Barbarian Lover (ice Planet Barbarians, #3)

The third installment in Ruby Dixon's Ice Planet Barbarians series follows Kira, one of 12 human women kidnapped by aliens and stranded on an ice planet. The native sa-khui tribe has taken the women in, and each has received a khui, a symbiont organism that allows humans to survive the planet's atmosphere. The khui also drives "resonance," an involuntary biological mating bond that pairs genetically compatible partners and compels them to conceive a child. Six of the 12 women have already resonated with sa-khui males. Kira has not, and she knows why: A burst appendix when she was 13 left her sterile, and since resonance is tied to fertility, she believes it will never happen for her. She fears that once the tribe learns she cannot bear children, they will stop caring for her.

Kira's anxieties extend beyond her own secret. Megan, another unmated human, confides that the aliens performed a forced abortion on her during captivity, and her body is still healing. Josie, another unmated woman, has an IUD she is terrified to reveal, convinced the tribe will reject her. The unmated women share a quiet dread of becoming expendable in a community that values them primarily for their reproductive potential.

Meanwhile, Aehako, a flirtatious sa-khui hunter, has been openly pursuing Kira for weeks. When Kira's friend Liz pranks him into believing that human courting involves giving a woman a replica of a man's penis, Aehako presents Kira with a bone-carved dildo he spent hours perfecting. Kira is mortified but touched by his effort. She insists they are just friends, arguing that without resonance, one of them could be paired with someone else at any time. Aehako suggests they enjoy pleasure without worrying about the future, but Kira resists, certain that opening herself up will only end in heartbreak.

Their dynamic shifts during a tribal celebration when Megan unexpectedly resonates with Cashol, a single hunter. As the cave erupts in joy, Kira watches from the sidelines, lonelier than ever. Aehako brings her fermented tea and paints festive streaks on her face. The alcohol loosens her inhibitions, and when he tells her he has learned what a kiss is, she pulls him close. Their first kiss is electric. He invites her back to his empty cave, but before she can answer, a transmission crackles through her translator: The aliens who abducted the humans, referred to as the Little Green Men and their orange-skinned bodyguards (the szzt), are returning to retrieve their "equipment," including the translator surgically implanted in Kira's ear.

Terrified that the device will lead the aliens to her, Kira devises a plan. She approaches Vektal, the tribal chief, and his mate Georgie with a cover story about visiting the "elders' cave," actually an ancient crashed spaceship with a still-functioning computer, to remove her translator and find useful technology. Aehako volunteers as her guide, joined by the surly hunter Haeden and Harlow, a determined human woman with her own undisclosed reasons for wanting to see the ship. Before departing, Kira confesses the alien threat to Aehako, who insists they inform Vektal and Georgie. Aehako then delivers a passionate declaration: He does not need resonance to know Kira is his mate and will stand by her until she tells him to leave.

The journey through brutal winter conditions is grueling. Kira, still weakened from captivity, struggles to keep pace, and Aehako eventually carries her on his back. They reach the ship as alien transmissions confirm the abductors are preparing to land. Inside, Kira activates the computer and locks down the doors. Aehako, overwhelmed by the technology, asks Kira to be his mate before she undergoes the translator removal procedure. She is deeply moved but cannot answer without revealing her sterility, so she defers. The computer extracts the device, causing blinding pain that knocks her unconscious.

While Kira recovers, Harlow assembles a rock cutter from salvaged parts using the computer's schematics. Both women receive the sa-khui language via a neural download. Later, Aehako joins Kira in the ship's functioning shower. As their intimacy deepens, she stops him to confess: She is infertile. A childhood illness destroyed her ability to have children, and she believes she will never resonate. Aehako responds with unwavering acceptance, telling her that before meeting her he had resigned himself to loneliness. Having her is enough. They make love for the first time.

Kira arms herself with the ship's single functioning laser cannon and devises a secret fail-safe: a concentrated nalium filter containing the atmospheric element lethal to beings without a khui, and a small computer chip. She tucks both into her mouth and steps outside to confront three approaching aliens. Negotiations collapse when the aliens dismiss Kira's arguments that the women cannot be removed from the planet, calling them property owed to clients. A guard shoots the cannon from her hand. When Aehako and Haeden charge out to protect her, both are shot down. To save their lives, Kira surrenders and is dragged aboard the alien ship.

Locked in a holding cell, Kira plants the nalium filter in the air vent. Her khui makes her immune, but the aliens are not. Hours later, the weakened guard staggers in, and Kira kills him, takes his weapon, and uses his severed hand as a biometric key to move through the ship. She deploys three of four escape pods, finds the remaining aliens dead or unconscious on the bridge, and steers the ship into a mountain. She escapes in the last pod and watches it explode.

On the surface, Aehako has regained consciousness and, seeing the crash, believes Kira has died. He begins mourning rites, pouring snow over his horns. When her pod lands nearby and she stumbles out, their reunion is fierce and joyful. Harlow, sent to cut poles for a travois to carry the critically wounded Haeden, is struck unconscious by an unknown assailant and vanishes. Forced to choose between searching for Harlow and saving Haeden, Kira and Aehako drag Haeden through the night on the travois. They encounter Liz and her mate Raahosh, who sprint Haeden to Maylak, the tribal healer.

Back at the caves, the tribe decides to reopen the abandoned South Cave to relieve overcrowding, with Aehako leading the new settlement. On moving day, as Asha, a sa-khui female who has long pursued Aehako, touches his arm, Kira hears a deep thrumming. She mistakes it for her own panicked heartbeat before realizing it is her khui: She is resonating to Aehako. The symbiont has repaired the damage to her reproductive system, healing the infertility she believed was permanent. They consummate the resonance in their painted cave, and Kira's khui quiets, signaling conception. Aehako asks if they should move back near the healer, but Kira declines, declaring the South Cave their home.

A bonus epilogue set during Kira's pregnancy shows the couple's dynamic reversed: Aehako, normally carefree, becomes consumed with anxiety about the baby. Kira suggests visiting the main cave so Maylak can examine her. A miscommunication nearly spirals into mutual panic when Kira overhears Aehako telling his brother Rokan that the baby is his "dream come true" and misinterprets the exchange as ominous. Maylak confirms the baby is healthy, and the couple promises to stop catastrophizing and face the future together, one day at a time.