A/N: This is SLASH between Edward and Jacob. If you don't like that sort of thing, please don't read! Otherwise, enjoy, and let me know what you think! :)

Summary: Bella's gone (to visit Renee? Who cares), and Edward runs into a dangerous confrontation with Jacob that leads to more than either of them could have ever imagined.

Greatest Contradiction

Edward strolled along the beach. The sky was dark, and it was raining. The gloom in the atmosphere perfectly mirrored the one in his heart. Bella would be gone for three days: three agonizing, empty, torturous days. He came to a cliff edge and stood still, facing the water. Closing his eyes and letting out a long, labored breath, he turned toward the sky and let the rain fall on his face. Not having the ability to cry, he imagined the droplets rolling off his cheeks to be tears. I am going insane, he mused as he smiled into the downpour.

Suddenly, he heard the faintest sound behind him. He whipped around, faster than lightning, and narrowed his eyes into the gloom. There, standing just a few yards away, was Jacob Black. Edward muttered a string of curses under his breath for not noticing the enemy sooner. Either he was becoming careless, or the adolescent wolf was a more worthy competitor than the vampire had given him credit for. Edward frowned at both of those possibilities.

He took a hostile step toward the boy and demanded curtly, "What do you want?"

Jacob looked just as shocked (and disgusted) to see the vampire as Edward was to see him. "I didn't realize you were here," he hissed through gritted teeth. His fists began to clench and unclench as light tremors ran down his spine.

Edward easily read the boy's mind and knew that he was debating whether or not to even attempt to control his werewolf transformation. The vampire waited patiently for him to make a decision. He was certain that if it came to a fight, only one of them would survive.

Jacob growled, his tremors increasing in intensity. "You filthy bloodsucker," he spat. "If it weren't for Bella, my claws would be tearing you into small pieces right now." Sweat rolled down the sides of his face, mixing with the rain.

Edward laughed once. "Have your fantasies if you wish, dog. But you could never be a match for me." He turned to walk away but paused in mid stride to add venomously, "And please, don't ever speak her name again."

Edward managed to throw his arms out in defense in the nick of time: Jacob had morphed into a werewolf in the blink of an eye and pounced on the vampire with a deafening growl. Despite his iron strength, Edward was knocked to the ground. It took all of his concentration to keep the sharp teeth above him from biting off his face.

Once the surprise began to subside, the vampire felt control coming back to him. He kicked the wolf off of him and sent him flying through the air, yelping from the impact. Even before Jacob hit the ground, Edward was back on his feet, murder burning in his eyes.

Jacob righted himself just in time to see Edward rush at him at full speed. Teeth bared and claws itching to sink into that cold flesh, he prepared himself for the collision.

Two bodies slammed into each other with roars that saturated the air. They fought in a flurry of movements too rapid for any human eye to register. They became one blurry, nightmarish entity. They were mortal enemies. They were meant for this. The vampire and the wolf fought body and soul.

The fantastical unit that was their two fighting bodies edged closer and closer toward the cliff. When they were just inches away, Edward uttered a final deafening growl and shoved the less experienced wolf off the edge.

Jacob dug his claws into Edward's pant leg and managed to buy himself precious time. In the brief seconds that he hung off the cliff, hanging on for life, he was shocked out of his anger enough to change back to his human form.

Edward glared at the boy who was hanging from his pant leg. He sneered as he watched the large fingers begin to lose their grip. Satisfaction had almost begun to wash over him, but he froze when he saw the boy's face.

Jacob's eyes were wide with horror as he stared up at Edward. Despite his size and strength, he looked like no more than a child in that instant. If Edward's heart still pumped in his chest, it would have skipped a beat. That filthy dog is just a child, thought Edward with a sinking feeling.

But before he could act, Jacob's hold finally gave way and he plummeted down, down into the jagged rocks and angry waves.

"Shit," Edward cursed, peering over the edge. He squeezed his eyes shut for the split second that it took him to make up his mind. Sighing, and feeling like the greatest contradiction of his race, he made a graceful and calculated dive into the far-off raging water.

He fell for what seemed like an eternity before he finally broke the surface. Rocks were on either side of him, mere inches away. He wasted no time and moved expertly through the turbulent water, feeling at ease even in these conditions. He quickly located Jacob. He swam up and wrapped his iron fingers around one of the long arms, just as the boy was sinking unconsciously into the deep. Edward quickly towed the body through the water, keeping the boy's head above the waves as much as possible.

As soon as the water was shallow enough to stand up in, he lifted the limp mass into his arms and ran to the sandy shore. He gingerly laid the boy down and quickly checked his vital signs. There was a faint pulse but no breath. There was also a gaping wound on his temple that was gushing blood, no doubt caused by a collision with the rocks. Edward moaned at the sight and smell of the red wine pooling onto the sand. He took a moment to make a conscious effort not to breathe. Soon enough he regained some 

composure and proceeded to turn the teenager onto his side. He began to hit the broad back in the hopes of forcing the water out of the still lungs.

After a few moments, a small sound escaped Jacob's lips, followed quickly by a gush of water from his mouth. As Edward kept hitting his back, Jacob choked helplessly until another equally large stream of water escaped his lungs. Satisfied that the boy no longer needed his help, Edward sat back and watched as Jacob took his first gasp of air.

It took several minutes for the coughing and choking to cease, but finally Jacob's lungs began to accept oxygen more easily. He lay sprawled on his back with his eyes closed and brows furrowed, breathing carefully.

With a start, Edward realized that the adolescent spread out before him was completely naked, his clothes left somewhere in small pieces from the transformation. Suddenly embarrassed, he cleared his throat and averted his eyes.

"Black?" he ventured, fixing his eyes in some arbitrary direction. The only response was Jacob's labored breathing. Edward felt the slightest impatience creeping up on him. Werewolves were supposed to heal quickly. How much longer did he have to sit here, babysitting his mortal enemy?

Edward sat there for what seemed like a long time, even for an immortal, yet Jacob still didn't show further signs of recovery. With a defeated sigh, Edward finally stood and lifted the boy yet again into his arms, carefully keeping his eyes only on appropriate parts of the naked body. He deliberated for a moment on where to take him. The hospital was out of the question, as was La Push because of the treaty. It wouldn't do much good to take him back to the Cullens' residence, either. That left only one option, and Edward grimaced at the thought. It wasn't optimal, but it was the only choice they had.

The trees rushed past Edward at impossible speed as he ran toward Bella's house with his load. Even with the large boy in his arms, he was able to climb through her bedroom window with relative ease. It was late enough in the night now that Charlie must have been asleep. Once in the room, Edward stood motionless and listened for sounds of snoring. Sure enough, there they were, coming evenly from Charlie's room.

Edward carefully laid Jacob onto Bella's bed and covered his lower portion with a blanket. He sat stiffly on the edge and cautiously peered at his enemy. He pressed one hand against the boy's forehead and frowned.

Jacob felt hot; too hot, even for a werewolf. He seemed to be running a high fever, no doubt exacerbated by the angry gash at his temple. The wound had stopped bleeding but looked to be almost on fire. Any water left on his body from the ocean and rain had long since evaporated from his skin.

Edward pursed his perfect lips in thought. He could think of one very effective way of cooling off the burning wolf, and he vainly wished for some alternative. Oh well. He was a good vampire… what other choice could he possibly have? Maybe after this ordeal, the Blacks would ease up on their hate and distrust toward the Cullens.

Edward removed his shirt and laid his bare icy chest on top of Jacob's, planting his snowy face into the steaming crook of Jacob's neck. He placed one palm on the boy's forehead and one on the angry wound. The torture I have to go through, he thought bitterly.

But surprisingly, Jacob's searing skin felt incredible against his own wintry body. For the first time in decades, Edward felt himself warming up. His body tingled as if the stone sculpture was coming to life. He held his breath and reveled in the sensation.

An incoherent mumble escaped Jacob's lips as he suddenly wrapped his arms around the life-saving ice on top of him. His body started to become deliciously cool, a welcome reprieve from the perpetual fiery skin of a werewolf.

They held each other like that in silence for a long time, the temperature of their bodies reaching some middle ground of the two extremes. It was bliss. After a time Edward completely forgot where he was, but he was snapped out of his reverie by another mumble from Jacob. Suddenly he felt the body beneath him stiffen. The boy had woken up.

Edward raised his head and found a wide-eyed Jacob staring at him. With very slow and careful movements, so as not to startle him further, he removed his body from the boy's and stood up, taking a few cautious steps back from the bed.

Jacob followed him with his alarmed gaze. He was so stunned and confused that his mind had gone completely blank, and there was no point in Edward attempting to read it.

To both of their astonishment, Jacob screwed up his face and began to cry bitter tears. Edward's gaze warmed in sympathy once he read the boy's thoughts: hurt, shame, agony, anger, gratitude, shock, embarrassment, appreciation, awe, wonder, respect…

Edward shook his head and forcefully blocked out the boy's mind. It was too much. Despite himself, he walked back to the bed and sat on the edge again. He tried to communicate through his eyes that everything was alright, but Jacob's vision was too clouded with tears to see properly. Edward gently wiped the wetness from the boy's eyes with his palms, the action momentarily stilling the sobs.

Jacob fixed his tortured eyes on the vampire.

Edward made an effort to keep his eyes as warm as possible. "Do you want me to leave?" he asked quietly.

Jacob screwed up his face again as several contradicting emotions fought for dominance in his mind. A moment later he relaxed marginally and rasped a barely audible "No."

Just a child. Just a boy, thought Edward. He was moved by the torture in Jacob's soul and suddenly found himself wanting to stop it. He took one of the boy's large hands and squeezed it in what he hoped would come across as reassurance.

Jacob gazed up at what, his enemy? He wasn't sure anymore. He opened his mouth to speak, but it took him a few tries to form a coherent sound. Edward waited patiently, still as marble.

"Thank you," Jacob finally managed, his voice raw. "You… saved me. I… I don't think I would have done the same." His eyes began to fill with tears again, and he searched the immortal's face for some sign of understanding, of forgiveness.

Edward smiled his crooked grin. "You are young and see the world in black and white. In time, you will learn to see the gray." He gave another squeeze to the boy's hand.

Jacob smiled weakly. "How can I ever repay you?"

Edward's eyes sparkled mischievously. "I can think of a few ways," he teased, winking. But he frowned as he saw Jacob's face lose all color in shock and wondered if the boy was too thick to understand a joke. He disentangled his white hand from the olive one in hopes of making the boy more comfortable, but the shock in that youthful face had turned into some sort of resigned apprehension.

Edward opened his mouth to verbally assure him that he meant nothing by it, but he froze in alarm as he saw a new emotion cross Jacob's features. Vulnerability mixed with a hint of forbidden desire began to burn in his eyes, and his breathing became noticeably more ragged.

Edward blinked, something vaguely akin to a flush creeping into his cheeks. "This is ridiculous," he whispered, caught completely off guard. He didn't need to read the adolescent's mind to know what he was thinking. Embarrassed for the second time that night, he held up his palms and was about to attempt another verbal explanation when Jacob unexpectedly sat up.

The vampire vanished from the bed and reappeared on the other side of the room, in the corner, glaring darkly at the boy. Jacob stood (in all his nakedness) and took a few careful steps toward Edward, pausing a handful of feet in front of him.

Edward cleared his throat. "That's not what I meant," he said gruffly, restlessly shifting his feet.

"I know," Jacob said. "But there are other…" – he swallowed audibly – "urges… besides the wolf thing… that I have a hard time controlling." He rubbed his forehead with his fists and added in defense, "It must be the fever."

Carlisle once told Edward that emotions such as anger or humiliation can mistakenly cause arousal in a human. It was one of those phenomena – the dividing line between passionate feelings can sometimes become blurred. He wondered now if that wasn't exactly what was happening with Jacob. He contemplated making a run for it but worried that that might upset the wolf even more. Who knew what havoc a werewolf could wreak in this small house? Edward unwillingly shifted his eyes down Jacob's body and saw the boy's impressive physical response there. He closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip, attempting to pretend he hadn't seen it.

Edward kept his eyes tightly shut even as he heard Jacob close the distance between them. He stood stock still, waiting. Suddenly a pair of angry hot lips crushed into his own, and he gasped from the intensity of the onslaught. His mind became dizzy, clouded, confused.

Jacob hungrily assaulted the perfect lips, forcefully parting the stone mouth and gaining access to the sweetness inside. He moaned, a different kind of tremor running through his body.

"This is wrong," Edward managed to breathe against the searing lips.

"I don't care," murmured Jacob, completely surrendering to his passion. His hands grabbed with desperation at every available part of the immortal's body.

Perhaps it was the warmth of the young boy's flesh, or maybe it was the thrill of doing something so utterly wrong… but Edward felt himself respond to the hot skin pressed against his own. A velvety, divine growl escaped his throat as thirst mingled with ecstasy began to rise in his body. He feared for the boy's safety and pushed him away yet pulled him closer at the same time. The result was something like a fight, not unlike the one they had by the sea. But they fought for very different reasons now.

They made minimal noise as they staggered around the room, bodies molded together. Edward returned Jacob's hot kisses with his own sweet, wintry ones. He felt electric shocks everywhere their skin met and half-expected to see actual sparks. Before he could realize what was happening, Jacob had tore of his pants and pushed him onto the bed.

Jacob growled with desire at the vampire's marble erection and pounced, but Edward was faster. Ice cold hands flipped the boy onto his stomach. He breathed hard, feeling almost hysterical, as Edward lay on top of him and pressed his hardness into the boy's opening.

Edward reached around to muffle Jacob's scream with his hand as he gained entrance. He was completely consumed by passion now. He thrust aggressively, too hard for any regular human to endure. But it was all he could do to distract himself from the equally intense thirst that threatened to consume him. Jacob's body felt impossibly divine around his inhuman hardness. Never had he felt anything like this before. In between moans of ecstasy, he idly wondered if he could possibly to survive this.

Jacob grunted with each thrust into his body, fingers digging into the mattress beneath him. The severe pain he felt in the beginning was gradually transforming into pleasure, and the process was quickened when he felt an iron hand reach around and massage his member in time with the thrusts. Jacob opened his mouth against the hand that still covered it and took the steel fingers into his mouth, his hot breath melting their iciness. Suddenly his back arched and the hand covered his mouth a second time as he screamed against it, his entire body shaking from the intensity of his release.

The powerful vibration of the body beneath him pushed Edward over the edge seconds later, and he bit into Jacob's neck to muffle his own screams. The skin broke beneath his teeth and a small amount of blood sweetened his parched tongue as he emptied himself into the boy. As his climax began to subside, he regained enough control to realize that he had been sucking at the wound on Jacob's neck and quickly stopped himself before it was too late.

Edward rolled off of the boy and they lay side by side, panting, their passion mercifully abating. Edward shut his eyes and heard Jacob's breathing even out and quiet. The boy must have fallen asleep. The vampire closed his eyes and lost himself in a peaceful nothingness, as close to actual sleep as he had ever gotten.

Hours later, Edward opened his eyes and found Jacob's sleepy eyes on him. He lifted his lips in a crooked smile and gingerly ran his fingertips along the side of the teenager's face.

"What have we done?" he mused out loud.

Jacob laughed throatily, yet again forgetting to keep quiet in this house. Edward softly pressed a finger to his lips to quiet him, and Jacob kissed it with a tenderness that didn't match his incredible size.

They gazed at each other for a long time, complicated emotions sparkling in their eyes. What had they done, indeed?