If I'd ever feared death before in the presence, it was nothing compared to now.
He streaked through the dark, thick underbrush of the forest like a bullet, like a ghost.
There was no sound, no evidence that his feet touched the earth.
His breathing never changed, never indicated and effort.
But the trees flew por at deadly speeds, always missing por inches.
I was too terrified to close my eyes, though the cool forest air whipped against my face and burned them.
I felt as if I were stupidly sticking my head out the window of an airplane in flight.
And, for the first time in my life, I felt the dizzy faintness of motion sickness.
Then it was over. We'd hiked for hours this morning to reach Edward's meadow, and now in a matter of minutes, we were back to the truck.
"Exhilarating, isn't it?" His voice was high, excited.
He stood motionless, waiting for me to climb down.
I tried, but my muscles wouldn't respond. My arms and legs stayed locked around him while my head spun uncomfortably.
"Bella?" he asked, anxious now.
"I think I need to lie now," I gasped.
"Oh, sorry." He waited for me, but I still couldn't move.
"I think I need help," I admitted.
He laughed quietly, and gently unloosened my strangle-hold on his neck.
he pulled me around hes waist even though my legs were tight around hes waist, he held my arms so i wouldnt fall
and he put my hands in hes messed up hair, I couldn't breathe.
suddenly i was pushed back against the huge árvore
and his cold, marble lips pressed fiercely against mine.
What neither of us was prepared for was my response.
Blood boiled under my skin, burned in my lips.
My breath came in a wild gasp. My fingers still knotted in his hair, clutching him to me.
He sighed letting his sweet, delicious scent of his breath blow against my lips.
My lips parted as I breathed in his delicious scent.
His lips parted and his tougue lightly traced my lips stopped.
He chuckled.
His hands gently, but with irresistable force, pushed my face back.
I opened my eyes and saw his guarded expression.
"Oops," I breathed.
"That's an understatement."
His eyes were wild, his jaw clenched in acute restraint, yet he didn't lapse from his perfect articulation.
And he took my face in his hands again.
I couldn't breathe yet again.
Edward hesitated to test himself, to see if it was safe, to make sure he was still in control of his need again.
And then his cold, marble lips pressed softly against mine.
Again, Blood boiled under my skin, burned in my lips.
My breath came in a wild gasp.
And he pushed my face back yet again.
He held my face just inches from his. He dazzled my eyes.
"That was....Fun." His voice was excited
"Should I...?" I tried to disengage myself, to give him some room.
His hands refused to let me mover so much as an inch.
"No, it's tolerable. Wait for a moment, please." His voice was polite, controlled.
I kept my eyes on his, watched as the excitement in them faded and gentled.
Then he smiled a surprisingly implish grin.
"There," he said, obviously pleased with himself.
"Tolerable?" I asked.
He laughed aloud. "I'm stronger than I thought. It's nice to know."
"I wish I could say the same. I'm sorry."
"You are only human, after all."
"Thanks so much," I said, my voice acerbic.
He held me gently and pulled me off the árvore and placed me on my feet.
My balance had not yet returned.
I fell and in a instant he caught me.
"Are you still faint from the run? Or was it my beijar expertise?" How lighthearted,
how human he seemed as he laughed now, hie seraphic face untroubled.
He was a different Edward than the one I had known. And I felt all the mais besotted por him.
It would cause me physical pain to be separated from him now.
"I can't be sure, I'm still woozy," I managed to respond. "I think it's some of the beijar mais than the run."
"I'm surely happy about that.. Maybe you should let me drive."
"Are you insane?" I protested.
"I can drive better than you on your best day," he teased. "You have much slower reflexes."
"I'm sure that's true, but I don't think my nerves, or my truck, could take it."
"Some trust, please, Bella."
My hand was in my pocket, curled tightly around the key. I pursed my lips, deliberated, then shook my head with a tight grin.
"Nope. Not a chance."
He raised his eyebrows in disbelief.
I started to step around him, heading for the driver's side. He might have let me pass if I hadn't wobbled slightly.
Then again, he might not have. His arm created an inescapable snare around my waist.
"Bella, I've already expended a great deal of personal effort at this point to keep you alive.
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." he wuoted with a chuckle.
I could smell the unbearably sweet fragrance coming off his chest.
"Drunk?" I objected.
"You're intoxicated por my very presence." He was grinning that playful smirk again.
"I can't argue with that," I sighed. There was no way around it; I couldn't resist him in anything.
I held the key high and dropped it, watching his hands flash like lightning to catch it soundlessly.
"Take it easy - my truck is a senior citizen."
"Very sensible," he approved.
"And are you not affected at all?" I asked, irked. "By my presence?"
Again his mobile features transformed, his expression became soft, warm.
He didn't answer at first; he simply bent his face to mine, and brushed his lips slowly along the top-right of my jaw,
Across my cheek,My lips and to my left-side jaw. I trembled.
"Regardless," he finally murmured, "I have better reflexes."

End of chapter 13..