Chapter 4

"Did you find your quarters to be comfortable last night?" Edward asks me as we leave the building where the General's office is located.

"It was fine." For some reason, conversation between us feels ... stilted. As if we've not known each other our entire lives. I realize he's not seen me in ten years, but for me, it feels like only the three years after he left me have passed, the other seven I spent suspended in sleep. The uncomfortable silence stretches on as we walk along the path leading to the barracks where our quarters are located.

"Bella," he says softly. "I don't want you to think that I shared anything private with any of my men, or even my friends. I only told them about you and how much you meant to—"

My hand flies to his mouth, silencing him. "Can we wait and discuss this in your quarters?"

"Mine?" he mumbles from beneath my fingers, his eyes wide.

I nod. "I don't want to be interrupted by my mother."

He agrees with a nod of his head as I remove my palm from his lips.

We walk quickly, with purpose this time, and we've soon arrived. Scanning his fingerprint, he unlocks and pushes open the door. Stepping inside, my eyes scan the room. It's no different from the one my mother and I shared last night, besides a few personal effects. But the basic accommodations are in stark contrast to what I'm used to on Cordia.

"Do you want something to drink?" he asks, stepping over to the familiar looking rations dispenser.

"They're using those old R-9000s here? The Rationator?" I ask with a chuckle, teasing him about the systems we nicknamed and couldn't replace fast enough on Cordia. It gets him to look over his shoulder.

He smiles as he turns completely to face me. "Yeah, well, when your resources are limited, you use old, outdated tech, I guess. Food replicators were just a little out of the budget for the Coalition." He thumbs over his shoulder. "So, you want something?"

I shake my head, smiling. "No, I'm fine, thank you. Please, sit, Edward," I urge him.

We sit across from each other at the small table, our hands reaching out to find the other's. His thumbs gently brush over my knuckles in a soothing pattern, reminding me of the soft touches he granted me so many years ago. It's his soft touch that gives me the confidence to speak.

"I can't tell you how much it means to me that you never forgot me, Edward," I begin. "To know that you kept my memory alive all these years ..." I trail off, shaking my head in near disbelief. Thoughts of what has kept him busy all this time lead to possibilities of who has kept him warm as well, and I physically pull back.

"What's wrong?" he asks as I pull my hands from his.

"Nothing." I shake my head. "It's just that it has been a long time, Edward. I'm just a little jealous of the people who have been able to share your life with you the last ten years. I mean, I'd understand if you found someone to be with. I'd hate to think you've been lonely all these yea—"

"No, Bella. There's only been you."

"How is that possible?"

Looking down at his fidgeting hands, he's quiet, thinking over his answer. When his eyes meet mine again, they're sad but open; completely honest. "The day they came for us, I wasn't ready. I knew it would be someday, but I wasn't ready for them that day. I had hoped it would be a few more years, that I would have finally been able to get you to accept my proposal, Bella; that I would have made you my wife. Then they'd have to take you, too. But no, it was only Emmett and me they came for. I spent the first year here to myself, angry, pissed at the universe. When I met Jasper, he nicknamed me Sullen Cullen," he says with a sad smile. "I felt like half of my heart had been left on Cordia. You were light years away from me, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it."

My heart is pounding with his every word. Hope starts to bloom in my chest, and my hands begin to tremble.

He takes a breath, blowing it out. "So I did the only thing I could; I trained to be part of the Coalition. I focused all my time and energy on being a better soldier so I could use my skills to find you and bring you here, home with me. So, after a year of sulking, I trained for a year; tactical and pilot training. I don't think I slept much that year, but I did it. Then I spent the next seven years on every mission I could get myself assigned to, helped train the new arrivals too. I did whatever I could to stay busy. Every time I stepped foot on a transport ship, I held my breath until I had the passenger manifest in my hands. Even before your father's message was received, I was looking for you."

Reaching out, he pulls my shaking hands back into his own, staring into my eyes. "Then one year ago, we boarded your ship. When I saw your name on that list, I couldn't stop myself from running to find your stasis pod." He pauses, seeming to turn over the words in his mind. "Bella, when I laid eyes on you for the first time in ten years, all the doubts I had, all the time I spent alone or on some God-forsaken ship with my crew, all melted away when I saw your face. So, no, I never found anyone to fill that void in my life because I never gave up hope that I would find you."

"All this time you ... you waited for me?"

"Of course, Bella. There's only ever been you." He pauses, uncertainty in his eyes. "But I was gone a long time. If you—"

I pull a hand from his and reach over the table to press it against his lips. "Only you," I whisper. "I could never give my heart to anyone else because it already belonged to you."

I slide my hand from his mouth, and it moves along the side of his jaw until my fingers find the back of his neck, pulling him to me, my lips firmly planted on his. His shock quickly subsides; his own hands pulling me closer still. Our lips and tongues find a rhythm that feels familiar; past shared kisses flashing through my mind. My body rises from my seat, moving of its own volition. Like a magnet to steel, I climb into his lap, straddling him in the chair.

I feel him grow hard beneath me, one of his hands finding purchase on my neck, the other trailing down my spine holding me to him. I feel caged in his arms, but not trapped. I feel ... loved, protected. Just when I think our kiss may lead to something more, he begins to pull back, his lips slowing, his kiss cooling only slightly in its intensity.

With his forehead resting on mine, his eyes are still closed, his breathing slow but deep. "I'm so afraid I'm going to wake up and realize this has all been a dream," he whispers. His eyes finally flutter open, shining bright with what I know is love.

"If it is, don't wake me."

His hands span my back, his fingertips tracing the edges of my spine, my shoulders, remembering the paths they took so many years before.

"Please let me have you, Bella. I don't think I can go another day and not feel you under me." His whispered words bring tears to my eyes. Everything I've wished for all these years is finally within my grasp. Knowing he hasn't shared this part of himself with anyone else, that he waited ten years for me ... I'm so overwhelmed, I'm unable to speak and can only nod.

As he rises to his feet, I wrap my legs around his waist, holding on for dear life; as if he'll disappear if I let go of him. He walks us to his small bed and lays me down gently onto the blankets. He pulls back just enough to look at me. Our heavy breaths are the only sound in the room; the sound of my pounding heart loud in my own ears.

"My god, you're just as beautiful as I remember." His eyes follow his touch as it gently brushes along my cheek. When his gaze returns to mine, I can see the emotion there. "I think I've loved you my entire life. I thought I'd die without you by my side. Promise me we'll never be apart again," he pleads with me.

"Never again. I love you, Edward."

Lost in the feeling of once again being in each other's arms, we take our time ridding the other of their clothes, piece by piece. My fingers trace over the hard planes of his chest, the strength in his grasp so much more than it was the last time he held me this way. The young man I knew has grown into the strong man in my arms. His shaking fingers make quick work of the buttons and zippers holding my clothes together.

When our bodies are completely bared to one another, life is breathed into the dormant embers of the fire we've always had between us, and it's soon raging; as if an inferno has been lit. His hands skim my face, urgent yet controlled. His fingers gently but surely trace along my lips and then down my throat, his own lips and tongue tasting the skin warmed in their wake.

My own hands find purchase around his neck before traveling down to feel the heat he's emanating. My fingertips find faint lines, scars from injuries he's suffered in my absence. I've missed so much, so many years with him, but I don't let that thought ruin this moment for us.

When his long, sure fingers make their way to my center, he finds me wet and ready.

His cautious but lust-filled eyes meet mine. "Are you sure, Bella? I don't want you to regret this."

"I've never been more sure of anything."

His lips crash to mine as his hand skims up and over the expanse of my belly, and around my hip, lifting my soft curves to his hard edges. As my legs wrap around him, he brings his hand back to guide himself to my entrance. When his eyes meet mine, I see it before he says it. "I love you."

I gasp as he slowly pushes into me; so overwhelmed by all the sensations flowing through me, tears spring to my eyes.

"Oh, God," he groans into my ear. "I've missed you so much." His mouth once again finds mine before I can respond, our tongues gliding against one another as we each seek to devour the other.

We're silent, other than our heavy breaths; only moans of pleasure leaving our lips as our bodies seem to remember the dance we danced countless times so long ago. As he pushes and pulls, thrusting in and out at a maddeningly slow pace, he lifts my hips, hitting a spot deep inside I had forgotten existed.

Our time and distance apart sees us both rushing toward the finish line. We're both so overcome with pleasure I almost don't hear his cry as he finds his release within me, while my own climax overtakes my senses.

"I've missed you so much. I'm never letting you go, Bella. You're mine, and I won't let anything keep us apart," he murmurs against my neck between heavy breaths. His lips haven't left my skin, my arms and legs locked around him. When his gorgeous, flushed face turns up to look at me, I see determination. "Marry me, Bella. Say you'll be mine forever."


A/N: Remember, you can see teasers and pics in my Facebook group, Sunshine Fics. See you Tuesday!

Lots of love

~Sunshine