I was breathing more quickly, the fire clawing up and down my throat. What if it had been Bella imagining me with my arms wrapped around her fragile body? Feeling me pull her tightly against my chest and then cupping my hand under her chin? Brushing the heavy curtain of her hair back from her blushing face? Tracing the shape of her full lips with my fingertips? Leaning my face closer to hers, where I coud feel the heat of her breath on my mouth? Moving closer still...
But then I flinched away from the daydream, knowing, as I hade known when Jessica imagined these things, what would happen if I got that close to her. Attraction was an impossible dilemma, because I was already too attracted to Bella in the worst way.

With every fiber of my being, I ached to be a normal man, so that I could hold her in my arms without risking her life. So that I could be free to spin my own fantasies, fantasies that didn't end in with her blood on my hands, her blood glowing in my eyes.
My pursuit of her was indefensible. What kind of relationship could I offer her, when I coluldn't risk touching her?