octoberland is "Defrosting Edward"

octoberland

Defrosting Edward


18


Aleeab4u

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I’m willing to bet that most fic writers can identify with the following scenario:

You get a plot bunny. It’s ‘just’ silly smut so you figure it will only end up being one or two chapters tops because really, how much smut can one write? But then before you know it two chapters turns into four, four into eight, and then you end up hitting double digits.

Such was the case for author Aleeab4u and her story Defrosting Edward. Set between Eclipse and Breaking Dawn it was only ever meant to be a silly fluffy lemon wherein Alice helps Bella execute a plan to “defrost Edward”. Now it has become what Aleea refers to as the “never ending lemon” and my naughty nature will be eternally grateful.

But it isn’t just the sex that makes this story so special though. As with all of her work Aleea does an amazing job of characterizing a canon Edward that plausibly grows into a version of Edward that is no longer afraid to touch his “fragile little human”. Not only does he lose his fear but his confidence awakens desires and fantasies in both of them they’d never previously contemplated. Oh, and I should probably mention this noteworthy little detail. She’s up to twenty-one chapters and Bella and Edward are still virgins but TRUST ME when I say this is one of the HOTTEST lemon stories out there. I think it’s a testament to Aleea’s skills as a writer that she can have twenty-one extremely sexy chapters without actual intercourse. Ms. Meyer could learn a thing or two from her.


I lower my body over hers. Brown eyes suck me into their depths and I wonder if she knows the lengths I would go to to please her. There is nothing she could ask of me that I would deny her. I need her to know this, to lose insecurity and shame and to give over everything to me. The power of that near surrender excites me incredibly, like the predator I am, will always be. She's mine. I want every fantasy, every taboo desire or thought.

I can’t begin to tell you how difficult it was to choose which chapter to review. There are so many cold shower worthy scenes in this story that it’s almost impossible to choose. It was truly terrible to have to re-read the entire story in my effort to choose. Truly. Not. Let’s just say that if I had a partner they’d have been one lucky person that night. ;)

So let’s get down to the good stuff, shall we?

I decided on chapter 18 which is a meadow scene. I know, I know, you’re thinking “not another meadow scene” but trust me this one’s quite…satisfying. Her Edward gets a tiny bit darker and more dominant in this chapter, though certainly not in an extreme sense, and I for one absolutely swoon over a commanding Edward. I hope you will too.

In this chapter Edward has set up an evening date with Bella in the meadow and has laid out a bit of a surprise for her.


Most of the meadow stays shrouded in shadows, but a few carefully placed lit torches chase back some of the dark. It is the bed I've created that is the centerpiece however. Woven from vines and branches carefully selected from this very meadow, the frame as much blends into its background as stands out. Gauze net style curtains hang on either side, shifting subtly in the breeze and further muting the strands of lights weaving through the bed's branches.

The story switches back and forth between Edward’s POV and Bella’s.


It takes my human mind a long time to process it all. The torches at the meadow's edges. The incredible fairytale bed with all the soft glowing white lights. The candles in shimmering glass hurricane style lamps glowing in the grass. The white curtains, frothy and incredibly delicate looking, fluttering gently in the warm night breeze.

One of the things I love about Aleea’s Edward is that she maintains his constant struggle with his desires, his dual nature between vampire and human that I always loved in the books. Here that duality switches from blood lust to physical lust. But remember. We’re talking about a vampire. Physical lust to them is a whole different ballgame. It’s primal and instinctual and while Edward most definitely loves Bella with every fiber of his being there is a part of him that wants to claim her in ways vastly different than that of a human lover.


I try to move into his arms, tell him I've missed him too, but his eyes suddenly go dark and he vanishes.

Gasping, disoriented I spin around looking for him. He's by the bed, arms upraised and grasping the branches. I think I hear one snap. His eyes are closed, but the second I take a step towards him he shakes his head in warning making me stop. After only a brief minute he exhales loudly and then he's back in front of me, his hand once again cupped around my cheek, icy and smooth. His eyes remain dark, carrying a note of warning so I stay completely still.

And then things really get going:


Somehow I force a hesitant smile to my lips. "We don't have to...you know."

His answering smile isn't hesitant. The half smirk coils my core in warm knots, and when he gently places his other hand on my waist and draws me near, his eyes spark. "Oh, but we do, love." His lips find mine, take away my ability to remember why I'd said we didn't have to. "I need to know if you look as beautiful as I remember, feel as good as I remember, taste as good as I remember."

His words turn that warm knot into a hot mess, and my hands move of their own accord to tangle in his hair.

Earlier I may have given you the impression that Edward’s lust for Bella’s blood is completely gone but that isn’t quite true. He is a vampire after all. However he’s discovered a little something that helps him control that urge.


I need her skin, bare and perfect and satin and hot, pressed all over me. I need her sweet cries to fill this meadow and chase away the demon blood lust inside of me. Only her body has that power.

The sound that comes out of my mouth at the sight of her naked and bound beneath me can only be described as guttural. I'm so hard it's nearly painful, and her scent? God her scent. So much more potent without the barriers. Venom floods my mouth, scalds my throat. For a second my hands tremble, torn between so many raw desires, needs.

Another thing I love about Aleea’s work is that her lemons are what in my mind could be called eloquent. They are sexy and hot without delving into Hustler territory.


Bella gasps louder as I continue to suckle her rhythmically, groaning both to increase her pleasure with the vibration and also simply because I cannot help myself. Having her tender little nipple in my mouth is so erotic, such a simple thing yet so overwhelming. Her taste, the flavor of her skin saturating my taste buds, her eager panting breaths letting me know I'm pleasing her. More, I think to myself, I want her screaming. In full approval my erection throbs and strains, growing damp at the head as small pulses of pre-cum saturate the fabric it rubs against, my body endeavoring to make itself more ready for hers.

Whoa, sorry, got distracted there for a moment. I’m a sucker for the more animalistic side of Edward that she captures so beautifully and she’s able to capture it so beautifully with the simplest of lines:


I feel her body draw in tightly around my hand and she answers perfectly, silky thighs clenching hard around my shoulders. Her cries fill the meadow perfectly, uninhibited and wild, a glorious tiny prey being consumed by her predator.

As you might have noticed I’ve mostly only quoted EPOV so far. I’d apologize but I’m not really sorry. I adore him. But as I mentioned earlier the story also contains BPOV and while I admit I’m not always a fan of BPOV in any story (overload from the books maybe?) Aleea still manages to capture the passion, fragility, and underlying strength that defines Bella.


At first it's awkward. I don't have a clue what I'm doing and I'm terrified he'll stop me, or worse yet, won't like it. Taking my time I seek out places that make him whimper with the tip of my tongue. When I grow brave and take him in my mouth as fully as I can, he gasps on a hard indrawn breath and the branches snap.

His low snarl is my only warning before I find myself flat on my back beneath him. His eyes are closed, body rigid, nostrils flaring. Running my hands up over his chest I say his name softly, trying to bring him back to me.

"Edward, I'm sorry. Did I... do something wrong?"

And then there’s just the sheer poetry she creates with her words:


I could crush her like a fragile new bloom on a tender spring green stalk.

With every stroke and glide the head of my erection passes over her tiny pink bud until she's so swollen and wet and ripe that I'm destroyed by aching degrees.

And last but not least I applaud Aleea for not being afraid to flirt with the taboo:


My other hand slides under her bottom lifting her hips more firmly into me, letting my finger tips slide into the moist full cleft of her buttocks, teasing the forbidden with the tip I coat in her honey. She lets out a shocked little mewl but her shuddering grows more pronounced and she begins to whimper in hot little bursts against my mouth as I stroke her there softly. I make no demands, time enough for those in the future, content for now to tempt her with possibilities.

That little section alone kills me every single time I read this story and it was ultimately the reason I chose this chapter. I am pretty much a useless hormone driven ‘time to pull out the toys’ (hey, it’s PPSS, I can say that right?) mess when I read that bit. I’m frankly amazed I can even type right now. Thank goodness I’m near the end here because it is most definitely time for bed.

In regards to that little bit though I feel like I should clarify that they have not actually ‘gone there’. That would most certainly break the virginity rule in my mind so as much as I love picturing them doing that (did I mention I’m an unabashed pervert?) I’m also very pleased that they haven’t.

Ms. Meyer once said in an interview that she was trying to portray “the sensuality of abstinence” in her books and while this isn’t quite what she had in mind I personally feel Defrosting Edward is a stunning example of just how far you can go without going far at all. Aleea’s writing is in my mind near perfection. Her lemons are sexy as hell, her characterizations are spot on, but most importantly she binds it all together with the strength of the love between Bella and Edward. A love that, as we all know, defies the laws of nature and mortality.


"I love you." It's easy to see in that moment that she means it in all ways, to all parts of me, with equal ferocity. The monster and the man.

I know that these days vampire stories aren’t very popular. But I urge you. Step back to the roots of this fandom. Revisit the Edward we all fell in love with in the first place; a man whose love for a woman consumes him, who would do anything and everything to please her, and for whom eternity with her would never be enough. Aleea captures all of that and then some. Her story is passionate, tender, at times humorous, and never EVER fails to send my heart racing and my girl parts aching for more.

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