Hey everyone, i know, i know, it's been a long long time. Life's been a bit hectic lately. but summer starts in two weeks, which means much much more regular updates. :)
Hope you all like the chapter!
(Since it's been so long, remember last time Bella had a sunburn and fell asleep. This is her waking up the next morning.)
The bed started shaking rather violently and I groaned. I rolled over, searching for Edward, and keeping my eyes shut tight. I only found pillows.
The bed continued to shake. "Edward, cut it out."
"Bella! Wake up! Quick!" I heard a high-pitched voice mock-shout from the end of the bouncing bed. My eyes snapped open to find Alice in a gold tank top, tiny shorts, and strappy sandals. I peeked to my right to see dark clouds rolling outside.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Is it supposed to rain today, Alice?" I asked as she jumped up onto the bed, sitting contentedly in front of me.
"Yep," she said excitedly. "Today is going to be fun, don't even worry about it." I smiled at her, but didn't press the issue; she would never tell me.
"Where's Edward?" I asked, making a quick scan of the room.
"He and Jasper are getting the bikes ready," she said, still smiling brightly. "So, come on! Get up, we're leaving in ten minutes!"
"Ten minutes?" I gasped.
"It's not my fault you spend all your time sleeping," she said jokingly. "And you really underestimate me, don't you?"
I blushed and flipped the comforter back, looking down to find that Edward had somehow managed to put my shirt back on me without waking me up.
Alice ushered me into the bathroom and pushed me down onto the stool, dumping out the contents of a gigantic pink makeup bag, and spreading them across the length of the counter. I shut my eyes and let her work her magic. Less than a minute later, she spun me swiftly around, letting me look. My eyes were played up with a golden eye shadow that sparkled, and layers of shiny black mascara.
"What do you think? How about the blush? I think it gives you a nice sun-kissed glow, don't you?" Alice said, smiling brightly behind me.
"It's perfect, Alice. I really like it," I said, smiling, as she tied numerous braided bracelets to each of my wrists. She gave me a quick hug from behind, and twirled out of the room.
"Clothes are on the counter," she said in a sing-song voice as she left. I picked up the pile, finding a deep blue, lacy bra, extremely small jean shorts, and a white scoop neck t-shirt with eyelet lace trim.
I stepped quickly into everything, and when I chanced a look down, I found that the shorts were so short, the brightly patterned pocket was peeking out the bottom against my thigh. I sighed quietly, grabbed my key necklace off the counter, and went to find Alice again.
I walked into the bedroom to find it completely deserted. I reached my hands behind my neck to fasten the necklace, only to have a pair of strong, cool hands wrap completely around my wrists.
"Morning, gorgeous," he whispered. I sighed and felt myself relax completely against Edward as he began placing light kisses on the back of my neck and the tops of my shoulders.
He released one of my hands suddenly, and twirled me around towards him. He wrapped both arms around my waist, pulling me tightly to him, and brought his lips as close to mine as he could without actually touching them.
I felt my heart rise to my throat, where it began beating erratically, as I waited for Edward to kiss me.
"Bella," he whispered, his cool breath washing over my face and tickling my lips. I drew my bottom lip in between my teeth, biting down slightly in anticipation.
"Where were you this morning?" I whispered, my lips brushing against his as I spoke. I was shaking now, and my trembling hands wove their way into Edward's hair.
"Don't worry about it, love," he whispered back, and I pressed my lips to his. He kissed me like we'd been apart for weeks. I let him lead, shaping my lips around his, trying to think, trying to remember this moment and save it for later.
Edward pulled back a fraction of an inch, and locked his golden eyes with mine. His eyes were alight with emotion, almost liquid in their intensity. He unwound one of his arms from my back, and brought it beneath my chin, tilting my head back.
I let my eyes flutter closed as he kissed my neck. My fingers knotted roughly in his hair, and I felt my heart beat even faster. I let out the softest moan without meaning to, but Edward just continued his kisses, and I let my head fall to one side.
I tried to step closer to him, to plant my feet right between his, and stumbled almost drunkenly into him. His arm tightened around my waist, pulling my body flush against his as his lips worked their magic.
He pulled back and immediately drew my bottom lip into his mouth, biting softly, and I nearly lost it. If he hadn't been holding me as tightly as he was, I most surely would have fallen over. The room was spinning and I felt patches of fire on my neck where Edward's kisses remained.
I pulled back gasping for air, shaking almost uncontrollably in his arms. My fingers were still knotted in his hair. He released his hand from my waist and fastened the key necklace around my neck. I had completely forgotten about it.
I sighed and fell against him, letting my head rest against his chest, trying to catch my breath.
"Caught you off guard, didn't I?" he whispered against my hair.
I laughed quietly. "A little," I admitted, my voice trembling.
"Come on," he said quietly, taking my hand completely in his and pulling me down the steps and out onto the flagstone path where Jasper and Alice were waiting.
"Hurry, hurry!" cried Alice, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, tossing me a pair of gold sandals. She grabbed Jasper's hand and began tugging him up the steps to where the topmost level where the cars were. I looked back over my shoulder at the beach, a strong wind whipping my hair about my face, to see dark clouds tumbling in across the white caps.
I tried without avail to keep my hair out of my face. "Hey, Alice, do you have –," I began, before she produced a bright pink rubber band out of nowhere. She twisted my hair up into a masterpiece of a messy ponytail, and pushed me back towards Edward.
"Thanks," I said meekly. Alice was currently trying to force her credit cards into the tiny pocket of her khaki shorts before reluctantly handing them over to Jasper, standing on tip-toes to give him a lingering kiss on the cheek.
The golden tank top she wore shone in what little sunlight struggled through the clouds as she hopped onto one of the motorcycles behind Jasper. I realized I was staring again, and brought my gaze back to Edward, who was no longer by my side, but getting onto the other motorcycle.
"Bella! Are you planning on standing around all day?" Alice called, leaning back in the motorcycle seat.
I quickly made my way over to them and hopped on behind Edward, watching my shorts ride up even higher. Edward kicked the engine to life, and turned to look at me. "Hold on," he said, smiling coyly. I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist, and laid my head against the soft cotton of the thin white t-shirt he wore.
Before I knew it, we were speeding down the stone path away from our resort. I forced myself to open my eyes and saw Alice laughing beside me, her voice lost on the wind. I smiled at her and she smiled back.
Jasper swerved sharply, bringing his motorcycle within a foot of ours. Alice reached out, and impossibly, I gave her a high five. Edward shifted suddenly, pulling ahead and looking back laughing at Jasper's shocked expression.
The sun was well hidden behind the dark clouds by the time we reached the gate. Alice hopped off her motorcycle while it was still moving and jogged to the gatehouse, tapping her knuckles twice on the glass. She flashed a smile at the guard before running back and jumping on behind Jasper, who was shooting glances at Edward, revving his engine and waiting impatiently for the gate to open.
Jasper shot out of the gate first; Alice had one hand clamped tightly to the front of his t-shirt, and used the other to wave tauntingly back at Edward and me. Her laughter was carried back on the wind and I peeked over Edward's shoulder just as she wrapped both arms around Jasper and buried her head contentedly in his neck.
I tucked my arms beneath Edward's and watched the trees fly past us as we weaved our way through traffic into town. When we started slowing down again, I rested my head on Edward's shoulder and looked ahead to see Alice and Jasper standing on the crumbling pavement beside their motorcycle.
I stepped off just in time to feel fat, warm raindrops splatter my arms and face. Edward urged me forward with his hand lightly pressed against the small of my back. I stumbled up a set of stone steps before Edward was at my side, his arm wrapped securely around my waist, pulling me tightly to him. I continued to stumble.
The landing opened up into a second floor patio bar, and we made our way over to a table in the corner. There were no walls, just a wrought iron railing, and when I reached my hand out over it, I could catch the raindrops on my open palm.
A curvy waitress in a yellow summer dress appeared at our table, openly staring at Edward and Jasper. She began speaking quickly in Greek, but I could tell she was stumbling over her words. Jasper said something back to her in fluent Greek; she gave a brief but loud laugh, and weaved her way back through the tables and behind the bar.
"You speak Greek?" I asked incredulously, leaning forward on the table towards Jasper.
Jasper laughed. "Of course," he said simply. "We all do." My eyes snapped back to Edward beside me. He was leaning contentedly back in his chair, one arm draped casually over the back of mine. He merely smiled and nodded.
Just then, our drinks arrived, four enormous margaritas with sparkling salt crystals clinging to the edges, balancing precariously on a driftwood tray.
"Here you are, dears," the waitress said in perfect, warm English, smiling down at me. I smiled back at her and she turned on her heel, humming and ducked behind the bar again.
I leaned close to Edward and whispered, "You don't expect me to drink all of these, do you?"
Alice began giggling and stuck her hand out over the railing, and flicked water droplets at me. I reciprocated by reaching both hands out the window, leaning across the table, and rubbing them down her forearms.
"Bella!" she squealed. She picked up her margarita, glanced coyly at Jasper and took an enormous gulp. I glanced at Edward, confused, and watched him exchange glasses with Alice, so quickly I barely noticed it.
I frowned, and took a sip of my own margarita, enjoying the salty refreshing taste. We spent the better part of the afternoon at that table, me trying to figure out how Alice was making the drinks disappear like it was nothing. They ordered another round after I had barely finished my first one.
I leaned back in my chair a few hours later, feeling content and a little tired. "Are you ready to go, love?" Edward's lips tickled my ear as he spoke.
"Mmhmm," I said, glancing at Alice and Jasper's side of the table, to find them already gone, a stack of bills held down by one of the empty glasses in front of Jasper's place.
I stood quickly from my chair and stumbled straight into Edward, feeling exceptionally dizzy. "Sorry," I mumbled, blushing, as he wrapped a strong arm around my waist, holding be tightly to him.
He walked backwards down the steps in front of me, keeping both hands on my waist, teasing me the whole time. When we reached the landing beneath the tiny red awning, I found that it was raining even harder, and the streets were nearly deserted.
Edward raised a hand to Alice and Jasper across the street, ducking into a tiny boutique. I hoped beyond hope Edward wasn't planning on following them. Shopping did not seem at all appealing at the moment.
There was no opportunity to bring up this fact, because at that moment, Edward took my hand and pulled me out into the rain.
Bum, bum, bum. What's going to happen? Leave me a review! Tell me what you thought, what you'd like to happen, etc. Ready, Break.