New Development

Edward

My Beast just confessed to her and claimed her. Part of me accepted this, but part of me was jealous. Why does he get to have a mate while I was robbed of mine? But the Ara that surfaced earlier wasn't my Ara. She initially felt like her but her smile faltered and with that so did her mask. There is something dark about this Ara compared to my intended who was all light. Her light was what I loved most about her. It was infectious. She would have made the perfect mother and Queen. This one…this one I can't allow to have Bella. Bella is mine!

I hope my Beast is ready to share. I push him back causing his horns to disappear and the red to fade from his eyes. I sit up, resting against the padded headboard. I pull Bella onto my lap. "What my Beast was trying to explain is that you will be our Queen. We want you as ours, Bella…only ours."

She shook her head. "The Beast may want me. You, as you are now, only wanted me so that I could rid you of your curse so that you could return to the light and find Ara." She looked down. What she was saying had been true, it had been true up until moments ago. My lightness was returning because of her, but I didn't want to be that pathetic Edward again. When Ara had said that she wanted the old Edward back, her Edward, I had become repulsed. My Beast became enraged. I don't want to revert back to who I was before I turned dark, just as I don't want Bella to be Ara. I am glad she is different. I just hope that I have not snuffed out the fire inside of her that drew me to her and made my Beast claim her.

I run my hands down her body and rest them on her thighs. "Bella, please look at me," I urged. "I speak for all aspects of myself right now; the light, the dark, and The Beast." I take in a breath. "When my Beast first saw you, he wanted you. My dark Fae self saw you as a way to end the curse. The light Fae in me saw you as a way to become myself again and kill The Beast." I had to fight back a growl from him. "I have always lived in the shadows of goodbye because my father obliterated Ara's soul. I sought the Darkness and used it to get my revenge. Earlier, she returned in your body. At first, I was happy as both my light and dark Fae, but my Beast was furious. As Ara talked, I realized it wasn't the one who I had known. Her soul was pure light and the one talking through you was dark."

I cup her face. "You have had a fire in you that captivates me. It has diminished and I know that my cruelty is to blame. You are my Beast's mate, but I want you too. Me, Edward of Light and Dark, want you as my intended. Not to end my curse but to fill my life with a fire capable of transforming the darkness. So, Bella, will you be mine?"

Bella

Now I know why I felt strange. Ara took over my body and robbed me of experiencing Edward. Why had she done that? Does she need him for something? Obviously, she must because her soul was gone forever. Did she want mine? Did she want Edward's? Those thoughts pissed me off. How dare she! Finally, I have a man, even if part of him is a Beast, who wants me. No undead bitch is going to take that away from me. But how can I stop whatever she has become? I am just a human who lives among the Fae. 

I run my nails along his chest. "Before I answer you, I need to tell you the truth." He swallows hard and I find myself leaning down to kiss his nose. "I forgive you for how you treated me. You were at war with yourself and I know how that can change anyone. I too have warred with myself, but when I gave in I realized that it gave me power. There's power in submission. My life in the human world was boring. I dreamed of a place teeming with life and being enough. Oddly, I found some of that here." I placed my palm over his heart. "The rest might be here."

I pulled my hand back and noticed my light handprint on his tanned skin. He looked at it before his steely dark eyes met mine, "You can have any version of me you wish. That is if you will be mine."

Maybe this is the real him. All of it before was his hurt and pain he was forced to endure daily as he was haunted by the shadows of goodbye. Could I really be his? Maybe…just maybe. "Yes, but…" He went to pull me close but stopped. "Know that no matter how harsh you were with me, I never betrayed you. I never left my room unless to serve you. Not just because I wanted to live, but because I chose to." I touched the mark on my neck. "But the day you marked me, I had done nothing wrong. That guard had snuck into my room while I slept. At first, I had thought it was one of my visions. I kept my eyes slightly closed and looked through my lashes. I saw a sinisterness to him. I felt fear that he might return and do something to me in my sleep so I stopped sleeping whenever he was in the castle."

"I will kill him!" he roared.

"No. Not because of me. I just wanted you to know the truth of that day since you helped me make sense of my visions." 

His hands pulled my face to his. "You are mine. Let me properly mark you." I nodded. He kissed me passionately before he broke the kiss to run his tongue along my jaw and over his mark. Soon I felt the bite but there was no sting, only pure bliss. I moaned and melted into him. A smile accompanied by an idea formed.

I pulled back and ran my nails down his chest. "I am yours." I lifted my hips and lowered my pussy down, taking his cock deep inside of me. I started to rock my hips as we both moaned. I leaned down, letting my lips ghost his. "Now all of you is mine." I kissed him before I bit his neck and sucked. Satisfied with the hickey I had left, I gazed into his eyes as I upped my pace and he bucked from below. His fingers gripped hard into my hips, almost bruising them as we both cried out each other's names.

 He cried out, "Bella!" as he came. He said my name, not Ara's. He chose me, not a bastardized version of her. 

I collapsed on top of him. My thumbs traced small circles where his horns had been. I ran my fingers through his hair. "I like this Edward the most."

He chuckled, but stopped before he resumed, chuckling louder than before. "I should have not fought with myself. I was an idiot and I won't be stupid like that ever again. I won't fail you, Bella." 

His hand touched his side and a dagger appeared. It was the one that I had seen pierce Ara's neck. "If I fail you, kill me."

I kissed him before I kissed the dagger and pushed it back to him. "You won't fail me."

He caressed my face as he looked into my eyes. "You are my destiny, my Queen, and my fate." I had no words to match his, so I just kissed him until we both went to sleep exhausted but happy.