Chapter 10: Beloved Terror
BPOV
I didn't open my eyes when I woke up. Truth be told for a moment I forgot everything. I had no recollection of the events that had occurred the night before, where I was or whose arm was casually thrown over me and whose icy body lay next to me. I forgot everything for a moment, but then I remembered.
"I know you're awake." His angelic voice floated into my ears. I still didn't move but I could feel a smirk battling with the corners of my lips. I felt his body shift position next to me and then I suddenly felt the cold sensation that was his lips pressing on my neck. I felt blissfully happy as he gave my butterfly kisses up and down my neck. I hadn't realised how much I had missed him until now. I sighed with pleasure and then finally opened my eyes to see Edward leaning over me, his face mere centimetres from my own. He moved closer and I felt his lips touch my own. "Good morning my angel." How he could even consider me to be an angel next to him was a complete mystery to me. I smiled and then caught my reflection in the photo frame that was on my bedside table. Trust me, it was anything but an angel.
"Oh!" I jumped out of bed and began to sprint towards my bathroom. I felt a hand grab my arm and spin me around. He was there, his eyes boring into mine as he stopped me so I was touching every part of his body. He leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on my forehead.
"You have never looked more beautiful." I melted into his embrace then and I smothered every spare inch of his face with kisses. His mouth caught mine and the passion in that kiss was indescribable. He lifted me up so that my legs were wrapped around his waist and carried me to my bed, his lips never once leaving my own. I was surprised at how far he was letting us go. This was far beyond his old boundaries. He lowered me onto the mattress and then began to kiss my neck and my face. "I love you, God I love you so much." He whispered into my ear before kissing it. And in that moment I had never felt more loved. I began to reach for the buttons on his shirt but then he stopped what he was doing and looked at me. For a second I thought he was going to say that we had to stop but then I saw his eyes. He was looking at me with complete adoration and then he went back to kissing my neck and so I carried on undoing the buttons. He shrugged out of the shirt and I started to pull my tee shirt over my head. His hands replaced mine and he threw my top on the floor. We had never even been close to getting this far. He was just about to lean in again when suddenly his body went completely still.
"Charlie." He whispered and then disappeared out of my open window. Not ten seconds later, I heard my dad's car pull into the driveway and I quickly put my shirt back on and stuffed Edward's under my pillow. I heard the front door open and close followed by the sound of Charlie's footsteps trudging up the stairs. There was a light tap on my door and then my father entered.
"Bells?" He walked over to my bed and gently shook my arm. "Bells? Come on sweetheart, time to get up." I opened my eyes and pretended to be groggy.
"What…what time is it?" It then occurred to me that the sun was shining through my window.
"It's two o'clock…you've had a bit of a lie in." A bit! I felt so lazy. "I'm going over to Billy's to watch the game and then there's gonna be a barbeque so I'll be gone until about eleven ish, I've just come to get some dip and then I'll be gone."
"Okay Dad…have fun," I paused for a second as I took in a breath "Will you do me a favour…tell Billy to tell Jacob that I said it's okay and that I miss him." Charlie looked at me with pity in his eyes.
"Will do Bella." And with that he walked out of my room and shut the door. I heard him go into the kitchen and then out of the house. As soon as I heard his car pull away, Edward was next to me again.
"You could've just hid in my closet, I mean it's sunny outside and someone could've seen you." I smiled at him but he did not return the gesture, instead he looked like he was about to explode with rage.
"So you really miss him. After everything he has done to you." I could see that we would not be going back to kissing. " He almost killed you Bella!" He turned away from me and stood next to the window. I walked up behind him and slid my arms around his torso. He didn't move.
"He was my best friend, you can't expect me to just stop caring about him. Would you want me to stop caring about you?"
"This isn't about me…this is about your safety. A man who will do it once will do it again. You have no idea what it was like to see you laying there on that hospital bed knowing that he did that to you. The pain was unbearable. All I've ever wanted was for you to be safe and…I just love you too much to ever see you hurt like that again." The tears welled up in my eyes. I never wanted to be the cause of Edward's pain, never! I kissed his neck a couple of times and then walked around to face him. I reached up and kissed him fully on the lips.
"I love you, you have no idea. I love everything about you, everything you do and say reminds me that I could never leave you again and I promise that you will never have to experience any pain because of me. I'm so sorry." He picked me up and held me close.
"Shhh, please don't cry. I can't bear it. You have nothing to be sorry for. Shhh." He cradled me on my bed for what seemed like minutes but I looked out of the window and saw that the sun had begun to set. The clock on my bedside table told me that it was seven o'clock. "Come on, let's go to my place." He waited in my room as I showered and changed and then we got into my red truck, him in the drivers seat and me snuggled under his arm. The drive was silent but not uncomfortable. I think both of us were just basking in each others presence, well I know I was anyway. We pulled up to the Cullen's driveway and it all looked so inviting. It was like I belonged here. By now the sun had completely disappeared and a full moon had taken its place. The garage door was open and a bright light filled it. Edward pulled my truck into the huge garage and he was opening my door before I had even had a chance take my seatbelt off.
"What am I going to do with you?" He smiled at me as he took my hand and helped me out of the car. My hand meted into his icy touch.
"I can think of many things that you could with me." I said in a voice that I hoped was sexy. He leant me against the car door and put a hand on either side of my head. He leaned closer so that our noses were almost touching and he inhaled deeply.
"You really shouldn't tease me like that." He smirked as he spoke.
"Why…I find it quite fascinating to openly taunt you." I ducked under his arms and began to walk out of the garage.
"Oh no you don't." the floor was taken away from under my feet and Edward's arms wrapped around me as he ran into the forest with me in his embrace. I remembered to close my eyes this time and I buried my face deep into his chest to resist the urge to peek. I felt the air steady itself and I realised that he had stopped running. I opened my eyes and took in my surroundings.
"Our meadow." The place that I had been avoiding for almost four months. I turned around to see my beloved staring at me with such admiration that it almost made me cry again. I stepped towards him to close ever inch o space that separated us and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me?" The memories of our last visit here flooded back. "I should never have left you."
"I deserved it after all… I left you first," he looked so sad, it was obvious that he hadn't been here since that incident either. I'm sure that if vampires could cry, he would be crying rivers "I love you." He kissed me and then whispered those three words again and then repeated the process several times. I pulled him down to the ground and we lay there, hands entwined, staring at the stars. I repositioned myself so his arm was around me and then whispered into his ear "I love you too."
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I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket and sat up straight, startled. I was morning now and we were still in the meadow. Edward was still laying next to me. I took my phone out of my pocket and saw that there were sixteen missed calls from Charlie.
"Shit!" Edward chuckled behind me. "Don't you dare laugh; I didn't call my dad last night. He's probably got the police involved!" The chuckling continued and I was pulled back into his arms. I rolled on top of him and stared into his eyes. I noticed that they were quite dark today. He was still smiling. He rolled us both over a couple of times, still careful not to lay any of his weight onto me and I couldn't help but laugh along with him. We eventually came to a halt at the end of the meadow with me lying on top of him.
"You should hunt." I told him as I looked into his now black eyes.
"I'm not leaving you."
"Edward this is to hunt, it's important. I'll still be here when you get back, I'm not going anywhere."
"I'm not leaving you." He repeated. Why was he being so stupid?
"What so you're just never going to hunt ever again?" He kissed me and wrapped his arms around me. "Well that was nice, but it didn't really answer my question did it? Edward tell me the truth…what are you so worried about?" He sighed and then slowly lifted me off him and sat up.
"The truth is…I don't know if I would be able to cope with not being around you. I'd be constantly worried that something had happened to you. I just can't stand to be away from you." I should've been flattered but I wasn't.
"Well that's stupid. You're going hunting tomorrow and that's that!" I was putting my foot down.
"No I'm not." He sighed whilst he spoke.
"Well I guess I'll just have to go and tell Carlisle about how you intend to starve yourself." I started t walk into the forest. "Now are you going to take me back to your house or am I going to have to walk through the woods on my own where God knows what could be lurking in the shadows?" Once again he swept me off of my feet and into his arms. I knew I had won this battle at least for now. He stopped running just as we reached the steps leading up to the porch. I headed up the stairs and Edward opened the large glass door for me. I caught his eye on the way up the stairs and I could see in his face that he knew that I had already won. But he was too stubborn to stay it out loud. We entered the kitchen but no one was there, not unusual for Vampires. I could see Esme in the living room watching television with Alice and Rosalie. We entered the room and saw that Emmet and Jasper were on the computer.
"Has anyone seen Carlisle?" Edward asked, his voice echoing in my ears. Esme instantly stood up with a beautiful smile on her face.
"He's in his office at the moment; may I ask what's going on?" Edward smiled politely, it was obvious that he wasn't going to tell her.
"Edward won't go hunting," I could almost feel Edward glaring at the back of my head. Esme stared at Edward bewildered "That's right. He says he won't leave me. Now am I the only one who thinks that that is absolutely stupid?"
"Well I suppose there is something…romantic about it but other than that it is absolutely absurd!" I gave Edward a quick "I told you so" glance and then headed upstairs towards Carlisle's office. I was just about to knock on the door when, once again I was lifted off of my feet and was guided into the room at the end of the hall, Edward's room to be precise. He shut the door and then turned around to face me.
"You know," He walked closer to me "you're extremely sexy when you're debating." His voice was low and so inviting. But he didn't fool me.
"If you think that this is going to sto-" I was interrupted by his lips crashing into my own and when he began to undo my shirt buttons all earlier thoughts left my brain. There was such passion and heat in his kisses. I lifted his shirt over his head and let my hands wander over his torso. His marble skin felt like heave under my fingertips and I could feel his hands do the same to my back. He lowered me onto the golden bed and began to make a line of kisses from my belly button to my neck. He caught my lips with his again but this time it was different. I felt his tongue slide into my mouth and it felt like ecstasy.
"Mmmmmm," He groaned into my mouth as he drew back "That felt nice." He rolled me over so that I was led on top of him.
"Then don't stop." I whispered, not knowing what to expect in reply. His eyes bored into mine and I could feel complete trust and understanding in those pupils.
"Are you sure?" He gazed at me and I felt truly loved. I slowly nodded my head and he began to kiss everything else away.
