Previously on GHOST:

"I'm sorry – I" I tried to start, but he stopped me.

"Shhh," he hushed, brushing the few stray tears that had spilled from my eyes off of my cheeks. "Just let me take care of you, Bella." I felt my heart zing at the sound of him using my first name. After all the time that we'd known each other, he'd only ever called me Swan… I thought I'd never hear him say my name again.

Chapter 21:

I had missed his touch, his kiss so much…It had been too long and I couldn't bear not getting closer now. So I gladly opened my mouth up to him and let his tongue mingle with mine.

"Mmmm," Edward hummed and pulled me tighter to him, his arms securely wrapping around my waist as mine slid up and fisted in his hair. I was running out of breath but I didn't care – I needed this, needed him.

Edward allowed me to breathe by moving his lips across my skin, down to my neck, sucking playfully on my pulse point. When I moaned, he sucked harder, almost as if he were determined to leave a mark, which now I was sure must be his intent. Leave mark on me, prove that he was there, was real. I didn't mind, I wanted it just as much as he did.

"Edward," I panted, my fingers curling around the hair at the base of his neck.

"Hmmmm," he hummed, done marking me and moving down to my collarbone, sucking lightly there too.

"Make love to me," I breathed. I felt his hold immediately tighten, his fingers curling into my skin. Slowly, his lips ghosted up my skin, sure never to leave my body, before coming back to rest on my lips. He rested them there while his eyes stared intently into mine.

"Is this what you truly want?" he whispered against my lips. I could see the longing in his eyes, but there was also wariness. He didn't want to hurt me –

"I do. It's the only way I'll ever be truly whole…I need you, Edward…You're the missing part of me. I need you and I don't think I can wait anymore. I want this." I was sure of myself, but there was a question in my voice, almost as if I had been saying I want this…do you? Edward knew. He could hear it even if I hadn't spoken it. His eyes blazed with a sudden determination.

"I'll always want you, Bella. And I'll do anything in my power to keep you safe…to make you whole…If I'm yours, you're mine. I need you too. I –"

"Say it," I demanded. I needed to hear it. It would be the prelude to the finality of him filling me for real.

"I love you," he breathed fiercely and I felt the heat of his gaze.

"Mmf" was all that escaped from my mouth as I closed the infinitesimal gap between our lips and kissed him. He was mine. And I was his. Edward kissed me as fiercely as he had spoken those beautiful words. We battled this time, two desperate souls seeking release, fulfillment, anything to close any gap that existed between us. It was impossibly, beautifully, perfectly fragile.

Panting, Edward broke away. "Say it," he repeated my words back to me. He kissed roughly up and down my cheek before moving to my neck on the other side and sucking harder than ever, pulling blood quickly to the surface. "Say it," he snarled into my flesh.

"I love you, Edward Anthony Masen," I hissed, the pleasure/pain causing my body to tingle with anticipation and, admittedly, pure lust. He growled at the words and his lips came crashing down on mine as he pushed me into the wall, his body pressing impossibly close, his hands securing me to him. I gladly wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him to me and capturing him, just as he was capturing me.

"Mine," he hissed into my mouth, biting my lip. "Mine – say it!"

"Mmmm, ahhh, yours," I gasped, struggling to stay afloat as I felt swept up in a torrent of pleasure, love, heart-wrenching want. I knew what he was doing – There was something inside him now that he had to lose, that fear of being pushed aside again, of coming out second in this fight for my love. He let me go once and he was not about to do it again. Now he was proving it, not only to himself, but also to me. That word that fell from my lips was the seal to this unbreakable bond that we had created for each other, long before Jacob Black ever entered our lives. Neither of us had admitted it then, but we were still new to each other, too unsure of each other to make any move forward like this.

I was broken and now I was ready to be put back together, I was ready for Edward to put me back together – and he was proving now that he was more than willing. He was desperate to do it.

I loved the feel of Edward falling with me into the midnight-blue sheets, with only the light of the full moon to guide us, to shimmer across our writhing bodies as we undress, as we fell into that sea together.

Just as I knew that I had been broken, I knew the moment that I became whole again – when Edward filled me and we were finally one. I could have cried at the sheer ecstasy of finally having him, of finally being his. What we did together that night – it was beautiful, magical – it was love incarnate.

We reached our highs together, with only each others names falling from our lips. I couldn't place it exactly, but at that moment, when we fell over that edge together, it felt as if something more had happened – more than just the crossing of that bridge together, more than just the feeling of being healed, being whole again. I had a feeling, however, that that feeling was more significant for Edward, for his eyes, as I watched them, seemed to glow so bright, his face a perfect picture of ecstasy and beauty – it was something I'd never seen in him before. It touched me deep inside to know that I had done that for him.

And after, Edward held me. He held me in his arms tightly, as if he were afraid I'd disappear – but I clung back, afraid that he would again slip through my fingers, ghostly, insubstantial, not there… The tears did come then – but they were ones of joy, of utter happiness. I sobbed at how perfect the moment was and Edward hummed to me my lullaby, kissing my cheeks, sharing the moment with me.

What I don't know is when I finally fell asleep, but I do know that when I did, I had never been more peaceful, more content.

Playlist:

Transaltlanticisim – Death Cab for Cutie

Home – Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

All of me – Louis Armstrong

Heers – Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Farther Along - Spirit

Well, there it is. I hope you like it. This story is winding to a close, but don't be sad. All stories have an end, just as this one does, but no fear - I already have another story in mind. You'll like it if you like this one. It's definately out there and AU and all that. But please, don't let that through you off. It's going to be great! Swear it up and down! Cheers, and please, please, please review - it'll make my day and I really need one of those.