Chapter Nine

Getting Friendly With the Bloodsuckers

Lilah's POV

I didn't think it was the least bit fair that I couldn't go along with Paul to the meeting with the Cullen's. Emily said that it was best for us to stay behind at her home while the boys took the next step in an uneasy alliance with the vampires; she said that the pack would be under enough pressure as it was, and while I could see the wisdom in her theory I still didn't like it. If Bella Swan was going to be allowed to be there, and she wasn't a vampire or a member of the pack, then why couldn't I be there as well?

It was probably making Emily and Kim crazy, my incessant need to pace the floor and mutter to myself, flying to the window to look out every time I heard a noise, but if they were in danger of losing their minds, they were doing an admirable job of pretending otherwise, sitting at the table with Claire, helping the little one piece together a puzzle and smiling at her continuous chattering. Normally I loved children, and would have been happy to sit with them, adding my own laughter to the mix, thoroughly entertained by the child, but with my nerves on edge as they were I knew that there was no way that I could sit still and enjoy myself.

I hadn't really been able to get much information out of anyone, other than the fact that a new coalition had been established with the Cullen's, a group whose numbers they hoped would be large enough, strong enough, to stop an attack from vampires traveling from Seattle, the real deal bloodsuckers who fed on human beings, as opposed to slaking their thirst with Bambi and all of his little friends. It was a terrifying prospect, compounded by my worrying over our guys...especially Paul.

It was funny how we'd fallen into a routine of easy intimacy, like a couple who'd had years together. He still stayed at my cottage, still slept on my couch, and when I returned from work, exhausted, reeking of grease and grilled onions, positively dead on my feet, he was always waiting for me, ready and willing to rub my shoulders, my back, my calves, my feet, his hands working magic on my body without ever trying to cop a feel. It was something we hadn't really approached, heightening our physical closeness with one another, having seemed to reach an unspoken agreement to take things kind of slow. It was obvious that he had experience, lots of it, and I didn't, and amazingly enough, he seemed content not to rush me...which I appreciated.

"You're going to wear yourself ragged, pacing the floor that way," Emily said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. I didn't turn from the window, childishly rolling my eyes and sticking my tongue out at the window in response.

"I saw that," she said, the smile in her voice growing to a laugh. "Glass is reflective, you know?"

They were all having one big laugh at my expense, and I flounced my way over to where they sat, blushing and smiling sheepishly as I took a seat at the table. I knew that Emily had experience with this sort of thing, but why in hell was Kim so calm? It wasn't like she was a veteran, like Emily was, she was a green rookie, same as me, so why wasn't she pacing the floor, making a spectacle of herself, worried to death over Jared? She seemed calm, almost serene, and it was enough of a provocation to make me want to smack her, even though I knew that would be completely irrational.

I was able to sit there, glancing from the puzzle, to the windows, to the door, back to the puzzle, repeatedly for five minutes and then I jumped to my feet, inspiration, paired with desperation, driving me toward the front door. "Where are you going, Lilah?" Emily asked, not taking her eyes from the puzzle. "It's way too early for the boys to be back. Why don't you sit back down and help us with this puzzle?"

I opened the door and stood still, smiling as the breeze flitted over my face, bringing with it the smell of the grass, of the flowers, and of the wilder scent of the forest. "I'd rather wait outside," I answered, not daring to turn around, lest she see the lie that had to be pasted across my face. "I need a little time to myself, ok?"

If she knew that I was being less than honest with her she gave me no indication. "I can understand that," she said kindly, making me feel horrible for lying to her. "Just make sure that you stay close to the house, ok, don't go too far."

The guilty feeling plaguing my conscience swelled and I still couldn't turn and face her. I made due with nodding and rushed outside before I could change my mind, glancing around at the forest surrounding Emily's house, closing my eyes to remember the path that the boys had taken when they left. I knew that I would be sure to catch hell from Paul for this, if he caught me, but I just couldn't stand it. I had to see for myself that he truly was alright and the only way to do that was to follow their trail and spy on them.

I was a novice at tracking people, and it was more than likely sheer dumb luck, paired with a bright full moon, that made it possible for me to discover, and follow, their trail. I don't know what I would have done on my own, probably wandered around for hours, but before long I found that I could hear sounds, voices, in the forest, most which were unfamiliar to me, until I heard what I was sure was Dr. Cullen's voice and felt a surge of delight, knowing that I had found the right spot.

I crept over to an opening in the trees, and was given one quick moment to survey the majesty of the Cullen's as they tussled with one another in front of a group of imposing wolves, completely disregarding the fact that both the vampires and the pack were gifted with an acute sense of smell. At first I couldn't understand why their attention suddenly turned my way, but I caught on pretty damn quick when one of the wolves, the big grey one, oh crap, the one that I recognized as Paul, started growling furiously, moving toward the spot where I stood, frozen in fear, before the black wolf, that would be Sam, intercepted him.

It was obvious that they were having a rather heated discussion, although all I could hear were their growls, one of them calm and the other one angry. I contemplated turning to run away, even though I knew I'd be caught in an instant, when suddenly one of the Cullen's, a blond guy who was just as gorgeous as his adoptive father, broke away from the others and walked toward me, stopping a respectful distance away, staring at me and smiling in a way that I guess you could call welcoming. I heard Paul's snarls grow even more furious, but the vampire ignored him, his attention centered completely on me.

"You must be Lilah," he said softly, his eyes meeting, and holding, my own. "My name is Jasper Hale. I've heard a great deal about you and am pleased to make your acquaintance."

As he continued to hold onto my eyes I felt an odd sense of calmness wash over me, carrying away my trepidation as thoroughly as if I'd never even known what it meant to be scared, or apprehensive. "It's nice to meet you as well," I mumbled, embarrassed now to have been caught spying on them, when I was supposed to have stayed with Emily. "I guess I owe everyone an apology for coming in uninvited the way I did, huh?"

There were answering growls from the direction of Paul that I would have sworn were the wolf equivalent of "damn right", but no one else seemed overly upset about the fact that I'd been caught red-handed, spying on them. "An apology isn't necessary," a new, and familiar, voice joined the conversation, that of Dr. Cullen, who was still achingly beautiful, despite his bloodsucker tendencies. "We were pretty well finished for the night, so there's no need for you to apologize to us Lilah, or to feel ill at ease."

I wasn't sure what sort of reception I would have expected from a family of vampires, but I think I could say with some certainty that I hadn't entertained the notion that they'd be friendly, but they were. They were all breathtakingly exquisite, making me feel about as attractive as a lumpy toad, and all were very welcoming to me, with the exception of a golden haired woman who looked at me in a way that left no doubt in my mind that she didn't like me, though I couldn't think of anything I'd done that would make her loathe me on sight, not even my sudden, uninvited appearance.

One by one everyone left the clearing and I watched them leave with anxious eyes. This was the first time that I'd seen Paul angry because of me...at me...and while I wasn't scared of him, I knew that he would never have hurt me, I wasn't looking forward to the moment that he'd phase back to his human form and I'd have to see the disappointment in his eyes when he looked at me.

I kept my back turned on the spot where he and Sam had been standing, refusing to turn and look at him, but suddenly everyone else was gone, and I knew that the time had come for me to face him. I took several deep breaths, doing my best to bolster my courage and seek him out, when suddenly I felt him behind me, felt his heat radiating against my back, felt his body shaking, and wondered whether it was from anger or from fear, or maybe a little of both.

I felt his hand on my hair, stroking its length, and then he pressed his nose to my crown, breathing deeply, shakily, before drawing my hair away from my neck, baring my nape. I had come to expect this from him, it was one of his favorite places to kiss, and I wasn't disappointed when I felt the warmth of his mouth on my skin, but what I wasn't ready for was the sharp nip of his teeth after the kiss, or for the low growl in his throat that told me that he was still displeased and my heart flip-flopped in my chest as he turned me in his arms and I found myself staring into his dark, tempestuous eyes.

Paul's POV

I couldn't remember the last time I'd been so angry, but it had been awhile. I had been furious when I'd faced off with that stunted maggot Sonny, but this was an entirely different kind of rage. The night had already been ruined for me, having to hobnob with leeches, watching their fighting techniques, trying to remember that I was supposed to pay attention, that I was supposed to be learning to fight against the newborn bloodsuckers, but my mind had been otherwise occupied, with thoughts of my Lilah, of course, something that had earned me more than one reprimand from Sam, when suddenly I had smelled her so clearly, as though she was there with me, and surprise, surprise...she was.

It had been irrational, I suppose, to allow myself to become so enraged, but she wasn't supposed to be there, dammit, she wasn't supposed to be exposed to the leeches. She'd been safe, waiting for me at Emily's house, and that was where she was supposed to have stayed. It was a new feeling for me, being angry with my Lilah, an emotion that Sam had done his best to talk me out of, especially when I'd seen her talking to the calming one. She wasn't supposed to see the bloodsuckers, for chrissakes, and she sure as hell wasn't supposed to talk to them, but my wishes may as well have been nonexistent, because she talked to every one of them, though the blond chick had given her a wide berth. That should have made me happy, after all, I didn't want her fraternizing with a coven of vampires, but for some stupid reason it made me even more furious, that one of them was snubbing her...how freakin' stupid was that?

Now I was holding her in my arms, willing away all of my residual anger, remembering that this was the woman I loved, remembering that me letting go of my temper at that moment could hurt her very badly, remembering Emily's face, and what Sam had done and had to live with each and every day. I kept a strong grip on my self-control, but not strong enough for me to not show my displeasure and exert the control that I wanted to have by nipping the back of her neck, not hard enough to cause her any real pain, but enough to show her that I wasn't at all pleased by the fact that she'd put her life in danger.

She was staring up at me, and I really wished that she would stop licking her lips the way that she was. I could see that she was kind of scared, and how in hell was I supposed to reassure her when all I was thinking about was taking hold of that sweet mouth of hers? I didn't want her to be afraid of me, but at the same time she needed to understand that this life we led was dangerous, and that when she was told to do something, she needed to do it. Of course, it would be a lot easier for me to be stern and authoritative if she wasn't so damned pretty...and if I wasn't so crazy about her...and if I could get through five minutes without thinking about her naked and hot and...Ah hell, what a mess.

She wouldn't stop licking her lips, biting the bottom one, making it even puffier than normal, and trust me when I say that she didn't need any help making her lips sexy and plump. I knew that she wasn't doing it on purpose, that she was nervous, but after a few moments passed the torment got to be too much for me and I gave in to temptation, lowering my mouth to hers, growling when I felt the soft fullness caressing my flesh.

I never would have thought that something as simple as a kiss, something I'd done countless times before, with too many girls, could be so intimate, so breathtaking, but I'd quickly discovered how delectable my Lilah was, how that first taste of her had hooked me and now I was an addict. I hadn't been lying to her when I told her that I wouldn't be able to get enough of her, and thankfully she didn't seem to mind, if anything she seemed to enjoy it, thank God.

We had been doing enough of the smooching thing that I could pretty well assume that I was welcome, that I didn't have to ask permission before I thoroughly kissed her, tasted her, but I usually took things slow anyway, offering her the opportunity to pull away from me if she wanted to, and so far she hadn't. This time was different, I was still scared, still mad, mostly because I was scared, and my tongue swept into her mouth, and I gathered her up at close as I could to my body, thankful that she was safe, that she was warm and soft and curvy in my arms, and that nothing bad had happened to her.

She made a tiny noise in her throat, a mewl of surprise and if I wasn't mistaken, of need, as my hands stole down her back and took hold of her, both hands filling with the sweetly rounded ass that had tormented me every day since we'd met, one of the many spots that I'd never dared touch, up until now. Damn...it felt just as good as it looked and I took full advantage of the situation, thrusting her forward, pressing her against my body more intimately than I ever had before, my tongue plunging in and out in a blatant imitation of what I'd like to do to her, all while reminding myself that it was too soon, that she wasn't ready for that step.

I would have never expected things to go this far, and if that came as a surprise to me, you can bet your ass that her reaching 'round to take hold of my ass shocked the hell out of me, and I growled low in my throat again, which only served to heighten her arousal and I could sense that things were quickly getting out of hand. I had to be responsible, no matter that I was dying to give into my needs and with a frustrated groan I tore my lips away from her, sucking in deep breaths, trying to calm down.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," I told her, taking advantage of the fact that she was all hot and bothered in the hope that she would listen to what I was saying. "I didn't ask you to stay with Emily because I was trying to be cruel, or for the satisfaction of bossing you around, you know, I said for you to stay with her so I'd know that you were safe."

It wasn't easy, and in the past I would have thought it awfully wimpy to admit to anyone that I'd been scared, but maybe she'd see the seriousness of the situation if I let her know that while I'd been, and still was to some extent, angry with her for showing up, most of all I'd been afraid of what would happen to her, what the leeches might do to her. They all swore to a gospel of animal blood only, but I also knew that the calming one had tried to take a bite out of Bella Swan when he'd smelled her blood, so anything was possible...long story short, they couldn't be trusted...especially not with something as precious as Lilah.

"I'm sorry," she whispered in a timid and husky little voice, gripping me both with remorse and arousal at the same time, and damn...there she went again...nibbling on those lips that were all swollen and darkened from our kissing. "I was just so worried and pacing the floor and listening to them jabber on about nonsense and I couldn't take it anymore...I had to make sure that you were alright."

Some guys would have taken it as a blow to their manhood that a little girl thought that she needed to check up on him, like maybe he'd need her help or something, and to be honest I would have expected myself to stand in those ranks, but I couldn't help but be happy that she'd been that concerned. That said to me that the depths of her feelings, while maybe not as deep as my own, went beyond mere lust and curiosity.

"There's nothing for you to worry about sweetheart," I said, drawing her close in my arms and nuzzling my neck. "It would take more than a couple of leeches to give me much more than a headache, and besides which, they've promised to be on their best behavior, if you can take anything that they say to heart, that is."

We stayed that way for several moments, cuddled up, things between us threatening to get hot and heavy all over again, and I knew that it was time for us to get back amongst the others, where I'd be less likely to ravish her. "And there's no need for you to apologize to me, Lilah, you know that I could never stay mad at you," I said, smiling to myself when I heard her sigh of relief, thinking that it was a shame that I'd have to ruin that feeling for her. "Now, on the other hand...with Emily...well...let's just say that she won't let you off the hook so easily."