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27th June 2048
The past two days had been torture. The kiss between Edward and I had replayed in my head every second. Each time bringing with it another ounce of guilt. Now as I watched the Cullens gather their things I felt sick to my stomach. I picked at the pom poms on the bed throw as I watched Rose and Emmett move around the room. Anything to stop my hands from texting Edward.
"Maybe one day we can go to Italy without the pressure of impending doom," Rose commented as she packed her passport and matches into a small holdall.
I unfolded myself from the bed and moved my fingertips over the expensive jewellery Rose had hanging from a small earring stand. Diamonds dripped from each prong, glittering in the glow of twilight. I wondered what Edward would look like in this light. Standing in front of me with his shirt undone slightly at his neck revealing the angles of defined collar bones and the strong slope of his broad chest.
"Are you OK, Saz?" Emmett asked, pulling from my reverie.
I blinked as I turned to see the two of them looking at me. Rose had the same look of concern she'd had since we had received the letter from the Volturi.
I took a deep breath and plastered on a smile. "I'm fine. Just thinking I could do with updating my jewelry collection."
"No it's more than that. What's going on?"
"Nothing, I'm just…"
"Distracted?" Rose asked. Her hair slipped over her shoulder as she tilted her head to eye me shrewdly.
"Something like that." If I could blush I would.
"I know the feeling. I just want to be in it, you know," Emmett said with a grin as he rolled his shoulders, thick muscles rolling in preparation of the coming fight.
Rosalie rolled her eyes and I hoped whatever was coming they would always be like this. I hadn't seen much of them in the jumps to the future, but I hoped they were still like this. Even more than that, I hoped that those jumps had been a possibility not an inevitability. I had never truly experimented with jumping to the future, so I wasn't sure whether they determined what would happen or if they just gave a glimpse of what could happen. I had assumed they were set points in time, immovable and unchanging, but if I had never experimented with it then how could I really know how it worked? I hadn't realised my gift could do the things it could until recently, so was it possible that I needed to change my perspective?
"Saz?" Emmett called, laughing as I snapped out of thought.
"Yeah?"
"Nessie and Jake are heading out, are you coming to see them off?" He asked as he carried the bags out the room. Following Rosalie as she swept out of the room.
"Yeah course," I tucked my hair behind my ears and stroked the locket at my chest. An energy had started to build my chest, emanating from where the locket rested cooling against my skin.
"OK weirdo, we'll see you downstairs." He chuckled, ruffling my hair as he passed me.
I followed them slowly, feeling the energy spread across my limbs, rolling through my veins and tickling the pit of my stomach. The tingle hadn't crept up on me like this in a long time, so it felt foreign now compared to the recent violent jumps.
"Guys…" I started but before I could finish the words, I was whipped away from the Cullens and flashed into a room I had never seen but felt somewhat familiar.
I gasped as I saw the diamond wallpaper and imposing four poster bed. The thick stone walls stretched to reach the ornate ceiling above and although it was meant to be beautiful, I felt nothing but dread.
My eyes flashed around the room, trying to get a sense of when I was in time now I knew the where.
"I was wondering when you would turn up," A voice whispered, barely audible above the static humming in my ears.
My head snapped towards the window and I gasped as she turned to face me. The locket around her neck glinted in the darkness, reflecting the silvery glow of the full moon. She pressed a finger lightly against her lips and indicated the thick oak door.
I strained my hearing to see what lay behind it but whatever it was wasn't making a sound.
"How long have we been here?" I asked, pushing aside the fact I was talking to my future self. Now wasn't the time to question the laws of time travel and physics.
"A couple of days," she started, "I think they'll put us to trial tomorrow."
"Us? To trial? What went wrong?" I pushed. We had a plan and at no point had it involved staying in Volterra any longer than necessary.
"You know it's better I don't tell you that."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because you'll want to tell them and you can't," she said knowingly. I started to retort but the words choked in my throat. "It's better this way. The less they know, the less Aro knows."
It made sense. Other than Bella and her shield, I was the only one in our group who Aro couldn't read. All it would take was one order from him and any semblance of secrecy we had would disappear in the snap of a Bella's neck. It was the biggest flaw in our plan, our reliance on Bella's ability to shield the Cullens' thoughts from Aro's prying and his sense of self preservation. We had tried to divide who knew what to keep the element of surprise, but there was only so much we could hide.
"Will they be safe?"
"That depends on plan C," she said with a smirk, her hands running threw her hair.
"There is no plan C."
"There's always been a plan C. We both know that."
I bit my lip against the truth lacing her words. I couldn't deny the idea hadn't crossed my mind.
"What are you saying?" I whispered, half hoping she would retract her words. Anything to stop the dread creeping up my spine.
"You know what I'm saying."
I inhaled a deep breath, releasing it in a hope to sooth my nerves. A human habit that was hard to break. She continued as I paced over to the bed and lowered myself onto the plush covers, "we came into this life alone and now we have to save it alone."
I nodded as her words sunk in, "Suppose I should have known. Nothing ever seems to go to plan,"
She nodded, freezing as a noise sounded beyond the door. Her face was a mask of trepidation. As fast as the fear crossed her face it was gone, a hard look of determination replacing it.
"Listen to me. This could be it. We might not get a second chance. Are you willing to go into this without knowing...what it must be like?" She fixed me with a persuasive stare and the image of Edward and I kissing flashed through my head. Heat followed, slow and burning in the pit of my stomach.
I felt myself gape as she raised an eyebrow deviously, a salacious smirk lifting the corners of her lips.
"For once damn all the consequences, take what you want." She continued, "there might not be another chance."
As the tingle crept over my skin I watched as she turned away to look back out the window, the moonlight shimmery off her skin.
My foot faltered as I reappeared in front of the Cullens.
"The first clumsy vampire in history," Emmett chuckled as he glanced towards me.
I laughed lightly and hoped my expression didn't give too much away. The memory of the Volturi room was fixed in my mind and with it was a strong feeling of dread. That place had been the setting for some of my worst human days. The daily torment of Athenadora and Caius. The probing questions of Aro and Sulpicia. And Marcus' endless stare. Blank eyes that seemed to look beyond my cocky façade. The thought of it now brought a shiver down my spine.
Jasper caught my eye as I reached the bottom of the stairs. His topaz eyes questioned me intently, "everything OK, Sarelle?" he asked softly.
I brushed the anxiety to one side and nodded, turning my attention to Renesmee and Jake. She had packed enough clothes to last months away, not just the week they were going for. I knew Alice had probably taken charge of her wardrobe.
As if in slow motion my eyes passed to my forever friend. She readjusted Renesmee's hair after clutching her in a tight embrace. Running the copper curls through her fingers in a way that was almost maternal. Something I'd always associated with Rosalie more than Alice.
The sight of them all in front of me, all hugging Renesmee goodbye. All holding her close and telling her everything would be OK. That they'd see her soon and to enjoy her trip. It was torture. Tears swelled in up from my stomach, in that way that makes your throat ache as you try to hold them back.
I took a deep unnecessary breath, forcing back the lump forming in my throat.
You can't. It's better this way. The words echoed in my head. As the family said their goodbyes I slipped away into the lounge. Their voices echoed from the hall and as I stared into the darkness of the forest beyond the window. In the reflection I could see them all gathered around Renesmee and Jake as they slowly edged out the door. They were a family. They always had been. And they always would be. And I had been a part of it for a little while but it couldn't last forever. Not without breaking them apart.
As her daughter slipped from view, Bella's eyes caught mine in the reflection. A fleeting glance laden with blame. We hadn't even gotten to Volterra yet and she already resented me for putting her family in jeopardy. As her stare tightened, I wondered if there was more to it than that. If she could somehow see the tether linking Edward and I.
Our gaze met for only seconds, but as she dragged her eyes from mine to Edward's lower jaw, and leisurely laid a kiss upon his neck, I felt my skin bristle.
For once damn all the consequences. Take what you want, whispered in my head as jealousy rose its ugly head. Whether her action was intentional or not, it roused a need in me.
I knew our plan wasn't going to go as we thought. And I knew I was going to have to face the Volturi and whatever judgement they had in store. That future was as black as the forest beyond. And just as Edward's reflection shimmered in the glass before me - distracting me from the darkness - the need to have one more moment with him was all I could think about.
The front door shutting resounded behind me.
"Garett will drive them straight to the airport," Eleazar's voice pierced the tension as they joined me in the lounge.
"We should have driven her ourselves," Bella responded uneasily.
"We don't know if the Volturi are watching. It's safer this way."
Bella chewed her lip, but it was clear she understood. Even if she didn't like the fact.
"Is everything in place?" I asked as I turned to face them.
"We will be in Rome, ready and waiting," Eleazar said into the tension that had settled on the group.
I pictured the darkened location he was talking about in my head. It was hidden away within a small cottage nestled in the Quartiere XII Gianicolense. I'd visited several times before, cementing the place in my mind. It would have been beautiful if I was going for any other reason. Terracotta coloured walls peeked through winding cyprus trees. Rich fertile land yielded the heady smell of rich red wine from the nearby vineyards. It was the perfect hiding place. Encased in the bustled streets of Italy's capital the Denalis presence would be shielded by the cornucopia of sounds and smells but still close enough to get to Volterra if needed. Most importantly, they were out of harms way.
"Our flight to Volterra leaves tomorrow," Carlisle said steadily. Even if he had doubts he wouldn't show them.
"I've got my 'helpless victim' face sorted." Emmett grinned before doing his best doe eyed impression with a pout. I chuckled despite myself. I wasn't sure if I was laughing at Emmett, his enthusiasm, or the sheer desperation of the situation. We were effectively marching into a trap and he still had this unshakeable confidence.
"Remember you need to push them, convince them that they've caught us out, but don't put yourselves in harm's way. Especially you, Emmett." I reaffirmed.
"Spoil all my fun, don't you Saz."
"As long as Aro believes he's in control he won't suspect a thing," Eleazar said confidently. His past with the Volturi had been invaluable these past few months. I just hoped Aro had conformed to vampire convention and stayed stuck in his ways.
"Aro will use you all as bait and as soon as he has Sarelle he won't have any more use for you so you need to get out of there as soon as you can."
"What if he doesn't let us go?" Esme asked.
"Your last meeting will still be firm in his mind. You have allies, and a lot of them, he won't jeopardise their power by trying to rival that."
"As soon as you're out of harm's way I'll get to work," I said grimly.
"Remember, if anything goes wrong, anything at all, we go to plan B. Quick and silent. We just need to separate them." Jasper watched me intensely as he talked. I wondered if he could see plan C forming in my head. Like the resolve was painted across my face.
"Sounds like we're ready." Emmett finished, rolling his shoulders in preparation.
I headed to the door with Eleazar.
"I'll see you soon," I said weakly as I glanced around the Cullens. No sooner had the words left my lips, than arms wrapped around me. A chorus of 'be careful', 'be safe', and 'we love you' filled the room.
"This is silly, I'll see you again in a couple days." I chuckled as I started to pull away. All but Alice let me go.
"I hate being so blind," Alice murmured into my hair. "There's too many decisions to be made, I can't see what's coming."
I hugged her a little tighter as if I could absorb her worry just by holding her.
"I promise, it's all going to be fine." I said earnestly as I released her. Because it was. They would be fine. I'd make sure of it.
Edward's eyes burned as he watched me, and for a moment, despite our audience, he pulled me into his arms. "If there's the slightest chance of something going wrong you get out of there. Do you understand?" He murmured into my hair, his breath tickling my neck.
For once damn all the consequences, take what you want, echoed once again and as I ran back to the house. I let my fingers type without second thoughts.
If you can slip away, meet me in our place. S x
I sat against one of the old oak trees and looked out of the cliff edge that rose to loom over the lake, forest, and little village below. As the silent breeze whisked the clouds away to reveal the first shimmer of stars nestled in the violet sky, I smiled down at the little twinkling lights of Colter Bay on the other side of the lake. I loved it up here, the small little clearing that offered a near endless view of the world around.
I breathed in the scent of the fresh air as my fingers brushed over the grass below me. Tickling my skin like my nerves incarnate.
Why am I here?
I bit nervously at my lip. I had felt so brave earlier, so brazen. But now, as I waited to see if he would show. I felt the reality of my decision. The jump to my future self had brought to the surface feelings I'd fought to for good reason. But here I was, undoing it all on a whim.
I heard the rushing footsteps behind me before I smelt the scent, both of which made me rise quickly and turn to the darkness of the forest.
I stood diligently as the sunset cast a pool of amber into the clearing. Wisps of my hair danced in a small breeze that circled through the clearing. The silence of the forest amplified every step he took towards me. In shadow he was inhumanly handsome, but in the soft warmth of dusk his skin had an ethereal glow that made his beauty all the more stunning.
Why am I here? What a question that was, but what a lie. I knew the answer the moment my eyes settled on his in the dim twilight. His gaze held mine like a cobra holds its prey, drawing me in. They sparked an urge so deep inside, buried below layers and layers of excuses and walls. That urge that pushed me towards him in pursuit of a forbidden wish which until now had been silenced by my conscience.
I let the tingle creep along my skin, stretching out to my fingertips, reaching for him as he steadily grew near.
His hand grasped mine and in that touch, I took us away, back to the place this was always meant to happen. If time had let it.
There was no violence to the jump, instead we almost melted back into existence. My old kitchen in Belmore appearing before us just as I had left it all those years ago. The faint smell of humanity still lingered in the soft furnishings, a ghost of the nights we would spend together here.
"Home sweet home," I murmured, as we stood hand in hand. The energy of the jump still tingled where our palms met but as my eyes met Edward's that tingle felt like sparks. Fireworks.
Edward pulled me closer to him until our bodies were flush with one another. My hands found their way to his chest, feeling his muscles ripple under my touch. I should have pushed him away. I should have forced him to release me. I opened my mouth, fully expecting words to spring obediently out of it, but for once the tip of my tongue was empty.
Tenderly, carefully, he brushed his mouth over mine stoking my cheeks with his thumbs before his hands fell from my face, down my sides until they reached my hips. And as wrong as it was it felt comforting. This was what I had known, the touch I had been subconsciously searching for.
Edward's hands slid over my hips to my back. His left hand was placed securely on the small of my back while the other moved up into my hair where he twisted his fingers into my locks.
I brushed my hands up his torso and around his neck, pulling him closer to me before my fingers found their way home, nestling into his silky, brown tresses.
Our lips were moving feverishly against one another and at some point a small moan escaped my lips, causing Edward to lift me up and sit me down on the kitchen table behind me. Edward pushed my legs apart with his and stood between them while he relished my mouth with a passion that was starting to make my body hum with pleasure.
When I couldn't take anymore, I broke the kiss gasping pointlessly for air while Edward's lips brushed over my jaw and down my neck having no intention on stopping their assault on me.
"Edward," I called his name in a breathy voice.
The air was saturated with a carnal musky scent, our scents. They mixed so perfectly, floral and musky, heavy and heady. My lungs greedily took in as much as possible, just to feel it light up my veins and dance on my tongue.
"Hmmm…" he groaned and attacked the hollow of my throat.
"Are you sure?" I asked. I wanted to give him a way out. No matter how much I hoped he wouldn't take it.
When he looked at me, I saw that his eyes were as deep black as the night and wild. He was breathing hard as he leaned into me and placed his forehead against my own.
I wanted to tell him to stop and think but I was too overwhelmed to get another word out. This whole situation was everything I had hoped it wouldn't be, dirty, sinful, desperate and guilt-ridden. Yet, I didn't try to escape his hold, because of all those things it certainly was, it was also just...indescribably amazing.
"How can this be wrong?" he asked in a husky voice
"I.." Any rebuttal I had died in my throat. Such silence was all it took to show my surrender. I had already succumbed to him the very moment I went to the cliff. Even the moment I sent him that text. I could pretend that maybe we'd just talk but in reality I knew what would happen.
When he kissed me again, I realised why I'd found myself at his feet again. Why I had disregarded every warning, every moral, and every doubt.
For as long as I could remember, I had been a moral being. It was one of the cornerstones of my character, the whole reason I had endured all the hardness in my life: putting other people before me, shutting down to survive.
What I did in the moments that followed was the first selfish act that I'd ever allowed myself concerning Edward. The first time I decided that what I wanted, what I needed, was more important than being subservient to everyone else. I wasn't doing it as someone's friend or guardian or past, it was just me, accountable to nobody but myself. For once, I didn't overanalyse or wonder what this would mean or how it would affect the people, places and things in my life. I simply let it happen.
The feel of his hands on me still gave me the feeling of my heart racing erratically even though it hadn't beat in years. With my eyes closed tight enough, I could almost pretend that the past 140 years had never happened. It was just Edward and I. I had never been forced to leave him in Belmore, and it was like my life was once again back where it belonged.
But I wasn't a sweet teenage girl anymore, and he wasn't treating me as such. There was passion in him now, fire emanating from within through his exterior. It was consuming and debilitating and I felt the hole I had pretended wasn't there mending itself each moment that his body was pressed against mine.
I turned off logic, reason, and thought, and gave the reins to my wanton body. My skin tingled everywhere his fingers had been, and when he reached to pull my clothes from me I raced to shed him of his.
His hands were rough and demanding, but I was more than willing to give what they asked of me. Moment by moment, the years were melting away and transporting me back to the place I missed most in the world.
His ebony eyes burned on me thoughtfully. Burned with all the love we lost those countless decades ago. I gasped and writhed beneath him. He slid his hand down my arm lightly, stopping to trace my collarbone with his index finger before he drew it down between my breasts. "You're perfect, you know," he sighed.
He splayed his hands flat against my ribcage and brought his mouth to the spot behind my ear slowly working down my neck.
"My angel," he said, as he tilted my head back, nudging my jaw with his nose. He kissed the underside of my chin softly, drawing a slow wet path with his mouth down the centre of my body. I was lost, so far gone that my conscience, my guilt, was hidden under layers upon layers of just ecstasy. It was just me and Edward, just us in this piano room. No one else existed.
"I love you," Edward murmured in between placing his lavish kisses upon my skin. I could feel his hands running up my legs, inching further and further up my thigh with every cycle.
It was like I couldn't get close enough to him. This burning feeling from low in my belly exploded out to my fingertips and toes, I could feel it thrumming through my soul, pleasure alive in me that vibrated from the inside out.
"Forever and eternity," I breathed as my body pounded with pleasure.
Take what you want whispered through my mind, and without a second thought I reached for him and that's what I did…
I couldn't say how long we lay beside each other, but it would never be long enough.
As the sun rose through the window I slipped away from Edward's hold. The bed covers slid from my body, falling softly to the wooden floor. I reached for his shirt where it lay discarded, wrapping myself up in his scent as memories of the last few hours flashed in my mind. I was amazed the cottage was still standing, even if some of the furniture hadn't survived.
The bed shifted quietly behind me as he joined me by the window. His face rested lightly against my shoulder while he trailed kisses along my neck. His face reflected in the window and for one moment more I let myself bask in the feeling of his arms wrapped around me. His broad chest pressed against my back. We fit together perfectly, each curve of our bodies a mirror image of the other.
As it had every time since our first meeting all those years ago, the sensation in the pit of my stomach reminded me how I felt and the look in his eyes mirrored my emotions as they watched me in the glass reflection.
"You're beautiful," he said simply.
I smiled at the sentiment. I wanted nothing more than to just enjoy this time with him, but a plan was forming in my head and I feared that if I indulged any longer, I would never be able to leave. At least that was part of it. The other was that I knew there was a very real possibility that when we returned, he would walk back into Bella's arms as if none of this had ever happened. Without my mind bewildered by lust that thought devastated me.
I untangled his arms from around my waist, reaching for the clothes I'd strewn across the floor.
"What was that?" he asked, turning me gently to look at him, as if the answers lay hidden in my eyes.
"I don't know what you mean, Edward," I said smoothly with a smile. I didn't want him to look any closer. I couldn't risk him seeing the future I had seen.
"That, right there. You're shutting me out."
He laughed incredulously. "Even now you don't understand, do you? For all these months I've tried to show you but you just don't see it."
"See what?"
"I love you."
"I know, but I'm not blind. You love Bella too. You have a family with her."
"And what do we have? Nothing? Some lesser thing that can just be discarded?" He was shouting, really shouting. Not the raised voice he used when he argued his point, or the seething hiss when he was overcome by anger. This was desperate. This was raw and unrelenting. Wild and wanton.
"No, of course not,"
"Then why do I feel like I'm losing you."
"I'm just trying to do the right thing."
"Right for who? You? Me? Bella?"
"I..." Words failed me.
"Do you know that you have never asked me what I want? How I feel?"
"I've never questioned that you love me, Edward."
"Yet you've never asked me to give her up. To leave Bella."
"I would never ask that!" I exclaimed.
"Why not?" he probed, pushing further.
"Why would I? When I already know the answer!"
"Tell me, what is the answer?"
"Bella." I answered, biting back the tears as I finally said what I had always known. "You would choose Bella, beautiful brave Bella. The mother of your child. The woman you loved so much you married her, changed her, vowed to love her for eternity. Who am I in the face of all that?"
"You're Sarelle." He cupped my face in his hands. "My love, my angel." I felt my eyes build with tears that would never fall. "My choice."
"You can't say that. You can't know that."
"I can, and I do."
"You love her," I said weakly as all the reasons for my walls crumbled and with them my hope that any part of what was coming would be easy.
"But I love you more. You're the love of my life, human and otherwise. When I said forever and eternity I meant it."
His eyes smouldered before me as I quietly said, "she's given up everything for you, Edward."
"I know," he exclaimed, his hands running through his hair before he wearily continued, "I know, but I love you. I always have. And it's tearing me a part. The guilt."
"Those Victorian morals," I said with a solemn smile.
"It's selfish. I know it is, but…." He sighed as he gave in to the one thing we had both been fighting this past year. "I want our chance at forever. We've been denied it for so long…"
Tears glistened in his eyes making the gold look almost molten. As always, the connection between us, the one that had been there from the first day we met in Chicago Park, pulled at my emotions. I knew how he was feeling. The Victorian sense of duty, the guilt that came with failing to uphold it. He had promised Bella forever and I knew he had gone against ever moral fibre in his body to say the things he had. To even admit to himself these past few months that he wanted something so wrong. He had always tried to do the right thing, the good thing. But now the thing he wanted wasn't right or good and to have it he had had to battle with the internal compass he had always trusted.
"I want that too…" I said softly. I paused before reaching for my locket and unclasping the two halves.
"I want to show you something."
My parents photo looked up at me, almost pristine despite the years going by. But now, where my own had been, was a photo of Edward and I. I had placed it there the day the letter from the Volturi arrived. I'd been looking through old photo albums and I wanted to know that whatever happened, I would always have a piece of him with me. And more than that, I wanted him with the memories I treasured most.
He smiled lovingly while his fingertips traced the delicate casing holding the picture in place. He had given me the eternity ring all the way back in Belmore and I had never been able to give him anything in return. This was my way of changing that.
"Forever and eternity," he said tenderly. Caramel eyes burning with fervour. I took his hand in mine, slow closing the locket.
"Forever and eternity," I replied, stretching to kiss his lower lip.
Falling back into his arms. Tumbling deeper into desire.
I looked at the sunset filtering through the trees. It marked the end of our time here. One perfect day. I wanted it to last a lifetime, but these past 24 hours would have to be enough.
I gently leant over and kissed him, long and tenderly. Our passion was spent, but our love wasn't. I stood up and picked my clothes up off the floor. We had lingered here too long already.
"We should get back."
I hated this part, when we had to go back. Before it would be at this moment that the guilt would rear its ugly head, but not this time. Somehow, I knew we may never do this again. We may never have the chance. In a few days we would be some place so very different from here, and we might not both return from it. I didn't know how I knew the latter was true, but some deep part of me just did.
"Can we not just stay here?" he asked as his eyes met mine.
"You don't know how much I wish we could." I breathed, "but time waits for no one."
"Not even a time traveller?" he joked half-heartedly.
"No," I said with a sad smile as I brushed his wild hair from his face.
There was a heavy pause as my head battled with my heart. "Do you love Bella? Will you still fight to keep her safe?" I asked unwillingly.
"Not now, Sarelle, not after what just happened," he murmured.
"Yes now, because of what happened."
"Yes, but-"
"No buts, Edward. I just had to know," I said. I had to know he would keep her safe, no matter what.
He sighed heavily as we stood hand in hand, lingering just a few moments more.
"The others will notice," he uttered, as he ran my locks through his fingers.
"They won't. I promise. I'll put us back to where we left."
A wry smile lifted the corner of his mouth, "that's not what I mean."
He learnt down towards me as if drawn there by some unseen magnetic force. Unable to keep his skin from touching mine or his lips from trailing along my neck.
"I can't keep pretending.," he whispered into my ear as his tongue lightly tickled my lobe. "Jasper can already tell something is going on and Bella can sense it. I know she can."
I melted as he slowly kissed the sensitive skin behind my ear, his hands trailing lightly against my inner arm. With every pass I let the tingle spread across my skin, following his touch.
"Just a few more days, Edward." I bargained as we slipped through time. "Forever can wait a few more days."
We appeared at the cliff, seconds after we had left. The rosy hue of sunset still painting the landscape with oranges and golds. It was like no time had passed at all, yet so much had changed.
Edward lifted my hand and kissed it. His eyes dimmed with sorrow and concern.
"Stay safe," he said while his hand clutched mine with a quiet desperation. He held it for a long moment before disappearing into the forest.
I looked out at the sunset before me. For one second, I let go of the fear and the guilt and I let a smile creep across my face. A blinding smile spreading ear to ear as the sun set on life as I knew it. For just one second I let myself bask in the love I had pushed down and it was glorious.
A/N: Thanks for reading!
