A/N: Wow, not many hits or reviews on this one... I guess it's more of a taste issue. Let me tell you though, the story will move away from Greece and from the myth of Eros and Psyche, that's just the jumping off point. I like to see how B and E handle different meetings and other situations. The next chapter (4) is kinda steamy so get set! Enjoy!
I lay back in my bed, but sleep would not come. Jessica knocked on my door at eight thirty the next morning, but I pretended to be sick. She agreed, a little too quickly, I might add, to go on without me. I lay there staring at the ceiling in the soft morning light.
When I opened my eyes the room was bathed in a red glow. I frowned as I looked toward my window… the sun was setting! I had slept all day long! And where was Jess? I supposed she had come to check on me, but in my deep sleep she must have assumed I was still 'sick' and left me alone. I jumped out of bed, grabbed some clothes from the bureau and ran into the bathroom. I showered and dressed quickly and took a little time to put on a little lip gloss and run a brush through my hair. I picked up my laundry and shoved it into the little net bag and left it behind the door for the maid to pick up tomorrow. Got to love a hotel with complimentary full service laundry!
I opened the door and began to walk back toward my bed to make it look a bit more presentable, but was shocked to see the silhouette of a person sitting there staring back at me.
"Shall we do this the traditional way, lights off, full of mystery and have you commit the same grievous sin as Psyche, or shall we bring it into modern times, me showing you the trust you believe you deserve?" He said, his voice sending a shiver down my spine, but whether from fear or excitement I do not know.
"Why on earth should you not trust me? It wasn't me that broke into someone's hotel room uninvited and watched that person sleep!" I answered, slightly annoyed at his sense of wit. "Besides,' I added, 'I'm no Psyche… I could keep my curiosity in check."
He laughed. "Oh, I doubt it, you are most definitely like Psyche, whether you choose to believe it or not!" He said, reaching for the lamp nearest him. I was about to comment on his overconfidence in himself again when he clicked the switch and took away every thought I had been thinking, and effectively my breath with it. I had never seen a creature, real or imagined, drawn or sculpted, as beautiful as the one that sat here before me. His beauty was indescribable, and yet my brain tried very hard to do just that. What could I compare him to? There was nothing in all of time that I had seen that would even begin to be of help in that department. He was like a mixture of the David, and of the Creation of Adam painting on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, and of the bust of Apollo, but so much more beautiful than all of them put together.
His skin was as pale as white marble, polished smooth and perfect with features chiseled into his face. His face! It reflected the light as the moon does the sun and seemed to glow by its own source. He was glorious.
He must have been used to such reactions, because though I am sure my mouth had dropped and was undoubtedly hanging open, he began to speak as if nothing were amiss.
"There, now there will be no need to practically burn me with hot oil. Curiosity satisfied?" He asked. I nodded slightly. "Good, then would you be opposed to me turning the light off again? It might be easier to converse, since it is how we are accustomed to communicating up to this point."
I nodded again. The light clicked off, the moon was brighter tonight, I noticed, and now having seen his features in direct light I could more easily imagine them than I could have had he not revealed himself to me. I said the first thing I could think of to break the awkward silence. "How do you know my name?" He smiled. "I have very good hearing; and I'm never very far from you during the day…recently." "Oh." I said as if that answer had made all the sense in the world. "Who are you?" I asked trying to think of a question that would get me a straighter answer than those I had been getting; it seemed he could speak to me forever but tell me nothing at all.
"My name Is Edward; but I believe you might mean to ask me what I am, rather than who, am I correct?" I nodded again. "Well, that brings up the issue of trust again. How do I know I can trust you not to tell on me?" A hint of a smile played at the corner of his mouth. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I was completely taken by him, and I only knew his first name.
"Why would you not?" I asked dumbly… there were a million reasons why he might not trust me I quickly went over them in my head, but to my surprise, he said none of them. "Touché" He said quietly.
"Besides, if I begin by telling you, you might well come to your senses and order me off for good, thereby disposing of this whole awkward matter at hand. After all you should never have seen me to begin with… it was my mistake, of course, but your fortune." Honestly he confused me more and more each time he opened his mouth. I frowned; he smiled, surely at the bewilderment so evident on my face.
"Well… to begin with I am not human, but that, some part of your mind has already guessed, even if subconsciously. You are familiar with what I am, but I must ask you not to scream when I tell you; remember I told you last night that I promised no harm will come to you now?" I nodded; my heart began to beat wildly. He smiled as my heart sped as if he could hear it. "Please try to calm down, Bella, when your heart beats like that your scent nearly overpowers me."
I frowned again but had no chance to ask what he meant, he continued quickly as if he had something unpleasant to say and wanted it over with quickly. "I am a vampire, Bella. Yes, I feed on human blood and I was going to feed on yours; I saw you two days ago, while hiking on the mountain. Your blood called to me as no other blood on this planet ever has in my existence… it was irresistible. It took everything I possess not to take you right then and there, but I waited. I followed you here and I waited outside your window until you fell asleep. I waited, standing over you, wondering how to cover the scene, to make it look like an accident or murder or something more believable than a vampire attack but then you spoke. You talk in your sleep did you know that?"
I shook my head. I was mesmerized by his words. I could not have screamed if my life depended on it, which, if what he was telling me was true, could very well happen under the wrong circumstances.
A/N: Reviews are awesome and they let me know that you do infact want to know more... I do write these for myself, but I post them for potential readers.