The warm water lapping against my skin contrasted with the feel of his cool hand in mine.

"Bella, I'm not going to fight you on this. I gave you my word that we'd try. I won't lie and say that I'm not afraid of losing control, but my need to give you everything that you want, and my desire for you – it's too much for me anymore. You're already my wife, but I want so badly to claim you, to possess you, in every possible way…."

His words made me shudder. I wanted that, too, in the worst way. To be possessed, to be claimed, to be as close to him as humanly possible, while I was still human. From the first, I wanted to crawl inside him, meld our bodies, and stay chained that way forever. We were standing at the edge of a cliff, and I for one was more than ready to take the plunge, to bring our bodies in line with what our hearts had been feeling all along.

"Edward, I trust you. I have faith in you to give me what I need, what I crave. Please, don't make me wait any longer."

He groaned, and pulled me into his arms. The moonlight rendered him luminescent, and I had never seen anything more beautiful than his naked chest, the plane of his cheek, his golden eyes finally dipping to caress my breasts.

"Bella, you are more perfect than I imagined, and God knows I imagined a lot."

I wouldn't have thought that I could blush any more. "I've thought about you so much, wanted you so much. Please, please touch me."

His brought his face up and brushed his cool lips against mine. My face flamed, and my head spun. I ran my hands up his unyielding arms and burrowed my fingers in his thick hair, pulling him closer. His body stilled, and all of a sudden, he was moving everywhere, all at once. His lips nudged mine open, and his tongue slipped inside my mouth. Our mouths met, dueling, trying to get closer, passion making us wild. His hand trailed across my waist and up my bare back, leaving a path of sensation. He closed his fist in my hair, and drew my head back, exposing my neck. He trailed kisses along my jawbone and inhaled deeply.

"Edward, don't stop, please…."

"Bella, I couldn't if I tried, and I really don't want to try anymore."

I gasped as his hand closed on my breast. My nipple pebbled instantly, and my knees buckled. His arm caught me around the waist, and his eyes grew hotter as he watched himself flick his thumb across the stiff peak. Slowly, as if he was testing himself, he brought my body snug against his and lowered his head to close his mouth around my aching breast. His lips and tongue manipulated first one nipple, then the other, as I writhed against him, trying to find relief from the fire burning me up from the inside.

"Edward!" I could barely get his name out as I struggled for breath, overwhelmed by the sensations flooding me, the liquid heat pooling between my thighs, hotter even than the tropical waters. My breasts felt heavy, and I was acutely aware of the hardness of his body clutched to mine. His hips shifted against my belly, and my world swam and refocused on the hard length of him pressing against me. My breath caught yet again, and I couldn't stop myself from wrapping my leg around his slim, cool waist, the end of months of restraint making me wanton and mindless. "Please…I need…something! Edward, help me!"

I closed my eyes and felt water then air rushing across my skin, heightening my awareness of him. I opened them and saw the high ceiling of our bedroom above me. The feeling of cool sheets against my back distracted me for a fraction of a second, before his body stretched above mine. I looked up into his heavenly face, felt my heart clutch, stutter, and start again. The corner of his mouth drew up in a knowing smile, even as his breath shuddered and hands shook as he dragged them up my arms, which he then pinned above my head, trapping both my hands together in one of his.

"I want to try something, and I need for you not to touch me for a little bit, okay?" I struggled against his hands, craving the feel of his chest, his back, the smoothness of his skin like a drug to my senses. He laughed softly, and then bent his head to kiss me again. "I'll take you there again, and further even, I promise," he whispered above my mouth, "just wait, let me get control of myself again."

I took deep breaths, trying to slow my heart. We lay quietly for a few moments, staring at each other, focusing on each place where his cool skin touched my flushed body. His eyes flickered and his free hand started roaming, urgently, greedy, moving across my stomach, my breasts. My hips, out of my control, started thrusting up off the bed, seeking his touch, the contact I so desired. He dragged his hand down my quivering stomach and slid it between my legs. He cupped me, gently at first, pressing his palm against my center, then with more force as he discovered that I was wet for him, pulsing with need. I twisted my body frantically, burning against his marble hardness, as his fingers worked frantically between my thighs. The muscles in his chest tensed and became even harder as he smothered the wild cries coming from between my lips with his. His tongue invaded my mouth as his fingers invaded my body, pushing me higher and higher as my breasts got tight and sensation crackled across my skin. The storm raging through me had its eye where his hand stroked my fevered flesh, faster and faster, inhumanly fast now, and I then I burst, and broke apart into a million pieces, spinning out past where our bodies were locked together, then contracting back upon myself, convulsing, and I curled into the source of my satisfaction.

"Oh my God. Edward." I repeated his name again and again, gasping for breath as my world righted itself and I found myself lying next to the love of my existence, boneless and blissfully happy. "I don't even have the words…."

He released my hands and brought my arms down. I wrapped them around his midsection and tucked my face into the curve of his neck. I felt his grin against my hair and couldn't keep the smile from my own face. I flexed my hands as the feeling rushed back into them, realizing that I would have bruises in the morning. I relished the fact that he had left his mark on me, that his control had slipped even a little. For as much as I hated the thought of his pain, my secret female self thrilled at the power I held over him.

***