Sweet Hostage - Chapter Eleven
A/N: Some of you expressed surprise at Edward’s behavior in the last chapter, and to be honest, it surprised me as well. But as I’ve explained to a few of the readers, these are all traits that Edward manifested repeatedly in the books. He was manipulative and secretive, not to mention controlling and stalkerish. However, Stephenie Meyer used these traits in such as way as to show how “protective” Edward was of Bella. Edward has never had to fight for Bella’s affections and his back is up against the wall. I do not find it far-fetched nor taken out of left field to imagine the flip side of these same traits that he possesses, used to fight to get her back. The whole premise of the first book was Edward fighting his most basic instincts not to kill Bella. That’s not to say that he is evil, because I don’t believe that either. I am just taking a few of his well-known attributes and showing how a character can react not always in the most noble or gentlemanly of ways when they are desperate.
Previous chapter: Jacob and Bella come home together. Upon arriving in La Push, Jacob finds Edward at his house, where Edward tells Jacob that he wants Bella back, and is prepared to fight him for her. Later, Bella and Edward meet in her room to talk that night, but Edward brings Jasper and Alice with him, where they hide under Bella’s window, and Jasper exerts feelings of love and desire over Bella, so she will go home to the Cullen’s with Edward. Jacob arrives just in time, and breaks the spell.
Chapter Eleven
Bella tossed and turned, maneuvering her pillow again. Try as she might, she just could not get to sleep. The thought that if Jacob had not turned up when he did, she might be lying in the wooden canopied bed in Edward’s bedroom right now, unsettled her.
How long would Jasper have wielded his emotional love spell over her? Until she was so entrenched, she couldn’t get away? Until she had “tried” with Edward, in the hopes that Jacob wouldn’t take her back after that? The fact that Edward could be so deceitful made her heart ache with disappointment.
Edward had always managed to wrangle his own way with Bella, but she’d always thought it was because she was such a push-over where he was concerned; not because she was actually being coerced or manipulated.
Manipulate.
That word kept coming up in her conversations with Jacob concerning Edward, and now she couldn’t shake it loose. It fit right into the center of the puzzle of her life over the last year; completing the picture and making the small details so obviously come together.
She huffed and rolled onto her back.
Jacob.
She missed him already. Maybe she’d been hasty in sending him away earlier. She moved her hand underneath her pajama camisole, and smoothed her fingers across her stomach. It wasn’t quite the same as when he did it. For one thing, her hands were too cold. And too small; his hands encompassed a much larger area.
She huffed again and pulled her hand away. Maybe she could call him? No, she wanted to do more than talk to him.
She smiled in the dark as she recalled stealing his clothes from the hotel bathroom the night before. It had worked brilliantly. Bella Swan could successfully seduce when she put her mind to it.
From stealing his clothes…
To him standing before her in just a towel…
To the kiss…
To the bed…
To the…
She sat up. She was going to La Push!
No, she laid back down. That was crazy. She couldn’t just show up at his house in the middle of the night. She didn’t even know if he was there; he was probably running patrols. Sam was probably slave driving him to make up for taking off for 2 days with her.
So what? She’d take her chances; she was going.
No, with her luck, Jacob wouldn’t be there, and Billy would catch her.
She lay there for half an hour going back and forth. She was going; she wasn’t going.
With a final glance at the clock, 1:30 am, she got up and grabbed her cell phone and got back in bed with it.
R u home? R u awake? She texted and waited for a reply.
Been home about 10 minutes am eating a sandwich. Whats up?
Want some company?
R u kidding? Of course!
c u in about 20 mins!
She kicked off her covers and slipped her rain jacket and some slippers on. It was drizzly outside, but still warm. She grabbed her keys off the dresser and tiptoed past Charlie’s room and out the front door.
She cringed as she approached the garage. She missed her truck; her new car, that Edward insisted on buying her, she kept holed up in the garage. It was an embarrassment and an eyesore. Well, she wouldn’t have to worry about it for much longer; she’d be giving it back along with her ring.
She opened the garage door as quietly as she could and opened the military tank’s door before sliding into the front seat. At least the engine in this purred quietly when started, unlike the truck. She still turned the key in the ignition carefully, as if that would mute any sound as it started.
There was nothing. Just the the click of the key turning, and then silence. The tank was dead.
Dammit!
That couldn’t be! The Guardian was only a few weeks old. She may have been horrifically embarrassed being seen driving it, and she may have resented its luxurious sleekness and its ridiculous protective accoutrements, but the car ran like a dream. What the heck?
She turned the key again. Nothing. She frowned as a thought niggled at her belly.
Her truck had pulled this once, and it hadn’t been the truck’s fault. Someone had pulled the wires.
She looked around, expecting Edward to pop out of nowhere. If the situation that took place at the house earlier with Jasper hadn’t occurred, she would have never in a million years suspected Edward could have something to do with her car dying. But now…
Damn him! She didn’t like doubting what Edward was capable of. Of course it would be in his best interests to keep her away from Jacob. Hadn’t that been his intention since last spring when they’d come home from Italy? He’d always claimed it was for her safety; that the wolves were dangerous. She’d known that wasn’t true then, and she knew it now.
She shook her head and headed back to the house. She was going to believe that it was a loose wire, or a faulty battery, until proven otherwise. She would at least have the decency to believe that Edward was innocent until proven guilty.
She got back under the covers, which had cooled since she’d left the bed less than 10 minutes ago.
Sorry. My car won’t start. I can’t come over. L
What? U got me all excited. Open ur window-Im coming 2 u!
Yay! J C u soon!
She put her cell on the nightstand and jumped up, opening her window and locking her bedroom door. She snuggled underneath the covers, grinning like a loon.
Fifteen minutes later, she opened her eyes with the feeling that someone was staring at her. She jumped when she saw Jacob’s smiling face and hulking form standing over her.
“God! You scared me! Couldn’t you have made a little noise, so I’d know you were here?”
“Sorry.” He knelt beside the bed. “So what’s wrong with the truck?”
“Um… I don’t have the truck anymore, Jake. It died.”
For some stupid reason, saying that sentence out loud to Jacob brought tears to her eyes. As if they were talking about a mutual friend who had passed away unexpectedly.
“The truck died?”
He was quiet. There was an ironic moment of silence for their departed friend, before Jacob asked her another question. “So what are you driving?”
She took a deep breath, feeling stupid at her answer. “Edward bought me a Mercedes.”
She couldn’t force out the model, she was too embarrassed. She knew if anyone would appreciate the ridiculousness of what he’d forced her to drive, Jacob would.
“A Mercedes. Huh, of course. A Mercedes, what?”
“Mmm,” she stalled. “A uh, a Mercedes Guardian.”
“Get the fuck out of here!” he exclaimed a little too loudly.
“Shh, keep it down.”
“Edward bought you a Mercedes Guardian? Those aren’t even available in Europe yet, let alone the United States. How the hell did he manage that?” He shook his head in annoyance and disgust as he realized that whatever the Cullens wanted, the Cullens managed to get.
“I don’t know. But anyway, it wouldn’t start. Like the battery was dead or something. I turned the key and nothing happened.”
Even as he was wrapping his head around the idea of Edward acquiring a Guardian, and Bella driving one, she knew he was thinking the same thing she had thought earlier. Why would a bazillion dollar luxury car not start?
“Where’s the key? I want to look at it.”
“Not now, Jake. Can’t you look in the morning?”
“I just want to check something.”
That bad feeling niggled at her stomach again. She knew what he really wanted to do was sniff around the hood, not look under it at 2 in the morning.
He grabbed her keys off the desk before he shimmied out the window and dropped to the ground below. There was silence and then a few minutes later, he hopped back in and tossed her keys back on her desk.
He leaned against her dresser. “Wow. Well it starts now, are you sure you know how to drive that thing, Bells?”
She glared at him in the dark. “I certainly know how to turn a key in an ignition, Jacob. And yes, I can and have driven it.
He put his hands up defensively. “Sorry, but it started like a kitten for me. Don’t get mad at me, but this reeks of eau de vampire.”
“No! Are you sure, Jake? You smelled him?”
“No,” he admitted. “I meant metaphorically, it smells like vampire.” He shook his head. “I didn’t see or smell anything.”
Bella sighed, relieved. She was afraid she’d never trust Edward again. And that hurt her. There would always be that miniscule thread of doubt that weaved through her conscience.
“Metaphorically?” she grinned. “Do you know what those big words mean?” she teased.
“I know plenty.” He sat down on the side of her bed. “So what spurred on your sudden need to see me in the middle of the night?”
She shrugged her shoulders under the covers, embarrassed. “I was just… thinking about you.”
“Thinking about me naked?”
“Jacob!” she squealed, laughing.
“I’ve been thinking about you naked all the way over here.”
She sighed and thread her arms around his shoulders as he bent over and kissed her. “Is there room for me in this tiny bed?” he breathed, kissing her earlobe.
“Mm-hmm,” she scooted aside so he could lie beside her. She arched her head back as he lazily moved his warm mouth along her throat. She opened her eyes briefly and her hands tightened over his shoulders. “Jake, could you shut the window, please?”
Jacob rolled off the bed, scanning the trees and the outside area subtly. He listened and sniffed the damp, humid air, using all his senses, before completely closing the window shut and pulling the blinds down.
“So I guess you’re not mad at me,” he said, climbing back onto the bed and laying beside her.
“I was never mad at you.”
“Then why did you send me away earlier?”
She shook her head. “I was just… I felt violated after what happened. It freaked me out, Jake. I wasn’t mad at you. It was the creepiest thing to feel one way and then to have someone take that away from you and make you feel another. It was awful!”
“I know. That’s messed up. He told me he was going to fight me for you. I told him - “
“Wait! What? When did he tell you that?”
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you before, but after I dropped you off here, he was sitting in my kitchen, waiting for me.”
“Edward,” she stated, dumb-founded. “Edward was sitting in your kitchen? Doesn’t that violate the treaty? How did he get through the pack?”
“I think Sam gave him a special dispensation yesterday, when he didn’t know where we were. But just him. He could come alone, but none of the others could be with him.” Jacob shrugged. “I guess Sam figured it was the least we could do. You know, the native ran off with the white woman, and all that,” he joked.
“Well, I’ll give Edward a piece of my mind when I see him next time.”
Jacob threw her a dark look. “I don’t want you to see him.”
“Excuse me? Now you sound like him. Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Jacob. I have to see him. There’s this little matter of a marriage we have to annul.”
“Bella, I don’t want you alone with him. I’m serious. Who knows what he’s capable of? He had his sister kidnap you once, merely to keep you away from me, and we were just friends then. They put you under house arrest for having a friend.”
Jacob took a deep breath, to stop the tremors running down his arms. “He wants you back. He told me it’s war. And the shit he pulled earlier tonight? No way. I’ll tell your father.”
“You’ll tell on me?” she hissed indignantly. “What are you going to tell my father? About the vampires? About the werewolves? Are you gonna tattletale and tell him I was going to have sex on my wedding night, too? Oh wait, that he probably expected.”
Jacob made a face. “No, I’m not going to tell him about the wolves and the leeches. I’ll just tell him that Edward threatened me, and that I don’t trust him. You know he’ll back me up, Bells. Cullen isn’t one of Charlie’s favorite people.”
“Jacob. I have to see Edward. How am I supposed to end my marriage with him otherwise?”
“Do it over the phone. Send him smoke signals, I don’t know. But you’re not going to see him again.”
“Okay, I wasn’t mad at you earlier, but now you’re kinda ticking me off.”
Jacob ran his hand through his hair. “How about Charlie or I have to be there with you if you have to see him face to face?”
She thought a minute; that seemed fair. “Alright.”
“Good. I’m glad we got that covered.” He leaned over her, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “Now, about why you wanted to see me tonight… “
He leaned down and brushed his lips over hers.
“You don’t really think Edward disabled my car earlier, do you?”
Jacob’s shoulders sagged and he sighed. He’d thought they were done talking. “I don’t know, Bella. Didn’t you say he did it once before to the truck? But in fairness, I didn’t see or smell anything out there. Maybe it was just a loose wire, and it fell back into place by the time I got here and tried it myself.”
He didn’t really believe that, but right now he was past talking about the car and was ready to move onto other things.
“Maybe,” she murmured, unsure. These circumstances were similar to the first time Edward had stopped her from going to La Push, though. She’d debated and gone back and forth in her mind about driving to Jacob’s - it would have been plenty of time for Alice to see it and tell Edward.
She tried to shake the nagging thoughts away.
“You’re brave, inviting me over when Charlie is home. You must have really missed me,” he whispered, his lips on her neck.
“I really did.” She reached for the button on his shorts, and for a little while, she forgot all about Edward and the rest of his family.
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Her feet made no sound as they glided over the stone pathway. She silently crept closer to the glass wall enclosing the cottage’s white-blue hued bedroom. She watched for them in the darkened room as she made her way around the small, round pond, her glistening blonde hair catching in a thorn from the climbing rose bushes that encircled it.
She knew it was just a matter of time before the two of them would end up here. She could hear them murmuring to each other, but they spoke so softly, even she couldn’t make out the words. She wasn’t surprised; he would never want anyone to know that he had brought her here. It most assuredly was meant to be a well-guarded secret.
Rosalie watched them from the security of the flowered trellis. They were so caught up in their encounter; they were impervious to anything else around them.
At least the new cottage was getting some use. All of Esme’s hard work and artistry in designing the place as a wedding gift would be for naught now. For some reason it tickled Rose that it was a clandestine meeting taking place inside, instead of the first night of eternity for the new bride and groom, as it was meant to be.
The moonlight glistened through the windowed room, catching the strawberry highlights in the girl’s hair. Her hands gesticulated as if she were trying to convince him of something. Her eyes glowed golden with intensity.
While her expression and body language were heated, his was much more low-key. The girl stood beside him as he sat like a man of as many years as he was chronologically; stooped, bent and defeated.
Rosalie could have predicted all this months ago; had, in fact laid it out in so many words. But he had refused to listen to her. And now…
It was fun to be right, she thought.
The redhead reached for the man’s chin, forcing him to look her in the eyes. She ran her hand through his bronze hair and Rosalie watched as she bent before him and kissed him.
The man didn’t seem to react with much ardor, but he didn’t protest either. The woman pushed him back against the sofa; straddling him. She made all the moves, as if she were re-enacting a well-choreographed dance, and he was her reluctant partner.
Rosalie didn’t need to see the details. She made her way back to the big house with a pleased smile on her flawless face. As she neared the trees, she heard his last words before he submitted.
This doesn’t mean anything, Tanya…
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