knowing it would not last, and wishing more strongly than usual that it could. "Good weather for
sunbathing." Well, it would be by Saturday. She would enjoy that.
"Won't I see you tomorrow?"
The worry in her tone pleased me.
"No. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early." I was mad at myself now for having made the plans.
I could break them...but there was no such thing as too much hunting at this point, and my family was
going to be concerned enough about my behavior without me revealing how obsessive I was turning.
"What are you going to do?" she asked, not sounded happy with my revelation. Good.
"We're going to be hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier."#p#分页标题#e#
Emmett was eager for bear season.
"Oh, well, have fun," she said halfheartedly. Her lack of enthusiasm pleased me again.
As I stared at her, I began to feel almost agonized at the thought of saying even a temporary goodbye.
She was just so soft and vulnerable. It seemed foolhardy to let her out of my sight, where anything could
happen to her. And yet, the worst things that could happen to her would result from being with me.
"Will you do something for me this weekend?" I asked seriously.
She nodded, her eyes wide and bewildered by my intensity.
Keep it light.
"Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet.
So...try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?"
I smiled ruefully at her, hoping she couldn't see the sadness in my eyes. How much I wished that she
wasn't so much better off away from me, no matter what might happen to her there.
Run, Bella, run. I love you too much, for your good or mine.
She was offended by my teasing. She glared at me. "I'll see what I can do," she snapped, jumping out
into the rain and slamming the door as hard as she could behind her.
Just like an angry kitten that believes it's a tiger.
I curled my hand around the key I'd just picked from her jacket pocket, and smiled as I drove away.
7. Melody
I had to wait when I got back to school. The final hour wasn't out yet. That was good, because I had
things to think about and I needed the alone time.
Her scent lingered in the car. I kept the windows up, letting it assault me, trying to get used to the feel of
intentionally torching my throat.
Attraction.
It was a problematic thing to contemplate. So many sides to it, so many different meanings and levels.
Not the same thing as love, but tied up in it inextricably.
I had no idea if Bella was attracted to me. (Would her mental silence somehow continue to get more
and more frustrating until I went mad? Or was there a limit that I would eventually reach?)
I tried to compare her physical responses to others, like the secretary and Jessica Stanley, but the
comparison was inconclusive. The same markers-changes in heart rate and breathing patterns-could just
as easily mean fear or shock or anxiety as they did interest. It seemed unlikely that Bella could be
entertaining the same kinds of thoughts that Jessica Stanley used to have. After all, Bella knew very well
that there was something wrong with me, even if she didn't know what exactly it was. She had touched
my icy skin, and then yanked her hand away from the chill.
And yet...as I remembered those fantasies that used to repulse me, but remembered them with Bella in
Jessica's place...
I was breathing more quickly, the fire clawing up and down my throat.
What if it had been Bella imagining me with my arms wrapped around her fragile body? Feeling me pull
her tightly against my chest and then cupping my hand under her chin? Brushing the heavy curtain of
her hair back from her blushing face? Tracing the shape of her full lips with my fingertips? Leaning my
face closer to hers, where I could feel the heat of her breath on my mouth? Moving closer still...
But then I flinched away from the daydream, knowing, as I had known when Jessica had imagined these
things, what would happen if I got that close to her.
Attraction was an impossible dilemma, because I was already too attracted to Bella in the worst way.
Did I want Bella to be attracted to me, a woman to a man?
That was the wrong question. The right question was should I want Bella to be attracted to me that way,
and that answer was no. Because I was not a human man, and that wasn't fair to her.
With every fiber of my being, I ached to be a normal man, so that I could hold her in my arms without
risking her life. So that I could be free to spin my own fantasies, fantasies that didn't end in with her
blood on my hands, her blood glowing in my eyes.
My pursuit of her was indefensible. What kind of relationship could I offer her, when I couldn't risk
touching her?
I hung my head in my hands.
It was all the more confusing because I had never felt so human in my whole life-not even when I was