Chapter 21! The last one was a bit hard to write, and I think Eclipse will be like a slow burn since this is the in between- I plan to launch into it headfirst and keep it action packed though! As always, constructive criticism is my fuel to continue when writing seems difficult, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
I don't own Twilight- only my OC's!
Chapter 21
I must have fallen asleep on the ride home, because next thing I knew, Jasper was gently shaking me awake.
"I'd carry you inside, but Charlie's face already doesn't seem too kind from here. It doesn't mean I won't walk you to the door though." He replied. I stretched and groaned.
"Is Alice here yet? What time is it anyway?"
"She's about five minutes out. It must've been a good shopping trip. It's also nine pm." I nodded.
"So you'll come back before I crash into oblivion right? It's nice being in your arms." Jasper rubbed his thumb gently across my hand.
"Of course. You may already be asleep by the time I get back here, but I promise that I will be by. Would you like me to wake you?" He asked. I nodded sleepily.
Opening my car door, he held his hand out for me to grab and helped pull me to my feet. I saw Bella camped on the front steps. She'd probably want to talk with me about everything, though I hoped I'd actually have the energy to do so. Bella waved to Jasper, while Uncle Charlie stood behind her with his arms folded over his chest. A part of me was surprised he didn't have his shotgun out beside him.
"You'd think we were some randy teenagers and you're the local bad boy or something. But hey, at least he doesn't have his gun out." I whispered.
"Small blessings." He mused. "You know, I've never met him in person until now."
"Thank you for bringing her home safely. That attack really worried me. And what was Brian thinking, knowing you can't see well at night?"
"The fact that he wants to land that 20 million dollar account and go on a date. Having the added bonus of a handsome volunteer to ensure my safety, and he's happy to throw me to the wolves." I deadpanned. "Well, maybe he'd reluctantly do so… We kind of coerced Jasper here to go along with it. He wouldn't have agreed if I didn't arm twist them both."
"A pleasure to meet you in person Chief Swan. My father speaks very highly of you." Jasper greeted.
"And I still regard him the same. I can't say I'm too happy about what happened with his other boy and Bella here, but that doesn't reflect on him." Uncle Charlie grumbled.
"That's understandable. Frankly, the rest of the family feels much the same. What my brother did wasn't handled the right way at all. Permit me the chance to show you not all of us are the same someday. Lily here is a remarkable person. I was glad to help out, especially after all the trouble we've caused." He glanced my way and grinned. Uncle Brian motioned for both me and Bella to get inside. While the door was closed, I was still able to hear the conversation, even though Bella headed upstairs.
"Now don't get too attached to her. You've got college to think about and I don't want anymore broken hearts. I can't speak if she wants to see you again- you're both of legal age. But please, don't put her through hell. She's been through a lot more than my Bella has, and I haven't been a part of things in her life like I should have. That's not to say Bella hasn't been through a lot, but even though she was young and doesn't talk about it, it had to have been hard to lose her mom to cancer so young. I don't want to see her suffer." Brief silence, then I heard him continue.
"With that said, I mean it. If you hurt her, you'll be answering to me and then what's left will answer to Brian. No warnings, no second chances. Do you understand?" Jasper must have acknowledged him.
"Good. Now run along home; your folks might be getting worried. And be sure to let Lily know you made it home safely. And don't deviate from your studies either."
"Yes sir." I heard a car pull up. It was my cue to leave. Unsurprisingly, I found Bella sitting at my desk.
"So? Why did your uncle leave? How was your evening with Jasper? You two seem to be really hitting things off."
"The real reason? He wanted to land an account and sleep with a man he's had his eyes on for months now. Far be it for any of us to try and stop him. As far as with Jasper… things are complicated. It's weird being so instantly attracted to someone and knowing they're what is made for you… Being who you need rather than the idea you had about what you wanted. I'm not used to feeling this sense of attachment, so I worry it may be toxic or clingy, at least on my end. We kissed, and it felt like every bit of me was a livewire. I'm actually disappointed that he held back. I haven't felt passion like that in a long time." Bella smirked lightly.
"And now hopefully you understand more of what Edward and I have. Being away is too painful." She chewed on her bottom lip.
"But..?" I prompted.
"I want to be with him forever, but you know how I feel about marriage. It's just a piece of paper. I just don't get why he wants it so badly."
"Probably because it's a security blanket and tradition of his time… Think about it. Marriage is the ultimate commitment and is the only acceptable way to sleep with someone, or have the promise of forever. Personally, I think it's controlling and a bit manipulative to dangle what you want in your face but compromise your values. I worry that you would be giving in just so he didn't make them leave you again."
"Well it happened once before. At this point I won't be surprised. What if Edward marries me and then decides to do this again, that I am not what he wants after going through everything? I mean… Carlisle, he said he'd change me if he had to, but I want Edward to do it."
"Bella, he may not be capable of it. Vampires don't always have the best of control."
"Would you trust Jasper to change you?" She snapped. I thought about it.
"No. I don't know him well enough for that. It only takes one slip for something to go wrong. Plus, unlike you, I want to stay human a little longer. He seems to respect that decision. I think, if it came down to an accident and it was lose me or change me, he could do it, but I don't want to put that on him- especially if any other vampires are within the vicinity. Being an empath has to be really tough for him. The magic I use, I can get a basic sense sometimes for people, but it overwhelms me enough that I have only tapped into that ability five times in my entire life. To do so all the time? It's a wonder he's not mad." I confessed. Bella got quiet after that.
"I guess I hadn't thought of that. You must really care about him, to have such an insight like that." She paused, then started again. "But still. I just don't know what to do. Maybe, just maybe it'll be good for us. I mean, what's the harm? Edward gets married and turns me. He seems keen on giving me every human experience, except the one I want."
"I'll only say this once- if you aren't sexually compatible your love will never last. It's best to find that out before you have to go through the process of a divorce or annulment. If he wants to give you every experience he needs to do so without strings attached…. But if it's a matter of willpower versus the fact he may be a virgin, I can understand his caution. What if he's worried about breaking you?"
"But Edward would never hurt me. At least not physically. And definitely not in that way."
"You do realize that if you are a virgin there's going to be blood when he breaks your barrier, right? Not to mention that in the heat of the moment it could be difficult to restrain yourself. Especially depending on what you could get up to with-" Bella's hand on my mouth stopped me from going any further. Her face was beet red.
"Okay. I get it. Can we not, you know? Get all…."
"If you can't talk about it you certainly shouldn't do it. Lesson the first." I shrugged nonchalantly. "Also, if you don't want to get married, then don't. No one is going to hold it against you for waiting. Just make the right decisions for you and I'm here if you want to vent or talk. But right now, we're holding up both of our favorite people." I grinned, gesturing for her to leave. She took the hint.
"Fine, but can we talk later? Please Lily. I feel like you must hate me now or something."
"Nah. I want to slap you more than normal and think you don't go into everything with a clear head sometimes, but that doesn't equate to hating you. Now go, I really need to get ready for a shower." Bella retreated to her room and I finally took a relaxing shower. Stepping back into my room about 40 minutes later, I wasn't surprised to find Jasper lounging on my bed reading a book. He'd changed into comfy lounge pants that were a dark navy and wore a black muscle shirt. Definitely a stark contrast to my shorts and pink lace bra underneath my black robe. I had to say, he looked out of place for sleeping, but was like a walking wet dream. His smirk told me everything I needed to know.
"Well… Look who got banished from heaven. To what do I owe the lovely company of such a temptress?" Jasper inched towards me slowly.
"I could, ah, ask you the same thing. You look ready for a workout." I closed my eyes.
"Mmm.. perhaps. You see, I was thinking about earlier. And I wanted to make sure I fully made things up to you. I heard you in the shower. I tried to give you your privacy but well…" Jasper purred and slid his hands around my waist… "I just couldn't resist you. Especially when you smell like this." He emphasized this by nuzzling my neck. "I had a dream about you. Well, a daydream because we can't sleep. Something about what you said earlier. About me being a tease?"
"Sparked something in you, apparently. Am I to assume I'm your willing victim then?"
"Oh come now…. You love it. I can feel you, remember?" Jasper emphasized this in his movements. His hand traveled slowly over me, his body flush against me. I was paralyzed by his voice. In this moment, he wielded all the power.
"I…"
"But of course, if you ever want me to stop, all you have to do is ask. No pressure here." He stepped in front of me, ceasing all motion and made sure to connect our eyes.
"Right. None here." I nodded, dazed. His eyes had taken on a darker tone of amber. That caused me to recover quickly. I pushed against him, and he allowed himself to gracefully fall down on the bed. Splayed out like that, Jasper looked content, until a frown settled on his face.
"Damn. Edward's here. He's talking with Bella. Seems like we need to keep the PDA under wraps for now."
"You know, this list keeps growing for reasons why I don't like him. Now he's getting in the way of things. I swear, we've been stopped too many times for one evening." I replied darkly, letting my robe fall to the floor. His eyes roamed over my body.
"And now I'm a tad overdressed. Still, it will keep you warm if I wear this." Jasper tugged lightly on my arm and I allowed myself to be pulled into bed with him.
"I don't mind too much either way. I'll sleep like this no matter what. Though after that little display, it'll be tough to sleep. What brought that out?"
"Oh, I just got a little too excited and it got to me. You started it. Then I had the misfortune of coming back to Emmett and Rosalie; couldn't get away from those two fast enough, and then I hear some of your conversation with Bella- that did the trick to shut everything down, until the shower. It brought something out in me that I didn't plan on. Combine that with you coming in here dressed like that, and how you felt about me wearing this…. I just couldn't resist you. I wanted to torment you in the sweetest way possible. I still do."
"Oh, Do you now?" I leaned up to stare at him. "Tell me more… Like you said, it's nice to hear out loud."
"I don't think Edward would like to hear it. He's learned to block me out for the most part. Saying it aloud almost seems like a disservice." I pouted. He sighed and placed a quick kiss on my lips.
"But I want to hear it."
"Fine! Lose the pout. First, I wanted to work you up slowly. Take my time tracing every part of you. I've noticed where you're sensitive and I wanted to play on it. Get you all hot and bothered… And the rest of the things would follow based on what you wanted to happen. I'm afraid that if we continue then we will be back where we left off. Something tells me that neither the others in the house nor our clothes would survive. I rather like that set on you; it'd be a shame to ruin it." His fingers lazily traced near the top of my breast.
"Just like those clothes. They show off your figure well. Really, well." I marveled at the way the material gathered at his hips around to his powerful looking thighs, and how the shirt showed how toned his lean build actually was. It was hard to not touch every part of him. He nuzzled my neck gently and kissed my collar bone.
"So I should definitely keep them on for now. Maybe wear them more often even?"
"Only in private. I don't think anyone would appreciate me mauling you too much." I laughed lightly. "Though… would you mind if I ran my hands underneath your clothes?" Jasper purred again, and I took that as agreement. His cool skin was taut against my fingertips. My hands settled against his hip bone after a time, and I kissed him lazily. It was getting late and being with him like this filled me with contentment.
"Someone is getting tired. Though I can't say I mind too much… It means I can hold you in my arms all night." He breathed in my ear. "Besides, we have just shy of forever."
"Do we though? Forever can be a blink, or it can be well, forever. You don't know how long your infinity is. Heavy talk aside, how will this work with you starting school back up again and doing the whole college thing?"
"Well, I could in theory, defer a year and stay. Sometimes we do that, and there are times we do actually go to college. I haven't pursued a Master's in awhile." He mused. "But unless you tell me to leave you alone, I don't see me having a life without you. School is a formality. I may skip some days, especially when the sun is out, but I would like to spend my weekends and evenings with you. Hopefully soon I won't have to sneak around, at least not as often. With that said, we have plenty of time to take this as fast or as slow as we need to. I must warn you now, once you let me get a taste of you, it will be very difficult to stop any time soon."
"We'll be past the point of no return, so to speak?" I asked. He nodded.
"Once the mating bond initiated in full, from what I understand, it will be near impossible to resist. Emmett and Rosalie were the worst with it. As it stands, there are but a few things keeping me from ravishing you here and now."
"Mmm… yeah. There's only one thing for me."
"And that is?"
"I hope you don't take this the wrong way." I felt him stiffen beside me a little. I sighed, then continued. "So I know that you would never hurt me, at least not intentionally. But what if you get lost in it and the bed breaks? Sex can be pretty all consuming." He let out a measured breath.
"I was thinking about that too honestly. The noise and potential casualty. Well, we have a few options. There are hotels we could go to, or something of that nature, or we can always do something to get everyone else out of the house for a weekend. It may be soundproof in my room, but they somehow always know." Jasper had relaxed fully again.
"What did you think would happen earlier?"
"Honestly I wasn't. I was going with the feeling. Definitely not thinking clearly at all." He closed his eyes. "In fact, I'm still not. While the talk is serious, your hands are dangerously close to a place they shouldn't be. It's very distracting." I blushed and apologized swiftly. I hadn't realized tracing the top of his thigh and just above his pelvis would cause such a strong reaction. When Jasper opened them again, his eyes looked more black in the darkness than dark amber.
"Sorry. I didn't realize." Jasper rolled us over, pinned me against the bed, and held my wrists gently.
"Well you should have. Now who's a tease?" He grinned, his eyes held more of the light amber they normally did. "But really. Get some sleep Lily. We still have tomorrow, and then when school starts back up Monday, I'll be sure to come by. Tomorrow, you're all mine. The weather is nice, but I can also convince everyone to go away for the day. It's still cold enough that you would probably enjoy the hot tub. We never get much use from it." He'd curled back onto his side next to me, and I considered what he was saying.
"We can figure it out tomorrow then. Goodnight Jasper."
