A/N: So I finally had a chance to get back to reviews, and then caught a nasty bug right in the middle, so...I only made it about halfway through. And since I'm still not feeling too great and can think of nothing witty to say, how about I just give you guys the chapter, okay?

Betad my Michelle Renker Rhodes.

Most characters belong to S. Meyer

Ch. 18 – She's Sensual

EPOV

The dance lessons she's been giving me have morphed into Bella and I just moving back and forth in the middle of her large, living room. At some point, the music shifts to slow songs with words I can't understand, and now…now we just stand here while our mouths meet and taste over and over - sometimes lips, sometimes necks and throats…arms…shoulders…wrists. Sometimes she giggles; sometimes she moans softly while our hands touch, caress and skim. It's slow and sensual, things I've never had, not even with all the crazy shit I've done. And despite the raw passion that simply emanates from her, you'd think this is all new to her too. She gasps when my tongue licks her shoulder; she gazes at me wide-eyed when my mouth skims open mouthed kisses down her arm as if she's never had anyone worship her this way, as if she feels what I do…as if all the chaste kisses and touches thrill and surprise her as much as they do me.

Because despite what we may be feeling, we are keeping things relatively chaste. Yeah, I see how this could easily lead to us finding our way to that open bedroom she's got back in the corner, to the large, four-poster bed I can see from here, on which we'd do more than just sleep. I'm pretty sure that if I pushed, she'd follow. But I won't do that to her because despite the lust in her eyes and the passion in her kisses, I can tell that she doesn't really want it to go there - not yet.

She's asked me to stay. She's sexy, and she grins at me wickedly whenever my cock rubs up against her while we move rhythmically against each other. But I see the relief on her beautiful face when my hands slide over her ribs and stop just below her breasts, or when my mouth sucks on her collarbone and then skims its way back up to her mouth.

We're at a precipice, and we'll take it right to the edge, but she's not ready to fall off of it - not yet.

OOOOOOOOOO

We've ended up on the couch now, me under her, talking and kissing like we've been together for ages instead of just a few hours. Bella squirms, and her hips brush over mine, and I groan painfully into her mouth.

She chuckles and murmurs a "sorry" before pulling away from my mouth. My hands have been lost in her hair for the past half hour or so, and now it looks beautifully thick and wild. I picture myself doing other things to her to get it that way.

Gazing at me through heavy-lidded eyes, she traces my mouth with one finger. When I pucker my lips and softly kiss the tip, she sighs.

"Are my lips as swollen as yours?"

"Yeah," I grin.

"Jesus," she snorts, "I don't think I've ever spent that much time doing nothing but kissing in my life."

As soon as the words are out, her eyes widen and her cheeks flame deep red. She drops her gaze, staring at my chest.

"Is that a bad thing?" I question, lifting up her chin and quirking a brow.

She searches my eyes. "No," she whispers. "No, it's not a bad thing. It's a beautiful thing."

"Good, because I could taste your mouth for days on end," I tell her, alternating between sucking her bottom lip and then her top lip into my mouth before moving to her shoulder. "I could bite your shoulders so hard…" She laughs and cradles my head while I nip and suck on her honey skin, and her heavy breaths float in the air around us. "I could devour you…" I confess before returning to her mouth. "You're perfect."

She exhales on a soft whimper, and abruptly pulls away again, holding my gaze much more intently.

"I'm not perfect, Edward. I'm far from it. I've made mistakes too. I've done things…" She draws in a huge, shaky breath that makes her entire frame shudder over me, and when she drops her head to my chest, I feel her body shaking.

"Hey." I slide my hands around her neck and gently coax her eyes back up, sitting up and bringing her up with me. Resting her sideways over my lap, I wrap my hands around her waist and hold her close.

"Don't call me perfect," she repeats.

I search her dark eyes, suddenly full of so much apprehension.

And she's still shaking.

"Bella," I say, cupping her cheek and dipping my head close to hers. "Hey, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I…" – she swallows – "I need to tell you…"

My chest constricts painfully at the terrified look in her eyes, at the resemblance to a deer suddenly caught in headlights.

So I crush her to my chest and wrap her tightly in my arms, and she holds on just as tightly.

"Listen to me, when I say you're perfect, I mean that you're perfect for me. I don't care what you've done. I'll never judge you, Bella. What kind of shit would that be if I ever judged you? I'd never, Bella. I'd never."

She tightens her hold on me further, burying her face in the crook of my neck, and it kills me that something has her so petrified.

"You don't know," she breathes into my skin. "You told me…and now I have to tell you…"

"Oh, Baby," I murmur in her ear, pressing her against me so solidly I'm afraid I'll bruise her, but she just tightens her hold all the more so that I no longer know where she ends and I begin.

"Look, if there's something you're not ready to say, don't feel like you have to say it just because of what I told you tonight."

"Edward…" she breathes against my neck, her voice breaking. I close my eyes and swallow thickly, and then lift her head so that her eyes can meet mine again.

"Whatever it is, it won't change the fact that you belong with me," I say, reminding her of what I told her just last night, of what she reminded me of just a few hours earlier.

She sears me with her dark eyes, fisting my shirt. "I belong with you. I do."

I offer her a tender grin. "Then that's all I need to know. If and when you're ready, you'll tell me, but Bella, all I need is you here with me now. All I need to know is that you're mine."

"I am yours; just yours. That's the only kind of relationship I want with you. Where I'm all yours and you're all mine."

"Then we're on the same page," I shrug, a bit confused by that statement. "Bella…I know you've probably got questions about Heidi. I guess Mel must've said something to you; that's why you called her my…fuck buddy," I grimace. "But I need you to know that it's been over for a while."

She nods slowly. "I guess I have wondered exactly what type of relationship you had, or have with her."

"It wasn't a relationship," I sneer. "It was exactly what Mel called it, but it's over now."

"Okay," she says, biting her lip. "Okay." And then she moves in to kiss me…

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I say, gently easing her away. "I'd like some clarification too."

She furrows her brow.

"About Eli."

She backs up further, her eyes growing wide again. "What would you like to know?" she asks in a peculiarly even tone.

"Well, he was hanging all over you that day I registered Mel for class. Was he still your boyfriend at the time?"

She shakes her head silently.

"Okay," I say, trying to rein in my temper. "Then what made him feel that he had a right to touch you that way?"

"He's…" – she swallows and looks down, shaking her head – "He's always thought that he has a right to touch me…and to say who else can and can't touch me…"

My nostrils flare. I feel my pulse start to race as blood rushes to my head, pounding between my ears.

"Motherfucker, I should…" I scowl, knowing that all the things I'd like to do and say to that asshole aren't really options, not to the man I'm trying to be now. So instead, I try to focus on continuing this discussion without exploding; without ruining this relationship before it even gets a chance to really take off.

"Edward." Bella's warm hand cups my cheek. "Edward, calm down."

When I open my eyes, Bella is watching me, her eyes full of concern and…wariness.

"Look, I set him straight the last time we saw each other. You don't have to get upset, okay? I haven't even seen him in weeks. Besides, we take care of all our business transactions online." She cradles my face in her hands. "Are you okay? I don't want to upset you."

All the blood that had pooled to my face suddenly drains right out. "Why not?"

"I…I mean…I'm not sure…"

I take a deep breath. "Do you think that upsetting me will make me fall off the wagon?"

When she doesn't respond, I feel the hairs at the nape of my neck prickle. "Bella, I don't want you to spend every moment measuring your words with me. That's not the kind of relationship I want here."

"You're right, you're right." She kisses me anxiously, tugging on my lips when she pulls away. "I'm just…I'm trying to figure this out, okay? Just give me a chance to learn."

So I draw in a lungful of air and try to calm down because she's right. She's been hit out of left field with this. She needs time to learn.

"Don't be afraid to push my buttons, Bella. Mel and my sister do it all the time, and I haven't succumbed yet."

She watches me carefully for a split second, and then a slow grin spreads across her face.

"Pushing your buttons is apparently what the women in your life do best."

"Yeah, you're all really great at it," I smirk, and then kiss her again, just a couple of light brushes because I haven't forgotten what we were talking about.

"Bella, since that mother…Eli…seems to think that he has rights he no longer has," I hiss, "I need to make sure that he knows that's not the case anymore."

"Edward-"

"No, Bella. I'm not going to start trouble. I promise you that, but next time I see him, I will have a talk with him."

But Bella looks terrified again. She covers my cheek with her hand. "Just promise me one thing, Edward. Before you speak to him…there are things I have to tell you, but…but I…just need a little more time," she falters.

I pull her into my arms again, and now I'm really starting to burn up here.

"Shh, relax, Baby," I murmur, running my hands down her hair. "Okay. Okay. You and I will talk again before I speak to him," I promise her. "Just answer me one thing, and the rest can wait," I say as calmly as possible before pulling her away one more time to meet my eyes. "Did he hurt you?"

Because if he did, I'll kill the motherfucker.

She shakes her head slowly, and fuck, I'm not really convinced. I'm not convinced, but she's telling me no, and I just told her she doesn't have to tell me tonight and that we'd speak again before I spoke to Eli. I have to wait, and I have no idea how I'm going to be able to keep myself from doing something stupid next time I see him at the site. She hasn't actually told me anything, but her reaction is enough to make my blood boil.

"Alright. Alright," I repeat as serenely as I can manage. "Alright."

But I must not be doing such a great job at hiding my increasingly growing fury. My hands are in fists, digging into my sides. Bella reaches down and takes them both, weaving her fingers through mine.

"You said all you needed right now was me with you here and to know that I'm yours. I'm here, Edward, and I'm yours." She dips her head and presses her soft lips to mine. "I'm yours," she breathes.

And when her mouth is on mine, everything else fades away.

Her warm tongue slides inside, and I untangle our hands, so that I can lay my palms flat on her back to pull her in closer. She reaches up and fists my hair and I groan at the feel of her, at the taste of her: sweet like honey, mouth soft as silk. She soothes the monster threatening to rage. She calms the storm. She's sunshine in the middle of the tempest, and that's why I need her...that and so much more.

She raises herself up, and I hold her close because I can't be inside yet so I'll take the next best thing, but she pushes me away, not too much yet enough for it to be too much. So I give her some space, just enough so that she can move each of her legs to cradle my thighs, straddling me, and then she comes close again...close...close...and down.

I gasp sharply, hissing into her mouth. Her tongue dances against mine. She kisses like she moves.

She rocks like she dances, rhythmic; pressing up against where I'm throbbing. Soft fingers alternate between fisting my hair and caressing my scalp. When I thrust against her, hungry groans fill the air, hers and mine.

She rocks like she dances.

Slow and sensual, she pushes and I pull; back and forth creating our own erotic beat, our own raw tempo. I feel her searing heat through my denim. It begs for me, and I beg for it while the friction that her dancing creates drives me mad with need.

"Bella…" I breathe shakily.

And she rocks …God, she rocks…she rocks and she grinds…just like she dances.

The tempo picks up. Our kisses and tongues move erratically; frenzied. My hands snake under the hem of her shirt, palms splayed against her steamy skin, fingers digging into the grooves of her spine while she grinds harder, and I meet her thrust for thrust because she's already taught me how she likes my hips to move.

My mind is in the most perfect chaos. I can think of nothing beyond the woman dancing faster and faster on my lap, her breasts crushed against my heaving chest, soft as cushions, and I'm throbbing so hard I'm about to explode.

"I'm gonna…you're gonna make me…"

"Yes, Edward…I know…I want you to."

She swallows my groan, and whimpers into my mouth, undulating over me while my fingers dig harder, eyes pinching shut, trying desperately to keep myself from reaching down and ripping open my fly, splitting her pants because I can feel her heat, the wetness that makes her rock harder.

She sways, and I spin, and I have a feeling it'll always be this way for us.

"I've never…" – I drag my mouth away from her mouth to her ear, open-mouthed down her neck and throat, nipping the burning skin on her shoulder. My entire body trembles with want and need for the woman in my arms. "I've never wanted…like I want you…I've never…felt…like this…"

She wraps her hands around my face, and she moves so, so good. She's a dancer in every way and she's mine. She's my dancer, and I'm going to come in my pants, and I don't care. I don't care.

"I want you too, Edward. God, I want you, but just…just this for now, okay?" She rests her forehead on mine, her pleas barely audible breaths punctuated by soft whimpers. "Just like this for now...like this."

Nodding, I drag my hands down to her ass and squeeze and knead hard before driving my hips up and pulling her down. She cries out and arches her back, her mouth falling open while she holds my gaze through onyx eyes, riding it out before she crashes her mouth to mine, sliding her tongue wildly inside and I can't hold off any longer. I bury my face into her neck and grunt at the heat and the pressure and the fucking euphoria.

"Edward…" It's just a breath, just my name in a breath, but it brings me back. Her hands are soft in my hair now, kneading and massaging. Then she wraps her arms around me so securely, as if she wants to hold on as much as I do, as if she's as addicted as I am and rests her head on my shoulder. I shudder in her embrace while the aftershocks vibrate through me. For a long, long time, we simply hold each other.

"It's late," she whispers, her warm breath tickling my ear and making me shudder again. "Are you ready for bed?"

"Mm," I sigh, "But first, I need a shower."

She's quiet, and then we both chuckle.

A/N: Thoughts?

So not exactly a whole lemon yet, more like a small wedge you can squeeze into your tea. :)

We have one more part to the never-ending date, LOL, and then we'll get back to real life (at least, real life for these two). ;)

One or two have said that these last couple of chapters have been "fillers," and that nothing is happening. Now while I'll admit that they aren't action-packed, if you read between the lines, plenty is happening, especially in this chapter (besides the uhm…dry (or not so dry) humping). Plus E&B are finally getting to know each other. Let's give them an entire weekend to do so before they have to face the realities of the real world. :)

And now I'm going back to bed to see if I can finally sleep off this bug. I need a wedge of lemon and tea myself.

Twitter: PattyRosa817

Link to 'Stories by PattyRose' is on my profile page.