Chapter 13: Dinner For Two
The sun sunk below the horizon. The second load was already piled in the back bedroom and the guys were out in the garage, depositing the work bench, and Jacob's automotive tools in their respective places. Bella had dinner prepared and was waiting for Jacob to call it a day. The rumble of Paul's truck sounded over the goodbyes. He tooted the horn as he, Embry, and Quil departed to their own homes.
Jacob walked up the steps to his new abode, whistling and content. It was a good day. As he sauntered through the front door, he stopped. The plastic sheeting from the mattress was arranged on the floor. There were lighted candles in the center, and the dinnerware was all laid out. Oh, great, did Mark forget to have the electricity turned on? Bella didn't seem concerned, so maybe not.
She walked slowly toward him. "Welcome home, Mr. Black," she purred, her arms snaking around his neck.
His hands instinctively wandered to her waist. "Glad to be home, Mrs. Black—really, really glad. But, uh ... should I be worried ... about the electricity, I mean?"
"You afraid of the dark?" she teased.
His throaty laugh echoed in the empty room. "Only if I'm being attacked, and it kinda looks that way. I'm beggin' you, don't hurt me."
Her lips curled in a half-smile. "I promise I'll be gentle. Would you like to eat ... some food?"
Nodding his head, Jacob issued his stock response, "Sure, sure. I could smell it clear out to the garage. The guys were dyin' in there. They were all tempted to take you away from me. Don't worry though, their bruises will heal in a couple of hours." He chuckled softly.
"You're such a beast," she retorted, shaking her loose hair about her shoulders.
The smile on his face faded, as he replied, "And you're my beauty."
She blushed in the darkness and led him by the hand to the little feast spread out before them.
Jacob had no idea what he was eating, but his taste buds didn't care. It was delicious.
In the glow of the candlelight, Jacob's features were that of an Adonis. His eyes were the color of onyx, and they shone in the flickering lucency nearly making Bella swoon. She wasn't the only one feeing swoony either. Jacob would never admit that, but jeez, she looked so angelic, that as amazing as the dinner was, he couldn't wait to get it over with.
Bella stood up to take the dishes to the sink.
Jacob hurriedly remarked. "Bells, no. You're not washing them tonight. Give them to me; I'll take them. They can wait."
He grabbed everything off the makeshift table and scraped the food from all the plates. Filling the sink with water, he put them there to soak, then sped into the spare bedroom and picked up Embry's iPOD that he left behind. He turned his attention back to Bella, who was waiting in the living room, carrying the iIPOD with him.
"So, Mrs. Black, is there anything you had in mind for tonight—besides what I've got on my mind."
"Ooh, Mr. Black you are a mind reader."
Good ol' Embry—he was a fan of The King. Jacob selected a song on the gadget, handed Bella one of the ear buds, and took the other for himself. He held her close as Elvis crooned, Can't help Falling in Love with You. They swayed to the music, and Jacob started to sing along.
By the middle of the song, Bella looked up at him, her chocolate pools shimmering like diamonds. He pulled her up to his chest to better meet her mouth, as she encircled his waist with her long legs. Jacob's arms were at her back, supporting her weight. Her hands found his neck, while one of his was now free to lovingly stroke her hair. Brushing his lips over her temple and ear, Jacob could feel her body tremble slightly. He nibbled her earlobe, his nose grazing upward, leaving wisps of air behind making her shudder.
Bella leaned her head back giving him access to her smooth throat. He licked and nuzzled up it slowly and traveled down gradually until she was ready to scream for more. Little whimpers escaped her lips much to Jacob's delight. The side of his jaw slid against hers, and finally his lips inched closer up her chin. His warm brown eyes were alight with flames of desire, and he couldn't resist any longer. He took her face in his hands and moistening his lips, touched them lightly to hers. Bella's fingers were knotted in his hair, fisting it as her passion grew at an alarming rate. God, he loved it when she did that. The pressure of his mouth on hers increased until they were both gasping for breath. Their lips moved against each other; their tongues dancing along with the music.
When the song ended, he quickly pulled the ear buds away, sliding the iPOD along the floor. He released Bella, blew out the candles and swept her up, carrying her bridal style to the bedroom. The iPOD, still on the floor was—ironically—playing Burning Love as they tumbled onto the bed.
Their shouts of joy and screams of passion echoed in the cavernous rooms. They were free to express any and all emotions, without interruptions or fear of being discovered. It was as if all restraints were suddenly unleashed. Their home was now a newly found paradise, a garden of Eden if you will. Who cared if the garden was laced with pine trees? Not Bella, and certainly not Jacob!
Their bedding was properly baptized that night albeit with fire rather than the traditional way—with water. As they lay under the covers, wrapped in each other's arms, Jacob commented, "I don't ever want to leave this bed."
He snuggled closer to his sweetheart, kissing the top of her head, as she laid it on his broad chest. Bella began to run her fingers softly on the outline of his pectoral muscles, trailing down the center of his abdomen, eliciting a shiver from Jacob. "You better stop that, girl, unless you're up for round two," he taunted, huskily.
All at once, Bella pushed herself up on one elbow. Instead of replying to his remark, she lamented, "Oh my gosh, I just realized, we didn't get to have our dessert."
Cocking an eyebrow smugly, Jacob gloated, "Speak for yourself, honey. It was sooo good. I loved every bit of it. Can I have seconds?"
Bella gazed into Jacob's eyes. They were twinkling with mischief. "Do you really want to?"
"Nah, I was just trying to get a rise outta you. It's been a long day, and crap—there's school tomorrow. We better get some serious shuteye."
While they were chatting in the next few minutes, Bella was startled by the loud howls of a nearby wolf. Her body twitched at the sound. Jacob reassured her, rubbing her shoulder. He laughed, and said, "Don't worry, it's just Paul being an idiot as usual."
She raised her face to look at him. "How can you tell?"
Jacob's head jerked in surprise. "You're kidding, right?"
Lucky for them, Paul's howling didn't continue for long. Jacob guessed that he either got tired or had pity on them. Actually, Sam had put a stop to it. He didn't especially think Paul's prank was very funny. In fact, Paul was getting on his last nerve.
Bella was so tired, but she couldn't fall asleep yet. Jacob was out cold. It wasn't fair; how did he do that? She couldn't stop thinking about the dirty dishes in the sink. The last time they let the dishes go like that it took a lot of scrubbing to get the gunk off of them. At least this time, they were in a sink full of water, but still ...
She inched out of Jacob's strong arms and scooted to the edge of the bed. Sneaking out of the room, she tiptoed on the cold floor out to the kitchen, and turned on the light. There weren't too many dishes, thank goodness. She drained the sink, and started over again with hot water and dish soap. The dishes were practically flying out of the sink, and into the drying rack. Well, can you blame her? Her feet were freezing, and she wanted to get back to her toasty warm bed.
She had to search for the stupid dish towels though. Darn, where in the world did Quil put them? It took her at least ten minutes, looking in every cotton-pickin' drawer and cabinet before she found them, for Pete's sake!
The dishes got dried hurriedly and put away. She snuck back into bed, cuddling up to her hunk of burning love, trying so carefully not to wake him up.
Darn—busted! One of his eyelids fluttered open, and he heaved a great sigh. "Aww, Bells ... you washed those damn dishes, didn't you?"
No sense denying it—she was caught. "I didn't want them to sit there till tomorrow afternoon. The men are coming with the furniture in the morning. Do you want them to think I'm a lousy housekeeper?"
"I don't give a crap what those guys think, but if I knew you were going to wash up the dishes, I would've helped you. Now, get closer so I can warm you up ... Aaah! Jeez, your feet are freezing."
It was nice not having to vie for the use of the shower. And there was plenty of hot water. Even at Sam's place, the hot water tended to peter out toward the last few minutes. Anyway, they were all freshened up and Jacob kept sniffing Bella. Her scent was driving him to distraction; she smelled so good. The fragrance seemed to be intensified, since there were no other scents in the empty house. That had never happened before. There had always been some other personal odors in the air to mix with hers. God, the men better bring some of theirs with them, or he was gonna be one lovesick puppy for a long time.
Slapping his arm, Bella complained, "Will you stop that! You'd think you were a bloodhound or something."
Jacob was slipping strands of her hair between his fingers, lifting it to his nose and inhaling deeply. "I can't help it; your scent is driving me wild. If Leah wasn't on her way over here to pick us up, I'd be hauling you back to the wolf's den."
"Yeah, well she is—so hold onto your hormones, big boy."
Five minutes later, Embry was knocking at the door. Jacob and Bella got in the car and they were off like a shot to their classes. Poor Jacob sat in the back seat with his sweetheart, a pained expression on his face. The day had just started, and he was wishing they were back home already.
A/N: As promised—ta da! Oops ... The lyrics to Burning Love had to be removed, sorry folks, due to fanfiction guidelines!