Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all.
Rated M for several reasons. Lemon.
Chpt 48 Mates
RPOV
The joy of running culminates in the disaster of hunting.
Instinctual it may be but learning not to crush your prey when you are less than an hour old and in the grip of your first bloodlust takes several attempts. Several messy attempts.
But four deer later she's getting the hang of it and has finally almost quenched the raging thirst which will be with her for the rest of her existence. That I do feel bad about but I hope that eventually she will learn, as I did, that it's a small price to pay. It's not always so bad, it gets better as you get older and need less blood, settling down into a sort of permanent ache, a bit like you get if you swallow a jawbreaker whole. There are only two ways to get rid of the feeling I know of, one is actually feeding and the other probably explains why vampires are so fond of sex and Virginward always has a face like a smacked ass.
Despite being in the grip of newborn bloodlust she's still been remarkably lucid, certainly enough that Jazz and I have been able to reason with her and coach her. No, that probably makes it sound better than it was. Jazz has the physical strength to restrain her, even Em was struggling, and I have the brass neck to get in her face despite her furious snarling and fingers hooked into talons. She used to be such a nice girl too.
So we got there and now we are all standing around her proudly as she drains her final kill. Neatly. Better late than never.
The lights are back on and the Bella we know is once again at home in the new improved body.
With a contented sigh she pushes the bled carcass off her legs and smiles up at us shamefaced. Ah the newborn year, perfect recall of every mistake you make and only a patchy ability not to repeat them.
"I'm a mess." She observes wryly.
Oh yes, covered in blood from head to foot.
"No way Bells." Em laughs. "Wait until you've fought your first bear."
"I don't think I'm a fighting bears kind of vampire Em." She says sadly, surveying the mangled corpses of her first meal.
"We'll get you there." He vows, puffing out his chest. Em is our bear man, anything else is beneath him and I often actually have to nag to get him to feed on spindly little deer.
Pete and Char are looking on with indulgent smiles, non vegetarians they've pledged to do everything they can to ensure she never feeds on a human but they really aren't into the whole animal thing. Char in particular disdains murdering Bambi when there's so much tasty human scum loose in the world. Em and Jazz got Pete to try a mountain lion once but he claimed he was sick for a week afterwards and I know that in reality he's not bothered if his meals deserve what they get or not, he's only selective out of love for Char.
Which if I'm honest is the only thing that keeps Em on the straight and narrow. Unconsciously I reach behind me and he squeezes my hand in his massive paw, resting the other on my shoulder.
Bella clambers to her feet, brushing herself down in a futile attempt to clean herself up and smiling ruefully at her appearance. Her shift is sodden and her jeans ripped and torn, I hope Char's got a state of the art laundry room.
I glance over at Jazz to gauge his reaction.
He's standing a little to one side, eyes deep dark holes of ebony, nostrils flaring, lips curled into the ghost of a smile, fists clenching and unclenching against his thighs.
Supressing a giggle I nod toward him and Em follows my gaze.
"I see." He chuckles knowingly, fingers splaying out to caress the crescent scar on my trapezius muscle.
Pete and Char glance over too, smirks appearing on their faces.
Oh Bella, I hope you enjoy it.
"Well then." Pete observes brightly. "I think it's time for all the nice, long time mated vampires, to head home. Bells an' J clearly have somethin' they need to attend to."
Bella looks around questioningly, her eyes finally alighting on Jazz.
Immediately they darken and narrow. For a newborn flipping between the ability to multitask and the sudden urges that force you down a single thought process is dizzying. Bella's barometer has just gone from bloodlust to plain old lust.
Laughing quietly and with just a hint of jealousy the rest of us melt backwards into the trees.
BPOV
My mate. Mine. I can feel it. I know it. And the fact that I can't explain it doesn't matter at all.
He is magnificent.
"Mine." He growls echoing my thoughts, reaching up with one hand and slowly ripping his t-shirt from his body.
The fading light glows on his pale skin, picking out the fluid lines of the well defined muscles on his arms, chest and abdomen. Highlighting his silhouette perfectly against the darkening forest behind.
His body is criss-crossed with scars and my stomach turns over slowly at the sight of them. My mate is a warrior, a survivor, able to protect me.
And I want him.
"Mine." He growls again, advancing towards me slowly.
Instinct takes over and I turn and run, pushing my new body as fast as it will go but I can hear my mate behind me, gaining on me and I laugh with joy as he launches himself at me, tackling me easily to the ground.
My mate is strong and fast.
He covers my body with his, pressing me into the mulchy forest floor as he moves my hair away from my neck, burying his face there and inhaling my scent.
"Mine." He purrs softly into my skin and I shudder all over as the amorphous shapes of his love, lust and possessiveness flutter against me.
Lazily he laps at the blood on my neck and shoulder as I lay quietly beneath him, his hands travelling lightly up and down my arms, thumbs massaging my skin.
"Mine." He purrs again, teeth dragging across the skin at the juncture of my neck and shoulder. Another shudder runs through me.
"Yours." I confirm. Every part of me. Forever.
With a sharp intake of breath he rears up, ripping away my ruined shift and jeans, running his hands over my back and the curve of my hips before lifting me up onto my knees.
"Mine." He whispers, circling his hands around my waist and trailing them over my ribs as he pulls me back against his chest. "Mine to love, mine to claim."
"Yes." The feel of his hands on me and his body pressed against mine is intoxicating but as much as I want to turn and throw myself at him I don't, I won't. I am in my mate's care now.
His big hands move up to cup my breasts, drawing a moan of need from me as they close around them, trapping the hardened peaks between his fingers.
Once again he bends his head to lap at the blood drying on my skin, purring quietly as strokes his tongue across my skin, hands still kneading my breasts. My own hands drop to his thighs, on either side of mine, rubbing up and down them, feeling the denim protest through my palms.
Still licking he shifts his grip, wrapping one arm tightly across my chest to pull me harder against him and gliding the other down my body to tear away my flimsy panties. Without pausing his hand slides between my legs, fingers caressing me and his purr turns into a groan, his licks into gentle nips at my flesh. His teeth on me are a revelation and I moan wantonly, pushing myself down onto his hand.
I want and need my mate to possess me, to give me the pleasure I know he can and shamelessly I grind my hips against his hand, guiding his flirting fingers to my aching clit.
"Aahh." I moan as they caress it, lavishing it with the attention I crave.
I try to move with him, to set the tempo my body is screaming out for but he holds me firmly in place, instead rubbing his erection against me and groaning into my ear. Driving me wild until I'm making noises like an animal and burning with the need to have him inside me.
My head falls back onto his shoulder and his mouth moves to my exposed throat, nipping and kissing it as his fingers stroke me and our body's undulate together with more force.
"Need." I whimper.
"What do you need?" He growls, sucking hard on the flesh at the base of my neck and plunging two fingers inside me.
"You." I gasp as the heat and tension of an impending orgasm spiral up within me. "Ungh . . . . need . . . . claim me . . . ."
With the sound of rending denim I find myself pushed forward onto my hands and knees but before I can protest the loss of contact he shoves into me smoothly from behind and we both moan at the pleasure of it.
My moan turns to a whimper as he begins to grind slowly in and out of me, one hand curling around in front to stroke my throbbing bundle of nerves.
Meaningless animalistic sounds of pleasure start falling from my lips as that spiralling climax builds rapidly again despite the slow rhythm and I reach for it desperately, pushing back against him with each long deep thrust. Focussing completely on my inner flesh, giving and taking around his thick length, and the feel him teasing my hyper sensitive clit.
Leaning down he drags his teeth and tongue across my back and I groan long and loud as my orgasm rolls through me in drawn out, powerful waves, clenching and unclenching my out of control muscles. And the feel and smell of it sends my mate into a frenzy.
With a low growl he grips my hips roughly, suddenly driving into me with hard, deep, fast thrusts, our body's slapping together as the animal in me is exults. Yes! And I'm lost, totally given over to sensation of my mate claiming me. There is only my mate and I, together.
I lock my arms to brace myself against his surging, gratifying, invasion of my body, twisting my head to the side as he leans down and captures my mouth with his, kissing me hard and deep as we gasp and moan into each other.
And I have another need as he thrusts into me, pumping warmth and electricity through my hollow veins, making them sing with desire and pleasure. I need his bite. I want what he's promised me, I want to be his.
I'm going to explode, each time he stretches and fills me before retreating another spark falls onto the tinderbox inside me.
"Ungh . . . ." He groans, dragging his mouth from mine and leaning away from me, altering the angle at which our bodies join. "So right . . . . so close . . . . so mine . . . ."
My arms stretch out in front of me, hands grasping frantically at the damp earth, pushing back harder against my mate until he releases my hips, winding one arm around my waist as he leans down to cover my back with his chest, supporting our weight with his other arm. Again I turn my head and our mouths crash against each other, reaching desperately for a passionate kiss as our wildly pitching bodies threaten to pull them apart.
It's too much, I can't stand it . . . . I can't cope . . . . I need . . . . Oh god it's coming . . . . My skin goes cold, goosebumps spreading like wildfire, muscles spasming, mouth opening in a silent scream.
"Argh!" He cries out, length swelling and convulsing as he begins to release inside me, each deep thrust rushing me headlong into the impending explosion. "MINE!"
I hitch in a ragged breath ready to scream as he sinks his razor sharp teeth into me at the base of my neck, slicing into the thick muscle easily.
And I do scream, with every fibre of my being, as pleasure and pain collide, surging through me, obliterating me, sending me careering into the abyss.
The dead weight of my mate collapses on top of me and I flop to the ground, spent, gasping reflexively for breath.
…..
Slowly I come back to myself. I am Bella Whitlock and the man covering my body with his, still deeply lodged inside me, is Jasper the man I love. My vampire mate.
"Mine." He sighs happily, licking tenderly at his bite mark. "Does it hurt?"
"No." I answer with a happy sigh of my own.
Love fills me, leaving me with no room for anything else, but still the words won't come. They're stuck in my throat and I feel like I'm choking on them.
"I know." He whispers. "It's okay. I love you too."
"Is it wrong that I want you again already?" I mumble as he covers my face with feathery kisses.
"Not from where I'm layin'." He chuckles quietly and I feel him twitch and grow inside me which sends lust surging through my body again.
Agonisingly slowly he starts grinding his hips into me and I mewl in pleasure.
I thought running was the best thing about being a vampire, boy did I have low expectations.
