BARBARIAN’S TOUCH by Ruby Dixon
Berkley Trade Paperback
Exclusive Excerpt
It’s so cold. I feel like all I do now is complain about the weather, but being in the yeti cave hasn’t prepared me for being out in the snow again at night. It’s dark out, but the twin moons (yep, there are two of them, too) are gleaming bright on the snow and I can see around us. The yeti have disappeared, and Rowdan’s taking me up one ridge and then down another. On and on he goes, powering through knee-high snow like it’s nothing. His tail has wrapped protectively around one of my thighs, but I don’t point out just how, um, impolitely it’s gripping me.
After rescuing my ass? He can put his tail anywhere he wants. I squeeze my thighs tighter around his waist, blushing at my own thoughts. I’m clinging to him from behind, piggyback style, and every time his tail moves, it rubs against my butt. Add that to the fact that my chest won’t stop with the weird purring—and he’s doing it, too—and I figure all this movement and vibration must be why I’m feeling so horny. Or maybe it’s adrenaline after my rescue.
Whatever it is? It’s kind of awkward. I didn’t think I could be attracted to the aliens—they look like devils with horns and fangs, and they’re massive. But there’s no denying that my body’s definitely paying attention to his right now.
Which makes for a really uncomfortable rescue.
Not that Rowdan is noticing. He’s charging ahead, ignoring the cold, his hands holding my thighs and keeping me pinned against him. I can feel my teeth starting to chatter. “Are we going to be someplace warm soon?” I call out, even though I hate that I’m wimping out. “I’m really cold.”
Silence. Of course there’s silence. I can’t hear him. I hate this; I hate how isolated I am without my hearing, and I itch to touch the small bald spot behind my ear where my cochlear implant used to be. Nothing I can do about it, though. I’m comforted a little when one of his big hands reaches up to pat one of mine where I cling to the collar of his shirt. God, he’s warm. He’s like a big space heater. I press my body a little closer to his at the thought.
A short time later, he heads toward a rocky tumble in the distance, near the cliffs. He pats my hand again, as if trying to say something to me. What it is, I don’t know. This entire planet seems to be snow and rock, snow and rock. Right now? We just found more rock, so I’m not sure if I should get excited.
But then he eases me down off his back and I drop, hip-deep, into the snow. He turns and looks at me, mouth moving, but I can’t tell what he’s saying. I shake my head at him and he takes off his shirt and then tugs it over my head and the furs I’m bundled in.
And I should protest. I really should. But it’s warm and smells like sweat and spices and, okay, I get a little more turned on. I hold it against my body, frowning at him. Isn’t he cold? Because he’s, like, half-naked. And, like, really, really built. He’s got a six-pack going down that lean, hard torso of his, and he even has hard, ridged obliques. They disappear into the waistband of his pants and I try not to be disappointed about that. He gestures behind him and then gestures back at me.
“I should stay here?” I guess aloud.
He nods and then pulls a new knife from his belt and hands it to me.
Oh, okay. Well, at least we’re getting somewhere now. I clutch it in my hand and watch as he disappears behind the tumble of rocks with his pack. There’s a cave back there, I think. Has to be.
A moment later, a dark brown something the size of a cat streaks past my feet, and I hop backward, screaming silently. What the fuck?
Rowdan appears again, giving me a thumbs-up. He pats my shoulder and then takes my hand, pulling me along with him. Oh. He was checking the cave to make sure it was safe, I guess.
I follow close behind, and when he ducks into a black, jagged hole in the side of the cliff, I swallow my fear and let him lead me forward. After all, he wouldn’t steal me away from the yeti just to let a bear eat me, right?
Once inside, he releases my hand and then pats my arm and moves away.
Shit. I don’t know if that’s stay here or move to the left or what. “I’m going to stay here,” I call out.
He pats my hand again and then there’s nothing but darkness. I resist the urge to squeeze my eyes shut out of fear, because blocking out the world right now won’t do me any good. I need to be brave, and I need to find out what’s going on. The stay in the yeti cave has opened my eyes to just how much shit I’m in, and I need to start paying attention.
A spark flares in the darkness, illuminating Rowdan’s face in shadow before disappearing. God, he really looked like a devil just then. I ignore the shiver that creeps down my spine—and the quiver low in my belly—and watch, waiting for another spark. It comes a moment later, and then Rowdan’s face lights up again. He’s bending over a firepit, blowing on a little mound of tinder. After a tense second, it catches, and I watch his big hands move as he feeds more bits to the flame.
In what seems like no time, there’s a fire. A sigh of relief escapes me.
He looks up, eyes gleaming in the firelight at me, and for some reason, it feels like my weird purring strengthens. Rowdan gestures that I should join him. I move forward and hand him back his knife, then sit down next to him by the fire. I ignore the fangs that show when his mouth curls into another faint smile, because I know he’s got kind eyes. The fangs don’t mean anything.
I smile back.
Excerpted from Barbarian's Touch by Ruby Dixon Copyright © 2024 by Ruby Dixon. Excerpted by permission of Berkley. All rights reserved.
Ice Planet Barbarians #7
The next novel in the Ice Planet Barbarians series, an international publishing phenomenon—now in a special print edition with a bonus new epilogue!
Lila has never been more frightened in her life, but when Rokan appears, everything changes.
When I wake up on the ice planet, I’m scared of everything: This place is cold, silent, and the locals look more like blue devils than aliens. To make matters worse, one of the strangers decides I’m going to be his girlfriend and kidnaps me away from my sister. I’m completely and utterly alone. What’s a girl to do?
Well, this girl escapes.
Of course, that means I go from the frying pan into the fire, and my situation gets even more dangerous. Just when I have no hope left, a new hero shows up. Sure, he’s blue, horned, and has a tail. He’s also fierce, protective, makes me purr...and thinks I'm perfect.
But is what we have real or just a mating instinct?
Science Fiction | Fantasy [Berkley, On Sale: January 2, 2024, Trade Paperback / e-Book (reprint), ISBN: 9780593639474 / eISBN: 9780593639474]
Ruby Dixon is an author of Science Fiction Romance. She likes fated mates, baby-filled epilogues, and cinnamon roll heroes. She also likes to write biographies of herself in the third person, because it feels more important that way.
Ruby also loves coffee and dirty books and will probably be a cat lady at some point.
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