Author's Note: Hello fair readers. I know.. I suck! I have taken a gap between chapters due to life being CRAZY. Finishing my first year of grad school... moving... But now we're back because it's summer! So expect more chapters soon. This one also took a long time because it had to be just perfect. Yummy, detailed adult content at the end of this chapter. Please be kind, I haven't written smut in 6 years. Though it's rather good if I say so myself ;)

Last Time in Monarchy in Flames…

"It was not your fault."

"It was, Aro…. I could have protected myself. I was stupid."

Aro growled, turning her sharply to look at him. "Don't you dare, Isabella. That pathetic excuse for a man betrayed your trust and took advantage of you… I will not allow you to blame yourself any longer." He paused, his expression softening, though it was serious as he gently lifted her chin so she met his gaze. "You have suffered in this alone for so long… The shame, the anger, the guilt… It eats away at your spirit and closes it from others…. Cara, when you were changed, all those present swore to protect you." He exhaled slowly before continuing. Even before my venom ran through your veins, I vowed to myself that no harm would come to you. I will protect you with everything that I am and guard you with my life. No harm will come to you again. In this life, you will never have to be alone again. This I promise you."

Isabella met his eyes then, any strength she clung to crumbling visibly as she shook, heart wrenching sobs spilling from her lips. As she clung to him, his arms just as fervently wrapped around her, it became clear that each equally needed the other with the belief they might, for once, allow themselves to let someone in so wholly. Each had opened their hearts and let another in and it felt… right.

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Chapter 14

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Isabella's Rooms- Dawn

Vampires had no need for human mannerisms or observances of time, though the bath grew a bit tiresome after some hours. Aro had dressed before her, leaving to the other room to respect her privacy despite the rather intimate moment they had shared.

Still, after all this time they tiptoed the point of no return of complete vulnerability with one another. The idea was terrifying, if Isabella was truly honest with herself. Maybe that was what made her crave it all the more. She mused on this thoughtfully as she pulled a luxurious black plush robe around her and tying the sash at her waist.

Isabella gnawed on her lip as she entered the room, a habit she hadn't lost in her immortality. It was unexpectedly vacant, save for the breezy drapes that lured her out to the balcony. A small sliver of light hinted at the horizon, signaling that dawn would come in the next few hours. Aro stood to one side, his back facing her as he looked uncharacteristically unsure of himself, shoulders hunched so slightly and hands gripping the iron wrought rails.

She paused as she began to approach him, remembering something a bit hazily from her human life.

"You are asking me if I am 'okay'?" Slowly a smirk spread across his lips, that turned into maniacal laughter. "How brave of you."

Blinking, Isabella closed the distance at an inhuman speed, holding her breath as she wrapped her arms around his torso from her position behind him. Her cheek laid on the soft fabric of his suit jacket, the moment stretching longer and longer in her mind as she waited for his response.

With relief, her eyes shut as his shoulders relaxed. The intimacy confounded her, but was entirely welcome in their state. Pressing a kiss to his clothed shoulderblade, she spoke.

"Tell me something." She mused, eyes now fixated on the lightening horizon.

"How endearingly vague, cara mia." He smiled forlornly, bringing one of her hands to his lips to kiss the knuckles before resting back with the other hand on his abdomen. "Would you like to hear of the process of binding ancient books? Translating scrolls from pig latin?"

For a moment she was concerned he was actually serious in finding these droll things interesting, though his chuckle at the end clued her in just as well. Shy of sticking her tongue out at him, she growled gently. "Tell me something you haven't told anyone."

What a task, he thought. Rarely was he asked such searching questions since Didyme passed away. His heart constricted painfully as he thought of her. Rather than shutting this memory away as he often did, he thought back to what Isabella had shared with him. She had opened her soul- raw and ravaged by shame, resentment, guilt... It would be wrong to see that from her, but refuse to make himself vulnerable. That is, more vulnerable than he had already become around her without a second thought.

Isabella thought that he had ignored her before she felt him sigh in a large exhale, turning fluidly in her arms to face her. Now this, was a more intimate embrace. He was undoubtedly preparing to reveal something of great importance or pain to himself, eyes distant and visage withdrawn.

"For centuries I have blamed Sulpicia for what happened to Didyme… but it was my doing. Sulpicia may have completed the act, but I drove them both to it... Didyme was a light in the darkness. Pure of spirit, kind... Marcus was drawn to her instantly, and I loved her just the same... as a brother of course. She seemed happy for some time with us... but I grew impatient and unyielding in my thirst for power. I would not rest until every immortal creature bowed to our might.

Just like a caged bird, Didyme's heart sickened... her happiness faded. Still, she stayed in her devotion to Marcus and love for her own blood. The night that she was taken from us, she came to me. She begged me to reconsider my actions, to find the benevolent man she had known centuries before. She confided her fears- she feared me. I... I had none of it. I cast her away, too selfish and prideful.

Sulpicia and I were alike... we reveled in power. Though I did not love her, nor her me- she would do anything to accomplish the Volturi's aims. Victories were our own brand of heroin. Didyme and Sulpicia were close, as all the wives were. Didyme had confided that she was leaving with Marcus, and this was a predicament to our strength. Didyme had gotten in the way as Marcus as one of our key assets and strategies of breaking opposing immortals. Sulpicia killed her, ruthless as I. If I had not compelled her to leave as I had... the monster I had become... she would still be alive."

Silence stretched between them for some time.

"What a pair we make." She smiled sadly, interlacing her fingers with his own and squeezing gently as possible with inhuman strength. "As you told me, I can't let you blame yourself. Didyme is gone because of Sulpicia." Aro began to argue but she silenced him quickly, turning to look at him softly, her back against the side of the tub. "It is fair to say that your ways caused her to leave... Marcus and Didyme would have been happy outside of Volterra, should Sulpicia not have killed her. You say you are ruthless, but even you could not kill your own sister. Some part of you must know that in over one thousand years."

"Somewhat, yes. Blaming Sulpicia entirely became an easy way out of my own guilt. Look back to how I vilified you. I jumped to the conclusion that you had infiltrated us... conspired against us... Even as over 1000 years have passed, I fear that I cannot trust myself... It is why I have pushed you away so far. I cannot stand to do it for another moment, Isabella. Do you understand?" His eyes searched hers, longing and fearful of her rejection.

Isabella mirrored his expression, mingled with self-doubt and apprehension.

"I do understand... I don't want to keep people out either. Not anymore." She drew their interlaced fingers up, releasing his hand and gently kissing the knuckles before resting it on her cheek.

Her eyes drifted close, eyebrows knit somewhat together in soft concentration. Aro let out a strangled gasp. His eyes had widened in surprise as he began to see her memories. The first- fitting in the first night they met. Her heart had raced in her chest as she walked through Volterra and to the ballroom, swirling with immortals in immaculate dress, though she never betrayed her fears. He saw himself on the marble balcony, watching over the grandiose fare. Elation and immediate surprise as their eyes met for the first time from Isabella's perspective.

These crimson eyes met Isabella's from across the room, his coming alive with curiosity. Seeing this, Isabella gently inclined her head downwards a fraction, lowering her eyes to the marble below her feet. After a moment, she began moving fluidly across the line of windows that encompassed the ballroom to a doorway leading to an exterior area of the castle, all the while feeling his gaze on her.

Their first meeting, her heart fluttering undetected in her chest.

"Buona sera, piccola… May I?" He murmured, outstretching his palm. Isabella unclasped her hands and offered hers, feeling his cool hands enclose around her own.

The immediate warmth that encompassed her entire body at his touch.

The sensation of tingling electricity between their hands caused her to inhale warmth and wonder she felt in every aspect of her being, though she did not understand it then.

The wonder at hearing his tales over the centuries.

Each tragic account described by Aro began to blur together into a familiar pattern; humans were just as capable of monstrosity, as monsters were capable of humanity. This revelation left her shaken to the core— something that Aro had picked up on, but left unspoken.

Morbid curiosity at his pure predatory, vampiric state.

"Many know not to be around a vampire after he's just fed… Why not call someone to your rescue?" His eyes narrowed slightly, though his voice was still smooth like honey.

"Am I in need of rescuing?" Isabella quipped, brushing her fingers against his jaw as she stared up at the ancient vampire haughtily.

Anger at his reluctance to let her in.

A sardonic chuckle bubbled from his lips as he sneered. "Your regard for me will not fool me." Isabella stiffened. "What?" His gaze held firm— both accusatory and certain. "I will not be fooled by your pathetic affections when you so easily conspire against me. What do you seek to gain, hm? I may not be able to read your mind, but you are a hollow replica of her sent to destroy us!"

Defiance at his unfruitful attempts to push her away.

"So now if you truly think the worst of me, if I am wrong, then let me be damned."

Pure, unadulterated lust, cravings for intimacy finally sated.

Settling between the cradle of her thighs, he kissed her collarbone, her throat, her jaw… and finally her lips in a searing kiss. Isabella was lost in it. God, he tasted good. Icy hands gripped her wrists as her fingers pulled at his clothing. "Ah, ah, ah. Not too fast, Isabella. What good is dying a little when we do not stop to savor it?"

Past and circumstance be damned, trust.

And, even if she didn't admit it to herself, she wanted to bear his mark as she met the end of her fleeting human life, and the beginning of an eternity.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as Aro regarded Isabella one last time, if not apologetically, before he lowered his mouth to her pulse point.

Seeing him at last in immortality.

She had left him for last, incredibly nervous to face him in her new state. When she finally did turn to him, she could not help reflecting the radiant smile that crossed his features. He closed the distance between them, capturing her hands and bringing them to his lips. "Bellisima", he hummed as he stroked the tops of her hands indulgently that now rested between them. "Amazing... I still cannot read you, piccola."

And finally…

"I love you." She spoke softly, watching his eyes open at last from the memories she had shown him. His expression held wonder, reverence, and the deepest affection.

Aro swallowed audibly, moving their joined hands to rest over his unbeating heart, his expression earnest. "You have had my heart from the first moment I saw you. I will love you as long as you let me." Seeking permission in his searching gaze, he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her.

Mate.

Private Chambers- Dawn

The vampire growled, seething with anger and contempt, pacing the floor until the wood began to erode away. Their chest heaved needlessly with each deep growl that ripped to the surface, fingers clenched into sharp, deadly talons. An inhuman scream pierced the stagnant air, the surrounding walls and fixtures groaning in dull defiance.

Glass burst from the window panes and light fixtures, littering the ground around the immortal, to their laughter.

"Let it be so." The whisper came, like a fleeting change in the wind as the room now stood empty- ravaged and destroyed amidst inherent turmoil.

Moments blurred into ceaseless time running- away- far away, until something peculiar flitted across their periphery. This was a scent never before encountered... sickly sweet, musky, and altogether indescribable. The vampire covered their nose, wincing at the subtle pain it brought as instinct screamed run.

Glowing green eyes filled the void of darkness before them, an indistinguishable figure waiting somewhere within it. "I've been waiting for you."

Isabella's Rooms- Dawn

The air around them crackled with fervent electricity, eliciting their bodies to come alive at the other's touch. Every moment between them had come to this. They had been with one another before,

Isabella moaned into Aro's mouth at the feeling of his arms wrapping tightly around her waist, pulling her body flush to his. Her body was on fire in the most delectable way. She wove her fingers into his hair, wrapping her legs around his waist, hands moving to support her backside.

Pulling back slightly, she smirked at Aro's generous squeeze of her ass. She quirked a brow at him before leaning forward to nip his lower lip. Her lips trailed to his jaw, then his neck, and collarbone. "So, are you telling me you're an ass man?"

Aro seemed to weigh his options quite literally, palms grinding her further against his manhood. "Shh..."

"Oh..." She hummed, moving her body with inhuman speed to then saunter from him slowly, hips swaying tauntingly. "You take pleasure in teasing me times over... but I can't return the favor? How unfair." Her eyebrows drew together, her expression becoming doe-like with a sexy pout.

"How ever may I make it up to you, cara?" Are purred with dark eyes.

Isabella's lips pursed, her hands placed elegantly on the curves of her hips as she regarded her mate. "Sit." She gestured to the ornate, tufted bench at the end of the massive bed.

Aro sat as she requested, looking all too smug. His mate was beyond beautiful as she stood before him, across the room. Her figure was highlighted by the light slowly filtering in from the double doors to the balcony and windows as the sun slowly rose past the horizon.

"I suppose," she began, cocking her hip to one side as she began to pull at the tie of her silk robe "I could return the favor." Isabella smiled wickedly, running the tie between her fingers as the knot unraveled, exposing an inch of pale skin from her sternum to her navel. "I could take it slow... drive you as sweetly insane as you did me with your... mm... ministrations?" She shifted her shoulders then, keeping eye contact with her mate's smoldering crimson stare as the sleeves flitted from her shoulders to rest just above her elbows. "How does that sound, amante?" Her voice dropped to a low, sultry purr at the last word.

Aro groaned, his hands balling into fists as he fought to stay in control... to not pounce and ravish her senseless as the beast inside him urged him to do. Venom pooled in his mouth, his need to claim his mate slowly becoming more pertinent.

"I'll take that as a yes, please, Aro." She smirked, stepping closer to him, allowing his eyes to rove over her exposed, milky thighs and her legs that seemed to stretch on for miles. Isabella now stood just a few inches from her mate, the last traces of fabric sliding slowly from her body. Over the rise of full breasts- audibly dragging over the rosy pink nipples. Down her torso, sliding against the tantalizing curve of her hips. Finally, falling to the floor, revealing the seductive vampiress in all her immortal glory.

"Mine." Are growled, hands twitching instinctively to surge forward to ravish and claim.

"Ah ah ah..." Isabella chided, wagging her finger between them slowly with each syllable. "Not so fast, Aro. What good is dying a little when we do not stop to savor it?" She echoed the words he had taunted her with when they had become lovers.

A growl rumbled from his chest, though he obeyed. Her fingers ghosted over his jaw, sending warm sparks dancing across the expanses of their touch. Isabella leaned down to kiss him softly, watching his gaze follow her breasts as they stopped only an inch from his lips as she had progressively leaned down. When he became so close to sucking a rosy nipple into his mouth, she finished her descent to kiss him.

Her fingers continued deftly downwards, agonizingly slow down each button of his shirt, a pop sounding as the fabric tore at each sewn juncture. Isabella's knees met the carpet between Aro's clothed thighs as her fingers reached the waist band of his pants. Aro hissed as Isabella's lips met the inside of his clothed thigh, her fingers slipping under the band, ripping the fabric away with similar slow precision.

Her cool breath ghosted across the hardness of his cock, eliciting another groan from his lips as his body reverbrated from the force he applied to keep still. "Mm... tell me. What do you want, amante?"

"Let me move and I will show you." He purred enticingly.

"Hm... not yet." She smiled sweetly, running her tongue across her lower lip as her eyes moved from his cock to his gaze once more. "Tell me what you want."

"Voglio rapirti senza senso..." The Italian sprung from his lips in his earnest, his deep, gutteral moan joining in as she brought his cock into her mouth. "Oh cazzo, Isabella... Devo essere dentro di te, fottere e riempirti del mio amore ed essenza in questo inizio della nostra eternita. Devo farti mio, sentirti urlare il mio nome. Ah, perfavore lascia che ti tocchi il mio amato. Non posso più sopportarlo. Per favore... Per favore, Isabella." He pleaded, his fingers tearing into the fabric of the tufted bench as her mouth and tongue worked him over, bringing him closer and closer to release.

"Come for me." She purred before taking him into her mouth again. This gave him the only permission needed to release with a low, feral groan into her mouth, his hips bucking against her mouth with each pleasurable shock.

"Enjoy yourself, love?" Isabella smiled, leisurely kissing up his navel to his chest.

"Immensely." He sighed, a mischevious glint in his eye. In a flash, Aro was atop her on the massive bed just behind their previous position. "Unfortunately for your little game, I am out of patience." He gingerly kissed the top of her breast, dragging his tongue across her pert nipple. "I must have you."

"Then take me, mate." She replied, wrapping her legs around his waist as his cock slid between her slick folds. Isabella would die if he attempted to tease her now. "Claim me."

"With pleasure." He growled, burying himself deep inside her in one movement with a feral growl. Propriety aside, this was feral... the need to fuck and claim overcoming any convention. And Isabella loved it. As he pounded into her with abandon, she dug her nails into his shoulders, leaving superficial cracks as he hissed in pleasurable pain.

"I need to feel more of you." Isabella demanded. She was rewarded with a new position, straddled across him as their bodies blurred together in a centuries old dance of passionate play. Her hips met each thrust, the sensation overwhelming each fiber of her being until she exploded with an inhuman scream as her entire body shook with a powerful orgasm.

Aro's rhythym was incessant, his hands gripping her hips as he ground her into his pelvis with each thrust that brought her closer to her next successive orgasm. "Come with me, Mia cara." He growled, his dark gaze locked on hers as her moans hitched once more. "You are mine, Isabella. Tell me you are mine."

"Ah... Fuck... yes! I am yours, Aro." Her moans reached a crescendo. In this moment, Aro gripped her close, his razor sharp teeth slicing into her marble skin at the base of her neck, eliciting another inhuman scream from her. Isabella clenched around him with her orgasm as she bit at the hollow of his throat. She was rewarded with a loud groan from her mate as he came inside her, their claims completed on the other as lovers for eternity.

Author's Note: Soooooo... What did you think? ;) worth the wait? Reviews are love 3