EMMETT

The minute my brother and Bella retreated into the woods, I broke into a run, heading back towards where my heart really lay- Rose.

She'd told me to help Edward, saying that she was safe in the locked cell. But looking at her, my Rose, with one of her legs missing, carnage all around us, I couldn't bring myself to leave her. It went against every instinct in my being.

So I'd growled at her and refused. However, in Rose fashion she ordered me, saying that she wasn't a baby and could make decisions on her own. But what really convinced me was when she said that if Edward and Bella were killed while I was babysitting her, she'd never forgive herself.

No matter how much I loved my brother and Bella, I wouldn't have left Rose for anything less than that.

So, with one last kiss, I'd left her.

Now, with a wild desperation, I pushed myself harder, needing to get back to Rose. But my missing arm continued to throw me off balance, causing me to plow into trees. Growling in frustration, I stopped trying to avoid them because it only slowed me down more. So a wake of destruction spread out behind me, but I couldn't seem to find it in me to care. Rose was my priority.

So many things were flying through my head—concern for Rose's safety, but also worry about the future. Looking at an eternity with a missing arm and Rose a missing leg, I couldn't imagine it. Rose always said that one of the worst things about being a vampire for her was that nothing ever changed. We wouldn't grow older, have any milestone moments that commemorated events in our lives because we would always be the same—an eternity of sameness.

I couldn't imagine how she must be feeling now.

If we found our limbs, would it be too late to re-attach them? I'd never heard of any vampire who had experienced anything quite like ours.

I listened for Carlisle, wanting to ask him, but I was too far ahead of the others.

So I decided that the first step would be to see that Rose was safe. Then, look for our missing body parts once the others caught up.

Finally, I reached the compound. It was unearthly still, almost peaceful, a stark contrast to the carnage that I found inside.

Limbs were everywhere, a mass of squirming vampire flesh. The thought of vampire bits continuing to move after they'd been ripped off had always given me the creeps, but now I barely even saw them.

I kicked my way through twitching arms, legs, and heads as I oriented myself to where I'd left Rose.

Running down a corridor leading north, I suddenly found myself in the room where the battle had happened. Shuddering, I remembered the vampires pouring into the room, growling and panting for Edward's blood.

There had been so many of them pouring into the room that I'd looked desperately at Rose, knowing that we were no match for them.

And then they were upon us.

Fighting as hard as I could, I tried to get to her so that we could stand shoulder to shoulder as we fought, but I had to fight against the tide of vampires hell-bent on going in the opposite direction.

I tried to ignore the pain as vampires tore into me because my only concern was getting to Rose. However, when one vampire sank its teeth into my shoulder and another just below my elbow, I couldn't ignore the tearing and wrenching. With a snarl, I whipped my arm out in an attempt to shake them off, and suddenly they were gone. I looked back at them expecting to see them preparing to attack me again, but what I saw instead filled me full of a horror that I'd never felt before. A vampire was standing a few feet away from me, holding my detached arm.

Without thinking, I started to go after it, but then I saw out of the corner of my eye, Edward falling under the weight of a vampire. It pinned Edward to the ground, biting into his neck which filled the air with even more of Edward's blood.

I changed direction in order to protect him. Luckily, I was able to yank it off of him before it was able to drink very much of his blood.

Freed from the vampire, Edward rolled over and looked up at me. I was beyond relieved to see that he was my brother again and not the monster that had taken him over.

Pulling him to his feet, I shoved him towards the door where I'd seen Oscar disappear.

He looked at me with indecision as the mass of vampires growled and struggled around us.

"Go Edward! Kill Oscar! The others will be here soon!" I yelled at him.

"I can't leave you!" he cried out desperately.

"Yes you can! Go! We'll be along once we've cleaned up here," I shouted back. "If you think you can't kill him, keep him busy until we get there."

Without waiting to see what he'd do, I spun on my heel and looked for Rose.

Panic strangled me when even with my keen eyesight, I couldn't find her.

"Rose!" I roared.

Near the door where the pack of vampires seemed the thickest, I heard her calling for me faintly.

With a roar of rage, I leaped over two vampires that were reaching for me and plowed towards the sound of her voice. Throwing myself into the fray, I bit and clawed to get to her and with relief, I saw her face under the mass.

I burrowed under the mass and dragged Rose out from underneath, noticing for the first time that Jasper and Alice were with me, helping to keep the vampires at bay as I rescued her.

At the sight of my Rose, I would have cried if I'd been able. Her left leg from the knee down was missing.

I pulled her to me with my one arm and pushed through the remaining vampires still in the doorway. As I shoved them aside, I heard the familiar snarls of Jasper as he ripped them apart, but I could have cared less. All I could think about was protecting my mate.

"Oh Emmett," she said, her heartbroken voice muffled against my shoulder.

"It's okay, babe. Everything will be okay," I said confidently, when I felt no such thing.

I turned down several corridors until I encountered an area that was vampire free.

Shoving open the door to one of the cells, I pulled Rose in with me.

Crossing to the opposite side of the room, I sank to the floor hidden behind the bed with Rose clutched to me.

We sat there and shook in each other's arms until we were calm enough to think rationally.

That was when she ordered me to leave her behind.

Somehow in my mad dash down another hallway, I realized that I'd run past where I'd left her, so I had to double back.

Finally, her scent reached me and I followed it like a homing beacon.

Wrenching the door open, I found her, propped against a wall.

"Emmett," she said with a gasp and then a quiver in her voice. "You're okay."

Great wracking sobs tore from her at the sight of me. I hadn't realized until that moment how much Rose had worried that I would never come back.

"Of course, I'm okay, babe. Nothing could keep me away."

Wrapping my arm around her, I pulled her against me.

"I'd never leave you, babe. Everything will be alright."

As I waited for Carlisle and the others to arrive, I told her about what had happened.

She gasped in shock, when I told her about how Edward had killed Oscar and that somehow he had changed Bella.

"Do you think they're okay? Shouldn't someone be following them?" she asked me in concern.

People didn't realize that hidden behind her hard exterior, Rose was a very loving person.

She saw her feelings as a vulnerability that she could only show to me.

"They'll be okay, babe. They're together and that is all they've ever wanted."


BELLA

The full moon shines down upon us, painting us both in silver.

He is next to me, awakening as I am.

Shifting closer to me, he burrows his face in my hair and pulls me closer.

My eyes roll back in pleasure, vibrating with intensity, every touch, every sensation like a burst of fire to my senses.

Stretching, we stand, ready for the night, the wondrous night full of the calls of prey.

I look at my mate, seeing his excitement—pupils dilated, licking his lips in anticipation.

At the sight, two warring instincts fight within me- the call for his body and the call for the hunt.

He senses my indecision and our eyes meet. One eyebrow rises in question, leaving the decision to me.

I take a step towards him, but then the moon calls to me again and it cannot be ignored.

We run for miles, through forests and fields and forests again.

He catches the scent at the same time as I do, whipping his head to the left.

With a growl, he bounds across an outcropping of rock and into the trees, leaving me in his wake.

I growl and charge after him, not wanting to lose the hunt.

As we approach the deer, unconsciously we form a plan of attack, my mate going to the right and I left, cutting off its escape.

But instead of charging in, my mate stops, allowing me to take the lead.

I tackle the deer, bringing it to the ground in a cloud of dust.

Shoving its head to the side, I pierce its neck and the rich taste of warm blood fills my mouth. The pleasure that fills me is like nothing I have ever felt. The thrill of the chase and then the spoils of success are intoxicating.

My mate passes around me and my kill before settling in front of me. I let go of the blood and push the kill to him. Lifting the beast to his mouth, he buries his teeth in its neck with eyes focused solely on me as he shudders at the rich taste.

Again my instincts war against me, but the call for blood wins over my other hunger.

Dropping the drained kill to the ground, he stands and lifts his face to the sky, tasting the air.

Closing my eyes, I inhale deeply as well.

Playfully, I push my mate to the ground as I catch the herds scent again, but I already know that I will give him first kill this time.

He growls behind me as the game is upon us, racing for the next kill.


Satiated, I feel him approach.

His firm body presses against me from behind, chest to my back and thighs against my own.

Leaning back, I thrill at the feeling of him so close.

His hands burn fire across my body, pulling my hair to the side in order to slide his nose up the side of my neck.

Opened-mouthed, he sucks on the skin of my neck as I take my last mouthfuls from my kill.

The feeling is too much.

Dropping my prey, I spin around in his arms and latch my mouth to his, knocking us both to the ground.

Arms wild and grasping, bodies shaking and arching, we fight for dominance consumed by the need for each other.

Flipping me onto my back, he pins me to the ground, nipping at my lips, chin, and neck. His hands are everywhere, exploring my body as I arch into him trying to get closer.

Then suddenly he is gone.

My mate is on his feet, head cocked to the left, listening. I strain to hear, but find nothing.

I stand up next to him and touch his face in concern.

A low growl breaks from his chest as he turns towards the edge of the tree line.

His mouth presses into a hardened frown.

I strain to see what he sees, but he pushes me behind him.

Then, I hear them. The snapping of underbrush and movement of bodies is thunderous in my head.

Their scent is strong, a confusing mix of familiarity and danger which brings with it a barrage of images too many for my mind to handle.

A growl tears from my chest as anxiety fills me.

Pulling me to him, my mate soothes me while still staying on the defensive.

When they step from the trees, I growl loudly in warning.

My mate's stance is protective; his eyes shifting back and forth between me and the others, as his hands clench and unclench rapidly.

Sounds are exchanged between my mate and the others, but I don't understand. Something nags at me as if I should understand, but it is too much for me to comprehend and the moon's call is too strong.

Then, suddenly my mate thrusts me away from him with a snarl and lunges toward one of the others.

I cower to the ground, preparing for an attack, but it doesn't come.

Looking up, I watch as my mate tumbles to the ground, biting and clawing at another who remains passive under him.

I jump to my feet and begin to approach when I see that the others are beginning to circle my mate.

I want to protect my mate, but the familiarity of the others is confusing.

I whine, but still take another step closer.

At my sound of distress, my mate bolts to his feet, his eyes latching on to me.

He is at my side in a flash, cradling me against him.

Sounds are exchanged again with the others before they retreat, leaving us alone once more.

My mate's lips find mine, my hair intertwined with his fingers.

Demanding, he kisses me and I succumb to it. We hold each other, easing the fear and strain.

Calm once again, he takes my hand and together we race into the night already anticipating the hunt.


The sound of a rather loud bird qworking somewhere nearby woke me with a start. Groaning, I had murderous thoughts again about ways to kill the damn bird. Every day, the stupid crow appeared outside of my bedroom window and croaked me awake. If I hadn't yelled at it and thrown an apple at it on the first day, it might have left me alone. But throwing that apple had been like throwing down the gauntlet and the bird was winning by showing up every day at an unreasonably early hour just to torment me.

Rolling over, I tried to go back to sleep, but the movement caused a sharp pain to shoot up my side as something jabbed me. With a gasp, I bolted up too quickly and a wave of dizziness swept over me.

Clenching my eyes shut for a moment, I then gingerly began to open them.

For a moment, everything was a blur. Then as it solidified into form, I realized that I wasn't in my bedroom.

Staring around me in disorientation, I realized I was on a beach, laying half in and half out of the water.

With a whimper of fear, I moved to get up.

Afraid of what had happened to me, I could think of nothing but needing to get away as fast as I could.

Rolling onto my knees, I froze when I noticed that to my left was another person. Their back was to me as they laid half in and out of the water as I had.

Taking a slow steadying breath, I remained still not wanting to wake up whoever had brought me here.

Looking down at myself, I tried to take stock of any injuries I might have.

I froze in horror. My clothes were a tattered ruin and I was literally covered in blood.

With a scream, I collapsed to the ground.

Pulling at my shirt, I screamed again when I saw that it was just covering more blood underneath.

The person next to me bolted to their feet.

I scrambled backwards, not knowing what my kidnapper might do.

But I was shocked into stillness at the familiar voice.

"Bella?"

At the sound of Edward's voice, my eyes snapped up to his.

A wave of relief flooded through me followed by alarm as I took in his appearance.

Just like me, he was covered in blood, but he was also covered in a myriad of scratches and cuts as if he'd been in the midst of a very bloody battle.

His hair was so matted to his head that it didn't even look bronze anymore, more like a dark brown. There was blood smeared around his mouth and sprayed up his sharp jawline and high cheekbones. The blood spattering his face, only added to the paleness of his skin that sported a number of bruises.

If it weren't for his emerald green eyes, I might have doubted that it was actually him.

"Edward…" I gasped in relief.

He looked at me, eyes guarded, seemingly hesitant.

"Are you okay? You screamed," he said.

"Of course I screamed. Have you looked at me or yourself for that matter? We look like we've had buckets of blood poured over us," I exclaimed.

Looking down at himself, Edward pulled at his shredded shirt, focusing on what appeared to be round holes in his shirt and he finally looked back up at me, he didn't say anything. Instead, he took a step towards me, but then stopped and sank to the ground a distance away with a pained look on his face.

"Edward, what's going on? Where are we?" I demanded, becoming more scared by the minute.

"What's the last thing you remember?" he said in an even tone.

I knew him well enough to know that he was distraught about something, but keeping his emotions in check.

I thought back, trying to bring foggy memories to the surface.

"I think I was in the woods with… Jake? Why was I in the woods with Jake?" I asked in confusion.

"You don't remember anything else?" he asked, looking upset.

At his look of distress, I closed my eyes and tried once again to focus on my disjointed memories.

"Jake and I were surrounded by werewolves and shifters in the forest… Then, I was taken by Oscar's men, then… nothing…" I said.

I focused harder trying to bring together the other snippets of images.

"I remember having trouble breathing, and then being held tightly," I said.

A flash of feral green eyes in a blood streaked face flashed through my mind.

"I was being held by you, but it wasn't you…" I went on to say, remembering how gingerly I'd had to deal with him.

"What happened, Edward? Please tell me," I pleaded.

Shoulders hunched, Edward seemed to fold in upon himself.

"The clearest memory I have is of being taken by Oscar's men but then hearing in Paul's thoughts that one of the bitten people was Sue," he began.

At his words, I gasped because I suddenly remembered being in a cell and talking to Paul who was in the next room.

"I remember attacking my captors as I tried to get away because I realized that Sue was meant to share a safe house with you... Then things get foggy for a bit. My next somewhat clear memory is of holding you in what seemed like a hospital room," he said, but then paused.

"Bella, I wasn't myself. If I had been, I would never have left you…" he said, a pleading note in his voice.

I inched a little closer to him, wanting to give him comfort.

"What do you mean 'you left me?'" I asked, still confused.

"The monster inside of me had a strong grip, so when I heard Oscar, I had to hunt for him…" he said, looking down at his hands as if he were ashamed.

Fear clutched my chest at the danger he'd been in.

"Oh my god Edward! Are you okay? What happened? Where is he?" I gasped.

I looked him over, noticing again the blood, scratches, and then saw what appeared to be bullet holes in his shirt and jeans. I reached for him to check for wounds, but he held up his hand to keep me at bay.

"He's gone, Bella. I killed him. I knew we'd never be safe with him still in the world. It was my fault that he was a part of our lives, so it was my responsibility to deal with him…" he said, not looking up.

He was struggling with something more and I was afraid that he wasn't going to tell me.

I reached out for his hand again and this time he let me take it.

"Whatever it is, Edward, you can tell me…" I said

I knew that no matter what he said, we would be okay. We were alive and together. Anything else we could deal with.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," he said with a sob, pulling his hand away from mine and covering his face.

I lurched forward and clutched him to me.

"It's okay, Edward. I love you. Just tell me," I murmured into his hair.

"You were dying…" he practically whispered. "… and I couldn't let you die."

He looked up at me at that point, his eyes agonized and jaw clenched.

"I took the decision away from you …" he whimpered, "but I just couldn't live without you."

I froze, my mind starting to put together what he'd told me which led to other memories flickering through my mind.

the taste of Edward's blood in my mouth…

"You selfish bastard! You will not die and leave me here!"

"Edward! Wake up! You can't do this!"

pain as I sliced my neck and wrist…

the hunt…

He'd changed me.

I sat still, trying to process it.

Finally, I found my voice.

"What does this mean?" I asked.

"What do you mean? Bella, I've changed you," he said, becoming rigid in my arms, before pulling away.

"I mean, I don't feel any different. What does that mean?" I asked again, confused because my mind couldn't comprehend what he was telling me.

"You are what I am now, Bella. Whatever that is…" he said bitterly, looking out across the water.

"But I don't feel any different, Edward. How can that be?" I asked again, tugging on his hand so that his eyes were drawn back to me.

"The only thing that I can come up with is that the three day cycle of the full moon has ended, so the monsters inside of us are at their weakest…" he muttered.

"So, are we werewolves then? Did we change into wolves last night?" I asked because I had a vague recollection of running through the woods.

"No, we're not werewolves… I'm not sure exactly what we are, but we're not wolves," he said looking away from me again.

I sat quietly for a while, trying to figure out how I felt about all of this.

I wasn't angry at Edward. He'd done it to save me and I'd always believed that I would someday be like him. But it was just so big, so new, that I didn't know how to react.

So instead of dwelling on it, I turned to other things.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"I told them to leave last night. It was hard for me to accept that they weren't threats with the monster in control and they were scaring you," he responded, looking my way again.

"You remember last night? You were able to communicate?" I asked, feeling somewhat relieved by that for some reason.

"I could read their thoughts, but it was harder for me to respond," he said, slumping to the ground.

"Where did they go?" I asked.

"I'm not sure, but we'll be able to track them with our enhanced sense of smell," he said with an edge of bitterness to his voice.

I inhaled deeply and noticed that there seemed to be many more layers to the scents around me that I'd never noticed before. It was actually quite fascinating.

Picking up a stone, Edward whipped it across the water, its skips and jumps going much farther than a human could ever have thrown.

I picked up a stone and tried to do the same thing, but instead of skipping, it made a large splash. Although I failed at skipping it, it was still much farther away than I'd been able to throw as a human.

I giggled because clearly even though I was stronger, I was still uncoordinated. But instead of being frustrated by it, I found it comforting. I may be different, but I was still me.

Edward's head snapped towards me.

"How can you laugh, Bella? Aren't you angry? Aren't you angry at what I've done?" he snapped.

He jumped to his feet and tried to run his hand through his hair, but tsk'd with disgust at the stickiness he found.

"We're monsters Bella! Don't you get it? I've doomed you to the life of some creature I know nothing about. When I was contemplating turning you, I knew what I would be getting you into and I was almost able to accept it. Now? I have no idea what's in store for us. Look at us. We're covered in blood…" he shouted.

Then, he clutched his head and whimpered.

"Oh god, what have I done?"

I leaped to my feet and strode over to him.

Taking a hold of his chin, I forced him to meet my eyes.

"Edward Cullen, you need to look at me now!" I growled.

He tried to avoid looking at me, but eventually gave in and met my eyes.

"Edward, I don't care what we are. We are together and we are the same now, equals. That was always end game for me. No more of you being afraid to touch me, no more sadness that you'd outlive me. We have a chance to start again."

"But…" he began, but I silenced him by pressing my lips to his.

"Do you feel that Edward? Your lips are soft against mine, not unyielding as they were as a vampire."

I pulled him to the ground, facing me.

Then, I reached towards him and cupped his cheek.

He shivered roughly, his muscles flexing and straining up through his neck, his jaw tightening under my palm. His soft cheek had begun to warm under my hand and I moved my palm, shifting my face over to the spot that held my heat. I sighed once contact was made.

Pulling myself closer to him, I slid my hands across his shoulders and up across the sides of his neck until I weaved my fingers through the hair at the base of his neck.

"We can warm each other with our bodies because we're the same temperature now. You can hold me tight and not be afraid of breaking me," I said, pulling his arms around me before laying my head on his shoulder.

He held himself stiffly against me at first, before finally letting go and wrapping his arms around me.

Taking a deep shuddering breath, he buried his face in my hair, squeezing me tight.

"I love you so much, Bella," he whispered.

"I love you too," I murmured, kissing his throat.

We held each other for a long time without speaking. Eventually we found ourselves looking out across the water, just breathing the air together.

I knew that there were many doubts and fears that we still had, but in this we were united. For better or for worse, we were together.

"Do you know this place?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes, it's Jacob's lake," he said with a sigh.

This place was magical for me. This was where my life began again.

"This was the place where we fell in love again, the place where we started this new life," I said with a sigh.

In response, he squeezed me to him again and kissed the top of my head.

"That we did, love."


I took a deep breath, knowing that we had to find the others, but selfishly wanting to hold onto this moment.

I wanted to have a few more moments of just being us in a place where we'd been free from all the drama that surrounded us in the outside world.

Smiling to myself, I remembered how we joked and laughed, running along the beach.

Flashes of the night before flickered through my mind. It had been happening all day, making me think that eventually I'd be able to remember everything. Edward could remember what happened during the full moon and he'd been changed for a longer period of time than me.

A flash of us tumbling to the ground growling as we kissed and pawed at each other made me freeze.

My body was instantly on alert at the erotic image but I also found it funny at how animalistic we seemed.

I was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of joy. I saw a bright future ahead of us and I needed Edward to join me in that belief.

Wanting to break the intensity of the last few hours, I decided to play with him.

"So… Edward?" I asked slowly in a quiet voice.

"Hmmm?"

"Did we 'do it' last night?"

"What?" he asked, in confusion.

"Did we 'do' it?" I said, seriously and then broke into song. "You and me baby ain't nothin but animals. So let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel."

For a few moments, he said nothing.

I wasn't sure what his reaction would be. He was far too serious some times and the last few months had given us little to laugh about.

Then he broke the silence.

"Actually, I think the lyric is about mammals not animals," he responded in what seemed like a serious voice.

I laughed in delight and pulled away from him in order to see his face.

"You know the song?!"

A small smile pulled at his mouth and his right cheek lifted as his eyes squinted in amusement.

"You know that I'm a big fan of music, love," he said and this time I could hear a laugh in his voice.

Then, he laughed out loud and kissed my cheek and then my lips before saying, "The poetry that falls from these lips..."

"So did we?" I asked, very curious now.

"If we did, do you really think that any of our clothes would have survived? You were a wild woman."

"You've always brought out the animal in me…" I said, raising one eyebrow and then throwing myself on him, kissing him everywhere I could reach.

But I pulled away quickly at the metallic taste on my lips.

"Yeesh, Edward. You need a bath," I complained.

"I'm not the only one love. We're both quite a mess."

He pulled a lock of my hair up in front of my face and I saw how it was clumped together with blood.

"Well, maybe we should go for a swim," I said with a mischievous smile.

"Bella…" he said, a serious look on his face. "We should go find the others."

I sighed.

"I know, Edward. Just a little longer. Let's just be us for a little longer," I asked.

With a small smile, he reached out his hand to me and pulled us both to our feet.

"Okay. Let's go for a swim."

Feeling shy for some reason, I turned my back on him as I pulled off my clothes.

We'd seen each other naked before, but for some reason this felt different.

Then, with a deep breath, I turned towards him.

The intensity of his eyes took my breath away.

The clothing he held in his right hand hung limply to the ground as we stared at one another in gaze traveled from my face down my body until he had taken in every last inch of me, worshipping me with his eyes.

Even covered in blood, he was beautiful.

He could be used as a model for any Greek sculpture. Every dip and curve of his body was perfect and well-defined, but not overly so.

The bruises and scrapes that covered him, only brought more attention to how gorgeous he was.

Again I marveled at how a person like him could be mine.

Instead of giving into the need to have him, I walked towards the water, beckoning for him to follow.

With a grin, he followed close behind, his heat radiating off him in waves.

The water was cold, but refreshingly so.

Taking a deep breath, I plunged in, completely submersing myself.

Breaking the surface, I looked for Edward, but he was nowhere to be seen.

As I spun in the water looking for him, I was suddenly yanked under the surface.

Sputtering, I swatted at him as we both crested the surface.

But instead of moving away from me, he pulled me towards him by the waist.

Cupping his hand with water, he gently brushed it over my face, washing away the blood.

I did the same for him, using the moment to tenderly trace his features.

Once I'd finished his face, I had him lie on his back so I could rake my fingers through his hair, colouring the water around him red.

I tried to spread out each strand of hair, marveling as his bronze highlights materialized once the blood was washed away.

Edward always loved it when I would play with his hair, scratching his scalp and gently tugging on it. So he was in his glory now, his face slack in relaxation as I took my time taking care of him.

Once I'd finished, Edward did the same for me.

When we moved on to each others' bodies, the gentle caresses turned more impatient.

Eventually, the intensity reached a feverish peak, causing Edward to crush his lips to mine, opening and tasting. We kissed with unchained relief and longing that mirrored each others' perfectly.

My mind at first could only process him: lips, smell, taste, hair, hands, skin, and sounds.

His hands ran down my back and over the curve of my backside, cupping me gently before sliding down to my thighs and lifting me up, pulling my legs around his waist.

Arching into him, his lips trailed lower to my breasts, sucking and nipping at my flesh.

I quaked and shivered, grasping for his face, his hair, anything I could hold onto as I let the pleasure over take me.

His fingers feathered up my ribs and gently traced the shape of my breasts, taking the place of his mouth.

"You're amazing," he whispered as he kissed my neck. "Your body was sculpted just for my hands."

I pulled his face to mine and kissed him, noting how his eyes looked hungry, but this time I knew that it had nothing to do with my blood.

"I need you, Edward," I said with a whimper, not able to take anymore.

A moan escaped his lips, as he involuntarily thrust up against me.

Our bodies rocked to their own rhythm, sliding against each others' heat, drawing out the pleasure in the space between us.

"Edward, let's go to the beach. I need to be able to touch you," I whispered into the crook of his neck.

"I… I… can't stop touching you," he panted.

I pulled away from him with difficulty, dragging him behind me up the beach and onto a patch of grass where we had set up our tent in what felt like years ago.

Laying down on my back, I pulled him down next to me.

Trying to slow us down, I rolled to my side and started to run my hand over him- forehead, eyebrows, nose, lips, chest, and stomach.

I looked into his eyes at that moment and was mesmerized by the desire in his emerald eyes.

Never letting go of our eye contact, I wrapped my hand around him, thrilling when his eyes rolled back in pleasure.

I started a steady rhythm, fascinated by every twitch and sigh that escaped him.

"God, Bella…" he practically whimpered as he rolled onto his side in order to touch me as well.

His fingers moved inside of me, finding the center of my excitement.

Our touches became less tender and more frantic as we each pushed each other towards the brink.

"I need you, Bella," Edward growled, releasing me and pulling away only to roll on top of me.

I groaned at the feeling of him pressing into me, the anticipation too much.

For one long second, he didn't move as our eyes locked.

Then, with a groan, he thrust into pulled back slowly, but my body protested, moving involuntarily against him, trying to keep him.

Again he thrust into me and this time my desire for slow vanished. I grabbed him, hands entwining in his hair, legs wrapping around him.

Picking up on my new intensity, we set a fast and hard pace. Thrusting inside of me over and over, he kissed me, deep kisses that devoured me.

Never losing our connection, I rolled him onto his back and took control.

Again and again, I pushed myself down onto him, my hands feverishly caressing every part available to my hands.

The pressure began to build and build inside of me, a feeling that threatened to overwhelm me at any moment.

It became so intense that suddenly a growl ripped from my chest.

My eyes flew open in shock.

Looking down at Edward, I saw that his eyes were wide as well, but not in surprise or horror. I saw a fire in his eyes of something other than human- the animal in me calling to the animal in him.

Edward lunged up to me, latching his mouth to mine with an answering growl.

Our lovemaking became wild, frantic nipping, licking, and biting tender flesh. Moans and growls tore from our throats as we pushed and pulled at each others' bodies, taking the pleasure from each other that we needed.

When we had reached a point where it all became too much, we fell over the edge—first me and then him.

In a heap, we collapsed, panting and gasping.

Whispered I love you's were exchanged as we enjoyed the afterglow of our love.