Chapter 8
I was on my way home from a quick hunt when I heard some yelling in the house. Hurrying my pace, I swept in through the back door to see Bella backing away from Esme who was sternly eyeing my girl and pointing to the corner.
"What's going on?" I asked, starting to move towards Bella.
"Liss!" She called out, holding her arms out for me to come to her.
"Liss…" Esme started sharply, before shaking her head and beginning again… "Alice, leave her be. She's being punished."
"Punished?" I asked in shock, looking between my timid girl and my mother. It was truly a testament to the past week's progress that this situation was even happening.
"Yes." She answered shortly before turning back to Bella. "In the corner Bella. Go." She said firmly, motioning for Bella to face the wall. My girl's shoulders slumped as she followed the directions, glancing in my direction once more with sad, pleading eyes. My immediate instinct was to run to her and gather her up in a hug, soothing her, but a hand on my shoulder pulled me back and into the kitchen.
"Alice, we discussed this. Bella needs discipline just like any other child. She needs to learn her boundaries and to control her emotions." Esme reminded me with a raised eyebrow. I huffed crossing my arms. I didn't like this one bit.
"What did she do? Does she really need to be punished?" I asked, eyes wandering back to the living room, even though I could no longer see her. As far as I was concerned, I disciplined Bella just fine by withholding kisses and peanut butter, but apparently my parents preferred a different approach. When Carlisle, Esme and I agreed that they would fill a parental role for Bella, just yesterday, I didn't expect the change to be so obvious and quick. Suddenly, Bella had other figures to look to besides me, and I wasn't yet sure how I liked it.
It seemed like a great idea at the time.
We were heading into the second week since Carlisle and Esme arrived home. Thankfully, Emmett and Rosalie had decided to extend their vacation and wouldn't be home for while longer. In their absence, particularly Rosalie's, it was easier for Esme and Carlisle to gain Bella's trust. For the first two days, Bella was glued to my side, not that I really minded, but she was still very tense in the presence of my parents. She took to Carlisle first, with his soft gentle voice and lack of history with her, it was easier to coax her into his presence to get them familiar with each other. He had taken off an extra few days from work, both for the purpose of helping teach Bella and to do more research. Once we'd passed the month mark with no signs of Bella menstruating, we started leaning towards were-cat. Unfortunately, a conversation with a few of Carlisle's friends revealed that were-cats gained a marking of some sort at the spot where they were bitten. Bella doesn't have any markings. Trust me. I searched thoroughly, in the interest of science, of course. She didn't seem to mind though.
This discovery put us right back where we started…with absolutely no idea. I chose not to dwell on it, since it wouldn't really matter to me one way or the other.
Getting Bella to reconcile with Esme took a little more work, but since it was mostly my fault in the first place, I did all I could to help fix the situation. I spent plenty of time with Esme and Bella, always being sure to offer hugs and kisses to the cheek for my mother, reinforcing the idea that I still loved her. Esme seemed to have taken of the challenge as well. She made all of Bella's meals and sat in the room when Bella and I watched television or read aloud. Bella hadn't started learning to read, but she liked to be read to and I'd follow the words with my finger for her to see. Sometimes Esme would watch and comment on Bella's drawing. The turning point seemed to be when she finally succeeded in getting Bella to draw her something.
*Flashback*
"That's very good Bella!" My mother praised. Bella was drawing at the coffee table while I caught up on the latest issue of Vogue. Bella only glanced up at her, before flipping over to a blank page. "Bella?" Esme asked, trying to gain my girl's attention. She paused turning her bright green eyes onto my mother. "Will you draw something for me? Will you draw me a flower?" She asked gently. Bella stared at her silently for a moment before looking back at me. I'd put the magazine down, watching their interaction closely.
"Go ahead sweetie. Flower. For Esme." I urged, gesturing to her blank sheet. She sighed, but obediently picked up a brittle piece of charcoal and began to sketch what looked to be a daisy or wildflower of some kind. Setting my magazine to the side, I scooted forward in my seat, legs going to either side of Bella's back as I began playing with her hair, watching her draw. When she finished, she handed me the notebook and I tore the page out, silently asking if I could give it to Esme. Bella didn't object, so I offered the paper to my mother whose eyes became glassy as she looked over the picture.
"Oh Bella. This is beautiful. Thank you!" She praised softly, swiftly moving into the kitchen. Bella watched, her face scrunching in confusion, before she got up, following Esme without direction. I came up behind her where she stopped in the entranceway to the kitchen. She was watching my mother attach her drawing to the refrigerator with four magnets. I barely caught the tiny smile slip onto her face before she turned back towards me, silently leading us back to the living room.
*END*
After that, it seemed like Bella was giving Esme a little more leeway. Before, she was automatically distrusting, so even though it wasn't a 100% turnaround, it was a vast improvement.
Edward was also helping to teach Bella, though not about academia. So far he had introduced her to about a quarter of his music collection and taught her to play some of the simpler video games. By the end of the week, she was even comfortable enough with Edward that I felt okay leaving her in his company while I went to get her more clothes. She was desperately in need of them, after ripping and soiling so many. At least I can be grateful that it won't be a big problem in the future. Thank the Lord! Bella finally learned to undress before relieving herself! It was one of the accomplishments in the first week of Esme and Carlisle being home that I was most proud of.
"She lost her temper during video games and smashed the coffee table." Esme stated, bringing me back to the current situation of why Bella was being punished. I peered back into the living room to see Edward, who I didn't notice earlier, was cleaning up the shards of broken glass and putting the destroyed pieces of wood in a trash bin.
"I'm sure she didn't mean to. It was probably Ed…"
"Alice." Esme said sternly, cutting me off from blaming my younger brother. "You know that Bella needs to take responsibility for her actions. It's part of being a human, and an adult."
"Well, I still don't like her being punished." I pouted, still trying to refrain from going back to cuddle Bella. Esme smiled at me.
"Of course you don't, honey. She's your mate, your angel. She doesn't do anything wrong in your eyes except perhaps ruin her clothes." Esme teased lightly. I huffed.
"Yeah, well…" I paused, not able to think of anything.
"I know this is hard for you. Letting other people have some control in your mates life was never going to be an easy adjustment, but we talked about this, and we decided, as a group…"
"That you and Carlisle would be Bella's authority figures. I know." I cut Esme off, causing her to smirk.
"I believe we used the term parental figures, but that's essentially right. It's better this way. You do know that, don't you?" I nodded, but remained pouting. "A mate loves unconditionally and you do a wonderful job of providing that, but Bella needs some discipline and structure, that as her mate, you're just not willing or able to enforce. As it happens, I don't like punishing her either, but it's necessary for her to learn." Esme repeated the arguments she and Carlisle had made the day before. I agreed, more or less, but that didn't mean I liked it. Seeing Bella sad, or upset in anyway made my heart clench. The idea of her being punished, and not by me, seemed like allowing other people to make her sad. It just felt wrong.
And so, despite finally relenting and letting Esme follow through with her punishment for Bella, I remained just out of sight in the kitchen, in my own self-imposed time out, just waiting for my girl to be released.
Finally, Esme got up from her place on the couch after what seemed like hours, but was really only a few minutes, and walked over to where Bella stood. I eased my way around the corner, preparing to launch myself at Bella, who had turned around when she heard Esme approaching.
"Okay Bella. You're done." She said, keeping her face firm. "Do you know why I made you stand over here?" Esme asked, motioning to where Bella stood. It took her a few moments to understand the question, but she nodded and mumbled, in what I thought was an adorable fashion.
"Bella bad." I wanted so badly to coo at her.
"What was bad, Bella?" Esme urged the girl, who just stood there quietly. It was obvious after a minute that Bella didn't know what to say. "You got mad and you broke the table." Bella nodded glumly, but I was suspicious of whether she really knew what Esme said, and had to hide a smirk.
"Bad table." Bella tried to repeat, which broke my silence and I started giggling causing both women to look at me.
"No, Bad Bella. You broke the table. No table." Esme tried to explain, pointing to where the mess had since been cleaned up and there was an empty space where the coffee table once stood.
"She doesn't understand, Esme." I tried to defend, taking a few steps closer.
"Alice. Please. She understands just fine." My mother said, watching Bella with a raised eyebrow. "Don't you Bella?" Bella looked pleadingly in my direction, and I couldn't help myself. I had to swoop in and save her.
"Bella's sorry, Esme. Aren't you sweetie? Say you're sorry." I said, wrapping an arm around Bella's waist and giving her a reassuring squeeze.
"Sawry." Bella said quietly, turning her face into my shoulder and away from Esme's disappointed gaze, although she appeared more irritated with me than Bella.
"Alice, you can't…"
"I know, I know, sorry." I muttered my own apology, thinking it was worth it to have Bella back in my arms.
"No shopping for two weeks." She stated, causing my mouth to fall open.
"What? What did I do?" I tried to keep from shrieking and upsetting Bella.
"You can't interfere like that Alice. Bella needs to learn to take responsibility. You can't always jump in and save her." Esme said, causing me to frown. I will always save Bella.
"Fine." I said sulking and pulling Bella away up to our room.
I'd barely closed the door before Bella was already undressing. Throwing her clothes as far away as possible. I giggled, swiftly collecting them and laying them out on my bed to be worn again later. Bella had moved over to my window wall taking in the forest. I'd been able to get her out every so often this week, but with Carlisle and Esme set on upping Bella's learning regiment, she'd been stuck inside more than normal.
A knock at my door distracted me, and surprised Bella, whose head whipped around, a snarl on her lips. After she took in the scent, though, she relaxed, turning back to the window, while I moved to answer the door, where I knew Carlisle was waiting. I only opened the door enough for my head to pop out, keeping Bella concealed from view. Though I was willing to be more lenient in Bella's association with others, some things were out of the question, namely, others seeing her nude.
"Alice, I wondered if I might be able to take a couple samples from Bella for testing. I think it might help shed a little more light on the question of her species." My father stated without preamble. In his hands he had a tray with several containers and medical supplies. Glancing down at it quickly I raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of samples?" I asked, already thinking how badly Bella would react to being stuck with a needle.
"Nothing complicated, just a small blood sample and a DNA swab from her mouth." He said, looking at me hopefully.
"Well if they're that simple, then I'll get them and bring them to your office." I told him in such a way that he wouldn't dare argue. I may not be a doctor, but I had training as a nurse, so these would be easy enough for me to obtain. Plus, I hoped Bella may be more willing if I was the one approaching her.
Carlisle nodded, handing me the supplies before turning back down the hallway. I took a deep breath before slipping back inside and closing the door with my foot. By this point, Bella's attention was completely on me, or more accurately, what I had in my hands and she moved towards me curiously taking in the tray's contents.
"Was that?" She asked, sitting on the bed beside where I'd laid the tray. When she started to reach for the syringe I grabbed her wrist gently, and pulled it to my lips for a kiss. The distraction only lasted for a moment before Bella's eyes darted back to all the shiny objects.
"It's…" I started to explain, but paused, wondering how I could in such a way to make her actually understand. "It's for a game, Bella." I decided.
"Game?" she asked excitedly, her green eyes glowing. I smiled at her improved pronunciation.
"Yes, a game. It's called Doctor."
"Dotter?"
"Doc-tor, Bella." I corrected, carefully taking the packaged swab from the tray and holding it up to show her. "See this?" I unwrapped it, holding it back up. "This is a swab." Bella mouthed the word, her nose scrunching up. "What you do is, you open your mouth wide, like this…" I said, showing her briefly. "Then, you take the swab and rub it like this…" I continued, opening my mouth again and rubbing the cotton against the inside of my cheek. "See?" I asked, smiling at Bella, as if it'd been fun. She observed me skeptically for a moment before taking the used swab from my hand and sticking it in her mouth, chewing on the end.
With a look of disgust, she spat out the cotton and stared at me accusingly.
"No food!" She complained, pouting.
"I didn't say it was food, Bella. You weren't supposed to eat it!" I exclaimed trying not to laugh at the look on her face. "Here." I said, unwrapping a new swab from the tray. "Open wide." I urged, opening my own mouth so she'd mirror me. As soon as she followed my directions I quickly swept the cotton along the inside of her mouth before sealing the swab in a container on the tray. Bella was staring at me, her mouth still open. "You can close your mouth now, Bella." I giggled, gently pushing on her chin to close it.
"Liss. Dotter, no fun." She stated, looking at me with confusion and concern. She must have though I was crazy to think this would be a good game. Laughing I just shook my head and moved closer to her.
"It's not fun, huh? Hmm, well maybe we weren't playing it right?" I suggested, smirking as I swung my leg over her lap. "I think I need another sample." I teased, to the uncomprehending woman in front of me, not that it mattered. When I leaned in and whispered, "open wide," Bella eagerly accepted my invading tongue, and I soon lost myself in our kiss. I almost entirely forgot my original reason for this distraction…well one of the reasons. Bella growled, as my hands slipped down her sides to grasp her hips firmly. Once I was sure she was completely absorbed by my mouth, I bit down on her bottom lip at the same time as my nail cut a small laceration in her side. With impressive speed, even for a vampire, I had coaxed a few drops of the deep red liquid into a tube. It was lucky I did, because as soon as my hand returned to soothe the cut, it was gone. Pulling away, I stared down at where my fingers mindlessly drew patterns on the bare skin of her hip, the completely unblemished bare skin. Not even a scar left as a reminder of the wound.
"Liss?" Bella asked me breathlessly, staring at me with half-lidded eyes.
"That's Doctor Liss, to you." I said, claiming her lips once more.
"Alice! Emmett and Rosalie are on the phone. Do you want to say hello?" Esme's voice called up from downstairs, causing me to part from Bella with a snarl on my own lips. Quickly reining in my displeasure, I placed one more peck on Bella's lips before moving off of her lap and calling my negative response downstairs. Pacing my room in an attempt to cool myself down, I only stopped when warm arms wrapped around my waist from behind.
"Liss mad?" Bella asked sadly. I turned in her arms with a smile.
"No Bella. I'm not mad. Liss is good." I told her, before pulling away and taking my backpack from the end of the bed. If I was going to be able to keep myself composed for both Bella and my family, we would need a little more privacy on occasion. "Clothes, Bella. We're going outside." I told her succinctly, taking pleasure in the excitement sparking to life in her eyes.
Without any arguing, Bella pulled her shorts back on, and managed to slip on her shirt, after a mild tangling incident. I threw a few clothes in my backpack while I waited for her and then taking her hand, led Bella downstairs to the kitchen. I started stuffing a bunch of the already prepared Tupperware containers from the fridge into my bag when Esme and Carlisle walked it.
"What's going on? Where are you going?"
"Bella and I are going camping tonight. We'll be back tomorrow."
"Alice…" Esme started to protest, but I cut her off with a silent plea on my face, and she nodded. "Okay, but be careful."
"Your samples are up on my bed Carlisle." I told my father quickly before darting over to both my parents and offering a hug and a kiss.
"Stay safe." Esme called to us as Bella practically dragged me out the back door.
We were both laughing by the time we reached our little hideaway in the woods. The grass in the little field had grown quite long, almost reaching my knees, but it didn't seem to bother Bella who immediately disrobed and took off still giggling. As had become typical, I also parted with my clothes, enjoying the simplicity of our sanctuary. Allowing Bella some time to frolic, I started picking wildflowers for a bracelet.
It seemed quite sudden that I could no longer hear Bella's laughter, or her moving around. In fact I heard nothing except the wind gently blowing through the trees around us.
"Bella?" I called out, a mild panic starting to form in my chest. "BELLA?" I called again more loudly, spinning around in the small field to search for her. I couldn't even smell her anymore. It was as if her smell had been absorbed by nature, indistinguishable.
About two seconds before I was completely consumed by fear, a sound to my right alerted me to another presence. I turned to it just in time to see a white blur pouncing on me and knocking me to the ground. Before I even had time to adjust, Bella turned back, her body still pinning me to the ground, but now a feral smile spreading her slightly wet lips. Her warm breaths swept across my face, and I couldn't help a small sigh escaping me. Reaching a hand up to her face, I softly caressed her cheek, before smirking and flipping her over, playfully wrestling her into submission beneath me. My vampire purred at the conquest, particularly, when a tiny whimper escaped the squirming feline girl.
My celebration was premature, and distracted by the pleasant feelings flooding through me, I was easily overtaken by that same girl. We continued to wrestle, rolling through the grass and trying to pin each other, both of us laughing, until my leg got tangled in Bella's, pressing against the warmth of her center. And like a switch, playtime was over.
"Bella?' I asked tentatively, watching the growling girl next to me speculatively. Half crab crawling and half scooting, I tried to put some space between us. I knew that look in her eyes, and though it was rare, I knew what it meant. My wild woman was back.
Bella pounced again, but this time, she had another goal in mind. With strength not normally shown, Bella maneuvered me into the position she wanted and wasted no time beginning our "mating". Like the first time she mounted me, I some how managed to be the bitch, not that I really minded. There were no distractions this time. No interruptions. No judgmental family members. No, it was completely up to me whether I allowed this to happen…
"Lisssss." Bella grunted in my ear, her ample breasts pressing into my back as she let her hips thrust unrestrained against my backside. Our bodies slapped loudly together making my brain fog with arousal.
"Ohhhmmmmgod." I moaned as her teeth nipped at my shoulder, occasionally sweeping over the bites with her tongue. No clothes separated us this time, which Bella seemed to appreciate, as her fingers slid around my hips and down along the front of my thighs.
My breath caught in my throat as she managed to angle her hips just right to hit my clit, as I arched my back, giving her better access. "Oh yes." I hummed appreciatively as Bella picked up more speed. Her hot breath lapped at my neck and back, snarls and grunts escaping her mouth freely. "My good girl." I moaned at a particularly delicious thrust. My eyes widened when I heard a tiny whimper from behind me, followed by a long whine, one that I instinctively knew meant Bella was reaching her limits. Slipping a hand down along my belly, I easily found my clit, helping myself along.
"Fuck." I gasped as the intensity of the heat spreading through my body grew.
"Liss." Bella hissed before tightening her grip on my hips and groaning into my back, as her pistoning hips slowed. The wetness I felt hitting my backside with each hump sent me reeling, and I moaned loudly falling over the edge myself. My muscles turning to jelly, I collapsed on the ground completely, Bella's weight still on top of me. We both laid there silently for a few minutes, Bella catching her breath as I reflected on what just happened.
She initiated it, right? She wanted to. I wasn't taking advantage. No. Regardless of what Rose said, I knew Bella cared about me. I wasn't just some random girl for her to mate with.
I felt Bella sliding off my back and turned on my side to face her. She had an adorably sleepy smile on her face and looked more content than I'd ever seen her. As much as I wanted to figure out what it meant to her, I could see her eye lids drooping. She missed her afternoon catnap, after all. Pulling her into my side, I placed a kiss to her head as she rested it on my chest, murmuring incoherently.
"Sleep now, Baby. I've got you." I whispered, letting my hands caress her hair as she snuggled closer, eyes closed.
A/N I felt like the story was getting a little too stagnant, and I wanted to move it along a little, hence the time jump in the beginning with the flash back. Hopefully you don't hate it. I don't think I'm really counting the end of this as love-making, more like mutual masturbation, but you can all take from it what you will. Thanks for reading! And for those who want to know, I'll be posting the next chapter in the princess story, if not today, then very shortly.