~ gluttonous adoration ~
Carlisle/Esme. T. 329
Carlisle had lived for more than two centuries. He had seen civilizations fall, religions die, medical miracles created, and monuments rise that would last longer than his existence.
But nothing he had seen had ever compared to her.
Esme. It seemed the name could have been a whisper from an angel's lips, so beautiful was she. He tested the name with his own mouth, rolling along his tongue like the finest of summer honey. It made him swoon every time he said it. Esme.
It echoed repeatedly in his mind, making Edward roll his eyes. Edward, who was so annoyed with his father, so jealous of the girl. He could not bring himself to be around either, though he had offered his assistance like a proper gentleman should before he had run off quicker than light. Leaving both of them behind...
It was shameful, but Carlisle could not really care about his son. Edward would be back soon enough. And besides, nothing existed for him in this fragile moment in time but the wounded girl, the woman who had jumped from the cliff after losing her baby boy. Esme.
It was like she was a raincloud, come to obscure his vision. Esme. She was a disease, a potion to ensnare all his vampiric senses. Esme. But more than anything Carlisle thought she was his. Simply his.
He could already see the little changes that he had made in her. Sweat matted her caramel hair to her pale forehead—that was becoming lighter by the moment—her limbs moved in spasms as the venom continued to spread though her.
Carlisle wrapped his arms tightly around her small, somewhat still human, body and buried his nose into her hair. She was so perfect, so pure, so compassionate. Esme—all he might have searched for throughout the centuries, had he ever known what he wanted.
And he felt, in the depths of his soul, a cruel selfishness.
She was his. His Esme.
first draft: 10-11-08
revisions: 1-4-10 & 6-25-12
