Chapter 25 Give as good as you get

EPOV

She really was a witch! She got me hook, line and sinker. I had switched from fury to laughing seventeen year old so fast I was surprised I hadn't given her whiplash!

She was just such a good sport, so much fun to be around. I was fast discovering that being with Bella properly was going to be a lot more fun and a lot less worry than it used to be when I was merely her invisible protector.

This revelation came to me not long after I had collected her and brought her to my home.

I'd not broached the subject of wealth with Bella yesterday, thinking it crass and ungainly to speak of ones monetary fortunes in front of a lady. All that had gone out of the window as of this morning.

I started cringing long before we made it into the driveway of the house and Bella could see my face turning from happy teenager to pissed off middle aged man in the seat beside her.

"What is it Edward? Is everything alright?"

"Yes of course Bella. It's just that, well, my brothers and sisters are planning to take advantage of the clear skies today and I'm afraid that you will not approve of what they have in mind." I was watching her face to see how she'd react to what I'd said so far.

"Not approve? Edward unless they are planning on scaling a mountain I'm up for pretty much anything."

I pulled the car up to the garage and cut the engine then leaned over to talk to her before we went into the house and met up with the others. I had wanted a nice, quiet day of just Bella and I getting to know each other, but I was politely informed that there would be plenty of alone time this afternoon, but this morning was reserved for family fun.

"This is going to seem pretentious and snobbish and I am loathe to admit any of this, but well, Isabella, my family and I have made some shrewd investments over the years and we are now quite well off." I paused to give her a moment to take this in.

"No shit Edward. I mean, you drive a brand new Volvo estate and right there is an Aston Martin, a Mercedes Guardian and a Porsche Boxster. There are probably another 20 million of us who watch Top Gear, you know? You forget that I've been shopping with Alice. She doesn't 'purchase' things Edward, she ingests them. Look at this house? I kinda knew you were well off." She giggled so sweetly I couldn't help but laugh too.

"Ok, so no big secret that we're well off. I know you aren't keen on lavish displays of wealth so, this might not be so much fun for you today."

"Spit it out Edward, what are we doing today?"

I sprinted round to her side of the car and opened her door for her and led her out into the backyard. The others were already at the river waiting for us. I could hear them making ready to leave. I took Bella by her shoulders and asked, "Is it ok if I put you up on my back and run with you, like we did the other night?"

She nodded keenly and I scooped her up under her arms and flung her onto my back and she wrapped her legs around my waist, her arms around my neck.

She giggled heartily and I gave her a gentle squeeze on her wrist to let her know we were off…and then we were.

I could run like this indefinitely and I loved it. Every nerve ending in my body came alive when I ran like this. I hoped I wasn't scaring her with the speed, I hoped she would love it as much as I did. My only regret was that it was over far too soon; we were at the river in seconds.

I again grabbed her and bought her around to face me, planting her squarely on the ground and waited for her to regain her balance before I was brave enough to take in her expression. It was one of elation. Her hair was all swept backwards and her eyes were glassy. She was grinning from ear to ear and she let out a huge whoosh of air as she gathered herself.

"Oh Edward that was fantastic. Even better than being upside down the other night!"

From all around us laughter erupted. Emmett's was loudest, of course.

BPOV

I heard Emmett laugh first. He was doubled over laughing, probably at my expense, which seemed like it was going to be something I'd have to get used to with Emmett as a big brother.

Alice trotted over to me and said good morning, folding me into one of her trademark hugs. Esme waved to me and smiled widely and Rose lifted an eyebrow and raised a hand in my direction too. I couldn't see Carlisle or Jasper. I was looking around for them when I heard a loud, throaty rumbling coming from up river.

I turned in the direction it had come from in time to see a huge cabin cruiser come into view, Carlisle at the helm, Jasper on the front with a rope in his hand ready to throw it to Emmett on the jetty he was standing on.

I looked to Edward who shrugged in an 'I told you so' way and I smiled at him to let him know it was ok. I was ok with this. It actually looked like fun to me.

Carlisle called hello to me and Jasper held out a hand to help me up onto the deck.

"Hiya Bella." He said as I landed on the deck beside him.

"Hey Jasper, thanks." I said as I made way for Esme and Alice to come onboard. Of course they just jumped, I was the only one who needed a hand up. Again, show offs.

"Come and see while we put the rest of the gear onboard, Bella" Esme said, holding out a hand to me to follow.

I took her hand eagerly and she led me to the back and then into the cabin to look around. It was fantastic! Very sleek with pale wood everywhere I could see. There was a huge sectional sofa that wrapped around one corner and a massive kitchen that was bigger than the one in Charlie's house!

There was even a full size bathroom with a shower and a little vanity basin and mirror on the wall. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There were bedrooms too. Two of them, one with four bunk beds that hung from the walls and another one at the front of the boat with a huge queen bed that was made with pale blue and cream linens. This room had tiny cubbyhole cupboards all around the room and its own bathroom. It had little square windows that looked out onto the water too.

I went back out onto the deck and saw that there was a large square dining banquette in the centre of the deck at the back. There was a space where whoever was driving the boat could sit and a matching chair across the centre aisle, like in a car. I'd never seen so many dials and buttons and antennas in my life!

I must have looked overawed because Edward came up behind me and whispered, "it's a bit much isn't it?" into my ear.

"Are you crazy? It's fantastic. I love it. I could live on here and never go onto dry land ever again and I'd be happy." I laughed back at him as he nuzzled my neck.

"I'll remember that for our honeymoon." He said quietly. I took in a gasp of breath and turned to question him about that comment, but he was gone. Sprinting off down to the front to help Jasper pull in the ropes.

Alice was putting an enormous cooler into a space at the back of the boat and I wondered what could be in it? They didn't eat or drink. Maybe it was bait. Charlie would love this, I thought.

All at once they came to the back of the boat and took seats at the banquette. Alice asked me to sit by her and I sat, waiting to see who would drive.

Carlisle and Edward were last to come to the back and it was Carlisle who took the chair with the controls, Edward took the seat beside him. He looked back towards where we were sitting and asked if we were ready. I nodded and everyone else said yes.

The rumbling noise started again and Carlisle pushed the throttle forward and moved us out from the jetty and slowly went towards the middle of the river. It was a gorgeous, clear day and I could see way down the river for miles, I could see the sun glinting off the waves out in the wider part of the river and I started wondering, did all the Cullen's sparkle like Edward?

EPOV

We were starting to pick up a little speed now. Carlisle was moving the throttle slowly but steadily up the cradle and the wind was starting to really pick up now. It felt so good to have the sun on my skin and the wind in my hair without needing to hide. We all loved the water, all vampires did. We could swim indefinitely as we didn't need to take air into our lungs. But if you coupled our love of water with our love of speed this was the best place to be.

On the water like this we could expose our skin to the elements without fear of being seen or caught out. It was exhilarating to be this free. Any human who could actually see us would just assume that the diamond like glimmer coming from our skin was water mixed with sunshine, perfect cover.

The cruiser started skipping over the increasing swell as we got out into deeper water and I looked behind me to see how Bella was handling it all. She had a wide smile on her face and was chatting happily with both Alice and Esme at the table.

We cruised along for about twenty minutes until we were out far enough from the coast to be of little interest to other boats and their crews. When Carlisle judged the distance to be great enough he pointed towards the cove and slowed the engines and handed control over to me. I'd driven this boat many times but Carlisle was her true captain and he rarely gave anyone else the job of getting us into open water, savoring that for himself as head of our family. Nobody begrudged him this. Out of all of us it was Carlisle who worked hardest in our best interests. At the hospital, within the community and within our family it was Carlisle who was the peacemaker and the leader. He didn't like to see himself this way as he was a very selfless man, but we all felt the same way about him.

I kept the boat on a course toward the beach and made slow and steady progress toward it.

I turned to Bella and motioned for her to join me at the controls. She came to stand beside me and I asked her if she was enjoying the ride so far.

"Oh yes Edward, its fantastic. It's gorgeous out here. I love it." Her face had taken on some colour already and I could see she really was enjoying the boat.

"I'm glad. We don't take her out very often because the weather isn't great here, as you know, but whenever its nice we come out here to swim and muck around. I'll anchor just off that beach there and we can take a swim, ok?"

"I didn't bring anything to swim in Edward. I didn't know we were coming out here. I didn't even bring a change of clothes. Will it be too cold to swim?" She seemed disappointed as she asked and I smiled. She wanted to swim with me, with us.

"Alice is all prepared, don't worry about it." I smiled back at her.

"Of course she is." She laughed back.

I put my arm around her waist and held her to me as I positioned the boat a ways offshore. I pushed a button and she jumped when she heard the loud grating noise of the anchor falling over the bow.

Emmett already had the dingy in the water and was loading scuba gear and flippers into it by the time I ushered Bella to the stern and down into the cabin.

Esme was opening a can of soda and putting apples, oranges and some strange spiked fruit thing into a bowl on the kitchen counter, telling Bella to help herself.

Bella took an apple and the soda and sat at on the sectional sofa.

Esme went back to filling coolers and then took them out onto the deck to be loaded into the dingy.

"It's fantastic in here Edward. You could live on here, never needing anything, couldn't you?"

"I suppose I could, yes. But then I'd not be able to see you, Isabella." I said, staring at her mouth as she bit into the apple. Her mouth was luscious. Her lips spread across the skin of the apple, I saw her tongue flicker across the pale flesh of the fruit and when I heard her teeth break the taut membrane of it's skin I moaned. Her eyes flashed to mine instantly and she blushed. Oh my, Isabella Swan, me thinks you did that so sensually on purpose!

With a shake of my head I went back into the main cabin and opened the small overnight bag Alice had given me for Bella. I put it on the bed and closed the small row of curtains that covered the high windows.

I went back into the kitchen area and told Bella that there were swimming things and spare clothes in a bag in the cabin and she was welcome to take her time with them. She made her way into the cabin and I went back out on deck.

The others were going to go on ahead to the beach in the dingy. I was going to take Bella swimming with me, directly off the edge of the boat, first. We'd join the others a little later, after they'd set up our makeshift camp on the beach.

I helped Emmett push the dingy away from the main boat and saw them off with a wave. I went back into the secondary cabin and changed into swimming shorts and grabbed an armful of towels from the overhead lockers. Bella met me in the kitchen and we went up onto the deck to enjoy some sun. It was going to be tough to keep my mind on swimming with her in that suit, that's for sure!

BPOV

Alice had left for me a beautiful navy blue one piece swimming suit and a matching sarong and little gold sandals. It wasn't quite the weather for this type of outfit but it was warm in the sun and I figured once I was in the water I wouldn't care anyway. I tied my hair up into a hair band to keep it from tangling once I was wet and went back out into the kitchen area to meet Edward.

He looked amazing; bare chested with a pair of bright red long legged board shorts hanging low on his hips. I took my bottom lip between my teeth when I saw his hips bones, jutting outwards before they dived into the waistband of his shorts. Oh my! A light sprinkling of gold hair shimmered around his navel and down into his… right, swimming. Got it. Eyes up. Mind on the job Bella! I thought, grinning to myself.

I let him lead me back out onto the main deck and I looked around to where the others should be, in the dingy, over the side, waiting for us. But they were nowhere to see seen. I looked to Edward and put my head on the side, holding my hands up in question?

"Look over there Bella." He pointed away from the boat towards the beach where the rest of the Cullen's were. The dingy was tied to a stake in the sand.

I could hear Emmett shrieking as Rose held him in her arms, obviously threatening to dunk him. I laughed a little at the reversal of what that picture should look like.

Jasper and Alice were spreading out a huge blanket onto the sand and Carlisle was setting up a card table and some chairs while Esme propped the cooler she had been packing earlier up against a palm fronded tree in the shade. None of them needed anything from that cooler, ever, so I guessed it was for me, for when Edward and I joined them.

I had no idea how we were supposed to join them with the dingy now gone, but I was sure I would find out eventually.

Edward put a dozen fluffy towels onto the rim of the deck where they could be reached and he dived right into the water in front of me. I didn't see him for a few seconds until he popped up to the side a little and flung his hair back out of his face, grinning up at me. "It's not too cold Bella, come on in."

Good god he was amazing. I couldn't decide what was more glorious, the turquoise water here or his skin as it sparkled now that it was wet and in full sunlight! His skin came up trumps and I sucked in a little breath of desire.

Here goes nothing I thought as I untied the sarong at my waist and let it fall to the deck before plunging headlong into the water.

Holy crow! It was freezing! It was so cold it sucked the available air out of my lungs the instant I hit the water. I'd dived fairly shallowly and I was relieved that I had because any deeper and I might not have made it to the surface!

I came up sputtering and sucking in great gulps of air as the cold settled in around my chest. "Oh, oh, oh, oh." Was all that came out of my throat as I tried to adjust to the intense coldness that enveloped me.

I thrashed around a little, trying to keep my limbs moving so they didn't seize up.

I felt Edward near me rather than saw him, the water behind me swished out away from me as he neared. He was chuckling softly as he reached for me and took me around the waist in his hands, pulling my back up against his chest.

"Sorry Bella." He whispered into my ear as he pulled me hard up against him. "That was mean. I knew you would be cold but I also knew you wouldn't get in with me if I told you that. Will you forgive me?" I could hear the laughter in his voice and knew I would forgive him almost anything.

I nodded and he pressed a light kiss into my hair. Suddenly I felt a little warmer.

"Shall we swim a little?" He asked as he let me go and came around to face me.

I nodded again, my teeth chattering against each other making it impossible to reply in words.

I let him begin, watching him take two or three lazy strokes before I followed.

We made a half lap of the boat where it was anchored and were now in front of it bobbing up and down as it moved in the water. We were in the shade here, Edward's skin lost its shimmer here and I was sorry for it. I loved to look at him all the time of course, he was beautiful to me in every situation, no matter where we were or what we were doing, but here, in the water he was godlike. A sort of aquatic god, like the statues of Neptune that adorned the Italian fountains on the postcards. Smooth and satiny skin that shined in the sun and took on an even more marble like colour here in the water. I knew I was staring at him and I blushed profusely when he swam back to me and scooped me into his arms and buried his face in my throat. With one hand on the anchor chain and the other around my waist he held me there, against him. I was blushing because I'd been caught staring and because I knew his whole family could not only see us very clearly here but could hear us as well. Edward was making a low rumbling sound in his throat as he traced his nose from the base of my throat up to behind my ear trailing wet kisses as he went. Every so often he drew in a deep breath and he tightened his grip at my waist as he let the breath out again. I certainly wasn't cold anymore.

"Get a room you two." Came across the water at me and I laughed out loud, effectively ruining the moment. Edward cursed under his breath and shot Emmett an angry scowl, to which Emmett raised two fingers and laughed harder.

"Can we use yours Em, I don't want to mess Edward's up." I screamed out, making Edward startle. He dropped his hand from my waist and I went back to treading water, waiting for his reaction. I hoped he wouldn't be mad, I just thought it was probably better to fight fire with fire where Emmett was concerned, figuring I would have to play him at his own teasing game.

I heard Edward's laugh first because he was closest to me, but Alice's, Jasper's, Carlisle's and then Esme's soon joined it. Emmett stood stunned, mouthing something, in the shallows and Rosalie ran up to him and slapped him across the back of the head, saying something I couldn't make out from this far out.

When Edward had composed himself I asked him what Emmett had been saying.

"He just muttered 'Ooh, she's a feisty one', and then Rose slapped him." He smiled broadly as he said it, no trace of anger and I sighed in relief.

I shrugged and laughed along. I wasn't normally a feisty one, but this could turn out to be fun.

"I'll race you to the beach." He shot at me and was already stroking ahead before I had a chance to even begin. Bloody show offs.

I knew he was probably just keeping pace for me, but I was a strong swimmer and had no trouble keeping up with the pace he'd set for us as he swam in the direction where his family now sat on the sand. He led us out from the boat and then curved in an arc so we would swim directly up onto the beach in a straight line, through the surf as it lapped the sandy beach.

The water began to get shallow and I put a tentative foot down and felt the sand in my toes for the first time as Edward stopped swimming and turned again to face me. His smile lit up his face when he saw me there, standing on tiptoe in the little waves that rocked me back and forth toward him. He swam back to me and stood on his toes right in front of me. His body swayed with the motion of the waves too. When my body was forced forward his was forced backward and then he would take a small step toward me only to be forced backward again. We were laughing quietly, completely taken in the game the waves composed for us. Every third or fourth wave I would be pushed a little closer to him, the rhythm of the waves perpetual motion being stronger or weaker depending on the amount of water behind each wave, and each time the wave was stronger I was forced up against Edward's chest.

His eyes were so dark, pitch black, as he looked down through is dripping lashes at me crashing into his chest each time. I was dying for him to stretch out a hand and touch me, pull me to him, but he did not. He just grinned down at me, a lazy smile across his beautiful lips.

I was about to reach out a hand and touch his chest when he disappeared. His whole body was there one second and gone the next. I blinked against the sun to see where he had gone but saw nothing but the glare off the water where he once stood.

The next second I was lifted up out of the water and was hoisted into the air above it. I shrieked in fright but started giggling uncontrollably when I realised Edward had dived into the water, come round behind me, poked his head through my legs and had sat me on his shoulders. He was standing in the shallows now, me sitting precariously on his shoulders, my hands in his hair trying desperately to hold myself upright. He was laughing too and I could feel it reverberate in his chest where my ankles gripped him, under his arms and onto his back at his ribs.

He hooked his hands round my legs and started running towards the beach with me leaning forwards trying to counteract the speed at which he ran. It was exhilarating and fun and pure Edward. I loved it!

He made a path directly up the beach to the blanket and deposited me on it and plopped down next to me in the same second. My chest was heaving from laughing so hard and from the exertion of trying to stay upright.

Edward was heaving too, strange, I didn't think he tired much?

"Rose said I had to say sorry to you Bella. So, sorry. Kay?" Emmett was looming over me and I sat up straight so I could look up at him, shielding my eyes from the sun as I did. God he was a big bugger!

"It's ok Em. No harm done." He grinned at me and went back to where Rose was lying out fully on a towel, sun baking. I wondered if they could tan?

"Hey Emmett?" I called after him.

"Yeah Smella?" Ooh, he would pay for that, later.

"I don't really want to use your room, you know?"

"I know. I knew you were kidding." His grin was so wide his cheeks nearly touched his ears. He turned and went to go towards the towel. Oh no you don't, buddy.

"Yeah, I was kidding. We want to use your car, not your room."