Eclipse Page 0,138

laugh that escaped me was more shocked than amused. "You're trying to protect your virtue!" I covered my mouth with my hand to muffle the giggle that followed. The words were so . . . old-fashioned.

"No, silly girl," he muttered against my shoulder. "I'm trying to protect yours. And you're making it shockinglydifficult."

"Of all the ridiculous -"

"Let me ask you something," he interrupted quickly. "We've had this discussion before, but humor me. How many people in this room have a soul? A shot at heaven, or whatever there is after this life?"

"Two," I answered immediately, my voice fierce.

"All right. Maybe that's true. Now, there's a world full of dissension about this, but the vast majority seem to think that there are some rules that have to be followed."

"Vampire rules aren't enough for you? You want to worry about the human ones too?"

"It couldn't hurt." He shrugged. "Just in case."

I glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"Now, of course, it might be too late for me, even if you are right about my soul."

"No, it isn't," I argued angrily.

"'Thou shalt not kill' is commonly accepted by most major belief systems. And I've killed a lot of people, Bella."

"Only the bad ones."

He shrugged. "Maybe that counts, maybe it doesn't. But you haven't killed anyone -"

"That you know about," I muttered.

He smiled, but otherwise ignored the interruption. "And I'm going to do my best to keep you out of temptation's way."

"Okay. But we weren't fighting over committing murder," I reminded him.

"The same principle applies - the only difference is that this is the one area in which I'm just as spotless as you are. Can't I leave one rule unbroken?"

"One?"

"You know that I've stolen, I've lied, I've coveted . . . my virtue is all I have left." He grinned crookedly.

"I lie all the time."

"Yes, but you're such a bad liar that it doesn't really count. Nobody believes you."

"I really hope you're wrong about that - because otherwise Charlie is about to burst through the door with a loaded gun."

"Charlie is happier when he pretends to swallow your stories. He'd rather lie to himself than look too closely." He grinned at me.

"But what did you ever covet?" I asked doubtfully. "You have everything."

"I coveted you." His smile darkened. "I had no right to want you - but I reached out and took you anyway. And now look what's become of you! Trying to seduce a vampire." He shook his head in mock horror.

"You can covet what's already yours," I informed him. "Besides, I thought it was my virtue you were worried about."

"It is. If it's too late for me . . . Well, I'll be damned - no pun intended - if I'll let them keep you out, too."

"You can't make me go somewhere you won't be," I vowed. "That's my definition of hell. Anyway, I have an easy solution to all this: let's never die, all right?"

"Sounds simple enough. Why didn't I think of that?"

He smiled at me until I gave up with an angry humph. "So that's it. You won't sleep with me until we're married."

"Technically, I can't ever sleep with you."

I rolled my eyes. "Very mature, Edward."

"But, other than that detail, yes, you've got it right."

"I think you have an ulterior motive."

His eyes widened innocently. "Another one?"

"You know this will speed things up," I accused.

He tried not to smile. "There is only one thing I want to speed up, and the rest can wait forever . . . but for that, it's true, your impatient human hormones are my most powerful ally at this point."

"I can't believe I'm going along with this. When I think of Charlie . . . and Renée! Can you imagine what Angela will think? Or Jessica? Ugh. I can hear the gossip now."

He raised one eyebrow at me, and I knew why. What did it matter what they said about me when I leaving soon and not coming back? Was I really so oversensitive that I couldn't bear a few weeks of sidelong glances and leading questions?

Maybe it wouldn't bug me so much if I didn't know that I would probably be gossiping just as condescendingly as the rest of them if it was someone else getting married this summer.

Gah. Married this summer! I shuddered.

And then, maybe it wouldn't bug me so much if I hadn't been raised to shudder at the thought of marriage.

Edward interrupted my fretting. "It doesn't have to be a big production. I don't need any fanfare. You won't have to tell