Breaking Dawn | Page 7

was talking about me. I didn�t think about the
spectacle I would have to star in much too soon. I didn�t worry about tripping on my
train or giggling at the wrong moment or being too young or the staring audience or
even the empty seat where my best friend should be.
I was with Edward in my happy place.
2. LONG NIGHT
�I miss you already.�
�I don�t need to leave. I can stay. . . .�
�Mmm.�
It was quiet for a long moment, just the thud of my heart hammering, the broken rhythm
of our ragged breathing, and the whisper of our lips moving in synchronization.
Sometimes it was so easy to forget that I was kissing a vampire. Not because he seemed
ordinary or human�I could never for a second forget that I was holding someone more
angel than man in my arms�but because he made it seem like nothing at all to have his
lips against my lips, my face, my throat. He claimed he was long past the temptation my
blood used to be for him, that the idea of losing me had cured him of any desire for it.
But I knew the smell of my blood still caused him pain�still burned his throat like he
was inhaling flames.
I opened my eyes and found his open, too, staring at my face. It made no sense when he
looked at me that way. Like I was the prize rather than the outrageously lucky winner.
Our gazes locked for a moment; his golden eyes were so deep that I imagined I could
see all the way into his soul. It seemed silly that this fact�the existence of his soul�
had ever been in question, even if he was a vampire. He had the most beautiful soul,
more beautiful than his brilliant mind or his incomparable face or his glorious body.
He looked back at me as if he could see my soul, too, and as if he liked what he saw.
He couldn�t see into my mind, though, the way he saw into everyone else�s. Who knew
why�some strange glitch in my brain that made it immune to all the extraordinary and
frightening things some immortals could do. (Only my mind was immune; my body was
still subject to vampires with abilities that worked in ways other than Edward�s.) But I
was seriously grateful to whatever malfunction it was that kept my thoughts a secret. It
was just too embarrassing to consider the alternative.
I pulled his face to mine again.
�Definitely staying,� he murmured a moment later.
�No, no. It�s your bachelor party. You have to go.�
I said the words, but the fingers of my right hand locked into his bronze hair, my left
pressed tighter against the small of his back. His cool hands stroked my face.
�Bachelor parties are designed for those who are sad to see the passing of their single
days. I couldn�t be more eager to have mine behind me. So there�s really no point.�
�True.� I breathed against the winter-cold skin of his throat.
This was pretty close to my happy place. Charlie slept obliviously in his room, which
was almost as good as being alone. We were curled up on my small bed, intertwined as
much as it was possible, considering the thick afghan I was swathed in like a cocoon. I
hated the necessity of the blanket, but it sort of ruined the romance when my teeth
started chattering. Charlie would notice if I turned the heat on in August. . . .
At least, if I had to be bundled up, Edward�s shirt was on the floor. I never got over the
shock of how perfect his body was�white, cool, and polished as marble. I ran my hand
down his stone chest now, tracing across the flat planes of his stomach, just marveling.
A light shudder rippled through him, and his mouth found mine again. Carefully, I let
the tip of my tongue press against his glass-smooth lip, and he sighed. His sweet breath
washed�cold and delicious�over my face.
He started to pull away�that was his automatic response whenever he decided things
had gone too far, his reflex reaction whenever he most wanted to keep going. Edward
had spent most of his life rejecting any kind of physical gratification. I knew it was
terrifying to him trying to change those habits now.
�Wait,� I said, gripping his shoulders and hugging myself close to him. I kicked one leg
free and wrapped it around his waist. �Practice makes perfect.�
He chuckled. �Well, we should be fairly close to perfection by this point, then, shouldn�t
we? Have you slept at all in the last month?�
�But this is the dress rehearsal,� I reminded him, �and we�ve only practiced certain
scenes. It�s no time for playing safe.�
I thought he would laugh, but he didn�t answer, and his body was motionless with
sudden stress. The gold in his eyes seemed to harden from a liquid to a solid.
I thought over my words, realized what he would have heard in them.
�Bella�,� he whispered.
�Don�t start this again,� I said.