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. Stephenie Meyer created it all.

A/N: Not great sex scenes here, just a chapter of story line.

I know most of my readers are all vamp kinda people, but please go over and visit the one shot that I wrote for the Fandom fights the Floods compilation. It is called Forever, and carries a very personal storyline for me.

Bella POV

Edward shook in the seat beside me. We'd had to stop at a red light, and the smell of the humans surrounding us, meandering around the front of the car, permeated the air. He growled softly, the beast inside him wanting to tear into their throats.

"Son," Carlisle said quietly, drawing his attention. Softly and expertly said, it was just enough to grab Edward's attention. Black eyes clashed with golden.

Carlisle was reminding him of who he was...who he had been…and who he wanted to be.

Edward stopped breathing. Carlisle and Esme moved closer to the doors…as if that would stop him.

I could understand his temptation. Venom washed down the back of my throat, and I'd fed recently. His body was still recovering from the near starvation that had been forced upon him. I pulled his hand into my lap and softly brushed my fingertips across the skin, drawing random patterns and tracing the strong bones there. It was as much to settle me as him. He did not relax until we cleared the city and started back out into the Tuscan countryside, headed back to Volterra.

"Edward?" Carlisle asked softly as soon as he knew Edward could draw breaths of human-free air.

"It is like a raw unending ache, Carlisle. A beast crawling around and pushing at me to lunge free. I'm not sure that their faces or thoughts would stop me if I relaxed even a little." My love looked up into the face of the man he loved and respected beyond all reasonable thought. "It's so hard," he said finally.

The tone of his voice made me want to cry. He was in pain, real pain. He smirked at something he caught from Carlisle.

"I know. I've done it before and I can do it again. I'll do my best, because I want to do that for you, not because I think I have to this time."

"Edward…don't think you have to do anything for me," Carlisle refuted. "I was attempting to be supportive."

"I know, and I love you for it. I don't want to go back. I want to do it for me, but please grant me the luxury of visualizing your face to guilt trip myself with," he chuckled harshly, attempting to break the tension.

"Ah…of all the things I'm good for," Carlisle teased back and I saw some of the life come back into Edward's face.

"We'll be back to the castle in just a few minutes. You and Bella need some downtime, in your room. Aro has already told you as much. Go spend the day away from all of us," Esme suggested gently.

After leaving Jake and the others to sleep, we'd spent the night debriefing with Aro and Caius, Edward being a primary focus of the questions. That was, at least, until the vampires of the diversionary force arrived. Then Caius was all over Tanya and Eleazar asking about their numbers, how many had been destroyed, how many escaped and any information that had been obtained before they obliterated the opposing vampires. Caius wasn't really happy about the werewolves who'd escaped, although in his defense, the ones that had sided against us weren't mentioned during his angry ranting.

Then there had been the final preparations for Jake's departure. So much had been done behind his back. One day, I knew he would find out all the things that the Volturi had done on his and the Quileutte's behalf, but for now those secrets would stay buried.

Tanya had pulled me briefly to the side when she'd gotten a good look at Edward's face.

"You need to get him away from here."

She wasn't concerned about Edward hearing, but she wanted me to know that I needed to stand up for him against my father…to follow through on the promise of some time alone. In fact, I was anxious to get Edward to myself; if not to make love, than at least to hold him. The brief time in the shed outside the castle had been about reaffirming we were both alive, now we needed to reconnect. I needed to just spend some time with him being us…which we had yet to do.

"Carlisle, Esme, would it be considered rude if we just left for Isle Esme within the next day or so?" I asked, knowing that Edward had already gotten their approval for our trip. I had a few things I needed to rectify before we left though.

"I don't think so. I don't think Aro will either," Carlisle responded, winking at me to let me know he liked my suggestion.

Seeing Volterra rising from the land in front of us, I sighed. We exited the car and made our way quickly into the castle, Esme and Carlisle going the other way, after waving goodbye. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie detained us briefly to speak about wanting to see us off if we decided to leave for Isle Esme, and then they too took their leave. It was obvious that they wanted to have time alone…having spent the evening with us in the throne room as well, and then the time to see Jacob, Eve, Alrik, Leah, and Seth off.

Edward smiled serenely at me and the reached down to pull me up into his arms. I linked my arms around his neck and grinned, thoroughly enjoying him carrying me. As we made our way through the halls, several of the guards threw out wolf whistles and we just grinned back at them. When we reached our room, Edward opened the door to carry me through the portal into our room. In route, I'd had a moment of sadness when I realized Marcus wasn't in the room almost directly across from me, but then I grinned even bigger knowing…or at least hoping…that he'd found his peace. Somehow, I suspected that he and Didyme were probably already entwined in his bed at the chateau.

"What has made you smile so?" Edward murmured against my hair.

"Marcus and Didyme. I just hope they are as happy as I am."

"Trust me; if the thoughts racing through their minds were any indication…they're in Nirvana right now."

I nuzzled at his chest. "I understand the premise of Nirvana."

"I can't wait to get you away from here," he murmured, causing his chest to vibrate against my mouth. The tingling feeling it caused was pleasurable against the plumpness of my lips. "When we get to the house on the island, I can make you scream all I want, and I won't have to worry that anyone will come running through the door."

I was betting that my eyes were as black as sin at the thought of the untold pleasures that statement promised. He pressed his lips to mine and for the next few moments my world stopped.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Cullen. The fantasy of carrying you through the door of our home the first time has been a favorite of mine. I don't believe I ever expected to do it in the castle of the Volturi though, or to have to be quiet afterward," he said, chuckling softly when he finally tore himself away from me.

I pressed my lips to his for another short sweet kiss before I leaned back to look into his face. I decided to just tear the Band-Aid off.

"Edward, let me see what they did to you."

I felt him tense. "Bella… I'm not ashamed, but I want to prepare you. I'm not pretty anymore."

"You weren't ever pretty Edward. Handsome… Beautiful… Dazzling… But pretty? Never!"

His lips twisted into my favorite lopsided smirk before he allowed me to slide out of his arms to the ground. "Your wish is my command," he murmured seductively as the friction of my descent stirred us both.

He held out his hands to his side, allowing me the control. Keeping my eyes locked to his, I slowly unbuttoned the pale blue shirt he was wearing, revealing his pale skin. When I was done with the buttons there, I smoothed my hands down his arms to unbutton the sleeves. Placing my hands on his collarbone, I moved them softly across his skin so that I pushed the fabric off his shoulder. It fluttered to the floor.

I didn't move my eyes from his, but smoothed my hands down his chest, feeling the ridges of scar tissue. They were concentrated over the region of his heart. Feeling the cuts across his stomach, I squeezed his hipbones lightly, letting him know to stay with me. The faintly red tinged gold of his eyes had darkened considerably. I didn't know if it was from fear or lust. Throwing my shield around us, I let him hear my thoughts, my adoration of him, and then I moved up his back, traveling slowly over the silk of his skin. Nothing there, so unless there was more underneath his jeans, the desecration had been localized to his front.

"Just there…" he breathed out. "And it's lust, my Love…not fear. Would you expect any less with your hands tantalizing me so?"

"That's a good thing then, because I feel the same way." Keeping my eyes locked to his as long as I could, I lowered my lips to his skin, and the need to breathe him in overwhelmed me. I found the first line not far below his collar bone and kissed the length. I felt him tremble at the feel of my lips, teeth, and tongue worshipping him

Drawing back, I looked up at him. I want to look. Do I have permission?

"Yes!" he hissed out. The hard ridge pressing against my stomach told me what he would rather be doing. "Hell, yes," he said in a strangled voice, acknowledging that particular thought.

I smiled but opened my eyes to look. His chest had been sliced randomly. The jagged wounds were a testimony to the viciousness of his torturer. Then I realized that there was a purpose to the ones over his heart, and I reached out my fingers to the pattern. I winced when I saw him pull back slightly.

"They marked me to let everyone know to whom I belonged," he spit out, and my concentration was ruined with the viciousness of the look on his face. It was almost as if I could feel my shield constrict back around me. "I don't really care about the others; Jasper is far more scared, but that…that I hate."

"Well, I for one would like to thank them," I said, looking at the pattern again.

Edward looked at me like he was attempting to see if I'd gone crazy.

"To whom you belong, huh?"

"What!" he strangled out…he was totally perplexed. Poor man.

I raised my finger to place it on him but stopped just short so that he did not move away this time. When I saw that he would accept my caress, I lowered my sensitive fingertip to the raised skin.

"S. V."

Tracing the first letter softly, I leaned up to kiss one side of his mouth. "S…Swan." His lips quirked subtly, obviously already having ascertained where I was going. "V…Velathri." I punctuated that with another kiss.

He chuckled slightly, and I felt him relax against me. Well, most of it relaxed; I could still feel the very tense part of him that wanted to stake his claim on me.

"How kind of them to put it over your heart for me, Edward. Now, even if you tried to sneak away with another, she'd never be able to miss my mark. Are you game for me adding in a B at the beginning and a C at the end?" I asked, totally being ridiculous. There was no way I'd put Edward through that level of pain again.

He moved sensually against me. "Only you, Bella, could make me laugh about it." He remained still, breathing in my scent for a few moments before speaking again. "A 'B' and a 'C,' hm…" he growled seductively at my ear. "Feeling territorial?" he teased back.

"You are mine now…totally." I half teased and half meant it. I'd rip anyone to pieces who touched him.

He spun me around and pushed me up against the wall, grazing his teeth across the skin of my neck. "I've been yours from the moment you stepped into that classroom in Forks," he snarled out. "Only yours…forever…mark or no mark."

"Well, I for one think it's sexy, knowing you carry my initials above your heart. I could kiss their cold ashes."

He growled into my neck, and the feel of his body vibrating against me did really interesting things to my body. "Bella…I love you," he said harshly. "God…what did I do to deserve you?"

"I'm not quite sure…remind me again how much you love me," I challenged him.

I barely heard the sound of my clothes ripping before he had me pinned against the wall, fully seated within me. "Yes, just like that," I groaned out and he took my legs and wrapped them around his hips.

"Love, this is only a beginning. I plan to show you all the ways…positions…and manners in which I can love you," he swore out, rocking into me.

I knocked on the door in front of me.

Waiting to be granted permission to enter, I shivered remembering the day and night I'd just experienced. The visual of him lying on our bed, the sheets barely covering him, was a temptation I almost couldn't resist. Edward had teased me, attempting to grab me as I sped by him. When he'd lunged, said covers had slipped giving me even more reason to stay. Damn the man was a temptation. Which is why I was standing before my Mother and Father's door.

"Come in, my dear," Sulpicia called out.

She smiled when I walked into the room. Aro stepped from the dressing area and nodded softly at me in acknowledgement. "You've come to break my heart." His face was a portrait of humor and understanding.

"Father, is it too much to ask that I have enough time to enjoy my honeymoon? How long did you stay ensconced in your home after the two of you met?"

Aro looked like he was about to argue, but Sulpicia reached over to grab his hand, bringing him to her. A look so full of love passed between them that I knew they understood.

"Isabella, your father and I have already made arrangements for your transport to Carlisle and Esme's island. We believe a year should be an adequate honeymoon retreat before you are expected to return to us." She looked over at Aro's unhappy face. "Of course, we'll be coming to visit…often…but we will call first," she grinned. A smile washed over Aro's face, and I knew that such a promise had been the only way Sulpicia had won me this boon.

"I think I'll leave you two alone." She looked to my father. "I'm going to help Esme and the girls finish packing her clothing. We have some special surprises for you both. I would ask for pictures, but I really don't want to know." She chuckled at me and then left.

Aro moved over to the couch and sat down. I followed the suddenly quiet leader.

"Aro?" I asked softly, and he growled at me. "Father?" I tried again.

"Much better…" he glanced to me almost shyly. "I am not much of a father, I know. However, I am trying. You are challenging me of course, you know. I have performed the duties of a leader for millennia. It had always been a satisfying responsibility, but I must admit that it has grown tedious over the past centuries. I needed something to liven up the monotony. Had you not come, I may have just had to go out searching for more talents…started a few fights…"

"And generally been a pain in the ass?" I interrupted.

"Watch your language, young lady."

I sucked my bottom lip in attempting to keep from grinning. "Well, instead, I hand you some of the most talented vampires within our world, complete with the man at the helm you've desired for several hundred years. They in turn help you to bring about the destruction of your most hated enemies…blah…blah…blah." I was intentionally being irreverent to get him to smile. His sudden seriousness was disconcerting.

"Don't forget your quadruped friend. The addition of his kind to our legends will only serve to make us fodder for fireside chats for another millennia."

"You are such a sanctimonious prude," I responded. "What? No reprimand?" I laughed out when he didn't respond.

"What is there to dispute about the truth?" he shrugged elegantly.

I laughed so hard I snorted. "So you can accept sanctimonious prude, but not pain in the ass?"

He turned to face me. The look on his face was serious again, and I immediately sobered.

"I know that I am pretentious and arrogant at times. However, I am called to do what is necessary to make sure that our kind are protected, and that the humans around us remain ignorant. When you walked through the door, you were only another means to an end, Isabella." I gasped in pain before he grabbed my hand. "But, the moment I heard you speak and then touched you, it became personal…something that you know has only happened a few times in my life." I knew he was referring to Carlisle.

He remained looking down at my hand, his thumb rubbing across the top. "I saw Sulpicia and knew I had to have her. She was so beautiful and calm even as a human. She was exactly what I needed, and I knew that I loved her long before I placed my lips to her throat and made her mine for eternity. The moment Carlisle walked through the doors of the throne room…I knew that I would pine over that man for the rest of my existence. And you…the moment I touched you…I knew you were the daughter of my heart. I will never regret changing you."

"Father, what do you intend to do about Carlisle? You know I love him as well, and the thought that one of you could get hurt…"

He grinned deviously and suddenly he looked like a little boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar. His eyes twinkled with mischievousness and the glee lit him from within. It was hard to resist the lure of him when he was this way. He was charismatic, there was no doubt. I was amazed again at Carlisle's strength in leaving him, and further, to withstand the campaign of persuasion I knew Aro must have waged before, and would again.

"He will, of course, forestall me, and I will parry. Esme with threaten and I will appear appropriately contrite…and she will know it is all an act. Carlisle is my treat, Isabella. The thing that will keep me from going mad with the tedium that will ensue during this lull before another enemy conspires to rise and come against us. For millennia, I have watched the Romanians, but they are not the only ones who have designs on being the leaders of our world. The defeat we handed Stefan and Vladimir will provide a respite to the maneuverings as they retreat and regroup, but sooner or later someone will try again. In the meantime, we watch the masses and take care of anyone who forgets our rules."

"And in the meantime, you will pursue Carlisle dogmatically," I added.

"Dogmatically? Hm…I like the terms strategically, passionately, and tirelessly," he grinned, still caught up in the thought of his quest to win over the Cullen patriarch. "He knows it, don't be mislead. It is a game for him as well, Isabella. He loves torturing me…he is not so much the pacifist he presents. Sadist…actually," he joked.

"Okay, that visual is a little too much," I scoffed. "No regrets, right? If you don't win?"

"Isabella…have you no faith in me? Now that I have him here, I have forever to harass him. I remain optimistic." He moved to enclose my hand between his. "I regret only one thing…that I hurt you. Though daughter of my heart, you are also a daughter of Carlisle's heart. I forced you to my way of life even though you pleaded…" he looked up to me then "…I lost Carlisle that way for a time, and I will not lose you. Your mate, Edward, he needs you. That boy…no I won't even call him that…that man saved us in all the ways that matter." He looked toward Marcus and Didyme's room. "You wish to support him, don't you?"

"Yes," I said softly. "The animal blood…it's awful, but better than how it feels for me to take a human's life." I moved slightly to catch his eyes. "I don't think less of anyone who lives off of human blood. I understand that it tastes so much better, but how can I be there for him while at the same time imbibing in the very thing that causes him pain?"

"I knew it was only a matter of time, Isabella. The day I thought I'd brought on his destruction with my greed, I swore that if he was somehow miraculously still walking this earth, that I would not stand in your way…of anything that would make you happy. I just hope that you will return when the time comes for your honeymoon to conclude."

I realized then why he'd looked so unsure when I came in. He thought I was leaving for good. I threw myself into his arms. "I'm not going anywhere," I murmured into his shoulder, strands of his silky black hair caught between my cheek and him. "Well, other than to see Marcus briefly and then to a tropical paradise for a year, then…I may decided to beg you for more…"

He chuckled against the top of my head. "I don't know about that…don't push it."

We remained cuddled against each other for a few minutes. "Do you miss him, terribly?" he finally asked.

How had he known I was thinking of Charlie?

"Yes. Charlie and I weren't much on touching one another, but I always knew he would be there for me. I hate that he can't know my happiness, and that I'm with Edward. It's nice that you can. It is almost as if I can believe that somehow he feels my peace…through you."

"He is a special man, to have created a child such as yourself."

It was nice to know that the man who literally controlled the world felt this way about me. He was curiously quiet then.

A few minutes later, he finally stirred. "I've already arranged with a contact in Brazil to have various wildlife delivered to the Isle. Carlisle informed me that there is very little game on the small bit of paradise he bought his Esme. He is fearful for Edward to go into Rio until he at least has managed a degree of control again. I fear that you will be in the same position, especially if you are going to forgo what your body has grown to expect. We are going to throw the two of you together in paradise and make sure that you have what you need to give this plan of yours a chance."

"Thank you," I breathed out, realizing that what I'd thought would be a difficult conversation had been resolved easily. "I love you," I said quickly, almost embarrassed to say the words.

He tensed, but only for a second, then I was pulled into a bone crushing, even for a vampire, hug. "I love you too, Isabella."

Edward POV

The heat of the tropical sun felt too good against my naked skin. I moved my hand slowly toward the woman who lay at my side.

"Mmmm…" she murmured when I found her hand and linked our fingers. "Can't move, feels too good."

I smiled enjoying the decadence in her voice. I cracked my eyes to see her golden ones looking back at me. Beautiful, loving, understanding golden eyes.

Each week, for the past six months, we'd heard a boat approaching the island. It stopped only for a minute or two before it left. I would admit that just after the second week, I'd contemplated staking out the area, just for the taste of the man's blood. Bella and I had been a pair then…our bloodlust driving us half mad at times. I'd had to call Carlisle to tell him to send lumber, sheet rock, and paint. Between our natural aggression and the agony of our throats demanding anything other than the deer, wildcats, and bear (we still couldn't believed that animal had been captured) left for us, we'd destroyed several walls in the house.

Emmett had had a field day, harassing us, as our siblings converged on the island to spend time with us and help repair the damages. Everyone had come at some time or the other, and I still grinned at the visual of Felix throwing Jane off the cliffs. The perpetually angry girl had transformed through the fruition of their love and mating. She screamed like a banshee on the way down, but rose from the waves like a tempting mermaid. Bella and I had left at that point. It was two days before we saw them again.

Jacob and Eve had stayed a week, and Bella's grin was unstoppable as she watched the two frolic both as humans and wolves through the waves. I'd never seen Jacob more serene and at peace. I was tickled to see the ring I'd found worn proudly on Eve's finger. Alice, of course, went nuclear on the plans for a wedding. She was planning a huge late summer affair under the skies for the "second" wedding.

Aro, Sulpicia, Esme, and Carlisle were regulars, coming together. To say I'd been shocked seeing Marcus in board shorts at the Chateau was a fact. To say I'd been absolutely stunned to see Aro dressed similarly, resplendent in the sun, was more so.

"What?" he'd snarled at my stupefied expression. I wasn't dumb enough to make a comment.

Only Marcus and Didyme had not come, and solely because they were still as entrenched in their love nest as we were in ours. Bella spoke to him almost daily, so it wasn't as if there was a distance between us. He and I had also spoken…checking on each other…as had been our pact during our flight from the chaos…in the days he helped me right myself when I'd thought all was lost.

I felt like myself again, though. And Bella had demonstrated immense and unnatural control in regards to her bloodlust once over the initial angst. I'd wanted to scream when she told me that the man's scent on the animals almost made her sick. I would never be able to say that.

"Sorry" had been her only response when I'd griped. She'd followed it up with "I think I was just born to be this way."

We'd even been to Rio to go dancing, but only a few times. It was then that I'd called Aro and told him he could stop the 'room service,' but he'd declined saying that he didn't want us to do anything other than relax. "Expend your energy making my daughter happy, young one. Chasing your dinner around that island is as far as I want you to have to go." Speaking of…

"When did Aro say that the group was arriving?" I said softly to her, pushing myself to my elbow to look down into her exquisite face. The shimmer of her skin caused by the sun made her look like an angel.

"Actually, any time now. I guess we need to get dressed and wait on them at the house. She rose, totally naked, and grinned at me, putting a hand down to help me. "He said he had some surprise, and that we should be 'appropriate' and 'waiting for him.' I took it as a warning he didn't wanted to catch us in 'dishabille' like he did the last time." She'd stunningly recreate his exact tone of outrage when he'd caught us.

As we walked back through the forest toward the house, I enjoyed the solitude. It was so rare that I had a break from my gift, that I was covetous now of the alone time we had. Of course, Bella allowed me in her head often…particularly when we made love (which was most of the time)…but for the most part I was able to live like an ungifted vampire, free from the chaos of the thoughts around me. Honestly, I didn't want to go back…except I missed them…not the thoughts, but the individuals who produced them.

The shade of the house provided a dramatic differentiation between the heat of the beach, and Bella sighed already missing the bright sun. By unspoken agreement, we walked toward the second bedroom we'd made our own personal heaven and quickly into the shower.

"Keep your hands to yourself, Mr. Cullen," she teased, knowing that if I touched her we would be at each other again.

Aro would not be pleased to have to send someone in to tell us to get dressed…again. The honeymoon had clearly not worn off, and I was already strategizing with her as to how to get another year out of him. Eyeing the water as it ran across her back, I realized I would promise him just about anything.

We'd no more gotten dressed when I heard the sound of the boat approaching the island. Bella turned to me astounded. "They've brought the big yacht…it must be a bunch of them," she said quickly, suddenly anxious to meet our visitors at the dock.

We made our way quickly toward the area, but when I was hit with the thoughts from the group, I stumbled. Bella turned at my uncharacteristic clumsiness.

"Edward?"

I could only shake my head. I was struck dumb, first from what I saw through their minds, and secondly through Aro's order.

My moment in the spotlight, not yours, Edward. Keep your mouth shut, he ordered.

"Bella, it's okay," was all I could manage in my shocked state.

"Oh…kay," she said drawing the word out into many syllables. "C'mon," she said jerking me impatiently toward the area where the guests would undock from the smaller shuttle boats

What the hell was he thinking?

It's okay, son, Carlisle sent me, and then let me see the plan. My eyes jerked to Bella wondering just how she was going to react.

We broke through the trees and watched the two smaller boats leave the huge white monstrosity that Aro kept for leisurely travel. It was the same floating palace that had brought us here. The ocean was perfectly idyllic so it took little time for the speed crafts to draw near. I saw the identical looks of pleasure in Emmett and Jasper's faces as they maneuvered alongside each other. Of course, Emmett would be the one to jerk the wheel slightly as if he was going to crash into Jasper's craft. Any other time, I wouldn't put it past Emmett, but this time he wouldn't dare. He wouldn't risk hurting the precious cargo on board.

The only thing that kept it secret from Bella was that the slight breeze that did ruffle the frothy limbs of the trees blew directly from behind us, sending our scent toward them…instead of the other way. We remained under the canopy of tree coverage until they'd docked.

Keep her there, Aro instructed me.

I saw Bella's confusion when she heard his heart, strong and clear. She turned to me in confusion. This was clearly not Jacob or Eve…their wolf hearts pounded out their own special rhythm. His scent hit us just as Emmett lent him a hand, and I saw my wife's eyes go black with not hunger, but shock.

"Damnit, Emmett. I'm perfectly capable of climbing out of a boat myself. I've done it for years fishing. Now, get out of my way, I just want to know where she is," Charlie's voice called out clearly over the open way.

Her gasped "Daddy" alerted Charlie to her location, and the look of love that passed over Charlie's face when he saw her standing beside me, made whatever would happen from here worth while. She tore from my grasp as he began running toward her, and I was not the only one to turn slightly to give them privacy as the two met and clung to each other. Great tears of joy rolled down Charlie's face as her wrapped his arms around her.

"Thank God…thank God…thank God…" he chanted.

Please let me know what you think! HEA up next.

I am privileged to have crmcneill as a beta – even when he drives me crazy. Many, many thanks Master.