The Templar's Legacy (Ancient Enemy) by R. Scott VanKirk Page A

deepening sky catching the last rays of the sun with a burst of orange glory.
    I took a deep breath of the invigorating scent of the forest around us, and tried to open my mind to its peace and beauty. I was only partially successful. I was much more aware of Colette sitting right next to me. I swallowed my nervousness and searched for something to say.
    Finn, you are never going to make any children if you don’t start paying attention to the signals of the women around you. I’m starting to think that even though this girl is not fertile, you should go ahead and fuck her just to get it out of your system—
    Heat filled my body; it felt like even my toes were blushing. Spring! Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Don’t use language like that. Especially about a girl I like.
    I thought that the word “fuck” connoted sex for the purpose of pleasure and not for mating or bonding.
    Well it’s not, and you know it! It’s crude and nasty, and I don’t like it.
    Oh. How about instead of saying “fuck her,” I say “bang her”?
    No!
    Jump her bones?
    Argh!
    How about wild monkey sex?
    Colette looked over at me with a small smile. “Finn, you are troubled? Is everything good?”
    I squeaked out, “Uh, er, yeah, yeah, everything’s fine.”
    You have a very unhealthy fear of sex, Finn.
    I tried to ignore Spring’s mischievous giggle ringing through my brain and worked on getting Colette’s attention off of me lest she see my clothes smoking. “Uh, I was just thinking about how beautiful the lake is and... stuff.”
    That was smooth.
    Colette looked out over the calm darkening waters and the shadowed forest, which pushed down to the lake. “Oui, it ees quite romantic, no?”
    Her sexy French accent pumped my already hyped libido. Over the summer, her accent had faded to almost nothing, but sometimes, like now, it came back with a vengeance.
    “Uh, yeah.”
    Go ahead Finn. Ask her if she wants to bump uglies with you!
    Colette looked at me with her eyebrows raised in concern, and put her hand on my arm. “Are you well, Finn? You look upzet.”
    The warmth of her soft hand on my arm occupied all my attention. “No, I uh...”
    Go on , stud! She’s begging for a hot Finn-beef injection!
    I rubbed my hand over my face to cover up the glow coming off of it. “I’ve got a headache coming on. I... I think I need some food and water.”
    “But of course. Come, we will get you something to eat and to drink.” Colette stood up and offered me her hand. I took it and hopped up. She didn’t let go and I found myself standing face to face with her. Her brown eyes looked up into mine. She had the most amazing long eyelashes... I panicked, yanked back my hand, and headed back to the camp.
    Spring laughed at me. Dude! She wants you...
    Shut up , Spring! One more word and I promise we’ll never go dancing again.
    Spring finally shut up. That hit her where she lived. Ever since leaving her oak tree she had wanted to do nothing more than move and dance. After what had happened between Erik Parmely and me, I had been very motivated to move and get into shape as well, but I was happy with my Krav Maga practice and my strength and endurance training. That summer I had probably gotten more exercise than in my entire life to date. I didn’t need to add dancing to that list.
    In addition, with Spring’s internal help, I had shed some of my “baby” fat and added on some good muscle preternaturally quickly. I think I was also growing taller, but Spring said it wasn’t her doing. I wasn’t complaining, but it made my mother worry.
    By the time we made it back to camp, I had managed to slow my heart rate down to no more than 150 beats per minute, and my brain was starting to kick back in. To preserve what little dignity I had left, I made sure to drink a lot of water and munch on a power bar before I sat down at the small fire Jim had going. I was sure I had really messed things up with Colette, so I was elated when she