AN: In my rush to get the last chapter up, I forgot to mention this last week- HUGE thank you to everyone who voted for me in the non-canon awards! I got 3rd place in the Royal Author category! Couldn't have done without your support!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but some shirtless pics of Alex Meraz that clog up the memory on my phone. SM owns all.

Chapter 21

Paul POV
She wasn't giving me an inch. There was no way I was getting out of those handcuffs without telling her about the imprint. Oh, I could break the cuffs, but it would be more difficult than usual since my wolf had no intention of leaving this bed.

Bella shifted under my arm and arched her eyebrow expectantly. I took a deep breath and looked out the window as I began to speak. "There's something that happens sometimes to a wolf—we were told it was rare, but so far all three of us have done it. It's called imprinting."

I glanced down to see how she was taking things, and I got caught in her eyes. She was looking at me as if I held all the answers to the universe. As if I was important. I shook my head at that thought and looked away, pulling her tightly against me as I worked up the nerve to say the rest.

"See, when a wolf sees their imprint, their whole world changes. She becomes the center of his world, and he becomes whatever it is that she needs—whether that's a friend, a lover, or something else." Bella gasped and I pulled back enough to catch her eye as I hurried to reassure her. "See, you don't have to be stuck with me—you can choose. Or that's what they say anyway…"

Bella jumped up and ran over to her nightstand and started rummaging around in the drawer. I had no idea what she was doing until she hurried back over and unlocked the cuff from my wrist. "I'm so sorry, Paul! I can't believe after all this I trapped you even more! You can go. I won't hold you to this. You can be free—you don't have to be stuck with someone like me."

I was glad I had both my hands free when I smelled her tears as she turned away. I jumped up and grabbed her shoulders to spin her around, forcing her to look up at me as I brushed away the wet trails from her cheeks. "Bella, what the hell are you talking about? I'm not stuck with you—you're the one who's stuck with me! We both know you can do so much better than me–"

She interrupted me with my favorite method of communicating. Her soft lips pressed against mine with a force that took my breath away, and there was nothing I could do but kiss her back. As I slipped my tongue into her mouth, I lifted her up off the ground, growling quietly when she wrapped her legs tight around my waist.

I couldn't hold back a moan when she began to rock her hips against me, and I felt her lips curl up in a smile at my response. The little minx thought she'd gained the upper hand with me—she had a lot to learn.

Turning back to the bed, I lowered her carefully down without breaking our connection, and it was her turn to moan when ground my dick against the thin material of her sleep shorts. There was so little left between us, and my wolf and I were on a joint mission to remove those last flimsy barriers.

My hands moved up her back, underneath her shirt, tracing the incredibly soft skin of her beautiful body. I brought my lips to her neck as my fingers followed the line of her ribs around to head for more fun territory.

I froze as soon as she did, when my hands grazed the base of her breasts. I raised my head and looked down at her in question, worried by the look of fear and embarrassment on her face. "Um, Paul? I'm not… I'm not quite ready for that yet. I'm sorry."

She looked away as she whispered the last two words, and I felt like the world's biggest douche. This was Bella, not some cheap hookup. What the hell was I doing? Not wanting to completely break contact, I pulled my hands out and lowered my head to her shoulder. "No, baby. I'm the one who's sorry. I won't push you—we can go at your pace."

A horrible thought made me raise my head up again and I searched her eyes as I dared to ask, "I mean, if you still want me? Do you understand about the imprint? Can you accept it—accept me?"

Her eyes softened as she reached her soft little hands up to cup my face. Her thumbs stroked over my cheekbones in a soothing way that worked to both relax me and make me impossibly harder at the same time. She was killing me.

"Of course I accept you, Paul. I've love you since I was twelve years old—probably even longer. Oh shit! I didn't mean to say that. I mean–" It was my turn to cut off her embarrassed rambling, and my heart felt like it was going to jump right out my chest at her words.

I broke the kiss to look down at her in wonder. "I love you, too."

~oOo~oOo~oOo~

Charlie POV
Tiff was still sleeping when my alarm went off, so I slipped out of bed and dressed as quietly as I could. I stopped outside Bella's door, wondering if I should wake her, but she'd looked so upset the night before that I just couldn't bear to disturb her. I rested my hand on her closed door for a moment before turning to head downstairs.

I glanced through the paper as I waited for the coffee to brew, then filled my thermos and headed to the car. Billy and I were going to spend the day on the water, and this time I had some gossip to share as well.

I was about to back out of the driveway when I remembered Paul's tools. He'd run off so fast after I confronted him and Bella that he just left his toolbox sitting right there on the porch. I decided to drop it by his house when we got off the water and maybe have a little talk with him about his intentions toward my daughter.

We had just pulled out of the marina when I dropped the news. "Guess who I caught kissing my daughter last night."

Billy's face didn't change as he opened his beer and settled back in his seat. "Paul Lahote."

I narrowed my eyes at his response, more than a little miffed that he already knew. Then I shook my head as I connected the dots. "Let me guess—Embry called Jacob?"

Billy laughed and shook his head as he inspected his line and baited his hook. "No, Embry called Quil and Jake overheard. He was quite upset when he told me. Wanted me to banish Paul for messing with his Bells."

I rolled my eyes at Jake's misplaced possessiveness. Bella had never given him the slightest hint that she had any romantic feelings for him, but he couldn't seem to get over his little crush.

"So," Billy continued, "did you shoot him?"

I choked on my beer at his casual tone of voice, coughing and sputtering as I tried to stop my laughter. "No, I didn't shoot him. I think Embry would have liked to, though." I shook my head, looking out over the water. "I don't know what to do here."

Billy looked suddenly serious. "You know if you try to lay down the law and forbid her from seeing him, you will only push them closer together. It may be best to just let things play out as they will."

I felt like my jaw was sitting on the floor. Was he being serious? "I thought you hated Paul? I mean, what would you do if this was your daughter?"

At his steady look I almost slapped myself. How could I have forgotten the way Billy called and cussed me out after Paul was seen sneaking in Rachel's bedroom window. That reminded me—I needed to trim that tree outside Bells' window…

The rest of the afternoon I tried to focus on my fishing and put the idea of Paul and my little girl out of my head. Billy respected that and we didn't say much more than "pass me a beer" until we headed back to the dock.

After dropping Billy off at his house, I headed toward Paul's street to bring him his toolbox. I was feeling a bit more forgiving after a day on the water, but I still had some things I needed to say to that boy.

I pulled up in the driveway and glanced back toward his shed to see if he was out there training. I didn't see him, so I started up the steps to the front door. Opening the screen door, I noticed it was hanging straight and secure—another one of Paul's repairs.

My knock sounded loud, and oddly hollow in the growing darkness. A glance at the windows showed me that there were no lights on in the house, and I didn't hear Paul moving around inside either. I frowned as I glanced around, trying to decide if I felt comfortable leaving Paul's tools on his front porch. This street wasn't as bad as it once was, but some people still had trouble resisting temptation.

I couldn't let Paul risk losing the tools he used to support himself, so I turned around and headed for Sam Uley's house. When I pulled into his drive, he was waiting on his porch with that same blank look Billy liked to use.

"Evening, Chief. Anything I can help you with?" I stopped for a minute and just stared at him, surprised again at just how tall and muscular he was getting. That construction work must be a good workout!

"Hey, Sam. I just stopped by Paul's house and he wasn't there," I told him, not missing the way Sam's eyes tightened at the mention of Paul's name. "He left his tools at my house yesterday, and I was just returning them to him. Can I leave them here with you?"

Sam pushed off the porch column he had been leaning against and strode down the steps to meet me in the yard. "Sure thing. I'll get them back to him tomorrow."

He looked like he wanted to say something else, but then his face closed off again and he turned toward the house with Paul's toolbox. He looked back at me after he set it down and asked, "Would you like to stay for supper? I'm sure Emily made plenty."

I was shaking my head as I stepped back to the driver's side door. "No, Sam, but thank you. My family was still asleep when I left this morning and if I don't come home for supper then Tiffany will put me in the doghouse."

Sam chuckled quietly, something I had rarely heard, and nodded in commiseration. "I understand, Chief. Maybe some other time."

With that dismissal I was finally on my way home. The familiar drive passed quietly and I was out of the car and up on my porch before I knew it. I toed off my fishing boots and set my fishing rod and tackle down next to the door, making sure there was no mud clinging to me as I stepped into the house.

"Hey! I'm going to run up and change and then I'll be right there!" I called as I stepped past the kitchen where I could see my family was already gathered, and hurried upstairs to my bedroom.

With my clothes changed and my hands washed I walked back downstairs in my sock feet, ready for a relaxing meal with my wife and kids, a perfect ending to a lazy Sunday.

I stopped dead in my tracks when I rounded the corner and saw Paul Lahote sitting next to my little girl, with Embry sulking across from them. Tiffany walked up to me raised up to kiss me before she took my hand and led me in.

"Look, Charlie, we have company tonight. Aren't you glad Paul could join us for supper?"

I would show that boy just how glad I was. Of all the nerve… But when I looked over Bella's head, trying to ignore her pleading gaze, I saw Paul's own tense look. Suddenly, I didn't see the six-foot tall young man I'd had in and out of my holding cell more times than I'd like to remember.

Instead, I saw the dark, wary eyes of a scared little boy just looking for validation. I saw Bella glance back at him and reach her hand out to twine her fingers with his, and I saw the way his shoulders straightened and he held his head a little higher at that small gesture alone.

Sinking down in my chair, I folded my napkin over my lap and stared at my plate for a moment before looking back at Paul. "Yeah, son, I'm glad you're here. Now, let's eat."