Free Ice Ice Babies by Ruby Dixon Page A

missing about how to seduce my mate back to my bed. Georgie hasn’t had that problem - my cave is right next to her and Vektal’s which means that not only do I hear little Talie when she cries (which isn’t all that often) but I also hear a lot of Vektal nailing Georgie. Like, a lot.
    I’m freaking jealous.
    I have to wonder, though, is it me? Am I not sexy to my mate now that I’ve got two kids strapped to my boobs and stretch marks all over my belly? Then again, I’ve never been the prettiest or sexiest human on the planet. Tiffany’s gorgeous, and Liz has lovely blonde hair that goes on for miles. Georgie’s got an incredible figure even after giving birth, and Josie’s delicate and adorable. Stacy has incredible skin and Ariana has impressive boobs. I’m…well, I’m nice. I’m a little chunky in the thighs and breasts, my face is pretty unremarkable, and my blonde highlights grew out a long time ago. Now my long hair is two-toned - below my shoulders is a light blonde and above it is a darker, ashy brown. I never really gave a crap…until now, when Dagesh rushed out of the cave.
    Of course, now I can’t stop thinking about it.
    The babies nurse for a while longer and then drift back to sleep. I burp each one, change their diapers again, swaddle them and gently place them back into their baskets. If they remain asleep for another hour, I might be able to catch another nap myself. That sounds like heaven. My brain is starved for sleep, and it’s starting to feel like I won’t get a full night’s rest for another eighteen years.
    I’m just crawling into the furs, my eyes drooping, when there comes a gentle scratch at the privacy screen over the entrance to our cave. “No-rah?” Maylak calls out gently. “Are you awake? Your mate said to come by?”
    Crap. So much for a nap. I slide my tunic over my head and jump back out of bed. “I’m up. Come on in.”
    Maylak waddles in, hands on her belly, a peaceful smile on her blue face. In the last week or so, her belly has dropped and whereas she was just fit and lean before, she now looks as ungainly as I felt for oh, most of my pregnancy. She still looks a hell of a lot more serene than I was, though.
    “Baby almost here?” I ask her, smiling.
    She pats the underside of her belly. “Very soon. I am ready.”
    “I’ll bet.” The sa-khui women are pregnant for three effin’ years. I’d have gone mad at the two year mark, but Maylak doesn’t seem to be antsy about it at all. “I hope Dagesh didn’t wake you.” I pull one of the sitting stools forward near the fire and offer it to her.
    She declines, folding her legs and sitting gracefully on the floor, as if she weren’t a jillion years pregnant. “I was already awake. This one is active early in the morning.” Her hand slides over her belly and then she gestures at the floor. “Come, sit, and I will speak to your khui and encourage your milk.”
    I sit down and she indicates that I should turn my back to her. We’ve done this before, and so I know the drill - I take my tunic off and bare my back, and she puts her hands on my skin and begins to hum. Her hands stroke up and down my spine and after a moment, her khui begins that weird, strange-pitched hum that I recognize as her ‘healing’ hum. Mine echoes it and I remain still as she rubs my back, communing with my khui or whatever it is she does. I know it works, though.
    After a few moments, a new person steps into my cave. It’s Asha - the other young female sa-khui. She has Esha, Maylak’s little girl, in her arms. Her gaze flicks nervously to me, where I hold my tunic over my breasts, and then back to Maylak, who’s still rubbing my back and humming her healing song. “The screen was open,” Asha says, glancing between me and Maylak. “I was not sure—“
    “It is fine,” Maylak murmurs in the same smooth tone she hums in. “Sit. No-rah and I will be done soon.”
    Asha looks uncomfortably at me, but moves forward.
    “I want