chapter 12

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.

Thanks to BanSidhe [ruadh sidhe] and Feebes86 for betaing and pre-reading.


Paul stood inside the door with Bella still in his arms. Bella looked worried. "Are we doing the right thing?" she asked in a tiny whisper.

"She'll be fine," he assured her. "She just needs some space to herself and then she will come and join us." His head tilted. "I heard that!" he shouted.

Bella smiled. "What did she say?"

"She's grizzling about me stinking up her house."

"Really? You stank it up before, I would have thought." Bella leaned in and sniffed at him. "You smell fresh and clean, right now… but usually you smell… I dunno… I think you smell good."

"Yeah?" he looked oddly pleased. "Not near as good as you smell to me."

"I do?" She looked over joyed.

"Yeah." He shoved his face into her neck and inhaled deliberately loudly.

Bella laughed and leaned back from him a little. He still held her at the hips. He leaned his back against the bedroom wall. Her eyes glanced down to this chest where Leah's marks were still visible. She brushed the fingertips of one hand across them again. Paul watched her. She found the bite mark on his pec.

"You hit each other?" Bella asked, in a small voice.

"Yeah and bit, scratched and wrestled."

"Is that normal for wolves… I mean, that's pretty strong for people?"

"I don't know. No one has tried it before. As far as we know."

"No female wolves before, so nobody could try it."

"No. And she started it. I just hit her back." He made a shrug movement. "I suppose I pushed at her until she hit me."

Bella bit her lip.

"I'd never hit you," he crooned. "With Leah it was a kind of a dominance thing."

"Who's the better wolf you mean? So, who won?"

He grinned. "I did. Earned the right to mate."

Bella looked thoughtful. "You also won against her earlier; just before she cried."

"Yeah, but she wasn't really letting loose, then. Not much of a fight."

Bella stared at his chest.

He stroked her back with one hand, holding her easily with the other. "Whassup?"

"She wouldn't let me watch," Bella said.

He nodded.

"She said I might be frightened."

He waited.

"But you don't hurt me."

"Sex can be all about losing control. But I could hurt you. That's the problem."

"No," she disagreed. "I don't think you'd ever hurt me. And Leah doesn't."

The thought crossed his mind that Bella Swan was alarmingly naive and had learned nothing from her aborted dating experience with Edward Cullen. People hurt you when you let them in to your heart and your world, in his experience. The bruises you could see didn't hurt as much as the ones you couldn't. He didn't say it; he'd had enough emotion tonight. Now, he wanted sex.

He lowered his head and pushed under her face. She kissed him. He shifted her in his arms; lifting her closer to his body. "You gonna get those clothes off?"

"You're ready?"

"And naked. Stop talking, Bella." He kissed her again.

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"Still talking, Bella."

She giggled. "Put me down."

"In a minute." He turned and pressed her up against the wall; holding her there. "You got any condoms?"

Bella blushed like a tomato.

"What did I say?" he asked.

"I b-bought some… j-just in case..."

He grinned. "Just in case I came over?" he asked.

"Yes," she confessed. "I matched the wrapper."

"And the size?"

"I just got the biggest."

He laughed delightedly. "Now, what was that about secrets?"

Bella looked irritated. "I would have asked her first."

"Yeah. I reckon you would have, too."

"Who's talking now?" she chided.

He ignored her. "Are you angry with her?"

"No. Being angry makes me feel sick. But I was upset that she hid it."

"I didn't hide anything," he suggested.

"You showed her you and me… together? The pack memory?"

He nodded. "I think that might have upset her. It was a good idea, but it was too detailed, you know."

Bella nodded. "I can see that. It's one thing to be told… but it would be like watching the video."

"Worse."

She looked sad and serious.

Paul had liked seeing her so happy to see him. "She's trying to apologize now."

"I know. How did you know how she felt about Sam?"

"I was there."

"Part of the early pack?"

"Yeah… we were all good friends. You go through that together, you know?" He sighed. "Leah phasing was hard for us all. She was so angry and she seemed to deliberately remember stuff to upset him. Stuff she probably should have kept private. That was too hard on the virgins."

"And Seth."

"I tried to keep Seth with me to protect him."

"She knows that, but maybe not why you did it."

"I might tell her… one day." He kissed Bella again. "Now, where were we?"

"I'm still worried about Leah," Bella confessed.

"I got that, what with the delay; all talk, not much action."

"Am I so transparent?"

"No. Tell you what, I'm undressed. We'll just be naked and waiting for her. We won't start without her. Would that make you feel better?"

"Yes. She growled at you when you kissed me."

"Of course. Territory."

"I'm hers."

"Yep. She told me again in the bathroom when we were washing our hands. But I'm just borrowing you."

"And then you'll give me back?"

"Yeah."

"You wanted to do this ages ago didn't you?"

"Be with you both?" he checked.

A nod.

"Me?" He tried to look innocent and failed spectacularly.

Bella laughed.


When Leah got out of the shower, she put on a silk kimono that Bella had bought her. She stopped in the doorway to the bedroom. They weren't having sex; she knew that when she couldn't hear or smell them. They were both naked on the bed, but Paul was lying face down and Bella was sitting next to him with her feet curled up underneath her. She was laughing.

"She made a mess of your ass." She ran her hands over the fading nail marks.

"The final lunge; she grabbed me, sunk the nails in and I lost it. That finished me."

"So you like nails?"

"A bit. Not too much."

"I don't have any nails." Bella pouted. "Oh, here she is," Bella said, as if Paul didn't know Leah was there. "Hey."

Leah nodded. "Hey."

"Man, I could fall asleep here," Paul commented. His eyes were closed. His face resting on his folded arms. His head was at the foot of the bed.

"No. You can't!" Bella protested.

"I've got a full tummy and I'm tired. Leah wore me out." He opened his eyes and winked at Leah.

"Oh, poor Paul," Leah said, in mock sympathy.

Bella chuckled. She looked up at Leah. "We were waiting for you. We decided not to start without you."

"Thanks."

Leah still hadn't entered the room.

Suddenly she got what Paul was doing; he was lower than her, his head held down below hers, he was lying down and he was not in a fighting stance. He was all kinds of submissive. He was trying to keep Bella happy by being here and her happy by not upsetting her wolf with a display of dominance. He was even flashing his ass at her and he knew how much she liked his ass. She had felt overwhelmed before, when he had held her and she cried, but now she felt a little better about this.

And Bella hadn't jumped Paul immediately. She must have delayed him; he had been intent on bedding her first. Leah felt a whole lot more confident about her lover.

Bella was standing in front of her. Her hands slid inside the kimono. "I love the feel of the silk under my fingers."

"I know. That's why you gave it to me."

"You in it is a bonus." She hugged her around the waist, her breasts brushing against Leah's skin. It felt familiar and safe; her Bella. She lifted her hands and held her head. She kissed her. Her fingers tangling in her hair. Bella's hands stroking her skin; caressing and touching. Her tongue in her mouth. Bella kissed her way down to Leah's breasts. Leah's arms were trapped for a second until she shrugged out of the kimono. It slid from her shoulders and fell to the floor with a whisper of silk on her skin.

She cradled Bella to her. Burying her face in her hair. Bella's mouth locked around her nipple. Leah's head tilted back. She opened her eyes slowly and saw Paul. He was staring at them intently; his eyes burning with desire. They stared at each other. He didn't blink. He hadn't moved on the bed. Still resting his chin on his hands, but his whole body looked tense with anticipation.

She gave him a small wicked smile.

He raised one eyebrow a fraction.

She could do this. In fact, she wanted it now.

She started to back Bella towards the bed. Paul licked his lips. He moved, very slowly; his arms unfolded and reached for them. Bella startled when he touched her as if she had forgotten he was there. His hands slid in between her legs and she moaned. He rolled over onto his back. His cock was already erect and lying up his body. He had been lying on top of some condom wrappers.

Bella scrambled onto the bed. Paul looked at Leah. He gave a head jerk that invited her onto the bed as well. She climbed on. He had lifted up on his elbows a little. He held his face towards her. Leah leaned down and captured his lips. They kissed. One hand reached up and pulled her harder onto his face.

Bella made a small noise. She was touching them both. She clambered down the bed and wrapped her hands around Paul's cock. He made a grunt as she stroked him.

She tore the condom wrapper herself. Leah pulled back to look at her.

"Useful life skills," said Paul. He reached for Leah's hand and held it.

He and Leah watched as Bella rolled the condom down to cover him. He grinned at Bella. She straddled his body and moved up his body to kiss him. Leah watched and managed not to growl at them. She gripped Paul's hand harder. He didn't react.

"Now, what are you going to do with it?" he asked Bella mischievously.

She grinned back at him. She kissed him again quickly, then slid backwards with her hand under her. She guided herself onto his cock. Lifting and lowering until she had him all the way in. "Oh, yes," she cried when she sank all the way down onto him.

Leah watched Bella. She was definitely enjoying herself. Leah liked seeing that.

"Mmmm," he said; clearly enjoying himself as well.

He reached for Leah, now. "Hop on," he suggested.

She blinked.

He stretched his tongue out and curled the end.

Oh now. He hadn't gone down on Leah before. She knew he had done Bella, she had seen it in the memory. And she had done him, but at the moment it was clearly her turn.

"We'll squish you," said Bella, when Leah seemed to be hesitating.

"And I would die happy." He sounded very sincere.

Leah snorted. She went to climb onto his face and he made her turn around so that she faced Bella. His arms lifted and bent at the elbows, he reached over her hips to grasp Leah's ass with his palms and pulled her onto his mouth. She leaned forward a little to meet Bella at the same time that Paul's tongue went to work. She actually grabbed at Bella; it surprised her.

"Ohh," she moaned.

"So good," said Bella.

Leah wasn't sure if she was talking about Paul's tongue or his cock. She grabbed her at the top of the arms, pulling her off Paul's cock and then pushing her back down. Bella just let herself go; letting Leah control the pace. And Paul lay underneath them both. He was almost just the tool they used. Leah knew how dominant he could be. She had seen that in the forest earlier. But now he let her control the action. She appreciated it. He had said he could be what they both needed and he did seem to be trying.

Then he started to fuck her with his tongue and she completely lost it.


When she woke up, the room reeked of him but he was gone. She and Bella were curled up asleep amongst the rumpled sheets.

Bella blinked at her when she woke. "He did say he wasn't moving in," she said.