Chapter Fourteen

Day 17

I woke up early and completely rested. I wanted to get up before Jacob and make him pancakes in bed.

Just because.

My brain reminded me of everything going on back home, but my heart still felt like it was going to burst with happiness anyway. And it had been so long since I'd felt like that, I was going to allow myself to embrace it for as long as it lasted.

I laid in bed an extra few minutes before getting up, staring at Jacob and remembering what we'd done the night before. He had been so sweet and so gentle. So… perfect.

His hair was all messy around his face, falling over his cheek, framing his mouth. His pouty lips curled up at the corners like he was dreaming something good, and I wanted to kiss him. But I didn't want to wake him, so I slipped off the bed, stepping over our clothes strewn all over the floor.

The cottage came with two thick terrycloth robes that hung in the closet. I quietly pulled one off the hanger and put it on, shutting the bedroom door behind me quietly.

I mixed the ingredients for the pancakes and heated a pan on the stove. I kept looking out the window at the grass and the trees as I worked. Everything looked brighter this morning, the trees looked greener, the sky the most beautiful shade of blue. Was this what being in love felt like?

I heated some syrup in the microwave and poured a big glass of milk. Arranging it all on a tray, I carried it carefully into the bedroom. I only stumbled once over the throw rug in the living room, but I caught myself, spilling the milk just a little.

"There you are," Jake's voice was hoarse and groggy with sleep as he sat up. The sheet was pulled over his lap, but I knew he was naked underneath.

"Wow, what's this?" he asked, surprised, when he saw the tray.

I set it down over his legs and he smiled his Jacob smile. The rarity of it lately made it all the more precious. I wished there was something I could do to bring it back with regularity again.

He leaned over and kissed me, pulling me next to his side.

"How do you feel this morning?" his brows furrowed.

"Why? Do I look different?" I giggled.

He pretended to study me with a grin. "You do," he nodded.

"I do?" I laughed. "How do I look?"

"Like you're mine. Like you're really mine."

"I am yours," I murmured breathlessly. If he kept talking like that, that ache was liable to return. A warm heat stained my cheeks as I remembered how the ache had magically disappeared once Jacob and I had…

I shivered.

I picked our clothes up off the floor while Jacob ate his breakfast and put them in the dresser. I opened up my backpack, and removed a few pairs of underwear and a couple of tops and put them in a drawer.

The manila envelope was peeking out the top, and I saw Jacob staring at it with a strange look on his face. He finished his pancakes and pushed the tray away from him, to the bottom of the bed. He reached for the envelope and held it in his hands before opening it up and studying the money inside.

"You know I can't offer you anything like this, right Bella?" he said to me softly. "But… I get good grades, and I don't care what they say – I'm going to get this wolf thing under control." He turned toward me. "I am! And I'm going to college."

He held my gaze and spoke earnestly. "I'm going to make something of myself."

"I believe you."

He looked away. "At first it was for my dad. I want to get him a nice house someday. And a computer. He'd like that."

I pointed to the envelope. "You can get him the computer now, Jake. When we get back."

"No! It'll be my money! I hate using theirs!"

He was quiet for a minute. "At first I started paying attention to my grades because of my dad," he said softly. "But now there's you. I want to take care of you the way you deserve, Bella."

"You do take care of me, Jacob."

"I want to take care of you that way. I want you to be proud of me."

I started to protest, to tell him how proud I was of him already, but he went on.

"You saw what happened to me the other night." He looked at me. "There are other vampires besides the Cullens, you know. They're everywhere." He sighed. "I can't exactly jump up in the middle of a classroom and explode out of my skin."

He lowered his head and stared at the ground. "I'm a freak. I'm sorry, Bella. You deserve so much better." He raised his head up defiantly. "But I AM going to go to school and make something of myself! You watch!"

"I know you are, Jacob." I sat alongside him on the bed and laid my head against the back of his shoulder. "I have no doubt."

He kissed my forehead and then looked at me anxiously. "Are you bleeding? I smell blood."

Gah! Sometimes being with a werewolf meant having no secrets at all!

"Just a little," I muttered, looking down. "it's not a big deal."

"Sorry I hurt you, I tried not to."

"I know you did. But it's kind of inevitable when you put something that big… there."

He grinned. "You're gonna get me all worked up again."

"I think I need to take a hot shower or a bath or something before we attempt any more… "

"Should we wait till you stop bleeding before we do it again?"

My eyes widened. "I don't know. Jessica said sometimes you can bleed for up to a week afterward."

He looked a little panicked at the thought of waiting a whole week before having sex again. I decided to try out the Jacuzzi tub to ease my sore, uh, muscles while Jacob watched Monster Garage. Then I hopped into the party shower, as Jacob and I took to calling it, to rinse off and wash my hair.

"How about we go down to the river and check it out?" he asked me when I came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel.

"Uh, Jake? I don't have a bathing suit. It's not like at the cabin where I could wear my underwear and a tank top."

"That's okay, just put some shorts on. Tiffany was telling me yesterday that they have rowboats down at the beach. You just have to pick up the oars at the office from Rosie."

I wrinkled my nose at the mention of Tiffany.

"You're not worried about her, are you, Bells?" He pulled me to him with a grin.

I tucked the edge of the towel in, tightening it around me. "She was totally hitting on you last night – telling you she was 'probably gonna be kind of drunk' when she came back. I'm not stupid, Jacob, she was hoping you'd wait up for her and have sex with her! Tramp!" I muttered the last part under my breath.

"You mean I missed my chance to have sex twice last night?" he joked.

"It's not funny, Jacob!"I growled. "She wanted you! Tiffany and her sister, Paris." I rolled my eyes at her name.

He lowered his voice, going into Raoul mode. "But I let them know you're my woman. And I don't have sex without my woman." He cracked a grin.

"Huh! I don't think I figured into their little scenario at all."

"Hmmmm, well maybe I should have waited up, hah?" He laughed, then ducked when I swatted him.

"I'm just teasing you, honey. I'm pretty satisfied with the way my evening went." He looked at me seriously for a moment. "Do you see now how potent jealousy can be? Maybe you'll understand now why I kissed you that time?"

He smiled again, back to teasing. "Anyway. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere last night but here with you."

He kissed my nose gently. "Now tonight if they want sex with me, maybe!" He backed out of my way, laughing, before I could smack him again.

I pretended to huff at him angrily, but I know he saw my grin.

I went into the kitchen and grabbed a box of cereal and took a handful, eating it dry. I hadn't made any pancakes for myself and I was a little hungry. As I passed the window, I could see the far end of the lawn area and there was none other than Tiffany herself, sitting on the grass, petting Fluffy. She kept throwing furtive glances this way, toward our cabin. I ducked behind the cupboard so she couldn't see me through the window.

I hurried into the bedroom and pulled my shorts and a sleeveless yellow top from the drawer, and pulling my towel off, I put them on hurriedly.

"Hey, slow down," Jake pouted, watching me as he lay on the bed, flipping through the channels. He crawled over the bed and grabbed my hand as I zipped up my shorts. "So, have we broken you of your modesty thing, yet? I just saw you naked."

"Maybe," I told him absently, pulling him by the hand. "Come here."

I opened the front door and dragged him onto the front porch.

"What are you doing?" he asked in confusion.

I hovered behind the open door. "See if she says anything to you."

"Who?"

I pointed to her sitting on the grass. I don't know why this girl rankled me so much. Like I said, since we'd left the cabin a couple of days ago, I now saw the female attention Jacob got. Maybe I'd been aware of it back home and just blocked it out because I wasn't prepared to handle it. It kind of went against all my 'I just want to be friends' speeches.

I remembered the reaction I'd had when Lauren had tried to kiss him the night of graduation. If Jacob hadn't stopped it right when he had, I would have screamed. I was also ready to admit to myself now that it's what spurred on my libidinous attack on Edward that night. Jacob had been having an affect on me even then, but I'd disguised it as passion for my boyfriend, instead of the displaced excitement it really was.

And what had I accidently called him while watching him out of Edward's window that night?

Intoxicating.

That had been no accident. Yes, he was frustrating and annoying sometimes too. But Jacob Black intoxicated my senses like he should be made illegal.

And I was going to show Tiffany who this 6'7 werewolf belonged to. I knew it was immature and I knew I shouldn't care. But I just wanted to let this little girl know what was what.

"Raoul!"

I saw her approach Jacob on the porch, her eyes darting around, looking to see if I was nearby. She couldn't see me tucked behind the door, where I watched her through the small crack in the doorframe.

"Where were you last night?" She whispered with a pout. "We were back early. I waited around on the lawn, hoping you'd come out."

"Why's that?" Jacob asked, feigning innocence.

Tiffany avoided the direct question. "I was pretty wasted. Red wine does things to me," she giggled. She walked up two of the four steps leading to the porch. "I thought maybe we could go down to the water together." She sauntered up the last two steps, like a panther ready to strike. "Or uh," she licked her lips. "We could have gone back to my cabin."

She reached out to touch him, but Jacob pulled his arm away and scooped up Fluffy who had started whining at his feet. Tiffany side-eyed the open door, trying to glance into the front room, before she sat alongside Jake on the porch swing. She reached across him and pet Fluffy, her hand stroking the dog's fur and purposely miscalculating her strokes and continuing over Jacob's bicep.

"So why were you in prison? You didn't like, rape anyone or anything, right?" She flipped her hair and then put her other hand on his upper leg. "How could you rape anyone? I mean, who would resist you?" She slowly raised her big blue eyes up at him.

I was seething behind the door. I didn't have a plan, so I wasn't sure what the hell I was doing. I think I just wanted to prove my hunch to myself – that I hadn't misjudged Tiffany at all. This girl was going for the jugular. I knew some vampires I'd like to introduce her to that operated the same way.

"Tiffany," Jacob put Fluffy down and stood up. "You need to leave."

"But why?" she whined, her lower lip sticking out. "I'm just being friendly."

"Darlin', I eat little girls like you for breakfast," he stood over her at his full height, looking menacing.

"Ooooooh," she breathed, taking what he said as innuendo. "It's still early, hopefully you haven't eaten yet."

Gah!

"That's not what I meant," Jacob told her, flustered. She was a 16 year old girl, so he was trying to do this nicely. But all he was managing to do was excite the little twit!

I saw her jump when I came around the door.

"Hi Tiffany," I managed to say, coolly.

"Honey?" I turned to Jacob. "Could you help me? My whips are all knotted together again. And I can't find the muzzle you like, I thought I packed it."

I snuck a glance at Tiffany, who had a furrowed frown between her brows.

"And the rope got stuck in the chains. Again. Rosie is going to kill us if we leave chains behind stuck on the bed pillars." I ran my hands over his chest. "How are you nipples today, baby? You took your rings out - did I pull too hard on them again last night?" I spanked him on the behind. "Now go untie the whips! And don't make me spank you again, cos I will get the paddle out."

I rolled my eyes at Tiffany. "Men! Buh-bye, hon." I followed Jacob back into the house, closing the door and leaving an open-mouthed Tiffany standing on the porch.

Jacob and I ran to the bedroom, collapsing on the bed, laughing.

"What the hell was that? You'll spank me? Your whips?" He pulled me alongside him. "Come here, my little dominatrix."

I reached around his neck and kissed him. "Is it wrong that I'm having so much fun with you despite the fact that there are vampires who want me dead?"

I'd meant it to be funny, but his face grew serious. "About that," he started.

I put my hand over his mouth. "Not yet. Please don't say we need to go back yet. We've got till Friday here. Can we just have a couple of days with no vampires and no werewolves and no drama?"

"I don't think that's possible, Bella. I know it's your habit to run away from your problems and go into denial mode. I know it's cliché, but - we can run, but we can't hide. We have to deal with this, honey. You can distract yourself with silly things like jealousy and the sex – not that I'm complaining about that – but this stuff isn't going to go away."

I stared down at the comforter, unable to look him in the eyes. He was right. "Just till tomorrow, then? Can we pretend that everything is fine just till tomorrow?" I finally looked up. "We just made love. Can't we have 24 hours where we can bask in that and be together? Please Jacob?"

"Okay," he nodded. "Twenty-four hours." He shook his head. "But tomorrow we have to talk."

"You want to go back, don't you?" I whispered.

He took a deep breath and touched my nose. "Tomorrow. We'll talk about it tomorrow." He slid off the bed. "Let's go down to the river." He looked back at me and grinned. "Don't forget your book."

I smiled and grabbed Love's Carnal Desires as I got to my feet and we headed for the beach.

~~``intoxicating``~~

We stopped at the office on the way down to the water and picked up some oars.

"Do you know how to steer a boat?" I asked him as I warily stepped into the wobbly rowboat.

"Do I know how to steer a boat? Do I know how to steer a boat? Do you remember who made a raft? Who started our fires at the cabin? I am not only a werewolf, I am a Native American, Bella. I am capable of living off the land and possess all kinds of special talents."

"Well, I know that, but can you steer a boat?" I asked him again.

He rolled his eyes. "Take a seat and learn from the master."

"Well, I'm just saying," I took a seat as he pushed the boat out into the river. "I'm just saying, you had to jump in the lake and PULL us to shore a couple times back at the cabin. I don't think that counts as steering."

"That's just because I didn't have the proper equipment," he told me, giving me a dirty look as I giggled.

The current was strong as it pulled us along downriver, so all Jacob had to do was maneuver the boat and keep us out of the muddy banks along the side. The sun was warm and I got comfortable and pulled my book out.

"I'm going to see what Lavinia and Raoul have been up to." I read my book as Jacob hummed to himself. Every once in a while, he'd say, "Look, Bells," and point out a bird or a fish or something he found interesting.

About 12 pages along, I stood up in the middle of the boat. "They did it!" I shouted excitedly. The boat wobbled precariously and I sat down with a thud and a grin.

"They did it? They finally did it?" Jacob hollered. "Wooooo-hooooooo!" he howled loudly across the empty expanse of water and trees. "And we beat them! We did it first! Woooo-hooooo!" he howled a second time. He pulled the oars into the boat and rested them against his seat and pulled me onto his lap. "I bet we did it better." I held onto him as the boat rocked with the sudden movement. He kissed me, his soft lips lingering against mine.

"I'm almost finished," I skimmed through the remainder of the book. "I only have about 25 more pages to go." I climbed back onto my seat and tried to speed read, wanting to see where this crazy book would end, while Jacob rowed us back to the stretch of sand where we'd started.

~~``intoxicating``~~

"He died!" I sobbed, blindly making my way back into the cottage where I had been reading on the front porch, in the semi-darkness. "Jacob! He died!"

"What?" Jacob sat up at attention on the bed, where he had been watching television. "Who died?" He looked like he was ready to phase. Whoops. My bad.

"Raoul!" My voice broke and I threw the book down and flung myself at him.

"Oh no! He died? Oh man, that sucks." He brushed the hair away from my tear-stained cheeks as I lay prone on top of his body. "Don't cry, honey. How did he die?"

"He stepped on a land mine," I wailed. "And Lavinia is pregnant and is going to have to have his baby all by herself now. Cos her parents disowned her when she told them she was pregnant."

"Wow," he kissed my forehead. "Well, at least they had a good time before he died."

"Yeah," I sniffed.

I didn't know why I was having such a strong reaction to the story. Lavinia and Raoul had become a refuge to me while we were at the cabin, going through such turmoil. Also, in a funny way, I felt a kinship with the two of them, in that mine and Jacob's lives paralleled theirs in an odd way. Their discovery of love and sex in the midst of a life and death situation hit a little close to home.

Plus, they did kinda look like us. I peered over the side of the bed at the cover that was lying on the floor where I'd tossed it. The way Raoul held onto Lavinia so securely, so protectively, with his shaggy dark hair blowing in the breeze and his muscles all flexed set me off on a new wave of tears.

He looked just like Jacob!

I tightened my arms around Jacob's neck as I felt a panic rising in me. "You're not gonna leave me, right? I mean, you can't die, right? Werewolves heal. They don't die!" I pulled my face back so he was forced to look me in the eyes. "Right?"

"Bella I'm not going anywhere."

"Cos you can't die, RIGHT?" my hands were so tightly clenched on his shoulders, I was hurting myself.

He held my gaze solemnly before he spoke. "I am not going to die, honey."

"Do you promise? I'll believe you if you promise."

"I promise," he nodded. He kissed me gently. And then again. "I promise." He planted feather-light kisses on my lips and then he pulled my body tight against his.

"Do you remember the first week we were at the cabin, and you cleaned up in the lake, in your boxers?" I asked him, pulling my face away slightly.

"Yeah?" He kissed my cheek and then my chin.

"I could see right through your underwear," I told him, holding back a grin.

"No you couldn't."

"Oh yeah, right through 'em. I saw everything!"

"You were checking me out? Sweet little innocent Bella? I don't believe it."

I giggled mischievously at the memory.

"Was that the first time you'd ever seen a… ?"

I nodded my head, warming at the memory.

"So what did you think?"

"What do you mean?" I crinkled my nose.

"I mean, were you scared, were you excited? Were you in awe of my masculinity?" he smirked.

"I was… all of the above," I laughed. "I ran back up to the shack and had to get control of myself," I admitted.

"Did I make you horny, baby?"

"Shut up, you do an awful Austin Powers."

"My Austin Powers rocks. Did I? Did I make you horny?"

I ducked my head, embarrassed. "Yes."

"I knew it! You've wanted this body all along. I thought I heard you make a funny noise when I got out of the water. You made a weird noise in your throat. It's the same noise you make when I touch you here." He softly stroked between my legs over my shorts, and I made the same choked noise in the back of my throat.

"See?"

He kissed my neck, his palm still very gently moving over my shorts. "Does it still hurt?"

"Not really." I got up and pulled one of his clean t-shirts from the dresser. I took my top off and pulled his shirt on over my head, then unhooked my bra and pulled it out from underneath. Then I slipped my shorts off and shoved them into a drawer.

Jacob came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, before pulling my hair back and over one shoulder. He pressed his face into the crook of my shoulder and kissed my neck. My rear end arched back against him and the back of my head rested against his shoulder.

I felt his hands snake up under my shirt and move up from my waist and cup the bottom of both my breasts, squeezing gently. I rubbed my backside against his groin.

I couldn't really grab hold of him with my back to him, so I reached up behind me and held onto the back of his head as I maneuvered mine, lining up our mouths and kissing him.

He was like an octopus, his hands squeezing my backside, easing his scorching hands under my panties and pulling them down. I dropped my arms and managed to undo his button and the zipper on his shorts, and he helped me yank them off. I grabbed onto the elastic of his boxers and pulled it back until I felt him spring free. He was so hot in my hand as I stroked him, his length hard against my behind.

"Bella," he lowered himself, bending his knees slightly, his hands on my hips, raising me, lining himself up. I was so wet, I felt the moistness on my thighs and he glided right in. I made a little squeak when he pushed past the still sore, swollen flesh, then I cried out as he entered me to the hilt.

"Did I hurt you?" he whispered tightly.

"No," I breathed. "Yes. But I – I liked it." It did hurt a little. This new position allowed Jacob to reach spots deep inside me that we hadn't last night with him on top. But it was a good hurt. The pain was pleasurable in a way I didn't understand. I just knew I liked it. "Don't stop."

He gripped my hips harder and pumped as I leaned over the dresser with my legs spread and pounded back against him. Every time he thrust deep into me, I cried out as he hit that pleasure/pain spot. My body was beginning to reach a threshold and I knew what was on the other side.

"Faster, Jake," I commanded him huskily.

That was it. I grabbed a hold of the rim around the top of the dresser and stiffened as Jacob rammed his body inside me. I could feel my insides convulsing around him and I heard myself moaning and Jacob panting and then we both dropped boneless against the dresser.

His arms were tight around my waist and then he slipped himself free and carried me to the bed. We laid side by side, exhausted and satisfied.

We had one more night. One more night before we faced up to the grim reality we had to face eventually. I decided to lose myself in Jacob Black until then.

~~``intoxicating``~~

A/N: This chapter was a last bit of fluff before Jacob and Bella get back to the business going down in La Push and Forks.

Speaking of fluff - just for reference, here's Fluffy.