Swan Lodge

Chapter Eleven—Suspicious

Prompt: August 3, 2011: Suspicious, malicious, and delicious.

Edward laid a hand over Bella's dying heart, as his own twisted inside his chest. She loved him. He was positive it was not in same capacity in which he had come to love her.

Still, she loved him.

He hummed a song that he pulled and composed from notes that seemed to harmonize around them. Drifting into the sanctuary of her mind, into her open thoughts, he felt her walls that shielded her fall away.

Vivid colors surrounded him, and emotions battered him. Amongst the color and sun she stood, waiting for him. He was sure it was her, but different since it was her mental representation of herself as she walked within her own mind.

Her hand extended for him to take, he didn't hesitate, though he probably should. She was so fragile now. She attempted to control her pain and held it within, so that he would not see. Her fingers were wonderfully warm, pleasant against his cold, unyielding fingers.

She sighed when his fingers closed around hers. Taking an unnatural step for himself, Edward brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her delicate fingers. She smiled that smile that said she knew his thoughts, knew what he wished he could do.

He'd always been repulsed by the countless, uncomfortable fantasies from the girls and women that liked the way he looked. Yet, now he fantasized of the woman before him in a similar fashion. It was so unlike him.

"Is this only a dream?" he asked softly. Her skin was warm beneath his lips, tingling along their surface.

Shaking her head, she whispered, "It is, love, but it isn't. We are simply sharing this moment within our minds. We'd still feel every touch as if they were really happening."

"How?"

She laughed, shaking her head and sending her glorious hair tumbling around her shoulders. . "You ask such a question when you yourself and your family have a similar gifts? Don't ask, do." Tugging on his hand, she pulled Edward against her and laughed at the gasp that escaped him.

Unsure of what would happen next, Edward took her face in his hands, uncertain of what would come next. "Remain still." She only smiled, her lips curving beneath his mouth.

At the moment, this kiss was within their minds that they shared another kiss. Soon, they'd share another and another. This he could do and would, everyday for the rest of their existence.

~oOo~

Esme smoothed her hands over the lovely jacket she wore, standing in the center of the lobby. She waited patiently for the clock on the west wall to tick to the time that would tell her when the tour was to begin. Jasper sat alongside Alice in front of the fireplace, reading an old novel, looking as if he was nothing more than a guest, sitting beside a roaring fire.

Alice simply flipped through a magazine not really looking at what Cosmo indicated what were the latest fashions. Instead, she steadily searched for their futures. She did what Bella had silently instructed her before she'd fallen to the pain when Alice last saw her. She had to look around the wolves that inhabited the lodge. It was something difficult to learn, but she seemed to have mastered it.

Edward's future was lost to her, since being with Bella, that Alice could no longer see them. Since Esme stood surrounded by the creatures that guarded the grounds and its people, Alice was unaware of her future, too.

However, if she concentrated on the others, Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett, she could easily see the other family members safe and sound in a future that seemed to depend on what would come of Esme's encounter with the hunter James.

However, she hated that any choices James made in the next few hours, seemed to have suddenly disappeared. She couldn't directly see his and his companions' futures any longer. She feared it meant his destruction, however, a part of her knew that there was a chance it meant that he knew how to hide his future.

She didn't like the way he had watched her earlier in the hallway on the way toward the indoor poolroom. The red haired vampire wrapped around him seemed wary of Alice but James seemed intrigued by her.

She hadn't said anything to Jasper, since she knew he'd worry. For the moment, the interest James seemed to have might merely be instinct. He was after all a hunter, and Alice and her family were protectors. He knew that, she was sure.

The placement of a human near Esme, proved successful, Carlisle thought as he watched from upstairs in the security room. He hated that he couldn't remain beside his wife, but it was for the best. Whatever enchantment Bella had placed on the human staff member and Esme seemed to have fooled James as he entered the lobby.

James dark obsidian eyes honed in on the petite mistress, her heartbeat thumped softly in her chest. So fucking confident, he thought. She actually seemed unaware of his malicious intend and unafraid of their arrival.

Jasper's fingers tightened for a fraction of a second around the book he held. He detected for a mere moment the suspicious thoughts of the hunter, but it was fleeting. Perhaps instinctual, vampires were naturally wary of others of their kind.

As planned, Emmett bounded down the stairs, running past James and his companions. He skidded to a halt in front of Bella/Esme and winked. "Any chance I can join the tour?"

James remained immobile for a second, testing Victoria's instinct. She shook her head, gesturing toward four different escape routes in case the others were aware of their deception. Laurent raised an eyebrow in question, likely curious of what Ms. Swan's answer would be.

"I can provide a tour for you and your family at a later time if you wish," Esme said in her disguised voice.

James smirked at her and as he closed the distance between them, he shook his head. "We don't mind the company, Ms. Swan."

Emmett smiled and fist pumped. "Do you think we'll see some of those wolves? They're fucking awesome, all snarly and shit. They remind me of the same ones that live near us back home." He turned toward Jasper and cocked a head toward Bella. "You coming, bro?"

Jasper played his part and looked mildly disinterested. "I suppose I should." He looked to his wife, seeing the bored look upon her face. "You coming, sugar?"

She shook her head and sniffed delicately. "No. I'm going to check on Edward, to see if he's still brooding." Emmett snorted as had Jasper. "Maybe watch a movie, too."

At that moment, James listened to all the sounds coming from upstairs. He heard the sound of a vampire softly breathing, the sound of sheets moving against granite skin. There were seven human heartbeats within the lodge. Six faster hearts that belonged to the shifters, most congregated in the kitchen, eating, he mused.

Then he heard the slow, melodic thump-thump of his prey, his Ms. Swan. Soon, he told himself. First, he needed to get the lay of the land. When the time came, he'd feed upon the life and power that thrived beneath her pale skin. It would be delicious and divine.

Suddenly, from a floor above, James heard the distinct sound of a vampire's growl. He smiled internally and wondered, why so protective, Edward?