"I can't believe you went through with it." Jacob glared at me, his gaze glacial, jaw set obstinately.

I hadn't expected this from him, I'd thought he would let it drop. It was the morning after my incredible night with Jasper and this attitude from my best friend was the last thing I needed. We stood in the bright yellow kitchen of the small house my father rented for me, facing each other like antagonists, each leaning against a counter. The ever widening chasm in our friendship was startlingly obviously in the light of this day.

I was feeling remarkably irritable today and not in the mood to have my decision put up for debate. I glared back at him, as I gripped my large Disney coffee mug in a death hold. The steaming liquid inside was my only fortitude. I felt groggy, as if I'd been out drinking all night instead of fucking an incredibly handsome stranger.

Jacob turning up on my doorstep at noon was unexpected and annoying. I'd just woken up. My gaze drifted towards the roses which had been left on my doorstep. I'd discovered them just before Jacob had arrived. There was a note peeking out from between the perfect white blooms. My heart skipped a beat while butterflies danced the polka in my belly as I recalled the words written on the crisp crimson card in black ink. The handwriting was flamboyant and decidedly old school. Almost calligraphy. It fitted Jasper perfectly.

"Bella? Why are you ignoring me?" Jacob snapped at me drawing my attention back to his scowling face. I sighed deeply, I'd spaced out.

"I'm not ignoring you, Jake and I'm sorry you're upset. But I did what I did and now it's over."

My heart felt like lead at my own words. It was over. I would never see Jasper again. Our transaction was complete. Bile rose in my throat and I quickly took a gulp of the scalding liquid in my mug to wash it away. Irrational tears threatened to fall as I blinked rapidly.

Jake frowned at me. "Are you alright, Bella? You don't seem yourself today."

"Im okay." I lied, forcing a smile to my face.

Jake looked unconvinced. "Did he drug you or something? You seem really spaced out "

"What?! No! He didn't give me drugs. Jeez Jake, why would you say that?" I felt angry at him for even suggesting it. Jasper would never do that to me. I wasn't sure how I knew it, but I was absolutely certain that he would never hurt me. "Im just tired. I'm not used to...to...being up all night." I finished lamely.

Jacob looked repulsed.

"The whole night? You stayed with him?"

I nodded stiffly. "I got home at dawn. Really Jake, I'm fine. I'm bound to feel a little weird, you know, I did just lose my…"

"Don't Say it." Jake hissed and I jumped in surprise. I hadn't realised that his grade school crush on me would make this so difficult on him. I'd hoped he would be over it by now. He was my friend, nothing more and I wished he'd accept that.

"Jake, we are just friends. Right?" I gestured between us. "I see you just the same way I see Jess. As one of my oldest and dearest friends. Why should it matter to you who I sleep with?"

"But it does matter to me, Bella." Jake spat. "Don't you see? It was meant to be me, not some random asshole from the Internet!" I sighed and took yet another sip of my favourite brew. It was black and strong, just the way I liked it.

"It could never be you, Jacob. You're my friend! Nothing more. Besides, you know why I did it, I don't want to go over it again. Last time I checked you don't have two million dollars." I raked an unsteady hand through my long, tumbled hair, pushing it off my face.

Jake froze, his face incredulous. "Two million dollars? He paid that much just to...fuck you?"

I felt my cheeks grow warm. "It wasn't just a fuck." I admitted, not knowing why I was confiding so much. "It was more. It was nice...in fact, it was incredible." I felt dreamy as I remembered the searing passion I'd shared with Jasper. It made my insides loopy.

Jake looked murderous and very unlike my friend. "Just like a two bit whore." He ground out savagely. I stared at him aghast, fear curling through my body for the first time ever in his presence.

Jake was my friend! Why was he acting like this? Despite my fear some small demon urged me on, needing to taunt him for his refusal to realise we were just friends. He was ruining everything between us.

"Hardly two bit, Jake, it was two million not two dollars."

Jake took a step towards me, his fists clenched.

"I waited for you, Bella, for years and years! I thought you were saving yourself for something better, maybe even for me! But no! You'd rather let some obnoxiously rich old man fuck you for money. It's disgusting."

"He wasn't old." I said backing away unsteadily towards my bedroom door. I was ready to lock myself inside my room if necessary.

"Its really fucking sad that is all you heard out of that sentence. What's happened to you, Bella? Has one night really corrupted you that much?"

Jake suddenly looked forlorn, more like my friend. I felt sad for him.

"I just want you to understand that we are only friends, Jake. I'm not trying to be cruel to you." Jake shook his head slowly, his dark eyes lifting to mine. They were not filled with sadness like I'd thought, but rather contempt and a whole lot of anger.

Just then there was a knock at the door. I released a shuddering sigh of pure relief and turned to answer it eagerly, anything to get away from the anger I felt brewing inside my friend. It quite frankly terrified me. Jake pushed past me as I opened the door, barely greeting Jessica before running down the short pathway towards the street. Jess looked startled.

"Did I interrupt something?" She asked as she came inside and dropped her purse on my kitchen counter with the familiarity of an old friend.

"No, you came over at just the right time, actually." I told her, placing my nearly empty Dumbo mug into the sink.

"I take it that our friend isn't too pleased about your little outing last night?"

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, he's less than pleased. Do you know what? I was actually a little scared of him."

Jess looked confused. "But Jacob is like a big puppy! He wouldn't hurt you."

I bit my lip and shook my head, my arms wrapped around myself defensively. "Something has changed, Jess. I wouldn't have thought it possible either, but I found him scary today - for the first time ever!"

Jessica's face lit up with delighted curiosity when she saw the massive bouquet of roses.

"Oh. My. God. This has to be the most ostentatiously huge arrangement of flowers I've ever seen!" She plucked the dark red card out from between the perfect blooms triumphantly. Her expression changed from curious to smug as I watched. "How very dramatic." She said dryly. "He must have been very grateful. What did you do, Bella?"

I shrugged, trying in vain to stop the huge grin which was struggling to surface. "Nothing at all."

"Liar." Jess teased. "Nobody sends a bouquet like that for nothing."

"I have to get dressed." I said evading the conversation which I could sense was coming.

"I'm not done with you yet!" Jess yelled playfully.

"I need to eat!" I yelled back. "You can interrogate me over food."

I dressed fast. Pulling on a pair of skin tight black jeans, a cream roll neck sweater and a pair of chunky, ankle boots with three inch heels. I checked my bank balance twice while I did my makeup. It was still there. Every cent of two million dollars. I still couldn't quite believe it.

I noticed several bruises along my neck and I stared at them. The tenderness between my legs reminded me vividly of just how it felt to have Jasper inside me. I was instantly aroused at the thought. My heartbeat sped up and my fingers trembled. I released a shuddering sigh as I stared at my reflection in surprise. My body was clamouring for the release he had brought me. I breathed deeply trying to calm myself down.

Once presentable I dragged the overly inquisitive Jessica out for lunch. I was beyond ravenous.

I still felt somewhat groggy, but I put it down to tiredness.

I refused to discuss my encounter with Jasper, instead distracting Jess with choice tidbits of information about how handsome he was and what he had asked me to wear as well as how opulent the hotel room had been, not at all a standard room.

"That's why the roses were white?" She asked, quickly reaching the same conclusion I had. "Or maybe he is referring to your innocence, which is definitely lost now."

I smiled and shrugged, staring at her over my glass of orange juice. "I think so."

"And the red card?" Her expression changed. "Oh my god, you don't think it's for your…"

I nodded again. "That's what I thought, too."

"He's very symbolic." She mused, her lips twitching with humour.

"And drop dead gorgeous." I countered.

She squealed and we giggled like the schoolgirls we still were.

But all the while my mind was on Jasper. I wanted to see him again, I realised with shock.

The money sitting in my account seemed slightly less appealing now, although the freedom it brought me was a heady thing. I didn't have to work or go to school, although I still wanted to. In fact, I was free to do anything I liked. That idea would take a little getting used to.

The nights were too long, all of a sudden. It was three days since I'd sold myself to the highest bidder, I was edgy and decidedly irritable.

I hadn't heard from Jacob since he had stormed off and I was glad. The more I thought about what he'd said the more angry I became. It was after all my body.

I went through the motions of my life, even going to work, though I had no need to.

My small rented house seemed claustrophobic and I felt like I was crawling out of my skin.

What was wrong with me?

I was still slightly off balance, as if my encounter with Jasper had altered me forever. I felt as though I were waiting for something although I had no idea what it might be.

I had gone to bed early, but now regretted it. I got up and went to get a drink of water from the downstairs kitchen.

I got a glass, filled it and was about to go back to bed when something caught the corner of my eye. I stopped in my tracks, my heartbeat wildly erratic. An uncomfortable prickle of fear bloomed in the pit of my stomach mixed with a strange excitement.

I was no stranger to this particular sensation, however. I'd felt it throughout my life, whenever I'd found the small tokens which had appeared mysteriously in my bedroom. I couldn't recall when exactly it had begun. But I guessed it had started around my fifth birthday. Small things I'd wanted and been denied or things I'd lost began showing up in my bedroom. A book, a toy or a sweet, eventually I'd grown so used to it that I'd come to expect it. In fact I'd begun asking for things out loud, a bit like a prayer, except I hadn't been speaking to the almighty. I fancied it was my guardian angel or perhaps a fairy who granted all my wishes. I'd never told my father about the gifts. I was pretty sure that all children had such things happen to them.

Only, it didn't stop. When I was thirteen my favourite necklace broke and I'd lost it on my way to school. It had been laying on my pillow, fixed and as good as new when I got home. I'd begun to realise at this stage that I was the only one who seemed to find gifts in their bedroom like I did. At fifteen, I'd desperately wanted a copy of the (forbidden to me) Lady Chatterley's lover. My father had declared me too young. I'd found a first edition copy laying on my side table after dinner that very night. It was priceless and I wished for the first time that I could thank whomever or whatever it was who granted my wishes.

But this wasn't a token as such.

There, in the middle of my linoleum counter stood a new bouquet of flowers. The old white arrangement was gone. In its place was a massive array of what looked like blood red tulips.

I looked around my small kitchen warily, half expecting him to be there in the shadows. How had he gotten into my house?

I walked towards the arrangement slowly, was it an illusion?

I reached out to touch the perfect, exotic blooms. I gasped softly as I felt the smooth, cool petals beneath my fingertips.

They were real.

Where was he?

There was another crimson card hidden among the flowers which I'd missed at first because of their similar colour.

My fingers trembled as I lifted the card and turned it over.

I can't stop thinking about you.

There was no signature this time. There was no need for one.

My heart went into overdrive as elation flooded me completely. He felt the same as I did! He was just as smitten as I was. I smiled widely clutching the card to my chest.

Somehow, I didn't care how weird it was that he had gained access to my house without my knowledge. Rational thought flew out the window.

All that mattered was that he too couldn't stop thinking about me.

"Me too." I whispered to the empty room, my heart overflowing with excitement and longing.

Suddenly I remembered my conversation with Jess. She'd said that Jasper was very symbolic. Was there perhaps a meaning behind the startlingly different bouquets I'd received? What could white roses mean? And most importantly, what did red tulips represent?

I flew up the stairs to get my cell phone and Googled the meaning of white roses.

Purity and eternal loyalty.

My heart fluttered and then stuttered, even as my fingers flew.

Red tulips.

Perfect or deep love.

Oh my god.

I stopped breathing.

Did Jasper mean to insinuate those things, or was I just being overly eager, looking for a meaning in a simple bouquet of flowers?

I fell backwards onto my bed grinning like an idiot.

Maybe I was, but I didn't care.

How would I find him?

Suddenly I realised that I didn't have to find him, for he had already found me.

How had Jasper known my home address to send the first bouquet to? A rich man would have many resources at his disposal, that much was clear.

The mystery of how the second arrangement had found its way into my locked house sent chills through me which were an odd mixture of fear and excitement. Surely, if the flowers had found their way into my home it meant he was here, or he had been.

I sat up warily, staring into every tiny shadow of my bedroom.

For some strange reason my fear rapidly evaporated and I felt a warm feeling of safety descend over me. Jasper wouldn't harm me, of that I was certain.

"Where are you?" I whispered to the empty room. "Come to me." I felt insane instantly. What was I doing? This was madness.

I lay back down on my bed, placing the crimson card on my bedside table. I shrugged off my gown and crawled between the sheets of my bed before switching off the light warily.

I fell asleep quickly despite my nerves. I was just so exhausted ever since my night with Jasper.

Pleasure. Sharp and deadly sweet. It awoke me. My eyes flung wide and then rolled back in my head as another wave of erotic pleasure pulsed through me. Clarity came slowly. I was naked and there was someone between my legs lapping at my tender flesh relentlessly. I knew at once who it was. My body had only ever reacted to one person like this. Helplessly I arched into that talented mouth desperately needing more. My hands moved of their own violation towards the head which hovered above my most private of places. I trembled when my fingers encountered tangled, curly hair as smooth as satin. The strands trickled through my fingers as I tightened my grip using it as leverage to pull him closer.

"Aahhhh….don't stop." I whimpered, breathless.

"I won't." The deep, smooth voice I'd been dying to hear again promised. The sound of his voice was sex and sin, delicious decadence and deviance. Dark and enticing.

The invisible coil in my belly tightened unbearably and I trembled from head to toe.

"Jasper…" I begged, not knowing what I was asking for.

He slid his fingers into me and I whimpered. It felt so fucking good. It was as if his touch drugged me, making me high and euphoric. Every touch was dark magic, drawing me deeper into him. Jaspers teeth grazed my flesh and I twitch uncontrollably, my toes curling into the duvet which lay rumpled around me.

I found the courage to look down at him, eager for the sight of his face and equally terrified of actually seeing what he was doing to me. I found his eyes fixed onto my face with the single mindedness of a predatory animal. His gaze was ebony in the pale moonlight which streamed through the curtains, his face pale and almost ethereal.

I burned under his gaze, my pleasure intensifying with our visual connection.

God...

I was mindless, driven on by the sight of his mouth devouring my most intimate parts as if I were the most delicious meal he'd ever tasted. I couldn't look away, it was as if Jasper held me captive.

He sucked the hard nub at the top of my slit into his mouth, his tongue flickering over it just as his fingers stroked a place deep inside me which made me feel like I was coming out of my skin. I was flying, falling and breaking apart. Bright colours bursting forth in my mind and I felt my body pulse over and over again.

Without warning he was there. Over me, around me, his mouth on mine. I tasted myself on his lips but it didn't repulse me. I returned his kiss with everything I had. Our tongues tangled, tasting, with deep drugging thoroughness. My hair was wrapped around his hand like a tether, the long auburn strands shining dully in the mystic moonlight. He was hard everywhere, his perfectly muscled body between my thighs. He was naked too, my hands ran over his skin hungrily memorising every dip and ridge. There were numerous scars. I pulled him into me with a roll of my hips. His hardness filled me deliciously. His hiss of pleasure made my insides contract around him. He rolled, taking me with him. Jasper lifted me as if I weighed nothing at all. I cried out when I was fully seated on the bold evidence of his arousal. It was too much, too deep and yet not deep enough. I could see him clearly now. He was my dream come true, right there, lying in my bed.

His face was like an archangel, carved out of marble and yet startlingly alive. He was at once both masculine and beautiful at the same time. His face was harsh with desire, he sat up and we were once again face to face, our hair creating a curtain around our faces. Our lips met and I gasped and then sighed. Jasper kissed me deeply, as if he couldn't get enough, his hands framing my face. I tried to move experimentally, not sure of how to do this, but it felt too good to sit still. I wanted to move. His hands dropped to my ass and guided me, urging me to move over him in a way which made my insides contract viciously. He lifted and dropped me repeatedly onto himself until I was crying out in an incoherent babble, words having lost all meaning. I marvelled at his strength.

Our mating was beautiful savagery. It was perfect. His teeth caressed my neck and then my breast and I heard my own cry, mental with longing, incoherent with desire.

His teeth sunk into my breast, directly over my nipple, it was easy like a heated knife through butter. I watched as he sucked ravenously, each tug strumming a cord hidden deep within me. There was no pain, only ecstacy, the dark eroticism killed me. I was alive with want. Tiny rivulets of my blood dripped past his teeth, welling at the corners of his lips. I was plaint with desire, swamped with the need to please him.

Jasper was sheathed deeply inside me as he drank my life's blood. Soon he pulled away and licked at the small wound, sealing it before my eyes.

"V..vampire…" I whispered as a powerful orgasm claimed me. He came with me as my body convulsed against and around his until I was limp and utterly sated.

Immediately my eyelids grew heavy and I felt drugged with pleasure. Jasper lay me down in my bed and I felt him press a kiss onto my forehead before I knew no more.