Edward held my hand securely as we left his family. He navigated around an outcropping of rock that jutted out from the cliff. I thought we would stop once the others were out of sight, but Edward pushed on through the water. It was dark here beneath the shadow of the cliff and I was nervous about all the rocks. We seemed to be heading straight towards the face of the cliff. I knew Edward wouldn't let me get hurt, but I couldn't stop my heart from pounding.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Dark…rocks…" I tried to explain.

"Oh Bella," he sighed. "Don't you know by now that I won't let a rock hurt you?"

"Or a tree," I reminded him, remembering the day he took me to watch the Cullens play baseball. The carefree attitude he was exhibiting today reminded me of the early days of our relationship.

"Exactly." he smiled and I saw a flash of his white teeth in the darkness. "Besides, we're here."

I wasn't sure where here was, because all I saw was darkness. We moved a few more feet. If I was with anyone other than Edward I would have been sure we were about to smack into the cliff or at least a stray boulder. But I trusted him and true to his word we didn't encounter any obstacles.

"So, who won the race?" I asked him.

"I did, of course," Edward replied. "I don't know why they persist in challenging me."

"Humility is a becoming quality, Edward. You should try it some time."

When I spoke these words they echoed back at me. We were no longer in the open air. We had entered some sort of cave. It was even darker here. Every shape and sound reflected off the stone walls. The water reached my waist , but the roof was high so I didn't feel claustrophobic. Edward came to a sudden stop. He sat down and pulled me onto his lap. I blinked a few times, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness. It was easier to see her and I began to assess my surroundings. It was unlike anything else I had seen in my life.

It was bigger than what you'd expect from a cave. It was more like a hidden grotto. The walls were dark and smooth from years of erosion. Stalactites and stalagmites sporadically sprouted from the floor and roof, like proud props supporting the cave. The space Edward had sat down in was a deep u-shaped groove in the wall. Nature had carved out a perfect love seat just for us.

I was so busy looking around me, that I didn't notice Edward staring at my reaction.

"Look up." he instructed softly.

I did as I was told. I soon realised why I could see clearer here. It was absolutely amazing. Directly above us was a circular gap in the top of the cave. I could see an expanse of navy blue sky. It was filled with twinkling stars which reflected in the water around us.

"Bella, I brought you here to show this to you and to make you a promise," Edwards usually perfect voice cracked with emotion. " I want to show you that no matter how dark it is, there is always a place where you can see the stars. And I promise to always show them to you."

The hot tears that filled my eyes spilled over then, at his emotion and perfect sincerity.

"Oh, Edward, you don't need to promise me that," my own voice was cracking now. "You've been doing that ever since you came into my life."

He watched me wordlessly for a second, then leaned towards me and kissed both of my cheeks. Drying the tracks my tears had left.

"This place is so amazing. How did you find it?" I asked him, curious as always.

"I found it out hunting the first time we were here. When we lived in Hoquiam. The others like to come here on nights like this. Rose and Emmett especially. I think they like it for different reasons though. Emmett told me they're only wearing bathing suits for your benefit. They don't know about this cave though."

"Do you not come here?"

"No. I never desired to come back here before. Not until I realised I wanted to share it with you."

"Well I'm delighted you did."

I really meant that. Though it pained me to think of the years Edward spent alone, his words meant so much to me. I loved that he chose to show places like here and the meadow to me. The significance in such locations came from experiencing them together.

At that moment there was nothing else to do but kiss him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hungrily pushed my lips against his. He encircled his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him, reciprocating my kiss. I was sitting sideways on his lap, which wasn't the most comfortable position if I wanted this kiss to continue for any length of time.

So without breaking the kiss, I swung my legs around so I was facing him. My thighs were on either side of his. If Edward was surprised my sudden action he did not show it. He continued to give me sweet, deep kisses.

The water reached my chest. Gentle waves lapped around us as we moved in perfect rhythm with them. It was uninhibited, kissing like this in the dark. Movement came easier and there was no friction between us.

Because of my pesky need to breath, Edward tore his lips from mine and began to kiss my neck. I threw my neck back to give him better access and looked at where the stars were spinning above us. He reached my neck and made his way across the length of my collar bone. He nudged the strap of the bikini aside and gently sucked at the hollow above the bone, near the shoulder.

I was completely unprepared for this new sensation. The instant he did it, a strong wave went through the cave. It combined with the rhythm we were building and I instinctively ground my hips against his, pressing my whole body to him. When I did this, he let out a soft moan. He had never done this before and the throaty sound was without a doubt the sexiest thing I had ever heard. It immediately pushed his laugh back into second place as my favourite sound in the world.

He moved his hands to my hips, so when the next wave hit he pulled me even closer to him. He continued to assault my neck, but when I moved against him again he used his hands to push me away from him. The current in the water removed all abruptness from his action. We broke apart, there was now about a foot between us. I no longer took such action as rejection. I knew that regardless of how much I trusted him, he didn't fully trust himself.

I rested my head on his shoulder, allowing us both time to compose ourselves. Edward lightly traced the tingling skin on my stomach, spreading the sensation to the portion that wasn't burnt.

"Sorry." he began. That made me mad, I thought he was about to apologise for pushing our boundaries so far.

"I didn't want to leave any more marks on you." he continued. I understood what he was saying. He was sorry that he had to stop.

"It's ok. We should've known that a secluded cave would only get us into trouble." I joked, though my voice still sounded breathy.

"Not trouble" he corrected. "Just a bit too intense." I was about to agree with him, but he continued. "Alice is wondering what's keeping us. Come on. There's one more thing I want to show you tonight."

Wow I'm amazed at the positive response this story has gotten. So I decided to be nice and to put up a short chapter and will have next up asap.

Please keep reviews coming! I really appreciate them and also all the people who've added this to alerts. Also I welcome all suggestions!