’ve ever had, but I’m not upset. I don’t want him to feel ashamed. If what I’ve been told about the barbarians here is true, they don’t have many females. I’m guessing Dagesh doesn’t get a lot of chances to fool around. I reach up to skim my fingers over his big chin. He really does have great big features. I mean, he's supersized compared to humans, so they don't look strange. I just find his face…fascinating. I find all of him fascinating, really.

Resonance means having sex, Georgie explained to us. It's a mating call set up by our khuis in order to get us to fuck until we get pregnant. I should probably be mad about this, but I'm secretly thrilled. My khui has absolutely picked out the guy I would have picked for myself, and the more I gaze at that big strong chin and wide mouth, the more I want to bite all of it.

And the more I want him to bite me back.

I am absolutely horny for this big alien man and I need more touching. Lots more.

"Have you done this before?" Dagesh asks me, slightly breathless as he storms over snowy hill after snowy hill. His grip doesn't ease on me in the slightest, which means that the breathlessness he has is from my nearness, and that sends another thrill shooting through me. “Before now, I mean?”

"Resonate?"

He laughs. "Resonance is only ever between one pair. Once a khui has chosen, it has chosen its mate for life." He glances down at me briefly, and I'm entranced by those fascinating, deep eyes of his. "I meant mating."

"Oh." Is this a conversational lead-in to some slut shaming? Because I've definitely gotten around in the past. I had a few wild teenage years, much to my family's chagrin, and well…I just really like dating. And sex. I've never had a guy ask me how experienced I was. Usually when we established a safe word, it was kinda understood that I knew my way around a dick. "Is…this a trick question?"

I'm afraid to answer. Because what if I say "Yes, oh yes, I love cock!" and Dagesh hates the thought that his precious mate isn't a virgin? What if he wants his junk to be the only resident to my lady town, ever? Our resonance—heck, our happy ever after—will be over before it even began.

"There is no trick," Dagesh says easily. He continues to move over the landscape as if he knows exactly where he's headed. Which is good, because it all looks the same to me. "I merely wish to know if that is your first time as well."

"It was your first, then?" I don’t feign surprise. There’s no point. We both know that quick two-thrust interlude wasn’t how things were supposed to go.

He nods. "My tribe does not have many females. They were able to choose the pleasure-mates they liked amongst all of us, but I am not nearly as interesting as others."

"Then your ladies are blind." I put a hand on his broad chest, because goodness, they must really be picky women if he's considered “not exciting enough.” Just looking at him is making my mouth water.

"You are influenced by resonance. If we were not singing to one another, you would not notice me either." He says this in a cheerful voice, as if it's a given.

I think he's wrong. I've been eyeballing him ever since I woke up. But I also don't want to argue over something as silly as how hot someone might or might not be to alien eyes. "Their loss is my gain."

My answer seems to make him happy. Dagesh's smile broadens, and his hands squeeze me to his chest a little tighter. I drag my fingertips over his bare chest, learning the texture of his skin as he walks. "I like the way you feel," I tell him, fascinated. "Your skin is like the softest velvet here." I trace invisible lines across his skin. "But you're plated and hard here." I touch the hardened, textured spots on his skin, one right over his heart. "My skin isn't like this."

"You look soft everywhere." His words are thick, husky, and he glances down at me. There's such hunger in his eyes that it takes my breath away.

"I am." I want to squirm in his arms. Our conversation has taken on a decidedly sexual tone, and I'm absolutely into it. "Can I keep touching you? Or is this bothering you?"

"Touch me…as you please." His big jaw clenches. "I think I will die if you stop." If anything, he walks a little faster.

I keep touching him, since I have free rein to do so. I love the way he feels under my fingertips. I could just stroke his skin all day long and never get tired of it. It's that fascinating mixture of ultra-warm skin clashing with the chill of the air, the strength flexing under that soft skin, and the scent of him. I don't think I've ever been so aroused in my life, and I know it's all thanks to the khui.

Well, some of it is, anyhow. The rest of me just finds Dagesh utterly delicious and I figure if I'm stranded here on an ice planet for the rest of my life, I might as well enjoy myself. And I suspect I will with this big, handsome brute as my mate. I shiver at the thought.

"We are almost there," Dagesh rasps.

“Where are we going?”

“Away from the others,” is all he says. “Where we can be alone. It will not be much longer.”

"Take your time," I say dreamily, lifting my hand and caressing the strong lines of his jaw. "I'm enjoying the journey." It occurs to me that he might be growing tired, and I inwardly wince at how insensitive I am. "Should I walk?"

Dagesh takes a deep, shuddering breath and does not answer for a long moment. Finally, he speaks. "If I set you down, I will lose control. Your feet will hit the snow and then I will be on you like a wild metlak in rut."

Oh.

Oh dear…that sounds delicious. I bite my lip, holding back a moan. This is a problem to him? It's not a problem to me. I've never wanted anyone as much as I want this alien man right now. But I remind myself that this is all very new to him. So I just pat his chest. "You lead the way."

"I am. I shall."

The determination in his voice makes my pussy clench, and I fight the urge to shove a hand between my thighs and take over matters. I've never been so damn turned on. It's shocking in how hungry I am for him. I've never had a hair-trigger before. In the past, I've always needed a very specific set of elements to make me come—a heavy hand on my neck, or a hard spanking, being dominated, things along that nature. But right now I'm practically squirming as Dagesh carries me toward a distant jumble of rocks, and I can hardly wait to have sex with him again.

I just know this time we’ll get it right. This time, it's going to be explosive.

"Up ahead," he tells me, and I start to pant. My khui is shivering so hard in my chest that it shakes my entire body, and I want to whimper with how aroused I am. I'm so ready. So darn ready. I cling to Dagesh as he staggers toward what looks like a small cave mouth, and it hits me that I'm going to be living in caves for the rest of my life.

That dims the fires a little.

But then Dagesh growls like a starving beast, and before we even go into the cave, he drops me to my feet. I touch the ground no longer than a second before I'm in his arms again, this time with him pulling my legs around his waist. A split second later, my back hits the rocky cliff wall and then Dagesh's face is inches from mine.

He looks utterly tortured. "I cannot wait any longer, my mate. My beautiful one."

With that, he grabs the borrowed leather leggings I'm wearing and instead of pulling them down, tears them from my waist. I smother a little sound of surprise as he rips the crotch open and then presses his hand between my thighs.

I'm so wet. He hisses the moment his fingers brush over my folds, as if he's realizing this, too.

Our eyes meet, he makes that hungry, needy sound in his throat again. Dagesh hikes me up, just a little, and then I hear the sound of more ripping leather. In the space of a breath, I feel the head of his cock pressing against my slicked skin, bigger and thicker than I remember.

And then he thrusts deep, and all the breath leaves my lungs.

Oh have mercy. Nothing has ever felt better. I'm in a haze of bliss, all brought on by the big, enormous, wonderful cock inside me. I grip Dagesh's shoulders, digging my nails into his skin, and squeeze my thighs around him, a silent request for more. Maybe it’s the moment, but this is all ten times better already. He feels bigger, and harder, and I’m so damn ready.

He gives another one of those animalistic growls, and then Dagesh grabs my hips and starts fucking me. Hard. I whimper and hold onto him as he slams into my aching, needy body, and each time he does, it's magic. Somehow the angle he has me at is sheer perfection, because every time he rocks into me, he somehow manages to rub against my clit. I want to see his alien equipment, but I don't want him to stop, either.

Not that I think he can stop. He's pounding into me with all the pent-up force that's been eating at him this entire walk. I know just how he feels, too—I guess I wasn't the only one utterly turned on. My khui keeps singing louder and louder as our bodies crash and crash and crash together. I'm so wet that my pussy's making obscene noises every time he strokes into me, and I can't seem to stop whimpering.

Sex has never been so good.

I gasp again, and Dagesh fucks me even harder. The rocks I'm leaning against grind into my back, and I'm pinned between him and the cliff wall as he pumps into me faster and faster. My clit's being rubbed so damn hard and between it and the wild thrusting of my mate, I feel like I'm spiraling out of control. "Harder," I moan again. "Oh, go harder."

His hands clamp down on my hips, and that's all it takes. The next time he strokes into me, I come with a choked cry, my entire body clenching up with the sheer pleasure of it. My legs stiffen and I gasp, stunned, as the orgasm slams through me with all the intensity of a tornado. Dagesh makes a low sound in his throat but he doesn't stop fucking me. He just keeps going until he comes a few hard, deep thrusts later. I clutch at him as he releases inside me, and maybe it's the fact that his body's warmer than mine, but I could swear I feel it as he empties out.

Then, gasping, he collapses against me and I hold onto his long braid, stroking it as pleasant aftershocks roll through my body.

If this is what life is going to be like on the ice planet, I think I will be a very happy camper indeed, caves and all.