Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, blah, blah.
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Bella's POV
I stepped out of the club, and a rush of cold air hit me. Shivering, I looked left and right, trying to find Edward. My teeth were gritted and my fists were clenched, and I refused to shiver even though it was freezing. My anger made me warm.
My eyes skipped over a teenager who was leaning against a trashcan and gulping out of a bottle of some see-through liquid, over a cat that was fast asleep in the corner of an alley, and over the mass of broken glass and chewing gum on the street. But no Edward.
Where the hell was he?
I was about to turn to go back in and look for him in the club, when I felt two large, warm hands encircle my waist, and hot breath on my neck.
"Ready?" Edward purred against my skin, making me shiver. The delicious warmth of him against my back on such a cold night was utterly blissful.
I leant back into his embrace, totally ready, yet at that moment, I remembered the cause of my anger in the first place, and my body tensed up. Feeling it, Edward's hands rubbed circles on my thighs. I think he was trying to keep me warm with friction, but the effect had my thoughts spiralling out of control with hysteria.
Oh god, when we get home I'll just have to throw him down on the sofa, we wont even make it to his bedroom… and I'll rip his shirt off, yank that tank top over his head… and then my hands will travel downwards, following the little line of hair that will run from his bellybutton and disappear under the tight, black leather of his trousers, that fit against him so snugly…
Soon after thinking that, I shook myself and cursed for being so weak. One touch, and this man could have me doing anything and everything he wanted. He was intoxicating, like a drug.
Then the sharp, acidic voice of Jessica Stanley rang once more in my mind…
"Edward blew me off tonight… we shagged in the back corridor, but he ran away right afterwards…"
The memory of her words stung through me like a lethal injection, turning the glorious warmth of Edward standing against me into a stifling heat, and the sweetness of his eyes into a malicious grin. His strong body was now a cage; the circles of his fingers on my thighs were now the intrusive gropings of a pervert.
I pushed away from him, my brow wrinkling.
"Bella?" he questioned, taking my hand and squeezing it.
Then I made the mistake of looking into his eyes… into the soft, warm depths… and I was lost again, and I fell as hard as I had the first time I had set eyes on him.
Yet Jessica was so determined to spoil everything.
"He's just like any other man- they fool you about their feelings but really they just don't care who it is, as long as they get to fuck somebody…"
"Edward!" I said rather loudly, "Let go of me!"
I tugged my hand free of his grasp, yet his grip was too strong. I looked up at him, my eyes fiery, and his eyes turned sad. He dropped my hand, and looked down to stare at his feet.
Even in this position, he was breathtakingly beautiful. My stomach burned with desire and my mouth went dry at the sight of him. Then his gaze lifted, and his eyes fixed on mine. They were so intense it was like putting your hand too close to a flame and getting burned.
"Don't you know he has slept with more than half the people in the office already? I didn't know you hung around whores…"
"What have I done?" he murmured.
I opened my mouth to snap at him, yet all that came out was a croak. My eyes burned, and then my frame shook. Tears jumped and stung at my eyes like hornets.
As soon as Edward saw, the compassionate man he is, he drew me against his strong chest and wrapped his arms around me. In his embrace I felt warm and safe, and yet this feeling was at complete conflict with Jessica, who kept mentally reminding me… "He asked me out. He snogged me. He fucked me."
Suddenly I couldn't take it any more. "STOP IT!" I screamed, pushing Edward away from me forcefully, "SHUT UP!"
I span on my heel, my eyes flashing. Had I just been talking to Edward, or to Jessica? I didn't care, I just wanted this suspicion and dread to end!
And then my eyes zeroed in, and at once my mind was filled with such petrified horror that it chilled me to the bone and was like a block of ice sliding down my spine.
It was Edward…
And deep, scarlet blood was pouring from a gash in his head.
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I know this chapter was short, but I did say I would post on Sunday, so here it is, as promised. If you review then I will give you a quote from the next chapter, which I will be posting soon. So, as I steal from one of my fave authors on here, "Review equals quote… win/win."
CullenLove x