Chapter Eight
~ Edward ~
The next morning, I woke up, confused as to why I was so comfortable. I opened my eyes and then I realized why. I was still holding Bella in my arms as she slept.
I remembered the previous night and how she had come to be in my arms and in my bed. Thinking that someone hurt her like this made me so angry. I just hoped she would feel comfortable enough to tell me what happened.
I looked down at her sleeping form and really took in her beauty. She was so small and yet so brave. Her hair was long and soft, her skin just as soft. I tried not to think about her naked, but I couldn't help myself. Her body, even though bruised, was so beautiful; she definitely was sexy.
I pushed those thoughts out of my head since this was not the time to be having them. I wanted to take care of her, I wanted her to know that I cared for her, and wanted to keep her safe.
She stirred in her sleep and then opened her eyes. She looked around the room, trying to get her bearings, and then she looked over at me. As soon as she did, she relaxed and gave me a slight smile.
"Hi," she whispered. "You stayed with me."
"Of course I did," I said to her. "I wasn't going to leave you." I pulled her back in my arms and she came in willingly. "How did you sleep?"
"Okay. I felt safe," she confessed.
"Good," I acknowledged. "Bella, I know it's not easy… but do you think you can tell me what happened last night?"
I felt her flinch in my arms, but I continued to hold her, hoping it would make it easier for her to tell me what happened.
She took a deep breath, blew it out, and then I felt her grip my arm.
"I was on stage," she began. "I noticed there were a couple of guys standing on the one side. I looked around to make sure none of the other girls were near them, so I made my way over. They had money in their hands, and since it was a slow night, I decided to dance for them. I moved closer and squatted down; at first they were just talking to me, asking me to open my legs, which I did."
She started to sob again and I just kept holding her through it.
"They gave me money and started asking me to show them under my skirt; I didn't, and the one guy reached out to touch my leg. I slapped his hand away, because when we're on stage, customers are not allowed to touch us. He didn't like that, so he grabbed my ankles and made me fall, and then… he pulled me towards him so he was between my legs."
I was getting angry, but I let her continue.
"I tried pushing him away from me and finally the bouncer came and kicked him out of the club. After my shift, I went in the dressing room to change, only I forgot my clothes. I knew I had to walk home in my costume, which I didn't like to do. When I got outside, he was waiting for me. He started calling me names and telling me I owed him his money's worth. I tried to run away, but he…grabbed me and dragged me back to the dumpsters, where he started… hitting me."
Her sobs were worse now.
"It's okay, I'm here," I assured her. "It's okay, Bella."
"He forced my legs apart and tore my underwear, and then I heard him lowering his zipper. I begged him not to, but he told me it's what I do and I was going to take it like a whore. I felt him there, he was about to… rape me, but people walked by and he got scared and ran off."
I took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm so sorry that happened to you."
"I probably deserved it," she mumbled.
"What?" I asked, moving her so she could look at me. "Bella… you did not deserve this."
"Why not? I teased him when I was on stage."
"That does not give him, or any man, the right to hurt a woman."
"But I'm a stripper—a whore, like he called me—it's what I do. I sell myself for sex. I dance half naked in front of these men for money, so if they don't get what they paid for…"
"Just because you do what you do does not make you any less of a woman. It does not make you any less deserving of respect from men." She looked away from me and wiped at her eyes. "Look at me." She looked up. "You did not deserve this; it was not your fault."
I pulled her to me again and wrapped her in my arms. It pained me that she thought she asked for this to happen to her. After a short while, she shifted her weight again so she was now on her back. She raised her hand up to my neck and I had my hand resting on her flat stomach.
"Edward… I need…"
"What, Bella?" I asked her. "Tell me."
"I need… please, kiss me, Edward."
"Bella…"
"Please, I need to feel you… please."
I knew I should have said no, but truth be told, I wanted to kiss her since I felt her lips on mine the night we met. I licked my lips and leaned down to capture her mouth with mine.
At first we moved slowly, just feeling each other. Then her hand moved to my shoulder and she opened up to me. I groaned into her mouth as our tongues began to play together. She moaned as our kiss became more passionate. I was losing myself. She tasted so good, and I wanted to taste her everywhere. I felt her hand travel down my chest and then she reached under my t-shirt to stroke my bare stomach. It had been so long since I was touched and I reacted from the contact on my skin by placing my hand on her hip, and then moving it down to her bare thigh, as I slowly rubbed her flesh. I was getting lost, so lost in her, as I continued to swallow her down. My dick was reacting; I was so hard and I knew she felt it. I wanted her so much, but this was not the right time, not after what happened last night.
I pulled back from her.
"Bella… we can't," I said as I looked at her.
"You don't want me?"
"You have no idea how much I want you," I admitted. "But you've been hurt and you need to heal." She looked away but I made her look back at me. "I don't want you just for sex; you mean more to me than that."
"I don't want to mean more to you," she retorted as she pulled away and got up out of bed. I could tell she got up too fast and pain seared through her body. The look in her eyes was different. "I don't want to mean anything to anyone! Where are my clothes? I need to get out of here."
I got up out of bed and walked over to her. "Your clothes were ruined. You can go into the spare bedroom—Alice left some clothes—and you can pick whatever you'd like. But Bella, please, I don't want you to go. Please stay."
"I can't," she said.
"Please, let me take care of you."
"I am not your Pretty Woman, Edward."
Her comment hit me right in the heart. Did she really think that's what I thought of her? Did that kiss mean nothing?
"I have never once treated you like that," I said to her, now pissed off. "I can't make you stay, and if you want to go, I won't stop you. I won't make you do anything you don't want to do, unlike your customers."
I left the bedroom and headed to the kitchen. My heart felt heavy and I didn't know what to do. A few minutes later, she walked in wearing a pair of Alice's jeans and one of her shirts.
"I'll get the clothes back to you as soon as I can," she promised without looking at me.
"Don't worry about the clothes; Alice won't miss them," I said.
"I need the address here so I can call a cab," she stated.
"I can take you home, Bella," I offered.
"No," she said back quickly. "I'd rather take a cab."
I hung my head and nodded. "The address is 2201 Tacoma Way," I supplied. I then handed her the bag of medical supplies. "Take this; you'll need to change the dressing on your arm once a day. There are enough supplies in here to last you until it heals."
Her cab arrived and as she headed for the door; she turned back around to me. "Thank you for helping me last night, and for the supplies." And then she was gone.
There was nothing I could do but let her go.
I went back to bed, where I could smell her on my sheets and I could still feel her lips on mine. I knew I made the right choice by not having sex with her. I didn't want it to be that way between us. I wanted to show her that she's worth so much more, that she deserved to be worshiped in bed, and that she is loved.
~*YCa*~
The day went on and soon the day turned into night.
Garrett was calling me non-stop. I knew he wanted to know who Bella was, but I wasn't ready to talk. But as my luck would have it, he would not take no for answer, and soon he was banging on my door.
"Come on, dude, I know you're in there," he said through the door. "Open the fucking door, Edward, or I'm breaking it in!"
I got up from the couch and opened the door before he did break it, and before my neighbors called the police.
"What the fuck, man?" I shouted. "Can't you see I want to be left alone?"
I walked away from him and back to the sofa.
"I don't care if you want to be left alone; you're my best friend and I know something is up with you, so you might as well tell me. Not to mention, my wife would chop my nuts off if I didn't come over here."
I said nothing to him.
"Okay, well, since I am quite partial to my nuts and would like to give my wife a baby one day, I'm not leaving until you talk, and you know I can be really annoying."
I still said nothing.
"So last night, Kate and I were having sex on the kitchen table and I came so hard, I almost gave her a splinter in her ass." He said trying to get a reaction out of me.
Nothing.
"Have you ever had a prostrate exam? I mean, I don't know about some doctor sticking his finger up my ass. I mean, Kate has done that to me and it felt really good, man." He paused. "Wait, have you ever done a prostrate exam to a dude? Ew, man, have you had ass fingers?"
"Fuck!" I shouted, finally having enough of his antics. "You're a real pain in my fucking ass sometimes."
"I know," he agreed. "So come on, talk to me, unless you want me to tell you about the time I…."
"No, I don't want to hear anymore, thank you," I groaned and then I took a deep breath. "It's all fucked up, man, and I don't even know where to start."
"Well, the beginning seems like a good place."
"Then the beginning would be the night of my birthday… in the club."
"I thought you said nothing happened in the club?"
"I lied. Something did happen the with girl you paid for me."
"Oh fuck, dude, did you bang her? Did she suck you off?"
"God, you are vile," I grumbled. "No, nothing like that happened."
"Well then, what happened with what's-her-name? Isabella, right?"
"Yeah."
"Isa-bella… Bella!" he exclaimed, having an ah-ha moment. "She was the girl who called you last night, wasn't she?"
"Yes," I confirmed.
"Dude, you gave the stripper your phone number? Damn, why can't I still be single?"
"Uh, because you're married to a great girl," I said. "Shut the fuck up, man; you wanted me to talk, so fucking let me!"
"Okay, I'm sorry," he apologize. "So go on, you gave the stripper your phone number and she called you?"
"I gave Bella my number," I said, not liking him calling her a stripper. Even though that's what she was, I still didn't like it.
"After you dropped me off at home after the club, I went to go get takeout and she was there. We talked for a few minutes, I paid for her dinner, and then I offered to drive her home."
"So you drove her home after you paid for her food?"
"Yes."
"To her house?"
"Yes."
"Did you get some then?"
"Garrett, it's not like that," I spat. "Will you please stop thinking with your dick for once?"
"Sorry, sorry, go on," he said.
"There is so much more to her than what she does, which is why I could not shake her from my head." I exhaled my breath. "The other night I stopped by the club when I knew she was getting done with work and I waited outside for her."
"Wait, what? You went back to the club?" he asked. "I'm sorry, man, this is just not like you."
"I know," I concurred. "Anyway… I asked her if she wanted to get a cup of coffee with me and she agreed. She told me things about herself, things that would blow your mind. After we talked, I took her home. We were supposed to go out again last night…."
"You had a date with her?" he asked, cutting me off. "Damn, Kate is going to be sorry she missed this."
I shot him a look. "She blew me off; she said she had to work, but then, that night was when I got the call, when you were here. I could hear in her voice that there was something wrong. When I got to the club, I found her around back, on the ground. Someone really roughed her up pretty badly. She didn't want to go to the hospital, so I brought her back here and took care of her. I got her clean clothes and gave her a bath and cleaned up her wounds. She was so broken, so bruised, and then she asked me to stay with her. I held her all night, trying to let her know she was safe."
"I think I'm speechless," he said after hearing everything. "You brought her here, gave her a bath, took care of her, and held all night in your bed?"
"Yes."
"Wow, dude, I had no idea," he commented. "Wait, how old is she?"
"She's nineteen," I admitted.
"Nineteen? She's really young, Edward."
"But she's been through so much and…"
"You like this girl? In fact, I'd say you like her a lot," he interrupted, cutting me off.
"I do; I mean, she's the first girl in a long time that has gotten under my skin and into my heart."
"But dude, she's nineteen and a stripper."
"I know that!" I spat. "I know what she does!"
"How can it be something more?" he asked. I mean, do you even know her last name?"
"No, but… fuck!" I shouted. "It doesn't matter… she left. She told me she wasn't my Pretty Woman."
"Ouch," Garrett said. "So nothing happened between you two?"
"No, we only kissed. She wanted more, but she was hurt and I knew it was for the wrong reasons, so when I turned her down, she bolted. I'm not sure I'm ever going to see her again."
"Okay, Edward, look," Garrett started. "Obviously this girl means something to you, her profession aside, so if that's the case, if you think there is something worth fighting for, then fight for it."
"She probably won't talk to me now."
"So make her."
"I can't, don't you see? She's spent the past two years doing what people make her do… what men tell her to do. I want to show her I'm not like that."
"Then show her," he advised. "Show her the kind of man you are, she'll see."
"I have to try something, I guess," I acknowleged. "I can't let her go."
"Then don't," he said. "But like I said, profession aside, she's only nineteen."
"I know, but sometimes, age is just a number."
"Okay, well, all I can say is that in all the years I have known you, I've never seen you react to a girl this way. So whatever you decide, man, I got your back," he promised.
"Thanks, I appreciate that."
"I have to go meet Kate, will you be okay?"
"Yeah, I'm a fine," I said. "And thanks for coming over."
"Not a problem; keep me posted, will you?"
"I will."
After Garrett left, I took a shower and got dressed for work. I was working an overnight shift tonight, and then I was going to be off for a few days. I had to figure out how to get Bella to talk to me again. She has to know what I feel for her.
She has to listen
A/N: First let me thank all of you for your reviews and well wishes on my surgery. The surgery went well, now the real work begins with PT. But, aside from that, its nice to be back!
I am happy that you are liking this story and hope you stick with it. Still there are some that don't care for the POV switch with each chapter, I'm sorry to hear that, but its how I am writing this story. Nonetheless, I hope you'll stick with it.
Thanks for Chandrakanta for the Beta work
Come join my FB group Awish's Fanfiction. I post teasers and pictures from this story.
Chapter 9 will post very soon and yes it will be Bella's POV from the morning after.
Please leave me some love! XOXO
