*A/N* I lied. 😬 New Hampshire will be the next chapter. B&E couldn't very well leave Forks forever without saying goodbye to their meadow first, could they?
*EPOV*
I had braced for tears when we got in the car and pulled away from the curb. Instead, Bella sat woodenly in her seat and stared pensively out the window.
When she said nothing for the third traffic light in a row, I finally asked, "Sweetheart, are you alright?"
"I will be," Bella said with quiet certainty. "Tomorrow will be better. We'll be in our new house, starting a new school, in a new place with no memories and no reminders.
"Tomorrow I can start looking toward our future. But today...today all I can think of are the things I'm leaving behind," she explained, her voice starting to shake.
"What can I do?" I asked anxiously.
"Take me to our meadow. Make me feel something else. Remind me of tomorrow."
I made an abrupt U-turn and took the on-ramp for the 101-South. In record time, I had parked the Volvo in the gravel turnout near the trailhead.
I opened the passenger door and offered her my hand. She took it and wordlessly scurried onto my back.
With fall rapidly approaching, the colors of the meadow were beginning to turn.
The young maple saplings that intermingled among the never-changing conifer trees were a brilliant golden yellow.
The air had turned crisp and the shrinking summer daisies and buttercups were making way for wild heather and milkweed.
We made our way through the tall grass until we reached our usual spot, a slightly raised patch of clover in the dappled shade of an ancient Alder tree.
Bella sat down stretching her denim-covered legs out in front of her. Her hands reached out behind her, delicate fingers slicing through the clover into the earth to prop herself up.
Sitting down next to her, with the back of my hand I swept the curtain of her hair behind her shoulder so I could kiss behind her ear.
She needed help remembering what waited behind door number two? I could definitely help with that.
"You're going to love New Hampshire," I murmured into her ear between kisses down her neck.
She closed her eyes and hummed in approval. I proceeded to paint a rosy picture of our immediate future.
"Imagine living as close to New York City as we currently do to Seattle. We could explore a new museum every weekend." I kissed the corner of her jaw and worked my way down.
"See every Broadway play." A sigh.
"Take a horse-drawn carriage through Central Park to see the world-famous marvel that is autumn in New York."
I sucked lightly on the sensitive patch of skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. This elicited a soft moan.
"And that's when we even bother to leave the house," I said with a soft growl, ghosting my hand down her back.
"Mmm, tell me more about that," she purred.
"I hope you're ready...It's a pretty big house for just the two of us. And I plan to make you scream my name in every room, on every horizontal surface, starting with our very..." kiss "...sturdy..." kiss "...bed."
"That does sound enticing," she smiled.
"In fact…I'll probably be the reason you need extra tutoring," I chuckled.
"I hear strip tutoring is very effective," Bella giggled.
"Is there any other kind?" I said pulling my shirt off over my head. The lustful way Bella's eyes danced over my skin made me want to ravish her all over again.
"This was a very good idea," she smiled, laying down and pulling me on top of her.
"I'll say so," I growled, sliding my hands under her shirt, feeling the soft, warm skin of her sides.
"Do you have any idea how many times and ways I've fantasized about making love to you here?"
"About half as many as I have?" She challenged, turning pink all over.
She looked so beautiful, blushed and dewy, with her auburn hair fanned out around her.
My eyebrows rose in surprise. I'm not sure what was more arousing: the way she looked right then, or the idea of her fantasizing about me taking her in our special place.
"Do tell, Mrs. Cullen," I encouraged, taking my time peeling her blouse over her head while kissing every newly revealed inch of her creamy, pale skin. "Am I living up to your fantasy?"
"Better," she rasped. "You're always better."
She looked downright delectable in her lapis blue bra, my favorite color on her. My hand traveled up her back to the clasp.
"Better let me, this is my last one," she narrowed her eyes at me and arched her back so she could awkwardly unfasten it herself.
I grinned unrepentantly. "I wouldn't make it a habit of getting attached to your underthings."
Very gently, I pinched the narrow bridge of underwire between the two cups and pulled it away from her body as the straps slid down her slender, outstretched arms.
The crisp air sent a ripple of gooseflesh across her chest, tightening her nipples into rosy little peaks.
Her soft warm, skin puckered even more at the icy touch of my tongue.
Bella gasped and wantonly arched her back.
Laying a path of kisses to her other breast, I murmured, "Think of all the things two people can do in a house to themselves..."
I was about to say 'without worrying about waking up your father,' but swiftly changed tack.
"Laundry," kiss. "Cooking, " kiss. "Netflix and quite a bit of chill." My wintry hands receded down her midsection to the waist of her jeans.
She moaned at this, deep in her throat as if she tasted something delicious.
Her jeans were next to go. Tight as they were, the stretchy fabric clung to her legs like a second skin as I peeled them over the fleshy curves of her calves and down to her ankles, and then all the way off.
With the tip of my nose, I drew a line from her belly button down the flat plane of her stomach to the tiny blue satin bow that embellished the elastic waistband of her panties.
"Look at these positively sinful little panties. Should I let them live?" I chuckled into the thin cotton covering her mound.
"Yesss," she whined, lacing her fingers in my hair and pressing her hips up into my chin that rested lightly on her pubic bone. "They're a set."
"It's your lucky day," I whispered to the panties, peeling them down her legs and dropping them in the pile with the rest of her clothes.
I got comfortable between her legs, wrapping my arms around her thighs, and locking her hips in place.
"Are you comfortable?" I breathed into her sex.
"Yes." It was spoken as a breathy sigh.
"That's good, Bella, because do you remember that thing I said about staying underwater for 24 hours without having to come up for air?"
Her wide eyes and galloping heart told me she did.
I raised my eyebrows and smirked at her suggestively. Then she flopped back on her back, taking the Lord's name in vain as I took the first, long, lick.
"Sweet mother of fuuuuck," she said in a low moan as my tongue flicked over a particularly sensitive spot.
I chuckled. "Naughty, Bella," I tsked. "You kiss your husband with that mouth?"
"Frequently," she gasped, as I slid a finger gently inside her.
"Not frequently enough," I disagreed, doubling my efforts on the little bundle peeking out of her soft folds.
"You seem to be coming up for air quite a bit," the little minx huffed between ragged breaths. My laughter vibrated her core, coaxing out another trickle of her sweet essence. Neither of us did much "coming up for air" after that.
I laid there, licking, sucking, and loving every inch of her until she seemed to forget how to speak altogether.
"Please, Edward, no more," she begged after her third climax. "I want you," she whined.
"You're going to have to be more specific than that, love," I teased.
Bella's eyes blazed in frustration. Annunciating every syllable with crystal clarity, she panted, "Fuck me. Now. Is that specific enough?"
The dirty word from her sweet mouth prompted a low growl to rumble ferally out of my chest.
"You really shouldn't have said that."
With my arms still wrapped securely around her hips, I rolled us, in vampire speed, so that I was on the bottom and she was effectively sitting on my face. Then I agilely jumped to my feet as she shrieked at her sudden change in altitude.
With one last parting kiss to her sweet center, I let her legs slide over my shoulders until her knees were bent over the crook of my arms, supporting her from behind with my hands.
I lined up the head of my rock hard, glassy smooth shaft to her core and pierced into her heat without needing to be told a second time.
Using my arms under her legs, I lifted her negligible weight back up and let her sink down on me, again and again, with just the slightest tap of my hips to welcome her warmth when our bodies collided.
Her head fell back, and her mouth hung open as she moaned and panted with every downward thrust.
Sheathing myself into her one last time, my hands balled into fists behind her back, and I withdrew from her at the last possible second, ejaculating onto the ground beneath her with a loud groan.
Still sprawled over my arms, Bella laid limp as a ragdoll, completely still except for the heaving of her chest.
When her heart settled back into its normal rhythm, I set her carefully down on her feet.
Her knees weren't ready to support her weight just yet, and I caught her under the arms before she toppled to the ground.
Picking her back up into my arms and cradling her against my chest, I asked with a short, throaty laugh, "Have you been thoroughly reminded, Mrs. Cullen?"
"I think I just forgot everything I ever knew. You might have to remind me again."
I laughed and kissed her hair. "As irresistible as that sounds," I murmured, "we do have a plane to catch."
She seemed to notice for the first time that the sky had gone dusky with pastel hues of pink and orange. "Right. Let's get the Forks out of here," she giggled.
"That reminds me, we're going to have to have a little chat about that mouth of yours...When you curse you are entirely too sexy for your own good. It borders on dangerous behavior," I teased. Her cheeks rivaled the brilliant brushstrokes of pink that colored the horizon.
"Can you stand now, or shall I carry you to the car in all of your splendor?" I nodded to her nude form.
She blushed a deeper red and giggled. "I can stand."
When we returned to the house, the furniture had been draped over and steel shutters had been rolled down to cover the large windows that spanned the sides of the house.
Bella wore a look of shock.
"You'd be amazed how efficient you get at moving when you have to do it every six or seven years for a century," I mused.
Emmett sat behind the wheel of a huge uHaul and blared the horn as he deftly backed the monstrous truck down the winding, gravel drive. Rosalie sat in the passenger seat looking bored.
"You two smell like sex," he guffawed out the window. "Who wants to bet we can beat you guys there?" Rosalie leaned over his lap and rolled up Emmett's window before he could say anything else.
Shaking with laughter, Bella waved to the truck as it disappeared down the drive, catching Rose giving her a little wave in the side-view mirror.
"What happens to all of the cars?" Bella asked.
"As you can imagine, Jasper isn't a huge fan of airplanes, so he and Alice will be driving a rented car-carrying trailer."
As if on cue, the full-size trailer crunched up the gravel and parked in front of the garage.
"Hang on, I have to go load up the Volvo," I said, kissing Bella quickly on the head before leaving her standing in front of the house.
**BPOV**
Just then, Carlisle appeared at my side, and we stood in companionable silence for a few moments watching the cars get loaded onto the trailer one by one.
"Your first move as a Cullen. It's a rite of passage, you know," he chuckled and playfully leaned into me, bumping my shoulder a little with his. It was such a dad-like gesture. I couldn't help but smile and bump him back, and he was sweet enough to pretend to be swayed.
"I know you're leaving behind quite a lot today, Bella. While I can never replace your father, and I'll never try to, I hope it helps to know that Esme and I consider you our daughter.
"We have for quite some time now, and we already love you like one of our own. We're so thrilled to have you join our family." Carlisle's words were as warm and as genuine as his smile.
"It does, Carlisle. It helps more than you know," I returned his smile. The Charlie-sized ache in my heart dulled by a few degrees.
Carlisle reached over and comfortingly squeezed my hand before sliding his hand into the pocket of his khakis pulling out the key fob to his Mercedes.
He wound up with his right arm, and like a cannon blast, the keys were launched directly into Jasper's waiting hand, some 200 feet away, in less time than it took me to blink.
Winking over his shoulder at me, Carlisle then went to help Esme who was locking up the front door while toting a large suitcase by the handle. The weight was nothing to her, I had no doubt, but Carlise insisted on carrying it for her anyway.
"Charlie and Sue will elope next spring. I've seen it." Alice's sweet voice tinkled from behind me. My hand flew to my heart in sheer relief and happiness at the news.
We stood there side by side, admiring our men from a distance. "Thank you, Alice. Thank you."
*A/N* I must have deleted this chapter in its entirety three different times before I came up with something I was happy with, and now it might be my favorite. What did you think? Drop me a line and let me know! Thank you, truly, for all of you who take the time to read and review. Nothing drives me to put out new chapters faster!