The Mating Dance

by Xavier2163

AU Edward Cullen and his adoptive family moved to Forks to start a new life, but Edward’s life suddenly changes when he’s drawn into Bella Swan’s strange and dangerous world. Vampires mate for life, but what happens when that mate is human? OOC Lemons ExB

15. The Flying Dutchman

Disclaimer: Written under the derivative fan works act. All rights reserved to the original creator, Stephanie Meyer.

Title: The Mating Dance

Rating: M for sexual situations, lemons, and hot, steamy, angsty vampire lovin', underage drinking, smoking, drug use and overall bad behavior.

Premise: Alternate Universe. Edward Cullen and his adoptive family have moved to Forks to start a new life, but Edward's life suddenly changes when he's drawn into Bella Swan's strange and dangerous world. Vampires mate for life, but what happens when that mate is human?

Alternate Universe: Canon pairings eventually, pretty much OOC, ExB of course.

POV: EPOV (Edward), Edward's turn to continue the story. Alice will be back later on and maybe Bella, too.

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Author Notes:

Please note that this story is rated M for a reason, if you'd prefer not to deal with mature themes, please do not read this story.

Sorry about the delays in updating. I've had another story Idea in my head for a while, and started working on it too. This story will continue. I'm not dropping it. It has a long ways to go yet.

If you're interested, check out my new story, "Shades of Gray". The link is on my profile page.

If you thought this story was coming out of left field, and you liked it, take a look at my new one and let me know what you think.

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Chapter 14 The Flying Dutchman

Alice rode with Bella and me in Bella's Charger. There had been a brief discussion about which car to take and who would drive. I wanted to drive the Volvo, but Alice and Bella overruled me and agreed that Bella should drive. I'd compromised, and Alice was sitting in the back seat while I took shotgun. Esme and Carlisle followed us in Esme's Mercedes.

I had to admit, I don't think I could have gotten us there any faster. Bella put the bright red Dodge into overdrive, and kept the gas pedal firmly pressed against the floor board except when Alice warned her to slow down or if we were passing through a town. Esme followed her lead, and we might as well have been towing the Mercedes for all that it wavered from the course that Bella set.

If I was driving, I would have had to keep my full attention on the road to even drive at a fraction of her speed. Bella was able to participate in our conversation, and the car never deviated a centimeter from our course. Like Alice had said before, it was like the car was driving down rails spiked down on the road bed instead of a simple paved highway.

We were on the road well before noon, heading north out of Forks up highway 101 on our way to Seattle. It was about a three hour trip, but with Bella driving I knew we'd make the trip a lot faster than that. A couple of times, Alice tapped her on the shoulder, and nodded ahead of us so she'd slow down. The first time Alice warned her she spoke out loud that she was slowing down for a speed trap in an almost normal voice, but just slightly louder. I turned and looked behind us after we passed the State Trooper parked on a side road, and Esme gave us the thumbs up as she thanked us for warning her.

"Did Esme hear you, just now?" I asked, surprised. I knew their hearing was good, but I was still shocked that she could hear us talking over the road noise from another car.

"Yeah, I thought I better warn her I was slowing down, so she didn't hit the back of the car. Just speak up next time Alice and she'll know what to do."

"Sure thing, Bella, no problem," Alice told her. Then a minute later continued, "So, Bella… What Esme said before about the werewolves being good guards, that part of the treaty legend is true too, isn't it. That guy that was working the door that night at the club, Josh, he was a werewolf, wasn't he."

"Yeah, Josh is a werewolf. I told Edward we had some werewolves working for us the other night, when we talked in Port Angeles. I thought he would have told you by now."

"We haven't had a chance to talk about it yet." Alice told her. "So how does that work? You guys just hire them and pay them to work for you as mercenaries?"

"It was like that in the old days. Some of the families still bid on the new wolves that come out of La Push and hire them on contract. The La Push wolves usually have stronger genes, and better control. Sam's the first one in nearly thirty years that didn't go to work for one of the clans, but most of the wolves that work for us are born into the packs that a lot of the families keep. They still get paid damn good, but we don't have to recruit them anymore."

"Sam imprinted when he went back to La Push after the first time he phased." I said "His girlfriend, Emily didn't want to go to Seattle. Sam said she wasn't cut out for that kind of life."

"That makes sense. If a wolf imprints, they'll do anything to keep their mate happy. If Emily said let's stay in La Push, then that's exactly what Sam would do to keep her happy."

"So how rare is this imprinting thing then? Sam said it doesn't happen often, but if they don't imprint, then they have I higher sex drive instead?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right. None of our wolves have imprinted, but they don't call them wolves for nothing. They're always sniffing around some girl, trying to make a date or get in their pants. Actually they're pretty good about it, and know how to take no for an answer, but it doesn't keep them from trying. They can be kind of annoying sometimes, but Esme runs a tight ship, and Jasper's good at maintaining discipline."

"Having plenty of girls around is usually part of the standard contract, but it's all voluntary. Rose wouldn't stand for anything less. Besides, Emmett doesn't let them get away with much. Lucky for them, they're actually pretty good looking and attractive in a sort of primal masculine way. Working for somebody that runs a night club has some perks. A lot of the girls don't seem to mind at all, as long as they understand that these guys aren't looking for a commitment and aren't really capable of making one."

"So, these wolves fight for you? How do you get away with that, and keep it secret? Sam was fucking huge in his wolf form, and I'd think it would be kind of noticeable if a bunch of giant wolves started a fight in the city."

"They mostly work as guards and internal security to help defend against rival families. We keep our fights private and off of the streets. If the wolves do other work, we don't send them on jobs where humans are likely to see them. Even if they did, most humans don't want to believe that they're real, and would try to rationalize the experience as something else that their mind can accept. Worse case scenario, we might have to do some clean up work. Put the right spin on a news story, make a couple of pay offs, tamper with video footage, or eliminate some witnesses, but that doesn't happen often to even the sloppiest families."

"Isn't that attitude a little caviler? Do you actually condone the murdering of innocent bystanders?"

"I suppose it would seem like that, but if it protects my family I'd probably accept it. I did say it was worst case. I don't like to think we'd condone indiscriminate massacre of innocents if it came right down to it. We've just never had a case where it's been necessary, at least my family hasn't. We're careful to avoid that eventuality, but it would still be a violation of the laws our kind live with. Even if we didn't personally take care of it, somebody else would, and then we'd have to live with the consequences of our inaction"

"What consequences?"

"We would be considered just as guilty if we exposed the secret to somebody, and then didn't do anything to fix the problem. That's why we have to deal with Katy. We're responsible for her keeping the secret now, one way or the other. I understand why you don't want us to kill her, and we won't if we can avoid it. It's really up to her now."

"I guess if we have to deal with this, we should take care of it ourselves. I made the mistake. I should be responsible for cleaning it up." I sat stoically in my seat as I thought about this and what I should have done differently.

"We're partners now, Edward. I'll help you however this turns out, ok?" Bella said as the corners of her lips turned up into a grin.

"Sure, partner. This is my problem, but I'll let you help…" She leaned over and gave me a quick peck on the lips. The car never wavered as much as a centimeter from its path as she kissed me, leaving a wide grin on my face too.

"God, you two…! Give it a rest! I should have rode in Esme's trunk if I knew you two were going to be so sickeningly sweet all the way to Seattle!

"Oops" Bella said with a grin as she moved back to her side of the seat. She sat up straight and focused on the road, but kept making furtive glances in my direction.

We stopped in Sequim for a bathroom break to fill up the car with gas. Carlisle started to fill up the Mercedes with gas, and then Esme was whispering in his ear. They disappeared into the convenience store holding hands, and I went and hung up the pump nozzle when the tank was full. I was about to send Alice to go look for them, but I caught the exasperated look in her eye and turned to see what had her flustered. Carlisle and Esme were coming out of the restroom together. Carlisle looked a little flushed with a light sheen of sweat on his brow like he had exerted himself. Esme was adjusting her dress. I turned back around and just paid for the gas so we could get out of here. The kid at the check stand had a knowing look on his face and winked at me as he handed over the credit receipt.

God, Parents! You'd think they'd know better at their age. This was just too much information to deal with. I went back outside shaking my head. You just couldn't take them anywhere, could you? I glanced at the Mercedes and the way they were cuddled together in the seat. I hurried back to the car got into the front seat of Bella's Charger and we got back on the road.

We stayed on 101, but turned off onto Highway 104 towards to ferry dock in Kingston when highway 101 turned south. We took the ferry to Edmonds, and we were in the city even though we weren't even in Seattle yet. The urban sprawl of the greater Seattle Metropolitan area surrounded us and spread out as far as the eye could see. The sprawl extended well past Seattle proper all the way past Tacoma to the south end of the sound, and started to creep across the base of the Olympic peninsula

We were quiet and didn't talk much until we got to the ferry in Kingston, and I tried to get the conversation started again.

"Can you tell me more about your family, Bella? I know you consider Esme to be your mother, and Emmett your big brother. How do the rest fit in? What about Esteban and Jasper and Rose? Is there anyone else I should know about?"

"Rose is like the big sister I never had, the way she looks out for me. Jasper is kind of like the serious older brother that takes care of business. Emmett and Jasper are like brother that way."

"You know where one of them is always looking for a good time and having fun, and then there's the responsible one that looks out for everyone and makes sure we take care of business."

"All of us think of Esme as our mom, except maybe Esteban. Esteban doesn't really give off a 'fatherly' vibe, although he's the oldest in our clan. It's not a paternal feel at all, although he's definitely the leader. If I had to name a family relationship for Esteban, I'd have to say stern uncle or maybe godfather… I know, before you even say it. It's a little cliché considering our line of work… It's just how I feel."

"Isn't that kind of a small crew for the inner circle of your Clan? Considering our line of work…"

"That's just the immediate family. We have some extended family up in Denali, in Alaska that we all consider cousins. Esme thinks of Tanya and Irina as almost sisters, although they aren't involved in the business. We have a lot of associates that take care of the family business. Besides, the inner circle is about to grow significantly."

"So who's been in the family the longest, Esme or Jasper, or is it one of the others? Why did Esteban bring you all together in the first place?"

"You know, Esme can hear everything we're talking about. Don't you think it would be more polite when she can answer your questions in person?"

"…are you sure?"

"Ok, Esme doesn't mind, and she's surprised we haven't discussed this before," Bella glanced back at Alice, but she just nodded to her, that it was alright with her too.

"Jasper is the oldest, next to Esteban. He's been with him the longest and helped him get established to test out the Volturi's new agenda for relaxing such tight control of the secret in favor of expansion and working more closely with the human world. They traveled through the northern part of the United States and parts of Canada when the Volturi first started to relax the rules about humans."

"It's still hard for Jasper to get used to being able to move around during the day. He spent most of his early life down south in Texas, Mexico, and Central America. The vampires down there are very 'traditional'."

"What do you mean by 'traditional'?" Alice asked.

"They hunt humans, and live the old ways. A lot of them believe that drinking animal blood is unnatural. There were horrible wars among the Southerners. At first they fought for territory and hunting rights. Later it devolved into an endless series of vendetta and retribution as one Clan or another was getting revenge for a death or settling the score. Jasper was born into the middle of that. He led his Clans armies for Maria for nearly fifty years before the Volturi finally stepped in and ended the wars."

"How did they end the wars?" Alice asked again.

"The way the Volturi always handle that kind of problem…, they sent in the guard and wiped out all of the opposing Clans until there was nobody left to fight and cause problems. Esteban spared Jasper and recruited him to run his personal household guard because of his gift."

"Aro closed the South and declared most of it off limits to let the humans rebuild so the vampire hysteria would die down. For decades, it was a wasteland down south, with scattered survivors living in hiding as nomads. It's only recently been opened back up to let the Clans rebuild as long as they follow the new lifestyle."

"Jasper has been working for Esteban ever since the end of the Great Southern Wars. They were looking for somebody to run a club for them when they 'recruited' Esme."

"Recruited, how?" I asked

"Esme was the victim of a disastrous marriage to an abusive husband. She divorced him, but was branded as an outcast and scarlet woman in pre-1920's America. Her infant son died from a fever the winter after she left her husband. She almost tried to kill herself, she was so despondent over the loss of her son, but she found the willpower to walk away from the cliff she'd considered jumping off of. She was absolutely destitute with nothing but the clothes on her back. She was alone in the world. She was already dead to her family. There was no one to notice whether or not she lived or died."

"She made her way to Chicago, where her fortunes improved when Prohibition was enacted in 1919. She found employment as a 'hostess' in the speak easies but the club owners soon figured out she made more money for them behind the bar instead of on her back. She rapidly progressed into management, running a very successful speak easy for an underworld organized crime family."

"Esteban and Jasper were studying how the speak easies operated as a model for the club they wanted to open in Rochester, New York. They hired Esme to manage the new club they were opening. Of course Esteban failed to mention that there were certain prerequisites to employment. Like having to be a vampire, but he made her an offer she couldn't refuse. She has been a member of Esteban's clan managing Clubs for him ever since."

"An offer she couldn't refuse?"

"Sure, eternal life or no life at all. It isn't a tough decision for most people. Either you take it, or you don't have to worry about it ever again."

"That doesn't seem like much of a choice."

"I suppose, but she says she's happy with her decision and she's glad she made that choice."

"Sure, but if she'd made the other choice, we'd have never heard of her. So who was next? Were they 'recruited" like Esme, too?"

"Not exactly, no. Rose was next. Esme needed help in the club and she had been searching for suitable candidates, but she didn't want to repeat how she'd been brought on board, so to speak. She'd considered somebody with Roses' gifts and talents, but she was too high profile to make disappear. Rose had a tragic 'encounter with violent street crime' that left her near death when Esme found her bleeding to death in an alley. Esme made a snap decision and took her back to the Club. She asked Esteban to change her to save her life, and Rose has been part of the family ever since."

"A tragic 'encounter with violent street crime'? How do you know that Esteban didn't manufacture this circumstance to assuage Esme's feelings to make it ok for her to recruit Rose?"

"I'm leaving out a lot of details that are personal, Edward. It isn't my story to tell. You can ask Rose for the rest of the story if you don't believe me. Trust me, Jasper and Esteban had nothing to do with this. They did help Rose exact her revenge, but that was several years later when she'd learned some control."

"Ok, I don't know the whole story. It just sounded a little convenient that Esme had considered somebody like Rose, and then suddenly she turns up near death and ready to be turned. So what exactly does Rose do for the family?"

"Yeah, that does make it sound kind of too easy when you say it like that, but that's my fault for how I'm telling the story. It wasn't like that. Rose helps in the day to day operation of the club, manages the "talent", and tends bar. Think of her as assistant manager."

"Huh, alright, I'm sorry I questioned you. I believe you. So, Emmett was the last one besides you? Are you allowed to tell his story?"

"Yeah, Emmett was next. Rose found Emmett near death in the forest while she was hunting. Emmett was in the woods and was attacked by the bear he was hunting. Rose felt an immediate connection to him so she killed the bear before it could finish him off and brought Emmet to Esteban to change him. She carried his bleeding body over 100 miles back to Rochester to Esteban's Club."

"Emmett has been trained to fight by Esteban and Jasper. He works in the club as a guard, bouncer and security for the clan."

"So do Emmett and Rose do work for the Family business too? You know, the contracts like we were talking about, or is that something just you and Jasper do?"

"They help out when we need them. Jasper did most of the special jobs for Esteban that we had to keep quiet. You've got to understand that Esteban always farmed the majority of this work out to his Volturi subordinates and contacts. He had a huge advantage as First Sword of the Volturi for the Pacific Northwest that the other Clans didn't have."

"When Aro made Esteban go back to Volterra, we lost most of our muscle and strike force. Jasper didn't have the contacts that Esteban did, and he couldn't call on the guard to do jobs for us. Suddenly we were only as powerful as the other Clans in our region, and they started to take advantage of that weakness."

"Why did Aro make Esteban go back to Volterra then? Didn't he send him here to build all of this in the first place? Why would he turn on him now?"

"The hard part is done now, I guess. The power structure is established and everything's running smoothly. Aro didn't need Esteban here like he did in the early days when they were moving into this area. Esteban found something Aro wanted, and he refused to give it to him. Now Aro's punishing him by letting the other Clans destroy what he's spent more than a century building."

"What did he find? What's worth letting everything he's built for so long be destroyed?"

"Edward…" Alice tried to interrupt.

"No, Alice. I need to hear this. What did Aro want that Esteban wouldn't give him? What could possibly be worth all of this? You know there's a war brewing in Seattle! It's going to rip the city apart. It'll be years before this settles back down. A lot of people are going to die for this. And not just wise guys and the Clans. A lot of Innocent…"

"Stop it! Don't you think I know all of this! I don't want this to happen… It's all my fault…"

"What do you mean, Bella? How is this your fault?"

"Don't you get it, Edward? Esteban found me. Aro wanted my gift, and Esteban refused to order me to go to Volterra to serve on the guard. He went in my place so I wouldn't have to join the Volturi. If I had gone to Volterra, I would have been required to serve for a minimum of fifty years, but I don't think Aro would have given me up even then. My gift would be too powerful to him."

"I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't understand. I still don't really understand everything. I saw you fight Billy, but I don't have any experience with this. What do you do that's special?"

"Well, you remember I told you some vampires have special abilities?"

"Right, you said Billy could make people freeze in place, but you were immune to that…"

"Exactly, most of the special abilities affect the mind. Billy didn't really freeze you; he made your mind think you couldn't move. I have a kind of mental shield that makes me immune to the mental abilities of other vampires. I haven't met a vampire yet that's been able to get past my shield. The shield doesn't just protect me, either. I'm learning to project it so I can shield other people that are close to me too."

"That's not all you can do though, is it. There's more, you have another ability too."

"Yeah, I thought you'd figure that out. It's very very rare that a vampire has an ability that truly affects the physical world, but my shield doesn't just shield my mind. It can physically block out the senses too. I can shield against the senses, but it's not an illusion. The shield bends light so I can't be seen. It blocks my scent so I can't be tracked the sense of smell. It blocks sounds I make so I can't be heard and tracked by sound. I'm fairly sure it blocks touch and taste as well, but if I can't be seen it's easy to avoid being touched."

"So that's how you vanished when you were fighting Billy! You can turn invisible to the five senses? That's amazing!"

"Sure, cool, isn't it? But it takes a lot of concentration to use, especially in a fight. That's what Jasper's been helping me work with. I have to learn to control my emotions, the invisibility thing really only works when I'm passive and calm, when I'm peaceful. You saw what happened in the fight. As soon as I started to attack, I became visible and Billy had time to react."

"Not enough time to save his ass. You blew him away and saved both of us. So this is why Aro wants you?"

"Yeah, don't you see it? I'm the perfect assassin. Total stealth to any vampires senses, even specially enhanced senses, because it's a physical block, not mental. It doesn't matter if they have better hearing or smell if I make no sound and have no scent. My invisibility isn't an illusion. I effect the physical pathway of the light to bend around me. I'm immune to all of the other mental special abilities. So as long as I'm a decent fighter I can take out my target before they even know what hit them. And then on top of all of that, I'm learning to project so I can shield a hand picked strike team."

"But you don't want to be an assassin, and that's exactly what Aro would make you do if you were forced to work for him."

"Yeah, Esteban saw that. He knew what it would do to me if I went to the Volturi, and what that would do to Esme and Rose. It would tear our family apart just as much as being attacked by the rival clans would."

"This just sucks. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. Either way is a raw deal, but Esteban will be back in another five years, right?"

"At least this way I have a fighting chance to do the right thing. I can fight to defend my family, and I don't have to be an assassin. Esteban had to serve a ten year term, and he's been there for five years, but there's really nothing to stop Aro from demanding another ten years when he's done with this term."

"How can he do that! Aren't there rules for this kind of thing? How can he get away with that?"

"He writes the rules. He's been calling the shots over there for the last three thousand years."

"So this, Aro, he's the boss? Alice said he's Esteban's boss. How does that work?"

"The Volturi rule our world. There are three of them at the top. Aro, Caius, and Marcus, but Aro really runs the show. He's Capo di Tutti Capi, the 'Boss of Bosses', although all three of the ruling Clan are supposed to be part of a triumvirate council and have equal say in how things are run. Caius runs the guard and he's the enforcer. He's in charge of security. Marcus is Cantabile; he's the financial advisor, and handles the books and investments."

"Technically, Esteban reports to Caius, but Aro really calls the shots. He's the strategist."

"So if these top three are all supposed to be equal, why do they let Aro run things?"

She shrugged as we raced down the Interstate. "Its just the way the power structure has shaken out over the last three thousand years. Besides, Aro knows all and sees all. He has more information to work with than the rest."

"What do you mean, can he see me now? Does he even know I exist?"

"No, he can't see you this instant, but he probably knows about you by now. His ability doesn't work like that, but he has a truly extensive spy network. They monitor the internet, the news services, police reports and a bunch of international law enforcement computer databases just for starters. His analysts report to him daily and he reads them. Aro can know every thought you've ever had, see everything you've ever seen, and everything you've ever experienced simply by touching you. When his network reports to him, he knows everything they know."

"Imagine having an information gathering network that puts the CIA to shame, and then being able to assimilate and process all of that data. How did you think we've been able to keep our existence a secret from the humans for so many centuries?"

"Ok, so he can anticipate threats and identify potential leaks. He's still just one man. What if a reporter was gonna publish a news story about vampire attacks, or there were pictures on the evening news. How do they stop that from happening?"

"Why do you think the Volturi Guard has a base of operations set up in Seattle? Or Chicago, New York, LA, Washington D.C., and a thousand other cities? In the old days, a local magistrate could handle things on their own, and request assistance from Volterra if things got out of hand. They could just take care of the problem, maybe a small purge of humans that knew too much. Today, events like you described require a quicker response and more direct action. There are teams stationed all around the world to handle those kinds of situations."

I was quiet and contemplated what Bella had told us as she drove southeast on the 104 until we hit Interstate 5, and merged onto the freeway heading south. It was exhilarating to be driving on a freeway again, despite the depressing turn of the conversation. There was a lot of traffic on the I-5, but it moved at a decent enough pace for me, and I enjoyed seeing so many cars again. Living in a small town like Forks was like being cut off from the world and it felt like I had been paroled from my sentence and set free. I'd grown up in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was used to the Urban Sprawl. I was ready to take on the world and I couldn't wait until this was part of my everyday life instead of an infrequent visit.

We cruised south on I-5 into the heart of the city, and I felt a familiar thrill looking up at the glass and steel skyscrapers that dominated the downtown business district. Bella merged off the freeway onto Union Street and we dove down into the crowded manmade canyon between the rows of steel and glass towers in the manmade concrete jungle. We were heading northwest as we wound through the deep shadows of the dimly lit city under an overcast sky moving through the downtown maze of streets.

We were on a side street in the heart of downtown, circling one of the steel and glass towers. I recognized the addresses from my research and I knew we were close to our destination. Bella turned down another small dark side street, and then pulled into a driveway about halfway down the block. She used a remote control from her purse and pressed a button. The steel bar gate in front of us slid open, and we drove down the ramp into a dimly lit parking garage under the tower. The gate behind slid closed behind Esme's Mercedes, as we drove down into the depths of the garage.

The security systems were fairly impressive, and I knew that this part of the building should be fairly safe from attack. An attacker would be truly desperate to try and penetrate this fortress from the garage. We ended up parking in a brightly lit parking garage several levels below ground. There was a huge four-wheel drive jeep parked next to the convertible, and I could see a row of motorcycles further down in the garage. There were another couple of rows of expensive looking cars behind us. Bella parked next to the red M3 convertible that I'd seen at all of my cross country meets this season. The shiny black Mercedes sedan from the police station was parked here too.

We got our bags out of the trunk and waited for Carlisle and Esme. We took an elevator out of the garage and started up into the tower. I knew we were up near the top of the tower when the car finally stopped and the doors opened.

We stepped out of the elevator into the living room of what looked like a huge apartment. The main room was open through three floors of the building. The color scheme was all subdued pastels and subtle shades of white on white. The great room was furnished with several distinct furniture groups of couches and armchairs. Some of the groupings looked to be setup for conversation or quiet contemplation and reading while one group was setup for viewing a huge flat screen TV. The north wall was three stories of glass and the view looked out over the lights of the city. The view of Seattle was spectacular, and I could see the Space Needle and the monorail northwest of us.

Esme led us across the room to a broad curved stairway and turned to talk to us as we started up the stairs to the second level.

"Carlisle and I are going to go upstairs and freshen up from the drive over. Bella, why don't you get Edward and Alice settled. You can show Edward around if you like, or maybe you'd like to 'freshen up' as well…?"

"I'm fine, Esme," Alice said. "Where can I find Jasper? We need to talk. There are no more excuses for avoiding me now. I'm not waiting any longer."

"I'm sure he knows we're here, Alice. He would have been notified when we accessed the security system to enter the building. Just go with Bella and Edward, and he'll come find you, dear."

"I can probably just find him, Esme. I have a pretty good idea where to look."

"I don't want you to get hurt dear. The security isn't familiar with you yet, and it isn't safe to just wander around. We'll introduce you to all the staff this weekend. Do you still have the necklace Bella gave you?"

Alice reached up and pulled the necklace out of the collar of her shirt so it was outside of her shirt now.

"Good. Wear it like that this weekend so people know who you are, and everything should be fine."

We were up at the top of the stairs now and Esme turned to go a different way than Bella, Alice and I, but turned back for a second.

"Shall we meet at the Flying Dutchman for dinner? I know all of you need to eat. Why don't you take the afternoon to relax and explore, then we can meet downstairs around seven?"

"That sounds like a wonderful plan, Esme," Carlisle said, and Alice and I nodded our assent. Then Esme and Carlisle turned and walked down the hall.

Bella led us up another stairway at the end of another hallway up to the third level to a balcony that overlooked the great room below. The view out over the living area was spectacular, and then we followed Bella down another hallway with widely spaced sets of doors. We stopped in front of a set of double doors, and then Bella pushed one of the doors open. We walked into what looked like a private apartment.

The first room was a living room with a sofa and loveseat and some low tables. The room was all earth tones and desert hues, and there were a couple of potted cactus on the tables. There was a large wall unit entertainment center with a flat screen TV and a DVD player. A large potted saguaro cactus was standing next to the wall unit. It looked like there was a stereo system inside the glass doors of the cabinet. Along the wall to the right was a well stocked wet bar with a counter and three barstools in front. There were more rooms to the left.

I could tell Bella got mad when we walked in, and if she could blush I'm sure she would have been bright red. On the wall directly across from the door was a framed poster size print of Bella in her Home Coming dress with the tiara pinned to the top of her head. She had that deer in the head lights look on her face as she stared at the camera with a shocked smile.

Bella groaned, and then said, "Wait here," and she turned and walked down the short hallway to the left into the adjoining room. I heard her give an exasperated sigh, and it sounded like she was shuffling some things around, then she came back into the living room.

"Ok, Edward you can leave our things here. The bathroom and shower is through here off the bedroom," she said as she pointed behind herself into the room she'd just come from. "C'mon, Alice, you can have the suite across the hall where the girls got dressed last time we were here until you and Jasper make some other arrangements."

"Why don't you just take me to Jasper's rooms, Bella? I'll probably be spending most of my time there for a while…"

"Jasper doesn't have a specific set of rooms to call home, Alice. He's never had any use for a bed since he's lived here. He spends most of his private time in the study downstairs. I believe he has a small closet somewhere off the study to store his clothes, but he travels pretty light. Wherever you decide to setup and call your room will be just fine with him."

"Well, I suppose the suite across the hall will do for now, but the closet is much too small for my tastes. I'll discuss it with Jasper later."

I carried my overnight bag into the bedroom that Bella had indicated while she talked to Alice. The room was decorated in shades of blue. There was a royal blue velvet comforter on the queen-size bed. There was a matching bedroom set of dressers, a nightstand, and a large desk in the corner. Along one wall were several well stocked bookshelves and there was a comfortable looking overstuffed chair with a floor lamp and small table next to it where it looked like you could curl up with a good book. There was a walk-in closet on one side of the doorway, and the bathroom on the other.

I heard the door close and then the sound of a drinks being poured at the bar. Bella walked into the room with me and handed me a drink standing close in front of me as she looked up into my eyes.

"So this is home? It's nice, I like it."

"Thank you. Yes, this is where I called home until we decided to go to Forks. I'm going to kill Emmett though, if he doesn't stay out of here and stop redecorating! It was bad enough the last time I came home but this has got to stop!"

"Do you mean the poster in the other room? I kind of like it, and you have to admit, that's pretty fast work. I can't believe that was just last night. It seems like another lifetime ago."

"You don't regret making that choice, do you? Are you happy, Edward?"

"No, I have no regrets, and I am very happy. I can't believe how stupid I was to drag this out for so long. Can you forgive me for what I must have put you through?"

"You're forgiven. I'm happy with the choice you made. So, what do you want to do this afternoon? Shall we 'freshen up'?" Bella pressed herself up against me and wrapped her arms around my waist while being careful not to spill her drink. "Or did you have something else in mind?"

I looked down at Bella, and I liked the thought of having her all to myself in her private suite, but I was also really curious about the rest of the setup and the club downstairs. I held her close to me and then took a sip of my drink.

"Not that I'm opposed to 'freshening up' if you'd like, but I think I'd like to take a look around and get the lay of the land first. I've heard a lot about your club here and where your family lives, and I'd like to take a look around. That is if you're up for a little exploring?"

"Exploring's cool. Come here for a minute first, though. I have something for you." Bella stepped away and went to the desk and set her glass down. I followed her over and she took something out of the desk.

"Here, let me see your wrist…" I held out my right hand, but she shook her head. "No, the other one."

She slipped a leather wrist cuff with metal medallion coin onto my left wrist. The coin was emblazoned with a version of the Moreno crest. The design on the coin looked like the same family crest on Bella's necklace and Jasper's wrist cuff. It had the crossed swords and the fist between the points, and the background was quartered in gold and silver, but the three green shamrocks across the bottom had been replaced with the single red heart below the handles of the swords.

"Let me guess, the crest has a heart instead of shamrocks because I'm still human, right? You know, I've seen this crest around in other places besides your immediate family, but it was different. When I went to the police station on Tuesday the lawyer that Jasper brought and the policeman we talked to were both wearing it. Why was the background different on Jason Scott and Captain Brooks rings? It was red and silver instead of silver and gold."

"The red and silver is for the help, retainers and trusted servants. The gold and silver background means that you're part of the family now."

"Isn't that up to Esteban? I thought he'd have to invite me in or at least talk to me."

"Nope, it doesn't work that way in any of your family's case. Once you acknowledged the mating bond, you were part of the family. I suppose if Esteban really had a problem with you he could say no, but then we'd both leave. He isn't going to break up the family, and he has no reason not to like any of you. We're a package deal now. Where you go, I go and vice versa. You need to understand, Edward, everyone here knows about your connection to me. They know you're my mate, even though we've only really been together since last night... In my world, the connection that we share since you touched my hand the dance is more permanent and binding than marriage vows are in your world. I can get you a ring if you'd prefer that instead of the wrist cuff, but that's really just a formality. You're stuck with me, buddy."

"I don't mind at all. I like being stuck to you. So can I get you a ring some time? Will you let me make an honest woman of you?"

"I never thought I'd say it, but I actually like the sound of that. Although, let's wait at least until you're out of high school first, ok? I always said I wasn't going to get married until I was thirty, but the not aging kind of puts a damper on that. At least give me until you're legal, ok?"

"I'll take that as a sign that you're at least willing, then. Don't worry, I'll give you time. It'll give me some time to prepare and do it right."

"Right… Let's explore and we can talk about this later. Much later…" Bella stepped away and turned to go back into the living room.

"Ok, let's go."

"One more thing, Edward, we'll be meeting other vampires that work for us. There'll probably be a lot of other vampires from other Clans in the club tonight, too. They'll know that you're my mate, so you don't have anything to worry about. We don't let any newborns in, and there'll be enough drinks going around making it pretty safe otherwise."

"It's alright, Bella, I'm not worried about any of that…"

"I know. I just want you to keep your eyes open and pay attention. Because of my promotion, I'll be expected to pick a crew to work for me…, for us, really. You'll be their boss just as much as I am. There are a lot of new vampires working for us. A lot of them are young, but we're not building a newborn army or anything. We've needed to build up our forces, so to speak, with Esteban out of the picture for the foreseeable future. I know you're good at reading people and whoever we pick will be with us for a long time. We don't have to make any decisions right away, but be thinking about it."

"So when you say work for us…"

"Yeah, we'll be sending them out on jobs for the family like we talked about. Collections, security work, protection, enforcing our rights to the territory we control, that kind of thing. They'll report to us and take their orders from us. Its part of my job now I guess. Rose manages all of the 'talent' and she has a staff that works for her. Emmett runs internal security and supervises the household security team. This is what I've been training for and I need to start pulling my weight."

"Ok, Any chance that any of these other vampires that we have to choose from are gifted? Anyone with a special ability we can recruit?"

"Not a chance. If they did, they'd be in the inner circle like me, and they'd be picking their own crew."

"Hmm, ok. That makes sense. C'mon let's get out of here and go take a look."

Bella opened the door and we walked back out into the hall. I was just closing the door behind myself, when Alice stepped out into the hall from the suite across the hall from Bella's apartment.

"Hey, guy's, what's going on? Taking off on me? I figured you two would be in there until dinner." Alice said with a smirk twisting the corners of her mouth up.

"We were going to go take a look around," I told Alice. "I wanted to see the rest of the layout here and check things out."

"Mind if I tag along? Jasper hasn't come up or called yet, and it's driving me crazy sitting here waiting."

"No problem, Alice," Bella told her. "Let's go take a look. I'm sure we'll probably run into Jasper somewhere along the way. I don't see how he's been able to stay away like this and not come to see you right away. I couldn't do it."

We walked back down to the end of the hall and started down the stairs when suddenly Jasper was with us on the stairs in our path.

"There you are! You kept me waiting a long time, Jasper Whitlock!" Alice exclaimed as Jasper stopped on the next step down in front of her on the stairs.

"My apologies ma'am, but I had responsibilities I had to attend to before I could follow my heart. Can you forgive me, darlin?" Jasper said as he moved in front of Alice and wrapped his arms around her waist as he looked down into her eyes.

"Just promise me that we'll be a team from now on. I want to help, and you know I can. You could have trusted me to help you, you know." Alice wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to her, and Jasper rested his forehead against hers.

"I promise, Alice. From now on, darlin, it's you and me together. Whatever happens from here on out, we're a team."

"C'mon, Jazz, let's get out of here and go someplace to talk…"

"Just talk, darling…?" Jasper asked with a lascivious grin on his face as he swept Alice up into his arms.

"Maybe not so much talking…" Alice chuckled with her arms around his neck holding him close.

Jasper and Alice disappeared back down the hallway the way we'd just come, and I heard a door open and slam closed. Suddenly Bella and I were alone on the stairway.

"Where do you think they're going?" I asked with a grin on my face.

"Where were we last night and this morning?" Bella said as she smiled back at me.

"Think we'll see them for dinner tonight?"

"Not likely considering how long Jasper has been keeping this all bottled up inside. Maybe she'll ride back to Forks with us Sunday night if she still has the strength for school on Monday."

"Ok, too much information. You know that's my sister back there. I should be defending her virtue," I commented facetiously.

"Good luck with that one! She'll kick your ass faster than Jasper will if you try to barge in there!"

We both had a good laugh on that one, and I took Bella's hand as we continued down the stairs. At least now maybe Alice would be in a better mood.

We got back down to the main floor and I could hear the TV was on now, but we didn't go over that way yet. Bella showed me around the rest of the main floor first. We spent some time exploring the vast library that she told me was Jasper and Esteban's study. They seemed most at home in this huge book lined room and Bella told me that Jasper usually spent the majority of his free time here reading and meditating.

There were another couple of rooms that looked like something out of a museum on the history of warfare, but Bella explained that this was three hundred years accumulation of souvenirs and mementos of battles fought and won by the Moreno's.

I was a little surprised that there was no kitchen, but there was what appeared to be a formal dining room with a beautiful antique mahogany table ringed with high backed chairs. I suppose it made sense because nobody that lived here had a use for a kitchen. Besides, they had a complete restaurant on the ground floor with a chef on duty if they had to entertain human guests. The main floor bathroom was fairly extensive and somewhat ostentatious considering how infrequently it was most likely used, but at least I wouldn't have to run up two flights of stairs to answer nature's call.

"Why do you have a dining room if you don't eat and you don't have a kitchen?" I asked as we were heading back to the great room.

"Actually it's more of a conference room for family meetings, but Esme fell in love with the dining room set so she found a use for it so she could keep it around. She never had nice things like that when she was human, but she can afford them now. She really loves to decorate. It's her hobby when she isn't running the club."

"Huh, makes sense I guess. You might as well do whatever makes you happy if you can afford it."

"Damn straight, little brother," Emmett commented form the couch in front of the TV. "Eternity is too long a time to sit around moping about what you could'a done or should'a done. I say it's our duty to have as much fun as we possibly can! So I see you finally figured out what's good for you and did the right thing. Welcome to the Family, Edward."

"I told you Edward would come around on his own if I just gave him some time to figure things out." Bella told him.

"Yeah, yeah, you were right, but I still don't see how you could keep from whacking the bitch. If I saw someone with Rosie, I would have totally lost it. So was I right, Edward? Pretty hot, huh? My little sis is one sweet little piece!"

"Jeez, Emmett! I am standing right here!"

"Yeah, and if you could still blush, you'd be red halfway to your toes about now. So how was it, Eddie?"

"Well, I'll thank you for the advice you gave me, but you should know a gentleman never kisses and tells. That would be rude."

"Yeah, whatever, I'll just take that shit eatin grin plastered on your face as confirmation then. I told you, unfuckingbelievable."

Emmett never took his eyes off the screen as he talked to us. I finally realized he was playing a video game as we came up behind the couch and I got a good look at what was on the flat screen. It looked familiar but was strangely different at the same time.

"Is that Halo Emmett? I asked to change the subject. "I have Halo 2, but what's up with the vehicles, and I've never seen that weapon before? Is that a hack or a game mod?"

"Nope, just one of those perks you guys were talking about. This is Halo 3, but it won't be released in the US until next year. We got a guy that works for the developers, and he got me a beta copy to test. Want to try it out? There's another controller on the table," and Emmett nodded his head toward the coffee table in front of himself.

"Absolutely not," Bella said. "I'm showing Edward around so he can see everything, and we have better things to do with our time. We're heading down to the Club next. Besides, what are you doing up here loafing? Where's Rose, and shouldn't you be off training or making sure your guys are ready for tonight?"

"Jeez, Bella, you gotta be so serious all the time now? You used to hang out with me and blast some pixels before Jazz dragged you out of town and all this mating business started. Chill out lil' sis, shit happens, just sweat the stuff you have some control over. Besides, my crew is always ready for anything. We don't have to train 24/7 to watch a bunch of yahoo's get drunk and shag tail."

"Well excuse me if I take my responsibilities seriously…"

"Responsibilities? You're playing tour guide this afternoon, of course I can see where you'd want to get that over with, so you can drag lover boy here back upstairs for some personal one on one time. Esme seems perfectly satisfied to save the tour for later after the more important stuff is taken care of. Namely being perfectly satisfied, again and again."

"Emmett, we don't need to hear that, please. Now where's Rose?"

"Down in the club making sure everything's perfect, of course. There were some deliveries this morning, and she's probably double checking her inventory. By the way, that brick you dropped off a couple of weeks ago was some primo shit, but it's about gone. Any chance you can pick up some more?"

"You liked that, huh? I'll see what I can do. Edward hooked me up with that connection. I guess those La Push dogs have their uses."

"No Shit? You got that shit from those rez boys down in La Push? Huh, they know what they're doing with that cash crop. They make a hell of a farmer even if they are too much of pussies to take a real job."

"Yeah, well I'll see what I can do. Oh, and another thing… What gives you the right to invade my personal space and take it upon yourself to redecorate my room?"

"You liked that huh? You were the one that wanted to have the high school experience, because you missed out when you were still human. I just thought I'd help you out…"

"That doesn't mean you have to put posters up in my room…"

"I thought they were really cool. The girls down in the dorms seemed to get a kick out of them…"

"You didn't…!"

"Oh c'mon, Bells, how often does one of us get to be a cheerleader, and get voted home coming queen? You should have heard all the squeals. I think you're going to be kind of popular around here for a while."

"Damn it, Emmett! I don't want to be popular. This is going too far! I'm gonna get you for this one! C'mon Edward, let's go find Rose."

Bella was pretty pissed off now, and she grabbed my hand and pulled me across the room to the elevator. She mashed the call button, and I was surprised in survived the assault.

"Hehe, bring it lil' sis, I'll watch my back. Now you two kids have fun. Be good, and if you can't be good be careful!" Emmett tossed over his shoulder as we stepped into the car and the doors closed as soon as Bella stabbed the button on the control panel.

"Argh! That buffoon just totally pisses me off sometimes! I love him like a brother, but he just… Argh! He makes me so mad! He put those posters up where my friends could see them? He's gonna pay for this!"

"So Emmett's the prankster of the family? What are we gonna do to get him back?"

"Yeah, Whatever we do, it's gotta be good. Got any suggestions?"

"Not yet, I don't know him well enough yet, but I do have an Idea. Ask Alice. This is her specialty. She'll know exactly what we need to do."

"Hmm, she is kind of devious, isn't she? We might as well turn that to our advantage for once. We'll have to see if she comes up for air anytime soon."

The elevator car dropped down through the tower, and I knew we had to be getting close to the ground level now. The car stopped and the doors opened into a relatively small elegantly decorated foyer, with rich hardwood wainscoting, hand carved baseboards and a thickly carpeted floor. The décor made me think of the styling of a bygone age from an earlier century, although the room was empty. There was a set of double doors standing open opposite the elevator. I could tell that despite the decoration to match the room, these were in reality massively armored doors that would be more at home on a bank vault than in front of an elevator in a nightclub.

"C'mon, Edward," Bella said. "Let's see what's going on." She took my hand and led me out of the elevator, across the foyer and into a hallway.

The hallway was decorated similarly to the foyer, but there were paintings and light fixtures along the walls between the doors that lined both sides of the hallway.

"Where do these doors lead, Bella," I asked as we walked down the hall.

"These are private rooms, where the girls can take a client for some privacy."

"Privacy? I thought you said that it wasn't like that."

"Not privacy for sex, Edward. Here, take a look," and she stopped in front of one of the doors and pushed it open.

We stepped inside, and the room was decorated like a small sitting room. There was an overstuffed sofa and a matching arm chair. There was an armoire against one wall, and a buffet with a tray and several bottles of liquor and glasses sitting on top. Smoking supplies were set on another tray with a glass water pipe, a tin which I assumed held marijuana, tobacco products, and an expensive looking table lighter. There was an enameled basin and a pitcher with towels laid out beside it. There was no bed in the room, and for some reason that made me feel better.

"So you used to work here?" I asked as we walked into the room. We looked around, and then Bella crossed to the couch and sat down. She patted the seat next to her, and I followed and sat down next to her.

"Yeah I worked here. I've been in this room before. I've experienced both sides now. Most of the clients don't feel comfortable feeding in public in the club. They still get territorial and it's easier to go to a room."

"What's it like?" I asked her as she took my hand in hers and gently traced circles on the palm of my hand with her thumb.

"What, working, or feeding, or the territorial thing?"

"All of it. This is all so new to me, and it fascinates me. It amazes me that this whole world and way of life exists and nobody in the mainstream human world knows anything about it."

"Yeah, because if they knew about it, they're either a part of it, or they're dead now. So working, hmm, it's hard to explain…"

"Don't tell me those memories are dim, too..."

"No, it's just hard to explain… Rose or Esme always picked the clients I worked for. They looked out for me, and made sure they only sent me with clients they knew wouldn't hurt me and they knew that they could trust. It was really kind of comfortable most of the time. We'd sit and talk, and they'd tell the most wonderful stories… sometimes we'd share a drink and then they'd just do it, and it seemed normal. Just part of the job… something natural that was part of my life and part of living here."

She raised my hand to her face and gently kissed the inside of my wrist as she gripped my hand tighter, and then lowered our hands back to her lap as a shudder flashed through me as I realized exactly what it would be like.

"What about your accident, how did that happen?"

"Esme and Rose were out of town on a hunting trip, and it was supposed to be my day off, but I filled in for one of the other girls that had a date. I'd been working for a while, and I thought I knew what I was doing, but I missed the signs that James had the wrong kind of attraction to me. I guess I was lucky that he didn't have enough control to wait to get to a room and practically attacked me right at the bar in the main lounge. If we'd been in a private room it would have been too late by the time Emmett knew there was something wrong."

"Emmett knew there was something wrong almost immediately, because I never let anyone get close enough to feed from my neck, and James had me practically pinned down on top of the bar with his teeth in my throat. Emmett was across the room in seconds and pulled him off me, but it was still too late. I suppose it was lucky that Rose was gone that night or she would have probably tried to kill him…"

"Wait, wait… You're telling me he did all these things to you, and he's still alive?"

"It was the best way, Edward. If we'd killed him, it would have made the feud even worse. The Fu's paid his debt to our clan, and it's over…"

"It's not over to me. He hurt you, and he stole all your hopes and dreams. He would have left you dead if he had his way, and then he abandoned you to your fate. I will not suffer this creature to live…"

"No, Edward. James is old and powerful. This is exactly what he's been waiting for. He wants somebody to try and avenge me, so he has an excuse to hurt us even more. It's like a sick game to him…"

"All the more reason to end his sick sadistic existence, he pollutes the very air we breath by allowing it to pass through his foul lungs."

"Edward, no…"

"Look, I understand that I can't go after him today, and probably not anytime in the immediate future, but he will pay for what he has done to you."

"I can't lose you, Edward. Promise me that you won't try to fight him… It's over, just let it go."

"I can't make that promise, Bella, because I can't lie to you. I'll promise that I won't go after him until I'm ready. I'll even promise that I'll let Alice help me and I'll wait until Jasper tells me I'm ready, but someday he will pay for all that he's done to you."

"Well, at least you've got some sense and you know what's right and wrong. Hopefully you've got the balls to follow through with it. That's a plus, even if I don't really like this whole situation." I looked up, and the tall statuesque blond that had been sitting next to Emmett at the football game in Sequim was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed on her chest.

"So you're the guy that's got my little sisters panties all in a twist? You're cute enough for a human, I guess. Are you going to introduce me, Bella, or are you just going to sit there and brood about this all night? He said he'd wait 'til he can take him, so at least he isn't stupid enough to think he's ready to take on a vampire today. That's a good sign."

"Hey Rose, yeah, sorry. I just get worried thinking about that. Rosalie Hale, I'd like you to meet Edward Cullen. Edward, this is my big sister, Rosalie."

I stood up and held out my hand, and Rose met me halfway and took my hand and shook it.

"Edward, hmm, please call me Rose. I suppose this is the way our world works, but it really sucks that you're so healthy. At least Emmett had the decency to already be dying when I brought him home to be changed. I don't like the fact that you have other options and could have lived a normal human life if we hadn't happened along."

"Well, perhaps you'll be heartened by the news that I'd already be dead twice over by now if Bella hadn't come into my life. Besides, I really don't have a choice anymore. Bella is my life and I'll do whatever is required of me to be with her."

"Yeah right, mating bond, I get it. That doesn't mean you have to die and lead this undead half-life. You could remain human and still be with Bella."

"For how long, Rose? Ten years or even twenty? Maybe I get lucky and last another seventy years, but I'd continue to age. Would you really be ok with Bella being with someone that looked like her grandfather or great grandfather? And then what, once I'm gone? You know she wouldn't be able to live without me. What if I got hit by a bus, or got sick and died? You know I can't do that to her. The best way is for us to be equals, and for me to become like her. You know it's really the only way."

"I suppose that's all true. You don't really have a choice when you put it like that. I guess I'd really like to keep my sister around for more than seventy years, and it would be kind of sick if you looked like her grandfather. It wouldn't stop her from wanting you, but it probably wouldn't be good for your heart. That still doesn't mean I like the fact that she has to do this to you, but I understand."

"Thanks Rose," Bella said. "If it's any consolation, we'll probably be waiting at least another year and a half before we make that change."

"Another year and a half? You really are a martyr, aren't you, Bella. Well we'll see how that works out. Any reason why you're waiting so long?"

"Well, Edward wants to wait until he's eighteen, and that would be next June, but we figured we'd wait until after graduation. It would be expected that he'd be leaving anyhow to go off to college and we'd both really like to finish high school first. Besides, it would raise the least suspicion that anything out of the ordinary was going on. Of course this is all just what Edward and I have discussed. We haven't talked to Alice and Jasper or Carlisle and Esme yet. They may have a different plan in mind."

"Jasper may want to wait for a while if he knows what's good for him, but Esme seems awful anxious to move forward right away. There was no way we were going to keep her in Seattle once she knew Carlisle was out there waiting for her to come get him. I don't see her wanting to put changing him off for that long. Of course if he had to leave it would look funny if you and Alice stayed behind without him. You might have trouble selling her on your plan, but like you say, we'll have to sit down and discuss the pros and cons."

"Well come on. I assume we're taking Edward on the tour? Let's get going. Is this as far as you've gotten so far?"

"Yes, we just came down from the apartments, and Edward was curious about what I used to do…"

"I never should have let you come to work for me, Bella. You didn't have to do that and we would have taken care of you regardless…"

"What's done is done, Rose. I wasn't going to just keep taking without giving something back. I needed that just as much as I needed a place to stay. You see that don't you?"

"Yes, I know that… I just wish this all would have worked out different for you. Edward is right though, that scum James deserves to be dead. Don't think I'm not going to help when the time comes to settle the score. I'll bide my time and wait, but I owe that bastard too."

Bella nodded and got up off the sofa. She took my hand and we followed Rose back out into the hall. We continued to the end of the hallway and came out into another foyer or anteroom. There was an ornate hand carved desk in the middle of the room that fit the turn of the century décor, but the flat screen computer monitor was a little incongruous with the setting although some effort had been made to decorate it to match the setting.

There was a young man sitting at the desk watching us as we entered to room. He looked like he was about nineteen or twenty-something. He watched us curiously as he sat there obviously guarding the door. He was wearing an expensive looking black suit with no tie and the top couple of buttons undone on his dress shirt. There was a gold chain around his neck with a pendant, and I recognized the design now. It was the Moreno crest like Bella and Rose both wore, but the background was quartered in silver and red. He had an earphone in his right ear with a small cord running behind his ear and into the collar of his jacket. I immediately knew exactly what he was as I took in the pale white skin, long black hair pulled back into a pony tail, and golden amber eyes.

"Edward, this is Robert, he works for Emmett. He's part of our security staff." Rose said as she indicated the vampire seated at the security desk. "Robert, this is Edward Cullen. He's Bella's mate. I believe we'll be seeing quite a bit of him around here from now on. He has full access to all of the private family areas. Treat him the same as you would Bella. I'll introduce him around, but pass the word."

"Yes, ma'am, Rosalie," The vampire at the desk responded, and nodded in my direction while studying my face.

We continued past the desk, and Rose pushed through an ornate set of double doors. We entered a large room that was surprisingly well lit, and I guessed that this was the main lounge area. It was done in the same ornate turn of the century carved wood and brass décor. The light fixtures were electric, but were styled to look like gas lights. The carpeting stopped at the doorway, and the floors were intricate hardwood parquet like a fancy ballroom in a grand hotel.

There was a section that looked like it was set aside as a dance floor, but there was nobody dancing now. There was sound equipment setup where a DJ would play music, but nobody was running it right now in the middle of the afternoon. A long bar took up one wall. There were barstools and a low brass rail along the front of the bar, and a scattering of cocktail tables in front of it. There was a flat screen TV with a ball game playing. There were a couple of privacy booths along one wall by the bar and tables. It looked like the main entrance to the room was opposite the door we'd come through, and there was a set of swinging saloon style doors across the entry.

There was a girl standing behind the bar, but I wasn't sure if she was the bartender or one of the drinks as she stood there polishing a glass with a towel. She was pretty with sandy brown shoulder length hair and blue eyes. Definitely human, she was wearing a necklace with the red and silver Moreno crest, and she looked excited when we walked in and I was holding hands with Bella.

There were probably a dozen people in the room both male and female. Some of them didn't look old enough to be hanging out in a bar, but then looks could be deceiving with this crowd. They were scattered around the lounge, a couple of solitary drinkers sitting at the bar, some in small groups or pairs. They all shared the same ethereal beauty and golden ochre eyes although that was their only similarity. Tendrils of smoke rose from wherever they sat. I could smell a mixture of both tobacco and other more pungent scents and I noticed the ashtrays on the tables. Apparently nobody enforced the no smoking ordinances here. I could tell they had taken note of our entrance, and they'd probably heard Rose introduce me to the vampire in the other room. We continued across the room, but then Rose stopped when we got to the seating area, and addressed the room.

"Ok, everyone listen up. This is Edward Cullen. He's Bella's mate and he's going to visiting around here from now on. He's part of the family now and has full access. Treat him the same as you would Bella. I'll let Bella make personal introductions as she see's fit." There were nods around the room, and then Rose continued her explanation as we continued across to the room and went out through the swinging doors.

"This is the private lounge were we do most of our entertaining. Normally humans aren't allowed in here unless they work for us or in very rare instances where they've been allowed to know our secrets and live. There are some offices and store rooms on this level, and of course the private lounges where I found you two. There are also a couple of private suites on this level for more intimate meetings and arrangements."

We were in the entry way now, and there was a coat room beyond a counter on one side of the small anteroom. There was another set of wood and glass doors with lettering in gold leaf that looked like it led out to another hallway. Rose pushed the doors open and we stepped out into the hall. I glanced back at the glass doors, and the ornate gold lettering said "La Sala de Tigre" (The Tiger Room).

"There are offices and meeting rooms on the level above. There are more apartments and dormitories for our employees and associates on the floors above the office level. The public club and restaurant are on the two floors below."

I looked up and down the hall, and it looked like there was an elevator at either end. We stopped at the nearer end of the hallway, and Rose pressed the call button for an elevator. The door opened and we stepped inside. There were only three buttons. Rose noticed my look and explained.

"This elevator is normally used by our guests to come up to the club. The elevator at the other end of the hall has access to the upper floors. During business hours there will normally be a guard stationed there."

We stepped into the elevator car when the door opened, and there were doors on both sides of the elevator car. Rose pressed the second button, and we went down one floor. The doors opened on another anteroom, but this one looked more modern in design. We stepped out of the elevator, crossed the room and Rose pushed the doors open, and we stepped out into the nightclub, but it was closed right now in the middle of the afternoon.

The doors to the anteroom and elevator were set back into a short alcove and were roped off from the club proper. There was a huge guy standing next to the doors inside the rope. He had his arms crossed on his chest as he stood his watch over the doorway while a crew of people moved around the club cleaning and doing prep work for the evening crowd.

My first impression was that he could have been Sam Uley's younger brother, but Sam wouldn't be caught dead in a place like this. The guy was huge! He towered over Bella, and was a head taller than me. He appeared to have long, rounded muscles, but he was wearing a black suit with no tie and the top couple of buttons undone on his dress shirt. He had copper skin, close cropped black hair, and I bet he had brown eyes, but he was wearing dark glasses. He had an earphone in his right ear with a small cord running behind his ear and into the collar of his jacket. He looked like he was about twenty-nine or thirty and had a stern expression on his face as he guarded the door.

"Hey, Bill," Bella said as she noticed the guy guarding the door. "You draw the short straw, or did you lose a bet or something?"

"Hey, Bells'," The guy said as his face cracked into huge grin, "Long time, no see. Yeah, you'd think I'd know better than to draw to an inside straight by now, but works work. Better than diggin' ditches. So, you in town for the weekend?" The big guy asked as he looked us over and smiled.

"Yeah, I brought Edward to see the club…"

"Rose mentioned you might be stopping by. So this is the guy that stole your heart, huh?" He reached down and opened the rope for us so we could walk out into the club."

"Yeah, Edward, this is William Arakawa. Bill, I'd like to introduce my mate, Edward Cullen. Bill works for Emmett, and he's part of the security staff."

The big guy stepped forward and stuck out his hand. "Call me Bill. Anyone that's a friend of Bella's is alright in my book. Pleased to meet you, Edward. We got your back man. You just take good care of our Bella." I shook hands with him, and he had a firm grip, but not so strong as to try and show off and crush my hand. His friendly warm attitude was infectious and seemed to brighten the room.

"Thanks', Bill I'll take good care of Bella. She's very special to me too."

Bella waved at bill and smiled as Rose led us out into the Club to look around. I supposed I'd have to see it tonight when it was open to get the full effect. It was about what I expected. Sound equipment and DJ station, dance floor, a couple of bars and colored lights for a light show. Cocktail tables and booths were scattered around the open upper level. There were more tables downstairs around the dance floor, and some privacy booths along the walls. Rose showed us the other elevator in the backroom behind the bar, and then a delivery truck showed up and she had to go play manager again.

"Are you hungry, Edward? We can go grab some lunch in the restaurant if you'd like." Bella said when Rose left to go find somebody to unload the truck.

"Ok, that sounds good, but we could just order something if you don't want to have to go in." I hadn't had anything since the bacon and eggs this morning, and I realized I was kind of hungry once she mentioned it.

"I'll be ok. They're still serving lunch, and haven't really started in on the prep for dinner yet. Just don't order seafood, and I'll be fine."

"Right, no fish and chips, anything else I should avoid?"

"Nothing else comes to mind, but if I find anything too offensive, I'll let you know."

"Sounds good. Lead on, love."

Bella led me to a doorway connecting the restaurant to the nightclub. It was open now for the crew to use, but it would be locked later tonight when the club was crowded and patrons were expected to pay a cover charge. The restaurant staff seemed to know who we were and we were immediately seated in a private booth in a roped off section of the restaurant.

The menu was extensive and most of the choices were expensive, but I didn't think we'd have to worry about paying for this. I just ordered a hamburger, fries and a Pepsi. I knew Bella could deal with that and she didn't make too big a face when my order was delivered. The order appeared in record time, but was hot and juicy and appeared freshly cooked.

"So, can we talk here?"

"Yeah, that's why they opened this section for us, to give us some privacy."

"Ok. So Bill is like Sam, right?"

"You can say it here, Edward. Bill is a werewolf, and Robert was a vampire. Everyone in the private club was a vampire, except for Haley, the girl at the bar."

"Yeah, I figured that out. I just didn't know if it was really ok to talk about that here. So what did Rose mean when she said that there are more apartments and dormitories for employees and associates upstairs?"

"Most of the humans that work for us live here in the tower. They aren't required to, but it's convenient and easier for most of them. They make good money, but why pay rent, if it's included in the package? Besides it's more secure here with what's been going on over the past couple of years. Some of them have apartments and houses in other parts of the city and just come here to work. Almost all of the security crew lives here. Some of the vampires have apartments elsewhere too, but all of them have quarters here as well, in case we have to lockdown. It hasn't gotten that bad yet."

"I suppose I probably should have asked this before, but how many vampires are there in the world, Bella? Before I met you and Jasper I was just as oblivious as the next human, and I was happy believing that vampires were myths. After seeing your setup here, I have to wonder how can you possibly keep all of this secret?"

Bella shrugged. "Most humans don't want to believe in vampires. At least the humans living in developed countries with access to technology assume that we have to be myths. Otherwise modern science would have exposed us for what we are by now. There are six billion humans living on this planet Edward. Only about three hundred million live in the United States. That's about 5 percent of the total population, yet you have a vast influence the rest of the planet in regards to culture, values, ideas, etc."

"The total vampire population is about one tenth of one percent to the total human population. That works out to about six million spread out across the world. It sounds like a lot, but that would still only be about one in fifty compared to the population of the United States alone. It's more like one in a thousand, worldwide. The population just seems denser here in the Pacific Northwest because vampires are attracted to the climate here."

"Sunlight thing again, right?"

"Yep, you got it."

"So do we get to go up and meet some of these humans and take a look at the upper levels?"

"Sure, if you'd like to."

"So there's really nothing to hide? No secret dungeons? No whips and chains?"

"Well, no secret dungeons, but I'm sure I can find you some whips and chains if you'd like. I didn't think you were into that kind of thing, Edward." Bella said with a grin.

"Hmm, well maybe not whips… Chains might be interesting. Why don't we just skip the rest of the tour and go back up to your apartment?"

"Are you getting impatient Edward? At least finish your lunch, you need to keep your strength up."

"Not impatient, love… I just need you. I need to hold you and be closer to you…"

"Are you done…?"

"Am I upsetting you love? I'm sorry…"

"Are you done with your lunch?"

"Oh… Yes, I suppose…"

"C'mon, let's go."

"Where…?"

"Upstairs, back to my apartment…"

Bella was up from the booth in a flash, and took my hand. We hurried back through the club and into the elevator. She seemed impatient as we went back up to club level, and then hurried back through the club to the main elevator up the tower.

She was in my arms with her back pressed against the wall of the elevator car as it climbed through the tower. My lips molded to hers as her fingers tangled in my hair pulling me deeper into our kiss. Her lips parted and the tip of her tongue darted into my mouth, slick and sweet and velvety as it caressed mine.

Her knee lifted as she wrapped her leg and hip around me and I ground harder against her core grinding the bulge in my jeans into her. I reached down and caught her leg behind the knee lifting it higher as I spreading her legs to give me better access.

My fingers found the hem of her shirt and I ran the palm of my hand across the cool skin at edge of her stomach, sliding higher. My fingertips traced the bottom edge of her bra, and then I was cupping her breast in my hand. She moaned as I squeezed and I could feel her nipple harden through the satiny fabric and lace.

My finger traced down to the catch between her breasts, and flipped the simple closure open. I pushed the satiny fabric out of the way, and she gasped against my lips as her hard nipple pressed into the hot palm of my hand.

Bella reached over to the control panel, and her thumb pressed the stop button. Then her hands were on the front of my pants opening the snap and pulling down the zipper. I let go of her knee, and my fingers were unbuttoning the front of her jeans. I pulled down her zipper as she toed off one sneaker.

Her hands were on my hips, and she was pushing my jeans and my boxers down to my knees. I had her pants open, and they were sliding over her hips, past her knees, and she kicked on foot free. Her panties hit the floor with her jeans and she was exposed in front of me as I inhaled the scent of her musky wet arousal.

I reached for her and pushed her back against the wall of the elevator car as my hands slid under the cheeks of her perfect ass, and I lifted her to meet me. Her knees spread to slide around my hips, and she reached around and down to line up my rigid cock with her slippery wet pussy.

Bella gasped as I pushed into her and slammed her into the wall. I grunted as I sank balls deep in her silky smooth velvet and steel embrace. Her legs wrapped around me and her hands clutched at my shirt as her hands fisted into the fabric behind my shoulders.

I was pushing into her, driving hard as she rocked her hips forward to meet my thrust. I slid almost all the way out and then slammed back in hard and fast and deep, over and over…

"Oh my god… Unhh… Unhhh… God Edward… Fuck me! unhh… unhhh… Fuck Me Harder…"

"God Bella… Unhh… Unhhh… So tight…"

I gripped her perfect ass and moved her on me as I slammed into her fucking her hard and fast. We weren't making love… This was hard and fast and animalistic fucking as we let our desires and urges carry us away. We were lost in our instinct to mate and the need to be together as I fucked her against the wall of the elevator.

"Oh god… I'm almost there… Just a little more… God… Yessss! God… Edward!"

She screamed my name and didn't try to hold back or be quiet as I felt her clench around my solid cock. A feral growl ripped out of her chest, her muscles contracted, and her body went rigid for a second as she came hard. I could feel her cold breath panting against my neck as she fought to regain control.

"Unhh… Unhhh… God… Bella! I'm gonna… Unhh… Unhhh… I'm almost there…"

My hot breath panted against her neck as I drove deep into her velvet and steel core, plunging to the hilt harder faster!

I was on the edge, pushing into her as I felt the tingling at the base of my cock in my balls and I knew I was going to come. I thrust hard and buried myself to the hilt inside her cool throbbing pussy as she clenched around me and I shot my come deep inside. The orgasm ripped through me and I felt my dick pulse as my hot juice flooded into her.

I pulled out of her as her legs unwrapped from around me. My arms wrapped around her as I lowered her feet to the floor and I wrapped her in my arms. I leaned down, and my open lips found hers. Her tongue was pushing into my mouth, and we were lost in each others scent and taste and the feel of her hard cool lips on mine.

There was a droning buzz, and I realized it was the alarm from the elevator control panel. Bella reached over and pulled out the stop button. The alarm went off, and the car started moving again.

"Sorry," Bella said a little sheepishly. "I guess we didn't quite make it upstairs…" She was pulling up her pants.

I pulled up my pants, and snapped them shut, then reached for her shoe. "Don't be. That was intense and fantastic. Consider it a warm up session..."

She didn't finish fixing her clothes, and her arms were around my neck as she kissed me hard. I was reaching for the stop button again, when the doors opened.

"Who the hells been holding up the damn elevator?" Emmett stormed, and let out a huge guffaw of laughter

"Normally it's you." Bella quipped. "My turn, big brother..."

Then we were hurtling across the room in a blur. I didn't remember going up the stairs, but were in front of Bella's door, and she was pushing it open with one hand as she pulled me in behind her. I could still hear Emmett's laughter as the door shut behind us…

!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i

"Edward… Are you awake…?" I heard the soft words murmured against my ear.

I stretched languorously as awareness returned. My muscles were a little stiff, and I felt a pleasant soreness in my body as though I'd been through a strenuous workout lifting weight or performing heavy exercise. I suppose I had…

I felt Bella's arms around me holding me cuddled against her as she murmured in my ear and planted tiny kisses on my cheek and ear.

"I know you're awake, do you want to go down to dinner now? We need to get up and get dressed if we're going to meet your father and Esme, and Alice and Jasper."

I pulled her closer as my arms embraced her. She stopped talking when I found a better use for her mouth. I turned and captured her lips and her open mouth greeted mine. She indulged me for a minute, and then pulled back and broke the kiss.

"I knew you were awake… so do you want dinner?"

I was torn. I was hungry, but food sounded good too. I could wait to satisfy my other appetites. Besides, I needed to keep my strength up if I was going to keep up with Bella. She was insatiable, and never tired out…

"Yes, I suppose we should get up and go to dinner. We have a lot of things to discuss."

"I know we talked about waiting until you graduate and you turn eighteen before we change you, but what if Carlisle and Esme don't want to wait that long?"

"I don't know… If Carlisle decided to leave with Esme, it would look suspicious If Alice and I stayed behind by ourselves. We might be able to get away with saying he was traveling for a couple of months, but it would probably be better if we all left at the same time. At least if we intend to be able to continue living in this part of the country. Why did you just ask about Carlisle? Don't you think Alice might be impatient for the change to be with Jasper?"

"Alice has other options to consider, but let's not go into that. C'mon, we're going to be late. You better go get in the shower first, or we'll never get out of here."

"What, you don't trust me?" I wanted to ask what she meant about Alice, but I knew the subject would come up again.

"Oh I trust you. I don't trust myself, and we told Esme we'd meet them for dinner. Now go on, go shower and get dressed."

I kissed her quickly once more before she could push me away, and then got out of her bed. I had to admit, the electric blanket did make lying in bed with Bella rather pleasant, and it did help her to warm up nicely. I walked into the adjoining bathroom and ran a hot shower.

The hot water helped sooth the soreness in my muscles and felt good. I didn't linger in the shower, but finished quickly and got out to finish getting ready. Bella had moved my shaving kit into the bathroom at some point while I slept, and I brushed my teeth and had a quick shave. I rinsed my face with cool water, and got dried off. I returned to the bedroom to dress, and then Bella slid past me into the bedroom to shower before I could distract her.

There was a blue cocktail dress and heels laid out on the bed that I presumed Bella had picked out for herself while I showered, so I assumed we were going dancing after dinner, or at least visiting the club. I took a look for my bag, but Bella had already unpacked it, and my things were hanging in her closet. I selected a pair of dressed of dark dress slacks, and a dark dress shirt. Bella hed put my underwear in a dresser drawer. I dressed quickly, and looked around the room. The shower stopped and I heard the door open.

She was getting dried off, and I decided to head out into the living room before I did something to make us miss dinner. I went to the stereo and turned on some music, and then went out to the bar and poured Bella a drink. I'd wait until I had some food in my system before I had any myself. I mild buzz would be nice, but I didn't need to drink to get drunk. I partied to have fun, not blot out life and let it pass me by while I sat dazed in a drunken stupor.

Bella walked out of the bedroom much more quickly than I had imagined possible. She was stunning in her royal blue dress and heels, and I handed her the drink.

"Thank you. I knew there was a reason I kept you around. I got something for you too." She took the glass, and handed me a small bundle.

I unwrapped the straps from around the small leather and webbing bundle, and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Really? Do I need this?"

"It goes with the territory, and you need to start sending the right message. Don't worry, you won't need it, but you'll be expected to have it."

I looked her in the eye to see if she was really serious, and she didn't flinch. I shrugged into the shoulder holster harness, and she helped me adjust it. She turned and walked into the bedroom for a minute, and then handed me the Glock from my bag when she came back. I slid the pistol home into the holster under my left armpit, she handed me my dinner jacket, and we were ready to go.

I knew we had talked about her family and what they did and what they expected of us, but walking out of her apartment with that pistol under my jacket brought that fact home and made it real. It wasn't just talk anymore. It was real life, and we were living the life, not talking about what we'd do. We were doing it.

Bella took my arm and we went down to dinner. We took the elevator down to the private club level, and then cut through to the elevator down to the public night club downstairs. The Lounge was open now, but it was early and not very busy at all. There was a security guard at the door into the restaurant, and he held the velvet rope aside for us as we went through to see if the others had arrived for dinner yet.

The hostess greeted us and immediately led us back into the private VIP section. Carlisle and Esme were already seated, but Alice and Jasper weren't there yet. Carlisle rose as we approached. I held Bella's seat for her, and then Carlisle and I sat. She handed us menus, and took our drink order, and then promptly left.

"Jasper called down earlier, and made his apologies about dinner." Esme said. "They won't be joining us, but if they manage to come up for air, we may see them upstairs at the club tonight."

"Alice has been suffering for a long time waiting for Jasper to be free to be with her," Bella said.

"I suppose I can't hold it against her. It's my fault she's had to wait so long. If I hadn't been so stubborn, she wouldn't have gotten so cranky there at the end. I guess they're making up for lost time."

The waitress arrived then with our drinks, and asked if we were ready to order. The Flying Dutchman was famous for its seafood, which was ironic, considering how objectionable Bella and her family found it. We were considerate, and Carlisle and I both ordered steaks. I was surprised when Bella and Esme both ordered chef's salads, but I suppose they had to maintain appearances.

"This is still a lot to take in," Carlisle said. "I understand intellectually that this is alright, and natural considering what's happening to all of us, but you've got to admit this doesn't happen every day. I still feel like its wrong, and I should be storming in there protecting her. She's only seventeen, and she's my daughter…"

"I understand, dear, but it hasn't always been like that, you know. When I was a girl, women were married with children at seventeen. If they weren't married off by twenty, then there had to be something wrong with them, and they were likely to end up as spinsters. I was courting my first husband at sixteen. Rosalie was engaged to be married at eighteen, and her best girlfriend was already married with a small son. You know he isn't taking advantage of her, and they're going to be together forever."

"I know, I understand, but it just doesn't feel right to me. I won't stand in their way. It's just the way I was brought up."

The waitress was very efficient, or the kitchen dropped everything to rush out our order. She was back with our dinner, served the meal, asked if needed anything, and then promptly disappeared to give us our privacy to talk.

"If it's any consolation, Mr. Cullen, I feel the same way sometimes," Bella said after the waitress was gone. "I suppose we both have modern attitudes when it comes to a lot of this. I just can't help myself sometimes because I'm overcome by my instincts, and I'm not strong enough to fight them, but I really do love Edward."

"Please, dear, call me Carlisle. We're family now, and we should be comfortable together."

"Thank you, Carlisle. So, I guess the big question on everyone's mind is how we want to do the changes. Have you and Esme talked?"

"Carlisle and I are eager to move on. Neither of us wants to drag this out any longer than we have too, but we know this has to be a family decision. We need to include Alice and Jasper, but what have you and Edward discussed?"

"Well, actually Bella and I were hoping to wait until after graduation. I know I want to wait at least until I turn eighteen."

"Graduation! That's almost two years! Bella honey, do you really think you can hold out for that long?"

Bella winced, and I'm sure she would have blushed if she could have. She just nodded and didn't comment.

"If you and Carlisle leave now, Alice and I would have to leave as well. We can't stay behind in Forks on our own until I'm at least eighteen. If you were willing to compromise, that's only eight more months. Then we could always say you were traveling abroad on an extended honeymoon or vacation. I would be a legal adult then, and we could choose our own time to take the next step."

"Oh, I like the honeymoon Idea, but eight months? What do you think, Carlisle?"

"That would give me some time to get my affairs in order and time to help my patients find other therapy options. I'm sure it'll be a while before I can continue my practice, and I'd have to open a new clinic regardless. Maybe once things settle down I'll return to school. I'll have plenty of time, and there are several fields of study that I'd truly love to pursue. What about you, Esme, can you wait eight more months?"

"I've been waiting for you for over eighty years. I can hold out for eight more months for us to be equals. It isn't like we don't get to be together or share our love."

"So, Esme," I asked, "Bella and I have discussed what Jasper expects of me, and my roll in all of this. How does Carlisle fit into the big picture? Do you two have any plans yet?"

It didn't sound like dad really knew what was going on, and wasn't fully in the loop yet. I wondered just how much Esme had told him. She said he knew everything, but he didn't know about the werewolves this morning. I assumed he knew everything about the mating bond, and most of the vampire stuff, but if he was talking about opening a new clinic and going back to college, I doubted he knew about the family business yet.

"Carlisle and I haven't discussed too much about that yet, Edward." Esme said. "I figured we'd wait until he was changed to make any big decisions, but apparently we have more to talk about. I'm sure I could find something for your father to do, helping me with the club if he was interested, but his suggestions sound like a better option. I suppose we can wait until after your birthday to go to Alaska if it makes things easier for everyone."

So Esme didn't expect Carlisle to get involved in the family business, but there was no way he was going to stay in the dark. He wasn't a stupid man. I wondered what he'd say about it when he found out. He was generally open minded, and it was obvious that Esme's world wasn't part of mainstream society. Carlisle wasn't above breaking some rules when he felt he had a good reason too. This might be pushing his limits, and I didn't know how he'd react.

"Ok, then that's settled. Esme and I will stay with you in Forks at least until your eighteenth birthday. You can decide how long you want to stay in Forks or when you decide to be changed. That should work for Alice too. She and Jasper can still make their own decision on how fast to proceed. If they want to wait, then she can stay with you in Forks."

"Where will you and Esme go?" I asked.

"We'll go to Alaska. I'm sure Bella has told you about our extended family up there. I can't wait for Tanya and Irina to meet Carlisle. They're going to be so jealous. They've both pretty much given up on ever finding a mate. Bella spent a couple of years up there with them. They really wanted her to stay with them. They get so lonely, even with Carmen and Eleazar with them."

We chatted some more as we ate our dinner. At least Carlisle and I ate. Bella and Esme moved their salads around their plates to make it look like it had been nibbled at. I had some of Bella's salad to help make it look like some of it had been eaten, and I noticed Carlisle have some of Esme's. Dinner was actually pleasant and kind of enjoyable, but I supposed it had to do with the company. We didn't drag it out too much. Bella and Esme were gracious and accommodated our human needs because of the bonds that we shared, but I knew they were uncomfortable in the restaurant with all of the human food smells. We left as soon as we had finished eating.

There was no check to pay, but Esme did leave a large tip for the waitress, and then we got up and walked back to the doors that lead into the club. The security guard opened the rope for us, and let us through, and then closed and locked the doors into the restaurant. Apparently they had only been keeping them open until we returned from dinner.

There was more of a crowd in the club now as some of the early birds started to show up. Bella led me straight over to the elevator to go up to the private club, but Esme hung back when we got to the elevator. Bella looked at her questioningly.

"Bella, you and Edward go ahead and go upstairs if you like… Carlisle and I are going to hang out down here for awhile. Ok?"

"Sure, Esme, no problem. We'll see you upstairs later?"

"Thanks', dear, Carlisle and I need to talk. We'll be up in a while."

I supposed it would be difficult to keep him from finding out once he picked up on the gist of the conversation. Most of the vampires upstairs were part somebody's crew or were wise guys, and he'd figure it out. There would probably be some independents, civilized nomads, but for the most part the clientele here was connected. Heck, if I took off my jacket to dance, and he saw me packing, he have to ask the question. I guess Esme was going to try and explain some things before she brought him upstairs.

There was another security guard at the elevator, but he held back the rope and let us through. We took the elevator up to the club level, and walked in. Rose was playing Hostess, and she looked absolutely stunning in red. I spotted Emmett working the crowd, and chatting with some of his security staff, and then he came over to greet us, and Rose found us a table between the bar and the dance floor.

A human cocktail waitress with the Moreno crest on her necklace came by and took our drink order. She seemed to know everyone, but nobody introduced me. I wondered if she was on the menu too, and how exactly that worked. I scanned the room as Bella chatted with Rose and Emmett.

Apparently there were a sizeable number of humans in the crowd mingling, laughing and dancing with the more exclusive clientele. The ones I could see all wore the Moreno crest. It didn't have a brothel kind of atmosphere, more like a swanky upscale private club. At least as many of the clients were female as male, and that changed the dynamic. It wasn't a men's club, just a club.

Bella finished her drink, and then said "let's go dance, Edward". The smile wide on her face as she let herself go and enjoyed the night. I'd finally given up on Katy, and I was hers now. She was enjoying it, and wanted to show me off. I couldn't deny her, and stood up and took off my jacket and left it at the table.

We made our way onto the dance floor, and let the music move us. We moved through the press of bodies surging against us as I led Bella to the dance floor at the end of the room. I let myself go as the pounding beat of the loud music reached deep into the core of my being and set me in motion to move in time with the electric rhythm. I rocked my hips, and Bella grinned, ignoring of the crowd of vampires and humans writhing around our bodies as we surrendered to the dance.

The DJ was good and kept the music coming as one song flowed into the next and Bella's face swam before me as we moved like one creature to the influence of the music. Sweat dripped from my body and Bella's sharp ultra white teeth glinted in a wild smile as the beat pounded through us and moved us. My fears about the mystery of Bella Swan had been swept away, the mystery solved, and my relationship with Katy was forgotten. I lived for the moment in the sheer exhilaration which swept through my body as we twisted and turned together.

Bella's arms coiled lithely as the music led them and she quivered and shuddered with the pounding beat from the speakers. She twisted laughing, all pretense of the clumsy graceless façade she portrayed at school abandoned as the music moved her. Her dress swirled around her knees and she swung her hair as she moved like a free spirit in the press of bodies. I stared in awe and desire for her perfect form, the curve of her neck, the swell of her breasts, her flat stomach, the curve of her hips, Her legs, her eyes, I wanted it all, and it was mine.

The silk chiffon halter dress clung to her breasts, stretched taut over the erect nipples, and I ached to reach out and caress her pert breast, so scandalously exposed, yet concealed by the light filmy fabric of the dress that she wore. Reaching out my hand, I took her fingers in my own and pulled her to me. So close was she to me that I felt her breath upon my mouth, saw her pupils dilate.

Suddenly she was pressed against me, her body cool and perfect despite the dancing. She looked into my eyes and I felt my mouth fall open at the intensity of her gaze. My fingers, succeeding in the task they had been longing to accomplish, pulled her close to me, forcing her against my hardness, letting her feel how aroused I had become by her movements. She gasped in a little breath, the sound arousing me as I ground my body against her and she writhed against me.

I leaned into her and pressed my lips to her ear, "I need you. I need you now. Let's go someplace private."

She moaned and caressed my cheek, and then she took my hand and we were moving through the press of bodies. The crowd had grown and the lights were turned down low. Bright lights were flashing to the rhythm of the music, and I was turned around and lost.

We emerged into the ante room on the hallway that led to the elevator up to the apartments, and I thought that was where we were heading. Bella stopped in front of the security desk.

"We need a room," she said.

He smirked, and pointed down the hall. "Number six is available… how long…"

"Just the standard," He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

She took my hand and then we were moving down the hall. We stopped in front of a door, and then we were moving into the room. The door closed behind us and she was in my arms as her open lips found mine. Her lips parted slightly wider and I felt the tip of her tongue trace across my open lips. My lips parted and I felt the tip of Bella's tongue slip against the tip of my tongue. Our tongues played with hers circling mine and the feeling was just as incredible and electric.

I was feeling the buzz of the alcohol and felt energized as Bella's body pressed against me and her cool moist lips moved on mine. The movement was light and gentle at first as our tongues met and moved against each other, teasing and exploring. I was excited and I wanted more as our kiss deepened and became more ardent.

Her kisses were harder and more passionate as her cool lips moved on mine and our tongues tangled and slipped against each other. It was slick and sweet and velvety. I lost myself in the moment giving my complete attention to the kiss.

She broke the kiss, letting me pant to catch my breath and her cold cheek nuzzled against the heat of mine. She was pushing me back and I felt the sofa behind me. I sat down, and pulled Bella with me onto my lap. Her legs were straddling my hips and I could feel her grinding against the hard bulge in my pants as her hands caressed my face.

My hands moved up to caress the silky smooth skin of her bare shoulders and arms. She kissed the hollow beneath my ear, and I felt her cool breath against the side of my neck as she rocked against me and moved on my lap.

She trailed kisses along my jaw line and moved back to my lips. I greeted her willingly as she tenderly sucked my bottom lip between hers for a second. Then her arms were snaking around my neck and her hands cradled my head as her fingers tangled into my hair pulling me closer. Time seemed to stand still as we kissed and touched. Caressing her face, my neck, her hair, as our hands explored and her lips moved on mine. We moved together in rhythm as the passion hummed through our bodies and I lost myself in the sensations coursing through me.

Bella's hands slid lower on my body between us, and I felt her fingers opening the front of my pants. She opened my belt and unbuttoned me. Then her fingers were opening my fly. She stepped back and her hands were on my hips pulling down my pants. I raised up to let her ease them past my hips, and then they were pooling around my ankles.

She stood in front of me, looking down at my erect cock standing proud for her. My breath caught when she reached under her dress, her panties were sliding down her legs, past her knees, and then she stepped out of them and dropped them on the floor.

She was back on the sofa climbing back onto my lap, and I moaned as she ground against me. She rubbed up against me, but now there was nothing between us as my hard cock slipped between her folds and she ground herself against my hard shaft.

"God, Bella, You're so wet, and you feel so good…" My thumb was stroking circles around her nipple through the fabric of her halter as she kissed down my throat and nipped at my neck. She sucked on my throat and licked up to the hollow beneath my ear as she ground my hard cock into her core…

"God, Edward, I love you so much…" she whispered into my ear. "I need you inside me… you're so hot…" Her lips were kissing along my jaw line toward my lips as her cool wet sex ground into me and stroked up and down against the shaft of my hard cock…

"I love you, Bella, I need you …" I moaned. "I need you now… I need to be inside you…"

Our tongues danced and moved against each other, teasing and exploring as Bella's open lips moved back onto mine. Her kisses were tender and amorous as her cold lips moved on mine and our tongues entwined and slipped against each other. My full attention was drawn to her kisses as her lips moved on mine…

My hard cock stroked up between the cool wet bare lips of her sex and teased through the fringe of curly hairs as she stroked back and forth and grinding and probing. She was tracing my cock up and down along the center of my core. She lifted up as she spread her legs a bit more, and reached down between us…

Bella's hand grasped my hard cock and pressed into me against her… I moaned as the head of my cock sank between her folds and caressed inside of her cool sex. Her hand stroked me back and forth inside her lips, slipping through her folds wet and slippery with her arousal.

She pressed me further back between her legs, and then my cock was spreading her lips apart. The tip found her opening, and pressed deeper inside. She moaned against my lips as she pressed my cock into her cool slippery pussy…

"God, Bella, you're so tight…" I moaned against her neck. Her hand moved forward from her opening, and her fingers stroked across her clit as it poked out of its hood and she shuddered as she reveled in the sensation of pure pleasure and carnal lust.

"Oh god… Bella, that's so good…" I panted against her neck.

"You like that…" She sank deeper onto me and her fingers traced circles around her throbbing clit…

"Yesss…" I moaned…

Bella's eyes were closed tight as her head was thrown back and she groaned. The sensations throbing through my cock felt so good… Bella was moving… My cock sank deeper… Her fingers were stroking her clit…

My hands left her shoulders and neck and stroked down her body to grasp her hips. I gripped her tight as her hips slid lower… The sensation of her silky velvet and steel embrace was exquisite as she moved on me, pressing me back into the sofa…

My cock was pressed deep inside of her now, and she started to move it in and out… Pushing me deep inside, and then pulling up, sliding me out… Fucking me as she straddled my hips and her fingers stroked her clit… My hands on her hips guided her… I moved her on me as I stroked in and out of her cool core…

I stroked something deep inside of her… "Oh my god…" she moaned. She shuddered as the incredible sensation rocked through her sex…

I felt my climax building as Bella moved on top of me… She moaned as I stroked into her…

I was so close to the edge, and I craved this so much. I wanted to cum and shoot my load into her. I needed to finish now, but we both needed to get there, and both get off. We needed to get there together…

"God, Bella, this is so hot…" I moaned. My hands on her hips were moving her now and I stroked her faster and deeper onto my hard cock.

Her hips were crashing into me faster now, fucking me with her tight pussy… I was so close… Her fingers on her clit were rubbing frantically now as she panted and moaned, and I was bucking my hips in time to her plunges now.

"Oh My God! Shit…Edward! Oh god…Edward…" She moaned as I thrust into her tight pussy.

I was pumping my hot dick into her, and Bella's hips were bucking against me as I stroked into her.

"Oh god… That's so good… Bella, wait… God, I'm almost… Almost there…" I panted out as she stroked me faster and harder.

"Yessss, Edward…" Bella groaned as I guided her hips onto me and she rubbed herself.

"God… Edward… I'm gonna… God I'm almost there!" she moaned getting louder as she got closer to the edge.

Bella moaned as I pumped my dick hard and fast into her. I was so close to the edge… I wanted us to get there together…

"Oh God…, that's fucking amazing… Oh god, don't stop…" I panted as her cool slippery pussy pumped up and down on my cock.

"God, Edward… that's soooo good…" she panted as she fucked my cock in and out of my sopping wet pussy and stroked circles across her clit.

"I'm almost there… Bella… I'm gonna cum…!" I panted.

I was on the edge, and began thrusting even more urgently as I felt the tingling at the base of my cock in my balls and I knew I was going to come. I thrust hard a couple more times and then gripped her hips tight against me as I buried myself to the hilt inside her cool throbbing pussy. I shot my come deep inside Bella as the orgasm ripped through me and I felt my dick pulse as my hot juice flooded into her.

I had the presence of mind to continue stroking her onto me as soon as I could after shot his load. She was so close, from the look on her face as she reveled in ecstasy. She let go when I came, and her own orgasm crashed through her.

She bit her lower lip so she wouldn't scream, but I knew she I wanted to yell and she moaned loud as she clenched tight around my hard cock buried deep inside of her. She pressed her fingers against her clit as it throbbed and pulsed under her touch. I felt a flood of wetness, and her eyes rolled back in her head as she came undone and plunged over the edge into the throes of her orgasm.

She was panting hard and forced herself to take deep breaths to try and calm down as the heavenly bliss spread through her.

Bella pulled back and I slid all the out of her, as she let go of my softened cock. Bella got up, and told me he'd get something to help us clean up. She stepped over to the buffet; her skirts were still gathered around her waist as she reached for pitcher and I heard her pour water into the basin. She picked up a towel and dipped it in the water and cleaned herself, and then she came back to me. She let the skirt of her dress drop and swirl around her knees, and then she was kneeling on the floor in front of me as she gently cleaned me with the moistened towel.

Once the sticky wet was dealt with, Bella sat down next to me and I took her in my arms. I leaned in and kissed her, and we spent some time gently nipping and caressing and tenderly exploring each other. We'd been gone a long time, but I could still hear the music in the lounge, and the festivity was still going strong.

After a while, I said, "maybe we should go back to the club, Bella. People will notice that we're gone…"

"It doesn't matter. They know what we're going through, but we can go back. Here, let me help you…" and Bella reach down and helped me pull up my pants.

I arranged my clothing, and Bella found her panties and put them back on.

"You know, I thought we were going back upstairs to your apartment when we left the club…"

"I knew we wouldn't make it that far. This was private enough, and conveniently closer."

"You know this just makes me wonder what went on in these rooms when you used to work here…"

"Never anything like this! You were incredible, and you bring out the daring side in me…"

"How are we going to survive school on Monday, Bella? I can't keep my hands off of you…"

"I know," and she reached for me and kissed me again. "We'll just have to be good… Thank god for open campus lunches…"

I shivered as I considered the possibilities, and took her hand as we walked through the door to head back out into the club.

!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i!i

I could hear the annoying muted sound of a cell phone ring tone tugging at my awareness. Bella was gone. I was alone in the bed, and the phone was still demanding attention. I realized it was my phone. Who would be calling me now? Why would somebody be calling me so late at night? I reached down over the side of the bed, retrieved my pants, and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket. I glanced at the caller ID on the screen, noting the time, and frowned. Ok, so maybe it wasn't late anymore, but very early, way too early to be a casual call on a Sunday morning.

The phone number was from the landline phone at Katy's parent's house. Katy never called me from that phone. She was always too concerned that her mother would try and listen to our conversation. I guessed that wasn't a concern anymore, and she probably wouldn't say anything too bad if her parents could hear what she was saying. I flipped the phone open and accepted the call.

"Hello?" I answered the call.

"Edward! Thank goodness I finally got a hold of you! I had John drive by your house, but nobody was home! I was going through Katy's room, and found her address book, so I tried this number!" It was Carolyn Decker, Katy's mother, and she sounded frantic.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Decker. We're away for the weekend. Is there something I can help you with?"

"I know you and Katy have been fighting, Edward, and I don't want to pry, but is Katy with you? She left with Michaela this afternoon, well Saturday afternoon, and nobody's seen her since! She won't answer her phone and I don't know where she is!"

"No, Mrs. Decker. Katy isn't with me. I haven't seen her since the bonfire in La Push after Home Coming. I don't know if Katy told you yet, but we broke up Friday night… Katy was pretty upset, but she was with Michaela…"

"Oh… I'm so sorry… No, she hadn't told me… You and Katy always seemed so perfect together… Please call me if you hear anything, Edward! I'm so worried about her. This isn't like her, to not come home or even call. Michaela is gone too…"

"Of course, I'll call you as soon as I know anything. I don't want anything to happen to Katy… We aren't a couple anymore, but I still care what happens to her…"

"Thank you, Edward. Good bye." And the call ended.

Katy was in trouble, and it was my fault. What had Esme said yesterday morning? 'If she's sensible… then we shouldn't have anything to worry about.' Obviously Katy wasn't being sensible, but what had she done now, and how was I going to find her?

Authors Note:

Speak Easy - Illegal bars and after hours clubs that became popular with gangsters and underworld organized crime during Prohibition. Also known as Blind Pig/Blind Tiger

Prohibition – A period in US American history (1919-1933) where the sale of Alcoholic beverage was illegal in the United States of America.