Chapter Eighteen

Seeing Edward certainly helped put whatever lingering doubts Bella had to rest. Though the next few days centered geeky things and the Marvel Universe, Edward was there with her. It helped that some of the emotions and desire she felt she saw in his eyes, too.

Dressed in an old camo jacket, perfectly faded jeans, and boots, he looked damn good. Mouthwatering, in fact. It was hard to walk away from him, but she had to if they planned to check in at the hotel and get a few drinks with some fellow Comic Con enthusiasts. She had to get him into makeup and costume in the next hour.

She heard his footsteps in the hallway. "Maybe showering together isn't a good idea."

"Maybe." He dropped their bags by the foot of the bed, joining her in the large master bath. His arms wrapped around her from behind. "We have about an hour at most before we need to start getting ready, and that certainly isn't enough time to explore every inch of you."

Her head fell back against his shoulder, his lips doing delicious things to her ear and neck. "Just think, by this time tomorrow, when we're done for the day, we can come back and test that big water heater with a long shower."

He groaned. "That's hardly helping, Bella. You feel so damn good right here." His hands slid up her sides, his fingers grazing her breasts. "Correction, you feel damn good everywhere."

Bella's hips danced a hypnotic sway, feeling the effect she had on Edward. Their eyes met in the mirror over the counter, each of them itching for something to help take the edge off.

"Can you keep your hands to yourself?" Her words were a whisper and a dare, her eyes glancing toward the shower. "Just watch."

He lifted one of her hands to his lips, sucking on a fingertip. "No, but if I get to look at you washing yourself with these pretty fingers, I'm not passing that up."

Edward gave her waist one last squeeze, watching in her in the mirror as he started to strip. He'd driven from Oregon to San Francisco and wanted to get the stink of travel and summer heat off his skin.

Bella remained rooted by the counter, keeping her back to him as he stepped toward the shower. He lifted the shirt in that way men do, with a fistful of fabric and display of gorgeous muscles.

"Your turn, Bella."

The hungry look in his eyes had her nearly dancing for him, something he appreciated. A groan spilled from his lips, his hand rubbing over his hard length under his jeans. Her tiny shorts disappeared behind the door, her ass nearly bare, only covered by sheer fabric.

"Fuck." Edward climbed into the shower, his jeans and boxer briefs already gone. Water slipped from his hair, down his face, and lingered on his chest.

She couldn't stop staring at him through the mirror.

"Keep going." His voice was rough, his hands moving over his body to quickly wash away the feel and scent of traveling all day.

She simply nodded, desire making words catch in her throat. Her hands lifted her shirt over her head, tossing it aside. Another curse from Edward had her smiling, since she wasn't wearing anything underneath. "Oh, this is fun." She couldn't help but put a little more hip action in as she finished undressing.

Edward's grumbling came to a stop as she stood bare before the entrance to the shower. "Come here." He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it. Somehow, he managed to keep his eyes on just her face and eyes. Placing his hands on her hips, he guided their bodies around until the water cascaded over her head.

Bella's eyes rolled closed, the water the perfect temperature to elicit a moan of pleasure. She felt Edward's fingers tighten around her hips for just a moment, long enough to know he planned on letting go.

She grabbed a hold of his wrists, opening her eyes to meet his darkened gaze. "One more second." At his nod, a mischievous grin found its way onto her lips. "I just want to try one thing before we stop." She moved his hand from her hip to her ass, his cock hard, twitching against her stomach.

"Fucking hell, woman!" He wasn't mad, considering he gave her ass a squeeze. As payback, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, hard enough to make her squeal and lifting her feet off the ground.

"I swear if you drop me or we slip on this wet tile, I'm going to kick you where it hurts."

Edward had yet to put her down, but he pulled back to see the grin still on her face. "That would be a fucking tragedy, considering that 'it' has plans this week."

Her laughter made her body move in a way that had him groaning again. He put her down, helping her washing her hair as they discussed what the plan was after they finished getting dressed. She estimated she needed about ninety minutes for his prosthetics and makeup; her "costume", being much simpler, only needed about forty-five minutes, at most.

Since they didn't have a chance to do a test run on the makeup for Edward's new costume, it would be the first time and she was already nervous about it. She stepped out of the shower, in business mode, still discussing their plans, something Edward understood perfectly and admired her for it.

The problem was his body hadn't received the message.

"Are you coming?" She met his gaze in the mirror, her mouth dropped open when she realized he was stroking himself.

"Give me about five minutes, I'll join you in a bit." He cocked an eyebrow when she didn't move, just kept watching him. "If you keep looking at me like that, maybe less."

"How am I supposed to walk away?" She threw her hands up in the air, the towel she wrapped around her body falling to the ground. "Oops." Her bending down to grab it didn't help matters.

Or maybe it did since Edward's following grunt was deep.

"I'm going now." She had to get out of there before she gave into the need to help him take care of his problem. Her hand refused to twist the knob, her fingers slipping beneath her towel. Maybe she could…

"Fuck me," Edward groaned, and she turned to find him reaching for the door to the shower. He appeared to be at the end of his rope. "You better go, Swan."

She did.

.

.

.

Fifteen minutes later, they met up in the large walk-in closet of the master bedroom. The lighting was perfect to suit Bella's needs. In the center, a large, dark leather chaise lounge chair held their costumes. The vanity along the east wall was almost six feet long and kept all her supplies within reach.

Edward sat in a comfortable chair in front of the bright lighting, directly under one of the air conditioning vents. Since makeup was only needed for his face and hands, Bella worked fast to recreate Vision's unique skin color. She had worked out the perfect formula over the last few days, and had been able to replicate it with ease.

"Did you just shave?" Her fingers skimmed along his jaw, eliciting a shiver in him. She ignored the reaction, though a part of her thrived on the fact that her touch caused such an effect.

"Yes."

She got to work on priming his face, checking for any problem areas. His skin was smooth and blemish free, and other than a scar along the underside of his chin, she was rather impressed. Music played from some hidden speakers in the room, filling the silence between them.

"What's wrong?" She couldn't take his silence. It had been close in the shower, but they managed to walk away before acting on what they wanted. What was his problem?

"I have to tell you something and you're not going to like it."

Her hands stilled, one in his hair and the other holding up a brush. "Just tell me, because right now my imagination is going a little crazy."

His brow tightened before he looked up at her. "Sorry, I guess I understand why what I said would upset you." He patted her thigh, skimming his fingers over her knee. "There's no one else, Bella. Trust me on that."

"I do, I swear, but for a second, I thought the worst. That you changed your mind or something. Sorry. Please continue." She was babbling, laughing internally at herself. He had made it clear, practically since they met, that he was serious about her.

"Ican'twearcontacts."

"What was that?"

Edward glared at the mirror, though not at her reflection, but himself. "I can't wear contacts."

"You have to wear contacts. Your eyes are the most recognizable feature other than your magical fucking jaw."

"Magical jaw?" He rubbed said jaw with his fingers, smirking as she stared. "You think this is magical, just wait until—"

She tugged on his hair, causing him to yelp in surprise. "I'm quite aware of the magic in your pants, Cullen. What I'm trying to say is that you need to wear contacts. There's no way any of this will work, if you don't."

"I've tried wearing them before, I can't get them in my damn eyes."

His confession was said with such conviction, Bella believed him. It would explain how producers and directions always changed a character's eye color if it meant Edward Cullen would star in their films. She was surprised it hadn't been a part of the gossip that usually spread among film crew.

"Are we talking Rachel Green level of phobia or a lesser extreme?"

"I'm not that bad."

They were, of course, talking about an episode of Friends where Rachel's character had an eye infection and couldn't even put eyedrops in her eyes for it, until Monica took matters into her own hands.

"But you've never been able to put in your contacts."

"Or let anyone do it, either."

Bella groaned and started to pace. "We don't have time for this. I can't believe you waited this long to tell me. What are you supposed to do now? If I had known, we could've found costumes that had some kind of eye mask."

"No one will notice it's me under all the makeup tonight."

"Your eyes are going to pop against all this scorched scarlet skin."

"Anyone there will be more focused on your legs than my damn eyes."

She threw a makeup brush at his chest. "Don't try to distract me with compliments. We're going to put in the contacts that I special ordered. End of discussion."

"I'm telling you, I've tried everything. I can't relax enough to put them in and eventually gave up on trying. I lost a movie role during my early career because I couldn't do it."

"How about I tell you that the only way you're getting these lips," she pointed to her mouth, even pouting a little to tease him, "anywhere near your dick, is if you put on the contacts?"

His eyes widened to near saucers. How did he think no one would recognize that unique shade of hunter green? One look from a fan or hater and his identity would be given away in seconds.

"You're serious?"

She stood in front of him, taking his hand in hers and lifting one of his fingers into her mouth. Teasing him with a little bite and deep suck, she had him right where she wanted him.

His mouth dropped open. "F-fuck, I'll do it."

She dropped his hand and gave him a brush of her lips. "The second we get to the hotel room successfully, without giving your identity away, I let my lips show my appreciation for doing it."

Edward's eyes narrowed as he shifted on the chair to get comfortable again. She started to work on his face again, humming along to the music.

"I finally figured you out, Swan."

"What have you figured out?"

"You're trying to kill me. You're one of those obsessed fans, and if I don't do what you say, you're going to go crazy Misery style."

The smile on her face fell, the warmth in her eyes turning ice cold. "Where's my sledge hammer?"

"Ha, ha." When her façade didn't change, he cleared his throat. "You're good and fucking scary. Go back to my Bella, please."

The change was instant, her hands lifting to his face so she could look into his eyes. "I like being your Bella."

His gaze lingered on hers, finally dropping to her lips. "Any chance I can be your Edward?"

She returned to her work, but not before pressing a soft kiss on his cheek. "I say chances are very good."

AN: So their other costumes are Vision and Wanda, but in everyday clothing, not costumes they wear during battles. The plan is wear them for the first day or so, but for day there is a lot of Marvel panels, they'll go as Loki and Winter Soldier. Now, to get them to the hotel and see if Bella's work allows Edward to walk among other CC fans.