Love Never Dies

Act XIX: All I Ask Of You


Aro

My impatience the next morning reached an all-time high as I waited for the hour at which I was to pick Isabella up. I was afire with the need to see her again, hold her again, just to know that last night had not been some mad delusion.

At nine, I went to her hotel in the city, the exquisite fragrance which embodied my Isabella letting me know straight away that I had come to the right place.

She was waiting for me, as elegant and as beautiful as I remembered, in a pair of black, tight-fitting jeans, a white blouse and a black velvet corset over the top. It gave her a very Gothic edge, especially with her brunette hair loose around her shoulders, making her look wild and sensual.

As she walked through a beam of sunlight, the golden lights struck scarlet tints in her hair, mingling with hazel and chestnut. She was so beautiful, it made my mouth dry, and my body taut with desire.

Wordlessly she got into the car, and then glanced at me askance.

I smirked, instantly knowing what she was thinking.

"What, Isabella? Is this how you greet me, with an insulting silence?" I teased her, and she shut her open mouth, with an adorable blush on her cheeks. "I'm glad you haven't lost your capacity to blush."

"Shut up," she muttered, looking out the window. "I'm just not used to seeing you drive, Aro. I thought one of your guards did it."

"Believe it or not, Isabella, I am not wholly dependent on my Guard," I replied, putting the car into gear and pulling away smoothly.

Isabella regarded me warily as we drove out of the city, and I sighed. The wariness, the distance in her eyes was my fault, my doing all those years ago. I would do anything to see it disappear again.

To break the silence, I asked, "Tell me about your time at Juilliard."

I felt her perceptive glance, before she smiled once. "Icebreaker huh?" she asked teasingly, and I laughed. With a gentle smile, she proceeded to tell me all about her life at the performing arts school, the daily grind of lessons and practice, the sharp discipline and the rigorous training. She told me about her university experiences, the social ebb and flow which had imbued her life, the joy of studying a subject she loved.

She told me about her father, Charlie.

I could not miss the sadness in her voice and eyes when she spoke about him, but it accentuated her beauty, lending it a depth which few could ever achieve. She had lived life, and suffered at its hands, as well as experiencing its joys.

And this made her more irresistible than ever.

I felt impatience set in again, but I quashed it. First there was something I had to do, something I owed to Isabella and to myself.

Then, maybe, our lives could begin again.

"Why all the questions?" she suddenly asked, in a lull in the conversation, turning those bewitching brown eyes on me.

"Isabella, you forget I cannot see your mind. It is a disconcerting experience for me, not to know everything there is to know about a person," I explained, reaching for her hand and raising it to my lips. She allowed the contact, and despite her distance, the leap in her pulse reassured me she was still mine.

"I think it's more interesting not to know everything about a person," she remarked soberly. "That way, you'd never grow bored, because you'll always be discovering new things."

"But sometimes, those things are not pleasant. Is it not better to be forewarned about them?" I asked, more out of curiosity than that I actually believed it. A fierce gleam entered her eye, and I glimpsed a radiant phoenix in her look and tone, as she imperiously rebuffed my argument.

"If you love someone, you'll love all of them, not just the more acceptable parts. You can't pick and choose what you don't or do want when it comes to love," she replied, and I inclined my head.

"Indeed," I replied, and we lapsed into silence once more, but this time the silence was companionable as we both sank into our separate thoughts. It was nice to touch her, and not be bombarded by a constant rain of memories, so I could enjoy the warmth of her flesh, and the softness of her skin while still immersed in my own thoughts.

Such a thought came to me, and I turned to her once more, as I took a right turning on a rustic track, a few miles distant from Volterra now.

"Speaking of mind reading," I began, and Isabella looked around, where she had been contemplating the scenery. "Have you heard anything from Edward, or his family recently?"

"No," she shook her head. "I pretty much told them to stay the hell out of my life when we got back from Italy. I occasionally email Alice, but the others….the others I have a harder time forgiving. Although…" she began with a wicked gleam in her eye, but trailed off uncertainly.

"Although?" I prompted curiously, sensing something amusing about to come from her mouth.

"Last night, I did get an email from Alice. Apparently she had a vision, about us, and Edward saw it. Emmet and Jasper had to sit on him to stop him rushing to my 'rescue'," she told me, and I chuckled at the image in my head.

"What?" she asked, smiling herself as I once again raised her hand to my lips.

"Something tells me, Isabella, that even after a hundred years, you will still surprise me. I shall never know all of your secrets," I told her, at which she blushed again and turned away.

Looking once more at the road, I realised we had reached our destination, as I stopped the car.

"Where are we?" Isabella asked, looking around curiously. I still hadn't relinquished her hand.

"A private place," I replied cryptically, reaching behind me for a small bag.

Isabella got out, and stepped into the forest glade we were parked in, overgrown and deserted. Not even a bird moved, and as I looked up at the sky, I saw storm clouds threatening. "Come," I held out my hand, as Isabella stepped towards me.

"What are we here for?" she asked quietly, and I inhaled deeply.

"To bury the past," I replied candidly, taking her soft, warm little hand in mine, and swinging her into my arms.


Bella

I shuddered to feel Aro's cold arms, clothed in a dark overcoat, around me. Never had I felt so safe and secure, as he picked me up and turned into the forest.

It passed us by in blurs of deep green and brown, the occasional burst of gold indicating where the sun broke through the canopy of the trees.

I felt like I was in a dream again, as I remembered riding through these very glades on horseback, oh so long ago.

Finally Aro stopped, and as I stood, I looked up and into a dream.

"I know this place," I breathed, walking forward. The ring of trees still existed, the towering branches interlaced above our heads so only small patches of sunlight made it through. To the east, the forest marched on, expanded from where I remembered it.

The ground was like an emerald sea, stretching over the clearing, tiny little yellow flowers covering the waves of green.

And directly in front of me, stood a white tombstone, shining like a marble statue in the scanty sunlight. Ivy grew over it, but even I could see the name inscribed there, beneath the carved image of a swan in flight.

Christabelle Amarantha Renzi

1856-1885

Forever, an undying swan will you soar above us all

Some unknown emotion filled me, as Aro walked forward, towards the tombstone. Angrily I asked, "Aro, why have you brought me here?"

He didn't stop at first, reaching the tombstone and kneeling down. I noticed then the nondescript black bag he carried, and swallowing my anger, I stepped forward.

"I'm here to bury the past," Aro finally replied to my question, as he opened the bag and withdrew a large, heavy object that I instantly recognised as Christabelle's diary.

Then I realised what he was doing.

He was letting go of the past, our shared past, for me. By bringing me here, by doing this in front of me, he was showing me he chose me.

He chose the future and not the past.

Feeling a sad kind of joy fill me up, I knelt also by my ancestress' grave, and placed my hand on Aro's shoulder, as he looked down at the diary, and the pictures of Christabelle and Giacomo within.

"After Christabelle died, I brought her back here, to the place where our love first came into being. Every year I would visit her grave, until you came," he murmured, eyes transfixed on the marble effigy. I squeezed his shoulder, hearing the sadness in his voice, as tears began to run down my cheeks. "After I lost you, let you walk away…I became a ghost, yet I know had you remained, had I forced you to stay, you would've have become the ghost, instead of I. I would have ruined you, made you hate me when all I desire is your love."

Unable to speak, I watched silently as he reached out and caressed the head of the marble swan, still gleaming faintly in the late morning sunlight.

Withdrawing his hand, Aro bent to the floor and began to dig at the ground with his hand, until he had a small hole, large enough and deep enough to place the diary in. He placed it back in the bag, and lowered it into the hole, before he began to scrape the earth back into it. I helped him as much as I could, and until at last, he stood.

"Goodbye, il mio piccolo cigno," he breathed, and I looked up at him from my kneeling position, my heart breaking for him. I could only guess how difficult this must be for him.

He held out his hand to me, and helped me up before turning and striding away.

We left the clearing behind.


Aro did not stop until we had left the forest, and we now stood in a sunny meadow, filled with flowers and golden grass which reached up to my waist. In front of us unfolded a breathtaking view of the plateau where Volterra sat, the hill-towns scattered around on a patchwork of gold and green.

Panting heavily, I tugged on Aro's arm.

"Aro, wait," I breathed, fighting to regain my wind. He let my arm go, and walked a few paces in front, looking out over the view.

Steadying my breathing, I waited for him to speak.

The events of the two days were catching up to me, and I felt weary. I didn't want to fight anymore. I just wanted Aro.

I heard Aro inhale brokenly, before he spoke, still standing with his back to me.

"I know I hurt you, ten years ago, Isabella. I am aware what the past ten years have cost the both of us, and I don't want to waste anymore time. I don't want to live in the past anymore," he murmured, and I noticed his hands were clenched. I inhaled, my breasts straining against my corset top. He turned around, and I drowned in the flames I saw in his eyes. Hungry, flickering, black flames. He strode towards me, taking me in his arms, sliding them around my waist. Breathless now, I looked up into his eyes. "I want you," he murmured against my lips in a growl, before he took my mouth, passionately enticing my tongue, my desires rising with it.

Abruptly he released my mouth, leaving me scrambling to catch up as he knelt at my feet, his hands around my waist.

"Isabella Swan I love you, I want you by my side forever. When I watched you walk away, I was watching the other half of this cold, dead heart walk away with you. I never used to understand love, never wished to after I watched my brother destroyed by it. But 135 years has taught me a hard lesson and it is this: eternity is not worth a damn without you," he said, harshly, and with great difficulty it seemed. Had the words flowed easily and without restraint, I would have doubted his sincerity, knowing him like I did.

But no. This was real, true.

After ten years of waiting, I felt the barriers of ice melt from around my heart, with his lain at my feet.

I cupped his beautiful face between my hands, and knelt down in front of him.

"Aro, I love you," I said simply, not needing any fancy words either. "For ten years I waited, hoping you would choose the future over the past. Not a lot compared to 135 years, but more than enough for me. I can't live without you. My tour ends in a week, after that…I'm yours, forever."

A blinding smile broke out over Aro's face, almost boyishly, as he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. I laughed into his mouth, in the midst of my tears and my soaring joy, looping my arms around his neck. Now instead of just a joining of mouths, it now felt like a joining of souls when we kissed, and I felt tender passion well up, and overwhelm us.

Eventually Aro drew back, looking into my face, wiping the hair from it. "Why do you cry?"

"Because I have finally found where I belong," I replied, kissing him again. But the tenor of this kiss was different, when I drew back, I saw in his eyes the same desire I felt coursing through my blood.

My breathing hitched, and was then completely banished from my body when Aro threw me back onto the grassy, springy turf of the meadow we were in.

Our lips joined again, frantically this time, as I caressed his face and his strong neck, working my way down his body. His hands slid down beneath my back, searching, pressing, kneading my aching body as I arched and gasped. Dizzy, breathless, I lay back, unable to stifle my breathless moan when Aro began to lay a path of hungry caresses down the length of my throat.

Then I saw her.

The sun came out from behind a cloud, and I saw her there, against the cloud.

I saw Christabelle.

Her face was as golden as the sunlight, her long auburn hair flowing unrestrained around her, her dark brown eyes, my eyes, tearful and full of love and she smiled happily.

I must have imagined it upon the wind, as the soft breeze blew through the meadow and the first crashes of thunder erupted in the heavens.

Look after him, love him…

But I could have sworn it was my ancestress' voice…

Aro raised his head as the first raindrops fell around us, his eyes full of love.

"We must leave, my darling. I don't want my future mate catching cold, now do I?" he asked rhetorically, as I laughed. He hauled me up, against his body and I gasped, feeling that longing well up again.

He swung me into his arms, and ran from the meadow.


We made it back to the car, unfortunately not unscathed. We were both drenched as we got into the car. Our eyes met, and my breath hitched again.

There was a longing driving us, a longing which demanded satisfaction now, as the tension between us racked up another notch.

We drove back to Volterra in silence, the rain falling around us in torrents, the storm breaking over our heads. As soon as we made it back to my hotel, Aro followed me up to my room, by unspoken consent. Excitement rode me, as I walked into my suite, and he turned around to catch my arm.

"Go, change out of those wet things," he breathed, as I shivered beneath his heated gaze. Somehow he was less wet than I, but even so his raven hair was plastered to his head.

Nodding, I hurried into my bedroom, and shut the door.

In the living area, I could hear Aro building up the fire, as I quickly changed out of my wet clothes and into some comfortable sweats. I may be a successful opera singer, but I still liked my sweats.

Besides, I thought I looked kinda of sexy, with the overlarge Juilliard sweater hanging off one shoulder.

I let my hair down, brushed out the tangles as much I could, then taking a deep breath opened the door.

Aro was sitting down, away from me, facing the now crackling fire. I felt its warmth wash over me like a hot bath.

Aro had removed his overcoat and suit jacket, and he gave no sign he heard me as he stared into the fire, and I walked across to his side. I sat down beside him, watching his handsome face as the light from the flames played over the stark planes.

"What are you thinking?" I asked, watching him intently. Anticipation sizzled over my nerves, as I waited.

Aro's face screamed blatant sensuality, as he turned to face me, watching me as intently as I watched him.

"Why do you ask?" he asked, cocking his head to the side in a pose I remembered well. I shrugged teasingly.

"Not everyone can find out a person's every thought by touching them, you know. It's an unfair advantage," I quipped, at which the corners of his lips quirked.

"Not with you it isn't," he replied quickly, and I grinned.

"Are you sure about that?" I asked, at which he turned to face me fully, kneeling in front of me. I was sat with one leg stretched out in front of me, the other bent around which I had wrapped my arms, and leant my chin on my knee.

"Well, perhaps I should check again," he murmured, and I shivered as he came toward me. His hand reached out, and even through the heavy fabric of my sweatpants, he caressed the length of my calf, sensually following the curve until he reached my thigh. I bit my lip, as flames erupted where he touched me, and I unconsciously lay down as he came over me.

"Aro…" I breathed, just before his head swooped and he took my lips in a burning rush of desire. Our tongues entwined instinctively, melding together like we had been made for each other.

He lowered his body to mine, and I savoured the hard, solid weight of him, the heat of the fire on my side, the cool strength of his body surrounding the other. I twined my legs with his, pressing my hips up into his entreatingly as desire went to a whole new level.

Abruptly, Aro left my mouth, possessively exploring my neck with his lips, as his hands slid beneath my sweatshirt, sliding up to cover my breasts. I gasped, pure pleasure rushing through every vein as he kneaded and stroked by turn. Slowly he opened up to me a new world of pleasure and physical desire, like I had never known before.

An elemental need grew between us. I was no innocent little virgin, I knew what I wanted from him. Now. This minute.

I slid one of my legs up, pressing my inner thigh to his, and then slid it down, stroking his leg with mine. His strangled groan was answer enough how much it affected him, as I smiled when he reared over me again.

"I've waited ten years, Aro. I want you now," I breathed, my heaving breast and slowly heating body sure signs of my state. He inhaled brokenly, before tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear.

"Are you sure you want this now, Isabella? I do not have the strength to go slowly, or to be careful tonight," he replied warningly, and while my logical mind knew what he was on about, the rest told it and him to shut the hell up.

"I know the risks," I told him, sitting up. "And to hell with them."

I scrambled up, need making me frantic, as I yanked him up by his hand and pulled him to the bedroom.

Outside the wind roared and the thunder rolled, the storm worsening by the second. But nothing compared to the storm of desire in my love's eyes, or the tempest which felt ready to explode inside of me.

I pushed him down onto the bed, before straddling him, pressing myself to him and I kissed him. Hard.

His arms came around me, pressing me against him as I moaned into his mouth. I undulated my hips against his, drawing a reciprocal groan from him.

Our need turned devouring. I tore the buttons of his shirt in my haste to have his cold, hard skin under my fingers, while I felt his hands slide beneath my sweatshirt, up the contours of my spine before tracing around, and back down over my breasts.

I turned my head to the side, giving him greater access to the vulnerable flesh of my neck, at which he took full advantage. His tongue and lips marked the skin, and while painful, it was also pleasurable as hell. I was on fire with impatience and lust.

I wanted him, inside me, surrounding me with no barriers left between us.

His hands slid into my hair, and I felt his battle to be gentle when all I wanted was him, as he was in that moment. Raw, wild and my match in every way.

I wrenched back from his lips, to run my fingers over his face. Panting, he drew them into his mouth, sucking on them gently, while I felt the hot pounding at my core increase tenfold.

"Aro, just take me. Now," I breathed, before I set my lips to his, using all the experience I had to incite him, teasing him with my tongue while my hands devoured his body. Groaning, he capitulated and the wildness that his kiss became enthralled me.

I heard a tearing sound, and then warm air on my breasts, as I realised he had torn my sweatshirt in two. Unafraid, I wriggled my arms free, and drifted my hands down his torso, to his belt. I undid it hastily, while Aro's hands discovered my curves, following the indent of my spine, the round mounds of my breasts, and the swell of my stomach. When he set his cold mouth to my breast, I cried out and arched, bending my spine until I thought it might crack, just so I never had to lose his mouth on my breast.

"Oh God…Aro," I breathed pleadingly, rocking against him in my need to satisfy the throbbing desire building within me. With a growl, Aro threw me back, tearing my sweatpants away, and dispensing with his own remaining clothes. I gazed up at him.

He was a god. He was magnificent in his marble splendour, elementally male and unafraid of it. I reached for him, but he pinned my wrists to the bed, breathing heavily against my lips.

"Next time, we'll take it slow," he growled, and I nodded breathlessly, aroused anew by the wild look in his eye, and the tension in his delicious body.

"Next time," I agreed, sliding my legs out from beneath his, and spreading them wide. He lay within the juncture of my thighs, and I moaned when I felt him against me.

At last, at long last, he thrust into me, impaling me to the hilt as I cried out. The rhythm he set was ruthless and pounding, and I knew I would have bruises in the morning, but I didn't care.

I bucked my hips in time with his thrusts, meeting him as fire danced over our bodies. Aro's lips were forceful on mine, plunging deep into my mouth in concert with our bodies, as we made love uncaringly, wildly, as urgently as we wished.

My fingernails dug into his back when I felt that strange unfurling sensation inside of me, the first time I had ever experienced it like this, slowly building and building, until with one last deep, powerful surge into my body, I broke.

If I believed in God, I'd even say I touched heaven.

I cried his name, as pure pleasure washed over me, clinging to him blindly as I drifted back to earth. He held me, soothingly caressing my aching body, still buried inside me.

I relaxed back into the mattress, shuddering when I felt him move in me again. With a few short, sharp thrusts he broke too, collapsing on top of me, as deep satisfaction filled me.

At last I was where I belonged.


Aro

The French called it the little death. Now I knew why.

I felt undone, completely and utterly sated for the first time in my life. The woman slowly succumbing to exhaustion beneath me was incredible.

I had been glad, that when I claimed her body, there had been no barrier, no pain. The fact that my Isabella was not a virgin might have bothered me heretofore, but in the end I was just glad she could appreciate the moment with me, instead of wallowing in pain. For I could not have stopped myself when I felt her hot, soft little body welcome me into hers, no matter how badly she was in pain.

I tucked her hair back behind her ear, soothing her sweaty skin with my cooler one, as I withdrew and settled her against me. I brushed a kiss over her hair, feeling so utterly content.

Peaceful, for the first time in millenia.

I was where I belonged, with my Isabella safe in my arms for all eternity.


More soon. I'm afraid the next chapter will be the epilogue.

But look at it this way. I'll be able to update Siren that much more, as well as my other Twilight stories.

Hope you enjoy this chapter, and tell me what you think of the love scene. It'll give you a taste of what's to come in Siren.

Nineteen chapters, and only now do I get my pairing into bed. I think I've set a new record….hang on no. Aro and Bella still haven't done it yet in Siren, and that's on chapter 26, 27?

Nope, still no record then. But I have to admit, it's bloody rare for me to drag it out this long. Absolutely bloody torture, the tension was getting to me as well!

Anyway please R&R!