A/N: Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing, I tend to sit down to write this and get distracted or think it's not good enough given the wait I put people through, which leads me to delete what I've written and try to start over, which starts the cycle all over again. So sorry for the wait, it is definitely my intention to finish this story, I just don't have any sort of time frame for that. Enjoy
When we last left off, Bella heard a recording of herself admitting that Edward was hers, and acknowledging that she belongs to Edward… who just happened to be right behind her.
My immediate reaction was to turn and run. This of course failed as Edward was blocking my only exit, and I think I made it roughly 3 inches before his marble arms wrapped around me holding me in place.
"Let me go," I whispered, pleading with him.
"No." His reply was firm, "I'm never letting you go again."
I tried to convince myself to struggle against his grip, despite the fact that I knew it was utterly useless, but if anything my body sagged into his, causing his restraining hold to feel more like an embrace than the living straight jacket it actually was. It was a strange sensation, to have my mind screaming to my arms to shove him away while instead my arms started to wind their way around his waist. I was not in control of myself, and that scared me, so I did the only thing I could. I closed my eyes tight and tried to pretend this wasn't happening to me.
"No Bella," I had forgotten Rose was in the room until she spoke, "no pretending anymore, you wanted to know everything and you're not a child so you need to stop acting like one."
"I'm not acting like a child." My eyes were still shut tightly, but my arms were still locked around Edward, my face starting to press against his chest, my nose taking in his scent.
"Well you certainly aren't acting like an adult either, it's time to woman up Swan."
I shook my head, but given my position and my level of exhaustion, the motion was weak, and quickly turned into my nuzzling into Edward. I heard a strange rumbling noise come from his chest, but rather than frightening me, it made me relax against him, soothing me despite its animalistic tenor.
"Rose, thank you for all that you've done, but perhaps you should step out for a while, I would like to speak to Bella alone." His voice was soft and calm, but there was an undercurrent there, something that said he was not to be disobeyed in this.
"Give me a moment with her first Edward, and then I'll go."
"Did you not just hear me say I won't let her go?"
"You can wait right outside that door Edward, I need to talk to her without your presence interfering with her brain chemistry."
He sighed and his hands moved to dislodge my arms from around them. Against my will I whimpered as my chest tightened. He leaned down to whisper in my ear.
"Shh Love, I know this hurts right now, but I'll be just outside the door, and I'll be holding you again very shortly." He stroked my hair, gently pulling my head off his chest, whispering soothing nonsense words the entire time. When he had completely detached himself from me he spoke. "Rosalie, you have three minutes from the time I shut that door, and not a second more, that's about all I'll be able to stand after holding her like that. Bella, do not open your eyes or speak until Rosalie tells you to, if you do it before then, I will not be able to leave. Nod if you understand me."
I hadn't even realized my eyes were still shut, my senses being so overwhelmed with him, that anything else I may have seen was blocked out anyway. I nodded once quickly, trying not to make a sound. The instant he stopped touching me it felt like someone was driving icicles into my heart, but somehow I instinctively knew that if I let on how much I was hurting he would not leave.
Despite my lack of vision and the speed and silence of his movements, I could physically feel each step he took away from me, making it difficult to breathe and causing my body to get colder with each moment. It felt like a millennia had passed before I heard Rosalie frantically telling me to open my eyes.
"Don't speak Bella, we don't have a lot of time and I need to tell you some important things," she was speaking very quickly, but not so quickly I couldn't understand her, "I'm sorry for this, I know that this isn't what you wanted, and I know that you think this is too soon, but Edward's restraint was already wearing thin before he heard you claim him, and that pushed him over the edge. You aren't ready for this, but you need to get ready in a hurry, because we can't put this off anymore. I'm not going to tell you what's about to happen because I'm not entirely sure myself, but I need you to try and believe that Edward is your mate, that he will never intentionally hurt you. At the very least, you need to not openly contradict that idea right now. Edward is a kind and gentle man, but he is also a vampire that has been separated from his mate for years, and just heard her claim him. The logical part of his mind knows that it was your subconscious, but his instincts will not be able to make that distinction."
A thousand questions bubbled up in my throat. Why had she played the recording when he was so close? Why would it matter if I said I thought I wasn't his mate? What did she think would happen if I did? All of these questions died on my lips as the door to the room flew open and I was swept up in Edward's arms again. Instantly I felt my entire body relax into his hold. He lifted me up and carried me over to the bed, where he wrapped the two of us up in the blankets, pressing my closer into his body.
"I'm sorry Rosalie, I couldn't go any longer, I need you to leave now, or I don't know what I'll do."
Rose looked as if she might try and protest, but then she seemed to study his face for a moment, and she nodded.
"I'm going to call the others back, we won't be in the house, but we won't be out of hearing range either, if you need us call." The last part was clearly for my benefit, so I nodded to her, while Edward let out a soft growl, a sound that was clearly supposed to be threatening, but had the reverse effect on my yet again, and I found myself soothed, leaning further into the vibration of Edward's chest. Before I could so much as tell her goodbye, Rosalie was gone, the door swinging shut behind her, leaving me to wonder what would happen next.
I didn't have to wonder for long though, as Edward leaned back against the headboard and rearranged my body on top of his. He moved me so that I was straddling his thighs, pulling me down until my head was tucked under his chin.
"I'm sorry, Bella, I'm so so sorry," he said as he began to stroke my hair with one hand while the other wrapped around my waist, "I need you close right now, I can't control it. I know you that you don't want anything to do with me, I know you want to be as far away from me as possible, but I need to feel that you're here with me right now." His body was shaking with barely controlled emotion and instinctively my hand went up to curl into his hair while my other wrapped around his neck.
"It's okay," I whispered, "I feel it too, I need to feel you too."
We were silent after that, just laying there. After a while I could feel the icicles in my heart from when he had left the room earlier begin to melt, and my body began to feel warmer despite his icy temperature. I felt all of my muscles relax as I melted into him. His hand moved from stroking my hair to stroking my back, and I felt his iron grip on my midsection loosen. The logical side of my brain yelled at me to pull away now that I had the chance, but everything else in me screamed not to, but instead to snuggle closer. It was again as if I had completely lost control of my body as I nuzzled Edward's neck my eyes drifting closed of their own accord. He let out the same purring rumble as he had earlier.
"Sleep Bella, your human body was not made to take this, and you need rest. I won't be able to let you go for quite some time, so sleep and we will talk when you're rested."
I wanted to protest, to demand answers, but once again my body betrayed me as I drifted off to sleep.
A/N: So yeah… that was definitely not what I was going to write when I sat down at my computer. There was going to be a long, civil conversation, with absolutely no touching whatsoever. Before I get reviews telling me that Bella has given in too easily, I want to say that this is not Bella giving in, this is Bella reacting to a biological compulsion that neither she nor Edward has any control over, there will be more on that next time, which hopefully will be sooner rather than later. We're getting to the meat of the story now, which is more fun for me to write, so that bodes well for more frequent updates.
Leave a review if you are so inclined, and thanks for reading.
