Howdy. This would have been posted sooner, but my poor beta was sick for nearly a week. Bless her heart. You'll notice this one is longer...
Twilight is not mine.
Suddenly terrified that his brother would do something stupid, Edward hastily shoved his phone back into his pocket. Please don't let him tell Rose. Scratch that; please don't let Rose tell Bella. He needed to deal with this his own way. And it needed to be soon.
He turned back to Bella, who was still laughing over whatever joke had just been told. She'd questioned his manhood earlier, inferring that she could drink him under the table, so he'd been drinking steadily since then, trying to catch up to her.
Because of this, they were getting more handsy and flirty. As the night wore on, he found himself casually touching her every chance he got: when addressing her directly, when laughing at a joke she—or anyone else—told, while asking if she needed a refill. If there was any reason to caress her skin, he snatched it.
To be fair, Bella was doing the same. No matter who was speaking in their group, her eyes consistently wandered back to him, and her fingers took it upon themselves to creep toward him in whatever fashion they could manage.
Both wanted to feel that inexplicable connection that occurred when they made contact, although neither recognized it as a need, it was just automatic.
"I better not see you two sneaking off to my guest room!" Bella wrinkled her nose at Alice and Jasper, who had clearly made up and were now embarking upon a new path together. Right down the other's throat.
"Wanna give them a run for their money?" Edward's low but still carrying voice sounded over her shoulder.
She gasped from surprise and turned to look at him, catching him in full smirk before he broke out laughing. Narrowing her eyes, she did what any mature adult would do in response: she smacked him across the shoulders. "Tease."
"Ah, now I'm only a tease if I don't follow through." Edward tipped his beer bottle at Bella and raised his eyebrows at her before bringing the rim up to his lips and finishing it off, never taking his eyes off her. She felt his gaze all the way down to her knickers. A sudden rush of lust surged through her, and she found herself saying, "Care to make good on that?"
Edward knew that there was a good and bad side to everything, this situation notwithstanding. The good side was that he would no longer have to pretend to be 'just friends' with her. The bad side, however, was that he knew it probably wasn't a good idea to move forward with Bella until she knew who he really was.
The proverbial angel and devil were sitting on his shoulders, trying to convince him that each of them had the better idea. Good Edward was reminding him to do things the right way. He should date her properly, first making sure she understood who he was and why he lived how he did.
Bad Edward said fuck that noise (Bad Edward had had a little too much to drink). The way Bella was eyeing him, he was ready to find the nearest bedroom and get down to business. The alcohol in him agreed.
By the time Edward made his decision, Bella had already moved on to the topic of Alice and Jasper, leaning back into him to whisper, "Do you think we could get some popcorn? I mean, this is better than porn." He watched them for a few seconds, head cocked to the side like a dog witnessing something new. Wondering if he should offer them the bedroom (they were nearly horizontal already), Edward surreptitiously watched Bella from the corner of his eye for a few moments.
She was gorgeous. When she wasn't so absurdly worried about what everyone thought, and actually let her guard down, she glowed. Her hair was thick and shiny, and he wanted to put his fingers in it, bring a fistful up to his nose and just sniff. She probably smelled awesome. She looked like she smelled awesome.
Reaching out to lightly caress her shoulder, he pulled her back a bit so she rested between his legs. He kept his fingers curled over her shoulder and smoothly rubbed the nape of her neck with his thumb. He felt rather than heard her hum of contentment, her head lolling forward and backward a bit, urging him to continue. She finally dropped her head back against his chest, and he laid his cheek upon her crown, gently sighing.
"Dammit, I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella." And he really was. He had been resisting her for so long, he'd forgotten why it began in the first place.
Bella twisted in his hold until she was able to look into his eyes. They held the silent look for a few beats, and Edward felt his heart jump into his throat when she responded, "Then don't."
They were oblivious to the party still thumping around them. Bella's sister dry-humping one of her best friends on the couch, the melting slushee concoction in her cup—all of it faded away for those few seconds. Once the decision was made, however, it was mutual, and they wasted no time in clearing everyone out.
"Party's over, folks! You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Out!" Edward leapt to his feet and made the announcement while Bella scurried to the door to usher everyone out. One by one, two by two, people sloppily made their way out the doors, laughing and finishing their drinks. The bartender began cleaning up, but Edward stopped him, shoving a few hundred dollars in his hand and telling him to worry about it the next day. Grateful for the extra cash, the man had no problem hustling out.
Once the last person was out the door, Bella closed it with a resounding thud. She rested her back against it, watching Edward from across the room. He was eying her just as hungrily, and she suddenly had the urge to run to the bathroom and make sure she was presentable. While she always dressed to impress, that night had been a much more relaxed atmosphere, and she hadn't thought that she might hop in bed with a beautiful man. Granted, the party had been thrown specifically to allow her to get close to Edward in a non-bar or work setting, but she hadn't been sure he'd react positively.
"Can you give me five minutes?" She asked, smiling shyly. A grin flitted across his face, and he nodded. She disappeared into her bedroom, frantically throwing things in the closet and checking herself out in the mirror. Not bad for half in the bag.
Still out in the living room, Edward checked on Alice and Jasper, who had managed to remove some articles of clothing. He briefly pondered alerting them to the fact that the party was over and everyone was gone, but then he realized...they probably didn't care. This was a long time coming for them. Who was he to stand in the way of true love? With a shrug of his shoulder, he did a watch check, decided it had been five minutes (whether it had or not), and headed toward Bella's room while finishing his beer.
He absently placed the empty bottle on the coffee table and locked his eyes on her door, making a beeline for the entrance to the promised land. Pushing the door open, he glanced around, not seeing Bella anywhere in sight. "Bella?" He called to her quietly.
Seeing a sliver of light coming from the ajar bathroom door, he nudged it open a little more. From his vantage point, he could see that she was brushing her hair, and inspecting her face in the mirror. He quietly walked up to her while her hair was obscuring her face and put his hands on her waist, making her jump.
"Stop," he whispered. "I want the real Bella. I want the Bella no one else gets to see. I don't need all this. You're perfect...just how you are, right this moment."
Bella felt the butterflies in her stomach go bonkers. She had to admit, no man had ever said things like that to her. They'd always expected her to look perfect, to act perfect, to be perfect. But this man—he wanted her imperfections, and she wasn't quite sure how to handle it.
Luckily, the alcohol still sloshing around in her stomach allowed her to let go of her hesitations and insecurities, and throw caution to the wind. She whispered back, equally quiet, "Okay." It was all she could manage to say, seeing as how her throat was all choked up with emotion.
Edward ran his palms up her sides, thumbs brushing the outside of her breasts, and then he tip-toed his fingers across her collarbones until they reached her slender neck. Pausing there, he felt the strong beat of her pulse before reaching up to brush the hair from her face. He cupped her jaw, and smoothed his thumbs across her cheekbones. "I'm going to kiss you now, okay? And...possibly some other things, if you don't mind." He couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face when she chuckled and nodded, and he finally bent down to give her a proper kissing.
Neither Bella nor Edward could have ever imagined how glorious a kiss could be, but if they had imagined it, it would have been something like that one. Their lips meeting was on par with a choreographed fireworks show—their hearts creating the music and their movements in synchronization, while their tongues greeting created a thousand pinpoints of light behind their eyes. If either had had their druthers about them, they would have laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of the perfection that they had been avoiding for so long.
Edward's hands roamed greedily up and down Bella's body, wanting to learn every swoop and curve. Bella was just as exploratory, savoring the lean and sinewy muscles beneath his clothing. Their dance of mouths and hands led them back into the bedroom, ending at the king-sized bed that was there. He gently pushed her so she was seated on the edge, and kneeled down between her legs. Running her fingers into his hair and gripping it for a second, she smiled down at his upturned face. A laugh erupted from his throat when she had to close one eye to focus.
"You certainly had a lot to drink. You sure you want this?" Though Edward said the words, he was silently pleading for her to say yes.
"Hell yes, cowboy. Don't start thinking now. Get up here." Oh, thank God.
Bella hauled him up using her grip on his hair, and he grimaced, "Dammit, woman, lay off the hair. That shit hurts."
Her eyes widened and she dropped his hair immediately before starting to apologize...but she didn't get more than two words out before she was shut up with a smattering of kisses. Their comingled groans were embarrassingly loud, but it seemed they owed Alice and Jasper that bit of one-upmanship.
Climbing up from his kneeling position, Edward pushed her to lay back on the bed, and he made slow but short work of her clothing. Her shirt slid easily up her torso, and he couldn't refrain from raining kisses, from navel to breastbone, in its wake. After he eased it over her head, he stealthily snaked his hand under her to release her bra, replacing it immediately with hands and lips. The removal of pants and underwear followed quickly after.
Bella didn't think it was fair that he still had all his clothes on, and while she was reveling in the feeling of his lips all over her body, she reached down to attempt to yank his shirt up and over his head. Tipsy as they both were, it wasn't quite a ballet of disrobing, but the end result was all they cared about. As well it should be. Both sets of clothes lay in a puddle at Edward's feet, and he wrapped an arm around her waist to haul her up higher on the bed, while the other hand swiftly pulled back the covers to allow them underneath.
Edward would have liked to say that he was concentrating on nothing but unwrapping the beautiful woman in front of him, but his thoughts were warring in his head. He knew he needed to tell her who he really was before they went too much further, but he didn't want to ruin the harmony they were creating. He would tell her the next day. He had to. But for right now, he would just enjoy the moment.
"Fuck, why the hell did we wait so long for this? I can't think of one single good reason." Bella managed to speak long enough to share that thought, and Edward eked out an agreeable grunt.
The warmth of his hands on her body, and the softness of her skin under them heightened every sensation for both, slowly building an urgency in them that barely managed to stay contained under their tingling skin. Bella wanted to give all, and Edward was more than willing to take her offering. Their bodies met, and neither could say they had ever felt more complete. It was a feeling of home, of comfort, of truth. Edward decided right then that there was no way he could go without that feeling again, and that he would do whatever it took to hold on to it, to hold on to her.
Slick with perspiration and struggling to catch their breath, they came together in a harmonious duet, each gripping the other in a desperate embrace, frantic to suspend the bliss. Edward pressed his mouth to Bella's slowly, languidly, wiping the damp strands of hair away from her cheeks. Eyes met and smiles replaced rushed breaths, while fingers trailed down sensitive skin, producing full-body shivers.
Their inebriation had dulled to a low roar, and both were able to think more clearly at that point. Edward squinted at Bella, tickling her side lightly. "So, was that acceptable?"
Bella attempted to adapt a nonchalant look, shrugging with one shoulder. "It'll do." Her grin could not be contained for long, however, and Edward's feathery tickles coerced her to cave.
Her melodious laughter was music to his ears, and he just wanted to it to continue. He also wanted her to admit that it would more than just 'do'.
Through her bubbling laughs, she managed to give him what he was searching for. "Okay! Okay! It was divine! You are the Sultan of Sex! The Colossus of Coitus! It was the best fuck of my life! Stop tickling!"
Satisfied, Edward ceased his torment. Instead, he folded his hands over her stomach, resting his chin on the knuckles.
"You know it was more than a fuck, right?" He watched her with uncertainty, not daring to hope that she felt the same as he.
Bella smiled at him and ran her fingers through his forelock, pushing it back off his face. She lightly rubbed her hands over his arms, then wrapped her fingers around his, placing her thumbs against his pouty lower lip.
"Yeah." And she did. That was what scared her. "I know you think that I'll regret this when I'm sober. But I won't. I want you, Edward. I've thought far too much about this, for far too long, and it always ends up with me wanting you. Wanting to know you. Wanting to be with you. I know I should care what people will think about the Swan 'Heiress' dating a hotel maintenance man, but I no longer give a shit. I'm done with it; I've spent too long being what others want me to be. What just happened here between us is certainly enough to tell me that I'm making the right decision. So, fuck the rest of them. I want you."
"Potty-mouth." Edward grinned at her, trying not to show his glee at her admission. He would definitely be telling her everything, and soon. Really, he would.
Bella merely hummed in agreement as Edward crawled up her body to resume his kissing mission.
I Wear My Sunglasses at Night
Seattle, WA
-We love when little birdies tweet loudly, because it means we get to bring you the best and juiciest gossip out there!
Remember the mystery man that taught Heiress Swan a lesson all those months ago? Well he's back! Not only that, he seems to be intimately familiar with Lady Isabella. [picture shown] This photo shows him leaving the Royal Swan at a very early time on Sunday morning, and from what we could learn, he was not a guest of the hotel. Well, at least, not a guest in the paying sense.
Is it just coincidence that this same man happened to be at the hotel where the Heiress resides the morning after a party was thrown in her personal suite? We had friends at said party who told us that Heiress Bella was seen getting cozy with a someone matching Mystery Man's description while her sister was seen getting hot and heavy with none other than Jasper Hale. No shame there!
Hopefully, we will soon discover who the Heiress's Mystery Man is, and when we do, you can bet that we will bring it straight to you!
Irina Denisov read daily articles in various gossip pages from all over the nation, but this story caught her eye. She leaned forward, studying the picture. The man was very familiar, but she just couldn't get an ID on him. She pulled up her database of images for local celebrities (being the forerunner on Chicago gossip and the head of the Chicago Sun-Times Entertainment section, she had a plethora) and began to search. Absently flipping through the hundreds upon hundreds of pictures, one in particular made her pause. Clicking back a few screens, she saw the photo that set off bells of recognition in her head.
"Bingo." She picked up the phone and dialed her former college roommate, who happened to be the columnist that penned the article of interest. She had forgotten how early it was on the west coast, however, and was surprised when her voicemail picked up. Having learned early on in the gossip field to never leave pertinent information in a recorded message that could be accessed by anyone, she left the simplest message she could.
"Tanya, it's Rini. You're going to want the info I've got on your mystery. Call me back at 312-555-6589."
Dun dun dunnnnnnnnn
So there ya go. I know many of you were awaiting that little interlude. Teasers for reviews. Thanks for reading!
Recs:
All the Wild Horses by elusivetwilight I like this so far, only 6 chapters in, but a good premise.
Pistols and Petticoats by saltire884 One of quite a few 'Western' genres that has come out lately, but I'm really enjoying this one. Beware of some extreme abuse though (not between E and B)
Fridays at Noon by troublefollows1017 Bella is a waitress at a restaurant that wealthy Edward Masen frequents. Great tension and interaction.
Dear Mr. Masen by jendonna Bella works in the IT department where Edward is CFO. She has to email him about personal internet usage, and they strike up a rapport. All in email format. Very fun.