Edward and I stood side by side, his arm around me, loving, but yet protective as always. We stood on the sand in the growing light watching the speed boat slowly disappear into the darkness of the water. I sensed he was no longer looking at the boat, though he could probably still see it, even though it had been several long seconds since it had faded from my vision. I turned my head to meet his gaze which I was sure was on me. Our eyes met confirming my suspicions
"Well Mrs. Cullen?" he broke the silence, his voice rich with the pride of what those words signified "What do you think?" he qualified sweeping his other arm around to indicate what he was taking about, though I already knew.
Up until that moment I hadn't really thought about our surroundings. I looked around, following the path his arm had made. My mouth gaped at what I saw. We were standing on a beach, the sand shimmering orange in the sunrise. Wow, was it morning already? I took advantage of the increasing light to steal a glance at Edward, my Edward. He was breathtaking his pale skin painted gold in the sunlight, and throwing rainbows. It took all my willpower to continue my scan of the area.
The Beach was only about a mile wide, flanked on both sides by what looked like dense forest, probably teeming with wildlife. I couldn't really expect him to go without hunting for our entire honeymoon. I twisted slightly in his arms to look behind us, and there it stood at the end of the beach. A small hut on stilts, I could see a few boats under the house, and something else which was covered by a tarp. I followed the stairs up with my eyes to the hut itself, it looked exactly like those pictures of tiki was made of what looked to be bamboo, with a roof thatched with palm fronds.
So here we were on our own, private beach -I assumed- surrounded by tropical paradise. Somewhere warm and sunny. Where Edward didn't have to worry about attracting attention in the sun, as would have happened on a public beach. I realized that my mouth was still hanging open like a cod fish. Edward was looking at me, with that beautiful crooked smile, waiting for an answer.
"Edward it's -" I searched for words to describe what I saw, felt. Beautiful? Yes but more somehow, this place was ideal in every way. Hot and sunny, full of wildlife. For him now but perhaps later for me too. And most importantly private.
"Perfect" I completed, however cheesy it sounded, there really was no other word suitable. Just like the beautiful, granite god standing next to me.
"But you haven't even seen inside?" he teased. In truth I didn't need to. If Edward were there, then a dingy public bathroom would have been glorious. I sensed he was waiting for some sort of response
"So give me the tour then" I remarked with just a hint of sarcasm
"Well this is the beach..." he drew out the word, looking at me with a smirk on his face
"Mr. Wise-guy" I chided gently, he chuckled then scooped me up into his arms.
When I could finally reach his mouth, those perfect marble lips. I leaned in to kiss him. Throwing my arms around his neck. I parted my lips and sighed, waiting for him to pull away, he must have sensed my hesitation, cause his eyes opened slightly and he gazed into mine. I gave in and our lips moved in response to each others needs. I was surprised by his tongue tracing my lips begging for entrance. We had never french kissed before. Too risky, he always said. Guess that didn't really matter now, good, I thought, not caring, my only thought was Edward. I tried to focus on the shape and texture of his tongue of course it was cold but, somehow it was soft, not hard like the rest of him, almost fleshy. I felt myself getting light-headed, this was one of the most intense kisses we had ever had, it was overwhelming, I imagined that I would be overwhelmed a lot during our honeymoon. All of a sudden he was no longer kissing me, his lips were at my ear
"Breathe Bella" he reminded me softly. I took a deep breath, disappointed that our kiss was over- and that I day-dreamed during part of it. I leaned in to kiss him again, but he chuckled instead
"Patience love" he answered kissing my forehead instead. I pouted a little, tucking my chin down, sulking what I hoped was seductively. He only laughed louder, as he began loping up the stairs.
During our kiss we had already walked up the beach. As we reached the door, Edward nudged it open with his foot, crossing the threshold with me still in his arms. So traditional - not that I could expect someone who was born in 1901 to not be. He pulled me in closer for another kiss, but didn't let it get as intense as the last one, but it was still extremely passionate and had we been somewhere public, would have sparked thoughts of get a room from people around us, not that we ever kissed like this in public, Edward was too much of a gentleman. On our honeymoon however... I let the thought trail off. Edward was setting me down, sliding his arm from around me until it found my hand, which I took, weaving my fingers through his, and giving his hand a squeeze. I pulled my eyes away from him, almost painfully, to look around.
We were in a small kitchen, with cupboards that had been bleached white over the years, by the sun and salt air, I imagined. The walls were painted what I assumed was once a bright turquoise, but had suffered the same fate as the cupboards. There was a table and two chairs. Then in one corner- looking like a giraffe on a farm trying to blend in with the cows and chickens- were three of the most state of the art kitchen appliances I'd ever seen. This surely was Edwards doing. From the look of them I wouldn't be surprised if they did the cooking and cleaning all by themselves, then finished by saying 'bon appetit' in a robot voice. The fridge, I would later discover was filled with more food than was really necessary, considering, only I would be eating, and then perhaps not for long.
When I had finished taking in the kitchen I pulled him along the hallway, toward the next room. It was the bathroom. This bathroom was almost as big as the kitchen, and much more recently renovated. Everything sparkled. There was a glassed in shower in one corner, that was obviously meant for more than one person- the thought made me blush. Edward smiled, which made me blush harder, imagining what he could possibly be thinking about. I stood taking it all in, the long counter with two sinks that looked like crystal bowls with taps that made the water tumble into them like a waterfall. Right in the center of the room, set into the floor was a gigantic tub, more like a hot tub than the kind usually found in a bathroom, I searched puzzled, around the edge of it for the tap, Edward must have guessed what I was looking for cause his eyes drifted to the ceiling. -sometimes I wondered if he was telling the truth when he said he couldn't read my mind, the way he knew me. There was a hole in the ceiling with what looked like a light inside. Edward must have picked up on my curiosity cause he turned a dial on the wall and flicked off the lights. Before I could say anything about it though, I heard from the ceiling the sound of water, and turned my head up to see that the hole in the ceiling was pouring coloured water into the tub. The light kept shifting through greens and blues and purples. I stood there awed. I reached out my hand to touch the falling rainbow of water, I must have reached to far.
"Whoa!" I cried out as I felt my natural clumsiness taking hold of me. I was falling, fully clothed into the abyss that was the slowly filling tub below me. Then I was in Edwards arms. He had saved me. Not only from possibly cracking my head on the side of the tub, but also from ruining my wedding dress. In truth I was impressed that I had gone this long without falling, considering the shoes I was wearing. Alice had me in period style Edwardian boots, they were white lace and leather. They buttoned up the side and had really high heels. They weren't of the same era as the dress, but they went so nicely, that Alice let the fashion faux pas slide. Actually I was starting to like heels, not because they looked nice or were easy for me to walk in, but because I could reach up to kiss Edward more easily. I turned my face to look in his eyes, losing myself in their golden depths. His hands were around my waist
"Did I mention how much I enjoy rescuing you?" he purred into my ear, his velvety voice entrancing.
"Really?" I asked him coyly with one eybrow raised for emphasis "I'll have to make it a point to give you more opportunities then" I added. Though in truth no extra effort was necessary, I just seemed to always be the damsel in distress. But his eyes got wide at my statement.
"Bella" he started, but I could see the true concern in his eyes, so I interuppted
"Edward, I'm kidding" I could sense him relax.
I took a step towards the door, flicking on the lights and turning off the water. Edwards face was disappointed. Though he tried to hide it. In truth I was a little disappointed too. I would have loved to have had a bath, I had been in this dress since yesterday morning. I felt starchy, and sweaty, and my hair was full of hairspray. But I just couldn't envision my first time being in a tub, no matter how luxurious or romantic. Geez I had no idea what I was doing. I would very likely nearly drown! I say nearly only because Edward wouldn't let me completely drown. So I continued on.
The last room was of course the bedroom, it was very simple but beautiful. The furnishings were few. A night stand and a dresser, both in that same bleached wood. A large rocking chair in the corner, looking remarkably similar to the one in my old bedroom. And a gigantic bed. Swathed in white mosquito netting, which pooled on the floor around the bed, giving the illusion that the bed was sitting on a cloud. There were french doors that opened out onto a balcony, overlooking the forest. Now a brighter flaming orange from the sunrise. I imagined Edward, in all his glory standing in the glow. I felt the blood rising into my cheeks, coloring them. Edward moved to stand behind me. Sliding his arms around my waist, his hands resting on my belly. I felt his cool breath in ear as he whispered.