Disclaimer: I have no claim on any of the characters from Twilight or New Moon all rights go to Stephenie Meyer.
Summary: Edward leaves Bella alone in the woods after telling her he didn't want her any more. As she is lying on the cold forest floor; Bella remembers three important things. Edward made a promise not to leave her, and Edward never broke a promise, and third it was her body, her heart, what right did he have to decide what was good for her? All in all Bella realizes that Edward was covering up his true feeling about her. All in all Bella goes to bring Edward home.
Last Time:
Bella POV
Edward's free hand roamed down over my over my left hip, stopping at my waist there was a slight pop when the button to my jeans broke under his touch. I was able to undo two of the buttons on his shirt. Before, Edward pulled out of our touch.
"Not like this, not while you're still breakable." He got up from the bed with the half eaten tray of food and walked to the door.
His eyes refused to meet my when he spoke again.
"Get some more rest Bella; we'll talk more about this later." He cast me a sorrowful look before disappearing out the door.
Edward would just say it was my teenage hormones getting the best of me. I however, knew that it was a little more then that. I didn't see myself as a teenager anymore. I was a grown woman with needs.
My very soul ached to be completed. I need my other half, I needed Edward. There was only one other way to get what I wanted and that was to give Edward an answer he wanted to hear.
'I'm going to have to say yes, and become Mrs. Edward Anthony Cullen. Charlie and Renee are going to kill me.'
Chapter 17: Needs and Votes
Edward POV
I was well aware of Bella's feeling about marriage; Renee had drilled it into her head over and over. However, there was no way for me to change how I felt about it. If Bella was going to be with me for eternity, I wanted her to be my wife first. It was the right thing to do since the more I thought about changing Bella, the more I came to see how intimate the action really was. So if I was going to do it myself instead of Carlisle, wouldn't it be even more potent if I was changing my human wife?
Knowing better then to press her for an immediate answer, I had let it go. But I wondered, how long could I wait? I was all too aware of my own wanting for Bella and my own desires. To feel her body close in around mine as our bodies become one was almost too much to stand, as the button on her jeans could attest. The only thing that had stopped me from getting intimate with her was my fear of hurting her.
Still, the second I pulled away from her there was no denying the rejection I saw in her eyes. Once again my actions had hurt her. If Bella thought all of the scars that adorned her body here and there made me love her less, I may have just inadvertently confirmed her fears.
If I could only get her to see the truth of the matter was that I desired to have her body like nothing else. After almost losing her twice, once to death and then to the Volturi, made a couple things very clear: I loved Bella, so much so that I hadn't wanted her to be cursed like me yet I couldn't exist in a world in which that she no longer did. So what choice did I really have?
I continued to stare out the window. My topaz eyes glanced over at Bella. Her arms were wrapped around one of the extra pillows as she mumbled in her sleep.
"He's gonna… win… love him… so much though."
I raised an eyebrow at hearing Bella's words. It appeared that she was dreaming about the words I had spoken to her this morning. Before I could give her words more scrutiny, I picked up vague thoughts coming from Rosalie before she tapped lightly on the door. I answered loud enough for her to hear but not to wake up Bella.
"She's asleep now, Rosalie."
A second hadn't passed before she turned the knob and inched into the room.
"Has her fever broken? Carlisle is in the middle of his shift or I would have asked him," she asked softly.
I was slightly taken aback by Rosalie's genuine concern for Bella. I answered her as I nodded, "Yes, the fever she developed has broken. Carlisle mentioned it might have been stress related."
I watched with guarded eyes as Rosalie made her way over to Bella's bedside.
'Take a chill pill, Edward. I'm not going to bite her.'
I released a sigh as I continued to watch Rosalie's interaction with my Bella. She used her fingers to gently brush as stray strand of Bella's hair out of her face.
"She going to say yes - you know, to all of your conditions. Bella loves you more then I thought possible for a human to love one of us."
There was sadness in Rosalie's voice that I had never heard before. Her thoughts were guarded from me.
"It was foolish of her to stand up to Aro like that. Still I was impressed, it's not something a normal human would do for the likes of us."
Rosalie looked over at me before casting her gaze back at Bella.
'I don't agree with her choice, but she's saved you more than once and that means something to me.'
Horrifying and familiar images flickered through my head from Rosalie's last night as a human. I grimaced at Rosalie's reason for bringing them up.
"Don't worry, I won't share it with her yet. However, since Bella thinks I hate her, she will need to know my story some day to understand where I come from."
There was a part of me that never wanted Bella to know all the dark shadows of my family's past, and how each one came to be what we are now. Rosalie, Jasper, Esme, even Alice had such frightening pasts, I couldn't imagine how upsetting it would be for Bella to hear them knowing how much she cared for them.
But Rosalie was right, Bella had the right to know the whole truth if my family was willing to share it, especially if she was to join this life and this family. Considering she had mumbled something in her sleep the night before about taking a vote on it, it would only be fair for her to know everything.
Strangely though, when she had awoken she never mentioned it, so I assumed she didn't recall her dream and the truth was, I hoped that Bella wouldn't remember it. But my little lamb wasn't that stupid, she was making sure to cover all of her bases. I knew there would be no way around what she wanted. Bella knew that my resolve was breaking. In the end, I knew I would give Bella whatever she wanted.
Several days passed and neither of us mentioned marriage nor the plans for Bella's change. We just tried to enjoy each other's company and looked for some semblance of "normal".
Tonight, the house was quiet except for the soft melody coming from my piano. My family had gone hunting for the evening and Bella had decided to take a shower.
I smiled as the sweet scent of strawberries mingled with the scents of freesia and lavender. It told me that Bella was finished with her shower and would be joining me soon.
"Try, try again" was the saying, so I decided to ask her to be my wife once more. I knew I wasn't making it easy on myself, as my family was always reminding me. Alice for one kept telling me "Just do it already, Edward." But I was adamant too – if Bella was going to be bound to me in immortality, I wanted to be bound to her in her mortality.
Hearing Bella padding down the stairs, I finished up the piece I had been playing. A minute later, Bella was rounding the corner to enter the living room; I smiled at the mere thought of her being near me.
Placing my fingers on the keys, I started playing Bella's lullaby. Its gentle tone relaxed me as if soothing the beast within.
Bella's voice only added to the beautiful melody, "I never get tired of hearing you play this one. It was one of the first ones you played for me."
"It's also the very first I ever wrote with you in mind," I said with a playful tone my voice.
Hearing Bella yawn, my fingers paused on the keys of the piano as I turned to look at her. What I saw caused the air to freeze inside my lungs. Bella stood behind me with her hair tousled and wet from her shower, wearing nothing but one of my dress shirts, and only the three bottom buttons were buttoned.
"Bella?" I managed to croak in a whisper.
If my body wasn't frozen stone, I was sure that I would have melted into a puddle on the floor. I bit down on the inside of my cheek as I watched Bella anxiously chew on her bottom lip. She then proceeded to play with a strand of her hair.
"Um, Edward, before I went to bed, I just wanted to let you know that you win," she said as she placed a kiss on my cheek.
Without another word, Bella turned and headed toward the stairs. I can't really remember when I decided to go after her. As my lips captured hers, I gripped the end of the banister, splintering the wood inside my hand. I didn't allow myself anytime to think about the banister before sweeping Bella into my arms and disappearing up the stairs to our room.
Reaching my room, I stopped just inside the door to close it. I then set Bella down on her feet as I broke our kiss. I inhaled her scents deeply, an intriguing mixture of her fresh flowery scent was the light musky scent of her desire.
Alice, Emmett and even Carlisle had continuously told me that there was a way for us to be intimate with Bella without deflowering her before our wedding, and I was well aware that I was about to play with that fire tonight. The monster that was nestled deep within me hummed. It was going to take all of my control...and then some tonight.
Now I understood why Alice had goaded me into going hunting last night with her. Why she had abstained from feeding, giving her kill to me instead. Alice had seen what Bella had planned and had hid it from me!
I would deal with my pixie sister later. My attention quickly returned to a panting Bella. I had her up against the wall, my hands on either side of her.
My unusual velvet voice was huskier than I thought it could be as I spoke to Bella.
"Since you have said yes to one of my conditions, I will give in to a modified version of one of yours. We will practice and see if I can control myself around you without hurting you. The lacy blue panties that are hidden beneath my shirt stay on. The same goes for my unmentionables as well as my pants."
I needed to set boundaries if I was going to keep in control of my actions.
"Those are some strict rules there, Cullen," she said in a playful tone.
"Nothing is too strict if it will keep you safe," I said as my eyes raked over Bella's exposed skin.
Leaning forward I moved in to capture Bella's lips with mine. There was no denying how I felt about Bella. I was vaguely aware of the wall giving away to the increase of pressure as I moved to kiss her. My eyes then darted over to the right side of the wall, where a medium size hole gaped back me.
Bella's soft warm hands caressed my cheeks. Knowing what she wanted, I turned my head toward her with pleading eyes.
"Don't even think it, Edward Anthony Cullen. You won't hurt me," she scolded.
"Bella, look at what I just did to the wall!" I said angry at myself.
The feeling of Bella's slim fingers playing with a few strands of my unruly hair started to calm me as she spoke again, "It's just a wall, Edward. If you were going to hurt me physically, you would have done it by now. I trust you, completely."
The soft scent of her arousal enveloped me once more, making the hole in the wall a distance memory. I moved the two of us to the bed.
"I never thought I would be so happy to have a bed in my room as I am now."
Laying Bella on the bed, I gripped the sides of my shirt and pulled. The popped buttons and torn seams allowed the shirt to fall open and down her shoulders. Bella wasn't wearing a bra so her breasts were free, allowing me a perfect glance at how round and perfect they were.
"You're beautiful."
I didn't have a clue as to where to start. I swallowed the venom that was pooling in my mouth as I gazed down at Bella. I knew that I had to taste her skin. I started with another soft kiss to her lips, before allowing my touch to slowly glide down the nape of her neck.
She moaned lightly at the feel of my touch, arching her back lightly as she did so. I grinned as I took in this new information. From her neck, I ran gentle kisses down to the valley of her breast. I grew hard with my own needs that I knew would have to wait. My tongue swirled around one of her taut nipples, and I sucked it as gently as I could.
Bella had shifted her hips so she could grind against me has I continued my careful ministrations with her. I moved to her other nipple to repeat what I had done to the first. Bella started to move her hips in time to my actions with her nipples.
"Oh, Edward!" she cried out.
I soon locked my lips with hers once more, grinding my hips in time with hers now. The monster within me screamed out at me.
"Take her now!"
The sensation of our bodies pressing against each other was overwhelming, and Bella's body began to spasm beneath me. Fearing I would lose control, I took hold of the iron headboard, it groaned within my grasp before the top of the bedpost snapped of in my grip. I quickly retreated to the bathroom to find my own release in fear that if I finished with my love that I would undoubtedly cause her harm.
When I returned, I realized that I hadn't been truly present to enjoy Bella's orgasm with her.
What we had shared had been mind blowing. Hearing and seeing the imitate moments the mated couples in my family shared through their thoughts were nothing compared to the charge I'd felt between Bella and me.
Bella was now covered with the bed sheet. Her cheeks were still colored from our intimate moment together. It was then that I caught sight of a familiar look in her dark eyes; she had something on her mind.
"Tell me, Bella, what's on your mind? Did you not enjoy our first round of practice?" I asked as I molded myself around her.
She shook her head at me.
"No, it's not that at all. I thought our first round of practice went rather well. It's just well…" she trailed off before continuing. "I know that you said that it would happen after graduation. However, I was thinking that maybe we should put my being changed up to a vote. I don't want to be some burden to your family so maybe they should have a say in it."
I chuckled lightly at Bella's words. "You won't be a burden, love. We all know what it is like to be a newborn. So there will be precautions taken to keep you safe."
She nodded in understanding. "I know that but, I'd still like to hear what they think. Giving them a choice in the matter only seems right after all the trouble I've been."
I smiled at her before blurting out my own question, "Marry me, Bella?"
She giggled at what she perceived as playful antics.
"No. Marriage at my age says I got knocked up."
I grinned into her skin, "Well, in my day it was the way to show one's good intentions."
She gave me a smile back in return. I then became curious.
"What would your answer be if we had conceived a child together?" I questioned baiting her.
"I suppose it would depend on how much we loved each other. I'd probably say no the first two times. Then wait to see if you were brave enough to ask a third time. After all third times a charm, right?"
I took this moment to kneel gently beside her. "Isabella Marie Swan, I promise to love and cherish you from now to the end of forever if you would do me the honor of becoming my wife."
The ring was already waiting in my hand to be slipped onto Bella's delicate finger. It was the third time I had asked...
"Yes, Edward, I'll marry you."
I was never as happy as I was in that moment when she finally said yes. I then remembered something that Rosalie had said to me a mere three days ago:
"She going to say yes, you know, to all of your conditions. Bella loves you more then I though possible for a human to love one of us."
It would seem that Rosalie had been right. Bella had just about given into all of my requests. I, however, still had my doubts of making love to her until after she had been changed. Especially, after I took note of the damage I had done to the banister rail, my wall, and the iron headboard to our bed.
I was stuck in an impasse with myself. Question was, could my delay in changing her possibly end everything I had with Bella?
A/N: Music on my playlist as I wrote this chapter: Needs by Collective Soul, I Melt & You by Rascal Flatts.
There is going to be an Epilogue so stay tuned. Everyone who has decided to give this twisted tale a try it mean so very much to me.
The Epilogue is all that is left.
TaintedDarkInuShemeeko