Twilight owned by Stephenie Meyer

Post Breaking Dawn – January after the Volturi confrontation, first day of second semester at Dartmouth College.

This builds on the reaction Edward had in Eclipse to seeing Bella in a riding jacket. I wondered, how would Edward react, post-wedding, post-transformation to Bella in full riding leathers... well we'll get there - and it will be fun. Rated M for some tastful lemony material later on. EPOV

I hope you enjoy - and please review! (Gotta love the reviews!)

Chapter 1

I danced my hands along the soft, yet sturdy skin of her waist as she lay with her body nestled into mine. Her breath hitched beneath my touch. Light was beginning to filter its way through the large bay window of our room, overlooking a small brook that ran into Boston Lot Lake.

"Love, Nessie will be awake soon. And, unlike you, I haven't repeated university half a dozen times…" Bella moaned.

"True…" I smiled, trailing my way upward. I'd spent the better part of the last century waiting for her – waiting… while I studied and read and learned and practiced night after night… and I had little interest in continuing now that I had her in my arms. "But you have an eternity to make up for it."

Her unnecessary breathing deepened as I caressed her sensitive skin. "Mmm…" she writhed under my touch, "Edward," she gasped as I rolled her onto her back to allow my lips to join my fingers, "Renesmee…"

"Rosalie and Emmett will take care of her. They owe me." I chuckled lowly. I wasn't taking no for an answer.

"But class… Dartmouth… an incredibly expensive and unnecessary education…" she continued to argue unconvincingly, and I felt the thrill of victory in hand.

"If Rosalie and Emmett get Renesmee ready, you've plenty of time to make your first class." I whispered against her chest, my nose grazed her clavicle and my fingers traveled south. I inhaled deeply. Though the blood that once tempted me no longer flowed through her veins, her scent was as potent as ever, tempting me in very different ways.

She moaned, arching her back, pushing her core forward to meet my lips, kissing and tasting their way down her exquisite body. I craved her. I would never stop craving her. My thirst was unquenchable. With a growl, she pushed against the bed and in a split second she had me on my back, using her newborn strength to gain the advantage. Hmm, I liked this game. I tugged at my arms, intending to reach for her waist and pull her to me, right where I wanted her.

But my arms remained stationary, locked under her iron grip as she hovered unmoving over me, her legs pegging mine to the bed. I looked up at her in surprise. This was new. I arched an eyebrow in curiosity. What exactly was she planning? I probed at the barrier that kept her thoughts from me that she occasionally lifted, laying bare her mind. She wasn't letting me in today.

She smiled down as she kneeled over me, my arms still held in place as her breathing slowed. "If you think I'm going to waste all that money you spent, buying my way into college, you've got another thing coming."

"W-what?"

"I'm not going to be late for my first day of school, Edward Cullen, no matter how much you tempt me otherwise."

I was speechless… and completely helpless as I struggled to loosen her hold on my arms, or move my thighs from under her strong legs.

"Stop struggling. I'm not kidding." She smiled.

"But I only did it to tempt you to stay human." I argued, "Since that clearly failed, the costs to get you in are simply a sunk cost and not to be considered this morning, in light of more… appropriate activities."

She laughed, shaking her head, "That's a pretty weak argument, Mr. Cullen." And with that she leapt from the bed and my anxious body to the door to our adjoining bathroom.

Damn! My head fell back to the bed. She'd chosen me, married me - making her mine, survived an impossible and miraculous childbirth, and was now transformed, making her mine forever – and she was still driving me crazy.

I heard her light musical laughter from the shower. "I'll be home in two hours and forty-three minutes." She said. "And Jake already planned on taking Nessie hunting this afternoon. Do you think you can manage until then?"

I guess, I growled. I tried to think of something else, willing my body to calm in light of the fact that my intent moments ago was going to go unresolved… for now. "So, you're really looking forward to going to school."

"English Literature back to back with European History, Renaissance to Present what's not to love?" she replied.

"You know they'll probably just hand out the course syllabus and send you home… you could easily get a copy from a classmate at your next class."

She just laughed in response. So much for being irresistible. What happened to the Bella who couldn't get enough of me – to the girl who I had to constantly push away in my attempt to keep from hurting her? A nagging doubt filtered through my mind as I pushed my partially recovered body from the bed to reach for a pair of jeans and long sleeved brushed cotton t-shirt that Alice would probably freak over if she was here. Heck, she was probably freaking out about it all the way down in the Amazon.

I reached for my phone as it began to buzz on the dresser. Alice. I clicked it open.

"Listen, you're not here – so I can wear whatever I want."

A heavy sigh met my comment. "Fine! But now that you're no longer… otherwise occupied, I suppose you might like to know. We've found them."

"Found them – as in."

"As in, Jasper and I are standing here, ten feet from the Amazon River, right beside Nahuel's sisters. We're heading back to their camp to meet the others and learn what we can about their development."

"Call me as soon as you know anything."

"Of course," she smiled. "They haven't yet decided to talk to us, but they will." She chirped back.

"Thanks, Alice." I laughed.

"Wait." She said just as I was about to click the phone shut. "Hand me over to Bella."

I smiled. I couldn't read her mind from this distance, but I had a sense of what was coming as I handed over the silver phone. "Alice." I said as she took it.

"Thanks," she smiled back.

I chuckled and quickly retreated to the bed room. I wasn't sure she'd be so thankful after she was done talking to Alice.

"Hey Alice, it's so good to hear from you. I miss you so much. How are you and…" I heard her talking, as I smoothed out the bed and reclined on it, plotting my attack for later this afternoon. Clearly, if I was loosing my irresistibility, I was going to have to make up for it somehow.

"Oh, that's…" Bella continued, cut off by something Alice had said. "Sure, of course… but…What? You called me to tell me…" she exhaled loudly. "I can't believe, in the midst of… Fine – FINE!" she huffed as I heard the phone click shut. I rested back on the four post bed, my arms behind my head as she stormed in and threw the phone at me.

"Can you believe she called me, all the way from the Amazon, to tell me what to wear on my first day of school?" She hissed.

"Yes, I can." I smiled.

"I was going to wear jeans… nice, comfortable, normal jeans." She whined, sitting down on the edge of the bed in defeat.

"So, go ahead."

"She already said she'd know if I was… I sort of thought of that already." She said sheepishly.

"So…" I reached over to run my hand down her back, "You don't have to go. You could stay here – and then it wouldn't matter…"

She stood up. "No. I have to go…" she said sharply and glumly made her way to the "barely adequate according to Alice" closet and pulled out the her Alice approved outfit – a pair of straight legged dark denim jeans, spaghetti strap, violet blue blouse that drew up in a thin bow just under the bodice and fell flawlessly to her hips, a structured short jacket and a pair of ridiculously high healed, brown leather ankle boots. I was thankful she was now more coordinated.

Thinking back to my earlier plans, I began to probe for information. "Bella, I am glad you're looking forward to school." I began, "I just… I'll just miss you. I could still come." I suggested hopefully.

"No, Edward. We've been through this. Even with all this extra," he hand gestured over her head in a circular motion, "head space… It's going to take actual work for me to not completely embarrass myself. I can't concentrate when you're with me."

The sting of her rejection, though I knew it was coming, was mollified by her admission. "I make it difficult for you to concentrate?"

She snorted, "Yeah – you know that."

"Well…" I started, "It didn't seem that it was all that difficult this morning."

Suddenly she was in front of me, her hands on my cheeks, allowing me to look deeply into her eyes, or was she looking deeply into mine. "You aren't seriously feeling… insecure are you?"

I tried to force out a casual "of course not" but it wouldn't come. The fact was, I was feeling a bit insecure. She had all she wanted – she was now a vampire, had her newborn strength, making her stronger still then even Emmett. That would go begin to diminish in a few months, but still – she no longer needed me to protect her from all things dangerous. And she could make her way on her own now. What could I truly offer her anymore?

Her amber eyes widened, alarmed. "Edward, you have nothing to worry about. Don't you realize how hard it was for me to leave you this morning? Don't you know that I would love nothing more then to spend my every minute…" she glanced away and, if it were still possible, she'd be blushing. "You know so much, have learned so many languages, have so many skills… I feel – inadequate. I want to do this and really do it." she said.

I smiled, taking her face in my hands, "Bella, you don't ever have to feel inadequate. You are everything."

She sighed, "I know. But still. I really want to do this. I don't want to regret not taking this opportunity."

The word caught me off guard. Regret. I wondered, "Are there things you do regret?"

"What do you mean?" she asked as she went back to getting ready, putting her books and iPad in her Alice approved bag.

"I mean, is there anything you regret about being with me – about becoming a vampire."

"Of course not." She replied, as she slung the bag over her shoulder. "Nothing."

"There's nothing you miss? Nothing you did as a human that you miss doing now?"

"Tripping over every spec of dust… injuring myself and everyone around me with any object in my possession… yeah, lots to miss."

"No, I'm serious." I caught her hands as she swept past. "What about your family and friends. Isn't there anything?"

"I get to see Charlie and Renee for a few more years… and the only close friend I had other than your family and Jake was Angela, and I'll email back and forth with her. I didn't really do much other then hang you with you guys – well other then motorcycling and cliff diving." She grinned.

I rolled my eyes at her poor choice of examples, the later of which led to the worst twenty-four hours of my existence. But then my mind twigged on something – motorcycling. She used to love motorcycling with Jacob and, even though it wasn't something we shared before – perhaps it was something she'd enjoy with me now that we were on, as she'd put it, equal ground.

I reached up and kissed her gently, holding back my desire to push for more. "Have a good day at school today."

"I will," she smiled back. "And if you're lucky, I'll flunk out by noon and we'll have the rest of the semester for other activities."

"I could be so lucky," I teased back, "But I don't think they flunk out people on the first day."

"Ah, too bad," she said in mock disappointment. "I love you." She said as she departed.

"I love you, too."

Awe they're so sweet. Please let me know what you think! Some work for peanuts, I work for reviews :-)