Free Legend (A Wolf Lake Novella) by Jennifer Kohout Page B

unreadable look.
    "Are you regretting this?" Sam gestured at the space between them.
    "No." God, he wasn't entirely sure what had happened here but no, he would never regret it. "I hurt you, I'm not used to..."
    "You seem to do very well for a man not used to it."
    Nafarius rolled his eyes. "With a..."
    "If you say human, I will smack you myself," Sam felt the afterglow slipping away.
    Nafarius stepped back between her legs. Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her gently. "I rarely couple with anyone not a werewolf. With my greater strength, it is too easy to get lost in the moment and do some serious damage." As he watched, the frown lines on her face smoothed out. "Though, now that my brain is back between my ears, I realize something else."
    "What?" Sam didn't have a good feeling about where this conversation was going. Why is it men insist on talking after sex?
    Nafarius sighed at the note of suspicion. "We didn't use any protection. Werewolves don't carry disease other than the obvious..."
    "Shit, is it sexually transmitted?" Sam hadn't given that possibility a thought. Of course, she hadn't been thinking in general.
    "No, only a scratch or a bite can spread the infection," Nafarius assured her.
    "Oh." That wasn't a note of disappointment she just heard in her voice, was it?
    "...don't know how it works with humans..."  
    "What? Sorry, I missed that."
    "I said, wolves know when they are fertile but I don't know how it works with humans."
    "Oh, you don't need to worry about that."
    Nafarius felt Sam shut him out as clear as if there were a closed door standing between them. Her entire demeanor changed from open and sexually satisfied to 'don't touch me'. Still, he needed to be sure. "I know there is birth control that lasts several months, even years at a time. But you've been up here for a while now with no mention of..."
    "I can't have children," Sam said, and slipped off the boulder. Quickly, she walked around him, putting some space between them. "Old injury plus scar tissue equals no babies. So, no worries."
    Nafarius watched as Sam straightened her dress and looked everywhere but at him. He had the impression that if he were to reach out and touch her in that moment she just might break. Knowing how little she would appreciate that, he slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans and stayed put. "Okay."
    Sam nodded, grateful to let the subject drop.
    "Look, I don't know where we go from here." Nafarius was soooooo not good at this sort of thing. "I mean, that is, this doesn't change anything."
    Sam's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Are you suggesting that I fucked you in hopes that it would change your mind about letting me go home?"
    Nafarius frowned. "I hadn't thought about it like that..."
    "Then what exactly are you getting at?"
    Scrubbing at his face with his hands, he was reminded of why he avoided such entanglements. "I just meant that as far as a relationship goes..."
    "For the love of..." she started. "Why is it men always assume that if you sleep with them you expect a relationship ?"
    "Every female that I've ever been with has," he said, a little defensive. What was so wrong with having a relationship with him, he wondered.
    "That's because you're alpha," Sam said. Straightening her dress, she tried brushing out the wrinkles. Running a quick hand through her hair she hoped for the best before starting back to the den.
    Nafarius fell in step behind Sam. "You're right. Most females see sleeping with me as a opportunity to mate and become alpha. It's usually more trouble than it's worth."  
    Sam cast him a look he couldn't decipher over her shoulder. "Is that why you picked me? No chance of those pesky entanglements?"
    Nafarius' hand snaked out, grabbed Sam and spun her around. Her surprised gasp allowed him to sweep in for a kiss designed to curl her toes. "I picked you," he said, releasing her. "Because I wanted you. I didn't give much thought beyond anything else." Stepping around her, he frowned at