After Dark by Delilah Devlin Page A

everyday. You’re not the young, frightened woman you were whom he had to protect. He has to be wondering whether you need him for more than just to feed your hungers.”
    “But what can I do?” she asked, finally letting her eyes fill.
    Simon’s hand slid behind her neck and pulled her closer as he leaned his head down.
    Her breath caught, sure he was going to kiss her. A sensual touch would be her undoing, as her body was so primed for sex.
    Instead, he leaned his forehead against hers. “Natalie,” he whispered, “the same sexual frustration you feel right now is just as strong in Rene. He’s been slicing slivers off his trainers all week.”
    Natalie felt a smile curve her lips and leaned closer, letting her nipples scrape across the soft linen of his shirt. The delicious rasp had her shivering. “Has he hurt anybody?” she replied just as softly.
    “Rene may be a bit ham-fisted when it comes to his knight’s training—no skills, no grace whatsoever—but he’s strong as a bull, and when he does connect with his sword, he knocks them on their arses.”
    Natalie’s smile deepened. Rene was a brute. He’d proved that more than once when they made love—once he realized he didn’t need to be gentle with her.
    But they hadn’t made love in days.
    In fact, unrequited lust was causing her physical pain, tightening her rounding belly. If his desire was even a tenth as deep as hers, she didn’t know how he managed. Masturbating just didn’t provide a strong enough release to take the edge off her hungers.
    If Rene didn’t make love to her soon, she might have to find another lover. She drew away from Simon. He was ahandsome man, with his short, rough beard, brown eyes, and broad shoulders honed from years of knight’s training.
    But Simon had Kestrel, and although she knew in this other world the rules of fidelity didn’t necessarily apply, she didn’t want to bring either of them pain.
    No, she needed to nip the problem in the bud. She had to confront Rene tonight—make him decide once and for all. Either he needed to permit her to turn him, or they would part, because waiting for him was driving her out of her mind.
    She straightened her shoulders. “Where is he?” She knew he wasn’t sleeping in their bed.
    Simon’s wicked brows rose. “In the barracks. Last cot. And you needn’t bother being quiet. The men won’t mind a bit. They’ll be relieved you’re finally doing something about him.”
    She grinned at the wry humor in his voice. With a single downward flap of her wings, she lifted from the ground, leaving the forest behind and heading for the dark stone wall surrounding the monastery.
    The long barracks building sat at the back of the enclosure. Outside, she removed the drawstring pants she wore when she flew, and left them at the door. Inside the building the air felt damp and cool against her naked skin, as it would in early autumn.
    She sauntered through the doorway, rolling her hips. Wanting everyone to know she meant business, because tonight was the night he would finally succumb…or she would release him.
    She tossed back her long blond hair and lifted her hands to cup her breasts, scraping her thumbs across her nipples, causing them to ruche, ratcheting up her own desire and drawing several interested stares. Her breasts were riper,fuller, growing more sensitive by the day as her pregnancy progressed.
    She strode down the aisle, not glancing at the cots lining either side, but hearing the soft murmurs of the wakening men, the creaks of the ropes beneath their thin mattresses as they rose, then the padding of their feet as they left the building.
    As if she cared whether they watched.
    The narrow cot Rene slept in was just large enough to accommodate his broad frame. A bare, slotted window let in the moonlight, which bathed his body in silver and shadow.
    Her heart twisted at the thought that he’d rather sleep here than the comfortable bed in the cottage the monks had