Dark Temptation

You won't believe the crazy I went through trying to get this together. Turns out there is a difference between writers block and simply not being creative. So I drank a large quantity of caffeine and threatened myself with a trip to the gym if I didn't finish it, and voila here you go!

Edit: OMG I'm an asshat, I forgot to remind you all about the awesomeness that is Leelan Oleander who keeps my grammar and rambling in order... and whose cat Knuckles does not agree with my stance on revisionist history. And MzBionic who told me that the crazy rambling was good. I don't know if she was just being nice, but I took her word for it and posted anyway. So blame her, for everything :D

This story is rated M for language, adult themes, and some smexin' in later chapters.

Disclaimer: I wanted to say something witty about how I don't own twilight… but then I realised, who reads this shit anyway?

Dark Temptation

Chapter 3

JPOV

Loading our grocery bags into the bed of my truck, I couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. An hour ago, I had been looking forward to an afternoon of videogames, hunting, and if the mood struck me, (which it inevitably would have) some masturbation. Instead, I find myself climbing into the cab of my truck with my ex-brother's ex-girlfriend, who I had just pleasured in a grocery store, and who happens to be a human. A human whom I had tried to kill the last time I saw her. What the fuck am I doing?

"Cowboy, would you calm down? You're sending out some seriously negative vibes, I much prefer what you were sending my way earlier."

Irritation began overshadowing the anticipation and desire that she had been exuding earlier. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as if trying to quell her irritation and centre herself.

"Listen Jasper, I don't know what the fuck you are doing in town here, or why you decided I needed an orgasm at the grocery store - thank you for that by the way, a girl can always use a good O." She chuckled to herself, a deep throaty sound that sounded like jazz and sex and smoke, before shaking her head and continuing.

"As I was saying, I don't know what brings you here, and I really don't give a shit. I'm in the mood for a good time, and if that's not gonna work for you, then feel to drop me off back at the store. If I wanted the panic attack you're sending my way, I'd go fucking cliff diving."

I looked over at her, a little girl spitting fire and wrath like an angry kitten and I decided to stop over-thinking things. Not everything has to be contemplated in depth, and planned out in detail. Sometimes it's good to let things happen naturally and just enjoy the ride instead of scrutinising the journey.

~o~o~

"So this is Casa de Whitlock, huh? Nice digs." My gaze followed Bella as she twirled around my living room, inspecting the little details of my home as if looking for some sign of…something. She giggled and looked over her shoulder to where I standing in the kitchen, splitting my bewildered gaze between the tiny human invading my home and the groceries on the counter in front of me.

Fuck, it was weird having food in my kitchen. What the fuck was I supposed to do with a steak? Maybe Bella will want to eat it. I could pick up a cookbook; maybe learn how to cook steaks. It had been so long since I last ate human food, and most of my human life was spent with my Mama making the meals so I really had no clue what I was supposed to do.

"Uhhh, Bella?" I questioned, interrupting her perusal of the titles on my bookshelves.

"Yeah, Cowboy?" She glanced over her shoulder at me, and went back to her inspection.

"Uhh…" I stumbled over my words. I DON'T stumble over my words. What the fuck? I cleared my throat and started again. "Uh Darlin', what the hell am I supposed to do with this food?"

"I don't know Jasper, eat it, throw it out the window, donate it to a homeless shelter, use it as bait to create a trap for your next meal…. "

I laughed at her last suggestion…an interesting idea, but the hunt is half the fun of feeding, so perhaps not.

"Whatever tickles your fancy, really, but if you plan on keeping the food around for any period of time, most of it needs to go in your fridge. Otherwise it will start to smell; well, it will start to smell to humans, which I assume means it will smell pretty awful to you." She paused, and levelled me with her critical gaze. "You DO have a fridge right?"

I rolled my eyes at her, and picked up the food articles, throwing them haphazardly into my fridge and then pushed all the magazines and bandaids and other junk into a pile on the counter to be dealt with later.

~o~o~

"So Miss Swan," she flinched slightly at my mention of her family name, and I could feel a brief wave of nervousness wash over her. Curious, I mentally shrugged and was about to continue my question when she interrupted me.

"Jasper, what are you doing here?" She wasn't looking at me, she was still staring at my books, but I had a feeling she was staring through them, not at them.

"I live here?" I don't know why that came out as a question, but I was confused. I tried to reach out and feel Bella's emotions, get some handle on where she was going with this, but they were out of my reach, muted somehow. How was she doing this?

"That's not what I asked you, Jasper." I felt a spark of irritation wash across her, as she walked over to my couch and sat down with her head in her hands.

"I…here in the metaphysical sense? Here in this state? Here with you? What do you want to know Bella; I can't read between the lines here," I huffed out impatiently. I was confused, and I really didn't like it. I am supposed to be in charge of the situation, at all times. I can read the meanings behind peoples' words, I can read the hidden messages in the way they move their bodies, the gentle sweep of their arms, the subtle shift of their eyes, the curl up their lips, but I couldn't read Bella and it was really pissing me off. It wasn't just that she wouldn't let me see her face; it was that she was somehow blocking her emotions. Her movements were controlled, dictated, almost seeming rehearsed, as if she was being careful not to give anything away.

"Jasper…" she sighed out tiredly, "why are you here in New England? Why were you at the store today? Why did you bring me back here? Is that a good enough start, or would you prefer to explore and debate the metaphysical and spiritual meanings behind the existence of vampires. I personally hold to the evolutionary biology perspective of existence, though it may be argued that vampirism is not evolution, rather a transformation or metamorphosis from one form of humanity to another. There are those, however, who would argue for a more Creationist theory of the role of vampires on this planet, and the argument that God created all creatures from gerbils to giraffes, and that he created humans in His image. The argument follows that in creating the Devil, he gave the Devil the means to create vampires in his image, as a mockery and threat to humans – free will without good will. Of course, there are permutations to these theories… some believe that vampires are still creatures of God, or that vampirism can be explained as a virus that affects the body much like but opposite to leprosy…"

My jaw dropped at her little tirade, and as I listened to her continue, I struggled to find the words to respond in some way, in any way to the sheer volume of philosophical drizzle that she was expounding. I couldn't stop her, I couldn't respond, I couldn't do anything. So, I stood there, vampire-man-warrior, awed by this little girl and rendered mute by her words. She sat there, crowded in on herself, looking at her hands, or her knees, or perhaps at nothing at all, and spewing forth this litany of philosophical discourse, without an ounce of passion in her voice. Where the fuck is she getting this shit from, it reminds me of impassioned debates that others or I would have had with Carlisle, or with….I was distracted from my thought process as she continued her little rant.

"… argue that vampires are inherently evil, though that could be countered by the preposition that there are vampires who hunt humans only for sustenance, which given the premise that vampires are superior beings, makes them no more evil than the lion hunting the zebra…"

"Bella."

"… vegans and the like might argue that even drinking milk implies evil, but are not carrots living things too? And…"

"Bella."

"… if you accept Descartes discourse on existence, 'Cogito ergo sum', or in the original French 'Je pense donc je suis'..."

"BELLA!" I shouted, interrupting the flow of words from her mouth and inducing her to finally raise her head and look at me. Again, she almost seemed to be looking through me, but I could detect the faintest hint of a smirk gracing her lips, and the feeblest of twinkles in her eyes, belying the illusion that she attempted to project, of her detachment from our situation.

"Yes Jasper, did you have a comment to add to the topic?"

"I… what the fuck was that Bella? No, you know what, never mind. Let's stick to the first few questions." I searched my brain for what had preceded her diatribe and recalled her original queries. She waited patiently, head cocked slightly to the side, staring up at me from her perch on the couch.

I crossed the living room, and settled into my recliner as I thought about my answers.

"Why am I here in New England? Well, it seemed as good a place as any, not too much sun and lots of wildlife. I actually came here to attend Dartmouth, I figured I'd skip high school and see what they are teaching as 'American History' these days, it's been a few decades since I've brushed up on the Revisionism they are teaching in universities."

"By Revisionism, are you implying that history text books are inaccurate?" She leaned forward, real interest sparking in her expression.

"Yes and no, I think what I am really implying is that by and large, the historical record we are taught is flat out fiction." I leaned back in my chair, a wide grin spreading across my face. I really hoped she took the bait; Bella had always been a smart girl, and this was one of my favourite topics of discussion.

"So there was no Civil War, Franz Ferdinand was never really shot, the Holocaust wasn't real? Is that what you're saying, because I respect that you're a vampire, and therefore your life experience gives you a different and in some cases better appreciation of human societies, but I call bullshit and I'm going to go make you a tinfoil hat."

"Are you implying I'm a conspiracy theorist? Wouldn't the fact that I was alive during the Holocaust give any statements I make more credence than a history text book?"

"Only in as much as the fact that I was alive during the Clinton Impeachment means that any opinions or statements that I may put forth on that subject are necessarily more accurate than his biographies. I don't have an intimate knowledge of what happened. Maybe Monica blew him, maybe she didn't. Maybe there were other political pressures that were being exerted that caused this all to come to light, and it wasn't about him having an O in the Oval Office so much as it was retaliation for his stance on the natural resource industry. Or, perhaps Monica Lewinski was actually an alien from the planet Betelgeuse, and by performing oral sex on the President of the United States, she ratified a contract stating that Clinton would give absolute control over his position as president to the invading interests from an alien planet, and by impeaching him and removing him from office, the US government was actually saved from alien takeover. I think you're being a snob."

I snorted, "And I think you're being ridiculous, little girl. But, I will give you that we may not always have knowledge of the motivations behind political actions, but we can have knowledge of fact. You forget, little human, that I was born during the Mexican-American War; and I was a human during the War of Northern Aggression. I was a Major in the Confederate Army; I was there during the so-called 'Red River Campaign'. The things they spout in history text books very rarely match up with what I experienced. The tactical manoeuvres they report from the Battle of Manasses, or the First Battle of Bull Run, as they call it now, are not at all depictions of the realities of the situation."

"But were you stationed in Virginia at the start of the war? I though you were Texan."

"Well no, I was being transported across Texas when news of the battle broke,"

"So, your knowledge of the battle is what, gossip? Newspaper reports? The media is hardly a resource to be trusted. Suppression of news during a political conflict is a hallmark of the American nation."

"I suppose you've made my point for me in a way; we can't trust the media, which are often our only resource for recently historical conflicts"

"But, that's not all that a GOOD history textbook will reference. They will explore first-hand accounts from soldiers such as yourself, from political leaders, from civilians. Not vampires, but humans who wrote down their experiences, leaders who documented their movements, exploration of details collected from both sides of a conflict and consensus on a set of facts." She argued back at me, indignation flaring in her eyes. God, she was beautiful when she was riled up.

I smirked at her, and began to refute her arguments. "Both sides of the conflict, that's where your story falls apart. History is always told in favour of the victors. History textbooks imply that the Civil War was about abolishment of slavery, but what about the vast resources that were acquired by the Yankees when they conquered the southern states – gold, cotton, rich agricultural land. Do you think their concern for the slaves was really their driving force when black people were still not afforded basic human rights in the 'enlightened' Northern states?

"Further proof can be seen by comparing the international publications documenting the War of 1812. Some accounts dictate that the Americans tried to invade the Canadian territories, and lost the war because they gained no land. Other accounts dictate that the Americans were revolting against the restrictions placed by the British and the insult to their honour, and won the war in the concessions detailed in the Treaty of Ghent. It's all about perspective."

"Yes, but isn't the important lesson from that war that communication is key in all battles. The Canadians burnt down the White House after war was declared over." She laughed at me.

"I have to say Bella, I'm impressed at your ability to hold your own."

She smiled at me and responded cheekily, "And I still say you're a snob who didn't even notice that he'd argued himself in circles. But, I had fun, we should do this again. And you should answer the rest of my questions."

"Honestly Bella, I'm not sure what you're implying, but I went to the store to pick up some soap and shampoo. Hunting is dirty business and I don't really enjoy being covered in mud and dried blood any more than I have to. As for why I …did what I did to you…" I ducked my head in shame, "I know that it was wrong. I'm sorry, ok? I was bored, pissed off, and feeling sorry for myself, so I thought I would have a little fun and cheer myself up. I didn't know it was you. I thought you were just some random stranger, who was feeling a bit sad and a bit horny and I decided I could probably help with the latter which usually helps fix the former."

The spark faded from her eyes as her smile slowly fell. She leaned forward and curled in on herself again. "So you're saying it's a coincidence that of all the grocery stores, in all the towns, in all the worlds, you walk into mine."

"Still a fan of the classics I see."

"What can I say, Casablanca is a good film, and Humphrey Bogart was not a bad looking man." She cracked the tiniest of smiles at this, and then returned to her serious expression.

"Yes, I guess it was a giant coincidence. It's a small world I suppose."

"Well, Jasper, I am surprised to say that I'm glad we crossed paths. It's good to see you again, I didn't think it would be. Honestly I really haven't ever put much thought into seeing you again since I hardly knew you back in Forks…but if that's the way you greet all your old friends, we should part ways and meet up again." She laughed lightly, and I could feel a trickle of lust wash through her, no doubt in memory of our encounter at the Safeway.

"I…" I paused, unsure how to continue, and took a deep, unnecessary breath. I was hit by the powerful and mouth-watering scent of her arousal, and I could feel my eyes darkening as my pants grew uncomfortably tight. I slowly got up from my perch on the recliner, and stalked across the room towards her. I knelt down in front of the couch, and put a finger under her chin, lifting her head so I could look into her eyes.

"Bella, I…"

I was cut off by her mouth meeting mine, her lips soft but insistent, pushing against my cold hard ones. She smelled like peaches and sweet peas, and she tasted like sin. I moaned into her mouth, and moved my hand from under her chin around her neck to gently hold the back of her head, while the other hand wrapped around her waist, drawing her towards the edge of the couch. I was kneeling on the floor in front of her, her legs spread, feet resting on either side of my hips, and from this position I could feel the heat of her arousal as I pulled her closer to my body.

I reluctantly released her lips so that she could take a much needed breath, but continued the assault on her body with my lips and tongue. My hand, which had been resting on her back, had slipped under the thin fabric of her shirt, and as if it had a mind of its own, it has started slowly pushing up the fabric, revealing a vast expanse of delicious, tanned and toned skin. I could almost taste the sun on her as I licked my way across her jaw, and left open mouth kisses along her neck. I lingered over the pulse point where I could feel her thick jugular throbbing with her lifeblood, as my hands came around to her front and began massaging her breasts gently. I could feel myself applying pressure, licking the skin where her pulse vibrated wildly, savouring the warmth and imagining the taste of her sweet blood.

I felt more than heard her gasp, as her heart rate sped up, and I immediately pulled myself back. I was so startled by my actions that I propelled myself backwards and ended up sitting on my ass sprawled across the carpet.

"Oh God, Bella, I'm so sorry. I got carried away. I was just…and you're so soft…smell so good." I floundered, at a loss for words, as I tried to explain to this poor girl why I had practically assaulted her. "I'm so sorry Bella, I didn't meant to take advantage of you. You're so sweet, and innocent, and god, I'm such a monster. I wasn't going to bite you, but you must hate me. How can you even look at me, I'm a monster and I've already tried to kill you once, and now here I am assaulting you and trying to take advantage of you and damn near attacking you and...You shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be near me." I was panicking, my eyes darting from her face to her neck to her hands and back to her face again.

"I, god, I mean you were so in love with Edward, and here I am trying to push myself on you when you're probably only talking to me so that I can help you get in contact with him again. Of course you're still in love with him, he's your mate."

I was still struggling to read her emotions when all of a sudden it was like I was smacked in the face with a fistful of anger. No, not just a fistful, it's like someone took a Mack truck, filled it with rage, and smashed into me with it going 120mph. I was glad I was sitting down otherwise the force of her emotions would have knocked me over.

She got up and walked around me, pacing back and forth in front of the coffee table, muttering under her breath while radiating pure white-hot anger. I couldn't quite follow what she was saying, which was surprising given my enhanced hearing, but I caught a few choice words, including fucker, goddamn, and I do believe she said assmonkey. That's an interesting one.

Just as suddenly as she had hit me with her anger, it disappeared as she stopped and twirled to face me.

"You listen to me, Jasper, and you listen good. I don't know whether this is a vampire thing, a man thing, a Cullen thing, or just a STUPID thing…but don't you EVER presume to know what I'm thinking or feeling. You may be an empath, but you are also apparently a fucking idiot."

She took a deep breath, and spoke again in a calmer tone. "I know you weren't going to bite me, you would never forgive yourself if you did. I may not have known you well, Jasper, but I know you well enough to know that you're not going to hurt me intentionally. What was it Doucheward used to say…sampling the bouquet without tasting the wine? Yeah, I get it, I smell fucking good. I've got hot, delicious, thick blood pounding through my veins. I'm like chocolate to a fat kid when it comes to you vamps, but in this analogy you're a diabetic and you know better, so I'm not concerned." She paused again, and suddenly her anger was back.

"I don't know why the fuck I bother with you freaking asshats. You fuckers are all the same, always know what's best for me, always making assumptions about the kind of person I am, what I want, and you know what? You're wrong. You have no idea how wrong you are. Fuck this. No, fuck YOU. You don't get to suddenly appear in my life and act like you know me, or what is going on. You…"

I swear, steam was going to come out of her ears she was so angry. I was honestly a little surprised at her anger; I expected fear and revulsion but not anger, though I suppose I deserved it. I tried to push some calm at her, concerned that she might burst a blood vessel or rupture something with how red her face was becoming.

"Bella, I'm sorry, please calm down." I tried to sound soothing; honestly, I was a little afraid of her wrath. If looks could kill, this tiny little spitfire would have razed me to the ground by now.

"You did not just try to calm me down. Jasper, please tell me you did not just try to manipulate me." She seethed at me as the calm I was pushing at her seemed to ripple off the surface of her mind.

"I…"

"I'm out of here. I suppose it was nice seeing you Jasper. If you ever pull your head out of your ass maybe we can have another chat, but until then stay the fuck out of my life." She grabbed her purse and began striding towards the door as I quickly scrambled to my feet. I gently grabbed her arm and spun her around to face me.

"Wait, Bella, I'm sorry. Let me drive you home, or at least back to your truck." I pleaded with her, for some reason I felt really uncomfortable letting her just storm off on her own. I lived in a fairly populated neighbourhood, which was unusual for a vampire, but I liked my home. I didn't, however, feel it was safe for her to be wandering around, alone, at night, in an unfamiliar area.

"Jasper, you will let go of my arm, now." Her words were deadly calm, but laced with an eerie and threatening undertone. I couldn't help but comply, and I loosened my hold on her upper arm and let my hand drop to my side.

"Look, Bella, I understand you are pissed off at me, but its not safe for you to wander around here at night."

She looked me straight in the eyes and laughed, a deep belly laugh. "What, I roll with vampires but I'm supposed to be afraid of the neighbourhood watch? Jesus, Jasper, what is it with you vampires and being so overbearingly overprotective? Get fucked. My ride will be waiting outside for me anyway."

She spun around and walked out my door into the evening, just as a shiny black soft-top convertible late 60's Camaro pulled up to the curb in front of my house, a monstrosity of chrome and leather with darkly tinted windows and the convertible top closed, despite the balmy weather.

Bella skipped down the path and climbed quickly into the passenger seat, looking over her shoulder briefly before slamming the door before I could get a look at the driver. How the fuck did they know where she was? I hadn't seen her make any calls or send any messages.

"Don't you say one motherfucking word, don't even open your mouth. I don't want to hear it!"

I could hear her berating the driver, who only chuckled lowly in response, while the car pulled away from the curb. I stood on my front lawn, staring after the car with a mixture of curiosity and confusion as it drove down to the end of my block. Just as the car began to turn the corner, music started blaring from the interior.

And when I get that feeling, I want sexual healing…

"You ass!" I could hear Bella's throaty giggle, accompanied by a sharp smacking noise, and then a growl.

"Damnit woman, go easy on me! You're gonna fuck up my hair!"

As the car disappeared down the next street, I couldn't help but wonder why that second voice sounded so familiar. I turned around to head back inside and only then did I realise that my belt was loose and my pants were halfway undone.

Oh.

Things I never expected to wiki while writing Twilight fanfiction: The Civil War, Butterflies, Descartes, Casablanca, and (just for fun) vaginal douche.

If any of the crap I've spouted about evolution, history, revisionism, or America is offensive to you... well grow a sense of humour, but I'm not being intentionally offensive either way. If any of what I saw is inaccurate, well vampires and people can't be perfect all the time, and I'll chalk it up to endearing imperfections in Bella and Jasper's personalities as opposed to any shortcomings on my account.

On Cars:

And a couple weeks ago, I was chatting with some h00rs and their husbands online, and all the men told me that Camaros are pussy cars, and that we should have had a Charger or a classic Porsche. I say fuck you, Camaros make me damp. Plus, they are almost affordable.

I had a long internal debate on this car, and if I wasn't such eco hippy, Peter would be getting the car of his dreams:

I'm gonna get myself a 1967 Cadillac Eldorado convertible, hot pink, with whale skin hubcaps and all leather cow interior and big brown baby seal eyes for headlights. Yeah! And I'm gonna drive around in that baby at 115 miles an hour, getting 1 mile per gallon, sucking down quarter pounder cheeseburgers from McDonald's in the old-fashioned non- biodegradable Styrofoam containers!

Only, without the eating of the McDonalds, because obviously, Peter is a vampire, but its the spirit of the point. Yeah, sadly I was out at karaoke, and this song came on, and after I finished laughing and cheering, I thought of Peter.

But I couldn't do it, because climate change is bad mmkay.

This is a terrible Authors Notes!

One other thing to mention, I've joined forces with the twi-muses blog (www (dot) twimuses (dot) com) as their new affiliate pimp. It's a pretty cool site, and if you want to affiliate with these fine ladies, or you are already are an affiliate and are interested in me writing a piece on how awesome you are, let me know!

And thanks to everyone who voted in the Hidden Star Awards!