The Templar's Legacy (Ancient Enemy) Read online

  ***

  Around eleven-thirty, I was in bed playing Minecraft on my iPad when Jen gently knocked on my open door. I hastily jerked my sheet up over the Caduceus sitting on my bare chest. Thankfully, it wasn’t either of my parents. Jen stood in the doorway in one of my old T-shirts. Given everyone who’d been borrowing them lately, I was quickly running out. In this case, I didn’t mind. It looked good on her. Really good, and the two sentinels guarding her twin peaks gave vivid testament to her lack of a bra.

  These were not things I should be noticing. She was Gregg’s little sister, for crying out loud!

  Spring noticed the display too. Whoa, nice ta-tas.

  Ssshhhh.

  I wrenched my gaze to Jen’s face, and her troubled look made me feel like a pig. “Uh, hi, Jen. What’s up?”

  Ooooo. Damsel in distress! I’ve seen this in lots of movies. She’s coming to you for comfort, and in no time, you’ll be givin’ her the ol’ comfort stick!

  God Spring, you’re such a pig, I thought to her. I squeezed my eyes closed to get a little time to compose myself.

  “Are you okay, Finn?”

  I opened my eyes and looked at her again. Now she looked concerned.

  “No, no, I’m fine. Just spending too much time playing...”

  “Can we talk?”

  “Sure, of course, you can always talk to me.”

  She stepped into the room, closed the door behind her, then sat down on my bed.

  Spring was dancing a little jig in the back of my mind. Oh, yes! It’s happening! Tonight’s the night my sun grows up and becomes a man.

  “So...uh Jen...what’s wrong?” I cursed my shaky voice. Her face fell even more. I think she’d been crying. Perversely, this knowledge helped me focus on her, not on her assets. I kicked myself and tried to be there for her. “Have you been crying?”

  “I’m just so angry.” That was more her style. I hadn’t seen her cry, except in anger, for years. “Finn, you can not marry that bitch!”

  I wasn’t expecting that. “Uh, well, it might be the best way, ya know?”

  “No, I don’t know.”

  “What else can I do?”

  In one smooth motion, she shifted around and lay down next to me. She dropped her head on my chest. I was grateful that my legs were up and hiding my body’s feelings about her near-nude proximity. The soft warmth of her body pressing into my side through her thin T-shirt was very distracting. I tried to find a place for my arm and finally put it around her shoulders and pulled her into a (brotherly!) hug. She obviously needed it.

  She snuggled in. Her smooth and shiny black hair nestled under my chin. I marveled at how she fit me so naturally. Minty flowers and spice filled my nose, and I found myself closing my eyes and eagerly breathing it in.

  “What can I do, Jen?”

  Her hand moved out over my chest, causing me to twitch. She picked up the Caduceus from where it lay.

  “I love the way this feels. The way it seems like it has secrets that only it knows.”

  “Yeah, I, uh, love the way it feels...”

  Are you talking about the stick or those warm, soft breasts pressed against you?

  Spring, stop it!

  “Thank you for mine,” said Jen. I’d had to twist Dave’s arm into giving her one of the gold pendants, but she would be able to put its hoodoo to better use than either of us.

  “Uh, sure. No problem.”

  She put the black stick back down and moved her hand across my chest. That simple warm touch was incredibly erotic.

  “Do you like me, Finn?”

  I swallowed hard. “Yeah, sure, I’ve always liked you. That’s why I invited you to game with us.”

  “Maybe I should have said it this way—do you think I’m pretty, Finn?”

  Danger, Will Robinson! Danger! cackled Spring.

  “You’re beautiful, Jen. I love you... like a sister.”

  The hot spot created by her hand captured my complete attention as it moved lightly across my chest and stomach. I struggled not to let out a little gasp.

  Aw, come on Finn, even you can’t be this dense!

  I ignored Spring and tried steer back to safer conversational waters. “Did...ah...you have another idea for what we can do?”

  “Yes.”

  “What?”

  “Make love to me.”

  My voice squeaked as I forced it out through near-paralyzed vocal cords. “Jen, I really like you, but not that way...I don’t think that would be a good idea...Gregg—”

  Her hand went south and her touch there stopped me in my tracks.

  She pulled back, sat up, and grinned at me. “Gregg doesn’t get a vote, and from the size of your magic stick, I’d say you really do like me that way.”

  She crossed her arms, grabbed her shirt, and with one smooth move pulled it off over her head.

  Her breasts’ springy bounce as they escaped their confinement captured my eyes and wouldn’t let them go. They were impossibly beautiful latte mounds with peaks of dark chocolate. My sudden need to taste them overwhelmed everything else. She stood up on spread knees, arched her back, and showed off her breasts, a lot of skin and a little landing pad of hair where her underwear should have been.

  I gaped at her and tried to speak. It came out as a whisper. “Oh God. I don’t think...I don’t have any protection...”

  “Don’t worry, two virgins is about as safe as it gets. I’ve got everything covered.” It surprised some little rational part of me that she was still a virgin. She was pretty and bold and I’d just assumed...

  I didn’t even bother to try and deny my own virgin status. I’d never made love to a human woman. Spring was a dryad and therefore didn’t count.

  Spring, you haven’t been pumping out the hormones again, have you?

  I saw a Cheshire cat’s grin in the back of my mind. Nope. You made it pretty clear that’s a no-no. This is all you. Now ride-em, cowboy!

  I slammed down a cone of silence in my mind, with Spring on the other side.

  “What’s Spring think?”

  “I uh, how did you...?”

  “You always get a bit glazed when you two are talking.” I really had to get better at hiding that. Jen gave me a wicked smile. “She’s telling you to go for it, isn’t she?”

  I dropped my eyes. They snapped to the soft suggestion of a mound rising under the landing strip pointing to the promised land between her thighs. In a panic, I wrenched my gaze back up. Her familiar mischievous grin lit her face with life and emphasized her slight, sexy dimples. What did she ask? Oh yeah, Spring, “I uh… that is Spring, uh, wants me to jump every woman I see.”

  “You should listen to her tonight.”

  Oh God.

  She dropped and crawled over me. Suddenly I was looking at her face to face, and I could feel the soft touch of her breasts on my chest. It sent waves of crazy desire through me. She knocked my tented legs down with her knees and straddled me with her long, strong, athletic legs.

  She sat back once more and arched her back, once again thrusting her chest forward. My brains liquefied and all thoughts fled, save one. I groaned. A sudden memory of Spring on top of me in this same pose flashed through me. I struggled against the wave of passion cresting within me and lost. I hesitantly reached out gently to touch her, afraid she would run away or turn to smoke. When she didn’t do either, I ran my fingers over the smooth silk of her stomach and was struck with wonder when she responded eagerly to my touch. I took a chance and lightly caressed her breasts. She gasped, began to move, and Good Finn, the guy on the side of the angels, took a bullet to the head.

  ***

  Afterward, Jen snuggled up to me, pressing her body against my side and nestling her head into my shoulder. I was dazed and bemused and this felt so good and right that the guilt barely registered. I could have stayed that way forever.

  She said softly from my chest, “You’re mine.” The words zinged from my ears, down my spine, to my toes and back again, leaving
a thrill of wonder and trepidation.

  “Not that skinny, oozing, disease-ridden, French crotch-rocket.”

  Yep, she still had a way with words. I snorted and ran my hand up and down her arm for few moments. I couldn’t think about Colette right now. It caused shorts in my brain circuits. I’d wanted to be this close to Jen for a very long time, even though I had tried to deny it. I couldn’t let anything spoil it. Still...

  “But Jen, what—”

  She pushed herself up, threw a leg across me, and straddled my chest again. She leaned forward with a hand on either side of my head till her large almond eyes were inches from mine. Her gaze was commanding and intense, and her mouth thinned fiercely. I was a bit intimidated, but despite that, I couldn’t help but notice something brushing my chest in a feather caress—two somethings in fact. My little soldier approved and only an act of extreme self-control prevented me from crushing her to me again.

  “This was just a formality, you know. Ever since you pushed Il Saia out of me, you have been inside me. You are there when I wake up and there when I go to sleep. Your warmth calms me when I’m scared, and you hold me when I’m sad. I only have to think of you and you’re there for me. When I was lost, I found my way back by searching for you, and now I’ve that I found you, you’re mine.”

  I shivered. Recognition, need, and desire? love? made every nerve in my body fire.

  “Whenever you’re in need, I’ll be there for you—just as I know you will come for me. You are mine. I am yours, and nothing will ever change that. Now, make love to me again.”

  Her passion and presence made me giddy. I knew I couldn’t say no. I didn’t want to say no. She was right, and I was in so much trouble.

  Conflict of Interest

  I was woken by a knock at the door. “Finn, are you in there?” asked my mother from the hallway. She knocked again. “Finn?”

  I sat upright and tried to herd together my lethargic cows of morning thought.

  “...yeah Mom, I’m up.”

  “Finn, have you seen Jenifer? She’s not in her room, and her father is on the phone for her.”

  I knew exactly where she was. I had just been spooned around her naked form. She started to giggle and I started to panic. How could I possibly tell—

  “I’m in here, Mrs. M. Could you please tell Daddy I’m indisposed, and I’ll call him back in a little bit?”

  “...Oh! Well, yes, okay... I’ll tell him that, dear.”

  Jen turned around and pulled me down beside her with a self-satisfied, lopsided grin. Unlike me, her hair looked good in the morning. It seemed unfair. “Good morning, Finn. Stop looking so panicked, and kiss me.”

  I leaned in to give her a fast peck, but she grabbed me and pulled me over into a passionate embrace. That was bad enough, but then she started to squirm and touch me in ways that made my brains leak out my ears.

  We made love again. It was amazing—tender, passionate, and less awkward than the previous night, which had been a lot more enthusiastic than skilled.

  When we were done, she flopped down beside me with a happy sigh. “For a pure and unsullied virgin, you did all right, boy. Got some stamina.”

  I grinned, “For a pure and unsullied virgin, you are a wanton, lusty wench. Best three out of four?”

  She looked down at my little soldier standing as rigid as a Buckingham Palace guard. She looked at me with wide eyes. “Really? I’m going to waddle like a duck as it is. Point that thing away from me before it goes off.”

  I laughed. I wasn’t hung like a horse, but I could sure finish the race. I’d always wondered. It was pretty cool and made me feel, (dare I say it?) a bit cocky.

  Spring, silent till this point said proudly, I am a girl’s best friend.

  The embarrassment of knowing Spring had undoubtedly been responsible for my studliness took the winds out of my sails. I rolled out of bed and looked for a bra and panties amongst the linen ejecta. Neither sheet nor blanket remained on my bed. I found Jen's shirt and brought it to her as she sat, very provocatively and immodestly, on my bed. My hunger for her returned with a vengeance.

  I gave her my best leer. “Since this is my shirt, how about I keep it, and you can just walk around naked all day?”

  She grinned delightedly and delightfully. “Give it back and stop looking at me like a deranged serial killer.”

  I guess my best leer wasn’t very good. I’d have to work on it.

  I unabashedly watched her as she pull this shirt over her head. She looked up at me and smirked. It was very strange. She was still Jen, but she was different. Everything was different. Gone was the innocent, feisty girl I’d watched and guarded growing up. A sexy, vital young woman had replaced her, and... she was mine. My brotherly feelings had been burned to charcoal last night, but something stronger had risen from the ashes.

  She was six months younger than I, a couple weeks from eighteen. That distance used to mean everything, but now it meant nothing. The familiar guilt and discomfort I’d felt whenever I’d started to notice Jen were but faded shadows of their former self.

  She stood up and grinned. “You look any harder, you’re going to burn these clothes right off my body.”

  My face heated up. I was tempted to look away, but I couldn’t. “Sorry, but it’s like I’ve never seen you before. You are so beautiful.”

  She smiled widely and came up to me. She was maybe four inches shorter than me. I met her intense brown gaze and was struck again by a need to be with her, to be close to her. She put her hand up to my cheek.

  “I’ve been waiting for you to look at me like that for years.”

  The sight of her now and my memories of her when she was younger clashed within me. I gave her a weak half-grin. “Are you trying to short circuit my brain?”

  She released a full and hearty laugh of delight and leaned forward to kiss me. I swept her up in my arms and reveled in my discovery of this new Jen. She returned my hug and then whispered in my ears. “Remember my puffy pigtails?”

  Images of a precocious little girl leaped to my mind. “Argh! Don’t do that! Evil seductress.”

  She smirked, then deliberately turned her back to me, leaned down and picked up the shirt I’d been wearing while mowing. I think I drooled. She stood back up slipped my shirt on. It draped her like a tent and was probably the most arousing, sexiest outfit I’d ever seen.

  “Are you sure you want to wear that? It’s pretty sweaty.”

  “I know. It smells like you. It makes me feel good—like you’re giving me a hug.”

  That was probably the most wondrous thing I’d ever heard. Now all I had to do was face the parents. Mine were scary enough, but facing Jen’s parents was downright terrifying, one in particular.

  I walked her back to our guest room. She went to the dresser that held the few clothes she had brought along with her.

  I asked, “Does your dad own a gun?”

  She giggled at me. Her voice was fuller and richer than it used to be, but her giggle was just as happy and engaging as ever. “Don’t worry; he’s not going to bother you. I’ll take care of him. Now get out while I dress.”

  I’m sure my face fell. I’d been looking forward to another show. “What? Why? We’ve just spent the night naked together.”

  “Never you mind.” She scowled fiercely and pointed to the door. “Now, out.”

  I left with my most hangdog expression. It didn’t evoke any sympathy from my parents, so I don’t know why I hoped it would work on her. It didn’t. She closed the door, and she treated me to a last view of her smug smile. I stayed put and waited—afraid of facing my parents alone.

  I cast about for something else to think about besides my parent’s reaction, and gratefully picked up the bone I’d been chewing last night.

  Spring? What the hell am I going to do with Colette now?

  Dude, you’re screwed. Have a lot more sex with Jen, so you can at least pass on your genetics before Colette guns you down.

  Spring, Colette
will use a knife, and I’m sure Jen’s on the pill. I know you can tell.

  If it’s a daughter, will you name her Spring?

  Don’t worry about it. It’s not going to happen for a good long while.

  Yep, nine months.

  Are you telling me she’s fertile!

  From behind the door, Jen’s voice hijacked my attention. She was speaking at least half an octave higher and sounding two years younger than five minutes ago. “Hi, Mom! No, I’m fine. Sorry, I’ve been taking care of Finn and seeing old friends. It’s been really nice. I don’t know how much longer...Hi, Daddy! No, I’m fine. I’ve just been busy. No, you don’t need to come down. Really, Dad. There’s nothing wrong. I’ve just been spending time with my friends... Daddy!”

  Uh oh. My fear of Mr. Washington crested. Built like a linebacker, he’d once nearly thrown me out a seventh story window. Later, he’d decked both Doc Anderson and me as I was scouring Il Saia from Jen’s mind. To be fair, both times he thought I’d hurt his little girl...

  Maybe if I did get Jen pregnant, he might refrain from killing his grandson’s father. That is to say—me.

  When Jen finally came out in shorts and one of her own T-shirts, I’d worked myself into a tizzy.

  “Finn? What’s wrong?”

  “Jen, are you on the pill?”

  “Now you’re thinking about it?”

  “Sorry, but you kind of turned my brain to mush last night.”

  She grinned with pleasure. Her sexy smile invited me to come nibble her lips. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  I wrenched my eyes away from her lips. “So are you?”

  “On the pill?” Her eyes opened in wide innocence.

  “Yes! Stop playing with me.”

  “No.”

  Terror gripped my heart. “No?”

  “No...”

  Oh God, oh God, oh God.

  “I’ve got an implant.”

  The wave of relief left me feeling squidgy and barely able to stand. “You are so evil!”

  Hey! That’s cheating! protested Spring.

  Jen laughed, hugged me, and said, “I’m sorry, but you are so fun to tease.”

  I tried to pout, but I couldn’t. My relief made it impossible. Besides, I liked it that she liked to tease me.