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The fourteenth day of Bella's second life was coming to a close, and she wondered if she'd ever get over the thrill of this new body. Not once had she been able to jump like this, lift like this, hear like this. Watching the sun set and feeling a complete lack of exhaustion was enough to push her to tears. She'd catch herself reiterating that this wasn't some beautiful dream. She was here with the Cullens, in her very own room, building another life which was purely divine.
Well, except for Rosalie. She had returned to being a nuisance.
It was Bella’s fault, really, for thinking nothing would change. Human Bella would still receive a possessive hand around her waist and a long needy kiss if she dared to spend a day out of reach.
Vampire Bella wasn't a party to any of that touchiness. Rebirth put a damper on things, she guessed, and the beautiful face that once lazed across her comforter was now back to stalking around doorways.
Take today, for example, Bella was fully absorbing the sunset with her new senses, catching colours in the fading sunlight that she'd never noticed before, watching insects stir from inside their tree hollows, the forest humming with ceaseless life.
The voice inside her head vibrated too. It said: Two weeks ago, you were a freaking human, and now you live in a vampires' den with a view of the entire Pacific Northwest.
The sensory overload was a work in progress, so everyone was unanimously against human interaction just yet, and her room was completely bare. This didn't bother her.
She spent an hour with a hand on the window.
Then, on the edge of her peripheral vision, a sparkle. She wouldn't have caught it if the dusk wasn't pouring into her room.
Time to hold perfectly still.
She focused in on that glimmer until it resolved into a perfect oval framed in blonde. See? She would have missed that altogether if she had her human senses.
Dusklight caught that skin and made her glitter like a piece of rose quartz. All she had to do was toss her hair and dazzle light around the room, and Bella was transfixed.
It wasn’t fair, obviously. She knew Bella was dealing with some serious sensory issues and she had the audacity to wear a gauzy little thing which left her shoulders bare.
There was lace on her thighs, for pity’s sake. That was what broke her silence.
“Stalking me now?”
Rosalie smirked. “Just thought I’d come see you for myself. Since you decided to stop dying, nobody can shut up about you.”
An old flicker of self-consciousness tried to spark in Bella’s mind, but it felt so muted now. God, she felt more in tune with herself than she had in a long time, so much so that she could give Rosalie a long once over, trailing her eyes from head to toe, and not feel a lick of shame about it.
“You sure look… frilly.”
She huffed. “It’s loungewear. We can’t exactly spend our lives in jeans and hoodies, unlike some people.”
The legs were what was sticking to Bella’s mind. Some human somewhere in the world was out there trying to sculpt a pair of legs like that.
“Hmph, you’re not exactly impressive, but I guess it’s a start. I suppose you’re still too pathetic to look me in the eye…?”
Bella shifted her gaze to specifically look into those pale gold irises.
Rosalie arched an eyebrow into her hairline. What was she waiting for? Bella couldn’t tell. She could never figure her out.
“That's it, huh?" She pouted. “I thought newborns were meant to be more fun.”
More fun? Fucking hell, did she want her to tear a throat out? Pull up a redwood by its roots? But she remembered the story Rosalie had told her about her turning, and all the ways revenge had brought her excitement.
Unfortunately for Rosalie, there were no enemies left for Bella to smite. The Cullens had taken care of that.
“I’m not here to entertain you,” she said flatly. “And I don't want to switch up and go blood-crazy, since that would be against Carlisle’s whole agenda…”
Rosalie gave her the longest, most exaggerated eyeroll Bella had seen yet.
"… so unless you'd like to sic me on a mountain lion, I'm not interested."
They stared at each other for a moment, Rosalie still pouting.
“Preeeeee-sumptuous,” she tsked. “I didn’t ask you to get all violent. I just wanted to see if you decided to take that stick out of your ass.”
It was Bella's turn to raise her eyebrows. "Sorry?"
She stepped in close and tugged on Bella's hoodie strings, the smile on her face growing wider and wider.
"Do you think you're too powerful to play with me now? Is that why you're hiding away?"
"I'm not hiding. I, uh…"
Rosalie's fingers were skimming the hem of her dress. She dragged those frills high around her thighs.
"You've been hiding like a child," she said. "Two. Whole. Weeks. And not a single kiss hello."
Ah, well, that put a little thrill in Bella’s stomach, a giddiness that had very little to do with blood.
When she leaned in, a tongue darted behind those lips. Those plush lips, swollen pink… She could shut her up.
Bella leaned in
Rosalie stepped out of reach.
Huh. This newborn confidence made her think this would be easy or that, at the very least, Rosalie would consider them to be on level playing field.
Her stomach sank that tiny bit.
Maybe Rosalie liked when Bella was breakable and appetising, maybe that was what inspired all those kisses. Maybe this was transformation was one harrowing mistake she couldn't take back. Fuck, was this pathetic of her?
She dared to glance up.
No pity, though. Rosalie’s eyes were dancing.
She flashed one of those sharp-edged smiles. “You give up so easily.”
Finally, tossing her hair, Rosalie pursed her lips and leaned in so Bella could see all the way down to her chest. It sent a little zing of electricity down her spine.
Bella went to meet her halfway…
…and Rosalie dodged again, with a burst of laughter.
“What?”
“I knew it,” she grinned. “I knew you’d chase me. God, you’re so easy.”
It was hard to swallow around the knot in Bella’s throat, but she managed, and she leaned through the doorway. “Look, I know we’ve had our history and I’ve been the ‘human’ of the group for a while now, but those days are over. I'm not your… prey, or whatever this is.”
Rosalie’s expression flashed and she brought her face devastatingly close, so their lips were almost touching.
“Please. You think I want you?” She smirked with that pouty little mouth. "You're just a baby."
Exactly. And with that newborn strength, she grabbed Rosalie’s chin and jerked her head into place. She should have said something devastating, but all Bella’s mind could conjure was victory at her sour little face.
Someone needed to demonstrate consequences around here.
She tried squirming around but Bella held firm. A strap slipped down her shoulder.
"Hold still," she barked. The words slipped out before she could reign them in.
The squirming paused.
Her lips were slightly parted, brushing the edge of Bella’s thumb and prompting a terrible fantasy of dragging that frilly body against her, taking her pretty mouth while it was waiting.
But what lesson would that teach?
Bella clicked her tongue. “I don’t think you deserve kisses. Not if you’re going to be such a princess.”
There was a frustrated noise, like a "hmph", and Rosalie shook herself free.
“Yeah.” She rubbed her chin. “We’ll see.”
She pushed back and flounced back into the house, towards her own bedroom. That little nightgown bounced above the shape of her ass, framing it in lace. No big deal, Bella had seen that ass in denim and polyester, and it didn’t look any different with the ridiculous bow bouncing on her lower back, its pearly ribbon tails swinging as she walked…
Oh, Bella realised. She was still teasing her.
Well, she didn’t want to reward her for stalking around the house teasing half the family. She probably needed to be taught about punishment, about consequences. Bella hurried after her.
Yeah, she’d find a way to punish her. Maybe on her knees, maybe bent over the bedframe, it didn’t matter how. She had all of eternity to figure out how to tame her.