Edward wrapped his arms around me once again and stared out at the moon. We watched the distant waves as they slowly gathered force in the moonlit ocean below us in silence…followed their progress until they broke against the shore. I didn’t want to meet his eyes just yet. I wasn’t ready to ruin the moment when my expression gave away just how much I wanted him right now, or just how much I wanted this to be the place. He seemed equally pensive behind me with his arms around my waist and his fingers absentmindedly tracing the line of my arm. There was no hiding the way that my heart reacted every time he reached my wrist and began another slow journey towards my shoulder. I sighed, half out of pleasure and half out of frustration at my own very human reflexes. I felt Edward glance down.
“You must be exhausted,” he whispered into my hair. I laughed.
“You’ve got to be kidding! I must have slept at least 8 hours on the plane.”
I felt him chuckle behind me. “Nearly 12 actually, but there is a nine hour difference in time between Spain and Seattle, and I’m not sure if that’s something you can surpass by sleeping on a plane.”
“It is if the couch on the plane was more comfortable than the bed in your house,” I assured him.
He contemplated that for a moment. “All right,” he conceded. “Are you hungry then? Carmen had the pantry stocked.” He chuckled quietly to himself. “I believe she enjoyed that immensely actually. It’s been nearly a millennium since she last bought food.”
I sighed. “Edward, will you stop ruining the moment by constantly worrying about me? I’m fine. I’m not tired, I’m not hungry, and I’m on my honeymoon!”
Edward fell silent. I wondered if my response had been too harsh, but I felt his hand in my hair, brushing it to one side to kiss the back of my neck.
“Fair enough,” he whispered, and goose bumps appeared on my arms. “Is it ruining the moment to tell you how beautiful you are in the moonlight?”
My breath caught and it took a very long while for me to find a response. “No,” I managed in a very breathy whisper. “I think that’s allowed.” He laughed and the sweet scent of his breath enveloped me as his lips moved to my ear.
“I love you, Bella,” he whispered, tracing a line with his lips down my neck to my collar bone. I felt an electricity surge through me, and I had to physically stop myself from losing control of my reactions. Instead, I turned slowly in his arms, and kissed him back, as gently as desire would allow. I would not let this moment be ruined by raging hormones.
But he was already pulling back, grabbing both of my shoulders and holding me at arm’s length. I stifled a sigh of frustration, but my expression was not as easily hidden. He chuckled lightly as he stared intently into my eyes.
“Bella, I promised that I would try,” he assured. “But it doesn’t need to be the first thing that we do. We haven’t seen the house yet...the beach. And you haven’t eaten more than a piece of wedding cake in 24 hours. You have to be starving.”
I sighed in frustration…not because I recognized his pathetic stalling techniques instantly...not because his “better judgment” had once again triumphed, but because, once he had mentioned it, I had to admit that he was right. My stomach was dangerously close to creating the first miniature black hole on Earth. My shoulders sank in resignation.
“I could use a good twenty minute tour of the shower,” I admitted. A smug smile appeared on his face.
“I’ll prepare something for you to eat while you are enjoying the hot water.”
As much as I hated to admit it, the shower was glorious. I stood beneath the luxury jets for a full half hour allowing the shower to fill up with steam and take away a tension that I hadn’t even realized was present. I felt almost weak when I finally turned off the water and followed an amazing scent down the hall and into the kitchen. Edward had made a true Italian feast—enough mushroom ravioli for five people. I smiled at the detail and gratefully ate two helpings, and then followed him out onto the balcony again. We stood side by side, staring out at the ocean and contemplating a walk on the beach below us.
“You haven’t told me yet if you like the idea of spending your honeymoon in Spain,” he said quietly without looking over. He seemed worried.
“I love it, Edward,” I reassured. “It’s always been on the top of my list of places to visit. You know that.” I stared up at the stars. They were brighter that I had ever seen them before. “I hope you aren’t planning on playing tourist too much though. Haven’t you heard the expression, ‘The sun never sets on the Spanish empire’?”
He laughed without looking away from the water. “I believe that was meant in a different context. Alice assured me that there will be clouds coming in over the entire southern coast three days from now. We can visit Seville…perhaps Valencia if you’d like.”
His voice was rougher than normal. Was he worried about me being bored in Spain? I smirked over at him in an attempt to reassure him. “Whatever will we do for the next three…?”
But that was as far as I got because his eyes met mine then, and his cool lips suddenly pressed eagerly against my own, his arms folding around me almost protectively. I detected no caution in this kiss, and my heart raced as my hands slid slowly into his tousled hair. I folded into his chest, feeling every cold, marbled muscle beneath his light shirt.
I expected him to pull back then, but his arms wrapped tighter around me, his hands caressing my neck, his fingers weaving into my hair. His kiss deepened, his lips parting, and I anticipated the blush in my cheeks before I actually felt it. A tiny moan escaped Edward’s lips, and he pulled away slightly…reluctantly.
“Bella…” he began uncertainly, but his voice trembled. I had never heard such desire in that voice before…such uncertainty.
“I love you, Edward,” I whispered, mostly because that was all that my lungs would allow at the moment. I let my lips trace the line of his neck just behind his ear, and a sharp intake of breath told me that there would be no more protest on his part. My heart skipped a beat. This was it. This was the only thing I wanted in the world.
His cold lips brushed gently against my trembling lower lip before desire overtook us both and his kiss was suddenly more aggressive than he had ever allowed himself before. I returned it with a desire that had been mounting for months, suddenly finding myself pushed back against the balcony rail. My eyes widened, and I stifled a moan. Too late. Edward noticed, and he looked into my eyes. There was no mistaking the desire that was behind the gold tonight. My breath stopped.
“Bella, I don’t want…” he was struggling for words. This was the second time in a 48 hour period that he had been rendered speechless.
“You must promise me that if I hurt you…”
“You won’t,” I interrupted, pulling myself into his frame again, pushing my mouth to his.
“Bella please…” he attempted one last time, but there was no conviction in his voice, and this time, when I pulled my lips back to his, he surrendered with a groan, leaning into me. My legs rose instinctively, allowing him to move even closer, and I felt the caress of the cool night air as the silk skirt slipped smoothly away. Edward’s lips did not falter as his hand fell to my thigh, lifting me onto the railing, both gentle and forceful at the same time.
I could hear a nervous smile in his voice as he told me that he loved me once again. I could hear the waves against the shore below. I could hear his racing breath, and nothing more…At one point, it occurred to me that if he made one wrong move—if he let me go for only a fraction of a second, I would fall backwards and be washed out to sea before Edward could get to me.
He didn’t let go. And my desire for him burned up the night.
At some point, we left the balcony in the direction of the master bedroom on the second floor, but we never quite made it to the bed. The bright morning sunlight found us lying on the floor of the salon, naked in each other’s arms. I curled toward him, smiling.
“I love you Edward.”
“I know.”
His tone was distant—pensive. Worried, I twisted around to look into his eyes. Had I been that bad? I didn’t think so. I had thoroughly enjoyed the night, and I had been certain that he had too. I propped myself up on one elbow. My entire body groaned in protest. I was already sore. I shuddered to think of how I would be moving tomorrow. My lips curled up into a thoughtful smile. I couldn’t really think of a better reason to be sore.
Edward was still silent, serious as he stared into my eyes. His body was not cold against mine. This was the farthest away from me that he had been the entire night, and the heat that radiated from my own body was warming his entirely for the first time.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him, hoping that his silence was only peaceful contemplation. “Did I do something wrong?”
His laugh was only a half laugh, really.
“Of course not,” he sighed with a smile that was far from reassuring.
“Then what’s wrong Edward? You can’t just go incommunicado on me after the night we just had.”
His hand appeared then, and pushed back a random lock of hair. His eyes seemed as if he was staring right through me, contemplating something. His silence was maddening.
“ Edward! What is…”
“I heard your thoughts,” he said smoothly, quietly. That stopped me in my tracks.
“You…what?”
“When I was making love to you…” He looked away, out into the sunlight that was slowly creeping toward us through the salon window. “I heard what you were thinking.”
