The Barbarian Before Christmas (Ice Planet Barbarians #17.5)(15)

And yet…Rokan is never wrong.

I set my mate down on the ground and then give her a fierce kiss. Her mouth is soft under mine, but I can sense her surprise. She is a shy one, my Kira, and constantly surprised at my kisses, as if she is somehow not worth affection. Humans must be strange indeed if they think she is worth overlooking. “My lovely mate,” I tell her between smacking kisses as I cup her face. “How I have missed you.”

“Aehako,” she murmurs, her hands caressing mine. “You’re making a scene, love.” Her cheeks are pink—either with embarrassment or pleasure.

“Let them stare at me.” I lean in closer to her, as if sharing a secret. “I have not seen my mate in many, many nights, and my cock is the worse for it—”

Her hand covers my mouth, her cheeks even redder. Ah, that is my sweet Kira. I grin and look around. “Now where is my little Kae?”

My daughter rushes forward, arms in the air, and jumps in place in front of me, wanting to be picked up. I mock-groan as I heft her into the air. “So big now! How did you get so large while I was gone, Kae? Are you as big as Sessah now?”

She giggles, her small arms going around my neck. “No, Papa.”

“Then as big as Esha, surely,” I tease, tickling her. Even as I do, I cannot help but run my gaze over her, memorizing every bit of her appearance, looking for problems. Her soft, flat mane is the same as it ever was, her eyes bright. She looks well. I glance back at her mother, and Kira is watching us with loving exasperation. She looks well, too, though I worry that perhaps she has lost some weight. Is she pale? Does she suffer from an invisible sickness as the human Har-loh did? My heart thunders in my chest with sudden terror and I put an arm to her shoulders and pull her tight against me, holding her close and pressing a kiss to her mane. The scent of her fills my nose as I hold her close.

“Aehako? Are you all right?” Kira rubs my back lightly, then reaches down to give my tail a gentle, private stroke that makes me feel as if I am the one with pink cheeks. So bold of her. I am pleased and surprised all at once.

“I am fine,” I say, and press another kiss to her mane. “You? No sickness? You are not tired?”

“That’s a weird question to ask,” she tells me, her hand going around my waist as we head away from the group and toward our cozy hut. “Why would you think I’m sick?’

Do I say what Rokan hinted at? Or will it cause her to worry unnecessarily? I do not know what to tell her. “It is nothing,” I say after a moment’s hesitation. “Merely a hunter worrying over his mate.”

She gives me an odd look but does not question me further.

Our hut looks cozy inside, with our piles of furs stacked across from each other. I notice that while I've been gone, she's moved Kae's furs closer to our bed. When I am here, normally they are as far apart as possible to give us some privacy for matings. I wonder if there is another reason that she has moved the furs, and then chide myself for seeing problems when there are none. Still, I cannot help but move about the hut, checking the roof to ensure it is solid and that the stones surrounding the firepit are in place so no coals can escape.

"Aehako?" Kira asks again, a curious expression on her mobile human face. "What is it?"

I smile broadly at her. "It is nothing."

"Mmmhmm." She crosses her arms over her chest. "Kae, honey, why don't you give Papa a hug and then go ask Miss Stacy when the feast will be ready?"

"Feast?" I ask, curious.

"For No-Poison Day. You're back just in time."

I rub my chin, wondering if Rokan's warning was because of the human holiday. Will something bad happen during the celebration? "Eat nothing while we are not there," I caution my little daughter, tousling her mane. "Just in case."

"Just in case of what?" Kira asks.

"In case the food is bad and she catches a sickness?" I grin to take the sting out of my words, but my mate does not look amused. Even Kae looks up at me with a tiny frown on her face. She looks just like her mother when she does that. I pat my daughter's cheek. "Do as your mother says, little one. We will be along shortly."

"All right, Papa." She pauses, and hugs my leg tightly, squeezing my thigh. "I'm glad you're home."

My heart feels as if it will burst with love for this small kit. I kneel down to her height and brush her soft mane back from her little face. "You were a good girl for your mama while I was gone, were you not?"

"Always," she says happily, basking under my attention.

I nod as if this pleases me greatly. "Then you will have a good No-Poison Day. I have brought you back a special gift from the great salt lake. You can have it later."

My daughter gives me another smile and then skips out of the hut, heading toward the main part of the village.

I get to my feet again and Kira gives me a patient look, waiting. "Well?"

"I am very well," I tell her, teasing. I move forward and put my hands to her hips, pulling her body against mine. She is slimmer than a sa-khui female, my Kira, but I love the feel of her in my arms. I do not even mind that she is frowning at me. I live to turn that frown into a soft smile or a gasp of yearning. Ah, but bringing my mate to the heights of pleasure is such a delight. It has already been far too long since I have touched her, and I lean down to give her a light kiss.