Don't be mad about my stereotypical California views, they are Edward and Alice's opinions, not mine. All I know about the place is from watching "Californication".

Oh, vampire sex alert, it had to happen.

Interlude With A Vampire

Chapter 9

Edward lay on his bed, puzzled. Vampires did not get headaches but this sure felt strange. Whatever she had done had left his head fuzzy and it was like an aura of pain hung around it.

He had let Alice take Bella home, because he had felt unsure how safe she would be with him feeling like this.

Hours had passed, he noted in surprise, in fact, he had somehow missed an entire night and it was mid morning the next day.

"Alice" he asked silently, wanting to know Bella had been delivered safely home to Charlie.

"Oh go away," his sister replied rudely.

"Where are you? What are you doing?"

"I'm sitting in a little open bar beside a beach, looking at the pretty humans. Really, we should move here. There's a lot of sun but I tried this Factor 20 plus sunscreen cream and guess what, I'm not sparkling in the sun."

"Where are you exactly? Which state?"

"California. God, Edward, the humans here are so good looking and all...orangey, not white. And the girls have enormous breasts. It's quite funny, I'm watching a game of beach volleyball and their breasts are all bouncing in unison. Oh, oh, wait...yes, one girl's breasts just popped out of a teeny little bikini top, how did she even think that scrap of fabric would be strong enough? Oooh, I see, she wanted that to happen. She's being all...human. Squealing and palming her own breasts and pretending to be embarrassed and the men are all rushing to help her get her top back on. So polite, Californians. I like it here. Oh, move, person, I can't see those men that patrol the beach in their tiny Speedo things. Aww, that's better. Did you want something, brother? Wait, I'll give you a look."

Edward frowned as a bevy of identical women in small scraps of nothing paraded in his head.

"How can that be? They all look the same. Are they all siblings?"

"Nope, same plastic surgeon is my guess. Now, I'm relaxing and enjoying the view, what do you want?"

"Did Bella get home safely?"

"No, Edward, I came to California to escape your wrath because I dropped her from a tree top. Of course she got home safely."

"Alice, what are you doing in California anyway?"

"I'm waiting to buy the winning lotto ticket. The agency here is going to sell it but there are ...twenty four more entries before the winning ticket. Sadly they sell fast so I will only have to wait another three hours."

"Or you could buy twenty five entries,"

"But that would not be fun. I like looking at these pretty human men. See."

Edward frowned at the near naked men, muscles shiny and glinting in the sun. they were running along the shore, or lifting weights in an area where a lot of women were gathered, watching, taking photographs. Some more men were swimming and running in and out of the surf, flexing their chest and arm muscles alarmingly.

"Oh, here's Jasper, I'll just tell him where you are and what you are admiring," he replied.

"Edward, don't be mean. Okay, I'll but the entries and head home. But I really like this place. Except the sand is hot and sticky. Ugh. I can hardly walk in my Manolo's."

"I'm guessing you know where my wife is?" Jasper said, sitting on Edward's bed.

"She's shopping," he answered with a smirk.

"Really? How many more outfits could we wear? She spends so much money you would think some humans would start to wonder how come she is so rich."

"She's mainly browsing, actually," Edward amended.

"Alice? Browsing? I can't quite picture that," Jasper said in surprise.

That's probably a good thing, considering what she is looking at.

"So, what's happening today, with you?" Jasper asked. He was bored without his mate. Alice should have taken him with her, he could have watched the breasts fall out of the top.

"I'm inviting Bella over tonight for dinner and hoping she will stay the night."

"How would she explain that to Charlie? Doesn't he ever notice her absence?"

"She is very considerate, she always rushes home but I want her to stay the entire night tonight. I need a plan."

"Cover for me and I'll call Bella and invite her for a sleepover," Alice trilled.

"Done. Do some shopping before you get home, I told Jasper you were buying clothes."

"Thanks for that. I think I'll but him some Speedos, they look very...nice."

Edward grinned.

"You could just ask her, she isn't a teenager. Human women spend nights with their boyfriends," Jasper suggested.

"Oh, right. It's fine, Alice is inviting Bella to sleepover and do whatever Charlie thinks girls do on a sleepover."

Edward walked to the hot tub and started filling the bath up with scalding water.

"I have to feel warm to her. Maybe a few hours in this will take the chill off me and keep my body warm all night. What do you think?"

"Test it out. We can time how long it takes your body to cool then you could get up in the night if you have to and soak some more."

It seemed like a plan. Bella would be asleep and the nights were long when you couldn't slip into slumber yourself. Edward felt excited, like a child waiting for his birthday party to begin.

Th hot tub felt different, he hadn't been warm all over for a very long time and the heat almost made him drowsy. It was pleasant. His brain seemed to rest a little and not process so many thoughts at once and for a while, it was blank. He let the strange video of Bella's life flicker through again, amazed at the detail and the way he was experiencing her feelings himself.

He loved her watching him at High School though it made him sad that he had not noticed her. HThey could have started so much earlier and they were caught there for the entire day, five days a week. He could have gotten to know her so well. But his job had been, like Alice, to keep the humans safe from Jasper, and to let their brother learn to cope with being inside a feedlot, as it was. A feedlot where feeding was definitely not allowed.

Edward had wondered what Carlisle was thinking, at the time but it had been the only way. Jasper was not a newborn, just not used to living in so called civilization. His life had always been in the wilds, the woods, the forest, where he had snacked on the odd hiker or fringe dweller. But then Alice had taught him there was another way and nowadays nobody was in danger except Bambi.

Bambi.

Poor little Bambi.

Even taking animal lives seemed wrong, it wasn't as if animals were sly and evil, like men could be. There were many men Edward would be happy to take out, but the idea of their tainted blood sullying his body now was as big a deterrent as the knowledge Carlisle would never tolerate a second fall from grace.

And one day he would have to tell Bella his entire life story and it really didn't need to be any scarier and grimmer than it was already.

"Come on, out," Jasper, ordered and Edward stepped from the tub and dried his body, pulling on a pair of boxers and climbing into bed.

Jasper turned the television on and sat on top of the covers and the men waited and checked Edward's body heat level each hour. It seemed, especially if he had her warm little body curled in his, he could last around four hours before needing to reheat himself.

He stayed in the water until he watched his sister drive up to the front door, with an excited Bella at her side, then he flew from the tub and dressed, pouring hot coffee into his mouth at the same time.

Alice walked the girl down to his cottage and he opened the door.

"Hi, brother, I need a favour. I invited Bella for a sleepover and forgot I had that thing to do tonight, so I was wondering if she could stay here with you instead," Alice teased.

"I'm sure that would be tolerable," Edward replied with a grin, taking Bella's hand and leading her in.

The moment the door closed behind them, Edward had her in his arms properly, and his mouth was sealed on hers and he tasted her delicious Bella taste.

"Would you like to help me make dinner?" he enquired.

"Nope, I would like to lay on your wonderful bed and kiss you for a while," she answered.

Edward could cope with that. He let her lead him to his bedroom, and smiled as she stole glances into each room again. She seemed to like his cottage and that made him so happy. It would be a wonderful place to live, with her, afterwards.

Her changing could even take place here, he could lay with her and hold her and keep his ice cold body beside her burning one and hope the cold would be some little comfort.

Bella kicked off her shoes and curled up on his bed and Edward smiled and lay beside her, unsure whether this was to stop at just kissing. He had to watch and calculate what she wanted, because the wrong move could ruin everything. Not knowing what she was thinking was far more frustrating than usual. With another girl, any other girl, he would have simply done what she showed him she desired in her brain. With Bella, he had to depend on touch and body language.

He was as clueless as any inexperienced human male. Well, he did have some experience. Some wonderful experience, the best kind.

Bella's body was warming up, even more than usual, with their lips locked and their tongues busy and she sighed now and then, with complete happiness. She was enjoying this. Edward felt her reach out with one hand and secure his hand in hers then she placed it inside her pretty white cotton blouse and he felt soft lace beneath his hand, the little bra the only thing between him and her breast.

he circled his thumb on her hard little nipple and she moaned and pushed her body closer to his, and his brain smiled.

Oh, she wanted him. She wanted to feel him inside her, he didn't need to read her mind to know that. But was this an invitation or was she simply imagining what she wanted and reacting to the thought, rather than starting something more? It was so confusing. He had never enjoyed deliberate voyeurism as such so had flicked out of any brain in this situation. Now he really wished he had stayed. Of course, he had seen snippets no matter how hard he had tried to avoid them, because humans had the habit of instantly changing what they thought about.

or if their friend suddenly slid a hand into some place intimate, like where his was, the tv show they were watching would dim and the reality of their actions overtook their tiny brains that could really only cope with one or two things at a time.

Onc he had been confused, as a man played with his woman and she was thinking of the grocery list she needed to write, that was strange. Less strange were humans being with one human while thinking of another,

Why didn't they simply go be with that other human? He understood when it came to people like Johnny Depp, the man could not be with every woman who imagined he was her partner, but with ordinary humans, he felt confused. He himself could have been with girls, human or vampire and thought of Bella but that would bring him no satisfaction. The girl in his head needed to match the girl in his arms.

He massaged the breast gently and she leaned in, trying to make him touch her in a firmer manner, so he slid his other hand behind her back and carefully unclipped the bra, not wanting to destroy it.

Bella moved back, breaking contact with his lips and he panicked for a moment, but she was simply tossing her blouse off and the bra followed.

He had naked Bella breasts to play with.

He hovered, supporting his weight on his strong toes, and had both hands free to massage the naked mounds of flesh and she was really enjoying his attention. Too much to even wonder how he managed to hover there. Her mouth was on his again and she was writhing, closing her legs tighter, rubbing them together a little.

"Bellaaa," he moaned, he could smell that distinct smell that signalled her core was warming and become wet.

She rubbed her body against his and he lowered one hand and replaced it's spot with his mouth instead, sucking on a nipple as the other was still being caressed with his left hand. His right hand touched her jeans, and she arched her body to his as he traced over the thick denim seam that ran between her legs.

Her hand fumbled at her zipper, so he helped her, removing the jeans entirely with a slow pull down her legs and next thing his fingers were exploring inside the little lace panties.

So soft, so warm, her body sang to him and she panted and kissed the top of his head. Her lips were so soft and he relished her affection most of all.

"Edward, God, Edward," she cried and he slipped a single finger inside her and withdrew it several times, feeling her body want to open up and take in more. A second finger with the first still failed to satisfy her and suddenly he felt her hands on his pants, pulling them down, grabbing at his rock hard length and guiding it inside her.

Well, that was the invitation he had hoped for, there was no way to misread what she wanted. Evidently she was over Heathcliff and wanted him to be her lover instead.

His clothes disappeared and he was glad she had her eyes closed and was too far into the moment to be noticing anything that was happening too fast for her eyes to see.

He slid them both beneath the blankets and slid himself inside her warm eager body.

"Yes, home," he cried and started the slow love dance she loved.

His lips found his mark on her throat and he sucked it between his teeth to remind himself not to bite, no matter what. No matter how amazing the sensations got, he could not bite.

Not bite.

Not bite.

The chant replayed in his head as he thrust his hips and entered and left again, returning quickly, not wanting to leave at all but it was how the dance went.

She hissed slightly each time he hit hard inside her, and he found the spot easily, and kept connecting with it each thrust.

Her head was rolling, her eyes were closed and she was completely lost in the moment.

She was his. She loved what he was doing to her and he fought the desire to think of nothing but what he was feeling because that way led to tragedy and accidents.

"God, I love you, my Bella," he cried and thought about how much he needed her and how he would curl up and die without her.

No biting.

His hands sought her soft backside so he could lift her and grind inside enough to satisfy himself without losing control. The entire room was full of the smell of her, and he decided breathing was extremely necessary after all, as he inhaled the aroma and felt himself harden more, more than rock.

"Edward, my God, you are so hard," she cried and he struggled to keep control. He rubbed against the outer bundle of nerves before pushing inside and hitting her sweet spot in there and felt her start to shake and heard her moans. Concentrate on her, bring her to the peak, don't even think about yourself, he cautioned but it was pointless. Her body was shaking, and pulsing and she was sweating with effort and the aroma was so much stronger as she came hard, around him and he forgot everything but the feeling as he pumped inside her, able to experience the feeling from inside his own shaft as the venom rushed out. He felt it enter her and coat him on the outside of his erection. He was swimming in their fluid, his and hers, as her body contracted around him and released her own juices still, unable to stop because he was still inducing her to keep orgasming continuously. She was close to passing out, this was more than a human body could cope with, and he wanted to stop, on some level but the feeling was so unbelievably erotic, and he couldn't begin to stop streaming inside her himself.

He felt the fluid start to seep between their joining and it covered his sac and made him stream more, and he struggled to remain aware at all. His body just wanted to keep thrusting, thrusting, harder, keep the stream of venom going, keep her fluids pouring, He was so very glad to be alive right now, if that was what he was. He felt alive, more alive than ever before, and his hands let her fall to the bed as he made a Herculean effort to stop and not kill her with his body.

He grasped the bedhead and twisted, pounding her still, trying to find a distraction to break the spell.

The bedhead broke and pulverised in his hands and he found his mouth open, seeking her throat and he aimed to the right instead and heard himself snarl and snap his jaw shut tightly with something between his teeth and he bit, harder, harder, tearing, pulling back, but nothing, no blood, no nectar.

He threw himself backwards off the bed and landed heavily on the floor and looked up in wonder as the air filled with tiny white feathers.

"Oh Thank God," he cried, and flew to her side and took her hand. Her pulse was strong, her heart was pumping and there was not single spot of blood anywhere.

He hadn't hurt her at all. He had put her into a state of such bliss she was unconscious, but she was safe. Safe but looking much like a baby bird, as the feathers drifted down and settled all over her.

The beautiful Egyptian pillows were no more. Alice would be mad about that, she had actually gone to Egypt to buy the real thing.

Edward looked up as he heard his sister closing in.

"Edward, new bedhead?" she said, ignoring the sleeping human and ripping away what remained of the tortured metal and slid the new one into place.

She crushed the broken remnants and blew the dust from her hands, waving it outside the door onto the ground.

"I bought them in bulk. I'm pleased to see the house is still standing. It won't be, once you change her and can let yourself really go," she sighed.

She left and returned instantly and tossed him two new pillows.

"Imported. I think they are authentic but who knows? I can replace them after my next buying trip to Egypt but these will do for now."

She was gone in the blink of an eye and Edward lay beside Bella and carefully picked individual tiny white feathers from her hair before she woke up and screamed at the apparent carnage.

He didn't want to think about what could have just happened but he had to.

He couldn't do that again until he found some control. It had been so much easier in the woods, with tree trunks to scar with his hands and he had pushed his feet against the ground, leaving large gaping troughs, but here he had no such outlets.

All he had was a flimsy bedhead.

Maybe he could ask her if she liked that chunky wooden style bedhead instead? Clearly, the thin metal was no use to his excesses.

He lay his face between her thighs and licked away the remaining fluid coming from inside her, it was all hers now, his venom had soaked the bed. She tasted so delicious it made the instant replay begin in his mind and he flew outside, into the forest and released again as seeing himself come that hard and long made his body do it again. Maybe this would be the answer? Maybe he should release like this from memories before he made love with her each time?

He panted and grasped a tree and heard it snap and fall as he screamed her name.

He could be freer this time and his hips bucked and his erection stood out, hard and proud and he saw the venom stream endlessly. How much could he possibly have inside him?

Finally it stopped and he sank to his knees and tried to calm himself.

Jasper appeared in that instance and Edward felt the calm wafting out in front of the man, as it enveloped over him, and his body rested.

"I could have killed her," he cried.

"But, you didn't."

They returned inside and Edward stood well back, a little afraid to be close to her.

Jasper stood beside the bed and saw the early signs of bruising begin on the girls pale flesh and he placed his cold hands gently over them, lessening the blood seepage beneath her skin.

"She's fine, though she will be marked, there's nothing we can do about that."

Alice reappeared and started coating the girl's skin with a salve of some kind.

"It will lessen the color, and make the blood fade faster," she said.

"I'll hold her, Jasper, you replace the mattress."

They attended to the practical necessities so effortlessly and had been fully prepared in every way. Jasper threw clean linen on the bed and Alice lay Bella back down.

Suddenly they were both beside him, holding him as he swayed.

"Edward, you did it. You didn't kill her, you were amazing."

It didn't feel amazing. He waved them away.

As they flew towards the main house he heard his sister speak, forgetting he could hear her.

"Well, I told you it would go one way or the other. I saw her bruised and asleep or else..."

"Well we don't need the coffin after all, Thank the Gods," Jasper replied.

Edward slid back beside Bella and held her gently, kissing the top of her head. His body was cooling but that was good and he lay there and cuddled her to him, turning her over so every bruise got some time in contact with his skin and she slept the whole night, exhausted.

He slipped from her arms in the early morning and filled the tub and lay in it as his body reheated.

He could have killed her.

Sure, Alice and Jasper had been on alert, but clearly it could have gone either way. His sister knew it, Jasper knew it. They had been prepared to take her lifeless body away and bury it, if things had gone bad.

His body seized and he felt himself slip into a type of shock that vampires occasionally but very rarely suffered. Everything had become just too much and he knew it would pass, and for now it just appeared he was asleep.

He couln't even move when he saw the girl in his bed awaken. She frowned as she stretched her arms above her head and he saw her breasts appear above the blankets. No bad bruising, just pale mauve marks.

She looked around and smiled at him laying in the tub, apparently sleeping.

"Mr OCD Cullen," she giggled, assuming he had felt the need to wash after their wild encounter.

"Well, Bella, you always wanted a night to remember, and that certainly fit the bill. This man is amazing. So hard to believe his first lover let him go because I never will," she smirked and walked into the bathroom.

She closed the door and soon he heard the sound of the shower, and then she reappeared, glistening wet, and drying her body, inspecting the marks he had inflicted on it, in the mirror.

"Whoa, we certainly got hot and heavy. I'm almost tempted to show these to Jessica and tell her what it's like to spend the night with a real man," she snickered.

She was completely untroubled, unaware of how close she had been to dying. This morning had held an even chance she would now be stone cold dead, buried in that coffin Alice had procured, deep inside the forest.

And he would be suicidal, needing death himself.

She gathered her clothing and dressed then sat down beside the tub and wiped the hair back off his brow and kissed his forehead gently.

"Wake up, my prince. Isn't it the girl who is supposed to fall into a blissful sleep?" she said, unaware she had been earlier.

Edward detected jasper coming down the path, no doubt because Alice wanted him to wake Edward up.

She could hardly dance inside the cottage seeing he was naked. Human society said that was wrong.

Bella was heading down the hallway herself, unaware they were about to have a visitor and she jumped in surprise when he was there, right before her as she opened the door. She stumbled and fell forward and Jasper held out his stone cold arms and caught her in a reflex reaction and she flew from his arms the moment she could right herself.

"Jasper", she whispered in horror.

He was confused and he placed a hand on her arm.

"What's wrong? Edward's just asleep, he let's his body overheat in the tub and ..."

"You are so cold," she said.

"Oh, yeah, right. It's.. a medical condition. I can't recall the name, just means my body never heats up."

"So you are cold all over," she said aghast.

"It doesn't bother me, Bella and Alice thinks it's great. No need for air conditioning in our bedroom in Summer," he quipped.

Bella shook her head and stepped further back, horrified.

"I've got to go. Tell Edward... I'll call him. Oh God, no," she cried and was gone.

Jasper was confused but he helped Edward from the tub and covered him with calming vibes so he could recover.

"She thinks you are Heathcliff," Edward said, the moment he could speak.

"Heathcliff? But why would I be...oh, my God. She thinks I'm the one she..."

"Fucked in the forest," Edward finished for him.