Chapter 18: Kim Loses

"Oh god, I didn't realize how hungry I was," Kim said as we made our way down the stairs. My cell phone rang and I smiled, my mother had sewed pockets into my cut-offs, a creative way to keep a phone on me at all times. I fiddled with the pocket button and answered.

"Hey mom."

"Hey baby, I know you're with Kim and I was wondering if you could convince her to come around, I still feel so bad about—"

I cut her off, I wasn't going down this road again, "I don't think Kim wants to come back to our house ever—" Kim grabbed the phone out my hand.

"Hi Mrs. Cameron, we'll be over in a few okay?" She said sweetly. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow and she winked passing the phone back to me.

"Okay mom, we're coming," I said it as if it were a question still staring at her as she pulled on a jacket and boots. She giggled at the same time as my mom.

"We're hungry though, just a warning," I said hanging up and looking at her, worried about her exact plans.

"I said I was going to try, that means making a better impression on your mom. I'm keeping my promise so don't question it," she said poking my chest. "So you better be ready to keep your promise," she said shivering. I didn't even think about it, I twirled her around, slinging her onboard piggy back style. She wrapped her arms and legs loosely around me.

"What promise?" I spoke into her hair, she had her cheek rested on my shoulder.

"The sex, silly, the sex. Sex after dinner, I'm holding you to it."

"Believe me you're going to be completely worn out before I'm done with you."

She scoffed, "are you implying I can't keep up with you?" Her cool breath caressed my earlobe and I quivered, how did she do that?

"Well, yea, I think I am," I was giving her a challenge and much like me I knew she couldn't take being challenged.

"Hmmm… I can't wait to prove you wrong," she said her petite hand gliding down my chest as we passed the Black's house. I could hear Embry and Quil inside encouraging Jake to call someone, 'just call her man, see how she's doing,' and I guessed they were talking about Bella Swan, I knew from Embry's thoughts that Jacob had a thing for her.

Three months ago I would have told Jake she was a lost cause, having seen how deeply she loved that blood sucker, who could love again after such heartbreak? But with recent developments in my love life, I was feeling like quite the romantic and I found myself rooting for the kid.

Kim kissed my shoulder and it made my stomach twist into a knot, the sweetness of the gesture was overwhelming. She had never really been very… gentle with me, not that I needed it or anything but it was nice.

"So you're really okay with hanging out with my mother?" I asked as we drew nearer.

"Yes, Jared. Especially if she has food."

"Even if she wants you to help her make a gingerbread house?" I asked trying not to sound too pussified, I failed— even if I could lift a car over my head I couldn't make gingerbread houses sound macho.

"Well, I'm sure I wouldn't be any good at it, but I'm willing to try," she whispered, biting her lip as I set her down on the top stairs minute later. She grabbed my hand and kissed the palm lightly, I loved when she did that but it was bitter sweet as the last time she did it she was breaking my heart. I pushed the thought aside, crushing her against my door and kissing her over and over again.

"I love you," she whispered between my kisses, gently stroking my cheek. I pushed my tongue past her lips tasting her, she was smoking there was a slight minty bitterness to it.

"I love you too," I whispered at the same time as my mother decided to interrupt us, opening the door and making us both stumble inside clumsily.

"Oh Kim dear, I'm sorry. I'm just so happy to see you. You're hungry? I made meatloaf. You're not a vegetarian are you honey? So many young people are now," my mother rambled not giving Kim a chance to respond. She grabbed Kim's hand and Kim smiled, allowing my mom to guide her through the house. I plopped the bag of flour on the counter and watched my favorite women chat.

"I'm starving. Meatloaf sounds amazing and I'm definitely not a vegetarian, I don't understand the movement and I'm sure I never will," Kim said taking a seat at the counter where my mom had already set out two heaping plates, I could barely tell which one was for me.

The kitchen stools were sorta tall for her, allowing her to swing her legs adorably. She was so cute, how could anyone function around her? I found myself staring so much more than anyone should.

My mother left us in peace and Kim ate slowly, but a lot for someone her size and I was pleased. I ate my entire plate, my second serving of the day and I was already scooping another pile of mashed potatoes on my plate when she spoke again.

"You eat like a maniac. Is that a wolf thing too?" she asked grabbing a roll I was eyeing, it didn't make me growl like I would have if Paul or my dad had done it.

"Yeah," I said embarrassed.

"Ummm… does it bother you? Me asking questions… I'm just really curious about you," she said not looking at me. My heart danced, seriously it danced, that was not normal— was it? I was beyond excited, she wanted to know about me, about my life—including the wolf parts.

"No, it's great!" I would answer any question she asked.

"How about the ninja light feet, is that a wolf thing too," she asked and I fell even more deeply in love with her than before.

When Kim finished she cleared the table, while my mother protested. It wasn't her public Kim façade, she wanted to do it, I could tell. She smiled as she did it, the genuine Kim smile that made the corner of her eyes crinkle. I helped her as much as she would allow me, drying the dishes as she hummed.

My mother made small talk as she mixed the dough and Kim asked her casual questions about her hobbies.

I brought out the diagram for the gingerbread house and we rolled and measured every piece before we put them in the oven. She was going big this year, she got bigger every year, trying to make sure that Patty Long from Hoquiam didn't outdo her.

Kim and I got was busy sorting candies for the shingles white the first batch baked. I was surprised to see the ease in which they bantered with each other.

By the time the first batch had cooled they were even making fun of me and I took it as an opportunity to explain the mounting feud between my mom and Patty Long: the homemaker from hell.

"My mom enters this competition every year you know, so she can beat the living hell out of this housewife from Hoquiam. She lost to her like five years ago when Patty used gourmet Swiss white-chocolate shavings for snow and my mom almost had a conniption."

"That's not true," my mom sang, smiling wickedly as she used a medical grade scalpel to even the edges of her roof.

"Oh I forgot, it's actually for the cheesy gift basket they give us every year," I said sarcastically, busy filling piping bags with the different 6 shade of frosting.

"And I like spending time with my baby," she added insulted. "He used to love making these when he was little. He used to insist that we make them for all holidays, he called them cookie homes. He was almost fourteen before I could convince him Halloween was not an occasion for cookie homes," she giggled.

"Great mom, you can tell her all of my embarrassing stories, make sure she hears about bible camp," I said dryly.

I was so not getting laid after this! Who was going to want to sleep with a guy who made Valentine's day chocolate chip cookie houses, although in my defense it was very similar to lego building 'cept you could eat it afterwards.

"Oh no honey, I have to save that one for next time, gotta give her a reason to come back," she said winking at Kim and I started to panic, there was no way she was serious, no way she would actually tell her about—

"Bible camp?" Kim said raising her eyebrow at me.

"Don't ask," I said quickly, helping her as she unwrapped the small individually wrapped imported Japanese candies my mother was going to use as a fence, she was pulling out the big guns.

"Oh gosh, now I have to know! I can't wait till next time," Kim said gently nudging my mother who howled with laughter when she saw my face.

"Well that one I have to save for a special occasion, but trust me I have plenty of others," my mom assured her.

My phone rang and since my fingers were covered in frosting Kim put her hand in my pocket, her fingers brushing against Little Jared as she pulled out the phone and put it to my ear. It was Embry.

"Southwest corner of town. New scent," was all her said before hanging up. I groaned, duty was calling at the worst times lately.

"Wolf duty?" My mom asked, putting her arm around Kim's shoulder.

"Yeah. Kim, I'll be back as soon as I can, okay? Don't leave, please. There's a leech loose," I said kissing her cheek then my mom's.

"A what?"

"A vampire," I said quickly, kicking off my shoes.

"A what?" She said her eyes filled with panic.

"A vampire, Kim. That's my job. I track and kill vampires," I realized then I hadn't really done a good job at explaining the wolf thing.

"Wolfmen and vampires."

"Yeah. The legends of our tribe, you've heard them," I said staring at her.

"Not since I was like six," she said indignantly. "You're going to kill a vampire?"

"Yeah and I really have to go, it's just me and Embry right now. Mom, could you—"

"I'll fill her in," she said pushing me towards the door and I was off.

I phased and joined Embry, but the scent was fading. We tried to track it, running here and there until we finally got something fresh. We were too late, when we finally followed the scent to the source we found a recently fed vamp albeit a really tiny one.

She was shorter than Kim even, her sickly red eyes burning into me. Luckily she wasn't like the redhead, she didn't have the sense to run off and it was almost too easy to take her apart, although the whole ordeal still took an hour.

Kim was sitting in the living room when I arrived a cup of coffee in one hand my mother to her left. They weren't speaking and she didn't hear me enter, a perk and a curse of being a werewolf. I coughed and she jumped, leaping out of her seat and into my arms, I could get used to this, patrolling and returning home to a loving wife who—

"You idiot!" She hissed pushing against my chest. She caught me off guard and I took a step back.

"What'd I do?" I asked looking to my mom for help. She stood up, smirked, shrugged her shoulders and made her way out of the room. I stepped toward Kim my hands lifting her chin to look at me, her eyes were watering quickly.

"There are extra blankets and things in the cupboard upstairs! She is not going to stay alone in that house, Jared," my mom called as she walked down the hall to her room.

"What's wrong?" I pressed again, she was wrapping herself around me.

"You can't just go running after murderous blood drinkers, are you fucking crazy?" she sobbed grasping for my face. My entire body relaxed, this was a complaint I could deal with.

"It's my job. I was made for this," I whispered lifting her up by her waist. Her hand remained on either side of my face and she stared at me as if I had said my life's desire was to be a clown.

"Jared, you could die." She said this as if she were telling me a very serious secret, her eyes wide and her voice at barely a whisper.

"I won't," I said pulling her close.

She released my face enveloping my neck with her arms and kissing at my ears. I hated to see Kim upset, I really did, I wanted her to be happy every day of her life, but her being upset about me, about my safety when just two days ago I would have bet everything I had that she wouldn't shed a tear at my funeral well, it felt amazing.

"They're really strong and fast and made of stone, and if they bite you you die, Jared," she cried kissing at my hairline.

"I know, that's why I have muscles and claws and teeth and all of those wolf things," I reasoned. She was sniffling again.

"You can't die on me, Jared. You have to promise me that if there's a vampire you can't handle you'll run away. I don't care how many people it ends up eating, you have to live," she said firmly as I carried her up the stairs.

"I can't promise you that Kim... It's my sacred duty and all that. But you shouldn't worry, there are four of us and we are all very good at it. Vampire come in ones or pairs, we always outnumber them. It's safe, I promise," I assured her, setting her down in front of my room.

She opened the door timidly, she had never been in it before and as I looked around I realized why. My room was a mess, clothes thrown everywhere, posters of the model Adriana Lima plastered on every wall, which of course Kim noticed.

"Adriana Lima, huh?" she asked examining the poster on the inside of my door.

"You know her," I asked nervously scratching the back of my neck.

"Yeah... she's the sexiest Victoria Secret's angel," she said dryly, turning to face me.

"Does Matty like her or something?" I asked trying to distract her from the ten to twenty other posters of Lima surrounding my room.

"No, my dad actually, I send him the catalogue in the big house. I think Matty might like male models actually," she said examining me.

"You think Matty's gay?" I asked locking the door behind her.

"Yeah... is that a problem?" She asked crossing her arms in front of her.

"No, of course not."

"So... you really like her," she said circling the room, kicking aside piles of clothing as she went, as if it were an everyday occurrence.

"Yeah, I used to, I haven't redecorated in a while," I said lamely.

There was a tension in the room. Supermodels and werewolf dangers were sorta mood killers but I could still hear the increase in her heartbeat every time I looked at her, making my palms sweat.

"Who are the others? Can I ask?" She said stiffly as she sat rigidly on the corner of my bed.

"Wolves or models?" I asked lying next to her, my muscles were sore from running and ripping.

"Both I guess," she giggled curling up next to me, her back pressed against my side.

"Embry Call, Samuel Uley and Paul Lahote. Giselle, that chick from the Pussycat Dolls, and Kim Kardashian," I listed quickly, she scoffed loudly.

"What's wrong with Kim K?" My arms wrapped around her, spooning her soft body, her smell filling the room.

"Um, I was more worried about the fact that you have to trust your life to Paul than the fact that you like an amateur porn star," she said rolling over to face me.

"He's actually a great guy," I said kissing her forehead which crinkled as I spoke.

"What happened with you two exactly."

Now I had avoided the question for a long time, not really sure I was ready to hear it, but it seemed like a good time to dive into the gory details.

"Ugh! It's so embarrassing, I can't believe I used to like that guy," she squealed burying her face in my arm. My stomach did unexplainable things but I didn't respond, just sat waiting for her to continue.

"Paul worked at "the fry" last summer and we became friends, we hung out a lot after work and stuff… I liked him, but then he met my friend Mindy… they went out on a few dates and she liked him so I gave up. Then Mindy had this party and he got drunk and tried to have sex with me and I—"

"Tried? As in he hurt you cuz—"

"No. Not like that, we kissed—I knew I shouldn't have, Mindy really liked him, so when he tried to make it a bit more interesting I stopped him, he got mad called me a cock-tease and a slut, which by the way is ridiculous because you can't be both simultaneously and—"

"Oh thank god, I thought I was going to have to live forever knowing you slept with Paul!"

"I've never—I mean before you, I never… you know."

"You were a virgin?" I asked possibly a little too surprised.

"By the Bill Clinton definition, yes," she said defensively.

"You never told me you—"

"I didn't want you to know."

"Why?"

"Because then maybe you would ask why I was so willing to have sex with you on the first day we officially met," she said as if she were talking to a very dumb but cute child.

"Why were you," I was pushing my luck, but she'd been very honest so I thought I'd give it a go.

"Because I've wanted you since the sixth grade, you know that already, you're totally just trying to get me to say it again," she huffed.

"Sixth grade?"

"Yeah," she said flatly, running her hand down my chest to the rim of my pants, a diversion tactic I wasn't buying at the moment, I was too curious.

"Why didn't you just say something to me? You never even—"

"You never even looked at me till that day."

"Touché," I sighed.

"And how about you, other than the fact that you're a man—why were you so willing to have sex with me after less than an hour of meeting me. You didn't even know me!"

And this would have been the perfect moment to bring up imprinting. I know I had to tell her eventually, but a huge part of me was screaming not to. Why tell her now when there was a good likelihood she would freak out and leave me once again, something I wasn't sure I could handle now.

"Because you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen."

"Oh really? I think Ms. Lima might have something to say about that," she giggled, throwing her leg over me in one swift movement.

"She'd be wrong." Sneaking my hand up her shirt. She hadn't put a bra on, her soft warm breasts were bare against my fingertips.

"Um, Jared?"

"Yeah," I stopped my fingers, pulling them back down her ribcage which made her twitch, rubbing against my junk.

"Next time can we do this somewhere else, cuz being naked in a room covered with posters of an underwear model is going to give me a complex," she whispered swiftly removing her shirt.

She was remarkable, which I promptly informed her, earning me a quick pillow in the face. It didn't stop the stare—her coppery soft skin shimmered and I saw only her, Lima was shit in comparison.

Kim trailed down my body, still only half clad in cut off sweats. Little Jared was not so little anymore, the pressure of her body sweeping down causing him to stand at full attention.

"Enough talking, a promise is a promise," she said, tugging at my sweats. I helped her, shimming out of them as fast as possible.

She smirked, holding LJ tight and I stopped breathing. She had her mouth on him before I could prepare, leaving butterfly kisses along the shaft. The kisses turned sloppy and I had to concentrate, I wasn't going to burst early the same day my mom told her about my baking hobbies.

One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Don't blow. Ten Mississippi. Eleven Mississippi. Don't blow. Twelve Mississippi. Don't—Ah fuck! She giggled, sitting Indian style at my feet, wiping her chin.

"I'm sorry, I—" she laughed harder, god I am such a loser!

"Kim one, Jared zero!" She squealed launching herself on top of me with a flurry of kisses. I flipped her over with a growl, ripping off her pants in one super cool motion which made her soar momentarily off the bed before landing again. She wasn't laughing anymore. I poised myself at her entrance and she wrapped her legs around me.

"I missed you so much, Jared," she moaned into my mouth as I repositioned her legs, allowing me better access. She clawed at my chest as I rocked forward covering LJ to the hilt, I picked up speed, my hips hitting her soft thighs with every movement. She kept her eyes on mine, heavily hooded and dilated to the extreme, but filled with love.

I never thought sex could feel like this. Sex with Kim had always been enjoyable, she's hot and she's my imprint so I adore her, but seriously I'd never felt anything like it before. Every one of my sensed were honed on Kim.

Vampires could be dropping from the sky and I wouldn't notice, her warmth was all I felt, her heart and erratic breathing filled my ears. I was in overdrive, more in love with Kim than should have been possible, how could I even live like this? How can go through the mundane motions of everyday life when I knew I could feel like this?

It's immensely immature of me, but every time she came, clenching tight around me, I smiled harder, ticking off my score. The score was Kim: 2, Jared: 5 when she finally had enough, biting a nearby pillow to muffle her scream as she trashed and collapsed on top of me, where she ended up after my weight became an issue.

She curled into me, taking a still very hard LJ in her tiny hands and bringing the final score to Kim: 3, Jared: 5, a clear victory I could be proud of.

"I win," I breathed in her ear.

"Well, that depends on how you look at it," she said smartly. "Ugh! You're so hot and I'm all sticky," she whined sitting up.

"Shower?" I asked smiling much more widely than should have been allowed for the situation.

"You're on," she whispered, leaping out of the bed. I grabbed some towels, a fresh pair of sweats, a pair of old boxers and an old undershirt for Kim and picked her up. The best part about living on the top floor was that my parents did not, so I strolled down the hall naked, like a caveman with my reward slung over my shoulder. She slapped my ass and giggled as I set her down, turning on the water. I wasn't sure what a normal temperature was anymore so I set it low and got in first, blocking most of it from her.

"Too cold," I asked, but she didn't answer just kissed me sweetly. It wasn't like the kisses she had given me in the bedroom, it was soft and childish almost. Her hands rested on my chest, and I placed my hand on the wall behind her.

Our relationship completely skipped this stage; the time before groping, oral sex and pillow biting. I had only ever had one girlfriend before, never going beyond flat chest caressing, so I didn't really realize how much I had missed. The simplicity of tongues twirling, hands in PG positions.

She pulled away looking up at me, blinking rapidly as drops of water assaulted her, I moved my head to block them and she smiled.

"I love you," we said it at the exact same moment, and giggled together, before she grabbed bottle of shampoo from behind me and smelled it.

"It smells like you," she whispered smiling as she poured some in her hand and lathering it in my hair and then her own. "I like the way you smell."

"Ditto," I breathed, rubbing a washcloth down her back. When we finished I helped her out of the shower, and took extra care drying her off, kissing random body parts as I went.

Neck. Right shoulder. Inside of her elbow. Left wrist. Top of her ribcage. Pelvis. And well once I got there it became apparent to me that well 5-3 was just too evenly matched. Kim didn't mind as my kisses became much less random and more French, spreading her legs and allowing me access to her core.

"You are ridiculous," she sighed as I brought her to one more powerful release.

"It's a werewolf thing."