Chapter 17 - Beseech

Bright, golden rays of early morning light slanted through the windows when Bella woke, tangled in Jacob's arms. He shifted ever so slightly in sleep and Bella curled closer, not yet ready to give up the moment to the impending day. For now, she was content and happy. It had been so long since she'd woken in his bed that she'd forgotten the blissful feeling of being wrapped up in his arms. Jacob was warm, strong and happy. His arms were a place of shelter, protecting her from the storm. It was no wonder she'd called him her sun. Jacob Black radiated joy.

When he woke an hour later, shifting in bed and curling his arms around her tightly, Bella couldn't help the small kiss that she pressed onto his chest.

"You're still here..." still heavy with sleep, he was full of unchecked relief at finding her wrapped up in his arms.

"Did you think I was going to creep out in the middle of the night and steal your motorcycle?"

"I don't think you could have. It's too big for you." Bella smiled into his chest, making him vibrate with laughter.

"Is that a challenge?"

"No. Let's not go there. I'm pretty sure you don't want to see the inside of Forks Medical again for awhile."

The bed was warm, Jacob was warm and Bella was comfortable, but there was a world waiting outside that needed her. "Charlie..." she yawned, stretching out lazily. "I should call him."

"Seth was going to check on him again this morning. He's fine Bella, I promise. Sue planned on going over there early to change his bandages."

"Mmm... I still need to call though. I left last night and Matt was still there."

Jacob looked down at her sheepishly. "Sorry?"

She rolled her eyes at how completely unapologetic he was, yawning once again and trying to fight off the haze of sleep that threatened to overtake her. It felt like it had been months since the last time she had a lazy morning in bed. "So, you have any coffee?"

An impish smile spread across Jacob's face. One that Bella knew all too well. It was the same smile that told her he was up to no good... or wanted something from her, depending on the situation. "Maybe. Are you making breakfast?"

"If I get a cup of coffee first," she bargained.

"Good. Then I have coffee."

Neither one made a move to get up, instead laying sleepily in each others arms. Snuggling deeper into his side, Bella seriously considered never moving, her mind vaguely wondering if she could live in bed. "This is nice."

"Bells? Spend the day with me? I really don't want you to leave yet."

He sounded so meek, so hopeful that it hurt. She shook her head slowly, the happy bubble burst. "I don't know that I can. One, I need some clothes. Two, I really do need to check on Charlie and Matt's still there. I should talk to him before he heads up to Port Angeles later. I need to catch up on work and see what's going on with the gallery. There's contracts sitting in my inbox and I need to set up some appointments with the Makah council. I have to figure out who to contact and what to do."

"Emily can help you with that. Her dad is on the council there. Have you talked to Billy about it yet?"

"Actually, no. I wasn't going to spearhead that one. I was going to leave that to Leah."

Jacob's brow furrowed. "I thought you handled relations."

"I do, but I wasn't sure... I didn't know if..."

"If you'd be welcome?" There was a note of defeat that rang clear in his voice, dull and flat. "God, this is all my fault. Bella, we all love you. You have no idea how much everyone missed you. In fact, I think that since you're back, we need to have a party. Maybe a bonfire down on the beach. What do you think?"

"I don't know, Jake. I'm not sure everyone is really going to be happy to see me. I mean, the other day with Paul..."

"What did he do?" Jacob asked, sitting straight up in bed, sending her tumbling to the side. If Paul so much as looked at Bella wrong, beta or not, he'd tear his head off and shit down his throat.

"It's nothing."

"Bells, it's something. What happened?"

"He was just... Paul," she explained, rolling over and resting her chin on her hands. "He was all weird. I think he was just trying to push my buttons. By the way, what the hell is up with him being a cop?"

Jacob shrugged. "It was a good fit for him. He gets to take out his aggression on the shooting range. Plus, he's smart. A hell of a lot smarter than anyone gives him credit for. Good with puzzles. It gives us a leg up on anything weird going on in the area. He's a good detective, Bells. He and Charlie get along really well. They've gotten to be good friends."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Actually Bella, you leaving, it was hard on him too. Paul liked you, more than he ever admitted. Not that he was attracted to you or anything," he explained, seeing the look of near revulsion on her face. "It was more like you challenged him. You got so wild in the end and I think he kind of related to the whole rebellion thing you had going on. That and the fact that you never took shit from him. Most people were too afraid of him, but that day you found out about us and slapped him, it's weird, but it made him respect you."

"Again, I'll take your word on that. He scares the crap out of me."

"He's supposed to be scary, he's my beta. But seriously, if he does anything to make you uncomfortable, I'll kick the shit out of him."

"Duly noted." Propping herself up on her elbows, Bella batted her eyelashes at him. "So... about that coffee..."

ooo000ooo

Forty-five minutes later, Bella slid a plate holding an oversize omelet across the counter at Jacob. "You're not gonna eat?"

"Nope. I'm more of a coffee for breakfast kind of person. Although...," Bella snatched the fork out of his unsuspecting hand, helping herself to a bite. "Mmm... maybe I will eat. You don't mind, right?"

Try as she might, Bella couldn't keep a poker face when his jaw opened as he struggled not to protest. "I'm kidding. Eat."

"You're not funny," he accused, waving the fork at her. "Rule number one. Never tease a wolf when it comes to food."

"What's rule number two?" she asked, lounging against the counter.

Setting down his fork, he looked her square in the eye, dead serious. "Never come between a wolf and his mate."

"I don't think that's gonna be a problem," she replied with mock solemnity. "Since I don't swing that way, I shouldn't be chasing after Emily or Kim anytime soon."

"Are you saying you find my sister attractive?"

She smiled over her coffee. "I might if it would irritate Paul."

"You know, Rach would think that's funny as hell."

They were in the middle of washing up the breakfast dishes when Bella's phone began to vibrate across the countertop. "Hey Jake, see who that is for me?"

"Leah."

"Can you answer it? I just wanna finish this," she asked, indicating the greasy pan still in the sink.

Jacob no more than got out the word hello when Leah started screaming at him. It made Bella smile. Even though she couldn't hear a word she was saying, Jake could and he held the phone away from his ear with a painful look on his face. "Hell no! Leah she's fine! Christ, what makes you think I'd do that? Ugh, just hang on. She's drying off her hands."

Bella wiped her hands off on the seat of her pants, then grabbed the phone, putting Jacob out of his misery. "Hey Leah."

"Are you alright?" she demanded. "I heard he went all caveman on you and nearly carried you out of your dad's place over his shoulder."

"I'm fine. We just needed to talk and get a few things straightened out. Thanks for taking care of Charlie for me though. I'm headed home in a few minutes. I'll be glad when this is over and he can take care of himself again. I need a day off."

"You got one. My mom came over last night to check his stitches and turns out Charlie's been cheeking his antibiotics. It's infected."

Bella rubbed her face in irritation. Trust Charlie to pull something stupid like this. "How bad?" she asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Oh, not too bad, but we scrubbed the incision to teach him a lesson. Mom wanted me to tell you she's going to be there today and spend the night too, just to make sure he doesn't start running a fever for being an idiot."

"I'll thank her when I see her. I feel really bad about running out on Matt. Charlie's probably driving him crazy by now."

"Actually, he's with me," Leah explained. "We're headed up to Port Angeles to get some work done. I'll be gone for a couple of days. We'll give you a shout when a few more things are settled."

"Sounds good. I'll start making calls this week and figuring out purchases if Matt forwarded the budget."

"I'll make sure of it. Anyhow, I figured that Jake was holding you hostage, so I grabbed some of your things and left them on the doorstep. I wanted to let you know they're there. There's a huge storm rolling in today and I wasn't sure how late you'd sleep."

Bella watched Jacob jump up and make a beeline for the door. Sure enough, he came back not a minute later carrying a duffle filled with her things. "Thanks, Leah. I really appreciate it."

"Anytime. Let me know if he starts acting like a jerk. I'll come and get you."

"Hmmm... tempting offer. Alright, give Matt a hug for me and tell him I'm sorry. I'll talk to you in a few days."

Jacob eyed her warily as she ended the call. "So, you don't need to go home today?"

"I suppose I don't, but I probably should. At least to check in. Although, the idea isn't too appealing if Sue's messing with Charlie. I'm sure he's being a pain in the ass."

"Does that mean you'll stay today? Spend some time with me?"

She shrugged, happy at the prospect. "Sure."

Within an hour the sky had begun to darken. Jacob laid another fire and grabbed some candles in case the electricity went out. When Bella emerged from the bathroom, he couldn't help but admire her. Though he'd seen seen her in dreams, it was as if he'd never looked carefully before. A veil had been lifted. From the swell of her hips, to the way her sweater clung to her breasts, Bella had become curvier, a woman instead of the teenage girl he had fallen in love with on a cold beach.

The caramel colored sweater she wore set off the flecks of toffee in her chocolate eyes and highlighted the auburn strands in her hair. Pencil leggings clung to her legs so tightly that he could see the fine definition of muscle beneath them. She was no longer clumsy, seemingly having outgrown that too. Bella moved with a sort of unconscious grace now, as though time had erased the metaphorical stumbles of the past, leaving her with an inner peace that carried forward in poise and demeanor.

She glanced at the fire and candles somewhat awkwardly and then out the window at the gloomy sky. "Good idea."

When she curled up on his couch, Jacob thought that it looked as though she belonged there. The wolf nearly went ballistic. Bella, the mate they wanted was in their home. She'd cooked, showered and made herself comfortable. It was almost tantamount to marking her territory.

As the sky darkened and storm clouds rolled in, the electricity grew in the air. The hackles on the back of Jacob's neck stood up, but he pointedly ignored the urge to run. The wolf begged to be unleashed, to make himself one with nature. The man wanted to stay inside with Bella curled beneath his arms.

Jacob's jaw tensed beneath his skin and his muscles twitched every so often as the first sprinkles of rain began to fall. She sensed the change in him, yet he sat next to her, quiet and sedate. When the first crack of thunder sounded like a gunshot and lightning lit up the world brighter than fire, he jumped from his seat. He marched over to the fire and began poking at the logs as though it was his intent all along.

Bella wanted to calm him but understood that nothing but running free would give him the inner peace the wolf longed for. "Jake, why don't you get out of there? Go for a run."

"I'm fine." He spoke calmly, but she could see the muscles of his jaw working beneath the skin.

She walked over to him, then cradled his face with her hands in reassurance. "I'm not going anywhere. I'll be here when you get back. Go run. It's what you need to do."

The relief on his face was evident. "I won't be long, I swear."

"Take all the time you need." Bella stood on tiptoe, meaning to press a soft kiss to his cheek, but Jacob moved slightly and she caught the corner of his mouth. His eyes were wide when he backed away from her. As if something else had shifted inside of him. Something wild, and untamed, on the cusp of being unleashed.

Slowly he backed away to the patio door, slipped outside and then sprinted across the yard, stripping the clothes from his body while Bella watched.

No sooner than reaching the trees, the howls began. Jacob allowed the wolf to overtake him, shifting from man into warrior. The images flowed readily through his mind. A young vampire had foolishly crossed into their territory, unwittingly crossing the path of Seth and Embry on his journey for food.

The kill was almost too easy. Embry's jaws were around the creature's neck before it could comprehend what it was seeing. The vampire was a pile of rubble faster than its own immortality began.

The cloying scent of venom ripped Jacob's senses apart. The urge to protect in him so inherent that he could not leave the boundaries of his own land. The house loomed in the distance with Bella's dim outline in the window. Razor-sharp claws tore up the earth in frustration, raked over trees, peeling the flesh of bark away to reveal the yellow wood beneath. The wolf sprinted around the cover of trees as far as possible while keeping the house in sight.

Embry charged from one side of the reservation to another, relieving him so that he might quench the instinctual need to run, hunt and chase.

"Do not leave her." The double timbre of the order leaving no room for doubt as the red wolf tore off into the storm, leaving behind a river of mud in his wake. Jacob ran until his legs shook with exhaustion and the pull drove him home.

The warrior charged into the yard, Bella's scent hitting him before he broke the treeline. She stood beneath the cover of his porch, waiting for his return.

It had been years since she had last laid eyes on the wolf, yet there was not an ounce of fear radiating from her body when she stepped forward into the rain to greet him. Her long fingers raked through the wet muddy fur as if it were the finest of blankets.

A hum seemed to emanate from deep within the caged body of the man inside the beast. Bella created a soothing sensation made of sight, sound and touch... until she breathed. One word, a small breathy hello that blew past his ear just as a long lock of hair slipped from behind her shoulder, tickling his nose with the scent of vanilla and sweet, honeyed strawberries. A combination to drive a man wild with lust... and a wolf to the brink of desire.

Eyes squeezed tightly shut, the red wolf turned his head, trying hard not to breathe as he pushed his snout at her belly, forcing her to step back once, twice, three times under the safe cover of the porch. Then quickly dipping back into the rain, the edges of his form blurred beneath the deluge, transforming from beast to man.

Water cascaded down his flesh, washing away streaks of muddy earth and leaves that clung to his sable skin. Heavy, corded muscles along the width of his shoulders and curve of his neck flexed and tensed while he stood there, curling his fingers into fists, lifting his face to the sky. Lightning streaked across the horizon, illuminating his cutting form in the darkness while Bella watched, unable to tear her eyes away.

Jacob Black was a warrior.

The power of the ancients flowed visibly through his veins, pulsating beneath the skin with every pounding drumbeat of his heart. Leader of the wolves, pillar of his people, a god among men. Bella felt awed and insignificant standing his presence.

Rivulets of water dripped over his shoulders coalescing into muddy, rushing rivers that cascaded down his back and over the thick muscle of his chest. When his gaze caught hers, Bella felt herself drawn like a moth to the flame, into the very heart of his soul. In his eyes was a demand, commanding her forward, urging her to fall to his every whim, to beg mercy and gentleness upon her weak body while offering it up on a silver platter.

Yet, her feet did not move.

It was as if being frozen in a dream. Slowly he stepped forward, nostrils flaring subtly, an animal scenting its prey in the darkness. A shot of wild fear mixed with undeniable excitement rose in small, quivering tremors from the base of her spine and over the curve of her back. He could smell it as surely as the undeniable desire that melted her thighs.

Bella's back hit the smooth surface of the door, its cold glass seizing her muscles like icy fingers. Jacob's arms caged around her, palms pressed flat against the patio. One more ounce of pressure and it would spiderweb beneath his fingers. Spine curved, more wolf than man, he was a prison wall of muscle and mass from which she did not want to be freed.

Eyes tinged with yellow darted back and forth, tongue licking his lips in anticipation and need. Slowly, his head dipped and Bella closed her eyes, excitement coursing through her like a volcano ready to explode. She waited for the soft touch of his mouth that never came. Instead, his dropped his forehead to the glass beside her. Jacob's warm cheek brushing against hers, his nose buried in a mass of curls, body trembling with fervor.

"I can't." The words were pained, bit out through gritted teeth, taking every ounce of self control he had to utter them. "I'm not in control." Then with a twist of his wrist, Jacob wrenched open the door, all but sending Bella stumbling backward inside with nothing to do but wait.

It was a violent tug of war inside himself as he fought to contain the animal that clawed and scratched beneath his flesh, begging to be unleashed. The cloying stench of death still permeated his nose and Jacob could have sworn that when he neared her, he could almost smell it lingering beneath her skin. A leftover memory that haunted him, nothing more. It was the reminder, the mantra which he recited to himself in a desperate attempt to stave off the fear which lurked deep within.

Bella was here. Alive. Breathing. Not a sick, twisted nightmare of flesh and bone.

One Mississippi... Two Mississippi... Breathe. In. Breath. Out.

Slowly the chains which bound him began to ebb, relaxing their iron grip into soft cotton threads as he gulped lungfuls of air and allowed the rain to wash over him like a cool shower. By the time he slipped inside, donning an old pair of jeans from a weatherproof box that he always kept by the door, Jacob Black was somewhat himself again.

Until he breathed her scent.

Honeyed strawberries laced with decadent vanilla permeated the house.

His eyes clamped on her immediately, standing in his living room, the collar of her sweater askew exposing one ivory shoulder. The length of her curls were windswept, bound together loosely at the nape of her neck and again he was gasping for air, desperate to keep the wolf from pouncing to take what was rightfully his.

The she moved. One infinitesimal step towards him. The force of gravity pulling her forward. Just one toe, crossing an invisible divide.

It was his undoing.

Without warning she was backed against the wall, legs twisted up around his waist with his mouth clamped to the dip of ivory skin that teased him. Lips and tongue tasted and sucked their way across her shoulder, nibbling on her collarbone, trailing along the graceful curve of her neck. Bella's head tilted unconsciously to the side making the wolf howl in dominance. A form of submission, permission to take, own, possess.

"Mine."

His lips found hers, sealing themselves together in a blind flurry of passion and lust. Both lost in a thick haze of desire. When he pushed, she pushed back. When she moaned, he growled. When she whimpered... the wolf howled a cry of victory in his head.

He tore his lips away from hers for only a second. "Fuck..." the word fell from his tongue both seductive and sweet while trying to catch his breath. Not like this. Not again. He would not take her up against the wall like an animal in the way he did last night. The couch was closest, but he bypassed the thought immediately. Bella deserved better than him making love to her on a shitty couch in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. She meant more to him than just some one night stand.

Gripping her ass tightly he carried her up the stairs, determined to have her in his bed... and praying she'd never leave it.

Setting Bella down gently, Jacob knelt before her on bended knee, removing the shoes from her tiny feet, afraid to look her in the eye for fear she'd tell him no. Instead, her fingers threaded through his hair, imploring him to see her. When he did, it was with a reverence of sorts, as though she was an answer to his prayers. In fact, she was. The smile on her face was what he had searched for in six long years. The satin feeling of her skin brushing against his was the fabric which had been missing from his life.

"Bella," he whispered. "Are you sure? Last night, I didn't ask and tonight..." he trailed off, leaving small kisses near her ear, brushing his cheek against hers. He wouldn't be that guy. The one who fucked and ran, or treated women like a booty call. Bella was too important to him and he wanted- no needed- to get this right. This thing between them was for a lifetime in his eyes, even if he wasn't so sure it was in hers.

When she didn't respond, he worried, then pulled back cradling the sides of her face ever so gently so that he could look into her eyes. Jacob searched them for an answer but it was she who reassured him by turning her cheek and placing a small kiss in the palm of his hand. Then she gazed at him wistfully, a thick sweep of her lashes fluttering softly over pretty, doe eyes.

Jacob kissed her long and slow, achingly tender until the edges of her heart bled with the pain of it. This was love. Not some affection, illusion or childhood fantasy. Pure and unadulterated, complicated and simple in every aspect. It was perfect.

...and it scared the hell out of her.

Everything she had ever felt or dreamed of since the day she left Forks came to fruition in this one singular moment and her body trembled with the sheer fright of it. This wasn't him taking her wildly on his motorcycle. This was a declaration. A statement proclaiming the full measure of his devotion. The woman inside wanted to feel it. To keep him to herself for however long that might be. It was selfish and Bella knew it. Yet now, things were different. She was different. Whatever apprehensions she may have felt about coming home had been quickly swept away and replaced by an overwhelming tide of emotions and confusion.

Jacob's storied history of coming to her through dreams, the reality of actually believing that he really had been with her all this time was startling. Something she had yet to fully absorb. Then it hit her. In all this time, neither had actually left each other. That even though she'd physically put the past firmly behind her, Jacob Black was never a part of it. He was her past, present and perhaps, maybe, just maybe, her future too.

So she kissed him softly in return, wrapping her arms around his neck, pushing down the deluge of emotion that threatened to spill forth in a veil of tears.

Her small hands fumbled at the waist of his jeans, nervously shaking like a scared young virgin. He covered them with his own, stilling them abruptly. His eyes squeezed shut for a moment, trying to overcome the urge that still moved within him to just toss her on the bed and claim her body and soul. "Bella, we don't have to..."

Her voice trembled ever so slightly. "I want to, so much. I..."

"It's just me. You and me. Jake and Bells, like we've always been."

"But, it's not," she protested weakly. "Things are different. We're different. I'm different. I don't know what to feel or say to you. There are all these things inside of me that I want. Leftover emotions from when we were kids and I don't know if they're real or just a dream of what I thought life should be. I don't know how to move forward yet. This is happening so fast."

Again he saw her as that tender bird, the one whose wings had been clipped by another man who claimed to love her. Jacob hated him in that moment and swore that he'd allow her to fly free no matter what the cost.

His hand caught in her hair, gently cradling her to his chest. The wolf was calm, Bella's needs taking over his own wants, no matter how important they might seem. This was not a job for him, but for the man who shared his body. "Bella, I don't expect anything from you. I know what I want. I've always known. Even when it didn't seem like there was any hope that you'd ever come back here. This thing between us, it doesn't need to happen overnight, no matter how crazy I might get or how screwed up I seem. I can deal with it. I'll try not to go off the deep end on you like I did yesterday. That was my own fault. I never should have tried to go for so long without seeing you. I don't just mean this past week. I should have flown down to Florida. I should have visited you in Phoenix, driven up to Seattle. I was stubborn and foolish. I wanted to let you grow and live life the way you meant to, even if that was without me. What I never counted on was me not being able to live without you."

He could feel her chewing on her lip just as surely as he could smell the fear emanating off of her skin. Perhaps it was too much. It had been a long standing joke that she was good with weird, but a person could only take so much and after all she had burdens of her own to carry. So much at once would overwhelm anyone. "All I want, is you in my life. I'll take you any way I can have you, Bells. Just please, don't send me away or cut me off completely."

That hurt her too, more than anything else at the moment. Jacob Black- the very definition of strength- was fallible. He had always been an enigma of sorts to her. A perfect person who was never bogged down by the relentless curveballs life threw at him.

Bella Swan was his one weakness.

He lifted her in his arms, carried her over to the side of the bed and tenderly laid her down in the center, crawling in beside her to cover the wounds of her heart like a blanket.

"Jake, I don't want to hurt you," she whispered. "But I might. I suck at relationships. I haven't had one since Edward and that was obviously a walking disaster."

The corners of Jacob's lips twitched. He wanted to make her smile so bad. "Are you talking about falling in love with a vampire or your propensity for walking into walls? Because if it's about your clumsiness, then, yeah, you're definitely gonna hurt me."

It was so absurd that Bella couldn't help but laugh in response. Snatching the pillow from beneath her head, she quickly shifted and smacked him with it.

"Oh, you wanna start a pillow fight, Swan?" Just like that, the mood switched, both of them slipping into an easiness that had been the hallmark of their lives, the friendship forged when they were no more than mere children playing along the beach. Except now, it was more graceful somehow, complicated but simple at the same time.

Jacob attacked her sides, tickling her mercilessly while peals of laughter echoed throughout the house. In one huge display of strength, he allowed her to overtake him momentarily, then flipped her on her back, pulling the covers over them and hovered over her wearing a winning smile.

Laughing beneath the billowing sheets. Jacob's body created a tent allowing her to fully see his face.

Suddenly the laughter stopped and in its place was a look of sheer longing.

"Bella..." her name fell from his lips just before he pressed them to hers. She kissed him back with all that was in her heart. Love, apologies, desire, friendship... all of it poured from the well of her soul into his. Bella knew that there would be no turning back from this. A singular moment in time when she would forever give herself to him. Right or wrong, this was her choice to make. Jacob would give her all that he had, if only she gave herself in return.

Even if she couldn't speak the words.

So instead, Bella made Jacob feel them. In each nuance, every touch. The feathery strokes of her fingers whispered, I love you.

Beneath the cloud of white, cool satin and warm silk glided under and over each other like a gentle spring breeze.

They were no longer children. The insecure teenagers they had once been, heedless to the rest of the world around them, had grown into man and woman. Time had changed who they had once been and who they were destined to become. Yet, the essential core of their relationship still burned brightly.

Love. It had never decreased. It glowed brighter in that moment than the flames of a thousand candles.

No matter how hard Bella might try to deny it, it was there. Ever increasing, ever changing. A constant light in a world of sorrow. A simple joy taken for granted in the day-to-day life of all mankind, beseeching her to embrace it. It was in his eyes alone that she would see the immensity of such a love reflected back at her. It would grow and expand over the years, but this moment would be the one she remembered when life became difficult. This declaration of action spoke more than words ever could.

He seemed to understand, not speaking the phrase which threatened to spill past his lips each time they brushed her soft skin. Yet, I love you, was borne with every touch and taste, each small fluttering of her lashes, the wild beating of his heart against hers.

Outside, thunder crashed across the horizon in a violent display of Mother Nature's wrath. Bolts of lightning streaked across the sky, reached down to the earth with deadly fingers of fiery light. Without warning, the house plunged into darkness, leaving only the soft illumination from the fireplace to spill into the loft.

Unable to see, Bella closed her eyes, allowing her hands to run over the planes of his muscles, creating a picture in her mind of the man he had become. Years ago, they had been virgins, both fumbling and awkward, the limbs of their bodies impeding rather than magnifying the joining of their souls. Time had erased all such circumstance, leaving them to move against one another with an erotic elegance.

Jacob's body was warm and heavy between her legs, the weight of it resting softly against her body. His hands, rough yet gentle, trailed along her arms, propelling them upward to reach out with his own, until their fingers threaded together atop a downy pillow. The peaks of her nipples brushed against his skin, sending little tremors of electricity humming along his spine. Raven locks mingled with silken amber when he claimed the curve of her neck with his mouth.

The room lit up brightly with another crash of light, enabling him to see the smile painted on an angel's face just before he again took her parted lips for his own.

The storm raged over the Olympic forest, passionate and frightening, when he finally slid inside of Bella's willing body. A gasp of pleasure slipped from somewhere deep within when he filled her with all she longed to be.

One. Two bodies intertwined beneath the darkness. Twin souls freed by light. A communion of spirit.

The shattered pieces of their lives began to mend themselves. Bound together with silken threads, the mistresses of fate busily weaving the tapestry of their lives on a golden loom.

Again and again, flashes brighter than the fire of the sun lit up the sky, plunging the room into shadowy light. A thin sheen of silky sweat glimmered over his copper skin. Bella's fingers gripped tightly to the hard planes of his back as their bodies danced seamlessly together. Their love was a symphony of sight, sound, touch and taste, its verse penned over the wide expanse of time.

When he fell upon her, trembling and exhausted, Bella's body shook with the physical force of his love. Heart pounding, the words nearly escaped her lips. Crimson and swollen with the lingering touch of Jacob's kiss, they tempted him once more, covering them with his mouth before they could whisper promises of such affection.

Closing her eyes, Bella hoped that dreams would tell him what she could not.

Who is imploring who in this chapter? Thoughts? Reviews?