Author's Note: Okay, everyone, don't get your hopes up. I don't want to jinx it or anything, but I just might be getting back into things. Not sure if it'll last, so I'm just trying to ride out on whatever inspiration I can grab. Thanks for being patient with me.

Chapter 10

"What?" Bella demanded as she pulled Irina's bedroom door open, nearly ripping it right off the hinges. To think, she had been so damn close to finally having her mate, and now she had to deal with another fucking interruption. It didn't help that Bella's libido wasn't calming down, and she was in that 'need to fuck' state that was threatening to drive her mad.

Kate was standing on the other side of the door. Upon seeing Bella appear in nothing but a bra and some jeans, her mouth dropped open. She couldn't stop herself from blatantly staring at Bella, her mouth all but watering. "Damn. Talk about sexy," she muttered at last, practically devouring Bella's body with her eyes.

Bella arched her eyebrows at Kate's words, which had taken a little bit of Bella's irritation off, but didn't get to remind Kate what she had just interrupted. In less than a second, Irina had appeared in front of Bella, shielding the half naked ancient from Kate's gaze.

"Kate, eyes off! She's mine!" Irina hissed, baring her teeth at her sister. She was not about to let Kate enjoy her mate in any way, especially when Irina hadn't gotten a chance to thoroughly enjoy Bella in every way.

Immediately, Kate took a step away from Irina, just in case Irina would try to take a swipe at her. "It's not my fault your super sexy mate answered the door half naked!" she protested. "I can only exert so much self control!"

"Damn it, just shut your eyes. And Bella, where is your shirt?" Irina whirled to glare at her mate. In response, Bella only arched her eyebrows and gestured to the ripped up scraps of cloth near the bed.

For a moment, Irina simply simmered. Had she been human, she would have been completely red with a mix of embarrassment and fury. She started to say something to Bella, who covered her mouth with her hand.

"You can't blame me for this one, babe. You are the one who ripped off my shirt," Bella said, eyes glinting with wicked humor.

Irina let out a huge breath of air, forcing her body to relax, only to notice Kate was still checking out her mate. "Kate!" Irina snapped, taking a step towards her sister.

Realizing how quickly things could get out of hand and not wanting to be the cause, Bella looped an arm around Irina's waist and pulled her backwards, keeping the feisty blonde pinned against Bella's body. Irina struggled momentarily, which quickly caused Bella's eyes to darken to black, feeling incredibly turned on. Had Kate not been there, Bella would have pinned Irina to the floor and ravished Irina thoroughly.

Which reminded her…

Bella reluctantly tore her eyes from Irina to meet Kate's gaze. For a moment, Kate froze, her body feeling unnaturally heavy. She would never be able to fully describe what she had felt right then, but all she could say was that Bella was powerful, incredibly so. Her gaze alone made it impossible for Kate to move, think, or even breathe, and once released, Kate would wonder if this was a power of Bella's.

Thankfully, Kate was released soon enough, despite still staring into Bella's eyes. As she tried to figure out just what had happened, Bella said, "Well, just what has to be so important that you disturbed us, Katrina?"

Had Bella ever heard Kate's full name before? Well, whatever, Kate had more important things to focus on. One of them being not to openly stare at Bella, lest her sister rip her head off. Not to mention why Kate was here in the first place.

"Oh, uh, right." Kate struggled to get her thoughts in order, glancing towards the wall so Irina wouldn't think she was staring again. "The urgent business...um, what was it again?"

Irina let out a low, angry growl, her eyes turning black.

"Hey, don't get pissy, it's your mate's fault for mindfucking me!" Kate snapped defensively, making Bella raise an eyebrow.

Fuck, I didn't actually do that, did I? Bella thought, a little worried. Well, I had been completely distracted by Irina, and I had been pissed we had been interrupted...shit, maybe I did. Or maybe Kate was just talking about my sexiness? Bella wasn't sure which was worse, especially in Irina's mind. Seeing as her blonde angel seemed to think Kate meant Bella's sexiness and grow even more possessive, Bella decided that her own sexiness was definitely the biggest concern. It definitely didn't help the fact that had Irina not been her mate, she would have pursued Kate too, bunny muncher or not. The woman was definitely sexy in her own right, and Bella would have been curious to see how her electric powers would have played into things during sex. It would have been a shocking experience, to say the least. Definitely hot as all get out, too.

Okay, it's official; it was a really good thing to have met Irina first. Bella knew her angel wouldn't take the news that Bella had fucked her sister too well. Hell, she doubted Irina would even take the knowledge that Bella had thought about Kate's power and having sex in the same sentence, Irina was apparently that possessive.

Of course, that possessiveness could make things super sexy in so many situations. Once they had gotten into having sex daily, Bella might actually consider playing with that possessiveness for a bit. She loved how riled up and feisty Irina could get.

"...Isabella here…"

At hearing those two words from Kate's mouth, Bella knew it couldn't be good. Her head, which had been busy nuzzling Irina's neck as Bella's imagination went wild with all sorts of sexual fantasies, jerked up to gaze at Kate with confusion.

"Wait, what about me?" Bella asked, tuning back into the real world. It was also then that Bella realized Irina was trying to pull Bella's hands out from under her shirt, hands that had been slowly but surely creeping up to Irina's breasts. "Shit, sorry angel," Bella said, moving her hands back to a safer spot, which was apparently gripping Irina's hips.

"It's fine, just wait until we have some privacy," Irina replied, before turning back to Kate. Irina was still clearly annoyed with her sister, but at least she didn't try to kill her. Instead, she simply said, "Repeat it, Kate."

"Apparently, Isabella here might have a few enemies," Kate said, trying to hide her mischievous smirk. "Some chick appeared out of nowhere, following your mate's scent," with this, she gestured at Bella. "Anyways, she started ranting, threatening to burn us all. There was something about revenge, and she even said something about a harem…?" At this revelation, Kate seemed torn between amusement and confusion, maybe even a little awe.

Bella's eyes widened with the words, her body stiffening, and this was enough to make Irina turn to glare up at Bella accusingly. "What do you know about this?" Irina demanded, pulling slightly out of Bella's arms.

"Something." Bella tightened her hold, refusing to let Irina get too far away from her. "But it's nothing too important, I promise you." Bella focused back on Kate, adding, "Where is she now?"

"Currently, she's on the ground, writhing in pain with all of her senses cut off." This time, Kate's lips twitched, a smirk threatening to escape. While Kate apparently still harbored some hatred for the twins, their reaction to the girl must have been hilarious. "They heard the woman's ramblings and came over to contain the threat."

"Great," Bella said, stopping a smile of pride just in case it rubbed Irina the wrong way. But what could Bella say? She loved her twins. Within a second, she switched from happy and prideful to serious, nearly giving the two sisters whiplash. "I'll take care of it." Once again, her emotions switched, this time to loving as she gazed down at her mate. "My past is my past, my angel," she murmured, nuzzling Irina behind the ear. "Know that you are the only one for me now, and you will be until the end of time."

Irina nearly melted at the sweet honest in Bella's voice, but managed to get a hold of herself enough to stay standing. She nodded shakily, making Bella beam with relief, before taking off towards wherever the woman and the twins were.

"Are you going to stand there all day, or are you going to join me in witnessing the action?" Kate asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows and an unashamed grin, making Irina want to smack her upside the head.

"Obviously, I'm going to follow her." Irina paused, her eyes darkening with possessive fury as she came to another realization. "Especially since Bella still isn't wearing a fucking shirt!"

Kate's eyes widened in surprise at one of the rare expletives coming from Irina's mouth, but wisely kept her mouth shut as Irina grabbed the biggest shirt from her closet that she could find and raced outside, after her mate.

She was too late. Bella was already standing in front of the captured female, not to mention the witch twins and Irina's entire coven, completely shirtless. The instinctive part of her wanted to attack anyone who dared look at her mate, but the rational part of her made her turn her ire on Bella herself for rushing out of the house without a shirt.

"Ow?" Bella said, a little unsurely as Irina shoved the large, billowy black shirt into Bella's stomach, hard enough to cause some cracks on a weaker vampire.

"You say I'm the only one for you now, yet you let other people see you half naked?" Irina hissed back lowly in reply. Damn it, she knew a part of it was irrational, but she didn't even get to thoroughly taste Bella's body yet. Maybe a few years after Bella had been marked would calm Irina down, but right now, all she could see was her half naked mate standing in front of her, allowing eight other vampires to see her. She really wanted to make it clear that Bella was hers, physically if she had to, despite the fact that she knew the twins didn't seem to view Bella as a sexual object, Eleazar and Carmen were mated, the new vampire was clearly indisposed of and couldn't even see Bella, and Laurent would never be able to see Bella in a sexual light because he hated her. Her emotions were only heightened by her caged lust, annoyance at being interrupted, and her desperate desire to mark and claim Bella in every way possible.

Basically, Irina was an emotional mess. God, she felt like a newborn again, and it was horrible.

"Oh, yeah," Bella sounded surprised, as if she had no idea that walking around shirtless was a bad idea, let alone enough of a problem to get Irina all upset. She started to grin as she stared at her mate, thrilled with the knowledge that she had just an effect on Irina and that Irina wanted her so badly, if the fire in Irina's black eyes was enough of an indication.

Damn, what Bella wouldn't do to just have her way with her angel already...they wouldn't get out of bed, or wherever they had started fucking, for days.

Irina bared her teeth, not even noticing Bella's desire for her. Instead, she was focused on the fact that Bella was grinning at her, and still didn't have her shirt on. Composing herself, Irina crossed her arms over her chest and arched an eyebrow. "Would you rather I take off my shirt as well then?" she asked scathingly.

The possessive inside of Bella fire roared to life. Without a thought, she grabbed Irina and jerked the smaller vampire against her body. "Mine!" she roared, surprising everyone-save for the twins-with the amount of power behind the word. Then she crushed her lips against Irina's, taking and possessing her with just her mouth, making it clear that the only one allowed to see Irina in any state of undress was Bella, and Bella alone.

Irina kissed Bella back just as passionately, her hands fisting on Bella's shoulders to stop herself from digging her nails into Bella's skin. She made sure Bella knew that she belonged to Irina just as much as Irina belonged to her, starting a fight with lips and tongue despite knowing that Bella would dominate her in the end.

As she reclaimed her mate and banished any possibility of Irina taking her shirt off from Irina's mind, Bella's desires once again let themselves be known. Unable to help herself, a hand moved to one of Irina's perfect breasts as she imagined finally fitting herself between her angel's thighs and pleasuring her in a way that Irina would never forget.

Laurent's eyes darkened to black as he witnessed the scene, and he itched to attack and kill Bella. Alec, of course, noticed, and was more than happy to turn his gift on the french vampire as well, unconcerned with upsetting the treaty between them and the Denalis if it meant keeping his Queen safe. Before his creeping gift could reach the man, Jane cleared her throat, breaking up the overexcited couple and causing the hatred to fade from Laurent's gaze. Knowing he couldn't use his gift when Laurent's body posture showed no sign of attack, Alec withdrew his gift reluctantly.

"Forgive me," Jane said with a quick bow, only just managing not to add "My Queen" as Bella's annoyed gaze rested on her. Still, the bow was enough to raise quite a few eyebrows. "I just felt we should deal with the problem at hand before things get too...energetic."

"Right," Bella said, her voice a mix of grumble and sigh as she turned to the woman, pulling on the shirt Irina had given her.

There wasn't much that a normal vampire would be able to discern from the captive vampire, as the woman wore ratty and ill fitting clothes. Not to mention that her scent was completely covered by mud, dirt, and heavy perfumes.

And, oh yeah, her head was currently covered by a hood that those who were about to be executed wore, something many vampires hadn't seen since the middle ages. It had to have been Jane that brought it with her all the way from Volterra, but why, Bella didn't know and wasn't about to question.

That's right. A normal vampire wouldn't have been able to understand who this particular woman was, but Bella wasn't a normal vampire. No, she was actually one of the lustiest women known to man, capable of knowing a woman's curves and body shape with just a glance. To make Bella even more formidable, she remembered every curve, dip, ridge, and swell of every woman she had ever slept with, and would be able to recognize that body even from a good distance. And this was a body Bella knew well, one she had enjoyed every inch of time and time again, her pleasure spanning decades.

Fuck.

Hoping she was wrong, despite knowing that being wrong was impossible, Bella looked over at Jane. "Remove the hood," she told the girl seriously.

With a nod, Jane loosened the strings and did just that, earning two gasps. As one, Bella and Laurent spoke a single name:

"Victoria!"