Only my second time writing 1st person, so hopefully, it's alright. I have no idea how an 80-something year old vampire raised in the late 1800s would talk in 1948. At least there are words, and they are understandable.

Also, first time writing for Twilight, even though I have been a fan (especially of Jalice) for years.

Title from a line in "You" by Earth Wind and Fire (A Bop).

You Led the Way

My lip curled in mild disgust as I detached my teeth from the deer's neck and pulled away. After almost a century of drinking human blood, this would never be an equivalent substitute. The flavor was just bad. I'd only faintly noticed while I was drinking because the soothing of my throat was more important, but now…

I glanced to the right and was reminded why I was subjecting myself to this less-than-satisfying diet. Alice was hunched a few feet away over her prey. The contrast between how she looked and what she was doing was so stark, it was almost laughable. Anyone would think a high-society girl had fled a tea party to run wild in the woods. She was wearing a baby-blue dress with matching pumps and crème-colored stockings.

I licked the remaining blood off my lips as I tried – and failed - to keep my gaze from following the hypnotically graceful lines of her figure. It was hard enough not to stare at her when she was paying attention to me. After another minute, she opened her eyes and sat back. She looked at me and licked her red lips. Something flared in me at the sight, and I cursed myself.

"All done?" she asked in that sweet, musical voice of hers.

I nodded and stood up. She was on her feet within the same breath. She looked down at her soiled outfit and sighed.

"Too bad we're not near town. I'll just have to make do till I can replace it. I smelt water nearby. Hopefully, this can wash out."

Over the two weeks I had known Alice, she ruined an expensive outfit whenever we hunted and then replaced it with another one stolen from a high-end specialty shop or a department store. The first time, I asked why she bothered.

"Jasper," she began, in the patient tone of a teacher, "Just because I'm a vampire doesn't mean that I have to prowl in the dark in some tattered garment that's 10 years old…No offense."

None was taken. I only laughed.

"By the way, we really need to get you some new clothes. Promise, you'll let me pick some out for you?"

"I don't need anything fancy, Alice."

"No, no, of course not; it's not your style. I just mean something new, not worn out. Your pants are so dirty, I don't think there's any hope for them anymore."

"Alright."

She had beamed at my response. She loved getting her way, and I loved giving it to her. That was how I ended up getting a new outfit as often as she did, and with a ridiculously high thread count to boot.

Alice had a point, though. Why shouldn't she enjoy nice things, like humans do? She was the most human vampire I'd ever met. She liked to go sight-seeing in the city. She regularly read the newspaper - something I only did on occasion - as well as the gossip magazines. She constantly dragged me to the picture show, though even I had to admit that they were pretty impressive. When I was a boy, I could never have imagined that such things would exist.

It wasn't just her habits that made Alice more human. It was her personality. That was what put me at ease the first time I saw her. There was no fear when she looked at me. She was just happy. Incomprehensibly so. I'd never felt that before. Every vampire I'd ever met had an indignant rage smoldering at the bottom of their mood almost constantly. I was the same way. At least, I was before I met her.

It was ironic because she had woken up completely alone, abandoned. She should've been the angriest and most savage of us all. But she had hope. She knew she had a family somewhere and that she could survive on animal blood. Her optimism was protected by the fact that she'd never known the worst of this existence. And I intended to keep it that way. As much as I wished I'd met her years ago so she could've pulled me out of the pit sooner, maybe it was fate that I had spent so long fighting. I had the skills to protect her better than anyone else.

Looking down at her, I re-affirmed my purpose. She was so small, so fragile-looking. She held out a delicate hand to me, which I took, and stared directly into my eyes. Hers were a beautiful gold, but mine were still amber. Not for the first time since we'd been together, I felt the swell of warmth in each of us that I had previously only felt in others – Peter and Charlotte and passing humans. I knew what I felt for Alice, but I didn't dare presume that the feelings coming from her meant the same thing. It was better to not get my hopes up. Just because I was the first thing she saw when she woke up didn't confirm anything. It was entirely possible that she loved me the same way she loved the Cullens.

As I was rationalizing her emotions, Alice's eyes flickered down my body and back up, and I detected a hint of desire. It wasn't the first time this had happened, but I could rationalize that as well. Vampires are slaves to the most basic animal instincts, sex included. God knows I had acted on those instincts in the past with someone I didn't care for. Wanting me or wanting sex in general didn't necessarily mean she had any particular attachment to me as a potential partner. Even as I reminded myself of this, I worked to control my own emotional response to it, careful to not accidentally leak my own feelings.

Really, I didn't understand how she could be attracted to me at all, physically or otherwise. I knew I looked terrifying because of the scars. Hell, I scared myself when I looked in the mirror. My resting expression was petulant and uninviting. I wasn't conversational, charming, funny, or pleasant. How could I possibly hope to attract someone like Alice?

She deserved someone better, someone without a list of sins long enough to land them in the lowest circle of Hell. I doubted I would ever forgive myself or even learn to live it down. Knowing what she did about my past, how could she forgive me or feel even an iota of affection? How could she look at my murderous body and want me in that way?

Alice's grip on my hand tightened, and she turned away.

"Let's go find the lake so I can clean up."

She led, and I followed loyally. I loved holding her hand. Over the past couple weeks, we had been "experimenting" with touch. I normally didn't like to be touched because most of my experiences with it had been painful. Alice didn't start touching places other my hand until our fourth day together - innocent places, like my arm, hair, or leg. Unfortunately, my body tensed every time. I kept apologizing, but she just said she understood. I hated not being to show her how much I trusted her. My body just wouldn't co-operate.

We walked for a little while before the lake she had been talking about came into view. It was large enough to swim or fish in. Releasing my hand, Alice walked up to the edge and peered in.

"Looks clean enough."

She unceremoniously grabbed the skirt of her dress and lifted it up and over her head. Needless to say, I was dumb-struck. The hem of her light peach slip hiked up for a moment, giving me a glimpse of her matching panties.

Need hit me like a wave. I fought to rein it back, but it was too little, too late. Alice froze like she did when she was having a vision. Then, desire much more intense than before pulsed from her, and I was practically senseless. My body tingled, and I clenched my fists.

"Alice is a lady. You will treat her with the proper respect and control yourself around her."

Stiffly, I sat down on the grass. I couldn't avert my eyes, though. Alice let out a sigh and finally moved again, kneeling to wash her dress in the water. Her vertebrae stood out under her slip. I imagined how they would feel under my palm.

I had never felt desire for one particular person before. With Maria, it was only about the sex. It wouldn't have mattered if it was with her or someone else. In fact, I would have preferred someone else, but I couldn't mess with the newborns because I would have to dispose of them at the end of the year.

With Alice, though, it was all about her. It was about worshipping the only beautiful thing I'd ever had in my existence. I wanted us to belong to each other. I was tired of hiding, tired of being lonely. She could break my heart; I would suffer gladly just to be with her. She could do what she wanted with me.

When Alice was done washing her dress, she stood up and carefully lay the dress out on the grass. She didn't look at me, but I sensed her smugness. The idea that she was doing this on purpose only made this whole situation more tortuously pleasurable. When she finished painstakingly adjusting the fabric, she turned back to the water.

"I think I'll take a swim," she said lightly.

"Okay," I managed.

"Are you coming?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at me.

"Do you want me to?"

"Maybe," I said.

I glimpsed a smile at the corner of her mouth before she turned her back to me again. She lifted the slip off, and to say I felt like a pervert settling in for a peep show would not be incorrect. All of her undergarments were the same peach color as the slip. She unclipped the stockings from the garter suspenders and rolled them off. For a second, I hoped she might remove the panties, which were worn over the garter belt, but she didn't. Holding one foot over the water, she stepped out and fell straight down into it.

Now that I had a moment to think, I had to ask myself, "Is she trying to kill me?" I stared helplessly at the ripples before falling back and choking back an agonized groan. My greatest wish was that she would climb out of the water and sit on top of me. I couldn't stop imagining what it would feel like to touch every inch of her naked body. There was no controlling myself anymore. Undoubtedly, anyone in the vicinity was getting enveloped in a thick cloud of lust. And that meant Alice. I would've been mortified if I wasn't so desperate.

Hurriedly getting to my feet, I set about removing my clothes. Surely, if she was being so coy, she was trying to tell me something? The least I could do was take a massive hint. I wasn't going to run the risk of disappointing her. Once I was down to my briefs, I jumped into the lake. There was no sign of her, so she was probably lurking, trying to surprise me.

Sure enough, about half-a-minute passed before something grabbed my foot and yanked hard. She wasn't strong enough to drag me under, though. She emerged in front of me a second later, grinning. Her short hair was stuck to her forehead.

"There you are!" she said brightly.

I grunted in response. She laughed and splashed me, so I splashed her back. She decided this was a good time to swim away from me as fast as possible, then pause to turn around and demand that I chase her. I obliged, of course. When she stopped fleeing, I assumed it was because she was bored with the game. I still grabbed her anyway, declaring "Gotcha!" triumphantly. She just stared up at me, and I realized I was inappropriately close to her. It was especially terrible because of the signals I had been giving off early. Promptly releasing her, I gave her a few feet of space. To my surprise, she swam closer till she could hang onto my shoulders. My skin burned under her touch, and the unspoken tension between us flared.

"Jasper," she said tenderly, rolling my name on her tongue like candy, "You'd think I wouldn't have to say this out loud to you of all people, but you like to make everything so complicated…I love you."

I stared at her for what seemed like ages. Then, my lips moved.

"I love you, too."

She smiled happily and kissed me. At first, my mind was racing, trying to process the most earth-shattering moment of my life. The fact that she was kissing me soon out-weighed those efforts, however. We slipped underwater as we stopped treading water. My arms wrapped around her slender waist, and she clung tighter to my neck. Time was suspended for that minute.

I was confused when she pulled away, but I allowed her to swim to the surface and followed. When I re-emerged, she was swimming to the bank. She crawled up and sat down with her legs drawn up to her chest.

"Still has some modesty, I see..."

"Maybe she's not ready for what you want."

It hurt because it felt like rejection, but I snapped myself out of it and sat beside her, still giving her plenty of space.

"I'm being a little ridiculous," she said, glancing shyly at me, then at the trees across the lake.

I waited patiently for her to elaborate.

"I mean…she continued, "…I've already seen us naked."

"When?" I asked incredulously.

She looked at me, and I understood. This realization was accompanied by a fresh wave of lust. Alice inhaled and averted her eyes again. Her lips parted, and they looked so kissable.

"I'm sorry," I muttered, lowering my gaze, "It's hard for me to control it right now."

She smiled faintly and shrugged.

"It's ok. I like it."

"She likes it?"

"It's strange to not know if you're a virgin," she said, taking me aback, "I know you're not."

Shame bubbled up inside me like bile, but more so anger at the fact that she was cut off from her memories. Her hand cupped my cheek.

"It's ok. I'm not upset about any of that. I don't care about our pasts. Only our future together matters. I'll never judge you, either."

"You should," I said with more bitterness than I wanted. Despite my statement, I pressed my hand over hers.

"No, I shouldn't. I only want to help. We don't have to talk about any of that until you're ready."

I was silent for a minute, and her thumb stroked my cheek comfortingly.

"Thank you, Alice," I murmured.

She leaned in and kissed me again, then nuzzled her cheek against mine.

"I love you so much," she whispered, and I felt it more than I heard it.

I let her feel my love then, everything I'd been keeping bottled up. Taking her hand, I kissed the palm and breathed in her scent, sweet and flowery. My lips drifted to her wrist.

"Jasper," she whispered, "I want to make love."

I turned my head to look in her eyes. She was sure of herself, though nervous. Tired of resisting my passion, I didn't hesitate to pull her into my lap. She gasped before her lips were covered urgently with my own. I clutched her to me, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. The soft noises she made in the back of her throat only made me more desperate. I felt like an animal in heat.

My right arm held her fast while my left hand began completing a frantic survey of her body. I found there was something about her knees that inexplicably turned me on. I couldn't seem to leave her breasts once my hand settled on them. It helped that she whined and turned her torso out once I started touching her nipples through the thin fabric of her bandeau. After feeling them pebble under my thumb, I wanted nothing else but to feel them in my mouth. Tearing my lips away from hers, I wasted no time pressing my mouth to the bandeau and licking over the nipple. She gasped my name in shock and pleasure.

I would have given it to her right then, but I reminded myself that this was, for all intents and purposes, her first time. I shouldn't be brusque with her. Still, a little taste couldn't hurt, could it? I slid my hand down her torso to her crotch. She went rigid, and a thrill of excitement and anxiety shot through her. My middle finger experimentally dragged up her center, causing her hips to squirm a little. I rubbed the inside of her thigh soothingly before taking hold of her panties and working them down. She helped me remove them and the garter belt. Now, only her top was covered. I knew she was uncomfortable with being so exposed, but she wasn't letting it show on the outside. She shuddered when I touched the apex of her legs again but held still as I prodded around her womanhood with my index finger, enjoying the way her skin felt.

"You're beautiful, Alice," I murmured.

When I pushed my finger into the entrance, she tensed again, but quickly relaxed. I went slowly, carefully monitoring her reactions. She was impossibly tight and wet, and I growled at the sensation. My impossibly hard length was pressed against her lower back with only my briefs to separate us, and the thought was driving me crazy.

Alice took the initiative to remove her bandeau. Her breasts were even cuter and more tantalizing than I imagined. Again, I couldn't keep away from her nipples. I sucked and licked at them for minutes as she slowly responded with more and more pleasure to my ministrations between her legs. Soft moans were bubbling up in her throat. Because of my gift, her pleasure only added to mine, and vice versa. One of her hands on my neck dropped to my chest, and she nudged one of my nipples. It was all I could do to not push her onto the ground and bury myself in her. The aroma of her arousal was making the venom pool in my mouth. Darting her tongue back into her own mouth, she swallowed and moaned softly before pressing her lips back to mine. I couldn't stand it anymore. I had to taste her.

I groaned as I set her down on the grass. Crawling between her legs, I lowered my head to take a deep breath at the source of the mouth-watering flavor. As soon as I did, my tongue was lapping at her thirstily. Her gasp turned into a high-pitched whimper, and I looked up at her. It was a spectacular view. She was looking back down at me, her wet lips parted. Overcome again, I closed my eyes and licked her clitoris. Her hips squirmed as she yelped my name. I hummed and pushed two fingers into her. My other hand reached down and wrapped around my length. God, it felt so good. I moaned as I stroked myself.

Her nails dug painfully into my scalp as her lips repeated my name loudly, and I chanted her name in my mind. We didn't know which feelings belonged to whom anymore, and it didn't matter. She screamed my name one last time before falling apart, and we both became senseless. She almost ripped my hair from my head. I was groaning pitifully as I rode the wave of her pleasure to my own release, hips jerking and strokes slowing to a stuttering pace as I emptied myself onto the grass.

An unparalleled satisfaction settled over us like a dense fog as we lay unmoving, panting unnecessarily. Her fingers loosened their grip on my hair, and I rested my cheek on the blanket of her pubic hair.

"Wow," she sighed dreamily.

I grinned drunkenly and slowly pulled myself up onto my elbows.

"I aim to please," I drawled.

I licked my lips, then my fingers.

"Ready?" she asked brightly, face glowing.

"For what?"

"To deflower me."

If I was a human, I would have blushed. She looked up at me expectantly till I leaned over her, then took my face in both hands and pulled me into a kiss. Her right hand snaked down my torso and brushed my length. Instantly, I was as hard as before, and I leaned further over her so she could reach it better. We moaned into each other's mouths as she touched me. The heel of her palm rubbed against the head, turning my moan into a choked growl. My hands gripped her upper arms.

"Alice," I whispered hoarsely.

We both tensed and moaned keenly when she stroked her fingers along the tip.

"Ohhh…" she groaned, "I'm ready, Jasper."

I immediately made to oblige, sitting up and pulling her hips onto my lap so that her back was still on the ground. I held her hips and looked up at her for confirmation. She nodded as she inhaled, and her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip.

Tilting my hips forward, I pressed my tip between her wet folds. The contact sent an animalistic thrill through me, and I paused to steady myself. I kept glancing at her face as I continued my push inside, and she egged me on with a look of trust, love, and desire.

I was an inch in, and Judas Priest, she was still unbelievably tight. Holding her by both hips now, I rocked my hips carefully till I felt sure enough to give her more. She spread her legs wider as I did. She arms lay to her sides, palms up, fingers twitching faintly. She closed her eyes and moaned softly. My eyes fell to her perky nipples. I reached out and rubbed one with my index finger, earning another moan.

After a few minutes, I was able to go deeper. I still wasn't all the way in, but it felt like heaven, regardless. I wanted to kiss her, so I pulled her against me and held her around her waist. We swallowed each other's moans as she bounced on my lap, trying to match time with my hips snapping up towards her. Her fingers grasped painfully at my hair again.

I swore I lost more of my sanity with every passing second. I was becoming pure lust. I was sure I could stay there, buried in Alice for eternity without even having to drink blood. All I needed to satiate myself was her. The world wasn't good enough for her, anyway. Neither was I, but at least I was what she wanted. At least I could make her happy.

She playfully bit my neck, and I growled and pistoned my hips even faster. A scream stuttered in her throat. We were so close.

The climax was almost unbearable. We clung to each other desperately as we rode it out, foreheads pressed together.

When there was nothing left but a faint ebb, Alice whispered softly, "Please, don't ever doubt this."

"Never," I whispered back.

Yes, Jasper has a thing for Alice's knees; fight me!

Comments are appreciated.