A/N: I decided to do with this what I did with The Boy At Table Seven update. Two shorter chapters instead of one long chapter. I hope you enjoy!

"Don't look now, but I think your husband and your ex-boyfriend are trying to impress you."

Bella smirked, watching the alpha male pissing contest. It was moving day. Edward, Emmett, and Jacob were doing their best to lift too many heavy things at the same time. Emmett was just being Emmett - the guy was strong, there wasn't any getting around that - but the other two were being morons.

"Don't look now, but it's not me Jacob is trying to impress," Bella said to her stepsister. She doubled over in laughter a second later at the absolutely horrified look on Leah's face. "It's you he's looking at, not me."

"That's... I've known Jacob his whole life. That's crazy."

Bella held her hands up. "Hey, I'm just saying it's not me he's looking at. That's all."

Leah looked in Jacob's direction. Sure enough, his grin broadened. She bared her teeth, miming a bite. Jacob laughed, shouldering a huge box and heading into the house.

"I think you'd be good for Jacob." Bella was mostly teasing.

"How do you figure that?"

"He needs someone who won't let him get away with anything."

"Oh, great." Leah rolled her eyes, but she glanced in Jacob's direction again. "So what do I get out of it?"

Bella frowned inwardly. Her tentative friendship with her moody stepsister was very new. She didn't want to push. Then again, Leah was a tough gal. Maybe being blunt was the way to go with her. "Come on, Leah. You'd enjoy a boy you could boss around."

Leah scowled, and Bella was about to apologize, but then she laughed. "Yeah, I guess you have a point."

"Hey, Hells Bells." Emmett ambled over to them. He took the water bottle Bella proffered and downed the whole thing before he spoke again. "Your husband is richer than Jesus, right?"

"Jesus was a penniless carpenter, Emmett. I'm pretty sure most of us are richer than Jesus."

"Hey. Smart ass. Answer the question."

Bella sighed and crossed her arms. "My boyfriend is not hurting for funds. No."

"Then why. In the ever loving fuck. Did your boyband-" he stopped to snicker at his own stupid joke, "-not just hire movers?"

Bella had to smile. "Two things. First, Edward correctly assumes I wish he didn't have as much money as he does. He knows it makes me feel like I don't bring enough to the table." She grimaced, but pushed on before Emmett could speak to that. "And second, he's trying to be more inclusive of my friends."

"What the hell? He wants to include us on manual labor."

"Look at it this way, Em. Now he owes you a favor he can't refuse."

Emmett's eyes lit up. "Ah. He put himself in our debt. I see." He rubbed his hands together and laughed like a cartoon villain. "Well, that's a weird way to get in everybody's good graces, but I'll take it."

~0~

Just about every muscle in Edward's body ached.

He wasn't so far out of shape, but it had been a strenuous day to say the least. But he and his father were settled in their new place - the house with the mother-in-law unit and the huge backyard - and they'd just unloaded the last box into Bella's new room in Leah's house.

Edward flopped down face first on Bella's bed with a groan of pure exhaustion. "Let me just lay here and die."

The bed dipped as Bella sat beside him. A second later he felt her hands on his shoulders. She began to knead, her thumbs moving in circles at the back of his neck. Edward groaned again, this time in a more welcome kind of pain. "You don't... you don't have to do that."

He regretted saying anything when the delicious pressure disappeared, but she rested her hand on his ass. "Take off your shirt."

Her voice was low, and he wondered if she was being purposefully seductive. His cock twitched in defiance of his wish to never move again. With a grunt, he pushed himself up on his knees. He caught her eye, holding her gaze for a moment before he pulled his shirt up and off. Her eyes flicked down, taking in his body for a long moment before she looked back at him. "Lay down."

A thrill of pure excitement raced down his spine, coiled in his belly. He swallowed past a tight knot in his throat, laying back down on his stomach. Her touch was electric. He wondered if she knew what she was doing to him.

The last month or so had been a practice in patience. They were in a strange place with unwritten rules. Taking it slow meant he could kiss her and hold her, but they never went too far. They saw each other frequently but not every day. They were giving each other space to figure out their lives while moving, step by step, toward each other.

Edward was finding it increasingly difficult to remember she was only his wife on paper. How strange it was. Her body was no secret to him, but it was still a mystery. More often than not when they were together, he found it hard not to act on what felt like the most natural thing in the world.

Right then, it physically ached not to be able to touch her. Her hands worked his skin, massaged out the kinks in his muscles. He knew her room was spacious, but it felt tiny, their body heat making the air incendiary. She consumed every sense he had. They both reeked from a day of hard labor, but rather than turning him off, it only heightened his desire, stoking a more primitive urge in him.

"You should let me do this for you." It wasn't an altruistic offer. He didn't remember what her bare back looked like, and he longed to touch her the way she was touching him. He could already imagine her soft, pliant skin under his fingers. He wanted to press his palm to the divot where her back met her ass. How often he'd felt that space when he kissed her, held her, but he'd never seen it.

"You worked hard today."

"So did you."

"I want this to be yours."

As they spoke, her hands worked down his back, following the trail of his spine about halfway before she branched out to his sides. Edward sucked in a breath, biting the inside of his cheek to try to calm his innate reaction. He was glad he was face down.

Still, it was only a matter of time before he couldn't hold back his moans of pleasure. The things she was doing to his body had to be a sin.

"I'm sweaty and dirty," he said.

"Yeah, I know. I should be grossed out." Her fingers dug into the small of his back, and his body jolted, instinctively flinching away from her touch. Just as he began to relax again, she leaned down so her clothes brushed his. "You're getting your stink all over my bed." She leaned down again, her voice only barely above a whisper near his ear. "When I go to sleep tonight, it'll be like you're here with me."

Edward's breath caught.

It couldn't have been an accident that her hands slid down to his hips, her thumbs pressed down on his ass.

There was just enough space between her body and his that he could roll over onto his back. They must have been on the same page because she straddled him instantly, leaning down to catch his lips in a feverish kiss. His mouth opened for her tongue, and his hands went to her waist.

"I want you," he murmured between kisses.

"You have me." They were the same words she'd said before. She'd said them over and over again, in fact, as they navigated their complex and befuddling relationship. But this was different. The nuance changed their meaning.

And she was grinding against him, right where he wanted her.

Edward felt briefly dizzy. He was still for only a moment before he tugged on her shirt. She raised her hands above her head, letting him pull it off her.

His hands back at her waist stilled her so he could look, really look.

She was magnificent. Gorgeous. He told her so, and she blushed. The flush of her cheeks sent a wave of adoration through him. It was clear now that she'd seduced him on purpose, and yet there was a hint of the shy girl she'd been once upon a time. Past and present finally converging into one cohesive piece.

Ignoring the ache in his body, Edward sat up. He wrapped his arms around her, his lips pressed to hers in a slow, building kind of kiss. Only when he'd had his fill of the sweetness of her mouth did he stop. He only moved an inch or so away, taking her head between his hands and looking her in the eye.

"I need you to understand something." How his voice could be so steady when she was hot on his lap, her hands tucked into the waistband of his jeans, touching his ass, he couldn't say, but he managed it. "I'm in love with you, Bella. I want to make love to you."

He rolled them, reveling in her gasp as he held himself over her now. He dipped his head, kissing her even as he bucked his hips against hers, letting her feel just how much he wanted her. "Tell me you want this."

"I want you." Her fingers dragged down from his chest to his jeans. Her fingers worked the button and the zipper even as she pleaded. "Please, Edward."

He took her lips again, propping himself up on one arm as his hand found her spread legs. She wiggled beneath him even as she kissed him back. They rolled back and forth, hands wrestling with fabric and each others bodies until they'd both managed to get their pants off.

As often as Edward had imagined this exact scene over the last few months, he never could have guessed it would play out like this. They were dirty and tired. Yet somehow, it was perfect because of the lack of preparation. Natural.

Again, like when she'd been standing at the window of the home he now owned, Edward caught a glimpse of the future. He could have her just like this, with total acceptance. They could make love when they were dirty, when they were tired. He imagined waking her with his fingers inside her so they could make love with morning breath kisses while they were both still half asleep.

For a second, he let himself imagine they were tired and sore because she'd moved into his house today.

To that point, Edward had been taking his time. He'd been caressing, exploring her body with his fingertips, his mouth, his tongue. He'd nipped at her neck and tasted the salt of her skin. But when he thought of the future, of making their marriage real, he couldn't go slow.

Sex between them was just another means of conversation.

Their first time had been intense and incredible. It was the accumulation of years of build up. He'd touched her before, tasted her, but it was so different to be part of her. They were new to sex and clumsy, but it was good. Regardless of Bella's plans for the next day, that one night was only about what they felt for each other. Their love was true and moving. Every touch, every kiss, every stroke of his body inside hers was a whispered "I love you."

The next time they were together, after his mother's death, Edward was trying to feel anything other than the crushing grief. He wanted to lose himself in something life affirming, and what was better than sex? But what he'd failed to think about was what was left unsaid - and too much that shouldn't have been said - between him and Bella. Their bodies spoke even when they themselves didn't have any words. The love was still there between them, intense as ever, but it was mixed with emotions that were just as strong. Their anger, their hurt, all their issues lay with them, between them, as they moved together.

One by one, they'd dealt with all their issues. The last few months had been a reeducation of each other, finding where they were individual and where they overlapped. Edward knew this woman in his arms. He knew the feel of her kisses, knew her hopes and dreams. He knew her lowest points and her highest, had seen and accepted her faults and her virtues just as she'd accepted his.

When he was inside her, Edward felt a deep sense of rightness settle in him. That he was meant to, made to, love this woman had been his lament for years. Now it was his joy, his ecstasy. Edward imagined few things on the planet could compare to the way he felt when she sighed his name, her voice a breath near his ear. For one word, he heard everything her body was telling him. She was in love with him and he with her. What they shared might have been bent, but it was never broken. They were stronger now, their scars making them only more beautiful to each other and together.

"Oh, God, Edward. Oh, God."

"Bella. Bella, Bella, Bella."

He opened his eyes to find her looking back at him, and he was lost. He was gone. He was hers. And she was his. Their last broken piece fused as they tumbled together into orgasm.

When he had his wits about him again, Edward shifted only enough so most of his weight was off her. He rested his head on her chest, catching his breath. She held one of his hands in hers, twining the fingers of her other hand through his hair. A deep peace settled over Edward then.

They were exactly in the right place. So much of their journey lay in front of them, and that was okay. That was perfect. She was walking beside him now, and that made all the difference.

Unlike the last two times they were together, there was no finality to their lovemaking. They had time now. They were still young and very much in love. There were millions of ways to express love, and Edward was content with the idea he had time to find them all.

"We should shower," Bella said around a yawn.

Edward grunted. "Don't wanna. I'm comfortable." He was half asleep with his head pillowed on her breast, his arm draped over her waist.

"We stink. We should shower or we're going to wake up gross."

Reluctantly, Edward raised his head to look at her.

She was beautiful, her nude form perfect beneath his hand. He licked his lips, imagining pressing her palms to the cool tile of the shower so he could watch the water course down the line of her back before he took her again. He kissed the underside of her chin. "Give me a few minutes to recoup. Then we can shower."

"Egotistical much?" She kissed him, her smile playful. "What if I just want to get clean?"

"If you want to get clean, you shouldn't have invited me."

"Who says I want you?"

Edward narrowed his eyes. Rather than answer, he kissed her. It was a hard kiss, demanding. He closed his hand over her breast, rolling her nippled between his fingers so she gasped into his mouth.

When she began to grab at him, her body arching up under his, Edward pulled back. She blinked, her lips still parted in mid-kiss. Her pupils were dilated. "Okay," she said between pants. "You've made a compelling case. I suppose we could do it in the shower."

He snorted and kissed her again, sweetly this time. It felt good to play these lovers' games with her. It felt good to be at ease with her.

"I love you," she said, kissing him back. They were nose to nose, lips to lips.

He grinned, happier than he'd been in a long, long time. "As I love you."

A/N: One more chap and an epilogue. I mean it this time.

Thanks to songster and barburella. MWAH.

How goes it, folks? Thoughts?