Knowl Road was a dead end that had used to be a main road before they built a new and much larger one a few kilometers away. There was no traffic, and the road was now solely used for racing cars and motorcycles as it was so close to the dirt tracks.

Jacob felt his heart beat fast at the thought of spending time with Edward, but he tried not to focus on it too hard as he made his way back to Bella.

"Bells!" He shouted once he got close enough for her human ears to hear, "Come watch as I beat Edward on Knowl!" He laughed, trying to sound condescending but coming across much more light hearted.

"I don't want any part of your stupid rivalry!" Bella spat, "I won't love Edward any less if he drives slower than you, you know…" Jacob smirked at that. That would have been his intention for doing this a month or two ago, but now he simply wanted to cheer Edward up and spend time with him.

"I know, Bells," Jacob smiled, "I just want to show him what I'm capable of, that's all. No evil plots." Wanting her boyfriend was evil, he suddenly thought, but he couldn't get himself to feel bad about it. Edward was his mate.

"It's not like I can stop you," Bella rolled her eyes and threw her hands up, bandages and all, "But I'm waiting here, I'm not condoning this behavior." She pouted and pulled out her phone.

"Thanks Bells!" Jacob shouted, already halfway to his own bike.

Edward was waiting for him by the start of Knowl Road, staring casually into the dense woods surrounding the paved path. He didn't have a helmet, he didn't need one, and neither did Jacob. They would both barely get a scratch no matter how fast they were driving.

"The stakes aren't that high then," Edward answered Jacob's thoughts with a grin.

Jacob felt his heart flutter at the sight of Edward's slight smile, "What? You want to make a bet or something?"

Edward laughed, "Bet whatever you want, I know I'll win anyways." He sounded confident, but wasn't that bet a little bit too generous? He knew what Jacob wanted, needed.

"If I win I want you to…" kiss me. He finished the sentence with a thought, as he still couldn't quite get himself to say it out loud.

Edward chuckled snarkily, "You won't win, so that's fine."

"What do you want then?" Jacob felt weird and slightly anxious asking the question. Did he want Jacob to leave him alone? Did he want to never hear Jacob's vile thoughts again? Maybe he would want Jacob to try to fix this problem? To not have to deal with–

"I don't want anything," Edward said matter-of-factly, and Jacob's heart skipped a beat. Didn't he want those things?

"I… don't know if…" Jacob started, but the loud rev of Edward's engine exceeded the sound of his voice.

"I'll count to three!" Edward yelled, not letting Jacob inquire further.

"One!"

Jacob started his own engine.

"Two!"

They both put a foot on the acceleration.

"Three!"

Then they stomped the gas and flew off down the road.

Edward had a clear lead until they reached the first turn in the road, where Jacob gained on him significantly. Edward seemed to oversteer a bit at the corners, and Jacob used it to his advantage. Every time they reached a turn, he closed in on Edward from the inside, causing him to turn even harder each time. The fractions of a second Edward lost at each turn gave Jacob the leverage he needed to catch up.

They were head to head when Jacob could see the last hard turn before the end of the road. It was a known run off area, but Jacob was determined to get ahead. He sped up as fast as he could, and leaned hard once the road started turning. It was going well until he felt his wheels hit gravel, and his whole motorcycle lost grip. His wheels spun for a few precious seconds before he got back onto the road at the end of the turn. Fuck. There was no way he'd win now.

He'd lost sight of Edward for a moment, but suddenly saw him in his side mirror. How the hell was he behind after such a failure of a turn? He was lost in that thought as he suddenly remembered that the end of the road was near. A large spruce was situated in the middle of the dead end, and Jacob hit the brakes hard, sliding to a stop right before he'd hit the thick stem. The end of the road always came much earlier than he expected.

As his bike simmered down Jacob felt the adrenaline surging through his veins. "What the hell happened to you!?" He shouted, laughing as he threw his bike to the side, "You must have gone off track completely to be that far behind!"

Edward stopped much more elegantly than Jacob had, right next to him. "Don't get too cocky!" Edward laughed, "I don't know this road as well as you seem to."

Excuses, Jacob thought, and Edward laughed heartily. They both laughed, maybe because of the adrenaline, but Edward laughed with Jacob and it felt natural.

Jacob leaned up against the large spruce and shook his head. He'd won… Did that mean…? He instantly glanced over at Edward, and Edward met his gaze.

Edward stared at him with a cunning look in his golden eyes, before he jumped up inhumanly high and landed on a tree branch above them. "I don't think so, wolf!" he shouted down at Jacob, deviously.

Jacob's heart fluttered at the challenge, and without even thinking his body shot forward. His hands gripped into the bark of the tree stem, making indentations in the wood as he climbed up towards Edward. Once he reached the branch, however, Edward had already transported himself further up.

"You can't outrun a wild animal!" Jacob laughed as he closed in. He was pouncing between branches pretty easily now, although with much rougher movements than Edward. It didn't take long for him to catch up.

As Jacob's face leveled with Edward's, Edward's eyes locked with his own. "I'm starting to realize that," Edward whispered, and Jacob almost forgot how to breathe.

They were standing together on a thick branch close to the top of the tall tree, surrounded by what felt like a view of the entire world. Jacob's heart was pounding. Edward looked majestic. The scenic nature of their surroundings paled in the background when Jacob looked at Edward's face.

Edward scuffed derisively at Jacob's thoughts, but this time Jacob didn't care. Edward was so close, they were almost touching. Jacob felt his back push up against the stem of the tree, and Edward took a step closer. Jacob could feel Edward's superfluous breath against his face, and the sudden coolness of a hand grabbing onto his arm. Edward's skin was smooth but his grip was unexpectedly firm.

I want you, Jacob thought, staring into Edward's eyes. What was that expression? Edward's eyes were glimmering, like his skin in the sun. It was almost painful holding back when Edward's hands were on him. All his senses were screaming for him to claim his mate, to let himself be claimed, but he needed Edward to be the one to make a move.

It took all his strength to hold back. He wanted to grab onto Edward and pin him down, he wanted to feel his toned body under him, to rip his shirt off and… and– Jacob breathed heavily, as he watched Edward read his every thought, almost challenging him to keep going– he wanted to lick Edward's neck, mark him with his bite, then make his way down his torso. His train of thought turned slowly more vivid, and images of his hands caressing Edward's hard nipples flashed in his mind. Images of his hands working their way down and pulling Edward's pants down in a swift movement. Images of what he would see once all Edward's clothes were torn off.

Edward leaned his body into Jacob's, pinning him harder against the tree. Jacob felt Edward's chest rise and fall against his diaphragm as his breath was getting uneven just like his own. Jacob continued his fantasy.

He saw himself licking the trail of hair under Edward's belly button, making his way down until he reached Edward's hard erection– Edward flinched at the thought, but didn't pull away. Their eyes were still locked and Jacob felt the skin of his arm burning where Edward was now gripping him so tightly that a normal human's arm would break.

–he wanted to… umm, shit. Jacob didn't exactly know what he would do after that. He had never expected to want to do anything like that with another man, and the urgency he felt to take Edward's cock in his mouth suddenly freaked him out. Fuck. He could see Edward's gaze change.

Edward breathed out in a faint but bitter chuckle, and let go of Jacob's arm. "What a peculiar predicament," he snarled, "that someone without the proclivity for that sort of immorality would be forced into such thoughts." He frowned. "Your Gods are cruel."

Jacob shook his head slightly, "That's not how imprinting works," he said unevenly, "It wouldn't be you if you weren't the one who could… fulfill me… more than anyone else. I just couldn't realize it for myself…" He felt desperate for Edward to understand.

"You're not thinking straight," Edward snarled, pushing Jacob's chest hard enough for him to stagger on the branch, "Your mind is all messed up."

"What about you?!" Jacob hissed back, looking down at the tightness at the crotch of Edward's jeans, "Are you messed up too?" It had been impossible for Jacob to ignore how flustered Edward had gotten. He could feel it. He saw his own lust reflected in Edward's eyes, and he was sure he was about to lose control when Jacob messed it up.

Edward avoided Jacob's glaring eyes, "Maybe I am," he said, then he simply jumped all the way down from the tree in one stride and was gone.

Jacob didn't even get to claim his prize.