Edward's POV
To think I'd started this to show Bella I wanted her, and for the hundredth time I had to push her away. Why must she always test our boundaries? I sat us up too quickly, putting her at arms length. The changing emotions on her face flashed by one by one. First there was surprise, then embarrassment, and lastly annoyance.
She shook off my hold, stood and walked towards the front door grabbing her back pack as she went. "I'm going out." She huffed.
"Please, love, where are you going?" I didn't like this. Our little intimacy problem had never made her this upset before.
"I'm just going to the library. I've got some work I can do there." Her hand was on the doorknob and she was looking at her shoes. "Just give me some time alone. Don't follow me, please. I have my phone." She yanked the door open, and was gone. I would've been out and after her in an instant except she had asked me not to do just that.
I paced about the house. This place must be less than a thousand square feet. How long should I allow before I could follow her? If I get a piano where on earth will it fit in this tiny house? What is that smell? I'd been so preoccupied I hadn't noticed it. How long had it been there? I followed the scent outside. It was coming from the little home right next door.
It was dark by now and I crept unnoticed between the houses. I opened the back screen door to the blue house next door silently and stepped inside. This was it, the scent was strong here. The bedroom door to the left opened up and she came through, closing it behind her and standing directly in front of it. One vampire, a girl, she was petite with long brown locks almost to her waist, but more importantly, golden eyes. "What do you want?" She insisted.
She wore a little scrap of black lace that didn't seem to cover anything important, but I couldn't look away concerned she might attack. "Who are you?" I asked.
She rolled her eyes, "You're in my house buddy, who the hell are YOU?!"
She did have attack strategies running through her mind, but only in self defense in case I was to make a move. "Of course, please forgive me. When I sensed one of our kind in the vicinity, I had to investigate." I took off my jacket and held it out to her. She waved it away looking into my eyes. She was just as relieved at their color as I had been. All the same, there was a human behind that bedroom door. The heartbeat was unmistakable.
"The human in the other room…." I started.
"That's none of your concern." She said evenly when the door behind her opened and a man stepped out, his shirt open and carrying his shoes. He took one look at the two of us and assumed he was in the wrong place. "Uuuhh, thanks for the information there, Sarah, I'll see you later, okay?" And all but ran from the room and out the door.
We both stared after him and then at each other. "Well that's just great. Do you know how much time it took to up his ego to even come over here?" She glared at me and then turned to fetch a robe from her room. I started to apologize again upon her return, but she cut me short. "Oh, never mind." And she plopped down onto the couch.
"Sarah, I'm Edward, your next door neighbor." I told her feeling horrible for breaking in on her. I didn't feel right asking for her hand as she was in such a state of undress, so I gave her a little bow.
She was tying the sash to her modest silk robe when she looked up at me and started laughing. "Oh crap, 1800's right? This is really going to cramp my style." She noticed my discomfort and said, "No, its okay. I'm in for a boring weekend though. Poor Jonathan."
"The human male?" I asked interested.
She nodded coyly, "See, I prefer human guys, no offense Ed."
"I understand, it's just…..how…" I stuttered.
"What?" She was intrigued now.
"You don't….kill them?" I said under my breath.
She smiled, "I don't even bruise them darling. Trust me; they leave here feeling much better than when they arrived. It's just a preference of mine; I guess I'm a bit odd."
I don't know what made me say it, some glint of hope perhaps. This girl had the answers I was looking for. "Not nearly as odd as you may think." She lifted her eyebrows at me. "Sarah, I have a girlfriend, and….she's human. We've come to a bit of an impasse where our….relationship is concerned. I fear for her safety….all the time….all the time." I pinched the bridge of my nose. Why was I opening up to this complete stranger?
"I see…" she whispered. Could it be that she really did? "Well don't fret sugar, that's easy." I must've looked like a teen aged Arthur staring in awe at Merlin. "Where is she now?"
I groaned, remembering this evening's events. "She left the house. She's totally infuriated with me again. I have to keep holding her back for her own wellbeing and she takes it all wrong. She actually thinks I don't want her, I'm sending the most awful mixed messages." I hope my voice wasn't shaking.
Sarah shook her head. "Sounds to me like you're making things much too difficult. Why if you simply want to show her how much you crave her body I can tell you how to do that without even touching her." She rose and went to the kitchen table. Sorting through a stack of magazines she chose one and came back over to the couch where I had perched. She handed it to me. "Leaf through that, honey and stop when you come to something you like."
Victoria's Secret?
It would have to be Victoria. "What is this some Playboy Bunny booklet?" I was looking at approximately 5 scantily dressed women on each page. She snorted, "That's so 1960's of you darling."
"What do you expect me to do? Leave this laying casually about the house so my girlfriend can find it? This is not the impression I'm trying to give."
She looked at me like I was an idiot. "This will help her to understand that you're a man with normal desires, that SHE is desirable." Sarah was getting impatient with me and started waving her arms about attempting to drive her point across. "Humans see us differently, impossibly beautiful, I know, because I use it to my advantage, but it can make them feel inadequate."
I kept scanning through the catalog, what Sarah said made sense, then I found it. Ninety-nine percent of the frocks in the book were short, obscene and call-girl esque, but on page 55 I found something quite alluring….tempting. Sarah noticed.
"Mmmm, let's take a look…" She turned the book in her direction. "I can see you have expensive tastes. I didn't realize they made negligees that costly, $300?" I was about to object when she intervened. "Now here's what you do." She plopped down on the couch next to me. "Pay attention. We order this right now and you have it delivered overnight. Whatever you do, make sure that your lady friend answers the door when the FedEx guy shows up."
She ran over to the door and mocked getting a surprise package. "Oh, whatever could it be?" She set her chin on her index finger with a silly expression of wonder on her face. "Victoria's Secret? But Edward's name is on the package." She motioned to me, "You should be conveniently missing in action. When she opens the package….and she will….she'll see this gown and know that you bought it with her wearing it just for you in mind. She'll feel desirable and very, very wanted. There will be no doubt in her mind what you want, sugar."
I sat gaping. It couldn't be that easy. "You've got to be joking. Bella would never buy something like that. She wears sweats and tee shirts to bed."
"Helllloooo, have you been listening to me? Women do not buy these pretties for themselves." She sat down next to me and patted my hand as if breaking some big news for the first time. "Their men do, and they do not get slept in." I looked at the photograph and then at Sarah skeptically. "Just try it." She said and handed me her phone. Bella hates gifts, this is a mistake. I took the phone anyway and made the call.
Bella's POV
There weren't many patrons at the library. I hadn't even started classes yet, so I had no real homework to do. I looked about in the fiction stacks for something to cool me off. I hated feeling this way, but it would subside. Edward got me so worked up, but I couldn't explain that to him. Ladies just don't have those sorts of urges, yeah right. If I don't scratch this itch soon I'm going to scream!
I skipped the romances and went for an action adventure. I pulled a Lee Child off the shelf, he's always entertaining. On second thought, maybe not, his character Jack Reacher can get a bit hot and heavy. I put it back in its place on the shelf, but my hand kept hold of it. I could just skip over the sex bits when they came up, god, I'm so depraved.
The lights blinked to signal the library was about to close. I didn't realize I'd been reading so long. Edward would be so worried; it's his natural state after all. I got my pack and started back home.
When I arrived at our cottage my hand hesitated on the door handle. I still needed some alone time and there was a vampire inside that never turned off. I walked inside and there was Edward, standing in the center of the living room staring at me. He probably heard me coming a block away, shit, that means he also knows how I just wavered at coming inside.
"Sorry I was so long." I dropped my backpack near the door and took off my jacket hanging it on the hook on the wall. He was already at my side. I put my hands out onto his chest to hold him away. I had just desensitized myself and didn't want to go through this again. "I'm tired Edward, I'm just going to take a shower and go straight to bed. Goodnight." I edged around him and hid in the bathroom turning on the water for the shower.
It was only a couple of steps from the bathroom to my bedroom but my boyfriend put himself in my direct path. "May I get you something, love?" He asked me with those puppy dog eyes on full blast.
"No." I answered curtly and went around him to the bedroom.
"I'm sorry I disappoint you Bella, but we must be cautious." He was just outside my doorway. I so didn't want to hash this over again.
"I really am exhausted." In more ways than one. "I'll see you in the morning." I closed my door on him jumped in bed and curled into a ball. He just can't comprehend how I feel around him; he doesn't suffer these severely intense emotions and needs as I do. My eyes closed and I gave myself up to sleep.
Edward's POV
I heard her step and her heartbeat and finally her presence was at our door. The seconds ticked by and she faltered. Was she undecided? Did she not wish to be with me? I stood in the center of the room staring at the door, willing it to open. She finally entered depositing her things at the door. She had not forgiven me, instead made an excuse to leave the room. When she left the bathroom at last, I could feel the aggravation come off of her in waves. She avoided me and then outright dismissed me at her bedroom door. I was devastated. This ludicrous inspiration of Sarah's had better work or I was lost.