Alice and I walked around the corner from the Swan residence, into the trees. I started to run. She caught me quickly. "In a hurry?" she asked, disappointed.

I stopped. "Not especially, why?"

"I... wanted to have some time with you. Without Bella. Not that I don't love Bella or understand that you are in the middle of something with her. I get that. But, well, I haven't really gotten to get to know you yet." She took my hand and started walking at human pace for the house. We would take a couple hours to get there at this rate.

Still, I was more comfortable once we were moving. I was rather afraid she'd try to push herself on me. This was a relief. I must have let it show.

"Am I really that obvious?" she asked.

I smiled broadly. "When you want to be." I nodded. "Charlie wasn't oblivious."

She laughed. "True. That was rather blatant. He needed someone to remind him that he is a good looking man. He has many good years left. Years that will be wasted if he doesn't find someone to share them with."

I looked at her from the corner of my eye. "You know who."

She smiled impishly and nodded. "Of course. She isn't available at the moment, but fate will take care of that. In another year or so, she will be a widow. Nothing that can be prevented at this point, I'm afraid. But I saw her as soon as I met him. They must have a strong connection for me to see it between humans; they are usually quite difficult for me." She stopped, glaring. I felt the sharp prick of irritation. "You got me talking about me. That gift of yours is too subtle." She pouted a little.

I chuckled. "I wasn't using it. I was just curious. What do you want to know about me then?"

She sighed, rolling her eyes. "What drew you to Bella?"

"Her lack of fear. She wasn't intimidated by me in the slightest. That isn't always true even among women of our kind."

She nodded. "She is stupid brave all right." Alice had a faraway look in her eyes.

"What do you see?"

"Hmm?" She focused on me now.

"You saw something, a minute ago. You weren't looking at anything here."

She smiled. "You're good. Most people don't notice. Especially the quick ones like that. I saw Bella doing something brave but stupid. I'll prevent it."

"Why?"

She wrinkled her brow and scoffed. "Because you love her. Because I love her." She continued looking away, into the future I supposed. She sighed in content.

"Something good that time."

She smiled. "You are good. Yes. The three of us, well four, in the house. A very happy family. I like that vision."

I put an arm around her shoulder and squeezed. "I do, too."

"You're sure?" she asked me. I felt a bubble of amusement. "I'm not too irritating for you? I annoy the life out of Jane. She would burn me daily if Aro would let her. He sends her away when she does, so she's stopped." She laughed, halting her stride. "Sometimes he shuns her for my visions of her burning me. Those are the best!"

I chuckled with her. Taking her hand again.

She leaned a little into me, sighing again. "It is so good to finally be with you."

I stopped this time. "How? How is it good? How can you tell?"

She smiled. "You were the first thing I saw when the fire ceased. I remember nothing of my humanity, my human life. I didn't even know I had one before I met Eleazar; I thought I'd been born this way. My first memory is of your face."

"I'm sorry, Alice. This must be hard for you."

She laughed again. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, I'm with Bella."

"Yes, that does make things more complicated but not difficult. Interesting," she concluded with a smile. "We are mates, Jasper. She will never match you as well as I do. That doesn't mean you don't love her or that she won't be part of your life, but I know, one day, you will need me more than her." She shrugged.

I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts as we continued to the house. "You're crazy, you know that?"

"Certifiable. I'm sure I was institutionalized as a human." The humour and amusement rolled from her making me smile, too. "Normally, I'm a very jealous person. I would be livid that Bella had her lips on you. But I can't be, I wasn't here to make you mine. I'll have to satisfy myself with being here when you need me. And let's face it, it's not like I'm not going to have fun along the way." Lust poured from her now, filling the air between us. She leapt, straddling my waist with her legs and putting her lips to mine. She didn't try to pry them open, she didn't linger, she simply pulled on my hair and put all of herself into that brief second. Then she jumped down, taking my hand again.

I waited a few paces. "Why did you stop?"

"You would have asked me to if I hadn't."

"Right."

"Do you love Carlisle?"

"What?" I couldn't keep up; she changed topics at lightning speed.

"Carlisle. He's a father to you, isn't he? How strong is that? I don't remember my parents so I've never had a father. I sometimes thought of Eleazar as a father, but he didn't care for that."

"I'm surprised by that."

"Because he has other daughters now?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Well, yes."

"He didn't feel worthy of being a father before he joined them. He didn't see himself as someone to emulate. I'm so glad I sent him to Carmen."

"You did." My head was starting to hurt. I was glad I had ample room to wind these ideas through. Alice saw the vampires of Denali. Eleazar was her mentor before he left Volterra. She introduced him to Carmen. That couldn't have been that long before Carlisle and I went to Denali; Eleazar and Carmen had only been with them a few months when we came. That was one of the reasons our stay had been so beneficial to me, they were learning as well. "Why didn't you come with them?"

"I mentioned it was difficult for Eleazar to leave? I was the one that convinced Aro to let him go. I saw him with his mate and I saw him without her. I never saw Marcus before he lost his mate, but he is an empty shell now, held in place by Chelsea. Eleazar was searching for more from his existence; he was looking for Carmen, even though he didn't know it. I was able to show Aro just how little he would gain by holding Eleazar compared with letting him go. Eleazar still keeps in touch with us. When we find a vampire we believe has an unknown talent, he comes to Volterra for us. He bears us no ill will.

"Now, Carlisle!" she demanded.

I chuckled a bit. "Love. Yes, I suppose I do love Carlisle. He certainly loves me. If not as much as a human father loves his children, certainly as much as a priest or pastor loves his parishioners."

She smiled. "The way you define such things. You know exactly what those different loves are, almost like they were colours or textures, don't you?"

I nodded.

"So what is my love for you like?"

My chest hurt where my heart should beat. She loved me more than I loved her, more than I had loved anyone. And the emotion overwhelmed me now as I focused on it. I turned it to her, letting her see and feel it for herself.

Alice gasped, her hand covering her mouth. She gritted her teeth. "This is going to hurt but, now show me how you love Bella."

"I can't do that, Alice."

"Liar," she spat, her anger spiky over the love that didn't cease. "You can; you won't. I know you love each other. I just want to know what I can hope for, what I can strive to receive."

I shook my head. "No."

"Fine." She ran from me then, leaving me alone in the trees.

I sighed, alone with my guilt. I had just pushed away one of the few people who loved me. A moment later, I chased after her.

I didn't go far. She was standing in a clearing, facing me. "You decided to follow me?"

"I don't want to hurt you, Alice." I hugged her to me, reaching low and pulling her up. She was so small.

She looked up into my eyes. "You need to hunt soldier. You will have a very hard time in class tomorrow otherwise."

I chuckled. She was right.

"I'll come with you. Or rather, you'll come with me. Follow me." And she was off. I tried to keep up, but she was fast. I noticed her pause a few times along her path to let me catch up.

She stopped suddenly and I rested beside her. Just below us were a bear and her two cubs. "Young or old?" she asked me.

"Old." I burst after the mother while Alice took one of the cubs.

She didn't chase the second, watching me drain the Grizzly. I felt her lust rise. I understood. There was something enticing about watching us drawing the life out of a being. Her lust and the warm blood, together fueled me.

Her eyes went wide. "Jasper," was all she got out before my lips crushed hers.

I needed this. I needed to drive. One quick brush pulled the thong off her hips, my fingers taking it's place, sliding down her ass. Her tongue fought with mine, no fear of teeth. Her hands made quick work of my belt and pants, her fingers wrapping me.

"Alice," I hissed, tipping my head back as she squeezed me harder than Bella could. I growled and grabbed her hips holding her over me.

She smiled and wrapped her feet around my sides, wiggling her toes, tickling my ribs.

I pulled her down on me, needing the feel of her soft, slippery flesh on mine. Again, this wasn't something I could do with Bella, for so many reasons. I'd be tearing into her, spilling her intoxicating blood. I'd hold her too tight, breaking bones, bruising. And I'd probably rip her apart thrusting into her the way I did with Alice now. "Fuck, yes."

"Oh, Jazz," she moaned.

I stopped abruptly, and Alice cursed quietly. "I saw her call you that, in the truck. Stupid, Alice," she muttered.

"What will she do when she finds out?" I asked, still buried in her, but unmoving.

"I can't say, Jasper. That will be her choice." She moved in my grip, pulling her feet up, to push herself away.

I took another second to think, holding Alice's body to mine. My body wanted this. It had wanted it today, that was part of the reason we'd needed Alice help. What if this could ease the thirst? Just as animal blood made it easier to resist human, what if sex with Alice could make touching Bella easier? I moved one hand to Alice's cheek, stroking with my thumb. "Can I use you like that?" I asked in a whisper. Not asking her so much as myself.

"I'm here for you to use, Jasper. I'm here in any and every way you need me." She grabbed my head in two hands and kissed me. At the same time she squeezed me inside of her and my hand shot back to her hip, holding her as I thrust with abandon.

I felt my face crumple with my impending orgasm. She felt so wet, so warm, so soft, and she squeezed me so well. I knew I was neglecting her pleasure, so I dropped my control and thrust my lust at her as well as my cock.

Her orgasm was fast and violent. Her scream echoed in the valley we had descended into upon the bears. Her pussy clenched in amazing long strokes over my length, drawing me even deeper into her. I throbbed with each stroke, finally releasing everything with a guttural series of grunts worthy of the caveman I felt like.

"Wow. I didn't know you could do that."

I smiled at her. "You didn't ask."

She laughed and smacked my shoulder.

BTW: next chapter has the guilt. He's still in post-coital glow here. I'm not ignoring it...

Thanks to Sharebear for the beta. If you're sad to see him with Alice, just remember what Alice said off the top. He has something with Bella. It isn't the same as what he has with Alice. I don't want to call it less, although the 'mate' terminology makes it seem so, it's more like the description he uses for Carlisle. I use 'not as much as' as a qualifier of loves of the same style, the different types aren't really less, they just get compared to the most obvious, strongest example. A priest doesn't love his parishioners LESS than a father loves his child, just differently. Jasper doesn't love Bella LESS than Alice, just differently.