Forbidden (A New Adult Paranormal Romance) by Dawn Steele Read Free Book Online

thought to the vast number of instruments in her lab, her every whim catered to. But now everything was gone. She had nothing to document this wonderful discovery.
    “It’s all right,” she consoled herself, “I have superior intellect, if nothing else. I’ll collect samples.”
    Before she could take this significant step for mankind, the cocoon emitted the brightest light she’d seen so far. She had to shield her eyes. For the first time, doubt crept into her. She had never been harmed by insects before, but this was an uncharted species, possibly cranky and dangerous.
    From the cocoon came the sound of crackling, as though many sticks were simultaneously snapped. The smell of honey was stronger than ever. The insects ran wildly from the disintegrating structure. Snow White wondered if she should do the same, but her curiosity – the very one that made her venture into the garden barefoot to look for glow worms at three in the morning – stayed her feet.
    Cracks snaked all over the cocoon. Tufts of matter fell off. To Snow White’s amazement, a human hand struck out from the top.
    It was pale and perfectly formed.
    “Oh no, someone’s trapped in there,” she exclaimed.
    With renewed vigor, she clawed at the cocoon. The material came away like pieces of a dry cake. The hand was encrusted in a light gold dust. As the cocoon was destroyed from inside and out, more of it emerged – a forearm, then an arm – and before Snow White could bemoan the need for documentation, a man covered in bits and pieces of the amber sediment clambered slowly out.
    He was completely naked.
    He stared at Snow White, whose jaw dropped to the floor of the cave.

CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Snow White was unable to take her eyes off the man.
    She had never been swayed by beauty, but even she could not deny the effortless appeal of the amber-dusted dark hair that fell in a wave across his brow, his shining brown eyes, and his sculptured cheekbones which had a slightly otherworldly cast to them. He appeared to be about twenty, and he stood tall within the cocoon, unashamed of his nakedness. His limbs were long and pale. His very presence held her, as though the air around them was magnetized. She had to tear her own eyes away lest she tremble from the shock that flooded her.
    Snow White’s eyes roamed down his magnificently lean and muscled body, and her cheeks began to burn.
    I’m not a prude, she scolded herself. I’ve seen plenty of men naked. Well, almost naked. Dozens!
    Well, OK, maybe two.
    The youth did not move. He appeared to be contemplating what to do next. Confusion flickered on his face as he looked down upon his limbs, then back at her.
    I’m not, not, not, Snow White told herself hotly, interested in boys. Never have been, never will be. I’m a rational scientist. I have things to do, places to go, universities to build!
    His skin, she observed, was like a newborn’s. Almost as pale as hers, and pink, as though he had slid out from a womb. His chin was hairless, shaven to the flesh. He was so beautiful that he was unnatural. Crafted from an ideal, it seemed.
    No! she tore at herself savagely. She must not think this.
    Proudly, she held her chin up and tried to avert her gaze from his glaring privates. “I suppose,” she said, coming off a little haughty, “you were trapped by that thing.”
    Uh oh, she thought, my princess complex is at it again.
    The man did not answer.
    “Because if so,” she went on hastily, trying to ameliorate her tone, “I’d like to interview you about your experience . . . for future scientific annals to be stored in my library, of course. I mean . . . what we learn here today might change our paradigm of understanding of the insect world. So this interview is not for myself, but for science.”
    When he didn’t reply, she wondered if she had rambled on too much or if he even understood what she said. He might be soft in the head. Or, God forbid, had his brains sucked out like nectar. Anything was