Authors note; beta'd by Frannie, as always. Remaining mistakes are all mine!
I saw him as soon as I entered the room. Tall and foreboding, he stood there in the shadows of my bedroom.
His angelic golden hair was a halo around his harshly beautiful face. He exuded power, even completely motionless. He was dressed in what could only be bespoke couture; Brioni perhaps. I knew my couture because I was studying fashion and design. He was all in black, except for the neckcloth, which was a small touch of pure white at his throat. The darkness threw his golden hair into startling prominence, the contrast mouth-watering. I stared open-mouthed at the man who haunted my dreams, my heartbeat clamoring wildly, my body already begging for his attention.
This was the first time I had seen him while awake and conscious since the night he had deflowered me. I was overcome with nerves. I abruptly dropped my handbag to the floor, just as I usually did, and kicked it away with my toe to distract myself from the suffocating nervous excitement, which had instantly appeared at the sight of him.
I then turned away from the handsome specter and went to my dressing table to take off my jewelry as if there was nothing more natural than finding an intruder in one's home late at night, or at any time of day for that matter.
How the hell did he get in?
It had been three days since I'd last seen him (if you could call it that), and I was as irritable as I'd been before his last nocturnal visit. I was edgy and tired.
Drained.
I'd woken up the day after our last romp, almost believing that Jasper's visit had been a product of my abnormally horny mind. That was until I'd looked for some evidence that I wasn't insane and found the bruises. There were quite literally dozens of them all over my body, as well as a particularly dark bruise on my nipple. Apparently, vampire saliva couldn't heal bruises, only an open wound.
Vampire.
Had I dreamed that part at the very least - the blood-drinking and my own abnormal reaction to it? Why hadn't it been painful? And more importantly, why wasn't I terrified of him?
"Hello, Bella." Tall, dark, and scary said casually. His voice sent shivers of pure delight down my spine. Butterflies assaulted me. But I sniffed pointedly, ignoring him; raking my hair backward with my fingers to tie it up into a ponytail.
I saw Jasper cock his head to one side as he regarded me with distinct humor in his eyes.
"Will you ignore me now?" He asked, shifting away from the wall he'd been leaning on, slow and oh so deliciously. I licked my suddenly dry lips. I fucking loved how he moved.
"You've ignored me for days." I countered, my voice curiously husky.
It wasn't strictly true. I had received two more bouquets since the tulips.
Blue hyacinths the day after the red tulips, which I'd Googled them as soon as I'd seen them.
…Constancy, sincerity.
The card had been red, and Jasper's elegant scrawl had cut across the crisp card with the words:
You drive me to the brink of insanity.
… And then had come the most dramatic of all—the massive arrangement of black orchids.
Their meaning was sexual desire...along with some really awful meanings I gave no credit to.
That card read:
Be mine, Bella.
My heartbeat had fluttered wildly as I read those words. Be his? I already was, and yet I didn't understand how it had happened so quickly or quite so irrevocably. Suddenly I felt irrational anger, and the bouquets had paled into insignificance. I wanted Jasper, not flowers. My need for him made me even more cranky. Why did he stay away if he wanted me so much? I wasn't even sure when he had become more than just the man who had bought my innocence. It was inexplicable.
"I never ignore you, darlin'. That would be monumentally impossible."
His dark figure advanced until he was just behind me. The magnetism he exuded caused me to sway on my feet, towards him.
Close, but not close enough.
My belly flip-flopped deliciously.
"But you didn't come back. I thought you would, after the other night...at least I hoped you wouldn't be able to stay away." I said in a rush, a touch of asperity in my tone. I felt like a petulant child begging for a treat.
"I'm sorry if I upset you." He said right beside my ear. I trembled as gooseflesh spilled out across my entire body. "It was for your own safety because it does you no good to see me too often."
I sighed as his breath spilled out across my face, the scent, dear God, I wanted to devour him. It was as if he was a drug - my favorite kind - and I was a recovering addict.
"How do you get in?" I asked, my mind not truly dedicated to my line of pretty valid questioning.
Jasper laughed softly. "I was wondering when you'd bring that up."
I was so passed the questions and answers which plagued me. Even though I so desperately wanted to know why we were so intimately entangled, so cosmically attached so soon. It all faded to nothing when he was with me. I wanted to worship this man, on my knees preferably. My need was irrational and irresistible. Jasper leaned in closer, his lips grazing my cheek. My hands trembled as I reached for him.
I turned towards him, but he stopped me, his hands on my waist.
"Look at us." He demanded roughly, and I did as he asked. Our reflection was a thing of beauty in the mottled, aged surface of my vintage dresser mirror.
I gasped softly at the startling picture we made. We resembled a renaissance painting, with perfect brush strokes and rich, vibrant color.
Jasper undid my hair again, slowly, allowing it to tumble down around me in disarray.
We were perfect opposites, light and dark; a contradiction; for the one who was golden held the most darkness.
"You are so fucking perfect." He breathed, gazing at my face like he was every bit as enamored as I was.
My heart was held ransom with that look.
"We are perfect," I replied, my voice husky intense. I hardly recognized it.
A small smile lifted a corner of his lips; he touched my face lingeringly, setting my skin on fire. His touch moved across my cheek, and then he lifted my face to his.
"Don't stay away anymore," I demanded, while our lips hovered a centimeter apart. I didn't care how he got into my locked house time and again. I wanted him here, no matter who or what he was.
"It's for your own good, darlin', I swear to you. If I had a choice, I'd never leave you for one second."
My heart swelled with such a simple but heartfelt declaration. I couldn't breathe properly.
I believed him. I knew that he meant every word. But how did I know?
"What is this, between us?" I asked, my eyelids heavy with the hunger only he could satisfy.
"Its destiny." He murmured, his voice dark chocolate sex and sinful pleasures.
I blinked and stared up at him. "So, it wasn't an accident, you bidding on me?"
Jasper smiled at me, lazy and slow. Then he kissed me, trying to silence me, no doubt. It worked. I gasped at the sensation of his mouth on mine. It was a religious experience; the angels literally sang when our skin touched. It was irresistible.
Jasper deepened the kiss, and my knees buckled, my arms around his neck. He lifted me onto my dressing table as if I was the weight of a feather. His strength only confirmed what I already knew; Jasper was not human. My addicted fingers found their way into his jaw-length hair, desperately seeking the satin curls I'd used last time as leverage. He stepped between my spread thighs, bringing me even closer to the edge of the dressing table by jerking me towards him by my hips. I whimpered into his mouth as I felt the bold evidence of his arousal pressed firmly against my most private of places. Every part of me was wet, my soul was wet, and I was on fire.
I felt no fear, only ecstasy, as his teeth grazed my tongue. I wanted him to bite me, I realized with surprise. I wanted to sustain him, if indeed he was a vampire. I wanted to be his everything.
"You are." Jasper breathed, pulling away briefly.
I stared at him, bemused. I hadn't said that out loud. Could he read minds?
"Only yours." He told me, answering my unspoken question once again while stroking my chin gently. His gaze was darkly enigmatic as he watched my reaction.
"How?" I asked, finding my voice at last.
"Our connection grows stronger every time we are together."
"You feel it too?" I whispered. So it wasn't just me.
He framed my face with his hands, holding me as if I were something infinitely precious. I could feel the strength he held in check; he could crush me, and yet he didn't. I was in awe of the level of self control it must take for him to be with me like this.
"I feel everything you feel and more, Bella. Things that you can not fathom...yet."
I realized quite belatedly that my hands were fisted into the fabric of his shirt, holding him as if I never wanted to let go. His suit jacket was unbuttoned, obviously by me, although I had no recollection of doing it.
This man blurred all the lines for me. Right and wrong ceased to exist; time had no meaning. Trite human worries and problems had no place with us. I was removed from it all as if I were no longer human myself.
Jasper undid the buttons on my plaid shirt to reveal my red lace bra. He then released my breasts simultaneously, his gaze holding mine mercilessly. My nipples pebbled at his touch, forming almost painfully tight buds. I moaned and arched my back, offering myself to him. I needed to feel his mouth on my body. Jasper hummed his approval as his undoubtedly talented lips went to work, destroying the last vestiges of my self-control.
He also made quick work of my jeans; they were tugged off within seconds and flung god-knows-where. We undressed each other in a synchronized manner, which was startlingly efficient and familiar. It was as if we had been doing this forever. The dresser creaked as he entered me with a thrust, which made my eyes roll back in my skull, the aged wood protesting the onslaught of passion it was being made to endure.
Jasper laughed under his breath, but it held no humor nor care for my prized piece of furniture. I was beyond caring too. All that mattered was his flesh joining with mine repeatedly. I heard myself making incoherent noises, but I had no control over it. Jasper held me immobile while he fucked me on my dresser. Our climax, when it came, was simultaneous and mind-blowing. I kissed him while gasping my pleasure, and he swallowed every syllable.
I was dying to feel his teeth on my skin; I found myself tilting my head to one side, guiding his face - offering him easy access to my neck.
"It's too soon!" Jasper hissed, his voice tormented with need, his gaze burning ebony as it met mine.
I stilled, as if on command. "Is it dangerous?" My voice was husky with passion; it sounded unlike me.
"For you, it is imperative that I don't drink from you too often."
His flesh twitched inside me, and I undulated against him automatically, hungry for more, always more. Deeper. Closer. Just more.
Jasper groaned at my movements, "Stop, Bella; don't tempt me more than you usually do. I am only a man."
You're a lot more than just a man. I thought this, testing our connection.
Jasper smirked at me. "In any case, I am a man, too."
I felt a slow smile tugging at my lips.
Two hours later, I forced myself to stay awake as sleep tried to claim me. Jasper had made love to me for hours, slow and deadly as well as roughly. But it was always with toe-curling intensity and thoroughness. There seemed to be wood everywhere on the floor; I noticed it as Jasper carried me to my bed. I clung to him, reveling in our close proximity to each other. He lay down beside me and pulled the blanket between us, which made me protest.
"You'll get cold if I don't," Jasper told me.
"I'm not cold," I argued.
He laughed, eyeing me with fond indulgence. "But I am, abnormally so, you just can't feel it because you're under the power of a very powerful chemical reaction at the moment."
I stared at him with a frown. "So you're naturally cold, but I can't tell because of the effect we have on each other?"
Jasper nodded while examining my face minutely.
"Sleep now." He murmured, stroking my nose and then my brow with a startling tenderness. I felt even more sleepy and finally stopped fighting it.
"When will I see you again?" I asked groggily.
"Soon, darlin'." He told me, and I believed him.
The next day after work, I was shocked to find my vintage dresser as good as new sitting in the same place it always had.
Jasper and I had basically reduced it to firewood just the day before. I felt the familiar sensation fill my stomach; fear and weird kind of excitement. It mixed oddly, making me feel slightly off balance. This was just like all those other times. My fairy godmother had fixed my furniture. This was by far the largest token I'd received - ever. Books, toys, and even jewelry were the usual tokens. This was different.
I felt as though I were missing something.
What was it?
Jacob had disappeared. Jess told me over breakfast. She was worried. I found it hard to be overly concerned after the way he'd treated me.
"Nobody knows where he is. He didn't turn up for work or anything." Jess told me around a mouthful of smoked salmon layered on a fresh croissant with cream cheese. I felt mildly nauseated by it, although I usually ate it too.
Nothing seemed appetizing today. I drank my coffee in large gulps.
"Do you think he ran off because of what I did?"
Jess eyed me with a probing familiarity. "Are you okay, Bella?"
I nodded and smiled. "Yes, I've never been better, actually." I hesitated. "I saw Jasper again."
Jessica squealed. "Tell me everything." She demanded and I did.