The day had been long enough. I both felt this for myself and picked it up from the exhaustion I felt from Alice. Although I knew that Alice would spend all this night and all the next with Esme if I let her.

I didn't entirely blame her. I missed my adopted mother too, and having her and the rest of my family close was a comfort I hadn't felt in a long while. But still, it had been long enough.

I knew that it would be impossible to uproot Alice from the couch. She snuggled in close to me, her head cocked around me so that she could look at Esme as she babbled excitedly about our trip, no hint of her exhaustion in her voice. The only way to steal Alice from the room would be to physically pick her up and carry her. Not an impossible task, but very undignified in light of the guests who still remained in the house.

Esme nodded intently, her gold eyes fixed on Alice's expressions as she leaned slightly forward.

I ruled out carrying her up the stairs, as she likely knew I would, although she must have sensed my impatience to be gone from the room.

My thoughts wandered slightly when an idea hit me and I couldn't entirely help my smile as I cast a sideways glance at Alice.

With no more than that look, I began to picture and plan all the things I would do with her once we were alone with no more time demands.

Immediately, I saw Alice's amber eyes slide to mine, one eyebrow cocked. Although her singsong voice never broke rhythm, I could almost taste the eagerness humming in her body. I was glad, in that moment, that Edward had long since left the house.

I continued to plan, fixating on the details until Alice was bunching the fabric of her little black cocktail dress. Her excitement, to me, was a tangible thing.

But still she lingered on the couch. The rhythm of her voice remained unbroken.

Although normally I prided myself on being more patient, I decided then that in thirty seconds I would carry her from the room - dignified or not.

Alice's hand let go of her dress to clasp my hand tightly, and her eyes dropped to glance at me. Surely, I was a sight. Alice had dressed me in my most dignified black trousers and white button-up dress shirt some weeks ago, and except for a slightly more wrinkled appearance than they had started with, the clothes were unblemished. I felt her approval mix oddly with her disapproval.

I had to chuckle.

Esme, Carlisle and nearly every other vampire in the room stared at me like I had sprouted wings. All but Alice. Alice smiled, but the smile lacked any innocence.

"It's been too long since I've heard you laugh," Carlisle said nostalgically from where he stood with Huilen.

Esme nodded her agreement.

Five seconds . . .

"Well, Jasper and I have been travelling in the same clothes for weeks," Alice said suddenly. "We're going to go change."

"Of course dear," Esme said, and I felt no resentment from her as we stood up.

I didn't need Edward's gift to know that Emmett had already guessed the real reason for our departure. I caught his wink and could not fully contain my responding smirk.

Esme embraced Alice warmly. "I'm glad to be home," Alice said. I wondered that besides Emmett, I was the only one who noticed her excitement. Or maybe Esme and the others were just too dignified to acknowledge it.

"We're glad you're home," Esme said, then she let Alice go.

Alice, still holding my hand, bounded to the bottom of the staircase then, her eyes riveted on me in a way that caused my dead limbs to tingle with life. We paused once more at the bottom of the staircase so that Alice could hug Carlisle. Then she bounded up the stairs, making a show of her impatience as I purposefully dragged my feet.

But my mind was already in our room, planning to crush her to the door and kiss her and then hike up her dress. . .

Her tinkling laugh wavered and she tugged on my hand, trying to force me faster.

It had been a long time since we had been able to share a moment together. Too long. Her eagerness was rubbing off on me. And despite my best intentions of prolonging the ascent of the stairs, I found my feet moving faster.

Her joy was impossible to withstand, and before I knew it, I was leading her, my own joy making me feel giddy and entirely undignified.

But I didn't care.

I spun as I finally hit the door of our room, grabbing her and crushing her too me, kissing her so that I couldn't tell whose ecstasy burned stronger in my body; hers or mine.

And then we swirled into the room, Alice kicking the door shut as I spun us into the centre of the room. My lips seemed to race hers, trying to fit in the most kisses before Alice's hands found the back of my head, making it so that I couldn't move my face an inch from hers. Not that I wanted to.

Her breathing deepened, as mine did. I wanted every one of my senses covered in her. I wanted to taste her, smell her, see her, touch her, hear her, and feel her. I wanted her scent as deep inside of me as I could force it. And when I had sucked her scent all the way down, my hands stroked her shoulders and the smooth, panther-like muscles of her back, working their way over every inch of her.

She shuddered under my hands, pressing her body into mine. Her longing touched me like a slow, potent alcohol, and I felt my own longing increase.

I traced my hand up the length of her front, lightly skimming her breast.

She gasped, and then her legs were wrapped around my waist, her hands cupping my face as she kissed me with a fierceness I had rarely seen in her. She didn't give my overwhelmed senses time to adjust to the power of her need, and I had trouble keeping up with her as her lips kissed mine with force that would bite through stone. Although I lacked none of her passion, my lips moved slower, and I moaned when she nipped my bottom lip.

I supported her easily as my lips moved against hers, my hands roaming their way to the hem of her dress. I stroked her muscled thighs even as I worked to lift the skirt. Her excitement filled my senses. I couldn't think. I couldn't plan. My only conscious thoughts were to keep kissing her and that simply lifting her dress wasn't enough. Not tonight. Not ever, really.

I moved on instinct alone now, and I felt her shudder as our future became blurred and uncertain for her. But her eagerness doubled.

I pressed her to me, my mouth leaving hers to kiss her collar bone, and then her shoulder.

She moaned, leaning back to give me better access and also so that her hands were free to dance down my white shirt; her skilled fingers pausing every inch to undo a button.

My kisses moved lower and her breathing stopped, her hands on my bare shoulders, preparing to swipe the shirt from my body.

I looked into her face as she looked into mine and the fire in her eyes spurred me to kiss harder, letting my teeth scrape her skin gently.

"Jazz.. . ." she gasped.

"Mmm." I chuckled, letting go of her for a second so that she could safely push the shirt completely free of me.

Then my hands were on her again, finding the zipper to her dress instantly. But I could never care for clothes as she did, and rather than have her unhook her legs from around me to let the dress slide off her I simply ripped the fabric from where the zipper ended.

"Jasper!" she whispered, horrified. But I felt her desire flare, and I couldn't find it in me to feel upset as I discarded the ruined dress on the floor, leaving her in nothing but her frilly black panties.

Alice, of course, could never bare to hurt clothes as I had, and her hands went straight to the zipper of my fancy black dress pants. Then her toes hooked the edge of both the trousers and my boxers and before I could fully articulate my moan, both were around my ankles.

"How is that fair?" I asked as I stepped out of the last of my clothes.

Alice giggled, and then her lips were on my neck. Her need pounded against me like a battering ram and I moaned, the sound entirely animal. Her lips travelled lower. My collarbone now. Her hands traced every fine line of my body, pausing on a bite-mark dangerously close to my nether regions. A mark that had not been left by any newborn vampire. Her mouth followed her hands, kissing their way over every inch as she shimmied down my body, pausing only when she reached the mark her hand still lingered over. At first she kissed it. Then she rested her teeth lightly on it, perfectly fitting in the indentation. I trembled.

She kissed the mark again. Then she tilted her head and her kisses became even more tender as she bathed that sensitive anatomy in her touch

"Alice!" I gasped.

"What?" she asked sweetly, and I heard the tease in her voice. She winked at me.

A low fire began to build inside of me. It seemed I could taste her desire on my tongue even with her kneeling before me.

The fire grew hotter. Licks joined the kisses. And then her hands became a part of the tingling, burning sensations, working perfectly in sync with her mouth.

The fire peaked at the same moment that I sensed the subtle shift in her mood. A playfulness invading the desire even as that desire intensified yet again. My hands, having already found their way to her shoulders, tightened.

And then Alice was on her feet, giggling as her lips crushed mine.

"You little devil!" I laughed, the fire's blaze making it hard for me to remain standing.

The vibration of her giggles shot straight down my throat, tingling in interesting ways.

I had to force my hands to loosen their grip on her shoulders, and when I did my hands immediately began pacing her body. Going to the soft, fragile fabric of her panties and tweaking it before marching back up to her soft, enticing breast, then back to the frills. My hands were undecided. Prolong the current moment, or move onto the next? A hard choice even for a vampire with eternity to recreate such moments.

My hands had made a fourth trip to her panties and were about to leave again when Alice growled, low and menacing.

My hand froze, stroking the frills. Her impatience was a beautiful thing as she trembled, her hands idling on my manhood.

I decided to make another trip to her breast, but even before I could begin the move she snarled against my mouth, her amber eyes boring into mine.

I chuckled against her lips helplessly. Then I grasped the fragile fabric in both hands and gave a sharp tug. The sound of the tearing fabric filled the silence for only a moment before Alice moaned and pressed against me, her hands leaving my manhood to wrap around my neck.

I knew I couldn't draw this out much longer. The fire was consuming my will, her longing adding it's own element that made it all I could do to grab her by her tightly muscled thighs and hoist her up. But I did manage to poise her for a moment above me, my tip pressing against her but not entering.

I chuckled darkly as Alice moaned. I pictured sliding into her, planning to draw it out if it killed me to do it. If only to make her beg in that silent, intoxicating way of hers.

Again, she moaned. Her hungry lips on mine, moving greedily fast. The next change of her mood made me sway in the rush of impatience, ecstasy and need.

"Don't wait," she pleaded, her voice almost a whisper.

How could I resist?

As gently as I could, I lowered her onto me, chuckling as she squirmed, trying to hurry her descent.

And when I was completely in she squealed despite the fact she was biting her lower lip. The sound rocked the house, causing the building to tingle like a massive chandelier.

The inferno inside me burned hotter and I struggled not to let it consume me. But then she began her slow grind against me and it was me biting my lip despite my softer, more animal cry. At least I only shook the upper floor.

Her tinkling laugh filled my ears. She moved deliberately slower, giving me a taste of my own medicine. I squirmed for a moment.

But she couldn't hide her own impatience from me. It outlined her ecstasy like a highlighter.

I grinned then, and before she could complete another slow grind I had pressed her against the wall. And though she surely tried not to, her cry as I pierced her deeper than before rattled the house.

I withdrew just as quickly, and she sucked in a breath. But then I was thrusting deep again, my lips on her throat, nibbling gently, in contrast to the power with which I thrust inside her.

Her passion flooded my senses completely. I could hardly think past the next quick, powerful thrust and recover. Thrust and recover.

The pictures on the wall swayed perilously as I pounded home again and again.

She moaned, her hands pulling my lips from her neck so that she could kiss me back.

"Now," she whispered fiercely, "Right now!"

I growled as my body responded to both her words and the stronger, silent shriek of her need. Her legs wound around my waist and pulled me tighter to her as the fire slashed through me like a whip, travelling from my body into hers.

She stiffened and her mouth gaped as I pounded her one last time against the wall and held her there.

The fire dissipated, leaving me perfectly still, bathing in the afterglow of her happiness.

I bowed my head, relishing the warmth and sighing softly as I closed my eyes.

I felt her lips then above my eye, kissing them tenderly. I sighed again.

The fire could have easily started again, and I would not have complained if it did, but it was this moment that I lived for. Her lips resting lightly on my forehead, my eyes closed as I breathed her scent.

I could feel the smile as Alice brought her hands to rest gently on the back of my head.

"I missed this," she said, and the loudness of her voice startled me just a bit.

My eyes instantly focused on hers. "Which part of this?" I asked, although I was sure I knew the answer. It was the same for me.

"Just us," she said, "No deadlines."

"No visions of impending doom," I added and her answering grimace acknowledged that.

"No depressed minds to weigh down your heart," she said, and I gave her that one with a laugh.

"No kid brothers spying on your thoughts," I said.

Alice grinned then. "That never bothered me."

"No?"

"If he can't keep his mind out of mine, that's his problem," she said. "Besides, it sets a good example. Maybe he'll get a few pointers."

I chuckled.

Then Alice, her legs still wrapped around me, leaned her head against my shoulder.

Naturally, my arms wove gently around her and I pressed my lips to her neck. The peace from her soul filled me with ease. I sighed as I tried to recall the last time I had felt such peace from her. Even with my perfect memory, it took a moment to recall.

We had been running for so long, the visions always such a heavy burden. And while I had done my best to quell her fears and suppress her anxieties, the forced calm was simply not the same as these moments of perfect happiness. Of perfect peace.

Not for the first time, I was grateful she was in my arms. My Alice.

"I love you," she said softly, and I murmured a soft sound of agreement.

I could never say the words back to her. Not because they weren't true - they were - but because to say them seemed to demean the feeling that accompanied the words.

Instead, I let my love for her flood my soul and then pushed it gently into hers.

Her breath came out a whisper, and she buried her face into the crook of my neck.

After a long time of simply standing there, I broke the silence. "We should rejoin our family," I said.

"We should," she agreed, but I felt her stab of disappointment and I quickly amended my words.

"But not yet."

Very slowly, I carried her to the luxurious velvet couch. I set her down as gently as I could, handling her as if she were glass instead of a stone-skinned vampire. Then I took a moment to admire her. Pale skin, erratically spiked hair - now messy from our endeavours - smooth, flowing curves; she was my personal Venus.

She stared up at me with her wide innocent eyes, unmistakable admiration in her gaze. How she had ever found it in her to love a creature so volatile as me was beyond my vast comprehension.

And then I could no longer simply admire her. I climbed onto the couch with her, wrapping her in my arms and holding her close. Our bliss bundling us like a thick, invisible blanket.

"Let them wait," she said.

I agreed completely. "Let them wait forever."