* Declaimer: Twilight does not belong to me.
(Just something I had to pen down so I wouldn't forget. Inspired by a sweet sweet dream I had about Edward the other night hehe. Takes place in the early chapters of Eclipse.)
Surrender- Edward's POV
"Bella, I don't want to say no…"
We were going through the same argument that had gotten quite popular with us lately. Bella started kissing my throat before I could apply the right amount of force to my fingers so that I could push her away. Sometimes, even now, that was one of the hardest parts; needing to be firm but wanting to be gentle. My hands remained locked around her waist, with her lips pressed just below my jugular.
"Please, Edward," she whispered. Her lips began skimming up my neck.
"Please?" Bella turned her head and I heard her inhale my scent with a long sigh.
I groaned.
Whipping around too rapidly for her to catch my movement, I turned Bella over and laid her down on the quilt. Her beautiful eyes widened but I immediately covered her mouth with my hand.
"Not another word," I said flatly, "Or I'll stop."
Her eyes stayed frozen in that surprised look as she processed the serious tone to my voice. Finally, she nodded.
I removed my hand and claimed her lips fervently.
She was mine. And whatever I needed to do to keep her under this trance, I would willingly surrender.
A piece of my brain clicked at the sudden shock of how overly confident I felt. I guess this new emotion had begun to take charge once I'd discovered how strong the competition actually was. The selfish, inhuman part of me was afraid of losing Bella. Afraid, no. Scared to death was more like it. That thought made me think abruptly of Volterra and my almost encounter with death…
For Bella.
She needed air.
I broke off our desperately passionate kiss.
Bella, gasping, twisted her fingers in my hair. I found that for some reason, my breathing was also unstable. Could it be the dwindling of my self-control?
It was all too possible. Bella always left me frantically searching for new ways to stay strong.
Without a moment's thought, however, I flipped us over again, positioning her above me. Bella wrapped her shapely legs around my waist. She gripped my face with both hands, pulling it up higher and kissed me with more fervor than before.
My eyes closed blissfully to the feel of her soft lips. Even without looking at her beauty, I could feel it under my fingertips. One hand held her waist securely, the other climbed up her left thigh deliberately slow-like.
Bella bent her head down so she could plant kisses along my neck again. The freesia aroma coming off her own throat and hair smelled so good. But for once, not in an appetizing way. This new reaction to Bella was something that I had only begun to notice after my return from Volterra. That day, with the sunlight streaming directly above me, the floral scent bathing every inch of the atmosphere surrounding the spot where I stood…with my eyes closed, it felt otherworldly. No wonder I was confused enough to think I'd been transported to some kind of heaven.
My kind.
Then I found out as the months following our reunion proceeded that the thirst had diminished. Not that it completely vanished. No, that would never happen as long as Bella stayed human. But rather, this epiphany occurred to me that afternoon under the blinding sun in Italy. Was the taste of her blood more important to me than the beat of her heart?
Losing Bella….or thinking that I had anyway, but still, it cured me of the battle between my desire for her blood and my desire to be loved by her.
During the single minute that I was remembering this, Bella pulled her lips away from my throat to brush them over my lips again. And her hands slid down to the first button on my shirt.
I restrained her hands gently as not to hurt her feelings.
"Bella," I whispered. I noticed how husky my voice sounded and cleared my throat.
Bella frowned, that crease appearing between her eyes. But her hands were still tangled around the button. Smiling at her apparent disappointment, I raised the hand that wasn't restraining her to smooth the skin between her eyes with my fingers. At last, Bella sighed. The sound was trickled with drowsiness. She eased herself off of me, sliding over to her pillow.
In truth, I was only smiling on the surface. This new physical experiment only proved that now I craved her touch a hundred times more than I had before when all I wanted was to be deserving of her compassion. I could see how easier it would be to lose control with this than with the thirst.
She felt so warm in my arms and smelled so good…
"That was…"
I turned my head at the sound of Bella's voice, coated with heavy breathing.
Bella inched closer. But she didn't finish. Her head lay cushioned between my shoulder and chest. Wisps of mahogany hair sprawled along my light blue shirt.
My eyes marveled at the warm color.
"Beautiful," I finished her thought.