I think most of you guessed who the large vampire might have been, so I think that redeems me from the cliffie ;)
Not really much to say today. Still really busy with real life but I will try to keep to posting a couple of times a week as it's all written anyway.
As I stared into the dark eyes of the large, muscular vampire in front of me, all sense of the man in me left, leaving only my animalistic vampire side. The need to protect my mate rose above all other needs and I used all of my available senses to work out the best way to do that.
I listened carefully to the thoughts of the large vampire, but they weren't particularly coherent at that moment. He had also given over to his vampire instincts and all I could make out were the words prey, mate, protect. Like me, his thoughts seemed to be centred around protecting his mate, though I couldn't sense another vampire in the area. My mind was simultaneously listening to his thoughts, while listening, smelling and sensing for anyone else in the area. We appeared to be alone.
He was crouched, as though to attack but he hadn't yet made a move towards us and I was reluctant to attack first, as that would leave Bella unprotected. Slowly, he edged closer to us, a growl escaping me as a warning.
Suddenly, he looked up into my eyes, shock registering in his mind as he took in my amber eyes and he slowly straightened up out of his crouch. He held is hands out in front of him in a surrendering motion. I stayed in my defensive position in front of Bella, confused as to why he suddenly seemed to surrender, but I didn't trust that he wouldn't attack.
Carlisle would kill me if I attacked another 'vegetarian' vampire without at least talking to him, he thought to himself.
At the sound of my fathers name in his mind, I stood up, still keeping Bella safely behind me.
"You know Carlisle?" I asked, without thinking. I usually tried not to give away my talent to unknown vampires, but the shock of hearing this large vampire think about my father made me speak without thinking. He looked at me, confused, before a large grin spread across his face.
"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, "You're Edward!"
"How do you know my name?" I asked, eyeing him sceptically.
"Carlisle and Esme talk about you all the time, dude!" he said, closing the gap between us to smack me on the arm, in a friendly gesture, "I can't believe you're here. They are gonna be so stoked! You gonna introduce me to your pretty lady, or are you gonna hide her behind you all day?" He peered around me to look at Bella. I felt my possessive nature urging me to attack the vampire looking at my mate, but I managed to control myself, knowing that if this vampire was a friend of Carlisle and Esme's, then I could trust him.
Bella walked round to my side and I put my arm around her possessively. I couldn't help feeling possessive of her in the company of another male vampire, but his thoughts were only of how happy Carlisle and Esme were going to be to see me, so I was able to relax a little.
"This is Bella," I said, as he took her hand and placed a kiss on it. I couldn't control the growl that escaped me and the only thing that kept me from attacking him was the fact that I could hear his completely platonic thoughts.
"Calm down, dude," he laughed, "I'm only being gentlemanly towards your lady. I've got my own mate back home. I'm Emmett, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Emmett," Bella said, "Ignore him, he's not used to sharing me with anyone." She smirked at me and I relaxed, as she opened her mind to let me know that she was mine and to chill out.
"So, you're a friend of Carlisle and Esme's then?" I asked.
"I suppose you could say that," he replied, "They are more like parents to us."
"By us, you mean you and your mate?" Bella asked.
"Well, yeah, me and my mate, Rosalie, but also Alice and Jasper," he said, "I wonder how Alice didn't see you guys coming."
Bella squeezed my hand, asking through her mind if I was doing okay. I nodded slightly to let her know, I was fine. It was a lot to take in. Carlisle and Esme had four other 'children'. I was torn between being happy that they had found a family to love and being a bit put out that they seemed to have replaced me.
"So you all live together?" I asked.
"Yeah, the house isn't far from here," he answered, "I'll take you, but I need to hunt before we go. You interrupted my hunt. I was hoping to get one of those grizzlies in that cave. They are my favourite."
"Oh, we were after those too," Bella said, "But you go for it. We'll find something else and meet you back here in a few minutes."
We took off finding a few more caribou and drank quickly, before disposing of the bodies. Once we were finished, Bella took my hand and looked up into my eyes.
"How are you really doing, baby?" she asked, concern showing in her eyes.
"I don't know," I told her, honestly, "I know I left them and I really do want them to be happy, but I can't help but feel like I've been replaced and forgotten about. That sounds childish."
"It's okay to feel that way," she said, pulling me in for a hug, "But I'm sure they didn't replace you or forget about you. Emmett said they talked about you all the time. Are you ready to meet them again? We don't have to go with Emmett now if you're not ready."
"No, I want to go now," I said, "Putting it off isn't going to change anything. I want to see them again."
We took off, running hand in hand back to where we had left Emmett. He was there waiting for us, perched on a rock.
"What did you mean when you said about Alice seeing us coming?" I asked him, hearing the answer in his mind as soon as he thought it.
"Oh, wow, that's an impressive talent," I said.
"That's gonna get annoying, dude," Emmett groaned, "Can't you turn your mind reading off at all?"
"Sorry, no can do," I replied, before turning to Bella, "Alice can see the future, apparently."
"She didn't mention seeing you guys coming though," Emmett told us, "And there's no way she could have kept that to herself." He chuckled to himself.
We took off, Bella and I following behind Emmett, as he led us towards the house. It wasn't long before the house appeared in front of us, just on the other side of a winding river. We jumped the river and landed in the back garden of a large house. There were large windows taking up most of the back of the house with a long area of decking, spanning the entire length of the house.
As we neared the house, I listened to hear the thoughts of my parents. Carlisle appeared to be in a study, reading some medical textbooks and Esme was painting in another room. Hearing their mental voices after so long caused me to gasp and suddenly all the nerves I had been feeling disappeared. I couldn't wait to see them again.
"Everyone outside," Emmett boomed, "I've got a surprise!"
I heard the thoughts of all the vampires in the house, as they wondered what Emmett could be up to now.
He better not have wrecked my garden again, Esme thought.
What's he up to now? Carlisle thought.
Oh, my man's back. That must be his mate, Rosalie.
Esme's gonna kill him if he's damaged something again, Jasper, I assumed.
Why didn't I see him coming? I don't know what his surprise is! That had to be Alice. Bella's shield must be affecting her 'sight'.
Carlisle and Esme were the first out the door, hand in hand, both their thoughts still centred on what Emmett could be up to. When their eyes landed on me, both of their minds exploded with shock, happiness and, most of all, love.
Esme was across the garden in a split second, wrapping her arms around me and hugging so tightly it almost hurt.
"It is really you?" she sobbed, "I can't believe you're here!"
Carlisle stood right next to us, placing a hand on my shoulder, "Welcome home, son."
"You won't leave us again," Esme scolded, pulling back slightly to look me in the eye, "We have missed you so much. Are you okay?" I nodded, chuckling lightly at her reprimands.
"I'm more than okay, Mom," I said, "I'm sorry. I missed you too." I buried my head in her shoulder, breathing in her vanilla and jasmine scent that made me feel so loved.
Pulling back from Esme, I reached over to take Bella's hand. Carlisle and Esme both looked at Bella, only just registering her presence.
"Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Bella, my mate," I said, beaming.
Esme had Bella pulled into an embrace, before I'd even finished talking, Carlisle chuckling at her behaviour.
"Welcome to the family, Bella," Esme gushed.
"Lovely to meet you, Bella," Carlisle added.
As my parent's greeted Bella, I looked over at the other vampires that had come out of the house behind Carlisle and Esme.
Rosalie, Emmett's mate, was at his side, his large arm wrapped around her shoulders. She was tall and curvy, conventionally beautiful, though not as beautiful as my Bella, her long blond hair, hanging down her back in soft curls. She looked like she'd stepped out of the pages of a high end fashion magazine. Jealousy filled her mind from all the attention Bella and I were getting.
Alice and Jasper stood on the deck, watching our reunion with smiles on their faces. Jasper towered over Alice's tiny stature, but just one look at them and you could see how perfect they were for each other.
Jasper had curly, honey blond hair and appeared to be covered in scars that could only have come from vampire bites. I wondered how he'd gotten those and fought against the instinct to get Bella as far away from him as possible. His mind was basking in the feelings of happiness that surrounded us and I realised that he was an empath, being able to sense the feelings of those around him. I wondered if he was also able to manipulate the feelings of others.
Alice was tiny, barely coming up to Jasper's chest, and her dark hair was cut very short, sticking out in spikes. Her mind was fascinating, currently focused on the future as flashes of visions appeared, but she flitted between the future and the present constantly. She was also worried that her talent was failing her as she hadn't seen us coming nor had she seen Emmett arriving back at the house with us. I would have to put her mind at ease soon and let her know about Bella's shield.
"Come in," Esme said, as she ushered us all into the house. The living room was large and spacious, with many sofas. A large TV was mounted on the wall above a marble fireplace. In the corner sat a grand piano and I wondered if someone else here played.
I sat down on one of the sofas, pulling Bella down beside me, as everyone else took a seat.
"Let me introduce everyone," Carlisle began, before going round the room and explaining who everyone was, though I had already guessed correctly.
"Where have you been all these years, Edward?" Esme asked.
"I've travelled all over. For the last few years, I've been in Seattle. That's where I met Bella," I said, looking over at Bella as she looked up at me with a smile, "She was still human when we met." There were a few gasps at that and all their minds were wondering how I managed to control my thirst around her.
"I'm not proud of it, but I was hunting humans," I admitted, looking down at my hands, not wanting to look my parents in the eye, "I used my mind reading to target criminals. I found Bella in an alley with a vile human, who wanted to hurt her." I took a deep breath, trying to control my temper at the thought of what that wretch wanted to do to my Bella.
"When our eyes met, we felt the mating connection and that was it," I continued, "There was no going back from there."
"So you just took away her humanity?" Rosalie scoffed, her mind reeling with how selfish I was to take away her human life and deprive her of the chance to become a mother. I began to speak, but Bella beat me too it, jumping to her feet.
"That's not what happened, actually," Bella yelled at Rosalie, glaring at her, "He only changed me because I was going to die. Maybe you can just shut up and listen, before you start judging. You know nothing about us."
Bella turned her back on Rosalie, taking a deep breath to reign in her anger. Everyone was glaring at Rosalie, angry with her for upsetting Bella. Esme was worried that it would cause us to leave again. I stood up and pulled Bella into a hug, trying to help her calm down, before sitting back down.
"Sorry," Rosalie muttered under her breath, looking down at her lap, trying to avoid the eyes that were still glaring at her.
"Anyway, we moved to New Hampshire," I continued, "I needed somewhere remote and near a forest so I could get back on the 'vegetarian' diet." I glanced up at my parents, both of them smiling at me. Neither of their minds suggested that they were upset with me for hunting humans while I was away from them, but they were both proud that I was back to feeding from animals.
"We'd been there for a few months," I said, "when Bella fell down the stairs. I was out hunting when I felt pain in my chest and I knew something was wrong. I rushed back to the house, but she was dying. The only thing I could do was change her. I agonised about it," I glared at Rosalie, "but I just couldn't live without her. It hurts to even be away from her for short periods of time, I don't know what it would be like if I lost her." I pulled her tightly in my arms, talking about how I had almost lost her was hard. I needed to feel her in my arms.
"It hurts to be away from each other?" Carlisle asked, "For both of you?" We nodded.
"Even as a human, I felt pain when Edward left, even just for a few hours to hunt," Bella explained, "Isn't that just the normal mating connection?"
"I've never heard of vampires experiencing pain at being away from their mate," Carlisle said, "We don't like to be away from our mates, but it doesn't hurt." His mind began theorising why this could be, but he was at a loss.
"How did you manage to be around Bella as a human?" Jasper asked, "Was the bloodlust not overwhelming for you, particularly since you had been hunting humans."
"I never once felt any bloodlust towards Bella," I told him, "Our connection meant that I could never do anything that would hurt her or take her away from me."
Everyone's minds were in awe that I had been able to live with Bella as a human without experiencing any blood lust. Emmett wondered if we'd been intimate when she was still human. I glanced up at him at that thought, nodding ever so slightly, answering him in case he decided to voice that question out loud. I already felt like he was my brother, despite only meeting him. His mind showed his respect at my control.
"How long have you been a vampire, Bella?" Jasper asked. He could see that her eyes weren't quite the same colour of amber as mine yet, realising that she was probably quite young, but surprised at how controlled she was.
"About 6 weeks," she answered.
Six minds exploded in shock at just how young she was. Jasper's mind went to his time training newborn vampires for the southern wars. That explained the scars. He had seen hundreds of newborn vampires during that time and he'd never seen one as controlled as Bella after six weeks. It usually took at least six months before a newborn was anywhere near as controlled.
"Bella's not your usual newborn vampire," I chuckled, "She's never been out of control and she can already be around humans. We think she's a shield. I couldn't hear her thoughts as a human. Now that she's a vampire, she can lift her shield and allow me to hear her, but she can keep me out when she wants to."
"Oh, thank God!" Alice exclaimed, "That's why I didn't see you coming. Her shield stops me from being able to see her. Can you get a read on her, honey?" We all turned to look at Jasper.
"Nope, nothing," he answered, "I didn't really notice as there were so many other feelings going around, but now that I am focusing on her, I can't get a read on her at all."
"Lift your shield, baby," I said to her, "Let's see if that works for them, too."
"Okay," she said, "Try now."
"Yes," Jasper said, " I can feel you now. Happiness and a lot of love." I smiled at her.
"Alice?" she asked.
"I'm getting some flashes of you now," she answered, with a sigh of relief, "I really thought I was losing my 'sight'."
We all talked for a while, hearing everyone's stories. We heard about Carlisle changing Rosalie, a year or so after I left, after finding her almost dead in the street. Then how she found Emmett, dying after being attacked by a bear and how she brought him to Carlisle to change him for her. Alice couldn't remember anything about her human life, waking alone as a vampire. Her visions brought her to Jasper and, together, they found the rest of the family. Jasper had been changed as part of the southern wars, training newborns and disposing of them when they were no longer of use to his creator. That had weighed on his mind too much, especially since he could feel everything they felt, and he eventually left a few years before meeting Alice.
Carlisle and Esme told us where they had lived over the years and how they visited the house in Rochester every time they moved to update the letter they had left for me, always hoping that I would go back someday and come to find them.
Night was just beginning to fall when Esme suggested showing us around the house. There was a large kitchen full of appliances that would never get used and a small artist's studio that was filled with Esme's paintings. We followed her upstairs, seeing all of their bedrooms and Carlisle's study. She then led us up another set of stairs.
"This is your room," she said, as she opened the door to a large bedroom with a bathroom off to the side, "We've had a room for you in every house we've lived in."
My breath caught in my throat at their thoughtfulness and I felt ashamed that I had never tried looking for them before now. I pulled Esme into a hug, whispering apologies in her ear.
"You're here now, that's all that matters," she said, "It had to happen this way so you could find Bella. Now our family is complete." She pulled Bella into our hug. I felt so happy, having my family back, even bigger than before, and they had welcomed Bella, too.
As we pulled out of the hug, Esme spotted the ring on Bella's finger, her mind so excited.
"Is that what I think it is?" she shrieked. Bella nodded, holding out her hand to show Esme the ring.
"He asked me on the way here," Bella told her, "We stopped at Niagara Falls and we swam in behind the falls. It was so romantic."
"Oh, let me see!" Alice exclaimed, coming up behind us, "It's so beautiful. You have to let me help you plan the wedding! Please?" She was jumping up and down, her eyes pleading with Bella to say yes.
"How can I say no to that?" Bella chuckled, "Of course, I'd love you all to help."
"We'd all love to help. Thank you," Esme said, "We'll let you get settled in. We can talk wedding plans tomorrow."
I left Bella getting a shower, as I ran back to pick up the car and drive it back to the house. Carrying all our belongings into the house and up to our room, I heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom attached to our room. Images of Bella, naked, water running down her body filled my mind, as I sneaked into the bathroom.
Her image was blurry through the steamed up glass of the shower door, but I could still make out her outline. I quickly stripped out of my clothes and opened the shower door to join her. Her breath hitched, as I snaked my arms around her warm, wet body, pressing myself against her back.
"We shouldn't..." she began.
"Everyone else is otherwise engaged, love," I whispered in her ear, licking the water droplets from her neck. She tilted her head to the side giving me better access to her neck, my hands wandering over her body. She gasped as my thumbs ran over her hardened nipples, as my hands cupped her breasts. Keeping one hand there and my lips still roaming her neck, I moved my other hand down her body, lifting her leg up and placing her foot on a ledge. She leaned back into me, my erection pressing between her cheeks, as I moved my hands towards where she was now spread open for me.
Her head fell back onto my shoulder, when my fingers slipped into her and my thumb flicked across her sensitive nub. Thrusting my fingers in and out of her while my thumb circled her clit, eliciting purely erotic moans from her lips. Her pants increased as she got closer to her climax and when I curled my fingers in her just right, she bit down on her bottom lip trying not to scream as she shattered in my arms.
Turning her in my arms, I captured her lips with mine, slipping my tongue into her mouth as I lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist, one hand cupping her perfect bottom, the other holding her back, as I pressed her into the cold tiles. Lining up with her entrance, I pushed deep inside her, never once breaking our kiss.
I moaned into her mouth at the feeling of her warm walls surrounding me, pulling me in and I began thrusting in and out. The hot water cascaded down over us, as I took her against the shower wall, driving into her with force, my pubic bone hitting her clit every time. Her hands were in my hair, keeping my mouth on hers as her climax approached. Soon we were both panting heavily and as her orgasm hit her, her muscles clenched around my erection and I could hold on no longer, spilling my load deep inside her.
Recommendation for this chapter:
Creature of Habit by EZRocksAngel
Bella begins working for the elusive and distant Edward Cullen who she discovers is hiding behind an elaborate charade to maintain his secret lifestyle. Bella is determined to find out the mysteries of Edward Cullen but with what results? AU, OOC.