Chapter Seven
The Ring
We were racing down the highway at a fast pace. The moon was out casting pale beams of light on the trees as we pasted them. We drove in silence for almost an hour and it appeared that we were climbing higher and higher, maybe up the peak of one of the nearby mountains.
Jake announced that we had arrived at our destination, as he pulled off the road and onto a parking shoulder. He got out and ran around the side of the car to open my door. Then he lifted several folded quilts out of the back seat, took me by the hand and we began to stroll, making our way to the lookout point. I could see the lights of a small town glittered like jewels in the far of distance, nestled down in a valley. We were on a peak high above the town.
He spread out one quilt on the ground and motioned for me to sit down, the other two quilts he wrapped causally around me, as if protecting me from the cold. It wasn't bad, yet, the day had been unseasonably warm, but the breeze was light and cool. Jake sat down beside me and my mind wandered to the many possibilities this evening would hold.
Jake sat with his arms draped loosely over his knees, which were propped up at an angle and his shoulders were rolled forward. He wasn't looking at me, rather out at the valley below us, as he spoke.
"I've had a lot on my mind this past week. I'm sorry I haven't been in the best of moods. But, after hours of soul searching, a long talk with my dad, and a few sleepless nights, I decided my future was in your hands, our future is in your hands, with what I need to ask you."
He turned to look at me. "Bella. I know so much has changed for us over the past months and I can't see my life without you, by my side. The thought of you going off to Seattle every day, without me, has almost made me crazy. I'm afraid you'll meet someone....maybe someone who makes you happier than you are with me. So, I feel I have to put all my cards on the table, before you go, and tell you how much you mean to me."
I stared at him in the moonlight. Looking at how the beams of light made his hair glisten, and his skin look dark and smooth. His lips were shinny and moist and his eyes were almost black. It was too dark for me to read the exact expression in them, but the tone in his voice was that of seriousness and deep commitment.
"Jake......," but he wouldn't let me speak, he placed his finger to my lips and held it there.
"Bella, before you say another word, let me finish. This is harder than I thought it would be. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, by my side as my companion, my friend, my lover, my mate, as my wife. Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me? I don't mean right away. I know that would be hard for you to accept, with me being seventeen and still in school, I wouldn't do that to you. I want us to get married, next summer, right after I graduate. I'll be eighteen then, you'll be almost finished with college, and then we can start our life together."
He dropped his finger from my lips and we sat in silence for a long while. He leaned back reaching into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it and held it in front of me.
"This belonged to my mom, before she died. Billy gave it to me this week and told me that if I felt this strongly about us being together, that he would like for me to have it to give to you. I hope you don't mind, but I thought it was sort of sentimental, you know. My mom would have loved you, if she were here."
I felt a lump in my throat that I couldn't swallow or dislodge enough to be able to speak. I just looked at the ring, then into the ebony eyes of the most handsome man in the entire universe. Tears stung my eyes and ran down my cheeks, leaving cold trails as the night air swept over my face. He saw the tears glistening in the moonlight and reached up to brush them away.
I swallowed several times and tried to make some noise exit my lips. It was only a faint, shaky whisper, but it didn't matter, I knew Jake could hear me.
"I feel like my heart might explode any minute. Jake, how can you love me so much. I've ca......caused you so much pain in the past."
"Bella, I'm not here to talk about the past, this is our future I'm talking about."
I continued through the tears, "I never thought that I would be able to love someone so completely. To crave and cherish their touch. To think about them every minute of every day. To want to be one with them, until the day I realized that I felt that way for you. Forget age, forget circumstances. I need you like the air that I breathe. You have infiltrated my heart and soul and made me feel whole again. I can't imagine a day without you in my life. Yes. Jake. Yes I'll marry you. I'll wait for you. I love you, Jake."
With that, he reached inside of the small box and pulled out the ring. It was gold with two rows of small diamonds which circled a larger diamond in the center. It fit perfectly, as he slid it in place on my hand.
"Now, everyone will know that you are spoken for," he said with a smile. I noticed a pool of tears hovering in his eyes as he looked down at me.
I reached out and captured his face in my hand, then pulled him to me so our lips touched. I moved closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He smelled so sweet and fresh, like a sunny day. I tried to breathe him in and keep his scent inside of me. He lay me back on the quilt and I felt the same passions that had assaulted me recently, when he was this close, returning.
He pulled the quilts from under me, and spread them out so I was covered. I wasn't cold at all at the moment, or if I was it didn't matter. I was on fire for him. He was up on one elbow hovering over me smothering me with his lips. He burned my neck with his touch and his lips trailed down my chest to the top of my blouse, then back up again.
I felt a tug on my blouse, as he slowly began to unbutton it. He was now under the quilt with me and his hand was roaming freely over my mid section. Softly he caressed my body, feeling his way around my breasts. He reached under me and with one hand unfastened my bra, which he quickly removed along with my blouse. Now, free from the restraint of the clothing, all I wanted was for him to press his bare chest to mine. I fumbled with his shirt, until at last it too was off, then I pressed myself against his smooth, strong chest.
Our lips, our arms, our legs intertwined with each others in rhythmic movements of pleasure. Jake lay down, pulling me on top of him, just like the day in the meadow. But this time, my body was positioned farther down, below his waist. As I sat up leaning back, letting the quilt fall free, I saw him smile as the beams of moonlight danced off my exposed breasts. His ebony eyes were smoldering as they memorized every curve they beheld, as if he were savoring the moment.
I sat deeper onto his body and felt intense heat emanating from a source below his waist. I gently pressed, feeling with my body the response of his increased blood flow. The protrusion that I felt from his body was beaconing me and it caused me to ache from within.
As I pressed myself into him, he moaned with ecstacy and breathed, "Bella....Bella....we shoul....."
Then he reached up, wrapping his arms around me, pulling me down, shifting me slightly upward, so I was resting on his waist, as his mouth found one of my breasts.
The gentleness he exhibited toward me was heavenly. At first he kissed it, then he opened his mouth and consumed it, tasting the sweetness of my skin. Now I was the one moaning.
"Jake. This is so wonderful. Jake....."
Then, with another effortless turn, he gently lay me down and was on top of me. He pulled my legs up on either side of his body and I wrapped them around him and I locked my ankles to hold him hostage.
Our lips met again and he eagerly traced the outline of mine with his tongue. I took his bottom lip in my mouth as I savored its sweet flavor. I couldn't stop myself as I came back again and again for his torrid kisses. My mind was in a frenzy of desire, but my hands knew what they were doing, as I searched for and found the zipper of his jeans. I released the hold I had around his waist, to have better access, then I pulled the zipper down.
He gasped as I slid my hand inside, with the source of the immense heat.
"No....Bella. No. I may not be strong enough....to resist you."
"Just once, Jake, let me touch you. I want to feel every part of your body."
I hesitated, waiting for his reply, kissing his chest and moving my tongue over his nipple, then bitting it tenderly. He was shuddering.
"My body, every part of it, my soul and my being belong to you," he whispered, "but, I don't want to ruin this for us, for you. I've always pictured you in a beautiful, white wedding dress, walking down the isle with your dad at our wedding"he panted. "So, you better not go any further, or those dreams might not come true."
Then he chuckled a little, and shivered a few times. I think he was hoping I would continue.
We were catching our breath, so I slowly retreated, leaving him to retrieve his zipper, before I changed my mind and proceeding with my exploration. Besides, I knew he was right. It would be so much better if we waited. Then, on the night of our wedding, completely surrendered ourselves to each other. I would wait, he would wait, and we would dream of each other until then.
As our passions ebbed away, we lay embracing each other and talked of our future, of our plans, of our love.
"Are you ready to go tell Charlie," Jake asked, with excitement brimming over in his voice?
"Are you really ready to face my dad and ask him for my hand in marriage?"
"You bet I am. I want the whole world to know we are engaged. Besides. He won't tell us no. We're going to wait a year."
We pulled our clothes from under the quilt and began dressing. Jake watched me out of the corner of his eye as I put my bra back on and pulled on my blouse.
"Bella, you are so beautiful. I'm the luckiest guy in the world."
"Thanks Jake, but I'm the lucky one. You not only saved me from myself, you complete me and make me whole."
The trip back home was too quick. I didn't want my time with Jake to end. When we got to my house I took a few deep breaths to steady my nerves, but Jake seemed perfectly calm. We walked in and my dad was laying on the sofa. It was only 11:30 p.m., so he shouldn't be upset, Jake had me home early.
"Hey Charlie. Do you mind if Bella and I talk with you a few minutes? We have some good news."
"Sure, Jake," he said, suspiciously as we entered the room and he sat up on the sofa.
I sat down in the armchair and Jake knelt down beside me on the floor, holding my hand in his, covering up the ring.
"Charlie, I want you to know that I love Bella, more than anything. She's my life, my world actually, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her, by my side. I've asked her to marry me. This won't be a rush sort of thing though, we'll wait until I turn eighteen and graduate, about this time next year. I wanted to have my ring on her hand when she went off to college, so that everyone would know that she was sort of off the market, so to speak. You can't blame me for that."
"Well, I can't say that I'm surprised, by this news, Jake. I've known for a long time that you were in love with her. I see it in the way you look at her, but Bella, how do you feel about Jake?"
"Dad, Jake is the air that I breathe, he's what makes my heart beat and I love him, maybe more than he will ever know. But I would like to spend the rest of my life trying to show him."
I looked into Jake's eyes and felt lost in my own words, this was the truth, and I had finally admitted it. Jake smiled back at me triumphantly.
"Well. We have a little time, since you guys aren't rushing into anything, to see how it goes. I don't see any reason, at this point, for me to object to you being engaged. I really very happy for both of you and I know you will make the right decisions."
With the word 'decisions', I guess Jake felt obliged to add, "don't worry Charlie, I want her to be a blushing bride, wearing the whitest dress you've ever seen."
My dad cleared his throat, a couple of times, seemed to be repressing a thankful smile, and replied,
"Jake, I'm glad you shared that with me and that you feel that way. Now, it is late and I guess I better go to bed. Goodnight you two. Congratulations."
We were left alone in the front room, as he went upstairs.
"Well, I guess I had better be going to bed too," I said.
"You have to get home, Billy will be worried."
"I wish I could stay with you tonight and hold you all night in my arms, Bella," Jake smiled sheepishly. "But until tomorrow," then he kissed my forehead and I walked him to the door.
"Hey, tomorrow I'll come spend the day in La Push and cook dinner for you and your dad. Will that be okay?"
"Sure, I'll see you in the morning."
"I love you Bella."
"Me to Jake. Me too. I'm so happy right now." And then I watched him drive away.
