Edward's POV

The next day I made myself scarce, leaving our house before Bella woke. I went about 50 miles distance to hunt in a nearby forest in the Willamette Valley, small game. Once I was tired of the chase I set myself down and phoned Carlisle.

He answered on the second ring. I needed to alert him of the vampire I had met. He kept a kind of register of his own making. These details had come in useful in the past. I described her to him, about 5 feet, long brown hair, about 20 discernable years of age, etc. He chuckled and said I sounded as if I were describing Bella. I hadn't thought about that before, but he was right. He suggested I learn more about her and I promised him updates as I got them.

I was nervous about the outcome of Sarah's plan. I stopped by her house before returning home to discuss it with her. She pulled me inside forcefully. "You can't let her see you come in here, you'll ruin everything!" She reprimanded. Brilliant, another woman upset with me.

I started pacing in front of her coffee table as she set herself into a chair. "What if this whole thing backfires? Perhaps the gown will only put….the act… foremost in her mind and I won't be able to…..we'll be back where we started." I put my head in my hands.

"It's up to you to make her understand why this gift is NOT for her… but for you. Remember, this is only step one, and step one makes her realize you want her as much as she wants you. Oh, I just realized we should've ordered heels to match. Double damn!" She looked completely anxious that her preparation was not perfect.

"No." I shook my head. "No heels, I have my preferences as well. I like my Bella barefoot."

"That's more like it tiger, now let HER know these things. Sometimes a girl can't or won't believe the words, but if she finds little clues for herself, then it's more real to her." She winked at me. I heard a truck pull up outside and we both went to the window. The FedEx guy jumped down from his truck with a pink box. Here we go.

Bella's POV

We'd made purchases online before, but this was poles apart. The very pink box sat alone on the kitchen table as I stared at it from a distance, like it was going to explode. Edward ordered something from Victoria's Secret? Let's be realistic about this, it couldn't be for anyone but me, right? You don't order stuff from there with your mom or sisters in mind. I swallowed hard, what would he buy? What would he like? I really had no idea. There could be a teddy in there…no way, not Edward.

Well, if it's mine, I should open it. I couldn't take the suspense anymore and I ripped open the package. Oh my goodness, it was beautiful, but sexy. The invoice called it a Velvet Bow Gown. It was floor length, but sheer. It was black with a plunging neckline and back and little velvet bows adorning it. The packaging was tossed aside, forgotten and I took my prize to my bedroom to try it on.

I felt elegant, dramatic, I felt like I'd walked out of a classic Hollywood movie. I should have a long cigarette holder. I twirled around a couple of times feeling much too full of myself when I heard Edward return.

Edward's POV

I saw the box had been opened and I have to admit I was astonished. I didn't think she'd touch it with a 10 foot pole. Then she walked slowly out of the bedroom and again she took my breath away. The gown highlighted her beauty. Her skin was creamy white against the black lace and there were parts of her I'd never seen until now. I could tell instantly the change in her. She walked taller, more confident in herself and she grinned at me through her eyelashes. I'm so doomed.

"Why?" She asked sounding stunned. "I mean…why?"

I was speechless and began to circle her where she stood. I allowed my greedy eyes their fill, of everything. I was being horribly vulgar but put it out of my head. "I needed you to understand. It was imperative that you be aware of how I see you." I took her a bit too roughly by the arm and led her into the bedroom.

When she was situated in front of the full length mirror attached to the closet door I attempted to explain. I stood behind her so all we could see was my alluring Bella, all of her right down to her little pink toes. I am going straight to hell.

"Look at yourself" I ordered. I held her in place by her white shoulders and breathed her in. "I see you like this ….always. When you're waking up, when you eat your cereal, when you study, always." My hands slipped from her shoulders to her slight waist. I ran my gluttonous hands over her curves and her breath hitched. "I tell you you're beautiful, but you don't believe. See it now, and see what I see everyday."

A tear escaped her and I wiped it away. "Don't worry, they're happy ones again." She insisted. "Oh Edward, I'll try and accept it as true." She shook her head in amazement, "Who is that gorgeous girl?" I practically heard the bells go off. Finally, she got it!

"That girl?" I said teasingly at the mirror, resting my chin on her right shoulder, "That's my personal pin up; she makes me hungry just looking at her." I'd been inspired. In a flash I had the digital camera and held it before her. "Will you allow me to photograph you?"

Bella was dumbfounded at my brashness, but I was successfully getting the point across tenfold. "What if someone saw it? I'd be mortified." She had her hands covering her face in humiliation. I couldn't allow that.

"I vow no one will ever view it but me, love." She thought about it a moment. "Where do you want me?" A loaded question if I ever heard one.

"Oh, I don't know, by the fireplace, flourishing on the couch, stretched out on the hood of my car…" That got her. She turned bright red, but she finally understood her power over me.

Success was mine. Bella finally put two and two together and had it. We talked until late into the night until she was too tired to go on and I tucked her into bed lying beside her and waited for sleep to take her.

She had never believed that I could lose control with her. She didn't think her power over me was that all consuming. I could tell she was elated to finally understand that I yearned for her as much as she did for me, but she was also saddened by the new realization of my justified fear of our closeness. I promised we would work on it. We'd find a way.

In the morning when she prepared to leave for school I noticed a distinct change in her. She covered herself thoroughly before getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom. In half an hour, after a chaste kiss on my cheek she was gone. Be careful what you wish for, it may come true.

Upon waking she would always have a sexy grin for me and stretch in a satisfied feline sort of way. I adored her stretching. Her clothing would shift and creamy skin would reveal itself innocently. I enjoyed these moments intensely, and now she was resolved to being vigilant for my benefit. This will not do. I need step two and I need it now. I went next door to confer with Sarah. She opened her door to me wearing an apron. The domesticity of it all made me laugh.

I stood in her kitchen watching her prepare the strangest concoction, my personal concerns almost forgotten. She was organizing her food supply for the week. She confided in me the fact that she disliked any sort of hunting. She hated the outdoors, she abhorred the kill and she detested the act of sucking the blood from her prey. She was in quite a difficult situation herself and I told her as much. She disagreed, everyone seems to these days.

There were many small foil lined "boxes", in lack of a better word, lined up on the kitchen counter. She refused to disclose her supplier, as what she was doing she considered highly illegal. Some of the blood she was functioning on was human, though most not. Human blood was dear, and it was with that supply she was working on. "I'm spiking it, Sugar." She explained and giggled, continuing her project at hand. "Would you care to try some? I have enough this week, I got a cost of living raise."

What?

"A raise? You mean you work for a paycheck?" I asked amazed. I never knew one of our kind to toil at employment, well for Carlisle it was a preference, but for Sarah it was out of necessity. I discovered she needed the money. She had been changed at the age of 20, an only child of a poor Atlanta family during the civil war. Now there was a coincidence. Her attacker was interrupted and she was left to suffer through the change alone and undirected. "I'm sorry, Sarah. I truly am." I said with feeling.

She shrugged her shoulders, "It was a long time ago. I live here in student housing because rent is cheap. I can blend in here since I look the right age." The sympathy I felt for her must have shown in my face because she said, "I'm here and alone by choice. I don't get along with any other vampires I've met, well, besides you, you're different. I can't afford cable, but I do have peace of mind. I just can't kill….I've tried…in the beginning." She placed all the boxes in her refrigerator. "I'd find my victims in the slums, and they were always drunk. The more intoxicated the better. The alcohol mixes into the bloodstream, you know. I'd get so buzzed, so now I make my own brew."

She was finished with her chore and we moved into the living room. I started noticing for the first time of the sparseness of the room. She had few possessions and fewer luxuries. "So how did step one pan out sugar?" She asked excitedly.

We both relaxed on her couch.

"Very well, it happened just as you said it would. You're very intuitive." I added. She was exceedingly pleased with our victory. "I'm anxious to start step two. I don't want Bella coming home and looking at me with pity in her eyes."

"You're ready to move on to the physical darling?" I nodded nervously. "Okay, so how far have you two gone already, I mean, I assume you've kissed her."

I started fidgeting in my seat. "Well, yes." I left it at that.

"You don't have to look so guilty. Tell me, what base are we on here?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Excuse me?" I was lost.

Raising her eyebrows she tried to be more precise. "First base, second base?"

Yep, completely lost. "Baseball terminology?"

"Okay, let's start over. Describe the way you kiss her. How do you go about it?" She looked at me hopefully.

"Um, I just…you know…"

"Use your words, Edward." But I couldn't speak the words. This was private, I had no right. My squirming got worse and I couldn't help but glancing behind us to make sure we were alone.

"The sex police are not going to break down the door. Mouth closed or open, tongue or no tongue?" She paused waiting for my answer. "Look, if you can't tell me would you rather just show me?"

"I….couldn't." I said, clearly shocked at her suggestion.

"Honestly sugar, I'm only trying to help. I'm not even attracted to you, no offense." And she meant it; I could read her mind after all. I wasn't used to this reaction. "You're not my type…besides preferring humans; I like the shy sort of bookish kind of guy. The one no one notices. He doesn't have an up to date haircut or even a cellular phone."

"I must admit I don't know if I can say these things to you."

She took my hand and pulled us both up to a standing position in front of the couch. "Lets just give it a go and if it's impossible, then maybe you could try writing it down. We can dig up a thesaurus around here somewhere." She snorted.

I sighed and appreciated what she was trying to do for me. "You're right, this is ridiculous. As usual I'm making a mountain out of a mole hill."

Sarah stood directly in front of me. "Alright, what does she usually do? Oh, should I be taller?"

I'd forgotten she'd never seen Bella before.

"No, you're about the same height. And she uh, puts her arms around my neck." Sarah stepped forward putting her arms about my neck and clasping her fingers together. "She…leans against me." I added.

"That must be difficult for you." She leaned into me and I balanced for us both.

"Extremely….sometimes she strokes my hair."

Sarah's eyes were piercing into me, but her resolve didn't change, she was only doing this for my benefit. It seemed more to me, but possibly that's just a typical male reaction.

"Alright, I've got the picture. Like this?" She entwined her fingers in the hair behind my ears.

"That's…similar. Sarah?"

"Yes?" She whispered. It was very quiet in here.

"Now?" I asked for her permission.

"Go ahead Sugar." She nodded and winked at me.