Edward and Bella were sitting at the table while she tried to finish up some work unaware that Edward was about to be educated in the finer points of chocolate...
"I can't stay when I drop you off at home today. Alice & I have some errands to do."
"I thought you just hunted?" she asked distractedly.
"It's not that, I need to prepare some things for next weeks tradition"
Bella's brows pulled together in puzzlement "Tradition? Do you have some sort of pig roast or something?"
" Why we would ever consider something like that?"
She shot him an exasperated look "What is the tradition for next week?"
"I thought it was still tradition to buy gifts for your valentine"
"Valentine?"
"Valentine – yes February 14th it's a day set aside for those you love. I would have assumed you heard of it in phoenix as i think it's a national event."
She sighed, "yes I've heard of valentine's day although i didn't realize it was next week"
"Do you happen to have any preferences to caramels or nuts? Or should i just play it safe and get an assortment?"
"Actually I'd prefer you didn't buy any candy."
"If it makes you feel any better Bella, i promise to buy the least expensive candy i look at" he knew he could keep the promise because he would be very careful to only look at the ones he intended to get her.
"It doesn't – please Edward I really truly don't want this done for me."
A horrified look came upon his face --- "I never stopped to think of this..."
She looked up at him only to find that in the instant he had crossed over to her, his cool fingers gently cupping her face. His sweet breath captivated her as he smiled and asked "Dearest Bella won't you please be mine?"
"Be yours?" she replied dazedly, her heartbeat skipping about as she pondered his true meaning.
He suddenly realized the implications of such an open-ended question, "yes Bella, won't you please be my Valentine?"
She whispered her yes as she reached up to kiss him. He pulled back from the kiss with a smile. "Wonderful! So yes I'm off to shop today"
"Edward you don't understand. Of course I'm yours – I suppose Valentine is the extent of our conversation this week but the reason I don't want you buying me candy is they don't carry what I want around here"
Edward's face reflected his internal confusion. Bella was not given to extravagant tastes. "What exactly is it you like?"
"Chocolate covered cherries and they aren't found here"
"I have to disagree. Carlisle mentioned how many boxes of them he saw during Christmas at the hospital."
"I know – but they aren't the right kind."
"There's a right kind? What exactly is 'the right kind'?"
"The right kind, for me anyways, is the dark chocolate ones with the liquid centers. Usually when I find them I make sure to get three boxes but i haven't seen them since I moved here."
"What makes those the right kind?"
Setting aside her work she focused on the conversation. " First off its dark chocolate. Dark chocolate has a lot more body to its flavor. Depending on how dark it is, it has bite to it and isn't as sweet as the lighter chocolates. It snaps when you chew it. Once bitten the candy, the liquid center spurts everywhere in your mouth! You almost think you're going to choke on it the way it just explodes."
"And this is a good thing?" he asked in amazement at how involved chocolate seem to be.
She continued on "now the thing about the center is that its sickly sweet but the sharp flavor of the chocolate can stand up to it. The two flavors balance each other out without cancelling each other. As you chew the chocolate makes all sorts of snaps and crunches in your mouth and mingles with the sticky center."
"And the cherry?"
"The cherry has some flavor to it, but it's more of a texture thing. Its pretty soft so it helps to keep some balance between the other parts."
"And all this is from a little candy?"
"They're hard to find so I tend to take my time to really savor them when i do find them. I don't think it's all that much different than you do with any meal you particularly enjoy, but i guess I won't know that for a while."
His eyes glinted solid resolve on that one but he let the statement go. She knew full well his position on that conversation.
"So while I appreciate your intentions, I really don't want whatever you'll find in town for candy."
He sounded rather sure of himself as he replied, "we'll see."
"No you'll see – they don't have it! I may not be a skilled hunter at mountain lions, but trust me when i say that if dark chocolate covered cherries been in striking distance to me, they would have been taken down and devoured long ago!"
Edward smiled to himself at the imagery of Bella as a savage hunter.
On Valentine's Day, Bella went to answer the door knowing full well who it was. Edward stood there with a smile and a bouquet of flowers.
"Bella I have to ask, are you willing to be my valentine?"
"Of course I am" she replied with a smile and blush.
He extended the bouquet to her "then these are for you, my valentine"
She took them from him and gave him a quick kiss "thank you"
He watched her prepare a vase for the flowers. If she didn't know better she would swear he had an expectant look on his face.
"They smell wonderful"
"I'm glad you like them" he still looked expectant somehow. It never bode well for Bella when he had that gleam in his eye.
"Ok Edward let's get it over with. I can tell by your face you've got something else planned. I only hope its not another prom date"
Gently he held her face as he gave her a long and tender kiss. She had a blissful look on her face when pulled away. Stroking her cheek he said "Bella, open your mouth"
Still dazed from the kiss, she silently complied and Edward dropped something in. Using his fingertip, he then lifted her chin so her mouth would close.
Uncertainty in her eyes, she gazed at Edward for some sort of answer as to what he was doing.
"Bite" he said with a smile.
With trepidation she did so. Edward could hear the muffled snap as she did so and then her eyes flew open in surprised delight. From their previous conversation he could envision the explosion she was feeling in her mouth as the liquid of the candy would gush under the pressure. Not unlike his own experience when he dined. She tried to talk around the treat but she could only manage to mumble while a drop of red liquid escaped at the corner of her lips.
Her eyes were closed with a rapturous look on her face as she delighted in the tastes she alone was experiencing. Edward knew that feeling even though he didn't eat candy. He watched as the ruby liquid began its slow descent down her face. True to her word she was savoring the experience in a way Edward had never seen done by humans. The red liquid contrasted with her pale skin. The pink tip of her tongue tried to capture the wayward taste but it was too late for such efforts.
As he watched her, some part of his vision shifted and suddenly he saw her with much paler skin and the liquid on her face was much darker. His mouth watered at the vision. His tongue quivered inside his own mouth at the temptation of licking the wayward drop off her skin. Not because he was thirsty but more because he longed to share himself - all of himself- with her, without restraint, without caution.