Dear guest reviewer hellbent on destroying my confidence. Feel free to sign in and confront me personally. You might have upset me for a small period of time but for every one of your flames I have dozens of supportive and loving reviews from people brave enough to take responsibility for their words. My army is bigger and better than yours. I doubt you have many friends and I sincerely hope that if you do they aren't witness to your insufferable prejudice. God forbid anyone close to you having any sort of struggle. So climb off that pedestal you seem to have placed yourself on and let's have words.

31

The Hermit

As time passes and Bella makes progress one block at a time, first at night and then during the day, Edward starts rewarding her.

It's little things. A bouquet. Her special cookies. Orgasms.

As nice as they all are, she enjoys the latter the most. She's a fiend.

Imagine her surprise when Edward stumbles into the house the day after she makes it eight blocks, carrying a huge sack of flour over his shoulder and a giant box in his arms.

"Honey?"

"Sugar! Can you come untie my shoes? I don't want to track mud through the house."

Bella nods and rushes over, helping him slide out of his work shoes. "What is all this?"

"Your reward ... sort of. Truthfully, I don't know how you'll interpret it."

He leads the way to the kitchen and drops the box on the counter, wincing at the sound of the contents shifting. "I hope I didn't just break the eggs because it's been raining cats and dogs out there, and I really don't want to go back out."

Bella peers over the side of the box and finds enough supplies to do some serious baking. "You brought work home tonight?" she asks, picking up an unlabeled box and opening it. Inside is a collection of professional cookie cutters in all shapes and forms. "I thought you didn't do decorated cookies."

Edward smiles. "We don't, not yet at least."

"Okay?"

"Rosalie and I were talking today, and we think we should add that aspect to the business. We get calls daily, asking if we do custom cookies. Rosalie had the idea that we could utilize your skills until you're ready to join us down at The Bakery as a permanent thing."

Bella's eyes widen.

Edward's never mentioned her joining his business before. "You're doing so well, and I can feel it in my bones, Sugar. You're going to be working alongside me soon. It helps that I start at five in the morning, and we'll have nothing to do with the front of the house. Our deliveries arrive after hours, so aside from the health inspector, you won't be surprised by anyone."

Bella can feel the tingle of anxiety start at the base of her neck, but Edward is quick to calm her.

"We aren't talking about it happening tomorrow, Sugar. When you're ready. Until then, we want to do a home trial run. We got a call for a baby shower today—simple storks, pacifiers, and rattles. They need them the day after tomorrow and know that we can't guarantee product. We'll just take the flack if it doesn't work out."

"Edward."

"I brought you enough stuff for about a thousand cookies, but they only need one hundred and fifty. You aren't disappointing anyone if you aren't up for it, but we should really let the customer know as soon as possible."

Bella smiles and wraps her arms around Edward's neck. "I would love to do this for you and Rose. I would do anything for you, but I have to say you're jumping the gun. Who said I wanted to join you and Rose down at the shop when I'm able to? What if I want to go to school or work at Whole Foods?"

The color drains from Edward's face, and his goofy smile drops.

"I'm kidding, Honey. It sounds like a dream. You know I love to bake. It would be amazing to work beside you." She kisses him and pulls away. "Now, get out of my kitchen. I've got work to do."

Edward changes out of his work clothes and sits at the table, watching Bella work while he plays on his computer.

She takes up most of the table and the entire counter space. Setting up everything methodically and working quickly and efficiently. She wants to make him proud.

The first batch comes out less than perfect. Bella realizes that she forgot the baking powder and dumps the entire thing, starting from scratch. Her skin gets overheated working around the kitchen and underneath Edward's watchful eye, so she asks him to open the back door and grins like a mad woman when the second batch comes out perfectly.

"Yes," she hisses, placing them on the cooling racks on the table.

Edward's hand snakes out to grab a fresh cookie, and she slaps his hand away.

"You can get the rejects."

He pouts and wraps one of his large hands around the back of her thigh, pulling her toward him. "Can you take a break?"

Bella squirms, taking in his dilated pupils and the way he wets his bottom lip with the tip of his tongue.

How did she live without this for three weeks?

She wants to give in. To strip him down and ride him in the very chair he's sitting on, but instead, she pulls back, shaking her head.

"I'm not having a quicky in the middle of doing my first professional cookie job. It will have to wait."

"But ..."

"But nothing, Honey. It's not like we could go at it in the pantry down at The Bakery whenever we feel like it, so we should start practicing some self-restraint now."

Edward's frown deepens, and he reaches for his phone.

"What are you doing?"

"Calling the Denali's and telling them we can't fill their order."

"Edward Cullen, don't you dare." Bella snatches his phone out of his hands and puts it in her back pocket. "You're the one who asked me to do this, and now you're acting like a petulant child."

"I didn't realize how sexy it was going to be to watch you in the kitchen."

Bella snorts. "You watch me cook all the time. Come up with something else, yeah?"

"I haven't been inside you in"—Edward checks his watch—"twelve and a half hours, and I need you."

"I'm sorry. This is important to me. Feel free to go upstairs. You know where the lotion is."

Edward glares. "I'm not going to go upstairs and jack off when I have you down here. How much longer?"

"Two hours, maybe more. Go watch a movie and time will move by more quickly. You can order take-out, and then I'll let you turn me into a leopard."

His goofy grin returns, and Edward slams his laptop shut before practically skipping into the living room.

The man and his hickies.

Bella considers asking Zafrina if Edward's obsession could stem from something or maybe he's just really into vampires.

Right now, he's still addicted to anything with zombies, and Bella has seen every episode of "The Walking Dead" as well as the after shows.

She works quietly, baking and cooling the actual cookies before mixing up all the different icing colors she's going to need.

Bella is trying to get the perfect shade of baby blue, considering the baby shower is for a boy, but the food coloring powder Edward brought home refuses to cooperate.

She's never worked with it. It's a little ridiculous if you ask her. She's closing the container and reaching for her gels when the dust slips out of her fingers and a cloud of blue bursts right in her face, filling her lungs. She's still coughing and wiping her face when Edward rounds the corner.

His worried frown turns into an amused smile. "Should we wait for an Oompa Loompa to come take you to the juicer, Violet? You're entirely violet."

Bella flips him off and sips water straight from the tap, scrubbing her face with a dish towel. "You suck."

"Not as good as you do. Speaking of sucking." He wiggles his eyebrows.

She glares at him. "Get out of my kitchen. I have work to do."

"Yes, ma'am. Love you too." He grabs a Coke from the fridge and stalks back to the living room.

Bella cleans the counter and tosses the entire collection of powders back in their box. She's not using that shit anymore, but maybe Edward can find a use for them down at the bakery.

Her gels work just fine, and she's quickly outlining and then flooding each cookie, using toothpicks to get air bubbles and imperfections out of the way when Edward returns to watch her.

"How the fuck do you do that?"

Bella shrugs.

"Alice and I have been doing it for a couple of years now, and I just have a knack for it, I guess."

"Speaking of Alice, have you talked to her?"

Bella frowns. She hasn't seen her sister since before Christmas, and now it's February. Death has struck Jasper's family in quick succession. First his grandfather, and then his grandmother followed closely behind, unable to live without her husband. Alice and Jasper were heading home, waiting for their layover, when they got the call—Jasper's father was killed in a trucking accident. They turned right around and have been staying with his mother during this trying time.

Alice can't give her a date they plan on returning. Everything is up in the air right now.

"She's hanging in there. She wants to come home, but Maria needs them." She turns back to the little baby rattles she's finishing up.

"I couldn't imagine being in Jasper's position."

"Me either, but then again, I don't have any living grandparents or aunts and uncles ... my parents are already dead to me." Bella drops her piping bag in the sink and turns to Edward. "I'm finished. What do you think?"

Edward walks through the kitchen, looking over all of her hard work. "Bella, these are amazing. The Denalis are going to love them."

"Thanks." She bites her lip. "They need to harden for a little while before I can box them."

"I can show you something that's already hard." He stalks toward her. "You're still blue, so I want you upstairs, naked and in the shower in one minute."

"Edward." Bella laughs.

"Fifty-seven. Fifty-six …"

She giggles and stumbles up the stairs, stripping as she goes and flipping the shower on, almost tripping on her pants in her haste.

Edward makes her wait. When he enters the bathroom, his eyes rake over her naked body, head to toe and then back up again. "You've made me wait for hours, you know." He growls.

Bella walks to him and reaches for his shirt. "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you."

"Hmm." He grips her bare hips while she pushes his pants and boxers off his hips.

His erection springs up, leaking and beautiful.

Bella drops a folded towel on the floor and kneels before him, grabbing both hands and twisting them into her hair.

The pain makes her so hot.

Just like Edward's obsession with hickeys.

They're both a couple of freaks.

Bella runs her tongue along the underside of Edward's cock before popping the leaking tip into her mouth and groaning. She loves giving Edward head. Watching him lose control, thrusting down her throat and pulling at her hair. Coming in her mouth, and then kissing her with so much passion. Fucking her hard and fast until she's losing it all over him.

She's come a long way from the girl who was afraid to hold his hand.

And it's all thanks to him.

"Fuck, Sugar." Edward's grip tightens, and she knows he's close.

She takes him all the way in and hums as she pulls back.

Three …

Two …

One …

Bingo!

Edward comes with a low growl and pulls away before she can clean him off.

He pulls her to her feet, shoves his tongue in her mouth, and pushes her into the shower in quick succession. He recovers in record time, sitting on the bench seat on the far wall and pulling Bella onto his lap.

"Ride me, Sugar," he tells her, pulling her down on top of him with one hard thrust.

"Fuck." Bella gasps.

Edward starts to ask her if she's okay, but she grabs the rack above his head with one hand, something they've added recently, the other finding her clit, and bounces in his lap until she's clamping down on him and screaming his name.

Edward releases inside her with a roar, gripping her hips so tightly she knows he's going to leave bruises.

She'll feel him for days after this. She loves it when he's rough. When he loses control and can't stop himself.

Bella has learned a lot since Edward moved in next door.

One of the most important things is that she's stronger than she'll ever give herself credit for. As she lets go of her painful past and moves on, Bella's life gets better and better with each small step.

And Edward is going to be with her every second of it.

She couldn't be happier.

This honestly is the last update until Saturday. Happy holidays, friends