Free Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer Page B

interest in boating before. But then again, he was good at just about everything.
    As we headed due east into the open ocean, I reviewed basic geography in my head. As far as I could remember, there wasn’t much east of Brazil… until you got to Africa.

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    But Edward sped forward while the lights of Rio faded and ultimately disappeared behind us. On his face was a familiar exhilarated smile, the one produced by any form of speed. The boat plunged through the waves and I was showered with sea spray.
    Finally the curiosity I’d suppressed so long got the best of me.
    “Are we going much farther?” I asked.
    It wasn’t like him to forget that I was human, but I wondered if he planned for us to live on this small craft for any length of time.
    “About another half hour.” His eyes took in my hands, clenched on the seat, and he grinned.
    Oh well, I thought to myself. He was a vampire, after all. Maybe we were going to Atlantis.
    Twenty minutes later, he called my name over the roar of the engine.
    “Bella, look there.” He pointed straight ahead.
    I saw only blackness at first, and the moon’s white trail across the water. But I searched the space where he pointed until I found a low black shape breaking into the sheen of moonlight on the waves. As I squinted into the darkness, the silhouette became more detailed. The shape grew into a squat, irregular triangle, with one side trailing longer than the other before sinking into the waves. We drew closer, and I could see the outline was feathery, swaying to the light breeze.
    And then my eyes refocused and the pieces all made sense: a small island rose out of the water ahead of us, waving with palm fronds, a beach glowing pale in the light of the moon.
    “Where are we?” I murmured in wonder while he shifted course, heading around to the north end of the island.
    He heard me, despite the noise of the engine, and smiled a wide smile that gleamed in the moonlight.
    “This is Isle Esme.”
    The boat slowed dramatically, drawing with precision into position against a short dock constructed of wooden planks, bleached into whiteness by the moon.
    The engine cut off, and the silence that followed was profound. There was nothing but the waves, slapping lightly against the boat, and the rustle of the breeze in the palms. The air was warm, moist, and fragrant—like the steam left behind after a hot shower.

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    “Isle Esme ?” My voice was low, but it still sounded too loud as it broke into the quiet night.
    “A gift from Carlisle—Esme offered to let us borrow it.”
    A gift. Who gives an island as a gift? I frowned. I hadn’t realized that Edward’s extreme generosity was a learned behavior.
    He placed the suitcases on the dock and then turned back, smiling his perfect smile as he reached for me. Instead of taking my hand, he pulled me right up into his arms.
    “Aren’t you supposed to wait for the threshold?” I asked, breathless, as he sprung lightly out of the boat.
    He grinned. “I’m nothing if not thorough.”
    Gripping the handles of both huge steamer trunks in one hand and cradling me in the other arm, he carried me up the dock and onto a pale sand pathway through the dark vegetation.
    For a short while it was pitch black in the jungle-like growth, and then I could see a warm light ahead. It was about at the point when I realized the light was a house—the two bright, perfect squares were wide windows framing a front door—that the stage fright attacked again, more forcefully than before, worse than when I’d thought we were headed for a hotel.
    My heart thudded audibly against my ribs, and my breath seemed to get stuck in my throat. I felt Edward’s eyes on my face, but I refused to meet his gaze. I stared straight ahead, seeing nothing.
    He didn’t ask what I was thinking, which was out of character for him. I guessed that meant that he was just as nervous as I suddenly was.
    He set the suitcases on the deep porch to open the doors—they were