CHAPTER 25 - REUNION

~X~

I do not own Twilight. No copyright infringement intended.

All that is left after this chapter is an epilogue, and that's it. Because you've all been so patient and kind...here's one entirely gratuitous lemon, seeing as I've held out on you since Chapter 17! I know, and it wasn't even a proper lemon, either! Sheesh!

~X~

What in this world keeps us from tearing apart?
No matter where I go I hear the beating of your heart.
I think about you when the night is cold and dark.
No one can move me the way that you do.
Nothing erases this feeling between me and you.

I Drove All Night – Cyndi Lauper

~X~

Once I had thoroughly reacquainted myself with the taste of Demetri's mouth, we joined the others in the Cullens' home.

It seemed that my lover was already familiar with some of them, and there was an awkward atmosphere. The Denalis, in particular, seemed frosty with the former member of the Volturi Guard.

Demetri's history with the vampires I now lived amongst wasn't the only issue that we skirted around. By the expression on Edward Cullen's face, he could hear that I'd not let go of the fact that I'd been deceived for the past ten years. That would save for later. I didn't think dismembering a collection of very guilty-looking vampires would be the best way to celebrate Demetri's arrival.

I glared at Alice in particular. Her fussing earlier in the day had taken on an entirely new meaning; she had known and not told me.

Harry diffused the situation by offering to introduce his long-lost father to the sport of Wii Baseball. I sat and watched as they bonded in the way that men often did—over a pointless game that was of absolutely no interest to me whatsoever.

The game bored me, but the interaction between father and son tugged at my heart. I felt confused—everything was so sudden, and I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or scream.

I tried to concentrate on something more tangible—Demetri.

I tried my hardest not to let it turn into an opportunity to ogle him, as he made a virtual figure swing a bat. Emmett and Jasper heckled his lack of success, though I did not doubt that he would improve. The Cullen boys and Harry certainly got plenty of practice, and Demetri would have some catching up to do...if he had the time. I smiled as my mind drifted towards ways to keep him busy.

As my resolve faltered, I found myself watching him intently. Sitting quietly, I enjoyed the view—Demetri's ass was still as epic as it ever was. I noticed Jasper also become silent and fixated; he made his excuses and left the room.

I realised that I was lusting over Demetri with the force of many years of abstinence, and when Emmett happily took over Demetri's attempts and started taking turns with Harry to get a perfect score, I used the opportunity to offer to show Demetri around.

Making a beeline for my cabin, I was sure that he would be able to tell my purpose. He'd never had a problem previously. I opened the glass sliding door and we entered.

Demetri looked about. "Very nice. Does it have a hot tub?" He gave a knowing smirk.

Not wasting time on words, I strode up to him and planted my lips on his. He responded by desperately kissing me back. This time it was not a sweet kiss to celebrate our reunion; it was unadulterated need.

With total disregard to the fact it was light and the table was right in front of the glass entrance, I walked backwards to the table and Demetri followed, his mouth never leaving mine. Anyone who might be in the area would probably know better than to be near the cabin right about now. Certainly, my thoughts had been screaming my intentions as I'd left.

Demetri pulled my hips to his, and the contact sent me frantic with desire. I pulled his shirt over his head, and then pressed myself against his semi-exposed body. He responded by making sure I was also in a similar state of undress, and a pleasant shiver ran over my body at his cold touch.

While he unfastened my shorts and they dropped to the floor, I tasted the vampire skin along his collarbone, meeting his eyes once his task was completed. The yellow was almost hidden by the fact my lover's eyes were black with lust; he looked more like my Demetri and not like a wannabe Cullen.

I might not have liked what red eyes stood for, but I did love Demetri as I remembered him.

"I missed you. So bad," I said huskily.

"Me too, Leah. Never leave me; it's too much to bear."

Demetri pushed me backwards, and I willingly slid onto the table, watching, hungry in anticipation, as he removed his pants. My memory hadn't done him justice; he was male perfection, and that perfection positioned himself between my thighs. I wrapped my legs around his hips and enjoyed the feel of his cold skin against mine. My heart pounded.

We exchanged feverish kisses, until Demetri put his hands on my ass and pulled me closer to the edge of the table I sat on. Right now, I felt as if every second since we'd last had sex had been a lifetime, and my entire body hummed with electricity as it anticipated having him inside once more.

I leaned back as he prepared to enter me.

As he pushed forward, a noise of complete ecstasy escaped me. I closed my eyes and was overwhelmed by the pleasant sensations that accompanied the feeling of being gloriously filled. When I opened them, Demetri was looking down at me while he withdrew and then thrust into me once more.

My eyes ran over his body; I decided that I was missing too much by keeping them closed.

He found a rough but slow rhythm, and I responded by pushing towards him on the in stroke. My body began to perspire and my temperature felt hotter than ever. Instead of cooling me down, my lover's body temperature only set me alight. When Demetri began to rub the sensitive spot above where he entered me, the flames took over, and a ball of fire raced from between my hips and spread throughout my body in waves.

My lover looked at me with a wide smile, and bent down to kiss me slowly while I was still impaled on his length.

"Round one over. I suggest we relocate to the bedroom for round two." I did not need to say anything to show that I was in complete agreement.

Demetri lifted me and I tightened the grip of my legs, as he strode naked into my bedroom with me in his arms.

We lay on the bed, side by side, just observing the other for a moment, before I made Demetri lie on his back and proceeded to lavish his body with attention. I could have worshipped his skin for hours, especially those goddamn abs, but it seemed my lover had other plans. He pulled me so that I straddled his hips.

Demetri's eyes were still dark with desire, yet I teased him by allowing his tip to rub across the source of my wetness. My mischief was ended suddenly when my frustrated lover grabbed my hips and thrust upward. I gasped aloud.

I looked down at the naked vampire I sat astride, as the grinding of my hips and his thrusts found a compatible rhythm.

This morning I'd woken up from a similar fantasy. The moment was too perfect, and I expected to wake up any moment. But when Demetri stiffened and released inside me with a hiss, I collapsed forward onto him and the dream didn't end. Instead, I settled into a comfortable nook along the side of his icy body, lying on my stomach and looking up at his face.

He smiled back at me. "I like your idea of showing me around. I'll have to get you to give me the full tour at some point."

I snorted. "That tour wasn't thorough enough for you?"

"Oh, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I just want to make sure—" he bent his head forward to kiss me. "—I didn't miss any of the sights."

Demetri rolled over so that I was pinned underneath him, and my pulse began to race again in anticipation.

"I love you, Leah. I don't want to spend the rest of my existence anywhere else but here. Can I take it that I'm staying with you from now on?"

Looking into his intense eyes, I ran my hand down his back. "I love you, too, Demetri, but I have to warn you...the Cullens and Denalis are pretty irritating." His face broke into a smile, and it was like sitting up to watch the dawn after a very long, hard night. "I don't think Harry is going to want to move away. He's gotten himself a girlfriend and is pretty attached."

"A girlfriend—at ten years old?" Demetri's smile was filled with pride. I eyeballed him; we obviously had differing opinions on the subject. "Who is it? The half-breed Cullen?"

I shook my head. "Tanya."

Demetri spluttered.

I scowled and tried to sit up. "Don't you dare tell me that you've been there!"

"Leah, no, I haven't...been there. Felix has, though." My lover chuckled. "Well done, Harry. Nothing like starting with an advanced teacher. Does she still—"

I pushed Demetri off me and got to my feet. "Don't even talk about it. She's not allowed anywhere near until he's at least eighteen."

"I assume Harry is fully grown? He certainly seems mature. Why make him wait?" Demetri lay on the bed, unashamed of being exposed in all his glory as I grabbed a nearby bathrobe.

"That goddamn vamp has been sniffing around him since he hit puberty. He's barely even lived, and she's trying to steal him away and corrupt him."

"Leah, he's got half my genes. I doubt that he's got a problem with being corrupted." Demetri smirked as he spoke. It was entirely the wrong thing to do.

"What? You've been back a matter of hours and you're already telling me how I should have raised our son?" My temper boiled over and got the better of me, but I held back the tremors. "You don't know anything about him—you weren't here."

I regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.

Demetri's expression visibly dropped, but his voice remained even and calm. "That was a little harsh, Leah. Do you not think that if I'd known you were alive, that I would have found you? And once I did hear you, do you not realize what I have done to convince you to let me in? Do you think that I decided to start drinking animal blood because I like the taste? If I could vomit, I would—every time."

As always, his words were too reasonable to argue against, but I couldn't spit out the apology that I knew I should give. Instead, I stood, glared at him, and made the moment even more awkward.

Demetri broke the silence. "Leah?"

"Yeah?" I replied sharply.

"I'm sure it's difficult for you to allow me to walk in and start having an opinion on how you are raising our son, but I really want to play a part. After all, I've missed out on ten years that I can never get back."

I looked down at my feet and nodded in understanding—my pout stayed in place.

"You don't like Tanya, I can see that, but vampires can change. Am I not living proof?"

"Living?" I said sarcastically; Demetri's eyebrows raised. "Yeah, I guess so, but I've set a rule and I'm sticking by it. She's waited centuries for him to come along. What's another eight years to her?"

"True, but I'm sure it feels a lot longer to Harry."

"I've made my decision, and I'm sticking to it. This is my house, and Harry follows my rules. So will you if you plan on staying here with me." My eyes challenged Demetri to dissent.

He broke into another smile. "And what if I refuse? You know I'm a naughty boy, and I can be a bit of a handful. A generous handful, at that." Demetri's eyes twinkled with innuendo.

I completely failed to keep a straight face. Obviously, I had forgotten how he could turn any situation or discussion into sex. Goddamn, manipulative, sexually-insatiable vampire. "Well, then, if you're a bad boy, then you'll have to be punished."

I left the window of opportunity wide open for him.

"Oh, really." Demetri patted a spot on the bed right next to where he lay. "That's an intriguing idea. Do come and sit down, and we can discuss your idea of discipline in more detail."

Pausing for a second, I decided that the parenting issue could be addressed later, and I just wanted to make the most of the first night of having the vampire I loved back here with me. I dropped my robe to the ground as I approached.

Demetri's eyes ran over my body as it was once more exposed. "Much better."

Before I'd even fully lain on the bed, his hands were on me. Between kisses, I managed to say, "Warn me if anyone comes near. This is going to be hard with a son with super hearing hanging around. We don't want to get caught."

He pinned me to the bed again. "Don't worry, I fully intend on making you so loud that the entire coven knows not to come anywhere near this cabin until at least tomorrow morning."

Closing my eyes, he reminded me of how talented he was, and why I'd fallen for him in the first place. An eternity hanging around with the Cullens might be a lot more pleasurable with Demetri around—pleasurable, being the operative word.

Lifting my mouth to his, I hesitated just before we made contact. "You do realise that you're going to at least have to try to behave yourself living amongst all these do-gooder vegetarian types?"

He looked me directly in the eyes. "I'm a regular paragon of virtue. I have my yellow eyes now, and I'm saving up for my halo." Demetri did his best to look sweet and innocent.

I gave him a dubious look. "Yeah, that's why two minutes ago you were telling me that you were going to make me scream the place down."

Demetri's smile spread across his face. "That proves my point exactly. I was being open and honest, and speaking nothing but the truth."

He began to prove his point, and my eyes rolled back into my head as his hands wandered. I goddamn hated it when he was right. There would be nothing but innuendo from goddamn Emmett Cullen when I showed up for lunch tomorrow.

Ah, screw it, I thought. Life was too short not to let those around you know how you feel...or how it felt. Never let it be said that I was shy, quiet type.

I gave myself up to the moment completely.

Don't worry...there's still the epilogue! I might even throw in a bit of Italian here and there, too...because I know you like it!