Chapter 5
Jake trotted towards home, but was not really in any hurry to get there. He saw the sun set behind the horizon. It felt freeing to let his mind wander where it may. Until suddenly he sensed someone phase in. Of course it would be Sam.
Jacob, you are supposed to be taking the weekend off. Get home! Sam ordered. It wasn't a true 'alpha order' so that Jake wasn't bound by the order, but it still had the same implications.
Yes, Sir! Jake replied sarcastically and immediately phased out. He would rather walk a hundred miles than to have his mind connected to Sam's for any longer. Jake also couldn't risk him seeing his plan towards Emily.
Jake had seen inside Sam's mind and he knew how much she meant to him. Could he really try to steal another wolf's imprint? Jake couldn't get Bella to see past a friendship, how on earth would he be able to compete with the binding power of imprinting?
Doubt filled Jake as he continued to walk, but he didn't want to believe it was hopeless. Stubbornness kept him moving forward and before he could talk himself out of it, he found himself on Emily's front porch.
The heavy black rain clouds blocked the moon's rays, making it extremely dark. The shadow of the door moved over him as it opened and Emily walked into what easily could have felt like a brick wall, but instead was Jake's naked chest.
"Ahhh!" Emily screamed and immediately began to hit Jake.
"Emily, stop! What are you doing?" Jake asked, shocked by her initial reaction. He could see the whites of her eyes as panic had seized her.
"Jake?" she asked, breathlessly.
"Yes, are you okay?" He put his arm around her and she nodded her head, but he could hear her heart racing and knew that she wasn't really okay. "I don't believe you. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing." She shook her head and opened the door wider for him to come in. Jake stepped inside and the lights of the room, revealing his nakedness. "Whoa… uh, uhm…" Emily stammered.
Jake watched her as she looked everywhere, but at his face. He couldn't help the laughter that erupted from him and honestly, it felt great to laugh. Jake couldn't recall the last time he truly laughed. It was probably with Bella in his garage when they had tripped over something invisible and could easily laugh at themselves. He enjoyed being with someone who wasn't always perfect. In many ways Emily made him feel the same way.
"Stop laughing at me," Emily slapped his shoulder. "Where are your clothes?"
Jake shrugged. "They got shredded. Got any spare shorts?"
"Of course," Emily giggled softly and turned towards the spare bedroom. Her bare feet thumped softly against the hardwood floor. "Did you finally phase without meaning to?"
"Not exactly," Jake answered vaguely. Emily gave him a confused look which made him shrug again. "It's complicated."
Jake's comfort with his nudity surprised him. He considered himself to be shy and hated that he blushed so easily. There was something about Emily that made him feel calm and comfortable in his own skin. Jake grinned and followed her to the same bathroom he had used immediately after his first phase.
"I think we both knew that Sam wouldn't be the only person walking around here naked."
"You are probably right. Why are you so wet and muddy?"
Jake laughed again. "You do know that it rains here more than almost any other place on earth. Rain makes things wet." Jake shook his head and tiny droplets sprayed from his short hair.
"Jake, stop it!" Emily shrieked and threw a towel to him. Jake caught the towel, but continued to shake his head, tiny droplets raining around them. Emily wiped her face and grabbed another towel draping it over his head. "There," she said, and determined the problem fixed.
He ran the towel over his head and shoulders and body while he watched Emily busy herself in finding shorts. He watched her curiously since he knew that the shorts were in the long linen closet on the top shelf, he assumed that she would know that too since most likely she placed them there.
"Need some help?" He offered. Stepping closer to her, his arm brushed across her shoulder as he opened the cabinet door, revealing the shorts. Jake reached over her, inside the cabinet, and grabbed a pair, slipping them on easily.
Jake could hear her heart beat wildly beneath her chest. It was strange and yet exciting to hear that he was affecting her in some way.
"Are you hungry?" Emily asked. He assumed to change the subject, like all the other wolves, he was always hungry.
"Of course," Jake answered.
Emily took a deep breath and then went to the kitchen. She rifled through the refrigerator and Jake could tell that she seemed more relaxed. He noticed cooking or preparing food was a stress reliever for her.
It made him wonder what had caused the stress. Was it him showing up naked on her front porch? He decided that was certainly a possibility, but that didn't explain the massive amount of food that she always had available.
Jake helped himself to a soda and a bag of chips and sat down at the table. A few minutes later, Emily joined him with a sandwich for them both. Jake's was three times the size of hers and he appreciated her desire to take care of other people.
"Thank you, Emily."
"You are welcome, it's nothing."
"It's food, that is hardly nothing," he smiled.
"I suppose," she conceded.
He took a large bite of his sandwich. There were certain foods that tasted better if it were prepared by someone else and sandwiches were one of those foods. The meats and cheeses blended together with some type of sauce that he couldn't quite identify.
"So, what is your nothing?" Jake asked, between bites of his sandwich.
"My what?" Emily laughed.
"Your everything, that could so easily be called nothing. You know, like food."
Emily pursed her lips together thoughtfully and then a pleasant smile stretched across her face. "Sam," she answered.
"Yeah, he's nothing alright," Jake mumbled with a frown.
"Don't say that, you know what I mean."
"I guess," Jake agreed reluctantly, but honestly he didn't know what she meant. He couldn't see inside her head the same way he could see inside of Sam's. Though the invasion of privacy was often overwhelming, the alternative of the unknown was equally frustrating.
He finished his food and drank the rest of his soda, standing up to throw away the empty can and to return the chips to the pantry. Jake reached out, stretching his muscles and considered going home, but didn't feel ready to leave. There was so much about her that Jake didn't know and he wanted that changed.
"But what about before him?" Jake asked. "You had a life, Emily. I have no idea what it was, but you had Leah, who you loved like a sister and friends and family from the Makah reservation. I can't believe that you have thrown all that away for Sam."
Emily nodded silently and rubbed her dry lips together. Quickly she gathered their plates and returned to the kitchen.
Jake felt guilty and like he had crossed a line. The problem was he didn't know what lines were sacred to her. He wondered what she thought. What was it like for her? Was she really happy? He let the questions swarm around inside his mind as Emily finished in the kitchen and then settled on the end of the couch.
Slowly, Jake walked over to her, sitting down next to her. Emily looked at him and then reached behind Jake to grab a throw blanket. She shook it open and then Jake reached out and helped to place the blanket over her body.
"I'm sorry, Em…"
"Stop," she interrupted, "don't say anymore."
Jake nodded and stretched his long legs out in front of him. He couldn't help feeling like he had screwed up. Whatever impulsive plan Jake thought he had to miraculously steal something sacred from Sam was over before it even started. He placed his hand over hers that rested on her thigh. They sat silently.
The silence felt nice. Emily turned the TV on to give them something to do, but Jake felt like he could have sat there comfortably without the need to fill it with anything. His body felt tired from all the patrolling that he had done all week.
He closed his eyes, listening to the sitcom and to Emily's giggles. She had an amazing sense of humor and he decided quickly that he loved to hear her laugh.
With his eyes still closed, he remembered his hand that rested on hers and slowly moved his hand finding her waist and lower rib. A mischievous grin crept across his face as he whispered, "One…"
Emily squirmed.
"Two…" Jake whispered again, his fingers finding her second rib.
"You had better watch what you start," Emily looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Challenge accepted," Jake smirked, finding another rib. "Three."
Emily laughed loudly and suddenly turned to pounce on him. Jake shifted surprised and leaned back on the couch. His fingers continued to move over her stomach. He could feel the tight muscles of her abs as she continued to laugh. Her long hair hung down in her face and she threw her head to the side to see better.
Jake didn't expect her skin to feel so soft. Other than Bella's cold, delicate hands, he had never touched a woman. Her skin felt like what he imagined expensive silk to be like, but Jake had never touched that either. His hands were most familiar with the insides of an engine. They spent most of their time covered in grease and clutching on to hard metal tools until the past week when he traded all that in for fur and claws.
Emily's hands danced over his skin, he assumed in search of a ticklish spot. In contrast, Jake could give his fingers the slightest wiggle and it sent her into a fit of giggles. Jake knew that she was quickly learning that she was at an extreme disadvantage because he only had one place that was ticklish.
For most of his life he believed that he wasn't ticklish at all. It wasn't until a spring camping trip with the Clearwaters that he learned differently.
% % % % %
Jacob, Becca, Rachel, Leah and Seth all road together in the back of his family's beat up Chevy truck. The girls groaned as the wheels found each rock and dip along the rugged trail that lead to the families' favorite camping spot. It held wide open space for tents, tall trees for coverage in the hot summer, and a pond that worked as both entertainment for the kids and food for their stomach.
Once the truck rolled to a stop, Harry helped Billy into his chair and Sue began to set up her nest. Jacob and Seth gathered firewood, excited to use the new hatchet to chop through larger branches. Becca, Rachel, and Leah looked for the perfect spot to lay out their towels and soak in the first rays of the Spring sun. Jacob never understood the concept of tanning, especially with their natural russet skin, it seemed like a complete waste of time, not to mention boring.
Seth dragged a long dead tree towards Jacob. "Come on, Jake," he said excited.
"Alright!" Jacob returned equal enthusiasm.
Several hacks later with the hatchet and Seth was ready for his turn. They traded back and forth until Jacob noticed that as he lifted the handle towards Seth, he wasn't paying attention to him. Jacob followed his line of sight and saw his sisters and Leah.
"Ugh!" Jacob made a face.
"What?" Seth asked innocently.
"Those are my sisters and aren't you too young to be interested in girls?"
"No, I'm not," Seth insisted.
Jacob simply shook his head and loaded his arms full of firewood. The stack stood well above his ability to see the ground as he carried the timber towards the fire pit.
Leah rested on her stomach and stretched out her long legs at the moment that Jacob came stomping along. Rachel could have said something and stopped it, but she stifled a snicker as Jacob's foot connected with Leah's leg and pieces of wood went in all directions as he landed on top of her.
"Jeez, Black, get off me!" Leah shrieked.
"Get your feet out of the way!" Jacob countered.
Seth giggled until he made eye contact with Rachel. Crimson spread across his cheeks.
Rachel thought it was adorable.
Before Leah and Jacob could get into a true verbal war, their fathers had called the whole thing off. A grumpy Jacob distracted himself with starting the fire and Leah sat with Becca, licking her imaginary wounds.
Rachel, Becca, and Leah were about to graduate and Jacob and Seth both tried to pretend like they weren't going to miss their sisters like crazy.
Jacob and Leah continued pestering each other throughout the day. Jacob gently placed a frog on her shoulder, neither Leah nor the frog appreciated it. Leah caught a small fish and instead of returning it to the pond she decided it would have more fun going down the back of Jacob's shirt.
The banter continued and Seth, Rachel, and Becca tried to stay out of it as much as possible. Seth secretly liked that it gave him something to talk about with Rachel. They often whispered and would elbow each other if they noticed an "attack" in progress. Okay, so maybe it wasn't a secret, Rachel knew about his crush. She knew that she shouldn't encourage it, but she enjoyed the attention.
For the majority of Rachel's life, she saw Seth as a helpful kid with a radiant smile. His cup wasn't just always half full; it overflowed with optimism. Seth paid attention to people and even though he appeared to be shy, he was often engaged and saw the details that most other people ignored. She remembered Christmas and Birthdays where he would spend hours putting together her favorite songs on a CD, she never told him her favorites, but Seth always figured it out.
Surrounded by twinkling stars in the black sky, Seth popped a toasted marshmallow into his mouth. A stubborn gooey strand of mallow landed on his chin and he blushed.
Rachel giggled and used her thumb to swipe it across his jaw. "No harm done," she reassured him.
Seth's grin spread further across his face. He was the happiest boy on earth. It seemed too much to wish for something to happen between them, but he still hoped.
Later that night the five kids were sharing a tent.
With a sleepy smile, Seth looked at Rachel. "Good night," he whispered.
Rachel moved her hand to take his, interlacing her fingers with his. "Good night, Seth."
Seth's heart leaped up into his throat. He wasn't sure he would sleep a wink, but as he felt her warm hand in his, he didn't care.
Leah also lie awake, her mind racing with thoughts of revenge and pranks. She had read somewhere about placing a person's hand in water to make them pee their pants. With a wicked chuckle she quickly rose from her sleeping bag and opened her thermos, thankful that it was wide enough to fit Jacob's hand inside.
Her plan might have worked if the early spring night hadn't made the air too cold and simply awakened him.
Jacob pretended to stay asleep, shifting his hand to knock the water over. He heard her curse and use her pillow to keep the water from finding someone's head.
Frustrated, Leah released a deep breath and decided to try tickling him. Jake felt her fingers flutter over his body in search of a place to make him giggle. It took everything he had to lay perfectly motionless, especially as her fingers found his feet and crept slowly up his leg. Suddenly to both of their surprise, she found the perfect spot.
% % % % % %
"I know you better than you think I do, Jacob Black," Emily said with a smirk.
"Oh really . . . Prove it," he challenged. He wiggled his fingers again just enough to prove his point and Emily giggled helplessly.
Emily had been best friends with Leah for all of her life and she remembered in vivid detail the long conversation where a frustrated Leah vented about her long weekend with Jacob. Therefore, Emily knew exactly what she was doing as she brought her hand to his inner thigh. Her eyes never left his as he knew that she had him.
Jake could hardly see straight as Emily tickled him mercilessly. His laughter filled the room as his hips bucked against her, all thoughts of trying to tickle her back temporarily forgotten. He rolled to escape, falling off the couch and took Emily with him. The tickling torture continued.
Rolling them again, Jake leaned over her, grasping both her arms and pinned them over her head.
Emily's grin stretched further, creating the happiest face Jake had ever seen. Both of their chests heaved, their lungs in search of much-needed oxygen. As their eyes connected, everything had changed.
It came suddenly and in slow motion all at the same time. Jake felt an overwhelming desire to kiss her. Before he could stop himself, Jake lowered his lips to hers, feeling the butterflies in his stomach take flight.
The kiss had barely lasted a second before his brain screamed at him that this was wrong; that this was his alpha's imprint. He knew it was true, but he also knew that he didn't care. Her lips were smooth and soft as they pressed back against his. His body felt weak, but instead of pressing further into her, it felt like he was floating on air.
Their kiss was slow, soft, and sweet. Emily knew that it was his first kiss, which made it the icing on an already delicious cake.
Thank you for the already man reviews, I greatly appreciate it. Hopefully, this is keeping your interest and peaking your curiosity. Please take a moment to check at my original work at JJLiniger dot com.
