Ch 6: My Man… erm… Vampire

I did as I had done for months, watched Kallie sleep. Emmett returned home and had looked smug. He asked Alice to go out for a run and she accepted with a knowing smile. My heart had clenched and for the first time in a long time I felt totally out of control of my own emotions. So I had done the only thing I thought might help, came here. To this tree, to the place where I can watch the woman I love toss and turn in her sleep, where I could feel her every emotion.

But tonight she slept deeply, and she did not stir. I know she dreamed but they were apparently joyful and restful. She hardly moved. But the contentedness that she exuded, the feeling of utter rightness with the world, it held me captive just as her tossing and turning, and talking in her sleep did. How I envied my brother's gift, what I would not give to know what made her feel so… right.

The sun was just rising. It glittered of my skin, shining like diamonds. I stroked the window, tracing the curve of her cheek. The sun continued to rise and it shone in her window, caressing the features I had just traced. And for the barest moment, not even half of her heartbeat, her skin glittered like my own. And for the first time the reality of our circumstance hit me. Like Edward I fell in love with a woman who was living, breathing, and in danger every moment she was around me. But unlike my brother I would not need to harm her to make her live forever. I could have her, just as she was, for all eternity.

But I would need what my brother did not have, incredible control. I could never allow myself to taste the nectar that was her blood, I could never lose the slightest amount of control around her. Because unlike Edward and Bella, if I ever did, and I touched her with slightly too much force, I COULD kill her. I shuddered. Perhaps Emmett, my brother who had far more control than I, would be better for her. But as I thought of it, standing at their wedding, watching MY Kallie kiss my brother, feeling their emotions on their wedding night…

I growled loudly enough to startle the animals around me. It couldn't happen. Even if I WAS a danger to her I was still hopelessly in love with her and I'd be damned if I gave her up without a fight. And if she DID choose Emmett, well, I would have to leave. I could not stand to see her with him.

Her eyes were beginning to flutter open, she stretched. I turned to leap away but a second glitter of the sun on her skin caught my attention. I glanced over my shoulder and stood riveted. The comforter slid down her as she arched her back, groaning. The sun glittered off her bare breasts, caressed and illuminated her. Her eyes opened and I KNEW I should leap away, but I could not. But luck was on my side and she did not see me.

I stared after her retreating figure as she wandered, still half asleep, into her closet. I heard the shower start up and over the sound of the running water I could hear her sweet voice. I listened to her voice rise and fall, overwhelmed by her feelings of joy. Only when she turned off the shower and turned on her hairdryer did the spell that held me break, as she began to think about things that made her worry. Then I ran.

I spent every night that week watching her, and every night Emmett joined me. And every night she slept soundly, completely at peace. Emmett did not understand the attraction, but he never left me alone. We ran off Friday morning just as it began to rain. The clouds promised worse than the light spattering of rain by night fall and I knew Kallie, who adored storms, would stay up into the wee hours of the morning to watch the play of lightning across the sky. I scowled, we'd be leaving her alone during the storm to hunt.

I walked into our house, Kallie still on my mind. I hardly noticed Alice walk into the room. I was uncomfortable letting Kallie stay home alone during a storm. But we all needed to hunt. My eyes were black as night, and the beating of Kallie's heart called to me, pushing my control further than necessary.

"It's going to be a rough one tonight." Alice commented, her deep black eyes locked on my face. "Kallie shouldn't be left home alone tonight, but I promised Korum that I'd hunt with him tomorrow. Would you do me a favor?" I could hardly tell my favorite sister no, but I knew better than to say yes immediately.

"Maybe." I said cautiously, "Depends on what you want Ali."

"I see Kallie needing an escort who can keep her calm. I just want you to stay here tonight. But since I know you need to hunt I'll come with you now."

I blinked, surprised. It was defiantly not what I expected. Last time I had to model her newest line of men's clothing. I couldn't help but smile. "I suppose I could. If you really think Kallie needs me tonight." But my heart was doing flips. FINALLY a chance to have Kallie all to myself, without the possibility of Emm or Ed to interrupt.

We found an area that was having a panther problem only four hundred miles into Canada. I had a hayday. Four moose, six panthers, two black bears and a single wolf- that is what it took to glut my inner demon enough to know I would be safe for Kallie tonight. I decided I would not tell Kallie about the wolf even though he had been old and sickly and injured, they were her favorite animals and she would be miffed at me for ending its life.

I arrived home in time to shower, I was not as neat as Ali so I needed the shower. The hot water beat away the drying animal blood and the mud, in the process raising my body temperature to well above its normal 60*F. The first clap of thunder tore through the silence as I stepped from the shower. I dried and dressed quickly, knowing Kallie would be standing in her glass patio already, watching.

I ran to her house, hardly being touched by the rain that was falling. I let myself in unannounced, something my good southern upbringing screamed at. I strode toward the patio and found her exactly where I expected her to be, curled up on her large futon couch, covered in her favorite blanket, a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. I deliberately made noise as I opened the door and entered the room. She did not jump, apparently she had expected me.

"Alice called me," she said softly, knowing I could hear her, "Thanks for coming to watch this with me." She did not even look at me, but her comfort with me made me grin. Feeling more welcome than I would have had she made a huge fuss I joined her on her futon. She lifted the edge of her comforter and I joined her under its warmth.

Her scent wrapped around me, the heat of her body burning me, filling me with sparks. I pulled wanted to pull her into my arms but refrained, no good southern gent would force himself upon a lady, so I would not. But it was difficult. I did not watch the storm that had her so riveted. But I did enjoy the play emotion across her face and through my own heart.

The lightning crossed the sky in a ray of purple I saw in the reflection of Kallie's bright eyes. We watched the beauty and the power of Nature until two in the morning when there was a lull in the raging of the storm. Kallie stood with a quiet groan and a yawn. "I'm going to grab some coffee," she said softly, her smile small but bright. I followed her inside.

The coffee maker beeped and Kallie poured herself a cup of the dark, strong smelling liquid. She had just raised the cup to her lips when all the lights went out. Her cup shattered on the floor and the shadow of her fear hit me like a wrecking ball, so much stronger than ever before- even when I attacked her. I did my best to collect myself and send her the sensation of calm. She shuddered a few times, her breath erratic. She stretched out her hands, searching for me. I caught her small, hot hands in my own and pulled her against my stone chest. She quivered in my hold, slowly calming.

Unfortunately her slow decent into a calm state did not mirror my emotions. Her body pressed to my front took me along for a wild ride that was my rising desire for the small woman in my arms. When she had finally calmed she could not remain still. She pressed her cheek against my shoulder, her breath ghosting hotly across my neck. I was ready to toss her onto the counter and do something terrible when I felt her rising amusement.

Kallie giggled. And then she could not stop. Her amusement was infectious and suddenly I too was chuckling. She laughed until I had to bodily hold her upright, which only made her laugh more. Finally she quieted and the tension in me had been long forgotten. I was comfortable simply to hold her.

She sighed in comfort and looked around, her hair brushing my collarbone and cheek. "I'd best find some candles." She said softly. She removed herself from my hold and stepped to fetch what she needed. And then she hissed, leaping backward into my arms. The sweet scent of blood filled the room.

My desire rose once again, but happily it was not targeted on the woman in my arms, but on the growing puddle of her blood on the tile flooring. I lifted her easily onto the kitchen counter and tossed her a towel. Unable to help myself I bent my head to the floor and lapped the still warm liquid from the tiles. Once the tile was clean and her blood no longer on anything but her body, where her magic prevented its call, I realized my idiocy. If I were able to blush I would have done so.

I stood and looked at Kallie. Her eyes, which could hardly make me out in the darkness, had not caught my embarrassing reaction. It had only taken me but a moment- two, perhaps three, beats of her hammering heart. I was so sated by the blood of the animals that while her blood made my body sing it also made me want to wretch, I had ingested so much.

She was trying to stem the flow of blood from her foot. Gently I pried her hands away. The dish towel would be ruined but it would suffice for now. I pried it from her fingers. Then I took a good look at her foot, holding my breath so the slow dripping of her life's blood would not distract me once more. Shards of the teacup had imbedded deeply into her small foot. I fetched a basin of hot water and a mild soap. Carefully I began to pick the shards from her foot, each time I touched her she hissed in pain but did not move.

After a long while, I had to be slow and deliberate or I would lose my very fragile control, I felt Kallie lean her forehead on my shoulder, her hair fanning across my back and neck. I looked from the corner of my eye and could see her pulse throbbing in her throat; I looked quickly away. Perhaps Emmett would be best for her, I told myself.

Hot drops of water, her tears, broke me from my mind. "I'm sorry Jazz. I'm so sorry, I'm such a bloody klutz. I know this is hard on you." Her soft voice was hardly above a whisper but I heard her clearer than a bell. I continued to clean out her foot. "I know it sounds selfish but…" she hesitated, and I heart her heart rate pick up, "I'm really glad it's you here tonight and not anyone else." In my surprise I sucked in a gasp of air and while the monster in my head who was so enthralled with her blood roared- her blood was by now all over my hands, the counter, the rag, and the shards of ceramic- the man who was Jasper Whitlock and the beast who wanted Kallie on her back drowned it out, so pleased were they by her confession.

She, very deliberately and slowly, turned her head so her breath once more ghosted across my neck. "Do you know why I laughed earlier?" She whispered. I shook my head, I had not cared until that moment but suddenly I had to know. "I was thinking about your reaction to something." I made an inquiring noise in the back of my throat, completely on edge. "I need to tell you something, I've needed to tell you all week. But Alice and Emm thought tonight would be the best time, since I wasn't working." I was desperate now, I held perfectly still but I ached to do something, anything. I had to let her finish. "I've been so excited to tell you, but now… now I don't know how to say it…" And my heart sank like a brick, dropped from my chest to the depths of hell where it lay burning, she had chosen, but it wasn't me. She was still speaking however and I caught the words, "…show you."

I moved to pull away from her just as something warm, soft, and slightly damp brushed against my throat. Kallie's lips continued to tentatively caress my neck and progress slowly upward. Once she reached my ear I felt her teeth press down on the lobe of said ear. I half groaned, half growled- the first sound or motion I'd made since she kissed me. I caught her head in my hand and pulled her lips to mine roughly, my other hand grasping her hip and dragging her to the edge of the counter, forcing her body flush against mine. But this time she responded in kind, her hands twinned in my hair, her kiss as passionate as my own.

When she had to breathe I pulled away from her lips, letting mine fall to her throat. Gently I pressed kisses there, the pulsing of her blood in her veins only the slightest of distractions, one I pushed from my mind with ease. For once there was only one person in my mind, The man I once was, the man I was with Kallie- Jasper Whitlock. She shuddered as I found a particularly sensitive spot where her shoulder met her throat, she tipped her head back to give me better access.

But as I continued to worry at the spot, leaving a dark little spot as evidence she was MINE, she tugged gently at my hair, trying to lift my face to hers. "Jasper," she moaned breathlessly, "Jasper stop for a moment." She had no conviction behind her words, her mind was as clouded in lust as my own, but unlike me she was fighting it, fighting ME. I growled at her and bit down gently. The flash of fear tinged lust hit me like a tidal wave, drowning me. She did not stop her incessant tugging however. "Damn it Jazzy, love, LOOK at me." She begged.

It was not the pleading in her voice that made me stop, but the way she addressed me. I rose my eyes to hers to find them the darkest green I'd ever seen, they were so clouded with her desire. She laughed at the look on my face and I scowled at her. She pressed a soft kiss to my lips, pulling away before I could deepen it. "I want to talk to you for a moment silly." Her voice broke slightly as my hands trailed across her inner thighs and rear end. "I can't think when you do that," she snapped, and if I were unable to feel the pleasure and joy radiating off her I would have stopped her voice was so stern, instead I quivered in pleasure and desire, only wanting her more. But I stilled my hands, knowing she really did want to think.

And so I tried to calm myself, but it was difficult because I was no longer alone in my mind. Both the monster and the man-beast roared at me to continue what I had been doing. To touch her once more. To make her mine before she could rethink it, before she could tell me no. I tried my best to crush them but they were too strong, finally all I could do was hold them off long enough to nod to Kallie, to let her know I was listening.

"Jazzy… I love you." And with those four little words my whole world stopped. The beast and the monster were suddenly silent, shocked by the declaration as much as I was. And she did love me, the emotion coming off her in wave upon wave, stronger than any emotion I had ever felt; While she did not have the words to express exactly how much she loved me I knew.

She smiled crookedly at me before continuing, "I just wanted you to know that before anything else happens, because… if this happens…" her pause broke my heart as the fear and vulnerability that came off her were so strong, stronger than I had ever felt in all my 160 years. "I'm not letting you go." She continued, her voice sure but her emotions all but begging me to comfort her.

I laughed and pulled her gently to me, tucking her head under my chin. "Trust me," I murmured into her hair, just loud enough for her to hear, "I'm not going anywhere, ever, my love." She sighed in comfort and wrapped her arms around me, pressing her cheek to my chest, "But," I continued, my voice rising slightly, "I'm afraid that goes both ways." I grasped her chin and made her meet my eyes as I softly growled out, "Your MINE now." And I kissed her again.

His accent and his growl made the words hard to understand, but I defiantly got the gist of it, I belonged to him now. And while my inner feminist screamed at the possessiveness of the statement the sweetness of his kiss shut her up for good. It was nothing like the rough, possessive, desperate, and passionate kiss from before. This was sweet, slow, deliberate, and loving; and it made me feel light enough to fly. I clung to him, letting him know in the only way I could that I loved him as much a he loved me.

Finally he released me and I found myself pleased he was breathing as raggedly as I was. But once his cool, firm lips were gone from mine the sharp ache in my foot returned with a vengeance. His lips ghosted across my cheeks, my jaw, my brow, even across my closed eyelids. I giggled at the gentle butterfly kisses. "Jazz," I murmured against his lips as they returned to mine, He growled softly in response. "Jazzy, love, as much as I want this to continue… my foot really hurts." He laughed and gently began to tend my poor, abused foot once more.

But if you must know we did pick up where we'd left off later that night. With my multitude of candles to light my bedroom and the storm raging against the glass of my window the night was perfect. We did NOT do the dirty deed, it was simply enough to be held in the arms of a man I loved with my whole being, and whom I knew loved me just as much. I fell asleep wrapped in Jazzy's arms, and woke again the next morning still in his arms. It was a perfect beginning to our story, one we continue to write every single day.

Oh, and Ed did eventually get over himself and realize he couldn't protect me forever. He was Jasper's best man at our wedding, and Bella was my Maid of Honor. Alice and Rose helped me with the arrangements, so they weren't too miffed.

And Rose has started to warm up to me. But I sometimes wonder if that's because I found a spell in my Mother's books that might make her fertile… We're going to test it out as soon as I've gotten all the ingredients and stored up enough energy. But that is not this story, that's a different story for a different time, perhaps one day I'll tell it to you.