Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, duh.

Leash Laws

Chapter 2

EPOV

My phone was ringing incessantly on the nightstand to the right of my bed yanking me prematurely out of my dream. It was vibrating—making the water glass sitting next to it tremble with ripples. I groaned and reached my hand over to pick it up. I didn't bother checking the caller I.D., figuring it was important.

"Mmm-hello?" My voice was thick with sleep and I ran my hand over my face in an attempt to wake myself up.

"Edward? You're awake?" Emmett's incredulous laughter came bursting through the other end of the line—I held the phone away from my ear. He was much too cheerful for whatever time it was. I hadn't bothered checking the clock, but it felt early.

"Why would you call me if you didn't think I was awake?" I rolled over to check the time on the digital clock on my nightstand and I nearly throttled Emmett via the telephone.

"You're much easier to wake up than—" I cut him off.

"Oh fuck, Emmett!? Six o'clock in the god-damn morning?! This had better be good or I'm having your ass on a platter."

"As flattered as I am that you want my ass…" Emmett was laughing again, fueling the fire.

"Get to the fucking point," I grumbled, pushing back the down comforter I had been comfortably dreaming in only moments ago. I knew there was no chance of me getting back to sleep now. I decided that taking a run would be my best option at this point. At least I'd be doing something decently productive before the rest of Chicago woke up.

"Alright, alright, don't get your panties in a twist, Eddie-boy! Who knew waking you up would be so much fun?" Emmett laughed again, then paused, "You're a lot mouthier than she is, but she puts up a better fight." I didn't know to whom he was referring, and frankly, I didn't care.

"Make your point or I'm hanging up the phone." I was definitely irritated now.

"God damn, Edward, calm down. I'm getting there. I was just messing with you. Jesus, you'd think I'd stuck a hot poker in your ass or something." He chuckled at the notion. I scowled. "Look, I know you're new in town and everything, and I wanted you to meet some of our friends here. What are you doing this afternoon?"

I went through a mental checklist of everything I had to do that day and sighed. Unfortunately, I had nothing. I really didn't want to spend the afternoon with a bunch of over-fed, under-paid civil servants, but I could hardly use my biased and somewhat arrogant opinion of some of Emmett's co-workers as an excuse.

"I heard you sigh, Eddie-boy! I'll come pick you up in a few hours."

"My name's Edward." I growled.



"Don't sass me, Eddie," I cringed again at the use of my childhood nickname. Emmett laughed, clearly entertained at his attempt at being witty, before continuing, "I'll come pick you up at noon."

And with that, he hung up the phone.

I pinched the bridge of my nose between my forefinger and thumb, hoping that the anger would dissipate with the added pressure. It didn't. Emmett, my mentally disabled fraternity brother and best friend had called me at six o'clock in the morning to wake me up for a gathering six hours later—with people I didn't know or care to know. Hanging out with a bunch of raunchy police officers hardly qualified itself as a decently entertaining afternoon.

Emmett was a cop, and a damn good one at that. He took his job seriously and trained hard at the academy. He was promoted to detective only a year after graduation—making him the youngest on the force. But his youth didn't impede his intelligence. He good at what he did and took pride in his work; he was a valuable asset. But my experience with the police force left much to be desired. They were over-worked, unorganized, and for the most part, woefully unobservant. This made most police officers complete liabilities in my line of work. They had procedures to follow, paperwork to file, and legal processing to be finished before my job even began. Most cops found the necessary paper work for a successful case annoying, while attorneys, like me, needed that paperwork in order to do our job appropriately.

Working with cops was a pain in the ass. Now I had to do it every day.

I mentally berated myself for taking the job as I stripped out of my pajamas and threw on a pair of shorts and my favorite Harvard hoodie. I needed to run to relieve the tension I'd worked up overnight—stressing my new job and apparently horrid boss. I'd heard only rumors about this 'Swan' character, but from what I'd ascertained, this guy was a real hard ass. After being hired to the Prosecutor's office fresh out of law school (after graduating at the top of his class, of course) he worked his way through the entire system in less than a year and a half—earning himself the position of Prosecutor in an unbelievable amount of time. It was nearly unheard of in the business.

Not only was this guy hard working, but he was ruthless. He hadn't lost a single case since taking the position a few months ago. He ran a disciplined office and outworked the opposition by networking with the bureaucrats, schmoozing with politicians, and slumming with the underworld. This guy had informants, spies, and gossip mongers on every corner. There wasn't a single incident in the greater Chicago area that he didn't know about. I hated to admit it, but Swan was good at his job, better, even, than me. I was hoping to work for a year or two under him before opening up my own practice in criminal defense. That was where the big money was at, anyways. I didn't particularly care for the idea of working side by side with hardened criminals and mobsters, but they paid for their help and they paid well. After learning about how this 'Swan' guy worked, I'd be able to work around him. It was brilliant, really.

I smiled to myself at my obvious genius before heading out the door.



I took off down the street in front of my apartment building towards what looked like a park. I hadn't familiarized myself with the area yet, so I could use this run as a starting place for my developing map. The sign I passed said 'Ellis Park.'

It was a large, wooded park with lots of benches and a great view of the Lake. There were running and biking trails, a large fountain, and a small gazebo. I only saw one other runner besides myself, and he looked like he'd seen better days. I ran for about a half hour before sitting down on one of the many benches available. There was a slight breeze, and I allowed the wind from the lake to cool off my now heated skin.

Out of my peripheral vision, I watched a woman and a very large dog approach a bench. She was, by far, the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on. She glanced around nervously, as if she could feel my gaze, before reaching down and unleashing her horse of a pet. The dog walked away from her, towards me, but watched her as he ambled forward. It was a strange thing to watch. I got the distinct impression that the dog could sense the woman's unease and was therefore hesitant to leave her. I continued to watch her as her dog approached.

I felt its wet nose on my leg before I saw it, which was an accomplishment in itself given the dog's size. I was so completely mesmerized by this brown-haired beauty. She was currently bent over the bench stretching her quads—giving me a fantastic view of her toned and tight butt. I smiled at the sight. She was unbelievably sexy. I could watch her stretch all day. I felt the dog's nose on my leg again, this time it was accompanied by a gruff bark. The noise made me jump.

I looked down, or, well, over at the large black and white mammoth that had rooted itself on my right side. It was eyeing me speculatively, as if it had caught me in the act of being a peeping tom.

"Sorry," I said to the dog, smiling sheepishly. I'm sure I even blushed a little bit at my own admission. I looked over at the woman again, who was now stretching her arms and torso.

The dog cocked its head to the side and continued to watch me.

"She's beautiful," I mused aloud. This time, the dog barked lightly. It was a deep sound, but not loud. Apparently, the dog agreed. I smiled again.

"What's your name?" I asked the dog. I laughed at that. How on earth could a dog possibly be able to answer my question? It wasn't as if it could understand a word I was saying. The dog growled at me.

I reached over tentatively, afraid of losing a hand in the dog's massive jaws, and placed my hand on the scruff of its neck, looking for identification. I was hoping to find the contact information for the goddess that was stretching just a few yards away from me, but it just wasn't my day. The only tag on the dog's designer collar simply read 'Duke.'

"Duke," I said out loud. His head snapped up and his tail began to wag. I reached down to pet him again, feeling strangely at ease, when Duke sprang to his feet and took off like a bat out of hell, growling.



I was alarmed, to say the least. The change in temperament was swift and immediate. My eyes followed Duke's racing form… straight back to the beautiful woman. Towering over her petite frame was the haggard runner I'd passed earlier that morning. He looked menacing and I watched as he leaned towards her and reached out his arm. I saw her body stiffen and her fists clench, she was preparing herself to fight the jerk. Right as her arm twitched, Duke flung himself in between the two of them, taking a protective stance in front of her. He was snarling—I'd never heard a more frightening sound. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I continued to watch the scene.

I couldn't help but focus on the face of the beautiful woman. She was enraged, clearly, and spoke quickly and vehemently to the larger man. Though he wasn't intimidated by her, he clearly was afraid of the dog. The moment he had responded to her, Duke issued another feral growl from his chest. I watched as his jowls rose over his teeth, revealing them to the stranger, and the hair on his back stood on end. I felt the sudden urge to be standing there beside him, protecting this beautiful woman, but I beat that into submission—knowing even subconsciously that Duke had this situation under control.

The man raised his arms and began to back away, but I saw that he'd muttered something under his breath as he turned to go. An emotion, I think it was amusement, flashed across her face for an instant before Duke launched himself at the stranger and latched onto his arm. I watched in horror as the man brought his fist around his torso and connected with Duke's ribs. I winced in pain as I heard Duke whine slightly and release the man's arm, with the sleeve still in hand. The man was clearly outraged as he gestured towards his now bleeding arm. I was about to step through to come to the woman's aid, but she beat me to the punch.

She stepped forward and raised her arm to hit the man but then paused, closing her eyes only momentarily as she breathed through her nose. Her nostrils flared in her irritation as the stranger yelled at her, and she opened her eyes.

Oh, holy shit her eyes. I had completely missed those before now. I was too busy staring at her ass. They were a deep brown, seemingly endless and expressive. I could get lost in those eyes…

Oh, Jesus! I just hope I'd never have to look into them when they looked like that.

To say that she was enraged would be a nearly blasphemous understatement. If looks could kill, the man standing before her would have been beaten to a pulp then dragged behind a car and driven over a cliff. I was unnerved, and I wasn't even on the receiving end.

She shrieked at the man, whose eyes widened in fear at her change in demeanor. Duke growled. The man began to back away slowly before turning on his heel and scurrying across the park. I let out a breath I'd been subconsciously holding in the stress of the situation. I watched his retreating form protectively and when he was out of sight, I allowed my eyes to trail back to the brunette.

She was on her knees with her arms wrapped around Duke, clutching to him for dear life. Whatever strength she'd used to scare away her potential attacker was gone now as her wall came down and she began to frantically check Duke over for injuries. Apparently he passed the test because she gave him a 

strained smile. Even half-hearted, the smile lit up her face. My breath caught in my throat—she was far more glorious than I could ever have imagined. Duke pressed his nose to her forehead and whined. She smiled again and spoke to him—making his tail wag happily. She tugged at the ripped sleeve Duke still held in his mouth and smiled brightly. Again, I had to check to make sure I was breathing properly. My heartbeat was erratic—but my breathing I could at least exude some sort of control over.

She stood and placed a kiss on the top of Duke's head. I shivered. She looked around her, again searching for someone, or something, but dismissed the thought at the sound of Duke's impatient bark.

I watched in awe as she sauntered sexily away, wishing that more than anything, I was in Duke's shoes.

I couldn't believe it. This woman, whoever she was, had just single-handedly made me envious of a dog.

…and now I'm going to hang out with them.

I was going to kill Emmett.

I only hoped that thoughts of the mysterious brunette would help me through my time with the guys from the force.

Hey guys! Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out. School's been pretty crazy! I've decided to tell this story from both EPOV and BPOV. I think it's going to add an additional dimension to my writing that everyone will enjoy. I'm new at EPOV so please, if you have any sort of expertise on how to express him... let me know!

I've got the rough outline of this story completely written out, so hopefully I'll be able to update sooner from now on.

As always, read and review! I love hearing what you think!

xo auteurinconnu