The rain pelting the roof of the tent was a soothing sound.

Edward had reinforced their sanctuary with all sorts of expensive equipment. The two were safe and dry inside the tent, even as the storm raged overhead.

The only thing he could not control was the temperature, which explained why Beau was down to his boxers. Edward leaned over him every few minutes, pressing an icy hand to his forehead.

"You're very warm, Beau. I told you to reapply the sunscreen."

"Just keep your hand there," Beau sighed. "It feels good."

Edward's eyes were tender in the lamplight. "My temperature is helping you for once."

"It sure is." Beau brought Edward's other hand to his neck, where the sweat was gathering. "Thank you."

"Are you still hungry?"

"No, that dehydrated food will lock me up for days."

"You have such a charming way with words."

Beau sat up. "Are you sure Jacob is okay out there?"

"He found a bear's den to take shelter in."

"A bear?"

"Jacob and the bear are fine. They're sharing it for the duration of the storm."

"That sounds like the start of an animated movie."

"Perhaps," Edward chuckled.

Beau watched him lounge on the sleeping bag they shared. He reminded Beau of a lion basking in the sun. It was the most relaxed Edward had ever looked, even tonight, on the eve of battle.

A battle Edward was not fighting in so that he could be with Beau. Fresh guilt bloomed in his chest.

Edward sensed the shift in his mood. "What are you thinking about?"

Beau chose not to share his negative thoughts. Instead he chose to focus on the other, more pleasant diversions.

"You . . . and me. I thought about it all day."

"So did I."

Edward tilted his head, no doubt hearing at the impact of these words. Beau curled his hand into a fist to hide the trembling.

"What made you change your mind?"

"I considered your counter—"

"—proposal, yes," Beau cut in. "But did you do it because I wanted you to? Or did you do it because you wanted to?"

Edward caught Beau's chin in his hand. "Where's this coming from?"

There was no room to look away, so he didn't. His fears spilled out like a waterfall.

"Jacob's fighting harder than ever, even when I try to keep him an arm's length. I don't like it. I need you to tell me if I ever make you feel that way. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I will," Edward promised. "Do you really want to know what changed my mind?"

Beau nodded.

"You did, Beau. You were right. After everything I've done, drawing the line at . . . this . . . seems foolish. You have a point. And I have to admit, I'm jealous of you."

"It's not foolish, it's what you believe in," Beau argued, ever the contrarian, even against himself. "And hold up: why on earth are you jealous of me?"

It was more than a little preposterous.

Edward smiled as though he heard that last thought.

"I'm from a different era. Sex was rarely—if ever—discussed, unless it was in the context of marriage and growing a family. There was a social order of things, and it seems to have persisted in me long past the end of my human life. Having never wanted or loved anyone before you . . . I realize I can be set in my ways."

"And all of that . . . " Beau hesitated. "That made you change your mind about sex?"

"Foreplay," Edward reminded him. "That was your counter proposal. Our original negotiation is still pending other motions."

The original negotiation involved Beau agreeing to marriage and Edward changing him afterwards. Neither of these things had happened yet.

But now . . . things were different.

"I still don't know why you're jealous of me. You have everything."

"You're freer than I am," Edward said simply. "You don't have the same . . . inhibitions . . . that I do. Men of my generation made do with the cards we were dealt, but none of us had your confidence. It's a blessing."

Beau had to concede the point. There was still a long way to go both socially and politically, but if given the choice, he would stay in the twenty-first century every time.

Beau felt better now that he understood Edward's thought process, but there were still a few lingering questions.

"Is that why you wouldn't let me . . . " Beau trailed off into a lewd gesture. Edward rolled his eyes.

"It was an experiment. Now we know I can do that without hurting you, at the very least."

"Just for the sake of experimenting—" Beau began.

"Not a good idea."

"Okay."

Beau settled down on the sleeping bag. He was determined to keep his word; he refused to make Edward feel uncomfortable.

Several minutes later, Edward peered down at him, his face full of reluctant curiosity.

"All right. Tell me what you were going to say."

"Oh, now you want to know?"

"You know perfectly well I would have plucked it out of your mind if I could."

Beau put one hand to his chin, stroking his beard as he thought.

"You don't want me to get you off because I could get hurt in the process."

"Yes," Edward said, wary now.

"Well, what if I'm not the one touching you?" Beau asked. "What if I watch you do it instead?"

Clearly this notion never occurred to Edward, so it surprised Beau when he didn't reject it outright.

Beau didn't want to push too hard, but he wanted even less for Edward to deprive himself of pleasure. Not when he had so successfully given it to Beau the night before.

Beau's head—the other head—stirred hopefully at the thought. His reaction did not go unnoticed.

"You've become quite the libertine," Edward said at last. "But I like it."

Every step in this direction was intoxicating. Beau couldn't help himself—he was addicted.

Edward removed his shoes, socks, t-shirt, and pants in rapid succession. Before long he, too, was down to his boxers, a silky, expensive kind that probably cost more than Beau made in a week at Newton's.

Beau had once equated Edward to Adonis, but at this moment, he felt the comparison was not strong enough. Adonis was a mere mortal. A half-naked Edward had more in common with Apollo, the sun god. The most beautiful of the Olympians.

Beau had seen Edward in his underwear once before, when the boys swapped clothing in a futile attempt to shake James off their trail. There hadn't been much time to admire his boyfriend that night. Here, in their isolated, mountain oasis, Beau took all the time he wanted.

There were things that Beau wanted to remember forever: his strong, powerful thighs, the reddish-brown hair arrowing down his navel, and the hard line of his cock.

Beau was mesmerized as Edward's hand began to move up and down. It occurred to him this act could be done at vampiric speed, but Edward was going at a human pace, so Beau's eyes could follow along.

"How often do you do this?"

"Probably more than you. I'm the one stuck at seventeen for all eternity, remember?"

Beau was captivated. This night had shown him a side of Edward he'd never seen before.

Beau was delighted with all of the new material for his mental spank bank. He was getting hard just watching Edward.

"Where do you do it?"

"The shower, mostly. Sometimes after hunting."

"Why?"

Edward shrugged. "It's the ultimate satisfaction: blood, then sex."

"So . . . when Emmett and Rosalie hunt together . . . "

"Let's just say I give them a wide berth."

Beau filed this information away for later and focused on the task at hand. The only thing more exciting than Edward jacking him off was Edward jacking himself off.

"Wish I was over there helping you." Beau raised his braced and bandaged right hand. "But I'm on the injured list tonight."

"You can . . . kiss me. But that's all."

But that's all. As if kissing Edward wasn't one of his favorite activities in the whole world. Beau crawled over to the other side of the sleeping bag, not bothering to disguise his eagerness.

Beau leaned in for a light kiss. He could tell from the way Edward was breathing that it was almost time. He drew back to stare into his eyes, which had darkened so much they were almost black.

"Are you close?"

"Yes," Edward whispered. "Kiss me again."

Beau did as he was told. His heart was racing. He felt Edward's fingers under his chin, so Beau obligingly tilted his head back, shivering as the other boy kissed a line down his throat.

But then something between them shifted. There was a sudden pressure on his skin, something hard.

Teeth.

Edward's teeth.

Beau's eyes snapped open.

"It's the ultimate satisfaction: blood, then sex."

Edward's eyes were closed, evidently unaware of what was about to happen. He was panting. One hand was on the other side of Beau's neck, locking him in place. The other kept on going.

Beau stayed as still as he could. His thoughts went to the animal behavior documentaries one could find on the Discovery Channel. Prey animals caught by their predators often froze in place in an attempt to survive.

Beau had faith in Edward. He never knew how much until this very moment, as they stood together on the knife's edge between life and death.

Then Beau heard Edward gasp his name. The pressure on his neck became light as a feather. Moments later there were soft kisses over his skin. Beau relaxed at once.

When Beau spoke again, his voice was surprisingly calm.

"Well, that was something."

Edward leaned back to meet his eyes. "A great fucking something."

Beau felt his whole body twitch when the word fucking came out of Edward's mouth. He never used that kind of language, even though Beau often did, usually after stubbing a toe or at the end of a difficult Calculus problem. Hearing it now hinted that the perfect, vampiric facade had cracked open, revealing a part of Edward he often kept locked away.

Beau thought back to what Edward said earlier in the day, while bandaging his hand:

"But . . . having experienced the way it feels to think I've lost you . . . my reactions have changed. My entire being shies away from any course that could inspire that kind of pain again."

The truth sank in at last. Beau now understood how deeply Edward loved him. Though lost in the moment, no doubt with every instinct screaming for a taste of Beau's blood, Edward hadn't hurt him, even at a moment of almost zero control.

Edward's gaze had fallen to Beau's lap. "May I?"

Beau dearly wanted him to, but in light of what almost happened, he thought they shouldn't tempt fate. How Beau was going to explain himself without revealing that fact, he wasn't sure.

Edward didn't seem to realize anything was amiss. His eyes, now slowly returning to gold, were warm and affectionate.

Beau cleared his throat.

"We shouldn't get too ahead of ourselves. At least until the newborns are gone."

"You're right," Edward offered. "Another time."

Beau withdrew a package of tissues from the backpack of supplies, but Edward took it from him, one hand extended out in warning.

"Don't touch it. You have an open wound."

Beau watched the clean up process, oddly fascinated with what he saw. The ejaculate was silvery, not at all like the color of human semen. He remembered then that venom replaced human bodily fluids when a person became a vampire.

This was just a small part of the bizarre world Beau had stumbled into. He wasn't sure what it said about him that he always wanted to know more.

While Edward's attention was elsewhere, Beau angled his body so the almost-bite mark faced the sleeping bag. When he finished his work, Edward settled across from him, looking almost sheepish.

"I didn't know it could be like that with you. While you're still human, anyway."

"I thoroughly enjoyed it," Beau told him.

That made him laugh. "What other tricks do you have up your sleeve?"

"A discussion for another day," Beau joked, though his mind was already racing with possibilities. He wondered what would happen if it was his hand on Edward the next time. His touch bringing him to climax. Or his mouth.

It was a dangerous thought. And yet, the idea found a place in Beau's mind, tucking itself away for future exploration.

"You look worried. Are you thinking about the battle?"

"I'm trying not to," Beau assured him, grateful to change the subject. "I know there's nothing more we can do for it, but still . . . there's a lot at stake."

"I hope you don't plan on sneaking off tomorrow."

"How would I do that with you and Seth right here?"

"Just checking." Edward smiled. "You do have a track record for jailbreaks. But you're protective, and I can appreciate that. It's one of the things I love about you. Emmett says he was the same way as a human. We think that's why he's so strong as a vampire."

Beau started to answer, but soon thought better of it. They were having a fairly good night, with or without the near-miss biting incident. He didn't want to open a can of worms.

Edward didn't have the same reservations tonight. "What is it?"

"Well . . . " Beau paused. "I've thought about this a lot. Do you think I'll have a gift? After the change?"

"I'm certain of it. Immune to my power, and to Aro's . . . you're special, Beau. I don't doubt it for a second."

Beau was annoyed by how much these words pleased him. Edward's conviction was palpable. He spoke as resolutely as Alice did when she saw the future.

"Will you wake me at first light?"

Edward kissed him again. "Of course."

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to let me sleep through all of the action?"

"You know me too well. But I promise: at first light."

Beau drifted off to the steady drum of the rain.