Barbarian's Bride (Ice Planet Barbarians)

And this thing between us—this resonance—is so new. Everything is lining up to be great except for the sex. A relationship can still be built on decent sex, right? On tooth-achingly sweet, gentle sex?

I'm sure it can. So I play with his hair, and when he presses a kiss to my lips again and asks me how I feel, I smile and tell him I'm great. That I'm happy. There are bigger problems, I figure, than if my mate spanks me or not.

He's a virgin, too. Or he was. Maybe in time he'll want to explore things a bit more.

I can be patient.

* * *

DAGESH

No-rah and I stay out in the hunter cave overnight, and we mate several more times before we fall asleep, twined together. When I wake up, we no longer resonate to one another. The tone of our khuis has changed, the song becoming softer and more relaxed. I spend the morning kissing my pretty mate, beyond happy, and then we return to join the others.

We stay for a time at the ancestors' cave, and then head on to the home cave. Others have resonated—Zolaya has a female, now, and Zennek. Pashov is all smiles, hovering over his new mate, Stay-see. There is so much joy in our small group of hunters. To think we were to spend our lives alone, with no families of our own, and now we will have everything.

I go to sleep every night with my pretty mate in my arms, and I cover her with kisses and tell her how happy she makes me. Whenever I reach for her, No-rah is eager.

And yet…I feel as if something is missing.

But what?

10

Many Days Later

DAGESH

Underneath me, No-rah pants, her teats jiggling as I pump into her.

"Harder," she tells me, lost in the moment. "Pull…pull my hair, baby."

I stroke her mane, instead. "I am here, No-rah. I have you."

She just buries her face against my shoulder and meets my thrusts with additional force. It makes me slow down, because I do not want to hurt her. I do not want to bruise my No-rah, and my pretty mate bruises easily. So I grab the hand she twists into my mane and ease it back down to the furs, linking my fingers with hers.

This time, like many times recently, I watch her face. I want to see her come, and lately I have not been able to feel it when she has her release. I stroke into her until she lets out a small whimper and her legs tighten. There it is. I thrust harder, desperate to reach my own climax, and she sucks in a breath, almost as if she is about to come again.

"Oh," she breathes. "Oh, Dagesh."

I come, flooding her with my seed, and then it is over. She holds me as my breathing returns to normal, stroking my mane with her small hand.

"You hunting today?" she asks in a drowsy voice.

I bury my face against her neck, breathing in her scent. She smells so good. I press a kiss to her throat, careful not to hold her too tight. "Yes. I wish I could stay in with you, but there is too much to be done outside the cave."

"Try not to miss me too much," she teases.

I kiss her neck again. "Impossible."

I detangle from her warm body and she sighs, the sound almost…disappointed. I study her face as I wash up, then dress, worried. "Was I too rough with you?"

Her mouth twists. "No. Don't worry about it. It's fine."

"And you…you came? It was good for you?" She always seems happy…except in the furs. Every time we mate, it is wonderful, but in the aftermath, I always feel as if I have done something wrong. That she is…unsettled.

No-rah just grabs my hand and presses a kiss to the palm. "I did. It was lovely, baby. Go hunt. I promise you I'm absolutely fine."

Still I hesitate.

She gets to her feet and helps me with my loincloth, sliding her hand over my cock. "I love you with all my heart. Please don't worry, okay? It's not you, it's me."

"But that means it is something."

No-rah shakes her head again. "I promise, it is nothing worth being unhappy over. It's just minor stuff. I love you and I love our life." She touches her belly, where there is yet no sign of our kit-to-be. "And I'm going to love being a mom. So please don't worry."

I pull her to me and kiss her again. It is an argument we have had many times in the last few weeks. There is something that makes my No-rah sad, but when I ask her about it, she will not share. All she has said is that I would not understand.

I want to understand. I want to understand desperately. No-rah is everything to me. She has changed my life in the short time she has been here, and I cannot imagine a day without her bright smile in it, or the touch of her soft hand in mine.