(no subject)
Title: Her Hands
Characters: Paul, Bella/Jacob
Rating: T (for suggestive content and language)
Summary: Paul asks for Bella’s help.
Validation Beta: majestamoniet
majestamoniet for my banner!
Paul hated asking for help. From anyone. For anything.
In school, if he didn’t understand something, he’d “borrow” someone’s answers and work backwards. If there ever was a project that required more time and effort than most, he’d rather turn it in late than work with others. As a wolf, he held his own and then some.
So asking for help now, from her of all people, was infuriating.
It started when he came across his brothers sitting outside their alpha’s house. He could hear the sounds coming from inside as soon as he opened his car door, which explained the glazed looks of stupid on their faces.
He slammed his door loudly, startling them. He smirked when they glared.
“Are you losers so desperate for action that you’d risk your dicks to listen in on Sam and Emily?” They all knew how well that shit would go. You couldn’t help what you saw in the pack mind, but privacy during was an unspoken rule.
Embry smirked back as Emily let out a particularly loud moan. “Sam’s not the one in there with her.”
His raised a brow.
“It’s Bella,” Seth said, who hadn’t taken his eyes off the house, as if he could see through the walls.
“Bella? As in Bella Swan? What the hell is that leech lover-” They hissed at him and he rolled his eyes. He just couldn’t understand how welcoming everyone was to the girl. Sure, she was with Jacob now, but they all seemed to have forgotten that she was once obsessed with bloodsuckers, with becoming a bloodsucker herself. How the hell do you forgive something like that?
“Sounds like second base,” Quil said, closing his eyes. “Or maybe they’re in the middle of third.”
Then Bella started talking.
“That’s it, Emily,” She cooed. “Just let it go.”
“Bella,” Emily whimpered, “Oh, God. It’s-”
“Shhh, it’s okay. It’s supposed to feel like that. Now shift forward, like before.”
Emily moaned, ecstasy quivering in her voice.
“Yes, just like that. Good girl. Almost there.”
“Ooooh, yes. That feels…mmm…so good…your hands, Bella, just…ahhh…”
Twenty minutes later, Bella was shutting the door quietly behind her. The sound from the house now was Emily’s even breathing.
They all looked at her when she descended the steps, the same look in their eyes.
She smiled brightly, “Hey, guys. Try not to make too much noise, okay? Emily needs her rest.” She winked at them, fucking winked, and made her way down the path to the Black house, no doubt where she parked her truck.
On patrol that day, after hours of nagging, Sam finally revealed what the episode at his house had been about. Prenatal massage, which didn’t sound half as hot as it actually was. Apparently, Bella took a course when she was living in Phoenix.
Aside from the inevitable girl-on-girl fantasies he had, he didn’t think much of it. Just another piece of data for the paleface his brother was dating.
Then Leah got in on it.
She was a cranky, bitter bitch majority of the time, but during a certain time of the month it was ramped up to the point that even breathing at her wrong was suicide. They waited, tense for the inevitable eruption and then…nothing. She’d been freakishly mellow. Her thoughts were languid and relaxed, as they’d never seen her.
When they confronted Seth, he said only that she was spending a lot of time with Bella.
This floored him. No one disliked Bella Swan more than Leah. Granted, Leah didn’t really like anyone, but she seemed to particularly sneer at Bella.
If she was willingly letting the girl touch her, her skills must be out of this world.
The curiosity was there, deep enough to bother him, but there was no way in hell he’d ask. Not only would Jacob flip out on him, as he never went out of his way to be nice to her, but she’d probably be too intimidated by him to do it right anyway.
Then his shoulder started to bother him. He’d been overdoing it a little at the construction site, and felt something tear. The pain wasn’t too bad, but even after a week, moving a certain way made him wince. He still wouldn’t have gone to her if his injury didn’t affect his sex life as well.
The stiffness made it difficult to concentrate, and the constant stabs of pain messed with his rhythm. Not that the girl noticed, he was just that good.
So that was how he found himself standing outside the Swan House. Her ancient truck sitting in the driveway, so he knew she was there. Jacob was scheduled for patrols, so he knew that he was not.
He thought about knocking, but ended up just pushing on the door. He frowned at how easily it gave. The chief of police really ought to have better security. He was about to call out when his nose picked up the most amazing smell.
“That you Jake?” Bella called from the kitchen. “You’re just in time to taste my latest masterpiece. Rachael Ray will die of envy.” Laughing brown eyes fell when she saw him. “Paul?”
“How’s it going, Swan?” He couldn’t ignore the suddenly wary look on her face, or how quickly she paled at the sight of him. “Smells good.” He nodded at the boiling red sauce on the stove. Crap. How was he going to do this?
“Oh, no. What happened? Is it Emily? Did she go into labor? Is it Jacob? Was there a-”
She was slowly working herself into a panic. He refused to deal with hysteria, and damned if she’d faint before he even got to talk.
“Jesus, Swan, get a grip. Nothing happened. Emily is fine. Jacob is fine. Everyone is fucking fine,” He all but growled.
“Then what the hell are you doing here?” She snapped back. “What could you possibly want?”
The girl had unexpected fire. Rather than cower, as he had seen her do on more than one occasion, her chin was raised in defiance and her eyes were lit with irritation.
Curious now, he moved in, forcing her to back up into the counter, trapped. “I want what every man wants from a beautiful woman.”
Her cheeks flushed, but her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Back up, Paul.”
He wanted to see her back down, then maybe she’d be more willing to do as he’d ask. “In a second. I want to see what all the fuss is about with you. You’ve got a little harem going with the pack. Jake, Quill, Embry, Seth and even Leah it looks like.” He touched her hair and brought a soft handful to his nose for a sniff. Hmm. Not bad. Her scent was way the hell better now that she wasn’t hanging out with bloodsuckers.
“Seriously, Paul, you think Jake won’t smell you on me?”
He snorted, but he backed up, knowing that she was already uncomfortable with him that close. “I want in on the thing with Emily and Leah.”
She stared at him, “Excuse me?”
“I want you to give me a massage.” There. He’d said it.
She scowled. “Forget it. Even if I wanted to, I doubt I’d have the strength. You probably wouldn’t even feel it.”
He frowned. He hadn’t thought of it like that.
She turned away to turn off the stove. “You’ve got some nerve coming here, asking for things. You think I don’t know you still call me a leech lover? That I don’t hear the vamp tramp jokes you spew?”
“You don’t seem to mind doing Leah any favors. She’d never been a fan of yours either.” Despite wanting to be angry, perhaps intimidate her a little, he just didn’t have the energy. “You are a leech lover, Swan. If the Cullens came around again, we both know you’d go running.”
She stiffened, and turned to meet his eyes squarely. “The Cullens saved my life, more than once. I’ll never stop being grateful, but if Jacob didn’t want me to see them, then I wouldn’t.”
“Really?” He asked, unconvinced. “Not even if the leech wanted you back?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, Paul, but Edward did come back.”
He froze. “What? When?”
“A little over a year ago. After the battle with Victoria, I’d made it clear that I’d chosen Jake. But the night Edward came back, Jacob and I had gotten into a big fight. It made me doubt my future with him. I didn’t want to be vampire, but I wasn’t sure if what I had with Jake was worth it.” Imprinting. On that, Paul understood. Jacob hadn’t imprinted on Bella, but was hell bent on getting her to accept him anyway. “Edward saw it as a chance. He never stopped loving me, but some part of me knew he’d never be enough. Jacob or no Jacob. He got the message.”
Just when he thought he had the tiny girl figured out, she’d go and make him take a second look.
“As for Leah, also none of your damn business, her time of the month is more painful for her than most girls. The techniques I use on her takes the pain away. She’s softer than you, werewolf or not, so it helps. What I do for Emily is almost the same. Did you get a sex change when no one was looking, Paul?” She didn’t sneer at him exactly, but her eyes told him that she wasn’t going to just do whatever he wanted, just because he asked. “Do you know what those two are going through? Convince me that your reason for wanting a massage, my hands on you, are as legitimate as theirs.”
Paul growled, feeling frustrated and impotent. “It’s my shoulder, okay? It hurts.” His glare was directed at the floor, so he missed the reluctant softening in her expressions. Whether he knew it or not, Bella was deep down a kind person, and she acknowledge how hard it was for him to come to her house, admit a weakness, and ask for help.
“Obviously, I’m no woman, so the tear in my shoulder can’t really compare to their…” He stopped talking, feeling like an ass. He should have just sucked it up and continue to ignore it. It would have gone away eventually.
When he looked up to tell her to just forget it, she was holding a very sturdy looking aluminum bat. She tapped it against her hand, and smiled at him. “Paul? Turn around.”
A few hours later, Jacob let himself in through the front door. He stopped, mid step at what he was seeing. Paul, his proud, aggressive, always-ready-for-action, never-sit-still, pack brother was laying on the couch, with his head resting on Bella’s lap. Paul was fast asleep, while Bella was engrossed in her paper-back novel.
“Well, isn’t this an incriminating scene?” Jacob said, loudly, making Bella jump in her seat.
“Jake,” She began, but he silenced her with a quick hard kiss.
“I can’t leave you alone for a second.” Without preamble, he shoved the other man off her.
Paul landed on the floor with a thud and came instantly awake, looking around wildly. His eyes settled on the two of them and he relaxed, remembering where he was. “What the hell, Black? Do I go around ruining your beauty sleep? Not that it works for you so much.”
“Six o’clock, asshole. Get away from my girl and go patrol.” He sneered. “You’re two hours late, what are you even doing here?”
“Making time with Bella, what else? Did you know she’s secretly a dominatrix? She came after me with a bat, and I actually liked it.”
Jacob raised a brow as Bella burst into giggles.
She smiled at Paul, warmly, they both noted. “So, I take it you’re feeling better?”
Paul grinned. “Hell yeah! I feel like I could take on a thousand leeches.” In an uncharacteristically suave move, he took Bella’s hand and kissed it. “I owe you one, Swan. Slave for life.”
“Yeah, Yeah.” Jacob snatched her hand from him. “Keep dreaming, asswipe. Sam’s pissed enough as it is. You’ll be on double patrols until Quill and Claire start dating.”
Jacob sighed when he left. “You do realize you own the pack now, right?”
She grinned at him. “It was all part of my master plan.”
“Another slave for life,” He made a face. “Are you trying to start your own harem or something?”
“Now there’s an idea. Why don’t you come rub my feet, slave boy, and I’ll make you my favorite?”
He couldn’t help but chuckle. He reached for his wallet. “So, that was $10, we said?”
She nodded and the pocketed the bills he handed over.
“I still don’t get how you did it.”
She smiled, “It’s all in the hands.”
Then she proceeded to show him.
(-)(-)(-)
The End