Chapter 27

nsfw content ahead ;)

Jasper POV

I ran at a comfortable pace from Charlie's place, knowing I would be home long before Bella and enjoying the cold rain as it fell around me. Winter rain was one of the few natural things I knew that were cooler than I was, one of the few things that could feel cold on my skin. I only spoke with Charlie for a couple of minutes before leaving him to prepare and head to the Clearwater's house. He was a man of few words, and I didn't see the need to drag things out further than needed.

I took my time, running around Forks, following the scent paths I had left the night before and the pulling in my chest which lead me straight to the hospital. I knew Carlisle was planning on taking Bella there, and sure enough I found his car in the lot.

I wanted nothing more than to find Bella inside and pull her into my arms again, but the burn in my throat and the monster in the back of my head set off the warning signs in my head.

I needed to hunt, badly. And I needed to trust Carlisle and Esmé to protect Bella for the immediate future.

I took a deep breath to try and fill the void that had become of my chest and forced myself away from the hospital and back into the woods. If our guests were going to be spending any length of time around Forks, around Bella and myself, I would need to keep hunting frequently. I'd be feeling enough of their thirst without needed to feel my own as well.

I took my time, ran a little further than I probably should have, tracked down some larger and tastier prey than the small deer close by and drank my fill. It felt good to silence my conscious thought and embrace my instincts again. Every hunt was an escape from whatever was happening in the world, a release from worries, almost meditation. It felt refreshing to embrace my baser instincts and simply stalk my prey and then pounce before it even saw me coming.

My thirst was well and truly satiated when I began my run home at a comfortable pace, nothing like the frantic running from the night before. I enjoyed the view of a rain-soaked forest around me. The leaves glistened, I could smell the wet earth, and a million rainbows covered every surface as they refracted off of the drops that lazily fell to the Earth. It was beautiful, and I wished it was something Bella could see. For her human senses a rainy day like today held only a fraction of the beauty that today held for me, but it was only a matter of time before I would be blessed with the sigh of Bella seeing this beauty for the first time.

Approaching the house I first crossed some of the wolves scent tracks, not that I cared enough to stop and determine exactly who it was, I just smelled wet dog and continued on my way. Then there were the various tracks from those guarding the house and Bella. It was a cleaner smell than usual, the long lasting heavy rain had left us with a blank canvas to once again fill. Edward and Alice had obviously been through here in the last few minutes, their scent was strong and clear.

I made my approach from the back of the house, I could hear the sounds of everyone in the lounge room, and as I broke out from the trees and onto the back lawn I could see them all but I had only eyes for Bella.

When I was halfway across the lawn she turned away from the conversation she was having with Emmett, Peter, and Kate and her smile as she looked at me could have made the sun seem dim.

"And she's gone from the conversation." I heard Emmett joke with Kate as I stepped through the back door and made my way to greet Bella.

"Hello Darlin'," I said as I very quickly kissed her.

Bella scrunched her face up after I pulled back.

"What's wrong?" I asked, worried I'd offended her.

"I can smell blood on your breath. Sorry." She sheepishly answered. "And you're really cold. Maybe go shower before you kiss me again?" She suggested and I couldn't help but agree very quickly and made my way to our bathroom.

For the next three minutes the only sound I could hear was Emmett in near hysterics as he tried to get Bella to explain just what happens when she sees blood.

Eventually Bella gave in and admitted to fainting at the sight and smell of blood and even I couldn't help but laugh at my wannabe vampire who hated blood more than anything on Earth.

It was good to see just how well Bella was adapting to the guests we had, and how good they all were with her. I had been sure that the Denali's would be more than accommodating, they weren't the issue, but I was happy to see Bella was mostly at ease around Peter and Charlotte. I loved them dearly, but they were traditional vampires and I wouldn't have blamed Bella for being wary, or them for keeping their distance.

As I was finishing in the bathroom I heard Bella excuse herself from downstairs, and make her way to our room where I soon joined her, just wrapping a towel around my waist and leaving the wet clothes I'd hunted in, in the bathroom to deal with later.

"Am I more to your liking now?" I asked as I pulled her into my arms, wrapping my hands around her waist.

"Much better now." She agreed as she stood on her toes to bring our faces closer together, but with nearly a foot difference in height between us it was still up to me to close the distance which I happily did. "You even feel warm for now." She said with a smile.

"How long until everyone leaves for the meeting with the wolves?" I asked willing it to be sooner rather than later.

"They should be leaving any minute, we were just waiting for you to get back." She replied, leaning into my embrace and allowing me to feel just how fatigued she was. "And I'm not going to lie, it was nerve wracking to know you were out there somewhere and I didn't know where while Victoria could be so close."

"I'm sorry, I let myself get carried away out there but I should have stayed closer." I stroked her cheek, running the pad of my thumb along the dark circle underneath her eye that I hadn't really noticed before. "You look exhausted, are you okay?"

"I'm tired from the late night and early morning and everything hurts." She answered as she leaned into my bare chest, her cheek resting right above where my heart laid silent. "I could do with a nap."

I half carried her to our bed, it wasn't much of a stretch to say she was dead on her feet, and I followed her onto the bed, allowing her to curl up on my bare chest, and deciding I'd just get dressed later. I knew Bella was still processing the events of the night before, and I knew she needed sleep, so I focused all my thoughts on making sure her emotions were calm and happy, allowing her to have a little respite from the negativity that was surely swirling through her mind.

….

Bella POV

To wake up in Jasper's arms, in our bed, in our room that smelled of us, was glorious. But to wake up in said bed wrapped in Jasper's arms and being able to see Jasper was almost entirely naked, and knowing the house was going to be empty all afternoon, was another. Had my entire body not ached as if I'd been hit by a truck I would have taken full advantage of the situation and thrown myself around and into a passionate embrace.

Jasper luckily sensed my disappointment, and seemed to be on the same page as me. Perhaps it was his gift, perhaps it was the bond we shared, or perhaps it was just that it had been quite some time since we were alone like this. It didn't matter to me, all I cared about in this moment was Jasper and I.

In my sleep I had moved so my back was pressed against his front which left plenty of my neck on display and within reach for Jasper to kiss and nibble.

As he lightly sucked on the skin where my neck and shoulder met I couldn't help but make some sort of noise of pleasure. Somewhere between a gasp and a moan, and I knew instantly just how happy Jasper was with himself for eliciting that noise from me. He did it again, and again, and again. Working his way around my neck and shoulder, moving slightly down the bed to reach, and experimenting with exactly where I liked it most. There wasn't an inch of skin left unexplored before he so gently helped me to lay on my back and he found my lips once more.

Other than the love I knew Jasper felt for me, there was nothing sweet in this kisses. They were needy and energetic and exactly what we needed.

Somewhere between turning us over, finding my lips, and moving to hover just high enough over me I didn't bare any of his weight, Jasper's towel was lost off the side of the bed, leaving me in my tights-and-hoodie combo feeling very overdressed for the current situation. Unfortunately the cast that had recently been applied to my arm, and the overall stiffness and soreness that had settled in my body in the last few hours left it rather difficult to remove my clothes in any sort of alluring fashion.

I struggled with the hem of the sweater for a few moments before Jasper offered his help.

"Need a hand love?" He asked with a smirk.

"If you wouldn't mind, I'm feeling a little left out." I replied, hoping it came off as sexy and funny rather than bratty.

"Well you only had to ask." He replied as he moved down, his hands sliding under the hem of the sweater, slowly dragging it up, and then lowering his head to my body, leaving a cool trail from his lips up as he continued to push the sweater and my t-shirt under up towards my chest.

Eventually we managed to extract my bulky cast from the sweater and Jasper began a torturously slow decent back down my body.

He froze for a moment at the sight of the purple bruises that were beginning to bloom along my right side and I knew he blamed himself for not being able to protect me better, but he quickly recovered and continued to my hips.

He ever so slowly eased his hands under the waistband of my leggings and gently cupped my ass, squeezing it just hard enough to make me squeak in surprise before he finally removed them too.

Jasper sat back on his heels for a moment, his light golden eyes raked over me and I could feel the warmth wash over me that told me he was projecting his love for me, but there was a darker, hungrier tone to the feelings too, and I could only attribute that to the lust he was feeling.

"Enjoying the view?" I asked as I pushed myself up onto my right elbow into a half sitting position.

"Immensely. But do you know what I love more than this view?"

I shook my head in answer, somewhat bewildered.

"You don't feel self-conscious anymore, not like the first few times." He smirked. "That kind of confidence is incredibly sexy." He said as he moved back up to meet me in a deep kiss.

As we continued to kiss, his hand began to wander and explore my body, following the same paths his mouth had already left along my body but teasingly avoiding any particular spot he knew would bring about the pleasurable sounds he'd enjoyed so much earlier.

"Jasper! Please!" I gasped as he ever so gently caressed the spot where my hip and thigh met.

"And what exactly do you want me to do?" He asked with that infuriating smirk as he began to ever so lightly draw tiny circles with his fingertips.

"Please, touch me!" I pleaded as I tried to shift my hips off of the bed, trying to find his hand and the pleasure I was seeking.

"Oh but I am touching you."

"Stop teasing me, I need you!" I nearly shouted in ecstatic frustration.

And with my admittance of what I needed he finally gave in and stopped teasing me.

His long and dextrous fingers were perfect for the job of bringing me to such pleasure, it was like it took no effort on his part. Or maybe I was just so on edge before he even began to really work that I made it easy for him.

But it wasn't long before we both needed more and with practiced precision Jasper moved to replace his fingers with his cock.

As he ever so slowly began to set a rhythm and pace I felt both the pleasure beginning to build in the bottom of my belly. It was like he was a man on a mission to bring me to climax as many times as he could before he did himself, and like most things in life, this was something Jasper was very good at.

"Is there nothing you don't excel at?" I joked as I lay back in his arms against his chest, rugged up under the many layers of bedding that adorned our bed.

"Well I can't cook." He laughed.

"Very true, though not a very essential skill to have in your kind of life."

"And would you deem what I just did to you an essential skill then?" I could practically feel the smirk behind my back.

"Oh most definitely. You just wait until I'm no longer human and can't get tired out." I answered cheekily.

"Oh I am counting on it Darlin'" He replied.

A.N. Just a quick one today but with a very important note. I'm about to head off on an extended holiday, I'll be touring around Europe for two months and I've promised myself no writing nor thinking about my stories. I've never taken a holiday for myself like this before and I intend to live fully in the moment.

I love you all, and I'll see you in a few months, please don't beg me for updates, and I hope you enjoyed the smut at the end there.

Daisy xx