Epilogue II - Just Give Me All of You

September 2005

Present Day (Again)

Like waking from a fevered dream, Edward blinked to see the driver's side interior of Bella's truck. They were parked directly in front of his house and he could hear the steady beating of Bella's heart beside him along with the rustling of his family getting ready for the party inside. She took a large, gasping breath before coming back to reality as he had moments before.

"We're… back?" Bella touched her face, her chest, her stomach, her hair. She turned to Edward and smiled broadly. "I'm me. And you look like you again!"

"Don't I always look like me?" He asked in confusion. Had the timestone muddled her brain?

"Before…" She hesitated and he knew it was because it hurt to think about it. He knew it hurt to think of the horrors they had been through when they were finally back where they wanted to be. "I could see you with the enhanced sight. Now, you just look like you always have."

Edward was still puzzled, "Is that a good thing?"

Bella was crawling onto his lap before had time to stop her. She wound her arms around his neck and attacked his mouth like a hungry bear seeing food after a long hibernation. Kissing, licking, nipping, suckling, forcing his lips apart so her tongue could slide between them – Jesus, was she trying to kill him? He moaned and she smiled against his open mouth as she continued a very in-depth exploration on the placing of each of his non-lethal teeth, "Oh God, you have no idea. I'm so happy to be here with you."

If a stone heart was capable of skipping, it would have.

Edward's thoughts drifted to the blue velvet box he kept hidden in his sock drawer, to the way her face would light up and her chocolate eyes would tear when he finally found the courage to get down on one knee for her. He thought of the pulse point at her neck and the blinding pleasure, the bone-deep satisfaction he would feel when it was time to change her into one of them. He thought of the excitement he would see on her face when they walked Dartmouth campus together for the first time after graduation. He thought of the way she would be, without a doubt, overly opinionated about each and every house they decided to tour. He thought of forever by her side.

"I wouldn't go back," Edward panted against her questing mouth. "Not for anything in the world."

"We don't have to," Bella crushed him to her chest with all her human strength, which wasn't much but he appreciated the sentiment regardless. He could hear her sniffling to hide her tears. "We never have to go back to that ever again."

The scent of strawberries in her hair, of the warm blood rushing through her veins and the freesia on her skin made him dizzy with the knowledge that everything they experienced, every agonizing moment they had spent apart, every second he had suffered thinking she was truly dead, was finally worth it, "Thank God."

"No, Edward," she pressed her lips to his once more, tears mingling with their kiss as their mouths moved together in perfect harmony. "Thank you."

x-x-x

Bella's second attempt at an 18th birthday party had gone smoothly – no papercuts, no ravenous vampires, no arms sliced open on broken glass that she'd been thrown into. Just far too much sugar, an overabundance of presents, and a sense of relief that was so palpable that even the ever-docile Jasper was much more sociable than usual. Currently, he was twirling Bella and Alice around the living room and singing along with Emmett to random songs on a popular radio station that flowed through the speakers of the high-tech stereo that Edward always insisted on having in nearly every room.

Carlisle and Esme were cuddled together on the sofa that had been pushed against the glass wall of the living room, watching their family celebrate with affectionate smiles and gentle murmurs of pride. Edward was perched on one of the loveseats across from the impromptu dance party when Rosalie came to sit next to him.

"Well, I suppose Alice is terribly pleased with herself," she rolled her eyes as Emmett began shaking his enormous backside directly in Bella's guffawing face. "The idiots have all come out to play this evening."

Edward chuckled, unphased by her frosty exterior any longer, "I would be willing to bet you're having more fun than you let on. I haven't seen you scowl at Bella even once tonight."

"There's still time – it's only 10."

"Mmmhm."

"What?" Rosalie bristled. "What's that sound for?"

"Nothing. I just don't know why you are trying so hard to act like you don't enjoy Bella's company. It's alright to love her, you know; she makes it pretty difficult not to."

His oldest sister looked stunned for a moment before recovering, "Shouldn't we be the ones saying that to you?"

"Usually you are," Edward confirmed. His eyes softened at the sight of Bella, so carefree and happy, enjoying her human birthday festivities with the siblings she never had but loved desperately, "but walking through Hell does tend to change your perspective."

Rosalie was quiet for a long time, "You're different. Something's changed, hasn't it?"

"Not just something – everything."

It was impossible to miss the myriad of questioning thoughts and golden eyes that sought him out with surprise and intrigue.

"It's quite a long story," Edward found it difficult to feel the pain his arduous travels through time now with so much love surrounding him. "I'll tell you all about it sometime."

Bella chose that moment to come bounding over to them. She slipped her warm arms around his neck and kissed him passionately, her lips never losing their smile as he tasted the previously unappetizing confections on her tongue. His mate was beautiful in her joy and a happiness he never before imagined swept through him, dragging him along like a rip tide.

They had undoubtedly made the right choice.

"I know I said we were only going to stay for an hour," Bella ran her skilled fingers through his messy copper hair like a temptress sent straight from the depths of his dreams, "but would you mind if we stayed a little longer? Alice said Charlie wouldn't care and I'd hate to leave everyone so soon. Emmett promised to help me learn to kick his ass in some video game and…"

Whatever she was saying fell away as he gazed at her. Edward was helpless to give this woman anything in the universe she wanted, anything she ever asked for, so long as it was in his power to give – and even if it wasn't, he would certainly try. He was completely at her mercy and while that realization was equally sobering and terrifying, he trusted her not to ever use that power to hurt him. "Of course, love. We can stay as long as you want."

Emmett pumped his fist behind them, "Yes! Nice to see that stick has been finally removed from your ass, Eddie; I can't believe that you might actually be fun!"

Bella bit her lip to hide her mirth and shrugged at him. She was about to return to the others when she hesitated for a beat before turning to Rosalie with a nervous smile on her face and hand outstretched.

"Dance with us? Please?"

Edward usually blocked out his family's thoughts in order to give them all privacy, but Rosalie's thoughts were so loud, so powerful that they broke through his barrier and flooded his mind on their own. The depths of affection, of the love that she felt for his mate was humbling. It was no secret that Rosalie was the least pleasant Cullen to be around with her prickly exterior and frigid demeanor but Bella made her feel wanted… accepted. Bella made her feel like she belonged and that, truly, meant more to Rosalie than anything else.

I think I get it, Rosalie's thoughts were in awe. No wonder Edward would die for her.

Exactly as he knew she would, his sister took Bella's hand and joined in with the silliness of the others. Emmett spun Bella in his arms, dipping her to the ground and bringing her back up only to pass her to Alice, who did a quick and incorrect version of the Foxtrot, who then passed her to Jasper, who proceeded to do the worst line dance anyone had ever seen. Eventually, Bella ended up with her arms in the air, swaying her hips and dancing in circles with his oldest sister, who couldn't help but throw her head back and laugh loudly. From the tenor of her thoughts, Rosalie had never been happier in her life.

Edward found that he quite agreed.

x-x-x

July 2006

Once again, Bella was trying to get undressed.

It really was his own fault for buying the damn bed… and showing it to her… and putting her in it any chance he had.

But really, who could blame him? She was fucking temptation incarnate.

"Will you please stop trying to take your clothes off?" Edward pleaded as they kissed, using his quick fingers to slip the tiny buttons of her shirt back into their respective holes though some were certainly off.

"Why?" She whispered, dazed and grinding against his prominent erection hungrily with her fingers twisted in the hair at the nape of his neck. His vision spun. "Did you want to do that part?"

"Of course I do, just not tonight."

Bella froze in his ministrations and he was already mentally kicking himself for putting them in this situation. He should have known what she would assume.

"Don't misunderstand, love," Edward immediately started on damage control, aware that Bella's human emotions were still very powerful and that she could still be incredibly sensitive to rejection. "We will. But there are implications–"

"You still think I'm unsure?"

Fire crackled in her eyes, her muscles were tense and the words slid through clenched teeth, and he immediately knew he'd made a mistake with his choice of words.

"You think, after everything we have been through, that I don't know what it would mean? That I am at all unsure about–"

"That isn't what I'm saying, Bella," Edward sighed. The pad of his thumb dragged across her bottom lip and her eyes glazed slightly, warm breath puffing out onto his palm. "But that decision is forever."

"More 'forever' than changing me into a vampire? Which you already agreed to, by the way."

"Yes. Much more."

She hesitated, "How can that be?"

He tried to think of the best way to explain it to her so she could understand the enormity of such a decision, "Becoming a vampire changes your physical body, but securing the bond with your mate alters the fabric of your soul. When you're a vampire, your body is still your own. Being someone's mate requires the sharing of your soul – it's never just yours again."

"So you finally admit that you have a soul, then?"

Edward rolled his eyes affectionately, "Considering I have a soulmate, that would be a rather difficult argument to maintain to the contrary, don't you think?"

"Edward," Bella sighed, "I thought you were going to trust my decisions? In Volterra–"

He couldn't help but flinch at the reminder.

"I'm sorry. Look, I'm not saying it has to be today but… I want that connection with you and I need you to believe that I know myself well enough to make that decision. Anything else can wait, I just want to be sure that nothing can separate us again. And if our souls are entwined, I have a feeling that separation would be much more difficult."

"Impossible," he corrected and pulled her in closer, one hand behind her neck and the other pressing her to him at the small of her back. "Even death couldn't keep us apart. In any life, in any universe, we would find each other."

"Perfect. Then what are we waiting for?"

Truth, his mind supplied reluctantly. Now is the time for truth.

"You're breakable," Edward would be blushing at the admission if he'd been able. "I could manage it if I were careful, but… I'd… rather…not… be…"

Bella broke out laughing, falling out of his embrace and back onto the plush golden bed in a fit of giggles. Her cheeks were pink along with the tips of her ears, the sound of her infectious laugh making it impossible for him not to break into a crooked smile as well.

The seriousness of words were lessened by the way he couldn't control his expression, "It really isn't funny."

"No, actually it is," she came to rest on her elbows with her half-buttoned shirt sliding off of one shoulder and showing the prominent curve of a dusky breast; once again the very picture of temptation that made his mouth water. "Why didn't you just say so in the first place? This is about you, too."

How was it possible to feel flushed, to feel his face burning, when it was physically an impossibility? "It didn't ever feel appropriate to discuss."

Bella's eyebrow raised, "You can almost fuck me in a library in the middle of the day but you can't tell me about your sexual preferences?"

That crass word from her mouth, describing the act of their lovemaking, was enough to drive him to his knees were he not already in bed with her, "To be fair, regarding the library, I did think we might die in Volterra."

That thought sobered them.

"But we didn't," she said quietly.

"No. Thankfully, we did not."

They remained in the silence for a long time, simply staring at each other. Sometimes, he was certain that she could read his mind because it was as if she plucked his thoughts directly from his head.

"After I'm changed, then?"

His breath caught. Flame rippled across his icy skin, "Yes."

Bella bit her lip and ran her index finger over the swell of her breast, voice sweet and coquettish, "Sorry, I couldn't hear you. What was that?"

Edward lunged at her. The word was a growl ripped from the back of his throat, "Yes."

x-x-x

August 2006

The news came on a muggy night in August when the entire family minus Carlisle was gathered around an impromptu bonfire in the backyard at the newly constructed firepit. Bella was roasting a second marshmallow to near cinders before stuffing it between two graham crackers and a slab of chocolate, much to the disgust of everyone there, but unable to deny her goading, Emmett shoved an entire s'more into his mouth and swallowed triumphantly.

Of course the resulting bout of his violent vomiting in the grass was expected and laughed at, especially by Edward who had tried to discourage his brother to no avail. If there was one thing he was learning, it was that Bella and Emmett were going to be quite a chaotic handful together once she was finally changed.

Carlisle had just come home from work when Alice went stock still on Jasper's lap, tawny eyes unfocused and glassy as a vision washed over her. A few seconds later, a relieved smile broke across her pixie face.

"The wolves got her on the Reservation," she said in awe. "Victoria's dead."

Everyone was frozen in place, unsure whether or not to trust such an assertion when the wolves had historically struggled to catch the vengeful bitch to date. Edward's grip around Bella's waist tightened and he prayed that it was true.

Please, please.

Carlisle came through the large sliding glass doors to the backyard, eyes glued to his cell phone in amazement.

"Sam Uley sent a message."

He turned the lit screen so everyone, with the exception of Bella, could read the tiny text.

We got the bitch. Burning the pieces on the cliff as we speak.

Edward surreptitiously palmed his pocket to ensure the blue velvet box was still there, close enough for reassurance but far from where Bella lounged on his lap. She turned to kiss him, relief profoundly apparent in the way she tasted every corner of his mouth and tongue as if they were alone.

"Alright virgins, knock it off," Emmett snatched Bella off of Edward's lap and threw her over his shoulder. "You're grossin' everyone out."

"Em! Let me down!" Bella pounded against his back despite her laughter as he lugged her like a sack of potatoes across the yard to a small plastic table that had been set up earlier in the evening. "I have legs, you ass!"

"You promised me a s'mores eating contest."

"Yes, I was getting to that!"

"No, you were dry-humping my brother and while I can appreciate that his mopey ass is going to get laid sometime in the near future, that doesn't mean I have to watch the foreplay."

Bella's face flamed with embarrassment and Rosalie was already storming across the yard to save her.

"Emmett, you may want to let Bella go before–"

But Jasper never quite got the chance to finish because Rosalie, after gently extracting Bella from her husband and placing her feet on the ground, was already tearing him a new one for his boorish tendencies. Edward could hear his brother mentally calculating how long Rosalie was going to ban him from their shared bedroom and debating if embarrassing Bella had been worth it.

While deciding, Bella and Jasper whispered conspiratorially quickly before beginning to pelt Emmett in the head with marshmallows – one of their aims much more accurate than the other.

Rosalie soon joined in, throwing the fat, little confectionary with much more force than necessary which caused Emmett to choke on a zooming marshmallow and sent Bella and Jasper into a fit of shared laughter that left them on the ground beside each other, holding their stomachs in mirth.

In that moment, witnessing the fruits of everything they fought so hard for, Edward decided.

He was going to propose tonight.

x-x-x

October 2007

Night courses at Dartmouth were truly a godsend for them, allowing their plans to continue uninterrupted while also helping Bella to achieve her long-held ambitions of higher education and, simultaneously, be honest with her parents about where she was. They couldn't physically see each other until she was fully out of the newborn phase, but that would be soon enough so weekly phone calls and emails with Renee and Charlie sufficed for the time being.

A thick textbook went flying across the room past his head, denting a wall that he'd have to repair again, and Edward had to dip into his own book to hide his chuckle.

"Statistics sucks and I hate this. I thought being a vampire meant being all-knowing and all that crap."

"Mmmm," Edward hummed to cover his amusement, "not quite."

"Stop laughing!" Bella pounced on him and tossed his European history book to the floor. Her eyes, almost entirely golden and only ringed with the smallest sliver of red at the edges, were narrow and annoyed. "Why am I still bad at math? That's not fair at all when you're good at everything."

He was genuinely surprised at that. She really thought…?

"I have a medical degree but I've failed Microbiology on my own 3 times. If it wasn't for Carlisle, I never would have passed at all. No one knows everything, sweetheart."

Bella calmed at the endearment, brushing her lush lips across his in the sweetest of kisses that left his head reeling, "Mmmm… I love learning new things about you. It's so sexy when you're bad at something."

She was doing an exceptional job of distracting him from his own studies. Edward's hands wound around the sensuous slope of her waist and crushed their bodies together without fear. Bella groaned, always taken off guard but exceedingly enthusiastic with his newfound confidence in their intimate relationship. Now that he didn't have to worry about hurting her, he was finally able to show her the extent of his desire and she encouraged it often.

Bella accidentally ripped the back of his white oxford as she clawed his skin, nipped at the curve of his neck, breathed all the things she wanted heavily into his ear… Edward was trembling, shivering, gasping. The feeling of the band of metal around her finger pressing into him, marking her as his fiancée, had him near feral.

It would be so easy to help her remove her clothes. Only a few seconds and they could both be finally, blissfully naked…

"Bella, are you ready?" Rosalie's voice called from a few yards away outside their cottage. "I don't want to know what you're doing in there so just get changed and let's go. We're supposed to meet Alice and Esme in Québec in an hour."

They both stopped, foreheads pressed together as Edward silently thanked his sister for interrupting them. He had plans for securing their soulmate bond and, while Bella made it increasingly more difficult to remember why it mattered to wait with each passing day, he knew that it would be worth it. Call him a romantic, call him old-fashioned, but he wanted the moment that their souls finally intertwined to be special, memorable. He wanted them to have something beautiful to carry in their memories for the rest of time.

"Go on," Edward encouraged with a genuine smile. He kissed her, chastely, before nudging her off of his aching lap. "Go hunt. I'll be here when you get home."

"You'd better be. I'm not done with you yet."

Rosalie was dry-retching in the distance, "Ugh, can you please not talk like that right before we eat? I'm about to lose my appetite."

Bella lowered her voice to a whisper even though she still had to stifle her mirth, "She acts like you haven't had to listen to her and Emmett's dirty thoughts for something like 72 years."

Edward made no attempt to lower his tone, "Worse than that, there was a time when they still lived at the main house. Imagine what horrors I had to endure then."

"I heard that!"

His love was still smirking as she adjusted her clothing and tossed her thick hair into a messy bun atop her head. She bent down to give him a quick kiss, "I love you."

"I love you, sweetheart," Edward murmured the last word against her mouth, knowing the exact reaction he would receive if he did. Instantly, Bella melted and reached for his ruined shirt but he stopped her. "Go, before she comes in here and drags you off."

She sighed but nodded, "I'll be quick, I promise."

It was too easy. Edward palmed the prominent tenting of the erection straining in his lap with his eyes sweeping up and down her body salaciously, "I won't be."

Bella stumbled towards the door, decadent lips parted, eyes glassy and wanting, as Rosalie shouted from closer now.

"I SWEAR TO GOD, EDWARD, IF YOU DON'T QUIT I AM GOING TO TELL EMMETT TO MAKE SURE YOU'RE NEARBY THE NEXT TIME HE GOES SOLO."

Nope. No. Ah, no thank you. Edward could happily go the rest of his life without ever hearing anything like that from the others ever again. He willed himself to calm down as he listened to Bella and Rosalie take off into the surrounding forest.

Soon, his thoughts soothed. And the wait will have been worth every moment.

The tenting in his khakis didn't subside even a little and he leaned his head back onto the couch, taking a long, deep breath as he slid his hand down the planes of his stomach and past the waistband of his lounge pants.

Edward gripped his solid cock in his fist, a soft hiss sliding through his teeth as the image of a half-naked Bella pressed against those bookshelves in Italy assaulted his memory.

Soon… He stroked himself, harder, faster, needing to relieve the pressure before he spontaneously combusted. Soon…

God, he hated that fucking word.

x-x-x

December 2007

"I think it's safe to say you've lost it."

"Is that so?"

"Well, you blindfolded a vampire for a start."

Edward couldn't deny that she had a point, but that didn't mean he was going to stop, "I absolutely did."

"And made that vampire wear sound-dampening headphones in the car."

"Mmmhm."

"And are now carrying said blindfolded vampire on your back… like a human."

"Yep."

Bella's bewilderment with the entire situation was adorable. She huffed into his neck and he actually stumbled over a fallen, snowy log, which made her exceedingly smug if the upward-tilted lips rubbing against his shoulder were any indication. "A little unsteady, are we?" She taunted in a breathy whisper. A slender hand was creeping, ever so slowly down the planes of his chest…

"For the love of everything holy, Bella – please just let me get to our destination first. If you don't stop…" Her fingers toyed with the buckle of his belt, nails scraping at the closure, and it took every single ounce of willpower Edward possessed to keep his legs moving in the right direction.

"If I don't stop… what?"

The words were strangled, "I will end up losing what little self-control I have left and throwing away everything we've waited for by fucking you in the snow."

Cursing around her wasn't something he did often, especially not a word so coarse and unsuitable for use around ladies, but for some reason she loved to bring that language out of him. It bewildered him, but who was he to deny her something that only really benefited them both? Bella let her head thunk against his shoulder and let out a long, low whine, the scent of her arousal permeating the air, "Jesus, Edward…"

"We're here," thanking any God who would listen that they'd actually made it, Edward came to a stop and gently released her legs that had been wound like vices around his hips. "You can take the blindfold off."

Bella made quick work of the strip of black velvet but paused in clear confusion at what she was seeing, "It's your house. We're… in Forks?"

He nodded, leading her inside the immaculately decorated home by the hand. Esme really did go all out each year and the house never failed to look like something from a holiday magazine. There was a large Christmas tree in every main room, each with a unique theme chosen by each of them over the years. The newest tree was located in their home library and it was decorated with classic book covers, pictures of everyone at their Forks High School graduation smiling and making silly faces, glass spun cheeseburgers, brown and gold garland, and fake vampire fangs. Bella would love the way Esme incorporated her ideas into the most ridiculous Christmas tree to ever grace the house – when he finally got around to showing it to her, that is.

She removed her shoes and followed Edward dutifully up the grand staircase whose railing was wrapped in green and red garland and multicolored, twinkling lights. With each step they came closer to their destination and Edward tried very, very hard not to feel intimidated by the entire ordeal. It had been a long time coming, but there were still so many things that could derail his carefully crafted plans and, quite honestly, he wasn't sure either of them could handle that.

"My parents are away visiting friends for the holidays and agreed to let us stay for a few days. I thought, perhaps, while we were here… that we could see your father as well."

Her bright, golden eyes shone and she was nearly bouncing as they ascended the stairs, "Are you serious? Charlie and Sue would love that! We'll have to make a quick stop in Seattle or somewhere close by to get a gift; I didn't bring anything and we only have a few days left–"

His long, pale fingers came to rest against her mouth, stopping the tirade of words as they reached the landing. Bella watched him with curiosity for a few moments before he let his fingers drift slowly down her jaw, her neck, her shoulder, her arm to entwine with hers. It was truly a monumental task not to let his nerves break through and ruin the atmosphere he was attempting to cultivate, "Christmas plans can wait for now – they're really secondary to the reason I brought you here anyway."

Edward gently pulled her towards his room and she audibly gasped upon crossing the threshold. The bedroom they had spent so much time in together over the years had been transformed – not by Christmas decor, as he specifically requested none, but instead with candles, flowers, lights and flowy fabrics. Every flat surface of the room was covered in fat, waxy candles that flickered their flames in sensuous dances across the ceiling and the wrought-iron posts were wound with little globe string lights that cast a delicate glow across the golden bedspread. Gauzy white fabric had been wound around the tops of the posts and pulled, not quite taut, to hang between each of them. Ballerina freesia petals were scattered about the room, making a direct path from the door to the bed as well as sprinkling the black leather couch and the remainder of the carpet. The falling snow outside the large glass wall felt like existing within a breathing painting, the pale colors of winter a stark contrast to the warmth of the bedroom.

But most noticeable of all, the large flat-screen television that had been mounted on the wall directly in front of the bed was no longer there. In its place was a massive mirror, wider than the bed itself, whose frame was an ornate filigree of vines that had a beautiful, golden honeysuckle welded to each corner – perfectly matching the posts of the bed frame.

"You did all of this… for me?"

"Well, I did have some help from Alice and Rose," Edward admitted with a shy smile, "but yes."

Bella walked over to the mirror, fully in awe of the craftsmanship and detail it displayed and in that moment, he knew that this was it – he had her right where he wanted her, precisely as planned, like the most delectable and unsuspecting prey.

Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, Edward came behind her, scooping the thick, lustrous hair she wore loose at her back and sliding the strands over one shoulder. Bella tensed; golden eyes locking on him in the mirrored glass. Her unnecessary breath caught.

"Countless times, I locked myself in my room and imagined this. Touched myself while thinking of the day that you would truly become mine, when my soul finally found its place," every other word was punctuated with a soft, open-mouthed kiss to her throat, the slant of her shoulder, the lobe of her ear. His eyes flitted up to hers and she caught her bottom lip harshly between her teeth. "I want it all with you."

Heavy lids.

Uneven gulps of air.

Bella was visibly trembling.

Ever so slowly, with the utmost care and devotion, Edward tore the back of her cashmere sweater until it hung open to reveal the flawless expanse of her back. The notches of her spine, the subtle curve just above her ass made his mouth water and his cock harden.

"While I was busy fantasizing about all the ways I wanted to make love to you, all the places I wanted to kiss you, all the sounds I dreamt you would make… you were always so worried about how we looked next to each other. Always so afraid that I outshined you."

The ruined sweater hit the carpet with a flick of his wrist. Her jeans received the same treatment – a few strategic tears and they were on the ground in tatters.

Edward took a moment to visibly appreciate the woman in the mirror. Alice's birthday gift of the sheerest lingerie in France was both a blessing and curse; the cobalt lace pressed against Bella's dark skin, moulding to frame her breasts like works of the most exquisite art while the panties – if one could call so little fabric such – were entirely sheer in the front and nothing but a thong that nestled between the magnificent globes of her ass in the back.

He could come from the sight of her alone – and wouldn't she just love that?

The fingers of one hand drifted across her collarbones while the others slipped up her neck and wound into her hair, tugging her head back with a whine of ecstasy. His stomach twisted with anxiety but Bella had told him that this momentous occasion was about him, too, so it was time for courage, for honesty.

"How could anyone outshine a goddess?"

Bella's eyes fluttered shut but he gripped her hair just a little harder, just enough to garner her attention. "Eyes open for me, sweetheart. I need you to understand what you do to me."

Her eyes snapped back open. Keeping a hold of her hair, Edward unclasped the bra.

Pupils fully dilated, full lips parted and panting, she managed, "E-Edward…"

First one strap, then the other slipped down her arms and the lovely garment met the others on the floor. He took his time staring, ogling, drooling over the newly revealed flesh before him – heavy, rounded breasts topped by nipples that looked like the candy she used to love as a human. After torturing her with nothing but his lewd gaze for a few moments, Edward used his free hand to roam across her stomach in lazy circles. When his thumb brushed the underside of a breast, Bella's whimper went straight to his cock and sent lightening down his spine. Was it possible for a vampire's brain to short-circuit? He felt dangerously close to finding out.

"Do you see now, why your worries were unfounded? Do you see why I can hardly keep my hands off of you?" He asked into her ear with a whisper. "I feel like I've been blessed with the 9th wonder of the world."

"I… I thought there were only…" Both of his hands were on her chest now, experimenting with pinching and twisting her hardened nipples at varying degrees and pulling a hoarse, throaty moan from her when he coupled a hard twist with a scrape of his teeth across her throat, "…7 wonders."

"There were, but the 8th was when you fell in love with me."

Her knees nearly buckled and she reached blindly for him, never taking her eyes off his from the mirror but managing to palm his aching erection all the same.

Rapidly losing the remaining scraps of his self-control, Edward easily grabbed the elastic of her panties and used his foot to widen Bella's stance just enough to yank the damp material to stretch between her thighs midway down. His own inhales were shaky, his exhales nearly a gasp now. The soft candlelight glinted off the moisture of arousal coating the apex of her lush thighs and there was now a serious chance that he could expire from the violent wave of lust that threatened to drown him.

When his questing fingers glided between the swollen, moist lips of her pussy for the first time, Bella almost sobbed as she arched into the touch. Back and forth, back and forth they moved across her slippery folds, only pausing their path to rub circles atop her swollen, needy pearl for a few seconds before starting over again. She was chanting his name, begging for more, keening with need – all while watching him play her body like a personalized instrument in the mirror.

"You have been so good, so patient waiting for this night," Edward praised, moving away from the abused breast to knead one of the globes of her ass and press one, then two fingers slowly into her pussy from behind. Bella clenched around him and he saw stars. What was he supposed to be saying again? "Now that we're here, what can I give my goddess to ensure she is pleased with her servant?"

Most of her pleading had been incoherent, lust-addled babbling that only vaguely made sense but now, Bella's voice rang clear. "Show me what you imagined for us," she tilted her head back to capture his mouth in a deep, erotic kiss that seared through his veins; her tongue mimicked the way his hand penetrated her and Edward imagined he knew what it felt like to be an animal in heat. "Please, Edward. Give me all of you. Please."

Whatever higher function maintained his brain seemed to click off at her words, all synapses ceasing to fire and rational thought disappearing blissfully right alongside. Gone were his nerves, gone were his reservations about showing her the depths of his self-proclaimed depravity. Edward tore off his own clothes, breaking or shredding anything that wouldn't cooperate, and pressed his palm into the middle of her spine to bend her at the waist once naked.

"Hands on the mirror," his voice was a rumbled baritone from deep within his chest, the words gravelly and nearly indiscernible. Her beautiful eyes were already rolling back so he followed his instincts and slapped her ass, hard. "Eyes open. Watch."

Bella was almost drooling, tongue almost lolling out of the side of her sinful mouth, "Mmmkay…"

"You take direction so well," he purred, all sense of propriety long gone as 89 years of being privy to a myriad of sexual thoughts and images consumed his long-engrained manners and deep-rooted decorum. Gripping his steely cock and sliding the tip along her dripping folds, Edward mused out loud without really thinking. "I wonder what else you'll take well?"

"Anything," his love panted with lust-induced delirium. "Everything."

In one fluid motion, Edward gripped Bella's hips and thrust into her without stopping until he was fully buried to the hilt. There was no tangible barrier to break through, contrary to the information he'd been privy to over the years led him to believe. Instead, he simply found himself immersed… surrounded… engulfed… by her almost painfully tight, impossibly searing heat. The pressure that had been building in his cock was nearly excruciating now and if he didn't move soon, there was a very good possibility that he might actually die right there.

Bella's grip against the mirror left a palm-shaped crack in the glass and her face was scrunched as though in discomfort, her breaths coming out slow and measured. Perhaps he'd been too rough – perhaps he'd let go a little too much.

The internal anxiety only lasted a few seconds before she let out the longest, loudest moan he'd ever heard from deep in the back of her throat, "Nnngh, holy… fucking shit…"

Any guilt was quickly swept aside by an almost violent wave of passion that rocketed across his brain. Edward pulled almost entirely out of her before snapping his hips against her open thighs as hard as he could manage while keeping them both standing. Bella's head fell forward, mouth hanging open as she clawed at the glass and left indents from her nails. He yanked her by the back of her hair and started plunging into her without mercy or restraint. Her eyes opened a fraction and he could see them both being transformed with their almost brutal union.

He looked like a man possessed, all gritted teeth and wild copper hair.

She looked ethereal, an angel debased. Her mouth was slack but there was a euphoric smile ghosting across her lips as she chanted like prayer, "Yes… Yes… Yes… Harder, Edward. Harder…"

Like a lightswitch, something registered within him and he lost any remaining semblance of control. Edward pounded into her, over and over, hard and fast as the tingles at the base of his spine and balls intensified tenfold. Her dark skin was shimmering under the mellow candlelight, a most lovely contrast to the lazy snow falling just beyond the floor-to-ceiling window. She arched into him, nails sending spider-webbed cracks all along the mirror and hardened nipples teasing his gaze as her body was thrust forward and back, again and again. Edward loomed over her with a death-grip on her hips, utterly mesmerized by the expression of pure bliss, of complete and total abandon currently occupying every square inch of her heavenly face. Each harsh subsequent thrust jolted her forward, her breasts bouncing with the force of his bucking hips. The sight alone was enough to make him shatter.

"E-Edward…" Bella cried as she was forced to watch him fuck her mercilessly. "Please… I need to come… please, God…" She pushed her body against the mirror and into him in an attempt to pull him in deeper, to give her the pressure she so desperately sought. "No more waiting… be good… so good… I swear…"

As he said, who was he to deny her?

Edward quickly slipped a hand between their bodies and felt around with his forefinger until he found that tiny little pearl nearly throbbing with need. She nearly howled when he began slow, tortuous circles around the bundle of nerves that was in direct contrast to the way he fiercely fucked her. The pressure, the tingling in his cock and at the base of his spine was nearing its crescendo now and there was no stopping it. If he had blood, it would be thrumming through his veins. If it could, his heart would be tripping over itself with exertion and anticipation. Stroking himself felt good, Bella's kiss felt divine, and her touch felt sinful. But having his iron-hard cock plunged, over and over without restraint, into her pussy while she tried to pull him closer and begged for more was like fire and ice, like Heaven and Hell, like life and death all rolled into one. It would kill him to ever stop, to ever be anywhere else but inside of her ever again but she needed more…

As and as her servant, he would always, always provide.

"I love you, sweetheart," he pleaded for her to understand, to recognize and grasp the lengths he would go for her. He desperately needed her to see. His ochre eyes burned into hers with love and agony, with fear and exultation. "I need you. I can't…"

"Never again," she cried, finally able to let go of the horrors they'd experienced together through vulnerable passion and the grip of his fingers in her hair. "I love you… I love you…"

Edward felt the rawness of Bella's guttural cries as shivers across his skin as she finally came, the spasming of her virgin walls sucking him in further and sending him in a freefall over the edge of his own orgasm. The tightly coiled anticipation within him exploded into a nebula of scorching yet featherlight pleasure that ripped through his nerves and left nothing but beautiful, magnificent ash in its wake; wave after wave of his come filled her womb as his cock emptied against her cervix. As if by magic, as if by divine force, he could feel the threads of their souls weave together like strands of DNA. Filaments of their shared fate, always destined to be knitted together, melded into the most glorious of bonds and it was as if he could physically see them falling into place around their corresponding wrists.

Edward and Bella; Bella and Edward.

Two-halves of the same soul, finally reconnecting to return to their rightful place.

Together forever. Soulmates; bound.

They both collapsed to the carpet in a tangle of limbs, kisses, and disbelieving chuckles. Everything else fell away and there was nothing other than them – gasping for unneeded breaths and clinging to each other in the aftermath of their first true coupling. Edward felt the impossible desire to sob in relief well in his throat. Claiming Bella, marking them both as bound to the other, was beautiful and perfect… exactly as he always hoped it would be.

There were a million things he wanted to say, a million more he wanted to ask.

Do you feel any different?

So, this is what it's like to be complete.

Was that too much?

I hope you know that, despite my barbaric behavior, I do actually respect you.

Did I live up to your expectations?

For the first time in my life, I feel right.

Before he could get any of the words out however, Bella had rolled on top to straddle him, her head tilted and wicked grin mischievous as she ground against him with slow, sensuous rolls of her hips. His hands automatically held her waist to help guide her rhythm but truly, Edward was content to just lay there, submerged as wave after wave of rapturous bliss battered against the pleasure centers in his brain until he couldn't even remember his own name. Was there anything in the universe more beautiful than this woman, his woman riding him like she was born to do it? Winding her hands in her hair and closing her eyes as her head tipped back, overwhelmed by the way his pubic bone hit her clit just right? He seriously doubted it.

"I always told you that you had a soul. I can feel it, right here," Bella pressed one of his hands to her breast, right where her stone heart resided, and looked down at him from her perch on his cock; simultaneously serene, euphoric, and even just a little sad. He could almost see the agonizing memories replaying in her mind.

She cupped his face tenderly and each word felt like an absolution he hadn't known he'd been seeking but secretly always yearned for, "You're never getting away from me now, Cullen."

Edward sat up, helping to wrap her legs around his waist as he rocked against her open thighs and held her with his arms gingerly caging around her back. Bella curled into his embrace, forehead knocking into his as their breaths mingled and bodies moved in perfect union.

"It's you and me now, Isabella," he pushed the declaration into her mouth, sealing the blessed truth with the sweetest of kisses. "For better or worse. Forever."

"How fortunate," Bella sighed with a genuine smile. "That's all I ever wanted."

Edward was profoundly thankful in that moment that it was impossible for them to cry. He thought back to every time he'd been forced to watch her die, every time they'd said their inevitable goodbyes, every time he saw her knowing that it would be the last time.

Forks.

Persia.

Mexico.

England.

He'd burn the fucking world down before letting harm come to her ever again.

"Me too, love. Me too."