All the usual disclaimers apply.
Mad props to my beta vjgm, the rockingest beta in beta history!
Thank you so much to the readers, you guys are the coolest and I loves you all to bits and bits!! *MWAH*
~APOV~
"I should get back, I'm going to try to talk to Alice before the guys get back," Bella said.
"Bella, I don't know what she's hiding, so just be careful."
"Crap," I muttered as I watched the vision play out.
I saw that if I continued to lie to them that it would severely hurt out sisterly bond and possibly sever our ability to share our gifts with one another. I couldn't live with myself if that happened.
Conversely, I saw that if I did tell them the truth about what was going on, that they would be upset at first and possibly be secretly pissed at me for a decade or two, but they would eventually forgive me.
I picked up my cell and hit speed dial.
"Have we run into another snag, Alice?"
I took a deep breath. "I have to tell them."
"Are you sure…never mind, you're sure aren't you?"
"We need come clean, or this is all going to fall apart."
There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment, then, "I'll be there in the morning."
Now I just had to avoid being alone with Bella until tomorrow morning. While I was figuring out how in the blue blazes I was going to pull that little miracle off, another vision stopped me in my tracks.
The vision centered on Jasper and Edward and I flung my arms in the air in frustration.
"Fuck a damn duck, not now!"
~EPOV~
I wanted to talk to Jasper about what was going on in the Cullen house, because something was seriously not right over there. I could sense that he wanted to talk to me too, but neither one of us spoke a word until we were well onto the freeway.
"Okay, so we have established the fact that something is definitely up with the Cullen women, agreed?"
"Agreed." Jasper nodded, keeping his eyes on the road.
"And the more I think about, the more I think that Emmett was onto something with this whole witch thing or something."
Jasper nodded vehemently. "Also agreed."
"If we were smart, we'd keep our asses at home and stay the hell away from that house and those women."
"If we were smart," Jasper snorted. "That's one big 'if' bro."
I had to laugh, because I knew there was no way in hell either one of us had any intention of staying away from that house or it's inhabitants, even if we wanted to.
"I am worried about Emmett though," I sighed, looking out the window at the passing trees.
"How do you mean?" Jasper asked, looking at me sideways.
"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. I began to rethink what was running through my head and settled with something vague. "It's just a gut feeling I guess."
"I know what you mean," he said, gripping the steering wheel and an uneasy feeling washing over his face. "It sure looked like Emmett's handwriting on that note, but I just can't shake the feeling that…"
"Rosalie is out in the woods somewhere bathing naked in his blood?" I blurted out.
"Something like that."
We both stared out the window for a few miles, completely silent. "We need a plan," Jasper finally said.
Yes, we needed a plan and fast. We decided that we needed to take some time off, we couldn't be running back and forth to the station, we needed to be focused. Dad wasn't going to be happy about it being so sudden and all, but it's not like Forks was some crime infested city where our lack of presence at the station would really make or break anything. Besides, it wasn't that unusual for us to go out into the woods for a week or so to relax.
When dad wondered where Emmett was, we made up some excuse that he was at the market, getting our food supplies for the week. We didn't think he'd buy that whole Vegas bullshit, because we weren't sure if we even bought it.
"Okay, so what do we know?" Jasper said when we were out in the garage gathering camping gear.
"They're really strong," I said as I remembered Bella flipping me over like I was nothing but a rag doll. I closed my eyes and a shudder of pleasure ran through my body at the memory.
When I opened my eyes Jasper was looking at me like I was on crack. "Have a moment did we?" he asked, trying not to laugh.
I rolled my eyes. "This is serious Jazz," I scolded.
"Right, okay, they're fast and Alice's skin…" he stopped and considered his words for moment, "it's weird, but not gross weird, weird like…like…"
"Hard and soft at the same time and you just want to devour every inch of it," I said, finishing his thought.
"Yeah," he nodded, "and cold."
We kept going over things as we headed back to the house, compiling our 'Weird Shit' list, which included; that after I bit and sucked the hell out of Bella's wrist there wasn't a mark on her at all, the strange growling sounds they seemed to make when excited, they were fast as hell, they didn't get hung over, as a matter of fact the didn't seem to get drunk at all, that no matter how much we wanted to stay away we couldn't, and the fact that all they had to do was look at us and smile and we'd do whatever they asked, literally.
Not to mention they seemed to know certain intimate stuff, like Bella knowing just where to touch me and how to send me into orbit. It was like she'd been running around inside my head, watching my most private dreams. Come to think of it, she had been in every single one of my dreams for about two months before we met, and each dream had gotten better and better as dream Bella learned more about me and what turned my crank.
Hmmm, I wonder if it works both ways, if I do some of the things I'd done to her in my dreams that drove dream Bella berserk, would it drive real Bella just as batshit out of her mind? I couldn't stop the smile that was breaking out across my face.
"What are you thinking about over there?" Jasper asked.
"Just a theory," I smiled. As scared as I was of the unknown, what Bella could really be, I couldn't help the feeling deep in my soul that she truly completed me.
We pulled off of the highway and onto the gravel road that lead to the Cullen home. "So, are we just going to come right out and ask them what's going on or just play it cool?" I asked. Jasper had a way of reading people and situations which, quite frankly, made him an excellent cop.
"Well," Jazz said, blowing out a long breath, "maybe we shouldn't say anything just yet, just in case we are overreacting."
Granted, I was more than guilty of overreacting, but I didn't think that was the case this time, as much as I didn't want to admit it.
No, I feared that, if anything, we were seriously under reacting.
~BPOV~
I burst through the back door of the house. My irritation toward Alice grew with every stride back to the house. She was going to tell me what was going on, so help me, or…
"Alice!" I bellowed, slamming the back door and rattling the entire house.
"There you are, we have an issue," she said as she grabbed my shirt sleeve, trying to pull me into the next room.
"You bet your sweet little pixie ass we do!" I said planting my feet and jerking my arm back away from her, tearing my sleeve. "I want to know what you are hiding right now."
Alice squeezed her eyes shut. "Bella, you have no idea how much we don't have time for this." She reached for my hand and snatched it in her grasp before I could pull away.
Her vision of Edward and Jasper and all of their questions about us and what was really going on with Rose and Emmett bombarded my brain.
"Oh shit," I gasped.
"Exactly," she said, releasing my hand. "Now I know you have no reason to trust me right now and you are really angry that I've been hiding stuff from you and Rose, but you have to believe me that I only did what I had to do. You don't know how many times I've wanted to tell you both what was going on but I couldn't. Every vision of me telling the two of you was disastrous. Please understand, Bella."
I heard the doors to the jeep close outside. I looked at my sister, her eyes begged for my understanding and forgiveness.
"Just act natural, like everything is completely normal." I heard Jasper say as they were walking up the porch steps.
She was right, this was more important. The thought of losing Edward was absolutely horrendous, almost as bad as the thought of losing my sisters.
"You will explain every thing, Alice."
"Tomorrow morning, I promise," she said, crossing her unbeating heart with her fingers just as there was a knock on the door.
I tried my best to move at human speed when I saw Edward. He chuckled as I bounced over to him and wrapped my arms around his warm waist.
"I missed you," he whispered into my hair and breathing his hot breath down the back of my neck. I nearly melted right there on the spot.
"I missed you too," I said as I squeezed him, careful not to exert too much pressure and crush his bones.
"Get a room," Jasper teased.
I giggled as I lead him upstairs. "You can put your stuff in my room," I said over my shoulder, "if that's okay with you."
His little crooked grin told me that it was definitely okay. I danced him across the room, my arms wrapped lightly around his neck.
"Can I show you something?" he asked, working his bottom lip with his teeth. He looked so damned cute when he was nervous.
"Of course."
He worked his way out of my embrace and over to his bag. "Just promise me you won't freak out okay?"
Now I was nervous. What could he possibly show me that would freak me out?
He pulled a sketch pad out of his bag and sat on the bed, patting the spot next to him. I trotted over and plopped down, leaning my head on his shoulder.
I could hear his heart pounding as he started to open the book. He flipped through some pages pretty fast, so fast that a human probably wouldn't see the drawings as they whizzed by.
He stopped on a page and I gasped. It was my face staring back at me.
"Edward, that is amazing!" I said, grabbing the pad from him and started to study it.
"There's more," he said quietly, playing with his fingers.
I started to leaf through the book and saw page after page of me. "How long have you been doing this?"
"About two months," he wrinkled his nose, "man, that didn't sound quite so creepy in my head." He chuckled and shook his head, "It's just, that was about the time I started dreaming about you." The back of his hand moved slowly up my arm, burning my skin with his intense heat. "I dreamed of you every night, Bella."
The pad slid out of my lap and I gripped the back of his neck and hoisted my lips to his. He pulled me on top of him as he lay back on the bed, his mouth crushing against mine.
I opened my mouth, carefully making sure my teeth were protected and allowed his tongue to slip between my lips. His whole body jolted and he gripped me harder, making me growl. He rolled on top of me, pulling my leg around his body, his fingers pressing hard into the unforgiving skin of my thigh.
His forcefulness was driving me to the breaking point. Just as I was about to claw apart his jeans he pulled away and started backing off of the bed.
"Come on," he panted, holding a hand out to me.
I was confused, but I took his hand anyway. He picked up his sketch pad and started backing out of my room, pulling me along.
"I want to draw you," he said, still a little breathless from our make out session.
"You have drawn me," I motioned to the book, "a lot." I started pulling him back toward the bed and he planted his feet.
"No," he shook his head, dragging me into his arms. "I want to draw you while you're standing in front of me so I can get everything right," he whispered into my neck.
Of course I relented. How could I not when he was breathing that deliciously hot air down the back of my neck and rubbing the pad of his thumb up and down my lower spine.
"Let me change then."
"Uh-uh," he shook his head, "this is fine for how I want to sketch you."
Giggling like idiots we headed down the stairs and out of the back door.
When we hit the back yard he started to run in the direction of Rosalie and Emmett. That would not be a good thing. He slowed, allowing me to catch up I assumed. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek as I jogged by, turning to the right and leading him away from the old cottage.
Run like a human, run like a human, run like a human, I chanted inside my head.
After a little while, I let him catch up to me and pin me against a big tree.
"You're pretty fast," he panted. He leaned back, and then took a step back and then three more steps back, finally nodding his head. "I think this will do just fine."
"Here?"
He nodded some more, grinning with one corner of his bottom lip wedged between his teeth. He walked back over to me and ran one finger up the length of my arm. He licked his lips and looked me up and down. "Will you take your clothes off for me?" he whispered, his voice was so low that any human woman would have had to have him repeat himself.
My skin zinged with excitement as I peeled my clothes off, slowly. I wasn't wearing much really, just a tank and little cotton shorts. His breathing hitched in his chest when he realized I wasn't wearing any panties.
"How do you want me?" I asked, fully intending the question to be dripping with innuendos.
They weren't lost on him. His eyes widened and dilated a fraction of a millimeter, his pulse hammered inside his veins and I could smell the arousal that was rolling off of him in waves.
He started sketching like mad, his eyes darting from my body to the page and back again. I closed my eyes and listened to the scratching sound of his pencil moving swiftly across the paper.
When everything was quiet, other than the rapid heart beat and shallow breathing coming from Edward, I slowly opened my eyes. I smiled and winked at him as I gripped the trunk of the tree behind my back.
He threw the pad and pencil to the ground and lunged at me, curling his fingers in my hair and crashing his lips to mine, hungrily nibbling at my mouth. His cool belt buckle pressed against my body as he pushed me firmly against the tree. I wrapped my leg around his and he growled against me, kissing me harder and pulling my hair as he ground his hips against mine.
His roughness was driving me insane. I had to have him, now. I reached for his belt and he pulled away suddenly. "Hold on," he said, unbuckling his belt. "I like these pants and I really don't want them to wind up like my underwear," he smiled.
Faster than I'd seen any other human move before, he ripped his shirt over his head and kicked his pants off, he was so eager. I just stood against the tree and watch him. He stumbled forward, trying to get out of his pants too fast and caught himself on the tree, scraping the palm of his hand. "Ow, shit," he muttered.
It wasn't a deep scrape by any means, but I could smell his blood make contact with the air. I clutched the tree, digging my fingers into the bark as a growl rumbled from my chest.
~EPOV~
I looked up and her eyes were wild and jet black. Her nostrils flared and her lip twitched before she stopped breathing all together, that's when I heard the wood crumble in her hands.
What could have possibly brought this on? I licked my lips as I thought and her body went completely rigid. She gripped the tree tighter and squeezed her eyes shut.
My subconscious was screaming at me to run, that this was a highly dangerous situation, I could feel it in the pit of my gut.
Her eyes opened again, large black pools sat where once there was golden topaz and I wanted her more than anything on this planet.
Danger be damned.
I gripped her waist and roughly tried to shove her body farther up the tree but she wouldn't budge. Before I could beg, and yes at this point I would have begged, she reached up the tree trunk and hoisted herself up, locking her legs around my waist.
I didn't hesitate, no matter how terrified I was that this might be the last thing I ever did in my life, but if I had to pick one thing, this was it. I thrust up into her, hard and fast. Her body arched against the bark as she sunk her fingers into it.
Fear and passion crackled in the air around us as I laid into her with everything I had, gritting my teeth and grunting with every thrust. I slid my hand between our bodies and pressed the little nerve bundle at the apex of her thighs.
I felt wood dust rain down my back as the palm of her left hand slid over my shoulder. I looked over, seeing the scar on her wrist and remembering how much it gave her pleasure this morning so I clamped my mouth over it and started to suck and bite.
Her cool breath panted against my neck. I could feel her lips moving against my skin and hear her whispering something to herself but I couldn't make out what she was saying, it was too quiet and too fast.
I thrust as deep as I could, as I rubbed her cold little nub and I bit down as hard as I could on her wrist, throwing caution to the wind and not worrying about breaking the skin this time.
"NO!" she gasped as she tore her mouth away from my neck. Her body started to shudder so hard she shook the entire tree, making the leaves rain down on us.
My body jolted with extreme pleasure as I felt the first wave of her orgasm grip me. I'd been inside women when they came before but this was beyond exquisite. A sweet mix of near pain and pleasure sent me crashing over the edge.
I couldn't take a breath the feeling was so mind numbingly intense that I temporarily lost the ability for base human function.
All that existed was this feeling.
When our bodies started to relax, we slunk to the forest floor.
Instinctively, I ran my hands over her back. I was almost positive that I wouldn't find a single break in her skin but I had to be sure, she was pressed so tightly against that tree. But I found nothing but cool, smooth skin.
I pushed the fears and questions out of my mind. I didn't want to think about the mangled tree trunk that stood beside us and that it was this little woman that had gouged out large pieces of wood with her bare hands. I just wanted to be, right here, right now.
"I love you, Bella."
Bella's head snapped up and she looked in the direction of the house. "We're on our way," she said no louder than casual conversation and then turned to me. "We have to head back to the house, it's time."
~JPOV~
Okay, so what was that saying about best laid plans? Shit, I couldn't remember anymore because Alice was standing there smiling at me and I totally forgot any game plan I might have had.
Focus Jazz, don't give in no matter how much you want to kiss that sweet mouth and feel those icy little hands running all over your body.
Ugh! Stop it! I chastised myself.
"Is everything okay Jasper?" she asked, trying to look innocent, her petite little hands tucked behind her back as she swayed back and forth.
I couldn't explain it but I could practically feel the desire radiating off of her.
"You make me feel strange," I blurted out.
Mentally, I smacked myself in the forehead. What is it about her that gave me a serious case of verbal diarrhea?
"I make you feel strange?" she said quietly, her pert smile starting to droop.
Shit, dumb ass, now you made her feel bad.
My heart ached at the fact that I was the one that made her sad.
"No, Alice, not strange bad," I explained as wrapped my arms around her.
"How then?" she asked, her face buried in my chest. I curled my finger under her cool chin and drew her gaze to mine.
"Alice, when I'm with you, I feel…right."
She cocked her raven eyebrow at me. "And that makes you feel strange?"
"That is what makes me overlook the strange."
"Oh," she said, her voice getting quiet again.
"I know you're different," I said quietly, smoothing my hands up and down her back, "and I'm pretty sure that you are something, other than what I am, but I don't care. Sometimes the things you do scare the hell of me, but God help me, Alice, I love you."
What the hell? Where did that come from? I've known this girl for all of two days and I'm already professing my love?
Yeah, I think I may have lost my damned mind because try as I may I just couldn't stop myself from blurting out that I loved her.
Alice reached up on her tip toes and kissed me softly before she walked to the back door and opened it and spoke like she was talking to someone just outside the door.
I looked out the window, and couldn't see anyone, anywhere in sight. Alice passed by me and something caught my eye, something glittery on her right shoulder, a crescent shaped scar.
I remembered Edward talking about Bella and her scar and her reaction when he touched it. I walked up behind Alice and started to casually rub her back, and started to move up her right shoulder. My thumb grazed against the mark and she gasped, gripping the back of the couch.
Lowering my mouth to her skin I let my tongue slide over the spot that was slightly colder than the surrounding flesh.
I heard that growling sound bubble out of her and the sound of thick fabric tearing.
I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled myself closer to her, bending against her as I started to graze my teeth across her skin.
Her entire body started to tremble. "I need more Jasper," she whimpered, pressing and rubbing her backside against me.
Being around Alice put me in a constant state of arousal and I didn't need to be asked twice. As fast as my hands would move, I shoved my pants down my hips and flipped up the little cotton skirt she was wearing.
I hesitated. "Please…" Alice growled, growing impatient.
I pressed my mouth to her shoulder as I slid my entire length up into her. More sounds of upholstery being ripped apart were accompanied by wood snapping.
With one more swipe of my tongue and one more rough scrape of my teeth she shuddered beneath me. Her cold wet sheath gripped me tight and I couldn't hang on for another second.
"I love you Jasper," she panted and I smiled against her flesh, those were the most wonderful words I'd ever heard.
"Love you," I whispered, letting my lips graze her skin and she shuddered again.
We had just straightened ourselves up and Alice did her best to hide the damage to the couch with a blanket. "Esme is going to kill me, she loved this couch," she muttered.
Before I could ask who the hell Esme was, Bella and Edward burst through the door.
"Oh good, now we can get this out into the open," Alice said.
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