BELLA'S POV

"Do you think they will help us?" I asked Damon, looking down at our joined hands. Damon was sitting in the rocking chair with me in his lap, playing with my fingers while occasionally placing a warm kiss on my neck, face or any other place he could reach.

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Chelsea will but the others have to figure out whether or not they will remain loyal to Aro after everything he's done. Only then can I be sure of whom they will stand by in case of a war."

"What about the rest of the Volturi? How do you think they will react to Aro's betrayal?" I wanted to know.

"I'm not sure," he sighed. "They are very unpredictable but I don't think Marcus will take the news too well. He loved Didyme very dearly and we were actually looking forward to starting his life with her outside the Volturi. And she was Caius' sister. Nothing will be as it was before which is why Aro is so desperate to prevent me from revealing anything."

Millions of questions and a big dose of uncertainty swirled around in my head but I kept my mouth shut for now. Damon knew what he was doing and for now we just had to wait for Demetri, Felix and Alec to come to terms with what Damon had told them.

Something else, however, lingered in my head. "Damon?"

"Yeah?" he murmured, gazing at our hands as he continued to toy with my fingers, twisting ours together. Every now and then when he paused to kiss me ever so deeply on my lips my train of thoughts would come to a halt. My brain turned all hazy every time his lips touched my skin.

Where was I…?, I shook my head, oh, yeah… "You mentioned a girl, Lana…." I started asking.

"Yes? What about her?" His fingers stroked the side of my face and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear.

"You said something about her powers. You said she had a shield kinda like what I have," I said.

He nodded and hummed yes.

"But you said she was capable of, like, pushing it out and shield other people," I continued looking at him, mind full of questions.

"Yeah, that's what Chelsea said. While you can shield all of your mind from Aro, Edward and Jane, Lana can only shield parts of her own but she can also do it to others," he told me. "Where are you getting at with this, Bella?"

I shrugged and looked down almost sheepishly. "I was just curious. I mean, do you think that maybe I would ever be able to do that?"

He was silent for a moment, thinking. "I think that you would be able to but not while still human," he said the last word with a cautious glance at me.

This subject had remained in the background for so long. None of us had dared bring it up until now. It was kind of sensitive, I guess. I knew that Edward wanted me to stay human, that he wanted to prevent me from becoming immortal but I wasn't sure where Damon was in all of this. Did he want me to become a vampire? Would he even want me for so long? I know he said he did everything he could to protect me so he could keep me but would he want to for all eternity?

"Bella?" His arms tightened around me bringing me back to him. "What are you thinking?"

I bit my lip and felt my face heat up. "I-I just… I mean, w-would you…" I groaned. Why was this so hard for me to ask?

I squirmed in his lap under the intense gaze he fixed on me. His eyes were so deep and longing but I couldn't get myself to meet them. I kept squirming, searching for words.

"Bella," this time my name came out in a growl, a warning growl. My eyes shot to his, finally looking at him. "We're having a serious conversation but if you don't stay still it won't continue to be serious," he warned me with eyes darker than before. My mouth had gone completely dry as his hands found my hips and tightened on them in order to keep me from moving.

My cheek exploded with heat but I couldn't look away from him like I normally would have done.

His head tilted to the side and he raised an eyebrow, looking amused. "Or maybe you enjoy torturing me like this?"

Faster than I could comprehend he had me turned so that my legs were on each side of him. Never had I blushed as deeply as he made me straddle him.

"Do you Bella?" he asked while smirking. His hands were still on my hips but was now sneaking up just a bit, crawling underneath the shirt so his palms were on my waist. My skin was on fire as his touched mine with no barrier between.

"What?" I mumbled incoherently. I forgot what he asked.

He laughed, the sound no louder than a breath. He leaned forward so his lips were at my ear. "Do you enjoy teasing me?"

I shook my head weakly. "N-no. I'm not doing anything," I insisted breathily.

He hummed deep in his chest and it made me shiver. "Hmm, so it would seem. But maybe that's what makes it all the more alluring. You're the most tempting creature I've ever come across," he murmured this as he placed a deep kiss on my throat. I felt his teeth graze my skin. "And you don't even know it. The things you do…" he laughed through his nose and kissed under my jaw. "You are so desirable and yet so innocent that it makes it even more appealing."

My whole body was trembling. And then one thought came to mind.

Was he gonna drink from me?

The thought made me gasp. Whether it was fear, excitement or something else I had no idea. My heart beat even faster if that was even possible.

"A-are you… I mean… Do y-you…" I whispered, trying to form the question but my mouth wouldn't cooperate.

"Bella?" Damon slowly lifted his head to look at me. His face was so close that our noses almost touched. I could feel his breath on my parted lips.

He stared deep into my eyes. "Are you afraid of me?" he asked me, sounding almost surprised. He kissed my lips gently. "Please, don't be, Bella. Don't be scared. I would never ever hurt you."

I shook my head. "N-no, that's not… I wasn't…"

Damon looked at me kindly. "Please, talk to me," he bent forward again and kissed me on the forehead. "You know," he kissed my left cheek. "you can," my right cheek. "tell me," my nose. "anything," then he let his lips press against mine for a second.

"Are you gonna drink from me?" the words slipped out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Damon stiffened underneath me and slowly looked me in the eye. "Why do you ask that?" he asked me in a low voice.

His gaze was so intense that I had to look away. I bit my lip and looked down at my fingers playing with the hem of my shirt. I shrugged, truly not knowing what had made me think of that.

"Bella?" he murmured. "Bella look at me," he demanded softly.

When I didn't comply I felt his fingers under my chin and he raised until I had no choice but to look at him. His hands moved to cup my face, thumbs stroking the apples of my cheeks. Heat rose underneath his fingertips and I was lost in the depth of his eyes.

"Bella," he started, his voice gentle but at the same time firm. "I would never do anything you don't want me to do. Never will I break my vow and hurt you in any way." Now he was the one to look away. "There was a time where I couldn't have cared less about what happened to the humans I fed on. I didn't really care that I hurt them." Then he snorted. "And as unwilling as I am to admit it, Elena and Stefan are actually the ones who got me to stop."

I had to confess that I got just a little bit jealous of Elena when Damon said that.

"But Bella," he said, looking back at me. "They might have been the ones to make me stop killing and hurting humans but I only complied so that I got them off my back. But you Isabella Swan," his voice became passionate. "You are the one who made me truly understand what Elena and Stefan was trying to tell me," the he laughed humorlessly. "God, do you have any idea how many humans you have saved simply because you chose me? Because of you I just can't take blood from anyone without permission. Because of you, no matter how corny it sounds, I'm saved."

I hadn't even noticed that tears had filled my eyes as a small laugh escaped me at his last words.

He leaned his forehead against mine while staring intensely at me. "So don't you ever think that I could do anything hurtful to you. Your blood it your own. It is not mine to take. Don't think I would ever do that to you."

I nodded just a bit. I could feel that I needed to set it right, to make things straight. I needed to tell him that I hadn't been afraid.

"Damon?"

"Hmm?"

"It wasn't… I mean, I wasn't scared…" I muttered lowly. My teeth were imbedded in my lower lip as his head and eyes rose to stare at me.

"What?" he laughed. "So you wanted me to drink your blood or what?" he asked while chuckling, thinking that I was merely joking.

I shrugged weakly. "Maybe…" I whispered, almost worried about his reaction.

He looked at me, his eyes searching mine for anything that could tell him I wasn't being serious. When he finally realized that I wasn't kidding, that I was dead serious, all humor left his face.

It was weird that after having known Damon for so long and spent so much time with him, I didn't think I had ever seen the change so close and like happening in a situation like this.

His eyes slowly moved until they stared at my throat. The fascination in his eyes was almost hypnotizing and it captured my gaze so completely that I couldn't look away.

The skin around his eyes darkened and his pupils dilated until they made his eyes black as coal. His grip tightened on my hips and his entire body tensed under me. I could see the slight dips in his lower lip where his fangs had appeared and almost pierced his own skin.

Then he was gone.

I was sitting alone in the chair like I normally would do; feet on the floor, knees bent in the right angle. Damon, on the other hand was standing with his back to the wall, on the other side of the room. His hands were sunk into his hair, gripping it tightly in his fists.

"Bella," his voice was coarse, husky but most of all strained. "You can't just say things like that. It won't do… you can't… I can't…" he fumbled with the words. "You can't tempt me like that!" he yelled at last, looking at me. His face hadn't changed back.

He looked down, bent over while supporting his hands on his knees. He spent a couple of minutes taking deep breathes. I just sat paralyzed in the chair, my hands limp in my lap and my voice gone.

He sighed deeply. "God…" he cursed. He raised his head and looked at me, his eyes finally back to normal. "God, at least warn a fucker."

I nodded, not knowing what else to do.

Damon finally straightened up and leaned his head back against the wall. His eyes closed as he continued to take in measured breaths.

"I'm sorry if I sacred you."

I shook my head. "You didn't," my voice came out weakly, on the brink of breaking. I cleared my throat and tried again. "You didn't. I was just… surprised," even I heard how lame that word sounded.

He snorted. "Yeah, it sure was one hell of a surprise." He sighed. "Look, maybe we shouldn't talk about this anymore…"

"Why not?" I interrupted. I looked at him, trying to read his face.

"Bella…"

"You have done it before." I interrupted. His face looked pained as he stared back at me.

"I know but…"

"Do you not like how I taste? It that why you don't want to drink from me again?" I asked. My questions were border lining hysteria but I couldn't stop myself.

"Of course I do! Of course I fucking love how you taste! Of course I want to drink from you again!" he shouted frustrated. He put his face in his hands. "More than anything…" he almost whispered it as if talking to himself but I heard it.

My hands balled up into fists as I made my decision. I stood from the chair and took one step in his direction. My hand lifted up to brush my hair from one shoulder and gather it on the other. I took a deep breath and gazed at him until he brought his stare back to me and our eyes met.

"Then do it."

A/N: Should he, should he not…?

Sorry, for the wait. My life has been pretty hectic and I haven't really had any real time to concentrate on the fanfic. I know it's pretty short but it was either that or make you guys wait another two weeks :S

Chapters as of right now are mostly fluff and sweetness and the plot has been paused just a bit. With all that's going on in the real world this is a place for me to escape and make things all good and lovely.

Thanks to all of you who reviewed and let me know what you thought of the last chapter! You guys are the best! :D

Love it? Hate it? Let me know! :D