Barbarian Lover (Ice Planet Barbarians #3)(22)

Once food is eaten, we get to walking again. Aehako drops down beside me, and his steps seem impossibly slow. “Are you well?”

“I’m hanging in there,” I assure him. I feel like a putz for being so slow, what with him carrying my bag and his, but I’m having a hard enough time as it is.

He nods and gives me a quick squeeze over my fur-covered shoulders, and then paces ahead at his regular, fast gait.

Hours pass and my world becomes nothing more than placing my feet in the path that Harlow’s snowshoes have trod ahead of mine. I’m no longer aware of the cold, or the travel. I thought coming to the tribal caves the first time was exhausting, but now I’m remembering how much of the time we were carried, too weak to walk. I kinda wish someone was here to carry me now. The snow continues to pour forth from the skies, making it nearly impossible to see further than a few feet ahead. I don’t know how the guys can tell where we’re going, but we seem to be heading in a straight line. That’s encouraging. I think.

A hand touches my arm. “Kira?”

I look up and realize that the scarf over my mouth has frosted to my face, and my teeth are chattering. “W-wh-what?”

It’s Aehako, his big face concerned. He pulls his hood back from his horns, and he looks no more bothered by the weather than if it’s a rainstorm and not the Snowpocalypse. “Come,” he says, pulling me against him and wrapping a supporting arm around my waist. “We’re near a cave. Come.”

I sag against him and more or less let him drag me the rest of the way to the cave. I didn’t realize how tired I was until he broke me from my trance, and now it feels as if every ounce of strength has left my body. The translator feels like a block of ice against my ear, and I can’t feel my toes. Or my fingers. My teeth are clacking like they’re tap-dancing and all the while, the snow just keeps pouring down.

Maybe we should have waited after all.

I don’t even have the energy to protest when Aehako slings me into his arms and carries me the rest of the way to the cave. At least there will be warmth there, and fire. Gosh, I love fire.

But when we get to the cave, it’s dark inside. There’s no fire.

“Predators in this area,” Haeden explains. “It’s a dangerous place to have a fire. We’ll have to share body heat.”

I look over at Harlow, who is just as bundled in furs as I am. It’s gonna be a cold night.

Harlow, however, takes one look at me as Aehako gently sets me down, and then drops her pack next to Haeden. She unrolls her bedroll and strips off her wet, snowy clothing and then inches against him like a big furry worm in a blanket.

Which means I’m with Aehako.

I should have seen that coming, I guess. I stand there like a big snow-cone as Aehako tugs my gloves off my frozen hands and then blows on my chilled fingers to warm them. “H-how c-come H-h-Harlow’s not as c-c-cold as me?” I chatter. “How c-come I sssssuck at traveling so bad?”

“She was not sick for two weeks like you were,” Aehako says easily. “You will get stronger with time.”

Harlow yawns and scoots further into her furs. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m cold and exhausted, too.”

It doesn’t, because she doesn’t look as if she’s about to fall to pieces like I do. Sure, she’s cuddling up to Haeden, who really isn’t the most cuddly of people. But I’d feel better if I wasn’t the only one struggling.

“Get some sleep,” Haeden says. “We’ll eat in the morning and then set off again.”

Aehako strips me down to my last layer of clothing, spreading the others out to dry. The cave is small but there’s no bitter wind, at least. I watch as Aehako lays out my furs and then his, pushing them both together. Then he guides me down into the bed and pulls the covers to my chin.

It doesn’t feel warm at all. I’m about to whine about this when Aehako’s enormous body gets into the furs next to me and he pulls me against him, my face pressing against his bare chest.

And…oh. Okay. This is where the warmth comes in. Because sleeping with Aehako is like sleeping with a space heater. A soft, velvety one with lots of muscles. I’m pretty sure he’s naked, too, or at least down to a loincloth.

Man. Now I wish I’d been paying more attention.

My teeth stop their chattering and I press my cold hands and feet against his skin. He doesn’t protest, just hugs me closer. Delicious warmth seeps through my body, stolen from him, and I start to feel good for the first time since leaving the tribal caves hours and hours ago.

“Are we almost there?” I whisper to Aehako. “To the elders’ cave?”

“About halfway,” he says in a low voice. His finger traces my ear and then my jaw, sending shivers up my spine. “We’re moving slower than we’d like. The storm is hindering things.”

The storm, and the slow-ass human, I think, but I don’t say it aloud. He knows I’m doing the best I can. I snuggle closer to him and rub my fingers on his stomach. Gosh, he feels good. My fingers glide up and down the flat plane of muscle that is his belly, and I explore him with my touch even as he caresses my face.

I should be really embarrassed that Harlow immediately assumed I was sleeping with Aehako. But…I find I can’t really care. I’m glad. I don’t want to cuddle up to her because she’s not warm and delicious — and I sure don’t want to snuggle with Haeden. I’m glad Aehako and I are under the blankets together, even if it’s just for warmth.