*BPOV*
Wearing the rucksack in my usual place on his back, Edward had carried me home in his arms. With my arms strewn around his neck, I took advantage of his occupied hands, kissing the corner of his flawlessly chiseled jaw.
"Bella," Edward moaned, "If you keep that up I might actually hit a tree."
"Slow down, then. What's the rush? I like you this way." I whispered wantonly into the glassy smooth column of his throat.
I felt the air stop whizzing by my ears, and the fuzzy green shapes of the jungle came into focus as he decelerated to a more human speed.
"Helpless to defend myself?" Edward's voice was playful. The skin of this throat tightened against my lips as the corners of his mouth curled into a smirk.
"If only that were true," I sighed dramatically. "It's nice of you to pretend that you need two hands to carry me, though."
"I'll pretend whatever you want," he rasped as I pressed my lips behind his ear. I hummed in approval, loving how affected he was by me.
No wonder he spent so much time attached to my throat. And here I always thought it was because of my scent!
Edward didn't even bother to put me down when he got me inside the house. He just flipped me around so that my legs were wrapped around him. He dropped the rucksack in a heap on the floor and left a trail of our clothes on the way to the bathroom-never once taking his lips off mine.
My back was pressed up against the cold tile while my front was pressed against the cool granite of his chest. If my lips hadn't been so busy, I would have made a joke about being caught between a rock and a hard place.
I reached down between my legs to take him into my hand. Edward's entire body stiffened, and his head was shaking "no" before he could bring himself to pull his lips from mine.
"No, Bella," his voice was gentle but urgent. "Not against a wall. You could get hurt."
Looking over his shoulder, I saw the bench seat built into the opposing wall. That gave me an idea.
"Over there. Sit down," I jutted my chin toward the bench. There was a determined edge to my voice that even I heard. He took the two long strides backward through the wide, square-shaped spray of the rainfall showerhead, and sank gracefully down to the seat behind his knees.
The hot water coursing down my back was in sharp contrast to his icy body pressing against my front. It was the most exhilarating sensory experience of my life. Like teetering between ice and fire with every nerve ending standing on end sparking like live wires.
Edward's hand curved around the back of my neck, holding my face securely to his, while his other hand gently palmed my breast. I moaned into his mouth when I felt his thumb lightly stroke the stiffened peak of my nipple.
With a feather-light touch, the hand on my breast trailed icily down my ribcage and further still until I felt him cupping the soft curls covering my mound.
Edward's thumb began to make dizzying circles around my swollen nerve center, making my knees shake as I straddled him over the hard tile bench.
He broke away from my lips, letting me breathe, but his mouth never left my skin.
"Mmm that's my girl," Edward moaned approvingly, slipping a frosty finger inside me. "You're already so wet for me."
When I reached down to take him in my hand, he didn't object this time. He pulled his hand away as I inched toward him, lining up my body with his rigidly hard manhood.
I blushed intensely as I watched the fingers that had been exploring me dip into his mouth. Edward's coal-black eyes fell shut and he moaned at the taste.
I grinded myself against him a few times, feeling the length of him slide through my slick folds.
"Bella," Edward's voice was rough, thick with need. His hands clamped down over the edge of the tiled bench on either side of his knees.
When I finally sank down on him, Edward's deep, guttural groan reverberated off the tile walls.
I rose up and down on him a bit awkwardly at first, trying to find a rhythm, but my knees were starting to hurt, digging into the patterned tiles.
Seeing that I was struggling, Edward used his hands to gently still my hips so that I was hovering over him. His hands found the bench again, while his own hips began to drill into me with carefully measured stokes.
Now it was my own voice, quaking with the force of his thrusts, echoing embarrassingly off the walls.
I reached a hand between us, rubbing heated circles over my flesh. My other hand clutched almost painfully at my breast.
"Yess," he hissed. "That's it, Bella. Make yourself come for me. You're never more beautiful than when you're coming."
It didn't take long before I felt my muscles tightening down as the acute need building in my core began to tip over the edge.
I held my breath, waiting to be overcome by the climax that threatened to swallow me whole.
"Edward!" I screamed as the waves of pleasure crashed over me. My head was thrown back, my back arching into the hot spray of water behind me.
With one final thrust, Edward grunted as he emptied himself into me. His hips were aloft, hovering over the bench, the ridges of his abdomen taut with effort.
Spent, I sagged against him, heaving breathlessly.
As Edward's breathing returned to normal, his hands came to wrap around me, tenderly holding me to him. Edward picked me up in one arm, cradling me against his torso as he shut off the water and nudged open the steamy glass door.
Through droopy eyelids, I noticed the shallow impressions his fingers had left carved into the seat. He had molded the tile like it had been made of playdoh.
Edward draped a plush white bath towel around me, lovingly patting me dry before tucking me into bed. I didn't even feel the mattress dip as he silently crawled into bed behind me, curling his body around mine over the quilted, overstuffed duvet.
"Are you hungry? I could get your dinner started," He murmured into my ear, combing my damp hair away from my face with his fingers.
"No, stay," I commanded, scooting my body deeper into his embrace. He said nothing, just held me tighter as I basked in the afterglow of being loved by an angel.
We laid like that for a long time, our slow and even breaths matching the ebb and flow of the rolling waves outside. The loudest sound in the room was the rhythmic gliding of his hand over the fabric as he stroked my side through the cocoon of blanket.
The dusky sky had turned into an inky black before words came back to me, along with the beginnings of hunger pangs that I ignored.
"Edward?" I asked in a dreamy voice, still coming down from the high.
"Yes, love?" He asked. His voice was musical, and his cool breath tickled my ear.
"Is the hunting not good here?" I asked, idly playing with a corner of the duvet. With a hand on my hip, Edward gently rolled me onto my back so he could look at me.
"The Amazon has less variety than the Olympic Peninsula, but the jaguars are an exotic treat," he added with my favorite crooked smile. He paused for a beat. "Why do you ask?" he asked with intense curiosity seeping into his tone.
"Well, I was just wondering why Carlisle and Esme would ever want to leave here. I can't imagine that life gets any better than this."
"You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that," he said. But his exultant voice gave me some idea.
"As for Carlisle and Esme...This is something of a vacation home for them. This house isn't quite big enough for all seven-now eight of us," he gave me a little squeeze. "Plus, Carlisle is too committed to his work to be so far from a hospital for very long. Medicine is his calling, as you know. It gives him purpose."
"What gives you purpose?" The question slipped out unbidden.
"Isn't it obvious?" He ruffled my still-damp hair. "You."
"That's a nice sentiment, Edward, but soon enough you won't need to spend your days saving me from myself and my...my bad luck. Then what will you do?"
"It's not a sentiment, Bella. I can see why you think that saving you is a full-time job," he chuckled lightly. "But protecting you is only part of it, and that won't stop just because you've changed. I just won't have to be quite so…" he searched for the right word.
"Overprotective to the point of absurdity?" I finished for him in a teasing voice.
"I was going to say neurotic, but sure," Edward said flatly.
I thought about that, about the way Jasper seemed to be every bit as protective over Alice as Edward was with me. He just didn't have cause to act on it as often.
Then there was Emmett. Emmett was entirely as worshipful to Rosalie as the other Cullen men were to their respective mates, but he didn't seem to mind letting Rosalie fight her own battles. That could've been a byproduct of his carefree personality, but I bet it had more to do with Rose being...well, Rose.
Esme...sweet Esme was the heart of the whole family and had the protection and devotion of every soul that knew her, vampire or otherwise. They all had but to stand in line behind her doting Carlisle.
I wondered what it would look like when Edward loved me as a vampire. What pieces of us now would remain then. How long would it take to feel that way?
I was brought back to the here and now by Edward's hand cupping the side of my face.
"What's going on in that beautiful head of yours?" He asked, his thumb softly stroking along the ridge of my cheekbone.
I wasn't sure if I could properly articulate myself, so I just started rambling my scattered thoughts as fast as they came to me. "I just can't imagine it. Not getting tired. Not needing human moments. Not needing to eat or drink water. Not needing to breathe. Being stronger than you, than Emmett. The thirst…I just can't quite wrap my head around it."
Edward let out a big gust of air, cold, sweet, and delicious as it washed over my face.
"You might be the first to ever have to wrap your mind around it while you're still human. It's not a choice many of us get to make," he frowned.
"Well, that can't be true," I countered. "There must be others. What about that human secretary working for the Volturi? She knows what she's getting into, and I gather she's not of the mindset to become a vegetarian afterward?" I asked rhetorically.
Edward sighed. "No, she's not." he hesitantly agreed. "But Gianna is not a good comparison. She has had a difficult life, and it's made her hard and hateful. She is almost nearly as vain as Rosalie, but with less value for human life.
"She would give anything to become what we are so that she can stay young, beautiful, and most importantly, have the power to crush the people who have hurt her. Being a killing machine is a pro for her, not a con, Bella."
He continued, "To the best of my knowledge, the handful of willing humans that came before Giannaall had similar designs. So, to be more precise-you're the first human who is choosing this existence for love, not solely for immortality or any other nefarious reason."
I nodded, absorbing that. "Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is. I'm trading in one body for another, with its own set of limitations. And I'm getting you. Forever. It's a no-brainer."
"At a great cost, Bella…" Edward started in with his tired old argument, but I beat him to the punch.
"I'd trade a working uterus for an eternity with you seven days a week and twice on Sunday," I stated boldly, feeling the truth of it deep in my bones.
Edward opened his mouth to argue with me, but I cut him off. "You're not going to budge me on this, Edward! Are you really going to tell me that if our positions were reversed, and you were the human, that you would make a different choice?" I asked pointedly, sitting up now so that I could glare at him nose to nose.
His eyes tightened, but he said nothing. There was nothing he could say because he knew I was right.
"You aren't the only one that gets to make sacrifices, Edward, no matter how much you might want it to be like that. That's not how relationships work."
"That's just it, Bella. What have I sacrificed to be with you? Nothing," Edward said through gritted teeth.
"Just searing pain every second you're with me. Endangering yourself and your family time and time again to protect me. What's that worth? Not to mention what it must have cost you every time I went off cavorting with Jake." He winced.
"Edward, my humanity is worth more to you than it is to me. Why can't you see that? You would save yourself so much grief! Besides...I've spent most of my life raising my mother. I'd kind of like to just live my life now that she's left the nest."
"I have no doubt your humanity is worth more to me, Bella. Since when have you ever valued yourself properly?" Edward arched a critical eyebrow at me, but then he let out one hard laugh in spite of himself.
"As for the second part of that statement...Do you have any idea how backward that is?" Edward's severe face softened into a reluctant smile.
My stomach seemed to growl in the affirmative.
"You're hungry, love. Dinner will be ready shortly." Edward was out of the bed and pulling on a pair of khaki-colored cargo shorts before I could argue the point any further.
*EPOV*
I never thought I would have taken an interest in cooking of all things, but the more I practiced, the more I found that I enjoyed it. Well, not the cooking part so much as it was that I enjoyed taking care of Bella's needs. I loved seeing her face light up in enjoyment as she bit into something I'd prepared.
"Grilled chicken caesar salad with garlic bread. Bon appetit!" I placed the wide-lipped bowl in front of Bella. Her eyes widened into an impressed expression.
"Wow, garlic even?" she asked, unfolding her napkin over her lap. "That's quite the gesture for a vampire! That's sort of like a vegan serving me a porterhouse," she grinned, stabbing her fork into a piece of chicken.
I rolled my eyes at her bad vampire joke, "Would you like some wine? I've read this one pairs well with chicken," I held up a chilled bottle of sauvignon blanc. Her eyes widened again, this time in surprise.
"I'm not breaking any laws. The legal drinking age in Brazil is eighteen," I explained with a virtuous look on my face.
"In that case, I'd love a glass," she smiled, sliding her empty glass toward me to fill. "And this is delicious!" She exclaimed, holding a polite hand in front of her mouth as she chewed.
She took a small sip and swirled the wine around the stemless glass (purchased with her clumsiness in mind.) "I feel like such a grownup," she said, setting the glass down. "I'm sitting here drinking wine. On an exotic island. With my husband."
"And that's not even the most grownup thing you've done today," I raised an eyebrow and smirked at her suggestively.
She looked like a little sex kitten sitting there sipping wine while wearing one of my white button-down shirts, long enough that it hung down to her thighs, a pair of cotton panties, and nothing else.
The bright blush that started at her throat was accentuated by the stark white collar opened to the third button, showing just a hint of cleavage.
"How are your knees?" I asked, frowning at the fading red welts from where her knees pressed painfully into the grout. I hadn't caused them directly, but I couldn't help but feel partly responsible.
She waved me off and took another sip of wine. "Right as rain!" Quick to change the subject, she then asked "So tell me about our new house in New Hampshire."
I raised my eyebrows, surprised by the request, but pleased by her interest.
"I'll do you one better." I grabbed my laptop off the kitchen counter and clicked to an already open tab. It was the real estate page for the house we'd be moving into in a few short weeks.
"651 River Road. Lyme, New Hampshire," Bella read off the screen. With each new picture she clicked on, I watched her eyes get bigger and bigger.
"I take it you approve?" I asked quietly. "Esme says it needs a coat of paint and some updated furniture, but the location is ideal, and it's got 'very good bones,' I said using air quotes and smiling fondly thinking of my mother.
"Fifteen bathrooms?" Bella gasped.
"It used to be a bed and breakfast," I explained. Alice will convert most of them into closet space I'm sure," I rolled my eyes. "But don't plan on us staying in the main house. If you look…"
I clicked through the photo slideshow, "There is a guest house. That will be ours. The extra privacy is sort of...a wedding gift from the rest of the family to us."
Bella's mouth dropped open and her eyes welled up with tears.
"Bella!" I asked, surprised by her reaction, "Is something wrong? If you don't like it-"
"I love it. I'm just...really touched." Bella sniffed, her watery eyes crinkling at the edges when she smiled. "There's just one thing…" she bit her lip.
"What?" I asked warily.
"Can we make some...modifications to the shower?" The look on her face was positively devilish.
I threw my head back and laughed. "I think that can be managed," I said, tasting the lingering sweetness of wine on her lips. As I pulled away from her, Bella's face went a little green. "Excuse me!"
"Are you-"
But before I could ask her if she was feeling alright, she pushed away from the table and streaked for the bathroom with her hands folded tightly over her stomach.
I was right on her heels. "Bella!" I called, my voice was wild with worry. I knocked too hard on the door. "Are you ill?"
"I'm ok. I just... got my period," she finished in a quieter voice.
*A/N* Welp, sorry Renesmee. I want to thank all of you for your wonderfully constructive and encouraging feedback with the last chapter. I was feeling very shackled to the book, but you emboldened me to go another way. And I'm SO relieved because I wasn't looking forward to diving further into the pregnancy arc. At all.
I just don't want to imagine a Cullen family where the only thing that stopped Carlisle and Edward from performing a forcible abortion was ESME. Gross. Anyyyyyways, I really hope you liked this update. Thank you, as always, for reading and reviewing, and keep the suggestions coming!
Oh, and 651 River Road, Lyme, New Hampshire is a real address. In the words of Edward, you can google it. I thought it suited the Cullens' needs very well. :D
So...let's see what happens, shall we? *rubs hands together vigorously *