Chapter 13: Surrender

(Song: Bond - Hungarian)

It was the beginning of summer and Jacob was looking forward to it. He was especially looking forward to the one week vacation he was going on with several of his friends, including Bella.

That had been a hard won victory against Bella’s parents as far as he was concerned. Bella had to work hard the last few weeks of school to convince her father that there was nothing wrong with her wanting to spend an entire week with Jacob at a rented beach house. Of course, it did help that they were going with a mixed group of friends instead of just the two of them, but that didn’t stop Charlie from grousing about it every chance he got.

Charlie was still in denial about his daughter’s love life, so he refused to believe that she was even intimate with his best friend’s son. The thought of that made his chest want to explode. She may be going on twenty-two years old, but she was still his little girl. There was no way she was going to spend an entire week at a beach house out of state with her boyfriend, even if it was Jacob Black.

Thankfully, with the help of Renee, Bella had managed to convince him that there was nothing wrong with going on the vacation with her friends and her boyfriend. He knew he couldn’t really stop her from going, but that didn’t mean he had to like it. Still, the fact that Billy, Sarah and Renee were behind Jacob and Bella’s trip meant that Charlie was outnumbered.

So, with everyone on board except a grumpy Charlie, the group had managed to book a five bedroom, two-story beach house through a travel agent. The beach house was located in Santa Monica, California which was deemed the perfect area for college kids to enjoy some fun in the sun. Once the house had been rented, the group had to get plane tickets so they could all fly down together.

Billy had agreed to let Sarah purchase all eight tickets all at once by using the company card as long as each person reimbursed the company. Luckily, all eight of them had been able to pay for their share of the plane tickets and the house rental before their departure date had arrived.

That was why Jacob could now barely contain his eagerness to get on with the trip, even though their flight didn’t leave until the following day at one in the afternoon. He was now all packed and ready to go just like the rest of his friends. He had just gotten off the phone with Embry who had informed him that Quil was ready too and Jared had called him earlier to tell him that both he and Kim were also ready.

Now all he had to do was call Bella, who should have already talked to Leah for confirmation on her and Mark. However, just as he was about to dial Bella’s number, his phone rang. Frowning at the unknown number, he briefly debated if he should answer it or just let it go to voicemail.

Finally letting it go to voicemail, he pressed the speed dial for Bella and let it ring.

She answered immediately. “Hi Jake!”

He grinned at the excitement he heard in her voice. “Hi honey! You all packed?”

“Yep! And ready to go! So are Leah and Mark.”

“Ah! So you did get to talk to them.”

“Yeah, well I talked to Leah only, but she said Mark’s been ready since yesterday,” she laughed.

He chuckled, “That’s what Embry said about Quil! Can you believe that?”

“Quil? Really?”

“Yeah, it’s like a record or something! This is the first time Quil’s ever been one of the first ones ready to go anywhere!”

Again her laughter sounded through the phone, making him smile. “How about you, Jake? You ready?”

“Of course! That’s why I’m calling you, now that I have time to enjoy talking to you.”

She giggled. “Is that why?”

“Um hm… and to see if there was any chance I could convince you to let me stay the night with you?”

She tsked. “How did I know you were going to say that? Really Jacob, we’ll be spending a whole week together! One week. I’m sure you can wait until we see each other tomorrow.”

He sighed. “Aw, come on Bells, have mercy on me! I haven’t seen you all day!”

“You saw me this morning!” She pointed out, even though that had been because he was leaving her room.

“It was only long enough to kiss you goodbye!”

She giggled. “Mm hm, after you spent the entire night with me! Oh what would my father say?”

He winced. “Not funny.”

Again she laughed, making Jacob wish he was actually in the room with her to see the way her face lit up when she did that. It had been too long since they had been this easy with each other, so he relished those moments of laughter and closeness they shared these days.

“Oh please!” she tsked, “You know dad’s all bark and no bite.”

“Yeah, well, it’s the bark that scares me,” Jacob mumbled.

“Wow! Who woulda thought with a father like William Black, you’d be such a scardy-cat?”

“Hey! Who you calling scardy-cat?”

“No one,” came Bella’s innocent sounding reply.

Jacob growled. “That’s it! I’m on my way over! I’ll show you who’s a scardy-cat!”

“No!” Bella frantically squeaked. “Jake! Please? I’m…I’m sorry, okay?”

He chuckled. “Wow, you really don’t want me to go over there! I should be hurt by that.”

She sighed. “No, you shouldn’t. You know I want you here, but it’s better to wait until tomorrow. Then we’ll have an entire week together! Gosh, I can’t wait! We’re going to have so much fun!”

Her voice had started out calm, but by the time she had reached the end, Jacob could hear the excitement in it. She was literally squealing, so much so that he could picture her bouncing up and down.

“Fun, huh?” he smiled as images of his idea of fun ran through his mind. “I’m sure we will.”

Suddenly Bella burst out laughing, making it hard for Jacob to hear the words she managed to get out between gasps of breath. “Jacob. Ephraim. Black! Not. That. Kind. Of. Fun!”

“Well, what other kind of fun is there?” he asked, in mock innocence.

“The kind that involves a beach, not a bedroom!” she huffed.

“Huh, we can have fun on the beach too!” he pouted. “Especially in the water…or on a blanket.”

She gasped. “You’re making plans, aren’t you? Oh boy, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

She actually sounded worried.

“Oh no you don’t, Bells! No way are you backing out of this! You know this is the only uninterrupted time I’m going to have to spend with you before we both get swamped with work!”

“I know, Jake! Calm down,” she giggled. “I wouldn’t dream of backing out of this!”

He sighed. “I know, honey. I’m just…”

“Wishing tomorrow was already here?” she finished for him.

“Yeah.”

“Me too,” came her wistful reply.

He was going to say something else when he heard Renee’s voice through the phone.

“Hold on,” he heard Bella say to her before she spoke to him again. “Jacob? I’ve gotta go. Mom is insisting that I have dinner with her and dad, then we’re gonna watch some movies together. She says it’s for dad’s benefit. So he won’t miss me so much while I’m gone, you know?”

Jacob couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Yeah, I get it. Okay, you go spend time with your dad, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Okay, I love you!”

“Love you too, Bells!”

Jacob waited until Bella had hung up before he set his phone down on his desk and gathered up some things to go take his shower. As he walked into the bathroom, he heard his phone ringing, but decided to let it go this time. If it was important, they knew to leave a message.

****************************************

Nearly twenty minutes later, Jacob walked back into his room, freshly showered and dressed in a pair of white boxers with a white muscle shirt. He finished drying his hair before tossing the towel onto his desk chair. Picking up his phone, he noticed he’d missed three calls while he was showering. As he checked the call log, he frowned at the unknown number and realized it was the same caller from right before he had called Bella.

Whoever this person was hadn’t left any messages, so either they didn’t understand his voicemail instructions or they kept calling the wrong number. He cleared his cache and was just about to set his phone down when it began to ring again.

Looking at the ID, he saw that it was that same unknown number. Sighing, he decided to finally answer it to get this person to stop calling.

“Hello?” He answered politely.

He was greeted with only silence.

He waited a few more seconds before he spoke again. “Hello, is anyone there?”

Still, the silence lingered.

He frowned. “Look, I don’t know who this is or who you are trying to reach, but please stop calling this number unless you have something important to say. If I get another call like this, I’m reporting this number, understand?”

With that he hung up and tossed the phone on his bed before picking up his bags and setting them near the door of his room. He had just set the last one down when his phone began ringing once more. Growling under his breath, he picked up the phone and glared at the unknown number. Briefly he wondered if it was Quil playing a prank on him like he loved to do from time to time.

“Hello?” he answered, a little sharper than the last time.

Silence.

He gritted his teeth. “Look, I warned you! Consider yourself reported!”

He ended the call, then immediately dialed Quil’s number to see if he would answer. Two rings later, Quil’s cheerful voice came through the phone.

“Yeah?”

“What are you up to Quil?” asked Jacob.

“Nothing much, just playing online against Embry and Jared, how about you?” he asked, although he sounded distracted.

“Just finished packing.”

“Seriously? Thought you’d be the first!” There was a sudden explosion in the background as Quil exclaimed, “Aw, come on Em! That was a low blow!”

Jacob knew Quil hadn’t made that phone call, he could hear the game even through the phone and it was enough for him to tell Quil was otherwise occupied. When those three guys got online, it took a miracle to pry them away from those games. Even Kim complained about how hard it was to talk to Jared when he was in the middle of a game.

“All right, man. I’ll let you get back to it. See you tomorrow.”

“Okay, later Jake.”

Jacob hung up and set his phone on his nightstand, glaring at it as if daring it to ring again. After a few moments, he sighed as he ran a hand through his still-damp hair and prayed that there wouldn’t be another unknown call for the rest of the night. Shoving his comforter away, he lay down on his back and stared at the ceiling, thinking of his upcoming vacation.

He was just imagining what the beach house and the room he and Bella would be sharing would look like when his phone began to ring again. He scowled as he picked it up and saw the unknown number as usual. Putting his phone on mute, he placed it back on the nightstand, shut off the lights, then rolled onto his side away from the offending object.

With a sigh, he pulled the sheets over him and closed his eyes, willing himself to sleep. The sooner he did that, the sooner it would be tomorrow when he would be on his way to California with Bella and their friends.

**************************************************

(Song: Katy Perry - California Girls)

“Okay Bells, I take back what I said last night! Quil’s still the last one to be ready to go,” grumbled Jacob as they all watched a sleepy Quil dragging his suitcase behind him into the terminal.

Quil yawned as he flipped his friend off before saying, “I may be the last one here, but that doesn’t mean I’m late. The flight isn’t even boarding yet.”

Jacob and Leah both rolled their eyes as Bella and Embry shook their heads while Jared, Kim and Mark looked on. All of them had already been there nearly an hour during which they had checked their bags in and said their goodbyes to their families.

Now they waited as Quil checked his bags in then they all proceeded through the terminal towards their gate. They all sat around shooting the breeze for another twenty minutes before their flight was announced for boarding. In no time at all, they were settled in their seats on the plane and were off to sunny Santa Monica, California.

*************************************

Several hours later, as evening began, they were all piled into the two cars they had rented along with the beach house. Jacob drove the red Jeep with Quil, Embry, Jared and Mark along for the ride while Leah drove the Nissan Sentra with Bella and Kim along with most of the luggage. The boys had all argued over who got to ride in the Jeep from the moment they knew that it was one of their rides, except for Jacob who was the driver since it was rented under his name. Bella had finally stepped in and said they would put the luggage in the Nissan to allow all of the boys to ride in the Jeep together.

As the Jeep led the way, all of the occupants in both cars began to act like the college kids they were with the girls being a little tamer than the guys at first. Still, that didn’t stop Leah from revving the car to pass the Jeep twice or Bella from flirting with Embry who was in the passenger seat next to Jacob, every time they passed.

By the time they pulled into the paved driveway of the two-story Mediterranean-styled house, all of them were laughing and joking around. Clearly the freedom of their one week vacation had already taken hold of them. Bella tumbled out of the car laughing over the faces both Jacob and Embry had been making while she had flirted with Embry. Embry’s expressions had ranged from shock, to embarrassment until he finally began to flirt back once he realized Jacob was okay with it.

Jacob had started out shocked too, then a bit jealous before he realized Bella was just having fun. At that point he’d mock threatened both Embry and Bella for cheating on him until they reached the beach house. Once he’d parked the Jeep, he jumped out and made a beeline for his crazy girlfriend.

Bella squealed as she tried to make a run for it, but Jacob was too fast for her. He scooped her up into his arms and twirled her around before pulling her into his chest with a growl.

“This’ll teach you not to flirt with my friends in front of me!”

With that, he kissed her breathless amidst the hoots and howls of their friends until they heard Kim’s excited voice.

“Oh my God, guys! Check out this house!”

With that they all turned to really look up at it. There were swift intakes of breaths and a few mumbled, “Is this really ours for the week?” as they took in the view from the front.

The house was made out of stucco, the color of sand, with dark brown wooden doors and windows while the roof was midnight blue Mediterranean tiles. A half-stucco wall served as a fence around the front patio where a double-wide set of stairs led to the second-level entrance of the house. As the group walked past the iron gate, up the stairs, to the second-level landing, they oohed and aahed over the well-maintained sun-baked tiles and buckets of summery flowers set along the way.

Jacob pulled the key out and unlocked the wooden door which only gave the appearance of being heavy. Inside, they walked directly into a living room complete with a fireplace, flat-screen TV, an entertainment system that was any man’s dream and enough seating for about eight people.

To the right was a dining room with a table large enough to seat eight people comfortably and a Mediterranean-styled buffet table with cabinets built into the wall above it. The cabinets were right next to a double archway which apparently led to the kitchen. There was no other door visible from the living or dining areas. As they filed past the dining table towards the kitchen, Jared pointed to the chandelier above the dining table.

“Get a load of that! We better keep an eye on Quil or he’s going to be swinging from it before we know it!”

There were a few chuckles as Quil playfully shoved Jared’s shoulder in response.

Once they passed the archway, they saw another double staircase that led down to the first level, set just to the left of the arch. The kitchen itself was a long room with a set of doors directly opposite them, leading to the outdoor upper deck. The kitchen itself was well-stocked with appliances no college kid could live without. There was a microwave, coffee machine, dishwasher and refrigerator. There was even a stove, but really, who was going to cook while on vacation?

As the majority of the group walked through the red stone floored and marble counter-topped kitchen towards the deck doors, Bella noticed two other doors set down a small hallway next to the stairs.

“Where do these go?” she asked as she walked to the first door with Jacob following her.

The others stopped and watched as she opened the first door which revealed the half bathroom for that floor. Walking to the second door, she opened it to find a huge bedroom that contained a king-sized bed, a window seat, large picturesque windows and a set of doors that apparently led to the deck too. She walked over to the doors as Jacob opened a smaller door that was next to the one they had entered from the hallway. His door revealed the bathroom that was only accessible from that bedroom.

“Guess this is the master bedroom if it has its own bathroom,” remarked Embry as he looked over Jacob’s shoulder.

They heard Bella gasp and turned to see her staring wide-eyed out of the doors as she nodded her head.

“Oh yeah!” she exclaimed. “This is definitely the master bedroom.”

Everyone scrambled to see what had made her have that reaction only to make their own exclamations as they took in the view. Just outside of the doors was a hot tub built into the deck and past that was the unobscured view of the beach.

“Holy shit!” exclaimed Quil as he made his way to the hot tub. “Think of all the chicks I could fit in this!”

Leah shook her head as she and Mark walked over to a nice grill that was more to their liking. “You seriously need to grow up, you dog!”

Bella and Kim stood at the railing, looking out at the beach when they noticed the lounge chairs below them. “Look!” said Kim, “We can lie out on those for some sun if we don’t want to walk down to the beach!”

“Yeah, thank goodness there’s that set of stairs right here or we might have had to walk all the way from the front of the house.”

“Let’s go check downstairs out,” supplied Leah as she made her way past the two picnic tables towards the spiral staircase Bella had indicated.

However, before they could begin their descent, Embry and Jacob called to them from the top of a narrow set of stairs that was behind the grill.

“Hey guys! You’ve got to check this out!”

Everyone walked up the stairs to what was obviously a flat roof portion that had been well-hidden by the raised, front half of the roof with the Mediterranean tiles. Once at the top, all they could do was gape at the sight before them.

There was a bar with stools on one side, several small tables and chairs scattered around the area, plus a space clearly marked as a dance floor with a set of outdoor speakers nearby.

“No way!” crowed Quil. “We are gonna have some killer parties here!”

“I didn’t know we were getting a roof-top bonus with this place,” mumbled Jacob as he leaned into Bella. “Did you see this mentioned at all when the travel agent sent us the information?”

She shook her head. “I don’t remember this at all.”

“Who cares,” shrugged Leah, “it’s here and we are so going to enjoy it!”

“Got that right,” seconded Mark, as he and Embry went to check out the bar.

They milled around on the roof-top for a little longer before they eventually made their way down the spiral staircase to the ground floor. There they discovered that only part of the ground was covered with the same sun-baked tiles that were in front of the house. Those tiles led from the staircase to the doors of the first level. The rest of the ground was sand and that’s where the lounges and their tables were set so that anyone could get a great view of the beach while still getting some sun as they did so.

There were three sliding doors at the back of the house. One led into a long hallway with six doors, four of which were bedrooms and two were bathrooms. There was also the stairs that led up to the kitchen which was apparently the only other way to access the rooms on the ground floor. Only two of the bedrooms could also be accessed from their private sliding door at the back of the house.

All of the rooms were essentially the same as the master bedroom except things were a little smaller in scale, such as the size of the room and the queen-sized beds. Plus, there was a bathroom that was shared between each two bedrooms. The bathrooms could be accessed from a hall door or from the bedroom doors set on each side of it. Still, there was plenty of room for everyone who would be staying down there, so no one was really complaining.

Once they had gotten their fill of exploring their home for the week, they all made their way back out to the cars to retrieve their things. It was voted that Jacob and Bella would get the master bedroom since they were the ones who had put the most money into the trip so far, so the other four bedrooms were divided up between the remaining two couples, plus Embry and Quil.

When everyone had put their belongings away, they all met in the living room to discuss going to get groceries for the kitchen versus going out to eat. Bella and Jacob were curled up together on one of the loveseats with Jared and Kim on the other as Mark and Leah walked in with a complaining Quil behind them.

“Still don’t see why you gotta be suck a dick, Leah!”

“I’m not a dick! Your dick just thinks its head is bigger than it actually is!”

Embry guffawed as he walked past the bickering duo and plopped down on the couch.

Jacob leaned over and mock whispered, “What’s up with that?”

Embry shrugged. “Kim wanted privacy, so she and Jared gave me the room with one of the sliding doors. Leah wanted the other room with the door, so she stuck Quil in the other room without the door. Quil thinks only the singles should get the rooms with the doors and the couples should get the more private rooms.”

“Yeah,” agreed Quil, “it’s not like the couples need to make an impression on anyone and that outside door is great for late night comings and goings without disturbing anyone else in the house.”

Leah laughed. “Even with that door you would still be disturbing us Quil. It is you after all.”

“I was talking about the girls I may have with me! Damn! I’m only thinking about your beauty rest, is all!”

Everyone cracked up as Bella interjected. “Beauty rest? This is Leah we are talking about! She was born perfect!”

Leah smirked as Mark grinned at her. “Got that right!” she said.

Quil threw up his hands in surrender, “Fine! Stay in the damn room! But if my late night escapades wake you up in the middle of the night, I don’t want to hear it!”

“Who said anything about sleeping?” retorted Mark, sending everyone into cheers and cat-calls over it.

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(Song: NKOTB - Summertime)

The third day in Santa Monica found Jacob, Bella, Jared and Kim packing up their stuff from their day on the beach so they could head back to the house to get ready for a night of clubbing.

After they had gone out to eat on their first night there, they had explored the neighborhood and found a grocery store where they stocked up on lots of easy snacks and microwavable foods for the duration of the week. Their second day had been spent with all eight of them going back and forth from the house to the beach and vice versa.

It had been mostly the couples making the trek to the house at intermittent times, so as to have their own alone time while the others were out and about. Since Leah still lived with her parents and Mark lived in a dorm, they were taking advantage of being able to be as frisky as they wanted to be, just like Jacob and Bella were doing. Granted, it was mostly Jacob who was pouncing on Bella every chance he got, but she wasn’t really complaining since she knew they wouldn’t get that much alone time once they returned to Seattle.

While the couples enjoyed their times, Embry usually hung out with Quil until Quil started trolling the beach for girls. Being the shy one of the group, Embry would only stay with Quil until he began making a nuisance of himself, then he would either go back to the house to play video games in the living room or hang out with Kim and Jared who didn’t need as much alone time since they lived in an apartment together.

All eight of them had managed to get together on the second night to go clubbing as a group and it was later that night, at their fourth club stop, that Leah and Quil came up with the idea of separating into two groups for the third night. Unfortunately those two groups for the night out would be one of all the girls and another of all the boys. Needless to say, not everyone was thrilled about that idea, but they had clearly been outnumbered by the rest.

Jacob was one of the ones who was still firmly protesting the plans for the night as he and Bella trekked back to the house behind Jared and Kim.

“You know, we don’t have to go with them tonight. We could just do our own thing,” he mumbled to his girlfriend.

“Yeah, but are you going to deal with the fallout from Leah if we don’t go along with her plan?” asked Bella.

Jacob rolled his eyes. “I’m not afraid of her.”

Bella sighed. “Not the point, Jake. You know she’ll never leave us alone for the rest of the trip if we back out and she’ll get the others to join in. Besides, it’s only for a few hours tonight, then we’ll get to sleep in each others arms!”

Jared and Kim had already disappeared through the sliding doors that led to the hall and their bedroom while Jacob and Bella climbed the spiral stairs to their own room. As Jacob climbed, he looked back over his shoulder to pout at Bella.

“The point of taking this vacation was to spend time with each other, Bells. The only reason I invited everyone else was because I knew your dad wouldn’t let you come otherwise. Now you’re going to spend hours at a club with only Kim and Leah, where you’re going to get lots of strange guys bumping and grinding against you? Yeah, not my idea of fun!”

As he stopped to hold the door open for her, Bella leaned in to pat his cheek. “Mm hm, as if you aren’t going to have your fair share of strange women bumping and grinding against you.”

She tsked at him before entering the bedroom and tossed her things near the bathroom door. Jacob shut the deck door behind him, tossed his own things with Bella’s, then grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back to his front.

Leaning over, he growled into her ear. “I’d rather spend the night bumping and grinding against you!”

Bella was about to make yet another retort, but Jacob spun her around and attached his mouth to hers. Needless to say, they spent the next couple of hours bumping and grinding their way from the bedroom wall to the shower until they were both fashionably late meeting their groups for the night.

**************************************

Bella sighed as she heard the music turn on for a few moments before it was turned off again. Kim glanced at her from the lounge chair she was reclining in next to Bella’s.

“What’s wrong, Bella? Not in the mood for another house party?”

Bella shrugged. “To tell the truth, I’m already all partied, danced and even sunned out. I just want to relax tonight and tomorrow night before we have to go back home.”

Kim nodded in sympathy. She knew how Bella felt. After the night that the boys and girls had split into the two groups, it had been way past dawn by the time they had all made it back to the beach house. Then all of them had spent the majority of that day sleeping in, only to find out later that Quil had been down at the beach passing out fliers he had made for a party he wanted to have on their rooftop.

So Jacob, Quil, Leah and Mark had gone to get lots of things to grill and stock the bar with while Kim, Bella, Jared and Embry had party-proofed the entire house and made sure things were set up properly. By the time the first guests had arrived, Mark and Jacob were manning the grill while Jared and Quil mixed the drinks. It had been up to the rest of the group to mingle among the guests to make sure things didn’t get out of hand.

Of course Quil hadn’t been behind the bar all night, just long enough to get some phone numbers while flirting, then it was mingling time for him until he found who was spending the night with him. Embry had taken over the bar at that point and Kim had managed to meet someone named Michael who was more than willing to take over for Jared for a while.

As for the grill, Jacob and Mark shut it down completely once all of the food was gone, which actually took longer than they had intended because some generous party-goers supplied extra food for them. It was the same way for the bar, although they never ran out of alcohol. Every time the supplies seemed to be running low, a generous soul would pitch in to keep the party going.

Around three in the morning, two of the speakers had given out, thus prompting most of the party-goers to make their way home. While most called cabs, got rides or walked down the beach to their homes, there were a few stragglers who crashed on the lounge chairs or any other comfortable place around the outside of the house. However, by the time the first of the group went out when they finally woke up, all the stragglers were gone.

Now Quil, Embry and Mark were working on fixing the speakers while Jacob, Leah and Jared were doing the grill and alcohol run for the second house party. This time there was no handing out of fliers to promote it, but Quil had said he had mentioned to a few people the night before that he was going to have another one. He figured that the music, food and whatever guests showed up would attract more people from the beach and surrounding area.

With that in mind, both Kim and Bella had told the others they could do whatever they wanted but they were just going to relax out on the lounge chairs until the party was supposed to start. No one had argued with them, so they had spent the next hour doing just that.

As the music came on again and stayed on this time, Bella stood up and smiled at Kim. “I’m going to go shower and relax in my room for a bit.”

Kim nodded as she gathered her own things. “Yeah, I think I’ll do the same.”

Bella climbed the spiral stairs and entered the master bedroom where she took a long, hot shower before donning a robe, falling onto the bed, then began to lightly doze off despite the loud music thumping against the ceiling of the room.

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(Song: DJ Sammy - Boys of Summer)

Hours later Bella awoke with a start only to realize that it was dark outside, yet the party still appeared to be in full swing. Sighing, she scrubbed her face with her hands and picked up her cell phone to see what time it was. She gaped at the numbers…she had slept through most of the night because it was now nearly two in the morning.

It made her wonder why no one had come to wake her up. Or did they do so, but decided to let her sleep on? Or was she sleeping too hard for anyone to wake her up? No, she was sure Jacob would have found a way to wake her up, which begged the question of why hadn’t he?

She finally scooted out of bed and went to freshen up in the bathroom before changing into a green tube top with a blue-green sarong as a skirt. Slipping on a pair of flip-flops, she made her way out to the deck and took in her surroundings.

There were quite a few people milling around on the deck. Some were enjoying the hot tub while others leaned against the walls or railings. Several clusters were also sitting at the picnic tables involved in conversations or drinking games. Still, none of them were the friends she had come to Santa Monica with.

She made her way through the people, heading up the stairs to the rooftop where there were even more people packed up there than the night before. She briefly wondered just how much weight the roof could take before it caved in. Standing at the edge, she glanced around and spotted Embry and an unknown girl tending the bar. Leah and Mark were dancing and so was Quil and his pick of the moment. Jared and Kim were nowhere to be seen and neither was Jacob.

Frowning, she walked over to the bar and waited until Embry had finished the drink he was making for someone.

He turned to give her a smile. “Hey Bella, Kim thought you might be forgoing tonight’s festivities.”

She shrugged. “I might have if I hadn’t woken up just now. I guess Kim got her second wind?”

“Yeah, she came out with Jared a little while after he got back from the supply run. Oh, Bella, this is Ashley. She’s a friend of Michael’s from last night. She’s actually worked as a real bartender a few times and volunteered to come help us out tonight.”

Bella waved to Ashley, who grinned back at her. “Nice to meet you, Ashley!”

“Same here!” replied Ashley as she moved closer to Embry’s side where he slipped his arm around her waist.

Bella’s smile grew wider as she realized why Ashley had volunteered to help out Embry tonight. They must have had a great hookup the night before…how had she missed that?

“Have you two been working the bar all night?” asked Bella.

Embry shook his head. “Nope. Quil and Michael took the first shift, Ash and I are finishing up the last shift of the night.”

“Okay, any idea where Jake is?”

“Last I heard, he was manning the deck and grounds with Jared and Kim.”

“Yeah,” interjected Ashley, “but Kim said they were going to turn in early, so I suspect she and Jared are down for the night.”

Bella nodded. “All right, thanks. You two have fun!”

She waved to them, then made her way back down to the deck. As she descended the stairs, she looked around, trying to see if she could spot her boyfriend. Once she got to the deck, she peered into their bedroom, but it was empty like she knew the rest of the floor would be. They had locked up that floor, only allowing the hallway of the ground floor to remain open for anyone who wanted to use the two restrooms down there. It meant less damages and messes to clean up inside of the house.

Locking the bedroom again, she took the spiral stairs down to the ground, still in search of Jacob. It wasn’t as crowded as the deck or rooftop had been, but there were quite a few bodies occupying the lounge chairs or tucked into a few dark corners here and there. Bella discreetly diverted her eyes as she continued to search.

Unable to find him there, she began walking around the house and grounds until she spotted him halfway down the beach talking to a group of people. She started to make her way towards them, but stopped when she noticed a particularly buxom, bleached blonde rubbing up against Jacob’s side. Bella narrowed her eyes at the blatant way the tramp was thrusting her obviously fake rack at him.

Geez, if she wasn’t careful, that miserable excuse for a bikini top was going to rip open and expose her to the world. Then again, maybe that was what the tramp was going for.

Still, it wasn’t until Jacob appeared to be flirting with her did Bella see red as she inhaled sharply and began to march across the sand. It took another few seconds for her to realize that what she’d perceived as flirting had been Jacob’s polite way of letting the skank down before he turned away from her to continue talking to the others in the small group.

However, blondie didn’t take the hint and once again tried to shimmy her way into Jacob’s personal space. Bella saw the look of disgust on his face which disappeared the moment he caught sight of her coming towards him. Instantly ignoring everyone around him, his face lit up with a smile as he took a few steps to greet her with open arms.

She willingly let him pull her into his embrace as she kissed him thoroughly on the lips, letting blondie know just who he belonged to.

“Hey honey, thought you were going to sleep the night away,” he mumbled against her lips.

“Mm, I might have if you had been next to me, but I got lonely.”

She could feel his smile against her lips which he was in no hurry to release. “Did you now?”

Her response was to kiss him again while she let her hands wander over the thin white t-shirt he wore with his favorite pair of navy blue board shorts.

It wasn’t until a few snickers and a loud throat clearing could be heard that Jacob reluctantly pulled away from her. He grinned at the group as he tucked Bella under his arm.

“Sorry guys, thanks for coming tonight. You be safe, okay? I’m calling it a night.”

Jacob waved to the group as he and Bella made their way back to the house with their arms around each other. A disgruntled sounding huff made Bella look out of the corner of her eyes to see the jilted blonde storming away, looking murderous. She glanced up at Jacob, trying to seem nonchalant.

“Who was that?” she asked.

Jacob shrugged. “Just some chick who apparently doesn’t understand English very well. Still, I coulda sworn the word ‘no’ was clear in any language.”

She tried not to grin. “Really? What were you saying no to?”

Jacob stopped and turned to look directly at her with a raised eyebrow. “Oh come on, Bells! You don’t fool me! I know you saw her rubbing all up on me.”

He shuddered before continuing. “As if I’d ever be interested in hitting that! Quil, maybe, but not me.”

Bella clucked her tongue. “Once upon a time, I’m sure you would have.”

His jaw fell open in shock. “What?”

She tossed her hair as she continued walking towards the house. “Oh please! You’re Jacob Black! The most sought after playboy bachelor in town! What girl didn’t want to be the lucky one to snag your rich, gorgeous ass?”

Before she could go too far, Jacob grabbed her around the waist and hauled her to his body. His low, husky voice murmured into her ear.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you sounded jealous.”

She huffed as she tried to wiggle out of his arms. “Jealous? Me? What gives you that idea?”

He chuckled as he nipped at her earlobe. “Yep, I’m right. You can’t even look me in the eye right now!”

She growled. “Jacob!”

“And the way you kissed me in front of that group…like you were staking your claim. Don’t think I didn’t notice how the normally subdued Bella Swan was all over me!”

He whirled her around to face him, cupping her face in his hands as he gave her a heated stare. “Just so you know, that jealous possessive act you just pulled was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

With that, his lips crashed onto hers as his hands moved into her hair, anchoring her to him. He tilted her head slightly to better deepen the kiss, snaking his tongue into her mouth when she parted her lips on a moan. Her hands curled around his biceps, fingers digging into his skin as if she was in danger of falling away.

When he finally pulled away and licked his lips even while trying to catch his breath, he smirked at her. Bella sighed as she too tried to catch her breath.

“Would you have gone with her? If you were single?” she asked quietly.

Jacob shook his head as he smoothed her hair away from her face. “No, she was too easy. I prefer the chase.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Jacob.”

He chuckled softly. “You know I wouldn’t have, Bells. I’m not into one night stands the way Quil is, I prefer to enjoy the woman I’m with.”

She smiled as she ran a hand down his chest. “Enjoy, huh?”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “The way I’m going to enjoy you until dawn.”

(Song: Evanescence - Surrender)

Bella’s eyes went wide as she took a swift intake of breath. She could see the smirk return with the hungry look in his eyes. She squeaked as she turned and ran towards the house with Jacob not too far behind. They took the stairs quickly, laughing all the way to the bedroom doors on the deck. As soon as they were inside, Jacob pulled her back into his arms, once again locking lips with her.

He reached behind him to shut the door, locking it before walking her to the nearest wall. He yanked his t-shirt off and tossed it somewhere behind him then leaned in to suck on Bella’s neck as his hands tugged her tube top down to expose her breasts. As his lips trailed wet kisses down to her chest, Bella buried a hand in his hair and ran the other one down his bare back.

Tilting her head back against the wall, she turned her head slightly to realize that there were people on the deck. She could see their shadows through the curtains over the doors. She began tugging on Jacob’s hair to get his attention.

“J…Jake? There’s people…outside…the doors.”

Jacob turned his head slightly without letting go of the nipple his mouth was currently savoring. “They can’t see us.”

“I can see them!” she insisted.

He growled as he dragged her into the bathroom and lifted her onto the counter between the two sinks. Sliding her sarong up her legs with his hands, he looked deep into her eyes.

“We play here for a while, then we’ll move to the bed. With the lights off, they can’t see us, okay?”

“O…okay,” came her breathless reply because his fingers had dipped beneath her thong to caress the one place that drove her wild.

She parted her legs a little more, leaning back on one hand as she undid the tie of her sarong with the other while Jacob’s mouth returned to savoring her breasts. As soon as the sarong was loose, she wrapped her arm around his back, keeping herself from moving away from him. Jacob pulled the sarong apart as his mouth traveled down her body until he reached the apex of her legs.

He pulled her bottom closer to the edge of the counter and easily yanked the thong off of her before going to his knees. Bella was breathing hard as she sank her fingers into his hair and lightly tugged his head closer to where she wanted him to be. He smirked up at her right before his tongue darted out to give her folds one long, thorough lick which ended with a flick over her bundle of nerves.

Bella moaned his name, encouraging him to continue his feast between her legs. He didn’t need any more than that as he continued to slide his tongue over all of the right places even as he added his fingers to his play. There was no rush as he worked his girlfriend’s body into a leisurely climax, although it was intense enough to leave her breathless.

As she leaned back against the counter and wall with a sated grin on her face, Jacob stood up and removed his board shorts. Bella simply watched through hooded eyes as he stepped out of them then stood between her legs and took himself in hand. Leaning over her, he began to rub himself against her slick folds, essentially working them both up into another frenzy.

He was gritting his jaw by the time Bella moaned and her body jerked when he hit a particularly sensitive spot. That was enough for him to step back, pull her off of the counter, then turn her around so that her back was to his front. He tilted her forward and she gripped the counter as she watched him move behind her in the mirror. His hands curled around her hips as his gaze locked with hers in the mirror, just as he thrust into her from behind.

She was more than ready for him, biting her bottom lip in pleasure as she pushed her body back into his, taking him deeper. His fingers dug into her hips as he pulled her back onto him, and that, coupled with the way she pushed against the counter with her hands, generated the best friction that their bodies had felt in a long time. Together they worked in tandem, pushing or pulling, slowing or speeding up, making their play last until they were both shaking and sweating so much that they knew it was time to move on.

At that point, Jacob wrapped an arm around Bella’s waist, moving his hand between her legs until his fingers were quickly rubbing her pleasure button in time to the movements of their hips. Seconds later, her head was tossed back against his shoulder as she cried out her ecstasy. The tightening of her walls and the sudden gush of her release were all Jacob needed to make him bury himself deep inside of her as he let himself go with a shout of her name.

************************************

Fifteen hours later, Bella was still in bed with her boyfriend having spent that time alternating between sleeping and making love, with the occasional kitchen or bathroom break. She knew Jacob had threatened everyone from disturbing them, wanting to give her a relaxing day and night since they would be returning to Seattle the following afternoon.

With a smile on her face, she sighed and snuggled into Jacob’s chest, enjoying the feel of his skin against hers. As his arm tightened around her, holding her close, she silently thanked him for giving her the perfect ending to a wonderful vacation.