Chapter Thirty Nine

Bella

When I woke up I was still in Jasper's arms but his body was pressed closely against mine and I could feel he was aroused which was a little embarrassing in company so I wriggled out of his arms after giving him a hurried kiss and escaped to the bathroom. I had no idea how I should react but I certainly wasn't starting anything with an audience around and Hunter, Darius, Peter, and Charlotte certainly constituted an audience in my books. I took my time to shower and dress and when I came out Jay and Alice had arrived. Something was different about them, they looked radiant and Alice clung to him tightly.

Jasper seeing me looking at them came over and put a proprietorial arm around me pulling me close and kissing me gently.

"You ready to move Bella?"

"Oh sure only I didn't realize we were leaving so soon. Where are we going"

"Hunters aquatic fucking fantasy island Bella. Otherwise known as a houseboat"

"A houseboat? I've never been on one before but it sounds like fun. I warn you though I could quite easily fall overboard, I do that kinda thing all the time."

"Don't worry Bella I'll always jump in to save you."

I turned and smiled weakly at Jay only to hear a strange rumbling sound from Jasper's chest and I felt him pull me closer, surely he wasn't jealous or was this something to do with this vampire mating pull he had mentioned. Edward had been terribly jealous of Jake but then Jake had made no secret of his love for me whereas Jay had Alice.

"Come on Bella, we'll get you something to eat on the way to the airport."

I looked at Charlotte in surprise,

"We're going immediately? I didn't realize it was so urgent."

"Its OK Charlotte, I'll take Bella to the store, we won't be long."

Saying that Jasper took my hand and led me outside and across the car park to the little store.

"I'm sorry, if you'd woken me early I wouldn't be holding everyone up."

He smiled looking much less tense now there were just the two of us,

"They can wait a few minutes Bella but it's best if we get you somewhere safe as quickly as possible."

"So no news yet?"

"No, not yet but don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you Bella."

He kissed me and it was a hungry kiss as if he wanted to devour me but nice at the same time and my hand in his felt very hot.

I grabbed something from the cooler counter including a soda and then we joined Hunter and Darius in their car the others following in two more, Emmett and Rose with Charlotte and Peter with Jay and Alice and I wondered who had arranged the seating. Peter was hardly the best person to be traveling with Jay and Alice even if only for a short way. Deciding not to ask I slid in beside Jasper who took my hand immediately and Darius set off. I ate my breakfast as we drove to the airport and just finished my soda as he pulled up.

When the others joined us Alice looked annoyed and Jay even more so while Peter had a smirk on his face and I knew he had been riding his passengers still wondering if it had been deliberate.

On the plane Peter was again seated with Alice and Jay and I could see that pleased neither of them.

"Jasper, why don't I change places with Peter…."

"NO!"

His voice was low but determined and I looked at him slightly surprised,

"I mean why would you want to do that?"

"Just to give them a break from Peter, I get the impression he's been riling them that's all."

"Jay's a big boy, he can look after himself."

His voice brooked no discussion so I sat quiet and he relaxed again, I didn't quite understand his attitude unless it was jealousy and that seemed so stupid but it also felt kinda nice having someone who was as crazy about me as I was about him. The flight wasn't long but we got to talking about what I'd done since he last saw me and then I questioned him about his activities and at first he seemed reluctant to talk about it.

"I know you stayed with Peter and Charlotte for a while, Alice told me."

"Yeah, then I just traveled around."

I looked at him closely,

"I can't imagine you wandering aimlessly Jasper, you're not that kind of a man."

"Well, I looked up a couple of old friends in Texas."

"Oh right."

Suddenly it was very important to me to know if these friends had been male or female but I wasn't sure how to ask.

"Did you find them?"

"Only one, Carolanne had moved but Alicia was still there."

"Oh female friends? Are they old friends?"

He smiled knowingly,

"You could say that, in between leaving Maria and coming across Alice I became a nomad and you meet other nomads and join together for a while. I traveled across Texas with the girls, they were on the run from a rather persistent vampire called George and I helped them out."

"Oh right."

What I really wanted to ask him was if he'd slept with them but I hated the thought he might tell me he had because that thought had my blood boiling yet I had no good reason to feel jealous, we were nothing to each other at the time. Yet I still wanted to torch the pair of bitches.

"I don't suppose I will ever see them again Bella."

You got that right buster I thought.

"I only caught up with them to see if they'd made a go of the ranch they bought. It was pretty run down but Alicia knew a lot about horses."

"How nice, and did they?"

I tried to sound genuinely interested but I really didn't care and he seemed to understand that and just nodded still smiling.

I was glad when we landed because although I couldn't hear Peter I could see by his grin and Jay's clenched jaw that he'd been winding his "charges" up and decided I would have to speak to him about it. I could have asked Jasper but I had the feeling he wouldn't be happy at the thought of my championing Jay. I needed to keep my distance to keep the atmosphere calm. I just hoped the house boat was large enough for us to avoid each other but then I found out that Rose and Emmett and much to his disgust Peter and Charlotte weren't staying on the boat but at a hotel close by.

"No fucking way Major. You send Em and Rose away by all means but I am staying glued to your tail until we find out just what Caius Volturi wanted laughing boy here for."

I expected Jasper to tell him to go but he just shrugged,

"OK, you stay but Charlotte goes with Emmett and Rose and you three be ready if we shout."

Now no one was happy but again he took no notice and I thought life on the houseboat might be interesting to say the least and probably very uncomfortable.

It wasn't huge but it was bigger than I had expected and was a pretty looking boat and surprisingly it had a hot tub on deck under a sunshade. Seeing my interest Hunter smiled,

"Yeah, it goes down well with the females, too cold to swim in the lake most of the time but they love this little baby. I'll get it cleaned out and set up for you Bella. It holds eight easy so room for all of us"

"Great, a fucking cooking pot and we're supposed to strip off and boil to death for fun?"

"You don't have to join in Peter, you can be lifeguard if you prefer."

"Yeah Bella, if you need the kiss of life I'm your man."

Again Jasper gave a rumble in his chest, surely he wasn't jealous of his best friend?

Darius

I thought a quiet word with the others might be a good idea so while The Major and Bella went below to look around I grabbed the others and gestured for them to follow me along the path away from listening ears.

"We need to keep our distance from Bella guys, The Major is getting close to tipping point pretty quickly and we don't need a rift between us. You especially Jay, it wouldn't take much for him to explode, he's still not entirely happy with you so keep your head down. Did you explain to him Alice?"

She nodded and I was relieved, he especially needed to be very careful, a vampire waiting to consummate his bond with his mate would be dangerously unpredictable.