Icarus Rising

by Bernadette Gardner

  her, and even though he understood the symbion's motives

  for wanting her calm and quiet during their flight, he still

  feared the creature would somehow force him to hurt her

  without realizing it.

  From the moment they'd arrived at the secluded nest, the

  symbion had bombarded him with images of mating.

  Though an adult itself and probably the parent of at least

  one brood of its own offspring, it now wanted Caleb to

  procreate. Communication with Jidar's symbion had imparted

  the knowledge that the Icarian population was in danger and,

  single-minded in its desire to save the host species, the

  symbion understood that mating was an imperative.

  After much debate, Caleb had finally convinced it to calm

  down and land. Grateful that the shorts he'd put on at home

  hid the semi-hard erection he'd battled since they arrived,

  Caleb swooped down onto the island's landing area and took

  a moment to compose himself.

  "There will be no mating. Remember that," he said aloud,

  more to reassure himself than the symbion.

  The creature complained and ruffled its wings, but

  reluctantly agreed to leave its chosen female alone for now.

  In a way, Caleb could understand the creature's urgency.

  Fused as it was now to him, it could never mate with one of

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  its own kind again. Over time, its genitalia would atrophy and

  its internal sex organs would be absorbed. The only way for

  the alien bird to experience sexual release now was through

  Caleb. While he sympathized, the symbion's desires would

  have to wait, just as Caleb's would, until Jidar made the

  decision to pair him with a suitable Icarian female. Assuming

  that ever happened.

  After another deep breath, Caleb convinced the symbion to

  fold its wings, and they headed inside the aerie. He prayed

  Zara had woken up and that she wouldn't be too angry with

  him for what he'd done.

  Panic raced through him when he saw the empty pallet.

  His thundering heartbeat slowed just a little when his captive

  emerged from the waste disposal alcove. At least she was up

  and around and she looked no worse for wear.

  "Zara."

  The moment she saw him, she raised her hand. Clutched

  in her fist, she held a chunk of sandstone. "Stay right there.

  No more unscheduled flights unless you're taking me back to

  the research station."

  Caleb held up his hands in surrender. "I'm sorry. I promise

  I won't do that again."

  "Which one of you is making that promise?" She glared at

  him. Her eyes were the color of clear caramel in the golden

  morning sunlight that streamed into the aerie from behind

  him. Anger had pinkened her cheeks, and fear, he guessed,

  had hardened her nipples.

  She looked wild and untamed, and he would have given

  anything at that moment to fold her in his arms and soothe

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  her rampant emotions. He realized if he went near her now,

  though, she'd probably brain him with the rock.

  " I promise. Both of me." He laughed, but his attempt at

  humor only produced a scowl from her."

  "Don't try to be funny. This is serious."

  He looked down at the smooth stone beneath his bare feet.

  "I know. Again, I'm sorry. I'm trying to get a handle on this.

  Really."

  "You can do that at the station. Now that the sun is up, we

  should go back. I promise I'll stay calm if you promise not to

  fly so high."

  Caleb wanted to comply, but his symbion panicked at any

  mention of the lab. It understood Caleb's fear that Danson

  would separate them, and its survival instinct defied any

  attempt to reason with it. "I can't go back, Zara. I'm sorry ...

  again."

  She lowered the rock and sighed but still maintained her

  physical distance from him. "Back at your bungalow you said

  you would cooperate. You said—"

  " I said. Yes. But the symbion is afraid. It won't allow me to

  go back."

  "You're supposed to be in charge of the link, Caleb. You're

  supposed to make the decisions for both of you now."

  "And I can't. I can think for myself, but it seems like the

  only emotions I'm feeling are the symbion's. Those feelings

  are stronger than any rational argument I can make for going

  back to the station."

  "So what about me? Am I a prisoner? I can't leave on my

  own. What am I supposed to do?"

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  Caleb shrugged. "Give me time to figure something out.

  Are you hungry?"

  "At least get me a radio, and I'll call for help. You can stay

  away until they come for me."

  Her desire to escape him made Caleb's guilt and shame

  flare white hot. The prospect of losing its mate annoyed the

  symbion as well, and together they spread their wings. "I

  need you, Zara! You're the only person I can talk to about

  this."

  "Caleb, we can talk all you want to, but it has to be back at

  the lab where Ray can help you."

  "He can't help me!" This time the symbion flapped its

  wings in anger, propelling Caleb forward toward Zara. She

  cringed away from him and raised the rock, which he

  effortlessly knocked out of her hand. Fearing she'd slap him,

  he grabbed her wrists and trapped them over her head as he

  pushed her body backward against the warm stone wall.

  Terror darkened her eyes to cocoa brown as she arched

  her back and tried to wrench her arms free of his grasp.

  At the mercy of his alien half, Caleb could only watch,

  feeling strangely detached from his actions, as he ground his

  hips against Zara's.

  Pressed together like this, their bodies seemed a perfect

  fit, just as he'd always imagined they would be. How many

  times had he fantasized about feeling the hardened tips of her

  nipples rubbing his chest or tasting desire on her lips?

  Instinct bade him to lower his mouth to her neck and

  nibble the sensitive skin there. The scent of her arrowed to

  the hyper-sensitive sex receptors in his brain, setting off a

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  cascade of symbion hormones that controlled his feelings of

  arousal, entitlement, conquest and passion.

  "I want you," he whispered into her ear. "We want a mate.

  Right now. We need it."

  "Ca-Caleb..." At first Zara's response sounded like a

  protest. She squirmed under his onslaught, but he couldn't

  decide if she was attempting to push him away or thrust her

  willing body closer to his.

  His erection had peaked again and now strained against

  his shorts. Settled in the inviting vee of her thighs, his cock fit

  perfectly. The pressure and warmth were just enough to push

  his arousal to the next level.

  "Say no," he told her, grasping at one small moment of

  sanity. "Say
no, and I'll make myself stop. But if you don't,

  I'm going to have you now, Zara. I can't be this close to you

  and not be inside you."

  The words Zara had dreamed of hearing from Caleb both

  excited and terrified her. The look in his eyes told her he

  wasn't in control at the moment.

  His erection pressing into her mound was the effect of a

  symbion mating frenzy, not Caleb Faulkner's desire for her.

  The urgency with which he ground his muscular body into

  hers had nothing to do with love and everything to do with a

  chemical volcano erupting in his brain.

  She did want him, despite her anger and her fear,

  regardless of their carefully maintained professional

  relationship, but her needs made no difference. If she gave

  in, if she didn't tell him to stop, they would both regret it.

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  But God, it felt so good. The growing bulge of his cock

  teased her clit through her shorts. Arousal had tightened all

  her muscles, and liquid desire lubricated them, so she now

  felt like a coiled spring, ready to bend and stretch to his will.

  The idea of surrendering to the rampant, selfish needs of

  the alien that had taken him over excited her when it should

  have repulsed her. She wanted to be taken hard and fast.

  Dear Lord, she didn't have the strength to say no.

  Each time his lips brushed over her heated skin, outlining

  her jaw, teasing her ear, skimming the hollow of her throat,

  her knees weakened a little more. If he let go now and

  backed away, she would have slithered to the ground,

  breathless and quivering.

  "Caleb, please..." Those weren't the right words, not a

  proper protest at all. He could easily interpret them to mean

  "go on, take me, claim me".

  As if he'd heard her silent plea, he thrust his free hand into

  her shorts. She gasped but failed to protest when his

  searching fingers found her clit and began to massage the

  engorged flesh. Excitement coursed through her veins,

  making every muscle contract in time to his intimate

  massage.

  With a hard wall at her back and hard man in front of her,

  she had nowhere to go. Pushing her hips forward was the

  only move she could make, and that merely heightened the

  friction of his fingers in the sensitive folds of flesh between

  her thighs. Warmth spread through her lower body and her

  juices began to flow hot around the intrusion. He moaned into

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  her ear and in response she whimpered, still searching for the

  words that would end this torment.

  "Caleb..."

  He found her opening and without warning, penetrated.

  Her body stiffened. She should have fought, should have

  wrenched away but all she wanted was more, deeper, harder.

  She closed her eyes and let him play her, all the while willing

  herself to speak, but nothing coherent came out.

  Every nerve in her body screamed for release. The

  pressure of his fingers sliding against her inner flesh sent her

  reeling. His palm brushed her mound, causing a spiral of

  aching need to coil up into her womb. She should have tried

  to escape, beat on his back with her fists, scratch him, but all

  she could do was revel in his plundering of her body. She'd

  wanted this for too long to make it go away. She needed him

  in her and she needed to come so her mind would clear and

  the relentless ache in her pussy would end.

  Thrust after illicit thrust of his finger left her trembling on

  the edge of release. She clung to him, afraid to make a sound

  that would bring him back to himself and make him realize

  exactly what he was doing. She closed her eyes and gave in

  to the rhythm, the friction, the pent-up need and finally,

  choking on a sob of relief, she came. Her sex contracted hard

  around him and she moaned. Undaunted, he pumped his

  finger harder into her, quick thrusts that left her shuddering

  and blind with pleasure, then he pulled out and trailed her

  cream along her thigh.

  Their eyes met for an instant and she saw satisfaction in

  his dark gaze. He'd won her, he'd broken her defenses and

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  laid her open for his conquest. Now he could take her more

  easily, while the shuddering contractions of her body left her

  weak and unable to resist him.

  "Say no. Please, Zara, make me stop." Low and husky, his

  voice held desperation. He didn't want this.

  The man she'd spent months walking on the beach with,

  delving into his psyche and learning what she'd foolishly

  believed was everything about him, didn't want to ravage her.

  That realization cooled her blood by a degree. Caleb would

  never forgive himself if he allowed the symbion to rule him. If

  he lost this battle of wills, he'd never win another.

  Summoning what little strength she had left, Zara

  wrenched her body away from the wall. She threw all her

  anger and frustration into the move, which knocked Caleb off

  balance and sent him backpedaling. He relinquished his grasp

  on her wrists and stumbled away from her.

  Bereft and mortified by her body's reaction to him, Zara

  flung herself toward the exit on wobbling legs but stopped

  halfway, remembering how frightened she'd been on the

  exposed shelf of rock.

  Panting from her unexpected orgasm and shivering from

  the loss of his warmth, she crossed her arms over her chest

  and turned to confront him. "No." There. She'd said it. It

  seemed ridiculous to finally protest now after she'd not only

  allowed him to fuck her but enjoyed it. Whether her lack of

  conviction showed in her voice, she couldn't tell, but Caleb

  seemed to believe it.

  She held up her hand before he could speak. "Don't

  apologize. Just forget it. I know that wasn't you, just now."

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  God, her face was on fire. He'd been in her. She'd come in his

  hand and dismissing it now as though it were nothing more

  than a naughty suggestion seemed childish, but they could

  never progress with this mortifying incident between them. "I

  know that wasn't you in control, and I know you'd hate

  yourself if things went any further."

  She should have let him. A rebellious voice in the back of

  her head argued the point. She should have surrendered

  completely and let him have her all the way. What did it

  matter if an oversexed alien bird was controlling his actions?

  For a moment, she could have had Caleb in her arms, in her

  body, giving her everything she'd dreamed of since the day

  they'd met. Seeing him regret it would have killed her, but

  losing him again would do that anyway, and at least she'd

  have the memory of being with him one glorious, forbidden

  time.

  "Zara ... the last thing I could ever stand to do is hurt you.

&nb
sp; I'm so—"

  "I know. And that's why I'm going to tell you this." She

  allowed herself to step toward him, but stopped short of

  putting her hands on his naked chest like she wanted to. "I

  will stay here with you and help you and your symbion deal

  with this in any way I can, but you have to promise me two

  things."

  "Anything." His response came out as a breathless,

  relieved whisper, but she noticed he would not meet her

  gaze.

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  "First you have to agree that the goal we're working

  toward is getting your symbion to agree to go back to the

  station."

  Caleb nodded.

  "And second..." She finally captured his gaze and held it

  for a long, raw moment. "You have to understand that if you

  put me in that situation again ... I won't stop you."

  [Back to Table of Contents]

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  Chapter Nine

  Still the aerial searches turned up nothing. Arilani

  reluctantly returned to the research station at dusk after

  pushing herself to near exhaustion searching for Caleb and

  Zara. With the soft beach sand shifting beneath her feet,

  Arilani folded her wings and wiped a crust of sea salt from her

  eyelashes.

  With thousands of islands stretching in all directions away

  from the station, it could take weeks to canvas only a fraction

  of the hidden caves and camouflaged aeries. That assumed of

  course that Caleb hadn't fallen into the water and drowned

  both himself and his hostage.

  Namara and Jidar joined her on the beach a moment later,

  their defeated expressions telling her more than words.

  "No one has found him." Her blunt statement seemed to

  taint the air between them.

  "I'm sorry." Namara, always a nurturer at heart, offered

  her hand to Arilani in a gesture of comfort. "You must be

  spent."

  "I am, but I'm willing to keep searching. We must find

  Caleb and help him bond properly with his symbion or he

  might never learn to control it."

  Jidar shook his head. "That's not the main concern right

  now. Dr. Danson believes Dr. Faulkner may never be able to

  regulate his biochemistry because both of them were adults

  at the joining. He fears the symbion hormones will eventually