I do not own anything Twilight; I just like playing with Ms. Meyer's characters. They are a fun bunch! I don't own any of the referenced music, art, literature, or such. They belong to their respective creators and I appreciate them and their ability to enhance my writing.

Last time…

Her eyes got bigger and she mouth opened gently in shock, I continued, "I saw a young woman on a log, her black and red hair done up in a genie type pony tail. I approached her slowly as not to scare her off. There was a pull to this beauty, though I did not see her face, I wanted to talk to her. I laid my hand on her shoulder and she said…"

"You kept me waiting!" Bella finished. We stared at each other for what seemed like forever, but were really only a few minutes. She knew the wide eyed expression she had told me, Bella knew who I was.

Chapter 8

BPOV

I stared at him. That is pretty much all I could do at this point because my mouth forgot how to function. His witchy-poo sister could infiltrate my dreams any time he wanted. It was a lot of information to take in. To his credit, Edward didn't say anything, but he watched me; I could feel him doing it. I mean, what the hell did he mean by "mate" anyway? I mean, I wasn't really ready to "mate" with anyone. I knew I was old enough, I knew people younger than me who did, but I personally never felt the draw.

Riley, who became one of my best friends back in Phoenix, was hot and I was attracted to him, but not in a "can we bump uglies" type of way. I lifted my eyes to look at Edward; he was ungodly beautiful. He made Riley look like a decrepit old man! I couldn't slow my breathing down, I was so anxious and nervous, but if I didn't get some answers now I feared things would get out of control.

"S-so you can get in m-my dreams whenever you want?" I asked hesitantly, staring at my hands again. This killed me that I couldn't get more control, but a good Queen recognizes her fear and deals with it the best she can. "What if I don't want you there?"

"Then you deny me," Edward stated. He reached his hand out and lightly caressed mine. "Bella, I am not the kind of guy who would force himself on anyone, in or out of your dreams. If I wanted to, I could force you, but I don't want to. I like you, I am drawn to you like a moth to a flame, and you burn so brightly how can I resist?"

His hand came up to caress my cheek; the touch was cool and soft and I found myself leaning into it. Edward looked into my eyes. "There is so much to tell you, so much you need to know." His thumb ran over my bottom lip causing it to tremble a little. "My little one, there are such beauties out there that everyone takes for granted. Not one person stops to take appreciation of. But when I look at you and see the passion pooling in your eyes, I know there is so much I want to show you."

"Edward," I said, my voice sounded so breathless, he was making me weak. I tried to sound more confident, "What are you?"

He gave me an evil smirk, it had to be evil because it drew me in more to him, and I mean I physically found myself leaning closer to him. Edward drew a stray hair behind my ear and looked me in the eyes. "You know what I am, my sweet poppet."

Could you be anymore cryptic, I thought, but I had to agree with him. I said it once, I will say it again, Edward was otherworldly! Exactly what was the question that I wanted and needed answers to? For some reason my body had its own ideas and I watched as I lifted my hand and stroked it down his jaw and back up to his chin, then let a stray finger glide across his bottom lip. His cool tongue came out to lap at the tip of said finger. The gesture and the coolness of his tongue forced me to retract my hand to my lap and drew a throaty chuckle from Edward.

"I…I know that you are something other than me." I raised my eyes to meet his, drawing on whatever courage I could muster within me to address him. "Something not human."

He nodded and smiled at me, evidently pleased that my ability to think and not run off screaming. He reached for his glass and looked down into it; he inhaled its aroma, and then took a drink letting his bottom lip be laced with a thin trace of the liquid. Then his eyes turned to me, and I gasped! They were pitch black! Edward's tongue ran across the liquid, retrieving it, but his eyes never left mine. I shivered, definitely otherworldly.

He leaned forward, but I didn't move, I was too transfixed, and when he was inches away from my face I smelt it. Upon his warm breath I smelt rust and tasted the bitterness of salt when I inhaled through my mouth. My eyes widened and my breathing picked up…blood.

Edward nodded and then lowly said, "Say it." He was so close to my ear, his nose brushed against the shell of it. "Say it out loud."

I mustered up as much courage as I could, I was the Queen of the GOTHS for crying out loud, but it still came out as a whispered squeak, "Vampire."

He leaned back and looked at me, his eyes still black, passionate, determined. Then in a husky voice he said, "Now, poppet, ask me what we eat."

"You won't hurt me," was all I can get out.

He smirked and placed his glass back on the table in front of us. He clasped his hands together and leaned on his knees. "That is not what I asked, my love. I said: ask me what we eat."

I took a deep breath and looked at him, "If you were going to hurt me you would have done it already. Or do you like to play with your food?"

He took my hands gently into his and I was surprised I let him. All of my human instincts were telling me to run, but I couldn't. Because a part of me, and I am really not so sure how big that part really was, but it was large enough to make me want to stay with him and find out more. Curiosity killed the cat, my inner voice said. My only reply back was, I don't have a cat!

"My Isabella," he stroked my hands gently with his, "I wanted to kill you the moment I smelled your scent in the halls this morning!" This admittance on his part did scare me and I started to rise, but he pulled me back down and pulled me closer. I was practically sitting sideways in his lap as he buried his face in my hair and started to run his cool lips up and down my neck. I closed my eyes, how I have always wanted him to do this in my dreams and here I was living it, enjoying it.

His lips moved closer to my ears and he whispered lowly, "Oh yes, to feel my lips and teeth on your neck, sucking gently and your scent envelopes me and your taste flows though me. MMMHHhhhm, Bella, that would be the greatest heaven, but do you know what would be even greater?" His arms held me tightly to his body and I had no choice but to grip his shoulders in a feeble attempt to control the situation and myself. I shook my head. He was a vampire, he admitted he wanted to kill me, what more could he want?

"Oh, Baby," he purred and I shivered, I so loved his man's voice. "I want you. All of you: mind, body, soul." He kissed his way up my jaw, running his tongue softly and gently till he was facing me. "Open your eyes, baby." I did and saw they were still black, but full of something I couldn't put a name on but wasn't scared of. "I want your dreams and your reality. The ENTIRE package, Bella!"

And then he kissed me, and had I not felt my heart beating its way out of my chest, I could have sworn I died.

EPOV

I know it was a risk telling her everything, but I have always prided myself on my honesty. I want Bella; I want her here with me or wherever we end up in the future. To be by my side, to rule with me over our court, whole heartedly, but would she want that? I ended the kiss and felt her body trembling, but when she opened her eyes to look at me it wasn't fear I saw.

Was that lust?

I brushed my thumb over her lip and her tongue came out to great it, swiping it lightly before retreating, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face. I gave her another small, soft peck and sighed heavily.

Her voice came out lightly and surprised me. "What do you eat, my lord?"

I smiled at her and she blushed, I stroked her cheek. "My family and I are vegetarians, if you will. We only eat animals. When we feed from humans, we go into a frenzy of sorts, the blood makes us aggressive and very few relationships are formed from anger. Not relationships anyone would want." I sighed as she snuggled closer, placing her head on my shoulder. "I am not sure why, but the blood of animals allows us to feed and be sated, but also allows us to form bonds that many relationships need."

She sat up and looked at me, her brows furrowed in confusion. "You said something earlier about mating," she began to turn a lovely shade of scarlet, "d-do you mean you want…that w-we are sup..."

I put a finger on her lips, stopping her train of thought. "Vampires mate and they do for life. I am not talking about just sex. Is that what you are nervous about, poppet?" She nodded her head and stared down at her hands. "Baby, I am not going to force myself into your dreams, do you think I would force myself into your bed?"

She looked at me then, wide eyed and doubtful. How could I blame her? We have been together for months, but only in her dreams. Technically we just met today and here the poor girl thinks that I plan to mount her whenever I can get my hands on her. The thought has merit, my internal voice agreed, but I shook my head in disapproval, never without her consent!

"Mating also is a form of marriage. There is one mate out there for every vampire, but only one. When they find that one there is a pull and they can never be parted for long. Jasper feels the pull with Alice, even if Alice is human." I stroke her cheek and look at her lovingly. "And I feel that pull with you, my sweet poppet. I want to touch you, kiss you, be with you in every way you will let me. It is very strong this feeling I have for you. From our times together, I know you feel it too."

She shook her head in acknowledgement, she felt the pull, the need. "Why is Alice still human? Doesn't she want to be with Jasper forever if they are mates? When she dies, doesn't that cause Jasper pain?"

Oh, my perceptive one. I let out a sigh and a small chuckle. "That is their story to tell you if you are so interested. Let's just say that sometimes it has been Alice who has said no and then other times it has been Jasper. They find each other every time she is reincarnated, but it is a hell of a process. There were a couple of times I wanted to kick his ever loving ass while he was waiting for her, ugh!"

She giggled, her smile so bright, but then it frowned and she looked up at me again. "I have a few more, but then I think I should go home, to digest all this if you will."

I nodded, understanding this was a lot to take in.

"Sunlight?"

"Movie hooey! It bothers our eyes, because they change with the type of blood we digest or to show our emotions. I am sure my eyes have gotten darker at different parts of our conversation" She nodded. "Hence the reason for my Raybans."

"Stakes, garlic?"

"Hooey, we are too strong to have anything penetrate. Other vampires can kill us because they are strong enough. And there is the werewolves that can too. But garlic? No."

"Turning into bats, mist…."

"Oh, that would be such fun." I laughed and looked at her, Bella's eyebrow cocked in annoyance and I smiled at her. "Let me put it to you this way; your dreams were the only thing mystical that I can do, and that was with help from Alice. I can't transform. I am severely fast, incredibly strong, and love to dance."

We both laugh and she looks up at me thoughtfully. "I should go home now. I know I will have more questions later. Can I call you if I need to know more?"

I smiled at her and took her phone, entered my number, and handed it back to her. "Anytime you want, my love... questions or not."

She thanked me and we made our way out the door. When we reached outside it was still daylight, so I offered her a piggyback ride back to the school to get her truck. She agreed and we took off; her laughing in delight this time and not fear. When we reached her truck she turned to look at me, I could tell she was thinking seriously about all this. She stepped towards me, raised up on her toes, and kissed me softly. Her tongue moved slowly on my bottom lip and she pulled back and scrunched her brows in confusion.

"What is wrong, poppet?" I asked as I put a stray hair that had moved forward over her ears.

"I usually get ill from the smell and taste of blood." She looked up at me in what was pure need. "Is it bad that tasting that on your lips just turned me on?"

My mouth dropped open in surprise from that and then I smelled it... my girl was wet and it was all from tasting the blood on my lip. She got in her truck, gave me a small wave, and took off towards home. Jasper's voice called to me over the breeze.

"You are soooo fucked, little brother."

A/N: hmmm, I think I agree with Jasper. LOL Your thoughts?