Thank you all for the love for the first two chapters. I'm off tomorrow, so I'll be responding to the reviews then. I'm not going to go on here, instead I'll let you just enjoy the chapter. Leave some love!

Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning to the warm weight of Bella beside me. She groaned in her sleep, I knew that she'd be feeling like crap when she finally opened her eyes. Wanting to get some things ready for her, but not ready to let go of her yet, I lay for a few more minutes before she stirred, swearing as she looked up to find me staring at her.

"Last night really happened?" she asked, her hand shielding her eyes from the daylight that peeked in my window.

"It did. I'm going to get you some Advil and water, why don't you get your things together and take a shower?"

"Okay," she whispered as I got up and grabbed a bottle of water so she could take a few more pills. She sauntered off to the bathroom with a handful of clothes while I went to pick out my own for the day.

A little while later, Bella emerged dressed, her hair in a towel as I passed her on my way to the bathroom so I could shower. As soon as I closed the door I was assaulted by the scent of her beauty products and I couldn't help the groan that escaped me. Trying to shower as quickly as possible, I got dressed and went back into my room to throw on my shoes.

Bella's hair was now up in a messy knot and her sunglasses were on…in my bedroom.

"Are you going to make it today?" I asked, pretty skeptical.

"I just need coffee," she assured me as we grabbed our bags and headed to school.

The bus ride was nice, Bella pressed into my side as my arm rested across her shoulder, but as soon as we stepped off, I guided her to the deli. Bella went to make our coffees as I grabbed two large bottles of water.

"Bella, bread or greasy?" I asked, gesturing towards the short order cook.

"Greasy," she answered as I pushed my way through the crowd.

"What can I get you?" The cooked asked me.

"Two bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll."

He nodded and I walked up to the counter before Bella could see what I was doing. "What'd you order?"

"Two bacon, egg, and cheese, these," I said holding up the waters, "and two large coffees."

He rang me up and I paid, going back to get the food as Bella and I found a quiet corner to eat before she called Aro and headed to class.

"Are we going to the prop room after class?" she asked as she polished off her coffee.

"Yup. How are you feeling?"

"Better," she blushed and kissed me on the cheek, "Thank you for taking care of me this morning."

"My pleasure, see you in theater history." And with that, she walked off to her voice class.

The day passed and when I met Bella in our history class, she had her seat right next to mine. I sat beside her and we managed to make it through the discussion of ancient Japanese theater. I walked with her to grab something for lunch and then we ducked back into the prop room.

"When did you realize you liked me?" Bella asked as she organized a shelf filled with little statues.

"Saturday's rehearsal, I was talking to Angela and it just clicked. My reaction to Mike was something that was exclusive to you and it just made me realize how long I've held you up on this pedestal. You've always been special to me, but now I feel really stupid that I didn't see it sooner." I looked over at her, the smile playing on her lips as her eyes went back to the shelf. "What about you?"

"The first time you kissed me during rehearsals for Out of Gas on Lovers Leap," she whispered.

"Bella, why didn't you say anything?" It killed me that she'd felt this way all that time and had kept it a secret.

"I was still dating James, and after he dumped me because of it, I was afraid you might not feel the same way."

She still looked unsure and I was damn sure going to make sure she knew that I did feel the same. I walked over to her and kissed her hard. She hadn't been expecting it, so the gasp of surprise allowed me access into her mouth. Pulling Bella closer to me, she did the same, clutching onto my hair until we were out of breath.

"Fuck…Edward, kiss me again," she moaned and I obliged.

The hour in the prop room was pretty much spent like that, making out. How in the hell had I not been doing this with her for the last two years?

When we finally emerged from the prop room to grab dinner before rehearsal, our attempt to cut through the scene shop was stopped by some serious screaming.

"What the hell is wrong with you? She could have died!" Emmett was fuming as he stood over Austin Marks, one of the younger techies.

"How was I supposed to know there had been changes?" He tried to stand his ground against Emmett, however foolish it was.

"Because the plans you were working off of were weeks old. You were supposed to check in before moving ahead with the build. If you had, you would have known that the actress playing the role is 60lbs lighter and ten inches shorter than the actor we originally thought. She hooked the belt and the industrial magnet you used didn't give way and she was too short to stand up and stop it from choking her."

"I've said I'm sorry, I don't know what else you want me to do." Austin spoke, but once again Emmett was looming over him.

"I want you to work on polishing the items brought up from the prop room, you can't kill a bowl." Emmett spun around only to find us standing frozen in his way. "I'm sorry about what happened, Bella. I should have done it myself, a fact that was made perfectly clear to me when I sat through the long meeting this morning. It will be redone for tomorrow's rehearsal and it will be properly tested before Angela is given the go ahead."

"It's okay, Emmett, I know it was an accident." Bella hugged him and then we headed out to grab some Taco Bell before rehearsal.

After a long conversation at the start of rehearsal, Aro had us move into Act Two. The rehearsal was long, but that was probably because I spent a good part of it staring at Bella's ass. I had noticed that the hooks were completely gone, but nothing else about last night was mentioned, so I didn't think about it again. The end of rehearsal was the interesting part, because Aro made an announcement that almost stopped me in my tracks.

"Tomorrow we're moving onto another aspect of this show, in order to give our actors the chance to acclimate themselves with the concept. So come fully prepared to stage the end scenes of both Acts, because tomorrow will be Nearly Naked Wednesday."

"What?" Bella asked, obviously not amused either.

"We're going to acclimate you to wearing your various paraphernalia and begin to play around with the sex scenes. Now to do this, we'll be closing the rehearsal to everyone, including our ASM."

"What did I do?" Eric asked, offended.

"Nothing in particular, but Miss Weber can sit there and take notes without making the actors feel self-conscious and I need this to be a comfortable environment for them. You will be allowed into future rehearsals once everything has been settled. I'll see you all tomorrow."

We all left in a little bit of a fog, not sure at all what tomorrow would bring.

On the bus ride home, I breeched the next subject with Bella. "I kind of need your help tonight."

"Sure, what's up?" she asked, her eyes bright as she looked up at me.

"I have to do the prep work for tomorrow's makeup test. Which means I have to get rid of my chest hair and shave my armpits, but I have no idea how to use that veet shit you two bought me."

Bella giggled as she traced her hand over my chest, "I think I can help you out there."

"Thanks, I was nervous about asking you," I admitted.

"Why, I think it's great that you're this committed. I mean, sure, you had your moment of freak out, but it's understandable. I talked to Alice, and she said that depending on how it is done, you could be sitting there for a while."

"Yeah, last time we chatted, she got some plaster of Paris, so it will take about 20-30 minutes, but on Friday when I go back she'll have the skin so I can try it all together."

Bella burrowed closer to me as we neared our stop, "Can I hang out while you have to sit there, I can keep you entertained while it's drying."

"I'd love to have you there with me," I told her just as we reached our stop.

We entered the apartment and then went to the bathroom, where Bella started digging through the bag from Target, setting up bottle and razors and all sorts of things. I got two towels and sat on the toilet, patiently waiting for her to be done. She noticed my apprehension and smiled sweetly, kissing me just as she turned on an electric razor.

"What are you doing with that?" I asked, a little nervous.

"Well, it'll be quicker to shave your armpits if the hair is shorter, so I figured we could use this to trim it." She told me.

"But where did you get it, because Jasper and I both use regular razors?" I asked.

"It's mine. I promise I ran the sanitizer since I used it," she rambled, suddenly embarrassed.

"But what would you use it…" and then I realized where she might need an electric razor for and my pants tightened accordingly. "Fuck, Bella. That is the last thing I need to be thinking about."

She smacked my bare chest and motioned for me to raise my arms. For the next few minutes I sat there while Bella trimmed the hair as much as she could before handing me a razor and a bottle of cheap shampoo.

"What's this for?" I started to feel like that was going to be something I repeating a lot in the next hour.

Bella rolled her eyes, "Shaving cream is thick, and you wind up taking twice as long to shave because you're removing more cream than hair. The shampoo will soften the hair and doesn't just sit there. Just trust me."

Deciding she knew what was best, I lathered up my pits and started shaving. Sure enough, it went pretty quickly and I was soon standing there without a hair under my arms. "Okay, now what about the rest?"

Bella picked up the Veet and popped the lid, lathering it up on my chest, stomach and sides. I noticed that she was doing a very thorough job with the exception of my nipples, which she avoided. I was curious about why she didn't just save time and coat my whole chest so I asked her. "Why did you make a point not to put any on nipples?"

"Because if I did, they'd fall off," she stated quite matter-of-factly.

"What?" I may have squeaked, why the hell would they use something that caustic on their bodies, and why had she used it on me?

"I'm just fucking with you, Edward. But it can irritate it and I wanted to be careful." She smirked up at me and then washed her hands before picking up her phone and starting up a game of Angry Birds.

"So I just sit here?"

Bella nodded, not taking her eyes off the screen, "Yeah, I'll check it in a few minutes and then when it's ready you'll wash it off."

For the next seven minutes I stood there before Bella took a washcloth and wet it in the basin of water, she wrung it out and then started to wash my chest. It was loving, the way she wiped away some of the cream and then rinsed the cloth before moving on to another section. When it was finally off, she let me take a shower and by the time I got into the bedroom, she was sound asleep.

*TPtT*

Bella and Alice were waiting for me in the back room of the costume shop with matching excited looks, so I sat down my stuff down and waited for Alice to tell me what to do next.

"Take off your shirt and lie down on the table, I'm going to get your boobs," Alice said as Bella began laughing.

Alice got the falsies and took five minutes figuring out the correct placement and then taping them to my chest, the front of them coated in saran wrap to protect them. Next, I raised my arms and Bella put a box over my torso with the top and bottom cut out, as well holes for my waist, arms and neck. Alice was busy stirring a large container of plaster while Bella walked over to me with a can of cooking spray.

"Do I want to know?" I asked her and she laughed, shaking her head at me.

"It's to protect your skin, plaster and concrete leech out water and it'll burn your skin if it makes direct contact," Alice mentioned from a few feet away as Bella sprayed the all the skin that was within the box.

Alice walked over, giving me bitchbrow, which I was taking as, 'don't fucking move, Cullen.' A minute later I felt the first bit of the plaster glop onto my chest as Alice carefully filled in the sides of the mold and then smoothed it over my chest and upper stomach. Once it was done, Alice set the timer and told me to let her know when the plaster started to cool.

The next twenty minutes was odd as I felt the plaster warm up and then eventually cool down. I told Alice and she tested the surface and then gave me a shy look. "Let me know if it starts pulling at hairs or your skin or anything."

"Alice, you aren't inspiring a whole lot of confidence at the moment," I confessed.

"Hush, I made a mold of my arm and it just stuck to me a little, if it does we just have to spray you as we move the mold." She admonished me and then she and Bella got on either sides of me. "Edward, we're going to pull the tablecloth to the end of the table so you can sit up and help us, so don't freak out thinking you're falling off the table."

I nodded and then let the girls drag my ass to edge of the table and then I sat up as they started moving the mold, my body moving slightly against the vacuum effect that had been created before it came away from my skin. Alice looked at it while Bella helped me remover my falsies and clean up. Once I was done, Bella handed me the bra and I tried on my dress. Alice was flapping around in excitement while Bella looked at me in the boots and dress and could barely keep from laughing, but I could barely hold it in too.

After I was changed, Bella and I went to the scene shop, and I was shocked to notice we were more than halfway done with our hours. "If we keep going like this, we'll be done with them before the show ends."

"And the end of the semester will be without fear of an incomplete, how did we get that lucky?" Bella crooned.

"I got a partner that I can't stay away from, so we're in there every moment we aren't in class," I responded and she kissed me as we went to log in another hour.

Just like he told us, a few new items were in the bag beside Angela and Eric was not in attendance, so we tried to warm up, but all of us were a little apprehensive of how this would go.

The first part of rehearsal was good, but as soon as we took the second break and Angela called us over, Bella and I both tensed. It was the first time for both of us to be wearing all of this outside of the costume shop, so we headed to the bathrooms to change. I took an extra minute tucking my junk and then put on the underwear over it, finally slipping on the bra and falsies and then using the robe that Alice had mercifully sent down with the costume pieces to hide the red dress from anyone who might be in the hall.

Bella was already in the rehearsal room while Jake walked around and I noticed that there was only one bed on the stage and the desk was downstage, we were doing Act Two first. Jake and I had actively avoided the fact that we had to kiss and I wasn't about broach that with him right now.

Aro told us to just go with it and he'd give notes after, but he wanted to see how we saw the scene.

Jake and I went through it, not kissing but exploring each other's personal space before he turned me and bent me over the desk. My dress was lifted up over my ass and I heard Jake's zipper just as my eyes met Bella's.

I knew that Christina would be excited to finally be with Davis, but I couldn't get over the demeaning feeling that this position offered. And the moment he answered the phone, his hand reaching forward to cover my mouth, I felt cheap.

We finished the 'sex' and as soon as Jake exited the stage I found myself going on instinct, collecting my things, leaving the apartment and running off to my death.

The room was quiet as Aro called us back and he talked over the scene with us both. Jake discussed how there was a disturbing feeling of power over me and I mirrored it with the feelings that had overcome me. It was Aro's comments for it that surprised me.

"There was something very interesting that happened around the time that Davis answered his phone, it was as if a switch went off in your mind and you were completely in that moment, there wasn't a shred of Edward left, you became Christina."

"I felt it, to be that disregarded, I felt used and I wanted to get the hell out of there, I didn't even play the cassette tape because I forgot about that stage direction," I admitted.

"Go with that, Matt has that with him in Amsterdam, so he could play it and remember you if you don't actually play it at the end during a performance. I'd rather you be in the moment then playing the beats." I felt good knowing that Aro liked it, so after he gave a few notes about the beginning, we ran it again and then he dismissed Jake for the night so that Bella and I could do our scene.

We sat there in our rehearsal clothes and as the scene started and Bella turned so that I could strip while she did the same, I watched her and settled into the bed. She rolled the condom over her strap-on and then tried to settle between my legs, but there was so much awkwardness in our movements. She was too high up so she had to move back to 'enter' me and then thrust a few times before her arms started to shake from the strain of holding herself so stiff over me. Another minute or two and she faked an orgasm that looked more painful than euphoric and gently settled onto my chest.

There was a long pause before Aro called scene and we went for our robes. The look on Angela's face let me know how bad that looked to the audience.

"Umm…okay," Aro stalled, "that was not exactly what I was looking for. You were too tense. It was like two virgins who had never watched porn, or touched themselves…or anything, really. You two are together now, aren't you?"

We both nodded and he let out a deep breath. "Okay, so I'm not saying you have to have sex, if you haven't yet, but explore what sex is like from the other person's perspective. Talk about it, something, because that was bordering on painful to watch. I have every confidence that you can make this be exactly what it needs to be, especially with how Edward connected with Christina on the last scene. So how about we call it a night and you can come back next Wednesday with a better mindset on how to go into this scene, and if we need to explore it more than just on Wednesday's then we can do that as well," he stopped for a moment, but then finished the thought, "but for now let us just see where it goes."

Aro all but ran from the rehearsal room while Bella and I went to change. Angela had most of her things packed up and in the locker when we came back with our bags. After we helped Angela move the furniture, we left the campus together.

The bus ride was uncomfortable and as we got off at our stop I finally asked Bella what was wrong.

"Edward, that isn't us. We're good together," she bemoaned. "We're better than bad faked sex, we're good sex…I need good sex!" She yelled a little too loudly as someone down the street told me to give it to her.

I ushered her into the apartment and took her face in my hands, "Bella, we are good sex, we're great sex. And I'm going to prove it to you, but can we talk about a few things first?"

She nodded and we both went into my bedroom and I told her to get into her underwear. "I just want to explain some things to you and get your opinions."

"Like what does it feel like, when you're having sex?" I was starting to feel real silly asking her this, but she smiled and got up.

"Tell me first?" she asked as she dug around.

"What did you want to know?"

"Well I had on the strap-on, so I know how it feels to thrust with that attached to me, but how does penetration feel?" She blushed cherry red and I couldn't suppress the chuckle.

"This is going to sound like something out of a porno, but it's warm, and wet, and you can feel it grip you. Now some women are tighter than others, but you know how it feels to have someone inside you, imagine how it feels to be gripped like that, like your body grips your fingers when you play with yourself." I said, getting really fucking turned on by the direction this discussion was talking.

"Okay," she told me, turning to hold up a bottle of lube in one hand and her vibrator in the other. The vibrator landed on the bed as she took my hand in hers, "Strip, I want to show you something."

I took off my underwear and she did the same, her hand came back to mine with the lube as she formed my hand into an open fist.

"Fuck your hand, but forget how your dick feels and focus on your hand." I pumped my fist over myself and started feeling my hand, how my cock pushed against it, filling my fist, then she started talking, "Now imagine it 100 times more sensitive. Every stroke causing any one of a dozen reactions."

She started fingering herself and my eyes were now watching her movements, matching her pace, "Think about how sensitive your tip is, a woman's clit is exponentially more sensitive than that, every bit of pressure sending a shock through your system."

Her hand moved up to her left breast and she started playing with it, "Play with your nipple, Edward. Feel how the pain turns to pleasure."

I did what she told me and holy shit was that intense. Watching her masturbate while I did it too was quickly becoming too much, so I wiped my hand off on my shirt and pulled her to me, looking her in the eye.

"See how I'm hovering over you, and look as I use my hand to guide myself to you. Do it like that, that way you can guide it close but pin it between us when you get close." I slid into her and class was dismissed as I pounded into her, her hands clawing at my back and ass to pull me closer, her hips meeting mine. It seems neither of us wanted anything sweet tonight.

I could feel myself coming and when I did, I saw Bella's focused stare before her own orgasm ripped through her. I reached over and lobbed her vibrator onto her suitcase before pulling her to me and covering us up.

"Was that good sex?" I asked her.

"Shut up," she yawned as she fell asleep against me.

The week seemed to move fast after that and soon we were at another Sunday, but this time it was filled with Bella and I locked in my room 'rehearsing.' Let me just tell you, whatever horny motherfucker invented the vibrator deserves the Noble Peace Prize.

*TPtT*

Monday afternoon found us back in the prop room, with less to work through and plenty of hours left to log, so we may have gotten a little creative with our time.

"Oh, God, Edward…right there," Bella moaned as I kissed her, hoping to drown out her moans.

"You like that, sexy. Oh fuck, you feel so good on my cock." I told her. That initial experiment had led to very vocal dirty talk, but my girl loved it as much as I did, so I wasn't about to be shy, even if we were defrauding the scene shop of hours. We'd make it up…eventually.

About forty minutes later, we were back to organizing today's shelf, but every minute or so, Bella would shoot me a look which let me know that we were going to be finishing this before the show closed, that way we could find better ways to spend our time. Then it hit me, I hadn't taken Bella out on a real date yet.

"Bella, what are you doing on Sunday?" I asked, although I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

"Hanging out with you?" she asked skeptically.

"But do you want to really do something? Like dinner or a movie," I pussy-footed around it and she huffed a laugh.

"If you're asking me out, you better try a little harder, Cullen."

"Go out with me this Sunday? I want to take you somewhere nice. You know, you in a dress and me wearing a tie…"

"It doesn't have to be that fancy-" she tried to admonish, but I cut her off.

"Bella, we spend a decent amount of our time these days packing spare parts, we're going out looking like the sex we were born."

That had her almost literally rolling on the floor, but as she wiped the tears from her eyes, she nodded to me. "That sounds amazing."

*TPtT*

I was surprised as all hell when I got the call from Angela telling me that rehearsal was going to be a little different tonight, because rehearsals for this show were the most unorthodox I've ever experienced.

I met up with Bella only to find Angela sitting alone in the rehearsal room.

"What's going on, where is everyone?" Bella asked as she looked around.

"Aro had some meeting he couldn't miss and he told me that he wanted to see some physical character development tonight, so I gave Jake and Eric the night off. I've got a surprise for later, but right now, change into your rehearsal clothes and then come back in here." Angela dismissed us and I was too intrigued to be putting up a fight.

Once we were locked into the theater, Angela started setting things out around the stage area. Then she turned to me and smiled.

"You're first, Edward." I walked up beside her and she pointed to the different items, "I want you to put on your makeup, read a book, send a text message, pack the suitcase and take a piss pretending that chair is a toilet. But do it as Christina."

Groaning, I sat down in front of the makeup, taking a deep breath to center myself. When I opened my eyes, I was ready and began with the foundation. The makeup was easier because I was so good at applying it, but I tried to be more delicate in my movements, more precise. Women do it so quickly, so I tried to do the same.

The text message was easier, because it was just softer movements, but it was more or less the same thing. The book was something I took a moment to prepare for, remembering how Bella would read. How she held the spine in one hand and kept her place with the other, her face almost pressed into it. I could see Christina getting lost in books with how her life had turned out, especially with how the brief discussion of books came up in the play.

The suitcase was something I had figured out. Men pack their suitcase, or at least I do, like they're in a race. Throwing things in and not really caring, but with the moving around Christina has done and the fact that she's probably had to leave a few places quickly, I was organized chaos. I folded things quickly and got the bag loaded, throwing in the toiletries and things that would save time before zipping it up and moving as if I was running for the door.

Last was the 'toilet.' Fuck me. I walked over and eyed the seat before miming lining it with toilet paper and lifting up the dress, pretending to drop my underwear and then sitting down. It felt so weird, but I stood up after a minute, pretended to wipe myself and dropped my dress.

I looked up to see Bella and Angela both holding their hands over their mouths.

"Oh Baby, you and I need to spend some QT in the bathroom, because that was the most awkward piss imaginable." Bella lost her battle and I huffed, sitting down next to them while I waited for Angela to regain herself enough to talk about the purpose of the exercise.

She moved on, having Bella drink a cup of coffee, swing a hammer, play a video game, make the bed, and masturbate. I had thought when Angela gave her the tasks that the masturbation would have been the funniest, but my girl knew her way around a cock, even a rubber one.

The thing that really had me dying though was when she got to the mime of playing a video game. There was a playstation controller that someone had brought in because they'd broken it, so Bella got the suitcase I'd used and sat it in front of her, I thought to pretend it was the game system. She leaned forward, all intense, her posture completely changed, and then after a minute of ducking and bobbing, she started muttering a cursing. If that hadn't been funny enough, she yelled and spiked the controller like Jasper does when I beat him and she slouched and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at the imaginary TV.

Now that she had finished her round, Angela started asking questions. We figured out pretty quickly that Bella was doing things bigger as a man, bigger gestures, a bigger voice, and she knew that she'd be timid to play Matt. But there was a difference between how she would act shy, and how a guy who was uncomfortable about the fact that his friend's way to cheer him up was to buy him a hooker in Amsterdam.

Meanwhile, I realized that Christina would be more delicate and deliberate in her movements. There wasn't anything done half-assed, even when she was doing something hurried or unsure, once she committed to it then she did it completely.

We took a quick break, and when we came back, Angela had us do some of our normal exercises from class. We walked around like our characters, sat down and stood up, greeted each other. She had us recite lines at random to get used to the movement and the vocal elements together and for the first time everything was coming together. I got myself into the raspier voice I'd chosen for her, which was sexier sounding than me trying to raise my voice into a falsetto and keep it for the whole show. Plus, with all the smoking Christina did, it wasn't so far-fetched for her to have that quality to her voice.

Bella's deeper voice had cracked me up when she first tried it in rehearsal, but she'd found the balance between her own voice and the baritone she'd been dropping it to just to not sound like a woman. We were really starting to come off more like the sex we were portraying, my walk becoming more confident while Bella was picking up the posture she'd been trying to master.

When we were finished, Ang told us to change because she had a surprise field trip for us. I did what I was told and then we walked to Angela's car and drove off.

Angela pulled up to the club and I had a feeling that Bella was in on this, because she wasn't surprised at all. "What in the hell are we doing at a strip club?"

"Baby, what better place is there for you to see women interact with men while they sell what's as close to sex as they can? You'll get to see the women ooze sex appeal and I'll get to watch all the guys reactions to the show. Plus, Angela's buying me a lap dance so I'm excited!"

This was seriously not fucking happening.

We walked in and I paid my twenty dollars, but was seriously annoyed to see Bella and Angela only have to pay ten dollars because of some B.Y.O.B. discount. Angela led the way to a table near the stage and almost immediately, two women descended on us.

"Welcome to Glowworm, what can I get you, sugar?" The buxom blonde leaned forward as I ordered a jack and coke, Bella getting the same while Angela got herself a soda.

As soon as the waitress left, the second woman towered over us. "There's a few minutes before our next show, is there anything you'll be needing before then?"

I was about to politely decline when Bella spoke up, "I think my boyfriend needs a little help relaxing." Bella slipped some money to the red-head in front of me and I felt her fingers trace my shoulders before she started moving over me. She barely touched me, if I was being honest, but having Bella watching so intently had me hard as a rock and ready to push the chick off my lap and replace her with my girl.

But soon enough she left my lap, and moved over to Bella's. This was a lesson in self control, because I was trying to watch her movements, see the way she moved her body and how she used it to gain a reaction that would never be fulfilled, but all I saw was a hot chick practically riding my Bella. It's safe to say that Bella got her money's worth from that dance.

It was just as she was finishing Bella's lap dance and our drinks arrived that the lights dimmed and the music started as Gianna took to the stage. This was my chance to focus on her body, to see how she danced and strutted across the stage. I would have to balance vulnerability with that kind of command of my sexuality for Christina.

The next act was Maria, a Hispanic girl who was too much bravado for me. Her number was more like an intro to a submissive relationship than it was a striptease.

The third dancer was Victoria, our private dancer, and boy could she move. She whipped her hair around and made use of her long limbs as she effortlessly spun and moved along the stage. Bella whistled, sticking a few ones in her g-string as she made her final pass. Obviously, someone had become attached.

I was about to lift my empty glass, only to find it had been replaced with a full one. I looked to Angela, who winked before a petite girl who called herself Jane pulled Bella's chair out and danced all over her.

My second drink was gone and so was my third as Bella got all kinds of attention from the dancers. She kept laughing and looking over at me.

We'd been there about an hour and a half when Angela mercifully called it a night. The drive back to my place was quiet, and as we snuck in so as not to wake Jasper, she finally started talking.

"Thank you for tonight. It was exactly what I needed, but I'm sorry you didn't have any fun."

"I did have fun," I told her, "It was just a weird experience. I was watching these girls all over you and part of me was turned on, while the other was like, 'back off, she's mine.'"

"Well, you certainly helped me. I saw how uncomfortable you would get at moments, it was like you were in the moment and then you'd realize that I was there and you'd freeze up."

"It was odd having you there," I admitted.

"Baby, that was a trip, and I was glad that I got to experience it with you. But I want to tell you something. Watching a stripper isn't cheating, but if you want a show, there's no need to pay for it." Bella winked and I was instantly hard again.

"Bella, what do you say we rehearse for tomorrow's sex scene again. I think I need to show you some more technique on how to hold your body above mine."

"Okay, but remember, I'm mimicking your 'O' face, so make it a good one," she teased as we climbed into bed and rehearsed our hearts out.

*TPtT*

Aro came into the rehearsal wanting to know all about our work, so we described the exercises we did and the realizations we came to and he seemed genuinely pleased. Trying to stay on schedule, Aro had us run the show first, that way we could see everything come together.

We weren't going to do the sex scenes fully until the end of the night, so for the next two hours we ran the show without it. I decided to go for broke and debuted a melody I'd come up with a while back that seemed to fit the song Christina sings when we got to that part.

When the run-through ended, Aro gave us his notes, but he was really pleased with our progress. He was particularly excited about the song, but that died down when we broke before rehearsing the sex scenes.

I was worried that it would be awkward again, but when Bella and I got into position and started to run the few lines before the silent ending to the act, we fell into our characters and I was actually proud of how it went. It was far from perfect, but we would definitely get there if we kept rehearsing it.

What I hadn't expected was Aro's critique. It was a little too detailed and creepy for me, but after the blasting he gave us for the painful-looking sex we'd faked last week, I'd take the pervy thumbs up.

Right before Jake and I got up to do our scene, I looked at him and asked the question he and I had been silently avoiding since we realized the casting change.

"Do you wanna?"

"Might as well," was his response, and with that, we moved the furniture a little bit and I took another deep breath.

Walking up to him, I gently wrapped my arms around him, tight enough to show I was serious, but still feminine. We were the same height with the heels, so instead of looking up, I leaned in and remembered some of Bella's advances. The way she would sweetly start a make out session instead of the heads first way I usually did. When I was almost at his ear, I started kissing Jake, trailing my way back to his mouth. Just as I got to the corner of his mouth he grabbed me and planted a kiss square on my lips.

It was a battle of wills, but at least we were figuring out how to go about this kiss. Sooner than I expected, he spun me around and I was back over the desk. And I had been wrong. Being bent over the desk like that and having him fuck me that way was not degrading, nor was the way he covered my mouth while he talked to his girlfriend on the phone, his dick still theoretically in me; the degrading thing was how something that started out passionate, even if it was a second, had turned cold and almost violent.

I was shocked by the emotions that I felt and was sure I was going to get yelled at for breaking character, but when we finished the scene and Aro called us to sit down, I couldn't read his expression.

"I'm not going to give you a single note tonight on that scene. We'll clean it up some more the next time we do it, but there was something magical that happened that I'm not going to mess with by talking about it. Excellent work tonight, you're free to go."

Well damn, I guess I was wrong. Maybe that disconnect was what the moment called for. Either way, I finally felt like this was truly going to be something amazing.