*BPOV*
"I hope you're happy, Jasper," Edward acidly seethed, his teeth bared and his hands balled into tight fists at his side.
Standing a few inches taller than Jasper, Edward stood right in his face, looking down his nose at the shorter man. "Because of your ill-conceived plan, in just a matter of days, they'll be coming for her! They're coming for Bella!" he roared.
Jasper raised a calming hand, meaning to lay it on Edward's shoulder. With a dull crunch of stone striking stone, Edward slapped it away eliciting a defensive snarl from Jasper.
"Calm down, Edward," Jasper demanded. "We knew this was a possibility. We may have lost the element of surprise, but all is not lost! It's a good thing, really. It means they'll have to fight us on our own turf. That is a strategic advantage…" Jasper explained in an analytical tone.
"Don't give me that! You wouldn't be so sanguine if they were bent on killing your mate!" Edward argued, nostrils flaring.
"I suppose you can't be bothered to concern yourself with Bella's welfare given that you're the one who wanted her dead in the first place!" Edward accused with a furious snarl of his own.
Jasper's expression turned pained as he looked past Edward to me, giving me a contrite glance before turning his attention back to Edward.
"I didn't…she wasn't…," Jasper struggled for words and finally settled on, "I'm thinking of all of our welfare, Edward. Please understand that. If we just stick to the plan–"
Then turning to face me instead, Edward said in a gentler but still desperate-sounding voice, "Bella, this is insanity! But it's not too late to change course. We can run! We can–"
"And what of the rest of us?" Ragnar shouted, a concern echoed by several other nervous vampires.
Even more of them had shown up overnight. The Amazons: Zafrina, Kachiri, and Senna had arrived, swinging through the trees like wild beings. And wild they were. Dressed in animal hides and crude leather pants that laced down the sides, they were even more intimidating than the Viking.
The Romanians, Vladimir & Stefan, came after hearing about our efforts through word of the mouth. They weren't acquainted with any of us personally but considered themselves enemies of the Volturi, and as the saying goes, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
And as I looked around it seemed that two more clans had arrived while Edward and I were at school.
I looked from Edward's furious face to Jasper's pleading one, and then to the dozens of other tense faces watching us intently.
"Edward, listen to yourself! I'm not going to run and leave all these people–"
Taking my face between his hands so that I could only look at him, Edward cut in before I could finish refusing. "You are my number one priority, Bella. No one else. If something goes wrong…if we miscalculated, I could lose you forever. That's not a risk I'm willing to take!" he thundered, though his eyes were pleading.
"You're going to have to," I said in a gentle but firm tone. "Because I'm not running."
"Damnit, Bella!" he roared. The muscles in his shoulders, arms, and hands tensed like he was going to shake me but he didn't. He simply released his hold on me and backed away.
"Have a–" but before I could say 'little faith,' he was gone.
*EPOV*
I cursed as I ran. The last thing I saw before I fled was the stricken look on my mother's face. but I couldn't concentrate on that right then.
All I could think about was the serene expression on Bella's face when she broke the promise she made to me, instead vowing to stand and face the Volturi.
The Volturi! The most powerful coven of vampires to exist in over a millennium, and their primary objective was to snuff out any and all threats to their reign. And the greatest threat they'd ever faced was my reason for existing. I couldn't bear it.
As furious as I was, I burned with regret at having yelled at her in the manner I had. The enraged tone I'd used had made Esme flinch, a fact that hadn't been lost on Carlisle. The familiar feelings of disgust and self-loathing settled over me like old friends.
"Does she always have to be so infuriatingly brave?!" I yelled out loud to no one in particular.
"Do you always have to be so relentlessly broody?" asked a familiar voice.
*BPOV*
Esme, Rose, Kate, and Maisie all flocked to my side in a show of support.
I felt awash with gratitude, but not my own. It was Jasper's, and what I thought must've been the gratitude of the other allies I just promised to defend, forsaking my own husband.
"Do we need to worry about him?" Ragnar asked Jasper, thrusting his chin in the direction that Edward had just fled. "How do we know he won't just throw Bella over his shoulder and carry her off again when we're not watching?"
Emmett barked out in laughter. "Just let him try that when she doesn't want him to!" he guffawed. "She's small, but she's scrappy!" He boasted like a proud big brother and winked in my direction.
Laying a comforting hand on my shoulder, Maisie whispered in my ear, "Let 'im lay a finger on ye an' I'll barbecue the lad."
I couldn't deny that was something he might consider. After all, Edward had an established history of kidnapping me. But I wasn't a powerless human anymore, and I wasn't about to let anyone take me anywhere I didn't want to be.
That said, I didn't for one moment appreciate the spoken and unspoken threats to my husband's safety, so I brusquely replied, "Thank you, Maisie, but that won't be necessary. Edward will come around. He always does. He just…goes a little crazy when he thinks I'm in danger. Just like any of you would if it was your mate on the line," I stated firmly while trying to appeal to whatever empathy these other vampires might've had.
*EPOV*
"I took a shortcut when I saw where you were going," Alice answered before I could ask her where the hell she had even come from.
It wasn't as if I hadn't heard the hum of thoughts nearby, but with all the vampires hanging around the woods these days, I had taken to tuning out the chatter when Bella wasn't actively muffling them.
"You should be with Bella. She needs you," I muttered, sinking down onto the ground against the gnarled trunk of a coastal redwood, pitifully hiding my face in my hands.
I felt her body sink down on the ground next to me. When I finally looked over at her, I laughed despite myself. Her slight body looked as if it had been swallowed up by ferns.
"Would that I could, brother dear. 'Cause trust me, that wasn't a good look back there," she thumbed the air in the direction from which I'd just come. "But, you know…before Bella was your person, it was me. And I kinda figured that in this one instance, you needed your favorite sister more than Bella did."
As Alice was speaking, she was thinking of the entourage of vampires who had rallied around Bella with a religious-like devotion after she had sworn to risk her life to emancipate them from the Volturi's overreaching authority.
"Oh, Edward," Alice sighed as she absently plucked out a few foxtails that had gotten stuck to the pant leg of her designer jeans. "I know you worry about her. But can you please try to have a little faith? If not in Bella, then in the rest of us? You're not the only one it would kill to lose her, ya know," she said softly.
"How can you, of all people, tell me not to worry? You saw what's coming for us," I growled.
"I did," she agreed with a nod of her head. "But I also saw you killing her yourself, and that didn't happen, did it?" she asked rhetorically.
"Well, I suppose that's a matter of semantics," I muttered acidly just to be argumentative.
Alice huffed with impatience. "Fine, if you're going to be stubborn, consider this. Every time you start mouthing off about running away with Bella, Ragnar gets spooked and starts toying around with the idea of capturing her before you can. And how do you plan to stop him when his mate is a walking, talking flame thrower?"
Jumping to my feet, I let out a feral growl, "If our so-called allies mean to harm her–"
Alice stood up then, too. "Not to harm her, you idiot. It would be to stop you from going rogue before the Volturi can be dealt with," she explained, poking me hard on the sternum. "So stop giving them a reason to distrust you, please. I don't need any more possible bad outcomes to sort through!"
"I knew I didn't like that guy," I snarled with contempt.
Alice shrugged. "He's a Viking. Pillaging and plundering sort of go with the territory. But if he walks, Maisie walks…"
And Maisie was just as critical to our chances of winning as Bella was.
"I understand, Alice. I won't do anything to antagonize Ragnar any further. But the second the Volturi are dealt with–" I growled threateningly.
"That's the spirit! That sounded almost hopeful," Alice chirped, giving me a playful shove.
*BPOV*
After Edward left, Jasper rallied the troops to run some training exercises as well as provide combat instruction for those of us who needed it. This time Eleazar stepped up to lend his expertise.
"These won't be newborns coming for you this time. The Guard is trained to kill, and they are very good at what they do," Eleazar warned. "You will need to be faster, smarter, and deadlier if you mean to survive an attack from a Volturi member. Allow me to demonstrate."
Eleazar crouched down into a defensive stance a few yards away from Tristan, meaning to spar. Tristan sank into a crouch of his own. So fast that I hadn't been able to track him with my eyes, Eleazar collided into Tristan with a thunderous crack that left Tristan with one less arm.
And while everyone, myself included, gaped wide-eyed at Tristan who was yowling at having been partially dismembered, Eleazar silently reappeared behind me. Wrapping an unyielding arm around my neck, he pressed his teeth very lightly against my throat.
"You're dead," Eleazar murmured silkily, releasing me and casually tossing back Tristan's left arm to its rightful owner who snatched it out of the air and reattached it with an angry snarl.
"Lesson number one. Never leave your queen undefended," Jasper drawled to the group, repeating the very first lesson he ever taught me in chess.
Then, from behind me, a different set of lips brushed over the spot on my throat where Eleazar's teeth had just been.
"Forgive me, love," Edward murmured in apology. "I was out of line. It won't happen again." And then he took his place in front of me, crouched defensively, awaiting the next attack.
Edward and Ragnar regarded each other, then. I couldn't see the look on Edward's face, but I could see the appraising expression on Ragnar's. He grunted and nodded once, whatever that meant.
Then Alice reappeared, lining up with all the others and that was when Edward's sudden change of heart started to make a lot more sense. Of course, the sneaky little pixie would know what to say to get Edward to see sense! She winked at me then.
"Again!" Jasper barked and blew his whistle, smirking at Alice the whole time.
*EPOV*
"You were incredible, today," I told Bella, standing behind her as I massaged shampoo into her hair. We were standing under the hot spray of the shower, washing off the grimy evidence of an afternoon spent wrestling around in the dirt, which was a lot less fun than it sounded.
"I was so incredible that Eleazar killed me and Emmett knocked me on my ass. Twice," Bella snorted derisively, reaching behind her to rub her bottom. I stifled a groan as I watched her hand glide over the milky white curve of her perfectly proportioned backside.
"That's not what I meant," I chuckled, and turned her around to face me. Folding my arms around her waist, I clasped my hand around my wrist behind her lower back, holding her in the circle of my arms. I couldn't resist reaching down with one hand and giving her ass an appreciative little squeeze which was met by a soft giggle.
"You showed real leadership today. It was felt by everyone. Even Ragnar. And he doesn't really consider women to be his equal. None except Maisie, that is, for obvious reasons."
Bella visibly bristled at the suggestion that she or any other woman was somehow inferior to the brute.
"A thousand-year-old mind is a hard thing to change," I mused. "But I think after spending some time with this group, he will soon start to see the error of his ways."
"Edward?" Bella asked pleasantly as she tilted her head back into the spray to rinse the suds from her hair.
"Yes?"
"You're naked. I'm naked. Why are we still talking about Ragnar?" she teased with an impatient little huff.
"Because I'm not done apologizing to you yet, and I'm unworthy of you until I do," I answered earnestly.
"Edward, really, it's–"
"Not fine," I finished for her with a shake of my head.
Dropping to my knees at her feet, I took her hands in my own and looked up at her as I professed, "Bella, the way I spoke to you today was will never happen again," I vowed, my words steeped in sincerity.
"I just wanted you to know how…incredibly sorry and ashamed I am of how I treated you. I will spend every day of forever trying to earn your forgiveness," I finished, kissing her hands and bowing my head.
"Well, that's just too bad, because you already have it," Bella affirmed and yanked me to my feet.
With a brush of her hand, she unstuck the wet hair from my forehead and let her fingers slide down to caress the side of my face. She left her hand there, pressed against my cheek. I turned slightly to the side, kissing her palm, though my gaze never left hers.
"Of course, I understand, Edward. I'm terrified of going up against the Volturi. Mostly because if anything happens to anybody, but especially to you, it'll be my fault."
I opened my mouth to argue that point but Bella stopped me by pressing a finger to my lips.
"And if we don't do what we can to stop them and Aro gets his draft, if any of us are split up because of it, I'll never forgive myself. It's my gift that can put an end to all of this. I can't just walk away from that," Bella whispered with a stoic look on her exquisite face, her tawny eyes searching mine for understanding.
Taking both of her hands in mine, I pressed my forehead to hers and admitted in a low, rough voice, "I know. I hate it," I growled. "But I know."
Bella sighed, her sweet breath fanning across my face. "So…what now?"
"I guess that sort of depends," I answered vaguely.
"On?"
"Well, am I forgiven?" I asked, smiling crookedly at her.
"Of course," she answered automatically with a bright smile.
"Well, then I suppose it's time for Phase 2 of my showing you how sorry I am," I grinned. And for the second time that night, I knelt down at Bella's feet.
This time, however, instead of groveling with my words, I planned to grovel with my mouth. Since actions were louder and all that.
I wrapped one hand around the back of her calf and lifted it so I could drape her leg over my shoulder. I then repeated the action with the other leg so that she was now sitting on my shoulders with her dripping sex mere inches from my waiting mouth.
"Oh Gooood," she moaned deeply as I trailed the tip of my tongue up the entire length of her, parting her gently as I ascended to the sensitive little pearl at the top.
I moaned at the positively narcotic taste of her arousal as I took my time teasing and exploring. Bella leaned back slightly, resting her head and shoulders against the tile wall behind her.
Good girl, I thought, smiling into her sex. Get comfortable.
I swirled my tongue around her clitoris, getting her primed so that when I encircled my lips around her and gently suckled, she fisted her hands into my hair and gasped my name.
I moaned again rapturously. The breathy, wanton sound of my name being cried out in ecstasy went straight to my cock which would go ignored until Bella willed otherwise. This would be about her.
It was difficult to do much with my hands in this position. My left hand was braced against the wall, supporting her back, while the other reached up to caress her breast and gently pinch her nipple in the way that I knew she liked.
When I flicked my tongue over a particularly sensitive spot, she bucked against the wall hard enough to knock one of the bottles off the shower caddy. I reflexively caught it.
It was the small bottle of lubricant we kept for convenience with the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash because…well, Bella really liked shower sex. It gave me an idea.
*BPOV*
I moaned and writhed against Edward's face as he lingered there, drawing out my pleasure by getting me just to the cusp of climax and then pulling his mouth away to instead nibble on my thigh or somewhere else. And every time I had to start over, the climb was that much higher and steeper.
Once, after I'd been ripped away from the clutches of orgasm I don't know how many times, that somewhere else had been south. Meaning, once again, I felt that peculiar but not unpleasant sensation of his tongue moving around my rear passage, probing slightly.
I tensed at first, more out of surprise than out of reluctance, but then eventually relaxed into it. Once I did, his mouth returned to my throbbing bundle of nerves with a vengeance.
By that point, I was so pent up with need that my core physically ached. So when he drew me into his mouth, suckling lightly but with growing pressure, I groaned low in my throat at the sheer relief of it.
As his tongue began to flick over my engorged nerves, I could feel my muscles coil with tension and my breath trapped in my chest as I waited on edge to detonate.
And, oh! Just as my climax crashed over me like a tidal wave, I felt something slick probing gently at my ass. Not his tongue which was still busy flicking my clit, but a finger working its way in up to the first knuckle.
The unexpected but not unwelcome invasion brought my orgasm to a whole other dimension. A nuclear explosion compared to a stick of dynamite. I screamed and thrashed at the intensity of it, which only made Edward's mouth clamp down harder, determined to wring out every last spasm of pleasure.
Edward must've carried me out of the shower at some point. Because the next thing I knew, I was wrapped in a plush bath towel, cradled in his arms in our bed as I recovered from the most erotic experience of my life (either of them).
As coherence slowly returned to me, I purred at the soothing feeling of Edward's fingers rhythmically combing through my damp hair. His lips, pressing soft kisses to the top of my head, were so gentle that I wasn't sure if I was actually feeling them.
*EPOV*
I smiled to myself as I stroked Bella's hair as she lay peacefully in my arms. If I was honest with myself, I was feeling just a little bit smug.
While I didn't exactly relish the idea of other people–particularly men–hearing Bella during an intimate moment, it wasn't exactly a bad feeling that coursed through me when every vampire for miles had heard the most cataclysmic orgasm I'd ever given her.
Though I wasn't paying any attention to their thoughts, only hers. Because for those interminable moments in the throes of her ecstasy, Bella's mind had opened to me. I didn't think it was anything she was doing on purpose, rather a total loss of control like she experienced when we first discovered her gift.
It is known that the brain is the most powerful sexual organ, and to be in Bella's head during the peak of her pleasure had been my utter undoing. Though I certainly hadn't meant to find my own release, it found me nevertheless. I don't think Bella even noticed. What luck that I had been kneeling over a drain.
Then it occurred to me that I should probably ask her about her experience, even though I already knew better than she could possibly articulate. Though, if I was honest, I was curious to hear her try.
I broke the silence by first quietly clearing my throat. "So…was that…ok?" I asked with a barely restrained smirk.
In a giggly voice that reminded me very much of the time she got tipsy for her 19th birthday, Bella mused, "So that's what Rose has been going on about! She was right," And then she buried her face in my chest and started laughing so hard she snorted.
My eyebrows rose in surprise at her admission. For the love of all that's holy, what did the women talk about when we weren't around?
"I beg your pardon?"
A/N The Red Cloaks are coming! The Red Cloaks are coming! Okay, okay I know that Bella and Edward hopping in the sack every five minutes when the shit is about to hit the fan might be a little far-fetched. But I'm having too much fun letting them explore to make them totally gloom and doom like in B&D. (Though, to be fair, they were still doin' it like bunnies in BD. SM just didn't let us see any of it 😭 )
Also, it is really tough having so many characters in play right now. I know Carlisle wouldn't be totally silent throughout some of these conversations, but I was struggling to find an elegant way to include him. For now, Carlisle has been a little less vocal, maybe a little despondent since he knows the chances for a peaceful resolution are dwindling by the minute. But he is always a voice inside Edward's head.
Til next time, lovelies! Thank you to those of you who take the time to review! The more feedback I get, the faster I tend to get the chapters out, that's just a fact. So if you're itching to read Ch 53, let me know what you think!
