Sweet Hostage - Chapter Ten
A/N: First off, I just want to say I am so excited to present my new banner. I have so many people to thank for it. First, thank you to Jake's Girl who sent this manip my way because it reminded her of Sweet Hostage. I had to agree, and instantly fell in love with it. Next, I went to Mist, knowing she could make it into an awesome banner, as she did my last one for me. You can view some of her other work here: http://jacobblack-n-pack.ning.com/profile/Mist And most of all, thanks to the uber-talented Juliya3DAngel, whose beautiful artwork you can view here: http://juliya3d.deviantart.com/ . Thank you to all three of these talented ladies!
Chapter Ten
Bella rolled onto her stomach, hiding her head in the pillow.
“This is all my fault,” she groaned.
“It’s not all your fault,” Jacob reassured her, smoothing back her hair. “Just… partly.”
She answered him with another groan.
“Did you at least tell him at some point that you didn’t want to get married?”
“Yes! I told him repeatedly I didn’t want to get married.” She rolled over onto her back, so her voice wasn’t muffled into the pillow and he could hear her better. “At first, I just kept outright telling him ‘no’ when he’d ask me to marry him. But then he kept using marriage as a compromise for what I wanted from him.”
“Bella? That’s not compromising. That’s manipulation. I think you’ve got the two confused.” He placed his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling, thinking. “What did you want from him? Oh - never mind.”
He sighed again and rolled out of the bed. “I’m going to take a shower. I guess we’d better hit the road before someone tries to check-in.”
He padded to the bathroom silently. He came out 30 minutes later, dressed and hair dried. Bella silently took her turn, then they gathered up their few things and left.
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After a very quiet drive home, with both of them deep in thought, Jacob pulled up to the Swan residence. He left the car idling as he turned to her to say goodbye.
“Want me to stay?” he asked her.
“No. I need to face Charlie on my own. But I may need you later, okay?”
“Sure, sure,” he smiled, relieved. He was afraid that after seeing Edward that morning, she would forget everything the two of them had said and done together last night and this morning.
“I’ll call you,” she told him, leaning in and kissing him on the cheek.
It was barely 4:00 in the afternoon. They’d made pretty good time, despite the terrible traffic. Much to Bella’s relief, Jacob had balled up her wedding dress and shoved it in the trunk before they’d left the Hilton. She didn’t want to drag it in past Charlie right now - the evidence of her failure right in her hands - so she didn’t mention it. She’d get it some other time. Maybe she and Jake could start a bonfire with it on First Beach before summer was over.
She was just about to slam the car door when she heard him. “Love you, Bells.”
She leaned down and looked in at him. “I love you too. Thank you, Jake. Thank you for everything.” She climbed back into the seat and hugged him tight.
She stood back from the car and watched him pull away, before she started for the house. The cruiser was in the driveway, so she knew Charlie was home. She didn’t know what his reaction was going to be, and aside from embarrassment, she felt a little nervous, too.
She started to knock, but reached for the doorknob instead, and found the front door unlocked. She pushed it open and came into the entryway, closing the door and locking it behind her. As she started for the stairway, Charlie came around the corner from the living room, and halted midway on his way to the door.
They both stared silently for a moment at each other, like two deer caught in the headlights.
“Are you okay?” He finally asked her.
She nodded, looking down.
Charlie ran his hand through his hair. “I wish you had let me know you were coming home. I wouldn’t have taken a double shift.” He went on when she didn’t respond. “Are you sure you’re okay? Maybe I can find someone to fill in for me later, and come home early.”
“No, no, this actually works out well. I mean, Edward is going to come by later, so… “ she trailed off.
“Oh. Okay. Well, you be sure and call me if you need me. Did uh, did Jacob drive you home?”
“Yeah. He just left. I’m going to go upstairs and put some sweats on.”
“Okay,” Charlie nodded. He shuffled uncomfortably. “I just want you to know that I’m not upset with you. Or disappointed in you. Marriage is a big decision, and if you’re not ready for it, I’m just glad you figured it out now instead of 10 years down the line. Okay?”
“Okay, Dad,” she nodded.
He headed for the front door, and stopped long enough to kiss her on the forehead.
“I’m sorry, Dad,” she whispered.
“Don’t be,” he told her firmly, before he smiled and opened the door. “Wasn’t my money wasted.”
He hesitated before stepping outside. “You call me if you need me, you hear?”
“Okay,” Bella told him, starting up the stairs.
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Jacob came around the curve in the road before the Black’s driveway and he could smell it.
Bloodsucker!
He slammed on the brakes, stopping the car before the Rabbit’s backend was all the way off the roadway.
Billy!
He flung the car door open; the quivering in his body ready to explode. By the time he reached the front door, he was furry and on all fours. He burst through the door, completely knocking the whole thing off its hinges. A howl echoed through the empty house as he tried to call his father’s name.
Those sons of bitches! Those filthy bloodsucking leeches!
Did they take his father? He’d kill them!
“Calm down, Jacob. Your father isn’t here. Phase back and we’ll… chat.”
The wolf turned his massive head to see the leech sitting at the kitchen table, calmly tossing an apple back and forth between his hands.
The wolf let out a low growl, before Jacob stood before him, his hands grasping the top of a kitchen chair. The two of them stared each other down silently, before Jacob decided he should probably put some clothes on. Although, he made sure to let Edward get an eyeful of what his wife had enjoyed that morning.
He was happy to see Edward flinch before he looked away.
“I’ll be right back,” Jacob excused himself. “I’m just gonna throw some sweats on.” He sauntered out of the room and pulled a pair of sweatpants from a drawer before heading back to the kitchen.
He didn’t waste any time with niceties. “Where’s my father?”
“He’s having dinner with Sue Clearwater.” Edward fashioned his fingers as if he was speaking into a cell phone. Jake watched in horror as he distorted his voice - Jake would have sworn in a court of law that it was Sue speaking. “I insist you come for dinner, Billy. I won’t take no for an answer.”
“Jesus Christ, you’re a fucking freak,” Jacob told him. “What do you want?”
Edward leaned back in his chair and folded his hands in his lap. “Oh, I think you know what I want.”
“Yeah,” Jake nodded. “Stupid question. But I don’t think she wants you anymore.” He couldn’t help but flash an image of Bella’s lips working their way down his body.
Edward’s face collapsed, before he covered it with his hands, running them over his face. He seemed to collect himself, before looking up again. “That’s just sex,” he shrugged. “Do you honestly think you can keep her with just sex?”
“It’s more than sex!” Jacob argued, hotly. “You don’t even know her! She tries to tell you what she wants and you don’t even listen!”
“Jacob,” Edward seemed to regain some of his confidence. “All Bella ever claims to want in life, is me. Forever,” he added.
“That’s because she doesn’t know who you really are. Remember that patient, understanding leech I talked to in that tent 3 months ago? The one that said whatever Bella wanted, he would step down and let her have it? I knew that was an act.”
“I could afford to be more generous back then. I thought I knew where I stood; now I’m not so sure.” He shrugged. “Bella’s got cold feet, that’s all. It’s quite common in humans, I’m told.”
“You really are clueless aren’t you?” Jacob scowled at him. “She said she told you from the beginning she didn’t want to marry you.”
“But she wanted to be one of us, and be with me forever? That makes no sense. Marriage is certainly the lesser of the two evils.”
Jacob shrugged. “It’s Bella. What do you expect?”
Edward tried another tactic. “I know you’re young, Jacob. But don’t you have any respect for the sanctity of marriage?”
“When the groom is alive! You’re a corpse! Technically, Bella is a widow! That’s not a marriage. That’s more like a funeral!”
Edward tossed the apple he’d been playing with back into the bowl on the table. “You are really trying my patience, Jacob.” He folded his hands neatly on the table. “I really don’t want to hurt you. Why don’t you just be a good little boy and go find some nice little Quileute girl when you go back to school this fall, and attempt to play house with her?”
“Why don’t you stick with your own kind and find a nice, cold leech, whose life has already been sucked out of her?”
Edward closed his eyes disdainfully. “I can see we’re at an impasse.” He drummed his fingers together under his chin. “What to do, what to do.”
“I’ll tell you what you can do. Go fuck yourself.”
With vampire speed, Edward was on his feet and leaning across the table menacingly toward Jacob. “We can do this nicely, Jacob, or we can let it get ugly. I sincerely hoped we could do this nicely. But you are just not cooperating with me.”
“Oh, do you want to “compromise” with me? Like you compromise with Bella? Bella is a little too naïve to realize that what you’re really saying when you compromise is, ‘we’ll do things my way’. Well, Jacob Black don’t play that way. You’re gonna have to fight me for her.”
“Jacob,” Edward smiled patronizingly. “One on one between the two of us? Haven’t you figured out yet who the winner would be?”
“We’ll see, won’t we?”
Edward started around the table, and then halted, shaking his head. “I’m not going to do this. I won’t do that to Bella.”
“Oh, please, don’t do Bella any favors.”
Jacob crouched, but Edward didn’t respond.
“You afraid?” Jacob taunted.
“No, not afraid of you. I’m afraid that once I kill you and Bella finds out, she unfortunately won’t see the benefit of it. It’s not the way to win her back.” He sat back down in the chair. “Unfortunately,” he grinned at Jacob.
“So what do you plan to do?”
“I guess it’s war,” he told Jacob. He stood up and came around the table. “May the best man win.” He put out his hand.
“Are you kidding me? That’s it? We’re not even going to fight?”
“I don’t think either of us would benefit from it, Jacob. It would only count as a strike against us.”
“Well hey, you’re in my house. If I say you came after me and I killed you because you threatened me, I think that would work to my benefit a lot. And I’d get the added pleasure of killing you.”
“But you won’t, because much as you hate to admit it, you know I’m right.
Jacob knocked Edward’s hand away. “Well, I’m not shaking your hand. It will have to be a gentleman’s agreement, on word alone.”
“Okay,” Edward smiled crookedly, pulling his hand away.
“And if you show up at my house again, sitting at my kitchen table, crying, when I win - I will have to kill you. Just so you know.”
“Fair enough,” Edward agreed.
Jacob was just about to add what he was going to do with Edward’s body parts once he’d ripped him to pieces, but the bloodsucker was gone before he could open his mouth to speak.
“Crazy fucking leeches,” Jacob muttered under his breath, shaking his head.
He looked at the kitchen door, hanging halfway into the kitchen, where he’d ripped it from its hinges. He muttered some more as he went to the kitchen drawer and looked for the hammer and screwdriver. He’d better fix that before Billy came home.
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Bella reluctantly shuffled to her bedroom window. She’d stalled as long as she possibly could. She’d showered again, pored through recipe books looking for something complicated and time-consuming to make for dinner.
She’d then gone grocery shopping for all the ingredients, come home and proceeded to chop and dice and fry and simmer. She took her time with washing the pots and pans, the cutting board and counters. When she finally sat down to eat, alone, she couldn’t taste a thing. She sealed everything up securely and put part of it in the fridge for Charlie to eat tomorrow, and froze the rest.
She couldn’t stall anymore. It was dusk and starting to get dark outside when she trudged up the stairs slowly. She was still unsure what in the world she was going to say.
The lock slid open easily, and she eased the window all the way up. Her eyes scanned the trees to see if he was already there, but she saw nothing. She sat down on her bed, drawing her knees up under her chin, and waited.
He was standing before her almost immediately. She shook her head dazedly.
Had she forgotten how handsome he was? Her body buzzed and thrummed unbidden as she gazed up at him. One minute she’d been debating how to tell him she wanted an annulment, and the next he stood before her and the desire that oozed from her pores for him took her breath away.
“Bella, love,” he smiled down at her. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“Me too,” she breathed, rising to her knees on the bed.
Wait a minute.
She’d been reluctant to face him all evening. Now she felt if he never left her side, it would be too soon. She fought an overwhelming need to touch him. She reached up and slid her palms up over his arms, the chill of his skin evident even through his shirtsleeves.
“Edward,” she breathed. God, she wanted him. What was wrong with her? She was so sure she knew what she wanted this time. But she was so confused; all she felt was the strongest need to be with him, and hold him, touch him.
“Are you ready to come home with me now, Isabella?”
“Oh, yes. Edward, I’m so sorry. How can you ever forgive me? I love you.”
“It’s alright. Just come home with me, and we can forget all about the past few days. We’re man and wife now, we can go away to school; get far away from here and never come back. And we’ll be together, forever. Would you like that?” He softly stroked her cheek as he spoke soothingly to her.
“Oh, yes,” she murmured. She leaned forward and buried her face in the crook of his neck. His scent along with the chill coming off his skin made goose bumps rise on her arms. “Kiss me.”
“Gladly, Mrs. Cullen,” he smiled at her, tilting his head and carefully planting his lips against hers.
The temperature of his frigid body against hers sent tingles down her spine.
Bella pulled her face away begrudgingly when she heard a scuffle from outside, below her window. There was the sound of snarling, and a scream pierced the air.
“Get your ugly face away from her, you scum-sucking leech! Bella get away from him!”
“Jacob? What are you doing here?” As she spoke the words, her senses came back to her, and she crossed the room to stand beside Jacob.
What the hell was wrong with her? She had actually been ready to leave with Edward. Go home with him, live with him. How could she?
“Are you alright?” Jacob asked her.
“Go home, Jacob. You’re not needed here anymore. Bella is ready to come home with me. Where she belongs.”
“You lying cheat! Tell her who you brought with you here.”
Bella saw Edward’s jaw clench, but he said nothing.
“Tell her or I will,” Jacob growled.
“Tell me what? What are you talking about?”
“What were you going to do tonight, Bella?” Jacob reminded her. “What were you planning to tell Edward? That it was over, right? That you wanted an annulment. Remember?”
She nodded, confused.
“Then how did you feel when you saw him? Did you change your mind? Did you suddenly find the sack of shit desirable again?”
She cringed, and looked down at the ground, nodding imperceptively.
“How do you feel now, Bells?”
“Shut up Jacob and go home,” Edward told him.
“No, you shut up. Tell her how devious you are! Tell her what you were doing!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Edward said, shrugging.
“Liar! I felt it as soon as I got close. He was manipulating her emotions! That’s all you bloodsuckers are good for! Manipulating people to get what you want!” Jacob put his hand under Bella’s chin, and lifted her eyes to him.
“Get your hands off her, mutt! How dare you touch my wife?”
Jacob tore his gaze from Bella long enough to send one zinger of a memory Edward’s way. Edward literally cried out, as if he’d received a physical blow.
“Bella, look at me,” Jacob pleaded. “I came to see if you needed me just now, and when I got within a few yards from your window, the strangest feeling came over me. I had been a little worried, not to mention a little pissed off all the way over here. But I hit the periphery of your property, and BAM! All of a sudden, I felt… this weird, yearning feeling of desire, or… love.” He nodded his head. “You felt it too, didn’t you? When Edward came into your room.”
“I did!” she cried.
“Look at him now; do you still feel it?” Jacob asked her, turning her head gently in Edward’s direction.
Edward’s eyes were dark and earnest as watched her face.
“Do you?”
“No,” she shook her head.
Edward’s expression crumpled.
“Bella,” Jake told her. “His sister and his brother - the one who can mess with people’s feelings, were outside; under your window.”
“What?”
Jacob nodded.
“Edward? Is that true? Did you bring Jasper here with you, to… to try to make me…? Why would you do that?” Bella asked him, disbelievingly.
“I didn’t want to,” Edward ran his hand through his perfectly manicured hair. “It was Alice’s idea,” he admitted. “I didn’t want to do it, but I was desperate, Bella. She insisted that if I could just get you to come home with us, she’d see us all together again. She lost it, you know. She’s lost you in our future.” He stood up straighter. “And I would do anything to bring that back again.”
“I just can’t believe you would do that, Edward. That you would deceive me like that.”
“I’m sorry, Bella.”
“I think I need to be alone. I’m a little… overwhelmed,” Bella told them both weakly. “Please, both of you. I need you both to leave.”
She walked to the window and waited, covering her face with her hands. “Go.”
A moment later, she heard a wolf’s howl and opened her eyes. The room was empty. She closed the window and locked it, before collapsing on her bed and falling asleep in all her clothes almost instantly.
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