Scents and Sensibilities
EPOV
After that weekend, Bella and I went from being arms-length acquaintances, to spending time together nearly every day. I realized that based on Bella's recent erratic behavior, her desire to be with me, and to participate in an illicit affair with me, would likely pass as quickly as her other episodes. I knew it. But I didn't feel it. I felt giddy, jubilant, euphoric, baffled, bewildered, and bemused.
Emmett was still enjoying my discomfort, good-naturedly delighting in every awkward moment. Only now the rest of the family had joined in. I couldn't be mad at them, though, because underneath the jokes and the giggling and, lord help me, the advice, I could hear their relief. They were so happy for me, happy for Bella. It's going to work out they sighed. I wished I had their confidence. Alice's visions of our future, while embarrassingly explicit at times, were a relief. They were very short-term and didn't provide any real clue into where this might or might not be going. I reveled in the brief respite from her usual fixation on Bella's choice of dooms. For once, she saw Bella not dead or undead, but alive, if only for an hour or a day ahead.
My reverie was interrupted by Alice tapping rapidly on my door. I put down the book that I wasn't reading, suddenly realizing the night had passed without my notice and it was almost time for school. "I'll be ready in a moment," I called to her, in answer to her unspoken concerns about being late and getting caught by a midmorning break in the clouds. I raced through the abbreviated ablutions necessary to a vampire, then entire process taking perhaps thirty seconds. I smiled as I pull on a soft black T-shirt that Bella recently told me was her favorite because "the way it clings to your chest does things to me." As always, her wish was my command. A change of style was a small thing, but I found myself more and more prone to extravagant gestures, as to my delight she seemed more able to accept things from me than had been her wont before. Just last week I'd traded the Volvo in for a sleek Mercedes SUV because she had grumbled under her breath that my car needed more room during a free period make-out session. Well it was my free period. She was skipping, to my chagrin, but "no" was no longer a word I used with her it seemed.
Alice glowered when she saw my outfit. "Bella's a bad influence on you, you used to have style. You've worn that shirt three times this month." Trust my little sister to keep count. Emmett and Rosalie and Jasper were waiting by the car, the SUV was also convenient because we only needed one driver. I was taking off with Bella so often that it was handier to have fewer vehicles to shuffle, although I did still hate letting other people drive my car. I noticed that my passengers were smirking and exchanging glances with each other. Oh dear, I had not anticipated that even overnight . . .
"Duuude."
"Shut up Emmett." I warned, glowering at all of them.
"It smells like pussy in here." The steering wheel gave slightly in my grip, leaving faint impressions of my fingertips.
"Stop. Picturing it." I growled, earning him a satisfyingly solid-sounding punch from Rosalie.
"It smells like food in here is what it smells like," Jasper muttered disgruntedly and Alice soothingly stroked his hand. Poor Jasper, I was coming home so covered in human scent these days I was surprised he hadn't taken a nip at me.
Bella was waiting around by the front entrance of the school, even though the second bell was about to ring any second. She looked so attractive, showing off her long legs in a short ruffled skirt, black tights, and a deceptively innocent sleeveless silk blouse. And high heels. Strappy, spiky, sexy black and dark green four-inch heels, which I couldn't keep myself from staring at appreciatively.
"Hi Bella!" Alice and Emmett chorused grinningly, while Rosalie rolled her eyes and Jasper skirted carefully around her, allowing as wide a berth as possible. She greeted them warmly in return, not even looking at me.
"Hi you," Bella whispered as soon as they were safely in the building, still trying to keep our physical relationship discreet. Happily she didn't know how impossible it was to keep our private life, well, private when there were so many annoying vampires around to hear, smell, and predict it.
"Hello Isabella," I replied, relishing the feeling of her beautiful name on my lips. Her eyes darkened with a now-familiar look of desire.
"C'mon," she said, sinking her teeth into her plump bottom lip in a way that made venom flood my mouth while simultaneously sending a rush of sensation through lower areas of my anatomy. "10th grade biology has gone on a field trip. There's an empty classroom just going to waste."
"Wait," I said, as she tugged uselessly on my hand, trying to move me forward. "I can't skip class, we have to be model students—" I broke off as she dropped my hand and her face fell at my rejection. I pulled the door open and put my hand carefully on the small of her back to usher her through. "Oh, well, maybe Alice will make an excuse for me." I said, following her toward the empty classroom. She really was going to be the death of me.