36
Edward was sat at the breakfast bar, his foot shook up and down in a very un-vampire-like display of nerves. She blushed wondering if he knew that she had been shaving herself… down there.
"I thought we could go to the pool today?" she asked rather than said. Edward jumped to his feet and in seconds was dressed in a pair of rather nice cargo shorts, a loose v neck t-shirt and a pair of sandals. His hand trembled as he held it out to her, and the electricity whizzed through her when she accepted it. For once he didn't seem to relax when they were in contact.
They walked to the pool and she laid out one of the towels on the rock that would have the sun for the longest time. She toed off the sandals and dipped her foot into the water. It was a bit colder than she had expected.
"It will warm up soon, it doesn't take long but the sun has only just cleared the hill and trees." Edward said. She took her book from her bag and slipped the cover-up off. Edward groaned and dived into the water. She blushed, it was getting harder and harder to resist.
The bond seemed to be pushing them. She still wasn't quite ready though. Even though she had made a lifelong commitment to him by marrying him, and an even longer one by asking to be changed, she felt that if they made love too soon it would spoil their relationship.
What time frame wasn't 'too soon' she didn't know. She only knew Renée would sleep with anyone, at any time. Often she would invite men back to the house that she had only met hours earlier. Bella had learnt to be out of sight before they arrived, if the man found out about her and left before Renée got what she wanted Bella's life wasn't worth living for days, or weeks.
She once again thanked God (and the Cullen's) for Phil. Once he arrived on the scene all that stopped. She watched Edward slice through the water, never bothering to come up for breath. How long was too long to wait? She wondered. She was determined to not turn out like Renée, but she didn't want to drive Edward away. She was being silly, she knew. The mating bond wouldn't allow him to look elsewhere, which in a way, made it even more unfair of her to hold back.
Edward's phone 'pinged'. Bella looked at it as it rested on the side of her towel. Alice: You worry too much. The screen said. Alice: Make sure you feel 'ping' Alice: Comfortable before going 'ping' Alice: Forward. 'ping' Alice: Why don't you have 'ping' Alice: Your iPhone? She laughed at the way she had split the texts so that Bella didn't have to unlock the phone to read them. She hadn't even bothered charging her phone, not expecting cell coverage on the island. She should have known better, The Cullen's probably owned enough of the cell provider to get a mast installed on the shore just so they could get a signal. 'ping' Alice: Yes we do:-) She shook her head laughing softly.
Edward was laid on the bottom of the pool. She guessed it was about 7 or 8 feet deep. The sun had risen enough that the surface was reflecting the rays of the sun. Edward looked like a statue on the bottom, like something an archaeologist would find on a sunken wreck. He was beautiful, flawless. His body really could have been the model for a number of statues of male perfection. As she stared through the water at him she realised his shorts, though rather baggy, hid nothing once they were wet. It was also obvious that cold showers, or swims, did not help a vampire in the way it supposedly did a human male (according to her recent research on the internet). Or at least she hoped that bulge wasn't him in a shrunken state! God help her if it was!
She unconsciously licked her lips as she stared at him, only realising what she had done as she tasted the salt that had dried there on their walk on the beach.
Her own reflection stared back at her. What did he see in her? He repeatedly called her beautiful, but she knew she wasn't. She was pale (though, ok that wouldn't bother a vampire) and too thin. Her eyes were a muddy brown, her hair was almost the same colour and it was straight, but not in a soft level way, 15 minutes after brushing it split into rats tails for the rest of the day, and wouldn't hold a curl at all. Her upper lip was too full compared to her lower one, making it look as if she had been hit sometimes, her reflection could be seen chewing on that lower lip. She supposed her skin was clear. She had never worn make-up until Alice had forced it onto her, so she hadn't suffered from the teenage spots that most of her peers had. Her nails were very short, mostly because she bit them, but Alice had tidied them up as best she could so they at least looked uniformly short. She cocked her head, her reflection, of course, copied her. No, she couldn't say she was beautiful, she wouldn't even say she was pretty. Her focus lengthened and she realised that Edward was looking at her puzzled. She blushed and retreated back to her towel. She picked up her book, slipped her ear buds into her ears and started the playlist he had named 'relax' for her. It was full of soothing classical music and the odd ballad mixed in that he had downloaded on their journey south.
The next thing she knew Edward was shaking her awake. "Bella? Even with the sun cream you have been laid on your front long enough, the water has warmed up, why not go for a swim?" she yawned.
"I thought I had got over the jet-lag." She complained, her head felt fuzzy, it was too warm… something she never thought she would say! She guessed it was because it was so humid. The air was heavy with moisture, In Phoenix it was a dry heat, the arid conditions that caused the desert meant that she wasn't used to it. In Forks it was humid, but because of the low temperature the water content was never that high.
She sat on the edge of the rock and put her feet into the water. He was right, it was tepid. Not too warm, definitely several degrees below the air temperature, but it was by no means cold.
She slipped off the smooth edge of the rock, immediately touching bottom as her head went under the surface. That felt good. The burning sensation on her back disappeared immediately. If she was lucky she hadn't caught the sun. She was one of those unlucky ones that burnt, peeled and then went back to white. She had never tanned in her life!
Edward slipped into the water at her side. 'You ok?' he mouthed, she nodded and smiled, she bobbed to the surface and took a breath and brought up her feet, she kicked off from the side and floated on the surface to the center of the pool. The sun beat down fiercely and she had to close her eyes to cut down the glare. The heat and light still penetrated her lids though. She turned and started to swim, her stroke wasn't exactly smooth, but at least she wasn't drowning.
"Where did you learn to swim?" he asked.
"When Charlie used to take me fishing, I fell in a couple of times." She gasped, not quite able to talk and keep the water out of her mouth at the same time.
"I should have guessed, keep your back straight, and kick your legs… point your toes." She tried to do all that but ended up gasping as she ducked under the water unexpectedly. Ok so maybe she wasn't the most graceful swimmer but she hadn't been drowning until he 'helped'! She jerked as his hands touched her waist, he was under the water, holding her lower body up, she tried to swat his hand away but ended up swallowing even more water, good job it was fresh and not salt. Edward surfaced and held her as she coughed to clear her lungs. "Sorry, love, I thought I could help."
"You could have warned me!" she gasped. He backed away slowly, pulling her with him until she could touch the floor, she hadn't noticed that this side of the pool was shallower.
"Want to try again?" he asked. She shook her head. This side of the pond was slightly in the shade so she lay on her back again, his fingers slowly left her body, but she could feel that he wasn't far from her. She remembered his touch. It hadn't been as cold as usual. The warm water or sun had made him the same temperature as the surroundings. She lowered her feet to the smooth stone floor and looked around, there he was, less than 3 feet from her, his eyes dark with a hunger that had nothing to do with blood, she realised.
Heat rushed through her body, settling low in her stomach and between her legs, she still did not understand how she got so lucky as to be the mate of such a creature. She just hoped that the venom would make her into someone who at least wouldn't show him up when she stood next to him. Though as long as he was hers (which would be forever!) she really didn't care much what other people thought, she realised.
She shook herself as she realised she had moved towards him until she was stood as close as possible. 3 small pieces of material stood between them and total nudity. She moved back and lifted herself out of the water, back onto the rock. She lay on her back and covered her face with her hat. The sun shone through the tiny gaps making it almost sparkle the way vampire skin did. Bella sighed, closed her eyes and determined she wasn't going to touch him for at least an hour!
Ten minutes later she was cuddled into his side, her leg thrown over his lower body and her arm holding tight to his chest. She couldn't win! At least she didn't feel the sexual pull this time, just the urge to be as close as possible.
"Bella?" he shook her shoulder, she must have dropped off to sleep again without realising. What was it with her of late? She seemed to do nothing but sleep, eat and get aroused! "Come on love, Alice says if you stay out any longer you will burn and get ill." She grumbled but got to her feet. The air was enervating, the heavy aroma of vegetation and decay mixed with the ocean and super high water content in the air, made it too much effort to do anything. Edward had wanted her to rest? He had brought her to the right place, she had no choice here.
Over the next few weeks Bella swam with the dolphins and porpoises as Edward watched from the shore, ready to jump in and rescue her at a second's notice. She practised snorkelling while Edward coolly walked along the sea bed below her, showing off the fact that he didn't need to breathe.
They hiked to the top of the hill to see the sights (trees, trees and more trees until Edward put her on his back and he climbed a sturdy specimen and she could see for miles!), they spent a day trying to spot parrots, and one trying to get Bella close enough to a family of capybara that claimed the larger lake on the other side of the island as their own. Edward explained about the rodents, that there were 20 or 30 in the family that inhabited the area and that they were responsible for keeping the vegetation down around the lake, making it a pleasant, if boggy, place to walk. However she never got to see them. They scattered as soon as Edward appeared and she wouldn't let him catch her one to show her what they looked like. She looked them up on Wikipedia so she had some idea what they were.
Submerged caves, coral reefs and sea turtles (which for some reason were NOT afraid of vampires, perhaps they tasted bad?) were visited. She ate lunch in surroundings so beautiful she thought it must be a dream and every evening she ate dinner, so tired that she almost fell asleep in her seat.
They managed not to get too carried away by filling the days this way, and Bella knew he went hunting on the mainland every fourth day, just to be safe.
He offered to take her into Rio on a shopping trip, but she was happy to stay on the island. She had never shopped for the sake of shopping, and she wasn't the world's most sociable person, so having Edward as company was exactly what she wanted most. She didn't think she could ever be as happy again as she was on the island, no matter how long she may live.
Gustavo had arrived, as promised, at the end of the first week, bringing a couple of helpers with muscles. He had called beforehand and Edward made sure that they stayed away while the AC unit for the house was brought up from the boat and fitted. It made her life much more comfortable of an evening, and if Edward went hunting she didn't feel like she was boiling in her own sweat until he came back.
Kaure came with Gustavo twice a week and helped stock the cupboards and remove any waste. While her husband checked the house structure, she hovered around Bella pretending to do housework and tried to communicate with her. Bella's Portuguese was even worse than her Spanish, so she had very little idea what the small native woman was asking. Eventually, after 3 weeks, Kaure gave up and sullenly dropped off the groceries and left straight away.
They had been on the island just over five weeks when it happened. Bella woke in the middle of the night clutching her chest. She looked around frantically, but she knew he wasn't there. In seconds the pain subsided and her phone rang. Her hands shook so badly as she tried to reach her bedside table that she was sure she was going to drop it. At last she managed to grab it and swipe her finger across the screen to answer.
"Edward?" she gasped.
"Bella, I'm sorry love. Are you ok?" he sounded worried.
"Yes I'm fine now, I take it you strayed?" she tried to keep her voice light and make a little joke of it, but truthfully she found the pain anything but funny, she hadn't felt it for so long that it had hit her hard.
"Actually I didn't think I had. I went a mile further inland last week, and nothing happened."
"How far inland are you at the moment?" she asked.
"I can still see the ocean, in fact I can see the island." She sighed. There was no way he could hunt game that close.
"Come and pick me up, I'll come to the mainland and give you some more distance." She told him.
"No, it doesn't matter today, I'm fine for a while yet."
"Edward!" she was exasperated. "I'm not going to let you starve!" Her phone pinged and she pulled it away from her ear to look at the screen. 'Alice: I'm sorry a group of men…' she put Edward on speaker and pressed the text icon, she read out the message. "Alice says, 'I'm sorry, a group of men decided at the last minute to try hunting the deer and chased them further west than Edward could reach. I can't see any game in the area for a couple of days now. You will have to go to the mainland.'"
"But…" he started to object but she heard a ping on his end of the conversation. Evidently Alice was texting him now too. Edward didn't read out what his sister had sent him though, he just sighed. "I'll be there in a few minutes." He told her.
She scrambled out of bed. The air wasn't that much cooler than it had been during the day, but she put a pair of jeans, a sturdy pair of shoes and a long sleeved shirt on. She gingerly stepped out of the house and started towards where she thought the speedboat was pulled up onto the beach. She used the light app on her phone to give her something to see by, but the path was exceptionally dark, there was supposed to be a waning half moon, but clouds covered it.
"Bella, what are you doing out here?" Edward's voice made her jump violently. Except for the occasional insect the only sounds on the island seemed to be the soft waves that stroked the shore.
"I thought I could save you some time and come meet you, I didn't hear the boat." She complained.
"I didn't take it, it is too noisy, anyway I can swim fast enough, and that way no one on the mainland tracks my movements." His hand touched her back and the subtle tension she had felt since waking drained from her.
"You don't expect me to…" she made a slight swimming gesture in horror.
"No, love." He laughed. "No, we can take the boat." At that second they broke through to the small inlet where he had pulled the speedboat up the day they arrived. He helped her into it and pushed it back into the water. Once again she was shocked at the demonstration of his strength, it wasn't a small boat after all. It was over 30 feet in length and was shaped like an arrow. It looked to be built for speed, she hadn't taken any notice of it since the day they arrived and as she looked at it she was now certain that he hadn't actually taken it to full speed when they had arrived.
As soon as the boat was free of the seabed he jumped aboard and turned on the engine, the roar was almost deafening as it cut through the silence of the island.
"Would you like to drive?" he asked. She looked at him shocked.
"N… no thanks, maybe you can teach me when I can see what I'm doing?"
"Sorry, I keep forgetting your poor eyesight."
"Time to visit the optometrist," she muttered, from the light of the still shining iPhone she saw him smirk at her. He skilfully turned the boat and headed in to shore.
They reached the marina that they had set out from a month or so ago in 15 minutes, confirming her theory that he hadn't gone fast before. He helped her out of the boat to dry land.
Though the town was small it catered for quite a wealthy clientele. Not everyone could afford the type of boats that docked in the marina. The speedboat was actually one of the least ostentatious there. One boat that was lit up like a Christmas tree was at least 3 times the length of their craft and looked to have several stories in it. Loud music pumped from the vessel and laughter and the sounds of people who had had too much to drink floated on the air.
At the head of the docks, the first building past the offices that managed the marina, was a small all night cafe/cantina.
"Actually, if it's ok with you I'll stay here and have a drink while you hunt." Bella said putting her hand on his bare arm to stop him moving past the building. "Do you have any money?" she blushed for having not even thought of bringing her purse.
"Hold on," he led her to the side of the offices and she saw an ATM embedded in the building. From his still-wet shorts pocket, he took out a waterproof bag with his phone and a couple of cards in, he drew some cash. He handed it to her.
"Will you be ok if I stay here?" she asked. He looked into the cafe. The only sign of life, if you could call it that, was the staff member, and she was almost asleep at the counter. Bella guessed that he was scanning the minds of everyone close by to make sure she was safe, which was not what she had meant at all. "I mean can you find something to eat?" she lowered her voice and whispered the last word.
"I'm sure I can. I will head south west this time." His phone pinged and he showed her the text from Alice telling him there was a herd of deer 3 miles due west. He grinned and pocketed the phone. He kissed her on the lips and quickly backed away. They had been able to control their… urges… by making sure they did nothing other than touch each other innocently all month. It did help that Bella was often exhausted by the end of the day.
She stroked his cheek and they smiled at each other as the power surged through them.
"Hurry back." She turned and went into the cafe. The bell above the door sounded, making the middle-aged woman behind the counter jump.
"Posso ajudá-lo?" Bella cursed herself. How stupid was she? She didn't know the language. "May I help you?" the woman switched to English. Bella sighed in relief.
"Yes, thank you. Could I get a hot chocolate," her eyes lit on a cloche on the counter, "and one of those muffins please."
"What flavour muffin?" the woman lifted the cover and Bella could see quite a variety.
"Hmm, oh wow," the woman grinned kindly at her, she named the flavours as she went and Bella was torn between a blueberry and a lemon, so she bought both. She had eaten more on this holiday than she believed she had in the year previous. She definitely filled out the jeans she was wearing better than she had before. She paid the woman and took a seat at the counter.
"You are alone?" the woman looked at her worried. "It is late to be out on your own." She warned.
"My husband had to see to something to do with the boat," she waved her hand vaguely in the direction of the ocean. The old woman smiled and nodded. "I expect he will be here in half an hour or so, depending if he can find what he's looking for." She almost snorted her hot chocolate out of her nose. She had never been a good liar, in fact she was probably the world's worst. But if it was to protect Edward she suddenly realised she could tell people the moon was made of green cheese and sound convincing.
"You are not from the big boat? Senor Biggs boat?" The woman looked out through the window at the dark ocean, where the lit boat bobbed gently as the party continued full swing.
"No, we are on honeymoon." She blushed violently. "On one of the islands." The woman nodded and with a smile topped up her chocolate.
"His father was a bank robber, not a very good one." The woman settled in for what she must have hoped was a good gossip. Bella sighed internally, hoping Edward would soon return. "Look at him, he acts like he owns the whole town." Bella grunted in what she hoped was a sympathetic way. The booming of the base from the ship suddenly stopped and the sounds of laughter got louder. A crowd of people suddenly burst into the small cafe.
"Hey!" a middle aged man with a rather obvious comb over, being almost held up by the leggy blonde at his side, shouted to the woman behind the counter. "Coffee!" the blonde giggled mindlessly. One of the other men in the party thumped onto the counter as he almost fell into the seat next to her. He stank of alcohol and tobacco. Bella tried to discretely move away from him, but he wasn't going to let her get away with it. He asked her something in Portuguese, even she could tell his accent was terrible.
"Leave her alone." The woman behind the bar flicked a tea towel at the drunk and he turned to yell at her. Bella took the opportunity to move to the far corner of the counter and the woman glared at any of the people who tried to get near to her.
Everyone seemed to be having a good time. Bella thought as she kept her eyes on her plate and ate her muffins and drank her chocolate. If the noise level was anything to go by, the party wasn't any worse for having moved from the luxury yacht to the small cafe.
"I am sorry Señora," the woman moved to top up Bella's chocolate again, but Edward would be back at any minute so she shook her head. One woman from the party rushed towards the toilets at the back of the cafe, her hand over her mouth. Two others followed her, whether to help or be sick themselves Bella neither knew nor cared, several of the drunks jeered and hooted after the sick woman. The sudden disappearance of three females, however, meant that a few of the men were no longer occupied. They seemed to gravitate to Bella. The woman screeched and snapped her tea towel at them but they ignored her. Bella put a bill on the counter, and made her way out of the door, ignoring the men as they called after her.
She looked around in dread when she got outside, but luckily they didn't bother to follow her. She sighed in relief.
What was she supposed to do now though? She could go sit in the speedboat and wait for Edward. Her phone said he had been gone almost half an hour now. He would be back any minute.
She looked at her empty right wrist. When Charlie had called Jake he had learnt that her grandmother's watch was at the reservation. She had been very glad to know it wasn't lost, however the restriction Billy had put on the tribe to visiting the town was still in place, so until either she returned or Charlie got better and went to get it, the watch was going to remain there.
Lights from the cafe shone on her other wrist and she once again marvelled at the crystal heart that Edward had given her. It looked so pretty.
Suddenly the rank scent of an unwashed body assaulted her nose. Someone spoke in a rough voice. She couldn't understand a word they said, but they seemed to be asking something.
A man stepped into the light. He was filthy. An unpleasant leer on his face made a shudder of fear run through her and she quickly turned to head back into the comfort of the crowded cafe.
He grabbed her arm before she could reach for the door handle and started to drag her backwards. A smelly hand covered her mouth when she opened it to scream. She relaxed slightly, remembering her training in Phoenix. SING! She drew her elbow forward and shoved it back into his gut. The man doubled up, unfortunately he didn't let go of her as he pushed her forwards with his movement. She then stamped on his foot, happy that she had decent shoes on and not the flimsy sandals she had spent most of the month in. She was about to turn and hit him in the nose when suddenly, a growl shuddered through the air and the man was no longer next to her. In fact he was pressed up against the building, being held a couple of feet off the ground by her avenging angel of a husband.
"Edward NO!" the growls coming from Edward were actually frightening. They also made certain parts of her tingle as if the electric of their bond was running through her even though they weren't touching.
The man was obviously terrified. She was disgusted to realise he had wet himself in fear as Edward held him up, seemingly without effort.
Her husband growled something at her attacker. The man stuttered and pled, he was obviously terrified, and she didn't blame him. Edward lifted him away from the building, only to slam him back against it again. A whimper of pain came from the man. Edward said something else to him and he nodded his head frantically. Bella put her hand onto his arm, Edward looked at her.
"Are you ok?" he asked, his voice tight with the control he was exerting not to snap in anger at her.
"I am, he didn't hurt me." She said.
"He intended to." Edwards jaw tightened and his glare turned on the man again. "I should kill him." He said, his voice calm and deadly. Evidently the man knew enough English to understand what Edward said as he started to babble again in Portuguese.
"No you shouldn't!" Bella grabbed his arm now. "Edward, no!"