Hey there! I want to especially thank desiree-pow-37-1986, she's been thoroughly reviewing. She was the one to point out that vampires and humans have sex differently in the sense that vampires feel everything more strongly.
Stay tuned to see how I added her thoughts to this chapter :).
I had so much fun writing this. I could just see Demetri, Felix, and Alec running around while Aro and Marcus observed everything from their thrones, stroking their imaginary beards and snacking on vampire-friendly popcorn.
Let me know what you think of this chapter.
No warnings this time. Just a lot of fluff.
THE LOCKET.
Chapter 8.
They returned from their date late in the afternoon after spending all day in the sun. Bella had never had so much fun in her life. She'd never felt so carefree, and despite the bump of Demetri and Alec fighting, the rest of the day had been magnificent.
Bella had just gotten out of the shower when Alec entered her room. His head was hanging low, and his mood was so dark that it seemed to swallow any light. There were no shadows, no fog, but she didn't need them to know Alec was sulking.
"Are you ok?" She asked casually, drying her hair with a towel.
"Could we talk?" He sat on the bed. He always sat on the feet of the bed. What was it with him and sitting at the edge?
"Of course." She sat next to him and took his hand in hers. She liked touching him. The cold of his hand barely registering anymore. She got used to it with Edward, after all.
He looked at their joined hands, and a sigh of relief left his lips. He shook his head, squared his shoulders, and tilted his head. "I wanted to make sure we were all good after what happened today." She looked genuinely confused, which felt like such a relief to him. "I know I behaved like an ass, and I meant it when I said I was sorry. I do trust your judgment."
Bella smiled softly, and an amused giggle left her before she could control it. "You're the sweetest man ever to exist. You know that?" He raised an eyebrow. "I am so lucky to have you guarding all of me. And I want you to remember that the next time we fight. Because we're going to fight, it's inevitable but also healthy."
"You predict more fights in our future?" He frowned. How could he be so old yet so innocent? "I don't like that. I don't like fighting with you."
Bella pressed a kiss to his hand. "Neither do I. But I'm stubborn and growing, and once I'm changed, I will be a pain in the ass most of the time. You're going to want to strangle me. I guarantee that." He snorted in good humor. "But at the end of the day, a stupid fight won't change the fact that I'm the luckiest girl on earth. And I'm never going to take you for granted."
Alec hadn't come here expecting the conversation to go on like this. He was ready to grovel and apologize again. But he understood what Bella was saying.
"I know I'm not your only boyfriend. I promise to rein in the possessiveness around them." He winked.
She smiled brightly. "I like it when you're like this. Smiling, relaxed. It's still you, but happy."
Bella's words sank deep into his soul.
He was happy with her.
He was also in love with her.
"I love you."
Bella gasped before her surprise turned into joy. She jumped into his arms. Hadn't he been a vampire, he would have tumbled out of bed. "I love you, too!" She gave the words back with the most beautiful smile he's seen on her in a month.
He leaned down and captured her lips with his. He had experience with women; after all, forever is a long time to be alone. But he didn't do relationships. The women he'd slept with over the years knew the score. They knew they weren't the one. They were just scratching the itch. And his past still haunted him in his attempts to have a functioning relationship with Bella. He loved her and wanted to make her happy. For her, he was trying to take cues from her words, her body language, and her actions. For her, he was trying to shed any lingering baggage from his past.
"I want to share something with you if you're not too tired."
"I'm not; share away." She got on her knees and hands and crawled to the top of her bed, settling against the headboard and patting the space beside her for him to join her. Alec sat cross-legged beside her so that he could look at her face.
"Do you trust me, darling?" Bella's heart fluttered; it was the first time he had used a nickname for her, she liked it. Demetri called her sweetheart and Felix princess. Alec's darling made her just as giddy.
"I do." Without a shadow of a doubt. She trusted him with her most sacred possession: her heart.
"The reason Jane and I are so close it's because we almost lost each other when we were human."
Oh! He's telling me his story.
"The only people who weren't weary or afraid of me are Felix and Demetri, and that was after we got over our newborn year." Newborn year? She filed the question for later. "They, too, had to deal with whispers and stuff they'll tell you themselves. But it's why we mostly only trust each other."
"When you looked away those two times when I looked at you, I thought you were scared of me. You didn't know about the mate bond yet, but I could see you felt something because your eyes kept tracking Demetri's and Felix's movements. When we were at the ring, and you looked away, it felt like my heart was bleeding out, and I had barely spoken with you. The thought of you being scared, just like every damn person in my life since I was born, was unbearable. I couldn't have you being afraid of your mate and just being with me because you felt you had to."
Bella had tears running down her cheeks. How could anyone be afraid of him? He was wonderful. He might be on the quiet side, but he had a sense of humor; he loved passionately and with his whole being. He looked after Jane as if she were made of crystal, even though she was just as powerful and more than capable of taking care of herself. He never spent a day without checking up on her.
She hadn't thought about the training room scene again since she put his mind at ease on the day in question. She was glad he felt comfortable enough with her to talk about his life, whatever piece he wanted to share.
She grabbed Alec's face between her hands and leaned forward, capturing his mouth with hers. It was a soft peck because she had so many things she wanted to say but didn't know where to begin.
"I was never afraid of you. The thought never even made it inside my mind. All I could think since I saw you was how gorgeous you are, how attracted I was to you, and how crazy I was to be attracted to someone I hadn't spoken to. When Demetri found me outside the library, and you asked me to meet you after, all I could think about was the feeling of your eyes on me. How would it feel to be in your arms, hug and kiss you. If I would feel as safe in your arms as in your presence."
Alec ran the pad of his thumb through her lips. "You see, Alec. I even dream of you. But never, never have I been scared of you. When you walked away that day in the training room, I panicked. I didn't know if I had done something to upset you or if I had given you the impression that I didn't want you. I was crying because I felt like a piece of my heart was missing, not because you inadvertently hurt my feelings."
Bella breathed in and out, reining in the panic and excitement that ran through her as she realized what had changed since she kissed her three mates. 1) The buzzing in her head disappeared completely, and 2) It was crazy and scary because it's only been a month, but she had fallen in love with the little things, and she had fallen for them. Utterly and irrevocably. This time, the certainty of "irrevocably" felt tattooed in her soul.
She had already told him the three-letter word, but repeating it after this realization made it more special. "I love you."
He rested his forehead against hers. "I love you, too."
…
…
…
It felt like she had just fallen asleep when footsteps in her bedroom woke her up. They were too loud to be any of her mates, who usually walked as silently as a ninja. So that left the two petite females she called friends.
Renata giggled but suddenly stopped when Jane shushed her. Bella opened her eyes and groggily asked. "Why are you two here at," she looked at her phone to check the time. "Five am? Are you insane?"
"We're kidnapping you." Jane said as if that explained her roaming in her drawers and closet.
"It's not kidnapping if you let me know you're doing it."
"It is if your mates don't know anything. Hence our appearance at five am. Now get up, get dressed, and let's move before they realize something's up."
Bella jumped out of bed excited at this crazy secret last-minute mission. She hadn't been able to have as much time with Ranata and Jane as she would have liked. Having three mates that apparently had separation anxiety made it difficult.
"Do I want to know how you're keeping those three away?"
Jane smiled mischievously.
"Probably not."
"Is it going to get me in trouble?"
"Probably."
"Definitely." Renata corrected but looking untroubled.
"Does Aro and Marcus know about this?" Bella didn't want to get in trouble with those two. Her mates, she could handle.
"Yes. We cleared it with them. They were extremely amused at the secrecy of this."
Well, if the kings had signed off on this, who was she to complain and go against their best judgment? She dressed quickly and accepted the bagel and hot chocolate Ranata had gotten her.
Jane locked Bella's door behind her. "If they find it locked, that will delay them."
Bella rolled her eyes. Jane was going to get her in trouble with her brother, but she couldn't shake the excitement.
"So, what did you do to have the three of them out of the way and pull this off?" Bella asked finally when the castle was well behind them.
"I messed up the training room, and Jane messed up one of the systems they use to store all the paperwork for every mission. It's going to take them hours to fix the system. The training room was just revenge for many lost fights with Demetri."
Yeah, Demetri was ruthless when in trainer mode. She'd seen it once and had winced at what a bastard he was. She would bite his head off when the moment to train her came. She couldn't wait.
"Won't they know it was you?"
"Oh, they will know."Jane had that maniac smile again. She was really crazy. Bella loved it. "Especially Alec. He's so meticulous with it. He's going to be very mad for a few days. He deserves it, though."
Bella giggled. She was an only child and hence a stranger to sibling rivalry, so she was interested in knowing what has her quiet, sweet Alec done to deserve his sister's wrath.
"A few weeks before you came here, I had a date with a vampire that was passing through. He was nice enough, handsome in a typical way. Funny enough. It was just a way to shake the boredom. Alec always runs background checks on visitors." Jane got quiet, getting aggravated.
Renata took over, laughing. "He was very thorough in his background check of Liam. I don't know how he got that much information on him. But he found out Liam had cheated on his wife when he was human, which seemed enough to ban him from going out with his sister."
"But what did he do?" Bella was on the edge of her seat. While Jane drove, she took the backseat, and Renata sat on the passenger's side.
"He threatened him. He cast his gift on him and told him that was the most innocuous thing he could do. He warned him to stay away from me, or he'd be facing his bad side." Jane finished. It was clear no one held a grudge like Jane.
"I mean, I know he's crazily overprotective of you, so it doesn't come as a surprise he did that, but still!" Bella laughed until she was crying. "It's kind of sweet."
Jane groaned. "You say that because you're in love with him. You see him through rose-colored glasses."
Bella blushed slightly. "I don't see any of my mates through rose-colored glasses." She probably did, though.
Now it was Renata who snorted. Bella pushed her in protest, which only made her laugh.
"So, where are we going?" She asked, changing the topic.
"The Volturi own a villa three hours from Volterra. It's private, it has a lake, and we called to have some food for you. We're off the grid for three days."
"As off the grid as we can get." Renata amended.
"Why?" Bella asked. Not that she was complaining.
"Your bucket list."
Bella tilted her head in confusion. "You wrote that you wanted to travel, visit another country. We can't go that far alone on such short notice, so we came up with the best replacement."
"No sharks, right?" She joked.
"No sharks. Only piranhas." Jane answered. She had the same weird sense of humor as her brother.
Speaking of the devil, she checked her phone, but there were no messages yet. So, they were still safe. They either hadn't discovered Jane's and Renata's messes or were knee-deep into it. Besides, it was still early for them to check on her.
…
…
…
"We have an ulterior motive in this kidnapping." Jane said while coming out of the pool.
Yes, the villa not only had a lake on the property, but it also had a pool.
"I figured." Bella smiled. "Shoot away. What do you want to know?"
Renata and Jane exchanged a look and nodded at the same time. Renata took out Bella's bucket list from her dress pocket. "You scratched the sex item off your list. Why?"
"I'm not ready to have sex." She deadpanned. Though that was not the whole truth.
"And…" Jane encouraged her to keep talking.
Bella rolled her eyes. "I'm nervous about having sex with three vampires, ok? I didn't know why I was so attracted to them when I wrote that. I don't have any experience in the sex area beyond masturbation, and that's wholly unsatisfactory."
Jane hummed. "What's intimidating about having sex with three vampires?"
"I don't care about their past. It would be hypocritical to expect them to have been celibate for centuries. But I can't shake off the tiny part of me that hates their past. Besides, it's three of them."
Renata tilted her head. "Your reluctance is because it's three men?" Bella nodded. "Hate to break it to you, sweety, but they'll still be three when you're changed."
"I know that."
"So? How is it different now than when you've changed?" Jane asked.
Bella shrugged. "I don't know. It feels too much too soon. I love them and want to give myself to them and take everything they have to give, but I'm scared, I guess."
"Scared?"
"That I won't be enough." There, she said it.
She had grown a lot in the past seven months, more so in the past month, but Edward's constant rejections came to mind. He had dilapidated her self-esteem. It was hard to recover from that, but she was trying. She was better than she'd been six months ago, but the road was long.
"Ok, time for the sex talk." Renata rubbed her palms together as if sharing her evil plans. Bella smiled, grateful for the light-hearted tone they were using to talk about everything. "Sex as a human and sex as a vampire is different. But only in the sense that vampires feel everything much more strongly. Trust me; it won't be unsatisfactory if you have sex with them as a human. It will feel incredible for you and them." Bella's brain brought forward the image of Felix's hard-on pressing against her back when Demetri kissed her for the first time. It also brought up Demetri's erection and their teasing on the motorcycle.
"Renata's right. Sex is instinctual, and it takes a while to learn what everyone likes, but it's good. Even the first time will be good. They will make it good for you. Not because they're your mates, or more accurately, not only because of that, but because they care about you, they love you, and hence they will make it good for you. Whether you have them at the same time or in different moments." Jane's reassurance and Renata's conviction helped Bella to think about sex with her three vampires as something less intimidating.
"That actually makes sense." Bella nodded thoughtfully.
"Of course it makes sense. It's not only the boys who have had a lot of experience in the past decades." Renata winked, lowering her sunglasses. Bella snorted, but she did feel more at ease about the whole thing.
She was still not ready to have sex, but maybe she could explore her explosive connection with her mates in fun ways that involved naked intimacy but didn't amount to full sex.
"Now that the serious part is over." Jane snatched the list from Renata's hands. "What about that tattoo and piercing? Do you still want them?"
"Will they make it through the transformation?"
"Of course. I have seen many tattooed and pierced vampires in the past few decades." Renata shrugged as if speaking of the past few decades was like speaking of the last few days. For her, it probably felt like that.
"Awesome! Then yes, I want to do it."
Jane stood up in a flash. "Let's go, then!"
Ok, so apparently, Jane was a do-it-in-the-moment girl. Bella put on her dress and sandals and walked beside her and Renata to the car. The nearest mall was an hour away, so they barely made it before closing time.
She got a nose piercing and a blue butterfly tattoo on her ribcage. The experience had been less traumatic than shaving her intimate parts, but it hadn't been painless. Still, the result was worth it. She absolutely loved it.
"Now, imagine your men running their hands on your body and discovering your tattoo." Renata winked.
Bella was learning that Renata had no shame about anything sex-related, while Jane was blunter in every other aspect.
"Not until it's healed." The tattoo artist intervened, utterly unfazed that Renata had used the plural. Well, who knew what kind of things he'd seen, heard, and done. They were probably the tamest of his customers.
…
…
…
It was nearly eight pm when Bella checked her phone for the first time since that morning. She had a few missed calls and tons of messages.
Felix: Princess, where are you?
That was at eleven in the morning. He'd probably gone to check on her.
Felix: Bella? - Noon.
Alec: Why aren't you answering us? What happened? - Twelve-thirty.
Demetri: Why is your door locked? - Twelve forty-five.
Felix: You locked your door? Why? - Twelve forty-seven.
Alec: Bella, are you with Jane? - One pm.
Felix: What did the little witch do? - One pm.
Demetri: Sweetheart, pick up your phone. - One thirty pm.
Demetri: Bella?! - Two pm.
Felix: Bella, we're getting worried. Where are you? Why are you not answering? – Two fifteen.
Alec: Have you spoken with her? - Three pm.
He must have been busy with Jane's mess.
Felix: No. She's still not picking up. - Three ten.
Demetri: Same. - Three thirteen.
Alec: Bella, please answer. It's been hours since we heard from you. Marcus and Aro don't know where you are either. Renata and Jane are also gone. - Three-thirty.
Bella giggled at the string of messages in their group chat. She didn't feel guilty, ok, she didn't feel that guilty, even if the poor things were freaking out. What amused her the most was that Marcus and Aro were playing along.
"Did you know that the guys asked Aro and Marcus about our location, and they said they don't know?" Bella shared the news with her friends.
Jane smiled. "They were bored. This is free entertainment."
Why didn't it surprise her?
There were many messages from three-thirty till ten minutes ago. She read them all in case she missed something important before answering.
Bella: I'm ok. I don't have good reception. I'll be in contact whenever I can. I miss you.
She added a heart emoji at the end and attached a picture of herself from that morning with sunglasses and hair in a bun, sitting with a smile and showing a beautiful lake on her back.
"Hey! No phones!" Renata called from her seat.
Bella laughed. "Just checking in on my three overprotective mates."
Jane was the most unapologetic of them all with this impromptu trip.
"Tell Alec to check his night table. I didn't leave without a word. I left him a note. It might have been hidden to buy us time, though."
"Your brother is going to kill you."
Renata laughed. She enjoyed messing with Demetri, Felix, and Alec. She said it's decades of friendship and mock revenge. Bella was just happy to have a few days away from the castle and with her friends. Everything since she arrived had been very intense, and she hadn't realized she needed the time away. She missed her mates, but having this time for herself was good. And she enjoyed spending time with Jane and Renata. They were as similar as they were different, and it was fun getting to know them.
Bella: Alec, Jane says to check your night table. Apparently, she left a note.
Felix: Princess, where are you?
It seemed like freak-out time was over if Felix was calling her Princess again.
Demetri: Send us your location.
Bella: I will not. I'll see you in a few days.
She added another heart emoji just because she was feeling a teeny tiny bit guilty.
She turned off her phone for the remainder of the day. Since it was summer and they were in Europe, daylight lasted way into the late hours of the day. Bella ate dinner in the seats beside the pool while Renata and Jane got in. She couldn't remember the last time a meal had been so uneventful. Renata and Jane were not interested in her food or watching her eat. They talked to her like she was just resting outside the pool and not nursing a plate of pasta on her lap.
Inevitably, she thought of Alice. She hadn't spoken to her in the past month, not even to tell her about her three vampires. It felt too personal, and even if she considered Alice her friend, there was that nagging voice that reminded her she was Edward's sister. Seven months ago, her only friend had chosen her ex-boyfriend over her. It's not that she would have asked Alice to stay, she could understand if she couldn't stay while the rest of the family left, but it would have been nice of Alice to keep in contact, especially if what she'd always said had been true at all. If she had been Alice's sister, or best friend, neither of those abandoned their loved ones. She had forgiven Alice and the rest of the Cullens just like she told Carlisle, but some wounds take longer to heal.
A ringing cell phone and a guilty-looking Renata shook her away from her dark thoughts. Bella grabbed Renata's phone from her discarded dress and saw Alec's name on the screen. She grinned. "My boyfriend is trying to locate you." She handed Renata her phone.
"Renata's phone." She answered her phone as if she were answering a business call. Only her silly smile gave her away. Whatever Alec said made her smile grow wider and gasp in mock surprise. "I know; how dare she?"
Bella looked at Jane, who had rolled her eyes and shaken her head. She made a gesture to Renata to pass on the phone. "Hey, there's someone very keen on speaking with you." Bella laughed. Renata's words were intended to make Alec think it was Bella who was waiting in line. "You kiss your girl with that mouth? Ugh! Don't answer that question! I know too much about your sex life as it is." She made a disgusted sound and gave Jane the phone.
"Alec." Jane's one word sent Renata into a fit of poorly suppressed laughter. "Aww, I miss you too, sweet boo." Bella was fascinated with this sibling rivalry. Clearly, Alec had been speaking, thinking it had been Bella on the line. She smiled at the thought of her sweet Alec saying he missed her. Bella discarded her empty plate on the floor next to her seat and walked to the pool's edge, sitting down and putting her feet in the water. She made a gesture to Jane to give her the phone. "Wait, someone wants to speak with you." Jane didn't give Alec enough time to answer before giving her the phone.
"Jane, I swear if you put Renata on the phone right now, I'll ruin every date you have for the next ten years, even if you find your mate." Bella laughed hard. Well, someone was in a mood.
"Now, now, there's no need to go threatening anyone." She waited for Alec to register it was her on the phone.
"Bella?"
"In the flesh." She replied. "I miss you, but I'm fine. You need to stop threatening your sister."
"Princess, are you ok?" Of course they were all together.
Jane rolled her eyes, and Renata shook her head. Still, they didn't make a move to get her off the phone.
"I'm fine. We don't have our phones with us all the time. I'm sorry I worried you, but I swear I'm safe and sound."
"I swear the little witch is going to pay for it." She couldn't wait to hear about Felix and his rivalry with Jane. Did she fry him with her gift? Why did she find that funny instead of worrisome?
"Hey, look, the strippers arrived!" Jane called from her spot in the farthest corner of the pool, clearly annoyed at Felix's nickname for her.
"Did she say strippers?" Demetri growled. Ok, she was on speaker then.
"I'll see you in a few days. I do miss you a lot." She hung up the phone without clarifying that there were no strippers.
It had seemed fun.
She turned Renata's phone off and tossed it on top of her dress. She had two more days of sun, fun, and friends before returning to reality. She planned on taking full advantage of it.
