Author's Note: This chapter does contain a little lemon: nothing horribly graphic but I wanted to give a heads up.

Behind Closed Doors

I threw open the door and was instantly blasted by a coppery sweet smell. A horrible rusty red color covered the sink and floor, blood was everywhere. I had to force myself not to run; instead I held my breath and pushed all thoughts of licking up the sweet nectar covering the countertops to the back of my mind.

When the haze finally lifted, I noticed Bella lying in the bathtub, filled with reddish water. She was staring at me with glassy lifeless eyes. If my heart had been beating it would have shuttered to a painful stop right then and there. I couldn't believe that she had ended her life; I could see the deep scratches she had made on her arms. I don't remember falling to my knees or crawling pitifully to her side but I do remember when I broke down in uncontrollable dry sobs. I wished in this moment that I could have been human enough to shed real tears. As if in answer to my prayers, I felt icy cold drips of water falling into my hair and down the back of my neck. It was oddly tingling almost as if someone had placed their hand there in an oddly reassuring manner.

I glanced up to see Bella, her hand was now at the base of my neck, almost on my shoulder. It was the source of the tingling.

"Don't cry," She whispered. "I know it hurts, I feel it too. Nothing can stop the terrible burning but cold helps. Why are you crying?"

The burning!? I couldn't decide what she was talking about. So I simply stared. I couldn't believe she was alive. "Bella," I whispered afraid to disturb the quiet. I moved closer to her. "Bella, what happened? Why are you covered in blood?"

She stared at me for a few seconds before smiling slightly, almost as if I had told a joke. "I don't know, Jasper. Edward left, Jacob left. Laurent was in the woods, and then I was burning. I ran away and tried to scratch out the burning skin. I hoped I would just keep bleeding but the burning won't stop."

She held up her arms, to show me two perfect crescents, one a souvenir from James, the other fresh from Laurent. It wasn't a deep bite, hardly any venom had been injected, but it was enough to torture and torment for days. It would take more than a week for her to truly transform.

I pulled her from the bathtub and began to dry her off. My mind was buzzing with conflicting thoughts. I was brought from my internal struggles by Bella wrapping me in her arms. I was surrounded by an electrical current, more intense than the ones I had felt from her before.

"Jasper, I am so happy to see you. I know it was all real and not some vision sent by my imagination to torment me. It was all real, you really exist. I am not crazy. I can't tell you how happy I truly am!"

"You are not crazy, darling. Everything was real, just as real as I am standing here."

I had her sit on the couch. I found some dry clothes for us. The rain had picked up when I had left Charlie's but I didn't notice how wet my clothes were until I had carried her from the bathroom. The soaking clothes did not bother me but it was slightly uncomfortable and I didn't want Bella near me if I was wet, I didn't want her to get a chill.

As I peeled off my dripping shirt I was slammed into by a mountain of lust. I couldn't believe the intensity. Even Alice had never felt that strongly, her instinct was to react aggressively to my scars despite the love she had claimed to have for me. Animal instinct is impossible to ignore. Hell, in all honesty Emmett wasn't that lusty.

I glanced over and was surprised to find her eyes glued to my shirtless form, following my slightest movements. I felt extremely uncomfortable, not because I was repulsed by her reaction but because I welcomed it. I found myself watching her. I noticed how the sheet clung to her curves, the water leaving trails down her body. The cloth clinging even tighter to her breasts as it soaked up the drops from her hair.

I don't know how it happened, or who moved first but the next thing I knew we were standing in the middle of Edward's bedroom locked in a searing kiss. I ran my hands down the sides of her body to the curve of her bottom and lifted her up. Her legs instantly wrapped around my waist and locked her into position as her arms encircled my neck. I slowly moved back to the couch, carefully pulling the sheet away. Her hands tangled in my hair and the currents of electricity became even more intense.

I was kissing every inch of exposed flesh. careful to keep my teeth covered when I felt an insistent tugging on my belt. I froze, almost becoming a marble statue if it wasn't for my labored breathing. I knew with a small part of my mind we should stop but as she pulled away, I felt the need to draw her close again. She looked at me in hurt and confusion and begged me, so softly that without vampire senses I wouldn't of heard.

"Jasper, Jasper please, take the burning away, just make it go. I need to feel the icy cold of your touch."

That was my undoing. I helped her shed the rest of my clothes and the rest is a blur of tongues, teeth and nails. When we were both completely vulnerable; I looked deep into her eyes, silently asking for permission. She smiled at me and kissed me again, letting me know through her emotions that it was okay, that she wanted me as much as I wanted her. Once I was sure I slowly entered her, feeling her tremble just slightly from the cold. I was patient, relaxing her, both with gentle words and my emotions.

At first she was whispering my name like a mantra, and then she began to moan my name into my mouth. I tensed as I smelt the blood of her virginity but quickly relaxed as I was too far gone in the lust to give into my thirst. Instead I increased my rhythm, pouring my need for her into the link between us while taking in her need for me. It was an incredible experience. She was so warm and wet, her breathing ragged and her face flushed. I can't even remember it being this good when I was human.

I completely gave into my senses and we wove the waves of pleasure together, we exploded at the same moment, it was perfect. As I filled her with my icy release, I bit down hard where her throat met her shoulder. It was with her sharp intake of breath, that I realized my mistake.

She was panting heavily and unfortunately it wasn't entirely from the spectacular love making we had just shared. It was only as I pulled back to examine her that I noticed I had nipped her several times, small shallow bites but enough to have injected my venom. Only the one on her neck was deep but it was too late. I had let too much time elapse to try to suck the venom back out so instead I moved to the other bites and let the venom trickle in hoping that with multiple bites she would not suffer as much.

Now all I could do was wait for the future and pray that she would forgive me when she awoke to her new life.