Chapter Sixteen
"Have you ever seen that many..." The tip of Bella's finger pushed gently against his lips, cutting him off.
"Remember what we agreed to do on the way here."
Right, the subject of ghosts and anything associated with them was not allowed to be a topic of discussion for the next ten to twelve hours. She needed some time to relax before they faced what lay ahead, and she couldn't do that if they talked about it. He offered her a sheepish smile, having forgotten as questions started to whirl in his thoughts.
The thousand or so answers he needed drifted to the back of his mind as she slipped her fingertip further between his lips. He gently nipped it, earning a soft laugh from her. There was a lightness in her eyes he hadn't seen before.
After a few moments though, her smile started to fall.
"I do want to thank you though," she whispered, a little hoarsely and tinged with something darker. Letting her hand fall away from his mouth, she tried to reconstruct a shield around her. He took her hand in his, his thumb brushing little circles on her skin hoping to stop the completion of the wall.
"Thank me for what?"
"For still being here." There was no missing the way her fingers tightened around his, as if she could stop him from leaving if he tried.
It would take time for her to trust that he wanted to stick around. He didn't blame her for being wary, she'd lost too many people in her life, and was constantly surrounded by death.
No wonder she worried about him and his ghostly family.
Deciding it wasn't time to push to have a heavy conversation, he went for something more playful.
"You mean here?" he asked, his hands dropping to the tops of her thighs, sliding up along the outside of her legs. Her breathing stopped for a second, her pretty lips falling open as she pushed her hips forward, asking for more of his touch. He pressed his lips to the center of her chest, working his way up her neck, nibbling and tasting her incredible skin. "Or here?"
By the time he reached her ear, her fingers were in his hair, and her chest rose and fell a little harder, faster. She whispered his name as he gently swiped his lips over her ear, and a spot just under it. It made her moan. The sound was soft, but he caught the slight vibration on his lips.
The need to lay her down and taste every inch of her had him reaching for her mouth, groaning into another kiss. Time seemed to pass strangely and in their languid exploration made everything else fall away. Until the distant sound of bells interrupted the moment, lunch had arrived, their matching smiles when they pulled away made them laugh.
"Hold that thought," he said as he stood, bending to press his lips to her forehead. "I'll grab the food, we'll eat, and maybe take this somewhere else."
She tilted her head to one side, her small nose scrunched in distaste. "It is kind of weird to be doing this in a stranger's house."
"I was thinking that, too," he said, shrugging and calling out as the front doorbell rang again. "Be right there!" He waggled his eyebrows over his shoulder as he tossed on his shirt, grabbed his wallet, and ran for the door sans pants.
Bella watched Edward walk down the hall, admiring his ass in dark blue boxer briefs. The man obviously worked out, an ass like that required some work. She tried to concentrate on the night ahead as she walked over to the bar. Edward was with her, so she promised herself she'd forget about the proverbial sword over her head for a while. Her hands shook as she found the pills she had put behind the bar for emergencies.
There was still plenty of time before the thing inside her needed to release, the only way to slow it down was to numb it. Two pills, that was it, she told herself. Only two.
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"What's your favorite part of this movie?" Edward asked shortly after putting in The Return of the Jedi, his mouth still full from a bite of food.
"Besides Hans Fucking Solo, I don't know, Leia. I always thought she was pretty bad ass, and you notice how not one of the men had a problem with following orders from her. That's awesome."
"Not the Ewoks," he said, teasing her. She tried to kick his knee with her foot, but he was too quick. He caught her ankle in his hand, and tugged until she was practically on his lap.
"They're cute and its obvious looks can be deceiving."
He hummed, tracing little patterns on her bare arm with the tips of his fingers. "Sort of like you." She didn't bother to answer, too preoccupied with his touch. "You feeling better?" His palm settled on her chest, warming her deep inside. The man had the ability to render her useless when he touched her. It had been a long time since anyone tried to take care of her, and she liked it more than she thought she would. Something she thought she didn't need, but now, with him so close and making her feel things, she craved what he offered her.
"A little," she said, settling her head on his shoulder. "Let's go to the bedroom and watch in there. I kind of feel like a perv knowing that Kate and Garrett's children usually use this room to watch movies and play video games."
"That is fucking weird." He stopped the movie and they worked together to clean up and close the house for the night. It was still early, not even six, but they knew they'd feel more comfortable in a space that was generally their own.
Hand in hand, they walked into the bedroom, once again stripping down to their underwear. They climbed into bed, settling against the headboard and each other as Bella restarted the movie that they'd already begun watching in the game/media room.
"Shouldn't you be preparing?" he asked, wishing he didn't have to take back his promise. He wanted to make sure she was able to handle the following morning when they returned to the property.
"This is preparing for me, Edward," Bella said, shaking her head. "I need to relax, categorize, and organize everything I'd seen and lock it up tight until I need it tomorrow. I know you're scared, and other than this, there's not much else I can do but relax. I will likely meditate in the morning for a few hours. Until then, being with you makes me feel a hundred times better than a bottle of tequila or vodka would."
It wasn't the first time she mentioned alcohol as a way to numb the voices they heard. The causal way she approached the subject scared him. There were other concerns about her health that he had to address if he was meant to relax, too.
"I need to ask you something," he said, taking her hand in his, playing with her fingers. Searching through the questions he had, he found one relatively safe. "Earlier, only your lower body or arms would phase, is there a reason for that?" He felt her shoulder shift beside his, and took a chance to look at her.
"I told you before I never fully phased, I'm too freaked out to even try. I don't know what will happen if my heart suddenly phased, but not my head. Would blood continue to pump through my body if I did phase from the neck down? Also, my brain sends all the signals, if its technically not there, does my body die? I know it's a fucking weird thing to worry about, considering everything that surrounds me, but I can't help it. I've never known anyone that can do what I can do. I've done some research into astral projection, but that means leaving the body. I don't do that though."
She was so flustered that her hands started to circle around, her face flushing to the tops of her ears, and her voice had risen.
"I don't blame you for worrying about that, I would be, too." Edward wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her against his side. "Hell, I am now that you've mentioned all this. The fact that you have that kind of control when you're brought to your knees by what you've seen is fucking impressive."
"There's so much I have to tell you, and I promise I will after all this."
She kissed his jaw, gently scraped her teeth along the edge. An efficient way to distract him, so much so that when he turned to capture her lips, he was lost in her. His thumb brushed over her cheek, his fingers cupping the back of her head, changing the angle to taste more of her. Warmth radiated from her and into him, hotter than anything he felt. It traveled like sparks along live wires everywhere they were connected, from their kiss-swollen lips to their wandering hands.
The movie playing became background noise as they shifted closer, their bodies intertwining, hips meeting. Their breathing patterns started to match, their lips moving over scorching skin. Her back arched off the bed as his tongue tasted the soft pink and pebbled tips of her breasts. His answering groan only brought her body closer, had her begging for more. One of his arms snuck beneath her back to pull her closer to his awaiting mouth. The tugging of her urgent fingers in his hair served to quicken his pace to taste more of her, to give her pleasure she'd never experienced before.
If he was one of many, he wanted to be the one she'd never forget.
His name on her lips drove him to savor, to memorize. He straddled her thighs and had her lift her arms over her head, stretching out her beautiful body for him to marvel at, to love with his eyes, hands, his lips, and his body. She twisted beneath him as he discovered a constellation of inked stars around her ribs. The subtle hints of color popped against her pale skin, and he gave each one a name and a through exploration with his tongue. The small indentation of her navel was sensitive under his mouth, making the taunt skin of her stomach slightly quiver.
"Edward." It was part plea and sigh; a sound he wanted to hear at least a hundred times by the end of the night. His fingers worked themselves beneath the soft black lace of her underwear, hiding from him what he wanted to desperately taste. Her lovely sounds picked up in pitch and frequency the second he put his lips on the sensitive skin between her thighs.
Higher and higher their desire rose together, when it was too much and not enough, he crawled over her body and drove inside her. With her eyes on his, she met every thrust of his hips and so much more. For every tender kiss there was an equally gentle whispered word. Her hands lingered on his back, loving how the muscles undulated with his every move.
Edward had little time to think, pulling out of her warm body to kiss her and keep her on the edge, his mouth between her thighs again. He wanted the moment to last as long as possible and he was too close to the coming apart. Bella tried to protest, to pull him up, but she cried out when he lavished attention right where she needed it.
She took him by surprise though, twisting until he was beneath her. He looked up from between her thighs, smug satisfaction racing through him as she was too lost in what he was doing to complain further. His tongue continued to tease as her head fell back, her hands moving over her breasts and into her hair. "So close," she hissed and looked down at him. Her lashes fluttered as he lifted her off his face and down until he could drive inside her. As need took over, she fell forward until their mouths met, her hips rolling over his in a rhythm that made his blood boil.
The little bite of his teeth over her bottom lip and his thumb moving between their bodies, had her body tightening all around him for several moments, before shaking in his hold. He thrust and thrust up into her, his mouth on her shoulder as he fell over the edge moments later.
Tired and sated, he had enough strength to pull a sheet over their bodies as they each settled into a dreamless sleep.
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"There's something wrong," James said outside the Williams' house.
"She always puts a shield up when she goes to bed," Vicky said, shrugging. Her red curls moved along with her shoulders, mesmerizing James. "If she didn't she'd dream about any spirit near her, she's the most vulnerable and open when she sleeps."
Jane tapped a beat on her thigh, and rose to her feet in one fluid movement. Being dead had some perks. "They have a right to some privacy, we all know that tomorrow is going to bitch for both of them."
"They deserve a break," Shelley said, already working on a new project. What happens to said projects, no one knew. They simply disappeared once they were done. One of those unknowns in their world.
"What should we do?" Vicky asked, picking invisible lint from her sweater. Jane wanted to roll her eyes at how obvious the newbie was trying not to look at James. According to her, it had been a year since she died and her murder was too prominent her mind. It didn't mean she coukd stop the desire for something more than floating around in the afterlife. Maybe Vicky was what James needed to stop being so afraid of everything.
"I don't know about any of you," Jane said, as she allowed her form to turn to shadow, "but I'm going back to that house and find out what we can before they return. If we arm them with as much information as possible, maybe it could help take some of the burden off."
"I'll go with you," Vicky stated, squaring her shoulders as she looked at the others to see if they'd follow.
James of course said he would go with them, wanting to be close to Vicky and keep an eye on Jane. Shelley decided to stay back just in case Edward and Bella would need them. As they started to fade away, a light downstairs came on, it was almost three in the morning. They couldn't see or hear who was up though, and that left them a little unsettled.
"Looks like they might have the munchies," Jane teased Shelley to lighten the moment, making the old woman blush. "I wonder what has them so hungry right now?" She left behind her laughter, a gift she knew Shelley always appreciated.
AN: A little break before the shit hits the fan. Only a few of you caught some of my hints I've weaved into the story. I wanted to wish to everyone a Happy New Year. As a difficult year comes to a close, I'm hoping that 2016 will be brighter for us all. The love and support I get from all of you is so very appreciated. Have a good one!
