Carlisle's POV
1921
It has been three month's since I turned Esme. She can hunt without making a total mess and she has been able to go out in public for short periods of time without being totally miserable with thirst. Her eyes have almost lost all of the crimson red and she is no longer in a state of depression, but in acceptance of her new lifestyle. She has embraced it with an open heart and mind.
We run through the woods with the moon and stars shining down through the tree tops. With utter grace, she takes down the deer in the distance and I take down the other. Her eyes shimmer with gold. Her hair caresses down her back and onto her shoulders. Her dress is a simple light green three quarter sleeve dress that flows down to her knees. Her lips are stained red from the feed. She is beautiful. Even before I turned her, I didn't think I would ever meet such an elegant and gorgeous creature.
"I'm happy," she sighs while looking up at the midnight sky.
"Good," I whisper.
The night is quiet and peaceful.
"I never have believed in love," She continues to stare at the sky while she speaks "My parents never showed any affection, Charles was abusive . . . yet, I think it is beautiful."
We stand there in the cool breeze amongst the woods.
"I think that I believe in love now," she finally says looking into my eyes, "but only if you want to believe in it too."
The breeze stops and then it is just us standing there, with her words hanging in the air.
"Come with me," I whisper.
I take her by the hand and we move through the forest. I take her to a pond with a little waterfall trickling down the rocks into the body of water. She stared at her reflection in the water. It was night, but the moon lit up the water with a soft, yet vivid glow.
"I want you," she says "I want you to want me too."
I start to unbutton my shirt and she puts her hands behind her back and tugs on her zipper. With my shirt off, I walk over and kiss her. In that moment I know that I have found her, my mate. The only one that I would rather die than live without. I had talked to other vampires, trying to understand the bond they felt with their mate, but I could never grasp the magnitude of that connection. I help her into the water, without my lips leaving hers.