A/N: Thank you to all my readers, but especially those who've left messages and reviews. Have I told you recently how much I love that? It's my pipeline to you all out there, and proof enough for me to keep going.

Those of you that have sent wishes for improved health for both me and my mother, thank you with all my heart. Nurserosie, flutterfli, CentauRita and Mel83 - you have given me such hope and encouragement, there aren't enough words to thank you. Big kisses and hugs! I know I'm missing many, but please know that you words gave me hope, and accept my thanks nonetheless.

I have a special thank you going out to Camilla10 whose kind offer to help with all things Italian was a very welcome present. Thank you.

And lastly, where would I be without my long-suffering beta, Mr. Bigg? (I can tell you where: I'd be stuck trying to figure out the problems with tense is where!) Thank you, sir. As you know, you totally rock.

All characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer. No disrespect or copyright infringement is intended.

Recap of Chapter 11, Prey: At Alice's urging, Bella and Edward go exploring and find a cave behind a waterfall. Bella asks Edward to show her his body and how he moves when he is stalking prey. Edward complies, and moves over her body. As he recognizes the flood of emotions washing over him, he realizes that the emotions are mixed with restraint, and comes to the realization this may be what is causing the strange effects on his body.


Falling

"Gah, Edward! That was so… so…," she broke off, sighing and gasping. "Honestly, are you sure you never had sex before me?"

I smiled and shook my head. I leaned in and spoke into her ear so she could hear me over the thunderous water. "No, love, my body has only ever been yours. But given the way things work," I said, looking into her eyes and tapping my temple, "I hear a lot about what men do and what women like."

Bella sat up, leaning forward to kiss me. "I love you," she said, pulling back to look in my eyes. "You know that, right?"

I inhaled her scent through my mouth, savoring her delectable perfume and nodded, never breaking her gaze. I brought my hands to her cheeks, gently smoothing my thumbs across her skin. I leaned in, my lips brushing against hers, a kiss of agreement.

"You smell like me."

"Oh," I mouthed, chagrined. I stood immediately, taking a step back toward the waterfall.

"No, wait," she replied lightly, scrambling to her feet. She approached me lazily, wrapping her arms around my waist as I mirrored the action around her. "I like it. Are we a sight, or what? Two horny teenagers, naked in cave."

I lifted her chin with my finger, and inclined my mouth toward her ear. "Good thing no one's watching."

"Right," she said, leaning back away from me. Her expression changed; her eyes were wide and searching. "Do you think Alice… saw?" Her lip pulled between her teeth, a signature Bella move done in reflex to her anxiety.

I shrugged, and bent to her ear again. "Alice takes great pains to keep x-rated visions to herself," I replied, chuckling a little. "We've not really discussed it at great length. Some of her voyeuristic traits can feed her own libido." I pulled back, gauging her expression, which was pinched and worried. "That's not so bad," I said, drawing up to my full height and catching her hand as I walked toward the falls.

She pulled away from me, her back to the thundering tumult behind her. "Not so bad? How am I supposed to look her in the eye?" Her face blazed red, embarrassment seizing her tongue as she pulled her hand out of mine. "I guess I always knew, but I didn't…" Her hands raked through her hair as she came to a realization. "And Jasper…" She blanched. "She probably told Jasper, too, didn't she?" I shook my head slowly, but Bella's would have none of it. Her hands came down and smacked her bare thighs, exasperation clear in her expression. She wheeled to face me, taking a step back and gesticulating with her arms and hands. "How am I supposed to –"

Her voice cut off mind sentence as her arm flung out across the air and sliced into the falls. The pressure of the falling water jerked her off her feet, swallowing her in the cold cascade, and she disappeared. It all happened so instantaneously, so quietly, that it took the blink of an eye for my reaction to kick in. I leapt across the cave, diving into the tumbling chute after Bella.

The twist and turbulence of the water pushed me forward to her flailing body. Her eyes were closed, her cheeks puffed out as she tried to hold her breath. I lassoed her into my arms, then freed one hand to pinch her mouth. Cupping my mouth over hers, I pressed the last of my breath into her mouth. Gravity pulled us through the boiling pool at the end of the falls, and I kicked and pulled Bella to the shallow water, breaking the surface.

"Bella, Bella! Are you all right?" The panic in my voice raised the question to a shout. I held her in my arms, speaking before she had a chance to respond. She sputtered and coughed, dragging air into her lungs, and her eyes fluttered open and found mine. All I could think was, 'She's alive, thank God, she's alive!'

"Edward, thank you," she said, her voice barely a whisper. "Help me stand up."

I pulled her to her feet, unwilling to let her go. Her warmth was draining away, and her teeth began to chatter with the cold. I scooped her up into my arms, slogging through the water to the banks of the pool. Setting her down on a rock at the shore, I pulled away from her. The frigidness of my skin was doing nothing to help her warm.

She huddled and shook on the shore, wrapping her arms around her body. Her hair hung over her face, but she didn't seem to care. I wished warm blood coursed through my veins, so that my embrace would save her the shivers that wracked her body. I peered up at the sun pouring through the trees. "There's no one around for miles, Bella, if you want to stretch into the sun."

She glanced over to where I stood in the water, her lips dark and bluish with the cold. "Y-y-y-you sh-sh-sh-sure?"

"Yes. And I'll go get your clothes as soon as I'm sure you're okay."

"Oh k-k-k-kay," she managed to choke out, and stood to stretch into the midday sun.

I watched Bella stretch in the sun, her naked body glistening and wet. Her skin was covered in goose bumps, her nipples pert, tight, and hard. She looked like a goddess, worshipping the sun, and I had no alternative but to worship her. My tongue rolled out across my lip, trying desperately to control the desire that swept over me as I watched her.

Little rivulets trailed from her hair down her abdomen, vanishing between her legs as she stretched her arms to the sky. "Mmm, that f-f-feels so g-good," she stuttered, pulling her hands through her hair, away from her face. Head back, eyes closed, naked, exultant – she was beauty and womanhood incarnate, teasing me. I longed to touch her, to run my hands down the trail of rivulets and sink my stiff member into her soft folds from behind. My body was rigid with desire, and though I stood waist deep in the cold water, the head of my cock broke the surface of the water.

She spun slowly to face me, her hands still buried in her hair at the temples. From where I stood below her, I could see the soft pinkness of her sex blossoming between her legs. The blue tint of her mouth had faded, the lips of her mouth rose-petal rose, matching the blush of her nipples. The air around her drew in, a vermillion transparency laid over the scene. The entire spectacle that was my Bella stimulated my lust and need and heightened the crimson color; I immediately froze in place as she opened her eyes.

"Edward?" Her voice sang through my skin, silken and soft though questioning. "Edward, you okay?"

I noticed the change in her tenor as pain lanced through my shoulders. A sharp inhalation shot agony through my lungs, making me cough and wheeze. I stooped, bending, unable to stand upright, unable to get my wind. My arms were heavy as lead, and the skin on my face felt loose as I bent forward. My hair fell across my eyes.

"Edward!" her shriek was harsh and yet somehow, seemed very far away. I heard voices I knew, . We have to go now, Jazz! And then, What's happening, Alice – tell me what's going on! I heard the sounds of their voices, not their minds. And there were voices I didn't know - hikers, families, and park rangers - talking in normal voices to each other, their thoughts scattered around the conversations. The red haze began to recede, and weariness and discomfort gripped me. It all felt very taxing and confusing, and I raised my hand to cup the stabbing pain above my left eye.

Then I saw it. The violent crimson curtain bled away, leaving the world around me hazy and indistinct. I was drawn to the surface of the water, where my reflection peered back strangely. The ripples distorted the picture, but the picture itself was unbelievable. An old man, bent with age, sagging skin and golden eyes stared up at me from the watery reflection. My mouth dropped open in surprise, my hand rose to touch my face, and the image in the water mimicked my action. Was that me? The ancient man had my color of reddish bronze hair, my brows, and my general physiognomy, but he was obviously approaching a hundred years old – or older. As my fingers curled around my chin, I could feel the sag and wrinkle of my skin. The lines were soft and deep, not the alabaster I'd known for the last century. As I leaned closer to the reflection, I could see my eyes begin to cloud and fade just as the image in the water clouded and hid in blurriness.

The surface of the water broke in disruption, and my view of the elderly man shattered into a million shiny, meaningless undulating waves. My hand reached toward the water as if to revive the image somehow, and I saw my knuckles were gnarled and puckering in the water. Some dim and undecipherable sound came towards me, but I felt lost, trapped within my own body and helpless to withstand the force of the water and noise. I raised my hand to my eyes, trying to make out the texture of my skin, when someone grabbed my shoulders and shook me hard.

Bella's hold on my shoulders seemed hard and excessive. "Edward! Edward! Snap out of it!" she screamed as she shook me. I tried to focus on her eyes. My teeth were jarred by the shaking, and I couldn't understand why she was so upset.

"Bella? Love?"

Her hands dropped as she staggered backwards in the freezing water, tripping and splashing. She wore a mask of terror and disbelief, but her eyes never left me. What could make her behave with such fear? She sat in the water, submerged and terrified, her mouth opening and closing, but no sound came forth.

"Edward!" Alice was on the rocks above us, Jasper at her shoulder. "Edward, you're all right! Jasper, go to the cave behind the waterfall – just follow this path – and get Bella and Edward's clothes. Hurry. We need to get them to Carlisle."

The water stilled again, the little waves reflecting my image back to me. I was myself again, whole, no sagging skin or puckered flesh. I held my hand in front of my face, and pulled my fingers into a fist. As quickly as it had come, the pain and cold and weariness had left me, and I was restored.

I looked down at my feet to where Bella sat dumbfounded. Alice was behind her, pulling her from the shallow floor, wrapping Bella in the overly long cardigan she'd worn. Bella didn't resist; her mouth still gaped open as she stared at me. Alice's hands rested on Bella's shoulders, tugging, trying to turn Bella toward her. Bella broke her open stare at me to look at Alice.

"Come out of the water, Bella. It's warmer up here in the sunlight." Alice was firm and insistent.

"Did you see that?" Her whisper was hushed and reverent. "He was old, his skin, his eyes…" Bella moved along with her, her steps shaky and faltering. Alice gripped her, keeping her upright.

"Yes, Bella, I saw. Edward needs to get back to the house. Here's Jasper with your clothes." She pushed Bella forward by the shoulders, toward the dry rocks as Jasper stretched to hand Alice the clothes. Bella was very still and quiet as Alice set her down, drying her and helping her to dress.

Jasper moved past Alice, handing me my clothes. "Brother, give me your hand," he said gently, and I felt the calm he was exuding drift around me in soft waves.

"Jasper, I'm all right now, I can manage," I said. He was unmoving, standing stock still before me. His thoughts were empty – a practiced empty. He was struggling with remaining calm, and I felt the unease creep into his mind. "Jazz, what is it," I asked just as his thoughts began to slip. He closed his eyes as I saw the glimpse of Bella naked roll around in his head. He was silently censuring himself, but the images burned.

"Edward, I'm sorry," he murmured, too low for Bella to hear. "I swear, I was trying not to look."

His sincerity was unmistakable. How could I blame him for something I'd been guilty of countless times? I tried not to hear their thoughts, see their mental pictures in all sorts of compromising positions, but on occasion, the task was impossible. "Jazz," I said softly, "I know."

Alice peered over Bella's shoulder at me. "You'd better get dressed, too, Edward. You're going to need to speak with Carlisle. Jasper and I will take care of packing for both of you."

~o0O0o~

"So, he changed right before you?" Carlisle's question echoed the perplexity of his thoughts,

"Yes," Bella replied softly, looking down at her hands. "I thought it only happened when we had sex." Her lashes fluttered as she sought out my eyes and held my gaze.

"It's the restraint, Bella," I said, stooping to squat in front of her. "I knew in the cave, but I didn't have the opportunity to tell you." I stood up and turned to Carlisle. "The more intense my feelings for Bella, the more restraint I must exercise. It's the restraint that seems to bring on the changes – the red haze and the physical anomalies.

"After the fall, Bella was standing in the sunlight trying to get warm. The line of sight from my vantage was…" I swallowed. Bella's tension filled the study, and I had no desire to exacerbate her discomfort. "Provocative. My body responded before I actually understood what was happening."

"And you experienced pain, Edward?"

"Yes, particularly through my neck and shoulders, but discomfort was everywhere."

"I see," Carlisle said as he pulled his arm across his chest, and tugged at lip. He began a slow pace, back and forth and back again, as his thoughts sifted through the information we'd provided. "I think you're right, Edward. The effect of your emotions through restraint is changing the physical structure of the venom. Each time, it's reverted – so far – but I think we need to get home where we can study this more fully. Are you pack –"

A brisk little knock rapped three times at the door before Alice stuck in her head. "Everybody's packed and ready, and the house has been secured." She glanced at Bella and grinned, trying to reassure her with smiles and lightheartedness. "We're just waiting on you three. I know how you enjoy a good problem to solve, but we'd better get a move on. We'll be off the mountain by twilight."


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