Having the Barbarian's Baby (Ice Planet Barbarians, #7.5)

I get down on my knees and place my hands on her stomach. “Goof, my son, you must stay put until I return.”


She chuckles and then gives another small sniff. “I know you have to go.”

“I do.”

“When? For how long?” Her hands smooth over her belly again and it’s clear she’s worried she’ll have our kit while I’m gone. I voiced the same concerns to Vektal. Meh-gan is close to giving birth. Not quite yet, but very soon. I want to be here to welcome my son to the world.

But I sound confident. “Not long. A handful of days, maybe two handfuls. The longer I am out, the more meat I can bring home.” I cannot expect others to feed my family, not when it might be taking food from the mouths of their mates. “It is something that must be done.”

She blinks rapidly, trying to be brave. “I just…what am I going to do while you’re gone?”

I kiss the rounded swell of her belly. “You will think of me, of course.”

She gives a delicate snort.

I know I am right, for all that I tease her. My Meh-gan gets sad if she is left to her own thoughts for too long. And right now, she is very heavy with child, miserable, and she will be missing me. I cannot stand the thought of her being sad for days on end.

I will have to think of something to distract her while I am gone. But for now…

I press another kiss to her belly. “You are beautiful, my resonance.”

Megan sighs, the sound soft and feminine. Her fingers lightly brush over my cheek and nose, tracing my face. “I’m bloated and pregnant.”

“You are beautiful and beautiful,” I correct. I press another kiss to her belly, and because she’s covered in furs and leathers, I undo the laces that go all the way down the front of her tunic. I want to taste her skin, to breathe in her scent. I want to bury my face in her cunt and lick her until she cries out with my name.

“What are you doing?” she asks, even as her hands gently brush my hair back from my face.

“I am going to show my mate how beautiful she is with my mouth and my cock.” I push her tunic open, revealing her belly, big with my son.

“You mean you’re going to distract me,” she teases. Her thumb skims over my lower lip.

“Yes.” I grin up at her. “Tell me you do not want to be distracted and I will stop.”

“I didn’t say that.” The smile returns to her sweet face and she shrugs out of her tunic. “Put the privacy screen up.”

I jump to my feet and head to the front of our small cave, shoving the screen in front of the entrance. With it up, no one will disturb us. For a moment, I am tempted to leave the screen up for a hand’s worth of days, just to wallow in private time with my mate. She does not want me to leave, and I do not want to leave her. But I must hunt, not only for her safety but for that of the tribe. It is my duty. I push the screen into place and then turn to see my mate stepping out of her long skirt. Her body is nude except for a furry pair of boots, and she is beautiful. Her pale breasts are swollen in preparation for our kit, her belly rounded. The rest of her has grown more rounded as well, and I cannot resist touching her. I love the lush swells of her body and the way she feels when I hold her against me. It reminds me that my mate was thin and underfed when she arrived here. I must do everything I can to ensure she is never hollow-cheeked again.

I pull Meh-gan against me and kiss her bared skin. Her shoulder is soft, her neck a warm, lovely hollow of scent. She is quiet as I touch her, even though she leans in to my hands. I know my mate well; her mind is full of noise and unhappy thoughts. I need to think of a way to distract her while I am gone, so she is not so sad and lost. But for now, I can kiss away her tears. I kneel at her side and kiss her rounded belly again, then move to her side, brushing my lips over her hip. My hand skims over her full buttocks, so strangely bare without a tail. I find it erotic, though, and cannot resist gliding my fingers down the seam of her bottom.

She moans and braces her hands against the cave wall. Because her belly is so heavy, we mate in the same positions over and over again - and her favorite is to brace her hands against the wall and lean forward. I like this as well, as it lets me pleasure my mate easily while on my knees. My tail flicks and wraps around one of her ankles as I push her legs even further apart, and then bury my face in her flesh, seeking her warmth.