Barbarian's Touch: A SciFi Alien Romance (Ice Planet Barbarians Book 8) Read Online Free PDF

me, a bit of a playful smile on his mouth. His lips stretch into a grin, and then I see nothing but white fangs.
    I shudder and look away again.

    * * *
    A fter another horrible , cold night, I’m more than willing to get this coo-ee thing if it means I’ll be warm. This place is awful - it’s freezing cold and barren, and by the time even the warmest of food gets to me, it’s cooling off. If what they say is true, there’s no Burlington Coat Factory around the corner, no McDonalds, no nothing. There’s no warm beach to look forward to, or a break in the weather, even. This is an ice planet.
    Sometimes I really hope Kira and the others are lying to me. That this is all an elaborate joke, like they do on those TV shows. That we’re going to go outside and see a city in the distance, and everyone’s going to laugh and hand me hot cocoa. I won’t even be mad. I’ll just be relieved.
    But that doesn’t explain why my cochlear implant is gone, and non-consenting surgery definitely takes the joke too far. So this has to be real.
    And that terrifies me.
    Maddie seems to be handling things better than me. She’s wary and combative to the others, and protective of me, but she doesn’t shiver as much, and she sleeps like a log. She doesn’t look as if she’s living every moment in abject fear.
    I’m envious of that. I keep my complaints and my fears to myself, because if Maddie knows I’m silently freaking out, she’ll worry about me and go into Mama-Bear Mode. And while I love my sister, I don’t know if I want her to smother me with overprotectiveness. Maddie can be awesome, but Maddie can also be too much. I’m glad that she’s here, and at the same time, I resent that I’m forced to rely on her again. It’s not Maddie’s fault that after years of hearing and independence, I’m forced to rely on her again.
    Whoever took my implants is a jerk.
    After we eat a quick hot breakfast of leftover stew, the aliens get out their weapons and pack their bags. Kira talks to Maddie for a long moment. I try to follow the conversation but Kira’s talking too fast. Maddie nods at her and then comes over to me.
    They want to leave, she signs. They know where the sock-thing is and want to go hunt it to get us parasites. They say if we don’t get them, we will die and they worry you’re not strong enough as it is.
    That’s a tough pill to swallow - that I worry them and look ‘weak’. I’m not much smaller than Kira. I resist the urge to flex my arms and show them the small muscles I’ve got. I may not be as hulking as the rest of the aliens, but I’m not a wimp. That’s fun , I sign back to her, because what else can I say? Can you tell them to go fuck themselves?
    Maddie’s eyes brighten. There’s that fighting spirit! Where’s it been for the last two days?
    Hiding and praying this will all go away?
    Just think of it as camping. As long as they’re good to us, this is just like a camping trip, right down to the leeches.
    I make a face at her. Yuck, thanks for that. You know I hate camping.
    She pats my arm, and then signs, Suck it up, Buttercup .
    Guess I need to.
    Kira waits for us to be done with our conversation and then hands us more furs to put on. I notice the men are wearing less wraps than before, which means they’re giving them to us. She produces a pair of rough-looking snowshoes and holds them out to Maddie and me.
    Oh boy. We’re leaving the wreckage of the ship. I’m not sure if I’m excited or terrified. I guess it’s too much to hope that the sock-thing we’re going after lives in a nice, warm shelter. If so, I just might become its new best friend.
    Maddie takes the snowshoes from Kira and hands them to me. Bundle up , she gestures as Kira hands over even more furs. We need to keep you warm, weakling .
    I know my sister’s teasing, but it still grates on my nerves. I scowl at her as I take the shoes. She’s in such a good mood, and I’m a bit resentful of that. Maddie loves adventure