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"Are you getting hungry, Love?"
"Not really Edward." She said, shifting yet again uncomfortably in her seat. "I'll grab something quick when we stop again for gas."
"How about a restaurant? I'm sure we could find something somewhere."
"No, I just want to get to Jacksonville, and into the bathtub."
"Is there something wrong?"
"You were right." She grumbled. "I got sun burnt."
Yes, I already knew that. She was getting redder by the minute.
"I'm sorry." I said laying the cool back of my hand on her hot pink cheek. "I should have set up our picnic in the shade."
"Don't be silly Edward, the sunshine was the best part…" She paused, grinning. "Okay, maybe not the best part, but it was up there fairly high on the list. I just wasn't thinking about sun screen. I haven't been anywhere to need it in ages."
"Yes, it was pretty special wasn't it?"
It brought a lump to my throat to say it out loud. I stroked her cheek as the indelible image of the reflected light of my body casting itself over her... I had been unable to think of anything but the beauty of it since this afternoon. I remembered how horrified I was the first time I had seen it. Terrified of what she would think of it, worried that she could never love someone as inhuman as I thought I was.
Maybe everyone is right. I do over think things. In all my idiotic angst I had missed the wonder of it. It wasn't some horrible curse that would forever keep me away from her. It was the miracle of her allowing me to love her reflected off her skin, a gift I would never cease to be astonished by.
I continued to do what I could to soothe her painful skin, sliding my hand underneath the short little cap sleeved blouse she had put on before we left the cabin, brushing along her shoulder and down her arm. I pulled my hand away as she shifted again in her seat and winced.
"Did I make it worse?"
"No, your hand feels wonderful." She replied sighing, retrieving my hand and caressed it with her lips.
It drove me crazy when she did this. "Then please, tell me what's the matter."
"You can't put you hand where it hurts the most."
I looked down at her confused. Her already crimson face turned another shade darker.
"I've never had a sunburn there before." she grumbled under her breath.
I began to open my mouth to ask where, then it clicked. "I think I would have to pull the car over to cool down that part."
"Either that or I could turn myself upside down and moon you."
"That might cause a wreck."
"We have tinted windows Edward." She said smirking, lacking any real seriousness "No one would see."
"Yes love, but I don't think I could hold the car on the road with that much of a distraction."
Stopping again for gas, I frowned but said nothing as she came out of the 7-11 with a microwaved burrito and a bottle of pop. Lately, she treated food as an annoying necessity unless I cooked it for her. Two hours later, we pulled off the interstate ahead of schedule and stopped at an automatic car wash to get the dead bugs off the windshield and to waste a few minutes, pulling into Rene's driveway just as the sun dipped out of view. We were barely out of the car before the front door swung open and her mom came bursting out, beaming at the site of us.
"You're here!" Renee squealed running around to my wife's side of the car about to pull her into a hug when she stopped short.
"What happen to you honey? You look like a lobster."
"I know mom." she blushed. "Edward was still sleeping in our hotel room this morning and I went out to the pool to get some sun and passed out on a lounge chair." She smiled and looked over at me. "I'd probably be a briquette if he hadn't woke up and came looking for me."
I returned her smile impressed. She was getting rather good at this kind of thing. Hmm... maybe a little too good.
"You poor thing. I'm surprised you didn't have sun screen on." As pale as the two of them are, I would think they would bathe in it before stepping out the door.
"Yeah, wished I had thought of it mom. I guess I'm just too used to living in the woods."
"Phil won't be home 'till tomorrow afternoon, he's on a trip with his high school team, so it's just us three tonight. Have you eaten? We could go down to the pier. It's the weekend and the shops are open late."
"We stopped for dinner in Georgia mom, but a walk after all that time in the car would be great."
I knew she didn't feel good, but I didn't try to talk her into staying. Good weather was at a premium. She wanted to do this for mom.
"Just let me get our bags in the house Renee and we'll take off."
The trip to the pier was amusing. Usually I avoided dogs… or I should say they avoided me. Laughter dance in my wife's eyes as we strolled hand in hand down the wooden boards. Every canine that passed us strained against their leashes, whimpering in fear or growling protectively at their masters sides. I bought a large lemonade and we took turns at the straw while she and Renee caught up on school and Phil and everything else that was going on in their lives. Bella was doing far better than I was. She seemed determined to show how happy she was. I stayed quiet in the background, listening to her mom's thoughts, smiling and commenting briefly when appropriate. It was hard to watch as the two of them shared their last intimate moments together.
It was almost midnight when we arrived back at Renee's. Her mom bid us a goodnight and we both escaped to the spare room. As soon as her mother was out of sight, her bright happy face disappeared. I sat the suitcases on the bed as she began to undress, groaning as she pulled off her shirt, exposing her burnt stomach and back.
"How bad does it hurt?" I whispered kissing her beet red shoulder and began to help her with the rest of her clothes.
"It's been worse."
Gently as I could, I unhooked the back of her bra and lifted the skinny straps up so they wouldn't touch her skin as they went down her arm. She looked at herself over in the dresser mirror, assessing the damage. Her breasts we not as bad as her shoulders, but they were bad enough.
"Thank God I didn't take my bra off any sooner." She murmured as I pushed her shorts down her legs and she stepped out of them.
"You should see your rear end."
"I can only imagine... I don't believe that it has ever seen the light of day. Probably why it's so red." She turned around as I pulled off my own shirt and ran the tip of her finger down my pale chest. "Don't you think it's ironic? You're the vampire and I am the one that fries in the sun?"
"Go get in the shower silly." I chuckled. "I'll unpack your shampoo and toothbrush and be right in."
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He waited to come in until I had taken care of my human needs and had just stepped into the water.
"Renee's asleep." He said stripping off his jeans and pulled the shower curtain back to join me.
"I'm not surprised. She's not a night owl like we are."
He took the fresh bar of soap my mom had put in the tub and lathered up his hands. His touch was feather light as his fingers traced the shape of my body. I just stood there, tired and miserable in the cool stream, allowing him to wash me.
"Don't you ever get tired of taking care of me?" I asked as he popped the cap to my shampoo and started in on my scalp.
"Nope." He smiled and kissed my soapy hair.
"What did I ever do to deserve you?" I said wrapping my arms around his waist and laying my head on his chest.
He sighed, lifting my chin and pressed his lips to mine, gently easing my head back into the water, combing through my hair and rinsing out the suds. Exhausted, I leaned my face into the palm of his hand and closed my eyes.
"Are you ready to get out Mrs. Cullen?"
"I think so. If I stay in here much longer, you're going to have to carry me out."
I reached back and turned off the shower. He was already out, one towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hand waiting for me. I stepped out on to the rug and he began to pat me dry so carefully that I hardly noticed the terrycloth touching my skin.
"How do you feel about the blow dryer?"
"It's a necessary evil Edward, unless I want to wake up tomorrow looking like the Bride of Frankenstein."
"Vampire bride maybe?" He grinned, forcing a snort out my nose that made him laugh harder than at his own joke. "You get started on your hair and I'll see if I can rummage Renee's medicine cabinet for something to put on that sunburn."
I had barely gotten back into the bathroom with my dryer and hairbrush before he returned, jeans on, with Aloe Vera cream, a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water.
"Which do you want to deal with first? Your hair or your sunburn.
I swallowed the aspirin contemplating. "My hair will get greasy if you put that stuff on me and it's not dry, so I guess the blow dryer first."
Edward took the brush and dryer out of my hands and I grit my teeth as I sat down on the toilet seat of the tiny bathroom my backside really starting to sting. He worked from underneath my heavy mane, pointing the heat up and away from me, pausing only long enough to open the bathroom window and let the cooler night air into the small room. As soon as my hair was done he took my hand and led me to the bed, sitting our luggage on the floor and folding the blankets back. An unexpected shiver ran through me as he kissed my wedding band before lifting me off my feet and laying me down on the mattress.
He flipped the aloe Vera bottle upside down and I jumped as the cold line of lotion drizzled down the center of my body from the top of my throat to just below my belly button.
"Its fine Edward, just a little cooler than I expected." I explained as his eyebrows pulled together in concern.
Soothingly, he massaged my sore skin, spreading the cream over my aching shoulders and tender breasts, edging down past my stomach. My eyes closed and I relaxed on the verge of sleep under his skillful hands.
"Would you like to drive the car tomorrow?" He asked, having descended with the lotion to my legs and was now at the foot of the bed kneading my arches.
What had brought this on? I lifted my head from the pillow and opened my eyes, expecting to find him ready with some glib comment, surprised by the sincerity in his beautiful face. To be honest, I had never really had a desire to drive the expensive Vanquish. It was hard enough just to eat a burger in it.
"That's okay Edward. I know how you are about your baby." I couldn't resist the urge to pick on him a little. "I couldn't believe you allowed it in that car wash. Don't you usually wash it with a diaper?"
"Roll over." He murmured ignoring me, pausing, as I moved to my stomach. "Hmmm... You're not chicken are you?"
Apparently the apprehension of tooling around a busy city in a couple hundred-thousand dollar vehicle was easy to read.
"What if I hurt it?"
His lips kissed their way up the backs of my legs as a new dollop of aloe vera fell onto my back.
"Well… your backside already looks sore enough, so a spanking would be... for now... out of the question…"
Just the thought of that sent a flutter to my heart. He had climbed up on top of the bed, his nose lightly tracing circles over the above mentioned body part before moving higher, brushing my hair aside and began massaging my back.
"Go to sleep love. It's nearly 2am." He whispered into my ear. "Maybe we can wrapped the Vanquish in bubbled wrap."
Edward began to hum and as much as I wanted to stay awake with him, I succumbed to my humans frailties and drifted away.
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