CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

With the excitement of the battle over and the threat of vampires gone, everyone seemed at a loose end for a while. There was really no reason for any of us to phase any more and Sam easily settled down to simply work and enjoy his time with Emily, but the rest of us struggled for a while and took occasional outings as wolves into the woods and mountains. Jacob and I did this more than any of the others, simply because we could have fun with it.

With school finished, Jacob turned his hobby into a proper business, advertising his services as a mechanic and because he and Billy were already so well known on the reservation, anyone who needed their car, truck or even motorcycle fixing, started going straight to him. He was kept busy virtually all the time and quickly began to make money.

Sam made me a partner in his business, much to my delight. It took a lot of the pressure off him and meant he could take Emily out more and away on vacation and not worry about work. Meanwhile I loved having extra money and more responsibility.

Around the same time, Jared Imprinted. Kim was a little older than him and had left school the previous year, but it turned out she had had a crush on him for a long time. He ran into her on the reservation by chance and Imprinted right then. They started dating and the pair were immediately besotted with each other, spending every spare minute together.

In August, Bella and Edward got married and invited Billy, Sam and Jacob and their 'plus ones'. Sue Clearwater went with Billy and of course Emily and me accompanied Sam and Jacob. Sam's house was chaos on the morning of the wedding as Emily struggled to do her hair and makeup while constantly being interrupted by three useless males who had never seen a bowtie before and had unclean finger nails and hair standing on end.

"For God's sake, Sam, you need a mother, not a fiancee," Emily grumbled as she fastened his tie, smiling none the less.

"As for you two..." She turned on Jacob and me. "...do up your collars."

"Mine's too tight," I grunted.

"Too bad. I'm sure you can put up with it for a couple of hours. If I have to go to this wedding with all of you, then I don't want any of you showing me up."

I sighed heavily and fastened the button, thinking the damned wedding was more trouble than it was worth.

"Can't we just turn up phased?" I joked. "We could still wear bowties."

"Yes, that would go down well." Emily advanced on me with another tie in her hand. "Stand still, chin up."

Finally everyone was ready, just in time as Billy and Sue arrived in the Clearwaters' MPV to collect us, rather than have anyone arrive at the Cullens' in a truck.

We reached the house just as everyone was gathering on wooden benches in a clearing behind the house. We all sat down on one bench and Billy parked his chair at the end of it.

I didn't like weddings; they were too sickly sweet for me and this one was no exception. The speeches afterwards made me cringe and I sat there with a smile on my face only to avoid irritating Jacob. At least he was holding my hand so it wasn't all bad.

As soon as it was over, I jumped up off the bench in relief and wrenched the hated bowtie loose, popping the button on my collar undone too. Jacob did the same, grinning.

"God, I thought that was never going to end," he whispered in my ear.

I smiled more genuinely now. "You too? I hate weddings, I just didn't want to say so. Bella's your friend."

"Yeah, but I'd rather just see them say 'I do' and then start the party."

"You're about as romantic as me," I snorted. "Let's get away from all these people."

"Ok, but we better go and congratulate them first."

Jacob set off towards Bella and Edward and I followed. We both kissed her on the cheek and shook hands with Edward. I shuddered when I let go of his hand, hating the unnatural coldness of him and wondering how in the world Bella could want that touching her. I grasped Jacob's hand quickly, relishing his warmth and led him away from the crowds.

A band had started up now and some couples began to dance. We paused at a distance amongst the trees and I put my arms around Jacob, pulling him tight against me. He slid his arms up around my neck and I brushed my lips against his, then just cuddled him, my eyes closed. I realised that somehow we seemed to be moving about, just slightly swaying and shuffling and at that moment Jacob laughed in my ear.

"I thought you said you weren't romantic? Here we are smooching like a bad ending in a romance novel."

"Oh, you read romance novels?" I stopped still and met his eyes, grinning.

He laughed again.

"I can think of something much more fun to do," I said. "No one's going to miss us, are they?"

"Doubt it. They're all busy smooching like us."

I let go of him and shoved him playfully, then began to head back to where all the cars were parked. Jacob hurried after me.

"Where are we going?"

"Where did these suits come from?" I asked, ignoring his question.

"They're hired, why?"

"Damn, better take them off first then."

I stopped beside the MPV, glanced around me and established no one was in sight, then quickly began to strip off my clothes. Grinning, Jacob did the same. We folded the items up and put them in the back of the MPV, then phased quickly and bounded into the trees.

We spent perhaps an hour scampering through the woods as darkness began to fall, sharing images in our heads of what we wanted to do to each other when we got back to the house. Sam and Emily would be making the most of the party and wouldn't be home for hours yet, so we didn't have to worry about interruption.

Eventually, it all got too much for me. Jacob was thinking about me pinning him to the bed, pounding myself into him while he dragged his nails down my back and bit into my neck. I was dying to do exactly that and I flew across the meadow to the house with Jacob on my heels, phased back on the porch and grabbed the spare key from under the mat. My dick was standing straight up against my stomach and I threw the door open and turned towards Jacob as he followed me. He was just as aroused as I was and I kicked the door closed and pulled him close, sliding my hands down to his butt and grinding myself against him.

We didn't waste any time making our way to my room. I let go of Jacob reluctantly for a brief moment while I lathered myself in lube and then I pushed him backwards onto the bed, tucking my hand under him and lifting his hips up an inch or two as I kneeled between his thighs and guided myself into him. I plunged forward vigorously until I was all the way in and he rolled his head back, keeping his eyes fixed on mine the way I liked him to. I lowered myself over him and rested my elbows either side of him on the mattress, thrusting myself in and out, harder and harder, groaning at the feel of his hot tightness around me and his nails cutting into my back just as they had in the fantasy.

It was over quickly, the way it always was when we worked ourselves up into such a frenzy beforehand. We rested for a few minutes, catching our breath, then shared a shower. When we returned to my bed we took our time over each, kissing, stroking, tasting and then fucking slowly until we were completely spent.

Afterwards we just lay in each other's arms, close enough for our lips to brush together if we spoke.

"I love you so much," I whispered sleepily. "You're my life."

Jacob didn't say anything for a minute and I wondered if he had already fallen asleep. I was close to it myself, my eyelids too heavy to lift.

"You're mine too," Jacob murmured.

He turned his face into my neck and in just a few more seconds he was sleeping. Despite my exhaustion, I stayed awake for a little while longer, thinking about how lucky I was to have been on the beach the night of the bonfire two years before. That one kiss had turned into my future.