A/N: Goddamn, did I really just write 9K words of a total of zero things happening in this chapter? I might need medical attention.
Fair warning, I had to fade to black a few times like a coward because otherwise this chapter would've been too PWP for the story, lol. (Admittedly, our dirty Professor Cullen and Doctor Swan would make excellent PWP material.) I left some at the end, though. Feel free to skip :)
I hope you enjoy.
...
Maybe a Dance
by Anton M.
Chapter 30: Meet the Cabin
...
Edward drove off the beaten track several kilometres northwest of Twenty Mile Bay. According to the offline Google Map Bella had downloaded, they had to take a gravel road toward Harrison Lake before making a u-turn half around a mountain, and she was still trying to make sure that they chose the correct road when Edward turned off the car and pulled up the handbrake.
He whistled, eyes twinkling when he caught her eye and took her hand, motioning for her to look up.
Her eyes widened.
"No way," Bella whispered, grinning. "How rich are they?"
A staircase in the woods led to a house built half into the mountain with an old-looking concrete bottom but wood and glass on top. A few lodgepole pines hid the tinted glass, slightly camouflaging the house.
"They're DINKs in their early fifties, both established in their fields," Edward explained, enjoying her wide-eyed amazement. "Didn't think they'd have something like this, though."
"DINKs?"
"Double income, no kids."
They gathered their stuff from the car before Edward locked it, and he warned her against the possibly slippery steps but there was sand under the inch-or-two worth of snow, and the steps lit up as they climbed them. It felt like a dream.
"Someone's been here," Edward said, gripping her hand tightly and sending warmth through her at the gesture. "The steps have been cleared in the morning."
Bella was grateful to have worn sweatpants for the day because the wind cut her face like a knife.
"If the house has been warmed up for us they are in for a lifetime's worth of Christmas cards."
Edward grinned, and both felt slightly star-struck as they climbed the stairs—the view behind them got more and more breathtaking the higher they climbed.
"Do you think we'll ever be able to afford something like this?" Bella asked as Edward entered a code in the safe for keys hidden behind the corner of the house.
"Maybe if we sell our kidneys." Edward closed the safe and threw her the keys.
Laughing, Bella caught them.
"Who needs kidneys anyway? I'm willing to give up a part of my liver, too—grows back anyway—and maybe some bone marrow."
Smiling, Edward joined her on the terrace. Snow-capped mountains could be seen through the falling snow across the lake, and tree-covered mountainsides surrounded them. A breeze blew snowflakes in their faces. It felt more than quiet, it felt serene, and Edward couldn't help but admire Bella taking in the now darkening scenery. Her eyes lit up when she noticed him looking at her.
"It is now my life's mission to become best friends with Doctor and Professor Graham-Lin."
Edward laughed.
Bella unlocked the door, and they entered the cabin that felt more like a small house, much more spacious on the inside than it seemed from the outside. An entire wall made of glass showed the view, and the place only had one big room with a half-wall hiding the bedroom. The windowless side against the mountain had a kitchen corner with an oak table, and floor-to-ceiling rows of books covered the half-wall between the bedroom and the living space. It felt cozy but tasteful and expensive.
They had two power generators for electricity, warmth and warm water.
They dropped their bags on the hallway floor. Bella played with rows of light switches until she found a warm, dim light that felt cozy. They removed their extra layers, realizing that yes, the cabin had been warmed up for them. A card was folded against sparkling wine on the table.
"If we ever get divorced I get the Graham-Lins," Bella said.
Edward grinned and pressed a kiss against her hair, reading the card from over her shoulder. Bella put it down, turned, and slid her hands under his shirt, feeling goosebumps at the way he watched her, lips parted, dazed, observing her face with his half-hooded gaze as if she'd vanish any minute.
"Nobody's ever looked at me like that," she said in wonder.
Edward stepped closer, tall and wide-shouldered against her, and his scent sent a flurry of butterflies through her. He took her neck in her hands and whispered, "And how is that?" against her ear.
Bella could've burst into flames. She hadn't stopped walking on air since he'd asked her to marry him, and she wasn't sure how to function as a human with how weightless his love made her feel.
"Like you want to breathe me and eat me and..."
He breathed against her ear, his voice low. "And...?"
"Slide into me," she finished, feeling breathless in his arms.
He squeezed her against him, rubbing his beard against her cheek, and he had the cutest twinkle in his eyes. "All of that," he whispered, with yearning and awe in his voice as he locked eyes with her. "Forever."
She tiptoed to kiss him, and he breathed her in like he'd never taken a breath before, lifting her on the kitchen table and sliding his hands under her hoodie, pressing himself closer as his tongue met hers. Light-headed with desire, she squeezed the taut, warm muscles on his back, humming against his lips, needing him closer and harder. She wrapped her legs around his hips and attempted to tear off his sweatshirt but paused, suddenly reminded of a sticky kind of mess she needed to handle. She grinned against his mouth.
"Do you think they have a washer and drier?" she asked.
Edward's hands stilled on her ass as he laughed against her neck.
"I'm glad we have a fake story of my proposal," he said.
After Edward's proposal, the love-drunk couple couldn't feel each other close enough and had sex in the passenger's seat of Bella's car. It was funny, naughty and messy, but oh-so-hot, and they were incredibly lucky that the few passing cars weren't locals concerned about a vehicle stranded in the falling snow.
"I'm sorry for... how it happened," Edward said. "I didn't mean to burst it out like that."
"I loved it," Bella replied. "It was perfect. If that's what you come up with without a plan, I'm glad you didn't get to schedule it because I would've burst into flames."
He laughed and kissed her, holding her in his arms as he carried her through the only door he could see, which was, indeed, a washroom, with a small washer and a drier. Not only that, but the hot water spigot had been left on for them.
"That's it," Bella whispered. "I'm officially adopting the Graham-Lins."
She adored the way Edward's laughter reverberated through her body, but then his hot lips pressed against hers, his fingers dug into her skin, and she felt tingly and breathless with need. They left a pile of laundry on the floor as they stripped each other naked, and Bella pressed her open mouth against his neck as he lifted her into his arms and against the wall. She revelled in his strength, admiring the ink on his skin before Edward pulled back his face and stared at her naked body, eyes so tender and aflame they sent shivers down her spine.
Their eyes met, and he groaned when she tugged at his hair.
"Good God," he whispered, pressing his hard-on into her and brushing his soft lips against hers. "I can't believe you're mine."
...
Bella, lying on her back, wiped her damp hair so that it would fall above his shoulder. Her head rested on his bicep. Edward was on his side against the back of the couch, his thigh thrown over her hips and eyes following his fingers as he trailed little lines from her neck to her breasts and back again. They were both naked with a sheet crumpled over their legs. His skin was oh-so-warm against hers, and she felt goosebumps run down her spine at his touch. His lips were slightly parted and incredibly kissable, and Bella felt like her heart couldn't contain her giddy disbelief.
Professor Cullen, brilliant and sweet, fit and covered in tattoos, with his whitish beard and hair, was about to be her husband. She felt like pinching herself.
Wind whistled as it blew snowflakes against the window, and the view had darkened to a deep blue with contours of mountains visible if one looked long enough. The dim lights inside only lit up lower parts of the walls, casting a yellowish hue on the room. It felt warm and cozy. They'd warmed up Esme's leftovers on the gas stove but hadn't bothered to get dressed as they ate, and it was a relief for both of them to enjoy each other with no pretense of how long they'd been together.
"So what does it feel like to be engaged to your crush?" Bella asked, eyes twinkling.
Edward brushed his fingers over her cheek.
"You know when you have a crush on someone, but when you get to know them, you realize your mind made up a person who doesn't exist and you only ever loved the thought of them but... that illusion is gone? I was mentally preparing myself for that when I invited you to spend Christmas with me and my family. But then, I got to know you, and... you were better."
"You are so full of yourself," Bella replied, grinning. "Nobody is better than the fantasy."
"You are."
"So my stage fright, size 10 feet, kiwi allergy and the fact that I can't leave the house without my skincare routine made me better than your fantasy?"
Edward kissed her knuckles. "Yes."
"Do you know how many dinners you're looking forward to where, if I'm tired, I just slump and fall asleep on my chair while you're telling me about your day?"
Edward grinned. "I can't wait."
"You are a strange man."
He laughed, looking at her with a quiet, sparkling intensity that made her heart burst.
"Wait, you have size 10 feet? Show me."
She wiggled her toes out of the sheet before Edward set his foot next to hers.
"Ha!" Edward grinned. "Mine are still bigger."
He covered their legs with the sheet again before he pulled her closer and nuzzled her hair. Bella felt breathless with affection. Finally, finally it felt like they had all the time in the world to get to know each other, and it was a wonder to be privy to this personal, affectionate side of Professor Cullen and not have a time limit to their conversation.
"That day, when Esme said we were never going to divorce," Bella said, changing the subject. "What was she going to say? And why were you so terrified of her saying it?"
Edward stifled his smile as he played with a tendril of her hair, tickling her neck. He stopped when Bella attempted to wriggle out of his arms.
"I was worried she'd tell you I was in love with you," Edward replied, voice low and soft. "I didn't think you were ready to hear it, but more importantly, I definitely didn't want my mother to be the person you heard it from."
"How'd you know I wouldn't think it was part of our farce, though?"
"I'm not that good of an actor," he admitted. "You would've known."
"But how did Esme know?"
"We talked the previous night. I didn't intend to tell her, obviously, but it was heavily implied and I couldn't deny it."
"Where was I?"
"Asleep in my arms."
Feeling warmth spread through her, Bella ran her fingers through his hair. "I love you," she whispered. She pressed a small kiss against his lips. "But how does that prevent us from ever getting divorced? Everyone is head over heels at first. Being in love is no guarantee that you can build a life together."
"I don't disagree," Edward replied. "And only she can tell you what her reasoning would've been, but... I told her that..." He hesitated, his voice a whisper away from being inaudible. "If this is what being in love is supposed to feel like, I've never been in love before you."
Bella felt a burst of affection explode in her chest. She turned on her side, resting the side of her face on her hand.
"Really?" she asked, incredulous.
"Really," he answered softly. "I didn't know it could be like this... that I don't have to hide who I am, that I could share everything, that... that a person could consume everything that I am the way you do. Every day, you show me how surreal my life could be with you in it, and... I don't think I'd survive it if anything were to happen to you."
Bella crushed herself against his chest, pressing her lips against his, feeling overwhelmed and speechless at his declaration. She felt in awe of his feelings and the way he looked at her, eyes tender and yearning, it just about set her aflame.
"Everything you said, I feel," she whispered against his lips. "Everything."
Edward's eyes softened.
"I've been in love before," Bella admitted, seeing no reason to lie. "But... never like this. It's a little bit scary, honestly. I feel more strongly towards you than what I felt for all of my ex-boyfriends combined, and it's, what, day five of us being officially together? If my feelings grow any more intense, you'll have to carry me around in your pocket."
Their legs entangled when Edward squeezed her tighter against his warm, naked body. "I would love nothing more," he replied.
Wind whistled outside the cabin. Edward brushed his fingers through her hair, admiring her face with an intensity that gave her goosebumps.
"Do you feel like this is... too good to be true?" Bella asked, quietly, almost like she didn't want to disturb the wind.
"Terrified," Edward replied. "It's too surreal to be happening to me. I don't deserve this."
"You definitely deserve this," Bella argued. "It sounds like you deserve it like nobody else. You know, I... I wish we'd met sooner. Maybe if you'd been home while I was there, or I'd had a semester in Yale, we could've had years more together."
"Jesus. I wouldn't have known what to do with myself if I fell for you at Yale." Edward pressed a brief, warm kiss against her lips. "But I wish we'd met even sooner. You did your Bachelor's at Simon Fraser, right? I did my Master's there. I left Canada somewhere in mid-December. There must've been a half-year overlap when we were both at Simon Fraser but never bumped into each other. It would've been crazy tough doing long distance with you for eight years, but... fuck, the kind of support you would've been for me, I would've pulled through sooner. I can't imagine what it would've been like to have had you by my side through those eight years. I would've been a different person by now."
"Eight years of long distance," Bella repeated, slowly, taking it in. "Although... if we'd started dating when I was starting my Bachelor's, I would've probably applied for a university in Connecticut for my Master's. Maybe even Yale."
"I would've fought you tooth and nail to make sure you didn't apply for Yale."
"Nice rhyming," Bella replied, touching his beard with her fingertips. "Stanković?"
Edward's smile was tight. "Even if you were in a different department, your interests overlap enough that you would've come across him, and... he's charming as fuck, and he gets obsessed with students sometimes. He would've lured you into collaborating with him. No. I would've rather died than watched you have anxiety attacks because of him."
Bella cupped his jaw and kissed him. His beard tickled her skin as his soft lips moved against hers, and she felt a precious jolt run down her spine when his large hands squeezed her tighter against him. Nothing had made her feel as protected as his arms did, holding her, squeezing her, squishing her against him. He was warm and solid against her, rolling her on her back as they continued making out, and she loved the way he growled when she tugged at his hair. She felt alight with love.
He rested his forehead against hers, hovering above her, eyes half-hooded and adorable, and she pressed a kiss against his nose, eyes twinkling with mirth.
"You know what's funny?"
"What?"
"If we'd met sooner and done long distance and only had enough money to meet once a year, you still would've had more sex these past eight years than you actually had with a girlfriend living in the same city."
Edward blinked, staring at her, and Bella's smile faded as she prepared to apologize, but then he collapsed against her and started laughing against her neck. "Baby, I love you. Adore you. I'm going to marry you and live in a shoebox with you and make love to you forever."
Bella crushed him against her and grinned against his ear. She let out a soft gasp when she felt his cock harden against her stomach. "Not here, baby," Edward panted, lifting her hips to drag the sheets under them. "Our mission to be best friends with the Graham-Lins won't succeed if we have to explain come stains on their fancy blue satin."
Turned on but delirious with happiness, Bella laughed. Edward rolled himself back on his side, eyes sparkling as he watched her, forcing himself to calm down and not overwhelm her with his constant need of her. He trailed his fingers over her hips, down to her waist and back again. Snowflakes beat against the window during a particularly harsh gust of wind, but the sounds only made their cabin cocoon feel that much cozier.
"Are you really scared that this is too fast?" Edward asked.
"A little bit," Bella replied. "Not enough to stop it, but... I just hope you don't wake up one day from being deliriously drunk on being in love to discovering that you never really wanted me in your long-term plan."
"Baby, you are my long-term plan," Edward replied in earnest, not missing a beat. "Do you want me to give you a year or two to think about it? To see if you can find someone who fits you better?"
"No!"
Relieved beyond words, Edward kissed the top of her nose, her eyebrows, and then her lips. "I'm not saying it'll be perfect. We'll butt heads at some point, but... baby, you are so open. The way you communicate and solve problems is so impressive it takes my breath away. We can do this."
"I know," Bella said, afloat in his gaze. She scratched his beard. "But aren't you scared?"
"Not about this. But... the thought of losing you? Terrifying. Never quite knew fear like this." He paused, locking eyes with her, squeezing her, realizing something. "You know, you're my first real experience with fear, and now, you'll probably be the last, too."
When Bella was four and Edward nine (and a half), Charlie took the three kids to the local supermarket, Save-On-Foods, after a Saturday of excellent behaviour by the kids when Charlie, Renee and Esme painted the Cullens' garage wall together. Carlisle was at work. While they were in the store, though, one of Charlie's coworkers got into a semi-serious car accident, and Charlie made Edward swear he'd stay in the store with the girls so that Charlie could run out to help. Edward begged to go with him but Charlie didn't budge, and the boy groaned when he had to babysit the two annoying girls instead of getting to see a cool car crash in real life.
Bella took after her father. Charlie knew half of Chilliwack by name and the other half by face, and whenever he had Bella in tow, she learned his jolly way of talking to people. She was fearless. She walked up to anyone and picked up a chat, just like her dad did, and so when Edward and Alice began to argue whether the tiny plastic ball on the shelf was really a Tamagotchi, Bella saw an old lady whose bag broke outside the store and walked out to help her. It was sunny. Bella gave all four oranges back to the lady, and when the lady asked where her parents were, she pointed at the road and started walking so confidently the lady didn't question her.
Bella didn't find her dad on the road she thought he'd be on, though. She couldn't see him anywhere. But her dad had told her that she was a big girl, now. The drive to the supermarket only took ten minutes, so she thought, that's not too long, and began to walk home. She imagined how impressed Esme would be with what a big girl she was now, walking herself home.
But there was an intersection she didn't remember, and as she stood there, thinking, a white van pulled up next to her. The window was rolled down.
"Bells! What in the world are you doing here all alone? Where's mommy and daddy?"
"Billy!" Bella grinned, jumping from joy. Billy's curly brown hair was in a pony tail, and he wore a khaki jacket and dirty old jeans. "Mommy is visiting her friend Nicola. Daddy is helping with a car crash. I'm walking myself home like a big girl!"
"Jesus Christ." Billy scooted to the passenger side and opened the door. "You cannot do that, Bells. The city is safe but you're still small. Tell me, are the Cullens home?"
"Esme's home!"
"Good." Billy lifted the chubby little girl into his van and shut the door. "A car crash, you said? It's no place for a kid. I still need to go to Scott's, but I'll drive you back to Esme after that, and then I'll figure out where Charlie and the car crash is. How does that sound?"
Bella was already jumping up and down as Billy fastened her seatbelt. "Did you get a new van, Billy? I thought your van was blue!"
The story of Billy finding little Bella was not quite as joyous for the rest of the world as a horrified young couple with a pram saw a middle-aged man lift a kid into his white van and drive off. They couldn't see its number plate but the young man ran home and called the police.
When Charlie made it back to the supermarket, Alice and Edward were still arguing, and Bella was nowhere to be seen. They searched the store. They searched the outside of the store. When Charlie, beginning to panic, asked the store manager to use the phone, he found out from the police that a girl with Bella's description had been lifted into a white van two blocks from the store. They suspected abduction and had troops on the way.
Putting down the phone, Charlie locked eyes with Edward. "If my little girl is—" he said, voice shaking, "then you are—" Charlie motioned at his neck, slashing it, and Edward gulped and went ghostly pale. He was terrified.
The entire city began a search for a white van and a little girl. But Scott lived in the prairie off the main roads, and so Billy dropped by Scott's place without a hitch before delivering Bella to Esme who was confused but happy to see the girl. It was almost an hour after Bella's disappearance when the police stopped by Billy's neighbour, the owner of the white van, who explained having given the van for Billy to use for the day. Billy, however, left the van at his neighbour's as Dwayne, co-owner of his auto repair shop, informed him that his own was fixed at the shop, and so Billy had driven off to find Charlie and the car crash in his own blue van.
When Charlie realized that Billy had driven his neighbour's white van, he felt like he could take a breath for the first time since he discovered his daughter missing. Charlie and the police drove back to the L-shaped corner of their homes where they found Esme and Bella on the Cullens' porch. Bella was building an airplane of a magazine cover but she jumped up and ran downstairs when she saw her dad.
"Daddy! Daddy! Billy gave me a ride in a van today! On the front seat!"
Charlie hugged his daughter like his life depended on it. Renee, too, having heard about Bella's disappearance through someone Nicola worked with, arrived and covered their daughter in hugs and kisses. Bella got a firm talking to from her parents. The police said a few kind but cautioning words before they left, relieved with the happy ending.
Edward, almost in tears and desperate to hide it, watched Renee hug Bella when Charlie put his hand on Edward's shoulder. "It was not your fault, son," Charlie said, quietly. "It's not your responsibility to watch after Bells. I should've found another adult. I'm sorry for threatening you."
Edward knew he was lying but the most terrifying hour of his life had robbed him of words, and so he nodded. Charlie squeezed his shoulder.
...
"That hour you were missing probably shaved off a decade of my life," Edward said, running his fingers over Bella's cheek, over and over again. "To think of it, I might've gone grey not because of my PhD but because of you. I was sure your dad would deliver on his threat. He was boiling when we were looking for you. A little girl is abducted where Keith Hunter Jesperson grew up... it's taken pretty seriously. I was terrified."
"I'm sorry," Bella said. "I... I never knew your side of things. I mean, I knew the police and everyone went looking, but I never realized you thought it was your fault."
"It was my fault."
"You were, what, ten? You were a kid yourself, and I was an impossible preschooler. I ran away even when my parents were there. I thought I was so grown-up. I'm so sorry." Bella paused and kissed his beard. "Is this why you were so pissed at me for starting to walk home that time after dance practice?"
Edward nodded.
"I can't apologize enough for putting you through that. Both times."
Bella pulled his hand to her lips and lingered while Edward observed her face with a quiet intensity that filled her with affection.
"I can't help but feel how it's... not fate, but, our lives are, or have been... intertwined. When all of that happened, I was terrified of what could've happened to you. And now... it's you, again, making me face my biggest fear for the rest of my life."
"What's that?"
"Losing you."
Bella felt a bittersweet squeeze against her ribcage. He was her precious silver fox, and she couldn't imagine losing him. She knew it was totally ridiculous and made no sense given how little they'd been together, but... their history was a force to be reckoned with.
"I love you," she whispered, pressing her entire body against him, hugging him sideways, and she adored how he melted into her, holding her tight against his chest. "And when I say that I'm scared of the speed of this, it's not because I doubt we'd make it, or that I'm convinced we'd divorce. I'm scared because... I've never fallen in love so quickly, I've never wanted... everything, so quickly. It's never been like it is with you, ever, with anyone. I'm scared that, this can't be real. It's too good. It's too precious. If we go back to Vancouver and your position gets threatened, in spite of all your precautions, because of me, what if the right thing for you to do would be to walk away to keep your tenure-track professorship?"
"No."
"Edward—"
"No."
"Love—"
"No." Edward held her flush against him, looking in her eyes with the simmering intensity of a man in love. "Baby, if that's what I'm asked to do, I'd walk away. Tenure-track is brilliant but it's not worth losing you. Not even close."
"But what if I struggle to find a job until June? Or next December? How soon will you grow resentful that I'm not bringing anything to the table?"
Edward pressed his lips against hers and lingered, brushing his thumb over her skin, thinking.
"Baby, I'm in this for the long haul," he said. "My dad was let go in early 2000s and he couldn't find anything but high-stress, low-paying jobs for a full year. Then, dad took over when my mom lost her job in 2008, and she was unemployed for more than two years. It happens. I cannot promise that any help I provide will land you a job, but I can be there for you. Being unwillingly unemployed eats at your morale in a way nothing else quite does, and my biggest worry would be that you are okay, through that."
Bella pinched his shoulder, gently.
"Hey!"
"I'm just making sure you're real. Please, continue. So you were just saying how you're the sweetest man in the universe?"
Edward laughed.
"I'm not a saint," he said. "I will almost certainly have my bad moments and we'll both have bad days. But, no. I'm not expecting to be resentful of you not finding a job, and if I'm wrong, I trust you to put me in my place. It'll be a different story if I lose my job and we both end up unemployed, but we'd have to discuss this again anyway if that ever happens."
Bella squished herself against Edward and kissed him with all that she had. He gasped against her mouth, melting into her, and his fingers dug into her back before they stumbled off the couch and into the bedroom around the corner. She felt his soft, hot kiss in her toes. Edward pushed her on her back before lying half on top of her, sliding his hand underneath her and surrounding her with his body. She felt aflame as his hot breath ghosted against her ear.
"Baby, you have to tell me if I want too much," he said, his hard cock pressed against her stomach. "I've never... I've never had this, this constant need to—to have... anyone. You have to tell me if it's too much."
Bella curled her leg around him, pulling him closer, cupping his face in her hands.
"It's not too much," she whispered, tugging at his soft lips with her own. "It's not enough. Never enough."
Edward looked at her like he did want to wrap her up and put her in his pocket but also press her against the bed and thrust into her until he lost the very essence of his soul inside her. She was covered in goosebumps when his lips pressed against the nape of her neck and he began to whisper deliciously dirty things in her ear.
She felt precious and loved and naughty, and she never wanted to stop being loved by her Professor.
...
When Bella woke up, the snowstorm was in full swing. It was nine AM but felt earlier because the snow, falling sideways in the wind, cast a greyish, blueish hue on the view, and only the closest mountainsides could be seen through the snow. Bella was in the warmest Edward-cocoon, wrapped up in his arms, both of them lying sideways on the king-sized bed. He was trailing little lines along her skin and she loved being tucked against his warm chest. It felt surreal, waking up in his arms and not having to rush anywhere.
"Good morning, my love," Bella whispered, feeling a needy ache in her lower belly as she realized his hard cock was resting between her thighs. She was ridiculously ready for him as he stroked her hip, her stomach, and, finally, cupped her boob in his hand.
"This is not a good morning, baby," Edward replied, adjusting her in his arms before he slid his cock inside her. His deliciously low, sexy voice was slightly hoarse. "This is the best morning."
Bella shut her eyes and lost herself in the pleasure of his cock stretching her. His arms surrounded her, holding her tight, one under her and the other curved over her waist. He slid his fingers against her clit. Bella twitched at his touch, but Edward only held her tighter, and she felt entirely consumed by him. He groaned when she pressed herself against him to feel him deeper.
"Can Professor Cullen slide his fat cock inside your tight little pussy every morning for as long as we both shall live?"
Bella's laughter turned into a breathy moan. "Love, if that's your vow we might have to have a more... ahh, private ceremony."
"I don't mind any ceremony as long as you're there, baby... full of my cock."
Edward smiled against her hair, totally in love with how she whimpered and slid her hand on his ass to pull him closer. Her unashamed need of him floored and amazed him, and he watched the side of her face, her half-hooded eyes, the hint of a dazed smile, and he could barely believe she wanted him as much as he wanted her. After years of walking on egg-shells and being convinced that his sex drive was a villain to fight rather than a normal, inevitable part of him, Bella's enthusiasm fit into some primal, vulnerable need in him.
He couldn't describe the satisfaction of making her squirm after he played with her clit. He was close, though, and fought the urge to come as he pressed his open mouth against her neck, sucking on her skin. His stamina hadn't increased by much, yet.
"Just like this, baby," he whispered, thrusting against her with slow, powerful strokes. He groaned against her skin when she reached behind him to cup the back of his neck. His breath on her neck gave her goosebumps. "I'll keep my wife nice and warm and always full of my cum."
Bella shuddered, desperate to feel him closer, lost in the haze of his delicious cock, beautiful fingers and dirty mouth. She was high on the feel of him stretching her, filling her, holding her tight while taking her. She felt overpowered and delirious with need.
"Would you like that? Would you like me to visit you at work and take you to lunch and make sure you only leave with your tiny pussy full of my cum?"
"Professor," Bella replied, shaking, incoherent with need.
"You would, wouldn't you," he whispered, lost in her tight warmth. "Will you be a good girl and let me fill you up, Miss Swan?"
Edward sped up his thrusts, blind with pleasure as he held her tight against his cock and began to pulse inside her. Bella panted against the sheets when his fingers moved against her clit, and she shook in his arms as she came, clenching so tight around him he could've sworn he blacked out.
Minutes or hours or days passed with Edward holding her in his arms. They were both limp and sated, eyes closed, drawing lazy circles on each other's warm skin as they came back to earth.
"You like it when I take charge," he said, slowly, a happy realization rather than a question.
"Yes." Bella shifted to lie on her back and trailed lines on his tattoos, kissing them, enjoying the salt of his sweat. "These past few years have been all about stress and decisions, and I... I think I need a release where I don't have to make all the decisions. It's so... freeing."
"You shouldn't have said that," he replied, lowering his voice as he leaned closer. His lips brushed against her ear. "Will you enjoy being stuffed full of my cum as often as possible?"
Bella's hair stood on ends from her goosebumps, but she blushed to the roots of her hair, grinning, her answer obvious.
"Fuck," Edward whispered. "I shouldn't say stuff like that when I'm not inside you. I feel like a sex fiend when I'm with you."
Bella laughed. She cupped his face.
"You're making up for lost time," she replied, softly. "And I love it. I'm the luckiest girl in the world."
Edward's twinkling eyes lingered on her lips. "I'm glad you feel that way."
"So formal, Professor," Bella teased, snuggling closer to him. "But I hope it tickles your ego."
He paused. "Am I that insecure?"
"Sometimes," Bella said. "Not in everything, though, and I think it's understandable. Anyone in your situation would be. It doesn't seem to affect you professionally, which is frankly a miracle. But, with me, I think you... can I—can I say something?"
"Baby, you're about to be my wife," he replied, his low voice wrapping the word wife in a precious blanket as his voice reverberated through her. "The world is your oyster."
"Angie is a cunt."
Edward hid his face in her hair as he shook with laughter. When he stopped to take a breath and wiped a tendril from her forehead, he had a shit-eating grin on his face.
"Okay, whatever I expected you to say, it wasn't that."
"I'm sorry," Bella said, smiling at his joy, not looking very sorry. "But you're a saint. You don't really badmouth her, which speaks of your character, but everything I hear about her, it just solidifies my opinion."
"It's not that I disagree with you," Edward replied, cupping her ass before he slid his flat palm higher on her back, stroking her. Bella felt like a kitten in his arms, adored and needing his caresses. "It's just that I had five years of her shit," he continued. "Not only do I not want to drain my energy thinking about her... you are far too precious to me to allow you to deal with her shit, even through me. I've told you all the most important things you should know, but of course, if you want to know more, ask."
Bella opened her mouth, but Edward spoke before she could get anything out.
"Did she exacerbate my anxiety and depression? In hindsight, probably."
"No," Bella replied. "I mean, yes, it seems that way to me, too. But what I actually wanted to ask, was—do you think being gaslit by Stanković normalized that behaviour for you to the point where his mistreatment of you made you an easy target for Angela? Being treated like that was all you knew, so maybe your brain kind of... created coping mechanisms for that, and it was easy to stay in both abusive relationships because, in a really fucked up way, those two supported each other. Had you not had Stanković, I'd bet you would've realized your ex's red flags sooner, maybe years sooner, and had you not had your ex, you wouldn't have needed to spend all that energy on your coping mechanisms. You could've figured a way out of Stanković's grasp sooner."
Edward stared at her, mouth slightly agape, but Bella didn't take back her words.
"Marry me," Edward whispered, eyes full of the quiet intensity that she adored so much.
Bella flung herself on top of him and grinned against his beard.
"An intriguing thought," she teased, breathless with happiness. "What does this role entail?"
Now that she was lying on top of him, Edward slid both of his hands up and down her back and clung to her. "Well," he whispered, his deliciously low voice turning into a moan when she slid her fingers in his hair. He lost his train of thought when she readjusted herself on top of his hard-on and slid his cock inside her, blushing to the roots of her hair as she whispered such naughty thoughts in his ear he nearly asked her to get married in the winter snow. He couldn't wait to confuse people with their discovery that a woman like Bella would've gone for a guy like him.
It was a beautiful morning.
They had a shower and ate breakfast stark naked on top of the beautiful oak table, their feet on the chairs and eyes twinkling as they teased each other. They had, in fact, put a clean sheet under them, but Edward still felt a bit paranoid.
"They gave the cabin to a recently engaged couple," Bella said, laughter in her voice. "I think they know what we're up to."
Edward pressed a kiss on top of her shoulder, lingering. "I don't mind them knowing," he replied. "I mind leaving proof of it."
"We had a shower and this is a clean sheet," Bella continued. "My god, for a guy with the most deliciously dirty tongue, you're really prim and proper, aren't you?"
Edward grinned, a blush rising on his neck, but when he said nothing, Bella took hold of his neck and pressed an exaggerated kiss against his lips.
"Don't worry," she said, eyes sparkling. "I love you anyway."
Edward squished her against him and kissed her hair, filled with too much happiness to give voice to any of it.
They finished their breakfast. When Edward walked across the room to a stack of CDs, Bella admired his nude body, pale but muscled and covered in the most beautiful tattoos. The geometrical shapes on top of his muscles flexed as he lifted a burnt CD with 'Christmas' scribbled across the silver, and Bella couldn't help her blush as he caught her staring at him. He winked at her.
Edward twiddled with the buttons of the CD player before Snowman by Sia began to play. He held out a hand to her. Bella gathered the sheet from underneath her and tiptoed across the cold wooden floor before she made it to the warm carpet and wrapped them both in her sheet. Edward pulled her close, pausing.
"Slow waltz," he said, listening to the 3/4 time signature, and Bella couldn't stop her smile when he adjusted the sheets around them and began to lead her.
"Ever danced slow waltz naked in a sheet?" Edward asked, his lips brushing against her ear and sending goosebumps down her spine.
"Can't say that I have."
"Me, neither," he whispered, eyes dancing with joy. They stepped, slid, and stepped in 3/4 time, rising and falling with the rhythm of the waltz. Snowflakes blew against the window, and Bella didn't think she'd ever felt as giddy and floating in her life, and when the song changed to a 4/4 time, Christmas Without You by Ava Max, they switched to a rumba.
A slow smile widened on Edward's face as he pressed her flush against his chest and pressed a featherlight kiss against her ear. "I just realized," he whispered. "We're going to have the most epic first dance anyone's every seen."
Bella, grinning against his ear, felt afloat with affection.
"It took you a week to realize that?" she teased.
Edward blew a raspberry on her neck before he threw her over his shoulder and began walking to the bedroom. Bella squealed with laughter.
They spent the day dancing and laughing, talking and teasing and having sex, and Bella couldn't stop feeling afloat in his love-drunk gaze whenever she caught him looking at her. He had the kindest eyes, and she adored it when he followed her lips with his half-hooded gaze, seemingly paying little attention to the words that left her lips until she asked a question and he proved that he heard every word. She felt shy and cherished and aflame in his arms, and when she looked outside at the falling snow and suggested that the roads might not be passable before Christmas is over, Edward got the cutest little twinkle in his eyes as he squeezed her tighter and mock-sighed.
"Spending four extra days in a cabin with the best girl in the world? I am outraged."
Bella didn't have to voice her agreement as she laughed against his warm neck.
It got dark early, and when Edward returned from the washroom after dinner, asking for a chapstick, he found Bella asleep on the couch, wrapped in a blanket and wearing his hoodie. The sight nearly knocked him breathless. He adjusted the blanket to cover her legs and ran his hand over her red hair and his thumb over her eyebrow, admiring her features. He leaned down and pressed his lips against her hair.
"I've really tired you out, huh?"
He felt bad. After they got together, he'd seen Bella sometimes having coffee in the evenings, and he hadn't thought much about it at the time but he realized now that she'd done it for him. She was right—he was making up for lost time. It was no wonder she was asleep.
"I'm sorry, baby," he whispered, cupping her jaw and pressing a light kiss against her nose. "I'll be more mindful in the future."
Spending time with Bella here felt like stepping into someone else's life. It was a surreal, temporary refuge from life's problems, debt, responsibilities... trying to figure out if they'd ever have enough money to own a place of their own, however tiny, trying to adjust to his marriage proposal that burst out of him with no control, as natural as breathing but no doubt happening at lightning speed for her. He'd had more time to get used to the idea of them together, but she was catching up quickly, and being with her made him feel unreal. It was a taste of someone else's life, someone better, someone who deserved happiness so mind-blowing it terrified him. To teach and do research, to write and review papers only to go home to a wife like her... surely, his luck must run out somewhere. Nobody deserved this much of it.
And yet, here she was, asleep next to him, always ready to argue sense into him, loving and funny and in love with him. Someone, somewhere, had picked up a leaf and put it in a book, causing a butterfly effect that allowed Edward to be wrapped up in and be wrapped up around this precious girl, the same one he knew from childhood and yet so different, with so many paths that had intertwined for them to have this wild connection with each other.
Edward grabbed his laptop and began to review the paper he'd saved on his desktop. He lifted Bella's upper body before he adjusted her head half against a pillow, half on his lap, and ran the pad of his thumb over her eyebrow, over and over, reassuring himself that she was real as he immersed himself in a paper that analysed the trends of the causes for prescription opioid overdoses over the past thirty years. It was, strictly speaking, not his area of expertise, but the complexity of the statistical analysis was a ballgame he knew, and he found himself searching in the raw data they'd shared to see if they'd missed any obvious confounding variables.
Wind slowed down, and Edward rubbed his eyes after a few hours of reviewing the paper. He probably needed to read it with a clear head after Christmas. He lowered the backlight of his computer, searching for a silent song when Bella mumbled his name.
"Sweetie?" he asked, running his hand over her hair.
Bella wet her lower lip before she squeezed his thigh. A smile tugged on her lips.
"I'm gonna have your babies."
His heart skipped a beat. The words hit him square in the chest, almost knocking him over, and he watched her face, entranced. He waited for the terror of her words to hit him, the way they'd horrified him in Yale, and yet no fear came. Instead, her words sent the wildest squeeze through his ribcage, a blast of some unnamed emotion that filled him with the most confusing yearning and affection. He almost had to beat his chest to get his heart in order.
"Baby, are you awake?" he whispered, his voice a bit shaken. He watched her face for a fluttering of her eyelashes or a teasing smile, but nothing. Her breaths were even. She was asleep.
He shut the lid of his laptop and carried his future wife to bed, covering them both with a blanket before he pulled her on top of his chest. Still a bit shaken by her words but even more shaken by his response to them, he needed her close. He had purposefully not approached this topic yet, not knowing entirely where he stood or what he wanted to hear, but his reaction to her sleep-talking had given him the answer. He was a bit overwhelmed.
"Yes," Bella whispered, having a conversation in her dream. "Yes. And then, after that, Professor... can I have your babies?"
Edward laughed, feeling the ridiculousness of his response to her dream, a dream that might've not even been what she wanted, but he couldn't help his response. It would've been absurdly, terrifyingly early to get pregnant so soon, but the conversation itself... they definitely needed to have it before their wedding.
Edward pressed a kiss against her temple.
"Baby, you should be awake for this conversation... and maybe let's try not to be neck deep in debt when it happens." He slid his hands under her hoodie, squeezing her close. It was impossible for him to stop smiling. "But yes, baby," he whispered, his low voice full of barely contained restraint. "Yes."
"Good," Bella replied, as if they were having a conversation. "I'll schedule it for Friday after breakfast."
Edward was amazed that Bella didn't wake up when he shook with laughter.
"I hope that's a different dream," Edward replied, sniffing her hair and adoring her scent. "I don't have words for how much I love you, baby. I love you."
"Mmm love you too." Bella hummed, not saying anything for a while before she mumbled against his shoulder, "my love potato."
Edward laughed, squeezing her as close as he could get away with. He turned them on their sides, stroking her back and smiling against her hair until he, too, fell asleep.
...
A/N: Hearing your thoughts is the best gift in the world. Thank you.
I've missed you all. What makes you happy these days?