Author's Note: This is the next to the last chapter. I hope to start a sequel soon, but it could be awhile before it gets posted. Thank you all for reading and especially those who review.

Chapter 21 – Beautiful

Carlisle rolled on to his back and pulled me on top of him while we came down from our high. I snuggled on to him and stared deeply into his eyes.

"That was wonderful." I finally broke the silence with a reverent whisper. "I couldn't imagine anything more perfect."

"It was indeed, my angel." He kissed me on my forehead.

Due to the lingering taste of Carlisle on my tongue, I couldn't get his taste out of my mind. His extraordinary flavor made me think of the game we played at Christmas and Emmett's question and almost question.

"I never told you, but during our question game on Christmas, Emmett started to ask me…" I began to tell him, but he interrupted me.

"You were going to say me, even then?" He seemed shocked, remembering that Emmett nearly asked me who I wanted to lose my virginity to.

"I actually almost said you anyway even though he switched his question to favorite food." I laughed. "But it's funny because now, it's true. You are my favorite food."

And it was. His essence was the most fabulous thing ever created. I knew there must be a God because only God could make something that tasted that good.

"I could say the same about you, my darling." He agreed with me. "No animal could ever compare to the flavor of you. You are the pinnacle of heavenly delicacies."

"And the other thing…" I meant making love for the first time. "That was unbelievable."

I gazed into his eyes and saw that he didn't look as blissfully happy as I thought he would. He looked like he was straining a bit.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked, worried that he hadn't enjoyed the experience as much as I had. I desperately hoped that it wasn't what I thought it was. I was very close to tears upset that I wasn't what he had expected.

"No," he told me as he looked down at me and saw my hurt and confusion, "especially not that, my love. You were amazing. I just thought that you might be more comfortable sleeping if I cleaned up our mess first." He explained.

I looked behind me to the place where "our mess" was and I gasped. There on the white sheet of the bed was my blood mixed with his semen. I started to cry in earnest.

"It's so beautiful." I turned so my back to him so that I could see it properly. "You can't ever wash this sheet."

"The blood doesn't make you faint, my love?" He asked me.

"Not at all. I wonder why." I thought about it for a moment, then sniffed. I couldn't smell the blood at all. "It's probably because your… contribution… masks the smell."

"Really?" He sounded a bit shocked. "Your blood is all I can smell. I can't even detect my… contribution," he teased me using my word instead of the medical term, "at all."

"Well, your sperm," I got brave and actually said the word, "tastes like the most fabulous thing I've ever eaten." I told him, my mouth watering at the memory of his delicious essence. "It's a struggle not to lick the sheets clean."

"You'd think I would be the one that struggled with that." He laughed.

"I thought you had perfect control." I reminded him. "I never thought you would be tempted to taste… my blood."

"Normally, I don't but after tasting you so intimately, I am intrigued as to what your blood tastes like." He admitted sheepishly.

While we were admiring our creation, my hand kept creeping over toward the sperm to capture some. Carlisle thought it was hilarious.

I turned toward Carlisle to make it harder to ruin our comingled fluids. It didn't take away my desire in the slightest. I started staring down at his… penis. There I thought the word… now to just say it out loud.

"Can I…" I lightly stroked the tip of his manhood as I nervously started to ask him if I could give him another blow job, but he got my meaning.

"Of course not, my love." He told me with a rare air of confidence to his voice. "Right now, we're tied."

"Tied?" I didn't quite understand what he was telling me.

"Two orgasms a piece." He shrugged.

"I'm not keeping score." I laughed at him. "Besides, I reallylike doing… that."

"But I am keeping score, and if we're tied, then I'm behind." He laughed at my confusion. "I hope to give you at least twice as many orgasms as you give me."

"Then, you are in for a real fight once you change me." I narrowed my eyes in mock seriousness. "When I'm as strong as you are, you are going to have to decapitate me to separate my mouth from your manhood if you want to keep that average up."

"That's a disturbing image, my love." He dissolved into a fit of very unmanly giggles.

His laughter was contagious, and soon, I was giggling right along with him.

"Speaking of disturbing images, I hope you don't think I'm weird, but can we take a picture of our mess? I want to remember the way this looks even when I'm like you." I asked him.

"Of course we can, my darling. And the only reason I didn't take the picture already is because I have perfect memory. I won't need the reminder." He gracefully disentangled himself from me and retrieved his phone from his pants on the floor and snapped a few shots of it from different angles.

"Thank you for leaving me out of the photos." I told him sincerely.

"Like I said, I have perfect recall. I don't need the pictures to remind me how exquisite you look, and I don't want anyone else to see." He whispered huskily to me though he remained standing at the foot of the bed.

He was still erect, and I was finding it difficult to not jump off the bed and drop to my knees in front of him.

"If you aren't going to let me have a taste, perhaps you shouldn't tease me." I licked my lips hungrily causing him to groan.

"I know you are willing, and probably a little eager to please me, but I really do want to wait for you to be fully healed." He rushed back to my side, hiding his very prominent erection from my sight.

"And you don't want to use your mouth on me so soon after my hymen broke for fear of triggering the change?" I asked, assuming that was the reason.

"Yes, that would be unfortunate if you were writhing in pain when I intended you to be writhing in pleasure." He nodded.

"We really don't have to be even," I practically begged him to let me do it, "and I really want to."

"Please don't ask that of me, my angel." His eyes got very serious, and I knew that something was going on.

I concentrated on not absorbing his pain, and I touched his face.

"Talk to me, sweetheart." I coaxed him.

"To me, it's a sign of domination. I have some bad memories concerning that particular position." He explained. "If I can't reciprocate, I will feel guilty, like I'm asserting my authority over you. My father forced my mother into that position frequently, and made me watch so that I would know how to… dominate my future wife." He trailed off at the end.

"That's awful." I sympathized with him. "But… you didn't force me, remember? I volunteered."

"Yes, I remember, but…" he took a deep breath to calm himself, "I need a little more time before we try that without reciprocation."

"Of course," I agreed. "You wouldn't force me to have sex in the bathtub. I won't do anything that makes you uncomfortable either."

"Thank you for being so understanding, my love." He pulled me to himself and kissed me deeply.

"I'm sorry for bringing up a particularly painful memory." I apologized. "I would have never pushed it if I had known."

"I know." He sighed and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Enough about my depressing childhood, let's get back to our happy honeymoon."

"Is it really that simple for you?" I could still feel his pain, so I knew that he was still struggling. "I can feel your pain. Tell me what I can do."

"Oddly enough, making you feel good makes me feel better." He smiled at me as his hand slowly migrated toward my center.

I stopped his movements.

"Umm…" I hesitated, wondering how to politely tell him that I didn't want to go there alone.

"Are you kidding me?" He laughed, kissing me on the top of my head. "You are keeping score."

"Shut up." I tried hard not to laugh back at him, but failed. "Fine, you're right. I would feel so guilty if you brought me to release and you didn't get to go there with me."

"We really are two peas in a pod, aren't we?" He asked rhetorically. "You'll just have to get by with the memory of my taste until you're healed. I will do the same." He kissed me and caressed my bottom, making me curse my frailty and tenderness.

"You're evil." I pouted but completely ruined the effect by giggling.

"Yes, and you really seem to hate it." He told me sarcastically.

"Your dominate side is such a turn on, sweetheart." I told him seriously. "I loved it when you gained confidence. Do you think you could do that more often, take control, I mean?"

"I could…" He seemed nervous to actually try that. "I would have to be evil, as you so eloquently put it."

"I'm not sure you have it in you to tease me." I challenged him.

"You have no idea." He growled at me softly. "I plan on showing you just how evil I can be next time."

"Bring it on, Doctor Cullen." I kissed his chest. "But just so you know, two can play that game."

"I have perfect restraint, my love." He kissed my nose in a very patronizing manner. "You can try to play that game, but you will lose."

"I am well aware that you have spent the last three hundred or so years resisting human blood, but that doesn't mean you are in any way prepared to resist me when I decide to really turn it on." I smiled sweetly at him and stroked his erection.

"You little…" he paused to control himself, "tease." He growled softly in my ear.

I loved that Carlisle only called me tease. He seemed to instinctively know that I didn't want to be called anything vulgar. I snuggled into him.

"You know, if you want visions of my body to be yours alone, we're going to have to murder Edward." I told him seriously before continuing very suggestively. "I plan on giving you an awful lot to think about while we're here."

"Hmm…" He looked thoughtful. "I'm not sure I'll be able to keep this from him completely."

"He's seen me naked, Carlisle." I reminded him. "Plus, if he gets all possessive, you might want to accidentally remember tonight and show him what's what."

"The thought has crossed my mind." He admitted sheepishly. "I doubt he would be very pleased to see you screaming my name in pleasure."

I laughed at the thought.

"Or about how I can't get enough of you?" I suggested, grabbing his behind firmly. "Or how my every thought is consumed with how you taste and when I can have another drop of… you?"

"Edward would love to hear those thoughts, my dear." He tried to sound sarcastic, but it really sounded very strained, almost like he was having a hard time resisting me already. "But I'm almost positive he'd prefer a spanking to seeing anything we've done so far, including the mess we've left on the sheets."

"I want to frame it and hang it on the wall." I told him nervously, serious about wanting it, but quite aware that it would be completely inappropriate.

"That would be an interesting piece of artwork." He laughed. "But I don't think it would be fit for public viewing."

"Can we at least take them off the bed, so that I don't accidentally roll over and ruin it in the middle of the night?" I bit my lip thoughtfully.

"We can." He nodded as he lifted me off the bed.

"Since I can't wash the sheets, I will settle for washing you… in the shower of course." He told me. "And you're right. We don't want to ever ruin your beautiful blood stain."

"My blood isn't the only thing that makes it beautiful, sweetheart." I twisted gracefully in his arms to kiss him. "It's because it's a mixture of both of us."

Carlisle shifted me to one arm while quickly changed the sheets. It was surreal watching him take the sheets off the bed, completely naked, holding me in one arm, and successfully put new sheets back on the bed, and he did it all in less than thirty seconds, hospital corners and all.

The shower after was very interesting. Carlisle clearly had other things on his mind than getting me clean. He wanted to tease me as he washed my body. I tried to do the same, but he was right. I was clearly out of my league because of his restraint. I had some serious thinking to do before I could compete with him.

He started with the less erotic parts of my body and carefully scrubbed every inch. He then moved on to my backside using the rag on one cheek, and his hand on the other. He then moved between my legs to wash the blood of, but he was moving so slowly, I was panting with need for him. He then moved down to wash my breasts… with his tongue.

When he stood, I abandoned my teasing plan and just grabbed his erection and gave him a squeeze before I tried to drop to my knees to finish the job.

My perfect husband laughed at me before he picked me up and carried me back to our newly changed bed. He positioned himself beside me with his left arm under my head so that we could stimulate on another. I stroked him as he used his fingers to tease my little nub. It was very hard to remember to keep caressing him as I was lost in the pleasure his fingers were bringing me. I tried to concentrate on squeezing and moving my hand faster, but my movements were much more erratic than his were on me.

I winced involuntarily when he tried to insert a finger into my opening.

"Too sore?" He asked me breathlessly, but I could see a trace amount of disappointment in his eyes. He wasn't alone. I was also less than thrilled that we would have to wait a few days to make love again.

I nodded but kept up my ministrations. He resumed his previous pattern around my clitoris.

I looked at his beautiful member and saw a delicious drop of fluid leaking from the top. I tried to break free from his hold on me to capture it with my tongue, but he knew exactly what I was doing and held me firmly in place, smirking at me.

"I want you to find release as well, my darling." He whispered in my ear, his husky tone sending me over the edge.

As soon as my release found me, I felt Carlisle's cold, sticky discharge hit me in the chest and dripped all over my hand. Instinctively, l brought my hand up to my mouth and licked it clean.

I was brought out of my sperm-induced haze when Carlisle moaned. I opened my eyes and saw that he was doing the very same thing, relishing in my taste as I was in his.

"I fear I have the same problem you have." Carlisle chuckled when he caught me peeking at him. "You are simply too delicious."

"I can't possibly taste as wonderful as you." I argued.

"No, my love, you taste better." He assured me.

"Impossible." I yawned.

"We can argue about this later." He kissed my forehead.

"Mmhmm," I agreed, nodding off, completely spent.

The next morning, I was sore. So sore, in fact, that Carlisle had to carry me around the mansion to give me the tour, but I loved it, and so did he.

That night, we once again brought one another to release with our hands. I really enjoyed it, but I really wanted him to be inside me again. He of course, laughed at my enthusiasm, and checked out my tender area. I was disappointed when he told me it would probably be a two more days.

Those next few days, we spent creating. I sculpted while Carlisle worked on projects with wood. I asked him to teach me a little about woodworking because I knew that I wanted to include it in my next sculpture. He was very patient with me while his hands hovered over mine to ensure I didn't slip and injure myself. After a day or so, I was getting pretty good at it, though not nearly as good as he was, and I knew that I never would be, but that wasn't really the point.

Carlisle hummed while he worked. Though Edward was the real musician of the family, Carlisle's voice mesmerized me as I worked on my creation. First I made the clay part and cast it into bronze because the wood was more easily manipulated. He kept trying to see what I was doing, but I told him that it was a surprise. I think that he thought I was doing something pornographic, but I kept my thoughts to myself. After I cast the work, I stopped for lunch.

After lunch, I began the process of shaping the bronze and filing it. I was ready to apply the patina. This was a long process, which Carlisle wrinkled his nose at because of the smell, but he never said a word. It wasn't really time consuming on my part, it just needed to be repeated every 12 hours for a few days. When I was finished with the first coat, I set it aside to start on the wood portion, knowing that I wouldn't be able to completely finish the wood until after the bronze was complete.

"What are you working on?" I asked Carlisle while I whittled.

"Not a chance, my darling." He laughed. "If I don't get to know what you're doing, then mine is a surprise as well."

"So you're saying that you'll show me yours if I show you mine?" I teased him remembering the first time he said that to me when he brought me home after my birthday. I smiled at the memory knowing that if I hadn't gone through that pain, I would never have been able to be where I am now.

"Absolutely." He agreed dropping what he was working on and rushing over to my side in the blink of an eye.

He kissed me so passionately that I dropped my knife in surprise. Of course, Carlisle caught it before it cut me. I moaned in anticipation as his lips found their way to my neck. My hands quickly worked the buttons on his shirt as I freed him from his confines.

I saw him searching around the room for something briefly. I think he was trying to find somewhere that would be acceptable to make love to me, but he came up empty. I felt my body being lifted. He was going to carry me bridal style, but I wouldn't have it. Instead, I wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me human speed through the house.

Carlisle was an excellent multi-tasker. While he carried me, he peeled off our clothes, leaving a trail of messy work clothes in our wake. By the time we made it to the bed, we were both completely naked.

This time, Carlisle was much less hesitant than our first time. This time, he took control, and I loved it.

He gently laid me down on the bed and began kissing every inch of my body. I was panting with need when he finally reached the place I most wanted him to go, but he skipped right past it.

"Please!" I begged him, but he just chuckled at me.

"You are so going to regret this when it's my turn to tease you." I threatened which he only laughed again in response.

He ghosted over my sensitive flesh, but didn't cause enough friction for any kind of relief. I tried to thrust my hips upward to gain more friction, but he removed his hand altogether.

"Carlisle please!" I cried out in frustration.

This time, he relented and his fingers were quickly on my sensitive nub, rubbing it very slowly and softly. I sighed in relief. Soon, his mouth found my right breast, and he flicked the nipple with his tongue before pulling it slightly inside his lips and giving it a firm tug. I gasped in response. He gave the same treatment to the other side. All the while, he was slowly increasing the pressure between my legs.

Soon, he was sliding down my body. His magical tongue left a cold, wet trail. When he reached the promise land, he gently caressed me with his tongue. It felt magnificent. It wasn't long before the coil tightened inside me, and that sadistic bastard just stopped. He was so dead. When it was my turn, I was going to torture him until the only thing he remembered was my name.

He laughed at the frustrated little scowl on my face, but got off of me and walked away.

"Are you kidding me?" I screamed at him. "Get your sparkly ass back over here and finish what you started!"

"I'm not sure if you're fully healed?" He teased.

"Please." I whimpered, my own hand heading down to bring myself to release. I had never done anything like that before, but I was on fire with a burning need for him, and he just left me high, and not so dry.

"I don't think so, beautiful." In an instant, Carlisle was hovering over me and holding my arms above my head.

"Please." I begged him, putting on my best puppy-eyes. Though he had me pinned to the bed, I wasn't afraid. I was desperate for him.

"You mean you declare me the master teaser?" He grinded himself against the very outside of my sex.

I whined pitifully and tried to impale myself on him.

"Not a chance, my love." He chuckled at me. "I can stay in this position all day long."

"Even if I pout?" I stuck my lip out and tried to work up some tears. The tears failed to fall, though because I wasn't even the least bit sad only very sexually frustrated.

"Especially if you pout." He growled at me, smiling the whole time.

I tried. I really did. I stared at him for a very long time, trying to see if I could outlast him, but finally I gave in, knowing that someday soon, he was going to have to answer for this.

"You win." I attempted a growl. "For now."

"Forever." He corrected me as he thrust painfully slowly into me. He was torturing me, and I loved every second of it.

"Harder, please, harder!" I chanted, desperate for him.

He gradually picked up the pace until I was nearly ready to explode, and then he once again stopped, pulling completely out of me. I squeaked out a little complaint, but I couldn't say any words. I was on edge, very ready for him to finish.

"You were very unconvincing earlier when you declared me the winner, especially when you added that little, for now, bit." He looked at me expectantly.

I couldn't believe that he was actually doing this to me. Where had my shy Carlisle gone? When had I unleashed this incredibly sexy beast?

"You win." I mumbled and tried to get him to resume.

"I can't hear you, my love." He taunted me and licked my nipple. We both knew perfectly well that could hear what I just said. "Maybe you should enunciate."

What else could I do but agree with him? If I had been able to think clearly at the time, I would have been fully convinced that the U.S. should change their interrogation techniques to torture al la Carlisle. As it was, I couldn't think about anything but needing him badly, right now!

"You win." I was practically in tears.

"Are you sure?" He was relentless.

"Yes, please!" I begged him. "You win! I mean it!"

"That's what I thought." He smirked at me as he quickly thrust back into me.

I briefly, and I mean very briefly considered telling him to stop, but at this point, there was no way I could. I was on a collision course toward my release and the crash was eminent.

He reached down between us and rubbed me one more time, and that caused my body to explode in pleasure unlike I had ever felt before. Wave after wave of ecstasy crashed over my whole being for what seemed like an hour. When I had come down off of my Carlisle induced high, I found my beautiful husband staring at me in awe.

"I see that I didn't upset you with my taunting." He chuckled at me.

"I knew you would never get me that worked up and actually walk away." I kissed him on the lips. "Besides, now I get to pay you back."

"You mean try to pay me back, don't you?" He teased me.

Instead of answering him, I grabbed him down below and stroked him softly until he was once again ready to make love. I didn't have it in me to torture him at the moment. I just wanted my gorgeous, wonderful husband over and over and over again.

Later, much later, after less torturous rounds of lovemaking, I made my way back to the workshop to apply another coat of patina and work on the wood carving some more. The carving took me a lot longer than sculpting because well, I went through five of them and wasn't satisfied. I was new at this, but this was ridiculous.

"Damn." I swore, throwing my mediocre carving against the wall.

"Problem, my love?" Carlisle stuck his head into the workshop to check on me.

"I can't get this quite right, and it's frustrating me." I was nearly in tears.

Carlisle surveyed the discarded wood halves of my creation and looked at the bronze half, smiling.

"Oh, I see what you're doing." He nodded. "And you're doing it wrong."

That was harsh. He had never spoken to me that way before. He had never been anything less than encouraging about my work. I looked at him in shock, tears beginning to fall from my eyes.

"Don't take it that way, my darling." He laughed, kissing my forehead. "I only meant to say that this is supposed to be an abstract representation of our lovemaking, yes?"

I was surprised that he had figured it out from the discarded wood halves and completed bronze half. I nodded, blushing.

"You're the bronze, correct?" He didn't wait for me to answer. "And you can't quite get the wood to represent me?"

"Yes, I just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong." I sniffled. "Why can't I get your half right?"

"Because you're not me." He explained. "You wanted to recreate our lovemaking by yourself, but that, my dear, is impossible."

"Obviously, it isn't possible to actually recreate our lovemaking, but I thought that metaphorically and artistically, I could." I shrugged. "It probably was foolish of me to ask you to teach me woodworking instead of collaborating with you. I just wanted to surprise you, and I had never worked with someone else before, but it sounds right, doesn't it?"

"Absolutely." He agreed.

"Please create this with me." I kissed his lips.

He swatted my bottom playfully and told me, "Go make yourself some dinner. I have an idea, but I want to surprise you."

I smiled as I walked away knowing that I would find a beautiful masterpiece when I returned. It wouldn't be as glorious as Carlisle, but it would still be wonderful.

Of course, his carving was completely beautiful and fit perfectly with my sculpture. My half was full of gracefully flowing curves, and I had tried to do the same with his, but it didn't look right. Carlisle chose to make his side out of intricate sharp angles to contrast mine, and it was beautiful, especially when we fitted the two halves together.

Together, we took the statue and placed it on the mantle. He put his arm around my waist as we looked in awe at the statue that we created together. It was now my very favorite piece.

"Make love to me?" I asked him.

"Anytime, my darling." He told me as his lips crashed into mine, and we melted onto the floor.