Stephenie Meyer owns all….within reason.
Eight Bells--'Eight bells and all is well.'
Edward POV.
The week on land had been amazing. The six of us had such a great time in each others company either in a group, or as pairs. We went sight seeing for a few days, horse riding on the beach, shopping, but the most memorable things for me were the little things, like the day we spent on the beach.
"I'll get it!" Jasper called excitedly as he ran to the door of our hotel room. I followed him seconds later to find Alice and Bella stood outside our door, heavily laden with beach towels and buckets and spades. Behind them, was Rosalie in their room which was exactly opposite our room. She was busy packing a bag with sun lotion and bottled water. I noticed that all three of them wore the same sort of clothes, a light, cotton tunic, a bikini top beneath and shorts.
"Cool! Are we building sand castles today?" Emmett asked but didn't wait for an answer as he passed the five of us and walked into the girl's room, sweeping Rosalie into his arms and kissing her deeply.
"I hope you can build a good castle Green Eyes." Bella told me as I took the buckets and spades from her hands and followed her and the rest down to the beach which was literally a stones throw away from the front of our hotel.
"I have very skilful hands, I'm sure I'll manage a sand castle." I whispered to her as we reached the beach.
She turned and gave me a sly look before she said cheerfully, "Good, you can rub sun lotion on my back with your skilful hands."
"My pleasure" I smiled back at her as we followed Alice and Jasper who were looking for the perfect spot for us to build our sand castles as we walked left from the hotel.
"Here, this is perfect!" Alice grinned as she dropped her bucket and spades and Jasper lay down the large beach towel that he'd been carrying.
The spot they had chosen was right in the corner of the beach, away from the crowd of other tourists. We had the forest just behind us and a rocky wall to our left which showed the end of the beach. The view was amazing, we could look out to see for miles and see some distant island in the horizon. The bright sun was high in the sky, shining down on us and the sea, which made it shine as if there were thousands of diamonds encrusted on the surface.
Bella, Rosalie, Emmett and I followed suit and set own our things beside Alice and Jasper before Bella turned to me brandishing a bottle of sun lotion in her hands. As I went to grab the bottle from her hands, she took a step back as she explained, "No, no, you first."
I happily obliged and took off my t-shirt before I lay down on the large beach towel, basking in the sunshine. I almost screamed when I felt Bella move from my side and throw one leg over me, so she was straddling me.
I couldn't contain my groans as her hands worked expertly on my back, stroking, rubbing and massaging. Apparently Emmett and Jasper seemed to have the same problem as I heard them groan and gasp beside me.
She tortured me throughout, especially when she wiggled around on me as she worked on my back.
After a good ten minutes, I thought she'd finished, but no, she began to rub the lotion down the back of my arms. I wondered if she was doing it for my sake, or for her own pleasure as I felt her fingers following the outline of my muscles.
Bella POV.
I knew that I'd probably pushed him too far with the way I'd put sun lotion on him, but Rosalie kept on silently pushing me with that evil grin of hers fixed on her face as she made Emmett squirm and writhe beneath her and Alice did the same with Jasper.
I took off my white cotton tunic and lay down on the space that Edward had just vacated and awaited my torture. I squeezed my eyes tightly shut as I felt him straddle me as I had done to him. Stupid Bella! I chastised myself in my mind.
He sat there for a few seconds, doing nothing, or so I thought. When I felt the strap of my bikini being pulled, I realised that he'd actually been untying the bow at the back. I screamed at myself in my mind to relax and think happy thoughts. When his hands touched my back, all thought left me as I revelled in how gentle he was being and how I foolishly felt worshiped as he inched his hands slowly from the bottom of my back to my shoulders.
I couldn't be sure, but I thought I heard him whisper, "So soft."
He soon covered my back in sun lotion and began to rub it in. His hands seemed to caress me rather than anything else, he didn't squeeze or massage as I had done, he simply ran his hands over me with the gentlest of touches.
When his hands moved to my sides, moving slowly from my hips, up over my rib cage to my arms, I couldn't contain my moan of pleasure. It felt incredible. Usually it would have tickled but his hands were softer than a brush of a feather as they ran up and down my sides slowly.
Inevitably, as I relaxed and closed my eyes, he tickled my side, causing me to jolt him which only caused him to plant his hands firmly on my hips to keep himself steady. The feeling of his hands gripping my hips in his strong grasp caused me to halt my writhing.
Inevitably, he moved from my back to my legs. I screamed and protested as he grabbed hold of one of my ankles in a vice grip and began to rub sun lotion onto the sole of my foot. "Okay, okay, point made!" he laughed from behind me as he set my foot down after I managed to kick him.
After that little stunt, he worked up my legs, being much more subdued in the way he was touching me, until he reached my thighs. He slowly worked on one thigh, caressing, and squeezing as he got higher. I bit my lip to contain my moans, but he knew the effect he was having on me by the way my body tensed up.
Once he reached the very top of my thigh, where my shorts ended, he continued. I gasped as I felt his hand brush against the line of my bikini hot pants beneath. "Edward…" I gasped in horror and pleasure as he ran his hands softly along my skin. It felt like a feathers touch, and I couldn't quite decide if it tickled or not.
"Bella…" Edward whispered back, loud enough for me to hear. I caught the funny catch in his voice. It sounded, deeper, more husky than usual. I knew that this wasn't good. We were on a beach, in broad daylight and he was turning himself on as just much as he was turning me on.
"Edward…tie my bikini top back up…" I ordered him as I bent my legs back at the knees in an attempt to stop him from continuing.
Thankfully, he listened and did as I asked. I sat up and glared at him as he smiled smugly at me, knowing full well what he'd been doing to me.
"Well…that was fun…" Emmett called from a short distance away where he was staring at Rosalie intently with an amused look on his face. "Sandcastles anyone?" he then asked as he picked up a matching bucket and spade.
A while later, we were all sat a small distance from each other, building our own castles. Mine was a bad replica of Charlie's house back in Forks. From what I could occasionally see of Edward's, he was building a miniature medieval castle with a moat and all.
I looked over to Alice and blanched as I realised that she was creating a miniature replica of the shopping centre on the island which we had yet visited. Not far from her, Rosalie was busy sculpting what looked like a muscular guy out of sand.
I rolled my eyes, guessing that it would resemble Emmett pretty closely. At the thought of Emmett, I looked to him and caught a quick glimpse of his creation. He was building a simple castle, with rickety turrets and a moat lined with pebbles. I shook my head as I realised the he was hoping to fill his moat with water.
Finally Jasper, he was a little distance from me, creating tens of little men whom I guessed to be soldiers by the look of their formation. They looked like miniatures of the Terracotta army.
Once I finished my sand Charlie-house, I stood up and walked over to Edward. The moment I crouched down beside him, I heard a child giggling and screaming close to us, and then the noise quickly stopped. "Uhhh-ohhh" I heard behind me. I turned around to see a little boy of around 5 years old stood there with a small red ball, looking down at what once was, my sand Charlie-house. "Sorry…" he whispered with pleading eyes as he looked at me.
I gave him a smile and told him that it was alright before he ran back to his family amongst the crowd of people beyond.
"What did the kid bulldoze?" Edward asked as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
I leant into him and answered, "My dad's house."
"Damn…are you going to build it again?" he asked me as his fingertips ran over my bare shoulder.
"Nope, I'd rather watch you while you work." I responded with a smile as I looked down to his spectacular, detailed castle.
"There's nothing else left to do…" he told me with an apologetic look in his eyes which I returned with a smile as I pushed him down to the sand and lay beside him. "You've not hit my castle have you?" Edward asked in mock horror as he wrapped his arms around me.
"Of course not, we've had enough destruction for one day" I responded with a kiss to his perfect, muscular chest.
"What do you want to do tonight?" I asked Edward lazily as I traced small heart patters over his stomach.
"Stay here with you, right here and hold you close to me all night" he responded with a dreamy smile and closed eyes.
"Hmmm, that sounds nice." I admitted as I hugged myself closer to him.
"Do you want to? We could bring down some blankets and make a small fire…" he offered with an exited look in his eyes.
"Yes, sleep under the stars…a bit like our first date…" I smiled up at him as I raised myself up on my elbow. I planted a soft kiss on his lips before he wrapped both of his arms around my waist and pulled me securely on top of him.
I sunk my hands into his hair as I felt his tongue caress mine languidly to begin with until I let out a moan into his mouth. I felt his right hand move from its position at my back and move further south until it reached my butt. He gasped at the same time that I moaned as he gave my butt a squeeze.
"Break it up! There are families on this beach with young children!" Emmett's voice called out, breaking us from our passionate embrace. I could faintly hear the rest of them laughing behind us.
I dropped my head to Edwards's chest as I panted for breath. I could hear Edwards heart thrumming loudly beneath my ear as his chest heaved at the same, laboured pace as mine.
Once Edward had regained his composure, he declared, "I don't know what you guys are up to tonight but Bella and I are going to camp here tonight…get a fire going…you know…" he told them as he stroked my hair.
"Awww that's so romantic!" Alice cooed.
"Why don't you guys come along, it'll be fun." Edward said before he bent his head and kissed the top of my head.
The rest of them agreed before they ran off to the sea, trampling through their sand castles.
"Do you want your first lesson?" Edward asked me as he rubbed my back.
I quickly sat up beside him, exited, "Would you?" I asked as I stared at him in anticipation.
"Of course, come on…" he said as he stood up, holding his hand out to me. I quickly took off my shorts, exposing my hot pant style bikini bottoms that Edward had been skimming over earlier. I noticed that his eyes turned a slightly darker shade as he looked over my body appreciatively. "Beautiful" he whispered as he took my hand.
I faltered a little as I looked at the sea. "Edward…what if I'm just one of those people who can't swim…" I asked, a little intimidated by the blue sea and rolling white tides.
"Bella…" Edward sighed before he turned to look at me, biting my nails nervously.
Seconds later, Edward's strong arms grasped me around my legs before he threw me over his shoulder. My breath caught in my throat as my stomach pressed into his shoulder.
"Edward!! Let me go!" I commanded in an un-even voice as I jostled while he walked.
He gave one of my thighs a squeeze, "Never…" he replied, robbing me of my breath once again, but for a different reason. The sincerity and confident sound of his voice with that little word made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
I didn't have much more time to think about it as the view in front of me changed from sand to sea. I could hear the others cheering and Emmett chanting that Edward should drop me into the sea. I tensed up at those words, even though I knew that Emmett was only joking. Thankfully, Edwards grasp on me tightened as we got further into the water.
"Wow!! Don't let me go under!" I ordered in a frenzy of panic as Edward attempted to get me to straighten up so he could get me off his shoulder and back in an upright position.
"I won't let you go under…" Edward reassured me seconds before Emmett and Jasper came over. I gasped while Alice and Rosalie laughed as Emmett and Jasper took hold of me and gently pulled me from Edwards shoulder.
As I sunk to my waist in water, I marvelled at how warm it was compared to the pools back home, which even when heated, were freezing cold. The water was clear blue, and from the fairly shallow waters I was in now, I could see my feet on the sea bed.
Two strong, familiar arms soon wrapped around me at the same time that a wave crashed into my side. "Ready?" he whispered in my ear before he planted a kiss on the nape of my neck.
"Bring it on…" I sighed as I watched the rest of them swimming around some distance away.
We both battled with my lack of grace and co-ordination for a while, but I eventually got good enough to swim some short distances without any help. The enthusiastic cheers from the others gave me the motivation to keep on going.
"I'm so proud of you." Edward said passionately into my ear as he held me to him tightly. I wrapped my arms and legs around him and then rested my head on his shoulder as I told him how grateful I was of him teaching me to swim and how much it meant to me.
"Does this mean that you'll be leaving your post at the poolside once we get back on the ship?" he asked me as he carried me, still wrapped around him, back to shore.
"Of course…but don't expect me to go anywhere near the diving board…" I added remembering Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper jumping from it before.
"What if I jumped with you?" he asked with a raise of his brow.
"Forget it Mr…" I smiled up at him as he released me and I sat down on my beach towel.
He gave a dramatic sigh before he shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's a good thing I suppose…you're not the sort of person who would jump off a cliff just because your friends did it…" he smiled back at me as he wrapped a towel around my shoulders and began to rub.
"That's right, I'm no fool" I laughed back as I moved to sit between his legs, resting my head against his shoulder.
"Bella! I'm so proud of you!" Rosalie declared as she sat down beside me, before searching for a spare towel to dry herself.
I nudged Edward, and motioned for him to look at Emmett and Rosalie a few moments later. I watched them as Emmett sat behind Rosalie on his heels and started to softly dry her hair for her with a towel. I was shocked at how much Rosalie must like him to let him touch her hair, she would usually do it herself so she could have it look like she wanted.
Edward planted a kiss on the nape of my neck, drawing my attention back to his beautiful green eyes. He gave the tip of my nose a peck before he motioned for me to look the other way. I suppressed the 'awwww' that I was dying to let out as I saw Jasper and Alice.
Jasper lay on the ground, with Alice on top of him with a beach towel and Jaspers arms around her. She seemed to be sleeping, but that didn't stop Jasper from raining soft kisses over Alice's forehead, nose and in her hair.
That Night.
Edward POV.
After going back to the hotel to shower, change and have some food, the six of us crept out of the hotel with a box of matches and heaps of blankets.
"You stay here; we'll go and get some fire wood from the forest." Jasper ordered as he pointed to each of the girls once we reached the place we had been at earlier in the afternoon. They accepted the command and began to lay out the blankets. After giving our respective ladies a kiss, and went on the hunt for fire wood.
"This cruise was such a great idea…" I admitted Emmett and Jasper once we were out of the girl's earshot.
"Yes it was I cant believe I managed to meet someone like Alice…I'm definitely going to be spending more time with her on this cruise…as much as I can actually…" he finished in a whisper as he rubbed the back of his neck. I knew that was a gesture that Jasper usually did when he felt confused.
"Someone's smitten" I joked.
Jasper's head snapped up to mine. His confused look soon melted into a pleased smile as he said, "I am aren't I? And I only met her a week or so ago!" he laughed as he bent down to pick up some wood.
"We know what you mean mate" Emmett said in a serious tone as he patted Jaspers shoulder.
"You too?" Jasper asked in a shocked tone while I stared at Emmett feeling just as surprised.
He lifted an eyebrow at us and said, "Believe it or not guys but with Rose, I don't just want to just sleep with her…I want to get to know her, she drives me up the wall half the time…but I still want to be with her." He admitted before he picked up a huge piece of wood.
After hearing the first conversation from Emmett and Jasper that ever hinted commitment, I decided to brave it as I asked, "Guys…do you think a long distance relationship could work."
I waited for their teasing, but it didn't come. "Sure, why not…" Jasper said with a speculative look on his face as if he was working out the arrangements in his mind already.
"I'm going to try it if Rose will have me" Emmett declared with a sheepish smile on his face.
After our most in depth conversation ever, we returned to the beach and found the girls chucking a few stray pebbles from the sand, out of our 'camp' area.
"Our big, strong men have returned!" Rosalie joked as Emmett chucked down his pile of wood and swept Rosalie into his arms for a passionate kiss. We all laughed as we watched them continue their act as Rosalie jutted out one of her legs behind her like they did in the old films.
"Those two missed their calling to be on stage" Bella laughed beside me as she slipped a hand beneath my top and stroked the bottom of my back. I wondered if she even realised that she was doing it, but I remained still, just in case she would realise and take her hand away.
Once Rosalie and Emmett pulled away from each other, Bella pulled her hand from my back and began to clap. Alice, Jasper and I soon joined in, laughing as Emmett bowed and Rosalie gave a curtsey.
"Thank you, thank you, we're here all week!" Emmett called over our laughter as he pulled Rosalie toward us.
Once we had a blazing fire going, we all settled around it, in our pairs, beside each other. We all sat facing the sea which we could see above the flames of the fire.
"So what are your jobs anyway?" Rosalie asked after a while of silence.
"Doctors…or we will be in a few years…" Emmett declared with a proud smile on his face.
"No seriously…" Rosalie returned with a disbelieving look on her face.
"Do you want me to do CPR on you, or show you how to strengthen your shoulder muscles or something?" Emmett asked her with a squeeze of her shoulder.
"So what kind of doctor are you?" Rosalie asked him. I could see that she was beginning to believe him already.
"Physio, and Edwards going to be paediatrician and Jasper a psychologist." He told them as he nodded his head.
"Really? You're going to be a paediatrician?" Bella asked me in amazement as she gripped tighter to my waist.
"Yes, really" I smiled down at her before I captured her lips to mine. I sighed as she broke from me and shot multiple questions at me concerning my job. I answered a handful of them before I turned the tables. "So, ladies, what do you do?" I asked.
Alice immediately began by announcing proudly, "I'm a fashion designer." Jaspers attention drew her away before Emmett or I could ask her any questions.
"I'm a manager at a jewellers" Rosalie declared, drawing questions out from Emmett.
"Bella?" I asked as I looked down to her. She had her face turned away, avoiding my gaze. "Bella" I repeated myself, which thankfully caused her to turn and look at me.
The embarrassed look on her face broke my heart. I pulled her into my lap and kissed her softly until I asked her what was wrong. "Alice, Rosalie and you three have great jobs that you obviously love, and I've got a crappy job at a café that I hate." She whispered as she pressed her head against my shoulder.
"So…why don't you get another job?" I asked her while rubbing her back.
"Because I don't know what I want to do. Alice has always loved fashion, Rosalie's really good at selling jewellery…and I've got nothing." She murmured back, adding a long sigh.
"There must be something that you want to be?" I asked as I continued to rub her back, beneath her top.
"If I tell you, you can't laugh…" she warned me with pleading eyes. I assured her that I wouldn't. She hid her face from me as she lowered her head and admitted, "I just want to be a mom…have a few kids…"
My heart swelled at her thoughts as my mind irrationally began to wonder what our children would look like if we had any. I quickly halted my train of thought as I reminded myself that I'd only know her a handful of days.
"That's nothing to be embarrassed about…" I reassured her, kissing her head. "My step mom's the same, she loved having me and Emmett added as her sons." I told her.
She soon raised her head and allowed me to kiss away the rest of her worries. "Thank you" she yawned once I'd proudly managed to smooth out her worries.
That night as we slept beneath the stars, I held Bella close to me and heard her whisper my name in her sleep.
I know its only one chapter, but it is long! In my defence, the only places I've even been on holiday to are once to Germany with my school and around Wales and London (Hated it!)
Plus, I really wanted to get them all back on the cruise ship as well so I can get the last week of their holiday done and finish the story. It's got such a great twist at the end; you guys won't even believe it!! (I hope the twist makes up for the lack of the week on land…if not…then tough!!) Ha-ha!
Anyway, sorry about the long A/N. Messages of Reviews are greatly welcomed into my MSN inbox by the way….Nudge, nudge, wink, wink!