This is part two of EC & Strippers Do Not Mix. Hope you like it!
Without waiting for an answer, Crystal slid her hand up my thigh, digging her fingernails in as she reached the top of my leg. I noticed her nails were very long, painted a pearly pink with white edges. Again, I couldn't help but compare them to Bella's, whose nails were short, neat, and usually painted with a clear polish. My heart gave an involuntary squeeze as I thought of her back in Forks, asleep and unknowing of my brothers' shenanigans. Suddenly, the long nails that clutched my leg seemed like claws.
"I don't think I'll be needing your services tonight, Crystal," I said sarcastically, brushing her hand away with a snap of my wrist. I stood up abruptly and searched the dancing crowd for Jasper's and Emmett's familiar faces. Once I got a hold of them, I'd let them know exactly how I felt about this senseless bachelor party.
About to move away from the bar table, I automatically stopped when I felt Crystal's viselike grip on my upper arm. I glanced back; she was pouting, a hand on her curvy hip. I realized she was confused – no man must have ever turned her down before. As she snaked her other hand around my waist, I also realized what I must have looked like to her. Tall, broodingly handsome, with a touch of mystery. The clothes I was dressed in by Alice's fashionably-critical eye – pressed khakis, brown loafers, and a silk blue button-down dress shirt – must have looked very expensive to Crystal, and she probably thought she could get a week's worth of tips out of me. Although I was uncomfortable and irritated with the current situation, I didn't totally blame Crystal. She seemed like she would be a nice, decent girl in another job, one that didn't require taking her clothes off in front of strangers. She would even be quite pretty without all that makeup and skimpy clothes. My wayward contemplation distracted me, and at first I didn't recognize that Crystal was stripping in front of me.
With a practiced air of seduction, Crystal slipped off her top, revealing a black, lacy bra underneath. She twirled around and unraveled the long braid on her back, shaking her long blonde tresses around. This caught the rapt attention of the other men at the bar, and they howled and whooped as she pushed me down onto the nearest chair, climbing into my lap. The men crowded around us and shouted crude, vulgar things at Crystal.
"Mmm, baby, you're looking hot tonight!"
"Suck it, honey, suck it!"
"Wanna do me next, sweetie?"
I didn't know how to react. Crystal was now nibbling on the edge of my earlobe, her long arms thrown around my neck, but I didn't just want to throw her off my lap onto the floor. That would be rude, and like I said before, she seemed like a nice girl. I didn't want to offend her. Desperate, I kept scanning the bar for Jasper and Emmett, willing for their help. What exactly was I supposed to do in a situation like this? Crystal's warm breath on my face distracted me slightly, and I shuddered to think of Bella's reaction to this whole affair.
The men shouted loudly, which drew my wandering attention to the girl perched on my lap – Crystal was taking off her skirt now. She threw the strip of cloth into the crowd of her male admirers, and the men hollered rowdily. I leaned back onto the table, gripping it with my fingers. This was really too much. Did my brothers actually expect me to enjoy myself? They knew the only girl for me was Isabella Swan.
Crystal must have taken my table-gripping for barely unrestrained passion, since she bent her lips to my neck and began kissing my cold skin with vigor. Her hand slipped under my shirt and rubbed my chest, the other hand making its way between my legs. No. This was not right.
I thought again of Bella, of her reaction when I told her about Tanya, the Alaskan vampire who had shown her attraction towards me in a previous century – I had politely set Tanya straight, of course. Bella's cheeks had flushed a flaming red when I told her of this little piece of information, and her eyes narrowed in jealousy. A thrilled surge had jolted through me when the evidence of her jealousy registered in my brain. This, however, was different. Bella would be disgusted if she saw me now, practically entertaining my own personal stripper in a lap that was designated for her, and her only. She would be more than disgusted – it would hurt her. It would literally hurt her.
Enough.
I stood up automatically, dumping Crystal on the beer-soaked floor of the bar. The men surrounding us yelled in irritation as the show was unexpectedly cut short. Drunkedly, Crystal held up one hand.
"Honey, baby, where you going?" she slurred.
Not bothering to answer, I strode off, making a beeline for the exit of the bar. Once I reached the outside and cool, refreshing air reached my nostrils, cleaning away the rancid, smoky air I had been breathing in, I took off into a sprint down the alley. Jasper and Emmett would need the Jeep to get home, so I decided to run to Bella's house.
I ran forty miles from Port Angeles to the town of Forks in twenty minutes – my own personal record. The cold air whipping against my face and my clothes cleared my hazy mind; each leaping step I took, the more I grew nauseated with my earlier actions, and the more I realized that Bella could never know of them. It would hurt her too much – and after James, I had made it my life goal to never cause her harm again.
I reached Bella's house. Adrenaline surging through my body, I took a few steps backward and propelled myself onto the narrow window sill of her bedroom window. I wrenched open the glass pane, causing the frame to shudder under my strength. A loud squeak blasted through the bedroom; I cringed. From my position, I could see the fuzzy outline of Bella's unconscious body lying in bed. The outline blurred, then moved.
"Edward?"
Bella's sleepy voice rang throughout the room, and my heart swelled to gigantic proportions at the sound of her. I could see her looking around with increasing speed, her shoulders beginning to tense in disappointment when she couldn't see me anywhere. I hurried to step out of the shadows.
"I'm here, darling."
I rushed to her side, enveloping her in my arms. I heard Bella's quick intake of breath as I pressed my glass-smooth lips against hers, urgently and ferociously. She kissed me back. I wound my fingers in her hair, crushing her fragile body to mine, desperately willing all of the night's memories out of my over analytical mind. I leaned back for a moment and gazed at my Bella, drinking in the beauty and goodness of her heart-shaped face, the way her eyes crinkled in the corners when she smiled, the way her full bottom lip jutted out a tiny bit further than her top lip. Unable to resist, I kissed her lips once more, then pulled away.
Cradling Bella delicately in my arms, I pulled her down beneath the covers and rested her soft head on the rumpled pillow. She sighed in content. My heart squeezed, and I quivered as crippling anger towards myself rushed through my veins. I absentmindedly stroked the length of Bella's smooth jaw to calm my explosive thoughts, and it worked temporarily.
Within a few moments, Bella's breathing became even; her chest rose up and down in a perfect rhythm. I waited a few more moments, making sure she was asleep. If she was even slightly conscious, Bella would not like what I was about to do one bit.
Before I could change my mind, I carefully disentangled myself from Bella's hold and walked swiftly over to the farthest corner of the bedroom. I immediately felt anxiety, followed by remorse and loss, as I left my love's side. I pressed myself into the room's corner where the door was, welcoming the doorknob's hard jab in my spleen. Once I was away from the pure and innocent being that Bella was, I allowed myself to be consumed in my always-present volatile thoughts of self-hate and loathing.
I would not leave the room.
I did not have the strength for that.
But being away for her, not being able to hold her in my arms for one night, would be my punishment. I settled into my makeshift cocoon of abhorrence and revulsion, preparing myself for what surely was to be a long night.
I don't know if I should do more -- tell me what you guys think. If you think I should, throw me a storyline to follow... I don't really have any more ideas at this point. ^_^