Five

EPOV

Twenty Questions

Bella laid on the couch with her head in my lap as we watched something mindless on TV.

"You wanna know something we've never done?" She rolled onto her back, looking up at me.

"Is this like a sex thing or…"

She snorted, rolling her eyes. "No, it's not a sex thing. We've been together all these months and we've never played twenty questions!"

I raised my eyebrows, a smirk on my lips. "Yeah, because that would be like asking for a death wish. You'll ask me how many chicks I've been with and then get all pissy with me."

She narrowed her eyes at me as she sat up. "Just how many women have you been with? How are we supposed to get married if I don't know all of this—"

"See!" I laughed, pulling her against me. "Fine, there's been six women, including you. You know I'm not really into hook-ups. We're not getting married for another year, and we have our lives to learn everything about one another."

"You're right." She sighed. "Don't you want to know how many—"

Quickly I pressed my mouth to hers, kissing her deeply and silencing her. "No, I really don't want to think about you with anyone else, but fair is fair, I suppose."

"Eight, including you."

I stared at her for a moment, not exactly sure how that number made me feel. It wasn't as if it was a tremendous amount, and I knew it changed nothing we shared. I was just shocked that she'd been with more people than I had. I was the one in the rock band, after all.

"Edward, I..."

Uncertainty laced her voice, and it was obvious that I'd been quiet for too long. I didn't want her to think she had upset me. It had just caught me off guard. "Well, you're mine now, and you're going to be my wife, so none of them matter."

She climbed onto my lap, straddling me. She ran her fingers through my beard before pressing a sweet kiss to my lips. "Exactly, you're the only one who matters, daddy. Can we play the actual game now? I'll ask you first."

"Ask away, it can't get much more awkward."

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, humming softly. "What's something that no one knows about you?"

I let out a breath, leaning my head back on the couch. My hands gripped her waist. "Something no one knows…oh, I've got it. I've given up on the band ever making it big. If it was going to happen, it would have by now."

"Edward," she whispered.

"Don't get me wrong, I still love playing, I have no plans to stop. And if it happened, that would be great, but I'm not actively looking for it."

"Do the guys know?"

I lifted my head, quirking an eyebrow at her. "You asked me to tell you something no one else knows."

A blush crept up her cheeks. "Right. It's your turn then."

"Hmm…what's your biggest fear?"

Her eyes turned sad, and I immediately regretted my question. She laid her head on my shoulder, her words were quiet and almost inaudible.

"I'm afraid that if I ever have kids, I'll become like my mom and they'll hate me."

I rubbed her back soothingly, pressing a kiss to her hair. I thought over my words carefully, knowing that saying the wrong thing could have horrible repercussions. "You know that's not possible, right?"

"How can you know that?"

"Bella, look at me," I demanded, and she lifted her head, meeting my eyes.

I ran my fingers down the smooth skin of her cheek, before letting my thumb trace the shape of her bottom lip. "I know because you're beautiful inside and out. You know how you told me not so long ago that I'm your home? What do you think you are to me? You're my home as well. I feel safe with you, I know I can be myself. Do you know how often I was told to quiet down when I was growing up? That I was being too loud? You've never once stopped me from just being me. And that's what our children will feel, too. Safe to be themselves and protected."

She brushed away her tears, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "I love you and I love your words, but Edward, I still can't promise that I'll ever want kids…is that going to be a problem?"

"I love you, too, and saying you're not sure if you do differs from just saying no. I'd always imagined I'd be a dad one day—not soon, though—but it's not something that I'd risk losing you over. Besides, it's not something that we have to worry about right now, but down the road we'll talk about it again. And if you decide you definitely don't want kids, that's okay. We'll just adopt a litter of puppies."

I was finally able to breathe freely as she laughed. She buried her head in my chest, mumbling something that I couldn't quite make out.

"What was that?"

She glanced up at me, squirming in my lap. "Are you really going to make me say it again?"

I grasped her hips, holding her still. "If you don't stop wiggling, this is going to become a very different conversation. I really didn't hear you though."

"You're such a pervert!"

"Yes, but I'm your pervert. Now, what did you say?"

"Fine!" She huffed. "I said that maybe you were right about this stupid game."

"Mm, I don't know. I think there was some good that came out of it. We learned a few things that we definitely needed to. But, we haven't even gotten to the fun questions." I tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Like…you're usually on top, so what's a position that you love, but we haven't done together yet?"

Her cheeks once again heated, and I knew this was going to be good.

"It's not your turn to ask again."

Leaning in, I pressed a kiss to behind her ear before sucking lightly. I grinned against her skin as a shiver went through her. "Well, you'll just have to go twice after you answer. Now, tell me, little girl, just how do you want daddy to have that pussy?"

Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment as she let out a groan. "You really don't play fair, do you? Fine. What I really want…is for you to bend me over the arm of the couch, your fingers digging into my hips so hard that you bruise me. I want you to pound into me so hard that I feel you between my thighs for days."

I lifted my hips up, grinding myself against her warmth. "Your wish, is my command."