These characters are not mine.

Chapter 2

My denial only seemed to feed his need to be closer. His eyes swirled pure gold, and in the dark I think they would have glowed. Gently, he let go of my hands to pull me completely onto his lap. His hands then tightened around my hips while he let his thumbs gently caress my side, increasing my desire for his touch. Any thought of resisting his advances was long gone from my mind with him so close.

My legs were forced to spread further to fit into his lap, and I felt him hard at the seam of my jeans. I hated that his body could bring out such physical reactions, but at the same time it felt electrifying. When he touched me, I imagined charge particles surrounding us, buzzing with energy. How far can we hold on before one of us snaps?

Those maddening circles on my hips, his smell of chestnut and sandalwood, and even the feel of his controlled strength brought out my own primal instincts. It was all so overwhelming and without thinking, I rolled my hips. At that first intimate contact initiated by me, he lost it. Suddenly, I was having my first kiss. His lips against mine were magical, soft yet firm. A primal dance between man and woman as old as time. He teased my bottom lip with a soft bite causing me to gasp in shock. He took the opportunity to ease his tongue into my mouth. God, he was good at this. While I was shy and hesitant, he was bold and sure of himself. As he continued to deepen the kiss, I slipped my hands into his soft curls at the nape of his neck. Already, I was becoming puddy in his arms. He purred every time I tugged.

His thumbs continued to tease my hips when I felt him slide his hands under my shirt. A slow innocent touch becoming more sinful by the inch. No one had ever touched me in this way. The power of his touch made me nervous. My shirt was riding up, exposing the curve of my waist to him. How far was he going to go? It was enough to snap me out of my own lust.

Turning my head trying to get a chance to breathe and slow things down, I looked out the rain splattered window as he took the opportunity to move his attention to my neck. The trees quickly blurred past us; we were on our way out of town. The only place I had ever called home. A place he would probably never let me return. For a vampire, a mate's place was always beside them. He was taking me away. He didn't even bother to ask what I wanted or needed.

While losing all independence was scarier enough on its own, I can also feel myself changing. Losing myself to him. His touch gave me butterflies. My body moved in sync to his as if connected by strings. His kisses made me forget why I had ever feared the mate bond.

Still watching the trees go by, he continued to suckle on my neck and collarbone. Peeking down, I could already see shallow bruises of several hickies. While he hadn't marked me yet, he was already staking his claim.

As he nibbled my ear lobe, a newly discovered sweet spot, I moaned, "Name. What's your name?"

He softly chuckled into my ear. I felt his lips form into a smile as he replied, "Edward. You can call me Edward."

Kissing my neck again, he continued, "And you are Isabella, yes? God, you're so beautiful."

"Please, just Bella. Mmmmhhh." I moaned as he continued to kiss and touch more pleasure zones. I needed to focus.

"How'd you know my name?" He hadn't moved his head from my neck. He kept scenting it as if he needed my scent to breathe.

"They gave me the results of your test before we left." He paused breathing me in again.

"Sorry, it's hard to concentrate. I knew mating would be powerful but nothing like this. The need to claim you is….overwhelming." He finished his statement by rubbing his cheek against mine.

As he spoke, I noticed that I knew this road. Unbelievably, we were close to Jacob's old house. Maybe, just maybe I would finally have some luck on this day or a higher power was having fun playing sick jokes at my expense. There was an entrance to the underground bunker just behind his house by a few hundred feet. What had seemed like an insane obsession by an old man could now be my only chance to get away. When Jake had originally shown it to me, I said his dad was crazy. I wish I could go back and tell him how smart he was.

Trying to hide and escape again would be tricky. I would have to time it perfectly. I didn't know if I could even make it there, but I had to try. Time was running out because we were already only a few miles out from his house. The car was moving a bit faster than I would like, but maybe if I just rolled then my injuries would be minimal. Fuck. Was I really going to try this?

He wasn't going to just let me go. Even from the short time I had spent with him, I felt his obsession and need to be close to me. Females were warned not to run because of the berserk behavior mates showed when they were unable to claim one's mate. Once the rejecting female is caught, the mating process can be more animalistic in nature. A vampire will devolve to its baser instincts to track and ultimately claim the female. It also lengthens the time period of the claiming process as the vampire must decide when trust has been rebuilt between the couple. They assured us a male vampire could never harm his mate. It was physically impossible for them. Yet, females were warned to never run. Talk about a conflicting message.

I'd already ran once. If I run again now, I will have to be on the run my entire life. Edward won't stop. So, it was now or never. I had to use his distraction of the new bond to my advantage while I still had the willpower to run away.

In an act of desperation, I pulled his attention back to my face and kissed him as deeply as he had kissed me earlier. I made sure to hold his hands. For him, it must have felt like I had finally accepted our bond. For me, it was saying goodbye. In this kiss, I let myself imagine letting myself go. I embraced the bond building, pulling us closer. The comfort and love it brought with being him. A final goodbye. If my plan worked, this would be the last time I would see him. My eyes began to tear as I moved my right hand quickly to unlock the door and then to the handle. His full focus on the kiss. Making sure I had him distracted and his hands off of me, I went in for one last kiss.

"I'm sorry." His forehead wrinkled in confusion.

I opened the door with the car still speeding by and jumped out as Jake's house came into view.

Hitting the asphalt, I rolled out by landing on my left shoulder for the impact. It fucking hurt. I knew I only made it out because Edward never expected me to jump out of a moving car. As my rolling came to a stop, I heard the screeching of the breaks.

Not stopping, I sprinted into the woods. My entire left side felt like it was on fire from the asphalt and the forceful impact. I couldn't stop running. I didn't have much time. Vampires were extremely fast and he could track my smell. However, the rain might actually be a blessing today. It would make it harder for him to track me.

I could hear that the car had made a complete stop, but I had barely reached the forest. I had hoped to be at least at the house by the time the car stopped. Even still, I needed to run farther past the house to get to the hidden entrance. The smash of a car door flying open made my steps falter. As I almost tripped, I saw a huge massive wolf come out of the woods.

I didn't know which was scarier: my angry mate or this horse sized wolf? The wolf growled but didn't look at me; instead, it seemed focused on the road. Hoping it was distracted, I ran past it keeping my distance. On any other day, I would say running into a growling wolf, alone in the woods would not be a fantastic scenario for me. However today, it might be just what I needed to complete my crazy ass, desperate plan.

Seconds later, as I was running past the front porch, I heard my mate yell, "Get out of my way. I don't have time for this. I mean no harm to your pack. Let's not start a war today."

The wolf only growled again, showing his teeth in response.

Talking over the wolf, Edward yelled, "Bella, come here. You don't need to be scared; I would never hurt you. You're my mate." I was deep in the woods at this point, but I could still hear him.

Saying those magic words, I took off again, ignoring his plea to stop.

Finally, I saw the entrance. I prayed that with the rain and the well hidden door, it would be enough to hide away from Edward. The rain was falling so heavy that the forest floor was beginning to flood. I reached the hidden door, made sure to cover the door trap door with the same piece of wood and leaves as camouflage, and shut it quickly without looking back.

I locked the sliding hatch before blinding walking down the stairs. Being underground, there was no light. When Jake had showed this place to me years ago, I knew there was a light somewhere on the other side of the room. However, I was too scared to move or make any sound. After coming down the stairs, I just sat in the corner and waited. My back against concrete and the smell of mildew and mothballs filled my nose. I could hear a bit of an echo of the rain, but only because of the rapid downpour and even that was soft. I focused on slowing my breathing and staying quiet rather than this dark, confined space. I was beginning to understand how someone could easily become claustrophobic. Breathe in. Breath out.

I heard steps near the entrance as I thought "Please don't find me." I couldn't hear or see him, but I knew Edward was close from the feeling in my chest. If I could look out, I would bet he was frantically looking, searching for me.

Several minutes went by as I stayed impossibly still. No one pulled at the door. With his speed and vampire abilities, he should have found me by now. Did my insane, desperate plan actually work?

If I wasn't so scared, I think I would have started laughing. I actually jumped out of a moving car with my vampire mate in the backseat. I ran into the forest to a hidden bunker that I hadn't seen in years. I saw a massive fucking wolf, and it just let me run past him. More importantly, what was that thing? It was too big to be a normal wolf and when I looked into its eyes, there was intelligence and awareness there. Almost like it knew me. If vampires were real, were there other supernatural creatures out there?

'No, don't go down that path,' I thought. I'm thankful for the assistance, but I can't let myself be distracted. I have to focus on my own problems. There wasn't a clock in here, but more time had gone by. It was quiet outside, and the sound of the rain was slowing. I didn't want to sit in the darkness for the rest of my life. Finding the courage, I looked for that light switch. Standing against the wall, I walked with my hand, using it as a guide. Feeling with my finger tips, I found the back wall. After walking a few rounds back and forth blindly, I found it. Nothing happened at first when I switched the light. Then, I heard a soft buzz. The light flicked low and a soft light started to glow from the center of the room.

It was smaller than I remember or perhaps I romantanized this place knowing it was my only chance of escape. Most of the square room was filled with shelves of dehydrated food, preserves, and emergency water. The limited furniture was molding which explained the smell. An old radio and small box TV with antenna sat in the corner.

I went to the rows of supplies. I need to patch up my arm, and I'm sure there was a first aid kit in this doomsday bunker. Thankfully, I didn't break any bones jumping out of the car or in my run. My shoulder was just badly bruised, and my forearm had slight road burn. With a little searching, I found the first aid kit. I was able to quickly clean my small cuts and put some gauze on the road burns. I would live.

Feeling a sudden exhaustion, I walked over to the couch and sat down on the edge. Resting my elbows onto my knees, I finally let myself truly absorb everything from today. It all came crashing down. The fear and anxiety of being forced to be tested for a mate against my will. The frightening experience of being chased in a hospital, only to be snatched away shortly after. That wolf. Edward. When I let out the first wail, I couldn't stop. I just let myself cry while rocking back and forth with my arms hugging my own waist. I cried for leaving him even though I was the one who ran. I hoped he would forgive me. I hoped he could find a happy life without me. I felt weak crying over a man who would only see me as a possession. I hate the mating bond. My heart and mind were in conflict with each other. Listening to my brain had allowed me the opportunity to free, but my heart was already falling for him. I barely know him and my heart flutters just thinking about being in his arms. I promised myself if I was a mate for a vampire, then I would never fall for him. I was stronger than the mate bond. Now I can see that it isn't so easy to resist.

Hours went by as I fought between my head and my heart. Resting my head against the couch, I tried to think of my next steps. Where do I go from here? Eventually, I fell asleep.

Author's Note: There will be no love triangles in this story. This is completely E/B. Thanks for the support from the last chapter.