Disclaimer: These are not Stephanie's vampires.
Chapter Eleven
Isabella Swan
I quickly shed my coat, hanging it off the back of my desk chair, and move over to my window, undoing the little latch and opening it as wide as it can go. And then, I walk backwards, sitting myself on my bed and begin to wait.
Maybe a minute passes before Edward is lifting himself to sit on the ledge of my window, careful not to enter the room and looking at me with wary, hopeful eyes. "Isabella?"
I observe his stiff posture and wonder why he hasn't just come in the room already. I opened the windows for him – didn't that work before? "Why are you just sitting there?"
"You have to invite me in."
I feel my brows furrow. "What? But you've come in before through the window…"
Edward pulls a face. "Not exactly. I just opened it, stuck my head inside. I've only been in your dorm once and that was by silent invitation."
"Silent invitation?"
"There are varying levels of invites."
I stand, crossing my arms over my chest and staring at him, letting my eyes connect with his, violet meeting mint. "Come inside, Edward."
Instantly, his feet are on the floor and he is coming towards me; I am engulfed in his hug, his body shuddering with fine tremors, his nose pressed into my neck. "I have missed you."
I hold my tongue against the stalker comment that pops in my head and allow my body to melt into the cold strength of his own. An immense feeling of true comfort seems to seep into every limb of my body and I feel like I'm breathing easier – I hadn't noticed that I'd genuinely missed him, too. The solace that happens when our bodies are in contact is mind blowing and I want nothing more than to just forgive him, move on without my secrets and settle into my life as his mate, welcoming any and all changes that come with that title.
But my brain is much stronger than my body and I find myself pushing out of his arms, ignoring his brief expression of hurt as I reject his touch. "What is a silent invitation, Edward? How does all of that work?"
"Isabella…"
"Are your really going to keep this from me? You're going to keep secrets?" I demand, forcing my voice to reflect my growing rage through a loud whisper.
His face hardens. "No. I do not like what happens when you get mad at me," he says plainly. "You get mad when I keep secrets, so I will not do that anymore."
My lips twitch at his logic, even as my short-fuse temper begins to settle down. The need he had to please me – which I suspected was a vampire thing because I had never seen any man try as hard as Edward does – was unexpected and ruled the way his mind worked. "So, then, what is it?"
He pushes his hair off his forehead, momentarily stunning me with the vivid mint of his eyes. "A silent invitation is just that – silent. It's an open window, a cracked door, a wave of the hand. It's a loophole that we can use."
"So then why only open the window? Why not come inside?"
He shrugs. "You were always quick to close the window."
I nod, understanding that to a certain degree. I was very aware of how much information had been thrown at me in the last seventy-two hours and I knew that, though it made sense now, my mind would need weeks to wrap around all of it. "And the rest of the invitations…those are verbal?"
"And the most binding," he says. "Silent invitations don't last forever. They can disappear as soon as they come, like with your window. But verbal invitations? Once I am invited inside, I can come in anytime I like. And if my invitation is rescinded, I can't come back inside until you give another invitation."
"So you can come in anytime you want now?"
Edward grins, a wicked pulling at the corners of his mouth that made him look positively devilish – and far too attractive. The smile showed the very tips of his slightly larger incisors, the very teeth that elongate into those dangerous fangs.
The cold October air seeps into the room and I shiver; immediately, Edward moves to the window, his hands blurring as he closes and latches the glass and pulls the cheap curtains over the expanse, launching us into darkness. He clicks on my lamp light and wraps me up in my blanket, guiding me onto the bed before I can truly process just how fast he's moved. "Thank you."
"My pleasure," he murmurs, pushing hair off my face.
It's like, once he got the invitation inside, he was taking it for all he was worth. He didn't hesitate to touch me, to care for me and while my logic deemed it all just too soon, I knew that this was how Edward was meant to be naturally.
Or, well, as naturally as a vampire can be.
He sits beside me, letting his leg press up against my own.
I study his profile as we sit in quiet silence.
"Edward?"
He looks at me and there is a level of apprehension in his eyes – like he knows what I'm about to ask him. Maybe he does. Maybe it's like a vampire instinct thing.
"Are you a prince?"
He blinks.
And then, more slowly than I had ever seen him move, he nods. "Does this change the way you feel about me?"
I'm startled by the question because I don't understand it – am I supposed to feel less? More? Am I supposed to run away screaming? I thought I'd already told him before that nothing could make me run away; the pull between us was too great, too obvious and, while I might get supremely pissed at him, I didn't think I had it in me to ever run away.
"Why would it change anything?"
Edward winced. "Perhaps not the way you feel about me, then."
I shake my head at him. "You're not still keeping secrets, are you?"
His face is blank as his hand reaches out to carefully stroke my cheek, as if I really am made of China. A small smile, one that barely shows his white teeth, comes across his face. "I do believe I have learned my lesson, princess."
I scrunch my nose at him. "Princess?"
"It's a fitting endearment, right?" Edward winks.
"I'm not a princess, Edward," I needlessly remind him. I was certain there wasn't a royal cell in my body.
Suddenly, Edward is pressing me against the mattress, the side of his body anchoring me to my bed as his face hovers over mine. His lips press against my cheek, my jaw, my chin and his eyes do not leave mine – and I can't even comprehend moving my own eyes away from him. "You are my Princess," he purrs, the soft, rolling vibration from his chest sending chills down my spine.
The sound was so undoubtedly primal it made my head spin, my heart pound.
It even made my lower abdomen twist in anticipation – for what, I didn't know.
Edward inhales sharply, his cold hand carefully moving to hold my hip, his eyes smoldering, darkening into emerald green. "My Isabella," he purrs again.
He leans down, running his perfectly angular nose down my neck so that his lips can gently suck on my collarbone. My heart jumps and my breathing accelerates – I have no desire to stop what's happening right now.
I got my answers.
I believe he won't be keeping secrets.
My mind is satisfied and my newly emerging sexuality is taking the reins, controlling my actions and my words. My skin is sparking with electricity every time he touches me – I feel like a live wire.
His teeth scrape against my shoulder and I gasp, suddenly needing to be as close to him as possible – my mind instantly decided that this must be the physical effects of being the mate of a vampire. My body recognized him, craved him, acknowledged him.
I wasn't sure I even had a chance of fighting against the pull – or if I even wanted to.
My blood belonged to him and so did my body.
I was certain my heart wasn't too far behind.
"Edward."
I don't know my own voice – or this breathy, pleading version of it.
Edward moves his face up again, his eyes connecting hotly with mine, the dark green startling and arousing all at once. "May I kiss you?" Edward breathes.
I can't think of a reason to deny him; my lips part and I feel my neck straining towards him, unable to reach him any other way since he has my body trapped underneath his.
His mouth gently caresses my own, simply smoothing over my lips; I feel him inhale and then I hear the distinct sound of his fangs clicking down. They brush against my lower lip, very slightly scraping against me.
My entire body shivers, moving against Edward, feeling every inch of his cold, hard, strong build.
And that is the exact moment that Edward seems to lose control.
His lips are hard against mine, coaxing my mouth to open so that his tongue can greet my own.
His taste is indescribable – all I know is that it's deep, honeyed and dangerous.
And I want more of it.
My hands move to his hair, twining into the thick locks and tugging harshly at the nape of his neck, pulling him closer. We are exchanging breaths as we kiss and it is cool and slick and sweet and perfect, even as his fangs scrape against my skin and I feel the blood rush into my lips.
Edward pulls back for a moment, his hand moving up from my hip, between my breasts and to my neck, angling my chin in the other direction. Just before he moves to plaster my neck with starved, open-mouthed kisses, I see the hauntingly beautiful feral expression on his face – the paler skin, the wider eyes, the darker lips and the long fangs that made indents just above his chin.
And then my eyes are closing and a soft, foreign moan is escaping my throat as Edward's mouth covers my neck – sucking, licking, pulling, scraping.
My back arches as he moves to the point between my shoulder and neck and, as my entire body moves to press against him, I feel a certain hardness that sends thrills of excitement through my body.
"Oh, God," I breathe, letting my body rub against his again.
Edward growls into my neck, pushing his hips against my own and increasing his attention to my neck. "Mine."
I'm aware of my panting, aware of my pulsing blood that is almost literally calling out to him – I can feel my heart accelerate with every pass of his lips.
"Mine," he says again, a softer growl that eases into a purr as he slowly thrusts his hips against mine. My legs have moved to accommodate the shape of his body, to cradle him between my thighs and he's right there – where no man had ever been before. The pressure is mind blowing, even with two sets of jeans between us, and Edward has managed to get the perfect angle.
He sucks on my pulse point, slowly grinding against me, moving in just the right way. "Mine," he purrs, licking at the spot he'd surely bruised as he pulls back just far enough to let our eyes connect.
I swallow, still panting, slowly falling into the sensation of his hips against my own, feeling my body wind up in a foreign way. "Yours," I tell him.
"My mate," he answers back, his voice morphing into a growl. As if to emphasize, he increases the pressure of his hardness against my clit, thrusting hard against me, listening to me moan back in response.
"Yes," I gasp. "Yes, yours."
And I know what he wants.
It's what I want, too.
It's what we both need.
And now that things were cleared up, I had no intentions of denying him or myself. I'd never been one to hesitate – I made my decisions, I stuck to them, consequences be damned – and I wasn't about to hesitate any more on this.
I tilt my head back, exposing my neck again as I arch my hips underneath his. "Yours," I gasp again, a coil tightening within my body.
Edward isn't one to hesitate, either.
His hips easily keep up their grinding pace as he lowers his mouth to my neck again, this time carefully licking at the point where he would bite. I feel his cool breath against my neck and then, the smooth pierce of his fangs, the pull of my blood and the soft sensation of his mouth moving against my throat – and I lose myself, my back arching, my body shuddering, my eyes closing tight as every limb, every finger and every toe is encompassed by wave after wave of euphoria.
Edward growls into my throat, his lips thrusting in an uneven pattern before he stops short and his body trembles against my own.
As I recover, I feel him gently remove his fangs and the languid lapping of his tongue against my neck. He is carefully resting his weight between my thighs as he pulls back, licking his lips before suddenly biting into his own wrist.
"Mine," he purrs, bringing his wrist to my mouth.
And as the first drops of his thick, sweet blood pour into my mouth, my body shudders again in a small, brief orgasm.
I don't take much blood but I do instantly feel the effects of it – I see better, I hear better and my skin feels more sensitive. Edward's eyes are closed and his hips circle against my own again, a soft groan leaving his mouth as he pulls his wrist away, the wound already closed.
Edward doesn't move off me. He is content to deeply inhale the scent of us in the air and cover my body with his own.
And as I breathe deeply, catching my breath, I look at his face, his barely flushed cheeks, his red mouth and his mint eyes – and I feel good.
A/N: Woooooo! If these guys were Sims, I would just say that they totally Woo-Hoo'd lol
Reviews!:
angelari7 – You are so right!
james3142 – Well, I feel like she overreacted lol But then…I don't….
DJW Isabella Cullen – You were so right! I love your penname, by the way. What does the DJW stand for?
LunaDiSangue85 – I think Edward got uhmmm more than a hug. He's good lol
vampyregirl86 – Pshh, that's because Spock was the shiz!
Princessnerra – I think he'll be more honest from now on!
Love M Go Blue – LOL You can have the sweatshirt! I love your super-long reviews! And touching falls under the silent invitation thing – kind of.
Maggiejoma – you are probably right, but I would feel bad for the butterflies lol
Angelwandpk – Aww! One of the best? I could cry!
Twilight Rocker 12 – I totally adore you! And we share the same Twilight-Prince Edward love!
CdrIvanova – That Charlie. He's a good dad, huh?
Dinotopian – I'm pretty sure I fixed it! I think the blog site updated or something because all my links were busted and I was just like, wtf? Lol
Maysnrs – I love your soap box! And you're right – Prince Edward was sort of obvious lol
o0S0o – I hope it was explained in this chapter but she allowed him in her room a few chapters ago and, like he said, that was a silent invitation; so she could totally tell him to skedaddle! Thanks for joining the Rioteers!
Wendemyre – I like your high horse! I have the best readers ever!
FLOW LIZ – Ah, not Volterra in this story! His "castle" will be explained later!
MiSSnicole – They totally sucked each other's blood – and it was hot! Lol
Kaygou – Yeah! Get 'em Bella!
00chely00 – Getting some answers, getting some blood. Bella had a good day! Lol
Sadie1787 – It was pretty fail but at least he tried! Lol
Edward's spouse – Sound advice! I hope to only please those who are pleased by me!
Flavia Ribeiro – Tell the husband hello! That was kind of really awesome lol Glad you flove it ;)
twilight-saga-lover95 – LOL I didn't think it was too harsh either until about a week later and then I was like, that was kind of mean, Bella :p Rose and Em will be coming soon!
Latecomer-Guest – Thank you for reading! Your review was so totally sweet!
TwilightVirtuosa – Yes! These vampires can turn people!
LunaKaleidoscope – Yes! Bella is taking it in stride, mostly because I don't deal with dramatic drama lol
Headinthecloudsss – lol I loved the long review and I understood what you were trying to say. Edward was afraid of breaking his back by carrying her bags!
B – Stay on the edge of your seat but don't fall off!
celia azul – I know! So I figured Bella should be super stunted since she's so smart. Makes total sense
Valentine Rain – HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Belated, of course.
BMSCullen – Perhaps Jasper should have bowed…lol I'm thinking about it!
Pumpkinmykitty – Yay! You see that Bella isn't a static character!
YesMyRealNameIsBella – I hope your life gets back to normal! Sandy was just a big old meanie!
Krystalwinds1990 – The American/Chinese comment was one of my better ones lol
Kimmie41 – Glad you're enjoying this!
Fallunder - :))
Debslmac - :D
And super special shout out to the first review of the last chapter, Michangelina – If I could get to NY and Jersey I would totally volunteer but I'm stuck on the other side of the country! I hope things pick up for you!
Alright, I'm off to put some tuna in pita bread and watch ohh….Criminal Minds lol
As always, be brutally honest. I can take it (and my readers will maul you if your mean)!
~cupcakeriot