Barbarian’s Mate(39)

She has the same dead eyes, though.

As I see them, I realize that returning back to my mate will be a longer journey than I imagined. The females cannot live long without a khui, which means tracking and hunting a sa-kohtsk. The enormous creatures are rare this far out of the valleys, so we must drag the sickly humans along with us, which will make things slow. Even then, I do not know if they will travel fast. They have been in the cave wall for a long time and they seem weak.

I exchange a look with Raahosh and it seems we are thinking the same thing, judging from the grim look on his face. Two frightened, squealing human females in need of a khui, sky-claws and metlaks in the area, and our band of hunters looking as if they would steal one of the females for themselves at any time?

It is going to be a long journey back.





22





JOSIE


Three weeks later



I raise a knee and a fist in the air at the same time, then switch them, and begin to do the ‘Single Ladies’ dance while humming the song under my breath. It doesn’t matter that Kae is too young to know the lyrics - she’s a fussy little turd of a baby and nothing quiets her other than a bit of singing. And since she watches me dancing with big, fascinated eyes while she sucks on her fist? Well, she’s getting a little Beyonce today. Sometimes I wish the dang kid liked Adele or something.

As I start into the second verse, Kae’s face crumples and she begins to wail louder.

Well, shit. No singing today, it seems. “I know,” I tell her, abandoning my song and scooping her up into my arms. “I miss your mommy, too. I miss my hunny-bunny. But crying doesn’t bring him back faster. Trust me, I tried that.”

I’ve been a shitstorm of weeping for the last few weeks, me and Liz both. Even with Kae to distract me, though, it’s not enough. I miss my mate. I miss Haeden.

I want to tell him that I’m pregnant. I want to see the joy on his face when I tell him. I want him to hold me close and stroke my hair.

I want him to hold me down and fuck the daylights out of me.

I sigh and hitch Kae onto my hip, abandoning my cave in search of Stacy. Maybe a meal will calm the crying baby down.

But Stacy isn’t in her cave. Nora isn’t in hers. We’re the three at the back of the new tunnel and they’re normally at ‘home’ due to the fact that they have small children and there’s always more chores to be done. It’s weird. “Hello?” I call out, curious, and head down toward the main cave with Kae wailing in my ear. When I get there, though, the fire is unattended and the cave is mostly empty, except for Farli who’s dashing across the cave. “Where is everyone?”

She skids to a stop at the sight of me, her eyes wide. Bouncing behind her ankles is her pet, Chompy, and he grabs at her leather tunic and tugs on it. “You did not hear?”

“Hear what?” I ask, cranky. I move forward with Kae, rubbing the baby’s back patiently. It’s not Kae’s fault she misses her mommy. “I can’t hear anything over—“

I stop, because a familiar hum starts in my breast.

I’m resonating. That means…

I look up at Farli in wonder. “They’re home?”

She nods eagerly and waves me forward. “Come! They are heading down the ridge!”

I trot after her, trying not to jostle Kae, but with a squealing, angry baby in my arms, I can’t move very fast. I settle for a power walk and head outside after Farli. It’s brutally cold and I pull the blankets tighter over Kae’s head, even though I doubt the cold bothers her as much as it does me.

Sure enough, there are a ton of people outside, and several shapes on the horizon. I push through the crowd, looking for a familiar pair of horns, pale-blue velvet skin, and a long, long braid. One smaller form breaks off from the group and races forward, but it’s too small to be my mate. I realize a few seconds later that it’s Kira, her arms out, and I hold Kae up for her.

She reaches me a few moments later, scoops the baby into her arms, and frantically presses kisses to Kae’s tiny, horned little forehead. “Thank you,” she tells me between kisses, and I’m not in the least bit surprised to see that Kae’s stopped crying.

“Of course,” I say, and try not to sound impatient as I peek behind her. It looks as if a few people on the ridge are arguing. Angry gestures are being made, and I’m pretty sure I recognize Haeden’s big form up there. I want him to come down and greet me. I miss him so badly. I press a hand over my heart, where my cootie is purring with excitement. “How did it go?”

Kira nuzzles Kae’s downy head. “I’ll let Haeden tell you. It’s been a long trip and I’m glad to be home.”

I nod, keeping the smile on my face even as Aehako joins her, murmurs a greeting to me, and then they head for the cave. Kira looks exhausted and I know it’s not an easy trip. But now I’m free of baby duties and can seek out my mate. I head up the ridge.

The cootie in my breast gets stronger as I approach…but so does the argument. An arm flails and then a fur hood is pushed back and I see a human woman, a stranger.

Just one?

I study her. She’s got blonde, tangled hair and she’s a little chunky. And she looks super, super pissed. Her nostrils flare with anger as one of the men standing near her tries to calm her. “This is bullshit!” she bellows, arm flailing. “I don’t give a crap if you tell me that you guys are friendly. My sister is gone! I don’t want to rest at the cave! I want to go fucking find her and the bastard that stole her and —“

“Let us be calm,” Rokan is saying, and Taushen hovers near the woman, a concerned look on his face. Haeden’s arms are crossed over his chest, as if he’s sick of all the bullshit already.

As I approach, Haeden turns.

“Hey, buddy, I am talking to you,” the woman yells at my mate. “Don’t turn away! My sister—“

Haeden raises a hand in the air, indicating silence. To my surprise, they all go silent. He turns away from them and starts to stride toward me. I’m pretty sure romantic-movie music is playing in my head at this moment, because he’s so handsome and so wonderful and all mine and oh God I’ve missed him so much.

I burst into happy tears.

He doesn’t stop as he strides toward me, just grabs me in his arms and hauls me against him, like he carried me back when we were traveling. I wrap my legs around his hips, my arms around his neck, and start kissing the hell out of him. He smells like smoke and sweat and travel and he tastes better than anything. My tongue slicks against his frantically, our cooties purring in time.

“Where’s he going?” the woman cries, desperate. “What about my sister?”

“He is busy,” Rokan says with amusement as we leave. “He has a resonance mate to tend to.”

Haeden and I continue kissing as he carries me back to the cave. Around us there are people celebrating, the chatter of happy voices, and dozens of people talking all at once. My Haeden doesn’t stop, just continues to carry me through the cave and back to our own private den. There will be a celebration tonight for the new woman - and her sister, though I’m not sure why she’s missing - but Haeden and I will likely not be there.

Can’t say I’m disappointed.

By the time we make it to our blankets, I’m so aroused I’m wiggling against him in anticipation. God, this has been the longest wait and if he doesn’t ‘mate’ me in the next minute, I’m going to lose my ever-loving mind.

But my man, bless his heart, raises his head when we enter the cave and sniffs, surprised. “It smells like kit in here. Kit dung and sour milk.”

I press frantic kisses to his jaw, his neck, everywhere I can reach. “Kae’s a bit of a fusser when her mommy isn’t here.” And a pooper. And a barfer. It’s been a long three weeks.

He grunts. “It stinks.”

“Well, get used to it,” I say, grabbing one of his horns and tugging him forward playfully. “Because you’re going to be experiencing it yourself, soon. Well, okay, not soon. More like fourteen months. But it sounds better the other way.”

Haeden’s eyes widen and his grip tightens on my hips. “You are with kit? You are sure?”

I pat my chest, where my cootie’s vibrating. “Would this thing lie to you?” When he continues to stare at me in shock, I add, “And I haven’t had my female, er, time of the, uh, moon.” You know, I’ve never asked what the heck the sa-khui call it when a woman has her period. “Red tent. Aunt Flo. Whatever.”

He pauses, and then a moment later, he sets me on the ground, then hugs me against him in a crushingly tight embrace, his face against my breast. “My Jo-see,” he whispers, and his voice is choked. I can feel his face on my purring chest, and I have a sneaking suspicion that his eyes are wet.

And hey, he’s not the only one. I sniff hard and stroke his long braid. “This is what we wanted, right?”

He lifts his head and gazes up at me with shiny eyes. “All I wanted was you.”

Oh shit, now I’m really going to bawl. I swipe at my eyes. “But you want a baby, right?”

He presses a kiss to my flat, clothed stomach. “Almost more than anything.”

And that’s incredibly sweet. Almost, because he wants me more than anything. “I’m just warning you, though, if we don’t have sex in the next five minutes, I’m going to lose my mind.”