SM owns Twilight. We just want to live in her world a bit longer.

Chapter 21

"So, are you ever going to tell me what happened last night?" Jake asked Bella again. He was driving her truck, one arm lazily resting on the door and holding the steering wheel. The other tucked around Bella, pulling her close to his side.

"Surely you can just ask Leah? She can show you." Bella didn't particularly want to relive some of the comments that were said. She understood now that they were testing her, and she had passed that test, but she didn't think Jacob would take it very well.

"That girl has a mind like a steel trap. I swear she has better control over her thoughts than Sam and I!"

Bella laughed, then stopped abruptly. "I hope you don't think about inappropriate things while phased, especially with Seth around. He doesn't need to be corrupted by you."

"I didn't hear you complaining about my learned skills.…." Jake said with a smirk before Bella swatted his leg.

"Jake! He's fifteen!"

"Ok, ok. I keep my thoughts as clean as possible while phased. I don't want anyone seeing you naked; you are mine!" he growled, causing Bella to bit her lip. "But unfortunately, sometimes it might slip by accident. Especially your face as you scream my name," he chuckled.

Bella blushed and tucked her head into his chest further. This caused Jake to laugh even louder. He rubbed her back, enjoying the closeness they were sharing.

She should probably put her game face on today. It was most definitely going to be filled with inappropriate comments from her man; today, they were shopping for a new bed.

They didn't have to work today and were excited to spend the whole day together in Port Angeles.

After about an hour of driving, Jake pulled up outside a furniture store. They hopped out of the truck, and Jake grabbed her hand before leading them into the store. It was a huge warehouse that had everything from couches to beds and dining tables.

They walked over to the beds and just stood there. It was kind of overwhelming, the number of beds on offer.

"That's a lot of beds to try out," Jake whispered to Bella.

"Can I help you?" a young lady said as she approached them. Her name tag read Emma. She was probably mid-twenties, with very dark, almost black hair.

"Ah, yes, we are looking for a new bed," Bella said.

Emma looked between Jake and Bella, obviously judging them. They had been so wrapped up in their own world for the past few weeks that Bella had forgotten what they must look like to others. Standing next to Jake, Bella suddenly felt small and insignificant.

Jake sensed her discomfort and pulled her closer, and kissed her head.

"Do you have any California King sized beds?" Jake asked.

They had measured Bella's room before leaving home and decided they could just squeeze that size bed in. They would have to get rid of the desk and move some of the other furniture around, but Jake would actually fit and not have to have his legs hanging off the end of the bed.

Emma showed them a row that they could choose from. "Let me know if you need any help deciding. We also have finance options available if you need it."

They tried not to take offence at her words. Hopefully, she offered that to everyone.

Once Emma was gone, they relaxed. Jake walked along the row, pointing at beds, "no, no, no, no…."

"What's wrong with this bed?" Bella pointed out a bed with a pale grey upholstered bedhead.

"Really?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Too girly, plus you need something to hang on to."

Bella tried not to blush; she knew this was coming. It didn't help. She felt her cheeks flare and heard Jake chuckle.

"Fine. What about this one?" she asked, pointing to a wooden framed bed next to the blue one.

"Too flimsy. It wouldn't last a week," he smirked.

Bella shook her head. It was probably true. It was one of the cheaper ones, and it looked like it too.

"What about this one?" Jake pointed to a black wrought iron bed. It wasn't a four-poster bed, but it did have intricate details in the metalwork.

Bella shuddered, "no." Too many memories.

Jake looked at her curiously but didn't ask.

They walked silently past a few more uninviting beds before Bella stopped in front of a wooden framed bed, but it looked much more sturdy than the first.

Part of it was painted white; some were left a natural oak color.

"What about this one?" Bella asked.

Jake walked up to it and gave it a gentle shake; Bella shook her head. He laid down on one side and Bella on the other. She propped her head upon the elbow and looked across at Jake. "So, does it pass your criteria?"

He rolled onto his side to face her. He leaned forward and kissed her. Bella pulled away before he could get any more ideas in a store full of people. "Yep," he said.

As he rolled to get up, he noticed the price tag and stopped. "Um… maybe we should keep looking," he said.

Bella followed his gaze and frowned.

"It's fine. I'm paying," she said.

"Bella, we can afford this."

Bella was nervous and started chewing on her lip again. She hadn't told Jake about the money yet. It wasn't intensional. It just never came up.

"I've got a bit of money saved up," she said, not making eye contact with him.

"You've only been working a week?" he asked, walking around the bed. He sat on the edge near Bella and pulled her to stand between his legs.

"What are you so nervous about?" Jake asked her. "I don't need the imprint bond to tell me that. It's written all over your face."

Bella let out a sigh. She really didn't want to do this here.

"I came into some money," she admitted quickly.

Jake frowned, waiting for her to elaborate.

Bella said one word, it came out almost in a growl, "Alice."

She watched a range of emotions play across Jake's face.

"How much money?" he finally asked.

"Too much!" Bella was starting to freak out. "I told her I didn't want it. I gave her the check back, but she said she had already transferred it into my bank account. Plus, she set up some shares or stocks or something. I don't know what to do with it all. But it seems stupid to throw it all away."

Jake looked hurt, "why didn't you tell me about it?"

"I didn't know how to bring it up. So I was just going to ignore it and pretend it wasn't there."

"When were you going to tell me?"

Bella paused, knowing she didn't want to lie to him. "I don't know."

Jake got up from the bed as Bella stepped back. He didn't make eye contact with her as he walked towards the front of the store.

Bella felt her stomach drop. She raced after him. "Jake, wait!" she called to him.

He exited the front door and walked along the footpath, past her truck. Bella was struggling to keep up with Jake, he wasn't walking at a supernatural pace, but he had much longer legs than her.

"Jacob Black!" she yelled. "stop running away from your problems all the time." He paused for a moment before he continued round the corner of the building. By the time Bella got to it, he was gone from sight.

"Ugh!" she let out a groan of frustration. She stomped back to her truck but was disappointed to find it locked, and Jake had the keys. She went around to the back, lowered the tailgate and sat on the end.

She could tell he wasn't too far away, but if he didn't want to be found, then she would never catch him. Bella sat, fuming for what felt like an hour.

"Stupid Cullens," she murmured.

"It's not their fault," a deep voice startled her. She turned to see her man standing at the side of the truck. She breathed a sigh of relief. She knew he was still mad at her, but she felt a hundred times better with him near her.

"I know," she finally admitted. "I should have told you straight away. I'm sorry."

Jake walked around to stand between her legs. He took her hands in his, and it felt like he was hugging her aching heart.

"I'm sorry I ran… again," he whispered.

She looked into his dark brown eyes and saw herself reflected in them. She looked as miserable as he did.

Bella leaned forward, trying not to fall off the tray. Jake met her halfway, and their lips touched, just softly, tentatively. She let go of his hand and wrapped them around his neck, pulling him and the kiss closer.

She felt his tongue begging for entrance, and she opened herself up to him. He eagerly explored her mouth, and she shivered at the pleasure running through her body at their intimate embrace.

He ended the kiss first and placed his forehead against hers as they panted for breath. "No more secrets, no more running. Ok?" he breathed.

"Deal," she replied with a huge smile.

He stepped back from her legs and hopped up on the tray next to her. The truck groaned under his weight. She shuffled in closer to him and felt his arm around her shoulders. This is where she belonged, where she felt safest.

They sat silently for a few minutes.

"So, how much is too much?" he finally asked.

"Three hundred," she whispered.

"Dollars?"

"Thousand dollars."

He was silent for a minute. Then, "what are you going to do with it?"

"What are we going to do with it?" she countered.

"It's your money, babe. You can do whatever you want with it."

"We are doing life together, remember?" She leaned her head on his chest again.

He sighed.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him.

He paused and then said, "on the one hand, I don't want anything to do with the money. It kinda feels dirty. Blood money," he said with a smirk. "But on the other hand, I want to use it to spoil you. Get you the house you deserve or buy you fancy jewellery to show you I love you."

"I don't need any of that," she said quietly. "I've never wanted that."

"I know."

"So, what do you want to do about the bed?" she asked.

He pulled back to look at her. "Well, as much I want to spend Cullen's money and then fuck you on that bed, I can't do it. I want our bed to be ours, and I don't want to think of him every time I see it."

Bella smiled, "yeah, I agree."

"Come on," Jake said, hopping off the back. He helped Bella down, and they walked back to the cab.

"Where are we going?" she asked as he started the car.

"Somewhere a bit cheaper. I've got an idea."

Jake drove Bella to a second-hand furniture store. It wasn't much to look at from the outside, but they were greeted by a friendly older lady at the front counter.

They wove their way to the back of the shop and found a few beds, all squished together. Unfortunately, there weren't any California King sized beds, but there was an old, sturdy, wooden king-sized frame. Bella had recently seen a renovation DIY show where they sanded back on an old bookcase and painted it. So they decided they could attempt to do the same to the bed frame. And, on the plus side, it was a tenth of the price of the other one.

Jake helped to dismantle it while Bella handed him the wrong tools. She smiled at the familiarity of working together.

They loaded it in the back of the truck and headed to a mattress store. As much as Jake was happy to save money on the bed frame, there was no way he was sleeping on a second-hand mattress. The smell of other people on it… he looked like he was about to barf at the thought. Bella laughed at him.

They stopped for some new linen they picked out together. It wasn't purple. Afterwards, they bought some sanding blocks, paint and varnish to fix up the bed frame.

The last stop was to grab a quick takeaway meal to eat in the car on the way home. Jake had wanted to take Bella out to lunch, but they decided to spend the afternoon working on their new bed.

As they worked together, the afternoon went quickly, laughing and bickering about the best way to fix it up. It was a very solid and sturdy bed, and when they were finished, it was beautiful.

When their new bed was set up, the linen was washed and dried, they stood together and admired their handy work. Of course, it wasn't perfect; there was a run in the varnish on one side and a couple of handprints on the backside of the headboard, but no one would see that.

They both had huge smiles on their faces. It was theirs.

In a movement too fast for Bella to see, Jake scooped her up and threw her on the bed. She barely got out a squeak in surprise before he was on top of her, kissing her.

He pulled back when she was breathless. "Now we need to christen the bed." Bella giggled, and he went back to kissing her. His huge hand was sliding up under her shirt, and he was just about to reach around to her back, to unclasp her bra when the sound of the front opening stopped them both.

"Damn it," Bella muttered before they both started laughing.

"Bells? Are you home?" Charlie called from downstairs.

"Yeah, Dad, we are up here."

They both quickly got off the bed, and Bella smoothed down the sheets before they went downstairs.

"Hey, Dad, how was work?" Bella asked as she entered the kitchen to start dinner.

"Pretty boring today. What did you kids get up to?" he asked cautiously.

"Got a new bed from PA. We just finished setting it up."

Charlie looked around the lounge room at the mess. They hadn't gotten to fixing it up yet.

"Uh-huh… so what are you doing with all the old furniture?"

Her old bed had been dismantled, along with the desk, and was sitting around the lounge in pieces.

"We'll take it all to a goodwill store tomorrow," Bella said.

"Even your rocking chair? I thought you liked that chair," Charlie asked.

Bella shuddered. It wasn't long ago that she thought the idea of Edward watching her sleep was romantic. Now she could see that it was just plain creepy. Jake gave her a puzzled look.

"It won't fit in the room, Dad. So it's time to let it go."

"Sure, sure, whatever you want," Charlie agreed as he grabbed a beer from the fridge and went to the lounge. Jake helped move the furniture around so Charlie could sit in his chair and still see the TV.

Jake returned to the kitchen and wrapped his arms around Bella's waist from behind. "Do I want to know?" he asked, looking towards the rocking chair.

"No," she shook her head. He kissed her on the temple.

"You are mine now," he whispered before kissing her behind her ear and down her neck. Bella felt her legs become weak, and her desire flared in her stomach.

Bella closed her eyes, enjoying the heat radiating from Jake's body and his hot lips trailing up and down her neck. She let out a sigh remembering that they were not alone.

"One day, we will have our own place, and we can christen every room in the house. But as for right now, my Father is in the other room," she whispered.

Jake groaned, "I know."

He stepped away from her, and Bella felt his absence immediately.

The evening went slowly. They ate dinner with Charlie, chatting away about work. Jake was tracing lines on her thighs during dinner, getting higher and higher. She squeaked a little when he moved around to her inner thigh and brushed across her sensitive junction. She was wearing tight-fitting jeans and hyper-aware of his fingers, so the feeling was not dull. Bella tried to cover it with a cough; Charlie looked at her funny, and Jake smirked. She sat up straighter and crossed her legs so she was better protected.

Charlie continued with his story about one of his deputies; Bella didn't hear any of it.

When she had finished eating, she quickly collected her plate and went to the kitchen. Jake continued to talk to Charlie for a bit before joining her in the kitchen. Then, Charlie went back to the lounge.

"You are in trouble," she grumbled.

"I thought you were enjoying it," Jake winked at her.

Bella growled, and Jake burst out laughing. She couldn't be mad at him for too long, especially when she was listening to his infectious laugh. They washed up the dishes together in harmony, working well together.

Bella grabbed a book from upstairs when the kitchen was tidy and joined the boys in the lounge. They watched a game while Bella read. She rested her head on Jacob's lap, and he stroked her hair. Jacob laughed and chatted with Charlie, but Bella couldn't concentrate on her book.

When she heard Charlie get up, she breathed a sigh of relief. "Good night, guys," he called as he went upstairs.

They waited silently until they heard his bedroom door close. "I thought that game was never going to end," Bella grumbled.

"How's your book going?" Jake asked, still combing through her hair.

"Fine."

"You struggling with some of those big words?"

"Huh?" she looked up at him, confused.

"You've been on the same page for the past half an hour."

Bella closed her eyes, "you know what you are doing to me. Don't try and deny it."

He leaned down towards her and kissed her softly. "Can you keep quiet?"

Bella bit her lip; she really needed him right now. "Guess I'll have to be."

Jake scooped her up bridal style, flicking the lights off as he carried her upstairs.

*adult content*

He shut the door behind them quietly and locked the door. He placed her as far on the bed as he could. She shuffled back to the middle, and Jake climbed on after her.

"Oh, shit, um…." Jake stuttered.

"What?" Bella asked, alarmed.

"Um… what are you on? Like day 3…."

Bella thought for a second, then she understood his concern. She smiled at his nervousness around the topic. "All good, it has finished already. It was short this time."

Jakes face lit up, and he dove in for a kiss. "Good, as much as I like shower sex, I need to fuck you in our new bed."

He kissed her again before pulling back and peeling her shirt off her. He reached around and expertly unclipped her bra. He flung it off towards the corner of the room. He trailed his fingers along her arms and over her chest, avoiding her nipples. A small moan escapes her lips.

"Shh…" he murmured. He slid his hand down her stomach and flicked the button on her jeans. He used both hands to slide her jeans and panties down in one go. She lifted her hips to help him.

The smell of her arousal hit him hard. She heard him growl.

Bella chuckled. "Shh…" she teased him.

He grinned at her as he slid back off the bed. He did the sexy guy thing, reaching behind his head and pulling his shirt up and over his head. Bella bit her lip and couldn't help separating her legs a bit. He was so sexy, and she was so turned on already. She needed him to touch her.

He gave her his crooked grin like he knew exactly what she was thinking. Then, he slipped his pants off and crawled back up the bed without taking his eyes off her.

He knelt between her legs and continued trailing his hot, calloused fingers from her ticklish feet up her legs. But, once again, he avoided the area she desperately wanted to be touched.

He drew lines in her skin up the outside of her hips to the outside of her breasts. Never touching her most sensitive areas. He continued his sensual torture as she began to writhe on the bed.

"Please," she begged.

He climbed up and hovered over her body. She could feel his heat radiating over her whole body. Her chest arched towards him instinctively, but he moved up slightly so she couldn't reach him.

"J-jake, please," she begged again. She needed to feel him on her so badly.

He slowly lowered his body until he was touching her from his legs to chest. His erection was straining against her stomach.

Bella sighed, wrapping her arms and legs around him. He leaned down and kissed her neck. He slowly slid down her body and positioned himself at her entrance. Bella reached down to guide him in.

She felt him enter her slowly, he was purposefully going slow tonight, and she absolutely loved it. But, the slow build-up from this afternoon, during dinner, tonight on the couch, and the torture in bed… meant she wasn't going to last long tonight.

He slowly slid out and in again, going further this time.

"This feels so good," she whispered. Her body was starting to shake from the sensations.

"I love you," he whispered as he plunged back in again, a little harder this time.

Bella was beyond words. She couldn't reply to him.

He kept up the slow pace before being fully embedded within her.

The feeling of her small body, accepting all of him, was too much for her and the pleasure started to climb higher and higher. He wasn't even moving inside her.

"Jake…" she started to say as she hit her peak, scared that she was going to scream.

He kissed her, engulfing her mouth with his, silencing her as she clenched around him.

He thrust a few more times and came himself. Silently shuddering on top of her.

He rolled off her, and they lay next to each other, panting. Bella curled her body around his side and laid her head on his chest.

"That was fucking amazing," Bella whispered. Jake chuckled and kissed her head.

"I was afraid you were going to get me kicked out of the house for a minute there."

"You and me both," she added.

A/N I was so worried about the last chapter and it was my most reviewed chapter so far. Thank you to every who left a comment. I'm glad you liked it. This one was almost completely fluff and a lemon, just a few issues they had to work through together. Next chapter is full of action!