Chapter 7 - I'll be home for Christmas

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.


Old Quil came back with Embry. He took one look at Josh and Bella asleep together on the bed and ordered everyone to stay out of the room. He leaned over and pulled a dream catcher from in between the bed and the wall. It must have been shifted out of the way by Jake when he was leaning against the headboard. He rubbed it between finger and thumb, studying the sleeping couple. He grunted to himself.

"Fetch a cedar sprig, now," he ordered Embry.

And then he pulled out a small handful of sage leaves and lit them, waving the smoke around the room and over the couple as he sang softly. When Embry got back, he waited until Old Quil's wrinkled hand was held out. He placed the cedar on his palm and backed out before he could be dismissed.

Old Quil tied the cedar to the dream-catcher, brushed his fingertips still heavy with the resin of the tree, across both their foreheads, left the room and shut the door firmly behind him.

"No-one enters. No one disturbs them," he ordered Embry. "You guard." Embry opened his mouth to argue. "You guard," the old man repeated.


Bella fell into a dream world. The familiar forest. The one between the mountains and the sea. It was the same world she had been dreaming of for a while now, she recognized it. She walked towards the sea. She knew that was the direction she should go.

Josh had told her that where the sea met the land was the place of change and it felt like the right place to be; things were changing. As she stepped carefully through the undergrowth she could see a figure looking towards the water. He was standing where the tiny waves broke over his bare feet. Her heart leapt and she started to run towards him.

"Josh!" She went to say 'you're okay' and then she realized her error. This wasn't the real world; of course he was okay, here. He turned as he heard her coming.

"Izzy," he called back.

"Josh, what are you doing in my dream?" she asked, as she hurried to him and he hurried to her.

He hugged her. Oddly, he felt real and substantial. "Your dream? I thought this was my dream." He chuckled. "You know what that makes you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh puleez. Don't say it."

"I knew you in the bar," he whispered, "You are the girl of my dreams."

She was secretly impressed by that. "You did?"

"Yeah. You looked a little different at the bar. It took me a while to recognize you."

"Different?"

"Thinner, more tired. Less happy."

"I was happy in your dreams?"

"Yes."

"How different did I look?"

He gave her a wicked smile.

"Oh, for heaven's sake… tell me I was not all pregnant or something."

He didn't answer her but the grin got wider.

She smacked him with the back of her hand. "You have enough sons," she told him.

"Yeah? Well, maybe I want some daughters."

"You are freaking me out talking about pregnancy when I have known you for days."

He kissed her and didn't say anything to that.

"How did you know it was your child?" she pressed.

"I knew."

"And what, exactly did we do in your dreams?"

He just did the double eyebrow raise.

"Oh." She chuckled.

She thought about it. Now his behavior in the bar and afterward in his apartment made sense. He hadn't needed to tumble her into bed immediately, if he knew they were going to get there. "So we did it in the dreams, or you just knew we'd get around to it."

"Both." He hugged her again. "Do you wanna do it now?"

"I'm so glad to see that you are okay, I could jump your bones, but part of me also knows that you are unconscious and have been for a while. How you just slept through all the screaming and shouting, I do not know."

"Screaming?"

"Sam brought his mother over."

"Allison," he said.

"She screamed, mostly about you and then Charlie and Jake shouted."

"Ah. Sorry."

"It's not your fault, but I worry about you not waking up and I suspect that you have hurt yourself trying to help Billy. I know you just wanted to save him, especially after you heard he was the last of his friends, but you over did it."

"I'm okay," he insisted. "And it did help him. Didn't it?"

"It did. He is awake and he can move his feet."

"Ha!" said Josh triumphantly.

She frowned at him. "I still worry… you have to understand Billy has been wheelchair bound for years."

"I know."

"And Jake is freaking out."

"Oh, Izzy. I think when I wake up part of the mystery will be solved. And seeing you here in my dream confirms to me that you are meant to be here."

"But? I can hear the 'but'."

"I'm not ready to wake up, yet."

She frowned at him. "I hate sitting round watching you and watching everyone else get more confused."

"So stop watching; get out of La Push. Not forever," he hastened to add. "Just for a few hours." He pulled her in closer and nuzzled at her neck. "Drive up to Seattle, pack your things and give notice at the bar."

"Why?"

"Because you know your future is here, in La Push."

"No, I don't," she argued. "I don't know any of that."

He gave her a look. "Izzy," he chided. "You know what your dreams are telling you. You were dreaming of wolves."

"I know."

"You just don't want to listen to them right now."

She sighed heavily. "It's always been this area hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has. I believe that you are meant to be here."

"And I tried so very hard to run away," she said in a tiny voice.

"I know." He kissed her gently. "Me too." He held her in against him. "I've been running longer than you, too. It's a hard habit to break."

"Will you be here with me?" she asked.

"Of course." He adjusted his hold on her and held her tighter.

She could feel him, hard and eager, pressing against her. "When did we get naked?" she asked.

He chuckled. "It's my dream and I want you naked. So…" He shrugged.

"You trying to convince me to stay?"

"No, silly. I just told you to go." He kissed her again. "But I know you'll be back."

"Back for you?"

"Of course." He kissed her neck. "And," he added, "being with you makes me feel better."

"So I am helping you?"

"Just touching you helps me. Being with you, kissing you." He kissed her on the lips. "Please, Izzy. We need to be together."

"Need?" she checked.

"Oh, yes," he breathed at her.

"I should tell you all about the wolves and the pack," she suggested.

"No, later. I am not spending my dream time with you on anything other than you."

She grinned at him. "You are smooth."

He laughed.

She added, "We will have time to talk later? Everything seems so rushed."

He looked very serious. "I am certain that this time together is very important. We need this."

She touched his cheek and then brushed over his lips.

He leaned in for a kiss.

She closed her eyes, let go of her worries and kissed him back. Here in their dream, maybe time ran differently? Maybe they had all the time in the world? She did feel like something was rushing at them and that moments like this would be rare in the coming days. She didn't know why she felt that. Her hands brushed down his back and cupped his buttocks. "You have the best ass."

He chuckled. "Hold that thought."

He stepped back from her and closed his eyes.

She frowned at him, puzzled.

The stony beach under their feet transformed into fine white sand.

Josh waved his hand and a stick appeared in it. He pulled her over away from the water. "Stand here."

She watched him as he drew a large circle in the sand with her at the center of it. Then he made a second, smaller circle just inside the first. He dusted his hands off and smiled at her.

"What are you doing?" she asked. "Besides flashing your ass at me."

"Wheels and circles are really important. They are a traditional part of our heritage. And drums," he added. "But it's pretty hard to make love to you and drum at the same time." He gave her a rascally grin.

She laughed.

He embraced her from behind as she studied the barrier he had drawn around them. They turned around slowly, until they faced the way they had started. There were no breaks in the circle.

"What do they mean?" she asked. "I know it must mean something."

"Concentric circles are symbols of power; they contain spells and forces, they symbolize greatness, charisma and leadership."

"Like bubbles."

"If you like."

"Two circles?"

"One larger, one smaller."

"One fits inside the other," she noted.

"Yes, it does." He kissed her shoulder, working his way along to her neck. His hands were cupping her breasts.

Him fitting inside her sounded like a spectacularly good idea. She shifted against him, twisting her body so that he let her go. "I want to see you," she mumbled.

He looked down at her.

They stared at each other and then something just snapped. They crashed together. His arm locked around her neck so that her head rested against his elbow and he pulled her up tight against him and he kissed her hard. His other hand wound low around her back and held her tight in against his groin. Her hands pressed against the muscles of his back. He bent her backwards and she arched up into him. Her eyes closed. He felt so good.

And she let it all go. The worry, the stress, the tiredness all gone in the wave that was Josh. His tongue in her mouth, his hands all over her and her hands grabbing at him. Her feet were lifted off the ground. He was reaching between her legs and then he paused for a second.

"Izzy?" he asked in a thready whisper.

"Need you," she gasped out. "Inside me."

"Yes," he agreed.

She reached down to stroke him, wrapping her hand around him and guiding him to where she wanted him. They both looked down and watched him enter her. He pushed and worked his way into her and when he was in all the way they both made a noise; a grunt of pleasure. He pulled back and worked his way into her again. Each stroke she was getting wetter, easing his passage as he thrust up into her. She threw her head back and cried out. And then she was falling. She expected her back to hit the ground but it didn't happen.

If it had been normal sex, she could have felt the bed under her, or the sand, but here it was as if she was both on and in, the world's biggest water bed… no softer. Like clouds. He laid her down and clambered over her body, slotting easily back into place. She was lying on her back with the back of her thighs resting on top of his. Looking up at him as he was looking down, his tongue touching his top lip as he concentrated on pleasuring her.

He looked amazing; the muscles of his stomach working as he rocked into her. She reached out a hand towards him and he grabbed it in his, right hands meeting in a monkey grip; their thumbs together. She grabbed his wrist with the other hand. His free hand held her thigh hard enough to leave bruises.

Holding her hand he yanked her down onto him as he lifted his hips up.

She moaned. "Ohhh… yes."

"Like that?" he asked her.

He held her hard and rocked into her and she could push back at him but she also felt each thrust moving through her and sending out waves, like ripples in a pond. She turned her head and it seemed to her that she could see the ripples. And those ripples struck the edge of the circle he had drawn around them and then reflected back. She felt them come rolling back across their joined bodies. Each set of waves built and built on top of the earlier ones and each wave carried pleasure and ecstasy in a flood across them both.

It was mind blowing.

It also meant they both orgasmed much faster and far more intensely than she had ever felt before. She shuddered and jolted under him, gasping for breath.

He stayed buried inside her. Released her hand and shifted her body, lying down next to her. His hand lifted and stroked down her side from her shoulder to her hip and then underneath her. He tucked her in against him, tighter. She was so much shorter than him that her face was pressed against his chest.

He breathed her name at her. And then he said something she didn't expect. "I love you, Izzy."

She was silent for a few seconds. "I can't love you," she finally said.

"Why not?" He didn't sound upset, just intrigued.

"It's so sudden. I've known you for days."

"I feel like I've known you forever." He cradled her face in his hands and he kissed her forehead, each of her eyelids, the tip of her nose and then finally her lips. He tasted divine. Like all the best things in life. "Izzy. Listen to your heart."

She closed her eyes and tried to do that, weird as it sounded. She certainly had some feelings for him. She could feel his hands against her skin.

They had just been as close as two people could be and she wanted to do it again, as often as possible. She wanted to find out everything about him. He had invaded all her senses and brought her to his dreams. She was the girl of his dreams.

"Hmmm?" he asked, when she didn't answer him.

Could she imagine being without him? No.

"I love you," she confessed.

He kissed her.

When she eventually opened her eyes, he appeared to be glowing.

"Hello," she said to him.

He grinned. "There you are," he said as if he had just discovered her after a long sea voyage.

"Here I am."

He took her hand and held it out at arm's length. She was glowing as well.

"What is happening?" she asked.

"You're mine."

"I am?"

"Yes. The gods insist."

"Oh. Wow." She looked at their arms. "I think I understand. Is this what an imprint looks like from the inside?"

He laughed. "Yes, I suppose it is."

"Why didn't this happen before?"

"It's something about you. I was trying and I couldn't get through. Not until you let me in."

She tried to think about it. Asleep, she was at her most vulnerable. Defenseless. Had she been trying to keep him out? "Wait a second… imprint? Then that makes you a—"

"Wolf," he interrupted.

"Not yet, you're not."

"No, I haven't phased yet. But I will."

"More wolves," she muttered.

"More?"

"Jake said they think younger people are getting ready to phase. His sister has done it recently as well."

"Another female? Like Leah."

"She's a Black."

"Ephraim's line."

"Josh. This vision stuff scares me."

"I know, but it is time you stopped being scared."

"I feel … less afraid when I am with you." She knew that was true, the second she said it.

"So we strengthen each other. You make me less afraid, too. You make me more determined to fix things."

"There are so many things we both need to fix."

"Sam," he said.

"Allison," she added.

He gave her a look.

"She came over to the house as soon as she knew you were here. I reckon you might be glad you were unconscious for that. She's clearly got things to say to you."

He made a pained face, but it faded quickly. "I did her wrong."

"I hurt Jake, as well. How awful to tell someone you loved them and then leave them. He literally had half the bones in his body broken and I walked out and left him. Embry said he still hadn't forgiven me, but Jake and I had a good talk. That's a start, right?"

"We fix things," Josh repeated.

"Fix everything," Bella echoed. "How can we do that?"

"If we do things together, we will be irresistible."

She opened her mouth. "I'm already-" But he clapped his hand over it. "Don't say it," he warned with a chuckle.