unbeta'd

And Yet They Shine

Lithe

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Bella was slow to wake. Her mind was caught between dreams and not dreams, where she was wanted and loved, where she was cocooned in warmth. Where his green eyes played across her body, making her feel sexy and lithe and wanton.

"Pretty Isabella," he whispered, his breath tickling her neck and ear.

She stretched, eyes still closed, and felt the delicious pull of her muscles, sore from a use that left her flushed. Smiling, she turned her face toward him, and accepted his mouth on hers, eyes still closed, coming more and more awake with each pass of his lips.

Her hand reached toward his face and caught it, and it was then – and only then – that she opened her eyes.

"She wakes," he whispered against her mouth, and kissed her again at her responding "mmmm."

Watching his face, she kissed the corner of his mouth, the dimple there deepening as his smile grew.

"You love me," she whispered.

"And you love me."

How brightly shines the smile of a god? Brighter than every star, in every sky.

His fingers played against her pale skin. They raised gooseflesh in their wake. She pushed his hand against her stomach, pressing it down, guiding it to the place where she was still tender. Her hips arched toward him and she felt his quick breath against her neck.

"Isabella."

Her eyes widened as she thought of all the lovely things he could do with his hands. His mouth licked at her neck and she closed her eyes and smiled.

He kissed his way down to her belly, and as she threaded her fingers through his hair, her stomach growled.

Edward laughed and looked up at her. "Sounds like someone's hungry."

Bella nodded her head, realizing it had been at least a day since she'd eaten anything.

Grinning and nipping at her ear, Edward stood and then pulled her from the bed. "Come on, little one. There's a bath for you in the next room."

She flushed for a moment at her nudity, but when she saw the way Edward looked at her, fierce, feral and possessive, she flushed for different reasons altogether.

"You'll have to stop thinking these things, or we'll never get you fed," he said.

"Are you…?" Bella paused confused for a moment. "I couldn't feel you in my head."

"I don't always have to read your mind to know what you're thinking. That blush is going to be the death of me."

Bella giggled and took his hand, following as he led her to the bath.

When she saw it, it was like something from a dream. Large and square, with blue, green, mother-of-pearl and gray tiles, it looked to fit at least a dozen people. As she entered, glossy white bubbles parted way and the scent of flowers came up to greet her.

"I'll leave you to bathe. Your clothing has been moved to our chamber. I've had a few things added, but please choose what you like."

Edward left her to her bath and Bella sank down the large, shelf-like steps into the pool of warm water. As she relaxed, tipping her head back into the water, she realized that she'd never quite felt so at home inside of her own skin. The opulence of Edward's world intimidated her, yet the mysticism of it, the profundity of the world she now inhabited, felt right to her in a way that nothing else ever had.

Perhaps it was a seed planted that first night on the beach, when a sun-god had taken her and made her his own. Perhaps it was a lifetime of stories – stories in which the characters had become her best friends, her favorite people – finally coming true, that made her believe that anything was possible. Whatever the reason, the world she was in, this world of Edward's, felt more real than any moment of any day of her life before.

Bella rose from the bath and found her favorite hairbrush on the vanity. Edward's thoughtfulness touched her. She felt cared for in a way she never had before.

By the time she was dried and dressed, Bella's stomach was telegraphing a relentless message to the world: Feed me! She smiled and opened the door, only to find Edward waiting on the other side. That touched her, too. She'd wondered for a moment how she'd find him, but instead, he'd found her. Had waited for her. The smile she offered felt like a paltry payment, but it was his, nonetheless.

"Let's get you fed, little one."

Edward took her hand and pulled her close to himself. She closed her eyes and breathed deep, smelling the fresh, earthy scent that was his, and his alone. When she opened her eyes, they were outside of her favorite restaurant, a place that served crepes and mimosas and the best coffee she'd ever had.

They'd been seated and ordered their food. Bella ordered a sweet, custard filled crepe, and Edward, who didn't need to eat, ordered food that he thought Bella would like. His need to feed her, to tend to her every desire, was overwhelming at times.

"Edward, why are we here? Why didn't we eat at the palace?"

Edward closed his eyes for a moment, then reached for her hand.

"Do you remember Esme speaking about the laws of hospitality, and each person's obligations?"

Bella had a dim memory of Esme and some kind of fight, but the whole of that moment was gone to her, and she shook her head.

Turmoil stirred in Edward's belly. He didn't think he would lose her, not here, not now, but what he had to say could very well turn her against him in the future. Still, he'd learned from the last time that his honesty was the least price he could pay for time spent with the girl next to him. "There's more to it than this, but simply put, if you eat from my hand, in my home, you become-" and here, he cast about for easier words, and finding none, gave her the truth, naked and cruel, for what else could it be?

"If you eat from my hand, in my home, you will become damned to a life spent bound to me. To my kingdom. As my queen. I would never ask you for that sacrifice."

Isabella sipped from her champagne glass, mimosa had always been one of her favorites, and considered Edward's words.

"So if I take food from your hand, does that mean literally?"

The question surprised Edward, and he considered it long enough for their food to come, long enough to watch as Bella bit into a ripe strawberry, her tongue sweeping out to chase an errant drop of juice. Long enough for her to close her eyes and moan at the light, creamy crepe as it hit her tongue, and long enough for her to reach across the table and take a forkful of potatoes right off of Edward's plate.

"I think," he began, wanting to take every precaution, "I think that even if you take the food from the table, that the laws are still the same. The binding is an important part of our culture. It is a marriage that cannot be undone, not in the face of disagreement or madness, not even, in your case, in the face of death. Once bound, you will be mine, and I will be yours, forever."

Bella had paused her eating to listen to him, watching as his green eyes darkened, and as they lit again with new fire as he spoke of forever.

"So every time I'm hungry, I'll need to come to the surface to eat, is that right?" Edward's discomfort at the subject was painful to watch, and Bella reached across the table to hold his hand.

"Yes. I can make arrangements to make this easier. I can – we can hire a chef, keep your apartment, anything that will allow you to eat comfortably without invoking the old laws. Whatever you need, Isabella."

His fingers had tightened their grip on her hand, and the intensity in his eyes made Bella's heart beat hard inside of her chest. This is what it was to be wanted by a man – by a god. This is what it meant to feel alive.

Wiping her mouth on her napkin, Bella returned Edward's fierce grip. "I'd like you to take me back now. To our chamber. Take me home."

The sound of Edward's gasp lit a fire inside of her heart. In a moment, they were home.

Isabella went to the bed and sat, her mind filled with a million things. Her past…what was there for her? A degree for a future she couldn't imagine. Friends who hardly noticed her absence. A cold apartment that smelled of dust and disuse, even when she tried to infuse it with life.

Or she could choose this life. A life with Edward, his constancy and quiet support. He was mercurial, she knew that. He could be the happiest man she'd ever known, and if something went the wrong way, prone to fits of temper that could shake the earth with his fury. He had hurt her. His strength was too great for her, and yet, hadn't he made love to her with such great, aching tenderness? Hadn't he tried to please her, in every way that he could? Her clothes lined the armoire, as did a plethora of beautiful gowns that she knew by looking would be a perfect fit. He was interesting and intelligent, and while he could act a child, she hoped – she believed – that she could temper his ways and perhaps bring some softness to his iron rule of the netherworld.

The netherworld. She could reign as a queen here. She could see her father again, her family. And she could, she thought, still go to the surface as needed. If the gods themselves could do it, couldn't she?

She looked up from her lap, and found Edward slouching against the wall opposite her. She rose, closed her eyes and reached her hands out to him. They found their home, where they belonged, surrounded by his warmth. She pushed her mind out at him, willing him to see the future in her head:

He stood, regal as any king, this mighty god of the underworld. The crown he wore gleamed golden in the pale light of the throne room and the dead crowded before him, petitioning, always, to have their voices heard.

And she stood beside him, her small hand in his, in a pale gown of the softest silk and a slender golden crown embossed with a single emerald.

Bella knew the moment he had seen her vision, for he gasped and drew her hands tighter into his.

"In my world, when there is a marriage, it is usually accompanied by a great feast. I wonder, Edward, would you give us such a feast?"

The fire in his eyes was all the answer that she needed.

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Author's Note:

Dedicated to every one of you who asked for it, who kept reading, who loved it or hated it, but especially for those of you who waited for it. My gratitude to you all is simply nothing I can describe. Thank you.

Epilogue is next. I'm hopeful that it will come next week, as it's already halfway done. :)