Kassiah, my fic wife, my lovely one, thank you so much for everything you have done for me. From the beautiful blog, to FGB2, to the love and support and friendship you have shown me; I am eternally grateful.
I know you wanted an AU as the 40k story, and while this certainly isn't that long, it's a hint, a snipit, a taste and it's just for you on your birthday. I hope you enjoy it. You are such an amazing person, I'm so glad I've had the chance to get to know you beyond the fandom.
“Remind me again why I’m doing this?” Edward asks his sister as he glares at his reflection in the mirror.
Alice adjusts the collar of his shirt. “Because we were invited, it’s at night, it’s a costume party and,” Alice holds up a finger to stop Edward from interrupting, “just because you’re fine with being an emo social outcast does not mean I want to follow in your footsteps.”
As a means to get out of going to the party Edward throws out the one and only card he has.
"But what if that human . . ."
Of course, Alice already knows what he's going to ask, so she holds out a hand to stop him. "Don't bother, I told you that the situation with Bella is going to work itself out." Alice stresses Bella's name, well aware that Edward refrains from using it, as though not acknowledging her as a person makes his obsession with her less apparent. "Besides, I'm sure you have a handle on that," Alice says sarcastically, not bothering to cover up the the thoughts she doesn't vocalize. Lord knows you've spent enough time around her to desensitize yourself.
"I'm pretty sure I don't have a handle on it actually," Edward mutters, thinking about the last psych lecture he attended, which was also the last time he's seen or smelled the loveliest torment in the century of his existence.
It's been almost five days since his last encounter with Bella and his skin itches at the very notion that he likely won't see her until Monday, unless by some miracle she appears on his front door wrapped in a bow with a sign that says 'Bite Me' on her chest. He had sat in the row directly behind her, testing his tolerance and his endurance by being two feet away from her for over an hour. It had been seventy minutes of pure, unadulterated torture, not only because her blood made his throat feel as though he was swallowing flames, but also because he had spent the entire time trying to hide a massive erection. While he sadly didn't have much experience with women, vampire or human, he was typically able to get his bodily reactions under control, but not this time. He ached from the moment he arrived until the moment he left the lecture theatre.
Eight weeks ago, Edward had stepped foot in his second year psych class. It had gone well, despite the fact that all of the information had been rather repetitive for him. As he was gathering his books, a scent unlike any he had ever encountered had wafted over to him. Venom had pooled in his mouth as his muscles coiled in preparation for the hunt. His immediate response had been to fall into a crouch, ready to pounce on the owner of the disturbingly luscious blood and sink his teeth into that very unlucky soul. Fortunately, Alice had shown up seconds before he could commit a hideous act of murder in front of hundreds of unsuspecting humans.
Since that first nearly tragic encounter, he had spent the past two months seeking out the source of his torture and building up a tolerance to the lovely scent of her blood. He discovered her name was Bella Swan and that she was a psychology major in her second year. She drank chai tea lattes and ate stale cinnamon hearts. Edward loved to listen to the sound of her masticating, which usually made him feel nauseous when it was any other human. She also wore an electric blue bra under her black shirts, the strap of which occasionally taunted Edward and his imagination.
"You should just introduce yourself to her," Alice suggests as she roots through her make-up bag.
"I already know her name. I don't need to introduce myself," Edward grumbles, shielding his face as Alice pulls an eyeliner out of the bag. "And you're not putting that crap on me."
"Talking to her would probably help a lot with that whole getting to know her thing," Alice suggests. "Besides you're dying to know what's going on in that head of hers."
Edward can't deny that she's right. Bella's heinously tantalizing blood is not the only part of her that fascinates him. The silence of her mind does nothing to help assuage his growing obsession with her and her heavenly blood, not to mention what she does to his newly discovered sex drive.
"She's human, Alice," Edward replies balefully. "How the hell is getting to know her going to help absolve me of the guilt I'll feel when I end up sucking her dry?"
He glares at his reflection in the mirror, wishing for once in his undead life that he didn't pose a serious threat to the humans he pretended to be like. Upon leaving his second year biology lab on Tuesday evening the familiar, tortuously mouthwatering scent had assaulted him with a force he'd not yet experienced. Fortunately for Bella, Emmett was with him. He prevented Edward from going after the girl by dragging him into the woods and escorting him home by his throat despite Edward's many death threats. Once home he'd learned that Bella Swan, possessor of gorgeous smelling blood, had cut herself on broken glass, nearly undoing seventy plus years of abstinence for Edward.
Because of the bleeding-Bella-incident, Edward had refused to attend class for the remainder of the week, requesting to accompany Carlisle to a three day medical conference, citing that it would be more interesting than attending courses he could teach himself. Carlisle had hardly been fooled, but he had allowed Edward to come along, provided he resumed classes the Monday following Halloween. Edward had agreed, despite the fact that he was worried about his reaction to Bella and her luscious blood. He had hoped that over time he would adjust to her mindbendingly gorgeous scent, but that wasn't happening as quickly as he would have liked.
While she was only in one of his classes, and they didn't have a reason to speak to each other as they were in different seminars for the course, he worried that she might have another accident in his presence. For example, she could walk by him and inadvertently fall in such a way that would bring her lovely neck in contact with his dangerously sharp teeth, or she could bite a hangnail. Either way, the potential outcome terrified him. He had been quite concerned that if exposed to that heavenly scent again, he would not have the restraint necessary to prevent himself from sucking the human girl dry.
The night Edward had smelled her fresh blood Emmett had taken him hunting and Edward had gorged himself on three mountain lions and two deer. Edward had been quite shaken by the experience, but when he and Emmett had returned home, his family had down played the incident -- Alice more so than the others. No matter how hard he'd probed her mind she had remained impassive, telling him that regardless of the way he responded to this girl, to Bella, he wouldn't kill her.
Edward felt very differently about the matter, mostly because he'd been spending endless hours fantasizing about how he would like to sink his teeth into her paper thin skin and suck the life right out of her warm little body. Conversely, he had also begun to indulge in other fantasies, ones where he wouldn't just use her as a meal. Those particular fantasies often ended with some self-exploration of the masturbatory kind.
In addition to acts of self-pleasuring, Edward had also begun exploring the possibility of actually touching her with his hands -- not to subdue her so can kill her, but because he genuinely wants to know what her skin feels like beneath his fingertips. The constant battle between the desire to use her as a feed bag and a place to temporarily house his penis made the idea of actually talking to Bella seem impossible. He had no idea how men did it on a regular basis; talk to women, that is.
Regardless, now that the desire was there, Edward found himself running a bath rather than taking a shower and filling it with bubbles so he can practice touching them without breaking them. He can't even begin to imagine the ridicule he would endure if Emmett ever found out.
“Would you like to tell me a little bit about your human who's throwing this party?” Edward combs Alice’s mind for images of the human in question, but comes up against a wall. Alice is blocking him, which is an issue in and of itself.
“Just a girl from my one of my classes,” Alice replies flippantly.
Apparently during his time at the conference, Alice's penchant for human experiences had reached a new level of bizarre, and she had acquired a friend of the homo sapien variety. While Alice has always enjoyed human experiences, taking on a human friend is a first for her, and Edward is slightly concerned about this new development. How close could Alice really get to a human anyway? he thinks dismissively. It isn't like they aren't used to being in the presence of humans; Edward just doesn't want them to be any closer to him than absolutely necessary.
"What aren't you telling me?" Edward asks, not fooled in the slightest by her nonchalant demeanour. "And more importantly, why are you blocking me?"
“Because it’s annoying having you in my head all the damn time,” Alice mutters and fiddles with Edward's hair, not meeting his penetrating gaze as she stares at his forehead.
“Honestly, Alice, I have no idea why you are so fascinated by humans. Other than the fact that they smell good, they're not all that interesting,” Edward grumbles as his mind turns immediately to the memory of his classmate's superior smelling blood and her infuriatingly intriguing silent mind.
Alice raises an eyebrow at him, knowing full well the extent of Edward's current fascination regarding one human in particular.
Edward senses the direction Alice's thoughts are moving in, and he changes the subject abruptly as he eyes his reflection in the mirror with disdain. "Do you mind telling me why I'm dressed as a walking cliche and you're dressed as . . . whatever the hell you're dressed as?"
"I think you look great." Alice snickers and slips something into the pocket of his white shirt before she ties a black cape around his neck.
"I look like an idiot," he mutters as he glances down to find out what Alice has given him.
"Trust me Edward, this is the perfect costume for you," Alice replies, hiding a smile as Edward's eyes widen when he discovers what she has placed in his pocket.
"You know, I seriously doubt Carlisle and Esme would approve of this," he flicks the foil square at her.
Alice catches it and hides it behind her back. "Seriously, Edward? I'm pretty sure at this point Carlisle and Esme would buy you a hooker if vampires were in the trade," she mutters.
Edward blinks at her, his mouth agape. "I find that highly unlikely," he stammers, feeling rather fortunate that he's unable to blush.
"Well, maybe not Esme, but Carlisle probably would." Alice grins as she spins around, tucking it into his wallet instead.
"Hardly," Edward scoffs. "Besides, I have far too much self-respect to sleep with a prostitute. Also, why in the world would I need a condom? I can't get diseases, and I can't get a girl pregnant, and I'm not about to have casual sex with a human girl." An image of Bella underneath him, naked and writhing and moaning slams into his brain before he can regain control of his imagination. It ends with him sinking his teeth into the pulsing, throbbing vein in her neck. He shakes his head, disturbed that his mind keeps taking him in that direction. "Even if I did, I would probably kill her in the process, and then we would have to move," he mutters irritably.
"Who are you going to kill?" Emmett asks as he strolls through the door attached to the garage.
"Why does he get to be the Hulk, and I have to look like an idiot?" Edward avoids answering the question and motions at Emmett's awesome costume while glaring at Alice in exasperation.
"Because you are an idiot." Emmett shrugs.
"Who's an idiot?" Jasper comes down the stairs dressed in all black, his hair dyed to match.
"Who the hell are you supposed to be?" Edward does a double take as he takes in Jasper's ridiculous costume.
"Edward Scissorhands." Jasper winks at Edward.
"What?" Edward gapes at him. "Why couldn't I be Edward Scissorhands? Are those real scissors?" Edward takes a closer look at Jasper's costume.
"Uh, yeah," Jasper replies. His tone is such that it sounds like he is implying that Edward is stupid for asking.
"You do realize that humans bleed when they get cut with sharp objects, don't you?" Edward motions to Jasper's hands, rolling his eyes. Edward imagines himself dressed up as Edward Scissorhands. Of course, then he imagines cutting Bella by accident and making her bleed her glorious crimson heaven. Then he kills her.
"Surprise, surprise, Edward is bitching about something," Rosalie says from the kitchen doorway.
"Surprise, surprise, you're dressed up as a brainless bimbo," Edward snaps at her.
He narrowly avoids a punch to the head from Emmett who is not above defending his wife's integrity with physical violence.
Rose smiles. "Not just any brainless bimbo, Edward. I'm Malibu Barbie." She flips him the bird and heads for the front door. "And I'll remember you said that the next time your Aston takes a crap on you. Are we ready to go?"
Edward sighs in resignation, knowing that no matter how much he provokes his siblings tonight, he's not going to be left behind. There is a flurry of action as the two couples head toward their respective vehicles. Edward pulls the keys to his Volvo from his pocket; he wants to have an easy escape should he find the party as unentertaining as he expects it to be.
"No way buddy." Jasper slings his arm over Edward's shoulder, his scissor hand stroking at Edward's cheek. "You're coming with us."
Edward swats the hand away but doesn't bother to argue when Jasper's thoughts ring out loud and clear. And don't you dare act like an emo bitch tonight. Alice has her heart set on this party, and there is no way in hell I'm letting you ruin it for her, got it?
"Whatever you say, boss," Edward says only loud enough for Jasper to hear.
He means it. Edward never had the experience of going to a Halloween party as a human, although the early twentieth century was hardly a time for celebration what with the first world war and massive poverty. He doubts he would have taken the opportunity to dress up as a fictional character and act like an idiot whilst consuming alcohol when he was alive, even if it had been an option for him. He won't begrudge Alice this human experience, though.
Edward looks at his reflection in the window, finding it rather ironic that he is dressed as the monster he is. He also finds it laughable that people dress up as vampires for Halloween as though they are mythical creatures. To entertain himself, he attempts to pick his way into Alice's brain, intent on getting something out of her pertaining to this party. He has an uneasy feeling about it. He gets a glimpse of a red dress before an image of a scantily-clad Tanya, their slutty 'cousin' who has tried to seduce him on multiple occasions, replaces it.
"Jesus," Edward mutters.
"Well, stay the hell out of my head if you don't like what you find there," Alice retorts.
Edward crosses his arms over his chest and huffs, remaining silent for the remainder of the ride.
When they arrive at the house, Edward frowns. It's decorated like it's straight out of a Gothic horror movie. "Are we going on a murder spree this evening?" Edward asks dryly, sniffing the air. For a moment he swears he can smell the girl who is both the bane of his existence and his new obsession.
"Keep your teeth to yourself tonight, Edward." Alice turns around and throws a pair of fake vampire teeth at him. They ricochet off his forehead and land on the floor.
"Har-har, Alice." Edward kicks at the back of Jasper's seat so he can get out of the car.
Heavy rock beats pound out of the house. Edward scans the backyard, recognizing a few of the faces of the classmates he's never spoken to. There is clearly alcohol at this party, because many of the people wandering around are already slurring their words. In addition, thoughts of sex and lurid images bombard Edward as he takes in his surroundings.
"This is going to be a blast," he sighs, trying to keep the most disturbing of the thoughts at bay. Drunk people tend to have vivid and loud imaginations.
Edward never had the opportunity to get drunk as a human, and he doubts that he would have enjoyed the experience much. His observations of inebriated individuals leave a lot to be desired. Most people make enormous asses out of themselves and end up regretting it the following day, at least from what he can tell.
Edward trails behind his four siblings as they make their way toward the house. He stuffs his hands in his pockets and keeps his eyes on the ground, not wanting to draw more attention to himself than is absolutely necessary.
It's an impossibility, however; the unnatural beauty of the people he is with makes them stand out even as they attempt to blend in with costumes. A very drunk frat boy approaches them with a beer in one hand, the other stuffed in his pocket.
"Dude, that costume rocks!" he yells at Jasper, even though he is two feet away from him. He pulls his hand from his pocket and raises it in the air as if to give Jasper a high five.
"Uh, probably not the best plan." Jasper smiles wryly at him and wiggles his scissor fingers.
"Oh, yeah." The guy, whose thoughts are a jumbled, scattered mess frowns as the blades snip at the air. He blinks and stumbles backward, his body removing him from the danger his mind is too slow to sense.
Edward continues to survey the backyard, and he comes to the conclusion that, for college women, a Halloween party means that they are able to walk around scantily clad without being called nasty names.
"Why are all the girls here half-dressed?" he mutters.
"Why do you sound like you're complaining?" Emmett retorts. He begins imagining Rose in some of the skimpier outfits, making Edward cringe in disgust. Emmett's mind is definitely the most vivid of his family members, although Esme's is a close and unlikely second.
"Can you please stop?" he hisses irritably.
"No one invited you in." Emmett taps his temple.
"It's like you're screaming your fantasies in my head, you ass," Edward tells him.
Emmett shrugs and points out a woman who is dressed like a slutty Catholic school girl, complete with pigtails and cherry Tootsie pop. Edward shudders and looks away as she begins to mentally undress Emmett, and then Rosalie.
When they reach the front of the house, they find the doors wide open, people stumbling out into the backyard with red plastic cups of dark liquid. Edward is extraordinarily careful to keep his distance from the humans lest their lack of coordination causes them to stumble into him, which would be like running into a boulder.
A familiar scent wafts through the air, causing Edward to groan and his mouth to fill instantly with venom. He looks around the yard, searching for the body that belongs to the enticing scent but cannot find the source.
The closer he gets to the house, the more venom pools in his mouth. As soon as he enters the foyer, his throat erupts into flames as his thirst blossoms, his veins running dry even though he fed excessively in preparation for the evening. "Oh God, she's here." He inhales greedily, feeling drunk on the heavenly scent with the first breath he takes.
His eyes flutter closed as he lets the familiar smell take over his senses. While debilitating in it's potency, it's soft and heady, like wildflowers and ocean air. It's sweet like honey and warm like sunshine, and there's a tang to it; something heavier and dark. He imagines it would taste like fine wine or expensive scotch to humans, and it is saturating every molecule of air he breathes.
"Alice!" Bella's warm, soft voice brings him back to the room and his surroundings. Panic surges through him as the scent grows impossibly stronger, enveloping him in the heavy fragrance, weighing him down, pinning him as he struggles to remain upright and not sink down into a predatory crouch. His throat tightens as the the burn rages hotter, incinerating him from the inside. The only way it could get worse is if she cuts herself. Edward cannot figure out why the scent is so potent; he's been this close to her before but the pain has never been this bad.
"Oh, Jesus," he whispers as Jasper's hand clamps down on his shoulder.
"Stop breathing, jackass," Jasper warns him, sensing the tension in his body and the sheer panic emanating from him.
Edward can't help himself, though, and he inhales again, torturing himself with her scintillating aroma.
"You're an idiot," Jasper whispers, rolling his eyes as his grip tightens to the point that Edward's skin cracks from the pressure and the fabric of his shirt dissolves under Jasper's fingertips. Edward is suddenly very glad he's wearing the stupid cape.
"I'm so glad you came, and you brought everyone with you!" Bella throws herself at Alice, wrapping her in a familiar embrace. Her eyes flicker over to Edward, recognition passing over her delicate features.
This is Alice's new human friend? How utterly convenient.
The chatter around him, both the spoken and the mental voices, fades into the background as Edward observes this girl whose scent is both heaven and hell for him. She's wearing a red dress which hugs every curve of her lithe body, the same red dress Edward plucked from Alice's mind on the way to the party. Her skin is artificially white from the make up she is wearing. The only other time Edward has ever been this close to her was during their psych class.
Edward's eyes are drawn to the long line of her neck, which has never been this exposed to him, to the two red marks on her perfectly pale neck. There is a small trail of red which cascades down her neck to her collarbone, originating from the red marks. Edward momentarily wishes he had fangs so he could sink his teeth into those alluring marks and makes them real. Edward licks his lips, and in doing so, he can taste her in the air. Everything from her shampoo to the blood red lipstick she wears has it's own individual flavour on his tongue.
Without thinking, Edward steps out of Jasper's grasp and reaches out, running his finger down the side of Bella's neck, about an inch in front of the marks she has drawn. He tempers the pressure carefully, touching her as though she is made of the most fragile crystal. He commits the feel of her satin skin to memory as he strokes along her vein. "That bite mark should be here," he murmurs, pausing as he brushes his thumb over the pounding, pulsing vein beneath the skin. "Right where your carotid artery is."
There is a collective and jumbled screaming resounding in his head as his family watches Edward's thumb stroke along the vein in the human girl's neck, back and forth, back and forth. The only coherent thought comes from right beside him. Stop stroking the human, Edward. If you keep doing that you're going to put your thumb through her jugular.
Alice gasps beside him, the sound so low only Edward and his siblings can hear her. She grips his free elbow, her nails sinking through his shirt into his impenetrable flesh as a warning. Edward ignores Alice, though; he can feel the spike in Bella's heart rate as he touches her. He can sense her unease in the way her body trembles ever so slightly from the contact of his cool finger on her warm skin.
An image blasts through his subconscious. Red dress, pale skin, wet mouths, hands, fingers, bodies fitting together, Edward's fingertip circling the tight tip of . . . Edward quickly snatches his hand away, shocked by the impossible scene.
"What the hell was that?" He glances at his sister as he mutters the words too quickly for human ears to catch.
Alice ignores the question and plasters a forced smile on her face. "Uh, this is my brother, Edward." Alice elbows him in the ribs as Edward looks away from the girl's throat to the floor. He can't seem to get his mind to move away from the image of his fingers circling a nipple, or biting her. Alice continues to speak beside him. "He was at a medical seminar with our father this week, clearly his mind is still there."
"Sorry," he mutters under his breath, shoving his hands in the pockets of his pants.
"I wondered why you weren't in psych on Wednesday and Friday," Bella says quietly, a tentative smile playing on her lips.
Edward peeks up at her, and her smile widens slightly. Edward nearly falls over in shock because Bella has noticed his absence from class.
Edward takes a moment to look her over again. The dress is red velvet which is reminiscent something out of the nineteenth century. The bodice is low cut, and the swells of creamy, pink flesh pushing together to create luscious cleavage utterly tantalizing. He imagines what it would feel like to press his lips against her throat and sink his teeth into her delicate flesh while his hands cup . . .
Will you cut it out you pervert, Alice's voice cuts through the fantasy.
Edward realizes he's practically leering at Bella's breasts. He clears his throat and pulls at the collar of his shirt, as it suddenly feels too tight. He gives her a close-lipped smile and leans in slightly as he says in a quiet, reserved voice, "That's a very convincing costume. You're a vampire's victim I presume?"
Bella meets his hungry gaze, and her heartbeat speeds and falters for a moment as her skin flushes anew. "I am," she says and fingers the fake wound at her throat nervously. "Most people think I'm actually a vampire, which is silly because I don't even have fangs." She flicks her incisor with a painted nail, demonstrating her absence of fangs.
Edward smiles at her. "Very silly," he replies as he leans in farther. "I think it's a rather perfect costume actually," he whispers the words to her as if it's a private joke. He breathes her in again, almost enjoying the fervent burn in his throat as he covertly shifts his erection so that it is flat against his belly, the head tucked up in the waistband of his pants.
"You must be my vampire then," Bella says as her fingers moved to her throat. "Except you're missing your fangs."
Edward licks his lips, his tongue sliding across his razor sharp teeth in the process. "I must have forgotten them," he mutters. "I think they're in the car."
"I'll help you look for them," Alice offers.
Edward glances at Bella one more time before taking his sister by the elbow and guiding her outside. He doesn't stop until they reach the car. Edward sucks in deep breaths with each long stride he takes. His desire to run is stunted by his urge to turn right back around and subject himself to the torture of this girl's overwhelmingly appealing scent.
Edward whirls around, his cape a black shadow flaring out behind him. He swats at the fabric as it twists around him and glares at his sister. "What the hell is going on?" he hisses at her, his expression both sinister and panicked. Now that he is no longer submerged in Bella's scent, his mind is clear. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? What if it was too intense being that close to her." He looks longingly back at the house.
"Everything is going to be just fine, Edward," Alice says in a soft, soothing voice.
"Fine? You think everything is going to be fine?" he growls. "I want to . . . I want . . ." He shakes his head, unable to articulate the severity of his dual desire. "Just tell me one thing, Alice, did you see this coming?" Edward asks, already knowing the answer.
A flash of red velvet, long, dark hair tumbling down over pale, delicate shoulders, blood red lips parted, a shiver of desire . . .
The images assault Edward as powerfully as her scent. He turns away from Alice, looking out into the dark night and heaves a shuddering breath. "I'll kill her."
"You won't," Alice whispers with certainty.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Trust me, Edward, I've seen it. She's not going to die," Alice says softly as she cloaks her mind from him.
He knows there is something she's not telling him, something else she's hiding, but the visions he's now privy to make it impossible for him think of anything else but the girl in the house and the possibility of touching her. If Alice has seen it, it must be true, her visions are always accurate.
"I need to feed if I'm going to talk to her again," Edward mutters to himself. "You know it would have been a lot easier if you had told me it was her house we were going to."
"If I'd told you, you wouldn't have come." Alice shows him an vision of Edward yelling at her, and then refusing to leave the house.
Edward huffs and shakes his head before he steps into the shadows and slips away into the forest, leaving his sister staring after him with a satisfied smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
Edward runs a quarter of a mile before he spins around and rushes back to the house. He's just about to go back inside, unfed and desperate to be near her again despite the fact that he fears hurting her, when he overhears his sister having a conversation with Bella.
"He's not the most social creature," Alice says, her voice low.
"Pardon?" Bella asks.
Edward moves closer to the house until he is peering in the kitchen window, staring at the back of Bella and his sister who can clearly sense his presence again.
"Edward, he's not very social. Parties make him uncomfortable," Alice clarifies.
"Oh, I . . . I've never spoken to him before tonight . . ." Bella trails off, not sure what she should say.
Alice leans in close to Bella. "He's mentioned you before. He likes the way you smell," Alice confides in a whisper. "He's not all that experienced when it comes to women . . ."
"Jesus Christ," Edward mutters, completely humiliated by his sister's revelation.
Jasper comes around the side of the house and gives him a knowing look. "Alice told me to tell you that you need to feed or the only action your getting tonight is going to be from your hand."
The smile on his face is infuriating. "You're an asshole," Edward mutters under his breath before he turns around and disappears into the shadows.
Edward runs quickly into the woods that surround the massive house. He finds a family of elk and takes them all down, feeling only mildly bad for draining all four of them when he's already fed earlier in the evening. Once he finishes his meal he heads back to the house, guided by the ever present smell of Bella's blood.
She is standing at the edge of the forest, her arms wrapped around her body. She is ethereal in her beauty, the moon shining down on her pale skin, washing her out, making her look just like him. He wants that, he realizes, he wants her to be his mate. He wants to taste her not to drain and kill but to love and keep. Edward takes an unconscious step toward her, a twig snapping beneath his foot.
Bella's head whips in his direction. "Hello?" she whispers hoarsely into the darkness.
Edward's fear paralyzes him. The knowledge that she is the one thing that he has been searching for, for almost a century keeps his tongue tied.
When there is no reply, she turns and stumbles forward, her heel catching on a rock she does not see in the veil of darkness. Her cup splashes cool liquid onto her dress, and she releases it as she loses her balance, skinning her knee and palm on the ground.
Edward rushes forward, angry at himself that he wasn't fast enough to prevent her from harming herself. "Are you okay?" he asks as the scent of her blood hits him. He doesn't breathe, willing his muscles to relax, willing himself to keep her alive so he can keep her forever.
"I'm fine; I just tripped." She lies as she gingerly puts weight on her sore ankle,"I thought I was alone out here." Bella blinks against the darkness, Edward? What are you doing out here?"
"It's quieter," he murmurs softly, his cool fingers stroking her wrist, feeling her pulse, grounding himself in her heartbeat.
The burn in Edward's throat is like a raging inferno. The wet, thick sound of her heart pumping blood through her body makes venom pool in his mouth. He swallows it back down, but the effort is futile as a steady stream continues to slide down his throat. He wonders if Alice's visions can be trusted, because in this moment he wants to taste her blood with just as much desire as his need to feel her body.
"I didn't mean to startle you," he says apologetically.
"It's okay," Bella responds, her voice soft and breathless as he raises her hand and lowers his head to inspect the wound on her palm, holding his breath as his muscles tighten and his body begs him to bite, suck, kill.
"You've drawn blood."
The pain in his throat is indescribable, but the other feelings Bella evokes in him seem to temper the unbearable pain with an equally disturbing pleasure. He inhales deeply, the scent of her an intoxicating burn as his nose skims her wrist, and his lips brush along the soft flesh of her palm.
Bella shivers, and Edward hopes it is because she enjoys the feel of his mouth on her. He closes his eyes and presses his lips against her torn skin. He can practically taste her blood already, microscopic molecules of it floating on the air around him, taunting him, tempting him. He parts his lips and exhales a cool breath onto her skin before swallowing back the venom that floods his mouth. He presses his tongue against the open wound, a low moan escaping as her congealing blood makes contact with his tongue.
"Oh, Jesus," he breathes. "You taste like heaven." It is not just her blood that he is referring to though. The taste of her skin, the warmth, the sensations she evokes in him have his will crumbling.
Edward's brain begins to misfire, synapses on overload as her blood hits his tongue and the grossly inadequate trickle slides down his throat. Not only is the flame of his thirst fanned by the disappointingly insubstantial stream weaving its way slowly into his system, but the burning in his lower belly erupts and the erection he has been sporting since he first laid eyes on Bella tonight swells that much more.
Edward feels the tremor of her body and hears the spike in her heart rate. His initial assumption is that it is caused by fear, but the darker fragrance that begins to permeate the air around him sends his mind spinning out of orbit. Bella is aroused.
Edward allows his body to take over when his mind becomes a wasteland of wanting and bloodlust. He drags his lips along her wrist, pausing at the crook of her elbow to leave a wet kiss as he sucks gently on the skin over her pulse point. Edward continues his ascent, applying only the barest of pressure with his lips as he tastes her skin, the fragile cage that makes her both beautiful and desirable and completely impractical as a mate in so many ways for him.
He can hear Bella's heart is pounding heavily in her chest, her blood rushing through her veins in a tidal wave of wet, lush warmth. Edward's eyes lock on the quick throb flowing through her carotid artery, and he makes his way toward it with his mouth. He runs his tongue along the vein, feeling the pulse and rush, wanting the hot, wet liquid beneath her warm flesh sliding down his throat. In less than a heartbeat he could be sinking his teeth into that sweet skin and drinking the contents of her body, putting him out of his misery. Bella's soft moan takes him from the edge of murderous intent and back into the world of unfettered lust he had previously only observed through others rather than felt himself.
He nips gently at her skin, sucking on her neck until her blood rises to the surface and barely coats his tongue. Bella gasps and sighs, her delicate fingers stroking his hair as he tries to maintain his tenuous grip on his control while he carelessly throws gasoline on an already out of control fire. He lifts his head, taking a deep breath of less potent air as he meets her heavy gaze. She draws him toward her mouth, seeking his, and for the first time in his nearly one hundred-and-ten years, Edward is kissing a woman out of desire rather than obligation or expectation, and he never wants to stop.
He revels in the sensation of her satin lips on his. His awareness of her is heightened by the gentle press of her body flush against him. She is so warm, burning through him, searing him with the electric current of life coursing through her, penetrating him with the desire to find the warmth of her body with his own, to be surrounded by her.
His fingers travel lightly along the delicate lines of her arms, over her shoulders and across her neck to the smooth, soft skin of her cheeks. He cups her face in his cool palms, soaking up her warmth as her lips brush over his.
"Your mouth . . ." Bella whispers. A tiny moan bubbles up from her throat, the vibrations of which move through Edward's hands and mouth, sending waves of heat through his body. Bella's lips part as her breath leaves her in a shuddering sigh. "You taste so sweet," she murmurs, her fingers moving from his hair to his jaw, exploring the contours of his face. She nips softly at his bottom lip, pulling it between her own, her tongue running along the plush curve.
Edward groans, his usually steady hands trembling against her cheeks with the onslaught of new and foreign sensation. He wants to touch her everywhere, but fear of hurting her, of trying to focus on too many things at once and crushing her, or biting her prevent him from moving his hands. He feels a shiver runs along Bella's spine, her skin pebbling beneath his fingertips.
"You're cold," Edward says, his lips still brushing ever so lightly against hers as he reluctantly moves his hands from her face and cocoons her in his cape.
"I'm fine." She shakes her head minutely, pressing herself closer to him as her body trembles.
"Liar." He leans back slightly, his stare intent and heavy as he takes in the details of her face. "Do you think I can't feel you shivering?"
Bella's teeth sink into her lower lip as she gazes up at him with hungry eyes. "I want to keep kissing you," she admits as she sweeps the tip of her finger back and forth over his lower lip. "You taste like candy."
Edward fears that if phrases and admissions such as these keep coming from Bella, his pitiful restraint will be tested beyond boundaries he is capable of maintaining. Edward challenges his resolve and brushes his lips against hers again. He wants more than crimson liquid flowing down his throat; he wants the salty sweet taste of her skin and the warm, wet of her mouth when he kisses her just as much.
"Let me take you inside," he offers, hoping the warmth of her home will help to keep the difference of their body temperatures from becoming readily apparent. He feels as though he is soaking up her heat with every tremble of her body.
Bella nods, although her expression is reluctant, and Edward, so used to being able to hear the thoughts of those around him, wonders if he has done something wrong. He keeps one arm wrapped around her as she takes a step toward the house. Her grimace of pain and the hiss that follows has him running his hands over her far too quickly to appear natural or human.
"Are you alright?" he asks, panicked that he inadvertently broke her rib when he put his arm around her.
"I think I may have twisted my ankle when I fell," Bella tells him as she shifts her weight and tries to support herself, to no avail.
Edward sighs in relief and sinks to the ground. "May I?" he asks, seeking her approval before he lifts the hem of her dress.
Her silent nod of acquiescence has him sucking in a deep breath in preparation. He can smell recently spilled blood, causing the burn to flare again, drying out his throat and his veins. He is beyond careful as he moves his fingers over her ankle, feeling the flex and pull of her muscles beneath her skin. "Mmm," he murmurs as his fingers glide gently along her Achilles tendon. It is the scent of blood near the surface of her skin, a concentrated pooling, that alerts him to her actual injury. "You have a sprain. There will be a bruise in the morning," he tells her as he strokes the spot softly.
Edward wraps his fingers around the back of her calf, her blood drawing him in. He slides his hand up her leg, lifting the hem of her skirt to her knee, exposing the deep crimson trail running from her knee to the mid point of her shin. His initial thought is to lick the sweet line, but even through the haze of bloodlust he is aware that that isn't a good idea. Instead, he slides his thumb slowly along the congealing path, gathering the sweet stream before he slips his thumb between his lips.
Edward's eyes flutter closed, and Bella hears a soft sigh leave him before he looks up at her, blinking quickly before he ducks his head. He wears an expression of shame self-loathing, shaking his head minutely.
"That was inappropriate."
"That was unbearably sexy," Bella counters.
Edward exhales a shuddering breath. If she knew what he really wanted to do to her, he doubts she would find what he had just done sexy at all.
"You've skinned your knee," he murmurs as he parts his lips and sweeps his tongue along the open wound, sealing it with venom as he swallows one last time.
Edward lets the hem of her dress fall, causing the scent of her blood and a darker, more wanton fragrance to swirl around him. He rises, skimming his hands along her hips gently, mindful of her fragility.
He wraps an arm around her waist to support her as she begins to hobble toward the house. Edward pulls her into him, breathing in the scent of her hair as he supports the majority of her weight.
"I could carry you," he offers, his lips at her ear.
He can sense her blush by the perfumed rush that permeates the air around them and the heat that pulses through her body.
"It's okay; I can walk," Bella mumbles, but wraps her arm around Edward's waist, leaning into him.
Once they get closer to the house, they draw the attention of the party guests, primarily because Bella is limping. Several people ask her what happened, and she brushes them off in embarrassment, requesting that Edward help her upstairs to clean her knee. Once they are inside the house, Edward kneels before her and slips her shoes off before guiding her up the stairs.
He hears Alice's voice above the din of the others, warning him to be careful with her. Edward has no intention of being anything but. He needs no directions to find Bella's room as he follows her scent, which is his first mistake. When he pushes open the door and reaches inside to flip on the light, Bella looks up at him with confusion.
"This room smells like you," Edward says and brushes his lips over hers in hopes of distracting her from his error.
"I still don't understand . . ." Bella shakes her head but finish her sentence.
She leads Edward to the bathroom, flicking on the light over the vanity. He picks her up and settles her on the counter, turning on the hot water. He waits until the temperature is enough to scald human skin before he washes his hands in the steaming spray. He wants his touch to be warm, even if it is artificial heat. Edward opens a drawer, smelling cotton fibers, and finds a washcloth. He wets it and rings it out before he pushes her dress up to her knee and dabs at the healing wound.
Bella watches Edward as he works with clinical precision and care. When he has cleaned her knee, he moves to her scraped palm, wiping gently at the torn skin. This is completely unnecessary, of course, as his venom has already done this job. Edward rinses the cloth and returns to her leg, kneeling before her as he wipes away the dried blood.
His breathing speeds and deepens as he holds her calf in one hand and works his way up her shin with the other. When he reaches her knee, he is careful to avoid the cut area. It's the sweetest torture, to be this close to her blood but unable to taste it the way he wants to.
"Come here," Bella orders quietly, stroking the side of his face, urging him to her.
She parts her legs while Edward is still kneeling before her, and his gaze darts from her face to the dark space between her thighs. He can see the red satin and lace that covers and contains the heady scent of her desire. Edward swallows thickly, his fingers massaging the back of her thigh unconsciously. Mixed with the alluring scent of her blood, the combination is almost debilitating.
"I want to kiss you there," he mutters, unaware that he has said the words aloud rather than just thinking them.
Bella sighs and chuckles. "You should kiss me here first, " she tells him as she weaves her fingers through his hair and tugs gently.
Edward blinks, his gaze darting up to meet hers. He's stunned and shocked by his own admission. He rises to stand between her thighs, and he meets her lips with her own, kissing her as gently as he is capable of. Bella slides forward, pressing the hottest part of her body against the hardest part of his.
"Oh, God," Edward groans into her mouth as she whimpers into his. Edward's hands move over her thighs and hips, and he rests them on her waist as his mouth moves with Bella's. She parts her lips, inviting him in, and he sweeps his tongue inside, meeting hers in a soft, slow dance.
When Bella's hands cover his, he allows her to guide his palms to cup her breasts, his thumbs brushing over the seam of her bodice.
"Please touch me," Bella moans into his mouth.
He doesn't hesitate to comply, pulling the material carefully away, his fingers searching until they brush over firm nipples. Bella arches her back and juts out her chest, offering herself to him. Edward breaks the kiss to watch the movement of his hands before he bows his head and carefully sucks a tight, pink nipple into his mouth.
Edward moans at the feel of her soft, warm skin on his cool tongue, the sound mixing with the soft whimpers and sighs that come from Bella's parted lips. He spends what feels like endless --but is really only several long, sweet minutes--licking and sucking at the peaked softness of her nipples, alternately tracing circles around them with the tips of his fingers. He uses the rapid beat of her heart, the flush of her skin and the soft moans that rise and fall with the sweep of his tongue and his fingers to gauge her arousal. The scent of her blood is eclipsed slowly by her desire.
The image of Bella writhing and naked beneath him gives him the confidence to test his control further. He wants her desperately, and he is growing more and more certain that he can maintain his control when he is touching her like his this. Edward wants nothing more than to learn the feel of her body when he inside the very warmest part of her.
Edward finds himself being drawn toward her mouth again, her tongue pushing past his lips, searching for his. His hands roam her thighs, pushing her dress up higher to her hips, gliding over her skin. Bella spreads her legs wider for him, and suddenly he is lifting her, carrying her out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. He places her gently on the bed, kneeling between her parted thighs.
"I want to see you," he rasps, his aching erection pushing against the fly of his pants. The cotton of his underwear is abrasive, and the thin, irritating barrier is the only thing that is keeping him from losing it completely and thrusting his way into her body.
Bella sits up her eyes locked with his as she takes his hands in hers, moving them under the fabric of her dress. His excitement causes him to move too fast, tearing the delicate material as he pulls it over her head. And then she is only wearing a pair of red lace panties. Edward's hands go immediately to her bare breasts, his mouth to the soft swell.
Hot fingers begin to tug at the tie around his neck. His cape is discarded and Bella makes quick work of his shirt, sliding it over his shoulders and down his back, her nails scraping along his skin. She reaches for the waistband of his pants, her palm gliding over his thick, pulsing erection.
"Oh, Jesus," he gasps, feeling the heat of her hand through the fabric of his pants. Although he wants her hands on him nearly as much as he wants to consume her in every way possible, he would rather have the opportunity to explore her body before she explores his. He gently pulls her hand away from his achingly hard erection and kisses her palm.
"I want to touch you first," he tells her. It's easier than admitting no hand but his own has ever been wrapped around his erection, or that he's afraid he might break hers when he ejaculates.
"Oh." Bella's legs drop open. If that isn't a clear invitation to proceed, the heavy scent of her arousal is.
Edward groans as he runs his hands up and down her thighs, moving higher with each pass. His fingers finally graze the lace and satin of her panties, and he slides his fingers along the edge, listening to her heart rate and her breathing as he touches her. He slips a finger beneath the fabric, dragging it slowly toward the damp heat between her thighs. He has no idea what he's doing in theory, but years of listening to lovers thoughts, to the fantasies of women, allows him to touch her in ways he never would have dreamed possible.
Bella arches and moans as he moves closer to the warmest, most inviting place on her body. Edward can taste her in the air, sweet and warm on his tongue. He swallows fire as he grazes the silken warmth of short curls, and then there is nothing but smooth, hot, wet skin.
Bella gasps, gripping the bedsheets as her hips push up off the mattress. Edward can see his finger moving beneath her panties, and he can feel the rush of blood flooding her sensitive skin. With a flick and a quiet tear he destroys the material, shredding it with his fingertips in his haste to remove it from her body. He shoves the ruined fabric into the pocket of his pants, his eyes trained on the apex of her thighs.
"Oh, Christ in heaven," he mutters, his fingers circling, rubbing, exploring. "I don't want to hurt you. Tell me if I'm being too rough."
Bella answers with a desperate moan, her hand coming down over his as she pushes his fingers lower and guides them to her entrance. Edward swallows thickly, petrified that he's going to do something wrong and damage her fragile body. He pushes one finger inside her and nearly cums in his pants at the sensation it produces.
"Oh, God, you're so soft and warm and wet," he mumbles, thankful he's unable to blush as the words come unbidden out of his mouth.
Edward guides another finger inside and another, her body moving against the cool, hard flesh as he drives her over the edge, a fresh wave of arousal punishing Edward as he inhales greedily. He wants so badly to taste her, and although he is aware it certainly isn't a good idea to allow his teeth near skin so flushed with blood. His desire trumps his nature and he is sure he can taste her this way without hurting her.
He kisses her inner thigh, brushing his nose back and forth over the potent and pulsing femoral artery, torturing himself to the point of madness. He kisses his way to the softest, warmest part of her body and steels himself as he drags his tongue along her wet skin, groaning as he tastes her. His entire body vibrates with deadly desire as Bella's fingers slide into his hair and grip it tightly. She has no idea how dangerous it is for her as she bucks against his mouth. He wants nothing more than to turn his head to the right and bite down; the wet pulse of blood calling to him. It would be the most erotic heaven to have his mouth on her and then drink her blood as she orgasms.
"Oh, my God," she chants over and over until she is cumming again.
Edward digs his fingers into her sheets, pushing easily through the material as his tongue moves over her skin, laving her. He is pulled up to her mouth by his hair and he finds her agression incredibily arousing. He grinds his hips into the heat between her thighs. Bella's hands run down his back, shoving his pants down his legs in hurried, fumbling movements.
Suddenly Edward finds his erection pressed against soft, burning skin. He shudders and stills above her as she gropes blindly for him. Her fingers wrap around his rigid length and he gasps, his muscles clenching as the foreign sensations rock him to the core.
"You're so hard," Bella moans, stroking him.
"Like steel," Edward groans as she slides the head of his erection over her slick skin. "Oh, my Christ, I don't think I can . . . you should be on top."
"Mmm, okay," Bella murmurs and pushes on Edward's chest. Of course, she can't force him to move, but he rolls off her and lies on his back as she straddles his waist. Lust spikes through Edward's groin as he takes in her naked body moving over his.
His hands shake as he touches her thighs tentatively. She is sitting on his legs, the sweet heat of her body inches away from the jutting erection demanding attention as it weeps and jerks on his stomach.
"Are you okay?" Bella asks as she runs her hands up and down his chest before gripping his erection in her warm hand.
Edward nods, squeezing her thigh reflexively as his mouth pools with a constant stream of vemon that never seems to slow. How in the world Alice thinks he's going to be able to have sex with this delectable human girl without damaging her is beyond him, but, God help him, he wants to believe her visions and try. He moves his hands away, afraid he's going to squeeze too hard and break her femur.
"Are you sure?" Bella asks, her thumb brushing over the tip before dragging back down.
"I've never . . . this is my . . . your hand is so soft." Edward stumbles over his words, not wanting to admit he's a virgin, because even he knows it's hardly socially acceptable at his perceived age, let alone is real age. If Bella knew he was a hundred-and-nine-year-old virgin she'd probably laugh at him.
Edwrd moves his hand along the bed and finds his wallet, pulling the foil square free he holds it up, embarrassed and unsure. Bella smiles softly at him, taking it from him she rips it open easily and rolls it down his length. Edward's breathing is ragged is heavy as he watches the descent of the unnecessary barrier, unbelievably turned on by the sight nonetheless. Bell rises up, sliding the head of Edward's erection along her slick heat before lowering herself onto him. They groan in unison, the sensation one of unparalleled pleasure.
The warmth of her body is all encompassing. Waves of fire lick along the place where they are joined and radiate through Edward's body as she begins to move over him. The pace is slow at first as she rises up, unsheathing him from the sweet heaven of her body. Edward's eyes rake over her face, taking in her parted lips, the slamming pulse of blood in her throat, the creamy swell of breast, down her stomach to the apex of her thighs. He has never seen anything so erotic in his life as she lowers herself back down, taking him inside, her body stretching to accommodate all of him.
He pries his fingers from the sheets and reaches up to stroke the silken skin between her thighs.
Soft moans fill the room, accompanied by the furious pounding of Bella's lush heart beat. Bella throws her head back and gasps his name as her body begins to contract around him.
Desire twines and fuses with bloodlust until Edward can not longer differentiate between the two. His body is a prism of fire and need as she drives him toward his release, and it is coming fast, too fast.
Edward's control is tenuous at best, and the overwhelming sensations being produced in his body are both thrilling and terrifying. Silky tendrils of her hair flutter around his face as her mouth brushes over his and she moans his name again and again. Edward places his hands on her hips, holding her gently, trying to slow her movements as his body races him toward imminent, explosive pleasure. She rocks on him, changing her pace and her angle so that she is rubbing against his pelvis, slick and hot and tight around him.
"Oh, my God, Edward," Bella exhales against his lips, her fingernails digging into his chest as she continues her torturous, heavenly movements.
She gasps and moans, her face a picture of estacy. Bella's tongue pushes past his lips and slips between his teeth, the soft, delicate flesh catching on his incisor. A sweet tang fills the air around him, and suddenly Edward feels that something is very wrong, his body contracting, muscles coiling.
Blood.
Edward can taste her blood, not congealing and cold and half-dried. It's the freshest, sweetest, most luxurious blood he has ever encountered in his entire life, and it is dripping onto his tongue as she begins to come again. The binary desire tears him apart from the inside out. In one swift motion Bella's fragile body is underneath his, her orgasm overtaking her, rendering her incoherent. For the briefest moment, the vision of Bella spread out on the pale sheets finds its twin in the one Alice showed him; Bella arching beneath him, lips red and plush, face flushed, writhing, wanting, coming for him.
Edward's tenuous grip on his control snaps, and he clamps down on her jugular as he thrusts into her, his body coiling with foreign heat. He cums violently, waves of intense fire rolling through him as the dual needs of his body are met simultaneously.
Warm, sweet, thick and explosively tantalizing blood pools quickly in his mouth. He savours the exquisite taste before swallowing. As soon as the mouthful slides down his throat, the venom begins to flow again, seeping into the open wound he has created. Edward revels in the power and strength he gains from that one delictible mouthful of blood. His body screams for more, the desire to fill himself with her overtaking him entirely.
Bella moans, the pleasure of her orgasm giving way to the pain of Edward's teeth piercing her skin and severing her artery. Her fingernails dig uselessly into his skin, bending and breaking on his back. She flails, her hands going to his hair, yanking, pulling, gripping as she attempts to tear his head away from the source of the greatest pleasure he has ever known.
She whimpers his name, confusion lacing the word, fear seeping out of her pores, making it that much more difficult for Edward to find the will he needs to stop. Edward draws another mouthful of blood, causing Bella to arch and gasp, the sound turning into a desperate sob.
Bella's struggle causes Edward to press his hips into her, and the movement is punctuated by a heavy cracking sound as he crushes her pelvis. The arm that is wrapped around her tightens reflexively, and several of her ribs snap in the process. Hot, pulsing streams of crimson heaven pour down his throat as Bella moans, the pain sending her into shock.
In a moment of clarity, Edward realizes what he is doing and pries his unwilling teeth from her neck. Blood rushes out of the open wound as his eyes widen and a strangled cry leaves his lips.
"No, no, no!" he moans, horrified by what he has done. Releasing her from his iron grip, he touches her pale face. Her eyes are wide and petrified. She swats feebly at him, trying to push him away with strength she doesn't have. He licks across her open wound, sealing it with his venom, stopping the flow of blood, but it is too late and he knows it. She is changing already. She claws at her blood-slicked skin, her mouth open in a silent scream as fire begins to race through her veins.
Edward can hear footsteps on the stairs, and then the door to the bedroom is splintering as it slams against the wall. He growls and cages Bella with steel arms, protecting her from the intruder. Through his haze of bloodlust and fear he sees his panicked sister slamming the door behind her.
"You told me she wouldn't die; you told me." He sobs, cradling Bella's rigid body in his arms as he growls at Alice, a warning to keep her distance.
"She won't, Edward," Alice murmurs softly, approaching him slowly. "But she needs more venom in her system if she's going to survive the change."
A vision cuts through the fog of bloodlust: an arched back and long fingers moving over ribs that cannot break. Bella's heartbeat falters, and Edward, suddenly realizing he's still inside her, withdraws from the warmth of her broken body.
The image is like an anchor, holding her to him for the rest of his existence, if he can only save her, transform her. He takes her wrist gingerly in his hand and bites her again, letting his venom flood her veins as he takes one mouthful of her blood. Her cries of pain elicit apologies in low, morose tones. He does it again at the crook of her elbow and switches sides. He moves lower and bites through the soft skin on the inside of her thigh. The smell of fresh blood, combined with the scent of her arousal, mixed with his own bodily fluids makes him shudder with renewed want.
As he pierces her skin over and over, he is drowning in an onslaught of images and scenes; fear, hatred, anger, loathing, beauty, trust and finally the things he has been searching for, for decades: acceptance and love. The path he is walking will not be easy, but at the end there is a lifetime of something worth fighting for.
"I'm sorry, Bella, I'm sorry. I love you. I'm sorry," he moans against her warm flesh, knowing that soon it will cool, and the heartbeat he has followed for the past two months will cease to exist. He cradles her fragile and broken body against his own, mourning the life he has just robbed her of. He prays that Alice's visions are right, that she will feel as intensely about him as he does about her.
Under the guise of night, a girl is stolen from her life, fire burning in her veins as she transforms from human to monster, her path altered irrevocably. Through the inferno of her death, she is reborn, waking to a new existence and a man who is utterly devoted to serving his penance for taking from her what was never his in the first place.
Seventy-two hours after Edward's first sexual encounter, which resulted in the termination of a human life, Edward sits beside Bella, listening to the sound of her heart as it beats for the final time. Long, dark lashes flutter open and pouty, red lips suck in an unnecessary breath. Crimson eyes meet rusted gold.
Edward holds onto the future Alice promises him in her visions: an eternity of love.
She is his mate.
She is his forever, and now he is hers.
LOVELOVELOVE
Your Fic Wife :)
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