A/N: Omai...some of us think Edward will be a wee bit perturbed at Bella's action. Hmm. I wonder why. *blinks innocently* Anyway. Let's see how he's doing.
"Damn animal. Something's got you spooked, don't it?"
Edward ducked low behind a shrubbery, watching the horse as it snuffled and shifted its weight. The thing proved to be in a skittish mood today. Edward had caught up with it within an hour a ways downstream, but it had bolted on him several times now.
He sighed and stood slowly so as not to frighten the creature. Again. He would have to gain the horse's trust. He stepped out into the open a few paces. The horse snorted warily. Edward sat crosslegged on the ground and waited.
It was already past noon as near as he could tell. He couldn't be certain. The day had grown gray and chilled. Clouds threatened, and Edward pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth in worry. The City of Rocks was among the worst places to run into a storm. Rain often brought with it fantastic lightning storms, both awing and dangerous. The granite formations attracted lighting like a fish to bait. If James had led the Cullens into a field of granite…
Edward tried to keep his calm, not wanting the horse to pick up on his agitation. If the thing would cooperate, they could still catch up with the others with fair ease yet.
"You know who you remind me of?" he said, making sure to keep his tone pleasant without a hint of the irritation he felt. "When I was knee high to a grasshopper there was a little girl just two doors down from where we lived. Between you, me, and the rocks, it occurs to me now that she was sweet on me.
"That is not," he told the horse, "why you remind me of her. No. See, at the time, I was just a little boy. All I knew was that she vexed me. Kept pestering me, hanging about when she wasn't wanted like the flies on your rear end there."
The horse lowered her head to nip at a bush, her stance regal, as if she didn't approve at all where this story was going.
"She worked at getting on my nerves. I'll tell you, she near about made it an artform. I hope you can see, you useless nag, why you remind me of her. In fact, I think that's what I'll call you. Norma. It's a fine name, you see. You, like she, still deserve respect, kindness, and patience.
"So what say you, Norma?" He got to his feet again, his movements slow. "I promise I'm not angry. What say we go back and join the others, huh?" He took a step and then another. "Have I told you about my wife? This is the longest I've been away from her since we wed. I have to tell you, I'm not enjoying it at all. So I'll make you a deal. You get me back to my Bella by the evening meal, and I will introduce you to apples at the nearest opportunity." Near enough now, Edward reached his hand out. The horse shifted but didn't bolt. He wrapped his fingers tight around the reign. "There we go."
Norma gave a disgruntled snort. It was clear from her body language she still wasn't comfortable. Edward looked up at the sky. The stormclouds were heavier now and growing blacker.
Edward sighed as he stroked Norma's mane. "I'm afraid there's no getting away from it, my girl. It seems you and I are destined to get wet today. What say you let me mount, and we'll both be back with the group quicker."
Another few minutes passed as he assured himself the horse was calm enough to ride. He pulled himself up into the saddle just as rain began to fall. He turned the horse, tensing his body to ride forward but then, some part of his intuition flickered.
He would never know why he did it. One second he was ready to ride, the next he was twisting in his saddle and scanning the landscape. He raised his hand to his brow to shield his eyes from the rain. Just as he was about to turn back, he spotted something moving. No. Not something. Someone.
"Christ. Oh no. No."
Edward's heart was hammering about as fast as the gallop he urged Norma to. It was Bella. Of course it was. Though she was barely a dot on his horizon, he knew. He just knew it had to be her, out here in the wilderness. If he had taken off in the direction he'd intended, he never would have seen her. She was behind where they were heading. She could have been lost forever.
When he finally got to her, he about vaulted from the horse and caught her up in his arms.
"Oh, god. Edward, thank god. Thank God I found you."
He held her at arms length. "You found me? Bella, what in all hell are you doing out here?" He was shouting over the din of the falling rain.
Her brow furrowed. "I woke and you were gone. I've been looking for you. James thought you wouldn't be that far, but you were."
"James? James knows you're out here?" Edward was going to kill him.
She blinked. "No."
He shook her a bit, his grip tightening on her shoulders. "Does anyone know you came after me?"
She ducked her head. "No." The word was almost lost in the sound of wind and rain.
Before he could even begin to think of what to say to that, there was a loud clap that sounded as though the sky was rending itself in two. Edward tucked Bella under one arm and reached for Norma's rein with his free hand. On the heels of the first crack of thunder, a second came and the cloud-black sky lit up with lightning. The storm had dropped right on top of them.
"Christ." Edward let go of Bella to steady the horse again. He took Norma's big head between his hands and looked her right in the eyes. "What I said before about respect and patience? That does not apply right now. I'm telling you true, if you start and buck us off, I will have you butchered. Horse meat is somewhat gamey but passable. I need you to do your job now, the one thing you were bred for. If you cannot, you will be useless to me. Do you understand?"
As if to punctuate his words, the sky lit again followed closely by thunder. Bella gasped and pressed tight against his back. Norma made a plaintive sound and shifted her feet, but she didn't rear.
Satisfied, Edward turned back to his wife. He lifted her up. Bella got the idea quickly and she pulled herself up into the saddle with his help. He quickly mounted behind her, getting hold of the reins and kicking the horse to a run.
The hard rain stung his face as they rode across the countryside, but Edward could do nothing about that. He was much more concerned by the lightning that flashed every few seconds. This part of the country was known for its lightning storms. Many a time, out on the trail, he had watched the flashes of light trace intricate patterns across the sky and been awed. But then he had watched from relative safety. Out here they were far from safe.
A bolt of lightning hit a lone tree not ten feet from them, sending it up in sparks and flames. Edward felt Bella jolt against him in fear. He hunched over her as much as he could, hoping that if the worst should happen, the bolt would strike him and leave her unscathed.
It seemed like a lifetime before they had reached the cover of trees. By then the heart of the storm was behind them a pace but still headed in their direction. Edward didn't stop until he got to the destination he'd had in mind.
He slowed Norma down to a trot as they came in sight of a small logwood cabin. It was little more than a shack, but it was a more than adequate shelter from the raging storm outside. He slid off the horse and offered his arms to Bella. Once he had her set on the ground he took her face between his hands, checking her over. She was soaked to the bone and trembling but otherwise fine.
"Get inside," he barked.
Her head snapped up, and her eyes went wide. She was hurt by the anger in his tone. He might have felt bad, but just then, his heart was pounding madly and his only thought was to get her into the cabin where the violent flashes of light couldn't harm her. Into the cabin where she might be out of the freezing rain. His hands at her waist, he gave her a firm push in that direction, and she finally went.
Edward only stayed outside long enough to assure Norma was properly tied to the hitching post. He patted her wet flank. "You did well. There are many apples in your future."
When he stepped inside the cabin, he nearly barreled into Bella. She was standing just inside the door, looking around in the dim light.
"Wh-where are we?" Her words stuttered through the shivers that wracked her, and he could see her eyes were on the wall where various tools were hung. Out of context he could see why they might seem frightening. "W-w-who's house is th-this?"
Edward pushed past her to the fireplace set into one corner. He was pleased to find at least enough logs left that he might start a fire. "It's no one's, really," he said, his voice still rough and irritated. "It's a fur-trapper's cabin. None of them stay in the same place very long. There are cabins like this scattered everywhere, though we were lucky this one was so close. We- Don't touch that!"
Bella, who had been reaching out to examine one of the many steel-toothed traps that lined the wall, snapped her hand back. She wrapped her arms around herself and looked to him, contrite. "Can I help?"
"No." He turned back to the fireplace, arranging the wood and feeling in his bag for the flint.
"Aren't you c-cold? Y-you're not even s-s-shivering."
"No." He knew he was cold, but he couldn't feel it. His heart was still racing, his thoughts spinning too fast to think about paltry things like the chill on his skin. He couldn't quite get over the idea she'd been wandering alone for hours looking for him. And then the lightning. What if he hadn't been there when the lightning storm struck? Then again, what if she had been with the others? Where were they now? If they were in the middle of the granite, they were all in much more danger than Edward and Bella had been out in the open space.
When he had the fire going, Edward turned back around to find Bella hadn't moved. She was still standing in the middle of the small space, arms wrapped around herself, head turned away from him toward the wall. He stood, and she flinched, looking up at him with uncertainty from under her eyelashes. He sighed. He hadn't meant to be so gruff with her, but she'd scared him.
It was hard, though, to stay angry at her. She looked like a half-drowned-cat. The water from her sodden clothes dripped and pooled on the floor, and she was still shaking terribly. Edward took a deep breath and looked around. He thought briefly of tucking her into the room's one bed, but there was no way they could both fit on it. Besides, the bed was too far away from the fire to do any good any time soon.
Swallowing several times to assure his voice would be even when he spoke, Edward extended his hand toward her. "Come here."
Ever trusting, she took his hand and let him draw her closer to the fire. "Take off all your wet things. You'll freeze."
He didn't wait for her to reply. Instead, he strode past her to the bed and yanked the blankets and furs off. The room was damp with the rainstorm and musty with dust. He shook the blankets out before he turned back to Bella.
She'd taken off her coat, but she still looked uncertain. And cold. She started a little at a particularly loud clap of thunder. If he'd been calm enough he might have teased her. Was she really being so shy now when she had been so brazen out on the river?
He gave his head a hard shake before that thought could take root. He still needed to take care of her. He didn't need to be thinking about what her body might look like out of the water by the light of the fire.
Of course, the fact she seemed as skittish as Norma had that morning sobered him somewhat. Like the horse, she was picking up on the charge in the room, the tension that rolled off him in waves, and it had her on edge. He could see it plain as day, and regardless of what she'd done, he didn't want to be the one that made her that uncomfortable.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, he brought her tight against him. With his free hand he stroked her hair back off her face. Tremors still shook her body, and her teeth were clenched tight against the shivers. Still, when her eyes met his, she let out a soft breath and tilted her cheek against his palm. "Everything will be fine," he said as much to himself as her. "We'll wait out the storm here and meet with the others in the morning." He stroked his thumb under her eyes. "Right now, you need to get dry and warm."
"You too?"
He smiled and pressed his lips to hers in a tender kiss. "Yes. Me too."
Before he turned around-leaving each other a little room for modesty seemed the best idea under the circumstances-he rested a blanket at her feet so she might cover herself. That done, he shrugged out of his soaking coat and draped it over the snowshoes that hung on the wall. He did the same with his shirt and kicked off his boots. Then, he turned around and froze.
He'd caught her just as she leaned down to pick the blanket up off the floor. She was turned away from him, her round bottom on display and perfect despite the gooseflesh that covered it. The shape of her did things to him, stirred that now too familiar lust and longing.
She draped the blanket over her shoulders, pulling it closed around her, huddling closer to the fire. Edward closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in and out, suddenly glad that he was beginning to feel the chill on his skin. Seeing her like that, if only for an instant, had driven every thought out of his head, and it took him a few moments to remember what he'd been about to do.
Giving the furs one final shake to rid them of what dust he could, he laid them out on the floor near the fire and then brought the blankets over as well. There he stopped, debating with himself. He questioned whether or not his next thought was merely an excuse to touch her.
Bella turned toward him, still hunched and shaking even under the blanket, and Edward was decided.
Their eyes met, and he held her gaze as he reached to undo the button of his pants. When she realized what was going on, Bella turned back to face the fire, but not before he saw the flush raise to her cheeks. She was just affording him the same modesty he'd afforded her, he thought.
As nude as she was now, he stepped up behind her. Her breath caught, but she didn't start. When he pulled the blanket off and away from her, she didn't protest though she made a soft, surprised noise.
"Shh," he said near her ear. "This is the fastest way to get warm, that's all." He pulled her down onto the floor with him, holding her the way they were accustomed to now, her back against his chest. He spread the blanket over his shoulders and wrapped it around them both.
His arms around her waist, he bent his head to blow hot air against her cold shoulder. She sighed, some of the tension going out of her as she leaned back against him. This was fine, he thought. It was no different than holding her the night before.
No different except that when he held her like that fully clothed, all he could think of was how he wanted to touch her, and hear the little noises she would make as his fingers found her most sensitive spots.
No different except that they were skin to skin, and he could feel her coarse curls with his fingertips sitting as he was with his arms low around her. He lifted one hand to brush her hair off her shoulder and continued his trail of open mouthed kisses to her neck. Her breath picked up, and she wiggled against him, only making matters worse.
Then it occurred to Edward he didn't know what he was waiting for. She had taught him that they could still be intimate without the danger of pregnancy. Hadn't he been dying for an excuse to get her in private? They were very much alone now and nothing he wanted to do with her was going to make her colder.
Bella turned her head to him, catching his lips when he trailed his kisses from her neck up to her cheek. He let his hands begin to creep up her body until he cupped her breasts. She gasped into his mouth and then moaned when he gave her nipples a gentle pinch.
She bucked back into him as he explored her skin with his fingertips and leaned back so her head rested on his shoulder. That was all well and good, except it naturally invited his teasing fingers lower. He drew a path from her breasts to her belly, memorizing the feel of her. Every gasp he elicited, every moan was as pleasurable to him as if she'd touched him.
When his exploring fingers tangled in the damp curls between her thighs, her heartbeat quickened. He could feel it plainly with his chest against her back.
Yes, they were both plenty warm now. Hot.
He slid his fingers along her slit slowly, ready to pull back at the first sign of discomfort, but she only whimpered and turned her head so her lips brushed his neck. His fingers found that curious little nub, and when he rubbed she jolted against him. Her hands, resting at that point in his thighs, squeezed hard.
His own breath came heavy near her ear. God, her little whines would have him undone before he could...
But no, he shouldn't think of that.
He distracted himself by moving lower, spreading her open so he could slide a finger inside her. Then it was him who groaned. She was wet and slick for him.
The blanket over his shoulders encased him in an uncomfortable tomb of heat. He shrugged it off so that he might continue his ministrations without that barrier. Anyway, Bella's body radiated heat. Her back and his chest were moist with the condensation of their mingled sweat.
Outside, the storm raged on, the crack and roll of the thunder somehow fitting background music as Edward's thoughts gave way to base need. She writhed under his touch, and he wanted to see her. It was a feral desire, all instinct and need. He had her on her back in a movement so swift they both gasped and paused.
She was gorgeous, glorious. Her face was flushed in hectic shades of pink and scarlet. There was a dark quality to her eyes, as though she could be dangerous. What a funny thought it would have been if his mind wasn't so clouded with lust. His little, teenaged wife dangerous? But she was. She had him senseless, and he was so hers, he'd have gladly given over his very self just to please her.
Leaning over her, propped up on one elbow, he ran his fingers down her body. He might have feasted on her skin if he hadn't been so busy devouring her with his eyes. She had such pretty breasts with pert, hard nipples.
Drawing his hand down, he watched in fascination as his fingers disappeared into her. Hot. God it was good and yet... It was a ridiculous thing for a man to be jealous of his own fingers.
He looked back up at her face, needing to see her as he pleasured her. The sight of her didn't disappoint. Her eyes crossed and her lips parted as she sighed. When she saw him watching, she closed her eyes, biting down on her lip.
He'd neglected her lips, he realized. That's what was missing here. She needed to be kissed, thoroughly so. He leaned down to do just that. He parted her lips with his tongue, seeking hers. She wound her arms around him, pulling him closer. His body responded and, quite without realizing it, he had pressed himself down on her.
Her hands raking through his hair, she shifted beneath him, widening her legs to accommodate their new position. Unfortunately for his will, the movement lined up their bodies. He was there, so close he need only nudge her legs open just a little wider and push. He stifled a groan against her neck.
"Edward, please. I want... I want..."
He was startled to hear her voice after so long with only moans and sighs passed between them.
"Please," she begged again, and it was Edward who whimpered.
There was, some distant part of him knew, a very good reason why he should not go where he so desperately wanted to. He only had to recall it. But all he could hear was her breathless voice in his ear, the way she wanted him. And mother of mercy how much he wanted her. She owned him, this beautiful creature, and he ached to be home inside her. His cock had been hard as the granite outside for too long now.
She thrust her hips up to meet his, his name tumbling from her lips again, and his will shattered. His cock found her entrance with no effort at all, and in one push, he was sheathed inside her.
Bella cried out, her fingernails digging into his back, and they both stilled. It was one of the hardest things he could imagine when all he wanted was to thrust, thrust, thrust-relieve the pressure that was only growing worse at the base of him. But he'd have done anything for her, so he waited. She'd clamped her lips at his shoulder and her breath was hot as fire against his skin. Still he waited until her breath evened and the tension drained from her. When the sting of her nails disappeared, he moved again.
Pulling back, he pressed soft, sweet kisses to her lips and cheeks and chin as he moved inside her. They were apology-how could this possibly feel as good for her as it did for him-and reverent worship all at once. Her breath stuttered, but she kissed him back, trembling beneath him for reasons that had nothing to do with the cold.
He didn't last long; he couldn't, not when it had been too many long days and weeks that he'd craved this, her. He couldn't last long when the emotion of joining with her simultaneously knocked him on his ass breathless and sent him flying straight up to the stars. He'd been right. Her body opened to welcome him as if he'd always belonged there, as though he was finally home.
Afterward he lay draped over her as he caught his breath again. He was so content he wanted to cry when she ran her fingers through his hair, gently untangling the gnarls and knots.
Eventually his mind began to turn on again. He was somewhat vexed to realize he had not concentrated on her comfort as he'd intended. He'd had a plan for when they were finally able to couple, and this had not been it. He lifted his head and stroked her cheek in adoration. His mouth, he discovered, was dry and his voice gravelly when he spoke. "Are you all right?"
Her answering smile was gentle and shy. "Yes," she whispered.
He traced her lips with his fingertip and sighed. Thoughts and with them worries were beginning to creep back into his consciousness. "I...I should feed you." It was really the least of what he should do but perhaps the only thing he could reasonably accomplish just then.
She brushed her fingers through his bushy beard. "Not yet."
That was all the invitation he needed. He laid back down, resting his head at her breast. He took one of her hands twining their fingers together. "I love you, Bella."
A/N: Many thanks to jessypt and barburella!
On a personal note, I'm finishing up writing my second book, a novel I believe will be called "One To Tell The Grandkids". I'm planning on posting more info + the first chapter in the next couple of weeks. If you're interested, there are links to my author's blog and Facebook in my profile. Follow me and I'll be updating those pages soon.
Annnnd onward. So. Uh. That happened. How we doing?