EIGHTEEN

Despite the obvious sexual tension in the air, Carlisle and I managed to restrain pouncing on each other again. Although, if I were to be honest, it was becoming more and more difficult with every passing moment, and just as I thought we were both about to the lose the battle, a loud bang echoed through the house. Of course, the loud noise made my mate tense, but he took a very deep breath and remained near the island counter where I stood eating my food.

I smiled at him, pride in my eyes that he was handling his instincts as well as he was, allowing himself to actually feel them the way he should, even if he did not react on them.

All four younger vampires glided into the kitchen, and unsurprisingly, Emmett was the first to publicly acknowledge the obvious smell in the kitchen. "Damn, Carlisle! Sex in the kitchen? I knew you were centuries hard-up, man, and ready to go at it like bunnies everywhere, but sex on the counters?" He backed away from the island and hopped onto the dining room table, sitting almost exactly where I had been lying naked only ten minutes before.

My lips twitched as I suppressed a smirk. "Actually, Emmett, your father's been a perfect gentleman and we have not, as you suspect, had sex in the kitchen." When the giant's shoulders dropped with disappointment, I let my smirk come to the surface. "I should tell you, though, that at least one vampire in this family can finally claim to have eaten at the table."

Behind me I could hear Jasper burst out into peals of laughter. I glanced over and saw that he had physically doubled over as he guffawed. I could see Alice grinning along with Rosalie, who gave me a high-five at my being able to render her husband speechless. Indeed, his mouth dropped open in shock and his golden eyes looked like they were about to actually pop out of his head. So for good measure, I added, "Ironically enough, he ate his meal right about where you're sitting!"

He leapt off the table with a shout of horror. "Oh my God!" He wiped at his backside furiously, his face scrunched up in that unique look of disgust that kids get when they realize they have walked in on their parents nude and doing the nasty. Apparently, it was okay for Emmett to shoot his mouth off with lewd remarks, but he obviously could not handle getting the truth back sometimes. "Oh… Oh God! Oh God! I have to disinfect my ass!"

Rosalie hugged me and whispered, "I freakin' love you!"

I laughed at her comment and even more so at the large vampire's obvious discomfort. I was so used to Emmett being the crude and foul-mouthed boy that he usually was, that it was beyond humorous for me to see the tables turned on him. Pun absolutely intended! "Next time, you'll think twice about making inappropriate comments."

His childlike behavior instantly ceased and he practically leered at me. "Oh I doubt it! You may have gotten me this time, but next time, I'll have a good comeback!"

"I'll be waiting!" I grinned happily and took a bite of my steak while he all but stomped out of the kitchen like a pouting toddler. I waved goodbye to him with excessive cheerfulness, chuckling at his growl. "Serves you right," I quipped after swallowing, knowing that he could hear me from his room, where Rosalie had also retired to in efforts to "comfort" her annoyed husband.

"Bella-darlin'," Jasper drawled as he led Alice away, "that was brilliant!"

I beamed with pride at the compliment and returned the couple's goodnight wishes before finishing my dinner and passing the plate to my mate, who had it cleaned and dried before I had time to blink twice. "So," I murmured as he moved to stand between my thighs, "I guess this means no hot and dirty sex tonight."

He chortled and nuzzled my ear with the tip of his nose. "Even if the others were not here, I would still insist on you getting sleep, m'Isabella."

I whined, "It's the weekend! Teenagers are supposed to stay up and party on the weekends."

He immediately quirked an eyebrow at me then scooped me into his arms. "Not when they are continually losing blood and have had both emotional and physical stresses placed upon them as many times as you have experienced in one day. While I cannot make you fall asleep, I can force you to lie down and stay still and relax."

I rolled my eyes and muttered beneath my breath as though he could not hear me, which he could. I ignored his chuckles of amusement at my displeasure and closed my eyes as he carried me slowly toward the stairs. We had just reached the top of the staircase, when I remembered something he had said. "Carlisle…?"

He kissed my temple. "Whatever it is, m'amore, just ask."

"You said you believe that because your instincts are awakening at the same as our mating," I began, "that these behaviors will become… I mean, it sounded like this would be somewhat…"

"Permanent," he supplied. "Yes. It is why I also have to train myself to control it, along with the intense feelings for you. To not train my self-control could lead to me becoming completely feral, a fate I do not wish for myself and certainly not for you. It's difficult - almost impossible - for truly feral vampires to belong to a coven. They also have a lower survival rate. Because they are temperamental and so undisciplined, it often means they will attack anyone and anything with little provocation. If they are not exterminated by smaller, civilized covens, they will often draw the attention of the Volturi, who in turn will execute them for being a danger to not only the rest of the vampire species but to humans as well."

He hummed against my throat for a moment. "You have seen with your own eyes what happens to ferals. I do not wish that way of life for either of us, so I must train myself to keep an acceptable balance between civility and my animal instincts. I also have to have the ability to restrain myself in situations where it would be inappropriate to, as my son so crudely put it, 'go at it like bunnies everywhere.'"

"Is this what's going to happen to Charlie and Esme?" I questioned. "Is that why Emmett and Rosalie are, well, the way they are?"

"Yes and no," he sighed as he lowered me to sit on the bed, pulling off my shoes and socks. "Rosalie had been a vampire two years before she found Emmett. She already had a very intense personality, and I seriously doubt that Emmett's personality was much different when he was a human. However, as Rosalie has hinted at before, despite not having chosen this life, they both instantly fell into their vampiric nature. Their instincts were pretty much fully developed from the beginning. But at the same time, because their mating took place almost immediately, mixed with their personalities, it did have a slight influence on their relationship. Jasper had been a vampire for over a century and Alice had been a vampire for about twenty years before they met. Their natures were already set, so their mating did not overly influence it."

I had not realized that he had me completely undressed and tucked into bed until I felt his arms slip around me.

"As far as Charlie and Esme go... Well, Esme took to her vampirism almost as quickly as the others did, and she is also nearly a century old. Her nature is already set and is, for the largest part, unalterable. Mating with Charlie may make her more playful and outgoing, but it will not cause significant changes to her nature. And because their personalities do seem to compliment each other so well, their mating should not heavily alter your father's current temperament either. I'm sure Charlie will be a bit more aggressive and playful than you know him now, but I doubt he will change in ways that are unacceptably noticeable. My theory is that with Esme's set personality affecting not only herself but your father as well in only minor ways, their mating will not be as extreme as ours. Because of this, I surmise that they will settle into a relationship similar to Alice and Jasper's when it is over."

He kissed the back of my neck as he curled around my body. "The problem with my instincts awakening in the manner in which they are is that it is almost four hundred years too late. Unlike the others, who more or less accepted their changes, from the moment I awoke, I sought to suppress nearly every aspect of my new nature. The only thing I truly allowed myself to regularly act upon was the need to drink blood, but even then, as you know, it was animal blood. Everything else about my vampirism was practically lifeless under the weight of my repression. I refused my own nature and instincts and went above and beyond in masquerading as a human for almost four hundred years. I can now see where it was a dangerous choice that, as we have witnessed, can lead to potentially disastrous situations."

I turned in his arms and snuggled against his chest. "So pretty much…" I blushed furiously, unable to voice my thoughts as I buried my face in his neck.

Thankfully, this was one time that he took pity on me, chuckling into my hair. "Your mate will forever be stuck as overly adoring, intensely possessive, and an extremely horny? Very likely, yes."

"And me? I mean, what will happen to me?" I was a bit disturbed to think that my mate would be driven by such intense passion and overwhelming love if I was to return to the way I was before. "Will my nature return to what it was before we started mating or will it remain the way it is now?"

"The outcome of mates honestly depends on the couple and their situation. However, based on both past and current observations of mating and mated couples, I can see where our own personalities have already begun to merge." He nuzzled my hair, purring. "Your calm and control has allowed me the ability to restrain myself from killing three people already. We are also very well aware of your own possessive traits emerging, thanks to that little scene in the emergency room with la puttana and your growling at Esme when we were talking to your father the first time." He chuckled when he felt the heat from my blush against his cool skin. "And being that you are already in a such an intense heat and will continue as such before being turned, I doubt that you will need to worry about your passion not matching mine, m'uzzola."

I hummed and then began pressing little kisses to his chest. "That's good to know." I glanced up at him coyly. "Does mean we can—"

"No," he said firmly with a wicked smirk before turning me onto my other side and pulling my back against his marble chest. "Go to sleep, cara mia."

.

I woke to the rolling sounds of thunder and snuggled deeper under the covers, quickly becoming aware of a familiar hardness rubbing against my ass. Smiling, I pushed myself backward against him, earning a hiss for my efforts. I wiggled against him again and heard him growl as he pulled my form flush against his. I mewled happily when he lifted my leg and positioned himself to enter me. With a swift movement of his fingers, he had me ready and buried himself inside me. It was only then that his growling leveled off to a purr as he wrapped himself tighter around me, spooning me tenderly while we rocked together. He never withdrew, much to my surprise, just gently ground his hips into mine, the tender motions of his cock inside my wet heat stealing sighs of gratification from my lips.

I felt the reverence and awe flow between us and murmured his name like a prayer while he cooed his adoration into my ear. Beautiful Italian words and phrases slipped off of his tongue in smooth tones of silk. Our coupling was languid and peaceful, and when I came, instead of the crushing waves of shattering ecstasy, I felt like I was floating away on a fluffy cloud of utter joy. Deep inside, I could feel the cool threads of his cum spurting against me and smiled contentedly when he breathed heavily in my ear, his body shuddering behind mine.

When we both came down from our serene high, I rested my arms on his and mumbled pleasantly, "Good morning."

He caught my earlobe carefully between his teeth and gave it the barest tug, his purring starting up again in his chest. "Buongiorno, m'uzzola. T'amo tanto, m'adorata."

"I love you too, Carlisle."

He murmured into my ear, "M'Isabella, you do not have t—"

"I know," I interrupted. "It just felt right under the circumstances; though, if I'm going to be honest, normally for me to say it, it feels…"

"Odd." It was a statement, not a question, as he nodded against my neck. "I know that it is a strange thing for human females to suddenly feel as though they are not showing their affection properly, but I can promise you, mia passerotta, that you should not feel that way. If I thought that Rosalie or Alice would be able to help you with this, I would ask them to speak with you. However, they were already vampires when they found their mates, so to them this behavior has always been present and normal. As a human, it is a sudden shift from what you are accustomed to, and I wish there was something that I could say to ease your concerns on this matter."

"I just…" I stopped and sighed, knowing that there were things that I would simply have to accept, just as Carlisle had to accept many of his instincts. "It does feel a bit strange, but knowing that it's within your instinct to keep me happy, I worry that…"

"You are worried that I'm telling you it is okay to spare your feelings," he interjected. "You think that I think that you do not love me enough because you do not express your feelings as often or as intensely as I do. You think that even though I may be upset and hurt over it that I will not tell you the truth to spare your feelings, because I love you that much."

I winced. "Well, when you say it like that…"

"Isabella Swan, listen to me very carefully," he commanded, softly growling into my ear. "I am not trying to spare your feelings in the slightest. I swear this on our bond. I am very much an alpha male, in all senses of the word, and as your dominant, it is within every fiber of my being to make sure that I make you aware, every moment I can, of just how precious you are to me." He shifted us slightly so he could gaze down at me. "While you are going to hate hearing this, bella mia, to say it bluntly, it is your job to simply lie back and accept all the adoration and love that I bestow upon you."

"Well, that doesn't seem fair," I argued.

"To you, maybe. Welcome to our world," he chuckled and ran his cold hands over my form. "Mia streghetta, think of it in these terms: I am happiest worshiping you. When I am not, I am miserable. It hurts me, Isabella, to think that you will try to carry this with you for five years, when all I truly live for is your pleasure and happiness."

I nibbled on my lower lip. "It really doesn't...?"

He slipped out of my body and turned me gently in his arms, "No, cara mia, it truly does not." He tipped my face up to his and kissed my lips so gently that it was like a breeze across my flesh. "Please, trust me."

I studied his face carefully, taking in the seeming glow of skin that was as pale as sweet cream, the palest pink lips that were curved downward in worry, and the defined lines of his jaw tight with tension. His glorious blond hair was disheveled and falling over bright topaz eyes that were filled with the same concern. I took a deep breath and gazed at him for a few moments more before closing my eyes and searching deep down inside me.

He was troubled, very troubled, and it was because of my worry that he was so. It was true that he seemed perfectly content with the balance of our relationship and, if I were to be honest, I was too for the most part. However, he was right. I was worried that he was hurt by my not being as assertive when it came to expressing my feelings about our relationship and that he was hiding it from me. But Carlisle had always promised to tell me the truth, and had kept that promise, so I very much doubted that he was lying now.

I thought about the balance of the relationships of the other vampires in the house. I tried searching for a time when I had seen Alice or Rosalie initiate any grand romantic interludes, and to my great shock, I came up empty handed. Yes, there were the occasional looks and small touches, but nothing to intense or obvious came to mind. The closest thing that I could grasp was Alice calling Jasper "Jazz," but that really was not saying much, considering I had heard several of the other family members calling him the same thing. As I wracked my brain, it suddenly became clear that any obvious displays of affection were always initiated by the males of this family. And they all seemed perfectly happy.

"Bella?"

I opened my eyes and gave him a small smile. "I'm okay, Carlisle. I just had to do some thinking." I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave him a chaste peck on the lips. "I never realized until now that the majority of romantic gestures in your family are made by you men. Now that I actually take the time to look back at it, I'm surprised that I didn't notice it before."

He smiled brightly at me as he stroked my hair. "Do you feel better now?"

I nodded. "It's still a bit weird to me, being human, but… yeah. Yeah, I do."

"Good," he purred to me before he raised my leg around his hip and prepared to make love to me again. He suddenly stopped though and glared at the door, where knocking suddenly came from. "Go away," he growled in annoyance.

The person did not, however, go away and instead chose to throw open the door and bound right in, apparently not at all concerned with the idea of privacy. Of course, being in a house with super-hearing vampires, I was entirely certain that privacy was already non-existent in their family, which did explain why Carlisle had no trouble behaving the way he did in front of them sometimes. I suppose when you had no privacy there was no reason to hide anything.

Dear God, I hoped this did not happen on a regular basis!

"Guess what?"

I was sorely tempted to question her if she saw herself leaving and Carlisle doing delicious naughty things to me involving the four bedposts and his ties, but I kept that to myself and rolled my eyes. "Alice, please. This is the first weekend that I have with Carlisle. Can we please spend it in peace?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, but no can do. Esme called. She said that Charlie was handling the mating thing, theirs and yours, rather well. He does, however, want to see you both, so I told her to get him ready for vampire baseball! It's not actually going to rain but we have a few hours of thunder and just a tiny bit of lightning — don't worry, you and Charlie won't get struck though! I know we're down one—" she did not say Edward's name, I noticed— "but Esme and I can pitch and catch for both teams. C'mon! It will be fun! And Bella has to see Charlie today anyway. He wants to make sure she's okay and that she's happy. What better time for him to see you two together! Please?"

I felt my mate's cold face press into the crook of my neck, a slight growl issuing from deep inside of him. I tangled my fingers in his silky locks and tugged handfuls into a greater state of disarray. "Would it help if I said I would like to see him?"

"Not if I do not think you mean it," he mumbled morosely.

Alice decided to chirp at that moment, "If Charlie sees you both together acting normally, it will really help him see that you are both serious about each other, and he'll let Bella stay here even more."

This got Carlisle's attention and he raised his head to look at me. "It is your choice, mia passerotta. While I cannot say that I am at all thrilled to be sharing you, if it will help Charlie accept our mating…"

"Alice?" I called out for the pixie, while my eyes remained locked on my mate's. "I promise that we'll be downstairs in a few minutes."

She snorted in the daintiest way. "Of course. Just a few minutes. Right!" I could hear her moving toward the door. "You two had better be downstairs in an hour because we're meeting Esme and Charlie at the field in two and a half." Then she was gone.

As though the annoying interruption had not occurred at all, Carlisle reclaimed the leg that I had moved off of him earlier, draping it high over his hip as he thrust firmly but slowly into me. "M'uzzola… mi dolce vina." He growled against my fluttering pulse, steadily pumping in and out of my aching body. "La mia, mia Bella… You're mine, streghetta." He sucked hard on the bruise, causing me to cry out in a mix of pleasure and pain. He began lapping the skin, chanting 'la mia… la mia…' over and over as he staked his claim on my body, my soul, and my blood. "Correte per me... Correte per me. Immediatamente, m'Isabella!" he hissed into my ear. "Now, Isabella!"

Without any hesitation, I obeyed his command for me to come.

.

TBC

In the words of Bob Ross:

Anything you're willing to practice, you can do.