a/n: I suck, muchly, for taking so long, I know. My humble apologies. THANK YOU to every one who reviewed the last chapter! I received so much great constructive criticism and feedback. I have the best readers, I'm convinced.
I don't own Twilight or Stephanie Meyer's characters. I do own this plot and the original characters, though. Why yes, I am special. :)
Thank you, pogurl, for the excellent beta job!
Enjoy chapter eleven.
"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Renee's soft voice soothed Bella almost as much as Edward's warm arms wrapped around her did. She wiggled her toes under the snuggly, if garish, afghan she and Esme had made together several years before out of yarn scraps. It matched nothing, but it was Bella's favorite; her grown up rendition of a security blanket. Looking around, she realized she must have fallen asleep on Edward's lap on the sofa. She was on his lap, his arms holding her close, her head resting on his chest and his cheek pressed to the top of her head. The afghan was tucked in around them and they were toasty and warm. Edward's chest rose and fell gently with his breaths and Bella had to fight the urge to drift to sleep again at the comforting motion.
She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and peered over at her mother, shifting slightly in Edward's lap, and noticed that Renee looked uncharacteristically worried. Her normally carefree eyes were clouded with concern and her forehead furrowed in thought. Taking in her mother's face, for the first time, Bella realized that at some point, Renee had aged. There was more silver in her ash-brown hair now than Bella remembered, and the laugh lines around her mouth and eyes were more pronounced. She didn't look the fifty-five she was, but she no longer looked as though she could simply be Bella's older sister, either.
When had her mother gotten older?
Pushing that thought aside, she dragged a small smile onto her face. Her voice quiet, she replied, "I'm ok, Mom. I feel better now that I've rested. And Edward always makes me feel better."
"Honey," Renee paused. It was clear to Bella that her mother was weighing her words carefully. That alone told her how much the older woman was concerned; Renee typically spoke what she thought, with little by way of a filter.
"Mom," Bella interrupted, "would this conversation be better over a cup of coffee? And when I'm not using Edward as a chair-slash-mattress?" She kept her voice pitched low in an effort not to disturb Edward's sleep. He'd had a rough night, worrying over her like a distressed mother hen. The poor man needed his rest.
She gently began the task of slipping out of his embrace, a task made more difficult by his arms contracting whenever she made to pull herself away from him. Even in his sleep, he wasn't letting go.
She exchanged an amused look with Renee.
There was nothing for it. She'd have to wake him up. She turned and nuzzled his cheek with her nose, murmuring against his skin, "Edward, love, let me go." She felt his arms tighten again and she rolled her eyes. Sleeping. Right. "Edward," She growled lowly, "I need to pee, and I need to talk to Mom. Let me go." With this last command, she nipped his chin, catching the stubbly skin with her teeth, and he cracked one eye open to appraise her.
"You'll come back when you're done?" He questioned.
Bella graced him with her brightest smile. "Of course!" She didn't specify when she'd be done, or when she'd make her way back to him—there was a good chance he'd be awake by the time she and Renee finished their talk—but she meant what she said, and decided worrying about the details wouldn't do any good.
She wondered if that line of thinking came from spending too much time with Edward recently, or if Emmett's life-long influence was finally coming out. Then she decided it didn't matter. Minor details. She was just glad her brother and Edward hadn't had a chance to join forces yet. They'd be a dangerous combination. She made a mental note not to encourage too much friendliness between the two men.
Edward seemed to think on her agreement to get back for a few moments, and Bella quashed the urge to groan. She could almost feel the mischievousness radiating out from him. She gave her mother a long-suffering look, and Renee chuckled.
"I have conditions for your release," he informed her. He'd opened both eyes just enough for her to discern the liquid field green of his irises through his eyelashes. His thumb was rubbing circles over her side as he held her tight and his expression was just this side of smug. Bella frowned.
"I'll take that under consideration, oh mighty and powerful jailer." She lost the fight against rolling her eyes and saw his lips twitch the slightest bit in response. "Tell me your conditions, and I'll tell you if I agree to them."
He removed one arm from her, tightening the remaining one around her waist, tying her to him as effectively as an iron band would have done--even one-armed there was no way could escape his grasp. Not that, she thought, I'm planning on fighting all that hard anyway.
"One." With his free hand, he held up his index finger. "Renee lets me call her 'mum.'"
Renee laughed. "Of course!"
Edward nodded and smiled hugely at the older woman. "Thanks, Mum."
It was not, Bella decided (not for the first time), fair that he could absolutely ooze 'trouble' and yet win over any woman in the vicinity with his charm and smile. Renee had been fined tuned to detect up-to-no-good behavior by raising Emmett, and during most of her visit with them had had no trouble calling Edward out on his scheming. He had her mother completely wrapped around his finger now, though. Bella's own radar was going off. She was positive that his last condition would be a doozy.
"Two." His middle finger joined his index finger. "I get a proper good morning kiss from my lady fair."
"I'll think about it," she answered dryly. "What's your third condition?"
He had the gall to act hurt. "You won't give your consent immediately on this matter? I feel it is quite important, a ghrá."
Ruthlessly, Bella fought down the desire to give in and thoroughly kiss him, Renee as audience or not. She wanted to know what he was getting at. "As I said, I'll think about it." She affected her most professional and calm expression. "What's your third condition?"
She found herself on the receiving end of a considering, probing look. "Feeling stubborn, are we?" he murmured. Then, more loudly, for Renee's benefit: "Three." He raised his ring finger to accompany the previous two. "You bring me a freshly brewed cup of coffee. The kind Rosalie sent you as incentive to finish your manuscript."
Bella tilted her head in acknowledgement. "Done," she agreed.
Her mother choked on a laugh. "Coffee, but no kiss, Bella?"
She brought her chin up and with as much mock haughtiness as she could manage, answered. "Well the latter is rather important, don't you think, Mother? He's demanding a kiss of a hostage!"
With much dramatics, Edward matched her attitude with a long-suffering sigh. "You see, Mum?" He spoke over her head to her mother. "What I suffer through? She's the most beautiful creature in all of Ireland, but she's mulish. I keep her warm and let her use me as a common pillow, and I'm rewarded with coffee, but the denial of her delightful lips. What is the world coming to?"
Renee leaned over and patted him consolingly on the knee. "I know. She's always been a stubborn one. Do you know, she held onto her childhood invisible friend years longer than other kids her age? Absolutely refused to give him up, even when she had other kids to play with." She turned her attention to Bella, who'd stiffened at the mention of her 'invisible friend'--Edward--and her family's long-ago gentle insistence that she give him up for real-life playmates. "What was it you called him, dear? Bob? No, that was the name of Emmett's."
Renee pursed her lips in thought and Bella glanced at Edward in frustration. Even though it had been over twenty years since she'd realized she couldn't tell her family that she'd kept him as her childhood imaginary friend, knew now why she'd clung to him so tightly despite her family's encouragement to move on, and even though he was made flesh and holding her tightly to him, the old hurt and feelings of helplessness and defiance were just under the surface for her, and her mother was blindly stirring all that back up.
She pushed down the childhood feelings of resentment and confusion and stuck her tongue out at Renee, hoping to keep the lighthearted banter up. "Well, my invisible friend was a far superior playmate than Emmett or Alice-" she paused as an indignant "hey!" came from the doorway where she'd seen her cousin lurking "-were, for a while there. All Alice wanted to do was play dress up and Emmett was only interested in escaping from me so he could impress girls."
Alice poked her head in. "You could've used the fashion advice, Bella. You didn't start paying attention to how you dressed until you met Rose; far too late, if you ask me."
Between the mischievous aura that was radiating off of Edward and the gleam in Alice's eyes, Bella found herself nervous. In spite of her great love for both people, her palms started to sweat. Alice with that gleam was a bad sign.
Why, again, had she wanted to ever integrate her family and Edward? She thanked the stars that her family was flying back in the very near future.
Alice winked at Renee, who got up to leave, telling her daughter as she left, "Don't think this means our tête-à-tête is cancelled, dear. I just know better than to get in Alice's way." With a laugh she left Bella to the tender mercies of the two people she internally labeled, for the moment, Curly and Moe. Alice was definitely Moe. Alice stood in front of the couple, Bella still securely in Edward's arms, and grinned at them. "How do you feel about good, old-fashioned tickle torture, Edward? You've already got her almost immobile." She felt Edward's chest rumble against her as he laughed and tightened his grip. "Excellent plan, little imp. Bella, I wholly approve of your cousin. She can visit any time." Bella only had time to groan in frustration and begin to impotently struggle against her torturers before Alice's fingers were dancing across her ribs and she, her younger cousin, and her immortal god boyfriend, were reduced to childhood, the two women laughing so hard they were crying and Edward's rich laugh booming out across the house.
xx-xx-xx
Alice looked at Renee and Esme. "We should mail some of our luggage home. With everything we bought yesterday, we can't possibly fit everything in car or meet the limit on free luggage imposed by the airline."
The two older women nodded. Esme and Alice had, Bella thought with a mental roll of her eyes, single-handedly boosted the local economy with their shopping expedition the day before. Bella had been dragged along, half willingly, and Edward had of course accompanied them, insistent on not letting her out of his sight. The downside was that she was discovering it was possible to, yes, have too much Edward in twenty-four hours. The upside was that shower time had been ridiculously entertaining and distracting the past few days.
She saw Edward's face light up at Alice's suggestion. Bella cocked a quizzical eyebrow at her bronze-haired god, consciously trying to mimic the sexy look he regularly sent her way. By the smirk he was clearly fighting down, he realized what she was attempting, even if she failed miserably. He winked at her before turning his attention to her petite cousin.
"I think that's a great idea, Alice. Shipping via the post will be less expensive, and it means there will be room in the car for me….which means you won't have to suffer through Bella's driving one last time." His smile, Bella reflected, was rather too brilliant, considering he'd just insulted her driving skills. She plucked a small piece of broccoli off of the tray sitting on the table between them and threw it at him, hitting him squarely in the ear.
Esme and Renee, chatting at the other end of the table, glanced at the 'kids' and started snickering. Bella stopped watching them when a carrot stick smacked her soundly in the cheek. She turned her attention to her beaming partner.
The days following the "testing" of the wards, when they'd found out exactly how extreme her sensitivity was, had been tense for her and Edward. They both had expected further intrusions, and when none came they'd been a bit off balance. Not willing to put a damper on the last part of her family's visit, she'd forced a cheery attitude, and had fallen into, with Alice and Edward, a pattern of childishness. Alice and Edward had taken to pranking each other and they regularly joined forces now, against Bella.
If she hadn't enjoyed the interactions so much, loved the merry twinkle of "trouble" that Edward's expression sported, she would've been upset at being on the receiving end of their plots. If it had been Emmett and Alice, she probably would've been. If she hadn't had such a scare, and been in need of levity, she probably would've been. As it was, she was unusually amicable to being harassed, punk'd, and ganged up on.
"Don't get used to it," she'd warned Edward. He'd only winked and kissed her thoroughly before going off to finish whatever bit of plotting against her cousin he'd been involved in. All she knew was that it resulted in Alice's hair being magenta for three days. She was reasonably certain he'd cheated and used his abilities for the effect. Alice's ineffective attempts to dye her hair black again had all failed miserably, and it wasn't until she declared magenta a color worthy of Gwen Stefani, and therefore acceptable, that her preferred black came back.
That had led to contemplative looks from Alice and whispered conferences between Renee, Esme, and Alice, which made Bella nervous.
Having two chunks of cheese hit her in the face simultaneously brought her out of her moment of reflection, and she saw four amused faces focused on her. "Only Bella," Esme said with laughter lacing her voice, "could zone out at what is clearly the beginning of a food fight."
Bella huffed, and then whipped a slice of bell pepper down the table, missing her aunt's head by several inches.
Esme held her hands up in surrender. "Neutral territory! You three go at each other. We'll just…supervise."
The details of the food fight were a blur to her, but in the end, she was certain she had vegetable dip in her hair. It was the only substance she could think of that had been out and could feel so…gooey…on her head. It felt gross, but it was worth the reduction in the tension she'd felt radiating from Edward since her experience with the wards a few days ago. He needed a break.
Bella saw the corners of Edward's mouth curl up, saw the mischief brewing under the surface of his otherwise relaxed and innocent expression. Their three visitors were packing, leaving the two of them to finish cleaning after the three-way food fight she'd instigated. His lips twitched and she held up her hand, palm toward him, to forestall the inevitable comment. There was a suspicious tug at his lips again, and she raised an eyebrow in challenge. If he's smart, she thought, he'll let it go.
She wasn't entirely sure he'd choose the smart move, though. Gone were the days when they treated each other like fragile figurines, frightened of damaging each other or inciting ire; now were the days when they truly learned how to live with one another, understanding limits, buttons, and soft spots. In December, she reflected, he would've let it go, no problem. Now...now he seemed to get a perverse joy out of making her stamp her foot in outrage, punch him in the shoulder in censure, or rant against the injustices of the world.
Bella was a bit uncomfortable at how easy it was to incite her. She'd thought after a lifetime of Emmett, she had no more buttons to push, that her brother had broken her of her quick temper. Edward's angle was different, more subtle at some times, shockingly blunt at others, but if he had the desire to see her flushed and fuming, he could get her there faster than anyone.
Her mother said it was a sign of how much she'd let the infuriating, beautiful man into her heart. Bella was inclined to think he was just a mischief-causing brat of a god. He'd told her, upon questioning, that she was simply stunning while in a snit, and the only other time she was so gloriously flushed was when they made love--and if she preferred, he had no problems getting her naked every time he had the desire to see her so worked up.
She'd been very, very tempted to take him up on that offer. Her rational mind, however, had reminded her that agreeing to that might very well mean she'd find her clothes disappearing while shopping or drinking at the pub. And while she could appreciate the thrill of almost being caught in semi-private places, she was not an exhibitionist, and wanted no audience.
And at any rate, she didn't want anyone other than Edward to see her in such a state of undress.
xx-xx-xxx
Bella clamped her hand over her eyes and groaned as the distinctive opening notes of "Blueberry Hill" found their way through the stereo speakers in the living room. As much as she liked the song, her mother's fondness for Fats Domino was, in Emmett's words, epic, and the whole family had heard his music many, many, many times over the years. She thought she probably had his entire catalog memorized. She was positive Renee did.
Next to her, she heard Edward's echoing groan. "You Swan women and your compulsive music listening," he carped in a voice that was half affection, half frustration. "You with Jimmy Buffett, your mother with Fats Domino." He rolled his eyes.
"Careful," she murmured in his ear. "Or I'll make good on my threat to put 'Pencil Thin Mustache' on repeat." She gently kissed the patch of skin just below his ear. "You'll survive. They're only here another two days."
Bella giggled when she felt his arm wrap around her waist and pull her snuggly against his body. "I can't wait," he whispered fiercely against her neck. "I'm tired of confining our activities to non-community space. He left his hand drift down to her rear, which he squeezed and used to pull her in tighter. His voice seemed to drop further, raising the hair on Bella's arms and increasing her own desire. "It will be nice, when they've left, to take you on the floor, or the couch, or on the table or counter, when the mood strikes, don't you think?"
Bella couldn't repress the moan that escaped her throat. "Bedroom," she choked out. "Now."
Edward's response was interrupted by an annoying, cheerful voice from the doorway to Bella's office, where the couple had been hiding from their guests. Alice's laughing voice pierced the cozy bubble of lust that had formed around them. "Damn, Bella. No wonder you shacked up with Edward so soon after meeting him. You two never take your hands off of each other!"
She looked over to see her cousin jauntily leaning against the doorframe with an amused smirk on her face. Briefly, she wondered if it would be all that terrible if she took one of her books off the bookshelf to her left and hurled it at Alice. Surely violence would be acceptable in such a situation? As she thought through this course of action, she realized that Edward was turning the two of them so he could face their intruder.
His voice was low and, even to Bella, sounded menacing, though it lacked the malice she'd heard him use during the confrontation in the Otherworld. "Alice."
Bella gloated internally as the pleased smirk slid off the smaller woman's face. "Edward," she returned with only the slightest note of doubt in her voice. "You've been telling me I'm your favorite of Bella's relatives. You wouldn't do anything, would you?" Alice continued to affect confidence and her normal chipper air, but Bella could see the underlying worry. Edward really could look quite fierce when he wanted to—something her cousin was just beginning to understand.
She felt, rather than saw, the slow, dangerous smile spread across Edward's face. "If I were you, Alice," he began, "I'd start running about right now." Bella shivered as the silky sound of his voice washed over her.
Alice squeaked and darted from the door, her small frame disappearing from sight as she rounded a corner.
Edward nuzzled Bella's neck, causing her to break out in goose bumps. "Now," he said, trailing kisses from her jaw down to her collarbone, "where were we before the little imp interrupted us?"
She answered by maneuvering so that she could bite his neck. "Close the door," she said breathily, "we haven't used my desk in a while."
Their lips met hungrily, and they moved toward her desk, away from the door. Bella felt Edward's arm move and heard the door close firmly, and the lock turn. There were, she reminded herself with an internal smile, certainly benefits to being involved with someone with supernatural powers. Closing a door from several feet away, locking it, and—oh!—causing all clothing to disappear could be quite convenient.
By the time they separated their lips to take deep, needed breaths, Edward had used his abilities to remove the mess from her monstrous mahogany desk; the laptop, papers, notebooks, and notes were stacked haphazardly on the floor next to the carved feet. It'd been made to be a double-sided desk to be shared by two workers facing each other. However, she'd pushed one side against the wall, sacrificing the drawer space, and used the large surface to spread out everything she was working on in one place. At just shy of five feet deep and about four feet long, it was nearly large enough for her to stretch out on it. At times like these, when the love of her life was gently tossing her, naked, onto the top, she was grateful for its size and sturdiness.
xx-xx-xx
Each encounter with Bella, Edward reflected, was an experience in sensory input. The feel of her soft skin stretched over firm muscles, her unique Bella taste, her pulse pounding under his fingertips, the moisture from her lips. He kneeled between her legs, before the end of the desk and draped her legs over his shoulders and he was awash in sensation: the slight stubble on her legs brushing the skin of his shoulders, the coolness of the air kissing his neck, the sound of their joined heavy breathing, her muscles contracting under his hands where he griped her thighs.
He slowly kissed the soft skin on the inside of her thigh, gently sucking on a spot right above her femoral artery, carefully pinching and rolling a bit of skin between his tongue and lips as he savored the taste and texture of her. As he kissed and suckled he way up her inner thigh, his hands continued to caress her legs and hips and on the occasional pass, he let his fingers skim over the soft, curl-covered juncture between her legs. Each time he did so, she arched her body up to meet his hand, questing for a bit more pressure. He blew gently on the skin he'd moistened with his kisses and was gratified to see gooseflesh raise up in response. It amazed him, how responsive her body was. Being with his heart was like nothing else in existence.
Edward turned his head 180 degrees, to award her other leg with similar attention and Bella whined in response. "I thought we were in a hurry!" she half-whined, half panted.
He chuckled and nipped and licked at the smooth skin before him. "What if I don't want to hurry?" He dragged his tongue from the spot closest to the top of her leg, with his cheek flush against her dripping heat, down toward her knee. "What if I want to enjoy the feast, savor you?" Shifting and lifting her leg up so he could bite at the sensitive skin behind her knee, he hummed happily at the sensory input he was getting from her. The hot, smooth skin beginning to glisten with sweat, the sounds heavy breathing and panting, those delightful little whimpers, the wonderful aroma that made his eyes roll back in his head with pleasure as he worked his way back up leg to the spot she so desperately wanted him to pay attention to.
"You are perfect, a ghrá. Divine. Mmmm."
With simple and heartfelt pleasure, he brought her back arching off of the desk, reveling in her hands all but ripping his hair (though he did spare a quick, grateful thought for his durability), her muscled legs momentarily clenched around his head, her shiver-inducing keen of release. As she shuddered, he shimmied his way up her body, nipping and licking her soft stomach, her ribs, the underside of her breasts and her nipples, caressing and breathing deeply at her neck, before he captured her lips and they lost themselves in a kiss that left each one of them gasping for air.
Bella wrapped trembling arms around his torso and pulled him flush against her. Shaking legs wrapped around his hips as she embraced him. "Come home," she whispered in his ear, her voice barely audible even to him. With utter joy, he did.
A little bit of a fluffy break for E & B after the drama of last chapter. It won't last forever, don't worry.
While I'm working on chapter twelve, check these out if you aren't already:
Cowboys and Indians, by Minisinoo
Across the Airwaves, by Isabel0329
No Matter How it Ends, by Bratanimus
The Djinn, by eroticfan
Dear Diary, by Alice Laughed
All stories or authors are on my favorites lists.
And don't forget to check out these two Twilight fanfic-oriented blogs!
The Lazy, Yet Discerning Ficster: discerningficster (dot) blogspot (dot) com and The Perv Pack's Smut Shack: www (dot) pervpacksmutshack (dot) com
Join us in the discussion thread for the story on Twilighted! http://www(dot)twilighted(dot)net/forum/viewtopic(dot)php?t=1191
Thanks for reading! Review and let me know what you think.