Teaser - Chapter 13 of Scent of a Woman

Yes, it's true.  You're not seeing things...Chapter 13 has finally been stitched up and sent off to my beta in the early hours of this morning.  I have no idea why I had so much trouble finalising this chapter...maybe it was my preoccupation worrying about the number 13 lol! I have been busy with some contests and a contribution to the Preemie Compilation and 2 chapters of Menage and I hurt my arm and couldn't type...but never fear I have already got a fair bit (okay a little bit) of Chapter 14 written.

Oh and before I forget, the lovely @callsignC30 reviewed Scent of a Woman on TwiFicPromotions  a few weeks ago and said lots of lovely things about it....if you haven't seen the review and would like to, here is the link :-)

A little unbeta'd teaser while beans827 performs her magic on the chapter:

From Chapter 12-



“Edward, can I ask you a question?”


He glanced up from his notebook and nodded slowly when he met my eyes. I was lost for long moments, floating in the warm golden sea of his eyes. Beautiful.


I shook my head to rid myself of its sudden stupor and plucked up my courage, “This may seem like a really strange question, but have we met before? You seem very familiar to me, but I just can’t seem to place where I know you from.”


Right in front of my eyes, Edward’s face broke out into the most brilliant smile I had ever seen. Then he lifted my fingers to his lips, just like I had seen him do before in my dreams, and gently kissed my knuckles before whispering, “Yes Bella, we have met before, but I’m not sure you’ll believe me as to where.”


My fingers were tingling from the contact with his cold hand and cold lips and it was a minute before his words caught up with me. What the hell did he mean?


Forks 2005

-Edward-

She remembered me!

Or, at the very least, it seemed that her subconscious knew me, knew that I was familiar and was trying to bring me to the surface of Bella’s brain through her vivid dreams. Could it be this easy? Could I simply tell Bella that we’d met each other before in her previous lives and the prompt would trigger her mind to remember everything?

Bella’s question threw me for a loop; never once had my soul mate recognized me to this extent. Our souls had always been drawn together naturally and I had used that, and the fact that I could read my love’s mind, to my advantage in pursuing a relationship.

She remembered me!

That’s all I could think about as I watched her, watching me, nervously biting her lip after she had asked her question. I was leaving her hanging as I stared at her, her nervousness increasing as I worked through the feelings her recognition caused, my inner turmoil as I sorted through a half dozen scenarios about what to tell her.

She remembered me!

Without realizing it, my hand had snaked across the table and taken hers within its firm grip. The feel of her warm skin, her blood flowing so close to the surface, each heartbeat pulsing against the pads of my fingers woke me from the daze her words invoked.

The desire to touch her, to feel her warm skin against mine had always been strong, overpowering, and that had not waned over time. I had never been able to get close enough to her to be satisfied, not even in the throes of passion that we had shared over the years.

Could it be different…more…all encompassing, if she knew all there was to know? Would our union transcend the highest plane if she knew and remembered how deep our bond truly was?

........... and later

Emmett couldn’t stop smiling as he rounded the corner. He was getting the chance to talk to Bella in person, the object of his brother’s affection. Emmett sorely missed his human brother, Ethan, long dead these many years, and was jumping at the bit to take me under his wing and impart his knowledge of the fairer sex.

As soon as I saw them at the end of the hall, I stopped breathing and slumped against the wall as if weak with illness and whispered to him, so fast and so softly that Bella had no idea we were even conversing, to stand between Bella and I until we were safely away from the school.

“Thank you, Bella. I think I might have come back to school a little early, I’m not quite feeling myself just yet.”

She nodded and started to walk back to the classroom as I moved away from the wall and walked towards the front door with Emmett pretending to support me. Bella called out to me just before we reached the outside world.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten that you haven’t yet answered my question, Edward Cullen.”

Emmett’s eyebrows rose and he couldn’t help himself, “Dude,” he whispered, “has Bella asked you out?” then grunted as I elbowed him hard in the side.

------------ and a little cliffy based on the story summary:



Story Summary: When Edward vaulted over the Volvo to save Bella from being crushed by the van, Alice had heard him whisper, "Not her!". What she didn't hear were the next two, "Not again!".

Teaser - Chapter 6 of Menage a Trois - Camaraderie

Finally Chapter 6 of Menage a Trois is with my beta so thought I would send out a little teaser while your waiting.

First some pic teasers:

And now for the unbeta'd tease:

Once Jasper was settled into West Point, he had a lot more free weekends and spent all of them with us in New York. I hadn’t had a really close male friend for years, probably not since college, and Jasper surprisingly filled that role with little effort, despite his past with Bella. I’d known the boys from the work band for longer, and although they were all good mates, we usually only hung out on a group basis, never really one on one.

Jasper and I bonded over our love of music initially. Whenever he was in town, we spent hours together mucking around on my guitars and some of my other instruments. Hours disappeared as if they were mere minutes in his company. Jasper was a whizz at finger style blues guitar which I had only ever dabbled in before and we spent many an afternoon with Jasper teaching me some of his favorite old blues songs. He was a great teacher…very patient and focused. In return I taught him some classical songs including a version of Clare de Lune written for two guitars. It was one of my favorite pieces and sounded amazing with our two guitars harmonizing.


Bella was usually quite content to sit and listen or read a book while we jammed together. She refused to let me teach her, although I would’ve dearly loved to and I’d tried to convince her to let me a number of times over the last few months. She kept insisting that an old boyfriend had tried, but that she was all thumbs and she just wasn’t coordinated enough. The boyfriend, James, had ended up frustrated with her and all they’d done was fight. She didn’t want that to happen with us and she kept reminding me that she was more than happy to simply be my groupie.


Tonight, as usual I gave in, probably because I loved it when Bella wanted to role play…and holy hell my favorite was when she pretended to be my groupie. So sue me…who wouldn’t like their woman going all fangirl over them?


Suzanne

3rd Place Winner - anon Beautiful Edward Challenge - Beauty Crowds Me

Hi All,

I'm so excited and needed to share - my little one shot 'Beauty Crowds Me' won 3rd place in the Beautiful Edward Challenge yesterday. It was an anonymous contest so this is the first time its been posted on my profile.  I received a 3rd place banner for "Delectable Edward" as the prize :-)

Yay - my fave Edward doing the STRUT from New Moon. Sigh!

Here is a little banner I made for the story on Paint...it's basic but I think it conveys what the story is about:

Summary: Edward is beautiful, of that there is no doubt. His looks have opened so many doors for him, but it has closed just as many others. Has the door slammed shut on what he truly wants? Beautiful Edward Challenge Entry.


Link to Beauty Crowds Me on my fanfiction profile here

Link to Beautiful Edward Challenge entries here if you would like to read the other entries to the contest

Congratulation to the other winners - albymangroves, mpg82 and ILoveTweedward :-)

Suzanne

Fandom for Preemies Contribution - Mistress of my Heart

I have contributed a one-shot to be included in a compilation of stories for the Fandom for Preemies which is raising money for the March of Dimes organization.  If you want to know more about this - click on the Fandom for Preemies button on the top right hand corner of my blog.  If you donate a minimum of $5 for a Preemies virtual band with the March of Dimes organisation from 1 - 30 November 2010,  it entitles you to receive the compilation of stories.  Over 100 writers have contributed.  You can see a list of contributing authors on their blog.

My contribution is a one-shot is called Mistress of my Heart.  Here is the banner I've made for it plus a little teaser:

Teaser:

As I looked once more over the assortment of toys placed neatly on the dresser, my heart started to pump out of control again, my thoughts momentarily engaged in an inner debate. On one hand, I hoped with all my heart that Bella and I would be using these devices, yet conversely, I was also desperately scared that we would be leaving our naivety behind tonight and entering into the unknown. I wasn’t too afraid to admit that I was a little scared.



Nevertheless, I was having a hard time pinning down what it was that I was exactly afraid of. Inside, I was desperately worried that I wouldn’t like the planned activities for this evening and would have to go through the motions of submission, possibly for the rest of my life, simply to be with her.


Or, was I afraid that I would like it too much?


I had never thought of myself as a weak man or possessing any kind of a submissive nature. Quite the opposite, in fact. My job was in senior management at a large corporation – Financial Controller of Cullen Enterprises, and I directly managed a team of 50 accountants, planners and clerical staff. I was used to making decisions and giving orders all day, every day and, on most occasions, I also chaired the Board Meetings as the current Chairman since Carlisle Cullen himself, had recently moved into semi-retirement in order to spend time with his wife, Esme.


However, I loved it whenever Bella took the initiative in the bedroom, her every action showing me how much she loved and desired me. These times had been so freeing for me, giving the power to someone else, not having to be the one always responsible for making decisions, to be able to simply feel and respond.


My future happiness was dependent on this night and right at this moment my gut was churning and I could feel myself starting to even sweat a little at the thought that this last ditch attempt with Bella might fail.



Please check out the Fandom for Preemies link - it is for a very good cause.

Suzanne

My entry in the anonymous In the Closet Contest - Covet

..........and you all  thought I was being lazy over the last month because there were no Scent or Menage updates!

I wrote a little (ok - a not so little) Edward/Jasper vamp slash one-shot for the anonymous In the Closet contest.  The contest has finished and the winners were announced this morning so we can post on our profiles now- congrats to Angstgoddess003 and PastichePen for first  and second place wins in the M/M category - lovely stories.   If you haven't already, go here to read all the entries from the contest.

Here is the banner for my one-shot - Covet - made by the lovely Christine from Christag_banners

And the link to the fic on my Fan Fiction profile is here.

The one-shot is written completely from Jasper's POV

Summary:

What do you do when you meet the love of your existence a year after you marry the saviour of your soul?  Edward and Jasper thought they were doomed to a life of longing and regret until they meet someone who holds the key to unlock their future.

Hope you enjoy.

Suzanne

Age of Edward 2010 Contest Entry

I have been having a little addiction to fanfiction contests over the last month so my regular stories have been on hold for a little while.  I have entered 2 anonymous contests which are still running so I cannot post any details as yet.  I have also just posted "C'est la Vie", my entry for the 2010 Age of Edward contest which is based in Versailles Paris in the 18th Century.

Here is the link to the fic on fanfiction.net:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6365208/1/Cest_la_Vie

Here is the link to the contest page on fanfiction.net so you can read the other stories:
http://www.fanfiction.net/community/Age_of_Edward_2010/84445/

There is also an anonymous banner contest and a lovely lady (who I can't name yet) made the above banner for this story and has entered the contest.  To see all the banners, they are on the Age of Edward blog here:
http://www.ageofedward.com/?page_id=102

To give you an idea of what life was like in Versailles in these times, I thought I would post this vid from the movie Marie Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst. 

Well, if you have been following me for a while, you know I am big into researching the era's and places I write about so here are some pics of real life people and places that are referred to in my story.  Luckily I worked in Paris for a little while a few (quite a few) years ago and visited Versailles the township for lunch with the people I worked with and who lived there.  After a very long and rather alcoholic lunch they took us on a guided tour of the Palace gardens and the palace itself.   It is utterly amazing...and beautiful.

The Palace:

The Theatre within the Palace

The Folly in the gardens of Versailles

 

A pic from the movie Marie-Antoinette to give you idea of the reception rooms and the fashions of the day:

Paintings of real people referred to:

Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

Marie-Antoinette in full court dress

Marie-Antoinette with 3 of her children

princesse de Lamballe, the Queen's best friend who met a terrible death in the hands of the mob

Comte de Artois - The Kings brother and friend to the Queen

I had so much fun writing this story, hope you enjoy reading it.

Suzanne

Teaser for Chapter 5 - Menage a Trois

Chapter 5 has been written and sent to my beta and pre-reader to check out before I post.  While we are waiting a few days, here is a little teaser for what's coming up...

As we sat around the table drinking, talking and stuffing ourselves on the Chinese food I had brought, I watched the interaction between Jasper and Bella. I could tell that they were very fond of each other; both comfortable with showing affection for each other and talking animatedly of their time at school. Bella recounted how Jasper had listened to her for hours gushing about her first boyfriend, some guy called Mike Newton, even though she was pretty sure that Jasper had a crush on him too.



Jasper had looked at her in shock at her words, startled enough to blurt out, “I never had a crush on that weasel, Mike Newton. Seriously, Swan. You are delusional.” He rolled his eyes at her and shook his head.


Bella blushed beautifully, “Jasper Whitlock, don’t you lie to me. You spent hours talking about Mike with me. You so too had a crush.”


“Bella, sometimes you are so clueless. I talked to you about Mike Newton because that’s who you wanted to talk about and that’s what friends do! Mike fucking lame ass Newton was not the person I had a crush on in senior year!”


Bella looked crestfallen for a minute, “Oh…of course…Lauren.”


Hang on a second. Lauren is not a fucking boy’s name!


Bella looked down at her hands clasped on the table top and hid behind her curtain of hair for a minute, completely missing Jasper rolling his eyes at her again. But I did not. I suddenly knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jasper had meant Bella.


Ohhhh...Jasper swung both ways. Bella conveniently left out that little nugget of information!


This was not good news.


Bella finally looked up and glared at Jasper, before snarling at him. “Jasper, I’ve never understood what you saw in the skank. That Bitch hated my guts and made my life miserable. I’m still a little pissed at you.”


Jasper reached out his hand and gripped Bella’s fingers which were clenched into a fist. “Okay, okay, I admit that hooking up with Lauren was probably a big mistake. Are you happy now?”


“Probably a big mistake, Jasper?” Bella questioned.


I burst into laughter as Jasper fluttered his eyelashes at Bella, which was completely at odds with his very masculine presence. “Are you two seriously still arguing about a hook-up that happened ten years ago?”


Bella and Jasper turned towards me at my words, both looking at me rather sheepishly. Jasper shrugged. “It’s what we do; we reminisce about the good ole days.” He said in his deep southern drawl as he drew Bella into his arms for a hug.


I was almost certain by the end of that first night that Jasper still did, in fact, continue to have that crush on Bella. She, I was certain, had absolutely no idea. I comforted myself with the knowledge that if Jasper hadn’t told Bella by now of his feelings, then he was never going to, for whatever reason. I briefly wondered why he never had.


I don’t mind telling you that I was hesitant about leaving them alone at Bella’s apartment the next morning, but I had to head off to work and the thought that Bella was oblivious to Jasper’s feelings, made it marginally easier to leave them. I made it through the few days Jasper was in town by becoming quite good friends with the guy. What is that saying again? Keep your friends close and people who fancy your fiancé closer.


So that’s what I did. I planned ways to get closer to Jasper, to get to know him and reassure myself that he had no designs on my fiancé. In following this plan though, I found that we had quite a bit in common, and it turned out that I actually liked spending time with him. Bella was so happy that we got on so well. She didn’t say anything, but I could see her sitting there in the chair watching us joke around and getting lost in long involved conversations about books, classic boys’ movies and favorite bands. Her shining eyes and the little smile hovering around her mouth was enough to tell me how she felt about her two favorite men hitting it off.

Suzanne