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Chapter 21: Strangers

EPOV

Damned foolish! James had warned me that others would be passing through. I should have kept her safely absconded in my house for the whole weekend, but who knew they'd come this way? Alice hadn't warned me about any danger… except from James. I was momentarily furious at Alice and her visions. She'd said nothing about this.

But maybe that was intentional. Maybe for some reason, she felt this had to happen. I'd have to speak with her once we made it out of this.

Carlisle had been right about taking it slow. I had proceeded carefully and gently with Bella last night. Her energy at the height of her orgasms had been turned up to a… five level, I'd estimate, and I had been able to keep my stirrings contained while she started to break free. At first I'd been nervous and I kept a couple of pillows down at my end of the bed in case I felt the need to bite something…. but it had thrilled me to just please her and that as my primary goal became my strength.

I had been eager for another night with her to see what else I could do for her and how far she would let herself go, but my hand was being forced now. To save her life, at least for now, I had to mark her. I didn't want her to know that feeling before she'd tasted all the normal human sexual experiences. I could only hope she wouldn't like it that much.

I kept my tone calm to take her down from her panic. I distracted her out of her fear in those short moments, focusing her energy on me and focusing my energy on her, on us. I let my mind go, thinking the erotic thoughts that I had suppressed until now, allowing the sexual stirrings to pulse through my body, allowing my fangs to grow. When the others came along, they'd see my intent not to kill, but to seduce. Most of our kind typically respected this, whether they were civilized or not... and while they might ask if I'd 'share', they typically accepted negative replies.

"I trust you," she moaned, and then she asked me: "Please, Edward. Bite me."

I loved her in that moment more fiercely than I could ever imagine. My heart felt like it would simultaneously break and restart. I hated myself for having to do this, for wanting to do this, for ever imagining doing this. And I feared for the taste.

Our eyes met,"I love you, Bella" was all that I could say in that short moment and I kissed her in the very spot into which I next sank my teeth.

She gasped and then cried, "Oh my God!"

My feelings exactly, had I still believed in God.

The taste. OH THE TASTE!

Like a past dream so long forgotten. Like what I vaguely remembered of honey. Like mangos. Like dark chocolate. And so much more.

And then the feeling of my mouth against her skin, of my teeth in her flesh. I had denied myself for so long, it was almost too much to take. The taste. The feeling.

I focused, concentrating on my passion and lust for her body and not my thirst for her blood. Images of her flickered rapidly through my mind, her soft naked body in my bed, her sweet moans as my mouth moved all over her skin last night. I drank slowly and deeply, counting my swallows so that I could stop before any bloodlust took over.

With all my strength, I pulled back and gasped. Her blood was on my lips; I slowly licked them clean, savoring the last drops as my fangs shrank back to normal size.

I heard them behind us, on the other side of the pond; I felt their eyes watching us and I could hear their minds. My immediate concern, however, was Bella.

My lips moved toward hers and I kissed her. Her eyes were unfocused, dazed. She kissed me back forcefully for one brief moment and then her body became limp. I caught her, preventing her from falling to the ground. I grabbed her legs and quickly carried her to the car, buckling her into the passenger seat. I took my phone from my pocket and sent a brief text message, then I walked back to the tree, picked up the music, bag and skates and casually started back to the car.

Knowing they were going to materialize momentarily, I turned and stopped to face them head-on, about four feet from the car. They stopped eight feet from me.

"Greetings," I said.

There were two. Both were large olive skinned males, with dark hair, dressed as hikers. One wore his hair cropped short while the other had longer hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Hello," said the longer haired one. "I am Demetri and this is Felix."

"I am Edward. I don't recognize you… are you passing through on your way somewhere?"

Demetri continued to speak. "We're headed to Mardi Gras. We were just in Canada… heading south for the spring."

Felix grinned and nodded toward the car. "We saw you back there. Stopping for a bite to eat while hiking?" He raised his nose and inhaled. Ah, lucky bastard. He looked back at me. "Got virgin?"

Demetri's eyes flicked between me and the girl in the car. His eyes narrowed on Bella; I could hear his thoughts as he took in the shape of the bite on her neck.

"Ah, no," he said. "You've marked her?"

I tried to look as leering as possible. "A little afternoon delight. My 'date' you see."

"Oh, not a chance encounter here?" Felix asked, still looking for his angle.

"No, we drove out here together. We were enjoying the afternoon so much, but I'm afraid I got a little carried away. She's not much good to me in the state she's in right now..."

I heard it coming before Felix spoke, "Except for dinner."

My face turned sour. Demetri spoke before I did.

"Pardon my friend, but Felix lacks tact sometimes. We can see that you plan more than a meal here. We will not interfere with your 'plaything.'"

"I appreciate that." I paused, trying to change the topic and get them on their way. "Do you know many vampires in New Orleans? I could refer you to some who could help you around…"

"That is cordial of you, but we're very familiar with the town," Demetri responded.

"Mardi Gras is a ripe time for hunting… no one misses a few dozen tourists among the throngs," added Felix.

Disgusting. "Indeed," I said, grinning my best evil grin.

I could hear Bella moan from behind me in the car. "Ah," I said, "she's waking. I must get her home before she remembers too much. Gentlemen, it was a pleasure meeting you. Happy hunting."

Demetri spoke. "Good bye, Edward. I'm sure our paths will cross another time."

I turned and felt their eyes on me as I got in to the car and drove off. I knew that they wouldn't follow me; however, I drove casually until I was several miles away, and then sped up quickly.

~#~

It was important that I get her somewhere warm immediately. I turned north on the highway, going the opposite direction of Chicago toward my cabin along the lake. We were about 30 miles away.

I picked up the phone and pressed Alice's speed-dial number. She answered on the first ring.

"Edward?" I could tell she had me on speakerphone.

"Alice," I growled. "What the hell? Couldn't you have given me more of a warning?"

A low growl came back in response. Jasper was there with her. "Screw you, Edward, don't you take that tone with her!" Jasper was Alice's soul mate and fiercely protective of her. "You know how her visions work. It's not her fault you decided to take Bella out today!"

Alice spoke softly. "Jazz, it's okay… Edward, they were heading a different route and then the music sent them your way."

"So you didn't see the possibility that we might be here at the same time before that? Not at all!?"

"I wasn't watching for them. I was watching out for James, but once I saw this happening, I realized that marking her would be the best solution for both situations right now. I'm sorry, Edward. I know you didn't want to do this so soon."

I had been right. Alice did want this to happen… and she did it because she wanted to save Bella. I felt a pang of regret for my tone.

Bella moaned in the passenger seat.

"I have to go Alice. I'm… I'm sorry that I was so rude. Thank you for the text… at least that got through. My apologies to you too, Jasper."

Jasper spoke quietly. "She'll be okay Edward," Alice piped in softly, "Go take care of your girl." They hung up.

Bella's eyes started to flutter open. "Edward?"

"Bella," I said, relief flooding into my body. "Don't worry, my love, you're fine."

Vampire bites in the manner in which I'd delivered mine would heighten her state of arousal. I had to get her inside and move ahead with caution. I'd heard of humans stripping down and running naked through the streets after a 'love bite' such as the one I'd given her. This was not the time, place or weather for that. Nor did I want her that way... it wasn't safe for either of us.

I made the 30 mile trip in 12 minutes. Tearing up the driveway, I parked, got her out of the car and threw her over my shoulder. I ran up the stairs to the cabin, mentally unlocking the front door, throwing it open and stepping inside. As I made my way across the room, I took in the view around me and saw that my housekeeper had gotten the text and prepared the cabin for my visit. I set Bella down to sit on the couch; her eyes were open now and I could see her looking at me silently, lust and wonder all in one look. Oh, no. I was afraid of that.

Kneeling by her side, I touched her face. "Bella, it's okay. Stay focused. I'm here."

She sat up, slowly took off her coat and then kicked off her boots. Smiling a seductive, lusty smile, she touched my face. "I want you, Edward."

I kissed her gently, pushing her away as her kiss clearly made her intent known. "I know you do, but we need to get you settled down."

"I don't want to settle down," she said, wrapping her legs around my body. She started to reach for the hem of her sweater to pull it off of her.

I grabbed her wrists with my left hand, and turned to the fireplace. Stretching my right hand out in that direction, a fire burst out amongst the wood.

Seeing me do this, she paused. "Oh, my," she whispered in wonder, her eyes big. I decided to take advantage of the momentary reprieve in her actions.

With her legs still wrapped around me, I scooped her up and ran with her to the bathroom, turning the water on as I ran. The water was steaming when we got there. Fully dressed, I stepped in, still holding her. A cold shower would have been better to bring her down from the love bite but shock was going to be next and heat was better for that.

"What…" she began to ask.

But I silenced her with a kiss and set her down. I held her close while the hot water drenched us. At first, she pressed herself close to me, grinding her groin into mine, the bite still controlling her movements. "No, Bella, you're not yourself. Just hold on." I spun her quickly so that her back was to me and I held her from behind so that the water could hit her directly in the face. She struggled to turn back to me, but my grip was like a vice. After a moment, her heightened arousal dissipated as the water shocked her. Then she started shaking from the realization of the day's events.

Turning her to face me, I quickly stripped off her clothes down to her bra and underwear so that the hot water could heat her skin. She was coming around now and she grabbed me holding me close. I held her as tightly as possible, caressing her hair and kissing her forehead until her shivering lessened.

Shutting off the water, I got a towel and dried her off. I reached into a cabinet and grabbed a t-shirt, pulling it over her head: it was like a mini dress on her. With the t-shirt covering her, I reached under and unhooked her bra and pulled it off of her and then reached under and got her out of her wet underwear. Next I got one of the heavier robes from behind the door and helped her get her arms in the holes and then wrapped it around her. I moved her to the living room to sit by the fire and came back to the bathroom.

Shedding my wet things, I pulled on a pair of sweatpants folded neatly by the towels and grabbed the lighter robe and put it on. I piled our wet clothes in the shower, quickly laid out towels to soak up the puddles on the floor and then joined her back in the living room.

She was looking into the fire when I knelt down beside her again. "Bella, Love, are you okay?"

She didn't look at me. She just continued to stare blankly into the fire.

"Can I get you something? Water? Hot tea?"

Still no response.

My medical training kicked in… she'd lost blood and was in shock. She needed something with sugar to replenish her system and get her energy back up. I jumped up and ran to the kitchen to grab a small glass of orange juice and some tea biscuits. It was the quickest thing I could find.

Hurrying back, I knelt back by her side.

"Bella…"

She took a deep breath and then turned to look at me.

I cupped her face in my hands. "I'm so sorry for what happened. Can you forgive me? You'll be okay now… I brought you something to eat and drink, in case you need it."

She looked down at the juice and cookies and then back up at my face. She stared into my eyes, searching, thinking.

I let go of her face and grabbed her hands, looking down at them in mine. What was she going to say? How had today's events affected her? Everything had happened so fast. I felt desperate… and actually in pain at the thought of her reaction to me now.

How could Alice and Jasper say it would be okay? I was a monster for risking her life. A monster for drinking her blood. A monster for wanting her even more, in all ways and for always. She would undoubtedly choose a normal life, one free of vampire lovers and immortal dangers. I felt that I would be sucked into the void never to surface should she... when she would naturally choose that path. I was again in agony.

"Bella, please tell me what you're thinking… no matter what it is."

I steeled myself for the inevitable.

A/N: Ruh roh, what will Bella do? Thanks for reading so far. Please review.