Be warned: if the blood stuff grossed you out in the last chapter, you might want to skip this one, because it's even worse in this one.

Bella's Naughty Idea--EPOV

That night I stood for a few minutes on the ground below Bella's window, staring absently at her neighbor's rose garden, trying to work up the courage to enter her room and face this awkward conversation. I could not comprehend why she thought this topic was important for us to discuss. I tried to put Alice and Jasper's silly implications out of my mind as I scaled the brick wall.

Bella was sitting on her bed in pajamas, reading. She smiled and put the book aside when she saw me come through the window. "Hey." She said softly.

"Hey," I replied, keeping my distance from her.

"C'mere," Bella said brightly, patting the bed next to her.

I sank down beside her. She did not immediately begin this dreaded conversation, so I took the opportunity to kiss her. I opened my mouth and traced her lips with my tongue, causing her to shiver. The kiss deepened and grew, and I was getting ready to lean her back on the bed when I felt a small pressure on my chest: she was actually pushing me away.

"There's something I want us to try." She explained.

Something she'd like more than open-mouth kissing? I was doubtful I could allow such a thing. My voice surely communicated my wariness as I consented to hear her out.

"I need to explain it first. Promise me to keep an open mind."

"I promise."

Bella's face was as red as I'd ever seen it. I could smell the blood through the pores of her face. I imagined it filling the tiny capillaries behind her fair skin—before I caught myself. I hadn't thought that way about her blood in months. What was wrong with me tonight?

Bella was telling me something. I should pay attention. "Ever since you told me how delicious my blood is for you, I've kind of wished I could give you the pleasure of tasting it without, you know, dying. For your last birthday, I had the idea, what if I gave you a pint, the same way people donate blood for hospitals. I talked to Carlisle about it, and we almost did it, but I fainted at the sight of the needle."

I was touched. Her selflessness truly knew no bounds. "You didn't have to do that," I whispered. Her look changed, and I was afraid I sounded ungrateful. I jumped to assure her that was not the case—quite the opposite, actually. "I mean, I'm flattered, and it was really thoughtful, but just the idea of you being concerned with my…pleasure, when the instinct driving me to seek that pleasure puts you in danger every day—"

"Of course I want to give you pleasure," A small, sweet smile lit up her lovely face, "That's a part of why I kept pushing for you to make that promise to me." I remembered our long debates about having sex while Bella's still human.

"If that's the only reason, then I can assure you, it will be much better for me when I don't have to worry about breaking you in half!"

"I never said that was the only reason. I'm far too selfish for that."

"I know. I'm not trying to take it back."

"Good, because I don't want you to take this back either." Bella gestured to my mother's diamond ring. It looked so right on her small hand. The mere idea of taking it back told me I'd gone too far.

"It's yours forever." I told her fervently.

"I know." Her smile was radiant. I rejoiced again that she had finally accepted this most important gift from me. She changed gears then. "Anyway, it occurred to me that there was another way to let you taste my blood, without dying, and without needles. And I think I might like it too."

I was perplexed. This was an unexpected, inexplicable development. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I bleed every month. If you wanted, you could drink some of that blood safely, without hurting me."

I stood up to give myself some distance from her, so that I could think more clearly. "So you've collected some of this blood, I suppose?" I asked incredulously, looking around for some phial.

"I thought you could taste it directly."

"Directly?" She didn't mean…

"Collect it yourself. With your mouth."

"With my—" An erotic image filled my mind: gloriously naked Bella, spread open for me, the scent of her blood filling the air. The idea overwhelmed me, and I'm afraid I sputtered quite foolishly. "My God, Bella, you—you want me to—I—It—It's out of the question!"

"Why do you get to be the one to decide what's out of the question?"

That was a reasonable objection. It was unfair that I set so many of the boundaries of our relationship and expected her simply to go along with them. That didn't mean I wasn't right, though. It just meant that I couldn't make sweeping declarations like that; I couldn't dismiss her suggestion out of hand. I had no real authority to do so if our relationship was to be one between equals. A better approach would be to address the root cause of her concern, to offer appeasement and sympathy. I changed the subject. "Bella, I'm sorry. I know you must be frustrated—"

"No, I—" Did Bella really expect me to believe that, after all our negotiations on this topic? I gave her a look and she rolled her eyes at me. "Well, yes, I am, but that's not the point."

"What, then, is the point?"

"You!" Me? "I want to—to make you feel good, and it seems like this is the best way to do it. I mean, when we kiss, you don't seem to get—carried away the way I do, you're always so controlled. I just want to—send you over the edge, and since we can't have sex, giving you my blood is the only way I can think of to do it."

"You still think I'm only interested in your blood?" Her implication cut me. I hated the idea that Bella still did not understand the extent of my feeling for her. My thirst for her blood had merely been the catalyst for our relationship, one of two things about her that had caught my attention. By now, entire days went by without my spending a single moment thinking about her red and white cells. And the idea that I didn't like kissing her—that was simply offensive. It was only that I had more self-control than she did. Eighty-odd years of vegetarian vampirism will do that for you.

"No, I know that you love me, and you're attracted to me. You've convinced me of that." She took my cold hand, surrounding it in the warmth of her palm. "But physically, what you want more than anything is blood, right? My blood. Your body wants my blood as intensely as I want your body. You've promised to fulfill that desire for me, and the one thing I would like to do for you in return, in appreciation, is to let you taste my blood." Her voice took on a familiar wheedling tone.

It was all true. I couldn't deny it; I could only explain that the desires of my body were irrelevant. "But more than I want your blood, I want you alive and safe. My mind won that battle long ago—"

"Exactly. That's why thisissafe."

"You have no idea how much of a struggle it is for me—still—"

"You're underestimating yourself. The fact that I am alive at all is testament to your incredible restraint. You can do this."

I tried to calm myself with a deep breath. "If I were to lose control and bite you…there..." I imagined my wretched teeth desecrating her most intimate regions…the idea made me feel sick.

"I trust you. You were able to suck venom from my hand without draining me, and that was before the whole Italy incident that you say cured you forever of the desire to drink my blood. Now that the urge that made it dangerous is controllable, why not just savor the pleasure of it?"

I struggled to think of another counterargument. When I came up with nothing, Bella seemed to make a decision. To my amazement, she stood and took off her pajama pants. She lay down on the bed, pulling her knees up. Her scent assaulted my senses, and I ceased breathing. I could not tear my eyes away from her body.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked. "Don't like what you see? Don't like the smell?"

She was taunting me. I could not hold back a moan. I sank down onto the bed, bracing my arms on either side of Bella's slim waist. I knew it was rude to stare at her the way I was, but I could not help it.

She was talking, but I couldn't concentrate enough to comprehend. Her hips were like a magnet, drawing me to them with irresistible force. I tried to focus on her words instead, but they only undid me further.

"Please, Edward? I want to give this to you."

How could I say no? Slowly, I moved from her side to take position between her legs, preparing myself as best I could.

"Bella," I whispered, and touched the tip of my tongue to her soft flesh. Though the traces of her blood were as faint as could be, they threatened to overwhelm my senses. I felt the venom fill my throat, burning stronger than ever.

I had the strength to pull back, gripping her hips so tightly I was afraid I'd hurt her. I fought to concentrate on the lingering taste of her skin rather than on the hints of blood: that would keep my instincts in check. I owed her an explanation of my sudden changes in decision; I couldn't let her think this was yet another rejection. "Just—keeping control," I gasped out.

"How is it?" Bella asked, her tone light, as if she were asking me to comment on a shared appetizer.

"Delicious," I whispered. The word did not cover it.

I brought my mouth back down to her. I licked her soft folds delicately, trailing up and down, left, right and center. "That feels good," I vaguely heard Bella say. I continued to explore her body, focusing on the taste of her skin, and her arousal, so that the scent of her blood, so near, so rich, would not overpower me.

But as I probed deeper into her depths with my eager tongue, I found a place where the blood was pooled. There was so much of it: almost a tablespoon. I felt like a miner striking gold. I had to have it all.

My body acted quickly, before my mind even knew what was going on. I lifted Bella and lay down on my back, posing her so that she hovered above my face. Two drops fell from her body onto my lips. I licked them; my eyes closed involuntarily as I savored the taste. She lowered herself, and I held her hips to steady her. My lips touched her, then my tongue sought out that pool of blood again. As the taste of her blood sent my body into ecstasy, Bella's reactions only excited me more. Her body moved rhythmically, varying the angle at which my tongue penetrated her. Our eyes met: hers were full of passion and desire. She raked her fingers through my hair, pushing my mouth into her body. Finally, it seemed all the blood was gone.

I lay Bella back down on the bed and rested on her stomach, taking deep breaths to cleanse myself of the intense taste so that I could regain control. I could feel her rapid heartbeat.

"There's no more blood," I looked up, begging her with my eyes for permission to continue. "but I don't want to stop."

"That's fine." There was something odd about the way she said it; almost as if she were beyond caring what I did to her. I took her at her word, too caught up to waste time deciphering her tone.

I dove back in, and this time she let herself go completely, moving her hips rapidly to create more friction. There was one spot where she seemed most sensitive, judging by her reactions. I focused my efforts there, kissing and swirling my tongue until her pleasure seemed to reach a climax. Her hips moved more wildly and she squeezed my hand, crying my name in a voice that I knew would fuel my fantasies for months. Finally, her trembling stilled, and she pulled me up to lie down beside her. I wanted to kiss her, but she refused to look at me; she was probably embarrassed. I settled for stroking her hair and replaying that moan in my head again and again. We lay there that way for a few minutes, until a pleased voice broke my reverie.

"What are you so happy about?"

Bella was asking me a question. I supposed I must have looked quite foolish, smiling so widely. I kissed her gently, stroking her cheek. "Thank you."

"I should be thanking you."

She was entirely wrong about that. "It was my pleasure. And more than that: it was an honor."

"It was my pleasure too."

I could not hold back my grin, remembering the way her voice had changed as she moaned my name. "I know."

"You look almost…proud of yourself."

"Is that ok?" It was rather silly of me, I knew, to feel such a sense of accomplishment. I felt potent, manly, and yet I was also reminded of how I'd felt as a little boy when I'd learned to ride a bicycle.

"Yeah. I'm proud of myself too. For having the guts to suggest it, I mean."

"I'm glad you did."

"Me too." Her lips brushed my cheek. "What about…the taste?"

"Not as good as your other blood, but with its own…special flavor. And that's in addition to the other, more human pleasures of it."

"I thought I was the only one who would get any of that." Bella's tone registered surprise and pleasure.

"I've told you how being with you makes me feel more human. Tonight I feel more human than I ever have."

Her smile lit up the whole room. "I love you," she told me.

"I love you more," I replied, delighted that I'd made her happy.

"Ok." Bella joked. I chuckled, nuzzling her neck with my forehead. "Speaking of being human…" Bella stood up and reached for her discarded pajama pants.

As soon as she left the room, I began racking my brain for something special I might do for her. I remembered her neighbor's rose garden. As fast as I could, I leapt from the window and dashed to a rosebush. I selected the most perfect bud I could find, climbed back into Bella's room and placed it carefully on her pillow as I prepared the bed for her rest. Then I sat down in her desk chair, staring at the door until she walked through it.

The second she came through the door and secured it, I was kissing her, as deeply as I could allow myself.

"You know, I'll be on my period for four or five more days," she said slyly when I finally gave her a moment to breathe.

"I realize that," I responded, smiling into our kiss. "You sure you don't want to reconsider staying human?"

Her fist hit my arm. "I thought you said you'd enjoy it more when I'm less breakable."

"Just weighing the possibilities."

Hope you didn't get too grossed out.

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