Serious note: My country is on fire. If you are able, please consider donating to the Red Cross, WIRES, or the RFS/CFA. (Because ffn doesn't let us post links, the easiest option is probably to look up the comedian Celeste Barber on FaceBook and hit the donate link there.) I can't overstate how horrific the situation is. So far these fires have taken more than 20 lives, destroyed thousands of homes, and killed over half a BILLION animals. They've burned more than five times the area destroyed in the Californian fires of 2018, and four times the area lost in the Amazon in 2019. And we've still got almost three months of Summer to go. It's utterly heartbreaking.

Much less serious note: I'm nervous AF about this chapter. These two honest MFers push me waaaaay outside my comfort zone.

I'm breathless and damp with sweat. My limbs are heavy, my mind sluggish as my heartbeat starts to slow. I grab some tissues from beside the bed and toss the used condom in the bin. I trace my fingertips across Bella's thigh, which is draped across my hips. She twitches and squirms, which makes me smile lazily.

'Thought you weren't ticklish,' I say.

Bella whimpers. 'I'm not.' The muscles in her legs flex and she wriggles again. 'I don't… it's like I'm still coming. Like little aftershocks or something.'

When Bella had asked me to take her to my room, I hadn't hesitated. I set her on her feet and took her hands in mine.

'I love you,' I said again. Having finally let myself speak those words, it almost felt like I needed to make up for all the times I'd wanted to say them and hadn't.

Bella grinned up at me. 'We've established this,' she said. 'Now would you please make love to me?'

I nodded. 'Yeah. Definitely. Let's do that.'

Bella giggled and started backing towards my room. She pulled her t-shirt over her head and tossed it at me. I caught it reflexively, but my focus was on her newly revealed lavender bralette and the dark pink of her nipples visible through the swirls of lace.

I caught her around the waist and spun her into my room, closed the door and pressed her up against it. I kissed her soft then hard, my hands moved from her waist to knead her arse and then up to thumb her nipples through her bra.

'Sometimes I wish I had more hands,' I blurted. I groaned inwardly. I'm a deadset moron.

Bella snickered and shook her head. She kissed me again, her tongue sliding against mine and making me groan for an entirely different reason. Her fingers found the waistband of my shorts, and she made quick work of the button and zip. She yanked them down, taking my underwear with them. I pulled my shirt over my head and then reached for Bella's breasts again, pinched her nipples gently.

'Harder,' she said, just like I knew she would. I love it when she tells me what she wants. I obeyed and she arched into my hands, little grunts escaping her as I pinched and tugged and twisted.

Bella grabbed my wrists, stopping me from teasing her, and pushed me towards the bed. I flopped down on my back and grinned up at her as she removed the rest of her clothes.

She crawled over me to rummage through my bedside table. I took the opportunity to kiss as much skin as I could find, then slipped my hand between her legs.

'Don't stop,' she mumbled. She swore at the uncooperative plastic she was trying to remove from the box of condoms. 'Gotchya. Oh, God. Yes, just like that, Edward.' She managed to pull a condom from the box. I heard it land on the pillow beside my head as I closed my lips around her nipple.

'Oh, fuck. Okay, no. You gotta stop. I'm too close already.'

I removed my hands from her body and fumbled around until I found the condom. Bella watched closely as I put it on, which made me feel a little self-conscious—Was I doing it wrong? It had been a while. That is, until she told me, 'That's so fucking hot.'

I shook my head at her and grabbed her thighs, trying to pull her closer to where I needed her. She made me work for it, smirking down at me until I said, 'Bel, I wanna be inside you.' Apparently she liked that because her smirk slipped and she made a little 'uhh' noise and immediately shifted her body so she was right where I wanted her.

I gripped her hips as she lifted up and then sank down on me, pausing when I was all the way inside her. We stared at each other, lips parted, eyes wide, like we couldn't really wrap our heads around the fact it was actually happening.

As soon as Bella started to move, grinding and rocking and sliding against me, I knew I wasn't going to last long. I was already there, teetering on the edge and doing everything I could to hold on until she came. She slumped forward, hands on my chest as she continued to swivel her hips, and I took the opportunity to pinch her nipples, which made her groan and move faster. Her eyelids were heavy, her mouth open, as she looked down at me. I pulled her down until I could reach her tits with my mouth and the change of angle and the added stimulation seemed to be exactly what she needed because she started up a litany of oh, fucks, and yes, Edwards as she ground against me.

When her back arched and her thighs tightened around my hips and she cried out, I grabbed her hips and thrust up into her. It only took two or three strokes before I was right there with her, my orgasm crashing over me and dragging me under.

Bella grinds her hips and whimpers again, and the lethargy that had settled over me drains away in an instant. I trail my fingers up her thigh and slip them between her legs. She moans as I circle my fingertips. 'Yeah? Can you go again?'

'I don't know… oh, God. I think… Yeah. Yes.' She gasps again, her hips pressing back against my hand. I tease her for a few minutes, listening to her whimpers and feeling the way she moves, and backing off when I can sense she's getting close.

Just as I decide to stop teasing her, Bella lets out a strangled cry and pushes up onto her hands and knees. Her eyes are feral as she presses me into the bed, her hips against mine. She grinds all over my dick for a moment, but it just gives this feeble twitch because even though I'm insanely turned on, it's going to be a little while before I can get properly hard again.

I grab her hips but Bella pulls back and yanks my hands off her. She pins them above my head, which is just the sexiest fucking thing ever. She kisses her way across my chest and then up my throat. I groan out her name and she shakes her head at me.

'It's not nice to tease,' she says. Her lips curl up in a smirk as she crawls up my body. Her hands find the wall as she settles her knees either side of my head. As she looks down at me, her expression grows serious. 'This okay?' she murmurs.

In answer, I grab her arse and press her forward until my mouth is on her. I lick and suck and kiss until her head falls back and her thighs shake and she comes with my name on her breath.

This time, when she curls into my side, her body is still and her breathing heavy. I trace my fingertips across her thigh and she mumbles something about being dead. I crane my neck so I can kiss her, and she blinks at me, her eyes sleepy. It's probably dumb, but there's something about knowing that I've loved her so well that makes me feel a jolt of pride.

'Next time,' Bella mutters, 'I want you on top. And then we get started on that list.'