Hey everyone…big THANKYOU to all those people who have reviewed and hello to those you have just joined us…sorry this one is a little short but there is some pretty packed chapters coming up soon and I didn't want to cram too much into this…anyway that's all from me except to say let me know what you think. Love Tink. XXX
I stared at the cell phone in my hand about to punch in Alice's number when it rang, startling me for a second. I jumped my eyes flicking to where Jake dozed on the couch, his long body stretched out for my perusal. I was worried the sound would disturb him but he slept on, his chest rising and falling in the same deep rhythm.
Healing always tired him but when the damage was as significant as it had been today, it was exhausting for him. He had slept soundly for the past three hours, leaving me to watch over his body, taking in all the minute changes which happened second by second so quickly a human would miss them. But I was far from human and besides Jake was mine now, I noticed everything about him.
I still couldn't believe he was mine, after all this time, all the confusion, he actually liked me, he actually wanted to be with me, not Leah and not anyone else. I wanted to pinch myself to sing and dance and tell the whole world that I Renesmee Cullen was a wanted woman. Following this thought came another much darker one, I was wanted woman in more ways than one.
"Aunt Alice?" I murmured into the phone as I heard an exasperated sigh reach my ears.
"Thought I would save you the trouble of the call…is everything okay Nessie?" she chirped.
I felt a moments unease, I wasn't used to my aunt being blind "Can't you tell?"
She snorted down the phone "Nessie you are surrounded by wolves, that is the whole point of you being there…I barely saw enough to see this call coming…so I'll ask you again is everything okay?"
"I don't know…Jake was attacked, there was a rogue wolf but Jake said there was something unusual about him"
"Unusual how?"
"I don't really know, he said it was wrong, that he wasn't really like a wolf….you don't think it's them do you?"
"No, I don't think so…the key players are still in Volterra but they are waiting for something, planning for their next move…the first phase of the plan is completed… I hate this" she sounded frustrated, slightly exasperated.
" First phase? What does that mean…. Could it be them? Could they have a wolf on side?"
"Nessie if I knew that don't you think you would be the first to know…besides I don't think the Volturi would lower themselves to working with the wolves, it's just not their style, they have always seen them as insignificant, below their radar if you like… How is the big mutt anyway?" she asked and I noticed her voice softened. Alice and Jake had always gotten on.
"He's great" I said my cheeks filing with hot color as I struggled to sound casual.
"Renesmee Carlie Cullen…just what is that supposed to mean? Has something happened between you….Nessie, you're killing me here…Oh I hate being this blind… On second thoughts don't tell me, I don't think I could hide this from Edward and he needs to be focused now, we all do" she said pointedly but I was still to happy to feel bad about my developing relationship with Jake. This felt like the culmination of my life's dream, I had always loved Jake and now this was just another way to love him.
I was just dying to share this with someone, I wanted everyone to know that we were together; I wanted to shout it from the rooftops that he was mine.
Glancing over at him a goofy smile appeared on my face as I stared at him, admiring the long, strong, masculine lines of his body, ignoring the fact his amazing body was still marred by angry looking scars and welts. Anger bubbled inside me as I thought about what had happened to him and I felt a protective urge well up inside me.
"Quit it Nessie" he rasped in a sleepy voice, his eyes popping open a grin curving his full lips.
I flushed again, embarrassed to be caught so obviously checking him out. As our eyes met, memories of our recent kisses invaded my mind.
"Hello...Nessie are you there?" Alice said impatiently. "He's awake isn't he…I'll say this and only this, please don't rush into anything, give things chance to develop on their own…. besides knowing Jake you're gonna have a battle on your hands and…I need time to plan when this is all finished, don't be Bella all over again" she pleaded with me.
I stared at the phone in my hand in confusion; sometimes my favorite Aunt still boggled my mind with her own. But now Jake was awake I was eager to spend some time with him, to reveal in the fact we were together.
"Uh sorry Aunt Alice I gotta go, give my love to mom and dad and please stay in touch" I said as I heard her sigh before the call disconnected.
Jake sat up slowly, my eyes fixing helplessly on him as he stretched, the muscles of his chest doing interesting things to my insides. I watched as he scratched one of the faint scars across his perfectly formed pecs and yawned lazily. My stomach flipped as he winked at me.
"See anything you like?" he asked his voice still gravely from sleep.
"No" I managed with a perfectly straight face, despite the fact I was on fire.
"Oh really, then maybe I will just have to try harder" he smirked and immediately struck a pose, flexing the powerful muscles of his arms, making them dance as though in time to some invisible tune.
I giggled as he preened in front of me "You're are such a goof Jake"
"Made you smile didn't it? So what did the pixie have to say?"
I faltered for a second "You heard that? I thought you were sleeping"
He shrugged rubbing his hands over his face "Ring tone woke me up… I sleep a lot lighter these days," he said somberly.
I knew he was referring to his time in captivity and a chill moved over me, we still had not discussed what that entailed. Broaching the subject always made me feel uneasy but I wanted to know what had happened to him, wanted to know the affect it had on him.
"Hey where did my smile go?" he asked his tone easy and joking once more.
I looked across at him and suddenly he seemed so very far away, even though he was just across the room from me. I wanted to go to him, to feel his arms around me, remind me he was safe and he was with me. But I wasn't sure how to proceed.
It was different now, before I wouldn't think twice about touching him, going to him, cuddling with him but not now. It almost felt like I would be bothering him, I didn't want him to think I was going to be one of those clingy girls. Something of what I felt must have shown in my eyes because he got to his feet and crossed the room to me.
He was still favoring his ribs slightly but all of his wounds had closed, only pink scars marking the spaces they had once been. My heart beat a little faster when he hunkered down in front of me, so he was at eye level.
"What's up?" he asked gently.
I wanted to be honest and tell him but I didn't want to back him into something I didn't think he would be ready to talk about. Shrugging I moved my eyes from his.
"Nessie" he warned.
"I'm fine honestly" I murmured, "I just have a lot to think about"
Like you and how you make me feel, like what you've been though that you can't share with me, your best friend.
"Have you changed your mind?" he asked quietly, so quietly even I had to strain to hear him.
"No!" I blurted and then chuckled, embarrassed a little at my own vehemence.
He laughed and I smiled at him, just because I loved the sound. It reminded me that he was alive and well and we were together at last. It was the sound of life.
"So what is it?" he coaxed, giving me a lopsided smile, which seemed to melt my heart.
I shook my head wanting to put my melancholy mood behind me "Its nothing honestly…besides I don't want to talk about it"
His eyebrow quirked, "So there is something…you now I could always make you tell me"
"Yeah?" I pursed my lips familiar with this game "You and whose army?"
He grinned wolfishly, showing me all his bright white teeth and my heart knocked against my ribs as I knew what was coming next.
"These armies and these handies" he muttered and with a playful growl lunged for me.
Within seconds I was giggling hysterically as Jake tickled me, his hands mercilessly attacking my ribs. I screamed and struggled against him but trying to fight off a two hundred pound were wolf even in a fun fight was not easy. We hadn't played this game since I was a little kid and he had always let me win even though he had always been bigger and stronger than me. This time though, things were different.
I gasped for breath, as his hands stole over my body and I pushed against him as he pulled me closer. With a muffled cry I felt myself falling, toppling from the sofa. The result was us, in a heap, on the living room floor, Jake's body braced over me, as he grinned down at me from his position on his hands and knees.
As he looked down at me ,his eyes seemed to glow, and our shared laughter faded away to be replaced by something entirely different. My body tingled with awareness, I felt the increase in speed of my heart, heard his own heavy breathing and my stomach did that flip-flop thing again. I wanted to kiss him so badly and unconsciously parted my lips, wetting them nervously with my tongue.
Impossibly his eyes darkened even more and I heard and felt his groan a mere second before his mouth was on mine. Sighing I opened my lips to receive his tongue and was assailed by his scent and taste. It made my head spin and goose bumps break out across my skin.
A tingling feeling spread put from between my legs and I shifted a little, feeling tense but not really knowing why. Jake made me feel giddy and tingly and needy and frantic. My skin was on fire both from his amazing body heat and his touch. I wrapped my arms around his neck and tried to pull him down to me.
I needed to feel the heat and hardness of his body pressing against me, covering me but he resisted, his arms braced on either side of my head, holding his weight from me. Following some buried instinct I wrapped my arms around his neck, tangling my fingers in the long length of his hair and arched myself against him, lifting my hips towards his.
I heard a low rumble in his chest as he deepened the kiss and I shuddered as I felt one hand slowly slide down the side of my body, tracing my shape where only seconds before he had tickled me. As inexperienced as I was at this I knew I wanted something more, the feeling of the fingers of his hand biting into the skin of my hip through my pants made me realize just how big and strong he was and just how small and fragile I was. Rather than alarm me the comparison made me feel funny between my legs and I could feel myself growing damp. Embarrassment and need battled inside me but need won out.
He was giving me just enough to leave me desperate for more and I wondered if he knew just how much I loved him, just how he made me feel. I flexed my hand prepared to show him, to let him feel what he did to me, wanting him to experience the same heady rush of feelings I did. Wanting him to take things further, wanting him to do something about the funny feelings inside me.
"Well now this is new" Leah's sardonic drawl came from above us, and I felt Jake stiffen over me. He reluctantly, slowly, ended our kiss but made no move to leave me, instead he pressed a whisper soft kiss to my still trembling lips and then turned his head to the side.
"Leah" he all but growled. He. Was. Not. Impressed. And at that moment despite being extremely embarrassed, neither was I.
"Hey Jake, Nessie" she said sweetly grinning down at us.
"Um Hi Leah" I managed weakly, knowing my face was scarlet.
"Having fun?" she enquired lazily throwing herself down on the couch where Jake had recently napped and spreading her arms across the back of it, looking as relaxed as I felt tense.
I almost strangled on my tongue, mortified to be caught making out with Jake on his living room floor, knowing that I probably looked a messed, with my hair all over, my face red and panting as though I had just run a marathon.
"We were," he muttered ruefully his own breathing none to steady.
"Well it's about fucking time," she said casually, reaching for the remote and flicking the television on as though we were not even there.
Jake smiled at me apologetically and sat back on his knees, holding out his hands to help me sit up. I took them gratefully, smiling when he gave them an extra squeeze.
"Ness honey, I need to speak with Leah, can you give us a few minutes?" he asked me gently.
My first instinct was to refuse; I'd had enough of being left out of the loop, enough of being treated like a child but I knew if he wanted to speak to her privately there must have been a good reason.
"Sure…you want me to fix you something to eat?" I asked, wondering if it was normal that I was excited to do this for him, to take care of him the way he always had me.
He grinned widely at me and it was enough to set my heart racing again, knowing he could probably hear it I tried to brazen it out and gave a little shrug.
"Thanks Ness" he said quietly and I knew he meant for more than cooking his dinner. It was important whatever he had to say to Leah and I wondered if he had expected me to put up more of a fight.
Jake hauled me to my feet and bent to press another brief kiss to me, which left my lips tingling and my body wanting more. More. I seemed to be feeling that a lot around Jake but I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted more of. Jake maybe?
With a last smile I felt the room, Jake's voice following me out of the door.
"Leah where the hell have you been?" I growled, angry that she had interrupted Nessie and I, angry that she hadn't done what I asked and angry that I had been worried when she wasn't home. My body was still very tight with unfulfilled need and that didn't add to the bad mood my ass kicking had provoked. Leah arriving back so late and disobeying a direct command, pissed me off just as much.
She was my pack, my responsibility. I couldn't handle the thought of facing Seth and telling him his sister, however big a pain in the ass, would not be coming home.
"I know what you said but I wanted to see if there was anything else out there….it just seems too coincidental…I saw what happened to you…what is he Jake?" she sounded alarmed, something rare for Leah. Angry she did, snotty she did, a pain in the ass she did but never alarm, never anxious.
I exhaled deeply and felt the answering pull across my chest, still not fully healed. That was the question I had asked myself a hundred times since coming home.
"I don't know Lee" I admitted "He's not something we've ever come across before…he was so powerful, if it wasn't for Quil and Embry showing up…I don't think I'd be here now"
It was a humiliating confession to make, I had always been one of the biggest, strongest wolves, well from the time I could remember anyway.
Shock registered on her face for a second before it was gone "What are we going to do?
"I'm gonna heal and get back out there…I want that thing-whatever it is…I'm taking it down"
She pursed her lips and shook her head slowly "You think that's wise? He beat your sorry ass and don't tell me you're not still feeling the affects, I've seen the way you been moving…you need to leave this alone for now"
"No way, if this thing is something to do with those Leeches then I want it eliminated a soon as possible…deal with one threat before another arrives…and if it's just a rogue then we will teach it a lesson, make it think twice before coming onto our territory again"
"Jake this is a bad idea, you're still healing…let me take care of this for you…I can do this" she told me, her casual stance gone as she leant forward, bracing her arms on her knees, her eyes glinting with excitement.
"Lee, it would tear you apart in seconds, you're a small wolf…I'm twice as big as you and it nearly destroyed me"
"Exactly" she looked triumphant "which is why you can't face this alone…when you're ready we'll come with you, we'll handle this…together"