Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.
Special thanks to Gredelina1, Augustmoon and Mary-Alice-Brandon-Cullen for pre-reading this. This was beta'd by Maxipoo1024 from Sparkly Red Pen.
IMORTANT NOTE: This chapter originally contained a lemon, but because of the latest witch hunt for stories violating the TOS I have cut it. If you want to read the lemon let me know and I will send it to you in a PM.
Chapter Seventeen — Joined
When Isabella told me what she thought of as her greatest weakness, it was as if it broke a dam in her. I realized the playful Isabella I had first met in Alaska was, just like her Volturi persona, another charade. I now saw the real Isabella, and I loved her more than ever.
I wanted to comfort her. I reached out tentatively, remembering the violent reaction she had to the last time we touched. I was afraid of sending her running away again. She closed the gap between us, and I was lost. It was as if an electric charge shot through me, awakening every cell of my being in a way I hadn't felt since my very first taste of human blood.
There was no question she felt it too. Her eyes widened and a low growl built in her chest. No longer restrained by caution, I pulled her against me and our lips met in a kiss so powerful it felt like it was literally burning me.
xXx
Hours later, or perhaps days—it was hard to tell—I came from the lust driven haze and examined my surroundings.
The chair was lower than I remembered. The splinters of wood surrounding us showed that we had crushed the legs at some point.
In fact, we had done quite a lot of damage to the room during our lovemaking. Chunks of wall were crushed with person shaped indentations. The tall mirror that stood by the closet was now shards of glass on the floor. The gauzy curtains were scraps on the floor. I had no idea how we had managed that.
Isabella was lying with her head in my lap. Her eyes were closed, and she looked as if she was sleeping. I ran a hand through her hair, and her eyes opened. They were not the gold I expected, but shocking crimson.
"Your eyes," I said hesitantly.
"You seemed to like them red earlier," she said.
I had a vague memory of her red eyes locked with mine as she moved above me.
She blinked and when she opened them again they were back to gold.
"Why is it so hazy for me?" I asked.
She stretched languidly. "I don't know, perhaps it would be for me too if not for my shield. I have never sealed a mating bond before, obviously, so I don't know if it is usual. We could always ask your coven. I imagine Emmett would have some interesting theories."
I laughed. "He certainly would. Let us not ask. I've found where Emmett is concerned, less is more."
She shifted to sit on my lap, our bare flesh touching. She had shown no aversion to my scars, but had laved them with her tongue as if wiping away the foreign venom that had long since made its place in my flesh.
"I love you," I said softly.
She hid her face against my neck. "You are very special to me."
It was not the response I wished for, but it still made me happy to hear it.
xXx
We stayed in her chamber all night. Though she did not say it, and I didn't push the subject, I suspected she wanted to allow time for the evidence of the feeding to fade. I was happy to wait, I enjoyed the time alone together.
In the afternoon, we returned to the throne room. I stood silently as she and her brothers discussed the Romanian threat. I wanted to join the discussion but didn't. I was still unsure of my limitations here. I had a request to make of her, but I suspected it would be better made in private than among her coven.
I noticed she avoided meeting Marcus' eye while they spoke. He was eager to speak to her, but she was doing all she could to deny him the opportunity. Finally, his patience was spent, and he openly requested a moment alone with her.
She sighed heavily. "Very well. Jasper, would you like to stay here so my brothers can interrogate you, or would you prefer to wait in my chambers?" She asked it in a joking tone, but I knew from the intensity of Caius' stare, he was eager for a chance to speak with me.
"I am happy to wait here," I said serenely.
Marcus offered an arm to her, and she took it willingly and walked from the room. I felt a pang of jealously at their easy contact. She and I had not had physical contact since the moment she learned of our mating. I wanted more than anything to touch her, but I was leery of risking her fleeing from me again.
When they were gone, I turned to Caius and waited for the interrogation to begin.
"I hope you understand just how lucky you are," he said smoothly.
I nodded. "I am aware of just how special she is."
"That is not what I meant," he said. "Though I am pleased you note how lucky you are to have mated to her, I meant the fact she returned to you after only three months. The last time she fled from us, she was gone almost three decades."
"Caius," Aro said in a warning tone, "think what you are saying."
"I am merely pointing out his good fortune," he said, unabashed. "Marcus was not so fortunate."
My curiosity was piqued. Eleazar had mentioned a dispute between Isabella and Marcus before she left, but I did not know the details. I knew that Caius had engineered this conversation to make me ask for more details, but I refused him the satisfaction.
"Then I am even more grateful," I said, schooling my features into a calm mask.
Aro understood what I was doing and gave me a small smile.
"What are your plans, now?" he asked. "Isabella has made it clear that she does not want you to reside here."
A fact I was still perturbed by. I couldn't be away from her without suffering, though I knew I could not stay here. My first experience of a feeding was unpleasant. Though I told Isabella I could have controlled myself, I was not so sanguine now. Alice had seen me here with red eyes in her vision. I did not want to return to the human blood diet I had fought for my control.
More than the temptation of human blood was the emotions of the castle. When I had been with Maria, I had lived in a constant environment of hate and bloodlust. Here, I was among constant greed and ill concealed resentment. The female, Chelsea, kept the guard as a functioning group, but she was unable to alter their emotions.
"I shall have to discuss this with Isabella," I said. "But I agree, I cannot stay here. I could leave my coven and we could live apart, but I do not know if the life of a nomad would satisfy her."
I did not want to leave the family, but if that was what it took to be with her I would make the sacrifice.
"I think you may be surprised," Aro said, drawing an incredulous look from Caius. "Isabella has already changed so much since accepting your mating, she may think the sacrifice worth it."
"But is she not required here?" I asked. "She said her position had…changed since her opposition of you."
"Which gives her even more freedom that ever before," Aro said. "As a leader Isabella will not answer to anyone, not that she ever did really." He smiled fondly.
"Do you wish her to leave us?" Caius asked Aro. I felt a surge of anger from him. From what I had seen, I thought he was the one with the least attachment to Isabella, now I saw otherwise. He cared for her just as much as Marcus and Aro did, but he was better at concealing it.
"Calm, brother," Aro soothed. "I am thinking of Isabella and what she needs. Can you imagine being parted from Athenodora for any length of time?"
He didn't answer, but I felt the shift in his emotions. The mere thought of being away from his mate hurt him.
He was saved from answering by Isabella and Marcus' return. She came to my side and smiled radiantly in greeting. He, on the other hand, looked exceptionally morose. His eyes bored into me. The sensation made me distinctly uncomfortable.
xXx
There was a perceptible air of excitement among the guard the following days. Demetri was leading a group to Romania to scout the area before they made their move. I suspected Isabella would have liked to join him, but she did not speak of it. It seemed she had too much to attend to already.
She gave me a tour of the castle, which I suspected had a dual purpose. It was true that she wanted to show me her home, but I noticed whenever we passed a member of the guard in the halls she moved a little closer to me and made her smile much more radiant. She was ensuring they all knew who and what I was to her.
I was happy to play along, a small mischievous part of me wished I could take her to Forks High and parade her in the corridors to do the same. The mindless sheep that made up the student population would soon learn not to approach me if they saw her glare at them.
We went to the nearby nature reserve to hunt together. I had never seen Isabella hunt before, and it was an experience to be relished.
The wildlife of the area was not what I was used to in America. The most prolific animal was wild boar, and they tasted absolutely disgusting; we settled for deer instead.
I fed first. It had been a while since I had hunted and the recent feeding in the castle had not helped the creeping burn in my throat.
She leaned against a tree and watched with a contemplative expression as I took down the doe. I took more care with my hunt than usual, wanting her to see my prowess, but her expression was unreadable as I approached her.
My hunt had scared away the remaining deer, so we tracked them deeper into the forest for her hunt.
She smiled impishly at me before darting forward and catching a stag. Her moves were sinuous and smooth as she pinned it to the ground and sank her teeth into its throat. Her lips closed around the flow of blood and her eyes slipped closed. It was beautiful to watch, and a little erotic.
When the flow of blood ceased she rose to her feet and dusted off her pants.
"Disgusting, but infinitely better than humans," she said with a small smile. I returned it automatically. It was as if all my reactions were in sync with her now.
She moved to the small pool close by and rinsed off her hands then sat down on the ground. I noticed she had taken on some of my 'human' habits recently, even when we were alone. It pleased me more as I remembered her scorn of my suggestion to sit the first time we were alone together.
I sat beside her and she shifted to sit on my lap. She traced the lines of my forehead with her fingertips.
"What are you thinking?" she asked.
"I am thinking of the Romanians," I said honestly. "I am thinking that I don't want you to fight them."
She laughed lightly. "I will not be fighting them alone. The guard will be with me."
"I know, and that does ease my mind somewhat, but I was thinking perhaps I should come too."
She was silent for an exceptionally long time. I had expected her to refuse me outright, but this calm thoughtfulness gave me hope.
"It is an interesting idea," she said finally. "You are certainly experienced enough for the fight. Hmmm… I wonder."
This was going even better that I could have imagined.
"I shall make a deal with you," she said. "If you consent to a sparring match with myself and some of the guards, then you can come."
"You want me to fight you?" I asked incredulously. The prospect was abhorrent to me.
"No, dear. You and I shall fight as a team against them."
Fighting alongside Isabella, sounded positively easy.