Disclaimer: I dont own anything but the plot
Chapter 14 The lioness
Edward POV
"Elegant, poised and beautiful." Bella described the male lion walking on the forest floor beneath us. I looked over at her. She was on all fours, leaning out over the edge a bit to see the animal better. Her body was elegant. Her posture, even in this position, was poised with her head held high and her shoulders relaxed. And she was so incredibly beautiful.
"Without a doubt." I said with a wistful tone. The words had been out of my mouth before I could stop myself and I quickly looked away. My face scrunched up. "I should either keep my mouth shut or say what I thuóught about her outloud. What was she supposed to take from that? God I'm so pathetic. Why can't I just tell her how I feel?"
I heard her giggle. "Do you want this one?"
I looked at her. "Don't you want it?"
Another giggle. "That's not what I meant. But I am a little concerned."
"About what? It's claws may be sharp, but they can't pierce your skin." I was confused.
"No that's not it. When I took down that black bear in Canada, it completely tore my clothes. And I really like this shirt." She grabbed a bit of said shirt at her collarbone and tucked at it for emphasis. I looked at her movement and que the adolescent part of my brain that had never been in love before, to draw my eyes straight to her chest and the small part of her cleavage she had just absentmindedly exposed. I tore my eyes away and looked back out towards the lion without really seeing it. "Get a hold of yourself! You're not a twelve year old boy, you're a 104-year old vampire. Gah! Show her some respect!" I mentally slapped myself.
I should probably get a bit of distance before I do something really stupid. I had nearly kissed her earlier without her permission. Had she not stepped back, I wasn't sure I could have stopped myself from leaning in. My mother, as well as Esme, has taught me better than that, so it was good that she had moved and broken the spell I had been under.
"If you want, I'll take this one and show you how to avoid it's attack. I'll find you another one afterwards."
"Sure. That sounds good."
I felt like I was boiling again, despite the snowy weather. I took off my jacket, unhooked a few top buttons and rolled up my sleeves. "Watch closely." I said before jumping down and sprinting forward. I suddenly felt the urge to impress her. I knew she was watching and could feel her eyes on me. I came up from behind the lion and quickly snapped its neck before it could turn to face me. I drank from it reveling in the taste. It somehow tasted better than usual.
After a few minutes I heard her jump down from the rock where I had left her, and stand off to the side. I lifted my head and looked at her.
"Do you wanna taste it?" I asked her.
"I don't want to take your meal. You go ahead and finish."
I chuckled. "Don't worry it's almost dry anyway. Come over here and see if you like it."
She smiled gratefully and walked over. I scooted a bit to make room for her. She sat down on her knees, held the lion's head and then placed her mouth over my bite mark. My mouth fell open. She had just put her mouth where mine had been mere seconds ago. The flame in my chest burned brighter. "I wonder if she's aware of how sensual and attractive that action was. Did she do that on purpose?"
Bella held the lion's head closer and she moaned a little in satisfaction. My body went rigid at the sound. My eyes landed on her throat as she swallowed once. Twice. Then there was no more and Bella's mouth let go to let out another small moan. A slight tightness in my pants made me realize that my body had a more physical reaction than I had first thought. Bella placed her fingers to her lips to no doubt wipe away any drops of blood that could have spilled down her chin, but there weren't any.
"How was it?" I asked when she was done.
"It's official. Mountain lion is definitely my new favorite." She smiled.
I smiled too. "I could tell you enjoyed it. Should we find you your own?"
"Please say yes. I need to move to get this 'reaction' down."
She nodded vigorously and looked like a child being asked if she wanted more candy. "Yes please."
I laughed at her response. "Ok, then let's go." I took my jacket she had placed on the ground between us and held it in front me as I rose. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable just because I couldn't control myself.
It didn't take me long to find the tracks of another one. By the scent, I could tell it was a female this time. When we got close enough to hear its movements, I let go of her hand to let her take the lead. I sat down on a fallen tree trunk to watch her. I didn't want to be in the way. I could see that it wasn't possible to get behind it. The lioness was standing with her back to a tall cliff. She would need to lure it out and then either get behind it or turn it around.
She stopped about 12 yards away from the animal, standing right in its line of sight. The animal started hissing. Bella just waited for it to move, standing completely still though smirking a bit. She was enjoying taunting the other female. The lioness hissed and growled and Bella answered with her own growl issuing a challenge. Her growl sent shivers down my whole body. I just couldn't stop reacting to her today. The animal took the bait and sprang forward. It struck out with its paw and Bella gracefully sidestepped. As the animal attacked again she jumped over it into a tree, using it as a spring to launch her onto the lioness's back. She snapped its neck and sank her teeth into it. My family and some others have told me before how I resemble the lions I prefer to hunt. I had seen the comparisons they made in their heads, but never had I thought I would see the sight myself. Bella reminded me of a time I had watched two female mountain lions fight over either territory or a meal one of them had that the other wanted. The likeness was uncanny.
That move with the tree must have been how she caught up to me before. She truly was an amazing creature. She didn't just rely on the strength, speed and agility that she had received with the transformation to become a vampire, but actually used her surroundings to her advantage. Very resourceful and intelligent. With her permission, I would explain it as best I could to Jasper and discuss it with him. I had never heard of a technique like that, and I wondered if he ever had.
Bella finished her meal and wiped her mouth again. She looked over to where I was sitting. Her eyes had dulled ín color over the last week, as I was sure mine had. Now they had gained back that beautiful golden amber color that had been stuck in my head for the past 55 years. She smiled a satisfied smile.
"That was amazing." She exclaimed.
"Yes. It truly was." But I didn't say it outloud. Once again berating myself for my cowardice of not being able to tell her of my affection.
I knew she needed a bit more than just one lion, but she really wanted to get back to Luke, so we compromised. On the way back we found a herd of Elk and took one each. This satisfied my need to make sure she was fed properly.
By the time we got back to the house, it had gotten dark, and Bella realized that it was already a bit past Luke's bedtime. We both stopped to admire the two snowmen that stood in the garden. I could tell by the scents on them, that the first had been made by Luke, Rosalie, Esme and Carlisle. The second by Alice, Jasper and Emmett. The second was by far the biggest, but the snow had been pressed too hard so it looked lumpy. But the first looked to have been made with great care. A carrot nose and one of Carlisle's old tophats, that he didn't use anymore, on its head.
"Oh Luke." Bella said beside me, looking at the first snowman with a sad smile.
"What is it?" I asked and walked closer to her.
"Oh it's nothing. Luke just promised me this morning that he would make a snowman for me and has now kept his promise." She reached out and pulled a small piece of paper off the hat on the snowman. It said: For Bells.
"That's so sweet." I smiled with her.
We went inside and found the others in the living room watching a Disney movie. Hercules. I could see that Luke had been reminded of Hercules when watching Emmett, Much to Emmett's joy, so he wanted to watch the movie. Luke however was fast asleep with his head on Rosalie's lap.
"Hello you two. Welcome back." Carlisle greeted us. We both returned the greeting.
"So. Where have you been?" Jasper asked. I could see that Alice had already told them where we went, so why did he ask? But then I noticed that he was thinking about a bet he had made with Emmett. Emmett didn't believe that all we had done was hunting. He and Rose had a very physical relationship, and since he now, like everybody else, suspected more than ever how I felt about Bella, he thought we had gone off to 'be alone'. The images in his head were offensive.
"We went hunting. Edward showed me how to take down a mountain lion. It was exhilarating." Bella explained with a big smile.
Everyone smiled but Emmett, who was disappointed. Since he had been so offensive in his thoughts, I couldn't help myself from teasing him a little.
I smiled too, letting a glint of mischief enter it. "And we had a little game of tag. That was fun too."
Everyone blanched and Emmett grinned widely.
"It really was." Bella added. "I haven't played tag since I was a kid, and can't ever remember it being that much fun." Emmett's smile faded a bit at her comment.
"So it was actual tag, not 'tag'?" He made air quotations for the last word.
I smiled innocently. "Of course. What did you think?"
He scowled at me. Everyone but Bella and I laughed. They knew what he had been thinking. Jasper had won the bet.
"So did you catch him?" Alice asked Bella.
Bella blinked. "Oh. No. He was too fast."
Again everybody laughed.
"You got extremely close though."
"How close did she get?" Carlisle asked. He was very intrigued.
"She actually managed to touch me."
Nobody laughed now. They were all taken aback. No one, not even Alice, has ever been able to come so close they could touch me.
"So what, you didn't go all out?" Emmett asked, scrunching his face.
"Oh I went all out alright." I said earnestly. "But Bella here is just too smart for me."
"Hold on." She interrupted. "I didn't actually touch you. Don't give me more credit than I deserve."
"You did too. I felt it on my arm."
"I merely grassed your skin, that doesn't count."
"Yet, had you aimed for my chest instead of my arm, you would have caught hold of the arm instead of just grassing it."
"Then it still doesn't count, because I didn't actually get a hold of your arm."
"Oh, it counts alright." Said Alice, interrupting our banter. "Even I, with my ability to predict every one of his moves as soon as he makes a choice, have never gotten that close." Alice's smile was proud.
"How did you do it? Are you as fast as he is?" Jasper asked. I could see that he really wanted to know this secret so he could replicate it.
Before Bella could answer, I spoke. "She used the environment around her to create enough force to launch herself through the air like a rocket. She landed in front of me forcing me to dig my heels into the ground to stop before smashing into her and then she pounced."
Everyone but Alice, who had already known of this, gaped and looked at Bella in awe. She on the other hand looked away shyly.
"You're making it sound more impressive than it was." I knew she would have deminiged her own amazing feat.
"Will you explain how you did it?" Jasper asked.
Bella's eyes widened. "Uhm.."
I interrupted when I noticed Luke twitching a little in his sleep. Bella noticed too.
"With your permission Bella, I'll try to explain it to them later. For now, I think we should get Luke home to his bed."
She looked relieved and grateful for my suggestion. "Yes. I think that would be best." She walked over to where Rose was carefully lifting Luke up like he was made of porcelain, and received his sleeping form from her. Rosalie thought briefly about how she wished she could let the boy snuggle into her neck like Luke was now doing to Bella. But thought that, if Bella could do it, then she could learn too.
Jasper's thoughts however took me a little by surprise. His eyes were narrowed. "How is Bella doing that and not flinching? She is barely out of her infancy, and neither Rosalie or Esme can do that, and they each have at least 70 years in this life. Something about this is not right. Bella has too much control for an eight year old."
I decided to talk to him about that thought later. Right now, I needed to get Bella and Luke home.
I drove them to their house and walked Bella, who was holding a sleeping luke, to the front door and held it open for her. She thanked me for today and said we would see each other in the morning. I replied that we would, and thanked her as well. On the drive home, I was suddenly struck by the thought that our hunting trip this afternoon was sort of the equivalent of me taking Bella out for dinner. And had I not just driven her home, walked her safely to her door and said goodnight? Yes, I had. Did that mean.. That we had just been on a date?
Please R&R, Thank you
