One - You Know I Want You

June 2005

9 months ago

School was out for the summer, her cast had finally come off two days prior, and thanks to Alice, Esme, and Edward's almost suffocating over-attentiveness during the healing process, Charlie was once again feeling comfortable with the Cullens and giving Bella some freedom to leave the house without constantly worrying that she would run off again. As per his usual weekend schedule, Charlie was out fishing with Harry Clearwater and had almost ordered her to get out and enjoy the unusually warm weather, even going so far as to send his greetings to the Cullens since he knew that was exactly where she'd be spending all of her time.

Bella smirked to herself as she pulled on a light tank top and buttoned her denim shorts. If her dad only knew.

There was a short rap on the lifted windowpane before Edward came slipping through into her room, effortless and silent as always. "Pardon the intrusion, miss," he purred, sidling up to slip his arms around her waist and press his chilled lips into the curve of her neck. "I was looking for my girlfriend – have you seen her? She was supposed to be getting ready to spend this lovely day with me but I can't seem to find her anywhere."

"Mmmm…" Bella melted at his ministrations. "Don't you think it's in kinda poor taste to be shamelessly flirting with me when you're already taken? I can't imagine she'd be happy to see you pawing at me like this."

Edward chuckled, the sound dark and smooth as it settled directly between her thighs along with his relentless hands, "If she could see the way you look right now, I think she would understand."

His fingers danced up her bare thighs, slipping dangerously close to the hem of her denim shorts and Bella couldn't breathe – the forbidden touch making her feel uncharacteristically bold, "Edward," she gasped, "are we actually going to make it outside or are we finally breaking the whole 'no-touching' rule and spending the day in this bed? Charlie's gone until at least ten or eleven, so I'm good with either."

"Silly Bella," he murmured against the shell of her ear, "what makes you think a few hours would be enough time for me to have my way with you?"

Her knees nearly gave out and goosebumps broke out across her exposed skin at his insinuation. Was Edward – her proper, virtuous boyfriend – really teasing her about sex with his proper, virtuous fingers only centimeters from the bottom of her shorts? He had always been affectionate with her but ever since the near fatal incident with James, it had begun to border on being embarrassing around his family. Still… he was never quite so blunt. It was both thrilling and concerning.

"Dare I risk breaking the mood to ask what brought all this on? Don't get me wrong I am definitely not complaining, but usually you leave the house when I'm taking a shower and now you're showing up in my room seconds after I was nearly naked, talking about having your wicked way with me all night." She turned to face him and gently stroked the side of his face. "Are you okay?"

Edward grimaced, burying his face in her shoulder, fingers digging into her lower back, "I finally get the courage to say what I'm actually thinking around you and you think there's something wrong with me." He shook his head. "Serves me right, really. Emmett is always telling me I'm too uptight."

"No, I swear I don't mind, it's just so unlike you and I just…" Bella was floundering, desperate not to lose the more carefree Edward that had shocked her into a state of near incoherence. "You've never said something like that to me before, Edward. You've never even come close to touching me like that. I was caught off guard, that's all."

"But not… insulted or disgusted?"

She barked an incredulous laugh, "Are you kidding? I don't know where you studied the art of seduction but whoever taught you deserves a raise."

He looked up at her with an adorable cringe that made her stomach flutter, "It wasn't so much something taught – more like over a hundred years of hearing the thoughts on both ends of the seduction and making an educated guess as to what might sound… pleasing to you. Call it an… experiment, of sorts."

"Well, you nailed it so please," she fanned herself over-dramatically, "feel free to practice your skills on me anytime. I can promise complete cooperation for that experiment."

Edward gave her favorite crooked grin and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose, "Noted – I'll be sure to pencil in further trials sometime this week. Now if we intend to actually make it to the theater before the movie starts, we should get going. Alice assured me there would be cloud cover when we got there."

"Okay, let me just grab my bag," Bella started for the stairs but at the landing was stopped by icy fingers like a vice around her wrist. She turned to see Edward eying the staircase with distress, his gaze flitting between it and her recently liberated leg. "Edward?"

"Perhaps it would be best if you didn't overdo it just yet."

She put her hands on her hips and huffed, "I was using the stairs when I had a cast. Believe it or not, I was using them even before I had a cast! I'm well versed with the art of climbing and descending stairs, Edward."

Despite her tugging, he did not let go of her wrist.

"Alright, Mr. Over-Protective, you're being ridiculous right now and it's kinda pissing me off so could you do me a favor and let go before my good mood completely evaporates?"

Edward did as she asked and released her arm but his stance was rigid and his fists clenched at his sides. The look in his eyes was suddenly tortured, eerily reminiscent of when James had left her mangled on the floor of the ballet studio. Bella was no stranger to Edward and his mercurial moods but this felt… different. Bigger. There was something about the expression on his face that was tearing into her heart and spitting the pieces into her throat.

She carefully took his hand in her own, the pads of her fingers brushing across the cool marble in an attempt to soothe whatever was hurting him. It took a few seconds for him to come around but eventually, he looked up at her and Bella was certain that if vampires could properly hyperventilate, he would have. "You're scaring me," she admitted softly. "What's wrong?"

"It's so easy to forget how breakable you are," the words sounded nearly strangled but he pushed on. "Seeing you, broken and bleeding because of James… but truly because of me and what I am…"

"Edward–"

"I'm not religious anymore, haven't been for a long time, but I prayed when we found you that day. For the first time since before I was turned, I prayed. I begged anyone, any deity that might be listening, to let you live and let you heal. To let me have more time with you. I swore that if my prayer was answered, when you were healed and well, I would never again take a single moment with you for granted. I swore that I would stop being so overbearing and instead be myself – exactly as you always asked me to – and allow myself to love you in any way you would allow. I swore that I would stop fighting this."

Her cheeks heated as the pieces started falling into place; after all, this was the first time she had seen him since Carlisle removed her cast and his mood had been drastically different from his previous porcelain-doll treatment.

"Now that you've recovered, I'm doing my best to honor the promise I made that day. That is why I thoroughly embarrassed myself in your room, Bella – not because I was trying to be suave or charming, but because I am and have always been utterly vexed by you. Completely setting aside your blood, you are the most tempting creature I have ever encountered and I'm sick to death of pretending to be made of stone when all I want to do is worship you, body and soul, until the end of time. I'm tired of pretending like my entire universe doesn't begin and end with each breath you take."

Bella swallowed hard, "And… the stairs?"

"As I said, breakable," Edward sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "It seems I'm having a harder time with the cessation of my overbearing tendencies than anything else. I am terrified of you hurting yourself again and would like nothing more than to carry you down to the door. Logically, I know I could easily overpower you and just do it anyway, but… despite the enormous power you hold over me, I like to consider us equal partners. I don't want either of us to make decisions for the other, without the other if we can help it."

She grinned, calmer at finally understanding what he was truly thinking, and nudged his shoulder, "So you have no problem setting aside your deeply ingrained Edwardian morals and values to sexually frustrate me near insanity but letting me walk down the stairs on my own, that's where you draw the line?"

He shrugged, sheepish, "I'm not perfect."

"Good, perfect is overrated anyway," Bella launched herself into his arms and crushed her lips to his, slanting her mouth to deepen the kiss. Shocked but pleased that Edward hadn't yet pushed her away, she buried her hands in his hair and tugged none-too-gently, wringing a guttural groan from the back of his throat that sent shivers down her spine. "Call Alice and tell her we can't make it. I'm dying to see more of you being yourself."

"Bella," Edward whined. His fingers tightened around her waist, which was currently wriggling closer to his. "You are making this extremely hard for me."

"Yeah, that's the idea."

"Oh good Lord, what have I created?" He chuckled, gently but forcefully extracting himself from her grasp. Once they had both caught their breath, he straightened his shirt and smoothed the most obvious wrinkles from her tank top. "It would be in poor taste to break plans with them at the last minute, especially when Alice will be able to see exactly why we canceled. Besides, I thought you wanted to see them?"

She was undeniably conflicted. On one hand, there was her deep love for Alice and rapidly growing affection for Jasper and she truly did miss their near-constant company, but on the other hand… there was Edward. All of Edward. Something her wildest imagination had never even attempted to conceive of having.

"I miss them," she forced herself to admit, "but…"

His icy fingers lifted her chin so he could sear her with his molten golden gaze, "Nothing will make me change my mind, Bella. I promise you that. Even if I wanted to hide the way I felt about you again, I'm not so sure I could now that I know just how… receptive you are."

"Lord, am I ever."

"Then what are you worried about? I am more than willing to take you back to your room and make love to you for the rest of the day if that is truly your desire, if that is what it will take for you to believe me. But Bella," Edward leaned closer, brushing his lips – smooth and cool as glass – across her ear and fingers down the length of her arm, "I am nothing if not meticulous and I would like our first time together, our first time baring our souls to each other to be as perfect as I can make it. If you can wait for that day, I swear that it will be worth it but if you can't, then say the word and I'll have your clothes on the floor before you can remember my name."

There was no telling what kind of plans Edward had for such a momentous event in their, until recently, painfully-platonic relationship so while Bella was sorely tempted to take his offer to ravish her on the landing, to finally belong to him completely as he gave the most vulnerable pieces of himself in return, she knew he was right. It would be worth the wait – he'd make sure of it.

"Fine, you win; no canceling today. Can we still make it to the movie on time? The previews are my favorite part."

Edward's answering smile was dazzling, "If we take my car, which is conveniently parked outside, we can."

"Then I guess you can drive. I don't want to leave Alice and Jasper waiting too long."

He had made it down two steps before Bella caught the back of his shirt. There was still so much she didn't know about this man that held her heart, but she did know that he was trying, extraordinarily, to let go of his fears and insecurities for her. She supposed there was no harm in giving in a little if it made things easier on him.

"Edward?"

He turned, curious.

"I'm still a little unsteady on my feet," though wasn't she always? It was a flimsy excuse at best but it worked well enough. "Would you mind carrying me down the stairs for a few days? Just until I regain some strength."

Edward bounded back to her, sweeping her into his arms in one smooth, vampire-quick motion. His eyes shone and she would swear his chest was puffed out… just a little, "It would be my greatest pleasure, sweetheart. Your wish is my command."

Bella's heart swelled with his unexpected pet name – it was quite literally the first time he'd ever ventured to call her anything other than her name. She curved to fit the shape of his body, her arms wrapping around his neck as she pressed her lips to the sharp cut of his jawline. For the first time in their tumultuous relationship, she felt like they had finally found each other and were exactly where they were meant to be.

Home. It felt like finding home.

"I love you," she sighed. "More than you could ever know."

He carried her out the door and didn't put her down until he slid her into the passenger seat of his Aston Martin. Once she was comfortable, he clicked the seatbelt and caught her in a fierce kiss that stole the breath from her lungs, his large, slender hands molding to the shape of her jaw. When he pulled away, that familiar ochre gaze was both smoldering and vulnerable, "You own every piece of me, Bella. Never, ever forget that."

Never. She smiled to herself as she lounged against the plush interior of Edward's prized Vanquish, her vampire boyfriend pressing cold, open-mouthed kisses to her wrist and driving well into triple-digits on the speedometer until they passed outside the limits of Forks. I'll never forget.

x-x-x

Though it was uncharacteristic for the typically dreary little town, the end of June was proving to be sweltering enough that even the Cullens couldn't help but feel mildly uncomfortable – though the family's discomfort probably had less to do with the heat and more to do with Edward's newfound forwardness in expressing himself.

Part of her felt bad, certainly Edward could be a little more… diplomatic, but that part was a very, very tiny portion buried deep in the furthest recesses of her mind; the rest of Bella was thoroughly pleased at leaving her prim, proper boyfriend with his jaw closer and closer to the ground as the summer progressed. The first time she'd worn shorts after her cast removal… well, she still found herself drifting in and out of the memory of his first attempt at verbal seduction from time to time. The first time she'd gone daringly braless in a cropped halter top that had mysteriously shown up with her clothing, Alice had gleefully applauded her evolving confidence, Rosalie had actually greeted her with a genuine, mirthful smile, and Edward had found it difficult to form a coherent sentence for most of their time exploring Seattle, his eyes constantly drifting to the sliver of exposed skin around her abdomen and other more prominent areas below her neck.

But today, on what Alice accurately predicted to be the hottest day of the summer so far, the Cullen siblings were setting up a team-based water gun fight in the backyard which could only mean one thing: bathing suits.

"Just trust me!" Alice pleaded a few days prior with wide, far-too beseeching eyes. "You'll look fantastic and Edward won't know what hit him."

Bella was seriously hesitant. A cropped halter top was one thing, but a bikini… "I don't know, Alice. I've never really worn anything like this in front of anyone before."

One of her perfect eyebrows had shot up. "You didn't seem to mind forgoing the bra for your trip to Seattle and this provides more coverage for your chest than that shirt did anyway."

"Okay, first of all – the top isn't really the problem; those shorts were high-waisted and exceptionally forgiving. Secondly, Edward and I were alone that day!"

"We'll all be in bathing suits, Bella. The only one who will even remotely care is Edward so just shut up and thank me after my brother can't keep his hands off of you."

That was all the convincing it had taken and for the last few days, with Alice's promise to keep the mental image of Bella in the bikini top and terrifyingly low-rise denim shorts hidden from her brother's prying mind, it had been easy to hype herself up as if this wasn't seriously putting a damper on her already fragile self-esteem. Bella eyed herself in Edward's enormous, exceedingly opulent bathroom mirror with distaste: it wasn't that she was unpleasant to look at per-se but… her eyes roved across the slight fluff – she absolutely refused to use the word 'pudge', damn it all – around her midsection, straying to the stubborn few pounds at her thighs that refused to budge no matter how healthy she ate and finally landing on the underwhelming offering beneath the lovely cerulean bikini top.

The statuesque perfection of the entire Cullen family certainly did not help matters any.

There was a booming voice from outside, "BELLA SWAN, IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE IN⸺" Emmett paused. "⸺ONE MINUTE, WE'RE COMING IN AFTER YOU, LOCKED AND LOADED."

She sighed, resigned. Of course, they had placed her on Alice and Emmett's team and since they were probably the most competitive of them all, she knew there was no hope of escape. God damn Alice and her stupid meddling. Bella steeled herself for what was undoubtedly going to be the most humiliating moment of her life and left the safety of the rarely used bathroom. She was halfway down the staircase when the largest Cullen's voice came crashing through the open patio door again. "ISABELLA MARIE SWAN⸺"

Bella broke into a run to get across the huge house and outside before her teammates really did come to ambush her. "Alright, alright keep your panties on, Em," she called as she nearly leapt through the patio sliding door. "I'm here, sheesh!"

There was a split second of absolute silence as the myriad of sparkling Cullen siblings eyed her, Edward's perfect jaw already hanging open, before Jasper made a terrible sound – something between a retch and a groan, "Jesus Edward, get a hold of yourself before I choke over here."

Alice looked positively smug as she danced across the yard to hand Bella the most technologically advanced looking squirt gun probably ever invented, "Told you."

"Alice, what–"

Edward threw his water-filled weapon onto the grass and darted over to her with vampire speed, catching her mouth in a fierce, bruising kiss that was far too suggestive for his family to witness but any embarrassment with his enthusiasm was very quickly drifting further and further from her mind as his tongue danced across her lips, begging for entrance. Bella immediately lost herself in the moment and dropped the item in her hands to wrap her limbs around him like an overly enthusiastic octopus.

Emmett burst into jovial laughter, "Jas, quit being selfish and project some of that for the rest of us so we can all reap the benefits tonight."

They broke apart then, both panting but only one physically blushing.

"You could have warned me," he murmured with a breathless chuckle. "Then I might not have made such a spectacle of myself by attacking you like that."

"We're used to it!" Rosalie called out.

"Just nice to see you lighten up!" Jasper echoed.

Each of the siblings stumbled a little and Emmett whooped suddenly, "God damn, Jas – that's got me feeling a little drunk. Thanks, Eddie!"

"Oh God," Bella groaned into his collarbone, "they can all feel what you're feeling, can't they?"

"Seems like it," he grinned wickedly. "I just wish you could feel it, too."

Emmett made an obnoxious heaving noise from across the yard, "Yeah, alright we get it – you want to get each other naked. Save it for later virgins, we got shit to do!"

In the past she probably would have been mortified and tried to deny it but… well, he wasn't wrong and it felt so good to finally be able to be herself without worrying how any of them might react. They all had proved, time and time again, that they wholly and gleefully accepted her for who she was and for the first time in her life, it felt like she belonged.

Bella snatched up her water gun and slung the massive contraption over her shoulder, winking at her boyfriend, "You heard Em – later."

Jasper made that awful gagging noise again as they all took their respective places on the pre-designated sides of the yard, weapons pumped and ready for action.

Emmett's smile was predatory, his sights and aim firmly set on his crouching wife, "Ready… set… GO!"

The scoring system was seriously flawed, what with Edward's mind-reading being an unfair advantage and Alice's ability to predict their moves making it difficult to outmaneuver her but it didn't really matter in the end. A few hours later, when the sun had begun to set and everyone was drenched from head to toe, Jasper inched next to Bella while Edward was preoccupied with Emmett raging about their team's 'bullshit' tactics.

"I don't mean to overstep, but whatever you were feeling so insecure about earlier…" He paused, covering his grin with his hand. "I assure you, Edward's never felt like that before. We were all about thirty seconds from disappearing with our own wives for the rest of the month."

She should have blushed but she knew Jasper was telling the truth. While she'd been stupidly worrying about her thighs being too big and her stomach not being flat enough, Edward had nearly incapacitated his siblings with the strength of his raw desire for her. That was a heady feeling and something that left her with much to consider as their physical relationship continued to progress into ever more pleasant territory.

"Thanks, Jasper. I appreciate the honesty – it helps more than you probably realize. Alice definitely pushed me outside of my comfort zone today but…" Edward's molten gaze caught her, ensnaring like a spider's web. "I'm really glad she did."

The typically stoic Cullen broke into chuckles then, "That's my cue to go. I'll see you later, Bella. Nice work today… with everything."

Everyone started making their way into the house to get cleaned up, leaving her and Edward to watch each other from across the huge, manicured lawn.

Bella, feeling on top of the world and almost high with the realization that Edward was quite close to panting after her like a dog in heat, tugged at the string tying the bikini top around her neck. She spoke softly since she knew he could hear her perfectly despite the distance, "Can I change in your room?"

Edward actually tripped over his own feet as he ran towards her. Though there was no physical reason for him to be breathless when he reached her, he was, "Please."

Emmett let out another booming laugh when their lips met, "Keep it coming Eddie, I've got nothing to do for the rest of the summer!"

x-x-x

July 2005

8 months ago

"What's with all the smoke and mirrors, today? First you lure me to your house with the promise of movie night and now I'm being led to God knows where with a blindfold covering half my face," Bella fingered the soft cloth Edward had wrapped around her eyes before he swatted her hand away. "See, now I'm not sure if this is romantic or if I'm about to be murdered. Tell my family I love them, just in case."

He chuckled, "Bella, love, you have been alone with me quite literally when no one else knew where we were so I think, all things considered, you will be fine. Besides, if a vampire was going to kill you I am fairly certain they wouldn't have told your father and their entire family exactly what the plan was for the evening."

"Not exactly the plan, I hope. That would be pretty mortifying if everyone knew sexually repressed Edward was about to get climbed like a tree."

Edward stumbled with an exasperated, amused huff, "Can we at least get through the romance before you insist on sullying my virtue?"

"I'd really rather not but if you insist."

"I promise your patience will be worth it," he squeezed her bottom and she groaned, already on the verge of a total nuclear meltdown that would inevitably end with one or both of them on their backs. "Besides, they do say most of the foreplay for women is mental. Don't you want to give me the opportunity to get it right? I am so terribly innocent, after all."

Her limbs were nearly buzzing with anticipation at his boldness, "Edward, if there is one thing I'm learning about you – it's that you are not nearly as innocent as you like to pretend you are."

"Don't blame me. Thanks to my gift, I have been privy to some pretty graphic thoughts over the last century. Living with Emmett and Jasper doesn't help, either. Now, if you don't mind, please humor me for a little longer before you allow your human hormones free rein."

"Fine, fine, but for the record I'm already crazy about you so all the wooing and grand romantic gestures are really unnecess–" Edward removed the blindfold and she was left momentarily speechless at the scene before her.

He had led her to an intimate, secluded cove situated at the far edge of a tiny little beach a few miles from the Cullen house. If someone didn't tell her she was in Forks, Washington she could almost believe it was a real beach somewhere in paradise. The water lapping at the sand was a crisp shade of cobalt, the early evening sky painted in violent strokes of vermillion, amber, and plum that melted into each other like bleeding candles. The shallow opening to the cove looked as if it had been carved from thousands of years of waves relentlessly battering the stone and directly beneath the highest point of the arch was a round table covered in an elegant tablecloth, just barely big enough to house the flickering candles and tableware awaiting them.

Bella was still unsure of what to say. She moved across the sand slowly, brain a jumbled mess of whirling thoughts, until she was close enough to run her fingers across the back of one chair. Someone had placed a relatively large black cooler near the back of the cove, a tall bottle of champagne sweating onto the surface – waiting.

The atmosphere was charged when he moved behind her, the air between them nearly crackling with electricity and setting her nerve-endings ablaze. "I appreciate that you're 'crazy about me'. You can rest assured the feeling is painfully mutual," he murmured against her ear. "But I will never stop wooing you, Bella. Not today, not tomorrow, not two hundred years from now. If you refuse to let me buy you things to show my affection, then grand romantic gestures will just have to do instead."

"I don't have the money or ability to do anything like this for you; there's nothing for me to reciprocate with," she attempted to argue but already found herself melting into his embrace. "It isn't fair."

"You've already given me the only thing I ever wanted, Bella. I found my mate, the only one destined for me, after waiting for more than a hundred years thinking it would never happen. What more could I ask for?"

Her traitorous heart, already firmly under his complete and total ownership, squeezed beneath her ribs. How could this be real? How could such an unbelievable man be this in love with her? Everything about him, about the way he felt about her, was like something from a fever dream. It defied all logic, all reason and sense.

But fuck if it didn't feel good.

He pulled out a chair for her and once she was comfortable, dragged the cooler over to plunk the champagne onto the table, and quickly set about arranging the fabulous-looking lasagna onto her plate. With a quick flick of his slender fingers, the cork popped out of the bottle and Edward poured the bubbling alcohol into her tall crystal glass.

"Underage drinking?" Bella smirked, glass already titled to her parted lips. "I never knew you had it in you to be such a rule-breaker."

"Considering I experience the equivalent of being drunk in your presence nearly every day, I figured – what's the difference? Besides, you only get to live once right?"

She eyed him, "Some people are lucky enough to live more than once."

"I can promise that it never felt even remotely like luck until I met you so, in my opinion, I haven't been really living for very long at all."

There was no stopping the tears that gathered in her eyes. She sniffed and reached for him, "Edward…"

"I wasn't trying to make you cry," he stroked the palm of her hand with his thumb, golden eyes gentle. "That certainly isn't the type of mood I was attempting to cultivate with all of this so let's pretend I'm not a total idiot when it comes to interacting with you."

Bella chuckled, shaking her head and grabbing the fork on the table, "Alright, well idiocy aside, what's the occasion for all of this? Last I checked, it wasn't my birthday or anything yet and I can't think of anything that you need to apologize for with something this grand."

Edward's posture was relaxed but there was something lurking behind his eyes that wound her stomach into tight little knots of desire, "I wanted to learn how to cook, so I can care for you the way you deserve. You always put everyone's needs ahead of your own, including mine and my family's, so it seemed like the best way to express how I feel about you."

To stop herself from becoming emotional again, she sipped some more of the champagne – which was now leaving a nice warmth at the tips of her fingers – and pierced some of the lasagna on the end of her fork, "I know you'll never believe that going to these lengths for me was totally unnecessary so thank you…" The very moment her tastebuds registered what they were experiencing though, Bella burst into incredulous laughter with a napkin already at her mouth. "Oh my God, Edward – did you mix up the salt and sugar? I'm so sorry but… this is awful!"

Instead of being upset, her boyfriend lost his charming composure as well, instantly transforming from an intimidating, beautiful vampire into what she imagined he was truly like as a human at 17. His deep, carefree chuckles left her mouth exceedingly dry and she pressed her thighs together under the table. "I was afraid something like that might happen. Rosalie and Alice were having a lot of fun torturing me while I was trying to cook with overly specific memories of your outfit from the day we went to Seattle."

Almost instantly, her appetite was gone. Bella emptied the champagne glass, pleased when Edward's eyes tracked the path of her tongue across her soft lips, "What was it about my outfit that distracted you so much?"

"Aren't you hungry?" He cocked his head, eyes hooded but cell phone already in hand. "I have Jasper on standby with sushi in case my cooking was as disastrous as I anticipated. He can be here in two minutes if you–"

"I can wait," she put down the empty glass and came to stand beside his chair. Edward looked up at her with a fierce need that had nothing to do with his thirst and he pushed the chair back a few inches in the sand. Bella slid onto his lap, one leg on each side of his hips until she straddled him, arms slipping behind his neck. The apex of her spread thighs met the straining hardness in his tailored khakis and the feel of how perfectly they fit together like this sent her reeling. "Tell me more about my outfit – what was wrong with it?"

His hands slid beneath her fitted tank top to caress her back, "I never said there was anything wrong with it." Icy fingers stopped at the clasp of her bra and tapped rhythmically. "But if you don't mind, I'd be more than happy to show you what I was imagining… if you'd so kindly agree to a reenactment?"

Absolutely not needing to be asked twice to be divested of clothing by him, Bella nodded sharply. Thank God she had the foresight to wear matching underwear today.

A quick snap and the black, lacy undergarment came loose. Edward dragged the straps torturously slow down her arms until he was able to remove it from the bottom of her shirt and toss it somewhere in the sand behind them. Her breath caught in her throat as he let his burning gaze lazily wander, first across her face, then down her neck and over her shoulders until they came to rest on her chest. The pale yellow of her shirt hid nothing as her nipples hardened under his intense attention, a groan escaping her throat when he swiped his thumbs across the peaks. Bella's head fell back, mouth hanging open, when he cupped her breasts fully in his hands.

"I never imagined…" His voice was thick and hoarse. "Christ, Bella."

"Is this… what you wanted that day?" She panted. It was near impossible, but she forced herself to look at him through hooded eyes and the lust on his face made her wiggle her hips against him. He gripped her waist and grit his teeth. "Or should I take it off?"

"I might die if you don't."

Feeling more confident, more wanted than ever before, Bella pulled the tank top over her head and dropped it onto the table. Her first instinct was to hide but she forced herself not to – if Edward wanted to see her that badly, she'd certainly not stop him. His eyes widened as he took in her body for the first time, his own jaw going slack for a moment before he seemed to remember where he was. There was no denying the tremble she could feel in his hands at her waist.

"May I… I mean, would it be alright if… I…?"

It was almost too easy. She pulled him closer, "I might die if you don't."

An icy tongue dancing between those sensitive peaks was the last thing she registered – other than his enthusiastic lips and desperate, wandering hands – for quite some time. Most of the glassware ended up in the sand though it was a nice discovery to find that the table was almost the perfect size for her to lie on.

Edward babbled nonsensically between pants and moans and kisses and nips: she was a goddess to be worshipped, a temptress sent to drive him mad, an angel bringing him salvation. He was nothing without her, could not imagine a life where she didn't exist, would never again doubt the whims of Fate. She gripped the edge of the table, head swimming with love and lust between his promises of the moon, vows of eternity, and declarations of undying devotion and faith.

He poured his soul out to her, those words marking her for the rest of time just as surely as his lips marked her skin. For Bella, there was no going back from this – there was only all or nothing now.

And she had no intention of settling for anything less than all of Edward Cullen.