Icarus Unbound by Bernadette Gardner Read Free Book Online

who had never slept beneath a blanket for warmth or worn a stitch of clothing in his life. In the consistently balmy temperatures of the equatorial islands, nakedness was 48

    Icarus Unbound
    by Bernadette Gardner
    accepted and preferred. It also cut down on wind resistance and made flying easier.
    Regardless, now Jaran placed Lara on the bed and pulled the pure white sheet over her. Amazingly, she looked even more alluring with her body partially hidden from his view. He didn't understand that either.
    Finally she met his gaze. "Why are you doing this? There are hundreds of females you could have chosen for yourself.
    Why do you insist on having me?"
    He sat for a moment at the edge of the bed and gazed down at her. He'd never wanted anything in his privileged existence as the adopted son of Jidar and Namara, except for the touch of the woman now lying in his bed. The answer to her question was so simple, but he wasn't ready to say the words and have her reject his love as just another form of childish mockery.
    "I chose you for exactly that reason, Lara. Any other female would have come to my bed willingly and easily, thrilled to be chosen to fill the role as co-leader. You, however, offer the one thing none of them could give me."
    "And what is that?"
    "A challenge."
    [Back to Table of Contents]
    49

    Icarus Unbound
    by Bernadette Gardner

Chapter Five
    Despite the warmth of the crisp cotton sheet Jaran had arranged over her body, Lara shivered. Her mind whirled with recriminations. How could she have allowed this? She should have simply flown off to one of the abandoned aeries in the far-reaching southern island chain and hidden until Jaran forgot about this plan to humiliate her. Certainly the public shame of disobeying her liege would be preferable to this.
    Lying in Jaran's bed, her sex pulsing from the orgasm he'd given her, she felt like she'd betrayed herself. The ten-year-old girl who had wished her tormentor would fall off the edge of the world would never forgive the woman who had agreed to become his lifemate.
    The teenager whose palms had begun to sweat and whose heart had raced every time Jaran looked at her might have secretly enjoyed this erotic interlude, but she could never forget all of the times his careless remarks had made her wish her parents had retained the good sense to mate with full-blooded Icarians instead of with each other.
    Lara closed her eyes, hoping Jaran would assume she'd fallen asleep. For several minutes she listened to him move around the room, dimming the sconce lights, pulling tarps across the windows to control the flow of the evening breeze.
    Her heart still pounded erratically, and each time she recalled his promise that he hadn't yet begun to play with her, something gripped tight in her belly.
    50

    Icarus Unbound
    by Bernadette Gardner
    Anticipation spiraled out from her womb, causing an uncomfortable heat between her legs and a blush to creep up her chest to her face. Her wings twitched, and through their psychic link, her symbion expressed desire to be claimed by a potent male.
    Lara moaned, then covered her mouth with her hand, hoping Jaran hadn't heard. Finally, the feather-soft mattress dipped as he slipped beneath the sheet and settled his body next to hers.
    "I know you're not asleep."
    "Mmm?" She feigned confusion and kept her eyes closed.
    Jaran chuckled. "You cannot hide behind your eyelids." To punctuate his point, he slid a hand down between their bodies and cupped her mound.
    The contact shot arrows of awareness through Lara's body.
    Her muscles tensed, her sex wept and her eyes flew open.
    "I don't need permission," he said. "I may touch you wherever and whenever I wish to." Carelessly, he delved his fingers between her folds and Lara bit her lip. "You're so soft and tight. Your desire heats your flesh and your cum smells of passion fruit, but it tastes like alor berries."
    Lara swallowed her embarrassment. She'd never had a man comment on her taste before, and