The Barbarian Before Christmas (Ice Planet Barbarians #17.5)(11)

Ell-ee whimpers when I let her go, clinging to me. “No,” she whispers, urgent. “Stay.”

I groan when she slicks her little tongue against the seam of my mouth. There is nothing I want more than to stay. “I must put the privacy screen back up so we will be undisturbed.” Even for a moment, the idea of leaving the warmth of her arms seems like a poor choice. But then I think of the others coming in and disturbing us when I am cock-deep into my mate, and I growl at the thought. I wish to see no one but her until dawn tomorrow, at the very least. I force myself to get up from the furs, ignoring the tempting brush of her fingers down my arm, and cross the hut with haste. I slap the screen over the entrance, shove a basket behind it so it cannot budge, and then return to my mate’s waiting arms.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Ell-ee breathes. Her eyes glimmer with unshed tears. “I feel like we’ve been apart more than we’ve been together.”

“That changes this day,” I vow to her. “I will not leave you alone again. This I swear.” I take her hand and press my mouth to her palm. “Being without you made every day difficult.”

She nods, her eyes so full of sadness. “It was hard to get out of bed sometimes, knowing that you wouldn’t be there. I had to force myself to eat, too.”

The thought brings me pain. I picture her, thin and miserable, and pull her close to me. “You must be strong for our kit, my Ell-ee. For me and for him.”

“I know,” she says in a soft voice, and her fingers flutter along my jaw. “But sometimes it’s really hard.”

All the more reason to never leave her again. Perhaps she is not as independent as Leezh, or as outgoing as Mah-dee, but it does not matter. She is strong in different ways, and she needs me to feel whole. I understand this—how many mornings did I wake up and feel as if I was hollow without her at my side? “From now on,” I tell her, “when I go to hunt, you will come with me. If I must return to the Icehome shores, we will go together.”

“You promise?” Her thumb skims over my mouth.

“I vow it.” I nip the tip of her finger. “I need you as much as you need me.”

“Good.” She strokes a lock of hair back from my brow. “And when the kit comes…?”

“We will stay wherever we must until you can travel again. I mean it when I say I will never leave your side again.” I undo the knotted band holding her first layer of furs wrapped around her torso. “We are together, always. The others will have to accept this.”

“We can go back to the other tribe—the Ice home, you called them? —if you are needed.” She bites her lip, uncertain.

“No one needs me as much as you, my mate,” I tell her. “And the same holds true for me. I need you more than anything.”

With a happy sigh, Ell-ee caresses my face as I pull at her layers of clothing. Like all the humans, she covers herself in heavy wraps of fur to keep warm, and finding her soft skin underneath is a challenge. She helps me with the clothing, sitting up and watching me with eager eyes as I pull her boots off and then remove her leggings. Next, her tunic goes, and then the band that covers her slight teats. When she is bare and laid out before me, I breathe out a sigh of pure joy. I am a fool for ever leaving her side.

Ell-ee reaches for me, tugging at the heavy wrap I wear over my shoulders. “You’re all covered up,” she whispers. “I want to touch you.”

I strip off my layers, casting them aside until I am in nothing but my loincloth and my boots. She sits up in bed and tugs at the knot at my waist that keeps my loincloth in place, and her hands skim over my hard, aching cock. A groan escapes my throat. “Do not,” I murmur, catching her hand in mine. “It has been too long since I have touched you. I must keep my control or else I will not make this very good for you.”

For some reason, that makes Ell-ee give a throaty laugh. “Is that supposed to discourage me? I like the thought of making you crazy, Bek. I dream about it all day long.”

“You do?” I am astonished. I think about new and exciting ways to touch her constantly, but I did not realize she did the same.

She nods and gives me an excited look, squirming on the blankets with enthusiasm. “I think about when I put my hands on you and you make that noise in your throat.” She lays her palms against my chest, and I suck in a breath. “Like that,” she murmurs. “And I think about what noises you’d make if I put my mouth on you.”

Is she suggesting…I groan at the thought. “Ell-ee.”

“I want to do it,” she tells me. “Can I? Will you let me?”

Will I let her? I can think of nothing else but that, now that she has called my attention to it. “Only if you wish to.”

“Being with you makes me wish to do a great many things,” she says, and she pulls my loincloth free, exposing my cock to the air.

She looks at my cock with such hungry eyes that it makes my entire body twitch in response. Her small, soft hands curl around my length, her odd-colored skin so vibrant against my dark blue. I love the sight of her fingers against my skin…almost as much as I love her touch. "I always forget how big you are," she murmurs in that soft, shy voice of hers. "And when I see you, it always surprises me. In a good way, of course." She flicks her gaze up to me and gives me a bashful smile.