Hi there!

Here is a very short piece I wrote with Bella/Edward as main paring (no vampires). I have yet to decide if this will remain a drabble or if I will extend it to a multi-chapter story.

Rating is M as I believe this could be considered lemony on the edges - better be safe than sorry.

My apologies for any grammar or spelling errors, I tried my best to write properly but I don't have any beta-reader and English is not my mother tongue.

I hope you will not find this little piece too cheesy, I was just in the mood for something sweet and tender.

Hopefully you will still like it!


IN THE ARMS OF A STRANGER

She could feel his gentle gaze on her as she roused from slumber. The warmth of the sun slowly rising spread intricate shadows on the white sheets.

Bella wasn't that type of girl. She did not fall for copper hair and deep green eyes. She did not let the bar crooners take her hand and pull her towards the exit. And she definitively was not one to fearlessly follow a stranger to his home after a few carefully chosen words were whispered in her ear.

And yet, here she was. In the bed of a stranger.

She had spent so many nights feeling empty and broken, the ghosts of her past clinging to her soul. They had plagued her dreams without respite poisoning each breath she would take. And as time passed, the anxiety and the stress, the sorrow and the woes had continuously, slowly and painfully torn her from the inside. She hadn't believed she could forget, even for a while. She had not known it would be possible. She had not thought it would happen.

But with the slightest touch of a hand, he had set her skin on fire, goosebumps spreading on her arms and sweat gently trickling down her neck.

"Sweet and salty", the words had been whispered in a deep and rough voice, in between two tender chuckles.

His fingers had lightly stroked her hair as if it was made of the most precious metal, had gently touched her skin as if it was made of a thousand pieces of crystal. When she had finally met his eyes, the rough, primal and honest desire they revealed, had nearly sent her over the edge.

Bella had never met that type of man before. The one who treated unknown broken girls as if they were a gift to treasure, a fearful soul to reassure. She had never met a man who could make her forget the horrors of her past, who could selflessly cherish her for hours without asking for anything in exchange.

No, the only types she had met before were the ones who brought pain and hurt. The only kinds she knew were the ones who liked to break and crack, the ones who lashed out and created deep scars on both the skin and the heart of the girls they loved.

And as his tender hands had worshipped each and every inch of her, she had dreaded for tonight to turn into tomorrow. For she knew, that held tightly in this stranger's arms, the nightmares would be gone, the lonely nights of tears and sorrow would disappear.

OoOoOoOoO

She could feel his gentle gaze on her as she wordlessly quit the bed, and as she put her dress back on the shadow of her body slightly dancing on the white sheets.

He stood up and tenderly helped her to close the zipper in her back.

He did not offer breakfast nor did he waste words with lame excuses. They both knew that the time had come. They had known it would come before something even began.

Bella was a lonely traveler, a wandering soul whose train would not wait ,and he was a popular crooner whose crowd and guitar would not let him go.

Despite this, Bella could not help but feel lighter, happier. She would never trade or forget this single night in the arms of a stranger ,as thanks to him she had learnt what all the men before had failed to teach her: to let go of the fear, to let go of the pain. He had given her the most invaluable things a man could give to a woman: love, trust and confidence.

So after putting her bag on her shoulder, she left ; leaving something sweet and sour against his lips and the ghost of a smile under his fingertips.


Thanks for reading!