This Time Is Ours

Jasper POV written by Nat Whitlock Wood

Alice POV written by Lesa Masen Cullen Goncalves

Chapter 14 – Alice POV

My hand had shot out to strike Jasper before my mind had even registered the action, I quickly quelled the shot of anger that had flashed through me which had caused my outburst, it must have been a residual effect of the fear.

I had never in all my memory been as terrified as when Jasper had his hand bound in my hair and he had been ready for the kill, his teeth just a hairs breadth from my skin. I had know that it was a distinct possibility as I had lunged at him that his instincts would be stronger than his compassion but I had to stop him from attacking the human if I had any chance of redeeming him.

It had only taken a fraction of a second to make the decision to stop him, but in the time it took for me to take the one step to launch myself off the ground at him and in the few seconds I was airborne, my own instincts were screaming at me that this was wrong to interfere, he had already displayed a warning by growling at me but I knew that the guilt he would feel afterwards if I allowed him to continue would be more than I could bear or I could console him from and this compelled me forward even if it meant my own existence hung precariously in the balance.

As he released me and put distance between us a fleeting sense of relief passed through me but the intense feeling of how close I had been to being ripped to shreds took several moments to recover from. My plea to him to stop had worked but I had the terrible knowledge that it had been so close, too close, but he had not carried out his threat so there was hope still.

Jasper sat now curled in on himself again, his face buried in his knees and I closed my eyes whilst I fought for composure. I soon opened my eyes again and stared blankly ahead, as the shaking of my body slowly subsided and I tried to relax the tension which still had a taut hold of my muscles. As he raised his head a vision of him flashed through my mind springing me up.

'Jasper!' I cried as I saw his intent, but I was too late.

As I grabbed his arm I could feel the pain emanating from him so the venom now entering his system must cause us pain as well as the humans. I myself had never been bitten by another of our kind and I had never actually thought much about the effect it would have on us. After I had examined the bite and let his arm free that's when the anger filled me again and I had struck out at him.

He winced and as I realised what I done, that I had struck out in anger, fear and frustration that he had almost killed me and that he hurt himself on purpose yet again, I felt a moment of horror as the previous things Jasper had told me about Maria crossed my mind. She had done exactly the same thing to him that I had just done, when he had disobeyed her, she had punished him physically and I felt an instant stab of regret.

I quickly had to pull myself together before Jasper could acknowledge my emotions.

'Jazz why did you do that?

My voice was a little sterner than I had intended and he hung his head as he answered, 'I'm sorry. I heard you coming, and when you tackled me down I wasn't in my right mind, I thought you were a threat.'

Remorse for what I myself had just done started to fill me, I sighed and placed my hand on his chest where I had struck him. I didn't want to be like her in any way towards him, he didn't deserve me to be this way, all I had done so far was compound his misery.

I tried to make my voice a little lighter, 'No, Jasper. I understand that…I knew the risks. I meant why did you bite yourself? I saw you do it just before you did it but I don't understand why.'

He drew in a shuddering breath his face again masked with pain, 'I could have killed you…'

as he said the words his face crumbled, and I instantly knew that he was taking the blame all onto himself and I felt the sadness spanning the short distance between us.

'But that's no reason to hurt yourself, Jasper. Don't you ever do anything like this again!' I raised my finger to point at him and he instantly flinched. He thought that I might be about to chastise him again.

'I won't…I'm sorry, ma'am.' The way he said those words tore at me again, he was expecting the worst, my fury at him to explode at any moment, he was awaiting the retribution that had been so much a part of his past.

I sighed as I looked back down at the bite mark and lay his arm back down and rolled the shirt sleeve back over it, I didn't want to see the reminder just then of Jasper's rage. I noticed the tear in the shirt sleeve that had been left by his teeth.

'Oh, Jasper, you've bitten a hole in your shirt!' I let out a small laugh, but when I looked up at Jasper's face he did not return my smile. He was watching me but I could still feel the anxiety seeping from him.

I reached out and put one arm around his shoulder and pulled him to me, he didn't resist as I thought he might. I laid his head against my shoulder so I could place my cheek on his forehead and placed my other arm across his chest and softly and slowly tightened my grip.

'Jazz, I'm sorry I hit you, I didn't mean it, you scared me for a moment back there.' I turned my head slightly so I could plant a soft kiss on his forehead. His scent filled my senses again as my lips touched his skin.

'You understand why I had to try to stop you from killing the human don't you?' I was calm now, although I could still feel slight tension coming from Jasper.

'Yes I do, but do you have to keep putting yourself in harms way for me?' I could feel him tilt his head backwards slightly away from me, so I moved back too so I could stare into his eyes.

'If that's what's best for you then yes I will…always,' I could feel my excitement at his closeness building again, but I kept it in check, there were more important things we needed to do first. 'How's your arm feeling now?

'Better but still a little painful,' His gaze was still locked with mine, I could see the blackness of his eyes now was almost complete, only tiny specks of crimson remained and the purple under his eyes was now startlingly prominent. I raised my hand to run my finger along the line.

'You still need to feed, Jazz, the thirst must be burning badly by now, and I won't take no for an answer, don't be mad okay?' I smiled down at him, as I ran my finger down his nose and tapped the tip lightly once, but I could feel him tensing again.

'I…..I don't know if I can go through that again, Alice please!' He closed his eyes and his voice was barely a whisper.

'No buts, Jazz, I promise I won't let anything happen to either of us,'

He groaned at my reply his eyes still closed, 'Well we could find a town…...,' I said nonchalantly, he pulled sharply away from me.

'Not funny,' he said sternly, but I was laughing now, 'Oh your so easy to tease!' I leant forward and planted a quick kiss on his lips and then jumped up at the same time grabbing his hand.

'Come on I'll race you!' He sighed again as he got up, he knew I was right and there was no sense arguing with me, so we took off westwards back through the forest, I was scenting the air as we ran to see which way the herd had scattered and it wasn't long before I picked up their trail.

I shot a quick glance over at Jasper and he was still a little uneasy I could feel it as he caught the scent too, his eyes darting back and forth through the trees. We continued on, the scent of the deer causing a small burn in my throat as we ran, however I knew that this must be torture for Jasper, he was so thirsty his throat must be on fire by now as the scent strengthen as we drew closer.

'They are about a mile ahead' I said quickly, I could hear about a dozen heartbeats and the scent was much stronger now, only deer this time no sign of any human presence.

Jasper's face was a mask of concentration, he was honing in on the same thing I was, the thirst was starting to overtake him again, and he was adjusting his stance as he ran into a hunting crouch, I slowed just a little to put myself behind him to let him take the lead, and moved outwards to the right to put some distance between us but I knew he could still see me in his peripheral vision if he was even noticing me at all, his eyes were focused straight ahead, he was taking in short sharp breaths.

I let a sly smile cross my lips, as long as he remained focused on the prey I could watch at the same time as I was moving even more outwards but still only just slightly behind him so as not to interfere. I could sense there was another deer a short distance in front of the one Jasper had chosen, and I focused my hearing in on its breathing, just then I could hear a small growl rumbling in Jazz's chest, he was in full hunting mode now, and I could see out of the corner of my eye his muscles tense across his shoulders under the fabric of the waistcoat and his fingers curled as he prepared to strike.

A slight shiver ran through me, he looked so strong and dangerous, I involuntarily took in a sharp breath, he was very strikingly handsome when he was focused. I had just caught a glimpse of the deer he had targeted just ahead of his position, and in that instance he sprang.

I was elated, as I watched his form fly momentarily through the air, lithe and supple, like a spear quivering in the breeze as it flew, he made contact with the deer's neck with his teeth and I heard the small snap as his arms closed around it and twisted the head and broke its neck all in one smooth motion. As much as I wanted to continue watching, I was almost upon my own target now and my instincts were forcing me to concentrate on that rather than what I wanted to, which was watch Jasper.

My head whipped around and my eyes focused on the deer just up ahead and I let my body take over and act on its own, the venom welled in my mouth as the deer's scent took proper hold of my concentration, the other members of the herd had been startled by Jaspers attack and the deer I was after had looked up from grazing, saw the danger and were just about to turn and run,

If I was not quick I would lose the element of surprise. I quickly took one step with my left foot, threw my right foot up and out to the tree I was passing and used it as a spring board to launch my self upwards and forwards to give me the extra distance I needed to close the gap between myself and the prey.

Its blood was pulsing through its veins I could see it under the skin at its neck and my arms reached out and took hold as my teeth ripped easily into the flesh. I drank quickly, the warm blood didn't taste so bad to me. I wondered if Jazz had finished yet as I was too far away from him to feel anything of his emotions.

After drinking for a short while, I was not as thirsty as Jasper was, I looked up to see if he had finished.

He was standing straight now the carcase at his feet, scanning the surroundings. I let my deer's head drop unceremoniously to the ground with a thud and approached him.

He smiled as he saw me coming, I took that as a good sign and smiled back. 'So that went well,' I said lightly, quickly looking down at the drained deer and back up to his face.

'Not bad,' he agreed and the corner of his mouth turned up, into a half smile. I took hold of his hand and turned to walk away from the dead animals on the ground.

'How was it this time, any easier?' I asked casually as we walked and I glanced over at him.

'Well,' he pondered, 'It still tastes funny and its still making my stomach turn and it doesn't give me any strength…' he looked quickly at me and then away to stare at the ground as he trailed off, no doubt he was wondering how I was going to react to his almost complaining attitude. But he was not going to break my mood I was extremely happy that he had taken a feed at all.

'Well you will get used to it, the nausea calms after a while and your strength will return,' I smiled over at him again to reassure him.

I noticed then that the crimson had brightened again in his eyes although not as bright as it had been when I had first met him, but the darkness had faded from under them. I stopped and turned so I was facing him, 'You look at lot better than you did before at least not so thirsty.'

I squeezed his hand, he smiled again as he said 'Your always watching me aren't you?' His eyebrows raised a little as a smile played on the corners of his mouth as he stared at me.

'Well I've never actually seen any one hunt, and you did look rather fascinating, the concentration, the strength…' I let my gaze drop as I was reliving the feeling I had had as I watched him, the thrill ran through me again,.

'And at the farmhouse…' his tone was soft as my eyes flickered up to catch his again. I took a step back in surprise and realised that a tree was right behind me my back pressed again the trunk.

'You knew I was watching?' I asked startled by his revelation.

'More I could feel you watching, your emotions were pretty strong.' He was smiling widely now as he stepped towards me closing the gap between us, I pressed back a little further into the tree and dropped my gaze from his.

'Oh!' was all I could say as the sensation that I had been feeling whilst I had watched him undress played back in my mind and the burning started to swell inside me.

I could see him moving towards me and I raised my eyes just as his lips found mine, softly at first but then with more urgency, his left hand snaked up around my neck holding me to him, I couldn't have moved even if I had wanted too the tree trunk pressed against my back even more now as he took the final half a step and pressed his body fully against mine.

The burning flared inside me welling up to overtake me and I slid my right hand around his waist, his tongue touched my lower lip and I opened my mouth willing to receive it, I closed my eyes as his right hand raised and his fingers softly touched my cheek. The tips of our tongues met for just an instant and then he withdrew it and released the pressure of his lips on mine and drew back.

My eyes flashed open but he did not release me, he had only moved his head back slightly to stare once again intently into my eyes, and I could feel a new wave of intense feeling welling up inside, it must have been coming from him this time as it intensified my already overwhelmed senses.

He was taking small breaths and it touched my face as he spoke 'You weren't the only one watching,' a broad smile crossed his eyes and he leaned intently towards me again.

He moved to the left side of my face this time so he could whisper in my ear, 'I saw you too in the mirror!' I could hear the laughter in his voice as his lips then brushed my neck just under my chin and the hand that was on my cheek, slowly slid down my neck, across my shoulder, as his fingers traced the outline of my arm down to my wrist.

I shuddered at his touch, the warmth of his fingers setting my skin ablaze in a trail down my arm, his hand left my arm then and I could feel him slid it in between us to undo the buttons on the waist coat.

Releasing my hand at his waist I moved both of them to his front to help undo his shirt buttons as well. I gripped the edges of the open shirt and in one swift motion removed both it and the waistcoat and let them drop to the ground, my eyes were on his chest and without a thought I raised both my hands to place them on his skin, my eyes intent on the scar that was just under his second rib.

I traced it softly with the tip of my finger and I felt him tense under my touch, the muscles across his stomach were now accentuated by his reaction and I slowly traced my finger down around their outline.

I heard him sigh and another wave of excitement hit me. My breath was short gasps as I took in the subtle strength of his body. His scent flared in my nostrils and in my mind, the longing for him now so much I could think of nothing else.

His hands reached out and took both my wrists between each of his with his thumb and forefingers I looked up into his face wondering what his intention was now. He raised both of my arms upwards and slightly outwards, twisting his grip as he did so as to not twist my arms, until they were both above my head and lightly pressed them against the tree trunk.

He leaned in against me again, his lips finding mine once more and I was lost in his kiss, he slid his hands slowly down both of my arms, down my sides until they reached the hem of my dress, grasping it gently and started to raise it upwards.

I pushed myself slightly away from the tree as the dress came up, as a small stab of nervousness now invaded my thoughts, but Jasper deepen his kiss for a second distracting my errant mind and only broke contact as the dress moved up and over my head and off my raised arms. He tossed it aside.

He moved his eyes downwards and placed his lips on my collarbone. He took in a long breath and as he did so I heard the soft thud of fabric hitting the earth at our feet, I heard him shift his feet and then another soft thud as I turned to look, his trousers fell in a heap on the ground.

I took in a shuddering breath as his tongue reached out and touched my skin and he kept it in contact as he traced a line from my collarbone back up to the base of my chin, my breathing shorten the fire burning within was almost out of control now, my mind was a swirl of emotions and as he stood straighter, I let my arms drop to rest on his shoulders.

'Alice…' he whispered as he made the final move towards me.