Gabby's POV

The next day I was on patrol in the morning and then given the evening off.

When I got back in the early afternoon the house was empty, not that I was complaining. I hid myself in my room, lying on the dog bed in wolf form and slipping in and out of sleep. I liked it, it reminded me of when I was travelling.

When Stendahl wasn't on my trail I would make myself silly little targets. Things like, finish crossing the desert before the sun came up or make it to the nearest arboreal forest before nightfall. If I was able to do that then I would take a few hours off to just nap and relax. It was one of the few things that helped me make my way through the constant bore of heading south or heading north.

Later in the afternoon Emily came home with a car full of grocery bags. I helped her unload them from the vehicle and put away what I could.

She'd tried to talk to me about the night before and I'd had to admit to her that I didn't really remember what had happened. After Paul and Rachel had walked in, hand in hand, I had been too angry to listen to what was being said. Emily decided to give me the low down but I got stuck on one of the first things she told me.

Rachel had told, everyone, that she was leaving and that her and Paul were breaking up because of it.

So I spent the hour it took for Emily to make dinner, thinking about Paul. I hated him for always being on my mind but I couldn't shake the thought of him. I wondered how it was that he could go from being nothing more than an annoying prick to being all I could think about in the space of just a day, it had really only taken a few minutes but that was even more confusing.

I ate a small serve of dinner and then cleaned the dishes, it was my way of not feeling like I was a lazy bitch that just expected Emily to cook my meals while I did nothing all day. After that I disappeared back to my room, so that I could wallow a little more in my own uncertainty.

The sun had well and truly set by the time I'd decided that I had to stop being so stupid. If Paul was even half interested in me, which I wasn't sure if he was, the ball was in his court and I would have to wait to see how it played out.

I hadn't expected the play to be as quick as it was.

I was about to morph when the door swung open and Paul strutted into the room, kicking the door shut with a little more force than was necessary. The temptation was to yell at him and tell him to leave but I never got a chance to say anything.

He was standing in front of me half a second after the door opened and his lips crushed against mine before I really had time to think about what was happening. As had happened last time he kissed me, my body betrayed me and gave into him instantaneously. I would have kicked myself if I wasn't so lost in the moment.

Paul had one hand holding my neck so I couldn't pull away, not that I wanted to, while the other cupped my cheek. The caress of his hands stirred the butterflies in my stomach. The feel of his chiselled muscles pressed against my not quite so chiselled body had my insides squirming with delight.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and clung to him like he was the only reason for my existence. My knees weakened, which was a first for me, and we stumbled backwards, colliding heavily with the wall but never once breaking the embrace.

Paul huffed a laugh that quickly turned into a lusty groan. I loved that sound and moaned in response. Paul pressed his body against mine, and being pinned between him and the wall was one of the best feelings I'd ever felt. Our bodies touching more than ever, or would be if I wasn't wearing clothes.

He moved the kiss from my lips, down along my jaw line to my collar bone, where he sucked and nibbled on the skin. I loved what he was doing to my body. His touch burned across my skin and I was happy to burn for this. He kissed back up my neck as his excitement made itself known against my thigh. I ran my hand up into his hair and took a hold of it.

Encircling his hips with my legs, he ground his hips into mine. I let out a loud groan that Paul quickly muffled by kissing my lips, forcefully. He trailed his fingertips from my cheek down my left side to the small of my back. Pulling me from the wall he walked us over to the bed, without pausing the kiss even momentarily.

We fell onto the bed and Paul's weight landed on me, forcing a lust filled grunt from me. The hand that was on my hip started inching its way up and under my shirt, making my skin prickle with excitement.

I gripped his hair tighter as I took my chance to explore his handsome face. His hand found my breast and he kneaded it roughly, causing me to gasp and growl as I kissed his jaw. I felt the smile spread across his face as he tweaked my nipple and made me shudder.

"This is how it should be." He breathed and the feel of his hot breath in my hair excited me, with an even bigger smile he moved down the bed, "Come here."

He took my lips in another passionate embrace while the hand that still held my neck moved up to grasp my hair. Paul's hips pressed against mine again, his hard member rubbing against my centre. I gasped.

It took every ounce of strength I had to push Paul away, to break the kiss that I felt I had always wanted, "We shouldn't." I gulped as I fought myself not to pull him back to me.

"But... I spoke to Rachel. She knows everything, she's fine with it." Paul's eyes were hungry and I wanted nothing more than the let him 'eat' but something just didn't feel right.

"That's not why." I couldn't look at him, if I did than I would give in to my more primal instincts.

"Then why?" Paul asked softly as he dropped his lips to my jaw and sucked on the delicate flesh.

I moaned at the feel, if he kept doing that I wouldn't be able to control myself, "Please, Paul. Give me some time."

Paul obeyed and pulled back, I could still feel his erection against my leg and I really didn't want to stop. But there was something about this that didn't feel right. Something that would ruin the memory if I didn't figure out what it was.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No," I gasped and looked up at him, he looked hurt, "you were doing everything right. This isn't about you, it's about me."

"You mean it's about your old life." He pressed his forehead against mine and sighed.

"Maybe, just a little."

"Okay."

"What?" I couldn't suppress my shock at his sudden acceptance.

"I said, okay." He leant back to look in my eyes, taking his index finger and trailing it along the outline of my face, "I like you. A lot. If you need time, I'll give you time."

I let out my breath slowly, now I was amazed at him. I don't think any of my past boyfriends had ever been this considerate about anything. He'd lifted most of his weight off me so I slid along the bed to sit in front of him. He kissed my forehead and rolled towards the foot of the bed to free my legs.

I scooted up the bed to lean against the bed head, and Paul crawled up to lie down beside me. I'd never been one for gentle loving moments but there was something about the way Paul's hand grazed across my skin that set my heart fluttering. And the occasional kiss that he brushed against my face and neck caused my skin to tingle with excitement.

But, in my typical self-defeating way, I had a question to ask that I just couldn't keep inside, "I thought Rachel was your imprint, how can you want to be with me?"

He kissed my cheek bone, "Honestly... no one really knows. All I know is that I want you, not her. And she is good with that."

I smiled at him and tried to read his expression. There was a small part of me that was afraid he didn't actually like me and this was some horrible accident. I didn't get a hint of that; all I saw was honest, simple... I wasn't sure what it was but it was honest and simple.

"I seem to have elicited more questions than I've answered." I laughed gently as Paul kissed my jaw, just below my earlobe. My laugh was cut short by a longing sigh and Paul kissed harder. I wriggled away from him, concerned he might get a little too into it, but trying to be as playful as possible.

"You elicit a lot of things." Paul's voice was husky and it made me feel bad, seeing how I wasn't willing to go much further than kissing at the moment.

"Paul." I sighed, "I'm sorry, I just-"

Paul ended my sentence by placing a strong kiss on my lips, I smiled and kissed back.

I didn't like it when he pulled back, "I said I didn't mind waiting. I meant that I don't mind waiting. It's probably for the best for the moment. Seeing how Embry can hear your thoughts, we don't want him hearing this."

That was when it hit me and my face fell.

Paul noticed, "Gabby? What's wrong?"

"Um... Embry can't just hear what I'm thinking." I gave Paul half a smile but it didn't lessen the concern on his face, "He knows."

"About us?" I nodded and Paul stared at me for a moment, "It's alright. If Jacob finds out then we'll deal with it then."

"How can you be so calm about this?"

"Easy. I know I can beat him and if I can't I'd expect you to be the good girlfriend and take him down a few pegs yourself." He said with a broad smile.

I didn't smile, "Girlfriend?"

Paul's mirth disappeared and concern scribbled itself over his beautifully sharp face, "Yeah. Well, I thought that's what this was."

I didn't say anything, just stared into his intense brown eyes and thought about being his 'girlfriend'. I couldn't remember ever being in a relationship that came this quickly out of the blue. In fact I was fairly sure a lot of the guys that I'd had a relationship with hadn't wanted to call me their girlfriend this fast. I didn't think I'd ever called any of them my boyfriend this quickly.

But I liked how it sounded. Me being Paul's girlfriend, him being my boyfriend. The thought of it made me smile.

"Of course." I whispered and kissed him gently on the lips.

Considering how we'd just gotten here, that was a bad idea. Neither of us were content with just a simple kiss and before I knew it he was lying half on top of me again. Conjuring up the glorious emotions and feelings he'd evoked before.