When Esme entered the room, Carlisle looked at her with confusion. Several suitcases were sprawled across the bed and he stood in front of them with his hands on his hips.

"What is all this?" He asked.

"You still have another week of vacation time," she reminded him, approaching where he stood with a white envelope in her hand.

Carlisle looked down and accepted it, glancing up at his wife before opening it up.

"Plane tickets?" He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"There's more," she told him with a smile.

Carlisle thumbed through a short stack of folded paper and began reading the information.

"This is information about a house on Lake Michigan?"

Esme half smiled. "In Wisconsin."

Carlisle's eyes met hers.

She closed the distance between them and pointed to one of the details on the paper.

"Five days right on the lake, private."

"And not far from-"

"Where this all started," Esme told him, "Well at least where you and I officially started. I had already been living it in my mind for ten years." She snickered lightly making Carlisle do the same.

"When did you do this?" He asked.

"Before Paris," she explained, "And I think this could have more meaning now after everything that happened."

Carlisle was about to rattle off another string of apologies but she placed a hand lightly over his mouth.

"I think this is the perfect opportunity to... reconnect... And get back to normal." She removed her hand from his mouth.

Carlisle nodded, "I think that sounds like a good idea."

Esme ran a hand through his hair and Carlisle slid a hand around her waist, pulling her to him for a long, closed mouth kiss.

"I love you Esme," he told her.

She pulled back to meet his stare, "Plane leaves in a few hours."

"We best get going then."

The two of them shared a smile and then began bringing their luggage down to the car.

...

The coastline along Lake Michigan was charming and beautiful with a string of marinas and the theme of a quaint little beach down.

A long strip of beach houses decorated the water's edge, and down the very end was an elegant cottage with a high balcony and wrap around porch that overlooked the Great Lake.

Carlisle began unpacking and he heard Esme whisk out into the early night air out a set of French doors.

He quickly got their clothing in drawers so they wouldn't be forced to live out of suitcases and then followed his wife's scent to where she sat on a blue and white plaid blanket watching the sun's final glow disappear beyond the lake's horizon.

Carlisle made his way over and sat down next to her, leaning his elbows up onto his knees.

Esme turned and studied him for a moment before Carlisle turned to look at her.

"We haven't really had a chance to talk," he said without breaking eye contact.

"Are you alright?" she asked him.

Carlisle shrugged. "Aside from the feeling of guilt and... betrayal."

Esme placed a hand on his cheek. "You think you've betrayed me?"

He shrugged a second time. "I don't know what else I should be feeling." Carlisle sighed, "I love you. I only want to be with you."

She leaned in and placed a single, gentle kiss on his lips. "Then nothing has changed. Because that's how I feel, too. I want you to know that nothing became physical with Edward while I was in Bella's body."

Carlisle let in a sigh through his nose, "I wish I could say the same." He shook his head, and then added, "Poor Bella. I knew something was off. Her body language... her dialogue."

"You thought it was me," Esme reminded him.

"I know, but-"

She leaned over and kissed him again, feeling the apprehensiveness in her husband's reaction to her touch. His eyes were closed and Esme could see he was hesitant.

"Carlisle." Esme waited for him to open his eyes. "It's me."

He interlocked his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand lightly. "I know," he said back in a voice barely above a whisper.

"You know me," she went on, taking his hand and tracing it along the curve of her face. "You know my voice... my dialogue... my body language." Esme swallowed hard and kissed the heel of his hand, and then up to his thumb causing Carlisle's eyes to close for a brief second. "I'd love to put all of this behind us... if you're ready to."

Carlisle looked into his wife's eyes and saw the familiar stare that had captivated him decades ago. Esme looked back at him with the same glow of true love that she had when she had first laid eyes on him. That was something that could not be mistaken.

"I am," he assured her.

Esme reconnected her lips with his and felt an ounce of relief when he took the initiative and slid his tongue against hers.

For a moment they just kissed, reconnecting the way Esme had anticipated and hoped for before Carlisle began to lean over her until she was flat on her back on the blanket.

Butterflies rushed through her stomach and she felt jittery, lustful and as completely head over heels as she had the first time they had ever been intimate.

Carlisle's hands traveled up in the inside of her tank top and then redirected to the elastic waistband of her long, striped maxi skirt that hung down to her ankles.

Esme closed her eyes and breathed heavily in the break of their kiss, feeling Carlisle do the same.

Before they could get any farther, raindrops began to fall, opening up to a full-blown rainstorm that left the two of them laughing and scrambling to get back inside.

"The blanket!" Esme shouted as she laughed.

Carlisle reached a hand down and swiped the plaid quilt before running inside just behind her.

Esme continued to laugh and wiped stray, wet hairs away from her face before throwing her hair up into a high ponytail. "Well that came out of nowhere," she commented with a smile.

"Perfect timing," Carlisle said dryly, but smirked just after as Esme snickered. He folded the blanket and placed it over a chair in the corner of the room, and then looked outside as the pounding rain now came down in buckets around them.

"Wow," Esme said, shaking her head. "It was still sunny ten minutes ago."

Carlisle placed a hand on one of the double doors they'd just come through and looked out again, "Well... it's not now." He raised his eyebrows and looked back at Esme.

A silence fell over the two of them before Carlisle marched up and kissed her again.

Esme closed her eyes, feeling the emotion in his kiss and listening to the rain that decorated the rooftop simultaneously. She then felt Carlisle's hands travel down her body before they settled on the backs of her legs. He proceeded to pick her up off the ground and Esme wrapped her legs halfway around his waist.

She felt his arousal as he pulled her closer against him and continued to keep her lips against his as he carried her down the hall toward the master bedroom.

The anticipation of pleasure filled Carlisle's voice as he whispered her name when she parted from him to rid herself of her clothing. Esme then took the initiative and pushed him into a seated position on the side of the bed.

Carefully, she undid each button on his shirt, knowing the build up would become greater for her husband if she took her time. Esme felt his hands shake against her bare hips and he took in a deep breath.

Esme didn't stop once she reached the last button of his shirt. She slid her hands to his belt and released the buckle before undoing the top button and finally unzipped his zipper.

As she looked up she felt his lips crash against hers and Esme wrapped her arms around his neck and shoulders.

Carlisle stood up just enough to let his pants fall around his ankles and didn't bother to rid himself of his unbuttoned shirt and boxer shorts. Before he proceeded with his body's desires, he looked at put his hand on the side of Esme's face again to get her to look at him.

He didn't have to ask, or say anything. Esme knew what he was thinking.

"It's me, Carlisle," she reassured him, taking his hand and running it the length of her body. Esme stopped his hand on her breast and dug her nails into his wrist. Her lips danced against his as she whispered, "I love you," and then, "I want you."

Carlisle began to say it back, though his eyes shut tightly in coital euphoria when he felt Esme lower herself onto him. He let out an appreciative moan and his fingertips dug into her marble skin.

Esme arched neck back and closed her eyes, placing her hands behind her on his thighs as she began to ride him from the position he sat on the edge of the bed.

Carlisle kept his eyes shut and squeezed Esme's hips as she rocked back and forth on top of him with her breasts near his eye level.

"Carlisle..." She whispered his name and rearranged herself so her hands rested on his shoulders.

He opened his eyes and engulfed her right breast in his mouth, stopping to moan as she moved a little faster back and forth on top of him. Carlisle then proceeded to her left breast and felt every pleasure sensor in his body go off when she pulled his hair and whimpered with satisfaction.

Esme let out a louder, whining moan again when her husband began to thrust from beneath her. He bit down on her neck delicately before ravaging her ear lobe with his teeth and tongue.

Carlisle then brought his mouth back to hers, silencing her moans with the forceful lapses of his tongue as she continued to ride him.

The consistent feel of her hips being thrown forward began to feel paralyzing in his core. Carlisle shut his eyes again and focused on the intensified feeling below his waist. He could hear Esme's heavy breath, coupled with heightened, more frequent cries of pleasure. He knew his wife's mannerisms well enough that, now, she could not be mistaken for anyone else.

She latched onto him, whispering desperately against his ear. "Ohhh Carlisle..." Her hand clutched the back of his head again.

Carlisle held her bare body against his, grinding his hands into her back as he felt Esme's orgasmic contractions so fiercely against him that he couldn't hold back an orgasm of his own.

Esme still held onto him hard and knew her husband was about to come. He tightened his grasp on her and sighed loudly just before letting out an intense moan against the side of her face, letting venom drip off his lower lip and down her cheek bone.

When she felt him take in a deep breath that ended their lovemaking session, Esme's arms loosened around him and she hugged him close, placing her forehead down on his shoulder where the fabric of his shirt met his bare skin.

Carlisle let out a few stray breaths and ran his fingertips up and down her back. "Still you?" he whispered, half-kidding in his question.

Esme laced kisses along his collar bone and then picked her head up so they were face to face. They each kept their eyes open and shared a single kiss on the lips.

"What do you think?" she whispered, staring back at him with the same incredulous eyes of first love.

Carlisle didn't have to answer. He touched the side of her face and kissed her again before Esme hugged him again and rested her head snugly on his shoulder.