I was sweaty and breathing hard. My ponytail was beyond messed up and I was feeling hot all over. I looked over at Edward and found him in a similar predicament. He reached over and took my hand in his.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm good," I replied a little breathily. My lungs were still laboring to provide enough oxygen for my tired body to function properly.
"You think we lost them?"
"We better have. We ran twenty five blocks and cut through more alleys than I can count. Are you sure we're not lost?"
Edward took in a deep breath of his own. "I'm sure we aren't. And even if we are, I can find our way back."
"Yeah, just don't ask for directions ever again," I took off the elastic and retied my hair. While we tried to make our hearts beat normally again, I thought about how we ended up in some random alley in Paris in the middle of the night – Christmas Eve, no less.
After we got back from the charity event back at the Cullen's mans, Rosalie insisted we all go out for a proper dinner. I was about to join her and Emmett in the SUV they rented until Mr. Romantic over here insisted that it would be better if we just walked.
We'd have privacy, he said.
It would be romantic, he said.
He knew where the restaurant was, he said.
We didn't need Felix, he said.
Yeah right, I said.
Fifteen minutes into walking from our hotel and we already had some photographers on our tail. Without our usual team of ninjas keeping us safe, I panicked a little inside but since they kept a respectable distance, I wasn't bothered much by them.
All was…well, I suppose until Edward started getting confused with the street signs. With a stab to his manly ego, he approached some girls in front of a café and with his sexy French, asked for directions. Of course with Edward being…Edward, they all swooned and bellowed out their fan girl war cries before chasing us through hell.
And so here we are now: tired, sweaty, and trying to come up with a good strategy to get to the restaurant without running into people we weren't supposed to run into.
I looked at my watch and saw that we were already half an hour late. I groaned at the prospect of arriving at the restaurant and having my ear laughed off with the endless sex jokes from Emmett. And probably Rosalie.
I peered behind the brick wall slightly, trying to catch any suspicious activity. When there was none, I was about to tell Edward that the coast was clear when I felt his arms wrap around me from behind.
"I'm really sorry, baby," he murmured into my shoulder. "This wasn't how I planned tonight,"
I chuckled. "Yeah, but when do things evergo according to plan?"
His lips quirked into a smirk against my skin. "Touché."
"And it's okay," I reached up to tangle my fingers in his bronze mop. "Though it was stupid as hell, I found the gesture to be romantic,"
I turned in his arms to see him smirking at me. Rolling his eyes, he let go of all of me except for my hand.
"Let's just go hail a cab,"
We eventually made it to the restaurant a couple minutes later and as expected, Edward and I were the center of a night filled with innuendos. Emmett was lucky all I did in retaliation was to flick chocolate sauce across his nose.
"It's officially two hours before Christmas," Rosalie announced while we drove back to the hotel.
"Awesome. Two hours before we get to open gifts," Emmett practically fist pumped in excitement. He looked a little bit like an overgrown child.
"You guys don't open your gifts on Christmas morning?" Edward asked.
I laughed and shook my head. "Not in the Swan household. Charlie had to hide our presents in various portions of the house every year since we'd sneak out of our rooms once the clock stroked midnight and try to open our presents. So, he let us do just that. Course we slept all throughout the next day,"
"I went through something like that when I was younger," Rose nodded. "Which means you two are bringing your gifts to our room tonight so we can open them later,"
I suddenly remembered that we were one band member short. "What about Jasper's gifts?"
"Eh, he'll just have to settle with seeing them on Skype. I told them we'd all be online in a couple of minutes,"
"Them?"
"Alice wants to join. She wants to show us little Bryce too,"
I bit my lip at the news. While I was happy to be seeing Alice again, I knew for a fact she'd want every single detail of what happened to Edward and I. I just hoped that she'd wait until we could talk in private before she'd demand that I spill my guts.
Rose passed around the cliché Christmas hot chocolate and cookies while I tried to hook up their huge screen TV with Skype. It took a little while for me to figure it out but eventually, I finally got it right. I set the webcam on the top ledge of the TV and waited for Jasper and Alice to appear on the screen.
"Edward, you have to come closer. The webcam doesn't reach that far," Rosalie grabbed Edward's sleeve and towed him closer to her place on the sofa.
"I can't move any closer with this fat ass blocking the way,"
"I'll have you know, Cullen, that this 'fat ass' works out more in one day than you do in a month!" Emmett refused to budge from his current position of taking up practically more than half the couch.
"Ho boy," I muttered to myself as I settled on the floor and waited for the testosterone level to be sky high.
"I don't need to work out that much to get a body as good as this," Edward retaliated cockily.
Emmett was about to open his mouth the same time as Rosalie was about to shout something to shut them up when Jasper and Alice finally made an appearance.
"Praise Lord Hallelujah," I held my hands up thankfully since the boys were now too distracted to carry on their macho contest.
"Bella! I feel like I haven't seen you in ages!" Alice eagerly waved at me from where she sat.
"It's good to see you again," I told her truthfully.
"How're things back there? Where's Bryce?" Rosalie was practically bouncing off the cushions in anticipation of seeing the baby.
"Everything's good," Jasper replied the same time Alice said "I'll go get him."
"How's fatherhood?" Emmett asked. "You freaking out yet?"
"Way beyond freaking out," Jasper gave a short laugh and ran a hand through his blond hair. "I was so nervous when I got to the hospital."
"I'll bet," I said.
"I missed the labor by a couple of hours so the first time I saw Bryce was when he was asleep in one of those bed things. I think I screamed when the little guy opened his eyes and just…staredat me,"
"Oh honey, you didn't just scream," Alice's voice filtered through though we couldn't see her yet."You screamed so loudly it woke me up and had the nurses running into the room,"
Jasper gave her a look as she sat down with a bundle of blue in her arms. "And here he is," Alice picked up the baby's little arm and waved it at us. "Say hi, baby,"
"Oh Alice, he's adorable!" Rose swooned as she crawled closer to the screen as if that made her closer to them. "I want to snuggle and kiss him all day!"
Alice chuckled as she pointed each and every one of us to her son. "Bryce, that's Aunt Rosalie, Uncle Emmett, Aunt Bella, and…" she paused as she looked around. "Where's Edward?"
Edward sighed as he moved from his unseen spot next to Emmett to sit next to me on the floor. "Right here."
"And there's Uncle Edward," she raised an eyebrow as she said it, her eyes looking closely at how Edward's arm was wrapped lightly around my waist. I blushed and looked down as I felt both their gazes at me this time.
Luckily, Rosalie was there to keep the conversations all about Bryce. The little dude really was cute. I couldn't tell what hair color he had from the cap Alice put on him but his eyes were already dark brown similar to Jasper's. He also had this habit of tugging and chewing (or whatever you call it since he still doesn't have any teeth) on the ends of Alice's hair. It had grown since the last time I saw her.
"Oh, congratulations by the way, Bella," Alice told me out of the blue.
I tried to think of any achievements I've reached lately but couldn't think of any. Unless she was talking about Edward. I groaned internally and braced myself for a round of squeals and innuendos.
"What are we talking about exactly?"
"Aren't you Rock and Roll's Hottest Woman of the Year?" she sounded a bit confused.
"Ooooh, that," I nodded slowly then laughed. "What a joke,"
"I beg to disagree," Edward murmured into my hair as his hand inched higher up my side, brushing against the side of my boobs. I choked on my own spit.
Alice most definitely noticed and gave me a look that said 'you have to tell me everything'. I grimaced and mumbled a 'later'.
"Oh yeah, speaking of which, Bella, Rolling Stoneswants an interview," Rosalie said.
"Is there a photo shoot?" Alice asked.
"No. Apparently they're not doing that this year," Rosalie sounded disappointed. Alice's sigh sounded the same way. Well, I was happy. I've seen what they do to the hottest women of the past. I'd probably be forced to wear a corset and some BDSM item like a whip while I pranced around set in heels.
Before I realized it, midnight arrived and we all greeted each other a merry Christmas. Gifts were passed around and Emmett was more than happy enough to open Jasper's presents for him.
By around two in the morning, we all decided to call it a night. Well, we as in the people in France decided to call it a night. Jasper and Alice still had to wait a few hours for their Christmas in Florida.
"Do you like your gift?" Edward asked while we waited for the elevator to arrive.
"I love it. It's perfect." I leaned on my tip toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He had added another charm to my bracelet and while I thought that it was too extravagant and expensive, I had to admit it was beautiful.
"There's a part two, you know," he said nonchalantly as we stepped into the cabin.
"Edward," I groaned. "You know that's completely unnecessary,"
His mouth pulled into an arrogant smirk. "I think you'll change your mind once you find out what it is,"
He eagerly pulled me into our room once we reached our floor and started to kiss me fiercely as soon as the door shut. I couldn't really tell what was going on what with my brain lacking oxygen (not that I was complaining) but before I knew it, I was pinned beneath Edward on our queen sized bed.
"You know what I can't stop thinking about?" he whispered at my ear when he finally let me breathe. "Making you come apart in my arms again,"
I shivered as I recalled our first night of being…together.
"I want to do it again," he licked the shell of my ear. "Will you let me?"
Having lost my ability to talk, I just nodded. With another sinister grin, his mouth was back on mine, swallowing the wanton sounds coming from me. His hands quickly went to work, pulling my shirt off of me and expertly unhooking my bra. He whipped his shirt off of his upper body and resumed making out with me like his life depended on it.
I whimpered when I felt my bare chest meet the skin of his. The throb between my legs continued incessantly. It was practically begging me to wrap my legs around his waist and just grind all my troubles away on the noticeably growing bulge in Edward's crotch.
His kisses drifted from my lips back to my neck and collar. He didn't stay long and I could feel his lips going lower but I still gasped in surprise as he sucked a nipple in his mouth.
"You taste so good," he moaned while his hand gave the other boob some attention. "I want to eat you up,"
Another strangled cry left my throat as I got more and more turned on by his dirty talking and the way his mouth and hands worked my body.
"Will you let me?" he asked again.
"Hm?"
"Will you let me eat you?"
My eyes met his smoldering ones and I realized that he was completely serious. "You want to…" I couldn't even say it out loud. "To…"
"Taste you. Make you climax with my tongue," he leaned forward and nipped at my ear. "I really want your pussy in my mouth, Bella. I've been thinking about for days,"
His dirty talk was getting me wetter. I gave an involuntary whimper and I felt his hot breath as he gave a quiet laugh. "Do you like it when I talk to you like that?"
Well if my damp panties weren't indicator enough, I didn't know what was. I took in a stuttered breath when I felt his fingers slide into my jeans and feel the wetness seeping through the cotton of my underwear.
It didn't take long for him to do as promised and it was definitely no surprise that I lost it way too soon.
The cry I gave out was so loud, I was sure the rooms next to us heard it.
"Edward," I panted while I tried to catch my breath. "That was…" I couldn't find words to describe how that felt.
"Amazing? Glorious? Perfect?" he filled in for me teasingly.
"Yeah. All of the above,"
He chuckled and moved so that he was lying next to me again. I could feel the bulge in his pants as he pressed himself to me. That reminded me that twice, Edward had pleasured me without asking for me to return the favor. Well, that was about to change.
With my hand shaking from nervousness, I moved it from his hair, down his chest and finally on the seam of his jeans.
In an instant, his hand was on my wrist, stopping me from going any further. "Bella," his breathing had turned a little shaky. "You don't have to – "
"I want to," I interrupted him before all my nerve disappeared. "Please,"
With a groan, his lips were on mine and my hand was finally released. I had no idea what I was really supposed to do so I tried to recall those lemony fanfics I've read in the past. There was always some point when I'd given Edward a hand job.
I guess real Bella's job was as thorough as fanfic Bella since within minutes, something sticky was covering my hand and Edward was barely breathing.
"Wow," I said mostly to myself.
"Indeed," Edward chuckled breathily beside me.
"Um," I blushed. "I…better go clean up,"
I walked to the bathroom on shaky legs. As I washed off, I couldn't help but look at myself in the mirror. To be honest, I looked like I just had sex. Skin was flushed, collar pelted with hickeys, hair was tousled and my frame was still a bit unstable.
I've never looked better in my life.
Edward was dressed and ready with another one of his shirts for me when I got back to him a few minutes later. He kissed me goodnight and we ended up cuddling in the sheets.
"So did you like your second gift?" he asked as his hand trailed up and down my back.
I shrugged and tried to be casual just to tease him.
"Told you so," he said cockily regardless.
The next day – or technically, a few hours later, I called the family to greet them a merry Christmas. Charlie was happy that I called him but his tone turned annoyed when the topic inevitably turned to Jake and his not-so-secret nuptials.
"Can you believe that boy?" he huffed and I could almost see him scratch his head in frustration through the phone. "Running off. Getting married without a second thought. I don't think he even asked for Vanessa's father's blessing!"
"Isn't that what you did with mom?" I asked him in defense of my brother.
He gave a snort. "And look here we ended up."
Heh. "Touché," I conceded. "I don't think Jake made a mistake, though. Sure he could be such a pig headed child sometimes but he has good intentions. And I've seen how he is with Nessie. He really loves her, dad,"
"Couldn't he have waited? He's younger than you!"
"Just by two years," I said.
He sighed. "Just wish I could've been there. Though the boy did say he planned on having a church wedding soon,"
"That's probably for mom's benefit," I rolled my eyes. "You know how she is,"
I could guess that Charlie only shrugged in response. Things got quiet for a while before he spoke up again. "So…how are things with you and Edward?"
I groaned. "Dad…"
"What? I just wanna know," he retorted defensively.
"You've met him," I tried to skirt around the issue.
"Yeah but you two are 'officially an item' now," his voice started taking on that father tone. "I think I should know more about him,"
I froze. "Who told you we were an item?"
"Oh come on, Isabella. I'd have to be blind to see that boy has designs for you," I couldn't help but laugh at that. Designs. "And I may…or may not have read it…somewhere…"
"Oh my god," I groaned. "Charlie, did you read those magazines I specifically told you notto read?"
"What? They weren't mine, they were Leah's!" Hah. Nice excuse, Pops.
"You know those things can't be trusted!" Lord. Who knows what those magazines have printed about us. I bet I'm pregnant now or something…
"So you're telling me that you aren't dating Edward Cullen?"
I bit my lip while I tried to come up with an answer. "I didn't say that…"
"Hah! I knew it!" he all but shouted. "The magazines were all over that news,"
"I bet," I muttered.
"So when can I talk to him?"
"You already have,"
"Not as your boyfriend,"
I sighed. "Soon," I promised vaguely. "We're still busy with the tour and whatnot,"
"I can't talk to him now?"
"Daaaad…" I whined.
"Okay, okay. Soon,"he emphasized. "Merry Christmas, Bells,"
"Merry Christmas. Bye."
After that horrendously embarrassing conversation, I called up Jake and my few friends left in the States. My mom was next on the list and I was dreading that call. It was always the same thing with her. Scolding me about my 'childish' career choice despite New Moon's obvious success, not visiting her enough, blah blah blah.
Thankfully, she was too busy with her new husband to talk with me long and I hung up after just a few minutes.
I called Alice next with the mentality that the sooner I got the Edward talk over with, the better. Her shrill cry of excitement almost deafened me as soon as she picked up her phone. I think we talked for about an hour and a half before Edward asked me to go to dinner with him.
The next few weeks were that of happiness and relaxation. Well, I still had that Rolling Stonesinterview, but that wasn't so bad. After New Year, Jasper rejoined us on our last day in France and we made our way to Italy. Due to the delays of our concerts, it was a general consensus that we'd add more countries to the tour to make it up to people.
Our shows in the extended European leg were pretty dang awesome. Every single one was sold out and it felt like the fan base grew exponentially over the past weeks.
As for my love life, it was finally blooming. Edward was very careful with me and would make sure that I was okay first before we did any hanky panky. Course there were times when we'd get carried away and end up dry humping each other in the green room but I wasn't complaining. Not one bit.
In short, life was perfect.
"I'm so happy to be here," Emmett was giddy as we waited for our luggage in Ben Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv, Israel. "I haven't seen Gran in years!"
"You were close to your grandmother?" Peter asked, the lens aimed at him. I needed to adjust a little when Peter returned to carry on with his cameraman duties but it wasn't hard. Before long, I was used to having lens following my every move and recording everything I say again.
"Yeah. I grew up with her actually," he said. "I got her some sugar dames from Sweden. She said she loved those when I sent her some from the last European tour,"
"Isn't she diabetic?" Rosalie asked as she looked up from her PDA.
Emmett just shrugged. "She told me she'd be willing to die if it was death by sugar dame,"
I laughed. That would probably how I'd be when I got old, diabetic and hypertensive. I wouldn't give a shit if what I ate killed me as long as it was good food.
The media was waiting outside once we stepped into the Israeli sun and we were hounded by fans as we made our way to the black van waiting for us. Apparently, our arrival was equivalent to that of the arrival of royalty.
"I can't believe I'm meeting you!" a fan girl squealed while I signed her poster of mine and Edward's Converse ad. "I have those shoes now too," she said proudly, gesturing to the pair I was wearing.
"Nice," I smiled at her. Seemed like I was an effective spokesperson slash promoter.
"Oh and I really love that you and Edward are together," she casted a glance at him as he took pictures a few feet away from us.
"Ah…thanks," I offered a little awkwardly. Though we've been going out for a considerably long time now , the relationship was still kinda new to me. I dunno. It must be because it was my first time having a boyfriend.
We didn't spend a long time in the airport. Hell, we didn't spend a lot of time in the hotel much either. Rosalie had us bustling to interviews, signings and sound check not too long after. On the day of the concert itself, we were all pretty tired.
"How many songs do we have on the set list?" Jasper asked as he dug through the papers on the coffee table of the green room. "I can't find it,"
"It's right here and twenty one," I said, handing him the list of songs we had to do for the night.
"You mean twenty one plus encores," Emmett corrected, tossing his drum sticks in the air and catching them.
Edward cleared his throat while his leg bounced on the sofa. I sat next to him and ran a hand through his hair.
"You okay?"
"Yeah," he cleared his throat again. "Just a little nervous,"
I was about to respond when the stage manager knocked and signaled that it was time for the concert. As usual, the place was packed with screaming fans who were more than enthusiastic to welcome us on stage.
Everything was going well for the first few songs until I started to notice something…weird. Emmett, Jasper and I still continued to play with much gusto but Edward was faltering a bit. You could tell the crowd was getting a little restless as he began to sing less, opting instead to let them sing most parts of the songs.
When we reached the eighth tune on the set list, Edward told the audience that we were going to have intermission before we continue performing. I looked over to Jasper with a confused look. We weren't supposed to have intermission until we reached the eleventh song mark.
Jasper looked back at me with an expression mirroring my own. This wasn't what we talked about but we just shrugged and followed Edward backstage anyway.
"Are you okay?" I asked him once we were out of the audience's view.
"No," he croaked. "It's like I can't find my voice,"
"Somebody give me water!" Rosalie hollered, hearing his admittance. "Does your throat hurt?"
He nodded. "Yeah but only when I talk,"
"Since when has this happened?" Rose demanded as she looked at me.
"I don't know. He was fine a couple of days ago," I said, concern coloring my tone. I looked at Edward worriedly as he emptied a whole bottle of water one of the stage hands gave him.
"Hey man, you okay?" Emmett asked, smacking his back lightly.
Edward simply nodded.
"No, he's not," I said. "I don't think he can still do the show,"
Edward cleared his throat again. "I can try,"
"No, it'll only get worse," I protested. "We need to get you checked out first,"
As if on cue, one of the on show doctors arrived and they ushered Edward back to the green room. We all followed quickly behind them, anxious to know what his condition was.
After he was examined, the doctor turned to us with a rueful expression. "It looks like he has an infection in his vocal chords," he said. "It seems serious and I suggest you have him taken somewhere where he can be treated."
"So he can't continue the show?"
"I don't think it's a good idea for him to be talking so no, he can't continue. I'm really sorry,"
Jasper and Emmett began to panic while Rosalie maintained a level head and told them both to announce to everyone that the rest of the concert's cancelled. She didn't bother including me with them because she knew I couldn't leave Edward's side.
Once everyone was out of the green room, I looked back at Edward's form. He was seated on a table, his head down and his hands gripping the edge of the wood.
I walked over and stood in front of him, my hands coaxing his head up to look at me. "Hey," I whispered.
He didn't reply for a long time before he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tight against him. His head was buried in my neck while I massaged his scalp and whispered words of reassurances to his ear.
"It's going to be okay. You'regoing to be okay."
He just nodded and held me closer. I prayed that I was right.