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.
A/N: Realised in my rush to get this posted yesterday, it was chock full of typos! How embarrassing. Reposted with corrections.
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Chances With Wolves
Bella POV
When you're a danger magnet like I am, you kind of get used to the presence of pain in your life. I'm pretty familiar with the interior of hospitals and what an x-ray of my leg looks like. Broken bones. Sprained joints. Bleeding. Stitches. Vampire bites. Bullet wounds. You name it, it's probably happened to me in some form or another over the course of my twenty years of life. Well, excluding being stabbed. Hope I get to avoid that one. My point is, when you have such a familiar relationship with pain, you kind of develop this ability to spot the rewards and savour them when they make themselves known to you - which is exactly what I found myself doing when I woke the morning after the Council meeting. Why?
Jacob Black was half-naked, asleep, in my bed and bathed in the glow of the mid-summer sunlight. I don't think life gets much better than this.
I hadn't even noticed when he climbed in my window last night – my pain meds making me a heavy sleeper for the first time ever. I moved a lock of hair away from his forehead to get a better look at him. It wasn't as if I'd never done this before, it's just that I'd been sure I'd never get the opportunity to do it ever again. He was really mine now – body, mind and soul. I could hardly dare believe it as I studied him. For all his playful attitude, insightful comments and stoic leadership, it was this Jake, this snoozing-in-the-early-morning-sunlight version of him that was one of my favourites. This was the version only I got to see.
His skin had had this luminescence about it that no make-up or fancy skincare product could achieve. Thick, dark eyelashes were caressing his enviable cheekbones and I noticed the littlest white scar to the left of his nose for the first time. Temptingly full lips were arranged into an adorable pout in his sleep, and a tiny crease appeared between his strong brows; he was lost to a dream, I realised. I don't think I'd ever need or want to dream again if this was what waking life was like.
I let my gaze travel down the rest of him, where he was hunched in my too-small bed. His body was a masterpiece, truly. It held strength and power in every cell of it, and the all-consuming need it invoked in me was almost embarrassing. The bestthing about Jake was that he didn't really see his body that way. He kind of viewed it the way the rest of us would think of an old, reliable car we inherited from our grandparents. It got him from point A to point B, and unless it gave him any trouble, he didn't really think about it. The only time he really talked about his physique was when he was smugly teasing me about the effect he was having on the state of my panties. Yeah, it kind of sucked that he knew if I so much as thought about sex, but his endearingly cocky attitude made it difficult to stay mad at him. Looking at Jacob now, I realised he'd have bragging rights again, and soon. It was getting more and more difficult to keep my hands to myself, and due to our ruthless interruptions of late, I was starting to feel like a dehydrated woman shown a bottle of water before it was taken away from her.
I walked my fingers up the length of his exposed arm before laying a kiss on his shoulder. I moved to do the same to each of his cheeks and the end of his nose.
"Jake..." I breathed, watching the little tufts of hair around his ear flutter with the breeze of my breath. He didn't so much as move. Seriously, for a wolf, he's not very vigilant. I trailed kisses down to his collar bone and shoulder, letting my tongue dart out between my lips to taste his skin. He was slightly salty – he'd been running a long time before he got to me. I kissed my way across the expanse of his chest before nuzzling along his pectoral. He let the slightest flinch as I passed his nipple and I glanced back at him. A small smirk was pulling on the edge of his delicious lips and he was trying to keep still. The jerk was awake! He was just pretending to still be asleep to see how far I'd go. Well, two can play games here. I sighed dramatically.
"Damn, Jake, you must really be tired. I better let you sleep when you're in such dire need of it," I said in mock innocence. I moved to get out of bed and was stopped when a strong, warm, arm snaked around my waist and pulled me back into his chest in a spooning position and he buried his face in my hair.
"No! More kisses. And nuzzling... yeah," he demanded lazily. I couldn't help but smile as I turned in his arms to face him.
"I don't know Jacob, it seems like you're pretty beat. Maybe you should just get some shut eye." He cocked an eyebrow and one, big coffee-coloured eye opened to look at me. I didn't know how he achieved it, but he actually shot me a withering look with half his face buried in the pillow.
"I'm sleepy, not dead," he replied, before sticking his face directly into my modest cleavage and settling in to sleep again. I giggled as I took in the sight of his scruffy dark hair nestled contentedly. I tapped the top of his head lightly.
"Planning to come out of there any time soon?" I asked. He shook his head slightly and his nose tickled my breast bone. I could feel his hot breath through my tank top, and the feeling of it was sending delighted tingles straight to my core. "Jake, what are you doing?"
"Need to reacquaint myself with some old friends," was the muffled response. He leaned back and spoke directly to my chest. "What's up, Bella's boobs? Long time no see! How you guys doin'?" he asked animatedly. I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all as he let his mouth gape and looked up at me. "I think they got bigger!" he said, eyes wide with childlike wonder.
"You know, on anyone else that would seem misogynistic and immature. How do you manage to make it adorable?" I asked, shaking my head as he moved back beside me and stretched out lazily on the bed. He just grinned at me smugly and let his eyes travel down the length of my body in appreciation.
"It's the puppy dog thing. Means I can say whatever I want and you'll still want to fling your panties at me," he informed confidently, putting an arm around me as I laid my head on his chest. He pressed a kiss into my hair. Remember what I said about him being completely smug about his body?
"Is that so?" I teased, snuggling into his warmth. It had been so damn long since we'd just been together. After all of our fighting for each other, hurting each other and seeing other people we were finally Jake 'n' Bells, and it really was easy as breathing.
"Mmm-mm," he murmured, as I leaned up to capture his lips with my own. My body felt like it was burning from the inside out – in the most pleasant way possible - as he deepened the kiss, exploring my mouth with his tongue. He groaned into me as I moved in the bed to straddle him, his large hands finding the curve of my waist perfectly. They travelled upwards, pulling my tank-top with them as he exposed my breasts to his waiting mouth. I thought I was going to come undone as he took one of my nipples between his lips and suckled gently. The thumb of his other hand traced the areola of my other breast, leaving me a panting mess as I ground myself into the growing hardness between my thighs. I was so wet I was sure he could already feel it. The growl I elicited from him as a result of my movements was just about the sexiest thing I'd ever heard.
"Fuck.. Bells.." he breathed, flipping us over and putting himself on top. He left a treasure trail of soft, territorial nips as he moved down my torso. This dominance he'd been displaying of late was a massive turn on, and I wanted to do nothing but submit my body to him and let him do whatever the hell he liked.
All too abruptly, he stopped, sat back on his haunches and pulled my shirt back down, covering me once again. My brain struggled to fight through the fog of lust I'd been in as I registered that he'd sat back at the headboard beside me and shook his head.
"What... what's wrong?" I panted. I was struggling to regain control of my body, when all I wanted to do was grab him and pull him back on top of me.
"You're not healed yet, Bells," he said, squeezing his eyes shut. Are you fucking kidding me? I knew he was trying to calm down his own urges too. Why the hell was he fighting this?
"Jake, I'm fine... I get my stitches out tomorrow... they're just an ornament really... nothing more.." I pleaded. He was having none of it.
"You still haven't gotten the all clear from a doctor yet. I can't risk hurting you, Bells. I just want to be sure," he said. I couldn't believe another boyfriend was refusing to sleep with me in case I'd get hurt.
"Jake..." I groaned, frustrated with him in more ways than one, "I know my own body. I feel fine!" He turned to cup my face in his hands and looked at me earnestly.
"Honey, believe me, there's nothing more I'd like to do than to strip you naked, run my tongue over every inch of you and show you, repeatedly, exactly how much I want you... but I'm not budging on this. Please, let me look out for you, just this once." I felt my resolve crumbling right into those big brown eyes. Damn them.
"Fine," I sighed, "but no more excuses after tomorrow," I said, looking him dead in the eyes. He appeared to mull over what I'd said for a beat before he answered.
"Yeah, tomorrow. As long as I'm satisfied that you're back to one hundred percent." I didn't miss the loophole in his bargain. There was no way he was turning this around on me. Come Tuesday at the latest, Jake and I were locking ourselves in a private room and weren't coming out for at least twelve hours. I'd make sure of it.
"Deal, " I said, letting my eyes roam over his body as he got up to stretch out his muscles. "Where are you going now? We have the house to ourselves... I thought we could spend the day together. You know, watch trashy eighties action movies, order pizza, make out on the couch..." I trailed off as I saw the conflicted look marring his features.
"Baby I'm so sorry, but I have to go track down the Pendletons with Quil today... you know I wouldn't bail on you unless it was important," he pleaded. I fought the frustrated groan that was climbing out of my throat at his words. He really did look sorry, and if I was going to be the Alpha's mate, I had to accept that sometimes, pack business came first. Especially when it was threatening exposure. I nodded solemnly.
"Okay.. I get it, but... hurry back?" I said hopefully. He gave me a warm, grateful smile as he pressed a kiss to my forehead and another to my lips.
"You'll barely know I'm gone," he said, looking into my eyes. He shot me a salute just before he hopped straight out my open window.
As if!
Alex POV
"And you can hear each other's thoughts..." I said, hardly believing it.
"Yep."
"And memories? Like if you remember something that you did that day..."
"...The other guys will see it as if they were there, looking through my eyes."
My own eyes shot open in realisation. I smacked Embry on the arm before instantly regretting is as pain stung my fingers.
"Holy shit, it's like I have my own sex tape!" I groaned. He was trying to hide the smirk from his face, but he was doing a pretty piss-poor job of it. "It's not funny Embry, I didn't know all the other dudes had seen my... assets." Embry pulled me into a loving hug but I could hear the soft snickering he was trying to suppress.
"Sweetie, I swear, I try my best not to think of any of our private moments. I won't say there haven't been certain... images that haven't slipped out, but we all try to respect each other's privacy."
"I still feel like Paris Hilton," I grumbled. That half-smirk I loved so much was starting to get pretty damn irritating.
"Nah, you're way hotter than her," he flirted.
We were sitting face to face on Embry's couch, having 'Wolfie Question Time' as he called it. I was still expecting someone to jump out and tell me I was on a hidden camera show, and I'd won a cash prize, but it didn't seem like that would be happening any time soon. We'd stayed up all night, Embry explaining everything he could think of and I was trying not to faint from the information overload. I was pretty sure the amount he'd told me had pushed some other stuff out of my brain. If I struggled to pass some of my Journalism classes next year, I was blaming him.
We'd covered a brief history of the pack, vampires (although he told me Bella would be able to explain more about that -I still couldn't believe she'd dated a real live bloodsucker ; I thought I was the wild one) and he'd finally explained the whole theory of imprinting. It was somewhat of a relief to learn what the hell they were all talking about. I had heard that word so many times over the past few days it was almost beginning to lose meaning. He told me about his conclusions that he wouldn't imprint, but wanted me to take some time and think about things. After hearing the story about Sam, Leah and Emily, I could understand why he wanted me to be sure. This was a decision I had to make on my own – I couldn't let anyone else decide if I'd put myself in a position to possibly get hurt - even if he was sure it would never happen.
That was something I wanted to do when I was alone though. At that moment, I didn't think anything would convince me to stay away from Em. One look at his dark eyes and that sexy little smile and I was like a freakin' Beatlemaniac. Today was a day we had to ourselves, and there was one thing I was sure I wanted to do while we had the chance.
"Em, it's seriously okay if you're too tired and all..." I began, and he smiled and started sliding across the couch to me.
"I'm never that tired, Alex," he replied, letting his eyes take in my body as he got closer. I couldn't help but laugh at his sleazy moves.
"No... I don't mean that, idiot," I giggled. I was really glad no-one had taught Embry how to flirt. With that face and that body, if he was charming too, he could be a total man-whore. This way, he was all mine. "I was going to ask... well, since you said it's safe and all... could I maybe... see him?" What the hell? I was sounding like Bella had when I first met her with all this stammering. Em gave me a confused look for a moment before realisation dawned across his face. He looked pleasantly shocked.
"You mean.. my wolf? You want to see my wolf?" he asked, his voice getting more and more excited as he spoke.
"If it's okay... I mean, it's not against the rules or anything is it?" I didn't want him getting into trouble with Jake over me.
"Not at all. I guess I just didn't think you'd be in that place yet... some of the imprints didn't feel comfortable enough to see the wolf until a few days after they found out," he said. "I'll warn you though, he's really big..." he said, and for once it wasn't an innuendo.
"How big are we talking?" I asked. I'd heard people say they were huge, but not having seen them myself, it was hard to imagine.
"Like, my nose will probably be your forehead's height..." he said. My eyes widened. "But remember, it's just me in there... it's like I'm in a costume that doesn't allow me to talk. I would never hurt you. I can still hear you and understand you, just can't answer you." I nodded, thinking I understood what he was saying, as we got off the couch and walked towards the back door.
Embry started taking off his pants and I was briefly distracted before I remembered what he'd said about their clothes being destroyed if they wore them when they phased. I smiled and patted his butt as he turned away from me to stand out of sight of passers by. No matter how many times I'd seen him naked, it was always a treat. He turned back around to me as he stood inside the tree line. He was wearing a huge grin and took a deep breath.
"Ready?" he asked. I nodded, not exactly sure if I was or not. The air shimmered around him, and it was like the atmosphere crackled. In the blink of an eye, my gorgeous boyfriend was replaced with the most beautiful, majestic creature I'd ever seen. He was a beautiful deep grey colour, with darker patches throughout his fur. His face was lighter, which made his intense eyes stand out more. They were all Embry. One look into them and I knew what he'd said was true- it was still him in there, he just couldn't communicate with me.
He stood still, nervously watching my reactions. I realised he was afraid to startle me, and I took a tentative step closer to him.
"Can I touch you?" I asked, feeling slightly stupid for talking to a wolf. He nodded a little and bowed his head to allow me better access. His fur was puppy-soft, and he smelled earthy, like the wood-burning stove my grandpa had. "You're beautiful, Em," I breathed, really meaning it. He looked into my eyes after that and a long tongue darted out to lick my exposed forearm.
"Hey, usually you have to warn a girl before you start tonguing her!" I exclaimed, and it almost sounded like he was laughing at me.
He spent the next half hour showing off his skills to me before I started missing his voice and he phased back. As soon as he was human again, he wrapped me in a tight embrace, lifting me off the ground.
"That was better than I ever imagined, Alex," he breathed, speaking into my neck. My heart melted at the absolute relief in his voice.
"Did you think I'd run screaming for the hills?" I taunted. I knew everything hadn't exactly sunk in yet, but I knew what he'd gone through to share this with me, and there was no way I'd want to leave him now.
"I didn't really know what to expect," he said sheepishly.
I ran my fingers through his shaggy locks and tugged his head down to my height. I pressed my nose against his and looked straight into those big brown eyes.
"I'm not going anywhere," I said, and then I kissed my werewolf boyfriend.
