Rating: MA/NC-17
Characters: Edward, Garrett, Bella
Warning: slash, explicit sexual content
Summary: When Garrett arrives to help the family in BD, Edward becomes especially tense, remembering how they first met. What exactly is their secret? Slash Backslash contest entry - BD-AU
Beta/pre-reader credits: 4lettrwrd, ECullenitis
The moment I smell him, I panic.
After Alice had her vision about the Volturi and disappeared with Jasper, we began summoning all the friends we could reach or locate.
I knew then that there would be a chance he’d come.
Okay, poor choice of words.
Some arrive in cars – the Denali coven, the Irish. Most appear out of the woods, having been given directions, then following the scent of other vampires to reach us.
I didn’t know if anyone would find him. I honestly had no idea where he was or whether he was even alive anymore. Not that I had reason to believe he wouldn’t be.
My avoidance techniques could only last for so long.
“Edward…” His voice is familiar, unchanged, of course.
“Hello, Garrett,” I reply, turning to face the one person I have dreaded seeing.
…………
It was shortly after Alice and Jasper joined our family that I took my final hiatus from the coven. Jasper’s bloodlust and constant struggle with the temptation of human blood weakened my resolve. Coupled with Alice’s visions constantly invading my thoughts, I was going crazy. I needed to get away.
I was only gone for a few months, and I managed to keep my Cullen diet once I was away from Jasper’s thoughts, but it was only because I avoided populated areas and spent most of my days running.
That was how I found myself in the Appalachian Mountains in late July. After a successful hunt and several satisfying mountain cats, I sat atop some peak whose name I didn’t know, overlooking endless trees and lakes.
I smelled the stranger first, but there was something oddly familiar about the creature. I had never met this vampire, but somehow, I knew him.
His thoughts entered my mind next. He recognized the scent of another immortal and wondered who I could be.
When he finally reached me, I stood to face him and immediately understood how I knew this man.
“You know Jasper,” I blurted.
“Ah, yes,” he said, stroking his beard and raising an eyebrow at me. “I’m Garrett. And you would be…?”
“Edward Cullen.”
…………
A picture of the last time we met plays in his mind.
It makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable.
“Garrett, let me introduce you to me wife, Bella.”
They greet one another, and just like every other meeting, Bella is polite, charming, and gracious. He appraises her in his head, and I don’t know whether to feel proud or aggravated. Instead, we cut to the chase and tell him about Renesmee. He’s fascinated, which doesn’t really surprise me. Garrett is an adventurer. New experiences and information thrill him to no end. He’ll try anything once.
…………
He shared his memories of Jasper with me. It was somewhere between the time he left Maria’s army and found Alice in Philadelphia. Jasper was still feeding on humans at the time, and the pair spent a short period traveling together before my brother wandered again.
I knew from Jasper’s memories that he felt at ease around Garrett and trusted him. Though my gift was different, I got a similar feeling immediately. This man looked rugged, like an avid hiker exploring the Appalachian Trail, but his demeanor was calm, his mind was kind. He was good-natured, happy, and surprisingly friendly for a nomad. While he made note of my strange eyes, he didn’t question me about their color.
“I need to hunt. There’s a small town eighty-seven miles from here. Care to join me?”
“No,” I replied quickly, before the temptation could affect me. “I’d rather stay here.”
“All right, then. If you’re still around when I return, I’ll find you.”
True to his word, he came back from the hunt less than a day later, eyes bright red to show his accomplishment. I had picked off a large deer while he was gone, but it was all I really needed for the time being.
“There’s something about you, Edward,” he said casually, hopping and swinging above the forest floor on sturdy tree branches. “You have a coven, but you stay away. You’re a virile creature, yet you seem bored…or distracted somehow. I think you need to have some fun.”
………….
“You’re more virile than I ever suspected,” he teases later when we’re out in the woods alone. He wants to see me hunt. It’s one thing he hasn’t tried, and it has piqued his interest.
“Not funny,” I reply flatly.
“Someone has to add a little light to this situation. You’re all scared shitless over the Volturi, but I prefer to stay optimistic. And anyway, you should be proud. You had sex with a human without killing her, and you got her pregnant. That’s fantastic!”
I shake my head at his logic. “I almost killed the woman I love. In more ways than I care to relive.”
“But you didn’t,” he counters. “Now she’s with you forever and you have a child. I know of no others of our kind who can say the same thing.”
“I don’t expect you to understand,” I mutter, not wanting to have this conversation. Especially with him, of all people.
“Hey, I mean no disrespect,” he says with a genuine smile. “I’ve never been able to pleasure a human woman without killing her in the process. I do much better with our kind.”
He winks at me and then darts off through the trees, back toward the house.
…………
Garrett’s idea of fun was unlike anything I had ever experienced before.
We located an open rock-face and climbed from bottom to top. On the way back down the mountain, we found a mudslide, laughing as we skidded and rolled down the trail.
He led me to a series of caves where we spent a full day exploring and finding new paths that humans had never touched. We commented on the presence of bats within the caves, joking about vampire folklore that humans were so fond of – even though it was actually created by real vampires to deter suspicion.
Our final destination was a high cliff, overlooking a large, secluded lake. I had seen many places in my years, but I was still quite young compared to most vampires, Garrett included. I was pleased to find a place that was yet untouched by human hands. The water was pristine. Even at over one hundred feet deep, my supernatural eyesight allowed me to peer at the bottom of the lake. Fish of all sizes swam and played beneath the surface. Turtles, frogs, and water snakes all lived amongst the other creatures. Underwater vegetation swayed in the lakebed, providing food and oxygen, keeping the circle of life within this miniature ecosystem going day after day.
As the sun set over the water, a rainbow of colors streaked the surface. The reflection of the sun moved farther and farther away, casting darker shades before us until it was the moon and stars bouncing off the glassy mirror.
“I’ve seen sunsets, but none like that,” I whispered into the darkness.
“It’s a beautiful thing, indeed, but the night has just begun.”
In a flash, Garrett had stripped off his clothes and was running toward the edge of the cliff. He plummeted down, down, down, landing in the water with a splash.
“Come on, Junior!” he called, his voice cutting through the silent night.
“What if I don’t feel like swimming?” I said, peering over the edge and into the water below.
“It’s not about the swim, it’s about the thrill. Come on now!”
Giving in, I folded my clothes and left them in a neat pile beside a tree. I closed my eyes, ran to the edge, and jumped. Within seconds, my body was slicing through the water like a knife and wetness surrounded me.
“Fantastic, yeah?” he smiled, paddling closer to me. “Let’s go again.”
We climbed the cliff, returning to the top. As we stood, contemplating our next jumps, I heard him chuckled and tuned myself into his mind.
Looks like I’m not the only one…
“What was that?” I asked in response to his thought, but he presumed I was asking about his laughter. His eyes darted to my lower half again, and I dropped my hands to shield myself.
“Nothing to be ashamed of, boy. It’s exhilarating. Why do you think I enjoy the thrills of adventure so much? It’s like some sort of leftover human reaction. A response to what would have created an adrenaline rush otherwise. Now let’s go!”
With that, he leapt off the cliff, twirl in the air before landing in the water once more. Slightly uncomfortable, but trying to push away that peculiar moment, I somersaulted off the edge, getting in five full rotations before I landed.
………….
“I think there’s something brewing between Kate and Garrett,” Bella says with a sly smile as we walk back to our cottage slowly. Renesmee is held securely in my left arm while I hold my wife’s hand with my right.
“What makes you think that?” I ask, wishing we were talking about anything else. It’s not that I don’t like him, it’s just…weird.
“He’s been hanging around a lot during my lessons with Kate. I know you don’t like it, but I’m making progress. I want to defend our family if I’m able. What’s the use of this gift if I don’t utilize it?”
“I will not have you put your life in danger, Bella.”
“Shush,” she chides me. “That wasn’t my point anyway. How well do you know him? Kate seems to enjoy the attention. Could something come of this?”
I let out an exaggerated sigh and shake my head. “It’s not really my concern.”
In truth, I’m happy that he’s been distracted by Kate. It has kept his mind off the memories and innuendo he had been showing me since he arrived.
“Do you disapprove?” Bella asks, interrupting my thoughts.
“What do you mean?”
“Do you not like him? I don’t know Kate, but she seems to enjoy his company.”
“Kate enjoys the company of all men.”
“But you didn’t answer my question,” she presses.
I give in to her request. Sort of. “He is a good man. One of the kindest hearts I’ve ever encountered in a traditional vampire, and he lives for new experiences. Kate, with all her sexual prowess, would certainly be a conquest of his liking.”
I leave it at that. I don’t lie about anything, and there are no other details that Bella needs to know. My past is behind me, where I would like it to stay.
…………
The lake water was cool by night, but the temperature did not matter to us. I enjoyed myself, doing something carefree and fun. I loved my family very much, but it was nice to meet another of our kind who did not have expectations for me to live up to. I could be whatever I wanted to be around Garrett, and he treated me just the same.
After one final cliff dive, we rested on a boulder that protruded from beneath the water. It created a shelf under the surface, yet away from the shore.
Leaning against the rock, I tipped my head back to the sky, staring up at the crescent moon. I ran my hand through my hair, pushing a few wayward strands out of my eyes. My erection still stood firm from all the excitement of our activities, but there was little I could do about it in another’s company. I kept my body underwater, willing my arousal to cease.
Garrett had disappeared into the water, taking deep dives to the bottom to explore the animal and plant life down there. I was so lost in my thoughts that I barely registered his return until he was right in front of me, his body inches away from mine.
“Whoa, hey there,” I gasped, laughing nervously. He didn’t seem to mind the proximity, and he made no move to back away.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” he asked in a low, gravelly tone.
“Excuse me?”
“God, you’re so green,” he laughed, wringing water out of his ponytail and tightening the tie on it. “So young, so impressionable…” he mused.
I pushed myself farther into the rock as a new thought ran through his mind - one that involved his hand on my chest, inching down my torso.
“Why are you thinking that shit?” I asked defensively, placing a hand over my cock and holding the other between us in case he got any closer.
“You’ve been in my head, eh? I thought there was something different about you,” he replied, ignoring my discomfort. “You’re gifted?”
I didn’t reply.
So you wouldn’t mind if I…
He showed me a picture of him bending me over the rock I leaned upon.
“What? No! No.” I exclaimed.
He roared with laughter. “So you’re a mind reader. That’s fantastic!”
I was silent for another few moments as he stared at me expectantly. “What is it that you want from me, aside from this torturous teasing you’ve suddenly discovered?”
“Have I tried to bring you any harm in these past days, Edward?” he chuckled.
I shook my head.
“I’ve told you already. I live by my instincts. I live for the thrill. Everything I do is an experiment in pleasure and fun. You seem to be enjoying things so far, am I right?”
“Well, yes, but not in that way. I had no idea you were thinking anything of that nature,” I said stiffly.
“I wasn’t,” he shrugged, “but certain urges hit me from time to time. The desire to try something new.”
“And what exactly does that mean for me?”
“You’re new. And exciting. A beautiful specimen, not to mention so young and inexperienced in this life,” he offered. “You’ve allowed me to show you a few things, why not one more?”
“Why not? Why not?” I howled. “It’s just not…not…”
“Not what?”
I did not reply.
“Just let go of yourself and feel things, Junior. There’s obviously a reason you wanted to escape your coven for a while, and I can only imagine that was freedom,” he said. “Freedom is the ability to lose yourself in pleasures of life – all the faces of good, exciting, arousing things.”
Closing my eyes, I wished myself away from this situation, but at the same time tried to grasp the full extent of his words.
“Feel,” he whispered, suddenly close to my ear. The rough hair that lined his face scraped against my cheek, sending a tingle down my spine.
“Feel,” he muttered, nuzzling his nose against my neck.
“Feel,” he demanded, ghosting his lips over my chin, inching toward my mouth.
“No,” I said firmly, pushing him back. “Not that.”
He backed off willingly, but his hands moved to my waist.
This was not something I ever expected or imagined. The few thoughts I had ever entertained about encounters of this nature had never involved someone like Garrett. They had never involved men at all. Yet there was still something enticing about his large, full hands enveloping my skin.
I repeated his words over and over in my mind. I did want to get away. I did enjoy the highs of trying new and exciting things with him. Why couldn’t this be one of them? The experiences had aroused me. Perhaps living by instinct was what I needed to do to fully understand myself and my nature.
So I let go.
As his mouth moved down my neck and over my chest, I felt the wetness of his tongue, the tingle of his venom, and the scrape of his facial scruff.
When his hands rounded by backside and stroked up and down my bare thighs, I gave myself over to the primal rush. My cock stiffened with need and anticipation. I didn’t know where we were headed or what he had planned, but the impulsive vampire overcame the reluctant – virgin - man in me.
A loud, feral growl ripped through the air, and it wasn’t until it stopped that I realized it was mine.
He lapped my right nipple and then pulled the left one between his lips. My back arched in acceptance, and I felt sensations of pleasure I had never known. His mouth continued lower, sucking harshly across my stomach. Without thinking, my hand fisted in his hair, holding on for dear life.
I gazed down at this man who went from stranger to acquaintance to friend in a matter of days, and he was now suddenly…something else altogether. There was no denying his beauty, but it was completely unlike mine. While I was slim and lithe from my change as a teenager, his body was fuller, more solid and substantial like Emmett’s. Long hair and a bearded face shielded his initial attractiveness, but once I looked beneath the veil, there was smooth skin that must have been tan at some point. He was surely some sort of laborer wherever he came from because his body was too strong to have come from money or some diplomatic station. I imagined it was nothing at all like my upbringing.
His carefree, spirited nature was what drew me to him, and at this point, it was what happened to be holding me here, even though I had never once felt this kind of attraction to a man. Something about him was different, but I could tell it was good. Very good.
What he was doing to me was a huge indication of that fact.
In his mind, I saw a very similar regard for me. He didn’t know where this urge came from, but he was never one to back down from a challenge or new experience. Once that bug bit him, he had to pursue it, or it would drive him mad.
I just so happened to be that bug.
Suddenly, he was underwater. Without the necessity for air, his time was unlimited. I had an idea of what he was planning from the course of our…interaction, and from the many thoughts that flittered through his mind.
Hands cupping the back of my knees, my cock was consumed by the ample cavern of his mouth.
I instantly felt things I had never dreamed possible in all my years. To be completely engulfed within someone, even just their mouth, was incredible. It was so, so wet, and all the sucking pulled at my skin, as if making a siren call to the tension within my body, saying, “Let go, come out, be free!”
His movements were unrelenting. He slid up and down my shaft with precision that made me doubt his newness to this particular act, but his thoughts did not betray his inexperience. Perhaps he was a natural, or perhaps it was our mutual lack of know-how and understanding that made it seem so blissful. Nonetheless, it was unlike anything I had imagined.
The bobbing motion of his head caused a reflexive reaction in my hips, thrusting forward, moving in and out of his mouth as he slowed to allow me control. I held his hair in place with the hand that had been gripping him since earlier, and my other hand dug into the boulder behind me. Fragments of rock chipped away with each pass of his tongue over my erection.
Forcing myself to calm, I offered him the lead again, which he took by adding a hand around the base of my cock. The added pumping made it all incredibly better. He was able to squeeze as he sucked and licked, driving me closer and closer to the edge. His free hand crept up my leg, grazing my balls before he pushed my legs apart a bit more. I knew what he had in mind, and even though it made me uneasy, I played the mantra from earlier in my head.
Feel, feel, feel…
And hell, did I feel. The water provided enough lubrication for him to slip one of his thick fingers into me, making me jump slightly before I relaxed into his slow probing. When I gasped and shuddered, he carefully wiggled a second finger in, allowing my body time to adjust. Once he felt me responding positively to the addition, he resumed pumping. I was right there, ready to explode from someone else’s touch for the first time in my life. He must have sensed my need because his fingers curled in me and he sucked harder. The moment his fingertips pressed into that sensitive place inside me, my release shot out like a bullet.
I stood in the water, panting and shaking my head in disbelief and wonder.
………….
The Volturi visit passed with better results than anyone would have dreamed…if vampires could dream at all.
My daughter is safe, my wife is safe, and my family is safe. It is all I need.
As it turns out, Bella was right about Garrett’s affection for Kate. He declared himself in the midst of our confrontation, and she readily accepted his instantaneous devotion.
Before departing for Denali with Kate, Tanya, Eleazar, and Carmen, he pulls me aside.
“I’m glad your family is safe. You are a lucky man indeed.”
“Thank you,” I say, appreciating his warm thoughts.
“It’s nice to see you’ve finally loosened up, Junior,” he adds with a mischievous grin. He shows me a voyeuristic moment he caught – Bella and I locked in a heated embrace, kissing passionately as our hands roamed each other’s bodies. “I get the feeling my Kate is quite the little minx, so if you and Bella ever decide you want to…play,” he says with a chuckle, “you know where to find us.”
As he turns to leave, he looks back at me with a wide, full smile and winks.
I shiver, inhaling deeply to collect myself.
I run off to find Bella and see that Renesmee is occupied with Jacob. Taking her hand, I pull her from the house and begin to run.
“Where are we going?” she asks.
I grin at her. “I feel like taking a swim.”
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