HE HUNG UP, turned, found his beautiful bride-to-be crying silently, a soft look on her face, one he couldn't quite discern, and, not for the first time, he wished he could read her mind, know what she was thinking so he could comfort her. He cupped her face, wiped her tears away, his cold lips softly brushing over her skin. "What is the matter, mon amour, what is it that makes you cry thus, get such a look on your beautiful face, mon coeur."
"The bond between you and your beloved mother, Elizabeth," she set a hand to his chest, over his heart that hadn't beat in a long time, almost, but not quite, a century, "it is so strong, so loving, I wish I could have had that, did not have to act as the parent with both Charlie and Renee, though in different ways, of course."
He kissed her, soft and sweet, her lips, warm and yielding, shaping themselves around His. "You can. My beloved mother, Elizabeth, she already loves you like a daughter, her own flesh and blood, much more so than Carlisle and Esme, I reckon, for she has known we would end up together for a very long time, how happy you would make me."
She moved her fingers, hot, so hot, over his ice cold skin, pressed a warm kiss to his navel, causing him to let out a low moan. "Speaking of children bonding with their parents, I was thinking, if our future child is a girl, perhaps we should switch her name around so Elizabeth is her first name, after all, we are a lot closer to your beloved mother, Elizabeth, than we are to Esme, Renee, Carlisle, and Charlie."
He ran his cold fingers up and down her throat in time with her pulse, tracing the map of her blue veins. "Hmm, I like that idea, Amour, I like it a lot. Carlisle and Esme will get offended not, for they knew not the name of our future child, if, indeed, it is a girl, and they know how close we are with my beloved mother, Elizabeth, have seen it with their own eyes, know not that we are even capable of having a child. Charlie and Renee, they, too, will get offended not."
She pressed another kiss to his navel, then his lips, lighting his skin and body on fire. "What of a middle name? We could use Renesmee, I suppose, but I want to let you choose, you will be the father, after all. And before you start, tell me you are fine with whatever I choose, she is going to be our daughter, a piece of both of us, thus, we should both get to choose a name."
He leaned down, kissed her again, his kiss hard, but soft, a little on edge, for he wanted to take her to the sheets when she acted thus, but couldn't, for she was not his wife yet, so he'd have to make do with this for now. "What of Catherine, meaning 'pure' in Greek, for she, if indeed, our future child is a girl, will be born of the purest of loves?"
Bella's smile was incandescent, her beautiful, deep, chocolate brown eyes shiny with unshed tears. "Elizabeth Catherine Masen," she said, testing the name, the way it rolled off her tongue, Edward waiting with bated breath to see what her answer would be. "I love it. Oh," excitement entered her voice, perhaps we can get her to call me Mama, just like you call your beloved mother, Elizabeth, and, since I am assuming you called your father Papa, we can get her to call you that as well."
Was his Bella trying to make him bed her before their wedding night? Because the way she was dressed, coupled with what she was saying, it made him want to take her to the sheets, claim her as only a husband should claim his wife. As it was, he lifted her up, carried her to the drawing room, moved fast like only he could, was sitting on the setee with Bella on his lap, straddling his hips, in less than a second, her beautiful frock not riding up despite the intimate position. He wanted to take down her beautiful hair, let it cascade down her shoulders and over her back, run his fingers through it, but the evening wasn't over yet. He cupped her face between his hands, lightly ran his fingers over her hair, was careful, so careful so as not to ruin her beautiful hairdo. "Such things you do to me, make me want to do when you speak to me thus."
He angled her head to the side, pressed honey-sweet, cold kisses to her throat, heard her heartbeat speed up, the scent of her blood becoming even sweeter. "Edward?"
He grazed the soft, sensitive skin of her throat with his teeth, flicked out his tongue, cold as ice, soaked with venom, to take in the taste of her skin, felt her sweet blood traveling through her veins. "Hmm?"
He kissed a particularly sensitive spot of her throat and she moaned, began writhing in his lap, and, Edward guessed from how long it took her to speak again, she had to use all her concentration, will, to be able to ask him what she wanted to know. "Has it ever happen before, Emmett or any of your 'siblings', for that matter, getting chastised like the way Emmett no doubt got chastise by your beloved mother, Elizabeth?"
Much as he didn't want to he had to stop kissing her, at least temporarily, as her question, it was a serious one, required a serious answer in turn. He looked at her, his beautiful bride-to-be, so strong and resilient, couldn't believe how lucky he was.
He traced the shape of her eyebrows, the tiny blue veins on her face that were invisible to human eyes, as he spoke, needing comfort, the warmth and heat of her. "No, never, but," his lips curved into a soft smile, "things are bound to change now that my beloved mother, Elizabeth, is here, back in my life, in both of our lives. I told you every couple of years, perhaps every six or so, I would leave, go back to Chicago, to my childhood home, live apart from the rest of my adoptive family for two years before I would return to them wherever they might be, the ache of missing my beloved mother becoming too great, acute to the point of pain, however, that is only the first of two reasons. The second reason I would leave is because Emmett and Rosalie's thoughts, along with Alice and Jasper's, though to a lesser degree, would grate and grate on me until I couldn't take it anymore, longed for privacy, to go somewhere where I had to hear sexual perversions not."
He paused to press a kiss to her forehead, the top of her head, his hands running up and down her back, over her arms, Bella burying her face against the crook of his neck, inhaling the scent of his skin, as if she was as addicted to his scent as he was to hers.
"Things were not always thus, were more bearable when it was only Carlisle, Esme, and I in our little 'family', though I still missed my beloved mother, Elizabeth, dearly, for no one could, or will ever, replace her in my heart, just as no one will replace my father, no matter that we were not as close, the ache for him not nearly as strong as for my beloved mother. Each time Carlisle and Esme would hug me, trying to comfort me, it was a punch to the gut, a stabbing of my heart, for I would long for my mother's arms around me, for her to hold me, stroke my hair as she did when I was a youngling, for only she and my father had that right, not some strangers who sought to replace them. So strong was the ache and longing for my beloved mother, Elizabeth, that never once, and Carlisle and Esme acted as my parents for a very long time, did I refer to Esme as 'mother, mom', or ' mama', unless I absolutely had to for pretense sake, those terms reserved for my beloved mother, Elizabeth, only, nor did I address Carlisle as a father figure."
He shuddered, pressed a honey-sweet kiss to Bella's pulse, remembering the day everything had begun to change. "Then one day in 1933, fifteen years after I first became a vampire, lost my beloved mother, Elizabeth, though I did not realize this at the time, Carlisle brought Rosalie home, changed her, hoping she would be to me what Esme was to him. Of course, Carlisle could read her mind not, have known she was not my type, for even then, as a human, she was vain, was Rosalie, expected the male sex to worship her."
Edward could have paid more attention to Carlisle, his thoughts, but his heart, it had been in pieces, the emotional wound caused by losing his beloved mother, Elizabeth, still raw, figuratively pulsing heart's‐blood.
"As she transformed, I was angry, very angry at Carlisle, for, you see, mon coeur, Rosalie was part of a high class, very visible family, and I knew, from her thoughts, for even as she was transforming I could hear them, that people would come looking for her, that we had to upend our life in New York early. To top it off, the second she opened her eyes, saw me, she started thinking such vile thoughts, thoughts of us doing things I was not in any way, shape, or form, going to do until when and if I got married, for my beloved mother, Elizabeth, had instilled such values in me." Edward would not disregard his beloved mother, Elizabeth's words and teachings even then, throw them away as if they were rubbish.
"Of course, she loved me not, had only seen my face around town a couple of times, was only trying to use me, use sex, as a way to lessen her pain, because her fiance, 'the most eligible bachelor in town', along with his friends, had raped her, beaten her up, left her to die in the middle of the street. That I rejected her, kept rejecting her advances over and over until she found Emmett two years later, it made her angry, resent me even more, for she already resented me, having heard what I had said to Carlisle as she transformed, how I had yelled at him. Her revenge, when it came two years later, it was vicious and vile, she and Emmett would not stop thinking sexual, perverted thoughts around me, though they knew I could hear them, were making their thoughts pretty loud on purpose. It was horrible, so much so, I gave Carlisle and Esme an ultimatum, told them either they did something drastic to get them far away from me so I could not hear their thoughts anymore, or I would leave."
He paused to take a soft, honey-sweet kiss, needing Bella to anchor him to the present, remind him that those times were long gone and something like that would never happen again because he had Bella now, would live separately from the Cullen family from now on, and his beloved mother, Elizabeth, wouldn't allow such perversions to fill his head ever again. "Because Carlisle felt responsible for me, as my beloved mother, Elizabeth, had in charged him with me, her most precious treasure—he kicked them out, and everything was fine, more or less peaceful for about a decade or so. Then one day, while I was out on a hunt, they came back, claiming to have changed, become 'better people.' This, of course, was untrue, as their thoughts were just as loud, obnoxious, and sexually perverted as before, but Carlisle, because of his compassion, had not the heart to kick them out again."
He gritted his teeth even as he kept his hold gentle, held his Bella close, remembering a recent incident. "What Emmett did today, what he imagined, it was the final drop, the drop that spilled the cup. When I started spending the night with you, holding you in my arms, before I would run to you, go into your room through your window, I would go 'home' for home is wherever you are and I can hold you—to the Cullen household, find notes from Emmett, asking me to go hunting with him and Jasper or to play baseball with the whole family. Of course, because he already knew what my response would be, Alice having already warned the whole family, he would write in his notes that he understood not why I would spend my whole night watching someone sleeping, unconscious . . . unless, of course, you were sleeping not, unconscious, and we were being intimate, drew crude, perverted, very sexually explicit images of the two of us."
Bella kissed him silently, salty tears running down her cheeks, those tears, he knew, because it didn't matter that he couldn't read her mind, it was written all over her face, were for him, for everything he had to go through, all the pain and suffering. She opened her mouth, went to speak, but he wasn't done yet so he pressed one cold finger to her lips, then a kiss.
"As for Alice and Jasper, I can tolerate them a bit more, for they are a little bit more sympathetic, try to be careful with their thoughts around me, as their abilities, though not the same as mine, give them a unique insight into what I could be going through. Still, I am certain you can imagine my horror when I came back from a hunting trip, found all my things in a different room, a room that was not my own, as it was the biggest one where we were living at the time, and Alice had made it her own without even telling me."
That horror, however, it had been mixed with relief, not because Alice was there, as he had known her not then, but because she had touched nothing precious to him, as all of his treasures, the things that had sentimental value, were either in Chicago or in England.
"That horror and confusion, it only intensified when Alice, the whirlwind that she is, bounded up to me, hugged me, treated me as if we were already the best of friends when I knew her not, showed me visions of a possible future. When she did that, showed me that she could see and know the future before everybody else did, I panicked, my mind raising. As I am certain you have noticed, I am a very private person, akin to my beloved mother, Elizabeth, like everyone knowing my personal business not. Thankfully, though, I found a way to block her from seeing what I did not want her to see pretty quickly, within the same day, and we became friends, though we were not as close as Alice believed. I bet she is starting to figure that out now, but it is better this way, I reckon."
She lunged herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck, her tears staining his skin. "Oh, Edward, I am so sorry you had to go through that, put up with such things, such pain." She flinched. "Are you really going to kill Emmett? What if he hurts you? He is the strongest one in the family, is he not?"
The terror on her face, the way she was shaking, not because she was cold—not with the boiling heat in the house, it made him make a split second decision, to push the meeting between Charlie, Carlisle, Esme, and his beloved mother, Elizabeth, until tomorrow afternoon, when his "siblings'" will be at school, wouldn't be expected to be at the house. He took a soft, deep, sipping kiss, pressed his forehead to hers. "Call Charlie, mon amour, tell him something came up, that we will meet him tomorrow noon, for a late luncheon. We will not return to the Cullen household while Emmett and Rosalie are there." He pressed repeated kisses to her hair, all over her face, her lips. "I think not that I can stop myself from killing Emmett if I see him again right now."
That she didn't hesitate, it undid him, made him want to kiss her until she was breathless, claim her as his, as only a husband should claim his wife. The phone rang twice before Charlie picked up, speaking before she could. "Bella, I'm glad you called, I was just about to call you. I know I said I would be there at about 7:30, 8:00, but I don't think I can make it until very, very late, and I don't want to keep you, Edward, the Cullens, and Elizabeth up. Is there any way we can push the meeting until tomorrow? I think it would be best if we do it as early as possible, maybe for lunch? I know you have school tomorrow, but—"
"No, Dad, tomorrow at lunch, at about 1:00, is perfect. Edward and I don't have to go to school tomorrow, as we already took the final to graduate early, only need to show up for graduation. Listen, I'm kind of in the middle of something right now, really busy, but we'll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow."
"See you then."
Bella hung up, turned to Edward, a look of relief on her face. "That was easy."
"A very good thing." He stood up from the setee, Bella held lovingly in his arms, walked slowly, like a human, wanting to take his time, be in the moment with her, to their bedroom, laid her down on their bed, stroked her hair lovingly. "Let me just call Alice, let her know about the change of plans so she can let everyone else know, then there will be no more interruptions for the night, and I will kiss and hold you close. Of course, we will have to stop at some point so you can eat supper, but that will not be for a long while yet, as we recently ate a three course meal, and while you and I wanted more, it will keep you from craving food for a while."
He straightened, the thoughts that were going through his mind like rapid fire tearing his world apart, then shaping it anew—took out his phone, dialed Alice's number, Alice, thank God, picking up on the first ring. He spoke before she could, wanting to get this over with soon as possible so he could get back to his Bella, hold her in his arms, kiss her. "Listen, Alice, I wish to speak not, only called to tell you that the meeting with Charlie has been postponed until tomorrow at 1:00 so you can let everyone else know."
A pause on the other side of the phone, the sound of Alice drumming her nails somewhere, likely her desk, then her voice came through. ""Okay, I'll let everyone know . . ." A slight moment of hesitation, then, "Edward, are you okay?"
He went to lie down beside Bella, who immediately wiggled herself into the circle of his arms, laying her head against his chest, over his heart that hadn't beat in a long time, almost, but not quite, a century, Edward wrapping his arms about her, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Yes, Alice, I am all right, just tired."
Alice didn't taunt him, tell him that perhaps he was becoming human again, like Emmett would no doubt have. Edward wasn't becoming human, that was quite clear from the way he ran, so fast, he was naught but a blur even to his adoptive family, but he was tired, not physically, of course, but emotionally, wanted to hold his Bella close, be only with her. "I'm sorry we emotionally drained you."
They hung up, and Edward set the phone aside, sat up, shifting Bella so her back was pressed to his front, pressed a kiss to the top of her head, inhaling her scent, the burn in his throat making him smile. He began gently taking down her hair, setting each individual pin and lavender flower on the nightstand, then ran his fingers through it when he was done, lightly massaging her scalp. "I wish I could bathe with you, get into the warm heat of a bath, but, alas, I cannot, for you are not my wife yet, and I would not see you naked, clothed in naught but your skin."
She shifted, crawled into his lap, wrapped her arms about his neck. "You can, we both just need to wear bathing suits. It is a very good thing, I reckon, that we were very thorough when we went shopping in Chicago. I can wear one of the one piece bathing suits you got me, the one with the boy shorts, keeping it very modest, while you wear whatever you like."
He beamed, heard her heartbeat speed up, probably from excitement. "Yes, it is a very good thing indeed that we were so thorough when going shopping in Chicago. Let me check on the progression of the healing of your broken leg before we part ways to change, and I run us a hot bath."
"Yes, Doctor Edward Masen," she teased, her smile reaching her eyes, and those beautiful, deep, chocolate brown eyes he loved so much, they were dancing.
"Funny." He shifted, laid her back down on the bed, took off her brace and the compression bandages, his fingers gently probing at her leg lest he hurt her. "Bella," astonishment in his voice, "your leg, it is completely healed, you will not need to wear a brace anymore, though perhaps you should wear it in front of Charlie for a little while longer for pretense sake."
The joy on her face matched his own, was beyond a smile. "Good, perhaps we can push the wedding up a little then. It must be because of my drinking of your blood that my leg is healed, it must work similarly to your venom, but heal wounds that are deep within. I have a theory about that, about me drinking your blood."
He laughed, low and soft, radiant with happiness and love. "More theories?"
She reached down, threaded her fingers through his hair, stroking it gently. "Yes. Do you remember that day in biology when we were blood typing and you skipped class?"
A nod, then because he couldn't help himself, a soft, honey-sweet, deep kiss pressed against her lips. "How can I forget when I was planning to avenge your murder, you looked so pale and lifeless as that boy, Mike, took you to the nurse's office, I thought he must have done something to you." He traced the tiny, so small they were invisible to human eyes, blue veins on her face. "It was also the first time I ever got to hold you in my arms."
This time it was Bella who took a kiss, her eyes shining with memory. "I think I was always meant to drink your blood. I told you it was the scent of blood, rust and salt, that makes me faint, but your blood, it does not smell like that to me." She touched her fingers to his cheek, drew him down to her until her lips were a hair's breadth away from his, moving against his as she spoke. "Instead, it smells like the best, sweetest thing I have ever smelled, as if it was tailor-made just for me, and your scent, too, is the same, so sweet and perfect, I think not that I can ever get enough of it."
He groaned, the happiness spreading inside him a bright light, took his fill of her own scent. "Then perhaps my thought process was right, for when you told me that, that you could smell blood, I questioned whether you were human at all. Of course, you are human, but perhaps a part of my soul was always inside you, just as a part of your soul was always inside me." He laid her back down on the bed, went to their closet, fast like only he could, took out swim trunks, then gave her a half smile, her heartbeat picking up speed. "Get changed, mon amour, I will come get you to take you to the washroom in about ten minutes or so, depending on how long it takes for the tub to fill."
He disappeared, his movements too fast for Bella to follow, went first to the washroom, opened the faucet to begin filling the bath, which, thank God, was more than large enough for two people, opened the cabinets beneath the sink, took out salts and bath oils, placed them on top of the sink. Then he changed, quick and fast, folded up his clothes, leaving them neatly stashed in a corner of the washroom. He moved quietly, like a ghost, throughout the house, not wanting his Bella to hear him, know what he was doing, got rose scented candles, lit them all around the washroom, giving the room a warm, golden glow, and, seeing the tub was almost full, but not quite there yet, he went to the kitchen slowly, like a human, but quiet as a predator, got two wine glasses and a bottle of sweet, sweet Bordeaux from the fridge, thanking his beloved mother for bringing extra wine.
By the time he went back to the washroom, the bath was full, steam rising from it. Normally, the temperature he had mediated the water to would be too hot for a human, but as his body temperature would immediately cool it down slightly there would be no problem, and he and his Bella could stay in the bath for quite a long time. He set the wine glasses and bottle beside the bath, poured the bath oils and salts into the water, then placed them back beneath the cabinets.
Seeing everything was ready, he went to go get Bella, walking slowly, like a human, so as not to startle her. She was standing by the door frame, her eyes darting this way and that, searching for him, lighting up when she saw him. "Edward." She attempted to run to him, into his arms, and though there was nothing but a flat surface in front of her, she tripped over her own two feet midway.
He moved, fast like only he could, caught her, then lifted her into his arms, like how a groom carried his new bride. "Careful, mon coeur, I do not want you getting hurt again, else, much as we both do not wish to we might have to push our wedding further away rather than up." Words spoken even as he walked to the washroom, doing so slowly, wanting to enjoy this time they had together.
"I," a sweet, warm kiss pressed to his throat, where, if he'd been human, he'd have a pulse, "can walk."
He gave her one of those smiles that tended to make her heart beat faster. "I know, but I like the feeling of you in my arms, holding you close to me." He cradled her even closer to him. "Any complaints?"
Now it was Bella who pressed herself closer to him, wrapping her arms about his neck. "Non, I love being in your arms, too, hated it when you used to pull away for fear of making me cold because of the cold temperature of your skin." A sweet kiss, her teeth biting down gently at his lower lip, not drawing any blood . . . not yet. "Thank God you installed heaters throughout the whole cottage, else, it would have driven me mad, your stupid, perfect self-control for fear of making me too cold."
Edward let out a long breath, and though most of his mind was here with her, in the moment, there were parts and fragments of it that were preoccupied with the realizations he was coming to, each second that passed having a new layer of understanding. "Ah, Bella, if only you knew the truth, mon coeur, my self-control, it is not as perfect as you believe, mon ange."
They got to the washroom, but Edward didn't set her down, simply got into the warm heat of the bath with her, positioning them so her back was pressed to his front and he could massage her shoulders. Though they sipped on sweet, sweet Bordeaux wine, they didn't say anything, each absorbed in their own thoughts, and, for once, Edward was too preoccupied by his own thoughts for Bella's quiet mind to bother him too much. How could he have not noticed it before, it was so obvious now? Had he been blind for eighty-six years? Numb? Living like a zombie? Or was it something else all together, that now that he knew what love looked like, felt like, having found a love of his own, he knew how to differentiate between what was real, genuine love, so deep it was soul-binding, and what seemed like love on the surface but wasn't?"
He felt Bella shift in the bath, crawl into his lap, her arms coming about his neck. "What are you thinking about, beautiful, future husband of mine?"
Edward choked out a laugh, lifted a hand from the water to stroke her hair. "Am I not the one who usually asks that question?"
She leaned down, pressed a warm, honey-sweet kiss to his still heart, causing it to expand, his body afire from that simple, intimate caress. "Yes, you are, it is why I am asking it. When I stayed quiet, I was waiting for you to start playing a game of twenty questions, ask me what I was thinking, but you did not."
This time it was he who kissed her, soft and sweet and slow, biting down gently at her lower lip, careful not to inject any venom with his teeth, drawing a little blood. He flicked out his tongue, cold as ice, soaked with venom, began lovingly licking at her blood, the taste of it, sweet, so sweet, tailor-made for him, soothing him, making him able to tell her what he'd been thinking. "That our love is or was, I should say, because I think not that we will ever be living in the Cullen household again, not after what happened tonight, the only true, genuine, pure, romantic love in the Cullen household."
His Bella's beautiful eyes were filled with confusion. "But Carlisle and Esme, they—"
He shook his head, his laugh this time jagged, filled with pain. "Do you know, mon amour, why Carlisle turned Esme in the first place?" Edward stroked her hair, her face, lovingly, spoke before she could, knowing she didn't know the answer. "He was hoping she could act as my mother, as if anyone could ever replace my beloved mother, Elizabeth. No one, no matter how kind, can ever do that. Carlisle thought he had changed me too young, that he should not have hearkened to my mother's ordainment. Of course, my beloved mother, Elizabeth, she knew even then, on her death bed, because I reckon that is when she started to know things, more than the ones she usually did— that the only way for me to survive long enough to find you would be for Carlisle to change me, else, I reckon not that she would have condemned me to live so long without seeing her, not with how close we were, still are."
He paused to take another slow, sweet blood kiss. "As for Esme, life had been kind to her not, but I will spare you the gory details, for I would not have your mind filled with such horrors. Once, in 1911, when she was sixteen, Carlisle treated her of a broken leg, and because of that kind act, the fact that he was the only one who had ever been kind to her during her human lifetime, she clung to that image, the image of Carlisle, as if he was a hero a or a God. So, naturally, when her transformation finished, and she saw the man who she had dreamed of, idolized, for so long, she could not help but feel what she thought was affection, but was actually extreme gratitude, for him."
He paused again, needing to take another kiss, the warmth and heat of her, he'd been so blind, so very blind for so many years, had not seen the truth of his adoptive family's relationships with one another until now. "I know not if their relationship remains thus, perhaps now, after they have spent so many decades together, there is, indeed, a little, genuine love there, but it holds a candle to ours not, Carlisle's intentions towards Esme not romantic but purely selfish and out of guilt. He did not court her, kiss and hold her, or got to know her before he changed her, as you and I are now."
Bella threaded her fingers through his hair, would have pulled a little too hard on the strands of it if he'd been human, but Edward really, really liked it when she did that, a battle raging inside him as he fought the urge to take her to the sheets, make love to her right then and there, claim her as only a husband should claim his wife. He slid his arms round her, held her flesh against him, his fingers running up and down her back, over her arms, Bella shivering, though he knew, from the hot temperature of her skin, it wasn't from cold but from pleasure. "I am guessing the beginning of Rosalie and Emmett's relationship is even more twisted than that of Carlisle and Esme?"
A nod, then a shudder of disgust. "Yes, especially because it involves thoughts of children, ugh. When Rosalie found Emmett, she was out on a hunt, fuming and throwing mental insults at me, as I had just rejected her sexual advances yet again, as I had been doing for the past two years. I told you she carried him back to Carlisle, more than a hundred miles, and that is true, but I kept the most vile, wretched, perverted part of their 'love' story, her thoughts, from you, lest you thought I was in any way akin to Rosalie and I lost you. When she found him, a grizzly bear about to finish him off, she thought not that he was handsome, strong and beautiful, but that he looked a lot like the infant son of a friend—Vera, who she had had when she was human, had actually gone to see the night her fiance and his friends raped her, beat her up, leaving her for dead in the middle of the street."
He paused, took another sweet blood kiss, this one deeper than all the others they'd had in the bath thus far, needing her comfort, the warmth and heat of her, because the next part of the story, it involved him, and Edward wasn't sure he'd done the right thing. "All Rosalie could say to Carlisle when she got back to the house was to 'save him, please save him.' Rosalie was beyond words, her only thought that she could not let someone who looked a lot like Vera's infant son die. Carlisle thought she meant to heal him so he tried everything he could, but Emmett, he was beyond anything medicine could achieve . . . "
Edward broke off, buried his face against her neck, against her artery, feeling her pulse against his lips, her blood traveling through her veins. "Forgive me, mon ange, mon trésor le plus précieux, you have to know I did not know then Emmett and Rosalie would be as they are now, else, I would have never, ever done what I did."
He pulled back from her throat, stroked her hair, her face, her soft, warm, velvet skin, the warmth and scent of her his talisman.
"Because I could hear her thoughts, as they were always shouting at me, for I kept rejecting and rejecting her sexual advances, I went over to Carlisle, told him what Rosalie really wanted, that she didn't want him to heel Emmett, but to change him, make him like us. Carlisle, for his part, he hesitated not, as he felt guilty for changing Rosalie, then having me reject her over and over. When Emmett's transformation was over and he saw Rosalie, he thought he was looking at a goddess, ran fast like only a vampire can, as he knew not how to control his speed or any of his vampiric abilities, act human, kissed Rosalie without even knowing her name, who she was, or where he was. Rosalie was delighted at having a male pay attention to her the proper way, the way she wanted, and forgot all about why she wanted to save Emmett in the first place, about her friend, Vera, and her infant son. They copulated that very same night, the night of their first kiss, without even knowing each other's name."
Edward was surprised to hear Bella laugh, and her laughter, it was rich and dark, held no humor, only determination. She took his face between her hands, her skin warm, so warm against his own, and, at that moment Edward thought she was akin to his own, personal sun, warming him up from the inside out. "Rosalie and Emmett's perversions, they are not your fault, my love, you were only trying to help, be who your beloved mother, Elizabeth, taught you to be, and I love you even more for it." She kissed him, soft, hot, and sweet, bit at his lower lip gently, drawing blood, her warm tongue flicking out to taste it, drink it.
That he was able to give her what she needed and craved, would be able to do so for eternity, it undid him, made him burn inside, burn with desire to kiss and hold her close, claim her for his own as only a husband should claim his wife. He ran his hands up and down her back, over her arms, allowing his self-control to slip a little further, deepening the kiss slightly, a small fragment of his mind keeping tabs on the strength he used, the way he held her to him, wanting to crush her to him so very close and so very tight, but knowing that wasn't possible yet.
When she broke away, his lips, they didn't leave her skin, simply moved on to her neck, kissing hungrily, desperately, down the hollow of her throat. When he got to her pulsing artery that was straining beneath her beautiful, soft, warm skin, he was about to bite down, really, really begin to feed all the while being careful not to inject any venom with his teeth, bringing them both an immense amount of pleasure, then reminded himself she might want to know about Alice and Jasper's "love" story, how they came to be together, too. "Bella, Bella, Love," his voice sounded hoarse to his own ears, filled with love and desire, a desire that went far, far beyond a simple desire for sex, "do you wish to know of Alice and Jasper's 'love' story, too."
A nod, her beautiful, deep, chocolate brown eyes huge and dark and dilated, filled with desire, a desire that was of the same kind as his own, and love. She kissed him again before he could speak, soft, hot, deep, and sweet, biting gently at his lower lip, drawing more blood, her warm tongue flicking out to taste it, drink it. That he could be intimate with her thus, neither of them needing to take animal or human blood, only of one another, to satisfy their cravings, it made him shudder with pleasure, his body afire, his still heart feel as if it was beating again. She pulled back, though her lips remained a hair's breadth away from his, moving against his as she spoke, murmured, "Before we move on to the topic that is Alice and Jasper's 'love' story, I would have you answer one question. Were you there when Emmet and Rosalie copulated for the first time? Did you hear their thoughts?"
He grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger, running his thumb over the contour of her lips, and this time it was he who took a sweet, sweet blood kiss, his tongue, cold as ice, soaked with venom, flicking out to lovingly lick at her blood. "That is more than one question, mon coeur," he teased, needing to play with her to keep the echo of Rosalie and Emmett's thoughts, so very wretched, vile, and perverted, at bay.
She looked at him through lowered lashes, and those lashes, they were so long, beautiful, a shade or two darker than her hair, he knew Rosalie would become even more jealous of her when he changed her—began placing honey-sweet, warm kisses to his chest, everywhere she could reach, that was proper. When she spoke, she made her voice feather‐soft, seductive, yet loving. "Please, Edward, my love, Husband, will you not tell me?"
That she called him "husband" without them being officially joined in matrimony . . . at least in the eyes of society, humans, vampires, and other creatures—was so comfortable with it, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, it made him want to take her lips in a kiss that was a claiming, as he couldn't take her to the sheets, not yet, one he wasn't sure they'd be able to break so easily.
Because they still needed to talk, discuss things, he growled, low and soft, buried his face against the warm, soft, fragile skin of her throat instead, feeling her blood travel through her veins. 'Of course I will tell you, there is no need to become thus, beautiful siren of mine." He cupped her cheek, the pad of his cold thumb brushing over her cheekbone. "Such things you make me want to do, take you to the sheets, when you behave thus. Alas, I need only wait about a month, perhaps a bit less, as your leg is completely healed now, then I need not hold myself back anymore . . . not in the same way I am now."
Because he would need all his strength due to what he was about to share with her, he took a deep, deep, sweet blood kiss, then a deep breath, though he didn't need to breathe. "Yes, I was there, but I was also not. This may seem like an oxymoron to you, but it is not, I was only there for the very, very beginning, their first kiss. Because of my special ability," he tapped his temple, a silent reminder, though his beautiful bride didn't need it, that he could read minds, Bella herself being the only exception, "I knew where this kiss of theirs would eventually lead to. I packed some things, only the essentials, fast as I could, lest things got too far with me still in the vicinity, left for Chicago, my childhood home, a home that is now ours, is to be filled with life anew. However, Chicago, it was only a stopover, my true destination England, one of my family's Country Estates."
Bella's eyes lit up, danced with excitement, and she went to open her mouth, ask him a question. He might not be able to read her mind, but he could read her facial expressions, having to rely on those and only those, to guess what she was thinking ever since they'd met, deduced her question would be why he'd gone to England, not stayed in Chicago. "I wanted to put as much distance as I could between Emmett, Rosalie, and I, not so much Carlisle and Esme, as I was use to living with them by then, their thoughts, while sexual sometimes, a lot less perverted—make certain Emmett, Rosalie, and I could not accidentally end up in the same city. While I was in England, for about a year and a half, give or take, I decided to study one of my favorite periods, monarchies, in British history, one that very much interested me, still does, the Plantagenet Dynasty, a time span that lasted from 1154 to 1485 . . ."
Soft, warm kisses pressed to his throat, the brush of human teeth against his cold, hard skin, the only teeth, that, for some reason, perhaps the way their souls were binding together, could pierce through his inhuman skin, draw blood, when he should have no blood running in his veins, for he had no heartbeat, no human bodily fluids. "The Cullens, they know about this not, do they?"
Edward couldn't help but let out a snort, because, yes, the Cullens, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett knew about him leaving, even Alice and Jasper knew about it, though they hadn't joined the family yet—as they hadn't seen him for about a year and a half, but not why he'd left or where he'd gone.
Actually, Carlisle and Esme both thought he'd gone on a human killing spree, that Edward resented Carlisle because of him "forcing" Edward to adhere to a diet of animal blood, as a couple of days prior they'd met up with one of Carlisle's friends, Siobhan, a female vampire whose diet consisted solely of human blood. Not knowing he could read minds, as Carlile hadn't told her, she'd pulled him aside, told him about the "joys" of drinking human blood, how strong he could become, but Edward, he hadn't been interested, his beloved mother, Elizabeth, had taught him better than that. "No, this the Cullens know not. Carlisle and Esme actually thought I was going through my 'rebellious, teenage, vampire phase', had gone on a human killing spree, before I told them that was not the case, though I did not tell them the whole truth, simply that I had wanted to be alone for a while."
He twined a strand of her hair round his finger, inhaled the scent of her skin, her sweet, sweet blood, pressed a sweet kiss to her shoulder, the junction of her neck. "I will tell you what I discovered during that time, show you the items I acquired, later, when we are home in England, holding our future child, be it Edward or Elizabeth Catherine, in our arms. For now, though, I do believe you requested to know of Alice and Jasper's 'love" story, how they came to be together."
Bella winced, her heart picking up speed, making Edward frustrated that he couldn't read her mind once again, wonder what she was thinking about. "I just have one last question before we get back to the matter that is the Cullen family pairings, how their love is not true, genuine love, akin to ours."
Edward didn't say anything, simply waited for her to go on, busying himself by placing sweet, cold kisses to her shoulders, neck, and throat, likely distracting her, but he didn't mind, they had all the time in the world . . . at least until Bella got hungry again. "Will I," she began, her breath catching and her heartbeat speeding up when he let his teeth graze very lightly, gently, over her soft, smooth, warm skin, "will I acquire a proper, English accent, do you reckon, when we moved to England? I mean, I know it is easier, faster, for people to acquire either the language, accent, or both, of the country they moved to when they are very young, and I am seventeen already. I would feel quite awkward, I reckon, if you and our future child, be it Edward or Elizabeth Catherine, could speak with a flawless English accent while I was stuck with an American one."
Cheeks creasing because she had no reason to fret so, he laid her back, letting the, unsurprisingly, still hot water touch her beautiful, soft hair, running a hand over it to make sure all of it got wet, because her scent, the scent that was that of her blood, it was so much better, sweeter, when her skin and hair were wet. When he was certain he'd thoroughly wetted her hair, he lifted her back up, took a sweet, sweet blood kiss. "Ah, Bella, you need not fret over such things, as, once I change you and you become a vampire, such things, learning languages, accents, they will be naught but a piece of cake to you. Take me, for example, I am speaking with an American accent now though I grew up speaking with an English accent because of how much time I spent in England."
Bella got a strange look on her face, one of fervor and desire. Cupping his face between her hands, her skin warm, so warm against his own, she looked deep into his eyes, her own so beautiful, their depth endless, he could get lost in them forever. "If speaking with an English accent is how you used to speak before losing your beloved mother, Elizabeth, before Carlisle turned you and you went to live with him, then that is how I want you to speak to me from now on. I do not want you to pretend with me at all, not even with the most miniscule of things such as accents."
His heart expanded, and his love for her, it grew even more, as it continued to do with every second they spent together. He took a blood kiss, slow and passionate. "I will do as you wish," he told her, using his English accent, partly because he would give her everything and anything she wanted, partly because he had no need to pretend anything, not with her . . . not ever. "Now, shall I continue with Alice and Jasper's 'love' story, how it is that they came to be together?"
A nod, Bella snuggling herself into him.
Not able to stop touching her, either, he gave her a slow, languorous caress, sliding his hand from her shoulder to her hip and back up again, then back down. "A truly strange thing, Alice and Jasper's 'love' story is, in a way much more so than all the others, however, before I related to you, I will attempt to explain the workings of Alice's mind, as it will give you greater understanding of the tale that is Alice and Jasper's 'love' story . Do you remember, mon coeur, each time Alice forced us to separate, like the first night we practiced for our wedding time and honeymoon?"
Bella shivered, and from the way she pressed herself closer to him, clung to him as if afraid Alice would burst through the doors of their home, take her away from him for even just the tiniest amount of time, Edward knew it wasn't from cold.
A nod, soft, warm kisses, kisses that made him burn from within, pressed to his chest, neck, and throat. "Yes. How can I forget when each time we are separated, especially if it is by force, I feel as if a part of my soul and heart are missing, incomplete without you? So strong is this feeling that there is even a bitter aftertaste in my mouth the whole time we are apart, is only removed when we are back together."
It was Edward who kissed her this time, his kiss cold, sweet, and deep, wanting to vanish that look of pain and fear on her face. "Why did you not tell me of this sooner, mon amour? I would have never allowed Alice to separate us, no matter what she wanted, her visions, if I knew you were feeling thus." Because Edward, he'd felt it, too, what she was describing. He hadn't been joking each time he told her to "take care of his heart, that he was leaving it with her", and the bitter after taste in his mouth while they were apart, it was so horrible, all he wanted to do was run back to her, hold her close and kiss her to rinse out his mouth, get rid of the awful taste.
A shrug, another kiss, and this one, it was a blood kiss, soft and sweet and deep, her teeth biting at his lower lip, drawing blood, her warm tongue flicking out to taste it, drink it, making him shudder with pleasure, let out a low moan. "I noticed it, realized that it was an actual, real thing, not just a phantom of my imagination because of my not wanting us to be a part, not until very recently."
He made a decision right then, he would not leave her ever again, save for brief periods of time, when she needed him to be away so she could design her wedding frock with his beloved mother, Elizabeth. Alice might complain about it, and Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper, they might think of him as a lunatic . . . more than they already did, but Edward didn't care, he wouldn't have Bella be in pain, with a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. "I would leave you again not, even should Esme and Alice beg me to. The Cullens might think of me as a lunatic, especially Emmett and Rosalie, but I would not have you be in pain, with a bitter aftertaste in your mouth, for any length of time. The only time when I will, unfortunately, have to leave you, will be when you design your wedding frock with my beloved mother, Elizabeth, and when you are getting ready to walk down the aisle, but for no other reason will I leave you, no matter Alice's desire for her visions to come to fruition just the way she saw them."
Edward wrapped a hand gently, lovingly, about her throat, his cold fingers tracing her blue veins, following the path of her sweet, sweet blood. "Alice, she is obsessed with seeing each and everyone of her visions, the ones she considers to be 'good' and 'acceptable', come to fruition exactly as she saw them. It is why, for example, when we would sit alone to have luncheon in the cafeteria, just you and I, she would push me, with her thoughts, of course, so I would let her talk to you. Part of the reason why I kept pushing her and pushing her away, preventing her from speaking with you, is because I wanted you to have a choice in the matter, whether or not you were friends with Alice, regardless of what she saw, but also because I wanted to keep you to myself, in our own, private bubble, for as long as I could. I knew, from her thoughts, that once I introduced you two or let you meet, she would want to take you shopping, put an excessive amount of makeup on your face."
He winced, move the hand he still had about her throat, slowly, gently, to cup her cheek, heard her heartbeat speeding up, then slowing down, as his cold fingers, which had begun to warm thanks to the hot water of the bath, slid over her skin. "You have such lovely, beautiful skin, such beautiful eyes and long eyelashes, mon ange, human women would pay millions to acquire them, need makeup much not."
Her eyes lit up, and the happiness on her face, it was incandescent, visible on her every pore. "I suppose it is a very good thing then, that I asked your beloved mother, Elizabeth, to help me with my makeup and hair for the wedding, as she will go overboard not, will only 'enhance my natural beauty', as she put it."
He leaned in, brushed his lips gently, slowly, lovingly, along the hollow of her throat, unable to stop touching her, kissing her, addicted to her as he was. "I told you Alice remembered her human life not, though Carlisle knows not why this is, but I have a theory. I think her total loss of her human memories is due to three main factors, one, that she must have undergone extreme pain, both as a human and during her transformation, two, that she had no strong ties to her human life, and three, that human memories are viewed through week senses, thus become blurry at the edges when one becomes a vampire, eventually disappear all together if the emotions linked to the memories are not strong enough."
His face brightened as he suddenly thought of something, something that was the total opposite of Alice, had naught to do with her, pride, love, relief, and joy filling him. "I reckon it will be not thus with you, your human memories not becoming blurry at the edges, but crystal clear, as if you had lived through them with your vampiric senses rather than human ones. And why I believe such, it is not only because of our love, so beautiful, pure, and strong, but because you do things, crave things, my blood, which no other human would."
His words must have aroused a craving, because his beautiful bride-to-be, she gave him another blood kiss, however, this one, it wasn't on his mouth as he'd expected. She took his hand, turned it over to expose his wrist, pressed a kiss to the skin there, then bit down gently, drawing blood, more blood than if she'd kissed him on the lips, her warm tongue flicking out to taste it, drink it.
Pleasure, so much pleasure filled him, the kind of pleasure he suspected he'd feel when tangling with her in the sheets as only a husband should tangle with his wife, but it was also beyond that, so deep it was soul-binding. He wanted to feed from her, too, even as she continued to feed from him, give her the pleasure and intimacy she craved, but he had to finish the tale of Alice and Jasper's "love" story first. Bella, his beautiful bride-to-be, she was still human, would need to eat and sleep at some point, and he wanted to kiss and hold her close in their bed for a while before she fell asleep.
Edward stroked her hair, waited for her to finish feeding, which only took about a minute and a half, likely because he wasn't feeding from her, too. She lifted her head from his wrist, wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, then placed that hand in the water to rinse the blood off, and when she pressed another warm, honey-sweet kiss to his wrist, they were surprised to find it was already healed, his skin as smooth and flawless as ever. "When her transformation finished," he continued without missing a beat, "Alice remembered naught a thing of her former human life, not even her own name. The only reason why she knows her name now is because she heard it in a vision she had of Jasper calling her to him after she transformed."
Edward leaned over, turned on the hot water, not wanting the water to get cold, knowing they'd be in the bath for a long while yet, as they had a lot to discuss. "The first few visions Alice had were of her and Jasper, decades and decades and decades of their future together. Then, after about five minutes or so, she begun having visions of us, Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, and I, of her coming to join the family, along with Jasper."
A cold, honey-sweet kiss pressed to her shoulder, his lips moving over her skin, to her throat. "I reckon not that Alice loved Jasper, not initially, anyway, though, perhaps now, after so many decades together, there is a little, genuine love there, akin to Carlisle and Esme."
He laughed then, realizing he had no reason for his jealousy. "Before, when I was only just starting to court you, I was envious of the Cullens, for they had not to wait for a yes or a no from the other, simply got together without thinking much of it. I realize now, though, the way I got to court you, it was a gift, the gift of real, genuine, pure love."
Edward got back to the matter at hand, flinched, imagining Alice covered in human blood from head to toe, corpses upon corpses at her feet. "Had Alice not had the visions she did of her and Jasper, I reckon she would have turned into naught but a savage. Because she had no memory of her former human life, no connections at all, reckon I do that she had it in her head from the very beginning that she would end up with Jasper because of her visions. As you and I both know, though, Alice's visions are subjective, depend on people's decisions, do not always come to fruition as she had seen, thus, I reckon that because she had it stuck in her head that she and Jasper would end up together, were deeply in love despite her not even having met him yet, she actually forced the future to happen rather than let it run its course, for how can you love someone who you have not even met yet, know the reasons behind why they are the way they are?"
Bella's eyebrows knitted together, a little vee marring her forehead as she thought, then she nodded to herself, a small smile curving her lips. Edward was about to ask her what she was thinking, what was it that put such a smile on her beautiful face, made her eyes glow thus, but then she told him, and it made him suck in a breath. "A person can love another without knowing the way they are, why they are the way they are, if they are akin to us, my love, husband of mine, have a piece of the other's soul inside."
Soon as she was done speaking, he took her lips in a blood kiss, deep, so deep, that was tender yet a claiming, leaving her breathless. "Yes, mon coeur, but even we had to court each other, get to know each other, to discover for ourselves what our souls already knew, our relationship true and genuine and strong—and Alice and Jasper had that not from the very beginning, a piece of the other's soul inside, for we are unique among creatures, you and I, Alice driven not by her soul but by her visions, her desire to see them come to fruition, no matter what."
Edward paused, love and gratitude for his beloved mother, Elizabeth, filling him all over again. She always, always had watched out for his heart, let him forge his own path while he was human, continued to do so even now. "I reckon that is why my beloved mother, Elizabeth, tells us not much about our future, that some things we must discover on our own, so that we do not get it in our heads that things have to be a certain way because of what she told us, unlike Alice, who once she sees a vision, is convinced things must occur that way. I reckon my beloved mother, Elizabeth's ability to be clairvoyant works not the same as Alice's, depending not on people's decisions, what they choose, as I reckon she can see everything, regardless of what people choose, all possibilities, which ones are most likely to occur, but tells us not everything, letting us forge our own path forward."
Even as he spoke, he was aware he was probably wrong, so wrong, his vampiric mind already working out the holes in his theory. For one, his beloved mother seem to know only things about his and Bella's future, and even that, not all of it, for she seemed not to know he and Bella were capable of having a child, making her a grandmother. Good, he thought, his eyes stinging like they always did when he wanted to cry, but was unable to, his body incapable of producing tears anymore, it meant he and Bella could surprise her.
The second reason why he knew he was wrong was because her knowledge went beyond the future, for she knew things of the supernatural world none of them did, so perhaps she heard whispers on the wind, whatever or whoever sent her those whispers also sending her visions. Those whispers and visions, they must come in riddles, else, his beloved mother wouldn't have such a hard time fingering everything out, would give them more exact information . . . whatever information she could give them without putting their future at risk, that they didn't have to figure out on their own. Still, one thing remained the same, the fact that she loved them so, was watching out for them, giving them whatever information she could while letting them forge their own path forward, figure out whatever they needed to on their own.
Pressing a kiss to his Bella's hair, he told her the mental corrections he'd made.
Soft tears cascading down Bella's cheeks, likely because of the same reason he was so happy, his beloved mother, Elizabeth, watching out for them, not telling them everything, lest they got stuck in a certain mindset, but giving them bits and pieces, crumbs of the future, just enough so they knew everything would turn out all right, letting them forge their own path. Bella took a deep, slow, sipping, blood kiss, making Edward's body light afire. "But, Jasper," she murmured, changing the subject back to Alice and Jasper's "love" story, her lips brushing against his as she spoke, "he must really love Alice. I mean, the way he follows her around, is never too far away from her, always trying to be near her as much as possible, it must be because of love. What other explanation could there be?"
Edward laughed then, dark and without humor, for he could see things so very clearly now, in a way he hadn't been able to before, as if everything that had happened tonight was a wake up call, simply uncovered what he already unconsciously knew. "When I was talking to Alice, you heard me telling her that I was fine, just tired. Of course, I meant not physically, for I am a vampire, and my kind, we cannot get physically tired, but emotionally we can be drained sometimes, our emotions usually much more powerful than that of a human. This is how I feel tonight, simply want to be with you, mon beau et précieux trésor, shut out the rest of the world. Do you know why I feel thus?"
A shake of Bella's head, her face filled with genuine concern, even as it glowed with happiness and love.
"Because, mon doux ange," he took a deep, slow, sipping, languorous, blood kiss, making them both shudder with pleasure, "tonight I woke up to the truth, and once one sees the truth, one cannot unsee it, and things cannot be as they were, no matter how much one might want them to be. All of the Cullens relationships with their respective partners, they are not based on truth and trust, but on opposite things, dark and twisted, though it might not seem like it at first. In some ways, Alice and Jasper's relationship is the most innocent, but in others, it is just as dark, not only because of what I just explained to you about Alice, but also because of Jasper's background."
He lifted a hand to her cheek, brushed the pad of his thumb over her cheekbone, gliding his palm over her soft, smooth, warm skin. "I will not explain all of Jasper's backstory now, it is quite late, I reckon, and I would not have your mind filled with horrors, for such things can give you nightmares, I will, however, tell you the very basics, what you need to know to understand. In 1863, Jasper was changed by a vicious, power hungry vampire, Maria, who wanted naught but territory. She had seen him in the army as a human, seen how charismatic he was, guessed he would have some sort of special ability as a vampire, though not quite what. He became akin to a general in her army of newborn vampires, was in charge of disposing of the vampires who were past the one year mark, as they were not as useful to Maria anymore, for they were not as strong, training and helping her find new recruits to replace the ones he had killed."
Edward flinched, cradled Bella closer to him, the temperature of his skin, for once, the same as her own thanks to the hot water, pressed repeated kisses to her hair, neck, throat, and lips, anywhere he could reach that was appropriate, wouldn't require him to be her husband first, needing the warmth and heat of her.
"I can only imagine how difficult that was for him, all the years he spent in this army, what with him being able to feel every single emotion from each individual around him. Such terrible things, Maria made him do, the way this army lived akin to savages, leaving a trail of bloodshed and death wherever they would tread, uncaring of the loss of life, all the suffering, so long as Maria got what she wanted, more territory. Naturally, he got tired of this lifestyle, found Alice, who was actually stalking him, knew where he would be. Alice's emotions were the total opposite of what he was used to, for even after he left Maria, he continued to kill humans to satisfy his need for blood, still struggles with not killing humans more than the rest of us,—the reason why I do not allow him near you so much—he could not help but be drawn to her, as if she was some sort of drug, allowing him to be restful and in peace."
He could see a thousand different thoughts going through her mind, her beautiful, deep, chocolate brown eyes so expressive. Not for the first time, nor the last, Edward really, really wished he could read her mind, know what she was thinking. Her expression shifted from consternation and focus to happy and relaxed from one heartbeat to the next, a small, contented smile on her lips. Frustrated as ever, he was about to ask her what she was thinking, but she threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling at the strands in just the way he liked, before he could. "This is why Jasper likes to be near us so much when we are together, our emotions, because of his past?"
Ah, now he understood, could share in her joy and happiness, his eyes lighting up just like her own. Edward took a deep, sweet, sweet, slow blood kiss, kept his forehead pressed against hers as he spoke. "Precisely. The kind of love that you and I have, mon coeur, so beautiful, strong, and pure, it is soul-binding, Jasper has never felt anything like it before, not from one member of the Cullen family, nor the beings he came in contact with over the centuries. Our emotions, so strong and pure, nothing to do with bloodshed, hatred, or anything negative, they are the most addictive kind of drug to Jasper, especially after all he went through."