Chapter Seventy Five

Bella

Running was exhilarating and it was so easy, I could run as fast as the wind and still have time to avoid trees and roots. I wanted to stop and explore my surroundings with my new vampire senses but I needed to find Jasper before he decided to run. As I got closer to the creek I slowed down and then stopped. If I approached him head on he might not understand and I wouldn't fight him so I walked forward very slowly, coming out into the open on the bank of the slow moving creek.

Jasper

I heard someone coming and hoped it wasn't Peter, I knew he was right but I was sick of his glares and comments. I didn't need him to tell me what I'd done or what it made me. I would leave soon but I just needed to see Bella once, to know she'd come through her ordeal. She wouldn't be happy but then none of us had been. I hoped her newborn rage wouldn't be too much for Peter and Charlotte to cope with. I knew they would keep her safe until she settled down but my chest ached as I thought about what should have been. I should have been at her side, experiencing everything through her newborn eyes with her and holding her when the rage got too much for her to control. She was after all mine, and I'd forfeit her in the worst possible way. I watched, ready to pounce if it was him, anything to stop his next tirade but then I froze, it was Bella and she was alone. I scanned the area looking for the others, how had they let her out alone? She couldn't have overpowered both of them surely. I reached out with my gift ready to pull back in again when I felt her rage but there was no rage in her, only sadness. What was going on?

She moved to the waters edge and sat down on the grass, hands in her lap, staring into the slow moving water. I moved closer to see what had caught her attention, she was staring at her reflection in the still pool at the edge of the creek, expressionless. Then I heard her voice, clear and sweet,

"I can't do this on my own. I need you by my side, I love you and I understand what you did."

She was talking to me, she knew I was here somewhere and I knew how, Peter!

"Jasper, I can live like this but I can't live without you. I tried and it nearly killed me. So either come back or finish what you started and kill me, I wont fight you."

I waited but it seemed she'd said everything she wanted to.

Bella

I knew he was here because the ache in my chest had eased and I could smell him on the breeze, he was above and to my right. I couldn't go to him though, he had to see me and make his move accordingly. I waited, watching my reflection in the water. The beautiful face with its deep red eyes seemed eerily familiar but it wasn't me. I heard a movement behind me but resisted the urge to whirl around protectively. I continued looking into the water and I saw him approach and stand at the back of me, hands outstretched but afraid to touch me.

"I forgive you"

I said very quietly, knowing it was what he needed to hear and feeling the love and guilt he was feeling.

He touched me tentatively on my shoulder.

"I know you can feel my emotions, do you feel anger, hatred, loathing in me?"

His other hand touched my other shoulder and he took a step forward still hesitating.

"I'm staying here until you talk to me and come back".

Jasper

She floored me when she spoke, how could she forgive me for taking away her human life? How could she not be raging with anger? Without conscious thought I put my hands on her shoulders and felt the love pouring from her. She was telling the truth, she forgave me and loved me still, what had I done to deserve such loyalty? I stepped forward and stood close behind her then knelt down and pulled her back into my chest. I'd never expected to feel her so close again and the agony of overwhelming love bent me over, my face resting in her hair. She still didn't move, just lifted her hands to cover mine.

"Jasper, we should have anticipated what would happen. You were going on instinct, you did what you would do in the heat of the moment, neither of us were in control of our passion".

"Bella I am so sorry. What I did was unforgivable"

"No. If I forgive you then that's it, and I do. I love you Jasper. We should have realized that instinct might take over. I was always going to become like you. It just happened a little sooner than we thought."

Bella

He believed me, he didn't understand, but he believed me, and that is what I was waiting to feel. I turned round to face him and wound my arms around his neck,

"Did you really think my love for you could be ended when you marked me as your mate, because that's all you were doing."

He shook his head, holding me close but unable to speak.

He was still tense and I needed to show him it was over, in the past and forgotten.

I pulled him down to the ground with me and lay on his chest looking into his eyes.

"I know I'm supposed to be rampaging through the countryside attacking anything with a pulse but just now all I want is to be with you. Make love to me Jasper, please"

Jasper

She was right, she shouldn't be here so calm and collected but I wasn't going to complain. I wanted the same as her and within seconds I'd stripped her naked and she reciprocated then we fell back to the ground both eager to feel the other, to feel the desire as we joined, this time without any need for care. We made love passionately and this time when we climaxed it was Bella who attacked. I wasn't sure if it was instinct or quid pro quo but I wasn't complaining even when her teeth almost met through the side my throat. The pain was something I would endure, I knew she was marking me as hers. The bite mark would never fade, any more than any of the others I wore, but this one was special and I would wear it as a token of our undying love for each other until we both ceased to exist.