For about the hundredth time today, I sniffed Bella's neck, reveling in her glorious scent. She smelled so good!

Enclosed in my arms with my nose practically burrowing into her skin like a hamster, she giggled and squirmed in my arms.

"Stop it already; you know that tickles!"

"Nope, can't do it, sorry." I wasn't really sorry. Who knew how much longer she'd smell this way. Her change from human to vampire had come to an abrupt halt, leaving her still mostly human but with subtle differences that only a vampire could detect. The most obvious was her smell. Before, she'd smelt delicious, of course. Even if she wasn't my singer, I'd still spent many a moment fantasizing about taking a few sips here and there. When close to her, my throat would burn, and I could never fully let down my guard. Now, her scent had gone from being mouth-venoming to cock-lengthening. I could work with that.

Speaking of my cock..."Maybe I'll stop if you stop grinding that luscious derrière of yours on my tortured member."

"Okay, I'll stop."

Shit. "Don't you dare!"

More giggles and then she resumed her slow, sensuous movements in my lap. If only I had some spare boxers, I could let things progress to their natural conclusion. Unfortunately, while the janitor's closet included a lovely selection of cleaning supplies and an impressively horrid odor, it did not have a spare pare of Calvin Klein's.

Look to your left on the middle shelf, dumb ass. You can't smell cotton anymore?

Alice. Sure enough, a neatly folded pair of boxers presented themselves to me. I shuddered to think about what she saw for her to put them there.

Abruptly, Bella's movements stopped again. "Did I hurt you?"

"What? No, of course not. Sorry; Alice sent me a thought that skeeved me out a bit."

She got a contemplative look in her eye. "Of course not? That area isn't sensitive on you like on a human?"

"Why, do you want to be able to do me harm?" I laughed. "If another vampire knees me there, I'll be upchucking gobs of venom. Your sweet tush isn't going to do anything other than make it grow and spit."

"Hmm-like a cobra-I like that."

Her softness started moving on me again, and this time I was able to let things take their natural course-until I realized Alice was more than likely watching us right now.

Stop being your own cock-blocker. My brother getting a reverse cowgirl dry-hump isn't exactly high priority viewing material for me.

She had a point.

"Mm, now I know what all the fuss over lap dances is about."

"It's different for you, though."

"Why, because I'm a vampire?"

"No, because you're allowed to touch me, too."

Why, yes, I was.

Taking the hint, I snaked a hand under her shirt and cupped one of her soft breasts in my hand. It fit perfect, like her boob and my palm were meant to be together. A quiet groan slipped out of her mouth letting me know she liked my touch. The fabric of her bra was still between us, and I simply couldn't allow that situation to continue. With surprisingly expert manipulation, considering my lack of experience, I manged to slide my hand in between the offending—but, I'm sure, very attractive—lace and her silky skin.

All of Bella's skin was soft, perfect, and precious to me. But this firm mound of flesh was entirely different, and I was having a really hard time determining why. Maybe it was the way her nipple pebbled up at my touch or the way her heart beat sped up; I'm almost positive it was in no small part due to the scent of her arousal saturating the room. This small action by me was affecting every part of her body-bringing her pleasure, strengthening our connection. Gently, I massaged her, and learned through all her reactions exactly what she liked. All the while, she kept up her movements in my lap, and I could tell she was trying to learn from me the same way as each involuntary moan she wrung from me lead to a bit of an increase in her movements—a shift here, a nudge there—until I was about out of my mind with it all.

"More, mm, please, more."

I wanted to; oh, how I wanted to. But we were in a closet, and class was starting in a few minutes. Sadly, we were both going to be left wanting for the afternoon until evening.

"Love, I'm sorry. We let this get too far, I think. We have to get going to class."

Her movements abruptly stopped, and she sat up in my lap as if coming awake from a deep sleep.

"Oh, fuck! I completely forgot where we were. This is supposed to be your bedroom, not the janitor's closet. Yuck." She was not pleased.

Reluctantly, I withdrew my hand from under her shirt and started rubbing her back. "I know, but we'll have tonight after your dad goes to bed."

She shifted in my lap until she was sideways and able to face me. Her hand came up to rest on my cheek while her forehead touched mine. "Tonight then," she said, before giving me a soft kiss.

Bella stood up and then extended a hand with a sheepish grin on her face. It was beyond cute how she still felt the need to treat me as human even though she knew I hardly needed assistance up off the floor. She still couldn't get herself something to drink or eat without offering me something. "Just in case," she always said.

"Just in case I happened to feel like vomiting up disgusting bits of food?" was my usual reply.

"How do we want to do this?" she asked. "Sneaky or bold as brass?"

I swung open the door and pulled her behind me into the hallway. "No worries, my dear, my super vamp senses assured me the coast was clear. Our nooner remains a secret." I smiled at her as she turned bright pink and kicked me in the shin.

"It's no nooner if we don't go all the way."

"Practice nooner then, if you will."

"Whatever." She grabbed my hand and started towing me to biology class.

Biology was it's usual scintillating self. Mr. Banner had been spending an exorbitant amount of time playing Bejeweled on Facebook the night before, leaving him without a planned lesson. Thus, we became the lucky recipients of a visit from the AV geek squad rolling in an ancient CRT television, not even a flat screen, and VCR.

As the opening credits to Lorenzo's Oil lit the screen, the lights went out, and I heard a whispered, "Goodnight," from Bella before she closed her eyes and took the opportunity to catch up on the sleep she'd been missing. I'd been spending every night in her room since she'd finally gone back home to her father back on Tuesday afternoon, and it was always the same: she refused to fall asleep until it literally became impossible for her to hold her eyes open any longer. She was logging about two hours a night, and it was starting to show.

This past week hadn't been easy on her, and it was the little moments when we could let everything go and simply enjoy each other that really restored her. Necking in the janitor's closet wasn't anywhere near good enough for her, but when it was the only way we could be close and touch during the day, that's what we did. The rest of her time was spent worrying about her dad, worrying about our future, and constant self-analysis of her every physical attribute.

Tuesday afternoon had been the hardest. We'd finally had to face the music with her dad, and it hadn't been fun. He'd lectured us all—my parents, me, Bella, and even my siblings. Threats were made-long term drawn out threats-and Bella could only look at him sadly since, at the time, we thought she had, at the most, a couple weeks left as her dad's human daughter before we'd have to take her away from him. She took everything he dished out with understanding and compassion, as did me and our family, because we knew what he was facing. Unfortunately, our tender regard for his tirade only made things worse. He was itching for a fight and was in the wrong place to get it. Finally, frustrated and so angry we worried for his health, he took Bella home. My brothers and I followed in the woods, afraid he'd continue yelling at Bella as he drove and get in an accident. Amazingly, they made it home in one piece, and her father finally managed to calm down before delivering his final edict: she was never to be with me again. That was when Bella began to talk.

Emmett, Jasper, and I could only sit there and sink further and further into sadness as we listened. It was especially hard on Jasper, as the emotion from the house practically crippled him.

"Do you remember the love you had for Mom?" she'd asked.

Pain...love...anguish.

"Do you remember how happy you were every time you'd come home and see her waiting for you?"

She was so beautiful; it never ceased to amaze me that I could always make her smile.

"Do you remember how slow the days were as you waited to go home to her?"

Staring at the clock in my car or on my office wall. Remembering some crazy thing you and her had done the day before and laughing to myself no matter who was looking.

"What about how she felt in your arms? When you'd hug her and kiss her?"

Why is she doing this to me? Does she really think I'd ever forget how soft she was? How amazing she smelled? I'll always remember the way she'd give a little tiny nip of my lower lip before ending a kiss or how no hug was complete without a pat on my butt. Fuck, of course I'll never forget.

Bella had been sobbing then, but every word still came out clear.

"Do you remember after she was gone? How that felt?"

I can't take this right now. How dare she compare my feelings for Renee to some teenage flash in the pan crush? Part of me died that day, and I'll never get it back. I don't want it back; it's hers to keep in heaven. I'm only here to raise this daughter of ours, and now she's trying to kill me.

Hearing his thoughts had been agonizing; it was as if Bella's mother had died only a few weeks ago instead of ten years. Their love must have been incredibly intense; he was one of the few humans who actually did stand a chance of understanding the bond Bella and I share.

"Dad, he's that for me. He's the one that makes me feel that way. And if I can't be with him, then it'll be like how you were when Mom died. Please, I know you probably think this is some weird teenage crush. Maybe you think what we did was only a sign of our immaturity and impulsiveness. Nothing could be further from the truth."

The chief tried to deny her words, tried to tell her it was exactly as she knew he thought, but the thoughts died in his mind before leaving his mouth when faced with the weight of emotions coming from her.

Jasper tried to lighten the mood inside, but I stopped him. As much as it hurt to watch her go through this, they needed it. They'd kept the sorrow that still existed within at Renee's loss buried for too long, neither wanting to burden the other. It was time to get it out into the open.

He pulled her into a crushing hug and tried to calm her down. "Okay, baby, okay. We'll figure something out. Okay."

Still in his arms, unable to see his face, she said the one thing she'd been the most afraid to tell him. "I'm not ready to leave you yet, Daddy. Anything else, I'll do. Whatever punishment, it's fine. But don't make me choose, please. Because it'll be him. It will always be him."

I'll never tell Bella exactly what went through his mind at that moment; I don't think she'll ever ask, though. His heart broke even more that day. It's the heartbreak every parent goes through at the realization they are no longer the most important person in their child's life. For the chief, he'd had no warning; it had come out of nowhere, and the pain was extreme. But the man earned my undying respect and gratitude when he didn't breath a word of it to his daughter. He only hugged her tighter and assured her she'd never have to choose; he'd always be there for her, and if I was really that important to her then he wouldn't keep us apart. It cost him a lot to say those words, and I'm sure Bella heard how difficult it was for him to say them.

At that point, I'd asked Emmett and Jasper to return home. I felt Bella would need me after speaking with her father, and I wanted to wait for her in her room. It was going to be a while; I could tell. They were all over the place now, talking about Bella's mom, he admonishing her again for her disappearing act, she trying to reassure him. In the meantime, she made him dinner and they ate and then continued the conversation while a football game played in the background. I could hear the fatigue in both their voices and hoped for their sake they'd take a break soon. The emotional day had drained them well beyond exhaustion.

Eventually, Bella did come up to her room as her father settled in to watch the second half of the game. I'd gathered her in my arms and hummed to her as she sobbed again, the extra anguish she couldn't let her father see, the anguish she felt when she thought of her uncertain future.

I turned to look at her now as she sat slumped in her chair, little snore like sniffles coming from her partially open mouth, and again could find no sign of any further change. It was hard to quantify, but near as we could tell, she'd changed maybe twelve percent of the way. Her skin was still pliant but a touch more resilient. Her brown eyes had a tiny touch of crimson around the pupil; honestly, it was really kind of hot. I didn't tell her that, though. Probably the most positive change was she hadn't tripped or stumbled since that evening.

We didn't know what was going on. From the time we'd brought her to our home, she'd been changing-slowly and without pain, thankfully-but changing all the same. Now, she was stuck somewhere in between human and vampire. She didn't want blood, yet human food had become more of a chore to eat than enjoyable. Her heart beat, and she still had to breathe, but she could hold her breath for up to five minutes. The best part was she hadn't changed enough for a human to notice. The worst part-we didn't know if she was going to stay this way or if the change would resume. It was a very big risk to have her back in the human world in case something happened to reveal our secret. On the other hand, the upheaval it would cause for her to disappear now was best avoided if we could, and it looked like that was the case for now.

The only certainty was I loved her, and she loved me. We'd be together through it all and take it minute by minute. As much as possible we were going to find ways to get a bit of fun and pleasure out of each day, since there was no way to know if or when the shit would hit the fan.

When we were down to the last five minutes of class, I nudged Bella awake so she'd have time to get herself together before her next class. At least gym was a bit easier for her now. The teacher thought it was due to her own skills, which I supposed was better than assuming her student was slowly transforming into the undead.

Bella woke up looking a bit more refreshed than when class had started and gave me a shy smile. "I was dreaming about you."

"Really?" I said, wanting to hear more.

"Mm, I'll have to tell you about it later."

Now that wasn't fair. She about guaranteed I'd spend the rest of the day fantasizing about all the things she may have dreamed about. Knowing her wicked sense of humor, it was probably going to end up being imagining me eating pizza or something equally disgusting.

The bell rang, and I gave her a brief kiss at the door before we headed our separate ways. Spanish required zero involvement from me ever since the teacher realized I knew the language better than she did. I decided to spend my time coming up with my own "dreams." Lacking the ability to sleep, I'd been spending a lot of time since meeting Bella engaged in various fantasies of a more sordid nature than perhaps was proper. After nearly a century of celibacy, though, I was tired of always being a gentleman.

My favorite fantasy involved a certain human girl, a bear skin rug, and a hot summer day. Due to Emmett's fascination with bears, we had so many rugs they were practically coming out of our asses. Still, they had their uses, the fur being soft and thick. The hot summer day, well, that was simply an added luxury to what I was sure would already be an exquisite experience. I couldn't be sure, but I had a feeling the hotter Bella was on the outside, the warmer she'd feel on the inside, and against my cold skin, well, there was all sorts of room for incredible sensation there. Any sweating she might do would be an added bonus for my tongue.

I would take her to my spot, the little meadow I'd discovered that appeared to have been carved out of a springtime Monet painting. The rug would be laid down so the thick stems from the flowers would not scratch my beloved's back. Taking her hand, I would coax her onto the covering, plying her mouth with kisses while running my fingers through her silken hair. Corny, I know.

Then, I'd gently tug her down to the rug until we were kneeling before each other. As if I was opening the world's most precious gift, I'd gently remove her shirt...

Okay, yeah, this is not my real fantasy. I'll be honest. My real fantasy involves bending her over the closest surface and hearing her scream my name while I stroke long and deep inside her hot body. I want to grab her tits and roll her nipples between my fingers until she begs me to stop and never stop at the same time. My tongue aches to be inside her pussy, tasting her very essence. And when she's absolutely spent, I want to sink my teeth into a pulsing artery and drink until she falls into a languid sleep beside me with my cock still inside her and a sleepy smile on her face. I was a vampire; there was no fantasy involving sex with a human that wasn't going to involve blood, even if her scent didn't burn my throat anymore.

But, yeah, maybe the meadow thing would be cool, too, once we'd had a chance to really let loose for a few decades and were ready to slow down. I think my fantasies depended in part on who I heard have sex last. Carlisle and Esme made gentle sound fabulous...right up until I'd hear Rose and Emmett go at it. Obviously, all this exposure to sex while getting none myself hampered my development significantly. I'd just have to make sure we tried it all different ways until we figured out what we liked best. Maybe I'd bring a desk to the meadow? Oh, well, I still had thirty-two minutes of class left to figure it out.