Barbarian's Mate (Ice Planet Barbarians, #6)

by Ruby Dixon

I am the only male to have two mates and yet have never touched a woman.

The truth is that I do not hate her. I could not. She is sunlight and warm smiles. She is laughter and happiness, and those things are lost to me. I have not been happy since Zalah died cursing my name.

Plus, I’ve totally got babies on the brain. Always have. I love their sweet scent, the way they clutch at you like you’re the most important thing in the world, the trust in their eyes. I’ve wanted a baby of my own so badly, because I want to do right by my child. I want it to grow up in a world of love where parents never disappear, people only touch you with kindness, and there’s nothing but joy and welcome and love at home.

I want a mate that loves me, not someone that can barely tolerate me. I can’t bring a baby into this world in any other way, no matter how badly I want to be a mother.

I want her to realize that I can be a good mate to her. That I need her. That she is beautiful to me with her silky hair and her pink, smooth face and her smiles.

Who has used her? I will rip their heads from their bodies and stomp on their innards.

Just once, I wish she would look back. I wish she would see me, waiting on the horizon for her. Waiting to take care of her. To comfort her. To be her man and her mate and whatever else she needs.

though I dream of Haeden at night and when I wake up, my chest is vibrating with resonance. That isn’t what makes me miss him, though. I miss his presence, knowing that he’s there for me. It’s strange, but no one’s ever really been there for me in my life. When the shit hit the fan, everyone else ran away. Not Haeden. He might glare and put up a fuss, but he’s always been there. Funny how I didn’t realize it until I left.

I wish he was here. He’d hold the torch and put an arm around me, and it wouldn’t matter that I’m a little girly and scared, because he’d be by my side. And he only needles me because he’s scared of how fragile I am. The realization strikes me like a brick. That’s why he’s so protective.

you definitely have you barely even gave him a chance

I don’t know who’s more surprised to see me running at them, full throttle with a flaming blanket - Haeden or the metlaks.

Haeden puts an arm around my shoulders and in the next moment, I’m pulled to his chest, my cheek squished against a broad pectoral, as he hugs me to him.

I can no more resist touching her than I can resist breathing.

My clever, brave Jo-see.

💕

We’ve been drawn together like magnets since day one, sometimes attracting, sometimes repelling. Who can say that wasn’t just thwarted resonance?

FINALLY YES

I shouldn’t be enjoying the feel of his body pressed against mine, I tell myself. This wasn’t what I chose. But he’s holding me as if I’m the best thing that ever happened to him, and I’m warm and cuddled and I feel…loved. And I crave more of it.

To think, she is going to let me bathe her — it feels like the greatest gift I have ever been given.

I feel a surge of triumph. She is yielding to me. Bit by bit, Jo-see is seeing that I can be a good mate to her.

“Tell me that I should not touch you,” I repeat again. “Tell me that I should not press my mouth to your skin and taste your cunt.”

Like five or six or even eight kids. I’d be down with that. You?” “That is a lot of mouths to feed.” I feel weirdly crushed at his response. “I…guess it is.” He scrapes at his knife, not looking me in the eye. “Then it is lucky for you that I am an excellent hunter.”

instead he comes over and presses a fierce kiss to the top of my head.

“I belong to no one but you,”

“I had a mate,” I snarl at it, stabbing my knife into its side again. “And I loved her! You took her from me!”

“You are mine. That is all you need to know. If you are taken, I will come after you. If you are sick, I will never leave your side. If you leave, I will follow. You will never be without me, because I will come after you. Know this.” I brush my fingers over her breast, where her khui thrums. “Feel this and know it to be true.”

“And when you are well,” I tell her in the same firm voice, cutting off her protest before it starts. “I will lie down with you in the furs and take you as mine. We will mate until you carry my kit. Then, resonance will be sated. But do not seek to tell me that you are not mine yet. Because you have always been mine.” Her wounded eyes blink, and then she nods slowly. “Yours,” she whispers. “Always,” I growl back.

you make me happy. Here. This moment. You and me. I just looked at your smile and realized that you’ve been sad for far too long. Me, too. I think I’ve been sad and lonely for a long time. And I’m not sad anymore.”

“You’ve got me,” I tell him when he remains silent. “You always have me. I know I’m safe when I’m with you because you won’t let anything happen to me.” “Never,” he growls against my throat. “Never.”

He’s right - I was looking for words when all along, he’s been a man of actions. Words are easy to say, but actions are everything.

“But make no mistake - if you leave this world, I will not be long behind, because I cannot live without you.”

“I will always be good to you,” he says solemnly, all traces of playfulness gone from his hard face. “You are my life, my heart, my everything.”

If I’m his heart, he’s my soul. We’re one, and we’re together.