Once again – characters and the twilight theme belong to Stephanie Meyers and Summit, and my dabbling in writing a bit of fiction with her characters is purely for fun!
He could – and probably would – watch her for all eternity, and he would never tire of it. Whether she wore jeans and stretch cotton, designer gowns, French lingerie, or nothing at all – it didn't matter, she was stunning, and he only had eyes for her.
That didn't mean he couldn't appreciate or recognize that another woman was attractive or even beautiful. They just didn't make him catch his breath, didn't stir the emotional response in him, the way Bella did.
She was still young, by most standards. It had been 20 years since he'd taken her life, to save her – 20 years for his eye's to drink up the vision of his soul mate, and he never got tired of seeing her.
He zipped up the dress, slowly. It was meant to tease her of course – whet the appetite, a hint of things to come later on – later on when he helped our out of her dress – or maybe he wouldn't, it would depend on the mood at the time, how the evening went.
She smiled, laughing a little, and turned around the moment he let go of the zipper.
"Well don't you look handsome, Mr. Cullen . . ."
She rose up on her tip toes, pressed her lips to his. Even though it had had been 20 years, she still marveled at how his mouth felt against hers, how even the lightest touch sent her nerves off, like thousands of tiny little firecrackers going off at once. It never got old for them – it never would – their life was damn near perfect – and she loved it, every bit of it – and every bit of him.
Edward kissed her back, gently, thoroughly – enjoying the feel of her lips and tongue moving on his. Bella liked to kiss, and so did he, they were well matched.
It was the ringing of a cell phone that disturbed them.
She stepped back, smiling smugly. Their work day was starting.
In this life – that's how she thought of their five to ten year stints in different places – they were the wealthy part owners of one of the most prestigious casinos on the Las Vegas strip. If someone would have told her over 20 years ago that she'd enjoy living in Las Vegas, she'd have laughed at them. But a lot changed for her once she was changed. It wasn't about the rush of winning for her – she knew that overall, she'd win. Her vampire brain was capable of infinite calculations. She could figure out the odds with no effort, almost certainly know what cards everyone else had in their hands with no effort – so winning a big pile of cash didn't appeal to her. They had more money that they'd ever need. What appealed to her here was the challenge of keeping track of so many other people. She was a pit boss. The challenge for her was to figure out who was going to win big – who was playing smart, who might be cheating, who might be doing anything they didn't really want them to do. If someone was cheating on her casino floor, she'd catch them, before the cameras did. That was what she enjoyed.
And the fools stupid enough to cheat never saw it coming. No one expected a beautiful woman in a sexy dress to be able to keep track of everything going on around her, and still be able to enjoy all the fawning going on around her.
She knew in a few years it wouldn't be as entertaining for her. But right now it was – and she'd already repeated high school with a perfect 4.0 - twice. It was boring – so right now, they were doing this to blend in. No one asked too many questions in Las Vegas.
And they could live inside constantly, keep all kinds of odd hours, and no one was ever suspicious.
Edward was essentially running the casino. He had the charm and charisma that made everyone melt – both men and woman. Alice, happiest when her world revolved around fashion, was in charge of all things retail in the casino. Rosalie was proving to be the ultimate of casino hosts – she could charm anyone – sophisticated gamblers and just about anyone else, into gambling. And when they annoyed her, she could turn on the ice very easily. Jasper and Emmet were running security. The only missing pieces were Carlisle and Esme, and they were close. Carlisle was chief of surgery in one of the local hospitals, and Esme was enjoying being what she always was – the devoted wife and mother – and she dabbled with interior design often – mostly to entertain herself.
Comments are always welcome! – Kim