Devi's Distraction (Icehome, #6)

by Ruby Dixon

I’ve also made it clear to Raahosh that if the girls complain about how the guys are acting, we’re sending their asses on a hunt just to get them out of camp. I won’t let anyone be harassed on my watch.”

Think of them like fussy children. I know I do.” She gestures at the beach. “This is their pacifier.”

“No bugs is just about the only plus here on this planet. Well, spurs help.” She nudges me and wiggles her eyebrows. “Am I right?” “Spurs?”

I thought I would become a burden. Me, who had once prided himself on being one of the strongest, fiercest hunters.

I have felt…useless. Pathetic. As if no one could understand my pain. I have felt alone.

Well…I have been warned she is odd.

She goes about learning this world differently than I would have imagined, but it is smart to arm herself with knowledge.

for the first time, I feel as if someone is staring at me without sorrow. In her eyes, I am not a thing to be coddled and pitied. I am a problem that needs solving. I am strangely pleased.

“No. I do not want them mocking me if it is a failure.” I clench my jaw. “I am sick of pity.”

“Oh?” “I thought I smelled something dead on the beach, but…ah…it’s you. Sorry.” She leans back again.

But this D’vi female told me right away. She is not afraid to hurt my feelings.

You’ve seen porn. You saw Game of Thrones. This is just another penis.

“No, I want a leg because I want to be a whole N’dek once more. I am tired of being carried like a kit. I am tired of asking someone to help me when I need to do the simplest of tasks. I want to be a burden to no one.”

I’ve always been the buddy, the friend, the dependable one. Even on an alien planet, I’m still friend-zoned.

This is a female who loves the possibility of things, who will not let herself be told she cannot do something, and I admire that.

I took was a step toward the old N’dek, the fierce hunter who needed no help. I am going to be that hunter again.

“I will tell anyone that asks that I am very cold at night, rub my stump, and they will trip over themselves to apologize.” She laughs, smacking my arm lightly. “You’re terrible. I love it.” I might be, but I like her smile too much to care.

“You should have thought of that before you picked me,” I joke. “I have two left feet.” “You do?” He stares down at my feet.

I dislike S’bren. A lot.

“Her name is hard to say.” “That doesn’t mean it’s not worth learning,”

I rub my knuckles lightly against her skin, shifting my color to match hers in the moonlight. It is a small thing, but it makes me feel closer to her. Like we are together.

I should be thinking about…whatever her name is.

might be many turns of the moons before my khui wakes, if it ever does. Until then…I want Devi. And I do not care if that is wrong.

I never thought I’d end up the Ice Planet Ho, yet here I am,

Devi is so filled with joy, with a love of life. I need that. I want that. I feel whole when I am near her.

“I learned your name because I care about you,” I tell her. “I want you. Not B’shit.”

“But I would rather have you for one day than regret it for all of them.”

Everything I do from this point forward, I do for Devi. She is my reason. I know this as surely as I know my own four hands.

I know in this moment that no matter what happens, Devi is mine. I will tear my khui from my chest if it dares to resonate to another.

Other men can have penises, but you have a cock, N’dek.”

“Wh-what do you call it?” “Cunt,” I growl, and nip at her throat again. “A hot, wet, perfect cunt.”

He knows me well enough to want to build it closer to the water so I can go pick at dead things early in the morning? Be still my heart.

“Everything I have is yours,” I say, gently touching her cheek.

think I fell. Did we win?” “Yes,” I lie, and scoop her into my arms.

“My leg does hurt, but it is a good hurt because it is worth being able to walk, to carry my female in my arms when she needs me. I do not mind bruises. I do not mind my stump aching. I mind being forced to sit and watch life pass me by. This is nothing.”

Devi is too nice and too easily distracted. He will only have to show her a fish to get her attention, and then my mate will be so entranced that she will not notice if he tries to kiss her until it is too late—

“I’ll run back to the tent and get spears,” L’ren says. “Give me five minutes.” She gives K’thar a quick kiss and then races off, light on her feet.

“DEVI BALASUBRAMANIAN,” N’dek howls.

If he needed sciencing, though, I would totally be there. But fighting monsters? I’ll leave that to the professionals.

Resonance. We are resonating to each other. Devi truly is mine.

“I will wake up early and go on the shore with you if you like. I will hunt many animals so you can have their skins to write upon. I will do whatever you need. I love your curious mind and how you wish to learn everything. Why would I change any of that?”

Now I know why the human females always titter and make jokes about spurs. It hits them right in the pebble.