Disclaimer – This is Stephenie Meyer's universe. I'm just playing in her world for a long bit. Any names and characters not found in Stephenie Meyer's books are definitely mine or my wonderful beta and good friend Liljenrock's creations.

Don't forget to check out our other stories written in this same universe. My own stories of Jake and Embry, as well as Liljenrocks''Love You for Always' – all about Dr Sexy Seth, 'A Love that Defies All Logic' – all about the delicious Scar and 'Love You Madly' – all about Quil and Claire's married life. So you'll see her characters making an appearance in my stories and my characters appearing in hers. We plan to write about a few more wolves, maybe more original ones (Scott for sure, Gator maybe, Jen definitely needs to write Ashley..) to move the time line along until the pups in Griffin's batch are all old enough for some romance. So yes, I'm writing Griffin and Bodhi, but not now. They're still little boys.. let them grow up a little.

Hey, I heard there was an earthquake in the USA? Washington area? I hope everyone's okay! My thoughts and prayers are for all of you.

The Colors of My Life

Chapter 2: Pompeii Purple

Rachel

I smiled to myself as I listened to Paul and Keegan talking in the bedroom while I went through my closet, setting aside a pile of clothes for Goodwill.

My little baby Logan was a two-month old now and I was happy to say I was almost getting my old body back, thanks to the gallon load of cocoa butter I had slathered on myself throughout my pregnancy, and after having the baby, a private trainer named Jorge who my husband hated, and a lovely Indonesian post-natal massage package at my favorite spa. And I was happy to say, I had no need for my vast array of maternity clothes anymore, hence the spring cleaning of my closet.

"Daddy? Why can't baby talk to me yet?"

"Coz he doesn't know how to talk yet."

"If he doesn't know how to talk, then how will he learn?"

"The same way you learned."

"But Daddy, how did I learn?"

"It wasn't that long ago, Kee-man. Have you forgotten how already?"

I snorted to myself. Paul always resorted to some sort of a nonsense answer when he gets stuck at answering Keegan's daily thousand and one questions. I peeked out of the walk-in-closet to look at my group of men. Paul lay barefoot on our king-sized bed in a pair of grey sweatpants and a red t-shirt. Propped up on a pile of pillows, he had his legs crossed at the ankles and Logan sound asleep on his chest. Paul actually preferred sleeping in the buff but since Keegan learnt to walk, he started wearing shorts to bed. But lately, Keegan wants to emulate Paul so much, that Paul's pretend dressing for bed was the only way to get Keegan into his jammies. The brat in question lay beside his father, dressed very similarly and lying in the exact same position, legs cross at the ankles and his stuffed octopus on his chest. I couldn't resist talking a couple of steps into the room and snapping a picture on my phone. This one was for my private collection.

"Hey you," Paul called out to me lazily. "What you doing?"

"I'm gathering all my maternity clothes to give away, since this factory is now closed," I said, patting my still slightly rounded tummy. I was giving myself ten more days to get it flat again.

"Right, because you used the same maternity clothes for both your pregnancies, didn't you?" Paul asked dryly.

I marched up to him and twisted his big toe, causing him to yelp softly although I knew that no way had that hurt him even a tiny bit. Keegan giggled.

"What's so funny, Mister?" I asked as I crawled into bed to lie beside him and tickle him lightly.

"Mommy, stop!" He laughed and I had to hush him down before he woke his brother up.

I loved days like this, especially Sundays when we didn't have to work and our live-in nanny had the day off. Sometimes we would take Keegan out, but since the last stages of my pregnancy and Logan's subsequent birth, we've been having family time like this at home.

I cuddled my eldest son close as I watched the boring documentary that Paul and Keegan were watching on TV for a little while. I knew Paul's modus operandi. This was how he got Keegan bored enough to fall asleep. My husband was such a manipulator, although today it looked like it was Paul who was on the brink of sleep.

"Daddy?"

I grinned as Paul grunted. Our little monster was gearing up for another round of questions. Watching Paul with Keegan is right up there with my top ten favorite things in the world. He is just so great with him.

"Do I really have to go to school?"

"Yeah," Paul mumbled. Keegan went to nursery school and he was not happy about it.

"But why, Daddy?"

"Because it's a must."

"But I already know all my ABCs," Keegan whined.

"Yeah, but do you know what the square root of four million three hundred and sixty five is?"

"No," said Keegan in a soft voice and I couldn't resist leaning up to look at Paul and whisper under my breath, "Do you, Winters?" I knew he could hear me. It was satisfying to watch him narrow his eyes at me.

Then I guess he noticed Keegan's glum face and my grin got wider. As big and frightening my gorgeous hunk of a husband usually is, he always melts when something upsets our little boy and I loved watching him deal with that. "Hey," he murmured softly as he nudged him with his shoulder. "You wanna be wolf when you grow up, right? How're you going to go to college and graduate if you don't go to school?"

"What does going to school have to do with being wolf?" I just had to ask. He gave me an exasperated look before he turned back to Keegan.

"Didn't you know, Rach?" Paul asked seriously, but I could see that rascal look in his eyes. "Whenever we're wolf, we have to do all these complex calculations and measurements in our heads as we're protecting the people. It's not easy being wolf. And going to school helps us to become stronger and smarter wolves. That's why you're just a scientist. Otherwise you could have been as smart as me."

I reached out to pinch him as Keegan was suddenly close to wailing. "But Daddy, it's not fair!"

"What's not fair?"

My phone rang just then and I glanced at the caller ID before rolling to my feet.

"Griffin gets to go to school with Liam and Hawke but I have to go to school all alone!"

"But you have other friends in school."

"But they're not wolf!"

I wanted to stay and help Paul deal with that, but I had to take this call. I hurried into the walk-in closet for some semblance of privacy. I knew just how sharp Paul's wolf hearing was.

"Hey?" I said softly, acutely conscious of Paul on the other side of the wall.

"Hey," I clenched my eyes shut at the sound of the voice on the other side. "Is it a bad time to call?"

"No, no. It's okay. I can talk," I whispered.

It was my sister, my twin Rebecca. She calls me now and then, and we talk until her phone card runs out. She gets this privilege based on good behavior and once every two or three months, I drive my father all the way to the Women's Prison in Gig Harbor to visit her. But usually when we talk, I'd be in my office at work. I was home now on maternity leave and well, I can't give up on my sister just because my husband hates her.

"Did you have the baby?" she asked.

"Yes. Oh Becca, I wish you could see him. He's so perfect," I smiled. She was having one of her good days and I missed her. This Rebecca, it was almost like having my old sister back.

I could hear the smile in her voice too. "Was it a long labor? Who does he look like?"

"Eight and a half hours. It felt really long," I laughed. "I think he looks like his Daddy and brother, but Paul says there's something about his expressions that reminds him of me."

"I wish I could see him. Did you name him Logan like you wanted?" she asked wistfully.

"Yes, oh Becca, you would love him. I sent you pictures. When he yawns he sort of clenches his eyes shut tight before he opens his mouth. I can just spend hours watching him." Truth be known, I could spend hours talking about my boys too.

"Jake used to do that. Do you remember? When he used to yawn as a baby?"

I couldn't remember. She was always the more maternal one between the two of us. She was the one who was always ready and willing to help our mother around the house, and with Jacob when he had been a baby. I'd just wanted to be left alone with my books. I was ambitious and studious from the start.

But here we were today, Rebecca in jail on kidnapping charges and me, happily married with two children. It was like all my ambitions came true for me, along with some of hers. And the guilt was killing me like it always does. If I hadn't left the reservation after my mother died, if I hadn't abandoned Rebecca the way I had, she wouldn't have tried to find happiness in Hawaii with that cheating snake, and she wouldn't have turned out like she did.

I remembered a time when we were little girls, my Mom had been calling us to come in and Rebecca and I were reluctant to leave our cozy little tent in the back yard where we had been pretend camping with Jake.

"Oh look!" Rebecca had cried out. "A shooting star! Quick! Make a wish."

Five-year old Jacob hadn't understood her, but he watched me as I quickly made my wish. "Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight. I wish Momma would take us to the library tomorrow."

We then helped Jacob through his wish because he couldn't get the words right. He wished he could run faster than his little friends in day-care so that no one could catch him when they played tag.

Rebecca had sighed impatiently then. "That was a real life falling star and that's what you wished for? You're supposed to wish for something greater," she huffed in her usual bossy way. "It's ok. I'll make it better." She turned to look up at the sky where the falling star had long disappeared. "Star light, star bright, the first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight. I wish we had fairy tale lives and live happily ever after and we have lots of money and marry handsome princes and live in a castle. Oh, Jacob has to marry a beautiful princess. Please, please, please let this wish come true."

I still remember that night. I remember how upset Jake had gotten over the idea of marrying that he had pouted for the rest of the night. I could remember the chill in the air and the smell of the pot roast wafting out of the house as my mother hummed softly indoors. And another tear fell at the thought of the past, of what we had been, of what we had and lost.

"Becca," I whispered on a hitched breath. She had been the best sister, my sister, my twin, Jake's second mom. Never in my life would I have expected my sweet sister to turn out the way she had. Guilt, it was because of me. Me.

"How is Keegan handling the new baby? Is he jealous of his brother?"

"No," I said in a thick voice. "He's thrilled to be a big brother just like Griffin is. He just gets impatient that the baby isn't able to play with him yet."

"Does Keegan ask about me? Does he know me?"

"Becca," I whispered sadly. I could do nothing to stop the tears running down my face. She asks this every time, even when she knows that I'd chosen not to tell my little boy that he has an aunt in prison. That's not how I want him to remember his family. And just me holding on to her like I do, causes enough rifts between my husband and me for me to involve our children as well. And like I expected it to, her mood swung.

"Your husband doesn't allow it, does he?" she sighed bitterly. "How about Griffin? And Jake's second baby? What was his name again?"

"Bodhi."

"Yes, such a stupid name. It must have been her idea. I'm sure his boys are growing up thinking you're their only aunt. Just the way she wants it."

"Becca, please don't do this. Not today. Please?"

When she does this to me when I'm at work, in my office, for some reason I'm able to handle it better, I get to keep the tears at bay. There's always this Jekyll and Hyde sort of mood swings that she has, and I deal with when it comes to her. Maybe it's because of the boss mantel I wear in the lab and I become this no-nonsense Dr. Winters. But here, at home, I'm Mom and wife and I'm not the bitch I try to be at work and it always feels like a hundred sharp knives piercing through my heart when I have my defensive walls down. It hurts. It really does.

"It's okay, Rachel. I know you're friends with her. But I never expected her influence over you to be so strong," she was the mocking Rebecca now. The Rebecca she wouldn't have become if I hadn't left her to runaway, even if my running away was in pursuit of academia.

"Stop it. You know it's Jacob who's written you out. Not Nessie. It was never Nessie."

"You're still so blind, Rachel. You were always like this. Always seeing only the good in others. Men are weak willed and easily controlled with sex. Jake's just a puppet, her puppet and I just don't understand why I'm the only one who sees that. Think, Rachel, think! I practically raised Jake after Momma died and you left us. Would he really turn his back on me?"

"You had his son kidnapped, Rebecca! How can you expect forgiveness from him for that? After what you did to your own brother?" I hissed.

"They never would have hurt him. Do you think I would have let them hurt my own nephew?" That was always her reasoning, her defense.

I clenched my eyes shut. This is my sister. This person, who with a willing group of cohorts kidnapped our own brother's son and held him for ransom. This person is my twin sister.

"If it had been Keegan, I would have died that day, Becca."

She scoffed. "I wouldn't have done that to you, Rachel."

"But you could do it to Jacob? Our brother!"

"I told you, the boy wouldn't have been hurt!"

"I have to go, Rebecca." Sometimes I want to listen to Paul and have nothing to do with her.

"Oh no! Please Rachel. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, sweetie. I swore I wouldn't bring them up and I did. Please. Just talk to me? I'm so lonely and I miss you so much. I wish I could see your baby. Tell me about the baby."

I felt myself giving in. And we talked for a few minutes more like we used to as girls, when we shared each others secrets and dreams.

I remembered the day when someone had knocked on my dorm room door and told me I had a call. I'd made my way to the row of phones to take Rebecca's call.

"Rachel? Rachel, guess what?"

"Becca? What is it?"

"I'm getting married!"

"What?"

"I met a guy, he's a surfer and we're getting married and I'm going to Hawaii," she had gushed.

"Who is he? How come you've never told me about him?"

"We just met, sweetie. And he's swept me off my feet."

I laughed. Typical Rebecca. She gets these fanciful highs when she meets someone new. "Who is he? Tell me about him."

"His name is Alika, he's a professional surfer and you've seen that commercial for Sunscreen right? The one where the surfer goes through the tube and then comes out of the water and says he doesn't need to re-apply his Sunscreen? That's him!"

I squealed along with her. "He's cute, Becca. When's the wedding? Tell me, tell me, I want all the details."

She hesitated, then, "I'll call you soon, Rach. We have a flight to catch now. I'm going to Hawaii with Alika."

"What? Now? Becca? What?"

"Dad doesn't know. I–I left a note. I have to do this, Rachel. There are always girls around Alika. I don't want him to change his mind. And–and Dad doesn't like him."

"Rebecca, Dad doesn't like him and you're doing this? Don't. Please, honey. That's a really stupid reason to rush into marriage."

"I have to do this!" she hissed. "This is my fairy tale coming true. He is rich Rebecca. I'll get to have a good life with him, I'll get to have nice things. Be happy for me. Please."

"Becca, you can't leave Dad and Jake like this –"

"Why were they automatically my problem? You left, Rachel. You left and conveniently left them to me. Well, it's my turn now. I'm doing this."

I had been taken aback. I left for college. I had worked really hard for my scholarship but the bottom line was, I had left, leaving my wheelchair bound father and young brother, knowing that Rebecca was more than capable of caring for them. It should have been my responsibility too, but I had failed them all with my selfishness.

But how do I condone this? Rebecca was always on the lookout for her Prince Charming, causing her to make a few mistakes along the way, mistakes that we were always careful to hide from our father.

"Rachel," she had pleaded then. "Rachel, please. Be happy for me. I need to do this."

I nodded before clearing my throat. "Congrats, Becca. I'm sure you'll be a beautiful bride. I wish I could be there with you."

I heard her say something to someone before she spoke to me again. "Rach, they're calling our flight. My first plane ride. I'll miss you, sweetie. I wish you could be here with me too."

"Bye, Becca. You tell your Alika that if he makes you cry, you have a scary sister who's more than capable of kicking his ass." It occurred to me that she did not say anything about love, of loving her surfer. Oh, Becca.

She had laughed. "Find someone fast, Rachel. You deserve this happiness too. Now I really have to go. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye, Rebecca."

I never saw that sister I said bye to again. "Do you remember when we promised each other when we were little girls that we will have babies at the same time so our kids can be best friends?"

Yes, I remembered. We had repeated that promise over and over when we were growing up. I never kept that promise. Choosing instead to wait for Nessie to get pregnant first, having gotten Paul to agree with my plans that our children and Jake's children would be born in the same year, so the cousins can be close. How easily I had taken the plans I made with one sibling and used it with another.

"Rebecca, I was thirty-five when I had Keegan. My clock was ticking," guilt consumed me for yet another injustice I did to my sister.

"It's okay. Don't feel bad. I'm sure if I had a young husband, I would do everything in my powers to keep him tied to me too. And what better way to tie a man than with a child."

I should have known her decent mood wouldn't have lasted. And although Paul was four years younger than me, I stopped reflecting on it or even feeling the age difference once I truly fell in love with him. He was literally my other half from the start, my missing half. Everything I was, he enhanced, every plan and ambition I had, he made it worth achieving. And if I was truly honest with myself, he was the level headed one in our relationship. I kept his quick temper in check and made elaborate plans for our future, while he moderates my impulsive compulsions, my flights of escapism, my frequent guilt trips and actually takes the necessary steps to bring my plans to fruition.

"Do you ever think, that maybe if I hadn't left with Alika, I would have snagged Paul? He might have chosen me had he seen me first, we're identical after all."

"Paul loves me," I whispered. I knew she was stringing me along and yet knowingly, I let her. The guilt I feel always makes me let her take a few stabs at me. Besides, Paul more than loves me. Paul imprinted on me. But she has no way of knowing that, and that secret should always be kept from her.

"Does he? Don't forget how he came on to me!"

And that was my limit. "Rebecca, I've been holding my tongue as much as I could. And I know I'm ten kinds of a fool for forgiving you for everything that you did over and over. But bring that up one more time and I swear I'll–I'll…"

She started crying. "Why won't you believe me? Why?"

"I'm hanging up now," I said, and I did.

I would never forget that horrible time in our lives. How Rebecca had hinted constantly that Paul had been making passes at her. We were living in Forks back then. I was still the Resident Pathologist in the Hospital at Forks and Shipo was just coming up, I was continuing my studies part time too. Paul worked hard, he's always worked hard, and after that he would patrol. And it was a time of struggling for us, having taken a second mortgage on the small house we owned back then for Paul to put his share into the business. Shipo hadn't been an overnight success and I was so immensely proud of my brother and my husband with how they persevered to build something of themselves.

It was during this hectic time of our lives that Rebecca had planted a tiny seed of doubt and I was the fool who let that doubt take root. Because I started noticing the way she would brush up against Paul, always touching his arm or his back when she talks to him. I also noticed how careful Paul would be to put space between him and Rebecca, how he would deliberately snub her. And I had thought that maybe that was his smoke screen and just maybe, maybe they were having an affair.

And when Paul had tried to talk to me about it, I thought he was trying to cover his tracks. And that had blown up into a full argument and I'd turned accuser.

"You're screwing her, aren't you? You're screwing my own sister!"

"Your sister is a fucking skank and I wouldn't touch her with a ten foot pole!" Paul had thundered at me. "Fucking hell, Rachel! I love you! I would never do that to you!"

"Don't lie to me, Paul! If it's over between us, just tell me. We're not tied down with children, we can end this right now and walk away easily."

He had grabbed me by my upper arms, lifting me up to bring me to his eye-level and a part of me had been frightened that maybe I had pushed him too far.

"You know when it'll be over between us?" He had whispered in a dangerous voice and all of a sudden, while he was still Paul the man, I could see the wolf. It was the wolf in him that was talking and I was scared. What if he hurts me like Sam hurt Emily? He was already bruising me where his hands squeezed me so tight. "It will be over when a fucking leech tears my heart out of my chest. Until then, you belong to me. And I belong to you. Do you understand me, Rachel Winters?"

I could only nod, the ability to form words having left me. "Mine!" he had roared before shoving me on to the couch and walking out of the house. To date, that was the roughest he has ever treated me when angry. I had run after him, contrite over my own behavior but he had pushed me back into the house.

"Rach, gonna phase. Stay inside, please."

The please did it. I obeyed.

Two days later, I had come home early knowing that Paul had pulled an all-nighter patrol and was catching up on sleep. Things were still a little awkward between us and I wanted to make it up to him with dinner and hopefully some loving. Although I do shoot my mouth off, I really didn't want things to be over between us. I would fight for my marriage, I would fight for my husband. I love him too much. Little did I expect, when I threw the door open, to find a furious Paul, strangling a naked Rebecca.

"Paul! Paul, stop! Let her go!" I screamed, dropping everything in my arms to run to them. My hands on him pulled him from the furious rage he was in and he let her go abruptly. Then he started trembling as he stared at his hands in horror. I didn't realize that I had been crying.

"What happened? Oh my God, Rebecca, are you alright? Paul, what happened?"

"He—He raped me, Rachel," Rebecca started crying between bouts of coughing. "He raped me, he raped me. Your husband raped me!"

Paul had started shaking so badly, more than before, that his form was beginning to blur. "Go, Paul, go on, get out of here," I urged. I knew he phased easily when he was angry and I knew of the dangers of being too close to the pack when they're angry enough to phase.

He ran out and once he left the house, it was easy enough to shoot down every accusation she had made. I was a qualified pathologist and I was doing a second major in forensics. There was no way I was going to believe that my husband had raped her when there was not a shred of evidence to prove it.

But there was no denying that he was trying to kill her. Had I walked in two minutes later, perhaps I would be thinking of ways to hide her body. It was frightening, the kind of thoughts I was resorting to. But right now, with her cries of rape, things just went beyond physical evidence for me. Something deep inside me, you could call it instinct, but somehow it was stronger than instinct, and it told me that no, Paul wouldn't have touched her, he wouldn't have touched anyone. He's been devoted to me since the day we met. Honesty and faithfulness was something deeply ingrained in him. In a way, that had been one of the things that had attracted me to him. And it was all just so crystal clear to me suddenly.

Threatening her to silence and kicking her out of my house happened easily enough, but finding Paul after that was not as easy. I had to get Jake involved and of all things to be freaking out about, Paul had been more upset about how he had almost killed Rebecca. For a big man who turned into a giant wolf, a man who fought and killed vampires, he was certainly shaken over having almost lost control and killing a human. It never occurred to him that I could have believed my sister over him. That only made me love him more.

He'd told both Jake and me that he had been sound asleep when she had crawled naked into our bed. He had thought she was me for a moment but nothing had happened. He had realized early and his temper had just exploded.

I didn't want my father to know of this and both my husband and brother had reluctantly agreed. I felt that news of this sort, knowledge that Rebecca would stoop to that level would kill my father. But from that day forward, Paul had become overly critical of Rebecca. He had a problem with everything she did. He didn't want her in our house, he didn't want to go anywhere where she might be. I gave in to almost all his demands except the ones of writing her completely out of my life, and family gatherings at my father's. And I loved him even more when he would place himself in the line of danger, between my sister who he hates and my brother who he considers his brother too. Every time Jake loses control, it is Paul who plays the buffer and holds him back. Paul, my Paul. Just because he knows how devastated I'd be if anything happened to my brother or my sister. And I just needed him suddenly, Paul. He makes everything better not just for our little boys, but for me as well.

I stumbled clumsily into the bedroom and found that Paul had already taken our sleeping boys into their rooms and he sat waiting for me by the side of the bed, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. We stared at each other for a moment, crying always made my nose red and my eyes puffy and there was no way for me to hide the fact that I had been crying. He hates it when I cry.

"Come here," was all he said as he opened his arms and I ran into them.

We lay back in bed and cuddled. Being held by him makes all my ghosts, fears and insecurities disappear. People think that I'm tough and capable of anything. Some people say I'm a strong person. But that's not true. Until Paul came into my life, I was always scared. Scared of the future, scared how I'd end up, scared that people would realize what a fake I am. I was also insecure and lonely. I always put up the fearless front. The truth is, he makes me strong. The love and faith he has in me, makes me the successful person I am. He exasperates me sometimes, but he also makes me laugh, he keeps me on my toes and he makes me wait impatiently for tomorrow just so we could do it all over again.

"Paul?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you think if I hadn't left –"

"Rebecca wouldn't have turned out the way she did?" I guess hearing it over and over again, he's now able to finish my sentences. "Do you really think that if you hadn't left, she would have found a job? Had a career? I don't think so, babes. And I really wish you would listen to me and stop having anything to do with her. Seriously, the Rudolph look doesn't work for you," he said bringing his hand up to tweak my red nose and then hesitating. "I'd touch your nose, but it's probably full of snot right now."

I started laughing. "Jerk!"

"No, seriously. You cry every time you talk to her. That's why I tell you not to take her calls. Do you listen? No. Of course you won't."

"Shut up, Winters," I said as I rolled on top of him.

We stayed like that for a little while. I liked it when we held each other like this, contact and quiet moments like these always comforts me. He always comforts me. And most of all, he knows when to cut me some slack. He never attacks when I'm already down. I stayed in his arms for a little longer, then I just had to tell him.

"She brought up the rape accusations again. She also said you would have chosen her had you seen her first."

He snorted but did not say anything. I had to sit up so I could look into his eyes. "What?"

He tugged on a lock of my hair. "I always had excellent taste. I always went for class, not crass. You should have seen my first love. She was a real hottie."

"You had a first love, Winters?" I asked coolly.

"Of course I did. Look how handsome I am. I had a second love, a third love—oopph."

"Pig!" I declared before I retracted my elbow lay down over him again. Whatever his faults are, he is an excellent mattress. "But do you think you could have imprinted on her had you met her first? I mean, she's my identical twin."

"Rach, you've got to stop believing the nonsense they fed you as a kid. She's not your identical twin. She looks a little bit like you, yeah. But you're like a gorgeous sex-kitten and she's like a hardcore cougar. And if the spirit that made me imprint on you had picked her for me instead, I would have found him and kicked his spiritual ass until he changed his fucked up match-making and tied you to me instead. I'm the big bad wolf and he better not fuck with me."

"That's how you make me feel better?" I demanded, sitting up and pinching his stomach.

He pulled me down on top of him and slid his hands slowly down my body until they rested on my butt, slowly massaging my pelvis into his, letting me know of his intentions. "No, but I have other ways to—oopph—Rachel! Not the elbow in the gut thing again. It's not funny, woman! One day you're gonna miss and do serious damage to Wolfenstein. And then what are you going to do?"

"Wolfenstein? What happened to little Paul?" I grinned.

"He's not so little anymore," Paul said smugly and I had to laugh.

He kissed the laughter out of my mouth before he rolled me to my back, and just before I lost the ability to think, I realized that some might say he was distracting me, something he was very, very good at. But that was just the sex part. What Paul does for me goes beyond that. He puts my mind at ease, he turns my tears to laughter and me makes my heart feel so full and warm.

Then when I was boneless and completely sated, with not a single thought of my sister in my mind, he pulled me closer, manhandling me like he always does, re-arranging my body like I was his personal blowup-doll that he could cuddle and squeeze until he got comfortable. I sighed noisily. This was something I had to train myself to get used to. Sleeping with Paul had become a whole new experience from the first day I had fallen asleep in his arms. Sometimes I worry about Keegan and his octopus. The way he manhandles that toy reminds me of Paul and me, and I guess someday there was going to be a girl out there who would wake up every time her husband rolls over in bed, because most probably, he would be rolling over with her in his arms. I grinned to myself. I liked that thought. And suddenly I just wanted to kiss Paul, the need was just so overwhelming so I turned over in his arms, pressing myself tightly to him, causing him to grumble, even as I was kissing him.

"After all I do for you, you've gotten my chest all wet, woman!" he laughed.

I struggled out of his tight hold. "I'm lactating, you jerk! I can't help it!" He let me go reluctantly and when I came back after feeding Logan, I stood by the bed and watched my sleeping wolf for a moment.

"I know I don't tell you this often enough, but I'm ever so thankful that you fell in love with me," I said softly. I really was thankful. I could have ended up some scumbag the way Rebecca had.

"That's not all I did, woman, I also made your toes curl, your—oopph! Rachel!"

"I love you, Paul Winters," I declared as I made myself comfortable on top of him.

"Yeah, yeah. You have strange ways of showing it," he grumbled through my giggles.

A/N : Kind of different from Chapter 1. Very, very different from 'How the Mighty Fall'. What did you think?