Notes: As always, thanks to my betas Sunflower Fanfiction, Jules, and AshesAshes. I couldn't do this without you!
My apologies for the late post. I am sick, my husband is sick, and it's been one hell of a week. Finally starting to feel better though and it's Friday, so things are looking up.
~Chapter Twelve~
Edward stared at Bella for the longest time, unable to comprehend what she'd just said. "Your maker?" he finally rasped. "And Emmett is sure of that?"
She nodded, her hand reaching out to grip Edward's shirt. She was still trembling, her whole body shuddering against his. He pulled her closer, tucking the top of her head under his chin.
"How does he know?" Edward asked roughly.
From where her face was buried against his neck, her voice sounded shaky and slightly muffled. "Emmett tracked him. He goes by so many different names; he's changed them over and over. Emmett's been keeping an eye on him, making sure he never gets too close to me. I guess he found a way through him. Emmett thought he was in the Czech Republic, but obviously, he wasn't."
"Do you really trust Emmett?" Edward asked harshly.
Bella pulled away, her eyes shocked and angry. "Of course I do."
"I don't," he muttered.
"You don't know him the way I do," Bella snapped.
"Fine." He mashed his lips together tightly. "Was your maker out there in the woods, was he following us?"
Edward felt her grip tighten on his shirt. "Yes."
"Why?" he asked. "What does he want?"
"Me, Edward. He wants me." She pressed her forehead to his cheek, and he curled his hand around the back of her head. "He's wanted me since the day I left him."
"He can't have you," Edward snarled, his arm tightening around her shoulders. "I won't let him."
With a soft cry of relief, Bella seemed to collapse into him. She sobbed on his chest, and he lowered himself back on the bed. Still curled up on top of him, she clutched him tightly. Edward felt inadequate and bewildered, unsure of how to make her feel better, or why he wanted to.
When had he ever comforted anyone?
When had he cared to?
The memory of his mother's hand on his forehead when he was sick washed over him, and he struggled to fight back the emotion that came along with it. The memory triggered something in him, and he held Bella tighter, stroking her hair and making wordless, soothing sounds, trying to comfort her.
Overlaying his discomfort was the fear that he wouldn't be able to protect her. That he'd fail, and the monster who had turned Bella and tracked her for years would take her from him.
Through all of it, one thing stood out: how right he felt at that moment. How perfectly right it was for him to be watching over her. For the first time since she changed him into a vampire, he didn't feel like his entire world was off-kilter. For the first time, he had a purpose to serve. Protecting Bella was exactly what he was meant to do.
When Bella's sobs finally quieted, she lifted her face to his. Streaked with silver tears that shone in the low light, she looked so young and fragile; she didn't seem like a vampire at all—just a frail, human girl. He reached out, brushing his thumb across her cheek, wiping the aevum from her skin. Without thought, he lifted his thumb to his lips and sucked it off. It was as sweet and heady as drinking from her throat.
"He can't have you," Edward repeated lowly. He didn't speak the rest aloud, but the words echoed in his head as he thought them. "You're already mine."
With his words, the tension in her body eased. She seemed to melt against him, softening, winding around him. "Thank you, Edward," she murmured.
"Oh, God, what am I doing?" he wondered. He'd be a brand-new vampire up against the ancient, twisted monster that was Bella's maker. And for what? A woman he was only now beginning to have feelings for? It made no sense. He should run while he had the chance.
Bella sighed softly, burrowing against him. The top of her head bumped his chin and he was reminded of the neighbor's cat he'd played with growing up. The way it would arch into his touch, always wanting more. Bella was just like that cat, needy, and always demanding more from him.
Edward stroked her hair and smiled grimly to himself when she let out a soft, purring sound. Yes, just like that damn cat, Speckles, if he remembered the name right. But something in him responded to that need she had, and, if he was being honest, there was something in him, that needed her, too.
Rolling them onto their sides, Edward gently tilted Bella's chin up so he could see her eyes. They were still frightened, but she seemed calmer now, less panicked. He dipped his head, pressing his lips against hers. He wondered again, what on earth he was doing, but the feel of her lips on his pushed all thoughts from his mind. They picked up where they'd left off when the phone had interrupted them, with soft, teasing kisses.
The kisses he experienced with Bella were wholly unlike any Edward had ever felt before. The ones he'd exchanged with women he'd fucked in his human life had been a way to get from point A to point B. If point A had been meeting and initial attraction, then point B had been the orgasm. Kissing had been what had gotten him from one point to the next. He didn't dislike it; he hadn't even found it to be a particularly, intimate gesture. If he could put his dick in a woman's pussy, he could certainly put his tongue in her mouth.
But kissing Bella? Edward groaned as her teeth nibbled his lower lip. Kissing Bella was something altogether different. His lips tingled where they touched hers, and the sharp, stinging nips of her teeth made his head swim. Right then, he didn't care what his reaction to her meant; he just wanted to feel more. He grabbed the back of her knee, sliding his thigh between hers and pressing himself closer. Her soft hand raked through his hair, tugging a little and making him moan.
His lips moved over her chin to her throat, and he breathed deeply, letting the scent of her fill his nostrils. He growled at the rush that went through him, the sharp spike of need and the heady pleasure that reminded him so much of getting high. His hand was rough as it dragged down her silk-covered back and cupped the swell of her ass. His cock felt thick and hard in his jeans as she rocked against him.
Edward could smell her, practically taste her arousal on his tongue, and the scent of her life force mingled with it, spurring him on. His need for her overwhelmed him, made him forget the terror of the earlier call. Danger lurked outside, but in Bella's opulent bedroom, it was pushed aside. He wanted to strip her down, take her on the smooth, soft sheets.
Need spiraled out of control as his hands slid under her shirt, her narrow back arching as she ground against him. If he could just be inside her, it would make everything right. He needed to claim her, mark her, and show her fucking maker that Bella no longer belonged to him. Bella belonged to Edward.
"Mine." he thought wildly as his teeth grazed the skin behind her ear. "All mine." He could hear her panting quietly, whimpering with need. It drove him on, urged him to grasp her more roughly, to press her tighter against him.
He licked right over the top of where the aevum pulsed beneath her thin skin, and felt her clutch him more tightly, her nails digging into his scalp and her needy whimper making his head spin.
Dimly, in the back of his head, he remembered that there was still the nagging issue of whether she was his mate or not. Emmett's lecture about what would happen to Bella if he mated with her and then walked away was enough to snap him out of the desperate haze he'd been in.
With a low, rumbling groan of disappointment, Edward pulled away. Bella whined, stilling against him with a little pout. But she didn't fight it, and as they lay there quietly, faces inches apart, desire slowly seeping out of them both. Need abated and urgent desperation dissipated.
Still tangled together, Bella combed through his thick hair, the idle movement more soothing than he would have expected. Edward brushed his thumb against her lower lip, and she smiled at him, the worry in her eyes finally gone.
At that moment, hating to break the spell they were both under, he hesitated. Edward couldn't remember a time he'd felt as content. They weren't fighting or furious with each other, and he didn't want to ruin the moment. However, the thought of Bella's maker and the havoc he could wreak on their lives slowly began to intrude.
"What do we do next?" he finally asked.
Bella sighed, her fingertips moving to trace the strong lines of Edward's jaw. "We wait."
"Wait for what?"
"Emmett's collecting more information. He has people watching my maker's every move."
"Why don't you ever call him by his name?" Edward asked, abruptly changing the subject.
She frowned, her fingers stilling. "I don't know; he's gone by so many. I don't even know that the one he gave me was his actual name. It could have been just another alias." She sighed. "Besides, it seems too personal."
Edward nodded, understanding why she might have wanted some distance from the monster. "Okay." He stilled for a moment, trying to sort through the chaotic thoughts in his head. "Why can't we just go after him?"
"He's too smart. If he knew we were coming, he'd disappear so fast it would take years to find him again. But I'd always know he was there, waiting for me, biding his time." She looked up at him pleadingly. "I can't do it again, Edward. I can't live, waiting for the day he finds me."
Edward frowned. "You did that before?"
She nodded and rolled over, facing away from him. Edward's hand splayed on her stomach, drawing her back against his body. He was silent, letting her collect her thoughts, knowing she'd continue if he gave her time.
"After I left the surgeon and his wife, I wandered through Europe. I stayed on the fringes of the war, using the chaos as cover. By the time the war ended, I had become more in control. I had learned to take care of myself, to hunt without killing, to take memories without harming the human, to survive as a vampire. I met a few other vampires, including a mated pair like the surgeon and his wife, and I began to look for my own mate."
Her fingers threaded through his, still pressed tightly to her belly. "I was lonely. I kept thinking I'd find him just around the corner, in the next town, the next week, but I couldn't. Eventually, I made my way back to the United States, and to New York. I knew I couldn't make contact, but I needed to see what had happened to my family." Her breath hitched, her body shaking against his for a moment. "I found that my father had died. He blamed himself for sending me to Europe, and when I disappeared, he sent investigators to try to find me. But there was no trace of what had happened. He went mad with grief."
Bella's voice broke, and Edward pressed a kiss to the back of her head. "I was a stupid girl. My desire for Garrett not only led to my death, but my father's and stepmother's. Weakened by loneliness and grief for my father, she grew sick and died in the 1919 influenza pandemic."
Her breath caught in a hitch, half-sob. "I killed them all, Edward. Even before I was changed into a vampire, I was a monster."
"You weren't a monster, Bella," Edward protested. "Just a young girl who had no idea what the future was going to hold. It wasn't your fault."
She let out another small sob, but seemed to pull herself together after a few moments. Once she did, she continued her story. "After I learned the truth about my father and stepmother, I stayed in New York for a while. That was when I met Emmett. He and Rosalie had been together for a long time, and they helped me secure my inheritance. I couldn't claim it myself, too many people remembered me from when I was human, but he was able to pass himself off as a long lost relative and claim the estate. Once that was done, and I had money at my disposal, I began my search for my mate again.
"I traveled the world, Edward. I was so hopeful at first, so sure that I'd find him. But years passed, decades passed, and I was no closer. And my maker was always somewhere behind me, following me. Not closely enough for Emmett to find him and stop him, but close enough that I could feel him breathing down the back of my neck. I spent every day terrified that he'd find me and take me."
"He never approached you?" Edward asked.
"He did a few times. But I always managed to slip away. I felt sure if I could just find my true mate, my maker would give up, he'd stop coming after me. But after so many decades … it grew exhausting. I was so lonely, and last year I stopped searching. I came back to New York and took up residence here. This was the building I lived in, and this is the apartment that I grew up in. I thought I'd spend some time here in Manhattan.
"I had become convinced that I would never find a mate—that I was destined to be alone forever. That it was my punishment for what a monster I'd been." Edward swallowed hard at the lonely desperation in her voice. "One night, on my way home from hunting in Central Park, I found you. I know you don't believe that you're my mate, but you are, Edward. I've search for you for nearly a century. I think my punishment wasn't that I couldn't find you, maybe it was finally finding you and having you never accepting me."
"Bella," he said brokenly, wanting to reassure her that it wasn't true, that she wasn't actually being punished for her past and that although he wasn't her mate, someday, she would find him. But the thought of her finding someone else sent a sudden wave of jealousy through him. "Christ, what is happening here?" he wondered. "What is she doing to me?"
"Bella … I …" he tried to continue, but he faltered, not knowing what to say. He finally settled on the one promise he could make. "I promise, I'll protect you from your maker. I won't leave you until he's dead and you're free of him."
She turned over and looked up at him, and the look on her face made something in his chest ache. "You swear?"
"I'll keep you safe," he promised again, pulling her closer. "And no matter what, I won't let him have you."
She burst into tears and pressed her forehead to his chest. He stroked her back and pulled her closer, but she continued to cry inconsolably.
"I'm sorry," Edward whispered. "I wish I could offer you more, but that's all I have to give."
With the memories of his parents' death nearer to the surface than they'd been in years, Edward felt a pang of sympathy for her solitude. Bella's emotional breakdown resonated a little too closely with him. Edward knew the raw pain of loneliness that Bella was feeling in that moment. Like always, he bore his pain silently, without tears. But as he wrapped his arms more tightly around her and let her sob against his chest, he realized for the first time he wasn't alone, and neither was she.
Notes: Edward's finally making some promises to Bella and things are going to start heating up from here. I know the pace has been a bit slow, but thanks for sticking with me.