Let the Flames Begin
by bulletproof
Disclaimer: Not mine, never will be, though my version of Edward is certainly more… debauched than Ms. Meyer's; what can I say, I like him that way; title of the fic from Paramore.
Chapter 1 : Distraction
FIVE YEARS EARLIER
Edward
She wants him; this much he has always known.
The way her touch lingers longer than comfort, the way her gaze drags across his body, so heavy, so full of intent; Even if Edward hadn't been cursed with the ability to hear every thought of those around him he would have known that there is nothing more that Tanya wants than to push him down on the bed, the couch, the floor, and claim him as her own.
She is attractive; this he also knows.
Objectively, he recognizes that striking yet fine features and a lithe, graceful body amount to the stuff of men's dreams and he is a man.
He has spent ninety long years as an only man, the odd man out – if Noah were to make a sick, twisted ark of pairs, Edward would be left to drown. He has been watching, first Carlisle, then Emmett, then Jasper claiming their mates in every kiss, touch and caress that he has had to endure for ninety years.
And so he doesn't recoil as Tanya's fingers trail across his shoulder, his collar bone and finally coming to rest at the center of his chest.
"Edward," she breathes, her gaze laden with desire and he knows where this is going, saw her planning this before he even got out of the car, and he lets her pull his body into hers, allows the angle of her lips to slant across his.
Her kiss is hard as soon as he grants it, years of pent up longing driving her mouth against him in a punishing bent. She grips the back of his neck, his hair, pulls herself closer and yes, he thinks as his lips respond in kind, this is a pleasant distraction from an eternal life.
He lays her down on the forest floor, her blond hair fanning out against the cold moss before she rises, lifting herself up to rip the shirt from his chest, her long nails tracking rivulets down his bare skin.
She makes quick work of his buckle and fly, pushing his jeans down his hips roughly, takes his hand and runs it under her skirt, up her thighs to her naked ass and she presses herself into his cock.
"Take me, Edward."
He groans and complies, pushing himself into her inch by inch. His head is spinning; she is tight and wet around him – tight and wet and oh so new, these sensations dragging his mind into a pleasurable blur.
He instinctively finds his first rhythm, slow at first then climbing with her escalating cries, finally pounding into her until they both unravel in a long, loud moan.
"Edward!"
Later, when they are clothed but still disheveled, Emmett slaps him on the back and their families smile knowing, discrete smiles, all thinking that this will bring the two covens closer together.
All but Alice whose mouth is drawn into a tight line and who is shielding her thoughts from him now.
* * * * *
PRESENT DAY
Edward keeps his jaw clenched as he follows behind his paired siblings across the quad to the cafeteria, trying hard to abate the swelling din of thoughts that are surging throughout the school.
God he hates this place.
It's such a farce, he thinks – any one of them could be teaching graduate level courses in English, History, Math, and yet here they are taking high school classes on the most rudimentary concepts of the subjects.
He scowls at the direction of his thoughts. He's not usually quite this bitter before lunch, but the minds of his Forks High classmates are louder, more excitable today. There is a new girl starting and much like the shiny new toy at daycare, thoughts of her are being snatched vociferously from mind to mind.
Isabella, he hears, Bella. It's a pretty enough name, he allows himself to muse before clamping down his cognitive defenses against the clamor and chaos of teenage minds.
He keeps his gaze downcast as he follows the others into the cafeteria until the sound of his name catches his attention.
"That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't waste your time. He doesn't date. Apparently, none of the girls here are good-looking enough for him."
Edward smirks at this. Yes, he remembers well the year that Jessica Stanley spent infatuated with him, having to suffer through her salacious thoughts about his body screaming loudly at him from across the school. After many a rebuff and cold shoulder, she finally, thankfully, came to her senses.
He lets his eyes dart to her companion. This must be Bella, he thinks, noting the thick chestnut hair and slender shoulders that have haunted the male population of Forks High.
She is strangely quiet, both audibly and otherwise as he feels her regard slide over his form.
Perplexed, Edward takes his seat and stares at her openly, his brow furrowed. She is… pretty, he thinks. He can see why her pale, porcelain skin and slim, girlish figure have caught the attention of his male classmates. It's her eyes, though, that hold his gaze to her, deep brown and beguiling.
He watches as a quick blush infuses the apples of her cheeks and she brings her full bottom lip between her teeth. He feels entranced.
And yet there is something wrong. Here, even under his most blatant stare, her mind is silent to him.
His frown deepens and he nudges his mental barriers open slightly, trying to get a peek into her head and, unbidden, the thoughts surrounding Bella Swan lick at the periphery of his consciousness.
Bella Swan in skin tight leather.
Bella Swan in blood red lingerie.
Bella Swan naked and writhing on satin sheets.
He snarls quietly to himself at the overactive imaginations of the boys at the high school.
Overactive and yet so banal, he scoffs in his mind, his thoughts quickly sliding to half a dozen tableaus of Miss Swan in increasingly provocative scenes.
God, what the fuck am I doing? She's human.
He shakes his head quickly to rid himself of the images, but they cling to the edges of his mind, begging him to take another look at the Bella in the flesh.
He scowls anew, purposefully turning his eyes away from the alluring call of her body and trying to pay attention to the inane conversation that his siblings are holding.
I'll just have to endure it, he thinks as the Bella in his mind beckons him once more and he twists his body further away from the Bella in the cafeteria.
* * * * *
Edward steals away to the biology classroom early, eager to have the sanctuary of an empty room, if only for a few minutes.
He grimaces as the bell rings to signify the end of lunch and slowly but surely, the rest of the class trickle into the room, taking their seats as they chatter to each other, generally ignoring him and God is he glad that he's never been assigned a Biology partner, the empty seat next to him offering some slight reprieve that he so sorely needs today.
And then, just like a curse, his siren enters the room and he finds himself involuntarily transfixed as Bella greets Mr. Banner and he is pointing her to Edward's table.
Of course.
His jaw hardens as he watches her approach, her blush returning as she notices that she has been partnered with the boy that had stared at her so intently in the cafeteria.
The fan behind her lifts her scent to him and he feels it like a bodily blow. Her scent, her blood, is screaming out to him, he feels his hands itching like a newborn's to snap her pretty little neck and spill the blood that is pooling venom in his mouth.
His fingers grab the edge of the lab bench until his knuckles are white, near purple, as she assumes the seat next to him. She flips her hair carelessly over her shoulder and he feels rather than sees her gaze darting to him shyly from the corner of her eye until she stills, registering the tension that must be rolling off of him in waves.
Yes, he thinks, sickly satisfied as he hears her heart quicken, you should be afraid.
Her breath also hastens as the tension slowly escalates with every second that drags by, and uninvited thoughts suddenly fill his mind – she is panting, breathless beneath him, her legs coming to wrap around his waist like a vice as he pushes himself into her. He imagines himself growling at the way her burning hot flesh wraps tightly around his cock, imagines himself pushing into her harder, faster, harder, God, and as he is about torelease himself into her, she arches herself up, presses her neck against his willing mouth, and pleads to him in a low, guttural moan.
"Bite me."
Edward snaps himself out of his reverie, shooting out of his seat with barely contained vampiric speed, only just cognizant of the bell for the end of class.
He hurries down the corridors of the school, unaware of the shoulders he jostles as the students come streaming out of class. He ignores the inconsequential protests, not stopping until he is deep inside the wooded grounds beside the school, the tall trees and their foliage dulling the white noise of Forks High.
And still her blood calls to him.
Drink, the Bella inside his mind pleads, her little hands pressing into his neck.
He lets out a thunderous snarl as he wraps his hands around a tall cedar tree, ripping it out by its roots and tossing it aside.
He can't, can not do this alone. He doesn't have the strength to stay away from her, knowing with a disgusting certainty that if he wants to, he could lure her away with crooked smiles and honeyed words; he could have her wet and willing flesh, and the blood that rushed insistently in her veins.
And God he wants to.
His cell phone is flipped open and the number dialed without a second thought. No, he can't do this alone, but he knows what could help.
"Tanya, I need you."
TBC