Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight.
This story has been adopted. The original was written and discontinued by Amiiix3. I was graciously given permission to continue the story as I saw fit. Thank you Amiiix3 for your trust.
He stood less than a foot away, his honey eyes sparkling with suppressed joy and his ruby lips quirked into a badly hidden smile.
"Bella," he greeted, sweeping my hand to his lips for a lingering kiss.
"Edward." I mimed a curtsy. It was difficult, with my skirt from last night damp with snow and clinging to my legs.
"So, what were you and Kate talking about?"
"Nothing," I answered too quickly. He stared at me for a long time, and I felt myself getting lost in those butterscotch eyes.
He changed topic quickly. "How was your night?" A smile played on his lips. A mischievous light danced in his eyes.
I shrugged, keeping my face impassive. "Oh, so-so… A little boring, if you ask me."
His eyes narrowed playfully. "Perhaps we should work on making it more fun. Don't want you get to bored here, you know." The wind picked up, attempting to take my long, mahogany tresses with it. Strands of hair fluttered in the breeze and I was sure I resembled Medusa at this point. I ran a hand through my hair and kept it relaxed on top of my head.
I glanced around, a sudden thought occurring to me. "Do you think any humans will show up around here?" Edward looked confused, probably wanting to return to our playful banter.
"Not as far as I know. They may be humans, but that doesn't mean they're completely ignorant. They know there's something weird about us, so they try to stay away. But we always have to be on guard." He paused. "Why?"
His head cocked to one side, a tumble of sleek, bronze locks framing his tawny eyes. I raised an eyebrow and stuck out a bare leg. "It's snowy here." He stared at my leg for far too long, then met my eyes, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"What?" I demanded, suddenly feeling self conscious. I pulled my leg back and tucked it behind me, as if I could hide it from view. He continued to smirk, a wicked look in his eye. "What?" He shook his head, a roguish grin barely concealed by his angelic features.
I rolled my eyes and stormed away. I could feel him following behind me, almost able to pick up the soft sloshing of his footsteps through the snow. I stopped. He stopped just a few inches behind me. I spun around, surprised by how close he was. A lock of my hair landed on his shoulder, but I ignored it and glared up at him with all the power in my newly-golden eyes. He blinked a few times, obviously trying to regain his control.
"What?" I pressed, staring right into his little, black pupils. A dark reflection glared back at me. His smooth hand fluttered to my cheek, brushing a lock of hair from my face and tucking it behind my ear. Then, in an instantaneous change, his large, pale hands wrapped around my shoulders and pushed me back a step.
"Hey!" I snarled as he brushed past me into the house without a single apology. I would have been hurt if he had not turned back around and given me a teasing wink before letting the door slam shut behind him.
I hopped up all three stairs in one jump and slid into the house in another. The door slammed shut behind me. Edward was not in the kitchen, but I found him lounging on a couch in the living room.
Eleazar was the only other one there, his stare glued unblinkingly on the grainy, black and white television. The stout man from a few nights before was back, droning on in his monotonous voice. I heard the word 'war' quite a few times, and wondered if it was bad that I had absolutely no idea what the current news was.
"Hello Eleazar." I smiled shyly at the tall, dark-haired man. He turned away from the T.V. for just a moment to give me a dazzling white-toothed grin, before returning with renewed interest. I raised an eyebrow at Edward. He raised one back.
I took a seat beside him and leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Who could find this stuff interesting."
Edward shot me a look. "I find it interesting."
I had to force myself not to snort at that. "Well then, you're obviously not as interesting as I thought. My affections must have been misplaced."
He knew I was joking. His jaw twitched, but he kept the annoyed look on his face like a perfect mask. "And I thought you were an educated woman who cared about current events. Obviously my affections must have been misplaced."
"Well, that's fine by me, because I know an extremely attractive male whose room is just across the hall from mine, and he obviously isn't a boring old prune." I stood up and left the room without looking at him. I stopped at the foot of the stairs, giving Edward a chance to catch up. I hoped our conversation had been quiet enough that Eleazar had not heard. Once again, being with Edward had made me completely ignorant to what else was going on around me.
He was before me in a flash, his sharp eyes scorching me, staring into my own unrelentingly. The passion in his eyes stirred something in my stomach– something I had not felt for an immeasurable period of time. He placed his hand on the banister, his fingers brushing my own with the lightest of touches, an interminable touch.
I attempted to take a step back, to distance myself so I could think. I stumbled on the stair, despite the grace I was supposed to possess as this seductive creature of the night.
His other hand reached out to me, the one not trapping my fingers on the banister. His touch was just a little warmer than mine– if ice could be considered warm at all– just the very tip of his pinky grazing the exposed skin of my waist.
"Uh," Was my less than graceful response to the heated passion suddenly evident between us. I longed to touch him, my body literally curved towards him, the way a flower curled towards the sun.
"Edward…?" I asked, my voice embarrassingly hoarse. He had been staring at me with an unfathomable expression in his eyes. He tilted his head to the side and leaned forward. I mimicked him, letting my eyes flutter closed. His lips were mere millimeters from my own, his cool breath just a whisper on my lips.
And suddenly he was gone. I flailed in the air for a moment, completely unsupported, before finally catching the railing and balancing myself out. I looked up angrily to see Edward leaning casually against the wall opposite the staircase, as if we were just talking innocently. Edward widened his eyes at me, both apologetically and as a warning.
Esme strolled around the corner only a moment later, holding a large, white basket. She paused when she saw Edward leaning against the wall across the staircase, seemingly with no purpose.
Her eyes darted back to me, standing awkwardly by the railing, unknowingly peeling little splinters from the side; I stopped as soon as I realized what I was doing.
"Hello, Esme!" I smiled warmly.
"Good morning, Bella– or should I say afternoon?" She smiled, attempting to hide her confusion. Edward stared at the ground, but I could tell he was listening to her thoughts, no matter how much he had told me he hated eavesdropping.
"So, what were you two up to?" Esme asked. I shrugged, smiling tightly to keep myself from biting my lip– a nervous habit. I caught Edward's eye and grinned, a little game forming in my mind.
"Well, Edward and I…"
"You mean, just you," Edward broke in, looking nervous.
I smiled at him indulgently, like he was a precious grandson. "Of course." I turned back to Esme. "Edward and I were just having a casual conversation when I suddenly decided to fall of my own accord, of course, because falling is something that truly brings me joy." Esme looked genuinely worried, which made me feel guilty… for a moment.
The look of pure exasperation on Edward's face was worth it, though.
"You must have fallen a lot when you were a human," Esme guessed, flustered. That brought a wholehearted laugh from me and Edward, who I had told about my extreme clumsiness as a human, and all the stories I could remember.
Esme looked baffled as we laughed. "I was very clumsy as a human," I explained. "I would trip on the flattest of surfaces. Not only that, but I was always attracting all sorts of trouble. Bad luck, for sure," I added, pointing to myself as if it was something to be proud of. Esme smiled slowly, but for some reason it did not seem as though she was smiling at my story. Her eyes continued to shoot from Edward to me, and back. I tried to keep the smile on my own face, but Edward was beginning to lose his calm. It was probably extremely difficult to hear the suspicion in his mother's head and not tell her the truth.
"I was thinking about going to the market this morning…," I broke in the awkward silence.
Edward blinked at me, surprised. "Are you sure you want to go so early?"
"Maybe… I haven't really had a chance to learn any control. I mean, drinking animal blood and living in a house in the middle of a forest is really different from walking into New York City at night."
"You're not planning on going back to New York City, are you?" Esme asked, sounding distressed.
"Not yet, but I do love New York… I was hoping we might go there sometime." Edward caught the 'we' I threw in there. Esme, it seemed, did not.
She flipped the white basket upside down in her hands, then back, anxiously. "Well, I suppose I should go wash the clothing. Do you have anything you need washed, Bella?"
I shook my head vigorously, even though I did. "No, no Esme. You don't need to do that for me– you've already done enough!"
She ignored my protests. "I noticed your shirt was covered in blood when we went hunting so you can just come drop that off to me whenever you get the chance. It seems Carmen doesn't much like doing the laundry, so all their clothing is dirty, dirty, dirty." Esme shook her head, rolling her eyes with a smile. She turned to leave. Halfway up the stairs, she twisted around to see me.
"And be careful at the market, Bella. I don't want you getting discouraged if you can't handle it." She shifted her gaze to Edward, her eyes narrowed the tiniest bit. "I wouldn't be surprised if Edward had a hard time too."
"What did she mean, you would have a hard time controlling yourself?" I asked Edward as we strolled down the long, curving drive, towards the market.
I felt suffocated in what seemed to be a burlap trench coat. My body was uncomfortable without my keen sense of touch. The only thing I felt was the thick potato sack of a coat wrapped around my body. I had almost escaped Irina– who had taken the liberty to dress me in appropriate winter clothing– when she noticed my ankles were showing.
"You'll get sick if you don't cover those up." She had tut-tuted with a completely straight face, and then had forced me into a pair of scratchy stockings made of a cheap material. If that was not enough, she had thrown a pair of gloves at me and pushed me rudely out the door into the melting snow.
"Sorry, what was that?" Edward seemed to have been lost in thought. I groaned, turning away from him and walking faster.
He caught up with me easily. "I'm sorry," he whispered in my ear, unintentionally seductive. It sent chills down my body. His hand found my own, but all I felt was a light squeeze. I could not even feel his smooth skin through the thick gloves!
"Ugh!" I cried in sudden frustration and pulled off my gloves, pushing them into my pocket. I stopped walking and began unwrapping the woolen scarf from where it hand been draped around my neck, tighter than a boa-constrictor. I discarded the scarf on the ground, where it became quickly damp in the snow, then began unbuttoning my coat.
"What are you doing?" Edward asked, his voice strange. His eyes were on my fingers, fumbling with the buttons.
"I'm taking these silly clothes off!" I exclaimed, unbuttoning the last button and ripping the coat off. I reveled in the feel of the wind on my bare arms and chest.
"Bella," Edward groaned, watching me with an expression as strange as the tone of his voice.
I looked down, only to realize I was wearing just a thin, lacy undershirt that left little to the imagination. "Oops…," I whispered, suddenly embarrassed. I tugged my coat on super-speed and redid all the buttons faster than it had taken to undo them.
"Happy now?" Edward asked, pulling his own coat tighter around his waist; I could only imagine why. I nodded, still too embarrassed to speak. I picked my scarf up, but stuffed it in my pocket. I would wear my coat, but I refused to wrap that rag around my neck. Edward and I walked for a long time in silence, and he slowly began to relax. It felt like it took forever to reach the end of the drive. Though normally this might have annoyed me, walking beside Edward, despite my embarrassment, was oddly comforting.
I angled myself a little closer to him, tingles running across my skin when our arms brushed, even through the thick coat sleeves. His bare fingers grazed mine, and my stomach jumped. I looked up at him, wondering if he had meant to do that, but he stared straight ahead. I kept walking, pretending my stomach was not spinning.
The next time our fingers brushed, his reached out and hooked around mine. We both watched straight ahead unblinkingly, as though nothing had happened, our hands swinging softly together as we walked.
Then we were at the end of the drive and the forest was like an archway overhead, the road passing right through the trees, but the branches above us curving as if to shield us from the sun.
Right before we made it out of the secluded circle I had stayed in for so long, out into the world of humans and blood, Edward stopped me.
We stood under the canopy, the leaves overhead illuminated by the sun on their other side, the soothing sounds of nature surrounding us, and I could not help but think of how romantic this was.
"Are you sure you want to go out there?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't I? I've come this far haven't I?" Edward glanced at the house, only seconds away. "Your world must be small if this seems far for you." He grinned.
"Har-har-har." I rolled my eyes. "I've come to Alaska, all the way from New York, all the way from Italy, and before that from England…. I've come here with you. I've come to learn how to save humans– from myself. I'm doing this for my mother, and for you, and for Esme, and maybe Kate too, if she wasn't so annoying sometimes."
Edward laughed, but then his eyes met mine, liquid gold and melted honey. His hand slipped from my own and his fingers found my waist, his other hand following curve of my spine to rest on the back of my neck.
I closed my eyes and tilted my head up until I felt his soft lips graze my own. I sighed, my hands sliding up his chest, barely noticing how scratchy his coat was, and slipping around his neck. He pulled me closer, his arm wrapping around my waist and the hand around my neck running through my hair. His lips moved against mine softly, sensually, passionately.
I pressed myself closer to him and ran my hands through his hair, loving the feeling of his silken bronze locks beneath my fingers. I protested as his lips left mine for only a moment, and the winter breeze touched on them, making me pout and shiver exaggeratedly. But something moist was on my neck, right below my jaw. His lips pressed kisses to the skin of my throat, and I leaned back in his arms and tilted my head to give him more space. His tongue darted out and traced circles, following the curve of my neck until he reached the hollow at the base of my throat.
I sighed blissfully, wishing I could run my hands over his muscular arms, but the winter clothing kept me from doing so. Edward pressed a final kiss to my throat and pulled away. His eyes still smoldered, but he kept his body away from mine, controlling himself. I wished he was not always such a gentleman.
"Edward…," I pleaded, pressing myself closer to him.
He groaned and pulled away, with obvious difficulty. "You don't want me to get carried away, lo– Bella, dear." He stumbled over his words for a moment. I was sure he had been about to call me something else.
I pushed it from my mind though and gave up my tempting. I did not want to get carried away either. Already, what we were doing was fairly inappropriate.