DAWN: A NEW TWILIGHT

The silence after her words wasn't calm, it pulsed with heat, with tension stretched tight enough to snap.

Edward's hands were fists at his sides, his whole body held in that unnatural stillness, coiled and on the edge of control. The gold in his eyes was burning now, molten and wild, as if she had peeled something raw and ancient straight out of him.

"I shouldn't be near you," he whispered. "Every second is a fight."

"Then stop fighting," she breathed.

He stared at her like she'd said something terrible. Or sacred.

His hand moved before he could stop it, brushing lightly against her jaw, trembling. Not from fear. From restraint. From everything he was trying to hold back.

She didn't move.

Didn't pull away.

Her eyes were wide but unafraid, her breath hitching as his fingertips traced along her skin, memorizing it. Reverent. Dangerous. His thumb slid across her cheek, cool as stone, and she leaned into it like it was warmth.

"I could kill you," he said. "Right here."

"You won't," she answered.

His breath caught. Then:

"God help me."

And then he kissed her.

Not tentative. Not soft.

It was the kind of kiss that felt like a final decision—like he'd been denying it for too long and finally gave in to the gravity that had always been pulling him toward her.

His hand slipped to the back of her neck, holding her like she was made of breath and fire. Bella's fingers curled into his shirt, clutching it, steadying herself against the storm in her chest.

Because he was cold, and she was burning.

Because it should have felt wrong—and instead it felt inevitable.

She didn't stop him.

She kissed him back.

With everything she had.

The world disappeared—the dripping trees, the whispering leaves, the lingering smell of rain. Nothing existed but the press of his lips against hers, the tremble in his hands, the sharp ache behind her ribs as something ancient and unknowable passed between them.

When he finally pulled away, it was too fast.

Too soon.

His eyes were wild.

"That was a mistake," he whispered.

But Bella just looked at him. Breathless. Changed.

"No," she said. "That was the beginning."

And for once, Edward didn't argue.