Esme's footsteps were echoing on the porch steps, so I hastily shunted my consciousness a few miles into the forest. Had anything changed over the last 3 minutes?

Hmm, not much going on. Bit of a chat. Not wanting to waste energy adding sound to the vision (and scared to withdraw from it and face Esme's wrath), I settled for reading their lips, something I had grown very adept at over the last fifty years.

"Yes, you are exactly my brand of heroin," Edward smiled. Pretty good analogy, that. Not entirely accurate though. A heroin addict could be near the drug and be affected just the same as when they were miles away. Proximity wasn't an issue, unlike Edward's addiction to Bella. And generally, to be addicted to something, you have to try it first. Still, never mind that. We could argue about better analogies later.

I cycled through a few minutes of Edward explaining his feelings to her. I had no problem lip-reading at speed, like the way vampires could speak quickly enough not to be comprehensible to human ears. Much like earlier, this was cute, but I already knew everything he was telling her. Of course, Edward thought the rest of his family didn't realise the extent of his feelings, or else were overestimating him, but between us Esme and I had pretty much analysed everything that might be going through his head at any given time.

Bella was making a joke now, covering up her throat. A bad joke, but you had to give the girl credit for trying. As if covering her throat would ever help. It did, however, help Edward lighten up, and he smiled.

"It was more the surprise than anything else," he said. I smirked slightly; Edward, like me, was never surprised. He could see a person's intentions clearly in their minds, usually. Bella, on the other hand, persisted in being very unusual and surprising.

Just as I was thinking that Bella was possibly the most surprising person I knew (and I hadn't spoken a single word to her yet), Edward jumped up the league table and set a new world record in the world surprising competition.

"Be very still," I saw him say. And then he took her face in his hands.

It would have been so easy for him to wrench her chin to the side and expose her throat. I froze in horror – I should have stayed, what on earth was he doing? – and then he bent his head slowly forward. His nose glided down her throat as he took a deep breath – how that must burn! – and he rested his cheek against the juncture where her throat met her chest. I tried to relax, now seeing his intentions, but it didn't really work. Where was Jasper when you needed him? My mind's eye was fixed on Edward's hands as they gently traversed Bella's jaw, his fingertips brushing her thick mahogany hair. As his palms slide softly over the almost translucent skin of her neck, Bella shuddered involuntarily, Edward stopped breathing for a second and I tensed again. Yet his hands never faltered as they continued smoothly stroking her throat, meeting her blouse and caressing her shoulders.

Even though I now knew she was in no danger, I could not tear my gaze from them. Edward's hands finally halted at the tops of her arms. His head drifted gracefully to the side in a wintry caress, and he pressed his ear to her breast with less force than a snowflake.

I watched in amazement as my brother continued to hold the human girl close to him, tempting himself with the sound of her heartbeat, tormenting the monster he claimed to be with the heat from her skin. They sat like that for around ten minutes without speaking, or moving an inch, and I sat with them, watching the sunlight dancing in their hair, seeing the blush slowly fade from her cheeks, looking at her pulse as it thudded beneath her jaw, gradually slowing. Most of all, though, I watched their faces. Bella's eyes revealed so much that I could barely imagine not knowing her thoughts could be much of a problem. I saw in them shock, happiness, excitement, desire, and of course love, and I didn't even know her!

Edward's eyes betrayed the battle he was fighting. The thirst raged against the love he felt for her, but the more violent urge was conquered and defeated. Peace grew in his golden eyes, and when he finally released her, there wasn't a trace of temptation in his gaze.

Each of the pair saw their expression on the other's face, and I wondered if they realised that. They exchanged a few words before Edward took Bella's left hand in his and held it to his face. Her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Was she reacting to his temperature, or just to him?

"Don't move," she whispered. He froze obediently in place and his eyes flickered shut.

Just as she had done to his hand earlier, she began to trace her fingers over the contours of his face. Her palm stroked his cheek with movements just as careful and unhurried as his. Her fingertips teased each hair of his eyebrows before sliding down to his lavender eyelids and skimming his long bronze lashes. Her thumb brushed the darkened hollow under his eye, tracing from his nose to the slight crease at the corner of his eye. Never leaving his skin, her fingers travelled to the bridge of his nose and glided slowly down the length of it.

Edward continued to breathe evenly until her skin grazed against his lips. As her soft caress reached his mouth, he let his breath out in a gasp at the sensation. Bella shivered slightly as the cool air whooshed over her skin, and she dropped her hand hastily, afraid she had gone too far. I was sure it was not thirst that plagued him now.

As soon as their physical connection was lost, Edward's eyes snapped open and I saw that I was right. It was almost unsettling to see such raw desire inscribed in the eyes of my brother. Then again, I did live with Emmett and Rosalie, so I was kind of used to it. Still, I finally got the feeling I was intruding, so I withdrew from the meadow and focused my eyes on the living room once again.

I became aware of an arm round my shoulders and turned to see Jasper sat next to me on the sofa. I must have been deeply engrossed in my vision not to notice him returning.

"How long have you been there?" I asked.

"Only ten minutes."

He smiled and bent to press a kiss on my lips. I pulled back after a few seconds.

"Please tell me you're not channelling Rose and Emmett," I giggled.

He grimaced as though I'd offended him. "And what would be the problem with that?" he asked, leaning down to nuzzle my neck. I felt my body respond to his touch, but I suspected his gift had something to do with it.

I squirmed away from him. "Stop it!" I scolded him. "I'm supposed to be on guard for Edward!"

He sighed and pulled back slightly. "Fair enough," he conceded and a feeling of calm swept over me. "Anyway, Em and Rose have gone to Seattle for yet another romantic break. They said they'd be back in a couple of days, but I wouldn't be surprised if we only saw them five minutes before school after spring break."

"Well, I wouldn't be surprised if they turned up tomorrow evening," I huffed. Jazz looked at me questioningly. "Bella's coming round tomorrow and Rosalie's in protest."

Some of Jazz's anxiety leaked out to me. He didn't bother keeping such a tight rein on the emotions he felt when it was just me and him.

I reached up to give him a quick peck on the cheek. "Don't worry. If you can handle a couple of hundred humans at school every day, on your own in Politics class every afternoon, you can handle one who Edward will be protecting with Carlisle, Esme and me around to help. You'll be fine."

He smiled, reassured.

"Is Carlisle home yet?" I asked.

"No, it's only half five. He's on 'til six tonight."

"And is Esme around?"

I could have used my sight to find out all my answers but I didn't want to lose a second of time with Jazz in moments like this. It was vaguely irrational since we had all of eternity, but sometimes the future was overrated. At times like these I was perfectly content to live in the here and now.

"Esme is currently dusting Carlisle's study," Jazz answered. "I had been wondering why she was quite so intent on her cleaning."

"Oh, by the way, Edward and Bella aren't actually aware that she's coming tomorrow. But they'll agree," I added with certainty.

"Well I'm not betting against you," he grinned.

I laughed. "And how much is Emmett losing to you today over whether Edward will bring Bella home?"

Edward hadn't been happy about that particular bet when he found out about it today. Luckily for my husband, he had only found out after Jazz had left this morning.

"Figures that even you won't be able to spend on a single pair of shoes. So are you going to help me out and watch them?"

"Anything for you and half a pair of shoes," I smiled sweetly.

Without giving him a chance to comment further on my shopping habits, my eyes unfocused and began to see a very similar scene. Here and there, a man holding his love against him, sparkling in the sun.