**A/N: This is a non-canon pairing, if you're looking for Edward/Bella, you won't find it in this One-shot! I wrote it for my own amusement, but thought I'd post it for a few others to take a look at too. =) Enjoy & review. ~Happy New Year~ -Nie**

A Cold Fire Burns

I was lying on Edward's bed, alone, when the door slammed, and the house shook. I shot up into a sitting position, my breath caught in my throat. I heard a vicious, ear-shattering and terrifying snarl ring through the walls. I could tell by the sounds of it that it was coming from downstairs, but it sounded as if it were in the room with me. My heart pounded and raced in my chest, my pulse flew through my veins, I could hear it in my ears. There was a deep growl which had a strange tone to it, it sounded frustrated, and then I heard his voice, "DAD!" He bellowed, and in that tiny second I felt my entire body collapse with relief, I fell back against the mattress and chuckled to myself. For that one moment, I had thought something huge and horrible had entered the house of my new family. He was very huge, but he was no more horrible than I was.

"DAD?!" He bellowed again, though questioningly this time. "ESME! ANYONE?!" I got up and walked across the floor, I heard another snarl from downstairs, then his voice again, "BELLA, Thank God, I need help!" he reached the bedroom door at the same moment I opened it, he pushed his hulking frame past me into the room growling again, and shot his head back and forth looking for something. He turned around to me, "Do you have any tweezers, or something sharp? Something's stuck in my back and it's driving me crazy."

I looked at him and realized that Emmett Cullen looked every bit as much like the irritable grizzly that Edward had always said was his preferred source of prey. When I laughed Emmett looked at me thunderstruck. "How is this funny?" he asked in a very offended tone.

I worked hastily to rearrange my features into a more compassionate expression. "I'm sorry Emmett, I've just never seen you in such a state. What's stuck in your back, and why can't you get it out?"

He frowned and looked a little chagrined, "Well, it's right in the middle and I'm wide enough that I just cant reach it without risking dislocating an arm or something." He snarled slightly again and said, "I've been trying to get it out the whole way home. I came here because I figured Carlisle would be here."

I shook my head, "No, after you, Rosalie, Edward and Jasper left to go hunting, Carlisle, Esme, and Alice decided to go on a shopping trip.

"Ooo, that sounds like fun, why didn't you want to go, little sister?" Emmett said tauntingly to me.

It was no secret that I enjoyed shopping as much as I enjoyed parties for me. For both the answer was; not at all. I raised an eyebrow at him "Do you want me to help you, or would you like to keep making bad jokes at my expense?"

He rolled his eyes and shrugged, "Ok, fine." He motioned to me to come closer so I walked up to him, as I did Emmett reached down and pulled his shirt up, over his head and off. Every muscle in his large, and very well defined chest was exposed to me, as his muscles rippled, stretched and contracted. I couldn't recall having ever seen Emmett shirtless before and the breathtaking expanse before me bore no resemblance to his clothed, overgrown teddybear-ness. His chest was like two formed steel sheets of metal, strong, pale, slightly sparkling in the forest filtered light of the room. My eyes slid appreciatively down his front unintentionally and I gasped and looked gape mouthed at the incredibly defined abs spread above the line of his jeans.

Emmett heard my gasp, and he quirked an eyebrow. "Like what you see Bella?" he asked confidently, and in a teasing voice. He was just always so Emmett.

I closed my mouth and snorted a sarcastic laugh. "Yes Emmett, you're a fabulous example of vampiric architecture. Now, turn around, let's see what's stuck in your back."

Emmett wasn't ready to give up his taunts yet. He lifted his eyebrows and grinned widely. "Are you sure Bella, cause I can stand here and let you gawk at me some more if you want."

I grabbed his arm and pulled him around, if I'd done it to a human, it would have been roughly. As it was, Emmett just allowed me to turn him around, chuckling while he did it.

As he turned he lifted his arms up to clear the top of my head. I was grateful that he was turned away from me, because if he'd seen the look on my face as I saw the plexus muscles of his abdomen, and the muscles beneath his shoulder blades, the taunting would have never ended. As soon as he was entirely turned away from me though, I saw what he was referring to. In almost the exact middle of his back, in the center, just above the sharp points of his massive shoulder blades, was a dark, curved hook which could only be one thing that I could think of. "Emmett, did you by chance wrestle a bear today?"

He tilted his head down to me and raised his eyebrows sarcastically. I chuckled once, "I thought so." I walked over to the bathroom and grabbed a hand towel. The end of the claw had what looked at a slight glance to be some pulpy remains of the poor animal it had been removed from and I wasn't about to touch that with my bare hands or look at it too closely. He watched me walk back over, following my steps, his face oddly expressionless. I stepped behind him and said, "Emmett, can you get on your knees?"

He turned his face sideways grinning again, and waggled his eyebrows suggestively, chuckling deeply, "Will I be prostrating myself before your magnificence tonight?" he said. I'd never heard Emmett say anything so, Edward-like and it shocked me. I spluttered in response and he laughed roundly, the sound echoing off the walls in the small room. "Emmett!" I said sharply.

He chuckled a little more, but mostly managed to keep still. My face was very hot over his ridiculous comments, and I reached up and grasped his shoulder tightly, bracing myself for the pull, while aiming the towel at the claw in his back.. He stilled immediately and moaned. Exasperated I dropped both hands and exhaled loudly. Realizing I was annoyed Emmett turned slightly and looked back at me, again those stupid muscles across his shoulders rippled at me, drawing more of my attention than I wanted them to. "I'm sorry Bella, honestly, it's just that my back is irritated right now, and your hands are hot. It felt kind of soothing.

I was unaware my skin felt hot to them and my eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh, well, ok. Turn around then, and hold still." I commanded.

I put my hand gently onto his shoulder this time and merely gripped it. As soon as I touched his shoulder he moaned a little again and goosebumps rippled across my arms. I placed the towel over the claw, making a point of not seeing the end of the claw, and tried to pull on it. It didn't budge at all. I pushed the towel over it a little more securely and got a really good grip on the claw and tried to yank it. I felt it jerk up, but the claw was most certainly lodge in his stone skin, and it wasn't coming out without something to assist me in getting some leverage. I exhaled in annoyance and looked blindly around the room as I tried to think of something to use.

As I stood there I realized suddenly that my right hand was feeling wet. I pulled my hand away to look at it, and there was blood on it, and the towel was soaked through, when I pulled my hand away I could smell it, the blood. I gagged, and backed up. I could feel myself swaying alarmingly, and heard myself making an incoherent sound.

Emmett turned around and saw me going down and with one hand he reached back and grabbed a fist full of my buttoned blouse. He stopped my fall and then stood up and reached back with his other hand and grabbed around my back, then he released my shirt and grabbed me under my legs as my knees buckled.

"Jeez Bella, you're such a wimp." He chuckled as he moved to Edward's bed and set me down on the corner of it. I leaned against one of the iron bedposts, enjoying the feel of the cool metal against my skin. Emmett was standing in front of me, all those chest and stomach muscles lean and tensed infront of me. I kept the tilt of my head away from Emmett, because his shirtless presence honestly wasn't helping me catch my breath at all. Also, he was now standing near enough to me that I could smell him. Edward had been most assuredly correct in saying that he and his kind were perfectly designed for their lifestyle. All of them smelled, and looked incredible. I lifted my hand to cover my face, and mistakenly lifted the bloody one. Oh God, my stomach turned over and I slumped. Emmett leaned down right into my face. "Bella?" he asked.

I looked at him, "Emmett, I need a wet towel, can you get me one?" he pointed behind him at the one I'd been using to grip the claw.

"That one, or a new one?" he asked.

"NO!" I said, a little less kindly than I'd meant to, "A new one." I said in an apologetic tone.

He grinned, "Sure, hang on a sec." He disappeared through the bathroom doorway, I heard the water running and a moment later he came back with a damp washcloth, he had it held up to his nose. "Is this one yours Bella, it smells like you." It was the one I'd washed my face with that morning, which was nothing, but something about the idea of him smelling me on it embarrassed me thoroughly. I blushed deeply and held my hand out. "Yes, it is." I said curtly, jerking it from his hand as soon as he held it out to me.

I used it to wipe my hand clean of the blood and threw it across the room to land on top of the bood-stained towel. "Why doesn't that bother you like it does me, Emmett?" I asked him in an annoyed tone, nodding in the direction of the towels.

He looked at them, then back at me, "What, the blood?" he asked.

"Yeah, I mean, I know you don''t get woozy but shouldn't it have some effect on you?"

"I can still smell it, but it's not as fresh as it was. I can handle it." he said with a shrug. "Now, what about this thing in my back?" he asked, pointing indiscriminately over his shoulder with his right hand.

I took a deep breath as I started feeling better. I stood up. "I'm going to need something to help me pull that out. I don't have enough strength to budge it. Maybe there's something in the garage we can make it move with? Plyers?" I thought of how little I'd made it move, "Gardening tools?" I ventured.

Emmett did a double take at me as I started to walk by him, "I'm not a tree, Bella."

I tilted my head slightly towards his bare chest, lifted my eyebrows significantly, and snickered, "I beg to differ, Emmet."

He chuckled again as I stepped in front of him and headed out the bedroom door. We walked down to the garage, and once inside I pulled out a stool and made him sit on it. I walked around and randomly pulled drawers open looking for something I could use. I found something which looked more like something that should be used around a fireplace rather than a garage, but decided it would give me the leverage I needed. I walked over to where Emmett was waiting for me. He looked up as he heard me approaching, and his face shifted into a comic look of horror, "What the hell is that?!" He asked.

I laughed, "I have no idea, but I think they'll do the job. Of course if you're afraid, we can always wait for someone to come home." I was surprised to find he actually seemed to consider it for a moment. Emmett Cullen, scared of gardening tools? I giggled a little, and that seemed to change his attitude. He frowned, and straightened his posture into stoic resignation. "No. Do it." he said stiffly.

I walked around behind him again, and eyed the claw, the tangled shred at the end seemed to be getting darker, and it didn't smell so strongly of blood any longer. "Thank God." I whispered.

Emmett jerked his head over his shoulder, "What?" he questioned.

"Stop moving Emmett, I was just thanking the powers that the blood seems to be drying." I replied.

"Oh, yeah, it's dying." he said coldly, and I shuddered. "I said, drying."

Emmett shrugged, "Yeah, that too."

I wrapped what looked to me like two metal teeth around the claw and squeezed down until I was sure I had a good grip, then I used all my strength to pull back and down. There was a clatter and the sound of metal things against hard concrete and next thing I knew I was lying on my back looking up at Emmett who was standing in front of me shaking with laughter and making a pathetic attempt at stifling it with tight lips.

I cut my eyes at him. "Thanks, you could try helping me up instead of laughing at me." He reached an arm down to me and pulled me up. He pulled a little hard and I landed against his chest, putting my hands up before me to cushion my landing. As soon as my hands touched his skin Emmett grunted and looked into my eyes. His eyelids drooped slightly and a grin threatened the corners of his mouth.

He wrapped his hands around my wrists and held them there for a moment, "Your skin is so hot, Bella." He lifted his eyes a little wider, but his expression remained serene, otherwise. "Would you just lay them on my shoulders for a little while, it would feel," he looked up towards the sky and one eyebrow lifted, as if he was considering the right word. When he found it, he looked back down at me, "nice."

I stepped back when he released my hands, "Sure, um, I think I ought to put something over that shouldn't I? I mean, it left a hole in your skin."

"I don't need medicine Bella, my skin is like rock." He explained.

"I know that." I answered defensively. "It just doesn't seem right to leave it open to the elements that way." I added.

He chuckled for a moment again, and then shook his head and walked past me into the house. As I headed for the door back into the house after him, an oil can by the door caught my attention. Getting an idea, I hopped quickly through the door after Emmett. "Emmett, go in the kitchen and sit backwards on a chair there, I'll be down in a moment, I just need to grab something. I went upstairs and grabbed the tiny bottle of Vitamin E oil I'd bought to help a scar from one of my many graceful maneuvers heal, and then hopped back downstairs to the kitchen. I grabbed a mug out of one of the cupboards and put a cup of water in the microwave for three minutes. When it beeped, I removed a bubbling, steaming cup of hot water from inside. I grabbed the tiny bottle of oil and dropped it in. After a couple of minutes I picked the cup up and walked over to the table with it.

I set the cup of water on the table, holding the bottle in my hand. It was very warm and I thought that might work. I put it into my hands, it was almost uncomfortably warm, but after squirting it into my hand I immediately began distributing it over Emmett's back. As I rubbed my hands in every direction over his back, Emmett moaned loudly, almost embarrrassingly.

"What is that?" he asked in an almost reverential tone, and melting into a slumped posture.

I chuckled, "I'm giving your back a hot oil treatment."

"Rose does that to her hair."

"Yeah, it's for dry, dead things." I said teasingly.

"Hey! Don't think I'm above finding some way to embarrass you!" he threatened, tensing up.

"It was a joke Emmett, relax." I said in a soothing tone. I put more oil on my hands and laid them across his shoulders, causing him to moan again. I smiled and said, "Is that working well?"

Even from behind, I could see his cheeks raise up, and his eyes crinkle in the corners as he smiled. "Yes, almost too good." he said. "It's strange, my back is so warm right now, but my front's normal. The oil seems to keep the warmth a little bit. You wouldn't be able to tell, but I can."

Before I really gave it thought, my concern took over my better judgement and I heard myself asking, "Oh, do you want some on your front too?" As soon as I'd said them, I instantly regretted my words. I gasped in embarrassment and blushed strongly.

He turned to me and grinned, "Well, since you're offerring, sure." He said with far more mischievous pleasure than I thought strictly necessary.

I huffed slightly, but decided that if I was able to rub the oil across his back without any trouble, surely I could manage to rub some onto his front. I poured some out into my hand and moved around in front of him, while he helpfully straightened up. I'm sure I'd have been fine from the very first moment, if Emmett hadn't decided to give me the look he did. As I stepped around before him, Emmett grinned wickedly and raised an eyebrow again. It made me self conscious and I blushed while I rubbed the oil across his skin. His chest muscles were right in front of me, now in addition to their rippling, they were shining with the glistening oil. I rubbed the oil all over his front, down his chest, and got it across the bulging muscles of his stomach without anything more than my own private mortification at the expression he wore throughout it. I was standing in front of him, still warm cheeked with embarrassment when I looked up at him.

When I looked Emmett right in the eyes his grin dropped, and that half-lidded look returned. He unexpectedly reached up and swiped across his own chest with his right hand and rubbed the oil on his hand across the open neckline of my blouse, above the tank I wore underneath. "It doesn't make you sparkle, but it makes you shine." Emmett said in a tone I'd never heard before. He reached out with his right hand and picked up the bottle of hot oil from the cup where I'd placed it to re-warm. Holding it in his hand, he looked into my eyes again, "Can I return the favor?" he asked, that tone still in his voice."

I backed away a step from him, "What do you mean?" I asked uncertainly.

"Can I put some on your back? You should feel how nice it feels too." he said in hardly more than a whisper.

"I don't, I, no, I'm fine Emmett. I just wanted to make sure something was protecting the hole left on your back." I breathed. He stood then and I realized as they moved up with him, that my hands were still on his stomach. I started to pull them away and Emmett's hand was suddenly over them. "No, don't take them away unless you're going to turn around and let me put some of this stuff on your back too."

Emmett actually looked into my eyes. In a deep, vibrating tone that I could feel in my hands, and which made goose flesh ripple across my arms, he said, "Trust me."

I was locked in his gaze as he reached the hand that had been covering mine forward to my shirt. He undid my buttons, slowly with one hand. My heart was racing. He undid them one at a time, moving down my bodice until he'd opened the last button. The whole time we looked at each other eye to eye as the raggedness of my breathing increased. I couldn't ever remember seeing Emmett this serious before.

With one hand he dropped the oil back into the warmed water. He used the other to drag his fingers upwards; across my stomach, across the rise of my shirt, between my breasts, and trailed his fingers across my chest to my collar bone where he pushed one side of my blouse off my shoulder until it slid down to the crook of my elbow. then still trailing his fingers, he moved over to my other collar bone and pushed the blouse off my other shoulder. He dragged his hand slowly back over to the first shoulder he'd uncovered and cupped his hand over my upper arm. He rubbed his thumb back and forth across the skin of my shoulder twice before gently pulling forward and turning me around. He grasped the collar of my shirt and pulled it off my arms once I had my back to him.

He laid my blouse gently across the back of a chair. I heard the sound of a chair being moved behind me, then he moved one before me, "Sit down this way, so your back's open."

I sat down, straddled across the chair, with my back facing him as he'd asked. I heard the chair behind me move again, and felt Emmett's knees against my hips. My pulse raced and my breathing was so loud I almost felt ridiculous, until I realized I could hear Emmett's too.

A moment later his hands covered my back with the oil on them. It wasn't much, just enough to allow his hands to glide gently across my skin. He touched me softly, delicately, like he was afraid if he squeezed too hard, or used too much pressure he might break me, which I realized was probably the case.

His husky and decidedly un-brotherly voice asked, "Can I pull your straps down, so I can reach more of your back?" I was beyond speech, I answered by dropping my hands in a completely submissive way. He pulled it down much the way he had with the blouse, but this time leaving my tank top pooled around my hips. Only my powder blue lace bra impeded his access to my back now. I felt the closure snap and instead of being able to breathe easier, I suddenly could breathe at all. I heard silence from Emmett, he too, was no longer breathing either.

His hand returned to gliding across the skin of my back gently. He moved them like tiny whispers across my upper back, ribs and waist, after a few moments I felt him slide forward on his chair, I felt his legs wrapped around me from behind, I was breathing again, but so shallowly, I felt both of his hands wrap around my upper shoulders and pull me back against him. My bare skin against his made me gasp, his right hand travelled from my right shoulder to my neck, his fingers wrapped around my neck and my chin, and he turned my head and pulling cautiously, slightly he tilted my head, exposing the back of my neck I felt his lips on the joining spot between my shoulder and my neck.

The sensation of his lips was the end of any struggle for me, I couldn't control myself anymore, I pressed my back against his chest, reveling in the sensation of our skin sliding against each others, his coldness against my warm skin. His lips on my throat became more insistent and his hand fell from my throat and wrapped around my waist, while his other hand wrapped across my shoulders, and pulled me back against him. His lips moved up my neck to just below my ear, then my chin and I turned my head, his lips crushed down on mine and my lips parted, his parted and our tongues slid together.

Suddenly I was no longer straddling the chair, Emmett dragged me up and turned me so quickly its a wonder I didn't get whiplash. He pulled me against him and I could feel the oil on my skin. His hands wrapped around my back, One around the back of my neck holding my face to his, the other gripping the back of my hip and pulling me into him. Suddenly he stood up using his one hand to keep my legs wrapped around him, while I wrapped my arms around his neck, unwilling to release this new feeling. He laid me across the kitchen table. He slid me back, an easy thing to do with the oil on us..and suddenly he was on top of me on the table. He held himself cautiously above me, and there was still a certain delicacy in the way he touched me, but his hips were completely unforgiving thrusting against me, from between my legs. I lifted my hips against him and I reached my hand down and grabbed a fist full of his jeans and pulled forward against me. Emmett was at my neck again, and with my mouth released I moaned audibly. I felt Emmett's hand slide down my side as he pulled my hips against his as much as I was pulling against his. He reached between us and unbuttoned my pants, he was in the process of unzipping them when we heard someone clear their throat.

Emmett and I both froze In mid-kiss, without pulling away from each other. The only movement was the ragged and shaking breaths we were both taking, mine for necessity, his by choice. We sat that way for a solid few seconds before the voice said, "One of two things can happen here, I can join in, and mind you, the possibility does have its tempting merit, but I think might be an unwise decision at this precise moment in time. Or, you two can, well, make yourselves decent before Edward and Rosalie walk in here in a few minutes, which would be my recommendation." Somewhere in my twisted, guilty and warped mind I realized I was relieved it was Jasper who caught us. Emmett crawled backwards off me, and pulled me up with him. We both looked into Jasper's widely grinning face. He looked at my blood red face, and Emmett's mortified expression and chuckled, "Well that was interesting children, we'll have to play that game again sometime, won't we." and chuckling he turned to walk away. Emmett spoke then, "Jas-"

But Jasper cut him off with a turn, holding up his hand to stop him. He lifted his head up imperiously for a moment, then smiling and lowering his head, looked at us mischievously from beneath his brows, "I'll never tell," he said simply, and walked away. Emmett and I both ran upstairs, I showered in Edward's bathroom. When I came out, Emmett had gone out, saying he needed to finish hunting. Edward said in an off-hand, distracted way, "Oh, he said you helped him today."

"Oh, um, yeah." I said, as I turned away, and moved quickly into the closet, pretending to search for a sweater, to cover my blush.

**A/N: This was the original ending of this story, it began as a one-shot, but after multiple reviews by readers requesting I continue it, I added two more chapters. Please enjoy them & review. Thank you. **