Compromising Positions by Selena Kitt

midwife.
    “How do they breathe?”
    “No need ’til they’re birthed.”
    He splashed her bare calves with his foot, making her laugh and nudge him with her hip. They sat very close, thigh to thigh, separated only by their plaids. Kirstin felt the press of his belt against her waist.
    “Tell me more ’bout t’first wulver,” he said, moving more comfortably against her, his arm sliding behind her. His palm was flat against the stone, but he still framed her with his body, making a little niche for her to settle into.
    “Well, some say we’re descendants of Lilith,” she told him, wondering just how many lasses Donal had brought down here. Did he do this with all the women he fancied? She didn’t like thinking about that, but she couldn’t help it. “In yer bible, she was the first woman, but she was cast out of Eden, doomed to give birth to demons.”
    Donal grunted, disapproving. “And wulvers’re the demons?”
    “Aye.” Kirstin glanced up at him, but he was looking down into the water. It was a deep spring, fresh water, crystal clear. He didn’t seem to mind how close they were, so Kirstin fit her head against his shoulder. “Men’s history is so oft different from a woman’s, ye ken?”
    “Aye, lass.” He nodded. “But what’d Lilith hafta do wit’ t’first wulver?”
    “Likely naught.” She snorted a little laugh. “Seems the masculine view of the feminine has twisted all women into demons these days. Mythology becomes history becomes reality. But the older legends... they ring truer to me. Me mother told me this, and her mother a’fore her. ’Tis the story of Ardis and Asher.”
    “Who were they?” Donal’s hand moved from the stone to her hip. Kirstin didn’t shy from his touch. Instead, she snuggled closer. Her heart was racing as fast as if she was on a hunt.
    “Ardis was a wolf who could change into a woman, but only durin’ t’full moon. She fell in love with a huntsman named Asher, who saved her from a trap near the spring.”
    “Hmm.” Donal mused. His fingers traced lightly up her arm toward her shoulder. “Why does this sound familiar?”
    Kirstin smiled at that. He had saved her from a trap, just like Asher had saved Ardis. The similarities didn’t end there, though. She looked up to see his gaze on her now. His eyes were clear blue today, no clouds, his brow smooth. A smile hovered on his lips, which were full and slightly parted and she had an incredible urge to press hers there.
    “He took one look into her eyes and knew she was meant to be his,” she whispered, feeling his hand moving over her shoulder.
    “Mm hmm...” He nodded, as if he understood this, too.
    “And Ardis took one look at him...” She bit her lip, knowing this was her confession, not just the story of Ardis and her found one. “And knew he was her true mate.”
    “Her true mate?”
    She nodded. “Wulvers only have one, their whole lives.”
    “Good.” His meaning was clear and she felt her body tremble slightly as his hand moved through her hair.
    “They would meet at night at the spring to make love in the moonlight e’ery full moon,” she said, swallowing as she felt his fingertips brush the back of her neck, the tiny hairs there already raised and sensitive. “Me mother told me that the moonspring shone a silver light for them so they could see each other, but no one else could see them or their secret meetin’ place.”
    “And this is where the silvermoon grows,” he said. “I’ve ne’er seen it anywhere else.”
    “It only grows at a wulver spring,” she replied. “They say it’s because Asher wept into their secret spring when Ardis was murdered by the witch, Morag.”
    “Ardis was murdered?” Donal blinked at that, but his fingers didn’t stop moving, stroking, petting her.
    “Aye, but their child was t’first wulver,” she told him. It wasn’t easy to continue with the story, considering how distracted she was by his body—and her own. “A lil boy with