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TLS Fics of the Week 1/26 - 2/1/2012: THE FAB FIVE THIS WEEK
The Keepsake by Windchymes
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7562914/1/The_Keepsake
Some things you never forget, they just hurt too much to remember.
Twilight - Rated: M
Reviewed by: Dolly Reader
Some things you never forget, they just hurt too much to remember.
Whenever I see an alert from Windchymes show up in my inbox I literally make a happy face and start clapping. Windchymes has consistently written AU stories that take the framework of Twilight and twist them to a new direction. I have appreciated her Bellas that have a strength and determination to withstand conflict and communicate what they want. Her Edwards are loving and caring.
When The Keepsake arrived I rapidly clicked over excited to begin a new journey. As the story opens, we find Bella newly arrived and unpacking her boxes in her apartment at University. Her pal, Jake is there to lend a hand. While going through her books she discovers her well-worn copy of Wuthering Heights and pages fall to the floor.
But before I put it in the rubbish I shake it out gently over the floor.
"What are you doing?" Jake asks.
"I had a bookmark I really liked but I lost it ages ago. I'm just checking for it before I throw the book away."
Jake looks towards the shelves where the other books sit. "What's it look like?"
"A leather strip with Celtic patterns on it."
The book yields nothing except another couple of loose pages.
"Where's the last place you saw it?" He stands and walks to the shelves.
"Can't remember. It was before..." I stop for a second. "It was in junior year."
Bella settles into her routine of being a student and stops off at the campus library. As she is leaving one night she makes a most interesting discovery.
...my attention is drawn to the carpet and I stop.
My bookmark is lying on the floor.
I stare at it for a moment, knowing it can't really be mine. There are probably hundreds like it.
I bend and pick up the strip of tan leather with its Celtic patterns of black dye. Some of the black is missing from the border around the edges, just like mine. Bewildered and confused I look absently at my bag. Had it been in there all along, only to fall out now? I shake my head, no; I've only had this bag since Christmas. I decide the bookmark probably isn't mine. I turn it over and in the bottom corner see the tiny, faded single letter drawn in pen...B
...
I hurry to the desk and she processes my loan. I shove the book in my bag and head out the door. It's almost dark outside, the lights from the building blaze brightly and I stand under them, still staring at the bookmark as it lays across my palm, still trying to find a reason, an explanation...that elusive anything.
...
Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stands up. My skin pebbles in goosebumps and my body is alert. In the silence around me I hear the echo of footsteps and look up. I watch the figure come out of the gloom and as he comes down the path, before I can see his face clearly I know...it's in the set of his shoulders and the tilt of his head. And the way he walks...
It's Edward Cullen.
After three years of being apart, Bella sees Edward again for the first time. She is completely dumbfounded to realize that he has no remembrance of her. It isn’t long after returning to her apartment that Bella receives some very unexpected visitors who carry some incredibly startling information.
Carlisle puts a careful, calming hand on my upper arm and I stop. His voice is gentle but firm when he speaks.
"Bella, Edward has gone to enormous trouble to block out something incredibly painful, and I believe he's done this purely to survive. So, he needs to remember in his own time, when his subconscious believes he's ready to handle it, and not before. Obviously I can't tell you what to do, but if you speak with Edward again I must stress that it would be better if you didn't tell him you have a shared past, or what has happened between you. It could do him a lot more harm than good."
…
Just as defeat and desolation begin to wash over me, a tiny spark of light comes through the gloom – a small beacon of hope.
"He came back for my bookmark," I say softly, sitting up straight and lifting my eyes to look at Carlisle, then Alice. "That must mean something, mustn't it?"
Carlisle smiles, surprise in his eyes, and Alice grins.
"In that case," Carlisle smiles wider, "I suggest you let nature take its course."
And so it begins, a new dance of discovery between Edward & Bella. But in The Keepsake, Bella is the one with the answers and the knowledge of what has been. She walks the fine line of engaging Edward at his pace and revealing herself to him as if they had never been together before. Edward finds himself being intrigued by Bella’s difference from the other students. As he reflects upon his actions we learn,
He had gone back to school and watched her from a distance, determined to discover that she was actually boring and dull and not the silver lining to his constant cloud cover. But he had discovered just the opposite. She was different. And she was special...to him. He realised that the first time he saw her stumble over a tree root and his hands shot out reflexively to catch her, even though he was on the other side of the campus lawn. And the realisation was compounded when he heard her laughing with some other students in the corridors of the history department. The sweet sound warmed him like nothing else, he'd found himself wanting to know what she found so funny.
But sometimes she looked sad, he thought. His vampire eyes would see expressions in her eyes and on her face that he didn't understand...but he wanted to understand, and that confused him as much as anything else.
I’m so excited to see Edward’s journey of re-discovery and how his actions will change with his new experiences behind him. How will his concern and curiosity about her emerge into love? What will their new experiences together bring them? Without a doubt, I’ll be devouring every word and golden moment that Windchymes gifts us with.
The Shadow That Remains by Iambeagle
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7691265/1/The_Shadow_That_Remains
A past tragedy left Bella desperate and destroyed until a recent accident changes everything. They say memory loss is a tragedy. They say everything happens for a reason.
Twilight - Rated: M
Reviewed by: SusanQ
"I kind of wish I were dead."
This is the opening line to iambeagle’s story, The Shadow that Remains. How can you not keep reading when this is how it begins?
"That's an intriguing way to start a conversation," Charlotte mused, snickering at my tendency to be overly dramatic. "What happened this time?"
"Nothing happened. I just decided I cannot go to your birthday dinner tonight," I explained, trying my hardest not to slur. She would be less forgiving if she noticed the slur. The line was silent and I was secretly pleased thinking the call had been dropped until I heard her speak.
"Bella. You're drunk," she accused, lowering her voice.
Yes, Bella’s drunk and sitting alone in a bar. She’s trying to avoid seeing Charlotte’s brother, Edward—who it seems is her former boyfriend—and who Charlotte has sent to pick up her up.
"So, as if this weren't nice and awkward enough, I'm supposed to drive you to Charlotte's birthday dinner," he explained, pulling out his wallet and handing Embry his credit card.
"Wait, what?" I shook my head. "Charlotte sent you to pick me up?"
"Hi." He waved with a small smile. "Apparently everyone is already at the restaurant and I drew the short straw."
Edward gets Bella to his car; they start out to the restaurant and get into a car accident.
Darkness.
I was enveloped in darkness and everything seemed to keep happening in waves. Each time I would try to focus, a dull throb would take over and then magically disappear. I fought against the urge to get pulled back under, but the current was so strong. Once again, the darkness found its way back and I drowned in it.
Bella wakes up in the hospital, after being unconscious for three days, to find Edward at her bedside.
Edward took a deep breath and glanced away before looking back at me. "There was an accident," he said evenly. "Bella. I'm so-" He stopped speaking when his voice broke. Clearing his throat, he tried again, his voice somehow softer than before. "I'm so sorry."
Without giving too much away, Bella has lost two years of memories, but it’s not just memories Bella has lost in that time.
This story is just six chapters in, but already we can sense the deep relationships between the characters. There is so much to learn about the past two years, and iambeagle is unfolding the intriguing backstory in such a way that we are reliving the memories right along with Bella.
Jump in and start reading! iambeagle updates frequently, so we don’t have to wait long between updates while we… I mean Bella pieces together her past.
Blindspot by Fictionfreak95
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7705638/1/Blind_Spot
All her life, Bella Swan saw things before they happened, until him. He was her blind spot. How do you stay out of someone's life when you see it flashing before your eyes on a daily basis? AH,BxE Twilight - Rated: M
Reviewed by: vampshavelaws
I’d been meaning to read the lovely Jo’s stories for ages (my TBR list is almost the same length as The Great Wall of China... give or take a few miles).
I was on twitter—I don’t know, probably stalking someone or something—and saw she’d posted a teaser for an upcoming story on her blog. I read it, got a little flail-y, and marked that baby down in my calendar, moving it to the top of my list.
And boy was I glad I did.
Blind Spot starts off in Bella’s point of view, giving us a glimpse of the reoccurring dream she’s been having. Or as I like to call it, the best way to wake up ever.
My eyes were damp when I awoke, my hand grasping at the hot spot between my legs where I'd just cum harder for an imaginary man than for any real live person I'd ever afforded the opportunity and as consciousness crept back, I reminded myself that it was just a dream.
I breathed in and out. Or tried to, at least, as I rolled over, peering out of my bedroom window at the morning as it peeked through the trees. Just like every other time I'd had the dream, I attempted to recollect the details, but it was useless.
I'd been having the damned thing off and on for weeks. Every time he'd haunt me, I'd wake up with my fingers completing the actions he committed inside my mind and every morning I tried to envision him, to remember him. Anything about him.
I could never really make out his face, though, only his voice. Sort of. What I'd imagined it sounded like that is, and just thinking of in the conscious world made me shiver underneath the covers.
Bella isn’t your average girl next door. She has a gift. One that is both a blessing and a curse.
Gift.
Such an inspiring word, right? Not so much for me. It was more like a trepidation of sorts, in my opinion. One that had made my life somewhat of a living hell from time to time.
My grandmother had told me ever since I was very young that I had this ability. That I could see things and know things that others couldn't or didn't want to, rather. That was how I always looked at it, anyway. She said I would have to decipher for myself when it was a good time to share what it decided to show me and when I should hold back and just let things happen.
Sometimes I had a hard time figuring out when to do what, still. Even at the ripe old age of twenty-eight, I was still struggling with it all.
And it never worked the way you'd think it would.
Always at the most inopportune times, never when it was desperately needed. And always… always cryptic… always open to interpretation.
Not to mention that because of this gift, there were officially two types of people in town when it came to opinions about me. There were the people who took what I said to them, if I decided to say something to them, very seriously and yet very quietly, and then there were the people who basically… thought I was nuts.
Thanks for the gift, mom.
I typically tried to keep it all at bay most of the time, but sometimes… sometimes I would see something so vividly about someone that it just wouldn't be ignored. That was when I would seek the person out and give them what information I could. At that point, it was really up to them what they did with it.
Needless to say, this makes it hard for Bella to keep friends, to meet anyone new; so when she accidentally bumps into a handsome stranger after work one evening—one that needs help finding a place to stay—she’s more than ready to help.
Demetri’s cute, smart, polite, and best of all, he knows nothing about her. Surely this makes him perfect for Bella?
As I drove, peeking up at my rear view mirror every once in a while to make sure he was still behind me, I wondered who this new guy was, where he was from... I thought about how extremely nice he seemed, how refined and just… completely datable, I decided. Temporarily, but whatever. Then I became curious as I slowly made my way down the dirt… well, muddied at the moment, road up to the old boat house's dock and put the Beetle into park, noticing another car parked next to Emmett's place.
Another car that didn't belong there.
Another car that probably belonged to a squatter or… worse yet, some low life thief, trying to break into Emmett's place and trash it or something.
I got out of my car and waved for Demetri to stay back while I picked up a old piece of wood and headed up toward the dock that would take me directly out to the back entrance to the house, slowly and carefully.
The small one-story shanty of a home didn't look like much to a lot of people, but to Emmett, it held a lot of fond memories and I'd be damned if I was going to let some jerk ruin his things.
As I crept along the board walkway, the owner of that strange car came into view and I caught my breath a little when I saw him. He was just… standing there with his back to me, looking out onto the old Tchefuncte River that led out to Lake Pontchartrain. His thick, dark hair was a mess, his clothes were in complete disarray, and his hands were stuffed into his pockets as he stood, feet apart like a soldier at ease.
If he hadn't been a burglar, he might have even seemed... almost... sexy… from the back, anyway.
I couldn't help but let my guard down for a minute as I watched him. He appeared to be pondering something as he stared out over the water. I wanted to peek around at the expression on his face to see if it reflected what I was feeling in that moment but then I remembered why he was there.
Probably wondering how quickly he can get down the river and over to New Orleans from here.
Most lowlifes used the winding rivers by Madisonville and the surrounding towns as a convenient waterway escape after conducting who knows what kinds of illegal business over in New Orleans.
I drew closer and lifted the two-by-four over my head, ready to knock him out and then call 911, when I stepped on a creaky board and stopped, frozen in time as the man swirled around. He took one look at me and his eyebrows knitted together into a scowl as though he was angry with me for interrupting his thoughts of thievery and ransacking.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
Enter Edward.
Our favourite green-eyed, heart-stopper.
We find out a little about his past in chapter two, one that instantly breaks your heart. He seems so broken, a history that has yet to be fully disclosed weighing him down, shrouding him in pain and guilt.
"We both know I'm not coming back."
After a few moments of thoughtful silence, he twisted his mouth and let out a sigh. "Do you know where you're going? I can write a recommendation for you."
"No need," I told him, catching a glimpse of my fellow officers mulling around the bullpen area just outside his office. Probably getting some new case to work on, to sink their teeth into. Something I didn't share their passion for anymore. Something I was repeatedly failing at because of that lack of passion.
It was the most recent of those failures that had made things so apparent to me. I'd ignored the obvious, looked past things that should have stood out like a sore thumb, and because of my mistakes, a little girl died unnecessarily.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, Christian Dennings, a good friend of mine and my brother's for many years, caught my stare and we held eye contact for a second or two.
He knew what was going on. It was all over his face.
"Edward."
I turned my attention back to my superior again. "I'm done, Cap."
"It doesn't have to be like this, ya know, nobody here…"
"I'm done," I reiterated for him, a little harsher than I probably should have.
He just didn't get it. But after a few more hope filled moments later on his part, finally, he resigned to a frustrated acceptance. "Okay. Let's get your gun and badge turned in and I'll start the paperwork."
He’s done, has nothing left to give, wants nothing more than to forget, to get away. So that’s what he does.
A map and dart decide his destiny, one that brings him to the very town Miss Isabella Swan lives.
Their chemistry from the start knocks your socks off; their banter with each other will make you laugh and smile, hurting your cheeks.
I decided I'd better not waste any more time thinking, so I swung the wood down at his head, but he caught it mid strike, nearly looking like he was about to laugh at me if he hadn't been so damned irritated.
I pulled at the two-by-four, trying to get it out of his grasp to take another swipe at him but he held on tightly.
Then the silence between us was broken.
"Can I help you?" he growled. "I mean, other than giving you a head to swing at?"
"Can you help me?" I pulled again, to no avail. "You're the one on private property!"
"Yeah, I know… mine."
"Yours? HA! Liar! This boat house happens to belong to a very good friend of mine." I was still pulling at the two-by-four and he was still scowling at me. Unamused.
But then, neither was I.
"A good friend of yours, huh?"
Why. Wouldn't. He. Let. Go!
"Yes, Emmett McCarty, as a matter of..." I pulled at the damn board again. "Fact, and I've already called the police, by the way."
"Good," he told me, letting go of the wood finally. But as he was letting go, I was giving it my all and when his hand loosened from the thing, I flew backwards, into the chilly, muddy river's swampy waters next to the dock with a scream.
It was freezing and when I finally found my bearings, coming up for air, there was the jerk, standing at the edge of the platform that doubled as a deck to the house, staring down at me with this… half snide arrogant look that I wanted to smack right off of his smug face. "Maybe they can arrest you on the spot for, I dunno... invasion of privacy? Assault?" he told me, nodding out at the river sideways. "Unless you'd like to get a head start."
As well as all this, a desperate loneliness lingers in them both, two lost and wanting souls fighting against each other, not yet aware that they could be just what the other needs, whether looking for it or not.
Jo writes these characters with so much heart; so much quick wit and loveability that you can’t help but be immediately drawn in.
I can’t speak highly enough of this story. It’s so incredibly well written, drawing a number of emotions from you as you read. The plot is exciting and addicting, the UST already in full force, the regular updates making us the luckiest of readers.
Jo has a talent, one that we’re lucky enough to witness, to join in on and read and love.
If you’re not yet reading Blind Spot, find a quiet spot in your day, grab a cup of coffee or juice, and become immersed in this wonderful story, just like I have.
You won’t regret it, and the smile you’re left with after reading is just an added bonus.
XOXO
Bella Swan: Kidnapper by Kambria Rain
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5062719/11/Bella_Swan_Kidnapper
Um. Hi. I don't really know how to say this, but I have your kids with me, and I was thinking maybe you would like them back. So yeah… call me. Twilight - Rated: M
Reviewed by: Kitkat
"You can't tell me what to do. You're not my mother!" the boy shouted at the woman defiantly.
When she raised her hand to hit him, I was over there before she could even blink. "You hit that kid, and I'll kick your ass."
"This is none of your business," she snapped back. "Ethan, get in the damn car. I'll deal with you when we get home." She started putting her bags in the trunk of her luxury car like I wasn't even there.
Something in me snapped. I shoved her hard, causing her to shriek and fall over in the trunk. Then I grabbed the little girl and took Ethan's hand. He was too busy looking over his shoulder in shock to watch where we were running as I pulled him along. I put them both in the back seat with Leo.
"Buckle in! Buckle in!" The banshee was getting up, and boy was she pissed. I locked the doors and took off.
When we were safely out of the parking lot, the reality of the situation crashed down on me. I had just kidnapped a couple of kids! I was either going to prison or the nut house. For a few minutes there was complete silence. The kids were obviously as shocked about this as I was.
"Hi. I'm Leonardo Swan, and I'm seven. That lady who kidnapped you is my mom, Bella." Leave it to Leo. "What's your name?"
"I'm Ethan Cullen. I'm seven too," the other boy replied. "And that's my little sister Sophie. She's three."
"Um Ethan," I started, not having a clue what to do. This was new territory. I had never kidnapped a child before. "Could you tell me who your parents are? I should probably contact them."
That seemed like a wise thing to do.
Um…yeah. You think?
‘Bella Swan: Kidnapper’ is not a ‘how to’ guide. What it is, is a fabulous tale of blossoming romance amidst chaos, crazy neighbors and three of the sweetest kids I’ve ever read.
Bella Swan is a mystery wrapped in an enigma all covered with awesomeness. She is seriously the mom I wish I had. It’s no wonder Ethan and Sophie Cullen seem to flock to her whenever possible. They stow away in her truck to get away from a crazy Nanny and convince her to spring them from the babysitter’s house by using a hot police officer as a distraction. She lets them use cupcake frosting as war paint, gets shot with a nail gun while building a tree house and her basement is a ball pit.
Seriously…
Can she adopt me?
While she feeds the kids desire for fun, she is also there as a much needed mother to them. Her past is a mystery…What does she do for a living? Who is Leo’s dad? Does she really have a younger sister named Renesmee?
Watching the relationship between Bella and Edward grow is like seeing a flower bloom. It happens slowly at first, but once those first few petals are open, it explodes with color and textures and scents.
"Edward." He slowly pulled it away and dropped it to the side. His lips met mine again before moving to my collarbone and finally my breasts. When his lips wrapped around my hardened nipple, I forgot what the hell I was going to say until I ran my hands across his still clothed back. "Get the hell out of those clothes."
He pulled back with a smirk. He was still a smug bastard. He pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it. I couldn't wait to have his chest pressed against mine. I almost groaned at how slow he was about unbuttoning his pants and pushing them to the ground. Finally he was touching me again, kissing me while I pressed my body flush against his. "Let me make love to you," he whispered.
I couldn't think of anything I wanted more. He hooked his fingers into the edge of my panties and began to pull them away. He started to push his boxers down, but I stopped him. I wanted to do that. I laid eyes on his erect member, and I'm pretty sure I whimpered. I hadn't had sex in eight years. I didn't know how he was going to fit that monster inside of me, but I was more than willing to let him try.
He kissed me softly as he pushed into me. I felt myself stretching around him. "Shit," I breathed. "Edward."
He moved slowly at first, kissing me again. I lifted my hips to meet his with every thrust. My breathing picked up as he started to quicken the pace. I brought my leg up and hooked it over his hip. "Bella," he said with moan.
I lost myself as he thrust into me over and over. I remember screaming his name before my body tightened around him, my release triggering his on. He collapsed on top of me, and I welcomed the weight. We lay there panting in silence until he rolled over to my side and pulled me against his chest. "What the hell is an aha moment and how soon can you have another one?"
"It'll have to be after lunch. I'm starving." I hadn't had anything to eat all day. Funny how I forgot about that earlier. When I hopped out of bed, I winced. "Son of a bitch." It didn't occur to me that I might be a little sore after an eight year break.
"Problems?" Edward smirked.
"Jackass," I grumbled.
He pulled on his boxers and helped me into his shirt before pulling me to him for a kiss.
We ordered Chinese and ate in the living room on the sofa. There was no after sex awkwardness. He tried to steal some of my food as always, so I was forced to poke him my little plastic fork. I sucked at using chopsticks. I didn't know what would happen in the future, but I did know one thing. If we ever got married, that man was never sleeping on the couch.
Each chapter is a new discovery about Bella’s past and the 22 chapters just fly by. Written way back in ’09 this story is still at the top of my ‘must read’ list. Funny and sexy and sweet…You won’t be disappointed if you drop your current updates and read this oldie.
Secrets and Lies by Bellascotia
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6331684/1/Secrets_and_Lies
Bella once told a lie. A lie that cost her everything she ever wanted. 10yrs later, she returns to her hometown to an ailing father, an angry ex-best friend, and the man from whom she has kept a secret that threatens to unravel her existence. AH OOC M Twilight - Rated: M
Reviewed by: Edmazing
One screen full, not even a scroll and I fell into “Secrets and Lies”. Hard.I couldn’t look away, ignored all responsibilities and social networks, and fought the clock as I tried to piece together the truth. Truths. Rather than a straight forward here-you-go narrative we are left to put it all together.And I loved it. The mystery had me clicking next until there wasn’t any more.
We are dumped into Bella’s impromptu cross country trip to visit Charlie. Though they’ve maintained a steady relationship over the last decade since moving away from Forks, it has been strictly by phone. Until now.
Charlie has asked her to come home. Insisted, really, and that she come alone. Her worst fears are confirmed. Charlie is sick and even though Forks is the last place she wants to be, the choice is immediate for Bella. She will move back and care for her long estranged father.
Glimpses at what Bella has been hiding from for the last years and her infamy linger. All we know at the opening is that it was big, the kind of thing that would turn her into the town cliché, and cause her to never want to look back. But again, we have to work to understand the storm that she has been running from.
And after a little night emergency call to the Dr. Carlisle Cullen it is pretty clear how her return will be received.
He steps past me out onto the porch. I thank him again, but before I get the chance to say goodbye he turns. His eyes are hard and for the first time tonight, I see the contempt in them.
"When you come back you should probably expect a visit from Alice."
And with that he turns and walks away.
His words surprise me. My last conversation with Alice ended with her telling me she didn't want to have anything to do with me ever again. She'd been trembling with the force of her hatred for me. I'd never seen Alice like that, and I didn't relish the thought of witnessing it again.
I watch the tail-lights on Carlisle's car disappear out of sight and lean heavily on the door after I close it. Being hated by the Cullens is not the worst thing in my life right now. I take the stairs two at a time to check on Charlie.
True, technically… but one of the secret Bella’s been keeping is a big one. After falling in love with her best friend’s older and very married brother, Bella does the unthinkable. She consummates that love and unknowingly they conceive a child.
We are left floundering, struggling to make heads or tails out of the mess of lies, omissions, and denial of the highest form. What we do know is that Bella has always put their son first, and is continuing to do so as she makes the most of the time she has left with Charlie. And the reunion of this could’ve been family is plagued with mistrust and deep seeded pain.
His hands loosen, and I feel one finger trace my jaw line. "You only lied about one thing, didn't you?"
I swallow hard, unable to speak. The feel of him touching me, the way he is looking at me as if he can see right into my soul... is all too familiar. I feel like I'm eighteen again, and he is the centre of my universe. All the feelings I've long suppressed come crashing to the fore.
My mouth dries as I feel the pain again, more keenly than I've felt it in years. Conversely, the desire is there too, and my palms sweat with the need to touch him. It would be so easy to just reach out to him.
"You should've told me what was going on." I choke out.
"I know," he whispers.
I hate the tears that form in my eyes. "I had no one to turn to," I whimper, hating myself for it.
When his warm palm cups my cheek, my eyes flutter closed as his thumb brushes gently beneath my eye, gathering the moisture there and brushing it away. "I'm sorry," he murmurs.
Two words I would have killed to hear ten years ago. Two words that I owe him too. Yet, even though they sound sincere, they are not enough to make it right again.
The love, the want, the need are all there. So all-encompassing that it is difficult to breath because of it at times. But more crippling than this is the fear. Bella has trusted and burned before. She doesn’t know if she could survive it again, and she certainly will not put their son at risk for the same kind of rejection that tore her apart.
Slowly, steadily, new bonds are forged and trust is earned. And when the time is right, that love reemerges from its hibernation.
"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, Bella," he whispers thickly, looking down at my body.
He cups his hands beneath my breasts, eliciting a sharp moan from me when he sweeps his thumbs firmly over my nipples. He glances up briefly before dipping his head and capturing my nipple in his mouth. His tongue circles hotly and the soft suction has me moaning again. My fingers rise to his hair as I keep my eyes trained on his tongue and lips feasting on my breasts.
My hands trail lower, tracing the hard planes of muscles beneath the skin on his back. He releases my breast with a wet pop and turns his face up to mine seeking my lips.
I want you baby," he murmurs against my mouth.
Gripped with need, I push him onto his back and settle over him, planting my knees at either side of his hips. He reaches up and massages my breasts firmly as his eyes lock with mine. I stare down to see everything I've ever wanted from him reflected in his eyes, he barely blinks and his lids lower as his passion flares. "Kiss me," he demands.
I thrust my tongue into his mouth, and he slips one hand down my body and between my legs. We groan simultaneously when he feels how wet I am already. Forcing my hungry lips away from his mouth, I reach out and yank open his drawer – not caring if I'm taking liberties – and feel around until my fingers locate the condom box. I tip the contents onto the bed and when my teeth rip the foil he plunges two fingers deep inside me.
Jesus," I gasp. "I almost bit through the condom." My words are slightly garbled as his fingers stroke slowly up and down my inner walls, curling at just the right spot.
Ugh, I know I’m not doing this story justice, because it is just so hard to explain the three main storylines properly. This isn’t just the story of a daughter trying to make up for lost time. It is more than just the story of a mother wanting to protect her son. And it is definitely more than just a one-time illicit affair and its ramifications. “Secrets and Lies” is all three and so much more. Open it up, give it a read, and I know you will want to walk along side Bella as she struggles to correct the misunderstandings.
ALSO: DECEMBER 2011 TLS Fic of the Month Poll closes at midnight tonight! Last chance to get your votes in for that one, and then we will begin breaking it down to the 2011 TLS Fic of the Year!!
vote here for Fic of the Month.
TLS Fics of the Week 1/26 - 2/1/2012: THE FAB FIVE THIS WEEK
The Keepsake by Windchymes
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7562914/1/The_Keepsake
Some things you never forget, they just hurt too much to remember.
Twilight - Rated: M
Reviewed by: Dolly Reader
Some things you never forget, they just hurt too much to remember.
Whenever I see an alert from Windchymes show up in my inbox I literally make a happy face and start clapping. Windchymes has consistently written AU stories that take the framework of Twilight and twist them to a new direction. I have appreciated her Bellas that have a strength and determination to withstand conflict and communicate what they want. Her Edwards are loving and caring.
When The Keepsake arrived I rapidly clicked over excited to begin a new journey. As the story opens, we find Bella newly arrived and unpacking her boxes in her apartment at University. Her pal, Jake is there to lend a hand. While going through her books she discovers her well-worn copy of Wuthering Heights and pages fall to the floor.
But before I put it in the rubbish I shake it out gently over the floor.
"What are you doing?" Jake asks.
"I had a bookmark I really liked but I lost it ages ago. I'm just checking for it before I throw the book away."
Jake looks towards the shelves where the other books sit. "What's it look like?"
"A leather strip with Celtic patterns on it."
The book yields nothing except another couple of loose pages.
"Where's the last place you saw it?" He stands and walks to the shelves.
"Can't remember. It was before..." I stop for a second. "It was in junior year."
Bella settles into her routine of being a student and stops off at the campus library. As she is leaving one night she makes a most interesting discovery.
...my attention is drawn to the carpet and I stop.
My bookmark is lying on the floor.
I stare at it for a moment, knowing it can't really be mine. There are probably hundreds like it.
I bend and pick up the strip of tan leather with its Celtic patterns of black dye. Some of the black is missing from the border around the edges, just like mine. Bewildered and confused I look absently at my bag. Had it been in there all along, only to fall out now? I shake my head, no; I've only had this bag since Christmas. I decide the bookmark probably isn't mine. I turn it over and in the bottom corner see the tiny, faded single letter drawn in pen...B
...
I hurry to the desk and she processes my loan. I shove the book in my bag and head out the door. It's almost dark outside, the lights from the building blaze brightly and I stand under them, still staring at the bookmark as it lays across my palm, still trying to find a reason, an explanation...that elusive anything.
...
Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck stands up. My skin pebbles in goosebumps and my body is alert. In the silence around me I hear the echo of footsteps and look up. I watch the figure come out of the gloom and as he comes down the path, before I can see his face clearly I know...it's in the set of his shoulders and the tilt of his head. And the way he walks...
It's Edward Cullen.
After three years of being apart, Bella sees Edward again for the first time. She is completely dumbfounded to realize that he has no remembrance of her. It isn’t long after returning to her apartment that Bella receives some very unexpected visitors who carry some incredibly startling information.
Carlisle puts a careful, calming hand on my upper arm and I stop. His voice is gentle but firm when he speaks.
"Bella, Edward has gone to enormous trouble to block out something incredibly painful, and I believe he's done this purely to survive. So, he needs to remember in his own time, when his subconscious believes he's ready to handle it, and not before. Obviously I can't tell you what to do, but if you speak with Edward again I must stress that it would be better if you didn't tell him you have a shared past, or what has happened between you. It could do him a lot more harm than good."
…
Just as defeat and desolation begin to wash over me, a tiny spark of light comes through the gloom – a small beacon of hope.
"He came back for my bookmark," I say softly, sitting up straight and lifting my eyes to look at Carlisle, then Alice. "That must mean something, mustn't it?"
Carlisle smiles, surprise in his eyes, and Alice grins.
"In that case," Carlisle smiles wider, "I suggest you let nature take its course."
And so it begins, a new dance of discovery between Edward & Bella. But in The Keepsake, Bella is the one with the answers and the knowledge of what has been. She walks the fine line of engaging Edward at his pace and revealing herself to him as if they had never been together before. Edward finds himself being intrigued by Bella’s difference from the other students. As he reflects upon his actions we learn,
He had gone back to school and watched her from a distance, determined to discover that she was actually boring and dull and not the silver lining to his constant cloud cover. But he had discovered just the opposite. She was different. And she was special...to him. He realised that the first time he saw her stumble over a tree root and his hands shot out reflexively to catch her, even though he was on the other side of the campus lawn. And the realisation was compounded when he heard her laughing with some other students in the corridors of the history department. The sweet sound warmed him like nothing else, he'd found himself wanting to know what she found so funny.
But sometimes she looked sad, he thought. His vampire eyes would see expressions in her eyes and on her face that he didn't understand...but he wanted to understand, and that confused him as much as anything else.
I’m so excited to see Edward’s journey of re-discovery and how his actions will change with his new experiences behind him. How will his concern and curiosity about her emerge into love? What will their new experiences together bring them? Without a doubt, I’ll be devouring every word and golden moment that Windchymes gifts us with.
The Shadow That Remains by Iambeagle
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7691265/1/The_Shadow_That_Remains
A past tragedy left Bella desperate and destroyed until a recent accident changes everything. They say memory loss is a tragedy. They say everything happens for a reason.
Twilight - Rated: M
Reviewed by: SusanQ
"I kind of wish I were dead."
This is the opening line to iambeagle’s story, The Shadow that Remains. How can you not keep reading when this is how it begins?
"That's an intriguing way to start a conversation," Charlotte mused, snickering at my tendency to be overly dramatic. "What happened this time?"
"Nothing happened. I just decided I cannot go to your birthday dinner tonight," I explained, trying my hardest not to slur. She would be less forgiving if she noticed the slur. The line was silent and I was secretly pleased thinking the call had been dropped until I heard her speak.
"Bella. You're drunk," she accused, lowering her voice.
Yes, Bella’s drunk and sitting alone in a bar. She’s trying to avoid seeing Charlotte’s brother, Edward—who it seems is her former boyfriend—and who Charlotte has sent to pick up her up.
"So, as if this weren't nice and awkward enough, I'm supposed to drive you to Charlotte's birthday dinner," he explained, pulling out his wallet and handing Embry his credit card.
"Wait, what?" I shook my head. "Charlotte sent you to pick me up?"
"Hi." He waved with a small smile. "Apparently everyone is already at the restaurant and I drew the short straw."
Edward gets Bella to his car; they start out to the restaurant and get into a car accident.
Darkness.
I was enveloped in darkness and everything seemed to keep happening in waves. Each time I would try to focus, a dull throb would take over and then magically disappear. I fought against the urge to get pulled back under, but the current was so strong. Once again, the darkness found its way back and I drowned in it.
Bella wakes up in the hospital, after being unconscious for three days, to find Edward at her bedside.
Edward took a deep breath and glanced away before looking back at me. "There was an accident," he said evenly. "Bella. I'm so-" He stopped speaking when his voice broke. Clearing his throat, he tried again, his voice somehow softer than before. "I'm so sorry."
Without giving too much away, Bella has lost two years of memories, but it’s not just memories Bella has lost in that time.
This story is just six chapters in, but already we can sense the deep relationships between the characters. There is so much to learn about the past two years, and iambeagle is unfolding the intriguing backstory in such a way that we are reliving the memories right along with Bella.
Jump in and start reading! iambeagle updates frequently, so we don’t have to wait long between updates while we… I mean Bella pieces together her past.
Blindspot by Fictionfreak95
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7705638/1/Blind_Spot
All her life, Bella Swan saw things before they happened, until him. He was her blind spot. How do you stay out of someone's life when you see it flashing before your eyes on a daily basis? AH,BxE Twilight - Rated: M
Reviewed by: vampshavelaws
I’d been meaning to read the lovely Jo’s stories for ages (my TBR list is almost the same length as The Great Wall of China... give or take a few miles).
I was on twitter—I don’t know, probably stalking someone or something—and saw she’d posted a teaser for an upcoming story on her blog. I read it, got a little flail-y, and marked that baby down in my calendar, moving it to the top of my list.
And boy was I glad I did.
Blind Spot starts off in Bella’s point of view, giving us a glimpse of the reoccurring dream she’s been having. Or as I like to call it, the best way to wake up ever.
My eyes were damp when I awoke, my hand grasping at the hot spot between my legs where I'd just cum harder for an imaginary man than for any real live person I'd ever afforded the opportunity and as consciousness crept back, I reminded myself that it was just a dream.
I breathed in and out. Or tried to, at least, as I rolled over, peering out of my bedroom window at the morning as it peeked through the trees. Just like every other time I'd had the dream, I attempted to recollect the details, but it was useless.
I'd been having the damned thing off and on for weeks. Every time he'd haunt me, I'd wake up with my fingers completing the actions he committed inside my mind and every morning I tried to envision him, to remember him. Anything about him.
I could never really make out his face, though, only his voice. Sort of. What I'd imagined it sounded like that is, and just thinking of in the conscious world made me shiver underneath the covers.
Bella isn’t your average girl next door. She has a gift. One that is both a blessing and a curse.
Gift.
Such an inspiring word, right? Not so much for me. It was more like a trepidation of sorts, in my opinion. One that had made my life somewhat of a living hell from time to time.
My grandmother had told me ever since I was very young that I had this ability. That I could see things and know things that others couldn't or didn't want to, rather. That was how I always looked at it, anyway. She said I would have to decipher for myself when it was a good time to share what it decided to show me and when I should hold back and just let things happen.
Sometimes I had a hard time figuring out when to do what, still. Even at the ripe old age of twenty-eight, I was still struggling with it all.
And it never worked the way you'd think it would.
Always at the most inopportune times, never when it was desperately needed. And always… always cryptic… always open to interpretation.
Not to mention that because of this gift, there were officially two types of people in town when it came to opinions about me. There were the people who took what I said to them, if I decided to say something to them, very seriously and yet very quietly, and then there were the people who basically… thought I was nuts.
Thanks for the gift, mom.
I typically tried to keep it all at bay most of the time, but sometimes… sometimes I would see something so vividly about someone that it just wouldn't be ignored. That was when I would seek the person out and give them what information I could. At that point, it was really up to them what they did with it.
Needless to say, this makes it hard for Bella to keep friends, to meet anyone new; so when she accidentally bumps into a handsome stranger after work one evening—one that needs help finding a place to stay—she’s more than ready to help.
Demetri’s cute, smart, polite, and best of all, he knows nothing about her. Surely this makes him perfect for Bella?
As I drove, peeking up at my rear view mirror every once in a while to make sure he was still behind me, I wondered who this new guy was, where he was from... I thought about how extremely nice he seemed, how refined and just… completely datable, I decided. Temporarily, but whatever. Then I became curious as I slowly made my way down the dirt… well, muddied at the moment, road up to the old boat house's dock and put the Beetle into park, noticing another car parked next to Emmett's place.
Another car that didn't belong there.
Another car that probably belonged to a squatter or… worse yet, some low life thief, trying to break into Emmett's place and trash it or something.
I got out of my car and waved for Demetri to stay back while I picked up a old piece of wood and headed up toward the dock that would take me directly out to the back entrance to the house, slowly and carefully.
The small one-story shanty of a home didn't look like much to a lot of people, but to Emmett, it held a lot of fond memories and I'd be damned if I was going to let some jerk ruin his things.
As I crept along the board walkway, the owner of that strange car came into view and I caught my breath a little when I saw him. He was just… standing there with his back to me, looking out onto the old Tchefuncte River that led out to Lake Pontchartrain. His thick, dark hair was a mess, his clothes were in complete disarray, and his hands were stuffed into his pockets as he stood, feet apart like a soldier at ease.
If he hadn't been a burglar, he might have even seemed... almost... sexy… from the back, anyway.
I couldn't help but let my guard down for a minute as I watched him. He appeared to be pondering something as he stared out over the water. I wanted to peek around at the expression on his face to see if it reflected what I was feeling in that moment but then I remembered why he was there.
Probably wondering how quickly he can get down the river and over to New Orleans from here.
Most lowlifes used the winding rivers by Madisonville and the surrounding towns as a convenient waterway escape after conducting who knows what kinds of illegal business over in New Orleans.
I drew closer and lifted the two-by-four over my head, ready to knock him out and then call 911, when I stepped on a creaky board and stopped, frozen in time as the man swirled around. He took one look at me and his eyebrows knitted together into a scowl as though he was angry with me for interrupting his thoughts of thievery and ransacking.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
Enter Edward.
Our favourite green-eyed, heart-stopper.
We find out a little about his past in chapter two, one that instantly breaks your heart. He seems so broken, a history that has yet to be fully disclosed weighing him down, shrouding him in pain and guilt.
"We both know I'm not coming back."
After a few moments of thoughtful silence, he twisted his mouth and let out a sigh. "Do you know where you're going? I can write a recommendation for you."
"No need," I told him, catching a glimpse of my fellow officers mulling around the bullpen area just outside his office. Probably getting some new case to work on, to sink their teeth into. Something I didn't share their passion for anymore. Something I was repeatedly failing at because of that lack of passion.
It was the most recent of those failures that had made things so apparent to me. I'd ignored the obvious, looked past things that should have stood out like a sore thumb, and because of my mistakes, a little girl died unnecessarily.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, Christian Dennings, a good friend of mine and my brother's for many years, caught my stare and we held eye contact for a second or two.
He knew what was going on. It was all over his face.
"Edward."
I turned my attention back to my superior again. "I'm done, Cap."
"It doesn't have to be like this, ya know, nobody here…"
"I'm done," I reiterated for him, a little harsher than I probably should have.
He just didn't get it. But after a few more hope filled moments later on his part, finally, he resigned to a frustrated acceptance. "Okay. Let's get your gun and badge turned in and I'll start the paperwork."
He’s done, has nothing left to give, wants nothing more than to forget, to get away. So that’s what he does.
A map and dart decide his destiny, one that brings him to the very town Miss Isabella Swan lives.
Their chemistry from the start knocks your socks off; their banter with each other will make you laugh and smile, hurting your cheeks.
I decided I'd better not waste any more time thinking, so I swung the wood down at his head, but he caught it mid strike, nearly looking like he was about to laugh at me if he hadn't been so damned irritated.
I pulled at the two-by-four, trying to get it out of his grasp to take another swipe at him but he held on tightly.
Then the silence between us was broken.
"Can I help you?" he growled. "I mean, other than giving you a head to swing at?"
"Can you help me?" I pulled again, to no avail. "You're the one on private property!"
"Yeah, I know… mine."
"Yours? HA! Liar! This boat house happens to belong to a very good friend of mine." I was still pulling at the two-by-four and he was still scowling at me. Unamused.
But then, neither was I.
"A good friend of yours, huh?"
Why. Wouldn't. He. Let. Go!
"Yes, Emmett McCarty, as a matter of..." I pulled at the damn board again. "Fact, and I've already called the police, by the way."
"Good," he told me, letting go of the wood finally. But as he was letting go, I was giving it my all and when his hand loosened from the thing, I flew backwards, into the chilly, muddy river's swampy waters next to the dock with a scream.
It was freezing and when I finally found my bearings, coming up for air, there was the jerk, standing at the edge of the platform that doubled as a deck to the house, staring down at me with this… half snide arrogant look that I wanted to smack right off of his smug face. "Maybe they can arrest you on the spot for, I dunno... invasion of privacy? Assault?" he told me, nodding out at the river sideways. "Unless you'd like to get a head start."
As well as all this, a desperate loneliness lingers in them both, two lost and wanting souls fighting against each other, not yet aware that they could be just what the other needs, whether looking for it or not.
Jo writes these characters with so much heart; so much quick wit and loveability that you can’t help but be immediately drawn in.
I can’t speak highly enough of this story. It’s so incredibly well written, drawing a number of emotions from you as you read. The plot is exciting and addicting, the UST already in full force, the regular updates making us the luckiest of readers.
Jo has a talent, one that we’re lucky enough to witness, to join in on and read and love.
If you’re not yet reading Blind Spot, find a quiet spot in your day, grab a cup of coffee or juice, and become immersed in this wonderful story, just like I have.
You won’t regret it, and the smile you’re left with after reading is just an added bonus.
XOXO
Bella Swan: Kidnapper by Kambria Rain
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5062719/11/Bella_Swan_Kidnapper
Um. Hi. I don't really know how to say this, but I have your kids with me, and I was thinking maybe you would like them back. So yeah… call me. Twilight - Rated: M
Reviewed by: Kitkat
"You can't tell me what to do. You're not my mother!" the boy shouted at the woman defiantly.
When she raised her hand to hit him, I was over there before she could even blink. "You hit that kid, and I'll kick your ass."
"This is none of your business," she snapped back. "Ethan, get in the damn car. I'll deal with you when we get home." She started putting her bags in the trunk of her luxury car like I wasn't even there.
Something in me snapped. I shoved her hard, causing her to shriek and fall over in the trunk. Then I grabbed the little girl and took Ethan's hand. He was too busy looking over his shoulder in shock to watch where we were running as I pulled him along. I put them both in the back seat with Leo.
"Buckle in! Buckle in!" The banshee was getting up, and boy was she pissed. I locked the doors and took off.
When we were safely out of the parking lot, the reality of the situation crashed down on me. I had just kidnapped a couple of kids! I was either going to prison or the nut house. For a few minutes there was complete silence. The kids were obviously as shocked about this as I was.
"Hi. I'm Leonardo Swan, and I'm seven. That lady who kidnapped you is my mom, Bella." Leave it to Leo. "What's your name?"
"I'm Ethan Cullen. I'm seven too," the other boy replied. "And that's my little sister Sophie. She's three."
"Um Ethan," I started, not having a clue what to do. This was new territory. I had never kidnapped a child before. "Could you tell me who your parents are? I should probably contact them."
That seemed like a wise thing to do.
Um…yeah. You think?
‘Bella Swan: Kidnapper’ is not a ‘how to’ guide. What it is, is a fabulous tale of blossoming romance amidst chaos, crazy neighbors and three of the sweetest kids I’ve ever read.
Bella Swan is a mystery wrapped in an enigma all covered with awesomeness. She is seriously the mom I wish I had. It’s no wonder Ethan and Sophie Cullen seem to flock to her whenever possible. They stow away in her truck to get away from a crazy Nanny and convince her to spring them from the babysitter’s house by using a hot police officer as a distraction. She lets them use cupcake frosting as war paint, gets shot with a nail gun while building a tree house and her basement is a ball pit.
Seriously…
Can she adopt me?
While she feeds the kids desire for fun, she is also there as a much needed mother to them. Her past is a mystery…What does she do for a living? Who is Leo’s dad? Does she really have a younger sister named Renesmee?
Watching the relationship between Bella and Edward grow is like seeing a flower bloom. It happens slowly at first, but once those first few petals are open, it explodes with color and textures and scents.
"Edward." He slowly pulled it away and dropped it to the side. His lips met mine again before moving to my collarbone and finally my breasts. When his lips wrapped around my hardened nipple, I forgot what the hell I was going to say until I ran my hands across his still clothed back. "Get the hell out of those clothes."
He pulled back with a smirk. He was still a smug bastard. He pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it. I couldn't wait to have his chest pressed against mine. I almost groaned at how slow he was about unbuttoning his pants and pushing them to the ground. Finally he was touching me again, kissing me while I pressed my body flush against his. "Let me make love to you," he whispered.
I couldn't think of anything I wanted more. He hooked his fingers into the edge of my panties and began to pull them away. He started to push his boxers down, but I stopped him. I wanted to do that. I laid eyes on his erect member, and I'm pretty sure I whimpered. I hadn't had sex in eight years. I didn't know how he was going to fit that monster inside of me, but I was more than willing to let him try.
He kissed me softly as he pushed into me. I felt myself stretching around him. "Shit," I breathed. "Edward."
He moved slowly at first, kissing me again. I lifted my hips to meet his with every thrust. My breathing picked up as he started to quicken the pace. I brought my leg up and hooked it over his hip. "Bella," he said with moan.
I lost myself as he thrust into me over and over. I remember screaming his name before my body tightened around him, my release triggering his on. He collapsed on top of me, and I welcomed the weight. We lay there panting in silence until he rolled over to my side and pulled me against his chest. "What the hell is an aha moment and how soon can you have another one?"
"It'll have to be after lunch. I'm starving." I hadn't had anything to eat all day. Funny how I forgot about that earlier. When I hopped out of bed, I winced. "Son of a bitch." It didn't occur to me that I might be a little sore after an eight year break.
"Problems?" Edward smirked.
"Jackass," I grumbled.
He pulled on his boxers and helped me into his shirt before pulling me to him for a kiss.
We ordered Chinese and ate in the living room on the sofa. There was no after sex awkwardness. He tried to steal some of my food as always, so I was forced to poke him my little plastic fork. I sucked at using chopsticks. I didn't know what would happen in the future, but I did know one thing. If we ever got married, that man was never sleeping on the couch.
Each chapter is a new discovery about Bella’s past and the 22 chapters just fly by. Written way back in ’09 this story is still at the top of my ‘must read’ list. Funny and sexy and sweet…You won’t be disappointed if you drop your current updates and read this oldie.
Secrets and Lies by Bellascotia
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6331684/1/Secrets_and_Lies
Bella once told a lie. A lie that cost her everything she ever wanted. 10yrs later, she returns to her hometown to an ailing father, an angry ex-best friend, and the man from whom she has kept a secret that threatens to unravel her existence. AH OOC M Twilight - Rated: M
Reviewed by: Edmazing
One screen full, not even a scroll and I fell into “Secrets and Lies”. Hard.I couldn’t look away, ignored all responsibilities and social networks, and fought the clock as I tried to piece together the truth. Truths. Rather than a straight forward here-you-go narrative we are left to put it all together.And I loved it. The mystery had me clicking next until there wasn’t any more.
We are dumped into Bella’s impromptu cross country trip to visit Charlie. Though they’ve maintained a steady relationship over the last decade since moving away from Forks, it has been strictly by phone. Until now.
Charlie has asked her to come home. Insisted, really, and that she come alone. Her worst fears are confirmed. Charlie is sick and even though Forks is the last place she wants to be, the choice is immediate for Bella. She will move back and care for her long estranged father.
Glimpses at what Bella has been hiding from for the last years and her infamy linger. All we know at the opening is that it was big, the kind of thing that would turn her into the town cliché, and cause her to never want to look back. But again, we have to work to understand the storm that she has been running from.
And after a little night emergency call to the Dr. Carlisle Cullen it is pretty clear how her return will be received.
He steps past me out onto the porch. I thank him again, but before I get the chance to say goodbye he turns. His eyes are hard and for the first time tonight, I see the contempt in them.
"When you come back you should probably expect a visit from Alice."
And with that he turns and walks away.
His words surprise me. My last conversation with Alice ended with her telling me she didn't want to have anything to do with me ever again. She'd been trembling with the force of her hatred for me. I'd never seen Alice like that, and I didn't relish the thought of witnessing it again.
I watch the tail-lights on Carlisle's car disappear out of sight and lean heavily on the door after I close it. Being hated by the Cullens is not the worst thing in my life right now. I take the stairs two at a time to check on Charlie.
True, technically… but one of the secret Bella’s been keeping is a big one. After falling in love with her best friend’s older and very married brother, Bella does the unthinkable. She consummates that love and unknowingly they conceive a child.
We are left floundering, struggling to make heads or tails out of the mess of lies, omissions, and denial of the highest form. What we do know is that Bella has always put their son first, and is continuing to do so as she makes the most of the time she has left with Charlie. And the reunion of this could’ve been family is plagued with mistrust and deep seeded pain.
His hands loosen, and I feel one finger trace my jaw line. "You only lied about one thing, didn't you?"
I swallow hard, unable to speak. The feel of him touching me, the way he is looking at me as if he can see right into my soul... is all too familiar. I feel like I'm eighteen again, and he is the centre of my universe. All the feelings I've long suppressed come crashing to the fore.
My mouth dries as I feel the pain again, more keenly than I've felt it in years. Conversely, the desire is there too, and my palms sweat with the need to touch him. It would be so easy to just reach out to him.
"You should've told me what was going on." I choke out.
"I know," he whispers.
I hate the tears that form in my eyes. "I had no one to turn to," I whimper, hating myself for it.
When his warm palm cups my cheek, my eyes flutter closed as his thumb brushes gently beneath my eye, gathering the moisture there and brushing it away. "I'm sorry," he murmurs.
Two words I would have killed to hear ten years ago. Two words that I owe him too. Yet, even though they sound sincere, they are not enough to make it right again.
The love, the want, the need are all there. So all-encompassing that it is difficult to breath because of it at times. But more crippling than this is the fear. Bella has trusted and burned before. She doesn’t know if she could survive it again, and she certainly will not put their son at risk for the same kind of rejection that tore her apart.
Slowly, steadily, new bonds are forged and trust is earned. And when the time is right, that love reemerges from its hibernation.
"You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, Bella," he whispers thickly, looking down at my body.
He cups his hands beneath my breasts, eliciting a sharp moan from me when he sweeps his thumbs firmly over my nipples. He glances up briefly before dipping his head and capturing my nipple in his mouth. His tongue circles hotly and the soft suction has me moaning again. My fingers rise to his hair as I keep my eyes trained on his tongue and lips feasting on my breasts.
My hands trail lower, tracing the hard planes of muscles beneath the skin on his back. He releases my breast with a wet pop and turns his face up to mine seeking my lips.
I want you baby," he murmurs against my mouth.
Gripped with need, I push him onto his back and settle over him, planting my knees at either side of his hips. He reaches up and massages my breasts firmly as his eyes lock with mine. I stare down to see everything I've ever wanted from him reflected in his eyes, he barely blinks and his lids lower as his passion flares. "Kiss me," he demands.
I thrust my tongue into his mouth, and he slips one hand down my body and between my legs. We groan simultaneously when he feels how wet I am already. Forcing my hungry lips away from his mouth, I reach out and yank open his drawer – not caring if I'm taking liberties – and feel around until my fingers locate the condom box. I tip the contents onto the bed and when my teeth rip the foil he plunges two fingers deep inside me.
Jesus," I gasp. "I almost bit through the condom." My words are slightly garbled as his fingers stroke slowly up and down my inner walls, curling at just the right spot.
Ugh, I know I’m not doing this story justice, because it is just so hard to explain the three main storylines properly. This isn’t just the story of a daughter trying to make up for lost time. It is more than just the story of a mother wanting to protect her son. And it is definitely more than just a one-time illicit affair and its ramifications. “Secrets and Lies” is all three and so much more. Open it up, give it a read, and I know you will want to walk along side Bella as she struggles to correct the misunderstandings.
