I want to apologize for this being a day late when I did promise an update yesterday. I am out of state on vacation and time got away from me. Thank you all so much for the kind words and reviews.
Chapter 14 - Heat
Jacob turned off of the 101 onto a small dirt road leading to nowhere amid Bella's protests. Feeling no harder than the flicker of a birds wing, her little fist beat on his back as they roared recklessly down the highway.
The second the engine cut, she leapt off, face mottled blotchy red with eyes full of righteous anger and indignation. Bella paced around, angry and unafraid to let him see it. Jacob watched her with unconcealed amusement.
The effect was like adding a gallon of fuel to an already blazing fire.
Bella's temper flared in an inferno of shouts that ricocheted off of the trees, sending chipmunks scurrying for cover. "God, how dare you!" she screamed, gesturing wildly. "You come into my house, start tossing out demands and act like I'm your property!"
"Me?" he asked incredulously. "You're getting pissed off at me when you're the one who brought that douchebag here? You're mine, Bella."
"Of all the high-handed bullshit! When did you get that idea? Newsflash, Jake. I haven't seen you in six years and I've barely heard from you. God! Where were you this week, huh? Where were you when I needed you?"
Bella strode forward, then shoved him hard using all her might. "I could have used a little support from old friends. I got a call that my father was fucking shot and you never once showed your face. Why Jacob? Doesn't Charlie mean anything to you? Don't I mean anything to you? Or am I just some good fuck from your past that you wanna bag again? Because it's not happening. Not today, not ever!"
Still astride his bike, Jacob sat unmoving, completely and utterly stunned. Even her tiny fists beating into his chest could do nothing to dissuade the fact that the woman he'd loved his entire life thought he was shit and it didn't matter one little bit, because she was touching him. Voluntarily. Each contact sent tremors running through his body, driving the wolf wild with delight. Angry or not, she wanted them. He could almost feel it preening with self-satisfaction.
The fog lifted from Jacob's brain momentarily, "You think that little of me?"
"Why don't you tell me what I'm supposed to think, Jake? All I know is that you weren't there!" Hot tears streamed down her face, a weeks worth of anxiety, fear, guilt and desperation coalescing into a dramatic climax on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. She found herself crying uncontrollably into the soft cotton of Jacob's shirt, cursing herself while breathing him in and the comfort he provided.
Racked with sobs, she asked the same questions over and over again, unable to move past that one train of thought. "Where were you? I needed you so much and you never came."
The wolf halted its crazy pacing. Bella was hurting and they needed to fix this, pride be damned. Jacob could almost hear the whimper as he laid down quietly, begging to be by her side. "I know, baby. I'm sorry," he soothed, wrapping his arms around her, stroking her hair and weaving his fingers through the tangles left behind by the wind. "I... I did come. Just once. You were still at the hospital and I just..."
"Just what?" she demanded between sobs. Bella glanced up at him through glossy eyes swimming with desperation. "Tell me," she pleaded. "Everyone has been keeping secrets from me. I hate that. I'm not a child. I have a right to know what's going on if it involves me."
Jacob nodded slowly in agreement. "Bells, I know you do. We'll talk, I promise. Just... let's get out of here. Not here, okay?" Leaning over, he turned the ignition again, bringing the motorcycle to life with the flick of his wrist.
Instead of climbing on, Bella pulled away, looking at him with renewed unbridled fury. "No Jacob! This is ridiculous! Why should I go anywhere with you? God, this is... why haven't you written to me in the last two years?" Frazzled and stressed from the weeks events, she was determined that this would end right now or else she'd walk home.
The old Bella who went along with whatever anyone told her was long gone and it was time to make that clear. "What's this crap about dreams? Was it all real? Is that what everyone's been trying to tell me? Because right now that's the only thing I can come up with and if I didn't know first hand that this supernatural bullshit was real I'd have myself committed!"
"I wrote to you, Bella," he stated with a hard look on his face, incensed that she would think so little of him and their friendship. "All the time. I never sent any of the damn letters!"
"Why?" she asked, palms splayed upward, begging him to give her something, anything...some sort of reason in order to understand the pain of abandonment. Brick by brick, heavy walls had risen between them; built by weeks, months, years of lost time, mortared by separation and misunderstanding. It stood between them like towering sentinels blocking out the daylight, leaving both unable to see past their own foolish mistakes. "Tell me why not, Jacob! You were my best friend. You saved my ass more times than I can count!"
"That's why! You needed to learn how to save yourself and so did I! Do you know how hard it was to live without you? I loved you, Bella!" Jacob caught her by the wrist, pulling her to him, before crashing his lips down on hers. "I still love you."
It didn't matter that it was cold outside, that they were on a dirt road somewhere in the heart of the Olympic Forest. Forget that years had passed by with hardly a word spoken between them. In that moment, there was only them... bodies pressed together, hearts and minds connecting through physical affirmation of the one thing that they could always be certain of.
Love... faith in each other.
Desperation, anger and hurt, years of silent absence boiled over until their souls had been bled dry of it. A slow burning flame, embers which had smoldered for too long burst forth in a brilliant eruption of heat and fire marking the intensity of their passion. Bella found herself straddling Jacob, legs wrapped around his waist without knowing or caring how she got there, only wanting more.
More of him, more of them.
It had been a long time since she'd been with a man though chastity was no more than a novelty in her life. None of the nameless faces that she had allowed to touch her body had the same effect as the one seated beneath her right now.
Jacob's hands were everywhere and Bella quickly lost herself to the intensity of his touch. Slowly traversing beneath the fabric of her shirt, like warm, liquid silk flowing over her body. Gently caressing, finally reaching the edges of finely threaded black lace and satin. Back arched, her breasts spilled unrestrained into his hands as she leaned back, pink lips crying out in the wild abandonment of release. Her arms encircled his neck, hands twining themselves together into the thick locks of hair that fell across his shoulders. Raven feathers which a few hours earlier, her fingers had itched so badly to touch.
More... I want more. Purring vibrations from the engine coupled with the hardness pressing against her through the rough fabric of faded denim set the fine endings of her nerves on fire. Bella's fingers scratched down his back, tracing over solid planes of muscle and skin, skimming around his waist until her fingers deftly undid the button of his jeans, then slid down the zipper of his pants. Her small fingers dove beneath the fabric, freeing what she longed for the most. Warm like velvet, hard like steel, what she needed and wanted desperately to feel deep inside her aching body.
Jacob hissed and swore when she touched him, jerking wildly into her hand. "Fuck. I want you." If it was an answer he was looking for, she gave it in the form of her lips kissing his neck.
His fingers twisted the button of her jeans, jerking down the zipper to touch her. It was not enough. It would never be enough. The seam of rigid fabric gave way easily under his strength. His fingers shoved aside the satin panties as though their very presence offended him.
With a groan, he sunk deep inside her body.
Jacob's heated lips were over hers when he slid inside. Warm, soft and yielding, Bella wrapped around him like a glove, ready to take what only he could give her.
For the first time in six years, Jacob Black felt whole.
The wolf was quiet.
The insatiable thirst which had built inside of him through the loneliness of time began to quench as he thrust into her over and over again. The rough digging of his hands upon her hips was sure to leave behind visible marks across her creamy white skin- a tangible reminder that would last for days, proving she was his. They belonged to each other. In this little out of the way place on the cusp of backcountry, Jacob took her as his own; the wind in the trees for music with the beasts of the forest to bear witness.
He came hard inside of her body, coating her with his scent, just as she began to fall apart in his arms. The sweetness of her lips tickled his neck, soft locks of hair warmed his cheek. Jacob reveled in the feel of her quiet, ragged breathing, the rise and fall of her chest, heart beating in unison with his own.
"Come home with me?" he whispered. "Don't leave me tonight. I can't... Bella, stay with me, please."
The earnest look on his face, a mixture of hope and uncertainty shadowed deep within his soul. It hurt to tell him no. "Mmm... Jake, I can't. Charlie..."
"He'll be fine. I'll send one of the guys to help him." Jacob's brows pulled together as if he were in pain as long lashes fluttered closed while he begged her one last time. "Please, Bells. I need you."
"Okay."
Just like that, the walls which surrounded them crumbled to dust. Bella saw as hope and peace washed over Jacob. She could feel the relief of it in his arms. In the tender way with which he caressed her hair, the soft gentle nature of the kiss he pressed into her shoulder when he buried his face there. After a moment he dared to look up at her, the dimples of his cheeks dancing when he grinned as impishly as a small boy who had gotten his way.
Bella shrugged. "Well, it's not like I can go home like this. Charlie would shoot you, disown me and then shoot you again."
Jacob's eyes danced with merriment. "I'm not sorry."
"Neither am I." Quite suddenly, before she could move from his lap, Jacob pushed up the kickstand, revved the throttle and took off into the night, laughing wickedly. Bella locked her arms around his neck tightly, twisted her legs firmly around his waist, then squealed with both fear and excitement into his neck.
The ride was short, but Bella kept her nose buried in Jacob's shirt, feeling the wind buffer against the long ponytail she sported. She wondered how he could see at all, sure that it was whipping against his face with every turn.
When the bike began to slow and the tell tale sound of gravel crunched beneath the tires, Bella let out the breath she had been holding. "You're reckless, you know that?"
Jacob chuckled even as she kept her iron grip around his neck. "You loved it." He knew she did. The Bella he remembered- the one before Edward Cullen sunk his claws into her- was fearless. Seeing her now, knowing that she had become the person she was always meant to be made all of the unending days and restless nights worth it. "Are you ever going to let me go?" he asked.
Bella's lips smiled playfully at his shoulder, the double meaning of the question not lost on her. Without a moment's hesitation she laughed out a reply. "No."
That was all it took. In one swift movement, Jacob swung his leg over the motorcycle, never letting her dainty feet touch the ground while he marched her to the door. "You don't have to carry me you know," she protested, raising her head, expecting to see the familiar house with faded red paint that figured so vividly in her memories. "Where are we?"
"My place."
"Yours?"
"Uh-huh," he replied, fumbling around with the lock, nearly dropping the keys in the process, while Bella snickered at his expense. "Quit laughing. It's not as easy as it looks."
"It would be easier if you'd put me down," she pointed out, just as the lock turned. In another second, Jacob had opened the door, flicked on a switch and light flooded the room.
Bella went quiet, taking in the surroundings. Never having thought about how Jacob would live before, she was taken aback by the neatness and warmth of his home.
"This is your house?" she again questioned, trying to reconcile the kid who kept a messy bedroom with the beautiful space before her eyes.
"Did something happen to your hearing while you were away?" Jacob looked down at her quite amused, feeling pleased and sort of triumphant that she seemed to approve. "You look like you expected to see greasy rags and engine parts on the mantle," he accused, knowing that was exactly what she was thinking. It didn't bother him in the slightest.
"Well..." she hedged.
"Careful, Swan."
In truth, she wasn't sure what she had expected. The rustic wood floors, stone colored walls and deep leather furniture was a far cry from the battered old sofa that occupied his father's garage and personal space as a teen.
"I don't know what I expected. Just you having your own house threw me for a loop. Who's taking care of Billy now?"
"Rachel and Paul live next door to him. We all pitch in." Jacob shrugged. "I think he kinda likes the privacy."
"Or the smaller grocery bill," she suggested, thinking about the entire pizza he'd devoured in ten minutes flat just a little while ago.
"Either way."
"So are you ever gonna put me down?" she asked, beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable with the silence, still wrapped up in his arms. Not only that, but she was acutely aware that she looked disheveled, her jeans torn through the crotch, leaving her slightly exposed.
"Eventually," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. Jacob carried her up the staircase to the open loft of the house which served as his room and dumped her on the bed. "There. Happy?"
"Very."
Through the dim glow of light coming from the lower level, Bella watched as he went to the closet, digging out a sealed, plastic bag of clothes.
Jacob placed them next to her, looking somewhat sheepish. "They're yours. Things you left behind." He watched as she pulled them out. A t-shirt, some shorts, a pair of ratty old sweatpants that had seen better days and a long gray hoodie that had gotten soaked in the rain long ago. Clothes she traded in for his, if only to have his warmth and scent wrapped around her. An errant thought passed through her mind. Bella raised the shirt to her nose, breathing in deeply. Faint, but lingering, the soft smell of her shampoo, the vanilla of her lotion clung to the fabric.
Apprehension was clear in Jacob's eyes, his shoulders sagging under some invisible weight while he waited for her reaction. She reached out a hand, placing it against his cheek. His lashes fluttered closed as he seemingly melted into her touch, turning his face just enough to place a kiss in her palm. Covering her hand with his, Jacob drew in a long breath, as if trying to center himself. "I missed you so much."
When he finally looked at her, it was with eyes that seemed afraid she'd fade away. Nothing more than another dream, twin souls a million miles apart.
"Jake, we need to talk."
"I know," he answered, slowly nodding his head. "Can we... I mean, can I maybe just hold you for a few minutes first?" So much like a little boy lost, he begged her for this one simple request. To deny him would be tantamount to cutting off her own arm.
Bella leaned into him in response, allowing Jacob to place his arms around her tightly. Like warm bands of iron they held her snuggly in place as if begging that she never leave them. He leaned them back, resting his chin atop her head.
The haze of wine was still heavy on her body, making her feel sluggish and tired. Bella knew if they stayed like this much longer she'd fall asleep. "Jake," she murmured, "I really need to call Charlie. I know I don't live there anymore, but I don't want him to worry either."
Jacob's arms tensed and when he didn't release her, Bella sighed. "I promise, I'm not going anywhere. Not tonight." He relaxed a little then, though not letting her go, as if he could prolong the inevitable. A slight shudder ran through his body, the faintest of tremors gaining strength until his chest was wracked with silent sobs. "Sshhh..." she soothed. "It's okay. Whatever it is, Jacob, I promise it's okay."
After a few minutes the tears subsided, leaving both in an awkward state of limbo. Jacob rolled to the side of the bed. The slope of his shoulders told of his weariness. He didn't look back, but stood up and headed for the stairs. "I'm gonna fix a fire. Bathroom is the door on the right if you need it."
Bella laid there quietly for a few more minutes, wondering what exactly happened that made Jacob go from the boy she loved to this man of emotionally charged extremes. One minute he was domineering and cocky, then overtly sexual to peaceful and now... he seemed so sad. It was time for a long overdue conversation.
Downstairs Jacob made a call, then laid a fire of driftwood within the hearth. While he watched the brilliant green-blue flames lick the wood, he silently prayed for wisdom and strength. There were so many things he wanted to tell her, things that needed to be explained and he couldn't shake the feeling that after this night, she'd run.
Only, this time, he couldn't let her go.
I hope it was worth the wait. Thoughts? Yes, they finally got together but what is going on? What is running through their heads?
The reviews you all have left have been utterly amazing! I have the best readers in the fandom. I know I haven't been able to respond the last few days, but I want you to know I've been reading them from my phone and absolutely appreciate every single one of them.