Autumn Moon by Jan DeLima Page A

territory remained clear of Guardians, but he too wanted another report. “We don’t all need to be here watching her sleep.Ms. Hafwen is confident that Pendaran will be incapacitated for at least a week.” Even the pixie had returned to her stone cottage while Elen slept. “If I notice any changes, I will call.”
    â€œThank you, Cormack.” Her hand rested briefly on his shoulder. “I’ll return in a few hours with food. We’ll wake her then.”
    Setting the glass down on the nightstand, he waited until the sounds quieted and he knew the house was free of company before pulling back the blankets and crawling into bed with Elen. Finally, he got to hold her without the protective eyes of her family watching.
    She murmured as he folded his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin. Sophie had removed that vile dress and replaced it with a nightshirt. With Elen’s soft breaths fanning his neck, he managed to drift off to sleep.
    But when he woke, she had turned and kicked off her blankets. Her left breast rested against his arm, and the dark outline of her nipple pressed against the soft material of her shirt.
    His reaction was immediate. He tried to think of something else, to draw his starved gaze away, but he was weak and enthralled, and he couldn’t find the will to fight his infatuation. Within seconds, his cock swelled to painful lengths.
    Cormack had never understood why that particular body part had been given so many names—until he had one. Because the damn thing was uncontrollable; it deserved its lineage of titles. He’d practiced saying many of them, but “cock” was the term that came readily to mind; quick and eager like the appendage itself.
    As a Bleidd, signals of desire hadn’t connected from his human mind to his wolf’s form—
thank the Gods!
It was a mercy of his curse that held no limits of gratitude. Now thathe was in his rightful body, however, the signals connected strong and clear, and his human anatomy was more than ready to make up for four hundred pent-up years.
    Cool air brushed between them as he shifted away from her. Her brow pinched in sleep, and she rolled toward him, unconsciously seeking his missing heat. The nightshirt twisted as she turned, and the neckline scooped forward—exposing her breast in all its coral-tipped glory.
    He sucked in a breath. “Fuck me,” fell unbidden from his mouth, a popular saying among the guards that he hadn’t fully appreciated until then. How was he supposed to resist this? He had never known temptation as he did in that moment.
    He wanted to touch her, to trace the circle around the puckered flesh. Was it soft? Would it tighten more if he did? He’d never caressed a woman in that way, or caressed one at all, for that matter. And Elen was not just
any
woman; she was the one he’d been waiting more than three hundred years to touch. His hand lifted of its own volition, almost reaching the darkened peak before he snagged it back.
    No
, this was wrong. Exploring her body while she was unconscious, and without the ability to refuse, was no better than what their enemy had done. Swearing under his breath, Cormack covered her with blankets and moved his treacherous body to the vacant chair.
    *   *   *
    Wishing he had locked his office door, Dylan closed his eyes and groaned as Sophie’s fingers worked the muscles around his neck and shoulders. Between the shock with his sister, calls to allied leaders to warn of Guardian activity, and meetings with the guards and villagers, he’d earned this moment with his wife. And by the Gods, ifanother person interrupted them, he might just rip off their head.
    â€œYou’re so tense,” Sophie soothed, twisting and untwisting the stiffness of his back.
    â€œI’ve been neglected by my mate for two days.” He received a nip on his ear for the remark.
    â€œYou’ll be neglected