Jade West is, by no means, a materialistic person. She is not controlling, either. However, when Jade truly cherishes something, she is almost animalistic in her possession of it. Everyone saw how possessive she was of Beck, and she later confessed that she never loved him the way she should've. He was comfortable, he was her closest friend (except for me), and he was easy to slip into. I think she once compared him to a flannel shirt, which made me giggle. Beck had never worn flannel until he met Jade.

I am aware of one material possession that Jade West is truly possessive of—well, two, if you view them as separate items. Personally, I see them as a set, a single symbol binding two souls together. She is fiercely protective of our wedding bands.

The other thing that Jade is possessive of is me. She's never controlling, as I've said, but she is almost animalistic in her need to love me as deeply and thoroughly as she feels I deserve. She usually feels like she's shorted me—which I never understood, because I'm the short one—but Jade is dead set on making sure I know I'm the only one she can feel this deeply for. Of course, I'm aware that Jade is also very jealous, so I take every opportunity I can to reassure her.

I must confess, I am extremely surprised that Jade is not nearly as jealous over me as she was Beck. She once mumbled something about trusting me like she never did him, but between the very low volume she made the statement and the fact that she refused to zero in on my face, I'm not sure I heard her.

Really, I think Jade is just insecure. Her father spent most of her life tearing her down. I've only had the five years we've been out of high school to try to undo the eighteen years of damage he did. She would never say it, but I think she feels unworthy of having someone truly love her the way I do. I have never understood this, because my love for her is as much a mirror of her feelings for me as her feelings are a mirror of my own. We are soul mates.

"Soul mates." The term has always confused me slightly. If our souls mate, do they make soul-babies? Or does it mean that two souls just fit together, like a mated pair of socks? Is it when two souls are so deeply entwined, in love, and inseparable that the physical bodies manifest that in the form of making love? But where do these ideas leave Nirvana, the sock gnomes, and casual sex?

I don't know why, but I latched on to the term "soul mates" the first time Jade and I made love. We had both been sexually active before. It wasn't like either one of us had saved herself for marriage. Let's be realistic here. We were both teenaged girls, Jade had given her virginity to Beck, and I'm a flirt who slept with one of the guys and the only girl I dated. It still cracks me up that I, innocent little Cat, have had more sexual partners than the cold-blooded Jade West. Cat two, Jade one.

Then again, I know that Jade West is not cold-blooded. There's a whole dimension to Jade that only I seem to know. Jade proved this to me that night we plunged head-first into this ethereal level of soul mates.

We were eighteen, in love, and it was the night of our six-month anniversary. I'm not really sure how I managed to go six months without sleeping with her, but somehow, some way, it happened. She had surprised me by commandeering my house for the evening. Mom and Dad had agreed to take my brother bowling and out for pizza; I was always very happy that my parents supported our relationship. With Jade's father being the monster he is, and my brother being downright homophobic, we needed support from our family somewhere. Our friends had already been wonderful to us. Except Trina, of course, but once she realized we weren't dating each other for the attention, she came around.

Anyway, I came home bent on calling Jade and talking my way into coming over because she had not been at school that day. I later realized that Tori hadn't been at school either, but at that point, I was more concerned about the woman I called my girlfriend. She'd been sick several times that year, and I was starting to worry. Jade almost never got sick, but since she'd gone completely vegetarian, she simply had not been getting enough protein. When I walked into the kitchen, though, I froze. Jade's phone was lying on the counter, playing her special ringtone that was just for me. Tori was there, trying like a madwoman to silence the phone, Jade was nowhere to be found. When Tori finally noticed me, she blushed slightly and smiled. "Ms. Valentine, you're expected upstairs." A blush much darker than Tori's started creeping up my cheeks as I thanked her and headed toward my bedroom. I heard some hurried clanging in the kitchen, but the idea of broken dishes was less appealing than the idea of seeing my girlfriend. Curious, I placed a hand on my door knob and turned.

My breath left my body in an instant. Jade was sitting on my bed. She had taken the time to dress up slightly, but was still wearing black jeans and a nice shirt. And… wait, was her hair up? Yes, yes it was. I trust my memory on that completely, because the only other time I have seen Jade's hair up without a costume calling for it was at our wedding. I trust my memory on that more than I do its ability to remember to breathe.

I crossed the room to her rather quickly before I realized my mouth was hanging open. "I… J-Jade… What is going on here?" She smiled that Mona Lisa smile she had perfected over the years and kissed me gently.

"Dinner. Get dressed and be downstairs in five minutes? Vega doesn't have all night to be our waitress." I felt completely under dressed, over stimulated, and confused. Jade had made dinner. Jade had dressed up to have dinner with me. She had convinced Tori—by threat or charm, I never found out—to be our waitress. Wait, Jade had dressed up. To have dinner. With me.

The click of the door snapped me back to reality. I quickly located a nice dress that wouldn't outdo Jade's clothing, the earrings she had gotten me for my birthday, and my favorite necklace. I'm not gonna lie, a few minutes were spent sitting on the bed trying to calm myself down. I updated theSlap ("I have the most amazing girlfriend EVER! LOVE YOU JADE! 3") and carefully slipped on a pair of flats that were the same color as my hair. At least Jade liked—still likes, actually—my hair color.

When I got downstairs, Tori pulled my chair out for me and placed two plates of lasagna in front of us. Jade was a fantastic cook, and this was definitely her cooking. It was pretty obvious by the lack of meat. Even Tori, as well-meaning as she is, still forgets years later that Jade is a vegetarian. I caught my girlfriend's gorgeous eyes and smiled. "I love you, Jade," I stated as calmly as I could while Tori poured two glasses of champagne for us. I later found out that Jade had to bribe Trina's boyfriend to buy the alcohol for us.

Jade slipped Tori something under that table, and Tori vanished. I only caught a flash as Tor slipped it into her back pocket and grinned as I realized Jade had slipped her the remote control to the massive TV in my parents' room. So that's what Tori would be doing this evening.

"I love you too, Cat," she stated evenly and slowly, clearly trying not to let her voice betray the emotion fizzing through her veins.

Dinner was fantastic, but honestly, I don't remember eating much. We chatted idly for somewhere between forty-five minutes and an hour about anything and everything. Somewhere during the meal, she'd slipped a shoe off and started sliding her foot along the back of my leg. I had to pause midsentence on multiple occasions to let out a shivery breath and look somewhere—anywhere—other than her sharply colored eyes. This was not the first time we'd engaged in this sort of erotic play before, but this was definitely the first time I thought we might actually make love that night. I still smile back on those thoughts—I was so right, and it was so worth it, despite the awkward nervousness we both felt that night. Of course, I look at that beautiful green-eyed woman now as she sleeps beside me, and wonder how I could've ever been anything but completely trusting of her.

I distinctly remember focusing on my feet as we made our way up the staircase, but I don't remember leaving the table. Jade gave two sharp knocks on my parents' door, and we continued toward my bedroom. My hands were shaking badly as I opened the door and motioned for her to enter. She was trying to hide it, but I could see that her hands were shaking just as badly as she pulled me to her and pushed the door shut.

Jade and I have shared some sweet, loving kisses over the years. I will always acknowledge that the next kiss we shared was sweet and loving, but I cannot deny that it tasted so thick of love, lust and animalistic possession that I was almost shell-shocked on the spot. To this very day, that taste continues to steal the breath from my very lungs.

I felt my arms slide around Jade's neck as my eyes closed, and I brought our lips together; her breath was warm and soft on my cheek as she exhaled slowly. Then, ever so shyly, she brought one hand to the small of my back while the other moved slowly up my spine. Jade had no idea just how far in my spine, in my central nervous system she'd rooted herself.

I wanted more.

I tangled my fingers in Jade's hair, tugging it down in the process, and felt her breath catch in her throat. Surprised, she opened her mouth in an attempt to get air. It felt like something I would do before that, "Oh, right…" moment would set in, but I didn't care. I could feel my own tongue quiver a second before it darted inside her mouth, snaked its way over her lip, grazed over her sharp, even teeth, and found what I was searching for.

Despite most assumptions about our relationship, Jade is not the dominant kisser between the two of us. She tells me that every kiss is like our first; she feels like a shy, awkward teenager every time, and that I take her breath away. I don't mind; every kiss is just as amazing as the last. She's grown more comfortable and easy with our kisses.

I recall tracing the roof of her mouth as my fingers tangled more tightly in her hair, pinning her tongue to the bottom of her mouth as I pushed her toward my bed, nipping at the tip of her tongue gently as the backs of her knees connected with the edge of the mattress, and finally, scraping my front teeth across her bottom lip as I slowly pushed her backward, breaking the kiss. Jade West was panting. Jade West pants as often as she sweats.

I eased the beautiful woman onto the bed and felt a thrill pulse through my veins as I realized she was soon to be my lover. The quiet panting between the two of us… We had caused that. The soft but insistent need building in me—she had caused that. The soft gaze she gave me—I had caused that. Honestly, at that moment, I couldn't be any more proud… or impatient to take her.

Green met brown for a second as I stared into her eyes. She smiled shyly at me, and I cupped her cheek. "Jade, are you ready for this?" She pushed herself up on to her elbows and kissed me very lightly.

"Are you ready?" she countered in amusement.

"We both know I've been dying for this since we got together."

"Cat, make love to me."

Recalling those words still turns me on as much as it did in that first instant. I pushed her back down a little more forcefully and kissed her far more roughly than I ever had before. One of my thighs made its way between her legs, and I pushed her wrists down beside her gently before trailing my nails from the insides of her wrists up her forearms. She moaned, eliciting a shiver from me. I moved from her mouth to her jaw, and traced my tongue lazily along the slope of the bone wrapped beneath her skin. I ended near her earlobe and blew gently along the path I had just travelled, making sure my leg "slipped" a little bit between Jade's legs as I did so. She gasped loudly, and her hands shot from the sides of the beds to my shoulders. Short nails neatly painted black dug roughly into the flesh of my shoulders. I flicked my tongue over her earlobe before anchoring my mouth to her pulse point and biting as hard as I dared. The woman squirming beneath me moaned my name, and I could swear I saw her eyes roll back in her head. I thought for a second those black fingernails in my shoulders were going to break skin.

In a bold move, those black nails let go and she flipped us over. Jade sat up, straddled my hips, and her fingers went to work on the blouse she was wearing. I swatted her hands away and took over, and smiled at her "you're taking too long!" expression. I guess I hadn't realized until then that Jade had also gone without sex since we'd been together. The blouse slipped easily from her pale shoulders, and she tugged me to a sitting position beneath her. Shaking hands snaked around me and unzipped the dress I'd been wearing. The material pooled around my waist; my own fingers toyed with the hem of the black tank she'd been wearing, and she finally raised her arms so I could strip it off her. It was tossed away, somewhere in the blackness of my room. She unhooked my bra, but didn't move to pull it off just yet. I paused a moment and stared at Jade. The moon was the only light bold enough to creep in through the mostly closed blinds, and the moon bouncing off her pale skin… Just, oh my gosh.

I'm not sure how long we were like that. I had laid back down, but we spent what could've been anywhere from five minutes to five hours just letting our fingertips play over each other's skin. At some point, my bra was tossed to the floor as well. I don't know about Jade, but I dared not break the spell the sheer sensuality of the movements held. Everything was so soft, so incredibly erotic that I thought I might cry if it changed. At some point, my eyes flickered shut. After what felt like forever, Jade leaned down and kissed me. Her soft hands moved easily along my body at this point. Her left hand anchored itself to my hip, and her right hand slid up to laces itself with mine. I wrapped my own free arm around the talented, beautiful young woman on top of me. I felt her smile; "your heart is racing, Cat." I chuckled softly. I felt her pulse through our lips as well.

"So is yours, Baby." I carefully unhooked Jade's bra, and in a sudden surge of renewed arousal, rolled us over, removed the offending garment, tossed it to the side, and sat up. "I want to make it race harder," I told her as I kissed the hollow of her throat and let my fingers trail up her rib cage, then, just beneath her breasts, I dug my nails in and dragged them tortuously back down her sides. At this, Jade moaned loudly and managed to stutter out my name. "I want you to beg me to touch you where you want it," I husked, surprised at how low my voice had suddenly gotten. I dug my thumb into her hips; she bucked into me and wedged her lower lip between her teeth. I lowered myself on top of her, pressed my thumbs into her hips harder, and pushed my thigh between her legs as hard as I could. I crushed my mouth to hers, tasting love and lust, and finally, Jade recovered enough of her senses to do more than dig into my back. She pushed my dress as far down as she could; I rolled off her long enough to jerk it off and throw it aside. My shoes soon followed. I had completely forgotten they were still on my feet. Jade followed suit, shedding both her pants and shoes. I lay back down next to her, trying to keep my breath under control. Jade. In underwear.

"You're beautiful, Baby…" Just barely… There. I saw her face flush in the pale moonlight. My hand found its way to her shoulder and I tugged her on top of me, moving on to my back in the process. "I love you, Jade." She blushed darker, dropped a soft kiss and whispered "I love you too" against my lips and pinned my hands above my head with one of hers while the other trailed down my rib cage. I squirmed and whimpered, wished I was naked and she was in me already, and wondered how long this slow, tortuous game would continue tonight. She was raining kisses and small bites over my neck and chest, but avoiding both of the spots I very clearly wanted it (at least, if my body's reaction was any indication). I moaned her name and tried to tug her toward a nipple, but she broke free and pinned my hand back over my head. Her teeth met over the hollow of my throat and then she soothed it with her tongue before pulling away and blowing on it. Smart girls always learned from what their lovers did to them. Jade sat up and looked me in the eyes.

"What do you want, Cat?" A smile crept over my face as I repeated her answer from earlier.

"Jade, make love to me." She smiled and kissed me softly.

"No more words," she whispered as her hands ran down my sides, her lips ran down my chest, and oh my gosh, when did her tongue meet my nipple? I groaned quietly and let my eyes flicker shut as a delicate hand came to meet my other nipple and her hips lowered on to mine.

I seriously thought this torture was going to last forever.

Jade apparently had other ideas, though, because foreplay started to advance much more quickly. She nipped at me again and moved back to kiss me. The hand that had been working my chest over disappeared for a second and then-

Oh my GOD, when did she slide it into my underwear?

Gently, nervously, fingertips came in contact with my clit. Jade was clearly nervous, so I made sure my next groan was audible to show my appreciation. Her tension eased a little and she started stroking slowly, lightly against me. Somewhere in the back of my brain, it registered that this was her first time with a girl. I opened my legs a little more and met her sharp green eyes again. Her pierced brow shot up and she bit her lip. I never figured out what she was asking, because instinct kicked in and my hand tangled with hers and… let's just say Jade was shown (and has learned) quite well what I like.

Her fingers faltered only for a minute when I pulled her closer and almost begged her, "inside of me, please Jade," and then crushed our mouths together. I moved my hand to let her move, but she had other ideas apparently. My fingertips were promptly arrested and guided back to my clit while she made quick work of the sexy panties I'd put on for her tonight. I'm not even sure she saw them.

Jade had no need to be nervous that night, now that I think about it. She'd tentatively entered me, but I was already so lost to the pleasure and emotions sweeping around us that I already had a rhythm going from my own hand. It only took Jade a second to pick up on the rhythm and slip another finger inside me, at which I gasped and pulled her back in for another heated kiss.

I froze and sucked in a large gasp when she twisted her wrist and curled her fingers just so—I don't know where she picked that up, but my body reacted instantly. I found myself wrapping my arms and legs around her and whimpering against her skin as she kept the rhythm I'd set moving, drawing me closer and stretching me thinner until finally, I broke.

I vaguely remember calling her name and begging her to kiss me and her slamming our lips together in a rough-but-loving kiss as her tongue snaked into my mouth. Her hand stilled, but she didn't dare move it. I trembled, gasped, panted, and let the pleasure sweep through my veins like champagne bubbling through a glass. Finally, I relaxed and let Jade climb off me and lay next to me. Both of us were covered in sweat, but neither of us minded despite Jade's hatred for sweating. Nothing was said as I came down, and I don't think anything could've been said that meant as much as the silence, as much as the intimacy, as much as the love in Jade's emerald green eyes watching my every move.

I knew then that not only was I possessed with an animalistic passion, I would grow to possess her with the same animalistic passion. Jade is mine, and I am hers. We are soul mates; we are animalistic in our possession and passion for each other. This is the woman that I will spend the rest of my life with, and no one else.

As I snake my arm now around the sleeping woman I possess so thoroughly, I wouldn't have it any other way.