Bonded

Chapter 3

Jake and I sat on complete opposite sides of the bed just staring at each other. My back was up against the headboard as much as I could while he was sitting on the old wooden footboard. We hadn't said anything in hours...with our mouths.

What do we do now? He thought.

I shrugged. I don't really know. I mean...you're in my head. Should we find Billy? Old Quil?

And say what? We accidentally Bonded in a drunken hookup.

I flinched. A drunken hookup. I guess that's one way of describing the best sex I've ever had. The way he kissed me was electric, his touch set my soul on fire, and...it was just a drunken hookup. I looked down and let my dark brown hair fall into my face. Who was I kidding? Jacob couldn't actually love someone like me. Angry and cynical and obviously easy to get in bed.

"Whoa, what just happened?" he asked me, sliding to my end of the bed. I pulled my legs to my chest, making myself as small as possible. "Lee, you just shut down on me. Talk to me. What just happened?" He tried to pry one of my arms from around my toned, tan legs, but I wouldn't budge. He sighed and slumped against the wooden headboard. "I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that...I got caught up in how amazing you are. I didn't want my first time with Leah Clearwater to be like this."

"Be like what, Jacob? A drunken hookup?"

"Well...yeah!" he snorted. I could hear him try to figure out what to say next. Everything running through his mind was a mixture between what happened three hours ago, how to tell me that he was actually interested in me, and what the fuck we were going to do next. He was panicking...and horny. My own tits kept flashing into my brain through his. They look better through his eyes, if I'm being totally honest. I relaxed my body and apologized for being cold. "We're going to figure out what this means, Leah. I just...I don't want you to think that I think this was a mistake."

"I don't think that though! I..." trailing off, I bit my bottom lip. Everything had always been hypothetical up until this point. I still didn't think I was ready for any of this. Especially when all I could think about was this man that was sitting right next to me. I took a second to really appreciate Jacob and his body. The pecs, the abs—there were eight of them—, the V that lead just down into his...

A rush of voices flooded my head. It was a scramble of drunk thoughts all at once. I gasped and clutched my head and Jacob let out of guttural noise. What in the fuck was happening? My eyes popped open and I was bombarded with every image in the minds of drunk wolves as I heard them pile themselves into Jacob and Billy's tiny living room. The faces of the imprints, sex, alcohol, thoughts of patrols; they were all hitting me at once like a wrecking ball. Jacob covered his ears and rolled until he fell on the ground with a giant thud. Then it was quiet downstairs. Everyone was wondering what the hell that noise was. I rushed to the bedroom door to lock it. No one could know that we were up here together, and no one could know what was happening with both of us.

As wolves, we're in each other's heads, but it's never this intense. Everything is heightened. I can feel everything that each person in the pack is feeling right now.

"Yo, Jake! You up there?" Paul's voice rang out at the bottom of the stairs. Jake groaned on the floor before finding the energy to stand up. He held his finger up to his lips and I nodded. I put my head in my hands and quietly walked to sit on his bed again. Steps came pounding up the stairs and before long, there was a knock.

Tell him to go away! I said to him. He nodded. "Yo, I'll be down in a second, bro! Can y'all clear out of my house though so my dad can get some rest?"

"Oh yeah, for sure! I'll tell everyone downstairs." Paul's steps faded as he trotted back down the stairs and told everyone to get lost. Slowly, but surely, the searing pain of everyone's thoughts faded. Jacob and I both took a deep breath as the world became quiet once again. Sweet, sweet quiet.