Chapter 15
Volterra
I expect to see Alice come bounding out of the limo, speaking Italian and showering us with presents and kisses. But instead we're greeted by a soft-spoken human man in a uniform. He signals to two similarly uniformed men, and our luggage is efficiently stowed in a black van parked on the tarmac.
He greets each of us formally, shaking our hands and meeting our eyes. "Doctor Cullen, Isabella Cullen, Jasper Whitlock, Colette Cullen, I trust that your trip was uneventful?" As he names Colette a Cullen, I feel a jolt pass through me, and I have to fight not to react. There has to be a good reason; I just haven't heard it yet.
He escorts us to the waiting limo, and Colette seats herself next to Carlisle, while the unidentified man sits opposite him in the seats that face one another. I sit beside Jasper, who introduces me to the uniformed man.
"Anton, I know you recognize Bella, but I don't believe you've been properly introduced. Bella, this is Anton Moretti. Anton is our right-hand man when we're in Italy. I have yet to see anything he cannot do. If you need something... anything from the private phone number of the Prime Minister, to directions to the bathroom, Anton is the one to see. And just in case you're wondering, he does know what we are, and no, he isn't wanting to be turned himself."
Anton smiles broadly and reaches around Jasper to shake my hand again. "It's nice to make your acquaintance, Bella. It's true. My wife and children would be most distressed if I were to become a vampire. My wife is arguably one of the best cooks in Italy. Living forever just wouldn't be worth it, without her cooking."
"Bella..." Carlisle interrupts. "...I'm sure you remember the law used to forbid human knowledge of us. But we've discovered that the residents of Volterra are well aware of us, and have been for as long as the Volturi coven has occupied the city. I know to you the Volturi are all vampires. But the human residents of Volterra are called Volterrani, and Anton is one of them. He can trace his lineage back for five hundred years. He has journals from his ancestors, documenting evidence of the supernatural activities they witnessed."
Anton continues, "It saddened us all to see what happened with the arrival of the new blond-haired one. We went quickly from feeling safe in our homes, to feeling like our lives could be taken in a moment. Many women disappeared over the years, and our children had a curfew to have them home before dark. For ten years we had no one on the streets after dark. We passed Good Samaritan laws, which required people to take in strangers from the streets. And still we had many disappear."
"I thought Joham was from South America. Why wouldn't he have brown or black hair?" I look between Carlisle and Anton.
Carlisle answers, "Bella, the best we can guess is that Joham was not native to South America. I suspect since the earliest Europeans to travel there regularly were Dutch slave traders, Joham was one of them. It would certainly fit with his ideas of enslaving entire populations. It would also fit with the descriptions of him with red or blond hair."
I sit quietly digesting the information. Anton opens a briefcase and passes out folders to all but Colette. I remember Carlisle is on the council, and Jasper heads the guard. I'm confused why I'm included, then I remember I'm taking Nahuel's place.
"I've prepared a brief to keep you abreast of what's happened since you were here last." I feel out of place as we're treated like world leaders. I'm sure Anton knows I'm not any more qualified to be in charge than the average college sophomore. But still he includes me as he goes over the last few months of news. He helps me out when I have questions, and he shows great respect to Carlisle and Jasper.
When the walls of the city appear I'm reminded of my only other visit to the place, when Edward was trying to force them to kill him. I can still remember my terror that we would be too late and I would lose him. Then again when I feared they would kill us both for being in love.
"Anton..." He looks my way. "What would you or your neighbors think if they saw one of us in the sun without being covered?"
His laugh catches me by surprise. "Bella, we have all compared our notes over time, and we've come up with a comprehensive overview of everything you can and cannot do. We knew the main powers of the old ones. We know that you drink blood and have no control in the presence of blood. We know you are not affected by holy items and can walk in the sunlight. We all know about the sparkle – in fact it's always a challenge to catch a glimpse of it – like touching a bull at Pamplona. To see one of you in the sun uncovered would have been a thrill. We already had stories to tell the tourists if they saw. It really isn't that big a deal."
I'm shocked. They would have killed Edward for nothing. They did kill him... but for a far more sinister reason. The shadow passes over us as we drive through the gateway. I remember the narrow cobblestone streets and the crowds and market stands. But the crowds are almost gone. There are some people outside, but the tourists seem to have disappeared.
Anton draws my attention back. "Bella, Volterra has played host to the vampires for so long that it's become a symbiotic relationship between the humans and the vampires. The tourists came to see them as they played a part in the local religious traditions. They upheld the history, the ceremony, and the pomp of a bygone era, and we benefited from the tourist income."
"But they were murderers. How could you stand them living among you?" I can still remember the bus full of tourists that came to visit and never left.
He sobers. "We couldn't make certain that no innocent died here. But we had a group that worked hard to make sure they were few. Heidi brought the buses of tourists to feed them. But our people saw that the buses were filled. We lured them from courtrooms and prisons, from drug houses, and from gangs. We lured them online with promises of underage children they could molest. We looked for criminals and lowlifes, and we got them to Heidi. Sometimes they brought the innocent with them, but we did try to save as many as we could."
He looks at my disapproving face. "Bella, they were going to feed, no matter what we did. We did our best to limit their choices. There were also those from Volterra and the area around us who chose to become food. The aged and feeble, the terminally ill, and sadly the young and suicidal have all made their way to them. Our faith does not allow for suicide, but going into the Volturi stronghold to be murdered was an acceptable way out."
I'm horrified, and my imagination takes a crazy turn as I think of all the people who have been fed to hungry vampires over the centuries. We pull up outside the very place featured in my tortured thoughts. Another uniformed man opens the door, and I step out into an overcast morning, gazing up at the ancient stone edifice. I feel rooted to the spot, and it's only Carlisle's hand holding mine that draws me inside the place of nightmares.
Our footsteps echo in the open space and we pass the girl sitting at the reception desk, unopposed as Anton leads us past. Through corridors both ancient and modern we head deep into the complex. I'm surprised that there are no robed figures. Instead there are the uniforms, as well as human business attire.
Carlisle's voice is soft as he walks beside me, still holding my hand. "The robes are almost all gone. We only use them for ceremonial purposes now. The guard is in uniform, but all others are expected to dress like they're going to work or school."
We pass a knot of young men whose eyes are glued to Carlisle. I almost laugh when realize they've copied his hairstyle and clothes as if they were dressing in his closet.
"They see you as a leader." I turn to look at them, and they're all watching us pass.
He laughs softly. "Until I arrived, they believed men were brutal, controlling, and uncaring."
"Where are we going?" We're standing in front of an elevator about to go up.
"We're going to the residential section. Most of our kind don't need to sleep, so they don't have private rooms. They're assigned a closet for their personal possessions, and if they choose, they can rent a room. But since we're on the council we are afforded quarters. You'll be staying in Nahuel's room, and Colette is a hybrid, so she has her own room when she visits." She smiles sweetly from where she clings to his left arm.
We ride up three floors and the doors slide open. The hallway is carpeted and it reminds me of an expensive hotel. Colette kisses both his cheeks and hugs him, then she waves goodbye as she heads down the hallway to the left. We turn to the right.
"The council members are on this hallway. Eventually we'll have the council spread out, and conduct most business through video conferencing. With all of us together, we're too vulnerable. "
I hardly recognize him when one of the doors opens and he backs into the hall. "... I don't care who made the mess, just clean it up before I get back!" He seems surprised to see us, but he composes himself quickly. He smooths his hair into place and straightens the black tie over his red shirt. He looks so uncharacteristically flustered, but then he's the epitome of grace as he steps forward with a smile.
"Carlisle, I didn't know you were here." My hand slides limply from his as I step away, and Aro embraces him like a long lost brother. He kisses the air over both cheeks. "Tell me, you must have some secret fatherly advice for dealing with teenagers." He says the word like he's bitten into something particularly sour.
As if on cue, the door opens again and a stunning young woman steps out. Her long legs disappear into the tiniest black miniskirt I've ever seen, and I catch happily married Anton staring at the cleavage her mostly unbuttoned blouse displays in abundance. Dark curls cascade around her face and down her back, and she poses on impossibly high heels, with one hip out and a red-lipped pout on her gorgeous face.
"I am not going to get stuck cleaning up that filth, just because your son cannot clean up after himself. I refuse – I'm serious, Papa – you cannot make me! I'm meeting Vito for breakfast in fifteen minutes, and I haven't got time for this juvenile treatment." She petulantly sulks with her arms crossed over her chest, showing her age as much younger than she appears.
"You will do as you are told. And you will not be meeting any boy dressed like that. You are to behave and dress in the manner of my daughter, not a common whore!"
"Aro..." Carlisle steps between him and his daughter. "...may I?" Aro waves him on with a graceful flourish of his black gloved hand, then he too sulks.
"Hello, Arianna." Carlisle smiles disarmingly and puts his hand on her shoulder. "I take it you really like this boy, Vito?"
She blushes, smiles and nods, suddenly shy.
"Well, if you really like him, then might I suggest you dial it back a few degrees? You're a beautiful girl, and he'd have to be blind not to see that. You don't have to put everything on display for him. Young men love the challenge of the hunt. They want to pursue the object of their affection, not have it fall into their lap with no effort." Her hand covers her cleavage as she listens raptly.
"I promise, he will notice you, especially if you don't dress so provocatively. If you change into something more demure, he will see your beautiful brown eyes, and your sweet smile. Keep him guessing for as long as you can about what's hidden under your clothes. He will move heaven and earth to be the one to get close to you. Showing everything like this will just make him feel like you're sharing it with every other boy. If you meet him like this, he will know you're 'hot,' but he won't get to know you beyond that."
"Are you sure?" She looks like she wants to believe him.
"I had three sons, and I know the girls they chose for their wives would never have met them dressed like this." I never would have, but Rosalie could have rocked that outfit. "If you really want this Vito to like you, let him pursue you. Make him get to know you. Require more of him than any other girl, and maybe he will surprise you and rise to your expectations."
"But what if he doesn't?" She turns her enormous eyes up at him.
He laughs. "Do you really want to be with someone who doesn't meet your expectations? Trust me, any man worth having will not let you down." She smiles and kisses his cheek, leaving a red mark behind. Aro clears his throat as she turns to head back into the apartment.
"Arianna, one more thing..." Carlisle smiles toward Aro in a way she can't see. "...as part of a family, everyone has to pitch in to help out occasionally. I'm sure any mess inside won't take more than five or ten minutes to clean up."
"But Vito is waiting!" she whines.
"Good. If he has to wait five or ten minutes for you, it will heighten his anticipation. Your family will be with you forever, so you should treat them with the utmost love and respect. It's how you have peace in your home. Doesn't that make sense?"
"Yeah... I guess." She looks resigned, not only to changing out of her outfit, but to cleaning up whatever mess is inside the apartment. She turns and disappears behind the door.
"Thank you. I don't know how you do it – these children are impossible!" Aro throws his hands in the air.
"They're children; they're supposed to be irrational, demanding, irritating, and impossible at times. They need to be taught how to behave." Carlisle lowers his voice and puts his arm around his shoulders, leading him a few steps away. Still I'm sure Jasper can hear as well as I can. "If you yell at her and compare her to a whore, she will become the very thing you fear. I know she's the equivalent of a fifteen year-old. But she needs to be socialized as if she's much younger. What seems like common sense to you won't even cross her mind, unless you teach her."
"But they gang up against me! I am the enemy in their eyes, and they don't show me respect – you saw her." Aro looks like he's truly out of his depth. I never would have thought it was possible.
Carlisle laughs. "It comes with their age. Right now they're fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen – the trifecta of terror. They treat you like the enemy, because you are the enemy. You're the authority and they are not going to like that. But your job isn't to be liked, it's to raise them to be responsible adults." He whispers conspiratorially. "The good thing is, if you do it right they won't like you, they'll love you. And even if you do it wrong, as long as you love them you can always try to fix it.
Aro humphs. "Easy for you to say, yours are all raised."
"Love them first, Aro. Loving fathers don't call their daughters whores. She's just a child, and the things her mother should have taught her now fall to you. Praise them when they do good. Tell them what you expect from them when they're calm. Be fair, and be careful which battles you choose to fight, unless you want to be at war with them all the time."
The door opens and Arianna steps into the hall again. She's still wearing the miniskirt, but she's added black tights and lower shoes. Her blouse is buttoned up to her neck. Carlisle turns to look at her with a smile.
"Much better, Arianna. You look lovely, don't you think so, Bella?" I'm surprised he's pulled me into it. I look at her a moment then I move closer.
"Hi Arianna... can I help you a little?" Her brows draw together and she looks at me with suspicion. Then recognition dawns on her face, and she looks awed.
"You're the First Mother Who Lived! You want to help me?"
"Just a little..." I unbutton her top two buttons, and Aro growls. She has a pretty scarf tied to the strap of her bag and I untie it and slip it around her neck, letting the bright colors cover the skin I've exposed. I reach into my purse and take out a tissue. "Stick out your tongue." She obeys, and I moisten the tissue the way my mother would have done it. I gently dab off some of her overdone eye make-up, then wipe most of her red lipstick onto the tissue.
"When you're young and beautiful, you don't need all the make-up. You've got just enough stain on your lips for color, and you won't leave marks when you eat or drink. If you want to add a little more drama, go for a little clear gloss. And the next time you have your manicure done, you might want to opt for something lighter." I lean in and whisper with a smile; "red makes you look like a vampire." She giggles.
"There, now you look like you're ready for breakfast. Vito doesn't stand a chance. Isn't she pretty, Aro?" I hate speaking his name, but the woman-child needs to hear her father's approval.
"Always." He surprises me when he hugs her and whispers into her hair, "I am sorry I compared you to a whore. Come, I will escort you to breakfast. Vito needs to know that you are valuable, and your father is watching over you." She groans, but Carlisle smiles and nods as they pass us by on the way to the elevator.
"You did really good, Bella. I couldn't have fixed her make-up, and you gave her advice she can carry into the future." Carlisle smiles at me then takes my hand.
"Is this what you meant when you told him to praise his children when they do good?" I grin at him.
"I've got news for you, it works on adults too. Everyone enjoys praise." We continue walking down the hall
"Well then, you handled that very well. I almost felt sorry for Aro, having three teenagers at home. Then I remembered there are three dead women who will never get to see their children." I can't help the anger that comes out at the thought.
"Yes, you're right." He sighs. "This is a story repeated all over this place. Almost every hybrid has left behind a dead mother. The sad thing is, until we got here, they weren't being raised by anyone. They were schooled in academics, but not really taught. They went from learning their lessons, to training for Joham's army. There is a complex outside the city where they were kept. They went to school, trained, ate, and slept there. From the outside it looked like a private school, but from the inside it was a prison. They knew of their fathers, but there was very little interaction between them."
I can't imagine growing up without parents. I've always had to choose between Mom or Dad, but I always had someone.
"We've turned the facility into an actual school. There's no military training, and no dormitory. We've added a high school, and they're taught a curriculum that includes several languages, as well as knowledge of the world. We want them to be ready to leave Volterra and settle in other places around the world. We've just begun accepting humans into the program as well. They're from the area, and they know the secrets, but that won't always be true, and the school will teach them how to integrate into the human world."
"Isn't that what Joham wanted?"
"Not exactly. He wanted them to be like a sleeper cell, which could be called upon to carry out deadly attacks. We just want them to be able to live productive lives." We stop at a door and he swipes a card, then hands it to me.
"This is Nahuel's room where you'll be staying." I peek inside at the utilitarian room. I don't want to go inside and be alone.
"I'm across the hall." He points one room up, diagonal from mine. "We've got a meeting at ten, so you've got three hours to change and clean up. Jasper and Alice are at the end of the hall." I see Jasper disappear into the room, and I hadn't even noticed when Anton left. We're alone in the hall.
"I don't need that much time. I don't want to be alone here." His gaze holds mine and he steps forward, and I back into the room. The door clicks closed behind us and I stare at him. There are so many questions I want to ask and so much I want to talk about. But his eyes are drawing me in, and as I sway toward him, my lips part.
I'm getting used to the softness of his kisses, but they still take my breath away. His hands on my face hold me gently, as his lips work their magic. His tenderness is a counterbalance to the way I just want to devour his mouth with passionate, hungry, insistent kisses. Instead I let him lead me, feeling a slow ache building within me.
He pulls away from me, then his gaze falls on Nahuel's full sized bed. I can almost read his thoughts, and I pull him toward it.
"Bella, this is not good. I want you, and this is just too much temptation." I sit down on the edge, and look up at him.
"I just want to hold you. I love to feel your arms around me and your body pressed against me. I'm not trying to seduce you... I just want to be with you." He groans and runs his fingers through his hair. He relaxes onto the bed, and I snuggle against him.
"Do you have any idea how hared it is to resist you? You are far more tempting than Arianna in her earlier get-up." He kisses me as we lie together.
"Maybe you're irresistible too." I kiss him boldly as my fingers run through his silken hair. "You've been amazing the last twenty-four hours. I loved our nature walk and the eagle's nest. I missed being beside you on the drive to the ferry. Seeing you with Ness and her family was just priceless. They all love you and I can see we're in each other's lives no matter how this works out. We're Grandma and Grandpa to those precious babies. You're so good with them, and I just wanted to hold you and kiss you, and lay claim to you then and there." A smile lights his face.
"Being on the plane with you for all those hours gave me a chance to get to know you better. Maybe we are moving fast, but I like what I'm learning about you. I've only seen you as an icon for so long, and now I'm seeing you as a man. You're an incredible man, Carlisle. You're kind, and wise, and patient, and humble... and sexy."
"Bella..." His breathless utterance is followed by passionate kisses that sweep me along like a leaf on a raging river. He surrounds me. His hands touch and caress me, and his mouth possesses mine. Our tongues play and explore, and every breath I take tastes like him.
I hold him so tight, and my hands seem to have a mind of their own. As much as I got to know him on our trip here, they want to know him physically. From his hair I caress over the muscles of his shoulders. Down the furrow of his spine, to the small of his back. Then they go further – past his waist to the curve of his firm behind. He moans into our kiss, and I can't make my hands stop touching him. Where I was once used to the feel of a slimmer man, Carlisle has flesh and firmness, and I enjoy the feel of him.
When he moves, over me, I feel his weight settle on me and sigh. Feeling him pressed against my body is heavenly, and I renew kissing him with a passion that won't listen to reason. Two things that should put on the brakes and make me slow down, instead steal my will.
He is aroused. I can feel him through our clothes. He feels large and hard, just pressing against my pelvis like he belongs there, and part of me insists that he does. Just when I feel like every one of my nerves is feeling that part of him, he refocuses my attention.
His hand on my breast makes me moan and arch into him. His hardness presses against me, and his hand squeezes me, and I voice a sound of desire and lust so primal there is no mistaking the reason. If it were not for our clothes in the way, we would be making love.
"Make love to me, Carlisle. Please." I feel his body respond to my words, and he grinds himself against me. His hand possesses my breast, and he squeezes the peak through my blouse. His mouth crashes down onto mine, and for just a second I have a glimpse of the enormity of his pent-up passion. I had imagined making love with him would be gentle, but there is just as much chance that if he really let go, it could be a scorching hot release.
He gets up suddenly, and I think at first it's to undress. But he paces away from me.
"My god, Bella!" His eyes are tortured as he looks at me. I sit up feeling light-headed and confused. "You would tempt a saint!"
"But I want you..." I don't know what else to say. I feel the sting of rejection, and the disappointment of unfulfilled desire. I was ready to feel his naked body against mine, and feel his beautiful hardness inside me. Instead he's looking at me as if I was forcing him to jump into a live volcano, and he's barely resisted in time.
I draw my knees up and look away from him. I've felt rejection before. But in my human memory, it wears the face of Edward trying to protect me; not Carlisle looking as if I'd almost forced him to drink acid.
"No. Don't do that, Bella. Please." He crosses the floor in two quick strides, and sits on the edge of the bed beside me. He pulls me against his chest and holds me tight. "It's not your fault, dear girl. I'm not rejecting you. I want to make love to you – I want it so bad it hurts." He groans. "If I go further, I'm lost. I can't come back from there. If I know you as a woman, you will be my woman. If I make love to you, I will love you forever."
I wish his eyes were still blue as his golden gaze is so intense. He stares into my eyes and touches my face. "I am barely hanging on here. I want to fall in love with you, and make love with you, and make you my wife and my everything. You're like a drug. The more I get of you, the more I want."
"I feel the same way about you." A lock of his hair has fallen onto his forehead, and I sift it through my fingers. "I get so carried away when I'm with you. This feels so good to me... I just wish I could trust what I'm feeling."
"What are you feeling, Bella?" He kisses my temple.
"I feel like I'm falling in love with you. Then I wonder if I'm only trying to recapture the way I used to feel. I miss being in love. I miss the connection I had with Edward. I want it so bad, I can't be sure if it's you, or wishful thinking." He holds me tighter.
"I will always miss Esme. She's always going to be a part of me. But you're not Esme, and what I'm feeling for you has nothing to do with what I shared with her. Does that make sense to you?"
"Yes."
"Good. I can trust what I feel for you, because it's different this time. You're a different person, and I feel like we could be great together."
"How would it be with us? What would be different?" He's holding me, and I can feel the passion has been reduced to a simmer.
"I don't see you as the stay at home mom, like Esme, and I can't promise to be your devoted shadow like Edward. I want to see you become your own woman. There's a strength in you that you've barely tapped. You could do amazing things with your life, and I'd like to be there to see it."
"I think you may be seeing something that isn't there. I'm just an ordinary girl."
He laughs and kisses me quick. "You are anything but ordinary." He relaxes against the headboard of the bed and I snuggle against him. "Whatever you do, I would support you."
He turns my face up to his. "If you were mine... we could make love." He closes his eyes tight, and opens them to stare into mine with the intensity of a lover. "The things I want to do with you... " He groans. "You're so passionate it takes my breath away. I really believe I could leave my patients, if I knew you were waiting for me."
"Would you always try to protect me?" He's quiet for a while. I think he senses the way I've always felt about Edward's overprotective nature.
"We're practically indestructible and we could live forever. I don't see a reason to protect you from physical pain." He rubs his cheek against mine. "But as far as things that could hurt you emotionally, I think I'd rather console you than try to guard you. I don't want to be critical of him, but Edward always thought you were more fragile than you were. Even after the change he felt he had to protect you. I don't think I could be like that. When I look at you I see a strong, capable woman. I think Edward saw a little girl sometimes."
"I liked that sometimes." It feels strange to admit that to him. "I took care of my mom in Phoenix, and I took care of Charlie too. It was hard getting used to someone taking care of me. Sometimes it drove me nuts... but sometimes I liked it."
"He treated you like a nineteen-twenties girl."
"How do I know you won't do the same – or worse?"
"You don't. I might do just that." He smiles. "But I hope I would know you better. Again, I don't want to presume to understand your relationship. But I know Edward relied on his gift to tell him about people. He didn't have that with you, so he had to rely on his second language. I'm not sure he had a grasp of the twenty-first century woman."
"You might be right. Does it bother you to talk about him like this?" I'm surprised it doesn't bother me.
"It's always going to bother me a little bit. But I think it helps me to know I share him with you."
"That's a nice way to put it. I guess it's better than thinking you're sharing me with him." He groans, and runs his fingers through his hair.
"Don't think I haven't thought of that already. Bella, there are those who will think like that, and some will be disgusted by the mere idea of us being together. That's one of the issues we'll have to face if we become a couple. I'm not even sure if the criticism will only come from outside our family. I think Rosalie might have a problem with it."
"I don't think so. She's changed a lot in the last two years, and we've grown very close. I think she would want us to be happy." It surprises me that we're actually talking about becoming a couple. "I think Ness will have a problem. She loves you, but I think she'll have a problem with anyone who takes her daddy's place. And Jacob will probably really think it's sick."
"Jacob thought it was sick that you wanted Edward."
I giggle. "He really hated him, then he had to go and become his son in-law. I'm not looking forward to those conversations." I lapse into silence and we just hold each other for a while.
"Carlisle, what are we doing here? Are we talking about what might be, or making plans on becoming a couple?"
He shifts, and I turn to look at him. He kisses me softly. "If you're ready... I'd like to make this public. I'd like to make it known that you're my...girlfriend. Though that term is so awful."
"I think I'm ready. But what about Colette, and for that matter why is she a Cullen?"
He sighs deeply. "That could be an issue. Jasper talked to her on the plane about what the future might hold. But she was still clinging to me in the limo. She adopted our last name when she came to Canada with us. She needed legal papers and she didn't want to claim her father's last name, so she took mine. I didn't think it was a bad idea, until I discovered she saw herself as a Missus and not a Miss."
"Are you sure you don't want more time?" I'm afraid of rushing him.
"No. I want everyone to know that you're special to me."
"You make it sound like we're making some kind of announcement."
He smiles, and his eyes light up and the dimples show at the corners of his mouth. "I'd like that. How about a banner across the main entryway? Or I could carve our names into the wall? Or maybe I could wake everyone up in the city with a pronouncement over a loudspeaker."
"I never knew you are such a goofball!" He has me laughing at his enthusiastic craziness.
"Shh, don't tell anybody. They all think I'm a respectable doctor." He raises his eyebrows at me with a mischievous grin. He kisses me, then his fingers dance along my ribs, unerringly finding my tickle zone, and making me squeal.
"Carlisle!" I fall backward onto the bed and he doesn't relent. I'm giggling and trying to defend against his impossibly fast hands. In seconds he is looming over me and I can't stop laughing. I'm looking up at his smiling face with his blond hair falling over his forehead, when he stops and stares down at me.
"Bella..." My name on his lips and his boyishly handsome face over me, sends a wave of desire through me that's almost impossible to resist. He lowers his face to mine so slowly, and our lips touch. Just as if we'd never stopped, I feel a need for him. I touch his lips with my tongue, and he moans, then he pulls back
"I don't think I've ever had a girlfriend before." He smiles as if he's delighted. "I quickly went from Gabriella's suitor, to her fiance, and Esme was my fiance almost from the beginning." He looks down at me and smooths the hair away from my face. "I know I shouldn't talk about them, but this is so new to me. My old-fashioned rules tell me I must declare my intentions for you so that your reputation is protected. But twenty-first century rules allow me to be a boyfriend." He kisses me sweetly.
"I'll be a good boyfriend to you. But this is only the first step." He looks suddenly serious as he gazes down at me. "I want you Bella. I want you in my life, my family, my home, my arms... and my bed. I want to know you're all mine and make sweet love to you – often."
I gasp at his words, then he kisses me so passionately I wonder if we'll make love. My arms wind around his neck and my mouth opens to his teasing tongue. I think he's going to drive me insane, as he pulls back from me and sits on the bed again. I sit up beside him, and he puts his arm around me.
"You're going to drive me insane. You know Edward did the same thing, until I had no choice but to marry him." I glance over at his face to see his lips turn up slightly.
"I'm not trying to drive you crazy. I just want to do things in the right order. Courtship. Marriage. Lovemaking. I may not have to worry about illegitimate children with you, but that's the way it has to be – for me. It's just a part of who I am."
"What about Gabriella?"
He sighs. "It was a mistake to make love with her. I wanted to believe the order didn't matter because we were supernatural. I compromised my beliefs, because I thought we'd have forever. Now she is with me forever as a constant reminder of what I've done wrong." He smiles and kisses my temple. "I'm not going to make that mistake with you." He pulls away from me and glances at his watch. "I hate to say it, but we probably need to get ready for the council meeting."
I walk with him to the door. "I'll come back in about thirty minutes to see if you need anything and I'll escort you to the council chamber." He opens the door and steps into the hall. I already feel lonely without him, and I follow him, wanting one last kiss. I wrap my arms around him and kiss him passionately. I don't know when I'll have the chance again, and I want it to last. He has his arms around me, and I enjoy the feel of him pressed against me as my fingers sift through his hair. I'm barely conscious of a noise that pulls him away from me.
I reluctantly let him go, and open my eyes to see her staring at us. Alice.
I feel so guilty I want to back away from him, but he doesn't let go of me. I watch the emotions cross her face like dark shadows, then it becomes impassive. She's obviously just come from her room, and she steps closer to us. For a moment I wonder if my eyes are playing tricks on me; she looks so different.
Her face is serious. She looks at me and Carlisle as if we're merely acquaintances. Her hair is different than I remember. It's parted on the side and laying flat, like a man would wear it. She wears no jewelry or make-up, just an awful black pantsuit with a plain white blouse – and sensible shoes!
"Carlisle... Bella. I trust your trip was favorable?" She doesn't even smile.
He nods and pulls me close to his side. "Thank you for asking, Alice. It was a very nice trip. The jet is an incredible experience.. Do you have time to talk, dear?" I can hear the concern in his voice.
"No. I have to get ready for the meeting. I'll see you there – both of you." Her eyes avoid mine, and she steps lightly around us – dismissing us. I stand rooted to the spot and watch as she steps into the elevator without even glancing our way.
"Oh my god! Who was that? Is she that upset with us? I haven't seen her since the war, and she couldn't even look at me!" Carlisle pulls me close.
"That's who she is now. The war changed her, Bella. She lost her mother and two brothers and she knew it was going to happen, but she couldn't stop it. It's the reason she wanted to create a newborn army. She blames herself for all our losses, and nothing we say has been able to get through to her. She's got the responsibilities of the council on her shoulders, and she spends hours every day just concentrating on our people so she can sense future problems." He kisses my cheek. "I've got to go take a shower. We'll talk about this later, okay?"
I nod mutely and he disappears into his own room. I clean up and get ready as if I'm on auto-pilot. I can't get over Alice's total disconnection. I want to be angry with her for keeping her secrets from me. I want to blame her for being complicit in their deaths. But nothing I could do or say could possibly hurt her as much as she seems to be hurting herself.