As always, I want to thank Stephenie Meyer for dreaming up Twilight, and for putting up with all her fans, like me, who like a good twist on a dream. All characters are lovingly borrowed for entertainment purposes only, as well as all quotes and chapter titles, which are or based off of famous works and quotes.
Doing Good
"In the waythis strange gentleman was going on, he would leave the world without having done any good to himself or anybody else." -Around the World in 80 Days, by Jules Verne.
Chapter 4- I'll Take My Chances.
"Who knows how much further we'll go on/Maybe I'll be sorry when you're gone/I'll take my chances/ I forgot how nice romance is/I haven't been there for the longest time."
-"The Longest Time," by Billy Joel
POV: Leah
Time: Day 4, Day 3 of the London week, about 1pm
I sat off by myself in the corner of a gallery in the British museum. I had just finished looking at one of the museum's most famous artifacts, the Rosetta stone, and strangely found myself wondering if any vampires had been involved. I heard a voice that was becoming more familiar to me and looked up.
"Probably." Edward said under his breath. I chuckled and then I saw Carlisle follow him over.
"Edward, leave her be." He chastened. "She's experiencing this for the first time, don't intrude."
'You forget I'm the one that can read minds." Edward responded so softly I had to strain to hear him. "She wanted company."
Edward was right. I'd seen so much over the last few days it was a little overwhelming to be alone. Edward spoke louder.
"It's always been one of my favorite cities, I'm glad we'll be staying closer for a while. I love the history and tradition especially."
"More present day in your case I imagine, what are you, 200?" I joked.
"That's me." Carlisle didn't miss a beat, "only 200? Thank you for the compliment."
I giggled. I looked out to see where Embry was. It was becoming strange to be away from him for any length of time. We'd wandered off on our own at the Tower of London and taken an insane number of pictures with the guards, stocks, and ever-present ravens, and I'd noticed us standing together in all the pictures I'd uploaded last night from the last few days. I couldn't find him.
It was fun being a tourist, more than I expected it to be. We'd seen the London Eye and the Millennium Bridge, watched a changing of the guard (Nessie loved the horses and the tall hats they wear) and went to the palace Princess Diana had lived in. We were a little better at cramming more into our day than most. Obviously we also had to cover Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, and Tower Bridge, (what I thought was London Bridge, of the nursery rhyme.) Next up were museums and theaters. Tonight we were going to a West End show, (Bella was amused that we'd make it to a London show before a Broadway show,) and this morning we'd gone to the Tate Museum, which was small, but really nice, I thought. They had some beautiful landscape paintings, huge, too. Tomorrow we'd also see some more modern history, at the Cabinet War Rooms, headquarters of the London war effort, which were kept exactly as they were at the end of World War II. The Cullens loved that museum, all of them having lived through that intense time. We were going to the Globe too, which would be sort of an introduction to Carlisle's London, even though Carlisle had never seen the original either. It was taken down a few years before Carlisle was born. It was kind of scary to think that was only a century after Shakespeare. Carlisle was going to take us through a small part of London in the last days we'd be here, since his human experience here was pretty limited. Not much travel for minister's son, besides being far more difficult to get around. Most of his knowledge of the rest of the city came from his many return trips. It was fascinating how much he knew. He could tell you exactly how London changed over time.
I got up and kept looking for Embry, but I figured he must have moved on to the next room. I found him in a corner talking to this tall blond. She looked like she should be a member of the Denali coven, except she was obviously human. As I came closer I realized her features weren't as pretty, and not quite so Russian, whatever Russian features looked like. I didn't particularly know. The blond watched me walk closer for a moment with a smirk on her face, and then walked away, past where the Cullens were standing loosely together. She disappeared quickly into the crowd of tourists. I reached Embry then.
"Who was that Em, She didn't have to leave."
"What?"
I didn't know where the nickname came from. I went with it. "Do you have something against Em?"
"No, just…"
"Ok, so don't change the subject. Who was it?"
"No one, I was just being friendly. She must have thought you wanted me to come with you." He said.
"No one?" My eyebrow rose. "I'm not your jailer or your mother- what's with the secret? She obviously thought I was competition. Did you see that look she gave me?" I was amused.
"Yes." Embry said curtly. "It's not a secret. I didn't ask for her name... or her number. I'm traveling with you all."
"I'm sorry I scared her off."
"It's alright, it's not like I can really tell her my background anyway. Besides, you are prettier."
I smiled at him. I had enough of an ego that it did please me that he thought I was the prettier one. Or maybe it was all the time we were spending together. Suddenly Embry had a lot bigger place in my life then he did at home. I was just surprised that he voiced it. It must have rubbed off on him too. We were planning to move on, so I turned to follow the Cullens. Embry pulled me back.
"Uta." He said.
"Excuse me?"
"Her name."
"Why did you…" Abruptly I was a little annoyed that he lied to me.
"I don't know. I'm sorry."
I walked on. I was possessive of Embry. Actually I was possessive of all the Wolves, especially Sam, Seth, and Jake, my Alpha. It was a little different with those who had imprinted but this, I didn't like. Again I was surprised. I didn't speak to Embry much through the rest of the day. I was too busy trying to answer this new question in my head. "Why Embry?" I wasn't even in love with him.
POV: Embry
Time: Evening of Day 6 of the London week, 5 days after chapter 3.
The room was dark; I tried to think of anything that would take my mind off Uta and the past; so I tried to focus solely on the present. I was lying awake in my boxers, (clothing I was bizarrely not used to wearing nowadays) and I was so restless. It was only around 11pm. It was useless to think I'd sleep. I pulled on slacks and a collar-less shirt. I already had an idea. Just as I expected, I found Leah sitting awake in her room. She hadn't even changed from the day. We had yet to get used to no patrols, our personal struggles and the time change weren't helping us either.
"You want to go out?" I asked.
She turned her head to look at me. "Where?"
"I don't know but there are plenty of pubs around. This is London."
"Right." She laughed. "Sure. Just let me change. Be a little festive for once."
"I'll be out in the sitting room," I said as I headed out of her room; closing the door behind me.
She was out much faster than I expected. She was wearing a short blue dress, with this loud print and boots. Her hair was piled up on her head. She had even put on makeup. Where was Sam's Lee-Lee? Long gone, it seemed. I didn't blame her. I didn't say much either. She looked abruptly anxious.
"Too much?"
Her voice came out higher than normal. There was a knock on the door. I hurried to re-assure her as she went to answer it.
"No, Leah, you look fantastic. Alice would be proud."
"Speak of the devil and the devil will appear!" The voice of a high bell suddenly interrupted us. Alice and Jasper walked into the room. I stiffened at the unexpected smell. Alice noticed. "Oh of course, I'm sorry," she continued, "we got in while you were out. We just came by to say hello."
"It's alright," I disagreed. I was much more used to the smell of vampires by now, "you just took me by surprise." Jasper went to open a window. A breeze blew in.
"Better?" He asked.
"Yes. Hello!" I changed the subject and addressed Alice. "So, the professional opinion on Leah please?" I said jokingly. Alice pretended to inspect Leah before speaking. Leah played along and spun once.
"I'm so proud." Alice gushed. "Embry wasn't exaggerating." Even Jasper smiled at Leah.
"Nice." He said simply.
"Nice?" Alice countered, shaking her head at Jasper. She asked Leah, "What am I going to do with him?"
Leah understood. "You think Jasper's going to look more at me than you?"
Jasper nodded and smiled. "Thank you Leah." He paused briefly. "Where are you off to?"
"We don't quite know." I said. "We're not really up to sleeping yet."
"And we're too wired." Leah added. I nodded.
"There was a promising looking bar we passed on the way here." Alice gave us the name. "Looked nice enough. Two blocks down. We're obviously not beer experts." She laughed.
"Sounds good. Want to get going Em?" Leah asked me.
Jasper jumped. Alice started.
"Em?" She asked, and then quickly understood. "Oh." She started laughing. Jasper looked at me.
"Leah's taken to calling me Em over the last few days. She hasn't done it in front of your family yet." I explained.
Leah spoke. "I didn't think about it actually. That's funny," she mused then said to Alice and Jasper, "I won't confuse you, I doubt you'd get used to it."
"You're right." Jasper agreed. "Want us to let Jake know you're going out? We're headed up there."
"You could tell him, but we'll already be out. He'll probably be asleep. Nessie's a handful to keep up with." Leah said. She sounded reluctant to have Jake come along. Strangely I agreed.
"We'll see you guys tomorrow." I said. Jasper and Alice didn't comment. Instead they headed for the door and said almost simultaneously, "have fun!" They chuckled. Leah grabbed her purse. We followed them out and locked the door. They headed up a nearby staircase. Elevators were silly to them. We went ahead to the elevator, in no hurry. Leah questioned me as we walked.
"Pub two blocks down?" She asked.
I shrugged. "Why not?"
It didn't take long for an elevator to come. An employee greeted us as the door opened. "Good evening. Going down?" She asked.
"Yes. The lobby." I said as we walked in.
"Excellent." She smiled at us. The doors closed and it was short ride. As we walked into the lobby, a porter was quick to help us. "Do you require a taxi?"
"No thank you." I said. "We only have a short walk." I repeated the name Alice gave us. The porter spoke again.
"Oh yes, of course. Very lively pub. Good fun." He said cheerfully. "Two blocks west."
Leah thanked him as we left. When we got to pub, we realized we were a little behind the rest of London. I looked around the crowd.
"He wasn't kidding." I said. Leah was only half paying attention, because she realized she had already turned a few male heads as she walked in. I couldn't read her expression, but she didn't look upset about it. Our dark skin stuck out like a beacon, I noticed, not for the first time this week. Only those of actual Indian and African descent were darker. Leah wasn't the only head turner. I smiled at one pretty blond who was staring at me and she smacked one of her girlfriends, who had been engrossed in a conversation with another. I noticed Leah glare at her and she turned away. Leah could be pretty scary when she wanted to.
"That was unnecessary." I chided softly as I turned for the bar.
She stopped me. "What happens to me if you go off somewhere?" She asked.
"She only smiled." I said. Leah turned and reached the bar first. Suddenly the guy on the other side of her was offering to buy her a drink. He'd obviously not seen me, or didn't care. I walked forward to return the favor, smiling.
"That's not necessary." I repeated my same words, only to the guy this time, glaring at him over Leah's shoulder. He walked away.
"Touché." Leah smirked at me. We sat down on the empty stools in front of us. The bartender spotted us.
"What will it be?" He asked. We predictably ordered two local beers on tap. No American beers for us in Europe, we were good tourists. Our accents gave us away anyway.
"Americans huh? Where are you from?"
"Washington State." I said. We'd learned qualify it from DC.
"But what reservation?" He asked us.
"Wow!" Leah exclaimed. "Very good. It's a tiny reservation called La Push, not too far from Seattle. We're Quiluete." She finished.
"I've traveled around the southwest," he said, "I encountered a few tribes on my travels."
We got into a longer conversation with him then, telling him we had a good friend from Phoenix. He'd enjoyed his visits. "Too hot of course, and no rain" he grimaced. We agreed that it was easy for us to handle London weather. He offered a few other suggestions for beers we simply had to try, and seemed to speak more to Leah then to me. I wasn't surprised. I also didn't have to question what Sam or any other guy had seen in her. In her best moments, Leah glowed and spoke passionately. I found it strange at first that I hadn't noticed in La Push. Then I realized I already knew she was pretty. We all did. I was grateful Leah couldn't hear my thoughts as I remembered her naked the few times I'd seen her. Ok, more than just pretty, I conceded to myself with a grin. I turned back to the conversation. Leah was asking his other travels, around Europe. There seemed to be a lot.
"Amsterdam's great of course, a little crazy sometimes." I heard the bartender say laughing. Leah interrupted him.
"Perhaps a little too crazy for me." She laughed too. He asked more about our life at home, and then Leah was doing more of the talking. I added a few comments now and then to be polite, but I mostly sipped my beer and watched her. She spoke mostly about Seth, Jake, and I.
Then the bartender asked, "So do you and your husband have any kids?"
Leah sat back on her stool. She couldn't answer. She started staring at the bartender, and I said hurriedly, "Oh, we're not married, just traveling buddies."
Leah snapped out of it then long enough to say, "oh yes, we're just friends traveling together. Excuse me." She hurried in the direction of the bathroom.
"Forgive me!" the bartender said to me, "that's obviously a sensitive issue for her, but the way you were watching her and the way you were conversing easily together, I just assumed..."
I cut him off. "It's no problem, excuse me." I quickly paid our tab.
"Of course." I barely heard him say. I was already pushing through the crowd to find Leah. I found her slumped in a booth at the back of a bar, trying not to cry. She saw me and looked up.
"Let's get back." I said. It wasn't too late, only past 1am, but Leah needed to be alone. She was weak as she stood up. I helped her a bit out of the bar, and she gripped me tightly the whole way back to the hotel. She got her face composed enough by then, but I knew she was suffering badly. We didn't speak much until we were back to the suite. Leah couldn't hold herself together anymore. I'd never seen her cry so hard. She soaked my shirt. I moved her down to the couch and we sat down. I just waited for her to speak.
"Em, I…"
"Whatever you do, don't apologize, Leah." I said firmly. She looked me in the eye.
"I've realized something Embry. I'd marry you; I'd marry any of the Wolves if it meant I could have a child." She said quietly.
It was my turn to stare. We'd always thought of her belonging to Sam, all this time. I wondered now why she hadn't imprinted on any of my Brothers, or me, for that matter. She wasn't really my sister. Or did we have to imprint on her? But that wasn't the point. Why not? She obviously had the right family. I should have realized she was a perfect candidate. Now she thought she wasn't. Was another Wolf even a possibility for imprinting, or did we just have a relationship like normal people did? Was that what I was destined for? Suddenly I was alone here with Leah thousands of miles from home, and I couldn't answer that question. I looked at her again. Even with puffy eyes, she wasn't merely pretty. She kept staring at me, barely breathing. I made a decision.
I leaned over and kissed her. She jumped, but she didn't pull away. She kissed me back hesitantly, and then more forcefully, as I put my arms around her. The bartender was right, we were comfortable together. I'd somehow missed it. I stuck my tongue into her open mouth. She leaned into my embrace and the sofa made a groaning noise. Leah pulled back chuckling and got to her feet. She held out her hand to pull me up and I took it. She smiled as she let go and headed toward my room, grinning broadly and kicking off her boots as she went. She turned away and removed one sock, which she placed delicately on a lampshade, then took off the other one a few feet later, flinging it over her shoulder. Her eyebrows rose as she anticipated my response. I didn't take my eyes off her. I didn't think much either, something kept telling me I needed to be with her, now. I listened to my instincts. When I followed her to my room I saw she wasn't headed for my bed. She stopped in the middle of the room. I walked toward her. I stepped out of my shoes and socks. She grabbed me around the waist and pulled me forward. I let her kiss me this time and I couldn't deny how much she was arousing me. It stunned me a little. Leah was hot, plain and simple. I pulled the clip holding her hair up and it cascaded down around her. Wow. She yanked at my shirt and I lifted my arms, letting her pull it over my head. She rubbed her hands down my bare chest and then placed them around me waist. She kissed me even longer, gripping my back until it was almost painful. She pulled her head back briefly.
"Em," was all she whispered.
"Shh…" I pulled back and walked over to the bed. I remembered fleetingly I was still virgin. She wasn't. It didn't matter. She just shook her head and walked into the bathroom. Her actions had me perplexed, so I followed her. She smiled as I walked in, and headed for the huge bathtub. Jacuzzi was a more appropriate word for it; it was massive. She turned on the jets and bubbles and water began to spray out all around. Leah looked at me sheepishly and shrugged.
'I've always wanted to try it." she said huskily. Her voice didn't match her expression. I sat down on the toilet seat and let her continue her seduction. As the water continued to fill Leah began to remove her dress. I say began to remove it, because I hadn't known someone could remove a garment as slowly as she did. First she pulled it down her shoulders, then half her arm, her elbow, her wrist, and her hands. She held the dress under her arms so it wouldn't fall off her. She slid it even slower over her bra, and then down her stomach until it was only covering her waist down. She drove me crazy! She came forward as she revealed her underwear, which must have taken an hour in my horny mind, and they matched- simple, a little frilly, and also blue. Not see through though. Finally the dress fell in a heap, and I exhaled audibly. But instead of putting me out of my misery, she went over to turn off the main spout, leaving only the bubbles swirling in the tub. I got up and walked over to her. She pulled down my pants and boxers in one motion, almost tearing the fabric.
"Careful!" I half-joked, laughing. I didn't expect to be nude first.
She said nothing, but she reached for her bra. I wanted none of that. I pulled her closer, and managed to unhook her bra while she kissed me. Not that I was so bad at unhooking bras, but you'd be a bit distracted too if you had hands grabbing your behind and circling around... I was already hard. When she was topless I bent down to suck on her breasts. Her legs buckled a little and she couldn't torment me quite as much. It was only fair. Finally I pulled off her underwear, and pulled back to get a real look at her.
"As gorgeous as that dress was, I like it better over there." I pointed to where it was lying in a heap.
Leah giggled softly, then stepped carefully into the water with a towel and lay down. She placed the towel under her head. The bubbles obscured her body from my sight. I wasn't having that either. I stepped in after her and laid myself gently on top of her. She felt incredibly warm, which was saying something for us Wolves. The heat between us must be enough to break a thermometer. The water felt cool in comparison. She put her arms around me again and kissed me once more. This time she placed more than just her arms around me. She spread her legs and placed them around me as well. I ran my hands down her back and kissed her mouth, her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, her forehead, and her ears…her eyelids fluttered closed. I casually massaged her breasts. I let my tongue trace down from her earlobes down to her neck and back up to her lips. As I traced her lips, I braced myself and entered her in one stroke. Her eyes flew open in shock.
"Are you alright?" I asked.
Leah just groaned and pulled me down closer. The result was overwhelming. I couldn't find the words to describe the pleasure I felt. I pulled out slightly and entered her again. It didn't take us long to find a rhythm, we fit so naturally together. Her hands were all over my skin, and I was barely aware of where I was touching her, but I took in sensation after sensation. It seemed to be all of her, all at the same time. Her skin was just like mine, her body was just like mine, and it was so natural for us. I couldn't stop my awe. I just pushed into her again and again. She spoke once, but it was more of a cry,
"Move left, Embry!"
I adjusted her under me, and she groaned again as she began to move faster. The water began splashing more intensely in the tub. I didn't break the rhythm, but how I managed to stay with her, I'll never know. She only moved faster, yelling incoherently on almost every stroke. I sped up with her, until I felt like I was about to lose control, but thankfully she cried out first.
"EMBRY!" She screamed. She almost slipped underwater.
I kept her from falling under. I smiled as I found my release a brief moment later. I crushed my lips to hers one more time as I exploded into her, the sound of the water roaring in my ears. We were both panting as we surfaced for air, sputtering out of the water and laughing.
"You are smoking." I said. It was true.
Leah laughed but she didn't respond. She merely touched my chest with her finger and pretended to pull back quickly, as if it burned her skin. She hissed through her lips and shook her hand. Then she blew the air out of her mouth in a whistle. I kissed her again. I couldn't help it.
"Now I'm tired." She grinned, and continued, "We do have to get up tomorrow." She sighed.
I laughed at how chagrined she sounded. It would have been nice to simply move from my bathroom to my bed…
"It's not that late" I began.
She couldn't help herself. "You win." She stepped out of the water and handed me one of those fluffy bathrobes. "Put this on a moment." She said. She wrapped herself in another after toweling off. I did the same. We wore the bathrobes only long enough to reach my bed. As she slipped hers off, she said, "This is more comfortable."
'Fine by me." I knew I had this ridiculous grin on my face. I didn't try to hide it. Leah knew me well anyway.
I lay down with her again. This time was shorter, but it was deeper and more aggressive, since the bed could move with us. The sheets were twisted into hopeless knots, and Leah left nail marks in my back. Did I care? Of course not. I silenced her cry with a kiss, thinking I probably shouldn't let her wake up the whole hotel. We fell asleep quickly afterward. She never pushed me off her, which I preferred, really. My hands rested on her breasts and under her hips. She tucked her head into my neck. I was more comfortable wrapped around and inside her than I'd been in a long time. For once, I slept peacefully.
So is that it? Do you think Embry and Leah were supposed to be together all along? Will they at least have a little fun for a while? Things look different in the morning. How much different, you'll just have to wait and see! Please tell me what you think, especially if you think I'm out of my mind for bringing Leah and Embry together.