Been Dazed and Confused for so long it’s not true.

Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.

Lots of people talkin’, few of them know

Soul of a woman was created below.

~By Led Zeppelin~

Pete drove up the winding driveway slowly, taking in the many changes he could see to the Cullen property since the last time he’d been to visit. There were many, and not all of them good. It looked as though the place had been abandoned, but that was impossible. It had only been two months since he’d spoken to his maker and brother, Jasper and they had all been right here in good ol’ Forks, living high on the…… deer? Yeah. He shuddered. Deer.

Shaking his head at his thoughts, he decided to dismiss them for now and sat back in his seat, giving his truck a little more gas to hurry the trip along.

Finally making it to the main house, his brows rose as he took in the weather beaten lines of police tape that still clung to the railing of the porch, and the undeniable signs that the place had been abandoned.

Windows were broken, weeds were popping up everywhere, the place declining rapidly in the absence of its caretakers.

It was now pretty damn obvious that a big “Aw, shit” had taken place here, and he wondered at the nature of it.

Why hadn’t his brother contacted him? He was usually pretty good about that, especially if they were moving for some reason or another.

Shrugging to himself, he decided to investigate the place and hopped out of his truck, closing the door with a quiet click.

Approaching the steps to the front deck, he caught the heavy scent of old human blood and his brows rose into his hairline. It wasn’t like the Cullen’s to leave something like that to be found and judging by the police tape, it had most definitely been found. He could see where it had pooled on the main deck before running down the steps to form a small puddle in the gravel of the driveway.

Using his expertise, (he survives on the shit after all) he concluded by the amount of blood, that someone had died on that deck. Yeah, most definitely not in the Cullen’s repertoire.

Gazing around the property again, his curiosity got the better of him and he made his way to a side door to enter the house. He shrugged to himself. He might as well, since he was already here. Why come all this way and leave the mystery unexplored?

Giving the knob a small twist, the lock snapped easily and he pushed the door open, the slightly musty smell of abandoned house assailing his nose as he entered the kitchen, the door closing quietly behind him.

He looked around, noting as he passed through, the thin layer of undisturbed dust that blanketed every flat surface.

Finally spotting the entryway that led to the staircase and the living room, he headed that way, intending to check out the living room next.

What he found lounging on the railing of the stairs, legs crossed at the knees, smirk in place as she eyed his surprised visage, had him freezing in his tracks.

It was a girl. No, scratch that. It was a gorgeous young woman. At least she had been a woman at one point, he was sure.

What astonished him were the giant black wings that sprouted from her back, the tips making patterns in the dust on the floor behind her as she balanced on the railing.

“Well, hello there Handsome.”   She held up a cigarette. “You wouldn’t happen to have a light, would you?”

Pete, still stunned into silence as he was, dug his trusty zippo out of his pocket, flipped the lid back and deftly lit her cigarette, watching as she took a deep drag, closing her eyes in relief.

“Jesus, that’s good.” Her red eyes snapped open, meeting his gaze as she spoke. “You’d think, if they’re gonna kick you out of Hell, they’d have the decency to send you on your way with a few fucking essentials, right? I was lucky enough to get a pack of cigs off the last criminal I drank, but did the asshole have a lighter? Fuck no.”

She gestured to the wings on her back. “I can’t exactly walk into the local convenience store and pick one up either. Not with this kinda baggage hanging off my back anyway. Damned inconvenient they are. I figured I could risk it around Halloween, ya know? Seeing as how they’d just think it was a costume? Pfft. I ended up knocking down the entire fucking Hostess display. Pissed off the guy behind the counter so bad that he wouldn’t sell me anything, and kicked my ass out after chewing me out in arabic.”

She took a drag, narrowing her eyes as she blew out the smoke. “At least I think it was arabic.” She shrugged. “I could be wrong. I’m not exactly a linguist.”

She eyed Pete then, smirking at his frozen form.

“Speaking of language, do you possess that ability, or have I broken you beyond repair? Will a couple of whacks on the back help unstick you vampire?”

Pete literally shook himself at that point, trying desperately to wrap his mind around the reality of a fallen angel, sitting here smoking a cigarette in front of him.

He looked down for a moment, taking a deep breath, resolved to just accept what he was seeing and go with it. He nodded to himself. Why the fuck not?

He looked up into her still smirking face and stuck his hand out. “Peter Whitlock, good to meet you.”

She took his hand, giving it a slight shake. “Bella Swan, or at least I used to be.” She shrugged. “I guess names carry over. Might as well. No one else is gonna use it.”

He nodded. “So, how’d you come to be here Bella Swan?” He nodded toward the front of the house. “That wasn’t your show out on the front deck was it?”

She chuckled darkly. “Yeah, that was me. Pathetic teen angst at its pinnacle.”

She met his eyes. “He didn’t want me anymore, so life wasn’t worth living, blah blah blah. I’m sure you’ve heard the story a thousand times.”

She spread her wings and hopped down off the railing, moving to stand in front of the gorgeous male vampire, caressing his solidly muscled chest as she continued.

“I thought that he was it, ya know? So, after he and his family left, I came here and decided to make a statement while, at the same time, end my so-called suffering. Two birds, one stone and all that shit.”

She chuckled. “What I didn’t bargain for is that I would end up in Hell. Didn’t factor in getting booted from Hell either, condemned to wander this fucking rock for the rest of eternity, only now I have these beauties on my back to drag around too.”

She eyed Peter. “You wanna know the real kicker?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the rail she had been sitting on. “Sure.”

She smiled ruefully. “The big kicker is that he didn’t bother going to my funeral and he hasn’t even been to see the fucking stain that I made on the deck. Now what kind of a statement did I make with what I did? It’s obvious that none of it meant anything to him, so……yeah. Not exactly a well thought out plan on my part, was it?”

He shook his head slowly. “No, I’d say it wasn’t.”

She pulled out the cigarette pack shaking one out and offering him one, which he took. Pulling out his lighter, he lit hers first and then his own, stowing the lighter as she leaned on the rail next to him.

“So what’s your story Peter Whitlock? What are you doing here?”

Blowing out smoke as he examined the glowing cherry on the end of his cigarette, he answered. “I came to see my brother, Jasper. Well, he’s actually my maker, but he’s always been like a brother to me.” He shrugged one shoulder as he met her gaze.

She nodded. “Yeah, now that you mention it, I can hear the similarities in the way you both speak. It’s slight, but it’s there.”

He laughed bitterly. “Yeah, he used to have a thicker accent that I do, but the magic eight ball made him get rid of it, as well as he could anyway. It’s kinda hard to shake a southern accent completely after havin’ it for more than a hundred years, ya know?”

She nodded, then shook her head, getting lost in a memory for a moment. “Fucking Alice.”

He watched as her expression darkened as she stared off into the middle distance.

“Not a fan of the mighty mite?” He bumped her shoulder.

She laughed and then met his eyes, mirth shining in the red depths. “That’s a definite no.”

They both flipped their cigarette butts out the nearest broken window at the same time and looked at each other in surprise before laughing quietly.

She nudged him with her foot. “So, you came to see Jasper. He obviously didn’t let you know they had blown this joint, over two months ago now, by the way. Are you really that close?”

His face darkened and she felt like shit for asking such a personal question. Laying a hand on his bicep, she met his eyes. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked such a thing. It’s none of my business after all.”

Giving her a wan smile, he shook his head. “Nah, it’s okay. Don’t really matter. Seems like I’ve been tryin’ to keep up the relationship between us all this time and he could do with or without it, ya know?” He shrugged and looked off in the distance, sadness in his eyes.

“Maybe it’s time I quit trying so hard.”

Something in his expression struck Bella, tightening her chest and choking her with emotion, the urge to comfort him almost overwhelming, so she went with it.

Turning toward him, she cupped his cheek and leaned in, capturing his lips in a sweet kiss.

Pete was touched by the gentleness of her lips on his and the emotion he could feel behind it. It had been so long since anyone had cared to comfort him and he basked in it as his arms encircled her, pulling her close as he deepened the kiss.

She moaned lowly as he licked and sucked at her plump bottom lip, opening for him, inviting him in as her body molded itself to his, her arms encircling his neck as her hands played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

Their tongues played together, tasting and tangling, exploring thoroughly as lips sucked and nipped.

Wrapping a leg around his waist, Bella could feel his hardness as it teased her aching center and she tilted her hips, searching for some relief as she sucked his luscious bottom lip in, nipping it with her fang as he groaned.

She backed off to see his eyes. “The couch.”, she breathed out as she reached for the fastenings to his jeans, working the button and zipper with deft fingers as he backed toward the drape covered sofa.

Throwing off the drape, he sat just as she had pushed his jeans and boxers down, his cock standing out hard and thick and proud as he sat back, watching her remove his jeans the rest of the way.

She moved toward him then and he shook his head. “Your turn beautiful. I wanna see and feel you when I fuck you. I wanna watch that beautiful form ride my cock.”

He removed his shirt quickly and she almost moaned at the picture he made, perfectly muscled and proportioned as he was, lounging back on the sofa, his gorgeous cock hard and ready for her.

Licking her lips, she closed her eyes for a moment as she undressed, tearing the shirt off from around her wings.

He grabbed her hand and drew her to him when she was bare, laving her nipple with his tongue before sucking on it deeply as his hands roamed her body, caressing her back and ass as he took his fill of her beautiful breasts, sucking and teasing both dusty pink buds to hardened peaks.

Lifting her to straddle his lap, he moved one hand slowly up the inside of her thigh as she held his head to her chest, his mouth and tongue still busy sucking and nipping.

He entered her soaking center with two long fingers, smiling around her hardened peak as she moaned his name loudly when he circled her clit with his thumb.

“Oh, Pete, please……….I’m ready, please.”

He shook his head, mumbling out against her moistened peak, “Nah baby girl. You’re gonna cum ‘fore I fuck ya. That’s my rule darlin’ and I always stick to it.”

He continued on, sucking a nipple in deeply as his fingers found a spot within her, curling up and pressing as she gasped in shock and pleasure, back arching as she came on his hand. The grip around his fingers was impressive. He couldn’t wait to have that tight heat wrapped around his aching cock and toward that end, he lifted her by her waist and lowered her down, sliding in slowly as she stretched around him, her hands on his shoulders as she groaned in pained pleasure. “Oh god Pete, it hurts, but you feel so fucking good too.”

He nodded into her neck. “That pain’ll go away real soon baby and then it’s off to the races, so hold on to me, got it? You’re in for the ride of a lifetime darlin’.”

He grinned up at her as she nodded.

Planting his feet solidly on the floor, he held her as he began to thrust into her solidly, all the way to his base with each stroke, her head rolling back as her back arched, moans and pants escaping her kiss swollen lips, her wings unfurling completely in her pleasure.

It was the most erotic thing that Pete had ever seen and he groaned at the pleasure of the dual stimulation.

“Come for me sweetheart. Come with me now baby.”

He felt her tighten around him as he plunged himself as far in as he could, his cock pulsing as he filled her.

Pulling her close, he sank his fangs into her neck marking her as his, his growl of possession low and deep in his chest.

Her head rolled forward onto his shoulder as she struggled to catch her breath, her lips finding his neck to place gentle kisses as a purr sounded from her for the very first time.

They both came back to themselves moments later, their gazes meeting as they realized the profound meaning behind what had just taken place between them.

They had just mated for eternity and joy overtook them as they exchanged a sweet kiss.

Bella felt something then, her back tingling as she gasped at the sensation. Bolting upright, she stared in shock over her shoulder at the absence of the bulky wings she had been cursed with.

She looked back at Pete, her expression stunned surprise. “They’re gone!”

She laughed. “They’re gone! She turned in his lap to show him and he nodded as he traced a perfect tattoo of a pair of wings that now covered her back.

She turned back to him, kissing him sweetly as he caressed her face with gentle fingers.

He held her face to his, whispering against her lips. “What do you say we get dressed and get the hell outta here?

We’ll go anywhere baby, just you and me.”

Nodding against his forehead with a smile, she answered just as quietly.

“Yeah.

That sounds pretty fucking good to me.”

~Fin