Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. But I challenge Stephenie Meyer to a bowl-off to determine if she will give it to me.

Oh my goodness guys. Really I didn't know how many of you seemed to REALLY like this story. That being said, after hearing a lot of good things about it, I am determined to update this story more often. I hope that makes you guys a bit more happy.

Yes, uber relief to everyone now that Edward and Bella have finally kissed...took them long enough...geeesh...lol.

Cool, alright I guess the story will continue.

"He is evil by his very nature."

William Shakespeare

BPOV

Weeks of frustrating silence had passed since our decision to try to find out what Aro's plot was. But they had been just that...silent. We had gathered barely any information. It seemed like everyone in the palace was either ordered to block their thoughts, or were oblivious as to what Aro's plans actually were.

The worst part of it, however, was my very small amounts of interactions with Edward. As discussed, I was a lot nicer to Felix, making him believe that I was warming up to him. In turn, Edward was spending more time with Tanya...which I didn't like at all. Whenever Carlisle and Edward would take me to the clearing for training, Felix would feel the need to accompany me. If I wasn't forced to be nice to him right now, I swear to god, I would've torn his throat out. Actually, by the looks he was getting, Edward would beat me to that.

It was hard, but Edward and I managed to find little time for us to be together. It was always in passing. When he would pass by me, it would be nothing more than a brush of his hand on the small of my back, or gently pressing his body against mine in a crowded hall, but it was always enough to make my body tremble and yearn for more.

Our latest encounter was in the training field. Carlisle had told us to practice our fighting skills with each other. And then with a wink in our directions, turned away and out of sight. Of course Felix was still on the outskirts of the forest, watching us carefully. But we were both grateful for the opportunity to touch more than a simple brush.

We needed to throw in kicks and punches every once in a while, with Felix's eyes prying on us, but every chance we got, one of us would tackle the other, trying to hold back our smiles at the contact. We would lay pinned against the ground or a tree a few seconds longer than necessary, just reveling in each other's presence.

But as Edward had me pinned to the ground for a bit longer than necessary, Felix, dove at him, knocking Edward off of me.

"What are you doing to her?" Felix roared.

"Winning." Edward said with a cocky smile. I nearly had to bite my lip to keep myself from giggling.

"Well keep your hands to yourself." Felix shot back.

"It's a bit hard to fight if you're not touching the person." Edward cooly pointed out, earning a glare from Felix.

"Fine, then maybe I should fight her." Felix retorted.

"Felix I don't think that's a good idea." I said, trying to get out of it, and get my remaining time with Edward.

"Nonsense, Bella. If you can fight him, you can do it to me as well." he smiled warmly at me and I wanted to cringe at the thoughts running through his mind of pinning me to the ground.

I glanced at Edward to see him glaring at Felix as his eye narrowed and his hands were clenched into fists at his sides. He must've heard his thoughts as well.

Use your power and don't let that bastard pin you in any way. Edward thought to me. I inclined my head slightly to let him know that I had heard him.

"Alright, Felix. If you're sure."

"I am." he smiled. I nodded my head and Edward stepped back from the clearing to give us room and observe from a distance.

Without warning, Felix flung himself at me, but I quickly dodged and swept around, hitting him with a roundhouse kick. He kipped back up and started to assault me with a fury of punch combinations.

I channeled speed and was able to dodge each of his hits by ducking or backing away. Enough was enough. I thought of the strength that Emmett must have and threw my shoulder into Felix, making him fly clear across the clearing and flew through three trees before the all snapped and he fell to the ground.

He stayed on the ground for a moment. I let out a sigh and then turned to a very amused looking Edward. He held up his hands and gave me a small clap, before his face dropped in an instant.

"Bella!" he cried out.

I turned only to be hit, the unused air knocked out of my granite body. I hadn't even noticed my eyes were closed until my body stopped moving, held up against a tree. I opened them to see a very pissed off Felix standing in front of me, his right hand holding me off the ground and against the tree by my throat.

I didn't know what to do. I panicked due to the surprise of it. I would've never thought that Felix would do this to me.

"Now you listen to me. We are together. In our relationship I am the man and I am the one that is the brute force. If you want to knock the shit out of someone, you do it to that little pussy over there. Do you hear me?" Felix snarled at me. "If not, I will make eternity a living hell for you."

It was in that time that I felt fear. Genuine and real fear. I had looked into the eyes of many vampires. As a human and as one myself, but never had I seen such a fury as what was flashing across his face at that moment.

And then, in a flash, he was off me. It took me a moment to collect myself and then look around for where he went. I looked to my left to find Edward pinning him down to the ground, growls coming from his chest.

"If you ever talk to her like that again, I will tear you limb from limb and set you on fire myself. You will not be missed. I can assure you of both of these things. Now, do I make myself clear?" Edward snarled at him. He got up and stood over Felix's body. "Leave." he commanded. "NOW!" he yelled, making the ground rumble.

Felix gave me a sad and pleading look before taking off into the woods.

I backed up until my back hit the tree behind me and then slid down to the ground. I was shocked. The fear was gone by this point, but the shock still remained. It was Felix. Felix who was the one that thought of himself as my protector. It just wasn't something I would've expected. Especially since it was him who suggested we fight.

"Are you alright?" Edward's velvet voice asked. I looked up to find him standing away from me with concern on his face. I nodded my head.

"Bella..." he took a step forward, but then backed away from me again. I didn't understand. He was staying so far away from me.

"Why are you over there?" I asked.

"I thought I'd give you some space from egomaniac male vampires for the moment." he smiled sadly.

"I would feel much better if you were with me." I told him.

His smile brightened minutely but he walked to me and sat down beside me, putting is arm around my shoulders. I leaned into his touch, breathing in his delicious scent.

"At least we have some time to ourselves." I stated, starting to feel better, just being in his arms.

"I'm sorry it has to be because of this though." he said quietly.

"I'll take what I can get." I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. But Edward barely cracked a smile. "Oh, come on Edward. It wasn't a big deal. I was just shocked, is all. That's why I couldn't focus and retaliate. I'll be fine next time." I assured him.

"There wont be a next time." he said in a determined voice. "There shouldn't have been a this time. I'm sorry, I should've heard him thinking that." he apologized. I put my finger to his lips.

"I should've too. It's fine. Please, we don't get much time together and it's not even sunset. Can we please just enjoy this. Who knows when we can do this again. I want to take advantage of it." I said with small pout.

He smiled at my pouting and kissed my bottom lip. "You're right."

"Good. Now, let's enjoy the moment." I said, leaning my head back on his shoulder as he held me closer.

I could feel him kiss the top of my head and turned to smile at him. "I love it when you do that." I said with a smile as he looked down at me.

"That's good. So I bet you like it when I do this." he said, leaning his head down, letting his lips crush against mine.

Oh did I miss that since we had been apart. My hands found their way to his hair and instantly tangled themselves in it. His scent was captivating. I felt his smooth tongue glide along my bottom lip, asking for entrance. I gladly opened my mouth, for his tongue to start wrapping around mine. I moaned into his mouth on accident, not being able to control myself.

He let out a growl, and the next thing I knew I was standing, pinned up against a tree.

"Well this is a familiar position." I noted with a smile.

"I didn't get to do what I desired with you last time though." he purred seductively as he started to suck on my collarbone, and then lick across it. I pushed his head closer to my skin, not being able to get enough of what he was doing to me.

He kissed his way back up to my mouth which was already parted from my panting, as his tongue dove in after mine. His left hand traveled from my waist down to the back of my right thigh. He grabbed the back of it and brought it up around his waist slowly.

I threw my head back at the feeling of our new position and he attacked my neck, licking, sucking, and nipping at it.

"Edward...should we...be...doing this?" I asked in between my pants.

He instantly froze and looked up at me. "Do you want to?" he asked, his eyes turning green, a sign that he was aroused.

"Yes." I breathed. "But not here."

"Okay, this is as far as we'll go then." he whispered in my ear, making me shiver, and then started to nibble on it.

I let out another moan. "Okay, maybe a little further wont hurt."I breathed. I felt his cool breath on my neck as he chuckled.

His hands went under my shirt and started to glide across the skin of my stomach, making my hands wrap around his back, clutching him closer.

He let out a low growl that was so incredibly sexy, I wanted to throw him against a tree. But then he backed away from me.

"What, what's the matter?" I asked, but it came out almost as a whine.

He chuckled at me. "They are starting to wonder where we are." he stated.

I grumbled and flattened my shirt. "It's a good thing that one of us was paying attention." I mumbled. "Do we have to go back? Can't we just stay out here? Oh, what if we run away?" I asked, excited at the thought of it.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around me again. "Not now love. But if you would like, I will try to sneak into your room tonight."

I smiled at the thought. "I would like that." I said and gave a quick peck on his lips.

We took off running back to the castle, only to find Dimitri standing in the courtyard.

"Dimitri, what's the matter?" I asked. He was pacing and looked rather nervous

"I don't know details, but Aro wants to speak to you, Bella. I'm sorry, that's all he told me. I am supposed to escort you there. Good evening Edward." he added politely.

I had always liked Dimitri. He was nice, but someone who mostly stood in the background. I supposed that after what had just happened in the woods with me and Felix, they had Dimitri come instead. I was actually grateful for that.

I nodded to him and he smiled a sad smile at me. I turned to Edward. "I'll see you later." I told him and then kissed his cheek. I knew that Dimitri wouldn't tell anyone. He respected people's privacy.

Edward sighed as he ran the back of his hand across my cheek and then left.

Dimitri led me once again to Aro's office and again, I knocked before getting permission to enter.

"Good evening, Aro." I greeted.

His eyes shot up at me. "Bella, what went on in the woods?" he asked, sitting down in his chair, looking as if he was trying to calm himself.

"I don't know what to tell you. Carlisle had told me to practice my fighting skills on Edward like I had done before. It was never a problem before. We were fighting, punches, kicks, wrestling. Then, Felix decided to step in. He said that he would fight me. So we fought. I thrust him back into three trees. I thought we were done so I turned my back and then, he had me by the throat, threatening me."

"Bella, I'm so sorry he treated you that way. Why don't you just leave him alone for a while and I'll tell him to do the same to you." he said. I had to fight back the smile that was threatening to take over.

I just nodded.

"Good. Again, I'm sorry about that, princess."

I froze. "Princess?" I asked. I didn't know if he was using it as a term of affection or if there was something more to it.

"I'm sorry. I had never been a father. I suppose I just wanted to try a form of affection. You're the closest thing to a daughter I will ever have."

"It's fine, Aro. Is that all?" I asked.

He nodded. "For now. But Felix will get better and when he does, I expect you to forgive him. I hear that Edward Cullen's birthday is in a two weeks. Alice would like to throw him a party. A masquerade, more specifically. Felix, will accompany you to the party."

"Whatever you say." I said with a smile, thought the thought of being with Felix as if we were dating sickened me.

"Good. Have a good evening, Bella."

"You as well."

I walked towards my room not knowing what to think. On the one hand I wouldn't have to worry about Felix bothering me for a while. But on the other, Aro was still pushing me to be with him.

I sighed, trying to let out all of my confusion with my air. Tonight I would be with Edward and that's all that was important at the moment. Just me and him. If only for this night, at least we would have that.

Ther you go. Unfortunately, you wont have much time without Felix because I think the next chapter will be the party. What is up with Aro? He is a very shifty character, is he not?...lol. All will be revealed in time my dearies.

Okay, can I just say how incredibly HOT it would be to be pushed against a tree while Edward kissed me. fans self and then...sexy growl. Kay, I'm done...lol

ashel-13