Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight. I dreamed about a really sexy, telepathic and telekinetic Alienward last night who can only communicate through body and sign language with a human Bella, the girl he rescues from slavers. Too weird?
Thanks to my lovely betas, Chloe Cougar and Squeaky Zorro, for helping me with this last minute chapter…though I just added another 400 unbeta'ed words. Sorry!
This is an added in chapter, as I realized we wouldn't be hearing from Edward for a little while…and we can't have that!
Words: 1498
Chapter 28
Restraint
EPOV
"Favorite flowers?" I asked, my voice an unintentionally husky whisper as I ran my nose along the line of Bella's jaw and inhaled her intoxicating scent. Freesias…with a hint of strawberry.
"Flowers?" she breathed, her head falling back to give me greater access to the curve of her neck. We were sitting on the floor of my room, supposedly working on her history assignment now that she'd resumed her high school studies online.
"Hmmm…flowers," I murmured, caving to temptation and nuzzling just below her ear with my lips, a place I'd discovered drove her a little wild and that I should have left well alone.
"You mean like colors and petals and stuff?" she panted, one hand burrowing into my hair to hold me in place. "You want to buy me flowers?"
An image flashed into my mind of me standing on the porch of Chief Swan's house with a posy in one hand and a beribboned box of chocolates in the other. Dressed in a tan-colored suit with a high, starched collar, I reached to knock on the door, nervously rocking back and forth on my heels while waiting for it to be opened. Bella answered, wearing a long, flowing dress and her hair piled high on her head in a soft bun with curling tendrils framing her face.
It was a scene straight out of Courtship 101, circa early 1900s, and brought me instantly to my senses.
Groaning, I pulled away from Bella's delectable earlobe. Putting some space between us, I threw myself backward, smacking against the wall with a resounding thud.
"Everything okay up there?" Renee asked from where she was sitting discussing craft patterns with Esme in the living room. For all her supposedly forward thinking, Renee had turned out to be a surprisingly diligent chaperone.
Even though she knew Bella couldn't become pregnant, she was worried about her daughter rushing into a physical relationship with the first boy she'd ever dated. While Renee said that she understood there would never be anyone else for Bella but me, practically or by desire, she was struggling to adjust her protective maternal instincts to the new situation.
I understood. It had only been a few days.
"Yeah…we're fine, Mom," Bella called, brushing her hair back from her face and blowing out a long breath. "I just dropped a book."
Sitting with my arms resting on my raised knees, I mouthed, "Sorry," not wanting to give Emmett any more ammunition. He was out in the back yard astonishing Phil with his baseball prowess, but I knew he'd be listening in and would pounce on any sign of weakness. His incessant teasing was driving me almost as crazy as the physical frustration I felt at having to restrain myself around Bella. Not being able to give in to my feelings for my mate was one of the hardest things I'd ever done.
I'd managed quite well all morning, bringing Bella's Spanish rapidly up to speed and thoroughly enjoying her erudite and perceptive analysis of the Shakespeare play she was working on for her literature assignment. But when she said she was sick of sitting at the desk and we'd moved to stretch out beside each other on the floor, her text books scattered around us, I couldn't seem to keep my eyes off her surprisingly long and very shapely jean-clad legs. Whilst never one to stare at a girl's backside, Bella's was a sight to behold: perfectly curved, the exact right size for my itching hands, and quite impossible for me to ignore.
"Like what you see?" She'd smirked, catching me checking her out for the third time in as many minutes.
"Indeed," I'd drawled, not meaning to imbue my tone with blatant sensuality but managing to do so none-the-less. Rolling onto her back, she'd looked up at me, all doe-eyed and innocent allure.
"How about now," she'd breathed, and I'd removed innocent from the equation, growling low in my chest and fighting the urge to pounce.
"Bella," I'd warned when she sat up, her back coming to rest against my raised knee as she positioned herself between my thighs.
"What?" She'd fluttered her eyelashes. "I'm just taking a break and scoping out my gorgeous new boyfriend. Do you have a problem with that?"
"Not at all," I'd murmured, pulling her into my embrace and trying to remember why this was a bad idea…which had led to my asking her opinion regarding artistic preferences as a distracting tactic.
It was an effective strategy most of the time, giving us something else to focus on and enabling us to get to know one another in the process. We'd begun by sharing our life stories and then progressed to comparing and discussing all of our favorites: books, music, movies. But this time, after briefly discussing the merits of Impressionism compared to Surrealism, I'd asked Bella her favorite color. The way she'd ducked her head, looking up at me from beneath her luxurious lashes to whisper, "Amber," had been my undoing, and my lips had found their way to her smooth, creamy skin.
For someone who had prided themselves on their self-control for so many decades, I was turning out to be a dismal failure in the respectful boyfriend department.
"It's not your fault," Bella responded to my earlier apology. "I feel it too…even with my shield."
"I promised not to rush you." I shrugged disconsolately from where I sat with my back to the wall.
Despite the accelerated physical maturation of Bella's vampire body, which I knew would be creating almost overwhelmingly intense passions and desires—the same ones that I was feeling, and I wasn't a newborn—I was well aware that she was still adjusting to all the changes that had occurred in her life. As if becoming a vampire, with all that entailed, wasn't enough, she was faced with suddenly finding herself in a relationship for the first time in her life; one that was destined to grow stronger and last forever. I fully understood that the human aspect to her personality and character she was so valiantly determined to hold onto needed some time. I just wasn't sure how much longer I could last.
I wanted to tell her how much I loved her so badly the words were like a physical ache in my chest. But it was too soon, and I didn't think she was ready to hear them. The declaration I'd made in front of her father had not been overly thought out on my part. I hadn't meant to shock her, and the last thing I wanted to do was put her under more pressure. Since then, the closest I'd come to expressing my feelings for her was when we'd shared our dreams and hopes for the future, Bella's barely formed and mine newly awakened...because of her.
Smiling shyly at the picture I'd created of our future together, painted in broad strokes so as not to appear like a fait accompli, she'd ducked her head and snuggled into my side. It was as physically intimate as we'd allowed ourselves to become before I'd lost control this morning when I was supposed to be assisting her with her studies and had ended up nuzzling her neck.
"I really want to kiss you right now," Bella murmured, inching toward me on her hands and knees.
"We mustn't," I whispered. "It's only been a short while, and your parents are still wary of me, not to mention overwhelmed by the situation. You need time to adjust and for us to get to know one another so that you feel like you've at least had some say in all of this. If we start kissing, I'm not sure I'll be able to control myself, and…"
"I know." She smiled, coming close enough to place a forefinger to my lips. "And I appreciate your understanding. I just wanted you to know that I really, really want to kiss you right now even though I understand why I can't…not yet."
Groaning, I wondered if I could take back all of my reasons for waiting and argue for the other side instead.
"Now how about I ramp up this shield of mine a notch, and you come help me with this essay on the Great Depression? You did live through it, after all," she teased, and my pout curled into a smile.
How could I resist such a sweet offer, even if it wasn't quite the one I was waiting for?
Within seconds I felt the soothing effects of Bella's shield helping me with my control, and I gladly assisted her with her project.
There was no rush. I'd waited a very long lifetime for Bella and was determined to show her the respect she deserved. But I couldn't deny that a part of me was counting the days until we neither needed her shield nor the exercise of self-restraint any longer.
~HIS~
Yep…I'm counting the days, too.
Do you think Edward's losing the battle, or will his Edwardian tendencies put a freeze on their progress?
xxx TLSue
PS: My favorite flowers are roses, but I love just about anything colorful with petals.
