Need You Know

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to SM.

A/N-thank you for the kind reviews! Happy new year!

Part Two

"Do you remember that day I told you that you were sort of beautiful?" Bella followed the tracks of his tears with her fingers.

"The day you cracked your head open the first time we used the bikes."

"That's the day."

"I remember." He whispered hoarsely.

"I wasn't telling the truth that day."

Surprised, Jacob swallowed thickly, but managed to stop the hurt flashing in his eyes.

Bella continued to brush her fingers over his hot skin. "You aren't sort of beautiful. You are beautiful. You take my breath away every time I look at you."

Jacob hid his face in the crook of her neck. His weary heart fluttered with relief. "You're the beautiful one." He nuzzled the nape of her neck before raising his head and kissing her deeply, hungrily, his mouth devouring hers, nearly coming apart when she pressed her lithe body to his, using her arms as leverage to cling tightly to him.

When she broke away to breathe, she pushed Jacob onto his back. He lay there, raising his knees behind her, as he slid his hands over her thighs, before resting them on her hips. He looked at her for while, admiring the deep blush which ran right across her chest, then down to her belly button. Her eyes were bright, lambent, but also filled with a deep seated sadness. He felt his own sorrow well up inside and he hastily pulled her down to him, kissing her again as he tried to chase away the demons haunting him inside.

Bella leaned back against his knees, exposing her breasts with coral nipples. He was overwhelmed by her beauty. He sat up and kissed her. His hands felt huge on her tiny body. He cupped her breasts. Bella leaned forward, moaning quietly as she pressed into his palms. He caressed them, brushing them lightly with his fingers before taking one in his mouth. Bella's fingers bit into his shoulders as she moaned breathily. Her eyes were closed as she lost herself in the sensation of his lips on her skin.

Suddenly Jacob became still. Bella opened her eyes and gazed at him in bewilderment, wondering why he was stopping. Then he shifted abruptly, laying her gently on her back and tugging the sleeping bag to cover her nakedness. Seeing her confusion he settled down beside her and whispered in her ear. "Seth is coming."

Bella came crashing down to earth as she remembered they had an audience outside. She had become so lost in Jacob that she had surrendered herself to him without a second thought. Her throat became dry and she licked her lips nervously. How close were Seth and Edward? She remembered the young shifter had been a good distance away from the tent. But when Edward had left to join him had they drawn closer to the camp? Her face burned and her heart stuttered painfully at the thought of either Seth or Edward overhearing her intimate moments with Jacob. She was never sure how close Edward had to be to read someone's mind. He had promised to keep out of Jacob's head, but had he? She was thankful he couldn't read hers, but had he sent Seth to stage an intervention to stop things progressing further.

"Pretend to be asleep." Jacob whispered, breaking her out of her morbid thoughts. His fingers traced along her jaw line as he kept his gaze fixed on hers. She saw the flicker of unhappiness in his dark eyes before he hid it behind a stoical mask. "Close your eyes." He urged her.

Bella ducked her head under his chin and did as he asked. She was just in time as the flap to the tent was unzipped and Seth poked his head in. She heard Jacob speak sharply to Seth, not hiding his anger at the interruption. She couldn't hear the young shifter's response but from his tone she could tell he was embarrassed. She wondered if he had guessed what was going on. Wolves and their senses. She remembered Jacob telling her once that he could smell that she was attracted to him. Her skin was on fire with mortification.

"Bella."

Bella startled at the sound of her name. She raised her head, her long hair fanned around her face, hiding her panicked expression. It was Edward who had spoken. She darted a glance at Jacob. His warm hand was still resting on her hip inside the sleeping bag. His jaw was locked tight. He was livid. "Jake." His name bled from her swollen lips.

"We have to move the camp." He said tonelessly.

"Why?" Bella's gaze flicked to Edward.

"Alice had a vision, my love." Edward's face was in shadow so she couldn't see him. He was standing in the entrance, his boots covered in wet snow. "If we stay here we'll get caught in the blizzard. We need to move lower down the mountain. You should get dressed. Here take my coat to put over yours." He slipped his thick parker off and placed it carefully on the ground.

Bella shivered as a cold breeze gushed through the entrance. Jacob's arm tightened around her possessively. "Close the flap she's shaking." He growled at Edward. "Get out."

"We both need to get out so Bella can have some privacy while she dresses." Edward retorted. He pushed up the sleeves of his cable knit sweater; the cold didn't affect him at all.

Jacob glared at Edward menacingly. He slowly released his hold on Bella, his reluctance to leave her showing in every line of his body. "You should hurry." He told her quietly before slipping out of the sleeping bag and barging rudely past Edward, knocking him back a few paces as he stalked outside into the snow.

"You did this deliberately." Jacob accused in a low voice as they walked a few paces away from the tent. His nose wrinkled at the sickly sweet stench coming from his tormentor. He had to stifle his desire to rip the leech's head off.

"There was no way I was going to let you take advantage of her in her weakened state." Edward retorted harshly. "Your thoughts were disgusting."

"You were delving inside my head even though you promised her you wouldn't." Jacob was livid. "And Bella is not weak."

"I wasn't delving inside your head. You were practically shouting your thoughts at me." Edward snarled. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to calm down. "I won't have you continually trying to manipulate her emotions just to gain an advantage."

"You're the master at manipulation, you son of a bitch." Jacob retorted bitterly. "You've been pulling Bella's strings since you came back you controlling asshole. You're doing it now by lying about having to move camp."

"I'm not lying. The air will be warmer down below." Edward refuted.

Jacob looked at Edward derisively. Cullen met his stern gaze with narrowed eyes. His hands were rammed in his pockets. "You feel threatened." Jacob said after a moment. "You know she loves me."

"I can't tell if you're right." Edward muttered. His gaze flicked to the tent where Bella was still occupied getting dressed.

"Well, let me ask you something, if she chooses me-"

"She won't." Edward replied sharply as his attention snapped back to Jacob.

"If she did, would you try to kill me." Jacob challenged.

"That's an intriguing idea. But, no. I couldn't hurt her like that." Edward said solemnly.

Jacob laughed darkly. "You have done nothing but hurt her since you came into her life. You're full of bullshit, bloodsucker. You just want to turn her into a blood sucking demon like you."

The sound of the zip opening interrupted their conversation. Bella pushed open the flap and stepped clumsily out into the snow. She stumbled and both Jacob and Edward tried to capture her before she fell. She was caught between them; each had hold of one of her arms. Bella steadied herself before looking in despair between them.

"I'm okay." She whispered.

Jacob was the first to release her. She was wearing Cullen's coat. It reeked of him and he couldn't bear it. The leech had done that deliberately to mask his own scent. "We need to move." He said coolly as he swept past her, hailing Seth as he strode away.

Bella stared miserably after him. "He's upset."

Edward was watching her intently. His golden brown eyes flitted to her left hand. "You're not wearing your ring."

Bella frowned, placing her hands behind her back as she averted her gaze. "I didn't want to risk losing it."

"Or risk Jacob seeing it. He needs to know." Edward pressed.

"Stop baiting me, Edward." Bella said sharply. "I thought you said we had to move quickly. I'm freezing." She didn't wait for him to respond but instead folded his heavy parker around her and stepped in Jacob's deep imprints in the snow as she followed him into the night.

She stank. She smelled awful. He felt jealous. Nothing had changed. Jacob hated Edward Cullen. He saw Bella in the distance. She was still tucked up in the bloodsucker's thick parka. He wanted to rip the coat from her body and burn it, along with him. Jacob knew Bella was crying. He could tell by the set of her shoulders and they way she was hiding her face behind her long hair. He knew her so well. Edward Cullen was dismantling the tent with Seth's help. Jacob was leaving it all to them. It was difficult controlling his temper around the bloodsucker as it was.

Jacob could hear her doing that funny breathing thing she did when she was stressed. The urge to comfort her was strong but he resisted it. Her arms were wrapped around her waist, trying to hold herself together like she might crack open. She hadn't done that for a long while. Now that the bloodsucker was back it was happening all over again. Couldn't she see what they did to her? They weren't good for her. Cullen wasn't good for her. Frustrated, Jacob kicked at the snow, his breath fogging in the air in front of him.

"Why couldn't you let us imprint?" He raged inside his head as he glared up at the heavens above. The sky was filled with myriads of stars. They shone brightly down as if mocking him.

Bella was shaking. Jacob knew it wasn't from the cold, but it gave him a good enough excuse to go to her. Cullen shot him a dark look but he ignored him. He didn't give a shit if the leech was reading his thoughts, for all the good it would do him.

Jacob reached Bella's side. She didn't speak, her hand snaked out, small and cool against his. Her touch was soothing, almost. He wondered if she could tell how angry he was. How despairing. One look in her sad brown eyes told him she knew. He had learned to control that side of him a long time ago, to burrow it deep down inside his soul where it couldn't break free until he needed it. To harness it to protect his people. To protect her.

"I'm so sorry." Bella breathed softly. "You are angry, aren't you?"

Jacob nodded. "It's not what you think, though. I'm not angry at you." Jacob was angry at them. Angry at himself. But never angry at her.

A/N-thanks for reading!