CourtneyHale's Entry for 'The Epic T-Rated Contest'
1. No lemons. Must be rated 'T.'
2. Has to have a line or reference to a cannibal.
3. Has to have a line or reference to a fireman.
4. All canon pairings.
5. Has to be a one-shot, but is allowed to be continued once the contest is finished.
6. Must copy/paste these rules to the top of your submission. Two entries per person. Collaborations acceptable.
7. Must PM Bronzehairedgirl620 to alert them of your entry so we can add your story to the C2 if it fits the requirements.
The contest will run until June 6th, 11:59 MST (Mountain Standard Time.) Submissions need to be posted to FF and must follow the rules above.
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The beat was low and dirty. Just the way she liked it. The warm scotch burnt the length of my throat as I threw back the tumbler. I could tell that she liked it from the bar. Her hips were grinding harder and the playful, flirty smile upon her lips cocked up a little higher.
The guy trying, and failing miserably, to match her graceful movements, was another one of her typicals. Blonde hair, blue eyes; it made me wonder why she didn't try something new.
I sighed.
That was just another of her mysteries that I was never going to solve. Like how she could keep going till the break of dawn. Like how she could spin in circles but never look the slightest bit dizzy. And like how she could make my heart jump two times from just one kiss.
My brain pulled up the most watched memory in my repertoire, the night she had kissed me, and began replaying it in front of my eyes.
She entered the club alone with red-rimmed eyes. Her friends, the blonde and black haired ones, rushed up to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. They brushed the hair off her face and she gave them a small smile, allowing herself to be dragged to the ladies toilet.
My eyes were trained on the door she had exited from when she emerged some minutes later, with a noticeably clearer face and a veiled smile upon her features.
Hours, and numerous drinks, later, she was blind drunk. Her moves had lost their flair and she was letting the guys closer than usual. I was tempted to take my shot at her too but my moral conscience argued that that would be just as bad as taking advantage of the poor girl. Plus, any time a guy would get too inappropriate her friends would slap them away.
I was interrupted from my silent observation by a chesty blonde, who tugged at my shirt and pulled me on to the dance floor. Not that I welcomed this kind of attention, but it was the only time I could get nearer to her. She never left the dance floor and I never left the bar, that's just the way it was.
However, it was on this particular occasion, and upon being practically molested by the blonde, that she sidled up to me and asked if she could cut in. Despite the rather put out look on the blonde's face, she manoeuvred herself close to me and wove her arms around my neck. Through the frigidity of my shock I somehow managed to respond with a smile and wrap my hands around her petite waist.
We lasted for 1 minute and 28 seconds of bumping, grinding and shaking before the DJ chose the opportune moment to play the customary slow song of the night.
Her bulbous brown eyes peered up at me through their matching sets of lashes, 'I love this shhong,' she whispered, slurring her words slightly.
'Me too,' I whispered back.
She took a step closer to me, careful not to step on my feet, and with a final scorching glance deep into my very soul, laid her head on my shoulder and rested her arms on my biceps.
I tightened my arms around her waist and breathed in the scent of her hair - strawberries. We swayed with the other couples on the dance floor, all in quiet reverence of the proud display of affection.
It felt like the song had only just begun when it stopped and the DJ began introducing the next set. She took her time to press herself up and raise her head, not that I minded. She pressed two of her fingers to a spot on my shirt that felt oddly cool and wet compared to the rest of my flaming hot skin. She returned her gaze to mine and hastily dashed away the remnants of a tear sliding down her pale cheek. However, she couldn't hide the unshed ones still welling in her eyes.
But in the blink of her eye, they were gone and her brown eyes sparkled. She smiled her brilliant smile and without warning pressed her warm lips to mine, holding them there for a long second, neither of us breathing until she slowly withdrew.
I sighed again.
She had returned the following week without as much as a fleeting glance my way. I would know, I could barely take my eyes off her the whole night. And so it had gone, week after week after week. The same place, the same drinks, the same stalkerish glances from the bar.
And tonight was no different. I had arrived at 8:50pm, on the dot, sat at the bar and ordered my scotch on the rocks. The regular Saturday night bartender, Jasper, brought the drink to my usual chair on the corner of the bar.
'Here you go Edward. Has she arrived yet?' he asked. Jasper had long been informed of my plight; it hadn't taken him long to figure me out at all.
I ran my hand through my hair. 'No sign of her yet, but she never arrives on time,' I replied, with another glance towards the club entrance.
Jasper looked like he wanted to say something, he always did, but he kept his mouth shut. While he was sympathetic to my dilemma, he couldn't empathize anymore. After first latching eyes on her from the bar, Jasper was in love.
After only a couple of weeks watching from afar, he had plucked up the courage to ask out her short, spiky black-haired friend. Her name was Alice and their first date had taken place the previous Friday night.
I knew he was busting to tell me all about it, but I was reluctant. It already felt like Jasper knew her better than I did. Plus, I may have been slightly jealous that he was man enough to ask out Alice after only a couple of weeks, while I had spent infinite Saturday nights pining over her from the bar.
But, being the good friend I was, I asked. 'So, how did your date with Alice go?'
His face lit up with elation, 'Awh! It was a blast! She knows everything about fashion, Edward.' I cocked an eyebrow; Jasper wasn't exactly one to care about fashion. He went on, 'Did you know that some ancient Native American tribes were cannibalistic and that they wore the skin of the people they ate for clothes?! And that there are nudist towns in France where no one wears any clothes, ever!' he said excitedly.
'Sounds intriguing,' I muttered into my drink, as Jasper droned on in the background and the minute hand edged closer and closer to 9pm.
Finally, at 9:08pm I heard her jingling laugh and my head snapped up. There she was, looking particularly breathtaking in a navy blue and white striped blazer and white shorts which barely covered her butt. I smiled as she rammed a white sailor's hat on her brown locks and giggled at Alice and the other blonde-haired girl. She turned and began to head straight down to the dance floor. The smile dropped from my face. Jasper whistled appreciatively and I shot him a murderous glare. She wasn't wearing anything under her jacket. It was done up to cover up her chest but I could still see the smooth skin of her stomach and enough of her décolletage to make my breath quicken.
I downed the rest of my drink and processed my options. Obviously I couldn't stay here with her looking like that. Obviously I couldn't get up from the bar and claim her for myself. My fight or flight mechanism was going into overdrive with every second I was in her presence.
I was vaguely aware of Jasper passing me another drink. 'Of course you can get up there, Edward. Go on, surprise yourself!'
I looked at him, surprised. He was nodding encouragingly and refilling my drink. I hadn't even noticed I had drunk the second one.
I tossed back the third drink and stood up, waiting for the liquid to settle itself. Jasper leaned over and clapped me on the back, 'Go get 'em, tiger!' he called.
I froze. I couldn't do this. I couldn't. I just couldn't. Every fibre of my being was screaming at me to run back to the bar, back to the dimly light corner I had claimed as my own.
But my body wasn't listening. It was taking a step and then another and another. I was on the dance floor. I spied her white hat bopping up and down in time to the music and I began pushing through the crowds.
I couldn't make myself think any faster as I tried to imagine, to plan what would happen next. Could I just ask her for a dance? Would I even be able to talk to her? Would I freeze and stand there looking like an idiot? Again, I tried to make myself turn back but to no avail. It seemed my body was on a collision course with no emergency stop button.
My path was suddenly halted by a hulk-like body blocking my route to her. I heard her giggle distantly, as if this man's body was creating a sound barrier between us. My heart sped up. I couldn't see her, hear her and I began to panic.
'I'll go get us some drinks, shall I?' I heard her say lithely. I groaned aloud. I had made it this far, only to have her run back to the place I had started from. I blamed Jasper for convincing me that this would be a good idea. I blamed her for being so goddamn beautiful that I had to be near her to breathe properly. I blamed the hulk-like man for being so hulk-like. You're blaming everyone but yourself, a little voice piped up inside my head. I growled, earning me some strange looks from the dancers around me.
A tall red head blocked me from my right and tried to pull me towards her but I shook her off angrily. Nothing was going right tonight. I stormed back to the bar, pushing impolitely towards the bar. I sat down right in front of Jasper as he was preparing some drinks, an angry scowl upon my face.
He glanced up at me with a toothy smile that puzzled me momentarily, 'Hey Edward, what can I get you?'
I fumed silently as I tried to communicate telepathically of my brutal plans for him. I ran my hand through my hair again and realized that I wasn't sitting in my usual chair. I sat up a bit straighter and looked to my left, a tired, blonde-haired man with his tie loosened and the top buttons of his business shirt undone necking a beer unenthusiastically. As I turned my head to right, my nose was accosted by the strong whiff of strawberries. I froze. I didn't dare to turn any further, lest my body lose all self-control.
I shot Jasper, what I'm sure was a petrified, deer-in-the-headlights glance and his subtle nod confirmed my worst fears. It was her. Sitting right next to me, barely a hand's reach away.
'A scotch on the rocks, thanks Jasper,' I said, my voicing coming out rough and gravely. He nodded and quickly filled up a tumbler with a generous amount of their finest scotch for me.
'Make that two, thanks,' came the order from my right. Her voice, her voice. How could I even come to describe it? It was like a song, a musical composition, even better when it was not impaired by alcohol, like the first time we had spoken.
Jasper's expression was encouraging as he passed first me and then her our matching drinks. 'Cheers,' she said, holding out her glass for me to toast with her.
'Cheers,' I replied, clinking my glass and looking to her eyes. And I was gone. Lost, swimming in the chocolate brown ocean of her eyes. My dismal memory of our encounter on the dance floor didn't do them justice. Now, under the harsh glare of the bar lights I traced the curve of her iris, noticing the thin line of almost black that outlined it and the flecks of gold that were almost invisible to my eyes.
She blinked and I realized my stare would have seemed rather intense. She blushed and I looked down and towards the bar mat. I heard her intake of breath and nearly spat out the mouthful of scotch I had taken as she quietly said, 'I'm Bella. I remember you.'
Shit. I couldn't pretend that I didn't know her. Shit! Did that mean that she knew I sat at the bar every Saturday night and watched her?
I looked up at her apprehensively. The twinkle in her eye told me everything. My heart skipped a beat as I realized that she knew. She knew I would have pretended not to know her. She knew I had watched her from the bar every Saturday night. And she knew, I knew, she knew. Shit.
The twinkle in her eye gave me hope, though. I let out a noise that may have been a cross between a snort, a giggle, a chuckle and a guffaw. I could have died then and there but she gave a giggle and placed her hand on my bicep.
'Aren't you going to introduce yourself?' she asked with a kind smile.
'Edward,' I said, with a timid, returning smile. I thrust out my hand but decided mid-way that I could do better. I swooped down and plucked her free hand and brought it to my face. I gazed into her eyes with, well what I hoped was, passion and pressed my lips to the back of her hand.
She blushed furiously and let a small, cheeky smile tug at the corner of her lips. She cupped my cheek with the hand I had kissed and lent in. I thought she was going to kiss me and my heart skipped a few beats, I couldn't be entirely sure of anything with her at such a close proximity. However, she lent in closer and closer, past my lips and right up to my ear, 'Come dance with me,' she whispered coyly.
My heart restarted once it was sure she wasn't going to kiss me; I wasn't quite ready for that much excitement in one night and I willingly followed her tugs towards the dance floor. She led me to a spot that was right in the middle of the dance floor; I knew it to be her favourite.
A fiery Latin song was playing and although she, Bella, I corrected myself, began twisting and tossing her hands to the beat by herself, I looked like a fool trying to dance by myself, so I clasped her hands in mine. Plus, any excuse to get closer to her would be an added bonus. I held both her hands in mine and took a step towards her. I began to salsa to the rhythm, thankfully a trip to South America with my brother Emmett had taught me a thing or two about Latin Street dancing. She was a natural dancer but she seemed happy for me to lead our movements. I spun her round, sending her sailor hat flying, but freeing her beautiful brown locks that I longed to reach out and comb my fingers through.
Bella had always looked phenomenal from my seclusion at the bar, but here, in my arms, she was breath-taking, better even. Her smile lit up her face and her laughter was infectious. She was everything I had imagined, dreamed about and wished for, and more.
The song ended and Bella released my hands, brushing the hair off her face. She stepped up close to me and yelled over the starting beats of the next song, 'Thank you! You're a great dancer!' My heart sunk. I had witnessed her act this out many times from afar, the brush-off. But she kept on, 'But now it's my turn! I love this song!' I blinked in surprise, she wanted another dance? She never danced with guys more than once… My train of thought was interrupted as she began to dance along to the thumping R'n'B song which was now playing throughout the club.
She began the song dancing in front of me but at the climax of the song, Bella pressed her back against my chest and her ass against me. She had never danced like this before. I would know. She spun around and placed her hands on my shoulders and looked scorchingly into my eyes, I think I just stared in astonishment at the absolute passion I found there. She gave her hips a bit of a wiggle and a flick before biting her lip and trailing her hands down my chest. Her body followed her hands as she shimmied down me like a fireman, or woman, I supposed to myself before mentally slapping myself for going off on a tangent while this beautiful woman was professing her ardour for me through an incredibly sexual dance, well at least that I hoped she was doing, anyway.
I sensed the song was coming to an end, just as Bella, I still wasn't quite used to knowing her name, was making her way back up my body. The song ended just as she stood up to her full height and looked me dead in the eyes. I felt like she was asking me, what now?
I took her hand in mine and led her back towards the bar, choosing the off-set booth after calling out our drink orders to Jasper. I ordered a light beer, I wanted to remember this night, and Bella ordered a margarita. I raised my eyebrow at her choice, 'What?' she queried me, 'I can handle my alcohol.'
'It's nothing,' I replied, 'I just thought you were a little more educated than…,' I trailed off. She raised a single eyebrow at me, but laughed it off with an eye-roll.
Jasper brought over our drinks and gave me a coy wink that Bella didn't fail to notice. 'You know,' she said, 'if I didn't know you better, I'd think that you had a one track mind like all the other losers around here.'
I didn't know how to react; pleased that she thought she knew me or worried that she thought I was only here because I wanted some ass. She must have seen my apprehensive look, because she laughed and said, 'Lucky, I know you better then, Edward.' Her utterance of my name did strange things to my body; I hadn't even dared to dream that it would feel this good, this right.
We'd barely met but I had a feeling. A feeling that was growing into an understanding. An understanding of the feelings I was having for this woman I barely knew. But, I tried to justify to myself, I did know her. I felt like I had known her my whole life. I gave her a sideways glance as she took a sip of her margarita, did she feel the same way? I didn't know but I sure as hell was going to find out.
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A/N: So what did you think? I'd very much like to know :)
Obviously, this is my one-shot entry for the T-Rated Contest but…if I get enough requests, I've got some ideas that I could use to continue this story and make it multi-chaptered! :)
As a psychic, I can definitely forsee a BPOV chapter in the very near future! Haha, you know what to do lovelies!