Deştepta
Pairing: E/B endgame, but wolfpack fans will like the beginning
Rating: Are you kidding?
Setting: College AU
All standard disclaimers apply
Sam is on Bella the moment she slips through the open frat house door.
Her back hits the wall with a thud, a large male hand firm around her throat. He's not squeezing hard but irritation flares to life anyway. She doesn't particularly like being choked, especially not out of the blue. That's the sort of shit that needs to be worked up to. She shoves at him.
"What the fuck, Sam?"
"Why do you smell like that leech?" he growls. He towers over her, and his nostrils flare as he breathes in her scent. Bella isn't afraid of the wolves—she never has been. Not even Sam. But she can feel her inner fire surge as he pins her to the wall and refuses to move. It wraps around him, curling its invisible heat along his bare forearms, flavored with the steel of her anger, sharp like blood. He growls low in his throat. "I asked you a question."
"If you want me to answer, get your fucking hand off my neck!" she snarls back.
He does, releasing his grip but refusing to step away.
"Now back the fuck up."
"Who's alpha here?"
"I'm not a member of your pack and I do not belong to you. We had this argument last time, right before I left, remember?" She sure remembers. It's why she refuses to stay with these boys for long. This place would be perfect for her in virtually every other way, but wolves are territorial and she does not put up with that shit. When everything inevitably implodes, she's out. Yet she always seems to find herself back on this doorstep sooner or later.
"You are not pack," Sam acknowledges, "but while you live on this campus, you will obey the rules."
"What rules?" She shoves at him again and this time he relents, stepping back and allowing her to pull away from the wall. "You never had rules before." She backs into the arm of a leather sofa and lets her body slump backward, sprawling onto the sleek surface. Toeing off her shoes, she crosses her arms behind her head and eyes Sam squarely.
"There have always been rules. You just never violated them before." He folds his arms across his chest and stares at her, his bright black eyes intense in his unsmiling face.
"Would you quit with that big-bad-alpha vibe? It doesn't work on me." She grabs the leg of his jeans with her bare toes and tugs him closer. "And I'm not really good at following rules."
"So I've noticed." Sam pulls her foot from his leg and comes to sit next to her hip, perching on the edge of the seat. "For now, I have only two rules for you to concern yourself with."
"I'd rather hear the whole list at once so I can tell you where to shove it right away. Saves time."
He snorts. "Behave. The rules are simple. One." He cups her pussy in his big hand, his body heat sinking into her through the layers of her clothing. "While you are with us, this belongs to us. To the pack. I don't care what you do when you disappear, but when you're here, you're ours."
"Keep me happy and I'm yours," she says flatly. "I've never done otherwise."
"I know, which is why I never felt the need to say it before. We're more than capable of keeping you fed."
"What's so different this time?"
Instead of answering her, Sam removes his hand. He leans in and inhales, scenting her just as she scented her lab partner today in class. His eyes turn dangerous. "Two. You keep away from the Cullens." Something dark unfolds in his voice, flowing like poison through water, delicate curls of danger.
"Why?"
"The reasons are none of your concern."
Challenging Sam is not a good idea. Bella knows this. As she told Edward earlier, Sam is not a nice guy. He's an alpha wolf: territorial to a fault, tyrannical in his rule. He can be indulgent with his pack brothers when he chooses, but only to a point. And he does not tolerate challenges to his command. Bella's aware. She can feel the heat rolling off of him—desire, yes, because the spark between them burns intensely, brighter than with the others. But not just that. He's angry, too, and it's more than just a normal male temper tantrum. This burrows deep into the heart of who and what he is, triggering the wolf to snarl at her from dark human eyes.
"He's my lab partner." Bella is not terribly good at reining herself in, particularly not when someone stokes her fire, either in passion or anger. But she's learned the hard way that pushing these wolves only ends badly for all involved. They're as volatile as she is. She can't turn that fire off, but she can try to alter its focus. "Do I smell bad now?" She lets the fire flame bright, lets it caress along Sam's skin with velvet licks of flame. She smiles and moves a leg so he's sitting between her sprawled thighs. "Come fix it."
"Don't play with me, little girl," he warns, but she already knows she's got him. She can feel the heat in his gaze shift as her fire does, the danger receding as the tip of his tongue rolls across his lower lip.
"Who's playing?" She smiles coyly, though that's exactly what she's doing. Alpha wolf or no, he's really just a man and she knows how to deal with men.
He exhales a deep breath that deflates his chest and almost unwillingly his hand slides over her hip and up under her shirt. He smooths his fingers over her ribs and holds her firmly, his big warm hand heavy on her torso. "What am I going to do with you, bad little girl?"
She laughs. "You can punish me, if you want. If you think you have enough wolves to handle me. I'll love it."
He curses low and shoves his hand up under her bra, groping her forcefully. "I can handle you on my own."
"But that's not how you wolves do things, is it?" She sits up and scoots into his lap, wrapping her legs around him. He's hard and heavy inside his jeans; she grinds gently against that bulge. "I'm hungry, Sam." It's the truth, as far as it goes. "I couldn't find any of my boys at lunchtime."
"Poor little baby doll." He grips her hip and pulls her against him harder, urging her to dry hump him through their clothing. "Why didn't you text? I'm sure someone was nearby. It's not a huge campus."
Bella nips his lips lightly, but Sam doesn't really like to kiss and she won't force it. "He's just my science lab partner," she purrs, flicking open the button of her jean shorts and rolling down the zipper. "Whatever you have against him, I'm sorry. I'll shower after every class."
Sam scowls at her, but she has him where she wants him so long as she doesn't push too hard. She won't demand answers—not right now. Not from him. Just this concession—just that he backs off about her stupid lab partner. She lets him peel her out of her shorts, settling back on the leather sofa as he unzips his jeans. He smacks her pussy firmly, the wet sound of his hand connecting with her slick folds sharp in the empty room. She gasps at the biting slap, her fire flaring hotter, this time truly with desire as her anger settles beneath the surface.
"Just for class," he says finally, and slams himself into her. She mewls softly. Honestly, these wolves aren't any better at foreplay than any other frat boys. She's always wet and ready, but she wonders if maybe she shouldn't start teaching them better. As a favor to the girls who will inevitably come after her, the human ones without her...peculiarities. She loves their animal side, but others will not.
"Just for class," she assures Sam, lifting her shirt and bra over her head in one fluid motion. His hand flies to her breasts immediately as he thrusts deep, rubbing roughly over the soft flesh before cupping one and kneading with his wolfy version of gentleness. He spears her good, his rhythm fast and even. She relaxes back into this feeling, the leather beneath her and the man between her legs, fucking a big cock up inside her. The perfect after-school snack. His male energy sizzles around her and she drinks it in, her fire absorbing his desire, feeding from it, flaring hotter. It's so good, and for the moment she's distracted from her musings about her enigmatic lab partner. Sam can cover her with his own scent if he wants, erase every memory of Edward Cullen from her skin. It will keep the peace—for now—and that's really all she wants today as she relaxes back into this feeling. Sam's an asshole sometimes, but he's good at this and that's all she's ever required of him. She closes her eyes and just lets herself feel.
"Bella's home," a voice says, and a moment later she feels the velvet nudge of a cock against her cheek. She turns her head and willingly opens her mouth. The salty savor of precum hits her tongue as its owner pumps gently. "Oh, fuck. Could feel you all the way on the top floor. You're like a heat wave, girl."
She knows. These wolves bring it out in her. Like calls to like, their heat and animal instinct calling to the demon in her. Or is it just their supernatural similarity, the kinship of having to hide what they are?
Edward Cullen's pretty face suddenly flashes before her eyes, catching her off guard. He's not human, either. But he doesn't feel like her wolves do, this hot spark like a live wire, dangerous and decadent, promising her a never-ending feast if she can manage not to light off an explosion. He feels so...different. She still has no words to describe even to herself how it felt when she touched him.
Fingers wind in her hair, pulling her mouth further onto the dick she's supposed to be sucking. Right. She moans around it as he tries to deepthroat her and she has to pull back. Not in this position. Not even she can do that. Boy should really join her in that human anatomy class. Or maybe he needs a lesson in basic physics first. She makes it up to him by reaching into the part in his boxers to fondle his balls, rolling them gently in her hot fingers. He rumbles appreciatively.
"Let your brother have a turn," someone else says, and Bella squints her eyes open to see Embry standing next to Jared, whose cock is in her mouth. She drags her tongue up the ridged underside and ignores their talk.
"Shut up," Sam grunts at them both and thrusts harder between her legs. His scowl tells her he's still not quite happy with her, but his body and scent speak otherwise. Desire pours from him like clouds rolling in off the western horizon, deep and sweet and quenching. She drinks it in greedily. He wants her. He adores her, in his own weird way. These wolves hold nothing back; she knows exactly where she stands with them through just a single touch or a drag of their eyes down her body.
"Oh god. Christ," Jared mutters, and his thrusts become short and jerky. His balls contract in her hand and a moment later cum paints her tongue. Women complain about the taste of this all the time, the texture, but she's wired differently. If the train they ran on her at her party was a Vegas buffet, this is at the very least tomato soup and grilled cheese, comforting and filling. She swallows eagerly, sucking at the head as she kneads his balls gently, milking him of everything he can give her. He strokes her hair affectionately as he withdraws from her mouth, his length already softening. "Thanks, doll."
They're always welcome; they know that.
Sam comes a moment later, emptying himself into her cunt, a burst of satisfaction just as sweet as it is on her tongue.
"Think we could make a little succubus fat off cream?" Embry laughs, offering his straining erection.
"You could try," she says with a wicked grin before licking playfully at his weeping slit. "I don't think any of you are man enough to get the job done."
"Oh no?" He laughs as he pushes his cock into her mouth. "Maybe not on our own, but all of us together?"
They haven't managed anything of the sort yet. Bella closes her eyes again as she pulls him deeper. She's been accused of being crazy many, many times, but she fucking loves this feeling, the heft and weight of a cock in her mouth, stretching her lips, smoothing over her tongue. She loves the taste, the animalistic noises she can wring from a man's throat with just her lips and tongue. Embry strokes her hair, winding his fingers through it and trying, as Jared did, to get his cock into her throat. She gives up and moves from the couch to her knees, tilting her head at an angle which makes this possible.
"Good girl. Oh, good girl," he babbles as she allows him to push deep, inhaling a breath of air and holding it.
"That's so fucking hot," Jared mumbles. "Swallow him, baby."
She is. She fumbles for Jared's hand without looking, placing it on her neck. He inhales deeply as he feels his pack-mate's cock in her throat. "Hot as fuck, baby girl."
She knows. She really, really knows. She's in her element, Embry's desire surging hot and heavy around her, his cock hard in her throat. She can feel that Sam's still in the room, and Jared's half-hard again just watching her take his pack-brother's cock.
"You didn't come on my cock," Sam accuses, running his hands down her back.
No, she didn't. And she has no idea why. Sam knows how to use that thing. He may not be good at foreplay but he's good at the part that's important to her. She withdraws from Embry's cock so she can breathe, inhaling deeply. "So make me now." She shifts to her hands and knees, wiggling her ass at Sam, and swallows Embry's cock again.
Big, warm hands squeeze her buttocks and slap one lightly. She can just imagine Sam watching the jiggle appreciatively. "I have to get to my afternoon class. Jake here will fill in. Make her scream, man."
"I can do that."
The cock that spears her is thicker than Sam's but maybe not as long; she really can't tell while she's struggling to regulate her breathing as Embry begins to fuck her face. She holds still, concentrating on controlling the angle of his entry, the timing of her breaths. Jake feels fantastic as he stretches her slick cunt, his hands sweet as they glide over her ass and hips, his caresses gentle for a wolf. He slips a hand underneath her to stroke her clit and she grunts around Embry's cock. Yes. Yes, just like that. He's clumsy but he has the general idea. She rocks her pelvis back into him, then moves forward onto Embry's.
"Fuck, that's so hot," Jared says. She sees the flash of a phone's light clicking on, but Embry releases her hair and smacks Jared's hand down.
"You heard what Sam said! No photos of this one, no video. Alpha's orders. He'll tear you apart."
Jared does not like this, but he complies. Bella gives Embry's cock a grateful little lick, the tip of her tongue darting out to taste his slit. He shudders; he won't last long now.
"We won't film you, baby doll," Jacob croons behind her as Embry's dick shoves back into her mouth. "You don't have to worry about that. Not with us."
She knows. And honestly, she wouldn't care about images of herself appearing on the internet, except that she doesn't age. That's the real problem. She does not need another crop of college students in twenty years wondering why the girl from the vintage porn they've been jacking off to is suddenly seated in their biology class. She fucks back against Jake, pleasure flowing through her like honey-laced alcohol, sweet and strong. He pets her clit and even gets it right most of the time, hot tingles firing straight to her core as his thick cock rolls over her g-spot. She clenches around him, feeling the pressure build. Yes. That's what she was missing with Sam earlier, and she has no idea why. She and the pack alpha have always had incredible chemistry.
Whatever. It's all good now, so it doesn't matter. She feels her fire flare hot, enveloping the room, the heavy heat of Embry's cock on her tongue, Jake behind her playing her body so well.
"You gonna come for me, baby doll?" He lowers himself over her, his lips tracing patterns along her spine. "You gonna come like Sam ordered? Fuck, that pussy grips me so good."
She whines her agreement. She's going to come all over him in another moment. The pressure builds deep inside, the heat, the coiling tension as he fucks her steadily, good and deep. Embry groans and comes in her mouth, and that's all it takes to throw her over. She swallows him down, being good and keeping her teeth away from his tender bits even as she clenches hard on Jake's length buried deep inside her. Embry withdraws from her mouth with a little pop, and she gives herself over to the fire, the heat, the perfect feeling of combustion as Jake presses deep and holds, her orgasm triggering his. He erupts deep inside her, and she trembles at the force of these flames. That's so good. She's not starving anymore, but with these boys she has no control. They feed on each other's heat, the wolf and the demon, and she doesn't know that anything could ever be better than this. She pants as Jake withdraws from her and eases her upright, his hands gentle as he presses her back to his chest, cupping her breasts in his palms.
"Baby doll." He licks her cheek. It's such a...wolfy gesture. She loves it. "I don't know what Sam was so upset about. You smell like yourself to me."
"Now." She chuckles and nuzzles him. He's one of the sweet ones. "Now that you fucked me breathless."
"I guess we did." He grins. "You want a shower buddy? Sam did say to take care of you good."
"Why not?"
Later that night, Bella stares dully at her math textbook. None of the numbers register. They haven't since she opened the damn thing over an hour ago. She sprawls naked in Jacob's bed under no cover. The air is still muggy—not usual for the Seattle area, and she hates it. But she hates her sudden inability to focus more. Why did she agree to attend classes again? It seems like an idiotic idea now. She didn't have to. She could just as easily have found a job or lived off her savings for a while, stayed in the frat house with the wolves, and not bothered with pretending to be a college student. Sam and the tribal council all but run the campus with the board of trustees, so no one would dare say anything about her presence.
But it seemed like a decent cover when Sam suggested it, and she's been at loose ends for a while. She thought attending classes and spending some time immersed in campus life would give her a needed reset—not a break, exactly, but a new perspective. Maybe even a new direction.
Now she's not so sure. Her spat with Sam this afternoon reminded her of all the reasons she left the wolves in the first place. They're too possessive, and she doesn't like Sam's tyrannical nature. She's not good with rules, as she told him this afternoon. Just because she's more than a little bit masochistic doesn't mean she's necessarily submissive; the two often go together, but not always. And Sam doesn't know how to handle that, which means the rest of his pack doesn't, either. Plus, as she warned Edward, the wolves are volatile and so is she. There's danger here, in every moment she's with them. She's the lit spark, and this house isn't just one little powder keg. It's a goddamn fireworks depot.
But she was so hungry, so desperate. She didn't know where else to go to sate herself quickly and safely. Sam cares about her in his own way, and she knew he would welcome her back. That's never been an issue.
"Hey," Jake says, lounging in the doorway with a full package of Chips Ahoy. He pops one in his mouth whole. She averts her eyes, really not wanting to watch him eat like that. "I don't think your math book deserves the stink eye," he mumbles through the mouthful.
Considering it's calculus, she begs to differ. But it's not the book's fault. She scowls at the page once more and then slams it shut. "I can't concentrate."
"Hungry?" He grins as he swallows. The smell of processed sugar and low-quality chocolate hangs heavy in the room, thick and sweet. "I can help you with that."
She can't help her chuckle. These boys really are like half-grown pups, warm and cuddly and friendly...and constantly horny. "I could probably be persuaded." Who is she kidding? She can always be persuaded. "But that's not the problem."
"Then what is?" he asks readily enough, setting the box aside. He settles on his bed next to her, his hand falling to her bare ass. Because of course it does. Because, supernatural or not, he's still a college boy.
"Sam was really upset today, just because I sit next to Edward Cullen in one of my classes."
Jake's hand stills its rubbing. "Y-eah-h," he says, drawing the single syllable out into at least three.
"But why?" Bella hesitates, then confesses. "I know what he is. I got a whiff of him today, and I've met vampires before. Well, one," she corrects quickly. "But he was in a room full of humans and he didn't harm anyone. What's so wrong with him? Why does he make Sam so upset?"
Jacob's sweet, open face twists. He looks so troubled. Bella lays her cheek on her folded arms and watches him wrestle with whether to answer her questions. She'll crack him; it's just a question of how hard she'll have to try. "I didn't know you knew what he was," he says, attempting to deflect.
"I didn't the night he barged in on us. I was too preoccupied." She nudges his knee with her elbow and he grins.
"I am pretty distracting." He clears his throat. "I guess if you already know that much, there's no harm in telling you the rest."
"There's no harm anyway," she gripes, flashing him an irritated look, even though she suspects this is Sam's fault and not actually Jake's. "I'm not some little kid who has to be protected from everything." She's older than this boy's grandparents. Not that she'll tell him so. That tends to freak people out, even her wolves. The council knows. Sam, too, if he remembers. That's enough.
"Believe me, I know you're no kid." Jake rubs her ass and kneads it roughly. That feels amazingly good, even if she maybe shouldn't enjoy it quite so much when she's trying to concentrate. "But Sam's rules are there to keep humans safe. I don't know if he really knows what to do with you, to be honest."
She knows. The wolves have never known what to do with her, other than fuck her. She's stronger than a human but not as strong as they are. She's supernatural, but not a member of the pack. That places her in a strange sort of in-between state Sam does not understand. She doesn't blame him for it; she doesn't always understand herself, either. But it is frustrating. She does not need the pack's protection as if she were some weak little human child, but Sam doesn't see it that way. He's still stronger than she is.
"You called him a leech before," she says, her memory rolling back to the earlier house meeting. "Cullen, I mean. I didn't realize what you meant." Now she snickers. Her boys have a twisted sense of humor.
Jake pinches her ass hard. She yips and pulls away as he laughs. "Yeah. Sam doesn't like them. Actually, the whole tribe doesn't like them. It's not just him, but he feels it more than most."
"Because he's alpha?"
"Probably." Jake stretches out on his back. "Do you really want to talk about this?" he asks doubtfully. "Come ride my face instead, baby. Those cookies aren't as sweet as you. Let me make you drip. D'you squirt?"
She snorts. "That's a porn thing, hon."
"So is spitroasting and we just did that."
"Baby, I owned a sex club for years. That's as normal as apple pie with cheese."
He stares at her. "Who eats apple pie with cheese?"
"Never mind. You were saying? About the Cullens? There's more than just one?"
Jake heaves a dramatic sigh like a grumpy toddler and reaches for her. "C'mere. At least let me play with your tits if I have to talk about the leeches."
She straddles his washboard abs willingly. "How many are there?"
His hands cup her breasts, thumbs rubbing the nipples to hard little points. That feels good, but not good enough to distract her. "Uh...five. No, seven."
"That many?"
He squeezes, shaking the soft flesh so he can watch it jiggle. "Fuck, that's hot. There were five before, I guess. That was before my time. Before the university. Now they're back with two more. Why do we have to talk about this again?"
"Focus, Jake." She rolls her eyes. She likes her wolves, but they cannot keep on topic when the topic is anything but their own dicks. Human men are actually a little better, in her experience.
"God, now you sound like my mother. And that just killed my boner."
"Good. You can fuck me later. You're talking right now, and I'm convinced you can't do both at once."
He grumbles but sits up, spilling her to her back. She laughs. Jake doesn't. "Leeches are bad news, okay, baby doll? Best to stay away from them. You have blood, don't you?"
"Yeah. Of course I do. Doesn't everything?"
"I don't think they do. How did you get away from him? That leech you said you met before?"
"He was more concerned with getting away from me."
Jacob snorts. "So much for big bad bloodsuckers. Why was he so scared of a little thing like you?" His hands trace the lacy lines of her ribs, slide down her sides to grip her hips gently.
"He said he wasn't ready to go to hell yet. What about the Cullens?"
"I can't believe anyone as sweet as you could damn people to hell." He bends and licks her navel. "So fucking sweet."
"Forbidden fruit is probably the sweetest. But as it happens, I don't damn anyone to hell," she assures him. "I don't even believe it exists. I give pleasure and take it in return. It's a win-win. The Cullens?"
"They're different from the others. I've never met them before and I only know what Sam and the tribal council say. They say their alpha's a doctor."
Bella bursts out laughing. "A vampire doctor? That's a good one; tell me another."
"That's what Sam says. He's teaching the more advanced pre-med courses."
"Jake, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
His hands splay over her stomach, stroking her skin. "Sam doesn't lie, so it must be true. Anyway, they live differently from other leeches. They stay in one place, make actual homes. Try to fit in."
"Why?" She does it because that's how she survives—how she eats. If she can't meet people, she can't fuck them. She figured vampires functioned differently. Not having to make conversation with your prey makes it easier to hunt, doesn't it?
"Hell if I know. Am I in their heads?" His fingers trail down over her mound. "You're so soft here. Not stubbly at all."
"I've never grown body hair anywhere, except on my arms." She tilts her forearm toward him, the light golden-brown hairs translucent in the lamplight. "Perk of being me, I guess."
"It's fucking hot."
"Saves time and money removing it, anyway. Though I'm kind of pissed I never had any to wax into fun shapes."
Jake laughs. "You want a landing strip, baby doll?"
"No, I want a little cat's head. A pussy for my pussy. What does Sam have against the Cullens? Why did they have to bribe the tribe and the university just to attend?"
Jacob stares at her as if she's just asked him whether the sky outside was green or red. She scowls. She really hates being treated like an idiot. "You want to try that reaction again?" She arches a single brow very delicately, her fire teasing along his skin with knifelike precision.
He gets the point. His open mouth snaps shut. "Sorry. Sorry. It's just...sorry. I didn't realize you didn't know. You're not new here."
"No, but that doesn't mean Sam actually talks to me. That's not what I'm here for." Not in Sam's opinion or in hers, either. This Cullen situation is an anomaly. She does not come here for the conversation.
"I get that, but…" He frowns. "Like, this is basics. Wolf 101. We exist to keep our people safe from those bloodsuckers. At first just the tribe and our ancestral lands back on the peninsula, but now the PGU campus, too. There's way too much history to go into—it wasn't always this way, but for generations and generations. We protect the living from the dead, doll."
Her mouth forms a soft little o of understanding. That makes...so much more sense now. The wolves and the vampires are ancestral enemies. But Jake said the Cullens aren't like other vampires, which she guesses is why the trustees were able to be bribed. It both makes sense and doesn't, because the thought of a vampire doctor is so utterly bonkers that she still hasn't managed to wrap her brain around that one. Vampires posing as college students...well, she can't really protest that too much, considering her stack of textbooks next to Jake's bed right now.
But she is insanely curious—even more curious than she was before. "So the Cullens aren't dangerous?"
"I didn't say that," Jacob says sharply. "Sam would tear me to pieces if I ever said that, so don't you go thinking it. Just stay away from them, okay, baby doll? Make nice in class if you have to, come home and shower so their stink doesn't piss Sam off, and otherwise leave them alone."
"Stink? What do they smell like to you?" To her, Edward smelled fucking amazing. Crisp and clean, with a hint of darkness underneath, sharp and biting. Spruce and ozone, maybe—sharp sap and dry lightning.
"Bleach." Jake makes a face. "Why? What do they smell like to you?"
"Not that."
"What do we smell like?"
She chuckles as he squeezes her hips and his fingers flex into her flesh. "Right now? Very, very male. I love it. Not so much when you shift. Then you just stink like the filthy dogs you are."
"Bitch," Jake laughs, but coming from a wolf's mouth it's not an insult. He flips her over and cracks his hand against her ass. She just giggles. This is the playful side of her boys, the side Sam rarely shows but his subordinates do. That's why she's here in Jake's bed despite his lumpy mattress and limp pillows, his sheets that haven't been washed in way too long. Sam would let her sleep beside him but he does not cuddle, does not play. She doesn't want a man to keep, but she craves the warmth Jake and many of his brothers happily give her.
Jake smacks her ass again, then rubs roughly. Her fire flares as his hot breath ghosts along the nape of her neck. Yeah, she wants him. And while he hasn't explained everything, he's given her enough for now. She doesn't want to get him in trouble with Sam. She'll gladly give him his reward for talking to her.
His mouth brushes her ear, travels down her throat to her shoulder, but before he can get any farther, a fist pounds on the door.
"Jacob! Quit fucking with our girl; it's patrol time. Or did you forget?"
The curses he mutters against her skin are vicious and dark. "And that," he says, "is why I don't like leeches hanging around."
"Poor Jake, cockblocked by a vampire." She cranes her head to look at him over her shoulder. "Want me to come with you? My math book won't mind."
"No." He kisses her mouth gently. "It's not really the Cullens Sam's worried about. He wants us patrolling because of the disappearances around town—maybe other leeches. He won't want you wandering after dark right now, and neither do I."
She's not afraid. The last vampire she met turned tail and ran, and Edward seemed unable to bear her touch today. "I'm not a little kid, Jake," she reminds him.
"I know." He grabs a handful of her ass. "Believe me, I know. Just stay here for now. Safe. No leech in his right mind would come within a mile of this house." He rises with reluctance, reaching for his running shoes.
"Edward did."
"Only on invitation. You won't catch him anywhere near here again. Stay put, baby doll. And remember what I told you—the Cullens may not be as dangerous as other bloodsuckers, but you need to stay away from them."
Bella tosses herself down on her back, fully aware she's pouting and not caring as Jake leaves the room, closing the door behind him. She could go seek out one of his pack-mates not on patrol, but she's not particularly hungry at the moment. What she wants more than a good fuck is a good explanation for exactly what she's accidentally waded into.
Jake's mixed messages about the Cullens do not make any sense at all. Either they're dangerous and shouldn't be allowed on campus, or they aren't and Sam is making a big deal over nothing. She suspects the latter, but she knows better to voice that opinion to anyone.
And she also knows better than to say anything to her wolves—especially to Sam—about Edward Cullen's dark, hungry eyes. How she could feel them boring into her throughout the entire class period, tortured and longing, but unlike every other male who has ever stared at her. She understands human men. She understands her wolves. She understands lust and hunger, possessiveness and greed. She does not understand the slightest thing about Edward Cullen. Not his haunted gaze. Not his inhuman beauty. Not the way it felt when she grabbed his hand, her skin touching his for the briefest of moments before he jerked away as if in pain. She's never been so adrift, and she doesn't like it.
Ordinarily when confronted by a problem, she faces it head-on. Under other circumstances she'd be hunting Edward Cullen down at his residence right the fuck now, demanding the answers to her questions. But it's not that easy. Sam warned her. Jake warned her. There's danger here, and she has to be very cautious. Which fucking sucks, because she's never been particularly good at caution. But Sam will not tolerate her being otherwise.
Her phone buzzes on the floor next to the bed. Grumbling, she tosses her hand over the side and gropes for it. Ten to one it's either Jake warning her again to stay put or one of his pack-mates hoping for some company.
It's not. She doesn't recognize the number, and she frowns as she opens the message.
- Hi Bella. This is Alice Cullen, Edward's sister. You don't know me, but we should talk.
A wide, delighted smile curls across Bella's mouth. Her boys told her to stay away from Edward. They never said anything about texting with his sister.
A huge thank you to all my readers and reviewers! Thanks for giving this a chance. I'm judo_lin on twitter and I follow back fandom people as long as you're nice. :)