Pinned but Fluttering

Chapter 49

     “But Bella, I just had a Skype session with Christian Siriano about your gown, and he loved my additions to his sketch. Just take one look, Bella—“

     Lightning quick, I spun out of my fiancé’s comforting arms and found myself crouching in front of my tiny wedding-planner-gone-wild, her eyes huge with shock at my unexpected rebellion.

     “Listen, Alice. I said NO. As in Not. Now. And do not keep bothering me every blessed moment I am not being tortured by Eleazar. GOT IT?”  Practically before the last word was out of my mouth, I had flown up the two flights of stairs into my third-story room beside Edward’s, slamming my bedroom door shut. My lack of self-control caused a hairline crack in the thick oak door as I plopped myself (with slightly more care this time) onto the dormer window seat with an impressive growl.

     Great. Esme was going to scold me now for destroying my door.

     The scene below my window was lovely, with Esme’s beautiful garden and the gazebo spread out twenty feet below me. But I took in little of my favorite view from the house as I dropped my head in my hands.

     I wanted to cry. I was frustrated beyond belief at my inability to wrap my head around this supposed “talent” that seemed to be much more of a nuisance than a gift at the moment. And Eleazar’s unending patience—not to mention Edward’s—made me feel even more guilty…if such a thing were possible.

     I even felt guilty for blowing up at Alice just now.

     Well, almost.

     Then I heard a sound that was both welcome and unwelcome at the moment. With unseeing eyes I looked out the window, my back to the door as he walked down the hallway and paused at my closed bedroom door.

     Of course I would know the cadence of his footsteps anywhere. Closing my eyes, I tried to calm myself so that I wouldn’t upset my mate… my fiancé… my Edward. Swallowing hard, I kept my face averted as he quietly opened the door and entered, shutting the damaged door behind him.

     Wordlessly he approached, coming to a stop behind me. “Do you want company?” he asked tentatively.

     I must have really shocked him for Edward to be so unsure of his welcome.

     “Only yours,” I said stiffly…and it wasn’t much of an exaggeration. Yes, I really wanted to be alone for a few moments, something that hadn’t happened since my “great escape” from the family a week ago. But if I had to have someone with me, Edward was definitely my choice.

     Resting his hands on my shoulders as I continued staring out the window, he silently started massaging gently but firmly along the back of my neck, between my shoulder blades, along my upper arms, returning to rub my shoulders again. Even though massages were quite different for vampires than for humans, Edward’s touch calmed me, and I felt my tense body relaxing beneath his gentle, skilled hands.

     Not realizing that I had been so stressed that I had been holding my breath since I had left Alice behind downstairs, I exhaled slowly.