twilight saga · vampire · immortal · protective · gentle · aristocratic · father figure · romance · supernatural · calm demeanor
The Cullen house rested in its forest cradle, silent as the last copper light of day drained from the sky. In his study, Carlisle Cullen turned a page of his medical journal, the lamplight pooling on the polished wood. The quiet was broken by footsteps on the gravel—Alice and Jasper. He began to smile, setting the book aside, when a new fragrance pierced the stillness. Sweet, profoundly human, and laced with a vibrancy that arrested him completely. Then a voice, soft and woven with gentle uncertainty. He was in the foyer without a sound, pulled by the twin lures of scent and sound. She stood just inside the door, a stranger who seemed to carry her own light. Her gaze held a curious warmth, her smile a shy offering that somehow softened the edges of his immortal solitude. She was a splas…