We stood in the busy, noisy airport, crowds of humans shuffling past us, for several minutes just...staring. If I had been human I was sure I'd have had tears streaming down my face.
After a while Alice's mouth twitched at the corner, like she wasn't certain if she was going to smile or not. Her eyes glinted with some playful secret.
"Carlisle and Esme are waiting for us by the car." Her soft, musical voice wrapped around me like a warm embrace.
When I didn't move, her lips twitched up again in amusement. I smiled down at her and she grinned wryly in response.
"Then, by all means, we should not keep Carlisle and Esme waiting," I murmured.
Her eyes closed for a moment, but she was not seeing the future. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her tiny frame was flooded with happiness, peace, completeness, and hope. It was remarkably similar to what I'd felt from her that very first day when, thirsty and depressed, I'd wandered into a random little diner in Philadelphia to get out of the storm.
She opened her eyes again, her smile soft and glowing, then led me toward the parking garage. And, just like that first day, I would have gladly followed her to the ends of the earth, so long as we were together.
Carlisle and Esme were waiting for us, of course, just as Alice had said. Esme was beaming with all the doting affection of a proud and relieved mother. She hugged Alice tightly.
"Thank you so much," she choked out, her face pressed against Alice's spiky hair.
"It was my mistake. So it was my responsibility to take care of it," Alice deflected.
"No, Alice. We can't expect you to be omniscient. We owe you," Carlisle insisted.
Alice smiled at him then ducked down to retrieve his keys from where she'd stashed them, tucked under the frame of the car.
"Ah, so that's where..." Carlisle murmured as she tossed the keys lightly to him. Then we climbed into the back seat together.
Even driving like a vampire, it still took hours to get back to Forks from SeaTac. Carlisle avoided the ferries, opting instead to drive the whole way round. None of us spoke, we were simply happy to be together again.
The scenery outside the windows changed in familiar ways as the hours passed. The sprawling city. The Tacoma Narrows bridge. A bizarre strip of undeveloped forest and farmland off of highway sixteen. The warships and aircraft carriers docked at the Naval station in Puget Sound. Crossing the floating Hood canal bridge with choppy water lapping at one side and a glass-smooth surface on the other. Past acres and acres of pungent lavender farms. More wide farmland with the occasional herd of elk or deer daring to venture into the open fields. Then the quaint little town of Port Angeles.
We took a familiar left on a seemingly insignificant street which continued out of town and on south, winding its way through the trees, past randomly scattered homes and convenience stores, past miles of shoreline along Lake Crescent and then finally, a few miles before we actually entered Forks proper, we turned onto our hidden unpaved driveway.
Even though I was glad to be back, even as beautiful as our house would be to me right now, what I really longed for was to spend time with Alice... alone. Really alone. With no supernatural hearing or mind-reading brothers intruding on the words we spoke just for one another.
Alice must have sensed my mood, or perhaps she saw a vision of me asking her to come away with me. Either way, the moment we were out of the car she took my hand and dismissed Carlisle and Esme with a quick, "We'll be back!"
We were racing away through the trees before they could even ask.
There was a little clearing about six miles north of the house, in the center of which was a giant flat-topped boulder. During the summer tall sweetgrass grew, sending drifts of warm sunny fragrance into the air. In the early springtime, Alice would scatter handfuls of wildflower seeds about the lawn, watching her future creation unfold behind her eyes as though she were a painter and the world was her canvas.
But it was the end of the winter now, the very cusp of spring. The grass was dry with the barest hint of the sunny vanilla-like scent it sometimes held. The flowers were all either dead or dormant. Still, this was a peaceful, secluded spot. And Alice climbed on top of the monstrous flat stone, just as she always did, with a little sigh of contentment
I climbed up and sat behind her, wrapping my arms around her small shoulders and burying my face in her hair for several minutes in silence.
"Alice," I whispered finally, not trusting my voice.
"Mmm?" Her body was flooding with satisfaction and happiness in my embrace.
"Do not ever, ever, do that to me again!"
Her mood shifted to somber. "I know, Jasper. It was hard for me, too. When I saw you..." She shuddered delicately in my arms and I felt a tremor of terror, horror, and hopelessness that faintly echoed the agony I'd experienced the previous day. "I wish I hadn't seen it. I wish I could get it out of my head..."
She suddenly twisted around so she was facing me, straddling my lap. She reached up to hold my face between her small, feminine hands and her honey-gold eyes bore into mine with scolding, fiery intensity.
She didn't say anything. There were no words for how she felt in that moment. She just let everything she was feeling - fear, relief, horror, anxiety, happiness, hope, regret, longing, impatience, shame, joy - pour into me, and I accepted it greedily. It was a crazy kaleidoscope of emotion. But somehow it all made sense coming from her.
I lifted my hand from where it had been resting on her thigh and stroked her cheek, trying to ease the tumult boiling inside of her. But my action only sparked a new, powerful sensation. One I knew very well and was more than pleased to reciprocate.
I gazed at her curiously for a moment, wondering if this was what she really wanted right now.
Yes, Please! her eyes seemed to beg me.
I leaned in and brushed my lips against hers once...and again. I felt my breath hitch and tremble at the light contact. After what we'd just been through the gesture was particularly intense.
Her silky fingers wandered down my neck to the front of my shirt, deftly and swiftly undoing every single button. I trembled when her light fingers grazed over the skin of my abdomen. Her eyes met mine with a small, knowing smile and she slid the offensive article off my shoulders. Her impatient hands then moved to her blouse and I watched, mesmerized while she likewise discarded her own shirt.
Vampire women do not need to wear undergarments. And Alice only ever did if she found some new enticing and expensive piece of lingerie she hoped to tempt me with - she had yet to even come close to failing in that task. But that had not been the case the last time she'd dressed herself. So it was over her gloriously bare torso that my hands now effortlessly glided, caressing every sacred curve of her body.
Eventually she propped herself up onto her knees, all the better for her mouth to reach mine. All the easier for me to slide her dark designer blue jeans down the marble skin of her thighs.
She wrapped her slender arms around my waist and traced the small crescent-shaped patterns peppered over my back, sending electric waves of pleasure coursing through my body. My mouth met hers again, greedily tasting her sweet venom on my tongue.
I sometimes wondered what Alice thought about in these moments; whether she used her second vision at all. I could feel how completely and utterly absorbed she was in the experience. Usually intense situations made it more difficult for her to see the world in the present. Heightened emotions seemed to heighten her foresight.
Still, her whole body trembled with almost surprised pleasure as our bodies recklessly joined into one and I moved smoothly within her.
Right then, alone and joined with my love, my life, my wife, I was struck by the absolute rightnessof the moment. We were together. We were meant to be together. Regardless of our circumstances or outside influences, I would do whatever was in my power to make sure we were never again apart.
Our lips separated for a moment and I gazed seriously into her eyes, delightfully heavy with pleasure.
"Alice," I murmured, gazing down at her.
Her bright golden orbs opened slowly and rested curiously on my face.
"You do realize I'm never going to let you leave my side again."
She laughed lightly, the movement sending interesting sensations through our bodies.
Her lips met mine again, eagerly.
"Together," she breathed, washing her warm vanilla-rose scent over my face.
"Together," I agreed.
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this delightful venture into Jasper's mind as much as I did. In case anyone was wondering, I am a Pacific Northwest local and have driven between SeaTac (yes, that is actually a city) and Forks many times. The scenery I described is what you would see if you were to make the drive. Only, for a human ;-) , it would take about five hours to get from the airport to the Cullen's house. Please review! And if you liked this, you might enjoy my other stories, too!