So here is their first official date, a picnic in the meadow. I hope I've done this scene justice as I've tried to bring a little of the original meadow scene into it. It's my favourite part of the books (not so much in the movie, as they really didn't do it as well as the books). Enjoy!
The next morning, for the first time since we'd met, Bella woke up without me beside her in bed. I hated to be away from her but I was determined to make this the best date ever, so I had spent the night organising food for her picnic.
I heard her begin to stir, and called up to her, "I'm just downstairs, love. Come down for breakfast whenever you're ready!"
Along with the picnic, I had spent time watching cooking shows to try to learn to cook something for Bella's breakfast. I was horrified when I realised that I hadn't taken her on any kind of date yet. My human self would have been appalled at me. I was going to rectify that by making today all about her, starting with a cooked breakfast.
I cooked some bacon, scrambled eggs and toast. Fairly simple, but tricky enough when you don't eat food and have no idea what you're doing. I had been intently watching Bella every time she was cooking and along with the cooking shows, I hoped that I had gotten everything right. I was just dishing everything out onto a plate, when she walked down the stairs.
"I was disappointed when I woke up and you weren't there," she said, "but now I can see why. You cooked for me? That's so sweet!"
I set the plate down at the table, along with a cup of coffee, "Well, wait until after you've tasted it before commenting," I said, chuckling nervously, "I've never cooked before and I can't taste test so goodness knows what it'll taste like."
She scooped some eggs onto her fork and placed them in her mouth, as I watched her carefully.
"You've really never cooked before?" she asked, "These are delicious!"
I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding, "Really?" I gasped, smiling.
"Yeah, the eggs are delicious, the bacon looks just how I like it, a little crispy around the edges, and toast is golden brown. Thank you so much, it's really sweet of you to do this for me," she said, getting up to kiss me on the cheek before settling down to eat the rest.
"It's not very often that someone cooks for me. When I lived with my mom, I did all the cooking – it was very unwise to leave Renee in charge of a kitchen," she continued, rolling her eyes, "Charlie wasn't much better. He spent most of his time in the diner before I moved in with him, so I took over cooking there too. He tried to cook spaghetti for me once, but he burnt the pasta and almost set the kitchen on fire putting metal in the microwave, so that was the end of that."
"Well, if you really do like my cooking, I'll be happy to cook anytime you want," I said, "Maybe you can teach me some more recipes. I've been watching you to try to learn, so I could do this for you."
She finished the whole plate and insisted on doing the washing up, despite my protests. If I had my way, she wouldn't be lifting a finger, especially today, but she was determined since I had done the cooking.
"Well, everything is ready for our picnic today," I told her, "Why don't you go upstairs and get ready? The forecast says it should be quite warm for this time of year, but make sure to wear a few layers just in case."
While Bella got showered and dressed, I busied myself making sure I had everything she might need while we were out, including a first aid kit I had found under the sink. Hopefully, we wouldn't need it but I wanted to be prepared for anything. I had to keep busy to stop myself from running up the stairs and joining Bella in that shower. It was all I could think about, but I also really wanted to take Bella to the meadow I had found, so I managed to control myself.
Soon, Bella was walking down the stairs in some tight fitting jeans, a tan sweater and pair of flat comfy looking boots. She had her hair tied up out of her face and it was all I could do not to kiss her exposed neck.
"Beautiful," I said, crossing the room to take her in my arms, as she rolled her eyes at me. "You don't see yourself clearly. You are beautiful no matter what you are wearing, though I have to say you might just be more beautiful when you're wearing nothing," I whispered, into her ear, giving into the temptation to kiss her long neck.
I pulled back quickly, before I lost control and carried her back up to the bedroom, like I really wanted to. "Ready?" I asked. She nodded, a lovely blush still colouring her cheeks from my previous words and kisses.
"Would you like to see how I travel through the forest?" I asked, when we were standing outside the cabin, "The meadow is quite far and would take us a couple of hours hiking at your speed, but I could have us there in a few minutes?"
"Okay... I suppose..." she stuttered, "You're not going to turn into a bat though, are you?"
I couldn't help the laughter that came, as I scooped her up into my arms, "Nope," I told her, "No turning into bats, no fangs, no crumbling to dust in the sunlight; they are all myths. Just hop onto my back and I'll show you."
She climbed onto by back, wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist, as I lifted the picnic basket.
"I can run really fast. I find it exhilarating, but if it's too much for you, just close your eyes," I explained, "We'll be at the meadow in no time."
Once I made sure she was securely on my back, I started to run. I could hear her gasp at just how fast we were going, and her arms tightened around my neck. Thankfully, I didn't need to breathe as she probably would have cut off my airway, but after a few minutes she loosened her hold slightly. As I had said, it didn't take long at all to reach the meadow, and soon I was setting her down on the ground. Her legs wobbled a bit as I set her down, and I quickly put my arms around her to steady her.
"Are you okay?" I asked. She looked a little pale.
"I think so," she mumbled, "That was... different. I thought you were going to run into a tree or something. I feel a little dizzy, but I'll be fine in a minute."
I watched her, concerned that I had made her sick. I wondered if there was anything in the first aid kit for motion sickness, but a few moments later the colour had come back to her face and she looked a lot better.
"I'm fine now," she said, "That was just a lot to adjust to. Maybe next time, I'll just close my eyes."
I smiled, glad that she seemed willing to try again. I had thoroughly enjoyed running with her, it was even more exhilarating than when I ran on my own. Having her arms wrapped around me, her warm breath on my neck as I ran was an amazing feeling, though I hoped she wouldn't feel sick every time.
"The meadow is just through these trees," I told her, taking her hand and leading the way.
We walked out into the circular space filled with wildflowers and I heard Bella gasp.
"Wow!" she exclaimed, "This is so beautiful!" She stood in the middle of the clearing, spinning around to see everything. I watched her eyes light up, as she took in all the flowers of every different colour imaginable, the tall trees that circled the meadow and a small butterfly that fluttered through the air above her head.
I led her into the middle of the meadow, taking a blanket out of the basket and laying it on the ground for us to sit on. Bella sat, curling her legs underneath herself and I settled down facing her, watching her as she looked around the meadow, still taking everything in.
"I've never seen so many wildflowers. All the different colours are so beautiful," she said, "Thank you for bringing me here."
We sat for a while, in a comfortable silence, listening to the birds singing and the water tumbling over the rocks in the small creek nearby. Bella closed her eyes, turning her face up to the sky in an act of sheer contentment and I couldn't help but be stunned by her beauty, as though I was seeing her for the first time.
Despite the time we had spent together, I still found it hard to understand how she was so calm and peaceful in my presence. Yet here she was, alone in the forest with a vampire, no one else around for miles and she was so tranquil.
"What?" she asked, as she opened her eyes, catching me staring at her, a blush colouring her face.
"I'm still in awe of the fact that you are here with me," I said, "Sometimes it just hits me that you really should have left running and screaming back in Seattle. Any other human would have."
"Running and screaming was never a choice," she said simply, "Though I understand where you are coming from. Sometimes it hits me that you could have any woman in the world, especially after seeing how that girl in the book store reacted to you. I mean, look at you. I'll never understand why you chose me."
"As I said before, you really don't see yourself very clearly at all," I told her, taking her hands in mine, "You are so beautiful and, even more than that, you have an amazingly beautiful soul. Everything about you fits perfectly with me. You give me more peace and happiness in my life than I ever thought possible."
"I, on the other hand, am not the perfect specimen you seem to make me out to be," I continued, "I am designed to be the world's best predator. What you see when you look at me, is just part of the monster. Everything about me is designed to draw people in – my voice, my face, even my smell. As though I need all that. You saw how fast I can run. As if they could out run me."
I stood up, walking slowly to a nearby tree, effortlessly ripping a two foot thick branch from the tree and crushed it into dust with my bare hands.
"As if they could fight me off," I said, as she stared at me in shock. I'd never shown her my full strength before, always being so careful and gentle with her, "Everything else is superfluous. Sorry if I scared you." I walked back over to the blanket, sitting down facing her again.
"You didn't scare me," she said, quietly, "I'm just surprised. You are so gentle with me that I never really thought about your super strength before. You can crush a tree to dust with your bare hands, yet you've never so much as left me with a bruise. You don't see yourself very clearly either – you are kind and gentle and loving." She crawled towards me, climbing into my lap and cuddling into me, her face buried in my neck.
"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb," I whispered in her ear, breathing in her intoxicating scent.
"What a lucky lamb," she chuckled, looking up into my eyes.
"Oh, this lion is definitely the lucky one, love," I told her, growling playfully in her ear.
We sat like that for a while, Bella cuddled in to me as I thought about how lucky I had been to find her. After a while, I asked her if she wanted something to eat.
"Sure," she replied. I started to take everything out of the basket. I had made pasta, sandwiches, cold meats, cheese, carrot sticks, chips, strawberries and mango. I spread everything out on the blanket, grabbed a champagne flute, poured a glass of sparkling apple juice and handed it to her, as she stared at me with wide eyes.
"This is all for me?" she asked, "There's no way I'll be able to eat all this! I think you've gone a little overboard."
"Maybe I did," I chuckled, "but I wanted to make sure you had something you'd like. Anything you don't eat, we can take back with us."
She sat up on her knees and kissed my cheek, "Thank you," she said, softly, "I'm really not used to someone looking after me like this, but it's really nice."
While Bella ate, I sat behind her, playing with her hair, basically just revelling in being close to her. She was right, I had made far too much and there was a lot leftover when she said she was finished, but I didn't regret making it all for her.
Just as I had finished packing everything away in the basket, the sun came out from behind a cloud, shining right down into the meadow, reflecting off my stone skin making me sparkle like a diamond.
"Oh," she gasped, "You're beautiful! I know I laughed when you told me about this, but it's actually so beautiful!"
"You know, before I met you, I wouldn't have believed that if anyone had said it, I've always thought this was the skin of a killer," I told her, as prisms of light reflected off my body, shining on her face, making me think of what she would be like as a vampire, "but my reflections glistening on you are so beautiful, so I'm beginning to change my mind. You're beginning to change my mind about myself."
"You are not the monster, you seem to believe you are," she proclaimed, "I don't think I would have fallen in love with a monster. You have been dealt this hand in life, and rather than taking the easy way out, you've spent you're life saving humans from other monsters, actual monsters, and now you're giving up human blood completely. Those are not the actions of a monster."
"It'll take a while before I believe that fully, but I'm starting to," I assured her, as I pulled her down on top of me, lying down on the blanket, "I have been stuck in that mindset for all of my existence, and vampires rarely change, but you, dear, are changing me for the better and I love you for it."
Our lips met then, a spark of electricity shooting from my lips straight to my groin and I moaned into her mouth. Our tongues danced together, as she lay on top of me, digging her hands into my hair. I swept my hands down her back, resting them on her bottom, as we continued to kiss deeply. After a few moments, I ran my hands up her body again, slipping under her jumper and t-shirt to feel her soft skin.
"I want to see you, but I don't want you to be cold," I moaned, into her mouth, trying to control myself.
"I'm anything but cold," she breathed, "Everywhere you touch leaves a trail of fire. Take it off."
With that, I pulled her jumper and t-shirt over her head, before removing mine too and hissing at the feel of her warm skin on mine. Swiftly, I flipped her over so I was hovering over her, kissing down her neck, towards her glorious breasts, unfortunately still covered by her bra. Reaching round, I unclasped her bra, freeing her breasts, quickly talking one in my mouth and roughly palming the other. She whimpered when my tongue flicked quickly over her puckered nipple.
"Please, Edward, I need more," she moaned. The sounds she was making were intoxicating, I would never get enough of hearing what I could do to her. Every moan and groan she made, sent a spark straight to my core.
"You never need to beg, baby," I told her, reaching my hand down to the top of her jeans and rapidly removing them along with her underwear, followed quickly by my own. I pressed my knees against her thighs, spreading her legs open for me, as I lined myself up with her entrance. She was already so wet for me and the scent of her arousal surrounded me. I slowly pushed my erection into her slick folds, eliciting an erotic moan from both of us at the feeling of being one again.
I thrust into her a few times, before pulling her leg up between us, groaning at the feeling of entering her even deeper.
"Oh, yes, right there, don't stop," she hissed, as I continued to pound into her over and over again, pressure beginning to build.
"Edward," she screamed, as her muscles clenched around me milking my own climax. I exploded, spilling into her as I growled, "Bella!"
We lay wrapped in the blanket, until I could feel Bella begin to shiver.
"Let's get you home before you freeze," I said, "A nice warm bath when we get back should help to keep you warm."
"Only if you join me," she answered, suggestively.
"Again?" I chuckled, "Not that I'm complaining, but don't you ever get enough of me?"
"Never," she replied, winking at me as she pulled on her clothes.
As soon as we reached the cabin, I set Bella down on the sofa in the living room and ran upstairs to run a bath for her. I was beginning to worry about her being cold. I didn't want her getting sick and she had been shivering on the way back. I filled the bath with hot water pouring in some lavender scented bubble bath, before running back downstairs to bring her up.
She slowly removed her clothes and carefully stepped into the warm bath, sighing as she sank down into the bubbles. I stood staring at her beautiful body disappearing into the mound of fluffy bubbles, trying not to grab her and ravish her. I could feel myself straining against my zipper, but I knew she needed to get warmed up and my cold body wouldn't help.
"I thought I told you the conditions of this bath," she said, coquettishly, "Baths are no fun on your own. Please, baby."
With that my control crumbled, I couldn't say no to her, especially when she said please, so I quickly stripped off and slipped into the bath behind her, pulling her close to my chest.
"Mmmm," she moaned, "That's much better."
"My condition of being in here, is that you have to let me take care of you, wash your body and hair and make sure that you are getting warm. It was getting rather cold out there this evening," I told her, moving her hair over one shoulder and kissing her other shoulder lightly.
We lay in the water for a while, just enjoying the closeness and the feel of her body pressed along the front of mine, before taking some shampoo and massaging it into her scalp and down her long tresses. After rinsing the shampoo out of her hair, I lifted a sponge, added some body wash and began rubbing it along her shoulders and neck. I washed down her arms, along her stomach, purposefully avoiding her breasts, down her long legs as she lifted them out of the water for me.
"I think you missed a few spots," she whimpered.
"Really?" I whispered, as I began to run my hands along her shoulders and down her arms, "Here?" She shook her head. I moved my hands along her stomach, very lightly touching the underside of her breasts, "Here?" She shook her head again. "Here?" I asked, gliding my hands down her legs and rubbing her feet. "No," she groaned, as I moved my hand back up towards her breasts, cupping them both and flicking my thumbs over her already puckered peaks. "Here?"
"Yes, baby, right there," she moaned, her head pressing back into my chest as she wriggled, her back rubbing against my now very hard erection.
"I think maybe there's one more spot I missed," I whispered into her ear, moving one hand down her body towards her centre, running my hands through her curls and slipping my fingers into her warm folds. She hissed as I circled her clit with my finger, my other hand still caressing her breasts and gently pinching her nipple, my mouth placing wet kisses along her neck. She squirmed more with every move I made, her back still rubbing against me in a delicious way.
I could sense that she was getting close and when her head flew back, I captured her mouth with mine, her arms snaking around my neck, and with a final swirl of her clit, she came undone in my arms as I swallowed all the sounds she was making.
"I definitely think I've warmed up now," she panted, turning around to face me, running her hand along my thighs as she knelt in front of me. When she reached the tops of my thighs, her small hand circled my erection, and I hissed at the feeling, throwing my head back. She worked her hands like magic, moving them up and down, swirling them over the tip each time they reached it. I was already very aroused after having her writhing on top of me and watching as her breasts heave up and down as she moved, so it wasn't long before the pressure in me built up.
"Oh, God," I cried, as I exploded, spilling over her breasts as I thrust out of the water at the sensation. I pulled her towards me, hugging her close and kissing the top of her head.
We lay for a moment, pressed against each other, as my breathing evened out. Then, I picked her up and stepped out of the water, drying us both off, before carrying her to the bed and making love to her until we were both falling off the edge again together and Bella drifted off to sleep in my arms.
I hope you all didn't mind me changing up the iconic lion and lamb dialogue as the original didn't really fit in my story, but I love bringing little bits of the original stories into my writing.
This chapters recommendation is:
Lost by Edwardsoul
It's been 7 years since Edward left. Bella's now a tough NYC corporate girl on the outside, but her heart is forever broken. She vows to take down C-Corp, but what happens when she finds out who owns the company? Who is the monster now?