Sweet Hostage - Chapter Three
A/N: I want to thank the lovely and amazing Mist for my new banner! Thank you bb!
Chapter Three
Jacob glanced over at Bella. Her head was at a weird angle against the headrest and her mouth was slightly open. She looked tiny with the white lace billowing out around her and taking up most of the passenger seat. She’d been asleep within 15 minutes.
He was so happy to get out of there.
With her.
At his side.
At her request.
Maybe these past few months of anguish hadn’t been for nothing.
About 2 hours later, as he drove through the night without the faintest idea of where they were going, he realized he had no money. Unless Bella had stashed a wad of bills in her décolletage or a garter tucked underneath her dress, he knew she had none as well. His eyes slid to where her thighs would be underneath all that fabric and wondered if there was a garter underneath there. A white garter with maybe a little blue bow.
Knock it off and focus, Black. Geez. He needed to keep his eyes on the road and his mind on a plan. He had his driver’s license, but you had to be 18 to rent a room in a hotel. Bella didn’t have a purse with her, so he was pretty sure she had no ID on her.
He wished now he’d followed through on that fake ID he’d been all set to buy - just before he’d started phasing. Being a werewolf had really put a dent on his social life. He’d backed out at the last minute when pressed for the money by his juvenile delinquent classmate, Joaquin, who sold fake ID’s, ran illegal bets and organized underground poker games on weekends. Was probably just as well.
How were they going to get a room with no money and neither of them could prove they were over 18? Jacob sighed. He knew the answer, but he didn’t like it.
He’d give them another hour and he’d start looking for a place to spend the night. That would put 4 hours distance between them and Forks. He had no doubt Edward would come looking for her, but with him here to incapacitate the psychic leeches powers, good luck with that.
It was midnight before he found a dimly lit motel on a quiet, dark road. He turned the Rabbit’s lights off and pulled in all the way around in the back. He parked at the very end of the dirt lot, beside some brush. There were four rooms with no lights on and no cars parked in front of them.
He left Bella still sleeping in the car and went to the room on the end, farthest from the road. His feet made no sound as he crept to the door and stood silently outside it, listening.
Bingo! There were no lights, no footsteps, no faint television static, no sound of breathing coming from inside. It had almost been too easy.
He looked both ways before taking the doorknob in his hand and with a quick flick of his wrist, he busted it free from the door, breaking it completely off. He pushed the door open partway and went back for Bella.
“Where are we?” She asked hoarsely as she stirred.
“I’m not sure exactly,” he whispered. “But go back to sleep, we’re going to spend the night here.”
He pushed the door shut quietly with his foot as he carried her into the room. He could see in the dark easily and laid her gently onto the king-sized bed at the opposite end of the room.
“Turn the light on, please Jacob. I need to use the restroom.”
“Can’t Bells. We can’t draw attention to ourselves, I had to break in. Come here, I’ll help you to the bathroom. Don’t turn the light on till you shut the door though. We don’t want anyone to see a light on in here.”
She was too tired to ask questions, so she did as he told her to once he guided her to the bathroom and she’d shut the door. He went back to the window and drew the heavy curtains closed.
While Bella was occupied, Jake tried to adjust the doorknob so it at least wasn’t dangling and obvious on the outside of the door. If he left it, it would just scream “break-in” to the maids in the morning. Although from the musty smell of the room, he doubted the maids were too fastidious. Just to be safe, he put a Do Not Disturb sign on the knob, once he got it back in the hole and semi-not obvious.
There was a stuffed green fabric chair by the window and he settled uncomfortably onto that. He’d let her have the bed to herself.
He was exhausted. He knew Sam would want some details of what was going on aside from the brief explanation Jacob had given him at the reception before running off. But he not only was too tired, he really did want Sam and the others to know as little as possible once the bloodsuckers started interrogating them.
“Jacob?” He heard her whisper timidly before he heard a loud thump as she tripped over her dress, trying to find her way back to the bed in the dark.
He was relieved when he heard her giggle from the floor as he helped her up.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. I should always wear this; it’s as good as football padding.”
He chuckled as he settled her back down on the bed and went back to the chair.
“Jake?”
“Yeah?”
“I really should telephone my dad at least. Charlie must be worried sick.”
“One slight problem. Neither of us has a phone.”
“There should be a phone here in the room. I’m not allowed to turn on the lights,” she said sarcastically. “So I haven’t actually seen it, but there’s always a phone in a motel room, right?”
“Yeah, there’s one there by the bed. But problem is honey, we broke in. If they trace the phone call back to your dad, we could get in big trouble for breaking and entering. Not too cool, especially when the person you’re calling is the Chief of Police.”
“Um, Jake? Did you say we broke in? You got a mouse in your pocket? Cos I don’t remember committing any criminal acts.”
“Ha-ha.”
Bella sighed. It was a long, choked, sad sigh and it broke Jake’s heart.
“You want to call your dad, Bella?”
“Mm-hmm,” she sniffed.
“Alright, honey. Don’t worry; have you forgotten who you’re with? The next best thing in tele-communications: telephone, telegram or tell-a-werewolf. I’ll phase in the morning and have Sam or one of the guys tell Billy to tell Charlie you’re with me and you’re okay.”
“Thanks Jacob.”
They were both quiet and Jacob was counting the number of chirps a cricket was making outside; he knew if you counted them and divided them by something or other, you could tell what the temperature was outside. He was so uncomfortable on the hard, knotty chair, he couldn’t relax.
“Why are you way over there on that chair, Jake?”
“You can have the bed, Bells.” He tried bending one of his legs up under him, but that just cut off vital circulation in his thigh.
“Jacob. Don’t be silly. This bed is huge. You can sleep on the other side.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said with certainty. “Besides, it’s cold. I need my space heater.”
Jacob got up from the chair as trepidation swept through him. She had married another man today and he’d gone to tell her goodbye, and even after they’d taken off like two lunatics - it had still just been Jake and Bells. It had been easy between them. It had felt natural.
Now he didn’t know how to act. This was Bella’s wedding night. There were certain things you did on your wedding night. Certain things you expected. And while Jacob would be happy to comply, he was not her husband.
Was she disappointed that her wedding night would be unconsummated? It had been a given, considering who she was marrying. It’s not like she could… do it with a leech.
Didn’t she want her wedding night to be consummated?
Bella had seemed to have a plan. A plan that included Jacob. Did she have a plan that included him concerning her wedding night?
He shifted, bringing his knees up to ease the tightness that was stirring in his groin. He suddenly felt like a girl on prom night. Was Bella expecting something from him? He was cool with that - but he didn’t know how to act now. Did she want him to make a move?
He nervously walked to the edge of the bed. Her white stilettos peeked out from under the bottom of her dress. Ouch. No wonder she’d fallen down.
“Are you gonna sleep with these on?” He asked her, removing them before she had time to answer. He slipped them off and put them on the floor beside the bed.
“Thanks Jake,” she yawned.
He slipped off his own shoes and climbed slowly onto the opposite side of the bed. He laid there for a moment, wondering if he should slide closer, maybe offer to comfort her? She had had a rough day.
She reached back and placed her little hand in his. He smiled. He didn’t care how much they’d fucked things up today. He was just happy to have his Bells back.
“Bella?” He asked, remembering something. “What was the other thing you wanted me to do?”
He heard her deep steady breathing. She’d already fallen back to sleep.
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