A/N: Now, Eclipse is my favorite book out of all of them, and this is just a little something I thought would have made it even better, had the books been slightly more adult in nature. :-) Yeah, these characters belong to Stephenie Meyer, I just like to make stuff up!

Quoted from Eclipse:

"Now let me treat your hand – you've gotten the cut dirty."

"Let me do it, please."

He took my hand and smiled as he examined it. "This doesn't bother me anymore."

BPOV

He held onto my hand staring at it, breathing evenly. Maybe he was just testing himself, making sure that what he had told me was, indeed, true.

When he didn't move after several seconds, I tried to pull my hand away to take care of it myself, but he wouldn't let go of me.

"Really, it's fine. I can take care of it. Just let go and I'll clean it." He was making me feel uneasy. Not scared, more like worried; for him rather than myself.

"Bella... be still a moment. It's okay, I won't hurt you." He closed his eyes and I didn't know what on earth he was doing. Should I be scared?

I really wanted him to let go of me now, but there was no way I could make him let go if he didn't want to. "Edward? Are you alright? What're you doing?"

"I'm... fine. It's just... I feel... I don't know how to describe it."

"Thirsty?" I gulped nervously and I felt my heart skip. It was the first time in a very long time that I had been genuinely afraid of him.

A small smile formed on his lips again. "No, Bella, of course not. Thirst is not my problem right now."

So there was a problem. He lifted my hand closer to his face, toward his mouth. He kept breathing, however. I tried to recall the last time I noticed him holding his breath around me, and I couldn't.

I knew Edward could hear my heart pounding, he knew I was scared. I tried to control my breathing so I could speak. "Then what is the problem?"

He finally opened his eyes and it made me even more frightened of him. "Please don't be afraid. I swear to you, I won't hurt you. I'm not thirsty."

"Then why are your eyes black?" There was no disguising the panic in my voice.

He pulled me close, holding me tightly to him. Normally, I would be thrilled to have him so close, but I was confused and didn't know what to think. I felt his cool breath at my ear when he began to whisper to me.

"I didn't know... I had no idea that..." He wasn't making sense to me. He was still holding my hand up while he held me to him with his other arm.

His lips were barely touching the skin below my ear and my fear was quickly becoming something I was much more familiar with. The reason I was breathless now wasn't the same as before. "Didn't know what?"

He pulled back enough that he could look at me. He slowly began to bring my injured hand even closer to his face. He inhaled deeply with my spilled blood only inches away from his nose. How could he do that? There wasn't much blood, but it was more than the drop that caused Jasper to attack.

"Bella, I promise... it's okay. I won't hurt you. Just be still. Please." I didn't know what he wanted from me, but he looked like he was about to bring my hand to his mouth.

This was insane! I should run, but I knew there was no point. I was no match for him, I couldn't get away no matter how I tried. "Trust me. I love you, I could never hurt you." His voice was the same velvet as always, but it sounded pained. Why would he do this to himself?

I did the only thing I could. I stood as still as possible and looked on in horror as he brought my open wound to his mouth and gently kissed it.

His lips were cold, which I expected, and it actually felt kind of nice on my sore flesh. I inhaled sharply when I felt his lips part and the tip of his tongue lightly touch my skin.

He held me a little tighter, but moved very slowly. Whether it was for his benefit or mine, I wasn't sure, but he didn't hurt me.

I was surprised at how much better the puncture felt. It must have been the coolness of his tongue. I was still trying to figure out what was happening when I thought I felt...

I couldn't be sure, as he had never let me notice if it had happened before, but I thought maybe... he had an erection.

Was it really? Was my blood... turning him on? That was crazy! That was food to him! It couldn't be!

As if he knew what I was thinking, he let go of my hand and placed his, now free hand gently on my face along my jaw. He leaned down and kissed me softly.

All logical thought left me, because well, he kissed me. Without thinking, I wrapped my arms around his neck to hold him closer.

I didn't know if I did it or he did, but the kiss changed. Our tongues danced together, gently caressing and urgently stroking, and I could have sworn I was becoming light-headed.

He tasted so sweet, sweeter even than he smelled. I was dizzy from the sensation. He pushed me up against the nearest tree and my legs wrapped around his waist. Oh, yes, he was definitely turned on.

We were lined up together perfectly as we rubbed against one another. Edward had never allowed things to escalate like this before and I couldn't have been happier. It was very sudden when he stopped the kiss and placed two fingers over my lips as if to hold them still.

He wouldn't look at me and it upset me. I didn't want to stop kissing him. I was hopeful, however, that maybe we could pick up where we left off later. We were 'camping' after all.

When he spoke, he sounded as breathless as I was. "Bella, I'm sorry." His grip loosened and he pulled me away from the tree so I could stand. "I knew you were scared, but I didn't know how to explain myself. Thank you for trusting me, but I'm so sorry I let things go too far."

Well, I wasn't sorry. I could feel that I was already blushing. "Don't apologize. I enjoyed it. I was beginning to think I just didn't do it for you, that I'd never get that reaction from you."

He laughed out loud at me. "Don't be ridiculous, silly girl. You're the only one that has ever 'done it' for me." I was happy his mood was light, but I was still confused.

He pulled my winter jacket out of his pack and helped me into it. "Edward?"

"Yes, love?"

We started walking and I began my questioning. "Why did you do that? I mean, with my hand. I thought it was too difficult to stop."

He didn't answer right away, like he had to think about it. When he stopped walking, I stopped also. He took my hand the same way he always did.

"I was absolutely certain I wouldn't hurt you. The scent of your blood, of you, means you're alive, and that is more important than anything. It no longer stirs my thirst."

He stopped talking again and looked down at our hands. "What I was not expecting was what the scent did stir within me. Irina had tried to explain to me once the possible connection between blood and sex, how one could enhance the other. It sounded reasonable, even probable to me, but Irina and her sisters would always kill the men they lured to their beds. It was never anything I had ever considered, even for a second."

"I don't know why it was different today. That tiny bit of blood so greatly magnified my feelings, just made me... want you so much." I didn't know what to say to that. Did it mean I'd have to cut myself to get him to do it again? The thought didn't appeal to me at all.

No, that was silly. Maybe that had been just the nudge he needed. I really hoped he was as anxious for more as I was.

"Your eyes are gold again. Why were they black? I've never seen them change so fast." I relied on his eye color to gauge his thirst. I thought that was the only thing that could change it.

He smiled to himself and looked down like he might have been embarrassed. "Just... lust. Sorry if it frightened you." I just stared at him for a few moments then looked away.

For some reason, I was a little embarrassed now. "I thought they only changed when you got thirsty."

"That's usually the reason, but not always. The same things that would cause your pupils to dilate, lust, anger, and such, affect my eyes, too."

"Oh, I never thought of that. That makes sense." We walked in silence for a few minutes while I thought about what had happened and what could happen later.

I was surprised to see Jacob step out of the trees at the side of the clearing. It was time to get my mind back on the task at hand.

Short and sweet, not too lemony, but I liked it. :-)