All I Need
by Laura Spudzmom
Chapter 02
Her breath left her in a rush at the finality of his words and she stared up into his face with widened eyes. "Gee, no pressure or anything, right?" she questioned incredulously.
He merely laughed and dropped his hand, his tone flat as he spoke while removing his coat. "The bathroom is through that doorway and down the hall. Go and bathe yourself. You will find a robe there that you may wear until I have more clothing delivered for you," he said as he moved farther into the room while working to loosen his tie.
She stood, unmoving and watched him for moments as he shed everything but his silk shirt and tailored trousers and she couldn't help but think her earlier assessment was correct; he was lithe but pleasingly muscled under those layers of clothing. 'He's gorgeous,' she thought as her teeth nibbled her bottom lip.
He'd just begun unbuttoning the shirt when he glanced up through inky lashes. His eyes caught and held hers as she stared and a blush heated her face as his lips curved into a slow smirk, his dark red eyes glittering wickedly as his fingers slowly continued on with each button.
"I—I'll just go have that bath now…" she stuttered as she rushed from the room, the sound of a low chuckle filtering to her as she hurried into the bathroom and shut the door.
Leaning against the cool wood, she reached down and turned the lock as her heart raced in time with her thoughts. 'What the hell was that?!' she thought. 'And what now Bella?' she chastised herself as her eyes squeezed shut. 'You were just getting your life back, but noooo, you just had to go rushing off with Alice the minute she said the name Edward! And now you're ogling a King—a King that might just decide to kill you soon—jesus!'
The image of Jacob flashed behind her eyes; his face distraught and angry as he'd begged her not to go and she bit her lip as remorse flooded her. She couldn't help but think he'd been right. She shouldn't have come, but what's done is done. The part that worried her now was he knew she was coming to Italy. Would he be stupid enough to tell Charlie?
Would he be crazy enough to come looking for her? She just didn't know and the thought of him finding her here scared the hell out of her because she knew he didn't have a chance in hell of saving her from this place; from these vampires. They were just too… She searched for the correct words to describe them and the only phrase that came to mind was battle-ready, which only made sense. They were nothing like the domesticated Cullen Coven. They were the keepers of the law in the vampire world and this was their fortress.
Opening her eyes, she took a moment to breathe and calm herself. Panicking now wouldn't serve any purpose and would only make things worse. She snorted at such a thought. Could things get much worse?
Pushing off from the door, she made her way to the massive tub and flipped on the tap to begin filling it as her thoughts continued. 'Yes,' she thought realistically, they could be worse. She could be a corpse by now or raped and beaten and she was thankful to realize she wasn't really worried about that happening for some reason. True, she didn't know this King who now claimed possession of her, but she didn't get the impression that he was vicious; not in that way at least and she had to admit, for that small reprieve, she was thankful.
When the tub was full, she stripped and sank into the steaming water with a sigh. It felt heavenly as she'd been chilled to the bone since she'd run through that fountain to get to Edward in time.
'Edward', the name ghosted through her mind and her heart ached as she lifted her arm to examine the bite mark on her wrist; the everlasting reminder of her encounter with James. She'd never really paid much attention to it before but now that she knew what he'd been doing, she could see some areas of the scar that were now more prominent. She supposed this was where he'd been cutting and drawing blood from her as there were no other places that she could see where he might have done it.
Sliding down in the tub, she submerged herself completely as she struggled to leave these thoughts behind, for now at least. She'd never forget, of course, but at the moment, she had more pressing things to worry about, namely how to please a certain Volturi King and live to fight another day, so to speak.
With those thoughts, she sat up and got busy bathing. It wouldn't do to piss Marcus off. He seemed a patient sort; certainly more laid back than either of his brothers, but she didn't really want to test that apparent patience either, and certainly not for something as insignificant as a drawn out bath.
Once done, she stood and rinsed off with the hand held shower and stepped out onto the rug as the tub drained, looking back at it with longing as she wrapped herself in a fluffy towel. It was a luxurious tub and she would have liked to spend more time in it, but again, Marcus was waiting and she wouldn't risk it.
After toweling her hair dry, she found the robe hanging and wrapped herself in it. It was silky and black and way too big for her, but that didn't surprise her since it was obviously his.
Finding a hairbrush, she took a moment to run it through her hair before gathering her clothes and tossing them in the hamper. 'A hamper,' she thought with a snort. 'How very…ordinary…'
Shaking her head at her less than coherent thought processes she took a deep breath, blew it out and opened the door. Time to go face whatever was in store. 'Just don't screw up,' she thought nervously as she padded back toward the living area.
When she entered the room, she stopped and took in the sight of Marcus. His shirt was open down the front showing off a firm chest and nicely chiseled abs and he was sitting in a comfortable looking armchair with an open book in one hand and a wine glass in the other.
"Welcome back," he said with a glance up. He gestured toward a cart with a covered dish on it. "Your meal is there. I hope you like Italian," he drawled with a tiny smirk as his gaze went back to his book.
"Thank you," she muttered as she took the seat by the cart to begin eating. Lifting the lid from the plate, she could see it was some sort of chicken dish and it smelled delicious, though she didn't have much of an appetite. Still, she did her best to eat as much as she could simply because he'd made it pretty clear it was expected.
"How is it that you have food here in the castle?" she asked when she couldn't take the silence any longer.
He smiled but his eyes didn't waver from his book as he answered. "We have many humans who work here, Isabella. They also live here as they cannot be trusted outside these walls. They must eat to live."
She nodded and took another bite as she thought about that. Humans, working here in a castle full of vampires… "I guess that would explain the presence of bathroom facilities too then…" she trailed off with a blush, hardly believing she'd given voice to that random thought.
He laughed lightly and looked at her with one raven brow cocked as she quickly stuffed another bite into her mouth. "While not necessary, I do enjoy a leisurely bath or shower as do most of my kind, but I'm assuming you were referring to the presence of toilets?"
She nodded and ducked her head as she poked at the food on her plate.
"Put simply, when we contracted for bath facilities to be built into the castle, it was easier to have the standard facilities installed by the human contractors than to have to explain why toilets weren't needed. We would have had to kill them if we had and they were local residents. Do you see the dilemma?"
She nodded with a shrug. "I don't suppose there are many vampire construction workers…"
He looked up from his book. "I suppose there may be, but they weren't readily available to us. It was easier to hire the humans and they appreciated the work."
She went back to her food and was able to eat a few more bites before another question came to her mind; one that she knew she would have to discuss with him soon. 'No time like the present…' she thought as she looked over at him while taking a sip of her drink.
"What is it Isabella? I feel your eyes upon me. Is there something you need?" he asked before raising his glass to his lips for a sip of what looked like a dark red wine.
She set her glass down and nodded. "When I left Forks, I left a note for my father telling him I would be home in two days. My friend who's a wolf shifter also knew I was leaving and where I was going…" she trailed off into silence while staring down at her plate before looking back at him.
His brow creased and he set his book aside. "Is there a point to this tale?"
She swallowed thickly and continued. "Well, I was hoping to be able to call my father to tell him I won't be coming home. He's a police chief and has many resources available to find me unless I contact him and wave him off. I wouldn't put it past my friend Jake to tell him I went to Italy either…" she looked into his steady gaze and voiced her fear. "I'm worried they'll come here and try to find me."
His dark eyes narrowed as he studied her for a moment before speaking. "Does your father know of our existence?"
"No!" she denied immediately with widened eyes. "No, I never told a soul, I swear it! Please, leave my family out of this! No one knows a thing."
His shrewd red gaze continued to pierce her as she stared back, waiting on him to say something. "And the shifter?" he questioned. "How sure can you be that he has not shared knowledge of our existence with your father?"
She looked away as her hands trembled. Clenching them into fists to still them, her mind raced for the right words that might appease him. He'd just sussed out her greatest worry in this whole situation because the fact was, she wasn't sure that Jake would keep his mouth shut when it came to trying to get her back. He didn't have the financial resources to get here, but Charlie did. Jake knew this and she was pretty sure he'd do just about anything but she didn't want to admit that to Marcus. She was afraid of what the Volturi would do.
"Please," she murmured as she looked back at him. "Just let me call my father. I'll know more after speaking to him and you can judge the situation for yourself after that. All I ask is that you give me this chance to prevent my father's interference and any harm that might come to him because of it."
He took a sip from his glass while watching her over the rim as he made his decision. He knew if even one wolf shifter came here, his brother Caius wouldn't stop until the whole lot of them were destroyed. He would wage war, not that Marcus cared one way or the other. He remembered vividly Caius' rampage against the children of the moon decades ago. It had been, as they say these days, a huge pain in the ass. Something he'd rather forego for the simple fact that he rather enjoyed his peaceful existence. He was a warrior, to be sure, but he preferred peace. Toward that end, he nodded and set his glass aside as he answered. "I will arrange for a non-traceable phone to be delivered tomorrow. You may call your father and tell him you will not be returning. It is up to you to get him to accept this. If he does not, if he begins searching, he will be dealt with. I'm sure I need not explain how?"
Her eyes misted with tears but she nodded. "No need, I know what you mean."
"In addition to calling your father, you should call your shifter friend and warn him away. If he comes here, my brother will see not only him destroyed, but all of his fellow shifters as well. This is no idle threat, I assure you."
"I understand," she murmured while placing the cover over her plate. "I'm really tired. Would you mind if I go to bed now?" she asked quietly.
"Not at all," he answered while picking his book back up. "The bedroom you shall be using is right next to the bathroom."
"It isn't yours?" she blurted causing him to glance up with an arched brow. "It's just… Well, I thought…" she trailed off with a blush, becoming more mortified with every second he watched her, especially when those supple looking lips curved into a knowing smirk.
"Go to bed Isabella. I shall see you tomorrow."
He went back to reading and she hurried from the room with her head down, doing her best to hide behind the curtain of her hair. 'Why did you say that?!' she screamed at herself mentally. 'Idiot!' she admonished. 'He hasn't really even touched you! What would make you think he wanted…that?'
Entering the bedroom he'd given her, she threw herself onto the huge bed and stuck her face in a pillow as she tried to cool the burn in her cheeks.
When she'd finally calmed, she rose and climbed under the covers, her mind racing from thought to thought until her eyes slowly closed and sleep overtook her exhausted body. She'd survived her first day in a castle full of vampires. Hopefully, she could continue to do so.
Her breath left her in a rush at the finality of his words and she stared up into his face with widened eyes. "Gee, no pressure or anything, right?" she questioned incredulously.
He merely laughed and dropped his hand, his tone flat as he spoke while removing his coat. "The bathroom is through that doorway and down the hall. Go and bathe yourself. You will find a robe there that you may wear until I have more clothing delivered for you," he said as he moved farther into the room while working to loosen his tie.
She stood, unmoving and watched him for moments as he shed everything but his silk shirt and tailored trousers and she couldn't help but think her earlier assessment was correct; he was lithe but pleasingly muscled under those layers of clothing. 'He's gorgeous,' she thought as her teeth nibbled her bottom lip.
He'd just begun unbuttoning the shirt when he glanced up through inky lashes. His eyes caught and held hers as she stared and a blush heated her face as his lips curved into a slow smirk, his dark red eyes glittering wickedly as his fingers slowly continued on with each button.
"I—I'll just go have that bath now…" she stuttered as she rushed from the room, the sound of a low chuckle filtering to her as she hurried into the bathroom and shut the door.
Leaning against the cool wood, she reached down and turned the lock as her heart raced in time with her thoughts. 'What the hell was that?!' she thought. 'And what now Bella?' she chastised herself as her eyes squeezed shut. 'You were just getting your life back, but noooo, you just had to go rushing off with Alice the minute she said the name Edward! And now you're ogling a King—a King that might just decide to kill you soon—jesus!'
The image of Jacob flashed behind her eyes; his face distraught and angry as he'd begged her not to go and she bit her lip as remorse flooded her. She couldn't help but think he'd been right. She shouldn't have come, but what's done is done. The part that worried her now was he knew she was coming to Italy. Would he be stupid enough to tell Charlie?
Would he be crazy enough to come looking for her? She just didn't know and the thought of him finding her here scared the hell out of her because she knew he didn't have a chance in hell of saving her from this place; from these vampires. They were just too… She searched for the correct words to describe them and the only phrase that came to mind was battle-ready, which only made sense. They were nothing like the domesticated Cullen Coven. They were the keepers of the law in the vampire world and this was their fortress.
Opening her eyes, she took a moment to breathe and calm herself. Panicking now wouldn't serve any purpose and would only make things worse. She snorted at such a thought. Could things get much worse?
Pushing off from the door, she made her way to the massive tub and flipped on the tap to begin filling it as her thoughts continued. 'Yes,' she thought realistically, they could be worse. She could be a corpse by now or raped and beaten and she was thankful to realize she wasn't really worried about that happening for some reason. True, she didn't know this King who now claimed possession of her, but she didn't get the impression that he was vicious; not in that way at least and she had to admit, for that small reprieve, she was thankful.
When the tub was full, she stripped and sank into the steaming water with a sigh. It felt heavenly as she'd been chilled to the bone since she'd run through that fountain to get to Edward in time.
'Edward', the name ghosted through her mind and her heart ached as she lifted her arm to examine the bite mark on her wrist; the everlasting reminder of her encounter with James. She'd never really paid much attention to it before but now that she knew what he'd been doing, she could see some areas of the scar that were now more prominent. She supposed this was where he'd been cutting and drawing blood from her as there were no other places that she could see where he might have done it.
Sliding down in the tub, she submerged herself completely as she struggled to leave these thoughts behind, for now at least. She'd never forget, of course, but at the moment, she had more pressing things to worry about, namely how to please a certain Volturi King and live to fight another day, so to speak.
With those thoughts, she sat up and got busy bathing. It wouldn't do to piss Marcus off. He seemed a patient sort; certainly more laid back than either of his brothers, but she didn't really want to test that apparent patience either, and certainly not for something as insignificant as a drawn out bath.
Once done, she stood and rinsed off with the hand held shower and stepped out onto the rug as the tub drained, looking back at it with longing as she wrapped herself in a fluffy towel. It was a luxurious tub and she would have liked to spend more time in it, but again, Marcus was waiting and she wouldn't risk it.
After toweling her hair dry, she found the robe hanging and wrapped herself in it. It was silky and black and way too big for her, but that didn't surprise her since it was obviously his.
Finding a hairbrush, she took a moment to run it through her hair before gathering her clothes and tossing them in the hamper. 'A hamper,' she thought with a snort. 'How very…ordinary…'
Shaking her head at her less than coherent thought processes she took a deep breath, blew it out and opened the door. Time to go face whatever was in store. 'Just don't screw up,' she thought nervously as she padded back toward the living area.
When she entered the room, she stopped and took in the sight of Marcus. His shirt was open down the front showing off a firm chest and nicely chiseled abs and he was sitting in a comfortable looking armchair with an open book in one hand and a wine glass in the other.
"Welcome back," he said with a glance up. He gestured toward a cart with a covered dish on it. "Your meal is there. I hope you like Italian," he drawled with a tiny smirk as his gaze went back to his book.
"Thank you," she muttered as she took the seat by the cart to begin eating. Lifting the lid from the plate, she could see it was some sort of chicken dish and it smelled delicious, though she didn't have much of an appetite. Still, she did her best to eat as much as she could simply because he'd made it pretty clear it was expected.
"How is it that you have food here in the castle?" she asked when she couldn't take the silence any longer.
He smiled but his eyes didn't waver from his book as he answered. "We have many humans who work here, Isabella. They also live here as they cannot be trusted outside these walls. They must eat to live."
She nodded and took another bite as she thought about that. Humans, working here in a castle full of vampires… "I guess that would explain the presence of bathroom facilities too then…" she trailed off with a blush, hardly believing she'd given voice to that random thought.
He laughed lightly and looked at her with one raven brow cocked as she quickly stuffed another bite into her mouth. "While not necessary, I do enjoy a leisurely bath or shower as do most of my kind, but I'm assuming you were referring to the presence of toilets?"
She nodded and ducked her head as she poked at the food on her plate.
"Put simply, when we contracted for bath facilities to be built into the castle, it was easier to have the standard facilities installed by the human contractors than to have to explain why toilets weren't needed. We would have had to kill them if we had and they were local residents. Do you see the dilemma?"
She nodded with a shrug. "I don't suppose there are many vampire construction workers…"
He looked up from his book. "I suppose there may be, but they weren't readily available to us. It was easier to hire the humans and they appreciated the work."
She went back to her food and was able to eat a few more bites before another question came to her mind; one that she knew she would have to discuss with him soon. 'No time like the present…' she thought as she looked over at him while taking a sip of her drink.
"What is it Isabella? I feel your eyes upon me. Is there something you need?" he asked before raising his glass to his lips for a sip of what looked like a dark red wine.
She set her glass down and nodded. "When I left Forks, I left a note for my father telling him I would be home in two days. My friend who's a wolf shifter also knew I was leaving and where I was going…" she trailed off into silence while staring down at her plate before looking back at him.
His brow creased and he set his book aside. "Is there a point to this tale?"
She swallowed thickly and continued. "Well, I was hoping to be able to call my father to tell him I won't be coming home. He's a police chief and has many resources available to find me unless I contact him and wave him off. I wouldn't put it past my friend Jake to tell him I went to Italy either…" she looked into his steady gaze and voiced her fear. "I'm worried they'll come here and try to find me."
His dark eyes narrowed as he studied her for a moment before speaking. "Does your father know of our existence?"
"No!" she denied immediately with widened eyes. "No, I never told a soul, I swear it! Please, leave my family out of this! No one knows a thing."
His shrewd red gaze continued to pierce her as she stared back, waiting on him to say something. "And the shifter?" he questioned. "How sure can you be that he has not shared knowledge of our existence with your father?"
She looked away as her hands trembled. Clenching them into fists to still them, her mind raced for the right words that might appease him. He'd just sussed out her greatest worry in this whole situation because the fact was, she wasn't sure that Jake would keep his mouth shut when it came to trying to get her back. He didn't have the financial resources to get here, but Charlie did. Jake knew this and she was pretty sure he'd do just about anything but she didn't want to admit that to Marcus. She was afraid of what the Volturi would do.
"Please," she murmured as she looked back at him. "Just let me call my father. I'll know more after speaking to him and you can judge the situation for yourself after that. All I ask is that you give me this chance to prevent my father's interference and any harm that might come to him because of it."
He took a sip from his glass while watching her over the rim as he made his decision. He knew if even one wolf shifter came here, his brother Caius wouldn't stop until the whole lot of them were destroyed. He would wage war, not that Marcus cared one way or the other. He remembered vividly Caius' rampage against the children of the moon decades ago. It had been, as they say these days, a huge pain in the ass. Something he'd rather forego for the simple fact that he rather enjoyed his peaceful existence. He was a warrior, to be sure, but he preferred peace. Toward that end, he nodded and set his glass aside as he answered. "I will arrange for a non-traceable phone to be delivered tomorrow. You may call your father and tell him you will not be returning. It is up to you to get him to accept this. If he does not, if he begins searching, he will be dealt with. I'm sure I need not explain how?"
Her eyes misted with tears but she nodded. "No need, I know what you mean."
"In addition to calling your father, you should call your shifter friend and warn him away. If he comes here, my brother will see not only him destroyed, but all of his fellow shifters as well. This is no idle threat, I assure you."
"I understand," she murmured while placing the cover over her plate. "I'm really tired. Would you mind if I go to bed now?" she asked quietly.
"Not at all," he answered while picking his book back up. "The bedroom you shall be using is right next to the bathroom."
"It isn't yours?" she blurted causing him to glance up with an arched brow. "It's just… Well, I thought…" she trailed off with a blush, becoming more mortified with every second he watched her, especially when those supple looking lips curved into a knowing smirk.
"Go to bed Isabella. I shall see you tomorrow."
He went back to reading and she hurried from the room with her head down, doing her best to hide behind the curtain of her hair. 'Why did you say that?!' she screamed at herself mentally. 'Idiot!' she admonished. 'He hasn't really even touched you! What would make you think he wanted…that?'
Entering the bedroom he'd given her, she threw herself onto the huge bed and stuck her face in a pillow as she tried to cool the burn in her cheeks.
When she'd finally calmed, she rose and climbed under the covers, her mind racing from thought to thought until her eyes slowly closed and sleep overtook her exhausted body. She'd survived her first day in a castle full of vampires. Hopefully, she could continue to do so.
DISCLAIMER: Twilight and its inclusive material is copyright to Stephenie Meyer. Original creation, including but not limited to plot and characters, is copyright to the respective authors of each story. No copyright infringement is intended.