Our couple are getting closer – about time I know. As always a huge thank you to those of you who have left me reviews and messages – I've enjoyed reading them.

Chapter 37

EPOV – Surprises

I. Could. Not. Breath.

Shit.

When did Bella get to be so god damn sexy?

Strike that you idiot. She's always been incredibly sexy but…..

Now?

Soaking wet

Hot.

Nothing on but a towel.

Jeez – this girl was going to be the end of me and she had absolutely no idea of her appeal.

Bella was looking at me strangely from across the room as she spoke into the phone that had been the catalyst for her getting out of the shower so quickly. I moved myself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed and allowed my eyes to devour her beauty, completely ignoring the conversation that she was taking part of. At this precise moment in time all I could concentrate on was the way her long, smooth legs seemed to go on forever from underneath that extremely short towel, the drops of water that were glistening on her skin and the way she was holding the towel up across her breasts so that it didn't fall away from her and reveal too much.

Let it fall. Please god, let it fall.

My scrutiny was making Bella blush and her darkened cheeks only added to the appeal. She stumbled over her parting words and I grinned cheekily at her.

"Um.. yeh.. sure dad. Thanks for letting me know about Seth. I need to go and get some sleep. Ok. Bye."

She ended the call with a push of the button and smiled nervously at me.

"You must have been dead to the world Edward, if you didn't hear my phone ringing."

"What? Huh. I guess I must have dozed off. Sorry." My eyes travelled down Bella's body again and when I returned them to her face she was blushing again. Adorable.

"You are amazingly beautiful Bella," I was impressed that I could make my voice sound so strong when I was feeling so weak and unable to breath properly from just looking at her. She ducked her head in embarrassment.

"Um. Thanks." Her hand tightened on the towel. "I think I will just go back in and finish my shower now"

In one swift movement I was standing before her, not ready for her to remove herself from the room so that I could no longer look. The urge to touch was too much and I put my hand out to trace from her hand up to her shoulder in a light graze. The goosebumps that made themselves known on her skin told me that Bella was as aware of me as I was of her. When I spread my fingers across Bella's collarbone, her audible gasp was a beautiful sound to my ears. I caressed the wetness of her skin there as gently as possible and Bella closed her eyes reveling in that simple touch.

I couldn't help myself. Bella was like a magnet to me and I needed to kiss her to show her how much she meant. My head dipped to lightly place kisses along her collar bone up to her ear via the tender skin of her neck. The feel of her skin against my lips sent my senses reeling; every little part of her was perfect and she had me swooning without lifting a finger. I saw that her eyes were half closed in a display of allowing herself to only feel and she quietly whimpered with need. Desire sat behind those eyes and it was my undoing. I moved slightly, moaning against her lips as she lifted her arms to bring me closer to her and I unthinkingly obliged by pressing myself into her. Her quick intake of breath alerted me to her pain and I instantly recoiled from her body when I realized I had allowed my need to hinder my common sense.

"Oh my god Bella. I can't believe I did that. Are you ok?" The shock of knowing I had just caused pain, through unintentionally touching her wound, made me choke on my words.

Bella reached for me to try and bring me back towards her. "Please don't remove yourself from me Edward. It's ok. We just need to be a little more careful, that's all."

What had I been thinking? Bella had not been asleep for over twenty four hours, James had attempted to kidnap her and she had been cut and stitched back up, she had watched as her friend fought for both of their survival and then spent hours waiting for some kind of sign that he was going to be ok. She had been interviewed by the police and she had worried over my reaction to seeing the man who had caused all of our pain. Bella didn't deserve to have me ogle her and try to push my needs onto her. My attraction to her was inappropriate at this time; she needed my love and support. I gently pulled myself away from her and lightly kissed her lips.

"Honey, you need to finish your shower and then get some rest. I wasn't thinking straight. I am so sorry."

"Don't pull away Edward. I need you. I need to feel you close to me."

"Please Bella, now is not the time for this. We shouldn't even be considering it after everything you've been through. I refuse to hurt you anymore."

"You won't hurt me. Please. You don't understand how much I want…"

The light tapping at the door interrupted Bella's words and I was never more glad of something. I knew she was about to say that she wanted us to get closer and I wouldn't be able to resist her, even though I knew now was not the time. Bella groaned and looked at me, disgruntled. She shook her head trying to think through the combination of lust and tiredness and then reluctantly stepped back into the bathroom as I made my way to the bedroom door. Angela stood there uncertainly.

"Sorry Edward. I didn't want to interrupt you but Ben and I are heading out to work now and I wanted to check that there wasn't anything else you two needed before I left."

"Nope. We both need to sleep, so besides the fact that you have so generously let us stay at your place to get some peace, there really isn't anything we need. Bella is showering at the moment so the fresh clothes you gave her are more than enough."

"Ok then. I will leave the two of you to it. I will take the phone off the hook so it won't wake you, and feel free to make yourselves at home."

"Thanks Angela. I really appreciate you letting us stay here. I don't think Bella would have been able to handle the media outside her place after everything that has happened over the past twenty four hours, and I definitely wouldn't have been able to stay with her if she had gone home."

"Anytime Edward. Tell Bella I hope she feels better after some rest. I'll probably see you after work, at the hospital. Ben and I want to visit Seth." Angela reached forward and squeezed my arm and then left me to grab her things for work. Not for the first time I thanked god that Bella had such good friends that looked out for her. It made me feel satisfied that they were becoming my friends too.

When Bella left the bathroom and made her way back into the bedroom, she was fully dressed in the pajamas Angela had loaned her and I felt the tenseness within me uncoil in relief that she wasn't going to try and seduce me with her innocence and near nakedness. I wasn't nearly strong enough to resist her if she had kept heading down that path. Her eyes met mine and I saw the slight apprehension within them and sighed. I never wanted to make her feel uncertain of me and my feelings.

"Come here, sweetheart," I held my arms out to her, where I sat on the bed. "Let me hold you so I can prove to myself that you are truly ok."

Within seconds Bella was lying within my arms and muttering incomprehensibly into my chest as I held her tightly. I tried to sooth her through my light touches against her skin, trailing my hand up and down her back. Suddenly she raised her head and looked directly at me with a burning need.

"Please don't let me go,"

"Bella, honey, its going to be ok. I will be right here with you while you sleep. I won't let you go. I promise. Just relax and try to get some rest."

She tugged at my t-shirt and remained tense.

"No Edward. Don't ever let me go. Don't let what happened today or yesterday or whenever it god damn happened, stop you from being with me. Don't. let. Me. Go."

A shot of grief ran through me as I understood that she thought I was going to break my promise to her and I was going to let what had happened with James push me away from her again.

"I'm not going anywhere Bella. There is nowhere for me, but with you. It's been taken out of my hands. I love you too much to walk away. I can't let you go."

The hands on my t-shirt relaxed and she breathed more easily, with less apprehension. "Perfect. That's all I needed to know." She rested her cheek against my chest and I placed my arms around her so that I was not touching the spot where she had been hurt. We lay there quietly enjoying that we were there for one another.

"Bella. I don't know what I would have done if he had ………"

She pressed a finger against my lips. "Shhh Edward. He didn't achieve what he wanted to and we are both here now, safe. Don't waste another minute thinking about him. I want to kiss those thoughts right out of your head but I am just so damned tired, that I can't do it." She kissed against my chest as if to make up for her words. "I will do it when I wake up." The words began to slur. "I love you ridiculously too much, you know. You are my everything"

I grinned foolishly at her words and then relaxed into the sleep that my body was begging for.

Bella was safe and she ridiculously loved me. What more could I want?

---#######----

We were walking down the corridors of the hospital yet again, after sleeping well into the afternoon. Bella was keen to see Seth and ensure that what her dad and Jacob had said, in their phonecalls, was in actual fact the truth; Seth was awake and in fairly good spirits. I guided her with a light touch against the arc of her back; not that she needed guiding but it was another excuse for me to touch her and know that she was still with me. I took every opportunity I could.

Upon entering the room it was clear that Seth was doing more than ok, even if he looked a little tired. We had expected to see Sue sitting with him and maybe Charlie but were surprised that neither of them were there. Next to his bed an animated Ellie sat and the two of them were conversing quietly whilst looking into each others eyes. When he saw Bella his face lit up and complete relief crossed it, showing that he also needed concrete evidence that all had ended up well.

"Bells. Thank goodness you are ok. I wasn't sure to believe everyone when they said you weren't too hurt. All I remember is seeing that creep, with the knife cutting into your side and thinking that I was too late to save you."

The two of them hugged each other tightly, conveying how happy they both were with the eventual outcome to this sorry saga. Bella whispered into Seth's ear and he reddened almost instantaneously. I could imagine her very heartfelt thanks had just been given and he was having a hard time accepting it. I stepped forward to shake his hand in a firm clasp.

"Seth. I am forever indebted. Anything you ever need, you have it. Just let me know what it is."

"You owe me nothing Edward. That animal was hurting my family. I was never going to sit by and watch that happen."

Bella had turned to greet Ellie with a huge smile on her face and Ellie was responding with a little embarrassment. I nodded and added my own hello.

"Ellie told me she had already met the two of you in the waiting room," Seth stated with enthusiasm. Somehow I thought this girl was going to help Seth heal a hell of a lot quicker than the doctors were expecting. I was surprised to see him so enthused after all that he had been through. "I have to tell you that when I woke up to find her sitting by my bed I thought I had died and gone to heaven" Seth was smiling cheekily at Ellie and I held in a laugh.

"You idiot," Ellie exclaimed as she shook her head and her face reddened. "On that note I think I might leave you to your friends Seth. I am really happy to know that you are doing ok."

Seth's face crumbled into disappointment when she said she was leaving. "You'll come back sometime, won't you?"

Ellie looked from Seth to Bella and I watched with interest as Bella actually winked at her. "If you would like, I could come back tomorrow for a little while."

"Aha, I really would like you to," Seth beamed at her. Nothing like wearing your heart on your sleeve there, Seth. Ellie left quietly and we returned our attention to Seth.

"Isn't she great," Seth uttered softly once she was out of our sight.

"Definitely," Bella agreed whole heartedly. "She stayed with us the whole time you were out of it in the carpark you know Seth. She really cared about what happened to you."

"Almost makes this worth it," Seth joked as he used his hand to wave at his injuries. He grimaced a little and then pushed the button next to him to administer some morphine into his drip to help ease the pain. "I couldn't believe my luck when I saw her sitting here. She seemed something special last night at the club but now I have no doubt."

We spent a few minutes with Seth before Bella suggested we leave to give him some rest. It had become apparent that Seth was wilting now that Ellie had left and he no longer needed to keep up pretenses of being strong. Bella kissed him goodbye and told him that Ben and Angela would be visiting soon. He nodded sluggishly and before we had even left the room Seth was asleep.

---####---

Earlier in the afternoon Bella had been privy to a conversation between Alice and I, whilst we got ready to go to the hospital. Alice was trying to organize what to do about all the concerts we were missing out on while we were in Seattle dealing with the fallout of James' actions and was asking for my intentions of how long we would be staying; or more to the point how long I would be staying. It only took one of us being unavailable for the concerts for there to be none at all. I hadn't really thought about it but knew Alice needed my answer. We would definitely be missing tonight's concert which would have to be cancelled at very late notice. It was something we had never done before.

"Alice I am staying here for as long as Bella needs me," Bella frowned at my words as she listened to my part of the conversation.

"Maybe a weeks worth," I uncertainly responded to Alice's question about how many more to cancel. I really didn't want to think about it. If I had my way I would cancel more than that, just so I could stay by Bella's side.

Bella had motioned to me and I asked Alice if I could ring her back. Once I hung up I looked at Bella expectantly, wondering what she wanted me for.

"Edward. If you don't do these concerts now, what will you have to do?"

"Um. Probably make them up at the end of the current tour."

"Don't do it. Get yourself back to New York and finish the concerts you need to. You all deserve a huge rest at the end of the tour and you certainly don't need to add an extra week to it just so you can stay here and babysit me,"

"It's not babysitting Bella. It's being with the woman I love so that I can support her. That means more to me than playing concerts for complete strangers."

We argued back and forth about it, both of us convinced that our way was the right way. I wanted to be here for Bella. She wanted me to leave so that at the end of the tour I would come back to her quicker. In the end it was Bella who won out because, unlike me, she thought beyond the two of us; she brought Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie into the argument and made sure I knew I wasn't being fair to them by making this choice. Deep down I knew she was right so I capitulated with the compromise that I would be staying one more whole day before I headed back to New York. I wasn't entirely comfortable with the decision but when Bella reached up and kissed me with those warm, inviting lips all worry flew from my head and I concentrated on the fact that this would bring me back to Bella sooner than later, for a longer time than just a few days.

Now that we were leaving the hospital, having determined Seth's recovery, we were back to the cloak and dagger aspect of our relationship and we needed to leave the hospital separately. Jacob came to pick up Bella and I headed back to the hotel, that the rest of my family were staying at, on my own. Bella was going to go home to check on her father and Sue before she headed over to see my family. Everyone had left her alone with me, to deal with what she had been through, but they were all keen to see her face to face to see how she was doing in reality. The small time we would have apart would give me time to organize something special for her. If I only had a day or so left before I headed back to New York I was going to make it special for her so that we left each other on a high note; not the bad memories of aggressiveness and sadness. This evening Bella would see my family and could have the rest she needed. After that she was all mine until I left for New York.

---####---

"Are you serious?" Bella said uneasily as she held up the blindfold I had just given her. "You want me to wear this? For how long?"

"Until we get there," I chuckled at her recalcitrance. Bella was sitting next to me in the car, after having Charlie drop her off to me just outside town. Surprisingly our visit had been very low key and for once we were not monitored by fans and media as we normally were. I still wasn't taking any chances so Charlie helped out by getting Bella to me safely.

"What if I promised I wouldn't open my eyes at all? Could I forgo the blindfold?" Bella begged and I shook my head.

"Nope. It's a surprise and you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from peeking. Put the blindfold on Bella. It is just you and I. You trust me don't you babe?" Leaning forward, across our seats, I placed my lips gently against the corner of her mouth and kissed her lightly. Her breath hitched and I could tell she was waiting for me to deepen the kiss but I didn't. There would be time for that later, once we got to our destination.

Bella narrowed her eyes at me and then purposefully placed the blindfold on. "I trust you." she sighed. "You better make this worth my while though. I hate being kept in the dark."

I reached out and squeezed her hand and she jumped a little with my unexpected touch. A smile played at the edges of her mouth so I knew she wasn't really angry with me. "It will be, I promise. Now just relax. We will be there before you know it."

For the duration of the drive Bella placed her hand on mine, where it sat on the gear shift, as if the touch would compensate for her lack of vision. We spoke in soft tones about a variety of subjects including her upcoming last university courses and how our tour was going, but we never touched on the subject of James or how I would be leaving the following afternoon to meet up with the others who had decided to head back to New York today. Today was all about the good things and I wanted Bella to feel relaxed and happy. By the time we arrived at our destination, half an hour later, I could tell that Bella was at complete ease and wasn't even worrying about the fact that she was blindfolded. I smiled to myself; today and tonight were going to be good for her.

When I opened up the car door and guided Bella out so that she wouldn't trip, she took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. "Wow, it smells so good here; so fresh and clean,"

I took my own breath and agreed with her wholeheartedly. We weren't that far out of Seattle but the air had a definite difference in it, here. I put my arm around Bella's waist and guided her over some uneven ground to get to the spot that I wanted.

"I can hear water and I can hear people Edward. No-one's looking at me are they?"

I chuckled good naturedly at the question. Bella really did hate attention and would feel that the blindfold was drawing it straight onto her. "No, hun. No-one is looking our way at all. Just a few more steps and then you can take the blindfold off."

Since it was a weekday there didn't seem to be as many people here as there probably would have been on the weekend. I was glad for that because right now I stood on the observation deck with the love of my life and for a moment it was just the two of us. I gently took the blindfold off Bella and she squinted against the sudden light in her eyes. Once she adjusted though, she looked around us and exclaimed.

"Oh Edward, it is absolutely beautiful." I watched her awed face as she took in the panoramic views of the river, falls and forests. As a backdrop a mountain range could be seen in the distance. The whole effect was of complete and utter magnificence and beauty. I knew Bella would appreciate it.

"I'd heard of Snoqualmie Falls being stunning but I have never been here," She smiled up at me happily and I felt the usual somersaults occur within my stomach, knowing that her high spirits were because of me. She tangled her fingers into my hair and pulled my head down to hers for a kiss and I was happy to oblige. When her breath hit my mouth, it was all sweetness, warmth and tenderness. There were no words to describe how much I loved this woman and whenever she kissed me I knew I was never going to be able to get enough of her.

When we broke the kiss, Bella turned back to the view and leant into my chest, sighing with contentment.

"This place is so peaceful. It makes you feel like nothing can ever touch you; that nothing ugly can ever take a hold when there is such beauty around us."

I nuzzled my face into the slim line of her neck, emotions enveloping me that Bella was having to think about ugliness at all. "We're ok now Bella. The ugliness will disappear now. We won't have to worry about him anymore."

She nodded silently and continued to take in the view. I wanted to distract her from thinking about negative things, so pointed towards the majestic old buildings, sitting adjacent to us.

"Can you imagine the views that place would have? What a beautiful hotel in the most perfect of positions," Bella enthused. "It's like something out of a fairytale."

"Well we don't have to imagine it because we have a booking there for the night," I almost laughed at the incredulous expression on her face but kept it in, smiling only. "Would you like to go and check into our room?"

"Just the two of us, in that beautiful hotel?" Bella appeared to be flabbergasted. "Oh my god Edward. I have never stayed in anything like it before. Are we seriously staying there?" She didn't wait for my answer but began pulling me towards the car. "Yes, yes. Let's go check it out right now."

Salish Lodge and Spa was extremely accommodating once we got there. I had booked the one bedroom river view suite and as soon as we walked through the door I knew I had chosen well. Bella was ecstatic as she flew around the room, looking at all it had to offer, including the fireplace and the magnificent views down the river. She looked like a little girl on Christmas morning who had just found her most wanted gift under the Christmas tree. I leant against the doorframe between the living area and the bedroom just watching her because nothing made me happier than seeing Bella so deliriously joyful.

"This place is amazing Edward. I want to tell you that you shouldn't have done this but I can't bring myself to; it is all too perfect. For once I am just going to shut up and enjoy what's on offer."

"Glad to hear it Bella. Let's enjoy the time we have together alone. It doesn't happen nearly enough."

"Agreed," Bella stated with feeling and then unthinkingly jumped up to wrap her arms around my neck forcing me backwards onto the lounge behind us. I did my best to cushion the fall but I knew the instant she did it that she was going to be hurting.

"Jesus Bella. Are you ok?" Her wide eyes and the paleness of her skin, which was all of a sudden beading with sweat, told me that she wasn't.

"Shit. I wasn't thinking," she muttered through clenched teeth.

"You need to start being more careful," I stated sternly, worried for her. "I know you keep telling me that it is only a slight graze but damn it Bella it was deep enough to get stitches. I brought you here to unwind and heal, not to pull yourself apart at the first instance."

Tears were welling in her eyes from my words. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to ruin our day."

"You haven't ruined anything. I just want you to look after yourself. You are precious to me. I don't want to see you hurt. Not for anything." I looked into her eyes so that she could get my message loud and clear. She nodded as she tried to stop the tears from falling.

"Here, let me check the cut." I gently lifted her shirt to expose the milky whiteness of her skin and the blemish on her body that was the bandage that covered her wound. I tried desperately not to allow myself to be sidetracked by the lacy midnight blue bra that was begging me to touch it and kept diligently moving towards getting the bandage off with as little discomfort as I could for Bella. When the cut was finally revealed to me it was evident that Bella had been lucky and the neat stitches had not been damaged at all. Her wound was still intact but we needed to be more careful from now on.

"It's fine," I said with relief. "Let's keep it that way, shall we Bella." I smiled up at her from my crouched position and the worried expression on her face made me want to make things better for her so I leant in and very lightly kissed just left of her cut; my forehead grazing against the cup of her bra when I did so. Bella was looking down at me with awe and I realized she was feeling the same electricity I was from that very slight touch. I took in a deep breath and concentrated on covering her cut back up with the bandage so that I couldn't allow myself to delve deeper into that attraction. When I had finished and pulled Bella's shirt back down I felt I had regained some of my control and gazed back at Bella with a crooked grin on my face to cover my awkwardness.

"So that is it from Dr Cullen, love." I needed to not think about the feel of Bella's skin against my fingers or my lips or I was going to make it very hard for that cut to heal properly. "I thought that maybe we could go into the village to get some lunch. Maybe take a stroll around the shops there. It's meant to be a pretty place."

Bella grabbed my hand as I went to push myself up from the lounge and kissed the palm of my hand with tenderness, looking up through those amazingly long eyelashes with longing. I was trying to do the right thing here and she was making it incredibly hard to keep my hands off her.

"Thank you for being so gentle and thank you for caring so much," Bella spoke softly as her eyes never left mine. "I really want you to kiss me right now, Edward."

I groaned faintly but knew I didn't have it in me to deny her. My lips descended onto Bella's and I used the tip of my tongue to trace the fullness of her upper lip before curving it downwards to continue tracing down onto her lower lip. She tasted wonderful; sweet and feminine and it made me want her more. She squirmed slightly to encourage more so I allowed my tongue to push deeper and run across the pearly smoothness of her teeth before colliding with her tongue. She instantly responded to me, nipping me lightly and then sucking gently on the same spot to take away any hurt she might have left behind. I was losing myself within her undeniable appeal and it appeared she was doing the same thing because both of our heart rates had accelerated and we were no longer being as gentle as we needed to be, in our attempts to show how much we loved the other.

"Bella, please……" I moaned against Bella's lips and she retorted without taking her lips from mine at all.

"Please what?"

"We need to stop now or I am never going to be able to stop."

"Who says we need to stop? Kissing you is incredible. I don't care if it goes on forever,"

Her words were tantalizing but couldn't be followed through on. "Hmm. I am in total agreeance Bella but the thing is when we are like this I don't register anything else but you and the feelings you induce; I won't be able to stop myself from hurting you. We. need. to. stop." The last part was wrenched out of me because Bella was teasing me with her tongue while I spoke and I was beginning to think that I was wrong in what I was saying. I pulled away from her and replaced my lips with my fingers to let her know that I wasn't rejecting her entirely; just giving us some space to control what was happening. Bella closed her eyes tightly and then smiled in frustration at me as she reopened them.

"Ok I get it," she muttered. "Lunch and shopping it is then but you owe me for stopping a perfectly good kiss, Cullen"

I half smirked and half grimaced at her. Every part of me was calling out to take Bella back into my arms and continue from where we had left off.

"Believe me when I say that I owe us both for that one Bella."