A/N: I want to thank every person who's read this story and all the reviewers, too. It was my first one, and despite its many faults I've developed a bit of a soft spot for it. It wasn't ever going to be long - I just wanted to explore the weirdness/tension around Nessie discovering her feelings for Jake and then finally having them requited, something Stephenie has now said she might revisit... what do you all think of that?

Chapter 15 - Nessie's POV

Ok, so having unprotected sex with Jake? Yeah, not one of my best ideas. I don't think I could regret it for even a second, though. I didn't when my dad started throwing furniture (Mom hit him over the head with the arm of the sofa and told him to stop being a baby), or through the excruciating "will condoms melt on a wolf's penis?" debate between Emmett and Carlisle. The latter's interest, he assured me, was entirely scientific, and resolved when it was Googled (seriously - dear Lord) and discovered latex melts at 250 degrees, so we should be fine with Trojans. The red on my face didn't fade for a week afterwards.

I didn't get pregnant, though, and Jake said he had a theory about that. We were lying in his narrow bed a few nights later, me on my back, him on his side, stroking my stomach lazily and dropping kisses on my nose, cheeks, lips, eyes, hair...

"I think maybe it's the imprint, you know?"
I frowned, unsure of where he was going with this.
"It knows it's not the right time to have babies, so... you won't get pregnant."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Is this an attempt to get out of wearing-"
"No!" He cut me off. "No, God no, I would never do that. We have sex on your terms, Ness, always."
I reached up to stroke the scruff on his chin. I'd been a week since he'd phased and it always grew in a little. I kind of liked it. Especially how it scratched my inner thighs...
"I just think that there's probably a lot around imprinting that isn't controllable and isn't conscious. That we won't even discover for years, maybe."

I didn't want to ask the next question, but I did anyway. If I kept things to myself, Jake always seemed to know - something that had gotten much, much stronger since we'd been properly together.
"What if we can't, though?"
Jake looked exceptionally sad for a moment.
"You mean, we can't have puppies?"
I giggled, and picked up a pillow to hit him in the face. He grabbed me round the waist and rolled onto his back, pulling me on top of him.
"Aww, Ness, it'll be sad, but there's always kids who need a good home. Look at how Esme and Carlisle have ended up. And she never hits him with bedding."
I leaned down to kiss him instead. Damn wolfy logic.
"Carlisle behaves."
Jake pouted, and then flipped us over, so he was hovering above me. His hips ground into mine and the heat... fuck... it was delicious...
"You reallywant me to behave?"

A few weeks after that, Jake got a job at the local mechanics shop in the centre of the Rez (he was basically perpetually grease-smeared and grinning), and we moved into a little bungalow close to the Clearwater's. I'd wanted to move out of home for a while and leave mom and dad to their... uh... activities, but mostly I needed Jake to myself.

Our place was small - with two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and living room, but it had garage space for Jake's projects, and I could run my little label from the second bedroom, which I decorated with band posters and fairy lights. Learning about living away from home took a while, especially when neither of us had vampire speed or strength. Who knew hairs built up in the shower's plughole? Not me, apparently. I quickly blamed the only fur-covered member of the household. Jacob said I was being wolfist, and sulked till I made him a tray of brownies.

A couple of months after we moved in, we finally got around to tidying up the garden. I was planting bulbs and weeding in our little flower bed while Jake cut the lawn and made a bonfire out front with all the extra twigs and branches he'd collected.

"I believe, madam," he announced on finishing, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind, "that we have a croquet lawn." I turned around, dropping the trowel and gloves at my feet and smiled at the little square patch of green behind our house. It led right into the woods, which surrounded the house on three sides. All the wolves who'd left home had gone for more... secluded places to live, for obvious reasons, and we were no exception. I wrapped my arms around Jake's waist and learned in to kiss his collarbones. He smelled like sweat and cut grass. It was fucking delicious.

I rose up on my toes and spoke into his ear. "Stop marking the area with your manly scent, and take me for a shower."

Before I had a chance to move he'd grabbed me and hoisted me over his shoulder. I screamed, then bit his ass, which he'd handily dangled me right in front of. He yelped, and put me back on my feet, but we both stumbled with the headrush, and collapsed in a giggling heap on the grass.

Lying on the spongy lawn, Jake pulled me to him and kissed me with an intensity that made my stomach dance. I kissed him back with equal fervour, straddling him and cradling his head above the ground in my hands. As his tongue pushed into my mouth I moaned and ground my hips into his. Fuck indoors, I wanted him right here - I could feel the wetness starting to slicken my inner thighs as his hard body pressed up into mine. Still, that was hardly unusual. Jake just had to be breathing to turn me on, and since that day on the beach (when I'd learned several lessons, including sand being not so much fun in certain places) we'd had plenty of practice.

I reached down and stroked his cock through his cut offs - he let his head fall back, his eyes closed and his mouth open just a little as he hissed at the sensation. Good God, he was beautiful. I licked up his naked chest as I rubbed his erection, biting gently at each nipple and running my tongue over the ridges of muscle.

"Nessie," Jake growled, "take your fucking clothes off."
The imprint in me was joyous as I pulled my t-shirt (Dinosaur Jr) over my head. I hadn't put on a bra - I wasn't exactly well endowed, and I didn't need to wear one all the time. Jacob's eyes widened dramatically as he sat up, quickly taking one of my nipples in his mouth and mutter something with sounded like "fuck... tits... love..."

I grinned and shut my eyes, a gasp pushing through my lips as his tongue tugged and licked my nipples hard. Without even consciously thinking about it, I grabbed the button on his jeans as he did mine, and we fought to free ourselves from our pesky clothes. He pulled my underwear down impatiently, frowning when my jeans got stuck on my ankles, till finally we lay naked on the grass.

I climbed onto him again, careful not to knock the hard flesh between his legs with my knees. I held onto his shoulders as I lowered myself, coating the head of his cock with my wetness before gently easing down.

He let me take my time; I still needed to go slowly at first to get used to him as he was so big. I bit my lip and closed my eyes as he filled me up, inch by inch. His fingers came up to his shoulders and interlaced with mine, both of us letting out low whines of pleasure.

Once we were flush, I bent down, needing to feel his lips, and to give my body time to adjust. His kisses were impossibly tender as he stretched our joined arms out above our heads, moving our hips just slightly to give him the friction he craved. After a minute or so, I felt relaxed enough to slowly begin rising and pushing down, resting one hand on his stomach and reaching the other behind to play with his balls. He mumbled a string of curses, and reached up, palming my tits before finding my clit with his fingertips and starting to rub. I struggled to concentrate as my body hummed with pleasure. In fact, I barely heard his whispered "I love you" as he came, unable to hold back as I grazed his chest with my fingernails. I followed as his cock softened inside me, griding my body onto his and gripping his thighs, opening my connection through my palms as I throbbed and shook. I needed him to know what he did to me... how good he made me feel... how much I was his, utterly his...

We lay, completely sated, for a while on the grass, smiling goofily at each other. My fingers played with his hair, wet from the perpetual Pacific mist and his own sweat, as his hands stroked my bare back and shoulders. I felt like purring with every touch.

Eventually, though, the cool of the early evening and the sweat on my body made me shiver involuntarily. He leaned in and kissed my temple.
"Let's get you in the shower, Ness."
"Only if you come with me." I whined, burying my face into his chest. I felt it rumble beneath me with laughter.
"Duh."
Jake got up and offered me his hand, helping me up. I stood, and he drew me close, winding an arm around my waist and planting a kiss on the top of my head. We hurried into our little house.

The end.