His hands tightened as he dipped his mouth down to my nipples, tormenting them with that clever, hot tongue, leaving trails of fire everywhere it touched. It was burning, somehow. Was he leaving marks on me, scorch marks from the heat that had grown uncomfortably intense?
A thought flashed into my mind: I wanted to wear bruises from his fingers. I needed him so overcome, he lost control, and left marks on me for the world to see.
And I wanted to leave my marks on him. I set my teeth to his shoulder, feeling the skin tighten as I bit down, ever so slightly.
“Mate!” he shouted again, and pressed against me, pulling me into him.
“Yes,” I panted back, uncertain what I was agreeing to but unable to stay silent. He wanted to mate with me, make love to me. I refused to think that word had a deeper meaning, though my inner voice was shrieking. “Yes!”
I wasn’t myself; my body had been taken over by some creature who knew nothing but want, who desired nothing but this man’s now-golden flesh on her, in her, those wings covering us both as he entered me again and again. He gave a roar, and I felt his cock pressing on my stomach, his teeth on my neck.
His teeth. On my neck.
Sanity sputtered to life. Mate, he had said. He wanted me for his mate. Not for today. Not for now.
Forever.
“Wait!” He was poised to bite, and I knew suddenly what this was. The fog began to lift, to roll back from my lust-clouded mind. “Stop, please!” My voice sounded pathetically weak, and I prayed he would hear it.
He growled, a strange whistling nose behind it as if two creatures were answering, and then he thrust me away. We both panted, collecting ourselves.
“What... What was that?”
His eyes flashed, and I gasped to see the flames dancing in them. “That was the soul bind,” he growled.
“Bind?” I didn’t know the words he used, and it felt imperative that I understand precisely what he was saying.
He began to pace toward me, then away, as if he were fighting his own instincts. “I am wyvern, one of the last of my kind. You, Roya, are meant for me.” His eyes flashed that internal fire again. “You are my sky bond.”
My jaw dropped open. I had never heard those words before today, but they resonated deep within.
What Icarus said—no, what this glorious creature, whatever it was, said—was true. He was mine, in a way no one else was, or would ever be. The Goddess had created him for me. For a moment, I remembered what I had felt, looking into Altair’s eyes when he awoke. Like a puzzle piece had clicked into place. Like the clouds had moved away from the sun, and I stood naked in its full light. This was every bit as strong, maybe stronger.
The flames in Icarus’s eyes had hypnotized me, and I couldn’t blink as he spoke. “I… I don’t know if I can keep my beast from rising again. Please, if you don’t want this… If you don’t want me, only me, go now. Go to the huts, to your Thorn. Or Kavin. Ask them to guard you. I will try to hold back.”
His breath came in sharp gasps, as if he were losing a battle. His wings shook, like they were caught in a gale.
I knew I should run. Knew I should flee, but I was held there, a butterfly pinned to a board, a broken-winged bird. The part of me that knew sense was shattered. I was his to take, to ruin. But taking him as my mate would ruin more than just me.
Thorn was injured, as was Altair. Kavin was waiting, and his sweet kisses lingered in my mind.
I wanted them—all of them. I could not bind myself to Icarus, and be this beautiful, fierce creature’s mate.
I felt a tear fall from one eye. “I can’t.” My voice was thick with regret. “I can’t.” He seemed to understand. The fire in his eyes began to bank, the glow of his skin fading. I held back a whine as I watched it dissolve.
“Of course not, sweet Roya. It is I who must apologize. I should not have reacted in such a way.” Inside, a part of me railed against his words, screamed at him, and me. I shook myself, trying to remember who I was: an assassin, a strong, confident, deadly woman. I was trained to hide in the shadows.
I could hide this feeling. This desire.
His words had been formal, and I responded in kind, nodding politely. “The fault lies in us both, my lord.” I hesitated, seeing the sadness that welled up in his gaze at my cool reply.
I couldn’t do it, couldn’t stay collected and calm. I slumped back onto the sand and blew a raspberry at him. “You really are a prince, aren’t you? Not a proper pirate at all.”
He let out a joyous laugh and flew up a few feet, swirling the sand around us both when he landed. “I thought I had shed the princely manners long ago. My apologies.” He dropped into a perfect courtly bow. “I am Prince Icarus, my lady. And though my wyvern has rushed ahead of me, of both of us, we would ask your permission to court you.” His eyes flashed with sparks again, and his skin glittered faintly. “You are my sky bond, and I cannot live without you.”
The air between grew warm, and I realized it was his beast making that happen. With magic, or some sort of internal fire? I wasn’t sure.
“Wyvern,” I repeated, tasting the word. “Is that like a dragon?”
