Here goes Chapter 2! Let me know what you think. I really appreciated the reviews from the last chapter. You all rock!

Chapter Two: The Next Step

Amber's POV

This past year with Edward had been the best year of my life. He was the most romantic man I had ever met. Every time we went out it was someplace new. We never went the same place twice unless I asked him to go somewhere we had been before. He went on a three month tour of Europe to play piano and I had the privilege of going with him. The whole experience was something I will never forget. Every week we were in a different city and it was amazing. I had started to believe that Edward was the one. No, I knew he was the one. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. I loved Edward with all of my being and I knew he felt the same way. He told me so on a daily basis. To us we had the perfect relationship. To Alice though, since we weren't having sex our relationship couldn't be that great, and it's not that I didn't want to have sex with him, because believe me, I did. It was just that I wanted to take it slow and make sure that we were going to last.

We had plans tonight for our one year anniversary and I needed to call him to find out what we were doing, so I picked up the phone and dialed.

It rang twice before he answered, "Hello love. How are you?" like he always does.

"I am great! I can't wait for tonight. Where are you taking me?"

"Now that, I cannot tell you," he said slyly.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because, it's a surprise. Just know that you should dress very nice, not formal, but nice," he replied.

"Alright, I do love surprises," I said.

"I know you do. That's why this is perfect."

"Okay, well I have to get ready so when will you be picking me up?"

"At 6:30." It was now 5:30 so I had plenty of time to get ready, seeing as how I already had taken a shower.

"Okay Edward. I will see you then. I love you."

"I love you too," and with that we hung up and I started to freak out slightly. I had no idea what to wear!

I ran to my closet. When I looked, I saw the garment bag that Alice had brought over earlier that day and remembered that she said to wear it tonight. Bless her! She is my life saver!

I put the dress on. It was a light turquoise strapless dress with a black waist band. The bottom of the dress hit right above my knees. It looked stunning on me.

"Alice, thank you so much for the dress! It is amazing," I quickly texted her. I looked at myself in the mirror and began to wonder how to do my hair. Just then my phone buzzed with a reply from Alice saying, "No problem! And hey, tousle your hair. Edward thinks it's sexy, remember?"

Of course! Why couldn't I think of that?

"Okay. Thanks again Alice!" I texted back.

"No problem! Love you."

"Love you too."

Edward finally arrived right at 6:30. I loved that about him. He was always right on time.

"Are you ready to go love?" He asked.

"Yes." I replied.

"You look amazing Amber."

"Thanks! You look pretty sexy yourself Edward." He was wearing dark denim jeans and a black button up dress shirt. He had the first few buttons undone so you could just see the top of his chest.

Yummy!

"Thanks."

"Now, where are you taking me?" I asked. I was dying to know!

"We are going back to my place. I am cooking for you." He said and gave me his gorgeous crooked smile.

"Aww, Edward! I love it!" I said. I was so excited. Edward has cooked for me before but they were just lunches of breakfasts from when we would spend the night together just talking and sleeping in each other's arms. He had never made me a romantic dinner before. I was so excited!

"I'm glad you do. Now let's go. I have some food cooking in the oven," he said.

"Okay. Let me just grab my bag."

It took us only ten minutes to reach his penthouse in Hollywood from my apartment in Los Angeles. We went up to the 23 floor, the top floor, and walked in. As soon as I walked in I was bombarded with the most amazing aroma of garlic, tomatoes, and chicken. It was like I just walked into an Italian restaurant.

"Edward, that smells amazing! What is it?" I asked.

"That, my dear Amber, is stuffed chicken breast and it will be covered in a rich red-pepper tomato sauce," he replied. His explanation, coupled with the amazing aroma that filled the penthouse, was starting to make my mouth water.

"What is for desert?" I asked.

"For desert, we are having a rich double chocolate soufflé." He replied with a smile.

"Seriously? That sounds amazing Edward. I can't wait!" I replied. I was so excited.

We went into the kitchen and I watched him finish preparing the meal. I loved watching him cook. He was so focused on getting it perfect. It only took about twenty minutes for him to finish and put the soufflé in the oven. He had already had the table set so I went in and sat down and he brought in the food.

"Edward, honey, this looks and smells great," I said.

"Wait until you taste it," he replied and laughed.

When I took the first bite I was hit with many flavors all at once, but I could identify them all. In the sauce there was garlic, the calm spiciness of the red bell peppers, home grown tomatoes, and fresh oregano. Once I got past the sauce, there was the chicken, which was cooked to perfection. Stuffed inside the chicken breast was a mixture of more garlic and oregano. Also, in the chicken were some olives. All on top of fettuccine noodles and topped with parmesan cheese. It was the most amazing meal I had ever had outside of a restaurant.

"Edward this is the most amazing thing anyone has ever made for me! How did you learn to cook like this?" I was so amazed by his talent I had to know.

"Well, when I was studying abroad in Italy during college I took a few cooking lessons from some locals. There is no better way to learn then from true Italians," he said. I had forgotten that he lived in Italy for a year during school. I would have learned to cook as well if I lived there for a whole year.

The rest of the dinner went extremely well. The soufflé was great. We made it even better though, by feeding it to each other. I was sure that this anniversary could go in the Guinness Book of World Records as the most romantic anniversary date ever.

Once dinner was over we went into his family room to watch a movie. He let me choose so, I choose Titanic. It was the very first movie we watched together and by far my favorite romance movie.

Half way through the movie, I looked at Edward and said, "I'm ready." He was paying more attention to me then the movie so I figured we could talk.

"What do you mean love?" he said.

"I mean, I'm ready." I paused there to see if he got what I was trying to say. When he didn't, I said, "To have sex, Edward, with you."

"Oh! I get it now." He looked somewhat surprised by this. "Are you sure Amber?"

"Yes Edward, I am sure. I love you with all of my heart. I want to make that connection with you. I am ready. Are you?" I explained.

He just looked at me. It had me a little worried.

What if I am pushing him and he isn't ready?

"Edward, if you don't want to do this you can tell me. I don't want you to feel like I am pressuring you." He laughed.

Why is he laughing? This is serious.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" he explained.

Oh! Okay.

"I guess," I said and laughed. I felt a little better. I thought for sure that I had done something wrong.

"Yes, Amber, I am ready to take that next step with you."

"Tonight?" I asked.

"I don't have any condoms honey," he said.

"That's okay. I'm on birth control. I take it for medical reasons," I explained.

"Okay," he said.

We got up from the couch and started heading to his room, completely forgetting about the movie that was playing. This would be the first time for both of us. I was nervous and I knew he had to be, but we knew we belonged together so we weren't scared.

When we reached his room we got on his bed and started kissing. It was different from our normal tender kisses and our heated make-out sessions. This was need. It was passion. It was complete love and adoration. We loved each other more than anything in the world. Our clothes came off faster than I thought was possible. We fooled around for a while just admiring each other's bodies. Once it came time for him to enter me, we paused, breathing heavily.

"Are you ready?" he asked me.

"Absolutely. Are you?" I answered with complete confidence and smiled at him.

"I have never been more ready for anything in my life," He said with the same amount of confidence.

"Good. I'm glad," I said.

"I love you Amber. More than anything," he told me.

"I love you too Edward. More then you will ever comprehend," I answered.

Then he entered me. We took it at a slow pace at first to get past the initial pain. It wasn't bad at all, just a little twinge. After that, we picked up the pace a little. It wasn't hard to find a good rhythm. We adored each other with our movement and it was the best feeling I had ever had. Once I hit my climax, he did the same. We went together and it was amazing. When we were finished, we just laid there as he held me and we fell asleep in each other's arms. That night my dreams were filled with Edward's face and the life we could have together. We were blissfully happy.

Thank you for reading! Please, Please, Please review! I love them! It is what keeps me going!