Oh my god.

Oh my god.

Oh. My. God!

I sat there in Jake's lap, my brain crashing into the side of my skull like some high-speed car accident. Jacob didn't seem to mind my silence. After a few minutes he looked back up to the sky and lay down.

I lay over him with my head on his abdomen, as I'd done not long after I first met him. The day Bella told him the truth and he snapped. I remembered thinking, like an 'X marks the spot'. I'd thought of it as a finish line. We'd raced to the end of our ropes and our emotions got the best of us; it was the last of it and we felt better.

But there was never an X at the end of a race. You found an X at the end of a map. After following all the which ways. Forty paces east, around the rock that looks like a crow, towards the dusk-cast shadows. And after you followed all those directions – even the ones that didn't make sense - you were at your end. But it wasn't a finish line. It was always buried treasure. A treasure you never knew was there and was always enough to make Midas jealous. Beauty to parallel the vaults of the Kings of Spain and the troves of the Queens of Egypt. Enough to keep a person happy for eternity; enough to drown in.

Buried treasure. I smiled at the thought. I turned my head to the side seeing the underside of Jacob's strong jaw line, the rise of his cheekbones and his lashes as they moved in sync with his star gazing. He kept watching the sky with his hands tucked behind his head.

My map was quite shrewd. I'd started my journey with the X lying on the sand just out of sight. I'd followed all the directions, never knowing there would be a short cut if I cared to look a little closer. But instead I walked in steady concentric circles, slowly spiraling away before tripping, tumbling down a hill and landing on my X.

Jake could sense that I was staring at him and he peered down at me. "What?" he asked laughing slightly. I swung around so I was laying on his chest. Our faces almost level and my toes only reaching his knees. I swung my legs in the air above me and set my chin down below his collarbone and just pursed my lips in thought.

"Are you all right?" he asked. He seemed genuinely serious about that question. He put a large, gentle hand on the back of my head using his thumb to sweep the hair from my face in order to get a better view of my expression. His head lifted and his brows furrowed as he frowned and inspected me closer. I guess it made sense; I must've seemed more than a little unstable.

I chewed the inside of my cheek and pressed my thumb lightly against the crease that formed in his forehead. I didn't like that crease. It was like a distress signal; no good ever came of it. Then it was as if I was propelled by some outside force: intuition or clairvoyance. It was not a conscious decision but I knew it wasn't spur of the moment either. It was surprising but not unanticipated. I had been working this whole time towards my buried treasure but never knew what it was for certain.

I took a breath and closed the gap between us. I placed my small cold lips on his warm ones, breathing in his scent and noticing how much more intense it was with this proximity. My eyes were closed and I could have been standing along the ocean coast. He no longer smelled bad to me, but his skin carried the scent of salty ocean water and the heady smoke of campfire burned with natural wood.

My upper lip fit perfectly between his, and his lower lip slid between my own without hesitation. I laced my arms around his lifted neck, marveling at the contact. Like two magnets or bits of static charged cloth we were drawn unconsciously together. His face met mine equally, followed by his chest and torso. They fought the gravity that pulled him naturally downward and brought him flush to me.

I sincerely hoped this went well. I was taking a big dive off an even bigger cliff and I would either land among the water and waves and it would all be worth it or I would get caught on the way down and screw up one of the best things to come into my life in a long time. But before my fears were able to eat too far into my brain, Jake came back to life. He lifted himself onto his elbows, causing me to slide from his abdomen to his lap. Each of his hands carefully took a side of my head as he handled me like glass.

He began to lean forward making my holding his neck necessary. He slid one hand down to the small of my back – covering the whole lower half with his one hand – so we didn't have to break the full body contact we had from waist up. I felt the trail of his heated hand as it traveled down my side. I would've bet money that his handprint was permanently marked on my skin there.

He started to enjoy the moment more and took the lead, kindly and gently working his burning lips over my cold bottom one. I'd initiated and Jake took the reins and ran with it. We were normally on equal ground but I happened to like Jake's authoritative side.

I ran my fingers down the back of his head to the arrow point where his hair tapered and met the pulsing skin of his neck. My other hand traced along his neck and along his each vertebra. I could sense the trail of gooseflesh I was causing. Pleased by his reaction, I smiled against his lips - glad this was not going the crash and burn route.

He felt the smile as my lips involuntarily tugged away from his. He took his other hand from the side of my head and ran his thumb gently down my chin, pulling my bottom lip back out. "Not fair," he whispered. As he spoke a sudden wave of his blazing and overwhelming scent hit me with the full force of 'Jake'. I was completely tucked away inside a cloud of his warmth and smell. I was caught off guard and I inhaled as much as my lungs would take. His fingers traced down the front of my throat and along one collarbone before coming back to rest on the side of my neck, making me shudder.

Then I could sense him getting adventurous as his tongue came out and traced the seam of my lips. I wasn't going to give into him that easily, plus I liked antagonizing Jacob's more pushy side. While keeping my lips firmly planted to his, I stood up, only needing to bend slightly from the height difference. I slowly took a step away but he put his hands on my hips not wanting me to pull back. I took his hands, interlocking our fingers and took another step back. He sat up on his knees and followed me with closed eyes for every step I made. Our lips never broke and slowly mine began to grow warmer - the contact from Jake, heating them to an almost bearable point.

I finally stopped pulling away and wrapped his arms back around my tiny waist. Fighting the smile that wanted to break through, I parted my lips and breathed in his smell letting it fill my head like a hazy cloud. He seemed to be just enjoying having won the battle, as his tongue was less frantic then I'd anticipated. He took his time exploring and memorizing the contours of my mouth.

He was slow, warm and gentle. Even though I very well could've cracked his head in two with one hand, he handled me like antique china. He kept a firm grasp so I never faltered but at the same time was incredibly gentle, making sure to never crush me. I might have been strong, but Jake was far bigger than me and wouldn't have trouble overpowering me. I'd never liked big guys because I had always felt uncomfortable, knowing I wouldn't be able to defend myself against them. But Jacob – bigger than any man I'd ever known – didn't give me this fear; on the contrary, he could've been my wall of protection.

I allowed my tongue one final sweep of his beautiful white teeth before I closed my lips and ended with a chaste peck. I stayed standing and he remained kneeled with his forehead resting against mine and his eyes still closed. He was breathing deep. I took his breath away. Good. Then he just broke out the biggest, goofiest smiled I'd ever seen him wear. He tightened his grip around my waist and tickled my sides, burying his face in my stomach. I squealed from the jitters – it was strange, I hadn't been tickled as vampire – and knocked myself over onto my back. I squirmed and couldn't speak for laughing. He relented after a moment and rested his warm cheek against my chest. "That's for holding out on me."