Chapter 34
A long time later, when pulses had slowed, sweat had dried, and muscles had become halfway responsive again, he levered himself off her and rolled onto his back, one arm draped over his eyes.
"Shit"
He said under his breath.
Because the room was so quiet, she heard him. A tiny flare of temper made her eyes narrow. She still felt like a limp, overcooked noodle, so a tiny flare was all she could manage.
"Gee, that's romantic"
She said sarcastically. The man hadn't been able to keep his hands off her for a week, and now that they had finally made love, "shit" was the best comment he could make, as if the whole experience had been a mistake? He lifted the arm covering his eyes and turned his head to glare at her.
"I knew you were trouble the first time I saw you."
"What do you mean, trouble?"
She sat up, glaring back at him.
"I am not trouble! I'm a very nice person except when I have to deal with jerks!"
"You're the worst kind of trouble"
He snapped.
"You're marrying trouble."
Most women would jump on that chance to take the offhanded remark as a proposal. Bella wasn't most women and the offhanded remark sounded more like an insult. She snatched up the pillow and whacked him on the head with it, then bolted out of bed.
"I can take care of that problem for you"
She said, fuming as she searched the dark bedroom for her bra and shirt. Damn it, where was the light switch?
"Since I'm so much trouble, I'll stay on my side of the driveway and you can stay the hell on your side of the driveway!"
She was shouting by the time she was finished. There - that white blur might be her bra. She swooped down on it and picked it up, but it was a sock. A smelly sock. She threw it at him. He swatted it aside and lunged out of bed, reaching for her.
"Where's the light switch?"
"Would you settle down!"
He said, sounding suspiciously as if he were snorting with laughter. He was laughing at her. Angry tears stung her eyes. Instead of responding she made a bee line for what seemed to be a door
"You can keep the clothes, I'll walk home naked before I stay here with you another minute, you insensitive jerk"
A hard-muscled arm locked around her waist and sent her airborne. She shrieked, arms flailing; then she bounced on the bed and the air left her lungs with a "whoof."
She had time to suck in just a little air before Damon landed on her, his heavy weight flattening her and forcing another exhalation. He was laughing as he subdued her with ridiculous ease; in five seconds flat she couldn't wiggle anything.
She wanted to scream because it felt so good and she was fairly certain her crush was close to blooming to something a lot like love and he was still a jerk who had slept with two of her friends. Her lousy luck with men was still holding. She burst into tears.
"Ah, babe, don't cry"
He said soothingly.
"I will if I want to"
She sobbed as she clung to him.
"I love you, Bella Swan. Will you marry me?"
"No way in hell!"
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want to"
"Why not?"
He framed her head with his big hands and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs, wiping away the tears.
"Because sex doesn't equal marriage"
She said matter of factly. Then she frowned
"You said shit"
"What else is a man supposed to say when he sees his glorious bachelor decades coming to a swift and ignominious end?"
Raising one trembling hand she stroked his chin
"How long has it been since you last had some? Abstinence made you delirious"
He kissed her temple, her jaw, the almost-dent in her chin.
"I always heard that sex was different with a woman you loved, but I didn't believe it. Sex was sex. Then I got inside you and it was like sticking my cock in an electrical outlet."
"Oh. Was that what all that shaking and yelling was about?"
"Smart-ass. Yeah, that's what it was about, not that I was the only one doing some shaking and yelling. It was different. Hotter. Stronger. And when it was over, I wanted to do it all over again."
"You did do it all over again."
"That proves it, then. For God's sake, I've already come twice and here I am hard again. That's either a fucking miracle or love."
He kissed her mouth, slowly and deeply.
"Watching you throw a temper tantrum always gets me hard."
"I don't throw tantrums. Why is it when a man gets mad, he's angry, but when a woman gets mad, it's just a tantrum?"
She paused, struck by what he'd said.
"Always?"
"Always. Like when you knocked over my trash can, then yelled at me and poked me in the chest."
"You were hard?"
She asked in astonishment.
"As a rock."
"Huh"
"So answer my question."
She opened her mouth to say "no" again but the events of the night were catching up with her and she was getting tired and confused.
"I'm getting a headache. Ask me later"
Two rounds later Damon popped the question again just as Bella's heartbeat slowed again.
"I don't believe in marriage"
She turned her face into his throat and inhaled the heat and scent of his body, thinking that if the perfumers of the world could bottle whatever it was Damon had, the female population would be in perpetual heat. He growled in frustration.
"Do you at least love me?"
He prompted. Bella smiled, her lips moving against his skin.
"Hm... Not there yet, definitely falling though"
She affirmed.
"We'll get married next week."
"Have you been listening to me at all?"
drawing back to stare up at him as he loomed over her, slowly moving back and forth, back and forth, like seaweed floating on the tide.
"I have. I just know what I want"
"You're pissing me off"
"What's wrong with next week?"
Bella shook her head. They were having sex, again, while currying two different conversations
"My parents won't be back from vacation. They should be back in about three weeks. Will it be enough time for you to forget the whole marriage thing?"
"Your mother was here yesterday"
"It was an unplanned visit. She went back to her hubby now she saw I'm still alive"
"Where are they, anyway?"
"Backpacking through Europe. Second honeymoon"
"We'll do it the day after they get home. I should ask your hand from your father"
"Tough. We're not in contact remember?"
"I'll ask your mother, she already likes me. We'll have everything ready to go. All your parents will have to do is show up."
Bella had been doing a really good job trying to concentrate on their conversation and yet managed to agree on a hypothetical marriage while he was doing what he was doing, and she was impressed out of her skull that he could keep up his side of the conversation under these circumstances, but her body suddenly reached the point of no return. She gasped, her hips rising convulsively against him.
"We'll talk later!"
They didn't talk at all for quite a while.
Bella stirred, yawning. She would have been content to lie in his arms all night long, but a sudden thought made her bolt upright.
"BooBoo!"
Damon made a noise halfway between a grunt and a groan.
"What?"
"BooBoo. He must be starving! I can't believe I forgot about him."
She scrambled out of bed.
"Where's the light switch? And why don't you have any bedside lamps?"
"Beside the door, right side. Why would I need bedside lamps?"
"For reading."
She swept her hand along the wall, found the switch, and flipped it up. Bright light flooded the room. Damon shielded his eyes, blinking, then flopped over on his stomach.
"I read in the living room."
Her own eyes took a minute to adjust. When they did, her pupils widened at the wreck they had made of the bed. The black silken covers were twisted and hanging off, the pillows were - where were the pillows? - and the bottom sheet was pulled free at one corner and wadded in the middle of the bed.
"Holy cow"
She said in astonishment, then shook herself and looked around for her clothes.
Damon opened his eyes and propped up on one elbow, his crystal eyes both sleepy and intent as he watched her search the room. She found her baby purple top tangled in the bedcovers. She got down on her knees to peer under the bed for her bra; he scooted closer so he'd have a better view.
"How on earth did it get under the bed?"
She fussed, dragging the bra out of its hiding place.
"Crawled"
He suggested. She gave him a quick grin and looked around. From his large windows she could see straight across the driveways into her own bedroom windows and the closet that stood right there. The same closet she stood naked in front only a few short days ago. She turned to give a look at the lounging vampire on the bed. Damon's response was a lavish wiggle of his brows making her shake her head
"I need thicker curtains for my bedroom, don't I?"
"Nope. Your bedroom is just fine with the lacy ones"
She couldn't help a snort
"And my jeans are?"
"Downstairs. In the living room"
Clothes in hand she went down the stairs to a large but barely furnished living room, turned on a lamp, and was in the process of untangling her pants when Damon wandered in, stark naked and carrying a pair of sneakers. Bella slipped into her clothes quickly and watched for Damon to do the same.
"Where are you going?"
She asked.
"Walking you to your door"
She opened her mouth to say that wasn't necessary; then she remembered it was necessary, at least for now. She put on her shoes, stuffed her bra in her purse, and then gathered up her shopping bags. Damon grabbed the gun that was sitting on the couch next to a can of pepsi.
"Give me your key and stay behind me,"
He said. She dug her key chain out of her purse, selected the house key for him, and handed it over.
The rain had stopped, leaving the night warm and humid. Crickets chirped, and at the end of the street the corner light wore a misty halo. They crossed both driveways and went up the steps to the kitchen door. Damon tucked the gun in his waistband while he unlocked the door; then he returned the keys to her and drew it once more. He opened the door, reached inside, and flipped on the light switch.
He uttered a vicious curse. Bella blinked at the destruction illuminated by the overhead light, then she screamed,
"BooBoo!"
and tried to lunge past him.
He blocked her with an out-thrust arm, turning so that his big body barred the entrance.
"Go to my house and call nine-one-one, Now!"
He barked.
"But BooBoo -"
"Go!"
He yelled, giving her a shove that almost sent her flying off the stoop. Then he wheeled and stepped into the house.
He was a cop; she had to trust him in this. Her teeth chattering, she ran back to his house and into the kitchen, where she knew he had a cordless. Grabbing it up, she punched the talk button, then 911.
"Where are you calling from?"
The voice was impersonal and almost uninterested.
"Uh - next door"
Bella closed her eyes.
"I mean, I'm calling from my next door neighbor's. My house has been ransacked."
She gave her own address.
"My neighbor is a cop, and he's going through the house right now"
Carrying the phone, she walked out on the front porch, staring across the driveways at her house, where lights now blazed from two of the windows. As she watched, the light in her bedroom came on. She had been looking into those same windows barely five minutes ago
"He's armed -"
"Who is?"
The dispatcher sounded suddenly alarmed.
"My neighbor is! Tell the cops if they see a half-naked man with a gun, don't shoot, he's one of them!"
She took a deep breath, her heart pounding so hard she thought she would be sick.
"I'm going over there"
"No! Ma'am, don't go over there. If your neighbor is a policeman, stay out of his way. Ma'am, are you listening?"
"I'm here."
She didn't say she was listening. Her hand was shaking, clattering the phone against her teeth.
"Stay on the phone, ma'am, so I can keep the responding officers up-to-date on the status. Units have already been dispatched to your address; they'll be there in a few minutes. Just be patient, please."
She couldn't be patient, but she could be sensible. She waited on the porch, tears tracking down her face as she stared unblinkingly at her own house, where Damon was methodically searching it and putting his life in danger every time he entered a room. She didn't dare think about BooBoo who was even angrier at her since Renee left again without him despite his tries in sneaking in her mother's oversized tote bag.
The dispatcher said something else but she had stopped listening, though she did make a noise to let the woman know she was still there. In the distance she could hear the shrill of sirens... Damon stepped out on the kitchen stoop, BooBoo cradled in his left arm.
"BooBoo!"
Bella threw down the phone and ran across to them. Damon let her take the cat from him, and tucked the gun in his waistband.
"Whoever did it didn't hang around"
He said, putting his arm around her and urging her back toward his house. With BooBoo safe and disgruntled in her arms, she dug in her heels.
"I want to see -"
"Not yet. Let the techs do their job first, maybe find something that will give us a clue who this bastard is."
"You went in -"
"And I was careful not to disturb anything,"
He said, exasperated.
"Come on, let's sit down. The guys will be here in a minute."
She remembered that she had thrown the phone aside. She picked it up and handed it to him.
"Nine-one-one is still on the line."
He put it to his ear, but kept a firm grip on her while he succinctly outlined the situation and said the house was clear, then disconnected. He put both arms around Bella - and BooBoo - and held her close.
"Where did you find BooBoo?"
"He was hiding under your bed"
She stroked the cat's head, so grateful he was all right that she almost cried again.
"Do you think it was him?"
She asked Damon, her voice low.
He was silent for a moment. The sirens were much closer now, the sound growing louder and louder in the still night air. As two cars turned the corner onto their street, Damon said,
"I can't afford not to think it."