Bella woke up the following morning just an hour before Edward was supposed to come by to pick her up. She had planned to wake up earlier, but she had gone to sleep later than expected after staying up half the night talking with Alice, talking and eating ice cream.

Apparently, though the excuse to go get wine before dinner had been about Edward and Bella's relationship, they had fought about their own relationship after dinner. Alice was tired of not having a real public relationship with Jasper and she wanted to start doing things more publicly. Jasper didn't agree and thought it was best to wait till sometime after Carlisle made his announcement to run for the party's ticket for president. He even suggested that they might wait till after the primaries.

"It'll just be one thing after another," Alice had said while shedding angry tears. "First, the announcement, then the primaries, then the elections, then four more years, then another set of elections, the four more years after that! It's never going to end and he's just going to keep on making excuses. I'm going to die an old maid!" Alice wailed before stuffing a huge spoonful of Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia dipped in chocolate sauce into her mouth even as big fat tears spilled down her face.

Bella had tried to console her as best she could, telling Alice that Jasper really did love her, even if he was being a jerk.

They had finished up two cartons of ice cream and half a bottle of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup before they'd made their way to bed.

Taking a quick shower, grateful she had washed and set her hair the night before, Bella came out of her bathroom just in time to hear Alice knocking on her door. "Bella?"

"Hold on!" she called as she tied the sash to her bathrobe around her waist and answered the door.

Alice looked tired, but she giggled as she saw Bella in the bathrobe and shower cap. "That's definitely not a good look for you."

Bella just laughed. "Shut up."

"Just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving," Alice said. "If you need to get a hold of me call my cell. If it's off and you really need to talk to me call Alistair's cell or the loft. You have that numbers, right?"

Bella nodded. Alice had been planning this trip up to New York with Alistair, her business partner, for a couple of weeks. They were buying fabric or something. If Alice was talking about leaving her cell phone off then it meant she was avoiding Jasper.

"All right," Bella said and gave her a quick hug. "Take care and have fun."

Alice nodded and hugged her back. "Have fun with Edward today. I'll bring you some fabulous stuff back from New York."

Bella just chuckled and watched as Alice made her way out towards the living room, calling out behind her, "Use my car if you need to! There's a spare set of keys in the kitchen junk drawer!"

"Thanks, Alice!" Bella called back and slipped back into her room to get ready.

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Edward knocked on Bella's door a couple of minutes before nine, his hands in the pockets of his slacks as he waited patiently for her to answer. After a moment she opened the door and smiled brightly at him. "Hey, Edward." She tiptoed up and kissed him.

Smiling he kissed her back, one hand moving to the small of her back.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Almost," she said, "Come on in."

He stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind him as Bella continued talking, "I woke up late this morning. Alice and I had a late night."

"She all right?" Edward asked as he watched her gather empty cartons of ice cream and tissues off the coffee table in the living room.

Bella just smiled and shrugged as she walked to the kitchen.

He didn't press her any further. As she moved around the kitchen tidying up he moved to the potted palm in front of the window, smiling as he fingered one of the palm leaves, noticing that it was well taken care of. It actually looked healthier than it had when he'd given it to her. It made him smile to know that the stupid palm seemed important to her.

Bella came out of the kitchen and smiled. "Sorry about that. I just hate leaving this place a mess. I'm ready now." She was picking up a large laptop bag from the couch.

Edward nodded and went over to take the bag from her. "I'll get that."

She smiled and tiptoed up to brush her lips against his. "Thanks."

As they made their way downstairs and to the car, Edward asked, "Have you had breakfast?"

"No, but I wasn't all that hungry," Bella said, adding when she saw his curious look. "Late night Ben & Jerry's."

"Ah," he said with a laugh as he opened the door to the car for her.

As he moved around the car to the passenger side and slipped in he smiled, "If we get hungry we can just cook at my place later."

"Sounds like a plan," she said.

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They actually did work when they got to his place. They were on opposite ends of the couch, Edward was reading several briefs concerning some bills that the Senator was involved in and Bella was typing away at her laptop, still working on the same speech she had been for the last week. It had to be perfect.

They had been working for a while when Edward stopped reading and just looked at her. He could tell that she was very involved in what she was doing. She would type furiously, her brow drawn together and creased in concentration as she worried her lower lip between her teeth, then she would stop, read whatever she'd written out loud in a soft whisper and then she would either frown and hit the backspace button or smile and the whole process would start again.

It was adorable.

"Do you always work like that?" he finally had to ask with a smile.

She peered over the top of the laptop at him with wide eyes and tilted her head. "Work like what?"

"You read aloud to yourself," he said with a chuckle.

She blushed brightly. "I do not!"

He laughed. "Yes, you do. And, you work so intently you haven't even noticed that I've been watching you work for the last fifteen minutes."

Bella continued to blush and laughed. "Shouldn't you be concentrating on your work?"

With a shrug, Edward tossed the brief he'd been reading onto the nearby coffee table. "I should, but I keep getting distracted."

"Oh?" she asked with a knowing smiled, as she kept her gaze on the computer screen.

She was already saving her work when he moved, leaning over the laptop screen. He whispered, "You're a distraction," right before his lips brushed up against hers.

Bella kissed him back, closing her laptop as she did. He barely waited for the click before he pulled the laptop off her lap and breaking the kiss he moved to set it on the coffee table.

Edward had barely turned back to face her when her lips were on his again and her hands went to his face, fingers lightly caressing his jaw as her lips parted under his. She moaned as she felt his tongue immediately move past her lips to taste her.

As they kissed, his arm went around her waist and he pulled her close, causing her body to slide a bit down on the couch so she was practically lying under him.

Edward moaned as he held her close, shifting their positions more so that they were both lying on the couch, letting part of his weight press her into the cushions. He broke the kiss with a ragged breath and trailed his lips against her jaw, then her neck even as his hands slid under the hem of her sweater, fingers wrapping around the side of her torso, caressing the warm skin he encountered there.

Bella tilted her head back with a sigh as she felt his lips on her neck and as she felt his hand sliding under her sweater her own hands roamed along his back. She loved the feel of his muscles under the fabric of his shirt, the way the moved as he shifted above her, trying not to place too much of his weight on her.

Groaning, Edward let his hand slide further up her sweater till he was cupping her breast. His thumb moved over her nipple, causing it to harden through the thin, lace fabric of her bra and as he gasped in pleasure he moved his mouth to hers again, kissing her passionately.

It wasn't long before clothes were being shed, tossed precariously around the room. As he looked at her lying on his couch in nothing but a black lace bra and a matching pair of tiny panties, Edward wondered how he had gotten so lucky.

Bella blushed as she watched Edward take in the sight of her. She let her own eyes travel down his chiseled torso, which was now bare, and she wished he would take off his pants but her eyes snapped back up as he said, "God, you're beautiful." It was the sincerity of his words that made her heart beat even faster and she smiled almost shyly at him as he lifted her up, cradling her in his arms.

As he walked to what she assumed was his bedroom she wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck and nibbling as he made his way there. She was nervous, aroused, and excited.

He set her on the bed, but didn't move to lay down himself as he started to remove the rest of his clothes…socks, pants, boxerbriefs…

Dear lord in heaven, she thought, this man is perfection.

While Edward was undressing, Bella had pulled off the few scraps of fabric she had on and blushed brightly.

Edward watched her, his heart pounding even more. Finally moving onto the bed he pulled her close and they both gasped at the feel of their bare flesh touching.

It was as if they couldn't get enough of each other, hands and lips exploring every inch that they could reach. His lips trailed along the skin of her shoulder and trailed down to her breast where he took her nipple into his mouth, her moan urging him on even as his fingers skimmed along her ribs, stomach and hip. The taste of her in his mouth and the feel of her skin under his fingers was driving him crazy along with the sound of her gasps and moans, but it was the fact that she seemed to want him as much as he wanted her that made he feel more aroused than he had in his entire life.

Bella's hands skimmed along his body, moving along his chest, shoulders, back, and arms before one hand moved in between them and she sighed as she felt his fingers wrap around his cock.

Edward let out a loud groan and moved his lips hungrily to hers again as his own finger moved to the apex of her legs, his finger sliding between her wet folds. "Bella," he moaned against her lips as he looked at her.

She looked at him through half closed eyes and moaned as she felt his fingers moving against her, rubbing against her clit and she closed her eyes as her own hand started to move up and down his length. After a few strokes, she let out a soft cry of protest as he moved out of her reach as he started to kiss down her body, his lips on her breasts, her stomach, her hip, and then she cried out again, this time in complete pleasure as his head moved between her legs and his lips and tongue started to do the most wonderfully wicked things to her.

Edward couldn't taste enough of her as his tongue and lips continued to draw a response. Every cry of pleasure, every moan of ecstasy was making his cock twitch. He wanted her. He needed her, but more than that there was this unrelenting urge to pleasure her so he didn't stop, reveling in the feel of her fingers tangled in his hair.

As one hand grasped at Edward's hair the other pressed against the headboard. There was no doubt that the man had skills. She had never, ever felt so much pleasure. As she came she practically screamed, her whole body trembling with the intensity of it.

Even as he felt her climax against his mouth, Edward didn't stop right away, still placing soft licks and kisses on her until he felt her tug at his hair a bit and he looked up at her and smiled.

"I need you," she whispered huskily as their eyes met. "Please?"

He knew what she meant. He needed her as well, and reaching over to the nightstand he opened the drawer and pulled out a condom, moving to kneel next to her on the bed as he tore open the packet and started to slide it on.

Bella watched, reaching out to run her fingers along his thigh and she couldn't help but smile as she looked up at him and he smiled and blushed as he looked back down at her.

Then he was kissing her again and she moaned as she wrapped her arms and then her legs around him, drawing him closer. She felt him reach between them and gasped as he rubbed the head of his cock against her before he slowly started to push into her, causing them both to moan in unison.

When he slid completely into her he went still, just relishing the feel of being inside her, being part of her. He felt whole. He felt complete.

Bella trembled underneath him and she whispered in his ear, "Oh god, Edward."

"Bella," he whispered reverently in response.

Then as if was just more than their bodies that were joined, their thoughts seemed in sync and they started to move at the same time.

Bella couldn't believe how wonderful it felt as she felt him sliding and moving within her depths. She clutched at him with her thighs and arms as she lifted her hips up, moving to receive each one of his thrusts with a moan or cry of pleasure against his mouth as they kissed.

Edward felt like he could spend forever in her arms. Never had he felt such intensity and desire in a woman's arms as they took their time, moving slowly together, touching, and kissing. Eventually he broke the kisses and moaned against her ear as he started to move faster, trying to last so he could push her over the brink and make her come again before he reached his own climax.

He groaned as Bella gasped out, "I'm so close…"

She could already feel herself close to climaxing and she was whimpering and panting as she clung to him. When she did climax her body jerked and arched tightly up against his as her cry filled the room.

Edward couldn't hold back any longer and he let out a strangled cry of his own as he came, pushing as deep into her as he could.

It took them both a while to come down from their respective climaxes and they lay there, clinging to each other, trying to catch their breath and get their heart rates to slow.

As their pulses calmed and their breathing became steady, they lay next to each other, letting their hands move in lazy caresses and their lips move in soft kisses along each other's skin.

Edward kissed her and whispered, "Thank you." The tone of his voice seemed to hold so much implication than those simple words. Even his eyes held an almost worshipful, humble gaze as his green eyes locked with her brown ones. He was thanking her for more than what had just happened between them. Edward felt that she was slowly melting the ice that had surrounded his heart for so long.

Bella only blushed, smiled and kissed him softly, knowing her heart was already lost.

A/N: Allright, so I'm not really confident in my ability to write lemons, but if you thought this one was at least decent, please let me know in a review!