CPOV

Esme and I are both soaking wet by the time we get Samson bathed; that's what Esme chose to name this little runt, Samson. She coos at him and calls him Sammy and he just loves on her. I have to say I never really saw myself having a dog or even a pet considering my diet, but there wasn't one doubt in my mind when I saw her holding this puppy and the light in her eyes. She loves him already and suddenly I'm a little envious of a dog.

Right now we are all sitting downstairs watching some mindless television show. Esme is paying more attention to the runt curled up in her lap than to the television. Once we cleaned him off, we discovered that Samson's fur is a lot lighter than we originally thought and that he is indeed a boy. His fur is so light brown that it's almost white, but his snout is black. He doesn't like me very much but I'm hoping he will warm up to me soon. As an animal, his natural instinct is to be wary of my kind, but since he is so young, he should get used to my scent soon. Right now though, Esme is enjoying watching him growl at me every time I move close to her. He has perched his head right on her belly and won't let me near it. I have to say I love him a little bit for protecting our peanut.

Esme's curled on the couch in a new set of dry pajamas and a warm throw over her with Samson laying on top of her. Her eyes are getting heavy, and I know that it won't be long before they are both asleep.

Standing up, I walk over to the pair and crouch down so I'm eye level with my angel. Samson growls lowly at me which makes Esme giggle and run her hands through her soft fur before meeting my eyes.

"Are you ready for bed? You look tired." I take a chance and run a finger softly down her cheek. Her eyelids flutter closed and she sighs.

"Yeah. I'm going to head up." She throws off her blanket and stands up, all while Samson is safely tucked in her arm. "I'll see you in the morning?" she asks timidly over her shoulder.

"Of course. I'll try to come up with something other than eggs for breakfast."

She smiles at my attempt at a joke.

"Or you could just let me cook breakfast for us instead."

"Sounds like a plan."

She smiles brightly at me before heading upstairs with that little runt still snuggled up to her.

Tonight, for the first time in my life, I found myself wishing I could eat human food without being sick. It feels like an insult to Esme to throw her food in the trash or to vomit it up later. Maybe tomorrow I can hide it better and save it for her to eat later.

I take my time shutting off all of the lights downstairs and locking all of the doors before heading to my office. With Esme in the house I want to spend most of the night in my bedroom in case she wakes up and needs something. I don't want her to wonder why I'm still dressed and in the kitchen at 2 am. I so badly wish I could hold her while she sleeps, but I know that I have to let her lead our physical relationship. So far we've had a few touches and a glorious kiss on the cheek. I know we will get there and I'm nothing if not patient. Grabbing my medical text from the 1813, I walk into my room and close the door softly. There's an illness that I came across at that time that I need to research again. I'm suspicious that we saw a case of it in the hospital last week.

A few hours later, I'm still wrapped up in my book when I hear Samson whimpering. I know he's going to need to go out during the night because he's so small and I have taken responsibility for those trips, Esme just doesn't know it yet. Marking my place in my book, I set it on my nightstand before going to Esme's room. Samson is sitting right in front of the door when I open it and he scurries out as soon as he can. I lead him to the backyard where he eyes me warily and does his business quickly. I don't blame him for hurrying, he gets to snuggle with Esme all night. He comes to me when I call him and we go back inside. He runs right up to Esme's door and waits patiently for me to open it for him. When I do, I immediately know something is wrong. Esme is tossing and turning. Her forehead is wrinkled with stress and her fists are clenched around the sheets. Samson quickly goes up to the bed but his short legs need help to get on top. He fits in my hand as I lift him up and set him on the comforter. I can almost see the concern in his puppy eyes as he sniffs Esme's face and the tears that are now streaming down it.

"No please." She whimpers "I'll do whatever you want just please stop."

I growl, knowing immediately what she is dreaming about.

Suddenly she takes the blanket and rips it off showing me her whole body. She is still wearing her sleep shirt but her pants are gone. All she is wearing on her bottom half is a pair of pale pink underwear with a small black bow.

"Just take it. I won't fight you. Just please stop." She whimpers again.

What could she possibly be talking about? Take what?

"Esme" I whisper as I reach out to touch her cheek. Surprisingly Samson keeps quiet and continues to watch her face. "Angel wake up."

She starts sobbing in her sleep and writhing on the bed like she's in pain.

"Carlisle. God. Carlisle please help me." She's yelling through her sobs and I can't take it anymore.

"Esme! Come on honey you have to wake up." Grabbing her shoulders softly, I pull her into a sitting position. Finally her eyes shoot open and she searches the room in confusion before her face crumbles and she launches herself at me. It's a good thing I have vampire reflexes because I manage to catch her and not fall off of the bed at the same time.

"Hey shhh its okay. I've got you." I whisper to her as I smooth her hair with my fingers.

"God it was so horrible" she whimpers.

She cries into my shoulder for over 30 minutes while I whisper anything comforting in her ear. I tell her that she's safe, that I'll never let anyone harm her, that I'm falling in love with her, that I'm never going to let her go; and it's all true. When she finally comes out of her hysteria, she pulls away and wipes her tears with the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay, you didn't. I was taking the runt outside to use the facilities."

She smiles at my words and I take a deep breath knowing that she's going to be okay.

"Do you want to lay back down?" I ask her, scooping Samson out of the way, and she nods.

Once she's settled on her mountain of pillows and covered with her blanket, I start to get up but she grabs my arm.

"Carlisle…um would you mind…um..laying with me?" She asks quietly before rushing out the rest of her request "It would only have to be until I fall asleep. You wouldn't have to stay all night. If it makes you uncomfortable, I understand but Ireallydontwanttobealone."

I smile at her. She really doesn't understand the depth of my feelings for her. I would walk through fire for her, and for a vampire, that's a big deal.

"Of course, Angel. Whatever you need." I quickly settle myself onto the bed next to her and lay down. I've never done this before and I have no idea what to do, but she takes the awkwardness away by placing her head on my chest and curling into me. One hand automatically goes around her back and the other brushes the hair out of her face.

"Sweet girl, do you want to talk about your dream?" I ask her quietly.

She stiffens and doesn't answer right away.

"It was about my husband…Charles." When she whispers the name I want to growl, but I manage to hold myself back. "He had this ritual on the nights he was drunk. He took what he called "my wifely duties" from me in our bed almost every night, but when he was drunk he liked to have some fun first." She spits the word fun with so much venom that I'm not sure I want to hear the rest, but I just stroke her bare arm and listen. "At the beginning I would fight when he wanted to…be together like that, but after awhile I just let him do what he wanted to me…pathetic right?" I don't get the chance to protest before she continues "Anyway when he would come home drunk, he knew that I would give him whatever he wanted to avoid a beating, but he liked to beat me anyway. He said he knew that it turned me on which made the sex so much better for him. He would punch and slap and kick me until I couldn't do anything but lay there. That's what I was dreaming about. The pain. He knew I would do it without the beating, but he liked to enforce his strength on me before taking it. The night before I left, he wanted to do something to me that he had never done before. He said that he was going to take me everywhere he could and that he had been waiting for this moment. When he pressed himself against my…bottom, I bucked away from him. I couldn't let him degrade me like that, and I knew that the pain would be worse than any of the other times he raped me. He just laughed when I tried to get away from him. He flipped me onto my back, held my legs up, and took what he wanted anyway." Kicking her leg out of the blanket, she shows me the handprints on the backs of her thighs right at the bottom of her panties. I can see exactly where his fingers held her down and he took from her what she didn't want to give. It's easy to see how I missed them in my first examination of her legs because she had been wearing my boxers then, they came down to just above her knees.

For the first time in my existence, I'm speechless. I carefully and gently run my fingers along the marks that she's showing me, that she's trusting me with. Leaning down carefully so she can see every move I'm going to make before I make it, I lay gentle kisses to every mark on her. Tears fill my eyes and if I were human, I would be sobbing like she is now. Laying back down, I pull her back into my arms and cover her legs with the blanket.

"I'm so sorry, Angel. I wish I could have been there to protect you. You are the strongest woman I've ever met. Don't ever again think that you are pathetic or weak or any other derogatory term that you call yourself in your head because it is an insult to the strength and power inside you. Never again will you ever have to endure this kind of pain. I promise you."

I wipe away her tears with my thumb and kiss her on the forehead. She doesn't argue or say anything in return, but I know by the look in her eyes that she doubts how strong she is, and I will spend the rest of my life showing her.

Esme is still and quiet for the rest of the night. She stays curled up on my chest with her face buried in my neck. Samson, however, has curled up into a little ball and wedged himself between Esme's belly and my hip. If Esme didn't love him so much, I would throw him outside.

Around 9:00 Esme starts wiggling and I know she's about to wake up. Samson, annoyed that she's bothering him, moves down to lay at the foot of the bed. I have to hold back my chuckle at the disgruntled look on his face. When I look down at my angel again, beautiful green eyes are looking back at me. She looks a little insecure and unsure of what to do, so I make the decision for her. After placing a kiss on her forehead, I look back into her eyes.

"Good morning sweetheart. I have been laying here thinking about the bone I have to pick with you." I smile so she knows I'm teasing her, and when I see mischief come into her eyes, I know it worked.

"Oh yeah? And what would that be?" She asks with a little bit of attitude and raises one eyebrow at me.

"I believe," I growl at her and kiss her nose, "that I was promised breakfast."

She laughs and rolls over out of bed. Throwing on her pajama pants that were previously laying on the floor she turns back to me with a smile.

"Come on, crazy man, let's go eat"

That beautiful smile on her face tells me that she's going to be just fine.