Thank you so much for all my lovely reviews. I feel so guilty and horrid for not updating for so long!
Speical thanks to TwilightLover-CarlisleandEsme for convincing me to update! His/her words (guessing her) inspired me, randomly, to write this chapter!
Sorry again. I've had writer's block.
So here's the update, it's quite a long one.
Sorry AGAIN, PLEASE forgive me! Pleaseeeee
Xx M xX
Chapter 7
Carlisle's POV
'Dum dum dadidadi dum…' Esme hummed under her breath, as we sped down the motorways.
'What?' I laughed.
'The Spooks theme tune,' she smiled, her hand holding mine next to the gear stick. I shook my head, trying to avoid catching her eye; if I did, I would undoubtedly be transfixed and possibly crash the car.
'Why?'
'Because the English have better TV shows,' she muttered, turning on the radio. I laughed softly, and she glared.
'You're being racist, you know,' I grinned, turning to face her. For a second my eyes took in, for the thousandth time, her soft caramel hair, the perfect serenity of her flawless complexion, the soft curve of her pink lips… I jerked back to reality as I swung the car out of the way of an oncoming truck.
'Careful,' she laughed.
'I'm not going to crash,' I insisted, though not one hundred percent sure. It was like we had an inbuilt radar…but I didn't want to test that.
'I don't trust you, Carlisle,' she laughed, 'I mean, you only saved my life, became the love of my life, built me a life…'
'That's because you are my life,' I whispered.
We drove in silence for a while, Emmett's jeep speeding ahead in front, the shiny, red BMW behind us. Edward had branched off, none of us knew where he was. Alice and Jasper were way ahead, the first in a purple Lamborghini, the second in a sleek black Jaguar. They were racing.
'I say we pull over for a hunt,' I offered, looking to the left. Densely packed forests surrounded the road on every side…it was perfect.
'Yes,' she agreed, and I swung the car onto the grass. Rosalie pulled up behind us, getting out and flicking her hair over her shoulder. She frowned in distaste, and I knew why; there was nothing good to eat in this forest.
'Oh well, beggars can't be choosers,' she muttered, shouting "OUCH!" very loudly as Emmett fishtailed around to join us, and smashed straight into her. There was suddenly a huge dent in the bonnet, and half the paintwork had been ripped off. Emmett cursed.
'That'll take me ages to get fixed,' he whined.
'You shouldn't have driven into me then,' she retorted, 'and it hurt, that jeep weighs a tonne!'
'Stop arguing, guys,' Esme muttered, 'we get enough of that from Edward.'
Everyone went silent, the mention of Edward was suddenly dangerous, almost prohibited; Rosalie broke the silence.
'I HATE HIM!' She shouted suddenly. 'I REALLY, BLOODY, HATE HIM!' She shrieked, punching Emmett full in the face when he put his arm on her shoulder.
'God, Rose, calm it!' He laughed.
'THIS IS NOT FUNNY!' She screamed at him, ripping away and running off.
'Great,' I muttered, running after her.
She was fast, and she's crossed her path so many times that to tail her was impossible. Her scent was everywhere, roses and freesias.
'I can't find her,' I muttered, as I heard Esme approach from behind.
'Perhaps not…but I found you.'
'Ez, I don't think now is the time,' I whispered. I didn't want Emmett finding us.
She ignored me and closed her lips on mine, distracting me as thoroughly as ever, as she rolled me into the usual ecstasy.
'No, Esme,' I said at last, as her hands reached my shirt.
'Why not, Carlisle?' She demanded, her face sulkily sexy. God she was so beautiful.
'Because we are in a forest,' I smiled, kissing her forehead.
'Oh well.'
'And we're supposed to be hunting, as I am extremely thirsty. We haven't hunted for ages!'
'It can wait,' she stepped closer.
'Esme Cullen, you are truly awful, now, let's hunt,' I sped off, and she chased after me. Luckily I was slightly faster than her, and was feasting on a huge elk by the time she caught up with me.
'You are so annoying Carlisle,' she frowned.
'Hark who's talking!' I laughed, pulling her down beside me.
The elk was soft, succulent. As my lips curved around the body, drawing the life from it in great gulps, I felt Esme slip her hands around my waist. I tried not to flinch – I was going to be the mature one here.
But the more I drank, the more I wished it was Esme's lips that mine were curling around. She clasped her hands around my waist, drawing soft circles on my stomach, and I forced myself to ignore her. When I had finished drinking, she dragged my backwards and kissed me softly.
'God, Ez, you are a nightmare!' I managed to gasp between her kisses. I felt like a teenager again, and the romance of our first kiss slid back instantly.
'I love you,' she whispered.
'God! We cannot leave you alone for two seconds!' Rosalie was leaning against a tree, watching. I gently peeled Esme's arms from around me. She giggled in protest and scowled at Rose.
'Did you have to interrupt?'
'Sorryyyy,' she snarled, flicking her hair and frowning.
'Are you alright?' Esme sighed, standing up.
'No,' she muttered back. She was wearing black jeans and a skimpy top, and I couldn't help but be proud. Even when she was angry, she was extremely beautiful. I swallowed, reminding myself that she wasn't actually my daughter, she just so happened to use me as a father for all intensive purposes.
'Carlisle, do you feel ill or something? You look really weird!' Rose laughed at last. I hadn't realised that it had showed, and ran a hand through my hair to smooth it, wondering whether it had been ruffled by Esme's games.
'We ought to get back to the car. We're running late, and we don't want Jasper and Alice to get worried about us.' I sighed finally.
'She'd have sent hat we were going hunting,' Esme pointed out.
'Yeah, and anyway, we haven't found Emmett yet,' Rosalie pulled a face, 'I need to apologise.'
'What for?'
'For almost breaking his granite hard nose and shouting at him. Though I think I will have to try it again, it was rather satisfying and oddly fun.'
'Excuse me!' Emmett had jumped out of the shadows, landing directly on a screaming Rosalie. She threw him off, before grabbing him and beginning to wrestle. He laughed off the fact that she beat him, by pretending that he had been going easy on her. As if.
'C'mon,' Emmett muttered, 'let's go.'
~ X ~
Esme's POV
'Welcome home,' Carlisle whispered, his voice honey sweet as ever. He removed his hands from my eyes, and I blinked.
A huge house stood in front of us, white and modern, laid out of four floors. I had to look up at the sun to see the top floor. We were standing at the end of the drive, surrounded by beautiful blossom trees and a soft jade lawn.
'I thought we were going to Alaska!' I breathed.
'Bit cold,' Carlisle whispered, nestling his neck into mine. I shivered as he planted gentle kisses down to my collarbone, before softly sliding his tongue along the bone. My back arched, and he laughed quietly. I felt like slapping him, but I didn't want him to stop.
'Where are we?' I asked, trying to distract myself.
'Ireland,' he smiled.
'IRELAND!'
'Don't you remember the plane?'
'No, I think I was rather distracted. You cheeky bugger, how did I manage to miss boarding a plane?' I was partially speechless, had I been having that much fun? I couldn't believe it.
'Do you like it?'
'I love it,' I brushed my hair behind my shoulder to feel the warm breeze against my neck. My fingers found Carlisle's lips, and I gently traced them. I felt them curve up into a smile.
'Come on, Emmett and Rosalie are already inside. And when Jasper and Alice turn up they'll be wanting the best rooms,' he muttered, encasing my hands in his. He led me towards the house, opening the door and showing me the large front hall. The floor was polished chestnut, and around the walls were hundreds of paintings. I recognised some of them – several were my own, and others were ones that had been displayed in the old house.
'Where are Alice and Jazz?' I asked, remembering what he had said.
'They went via London. Wanted to see a bit more of the world apparently. Are you jealous?' He laughed at the last sentence.
'No, there's only one place that I ever want to be,' I found myself nuzzling my neck into his tracing lips.
'And where's that?' He took my face in his hands and drew it back.
'Wherever you are,' I smiled, planting a kiss right on the end of his nose, before running upstairs like a small child.
'Heya, Esme!' Rose called. I looked in on her, and found her in a huge room with roses on the wallpaper. Emmett was grumbling about the pink and red decoration. Ah, how difficult it was to be so madly in love that you had to agree to whatever your lover said. I'd had that since I'd been changed.
'Nice décor,' I smiled, watching her unpack several ball gowns. The last tiome that I had seen her wear them was back at the Volturi ball. I couldn't help remembering the grand finale, where Aro, drunken on Russian's blood, had pronounced eternal love for Edward. It had been the funniest thing that I had ever seen. But right now even thinking of Edward made me uncomfortable.
I suddenly felt guilty, as Bella's face swam to my mind. I was enjoying this, I couldn't lie. It was nice not having Edward whining about everything, lovely to be able to keep my thoughts to myself. And the new house was so wonderful that all thoughts of what we had left behind had instantly slipped from my mind. Her face was pained, tear tracks covering it. I tried to blink away the image, it made the guilt unbearable.
'Upset?' Carlisle whispered from behind me. He always knew how I felt, I sometimes wondered whether he had a power that was similar to Jasper's, but only worked on me. And he would have found it hard to keep it secret; I was good at wheedling things out of him.
'A bit.'
'Is it the house?' He looked worried.
'No, the house is wonderful. It's just…thinking of Bella…'
'Forget her, you know that is what Edward would have wanted.'
'Ok. I'll think about the house instead. Have we got a nice bedroom?'
'Yes.'
'Then let's go try out the bed!' I giggled, grabbing his hand and pulling him into our new bedroom.
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