A/N: Well hello there! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season and a happy New Year. I hope now that the insanity is over, I will have time to write and post more often. If I don't, please bear with me. Life is just kinda crazy these days.
Chicklette is still beta extraordinaire, and any mistakes still here are all mine.
Just a little reminder: I don't own these characters, SM does. I just like to play in her sandbox.
When you step in the room
They won't be holding me down,
All these demons in my head
Come on let's kill them with sound.
You see I'm prayin' that you take me
And you never look back.
That's why I'm crying to a wall
Hoping that you come now.
Hey...I don't wanna wake up from this.
I cannot afford to forget.
The feeling of your arms, they hold me.
The power of your skin, it's lovely.
You provoke a man to bow down,
And I get on my knees and cry out
"Everything I have is yours now."
So the time is now
Just don't let me down
Oh the time is now
Please don't let me down
Get higher, and higher, and higher.
When my back's against the wall,
You're the hand that breaks my fall.
Climb higher, and higher, and higher.
When my back's against the wall,
You're the hand that breaks my fall.
Paper Tongues – "Get Higher"
JPOV
I left Bella's room in a haze of frustration and anger, both of which I knew I shouldn't be feeling, because I wasn't supposed to fall in love with her. Bella—Marie—and I were supposed to be partners, and even though I knew we crossed a line that day in Darfur, I'd believed I could maintain distance from her.
And I worked hard at trying to keep that distance, convincing myself that we were just partners, and then just friends with benefits. I tried not to spend too much time with her outside of our projects, usually leaving as soon as the gig was done, most often on another job for Aro. I should have known something in me had changed when I invited her to go to Thailand with me.
I hadn't planned it, but that day, I just blurted it out.
"God, I could use a massage," Bella said as she stood from where we'd been counting the boxes we had to deliver and stretched, arching her back.
"Is that a hint?" I teased.
She blushed and then stammered, "No! Oh, man, I didn't mean—"
I laughed. "Easy, girl. It's not like I mind having my hands on you."
She tried to punch my arm, but I caught her wrist and pulled her back down to the floor with me, settling her in front of my legs and massaging her shoulders.
"Mmmmm."
...[edited] See Chapter 2 for notes
a/n: For those who are unfamiliar with the term, "wet work" is a euphemism for assassination.