A/N: Okay, for those of you that have stumbled onto this story randomly, this is not a stand alone story.

***PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A COMPANION SHORT STORY FOR MY FIC 'CALEFACTION'. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ CALEFACTION THE TIME LINE AND EVENTS OF THIS STORY WILL NOT MAKE SENSE***

Okay, now that that's out of the way. For my Calefaction readers, here's the beginning of Numb, my Emmett/Lys companion to Calefaction.

I've gotten a ton of reviews showing concern for Rose in Calefaction, and I have to say that I'm pretty surprised. I mean, yes, we do see her gentler side with Bella, but that speaks of nothing to her relationship with Emmett.

So here's an inside view of that side plot line.

Warning: This story will delve right into mature themes, as I see Emmett as more of a physical person than Eddie or Jas. Also, I miss lemonade. :D

These chapters will most likely not be as long as Calefaction's. I'm thinking perhaps 2-5k, as opposed to 6-10. A lot of these events have already occurred and we have a general idea for the plot, this is simply adding another perspective. I will put which chapter of Numb coincides with each chapter of Calefaction at the title of each.

Please let me know what you think!

Numb

Chapter One

Coincides with Calefaction Chapter 5

Dissension

"No, Rose, I don't want to go to Seattle."

I glanced at the lovely vixen sitting on our bed, watching me with her shrewd eyes and pouty frown. We both knew she was going to get her way, she always did, but I felt I had to at least put up a fight, for the sake of my testicles.

"Emmett, I need a break from the chaos."

"I'm not leaving Bella like this, Rose," I said with a quiet sigh. The verbal tug-of-war could go on for hours if neither of us was willing to relent.

"Like what? She's fine, isn't she?"

I shook my head at the blasé attitude. Had the others noticed that as Bella grew, escaped infancy and childhood to become a gangly mortal teen, Rose had begun to distance herself from the girl?

She was fiercely protective, as we all were, of the human that we'd come to accept as part of our family, but it seemed less and less like Bella had two mothers, as Rose fell back into a sisterly role and Esme resumed full responsibility for her well-being. Sure, mortal danger brought out the maternal instinct in her, but her attitude toward our Bella was fast deteriorating.

I wasn't certain if it was Bella's decision to stay with us eternally, or Rose's literal want of a child, but their relationship had begun to change.

"She's fine for now," I argued plaintively. "Listen, after everything that's happened, I'm just not comfortable leaving her here with Edward. He nearly..."

"But he didn't," she snapped. "We all knew it wasn't a brilliant idea to bring a human child into a house full of vampires, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened."

I'd never been the closest to Carlisle, but in this instance, I felt I needed to defend his actions.

"Rosie, we needed her. How many years can we go, a part of this world, yet undeniably not, without losing touch with our humanity completely? Carlisle made the right choice."

She threw herself back with a frown, letting the subject drop. "C'mon Em, we deserve a little vacation."

I rolled my eyes. "From our busy life of doing nothing? I'm not going. We destroyed Bella's room; we're going to need to replace everything."

"Esme can take care of it, she likes that stuff," Rose sighed.

"No."

The feral gleam of Edward's gaze as he'd smeared Bella's blood on my face still haunted my every waking moment (considering I couldn't sleep, that was pretty much all of them); and the way she'd trembled and cried out in her sleep as I'd held her in the rocking chair was enough to make this decision easy. I couldn't stand the idea of leaving her here.

Rose was off the bed, slinking lithely in behind me without so much as a whisper of sound, within a human heartbeat. She splayed her graceful fingers across my chest, pressing herself against my back. Her lips touched my ear and I bit back a shudder. She knew every single sensitive spot on my body that would cause me to cave.

"Cheating wench," I snarled softly.

The soft breath that accompanied her laughter bathed my cheek.

"You know I like it when you talk dirty," she purred playfully.

I smirked. She did like that, but 'cheating wench' was really just the tip of the rather large obscenity iceberg.

I turned suddenly, grasping the slender curve of her waist just where it began to flow into her hips, pushing her forcefully against the wall and pinning her there. Several of our wedding pictures clattered to the ground, shattering and sending glass spilling over our feet.

A quiet growl rumbled low in her throat and I found myself answering the primal sound.

I raked my teeth none too gently along the skin of her jaw, marveling that something so indestructible could feel so soft. She squirmed lightly, threading her fingers through my hair and holding me close.

I knew what she was doing, knew that for her, this was simply a means to an end, but I couldn't have stopped her even If I'd wanted to. In this aspect, I was a very simple man.

She hitched a single, shapely leg around my waist as I began to tear her shirt away from her body, ignoring

Alice's dismayed sigh as the sound of fragile cloth ripping filled the room.

As I reached for the scrap of emerald silk peeking out of the open fly of her jeans, she pushed me away slightly.

I already knew what was coming.

"Em?" she breathed softly.

I eased my hand into her pants, hoping to distract her. Rubbing my fingertips lightly across the apex of her thighs, my dark eyes met hers. "Yes, Rosie?"

Her lids lowered fractionally, and it seemed to take her a moment to regain her senses. The triumph I felt at her wit-scattering arousal was short lived.

My ministrations faltered slightly when she smiled a saccharine smile and murmured, "We can go to Seattle, can't we?"

She trailed her perfectly manicured nails slowly down my stomach, raking my shirt into tatters, and I groaned. She played the game far better than I did.

I capitulated as her fingers teased just across the waist of my jeans.

"Yes. Yes, of course we can go, baby."

A single shove of her graceful hand sent me sprawling onto the bed and she smirked as she pounced atop me.

As I drove deeply into her sleek body, mindless in the passion she incited, I couldn't help but feel a small pang of self-loathing that I wasn't able to defend myself against her.

The thought, and any others, were obliterated as she screamed my name.

"How long are you going to be gone?"

Several hours later found me sitting with Bella in Esme's wildflower garden, peering up at the stars. It was a surprisingly clear night and just as I was pointing out Ursa Major, my particularly favorite constellation, Bella had interrupted with her sullen question. I glanced down at her face, her head resting lightly on my shoulder.

"A couple of days or so."

She sighed, her breath warm through the thin fabric of my t-shirt.

"Do you think Edward will get back before you do?"

The very idea made my hackles rise. I tugged my baby sister close, brushing a kiss to the top of her head. "Of course not." Rose could throw a tantrum all she wanted, but we had to be back before Eddie and Jas.

She nodded absently. Her brow was furrowed, and I had a feeling that there was more she wanted to say, but she simply glanced back up at the sky, asking lightly, "So which one is the baby bear?"

Wanting to offer her reassurance, I laughed boisterously, exclaiming "Right here!", before very gently pushing her to the ground and tickling her sides lightly. With Bella I was always conscientious of my strength, of her fragility.

She shrieked with wild giggles, just as she'd done as a child.

I would do anything to protect her. Kill, maim…die.

Sighing quietly as she subsided, gasping, I reiterated silently to myself that we would definitely be returning before Edward.

I conferred with Alice before our departure. She advised that we had approximately two days to get back if we wanted to beat Edward, but warned that Rose would not be amenable to the idea.

As I thanked her, she performed a graceful exit stage left, while Rosalie appeared at my side.

She looked gorgeous, as she always did, in a crimson sleeveless top and a pair of jeans that hugged every curve of her body.

I hefted her suitcase into the back seat of the Escalade. She wanted to play human this weekend, and though the drive, even with my loose interpretation of the speed limit signs, was several hours longer than it would've taken us to run, I couldn't deny her.

I knew how much she missed her humanity, though the beauty and strength she'd gained as a vampire certainly went a long way toward swaying her feelings toward this life.

"Ready, babe?" she asked with a grin.

In answer, I kissed her bright red lips, holding her exquisite face between my large hands. As I brushed a light kiss to the tip of her nose, she laughed, pulling away.

"Let's get on the road or we'll miss check-in."

She blew a kiss to Bella who was sitting morosely on the front steps, watching our preparations.

I knew, for our sake, that she was trying to be encouraging of our trip, but she just looked plain old miserable.

"Baby Bell, get over here," I commanded.

She pulled a face at the nickname I'd stopped using for her a long time ago. I seemed to recall a very expressive phrase about the inappropriateness of using cheese brands as monikers.

Still, she managed to make her way down the steps without killing herself, and over to me, and I tugged her close for a hug.

When she pulled back, looking up at me, I suggested gently, "Be good, huh?"

The smallest of grins tugged at her lips and she asked, "If I say no, will you stay?"

I gave her a gentle nudge back toward the steps. "Just do it, kiddo. And try not to let those feet do too much damage while I'm gone."

Snickering, she shook her head. "I make no promises. But speaking of damage, when were you thinking of replacing all of my books?"

I heard Rose's quiet sigh of impatience and winked at my Bells. "When I get back, we'll go wherever we need to in order to replace everything, alright?"

She nodded enthusiastically, her expression of worry easing with her wide smile.

"Well, go on, or she's going to leave without you," Bella prompted when I made no move toward the truck.

I chuckled, waving as I hopped into the driver's seat.

"Maybe we should head home tonight," I suggested, a day and a half later as we lounged in the expensive hotel suite Rose had booked us.

She cracked an eye open, arching a brow. Reclining in the bubbling hot tub, soft curls piled atop her head, smooth ivory skin peeking at me teasingly from the water, she looked like my very own Greek goddess. I only wished that I wasn't so preoccupied with Bella's safety that I couldn't appreciate the sight as fully as it deserved.

"What are you so anxious to get back for?" she purred with a demure grin.

A familiar ache began just below my waist as I watched her arch her back gently, stretching as though it were the most pleasant activity one could engage in.

I glanced at the ceiling, reminding myself silently why it was important for us to get back to the house today.

"Jasper and Edward get home today, and I'd like to be there when they return," I hesitantly admitted.

Her beatific countenance soured with my words.

"Alice, Carlisle and Esme are there. She's fine."

This was not an unfamiliar argument. My protective instincts had rubbed a very raw spot in our relationship over the past seventeen years.

"I'd still like to be there," I asserted quietly, raking a hand through my hair and hazarding a glance at her.

"Well, I'd like to stay," she murmured, her tone dropping to that seductive pitch that meant trouble.

"Rose, I'm serious, we're leaving today."

The soft whisper of water sliding sinuously over flesh forced my eyes to her.

My wife. Of nearly seventy years.

I was constantly struck anew with the absolute perfection of her beauty.

But I'd be lying if I said we got along as well as Carlisle and Esme. There were times when our personalities clashed to such a degree that I wondered how we hadn't occasionally ripped one another limb from limb. Neither of us liked to share control, and when Rosie didn't get her way…Well it wasn't pleasant.

But she was mine. She'd saved me from certain death, granted me life where there was no hope. She was my angel, my world, my everything.

Iridescent droplets clung to her flawless opaline skin, as though reluctant to be parted from the artistry of her body. Every limb was ideally sculpted, every motion agile and captivating. I couldn't imagine anyone holding even a flickering candle to the woman who was approaching me with such predatory, feline grace.

I rose slowly from the opulently upholstered love seat that graced the massive bathroom, watching her with dark eyes. I wanted her. I always wanted her. A steady, burning passion that seemed to never falter.

She wound herself around me, her fingers seeming to be everywhere at once, her lithe body rubbing against me like a kitten seeking affection.

I couldn't help but allow my hands free reign. They skirted lightly over her shoulders, down her arms, ruffling the fine, fair hairs that resided, but no longer grew, there. I circled her wrists, drawing her hands away from me, holding her captive.

She met my gaze, her eyes dark and smoldering.

Holding her by her arms, I led her into the bedroom, my eyes wandering every inch of exposed skin.

She pulled at her hands faintly, demanding release from my grasp, but the makeshift manacles of my fingers only tightened.

She struggled slightly more aggressively at the sudden role reversal, murmuring, "What are you doing?"

I grinned wickedly, suddenly twirling her and pushing her face first against the wall, her hands pinned in one of mine at her back.

She uttered a quiet snarl, "Emmett, you know I don't like when you do this."

I laughed quietly, nipping at her earlobe. Almost immediately her futile efforts ceased. "Don't you?" I whispered, using one foot to ease her legs apart, allowing my free hand to ease up her inner thigh.

A swift inner battle seemed to be waged. She wanted to deny my words, but she certainly didn't want me to stop.

As the backs of my knuckles lightly brushed her aroused flesh she uttered a reluctant moan.

"Say you like it, dear," I whispered, pressing my lips to her shoulder blade.

She grit her teeth, shaking her head vehemently.

I eased a finger into her, and then a second, nipping at her neck and pushing her more firmly against the wall. "Say it."

"I like it!" she gasped, as I touched her in the ways I knew drove her absolutely crazy.

"Mmhmm," the world rumbled from my chest, more growl than anything else. I quickly shed my clothes, scraps of fabric flying through the air, buttons clattering to the floor. God, I wanted her.

Dragging her hands forward, I pushed them against the wall, leaning over her, cradling her smaller frame close to mine.

"Emmett, please!" The frantic entreaty nearly sent me over the edge.

I drove deep into her, a seamless joining that made my eyes roll up. Panting filthy words in her ear, my hand eased down the flat, firm expanse of her stomach, my thumb brushing the tiny bundle of nerves that always made her scream.

As she hovered on the edge, pliant and mindless in my grasp, I murmured against her neck, "We're going home today."

She stiffened, and my fingers move purposefully.

"Today," I grunted, leaning in to bite the back of her neck, as an animal might its mate.

She writhed against me, speaking my name, a one word demand for release.

"Today," I repeated, easing my touch.

"Yes, yes, today! Please!" she gasped, and I uttered a snarl of victory, my hips thrusting forward as release crashed over both of us, wiping all coherent thought away.

*evil lil grin* Here we go!

Please let me know what you think!