"Carlisle", Bella yelped, throwing herself from the bed and into the arms of his tightly, refusing to let go. The initial contact shocked Carlisle but quickly dissipated. He reciprocated her embrace while his beast growled happily in content. He had expected her reaction to be somewhat different considering the extreme concern Charlie expressed for his daughter's well being after Billy's visit. She hardly seemed like the comatose girl Charlie described over the phone.
"Ahh", she winced, forgetting about the injury her baby gave her. Carlisle let go to inspect her instantly, simultaneously evaluating the room to ensure no danger was present. MY MATE MINE, the beast snarled from within, as Carlisle's eyes landed on Charlie who stood in the doorway.
"GET BACK"! Carlisle snapped at Charlie with his teeth bared.
"Whoa!" Charlie exclaimed in shock. Never had he seen the well-mannered doctor behave in such a savage way. "Don't bite my head off, I called you. Remember?"
Remember, Carlisle thought to his beast, trying to calm him. That is her father. We are not monsters. We are not Edward.
"Carlisle", Bella said softly, looking into her mate's eyes sweetly with her legs still around him. Almost as if she were coaxing the human side of her mate to return.
He closed his eyes, taking a few seconds to gain composure before releasing a breath and clearing his throat. "I apologize, I haven't been hunting regularly." Carlisle lied awkwardly, having not been accustomed to hiding such a big secret. He was grateful in that moment that Bella had no idea they were mated, and Charlie was still ignorant of what newly mated vampire cues would be.
Bella narrowed her eyes slightly while looking into his and raised her eyebrows. Giving him the expression that she wasn't quite buying what he was selling, but quickly forgot about it as another wave of pain overcame her.
"Carlisle", she groaned his name in pain while bringing her hand to her ribs.
"Bella", Charlie and Carlisle gasped in unison upon seeing the faint but still visible burns on her wrists. Carlisle's growl ripped slowly through his chest as he set her back on the bed and gently touched her wrists. Bella sighed, his cool touch seemingly alleviating the pain, as an electric current rippled through the both of them.
Bella shook her head and lowered her eyes, not wanting to give away what happened, but still needing to reveal the truth. She was being tormented. But who would believe her?
"What happened?" Carlisle snarled, furious at the notion that anyone had hurt his mate. Bella glanced at the door quickly, looking at her father's pained expression before looking back towards the ground.
"Charlie. Out. Now." Carlisle said flatly with little expression on his face
"Now hold on a minute-"
"I am with a patient. Your daughter in fact. I understand your concern but I need to do my job."
Charlie looked between Bella and Carlisle and narrowed his eyes, seemed to conclude that something else was going on. "Right," he huffed, directing his eyes back at the doctor with a smirk
"Billy", Rosalie yelled in the direction of the Quileute elder while waving her hands as he rolled to his truck. "Ah young Rose", he said, smiling affectionately towards the young woman. Although Billy had never truly trusted vampires, he could appreciate the small moment he shared with her at his home, and he did recall feeling the genuine care she had for Bella's well being.
She greeted him with a smile as she jogged up to him, "you do know, I'm probably older than your grandfather, she asked with a small chuckle as she reached down to hug him. Billy suppressed his shiver and reciprocated. My father would be spinning in his grave, he thought to himself while breathing in her inhuman perfume scent.
"I always forget," he laughed a breathy laugh, which quickly dissipated as the conversation became more serious. "Rosalie", he started hesitantly. "I know you can feel when some women are in danger but have you felt anything after Bella?"
She shifted a bit which was uncharacteristic of her. Usually, Rosalie was the most confident person in the Cullen household, if not the world, but she appeared to be somewhat uncertain about what to say. "Sometimes", she said shyly, tucking a piece of hair behind her ears and hunching a bit. "Other times not at all, but every so often I get the same feeling I had when...
Rosalie trailed off and looked back to the house quickly while squinting her eyes. Deciding if she wanted to say his name in such proximity to the others in the home. She breathed in shakily and hunched down closer to Billy, so her lips were nearly touching his ear. She breathed the last part of her sentence so softly Billy almost missed it entirely.
"Sometimes I get the feeling. The same one I got when Edward was alive. But it's not possible". She said the last part in a huff as she shifted her weight more, almost as if she was trying to convince herself.
Billy examined her further. For any normal man, they would've just let the conversation sit at that; admire the young woman's beauty, then walk away. But Billy was no ordinary man. He had spent decades observing people and deciphering information. Despite Rosalie being undead, he could tell by her eyes she was keeping something from him.
"What is it, Rose?" Billy asked urgently. He wanted her to confirm what he already knew, and he waited for her response patiently.
"I-I saw", she started but quickly closed her mouth and looked towards the house as Charlie exited.
"We'll talk later," she murmured, before flitting to the wood as Charlie walked to his friend with a giant goofy grin.
Jesus, what now? Billy wondered, now annoyed that he didn't seem any closer to getting the whole story.
"Shh, my darling," I whispered into Bella's ear while holding her warm body close to mine. In any other situation, this proximity to my mate would have made me aroused, but seeing my mate in such distress eliminated the urge.
"Carlisle", she whimpered my name as hot tears flew onto my shirt, and her hand gripped my collar. I glanced back down to her wrist to see the extent of her injury to find that it had nearly gone entirely.
"Bella," I gasped her name as I gently grabbed her wrist to observe more closely. I had never seen an injury heal in such a manner before. Being a vampire, I had been able to watch healing in real-time over the centuries, but this...
Her transition from hurt to healed had been like seeing a cut in a movie or fade in a video; Nearly undetectable.
She breathed in a shaky breath as she watched me with watery eyes and visible hesitation on her face. She did not want to tell me, I concluded, and I had to resist expressing the pain of rejection I felt inside at that acknowledgment.
But I could not allow her to be this way. She was always so frightened, so anxious, almost as if He was still out to get her. But he was dead, and she was alive. I needed to make sure what was left of her life was to be somewhat bearable, and I could not do that with her keeping things from me. I swallowed hard as I looked into my mate's eyes. She was beautiful, heartbreakingly, devastatingly beautiful, and the pain I could see in her was almost too much to bear. I was no Edward, but I will no longer sit back and be complacent when there is a problem in this family.
"Bella", I said her name sternly as I looked at her. It hurt to hear her heart rate jump from my sternness, but I knew it had to be done. "Tell me everything," I told her seriously as tears spilled from her eyes. I do not think she was that afraid of me, but I was frightened that my tone would remind her of Him.
"He- he did this", she sputtered out weakly while her eyes pointed to the ground, and she rubbed her wrist forlornly.
"He?" I questioned, still not quite understanding what she could mean. Was Bella hurting herself? Had he harmed her so severely that she no longer could think rationally? Bella did not respond verbally but looked up for a moment and waited for me to understand.
"He?" I asked again softly until realization came over me. "You don't mean-." She nodded before I could finish the sentence; holding me tightly against her as she nuzzled her face into my chest. My mind raced a million miles a minute.
How could this be?
Was he not dead?
Was this all in her head?
But no. It could not be. I saw the burns on her wrists. I recalled the two red marks on her skin, taking my time carefully to realize what I have seen. They were handprints. Two smudged and rapidly fading, (if they haven't already) handprints.
He touched her! My mate! I growled as a deep roar erupted from my chest, and I pressed Bella closer to me.
Bella sighed into me, relaxing her body against mine even though I knew she should have tensed.
Tell her, my beast commanded me.
I closed my eyes harshly, not knowing whether or not now was the best time to tell her the truth; we were fated together. "Carlisle", she breathed my name, and I flung my eyes open to stare into her deep brown pools. The fear was gone. Replaced with longing, trust, and maybe even love.
"Bella", I breathed her name against her lips. I had not realized I' had gotten so close. So beautiful my beast murmured as I crashed my lips against hers passionately. And she returned it, with a fervor I did not know she possessed.
More, my beast commanded, but I hesitated. I could not ignore what I had just seen, but Bella drank me in hungrily. Opening her hot wet mouth and pressing her tongue against mine.
YES, my beast cried out in pleasure, surely feeling the bulge appearing in my trousers. Her rib. I sighed, breaking the kiss, remembering that Bella was injured. She gave me a betrayed look while looking concerned. Did she think I did not enjoy it?
Rib! I blurted out awkwardly.
She chuckled at my outburst, shaking her head and assuring me it was now healed and fine while rubbing her nose against mine.
She wants more.
And I gave it to her. Licking and sucking on her sweet, succulent tongue and groaning into her mouth.
"Mine," I growled into her, oblivious to the tornado quickly approaching our sensual moment.
"Well, well, well", Esme growled at us both from the doorway entrance.
