Title: Practice Makes Perfect

Author: LJ: SnarkySweetness; FF net: SchwartzyLogainne
Characters/Pairings: Edward Cullen and Bella Swan; Edward/Bella
Rating: R
Warnings: Slight sexuality.
When: Set Post Eclipse.
Summary: A few days before the wedding, Edward surprises Bella with a 'rehearsing' session, only to have them both get carried away in trying to out dazzle the other.
Disclaimer: SMeyer owns all.
Author's Note: Merry Christmas 823freckles, I hope you enjoy the comedic semi-smut. Also, as always, thanks Grace for beta-ing this, even though you hate the fandom.

Bella walked into her house, already feeling a bit suspicious. Alice, the wedding planner from hell, had let her off the hook from sampling the new dinner menu, because she thought Bella needed a 'day off to relax', which meant she was up to something. To be honest, Alice wasn't as terrible as Bella made her out to be; she was the worst when she wanted Bella to make decisions, which Bella was useless at, and then that's when she got extremely dangerous. For the most part, Bella had to admit that Alice was a God-send. Bella had no interest in the helping with the big show that Alice was orchestrating, so having Alice and Esme do most of the work was just perfect for Bella.

Bella stripped off her coat immediately. Why was it so warm? No, it was worse than warm, it was blistering hot. Bella threw her things down in the kitchen before making her way up the stairs, wondering why in the world Charlie would have put the heater on in the middle of summer in the first place and why he would proceed then to leave it on.

As Bella reached the thermostat, she shook her head. Perhaps Charlie was finally losing it, with it being so close to the wedding. Bella felt guilty enough about having to leave him, she didn't need more reasons to feel guilty, or for Edward to try and convince her to stay human a bit longer.

"I would leave that on if I were you." Edward told her, leaning in the doorway of her bedroom, looking better than anyone had any right to.

Bella gave him a small look of confusion. "Back from your hunting trip so early?" She asked, wondering why in the hell he was sitting in her empty house with the heater turned on full blast. Had he finally begun to feel the cold or something?

Edward gave her a small nod, still standing against the door, looking like a Greek god, though, not even that comparison did him justice. Bella didn't hesitate before locking her arms around him and kissing him. She was amazed that he still made her feel so breathless at times; this was one of the things that she would miss when she was a crazed, new-born vampire.

Edward didn't break the kiss off, like usual, instead, he held her face and kissed her deeply, the way he did when they 'rehearsed'. Bella's skin flushed as she realized what he was up to.

"Edward, what's going on?" Bella asked him, breaking the kiss, feeling a bit breathless.

Edward moved his cold fingers over her cheek and then down to her exposed throat. "I thought, with Charlie gone and the wedding so close, I very much need to work even harder on my self control, if I'm going to fulfill my end of the bargain." He told her, his melodic, angelic voice making Bella shiver just a bit, along with the meaning behind his words. She wanted nothing more than to physically assault him with her body in that moment, but he wasn't the only one who needed to learn self-control; Bella was still trying to control herself with him, she would need to help him as much as possible if they were going to have a proper wedding night.

"So, you thought we'd skip the blankets this time?" She asked, hope in her voice. She didn't know if she could take a 'no' from him, the idea in itself was making butterflies flutter in her stomach.

Edward gave her a small grin. "Something along those lines; Alice told me I would need it, something about how you would lose your control and end up freezing. She told me no gentleman would allow that."

Bella could hear the mix of amusement and irritation in his voice. She blushed; she wasn't sure she wanted to know what Alice had seen and she was sure Edward didn't like that Alice had seen those things either. It wasn't Alice's fault, but Bella still felt a bit bashful about it. At least Alice was subtle; if Emmett had seen those things, Bella didn't think she would survive the humiliation.

Edward took her hand and led her to her bed, making sure to shut her door behind him as he did so. Bella took a seat on her bed, reminding herself to breath. Up until now, their rehearsals had consisted of heavy sessions of making out; both of them with their shirts off, but with a thick blanket wrapped around Bella. Bella would prefer body to body, but it wasn't really possible with the two of them. She wondered, idly, how their honeymoon would work.

Edward sat next to her quietly. Bella looked over to his perfect face, moving her hand over his stone cheeks. She knew she would have to be the one to start this, she always was. She took a moment to calm herself; with her luck, she would ruin Edward's attempt by going too far with him. Edward simply waited, like always, patiently.

Once she felt in control, Bella took his face in her hands and kissed him, holding back the real desire she felt with him. Bella had finally figured out to use only half of her energy with him, anymore than that and she couldn't get away with it. Edward would go off about her testing his control much more than he was capable. She nearly rolled her eyes just thinking about.

Edward moved his arms around her and kissed her back and Bella had to once again, remind herself to breath. She wished they could kiss the way that she wanted; passionately, with their full mouths, tongues, everything moving together; but, Edward's venom made that impossible. Really, being human was such a burden.

Bella moved her fingers into his hair, pulling him closer. She felt Edward tense for a moment, but it passed and he moved his hands down to her waist, holding her closely. Bella leaned back against her pillows, bringing Edward with her. She was glad he came so willingly now, it hadn't been so easy at first.

"Edward," Bella whispered after a few minutes, feeling almost ill. She was sweating already, the heat was getting to her, and she knew it would only get worse as their activity progressed. She felt flush and her breathing was a bit off, but the latter had to do more with him than with the heat.

She saw his worried expression, knowing him, he probably was convinced that he'd hurt her.

"I'm a bit warm," she told him quickly, wanting to ease his mood.

She saw him nod and sat up, lifting her shirt and tossing it aside. She blushed as she saw his eyes rack over her, she was never going to get used to his appreciation of her body. Bella bit her lower lip. She wondered if this is what Alice had seen. With the heat of the room and the wedding so close, Bella had something that she wanted to try.

Without another word; she was too afraid that if she asked, Edward would stop her. She reached behind her, avoiding his questioning gaze. Bella unhooked her bra and she heard his sharp intake of breath as he realized what she was about to do. Bella tossed it off quickly, averting her gaze from his face. She wasn't sure she wanted to see his reaction. She was half sure he would be on the other side of the room, too 'overwhelmed' to be near her.

After a few minutes of silence, Bella couldn't take the anticipation anymore. Why hadn't he said anything? She looked up to find Edward frozen in place, his mouth hanging slightly open. He looked…almost dazed. Bella blushed; Edward had never looked at her with such intensity.

"Bella, you're trying to kill me," Edward whispered.

"Don't be so dramatic, Edward." Bella rolled her eyes, but smiled, feeling a surge of pride. She took his hand as he began to move away and shook her head. "Edward, how else are you going to be able to do this? Small steps, remember?" She whispered, trying to be as soothing as possible. They were going to have to try a lot more than this if he planned on not killing her when the time came. She moved her hand to his cheek when he still said nothing and sat, up, wrapping her arms around him, their chests pressed together. She withheld taking in a sharp breath, he was still cold, though, not as cold as usual.

Edward felt tense, on alert, but after a few moments, Bella could feel him begin to relax. She let out a sigh of relief when he hugged her back, his cold hands pressed against her back. She felt his lips lightly against her shoulder and moved her head, giving him access to her neck, but Edward surprised her by pulling away slightly before leaning his ear against her chest, listening to her heart.

"I'm going to miss this," he told her quietly, his eyes closed.

"Me too," Bella told him, her breath hitched a bit. How long would it be before she could feel like this about him again? Would she ever be the way she was? The idea of not wanting Edward in the way that she did now even years after her transformation frightened her.

She heard him chuckle a bit, he knew full well how she felt. "Don't laugh at me, Edward, what if I lose my want for you? You're to regret not getting more of me while I still do." She told him a bit stubbornly. This was not going as far or as well as she'd expected; she'd been planning on having to let him down like she had in the meadow; her biggest regret was not letting that go further, Edward had never been as needy with her as he had then.

Edward lifted his head just enough to look at her. "Will I? Do you suggest I get my fill now, then?" He asked, kissing the very top part of her breast, making Bella gasp.

"Yes." She said quickly. What was a week?

"Really? I thought you wanted to wait?" He asked, placing more, butterfly kisses along her body, moving down her torso, his voice a bit playful.

"What's a week?" She told him, gasping a bit louder. "Edward!" Was he trying to kill her? She knew full well he was only going to stop this in a few moments when she was far too turned on, leaving her along to seethe. He was evil like that.

"Yes?" He asked, lifting his head, giving her a smile, clearly amused.

Bella gave him a glare. Two could play this game; she was sick of being the one left wanting more. This time she was going to leave Edward begging her to not stop, she could wait, after all, what was a week?

Bella let the glare fall before crawling over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. She gave him a small pout. "That isn't very nice, Edward," she told him, kissing the crook of his neck, running her hands down his sides. "Getting me al hot and bothered and for nothing, we both know what you do to me; it's really quite evil, doing that to me and then leaving. What would Esme think of such manners?" She asked him, kissing his shoulder and then his clavicle bone. She felt Edward tremble and smirked; good, it was working already.

"You should give me just a little more, don't you think?" She asked, kissing his chest before feeling his fingers in her shoulders.

"Bella, what are you doing?" He asked, his voice a bit strained.

"Nothing," she said innocently. "Why, don't you like it?"

"Yes. Too much."

She lifted her head after placing one more kiss on his body. "So, should I stop?" She asked, the last part of her words cut off by his lips crushing hers. Bella quickly wrapped her arms around him, clutching him as he held her as tightly as was possible for the two of them.

Bella pressed her lips even harder against his, wrapping one leg around him, reminding herself that she couldn't get too carried away with this. Edward pulled her even closer before laying down, pulling her with him, his hands moving into her hair, clutching her head close to his.

"Bella, you are evil," he muttered against her lips before kissing her again, his fingers trailing over her stomach before moving up to clutch at one of her breasts.

Bella let out a small moan. Don't get carried away. She repeated in her head. As hard as he was making this for her, she couldn't let herself get caught up and then lose to him again.

Edward moved his lips back down her chest, kissing her lightly.

Bella gasped, she had to stop this now, or she really would lose her-Bella let out another gasp, her thoughts cut off as Edward moved a hand to one of her breasts. She bit her lip, closing her eyes again. She could hold off just a few more minutes, get him even more into it; make it hurt even more, she told herself.

Bella brought his lips back to hers and kissed him fervently, her fingers clutching his shoulder, all thoughts of teaching him a lesson gone from her mind; she really had no self control. Edward returned the kiss intensely, pulling off her shoes and socks. Before Bella knew it, they were both naked, his lips still on her neck. Bella was sure she'd have some sort of markings later, she hoped the ones on Edward's back stayed, but she doubted it; stupid vampire.

Bella nipped at his shoulder, hearing tires outside. Charlie must be home. Bella smiled widely; Edward was so wrapped up, he hadn't even heard. Now was the time.

Bella took his shoulder and pushed him away. "Edward, Charlie's home, I don't think he wants to walk in on us." She told him, trying to hide her amusement, the look on his face was priceless; like a well, vampire who'd had his toy taken away.

"I'll make him go away then," Edward growled, kissing her again.

It took every ounce of self control left in her body not to agree to his offer, as well as not to laugh at him. If only Emmett could witness this.

Bella reluctantly broke the kiss as the door opened.

"Bells! Why is the heat on?"

"Edward, go!" Bella pulled away from him and threw on her clothing hastily, her shirt on backwards and her hair a mess. She looked on the mirror and groaned; it looked like a bird's nest, what in the hell was she going to tell Charlie?

She felt Edwards's hands spin her around, his eyes dark and brooding; she'd never seen anything sexier in her life. He kissed her quickly before going to the window, dressed and not a hair out of place. How had he dressed so quickly and perfectly? Oh right, because he was perfect.

"One week." He told her, shaking his head before jumping out of her window.

Bella chuckled, her face red and flushed. Soon, very soon; at least now she knew Edward could control himself very well.

"Bells, are you okay? You look…um, well," Charlie fumbled a bit, an eyebrow raised.

Bella turned to look at him and smirked innocently. "Oh, nothing, just um…. Been practicing for the wedding, ya know, on my hair. I think I'll ask Alice to do it." She told him, pushing past him, needing a cold shower.

One well; she hoped she could make it that long.