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A thank you short story to those who read Stolen HeART!

Smooches Katydid2363!

Stolen HeART

The Rookie

Edward...

The weight of my body pounded against my aching feet. The rough trail up the side of the mountain had just gotten that bit steeper and I groaned inwardly as the back of my calves stretched under duress, the burn of stretching muscles finally taking their toll. My bare legs were dirty from the kickback of dust and grit and my heart rate increased along with the sweat on my back.

The uneven path had slowed me down on more than one occasion and even though the majority of people that were on this trek were hikers and walking enthusiasts, it didn't make it any easier to navigate around them. With the heat increase and the wind dying down, I struggled to find the enthusiasm in this grand scheme of mine.

Up until now I had kept my eyes focused on the legs in front of me, but now that I was physically hurting from the run, I shifted my eyes to his upper body and cursed out loud.

"You son of a bitc-" I said breathlessly.

Emmett's cackle broke my sentence or was it my now erratic breathing? I couldn't tell. We had been at this for most of the morning and though I was now in my second month of training with Emmett, it hadn't got any easier.

I never thought in a million years that while I sat around our dining table which had quickly become the epicentre of our plan that I'd listened intensely to and what can only be described as surreal, that several months later I would be subjected to some of the cruellest forms of torture. Exercise! I mean Emmett's form of exercise.

I used to run every other morning. I kept myself in shape and with Bella in my life I ate well, not the rich indulgent French cuisine but healthy food. We were still active even though we were now juggling family life. We always made time for ourselves, long walks on a Saturday and the park on Sundays with Charlotte. It didn't seem necessary in Paris to want to drive everywhere. We had everything at our doorstep and we made do with one car between us so I was quietly confident that I could tackle what they threw at me. So when the people around our dining room table decided on that fatal day that I would play a key part in this operation I just assumed that I'd sit behind a desk, make calls and surf the net. How wrong could I be?

"Christ, Edward, keep up!"

On hearing my name I looked up and caught the tail end of a frown as it left Emmett's face. He hadn't even broken out in a sweat. His chest wasn't furiously moving up and down like mine and his hair though shorter than my mop of mess was completely dry. Bastard!

"You're doing this on fucking purpose," I managed to say before resting my clammy hands on the front of my thighs. Even my back ached. I watched him walk over to a small bolder that was partially hidden by the drooping branches of the tree behind.

"What? Do you think Bella's sitting at home in ya French town house watching Leverage?" he said as he flicked the lid of his water bottle open.

"Huh?" I regretfully looked on as he took along gulp of water, wishing now I hadn't drunk mine so quickly three miles back. I shook my head to focus on what he had just said. I didn't understand why he mentioned Bella. She had nothing to do with me moaning about my training. It was Emmett who was organising the training sessions not Bella.

"Oh come on Edward. Don't make out you don't know what she has to prepare for." I stood up straight and lifted up the front of my damp t-shirt. My face was wet from the drops of sweat that was coming from the ends of my hair and I made a mental note to wear a baseball cap tomorrow.

"You're fucking delirious Em, I have no clue what you're talking about."

"The muscle tone sessions down at the gym, the beauty treatments, the waxing!" He winked at the last word and before I could question him further he stood up and stretched his legs. "She needs to be the most desirable woman at that auction house. No man will be able to resist the Bella Booty. I mean you didn't, I didn't. I don't see why those guys would be any different."

It took me awhile to process what had just happened. The words Bella Booty still swirled around my head and something about Emmett and me not being able to resist her had clouded the part of my brain that understood sentences. I was so focused on Emmett that the sudden sound of a person coughing behind me made me jolt from my trance. I mumbled an apology as I stumbled to the side so that the elderly man and his party could continue their walk.

"Edward, are you okay? You look a bit pale." I lifted my hand to silence him while my other hand clenched the material of my shirt. My head down with my eyes staring at my scruffy trainers, I tried to breathe through my nose to calm myself down.

"Edward?"

"Wait," I hissed impatiently. I could hear him sigh as he started to get bored with this conversation and I snapped my head to the side to look at him. His eyes widened from my strange behaviour "You're telling me that Bella is sprucing herself up so she can flirt with whoever is in that room?" My face was so tight with tension that I barely opened my mouth to allow the words out. My rage was on red as I moved towards Emmett, my body rigid with the flow of anger rushing through my veins. "That her research mode isn't background checks and family connections but to look like she's available for any man to fuck her." My own loud voice rang through my ears drowning out the distant rumble of conversation. Emmett grabbed my arm and roughly pulled me to the side as a party of children gasped at my colourful language. I heard the disapproving sound of a grown up nearby and small voices informed each other and the guide that I had said a naughty word.

"Calm down you idiot, we're on a public footpath," he whispered as I jerked my arm from his hand

"Don't tell me to calm down, you've just told me-"

"Shhh...Pipe down, geez..." He rolled his eyes before picking up his water bottle and took another swig.

"Stop telling me to calm down. You've just told me that my wife is getting ready to be eyefucked and-"

"She's not your wife."

"What?"

"You said wife. She's not your wife, not yet anyway," he said in a nonchalant voice. My mouth gapped opened as I looked at Emmett. He seemed completely unaware of what his flippant remarked had just caused.

Ignoring my reaction he looked down at his wristwatch. "I thought you'd be pissier at the other part of the sentence," Emmett grumbled. I took a step back as I absorbed his last statement. My eyes narrowed as I tried to recall what else he had said. I replayed Emmett's words in my head and as the penny slowly dropped, my body shook from my uncontrollable temper. I lunged forward knocking Emmett to the ground.

"You fucker!" I managed to spit out as I pressed my body weight against his chest.

"Hey, get off me you whack job. What the fuck..." With little effort from Emmett, he pushed me off and I fell on my back. The dust from our scuffle caused me to cough and I waved my hand in front of my face to clear the air.

"I thought she told you." He sounded like a child trying to shift the blame "It's not like it was yesterday, you weren't even on the scene," he mumbled as his hands swept over the front of his shorts and shirt. "I'm with Rose now, and yeah, though Bella's still smoking hot I don't see-" He stopped in mid sentence his hands paused from dusting himself off as he noticed my expression. I slowly stood up, my eyes never leaving his.

"I'd shut it, if I were you, Em," I warned him through gritted teeth and he took a step back to keep some space between us.

I hesitated for a moment as I weighed my options. I could see my silence was making him uncomfortable. Yet I knew if I asked him any questions about what had happened between them it would only agitate me more and who's to say he would even divulge anything. I wasn't immune to their secrets in the past that much I did know. What I already knew had been an accident on Emmett's part, a slip of the tongue. Without saying a word I swiped his water bottle from the rock and turned back the way we had come.

"Hey...Edward...Ah come on man...Don't be like this."

Bella...

"There it is, see? It's only a subtle change, but that is definitely a false wall."

"Ah yeah, I see it now. Wow, ever thought of going into the property market Bella?" I smiled at James and nudged my glasses back up my nose. The kitchen counter was littered with blueprints, some old some more recent.

With the dining room set up as the central hub for the team and our office now housing all my equipment, we were running out of space. Jasper was arriving next month to reconstruct the office, make it more user-friendly and to give us some of the space back we'd lost over the last several months or so.

With the technology that was out at the moment Alice didn't need to spend all her time travelling between here and Esme Island. Carlisle's and Esme's peaceful retirement was slowly vanishing every time Alice had to make the journey to us. So we decided to house the technical side of the heist in London nearer the time. She was in constant contact with us and if we needed to call an emergency meeting Emmett had rigged the phone system to house conference calls via satellite from Esme Island. With a flick of a button Alice or Jasper would be on our screen within seconds.

Christie's in London, Kensington had now been confirmed as the auction house where the bidding for the Diamond would be held. I was pleased with this. Having spent a few years of my youth in London I was familiar with its surroundings. Christie's was located in an unassuming area. It was a few streets away from the busy Kensington road that housed the National and Science Museums and that lead to the infamous Knightsbridge road. Christie's was situated on the Old Brompton road. It was a mixture of resident chic and local businesses. Bohemian designer shops with large over spaced windows with very little on show. A large Lamborghini dealership was perched on the corner. Men would sit for hours outside the coffee shop that sat on the opposite side of the road and lovingly looked on as their dream car was whisked away.

"Sounds like Edward's home," James mentioned as we both heard the rattle of his key in the lock. I looked briefly at my watch and noted that he hadn't been gone long. I returned my attention back to the blueprints, me making notes in pencil at certain points on the map and James calculating the time and distance between each room we would need to go through.

The front door closed with a deliberately loud bang and we both flinched at the same time before looking at each other with concern.

"Bella?" Edward shouted. I could hear the tone of his voice and knew instantly that something was wrong. I shrugged my shoulders at James, who on coming to the same conclusion, frowned at me.

"In here Edward," I called back. His footsteps were heavy and fast. I began to gather the prints together.

"Oh," Edward said with disappointment as he spotted James. I turned back to look at James then back at Edward who was now making his way to the fridge. His hair was in its usual dishevelled mess and his sodden shirt was clinging to his chest. Even though the waft of his workout followed him into the room and his skin still glistened, I found myself wishing that James wasn't here.

"You okay?" I asked. His head ducked behind the open fridge door as I waited for an answer. Once again I looked at James with a puzzled expression and this time it was him that shrugged.

"Me?" he asked as he closed the fridge door. He clenched his fist with his thumb sticking out and pointed at his chest. "I couldn't be better." He tried to sound casual but instead his words seemed distorted and full of sarcasm. He twisted the cap off the small water and took a gulp but not before mimicking a silent saluted cheer towards us with his bottle.

"Right, well...um I think it's my cue to go," James said uncomfortably. He started to roll up the rest of the plans and look for the lid of the tube shaped container they came in

"James, you don't have to leave," I protested. I glared at Edward who took no notice.

"Yeah, I wanna talk to my wife," Edward interjected. He looked straight back at me as if James wasn't in the room and I pursed my lips with embarrassment.

"I should go anyway. Emmett's probably reached my place by now." I reached over to gather up his lightweight jacket along with his driving gloves. James had a habit of leaving something behind.

Emmett and Rose were staying with James until they moved to London. It was decided on our first meeting as a team again that Em and Rose would do most of the outdoor surveillance. As of yet they had little or no responsibilities and though they had bought a house in Italy they were in no rush to fill it with children. Rose was keen to learn as much as she could about what we did and Emmett was more than pleased to assist. We had arranged a penthouse flat in London within walking distance of the auction house for them along with false identities and credentials. Rose had managed to snag a position at the auction house as part of the catering staff with the help of a fake resume and a glowing reference from Edward.

"He'll need these," Edward said flatly as he tossed a set of car keys at James before he leaned back against the kitchen counter and folded his arms across his chest.

"I thought he dropped you off?" James said with a hint of confusion. Edward only responded with a small shrug of his shoulders

"So where is he?" James asked sounding a bit agitated. He was starting to lose his patience.

"I dunno..." Edward mumbled.

James nodded his head with frustration before turning to me "Sort him out for Christ's sake. He's acting like a bloody child." I rolled my eyes and smiled before I took his arm to walk him to the door.

James stopped suddenly to face Edward. "Oh and Edward…" Edward snapped out from his daze to look up at James. "She's not ya wife yet," James said, knowing full well that that last comment would rile Edward to no end.

Now that the door was shut I marched back towards the kitchen to confront Edward. He was at the fridge mumbling to himself as he pulled out plastic containers of leftovers before rummaging around for cutlery.

"What the hell is your problem?" I demanded, my arms tightly folded across my chest. I tried to keep my voice down but his attitude pissed me off.

"My problem is you forgot to mention what kind of training you'll have to do," he shouted throwing the fork he had just retrieved from the draw onto the work surface.

"What?" I was completely mystified as to what he was talking about. Was he accusing me of something? "Hang on." I reached over and grabbed his hand that was now furiously buttering a slice of bread "What are you saying? Am I to blame for something?"

"Waxing and making yourself look fit…sexy dresses and stuff...is that part of your training?" he asked in a sharp tone of voice.

I sighed as I pulled my hand back. "Edward you're not making any sense."

"You're going too deliberately flirt with God knows who while I stand back and watch. I don't think so. Uh-uh no way," he said shaking his head. "So you can forget it...all this preparation crap you're not doing it. End of..."

"End of?" I asked calmly. As I raised a questioning brow "You want me to back off? Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes!" Our eyes locked, neither one of us blinking. I watched as his jaw stiffened. His lips were tightly closed but I knew he was gritting his teeth. I moved quickly away and left the room. My feet taking the brunt of my fury as I frantically made my way to the office. I hastily rummaged through the files that were scattered on the desk before I found what I was looking for.

"Here you go!" I barked. I returned to stand next to Edward. A fleeting look of worry passed his eyes and I roughly opened the file for him to look at.

"This man..." I pointed hard at the black and white photo of a slim man who was talking to Caius, the owner of the diamond and the man we were going to rob. "He's Caius assistant and he is as bent as they come," I said aggressively. I swiftly gathered up the contents of the folder before shoving it against Edward's chest. He stumbled back slightly from the unforeseen force of my temper and gingerly held the file to his chest as his eyes that were still on me widened.

"Don on your tight jeans Edward, you've just been promoted," I said sarcastically before storming out.

The heat of the water hit the knot on the back of my neck and I sighed with relieve as I felt the tension slowly evaporate. I had a while before Charlotte would wake from her mid day nap and being that I was stubbornly furious with Edward, I was in no rush to be in his company. I held the palm of my hands flat against the cold tiles with my arms stretched out and my head dropped forward. I was in the perfection position to feel the full force of the strong current of water that was pounding against my neck. I closed my eyes and took in the scent of vanilla.

I heard the sound of movement beyond the peace I was trying to get to and I took a deep breath to calm me down. The glass door slowly opened exposing my hot wet skin to the bathroom air and I shuddered from the interruption. I didn't move from my position though my heart was racing with curiosity.

His naked body felt cold against my heated skin and a shiver filtered down my spine. His breath bounced off the curve of my neck as he stepped closer, his chest gently touched my back.

"I'm...I'm sorry." His words were whispered against the side of my face, his lips near the curve of my ear. In unison his hands reached my hips.

"Please forgive me, you know my jealousy is my weakness," he muttered. His lips skimmed across the back of my neck. Small peppered kisses travelled across my shoulders as he tightened his grip on my hips. A moan of contentment left my lips.

"Please don't be mad," he begged. My breath hitched as one of his hands moved across my stomach. My muscles clenched as his soft slow touch made me feel weak and unable to stand.

"I'm...I'm mad at you Edward." It sounded convincing and believable in my head but now that my desire was stirring I wasn't so sure.

"I know." He pushed against me, his hands pressed against my stomach so I could feel the full effect of him against me. "I lost my temper. I don't know this side of you, this is all new to me." I groaned in response to his touch. His fingers now tangled in between my legs. "I don't know how to be when you become someone else." My arms tensed as I felt my weight start to subside, as his fingers pushed forward.

I hissed as his slow stirring finger reached my clit. My hands pushed against the tiles as I tried to refrain from responding. I was still mad with him and though I wanted this, I wasn't going to make it easy for him.

"God...You feel good." His raspy voice sent another influx of shivers speeding down my spine. His finger picked up the pace and I gasped, while his other hand that had been stroking my hip moved painfully slow up towards my breasts. The peppered kisses from a moment ago had turned into tender nibbles on my hot skin. My breathing began to slow down, the heavy weight of my lungs expanding as I tried to control my excitement. My eyes fluttered as I felt the friction that I needed increase and I leaned back slightly to feel him close to me.

"Bella."His voice was willing me on, the deepness of his fingers inside me made me groan and just as I felt myself go I cried out his name. Seconds fell into minutes as I felt his chest sway against my back, his own arousal wanting attention. I gained control of my uneven breath and lifted my head up. My hands felt the rough grit between the tiles as I fumbled for smooth cold chrome. I turned the mixer taps sharply and the sound of gushing water instant stopped.

"What...what are you doing?" he asked. He sounded baffled by my action as I opened the shower door and stepped out. I reached for a towel as I heard his padded footsteps follow closely behind me.

Without a word from me I straightened myself up and wrapped the warm white fluffy towel around my body before heading through the door and into our bedroom to pick up the phone that was on our bedside cabinet. His face was a mixture of concern and confusion. His eyes darted from me to the phone as he watched me toss it in his direction. He caught the handset without flinching. His body shined from the water that trailed down his naked body. I deliberately swayed my hips as I walked back towards him. I pushed against him, my face so close I could feel his breath. His still hard dick bounced gently against my thigh. He tilted his head slightly, readying himself for a kiss.

"Apologise to Emmett and James, or the next time you take a shower Edward, it'll be a cold one..."

Thank you!