Eclipse (Twilight Saga #3)(127)

I exhaled with a loud huff. "I have to marry you first?" I asked in disbelief.

"That's the deal-take it or leave it. Compromise, remember?"

His arms wrapped around me, and he began kissing me in a way that should be illegal. Too persuasive-it was duress, coercion. I tried to keep a clear head . . . and failed quickly and absolutely.

"I think that's a really bad idea," I gasped when he let me breathe.

"I'm not surprised you feel that way." He smirked. "You have a one-track mind."

"How did this happen?" I grumbled. "I thought I was holding my own tonight-for once-and now, all of a sudden-"

"You're engaged," he finished.

"Ew! Please don't say that out loud."

"Are you going back on your word?" he demanded. He pulled away to read my face. His expression was entertained. He was having fun.

I glared at him, trying to ignore the way his smile made my heart react.

"Are you?" he pressed.

"Ugh!" I groaned. "No. I'm not. Are you happy now?"

His smile was blinding. "Exceptionally." 

I groaned again.

"Aren't you happy at all?"

He kissed me again before I could answer. Another too-persuasive kiss.

"A little bit," I admitted when I could speak. "But not about getting married."

He kissed me another time. "Do you get the feeling that everything is backward?" he laughed in my ear. "Traditionally, shouldn't you be arguing my side, and I yours?"

"There isn't much that's traditional about you and me."

"True."

He kissed me again, and kept going until my heart was racing and my skin was flushed.

"Look, Edward," I murmured, my voice wheedling, when he paused to kiss the palm of my hand. "I said I would marry you, and I will. I promise. I swear. If you want, I'll sign a contract in my own blood."

"Not funny," he murmured against the inside of my wrist.

"What I'm saying is this-I'm not going to trick you or anything. You know me better than that. So there's really no reason to wait. We're completely alone-how often does that happen?-and you've provided this very large and comfortable bed . . ."

"Not tonight," he said again.

"Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

Using the hand that he was still kissing, I pulled his face back up to where I could see his expression.

"Then what's the problem? It's not like you didn't know you were going to win in the end." I frowned and muttered, "You always win."

"Just hedging my bets," he said calmly.

"There's something else," I guessed, my eyes narrowing. There was a defensiveness about his face, a faint hint of some secret motive he was trying to hide behind his casual manner. "Are you planning to go back on your word?"

"No," he promised solemnly. "I swear to you, we will try. After you marry me."

I shook my head, and laughed glumly. "You make me feel like a villain in a melodrama-twirling my mustache while I try to steal some poor girl's virtue."

His eyes were wary as they flashed across my face, then he quickly ducked down to press his lips against my collarbone.

"That's it, isn't it?" The short laugh that escaped me was more shocked than amused. "You're trying to protect your virtue!" I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle the giggle that followed. The words were so . . . old-fashioned.

"No, silly girl," he muttered against my shoulder. "I'm trying to protect yours. And you're making it shockingly difficult."

"Of all the ridiculous-"

"Let me ask you something," he interrupted quickly. "We've had this discussion before, but humor me. How many people in this room have a soul? A shot at heaven, or whatever there is after this life?"

"Two," I answered immediately, my voice fierce.

"All right. Maybe that's true. Now, there's a world full of dissension about this, but the vast majority seem to think that there are some rules that have to be followed."

"Vampire rules aren't enough for you? You want to worry about the human ones too?"

"It couldn't hurt." He shrugged. "Just in case."

I glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"Now, of course, it might be too late for me, even if you are right about my soul."

"No, it isn't," I argued angrily.

"'Thou shalt not kill' is commonly accepted by most major belief systems. And I've killed a lot of people, Bella."




 

 

"Only the bad ones."

He shrugged. "Maybe that counts, maybe it doesn't. But you haven't killed anyone-"

"That you know about," I muttered.

He smiled, but otherwise ignored the interruption. "And I'm going to do my best to keep you out of temptation's way."