Disclaimer: I own nothing except for my own character.

Note: I apologize for the wait, but I hope everyone had wonderful holidays!! Thanks again to my awesome Beta: KittenEm :) Without whom this story would not be what it is. I hope everyone enjoys the chapter, and please feel free to review :)

Chapter 10:Temptation

Everything about the Cullen's house was so light, and so full of warmth and love. The house was very modern and open, with vast windows that allowed the natural light to invade every inch. But I found the vampires who resided within were the reason the house felt so different from Volterra. They were kind and gentle, they loved and showed compassion and ultimately they appreciated every life, not just my own.

I had only been there a couple of days, but from the moment I walked through the door with Carlisle, everything had fallen right back into place. My life with the Cullens had picked back up exactly where it had left off, and it seemed now as if I had never left.

Thus far my days had been filled with long conversations with Alice and Esme, who insisted on hearing everything about Volterra. They would sit and talk while I cooked for myself, and it truly felt like a family. They felt like my mothers, my sisters and my best friends, all combined into two of the sweetest people I had ever met.

Alice still insisted on making me over, which included hair, nails as well as some new clothes. But I had to admit, at least to myself, that I loved spending the time with her, while she talked on and on about the entire coven, and her beloved Jasper. In fact I often found myself a tiny bit jealous of the mutual intensity of their relationship; something I knew I would never have. Jasper generally kept his distance, which Alice assured me, was nothing personal.

As for Emmett and Rosalie, they kept mostly to themselves, at least Rosalie did. She had never been overtly friendly towards me, and I never pressed the matter. However, Emmett was always very friendly, and loved to try to get me to laugh while drinking. For some reason, seeing juice come out of my nose was incredibly amusing.

Mostly I loved the fact that I could talk for hours with them all; I could divulge my deepest darkest secrets, without fear of judgment. However, it was Carlisle I was closest to, especially since he knew the Volturi, having lived with them for quite a while himself. Therefore he knew the ordeal I was enduring. He also knew Caius, and I felt as though if anyone could help me understand my master, it was Carlisle.

I sat at the large mahogany desk as Carlisle floated about his study, flipping through volumes of medical encyclopedias; buried as always in his work. Sometimes we could even sit in silence together, and there was never any tension, or any awkwardness, but not today. I hadn't heard from Caius since I left Volterra. I attributed this to his desire to keep my location hidden, but the lack of contact had provoked my insecurities. As a result, I felt I needed Carlisle close by to help me keep a firm grip on my sanity, which seemed to be slipping further from my grasp with each passing hour.

'You miss him.' Carlisle sat on the ledge by the window with his encyclopedia open, but his attention now was focused on me. It wasn't a question, it was a statement. He knew me, probably better then I knew myself.

'Is it wrong? I should be relieved; in fact any normal person would probably take this opportunity to escape. I'm so far away, I could run, or attempt it at least. But I do miss him; I missed him before I even left Volterra.' I kept my gaze down, keeping my attention focused on an old book lying on the desk.

The speed of the movement should have startled me, but I was too comfortable with Carlisle, who, in a matter of seconds, had crossed the room to lean against the side of the desk where I sat.

'Lyana, you've been close to Caius for at least three years now, and you're human. It's only natural that you would develop very strong, powerful feelings for him. Feelings like those can make anyone see past everything.'

'If only those feelings were reciprocated.' I finally forced myself to look up into Carlisle's warm golden eyes.

'He sent you here, to protect you, when he could have let Ayla kill you. He cares that much, and let me say that's more than he's ever shown for anyone. He wants to keep you alive; he acknowledges that your death would be a substantial loss to him. No other human can say the same. You should be grateful for the influence you have over him, over all of them. The day you arrived and Aro decided they would keep you, I figured you would have the same chance as a snowball in hell. But you're still alive, and that says a lot.' He held my gaze, his eyes searching for some sort of understanding on my part.

'Sometimes I think back on that day, the day they found me, and wish that Aro had killed me, just like anyone else.' I quickly downcast my gaze; I didn't want to see the look on Carlisle's face after making such a comment.

'You're not like anyone else, no one human anyways. Besides, then I wouldn't have had the privilege of getting to know and love you. None of us here would have.' I tried to smile, but even I knew it must have been pitiful.

'Caius wouldn't have been able to get to know me either. Sometimes, for my own well being, I think that may have been best. It almost seems like a death sentence in itself, just more drawn out, more complicated. The way Aro prefers it I'm sure.' I knew Carlisle would not deny that Aro could certainly be cruel at times, and enjoy manipulating every situation around him.

'You think Caius will kill you?' Carlisle always tried to believe in the good in everyone, and I could hear the surprise in his voice.

'I do. Everything about our relationship, if you could even call it that, goes against nature. You said so yourself once; that human and vampire relationships are extremely difficult, tedious, and in some cases impossible even.' It helped me to be able to voice my fears and concerns to someone who was actually interested in helping me, though I would regret saying them aloud later.

'I think you've survived with Caius for a while now, it will only get easier for him. Although, when you return to Volterra you should be careful for a while. You're absence will have lessened his resistance to your scent.'

'I will be.' I stood up, stretching slightly, before turning to face Carlisle again. 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so miserable. I couldn't be any happier to be here.' I let a small smile find my face before I turned to leave the study, pausing in the open doorway to look at him once more. He smiled brightly at me, his warmth washing away the fear which constantly threatened to take control of me.

///// (Aro's POV)

'Why don't you visit your wife, brother, perhaps it will help your foul mood.' The words sounded harsher then I had intended. Caius had been particularly vicious the past few days, and I feared how he would unleash his anger. 'When was the last time you visited her chambers? It's been at least a year.'

'I visited her yesterday, and the day before that. I'm afraid Athenodora has never been very good at pleasing me, merely at irritating me.' Caius' words were cold; however there had never been much love between the two, though occasionally, there were sufficient amounts of lust.

'Well I'm sure we could find a human for you, if that is your wish. Perhaps it will be easier to pretend its Lyana, if it's warm.' I heard a low growl rumble through Caius' chest; followed only by one of the most venomous looks I'd ever had the pleasure of receiving from him.

/////

I enjoyed the warmth of the car, as I watched the green all around us. I loved going for drives with Edward, but part of me worried if it was such a good idea this time. On my last visit, we had had a moment, the slightest of moments where I had wondered what my life would be like if I were with a vampire as gentle as a Cullen. Ever since, being near Edward made my heart scream out how foolish I was, to even consider dragging him into my world of blood thirsty monsters. He was so sweet and good, and in one of my more admirable moments, I had hesitated, with our lips so close they were almost touching, and our moment was lost.

Edward had thought at first it was rejection; that I didn't want him, that I couldn't love him. Perhaps I couldn't, perhaps I only wanted to believe I could love someone who could truly love me. Honestly, my fear of Aro had stopped me; I couldn't risk him knowing about it. I could except that he already knew I had come close to temptation but resisted; that I had considered it, but not acted upon it. Aro had kept my secret from Caius, and for that I was indebted to him for eternity.

'Can you stop thinking about them, please?' Edward's voice rang out, tearing me from my thoughts. I always forgot that unlike Aro, Edward needed no physical contact to hear my thoughts, and I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. 'The thought of you, with him, it almost makes me sick.'

'Well then don't think about it. No one said you had to listen to my thoughts anyway.' As the words left my mouth they sounded cold and harsh, more so then I liked.

Edward's mouth pressed into a tight line, obviously there was plenty he wanted to say, but didn't. We sat in silence for the rest of the drive. I didn't want to hurt Edward, but I had to make it clear that there was no hope for us. And though he knew what I was thinking, he said nothing.