A/N: Lemony pairings for this chapter include Embry/Bella, Jacob/Bella, and Quil/Bella. Yeeeaah, buddy. I'm still grinning. It's a fuckload of hot wolfiness that tickles me to no end.

Fair warning: Enjoy your citrus and hang onto your socks! It's gonna be a rollercoaster of a ride. Enjoy this because at 17 pages and more than 8200 words, I feel like I just gave birth to a really needy, smutty baby.

Pre-reader/Beta/Gal Friday: meliz875. Why she puts up with my shenanigans, I couldn't tell you, but she has the patience of a saint! This short story wouldn't be half as much fun without her sharp eye for detail, her understanding of the craft of storytelling, and her love for all things Embrella. Thanks, Mel!

Banner: Dontcallmeleelee

"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need." ―Mick Jagger

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Part III: Found Wanting

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Bella sucked in a pained breath as she slid the shirt over her head. The snowballs may have melted, but they'd left their mark. The cold and impact had left her with red welts on her chest; several large, pale purple bruises were just beginning to bloom under the surface of her nearly translucent skin. Three distinct marks―beginning at her throat and ending just below her breastbone―were clearly visible.

A low, angry growl emitted from Embry's chest at the sight of Bella's discolored skin.

The wolf thought of the ways he would punish his pack brother, as did the human.

He was starting to shake. Bella tugged gently on his belt loop, pulling against the force of his locked knees to bring him nearer. She needed to touch him, to get his attention, to try to get him to look into her eyes so he would stop focusing on the bruises.

"Emb, don't. It's fine. Quil didn't mean it. If he had hit you, you'd already have healed. Of course he didn't expect me to answer the door of your home. Why would he?" she ventured, thinking she could temper his anger with reason, but the wolf was livid.

Fists clenched, body vibrating; the tremors that shook his frame were difficult to still.

"Emb?" Bella reached out for his hand. She bit her lip and tried taking a different tack, "You could … um … maybe you could kiss it and make it better?" Her cheeks flushed. She wasn't accustomed to talking to Embry this way despite her earlier, uncharacteristic boldness. That had been happening more and more often lately. She considered that it might be due to her newfound sexual confidence because of her relationship with Jake. He made everything seem so easy, like it was second-nature to both of them―after they got over their initial nervousness.

Heavy eyelids dragged open at the uncertain note in her voice and he finally came back to himself, the wolf subsiding just enough for him to act a little more human in order to comfort her. Kneeling at her feet and placing his hands on her thighs, he captured her lips in a warm kiss. A warm hand cupped the back of her head as he gave himself over to the moment.

Bella felt it and responded, trying to ease the strain and worry that bled from his throat in quiet lupine whines.

Though he was on his knees, her head still barely reached his shoulder from her perch on the edge of the bed. She draped her arms over his shoulders and laid her head against his chest.

"I'm fine. It's okay," her chant became a whispered litany, one hand tickling the hair at the nape of his neck, the other drifting down to rest over his heart. It thumped against his sternum like the repetitive drub of a buckskin beater on a hand drum at one of the bonfires. The percussive beat calmed her worry and eased her body into an almost drowsy relaxed state. It had a cascade effect, calming the wolf and the man as well when they heard her heart rate settle.

They pulled back by degrees, Embry pecking a trail down her throat in light kisses until he reached the edge of the first bruise. Wetting his lips, he pressed them gently along the edge, the dampened skin sticking and pulling at his lips the littlest bit with each touch of heated lips to cool flesh.

Bella shivered, but the warmth of his breath and his mouth did ease the discomfort. A bath sounded like heaven just then and she thought it might work miracles on her sore body as well. The thought of relaxing in the bath made her wonder if she could talk him into it along with her as his attention was drawn lower to the next bruise and he repeated the process once more.

By the time he was finished with the third bruise, she was practically writhing beneath him, her breath coming in short, staccato gasps.

He smiled and eased back, letting reality flow back back over the both of them and the lust ebb gently away.

The wispy haze of lust cleared and she swallowed loudly, wracking her brain, trying to remember what she was going to ask him, "Umm … uh … Oh! A bath? I'd love a warm bath," the explanation came tumbling out as it came to her. "I think it would help. Do you mind?" She ran a hand through his hair up the back of his head and one down his chest over his heart again, feeling it once more, that comforting drub against her palm.

"Of course not. Let me grab some towels and we'll get you set up in a minute," rising fluidly to his feet, he brushed an errant lock of hair from her forehead with a tender caress of fingertips.

Resigned to losing contact with him if only for a few seconds, she pulled herself away reluctantly.

As good as his word, in barely a minute or two, he'd started the tub filling with lightly-scented bubbles and grabbed a stack of towels from the linen closet to set aside in the bathroom before he returned.

Bella could hear Quil muttering down the hallway, but couldn't make out the words.

Embry tugged one of his own overlarge T-shirts on over her head for the trip to the bathroom and lifted her into his arms, explaining, "Since Quil is still here. Didn't think you'd want to give him a show."

Chuckling, she confirmed, "Definitely not." Much as she loved the feeling of being in his arms, she felt compelled to mention, "I can walk, Emb."

"Hush. I may never get to do this again. Let me have my moment," he murmured against the crown of her head, making the corner of her lip twitch in amusement.

His long stride ate up the distance much too quickly for either of them, his foot nudging the door closed with a muffled click. Settling her bottom on the wide apron of the sink, he didn't let go, readjusting instead so she could sit up and part her knees. He settled between them and held her a beat longer as steam billowed in the enclosed space. The rushing sound of water filling the tub was the only noise for the space of a few shared heartbeats.

The steam only served to ripen her luscious scent and the wolf went wild, panting, Mine! Take!

Embry shook from the force of will required of him to resist the wolf's demands.

He drew back, brow furrowing, and she wondered what he was thinking as a slight frown tipped the corners of his mouth down.

"Sorry," he muttered, trying to come up with a reasonable explanation. "It's easy to forget." He pressed his lips together in apology.

"Forget what?"

"That you're not mine," he murmured under his breath so low, she barely heard it. "The wolf pushes." He tipped his head and nuzzled her jaw.

She didn't know what to make of that, so she let it go, deciding to let it lie for now.

Turning away abruptly to shut off the water with an impatient flick of his wrist, he brought both hands up to run them through his hair in a worrisome sign of lingering stress.

"Embry, let it go. Stop overthinking everything," she implored, rubbing his back.

"Yeah…" he breathed, dropping his hands to his sides and turning back to offer a hand to help her down.

She slipped her hand into his and slid to the floor, her muscles tensing in her chest, making her wince as she stood and stretched to her full height to work out the kinks.

Taking a deliberate and calculated step into her space, a little closer than should have been comfortable, his hands skimmed up her back, catching the hem of his oversized shirt and tugging it gently over her head. The dark green lace of her delicate-looking bra caught his eye and her stared in disbelief that he'd somehow missed the opportunity to see it in his hurry earlier.

All those amazing, mind blowing things he'd done to the tiny slip of a woman in front of him and he'd somehow completely overlooked the delicious treats presented in that exquisite lace. It was an oversight he intended to rectify … later.

The wolf growled, Take.

She needed the soothing heat of the warm bath more than she needed him crawling all over her. He shook himself in reminder, berating the wolf, And what kind of lover would we be if we took her without thought for her needs? She's sore. Quil really hurt her.

Fine, the wolf conceded with a snarl, unhappy at the prolonged wait, but willing to bide his time while they tended her in the bath. Social grooming was pack behavior that the wolf understood, at least.

Embry opened his mouth, surreptitiously bathing his taste buds in her thickening scent as he drew it over his tongue. He caught the faintest hint of something artificial mixed in with her own heady, natural scent.

The wolf's muzzle wrinkled in distaste. Embry thought he knew what it might be. The wolf would have to get over it, but it was something he needed to know for sure before this thing between them went any further, "Bells?"

"Hmm … yes?" hooded eyes met his, curious as to why he was staring so intently at her breasts.

They really weren't much to look at, she thought with a grimace.

Dropping his voice to a whisper in case Quil was listening, he continued, "There's something off about your scent. It's easier to smell in here because of the heat and steam. It smells a little artificial. Are you … on the pill or something?"

"Oh!" she let out a surprised huff of air. "You can smell that?" Her nose wrinkled in annoyance.

A tap to the side his nose with his finger brought the stark reality of werewolf friendships back to the fore as he shrugged, "Werewolf. I can smell all kinds of things I never could before."

His eyes twinkled with mischief.

Her eyes widened in understanding. Oh, oh … that. Wow. Well, privacy was something she'd long ago realized was a human misconception that had no place in her relationships with her pack friends. It wasn't like Jake hadn't warned her of that. He was constantly sniffing at her for signs of the least little hint of arousal so he could pounce.

She smiled.

She enjoyed the pouncing.

"It's not the pill. I'm on the shot so I don't forget. Sue's idea," she confided. "Is that … is it a problem for your wolf?"

A shake of his head reassured her, "Don't worry about the wolf. He doesn't get a say in contraception." He chuckled. "He's kind of a dick. All he can think about is covering you in his musk and fuck the consequences."

Bella grabbed his head and gazed deeply into his eyes, speaking directly to the wolf, "Sorry, Wolf. This is a deal-breaker."

The wolf huffed and spat out, Fine, but he didn't have to like it and wouldn't pretend to. He'd enjoy nothing more than seeing the girl's belly round with his pup and made that desire known to the human.

Embry reminded him again, A pup? Are you crazy? She's not ours.

The wolf huffed, as if to say, Yet.

"Bells, there's something else you should know," Embry's voice had dropped so low it was barely discernable from his breathing. Putting his lips to her ear, he admitted apologetically, "I've never … uh … it would be my first time if we … I mean, ugh! I've done stuff, but not like, not that."

She blinked in surprise, her voice squeaking as she asked, "You're a virgin, Emb?"

He nodded, clearing his throat, "But just―you know―that. I've done other stuff."

Rolling his eyes at himself for being such a fucking chick about it, he still worried because he knew she'd already been through her own awkward first time with Jake for his awkward first time. He figured she might not think it was worth the effort to have to deflower yet another werewolf if this went too far too fast for him to warn her later. Warning her seemed like the least he could do.

In a low whisper, he continued, needing her to understand an important distinction between guys and girls, "It's different with guys. It's not like something precious that we hang onto for romantic reasons. It's more like a burden to unload when you're a guy, you know?"

Except for Jake, he thought. He'd held out for Bella despite damn near every girl on the rez throwing herself at him since the day his voice changed to the deep baritone that would become Alpha.

Embry's conscience ate at him a bit.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Emb. Let's just see where this takes us for now and we'll figure it all out as we go," she tried to reassure him, but her nerves began to kick in as she wondered if she could do this again and what it meant that she was seriously considering fucking one of her best friend's friends.

Compelled by conscience, she confessed to Embry, "I'm not sure that- I don't know if I could live with myself if we did this and you met your imprint later and you wished you'd waited for her. The imprint could change the way you feel and you were right earlier―we are going to be in each others' lives for a long time coming. I need to think about it. I can't really process it right now, though, Emb. It makes me feel … kind of slutty and disloyal and like I'm taking what belongs to your imprint―and I shouldn't! I'm nobody's imprint for a reason. The spirits obviously don't think I'd make a good wolf's mate. Maybe we're just meant to be friends."

"You mean you and Jake."

She nodded, grateful he understood, if a little sad that the spirits thought her lacking in some way.

"And you and me?"

Her lip trembled a little uncertainly before she nodded again, refusing to look him in the eyes.

"No, Bells … Now who's over-thinking?" he teased, tilting her chin with a fingertip.

Sniffing a laugh, she smiled ruefully, "Right, maybe we should just like … go for it." She faked a leap at him and he jumped a little, his eyebrows winging up in surprise.

Uncertain of where they stood, she waited to see what he would do.

Embry slipped the button loose on her jeans and she grinned.

He slid his hands beneath the worn denim of her waistband, gripping her full hips in a light squeeze before drawing the denim down her legs with an aching slowness as he lowered to the floor, memorizing every dip and curve, every freckle―even her scars. Ceasing his descent when he reached the one above her knee, from a motorcycle accident with Jake―one of her worst―he wrapped a hot hand behind her leg and bent the knee, bringing her foot to rest on his thigh.

A press of his lips to the puckered pink cicatrix as his ebony lashes brushed his cheeks made her quiver with need. The urge to kiss those long, silky eyelashes made the familiar heat coil in her belly. The craving for his touch to ease the ache burned brightly.

Every touch he initiated was so deliberate, like a gift it both pained and pleased him to part with.

Reaching behind her back, Bella unclasped her bra, wriggling blissfully a bit at the feeling of freedom when the material fell away. Embry gathered it in his hand and threw it to the side. She slid her foot back to the floor as his hands slid up her smooth flanks. Pausing at her waist, he wrapped his hands around her, nearly able to span her dainty waist with them. The dichotomy of his largeness and her smallness made her giggle. They were such an odd pair. She knew she and Jake were probably just as odd a sight, though.

Her breath caught in her throat as Embry's fingers snagged the elastic band of her lace panties and the reality of what was about to happen between them finally hit home.

At her nod, he tore through the lace like tissue paper, making her jump, shocked and aroused. Thinking he might take them off, she'd been unprepared for the savage reality of her acquiescence.

She loved it.

Embry didn't want to wait one fucking second longer than he had to. Fingers drifting to her trimmed, auburn curls, he whispered, "So soft."

She shuddered as a wave of desire swept over her and winced as the tremor strained her sore muscles.

Seeing her tremble, he steadied her with his hands on her hips, rising to his feet to stalk around her, taking further silent inventory of her soft, perfumed skin as one hand kept in contact at all times, a reminder of his support as he shored up her reserves of strength with his gentle touch.

She blushed and fidgeted self-consciously, running a hand down her nude curves in a little sign of burgeoning bravery. the other still clutched against her stomach uncertainly.

The wolf rumbled in pleasure, Take! Fuck! Bite!

Whoa, his eyes flashed gold as the force of the wolf's desire rocked him back on his heels before he reined him in.

Bella watched the battle play out in his eyes with a quick hitch of breath, sighing in relief as they cooled back to Embry's own gorgeous amber brown.

"You're okay," she assured him.

He nodded, resting his chin on the top of her head as he draped his arms lightly over her shoulders.

Embry was really touchy. Bella liked that, all the touching. He was always so gentle with her.

Except when he wasn't.

A naughty smile teased at her lips.

She held a hand out, motioning to the bath with the other, "Come in with me?"

His eyes sparkled with delight and pleasure at the thought of taking her in the bath―until he remembered that his pack brother was still waiting for him in the living room.

A low growl of warning, but more than loud enough for his brother's ears, followed "Get lost, Quil."

He started to take off his shorts, but stopped when Quil answered in a quiet voice that Bella couldn't make out, "Sorry, man, no can do. I'm sorry about this, dude. I really am, but Jake got home early and sent me over to talk to you alone. He wants to see you, but he doesn't want Bells to know about it yet―said to say Sam asked you to run over to the house for a quick update on the red-headed leech. Jake wants you to head over to his garage so he can talk to you alone. I'm supposed to watch Bella."

Embry snarled.

Bella touched his hand to get his attention, asking, "What? What's wrong?"

"Our esteemed Alpha is summoning me. That's why Quil came over." It may have only been a slightly less damning side-step, but he refused to lie to her, calling Jake 'Alpha'. He was the rightful Alpha in spirit, if not in name.

Embry looked longingly at the bath and sighed, "You better get in and try to do something about those welts and bruises for now. I … fuck … I've gotta go, but I'll be back as soon as I can." It felt like it might seriously kill him to leave the room right now. His dick was rock hard and Bella was naked.

He whimpered on the inside.

If wolves could cry, his would have been sobbing. As it was, he was throwing the king of all werewolf tantrums―snapping at Embry not to be an idiot and to get in the goddamn tub and fuck the girl. The wolf didn't have the vocabulary for that, though.

Embry got the gist of his ferocious snarls and growls and he agreed, but the hereditary Alpha didn't claim that title for no reason. He knew he had to go if he'd been summoned.

Looking at her longingly, his eyes filled with regret.

"It's okay. We have all afternoon. Hurry back," she gave his hand a tug and he dropped down for a quick kiss, noting how easy and right the affectionate expression was feeling the more she encouraged him to to do it.

"I will. I won't be long―I promise―and you'd better be naked when I get back," he ordered with a wink and a quick slap to her ass.

She threw her head back and laughed.

Beckoning to her with a warm hand, he helped her into the tub so she wouldn't slip, indulging himself, tugging playfully at one soft, pink tip as she settled―she hissed and closed her eyes―letting his hand drift between her thighs. He stroked her, fingers slipping between honeyed folds slick with desire. She gasped and trembled with a little aftershock, still a bit sensitive so close to her last release. Relaxing, she lay her head back and sighed, humming in pleasure when he pressed his lips to hers in farewell.

"Don't fall asleep in there," he warned as he stood up, turning and slipping out the door before he risked changing his mind and climbed in after her.

He strode purposefully down the hall, pointing at Quil and giving him the hairy eyeball as he passed, "You keep an ear out for her so she doesn't fall asleep in the tub. She has so much as a scratch or one unaccounted for bruise when I get back, I will break your leg and hold you down while it sets wrong. And don't fucking think I won't know. I know every inch, every scar, every dimple on her. If there's so much as a hair out of place …"

Quil's mouth dropped open in shock. It was out of character for Embry to be so domineering; Quil and his wolf recoiled in surprise, the wolf submitting readily in Quil's mind, rolling to his back in a show of submission. Quil Ateara's wolf did not fucking submit to just anybody. He quivered with uncertainty, eyes glued to the floor instinctively.

Embry relented when he saw Quil's reaction, "Sorry, man, it's just … it's all kind of new and my wolf…"

"Yeah, I get that," Quil agreed, mumbling at the floor and shuffling his feet. "Mine was getting weird about her when I got here. You gotta talk some sense into Jake. This shit is getting out of hand," he muttered, shaking his head in reproof.

"Yeah. No, shit. I gotta go deal with this. You gonna be okay with her?"

Quil looked nervously down the hall, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders, "Yeah, as long as I keep my distance. Just … dude, talk some fucking sense into Jake."

"On it," Embry promised as he threw open the door and looked around to be sure no one was watching before dropping his shorts on the porch and tossing them in the air. He leapt the full length of the stairs and phased, snatching the shorts out of the air with his powerful jaws as he took off on four paws in the direction of the Blacks' house.

-{}❆{}-

Bella tried to raise her head from the lip of the tub, but Embry had done his best to wear her out. She decided to make the most of it and just lay there, relaxing in the oversize tub, anchoring herself with an elbow hooked over the edge so she didn't run the risk of dozing off and slipping beneath the bubbles. She managed to scoot a little more upright, but didn't get far with aching muscles and tender bruises.

Experimentally, she ran her hands over her torso, letting her thoughts wander back to Embry's revelation about his virgin status. She rolled her nipple gently back and forth between her thumb and forefinger, her mind drifting to the early days of her physical relationship with Jake. What he lacked in experience he more than made up for in enthusiasm, she remembered with a smile.

Unconsciously holding her breath, she sprawled on Jake's tiny twin bed, propped up on a few pillows so she could watch as he kissed and licked and nipped his way up her leg. He loved her legs, especially when she wore shorts, or a skirt. She'd worn one that day, she remembered. They'd been out back where he had her truck up on those little red ramps so he could change her oil. Walking by in that little cargo skirt and her purple Chucks at just the right time was all it took for her legs to have his complete and undivided attention. The truck was suddenly little more than an obstacle he couldn't extract himself from fast enough.

Coming up behind her, wrapping his arms around her torso, he let one hand fall to the front of her skirt.

She bit her lip and looked around, hoping none of the neighbors could see them back there.

Jacob was too far gone to care. He slid the hem of her skirt up in the front, exposing those long, slim legs he loved so much, wrapping one huge, hot hand around her thigh and spreading her open to his seeking digits. His hand ghosted up the tender skin of her inner thigh to touch her through the damp panties he expected to find, but, for the first time ever, she wasn't wearing any.

Jacob's wolf loosed a single barking growl from the human's throat and she knew she was in for it. Her pussy dripped with desire and she trembled.

Pushed up against the fender of the truck, hands braced on the cool metal, legs spread, he lowered his mouth to her throat. He loved to nip and chew on her there. His hands were busy; one between her thighs stroking through the damp curls, homing in on her swollen nub, the other hand sliding up beneath the hem of her shirt, roughly tugging her bra down to grasp a nipple just a little too hardthe way she liked it.

Breath heaving, she groaned, letting her head fall forward, and felt her channel spasm in response as her belly tightened ahead of her rapidly-approaching peak.

Jake was young and eager and didn't have much finesse, but who gave a fuck about that, she thought, when she was riding her way to her first orgasm practically in public on the tips of his fingers against her truck in the middle of the afternoon, gasping his name and begging for more. Practically on the verge of tears in her desperation, she sobbed when he slipped two blunt-tipped fingers inside her and brought her to the edge again before flicking at her clit with the very tip of his thumb. He took her lips in his, swallowing her scream as she came once more, rocking her tiny, tight ass against his rigid length as her tight pussy pulsed around his hot fingers.

He wasn't done with her, though, not by a long shot. Like the most precious of cargo, he picked her up after and carried her inside, laying her out like a virgin offering to the gods on his too-small bed.

Her hand shot out, tugging at the waistband of his shorts, but he shook his head, his voice raspy as he answered her unasked question, "Not right now, honey. This time is all about you."

She melted, caught in his warm brown eyes.

Arranging a few pillows behind her head, he made her comfortable so she could watch, but also because he enjoyed the intensity of looking her in the eye while he worshipped her body with teeth, lips, tongue, and hands.

She wiggled, moving to take her skirt off, but he stopped her, "Leave it on. There's something about crawling up under your skirt that does it for me." Blushing a little at his admission, the faintest hint of red stained his cheeks.

Bella had giggled and blushed beet-red herself, but he got his way. He loved that disheveled look on her, the freshly-mussed, just-got-ravaged-standing-up-look. Wanting to see more and lay her out like his own personal centerfold, he pushed her shirt up under her arms and tugged both cups of her bra down so her breasts spilled over, making them look a little more impressive from her vantage point. From his, too, she thought with another blush.

Starting at her ankle, he kissed and licked her, god, just everywhere. By the time he got to her knee, he was getting nippy. The kisses had turned to those little nibbling bites that delivered just a hint of pain, intensifying the pleasure of each lap of his tongue to soothe his stinging nibbles.

Bella shivered, though the bath water was warm and the steam hung in the room like fog. She whispered Jake's name as her fingers worked her nipples like they had that afternoon weeks back in Jacob's room while he teased and and tantalized, slowly working his way back to her soaked folds.

Moaning louder, she was really getting into it, the water beginning to lap over the edges of the tub.

Quil dropped the magazine he was holding, his gaze whipping up to stare down the long hallway to the bathroom.

The bathroom where Bella Swan lay naked, moaning in a tub full of hot water and fragrant bubbles―water that sloshed gently as she moved restlessly in response to something he could only imagine.

Oh, good god, could he imagine it.

Quil adjusted his shorts, noticing for the first time that he had a little problem.

Well, not a little problem, he thought with a grin. Becoming a werewolf did have certain advantages. Ginormous human cock, chief among them, for which he would always be grateful to his ancestors. He didn't give two fucks if that shit was blasphemous.

What harm could it do? he thought, looking down the hall longingly as Bella hummed in pleasure in the bath. Padding on silent feet down to Embry's room, he clicked the door shut behind him as quietly as possible. He could hear her even better from there. Her scent was stronger, too.

Rubbing his dick through his shorts, he wondered how bad a broken leg could really be with his fast healing.

Totally worth it, he thought, as Bella sighed and the sloshing got more energetic.

The hell with it, he decided, tugging down his basketball shorts. His cock sprang free, already dewy at the tip. Palming the end, he pulled the moisture down the turgid shaft and stroked back up.

Down again, and Bella moaned. Quil fucking quaked. It was almost like she was in the room, with him, watching him.

He joined in the tug-and-rub chorus, groaning and gripping the base of his chubby to hold off his release. No fucking way was he going to bust his giggleberries after just two measly strokes while Bella Swan was pinching the pearl in her bearded clam and thrashing like that hot fucking mermaid from Splash less than fifteen feet away.

Lowering himself to the floor by Embry's bed, he listened, loosening his grip a little. He imagined what he would do if she were in here with him while he eavesdropped on her petting her naughty pink kitty.

He'd grasp her hips from behind, parting her thighs with a nudge of his knee as he tugged her down to straddle his lap, rubbing his leaking knob at her entrance. She'd slide down over his groin ferret like a tight, wet glove. Grabbing one of her funbags, he'd rub her dripping honey all over her love button in fast circles until she was crying for him to make her come.

Oh, yeah, she'd beg.

He'd grip her hard, pounding her mercilessly on his hard thumper, anchoring her with an arm across her tits to piston her pink sausage wallet like a fucking 400 four barrel engine.

Bella slid her hand beneath the water, teasing herself, tickling at her lips and brushing over the curls swirling in the warm water. Hand dipping lower, she spread herself open and curved her little fingers up inside―three of them at once. She wanted the burn, the stretch that she felt when Jake took her, the pleasurable sting when Embry had stroked her inner walls with his long, hot fingers. Letting her mind drift, she imagined what it would feel like with Embry.

He'd take her from behind, she knew, at least once, the smooth, purple cap of his cock parting her glossy, pink folds as he watches himself disappearing inside her. Her juices would glisten on his shaft, shiny and slick and he'd pump lazily―a slow grind―watching her flesh cling achingly to his retreating member before he slides home once more. The anticipation would mount as their pleasure builds. He would pick up speed slowly, the promise of their shared release spurring him on. Knowing instinctively when she needs more and when to hold back, and wait for her to catch up. He would lower himself to her back as his hips buck wildly against the cushion of her ass, pressing fervid kisses and those stinging little bites she loves between her shoulder blades, his lips eventually finding her throat as his teeth sink into the tender flesh and he roars. She'd come with a piercing wail as he howls and erupts inside her, thick jets of cum pulsing against her battered cervix.

Somewhere in Quil's mind, he was dimly aware as he heard Bella's racing heart, her breath hitching, and imagined holding her ass in his hands as it bounced on his lap rocket. He wanted that ass like a fat kid wants cake after a summer at diet camp. He wanted to fuck it and bite and watch it bump his thighs as she rode his giggle stick.

The wolf growled, Bite!

Fuck, yes, Quil agreed in his fantasy, his head rolling on his shoulders, yanking her back against his chest and brushing her hair to the side. He'd latch his teeth onto the tendon at the juncture of her throat and shoulder, hanging on, waiting for just that perfect moment when his meat whistle would blow and he'd sink his teeth in, clamping her down with jaws and arms like iron cables as his nut butter overflows her pickle jar.

In the tub, Bella's hips twitched and jerked as her belly tightened, her body finally catching up to the images in her head, her fingers buried in her aching sheath as she convulsed, gasping and shouting triumphantly, "FUCK!" as the world spun out and her taut body finally went lax.

The wave of water she displaced, surged and crashed over the rim of the tub, water slopping to the floor. A lazy chuckle burbled up in her throat and she stretched like a cat.

Coming slowly back to the here and now, she fought to stay awake. Her free hand swirled languidly in the cooling bath water as she tugged her aching fingers free of her tender flesh.

Bella did feel better, though. Muscles loose and supple, she felt amazing.

Rising gracefully from the tub, the water and spent bubbles sluiced down her sensitive skin, her body still thrumming with satisfaction.

She grabbed a towel and patted herself down, pausing for just a second before searching through the cabinets to see if Embry's mom had left any unscented lotion for her to use.

It would be unscented or nothing, because she had no interest in smelling like his mom when he came back, if they picked up where they left off.

A small tube of an older sample caught her eye in the back of the medicine cabinet and figured Emb's mom wouldn't mind―if she ever found out. She smoothed it on, massaging it into her legs and tummy with a hum of contentment.

When she finished moisturizing her arms, chest, and shoulders Bella looked around for her bag, but all she saw were her wet clothes from before, her torn panties, and Embry's shirt. She must have left her bag in Embry's room.

Shrugging it off, she wrapped a pretty aqua blue towel around her body, tucking the end in at her breasts. Embry had been pretty crystal clear before he left about wanting her naked when he returned. She was feeling just naughty and relaxed enough after her bath to make his fantasy a reality without making him work too hard for it.

Cracking the door open, Bella peeked down the hall to make sure Quil wasn't looking. She didn't see him, so she figured he was stretched out on the couch. Quil could nap anywhere, she knew.

She darted across the hall to Embry's door―turning to make sure Quil still was nowhere to be found―and backed into the room as she closed it with a quiet click.

A loud moan behind her made her gasp in shock and spin around.

Bella's eyes met Quil's just as his were flickering closed in a combination of pleasure and pain she knew well. He erupted over his fist, panting her name.

She looked on in awed fascination at the thick length fisted so tightly in his hand that it was turning purple. Joking about digging around and doing some harmless flirting and touching to see who was the biggest in the pack was one thing, but this …

Bella had never imagined walking in on any of them in the middle of the act.

Wracked by nerves, her hand fluttered up to clutch at her throat as she came to her senses and brought her eyes back up to his face.

His eyes were open and his burning gaze wasn't embarrassed. It was almost predatory as his breath heaved and he watched her.

"QUIL!" she yelped. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" She spun around, closing her eyes in mortification that she'd walked in on him jerking off and then stared like an idiot while he finished.

Oh, god, she whimpered silently, her frayed nerves pricking, not just jerking off,but coming like a freight train with her name on his lips. He must have …

Shame buried her as she realized that he must have been turned on by listening to her doing the deed herself in the bath tub.

Choked into stunned silence, she dropped her head into her hand, not sure what to do or where to go from here, her grip tightening on her towel as she tugged it up a little tighter.

It was abso-fucking-lutely the wrong thing to do.

Quil could clearly see the pert under-curve of her ass cheeks peeking from beneath the little blue towel with her back turned to him. The ass he wanted so bad.

The wolf rumbled his agreement, though his thoughts became more basic, more feral, as his eyes traveled up her long torso to the smooth flesh above the towel. The sight of her bare, unmarked throat made him stiffen with arousal. Her rich scent―usually mingled with pack scent―was pure, unadulterated, unmated female for the first time in months because of her recent bath.

Throat.

Scent.

Nothing else existed, nothing else mattered. The wolf imagined the human pinning her beneath him, prone, throat bared, her intoxicating, unmated scent enveloping them like a thick fog. Her pheromones would ripen with her desire as he clamped his teeth on the tender white flesh of her throat. He'd fuck her until she was covered with his musk, obliterating the other male scents still faintly clinging to her, showing the bitch and the pack how a real wolf took his mate.

Bite! the wolf ordered Quil, ready to take charge and end this the way a dominant male wolf should.

Quil fought the wolf, No! Not like this!

Human … Bite. Bitches love that, the wolf insisted, as sure of himself as ever.

Quil would have laughed if he hadn't been so scared for Bella, growling furiously instead, Never! She's Jake's! Or maybe Embry's. Fuck! I don't know!

His thoughts bordered on hysteria as he tried to think of a way out of this, but the wolf was obsessed. Bella's scent and throat were everything, the only thing. He shook, trying to remember that Bella baked pies and loved bad action flicks. She read Shakespeare and had no idea who Wolverine was, but knew everything about Adamantium because she accidentally clicked the X-men Wiki link on Google once when she was looking up a restaurant in Port A. She was his brother's girl, not a wolf bitch for him to mount like a rutting wild animal!

Idiot, the wolf snarled furiously. He couldn't understand the human's reluctance. The human felt desire when she was near. Maybe he preferred males. The wolf growled in disapproval.

You're awful goddamn judgmental for someone who can't get laid without a borrowed dick, you know! Quil growled back.

Poor Quil's eyes met Bella's as he fought battles both within and without, hastily stuffing his junk back in his shorts, he scrambled, crab-walking backwards as fast as his hands and feet could carry him to pin his back against the farthest wall. Panting, he begged, "Bella, you can't stay in here. Go! Put Embry's shirt back on! Cover yourself with his scent! Do it! "

Hesitating a beat, she started to turn to offer him help.

A growl tore from his throat, his eyes blazing as he snarled, "GO!" and she startled abruptly, tumbling forward and turning fully as she backed towards the door.

"That's right, Bells." he said evenly. "You should go. Damn it! I said GO!" The unrecognizable voice of her friend demanded instant obedience as he stomped one bare foot on the floor, rattling the knick knacks in Embry's bedroom, toppling them from shelf to floor. A growling roar that she knew from experience occasionally precipitated the phase bled through Quil's clenched teeth. The wolf's emergence was imminent.

Back arched off the wall, he kicked his feet out, digging his heels into the hardwood, seeking purchase to hold his human form, to hold himself still to give her a running start to call for help.

Then the creepiest thing she'd ever seen began to unfold before her eyes.

The Quil she knew lost himself to the wolf.

His eyes weren't Quil's anymore.

The iris, the expression―everything that made him Quil was razed to the foundation and all that remained was predator.

Quil's voice had deepened an octave as his gaze turned shrewd. He muttered things under his breath and stared at her, aroused or engaged in some kind of predation behavior she didn't recognize. The watchful eyes of a hunter looked for any sign of weakness on her part. It was eerie, the external struggle was almost violent while the wolf easily claimed Quil's eyes, the expression on his face still and chilling in light of his body's battle for dominance over the spirit wolf's control.

Backing away slowly, she never took her eyes off of him. The door swung open at her back. She moved cautiously through it so she wouldn't trip. Closing it quickly, she didn't even dare to blink until it shut before she bolted across the hall to the bathroom.

Bella pawed frantically through the pile of clothes on the floor, grabbing Embry's shirt and tugging it on. As her jeans slumped back to the floor, she heard a muffled thump and almost cried when she realized what it was.

Her phone.

Hands shaking so badly she could hardly keep her grip on the phone, she finally managed to hold down the home button, sobbing as the voice-recognition feature came on with a quiet beep. She murmured quietly, "Siri, call Embry."

"Bella?" he answered on the first ring just as Jake's face darkened and his head came up, looking out the garage door towards the woods as he rubbed a hand over the side of his neck and the other began clawing at his chest.

"Embry," she cried, "you need to come back, RIGHT NOW. Something's wrong with Quil!"

Jake's eyes flashed the lambent gold of his wolf's. He was on the verge of phasing when-

Quil clawed at the phone in his pocket, hands shaking as he pulled up the speed dial menu and clicked Jake's icon on the screen.

Jake was choking, gagging to hold the wolf at bay. He couldn't even remember where he put his phone, but Embry was quick to understand what was happening, thankfully. He snatched it up from the workbench just as it rang the second time.

Quil growled when Embry answered the fucking phone.

Gasping, trembling with the force of fighting his wolf, he shouted, "Emb?! GET JAKE!"

There was a jumble of noise on the other end of the line as the phone was handed off.

"Quil, what's going on?!" Jake roared, the phone's protective plastic case straining in his grip as nightmare scenarios spun out in his mind, all of them centering around his mate, his Bells. Bella needed him. It was the catalyst he needed to conquer the Alpha wolf―so he could take care of his girl. Torn between talking Quil down from whatever was scaring the shit out of Bella and snatching the phone from Embry's hand to try to soothe his mate, Jake's mind was at war with itself, master of his wolf or no.

Quil's wolf was clawing at the surface, his skin rippling, bones breaking. As his muscles began to tear and his body started a slow shift, he fought it off, but he couldn't hang onto the phone any longer. Scrabbling for a foothold, he tore up the floor.

The words pushed out of his throat like gravel scraping over sandpaper as he held onto his humanity with little more than teeth and fingertips as his face turned crimson and he writhed and growled into the fallen phone, "I need the order. Do it now! FUCK! ORDER ME NOT TO MARK BELLA."

.¸¸ . ✶*¨*. ¸ .*¨*.¸¸.✶*¨'*

Endnotes (sorry so wordy!): HUGE thanks to everyone who voted for my big multi-chapter fic in the Fandom Choice Awards! The live results show was last week and I won Best Breakthrough Author for "Yours, Mine Ours"! (The reigning 2013 champ was my pre-reader, meliz875. The best company!) Thank you again for your votes and especially for all the wonderfully encouraging comments over the last five months.

Now, before you hurry off to the next update in your inbox, leave me some love in the comments if you enjoyed what you read today.