A/N Alright, so no one much liked the last chapter lol. I didn't either, really, but I needed to put something on paper to end the writer's block, or else y'all still would be waiting for Ch 47 š¬ I have a feeling this chapter will be more popular š. Without further ado...
*EPOV*
I didn't dare bring up what happened with Ember until Bella hunted and had a chance to cool off.
We sat side by side on the russet-colored earth in the dappled shade of a large redwood after gorging ourselves on a herd of elk. Breaking the silence, a sound of revulsion escaped from low in my throat.
"Ugh. I feel like I need to apologize to you," I confessed, tugging a hand anxiously through my hair. You have to know that I would neverā¦" I sliced my hand horizontally through the air as if underlining the statement that I couldn't even bring myself to finish because it was so utterly preposterous.
Rationally, I knew that what had happened had been against my will. Nevertheless, I had taken another woman into my arms, a woman who wasn't my Bella and had nearly kissed her if not for Bella's timely intervention.
There had to have been something I could've done differently to prevent what had happened.
Bella snorted and swatted at the air dismissively. "Don't be ridiculous. You were compelled. This is entirely that little witch's fault! I mean, on some level I know she's not completely to blameā¦
Before I could ask what she meant, Bella went on to explain, "She has the gift to make everything she desires a reality. I probably wouldn't know how to take no for an answer either if I had that kind of power. But still!
"She can argue all she wants that she didn't know you were unshielded, but so what? It's inexcusable! You're a married man, for crying out loud! I mean, helllllo!" she railed. Taking hold of my wrist, she raised my left hand up in the air a few inches and joggled it slightly making my gold wedding band glitter in the early morning light.
I couldn't help but smile a little at her ire. She was adorable when she was jealous. When she defended me so fiercely and territorially, something visceral stirred inside of me.
I chuckled lightly and ruffled her hair. "As always, I am humbled by you, Mrs. Cullen," I mused a little ruefully.
"When Jacob kissed you against your will, I wasn't nearly as sympathetic. All I could think about was how much I wanted to detach his lips from his face," I recalled without humor.
In a softer, more contemplative tone, I added, "I know it's not the same thing. You were actually assaulted. Butā¦if that's how powerless and just sickening it feels to be made to do something against your will, I might just go on another sexual predator killing spree."
"Can I come?" Bella turned to look at me, one corner of her mouth pulling up into a little smirk.
"We might be late for class," I teased.
At the mention of school, Bella drew her knees up to her chest, crossed her arms over her knees, and hid her face behind her arms and a dark curtain of hair. She let out a long frustrated groan.
"I wasn't supposed to go to school angry today!" Bella lamented, the words muffled by speaking into her lap.
With a sweeping motion of my hand, I tucked her hair behind her ear. "If you aren't feeling up to it, then we'll skip it. No big deal," I promised in a reassuring voice.
"But it's only my second day," she moaned.
"Hey," I murmured, and then waited for her to look at me. When I didn't say anything further, she didn't pick her head up, merely turned her face to the side, resting it against her knees. But at least now I could see her.
"It's not like you asked for any of this, love. People have family emergencies that prevent them from missing work and school every single day. You're already ahead in guitar thanks to all your practicing, and it will only be more tedious first-day administrative tasks for our Tuesday/Thursday classes.I doubt you'll miss much. Besides," I smiled a bit nostalgically. "It's healthy to ditch class every now and then," I added with a wink.
Picking her head up off her knees, she chewed on her lip and nodded, seeming somewhat mollified by that.
"I don't think I could stand another 'Getting to Know You,' game in this mood,'' she admitted. "And I don't trust my control right now."
Nodding sagely, I replied, "Then staying home would be the prudent thing to do."
Bella squinted her eyes as she scrutinized me for a moment. "Why does it seem like you have an ulterior motive?" she asked. Her expression was suspicious but also a little amused.
"Because I do," I grinned crookedly.
"And what might that be?"
"To improve your mood," I answered automatically with a smile and a small shrug of my shoulders.
"And how do you plan to do that?" Bella asked coyly.
Leaning in close, I responded in a husky tone. "Hmm. By any... means⦠necessary," I growled in between pressing a line of kisses down the side of her neck starting with the hollow behind her ear.
Bella made a sound that was somewhere between a moan and a purr.
"That does sound better than sitting in a stuffy classroom trying not to kill anyone," she admitted with a giggle, shivering a little as my lips found an extra sensitive spot beneath her jaw.
"Doesn't it?" I purred.
"Alright, what's gotten into you? You're not normally such a bad influence. I fully expected a pep talk about how I shouldn't let vampy Veruca Salt get to me or mess up my plans. And here you are encouraging me to cut school so we can stay home andā¦andā"
.
"Play our own 'Getting to Know You' game?" I finished, waggling my eyebrows suggestively. She laughed at my antics, unable to stop herself. It cheered me to see a real smile on her face.
"Honestly, I've been able to think of little else besides getting you to myself since you jumped out of that tree like the goddess of vengeance," I answered honestly. "God was that sexy," I crooned.
Bella scoffed in disbelief. "You must be joking. I must've looked unhinged." She moved her hand to cover her face again, but this time I wouldn't let her hide from me.
I caught her hand with my own and brought it to my lips before placing it back on her knee. With a shake of my head, I corrected, "Not unhinged. You looked like you were defending what was yours. And I am yours, Bella. Mind, body, and soul. Never forget that," I whispered earnestly.
*BPOV*
When he looked at me like that, how could I?
Without any further deliberation, we made a mad dash back to the house. However, when we returned, Alice was rather inconveniently sitting on the porch waiting for us when we got there.
"Oh, keep your pants on, Edward," Alice snapped. "This will only take a minute. Why don't you make yourself useful and run a bath while us girls have a little chat?"
Edward rolled his eyes but did as she said.
"What's up Alice?" I asked, trying not to seem as impatient as Edward.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry aboutā¦before. Ember acted impulsively, so I didn't see it until it was too lateā¦" she began with a frown.
"Oh hey, forget about it. It's not your fault, Alice," I said, patting her reassuringly on the arm.
"I know, but I think sometimes people start thinking I can prevent all of their problems because I can see the future. And unfortunately, it just doesn't always work that way," Alice explained regretfully.
Poor Alice with the weight of the future on her dainty shoulders. She was constantly saving the day, and the times she couldn't, she always felt somehow responsible.
"I totally understand, Alice," I promised sincerely. "Is that all you wanted to talk about?" I asked, eyeing the door behind her, wanting badly to get back to Edward and the hot bath waiting for me inside.
Alice rolled her eyes. "Do you two think about anything else? Maybe you should consider getting a hobby," she joked. I ignored the razzing and began to suspect Alice was dragging this out on purpose to annoy me.
"There's just one more thing. I wanted to tell you that I let Jasper have it for being so insensitive today. You had every right to react the way you did. Lord knows Jasper would have gone ballistic if they'd tried that stunt on him.
"But Jazz can get a littleā¦single-minded when he's in Major Whitlock mode. And right now, he's hyper-focused on getting out from under the Volturi's thumb. You understand, right?" Alice asked beseechingly.
"I get it. If we're going to beat the Volturi at their own game, we're going to need the twins. I may not like it, but I get it," I muttered.
Alice blew out a gust of air in apparent relief and wrapped me in a tight hug. "Thank you, Bella. I knew you would. I didn't think they'd try anything again after the Birkin bag incident. I'll be watching them like a hawk from now on. You have my word on that," she swore with a hand over her heart.
I nodded and remembered something else I'd been meaning to ask her.
"Any new visions on how this goes?" I asked vaguely, but Alice knew what I meant.
She frowned and shook her head. "Nothing concrete. There are too many variables. Too many people involved now that I can't account for. Dozens of vampires will be turning up over the next week to stand with us. Some will want to fight. Many won't. It all dependsā¦"
"Depends on what?" I asked, scrunching my brow in confusion.
"In a word? You. It all hinges on whether or not they think we can win when they see what you can do."
My eyes widened in trepidation. Pressure? What pressure?
"On that note, I'll let you get back to playing hooker," she said and gracefully skipped down the front steps.
"Playing hooky, you mean?" I laughed.
She paused on the bottom step and turned to smirk me. "No, I had it right the first time," she winked, and then she was gone.
I scoffed indignantly. "That littleā"
"I can still hear youuuu," she sing-songed from somewhere out of sight, the garage it sounded like. I rolled my eyes.
My eyes popped open wide when I suddenly remembered what was waiting for me on the other side of the door. And here I was still standing around on the porch like an idiot.
Turning on my heel, I dashed inside, warping the doorknob in my haste. I cursed under my breath in irritation; I hadn't accidentally broken anything in months, and I was loath to break my streak now.
Oh well, I'd fix it later. I had much more important matters at hand. As I walked inside our cozy cottage, I was welcomed by the warm scent of vanilla and lavender and the muffled sound of water running coming from the bathroom. There was music playing on the stereo, too.
Just then, a new track began to play. I closed my eyes and moaned involuntarily as I heard the instantly recognizable opening riff to Otis Redding's "Love Man."
The song was at the beginning of a mix CD Edward had burned on his computer a while back. Labeled in his perfect calligraphy with a black permanent marker, it was simply titled, "Bedward."
It was the product of a fun afternoon taking turns choosing songs that put us in the mood. As one might imagine given our age difference, it was quite an eclectic mix containing everything from Marvin Gaye to Muse.
I'd heard the CD so many times by now that I knew every note by heart. So many times that, like Pavlovian's dog, I now instantly associated the gritty vocals and the brassy arrangements with the feeling of Edward's hands and mouth doing scintillating things to my body.
I closed my eyes. All on their own my hips began to move in time to the uptempo beat. Dancing was something of a newfound pleasure now that I was no longer clumsy and uncoordinated. But no amount of coordination made me any less shy, so it still didn't happen all that often.
I moaned again when I suddenly felt him behind me. Edward's lips pressed against my throat and his hips pressed tightly against the curve of my ass, rocking and grinding along with mine to the music. His hands on my waist began to greedily explore the front of my body.
"Six-feet one, weigh two hundred-and-ten
long hair, real fair skin
long legs and I'm-a out-a sight
There ain't no doubt I'm gonna take you out
Cause I'm a love manā¦"
He softly sang along as we undulated to the song, the same one that was playing when Baby first met Johnny in "Dirty Dancing," incidentally. The rich timbre of Edward's silky, melodic voice in my ear seemed to strike a nerve that sent a rush of heat and moisture straight to my core.
I heard him inhale deeply through his nose as if he was breathing me in. Then he made a low sound of approval in the back of his throat. "You smell so good. It feels criminal to let you bathe now," he teased with a crooked smile.
Thoroughly aroused now after barely being touched, I spun around to face him. Looking up at Edward through my thick lashes, I purred in a husky voice, "Then don't."
Edward's golden butterscotch eyes widened and his lips parted slightly in surprise at the wantonness he heard in my tone.
He raised his hand to lovingly tuck a lock of hair behind my ear. Letting his fingers glide into the hair at the back of my head, he rested his hand at the nape of my neck and looked me deeply in the eyes, searching for something. Of what I couldn't be sure.
*EPOV*
I stared into Bella's eyes, sparkling like yellow diamonds today, and wondered for the umpteenth time how I had gotten so lucky.
A slight pause in the music signaled the beginning of the next track. This song was a contemporary one of Bella's choosing. A female-led hard rock group calling themselves Evanescence.
An ethereal soprano voice backed by the foreboding tinkling of a single piano filled the small space.
"How can you see into my eyes like open doors?"
Then came two dirty licks of an electric guitar muffled in the background to let you know that this would not be a standard ballad. As the atmosphere shifted along with the music, Bella's entire countenance changed. Her eyes darkened with lust, seeming to say the same thing as the electric guitar.
"Leading you down into my core where I've become so numb,
Without a soul my spirit's sleeping somewhere cold
Until you find it there and lead it back homeā¦"
My hand fisted in her hair, and with almost violent force, I drew her to me, lips colliding in a searing kiss. Supporting herself with an arm wrapped around my neck, Bella leapt into my arms, wrapping her legs around me and crossing her ankles behind my lower back.
She kissed me with bruising strength, spurred on by a furious chorus of surging guitars, howling backup singers, and a 21-, no, 22- piece orchestra to round out the melody. (Almost missed the triangle.)
"(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside
(I can't wake up)
Wake me up inside
(Save me)
Call my name and save me from the dark
(Wake me up)
Bid my blood to run
(I can't wake up)
Before I come undone
(Save me)
Save me from the nothing I've become"
I moved with her now, carrying her across the room toward the bedroom as we kissed, groped, and tore at each other's clothes with wild abandon. There was a new hunger in her kiss that was almost frightening in its intensity.
"Now that I know what I'm without
You can't just leave me
Breathe into me and make me real
Bring me to life'
I tried not to think too deeply about the lyrics and what they meant to Bella to make her kiss me like that, with such devastating need.
"Frozen inside without your touch
Without your love, darling
Only you are the life among the dead"
Wanting to bring her back from wherever she'd gone, as I kissed her hard, I threw her back up against a wall, pinning her between it and me. Not hard enough to hurt, but hard enough that she felt it. Hard enough to remind her of what she is now and what she'd never be againāfragile, weak, mortal, and most of all, alone.
*BPOV*
This was something different. Edward and I had made love countless times, we'd had sex, we'd even fucked a time or two. But this was something else entirely.
When he slammed me up against the wall, I was stunned for a moment. Not because it hurt but because I liked it. I more than liked it. I was turned on by it.
This was not an Edward I was used to. My Edward was sweet, gentle, and reverent. He didn't pull my hair and pin me up against the furniture. But I found that the more he did, the more I wanted him to.
And not because I wanted to be dominated or because I had some depraved inclination toward violent sex, but because it made me feel powerful. When Edward was rough with me in ways he never would have dared when I was human, I was exhilarated. It reminded me that I was unbreakable. Immortal, even.
And that I was immortal meant that Edward and I belonged to each other forever. And nothing and no one would ever succeed in coming between us ever again.
That the Volturi was even trying with this draft only served to stoke my rage. And as Jasper had been teaching me, rage made for an excellent power source to tap into when trying to produce a prolonged magical mind shield over dozens of people.
And as I was learning now, under the right circumstances, rage also made for truly transcendent sex.
We were both already topless, but with my legs wrapped around him the way they were, Edward was able to make quick work of my jeggings and panties leaving me fully nude and pinned up against the wall.
I could feel his raging erection beneath his khakis digging into my ass and his lips at my throat. I could hear my breath coming in ragged pants and gasps. It felt so good. Unbelievably good, but at the same time it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.
"Edwaaaard," I whined. "More. I need more."
"There she is, my insatiable little vixen," Edward chuckled darkly. "Tell me what you need," he said as he kissed and sucked his way down my throat to my chest, then ducked his head to take one of my nipples into his mouth.
I cried out in pain but mostly pleasure when he bit down lightly on the sensitive area and tugged with his teeth, only to chase the stinging pain away with soothing circular strokes of his tongue.
"Well?" he probed as his mouth moved over to the other breast, reminding me that I hadn't answered him yet.
"Don'tā¦holdā¦back," I managed in between gasps.
With my nipple still in his mouth, he shook his head from side to side. "You don't know what you're asking for," he warned, letting the stiffened bud pop out of his mouth.
"Oh, don't I?" I argued sharply. I then lifted my shield and imagined with vivid detail all of the very pornographic things I felt like doing.
I was obviously having an effect on him because as I flashed from one raunchy mental picture to the next, he squeezed his eyes tightly shut and whimpered in a way that almost sounded like he was in pain.
"Damnit, Bella!" he finally exploded when I dared to imagine an anal sex scene, something we had never tried or even really talked about before. When he opened his eyes, they had morphed from ocher to onyx and he shook his head like he was trying to dispel the thought.
"You can't hurt me," I argued.
When he unclenched his jaw to argue with me, I cut him off. "You won't hurt me," I amended.
His eyes softened fractionally, but I wasn't fooled into thinking I had won. Not yet.
"Oh come on, Edward, don't you ever fantasize about being with me in a way that isn't all gentle and romantic?"
"No!" he answered too quickly.
"No? Never?" I answered, narrowing my eyes skeptically.
Edward sighed and set me down on my feet. He held up one finger, gesturing for me to wait a moment, and then dashed into the bathroom where he turned off the water to the tub that was about to overflow.
When he returned less than a second later, he took me by the hand and led me from the hallway into the bedroom where he sat down beside me at the foot of the bed resting his hand lightly on my bare thigh.
"I can't think about you like that because every time my mind goes there, I feel terribly guilty. Like I'm disrespecting you in my own mind. And if I won't tolerate that sort of behavior from the likes of Mike Newton, it would be pretty hypocritical of me to allow myself to fantasize about debauching you myself, don't you agree?"
I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing at that, a reaction he clearly didn't expect.
"Oh, Edward!" I laughed harder, in stitches now. He was so adorably obtuse sometimes. "No. I don't agree," I finally answered as the paroxysms of laughter began to fade.
"Alright, here it is. I hereby give you my permission to fantasize about me in any way that turns you on. And I forbid you to feel guilty about it. Call it a marital perk," I teased.
"Now tell meā¦what haven't you let yourself think about?" I grinned a bit mischievously as I reached for the buckle of his belt.
"Ohh," he moaned breathlessly when I reached inside his pants and wrapped my hand around his girth, jerking it a few times⦠"I definitely haven't thought aboutā¦" he began in a strained voice. "Finishing anywhere that isn'tā¦inside of you," he admitted.
My eyes widened, pleasantly surprised. Now we were getting somewhere!
"Yes!" I agreed with a bit too much fervor. "I want that, too. What else?" I asked eagerly, teasingly swirling the pad of my thumb around his sensitive glans.
"Oh God, umā¦" Edward stammered as I slid down onto the carpet on my knees in front of him.
"Well?" I encouraged as I took him into my mouth. I looked up at him expectantly as I worked my mouth over the swollen head.
"Unnngh, fuck, that's so good, love," he praised, resting a hand on top of my head without applying any force. After a moment, he answered in a strained voice, "I've never thought about tying you spread-eagle to this bed and having my way with you all day and all night."
I moaned around his thick length, feeling a surge of wetness between my legs. That was a very good one.
Before I knew what was happening, he had pulled himself free of my mouth, and in some kind of crazy reversal, he picked me up off the floor and had me flat on my back on the bed in less than a second.
On top of me now, he smiled down victoriously and said, "I see what you're trying to do, but let's not forget I'm supposed to be improving your mood, not the other way around." Grinning wickedly he disappeared between my legs.
I was about to call him a cheater when I felt his tongue slide between my slick folds and my jaw went slack, unable to properly form words.
"Since we're all about unusual interrogation tactics these days," he smirked crookedly, "Why don't you tell me something you fantasize about?" he asked and slid first one then a second finger inside me, then resettled his mouth over my throbbing need.
When he made a "come here" motion with his penetrating fingers, I mewled with deep satisfaction.
"Hmm?" he prompted without removing his mouth from my apex.
"Iā¦ohhhā¦sort of showed you, didn't I?" I replied breathlessly.
"Ahh yes, your little mental slideshow. That was a dirty trick, Mrs. Cullen," he teasingly scolded and nipped the inside of my thigh making me yelp. "But if I had to say it out loud, then so do you. Fair is fair," he insisted, returning his lips to my engorged nerve center while his free hand reached up to pinch my nipple.
I whined with frustration from the number of times he kept pausing his ministrations to speak. The teasing was nearly unbearable.
"Fine, fine! Umm. Fooling around somewhere public, like in a movie theater, where we'd have to be really quiet," I divulged.
Edward's eyebrows shot up with intrigue. "Interesting! What else?"
Before I could answer, he placed his hands on the backs of my knees and pushed them all the way back until my heels were up by my ears. My stomach quivered with nerves from the vulnerability of this position. Bent in half as I was, I was completely open to him, and his blazing eyes missed nothing.
"Iā¦I don't know," I floundered. I couldn't think. Not with the way he was tormentingly blowing a thin stream of cool air over my heated tissues.
Leaving one hand on the back of my leg to hold me in position, he slowly trailed a single digit from the top of my mound all the way down my center to my rear passage, circling it with the tip of his finger before completing the circuit.
"And here? Is this something you want, too?" he asked curiously after the mental suggestion I'd made earlier.
I gulped. Why was this so hard to talk about? There was no one I trusted more than Edward. "Curious but a little apprehensive?" I admitted, feeling my face burn as if I could still blush.
Edward then moved up my body, positioning himself so that his hands were placed on either side of my head, and my knees were bent over the tops of his shoulders.
"Good to know," a corner of his mouth lifted up into a smirk as he lined himself up with my wet heat.
We both groaned in extreme pleasure as he pushed all the way inside me, filling me to perfection as if we had been made for each other.
"Don't hold back," I reminded him and his eyes darkened.
"Is that reallyā" he started to ask.
"Yes," I cut him off. Not even he could doubt the certainty in my tone.
"Tell me if Iā"
"Yes," I cut him off again, this time bucking my hips with impatience.
Edward leaned down and kissed me fiercely on the lips just as he drove into me again with a hard thrust of his hips making me moan at the delicious impact.
Edward was tireless as he fucked me. Missionary. Doggy Style. Spooning me from behind. Cowgirl. Reverse cowgirl. Me lying on my back on top of him while he hammered into me from below.
And of course, because he's Edward and more concerned with my pleasure than anything else, while he was screwing me seven ways from Sunday, he still took every opportunity to wring out every last ounce of pleasure that my body was capable of producing. So that by the time we laid side by side panting and spent, I was probably only one more orgasm away from my brain turning into mush.
"So how did that live up to your expectations?" I giggled, dragging a finger through the pale, shimmering fluid spilt over the tops of my breasts.
"It was fun to cross it off my bucket list, but I can definitely think of better places for it," Edward grinned, returning from the bathroom with a warm, wet washcloth.
Sitting down on the side of the bed, he asked, "What about you?" as he took great care in wiping me clean.
Still in a hazy cloud of euphoria, I answered with a lazy smile, "I think that might have been the most successful and informative game of 'Getting to Know You' since the game's inception. We should cut school more often."
Edward hummed in agreement as he crawled back into bed with me. "I'll do you one better. I'll call the registrar in the morning and let them know we've withdrawn," he teased.
A/N I know I promised a ridiculous lemon after the contest, but my muses insisted on this one being written without delay. (While I simultaneously procrastinated on writing more Volturi drama because I'm venturing SO far out of my wheelhouse with that mess and I'm a big ole coward. LOL. Sigh.)
This chapter might not be everyone's cup of tea, either, but I felt like our lovebirds were due some exploration. I hope you enjoyed it as much as Edward and Bella did! And your author humbly asks once again (insert Bernie Sanders meme) that you cast your vote for She's My Blackberry Pie in the Best of 2021 fanfic awards. I would be eternally grateful!
Vote for SMBP at twifanfictionrecs [dot com]. Just scroll down to the second contest with a bajillion nominees. As always, thank you for reading, reviewing, and especially VOTING! š
Til next time!
(Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, they aren't actually dropping out. Edward was just joking around.)
