My eyes opened as I woke up in a position I didn't normally sleep in. Lying on my back, Edythe had her head resting on my chest. It was Saturday, the day of the dance. I was a bit nervous but also excited at the same time.
"Morning, Tiger, you were quite the restless one last night. It seemed you would never get comfortable." Edythe said without looking up at me. She ran her hand over my abs.
I smiled and stretched my arms out, then I reached down and gathered her onto my chest. "Morning Sunshine. I had some weird dreams. Showing up to the dance without pants on. Then there was one where the dance was attacked by some big worm-looking thing you were trying to shoot with a bazooka. The last one, A blond chick, showed up with something she called 'Mr. Pointy, looking to kill all the Vampires in the school."
She laughed, "The no pants at the dance sounds interesting. But then I would have to compel every girl there to forget what they saw. The last one sounds suspiciously like that old Buffy TV show."
We laughed and lay there for a little longer before I forced myself to get up. "What time does Alice have us scheduled to be there to get ready for the dance?"
"She wants us there at 2 but no later than 4. She is going way overboard, the dance doesn't start until 7."
"Well, let's not bring out the little Gremlin in her. She is excited for your first dance, so she naturally wants it to be perfect. The only thing that would get her to loosen the reins on us would be if Bella and Edward made a last-minute change of plans and came along."
Edythe smiled and then broke out into a chuckle. "Yeah, that's not happening. Bella is so excited to be going to the meadow that she woke up almost earlier than Charlie this morning. You can probably hear her pacing the time away in the kitchen right now. Good thing you told her you wanted to sleep in because of the dance tonight, or she would probably come woke you up already."
I gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Well, why don't you go calm her down while I shower and get dressed?"
Edythe stood and nodded her head, but she was thinking, {I would rather join you in the shower. Your hands wandered while you were tossing and turning last night. Bella isn't the only one who needs to be calmed down.} Rather than say that out loud, she quickly made her way downstairs.
I walked to the bathroom, unaware that if I had been able to read her mind, this morning could have been a memorable one.
The rest of the morning was spent in distraction. Bella was trying to stay calm about her first outing with Edward. Edythe and I were trying the same for the dance. Random discussions left Bella the opportunity to give up some embarrassing stories on me, and in turn, I gave some up about her.
Around 1:00, Edythe turned to Bella, "Edward is here." Then there was a knock at the door.
I was finishing up the dishes from a rather large lunch we had because we all knew that the evening would be long with little opportunity to eat. Bella wished us a fun evening and reminded us to get pictures for her and Rene. I told her to be careful and then told Edward to bring her back safely. Shortly after that, I was hiding a smile at the tortured look Edward was giving the old red pickup as they had to sit and wait for it to warm up before Bella could get it in reverse to pull out of the driveway.
Moments later, Edythe and I left out the back door and headed into the forest. We separated for a moment so that I could undress and make the change to my tiger form. The time it took for my shape change to happen was decreasing. It seemed much more natural to pull all the fire into my body now, where before it was like I had to lead it where to go. Now, when the flame reached my chest, it dispersed to the rest of my body on its own.
Edythe gathered the backpack from me and put it on her shoulder. She then reached out to run her hands along my back, petting my fur.
"You are getting bigger all the time. I wonder where you will stop. You are already big enough to ride like a horse."
Enjoying the feeling of my girlfriend stroking my back, I thought towards her, {"Jump on, let's see how fast I can move."}
Edythe's eyes sparkled, "Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you."
{"We have time to play around, and I have no problem giving my girl a tiger back ride."}
Unable to hide her excitement, Edythe swung a leg over my back and tried to get seated in the middle. I took a couple of slow steps and thought, {"Move a bit farther forward, closer to my shoulders."}
She did, and I moved a few more steps in experimentation. After getting used to the added weight, {"I'm going to start moving faster. First, a walk, then a light lope. And if you are comfortable, then maybe a run, sound good?"}
"I feel like a little girl again, this is so cool," Edythe said in excitement.
I just let out a chuckling noise through my open mouth and started moving at an increasing pace. Her added weight really didn't seem to hinder me much, but I knew there were several actions I couldn't take with her on my back. After a bit, I began a slow run as I twisted through the forest, it was then that we hit our first real problem. {"Ease up with the legs, Edythe. I can feel my ribs creaking, and it's getting hard to breathe."}
She relaxed her thigh muscles, "Oh, sorry. It's harder to steady myself when you're moving fast."
{"Lean forward and see if you can get a handful of fur just under my neck, my skin is loose enough there to help. Just don't squeeze too hard or pull out my fur."}
I felt her do as I said, and it wasn't too uncomfortable, but at least she wasn't squeezing me to death now with her thighs. I went back to a decent pace again, and she had no trouble holding on. As we got closer to her house, {"How about trying full speed for the last little bit?"} Edythe was quick to respond, "Go for it, I'll jump off if there are issues."
The last couple of miles, I went all out. Edythe had to hold on tight, but she was also making sure not to hurt me. As the trees blurred by, Edythe let out a whoop of pure enjoyment and laughter. In moment's we were at the stream near the house, and I leaped the gap with no issues. This caused Edythe to shout out in joy once again, and when we burst through the tree line, it was into a crowd of vampires that stood in their backyard looking in our direction.
I slowed down under their gazes and stopped for Edythe to jump off my back. Alice was the first to say something, "That looked like fun."
"You have no idea, but sorry, sister dear. I am the only one riding my boyfriend." Edythe said with a sinister smile to her sister.
Alice pouted but gave up quickly. "Fine, be stingy."
Everyone laughed at the pout on Alice's face, but soon spit up, going back to what they were doing. The exceptions were Emmett and Jasper as they approached me. Emmett was the first to speak, "Let's fight."
I could see the child-like delight in his eyes and nodded my head. Then I looked over at Edythe and thought, {"Tell him, I'm good with it. No biting and no claws on either part."}
When she relayed my conditions, both Emmett and Jasper looked excited at the prospect.
"Let's take this to our training field Emmet. No need to ruin the forest so close to the house." Jasper then looked at Edythe, "Will you come to help us communicate?"
Before Edythe could respond, Alice stuck her head out the patio door, "Not a chance, we need to start preparing for the dance. Rose and I want to experiment with your hair a few times before deciding how to do it. Let the boys play, you get in here."
With a resigned sigh, Edythe answered Jasper. "I will watch from your minds when I can, but you can communicate just fine if you keep the needed responses simple, or just yes or no responses. Here, take his backpack so he can get dressed after you're done playing around."
She gave me a quick hug around my neck and then headed towards the house. "Have fun."