Playlist:
Just Like Fire – P!nk
***Flawless – Beyonce, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Only Hope for Me Is You – My Chemical Romance
Fucked Up – Bahari
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the words. Stephanie Meyer owns the Twilight series, and the songs belong to their respective people.
*R*
*Warning: kink*
Just Like Fire
The next day, Bella woke up leisurely, taking the time to cuddle with Edward until the sun was fully risen and Marcos was banging on the door in annoyance. Emmett looked like he was about to say something snarky as he came in from the bedroom, but Rosalie smacked him on the shoulder pre-emptively, shooting him a warning look before she left to help Esme in the kitchens. Esme and Carlisle started their days ridiculously early this morning, and Jasper had an early start too, heading off to run a survival scenario with his tactics class. Alice shot them an amused look as she took off for her morning training with the Seers. Marcos slipped in the door as her sisters were leaving, stomping his way up the stairs. He rolled his eyes when he reached the threshold.
"Um...hello? Wildly jealous ex-boyfriend over here; I'm gonna throw up if you two don't stop canoodling in front of me."
Edward pointedly kissed Bella one more time just because he could. Bella indulged herself, teasing Edward by lingering over the kiss and nibbling softly at his lower lip as she pulled away. Marcos glared, his voice deadpan. "You're killing me here, Izz."
Bella grinned at Marcos as she bounced out of the bed, letting her eyes linger on his tense shoulders and the defensive cant of his hips. Dirty amusement grew in her widening smile with each passing second. Her voice dropped to a lower tone, flirty and sarcastic. "Are you sure that feeling in your gut is jealousy, Marcos? My money is on lust."
Marcos ignored her, turning only slightly pink at her blatant jab. "Nice try, but I get the last laugh today. Congratulations on being mostly caught up on paperwork; Kaedra and I took full advantage." Marcos handed her a single piece of paper instead of her usual stack of reports. Bella whined, irritated, as she glanced at it on her way to the breakfast table.
"Aw man! Off duty all day? That seems excessive."
"Maybe to you. You haven't taken an actual day off in ages, and me and Kay are tired of your shit. We need the break more than you do. A quiet day, Izzy. No apocalypses or anything. Think you can manage it?"
"I'm offended by the blatant doubt in your tone."
"Uh-huh. That's not a 'yes'."
"Yes dear. Shall I go in the kitchen and make you a sandwich?"
"No; you always put too much mustard, and Esme puts her sandwiches in the panini press. It makes them so much better than yours."
Emmett guffawed, ignoring Bella's evil eye. "Well, your majesty, you can't argue with that."
"Aren't you supposed to be off somewhere learning how to defend my kingdom, Emmy-bear?" Bella snarked innocently.
Marcos whuffed a laugh at that. "What you can do is meet me at the bar around mid-morning. Renee is gonna file a missing person's report soon if you don't return her calls."
"Whoops. Still, that'll be great; talking to mom always puts me in a good mood. That gives me just enough time to read the reports of my totally fictional life at college. Which one am I attending again?"
Marcos just sighed and shook his head, corralling Emmett out the door to go train.
Later, Bella tried to ignore the pulsing music from the club behind her as she paced in the alley, fiddling with the still-dead cell phone in her hands. Mortal digital signals could be monitored and manipulated in Havana, but a two-way phone call had to take place in the mortal world. Bella felt very exposed; she glanced at the door to the club nervously. Marcos' gravelly drawl was lazy and unhurried as he leaned to brace himself against the wall, stretching languidly. "You can't put it off forever, Izzy. You've got over ten missed calls from Renee."
"You're sure the cell towers won't leave any traceable trail?"
"Unless Tomas has gotten ahold of some high-level government clearance, he won't be able to pin down your location or Renee's. Come on, have some faith in me. I know how you feel about your mom."
"Okay. Okay, I can do this. Why did I miss Charlie's funeral, again?"
"It interfered with the entrance exams for your Algebra class at school."
"Right. College. Algebra...Did she really buy that? Surely, she realized I wouldn't let something that pedestrian keep me away."
"She's not going to interrogate you, Izzy. She just wants to hear your voice and know you're okay."
"Right. Okay." She glanced down at the brick of technology in her hand. "Tell me again what she knows about the Cullens?"
"Oh, for god's sake. You know that you're staying with the Cullens instead of in the dorms. I've seen you less nervous facing down a battalion. Give me that." He pounced suddenly, wrenching the phone from her hand after only a brief tussle. There was a light chime as Marcos powered it on, and then the notifications started.
Ding.
Ding. Ding.
DingDingDingDingDi-
Bella grabbed for the phone, but Marcos held it out of her reach, using his height to keep it away. Marcos hurriedly flipped open the phone and scrolled through her contacts for a moment before he handed it to her, already ringing out. She glared but took it anyway, sending a shock of freezing cold energy into Marcos' side in reprimand.
He made a face at her. "Ow!"
"Shhh!"
After three rings, Bella felt her nervous tension dissipate as her mother's voice came on the line.
"Bella! There you are, darling. You simply must start answering your phone, little star!"
"Sorry mom! I've been busy. It's good to hear your voice, how're you?"
"I have great news! Me and Phil are moving to Mexico, can you believe it? Right on this gorgeous lakefront near Catemaco. They want Phil to coach their local baseball team!"
"Mexico?" Bella shot a look of alarm at her commander. He raised both eyebrows, motioning for her to respond quickly.
"Wow, Mom—That's...uh...that's great!"
"Phil already speaks Spanish pretty well, but I've been taking classes here at the junior college to prepare. We've already packed up the house, we move next week! I'm so excited, dear one. You simply must come to see me. Don't you get a break from your classes at the end of the summer? I hope you don't mind; I've donated most of your things from the house..."
Renee prattled on about the move while Bella covered the mouthpiece to hiss at Marcos.
"Great, she's moving. To Mexico."
Marcos couldn't hold back his chuckle. "Leave it to Renee to keep things interesting. That's Spellman territory."
"...really, Bella. I mean, it's been almost three years since I've seen you, and don't say it's been less! That visit to Forks doesn't count, you barely registered I was even there. And Catemaco has these amazing beaches on the lakefront..."
"Marcos, she's pushing for a visit again. I can't give her excuses forever! What am I gonna do?"
"You could always go see her."
"What? No way, I couldn't possibly leave Camp right now, there's way too much-"
"...Bella? Bella, are you listening, starbright?"
"Yeah Mom, I hear you! I'm excited, you and Phil will have a great time in Mexico. Do you have your passport and everything?"
"Oh yes dear, I can't thank you enough for helping me get that squared away. Who'd have thought that I'd need it after all? You're so responsible, Bella, dear; I worry you aren't having enough fun. Enough about me, tell me all about your classes! Is that boyfriend of yours behaving himself?"
"Uh, yeah, Edward's great. Tell me more about the move, do you guys have a house yet?"
"Yes, it's this beautiful little two-bedroom number right on the beach. It's a little small, but-"
Twenty minutes later, Bella finally managed to stop giggling at Renee's antics long enough to say goodbye and hang up the phone. She snapped it closed and felt her smile fade away quickly as she considered the ramifications of Renee's inability to be still. She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Great. Renee, I love you, but you just had to move into the Spellman's territory, didn't you? The compound is what, like, 45 minutes from Catemaco? I know she doesn't do it on purpose, Marcos, but just once I'd really like Renee to not make life more difficult."
"The Spellmans aren't sobad. I know that Demetri's corruption caused a lot of tension; we'll need to make sure her guards will be welcome."
Bella snorted. She was hardly going to condemn the entire Spellman bloodline for the actions of a few of their kin, but there was no denying that she couldn't be sure of their loyalty. Demetri had been a very prominent and powerful Spellman, with a great deal of influence, and some of his line was hesitant to call him a villain no matter how terrible his crimes.
Then there were the reports coming into HQ with more and more frequency, reports that detailed hastily cleared murder scenes or mortals disappearing without a trace. There were whispers in the shadows of Catemaco, whispers that spoke of Fae with neon-blue eyes and power mad grins.
"Carlos won't make moves against me; he and Imani are firmly our allies. But his daughters are psychopaths. If Mayra hears that Renee is within reach..."
"Her guards will be ready. You know, it wouldn't hurt to build up a bit of goodwill with the Spellmans. You could always go visit; showing them a good time will strengthen our ties with them, and you can hang out with your mom and relax a little. It's a win-win."
"Marcos, I couldn't possibly leave Camp right now! I'm needed in Havana, I don't have time to go gallivanting off on a field trip to the Spellman compound; especially since it's in the mortal world. Come on, we should get back."
Marcos rolled his eyes but opened the door for her anyway, and the music thumped louder. His bar was one of the last secure portals into Camp now and consequently was even more packed than usual. As Marcos led her through the crowd, he didn't even think about it as he reached back to take her hand. She entwined their fingers, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand as had always been her habit when they were together in Miami; Marcos sucked in a startled breath as he dropped her hand immediately.
Izzy stopped walking, snatching her hand back against her chest and rubbing at her palm uncertainly. She looked...lonely, out of place in the crowded room of too-happy drunks; Marcos felt his heart crack just a little bit in his chest. Marcos shoved through the crowd immediately to tuck her under his arm, grasping her shoulder with his other hand and steering her towards the bar.
She stuttered at him. "S-sorry, I guess that's not...allowed, anymore."
Marcos poured her a shot of vodka and took one for himself. He slammed it back and pointed a finger accusingly at Bella when she hesitated. "Drink it."
She did. He poured another set. "This one too."
"But-"
"You're off duty, remember?"
They knocked them back, and Marcos deftly removed the shot glasses, silently running them through the dish station before drying them and putting them away. He turned so his back was to Bella, tenseness in the line of his shoulders as he met her eyes in the mirror behind the liquor shelf. For one long moment, the bar went muted and far away as they regarded one another intently through the mirror.
Then, Marcos' shoulders relaxed and he huffed a laugh, dragging one large hand down his face.
"It's allowed, Izzy. It's so allowed it's really, really, not funny."
"But it's not. Edward is my lover."
"I know. I know that. But it's killing me, watching you throw away what we had. Watching you sweep it under the rug like it never mattered; like it could never have been us. I know I deserve it, Izzy. I know I deserve it for what I did. But it doesn't...change anything. It doesn't change how much I want it."
"It has nothing to do with..." Bella swallowed nervously. "...with...that. Edward is my lover, Marcos. I won't take another."
"I don't want to be your lover, and you know it. You've always known it, I think. Maybe even before I did. God, Izzy, you played me like a fiddle for months, and when I look back my only regret is that I ruined it."
Bella sighed and came around the bar, standing too-close to Marcos and leaning across his chest to grab at the rum. "I am not drunk enough for this conversation."
Marcos picked her up bodily, snatching her out of the air viciously. He spun her and pressed her against the counter by her hips in one smooth movement, completely heedless of the crowded bar around them. Desperate desire lit up his face in soft lines and his voice was hoarse.
"Tell me you didn't know. Tell me you don't know now, what you're doing to me. Tell me you don't mean every second of it, and I'll call you a liar."
Bella's hands were manacles on his wrists, holding him back but not removing his touch. She hid from him behind her hair, but it was less effective now that her hair was shorter. He could see the desperate, begging look on her face all too clearly as she mumbled the words that would damn him. "...you didn't ruin it, Marcos. It's not...it's not ruined. It's still there, it's just...sleeping."
Marcos couldn't help his defeated moan as he lowered his forehead to rest on the scar right above Bella's collarbone, the one in the shape of another man's teeth. "Edward."
He could feel her nod, trace the line of her nervous swallow with his eyes.
"Edward."
Marcos forced himself to step away, and Bella turned to fiddle with the straws in the cup on the bar, turning her back to him.
"It's him and I, Marcos. You have to go in knowing that."
"I know that. I do. Edward is a good man. A great man, and he's better for you than I ever was. I'm not blind, Izzy. I see what you two have, and I could never compete with that. I don't want to. But Izzy..."
Marcos slotted himself against her, drawn in by that magnet that had never stopped humming under his skin, that awareness of where Izzy was at all times. He bent his head to rest against the nape of her neck as he ran his hands down her sides reverently. He dared himself to brush his lips against the top of her spine just once.
"...there could be room for me...right here." He brushed his lips against her neck with each word he spoke, treasuring the rise of goosebumps on her skin. "I'm right here, Izzy, and it's allowed. It is always, always allowed. It always will be. I can share. Edward is your lover. I will just be yours."
Bella bit her lip nervously, and Marcos's tongue darted out to wet his own suddenly dry ones. The hint of Bella's skin against his lips hurt deliciously.
"What's mine belongs to Edward too, Marcos. You have to go in knowing that, too."
Marcos' words were a choked breath of hot air. "...I could do much worse than to belong to Edward Cullen."
He stabilized her with strong arms when she went weak in the knees at the implications of his statement, and now it was Bella's turn to hang her head back against his shoulder in defeat. It left her unable to hide the flash of heated desire that ran across her face. Marcos reluctantly pulled away to a respectable distance and let her catch her breath.
When she turned, he expected a barb, but Izzy was nothing if not full of surprises. She stepped forward, twining her hands around his neck and resting her head under his chin. He cautiously put his hands at her waist. Bella inhaled deeply, letting out the breath slowly. She relaxed against him, matching her breaths to his. Marcos went silent and still, and so did Bella; after a few moments, she began to sway softly.
Minutes passed as Marcos surrendered himself to the sensation of Bella so near to him. It was difficult to keep their contact intimate but still innocent, keep his wandering touch to himself; it was worth it to feel her warm softness pressing against him from his shoulders to his knees. When Bella pulled away, she seemed as reluctant to let go as he was. He watched a gentle determination begin to grow on Bella's face, tinged in heavy regret that made her eyelashes flutter with tears.
"Marcos...take me home, okay? Let's go home. It's not a no, okay? I won't forget. Let's go home now."
Marcos swallowed and bit back his own reaction to the hope punching holes in his heart at Bella's words. It's not a no, okay? I won't forget.
"Okay. If that's what you need, Izzy, then that's what I'll do."
***Flawless
It was just after lunch, and Bella's good mood was long gone. She was dangerously close to losing her temper. Her office sizzled with desert heat as she swept the reports off her desk, screeching her frustration through gritted teeth. The gems clinked when they hit the floor, rattling against each other like glass bottles in an earthquake; papers curled and shimmered, blackening in the heat. It wasn't enough. The mirror in the corner shattered, but still she needed more, she needed a more durable target. She looked around for something else she could break.
The pressure of her anger and helplessness was leaking out; a cyclone began to form near the ceiling. She couldn't hold the air pressure for long; when the door unexpectedly opened, the tornado lost its shape and a burst of high wind threw her into the wall. Bella hit the floor as the air was knocked from her lungs; she whirled to face the door, fearing Lizzie or worse, Edward. But it was just Keadra, who was entering the office with one eyebrow raised. She spied the crumpled report in Bella's hand and sighed.
"Aw, hell. I was hoping you wouldn't get to the bottom of that pile until tomorrow."
"This...this!" Bella shook the offending report at her regent. "What the hell is this? Dear God, Kaedra! If this is true...if Mayra Spellman is breaking the law... isn't it enough that I executed their son? I would have to ask Carlos and Imani to hunt down and execute the heir to their bloodline! I cannot ask this of them."
"Nothing is proven yet. Izzy, you must face the possibility that the Spellman line is complicit in this. Demetri casts a long shadow over his parents' house."
"No. I won't believe it. Carlos and Imani try to be good people, and they've paid for their mistakes. Mayra? Maybe. Maybe even Amalure, Lord knows she's always getting dragged into her twin sister's messes. Goddammit, Renee cannot move there right now. Ugh- it's too late to stop her. Remind me to check my phone more often. I'll just have to figure out what's happening over there."
"I think the report is pretty clear on that. Where Mayra and her little pack of wannabes go, they leave a trail of desiccated mortals in their wake."
"The question is not just why, Kay. It's how. She can't just be cashing in on big brother's charisma. On this scale...Kay, what possible use could there be for this much energy? Why Purge so many, and all at once?"
"There's a lot of things you could do with that energy."
"Yeah, but none of them are good things."
Kaedra looked around disdainfully at the mess Bella had made of her office. "Yes. Well, let's see if we can't find a better use for your energy. Walk with me to the Library, you can find some reference materials on the uses for Purged energy, and you've clearly been cooped up in here for too long already. Aren't you off-duty for today?"
"I won't tell if you won't."
"Then you won't mind getting some air." Keadra motioned Bella out of her office with one hand on the doorknob and the other on Bella's back, pushing her along even as she protested.
"What'd you do to Marcos? I saw him on the way back from your phone call earlier and he looked like you had hit him over the head with a bat."
Bella waved her hands dismissively. "I'm a complete moron who can't keep her hands to herself; let's not talk about it, at all, ever."
"Wow, it's amazing that you thought that would work on me. Now you have to spill; I guarantee what happened is nothing compared to what I am imagining. Tell me you two didn't fuck."
"Kay! Ohmygod, no. I swear, you're more pervy than Muse. We just...talked. About possibilities that haven't faded with time; about new possibilities that I didn't know were there, apparently."
"Oh." Kaedra's mind began to whirl into high gear as she dissected Isabella's damningly cryptic statement. She could read Bella's skittishness and decided to bide her time. She would let it go; for now. "Yawn. Boring. I thought you two would have at least made out a little."
"Kay! Gross." Bella laughed, stepping off the stairs.
Hours later, long after Kaedra had rolled her eyes and abandoned her to the stacks, Bella cracked her neck roughly as she left the Library. It was close to dinner, maybe she could meditate afterwards; her head felt heavy with the dark magicks of the books she had scoured in her search for answers to the reports of trouble in the Spellman line.
She was on the stairs, headed past the second floor; she heard the raised voices echoing down the wide hallway between the medical wing and the Council offices clearly enough to recognize them as Kaedra's and Josephat's. Bella only hesitated for a moment before stepping off the stairs and ducking around the corner, staying just out of sight as they argued fiercely.
"Isabella has pushed her way into a situation she has not considered thoroughly, just as the royal three did when they sought to avoid the Choosing. Allowing Edward to drink from her is a mistake."
"Jesus, are you still on that? It's none of your goddamn business, Josephat."
"It is my business. In fact, it is exactly my business. It is a symptom of sickness. She does not know how to love without pain. This gives the Master a foothold."
"Izzy isn't broken, and I'd say Edward seems to diminish the Master's foothold, not strengthen it. I don't really care what you think about Izzy's kinks; I want to know that you are not motivated by more personal misgivings."
"Kaedra Salem, how dare you." Josephat narrowed his eyes; Bella subconsciously straightened her shoulders as Josephat channeled the commander he had once been.
"She held the knife that killed my Chosen, but the Master killed Ayesha. My child is gone because of what Isabella has done, but Isabella and Adeline also saved my child's life. My baby is gone from me—but she is safe."
"We tried for years; centuries. We were overjoyed when Ayesha finally conceived. We stood against the Master foolishly, too bold and obvious by half. It was the end of my world when Tomas came for her to punish me for my insolence." Josephat swallowed, grief on his face, but his back remained ramrod straight with righteousness and certainty.
"Bella and her companions were foolish, but they were so young then; they were children themselves. Bella is not a lovesick child anymore, and I cannot fault her for her actions since her mistake. She made known to me through the Silencing that I had lost my Chosen, but my child lived still. I believed her, then, and so offered my service. I had no concept of how involved Isabella was in my child's life. What she-" Josephat swallowed roughly again. "-what she sacrificed so that my little girl could live. I pledged my life-debt to her then, and I would do so again in a heartbeat. I owe her everything."
It was quiet for a moment as Josephat recovered his breathing. When Bella peeked around the wall, she could see the kindness and pain on Kaedra's face as she reached for him, seeking to comfort him. Bella's empathy was cut off at her healer's next words. Kaedra snatched her hand back like Jo's words burned her.
"I am not saying she is broken, Kaedra. I am simply saying that she is sick. The Master has done damage, and this is a symptom of that damage. Isabella allows Edward to dominate her in the way a master would. What if Edward cannot control his bloodlust? The spell does not allow for complete exsanguination, and she refuses to pursue immortality. She calls it pointless. Her blood vitamins and iron levels must be monitored. I worry she seeks self-destruction."
"Immortality is pointless for her, Josephat. There is no impenetrable way to cheat death, and immortality would be paltry defense against Purging or Binding. You are being too hasty here; you're seeing things that aren't there. Trust me, Jo. Me and Marcos saw her go there; only once, but it was enough. She's not there, not in that headspace."
"It is a slippery slope for her. We do not know Edward Cullen as we know Isabella Swan. How can we be sure he will not take advantage?"
Bella shook with sudden anger as she stepped into view. "The disloyalty. Tell me, Josephat, what use is the life-debt of a traitor? You ignorant fool. Edward would never."
Josephat's fearful swallow was satisfactory. "Do you know that? Tell me, my queen, what would you do if the Master wore Edward's face?"
Bella felt like she had been slapped. She knew her eyes flashed black, but she threw the Master far from her mind ruthlessly. Her eyes were consumed with the burning golden fires of her own anger. "Josephat Salem, if ever you ask that question of me again, I will take it as Challenge. You call me your queen and acknowledge your debt even as you speak treason in the same breath. I have never and will never bow before the Master, and if you think I would do so after he took Edward from me, you know me not at all. The body and the soul are not the same thing, healer."
"I believe you capable of making a mistake, Isabella. Edward Cullen is not my king."
Bella snarled and pushed on Josephat's back psychically until he bowed at the waist. She was tempted to hold him there, but she didn't.
"Rest assured that Edward Cullen is not your king, though it is his influence on my character that is keeping you alive at this moment. But I am your Queen, and none other. You are beholden to what I believe is right. There are some questions you have no right to ask, and you know it. Josephat Salem, who owes me a life-debt, who has under no duress pledged to be what I need him to be above all else; you will leave my sight immediately, or I will kill you."
Josephat stiffened in shock and dismay; then the healer bowed low, scraping his fingertips across the floor. His voice was quiet. "As my mistress wills it, so mote it be."
The ritualistic response made Isabella set her jaw, and Kaedra began a countdown in her head. So much for keeping Izzy out of a self-destructive headspace. And he calls himself a healer.
Josephat turned and left to return to the medical wing, and Izzy immediately went pale, leaning against the wall and breathing heavily. Bella had fought a battle within herself in the last twenty seconds, and no one wins when you are your own worst enemy. Black held in her gaze for almost a five-second count, and Kaedra felt her gut twist. Kaedra slung an arm under Bella's opposite armpit to keep her upright as they walked.
Shit, that deteriorated quickly.
Her own office was closer.
The Only Hope for Me Is You
When Kaedra and Bella reached the regent's office, Bella immediately retched, the bitter taste of bile on her tongue that she rushed to spit in the small sink instead of on the floor. She collapsed before she could reach the low table and the comfortable cushions in front of the mandir. Kaedra broke from her for only a moment to light incense and set a stone bowl of scented water on the floor next to them, snatching a pillow up thoughtlessly as she made her way back to Bella's side.
Bella shook, holding her breath and beginning to scratch at the brand on her shoulder absentmindedly; her eyes flashed again. Kaedra was saying her name, over and over; the regent was wiping the water on her brow with two fingers as she directed her to lie more comfortably on the floor, setting a pillow under her head.
"Isabella. Isabella Swan, you need to breathe. Come on, breathe. It'll be okay, be patient. Don't let him take it from you. It'll be okay. Jo will come around. Shh, it's okay. Isabella. Breathe. Trust me, I'm trying to help you."
Kaedra placed a smooth, quarter-sized amethyst in the center of Bella's forehead, waving her opposite hand so she could see Bella's aura and the blackened veins of the knot that writhed through pained gold. Bella drew a gasping, panicked breath, a shuddering inhale that released some of the immense pressure on her mind as she tried to lay still. The knot in her aura pulsed and began to fade, knitting closed as Kaedra shielded her from the worst of her panic attack. Kaedra began to pour purple energy into Bella's aura; not healing, just...soothing. It was warm, like sitting around a fire with friends or in her grandmother's kitchen.
"Isabella. Just breathe. You must calm down, or you're gonna lose it. Breathe. Find your center."
Bella acquiesced. She drew another shuddering inhale and let it out, and this time she kept breathing steadily, focusing on the warmth that chased away the worst of the pain and confusion.
"The water is to soothe your aura. The gem is a little spell I wrote to help you after you, Marcos, and I had our attempted discussion about life-debts in Miami. It should be calming; bolster your logic and help you process your emotions without being overwhelmed by them."
Kaedra's aura withdrew slightly as the spell ebbed, the connection starting to fade as Bell regained control of herself; Bella flared her aura, inviting Kaedra to stay mingled for a moment. The purple glow obliged helplessly; Kaedra was wooed into staying by the warmth of the wordless invitation. She let her purple aura remain tethered, a glittering tint on the edges of golden light.
Kay couldn't help her affectionate and pleased smile. I've gone soft. I used to be harder to manipulate than this. But who could resist Isabella's welcome? She thought briefly of the rumors that swelled with each miracle Bella performed. Strangeness and charm indeed. She managed to quirk an eyebrow sarcastically when she had to remind Izzy to breathe again.
"Breathe, Isabella; you have to calm down."
Bella forced another gasping breath, feeling the effects of Kaedra's spell. She knew who she was; she knew what was right. Kay's purple aura anchored her; it gave her the strength to ask her friend something that had been on her mind for a very long time. "It's coming back now. I just need a minute. Kay, why? What happened, why is the Master like this? You two were in love. I don't understand."
Kaedra sighed deeply, taking in the sight of Isabella Swan: a girl who held all of the affinities. This powerfully destined girl knew her true identity and still lay helpless in front of her temple, flaring in joyous affection at their auras mingling and totally vulnerable. It was the realization of her brightest and her darkest dreams, all held within a single moment. This moment was rife with the opportunity to betray, to possess and conquer; yet, it could be a moment filled with the opportunity to trust, to cherish and protect.
No; Isabella Swan could never be able to understand the desperate hunger for conquest that courses through ancient blood. She could never understand the addictive rush that comes with bending the world to your will. Bella shudders to take away her peoples' choices; she could never understand that. But I can. God help me—I still can. Kaedra forced herself to pull back her aura, to let the gold shine untethered to the purple; she forced herself to remember that Isabella was her friend, her queen and so much more besides. Precious.
"It was different then. Things were different; he was different. I loved him, wholeheartedly. But you know what it's like to play in the dark to defeat it; power was law, then. I thought he could handle it, but I was wrong. It consumed him. I didn't know what to do. I've spent eons looking for a way to fix it. I'm so sorry for your pain, my young friend. I'm sorry for the world I placed on your shoulders with my mistakes."
Kaedra removed the gem from Isabella's forehead and pulled her into a cross-legged pose across from her. She mimicked taking a deep breath and Bella copied the action. For long moments, they simply breathed together, and then Kay reached out and took Isabella's hand. When Bella opened her eyes, Kaedra's eye was consumed; Bella could see all of Havana reflected in Shanarra's magicks. She felt her own eyes grow consumed in response to the depths of power shown behind her friend's gaze.
"You are a Queen, Isabella Swan- more than I ever was. I never should have established that stupid Choosing ceremony. I thought...It doesn't matter what I thought. I'm so sorry he's done this to you. I don't know how you can forgive me. I don't know that I can forgive him this, what he's done, what he's doing to you - and I have forgiven him a great deal. I can't...I can't love him anymore. There's too much damage, too much betrayal. To you, Isabella Swan, I once offered a life-debt. Again, I find I must offer my oath, as now you are in full knowledge of how broken it is. My oath is worthless, Isabella Swan-Cullen. I would give it to you anyway."
"Here? Now? Kay...Kaedra...Shannara. I Bind no one."
"I do not offer my soul-power or my magicks. I do not offer to die for you, I offer to live for you. I offer my service— to be all that you need me to be, above all else. All that is mine is yours. This, I offer to you."
Bella had known this day was coming. Marcos would be offering his oath soon, too. Kaedra and Marcos had offered her life-debts once before, but that time...the timing had been wrong. She hadn't known the joy that a life-debt could be, only the pain. For Kaedra to choose now, when things were so uncertain...it meant a great deal.
"Why now?"
"I offered you a life-debt once. I offered it to you when you were Izzy. You were right to refuse us, you know. I had no knowledge at that time that you were the rightful Queen. But you are not Izzy, anymore. You are Bella. Isabella Swan-Cullen, Queen of the Fae. And I am your regent, Shanarra Kaedra Salem, who lives because of your forgiveness. And right here, right now, I must be what you need and tell you the truth: you are beholden to the Cullens."
Bella paused. She looked down at the bracelet on her wrist, the Cullen crest shining happily in the light, as obvious as life or death. She felt strangely calmer than she should have, like Kay had just said something out loud that she had always known. "Wow. Hell of a spell, Kay."
"I thought you'd like it."
"I... I am beholden to the Cullens." Her tongue went slightly numb as it formed the words. "I... I owe them a life-debt. Oh God, you're right. You're absolutely right. It's so obvious. I gave them full security access their first day here. I have contingency plans in place to protect them even if they reside in the Badlands. I set the best warriors in my Core to watch them. Oh no. I should be way more freaked out about this."
"And thus, I offer you my life-debt, in full knowledge of your own. I am yours, Isabella Swan. Let me be."
"Kay, dear one; you can't give me this. I... I can't be your mistress." Her tongue went slightly numb as it formed the words.
"You say you can't...but do you want to be? You've accepted life-debts before, you know that it doesn't have to be what the Marketplace made it into. The Marketplace fell, Izzy. You tore it down. You aren't like him, you're never like the Master is now."
"When has it ever mattered what I want? It's not gone, Kay. Just because I destroyed the Marketplace at Haven doesn't mean it's stopped. Just because I am not like the Master doesn't mean I couldn't become like him."
"Will you eradicate life-debts completely? You'd better pursue immortality, after all. It'd take a thousand lifetimes to complete that task. You are bound by your oaths like everyone else, your majesty. I am your slave even if you never make it official; even if you never say the words, I will still owe you my life."
"Kay...Shanarra... I can't be like him, I won't. I can't be the kind of mistress you expect me to be."
"I expect that you will take excellent care of me, Isabella Swan, as you do all whom you hold precious. I want nothing from you but what is already rightfully mine to hold. You should hate me for what I have done...and yet, I have never felt so much like myself as when I am in your company and under your care. You love another; as for eons, so have I. And yet, how you feel right now? This spell is written very carefully; it is based on how I feel at your mercy."
Bella swallowed roughly, letting Kaedra's spell run through her in all its soothing comfort. She let her doubts and anxious fears for the future wash over her like the tide receding from shore, and then she made her decision. She straightened her back and stood, pulling Kaedra into an embrace, touching her forehead to Keadra's and letting her joy show on her face. "Well, then. Shanarra Kaedra Salem, I accept your oath and honor your promise to me. From this day on, I will count you as mine."
Kaedra stood on tiptoe to kiss Bella's forehead gently, following it up with a kiss on either cheek. When she bowed her head, the fire at the base of the mandir lit itself. The sound of wind-chimes rustling rang in the air, purple and gold glitter rising up to be gently illuminated in light before settling once more. When Edward knocked on Kaedra's door, both girls jumped.
Kay grinned sarcastically as she snuffed out her incense. "I should've known the stalker couldn't stay away for long. - She's in here, Edward!"
"Kay. Shanarra. My dear one. What was his name? When you loved him, before he was the Master, when he was still human; what was his name?"
Kaedra walked towards the door, unlocking it with her shoulders back, her head high. Bella thought for a moment she wouldn't answer.
"Samael. His name was Samael."
She kept walking, leaving the two lovers alone in her office. Enough indecision. She was a queen. She could be loyal to the Master no longer. Things had changed. She had changed, and so had he. She would not let him ruin one whom she owed a life-debt.
She didn't love him like she did yesterday.
Fucked Up
By the time Bella and Edward had settled in Bella's office, the effects of Kaedra's soothing spell had faded. Bella knew the moment they did, because her muscles quit responding properly to her commands, and the strange clouds of misty calm in her mind dissipated. The fall was long and devastating, and at the bottom of her emotional pit lay only panicked despair.
She tried to keep her sudden onset of panic from the crimson in her mind, but it was like trying to keep back the tide with a thimble. Edward seized from his spot on the couch.
"Bella."
She was already in his arms. He was gazing into her eyes in a panic, turning her head to the side and examining his bite, hurriedly turning her arms to check them for injury.
"Edward, calm down. Edward—Edward, stop, stop. I'm fine."
"What's wrong?"
"Relax. It's just been a long day, and there's some...work stuff...on my mind. It's just a little panic attack, I got it; hold on a second."
Bella forced herself to remain calm and send a dreamy pulse of magicks to billow over her mindscape, dissipating the fiery clouds of adrenaline and panic that her system was flaring at her. When the sky in her mind's eye was once again clear and still, she returned to reality to find herself in Edward's lap on the couch with her legs on either side of him.
Edward blinked at her. "That was weird. It's like I felt you come back into focus. There was something, earlier. There was a sort-of...this sounds crazy, but your color changed. It had this purple stuff in it. It was really pretty, like the golden sky had a sunrise. "
Bella felt a small flare of panicked lightning in her aura; the crimson responded with soothing warmth and heat, like an echo of Kaedra's spell. It was a little like a mental hug, and it was echoed by Edward clutching her closer on the couch. "Uh...yeah. That's part of that whole, 'it's been a long day' thing. Bella looked out the window briefly, glancing at the time marker on the wall. "How do you feel about missing dinner?"
Edward nodded; no one would come looking for them for a while, and Edward felt a different kind of hunger as he took in Bella's golden energy.
"Okay, so...see, it started this morning, with Marcos; I'm an idiot, and he wanted to talk about it, which he never does. Honestly that would have been enough, but then I was on my way back from the Library, and I told you I'm an idiot, because I didn't realize I owe you and your family life-debts, and I had to invoke Josephat's pledge and accept Kaedra's oath, and...well...I don't deal with life-debts very well at all." By the end of her statement, Bella was speed-talking, breathing hard and fluttering her hands in the air, her eyebrows crinkled in stress and confusion.
"Whoa, slow down. What's a life-debt? I know Kevi and Babydoll have that kind of relationship, but the way you talk about it, it sounds...official."
Bella's face smoothed and she reached for him. "It is official. It's like...a relationship. Here, in Havana. You know, like brother or sister or lover or Chosen. Only...well. There's troublesome terminology. You're from the mortal realm, you might not understand."
"Oh, I see." Edward nipped just the edge of Bella's ear playfully, distracting her. "'Troublesome Terminology' is it?" Bella giggled as Edward jostled her gently. "From the mortal realm," she says. "You might not understand," she says." Bella was laughing cheerily now as he wrestled her back on the couch, her eyes flaring with alien gold. He leaned back only slightly when she let him pin her. "Lay it on me, little witch."
Bella pulled nervously away from his affection, but Edward didn't release her wrists. She stilled after only a moment of squirming. "Uh...well it's interesting because it's some of the only gender-specific terminology in Fae culture. You've seen it in action at frozen fire, the club where we met Nix, and between Kevi and Babydoll, of course..."
"Bella." Edward squeezed her wrists slightly in reprimand, bearing down with his hips.
Bella relaxed and went lax. "Well, I mean if you are the owner of the life-debt, you would be a master or a mistress. If you owed the debt, you would of course be the...um...well the old ways use the term slave, but these days we usually just say the person is "mine"."
Edward froze. "Fae own slaves?"
Bella winced. "No! It's not ownership or possession, like a Binding. It's...it's a privilege and an oath. I mean, I have a life-debt to you; from what I know, you have a life-debt to me- that's why we're lovers. Josephat owes me a life-debt, Nhamo and my girls in the Core do too; Kaedra swore hers today and Marcos is due to swear any day now. It's more complex for him, he and Kaedra offered me life-debts once before and I sort of freaked out on them."
Edward set Bella down on the couch and started to pace. "Wait. Me? You owe me a life-debt? Bella, I'm not your master, I would never want you to be my slave."
"You're not listening, Edward. We have a mutual life-debt. That's why we are lovers. A life-debt is nothing more than the acknowledgement that you are, and swear to be, all that another needs you to be, all the days of your life. It's about...it's about power and privilege."
She reached for him, and Edward came to her, pulling her into his lap again. She settled across his lap, one leg on either side of him.
Bella snapped her fingers together as she settled. "It's like this! If you had to pick who to save from a fire, Rosalie or Alice, who would you choose?"
"What? I would save both of them." Bella kissed him soundly, immediately after he spoke.
"Good answer. But come on; it's purely theoretical, promise."
"Well...God, I can't believe I'm about to even say this...Alice."
"Right! Do you think Rose knows that?"
"Well...I mean yeah, probably. She knows I think she's troublesome."
"What if it was Alice or me?"
Edward crinkled his nose in distaste. "You, obviously."
"Does Alice know that?"
"Yes."
Bella seemed pleased by that, but Edward was distracted when she wriggled her bare toes against the backs of his knees. "Okay, so now it's Jasper who has to choose, and it's between you and Alice. Who will he choose?"
"Is there a point to this?" He was distracted by her questing hands; Bella was tracing his collarbone in a lazy eternity symbol, and her other hand pawed at his hips, twisting him so she was seated more comfortably with a distracted air. It was very proprietary, but Edward couldn't mind when it brought their cores into clearer contact.
"Just answer."
"He'd pick Alice, obviously."
"Exactly!" Bella rocked her hips in triumph. Edward found himself fascinated by the way her mouth moved, the way her mind worked. The gold in his mind snapped with electricity and feeling. He was half-hard, but he tried to focus on the conversation. Sneaky little witch.
"You owe a life-debt to your family, and they owe one to you. But 'lover' trumps 'sibling'! You would do all you could to save everyone; in the end, if you could only save one, everyone knows who would be chosen. Alice is Jasper's master. Rose is Emmett's. Esme is Carlisle's. And vice versa. That's what makes a lover a lover."
"Now, let's talk about...Nhamo. Nhamo owes me a life-debt for saving Ntombi, but I don't owe her one. That makes me her mistress, and that makes her mine. So, she gives her oath, so that everyone knows that when the chips are down, she'll choose me. She did so when she pledged her service to me in the medical wing, but she did so for Ntombi's sake. So, I know that her life-debt is contingent upon Ntombi's safety!"
Edward's question was interrupted by a gasp as Bella began gently teasing him with slight rocking, her core against his through thin fabric. He fought to keep his voice even. "What if you...unh... didn't want to accept someone's oath?" He removed his hands from where they were bracing her and swiped his hands up her torso to her chest, enjoying the feel of her sensitive flesh in his hands.
"Hmmm, there are all sorts of reasons not to accept someone's oath. I mentioned rejecting Marcos' and Kaedra's once. But refusing or refuting a life-debt is a big deal in Havana. Sometimes the dispute even reaches me. It's like...getting a divorce. But even more serious, because life debts have value, like money. Once a life-debt is promised, it's not easily broken, by either party. I have responsibilities to those who are mine. And I have different responsibilities to those who I belong to."
"Okay. I'm sensing time in the Library tomorrow, but you are making it very difficult to satisfy my curiosity right now. Why don't you deal with life-debts well?"
Bella stilled, and Edward knew he had just asked the question that she had hoped to distract him from.
"It freaks me out when someone calls me mistress for obvious reasons, and my job is to preserve my people's right to choose, not take it from them. Not to mention that I was not previously aware that I owed your family a life-debt. Given that I routinely call you guys my vampires and feel very possessive of you guys in general, the implied mutuality is...disturbing."
Ah. Now Edward understood, even through the heat and fog. He distracted Bella from his words by rolling his thumbs over her nipples on his next swipe up her torso to her chest. "Mutual life debts. That would make us your family."
"Yeah." Bella swallowed, pulling away to pull at the crest on her wrist nervously. "Now you're getting it."
Edward put his hand over hers. "They'll be pleased to hear it. As am I."
They kissed lazily, and Edward swiped his tongue across Bella's sinful lips, requesting entrance. God, the heat just kept building, like it would never stop. Edward didn't want it hummed at him as she pulled away, and the vibration where they connected was...interesting. He thrust forward, matching her rhythm, and igniting the embers of their desire. She finally ground down into his hardness with intention.
Edward smirked in victory, a hitch in his breathing as he bucked. He couldn't do otherwise. He slid one of his cold hands over the bite mark on Bella's neck and pulled at her nipple with the other. She squirmed when he used his hold on her to force her ever closer.
Her hands were questing now, dipping into his hipbones and skimming across his blue jeans to unbuckle his belt. When her hand gripped him under his jeans, Edward dug his nails into Bella's hips. Her dress was up around her waist in one smooth movement, off her head and on the floor in a heartbeat. She bowed down over him, shimmying down to her knees and pulling at his zipper. Her voice was velvet damnation; half-lidded golden eyes beseeched him as she kneeled on the floor in front of the couch.
"How does it feel to have the Queen of the Fae bow before you? Shall I give you my oath, and all that comes with it?"
She licked her lips when he pulled off his shirt, looking up at him from her knees on the floor. Her words made Edward freeze; Bella didn't stop, releasing his member from his zipper carefully.
"Don't you dare. This is really fucked up, Bella. I don't want you for your power."
He bucked as she made contact, humming around him; he bucked again at the bob of her head he got in response, bracing his hand in her hair as she pulled away to smile wickedly at him.
"Would you be King, Edward Cullen?"
"Bella, no. I cannot carry the world as you do."
"Then, I shall give my oath with no fear that you will take advantage. I trust you, Edward. Let me be yours; be mine. Shall I convince you to take my oath? I bet I can. I bet you accept it before you come."
She pressed a blunt fingernail lightly into the sensitive spot below his tip, dragging a light trail of electric tingling that was swallowed down into the wet heat of her mouth. At the same time, the speck of golden energy in his mind expanded slightly, pouring into him like water.
Edward swallowed as the flash of memory engulfed him.
...And here I am, asking my people, my precious people to die for you- to die for my love of you. Do you think I care if you mind?"
...My Bella, you are worth it to me. Let me fight for you. Let me fight to stop this from happening to you or to your people.
He balled his fists in determination. Bella wanted to be his. It was a pleasure he would gladly burn eternally for, but Edward had a great deal of cause to practice self-control since Bella had entered his eternal life. He had no right to ask Bella for this. He pulled away just long enough for her to shove his pants to the floor and heard the lock click. His protests were weakened considerably by his reaction to the steady bobbing pressure of Bella's mouth.
"Bella...unh...yours...yes. My soul is yours. Can't live without you, don't want to. I'm not your master, Bella. You owe me nothing. Bella, lover, you're a privilege, a miracle."
Bella pulled back and released him, "Edward, love. What is necessary is not privilege. A miracle, yes, you are my miracle. Like air is a miracle, like water, and fire, and earth. I cannot live without you, just as you can't live without me. Mine. Yours. An oath is an eternal promise. What's mine is yours. Am I not yours, Edward?"
This time, when she bowed low over him, she took him all the way in until her mouth was at the base of him. Edward cried out and began to piston his hips into the warm suction of her mouth, getting ever closer to the point of no return. Just when he was almost on the threshold, Bella released him, stroking him with her delicate hand teasingly.
Another memory hit him:
...You're not running off to kill yourself on my watch again, Edward.
This time, Edward narrowed his eyes and responded with a memory of his own.
...If you love me, carry a match.
Bella's next stroke was a firm pull that made Edward's toes curl. She gathered her hair over her shoulder and licked the tip of him with rough tongue in a slow swipe. The gold in his head pulsed with anger and heat mingled together.
She manipulated him deftly, dragging him along the sharp edge of too-much with ease, never letting him cross the point of no return. Edward set his teeth, but he didn't even make it a full minute before a long whine escaped him.
Another memory hit Edward.
...Watching Bella crawl across the floor in the club; You are in so over your head, Edward Cullen.
...You are a threat to my mate, and for that I make this oath: While we both exist, you will be my prey.
Bella's smile, centimeters from him, was wicked. Her eyes flashed with magick, and Edward's wrists were chained together behind Bella's neck. The sudden change occurred just as Bella put her lips around him and sucked hard.
Edward cried out, pulling her down to the base of him with both hands; he couldn't help it. Bella held herself there, only choking slightly and calm, swallowing around him over and over. It took almost twenty whole seconds for him to let her breathe. When the pressure on the back of her neck finally released, Bella retreated slowly, caressing him with her tongue.
Every muscle under Edward's stone skin was on fire. "Bella. That's not fair. I can't do this; I have to be able to take my hands off of you."
...Bella. Fuck, Bella. This is getting to be too much, I can't. I'll hurt you.
...You couldn't hurt me if you tried, Edward. And you'll never even try. I trust you.
"Do you want to take your hands off of me, my Edward?" Bella was lapping at his tip again, and Edward loved it, but he wanted more. He felt his fingers start to rub circles on the back of Bella's skull, but Edward was helpless to stop them.
"If I'm not yours, lover, then I must be only my own. So, if you won't put your hands on me..."
Bella took him in her mouth again, and Edward kept the pressure on the back of her neck gentle and encouraging, not demanding and rough. At first, Edward didn't notice the absence of Bella's clever hands.
Bella was kneeling between his legs, and she was touching herself.
Edward felt his jealousy snap at him, and he slammed his chained wrists down just once before he swore and unhooked his hands from her head, still chained together.
"Bella. Stop. Let me touch you."
The memory hit him all at once.
...I'm by your side. You're chained to me already; I don't need a piece of metal to prove that. And I'm chained to you. There is no place I would rather be.
He reached for her, but Bella shied away from him, inviting him to look without letting him touch. She was sin incarnate, wanton and gasping. She writhed against her own hands and leaned forward again, mouth open and inviting.
"It's a pity I don't belong to you, or you wouldn't have to ask for permission. Looks like you're mine, but I'm not yours." She licked from his base to his tip in one long stroke before she paused again, and Edward wasn't sure if it was her sudden vulnerability, the distance, or her words that made him snap.
"I wonder, would you be a stickler for tradition about that too? Tell me, Edward, would you call me mistress? Would you let me belong to another?"
...Never again, Bella. I will kill them on the spot of they even think it, do you understand?
Fuck. No.
He felt his teeth snap when she swallowed him again. He held her there with pressure on his still-chained wrists at the base of her skull, rolling his hips continuously in a possessive bid for more friction. He almost came right then; his movements were vicious and quick.
"Never; you are Bella. My Bella, mine. No one else's."
He made his hips still immediately when Bella choked at his speed.
"Take these off. Now. Isabella Swan, humans require air."
The chains disappeared and Edward hauled her into his lap, slapping her hands away gently and settling her core against his hardness again. "No more teasing, Bella. You made your point." He pulled at her panties until they tore.
Edward pulled her head down by the back of her neck and kissed her hard.
"I don't think so, Edward. I don't back down from a bet." She pulled back, kissed his lips briefly, hers red and swollen.
Bella lifted and rolled herself down against him, sliding her wetness down his length. Before he could even adjust to that reality, Bella rolled up and back, lifting and moving in a sensual circle that dragged her clit along the most sensitive part of his tip.
It took all the control Edward had not to howl like a madman. He snapped his hips up immediately, trying to enter her.
"Ah-ah-ah. This is my show, this time. You're mine." She pulled at his hands until he removed them from where they were braced against her thighs, entwining her fingers with his. Bella pushed herself up, and a meadow dotted with wildflowers danced in Edward's mind, tinted in crimson and gold. She twisted and drove herself down onto him, finally letting him enter her.
...So what you're saying is, I'm your brand of heroin?
Bella rolled her hips down and pushed up again, and Edward watched the roll of her body as her breasts bounced. Before he could recover, she did it again. He was watching her move against the background of the meadow.
Oh. Oh, that's just not fair.
Did I promise to play fair?
Bella's amused thought only fed the fire growing in Edward now, and the golden sky in his head was consuming the flames greedily, like rich soil pulled water into it, like fire consumed the forest floor, like the pull of air into Bella's lungs. Edward could feel her heartbeat in her chest, could feel the blood in her veins and the heat coiling at the base of her spine.
The meadow faded and got darker, more intensely beautiful.
A memory:
..."You would have come."
..."Without a doubt."
Edward was spellbound beneath her, clutching at her breasts with his hands and rocking against her as she rode him. He laid a filthy kiss on her chest, tracing a path with his mouth between her bouncing nipples, sucking and biting just to see her bite her lip and jerk her hips roughly. The meadow sputtered before solidifying, and the small break in her control nearly made him snap. She pulled his head back sharply by his hair before he broke skin.
"No, Edward. I'm not yours, remember?"
Bella whimpered slightly, leaning back and bracing herself on his knees, straining to circle her hips faster, grinding against him more heavily and lifting too. Edward could see swirls of gold in the air, and he wasn't sure if they were in the room or just in his head.
"And so the lion fell in love with the lamb."
"What a stupid lamb."
"What a sick, masochistic lion."
Edward was going mad with pleasure, and he couldn't bring himself to care. When the familiar chain with the crimson collar materialized in his hand, he pulled it taut immediately. He held her captive with his grip on her backside, his fingers digging in with bruising intensity to hold her still. His fingernails drew blood. Only a hint of it, but Edward let it bring him closer to the edge, inhaling sharply. He drove himself up into her at a speed that made her vibrate.
"Mine. I can't, I concede. Fuck, Bella. You're mine."
She cried out at his first strong thrust, and she didn't really stop until her voice broke off into whimpering words. "Harder. Yes, yes, Edward, that's it love, come on, yours. Make me yours."
… Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars—points of light and reason…. And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn't see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason for anything.
… Don't you dare say I don't love you. Even death won't stop me loving you. Nothing will. Not even you. There is nothing you could ever say or do to change it. … I can't be anyone but who I am. I can't love you any way other than the best way I know how.
He pushed her hard, tipping her backwards onto the couch and re-entering her in one heartbeat, caging her under him. She swallowed against the pressure on the chain and began to meet him halfway, both straining now. He was close, riding the line between orgasm and not, when the chain went lax. For a hateful half-second, Edward was worried she would deny him again. But Bella had come suddenly closer to him with her mouth against his ear, panting her words around his hard thrusts into her.
"I offer to live for you... I offer my service— to be all that you need me to be, above all else. This, I offer to you... All that is mine...all that is mine, is yours."
Edward growled as he finally tumbled over the edge, wrenching her forward. His teeth ached, and it was that, more than anything, that broke him. "As my queen wills it, so mote it be. I'm yours, Bella, and you're mine. Come for me."
Edward buried his teeth into Bella's neck just as his vision went white, shaking through his orgasm as her blood flooded his system. Bella shuddered and came; the echo of the meadow flared with the kiss of crimson and gold, like blood and magicks shared their ecstasy.