Chapter 1

I sighed with relief as Jasper and I exited the plane. "The pilot flew so slowly," I grumbled. "We could've run here faster than that stupid airplane."

Jasper smiled, and squeezed my hand. "Aren't we impatient," he teased. Despite the light tone he used, his eyes smoldered as they ran restlessly up and down my body. I brushed imaginary lint off of the black silk Chinese-style dress that I had designed myself.

We decided to walk to the nearby hotel, instead of trying to drive through the crowded streets of Hong Kong. Jasper put his arm around me, and I slid my hand into his back pocket. Despite our unusual pallor, we looked like a normal American tourist couple.

A sudden vision besieged me. Jasper and I on a bed, his hand slowly unzipping my dress, gliding across the skin on my back…

I blinked, bringing myself back to the present. Although my eyes were seeing what was in front of me, my mind stayed focused on the scene that the vision had portrayed.

Then another, less pleasant vision swept through my mind's eye. Jasper, sinking his teeth into the throat of a small Asian girl, feeling the warmth of her blood glide across his throat…

I shook him sharply. "Jazz!" I said urgently. He looked down at me, his eyes slightly crazed. "Think about what's going to happen at the hotel tonight," I ordered him. Although the visions of us were very distracting, I could tolerate those more than I could tolerate the visions of him drinking a human's blood, draining them dry…

I shook my head to rid it of its morbid thoughts.

We finally arrived at our hotel. The clerk greeted us with heavily accented English. "Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Hale. So good to have you here. You are in the penthouse. Would you like a bellhop to help you with that bag, sir? No? Very good. Have a pleasant evening now."

Jasper and I stood in the empty elevator. I looked suspiciously at the camera in the corner. I was pretty sure that it was aimed directly at my face. I turned away to gaze at Jazz instead.

He looked down at me and smiled. "You're very…excited," he noted. He brushed his fingers lightly against my face.

"You think?" I asked, my voice slightly higher than usual. Anticipation made my stony skin extraordinarily sensitive, and I felt his light touch to my core.

Jasper and I barely made it through the door of our hotel room. I did my best to be careful with his shirt, but in the end, it ended up in strips on the floor.

I half expected my dress to end up the same way, but then I remembered my vision.

Sure enough, Jasper stood behind me, his breath brushing against the back of my neck. He slowly unzipped my dress, brushing his hands against the small of my back.

I gasped softly, and heard him laugh lightly.

I whirled around, crushing my mouth to his. He reeled back slightly, then caught himself. I ran my hands across his back, feeling him shudder slightly.

His left hand stroked up my side, while the other pressed me closer to him. We fell onto the bed, still kissing feverishly.

And thus our third honeymoon began.

Chapter 2

We were lying next to each other the next morning, staring at each other, when a sudden vision made me gasp quietly. Jasper, massacring a group of small children, all to get to the one whose blood cried out to him, singing a siren song…

"No!" I cried out. I sat up abruptly. I felt a strange burning in my eyes. Jasper wouldn't fail. Couldn't fail. Why here? Why now?

It made no sense. Jasper had managed to be around Bella, and had only tried to attack her once. He could restrain himself then. Why not now?

Bella…I suddenly realized why. Of course. The way Bella had smelled to Edward…that was how this Asian girl would smell to Jasper. "La tua cantante," I whispered.

"What?" Jasper asked me urgently, shaking me gently. "Alice, what did you see?"

I shook my head slowly. "Nothing. Just…children dying. It could have been prevented so easily…" I kept my voice from wobbling and betraying my half-truth.

Jasper's worried eyes stayed on my face. "That doesn't seem to have much to do with singers," he noted. I winced. I had forgotten about that.

"It was a choir," I lied quickly, avoiding his eyes. I prayed he wouldn't notice.

I looked up to see his eyes still on me. I smiled. Touching my lips lightly to his, I forced myself to relax. I would not let him succumb.

I felt his reluctance to let go of the question, and trailed my lips along his jaw. "Witch," he said, laughing. I smiled again.

We had managed to keep the bed intact the last night, but I was worried that with my anxiety, it wouldn't manage another round.

His chest was already bare. I ran my hands lightly across it. Even after sixty years, his smooth, perfect muscles never ceased to amaze me. I traced my hands in light circles on his stomach.

He caught my hands and looked at me with a dangerous look in his eyes. "Don't test me," he warned. I laughed.

"Or what?" I said, batting my eyelashes. I kissed his jaw, trailing my lips down the side of his neck, straying to his collarbone. His breathing hitched. "You'll torture me mercilessly?"

He snarled lightly, teasingly. "Of course," he countered. He suddenly flipped over, trapping me underneath him. I felt every smooth contour of his body against mine. He pressed his lips to my forehead. One arm snaked around my waist, and he sat up, so that I was perched on his lap. "I have my own ways of torture," he murmured.

He ran his hand from my shoulder down my waist, pausing there slightly before continuing to slide his hand down to my thigh. I shivered, though of course I wasn't cold.

Suddenly, Jasper and I stopped. We heard quick footsteps, and a throbbing heartbeat approaching.

And then the scent hit us.

Chapter 3

The scent was mouthwatering, like vanilla and citrus, with an edge like dried pine needles and laced through with the sharp odor of mint.

Jasper's eyes were blank, his face twisted in a feral snarl as he pushed me away. I grabbed his arm. "Jasper, no!" I told him. "Jasper!"

It was no use. With a dismissive shove that nearly made me stumble Jasper moved to the door.

I knew I didn't have much time before the human girl was at our door, and her life was ended. I pounced, and landed on Jasper's back. His defensive mechanisms kicked in, and he whirled around in an attempt to throw me off. When that didn't work, he reached around and grabbed me. I allowed him to handle me roughly, knowing that his attention was now focused only on eliminating that threat.

When I was standing in front of him, his eyes still crazed, I slapped him soundly. It couldn't have hurt him, but he blinked. I helped him some more by picking him up and throwing him out onto the balcony. Luckily, the French doors leading to it were already open. He landed neatly on the railing, looking like a statue of a Greek god.

The balmy air drove the girl's scent out of Jasper's nose. He looked at me with recognition in his eyes, horrified. "Stay out there," I ordered him. He nodded.

There was a knock on the door. In a second, I had wrapped myself in a robe and unlocked the door. And then I gasped in shock.

There was a young Asian girl standing before me, though that wasn't a surprise. What was surprising was that she was shockingly, devastatingly beautiful.

She had long, silky black hair, and almond shaped hazel eyes. Her golden skin glowed, and her lips were pink and full. When she smiled politely at me, I could see that her teeth were white and even. She had a lush, curving body that my boyish figure couldn't compare to, and she was taller than me by about five inches.

"Mrs. Hale?"

I nodded.

"I have an order of flowers here for you, from your husband."

I looked, and saw that she did, indeed, have flowers with her. Blood-red roses, bright blue morning glories, and delicate baby's breath, in a crystal vase.

"Yes, thank you." My voice was cold, and I tried to moderate the chill with a smile.

From the look of fear on the girl's face, it didn't work.

"Do I need to pay you?"

She shook her head. "No, Mrs. Hale. Your husband has, of course, paid already. I hope you like them!" She scurried away, her heart beating quickly. I felt the venom in my mouth and quickly swallowed it down.

I shut the door and leaned with my back against it, still holding the vase of flowers.

Jasper was at my side in a blink, cradling my face. "Don't be jealous," he murmured. "She has nothing I want."

I swallowed the bitter taste again, knowing now that it wasn't venom, but envy.

"Except blood in her veins," I said bitterly.

Jasper kissed me softly. "Nothing," he repeated.

My voice grew constricted. "Bella and Edward…"

"What happened between Bella and Edward was a once in a millennia event. You are mine, Alice. And I am sure as hell yours." He kissed me in earnest now, showing all of his desire and love as his mouth moved with mine, our tongues intertwining.

I didn't bother to disguise my panic as I kissed him back, dropping the vase as I intertwined my fingers in his hair.

Jasper gently slid my robe off, and his hands were immediately traveling over my body, lighting small fires in their wake.

We weren't going to make it to the bed. I could see that clearly, even through the haze of desire that fogged my mind's eye. Jasper was going to make slow, tender love to me, his hands and lips everywhere, and it was going to happen right here, on the thick, luxurious carpet.

Jasper felt all of my emotions as I saw what he would do to me, and he smiled.

His hands drifted over my back, settling on my bottom, and he hauled me more fully against him, until all of me was pressed to him. I could feel his erection, and it soothed me a bit. He still wanted me, still loved me.

He swiftly undressed, and then brought me down to the floor, kissing me gently now. His lips were lazy, almost soft, and I closed my eyes. This was what mattered. Not some pretty Asian girl who smelled even more delicious that she looked. This, right now, as he entered me slowly, carefully, was what mattered..

All thoughts of caution were swiftly thrown to the wind as our desire heightened. I lifted my hips, and he ground into me, making me gasp. His long, slow strokes were a torment, and I pleaded with him with soft whimpers and moans.

"I love you, Alice," he murmured, his voice ragged as his tempo increased. "I am yours, and I love you. God, please, just tell me you know that. Nothing will ever come between us. Tell me you know that. Tell me."

I couldn't say anything, couldn't speak as he impaled me with swift, furious thrusts, making the shade on the lamp vibrate. I wrapped my legs around him, urging him deeper as his lips found mine, and he ravished my mouth with his tongue.

"Tell me," he commanded.

"I know," I gasped. "I know, Jasper, please just—"

The rest of my words were cut off as he buried himself inside me and I climaxed violently, my cries stifled against his throat.

My body was shattering, spinning out into a million pieces as lights pulsed beneath my eyelids. Distantly, I could feel Jasper shudder as he came as well.

When the last waves of ecstasy had washed over me, I stroked Jasper's hair as his head rested on my bare chest. His breathing was slow and easy, and if I hadn't known better, I would have assumed he was asleep.

"I love you," I whispered. He looked up at me, a fierce look in his eyes.

"I love you, Alice. I don't just want you, I'm not just intrigued by you. I love you. Even la tua cantante can't keep me away from you. She's okay, I suppose, but she's definitely no Bella."

I smiled, and kissed him gently. "I know," I told him.

But inside, I was still distressed. I was remembering my vision of Jasper and the children. I shuddered, and held him more tightly to me.