We can all thank an evening spent in good company, playing Cards against Humanity, for my abandonment of what was a very depressive chapter in favour of this one.

Thank you to collegestudent34 (thank you! I was worried!), sinxical, lucefatale, OnyxWritter, magicbustrip, ravenwholock, souverian, and Love. Fiction. 2020 for your reviews - if I haven't replied already, I will today!

Erm... So... Guess who accidentally effed up the timeline a little bit...? Because... Emmett and Edward were supposed to be hunting on Saturday...? Oops... We're just going to try and ignore that... A little... Yeah...

Chapter 13

When Carlisle texted Carys on Tuesday evening to say that he couldn't come to hers as he'd originally planned, she didn't think much of it. As much as she would miss being with him for another night, she didn't expect to occupy his life completely, just as he didn't with her.

Besides, it gave her some much-needed me-time to take a long soak in the bath with a glass of wine and a good book...

Or, it would have done if her good intentions had come to pass and she hadn't given in to the lure of television as she made her way through most of the snacks in her house.

She'd spent the night on the sofa, falling into a strangely fitful slumber around twelve, with the news playing in the background.


Carys woke slowly to the sound of her alarm blaring through the open door of her bedroom and down the stairs.

The last thing she wanted was to be late for work and have to explain to Sandra that she'd slept through her alarm because she'd spent the night doing what she had.

Sandra already thought her life was a little too bland, and she didn't really want to add fuel to that, particularly inaccurate, fire.

Turning off her alarm with one hand, Carys typed a text to Carlisle with the other, replying to his message from a couple of hours before asking if she wanted to spend lunch together that day.

It wasn't until she found herself back in her bedroom, wrapped in a large towel, that she checked her phone again and realised what she'd done.

I hardly think it's fair for you to tell me you're showering. There's a reason I leave before you wake up, darling.

Carys rubbed a finger over her cheek as she grinned wickedly.

Did she feel bad about accidentally calling Carlisle's imagination into play? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Did she fully appreciate the fact that he, a sixteenth-century man, felt comfortable enough with both of their sexuality to elude to how it affected him? Definitely yes.

It's hardly my fault - I just told you what I was doing. If you're imagining me-

No.

She shook her head and deleted the message.

She couldn't... They were...

Fuck it. She thought seconds later as she stared at the empty box. We're both adults, and he's kind of my boyfriend by now.

It's hardly my fault, she typed again, biting her lip through a wicked grin. If you're really so concerned about my wellbeing, perhaps you should come and cool me down one day... I have a bad habit of letting the water run far too hot...

Carys dropped her phone to the bed and wrapped her towel more securely around her, far too proud of herself for having responded in kind.

Her phone buzzed almost immediately, but she ignored it as she danced around her room and chose her outfit for the day, swiping on some mascara. She didn't want Carlisle's reply to affect her personal triumph.

Carys finally judged herself ready for work and discovered she was far more worried than she had been when she'd sent the text, as she finally picked up her phone to read his response.

Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay, she chanted to herself, waving a hand in front of her as she gritted her teeth and opened her eyes a little to stare at the screen.

YES!

Carys punched her fists in the air around her, alternating one arm and then the other before she danced around in a circle, jumping up and down.

She let out a slow calming breath and rolled her shoulders back, whining in the back of her throat as she read again: Is exactly what the Devil must tell his victims when he welcomes them to the fires of hell.

She thought over her reply, refusing to let herself backtrack again after she finally wrote it out.

"And... Send."

Carys was in her kitchen by the time Carlisle came to find her.

"Maybe you should give in to temptation. You might just find it's a good way to experience heaven?" He asked, repeating her text as he closed the front door behind him and strode across her home.

She knew he could hear her heart slamming against her ribs as she turned away from the kettle to face him, but equally that he knew her well enough to know that it wasn't from fear, but rather desire - that he'd be kind enough to ignore it.

"Well...," Carys mumbled, nibbling at her lip as she glanced up at him flirtatiously through her dark lashes, taking in the way his eyes flashed with unchecked hunger. "I-"

She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence because Carlisle enveloped her in his arms, hauling her against him as his hard lips descended to hers.

His kiss was at once hard, hot, cold, and sweet, and she lost her breath as she clung to him, melted against him. She'd been wrong about the fire, she concluded as he tightened his hold and bent her back against the countertop.

Heaven only plunged them headfirst into the flames.

The fire burned hotter within her, rose with a blazing intensity that robbed her of breath as she met his kiss with all the passion he poured into it. He slanted his lips against hers, swiping his tongue over the seam of her lips as he begged for entry - and all thought fled from her mind.

His cool tongue probed into her mouth, surprising her with the shocking gentleness of the intimate caress, so at odds with the desire that burned between them - so thrillingly controlled against the storm of their combined desire.

She moaned into his mouth, met each light, hard, exploring thrust of his tongue, and then - with a desire to control their kiss as much as him, stroked her tongue against his, wrenching a deep groan from him - one which she felt as much as heard. It vibrated through her chest as she pressed even harder against him.

"I want you," he growled against her lips, lifting her to the kitchen counter and stepping easily between her parted thighs, his hands gliding over her sensitive skin.

He slid his cold fingers to curl around the backs of her thighs and gripped - raised her knees to his waist.

When she instinctively wrapped her legs around him, he let out an appreciative groan that added to the heat pooling low in her belly as he returned his attention to their kiss.

Emboldened by his reaction, she moaned as she clutched him closer still. Speared a hand through his hair as she arched against him and sucked on his tongue.

And then, suddenly - he was gone.


The alarm blared, louder than before, as Carys woke with a start.

"-ndo Calderas Wallace, suspected murderer wanted in the states of Texas and Oklahoma, was apprehended last night in Portland, Oregon, thanks to an anonymous tip. Wallace was found unconscious in an alley early this morning, just a few yards from a police-"

Carys cut off the reporter's speech and dropped the remote to the floor, staring at the ceiling as she trembled, breathing rapidly against the onslaught of her desire and the reality that what she'd dreamt was just that - a dream.

Just a dream...

She checked her phone, the message she found there mocking her...

Lunch today? - C

She checked the time.

She was probably going to be late for work after all...

Dammit.

A/N: work really kicked my butt this week, so this is just a small (badly written) offering to get us through to tomorrow's chapter...