Chapter 18 - Dogs
When Bella awoke it was to the patter of lightly falling rain on the rooftop. The ferocity of the storm had abated, but heavy clouds still hung thickly over the Pacific sky, shrouding the earth in darkness. The leftover warmth from Jacob's body still clung to the bed.
The soft light which emanated for the living room told her there was still no power. Slowly, she sat up, binding a sheet around herself in lieu of clothing. Then carefully, she felt her way across the darkened room, navigating along the wall then down the stairs in search of Jacob.
He knelt before the immense stone fireplace, wearing nothing but a pair of old faded jeans, unbuttoned and hanging low over his hips. Turning at the sound of footfalls, her beauty struck him like a thunderbolt.
In the flickering amber light, Bella appeared as a goddess before him. The long curls of her hair tumbled wildly over the naked, creamy skin of her small shoulders. Soft cotton falling in gentle folds surrounded her body like Danae in a cloud, pooling around her tiny feet. She was Aphrodite personified, the beauty of ancient Greece. Myth of man brought to life for his eyes alone to see.
The urge to touch her was overwhelming. He stood straighter in her presence, as though her being there made him taller, more impregnable than ever before. The back of his hand lightly skimmed the contours of her face, along the graceful curve of her neck, sweeping the loose strands of chestnut silk free of her shoulders. Lashes, thick, dark and sweeping like a raven's wings fluttered over diminutive, pink cheeks.
"Bella..." Jacob kissed her softly, slow and deliberate, the tender touch of his lips telling of the cherished dreams concealed inside his heart. The warmth of his arms encircled her waist, pulling her deftly to him until she was wrapped up in them like a small child. Carrying her across the room, he gently laid her before the fire, never once breaking the kiss he placed upon her heavenly lips.
That afternoon by the light of the fire, they spoke like old friends, discussing all that had passed through their lives, talking about anything and everything that came to mind. A thousand silly moments and stories from the past six years retold for the other to see. Heartache and sorrow, triumphs and failures. Each one providing a detail the other needed, leading to peace and understanding between the two.
When the rain stopped, Jacob opened the windows, allowing the fresh air to blow through the house. It was as if with the storm, the world and their lives were washed clean of iniquity, erasing away the hurt and sins of the past and leaving in their place a new, yet unwritten chapter.
Reluctantly, she went upstairs to dress, knowing that their time alone together was drawing to a close. Life outside these four walls waited. There were things waiting that needed doing. At the very top of a long mental list was Charlie.
Jacob followed behind, retrieving her clothes from his bedroom floor, then began to dress her as though she were a child. Bella did not object to this act of kindness. Jacob's touch, the way his hands felt, whether around her shoulders or touching her skin had always brought peace of mind. This was one more display of devotion, of the love and affection which he shared so freely.
Wordlessly, Jacob slipped the shoes over her tiny feet, then grasped her ankles, daring to look into her eyes where tears shone as small, iridescent drops of happiness. Then he stood, making his way down the stairs, leaving Bella with her thoughts.
Rummaging through her bag in search of her cell phone, she was surprised to find that Leah had packed her laptop into the bottom of the duffle as well. Picking up both, she met Jacob in the kitchen with a bright smile on her face. "I thought I'd call Charlie and then if I still have enough power, maybe I can get a little work done."
Jacob leaned against the counter, taking slow, even measured breaths. He had to tell her about the danger lurking around the corner. The scent of vampire that lingered on the shooter's clothes and hair. Of all things in this world, he did not want to frighten her. Swallowing back the fear that it would make her run again, he turned, determined to tell the truth. But, her fingers were already flying across the screen and before he could say a word, the phone was ringing on the other end.
He listened with a laugh or two while Sue explained how Charlie's errant ways had earned him not one, but two shots in the ass, neither as gentle as those he would have gotten had he checked into the hospital. Even Bella smothered a giggle when he got on the phone complaining about Leah's vigorous scrubbing of the incision. If Charlie Swan was expecting sympathy from his daughter, he was sadly mistaken in that respect. Bella lashed him with one side of her tongue and then sharply with the other until the man was beaten meekly into submission.
If Jacob could have reached through the phone and hugged Sue, he would have. Before ending the call, she made Bella swear not to come that night, insisting that she didn't need to be back before noon the next day. Beside the fact that she really did want Charlie under her careful observation, Paul had also called them stating that the 101 had been closed down. It seemed the storm had knocked down a tree that had been rotten at the base, landing it and a powerline in the middle of the highway. It would be hours before work crews could have it repaired and the brush hauled away.
This left Jacob with just under twenty-four hours to keep Bella under his roof. He was determined to tell her what had happened in that span of time. While he mulled it over, she opened her laptop, grateful that both it and her phone were fully charged so that she might connect the two. For the better part of the next hour she placed calls, answered emails and cajoled tribes in the Northwest to bend to her will. Bella brokered deals on her terms in such a way that neither party lost, leaving the client to wonder how they survived without her skills before.
Jacob watched her work with marked interest. The change in her was obvious. Bella Swan ruled her small world with detailed precision. It wasn't unlike his own transformation to the wolf. It seemed that this was destined to be what she'd become.
Just as her battery was about to fade, one last email came in, forwarded by Leah. A gallery in New York had contacted them, looking for a specialty item requested by one of their more affluent customers. Could she commission the building of a suite of furniture for a country cottage in Vermont with subtle Native American undertones? The request was vague. Upscale but understated, rustic but elegant. Native but not too native. Bella thought of Jacob's workshop and the fine craftsmanship of the pieces it held inside its walls. With a slow, easy smile on her face, she realized this could be the first deal that she brokered with the tribe, if he would consent to taking on the job.
"Jake?" She read off the terms of the request, watching the interest peak in his eyes.
"That's a pretty tall order. You get those very often?"
"From time to time," she responded. "Would you be interested in the work? It would be a good proposal for me to take to the council as an example. This deal could mean a lot of money right off the bat."
"I'm always interested in extra work," he shrugged. "How much are you talking, Bells? I can do it, but it won't be fast and it certainly won't be cheap."
"We'll find out." Swiftly, she typed out a list of questions in order find out just how deep the customers wallet went, then hit send right before the battery faded out on her laptop.
Now was the time. He had to tell her before they got in any deeper. Jacob took a deep breath while she was packing things up, but before he could get the words out, two large figures burst through his doorway.
"Bella!" Quil nearly knocked her off the chair she sat in with his eagerness to see her. "I heard you were back." He held her out at arms length, checking her over while licking his lips like she was something to eat. " You're lookin' good sweets."
Some things never changed. Quil Ateara was still as shameless of a flirt as he was the first time they met in Jacob's garage. Of course, back then he was just a cocky fifteen-year-old boy who planned on taking the world- or at least the reservation- by storm.
"You too." Bella tipped her head to the side, biting her lip, sending him a seductive look that made the wolf nervous. "How's Claire?" she asked, as though the young girl was a grown woman who rivaled her for his affections.
"A tween and into Justin Bieber of all things. She says he's cute and I'm not." Quil clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "Go figure."
Embry pushed his way in front of Quil before he could go into a dissertation about the merits of a ten-year-old child's point of view. Wrapping his arms around her tightly, he whispered in her ear. "Sorry about the cloak and dagger bit. I'm so glad you're here, Bella."
"It's alright," she replied, hugging him back. "At least I know what's going on now. That's all that matters."
Bella grinned at them both. "I really have missed the two of you."
"So, Jake, what's on tap for tonight?" Quil asked with a sneaky look on his face. "We could have a party down on the beach. I think it's time to welcome our girl home properly."
The alpha narrowed his eyes at the burly wolf he'd known most of his life, irritated that he was horning in on his time with Bella. "That's up to her," he stated, a mask of calm covering the rising irritation in his voice.
"I don't know...," she fenced, laughing wholeheartedly when Quil gave her his best puppy dog eyes, then began to whimper like a dog. "Don't you have anything better to do than use me as an excuse for a party?"
Before he could come back with some witty reply, her cell phone vibrated, dancing across the counter. Matt's smiling face looked up at her from the screen, but before she could answer it, a growl reverberated from deep inside Embry's chest. "Oh for love of all that's holy! Not you too. Jake, you deal with him. I have to take this." Exasperated, Bella snatched up her phone, striding angrily into the the other room.
Embry's nostrils flared. Whirling on Jacob he demanded answers. "Do you know who he is Jake? Has she told you about him and Katie?"
"I know exactly who he is," he replied, much to Embry's surprise. "As for Katie, I have no clue. Matt is Bella's boss, not her boyfriend, Em."
"Thank fuck." Relief showed clearly on Embry's face. When they walked in, the house reeked of sex. There was no doubt that Jacob had gotten laid. Further proving that fact, Quil pushed his luck by openly flirting with Bella, but their alpha had taken it in stride, not so much as batting an eyelash. A little bit of guilt ran across his mind for the part he'd played in this disaster. Defying an indirect order was almost as bad as openly trying to get around an issued one. Bella meant a lot to him though. Enough to circumvent the pack and put his own hide on the line in order to protect her. Embry wasn't sure what it all meant, but if anyone so much as put a toe out of line when it came to Bella, he'd flay them alive and then roast marshmallows on their ashes.
Returning to the kitchen, Bella looked somewhat murderous. "Satisfied?" she asked sarcastically.
But Embry couldn't help it. He blurted out the question on his mind without even really thinking. "Who's Katie?"
She snorted with laughter. Stupid wolves and their keen sense of hearing. "You know, Embry, eavesdropping may be a hazard of your job profession, but obviously you can't seem to separate fact from fiction. I never figured you'd turn into a gossip monger at the tender age of twenty-three."
"Katie happens to the unofficial mascot where I work. She's also an adorable German Shepherd who wandered in one day begging for scraps. Unlike you, she sits, stays and minds her own business." Then with a very pointed look at all three of them, she shrugged her shoulders quite nonchalantly. "Seems I can't stop taking in stray dogs no matter where I go. At least Katie has learned how to eat out of a bowl."
Not unlike a dog, Quil barked out a laugh, proving her point. Raising her eyebrows pointedly in a show of defeat, she quipped, "See? Pack of wild dogs, all of you."
"I really have missed you, babe." Quil placed a welcoming arm around her shoulders, which Bella gratefully accepted. It felt good to know that after all these years, they were still her family. "You're not gonna duck out on us anytime soon, right?" he asked.
"Nope. I'm here for a while. You're not getting rid of me that easily. Besides, if I take off, who'll deal with Charlie? He might be a royal pain in the ass right now, but he's my dad."
"Oh, I think Sue would be pretty eager to fill your size sixes."
"Do you know that for a fact?" In truth, she was very curious about the state of what appeared to be a relationship between the two. Bella had never known her father to take up with another woman since Renee had ditched him.
Jacob turned beat red. "Let's just say Embry isn't the only one who has overheard things he wishes could be forgotten. There are some things you just can't unthink."
"Oh... OH!" Bella's face turned pink and pinched in utter mortification about things she did not want to know.
"Yeah... Jake, speaking of... mind if I have a few minutes alone with Bella?" Embry asked, but kept his eyes on her. "I think I've got some apologizing to do."
"You better make it good," he warned. "Come on Quil. Let's take a run." Jacob stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "She doesn't leave your sight, got it?"
While Embry Call was busy grovelling at Bella's feet, the two men headed for the treeline.
Quil cast a sidelong gaze at Jacob who appeared more relaxed than he'd seen him since, well, ever. "At least he's gay," whispered Quil. "You don't have to worry about him."
Then why, Jake wondered, do I feel the intense urge to claim her each time she talks about him? "What are you two assholes doing here anyway?" he asked, changing the subject.
The wolf smiled slyly. "Embry wanted to make sure you hadn't eaten Bella alive. By the smell of things..."
"Don't push it Ateara. She's mine."
Quil shook his head sorrowfully, imparting a little tongue-in-cheek wisdom on his alpha. "See, that right there is the kind of attitude that made us worry. By the way, you can thank me after the wedding.
"What wedding?" Jacob asked incredulously. "Thank you for what?"
"For telling you to talk to her all those years ago. I'm the reason you got laid the first time and the reason you got laid..."
The next sound that echoed off the trees was the crunch of bone when Jacob broke his nose. Quil sat stupefied on the forest floor gushing blood. "I warned you not to push your luck."
I hope you all enjoyed the fluff break. Because after this... well, I'm gonna duck and run. I realize that I've only answered a handful of questions for you all, but we still have a long way to go before this story is complete. Remember, 51 chapters and we're not even at 20 yet.
Again, a thousand thanks to you all for being the fantastic reviewers you are. It's always overwhelming and humbling.