Hello! I need to apologise to all of you who may have thought that I'd abandoned this story. I can promise you that I always intended to finish it, but a few other ideas were fighting to get out of my head!

This will be the final chapter of NS&SS, the next update will be an Epilogue. I hope you find it last-chapter-worthy.

Disclaimer: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer

Thanks to Ari & Mrs. P for beta'ing this for me.

WARNING: LEMONS AHEAD ;o)

Chapter 25

Jake PoV

A few weeks had passed, and things had slowly gotten a little better. I drew the line at saying they were good, but I felt confident that they would be that way again. Whatever had caused Ness to develop foot-in-mouth syndrome had slowly faded, almost as though his presence had compounded it.

I could vividly recall the exact moment that I realized that my Nessie was still there. She was below the beautiful exterior that had taunted me with its familiarity the whole time.

I was well aware that she was tip-toeing around me. Each time she opened her mouth, she'd spend a moment biting her lower lip and thinking hard before she spoke to me. I had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I hated that her spontaneity had vanished, because it meant that her spark had dimmed; yet on the other hand I loved her more than ever for trying so hard; it went a small way to restoring my faith in her; my faith in us.

We'd been back home together for a few days. Nessie was in the kitchen, baking a shit-load of delicious smelling cookies and cupcakes for us to take over to Jared and Kim's place later. I had a few errands to run and had been searching for my wallet for the past ten minutes with no success. As I paused and tried to remember when I'd last seen it, an image suddenly flashed into my head of it sitting on the desk at the garage the previous day. I huffed and let my arms fall limply at my sides.

I wandered into the kitchen and smiled at the sight of her. She'd pulled her bronze curls untidily up on top of her head and out of the way, and had flour on her face as she busied herself spooning cookie dough from a bowl onto a baking tray.

"Ness, can I borrow your credit card?" I asked her. "I left my wallet at the garage."

"Uh-huh," she replied, raising her arm to sweep a loose curl off her forehead with the back of her wrist without looking up. "My wallet's in my blue purse in the bedroom."

"Thanks." I pushed away from the door frame and made for the bedroom.

As I entered the room I scanned it for the blue purse, spotting it quickly on the chair in the corner. Picking it up, I unzipped it and peered inside. Holy shit, how did she ever find anything in this thing? I shook my head and took a step toward the bed, tipping the purse upside down and shaking its contents out onto the comforter. A paper snowstorm of receipts, lists and notes fluttered out, followed by the soft thuds of a lip gloss and a compact, and then two heavier thuds. The first was her wallet, but the second wasn't something I recognized. I set the purse down next to the pile of junk that had come out of it and then picked up the brightly colored woven pouch.

Risking a furtive glance at the door, I poked my finger into the neck of the pouch and opened it. I gently shook the heavy contents out into my hand and frowned at the unfamiliar object. It was some kind of silver jewelry, but not like anything I'd ever seen before. Although I was about as far from being a regular guy as it was possible to get in most ways, in some ways I was pretty typical. I wasn't the most observant when it came to things like Nessie's jewelry, but I knew I'd never seen this before. There was no doubt that this would have stuck in my mind; it was obviously old. The other nagging question was; why was it in her purse and not with the rest of her jewelry in the box on the dresser?

"Did you find it, Jake?" she called from the kitchen. There was the sound of footsteps before she appeared in the doorway, wiping her hands on a dishcloth. "I think it's..."

She stopped. Her eyes rested on the object in my hand before flickering up to my face. I tilted my hand so the item was in her full view, before raising my eyebrows questioningly at her. Anger flashed across her face. She took a step toward me and snatched it and the pouch from my hand. She turned and stormed out of the room.

"Wait, Ness!" I called out. "Where are you going?"

"To Seth's," she said without stopping. "Lican can return this." She waved the hand that held the jewellery and pouch.

"Wait!" I shouted, as I jogged to catch up with her. "We'll go together." I couldn't help the smile that pulled at the corners of my mouth. Nessie pulled the front door open, and then stopped with her fingers wrapped around the handle as my words registered. She turned, her mouth dropping slightly as she noticed my grin.

"What the hell are you looking so pleased about, Black?"

I barrelled into her, my grin growing even wider as I pushed her against the door.

"You're back," I stated simply, my face searching hers excitedly. She frowned at me.

"I was just going out," she said, unable to grasp what I'd meant by the words.

"No, I didn't mean that," I told her, cradling her face in my hand and rubbing my thumb gently down her cheek. "That's the first time I've seen a glimpse of the Ness I know in a while. You have no idea how happy I am right now." I bent down and kissed her, hard. Surprise gave way to eagerness, and it only took a heartbeat for her to wrap her arms around my neck and press herself against me, as she opened her mouth and let her tongue entwine with mine.

I broke away, breathless. "Do you have to go right now?"

"Yeah, I do," she replied as she ran a hand over my chest, the other closed tightly around the offending object. "This thing's almost burning a hole in my hand; I really don't want any reminders hanging around."

I smiled again and planted a kiss on her lips.

"C'mon baby, we'll take the bike." I grabbed her hand and dragged her out the door, letting it slam shut behind us. A glance at her glowing face showed me that she was as pleased with the progress our relationship had made in the past few minutes as I was.

My stomach flipped as we reached Seth's place. I couldn't say that I was particularly looking forward to this; we hadn't spoken since the day he'd imprinted on Nahuel's sister. Of course, I only had myself to blame. He'd tried calling several times, but as soon as I'd seen his name flashing up on the screen, I'd hit the 'reject' button, feeling unable to deal with having to deal with him quite so soon. Feeling more secure with Nessie made a huge difference though. There was really no need for me to act weird with him. I had a feeling that he'd be torturing himself over the way things had turned out between us; I owed him an apology. Hopefully he'd accept it. I hated the thought of losing Seth in this mess.

The door opened, and Seth's eyes widened in surprise when he saw us standing there on his doorstep, my arm draped across Nessie's shoulders.

"Hey, guys!" he greeted us excitedly. I should have known not to expect prolonged awkwardness from him. He may have grown physically, but his personality remained that of a permanently excited puppy.

He took Nessie's hand and pulled her toward him. I let my arm fall as she stepped forward and was wrapped in his large arms. I remembered back to when he was almost a full head shorter than me and gangly as hell; all limbs, like Bambi. He'd grown and filled out quickly though, and there wasn't much between us now. None of the other guys had quite made my excessive height, but Seth came closest.

He released Ness and guided her through the doorway. As I stepped forward to follow her, Seth grabbed me and pulled me into a tight bear-hug, complete with back-thumping. I returned the gesture, disappointed with myself that I'd shut him out these past few days.

"Thanks for calling in, man," he said in a low voice. I knew that what he actually meant to say was 'thanks for forgiving me'. I guessed he knew too well that I'd give him shit for saying that. The past events had been beyond his control so there was actually nothing to forgive, despite how mad I'd been at the time.

"Hey, no problem," I replied, an answer that fitted both the words he'd spoken and what I thought were his true meaning. We released one another and I followed him through the house to the kitchen where Nessie had already made herself at home on one of the stools at the breakfast bar. We'd spent a lot of time here, and it had been one of the places that we felt completely relaxed. I wondered if that would change now that Seth had Lican in his life. She would be spending a lot of her time here with him, no doubt. I couldn't begin to guess at how spending time with Lican was going to impact on Nessie…and in turn, our relationship.

"Is Lican here?" Nessie asked Seth as he reached into the refrigerator and pulled out three cans of soda, handing us one each.

"No," he replied as he cracked his can open. "She's gone shopping with her sisters. She's nervous about meeting everyone at Jared's tonight; she wanted something new to wear."

"I'm so glad I never had to go through that," Nessie told us both, her eyes sparkling. "I can't even begin to imagine how intimidating you huge freaks must all look together, to someone who's not used to you." She faked a horrified expression.

"And so speaks the vampires' daughter!" I said, ruffling her hair as I laughed.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, swatting me away playfully. "It just took me ten minutes with a motorcycle helmet on my head to get my hair looking this good, do NOT ruin it!"

"Sorry," I told her sarcastically, looking over at Seth, who was smiling as he watched our banter.

"Accepted," said Nessie, before lowering her voice and looking away. "Freak."

"Right, Cullen. You just earned yourself some good old-fashioned tickle torture!"

I lunged at her, quickly gathering her in my arms and lowering her to the ground before she could react. I straddled her, pinning her down and tickling her. She was squealing hysterically as she laughed and squirmed.

"Ok! Ok!" she giggled breathlessly. "You're not a freak!"

I stopped and looked at her. She was lying down, her curls fanned out around her head on the ground, and her cheeks pink from the exhilaration. Her chest was moving up and down quickly as she tried to get her breath back. I stared deep into her eyes and loved the playfulness that lay there still. I'd missed seeing that recently. I bent low over her, placing a hand either side of her head, supporting myself as my own face hovered above hers. As I closed the space between our lips, she tried to goad me again.

"Much," she said, and giggled, trying to push me back.

The sound of Seth clearing his throat behind us, reminded me where we were.

"So, did you guys come to see me, or just to make out on my kitchen floor?"

I jumped to my feet and extended a hand to Ness, pulling her up when she accepted. I smiled at her, waited for her to return it, and then I turned to Seth.

"Actually Nessie has a favour to ask," I told him.

"Well, now that's a relief because I thought for a moment there that I was going to have to douse you both in cold water." He was laughing at us, but I was too happy to care.

Ness pulled the pouch from the pocket of her jeans and placed it on the counter, sliding it over toward Seth.

"Would you give this to Lican please?" she said to him. "I'd like her to give it back to Nahuel; I don't think I should keep it after all."

Seth picked up the pouch, and turned it over, weighing it in his hand, studying the woven pattern as he did so.

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

"That's a good question," I said, turning to Nessie as I suddenly realized that we'd never quite got to that part of the discussion. She sighed heavily.

"It's a piece of traditional Mapuche silver jewellery," she told us. "It belonged to his mother."

"And he gave it to you to keep?" Seth asked, a slightly incredulous tone to his voice. Nessie nodded in answer. "Woah, he must really have—"

I saw the look that Ness shot in Seth's direction that had cut him off so sharply. I was thinking exactly the same thing as he obviously was; Nahuel's feelings for Nessie had been strong. I waited for the feeling to hit as I tossed the words about in my head, but there was nothing. No 'punch in the guts' feeling, no sick feeling, no anger. I raised my eyes and found Nessie's gaze on mine. She looked worried, and given how things had been between us, I could understand why. I smiled at her reassuringly and was pleased to see her return it, a definite edge of relief to it.

Nice work, Black, I told myself. No over-reaction. It's about time.

I smiled wider as I reached over and took Nessie's hand.

"C'mon, Ness, let's go." I turned to Seth. "We'll see you later, man," I told him as I began to tow Nessie toward the door.

"Hey!" Seth called after us. I turned. "About tonight, at Jared's…" He hesitated.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"You're cool with Lican, right?"

"You don't need to worry Seth, I'll be the perfect gentleman." I heard a snort and glanced down at Ness, who was looking at me with an amused expression on her face. She turned to Seth and smiled.

"Thanks, man. I know this isn't going to be easy for you. I want you to know that I realize that." I nodded and smiled, then put my arm around Nessie's shoulders and guided her towards the door.

As I drove my bike up towards the house, my heart was hammering in my chest. I steered it into my garage, cutting the engine and jerking it onto its kickstand when I felt Ness slide off. I pulled my helmet off and set it down on the bench next to me, and then climbed off the bike. As I turned, Nessie was just removing her helmet. I took it from her and set it down next to mine.

"Ok, I think I've been very patient so far today," I told her, gently catching hold of her wrist as I sat down sideways on the bike. "I think it's your turn to show me how patient you can be." Her brow furrowed as she tried to figure out my meaning. Without another word, I yanked her toward me, bringing her in close between my legs. I reached one hand up to the back of her head and encouraged her to bring her face closer to mine. She'd clearly recognized my intentions now, and closed in on my mouth with her own, her lips parting instantly, her sweet, wet tongue searching for mine. I indulged her for a moment, loving the feel of her like this again. This wasn't a part of my plan though.

"Uh-uh," I told her, pushing her away slightly, and smirking slightly as I did so. "Now I think you can be more patient than that."

"Jake, please," she whispered, looking up at me from under her long eyelashes.

"That's more like it, but I'm going to hear you say those words many more times before I give you what you want." I leaned in close to her as though I was going to kiss her again, and then drew away as she leaned in.

"Jacob!" she wailed in frustration. I laughed a little at her use of my full name.

"Patience," I reminded her. "I just want to make sure that you mean it when you say that you want me. And you will say it, Ness. I promise."

There was a sparkle in her eye now, and I knew that she finally understood that I was playing with her. Her expression told me that she was just as determined to play along.

"Ok," she said in a tone that challenged me. "Prove it."

My heart rate increased and she raised her eyebrows, a smile playing on her lips as she registered the sound.

"Arms up," I told her. She did as I said. "You won't be needing this." I tugged her sweater off over her head and flung it away. "Or this." Her t-shirt came off too with another pull upwards. She lowered her arms back to her sides and stood in front of me, her face beginning to flush. I looked down at the lacy black bra she wore. I ran one finger across her breast, just inside the edge of the fabric. "You can keep this on. For now."

I hooked one finger inside one of the belt loops on her jeans and yanked her forward. I pulled the button undone and slid the zipper down. I bent my head and ran my nose lightly up her face, inhaling her delicious scent deeply. "Lose these," I told her, and then turned away and walked over to the workbench. I picked up one of my well used oily rags and turned back around. I gasped when I saw Nessie standing where I'd left her, wearing her bra and matching panties. She wore a playfully defiant look on her face that made my breath hitch.

I crossed back over to her. "Arms up again," I instructed. She did as she was told and I began to tie her wrists together with the rag.

"You know," she began, pouting slightly. "It seems more than a little unfair that I'm here wearing so little, and yet you're fully clothed. Take your shirt off for me?" I looked away from the knot I was tying, and down at her face. "Pretty please?" she whispered, eye-fucking me deliciously as she lowered her bound hands in front of her body.

I pulled my t-shirt off over my head.

"Better?" I asked her.

"Much," she replied, looking at my body as though it were the first time she'd seen its hard muscular contours.

I pushed her so she had to walk backward a few steps, until I had her where I wanted her. I pulled her wrists up again, and hooked the fabric over the large engine hoist hook that hung down on a chain from the ceiling. She gasped and I knew that she hadn't expected this at all.

"Ok, are you ready to start trying to convince me just how much you want me?" I asked her, wondering now why I'd started this damn game, because truly, all I wanted to do was to fuck her right now.

"I do want you, Jake," she told me. I laughed.

"Oh, I think you can do better than that, Ness. I'm not sure I believe you. Perhaps I should try a little persuasion?"

I knelt down in front of her and kissed her breasts through her bra, gently grazing my teeth across each of her nipples in turn. She groaned quietly and arched her back. I felt my hardness straining against my jeans as she responded to me. I ran my tongue slowly down the front of her body, as I held onto her hips. As I reached her navel, I pulled back, and breathed more heavily as I noticed the black smears of oil on her creamy skin. I lifted my hands away from her body slightly and saw that it had come from me. I'd obviously touched something oily without realizing. Not that I cared, seeing her there, covered in oil, was possibly the hottest thing I'd ever seen in my life. She opened her eyes and looked down at me, probably wondering why I'd stopped. She took in the oil on her and then looked at me.

Fuck. It had the same effect on her as it had on me. I could see the lust burning in her eyes.

"Please?" she asked throatily, pushing herself towards me. I lifted one of her legs and rested her thigh on my shoulder, burying my face between her legs and inhaling deeply before pulling back a little. She moaned and pushed herself closer to me again. I leaned in and ran my nose up and down the damp lace, then did the same with my tongue, pausing at where I guessed her clit to be, to press on a little harder. She was letting out soft groans with each and every touch now.

I lifted her leg from my shoulder and placed it down again.

"No, don't stop, please!" she begged. I smirked.

"I have no intention of it," I told her, as I took hold of her panties and slid them down her legs. She stepped out of them and I hoisted her leg back up again and continued without the fabric barrier.

My God, she was so wet and tasted fantastic.

We moaned together now, and as I fucked her with my tongue, swirling in and out, up and down and around her clit, I hoped that it wouldn't take her too long to start really begging, because there was a danger here that she could easily turn the tables on me, I was so turned on. I pulled away and saw that she had oil more or less all over her body now. I gasped again and she lifted her other leg onto my other shoulder to try and force my mouth back onto her centre. I looked up to see her dangling by her wrists, and gave silent thanks for her supernatural strength, because this was fucking phenomenal. It didn't take long before she reached a noisy climax, squeezing her thighs together tightly around my head as she came, hard. I lifted her legs gently off me one at a time and placed them on the floor.

"Fuck, Jake. That was….that was…." she gasped. "No words…" I laughed.

"Well, I'm only just getting started. I'm not sure you want me enough yet."

"Oh, I do, I do! Please. I want you inside me. That was incredible but…I need you. All of you."

"Hmm, I'm not sure," I told her as I stood. In a flash she'd lifted her legs and swung forward slightly to wrap them tightly around my waist. I hissed as I felt her warm, wet centre pressing against my stomach. I wrapped an arm around and placed it under her ass to support her. I leaned in and kissed her aggressively. She returned the kiss with equal aggression, and kept pushing herself against my stomach, causing me to moan as she tried desperately to get some friction against her most sensitive parts. With my free hand, I fumbled with my jeans and managed to get them undone and let them drop down my legs, pushing my boxers down after them.

I lowered Nessie so that my achingly hard cock rubbed between her lips and against her opening a couple of times, coating it in her wetness. We both groaned loudly at the contact, and then louder again a moment later when I plunged into her. I held her ass in both hands now as I thrust in and out of her, her legs wrapped tightly around my waist.

"Jake," she gasped.

"Uh-huh?" I grunted, not slowing my pace, despite knowing that I couldn't keep going much longer; it just felt too good. She just felt too good.

"My arms? Can I take them down?" she gasped.

"Yeah…I think I….believe you now…" I told her breathlessly.

I looked up as she jerked her wrists apart, and tore the fabric that bound her wrists together.

Damn, that was hot.

She brought her hands down and wrapped her arms around my neck, her hands grabbing my hair as she kissed me hungrily. Suddenly she pulled away, unwrapping her legs from around me and slid to the floor. I gasped at the loss of her surrounding me.

"Wha…what's going on?" I asked her, watching as she backed away from me, undoing the clasp on her bra, and discarding it as she looked back at me over her shoulder. She walked over to my beloved motorcycle and leaned over it, spreading her legs slightly so that I had a perfect view of her wet, pink sex. "Jesus…" I gasped, kicking off my boots and remaining clothes, then following her over. "So, you think you're running this show now, do you?" I asked her, throatily as I ran my hands all over her body, paying extra attention to her breasts. As much as I wanted to just bury myself inside her, I forced myself to tease her a little longer.

I stood up a little straighter and slapped her ass, just hard enough to make her gasp. I knelt down behind her and placed my hands on the bottom of her ass, spreading her apart slightly before I began teasing her with my tongue again. It wasn't long before she was begging for me once more. I stood, grasped her hips and pushed myself inside her, making both of us gasp once again. I couldn't believe I was fucking the woman of my dreams on the machine of my dreams. Dammit, even the thought of it was enough to make me cum.

And with that thought, we both did.

Nessie cried out as she clamped around me, causing me to topple over the edge and spill myself inside her, thrusting and crying out until we were both spent and I half collapsed on her back. Forcing myself upright, I scooped her up in my arms, leaving our clothes where they were. I carried her into our home and to our bed, knowing that she'd be cursing me later for the oil stains all over the sheets.

I didn't care. Fuck it, we could just ask for new bedding for wedding presents. Although I hadn't told her yet, I was determined to have the woman I loved as Mrs Jacob Black before the start of another year came around.

A/N Please take time to review, I love reading your thoughts.

Just the Epilogue to come now people,

I wonder what that'll have in store for us?