Barbarian Alien (18 page)

To their credit, they speak English as we go, so I don’t feel left out. Aehako expresses surprise at the sight of our cave, and claps Raahosh on the back for setting himself up such a cozy place ‘right under their noses’. Raahosh doesn’t look pleased, though. He’s pretty good at keeping his emotions under wraps but I can sense his anger and frustration.

“What is this?” Aehako asks and holds up my bow.

“It’s a weapon,” I tell him, slinging it over my shoulder as we pack our things. I make sure I have it and the quiver full of bone arrows. “I use it for hunting.”

“Hunting?” His brows draw together. “But you are female. You should not be hunting.”

“Did I take a wrong turn and land on Planet Chauvinist?” I ask. “I can fucking hunt! What, you think wild animals are going to be so enamored of my lady parts that I’m going to lure them like some Pied Piper of Pussy? What—”

Raahosh puts a calming hand on my shoulder. “The women of my tribe do not hunt, remember? They are too few in number.”

I snort. “We’ll see about that shit. You’re not exactly outnumbered three to one anymore.” And I make a big show of adjusting my bow on my shoulder, glaring at Aehako and Haeden.

Aehako just looks amused.

We clean out our small cave of extra food and blankets and pack up our water skins. I roll up the extra pelts and when the cave is in order, I give it one last look around. I feel a twinge of sadness that we’re leaving. I’m looking forward to seeing Georgie and Kira and my fellow humans again, but I have to admit, staying in this cave was kind of…nice. Cozy. Private.

And I kinda liked being here with Raahosh. The big jerk’s growing on me. Just when I get settled, we’re moving again. I’m craving someplace to call home.

But then Raahosh takes my hand, and the feeling of loss disappears. Instead of feeling uprooted, I just feel vaguely annoyed that our little idyll is interrupted just when things were getting super sexy.

Cockblocked by the aliens. Damn it.

• • •

We walk in the direction of the setting suns for a time. I’d say it’s west except that’s how it is on Earth, and this place is most definitely not Earth. When the skies turn pink and a washed out orange, we head for a small copse and make camp. Aehako has been picking up dung chips as we walk, and has a bag full of them for fuel.

It’s…probably a good thing I didn’t shake his hand.

We bunk down for the night around a campfire, and Haeden immediately stalks off to the ridge nearby and says he’s on first watch. Works for me. He’s not exactly a ball of fun, and I’ve got Raahosh if I want to hang out with someone quietly seething.

As I settle in near the fire and wrap my fur cloak around me, Raahosh grabs his spear and leans down to kiss the top of my head. “I will find some fresh meat for you.”

“Oh, but…” I watch him leave the small camp, and then it’s just me and Aehako, who’s feeding another dung chip into the fire. I frown at him. “You’re not going to go chasing after him?”

“Why?” Aehako shrugs easily. “He will return. You are here.”

Ah. So it’s not Raahosh that’s the hostage. It’s me. Gotcha. He’s right, though. As long as I’m here, Raahosh will return. Just the thought of that kind of gives me the warm fuzzes. Whatever else happens, Raahosh has my back. I’m determined to do the same for him.

But my feet hurt and it’s nice to sit by the fire, even if it’s cold outside and there’s no shelter from the elements. I scoot a little closer to it and prop up my wet, booted feet so they can dry a bit. “Tell me how the others are doing. Are they all well?”

“Healthy as can be,” Aehako reassures me, and a big smile splits his face. Despite the situation, I like the guy. I think it’d be impossible not to. “Your friends have brought much joy to our people,” he says. “For a long time, we thought a mate was a dream, and it is now a dream possible for many.”

His words make me wish Raahosh was here. I scan the trees, but my ‘mate’ — I’m still coming to terms with the whole situation — is blowing off steam by slaughtering dinner. “That’s nice.”

“We are all squeezed into our caves like quill-beasts in a snow storm, but no one is complaining.”

“Mmm. Did anyone, you know, get a vibrating cootie?”

“Resonate?”

“Yeah, that’s the word.” I’m sure Raahosh has said it to me before, but he also says things like ‘mine-mine-mine-mine’ and ‘your cunt is full of my seed’, so I sorta have to pick my words carefully around this guy. “Did anyone else resonate?”

“Oh, yes.” He stirs the fire. “Georgie you know of, of course. Pashov and Stacy resonated for each other right away, I think before her khui was even inside her. I am surprised you did not hear it.” He chuckles.

“Mmm,” I say again, because my memories of that night are of me saying ‘no’ to the cootie and Raahosh stepping on me to hold me down and forcing me to absorb it. That was not the big guy’s best moment. My betraying cootie purrs at the thought of Raahosh, though, and I rub my chest absently. “I don’t remember Stacy all that well. Is she the weepy one?”

“She cries some, but less now that Pashov is there to dry her tears.” He grins and sits back to relax. “The one that weeps the most is Ariana. She is Zolaya’s mate. He is much beleaguered by her tears.”

“Yeah, I imagine this is all pretty new to her.” Were the only ones that resonated the girls from the tubes? “What about Josie? Or Kira? Or Tiff?”

He shakes his head. “No resonance yet for them.”

“Oh.”

“They are young,” he says. “There are many years ahead of them. Plenty of time to resonate to the right man.”

“Mmmhmm. And no mate for you?”

He sighs, and for the first time, his laughing smile falters a little. “No mate and family for me yet. Plenty of time for me as well.” But he looks wistful. “Marlene and Zennek, too. And Nora and Dagesh.”

Dagesh has a weird name – the way it is said, it’s almost like the middle syllable is swallowed and chewed up again. It’s definitely not a human sound. So I just say “Good for them. I hope they are happy.”

“Some are. Some are adjusting. But the entire tribe is pleased. Many new couples and dens created. Soon, there will be many kits running around.” He stretches his legs and then flops on his side in the snow, then props up his chin with his hand. “So many new matings means new quarters for the new families.”

“Oh?”

“No one wants to hear their khuis resonate all night,” he says with a wicked grin.

I feel myself blushing. I suspect that’s not the only thing they hear all night. “Sounds like everyone’s got a cozy set-up.”

“Mm. Cozy for the new couples. Haeden and I volunteered to come after you two. It’s too crowded for a lot of the men. All the hunters are spending much time out on treks. They say it is for the extra mouths to feed, but it is also because it is cramped quarters for those that do not have a family.” He shrugs. “It’s not a problem we thought we would have again.”

“Again?”

Aehako nods and his cheery grin disappears. “Our tribe was larger before. We had many matings, many families. It was a good time for the sa-khui. But fifteen years ago there was a khui sickness that swept through the caves. Many died.” He picks at the snow in front of him. “There was not a den that was not affected by the khui sickness. So many lost mothers, fathers, mates…”

He sits up abruptly and I see Haeden stalk past the edge of the trees. I open my mouth to speak and Aehako gives a small shake of his head, a meaningful look cast Haeden’s way.

Ah. So Haeden’s sensitive about that subject. Got it. “What about Raahosh’s family?” I ask. It’s the first time I’ve actually thought that Raahosh might have a family waiting for him back home. He hasn’t mentioned one. Is it that he doesn’t want to talk about them? Or is it that he lost them in the khui sickness like I assume Haeden did?

Aehako glances around, then leans in. “Did he not tell you of his family?”

I shift forward, lowering my voice. We’re gossiping, but this is gossip I need, so I don’t care. “He hasn’t said anything. Are they at the cave? Or dead?”

“Long dead,” Aehako says in a low voice. “His situation was…an interesting one.”

I move a little closer. “I like interesting.” Plus, I really really want to know. I want to understand what makes my Raahosh tick.

Weird that I’m starting to think of him as ‘my’ Raahosh now.

“His mother, Daya, never liked his father. Vaashan was not a very patient man, and Daya was in love with someone else. But when the khui chooses, it chooses.” He shrugs. “Raahosh was their child and when he was five, his mother resonated for his father anew. That meant another child. She insisted she did not want his kit. Refused to have anything to do with him. She even went to the chief – at that time, it was Vektal’s father.” Aehako rubs his jaw and looks troubled. “The chief declared that she could have his child, because resonance cannot be avoided. But she did not have to live with him. This made Vaashan furious. He lost his temper and kidnapped her away from the tribe. He took her and Raahosh away and did not return. We looked for them for many years, but no one found them. It was as if they had disappeared. Then, after the khui sickness had killed many, Vaashan returned with only Raahosh, and Raahosh covered in scars as you see him now. We asked him where Daya and his child were, but he said they were dead. Killed by metlaks. Vaashan’s choice to take Daya away and force her to give in to the resonance? To become his mate even though she did not want to? It cost her life and that of their kit, and so the chief punished him with exile. Raahosh was left with the tribe so he could grow up in safety.”

My heart aches at this story. It’s an awful one, and it explains a little as to why he’s so worried he’s going to lose me. “Poor Raahosh.”

Aehako nods thoughtfully. “He went looking for Vaashan some years later when he was old enough to hunt on his own. He never found him, but he said he did find some old leathers eaten by animals, and the old cave destroyed. Whatever was left of Vaashan is long gone.”

Oh, Raahosh. I think of his mother and the baby, dead. His father’s misery. How had that affected such a small child? No wonder he is so desperate to keep me, even if it means pissing off his tribe. It’s the only way he can think to react after his parents’ example.

It’s such a sad story. I lost my mother when I was very young, but I had my father and I always, always felt loved until the day he died. To have such family strife and then lose both like that made my heart break for my alien. This was why he was so possessive, so resolute in his desire to keep me hidden away. Suddenly I want to comfort him and let him know that he’s got me. That I’m his and he’s mine. Cootie or not, I’m having feelings for the big guy and he’s made life here on this strange planet interesting.

The conversation with Aehako dies and the alien returns to stirring the fire. I sit by it with my legs crossed, lost in thought, until Raahosh returns. He’s got a kill in hand and judging from the arrow sticking out of the quill-beast, he used the bow I made for him. He must have watched me use it and figured it out from there. Wow. The wide smile I give him in greeting is genuine, and I get up to greet him with kisses.

He’s a little dazzled by my enthusiastic greeting, but puts his arm around me and nuzzles me close. And when he cuts open the kill, he makes sure I get the tastiest bits and feeds them to me, and won’t give the others – or himself – a bite until I’m good and full.

And really, it’s not the worst thing to be the center of someone’s universe. I’m kinda digging it.

And I plan on showing him my appreciation.

RAAHOSH

Liz’s good mood makes me wary. It’s a pleasure to see, of course, but I can’t help but wonder if my devious mate is up to something. She usually greets me with caustic words and grumpiness, but now that Aehako and Haeden are here? She is all smiles and reaches for me when I walk toward her.

I am not pleased to see the two men. They are good men, but the truth is that I would keep Liz to myself for at least a few more turns of the moons, so when we returned to my people, it would be clear that we are a family and we must be together.

Now, I am not sure what they will think. I have broken the laws of our tribe, and Liz’s belly is still flat with no sign of our child. My only consolation is that she smiles at me and her hands reach for me when I am near. It is clear that we are mates, and I can see the envy in both Aehako and Haeden’s eyes.

They did not resonate. For them, life goes on cold and mateless, but with the added agony of seeing so many others find their joy. For the first time, I am the envied one. It is an unusual feeling.

The evening is a quiet one. Aehako talks easily, but he’s always been a cheerful one. His conversations about hunting, and life back at the caves hold Liz’s interest, but her hand is locked in mine. Haeden is silent, but he watches every time Liz touches me or brushes her arm against mine.

As the hour grows late, Liz yawns and puts her cheek on my arm. “Can we go to bed now, baby?”

She is calling me the love word of her people. My heart swells and my khui begins a soft resonance in my chest. “Of course.” I stand up and pull her to her feet.

Haeden stands as well. “She should stay here, near the fire with us.”

Before I can snarl a protest, Liz snorts. “Uh, we’re resonating, remember?” She taps her chest and I can hear her khui singing a song to mine. “I thought the goal was that you wanted him to impregnate me so you can have more blue babies running around, right?”

Haeden’s jaw clenches. “We are protecting you.”

“From his jizz?” A little smile curves Liz’s pink mouth. “Bit late for that. Now, I’m gonna go sleep with my mate.” She takes my hand and leads me a short distance away from the fire, near some bushes. With a yawn, she shrugs her cloak off and then gestures at the pack on my back. “Blankets, please.”

Wordless, I obey. I make a bed full of furs for her, since I know my human can only take so much cold. Even now, she shivers amidst her yawns. When the bed is as perfect as I can get it, I take the cloak from her hands and bundle it around her shoulders. “You must stay warm.”