A.N.: I want Sam's steak! Ok...no more spoilers heheh...Hope you guys like.
Many thanks for reviewing. Your reviews inspire me to keep on writing :)
Chapter 26
Sometimes life captures you in a bubble
Yet you've never felt so free
And even though wild winds are blowing around you
Still you float, higher and higher
No matter how turbulent the storm gets
You're not coming down
Because the storm can't burst your bubble
When it was the storm that started it all, blowing you high
Setting you adrift until it feels as if you can touch the sky
Lying atop Sam, staring at his furious expression, Bella is almost afraid for whomever is standing behind her.
And Sam's low, deep growls resounding along her naked body isn't helping the situation either. Even in such a mortifying moment, she's so aware of him.
Bella bites her lip hard when she quickens against Sam's tensed body, a delicious electric tingle right where she's pressed so intimately against him making her shiver...
Swallowing nervously, she slowly turns to look over her shoulder. But before she can complete the gesture, Sam wraps his arms around her waist, leaping to his feet so fast that Bella's head spins.
Facing their intruder, with one sculpted arm Sam gently pushes Bella to stand behind him so that she's shielded behind his tall frame. Well, not technically an intruder since they were both...outside. Bella briefly closes her eyes tight, her face burning against Sam's broad back.
"What in the hell are you doing here?" Sam's voice is dangerously soft. There's no mistaking the fury in the low undertone.
Taking a deep breath, Bella leans from behind Sam. And her mouth parts open in surprise to see her childhood best friend standing there.
Jake shoves his hands in his shorts, his gaze averted as if he doesn't know where to look.
"I was trying to call you. But you weren't answering. Now I see why..." Jake says, finally raising his head to glare at Sam. Jake's gaze slices to where she's standing behind Sam.
"How could you, Bella?" Jake asks, his brows rising in disbelief. His voice is rife with accusation and hurt. "How could you let him get to you like that?"
Bella cringes away from Jake's direct gaze. Irritation thrums though her. What right did he have to judge her?
"Enough." Sam snarls, taking a step towards Jake. "You do not get to talk to her like that. This has nothing to do with you. You're here already, say what you came to say concerning the pack and leave..."
"You're just going to end up hurting her, Uley. You don't deserve her." Jake sneers.
A long shudder ripples along the bare muscles of Sam's back, vibrating against her palms where he's standing behind him.
"Sam..." Bella whispers cautiously.
"Bella, I want you to go inside." Sam says quietly. "Please. Now."
Swallowing past the lump building in her throat, Bella nods mutely.
"Bella?"
She realises she still hadn't audibly responded.
"Yes...yes. Ok..." Bella murmurs.
She's hardly finished speaking when Sam stalks forward, hand striking out to grab Jake's throat with viper precision. He twists Jake's head to the side, immediately cutting off his view of her. He has Jake's face and neck turned at an angle that an average human couldn't possibly survive in the space of a few seconds.
With a growl, Jake clutches at Sam's hands trying to remove them but to no avail.
Bella is frozen under the towering redwood.
"Go, Bella..." Sam says, his deep voice steady and calm. Jake begins to struggle more violently against his iron grip.
Reaching out a shaky hand to the rough bark of the tree trunk to regain her bearing, Bella's feet slides back slowly. Her body just doesn't want to cooperate with what she knows she should do... But finally, she stumbles backward, not taking her eyes from the vision of Sam's tall, sturdy muscular frame partially blocking a seething, struggling Jake.
Bella gasps when Sam raises Jake into the air, throttling him with one large hand before throwing him several feet. Bella blinks once and Sam is already down on all four wolfen limbs, a deafening growl echoing through the trees around them.
Bella promptly turns, pushing the door open and almost tripping face first into the cabin. Taking a deep breath of much needed air, she hesitantly closes the door then turns, sliding her back along the smooth wood until she's sitting on the floor.
Burying her face in her hands, Bella blames herself for the scenario presently taking place outside. She should have insisted that they go into the privacy of the cabin. A part of her, a deep, instinctual part, ferociously disagrees.
Heaven help her, she can still feel him in her. And she feels so Goddamned helpless! Thing is, where he's concerned, she just can't help herself.
Rising to her feet, she darts through the little quaint living area to the bedroom. She just can't sit here especially with the snarling growls filtering through the walls. Bella anxiously slips on his tee shirt. It's as dark as his eyes and reaches almost past her knees. Wrapping her arms around herself, she can breathe in his scent in the soft material hugging her bare body.
Bella doesn't know how but she definitely knows she will kill Jake if Sam gets hurt. But she's not really worried about it. And somehow, she didn't think Sam would kill him. But Jake would probably get a good beating though.
Serves him right, Bella thinks wickedly. She's halfway tempted to go out there, fist pumping in a simulation of some gruesome action flick fan, shouting "Kill him! Kill him!"...but she's a bit afraid that Sam would actually take it literally...
Pushing the door, she squints slightly from the bright beam of sun wedging its way into the dim interior of the cabin.
And a somewhat familiar scene greets her.
Sam has the scruff of Jake's russet furred neck between sharp canines. The two huge wolves are a good distance away from the cabin but Bella can see them clearly through a break in the trees.
Jake's wolf is panting harshly, his great body heaving with exertion.
Bella knows better not to interrupt this time as she did when she first witnessed Sam's...method of discipline.
Besides, she thinks Jake sort of deserves it. From what she's learned of their wolf senses, Jake would have been able to um, hear them from a little distance...he should have stayed away...
Instead he chose to intrude.
Bella bites her lips, shocked at her bold thoughts. But she's strangely unashamed of being found in such a compromising position. For goodness sake, they'd been like a couple out of some hedonistic, rustic porn video...or so it would seem to outsiders...to Jake perhaps...
Right then she understands two things. She understands the need he felt to make love to her out in the open like that, understands the primal instinct that drove him...and her...to relish each other in the raw nature of their surroundings.
And she understands she would do it all over again...
Being with him had been so much deeper than just sex. It felt as if they'd been merging their very souls together...and she didn't think anything, certainly not Jake's judgments, could tarnish that feeling for her.
Bella leans against the door, shading her eyes from the sun's glare.
Sam releases Jake from the grip of his teeth. For long, crawling moments, Jake lies submissive, great shaggy head bowed down between his forepaws at the alpha's feet.
Sam utters another low growl and Jake suddenly leaps to his feet. Jake directs his wolfen eyes towards her for the briefest moment but Sam moves forward again, snarling viciously. Literally turning tail, Jake darts off, disappearing into the trees leaving the great dark wolf staring after him.
Then he turns to her. Crouching low, the wolf springs up and when he lands in a curling shimmer, Sam's bare human form rises to stand.
Bella drinks him in, her eyes greedily roaming as he comes to her.
He walks right up to her, his heated body pressing against hers, cupping her chin and lifting her mouth to his lips. Bella clasps her hands over his warm palms where he holds her face to his. He kisses her slowly, softly, not with the previous passionate fire but still such a delicious burn...
Still kissing her, he grasps her hips, lifting her up. Bella curls her legs around his bare waist as he walks into the cabin.
He kicks the door shut behind them with a resounding slam.
"So sorry, Bella...sorry that I let you be seen like that." He whispers against her parted lips.
Bella's eyes are a little glazed.
"It's both our fault. Let's not think about that anymore..." She murmurs. She just doesn't want to think at all...
Bella licks a wet path down the side of his neck, nibbling lightly on his hot, smooth skin. Something about him exacting discipline, seeing him in his dominant alpha role, just peaks her desire for him. Again...
Sam's low rumbling moan vibrates against her exploring lips where she's nipping his neck. She feels him walk and then opens her eyes wide with a breathless gasp when he tosses her onto the plump sofa.
Dark, hot eyes are pinned on her as he leans down, his bare body hovering over her, his gorgeous arms caging her in.
"You have to be hungry." He says, his gaze moving hotly over her face then down her shirt clad body, the material had risen up past her knees, exposing her legs. "I like you in this..." He plucks at the shirt then tantalizingly pinches her puckering nipples, visible beneath the soft material. Even through the shirt, her skin is feverish from his warmth.
Bella inhales a breath, her back arching.
"Hmmm...I'm going to feed you." He murmurs.
"I'm not hungry..." Bella's voice escapes her in a whimpering mewl. Sam chuckles, the deep tone of it making her chest expand as if there's a flower blossoming there. He's still leaning over her...teasing her...
He leans down further, his heated lips brushing the silky skin of her earlobe, making her tremble. "You need your strength, Bella..." He whispers. "I don't want you fainting on me again..."
"That couldn't be avoided, Sam..." Bella says, opening her eyes.
"What do you mean?" He asks, one brow rising.
Bella lowers her lashes, feeling the heat creep on her face. "The...pleasure...of you in me...it seemed like too much for my body. And at the same time...I can't get enough..." She admits.
Sam cups the sides of her face, tilting her chin up."Oh, Bella...what am I doing to you? What are you doing to me?" Sam shakes his head then adds, "I am going to feed you now..."
He rises to stand, looking down at her intently.
"So...you cook?" Bella asks teasingly, arms and legs pulling in opposing directions on the sofa as she stretches. Like a little sated cat. Bella giggles at the thought.
"Well, I had to teach myself to cook or starve..."
Bella's lips open in surprise. In true Sam fashion, he leaves his remark at that not elaborating further as he moves to the kitchen area separated from the cozy living room by the primitively beautiful wooden counter.
Something about his statement strikes a chord of familiarity with her. Springing up from the sofa, she goes into the bedroom. Just a moment later, she returns with his shorts.
"Here." Bella says, trying to stifle a smirk. "You better put this on. You're distracting me too much..."
He catches the shorts with one fist, his eyes ensnaring her yet again.
"The last thing I feel like doing is eating right now, Babygirl. I could feast on you all day..." He says, shoving his shorts on.
"Sam..." Bella's breath catches in her throat. She involuntarily presses her thighs together. HIs eyes flash with a sheen of silver and then he busies himself opening the small fridge.
"Uh uh, Bella." Sam makes a tsk tsk sound. "Stop looking at me like that. You do need to eat. And I hardly let you get any sleep. And you may not feel it right now..." He places an array of stuff from the fridge onto the counter then opening some cabinets and surveying the contents.
He even looks delectable just cursorily inspecting a pantry...
"...But you will feel it later..." He continues, nodding as if satisfied. Taking some more items from the cabinet, he adds it to the ingredient line up on the counter.
Except I won't be sleeping later, will I?...Bell thinks, moving into the kitchen beside him and looking at what he has laid out. Steaks, butter, cheese, pasta, milk and a pack of mixed greens.
"What are we making? What can I do to help?"
Sam tilts his head to the side, looking at her. Bella raises her head to meet his gaze, loving the affectionate glow in his eyes, loving the amused smile playing at his lips. He seems so at ease now compared to how intensely furious he'd been when...Jake had caught them outside.
"I am making dinner. And I want you to sit... " He moves around the counter again to pull out one of the tall bar chairs, crafted from the same verdantly polished wood as the countertop. "...right here." He adds, patting the dark red leather of the cushioned seat.
"I want to help..." Bella wheedles, insistent.
"Nope." He says in that same carefree manner. "Next time, you'll cook. Just sit your pretty ass down and let me cook for you..."
Bella purses her lips, staring at him mutinously. She's accustomed to always being the boss in the kitchen. Being somewhat naturally timid, it's the one area she truly feels dominant.
"You afraid it won't be edible?" Sam smiles, taking out some pans from the overhead cupboard.
"Noo..." Bella says. "I just think I can help..." She doesn't get a chance to finish what she's saying because Sam leans into her, gathering her up in his arms. Bella gasps when he shifts her with breath-robbing swiftness up his body so that she's dangling halfway over his shoulder. Arms dangling down, she grasps at his corded back.
"Hey!" Bella protests.
He moves around the counter placing her in the bar chair. Then he presses his mouth to hers, all hot and seeking.
Bella's lips part and she moans, hands rising to tug at his hair when he slides his tongue along the tingling insides of her mouth.
Just as she begins to unconsciously move her hips to the rhythm of his thrusting tongue, Sam lifts his mouth from hers. Backing away, hands raised, he utters one word, "Food."
Bella sighs, nodding reluctantly. "Food."
Bella knows her way around the kitchen but still, if anyone had been sitting there actually observing her cook, she might have felt awkward, even a bit nervous.
But not Sam.
He moves about calmly and efficiently with the pizzazz of a experienced chef, going about preparing the food with that same quiet, commanding air that is so inherently him. He pays an almost passionate attention to the methodical cooking, and Bella finds it fucking sexy.
It actually feels sort of great to watch dinner being cooked for once. Especially when the view is so enticing...He makes a searingly distracting picture, all bare chested and moving so skilfully in what she considers her domain. This is food porn, Bella thinks. She wouldn't dream of disturbing him now.
But he glances up, flashing her a smile that pleasantly surprises her, making her toes twirl against the cool wood of the bar chair. There's a speck of what seems to be flour on his chin. Bella leans over the counter, brushing it away with her fingers before reclaiming her seat again.
The aroma in the kitchen is seriously competing with his scent now. It's a combination of sizzling meat and fragrant herbs, and Bella's stomach growls.
"Told you, you need to eat..." Sam says lightly.
Of course he heard that, Bella thinks, mortified.
"You built this place." Bella asks but it's more of a statement. She recognizes similar rustic elements from his home in this cabin hidden deep in the woods (but not so deep from other encroaching wolves).
"I did. Though it's not really complete yet. I only recently added on the living room and extended the bedroom a bit." He says, licking something from his thumb and distracting her all over again. "This place was just an abandoned hovel. Must've been at least a hundred years old, I think. Thought it'd make a good, solitary getaway..."
"You're really talented. It's so naturally beautiful..." Bella says then asks tentaively. " You like being alone don't you?"
"I used to." Sam says easily. "Sometimes I'd escape here for a couple hours when there were only three of us in the pack. I only renovated here about ten months ago. Then a few weeks ago, I was inspired...to add on to it..."
"I can see you get inspired by the forest." Bella says brushing her fingers along the wooden countertop, polished to the same blushing hue as the massive redwoods that populate the woods.
"Usually yes, the forest inspires me." Sam says from where he's standing by the sink. "But I was inspired by you."
"Me?" Bella asks, blushing.
Raising his head, he turns to look at her, those dark eyes magnetizing her gaze to him. "From the moment I found you, I knew I wanted to be with you...alone...a lot..." Sam blows out a breath before muttering, "No fucking peeping Jake..."
An unrestrained giggle bursts forth from Bella. She claps her hand over her mouth, shaking her head. "Poor Jake..." She murmurs.
Sam's stormy frown disintegrates as he watches her and Bella giggles outrightly.
"Things are going to change with the pack now. Got some much needed space to reclaim. I'm going to have to organize pack meetings somewhere other than at home." His deep voice is resolute and rife with some sinful sounding intent.
"Why?" Bella asks, shifting in her seat.
"Because as I told you before, " He breathes out, "I am going to perfume every room of my house with your scent..."
Bella fingers tighten against the lip of the counter, her breathing altering to an uneven rhythm. The simmering tension between them is never far away, always bubbling under a barely covered lid, threatening to overwhelm with a sensuous burn...
"I don't want to disturb the pack..." Bella says. Her voice is fluttery, light. A Sam effect...
"Afraid you'll scream too much?" Sam asks, a naughty looking glint in his eyes.
"Sam..." Bella bites her lip before adding, "I mean, I don't want to be the cause of...disrupting the pack's gathering place..."
"Don't ever think that, Bella. You just can't understand..." Sam swallows visibly, "You can't understand what you mean to me...to us...to me and my wolf. And the guys,...there's still that fucking issue to deal with..."
Bella looks at him perplexed for a moment.
Sam sighs, "How they are affected by you, Babygirl..."
Oh that.
"Surely it's not something...permanent right?" Bella asks softly.
"I don't know." Sam says seriously. He holds up the pot of pasta without any protective gear, pouring the hot contents into the waiting colander perched over the sink.
"I don't think so." He says, turning to her again. "Paul got into some trouble last night. He...hurt someone..."
"Oh no...not serious though?" Bella asks, concern rippling her brows. "I mean, he didn't...phase right?"
"Not exactly." Sam says, stirring a decadent looking cream sauce into the pasta. "He had sex with someone and sort of lost control. He...he swiped at her with partially phased claws...Thankfully he managed to pull back before he could do any real damage."
"Oh my God..." Bella gasps. "Is that what Jake came here to tell you?"
"Yes..." Sam says, a pulse ticking in his jaw.
"I hope Paul's girlfriend is okay..." Bella murmurs.
Sam shakes his head, "She wasn't his...girlfriend. He picked her up in a bar..."
Bella looks down at her clasped fingers, biting her lip. He'd said that so bluntly, his voice emotionless but Bella thinks she could detect slight disapproval in his tone. And a dark cloud filled with doubt drifts over the serene sky of her present bliss.
This situation with Paul makes her think of what he would think of her once they left their idyllic sex cabin...
Would he still think the world of her when they went back to their daily lives? Is she any better than that poor girl who almost got disfigured after allowing herself to be picked up at a bar?
"What are you thinking, Bella?" His deep voice draws her from her musings.
"Nothing." Bella says a bit too quickly.
"We're different Bella." Sam says softly. Bella gasps, raising her bowed head in double-quick time to find his gaze fixed on her.
How does he do that? How does he so effortlessly pick up on the pattern of her thoughts?
With a swift animal grace, he comes around to her side of the counter. He swivels her seat with one hand to face him, wedging his hips between her legs and cupping her face in his warm hands. Leaning down he caresses her lips with his mouth, gently, thoroughly...
He lifts his head and Bella slowly opens her eyes, immediately drowning in his intent gaze.
"Let's get this straight…I didn't fuck you, Bella." The harshness in his gaze softens incrementally. "I claimed you. And I will continue to do so…over and over again…and you won't stop me, will you?"
"I don't want to stop you..." Bella says in a small but sure voice, fingers fumbling in her lap with the need to touch him. But he steps away again, plopping a soft kiss on the top of her head as he slides his large hands from the sides of her face.
"Good." He says softly, his deep voice a caress. "Let's eat..."
They sit casually on the floor of the living room, legs folded facing each other as they eat. She's very aware of Sam perusing her as she eats but Bella finds she's really famished even more than usual.
"You've worked up quite an appetite..." Sam muses, dark eyes on her.
"Mmhm...your fault." Bella murmurs.
Sam chuckles, his deep laughter adding to the pleasure of the food.
"This is awesome." Bella says. The toothsome long strands of fettucine coated in a creamy cheese sauce is culinary school worthy. She's just cleared her second plate.
"I'm glad you like it..." He says. He'd even remembered that she's a vegetarian, grilling a couple tuna steaks for her.
But Bella's newly huge appetite begs to differ. She finds herself eyeing the juicy steak on Sam's plate.
"Want some?" His deep voice pulls the familiar heat to her face. He'd caught her practically drooling over his food. Toying at her lip with the edges of her teeth, Bella nods.
Sam cuts a succulent looking piece of meat, offering a forkful to her. Wrapping her lips around the proffered meat, Bella's eyes slide close. The flagrant herbed juices of the meat explode on her tongue, a delicious shock to her tastebuds. It's so good!
"I've been missing out on a lot..." Bella says with a contented sigh.
After their dinner, they are just finishing washing up when Sam with a mysterious smile, says, "Wait here. I've got a surprise to show you. Wanted to show you yesterday but..."
Bella bites her lip when he grins. They'd been too busy for surprises...
He goes out through a side door in the kitchen to what appears to be a back porch. From what she can see from where he's left the door slightly open, there's that same elemental wooden flooring. And beyond the porch, the flaming rays of the setting sun is filtering through the trees, the vibrant greens and browns of the woods already beginning to grow dim.
With an irrepressibly contented sigh, Bella wipes her hands on a dish towel, wondering what he's up to. And finds herself wandering to the living area again.
Opposite the comfy sofa is a short, three tiered book shelf.
Her wolfy book lover. Bella smiles softly to herself. Curiously wandering over to the books neatly stacked there, she pulls one of the books out, wondering what reading material he's stocked all the way out here. As she pulls the volume out, a photo flutters down to the floor from where it had been obviously stored between the books.
Bending down, Bella swipes the fragile picture from the ground.
And her dinner almost comes back up.
Clutching her hand to her throat as she reflexively gags, Bella stares in horror at the contents of the photo.
It captures in very graphic, bloody detail, the carcass of what appears to be a slain deer. The animal's entrails are gouged out of its belly, its once regal antlers broken into pieces and scattered around its body. Its eyes are still open, and Bella even thinks the poor creature might have been still possibly alive when the photo was taken. Even from a photo, she can see the abject fear in its yellowed eyes.
Her suddenly clammy hand moves from her still gagging throat to cover her mouth, fingers shaking.
"Ok, I think you will love this..." Sam walks back in, his voice trailing off... "Bella?"
Bella turns to him holding up the photo. "What is this? Why?" Her voice trembles at the end of her question, nausea still threatening to overwhelm her.
Sam walks to her, gently taking the photo out of her tensed hand.
"It's my attempt at getting the Cullens' treaty to be absolved. " Sam explains, a certain weariness infusing his voice, "Not that this evidence worked. After all, the treaty still remains intact." Sams sighs, "This is just one of the numerous animals that they killed in this way, Bella. It's true, I'm also a hunter and while I have no problem with those who hunt for food...there are some... unnatural appetites that shouldn't be sustained by the forest. They were never meant to be part of this natural eco-system... And that's not even what truly bothers me. It's how they did it. Most times they would leave the animal to suffer after they took what they wanted, they never... killed cleanly..."
"My God..." Bella whispers.
"It was...it was as if they left those half dead animals to suffer as a way of...antagonizing me. Or that's what it felt like to me as a new wolf. Maybe that was just their way of feeding. A disgusting, parasitic, cruel way...I can't see how that wasn't enough to end this goddamned treaty. The wolves have never needed their help to protect what's ours. Not the last generation. And not us either...They once told the alpha of the last generation of wolves that they would hunt carefully in the savages' lands. They refer to us as savages. But savages are not the ones who live in the forests but the ones who destroy it...needlessly...abusing its resources." Sam glances down at the photo again before putting it back in its place. "You shouldn't have seen this..." He adds gently.
"It's monstrous...evil." Bella spits out.
Sam silently gathers her close.
"Did you...did you put it out of its misery?" Bella whispers into his hot, bare chest.
"Yes." He responds softly. "Come. Let me show you what's outside..."
Still feeling a bit queasy, the contents of the picture seems stamped into her mind. Bella allows Sam to guide her throught the side door. Sam steps aside as they emerge onto the porch giving her an unobstructed view of a huge wooden jacuzzi at the innermost corner of the large, spacious porch. A small ladder attached to the haven of warm water beckons her to go closer.
"Wow...this is...it's beautiful." Despite the trauma of seeing the aftermath of the Cullens'...feeding habits...Bella can't help but grin excitedly up at Sam. "You made this too?"
"Yes." He says simply. "Wolf strength makes me work faster. Also the thought of sharing it with you."
He steps to her again, "As much as I like seeing you in my clothes, we've got to get rid of this." He says. Bella stretches her arms overhead as he slides his dark tee from her flushed body.
Interlacing her fingers in his, with his help, Bella climbs the short ladder. She gasps softly as first one foot then the other sink down into the bubbling, reassuringly warm water. He steps in, sinking his bare body into the water and she follows.
He pulls her back to lean against him and Bella's vision drifts to a soothing darkness, her eyes crossing behind her lids with the comforting strength of his heated body surrounding her and the warm water teasing its way between them.
Sam traces a tantalizing path with the tips of his fingers along her chin. His touch meanders down to her neck, feathering across that sensitive spot of skin where he bit her, making her squirm and sigh against him.
He presses a soft kiss on her clavicle, gently skimming the contours of her body beneath the simmering water. His divinely callused fingers creates an erotic friction against her soft, wet skin.
His warm touches, the scent of him and of the forest which is just a touch away, makes that instinctive, sensual rhythm pulse within her again, makes her blood course more zealously within her.
With the cooling, sea tinged breeze drifting around them and the stars peeping through the soaring branches of the redwoods as witness, they eagerly, slowly explore each other all over again...
When Bella opens her eyes again, Sam is holding her cradled to his chest as he walks through the cabin to the bedroom. He sets her down on the bed, his heat deserting her briefly. The bedroom is softly lit from the lone lamp at the little bedside table making the stone walls appear cozy. He returns to wrap a fluffy creamy towel around her.
"I've got to check in with Jared outside. Will be right back...Go ahead, sleep Babygirl..." Sam says, the pull of his dark eyes making her more sentient and making her momentary drowsiness fade away.
"Don't leave..." Bella says spontaneously.
"Never..." Sam responds unwaveringly, "I'll be right back. You'll be safe here. I'm right outside."
"You have to phase again?" Bella asks, wondering just how many times in one day he...changed.
"No...Jared is waiting out there. Seems there's another message I need to hear. Just hope they haven't killed anybody." Sam smiles ruefully, "I've never spent an entire night away from the pack."
"Go..." Bella says, smiling back reassuringly at him.
She sits up watching as he leaves the room. He's wearing his cut off trousers, bare chested, always at the ready to phase...
Patting the remaining dampness from her skin with the towel, Bella puts on another of his tees he thoughtfully laid out for her from the small closet.
As he said, just a few moments later he strides back into the bedroom. Bella stills, watching with a creeping apprehension as he agitatedly swipes long fingers through his hair. Pacing back and forth, Sam bounces his clenched fist over his mouth, muttering, "I swear I'm going to kill him this time for sure."
Walking closer, Bella places her hand on his chest. "Sam, what is it?"
He stops walking back and forth, his brows smoothening from a ferocious scowl as he stares down at her. To her relief, his agitation seems to dissipate as his dark eyes gaze into hers. She can feel the heavy exhale of air beneath her fingers on his chest as he sighs.
"It's Black..."
"Jake? What did he do?"
Taking another deep breath, Sam turns to face her, grasping her hands in his own large, warm ones. "Bella, he's told your father about us. About the wolves."