Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns it all.

Rated M for several reasons.

Chpt 18 The Hunt

BPOV

Preparations for our Rio 'field trip' eat up the next couple of days.

Since Jasper can't bear to be out of physical contact with me I go, willingly, everywhere he does. He is constantly holding my hand, stroking my hair or burying his face in it to inhale my scent. Comfortingly this behaviour is not very different to the way we were before, just a little more intense. In a way I feel bad, I said some really harsh things to him while we were alone. He wanted an' needed to hear it but I didn't like hurting him. However right now he is giving me exactly what I need, his unconditional love.

Getting such a whopping great coven on the move is a bit like manoeuvring an ocean liner in port but Jasper an' Demetri handle it with the ease of long practice.

Despite Demetri's gift Jasper spoke to Evans an' he was able to confirm that as far as the government knows Rutilio has returned to Brazil, he even agreed to get the Brazilian authorities to let him know if there was any change. It's an interesting competition an' the Guard are betting. Who will win, human intelligence agencies or the infallible tracking machine? Simon, who the Guard consider the guru of a well-placed bet, not to mention the guy who holds the money, is going with Demetri. But Jasper an' I have our money on Evans, because the guy's a bit of a hero an' because we know more about what humans are capable of than Simon.

Finally everything is ready and, Jasper an' I are able to slip away for a quick hunt before we leave.

In the dark an' silent forest we flit between the trees until we find a meal we can share.

Satiated we curl up at the base of a tree, his body wrapped protectively around mine.

After a while he reaches up an' hesitantly brushes the hair away from my neck. When I don't protest he begins to gently nuzzle an' kiss my neck. The sensation goes straight to the core of me an' although he can tell he doesn't react, instead he continues to chastely make love to my neck.

It's wonderful.

Until his lips make contact with his scar an' then I tense up.

"Oh god." He groans. "Darlin' I'm so sorry."

I twist around in his arms so I can face him.

"What for this time?" I ask quietly.

"Everythin'! Darlin' if I hadn't . . . ."

I gently press my finger to his mouth.

"I thought we agreed we'd stop apologisin' for stuff we can't change." I admonish him. "We've had this conversation loads of times before this current disaster unfolded. The only person involved in this who acted deliberately out of malice is Rutilio an' that's a problem we're goin' to sort out together."

He sighs an' is silent for a while.

"I'm scared." He says eventually.

"Me too." I remind him. "But at least we're scared together."

He snorts.

I do feel for him. Afraid an' helpless is somethin' I've had plenty of time to get used to. Jasper is strong man, physically an' mentally, a situation he can't control is as terrifying to him as being asked to make a speech would be to me. In a perverse way his fear comforts me, it's a result of his fierce love that this situation is making him so distressed.

So naturally, like breathing used to be, we find ourselves gazing into each other's eyes adrift in our own little world. Just as naturally our faces move together until our noses touch. The moment is heavy, laden with possibilities.

I desperately want him to kiss me but I'm afraid that he won't. Even though I'm just as guilty as him for starting something physical when we should be talking it was me who brought it up during our three day long conversation an' sited it as one of the reasons for our . . . . Our what? Problems. It seems too strong a word for it. We might not have been telling each other everything we should but we were still two halves of the same whole. Mis-alignment then, a drawer in a cherished family heirloom that needs a little nudge occasionally to help it close seamlessly.

As if reading my mind Jasper shifts slightly an' presses his lips gently against mine. Reckless want flares through me but I remain passive, needing an' trusting him to take the lead.

Exhaling slowly he rubs his nose against mine before pulling back slightly to caress my face with his cool lips. Lightly they brush across my forehead, eyelids an' cheeks, pressing briefly over my ears before returning to rest against my mouth. Very slowly he begins to kiss me, mouth working gently over mine provoking it into responding in kind. We lay perfectly still, wrapped around each other with only our lips moving.

Oblivious to the world around us.

Like a tightly wound spring slowly being released the energy between us starts to build, the simple movement gradually gaining momentum, our lips pressing together harder an' with more speed.

He sucks my bottom lip into his mouth an' I gasp, opening my own which he covers immediately slipping his tongue straight inside. In an instant the nature of the kiss changes completely our hands flying to each other's hair an' tangling there to lock our mouths together in their now furious coupling. Our tongues an' bodies writhe against each other almost roughly and one of his hands drops from my hair to the small of my back pulling me against him tightly.

Within minutes we are both panting an' gasping like we've run a marathon.

Tension builds deliciously an' just as I begin to feel like the lust inside me will explode he rolls me onto my back covering me with his body an' really starts to kiss me.

An' I'm gone, reduced from powerful immortal to an amorphous mess of purely physical reactions. I don't know how he does that, but fuck me I'm awed an' grateful that he can.

If his mouth wasn't totally dominating mine I'm pretty sure I would be howling at the stars.

With supreme control over both himself an' me he almost imperceptibly dials back the fervour of our kisses an' our undulating bodies until we are simply moving lazily together in a dance we are familiar with.

"Oh god, Bella." He moans into my mouth. "I love you so much."

Beyond words I lower my mental shield an' let him feel what I'm feeling for the first time in a long time.

With a long drawn out sigh of happiness he rolls us over again so that I am draped over him.

I feel strangely relaxed an' satisfied considering he's just taken us to the absolute edge of lust an' then brought us back down again without actually stepping over the edge.

"Darlin'. He sighs burying his nose in my hair. "We need to get going. This isn't the time or place for what I want to do to you."

I shiver.

"I feel like I haven't made love to you in forever." His voice drops lower. "An' when I do, I want to know that nothin' an' no one will interrupt us."

Politely neither us mention my obvious physical reaction to that statement.

After some more gratuitous snuggling he pulls me to my feet an' smiling goofily we make our way back to the compound, timing our arrival exactly right to miss out on having to do any work. He's a multi-talented man, what can I say?

Since a jumbo jet disgorging a large quantity of surly looking supermodels is going to attract attention we are travelling down 'incognito' on several different flights with Jasper an' I arriving last with our entourage.

I don't know what Simon's done to irritate Demetri but knowing Jasper an' I don't care he's booked our group to fly coach. Simon's bitching an' whining keeps us laughing all the way to the airport. Alfredo, Sergio an' Elise are also travelling with us and they needle him good naturedly but mercilessly with an ease that suggests they've been doing it for many years.

As we board the plane I can't help but be excited, for the first time ever I am actually leaving the country of my birth.

"Calm down." Jasper chides me as I bounce around in my seat.

I poke my tongue out at him. Even being trapped in here with all these delicious smelling humans is not going to dampen my enthusiasm.

Behind us I Simon is making a great show of trying to find somewhere to put his long legs even though he's not actually capable of getting cramp. Jasper's knees are jammed into the seat in front an' I feel a bit sorry for little old lady sitting here, for the next few hours there will only be a thin skin of padding between her an' a marble statue, she'll probably never understand where her terrible backache came from.

Boredom an' a strong thirst have claimed me by the time we arrive in Rio an' I have a momentary freak out as we disembark.

Human's sometimes say that the air feels different in another country an' as a vampire I now know that to be true. A plethora of new sounds an' smells assault me an' it takes my brain a few seconds to process it all.

Jasper smiles at me in understanding an' massages my palm with his thumb.

Clear of the airport Simon drives our rental to the hotel while I perch on Jasper's lap an' press my nose to the glass like a little kid drinking in the sights an' sounds.

Demetri an' Pete are waiting for us in the foyer to tease Simon about the joys of first class air travel while the rest of us check in.

"Everything is in readiness Master." Demetri says, all business now. "We will meet, on foot, just outside the city in three hours. As far as I can tell the target is at his residence, we should find him without too much trouble, ten Guard have already gone ahead to scout."

"Very good." Jasper nods approvingly. "We will settle into our room an' meet you in the bar in twenty minutes for a full briefing."

Demetri forgets himself briefly an' bows his head in acknowledgement.

"Ahem." I arch my eyebrow.

"Sorry Mistress." He favours me with a devilish smile an' then turns to Pete. "Come brother, let us retire to the bar and find an excellent whisky and some pretty girls to appreciate while we wait."

Wow, Big D has a naughty side.

"I'm only appreciatin' with my eyes." Pete informs him as they walk away. "Mrs Pete is a stickler for that sort of thing."

Twenty minutes later we enter the bar to find Pete sniffing ecstatically at a single malt an' Demetri propping up the bar surrounded by adoring women an' a few disgruntled looking men. The air in the room is thick with cigar smoke an' sexually aroused human.

Pete pats the seat next to him an' I slide into it.

"Big D." He tells us with pride in his voice. "Is somethin' of a lady's man it turns out."

"It's the Italian accent." Jasper shrugs.

Pete an' I exchange smiles but say nothing.

When everyone else has arrived Demetri tears himself away from his new fans an' becomes a serious and lethal vampire again.

We go over the plan one last time an' then head out into the parking lot so we can melt seamlessly into the dark spaces surrounding it.

The meeting point north of the city is two hour's run, plenty of time for tension an' anticipation to build within me. If all goes to plan we will soon be rid the biggest an' most consistent threat to our survival. The vampire who made the fatal mistake of trying to take Jasper away from me an' not just once.

A different kind of hunt is on.