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As always these fine ladies help keep us readable, but we accept blame for all mistakes as our own.
** NOTE: This chapter has only been through two people on our beta team. The last person to read this doesn't always see her mistakes, so there will likely be some. **
Caledonia - Chapter 27
Edward POV
Both January and February have passed, and much to Bella's disappointment Jake and Jessica still haven't made the leap from friendship to a full-on relationship. Both James and Alice are still in on the bet. It has been interesting to watch Jake and Jessica over these past several weeks. I can see that they are growing closer and despite not changing the state of their relationship they are building a good foundation.
With them both being off for the next couple days and the fact they are spending it together camping, I feel much like Alice; this is when things will change.
"Are you sure you have everything?" Vicky asks Jake again as he stands outside of Caledonia with Jessica.
"Aye," he says, hiding his eye roll from her.
"Don't worry, Vicky, I have a two way radio with me, in case we have problems with our cells. I have extra food, and clothing. Not to mention the place we are camping is well known," she pauses and hands Vicky a piece of paper. "This is Sam's number, give him a call if you are worried." Her eyes shift to Jimmy. "Do you still have Bill Black's number?"
Jimmy only nods his head as she is still talking.
"He lives about three hours from our campsite. It's rather close to where you went fishing, in fact, I think you would have passed it on your way to the lake."
"Aye, we did," Jimmy adds.
"See, Maw, nothing to worry about," Jake says.
"But there could be snakes or wild animals," Vicky says.
"Only some wolves occasionally," Jessica says, with a smile. "Vicky, there'll be other people camping there too. Don't worry I'll make sure he is safe."
Jake just narrows his eyes at Jessica before looking back at Vicky. "We need to go, Maw."
Vicky hugs them both again, making me chuckle lowly at how much of a fuss she is putting up. Bella moves from my side hugging both Jessica and Jake.
"Text me so that I know you arrived safely," Vicky states.
Jake grins at her, and helps Jessica into his car. He waves at us as he gets in and they drive away.
"Can't believe my wee Jakey is all grown up," Vicky sobs against Jimmy's shoulder.
"Wee Jakey?" I say, holding in my chuckle.
"He's still me baby boy!" she says, before letting out a sigh and drying her eyes. "Just hope those two make it through this weekend safely," Vicky's face falls as she looks worried.
"Don't worry, Maw, I put some condoms in his bag," James says with a huge smile.
"I put some in with Jessica's toiletry bag, and the food bag too," Bella chuckles.
"I put some in Jessica's bag and Jake's backpack," Alice adds.
"This is not helping," Vicky huffs.
"Maw, sounds like they'll be having lots of safe sex, so they will not be able to leave the campsite to get eaten by wild animals."
"Wasn't talking about that kind of safe," she huffs again.
"Jessica has a rifle with her, and she's a great shot," Jimmy tells us with a smile. "I've been to where they're camping, they'll be fine, stop worrying about wild animals."
As Jake's car turns out of sight Vicky stands a little taller.
"Okay, people, let's get to work."
"Yes, Boss," several of us call out as we make our way inside.
Bella walks with me into my kitchen. I kiss her a few times before letting her go with Vicky into her own kitchen.
First thing in the morning, I've gotten excellent at setting up everything pretty fast so that I can spend extra time upstairs with Bella. I make quick work of my equipment, before making my way to Bella's kitchen.
"I was thinking that we could have a weekend away from the restaurants by ourselves. We could leave on a Friday around three, and come home on Sunday night, so that we're just gone two days."
Bella just looks at me. "Isn't it a little early to do that?"
I shake my head at her.
"No, we'll pick a weekend that you don't have extra cakes to bake outside of normal business. James can run the kitchen fine, and I am sure Vicky with the aid of the kitchen staff and Jessica can handle things for Wee Caledonia." I walk to her, making her look me in the eyes. "You need time off too ... we both do. Both of us have been here, every day, from seven in the morning until ten at night since the start. We'll burn out if we don't take time off every so often."
"You do those hours, I'm done at six," she answers.
I roll my eyes a little. "You're still here, in the office keeping on top of the paperwork, so you are still working."
Bella sighs but nods at me. "Okay, if you're sure then I would love a weekend with just us two. Kind of jealous of Jessica and Jake to be honest."
"Don't be, because I am sure our weekend away will beat theirs," I say. "I'll put us down on the calendar to be off in three weeks' time, since you do not have any big cake orders for that weekend."
Bella again nods her head, and I bite my lip a little. I know now that I have three weeks, not only to plan our weekend but make it extra special for when I ask her to marry me.
I have been given my paternal grandparents' wedding set, and I have placed it in my safe at home. Luckily, I was able to get Bella's ring size and the rings have already been sized to fit her, cleaned and appraised for insurance.
The engagement ring is white gold with two interlocking hearts sitting in an oval shape. I have been told that the two hearts are Celtic love knots, with a sapphire stone which just happens to be Bella's birthstone. The other heart is moonstone which is linked to my birth month. The more I look at it the more I know this is not just suited to Bella but to both of us. The wedding set, links in to the engagement ring, only I had to switch the stone around so that Bella's wedding band now has my birthstone, and mine now has hers.
I spend a little while longer with Bella, talking about our schedules for the next few days. I kiss her and tell her I will talk to her later before heading back to work in my kitchen.
I walk into my kitchen and ask James if he could join Vicky and me for a few minutes.
"Sure," he says, walking with me into the office where Vicky is.
"I would like the last weekend in March off, we'll be leaving around three on Friday, and coming back on Monday. I really want to take Bella away for a break."
"You are the boss," James says.
I just look at him. "I know, and where I am sure you can handle the kitchen ..." My eyes shift to Vicky. "And I know that Wee Caledonia will be fine too, I just want to make sure you two feel able, and sure that you'll be okay with us taking time off."
"Aye, I think it will be good for Bella to have time off without thinking about getting something done. Even when this place was closed, it wasn't like she was off," Vicky states.
"I agree," I say, "Thank you."
Vicky turns to put it in the book as James starts to talk.
"Wis thinking that maybe we should have a blog for both of the places. Maybe showing the different cakes, and maybe even pictures of them being made, or the meals we offer. Not everyone, but maybe a special one or two a month."
I give him a nod. "That does sound good, but we," I say, making sure that they will be in it too. "Will have to look and see what other people are doing." I smile a little. "I have missed my blogs." I swallow before looking at James. "When you go back to the kitchen, could you ask Jimmy to drop in, as I would like to speak to him and Vicky for a few minutes before I return."
"Aye," James says before walking out leaving me with Vicky who is now staring at me.
"James said ye were wantin' me?"
I close the door behind him, and swallow. "Yes, I would like to tell you, that the weekend I am taking off with Bella I am planning on asking her to marry me," I start to pull my hair. "I'm not sure if this is done in Scotland, but here ... my parents raised me to know that I should ask my girl's parents for permission, and as I see it that's the two of you."
"Well we appreciate you asking, do you have a ring?" Vicky asks.
"I do, and I will bring it tomorrow to show you."
Vicky stands up and hugs me to her. "I know you love her; I can see it in the way that you look at her. And I would be very happy for you to be my son-in-law."
As she lets me go, Jimmy sticks out his hand. "Ye got yourself a fine woman," he says with a smile. "Thank ya fir asking me. I am actually very touched by it. But wouldn't say no, as Bella would kill me. I can see what you mean to her."
"Who all knows of your plans?" Vicky asks me.
"Just us, but my father, and mother know I have the ring. They don't know that I have started making plans to ask so soon though."
"Okay, so I'll keep it hush-hush until you've asked her," Vicky states.
"Thank you. Both of you," I say. "I'm going to go back to the kitchen."
~Caledonia~
It's mid-afternoon, when Jake and Jessica arrive for their shifts fresh from their trip away.
I look out trying to see if there are any tell-tail signs that they have developed their relationship. But sadly, there's nothing different about how they act.
As Jake normally is in the front of the house, I walk into Bella's kitchen. "Afternoon, Jessica," I say and she turns looking at me like she is confused.
"Why is everyone going out of their way to say hello to me today, is there something out of place that I don't know about?"
"We've not seen you in four days," I grin trying not to give anything away.
"Huh," she says clearly not believing me. "Don't you have a kitchen to run?"
"I do," I reply, walking away. On my way to my own kitchen, I stop to give Bella a kiss.
"Any luck?" James asks as I return.
I shake my head. "He's your brother, hasn't he said anything to you?"
James shakes his head and starts to talk. "Jake can be rather private when it comes to actual relationships."
I simply look at James and then shake my head, he's not that private when he has a one-night stand.
~Caledonia~
"Edward," as it is the end of the night Bella doesn't have to speak loudly for me to hear her. I look up at her seeing that she standing at the front of the kitchen.
"I'm almost all cleaned up," I tell her, as I carry on helping the kitchen staff.
"I know, Jessica wants to talk to us in the office for a few minutes."
I frown a little, but nod before turning to look at the other kitchen staff. "Carry on, and I should be back soon."
I walk into the office and see Jessica. I am the last one in so I close the door behind me.
"Is there something wrong?" I ask as she looks worried.
"Just an inquiry," she says with some shakiness to her voice.
As I go to speak there is a knock on the office door, and it is opened.
"Hey, Jake," I say. "We're just having a word with Jessica, if you could give us a few minutes we will be right with you."
"I think I should be here too," he says looking at Jessica.
I look between them but as my eyes land on Jessica she has a faint blush on her face.
"Come in, Jake, and take a seat," I say.
He walks right to Jessica and sits down next to her.
"Am I right in thinking and saying that your inquiry is about our standing on relationships in the workplace?" I ask them.
Jessica smiles and ducks her head. "I wanted to make sure it would be fine, first."
"It's between you and Jake, as long as all personal business remains outside and Jake is not directly in charge of you, I don't see a problem."
"See, I told you that they wouldn't care," Jake whispers to her.
"Are you sure this okay?" Jessica asks looking up at Bella and then at me.
"Well as I see it, it's not like you work in that portion of the restaurant anymore," Bella points out. "He is not directly supervising you, and we can make sure that always Vicky or Alice oversees anything that could be construed wrongly if it needs to come from Jake towards you or vice versa." Bella shrugs. "For that matter, I am dating my employee, as is Edward," Bella says and then blushes right away.
"Ah, I never thought of that. I just always see you as a package deal," Jessica says with a smile. "Thank you," she quickly adds.
"So, you're a couple now?" I ask.
Jake seems to grin making Jessica's blush darken. "Yeah, we are," Jessica says in almost a whisper.
"Welcome to the family," Bella says, hugging Jessica.
"They're all nuts," I tell Jessica, "But you'll love them."
"I already do. I can't tell you how happy I am that I didn't follow Mike out that day he left." Jessica looks only at Bella. "I've been happier here since you came home, and not just because it brought me Jake, but you as well." She stops and looks at me. "Both of you have been the best bosses I have ever had." She chuckles a little. "I can't tell you how happy my mom is about my new uniforms too, she used to hate how I dressed. I knew she understood that I did it for the tips because it was an easy quick way to get them when the place you work in is a shithole." Her eyes move to the floor. "She always told me that if the place was good, ran right, and had decent food the tips would be good no matter what I wore. It's good to see that she was right, just don't tell her I said that."
"We won't," I say knowing full well after looking back that Jessica only flirts and dresses the way she did to get tips, and at the time, she was making the most.
"Are you announcing this?" Bella asks as Jake and Jessica get up.
"Aye, of course, not that we need to tell anyone since you all have a bet going."
My eyes go to Bella who just shrugs. "We always bet against each other, just like James and you have a bet when and if i will be pregnant before or after I get married," Bella retorts.
I open my mouth in shock looking at Jake. "Don't let me down, get her married first," he says to me before his eyes shift to Bella. "There's more than us two in that betting pool."
"Oh, I know more like the same people who bet about you two."
Jake chuckles and nods at her. My eyes go to Jessica who like me is just looking back and forth between Jake and Bella.
"I so want in on the next bet," she says as I nod in agreement.
"Oh, there'll be another bet coming up soon, James' is feeling left out," Jake says. "See you two tomorrow."
We wave as he and Jessica walk out.
"He looks happy with her," Bella smiles.
"He does," I agree. "I think they are good for each other."
~Caledonia~
The weeks trickle by, and Jake and Jessica seem to grow in strength. Just like I thought they keep things very professional when they are at work. They are so adept at keeping business a free zone from their relationship, they almost put Bella and me to shame.
Thankfully, it's Bella's and my time off this weekend. I have nearly everything worked out. I have left room, so that Bella can decide on places that she would also like to visit. I just hope that everything goes well and this is a weekend that she will remember. Not only because I am asking her to marry me, but because she enjoys what I have planned and what we will decide together.
I have already sent a text to my parents to let them know that we're leaving, and we are outside Caledonia as Bella says her goodbyes to Vicky, Jimmy and the boys. I have been standing off to the side watching them. At times like this I am reminded of just how young Bella really is. On the other hand it's nice to see that Bella is close to all of them. I still have no idea how they managed to let her come to Seattle alone in the first place. Maybe all of them always had it in mind to follow her soon after.
"You make sure to drive safe, none of this fast shit. The speed limit is there for a reason and is not a suggestion."
Even with the want to smile at Vicky I don't.
"I will, I promise," I say knowing that for her I am taking her baby girl away for a few days and it doesn't matter to her that we will still be in Seattle. But I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that she, as everyone else is still recovering from the shit storm that Charlie left behind.
Vicky helps Bella into my car as I get in from my own side. They hug and kiss one last time before waving us off.
"That was just as bad as when I was moving back here. You would think, with it only being a few days that it would be easier," Bella says as we drive out of sight.
"Love, I don't think it ever gets easier for parents. But keeping in mind everything that has happened, is likely what adds to their goodbyes when they know they won't see you for a couple days."
"Your mother seemed quite calm," Bella says with a grin.
"She was hiding her worry. Besides as you know, I have been away for a few years. You're Vicky and Jimmy's baby girl, and that makes things a little different."
Bella hums. "Are you telling me where we are going now?"
"Nope, I told you it's a surprise."
I drive for just over thirty minutes when I feel Bella looking at the side of my head. "Why are we driving in circles?"
I chuckle as I grin at her. "I was waiting to see how long it took you to realize it." I pull over making Bella frown even more.
"Put this on," I say, handing her a blindfold.
"Oh, kinky," she says while wiggling her brows at me.
"Maybe later, Miss Flirty, just put it on please."
Once Bella has it on, I start to drive again, it doesn't take long for me to pull up to the docks. I park my car at the spot that I have been allocated.
As I have already gotten the key and unbeknownst to Bella, I have also taken our bags there earlier this morning while she was getting ready. I help her out of the car and guide her to the houseboat where we will be staying. This is not just any old houseboat, this is the one that was used in the film Sleepless in Seattle, and that just so happens to be one of Bella's favorite films.
I wait until we are right outside before standing behind Bella hugging her back to my front.
I take the blindfold off, and a few seconds later she gasps. "This looks just like Sam Baldwin's house." I smirk raising my eyebrow over the fact she uses the character's name from the movie that the houseboat belonged to.
"This is the houseboat they used to film Sleepless in Seattle."
Bella turns looking at me. "Really, we're staying here?" she asks, sounding like she is awe struck.
"We are."
Bella's eyes get huge as she hugs me. As soon as she lets me go she just about bounces her way to the front door. I chuckle following her.
Bella spends well over an hour just looking around the houseboat getting excited over little things. For instance, the old-fashioned white phone, that Sam's son used to phone the radio show. She was quite surprised when the phone worked, so she uses it to call Vicky to let her know we've arrived, and goes right into giving her a detailed description about the place.
"We have some other plans for today," I whisper in her other ear after she has been on the phone for fifteen minutes.
"Okay, Vicky, I've got to go." She hangs up the phone and again starts looking around like she is seeking out something she may have missed.
I smile and let out a laugh over the fact she's been here almost ninety minutes, and she is still bouncing around the place.
"Sorry," she says sheepishly. "I'm all yours for the rest of the weekend."
"God, do I love you," I say looking down at her. She's got this natural aura of love, caring, and energy about her.
"I love you too," she says standing on her tiptoes so that she is able to reach to kiss my lips.
I have mapped out most of the places from Sleepless in Seattle and I plan to take her to each of them. Right now we are walking down First Avenue between Stewart and Pine.
"This is still something I need to get accustomed to," Bella says out of the blue making me turn my head down to look at her.
"The wide arse roads, plus the freaking count down when crossing them, it makes me nervous. Even these are wide,"
I chuckle a little. "Aren't the roads in Glasgow as big as this?"
"No, not really. Most of our roads are big enough for two busses one on each side. We have some narrow arse roads which I doubt that any of these drivers would cope with. Then there are the lights. The green man stays a smidge longer too, and there is no countdown on most of these roads." She smiles. "People would just take their time crossing, some even daring to cross when they knew the light for them was about to change back." I watch as she blushes but smiles again. "Even living here when I was young, it was only when I moved back that I found out what Jaywalking was. I used to think it was old perverted men who would crawl along the pavement to pick-up or chat to girls. You know men picking up prostitutes?" She frowns. "It could be because I did think it was pronounced jail-walking," she laughs as her blush darkens.
I nod at her. "I tell you if that was something we did in Scotland I would have been arrested a few times a day." She looks up at me. "I crossed roads safely but not always where I was meant to."
"A lot of people jaywalk daily," I tell her. "I've got to say though, I am not happy when people are jaywalking on roads when I am driving on them."
I catch Bella as she rolls her eyes. "Most drivers think they own the freaking roads, and most ignore road traffic rules themselves."
"I always follow the rules," I say smugly, making Bella look at me as she raises her eyebrow. "What?" I ask, and she keeps looking at me to say that it's untrue.
"I will have to take you to Scotland, and show you Glasgow, and have you drive on some of the narrow roads and then you can tell me if you are a good driver."
"We will be visiting Scotland one day, and I will drive you down any road you want me to take you down," I tell her.
It is around lunch time when we arrive at Pike Place Market. It appeared in Sleepless in Seattle, and in many other great and not so great movies.
This is one of my favorite places in downtown Seattle. It's a fun place to go, and always very lively. But today, I just watch Bella as she walks around looking at everything. We've been here before, but this time it is different. My cell phone is in my hand while we walk around, and I freely take many photos of her, and even a few videos.
We arrive back at the houseboat and sit on the patio looking out at the water.
"This is so peaceful" Bella sighs as she hugs close to my side. "If I had all the money in the world, and could control the weather, I would live somewhere isolated, filled with a beautiful forest, but also close to the water so I could just look out at it," she starts to chuckle. "I would like to be somewhere where I can see the stars too."
"Sounds nice, but why control the weather?"
"If I am this close to the water, I would want to make sure no high waves would flood my home."
I give her an evil grin. "If you're isolated then mad men could come and kill you."
Bella's face becomes serious. "I would have a shotgun, and many guards, remember I have loads of money. Hell, I could surround a huge amount of land with a big wall to keep undesirable people out. Besides if I could control the weather I could be like the movie Frozen and use a blizzard to keep people away."
For the rest of the night we talk about our dreams, both reality and fantasy.
~Caledonia~
I am feeling rather nervous as tonight is the night, I am going to ask Bella to marry me. I have taken her back to the Space Needle. I think of it as the place where we had our first date, even though neither of us saw it that way at the time.
Bella watches as one of the servers takes a plate with a slice of cake with 'will you marry me' written in chocolate on it to a table near us. I watch as she shakes her head laughing.
"What's so funny?" I ask, worried a little now on how she will react when I ask her the same question soon.
"Jake was pranking James constantly, and James was sick of it so I helped him prank Jake back."
I nod at her as she continues.
"Jake was on a blind date and he took her to dinner at James' restaurant ," she rolls her eyes. "He got a discount there because of James, the cheap prick. Anyway the date was going so-so, and she ordered dessert. So out it came on a plate and when it was placed in front of her the woman gasped." Bella covers her mouth. "It was a plate just like that one," she says pointing at the plate that is now at the table where a woman is crying in the arms of a man who will be her future husband. James told me, both the woman and Jake were freaking out. Jake kept saying the plate was at the wrong table. Paul the server then brought out a note in Jake's handwriting saying to put the proposal on the plate. When Jake realized it was a prank he was so mad, even more so when he found out it was my idea."
I shake my head and laugh at the thought of that happening.
"He went from mad to fuming when he saw most of his mates all enjoying the prank, some even video recording it."
"Did he get you back?"
"Yeah, nothing big, that was one of the best pranks."
"Would you like to join me for some cake, out there?" I ask pointing to the area that is secluded. Bella smiles and nods her head at me. I walk her out to the table that's already set for us.
"Before we have our dessert, would you dance with me?"
She happily moves into my arms and I keep her close as we dance.
"I am astonished by you and cannot believe how much you love me. I don't know what I have done throughout my life to deserve you," I say with my lips close to her ear as we dance closely. "You make me a better man, I want to be a better man because of you."
"You bring out the best in me too," she says.
Leaning back a little to look at her, I smile before kissing her lips softly.
I stop dancing looking deep in her eyes. "You have quickly become not just my lover, but my best friend. I know that I can tell you anything, and always have your support. I want to make your dreams, along with mine come true," I swallow and get the ring out of my pocket. "I am hoping this is the start of our dreams coming true. Isabella Marie," I cut off from saying her last name, knowing she still finds it hard to hear. "Will you make me the happiest man alive and agree to become my wife?" I hold the ring out as she looks at me in shock.
Bella starts to nod at me as her eyes fill with tears. "Aye, I would love to become Mrs. Edward Cullen."
I hug her close to me, kissing the side of her head a few times. I pull back and place my hand on the side of her face before kissing her again.
"Let me get this ring on your finger," I say, removing it from the box. I slide the ring on her finger, looking at her as she looks at the ring.
"It's beautiful," she tells me, making me nod in agreement.
"It belonged to my father's mother, I hope you don't mind."
She shakes her head. "No, I love it even more now that I know it is a family ring."
"Come, sit, and eat some of this dessert, but be warned, I baked it."
I help her to set, getting our servers attention to bring out the cake.
"I can't believe I am engaged to be married," she says with a big grin.
"I know," I say, feeling a little calmer now that she has my ring on her finger.
Her eyes go to mine, and open wide. "Is this what this weekend was about?"
I nod at her. "Yes, I wanted it to be very memorable, and we still have the entire day tomorrow."
"I can tell you, you knocked this out of the park," she frowns a little. "Do Vicky and Jimmy know?"
"I asked them for permission and told them that I was asking you, yes."
She smiles and lets out a chuckle. "That explains why she got me some new kinky lingerie that she made me pack for this weekend."
I raise my brow. "What, why didn't you wear it last night?"
She smiles sexily at me as a blush glows across her face. "I will give you a fashion show tonight," she says in a tone that is dripping pure sex.
I look around to see that our cake is coming. "Want to take this to go?"
Bella bites her lip and nods her head at me. She doesn't have to say another word.
I get up and meet the server halfway. I quickly tell him I want to box the dessert up and hand over the folded cash to cover the dinner, extra private balcony use, and his tip. I walk back to Bella and help her with her jacket. The waiter meets us by the elevator and hands me the box with the cake I made inside.
As soon as we have our cake and the server has wished us a good evening, the doors to the elevator open and we go to the car.
As I drive to the houseboat, we hold hands but no words are said. I know that if she is feeling an ounce of what I am, there need to be no words. All I can think about is being one with her as soon as possible.
Walking into the houseboat, we barely manage to keep our hands to ourselves. I'm not sure how we open the door, and set down the cake before Bella has pushed me to sit in a chair close to the corner window.
"You sit right here, while I change into something more ... comfortable."
I swallow and nod as the lust dripping off her voice makes my cock harder than it already was. Leaning forward I remove my suit jacket and tie. I unbutton the top few buttons on my shirt and take off my belt which is not comfortable in my state of arousal. I sit back, and listen for her to return. Hearing her steps come down the stairs, heightens my senses, since my back is to her.
She walks behind me and trails her fingertips through my hair. She tilts my head back and leans over and kisses me soundly. I moan into her mouth, as her body moves around the side of the chair. She stops kissing me when she has moved to the front of the chair, and pulls back with a smile on her face.
"So what do you think?" she asks.
The way her body looks covered in the red and black lace takes my breath away. The way the fitted lace curves around her breasts, and hugs her midsection shows just how desirable her body is. The tiny panties she is wearing barely cover her slit, and I can see she too is aroused.
"You're always so beautiful, but right now you look like sex on fire," I tell her with a growl. "Come here and straddle my lap, let me touch your body."
She moves, but turns around and bends over. Her hands move to her sides and she pulls the thin straps of the lace panties over her hips and steps out of the small scrap. She smirks at me before she turns around facing me and climbs into my lap. As soon as she is close enough my mouth gravitates to her lace covered chest. I pinch one nipple, while palming her bare ass cheek and sucking her other nipple into my mouth, lace and all. She moans and I open my eyes to see her throw her head back as her back arches her body closer to me. I know now that this will get out of control fast, so I place both hands on her ass, and stand with her. Her legs wrap around my waist, and she pulls back and smiles at me.
"This didn't last long," she states as she pulls her lacy top off and flings it across the room.
Kissing her, I head directly for the steps.
Making my way into the spacious bedroom I walk with her still wrapped around me to the bed. I don't let go as we lie down together. Our mouths never leave each other's bodies. I find myself unable to get enough of her. She truly is my everything. The hot neediness I felt moments ago becomes an overwhelming desire to cherish her and show her how much she means to me. I finally pull back enough to look her in the eye.
"The things I want to do to you can never be fully expressed in words or in actions, you are my life now. I promise to love you every day, of forever."
Bella gets teary eyed, and I kiss her tears away.
"I want you to make love to me," she says as she strokes her hand across my cheek.
"I want that too, my love."
The intense need has become more of a longing desire to mate with the other half of my own soul. The yearning is strong and still there, but it feels different. This is more about the joining of our entire beings, becoming one. I can see she feels the same way. Where our touches and kisses a few short minutes ago were filled with lust, passion and urge, this is more spiritual. Those feelings are still there, but it is more like a deep-seated desire to be whole with my other half, it is unlike any experience I've had before.
~Caledonia~
The sunrise wakes me, and I smile remembering not only the sensual act of love we shared but also the down and dirty dessert covered mess we made sharing the cake I baked for her. The raspberry and dark chocolate from the filling will forever be a reminder of the passion of last night. Thankfully there is a washer and dryer here, as the sheets needed to be washed right away. The fact that it gave us plenty of time to not only make love in several places in the house, we also enjoyed the quiet night and secluded deck outside wrapped in the warm quilt from the back of the sofa.
I can't help but grin as she starts to stir, knowing that she is now wearing my ring and one day, hopefully soon, she will be my wife.
A/N: So, I know it has been forever, but we are fully committed to having this story posted in its entirety by the end of July at the latest. We truly love and appreciate all of our readers and are doing our best to wrap this up. We are planning more things, but after discussions we will have most of each story written before posting as we feel like we got into a train wreck with real life during this story, and hate feeling like we are letting our readers down. Please let us know what you think, we will post again within two weeks. Thank you, (Nicola - WeeKitty) and Kasi - TeamAllTwilight.