~Sorry for the delay.

Chapter 10

Jacob started undressing in front her. Bella sat up on her bed. She climbed high on her knees to bring her lips against the ridges of his stomach. Bella placed a kiss on each muscle she could decipher. He was a thing of beauty and he deserved to be appreciated.

Her fingers traced the contours of his muscles. She'd deprived herself ten days, maybe he worked out extra to blow off steam, but she swore he was bigger, more defined than ever. Jacob leaned over to take the lead. The passion in his kiss stole her breath. His knee dug into the mattress. He was climbing on the bed with her, but Bella halted him.

"No, wait."

"More waiting? I thought we both promised no more waiting."

She held her lip between her teeth. That wasn't what she meant. She wasn't accustomed to saying what she wanted sexually out loud. Bella thought she would show him instead. Her fingers found his belt. She quickly released him from his denim confines and pumped his length with her fingers.

He reached for her hand. "You don't have to. I was having fun messing with you earlier. You're not punished. I swear."

"If you think pleasing you is punishment, you don't know me very well. I'm going to show you what it's like to be your prisoner."

Jacob groaned when her mouth made initial contact. His fingers twisted into her long hair. "Fuck, Bells."

Bella pushed him on the bed after a few seconds of warm up. "Get comfy. We're going to be awhile. I've gotten pretty good at this."

"Oh yeah, sounds like you're bragging. Refresh my memory."

Bella closed her lips around his hard cock and made a slow drag from hilt to tip. Jacob immediately changed his tune, said no bragging involved, she was better than either remembered. She planned to wet his appetite for her again, but they got carried away. Jacob promised he wouldn't disappoint her, so Bella performed her blow job to completion. It was amazing to command that sort of response from her strong man. Jake was at her mercy when she had him in that position. She climbed up his body with a sense of accomplishment. Bella stopped to rest her head against his chest. He was still in the awe stage.

"Your heart is strong, like the rest of you. I think it's one of my favorite sounds in the world."

Jacob stroked her bare back. Sometime during her extended round of fellatio, he insisted she be bare so his hands could roam her body. He promised he only needed a brief recovery time.

"You're next. I'm just savoring the last few seconds on replay. Damn, my woman is hot."

She had trouble accepting praise normally, but this time she said, "Thanks, I try." Bella didn't actually set out to be hot, but it was nice he thought she was. A glimmer of her former personality reared in the form of uncertainty. "I don't deserve this second chance. I know that."

Jacob pulled her up. "Come here. I want to look at you." Bella shimmied the rest of the way until they were face to face. "Every discouraging word, every time you pushed away, I allowed that, Bells. I'm no glutton for punishment normally, but I knew there was more to your story. I knew when you were ready, we'd be in this exact spot. Do you know how difficult it was to make love you all those times and not say exactly how I felt?"

"Yes, I think so. Thanks for your patience. I never had much myself."

He promised this time would be different, "Same, but better and I swear it's going to keep getting better."

She didn't know how that was possible. He was damned near perfection in bed. Bella felt like one of those explicit women that wrote tell-all articles in her doctor's office magazines. I come multiple times every time. Jacob held her cheek in his hand. "Keep your eyes on me and you'll never doubt how much I love you." Bella closed the distance with Jacob so she could kiss his mouth. He turned them over. It was his turn to take charge. His lips and hands blazed a path across her body. She melded into his touch. "Let me love you, Bells."

"Always." She had never promised anyone forever, but that was how different it was between them. Bella never wanted another man's hands on her and she'd knock down any woman that came near Jacob. Maybe knock down was an exaggeration for her, but she'd give a good shove to protect what was hers. Bella was in love and the reality came pouring in. It was her first time.

After thoroughly pleasing her in all the ways he possessed, Jacob stated his prediction was spot on. "You taste so sweet. I swear you changed something, but it's still familiar."

"Nope, I'm just me."

"That's the best I could ask for." Jacob readied himself to join her body. He rubbed his length over her opening. She felt hot flesh entering her.

"Jake, you're forgetting something."

"Not really. Just once, can I? I promise, I'll be careful. I wanted a minute with nothing in between us. Correction. I need it."

It was a foreign request, something she had never done, but Bella nodded. She trusted him and if she was completely honest, she wanted the same thing. She had the misfortune of suffering several days on her period when she was separated from Jake. It most likely was a safe time of the month, anyway. The second he slid inside her, Bella held her breath and pinched her eyes tight.

"Open them, honey. Look at me. Trust me, 'kay. I love you. I'll never hurt you. I swear it on my life."

Bella pulled him further into her body. She clung every way possible with her arms and legs. He felt amazing against her, moving inside her. Jacob's hands kneaded her flesh. He pumped in and out of her with no hesitancy. Bella reached down to pull her thighs higher, so she could take him deeper. He followed with harder, faster thrusts that touched her in new places. Her toes curled, her body tingled all over and the warmth that surrounded them penetrated Bella to her core. The pleasure took over, and all she could feel, hear and taste in the air was Jacob. There was a difference without a barrier. She could easily lose her conscience and tell him to hell with careful and responsible. Be wild and reckless with me, Jacob. Make me yours, leave everything to chance.

In the end, Jacob stayed true to his promise. He added the condom, but not before he showered her with a long session of skin on skin sex. Bella didn't pay attention in sex-ed. It was too embarrassing to her, but they should be good... no accidents. She swore to him next week she'd see a doctor. She was way overdue for a check up, anyway. The experience earlier was too good not to repeat, but she wasn't ready to end up pregnant no matter what craziness her sex brain had just told her.

"That was amazing. So good. Thanks for crashing my dinner date and completely perving on me in front of Mike and Jessica. I'm sure they know by now."

"Yeah, Newton is slow on the uptake, but he probably had an aha moment on the way back to town. I'm sure he convinced Jessica to quit talking for a second and filled her in. Those two were actually meant for each other. I'm not sure what the non-sexual soulmate thing is about. I might give the guy a bit of advice and tell him to gag and bag her. I bet they'll end up married after that."

"You sound so wise about male/female relations." She laughed at his assessment concerning Jess and Mike.

"I'm thinking you might want to break it to Charlie. Our relationship could be on the city's website tomorrow."

"I will. You should come to our dinner, but you have to practice better table manners. No touching under the table or sampling me in the kitchen while Dad's around."

"Of course. I'd never put you on the spot in front of Charlie. By the way, Dad knows."

"Oh."

"He didn't before, but you broke it off. I figured I didn't owe you anymore. Only Dad. I didn't tell anyone else. He's been helping me. There's some weird shit going on, mainly with my dreams and Levi."

"Levi? Is he okay?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you all about it later, but it's heavy stuff. Maybe we should rest first. And Dad is super excited. Everyday, he fussed at me to get off my ass and go win my girl back."

"I love him. That's great."

"Why don't you sound so convincing?"

Jacob read her so well. Bella did have hesitation in her voice after coming off the sexual high. "It's not what you think. I'm not changing my mind again, but you might. The more I think about what I'm going to ask of you, the more I think it might be too much. I understand if it is. I'll be crushed, but you're that important to me. I won't make you walk through the fire for me."

Jacob pointed her chin up so he could look in her eyes. "Burn me, baby. I'm not going anywhere. Let's get a good night's sleep. I'll be right here holding you when you wake up. Then we can talk more."

"I can't sleep. I have to tell you, Jacob. I have to tell you all of it."

"What about the highlights? You said you loved me. That's huge. We can open up a little at a time." Jacob was so damn patient, it increased Bella's anxiety. She wiggled from his hold, got off the bed, and searched for her robe. "Wait, Bells. Where are you going?" He was up next slipping on his pants right behind her.

"I have struggled so long to say it, why don't I show you?"

Bella opened her jewelry box and pulled out the key. Jacob followed her to the next room. She turned the key and twisted the knob. Jacob flipped on the light as they entered the room. It was halfway put together and the other part chaos with her drawings, paintings, photo albums and special memories. He walked to the biggest canvas in front of the white dresser.

Jacob stared at the details of the person in the painting for what felt like an eternity. He traced the outline of a pair of big brown eyes with one finger. "Almost exactly how I picture a little Bella."

"Her name's Sadie."

Jacob wrapped his arms around her and kissed her head. "She's beautiful, honey. Just like her mommy."

Bella looked up at Jake with tears streaming down her cheeks. He wasn't as shocked as she expected. "You knew?"

"I suspected."

"The picnic we went on a few weeks ago? I knew you saw my stretch marks in the sun. They're not bad, but the light gives me away."

"Bells, there were other clues, but yeah, Becca has kids, so does Lee. I swear to God, don't ever say that I said Leah has stretch marks unless you are willing to stand by and see me castrated." He hugged her again. "Your body is beautiful and perfect. I love every inch of it. I'm in awe you made this precious human, Bells. She has the same light in her eyes you do. I'm so sorry, honey. Your heart must break every second of the day without her."

"It does."

"You don't have to tell me all of it tonight, but what happened to her? When did you lose Sadie?"

"Wait. You think she's dead, don't you?"

Jacob's eyes widened at Bella's bluntness, "Umm... well, you're devastated about something and I've been with you all summer. I can't picture you giving up your young child for any reason. She isn't here, so yeah, I assumed there was an accident or a horrible illness."

"Jacob, Sadie isn't dead. She's very much alive. I raised her on my own for almost five years until her father tracked me down. He's not good. I thought he was at one time, but he's not and he has her."

"Jesus Christ. What the fuck? Are the police looking? Is Charlie on the case? Where and when did this happen? Charlie said you were in Portland and Seattle before coming back here. I can't believe this isn't in the news everyday."

"It didn't make the news because it wasn't a kidnapping. He's rich and powerful and he took her with a court order. The police were called, but not for him... for me. I went to jail trying to flee the country. There's a looming case at the end of the summer. If I don't win, she'll never come back home, Jake. Now do you understand? This is life or death because if they keep Sadie away from me forever, I'll die. I was barely clinging to life before I met you this summer and you brought me back from feeling like the undead. But this is just the beginning. His lawyers have already ripped me to shreds at the hearing. They say I'm unfit and he can offer Sadie more than I can. I have to do this right. I can't give you up, but it's going to be ugly. Are you sure you want to be in my battle?"

"I already am. You have my word, I will help however I can. I would never hurt you or your daughter. First things first. Why is this guy bad? I have a sick feeling it's more than because he's cruel prick taking a little girl from her mother."

"It's awful. We've only scratched the surface. I wouldn't take a child away from her father without good reason. You know me by now."

Bella had never told anyone the whole story. It sounded unbelievable even though it happened to her. She was finally ready to say the words and trust another human being with her most intimate shame.

To do so, Bella had to close her eyes and remember the whole story. She didn't want to, but there wasn't any other choice. Jacob had to hear it. Bella hoped it didn't alter his love for her, but given the circumstances, it very well could.

~Thanks for reading.

Well, now you know something significant, but there's so much more to this story.