Free Barbarian's Touch: A SciFi Alien Romance (Ice Planet Barbarians Book 8) by Ruby Dixon

peer out. There’s only a very light snow falling, and the skies are a lighter gray than the dismal, stormy gray they were yesterday. That’s improvement, I suppose. I look around for Hassen, but he’s trudging away in the distance, his back to me. Out to hunt more food, maybe, or get more fuel.
    Now’s my chance.
    I sling my bag over my shoulder and step forward. Without snowshoes, I sink to my knees, and gasp. It’s cold out here, colder than I expected. I rush back into the cave, grab one of the blankets and wrap it around my shoulders, and then race back out again.
    The first thing I need to do is get out of sight. I stagger through the deep snow, my feet sinking with every step, and head around the wall of the cliff until I can’t see Hassen any longer. That means he can’t see me, either. I’m that much closer to freedom, now. And I picture Hassen’s angry face when he realizes I’m gone and it makes me pick up the pace.
    My gloved hand grips the cliff wall as I push forward, my shiv in the other. I stagger with each step but I continue forward, because I’m not going back. I’m not going to sit on my butt and wait for him to decide that I’m not an agreeable enough captive. If I’m on my own, I’m on my own.
    The cliff gives way to a ridge, and I climb up it. In the distance, I can see pink, fluttery things waving against the snow, and what looks like a stream. It’s not frozen, which is strange. But there’s landscape in that direction instead of the endless white hills back where I was, so it’s a good way to head. I tug my hood down tighter around my face, because the cold is chapping my skin, and head onward.
    I walk for maybe a half hour, putting distance between myself and Hassen’s cave, before the worst happens. I’m high on the ridge, looking down on the valley below. I need to get down fast, because I’m visible up here and I need to hide from Hassen. I take a step on the downward slope. The snow beneath my feet gives with a crackle of ice and then I’m tumbling forward. I land on my ass, flop onto my side, and then roll, roll, roll all the way down the snowy side of the ridge before it ends abruptly.
    Then, I go flying the last ten feet and land on my belly in the snow below.
    The breath whooshes out of my lungs and I lie on the snow, on my stomach, trying desperately to catch my breath and get rid of the dizziness swimming in my head. Wasn’t expecting that.
    I’m not expecting the hand that grabs the heel of my boot, either, and hauls me forward.
    Shit. He found me.
    I slam a hand into the snowy ground, frustrated, as I’m dragged backward. I twist and turn around to glare at Hassen…
    Except it’s not Hassen.
    It’s a yeti.
    I think.
    My eyes go wide and I stare at the creature. It’s so weird. From the back, it looks like a dirty teddy bear with a long, shaggy tail and no ears. The fur is a matted, filthy grayish-yellow, and it smells so bad. Like wet dog times ten. I can’t see its face as it drags me behind it, but the hand that grips my boot is 3-fingered and looks almost human. It’s so strange. I’m too shocked to be frightened.
    There are other people here? Yeti people?
    The yeti-thing turns, looking off to the side, and I see an enormous, round eye. It glows blue, just like Hassen and all the other blue aliens. As I watch, the creature throws its head back and its mouth works, like it’s calling or crying or something. I don’t think it’s a word.
    The yeti pauses, does the call again, and then waits.
    A few moments later, another shadow appears and I look over to see another yeti, just like the first.
    Shit.
    I look around for my shiv, but it’s nowhere to be found. If I had a few minutes to dig around in the loose snow, maybe I could find it. But something tells me I won’t get that chance.
    The one dragging me forward starts walking again, and I lift my head so I’m not scraped raw along the ice. The new one walks next to it, and they ignore me, for now. Is