Author's Note: I'm really sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. It was a complete rewrite. I don't even want to tell you how the original chapter went, but let me just say that this is more in line with the characters as I have written them so far. I have many lame excuses as to why it took me so long, but I won't bore you with the details. Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter. The future ones won't take quite as long to get out. I hope.
Chapter 17 – Meeting
After assuring me that he would be honored to move me into his room with him, Carlisle carried me to his office sat us down on his couch with me now sitting across his lap.
"Did you not feel the pain I was in earlier?" Carlisle asked me suddenly, clearly referring to the fact that Edward's impulse control problems had hurt me and thereby hurt him as well.
"Of course I did." I laughed darkly at him.
"You restrained yourself." He smiled at me. "You even touched my face and didn't absorb any pain. How did you do that?"
"I don't know. I just know that I needed to touch you. I sort of concentrated on comforting you without taking your pain on myself." I told him. "I took quite a bit of focus to accomplish, but somehow I managed."
"I'm so proud of you, my love." True to his promise to kiss me when I finally had my clothes on, Carlisle brought his mouth gently to mine and for the first time, pulled my lower lip gently between his much firmer lips and suckled on it. It was a very pleasant feeling that caused me to lean into him and grip him around his back with one hand and tickle the back of his neck with the other.
Carlisle carefully positioned me so that I was again straddling him. I don't know why, but it seems like every time he kisses me, he reminds me just how amazing he is with his mouth.
I moaned in pleasure as Carlisle put his hand on my upper leg and inched it closer to my thigh and around until he was nearly cupping my bottom, but instead of proceeding, he quickly retreated and pulled away from me.
"I'm so very sorry, my dearest." He chastised himself. "That was very inappropriate."
"If I haven't made it perfectly clear before now, I will tell you outright. I would very much like you to take our physical relationship further," I reminded him somewhat scolding him in the process, "but I don't want to pressure you. Regardless, I don't want to hear, inappropriate, come out of your mouth again."
"I've been holding you back." He lowered his head sadly, reminding me of the time when I thought that he was unhappy that I wasn't ready to kiss him.
"I'm not sad in any way about our relationship." I mimicked his frequent gesture and attempted to lift his chin up so that he would meet my gaze. "I will wait patiently for you to be ready, just as you did for me, but make no mistake; I belong to you, my Carlisle. I love you."
"I love you, my Bella." He responded as he resumed kissing me. This time, he didn't venture into unfamiliar territory with his hands, but instead, he kissed my neck and shoulders until he came to my upper arms.
I was very confused when he stopped abruptly. There was nothing remotely inappropriate about what he was doing, not even by his standards. He was kissing my arms for goodness sake.
"You need ice, my love." He told me with an unexpected edge to his voice.
I looked down and saw what had upset him. It was a very large hand-shaped bruise on my upper arm, near my shoulder, and much to my dismay, there was a matching one on the other side.
"Can you please just use your hands like you did with my ankle?" I suggested hopefully. I didn't want to leave the comfort of his lap just yet.
"Of course." He told me as he gently covered both sets of bruises with his hands.
For some reason, my mind went to what Edward's reaction to the bruises would be, and I laughed grimly.
"What is it?" Carlisle was curious.
"I was just thinking that Edward is probably going to be angry that I wore this shirt and probably accuse me of trying to garner sympathy by showing off my bruises." I explained.
"I hope that isn't the case." He scowled. "I know that he is probably going to try to get out of this, but…" Carlisle was beyond words.
"Well…" I attempted to explain my reasoning. "He's probably smart enough to not try and convince the others that it was my fault that he tore off my clothes, even though I wouldn't be totally shocked if he did. He will probably try a different, more subtle method. We have to be vigilant. He will try to manipulate us."
Carlisle simply glowered.
I could tell by the look on Carlisle's face that he was dangerously close to ripping Edward a new one if he so much as even hinted that I was in any way responsible for anything he did to me today.
I reached up and touched Carlisle's face to comfort him, carefully concentrating on not absorbing his pain.
"I love you." He smiled at me, beaming with pride that I had once again touched him without absorbing his pain. "You are so wonderful."
I blushed and leaned in to kiss him. He returned it eagerly but pulled back after only a few seconds.
"We have to stop doing that, my darling." He sighed, and I furrowed my brow in confusion. "Edward will be here shortly, and I need time to clear my head before he gets here."
"Because you need to calm down or because you don't want to upset him by thinking about me?" I questioned, bordering on anger.
"Um…" He hedged, looking anywhere but at me. "I know that you're open for pushing our boundaries, but Edward reacts badly to my less than gentlemanly thoughts."
"That ends today." I told him abruptly. "I am hoping to one day make love to you, and I don't want you to have to worry about monitoring your thoughts about me because of his bad reactions. It isn't fair to either one of us. I like that you fantasize about me, and I hope that we won't have to schedule sex around Edward."
"Of course, you're right." He admitted, ashamedly. "Edward needs to learn to deal with this, but I'm not sure that he will even admit he has a problem with it. He will probably try to convince us that he was in control before I got there, that he had won out over his urges, and he has no need to be corrected since he was already correcting himself."
"That's what Alice has already suggested." I told him sadly as a wicked thought crept into my mind. I had a sly grin as I continued, "I have an idea about that. I can't tell you everything because I need your reaction to be real, but I will say that I am going to be naughty… if that's okay with you."
"Naughty?" His voice shook.
"Very naughty." I whispered huskily into his ear, grazing my breast across his lips as I sat back down. "Naughtier than that."
He sat gob-smacked for a moment, his eyes black with lust, before his lips came crashing into mine. I eagerly returned the fervor I felt coming from him. His hands were all over my back, unsure of where to be until they settled over where my bra clasped behind me. He gave the strap a sharp tug, snapping it in two. I instantly felt the cups lose the support they provided me.
He was going to touch my breasts! My heart rate practically doubled at that thought. The anticipation was killing me, but nothing prepared me for the feeling of his cold, hard hand coming up the front of my shirt and inside my bra.
"Oh, Carlisle!" I moaned as he lightly squeezed my nipple.
He massaged my breasts gently for what seemed like far too short, and then snaked his hand down between us and cupped my girlie parts, and I was desperately hoping he was headed where I wanted to go, but for some insane reason, I thought of Edward. Not in a sexual way, but in a, we can't do this the first time because of him, way.
"Stop." I only just managed to say in between breaths.
Carlisle froze briefly before he removed his hands from my body and looked away from me in shame, "I'm terribly sorry. I can't apologize enough for allowing my desires to overcome me." His voice was barely audible as he spoke. "It's unforgivable of me to rip your clothes." I could feel the rejection and self-loathing rolling off of him. I never, ever wanted him to feel this way, especially because of me. I wanted to cry knowing that I had hurt him.
"I'm begging you, Carlisle, please don't do that." I pleaded with him while desperately trying to get him to look me in the eye. He didn't respond, probably because I couldn't keep the sadness out of my voice, and to top it off, I got more and more hysterical with each sentence, desperate to show him how this wasn't the same as his experience with Esme. "I didn't stop you out of fear. I'm not afraid or upset about what happened, especially not that you ripped my bra. I just can't go there today because our first time should be special, not because Edward attacked me. I want our first time to be because of us, but I do really want you. Please, don't run away from me."
"I'm sorry, my love." He sighed as he came back to me. "I panicked."
"Me as well." I stroked his face, trying to assure him that I was not afraid of him or upset by what had happened.
"I could tell." He nodded sadly. "There is something I need to know, though. Are you afraid of intimacy because of what Edward has done?"
"Only in the sense that I'm afraid he's going to bust in on us." I explained, and Carlisle sighed in relief. "I am scared of him, though, scared to be alone with him."
"Understandably so." Carlisle nodded. "By the time we are finished here today, I hope to put the fear of God into him. If he harms or frightens you again, I don't know what I will do to him…"
"You'll have to make him leave." I answered for him and he nodded.
"Umm…" I hesitated nervously, changing the subject back to our most recent make-out session. "Is there any way I can apologize without making you more upset?"
"Of course." He held back a laugh. "But I have no idea why you would be apologizing."
"Well…" I took a deep breath to gather my thoughts, "first, I told you that I was ready for more, and then I made you stop after I had teased you…"
Carlisle put his finger up to my lips to stop my apology, "No, my love, you were absolutely right about your reasoning for stopping us. It wouldn't have been right for us to pursue that path today. And don't think for a second that I didn't thoroughly enjoy what we did."
"But I didn't mean to push you that far." I countered. "Maybe I shouldn't be naughty in front of Edward."
"Actually, I think you should." He told me confidently.
"But…" I started to argue.
"Listen, my darling." He cut across me. "I have been struggling with lust since I saw Edward with his hands on you. I guess I am at least a little possessive of you. I tried to contain my urges and not frighten you further. I never expected you to…"
"I shouldn't have…" I mumbled.
"My point is," Carlisle once again interrupted me, "that now that I know how powerful my lust is, I can get a handle on it. I promise, I won't lose control."
"I still feel badly that I manipulated you." I cried.
Carlisle's phone beeped, and he pulled it out and chuckled before showing it to me.
You two are a perfect match of self-castigation! Quit beating yourselves up and DO WHAT YOU HAD PLANNED! – Alice
"I guess she's right." I laughed as well. "…as long as you'll be okay with my naughtiness."
"As long as I don't have to spank you after I spank Edward." He joked.
My eyes widened, and my pulse accelerated. I couldn't stop the image from springing to my mind. I was draped over Carlisle's lap wearing a skirt. He was lightly slapping my bare bottom with his large hand. For some reason, the thought of a little spanking from Carlisle turned me on.
"You want a spanking?" He was positively shocked, and I blushed, quite embarrassed that he had guessed that from my reaction.
"That's okay…" I mumbled, mortified.
"You don't understand, my love." He pulled my chin so that I couldn't look away from him. "I thought that you would never go for it, but I would really like to try it once we're married."
"Just so long as it's clearly for fun and not a punishment." I let him know, happy that he was willing to do this for me.
"Agreed." He nodded. "Playful, not painful."
I shifted forward to give him an encouraging kiss when I felt my bra shifting over my front. I had forgotten that it was broken.
"Um, I need to go…" I couldn't quite say it, looking down at the front of my shirt.
"Of course," he laughed. "I'll let you get dressed while I take care of something."
While Carlisle ran downstairs to do whatever he had to take care of, I walked back to my bedroom to put on a new bra. I didn't know what Carlisle was doing, but I decided to trust him. He could do things that he didn't tell me about.
When I got to my room, my stress over what Carlisle was doing faded away when I remembered what had happened earlier. I became frightened to be in this room alone. Though I knew it was useless, I locked the door. I shook as I stood in front of my dresser, but I had to do this. I had to win out over my fear of that stupid closet and of Edward.
I trembled as I put on my new bra, looking away from the closet. It took me extra-long because I couldn't stop my hands from shaking, and I stared at the door, very nervous that somehow, Edward was going to show up and break open my door. It wasn't as if that flimsy lock could keep Edward out. The only one who would be stopped by a locked door was me.
By the time I had managed to get my clothes on, I was dangerously close to having a panic attack. I got out of the room as fast as I could and a repressed sob escaped my lips as I collapsed to the ground.
I hadn't been on the ground for a full second when Carlisle appeared by my side, scooping me up into his arms.
"Oh, Bella, I'm so sorry I left you alone in that room…" He trailed off sadly as he carried me forward to his study.
"Don't." I managed to squeak out through my sobbing, the same time his phone beeped again.
"Alice agrees with you, my darling." He informed me. "She also says that they will be here in five minutes. Do you need an Ativan, my love?"
"Probably, but I want to be coherent for this family meeting." I told him, my sobs dying down.
"Just rest for a moment, then." He encouraged me to snuggle into his embrace.
I took deep breaths and calmed myself, but all too soon, the other members of the Cullen family were filing into Carlisle's office with Edward in the middle. Like expected, he eyed my shirt with great contempt.
"Oh my g…" He started to say, and I felt Carlisle stiffen beneath me in pure rage.
"Let me stop you right there, Edward." I interrupted. "I'm fairly certain that belittling me in any way about anything would be a monumentally bad idea. Carlisle is about to snap."
"But that shirt…" He kept on pushing.
"I chose that damn shirt for her Edward because she was too frightened by your little stunt to go into the closet to pick something out." Carlisle snarled at him.
"Then fuck you, Carlisle." Edward growled right back at him. "You put her arms on display just to upset them all more!"
"And also, let me tell you that you had better not blame any of this on Carlisle." I continued angrily. "I will let Rosalie kick your ass if I even think you've hinted that he was to blame for your actions."
"Thank you, Bella." Rosalie looked like she had just won the lottery.
"No problem." I smiled at her, and then turned to face Edward. "Anyway… I suppose you have something to say about what happened earlier?"
"Yes." He nodded tersely. "I was in control. You know this. I was letting you go when your stupid… never mind." He wisely changed his wording. "I see no reason why any of you are making a big deal about this."
The room exploded, not literally, but it would have probably been less noise than the thundering voices of five pissed off vampires. Carlisle was the only one not shouting at Edward's answer. He merely covered my ears.
"SILENCE!" He yelled at them, and they instantly ended their mutual tirade. "While you may be here to witness this, this matter is between Bella and Edward."
"And you." I reminded him.
"Nonetheless, if they want to remain in here, they need to allow the three of us to hash this out." Carlisle was in full leader-mode.
Everyone nodded and waited for one of us to continue.
"You see nothing wrong with how you behaved before you got yourself under control?" Carlisle asked angrily.
"My point is…" Edward growled at Carlisle. "… is that though I may have overstepped, I regained control."
"Overstepped is hardly what I would call it." Carlisle told him very evenly through clenched teeth.
"I am in control now." Edward reiterated, very calmly, very confidently bordering on smugness.
"And ripping off my clothes, threatening me with the closet, and gripping me so hard you left giant bruises on my arms, what was that, just an exercise in control?" I shouted at him.
"Obviously, I'm sorry that I did those things to you." He hung his head in shame, but I wasn't buying it for a minute mostly because of the look of disgust on Jasper's face. "But on the whole, this has all turned out for the best."
"What?" Carlisle and I yelled at the same time and Rosalie hissed at him, unable to suppress her anger.
"Two major things happened today as a direct result of my behavior. One, I know now that I can resist you. And two, since you are sitting there without gloves, I assume that you are better in control of your own gift." He looked hopeful that we would buy this.
"I think you're missing the point, Edward." Carlisle sighed. "She's terrified to be alone in her room because of what you did to her, and she's scared to be alone with you, anywhere."
"And I'm also a little scared that he's not in control enough to allow us the courtesy of being intimate." I reminded him as Carlisle nodded in agreement.
"I'm telling you, I'm in complete control. You don't have to worry about any of that anymore." He tried to assure me.
We'll just see about that. I took a deep breath as I turned around in Carlisle's lap and kissed him hungrily on the lips. Carlisle ran his fingers through my hair as I moved over to suckle on his ear.
"Remember earlier." I whispered, hoping he would take the hint.
In response he worked his hand under my shirt and palmed my breast through my bra, and I heard a growl from Edward. I smirked to myself as I continued on with my plan. I had never been this bold before, but I thought it necessary. I slowly but deliberately thrust my center back and forth over Carlisle's protruding erection. He gasped in response and grabbed my hips to guide me where he wanted me to be. Please, more! Carlisle was an expert at getting the most pleasure out of my body. I let out a rather loud moan and I felt very close to exploding.
Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting roar followed by a thunderous crash, and Carlisle and I very reluctantly split apart to assess the scene behind us. I wanted so much to continue what we were doing, but somehow I managed to control myself enough to attempt to focus on Edward. The look on Carlisle's face was one I had never seen before on him. He seemed to be in the same boat I was, desperately trying to focus on the task at hand, Edward.
Speaking of Edward, he was a furious mess, fuming incoherently at us. He finally snapped us out of it when he yelled, "Damn you, Carlisle!"
Rosalie and Emmett each had their arms around Edward while Esme stood in front of him, blocking the path from him to us. Edward was snarling and struggling to free himself from their grasp. I was a bit surprised to see that Jasper wasn't helping until I noticed that he and Alice weren't even in the room any longer. I put that out of my mind, though, because Edward wasn't done throwing his not so little tantrum.
"You can't do that, Carlisle!" He thundered on. "She's MINE!"
"I. Am. Not. YOURS!" I screeched at him.
"You can't propose." His rage transformed into hopelessness. "I'm not finished trying to win her back."
"Edward…" Carlisle's voice was sad but patient.
"No, Edward." I interrupted. "I've told you this before, but you don't seem to get it. You are finished. I am never going to be with you."
"Bella please!" He begged. "I am sorry for what happened today. I'm changing! You saw it. I was about to let you go!"
"Maybe you are changing, Edward, but that doesn't change the fact that I love him with all that I am." My voice softened. "I will accept his proposal."
"Great job, ruining his proposal, dumbass!" Rosalie growled at him and smacked him in the back of the head.
"Don't worry about that, Rosalie." I told her smiling reassuringly at Carlisle who was radiating joy over what I had said. "I already knew that he was going to propose."
Alice and Jasper attempted to slip unnoticed back into the room while we were talking, but Emmett wouldn't let them.
"Damn, Jasper!" He whistled. "I bet you never thought you would be brought to your knees by Carlisle and Bella! That must have been some powerful lust they were putting out there."
"I hardly think this is the time to discuss that, Emmett." Jasper retorted, winking at Carlisle and me with a slight smirk on his face.
This was highly embarrassing. I turned a bright shade of red, knowing that I was at least part of the reason that Jasper and Alice weren't in the room for a moment. I assumed that they stepped out to relieve Jasper's discomfort, but I really didn't want to know the details.
"I agree," Alice chimed in. "Even though Bella and Carlisle's lust is impressive, we are here to discuss Edward's behavior and hear about his consequences."
"I don't think I need any consequences." Edward told her bitterly. Petulant Edward had returned, oh goody. "Obviously there is no lasting damage to Bella, and Carlisle is… less repressed and fearful of intimacy."
"Not the point, Edward." Carlisle was becoming exasperated with him. "And I wouldn't say that there is no lasting damage to Bella. You nearly broke both of her arms, and you tried to break her spirit by getting her to betray me. Stripping off a person's clothes and threatening harm if the person in question doesn't agree to sleep with you is considered attempted rape in this country."
"No one outside this room ever has to know about that. It was just Bella, and she's not going to tell anyone. There's no reason for me to be…" Edward started to tell us when we were all shocked into silence.
Either Esme must have not planned to do it, or Edward wasn't focused on her because even he was surprised when she reached out and slapped him hard right in the face. I think the most surprising thing to Edward was that as a human, his mother protected him from being disciplined by his father. He probably thought that Esme would do the same. On top of that, Esme was always quick to think the best about everyone, especially him. He was most likely counting on her distaste for violence to help get him out of this.
"That's enough, Edward." She became very stern, more so than I had ever seen in her. "You are my son, and I love you, but you have gone too far. No son of mine will ever behave that way toward a lady. AND… I will never again hear you refer to Bella as just Bella as if that makes what you did acceptable. If anything, it's worse that you did this to Bella. She is a part of this family, just like you. Bella is every bit as much my daughter as you are my son."
Not for the first time, I was reminded that Esme was more of a mother to me than my own biological mother ever was. And it wasn't like she was trying to take my mother's place. It was more like she sensed exactly what I needed from her and filled that role in my life.
Suddenly, I felt Esme's pain. It was intense. She was hurting that her son could ever be so cruel, and because I was hurting. If Carlisle's arms hadn't been around me, I would have not been able to stop myself from absorbing her pain. As it was, I reached as far as I could, trying hard to touch her.
"My love?" Carlisle asked in confusion.
He was probably wondering why I was having a hard time controlling my gift again. So was I, for that matter.
His words brought me out of the haze I was under, and I once again regained control of myself.
During my inner monologue, Edward stared at Esme in disbelief until she turned to address Carlisle. "I'm sorry, you asked us not to interfere."
"I misspoke earlier, Esme." Carlisle conceded. "He is your son as well as mine...
"Any you are my mom." I interjected, causing her to beam at me.
"You have every right to be part of this conversation." Carlisle finished.
"In that case," Esme narrowed her eyes back at Edward, "if your father does not plan on spanking you for this, I will be the one who administers a sound thrashing to your backside."
"A spanking?" Edward asked incredulously. "That's what you are planning to do? I am not a child!"
"Aren't you?" I asked. "I think that you've proven time and again that you isn't really mentally and emotionally an adult."
"Excuse me, little girl!" Edward shouted. "I am nearly a hundred years older than you!"
"But you still have a rebellious teenage mindset." I countered patiently. "You have fought against Carlisle's authority for many years, and you always believe you're right. You never grew up and learned that it's better to allow others to be themselves rather than to control them. You don't seem to grasp the concept that you can't always get your way."
"I will not have you talk to me as though I'm a child." Edward said petulantly. "I was born before your grandparents."
"Alright, old man, tell me this." I remembered a conversation that we had had about his parents. "If your human father were somehow still alive, how would he have handled it if he had seen what you were doing to me earlier?" I asked. "Would it have mattered that you are technically more than a hundred years old? What would he have done?"
Edward stared me down, refusing to answer.
"Don't you all see that she's just brought up spanking because she's trying to punish me because I used to punish her." Edward looked around the room and found no support. He was grasping at straws, and he knew it. "She wants to humiliate me."
"I hope you know that's not true." I told him. "I want to help you so that we don't have to ask you to leave."
"You are such a hypocrite! You fought against every punishment I gave you!" Edward shouted.
"And exactly why should you have been punishing me? Are you my father?" I asked through angry tears. "And I didn't fight against you. I had to go along with it because you're so much stronger than me. There was nothing I could do but accept your horrible sadistic punishments. I would have much rather had a spanking from someone who loved me than go through anything you did to control me."
"Let's just put aside the fact that what you did to her was designed to torment her, and she's trying to help you." Carlisle gripped me tighter as he carefully controlled his anger. I snuggled into him, trying to absorb his strength. "She's being merciful by offering you the choice between accepting discipline or leaving. From what I understand, Jasper and Rosalie wanted to destroy you."
"There is no way you would ever let anyone punish you like this." Edward insisted adamantly, ignoring Carlisle. "And no, Carlisle's sick little fantasy spanking doesn't count!"
"Number one, Carlisle is free to fantasize about me, so stay the hell out of his head, and by the way, I've already agreed to it." I seethed at him, rather pissed that he chose to share that with everyone. "Two, I would be more than willing to let Carlisle give me a real spanking right now if it meant that you would accept your punishment…"
"That is not going to happen." Carlisle interjected vehemently. "He's just going to have to accept his punishment on his own."
"But I know that he won't do it." I turned and smiled at him, and he kissed my lips, returning my smile. "And three, this is about you. You are the one who behaves like a spoiled child."
"And that's my cue to reiterate your options here, Edward." Carlisle took over for me. "You can either submit to a spanking or leave. I do not wish to destroy you."
Edward stared down Carlisle for what seemed like an unending amount of time before he finally yelled out.
"If those are my options, I guess I'll take the spanking." Edward looked like a caged animal. "I hate you both."
The look in his eyes told me that he was dead serious. There was nothing but pure malice in his eyes. I could handle his hatred toward me. I even expected it, but the thought of what this would do to Carlisle… I just couldn't handle it. I started shaking and crying. Carlisle turned my face toward his.
"I'm sorry." I mouthed to him, but I closed my eyes, not able to look at him. I didn't know if he could understand it because my lower lip was shaking so badly.
He stroked my cheek gently with the tips of his fingers until I looked at him.
"I'd rather have his hatred than be unable to look you in the eye, my love. If I let this go unpunished, it makes me just as bad as he is. I should have done this a long time ago, my darling. This isn't your fault." He assured me. "His actions caused this."
"No!" Edward shouted. "It is your fault! Why couldn't you be a normal human? If you had been a good…"
I knew where he was going, and I started to panic, but apparently Carlisle figured it out as well, and he snapped.
"Enough!" He put me on the couch and stood up to face Edward. His patience had reached its limit. "We are done talking about this. Everyone but Edward and Bella leave now."
"No way, Carlisle." Edward stamped his foot, denting the floor a little bit. "This will be embarrassing enough without her being here."
"Too bad." Carlisle answered evenly. "She stays or you can pack your things and go. You will be welcome in this family when you can fully submit to my authority. If you choose to leave today, you will still have to submit to this if you ever want to be a part of my family again. It won't matter if you're gone a week or five thousand years."
I could tell that Emmett and Rosalie were dying to see where this went, but they reluctantly left with the others.
Edward attempted to stare Carlisle down for a good five minutes before he finally threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine! Let's get this over with!"
Edward walked over to Carlisle's desk and placed his hands on it and stuck his butt out in the air.
Carlisle was having none of this, though. I could tell by the look in his eye that he had decided that none of this punishment was going to be on Edward's terms. He roughly grabbed Edward off of the desk and physically carried him to an empty corner.
"I have no intention of simply 'getting this over with.' You are to wait with your nose in the corner until I'm ready to deal with you." Carlisle ordered.
I had been holding back a full blown panic since Edward had started to say "good girl" and Carlisle knew it. He ran back to the couch and scooped me back into his arms.
"He can wait. You are my priority." He told me as he held me.
As soon as his arms encircled me, the dam broke, and I began sobbing and clinging to Carlisle. He made no attempt to quiet my crying, choosing instead to allow me to cry this out.
"Edward. Corner. Now." Carlisle commanded tersely. Edward had apparently been defiant, but I couldn't see it. "I won't tell you again."
Even though his voice was harsh with Edward, Carlisle's hands never ceased being gentle with me. I cried hard for a good ten minutes before my tears started tapering off. Another few minutes, and I felt safe enough to move from Carlisle's grasp. When I finally looked up again, Edward was in the corner, and had his nose right where it should be.
"Are you ready?" Carlisle gazed into my eyes. "Like I said before, he can wait."
"I'm as ready as I'm going to be." I told him sadly, hating that after such an emotional encounter, we were both in for another trying ordeal but also desperately wanting to get past this and on with our lives.
Carlisle got up from the couch and moved a chair to the middle of the room.
"Damn you, Carlisle!" Edward saw what Carlisle was doing and thinking. "I'm not doing this over your knees!"
I actually thought that this was a brilliant place to do it, and probably more merciful to Edward as well. First of all, it showed Edward just what Carlisle thought of his childish behavior today. And secondly, if Edward was positioned how he had been at the desk, I would have a direct eye line to Edward's naked rear-end, but the way Carlisle had positioned himself, if Edward would ever submit, I could look at their faces. Evidently, Edward hadn't thought this through, or he was just determined to fight Carlisle at every turn.
"I'm not discussing this with you." Carlisle told him patiently. "This is how it's going to be."
Not once but five more times, Edward stomped his foot from the corner, leaving large dents in Carlisle's floor. He was being more of a child than I had ever witnessed. I hoped that he was thinking about the irony of the situation. All of Edward's choices were being taken from him, just as he had done to me on numerous occasions, and he responded as a toddler who had been put in time-out.
"That's enough." Carlisle warned him. "I'm growing tired of your temper tantrum, young man."
Edward ceased his childish fit but remained in the corner. After about five minutes, my stomach growled loudly.
"I'm going downstairs to get a bite to eat." I told them before deadpanning. "Don't start without me."
Carlisle chuckled at my attempt at humor while Edward huffed in the corner. His plan was probably to wait me out. I would eventually have to leave or sleep. He probably figured that he could just hold off Carlisle until then, and get his way.
I took my time in the kitchen and made myself a chicken salad, but I skipped the coke. I was already having anxiety issues today. I didn't need caffeine making it worse. I settled for a big glass of ice water. When I was finished, I found a pair of earplugs on the counter with a note.
Wear these. It will help.
I disliked earplugs, but Alice was right. This was going to be loud, and I didn't want to have permanent hearing loss because of it. I carried them back upstairs to Carlisle's office.
I was surprised to see that Edward had finally submitted and was draped over Carlisle's lap. I took my seat on Carlisle's couch, put in the earplugs and waited for this to finally begin.
Much to Edward's chagrin, Carlisle began by taking down his pants and boxers.
"No, Carlisle!" Edward's muffled voice still carried through the earplugs. "This isn't fair!"
"It's more than fair, Edward." I pointed out to him. "But I can promise you that I'm not looking if it helps. The only naked butt I want to see is Carlisle's."
"I appreciate that, my love." Carlisle smiled grimly at me.
"Of course that doesn't help, you stu…" Edward started to call me a name but was cut off by Carlisle's first resounding thwack on Edward's unprotected backside.
I wondered if I should be enjoying this because I most definitely wasn't. I suppose a great number of women in my position would dearly love to see their tormenters being made to answer for their crimes, but the reality of the situation was that I didn't care at all to watch Edward suffer for what he had done. I was here for my poor hurting Carlisle who hated doing this. While I could hear each resounding smack, I chose to solely focus on Carlisle, making sure it didn't become too much for him.
I watched his face transform from sad to determined as Edward apologized over and over, begging Carlisle to stop. From time to time, Carlisle looked to me to make sure I was not frightened of him. Every time, I smiled at him, hoping to reassure him that I wasn't scared.
I'm fairly sure that Carlisle was not convinced by my attempts to assure him. The main problem was that it was a bit of a struggle to restrain myself from making my way across the room to absorb Carlisle's pain. I could feel both Carlisle and Edward's physical and emotional pain, and I could tell that Carlisle's was intense. I fought to keep myself in my seat.
"Are you alright, my darling?" Carlisle's muffled voice broke through my concentration. A look of worry spread across his beautiful face. He was clearly afraid that he had finally crossed that invisible line and made me rethink our relationship.
"Your pain," was all I managed to whimper, and he nodded sadly in understanding but resumed his task.
After about ten minutes, Edward changed from begging to fighting, and Carlisle became more determined to get his point across. His face became harder, and he swatted Edward's unprotected backside with more force. I felt the emotional pain in Carlisle's heart ramp up, and I jumped up to alleviate Carlisle's pain but realized what I was doing. I took several deep breaths and just barely managed to resume my previous position on the couch. Edward must have sensed my distress through Carlisle's mind because he used the knowledge to fight Carlisle even harder. It became so bad that Carlisle had to trap Edward with his legs as he continued to dole out Edward's much-needed ass-whipping. For a very long time, Edward continued to struggle for dominance against Carlisle even though it was clear to me that he had already lost. It seemed as though Edward had developed quite a few layers of brattiness that Carlisle had to systematically break through before Edward would fully submit to his punishment.
Finally, after I don't even know how long, Edward collapsed into a wallowing mess over Carlisle's knee and Carlisle once again looked up at me.
"Cover your ears, my love." He urged me, and I quickly obeyed.
Even through two layers of ear protection, the final swats resonated like an explosion. Carlisle slowed his pattern considerably but brought it down with more force than I had ever seen before. In between each stroke, he lectured Edward a bit or asked him questions. I couldn't hear what he said, but the few words I could make out from his beautiful lips looked like, "If you ever…"
Finally, it was over, and Carlisle was rubbing Edward's back. At the same time, he silently got my attention and motioned for me to turn around. Assuming that Edward wanted to stand up and fix his pants, I acquiesced and took out my earplugs wanting to know when it was safe to turn back around. I was glad that Carlisle afforded me this courtesy because I had no desire to see Edward naked.
"He's decent." Carlisle announced after a few second.
When I turned around, I found a different Edward than I had ever seen. He was curled up like a small boy in Carlisle's lap, and Carlisle was stroking his hair.
Not wanting to disturb Edward's much needed father/son time with Carlisle; I called Esme to come get me. Like Edward needed time with his dad, I desperately needed time with my mom.