A Soul Darkened
by Laura Spudzmom
Chapter 18:
Wine tasting with Demetri's friend Alex had been fun and relaxing. It was nice to just simply 'be' for a day and not worry about any of the drama that had permeated my life since leaving Seattle.
When we made our way back to the castle, I could literally feel the weight settle back on my shoulders. There were many things that were still unresolved and I had a very foreboding feeling about it all for some reason.
Demetri and I had nearly made it into the reception area when Felix approached.
"Hey you two. We are all to report to the throne room as soon as possible. We had just been waiting on your return."
Looking over and meeting eyes with Demi, I sighed. I fucking hate it when these strange feelings turn out to be right.
Demetri took my hand.
"We'll meet you outside the throne room just as soon as we get changed and grab our cloaks."
Nodding, Felix left us to go flirt with Giana at her desk, and Demetri and I took off toward our rooms. We had yet to discuss moving back in together, and I was pretty nervous to do so. Not that I didn't want to, I just didn't want to be hurt if he turned me down.
Yeah, pretty chicken shit, I know, especially since all hesitations in our relationship had been all on my part in the past.
Giving myself a mental shake, I opened my door, giving him a kiss. "I'll see you in just a bit. Come by and pick me up?"
He slipped his hand behind my head and brought me to his lips for a deep kiss, breaking it with a nip to my bottom lip.
"Of course." He smiled and left me to change.
I sighed, this time in a bit of awe of the man that Demetri is. Jesus, I felt like a schoolgirl in love. Giddy didn't quite cover it, and me and my goofy smile made our way to the bedroom to change into something more appropriate for the throne room, tingling girlie parts and all.
We assembled in front of the daïs and bowed to the kings. We were all pretty curious about what was going on since the Kings didn't usually call all of the Elite together unless it was something important.
Aro, as usual, was the one to address us.
"Ah, my lovely Elite Guards. How good it is to see you all together again." He clapped his hands together and fairly bounded from his seat, pacing back and forth as he spoke.
"As I'm sure you're all aware, we have been postponing making a decision where the Denali coven is concerned." He turned sharply and paced back to the center.
"We have made that decision my lovelies. We are summoning them here. If they do not present themselves within the next week, you all will be sent out to retrieve them, just as you did the Cullen coven. Thus far, no action is required on your parts. I simply wanted you to be aware and prepared."
Clasping his hands together at the small of his back, Aro bent forward slightly toward our group with a wide smile.
"You are all dismissed."
We all filed out and looked at each other. It had been a while since we had trained together and I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing. We needed to spar.
I decided to bring it up.
"So who's up for some sparring?" Demetri grabbed me around the waist, pulled me close and kissed my neck. "I'm always up for it Cara, but then you know this."
I laughed and the rest of the group groaned in unison.
Felix smirked at Demetri. Men.
Trying valiantly to tweak Demetri's nipple, I addressed the rest of the group.
"Meet back at the training room in ten for some training?"
Everyone agreed and went separate ways.
Demetri waited while I changed into some closer fitting clothes. I loved the whole visual effect the cloaks had on others, but for fighting, well, to put it bluntly, they were a pain in the ass.
We made it to his rooms and I got to watch him change. He was mouth watering. I approached him and ran my hands over his chest that was now clad in a tight t-shirt, paired with jeans that hugged his form deliciously.
Pressing against him, I kissed his neck. "Christ Demetri, but you are one well put together specimen." I ran one hand all the way down to grip him through his jeans and he groaned.
"Cara, If you don't stop that now, we won't be going anywhere because I will pin you to that wall right there and fuck you until you beg me to stop."
I'll be the first to admit it. He made me wet right then and there. But…..we needed to train.
I straightened up and met his eyes with a smirk. "Hold that thought my love because that's how I want you when we get done training."
So saying, I took off for the training room as fast as I could. I knew he wouldn't be in any shape to come after me for a few minutes at the least.
I was already watching the spar session between Jane and Alec when he finally showed up looking very disgruntled. He shot me a dirty look and I smiled widely at him as he approached me.
Grabbing me around the waist, he whisper growled in my ear. "You are in for it when we get done here today Cara." He let me go and walked over to speak to Felix while I tried desperately to recover my composure. I shivered at the look in his eyes when he looked back at me with a wicked smirk.
When Jane and Alec were done I took the center of the room and waited on my opponent. I had expected Felix but Demetri took his place.
With a gentlemanly flourish of his arm out to his side and then across his middle, he bowed and looked up.
"Your move Cara."
And thus began one of the most heated sparring sessions I had ever participated in. The sexual tension was thick in the air as we moved around each other; assessing, waiting, anticipating.
Finally I sprang at him and he dodged with a smirk grabbing my arm and flipping me at the last second. I twisted mid air and landed on my feet, ready for him again.
He came at me then and the fight was on, moving too quickly for any of those observing to catch every move. We had both studied martial arts and hand to hand combat, but it was obvious that I hadn't lived to train for a thousand years and eventually his vast amount of experience and skill manifested; he had me pinned against his chest. I yielded and the crowd we had drawn the attention of began to applaud.
I turned in his arms and he kissed me passionately, pulling me close, until the applause turned to cat calls and whistles. We both laughed and looked in each others eyes.
"Shall we take this to a more appropriate venue Cara?"
"You can't get me there fast enough Demetri."
Leaving the room and the noise we made it to an empty hall that didn't see much traffic. I'll admit, I was desperate for him. The sparring had only amplified my need and it seemed that he felt the same.
Only bothering to loosen and remove what was necessary, Demetri spun me to face the wall, whispering in my ear. "Brace yourself."
Feeling him nudge my legs apart, I did as he suggested and braced against the wall just as he entered me and began to fuck me mercilessly, grabbing my hair and tugging my head to the side to suck on his mark.
Closing my eyes, I lost myself in the sensations; the delicious feeling of his hard silky cock as he filled me again and again, his breath and lips against my neck, hands gripping tightly to my hips.
The sound of my desperation was loud in the deserted hallway as my orgasm built; moans and pants escaping my lips.
I pushed my hips back into his grip, begging him to fuck me harder and he didn't disappoint.
Leaning away from me for leverage, his powerful thrusts jolted my body with every stroke inward, taking me over that edge I was on and I felt my inner muscles grip him tightly as my orgasm ripped through me.
My eyes rolled as I closed them, tilting my head back, moaning his name out long and loud, feeling him slam into me once more, his cock pulsing with the force of his release.
His arms came around my shoulders and chest, gathering me close as he whispered his love to me; once again my sweet Demetri. I turned my head kissing and nuzzling his neck as I felt him slip from my body.
Turning in his embrace, our lips found each other, tongues tangling and tasting, stroking and exploring. I broke our kiss with a nip and a lick to his bottom lip, smiling at the ridiculousness of our location and haphazard appearance.
He caressed my face with the backs of his fingers, smiling at me in question. "What has you smiling so Cara?"
"Oh, just the thought that we could be found at any moment, especially with all of the noise we just made."
He arched a brow and adopted an arrogant smirk.
"We? You were the one making all the noise my love."
He dodged as I took a swipe at him and shot me a boyish grin as he began righting his clothes. I rolled my eyes and looked around for my panties and pants, locating them in opposite directions before hastily redressing.
Exiting the hallway, Demetri and I froze.
There, standing in a group, were the rest of the Elites, all with identical smirks in place, except for poor Alec who was looking a bit sheepish and staring at his shoes.
Giving them a flat look, I shot them the finger.
"Oh fuck you guys. I thoroughly enjoyed myself."
Felix' smirk transformed into a wicked smile.
"Oh, we know."
And he took off with me after him just seconds later, swearing retribution.
Third Person POV:
There was a sense of urgency overriding the simmering anger of the group as they met this day; the last they would be able to in the light of recent events.
"We must devise a plan that is completely fool proof. We absolutely cannot afford to leave any holes or have any mistakes or mishaps. We will have one chance to accomplish our mission, and it will mean instant death to us all if we screw this up. It needs to be iron clad before leaving here today. We will not have an opportunity to discuss any of this once we arrive at our destination."
Surveying her co-conspirators, she took note of the identical expressions of determination mixed with a righteous controlled rage burning in their eyes and nodded to herself in satisfaction.
They had to succeed. They could not fail. They would have their vengeance even if that vengeance was their final act upon this earth.
So thinking, she gathered them all around the table and they began to finalize their plan detail by detail.
Bella:
I was wandering the castle, looking for Jane with an absolutely giddy grin on my face that I was sure matched the fluttery feeling in my gut. I had made a decision that had the potential to either culminate in the best event of my life, or blow up in my face as the greatest disaster. Saying I was working myself into a huge case of nerves just didn't quite cover it.
I found her in the common room where everyone could go to just relax and hang out with each other. She was reading a book as I flopped next to her on the couch.
"Jane, I need your help. I need to plumb the endless depths of your bottomless well of wisdom." All of this I said, hands pressed together in front of me as if in prayer, bowing at the waist.
She laughed just before almost succeeding in shoving me off of the couch with her foot. "You sarcastic bitch. I still can't fathom why I put up with the endless depths of your bottomless well of bullshit."
Laughing, I shoved her back. "You know you love me. Somehow we have managed to claw our way into each others evil blackened hearts Jane. I wouldn't know what to do without you. You're my sister from another mister, a few generations removed of course."
Rolling her eyes, she closed her book and set it to the side.
"Alright, you have my undivided attention, oh master of the golden dung shovel. What is it that you need?"
I grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the couch.
"Not here. I need privacy."
She smirked and began patting her hair as I dragged her along to my rooms.
"If you wanted to experiment and stretch your boundaries Bella, all you had to do was say so. I think that Demetri might even want to watch."
Shooting her a derisive look I opened my door and dragged her through, closing and locking it behind us.
"Be serious you hussy. We'll work on getting you laid after you help me with what I'm about to talk to you about."
She sighed and sat on my couch, pulling out her smokes and lighting up.
"Story of my life, I suppose. Alright, spill. What's so important that you had to drag my happy ass in here as opposed to just telling me earlier? I was just at the good part of that book, you know. Now I'm gonna have to go back a few paragraphs to get the mood back."
She smirked.
"Alright, first, I didn't need to know any of that. Second, I need your help."
I looked at her nervously as I lit my cigarette and took a deep drag, blowing it out and trying to find the balls to come out and tell her my decision. I felt pretty fucking stupid at this point for being this nervous, so I finally just came out with it.
"I'm going ring shopping, and I need you to go with me. The set has to be perfect."
I met her eyes. "I'm going to ask Demetri to marry me."
She had just taken a deep drag, so she looked pretty damn ridiculous with her eyes wide, mouth open, with smoke filtering out of her nose and mouth in little wispy tendrils as she stared at me in shock.
Finally recovering her ability to function, she blew out the rest of the smoke, got up, grabbed the tequila and glasses and sat back down.
Handing me my shot, she downed hers before speaking.
"Are you fucking serious Bella? Is this for real? Because once you put that out there, I will kick your fucking ass if you even think about backing out of it. No cold feet or nervous bullshit; no fucking him around, I mean it."
I met her hardened stare levelly.
"No bullshit Jane. This is for real, and I wouldn't expect any less of you. I would want you to kick my ass if I fuck this up, but I'm not going to. I want to commit to him and bind myself to him completely, in every way."
I downed my shot, set the glass back on the table and met her stare as she studied me.
I guess what she saw in my expression convinced her and she nodded.
"Okay then. Let's do this."
She met me in the parking garage a half hour later, a clueless looking Felix trailing behind her. I shot her a confused look, one brow raised in question.
"We need his opinion as far as what Demetri will like. He knows him best, and he was able to grab a ring from his room without Demetri suspecting a thing. We need it for the sizing."
Realization dawned for Felix and a wide grin split his face.
"Seriously? That's what this is all about?"
Jane slapped a hand over his mouth. "Shh, not here. We'll explain on the way. He nodded, we all got in the car and took off.
Half hour later, I was about ready to kill Felix. If one more jewelry store jingle or slogan came out of his mouth, he wouldn't survive to see another day.
"Felix, I don't know who encouraged you to start watching television religiously, but it's clear to me that you have absorbed and can regurgitate every commercial you've ever heard. It's not an endearing quality, and I'm about to choke the shit out of you."
He grinned back at me where I sat in the rear passenger seat.
"Ah Bella, I'm just trying to help in the decision of where to go to shop. Because you know…." and to my horror he began to sing. "Every kiss begins with Kayyyyyy."
Jane's eyes met mine in the rearview mirror as Felix giggled to himself at his cleverness, and she shook her head.
"You can kill him later Bella. For now, we need to SERIOUSLY figure out where to go."
I sat back trying my best to blast holes into the back of Felix' head with my eyesight alone, when Jane pulled into the lot behind a small shop located down a quiet side street.
We all got out and Jane turned to me.
"Believe it or not, but this place is actually own by one of our kind. He does most of his business with our kind, especially the Volturi. He makes all of the pendents and any special requests that we have. I thought you might like to look here first before braving a mall."
"Jesus yes. This is perfect. I was dreading a mall, especially with dragging Re-Run here along."
"Hey! I think you just hurt my feelings." He actually had the nerve to pout as he held the door open for me to the shop. I rolled my eyes as I passed him, patting his cheek in consolation.
"Come on Re-Run, I need your advice."
Just fifteen minutes, and two trays of rings later and I spotted the perfect set. It was platinum and black onyx with diamond accents on both rings and the diamonds were set in the infinity pattern. They were beautiful and when I checked, they were even sized correctly.
I held them up for Jane and Felix to see.
"Oh god Bella, they're perfect! What do you think Felix?
Jane and I both looked up at him. His gaze was fixed on the set, his expression serious. He smiled the most genuine smile I had ever seen from him.
"Bella, you've just found the ring. It matches his tastes, and he'll be touched beyond measure."
Feeling a small satisfied smile overtake me, I turned to the jeweler.
"I'll take these. Can you box them separately please?"
Nodding, he took the tray they were in and headed into the back.
I sighed in relief, but this was the easy part. Now came the asking.
I found him in his rooms, reclined on his bed with a book. He looked up as I walked in and dropped my cloak on the end of his bed laying myself down along side it. He raised an eyebrow at me as I smirked and lit a cigarette, silently studying him for moments. We said nothing, just taking each other in. Reaching into my cloak pocket, I removed the box and tossed it to him.
He opened it staring at the contents for a moment before looking at me, his expression perplexed.
I took a deep drag off my cig, blew the smoke up and away from us and asked the question that could either make or break me.
"So, will you make an honest woman of me Demetri?"
Wine tasting with Demetri's friend Alex had been fun and relaxing. It was nice to just simply 'be' for a day and not worry about any of the drama that had permeated my life since leaving Seattle.
When we made our way back to the castle, I could literally feel the weight settle back on my shoulders. There were many things that were still unresolved and I had a very foreboding feeling about it all for some reason.
Demetri and I had nearly made it into the reception area when Felix approached.
"Hey you two. We are all to report to the throne room as soon as possible. We had just been waiting on your return."
Looking over and meeting eyes with Demi, I sighed. I fucking hate it when these strange feelings turn out to be right.
Demetri took my hand.
"We'll meet you outside the throne room just as soon as we get changed and grab our cloaks."
Nodding, Felix left us to go flirt with Giana at her desk, and Demetri and I took off toward our rooms. We had yet to discuss moving back in together, and I was pretty nervous to do so. Not that I didn't want to, I just didn't want to be hurt if he turned me down.
Yeah, pretty chicken shit, I know, especially since all hesitations in our relationship had been all on my part in the past.
Giving myself a mental shake, I opened my door, giving him a kiss. "I'll see you in just a bit. Come by and pick me up?"
He slipped his hand behind my head and brought me to his lips for a deep kiss, breaking it with a nip to my bottom lip.
"Of course." He smiled and left me to change.
I sighed, this time in a bit of awe of the man that Demetri is. Jesus, I felt like a schoolgirl in love. Giddy didn't quite cover it, and me and my goofy smile made our way to the bedroom to change into something more appropriate for the throne room, tingling girlie parts and all.
We assembled in front of the daïs and bowed to the kings. We were all pretty curious about what was going on since the Kings didn't usually call all of the Elite together unless it was something important.
Aro, as usual, was the one to address us.
"Ah, my lovely Elite Guards. How good it is to see you all together again." He clapped his hands together and fairly bounded from his seat, pacing back and forth as he spoke.
"As I'm sure you're all aware, we have been postponing making a decision where the Denali coven is concerned." He turned sharply and paced back to the center.
"We have made that decision my lovelies. We are summoning them here. If they do not present themselves within the next week, you all will be sent out to retrieve them, just as you did the Cullen coven. Thus far, no action is required on your parts. I simply wanted you to be aware and prepared."
Clasping his hands together at the small of his back, Aro bent forward slightly toward our group with a wide smile.
"You are all dismissed."
We all filed out and looked at each other. It had been a while since we had trained together and I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing. We needed to spar.
I decided to bring it up.
"So who's up for some sparring?" Demetri grabbed me around the waist, pulled me close and kissed my neck. "I'm always up for it Cara, but then you know this."
I laughed and the rest of the group groaned in unison.
Felix smirked at Demetri. Men.
Trying valiantly to tweak Demetri's nipple, I addressed the rest of the group.
"Meet back at the training room in ten for some training?"
Everyone agreed and went separate ways.
Demetri waited while I changed into some closer fitting clothes. I loved the whole visual effect the cloaks had on others, but for fighting, well, to put it bluntly, they were a pain in the ass.
We made it to his rooms and I got to watch him change. He was mouth watering. I approached him and ran my hands over his chest that was now clad in a tight t-shirt, paired with jeans that hugged his form deliciously.
Pressing against him, I kissed his neck. "Christ Demetri, but you are one well put together specimen." I ran one hand all the way down to grip him through his jeans and he groaned.
"Cara, If you don't stop that now, we won't be going anywhere because I will pin you to that wall right there and fuck you until you beg me to stop."
I'll be the first to admit it. He made me wet right then and there. But…..we needed to train.
I straightened up and met his eyes with a smirk. "Hold that thought my love because that's how I want you when we get done training."
So saying, I took off for the training room as fast as I could. I knew he wouldn't be in any shape to come after me for a few minutes at the least.
I was already watching the spar session between Jane and Alec when he finally showed up looking very disgruntled. He shot me a dirty look and I smiled widely at him as he approached me.
Grabbing me around the waist, he whisper growled in my ear. "You are in for it when we get done here today Cara." He let me go and walked over to speak to Felix while I tried desperately to recover my composure. I shivered at the look in his eyes when he looked back at me with a wicked smirk.
When Jane and Alec were done I took the center of the room and waited on my opponent. I had expected Felix but Demetri took his place.
With a gentlemanly flourish of his arm out to his side and then across his middle, he bowed and looked up.
"Your move Cara."
And thus began one of the most heated sparring sessions I had ever participated in. The sexual tension was thick in the air as we moved around each other; assessing, waiting, anticipating.
Finally I sprang at him and he dodged with a smirk grabbing my arm and flipping me at the last second. I twisted mid air and landed on my feet, ready for him again.
He came at me then and the fight was on, moving too quickly for any of those observing to catch every move. We had both studied martial arts and hand to hand combat, but it was obvious that I hadn't lived to train for a thousand years and eventually his vast amount of experience and skill manifested; he had me pinned against his chest. I yielded and the crowd we had drawn the attention of began to applaud.
I turned in his arms and he kissed me passionately, pulling me close, until the applause turned to cat calls and whistles. We both laughed and looked in each others eyes.
"Shall we take this to a more appropriate venue Cara?"
"You can't get me there fast enough Demetri."
Leaving the room and the noise we made it to an empty hall that didn't see much traffic. I'll admit, I was desperate for him. The sparring had only amplified my need and it seemed that he felt the same.
Only bothering to loosen and remove what was necessary, Demetri spun me to face the wall, whispering in my ear. "Brace yourself."
Feeling him nudge my legs apart, I did as he suggested and braced against the wall just as he entered me and began to fuck me mercilessly, grabbing my hair and tugging my head to the side to suck on his mark.
Closing my eyes, I lost myself in the sensations; the delicious feeling of his hard silky cock as he filled me again and again, his breath and lips against my neck, hands gripping tightly to my hips.
The sound of my desperation was loud in the deserted hallway as my orgasm built; moans and pants escaping my lips.
I pushed my hips back into his grip, begging him to fuck me harder and he didn't disappoint.
Leaning away from me for leverage, his powerful thrusts jolted my body with every stroke inward, taking me over that edge I was on and I felt my inner muscles grip him tightly as my orgasm ripped through me.
My eyes rolled as I closed them, tilting my head back, moaning his name out long and loud, feeling him slam into me once more, his cock pulsing with the force of his release.
His arms came around my shoulders and chest, gathering me close as he whispered his love to me; once again my sweet Demetri. I turned my head kissing and nuzzling his neck as I felt him slip from my body.
Turning in his embrace, our lips found each other, tongues tangling and tasting, stroking and exploring. I broke our kiss with a nip and a lick to his bottom lip, smiling at the ridiculousness of our location and haphazard appearance.
He caressed my face with the backs of his fingers, smiling at me in question. "What has you smiling so Cara?"
"Oh, just the thought that we could be found at any moment, especially with all of the noise we just made."
He arched a brow and adopted an arrogant smirk.
"We? You were the one making all the noise my love."
He dodged as I took a swipe at him and shot me a boyish grin as he began righting his clothes. I rolled my eyes and looked around for my panties and pants, locating them in opposite directions before hastily redressing.
Exiting the hallway, Demetri and I froze.
There, standing in a group, were the rest of the Elites, all with identical smirks in place, except for poor Alec who was looking a bit sheepish and staring at his shoes.
Giving them a flat look, I shot them the finger.
"Oh fuck you guys. I thoroughly enjoyed myself."
Felix' smirk transformed into a wicked smile.
"Oh, we know."
And he took off with me after him just seconds later, swearing retribution.
Third Person POV:
There was a sense of urgency overriding the simmering anger of the group as they met this day; the last they would be able to in the light of recent events.
"We must devise a plan that is completely fool proof. We absolutely cannot afford to leave any holes or have any mistakes or mishaps. We will have one chance to accomplish our mission, and it will mean instant death to us all if we screw this up. It needs to be iron clad before leaving here today. We will not have an opportunity to discuss any of this once we arrive at our destination."
Surveying her co-conspirators, she took note of the identical expressions of determination mixed with a righteous controlled rage burning in their eyes and nodded to herself in satisfaction.
They had to succeed. They could not fail. They would have their vengeance even if that vengeance was their final act upon this earth.
So thinking, she gathered them all around the table and they began to finalize their plan detail by detail.
Bella:
I was wandering the castle, looking for Jane with an absolutely giddy grin on my face that I was sure matched the fluttery feeling in my gut. I had made a decision that had the potential to either culminate in the best event of my life, or blow up in my face as the greatest disaster. Saying I was working myself into a huge case of nerves just didn't quite cover it.
I found her in the common room where everyone could go to just relax and hang out with each other. She was reading a book as I flopped next to her on the couch.
"Jane, I need your help. I need to plumb the endless depths of your bottomless well of wisdom." All of this I said, hands pressed together in front of me as if in prayer, bowing at the waist.
She laughed just before almost succeeding in shoving me off of the couch with her foot. "You sarcastic bitch. I still can't fathom why I put up with the endless depths of your bottomless well of bullshit."
Laughing, I shoved her back. "You know you love me. Somehow we have managed to claw our way into each others evil blackened hearts Jane. I wouldn't know what to do without you. You're my sister from another mister, a few generations removed of course."
Rolling her eyes, she closed her book and set it to the side.
"Alright, you have my undivided attention, oh master of the golden dung shovel. What is it that you need?"
I grabbed her hand and pulled her up from the couch.
"Not here. I need privacy."
She smirked and began patting her hair as I dragged her along to my rooms.
"If you wanted to experiment and stretch your boundaries Bella, all you had to do was say so. I think that Demetri might even want to watch."
Shooting her a derisive look I opened my door and dragged her through, closing and locking it behind us.
"Be serious you hussy. We'll work on getting you laid after you help me with what I'm about to talk to you about."
She sighed and sat on my couch, pulling out her smokes and lighting up.
"Story of my life, I suppose. Alright, spill. What's so important that you had to drag my happy ass in here as opposed to just telling me earlier? I was just at the good part of that book, you know. Now I'm gonna have to go back a few paragraphs to get the mood back."
She smirked.
"Alright, first, I didn't need to know any of that. Second, I need your help."
I looked at her nervously as I lit my cigarette and took a deep drag, blowing it out and trying to find the balls to come out and tell her my decision. I felt pretty fucking stupid at this point for being this nervous, so I finally just came out with it.
"I'm going ring shopping, and I need you to go with me. The set has to be perfect."
I met her eyes. "I'm going to ask Demetri to marry me."
She had just taken a deep drag, so she looked pretty damn ridiculous with her eyes wide, mouth open, with smoke filtering out of her nose and mouth in little wispy tendrils as she stared at me in shock.
Finally recovering her ability to function, she blew out the rest of the smoke, got up, grabbed the tequila and glasses and sat back down.
Handing me my shot, she downed hers before speaking.
"Are you fucking serious Bella? Is this for real? Because once you put that out there, I will kick your fucking ass if you even think about backing out of it. No cold feet or nervous bullshit; no fucking him around, I mean it."
I met her hardened stare levelly.
"No bullshit Jane. This is for real, and I wouldn't expect any less of you. I would want you to kick my ass if I fuck this up, but I'm not going to. I want to commit to him and bind myself to him completely, in every way."
I downed my shot, set the glass back on the table and met her stare as she studied me.
I guess what she saw in my expression convinced her and she nodded.
"Okay then. Let's do this."
She met me in the parking garage a half hour later, a clueless looking Felix trailing behind her. I shot her a confused look, one brow raised in question.
"We need his opinion as far as what Demetri will like. He knows him best, and he was able to grab a ring from his room without Demetri suspecting a thing. We need it for the sizing."
Realization dawned for Felix and a wide grin split his face.
"Seriously? That's what this is all about?"
Jane slapped a hand over his mouth. "Shh, not here. We'll explain on the way. He nodded, we all got in the car and took off.
Half hour later, I was about ready to kill Felix. If one more jewelry store jingle or slogan came out of his mouth, he wouldn't survive to see another day.
"Felix, I don't know who encouraged you to start watching television religiously, but it's clear to me that you have absorbed and can regurgitate every commercial you've ever heard. It's not an endearing quality, and I'm about to choke the shit out of you."
He grinned back at me where I sat in the rear passenger seat.
"Ah Bella, I'm just trying to help in the decision of where to go to shop. Because you know…." and to my horror he began to sing. "Every kiss begins with Kayyyyyy."
Jane's eyes met mine in the rearview mirror as Felix giggled to himself at his cleverness, and she shook her head.
"You can kill him later Bella. For now, we need to SERIOUSLY figure out where to go."
I sat back trying my best to blast holes into the back of Felix' head with my eyesight alone, when Jane pulled into the lot behind a small shop located down a quiet side street.
We all got out and Jane turned to me.
"Believe it or not, but this place is actually own by one of our kind. He does most of his business with our kind, especially the Volturi. He makes all of the pendents and any special requests that we have. I thought you might like to look here first before braving a mall."
"Jesus yes. This is perfect. I was dreading a mall, especially with dragging Re-Run here along."
"Hey! I think you just hurt my feelings." He actually had the nerve to pout as he held the door open for me to the shop. I rolled my eyes as I passed him, patting his cheek in consolation.
"Come on Re-Run, I need your advice."
Just fifteen minutes, and two trays of rings later and I spotted the perfect set. It was platinum and black onyx with diamond accents on both rings and the diamonds were set in the infinity pattern. They were beautiful and when I checked, they were even sized correctly.
I held them up for Jane and Felix to see.
"Oh god Bella, they're perfect! What do you think Felix?
Jane and I both looked up at him. His gaze was fixed on the set, his expression serious. He smiled the most genuine smile I had ever seen from him.
"Bella, you've just found the ring. It matches his tastes, and he'll be touched beyond measure."
Feeling a small satisfied smile overtake me, I turned to the jeweler.
"I'll take these. Can you box them separately please?"
Nodding, he took the tray they were in and headed into the back.
I sighed in relief, but this was the easy part. Now came the asking.
I found him in his rooms, reclined on his bed with a book. He looked up as I walked in and dropped my cloak on the end of his bed laying myself down along side it. He raised an eyebrow at me as I smirked and lit a cigarette, silently studying him for moments. We said nothing, just taking each other in. Reaching into my cloak pocket, I removed the box and tossed it to him.
He opened it staring at the contents for a moment before looking at me, his expression perplexed.
I took a deep drag off my cig, blew the smoke up and away from us and asked the question that could either make or break me.
"So, will you make an honest woman of me Demetri?"
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