Storytime

Author: LJ Summers

Dateline: Mississippi, 1920

Beta: Katmom the Magnificent!

Note: I originally started this with a whole "How Carlisle and Edward Saved Mary Alice" scene, complete with vampire death and dismemberment because the Dread Fanficker Summers still kills a lot of people, but decided to get right down to business for y'all. ;-)

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It was not the first time they had been left alone together. Today, they were in the "spare bedroom" of this house. It was being used as a library, for Carlisle had amassed a great quantity of books in his centuries of existence.

Carlisle and Edward had rescued Mary Alice a few months prior. Her wounds being grievous, Carlisle had changed her. She had been all alone, broken and partially drained by a vampire who had ravaged her throat and then apparently sucked out his venom. She had been sadistically abandoned, but all she would do was beg. "I won't have any more visions, I promise. Please. I promise."

To Edward had gone a good deal of the responsibility for teaching the newborn. He had not felt entirely equal to the task, but Alice was determined to do well. And the little lady had an iron will.

"Do — do you want to read?" Edward nodded at Carlisle's bookshelf.

She saw an image of the two of them on her bed, dressed as they were now, reading from one of Carlisle's first editions. With a quick intake of breath, she nodded and withdrew a thin volume, bound in red leather. Where's Carlisle? she asked him silently.

They were still getting used to how their gifts worked so remarkably well when used in tandem and Edward warmed inside each time she sent him her thoughts directly. He concentrated and made the decision to tell her that Carlisle was working at the hospital and had a house call to make after that.

A flash of imagery in her mind captured him completely. She was unbuttoning his shirt...

"Mary Alice," he rasped, his body taut.

Her eyes widened. "Sorry?" she ventured, gripping the book in her hands.

Shaking his head, he smiled slowly and stepped closer to her. "No apologies. I was just...surprised."

Long lashes fluttered as she glanced down at the book. At six-two, Edward towered over Mary Alice by sixteen inches. She nodded, but kept her head down. "I see us, Edward," she whispered. "I see us like that and, and..."

He lifted her chin carefully on his curved finger. Her eyes darkened and he felt his own do so as well. "And what?" Dipping his head, he inhaled deeply of her scent - a sprightly, sweet nutmeg underlain by Carlisle's cardamom. Her hair tickled his nose and he had to smile.

Slowly, she tilted her head to his. Edward held his breath. Oh, he wanted to kiss her but he'd never kissed anyone that he could remember. He had only a few images to go on, too, since he often pushed overheard thoughts out of his awareness when they started getting sexual.

He kept his eyes open as hers slid shut. Holding her chin more firmly, he carefully grazed her cheek with his open mouth, breathing her in and feeling her do likewise. Her thoughts flew.

Oh, he smells so good. Oh, yes, feels so good, oh please just a little more to the center...

Smiling, feeling a little smug and shyly pleased, Edward complied, bringing his lips to hers. His eyes closed on their own accord as he pressed her lips with his own. Their first kiss was slow, and it took her a moment to respond, but he saw her mind try out different ways and was enthralled.

She was so brave. So adventurous. So...delightful. Still holding the book in one hand she reached up behind his neck. You can hear me, can't you?

He nodded, feeling her lips parting softly under his own. Oh, her breath... It touched him like a scarf, and he felt his erection seem to try to escape his trousers all on its own. He'd die — again — if she felt that and was upset or offended in any way whatsoever. Pulling his head back from hers a little, he was afraid to look into her eyes.

She sighed. "Edward..." Her mind spun and images flew to him. The two of them, her legs around his hips, his hands kneading her backside. He was...they were...grinding into one another, her stockings and garters clearly seen in Mary Alice's vision. Tilting her head back, she kept her hands around his neck as she spoke out loud. "You wouldn't have offended me, in case you were worried."

"Good. Good to know."

I'm nervous, too, she confessed silently.

He decided to tell her he'd never done this before. The boys in Chicago would say I still have my cherry, he considered saying.

She saw his imagined words and bit her lip. So do I.

Heat raced under his skin and his hands moved on their own volition, touching her smooth arms, tracing the slight measure of her ribs, the dip of her waist, coming to rest on her hips. She shivered under his fingertips, her lips open and seductive. She moved to reciprocate, but clipped the back of one ear with the book.

The book they had ostensibly come into the library to find and read.

Reading together had been one way for them to pass the time while Mary Alice adjusted to her new body. Page-turning required fine muscle control. Reading out loud helped them both to learn to modulate their speech for human speeds. Carlisle, at first, sat with them and helped them, since Edward had so recently been a newborn himself.

The tension between them broken, Edward laughed a little. "We should read."

"Yes." Come with me?

He took her offered hand and they strolled at human speed to her bedroom. They never slept, but Mary Alice had wished to have a feminine room of her own and Carlisle hadn't had the heart to deny her anything when they settled near the edge of the wilderness near the Pascagoula River. Indeed, once she had joined them, with her gift for seeing the future, she had been able to help Good Doctor Cullen with some modest investments of his income.

Carlisle had been more than willing to indulge her tastes, of course.

Mary Alice's bedroom was a place Edward generally saw only in the thoughts of its inhabitant. He decided, then, to ask her why she had her bed so elaborately done.

I like to feel the silk, she answered silently, tossing the book up near the big, rose-hued pillows. We don't sleep but... Turning and stopping with her back to the bed, she smiled invitingly. That doesn't mean a bed can't be a lovely place to spend some time.

He didn't reply, but climbed up on the bed and waited for her, taking the book up while she hopped to sit opposite him.

"It is comfortable," he said.

"Thank you."

When Carlisle returned home, he found them there, still reading out loud to one another.

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The day they kissed marked the beginning of a new time for Edward. He felt something had changed within him, and he reveled in it.

He would decide to sneak up behind her and and wrap his arms around her, nuzzling her hair. She would visualize herself arching up and back and pulling his head down further, tempting his hands to wander. And in his mind, they did wander.

Often.

Edward would look up from the book he had been reading — he wanted to attend a university soon, so he was reading everything he could get his hands on to prepare — and find Mary Alice kneeling on the floor, cutting out a dress to pattern. Her eyes, though, would be dark. And not with hunger.

Her thoughts were playful, seductive, but not at all offensive. They were dancing in their minds, the two of them. Sometimes, he led. Sometimes, she did.

Edward?

Carlisle's direct mental address came while the two of them were out hunting. Mary Alice "had washing" to do and felt uncomfortable fussing with her lingerie in front of the men.

"Yes?" Edward replied as they ran through the early evening's darkness. He could smell wildcat, even this far south, and it called to him.

You and your new sister —

"She is not my sister." No, definitely not his sister.

His sire chuckled and leaped lightly over a frightened family of squirrels.

Through the trees, Edward could see flickering lightning bugs. He and Mary Alice should come out here...

No, I don't reckon she is. I was just wondering what your intentions were, son. I do stand in place of a parent to her and to you.

"Awkward, I am sure." Edward slowed to a stop. Some conversations should not be had while running.

Only slightly. Carlisle called up memories in which smoldering looks featured prominently. So, your intentions?

"All I can seem to think about is her, sometimes, Carlisle."

Ever the doctor, the scientist, his sire smiled tolerantly and slid his hands into his pockets, prepared to listen. He mimicked humanity so thoroughly. Edward copied him as best as he was able. Carlisle prompted, "And?"

"I – I've never felt like this, that I remember." This was embarrassing, but Edward also felt elated. "I think I love her."

I wish I had this opportunity, Carlisle thought fleetingly. But I am happy for you. Happy for you both. Among our kind, you know, there is no requirement for a formal alliance...

At that, Edward blinked. "Oh? But, surely it's right to, to marry...?"

Carlisle clapped his hand on Edward's shoulder and laughed. "Yes, I believe the vows are important, but you should do as you wish to be happy, my son. As you both wish."

Excitement thrummed through Edward's limbs. "I should go back –"

No, you should hunt. She'll still be there and she wanted some privacy, remember?

"Right. Yes. Of course. Let's go!"

Giddy, laughing, Edward dashed forward, weaving through the trees as if borne up by wings.

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He presented himself at the door to her room the next morning they had alone.

"Edward?"

He hadn't peeked into her mind before he arrived, so he was totally unprepared for the state of undress in which he found her. "Mary Alice," he said on a breath.

She wore a pink chemise that hung sparely over her petite frame...and apparently nothing else. "I –" She glanced down, her lashes sweeping low. "Give me a moment and –"

"No, I'll, ah." He couldn't tear his eyes away. Human clothing was not meant to hide things from the sharp eyes of an immortal – especially not sheer, feminine undergarments.

She flashed to his side, her bright smile back in evidence. "Did you bring our book?"

Feeling as human as he possibly could, considering, Edward felt himself tremble. "I did."

"Story time!"

Charmed, Edward let her lead him to her bed. It was not such unfamiliar territory now, but never had he been there when she was less than half-dressed. He gestured weakly at the nearly transparent garment. "M- Mary Alice... I feel, awkward...?"

She giggled and he knew he was in trouble. "Well, then, let's bring us to more of an equality." Her slender fingers made short work of his collar and buttons and Edward felt helpless to do anything but let the lady have her way. The hair on his arms seemed to lift as her hands pushed his sleeves down. Every muscle in his body tightened. Her breath came faster and her stare seemed fixated around the waistband of his trousers. He could not help but catch her thoughts—they were vibrant. And...explicit.

And...he found he wanted to know how much of those thoughts were her imagination and how much was true Sight.

He felt himself twitch uneasily in his trousers and quickly cupped Mary Alice's face in one of his hands, thereby directing her gaze up. "Story time?" Every instinct raging in his body was demanding anything but another session of Practice Human Speech, but the training he had grown up with forced him to keep his own focus on Mary Alice's face.

Which was fairly glowing with her inner thoughts.

She pictured them reclining on her pillows, then imagined him, still only in his trousers, with his head upon her abdomen. Her eyes were alight as she hopped up on the bed before him and did just as her imagined self had done.

She waited. Well? Stretching, she held his gaze with her own and Edward made several decisions all at once.

Dropping the book on the bed, he did as she wished of him. They held hands—his left, her right—and he was nearly panting. Oh, there were things he wanted to do, and in her mind, he could see she was reacting to the different varieties of desires he wished to fulfill. His quick breaths drew in her scents, her sweet arousal making him grow harder than he had been in any prior fantasy.

Staring at each other, he felt restrained by human boundaries and expectations, but his mind blew beyond them. As their fingers laced together tightly, their minds let go of all inhibitions.

What followed in the game they played between his mind and hers was more real that he could have ever imagined.

He rolled his head to one side and nuzzled the underside of her breast. She moaned softly and pressed him more tightly against her body. He could see her nipple hardening through the thin fabric and, with barely any effort, he rolled over entirely and was sucking on it. His hands slid down her hips, her thighs, until they reached the tiny hem of her chemise. Her legs moved restlessly as his fingers flirted with her skin and the fabric.

Arching her back, she begged, "Edward, please..." before tugging on his hair until he claimed her lips with his own.

Gentleness had fled when she had pulled his hair. He kissed her, showing her without discussion that he belonged where he was, that the two of them were exciting together. He ceased flirting with the chemise and slid it up her bare body, revealing cool white skin that he took the time to examine—thoroughly—when he tossed the flimsy bit of nothing aside.

"You're perfect, love," he whispered reverently. Because he was still a teenager, even by human standards, he first paid homage to her breasts. Firm, they fit his palms as if designed for them. Lightly squeezing, he bent to taste her skin, reveling in the small sounds of pleasure she made. Her taste was sweet, spicy, everything Mary Alice was in her heart and mind.

Breathing heavily, his beloved started to explore his body, too. Her fingers left trails of electric awareness on his skin. She traced his ribs, moving to his shoulders and caressing their slope before gripping his arms and lifting her head to kiss his throat. Her hands moved in the other direction, teasing his abdomen, making his muscles clench and his hips jerk under her light seduction.

Mary Alice used her newborn strength to pull him up on her body so that she, with her shorter reach, could touch him lower down. "I've been so curious," she confessed softly, the tip of her tongue chasing the words from her lips. "I felt you, when we kissed, and I've wanted to see..."

He swore as she touched his erection through his trousers before ripping the last of his clothing off with a sudden, almost feral need. "Careful!"

Eyes wide with wonder, she looked down her own body to see his hard length in her hands. He couldn't help thrusting between her palms and she made a pleased sound. A small amount of venom beaded at the tip and she came up, quick as lightning, to taste it...

And he lost all semblance of rational thought. "I need you," he gasped as he pushed her back into the pink silk pillows and settled between her thighs. Muffled, the words still poured out from him as he suckled and nibbled his way across her delicate collarbones and down between her breasts. "Thought about this, so much."

"Me, too... But then, you know that," she added with a smile. He paused and looked up at her before sliding lower down on her body, leaving a cool trail over her stomach. Her scent surrounded him. She tensed as his lips and tongue wasted no more time. "Oh, please..."

He had to look at the incredible, intimate sight of her cleft. Arching his neck, he gave himself a bit of perspective, using his thumbs to spread her flesh and reveal the petal-like textures he'd never seen even in anyone's thoughts, before. "Ohhh," he sighed, inhaling deeply of her nectar. He pressed his nose on the bud of nerves at her apex and she squeaked, bucking up into his face.

Laughing lightly, he nuzzled her there, too, swelling with masculine pride as her squeaks turned to sighs and then moans. He tasted her, feeling a purring vibration in his chest as he did so. Her scent grew more saturated as he explored with the tip and then the flat of his tongue. She started to shiver and shake around him so he gripped her at the crease between her legs and hips.

She might have quit pushing into him with her heaven-scented mound, but her fingers were in his hair, pressing and tugging enough to make up for it.

"More...there...oh there," she encouraged as he lapped at her, delved into her, rubbed and growled. It was the vibration of his growl that sent her screaming. A high pitched shriek that neither of them knew she could make crested from her mouth as she exploded liquidly over his tongue.

His own orgasm was imminent; he was actually grinding into the mattress of her bed in a desperate bid for friction. The young men (and women) whose thoughts he had discerned on this subject called it "humping," the physical act of sexual intercourse. No delicate thoughts for the modern generation, that was certain, but Edward hoped that his Mary Alice would not find their lovemaking to be lessened for all that.

It was his turn to beg. "Mary Alice... May I?" He could stop, he knew, if she closed her legs to him.

Elevated above her sated body, he waited until her heavy-lidded eyes granted him permission. Joining with her was more...more than he had thought it could be. Just the feeling of his body within hers, of being—however briefly—incorporated within the physical being of his beloved, moved him profoundly so that his eyes stung as he whispered her name.

"Me, too," she assured him, knowing him well.

Answering the demands of his body and hers, he moved slowly at first, feeling each ridge of her, each minute clenching of innermost muscles, alert to the smallest new secretion of scent. They had to work at it, but between his gift and hers, they had a rhythm soon, one that met every need either had dreamed they would have. Her knees bent and then she wrapped her legs entirely around him, her agile frame seeming to have no limit in terms of flexibility.

"I need... I want..." he ground out incoherently.

"I know! Go! Yes!"

Her assent was all he required to abandon all thoughts of tenderness and concentrate on power and speed and sensation. More. Deeper. Harder. Faster. His body tightened further; her voice rose in a ululant wail.

"Mary Alice!" His shout echoed off the headboard, his subsequent roar rattled the windows as he came violently within her.

"Edwaaaard!"

Blinking, Mary Alice coughed and said simply, "Oh."

Edward blew out a breath, before inhaling deeply and — "Oh."

The book forgotten, the couple remained as they had been. Edward, sans his shirt, with his head resting on Mary Alice's stomach, their fingers laced together so tightly they might have been welded...

And the very present scent of his venomous climax. And hers. In some ways, their mutual mental fantasy had been very real.

"I love you," he assured her, afraid to move lest all that they had shared in their minds— between his making decisions and her thinking of what would happen— occurred before he had said and done all that was proper. "You have to know that."

"I do. And I'll say yes, you know. When you ask me."

Even after all they had managed to accomplish that day, he was still surprised. "Oh. Good." When she picked up the book, he smiled slowly and shook his head, feeling her muscles under him respond to each shift of pressure. He was instantly aroused all over again. "I think," he said slowly, "that we make much better stories ourselves."

Eyes wide with delight, Mary Alice nodded and tossed the book to the floor. "So... story time?"

E/N: The ladies at Dirty Cheeky Monkeys www . dirtycheekymonkeys . blogspot . com have the pic that was the prompt for this story. It was supposed to go up next week, but it went up early due to technical difficulties.

Thanks for reading!