I do not own any of the characters presented in this story other than Terry. No copyright infringement is intended. All other characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.

28. SLOWLY

I woke up the next morning much like all mornings. Only this time I felt much different. I felt… extremely sore. I ached in places I didn't even know I had. But it was a good ache, because the cause was good.

What was the cause? Well one thing is absolutely certain. Jacob Black was apparently made for sex.

I lifted my head, I wanted to see him. To see the man I loved. When I sat up, a searing pain shot through my core. The good ache was gone. It was replaced with pain. I let out a muffled moan.

It was enough of a noise for Jacob to sit up alert. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." I lied, I didn't want him to know he caused me pain.

"Then why did you moan like that?" He touched the side of my face. "Did I hurt you?"

I didn't say anything, but apparently my facial expression said enough.

"Terry… I wanted to wait… To take it slow… I didn't mean to hurt you…" He looked sad.

"You didn't. I'm fine. I'm just a little sore is all." That much was true. I was sore.

Jacob didn't look convinced. "I'm sorry."

I laid back down. "Let's talk about something else."

"Alright. Well, I didn't tell you how much that dance with you meant to me." Jacob smiled.

"I figured it meant a lot considering what happened afterwards."

He smirked. "What exactly happened? I can't seem to recall what it was you said last night…"

I looked him directly in the eyes and said it again. "I love you."

"That's right, that's right. I remember now." He laid next to me. We stayed in bed silently for a while. Each lost in our own thoughts.

Finally I spoke. "You know, if it wasn't for Bella's wedding, we never would have met."

"And I'd still be miserable…"

I thought about that for a minute. "Well what if Bella chose you instead of Edward?"

He propped himself up on one elbow. "What do you mean?"

"What if Bella fell in love with you, and picked your love over Edward's? You never would have imprinted on me." The idea of not having Jacob's love actually frightened me.

He shook his head. "That's not true. I would've imprinted on you anyway. Bella still would've invited you to the wedding, and I would've seen you that way, and imprinted like I did."

"That would've broken Bella's heart. I mean look at what happened to Leah…" I immediately regretted saying anything about her. I didn't want to ruin the good mood we both were in.

But Jacob didn't seem phased by it. "It's different for Leah though, remember we can hear each others thoughts as wolves. So she would hear every thought Sam had about Emily."

I didn't want to talk about Sam and Leah, I wanted to focus on us. I tried to bring the conversation back. "Well maybe Bella would deserve some heart break after what she did to you when Edward left."

Jacob shook his head again. "That doesn't matter anymore. My heart may have been broken by her, but when I saw you, you instantly fixed it. And when you said you loved me, you gave me a new one. My heart belongs to you. Just like I do." He grabbed his dog tag.

"Just like I belong to you." I grabbed his hand and we interlaced our fingers. I wasn't usually the lovey-dovey type of person, but I just couldn't help it. The feelings were pouring out of me, and were hard to keep in check. I honestly couldn't fathom how he was able to be so close to me and yet so far at the same time.

"What would you like to do today?" His chocolate eyes stared deep into my soul.

It took me a minute to remember to breathe. I then felt extremely sheepish. I felt like Bella. Like how she would explain to me how she acted whenever Edward stared in her eyes. "Can we go to your spot in the woods?"

He smiled. "Of course. But it's our spot now." He climbed out of bed and I realized he was completely naked. We both were. I looked as his muscled physique as he scoured the room for clothes, tossing ripped pieces of fabric around.

He was extremely good looking. How did I not notice this before…? A black piece of cloth landed on the bed in front of me. I recognized it as part of the shirt Edward had let me borrow. "Jacob, umm… What exactly happened last night?"

His face turned red. "…Well, I guess in the heat of the moment, I forgot my own strength… I couldn't get the damn buttons undone, so I just ripped it off…"

"Why is the sleeve the only part left?" I held up the piece of fabric that slightly resembled a sleeve.

"I don't know." Jacob started laughing.

I laughed with him. "You know Edward might be upset, right?"

"So? Let him be upset. Besides, he's probably too busy on his honeymoon to care anyway." He found a pair of shorts and put them on. He then threw me my boxers, khaki pants, and faded T-shirt.

I needed to get up to get dressed. But it hurt to move. I tried to distract him from noticing me in pain with more conversation. "Did you always know I'd love you?"

He laughed a little. "No. To be honest, I was afraid I'd lose you…"

"Jacob… I could never leave you like that. Not even if I wanted to."

He stared into my eyes for a moment and then nodded.

I had finally gotten out of the bed and got dressed, trying my best to ignore the pain and not show any signs of distress. I turned around and Jacob was staring at me. "What?"

A smirk crossed his lips. "You're beautiful."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh please. You're the one with the bazillion ab muscles, and ripped arms and all that jazz."

Jacob imitated Paul's voice from one of the times we were with him. "It's ok to be jealous. You can touch them if you want to." He started flexing.

"I'm pretty sure there was enough touching last night to last us for a while…" The events of last night will forever be in my thoughts, as the first time we ever had sex. And it was good.

He frowned. "A while? How long is a while? I spent like two weeks with blue balls after the first time I saw you. I don't know if I can wait like that again."

"Easy there Jake." I put my hand on his shoulder. "Let's just see how things go. You wanted to take it slow right? 'Make our time special'? We were very emotionally charged last night and I think that it'd be best if we took it slow like you said."

He nodded. "Good idea. But it would've been simpler if you just said you needed time to recover." A sly smile crossed his lips.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." There was some truth in that statement though. But I really didn't want to ruin anything with Jacob by going wildly out of control. So we decided to take our time.