A/N: Okay wonderful readers, this is where our story earns its rating. If we're all grown up girls (or boys) please enjoy! If not, you know where the back button is located.

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"This game is rigged!" Caius huffed, throwing his cards down. Bella rewarded him with a tinkling laugh. She had won three games in a row, and he didn't know how!

"You're cheating," he accused her.

Her body shook with more laughter at his expense. Her eyes seemed bright in the artificial lighting, and despite his annoyance at not winning such a simple game, Caius had a hard time staying angry when she looked this beautiful.

"You're a sore loser," she teased.

"Sore loser, indeed," he groused. "You're an insolent little wench!"

His grumbling pulled more laughter from her. There was nothing for it, he supposed. Caius was, in fact, a sore loser. Better she know now.

"And you've never played?" she said through her giggles. "What is the opposite of beginners luck?"

That's it, he thought, swiping the pile of cards off the table. They fluttered haphazardly to the floor as Bella continued to laugh so hard that tears were forming in the corners of her eyes.

"I have other uses for that impertinent mouth," he declared, roughly pulling her to himself.

Bella squealed as he yanked her so that she now straddled his thighs, her dress riding up. She may have been about to protest, or possibly make other impudent remarks at his expense, but he would never know. She gasped as he pulled her down, crushing her mouth with his. He had to be careful how much force he used, but found it wasn't as hard as he'd once thought it might be. It certainly wasn't the issue that infant, Edward, had made it out to be. After reading his mind, Aro had relayed the brat's reluctance to be physical, sighting her fragility as an excuse. In reality, the century old vampire had been a virgin with poor control.

The first time he'd seen the sofa Heidi had installed in the library, Caius had declared it an eyesore. He now reconsidered his position on the new piece of furniture. It certainly had its uses. Laying Bella back on it as he planked his body over hers, for example. He wondered if that meddlesome little shit had this in mind when she desecrated the ancient library with this modern monstrosity.

Caius practically purred when Bella's small hands found the hem of his dress shirt, yanking it free from where he'd tucked it into his trousers. She was wearing another dress, thank god, which climbed up her thighs as he settled between her legs. Their kiss intensified, their tongues writhing against one another. He couldn't get enough of her.

Luckily, Bella seemed to feel the same way. She moaned into their kiss, the sound going directly to his cock. Her fingers weren't done with his shirt. Frantically, she worked the buttons, undoing them far too slowly for his liking.

With a sharp tug, Caius ripped the offending garment from his body, tossing it to places unknown. If he was afraid that such a move would scare the sense back into her, he needn't be. If anything, it seemed to inflame her passion. Bella arched her body into his and wrapped one leg over his hip. This brought his straining erection into direct contact with the place it so desperately wanted to be.

There was a sharp intake of breath. Her hands, which had been delightfully roaming the muscular planes of his back, stilled.

"We don't have to go any further," he told her in a low voice, although he'd love nothing more. "When we- I want it to be your choice who you'd prefer to be with first. If you'd rather- with Aro or Marcus-"

"I want you," she said, her voice taking on a husky quality that made something twist inside of him. "And I want it to be natural, not a thing we decide before… Just, maybe not on the sofa? Not the first time, anyway…"

Caius didn't need to be told twice. With blinding speed, he swooped her up and seconds later they were in her room. He would have taken her to his own bedroom, but the bed was an antique and was bound to be uncomfortable for a human.

She laughed breathlessly as he released her, flopping onto the soft mattress. The sun had begun to sink while they whiled away the good part of the day rooting around in storage and playing that damnable game. As a result, the light that poured in through a narrow window was a golden stripe that cut through the space.

Bella smiled as he settled over her, adopting the same position they'd used in the library.

"Will this be okay?" she asked. "I mean, do you feel in control?"

"A vampire cannot hurt their mate," he replied, letting one hand snake down to the hem of her dress, lifting it slowly but surely up her shapely legs. "Even if their mate is human, for now."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Because Edward…"

"That bore had tenuous self-control, was on a diet of animal blood, and courting his singer," he scoffed, rolling his eyes for good measure. "Vampires have successfully had relations with humans before- Although we typically do not condone such relationships. I would never put you in danger, amore. Trust me."

"I do," she breathed. "I do."

Caius silently thanked every god he could think of.

He continued his assault on her mouth, pressing her even further into the mattress as her hands found his hair, tugging sharply. He didn't feel the pain, of course, but when she was like him, he would be able to ride that line between pleasure and pain if she did such a thing.

With the barest pressure, she pushed his shoulders back so she could sit up. There was a brief moment in which he thought she'd changed her mind, but that was dispelled when she removed her dress, pulling it over her head and letting it fall to the floor with thump.

Heidi was getting a raise, he decided, as he viewed the undergarments she wore. He couldn't believe she had brought them from Forks. They were blood red and lined in delicate lace that he wanted to tear from her body. Her breasts spilled over the cups of the brazier, making her look like a walking wet dream.

"You are stunning, amore," he said reverently, guiding her to lay back against the soft bedding.

She nervously chewed on her lower lip.

"I- um- haven't-"

"You're a virgin?" Caius finished for her. "I guessed as much. I'll make it good for you."

"Okay," she said breathlessly.

His mouth was on hers again, trying to infuse all the passion he felt into this single kiss. Aro would seethe with jealousy, but Caius couldn't spare a thought about his brother and their rivalry where Isabella was concerned right now. He meant what he said; he wanted her to choose, although he'd be lying if he said he wasn't supremely pleased to be first.

The flimsy garment that presented her breasts so nicely tore as easily as tissue, exposing her to his eyes. Her breasts were mid-sized and perfectly formed, her rose-colored nipples saluting the sun. She was looking up at him with dark eyes, their bond completely overriding any sense of shyness she might have felt at being naked in front of a man for the first time.

"I liked that one," she complained, although her eyes twinkled with laughter.

"I'll buy you ten," he growled, capturing her lips again.

Her breasts made delicious contact with his bare chest, pulling a whine from her and a groan from Caius. Her matching underwear was next on his list of demolition, followed by his own trousers and undergarments. When they were both nude, Caius nudged her thighs apart with his shoulders, slinking down her body.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her nervousness finally rearing its head.

"Don't be shy, cara," he rasped.

"But-but-"

"If you want me to stop, I will, of course," he said. "But I've been thinking about this ever since we were on the jet coming back from Forks. Let me make you feel good."

"But, with your mouth?" she asked, clearly reading his intentions.

"I promise you'll love it," he told her with a smirk. "And so will I, for that matter."

She wetted her lips, contemplating what they were about to do, before nodding and laying back. He crowed internally, gripping her behind the thighs and tugging her where he wanted. She gasped when he pushed her knees all the way apart, exposing her fully.

His mate was perfect, of course. Caius tried, really he did, to start out slowly, but found it impossible. Something, the bond or his lack of self-control, he couldn't be sure, sent him into a frenzy as he went down on her.

Her breathless cries spurred him into action, and he chased those delicious noises. He breached her body with one, and then two fingers, making her cry out and shift. He didn't feel her hymen, but given that she was a clumsy human, he wasn't all that surprised. She was tight, so tight that his fingers caused discomfort, which he tried to override with the pleasure his mouth was creating.

"Don't stop," she moaned when he slowed his ministrations. Not one to disobey his mate in the throws of passion, he doubled his attentions.

Bella threw her head back into the pillows, her body arching off the bed as she came. She gripped her own face, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes.

"Fuck," she said sharply, shuddering as she came down from her high.

Caius was smug. He'd never heard her use foul language before and vowed to do everything in his power to drag filthy words from her lips in bed from now on.

"I love you," he purred.

Caius froze as soon as the words left his mouth. He hadn't meant to say it, certainly not now, but he had felt it from the second he realized that she was his mate. That, and panic, of course, that she was in imminent danger. He'd wanted to tell her at the Cullen's home but didn't want to scare her off. The moment they shared now was so emotionally charged that the phrase had been pulled from him without his permission.

"I love you, too," she said softly.

"Thank god," he sighed, even as she pulled him up her body. "There's no mood killer greater than an unwanted declaration of love."

"I wouldn't know," she laughed.

"No," he said, looking down at her and kissing her forehead. "I don't suppose you would."

"I'm ready," she said, wrapping a leg around him and again, bringing her hot center into contact with his cock.

Only this time, there were no layers separating them. Caius growled, resisting the urge to sink in quickly. With one hand he reached down and gathered the moisture from her, using it to lubricate his own throbbing member.

Bella made a strangled noise when the blunt head of his cock breached her. She was impossibly tight. Carefully, he nudged in a little further, gently inching himself inside of her until he was fully sheathed. Something shifted as soon as he was seated within her body. Their bond strengthened, becoming a steel cable so strong that nothing could fracture it. Every wrong was righted, every wound healed. A hiss escaped his clenched teeth and his body trembled with sheer sensory overload.

She felt it too. He could feel her emotions through their connection. They almost overwhelmed him in their intensity. Tears leaked from her closed eyes, streaming into the hairline at her temples as gravity pulled the liquid down.

He kissed her then, deeper and more passionately than ever before. When she was a vampire, he wouldn't need to hold back. He could worship her body the way it was intended to be.

"Move," Bella whispered, breaking their kiss. "I want to feel you."

He did move. Carefully at first, and then with deeper, longer strokes. He wouldn't last like this, but he wanted her to come again. Caius gripped her, adjusting her pelvis so his pubic bone abraded her clit with every thrust.

They came together, with twin shouts so loud he'd be surprised if the humans on the streets below didn't hear. Bella would undoubtedly be mortified if and when she realized that every vampire in the castle would know exactly what they'd gotten up to, but Caius didn't give two shits about them. He could only focus on his mate. The sound of her breathing, her heart pounding like wild horses, and her cry of ecstasy.

Bella was drowsy when he finally slipped out of her. Her eyes fluttered and she tried, and failed, to stifle a yawn.

"Take a nap, amore," he whispered. "I'll wake you before dinner."

She offered him a grateful smile and pulled him closer as her eyes drifted shut. He was awash in a bliss he hadn't known existed as she fell into a light sleep. Caius had seen and rejected this idea that true mates enjoyed this level of intimacy, of joy in each other's company. There was no denying it now, he thought wryly. It must be experienced to be believed.

He was so relaxed, so blissfully entrenched in their newly consummated bond, that he didn't realize they were being watched.

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A/N: A shorter chapter this time, but I hope the content makes up for it. This just seemed like a good place to stop.