Hey! Surprise! This chapter basically wrote itself. I love it when that happens.
Since you're reading this, you're probably not a huge cannon couples fan, so you'll have no trouble with me trash talking Edward or the Cullens :)
WARNING: FULL STEAM AHEAD. PROCEED AT YOUR OWN PERIL.
Also, full steam ahead in the coming chapters as well, because we are missing one one-on-one sex scene, and then at least one foursome (I'm dying to write this one and she how it'll turn out)
Hope you enjoy this, and I'll see you in the next update.
THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS AND PRIVATE MESSAGES. I LOVE THEM :)
ENJOY.
THE LOCKET.
Chapter 15.
Since they didn't have that much leisure time, they had to finish their hunt before walking back to the castle. Felix's usual playful demeanor was back, same as Alec's quiet but humorous presence. It was Demetri, though the one that concerned her. He was quiet and hadn't turned his frown upside down. He likely didn't want to speak in front of Alec and Felix, though she wasn't sure if that was the case. Perhaps it was something only meant for her ears, regardless of how close he was with the other two. Either way, she left him alone, planning on asking him about it once they were alone.
Demetri stewed about Edward's words and the possibility of his implication with Victoria; he knew neither of them held a candle to the experience they had. They weren't high-ranking guards of the most powerful organization just because of their gifts and muscles. If Edward had betrayed Bella, as much as he would enjoy ripping him apart, he would have to leave his fate in Bella's hands. He didn't make any promises about Alec and Felix, though, and he wouldn't stop them if they decided they were not as merciful as him.
He also had noticed two distinctive things that settled a disturbing voice inside his head. Bella had called herself one of the Volturi and had called the castle "home". He knew she was content in the castle and had been happy and proud to earn her gray cloak, but he'd never asked if she felt like she belonged. Guess he didn't have to now.
She had had some trouble adjusting to her immortality, and he worried about the pressures Aro had put on her, not because he thought she couldn't handle them, because he knew she could. But because he wanted to erase any source of worry, or trouble for her. If he could rid the world of all evil and guarantee her eternal happiness, he'd gladly do it.
He'd already sold his soul to the devil, aka Aro, and she'd done the same.
…
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…
Once they made it home, Felix and Alec broke away from their little formation to go do some reconnaissance on Victoria while Bella dragged Demetrei to his room. He'd been quiet on the way back, and she knew it was because he was seething from the encounter.
Bella wasn't happy about it either. She hoped to be wrong about Edward and that he had nothing to do with Victoria learning her whereabouts. She wished to say she knew Edward well enough to discard the idea. But she wasn't sure she knew him at all. She'd seen the disgust on his face when she called herself a Volturi. She knew he resented her wish to become a vampire.
Sadly, there was nothing she could do. If Edward had betrayed her and posed a threat to her, she'd have to deal with the consequences. She'd need to gather as much information about his plans and his associations before bringing the matter to Aro. Because there was no way he wouldn't hear about it.
And if Edward posed a threat to her survival, there would be no way that either of her men would let Edward live if push came to shove.
She should alert Carlisle and maybe finally have her closure conversation with the rest of the family. She'll speak with Jane and Renata about this. Get a different perspective and plan from there.
But first, Demetri was her priority.
She took his hand and entwined their fingers, smiling at him while she walked to his room. He let her guide the way, happy to observe the ease with which she moved around the halls. Long gone was the girl that believed it was easier to get out of hell than find her way around. In front of him walked a woman who had overcome hardship, drama, and heartbreak and had come stronger because of it. Before him walked the love of his existence, his sweet torment.
She walked inside his room with the same confidence she held herself. She closed the door and, still dragging him by the hand, walked him toward the bathroom. She stood in front of the shower, and whatever had been going through her mind made her nod.
She turned around and smiled brightly at him. "Take off your clothes."
He raised an eyebrow. She had given her virginity to Felix, which he didn't care about. She'd let him mark her neck forever with his teeth and tease her with sexual innuendos she was good at giving back. But she'd drawn the line at physical intimacy, and he'd respected her boundaries. But here she was, ordering him to take off his clothes, using that tone that drove him mad with need.
"What?"
She sauntered towards him, stopping inches from his mouth. She stood on her tiptoes, leveling their eyes. "Take off your clothes."
Well, no need to ask for a second time and make her repeat it a third. If she wanted him naked, he would gladly comply. "Are you going to return the favor, or is this your way of asking for a striptease?"
Bella smiled amusedly and, taking one step back, started undoing the buttons of her shirt. She finished with the buttons but did not remove her shirt, letting it fall open and revealing a ruby-red lace bra.
Demetri shed his shirt and did a slow job undoing his pants, enjoying how Bella's eyes roamed his chest hungrily. He lowered the zipper of his jeans and stopped. "Take off your shirt."
Something in his tone had her shedding her shirt and tossing it aside. "Good girl." Bella moaned. Who knew praise would be so hot? And he hadn't even touched her yet. "You look gorgeous in that red bra. But it needs to go. Take it off." Bella's nipples hardened, and her pussy cried out in need. "Fuck, you're gorgeous."
He removed his pants and boxers, tossing them on top of his clothes, his cock springing free, waiting for the action.
Bella removed her bra and the rest of her clothes, standing naked as the day she was born in front of a mountain of muscles and red eyes that set her body aflame.
He prowled closer, eliminating any distance and personal space. In a swift move, he turned her around, caging her back to his chest and roaming her body with his hands in a demanding caress, landing on her pussy.
"You're so wet already, sweetheart." He stroked her clit lazily, making her moan and arch her back. With his other hand, he twisted her nipples and squeezed her breasts. With his mouth resting on the shell of her ear, he whispered. "I'm going to devour you whole. Do you want that, Bella?"
Sweet Jesus, her name sounded like a dirty word in that voice.
She nodded.
"Say it." He demanded and twisted her nipples harder. She cried out in ecstasy.
"I want you to devour me whole."
"I want you to come in my mouth and on my cock." Fuck, she wasn't expecting a Dom, but it was so fucking hot; all she could do was squirm underneath him while his lazy strokes on her pussy drove her crazy with need.
"Yes." She breathed out.
He let her go, only to turn on the shower and pull her inside with him. He pulled her hair out of its confinement and ran his fingers through the strands under the waterfall. She moaned and tilted her head backward, leaning against his shoulder. He left a kiss on her temple while he continued to comb her hair with his fingers.
Once he was done with her hair, he moved to soap her body, but instead of using the loofa, he used his hands, taking the opportunity to touch her everywhere without any barriers. She was a writhing mess by the time he sank to his knees in front of her and snapped her legs open.
"Look at this pussy. You're so wet, sweetheart." Bella couldn't shed her eyes from the kneeling figure of such a big man. She watched his face disappear between her legs and felt his tongue stroking her clit with more pressure than he'd used earlier with his fingers.
She grabbed his hair to push him closer and to have something to do with her hands. Oh, sweet pleasure!
"Careful with the hands, sweetheart. I'm fond of my hair in my head." She giggled and softened the pressure on his hair while he dipped his face back where he was.
He ate her like a man who'd been denied food and drink and was finally allowed both. He ate her like he was on death row, and she was his last meal. He ate her until she came twice. At some point, he'd grabbed her legs and put them on his shoulders, so all she had holding her was his shoulders and the shower wall.
When he was mildly satisfied, he lowered her legs slowly and kissed his way up, kissing her lips finally, making her taste herself. Felix had done the same when he'd gone down on her. It must be a man thing.
"Are you sure about this?" He swiped some hair strands from her face and tucked them behind her ear. It was such a sweet gesture contrasted with the total dominant man he became.
"Yes." She kissed his lips and felt him move his hands to her thighs. He slipped his hands to the back of her thighs and pushed her up. She instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist while he slammed inside her without further notice.
"Fuck!" She screamed and arched her back. "You're huge." But he felt so good. One of the perks of being a vampire was that she wouldn't feel the uncomfortable stretch of her walls around the size of her mates. Go new indestructible body!
He retreated completely and slammed again, repeating the motion a few times.
"Don't tease me." She complained.
Demetri chuckled and started thrusting rhythmically. She met him thrust for thrust, baring her neck for him to kiss and lick at his leisure. He used his hands and mouth to kiss, touch, and squeeze the skin between her ear, neck, and breasts. He bit her nipples gently, and she came with a scream of pleasure, but he hadn't had enough.
"I want another one." Another perk of being a vampire? No need to recover or rest.
She leveraged herself on his shoulders and started riding him, locking their eyes together as she rested her forehead against his. When his own release was close, he slipped one hand between them and stroked her clit savagely, bringing her to the edge and making her fall alongside him.
"Fuck, sweetheart. Such a good girl. You took my cock so well." He panted. "I want to bite my mark and mark you again."
"Only if I can return the favor." She said, still feeling the aftershock waves of her orgasm.
Demetri didn't need to offer her verbal confirmation. He lowered his head and bit his mark, the one that had made her his forever. She cried out in pain and pleasure as another orgasm overtook her. Then, she sank her teeth into his own neck, bringing another orgasm from him as she latched at his skin.
…
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Hours later, she was tucked against his side on his bed, wearing only a pair of panties and one of his shirts. She had her eyes closed and was drawing patterns on his chest, enjoying the humming of her mating bond in her chest and the peaceful feeling that seemed to radiate from Demetri.
"What do you think of Edward's visit?" He asked suddenly.
Bella sat, crossing her legs. "I don't know. I'd like to say that he wouldn't betray me like that. But something tells me he was the one to inform Victoria."
"How does that make you feel?"
"Angry. I can't believe he thinks so highly of himself and so low of me that if I didn't do his bidding, he would throw a tantrum like this."
Demetri agreed with her. Edward was a humiliated, scorned man. Not only had a human girl saved his ass, but he'd also been humiliated in front of her, not only by Demetri but by Aro and Jane. Then, Bella had turned her back on him and decided to stay in the very place he despised.
He knew she hadn't any residual feelings for him, but it must be hard for her to see the man she once loved succumb to such low actions.
"I'm sure between Felix and Alec, they'll find anything we need to know. If he told her, if he's working with her to hurt you, we'll deal with it."
"Should I call Carlisle now or wait until we have proof of anything?" This was something she'd debated on the way back. She could call Carlisle and relay Edward's words. But they were words. He hadn't actually threatened her, nor anything like that. He'd simply come to..what? Gloat? Make sure she was turned like she'd been promised and like she'd requested?
"It's your choice, sweetheart. But I think we better wait until we have more information. I may not like them, but Edward is still Carlisle's son." Bella nodded; he was right.
Edward was Carlisle's son, and for Carlisle to believe her, she'd have to have irrefutable proof of Edward's plans and actions. He'd chosen Edward once based on his side of the story, and it had taken him more than six months to ask for her version of the events. She loved Carlisle, but he was guided by a guilt compass, contrary to what she once thought of him.
How the mighty have fallen.
"Yeah, you're right."
"Hey. What else is on your mind?" He had remained lying on his back, with his bare chest and his boxers on. He was the image of a Greek god brought to earth.
"I want closure from them. I still don't know why they followed Edward when they claimed I was their family. I want to know so I can put them fully behind. Is it rude of me to say I don't want to have any more contact with them?"
The second statement was news to Demetri. Bella had avoided speaking about the Cullens, and neither he nor the other two asked about them. It seemed Bella had been thinking a lot about them. But he understood. Were he in her place, he'd also seek the answers.
"You don't owe anyone anything, Bella. If you want to call them to have closure, let it be on your terms. If you want them in your life forever, have it be on your terms as well. If you call them and decide you don't want any contact with them, we'll support your decision." He caressed her arm in a soothing matter.
"I'll think about it. But I'm pretty positive I don't want to have any more contact with them. I thought they were my family, but that changed when they abandoned me and asked me to fly here, uninformed, to save Edward. I wasn't their family when they let me sacrifice myself. I wasn't family when Carlisle took seven months to seek me out, and the first thing he wanted was to change Aro's mind about my transformation. And since then, radio silence."
Demetri frowned, Bella hadn't shown how much the Cullens' silence had been bothering her. No wonder she hadn't spoken to them since she came here. No wonder she'd looked so startled when Carlisle showed up after her first three weeks here.
The woman in front of him was the same strong woman that had led him into the bathroom hours earlier. The same sexy devil who had been sucking his cock and had him coming harder than he'd come in his thousands of years on this earth. The woman before him was his most treasured possession, and he couldn't understand why someone would not prioritize her.
"If Edward has plans to hurt you, I will kill him. I don't care what Carlisle and his pacifist ways think or what the rest of the damn coven thinks. He's dead." Demetri swore. "That's a promise, sweetheart, and that's something I will let Carlisle know, whether you call them or not."
Bella leaned forward and kissed his sweet lips. "I understand."
Good, they were on the same page then.
"Should we go see if Felix and Alec found something?" She was reluctant to leave this bed and the post-coital bliss -despite the grim conversation, but she needed answers.
Demetri kissed her hard one last time and jumped out of bed. "Yes. Let's go."
He put on a pair of black sweatpants, a grey t-shirt, and a pair of black sneakers. Bella put on a pair of yoga pants and slipped her feet into her white Converse and walked with Demetri toward the meeting room to see what her other two mates had been up to while she'd been riding Demetri and having some awesome sex.
Felix's eyes promised endless hours of teasing, and Alec's failed attempts to hide his smile made Bella roll her eyes and mutter about men and their maturity levels. What she loved about her mates was that there was no awkwardness. When she had handed Felix her virginity, their only concern had been that it had been after a fight. There was no jealousy, no rivalry. They knew she loved them equally.
"Have you found anything?"
Alec nodded and pointed to the screen mounted on the wall before them. It was a map with many red dots, all close together. "What am I looking at?"
Demetri growled louder than she'd ever heard him growl, looking as if he was seconds away from a killing spree. "Tell me that's not a fucking newborn army."
"I can't. Because it is." Felix replied.
Bella looked at them in confusion.
"That's not the only bad news." Alec pressed a few keys on his keyboard, and the map moved. While before she had been looking at the boot map that marked Italy's location, now she was looking at the US map, which showed an alarming number of red dots."
"Two armies?"
"We don't know for sure if she's combining both armies or getting rid of the US one now that she knows Bella is here. I called Kane and asked for intel. He'll have news in the next few hours."
"Good. Do we know how many newborns are in Italy?" This was Demetri, the captain of the guard. This was not Demetri, her dominating sexy mate. It was just as hot but a little bit intimidating.
"Close to two dozen. Santiago and Jane are preparing to leave now and confirm." Alec reported.
Demetri nodded. "Do we know where Victoria is?"
Alec shook his head. "Jane and Santiago's second mission is to sniff her out from afar and report to us."
Bella remained silent, observing the military conference take place. Felix was typing something on his own computer, his brows frowning and relaxing every few minutes. If the situation weren't so serious, she would have laughed at him.
"Aren't you the best chance at finding where she is?" And killing her once and for all.
Demetri shook his head. "I have never met her. I can only track those I have at least met once. Jane is a good tracker, and Santiago is a cunning bastard too. They know what to do." Bella nodded, unsure of what to say.
"Did Edward sell my location to Victoria?" She asked no one in particular since she didn't know who was doing what.
"We're still unclear about that. My instincts tell me he did, but we'll need proof if we're bringing this to Aro. We already let him know about Jane and Santiago's task, but we depend on what they smell and see to dive deeper." Felix looked mad at this.
"What is a newborn army?" Bella asked finally.
"As you know, most newborns are unhinged and unstable. They are unpredictable." Felix launched into a summarized story of newborn armies, wars for territory, and how frowned upon it was for the Volturi that a newborn army was forming not only in one but two territories and how bad it was that they didn't know the actual numbers.
It all comes to one thing: Keep the secret.
That's what the newborn army was threatening to undo.
Exposure.
The very thing she saved Edward from doing.
The very thing she hoped he was not involved in for his own good.
If he were a threat to their way of life, she wouldn't hesitate to end him.
If he were a threat to her life, she would be the one delivering the final blow.
That's a promise.
