Ice Planet Honeymoon (Four Novellas of HEA)

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.