Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


Beta services provided by fmfg and bigblueboat of Project Team Beta.

A/N: This was one of those chapters where a certain character decided to run off in a completely different direction than the one I had planned for her.

I Live is posted on FanFiction, A Different Forest (feed a tree!), The Writer's Coffee Shop (TWCS), and Archive of Our Own (AO3).

Age 18 and over, please. Thank you.

Thirsty by vulnzme on FFn (Oh my)

Misery by The Sleepy Wolf on FFn

Start of Something New by Luluuu on FFn


Chapter 29, I Mark

Jasper's POV

Having multiple levels of security on my laptop slowed things down, but it was the only way to go. It's not that I didn't trust everyone, though I was having a problem with Edward; it was just more prudent not to have to trust them. Bella would get all the passwords and codes, of course.

Speaking of Bella — would she be in that tub forever?

After getting through the passwords, I got online and searched for V-neck t-shirts. I ordered two dozen in a few different colors, making sure six of them were black, since Bella had said she liked it. All of them would be shipped to our new home. Then I looked for Levi's jeans and bought six pairs of those. Bella hadn't ripped my pants off yet, but I could hope.

That caused my mind to wander to what it might be like for Bella to rip all of my clothes off me. That led to thoughts of being naked, in a bubble bath with Bella. I let out a long, slow breath. The tub at my house was a standard size. We could remodel and put in a bigger tub if Bella wanted one. Shit, I'd build her a whole new house if she wanted.

Next on my list was to try and find another Calvin and Hobbes t-shirt for her. Might need a few of them. Maybe something with a Firefly TV show theme. Clicking through what I could find, I didn't think I'd like for her to wear something with "Captain Tightpants" on it.

A few more of those Henleys might be nice.

Absorbed in my shopping for Bella, and day dreams of vanilla and spice scented bubbles, I didn't notice anyone walk up to my door until I heard the light knocking.

Looking up, I sucked in a breath. Every time I had been away from Bella and then saw her again, it was like seeing her for the first time. She was a vision framed by the deep cherry-stained oak of the door trim. She was wearing stone washed jeans, her navy blue Converse, and a long-sleeved, deep red Henley. The three buttons at her throat were undone, and the sleeves were pushed up on her forearms. The red of her shirt brought out the gleaming auburn highlights in her rich brown hair, and her crimson eyes glistened like jewels. I was struck dumb and could only stare at her. It didn't matter what color she wore because any color she had on complemented the light ivory of her skin and enhanced the soft pink of her lips. Oh, my fucking God, she was beautiful.

"Jasper? Can I come in?" she asked tentatively. She brought her hands together and started picking at her fingers.

I must have looked like a drooling idiot with my mouth hanging open, eyes wide, and my hands poised above the laptop.

Swallowing the pooling venom in my mouth, I choked out, "Uh, yeah."

I stood quickly from my desk and didn't notice I had knocked my chair over until I heard the loud thump as it hit the floor. I quickly righted it and darted across the room to her.

She met me half way and reached out, her fingers delicately brushing over my arm.

Instantly, as her skin met mine, the tension and anxiety I had been feeling drained away. As I breathed in her tantalizing fragrance, my constantly smoldering desire for her rekindled, warming me from within. She had used the vanilla and brown sugar body wash again, but she had also used the strawberry shampoo. I hoped she used that up as soon as possible. I didn't want any more reminders of her time with Edward.

"Hi," she said shyly, tipping her head down and looking up at me.

Again I wondered if what Edward had told me was true. Did she love me? I adored her. I caught her hands in mine and brought them to my lips. "Hi," I whispered against her fingers. "I missed you."

Her eyes widened slightly. She started to pull her hands away, but I held them more tightly. "Stay. Please."

I moved my left hand to cup her face, and with my right, I brought her hands to my chest. She leaned into my palm, and her eyes slowly closed. A small smile graced her face.

"Bella, you are so beautiful." I stepped closer to her, and my right arm was around her back, pulling her body into mine. I bent my head down to kiss the top of her head. "I missed you," I repeated. Inhaling deeply, I closed my eyes; sinking into the peace and contentedness I felt whenever her scent surrounded me.

She tried to pull away from me again, and I held her more firmly against me. "Please, Bella." More than anything I had ever wanted, I wanted her to stay with me, be near me. And not just at that moment, but forever.

"Uh, but Jasper, um …" she said, turning her face up to mine. Her eyes widened, and she gasped. "Oh!" She jerked away from me and bumped into the deep green couch I had placed diagonally in front of my desk. "Your … your eyes are so, uh, black," she stammered out as she backed away from me toward the end of the couch and in the direction of the open door. Her thigh grazed the corner of the oak end table causing the lamp to begin rocking.

I darted forward and caught the lamp before it fell over. "Next are you going to tell me what sharp teeth I have?"

"Very funny." She crinkled her nose at me and smiled nervously as she backed away another step.

I settled the lamp and stepped toward her. "Before anyone else interrupts us, I want to tell you that Alice is giving me a divorce." With my right hand, I stroked her gleaming hair along the side of her face and down her neck. "I should have the papers in a few days."

I couldn't feel her emotions, but her face was colored with surprise. "She is? I didn't think she … I mean, I thought that she would, uh …" Ducking away from my hand, she skittered sideways around the table, avoiding the lamp, and quickly went behind the couch, never taking her eyes off my face. She backed away from the couch until she hit the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves at the front of the room. "Oh!" She gasped again, looking quickly to her left, at the open door, and back at me. She nervously yanked up the sleeves of her deep red shirt and crossed her arms.

I took a step toward her, but was angling to put myself between her and the door. "You thought she would fight it? Why would she? I'm your mate," I whispered, gazing into her eyes and taking another step closer to the door. "You are my mate. No one can fight that."

Wanting her so badly, I could feel my dick lengthening, my breath coming faster, and I longed to have her in my arms. I took another slow step toward the door. One more and I would be able to reach it and swing it closed.

"Er, uh, Jasper." Bella had backed herself into the corner. "Rose went to get Emmett. They'll be back any minute. Um, I think Alice is in her room down the hall."

I took that last step toward the door, grasped the edge and pushed it gently closed until I heard the latch click; my eyes on Bella the entire time.

Her eyes dropped slowly from my face, down over my chest, and as I turned to face her, her eyes dropped to my groin. The bright red began to darken, and her eyes snapped back to mine. She gulped.

"Um, did you burn all those bags and stuff? Because I kinda smell burnt plastic, paper, and something sort of sweet on you." She fussed with her hair, running her fingers through a lock over her shoulder.

"Yes," I whispered, taking a step to begin closing the distance between us. "Everything was burned to ashes. Emmett enjoyed it quite a bit, as did I." Another slow step. "That sweet smell is burned venom."

Her dark eyes dropped to her fidgeting fingers, and she pulled at the ends of her hair. "Did, uh, Edward have anything to say?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"He mentioned wanting to leave and go to Denali, but we convinced him it was in his best interest to stay and meet his obligations."

I had taken two more quiet steps over the wool Oriental rug and was almost close enough to touch her. My right hand reached out involuntarily to her.

"He wanted to leave? You mean he wasn't going to go to my memorial and his graduation?" Her hands clenched into fists, and her black eyes were sparking with her instant anger. "You mean he wanted to run away again, that son of a bitch!" Then she was off and pacing, past the couch and my desk toward the north wall and back. She was fuming. "Granted, I've done a lot of running, but I have an excuse for being out of my mind — I'm a newborn!" She stopped in front of me and flung her arms out. "He's over a hundred years old!"

She flashed to the back of the room and spun around, her shining hair swirling around her shoulders, causing her delicious and intoxicating scent to fill the space. She put her hands on her hips. "When smelling my blood was too much for him, he took off. Now he wants to take off again, the jerk. How did you convince him to stay?"

Thwarted in my quest to seduce her, I sighed heavily, crossed my arms, and leaned against the bookshelves on the east wall. "I told him I could remove a few parts. I would return them later if he did what he was supposed to. Emmett backhanded him, and Carlisle told him if he left before he went to your memorial and the graduation, he couldn't come back. I also had my hand around his throat."

Bella blinked with her surprise. "Emmett hit him? Wow. He didn't see that coming and duck?"

I smirked at the memory. "I think he was distracted watching the last of your blood burn away."

She nodded. "Did you break off any parts?"

"No need to yet." I took a step toward her.

"You guys were busy out there."

"A bit. Emmett volunteered to get rid of those ashes so Edward wouldn't be tempted to try and save any of them."

"What? Do you think he would do that?" she asked incredulously.

"I wouldn't put it past him."

"He has been kind of a creeper like that." She leaned back against the bookcase and crossed her arms, a look of disbelief on her face. "And Carlisle … Wow. So Carlisle said he couldn't come back. Wow. That's … wow. I never thought I'd see the day."

"Neither did I, but I think Carlisle and Esme are a little disappointed in him." I took another step toward her. "His mind reading is useful, but Carlisle managed to survive many years without him. He and Esme could do so again. I think Edward may realize this, and I think he would prefer to stay in Carlisle's good graces. Edward's safer with the family around him for protection."

I strode toward her and her arms flashed to her sides.

"Just closin' the curtains, Darlin'." I winked and raised the left side of my mouth in a slight smile, watching her eyes darken further as I let my accent come out a little more. "It'll be dark soon." I tugged the curtains closed and then turned to face her again. "There are a few things I want to talk about, and I'd like for you to look over the IDs I ordered for you. They're in my desk."

I went to my desk and pulled my chair out of the way, rolling it toward the window. I opened the center drawer and lifted out the manila envelope. "I ordered these several weeks ago. Rosalie went and picked them up." I peered into the envelope. "I'm not sure who, but she or Emmett added the photos. Emmett, I think." I closed my laptop and pushed it to the back of the desk. Fortunately, I'd completed my orders. Pulling the papers and cards from the envelope, I laid them out, making three piles so Bella could see them and stepped back.

Downstairs, we heard a door slam. Looking heavenward, I said, "Emmett's back."

"You can always tell when he's around." Bella smiled fondly.

She came toward the desk, crossing her arms under her breasts, and looked down at the papers and documents. She frowned.

"Isabella Elizabeth Cullen? Isn't 'Elizabeth' Edward's mother's name?" At my nod she snorted. "He wasn't ever going to change me, so after a couple decades I would have looked like his mother. I don't think so," she said scornfully. "You can burn that set." Then she looked up at me, her eyes were back to a clear, bright red. "You ordered these several weeks ago?"

I was surprised again that she could remember something like Edward's mother's name. "Yes. It was inevitable that you either be killed or changed since the Volturi have … been made aware of your existence. Thinking we'd eventually go with the wiser choice, I thought I should have these ready. We have no idea when one of them may happen to show up to check — unless Alice has a vision of it. But she told me her visions haven't been coming in very well."

Bella just nodded at that, pressing her lips together, and looked down at the other sets of documents. "So how come you do this?"

"It's part of what I contribute to the … family. I can make them myself, but sometimes it's good to delegate. I prefer it. Jenks, and his father before him, have worked for us for years and have always done good work." I leaned against the corner of the desk. "Sometimes I think handling the documents became my job because I'm already the black sheep of the family. And I'm good at it."

"I think maybe Edward has taken over that title now, the stupid-ass," she mumbled and frowned slightly. Then she nodded her head again. "Isabella Emma McCarty?"

"Emmett's sister or cousin?"

She smiled at that.

"Isabella Marie Whitlock?"

"Yes. At the time, I could've chosen any of our names. Esme's Platt, Edward's Masen, Alice's Brandon, Rosalie's Hale, or mine. I've been using Hale here since Rosalie is supposed to be my twin, so I chose Whitlock. With your dark hair, you wouldn't look enough like our sister. I wanted to have at least three sets so you could choose."

"But things have changed since then." She looked at me from the corner of her eye.

"Yes, they have." I studied her eyes, wondering what she was thinking. I couldn't feel her emotions, but there was a subtle tension in the air. Was she angry at my choosing to use my name? "I got these so that we would have them here and available. I could get a set for you with any name you like, but they take time." With the way things had changed, I hadn't thought she would want to use the name Cullen, but I didn't know if she would want to use Emmett's name or mine, or choose something else entirely. "I could call and order a set today if you want. We'd get them in about two weeks."

"So, when we leave, if I used 'Whitlock' I could be a family friend, your cousin, your sister, or …"

"Or my wife," I said quietly, intently watching for her reaction. She had not been impressed by Edward's plan to propose to her. She seemed opposed to marriage, and I was suddenly afraid that my choice of words would anger her. Though the thought of her being my wife was appealing, she might not think so.

She turned her head away, her hair falling over her shoulder and hiding her face. Her right hand went to her mouth, and she nibbled at her fingernails as she looked over her new identities. She sighed lightly. Her hand dropped from her mouth and went to grasp her other hand.

I could see a slight tremor in her fingers, and I wished, once again, she would stop blocking me and let me feel her emotions.

"Bella, what's wrong? I don't know unless you tell me."

As I stepped forward and reached for her, she turned to me. Her eyes were a shining, liquid black. My breath caught in my throat. Was she thirsty, angry about the names I chose, or …

She pounced on me, her arms going around mine and pinning them to my sides. Her mouth was on my lips, kissing me hungrily, and I was so taken by surprise I stumbled backwards. Her lips broke away from mine. Her feet hit the floor, and she pushed me into the corner of the west wall with a loud thud. We were between my wardrobe on my right and the bookshelf on the north wall. If she'd had any more momentum behind her, she would have pushed me through the wall and into Alice's bathroom.

But I really didn't give a shit.

My left hand wove through her silky hair, gripping her neck, as I bent to reach her lips. My right hand slid down her back and over her ass. I pulled her up my body and crushed her against me.

As her legs gripped my hips, her tongue swept across my mouth, and I moaned as I opened to her, tasting her. She tasted divine. Her right hand was in my hair, and her fingers scraped across my scalp. Grabbing a handful of my hair, she pulled my head to the side, exposing my neck.

She was kissing and licking my throat, until she reached my ear, and she whispered, "I want you, Jasper."

Oh, damn!

A jolt of pure pleasure surged through me, and I groaned her name. "Oh, Bella." I pushed away from the wall, my right hand gripping her thigh, urging her to wrap her legs all the way around my hips. My lips were on her neck, tasting her, drinking in her spicy scent. Her left hand was under my shirt, on my waist, and slid around to my back, her fingers digging into my skin. "Yes, Bella, yes." I gasped into her ear.

I didn't have a bed in my study, but I did have a couch. If I couldn't make it that far, there was always the floor.

Kicking at my armchair to get it out of my way, I sent it tumbling across the floor toward the bookshelves on the west wall. It crashed into them and fell over.

I didn't care about all the noise or who might be in the house. Bella said she wanted me and that was the only thing that mattered.

She yanked her hand from under my shirt and climbed up my body. Reaching for the neck of the shirt, she ripped it away. Her right hand tightened in my hair and she pulled my head to my left. Her tongue blazed a trail along my shoulder and up my throat, and then she kissed my jaw, whispering, "Jasper."

I was absolute putty in her hands. She could do anything to me she wanted.

Her hungry lips moved urgently back down my throat until she reached the top of my shoulder and the scars from her first bite after she had awakened, and she whispered "You're mine." As I sucked in a breath, she licked my skin, and her razor-sharp teeth sunk slowly into the muscle at the top of my shoulder. She began to growl.

The stinging pain and the exquisitely sharp pleasure shot through me, going straight to my dick. My legs went weak with the overpowering sensations, and I stumbled and fell to my knees, clutching Bella to me. The thud from my knees hitting the floor rattled the window. I didn't think we were going to make it to the couch.

I gathered her long hair together, pulling it away from her neck, and sat back on my heels, nuzzling into her hair as her growl continued to vibrate through me. The enthralling scent of her arousal drifted up and around me, saturating and taking over my mind.

Her weight pressed down on my dick, and her legs tightened around my waist. I groaned and grabbed her hips, thrusting up against her. She gasped, yanking her teeth from my shoulder, and threw her head back, a lengthy moaning "oh" escaping her lips. Her knees thumped down on the floor. She gripped both of my shoulders and tore the rest of my shirt away. She leaned forward and began licking my skin where she had bitten me with long, sweeping strokes across my shoulder and up my neck, ending with a wet kiss just beneath my ear. With each caress of her tongue, I shuddered and moaned.

Oh, my Christ, I couldn't stand it anymore. I pushed her down onto my straining dick. I must have hit a mighty sweet spot because her breath caught and she mewled like a cat against my throat.

"Jasssssper." She breathed into my ear. Hearing my name like that from her beautiful lips was the sexiest thing I'd ever heard, and I nearly shot my load right then.

There was a soft knock at the door, and I heard Emmett's voice. "Jazz, remember what we talked about."

"You better get the fuck away from that door," I answered him with a growl.

Bella licked the corner of my jaw then shoved me to the floor hard enough that I grunted and the window rattled in its frame again. I expect that thud was heard throughout the house. Perhaps even outside.

She sat up and ground her hot sex over my diamond-hard dick, and I trembled under her hands. I had to be on her, inside her. I couldn't wait anymore — she was driving me insane. I rolled her over onto her back and shoved my right thigh between her legs, pressing my aching dick against her hip. My left arm was under her back, braced against the floor, keeping most of my weight off her, and I gripped her neck, holding her to me. Attacking her soft mouth with mine, she moaned my name again as I thrust my tongue between her lips. I squeezed her hip with my right hand then moved slowly up her side and over her ribs. As my fingers grazed over the thin cotton covering her soft breast, brushing over her stiff nipple, she groaned and arched up into my hand.

The quiet knocking sounded again. "Esme, Carlisle, and Edward are on their way back."

I drew my lips from Bella's and snarled. "A motherfucker's gonna need killin' if he doesn't get the fuck away from here."

"But," Emmett continued. "There's shit to do. You gotta pack, look at the truck, take Bella hunting … After she goes huntin', she's gonna want another bath …"

I started to pull away from Bella so I could go punch a hole through Emmett's head, but Bella's right hand was in my hair again. She clenched a fistful and forced me back to her mouth.

Holy shit! That's fuckin' hot.

Deciding I would just rip Emmett's legs off and throw him out the window if he dared to open that door, I licked across Bella's lips and along the edge of her jaw until I reached her ear.

"Bella, I want you," I said, hissing. "Please."

Her hips thrust up against me, squeezing my thigh between hers. "Yesssss."

She said yes!

I groaned at hearing her say yes. "I need you." I ran my tongue along her neck. With my left hand I tilted her head to my left and licked her throat. "You're mine. Please, Bella."

"Yes, Jasper." She pulled at my hair again. "Jasper, please. Please," she whimpered into my ear. She dragged the fingers of her left hand down my side, leaving burning trails along my skin until she hooked her thumb in the waistband of my jeans. "Jasper, please."

I still felt the erotic sting of her bite and the urge to mark her as mine was growing. I reached up with my right hand and tugged the neck of her shirt and her bra strap to the side. I could feel my venom filling my mouth, and I licked the top of her shoulder, coating her skin with my scent.

"Can you feel what I feel for you, Bella? Can you feel how much I want you?"

She licked my ear and whispered, "Yes, I feel you." Her hand tugged at the waistband of my jeans, and her hips thrust up against me again.

My breath caught in my throat as her hip ground into my dick. "Let me feel you. Let me feel what you feel." I rolled my hips against her and licked across her shoulder again, spreading my venom and my scent over her.

Her desire and her need flowed over and into me, consuming me, and I was on fire with her lust and mine. I let it wash back over her, and she gasped.

"Yes, Jasper, yes." She breathed into my ear. "I'm yours, Jasper."

When I heard those words from her lips, a growl reverberated up through my chest. "You're mine." My teeth grazed across her smooth skin and sank in, my venom flowing freely over and into her. I felt a sense of exhilaration and euphoria as my teeth entered her shoulder near her neck, and I fought to contain the orgasm that threatened to overwhelm me.

"Jasper!" she screamed and clutched my head to hers. A whining groan escaped her throat, and she curled into me, quivering, her orgasm sweeping through her.

Her intense, pounding sensations broke over me, crashed into me, again and again. I couldn't stop it. I didn't want to. I felt my balls tighten and draw up as my own orgasm suddenly erupted through my groin and flooded me with heat. Another rumbling growl started low in the center of my body and worked its way up to my chest as my body curved over hers. My hips ground into her over and over again as I came, the venom pulsing out of me with each thrust.

"Oh, Jasper. Oh … oh my fucking God," she gasped, and she clung to me, her fingers digging into my shoulders.

I shuddered against her, my hands gripping her neck and her upper arm, as the throbbing orgasmic pulses slowed and began to fade away. Gasping, I pulled my teeth from her shoulder as another wave of her pleasure crashed into me. My chest heaved with my breaths, and the compulsion to lick where I had bitten her overtook me. I needed to care for my mate and seal my venom inside her. I found myself pleased that it was a clean bite with no ragged edges.

After gently licking my bite and watching the edges seal together, I lifted my face from her shoulder and gazed into her shining black eyes. She was so beautiful.

Still floating on that cloud of bliss and the echoing tremors from both of our orgasms, my yearning for her nearly overwhelmed me and a trickle of uneasiness and doubt crept through that bliss. I grasped desperately at her. "Bella," I whispered. "You're mine. You're only mine. Please," I pleaded with her. Since I had awoken as a vampire, I had not begged for anything — not even my life — but I would beg, and do anything else I had to, if she would be mine.

The corners of her lips curved up into a smile, and then she kissed me. She lightly licked my lips and kissed me again. I could still feel her emotions, and she was contented, peaceful, happy, satisfied, and pleased. She brought her hands up to either side of my face and pulled me down to kiss me again. Her lips pressed softly against mine, and she whispered, "Yes." Her love surged out of her, going straight to my heart and filling it until it felt as if it would burst.

My eyes flew open, and I gasped against her mouth. Her love filled me, spreading golden warmth to every part of me, and I melted into her. I was so overcome, I could not speak, I could only manage to crush her to me and kiss her again. When my tongue brushed over her lips, she opened to me, and her hands gripped the sides of my head tightly.

I was lost in her, and after some immeasurable length of time, she ended the kiss and whispered, "Mine." Her peace, pleasure, and love circled around me and held me to her.

The adoration I felt for her shifted and grew as I fell into her black sparkling eyes, and I spoke the only words that came to my mind. "Yes. Always yours. I love you, Bella."

Venom tears welled up in her eyes as they slowly closed. "I know," she whispered. "I know you do. I feel it. I feel you."

I crushed her to me, burying my face in her neck. "Bella, you're mine." I was so … happy. So joyful. Ecstatic. I'd never wanted anyone as much as I wanted her, and she was mine.

"Always."

There was a faint thump outside the door in the hall, and Bella jerked in my arms. Rage exploded from her, and she hissed in my ear, "There's a motherfucker needs killin'." She shoved me away and was on her feet in an instant. A vicious snarl ripped through her throat.

From out in the hall came Emmett's fearful "oh, shit."

Farther down the hall I heard Rosalie say, "I tried to warn you. I think you'd better run fast, Emmett."

In a blur of motion, Bella hit the door, shoving it through the frame, ripping it from its hinges and splintering the jam. It slammed into her bedroom door across the short hall, cracking them both. They fell into her room with a rattling crash.

She came to a sudden stop in the hall, her dark hair swinging around her. Growling deeply, she twisted to face down the hall. "Which way?"

"He went out our window," Rosalie replied calmly from her room.

Bella disappeared.

Oh, shit.

When she had shoved me away, I had rolled against my desk. I was struck stupid again, wondering how the hell she could switch instantly from idyllically contented to pissed off beyond all reason.

God knows I didn't want to, but I shook my head to reluctantly try and clear the heavenly, euphoric fog of Bella's love saturating me completely and, well, what was currently the best orgasm I'd ever had. I tried to jump up and immediately fell on my face. Stunned, I looked up and Rosalie was standing in the doorway.

"Problems?" She smiled sweetly and batted her eyelashes.

"Nothin' decapitatin' your fuckin' mate wouldn't solve." I got up a little more slowly and my pants dropped to my knees.

Rosalie slapped her hand over her eyes and spun away. "Jesus Christ, Jasper! Why the hell don't you wear underwear?"

"What's the point?"

Bella had ripped my damn pants half off, and I hadn't even noticed!

"Oh, fuck me." I growled.

"I thought she did."

"Not exactly." I growled again. "You saw her. She had all her clothes on, goddammit," I grumbled to Rosalie's back.

I sat back against my desk and yanked off my boots. It seemed there was a joke in there somewhere about cowboys doing everything with their boots on, but my brain just would not quite work right and find it.

I finished tearing my jeans off, using them to wipe my spent venom off my belly and my groin — which just pissed me off. I hoped that one day soon I might get to see Bella naked and have actual sex with her instead of cumming in my goddamn pants — though as intense as those orgasms had been, real intercourse with her would probably render me unconscious. I took my lighter from the pocket, tossed the destroyed jeans toward the window and darted to my wardrobe.

A navy blue t-shirt was on top so I grabbed it and a fresh pair of jeans. I dressed quickly, despite the remaining stickiness of the venom, and shoved my lighter in my pocket and my feet back into my boots.

"They went out your bedroom window?" I asked Rosalie.

"Yes, they did."

"Comin' with me?"

"I suppose I should," she said with resignation as we ran down the hall and into her room. "Somebody should put Emmett back together after Bella gets through with him."

.