Chapter Eleven

"I think I'm going to throw up."

Jacob frowned, switching from his seat on a new chair to a location beside her on the bed where he could touch her, bring her into the comfort of his embrace.

"No. Don't. I don't want to feel better yet," she said tightly, turning her face away from him as sharp tears stung her eyes. Jacob pulled back, respecting her request as best he could when every fiber of his being wanted to do just the opposite.

"Bella, everyone is okay now. It was an accident."

"An accident? Honey, rear-ending a cop is an accident. This is a catastrophe."

Jacob had never heard her sound so bitter, so defeated, and it tugged hard at his soul to feel her so wounded.

"I should've realized. It was my body, my thoughts. Why didn't I make the connection? Oh God, when I think of what could've happened … what did happen …"

"What has happened, for over a millennium, to every fledgling gifted with remarkable powers in this race and probably every other race of Nightwalkers. No one, not even Noah or Legna, holds you responsible for something none of us could have expected. If I could tell you how many times Noah lost his temper as a kid and set his parents' house on fire—they were uncountable." He shook his head. "Hell, Bella, the first time I shape-shifted it took me a week to figure out how to switch back."

That made her release a soft, watery laugh.

"Oh, it gets better. Ask me what my first choice of animal was."

"Nooo …"

"A pig. Not just any pig, mind you," he said, talking over her startled laugh. "A huge, slobbery, grunting warthog. I had seen one at the zoo, and the next I knew …" Bella was laughing against her fists, trying to smother it with her fingers. "My father loved to tell the story for years about how he had to kidnap his own son from the zoo, a son who was so upset he squealed loudly the entire time his father was trying to smuggle him out My father was a Demon of the Body, so he had no way of transforming me into a less conspicuous form of matter. He never let me live it down. Can you imagine? Centuries of being reminded of the most ridiculous moment of my life."

By then Bella was laughing so hard she had rolled back onto the bed, chortling up at the ceiling and clutching her cramping side.

"Stop it," she begged, nudging him in the side with the toes of one foot "I told you I didn't want to feel better about this!"

"Of course, I think Legna tops this particular cake. You see, when Mind Demons teleport, they have to remember to teleport their clothes with them."

"Oh no …"

"Oh, yes. Noah's coronation anniversary. There is an incredible celebration every ten years, and everyone goes, even the most solitary of us. Legna was sixteen years old, and she was running late just like any typical teenager. She exploded into the room. Mind you, the display of a teleport in someone so young is ten times what you see her cause now, so she had everyone's attention. That youngling blushed bright red in places I never thought a woman could blush. It was a most enlightening moment."

"I'll bet!" Isabella giggled, her skin flushing in sympathetic embarrassment. "The poor thing!"

"Well, Noah responded very fast, so I assure you she only had time for a quick blush before he covered her in smoke, blocking her from a multitude of very astonished eyes. We do not tease her about it, however. Noah actually passed a law saying we could not. It was the only way he could get her to go out in public again. I am risking my peace of mind by telling you this. One chuckle in front of her, little flower, and you will doom me. So please …"

"Of course I won't," she giggled, sitting up once more and resting her cheek on the back crest of his shoulder. "Jacob," she sighed softly, nuzzling her nose against him. "What did I do to deserve you?"

"No doubt it was something very, very bad," he teased, turning to take her under his arm and draw her close to his chest.

She followed his urging quite willingly, straddling his thighs as she faced him, sitting back on her heels and letting her bright violet eyes scan every detail of his handsome face. He looked tired and a little mussed from what was no doubt the intensely repetitive act of running his hands through his hair. She reached out thoughtfully, taking a long dark ribbon of his hair between her fingers, fondling the consistency affectionately.

"No doubt," she agreed softly. "I find it funny, though, how good you are at keeping me from feeling overly guilty about something so terrible, and yet you can't do the same for yourself."

"Well," he said softly, reaching to mimic her caress of his hair with a finger coiling around a raven lock, "I suppose that is why I am lucky to have you. You are quite successful at distracting me from such things."

"I'll have you well trained in no time," she assured him.

"Yes, little flower. And we also will have you trained just as quickly. It will mean a great deal of hard work, a lot of experimentation, and no doubt a few more accidents, but you have always struck me as a very eager study. A quick one as well. You are less than a decade beyond the age of Fostering, so you have lost little ground as a fledgling and your power has already grown beyond that of most young Demons."

Bella sighed, her eyes taking a trip towards heaven.

"Okay, you lost me again. Fostering? And just what is the difference between fledgling and adult and Elder?"

"The Fostering is a very important tradition in our culture. When a child's power maturates to the point where they begin to have … accidents"—he lifted a pointed brow at her—"usually anywhere from early adolescence to about twenty years of age, the child is fostered out to their Siddah. Umm"—he searched for the comparative a moment—"godparents? Yes? Two chosen at birth to apprentice and discipline the child."

"You give your children away?" Bella looked as horrified as she sounded.

"Shh," he soothed quickly, his hands slipping deep into her hair and massaging the back of her scalp to calm her. "You would consider them adults in your society by the time the majority do this. It is more like college."

"What of the early starters? The early adolescents?"

Jacob sighed, knowing she wasn't going to respond well.

"It is the same as for humans. As early as nine, sometimes eight … though all before sixteen are extremely rare," he added quickly.

"Why can't you train your own children? I don't understand! How horrible it must be to be packed up and thrown out of their parents' house!"

"First of all," Jacob said firmly, forcing her to look into his eyes, though seeing her purple eyes swimming with tears was more than he could stand, "first of all, children are never allowed to feel abandoned. Weekends are reserved for rest and birth family, and Siddah love their fosterlings like their own. They are a part of the child's life from the moment it is born and named. They are family, just another branch."

"But—"

"Let me finish," he scolded softly. "Parents do not raise their own children past a certain point for one reason. It is often problematic for a parent to exert the stoicism and the influence necessary to control a child of power. Demons tend to love and cherish their child to the point of … well, if too much love is poor parenting, then so be it. So, a long time ago it was found that discipline was far easier for aunts, uncles, and family friends. I know this is true in human society too. Children will listen to others, behave for others, and perform for others far easier than they will for their parents. This is why the Fostering came about. Children grow up quicker this way, with a better sense of control, knowledge, and structure. We give them morals, Bella, the Siddah give them focus, and both give love and patience. My Fostering was one of my favorite memories of growing up. Share my mind, little love, and my memories. You will see that I loved my Siddah very much, and that my love for my parents never diminished because of it I know your fears. It will not happen."

"How old were you?" she asked, even as she reached for the offered memories.

"I was almost twelve."

"Eleven! Eleven years old?"

"Bella, you forget … I am an Earth Demon. We, like Fire Demons, are both rare and powerful. You have seen what happens when we make love, Bella, and I am an Elder with control, training, and centuries of life experience to draw on. The same way I was not prepared for you is the same way a burgeoning power in an adolescent feels. Too much power, too many hormones," he said more pointedly, "and not the first clue as to how to control either. My male Siddah was the first and only person I talked to about things like sex. I could never have talked to my mother. She would have run screaming and crying from the room. ‘My baby! My baby!'" He imitated her in voice pitch and a wild mock of pulling out his hair.

"Okay, okay … but surely your dad—"

"I loved my father, but I did not see much of him on a daily basis. Of course, there was a war at the time …"

"Another war?" She sighed. "Wait Don't go on 'til my heart gets over the shock," she said with dry sarcasm.

"Nightwalkers are aggressive species," he relented. "Lycanthropes are the worst of them. They truly are mostly animal and they are extremely territorial. We warred steadily with them for the past three hundred years."

"Three hundred!" she was aghast.

"A long story with a very sick man at its center," he said dismissively. "His daughter is Queen now, and she has demanded peace these fifteen years. We were relieved to comply. Now. Back to the second part of your question. Fledglings are puberty to one hundred years, adults one hundred years to three hundred, Elders three hundred to seven hundred, and Ancients are the subsequent years."

"Why, you're almost an Ancient," she laughed. "You really are too old for me."

"And I will be the only Earth Demon to have ever become one," he told her.

"Oh." He felt her understanding that it meant none had ever survived as long as he had.

"Times are different now," he assured her, giving her a warm hug of strength and reassurance. "We are at peace or at least safely coexisting with all other Nightwalkers. There are no wars now."

She flicked her lashes to half mast, and he heard her thoughts loud and clear.

Yes, there is. And I fear for you.

Necromancers. Damn it, he had almost forgotten about that.

"They are Elijah's domain. As are all interspecies issues that we have. He will quell this as he has in centuries past. Trust him, he does not defeat easily. And I have domestic duties that will hopefully not cross paths with his too often."

"I see. And he'll just find these necromancers by … asking them to show themselves? Don't treat me like an idiot."

She pushed away from him angrily, gaining her feet and pacing away from him. Her hands rested securely on her hips.

"Bella," he exclaimed, getting to his feet. "I would never do that. Your intelligence is one of the things I respect most about you."

"I see. Well, tell me something, bright eyes, how exactly did you discover there was a necromancer in existence in the first place?"

Her point hit him and he winced. She was right; the only way they would be able to ferret out magic-users would be by tracking down the Summoned. Which was his job, and which would inevitably lead him into battle with the necromancers.

"It's our job, Jacob," she reminded him firmly. "Our job to enforce. Our job to hunt the Transformed and destroy them, and our job to battle necromancers that get in our way. And Jacob"—she stepped up until she was chest to chest with him, as in his face as she could possibly get—"the more you mollycoddle me and shield me and get freaking chivalrous with me, the faster I'm going to get my damned head blown off! Is that what you want? 'Cause I can easily—"

"Of course not!" he exploded, the horror of the very thought shuddering through his dark eyes.

"Then stop it!"

"Okay! I am sorry!"

"Don't be sorry. Be smart Be a partner, not just a protector. I'm going to be at your back, Jacob. Do you want me walking around looking at the pretty birdies when I should be prepared and … and whatever it is I need to be? Because I don't want that I don't want to die … and I don't want you to die even more." She exhaled in a hard huff, her hair flying upward like a geyser. "Anyway, they kind a go together now, you know?"

"Yes, I know/Jacob reached for her face, his fingertips seeking refuge in her hairline, his thumbs at the corners of her frowning lips. "Would it help if I told you I am a little rusty when it comes to having a relationship?"

"A little? They can hear your hinges squeaking all the way on Mars," she said irreverently.

He laughed, lowering his head to kiss the frown from her lips and the wry look from her upturned eyes. His lips had barely drifted away from her butterfly lashes when his affections were interrupted by a sudden yawn. He shook his head, blinking his eyes to refocus.

"You're tired."

"I have not slept well these past few days."

"Jacob, I'm having that urge to smack you again," she warned. "I'm draining you, aren't I? I'm … I'm sucking the energy right out of you."

"Yes, well, this is true," he admitted. "But it is like you said, little flower. You suck in a good way." He chuckled when she made a face at him. "I am serious. Do you realize that we can make love now without causing England to drop into the ocean?"

She hadn't thought about that. A sly smile drifted over her sexy little mouth.

"This too is true," she agreed, sliding her hands up his chest, over his shoulders and into the soft hair at the back of his neck. "I'd noticed you were avoiding the more physical side of this relationship."

"Only for your protection, Bella," he murmured softly, his eyes devouring the warm invitation that was blossoming over the way she held her body. With a modification of a single thought, she changed from being reproachful and righteous to silky and sensual. He would never get over that "I did not want to end all of our lovemaking with fighting the latest necromancer to ferret us out because my desire for you is so powerful, so uncontrollable that … that …"

The Earth moves?" she asked archly.

"Cute. Yes, brat." He reached to pinch her bottom and she giggled.

"Um, I do have to remind you, though …" She bit her bottom lip, pausing to sweep obviously hungry eyes over his entire torso. "I could very well be the one who makes the Earth move now."

"Oh. Oh, damn, I forgot about that" She felt his hands flex at her waist He leaned a little closer to her, clearly drawing in her scent, which he truly seemed to enjoy so very much. He sighed deeply, reaching to nuzzle her neck with his face. To stay away from you takes a monumental effort, little flower. I cannot even express to you how difficult these past days have been for me."

"Nor can I express it to you," she murmured. "I was beginning to think all you were interested in doing to my body was work it to death in training with Elijah and you. Of course, I picked up some fairly graphic thoughts from you that assured me otherwise." Isabella moved toward his lips with a soft feint of her mouth, watching him move in natural preparation for the kiss that did not come. She smiled teasingly into his eyes.

"And those were the ones I was not trying to hide," he returned, touching his fingers to her cheek, skimming her throat and collarbone, down the swell of her breast, but pulling away before reaching the sensitive tip. She swayed forward a little, her body wanting to chase after the hand that had made the unfulfilled promise. She recovered quickly, mischief and sultry intent flaming sharply in the deepening purple of her eyes.

"Regardless," she said, continuing the mild conversation, "it doesn't change the fact that we've seen what trouble I can cause with this power at my untrained fingertips. And if I were to describe how utterly mindless I become under your touch, it would be very clear that making love with you could be an even more dangerous prospect for us."

"Utterly mindless?" he asked, watching and feeling as she swept her fingers gently over the expanse of his chest, a teasing, barely there touch that drew his every nerve ending into rapt attention.

"Mmm," she affirmed. "Especially when you put your mouth on me." She leaned in to put her lips against the strong column of his neck. She felt him swallow convulsively. "I love what you do to me with your mouth," she whispered against his skin.

Jacob drew in a sharp breath, desire curling stridently through his entire body and soul.

"Bella," he whispered, his throat tight with the heat she sent flushing through him.

"I've been wondering," she remarked in an offhanded manner as her fingers began to slip the buttons of his shirt out of their closures. She finished her thought by pushing him back onto the bed, her mouth touching the skin she was exposing. He felt her curious little tongue sweep over him. He might have gasped under the sensation the simple touch caused, but she beat him to it She sat up, looking down at him with an expression of shock and wonder. ‘Jacob, I can—" She broke off, closed her eyes, and took a slow searching breath in through her nose. "Is this what you mean?" she asked, her voice filled with erotic delight "When you say you love my scent?"

Jacob could barely breathe, never mind respond, as he watched her use his abilities to arouse herself.

"Yes, honey," he managed at last.

She made a delighted sound, her hands eagerly pulling his shirt farther open so she could bend her mouth to him once more, this time adding his acute senses to her natural tactile curiosity. She tasted him eagerly, thoroughly, instantly finding the best places to stimulate him on his neck, collarbone, and chest. She wriggled down his body, her industrious mouth sliding over his belly. Jacob could do nothing but weave his fingers into her silky hair, clutching it in his flexed fists.

"Bella …" he groaned as she nuzzled him torturously with her sweet, soft face, sexy lips, and hot tongue. Her nimble fingers were at his fly, freeing the closures before she lifted away from him and helped him remove the garments blocking her enthusiastic exploration. He lay back once more and she was immediately above him, kissing his mouth, reflecting the pleasure she was experiencing.

Then her mouth was back on his skin, inexhaustibly seeking his taste, his gratification. Her fingertips skimmed over his hips and thighs, scouting ahead of her inquisitive lips. Her hair was falling wildly all around him, and he reached to sweep it aside, unable to resist the lure of watching her exploration of his body. He felt her breath coasting over his arousal, his body twitching with his anticipation. She touched her tongue to him, her lips following, her incredible mouth drawing him into its wet warmth. Watching her do this had to be the most erotic thing Jacob had ever experienced in all the centuries of his life. She was perfect. Even as she ministered to him, she was becoming heavily aroused herself. He felt it in the tremble of her body, in the soft, intriguing sounds that vibrated out of her throat and against his aroused flesh. He could see it in the heated violet gaze she turned up to him.

With mutual action, Jacob and Isabella drew her up the length of his body. She straddled his hips boldly, rising up and stripping off the nightshirt she was wearing. She flung it aside and quickly brought both hands to rub fiercely over his chest and belly and under herself to where he thrust hard and hot against the juncture of her thighs. Jacob made a low sound, half arousal and half satisfaction at her bold sexual behavior. He'd known she'd be like this. He'd told himself several times. But nothing could have prepared him for how it would make him feel, how it would bum him like a brand for all time.

She was in his mind, reading his every thought and desire. Anything he wanted to feel, to experience, she provided it a second after he thought of it. She was wickedly thorough, driving him completely insane. And just as the thought that he couldn't bear her sweet erotic torture for one moment longer crossed his mind, she slid herself up the length of him, tilted her hips just right, and took him into her eager body in one swift movement.

Her delighted cry drowned out his, the sound a rich, operatic note of staggering pleasure.

"Jacob," she groaned. "You feel so wonderful!"

Jacob reached for her hips, trying to anchor himself in the middle of the storm of sensation she was bombarding him with. She flexed herself around him and an expletive erupted past his lips.

"What does that mean?" she demanded, punctuating the request with a forward and back rock of her body that thrust him even deeper into her.

"It means …" he gasped, trying very hard to be coherent as she moved on him once more, trapping him as deeply in her hungry body as she possibly could. "It means you have stolen my thoughts and my soul and put them at the mercy of your pleasure."

"Mmm, I think I like the sound of that," she purred softly, moving in beautiful, torturous ways that assured her the theft was utterly complete. He watched her creamy skin flush with perspiration and her own climbing arousal. In her mind he felt how much pleasure every reaction she drew from him gave her. Her eyes closed, her hips riding him in a decadent writhing rhythm, she flushed hotter and hotter around him, coating him with the slick nectar of her body. He felt her driving herself up to her own peak, using the fit of his body with as much glorious skill as she could muster.

"Bella, you will be my death," Jacob gasped, his hips instinctively matching her wicked movements, his thoughts reaching for what she was feeling.

She was so close, every molecule vibrating with the pent-up fervor within her. Then he felt the flash of trepidation that shot through her. She was almost lost and suddenly afraid to let go. He knew why, but he'd be damned if she would deny herself her own pleasure while he took his. He reached for her sensitive body, shocking her as his thumb came to caress her intimately. He found the pleasure spot unerringly, and the combination of the touch and the hard thrust of his sheathed flesh was too much to resist.

She threw her head back, crying out at the top of her voice as every muscle in her body convulsed. In that moment he was overwhelmed by a vise of muscles that embraced him, by the honeyed heat that was beyond any conceivable temperature as it poured over him. His release was violent, explosive, and perfect. It seemed to last an eon, and then too short of a moment.

Bella collapsed on top of him, every muscle in her body feeling like rubber, unable to take any further commands from her. Jacob wrapped her up in his embrace, his face burrowing into her rich hair and his harsh breath still far from being regulated. He remained connected to her, and he was positive she wouldn't have relinquished him in any event. She was panting heavily from her exertion, her face burrowing into his strong neck, all of her trembling with the delightful aftershocks of passion.

"I will never feel anything like that again," she told him breathlessly.

"Baby," he murmured in her delicate ear, "give me a few minutes and that wicked mouth of yours and I promise you, you will feel it again."

"Jacob!" She laughed, trying to scold him unsuccessfully. Then her head popped up so she could see his eyes. "The Earth didn't move!"

"Damn, I must be losing my touch," he teased, reaching to flick an impudent tongue over one pert nipple.

"Jacob, you know what I mean." She giggled. "Stop that!"

"Stop what? Stop this?"

Isabella gasped, surprised to realize she wasn't as exhausted as she'd previously thought. And neither was he. The evidence of that was stirring within her very own body.

"And you make fun of my libido?" she demanded.

"Perish the thought I adore your libido."

"Somehow I'm—-Jacob, I'm trying to talk here!"

"And I am trying to shut you up," he taunted, repeating the sly touch again.

"Have better uses for my mouth, do you?" she queried impishly, her eyes sparkling with humor.

"Dozens of them. Shall I list them?"

"Oh no. Let me."

"Tell me something?"

"What?" Jacob asked, enjoying the feel of her hair beneath his hand as she nuzzled her cheek against his chest in a warm, kittenish way.

"No one ever explained to me why the necromancer wanted to know your name."

Jacob went very still, and Isabella allowed him a moment to gather his thoughts. She knew it was a very significant question, even if she didn't exactly know why.

"In many cultures it is believed that to give your name to someone is to give them power over you. For a Demon, it is a literal truth. A Demon's name is the key ingredient in a Summoning. Without it, a necromancer cannot Summon him, cannot control him, and has no means of gaining power over him."

Isabella lifted her cheek from his chest so she could look into his dark eyes.

"But everyone knows your name, Jacob. Any of the captured Demons could tell the necromancers your name."

"No. I am the only one who knows my name."

"I don't understand."

Jacob sat up, sliding back to lean against the headboard of the bed while she shifted position, curling herself around his raised knee, setting her chin on it and maintaining eye contact with him.

"When a Demon child is born, there is a naming ceremony," he began. "There are only four people present. The mother, the father, and the Siddah. These four people are the only ones who ever know a Demon's true name." Jacob paused a minute, reaching out to stroke a thumb over the rise of her soft cheek. "Think of it like … riot control?" He shook his head, knowing it was an inadequate explanation. "Though it is not a crime to come into power, the methods we must use to keep control of newly fledged Demons require both parents and Siddah to know the young Demon's name. It is a tool that allows one to quell power, to soothe and to settle the young one's mind. It helps them focus enough to gain control themselves. It is also handy when they get a little too seneta yu va" He tried to think of the equivalent and laughed. "Too big for their britches."

"So your name is not Jacob?"

"Of course it is. You may actually find this a little ironic, but after we are given our power names, parents choose a call name, like Jacob and Noah and Elijah, and they usually select the name from—"

"The Bible!"

"Yes." Jacob grinned. "You see, Demons have a great respect for the Christian religions. As you know, they gifted us with a peace and freedom that will never be matched. Choosing our children's call names from the Bible is to us an act of tribute."

"I think that's wonderful."

"It is an intimate tradition for expecting parents to spend an entire day selecting a call name. This is done with just the mother and the father, closed away from all the world. It begins with them recalling the first time they saw one another, the story of how each fell in love with the other, the foundation on which the child was conceived."

"It sounds positively beautiful, Jacob," Isabella whispered. She turned her eyes away from his briefly, and Jacob realized she was hiding a thought from him.

"What is it, little flower?"

She looked back, drawing her lower lip between her teeth in a telltale sign of apprehension.

"Jacob, according to the prophecy, you and I will have a child one day."

Jacob went very still, his breath locking in his chest as he was overcome with an inexplicable sensation of fear.

"Does this disturb you?" he asked as levelly as he could manage.

Isabella wondered if he realized how transparent he was in that moment. Sometimes Jacob seemed to forget that she was always a part of his thoughts. He was practically terrified that she disliked the idea of having a child with him.

"Well, frankly it does," she began, turning her face away so she could conceal her smile of mischief.

"I see."

"I'm glad that you do. It's unthinkable and I expect you to remedy the situation."

Jacob was speechless. He felt his heart turning over painfully in his breast.

Then she turned back, her eyes bright with merriment "So how do Demons get married anyway?"

Jacob sucked in a breath at last, his skin flushing with the sensation of rapid-fire emotional tidal waves.

"Isabella …" he said, his tone dangerously full of reprimand. "Isabella Russ, are you teasing me?"

"Why no, Jacob," she declared, all innocence. "I was asking you to make an honest woman of me. If you think that's some kind of a joke, then I think it's time I went home."

She made as if to get off the bed, but he grabbed hold of her and tossed her back down into the softness of the comforter, looming over her dangerously.

"I am going to thrash you," he hissed, giving her a shake by the shoulders. "You delight in torturing me!"

"No more or less than you have delighted in torturing me!"

"Isabella!" He growled her name but ended it with a laugh he couldn't hope to contain.

"So are you going to answer me or not?"

"Did you ask me a question?" he rejoined.

"I believe I asked you to marry me."

"Ah … well, I do not recall you getting down on one knee or anything," he retorted.

"Look, I may be a modern woman, but that's going too far. Next you'll be wanting a diamond ring."

"Actually, I look better in emeralds," he chuckled.

"I'm sure. Listen, Enforcer, I don't have all night."

"In that case, Enforcer," he returned, "I should tell you that Demons do not have a marriage ceremony like you would expect."

"Of course not," she said dryly, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure whatever it is, it's pretentious and full of intensity. That is, after all, the Demon way."

"Yes, very droll of us." His expression changed, his dark eyes swimming with seriousness. "So much has happened to you in so short a time, Bella. How is it you seem so sure of this?"

"Jacob," she said softly, "how can I be anything but sure? You're my special destiny. I don't need a prophecy or anything else to dictate that to me." She reached up, running her searching fingers lightly over the shape and planes of his face. "My soul belongs with yours. Your heart belongs with mine. I feel this with every molecule of my being. I felt it the moment I saw some idiot walking down a dark street in the Bronx during the scariest hours of the night."

"Mmm. I love you too," he murmured, smiling against her mouth and kissing her until she was too breathless to tease him anymore. He settled into her body, fitting himself to her with unerring ease. She was made for him, and it could be felt in every place she came into contact with him. "I have lived a life that has seen and experienced a great many things," he whispered, his voice hoarse with the intensity of his emotion, ‘hut until I met you I never knew what it meant to love a woman the way I know I love you. I cannot promise that to stay with me will be an easy thing. There is much uncertainty in both of our futures."

"I know, Jacob. I know this is no fairy tale. Happily ever after, while an appealing idea, is too much pressure for me anyway. We'll still argue, I'll still be too stubborn for words, and I'll no doubt drive you completely insane. But I'll make up for it by loving you to the best of my ability."

"I will continue to be hard on myself and I will get your back up on a regular basis, no doubt. I will most likely foul up with you with horrifying regularity because I am not very experienced in how to have a love relationship. I have been alone for so long, little flower, and I am afraid it will serve to trip me up quite often. But I will make up for it, Isabella, because I love you beyond even the best of my ability." Jacob smiled slightly, reaching to catch her sudden tears with his thumb. "I did not intend to make you cry, Bella."

"I can't help it. My heart"—she rubbed her palm hard over the spot where the mentioned organ was housed—"I feel like it will burst"

"How odd, little flower. Since I met you, my heart has done nothing but grow to make very certain it can accommodate you." He bent his head to her, kissing her gently, and then moved away, standing up and taking her hands to pull her from the bed. "Come, there is something we must do."

"What?"

"You will see."

Noah looked up when he heard footsteps on the stairs. He felt an alien sensation of anxiety when he saw his Enforcers descending toward him. Immediately he pushed it away, reminding himself that Isabella would never intentionally harm him or anyone else. Still, he stood up out of some deep-seated instinct, a need to meet her on his feet.

As soon as they came within his reach, Isabella dropped to her knees in front of him, her lovely violet eyes brimming with remorse as she took hold of his hand and pressed it to her cheek with great emotion.

"Forgive me, Noah," she begged in a whisper.

Noah felt his heart turn over and instantly regretted all the feelings his fear had engendered within him. He dropped to one knee and turned her eyes up to his.

"There is nothing to forgive, little Enforcer," he told her gently. He glanced up to look at Jacob, reading the gratitude in his expression quite clearly. "All you need do to repay me, Isabella, is continue to make this Demon, who is so like a brother to me, as happy as I have never seen him until your arrival."

Jacob drew in a soft, quick breath. He'd never thought he meant that much to Noah.

"There is no repentance in doing something that gives me so much pleasure, Noah," she said to Jacob's King. Her fingers circled his wrist affectionately, the touch meant to replace her natural impulse to hug him, which she knew would be upsetting to her possessive mate. "But I can swear to you that I will always be yours to call on for anything you need. I'll always be completely loyal to you, second only to Jacob and my sister."

"Come." Noah regained his feet, drawing her up to hers. "You have said enough. I am content. I will not stand for you to concern yourself over this accident a moment longer."

Jacob then stepped up, taking his mate's free hand and glancing at her. The Enforcers simultaneously lowered themselves to kneel before the King once more. Side by side, hand in hand, they looked up at Noah in perfect unison. Noah felt his chest constrict with overwhelming pleasure.

"My King," Jacob began, his voice low but passionate as he spoke the words of a ritual more ancient than time, "we ask your blessing. Give your loyal servants permission to be joined on the night of the full moon, as my parents were joined, as yours were joined, so that as a completed pair, our power and our loyalty can serve you and all of our kind for all of our lives."

"My King," Isabella echoed softly, her beautiful eyes brimming with tears, "we ask your blessing. Give your loyal servants permission to be joined on the night of the full moon, so that as a completed pair, we can provide Demonkind with its future generation. I swear they will be as loyal to you as I am, as their father is, for that is how we will raise them."

Noah stood silently before them, trying to work past the emotions that held him in thrall. He'd never thought to see this day, this day when Jacob would kneel before him, his dark head bowed close to that of the woman who would be his wife. Though she wasn't Demon, Jacob had fed her the ritual words, and Isabella had spoken them with all of her heart behind them.

"Enforcers," he said at last, his hands reaching to settle warmly on their bent heads, "my blessing is yours. I only ask one thing."

They looked up simultaneously.

"Allow your King to perform the ceremony, for I could not tolerate it if anyone else tended to the union."

Jacob was rendered completely speechless. Noah had only joined one other couple in his reign, and that had been his sister Hannah and her mate. The honor he was giving them was an astounding one. Isabella read Jacob's reaction loud and clear, understood immediately the significance of Noah's offer, and sobbed softly under the magnitude of her gratitude. Uncaring of any further protocols, Isabella gained her feet and literally threw herself into Noah's embrace.

"Thank you! Noah, thank you so much!" she wept, kissing his cheek soundly. The King, looking quite baffled as he flushed under her exuberant affection, instinctively hugged his new Enforcer. After her tight clutch went on a minute more, he chuckled and looked at Jacob, who'd also risen to his feet.

"Enforcer, peel your bride off of me before she drowns me in her tears," he laughed.

Jacob stepped up and did so, taking his emotional Isabella into his arms, securing her against his body.

"You honor me, Noah. We accept wholeheartedly," Jacob said.

"I got that impression," Noah chuckled. "So, Isabella, you have two days to plan a wedding." He paused to yawn, and he saw Bella go suddenly rigid in Jacob's arms.

"More importantly," she said bitterly, "I have two days to learn how to keep from making my guests pass out."

"Well," Noah responded easily, "it seems that the effect is limited to those standing very close to you, at the moment. So I would imagine you need to worry more about keeping your groom conscious."

"Come, little flower, let us seek Elijah out. I wish for him to attend the wedding as well."

"Not yet." She stayed him with a hand on his chest. "I have one other apology to make."

She reached to kiss his cheek lightly, then broke from his hold and headed up the stairs, turning at the landing to head for Legna's room.