Chapter Fifty-Two: Opportunity Knocks
If my life were a movie, this would have been the part where they played the cool training montage overlaid with the Rocky theme. In it, I would make a few clumsy mistakes at first, but—being my ever resilient self—come back strong kicking major booty. In short, I'd go from zero to hero in five minutes flat.
Instead, five minutes was how fast I was knocked on my—
"Nessie!" Jasper snapped. "Not good enough. Do it again."
I got to my feet and dusted myself off. "You know, just because I'm less breakable than a human doesn't mean a blow to the stomach doesn't hurt, Uncle Jasper."
"Then, I guess you'll block it next time, won't you? Focus!"
(FYI: Guilt trips apparently hold no sway on my uncle when it comes to hand-to-hand combat instruction.)
I retook my battle stance with barely enough time to evade his attempt to grab me. I slipped through his grasp and came around with a swift, roundhouse kick, which missed him completely. He'd whooshed out of range, but that was just what I'd wanted him to do. Focusing, I tapped into the strength I shared with Jacob and, just as Jasper blurred close enough to deliver his next punch, I slammed the heels of both hands into his stomach with everything I had and propelled him across the field like a limp ragdoll.
(Oh, yeah! Who should be blocking now, huh?)
Zooming half the distance to Jasper by the time he'd shot back to his feet, I'd intended to hit him again when I inexplicably growled and pounced in the opposite direction, holding my hands out mid-air. The second my back turned, Jasper took advantage and swept my legs out from under me. My body hit the ground with a thwack.
(Sheesh.)
A strategically-placed boot between my shoulder blades glued me to the ground and even made sure my face got a humiliating dunk in the dirt. "You did it again, didn't you?" Jasper, owner of the torturous boot, asked.
I let out a disgruntled whine of frustration as I spit dirt from my mouth. Yep, I'd done it again. Damn it.
The good thing about the imprinting taking over was that Jacob and I could now merge and double our powers of strength, speed, or agility with ease. There was no need to "send" each other anything anymore. It was like the enhanced skills were already in a joint bank account that we only had to concentrate in order to gain access to. (No, I still could not transform into a werewolf—Thank goodness! Additionally, Jake could not access my visualization power. However, everything else, we shared.)
The bad thing was that this pooling of resources had an unfortunate side effect. In addition to our abilities, emotions and intentions became mutual territory as well—except we didn't have to concentrate to access those things. They were always there, flying back and forth between us like ping pong balls, intermingling, changing, and then shooting off again. (The point: It had been Jacob's intention to pounce back there, not mine. And, since I'd gotten our intention "wires" crossed, I'd ended up face down in the dirt.) I frowned over at the love of my life. He, in his wolf form, currently had Emmett pinned to the ground using our super-strength to hold him there.
"Not fair, Jake," Emmett grunted, struggling against his furry prison.
"On your feet, Nessie," Jasper ordered, regaining my attention.
I groaned. "Why don't we skip the fighting and leave me here?" I muttered. "It's where I'm gonna end up anyway."
"We don't have time for jokes. Now is the time for training. Get up!"
To Jasper, it was always the time for training. In the weeks following prom, I'd spent every second I wasn't in school training. (Yes, I'm still in school. It's the only break I get these days and gives me a much-needed chance to hang out with my friends.) Free time was thing of the past. My schedule got so full that I started calling Jasper "The Training Nazi" behind his back. I also developed a new understanding for the word "exhausted." Not that I really thought my uncle was being unreasonable. Every minute counted until the Volturi got here. The more skills I had, the longer I'd last on the battlefield. (And the more of the Volturi I could take out.) Of course, this was not something Jasper had ever said to me, but the underlying desperation and determination in his actions made this viewpoint loud and clear. The days of laughing and joking with him were over. He was committed to arming me the best he could. Similarly, I owed it to him—and to my family—to be equally committed to learning all I could. So, with this in mind, I rose to my feet and prepared to fight again.
We trained another three grueling hours before Mom called a halt to things.
"Give us another hour," Jasper said, rubbing his jaw with one hand as he beckoned me forward with the other. (I'd just managed to land a pretty satisfying side kick to the side of his face.)
Mom, however, refused to be put off. "It's eight o'clock, Jasper. Renesmee needs to eat and sleep before she goes to school in the morning. Whatever it is will keep until tomorrow."
"Bella," he argued, "I'm in charge of Nessie's training, and—"
Mom was less than impressed. "How many times do I have to tell you people that motherhood trumps everybody?"
Jasper clenched his jaw. He was outmatched and knew it. Glumly, he gave his assent for me to leave. I sighed and hobbled toward the house. (If it was eight, I'd been training for four hours straight. I was surprised I could still walk. If I was a regular human, I'd have been in the emergency room in a full body cast.)
"I'll be in momentarily, Mom," I called. She nodded and returned to the house.
Jake, who had likewise ceased his activity, ran to the edge of the woods. (No doubt to transform and put on some clothes.) Emmett waited for us to catch up.
Sighing, I stretched my sore muscles. I was drained and run down. All these weeks of strategizing, drilling, and anxiety were wearing on me. Then, there was the constant arguing. The second everyone found out about Alice's vision (or lack of one) concerning my future, chaos erupted. Emmett, Esme, Carlisle, and Rosalie had their own approaches to try to convince me to run from the Volturi. (Emmett's was my favorite. He challenged me to a bout of arm wrestling. If I won, I could stay. If I lost, I agreed to run. The only catch was that I couldn't tap into my superpowers with Jacob. I graciously declined.)
But, no matter what was said to me, I held my ground and refused to budge. After a while, they seemed to accept that it was ultimately my life, my decision to make. That Jake, Jasper, and Alice backed me fully seemed to help. (Alice refused to believe that I was going to die while everyone else would live, and Jasper kept swearing that, by the time he got done with me, I'd be able to take on every Volturi member single-handedly.)
Nahuel and Huilen silently abstained from voicing opinions on the subject and spent more time by themselves in the surrounding woods than anything else. (I think it was all the family conflict that made them uneasy.) However, from time to time, Nahuel would join us on the training field to help with my instruction.
Seth, Quill and the other wolves, of course, were firmly on my and Jacob's side. It wasn't so much about me having a choice with them. It was more that they didn't truly believe any harm would befall us. They'd never seen an imprinting like Jacob and I. This gave them a prideful conceit that our combined powers would ultimately lead to the undoing of the Volturi. If anything, they wanted the Volturi to get here sooner so they'd have front-row seats to the supreme butt kicking they felt sure Jake and I'd be able to deliver.
When it came to my parents, the vote seemed split. Mom argued with me at first. But, once she realized how committed I was—how carefully I'd thought everything through—she stopped talking. She stared Jacob in the eye for a long time. He kept her gaze, not even blinking. There seemed to be a wealth of communication passing between the two of them, but none of it verbal. Even imprinted with Jacob, I didn't know what was going on. Without a word, Mom broke her eyes away from him and turned back to me. She'd kissed my forehead, held me tight against her for a few minutes, and excused herself to go upstairs.
Dad, however, completely lost his mind. I had no less than ten—yes, I said ten— clashes with him. He refused to even hear me out. He just kept issuing orders. If it hadn't been for Carlisle and Esme reminding him that I was an adult with the right to make my own decisions and Jacob physically standing between me and Dad, I had no doubt I'd have been thrown into the back of his Volvo long ago, on my way to some undisclosed location. I'd never seen Dad this unhinged before, but his explosive fits became an almost daily occurrence. Our fifth argument was so bad he tossed his piano through the living room window when I refused to even consider the idea of leaving. Our tenth argument was worse than that.
"Nessie, you don't have a chance against the Volturi. We're leaving. End of discussion."
It took everything I had not to bristle at his holier-than-thou tone. "No. I'm staying."
"I forbid it. I'm your father. You will do as I say. I'll kidnap you if I have to."
I snorted. "Good luck with that. With my and Jacob's united strength, it'll take more than you to kidnap me."
"You've got to sleep sometime, little girl," he said, taking a menacing step toward me. I could see the agony burned into his expression, the hollow desperation of his eyes. But it didn't soften my resolve one bit.
Jacob edged between us as my father reached for me.
"Move, Jacob," Dad snarled, as Jake shoved his hand away from me.
"No, Edward. You don't get to touch her right now. You need to calm down first."
"You think you can tell me what to do with my daughter? You think because you've got some Indian voodoo connection to her you're going to supersede me? That engagement ring on her finger doesn't change a damn thing when it comes to this. We had a plan. You were going to talk her into hiding. Don't you recall that? What happened?"
Jake shrugged. "Plans change. She wants to stay. She stays."
Dad glared down at him for a moment before clearly deciding to change tactics. It made me wonder what he'd read in Jacob's mind. All I'd been able to pick up on was grim determination from my beloved. "She's going to die. Don't you give a damn about her, Jacob? Don't you care?"
"I'll die for her, if that's what it takes," Jacob said, solemnly.
The smile that appeared on Dad's face was mocking and sinister. "I might help you to that end, mutt. Now move so I can reason with my child."
"No."
Dad's pale fist was a blur as it slammed it into Jacob's jaw, sending him lurching back. Jake quickly regained his composure and put himself toe-to-toe with my father again.
"It's still a no, Edward," he said, fists held to his sides. I could feel how hard it was for him to hold his aggression in, but he did it. For me.
I watched as the two most important men in my life glared at each other down. They weren't my father and fiancé right then. They were vampire and werewolf, mortal enemies about to tear each other to shreds.
"Edward. Jacob." Mom's voice tore through the tension like teeth through flesh.
They both looked at her and, in that instant, I was transported back to a time before I was even born. This was how it was when they'd both loved and wanted her so fiercely. Just as quickly as that thought popped in my head, I discarded it. That wasn't what was going on here.
Without another word, Mom took Dad by the hand and pulled him out of the house. They were gone all night and on into the next day. When they returned, Dad was still furious, but he kept his mouth shut. I wasn't sure what she'd said to him exactly, I only knew a fragile peace of sorts had settled over the house. Things were far from over, but I was grateful for a break in the conflict.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a break in tension. Jasper trained me day in and day out while the rest of my family either treated me like a porcelain doll who might shatter at any moment or took turns injecting as much combat and Volturi knowledge into my brain as they could until I felt like I was drowning in pressure, information, and stress.
So, more than a bath, food, or a bed, right now as I tottered off the training field with my stoic uncle at my side, the thing I needed most was to laugh. I was getting into a funk and I knew if I didn't do something to maintain a feeling of normalcy, I'd fall back into that horrible depression that had kept me prisoner only a few months ago. Thus, I tried to make light conversation with Jasper as we trudged along together.
"You and Aunt Alice got any super-secret, romantic plans this weekend?" I teased.
"My only plans include you and this training field."
I abruptly stopped walking. He stopped as well and stared over at me. Enough was enough. I was going to get my way here. I was sure he could pick up on my determination. "Nice footwear," I said, nudging him with an elbow. "I didn't know you were into cowboy boots."
I held his gaze, begging him with my eyes to give me this all-too-brief moment of levity. At last, Jasper's eyes flipped down at the black boots he was wearing. Looking back up at me, he produced his first smile in weeks, an all-Southern-boy grin. "Well, I'm originally from Texas, you remember. We practically invented cowboy boots."
I chuckled. "How do you keep from sliding in those things out there? They don't have any traction."
"Practice," he answered, giving me a cocky wink. "When I get done with you, you'll be able to fight in three-inch stilettos."
I gave a fake grimace. "How about flip-flops?" I replied. "They're far more comfortable."
His small chuckle lightened the mood considerably. I sighed in relief, and we walked on. As we finally made it to Emmett and a now-clothed Jacob, the laughs continued as Emmett had a blast reminding my beloved of the time he'd pinned him on the ground.
"Of course, you're forgetting the thirteen times I pinned you," Jake retorted.
"Only cause you cheated by using the imprinting. Besides, I left my good luck charm at home tonight. I didn't want to waste it. But, don't you worry. On the big day, I'll have it on me. Then, those Volturi won't know what hit 'em."
We laughed as we got closer to the house. Unfortunately, then we spotted my father sitting on the porch and that brought a swift end to all amusement and gaiety.
"Oh, don't stop on my account," Dad dryly remarked, a sinister chuckle issuing forth from his mouth. "When the opportunity knocks for frivolity, it is our duty to partake, right? I believe the saying goes something along the lines of 'Eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we may die.' Correct?"
"Edward, it isn't like that—" Emmett began.
Dad shot from his seat to the railing of the porch, gripping the white wood so strongly I feared he'd smash it to smithereens. "Isn't it?" he demanded.
Emmett's hands went up in surrender. "I don't want to fight with you, brother."
Dad zoomed from the railing to Emmett's face in two seconds flat. "Then, you should have spent your time trying to talk my daughter out of this suicide mission she's so set on, brother, instead of helping her to kill herself."
"Edward, calm down," Jasper said.
He poured buckets of serenity over everyone, but it didn't seem to make a difference. Dad was panting like a runner who'd just finished a marathon.
"It's going to be fine," Jasper continued, reaching out to touch Dad's arm. "We're training her. She's picking things up quickly. She's got the imprinting and Jacob. She'll be fine."
"That's what you say, but it isn't what you think," Dad hissed. His index finger tapped a few times against his own temple. "You can lie to everyone else, Jasper, but I know what you're really thinking. Remember?"
It was my turn to intervene. "Dad—"
"No, we've all given into this tantrum of yours long enough. We're running out of time. Don't you understand? You won't win against the Volturi! Even you know that."
"I know no such thing."
"You'll die, Nessie." His shoulders slumped and his hands fell limply at his sides. I'd never seen my father look so defeated. "How is that winning?"
"The Volturi will be destroyed. Nobody else will be hurt. That's winning in my book."
"Your death isn't worth that."
"Ending the Volturi is worth dying for."
"Do you hear yourself? Do you?" He waved me off as though he'd won the argument. "If you leave before they get here, the rest of us can stay to deal with them. Besides, it's Nahuel they're after, not you."
"You think I'd let him die so I could be safe? How could I live with myself?"
"I don't care how you do it, as long as you live."
I decided to hit this from a different angle. "They know I'm the child of a singer, Dad. I'm just as much a target as Nahuel is, maybe even a bigger one since I'm also a Cullen."
"It doesn't matter. We'll deal with that later. It's better this way. You'll run, you'll be safe, and—"
"They'll kill all of you and come after me anyway. How is that better? At least my way, the only one to die is me."
"And me," Jacob affirmed, taking my hand in his.
I swallowed hard at him saying that. Even though I'd accepted Jake's stake in this, it didn't make it any easier to hear him say it out loud like that. Nevertheless, I nodded to him before turning my attention back to my father.
Dad opened his mouth as though he was going to yell at Jake, but something seemed to change his mind. His eyes flew to me as he cocked his head. "If you left, Jake could go with you. He'd be safe from harm. Surely," he all but crooned to me, "you don't want him to die as well. Do you, Nessie?"
My father was hitting below the belt. He was also acting more like a true vampire than I'd ever seen him. I hated that he felt so desperate, but I understood his motivations. I imagine, if our situations were reversed, I'd have done the same. This understanding, however, didn't stop me from fighting fire with fire. "Picking fears out of my head to use against me is beneath you, Dad. It's more along the lines of something Aro would do, isn't it?"
Edward Cullen jumped back as though I'd struck him. He stared hard at me, his expression almost unreadable. Yet, for all that, I could sense a crack in his dark veneer, a vulnerability. So, I moved in for the kill. Please, Dad, I thought directly at him. Please understand how much I have to do this. I don't want to die. I don't want to leave you and Mom. But, you raised me to stand up for myself. That's what I'm doing. I'm standing up for me and my kind before the Volturi destroy us into extinction. How can you ask me to turn my back on the very principles you and Mom gave me? Please, Daddy, I need your support. I love you. Please, don't let my last weeks on this earth be spent fighting with you.
Dad flinched against the barrage of everything I was sending him. Jake looked uneasily from me to him, no doubt picking up on the depth of my sorrow, but unsure what I was telling my father. Before I could draw in another breath, I was in Dad's embrace. "Oh, Nessie. My sweet girl," he said, his voice cracking against the swell of emotion. "I beg you. Don't do this. I can't bear to lose you, dear one. I just can't."
I held onto him, sobbing into his chest. "I'm sorry, Dad. I'm so sorry, but it has to be this way. It has to."
He whimpered into my neck and hugged me tighter. "You're so young, so weak."
I tapped into the super-strength and squeezed Dad hard around the waist. He wrenched back a little from me with an "Oww!"
I smiled a watery smile up at him. "Not as weak as you might think."
A moment went by before he kissed me on the forehead and said, "Your mother was right."
"What do you mean?"
"You are more stubborn than both of us."
I laughed and cried at the same time. Dad pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was a quintessential Edward Cullen gesture. He'd been born at the turn of the twentieth century, and, no matter what species he now was or how much life changed around him, the morals instilled in him from that time gone by would never truly leave. I took the linen square and used it to mop my face dry.
"I'm never going to be all right with this," he declared.
Yet, even as he said that, I knew the days of us being at each other's throats were done. He might not ever approve of my actions concerning the Volturi, but he wasn't going to try to stop me anymore either. It wasn't perfect, but, as a compromise, I'd take it.
"And I'm never going to change my mind," I replied, handing him back the handkerchief.
He looked intently at the white cloth for a while, and I could see that, in addition to my tears, there was a fair amount of dirt smeared on there as well. Dad finally looked back at me. "I told you once that there was no place for martyrs in this family. And, there isn't. But, if you're determined to do this, you won't do it alone."
"Dad—"
"No." He threw up a hand to stop me from speaking. "You have your principles, my dear. I know because I helped teach them to you. If you're determined to stand up to the Volturi, I'll stand with you, to the end. I don't care what Alice has seen for my future. If you die, I die. It's as simple as that."
"Me too."
We all looked over in time to see Mom descend the last stair of the porch. She sped over to stand beside Dad before giving me a small smile.
"Us as well," Carlisle said, emerging from the house and bringing Esme with him.
"Don't forget me," Rosalie said, coming behind them with Alice. "If one of us goes down, we all go down."
"Well, I'm always up for a good fight," Emmett declared. "The Volturi have had it coming for a long while now."
Alice zipped to Jasper's side. Sharing a look with him, she turned back to me. "Our future has always been tied to this family, Nessie. Count us in, too. To the end."
"Yep," Jasper said with a steadfast nod.
From behind the greenhouse, Huilen and Nahuel came into view. "And us, Nessie," Nahuel said. "They killed one family of mine. I'll not stand idly by while they threaten another. We shall fight as well."
"And die," Huilen appended, somberly, "if that is what is required."
The pack was there as well. Leah and Seth, still in wolf form, growled their participation while Quil said, "Don't forget about us. We're in this, too."
"Damn right," Embry added. "Those Volturi are toast."
I looked at each one of them, overwhelmed. I couldn't speak. I was filled with pride, happiness, sorrow, and horror all at the same time. They were willing to die with me, every one of them. They'd always been willing to face down the Volturi, to try to find a way to maneuver a way around them. But, to freely agree to die at my side, it was too much. Jacob gripped my hand, delivering a light squeeze. I squeezed back.
In the end, there was nothing to say. They took turns hugging me. I let them, not wanting to think about how much this felt like a goodbye. After a while, we returned to the house to eat and sat chatting around the dining room table. It was the first time we'd done this as a real family in so long. It was nice. The anxiety and tension were still there, like an unwanted guest staring from the window, but, for tonight, it was at least kept out of this room.
I sat back and took it all in, letting the sense of normalcy nourish me in a way that food couldn't. Dad, Carlisle, and Jasper debated the best strategies for training me while Nahuel was trying to describe the deliciousness of chocolate cream pie to Huilen, who looked mildly disgusted to see him consuming such a thing. Even Leah, who was normally more subdued and almost sullen in comparison to the rest of her pack, did her part to keep things light by teasing Jake for getting pinned by Emmett. Jake took it all in stride and dared her to do better. She laughed and told him she'd be on the training field tomorrow afternoon to do just that. Seth and Embry fought over the last pork chop while Esme, Rosalie, Alice, and Mom fussed and brought out more food from the kitchen. Emmett was in deep discussion with Quil over something that kept the young werewolf wide-eyed and fascinated. It wasn't long before Seth and Embry were pulled into this conversation as well. As soon as I heard the words "Batman" and "Holy," I rolled my eyes, laughed, and purposefully tuned them all out. (The Batman Club rears its ugly head again.) Throughout it all, Jake kept a tight hold on my hand, squeezing every now and again. I squeezed back and smiled at him.
This was what I needed. This was worth dying for.
—D—
I jolted awake and looked around, disoriented. I was on the couch in Jacob's apartment covered with a blue blanket. Where's everyone else? The last thing I remembered was me, Quil, Embry, Emmett, and Jacob trudging up to the apartment to watch season one of the old Batman series. (I'd been so starved for peaceful family time that I'd actually agreed to watch with them. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.) I suppose I must have fallen asleep. Being alone only made all the uneasiness and fear of the impending Volturi I'd been pushing away come boiling to the surface. It was a slippery slope threatening to send me careening back into the land of depression. No, not going there, I thought. I shoved it away, threw off the blanket and rose from the couch.
"Jake? Quil? Embry? Emmett? Anybody?"
"Nessie, stay there. I'll be right out."
Jake's voice came from his bedroom. The door was slightly ajar.
"OK," I replied, unsure what all the guys were doing beyond that door. There was only a bedroom and a bathroom back there, after all. My curiosity, however, didn't translate into me sticking my head around said door to check things out. (Last time I did that, I accidentally caught Embry coming out of the shower and saw a LOT more of him than I ever wanted to. I'd blushed for a solid hour after the incident, and Embry still couldn't look me in the eye.)
Within a minute or two, Jake pushed open the door and came into the living room. His hair was wet and stuck his scalp, his chest was bare, and he had a beige towel cinched firmly around his waist. I didn't care about any of that. I needed security. Without thought, I raced to him, throwing myself into his arms. He accepted me with nothing more than a soft "Oomph."
"I felt your confusion and fear," he said, "but I'd just put shampoo in my hair and had to get it out. Everything all right, darlin'?"
I snuggled deeper into his damp chest, not even caring that my shirt was soaking up all the water. Groaning, I relished the comfort of our bond. I loved how easy this was, how simply touching him was enough to make my world OK again. I wondered how I'd gotten by so long in my life without this. Why on earth did I fight it for so long?
Jacob gently rubbed his hands up and down my back, no doubt picking up on the fears I'd been battling. "It's all going to work out," he murmured against my hair.
"I'm with you. That's all that matters," I replied.
Nothing else needed to be said. We held each other and simply basked in the serenity of our connection. I drew comfort from him and gave that comfort back to him twofold. He sighed against me, and I relaxed into him.
It took a while before I became aware of the prevailing silence in the apartment. I pulled away and looked around. "Where is everybody?"
"Leah and Seth are back on sentry duty."
"Yeah, that I remember. But, where are Quil, Embry, and Emmett? Last time I checked, they were in here watching Batman."
"They did for a bit, but Quil and Embry got bored." He smirked. "Emmett was quite disappointed at their lack of attention span. In any case, they've been restless here lately and, with all the excitement from earlier, they had a little excess energy to run off. They're going to spend the night in the woods. Emmett and Rosalie took off with your mom and dad to hunt. Don't worry. They promised to be back by dawn."
I nodded and let him finish explaining.
"You were passed out on the couch when your parents and Rosalie came to get Emmett and tell us they were leaving. It was obvious at dinner how exhausted you were. They wanted to move you, but you were sleeping so peacefully, I didn't want you disturbed. Since you were asleep, I decided to grab a shower."
"Well, I'm certainly awake now," I said, boldly. I smiled as I considered this rare opportunity before us. My ever-widening smile confused him.
"What, Nessie?"
My feelings and intent should have been plain for him to comprehend. I studied him, wondering how long it was going to take for him to put it all together. I decided to give him a big hint and moved so that my body was barely touching his.
"The wolves are in the woods," I said.
He took a big step away from me, a flirtatious grin spreading over his face. Oh yeah. He'd picked up on what I was thinking all right. He edged back from me, putting a large gap of space between us. "And?" he urged.
"Mom and Dad are off hunting with Emmett and Rosalie. They'll be gone all night." I eased toward him just as he darted out of reach.
"And?"
I prowled onward, stalking him like prey now. "Well, let's see. My parents are gone. The wolves are out of the apartment, and you and I are all alone for the first time in weeks."
He let out a low chuckle as he put more distance between us. "And?"
"And I love you and you love me and we're engaged."
We'd progressed to his bedroom by this point.
"A-a-and?" he prompted, faltering a little when the back of his calves unexpectedly bumped into his bed. He looked down briefly, surprised at how quickly we'd made it in here. Just as fast, he crossed his arms over his wide chest, cocked his hip and leered at me. "And?"
I leered right back. "And your towel looks like it's about to fall off, Mr. Black. I could help with that, you know." I closed the bedroom door behind me with a loud thump. I leaned against it and, like a good predator, waited for my prey to realize he was caught.
The noise seemed to jolt Jacob from his playful mood. He eyed me carefully, all traces of mischief drained from his face. "The Volturi—"
"Have nothing to do with this," I finished, pouring every bit of desire I had for him into our mutual pool of resources. This was our moment and I wasn't going to waste a second of it. (When you have a telepath for a father, an empath for an uncle, nosy vampire relatives with super acute hearing, and a pack of werewolves sleeping at your fiancé's apartment, opportunities like this are few and far between.) I wanted this man standing before me. I loved him. He was mine. I was his. Nothing else mattered.
His body went rigid as my desire mingled with his own inside him. He tried to hold on to the last dregs of his control. It was a losing battle, but Jake still tried. "You're sure about this, Nessie?"
The click of the lock on the bedroom door was the only reply I needed to give.
