Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Twilight, that honor belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Anything recognizable as Twilight belongs to her, I just twist her world to suit my imaginations.

A/N: I want to apologise for the delay in this chapter. It's been ready for a while, but I was debating myself about which version to post. A lemon hadn't been part of the plan originally, but the characters were pretty forceful that they wanted one. With FF's rules about lemons, and knowing many people post them but worrying that my story would get removed, I decided to post very tame citrus here, and put stronger lemons on STARSLibrary, which was another part of the delay, getting my account setup there. I hope that this will work for all of my readers, and I apologise for those who find this an inconvenience, I just had to do what I felt was right. I hope you enjoy the chapter, whichever version it is you read.

Edward led me to the top floor of the hotel, the suite beautiful from what I could see, though he didn't give me a lot of time for gawking. He sat me down on the loveseat before taking his place at my side. "Isabella, you will never know how happy I was to see you. Our world never gave us a chance to meet in a relaxed setting, but knowing your doms, I know you're a wonderful sub."

I couldn't stop my smile or from reaching out to hold his hand. My blush crept up my cheeks at my forward behavior, after all, we knew nothing about each other, and he chuckled softly, his crooked smirk lighting up his face. "I noticed you, too, but we subs don't have a lot of opportunities to talk to other doms. Our social circles are likely different too, what with your family business." My soft laugh carries through the room, and he grins that grin I am beginning to adore.

"I want to put this out there, straight away so there's no confusion on either of our parts. Someday, I would like to see if we work as dom and sub." He's interrupted by my gasps and he squeezes my knee gently. "But not yet. We just met. We have to survive a real relationship, since neither of our families believes in divorce. So here is my proposal: we take the next three to six months to get to know each other, date if you will. Reverse courting so to speak. I teach you about our family business, make sure you can defend yourself while we date and hopefully grow this into a real relationship. What do you say?"

I won't deny the flash of hurt that we aren't jumping in, but I understand what he means. We need to be friends, at least, before we introduce anything else. I know part of my hurt is that I am feeling horny and lusty because, let's face it, he is gorgeous. However, I don't want to ruin this. I want to have a respectful relationship with my husband, one that will grow deeper over the years, even should we never actually fall in love. After what seems like ages, I nod, my voice quiet as I respond, "I understand and agree. I admit to feeling slightly hurt, since we need to be truthful, but I gave up my last dom directly after grandpa told me of our impending marriage. I have been loyal to you since then, and will continue to be."

His beam was blinding as he leaned in and kissed my cheek tenderly. "I am so glad to hear that you took this as seriously as I did. I dismissed my sub as soon as my dad and your grandpa started discussions. I always knew an arranged marriage was a possibility. They don't happen as often now, but when we need an alliance or to prevent a war, it becomes possible. Did you know Aro is my godfather?"

I shook my head as I laughed softly. "No wonder grandpa was all gung ho about this. His granddaughter and godson together? He must feel ten feet tall, especially since he got one over on me. I wondered why he trusted me so much with you, honestly. He was always over protective. He had met some of my doms, though not as my doms. I never told him that side of my life."

Edward's smirk is playful even as he shakes his head in disappointment. "Really, Isabella? You think he didn't have someone following you, guarding you, this whole time? You were his heir, even if you didn't know it. He was working on getting out, but he wasn't out. He wasn't going to risk your safety, or his. I can pretty much guarantee there was at least one man, most likely two, following you at all times. Someone who was your neighbor, someone who seemed vaguely familiar, everywhere you went."

My blood ran cold at the thought, though my reply was instinctual. "Bella, call me Bella, please. Isabella was always used by my doms in the playroom."

"And that is why I will call you Isabella out of the playroom. I am, currently, not your dom. I am your husband, and I want to mix it all up. If we ever go into the playroom together, you will be Bella. You will learn new ways of doing things, new ways to please me there. Do you understand, Isabella?" Somehow, Edward managed to make all the syllables of my name stand out in a purring voice that left me feeling like I would melt. I gulped, nodding my head and managing to squeak out, "Yes, Edward. Just let me hear that voice again, please?"

He laughed, a full out belly laugh and tugged me into his side for a hug. "Okay, if we're going to chat tonight, let's get more comfortable. We'll go out tomorrow, once we hit our honeymoon destination. I just didn't want to leave here exhausted. Okay?"

Smiling, I nodded and rose to find my suitcase. He pointed off to one of the suite's rooms and off I went. It was gorgeous! Champagne colored walls, a big bed with wrought iron head and footboard, gold and silver toned bedding that went really well together without being over the top. I loved it. I quickly changed, a part of me twinging at the fact my husband would not remove my wedding gown tonight, but I shrugged it off. If it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't meant to be this night. I was enjoying talking with Edward, and he didn't hold back affection. I had brought something both modest yet sexy just in case the wedding night had ended up a wedding night: silk sleep shorts with a snug camisole top in a pale blue. Not virginal white, obviously, but still a color representing a wedding. I did wrap a matching silk robe around me, though it only went to mid-thigh, not very long at all.

Walking back out to the living space, I noticed Edward was already there and seated on the sofa. He looked scrumptious in a white undershirt-style tank and dark grey sleep pants. He smiled as he saw me enter, and held out his arms, "Come here, Isabella. Let's snuggle and talk." I laughed as he pouted boyishly at me and went over to sit in his lap, curling up with my side against his torso and my head on his shoulder. "First things to know about me, I love to cuddle. I don't ever expect it to lead anywhere, hon. I just like to have people close to me. It's perfectly platonic as I cuddle with my sister and mom this way, too, sometimes."

So I cuddled with him, and we talked late into the night. We spoke of our parents, and our jobs(as he did run a legal business; turns out he ran an architecture firm, one of his biggest hobbies). We shared so many things, mundane and those secrets we never shared with anyone else, just trying to get to know each other. Eventually, we both had a difficult time keeping our eyes open and he asked if it was okay if we shared a bed tonight as he didn't really want to let me go. I couldn't say no to his adorable pout, so we moved to the master bedroom and he leaned in to kiss me tenderly, slowly, leisurely. After several moments, he pulled back, panting for air as he gazed at me with eyes dark with lust. He stared at me for what felt like minutes but might have been seconds before he growled out, "Fuck it, I want you Isabella, can I have you this one time before our dating period ends?"

I was panting myself with need after his kiss and it didn't take me long to simply nod my assent. Clothes were shed quickly, and even quicker it seemed our bodies were twined together. Our lips and tongues took what they wanted as hands wandered, caressing and groping until he thrust into me needily.

Our bodies moved together perfectly, as if they'd known each other our whole lives. Gripping his shoulders, I matched him thrust for thrust, hips bucking as my nails bit into his flesh. It felt both a lifetime and no time at all until we reached our highs, not quite together, but me first and him shortly after.

I snuggled up to him as he rolled off of me, his arm wrapping tightly around me as he nuzzled behind my ear, whispering softly, "I don't know how I am going to wait to do that again, Isabella. Just know this: whether we ever do this again or not(though I hope we will), I will protect you with my life. You have my word. You are worth it." With that, he kissed me again, then pulled me closer to him. Before I could even think of a response, he was snoring and I couldn't stop a giggle before I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep with the simple thought of, "Men…" running through my head.

A/N: So, there it is. I do hope you enjoyed the chapter. We should start getting to meatier subjects soon. So here's a question, if you feel like answering: With the so far listed players, any ideas where our drama's going to come from? Or who hasn't been named that maybe you'd like to see drama from? I won't spill who is in the plans though! Just curious who all you are thinking are going to be the troublemakers.