Hello dear ones! So, it's that time again =) Thank you all so much for your continued support and love.

To my wonderful, beautiful beta Jessica1971, more thanks than I can express for making the words so much prettier. Love ya, hon!

No copyright infringement is intended. SM owns all things Twilight. I'm just playing around with her characters.

Enjoy!

Someone Like You

A sigh escaped her lips and she slapped absently at the tickling sensation along the bridge of her nose. Bella snuggled deeper into the warmth of the blanket. The slide of something incredibly soft, and yet rough simultaneously, along the curve of her cheek caused her to frown. A deep, rich voice murmured in her ear, "Wake up, sweetheart."

Her frown bloomed into a sleepy smile and Bella rolled in the circle of Edward's arms to face him.

"Good morning," she said and reached up to brush the hair that tumbled over Edward's forehead.

"Good morning." A mischievous smile played on his lips. "There for a minute I didn't think you were ever going to wake up."

"Why's that?" A wide answering smile broke out when she looked into the emerald green of his eyes. She slid onto her back as Edward moved to prop himself on an elbow and hover over her.

"I've been trying not to wake you up. I enjoyed watching you sleep, but it was really hard because if you were sleeping I couldn't do this." He lowered his head until his lips slanted over hers. The soft brush of his gentle kiss stirred the embers of longing deep inside. The kiss deepened, his tongue plunging to take possession of her mouth. Tasting, caressing, and conquering with tenderness.

His hand skirted the round outer edge of her breast, down milky skin to the slender curve of waist, over the flat expanse of belly. A single finger circled her navel and slid lower, dancing along the upper edge of silken pink flesh. A low guttural moan rattled in his chest when he found her slick heat. One long finger stroked, teased, tortured until she thought she could take no more, and finally slid inside. Bella's hips lifted from the bed at the sensations rampaging through her body.

Her hands slipped over his tapered waist. The muscles of his back rippled under her palms. Her fingertips danced along his spine, to the indentions of lower back and up to thick shoulders. Desire and need coiled low in her abdomen, nearly blinding her with their intensity.

He tore his mouth from hers with a pained expression. "Do you have any idea what you do to me?"

With a twist, his thumb pressed over her tiny nub as he slipped a second finger inside and curled them just the right way. Bella's eyes rolled back. "Oh God, Edward…Yes," she cried as her release slammed through her entire body.

When she became coherent of her surroundings once again, Bella felt Edward shaking his head against her neck. "No," he murmured. He took the lobe of her ear between his lips, let it slip out, his teeth scraping gently along the flesh. Edward kissed and then licked at the sensitive spot just behind. "You don't, baby. There's no way you can know the depth of what I feel. Never, Bella—I've never felt this way before, never needed someone the way I need you."

He rained kisses along the column of her neck. Tasting her skin with teasing bites, he made his way down to the rounded rise of soft flesh. Edward palmed the fullness of her breast, tested its weight. All the while, he circled the tip with his thumb. Hot breath wafted over her skin and caused a chill to snake down her spine. Bella trembled. A tidal wave of need crashed over her, rising until it spiraled out of control. A sensation of overwhelming loss shot through her when Edward removed his hand. Bella clung to him, pulling him back with an anguished whimper.

"Shh, baby," he murmured against her lips, moving to settle between her legs. "I'm not going anywhere." He dropped a quick a peck at the corner of her mouth. Edward slid a hand between their bodies, positioning until she felt him sliding just inside. With a gentle movement of his hips, he filled her completely. A low moan of pleasure rumbled inside his chest and he nuzzled the side of Bella's head, down her neck to her shoulder.

He moved inside her, over her, engulfed her within his raging passion, consumed her with his kisses. A wide, rough palm slid the length of supple thigh. Long fingers curled behind the bend of her knee, lifting as their bodies moved in rhythm. "Wrap your legs around me, baby. Oh, God …yeah, just like that."

Bella's teeth clamped down against the onslaught of sensation as he slid deeper with the change of position. A moan ripped from her throat. Her hips lifted, meeting each thrust with a movement of her own.

She lifted her head to kiss the hollow of his throat. The springy hairs of his chest rasped against the oversensitive tips of her breasts. The spring coiled tighter and tighter as they moved together. Her fingers pressed into the corded muscles of his shoulders, pulling him closer, holding him. Long, languid strokes of his body within hers, the soft brush of his lips over her skin, combined to push her to the brink of oblivion.

"So good," he moaned. Shifting slightly, he cupped her breast with one hand and his lips clamped down around the nipple. She arched, pushing more into his mouth. His free hand splayed along her back, holding her to him. When he bit down ever so gently on the taut flesh, the coil sprung and Bella cried out as the ecstasy overtook her. Edward held her, kissed her languidly, until the quaking of her body calmed.

Bella settled back on the bed and looked deep into his eyes. She placed a hand on his cheek, her thumb grazing the fullness of his bottom lip.

"So beautiful," he whispered just before taking her mouth once again.

Bella's hands ghosted down the strong back she loved so much to the rounded mound of his perfect buttocks. She gripped him, pushed him to drive deeper, and lifted her hips to him. His movements changed, quickened to shorter, more erratic strokes. The groan that tore from his throat was a mixture of pain and satisfaction as he went rigid, frozen with release.

Her arms snaked around his shoulders, holding him tightly to her. The heavy weight of his relaxed body pressed her further into the mattress. She sighed in complete satiated contentment. A giggle bubbled under her ribs.

A muffled 'what?' came from where Edward's face lay buried in her neck. She stroked a hand through his damp hair and laughed again.

"Nothing," she said. "I was just thinking that if this is the way you respond to having to work to wake me up in the mornings, I'm going to make it a point to being a heavy sleeper from now on."

A deep chuckle vibrated through Edward's chest. Fingertips brushed the tumbled hair from her face and he smiled. "And I will happily work just as hard to wake you and make it worth the effort—for both of us." Bella gasped at the promise in those words. "Now, my sweet, you need to stop tempting me so or we're never going to make it out of this bed today."

"Me? Tempting you?" she asked shocked. "You've got to be kidding me."

He ducked to kiss the pulse point on her neck, and then pulled back to stare down at her. A grin full of male satisfaction graced his handsome face.

Bella rolled her eyes. Laughing, she pushed at his shoulders until he fell onto his back, arms splayed at his sides. "You are so full of yourself." She pressed a kiss to his bare chest before climbing out of bed. "I'm going to take a shower."

"Not alone, you're not," he said.

Bella yipped and giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck when Edward swept her into his arms and all but ran into the bathroom.

~O~

After dragging himself away from the temptation that was Bella, they had finally made it onto the road. Plans for an early departure became nothing more than a fading memory in preference for much more pleasurable activities. Though he thoroughly explored many of the intimate details of Bella's body during the night and morning, he wasn't even close to having had enough. So many secrets lay still hidden and he intended to discover a large majority of them before the weekend was over.

The air was cool and brisk, even for July. Wisps of thin white clouds danced along the cornflower blue sky that spread endlessly above. The cottage he had rented for the weekend was only a few hours west, but as they ate up the road toward their destination, it already felt a world away.

A smile played at the corners of Edward's mouth. He shifted his grip on the handles of the bike to a more comfortable position. Beneath him, the motor rumbled like a caged tiger. Pure unadulterated freedom coursed through his veins. In that moment, he realized that it wasn't just the feeling of being free that caused the lightness in his heart, but the woman wrapped so tightly around him.

His smile widened when he smoothly maneuvered a hairpin turn and Bella strengthened her hold on his middle. Soft curves pressed against his back. Toned, muscular thighs lay alongside his, tightening in a most delicious way when he maneuvered the bike along the roadway. The heady combination was very near to driving him out of his mind with lust. He needed this woman in ways he hadn't known even possible before meeting her.

At one time in his life, he'd thought he understood what it meant to love someone, what it meant to cherish a woman. Once, he had loved someone. Edward snorted at the thought. The feelings he'd held for Heidi were a pale imitation to the depths of what he experienced with Bella.

Releasing his grip from one handlebar, Edward dropped a hand to Bella's thigh. The tips of his fingers slid along a small hole just above her knee. In response, she seemed to curl more tightly around him.

The quaint little town where they would be staying finally came into view. "You hungry?" he asked over his shoulder.

Bella nodded and pressed a kiss between his shoulders. Edward took a deep breath and did his absolute best to still the thundering inside his chest. Entering the small ski village, Edward noted a bar and grill that looked like the perfect place to grab a late lunch.

"We're not far from the cabin," he continued. "I thought—if you'd like—we could grab a bite to eat, and then we can walk around town for a little while. There's an antiques show and auction going on if you want to check that out."

"Are you serious?" Bella's face lit up.

"I thought you'd like that." The thought that such a simple thing could inspire that look in her eyes was humbling. He patted her thigh gently and smiled. "Come on, we'll eat and then see what treasures you can find."

~O~

"Oh!" The sight of the marble topped antique server sent a thrill down Bella's spine, taking her breath in a moment of excitement. She ran a slightly trembling hand over the smooth wood. The patina was a light golden brown, the years having colored it beautifully. The scrollwork was amazing. It appeared to be in perfect condition. The pulls seemed to be the original, as well. Amazing.

"Isn't it beautiful?" she asked, smiling over her shoulder at Edward. He stood only a few feet away with both hands in his pockets, wearing an expression of amusement, and watching her intently.

"Beautiful," he replied, his eyes meeting hers.

Her brow creased and she cocked her head to one side, studying him. She had the strangest sensation that he hadn't meant the antique server.

Turning back to the server, she admired the workmanship for a few more moments before moving on. They had been perusing the antique mall for more than an hour and she couldn't look at everything fast enough. There were so many dealers, so many treasures. Just as Edward had said, though, she knew he was teasing her with his comment earlier.

They continued through the area discovering a new delight at every turn. Bella reached out to wrap a hand around Edward's bicep. She leaned into him. "Thank you," she said, kissing his shoulder. "This is … unbelievable."

Edward looked down at her with a confused crease in his brow. "You're welcome, Bella. But I didn't do anything."

"You did, though. You brought me here, more than that …" She scowled at the floor as they made their way down a long line of Edwardian style cabinetry. "No one but my mom ever does this with me, but you …you brought me here just because it was something that I enjoy, something that I would want to do. That's a lot more than—" She broke off, blinking back the tears that suddenly stung her eyes.

"More than Demetri did?"

Bella nodded, unable to speak around the constriction in her throat. Edward stopped, turning her to face him. He placed his large palms on either side of her face and held her until she had no choice but to look at him.

"I love you," he said, his voice pitched low. There was a fierce light in his eyes as he continued. "I know that son-of-a-bitch you were with told you that, but he had no idea what it meant to love a woman—to love you. What he showed you was abuse and manipulation. It was obsession and possession, not love."

She lost the battle against the tears and they slipped unhindered from the corner of her eyes. Edward gently wiped them away with the pad of his thumbs. "I love you," he said, pulling her into the circle of his arms.

Bella curled into his chest and let the safety there comfort her. "I love you, too."

They made it to their trip, YAY! Hope you enjoyed the first day, they'll be finishing up their trip and heading back home in the next chapter. The festival's coming up and lots of good stuff ...

Until next time ...

xoxoxoxo

bellasunderstudy!