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

by Ruby Dixon

All I know is that my symbiont has arranged a marriage with the person I hate most in this world, and I’m completely at its mercy. Hot tears spill down my cheeks and I swipe at them.

why specifically do you hate him? because he's mean? is that all?

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

waiting until marriage leads to unhappy sex lives haeden

She thinks I hate her. I deserve that. I have pushed her away with every opportunity. 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.

Why does everything I say enrage her?

ur doing ur best bud

I want my child to have what I never had.

Josie no :(

I feel a pang of regret. I mean, I also feel a pang of lust deep between my thighs

the 2 types of pang

Pray for a miracle? Hope a rock falls on him?

you hate him so much you wish him dead? excessive

There are no family members to greet me. There are many friends, but my mother and my father and my brothers died in the khui-sickness of many years ago. I am alone.

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.

the struggle of the book made clear as usual. "I am in direct opposition to the lesson I will learn at the end of this book, and nothing can change my mind except the plot"

Weeks Later

quite a time skip lol

“Haeden, my friend…I worry about you.”

aehako is best boy

“I want her. I want her to want me. Is that so unreasonable?”

it's reasonable to want love, it is unreasonable to expect it from specific people who are not interested.

“Why you here, friends? Is bad news?”

ruhk is also best boi

I could…kill Haeden.

JOSIE NO

I’ll be stuck with him looking at me with scorn every day for the rest of my life. His irritated snort of derision every time I speak up. He’ll break me down until I’m nothing. And that’s the life I’ll bring my baby into.

trauma talking

And I erupt in my pants.

well that was fast

Twice now, I have come in my pants.

“Take food,” Rukh instructs in his broken language. “For you and Jo-see.” I grunt in acknowledgment of his wise words.

ruhk smaht boi

And instead of storming into her cave and demanding that she return, I hunch in the snow and settle in for the night. I will put up a watch to ensure she is undisturbed. But if my Jo-see wants to go somewhere? I will follow until it is no longer safe for her, and then I will step in.

NO FUCKING TALK TO HER NOW AND FIX THIS

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. But she never turns.

Mostly there’s nothing to see but more waves, but as I sweep over the distant horizon, a faint smear of lighter green against the water catches my eye.

more land for plot wow

Maaaaybe I won’t check out the green if it means going through Jurassic Park: Aqua Edition.

I’m a tough cookie.

It’s a ship.

wait WHAT

It’s a trap, Admiral Ackbar’s voice says in my ears.

Josie has been immediately vindicated in my eyes with this reference.

I’ve heard it a dozen times, mostly because I gleefully enjoyed the part where Haeden got his guts shot up.

NO. THIS IS NOT NORMAL TO ENJOY. YOURE PSYCOTIC.

This feels like an ice-age version of House Hunters. Does Josie want adventure and an island cabana despite the dangerous location? Or will she choose a beachfront property…provided she can ever find Harlow’s cave? Or will she choose the house in the mountains, even though it might already be occupied?

I crawl back into the busted hull carefully, torch in hand, and start to explore.

WHY ARE WE EXPLORING THE SCARY SPACE SHIP? YOU HAVE NO FOOD AND NO PROTECTION AND NO PLAN.

And he only needles me because he’s scared of how fragile I am. The realization strikes me like a brick.

YES. OBVIOUSLY

Maybe I’ve been too mean to him.

YES YOU SHOULD BE ARRESTED FOR ARSON YOU BURNED HIM SO MANY TIMES

“It’s called saving your ass.” “You have saved more of me than my ass,”

I want to chide her for wandering blindly into a cave that could have any sort of creature nesting in it, especially in metlak territory. But we…are not yelling at each other, and I am reluctant to make her angry. Not when the relief of seeing her is still pouring through me.

“Killing you?” I rush to her side, dropping my burdens. “You are dying? Let me see them!”

he stroked my hair like I was the best thing since sliced bread.

“Thank you,” I whisper. “That means a lot to me.” “Clearly it does not, because you would not have returned for me.” He pokes the fire again, angrily. “It is easy to say words, Jo-see. It is another to mean them.”

“Um. A few families wanted me for the wrong reasons.” “What reasons are worse than taking care of a child in exchange for goods?” His lip curls, the expression in his eyes unfathomable. Bless his heart, he truly has no idea. “Some men like to…” Oh gosh, how to say it delicately? “Take pleasure from small children. And I looked really young for a very long time.” His mouth parts, and then his fangs bare in a hiss. “Someone let your caretaker touch you? While you were a kit?” His words are an explosion of anger. “This is done in your world?”

I take back everything bad I said about Josie

I know his past, and it makes me realize that I’ve been unfair to him. All this time I’ve been flouncing because I haven’t had a choice in things, and I’ve been tearing him apart.

your past sucks too but yes u were mean

She now has the cleanest shoulder blades of any female ever born.

I think now we’re starting to realize that both of us are wrong. Maybe, just maybe this thing between us can end up working out. I’m cautiously optimistic.

YES OBVIOUSLY. THIS TOOK TOO LONG FOR YOU TO REALIZE

Haeden looks at me like I’m asking the world’s stupidest question,

dumb betch

“You’re really hard.” She sounds fascinated. “And big. I’m impressed.”

I'll note a passing grade in the inspection report.

“I think you might have the perfect dick, Haeden. I can’t believe I’m the first woman to touch it.”

Kinda backhanded but aight

I do not dare to hope that her mouth will go lower. It does not seem like something she would enjoy.

bro she is giving you a hand job and licking you and you don't think she would enjoy giving head? have a little faith and respect for a woman's sexuality dude

“I…am sorry. I failed you.”

YOU WERE MY BROTHER ANAKIN. I LOVED YOU

I’m naked. Oh. So is he.

Oh. we're having sex? Oh. We are together and are intimate with each other? Oh.

And then the bastard rips the blankets off of me, leaving me bare-assed in the cold.

Kade would dump his ass on the spot

I am in agony. I watch the creature soar away and turn my knife to my breast. I will not live without her.

oh my God it's been 4 seconds don't Romeo and Juliet yourself just yet.

I left many of our supplies out on the trail in my haste to clothe Jo-see in our furs, but they do not matter. I can make new hooks, new knives. I can collect new fire-making supplies. All that matters is her.

“I will keep you safe,” I repeat. My thumbs smooth over her rounded cheeks. “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.” “But we’re not—“ “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.

idk how I feel about this. it's romantic in some ways but he is also ignoring any wishes of her it feels.

“I did it because I placed my blade there. If you had died, I wanted to follow you.” “That is so fucked up,” I whisper, shocked. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s also the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard, but it’s seriously fucked up.”

YES IT IS FUCKED UP NO IT IS NOT SWEET RED FLAG