Barbarian's Bride (Ice Planet Barbarians)

"I broke the cave," I tell him, irritated. I rub the spot on my forehead that I cracked on the spiky bit of rock. "I think I broke it."

"Your head?"

"The cave."

He chuckles. "I do not care about the cave. This one has a very low ceiling. Be careful."

Now he tells me. "I'm fine." Even a lump on my head can't ruin my good mood. "You make the fire, I'll get the bedding set up so we have something warm to sit in while our clothes dry."

We get to work, the silence between us easy and pleasant. Once Dagesh has a bit of a flame going, I can see what I'm doing. The cave is a tiny one, nothing more than a bit of a pocket in the side of the cliff, and the back area is dripping with stalactites and stalagmites. Simple baskets are set atop stones to keep them out of the water dripping from the rock, and there are bundles of fur carefully kept off the ground in the same manner. I pull them out and use them for the base of our bed, since they're not nearly as soft as our regular sleeping furs. Once we're settled in a nice, dry spot by the fire, I strip off my damp, clinging leather clothing. There's a spear amongst the supplies in the back, so I thread our clothing through the shaft and then hang them, parking the butt end of the spear into a crevice of rock. Dagesh strips down, too, and he sets up a tripod over the fire to make tea while I lay out our boots near the fire.

When I toss a fur over my shoulders, Dagesh moves to my side and slips under the thick fur with me. His arm goes around my waist and he tucks me against him. It's…cozy. Sure, it's not a fantastic cave and we didn't make it as far as my rules-following mate wanted to, but I can't complain. We had great, toe-curling sex a short time ago and we're warm and dry together. That's all I need.

Dagesh rubs a hand over my back, fingers trailing over my skin. It's arguably one of the best feelings in the world. It's right up there with how it felt earlier when he caught me and snagged a handful of my hair. Not hard, not pulling, just enough to make me feel trapped and helpless. I squeeze my thighs together pleasantly at the memory.

"How do you feel?" he asks, leaning over and brushing a kiss atop my head.

"I'm no longer cold." I snuggle up against his side. "You're a terrific heater."

His hand twitches on my shoulder, and then he draws his thumb down my side, to my waist, where his hand was earlier when he held me down while he fucked the daylights out of me. "Do you hurt anywhere?"

"Nope. Not in the slightest. I feel amazing." I glance up at him. "I might have a few bruises in the morning, but I don't want you to panic. I just bruise easily. Nothing we did today came even close to hitting my limits."

Worry enters his eyes. "Was it bad? Did I not do enough?"

I take his other hand and move it toward my face, kissing the palm. I love his hands. He's only got three fingers and a thumb, but it doesn't look weird to me. His hand is strong and balanced, his nails short and square. He's got calluses that scrape against my skin, but I love those calluses because the rest of his skin is so velvety soft. It's a wonderful, delicious contrast that I can't get enough of. "You did perfectly. I loved you chasing me." I kiss each fingertip. "I don't want you to do something you're uncomfortable with, either. That's not fair to you. It's just finding stuff we both like to do."

He nods thoughtfully. "I admit I have not thought much about such things in the past. I thought a mating was just…a female under you and you stuff her with your cock until you both come." His mouth crooks up in a rueful smile. "No one does things like we do in the home cave."

And that's where he's watched people fucking while lurking in the shadows. There's nothing wrong with that. I've been to a couple of sex clubs and I've seen people fucking out in the open, which is a real eye opener when you're young and inexperienced like I was. There, it almost felt performative. Here, it's always loving and tender, a couple of mated people just getting swept up in the moment and the next thing you know, someone's pulling a blanket over someone else and they're having sex while you're trying to eat dinner. I'm just as guilty of such things. Dagesh and I have been snuggling in public only to have it turn into something more. No one finds that sort of thing shameful here, and for those that don't have a mate and never have before, it's instructive.