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

and challenge. I think she’s thriving on irritating the big blue guys that look at us like we’re treats to be devoured. Me, I just want to be left alone.
    Preferably somewhere toasty warm.
    I put on the furs that Kira hands over, and it seems like layer after layer, until I probably resemble a stuffed toy more than a human. There are fur chaps that go over my leggings, a fur wrap that goes over my shoulders and then around my torso. Kira produces a belt and ties the wraps against my body, and then comes another layer, and then a heavy cloak. I’m itchy and stiff, and so I don’t protest when she bends down and starts to strap the snowshoes to my new fur boots. By the time she’s done with me, I look ridiculous. Maddie does, too. I want to joke that we look like a pair of teddy bears heading out for a picnic, but my hands are wrapped in warm, double-lined mittens and so I can’t sign.
    Kira bundles up once she’s satisfied with our clothing, and then we all waddle to the broken end of the spaceship. I’m a little jealous of how well Kira can walk in her snowshoes; it’s clear she’s had practice. I want to stare at my feet to make sure that every step I take is a solid one, but I need my sight to know what’s going on around me. If I stare at my feet, I’ll truly be isolated.
    We’re the last ones in the ship, I realize - the others are outside waiting for us in the pale gray light. I pull my hood down deeper over my face and step forward. The crunch of snow under my shoes can be felt, if not heard, and it comforts me.
    Because what I see when I step outside takes my breath away.
    I’ve stared at that sliver of light for the last two days. I know to expect a bleak landscape of snow and wintry skies. Even so, I’m not prepared for just how different everything is. I stare around me in a mix of horror and wonder.
    Rolling, endless hills of white snow cover the landscape. It’s snow as far as the eye can see, heaps and heaps of it. There isn’t much in the way of landscape - no trees, no bushes, only a few rocks here and there. Behind the ship, purple, glass-looking mountains climb toward the skies like teeth and cast long shadows over the valley. No wonder it’s so bitterly cold - we’re in the shadows and the sun never hits us. I look up, squinting to see the sun. The sky is covered with thick clouds, but I spot the suns. Two of them, clustered together like mating fireflies, so small and watery-looking that I wonder they give off any light. My heart sinks at the sight of them and I realize I’m never going to feel a warm summer day ever again.
    I’d cry but my eyes would crust shut with ice.
    The aliens are standing a short distance away, as if waiting to grab me if I topple, but wanting to give me space at the same time. I shiver and make no move to get near them. It’s even colder outside of the ship’s protective warmth. A hard gust of wind nearly knocks me off my feet and I wobble in my snowshoes. I stagger, staring down at my feet, and then I notice some of the snow isn’t all that clean. Dark specks cover patches of the area, and I take a few steps forward, moving around the edge of the ship. Something reddish flashes and I approach it, curious. It looks like an emergency light of some kind, blinking over and over again, embedded into the body of the ship. It must be hot, though, because all of the snow around it is melted clear away. I avoid it and look over. There’s a male alien dragging what looks like a corpse of a giant, car-sized creature away. He pulls it by the long, spindly legs and then tosses it onto a snowy heap of what looks like other bodies. I shudder and head back toward the entrance, where my sister will be. I don’t want to be alone.
    Maddie is standing at the gaping hole of the side of the ship, her lips parted in surprise. I see her mouth something like oh wow and she twists and turns, trying to take it all in. Kira moves to her side and then slips past, heading for her