A/N - Beta'd by jkane180 and Mac214 because they are awesome. Pre-read/peer-reviewed by katinki and Perrymaxed. If there are still any mistakes, it's not because of those fabulous ladies. Warning - this chapter contains a lemon and a reference to Underthebedward from BBS.

Vertigo overtook me, the cells in my body repositioning themselves as I went from vertical to horizontal at vampire speed. The squeaking of bedsprings under the sudden weight of our bodies was my first inkling that Edward and I were no longer on our feet. When my eyes stopped knocking about in my head, I opened them, drawing in an excited breath at his proximity; my body draped over his so our hips lined up perfectly.

"I'll never get used to that," I breathed.

"Er, this?" Edward's brow furrowed quizzically as he pressed his erection into my pubic bone.

Laughter bubbled from my lips. "No. The way you throw me around with supernatural grace."

"I'll have you know that I don't 'throw you around.' I'm very careful with you, always mindful of not hurting you." His eyes darkened and narrowed, although he appeared sad rather than menacing. "Your bones could become dust, Bella, if I forget even for just one second you're human. If I embrace you too hard, I could crush your ribs; if I make love to you with too much enthusiasm, I could shatter your pelvis." Burying his face into the crook of my neck, his cool kiss near my pulse point created delicious shivers down my spine. I nearly became unhinged at his breath, a whisper in my ear. "You're so precious to me. Do you have any idea?"

"I- I do," I managed, writhing on top of him.

"Do you fear me?"

"Not anymore." To my surprise, I spoke truthfully. Of course reason screamed at me to run away, but my heart - that mysterious muscle that pumped blood through my body and stole my sanity - kept me glued to him. "You're mine."

White light seemed to radiate from him as he grinned widely, revealing the unnaturally pointy bicuspids I'd failed to notice before. I cocked my head, staring at his teeth.

"Um . . ."

His lips snapped shut, his smile transforming into a grim line. "What is it?"

"You don't have molars." My voice took on an accusatory tone; I hadn't intended it to. "I mean, you have canines." I pulled at his lip until he opened his mouth, and I peered inside. "But those teeth in the back look more like eyeteeth than anything else. You're supposed to have three sets of molars!"

"No need," he said simply. "I don't chew my food. I only need teeth for tearing."

"That . . . makes sense." I trembled despite myself. It wasn't fear exactly, but something gnawed at the back of my mind like a tick. "Edward . . . I need to ask you-"

"I disgust you," he said sadly, turning his face away from me like a petulant child. Even his lower lip puffed out in a vaguely erotic pout. My finger found his mouth, tracing his perfect Cupid's bow before settling on the adorably protruded lip.

"Open," I said, using my best soothing tone. "I'm curious, not disgusted."

He shook his head. "It doesn't look human."

"I don't want human."

"Of course you do. You're a lovely girl, and I'm a predator." He sat me upright and disappeared.

"Edward!" I yelled. "Get back here this instant!"

"No," replied a muffled voice.

"What do you mean no? And where are you?"

"Under the bed," he said dismally.

I collected myself and knelt beside the bed, peeking under the paisley bedskirt. Edward's eyes - still a murky-red from his recent meal - stared back at me with that odd innocence he possessed. I took a few deep breaths and waited for him to calm down before the ridiculousness of the situation made me want to cackle with inappropriate laughter. It felt like I was trying to lure out a scared kitten. I sighed and choked on a cloud of dust that my impatient breath drew from the ground.

My eyes snapped shut as images of Esme's living room assaulted me - immaculately arranged furniture covered in an inch of filth and neglect. Vampires lived forever but their relics still decayed. I doubted they even noticed.

"I'm tired of having this conversation. You don't disgust me." I reached for his hand, threading our fingers together. "I think I'm doing remarkably well in this situation, all things considered. Just be patient with me; stop freaking out when I become curious about your vampire body and all its quirks. That kind of thing fascinates me."

"Why?"

I shrugged. "I've always had an innate curiosity about anatomy. I've wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember, and I have a healthy respect for science. I mean, it's not my intention to make you feel like a freak, and I'm sorry if I upset you. Edward, you have to understand that you're an entirely different species - how could I not be fascinated?"

"I'm acting like a tallywag, aren't I?"

"Uh . . . maybe. Is that like an ass?"

"Yes, only slightly closer to the front of the male anatomy. Was that crass of me?"

I smiled and offered him my hand. "Your figures of speech fascinate me too."

"What else?" He dragged himself from beneath the bed and sat beside me on the floor in one swift motion, at least, that I could discern. "What else fascinates you?"

I pursed my lips. "How do you mean?"

"I want to know more about you."

My eyes closed, and I leaned against his shoulder. Sometimes I wished he would just whisper words - anything - so I could luxuriate in the melodic sound of his voice. It was a strange tenor, clear and smooth, with perfect articulation and lovely round vowels. His accent - I couldn't place it. He had almost a British affectation, like an American actor performing Shakespeare without taking on the accent completely.

No, that wasn't right either.

"Bella?" He chuckled, his breath tickling my ear.

"Yes?"

"Tell me something about you? I want to know everything."

I shrugged. "I can't just talk about myself. It's . . . weird. Ask me questions if you're curious about something."

"That sounds reasonable." He nodded, a grin spreading across his face. I noticed he was careful not to reveal any teeth this time. "Why are you so curious about my body?"

"Because it's hot," I replied without thinking. My cheeks burned with embarrassment.

"Yes, I understand you're physically aroused by it - I meant, why are you curious about my less-than-human characteristics?"

"How could I not be? Holy shit, Edward, you're a completely different species that no one has discovered. I mean, you're human in appearance but almost serpentine in your movements and predatory behaviours. You're Darwin's dream - the next logical step in evolution."

"I don't think I'm what Darwin had in mind."

"What?"

"He told Carlisle that-"

"Shut up!" I gasped. Carlisle knew Darwin?

"Alright."

I gaped, waiting for him to continue. He silently brushed my bangs away from my face and kissed my cheek.

"Well?" I huffed out impatiently.

"Yes?"

"What did he tell him? You said he actually spoke to Carlisle."

"You told me to shut up."

"Shut up, and tell me what he said!"

"He said vampires aren't evolutionary."

"Really?" I gasped. Wait, of course they weren't. Vampires weren't born the way they were; the condition was contracted like a bloodborne disease.

Edward's chest seemed to vibrate, and I realized he was laughing.

"What?" I snapped.

"Oh, Bella. I don't know what came over me." He made a guttural sound as he covered his mouth with his hand as if trying to iron a smile off his face.

I frowned, confused, realization slowly dawning over me as my face blazed, hot with anger. "Right . . . you're making fun of me. Obviously Carlisle never met Darwin."

He shook his head, at least having the decency to look ashamed, his head dipping slightly as if in submission.

"You're an asshole. Just because I'm not a century-old vampire doesn't mean I'm stupid."

"I'm not sure why I did that." He reached for my hand, but I crossed my arms over my chest. "Being with you makes me feel giddy, drunk even."

"Evolution favours survival," I challenged, not allowing myself to be swayed by his mesmeric eyes. "Would you say you need sex to survive?"

The grin froze on his face and then puckered ever so slightly. "I could survive without it."

"That's good because I'm not fucking you ever again." I glared, digging my fingers into my ribs to stop myself from reaching for him. An agitated energy settled in my groin, my anger bubbling over into an odd mix of mirth and lust. He knew I wasn't serious; I could tell by the cocky half-grin that spread over his face as he gazed at me perceptively.

"You don't want to fuck me?" He spoke the word with an unfaltering articulation, and I made a strangled, high-pitched sound in reply.

"No," I lied, averting my eyes.

He leaned forward, capturing my chin in his hand and angling my head so I was forced to make eye contact. "Are you sure, love? Your body is telling me a different story than your lips. There's saliva collecting in the corner of your mouth, and your pupils have dilated by a millimeter in diameter. That alone indicates you're amenable to sex. Do you want to fuck me, my love?"

"W-Why are you able t-to say . . . that word so easily now?" I stuttered.

"Because I see what it does to you when I do." He ran his hand over my shoulder and down my arm.

"Do you . . . want to fuck me?"

"Touch me, Bella," he pleaded, bringing my hand to his thigh and stopping just short of his crotch. "Feel how much I want to fuck you."

Before he could say another word, I pressed my mouth to his neck and whispered, "Say fuck again." I felt drunk. Drunk with power and lust, knowing the effect I had over his body, the way his cock became hard merely by my proximity. Of course, I was subject to the same weaknesses, my body aching quite literally for him to fill me. "Say it, please? Tell me you want to fuck me."

"I want you," he said against my skin, panting even though he didn't require oxygen.

"I want you too." My nipples were so hard they nearly ached, and I arched, closing my eyes and silently begging for him to touch me. He acquiesced, coaxing a gasp from me as he ran his fingers over my breasts, lightly teasing me. His tongue sought out the valley between them as he continued to pant like he couldn't draw in enough air. "Why are you breathing if you don't need to?"

"I'm tasting you," he explained, his voice husky and his eyes wide with an unfathomable innocence. "I can draw your flavour onto my tongue simply by breathing you in."

"Like a snake," I mused. It should have disgusted me, but of course, nothing about him seemed to repel me. Sure, somewhere in the back of my mind logic flailed, beating its fists ineffectually against my possessed mind. But as his fingers grazed my nipples, I drew my tongue along the column of his neck, breathing and trying to taste his sent as he did mine. "Say fuck," I urged again.

"Fuck." His voice quavered.

"Louder," I groaned. "Tell me what you want to do to me." A force beyond my comprehension had taken over my senses, and I tore at his shirt, sending buttons flying in every direction. His chest heaved, air filling and expanding his lungs. I wanted to question him again about his respiration but instead bit a nipple.

"I want you . . . I want to f-fuck you . . . that feels so good. You can't imagine . . . what are you doing to me, love?" His strange eyes rolled back, his lids closing as he fell back onto the bed, taking me with him.

A growl, primal and base, tore through my throat; I kissed the hollow beneath his ribs, his navel, the light patch of hair that sprouted just above his belt. "I don't know," I confessed. A deep-seated imperative was at the helm now and I at its mercy.

"Being with you . . . it's better than anything I've ever known. I can't even imagine how things will change after we're properly mated." He pulled my earlobe into his mouth, his hands caressing my lower back. If he felt my muscles stiffen he didn't comment on it.

Properly mated?

"What do you-" His kiss cut off my question. Icy fingers of fear bit at my spine. I'd thought professing our love for one another meant we were mates? I shook my head, parting my lips to speak, but his tongue found its way back into my mouth. He hands flattened against my ass, pushing me into his erection.

"Take these off," he demanded, hooking his fingers under my pants and into my underwear.

Vaguely aware I still had questions that needed answers, I lifted my hips off his and allowed him to tug the elastic away from my skin. My legs trembled as I shimmied out of my jeans, feeling him rip at my panties, effectively shredding them to ribbons, bits of cotton falling around us like confetti.

Lust won; it always did.

My fingers didn't tremble as I released the buckle of his belt. Saliva pooled in my mouth - the Pavlovian reaction that betrayed my lust to Edward - and I eased his zipper down carefully, knowing full well there was no chance of the silver teeth snagging his impenetrable skin.

"I want you in my mouth." I grabbed the base of his dick and pumped his length, leaning forward to kiss its head.

"No." He pushed me flat on my back, making me dizzy. "It's not right."

I smiled. "It's fine, Edward. I want to."

"You're my mate. I won't let you act like my whore."

"There's so much wrong with what you just said . . . I don't even know where to begin." It irked me to no end, the implication I was slutty because I wanted to please him. I knew he didn't intend it that way so I tried not let it hurt my feelings.

"Bella," he said reverently, his voice like rich velvet. "Have I not made my intentions clear?"

I shook my head once and then nodded. "I'm not certain." My eyes fixated on the scraps of fabric and buttons that now littered the bed, and my mind wandered as it tended to do. It occurred to me that I really needed to buy panties, and also that I was still bleeding a bit . . . but I guessed that didn't matter - the blood. My girly bits felt slick as he nudged me open, holding the tip of his dick at my entrance. I bit my lip, quelling the embarrassing noises and words that threatened to spill from my mouth.

"I want you to be mine." He let out a quiet grunt as he urged himself forward, closing his eyes and rumbling out a low groan when he was finally seated fully inside. I gazed down at where we were attached, marvelling at the sight; not an inch of him was left exposed.

"I am yours," I managed to squeak in a terribly unsexy voice.

He drew his hips back, unsheathing his length in a maddeningly slow pull only to push back into me with an enthusiastic force. "You can't imagine how much restraint I must employ," he murmured, punctuating his sentence with a slow kiss on my lips, his tongue dipping inside of my mouth almost beseechingly.

I couldn't think or speak.

With tentative hands, I traversed the landscape of his back, marveling at the corded muscles of his lats, cool and firm beneath my fingers. I wanted to kiss the concave dip of his lower back, but instead, I tickled his spine, finally ending my journey at his ass.

Dear god, how I loved his ass.

My fingers bit into his flesh, pushing him deeper into me. In pure awe, I appreciated at every inch of him as we made love - his body of stone still somehow yielding to my touch. His muscles rolled under my palms, and I nipped gently at his shoulder, muffling a surprised cry as a strange and wonderful heat coiled in my abdomen.

"Fuck!" I screamed.

"Did I hurt you?" Edward asked, his eyes wide and alarmed.

I shook my head and dug my heel into his butt. "Don't you dare fucking stop!"

He groaned and pressed on, abandoning the slow and careful rhythm for a quick and uneven one. I drew my hips back with each retraction, meeting every thrust with one of my own until we found a frenzied pace.

I fucked him like I'd done this thousands of times before . . . at least, it felt that way; we'd only actually done it once. Some sort of delicious biological imperative took possession of my hips, and we moved together as one, giving and taking pleasure.

Finally, we were evenly matched.

This notion tore through me in the same moment that every muscle in my body seemed to clench and release, save for the constant palpitation deep inside where we were intimately joined.

"Yes!" Edward called joyously, stilling while the strangest sensations ebbed within my abdomen, so intense it almost hurt.

And then I exploded into a million pieces - no, not really, but it felt like that.

This is an orgasm, my inner science geek marvelled, urging me to take note of whether or not I could actually feel my uterus contract. I giggled with a maniacal excitement.

"I love you," Edward whispered and kissed my nose.

I fought to catch my breath while he stared at me, a smug grin plastered across his face.

"Was it your first orgasm?"

I shook my head, still trying to come back down to earth. "I'm not certain. It's definitely the first one that felt like that!"

"It will only get better," he vowed, bringing my hand to his mouth, his tongue darting out to taste my wrist. "Especially after we're mated."

"Yeah, you said that before. What did you mean?" I sat up and stretched before wrapping my arms around his neck with a little trepidation. "Aren't we mates?"

"Yes, of course, but I'd like to have a proper wedding."

I wrinkled my nose in disgust. "I'm not really a white dress kind of girl."

"We don't need the ceremony if it makes you uncomfortable . . . although my mother will be disappointed. She begged me to let her throw a proper wedding before I changed you."

"Changed?" The cold fear I felt earlier finally took shape in my mind. Edward smiled, light glistening off his teeth. My heart pounded, and my stomach threatened to erupt in my throat. "Into a vampire," I choked.

"Of course," he said simply. "Vampires mate for eternity."

A/N - I apologize like a thousand times for the delay in posting this chapter. My other story is almost complete so updates will come faster next month. I'm also working on original fiction and an outtake of Shadow for Fandom For LLS. The outtake is an Edward POV lemon so make sure to donate for a copy of the compilation! Reviews make underthebedward a horny tallywag.