Author Note: Some of you are angry with Edward, but most praised him for his honesty. Many readers commented that it isn't unusual for someone to read sexy fic or watch porn before grabbing their partner.
Congrats to 0 BASIA 0, katbarpar, Capricorn75, LSU15, blueberry958, Scattycow, Azlady2003, TheGreenPanther, garddita17, MIRosebud and shaz308 for guessing Salt-N-Pepa's ode to "safe sex, the positive and negative sides of sex and the censorship that sex had around that time in American mainstream media."
Warning: This chapter includes smut and talk about smut. If that bothers you, you should've stopped reading 30 chapters ago.
Thanks to moosals and edwardisaputz for pre-reading! Stephenie Meyer owns all characters.
Chapter 35 – Let's Talk About Sex
Edward and I double date with Jacob and Seth on Friday night, after Jacob manages to get four tickets to the Mariners game against the Minnesota Twins from one of his clients. Edward and Jake volunteer to get something to eat for the four of us, leaving me enough time to talk to Seth about getting some wigs — although I don't tell him why. He invites me to stop by his studio tomorrow morning.
After choosing a couple of wigs at Seth's, I stop by the only year-round Halloween store in King County and pick out a half dozen different costumes, from a sexy nurse to a sexy policewoman to a Catholic schoolgirl. I have no idea exactly what Edward would like — he just told me to surprise him when I asked.
Edward has given me a Guest badge and a key to his condo — I tried not to act like that was the huge deal I think it is — so I drive downtown and let myself in, then put on my workout attire and an auburn wig. It doesn't look as good as when Seth did it, but it'll do for our first roleplay. I only hope I can get through this without cracking up laughing.
Edward texts me once he's parked his car, which serves as my notice to head down to the fitness center. He'll come down as soon as he's had a chance to change. Luckily the place isn't very crowded, late on a Saturday afternoon. I hop on one of the stationary bikes while I wait for Edward to show up.
Goddamn. It seems like every woman — and a couple of the men — turns their head when he walks into the room. I've never seen Edward in workout clothes before, and it's a sight to see. Besides a pair of baggy shorts, he's wearing a tank top that shows off his muscular shoulders and arms.
He heads straight for one of the weight machines and I watch hungrily at the way his muscles bulge and flex. He isn't even looking at me at all, though I wonder if it's part of the roleplay or because he actually doesn't recognize me with Julianne Moore's hair.
I hang out enjoying the view for about 10 minutes. During that time, at least half of the people in the room get up and leave. It's now or never, I suppose. Taking a deep breath, I hop down from the bike and cross the room.
"Hi there," I greet Edward as he gets up to change machines.
"Well, hello," he says, licking his lips as he looks me up and down. If I didn't know him, I'd be a puddle on the floor after that inspection. "I don't think I've seen you here before."
"No? Well, I've definitely seen you," I reply, running my hand down his arm in what I hope is a flirty manner… while I try desperately not to start laughing. "And I like what I see."
"Maybe you could help me with one of the machines," he suggests, motioning for me to follow him. Now all I know about weight machines comes from watching Jake, but I figure that's more than most people.
I watch as Edward sits on one of the complicated-looking contraptions, grabbing hold of the handles and pulling forward a few times. "Exactly how am I supposed to be helping?" I ask with a grin.
"You're providing the view," he winks, making me laugh. "If we were alone, I'd have you right here in my lap," he adds seductively. Shit.
"There are probably security cameras anyway," I retort, looking up at the corners along the ceiling.
"Probably," he agrees. "So maybe we should go somewhere a little more private…?"
"And where might that be?" I ask, placing my hands on his bare knees once he's stopped moving.
"My place?" He raises an eyebrow and I let a slow smile spread across my face. I wish we could go somewhere else, but every public area in this building likely has security cameras.
In a flash, Edward is on his feet, taking me by the hand and leading me toward the door. He presses the UP arrow for the elevator, the presses me into the wall beside it, attacking my lips with a hard kiss.
We're both panting before we hear the ding of the elevator arriving. Another couple is already inside, so after he hits the button for the 11th floor, we control ourselves — barely.
We race each other to his door, but he manages to pull his key out first. The door is hardly shut behind us when he presses on my shoulders so I drop to my knees.
"Suck my cock!" he orders and I pull frantically at the fabric of his pants to free his hard cock. With little prelude I engulf it with my mouth as far as I can go, sucking hard as I pull back to the head. I glance up at his face, stunned by the look of unbridled lust I see there.
Stroking the base of his cock with my hand, I suck hard, swirling my tongue all around until I taste his precum.
"Fuck…" he moans. "Stop! I want to come inside you."
I pull off with a pop, pulling his pants down the rest of the way before getting to my feet.
"Get naked," he orders as he tugs his shirt over his head. I quickly remove my shorts and then my spandex top, leaving me in just my sports bra and thong panties. "Those too."
Once I'm completely naked, Edward takes my arm and hurries me into the living room. He bends me forward over the arm of the couch, then steps in right behind me, bringing his hands up to hold my breasts. He pulls and tugs at my nipples, rougher than he usually does, but I can feel myself getting wetter for him. His hard cock is pressed up against me and I want it.
"Do you want to be fucked?" he asks, slapping my ass when I don't answer quickly enough.
"Yes! Yes, please fuck me," I beg.
"Spread your legs."
I do as he says, whimpering when he slides his fingers along my pussy. "So wet," he groans as he twists two fingers inside me. "You are a dirty girl, letting some man you've just met fuck you like this."
"I just know what I want," I manage to choke out as he replaces his fingers with his cock. He stops once he's buried inside me — whether he's giving me time to adjust or making sure he doesn't come on the spot, I'm not sure.
Once he starts moving, literally nothing else matters but the feel of his cock inside me and his hands all over me. It's hard and fast and so, so good.
I can feel myself climbing higher and higher, but then suddenly he pulls out, slapping my ass again. "Turn over."
My legs are shaky but I manage to flip myself over, with my head on the seat cushions and most of my lower half hanging off the arm of the couch. Kneeling down, Edward throws my legs over his shoulders, puts his mouth over me, and proceeds to make me see stars in record time.
When he's finished, he stands up, leaving my right leg on his shoulder. Grinning at me, he brushes his cock between my legs. "Do you want it?" he asks, eyes sparkling.
I think about teasing him and saying that I already got mine, but I'm a shameless hussy for his cock, and he knows it.
"Please," I beg, holding my breath as he slips back inside. Wrapping his hands around my waist, he keeps eye contact with me as he thrusts over and over again. I moan and whimper, glad that I don't have to keep quiet.
"Play with your tits," he orders, and I don't hesitate in bringing my hands up, squeezing my breasts. "Fuck yeah… now touch yourself."
Slowly, I slide my right hand down my stomach, then circle my clit with my middle finger. "Oh fuck, that is so hot," Edward breathes. The combined sensations have me shaking from the force of my second orgasm in very little time.
"Fuck!" he grunts, freezing inside me.
I'm still breathing heavily when Edward grabs hold of my hands, pulling me to a seated position. He tenderly grasps my face in his hands, then kisses me over and over before leaning his forehead against mine.
"Did you enjoy that?" I ask, and he pulls back slightly, laughing incredulously.
"I think how hard I came should be a pretty good indicator," he chuckles. "I like the wig; nice touch."
"Seth gave me the blonde one I wore on Halloween, too."
"Thank Seth for me," he says, helping me to my feet. "And thank you, Bella," he adds, kissing me softly. "I know this can't be easy for you, but I appreciate more than you know that you're willing to work toward some sort of compromise that we can both live with."
"I care about you, Edward. We will never work unless we're both happy."
He smiles, pecking my lips one more time. "Time to shower and get dressed; I'm starving."
I manage to put him off from any hanky-panky in the shower, promising he can have his way with me later tonight. We decide to just walk down the street to the gastropub for dinner.
"So did you get costumes, too?" Edward asks as he sips his beer.
"Yep," I smile. "For obvious reasons, I skipped the French maid one."
He laughs, grinning at me. "So what did you get?"
"It's a surprise," I reply, shaking my head.
"Oh, come on! You've gotta give me at least one."
I purse my lips, finally nodding. "Well, I figured I had to go for the obvious Catholic schoolgirl."
"Mmm… yeah," he says dreamily. "They were a lot of fun when I was in high school. Afraid of doing anything that could cause pregnancy, but totally willing to do anything else."
"You mean blowjobs?"
"Of course, but there are other kinds of sex."
He raises an eyebrow as if daring me to understand. I stare back at him, and my eyes widen when I think I've caught on. "You mean…" I pause, looking around to see how many people might be within hearing distance, "Anal sex," I finally whisper.
"Yes, Bella," he chuckles.
"You-you've done that?"
"Of course," he shrugs, like it's no big deal. "I've also shared a woman."
"Sh-shared?" I swallow thickly, understanding his meaning even if I'd like to pretend that I don't.
"Mmmm… every man should experience that once in his lifetime."
"That's what you said about getting a blowjob from two women," I remind him of when Tanya and I double teamed him for his birthday last year.
"Well, that too," he winks. "Honestly, there's pretty much nothing I haven't done, beyond having sex with other guys. And I've even sort of done that."
My eyes nearly bug out of my head. "What do you mean by 'sort of'?" I choke out. I was imagining that he'd potentially touched another man, similar to the way I touched Tanya's boobs and let her touch my own. But I don't think I'd go as far as to call that "sort of" having sex.
"I was super drunk one night in college and let a guy who said he had a crush on me give me a BJ. And no, I didn't return the favor," he grins while I just stare. "I was too drunk to remember it well, but from what I do remember, it honestly wasn't any different from a woman doing it."
"I-I said the same about Tanya touching my boobs."
Edward smiles, cocking his head as he stares back at me. "I even let Tanya peg me a couple times. She'd done it before with women, so I figured, why not," he shrugs.
"D-did you like it?" I whisper once I can finally speak. He's so nonchalant about these things! And it's a less than gentle reminder that he's still separating sexual acts from any kind of emotional involvement.
"I could see the appeal, yeah," he shrugs, taking another sip of his beer.
"Edward?" I ask hesitantly, waiting until he looks up at me to continue. "How many women have you had sex with?" When he just stares at me, I suggest, "A hundred?"
"In 20 years?" he replies, raising an eyebrow. Right… that would only be an average of five per year.
"A thousand?"
Wrinkling his nose, he pulls at his hair. "I don't know, Bella," he finally says. "There were fewer when I was a teenager and once Tanya and I made our arrangement, more in between. It's not like I counted them. Like I said once, I rarely brought women home so I couldn't exactly make notches on my bedpost."
I frown, staring down at the table.
"It doesn't matter, Bella," he says softly, taking my hand in his and squeezing. "None of them meant anything to me. Only you."
I can't help smiling back at him, even if I'm still freaking out a bit internally. Though he's still a work in progress, he really has changed from the man who wouldn't give me anything of himself except his body.
Two weeks later, the Seattle Actuarial Club holds its annual golf tournament. As I drive to the golf course, I realize that it's been nearly nine months since I've seen Tanya. There were no luncheons during the busy holiday season, and I ended up skipping the one held in early January, when I was in my Edward-less funk. I did attend the luncheon shortly after Easter, but if Tanya was there, I didn't see her.
Just as I did last year, I show up in time for the happy hour after the tournament, though I appear to be a bit early, since most of the foursomes are still on the course. I grab a Diet Coke and some appetizers and take a seat.
"Hey, Bella," a female voice says, and I look up at Tanya's smiling face. "May I sit?"
"Sure," I smile, pulling the chair to my right out for her, since her hands are full.
"I haven't seen you in ages!" she says. "I was out of town on business for the last two luncheons." I smile and nod, not acknowledging that I missed one of them myself.
"Sounds like you've been busy."
"Mmm, I have," she says, reaching her left hand out for her glass of water. And that's when I see it — the humongous diamond ring on her left ring finger.
"Oh my God!" I exclaim. "Are you engaged?"
"Yes," she answers, grinning widely as she holds out her hand so I can take a closer look at the ring. It's a marquis cut diamond and must be at least three carats. "Garrett popped the question a few weeks ago. We've set the date for next May."
"Congratulations!"
"Thank you! I'm so excited. I'll be married before I'm 40, after all."
I laugh and she joins in. "Seriously, I'm really happy for you."
"I'm almost afraid to ask… has Edward gotten his head out of his ass yet?" Tanya asks.
"Actually… yes, he has. He started seeing a therapist back in February. He's trying to work on his issues with making an emotional connection."
"That's wonderful!" she exclaims. "I spoke to him just after the New Year and he seemed to really be struggling. Does this mean you're in a 'real' relationship?"
"It does," I reply, surprised to learn that Edward had spoken to Tanya while we were apart. "He's stopped seeing other women, though I won't say it's been easy for him to change his long-term habits."
"No, I imagine not," she answers with a grimace.
"Wh-what about you?" I ask nosily, remembering that Edward once said that Tanya craves variety more than he does.
"Is it tough for me to be monogamous?" I nod. "No, it's really not. I love Garrett and he gives me everything I need. I love sex too, don't get me wrong, but sharing that with someone you love is so much better than sex without emotion. Edward will see that too one day — you just have to believe in that."
I give her a small smile, nodding. I can only hope that Tanya is right.
A/N: So their first roleplay went well. Safe to say Bella enjoyed it too, even if she was worried about laughing. Several readers told me they'd do the same.
A little bit of Edward's sexual history there. It really was just a physical thing to him, with no emotional involvement at all. Did anything he say surprise you?
Tanya is engaged! How about that? And now Bella knows about her conversation with Edward that we saw in his POV.
Next chapter's title: A huge #1 smash party song from the beginning of the decade (1980s).