“Climb on my back.”She stared at me for a moment, hesitating. I wasn’t sure whether she was wary of this idea of mine, or just wasn’t sure exactly how to approach me. We were very new to this physical closeness, and there was still plenty of shyness between us.Deciding that the latter was the problem, I made it easy for her.I lifted her from the ground and gently arranged her limbs around me as if for a piggyback ride. Her pulse quickened and her breath caught, but once she was in place, her arms and legs constricted around me. I felt enveloped in the warmth of her body.“I’m a bit heavier than your average backpack.” She sounded worried—that I might not be able to bear her weight?“Hah,” I snorted.It struck me how easy it was, not to carry her insignificant weight, but to have her literally wrapped around me. My thirst was so wholly overshadowed by my happiness that it barely caused me any conscious pain.I took her hand from where it was gripped around my neck, and held her palm to my nose. I inhaled as deeply as I could. Yes, there the pain was. Real, but unimpressive. What was a little fire to all this light?“Easier all the time,” I breathed.I took off at a relaxed lope, choosing the smoothest route back to our starting point. It would cost me a few extra seconds to go the long way, but we would still get to her truck in minutes rather than hours. It was better than to jostle her with a more vertical path.Another new, joyous experience. I’d always loved to run—for nearly a hundred years, it had been my purest physical happiness. But now, sharing this with her, no distance between us bodily or psychically, I realized how much more pleasure there could be in simply running than I’d ever imagined. I wondered if it thrilled her as much as it did me.One qualm nagged at me. I’d been in a hurry to get her home as soon as that seemed to be her wish. However… surely we should have concluded that most momentous interlude with a proper finale, a sort of seal on our new understanding? A benediction. But I’d been too hasty to realize it was missing until we were already in motion.It wasn’t too late. My system was electrified again as I thought of it: a true kiss. Once I’d assumed it impossible. Once I’d mourned that this impossibility seemed to hurt her as well as me. Now I was sure it was both possible… and fast approaching. The electricity ricocheted around the inside of my stomach and I wondered why humans had thought to name such a wild sensation butterflies.I slowed to a smooth stop just a few paces from where she’d parked.“Exhilarating, isn’t it?” I asked, eager for her reaction.She didn’t respond, and her limbs retained their taut grip around my waist and neck. A few quiet seconds passed with no answer. What was wrong?“Bella?”Her breath came in a gasp, and I realized that she’d been holding it. I should have noticed that.“I think I need to lie down,” she said faintly.“Oh.” I was in dire need of practice with human. I hadn’t even thought of the possibility of motion sickness. “I’m sorry.”I waited for her to release her hold, but she didn’t relax one locked muscle.“I think I need help,” she whispered.With slow, gentle movements I freed first her legs, then her arms, and pulled her around so that I was holding her cradled against my chest.The state of her complexion alarmed me at first, but I had seen this same chalky green before. I’d held her in my arms that day, too, yet what a wholly different affair it was now.I knelt down and set her on a soft patch of ferns.“How do you feel?”“Dizzy… I think.”“Put your head between your knees,” I advised.She complied automatically, as if this was a practiced response.I sat beside her. Listening to her measured breathing, I found that I was more anxious than the situation merited. I knew this was nothing serious, just a bit of queasiness, and yet… seeing her pale and ill bothered me more than was reasonable.A few moments later, she lifted her head experimentally. She was still pale, but not as green. A faint sheen of sweat covered her brow.“I guess that wasn’t the best idea,” I muttered, feeling like an ass.She smiled a wan smile. “No, it was very interesting,” she lied.“Hah,” I huffed sourly. “You’re as white as a ghost—no, you’re as white as me.”She took a slow breath. “I think I should have closed my eyes.” As she said the words, her lids followed suit.“Remember that next time.” Her color was improving, and my tension eased in direct correlation with the pink infusing her cheeks.“Next time?” She groaned theatrically.I laughed at her sham scowl.“Show-off,” she muttered. Her lower lip jutted out, rounded and full. It looked incredibly soft. I imagined how it would give, bringing us even closer.I rolled to my knees, facing her. I felt nervous, and restless, and impatient, and unsure. The yearning to be closer to her reminded me of the thirst that used to control me. This, too, was demanding, impossible to ignore.Her breath was hot against my face. I leaned closer.“Open your eyes, Bella.”She complied slowly, looking up at me through her dense lashes for a moment before lifting her chin so that our faces were aligned.“I was thinking, while I was running…” My voice trailed off; this was not the most romantic beginning.Her eyes narrowed. “About not hitting the trees, I hope.”I chuckled as she tried to hold back a grin. “Silly Bella. Running is second nature to me. It’s not something I have to think about.”“Show-off,” she repeated, with more emphasis this time.We were off topic. It was surprising this was even possible, close as our faces were. I smiled and redirected.“No, I was thinking there was something I wanted to try.”I put my hands lightly on either side of her face, leaving her plenty of room to move away if this was unwelcome.Her breath caught, and she automatically angled her head closer to mine.I used an eighth of a second to recalibrate, testing every system in my body to be completely positive that nothing would take me off guard. My thirst was well under control, sublimated to the very bottom of my physical needs. I regulated the pressure in my hands, in my arms, the way my torso curved toward her, so that my touch would be lighter against her skin than the breeze. Though I was sure the precaution was unnecessary, I held my breath. There was no such thing as too careful, after all.Her eyelids slid shut.I closed the tiny distance between us, and pressed my lips softly against hers.Though I’d thought I was prepared, I was not entirely ready for the combustion.What strange alchemy was this, that the touch of lips should be so much more than the touch of fingers? It made no logical sense that simple contact between this specific area of skin should be so much more powerful than anything I’d yet experienced. It felt as if a new sun was bursting into being where our mouths met, and my whole body was filled to a shatter point with the brilliant light of it.I only had a fraction of a second to grapple with the potency of this kiss before the alchemy impacted Bella.She gasped in reaction, her lips parting against mine, the fever of her breath burning my skin. Her arms wound around my neck, her fingers twisted into my hair. She used that leverage to crush her lips more tightly to mine. Her lips felt warmer than before, as fresh blood flowed into them. They opened wider, an invitation.…An invitation it would not be safe for me to accept.Gingerly, with the lightest force possible, I eased her face away from mine, leaving my fingertips in place against her skin to keep her at that distance. Apart from that small shift, I held myself motionless and tried, if not to ignore the temptation, at least to separate myself from it. I noted the unpleasant return of a few predatory reactions—an excess of venom in my mouth, a tightening in my core—but these were superficial responses. While perhaps it would be unfair to say that rationality was in total control, at least it was not a feeding passion that made that statement untrue. A much more agreeable passion held me in its thrall. Its nature, however, did not eliminate the need to moderate it.Bella’s expression was both overwhelmed and apologetic.“Oops,” she said.I couldn’t help but think what her innocent actions might have precipitated just a few hours ago.“That’s an understatement,” I agreed.She was unaware of the progress I’d made today, but she had always acted as if I were in perfect control of myself, even when it wasn’t true. It was a relief to finally feel as if I deserved some of that trust.She tried to move back, but my hands were locked around her face. “Should I…?”“No,” I assured her. “It’s tolerable. Wait for a moment, please.”I wanted to be very careful that nothing was escaping me. Already, my muscles had relaxed and the influx of venom dissipated. The urge to wrap my arms around her and continue the alchemy of kissing was a harder impulse to deny, but I used my decades of practicing self-control to make the right choice.“There,” I said when I was totally calm.She was fighting another smile. “Tolerable?” she asked.I laughed. “I’m stronger than I thought.” I would have never believed how in control I was able to be now. This was very rapid progress indeed. “It’s nice to know.”“I wish I could say the same. I’m sorry.”“You are only human, after all.”She rolled her eyes at my weak joke. “Thanks so much.”The light that had filled my body during our kiss lingered. I felt so much happiness, I wasn’t sure how to contain it all. The overwhelming joy and general bemusement made me worry I wasn’t being responsible enough. I should take her home. It wasn’t so hard to think of ending this afternoon’s utopia, because we would leave together.I stood and offered her my hand. This time she took it quickly, and I pulled her to her feet. She wobbled there, looking unsteady.“Are you still faint from the run?” I asked. “Or was it my kissing expertise?” I laughed out loud.She wrapped her free hand around my wrist to steady herself. “I can’t be sure,” she teased. “I’m still woozy. I think it’s some of both, though.” Her body swayed closer to mine. It seemed intentional rather than vertiginous.“Maybe you should let me drive.”All disequilibrium seemed to vanish. Her shoulders squared. “Are you insane?”If she were driving, I would need her to keep both hands on the wheel and I could do nothing to distract her. If I were driving, however, there would be much more leeway.“I can drive better than you on your best day. You have much slower reflexes.” I smiled so that she would know I was teasing. Mostly.She didn’t argue with the facts. “I’m sure that’s true, but I don’t think my nerves, or my truck, could take it.”I tried to do the dazzling thing she’d accused me of before. I still wasn’t exactly sure what qualified. “Some trust, please, Bella?”It didn’t work, perhaps because she was looking down. She patted her jeans pocket, then pulled out her key and wrapped her fingers into a fist around it. She looked up again, and shook her head.“Nope,” she told me. “Not a chance.”She started toward the road, stepping around me. Whether she was actually still dizzy or just moved clumsily, I didn’t know. But she staggered on the second step and I caught her before she could fall. I pulled her against my chest.“Bella,” I breathed. All the jocularity vanished from her eyes, and she leaned into me, her face tilted up toward mine. Kissing her immediately seemed like both a fantastic and a terrible idea. I forced myself to err on the side of caution.“I’ve already expended a great deal of personal effort at this point to keep you alive,” I reminded her in a playful tone. “I’m not about to let you behind the wheel of a vehicle when you can’t even walk straight. Besides, friends don’t let friends drive drunk,” I concluded, quoting the Ad Council slogan. It was a dated reference for her; she’d been only three when the campaign was launched.“Drunk?” she protested.I grinned a crooked smile at her. “You’re intoxicated by my very presence.”She sighed, accepting defeat. “I can’t argue with that.” Holding her fist up, she let the key drop from her hand and fall into mine.“Take it easy,” she cautioned. “My truck is a senior citizen.”“Very sensible.”Her lips pursed into a frown. “And are you not affected at all? By my presence?”Affected? She’d utterly transformed every part of me. I barely recognized myself.For the first time in a hundred years, I was grateful to be what I was. Every aspect of being a vampire—all but the danger to her—was suddenly acceptable to me, because it was what had let me live long enough to find Bella.The decades I had endured would not have been so difficult had I known what was waiting for me, that my existence was advancing toward something better than I could have imagined. It had not been years of killing time, as I had thought; it had been years of progress. Refining, preparing, mastering myself so that I could have this now.I wasn’t entirely sure of this new self yet; the violent ecstasy suffusing my every cell seemed unsustainable in the long term. Still, I never wanted to go back to the old me. That Edward seemed unfinished now, incomplete. As though half of him was missing.It would have been impossible for him to do this—I leaned down and pressed my lips to the corner of her jaw, just above her pulsing artery. I let my lips brush softly along her jawline to her chin, and then kissed my way back to her ear, feeling the velvet give of her warm skin under the faint pressure. I returned slowly to her chin, so close to her lips. She shivered in my arms, reminding me that what was unprecedented warmth for me was icy winter to her. I loosed my hold.“Regardless,” I whispered in her ear. “I have better reflexes.”