Chapter 12:

Jacob's POV

Opening the window of my room, I jumped out, landing steadily on my feet. Being a shapeshifter has allowed me to be very coordinated. It seemed unnatural to me now, how awkward and clumsy Bella can be. Coordination and balance were as natural to me as breathing. With only my jeans, I ran towards the woods. Once under the cover of the lush vegetation, I stripped and phased to my wolf, so I could run faster to the clearing.

I was eager to see Edward. Restless even. Even though, I had seen him a few hours ago. Spent the whole day with him really. My wolf was humming with contentment.

A few minutes later, as I got closer to our clearing, I could smell my imprintee. His sweet, but sharp pine smell wafted towards and I slowed down to phase. As I pulled my jeans back on, I inhaled his scent again. He reminded me of a crisp winter morning before Christmas. Pine trees with the sweetness of Christmas desserts. I closed my mind to him, knowing he could smell me too, from where he was standing.

Smirking as I thought of him waiting for me, in our clearing, I shoved my hands in my pockets and walked with a determined stride towards Edward. As I emerged from the woods, I saw him leaning casually against a tree. He was still wearing the dark green shirt and the brown pants from this evening, thus blending easily with the forest behind him. I would have had a hard time picking him out of the background, had his amber irises not locked with mine. It was hard to look away from him as I crossed the clearing, with determination.

His eyes slid down and took in my attire. Or should I say lack of. I was clad only of my jeans. No shirt, no shoes.

I kept my poker face on, as I tried to ignore the smugness that rose in me. I looked good, and I knew it. Edward knew it. He admired it. I knew that too.

Not eating the last couple of days was certainly advantageous at the moment, my jeans were a little looser and had slid lower on my hips, allowing my hip bones to jut out, thus outlining the 'V' of my hips even more. My abs were rock hard still, as were every other muscle in my body.

As soon as I reached him, he opened his mouth to say 'hi,' but I beat him to it with a greeting of my own. Taking advantage of his open mouth, I grabbed his upper lips with mine and kissed him.

He let a muffled cry of surprise against my lips, but didn't push me off. Instead his hands loosen at his side and he rested them on my hips, as I felt his lips move under mine.

Taking my time, I memorized the feel of his velvety cold lips against my warm mouth. Sliding my tongue passed his lips, I ran it across his front teeth, steering clear of his fangs.

Finally, when I ran low on oxygen, I lifted my head and looked at Edward's face. He forced his eyelids open and watched me with a hooded glare. His eyes had turned black with desire. Giving him a crooked smile when he didn't try to move away or remove his hands from my hips, I moved my left hand up his neck till I was cradling the side of his head.

I ducked my head again to find his lips. Once he started kissing me back, I pressed closer to his body, feeling the hard planes of his body against mine. I moved us back until he had his back pressed against the bark of a tree.

His right hand moved up from my hip to the side of my body. His cold hand caused me to shiver and moan against his lips.

Fire and Ice.

Who knew Edward Cullen could turn me on?

Or that I could turn him on.

I could definitely feel his erection through my pants. Experimenting a little, I rolled my hips against his, causing him to groaned seductively against my swollen lips.

I pressed myself closer to him, and the friction against our hardened members caused us, both to hiss slowly.

It was all the encouragement I needed.

With my one hand pressed against the tree, next to Edward's bronze hair, I dragged my lips away from his mouth and pressed light, slow and sensual kisses across his jawline. As I nibbled on his ear lobe, I bucked against him, causing him to moan softly.

I could have came just hearing him moan. But, I wanted more, so I bucked again.

"Jake."He moaned my name, nearly causing me to come undone.

As I rolled my hips against his again, and he opened his mouth to moan my name again. I gave him an open mouthed kiss and swallowed my name from his lips.

Dropping my hands to his shirt, I started unbuttoning it while his hands clawed at my back. He was driving me insane.

My temperature had shot up and his cold hands were causing me to tremble.

"Fuck," I swore lightly as my hands shook. I kept missing his stupidly small buttons.

Edward chuckled and slapped my hands away and undid his shirt, while I watched him. He was beautiful. The wind was blowing through his hair, making it a little messier than it already was. his cheeks were, surprisingly white, his pink lips were swollen, his jawline was lined with nips, which seemed like someone had scratched him there and took off some skin. But, as far as I could tell, it was already sealing itself shut. His black eyes met mine when he finished popping the last button open.

I watched him, watching me. I wanted him to make the first move now. I needed to know he wanted this as much as I did.

Soon enough, his pale hand came up to my flaming cheek and caressed it. I swear I heard a sizzling sound caused by the difference in the temperature of our skin. As he tangled his long fingers in my hair, I allowed mine to roam the newly exposed flesh of his chest. As I came across his nipples, I took one of the buds between my forefinger and my thumb and rolled it. His gasp caused my cock to twitch.

He pulled me in for another kiss as I kept my fingers moving nimbly on his nipples. Bucking a couple of times into him, I swallowed his moans in my mouth. Soon enough, my thrusts became a little more persistent and quicker.

Ripping his lips away from mine, "Faster," Edward gasped in my ear.

So, I thrusted faster against him. Faster and faster.

" I'm gonna cum," I breathed in his ear.

" Me too," he whispered feverishly.

After a few more thrusts, I heard Edward's breathless voice in my ear, " Ahhh," he panted, even though he didn't need to breathe. His sexually frenzied voice drove me over the edge too, and I came seconds after he did.

As I laid on top of him, against the tree, I felt him unclaw his fingers from my back and drop them to my ass. Panting, I tried to catch my breath.

Propping myself up with the palm of my hand, I pushed off the trunk of the tree and watch Edward as he tried to catch his unneeded breath. As his eyes met mine, I felt laughter bubble up from the inside me.

His eyes were changing from black to amber again, as he came down from his high.

"What?" he whispered.

" Nothing."

" Why are you laughing?"

" I don't know," I replied truthfully, as I leaned in for a kiss again.

As he returned my kiss, I cupped his head and tangled my fingers in his hair. Placing both his hands on my chest, he pushed me off him. Confused, I blinked at him.

Taking advantage of my momentary lapse of consciousness, he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me on his back.

" What are you doing, Cullen?" I hissed as I realized I was straddling his back.

" My turn," he replied as he secured my hands around his throat and held them.

" For what?"

" Do you get motion sickness?"

"Huh?"

" Open your mind, pup,"

" Why?"

" Can you listen to me for once?"

" Fine," I grumbled as I opened my mind to him, focusing on how awkward I felt on his back, especially since I was much bigger than he was and I liked to be in control.

He chuckled at my thoughts and started running.

As the trees blurred past us, I realized he was carrying me like you would carry a child through a fair.

" I would hardly call you a child, Jake," he called over the wind, that was rushing past us.

" You better not. Not after this," I replied, knowing he was listening to my thoughts since he was replying to them.

" Where are we going?" I asked, turning my head slightly so that my lips were on his left ear, and my voice would carry better. I felt him shudder underneath me. I smirked.

" Don't be smug," he said, instead.

" Where are we going, Ed?" I asked again, as I kept my lips on his ear and to torment him a little, I made sure I grazed the shell of his ear with my tongue.

" God damnit, Jacob."

"What?" I feigned ignorance as I repeated the act, ending it with a nip of his ear lobe.

Suddenly, we halted to a stop and I was flying through the air and as I thought I was going to land with a 'thud' on the ground, I landed with a splash into really cold water.

Caught off guard, I yelped.

" What is the matter with you, you ass?" I cried as I emerged from under water. As I wiped my eyes and face with my right hand, I looked around for Edward, but he was nowhere to be seen.

Fuck. Did he ditch me here? Where was I?

"I didn't ditch you." I heard as cold arms encircled my waist.

Looking down, I saw his pale hands around my waist. Turning around in his embrace, I moulded my face into a scowl and glared at him.

" What did you do that for?"

" For one, you were already 'wet' and second, this is your punishment for teasing me."

" I wasn't teasing."

" No?" he asked as he cocked an eyebrow up.

" No," I replied as I shook my head.

He inched his face closer and licked the shell of my ear. As a tremor went through my body, he pulled back and smirked at me. " I thought so."

Fisting my hand in his hair, I pulled him in for a rough kiss.

When I exhausted my air supply, I pulled away and he stepped away from me.

Furrowing my brow, " What?" I asked.

" We shouldn't be doing this."

" What?" I repeated slowly.

" We shouldn't have done...this," he added, gesturing towards us.

I couldn't think of anything to say. I was confused. My mind was swirling with different thoughts. I was thinking of me and him in the clearing. Dry humping each other. Kissing him. His arms around me. The feel of his cold skin against mine. Fire and ice. I thinking about kissing him in the river we were standing in. The feel of his mouth on mine as the cold water lapped around our thighs. And how right it felt. How natural, like this was how it was supposed to be. It made me think why we haven't been doing this before?

"Fire and ice," he whispered to himself. " We really are opposite sides of a coin, aren't we?"

I lifted my head to meet his eyes. I couldn't bring myself to say a word. I knew what was happening. I knew where this conversation was headed. I knew how it would end.

So, I simply turned my back on him. I could feel his eyes on me. I could almost feel him, digging through my head to know what was happening. What I was thinking. I let him.

I let him dig through my head. I let him try to make sense of what was going on inside 'coz I had no clue. I waddled through the river and got out.

"Jake," he called from the river.

I didn't turn around.

I kept walking, not sure where I was going.

Something blurred around me. Blinking, I found Edward standing infront of me.

" Where do you think you're going?" he asked indignantly, as his eyes flashed.

I gulped and shrugged.

"Cat got your tongue?"

I can't believe we were back to square one. One step forward and two steps back.

He moved closer to me while I stayed rooted on the spot.

He sighed. "Jacob," he said softly, as he pulled me closer and wrapped me in his arms... I was tired. Exhausted! So, I let my head drop on his shoulders. His hands moved up to my nape and as he played with the hairs on the back of my neck, I felt my eyelids droop.

"Sleep," he whispered in my ear. I shook my head. I didn't want to leave. I didn't want him to leave.

"I'm not going anywhere, pup. You can sleep here and I'll be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" I asked mentally, sounding like a 6 year old who had just been promised a new bike for Christmas, if he completed his chores.

"Yes."

Edward's POV

As Jacob fell asleep while hugging me and on me, I knew I had to find a spot so I could let him lie down. I could support him for the entire night, but I doubted that he was going to be comfortable sleeping while he was on his feet.

So, I scooped him bridal style in my arms and ran across the forest to this little cave I knew of. His warm breath fanned on my skin as his head pressed against my bare chest. I shivered involuntarily.

God, Jake. What are you doing to me?

Once in the cave, I laid him down and was about to move away when he unconsciously latched on to my hand. So, I stayed. I laid down next to him, angled my body towards him so that I was facing him and watched him sleep.

I took in the contours of his face. His russet skin glistened, even in the dark. It was as smooth as it looked. Like molten chocolate. His spiky hair was disheveled and a few strands, loose from the gel, were falling on his forehead. His long eyelashes were caressing his flushed cheeks while his swollen lips were pouting slightly.

I couldn't move my eyes away from his lips. I could feel myself getting slightly aroused. Jacob Black was gorgeous and I wanted him.

With the back of my hand, I caressed his flushed cheek and though my hands were freezing, the temperature didn't seem to bother him. On the contrary, he nuzzled my hand and sighed contentedly. Though the images of his brain were a little fuzzy, I picked out a Christmas tree from his dream. He dreamt of snow falling on the Christmas tree. Drawing my brows together, I wondered what that meant. Was Christmas his favorite holiday? Was he looking forward to Christmas this year?

Jacob was a mystery to me and I wanted to get to know him. I knew I was treading on dangerous grounds here. I didn't know if I wanted to be with him. I didn't know how I felt about him. I knew I loved Bella. I've loved her for more than a year. That had to count for something. For a while I had been living my life knowing that eventually, I would share it with Bella, for however long she was alive. Though she wanted to be turned into a vampire, I wasn't ready to damn her soul. I didn't want that on my conscience.

Then, Jacob came along and threatened everything that I knew about my life. I was holding on to my old life with both hands, but somehow Jacob was worming his way around and into my life.

I didn't know what role he played in my life. I didn't know how I felt about him. I didn't know if I loved him.

However, I did know that we had great chemistry together. I cannot believe we 'dry-humped,' as Jacob had put it. I swallowed unnecessarily, as I thought of his warmth against me.

Fire and ice, he had called us. I got caught up with the arousal when he started kissing me. I got caught up on the sensations his hands, his mouth were giving me. I've never felt that with anyone else. Not even Bella.

With Bella, everything was sweet and soft. With Jacob, on the other hand, it was primal and carnal lust and want.

Jacob Black made me hot, almost human. He got under my skin and bothered me. Stubborn, hotheaded, fouled mouth, he was everything I wasn't. But, at the same time, he was childish and innocent. His mind was so was loyal and fiercely independent. He loved with everything he had.

He loved me with everything he had. With everything he was.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I pinched the bridge of my nose. This was an awful situation I was stuck in.

Things were much easier when I hated him. Hatred was the easiest emotion in the book.

God.

I didn't want to hurt him. But, I didn't want to hurt Bella either. Last year, she had risked her life for me when she ran to James, in order to protect my family. And me.

More importantly, I didn't know what I wanted. I knew that I wasn't in love with Jacob. Was I in love with Bella?

I wasn't so sure anymore.

When Jacob snuggled closer to me, I decided that all that didn't matter right now. All I wanted to do at the moment was to soak in Jacob's warmth and his smell. His sweet delicious smell. I would think about this mess we were into tomorrow. For now, I closed my eyes and listened to Jacob's heart beats and watched him dream about us.

Author's Note:

Sooo? What did you guys think?

My first 'sexual' chapter for this story... I was a bit apprehensive while writing it. I know this one is super important.. Major leap for Jacob and Edward. Especially Edward!

Review and let me know how I did.

Lisa