Flor's Fiasco (Icehome, #16)

by Ruby Dixon

“Your timing is amazing. Really.” “Thank you,” he says, not catching my sarcasm. “Shall I carry your bag?”

Something tells me that fate is going to pair us together and we’ll have to give this mess between us another shot…and I’m a little bitter about that.

“Then I will kiss you.” “I will break both your hands, Tall Horn, if you touch her.” The dark, angry snarl comes from down the path, and I’m shocked to see I’rec storming towards us. And he looks pissed.

Impressive female, I think admiringly. She will not let a male tell her what to do. I like that.

We are not supposed to be mates. We are supposed to be with others. “By the ancestors,” I say, stunned. “This is a problem.” “Use stronger words,” she tells me. “We’re absolutely shit-fucked.”

“Your cunt smells so good. You’re so wet with my seed.”

Oh god, he’s going to head to the other cave with his fingers inside my pussy, plugging me like I’m a goddamn bowling ball? I should be mortified. Instead, it feels so good it takes everything I have not to moan like a goddamn dying Balo.

And then the bastard starts jogging.

“No. You might have temporarily rearranged some of my organs with that beast you’re wielding, but I’m fine.” He grins down at me, and my heart flutters at the sight. “You think my cock is a beast, eh? A’tam’s is bigger.”

“You think we should stay here again tonight or go back and face the music?” “I do not think they would have started music without us,” I muse. “They will wait for us to return before having a resonance celebration.” She giggles. “What?” “Nothing.”

I start to giggle wildly at that. Anyone else would find I’rec’s bluntness an absolute nightmare, but I like it. He’s always completely straightforward and doesn’t mince words, even if you want him to. He has no patience for bullshit, which also makes him delicious to tease. It’s why I keep using slang around him. He misinterprets it and it gives me a little burst of happiness each time.

“You’re not such a blow-hard after all, are you.” I’rec eyes me as if on to my game. “If anyone blows too hard, it is R’jaal. He lusts after you like a kaari in heat.”

“So who do you think we’re going to run into first when we get back?” “H’nah,” he says immediately, as ready to gossip as I am. “She is a nosy one.”

His smile warms my heart. I walk at his side, and we leave our cave and head back towards Icehome Beach, gossiping all the way.

“Well,” Vaza says slowly and rubs his nose. “That explains the scent.” T’chai smirks, and I’m horrified. I lean closer to I’rec, sniffing, because humans don’t have the senses that the aliens do. Sure enough, he smells heavily of sex. I probably do, too. Great.

“Ah, resonance. It always has such odd timing. There will be nothing for turns of the seasons, and then a flurry of new matings. First S’bren and Puh-nee again, and then Day-see and O’jek. Now you both.”

“You’re his clan brother. It’s the same thing!” I press a hand to my forehead, moaning. “We’re cursed. It’s sukob. Any good luck we would have had is now going to be split with them.” “Bah. I do not believe in curses,” I’rec says,

“It’s just that…you’re a bit more like a bull in a china shop than a gentle sort.” “I do not know what that means.” And it irritates me. “Oh.” R’ven thinks for a moment. “A bull in a china shop…well, it means that you charge forward without thinking. You act first and ask questions later.”

“Of course I know. I saw the way you looked at him when he arrived. In that moment, I knew.” My chest feels tight. “How did I look at him?” “Like you were seeing him for the very first time.”

Sure enough, I’m no longer rubbing the valley between my breasts where my khui is purring, but squeezing one of my tits instead. Oops. Blushing, I drop my hand and pretend to straighten my leather skirt. “Right. Right.”

“Perhaps they cared for each other at one point. Maybe resonance was not totally wrong, but they poisoned it somehow. I see nothing but happy couples here on the beach, and I think resonance is right. It knows who belongs to who. It brings them happiness. And if I have not resonated, perhaps it is because it has not found my right mate yet.” He smiles faintly at the horizon. “It always knows. I must trust in that.”

“You sound as if you do not believe me.” My khui grows louder, fascinated at this new aspect to I’rec. I lean away slightly, both unnerved and aroused as he moves to my side, his arm brushing against me. “I believe you.” “Do you?” He eyes me up and down, studying me, and then reaches out and gently brushes a lock of hair back from my face. “Finish eating your food and I will show you how gentle I can be.”

“I like your scent,” he murmurs, his voice practically a purr. “You smell like your cunt has been stuffed with my seed.”

I’ve forgotten all about eating, my roasted root and delicious tea forgotten. If he wants to feast on me, who am I to stop him?

How sad am I that I’m getting turned on by a bit of eye-fucking from an alien confronting his long-distance girlfriend? That I’m encouraged by the fact that he’s ignoring the hot young thing crying at his feet (the hot young thing he’s lusted after for years, to boot) in exchange for the new toy (aka me). And that I’m excited by this. God, this is so messed up.

“This resonance is not a mistake.” His gaze goes to Tia. “You can think what you like, but it is a real resonance. F’lor and I have mated. We resonate to one another. To say otherwise is insulting to both me and her.”

“Swing that dick in another direction,” Leezh tells me with a roll of her eyes. “The adults are talking here.” I check my loincloth, just in case my cock has worked itself free and truly swung in her direction, but everything is covered. R’jaal gives me an angry glare but I ignore him, looking at the others. “What are you speaking of?”

Do you know how many times I watched him hope for some sort of personal note from you? Something? And each time I watched how disappointed he was when there wasn’t one?

So you can say I’rec is a lot of things, but he isn’t a cheater, and he damn sure isn’t your fucking boyfriend.”

“Baahts.” Uh…what? “Did you say bats?” “Yes. Bats. She said her master had a lot of them and the Ancestors will know how to make them stop harvesting the fruit.” Oh shit. I blink in surprise at I’rec. “There are fruit bats here on this planet? Are you serious?”

“That’s a lot of fucking bats if they cleaned out the cave.”

“And what are you in the mood for right now? What sort of touches do you dream about?”

I like the power play of a blow job, but something about touching I’rec like this is so damn satisfying. I kinda want to make him come, just to see him erupt and know I’ve driven him past his boundaries.

“F’lordeliza,” he murmurs. “My beautiful mate.” Oh. I’ve never heard him say my full name like that. It’s such a mouthful that most of the aliens don’t even bother. But hearing it makes me feel seen. So damn seen. Like he wanted to learn it just because it’s mine.

“Oh my god, I’rec, quit trying to stuff me full of food. We had lunch just a short time ago.” She makes a face at me, crossing her eyes. “I’m going to become as round as a balloon if you keep stuffing me full of food.” “I should like that,” I tell her. “More of you to sit upon my face so I can feast.”

“You will be an excellent mother. Worry not.” She gives me a little smile. “You’re just saying that to get into my pants.” “Your pants would not fit me,” I say, and then add, “but I would not mind if you rode my face again.”

I have been chasing after the wrong female all along. Truly, my khui is far wiser than me.

“You trust O’jek, don’t you?” I scratch lightly at his chest. When he nods, I ask, “So are you just annoyed that he’s not listening to you? Or is it something more?” I’rec hesitates, then gives me a disgruntled look. “I find him annoying because everything he says begins with ‘D’see.’” He makes a face. “D’see is tired, we should stop early. D’see likes this trail mix, not the other one. D’see wants to make the fire.”

I wonder if it’d be too obvious if I spit on my hand and slid it back under the furs⁠—

“I am your dork,” I reply. A dork must be a strong-hearted hunter who knows what he wants and I am certainly that.

“I…I can understand you?” She looks shocked. “What are you? Are you a devil?” I point at the fire. “Watch that. If it looks as if it will go out, yell for me. I must check on my mate.” “I-I come in peace,” she blurts out as I get to my feet. “You know that part, right? I come in peace?”

“You are in Icehome,” I reply. “And I am blue because my mate likes it.”

There seem to be ten women and five men, but if I don’t take into account the supply pod, there are eighteen now-empty stasis pods. I’m missing three people.

F’lor cocks her head. “Wait, I thought the fruit cave was full of bats?” “Bats?” A’tar looks confused. He glances over at me, and I shrug. “No, no bats. Just leaves and nothing else. No Tia or R’jaal, either.

“You are mine. If T’ia was being attacked by sky-claw and you had a splinter in your finger, I would let them chew freely upon her because your hand comes first.”

“They will not,” I’rec declares sleepily, squeezing my tit. “And the taters will be jealous.” I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from bursting into laughter. At some point I’m going to have to tell him that they’re gladiators, not taters, but it’s too damn funny to correct.

When I go to leave the tent, I’rec swats my ass with the tip of his tail. “I am tapping it again,” he calls out. “Because it is mine.”

“And Flor seems to be happy here.” “That’s because her pussy got pounded into next week,” comments Colleen.

“It says that the natives in the caves aren’t friendly. That the arboretum—that must be the fruit cave—has been closed off because of attacks. Two women were stolen away and taken to a distant island, and the others were heading into the mountains to avoid them.” “Avoid…them?” “The natives,” Daisy says again. “The ancestors. The ones that were here when the sakh landed. According to that message, they didn’t die out a long time ago. They were still around when the sakh landed here, and they claimed the fruit cave as theirs.” And R’jaal and Tia are missing. Oh, shit.

R’slind makes an outraged sound and her small hand smacks me across the mouth. She. Is. Adorable. I have never been so happy in all my days.