Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga or any of the characters in the story.
*Author's Note*: Don't worry everyone I didn't forget to update today! In fact I just woke up late this morning for work (maybe due to excess alcohol consumption last night) and I was in a complete rush to get out the door! Thank you for the feedback on last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one! Happy reading!
Chapter Fourteen
When the last bell of the day had finally rung, Bella waited with bated breath, trying her hardest not to stare at the door, waiting for Jake to appear. Perhaps she had been too vague when she had suggested he come after school. Maybe he wouldn't show up again this time? She tried to take a deep breath and steady herself as she stuffed her books and papers into her tote bag.
It had finally grown quiet in her room and she turned to start erasing the notes on the blackboard when she was surprised by the soothing voice of her mate.
"If we're going to have to keep quiet about this entire thing during school hours, you shouldn't be allowed to wear things like that," his voice said seriously. Bella whipped around to look at his handsome face. His features were set in a stern expression but his eyes belayed his tone entirely.
"It's none of your business what I choose to wear or not. You're just going to have to deal with it, and besides, I didn't ask for you to come after school so we could discuss my wardrobe choices. I want to know more about this morning," she said levelly. He nodded and then looked over his shoulder at the door.
"Are you comfortable staying here, or should we move to a different location?" he asked, and Bella was happy that he was taking her job into his consideration.
"Will this be short or long? I can pass it off as extra help if it doesn't go over twenty minutes," Bella replied, glancing at the clock.
"It won't be longer than that," Jake confirmed and Bella took a seat at her desk again.
"Pull up that chair over there," she told him while nodding towards a lone chair sitting under the windows. As he did as she said, she began to pull out a book from her bag and opened it in front of her.
"You really don't spare any details, do you?" Jake asked with a smirk in his voice. Bella sent him a glare, and pushed her hair away from her face.
"If someone walks by and sees us together without a book, what kind of after school help session would that be?" she asked as she skimmed through the pages.
"A fucking awesome one," Jake snickered and Bella narrowed her eyes again, trying desperately to control the thoughts that made heat slide through her veins. For a moment she said nothing, afraid that she would voice her thoughts to him. Jake eyed her with a knowing smirk while his eyes burned her.
"No swearing in my classroom," Bella finally said with finality. Jake tipped his head backward and let out a loud guffawing laugh, automatically putting a smile on Bella's face. His happiness wasn't just contagious, it literally infected her entire being.
"Okay stop it! This is serious!" Bella hissed at him, trying to wipe the smile off her face. Jake's laughter calmed down again and he sighed.
"Sure, sure," he chuckled again and sent his sunny smile her way.
The pounding of her heart was completely involuntary as she averted her eyes from his handsome face and looked down at the pages of her book.
"So what happened this morning?" she asked finally, her voice low as she looked out the door into the empty hallway.
Jake's sigh was a tad frustrated and her eyes were drawn back to him.
"I've told you about the pack mind... How when we're phased we can see each others thoughts, ideas, memories, all that stuff?" he asked, and Bella nodded in response, "Right, so I was thinking about you, big surprise, and Leah had been running her patrol when I'd reviewed our conversation from yesterday. I didn't even really think about the effect it would have, but she saw what I'd told you about her relationship with Sam,"
"She left her patrol to come and cuss me out... Mad might be an understatement for how she was feeling, even with the enhancement of emotions in our wolf form. I got pissed off because she left her post during her patrol. She couldn't calm herself down and she attacked. I didn't think she'd actually do it, so I was caught off guard for a second and that's when she scratched my shoulder. After that I took her down and alpha ordered her to cool off, and that was that," he finished and Bella stared at him.
"Just a scratch? She didn't split open your shoulder?" Bella asked.
"Well, it probably broke the skin, but wolves heal about 85 percent faster than a human. It hurt for a minute, but it was completely healed by the time I got to class," he responded staring at her intently.
"I only felt the pain as soon as it happened, at least, I'm assuming it was as soon as it happened. I just knew that something was wrong... It was as if I had tapped into your emotions when you were in distress, is that a normal imprinting thing?" Bella asked, observing the light tremors going through Jake's body. She knew that he was under control, but this was obviously a difficult thing for him to talk about.
"It isn't normal. I have to speak with the elders about it, but Bells, I don't like you being hurt," his voice was almost a whisper. A tense whisper.
"We'll figure out why it happens, but until then I guess you just have to keep out of harms way," she said with a small smile, hoping to cheer him up again. Jake breathed out and nodded while Bella glanced at the clock. It had been a little over twenty minutes.
"We have to go, Jake," she said to him and found that he had already been looking at her.
"I guess I should leave first to avoid suspicion?" Jake asked slowly, his eyes roving over her. The heat that slid through Bella's blood was uncontrolled and she felt her pulse quicken.
"That's probably a good idea," she managed to choke out the words. He nodded and stood up, returning the chair to its place under the window. Bella stood up, watching the way his body moved underneath his clothing. A shiver wracked her body before she could stop it, and when Jake turned around his eyebrows were raised, lips pulled into a smile.
Walking back to the desk Bella felt her lungs struggling to get oxygen into her body. She waited for Jake to smirk, or say something. She knew that he could hear her reactions. That was something she'd have to get used to. But instead he reached out with his hand and rubbed the pad of his thumb on her lower lips, maintaining eye contact the entire time.
"I don't think I'll ever get tired of listening to the effect I have on you," he whispered to her, and Bella couldn't help the small roll of her eyes.
"It's not fair, and it's embarrassing. You don't ever seem to change around me, you're always so confident in yourself," Bella replied softly. It wasn't an angry reply, but she held onto the hope that he could feel the same sexual connection that she did. She hoped that he could feel even a fraction of what her body felt when she was around him.
His face turned from soft and smiling to entirely serious as he gazed at her. His hand pulled back from her face and landed on the desk as his torso leaned towards her. She tilted her head back to look into his face, fighting for control with the need to launch herself at him.
"Whatever you are feeling for me, I am feeling ten thousand times over, Bella. Never doubt the connection we share," he said to her, his voice a deep timbre. If Bella hadn't already been sitting she would have fallen over with the intensity that pulsed through her body. The sound that she produced was a breathy kind, though she was too embarrassed to admit that it was closely related to a moan. She watched as Jake's eyes turned three shades darker and she swore that she could feel her body vibrate with his primal growl.
She couldn't tell how long they had stared at each other, both trying to reign in their desires. However, Jake finally leaned back, taking his hands off of the desk and backing up a foot.
"I have a patrol at sunset until midnight. I'll be close by after that," he said in a gravelly voice as he backed up towards the door, watching her the whole time, "Oh, and also, that dress makes your ass look fantastic."
With one last devilish smirk he disappeared from the doorway, leaving Bella alone to glare at his empty space. Although, she couldn't help the small spark of pride in her chest at his words. Smiling to herself, Bella stood and packed up her things in her bag. She walked out of the room and down the hall towards her car.
There were only a few kids outside of the school as she made her way to her car. She thought back to this morning and how many answers she had gotten today. It was slightly concerning to her how easily things could go from good to worse to better than she had expected. Shaking her head she drove back to Forks and to her lonely apartment.
As she walked into her apartment she ignored the slight ache in her chest, realizing that any time she was not with Jake it would be present. Setting down her tote bag on the kitchen table the phone began to ring.
"Hello?" she answered quickly.
"Hey kiddo! I was wondering if you'd be up for dinner tomorrow night?" Charlie's voice asked on the other end.
"Oh, yeah that'd be great! What were you thinking of having?" she asked him while taking out the papers she had to grade that night from her bag.
"Well I was hoping you would make something... The only thing I'm good at is grilling... I guess I also make a mean salad as well," he said and Bella laughed lightly.
"How's spaghetti and meatballs? I'll also make some garlic bread as long as you make the salad?"
"I can do that, Bella," he laughed at her.
"So I'll come over around six, is that good?"
"Sounds great, I'll see you then!"
"Okay, bye dad," she said turning her attention back on her papers as she hung up the phone.
The night after the phone call was filled with nothing interesting. Bella made dinner and cleaned up her apartment in a haze. She was preoccupied with not trying to think of Jake, which was an impossible feat to begin with.
When she saw that it was nine o'clock she almost felt relieved. Getting ready for bed she imagined the way that he had looked at her in the classroom today. The shiver that she felt roll down her spine was almost terrifying. The feelings that even a memory could produce was so incredible that Bella was beginning to think it was all an intricate trick.
With thoughts of her mate she fell asleep quickly, only falling into a peaceful sleep when the clock read midnight and unconsciously the ache in her chest dissipated completely.
Leave some feedback if you care to! Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! I probably will update around this time tomorrow again since I'm a bit behind on my writing schedule. I'm going to take this weekend to catch up and get ahead with the chapters so I can get back to the morning posting routine! Thanks again!