AN: Thanks to lisa89, friends and family.

Penname: ericastwilight

Original or Derivative (fanfiction): derivative

Rating/Warning(s)/Note(s): M –sexual content and language, this is part two of Afterglow the first challenge for Jan.

Disclaimer: All copyrights, trademarked items, or recognizable characters, plots, etc. mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without their express written authorization.

Prompt: Bathtub

Once we were down the street, Miss Swan released my hand and sat further away.

I looked at her, confused about the sudden change, but she refused to look at me. She gave the cab driver the address for an apartment building in central Seattle.

"That was the closest he's gotten since my mother's death," Miss Swan said softly.

I was shocked. She had seen him. "He's harmless," I said smoothly.

"You and I both know that's a lie, Mr. Cullen."

This wasn't a conversation we should have been having, much less in a car with a nosy driver. So, I asked the one question that had been bugging me since she'd told me who she was.

"Did you know who I was in the bar?" I asked. I was curious if she was playing some kind of game with me. She has been through a lot in the last year alone, including the death of both of her parents. I'd known Renee Swan had a daughter, but I had never seen her in court. Her whereabouts on the day of her mother's murder had never been questioned since she'd been in school across the country.

"My father did everything in his power to ensure I was not a part of what happened," she answered as she looked blankly out the car window. "That included any news related to the trial. I only knew of your name, and that was it."

I nodded. It made sense that Charlie Swan would have protected the only family he'd had left. But to completely close her off from it all, that I didn't understand. Unless…

"You know now that he's seen you with me, he'll come after you," she said, turning to give me a small smile.

"That was your intention, wasn't it?" I glared at her, her smile widening.

"Maybe," she said softly, refusing to elaborate further.

"Did you ever wonder why there was so little evidence?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. The cab came to a stop, and after I'd paid I took Miss Swan's hand, helping her out of the car.

She walked ahead of me, waving at a doorman and guard in the front lobby. I kept my distance in hopes of gathering my thoughts. I watched the sway of her hips in her tight skirt, my eyes lingering on her backside.

Why the fuck am I still following her?

We entered the elevator together, her eyes downcast, as if she was thinking about something. "What floor?"

"Fourteen, Mr. Cullen," she answered.

"Why did you ask me to come with you?" I asked. She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Two reasons, Mr. Cullen," she said, leaning against the elevator wall. "One, I have no one to help me. Two, if I am to die by the hands of that monster, I hope to take you with me."

My breathing hitched as I watched her cold brown eyes close briefly. The warmth I had seen earlier was gone, possibly for good.

I should have been scared. I should have run. But I couldn't. She needed protection from someone that I'd helped set free.

"You don't seem the type to kill, Miss Swan. And lying doesn't suit you," I said. "I'm not frightened of you."

"No, you're right. I'm neither a killer nor a liar. But I will do whatever it takes to ensure my safety. It was the last thing my father requested of me."

"You can tell me," I said softly. "Everything."

The elevator dinged, and I followed her out. She opened her apartment door and asked for me to grab a bottle of wine while she got comfortable.

"Mr. Cullen," she called out from her bedroom. With the bottle and glasses in hand, I followed her sweet voice. I'm fucking going to hell for this.

I was concerned when I didn't find her in the bedroom, but the master bathroom. Candlelight filtered through a set of double doors as I walked closer, calling out her name.

"Sit," she said, pointing at a settee near an old-fashioned claw-footed bathtub.

I gulped, unable to take my eyes off her – so beautiful. I handed her a glass of wine and watched as she took a sip. Her eyes were locked with mine as I took a seat, placing our glasses nearby. Her hair was draped behind her, falling over the tub's edge. White fluffy bubbles kept her moderately covered, swirls of steam floating over the water's surface.

"I was the intended victim," she said softly, her eyes still on me. She leaned further down in the water, bending a leg, her bare knee peeking out of the water.

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

"I have no one. My father buried the truth to keep me safe, but what he failed to ensure is my safety after he was gone."

"That still doesn't answer my question."

Bella closed her eyes, tears falling down her cheeks. "I was taken from my home when I was seven years old. I was a minor, and with my father on the force, the whole thing was kept covered up."

I shook my head, still not understanding. "What does that have to do with James now?"

"His father was the one who kidnapped me."

"What…I…why?" I stuttered, confused and dazed.

Miss Swan sighed deeply, pain written on her face. "From what I remembered, it was more to do with power exchange. His father had slapped him around. Maybe he wanted to do the same. Or maybe his father was teaching him a trick or two, and I was the tool."

I closed my eyes, clenching my fists. Fucking animals. The DA had tried to use James's record of prior child abuse as evidence but I had quickly objected it, stating he'd been a minor and that his father was not on trial.

"You escaped?" I asked. She nodded as she took a small loofah and ran it over her arms slowly. "How?"I watched, hypnotized with the rivulets of water cascading down her smooth skin.

"I killed his father," she answered.

"Fuck."

"I was a minor, and it was self-defense. I don't remember anything, thankfully."

"And James was sentenced to three years in a juvenile facility," I said lowly. I had known about James's previous record. The DA office had tried to have his records unsealed for public record, but before I could put a stop to it, the DA had dropped their request.

"Your father forced the DAs hand, didn't he?"

Bella nodded. "He didn't want what happened to me when I was younger to come out. You can imagine the media circus if they had found out."

"Your godfather," I said simply.

"Yes, between him and my father, they kept me out of it."

Aro Volturi had been the District Attorney at the time of the trial and because of his relationship with Charlie Swan, he'd had to give the case to some of the best in his office. Tanya Williams and Garret Stroud had worked hard, but with mostly circumstantial evidence.

It hadn't been enough, and there was a reason.

"Were you there when your mother died?"

"She died trying to protect me."

"Why…tell me," I requested again. She handed me her loofah, lifting one of her beautiful legs in the air. My breathing hitched as I watched bubbles pop and run down the length of pale skin.

"Oh," I gasped. She draped her leg over the tub, splashing me a bit. The fire in her eyes was back, and I wasn't about to let it extinguish.

I had ridded myself of my jacket and tie earlier in her living room, so I quickly rolled up my sleeves. I took her dainty foot in my hand, and with the other, I ran it over her wet, smooth skin. "Answer me."

With her eyes on me, she gave me a small shrug. "As you know, my godfather died in that car accident four months ago –" she started, but moaned when I caressed the back of her knee. She shivered, her eyes fluttering closed. "And you're the only one that seems to give a shit."

I nodded and continued washing each of her slender legs, never passing higher than her knee.

"What now?" she asked.

"Are you asking me as your lawyer or asking me as your friend?"

She laughed softly and smiled. "You and I both know you can't be either."

"I never meant for this to happen."

"I know."

"What do you want from me?" I asked. "I can't tell you anything about him."

"I know that, too."

Absentmindedly, my hand wandered up to her inner thigh. The connection I had felt earlier at the bar had increased – the pull was undeniable.

"For eighteen months, I lived in a shell for my own safety," she whispered. She bit her lip and touched my cheek softly with her small hand. "The first night I venture out, and I'm already way over my head."

"I won't let him hurt you."

"I don't want him to hurt you or anyone else," she said.

"Don't worry about me, Miss Swan," I said softly, closing my eyes as her thumb passed over the dark circle under my eye.

She took my hand on her thigh and pulled me closer, my fingers brushing over her sex. "Call me Bella," she gasped.

This isn't hell, it's heaven.

AN: Please review. I do plan on expanding this further along :).