Barbarian Lover (Ice Planet Barbarians #3)(51)

I yawn as I pad out into the main area and realize…I slept great. For the first time in what feels like forever, I slept without overhearing everyone having sex, the whispers picked up by the translator, everything. No wonder I feel so utterly refreshed. Even now, the cave is crowded but not overwhelming with voices. Instead, it’s like a low, pleasant hum of conversation.

This is…awesome.

Of course, a small downside is that I have no idea where my mate is now. I can’t follow the sound of his voice via the translator. I’ll have to hunt him down the old fashioned way.

Nearby, Tiffany and Josie are scraping skins stretched on frames. Josie gives a happy squeal at the sight of me and waves her gore-covered arms. “I’d hug you, girl, but I’m gross! I’m so glad you’re back!”

Tiffany’s the more reserved of the two, and she just smiles at me.

“I’m glad to be back, too.” I rub my earlobe. “I feel so much better without the translator.” I wonder how much they know about the ship returning and wanting to snatch us all again, or if that’s being kept on the down-low.

“I almost didn’t recognize you,” Josie says in a sunny voice, then turns back to scraping her skin. “Maybe I should check out the old mothership and see if it does breast implants. I’m feeling pretty inadequate around the sa-khui ladies.” She shakes her small chest back and forth, trying to make what little she has jiggle.

“Oh, stop it,” Tiffany says and nudges Josie with an elbow. “For real. No one’s gonna give you boob implants because you’re a skinny white girl.”

Josie sticks out her tongue, and Tiffany returns the gesture before they both start laughing.

Yeah…I’m thinking they weren’t told about the ship. They’re entirely too…happy. I gesture at the mouth of the chief’s cave. “Is Vektal in there?”

Tiffany leans over to look at the entrance of his cave. “I don’t think so? I thought I saw him walk outside with a few of the others earlier. You might check with the hunters if he’s not in the furs with Georgie.” She winks.

Oh, yikes. The last thing I want to do is run into them having sex. Lord knows I’ve heard it enough already. “Um, maybe I’ll check with the hunters first.”

“Good call,” Josie cackles. “I saw more than I wanted to, once.”

“These people need some damn doorbells,” Tiffany says, and shakes her head.

I can’t disagree with that. I give them both impulsive, one-armed hugs around their shoulders that they can’t quite return because of their hands, and then trot off to find Aehako and the chief. Marlene is tending to a small fire where the cooked human food is prepared, and offers me a root-cake – not unlike a hash-brown cake – for breakfast. I nibble on it as I walk. If there was some coffee around here, I’d say this cave was downright cozy.

I find Aehako and Vektal talking near the entrance to the cave. They’re up on a rise, just far enough away not to be overheard. Georgie squats nearby in the snow, dry heaving as Vektal strokes her hair.

I cram my root-cake into my mouth and chew rapidly. Probably a bad idea to eat around the pregnant lady with morning sickness. Poor Georgie. She’s been barfing ever since she got knocked up.

Of course, I’d gladly trade places with her. I’d barf every day for three years in a row if it meant I could have Aehako’s child.

My mate looks up at that moment and sees me approaching, and a smile crosses his broad face. I bask in the warmth of his approval, so happy I could burst. The aliens are gone, my translator’s removed, and I have the love of a sexy, delicious alien. Oh, it is so tough to be me.

Aehako kisses me on the mouth as I move to his side and then swipes at the corner of my lip. “You have grease on your face.”

I scrub at my cheek, blushing. “I was trying to eat fast so I wouldn’t bother Georgie.” I look over at my fellow human sympathetically. “How are you today?”

“Not bad, actually,” she says, and stands up, wiping her own mouth. She looks pale and tired, but gives Vektal a small smile of thanks as he hands her a waterskin. She rinses her mouth and then spits off to the side.

Vektal studies me, arms crossed. His tail flicks once. “I did not recognize you without your shell,” he says, and gestures at one ear.

“I had the translator removed,” I tell him, feeling awkward. Am I truly so forgettable? But as I watch, his gaze devours Georgie, and my hurt feelings dissipate. I’m probably just another human to him, when Georgie’s the only one that matters. It’s clear that Vektal is obsessed and utterly in love with his human mate. I think it’s cute, even if he still intimidates me a little.

Georgie leans against Vektal and his arm goes around her waist. “It’s good that you arrived,” she says. “We were just discussing things.”

“How is Haeden?” I ask.

“Recovering,” Aehako tells me. He takes my hand in his and twines his fingers with mine. “Maylak has worn herself out working on healing him, so I will stay wounded for a bit longer.” He pats his stomach, at the bandaged spot. “I guess you will have to be gentle with me in the furs, my Sad-Eyes.”

I see Flirty Aehako is back in full force. I snort and ignore his overt words. “And Harlow? Any sign of her?”

Georgie shakes her head. “I hate that she’s just completely disappeared. Something about it stinks. She didn’t strike me as the type to recklessly throw her life away.” Then, she’s silent again, and I know we’re both thinking of Dominique. Dominique was another redhead who was captured and thrown into the hold with Georgie and I on the alien spaceship. The guards had raped her, and it had broken something in Dominique’s mind. She’d survived the crash, but the moment she had the chance, she’d ran away into the frigid snow wearing only a nightgown. She’d frozen to death.