TWENTY-SEVEN

It had taken the promise of a weekend shopping trip to Seattle from both me and my mate to keep Alice from dragging me to every store she could contrive that day. She had mentioned inviting Angela, but I had reminded her that my friend should not be left to the madness that was Alice's shopping-mania without being slowly prepared for it and that I did not want to scare away my only human friend!

Since we had several hours before Angela would arrive, Carlisle and I had retreated to his study, as he stated that there were a few things that he wished to research. I curled up on his couch with a thriller novel, needing a break from reading anything romantic as it would give me ideas, while he covered his desk in large medical tomes, humming and scribbling notes down every so often.

The very first time he hummed over the texts, I was a bit surprised. Four or five times later, I wondered if he was at all aware that he was doing so, but knew that with his superior senses he had to be. I found this little quirk to be quite fascinating and more than amusing, and I soon realized that I had stopped reading my own book altogether and was just watching and appreciating the little things about my mate.

I felt my own restlessness before I even saw his. It started in the pit of my stomach and spread outward until even the tips of my fingers seemed uncomfortable. I knew something was wrong when I observed the vampire shift, and even squirm, dropping his pen to the desktop to pinch the bridge of his nose, leaving me to wonder for the second time if his species could get headaches. "Are you okay?"

I watched as he inhaled and exhaled deeply before propping his elbows on the desk. From where I was, I could see how tightly his fingers were linked together as he rested his chin on his joined hands. It was obvious he was pondering this new development - our mutual discomfort - even though we were in the same room. Whatever was happening was intriguing him. I prodded him quietly, "Carlisle?"

He beckoned me forward so I went to him without hesitation, but when I stood by his side, he did not pull me into his lap as I suspected he would. Instead, he joined his fingers with mine and tugged downward, beseeching softly, "Sit."

Were that simple command to come from anyone else, I would have been insulted. Truth be told, if it had come from my mate in any other tone but the prayer-like way that he inquired it with, I probably still would have been insulted. However, there was something in his voice, something so cautious yet reverent, that I felt myself desiring to give into the humble plea. And once I was seated beside him, he moved his chair closer and turned slightly so more of his thigh was exposed to me. He reached out to me, his hand freezing in midair as if he were unsure if this was something that he should be doing or not, so I quickly changed my position. I turned so I faced the expansive glass wall and curled my legs beside me, leaning toward him slightly. I offered him a small supportive smile and my eyelids fluttered closed when his cool fingertips tentatively touched my cheek.

The touch danced across my skin like a cool summer breeze, stroking down my face to gently brush my lips. "My most beloved," he whispered in awe. "Cara mia… T'amo tanto, mia passerotta. T'adoro… God, how I worship you."

My lips parted with a tiny sigh and I opened my eyes to watch at him. My body began to thrum with a mix of joy, peace, and wonder for my mate as I lost myself in his dark citrine gaze. My eyes darted to his pale hand for a moment when he traced his thumb under one lower lid then the other, wiping away a few tears that I had not even realized escaped.

When his cool touch moved from my face and his fingers entangled in my hair, his hand gently guiding my head to his thigh, I surrendered to his silent appeal. Contentment and bliss filled my soul as I rubbed my cheek against him. After several long moments, I finally settled against him, one arm wrapping around his calf and my other hand coming to rest atop his thigh. Instinctively, my fingers flexed open and closed, lightly stroking his marbled muscles through his dark slacks. I smiled when he purred at the touch, his own hand still at my head, stroking my hair slowly, reverently.

I would have thought he would move his hand away while he continued his work, but he did not. He continued to caress my hair, over and over, in the most tender and soothing manner. The delicate touch was one I would have imagined the shiest human male bestowing upon a most revered goddess. It was a touch of veneration, and I closed my eyes again while I listened to the soft sounds of his breathing, his writing, the pads of my fingertips against the material of his pants, and the rush of the distant river. I enjoyed the serenity that seemed to be much needed in my life at the present time. I felt my emotions swirling in the air with his, wrapping around me like the softest blanket. And I felt the overwhelming love, adoration, and tranquility which lulled me into a deep sort of trance. My soul felt as though it were vibrating, ready to float away from my body.

I was unaware of how long I had been in that state of spiritual ecstasy, but I began to hear my mate's voice calling me from a distance, slowly bringing me back down to Earth. I blinked several times before turning my happy gaze up to him, returning the small adoring smile he graced me with. I hummed, "Hello."

The corners of his lips curled higher. "Buonasera, m'uzzola. I feel only slightly guilty about pulling you from your paradise, but now I can stare into those beautiful brown eyes and tell you that your friend will be here in about a couple of hours." He only tilted his head slightly when I blushed and murmured that I had not realized that I had been out of it so long. He then offered me his hand, which I took without hesitation, and pulled me up into his lap, where he cuddled me tightly to his chest. "Mi bella passerotta. How I adore thee."

I chortled softly when he buried his face in my hair and inhaled my scent deeply. "I do hope that you are able to restrain yourself somewhat when Angela gets here. While she obviously knows about us and seems to be comfortable with us as a couple, I know she has bouts of shyness and I'm not sure how well she would handle our rather… intense displays of affection."

He hummed above me. "I think your friend is beginning to come into her own, now that she no longer feels like she is simply the shadow of aquela schifosa. However, I should point out to you that the excessive force of the passion we have been experiencing these past few days will ease slightly, since your… special visitor… departed a good twenty minutes ago."

I blushed slightly and shifted in his arms so I could gaze up at him. "Do you need to hunt?"

"It would probably be best," he said evenly then shook his head at my hopeful expression. "I took about an ounce and a half earlier when I bit you. I want to give your body a few days to recover from your menstruation and the extra blood loss."

I realized he had, in fact, misinterpreted my look. While I was looking forward to my mate's lips wrapping around my pulse and drinking from me again, I had something entirely different in mind. But as I faced him, I felt my confidence slip. I could not ask. Of course, I should have known that he would read my hesitation easily and want to know what was wrong. To his inquiry, I began with, "You're going to say no." He arched an eyebrow at me, obviously curious and determined to find out what workings were going on in my mind. "I… I…"

"You…" he prodded, both amused and slightly concerned at my hesitation. "Isabella, there is nothing you can say or ask that will upset me."

"This will," I muttered before taking a deep breath and blurting it. "I want to watch you hunt."

The only reason I knew that he had not gone into shock was that he was still breathing, but his face did not move. He did not blink. His lips did not move in any indication to how upset he may or may not have been. His face was completely frozen. I thought about pushing my request, but decided the smartest thing that I could do was keep my mouth shut and let him absorb my words. I kept my eyes focused on his and waited for some sign of what he was thinking of, and I about cried in relief when he finally took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.

"What you ask is an incredibly difficult task."

"It was only a request," I said softly. "It doesn't have to be answered."

He sighed heavily, dropping his head against the back of the chair. "It is not that I am opposed to you watching me hunt, cara mia. I only mean that it would be exceptionally difficult physically, particularly as you are given to challenging everything you are told. If I were to take you hunting with me and you did not follow my instructions perfectly, your life could be at risk."

I shook my head. "I know you would never hurt me, Carlisle, no matter how feral your mindset."

He pressed a chaste kiss to my temple before leaning back again. "While I do appreciate your trust, bella mia, it is not my own control that I fear. It is you not obeying me and then falling out of a tree."

I blinked once, twice, and then a third time. "Tree?"

He smirked. "Yes. Tree."

I took a deep breath. "I'm sure that I'm going to regret this, but… why a tree?"

"You would not be able to see me move from the ground," he explained. "From an extremely high vantage point, your eyes would be able to follow my movements more easily."

That made sense, but really… "A tree?"

As he rose above me, I found myself admiring the grace and the strength that he exuded when he moved. I attentively ran my hands over the pale-blue material stretched over his powerful shoulders, feeling the seemingly marble muscles flex beneath my firm touch. I breathed his name in wonderment as I slid my palms down his shoulders to his broad chest, slowly undoing several buttons of his shirt under his keen stare and pressing tiny kisses to his stone-like skin. I was ready to untuck the material from his pants when I looked back up into his dark eyes, shyly asking, "May I?"

His lips quirked into the slightest smirk. "As long as your plans do not involve me hunting completely unclothed."

I flushed but grinned brightly. "Only topless." I shoved the shirt down his arms and once again examined his body with my eyes and my hands. My chocolate gaze followed the path that my fingers took, running over the planes of his defined muscles, tracing his pecs, gliding over his luscious abs. "Oh, Carlisle, you are absolutely gorgeous." I slid my palms back up to those tempting shoulders and glanced up at him. "Tell me, my mate, what to do and not to do."

He swiftly caught both of my hands in one of his and, with hardly any pressure on my skin, lifted my wrists above my head. He pulled me slightly up onto my toes before attacking my neck with his fervent kisses. "First, my pet, when I give you these orders, I expect you to follow them without question. Do you understand me?" When I agreed, he ever-so-gently tugged me higher. "I mean it, Isabella. While I do not doubt your intelligence, I do doubt your impulses, and I do not need you plummeting nearly two hundred feet out of a damned tree simply because you had the urge to lean forward!"

I swallowed thickly and tried to ignore the effects that his aggression had on my body. "I promise."

He nodded sharply. "Good. Unfortunately, the only way for you to actually see me hunt is to do so from a significant height, but when I leave you, you do not move. You do not move a voluntary muscle. You do not lift a finger. You do not wiggle a toe. You do… not… move. The only movement I should be able to hear is your heart, your lungs, and... if you just cannot resist... your eyes blinking."

He scowled fiercely at me when I giggled at how far he was taking this, and I had to bite my lip hard before speaking. "I promise that I will not move. Even if a giant, creepy spider crawls over me, I will not twitch. I'll scream bloody murder and interrupt your dinner, but I swear that I won't move. I promise."

He pulled my body flush against his, his free hand stroking my throat, his fingertips caressing the racing pulse beneath my skin. "I am a selfish creature, m'uzzola. I do not fear you falling to harm, for I can change you and make you immortal at any given moment. But while I wish to claim you for all our eternity, I am not yet prepared to give up your humanity. I am not ready to give up the delicious heat of your body—" he ground his hips against me, making me gasp— "and I still wish to taste your divine blood for years to come." His lips wrapped around the bruise on my neck, sucking firmly for a few moments, before drawing back to gaze down at me. "Does this trouble you?"

It took me a moment to fully comprehend what it was that he was asking, and when it finally did sink it, I shook my head and smiled brightly. "Carlisle, I'm well aware that as much as you enjoy my blood, my life is more important. I know that if I were asked to be changed right now, if that was what I truly wanted, you'd give up my blood for my happiness." I slid my hands around his neck and rose up on tip-toe, breathing softly against his cold lips. "Besides… you look fucking hot with red eyes."

He growled quietly and pressed a chaste kiss to my forehead, murmuring against my flesh. "Are you quite certain this is what you wish?" When I answered him with a firm yes, he nodded once then turned and bent down, letting me climb onto his back instead of just swinging me into place. He allowed me to settle myself comfortably against his body, and whe was assured that I was perfectly situated, he walked calmly out onto the deck, placed one foot on the banister, and launched us over the railing. He landed more smoothly than I could have imagine any other vampire.

He did not immediately take off at full speed, giving me a few minutes to become accustomed to being perched atop him. Once he was sure I was okay, he raced from the house at a velocity no human could ever imagine. The cold hard muscles of his shoulders and back bunched and relaxed beneath me. The power I could feel from those muscles rippling underneath me was nothing short of remarkable. It was then that I realized he obviously went to great lengths on a daily basis, using immeasurable amounts of control, to keep from breaking bones when he simply touched me or leaving my body in bloody tatters when we made love.

I suppose that I never took the time to fully comprehend Edward's inhuman abilities and control, if only because he would never allow himself to become this close to me. He never had shared himself with me in the way that Carlisle did. Of course, I was grateful now for that as it meant I had only belonged and would ever only belong to one man: my mate. But feeling the strength in Carlisle's body, in his movements, gave me a new appreciation for this family's willingness to exert such management over their own capabilities and instincts, particularly my own mate. It was truly amazing that such a powerful creature not only had the drive to master his own strength but had the control to make that mastery happen.

I suddenly felt his muscles tense, and before I could register what was happening, we were soaring through the air and landing on a tree branch a good twenty or thirty feet up. Once I managed to calm my racing heartbeat, he continued his climb upward. When we were at what I presumed he thought was a respectable height, he launched us into another tree. Physically, it was not the easiest way to travel, but I knew that staying off the ground would help him be less detectable to his potential prey.

I was not sure how many trees he had jumped to and from before he came to an abrupt halt a good hundred fifty or so feet above the ground, his dark eyes focusing on something in the distance that I could not see. He carefully eased me off of his back and then sat me down on a rather thick branch. His arms went around me as I carefully wiggled into a comfortable position, my side pressed against the tree and my arm braced behind the thick trunk for support. He knelt next to me on the branch, talking to and questioning me, making absolutely certain that I was as safe as a human could be at this height.

When I turned my head to glance at him, I noticed that venom was dripping from the corners of his mouth and gave into my urge. I leaned toward him to lap the clear fluid up with my tongue. I gasped when he claimed my lips with bruising force, his mouth plundering mine, the sweet almond taste of his poison coating my lips as our tongues mated fervently. I kept my eyes focused on his for a few moments, moaning into his mouth at the desire in his onyx gaze, but they fluttered closed when his lips began smearing venom-coated nips and kisses to my throat.

When I started to lean more deeply into him, he jerked away and forced me to be still, panting heavily with unneeded breath. "Streghetta… you truly are a sinful temptation and enough to make me forget myself wholly." He took several moments to compose himself before he pointed ahead of us. "I will be coming from that direction. There is a herd about a mile away. Do… not… move," he reiterated firmly. "Am I clear?" When I swallowed thickly and nodded, he pressed a quick kiss my temple then flung himself to another tree. Then another and another, until he was gone from my vision.

I made good on my promise to not move, though it was very hard, because he had been gone for quite some time. He had to have been gone for at least ten minutes and that surprised me. I'd have suspected that he would have driven his prey in this direction swiftly because he did not want me to be alone in this tree that long. Of course, I sincerely doubted that it had actually been that long, but it sure as hell felt like it. As anxious as I was, I knew that I could not move, no matter how badly I wanted to. I could not break this vow to my mate. He would be furious and, more importantly, hurt. I could not do that.

It was several minutes more when I saw several flashes of brown and white, an entire family of deer appearing only about fifty feet away.

My first reaction, which I did not give into, was to coo at how adorable they were, but almost immediately, I remembered that this was my mate's dinner. It would not have been a wise idea to make loud happy noises, as they would have fled. More importantly, allowing myself to feel any sort of connection to these beautiful animals would only serve to distress me when they were killed. It would be like when Renee wanted to raise chickens as pets, only to decide later on that they would be better as cacciatore.

Several other deer pranced through the trees and joined the herd, and I studied them carefully, my eyes coming to rest on a rather large buck. There was no doubt in my mind that this was the one that Carlisle would go for, and it was that thought that sent my gaze upward, searching the trees for my mate. It took a moment, but I spotted him a good seventy feet away, his eyes focused on the male as he slid gracefully from one branch to another. Every time he moved, the defined muscles of his gorgeous shoulders of bunched and strained, relaxing only when he came to rest in another tree. As he balanced himself effortlessly on a branch, leaning out over the herd and inhaling the scent of their blood, I could see his abdominal muscles ripple. While the expression on his face did not come close to the one he had whenever he tasted my blood, his black eyes glittered with hunger and the thrill of the hunt. It was plainly clear that he was taking animalistic pleasure from the silent stalking of his target, reveling in the knowledge that he was an unstoppable predator and his prey would not escape.

In that moment, he was a killer and every fiber of my being was begging me to beg that killer to claim me, right there in the middle of the woods. I stared at him lustfully, licking my lips and biting back a gasp when his eyes darted to mine for a moment. His lips curled in a feral smile, letting me know that he could smell me and that as soon as he had taken down his prey that I would be submitting to his attention. I shivered in anticipation and watched him turn back to his hunt.

His focus was once again solely on his prey, and knowing that I was wet and ready for him, he wasted no time in moving closer and launching himself onto the buck. He snapped its neck while he simultaneously sank his teeth through the fur and flesh to the artery beneath. He visibly shook beneath the surging mix of triumph, pleasure, pride and relief as he drained his prey of every last drop. When he jerked away from the animal, his eyes immediately darted up to me, and I panted softly, watching as he leapt from branch to branch.

But he suddenly froze when he was almost to me, his eyes darting off to the left as he sniffed the air. He looked back up to me and held a finger to his bloody lips, before taking off in the direction where, I assumed, another choice prey was.

The time I waited was nowhere near as long as when he was stalking the deer, and I could not stop a sharp intake of breath when I heard two roars approaching. I glanced up to see Carlisle yards away, chasing and wrestling with what I guess was a mountain lion. I realized that this is what Emmett and Edward must have meant about vampires playing with their food, because I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that my mate could have simply snapped the big cat's neck.

I smirked and could not stop the dirty comment that was forming in my mind from spilling out of my mouth. "Here I am, sitting in a tree, waiting to be mounted, and you're playing with another pussy."

Snap.

The mountain lion's snarl was silenced with the breaking of its neck, and my mate drained it quickly. When he finished, he dropped the carcass and turned in my direction, looking like a wild god, and growled. He started toward me, slowly at first then increasing his pace, jumping high into one of the trees, flashing from one to another until he suddenly towered over me.

I knew I would not be leaving this tree anytime soon from the look in his eye and the dark way he whispered one word, "Mine."

.

TBC

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