Our post coital cuddles were cut abruptly short when Edward suddenly tensed under me. It wasn't the tense strain of anticipation this time, it was the tightening muscles of dread.

"Edward?" I said, unsure what to ask him.

It didn't matter, a second later I knew the problem for myself. Jane was back, I could smell her.

Edward gave a slight groan.

I stroked his cheek, not sure what I wanted to say to him, something about being here with him, loving him, something about us getting through this together.

He looked away from me quickly, but not quickly enough. Had I been human, there's no way my eyes would have spotted it, but I was not a human any longer, and I caught the expression on his face before he turned from me. He was scared.

Edward didn't want me to see his fear, that was obvious. I wondered if he would prefer me to pretend I hadn't noticed or to offer him comfort.

But, then, what comfort could I offer? I couldn't protect him from Jane. I couldn't pretend that she wasn't likely to hurt him. I couldn't even assure him that he would be alright in the end. It seemed that each time Jane used her gift on Edward the effect was stronger, and it lasted longer. He was right to be afraid, Jane was back, and she was probably going to hurt him - again - and I had no way of stopping her and no guarantee that I would be able to undo the damage, not this time, not if it continued to get worse.

"Edward," I said again, no idea what I should say, sticking to the one word that I liked to say most of all words.

He didn't quite look at me. He glanced in my direction, but he kept his face turned away, still wanting to hide his fear.

The front door of the cottage opened. I heard it clearly. I knew that Jane was here now. I could smell her in the house.

Edward pulled his clothes on quickly, grabbing a new shirt to replace the one I'd ripped. It was some consolation to see his hands back under his control, I only hoped that we could keep him safe this time. I was afraid that he would be hurt again before Rose even had a chance to examine his recovery.

I dressed in fresh clothes too, the ones I had worn to go hunting were looking rather tatty.

Dressed, I looked at Edward, who was holding a pile of my clothes and a confused expression.

"You're a lot quicker now," he said, "that's going to take some getting used to."

I laughed, remembering flashes from my human life, moments when Edward seemed to dart around, completing tasks impossibly quickly.

"No more running rings round me," I said.

"Bella, I didn't mean . . . I never thought . . ."

I kissed him on the lips to stop him stumbling over his words, no longer super human, now he was my normal vampire. Finally, I was - in some ways, at least - his equal. It was a fantastic feeling.

Hand in hand, we walked into the living room to face Jane.

"Well, Bella," she said with a snide smile, "don't you - what is the phrase? - clean up well?"

I didn't answer.

She shrugged. "There's just one question left to ask," she said, and her smile became slyer, more snakelike, "do you retain those extraordinary powers of yours?"

"Jane," Edward said, stepping in front of me, "you don't need . . ."

"Edward," I said firmly, I didn't need his protection now, even if Jane could hurt me, it was better that than have Edward suffering again, for once it was Edward who needed my protection, "it's fine."

I side stepped, so that I was directly facing Jane again. "Let's get this little experiment out of the way."

I gritted my teeth, wondering if Jane's gift would affect me now. Was I about to find out exactly how awful pain needed to be to make Edward tremble?

Jane glared at me, Edward took a step towards me, I knew that she must be using her gift. I threw myself down onto the ground.

Edward was at my side in an instant, his arms wrapped around me. Fear and pain in his eyes. I knew that look, I knew what he was feeling, it was exactly how I felt when Jane hurt him.

I panicked.

Jane's gift still had no effect on me. But, Edward didn't know that. He was trying to protect me again, and that was a terrible idea. Jane could hurt him, and she would enjoy having any reason to do so. Not only would she hurt him now, but there seemed to be a long term effect when her gift was used so much. Edward was going to end up permanently damaged because of a mistake.

I really should have told him about my plan.

I wasn't in pain, not at all, but I cried out anyway, frustrated at Edward's insistence on throwing himself into danger, angry at Jane's cruelty, terrified that Edward was going to suffer.

So many feelings, so strong, it felt as though my entire body was screaming, not just my mouth.

Edward was sharing the exact fear that I had, desperate to prevent the pain of someone he loved, knowing that all he could do was watch. It was as though Edward and I were wrapped up together in a scream, our own private bubble of fear and pain.

Suddenly, Edward's mouth opened in a gasp.

"Bella," he said, "I can hear you."

"We can all hear her," Emmett said, "she's screaming."

"No," Edward replied, with a voice full of wonder, "only I can hear her like this."

I stared at him. Could he read my mind now?

He gave a quick nod, smiling.

Then he must know that Jane couldn't hurt me, I was just pretending.

Edward's smile widened.

He really could read my mind. This was terrifying. What if I thought about something really embarrassing, like picking my nose? Or something I didn't want him to know, like how worried I was about Jacob? Jacob had been so unhappy about my plans to become a vampire. Would I ever see him again, now that we had gone through with it? He was my best friend. I was going to miss him so much. But, hearing me think that would make Edward utterly miserable.

He hates Jacob. Of course, though he would protest it, he's mainly jealous. He thinks this is about some mythical deadliest enemy thing, but it looks like regular teenage jealousy to me.

Arrgh! He must have heard those thoughts too!

I have got to stop thinking, right now, before I start thinking about Edward's ass, or something else really inappropriate. Later, when Jane is out of the way, I'll be able to get my hands on his ass again. I'll be able to take him back into the bedroom and order him to strip.

Or, I could take him back out to the woods and have him strip there. I would love to see that perfect ass sparkle in the sunlight.

Good grief, I did it again. Now, he's watching me thinking about his ass. Which I can't get out of my head.

This is really not the first thing I wanted Edward to read in my mind.

He wasn't looking soulfully into my eyes anymore, he was averting his eyes, as if he was embarrassed too.

Jane spoke at last, "well, that answers that," she said, in a slightly bored tone. "Whatever made you unreadable, and unshockable has gone."

Edward let go of me and stood up, reaching out his hand to help me up.

I wondered if I could apologise mentally for my gross and, er . . . less than ideal thoughts. I'm sorry, Edward.

He didn't respond.

Was that because he wanted a proper verbal apology? If I apologised out loud, everyone would hear and that would be even more awkward, for all of us.

But, he must know that I was wondering how to apologise, so why not answer?

Edward?

Maybe he's not talking to me. Maybe he's so disgusted by that first glimpse into my mind that he never wants to talk to me again.

Well, there's a lot more dirt than that in my head. We are in for a very rocky relationship now that he can see inside my mind.

"So," Edward said, not looking at me yet, "will you be taking your leave now?"

My heart sank. He hated me so much, he wanted me to leave.

I couldn't blame him, of course. Up until now, he'd had this absurd image of me. He'd thought of me as some lovely, innocent girl. Now he could see that I was as foul minded as all those teenage boys who annoyed him so much.