Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.

5:56 a.m.

I startled awake with a slight jump, taking a second to get my bearings and figure out why the fuck I was dreaming about R Kelly pissing on Bruno Mars.

I groaned, really wanting to get up to grab some water, but not really wanting to move because it seemed Bella liked to take advantage of people in their sleep. Her head was nuzzled against my neck, arm was resting a little below my waist, and legs tangled with mine. I found her sleeping position all too amusing, and maybe a little bit of a turn on.

I pushed some of her hair away that was covering my face until I realized it was a feeble attempt. Her hair wasn't going anywhere, and the way her body was wrapped around mine, neither was she. I inhaled and was immediately assaulted with some sort of cinnamon scent. Chlorine would make sense, or even strawberry from the bubble bath. But cinnamon?

All too suddenly, I wanted to know how, and why, her hair smelled like cinnamon. I wanted to know what she looked like in the morning before she got ready for the day, and, as creepy as it was, I wanted to know what she looked like while she was knitting.

Then she let out a soft sigh and I immediately wanted to know what she looked like underneath my body. And I might have been dreaming when I thought she whispered my name, but maybe she was dreaming, too. That thought alone was enough to put me back to sleep.

6:43 a.m.

I didn't know the hour when I woke up for the second time, and I didn't really care.

All I knew was it was freezing in the room, I was still thirsty, and Bella snored. I found the latter pretty amusing and hoped I'd remember to make fun of her about it later when we were both awake and pumped with copious amounts of caffeine.

6:58 a.m.

Bella groaned softly, causing me to wake as she slowly sat up. I kept my eyes closed and felt the mattress move when she left the bed. The curtains were still closed, so the room was still dark, and I listened to her quiet movements before seeing the soft glow of the bathroom light, even behind closed eyes. A few minutes later, I heard her trip over something and curse softly on her way back to the bed, causing me to drowsily smile.

"Do you want some water?" she whispered.

I peeked at her through one eye and grabbed the water bottle she must've retrieved from the bathroom.

"Thanks," I mumbled as some water trickled down my chin and onto my chest.

She set the bottle on the table next to the bed and laid back down, shivering her way over to the warmth of my body.

"Cold?" I asked in gravelly voice, wrapping my arms around her, along with the blanket. "What's this?" I asked, feeling material covering her lower half as I ran my hand over her hip. "Are you wearing my boxers?" I asked, because that was kind of fucking hot.

"Yes. You know I love me some holey batman," she admitted with a yawn. "More sleep."

"More sleep? We should get back to the sex," I mumbled in strained voice against her neck. Even though my eyes were closed, I could feel her cheek against mine and I knew she was smiling. "Because the first time was so awesome."

"You blew my mind," she murmured, turning her body to face mine. Her arm slipped between my elbow and waist, her hand lightly trailing over my back.

"You blew my-" Before I could crack a joke, her lips were suddenly over my mouth to shut me up.

"You're a snuggler," she teased once we pulled away.

"I'd rather be a snuggler than a snorer," I countered, breathing deep as she kissed my jaw and neck before stopping, leaving her lips in place.

It was quiet before I heard her utter, "If we wake up, and you wanna break up that's cool..."

"No! I refuse to let you do this to yourself. It's bad enough you had to watch me go through it," I pleaded, lazily shaking her before pulling her against me. "Don't quote Bruno Mars. Don't."

She let out a sigh and I closed my eyes again.

"You started it."

7:36 a.m.

"Hey," I mumbled, turning my head slightly, letting my lips brush against some part of her head.

"Hi," she breathed.

We were still for a moment and I thought seriously about falling back asleep, until I felt her lips on my neck. I let my hand slide down her hip and over her holey-Batman-covered ass.

"Hey," I said again, growing hard as she let out a small moan.

"Hi," she repeated, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

We didn't move, didn't speak, didn't breathe.

And then something took over.

I tugged at the boxers she was wearing, slowly slipping them down her hips and over her ass until they were halfway down her thighs. My hands were slightly shaking and I know I heard her laugh softly, so I ignored her with a kiss. I ignored her by letting my mouth cover the spot just beneath her ear, just above her collarbone.

My nerves weren't from anxiety, not really. They were fueled by something other than over thinking if we should do this or not. They were present because I was starting to wonder how long I would really last. It was when Bella's hand slipped between us and wrapped around my dick that I had my answer: not fucking long. At all.

The past ten hours with her had been foreplay. Those tiny boy shorts that barely covered her ass as we made out in the pool; the way her naked body felt against mine in the tub; the moan that escaped as she licked my jaw.

Bella said my name quietly and my attention snapped back to what I had been doing before I focused on how good her hand felt. My mouth was on her shoulder, not kissing, just lingering, before I sat up to pull away. I had to fucking pull away because it was all too much.

The mattress dipped as I moved to my knees, slipping the boxers down as far and as slow as I could before she became impatient and kicked them off herself. I laughed and thought back to her persistence of wanting to be out of her clothes every chance she was presented with.

My smile was wide as I stared down at her, watching the way her chest heaved, the way her hips slightly lifted from the mattress, and, fuck, the way she was watching me watch her. There was lust, of course there was lust, but also something else that hooded her eyes. It was something that let me know that this was going to be the first time, but definitely not the last. There's definitely no way this would be the last time. I knew my expression mirrored hers because you don't look at someone like that when it's purely physical. You just don't.

I realized my grin had faded and I was just sitting there on my knees, staring at her. I swallowed and tried to refrain from running my hand through my hair because it was a nervous habit, and I wasn't nervous.

Hesitantly, I leaned forward and placed a kiss on her thigh before looking up at her. She stared down at me then closed her eyes as I placed a second kiss on her body, each time higher than the last. I stopped when I reached her hipbone because she laughed when my hair brushed against her stomach. In turn, I laughed because she sounded so cute. I'd never thought anything like that before when in this position with a female and it struck me as odd while somehow making complete sense. She was cute even when she was being sexy, and that was something I could never comprehend. Until now.

I blew warm air on her stomach and she groaned, letting me know exactly what I was doing to her. And maybe I was teasing her, but she'd been teasing me all night, and I knew if I didn't pace myself that this would be over before I wanted it to be.

I let my lips linger on her stomach for longer than necessary before her fingers tangled in my hair, pulling my face up to meet hers. I finally hovered over her body, forearms on either side keeping my weight off her. I didn't lower myself down, even though I knew that's what she wanted. She was squirming and pouting, and I knew she wanted to feel my body on hers. And then I gave in because there's no way I could keep anything from her.

Bella pushed the hair away from my forehead and I searched her eyes for hesitance before this happened. I wanted her to be as certain as I was.

We couldn't be friends after this. We couldn't casually go out for drinks. We couldn't go catch a fucking matinee because I knew after this, I'd want everything. I'd want everything because I was selfish and I wanted to be the only one to make her snort beer out of her nose.

So, I kissed her and searched her eyes one last time. Then she slowly nodded and I knew what she was saying, what words couldn't convey. Her nod meant that she didn't want to be my friend, either. She didn't care for casual drinks before six p.m., and she never, ever caught a matinee.

I inhaled then exhaled, breathing on her neck. And maybe I was nervous after all.

She whispered my name along with 'hey' and 'I want you' and 'now'.

It was all I needed to hear and more.

I ungracefully rolled off to the side with an oomph before snaking my hand over her waist, pulling her against me. My fingers dug into her skin before I let them travel across her body, down her body, finding the place they needed, wanted to be.

When I found the spot, she gasped. And when I found the spot, she didn't gasp nor breathe.

Her fingernails dug into my shoulder, but I didn't care, I couldn't care. I wanted to make her feel good and I wanted to make her laugh and I wanted to make her smile. But I'd start with making her feel good.

I watched her face when I did this, and I watched her face when I did that, trying to figure out what she liked and what she didn't like. She only peeked at me once the entire time, then placed her lips on mine in an attempt to let me know that she really, really liked when I did that.

My name started rolling off her lips, and that's when I knew she was close. So I added another finger. Then she grabbed the back of my neck. So I became a little more frantic when I rubbed her clit. Then she writhed against the bed. I watched in fascination as she moaned in sync with my fingers, losing and gaining her breath in a matter of seconds.

She laid there as I licked my lips, wondering how long it'd take for her to catch her breath until I could touch her again.

It wasn't long, because suddenly Bella ran her hand down my chest and grabbed my dick, stroking it a few times as she kissed my neck. I wanted to tell her to stop because, really, watching her get off was enough for me to come right there. But I couldn't speak and I couldn't tell her no.

Instead, I smiled when she let out a small giggle as I grabbed her hips and pulled her on top of me. I tightened my jaw in concentration as she tightened her thighs around my waist to reach over to grab what we needed from the bedside table.

I silently groaned and had to close my eyes as she rolled it on for me. I silently groaned and kept my eyes closed as she rubbed my head against herself. I silently groaned and opened my eyes as she slowly slid down.

And then everything stopped.

Bella leaned forward, letting her chest hit mine. It was silent, too fucking silent, and she planted small kisses along my chest. Then she moved up and down and up again, and I forgot everything again.

I'd be lame if I said she was the best, and I'd be lame if I said she wasn't, but it'd never felt this right and she was all I could think of, all I wanted to think about.

I bucked my hips against hers, finally realizing that I had a part to play and I could play it well. She sat up. I grabbed both her hips, rocking us against each other, together. When she started saying my name again, I knew needed to slow down. It was too much, too soon, too good.

I was about to call her 'baby', which was cheap, but it was all I could think of until I suddenly breathed out 'Bell'. She smiled and I reached up, grabbing her breasts and watching how the roughness of my touch made her move faster.

I grabbed her hips and slowed her to a complete stop. She caught her breath and I pushed the hair out of her face, letting my hand linger on her cheek. Her hips began moving again, ever so slowly, and I stopped her, again, ever so quickly.

Lifting my hips so she'd fall to the side, I rolled on top of her, keeping myself in the entire time. She seemed to like this move as she whispered 'good job' and I laughed against her lips, because no one had ever complimented me with a 'good job' before. It was like she was giving me a sticker with a smiley face and it was funny.

When my laughter died down and turned breathless, I pushed, pushed into her and closed my eyes because, fuck. I couldn't hold back, and maybe she didn't want me to because she lifted her knees so I'd push deeper. Her fingers trailed down my back and I opened my eyes, watching her watch me. I thrust twice more before I dropped my head against her shoulder, breathing out as I cursed lowly, losing control of all my senses.

"I don't want to be your friend," I admitted, still lying on top of her as I caught my breath and found my voice.

Bella kissed me and nodded. "At least we agree on something."

A/N: Thanks for patiently waiting and reading.

"Though we're tethered to the story we must tell,
when I saw you, well, I knew we'd tell it well."