Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed: berdb, krazzy hopless romantic, jerseyhalliwell, makki, Troyis, midgeakaliv, and tinker03. Thanks to everyone who put this story on alert and in their favourites. A HUGE THANK YOU to Troyis, who wrote the amazing lemon that you are about to read!
The chapter name is from the song: When The Rain Falls by Zetta Bytes. I really recommend listening to it, as it really fits how Bella feels in this chapter.
Enjoy!
Forever Bound
Chapter Four – When The Rain Falls
Bella groaned as the sun hit her eyelids, trying to turn away from it, until she hit something solid. She opened her eyes, confused. Why was someone else in her bed? As she set eyes on the head of bronze hair occupying the pillow next to her, the memories of the day before came flooding back to her.
The wedding. Seeing Edward for the first time. Becoming Isabella Cullen. Their first kiss. The reception. Their first dance. Their first night together.
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Very carefully, Edward touched her face with his fingers while he watched her with his dark green eyes. He traced from her eyes down to her chin, until he reached her lips. She stared at him. Bending his head, he brushed her lips and pressed them firmly against his. Feeling sparks once more and Edward smiling beneath her lips, Bella pulled away; blushing like mad. She looked down at her feet, trying desperately to hide her blush.
Edward lay Bella down on the bed. She knew he could hear the frantic beating of her heart against his chest as well as she could hear his own.
His mouth found hers again as his hands began shyly grasping at laces and buttons on her dress, yanking on cotton and linen until we both lay bare, their wedding garments in a pile on the floor. Though he had never been with a woman before, he had confided in her earlier with this information when she voiced her worries about her own inexperience, it felt as if that moment he knew exactly what to do. Bella could not recall a time she had been more nervous about what was to come or more enraptured by the beauty before her.
"You are so beautiful, Bella" he told her; it sounded as if he believed it to be true. She doesn't know what to say, it did not feel like the right moment to protest.
Edward dipped his head and placed light kisses on her breasts. Bella moaned as Edward laid his body in between her legs. Her hands reached for his hair as he licked and suckled every part of her flesh he could reach. She almost screamed in shock when he took a rosy nipple into his mouth. Her desire was almost too much bear, the sensations in her stomach now spread between her legs and Bella rose against his body seeking friction. She did not know what was happening to her.
"I'm going to try and be as gentle as possible. Do you trust me Bella?" he asked her, looking into her eyes for the truth.
"I-I think so..." she told him biting her lip. He smiled crookedly, taking her breath away.
He lightly traced his fingers against her silky skin. From her tiny face, to her round breasts... her flat stomach.... her womanly hips... Bella watched his wandering hand in fascination. She looked up at him in shock when his fingers splayed out across the soft mound in between her legs. Edward stared back at her and played with her slick folds before sliding a finger into her.
Bella gasp and sunk her nails into his shoulders due to the powerful sensation. He added a second finger, in and out in a steady rhythm as she cried out his name. He smirked at her response.
He curled his fingers in the valley of her innocence; she cried out, grabbed his head and practically yanked the hair right out of his skull.
He climbed up her trembling body, settling his hips between the cradle of her thighs, and paused before capturing her lips in another heated kiss and then slowly, he entered her.
He whispered a "Sorry" when he broke through her barrier of her maidenhood. She whimpered and tensed around him, squeezing her eyes shut, trying to drown out the burning sensation.
"I'm so sorry, Bella. I'll make it go away, I promise" he told her. She could tell he was fighting his urge to slam into her tenderness as be bit his lip hard enough to draw a drop of blood. Luckily, he managed to keep himself painfully still until her body adjusted to the invasion of his manhood. He kissed her tears away and then began to move and the pain at the breaking of her maidenhood was overshadowed by a new feeling.
Bella moaned his name and rose against his thrusts. Edward called her name sweetly. Together, they created their own rhythm of movement. Edward breathed in a ragged breath and moved against her hard. He could not hold back his moans. Bella touched his cheek knowing that he was restraining himself to not hut her. "It's ok Edward." She wanted to feel him, with no barriers between them. Maybe they were not in love, yet but they share the passion of their bodies.
He thrust feverishly into her several more times before burying himself as far as possible in her heat and throwing his head back, roaring her name so loud that it bounced off the walls. Her back arched as she cried out, riding the waves of pleasure that snapped through her so suddenly. Completely spent, he collapsed against her, trembling body against trembling body, as Bella pictured their future together, about how much Edward was going to love and treasured her.
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Bella was snapped out of her retrieve as the sun hit her eyes once more. Blinded back into the present, Bella realised that she had needs to take care of.
As gently as possible, she placed a kiss on Edward' cheek before pulling the bed sheet tightly around herself and leaving the bed, entering the bathroom.
As she walked across the room, Bella realised that she ached in places that she had not known existed, and yet she wouldn't change it for the world.
Stepping out of the bathroom five minutes later, Bella took in the room's décor for the first time, having been a little preoccupied the night before. The walls were a mint green, with the head of the bed against the right hand wall. The bed itself was a large, white wood four poster bed; with thin white curtains hang down around it. At the foot of the bed was a cushioned stool that ran the length of the bed and placed on it was a large vase of white lilies. On Bella's side of the bed there was a small chest of drawers with a mirror handing above it and a gas lamp. Against the opposite wall was a large chest of drawers, made of the same wood as the bed, with a light brown rug under the bed. The floor was dark panelled wood, and there was a large window on the wall at the back of the room, with a white writing desk up against it, with two plush white chairs just waiting to be sat on. The curtains to cover the windows were the same as those around the bed, yet thicker. Overall, the room was modern yet beautiful.
Crawling back into bed, Bella noticed that Edward had turned, and was now facing her. She smiled and placed herself against his chest. She was more than surprised when he pushed her away. Bella looked up at his faced a noticed that his eyes were still closed, and figuring it was just an unconscious reaction as he was not used to sharing the bed yet, she tried once again to place herself in his arms.
"No," she heard him moan quietly. She looked up to his face again and noticed that his eyes were starting to flutter open.
"No?" she questioned, feeling hurt and bemused.
"No," Edward repeated, louder this time, as he moved further away from her. Bella was having a hard time keeping her emotions in check.
"What do you mean no?" she questioned, trying to keep her voice from cracking, "Have you forgotten that we are married, that this is perfectly acceptable?" she asked, giving the only reason she could think of as to why he would pull away from her, especially after last night.
"Of course I haven't forgotten. However, if I had the choice, last night would not have happened." Bella let out a gasp, and tears pooled in her eyes, but Edward continued on, "I don't want to be married; especially to someone I don't know. Believe me, I understand that it was hard for you too, marrying someone you were not acquainted with, but I wanted to get married for love, not because my parents arranged it. In addition I am only nineteen. I'm only agreeing to this marriage because my parents believe I will soon need an heir. So, although I do not want this marriage, and deep down I believe you do not either, this marriage is needed. Therefore, we will continue to consummate our marriage, twice a week until you provide me with an heir. After that, although we will still be married in the eyes of the Church and society, each of us may do as we please. Understand?" Edward finished, looking at Bella expectantly, ignoring the redness of her eyes and her ragged breathing.
"Excuse me," was all Bella could respond, before she tightened the bed sheet around her and ran out of the bed and into the bathroom, locking the door before she fell to the floor in tears.
What had happened to the Edward from yesterday? The caring, funny Edward. The Edward who made passionate love with her. The one Bella believed she could love one day.
He had gone, and in his place was a hard man, who seemed to care little for others, only his own needs; the complete opposite of how Bella had perceived him yesterday; the caring doctor.
In disappearing, he had taken all her hopes of a happy marriage with him. She could just picture the future. Edward would use her until she provided him with a male heir, then they were free to "do what they liked". Bella knew his meant that he would start affairs with half a dozen women, and she would have no power to stop him. She would spend her days looking after their children and the nights alone, while he had a different woman each night providing him with relief. Of course she may not take another man; it would be disastrous if she were to fall pregnant to somebody else. She also had more self respect than to sell her body to numerous men, unlike her husband who seemed all too eager about the idea.
Unaware of the amount of time passing, Bella had curled herself into a ball on the floor and cried until her eyes felt raw. A sudden knock on the door cause the tears to slow down. Bella stayed quiet, not wanted to hear anymore of Edward's heartbreakingly cruel rant.
"Bella dear?" she heard Esme's voice float under the door, "Is everything okay? You've been in there an awfully long time, you missed breakfast!"
"I'm fine thank you Esme," Bella replied as loudly as she could without her voice giving away her current state of distress, "I'll be out in a moment."
Dragging herself off the floor, she made her way towards the sink and splashed cold water on her face, trying to reduce the puffiness of her eyes, so Esme would not question her on what was upsetting her so. Eventually, she opened the door and was met with an anxious Esme waiting outside.
"Oh thank goodness dear. I thought something terrible had happened as you took so long!" Esme cried, wrapping Bella in a large hug. Hugging back as best she could while still holding the sheet around her, too drained to be embarrassed, Bella reassured her mother in law that she was fine. "Don't worry about me, I'm in good health. I just felt a little woozy. I've never had Champagne before and it seems to have gone to my head over night. I am feeling perfectly fine now though, thank you for your concern," Bella lied, trying to put her mother in law's mind at ease, so that she would not question Bella's lie, which would cause Bella to spill the terrible words her husband had said to her that morning.
"Oh good. Do you know the best thing to cure wooziness? Breakfast!" Esme exclaimed while clapping her hands together. "I'll wait outside for you to get dressed, and then we will descend and eat together, how does that sound?" but without waiting for a reply, Esme quickly kissed Bella on her forehead and left the room.
Pulling herself together once again, Bella made her way over towards the chest of drawers, which had been filled with her clothes. She picked out a blue dress, which had see through lace flowers covering it. It was an impressive dress, but suitable for dinning in also. She pulled her chocolate coloured hair into a lose plait as the back of her head and headed downstairs to the dining room.
As Bella had come to expect with the rest of the house, the dining room was decorated beautifully. It was a very plain room, but that added to its charm. The walls were a dark green, with windows filling up two of the four walls, with white ledges to sit on so that it was possible to stare out across the vast gardens. The floors were dark panelled wood and a fireplace was at the back of the room. There was a dark oak table in the middle of the room, large enough to sit six people with a chandelier hanging above it. The chairs were also made of dark oak, but had small yellow cushions nailed on the back rest to provide comfort. In the middle of the table was a yellow vase filled with yellow flowers. The table was covered with an amazing spread, enough to feed a small army. On silver plates were eggs, boiled, scrambled and fried, bacon, sausages, toast, marmalade, jam, tea, coffee, juice and more that Bella could not even recognise. And sitting at the table was Esme.
"Bella that dress looks lovely on you!" she complimented as soon as Bella sat down.
"Thank you, you're too kind," Bella answered, gracing Esme with a small smile.
"Edward sends his apologise for not being here. He has to attend his lessons with the family doctor from nine hours past midnight to four hours past midday each day. Did he tell you he was training as an army medic?" Esme inquired.
"He mentioned it," Bella responded shortly, reaching out for a piece of toast and a boiled egg. Esme stared at her daughter in law for a moment, looking puzzled at Bella's short and slightly rude answer; it wasn't like the Bella she knew.
"And although it means that you are unable spend your first day as newlyweds together, you are able to spend it with me, helping me plan."
Bella swallowed before asking what plan she was talking about.
"Oh, I thought Edward would have told you. It is tradition for the Cullen family to host a ball two weeks after a member of the family has been married. It is a way for friends to celebrate and give their congratulations, but the two weeks allow the married couple time together before they have to take up their duties in society once more. In Edward' case, he has already had to reclaim them, but we cannot change tradition can we?" Esme ended rhetorically.
Bella just sat there. A ball? Bella had no idea how to plan a ball. She had only been to two, both held by her grandmother, as her own mother had deemed Bella too immature to attend balls hosted by members outside of their family. But Esme had been so kind to Bella, and so, however reluctantly, Bella came to the conclusion that she should help as much as she could to repay Esme for her kindness.
Asking the dreaded question she said, "What do we need to plan?"
Clapping her hands together Esme cried, "This will be so very amusing." Bella disagreed there, "Foremost, we need come to a decision about the theme. Then, this afternoon Alice will be coming to the house to take our measurements and design us each a dress, after that there are the invitations which must be written and sent out, the menu must be compiled and the ballroom to be decorated once again."
Bella's eyes widened in shock; only two weeks to prepare everything mentioned on Esme's list? How on earth could it be managed?
"Esme, how is it possible to have everything completed within two weeks? There is simply not enough time!"
"Nonsense! We shall come up with a theme right this minute, and as I mention, Alice is already prepared to come this afternoon. We shall write the invitations while we wait, and prepare the menu whilst being measured. However, there is not a moment to lose!" and with that, Esme left the room in search of a pen and piece of paper, calling out to Bella to think of possible themes while she was gone.
Wanting to please Esme, Bella tried to think of a theme. The idea of a ball made a memory rise within Bella, one she had not thought about in many years. When she was younger, her Grandmother Marie had told her the same story to try and get her to sleep; it was the story of the orphan and the prince.
-o-
"Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Clara . Unfortunately, her life had been extremely hard. She had been orphaned as a baby, dropped on the orphanage's doorstep and had not left since. No parents wanted her, she was too quiet; she did not smile enough; she read too much. This was what she was told each time a child left the orphanage.
One day, when she was seventeen, a messenger came to the door of the orphanage and handed her a roll, before moving on to the next house. Unravelling the scroll, she read:
His Royal Highness the Prince is celebrating his eighteenth year.
All eligible women are cordially invited to join the celebrations, their family's presence also requested.
The ball is to be held at nine hours past noon on the fifth of June in the year of his Lord 1829.
A mask is required, as is suitable dressing.
Faithfully, His Majesty the Prince.
Clara had not been this excited in her entire life. This ball may be her chance to escape the life she led at the orphanage. However, she owned not one appropriate article of clothing, and she was not allowed to leave the orphanage after six hours past noon.
Refusing to give up hope, Clara spent the little money she had on a length of silver fabric, some thread and three silver feathers. Each night of the week, she was awake until past midnight, sewing together a dress suitable for the ball and creating a mask. The night before the ball, her dress and mask were completed and she look beautiful. On the night of the ball, at ten hours past noon, Clara snuck out of the orphanage and made her way to the palace.
Once she had been granted admittance, she entered the ballroom and the breath was knocked out of her. She had never seen anything so perfect. Down below on the ballroom floor were hundreds of couples dancing, the women's skirts fanning out, all wonderful colours. The room was filled with candles and there was a full size orchestra playing the waltz.
Clara made her way down the spiral staircase and onto the ballroom floor. Due to the fact that she had no one to dance with, Clara made her way towards the refreshment table. After taking her first ever sip of Champagne she felt a tap of the shoulder. Turning around, she saw the most handsome man she had ever set her eyes on. The man in front of her had honey coloured hair, with streaks of cameral running through it. He stood at six feet tall and had his hand stretched out towards her.
"May I have the honour of the next dance?" he requested.
Unable to get a word out, Clara simply nodded before placing her hand in his and was being led to the dance floor. Once they were placed at the centre of the dance floor, the man slowly slipped a hand around Clara's waist and she placed her hands meekly around his waist and kept the other hand in his. Once the music started, they were dancing. This man was a phenomenal dancer. In Clara's eyes, he could not become any more perfect. They danced together, ignoring every other couple around them, staring only into each other's eyes. They did not even notice when the music stopped and the other couples left the floor, all watching the man and this mysterious woman dance.
Breaking the silence between them, the angel asked Clara what her name was. Just as she was about to respond, the guests around them broke into song, singing happy birthday, forcing the couple to break out of the trance they were in. Turning her head, with her hand still in his and his hand still on her waist, Clara looked for the prince they were all singing happy birthday to. What she did not expect was the crowd of guest to all be looking at her and her dance partner, with a servant coming towards them holding a beautifully decorated cake on a large silver plate.
In that moment she realised that she had been dancing with the Prince. Shocked, she let her hand drop out of his and took a large step backwards. The prince had hurt reflected in his eyes and made step forwards to take her back in his arms. Clara could not allow this to happen, so she turned and fled, not hearing the Prince's pleas for her to stop.
She raced as fast as she could across the gardens, down the steps, along the road and did not stop until she reached the door of the orphanage. Opening the front door and sneaking into her bedroom as quietly as she could, she lay down on her bed before the let her tears fall.
Clara was not naive enough to believe that she would get a happy ever after. She knew that in a few days, the Prince would have forgotten all about her and he would find a wife worthy of him. He did not even know her name. However, that did not stop her heart from breaking as she wished for the happy ending she knew she would never get.
The next day, her theory was proved incorrect. While she was in town, Clara heard that the Prince was going door to door, trying to find the woman he had danced with last night, he wished to make her his wife. Clara knew that he would never find her. Why would he even consider looking for the woman he wanted in an orphanage, and the mask had covered her eyes and nose, there was no way he would be able to recognise her face. That did not mean she wished he would not find her, she just knew that fate would not be that kind.
The next day there was a knock at the door. Mrs. Holmes who ran the orphanage opened the door. Bella, who was at the top of the stairs sat down to listen.
"Can I help you sir?" Mrs. Holmes asked the man at the door.
"I hope so madam. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Prince James, and I'm looking for a young woman. She is about five foot five, has long brown hair, sea blue eyes..." The prince would have willingly continued, telling her everything he knew about the woman he was searching for. However, Mrs. Holmes interrupted him.
"Excuse me your Highness, but I think I may know how you are talking about," and with that, she turned around and shouted Clara's name up the stairs.
"Clara, come down here, there is someone wanting to see you."
Clara slowly stood up, unable to believe that this was not a dream as she slowly made her way down the stairs.
"Is this the girl you are looking for?" Mrs. Holmes asked, pulling Clara in front of the Prince. The Prince stared intently into Clara's eyes, and although she blushed, she could not force herself to pull away from his gaze.
"It's you," Prince James whispered, a huge smile gracing his lips. Clara decided right then that she had never seen anything so beautiful in the whole existence.
Right at that moment, Prince James dropped to his knees and took her hand. "Ever since I first saw you, I have been unable to stop thinking about you. When we dance, I vowed never to let you go, but then you ran. I've been searching for you, and now I've found you, I promise to give you everything you'll ever want, if you just stay with me and love me. Please, will you marry me?" he begged.
Clara could only manage to nod before James got off his knees and swept her up into his arms, spinning her around before he gently placed her back onto the ground and kissed her lovingly. That one kiss took Clara's breath away. Once he pulled away he asked her, "What is your name?"
"Clara," she whispered.
And they lived happily ever after."
-o-
Shaking her head to pull herself out of the memory, she realised that Esme had entered the room and was calling her name, looking quite concerned.
"Sorry. Thinking about themes caused me to remembered a story my grandmother told me about a ball. I thought that could be an impressive theme." Bella explained, whilst blushing.
"Well dear, what is this theme?" Esme questioned. Bella retold the tale.
"It took me years to realise that Clara was my grandmother and the "Prince" was my grandfather." Bella stated once she had finished with her tale.
"Oh darling that is so beautiful; our ball must be a masked balled. We shall write that on the invitations right away!" And on that note, Esme and Bella spent the rest of the morning writing invites until they could no longer feel their hands.
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Thank you for reading. Now please tell me what you think.
Did the lemon fit? Do you want more in future chapters? What do you think will happen next? Was this chapter even any good?
Until next time. :)
