Skarr hisses against my breast, glancing up at me. His eyes are sultry with arousal, and as I stare down at him, he rolls my nipple against his tongue. It’s forked, all right. “I thought you did not like my cocks, Vivi.”

“They’re growing on me.”

“They are indeed.” He rubs up against me, and it feels like one large thick rod of flesh pressing against my backside.

“That’s not what I meant,” I say, but I smile and cup his face in my hands. “How do you feel?”

“Like I just won a tournament.” He rubs his mouth against my breast. “Now I think I should have fought harder when a female prize was up for the winning.”

“I’m going to choose to be flattered by that,” I tell him, stroking a hand over his skin. There’s a bumpy line of scales up his spine, but other than that, he feels smooth and supple. “But I meant how do you feel this morning. Is the cold bothering you?”

“My cocks are cold. We should find a warm place to put them.”

I roll my eyes and snort-giggle. That might be the worst pick-up line ever. “I guess you feel better if you’re saying shit like that.” I stroke his soft hair back from his face, searching his gaze. “You sure you’re all right? I was really worried last night.”

He presses another kiss to my nipple, then reluctantly drags his gaze from it, looking up at me. “I don’t remember very much of last night. Just that it was cold and it was hard to move. The ssethri are a warm-weather people.”

I’ll bet they are. “Unfortunately for you, you landed on a cold-weather planet.”

“I do not feel very unfortunate right now,” he says, and rocks his body against mine again. This time I distinctly feel the heads of two separate cocks drag against my skin. “In fact, I am quite content.”

“Are you?” I can’t resist a smile. It’s hard to try and stay focused on worrying over him when he’s clearly amorous. “Just for the record, we’re not having sex.”

“This is not sex, no. This is just enjoyable.” He buries his face between my breasts and makes a happy sound.

I chuckle again, sliding my hand to his front. “Maybe you should stay in the hut today. It sounds like we had some weather blow in and I don’t think you should go out.”

That makes him lift his head and frown at me. “And let the others know of my weakness?”

“We won’t let them know anything,” I say. “We’ll tell them we’re getting to know each other because of resonance. No one will bat an eye.”

“Mmm.” He sounds unconvinced.

“I’ll tell them the cold bothers me and you’re going to keep me company. It’s a bait and switch. If anyone suspects anything, they’ll think I’m the weak one,” I say, my tone encouraging. Maybe if I put it like it’s a battle strategy, he’ll be fine with it.

But the thought brings more displeasure to his face. Skarr frowns deeply at me. “No one should think you are weak. I don’t like that at all. They should know that you are clever, and capable, and—”

I put my fingers over his lips. “Yes, yes, and the best female on the planet.”

He nods against my fingers.

“It’s just a fake out. Truth is, I don’t want you going out in the snow today. Okay? I want you to stay here in the warmth with me. Listen to how quiet it is outside. Everything’s buried in snow and that muffles sound. Until we can tell how you handle the intense cold, it’s better to stay close.” I tap his nose. “Remember that we’re a team. We have to do what is best for the team.”

He considers for a long moment and then gazes down at my bare breasts again. “Will you stay naked?”

“To share warmth? Probably. Skin to skin is best.”

Skarr brightens. “Then I think I should stay, yes.”

I don’t even care that he’s being obvious. I’m pretty obvious, too. All that matters is that he’s not going out in this mess and we’ll stay inside, where it’s warm and safe. “I’ll go get the morning meal and you can get the evening one. Deal?”

He grumbles, but I get my way.

Chapter Twenty-Six

SKARR

The cold of this world presents a problem. I’ve always valued my ssethri blood in the past. Ssethri are canny, strong fighters with malleable joints and impeccable dexterity. But all of my battles in the past have been in temperate climes, on warm arena sands.

I am not a creature for an ice world.

Vivi is realizing this, and her face is full of worry this morning. She dressed in layers of leathers to go get food, her gaze on me the entire time. I watched her teats jiggle with appreciation until they were covered, trying to hide the fact that I do find it quite cold without the warmth of her body against mine. Even the layers of blankets and the fire aren’t helping much. My fingers feel like ice, but I do not want to admit this to Vivi.

“I will keep the fire going,” is all I say. “And when you get back we will kiss more.”

She smiles at me and then ducks out of the hut, and the chill that comes in just that small lift of the flap is enough to send me huddling back under the furs. I watch my breath frost in the air and hate that I must hide away. What if Chalath demands a rematch this day? What if hunters are needed to get another inevitable khui for Kyth?

I cannot stay inside forever.

The interior of the hut seems to grow colder by the moment with Vivi gone. I poke at the fire, but I do not have the skill with it that she does, and it does not feel like I am doing anything to help it. I stab a frozen cake of fuel and toss it onto the coals, but even that does not seem to help. She has been gone for a long time. I pull the furs tighter around me, moving closer to the fire. What if something has happened to her? What if she got lost on the small stretch of beach between this hut and the main fire? Why was I a fool who decided to build her hut so far down the shore?

I need to go after her, I decide. Clutching the warmest furs to my skin, I drag them across the hut with me to retrieve my leather pants, and then my boots. I pull one boot onto my foot—

—and the door flap swings open, letting in frigid air and a swirl of snow.

“Whew!” Vivi says as she comes back in, her arms laden. “It is cold out there!”

“It is cold in here, too,” I grumble, but I notice her cheeks are flushed pink and she is smiling. She likes the cold weather, and I feel a sharp stab of despair. Perhaps I am not the best mate for her after all.

“Good news. There’s a blizzard,” she tells me cheerfully, shifting a pack off her shoulders and setting it onto the floor of the hut.

“Why is that good news?”

“Because it means that this sort of weather isn’t the norm. It’s the outlier.” She tosses down a few more furs and unhooks a couple of bulging bags at her belt. “There’s no community fire this morning. Gail flagged me down when I was heading toward it and invited me into their hut for a few minutes. They gave me some supplies since they figured we didn’t have any and told us to hole up like everyone else. No one’s going anywhere.”

She seems pleased by this statement, even as she busily pulls a few large sticks out and starts to set them up at the edges of the fire pit.

“I should have helped you with all this,” I grumble, flexing my hand under the blankets. It aches, just like my feet and the tip of my tail do. Actually, everything aches with cold right now.

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” Vivi replies, bending the poles to lash them into a tripod. “You can help prep the food if you like. I have some dried meat and roots and we’re going to make a hot stew. Gail also gave me a skin full of tea, though it might be lukewarm by now. Did you know there’s a shell here that looks like a funnel? I’m going to have to find one for myself. Handy little thing. It made getting the tea in the skin really easy.”