Chapter 5

Bella was confused.

After spending some time with Paul, which included a ridiculous amount of mind-blowing sex and fantastic food with good laughs and talks, she had started to miss Embry. Bella didn't miss him while she was with Paul; she had to admit that she really liked Paul, but after not seeing Embry for so long, well, she just really wanted to see him again. Something about Paul reminded him of Embry, and it wasn't just the Native American heritage they shared.

She'd been surprised how strongly Paul had felt about her seeing another guy. She had thought that a sex god like Paul had a string of women all the time, and her having a casual hook-up with someone else wasn't a big deal, but clearly, she'd thought wrong. She could not think of Paul being an asshole who himself fucked others while expecting her not to.

But could it be possible that Paul wasn't sleeping with anybody else than her? They hadn't talked about it. The time they were together was a perfect way to forget the work and all the million things she needed to do; it wasn't a time to ask about possible other flings.

But could it be that she'd been so wrapped up in her world that she hadn't noticed that Paul might want more from their relationship than just casual sex? He had asked her to go to a wedding with him after all. It made sense now that she thought about how he'd reacted when she'd told him about her plans for this weekend.

But was she doing something wrong wanting to see Embry? She missed him, and she'd thought she and Paul had an understanding of not being exclusive. Had she understood something wrong?

She did like Paul. It was hard not to; Paul was like a fire full of unstoppable energy, leaving her utterly breathless sometimes. She missed Embry's calm and comforting but equally passionate personality. Being with Paul had made her feel sexy and strong. With Embry, she felt ... what did she feel? She wasn't sure, but she wanted to see him again.

And she would see him any minute now. Embry had texted her that his plane had arrived on time; Bella's heart started to beat faster at that thought. That was a new emotion.

"Is all done for the day?" Su-Wei came from the back room, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, you can go. I wrap things up here and close. I'll see you tomorrow at 11. You and Thomas open up at 8 am, and I'll help with the lunch hour."

"Yes, we do that. Have a nice time with Embry."

Bella followed Su-Wei to the door and was just starting to close the door when she saw Embry hopping off the taxi across the street. Her heart skipped a beat. It was a new response to seeing him. What was happening to her?

"Hey Em!" she shouted. Embry looked at her, his gorgeous smile spreading onto his handsome face.

"Hey, Bella," he came to her, grabbed her into his arms, and spun around. He put her back on the ground and kissed her.

A warm feeling spread through her whole body, and she deepened the kiss. Embry's soft lips felt so good against hers.

"I missed you," she said.

"God, Bella, I've missed you so damn much."

Embry captured her lips again, and Bella pulled him inside the shop.

"I was just about to lock up the place. Let me do that, and we can go. I got some dinner from Joe's, so we don't need to leave the house tonight if we don't want to."

"We don't want to," Embry said and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm not planning to leave the house for the next 50 plus hours."

"You probably must; I need to do some work, and I want you to take me to Fraenkel Gallery to see that Hiroshi Sugimoto exhibition you told me about. It's open till 5 pm tomorrow," Bella told Embry about her plans. She had been excited about the prospect of going to the exhibition with Embry. She loved how he told her about the pictures and explained the techniques used to make them.

"Okay, but let's not waste more time talking here."

He kissed her neck, and she felt her knees going soft. She secured the door and started to turn off the lights. She walked to the back door and made sure it was locked too. Beth had given the keys to the guests for the next three nights, and they should be ok. But one never knew when their guests might need help. They went first to Beth if there was a problem, but she was always a little alert. She couldn't help it.

It had been a busy day, and she was pretty tired but excited to have Embry here with her. She had missed him even more than she'd realized.

They left the shop and stepped into the hallway. It led to Bella's apartment and the stairs to the attic guest room.

Paul had spent some nights at her place. Bella had cleaned the marks he'd left there: put his toothbrush under the sink and tossed the t-shirts and pair of jeans she found under her bed to the closet. Bella wasn't hiding that she had slept with someone else, but she didn't have to rub it into Embry's face. As she opened the door to her apartment, the realization hit her, for a person who owned a moderately successful business, she could be damn dense sometimes; Paul had left his stuff around her place to mark his territory.

But the thought vanished as Embry pressed her against the closed door. His mouth and hands were everywhere, making her skin burn and her clothes gone. She helped him to get rid of his.

"I want you so bad, Bella," he murmured into her neck when carrying her to her bedroom.

"I want you too." More than she'd realized.

Embry laid her on the bed. Bella reached out to her nightstand drawer and took out a condom. Paul had bought the package, and for a second, Bella felt even more confused; was it fucked up she used condoms with another guy than who had bought them. It was. But she didn't have time to think about that either as Embry's hungry lips pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Let me put this on you," she said.

Embry sat to his knees, and she leaned to kiss him. Embry's wound his fingers into her hair and pulled her lips closer, eating her mouth. She had always loved kissing Embry. His lips felt perfect against hers.

She touched his hard dick, and he moaned into her mouth. She slid her hand over the head and spread the pre-cum along his thick length. She moved her hand over the silky hard skin up and down slowly making Embry tremble.

"I'll come into your hand if you don't stop," he panted, breathing heavily.

She rolled the condom over Embry's hard dick and pumped it, looking into Embry's eyes. His usually lighter brown eyes were black with lust. He lifted her so that she was standing on her knees. His mouth never left hers, and his other hand found her pulsing core pushing one of his fingers inside her.

"So wet for me," Embry hummed, and Bella straddled him, sitting slowly on his dick. It felt amazing how he stretched her insides and when he was all in, they were both panting heavily.

"Oh fuck! I won't last long. Jesus, you feel so good … fuck," Embry mumbled, his eyes squeezed shut.

"S'okay, Em," Bella breathed, kissing his forehead and closed eyes. She started to move on Embry's lap, and Embry guided her hips in slow motion. It felt amazing. Bella arched her back and started to ride.

"Jesus, fuck, sorry baby, I can't...shit." His body jerked, and he came.

Embry buried his head in her neck and breathed heavily.

"Sorry, Bella, you felt so good I couldn't hold it fuck, this is so embarrassing," Embry muttered into her neck.

"Hey, please don't feel bad," she said.

She lifted his head, cupping her hands around his face, and gasped when she saw unshed tears in his eyes.

She had an urge to say I love you, don't be sad, but the words were caught in her throat, thank God. She needed to do a lot of thinking before saying those possibly careless words out loud.

"Em, we have plenty of time to make it last. It's been a while, and it's not like I don't know what you are capable of, hmm?" She placed little kisses all over his cheeks, closed eyelids, and lips.

"Yeah, you're right. And I can't help that you're so fucking beautiful and sexy that I get off just by looking at you," Embry said and looked at her with such a vulnerable look in his eyes that it made her heart flutter, "I just feel that I let you down."

"No, you didn't. Please believe me."

Embry looked at her for a moment, and then he smiled. God, how she loved that smile, it showed his adorable dimples.

"I believe you. And I'll make sure you won't be walking properly on Monday morning."

"Is that so," Bella giggled, kissing his neck making him shiver.

"You bet."

Bella got up from Embry's lap, and Embry dumped the condom into the garbage bin.

Embry pressed her on her back to the mattress, and his fingers found her slick bud. He circled it and pushed two fingers inside of her.

"Oh, Em..."

"I love your pussy," Em whispered and curled his fingers inside her while his thumb rubbed her clit. She spread her legs wider and bucked against his hand. Embry was so good at this. He knew so well what she liked.

"Yeah, fuck my hand." He nipped her nipple hard, and she moaned.

Embry pumped faster. He pressed Bella's other knee on the mattress, making her spread even more open and finger fucked her dragging sinful noises out of her mouth and pussy. He leaned down to suck her clit

"Ah... Em, … I'm coming..."

"Come for my had." He pushed his fingers as deep as possible, and his palm rubbed her slit while she rode his hand. He twitched his fingers and pressed a spot inside her that made her crazy.

"Kiss me Em, ... Ah...kiss me..."

Embry's mouth crashed on hers when she came hard on his hand. The feeling was so intense she saw stars while her whole body was trembling in her orgasm, Embry's mouth on hers.

"Jesus, woman, you are so fucking sexy when you come like that," Embry said, kissing her jaw and the spot behind her ear.

"You make me."

For a while, they just lay there, holding each other. Bella felt Embry's heart pounding against her cheek. She suddenly felt overwhelmed.

"I'm thirsty. Do you want something to drink?" She moved to get out of bed.

"I want to drink you," Embry said, not letting her go but pressing his body against her. He licked her neck, nipped her jaw, and captured her lips in a searing kiss.

Bella melted into the kiss. She brushed her hands over his shoulders down to his back.

"Have you been working out?" Bella asked. She was feeling his back muscles, and they were more prominent than before.

"Yeah, I've had too much pent-up energy, so I've been going to the gym more and been jogging a lot."

He had always had a great body, but now it was more toned and muscular than before. It had been almost three months since they last met. He had been working out regularly.

"You look good. Not that you didn't before, but these suites you," Bella said and pushed Embry on the mattress. She kissed Embry's pecs, trailing her tongue around them and licking his nipple and then the other. She skimmed her hand on his smooth skin and followed the V-muscles on his abdomen towards his slowly hardening cock.

Embry hissed, and she got instantly wet again. She took him in her mouth.

Embry took Bella's hand and led her to another picture.

"The colors are insane in these photos," he said. He was mesmerized by the colors around him. Everywhere he looked, there were different colors, tones, and hues. Sugimoto was fucking genius in his work.

"There's nothing else than colors in these photos," Bella commented, looking at the photo with dark blue color that gradually blended into black towards the bottom of the picture.

"That's the point. Sugimoto is recreating Newton's prism experiment," Embry told her, pulling her closer to him and pointing one picture at her. "You see, that one that looks like a rainbow."

"Oh, Newton's rainbow. The experiment showed him that sunlight is a sum of seven colors. My mum used to read me a book that told the story of how he created the experiment. These are amazing."

"Yes, Sugimoto projected light through the prism to a mirror, and changing the angle of the mirror, he was able to separate individual colors of light," Embry told Bella. He had spent hours reading about Sugimoto, even reading his biography.

Bella looked around the room and sat on the bench opposite three big pictures. Embry felt bold, and he sat behind her so that Bella had her back against his chest. She let him; she didn't pull away. Instead, she leaned against him. Embry's heart was pounding out of his chest, feeling her so close. He was glad Bella's ass was a bit further; otherwise, she would have noticed his arousal. He always got hard when she was so close.

"Look at that one that starts with a narrow line of brown and ends with black. So is Sugimoto showing us that there are more than just seven colors, that Newton was a scientist who didn't see things in between?" Bella whispered, her breath fanning on his cheek. It was hard for Embry to concentrate on what Bella was saying. He was too aware of her scent and how her lips felt when they touched his cheek lightly while she spoke.

"Ah, yes, he says here," Bella said and read from the booklet, "Yes, I could see his red-orange-yellow-green-blue-indigo-violet schema, but I could just as easily discern many more different colors in-between, nameless hues of red-to-orange and yellow-to-green. Why must science always cut up the whole into little pieces when it identifies specific attributes? The world is filled with countless colors, so why did natural science insist on just seven?" Bella placed the booklet on her lap and turned her head to look at the photos.

The feeling of love, awe, want, and lust Embry felt was so overwhelming he felt his head swimming. The magic was cut short by the buzzing of Bella's mobile.

"Shit," she muttered, taking her phone from her back pocket. "It's Su-Wei. I need to answer this, sorry."

And she was gone from him. He didn't move as he tried to settle his pounding heart and racing mind. Had something changed between them? Bella was more open to his endearments; usually, she pulled away or joked around. Now she let him touch her and hold her. Was there hope for more after all? Would she be ready to be his? But how the fuck could they make it work? He could not move out from La Push, not as long as his father was alive. And thinking about his father's death made his heart sink. He loved his father dearly. It was a hopeless case.

Bella came back looking worried.

"I'm so sorry, Em, I have to go back to the shop. If you want to stay longer, do. I hate to drag you out from here. It is so incredibly mesmerizing," Bella said.

"Is everything okay?" he asked. He was afraid that something had come up that would mean Bella wouldn't be able to spend the rest of the weekend with him. It had happened once before.

"Su-Wei's mother had some sort of seizure, and she's in the hospital. She is stable, but Su-Wei needs to go to see her."

"Oh, that's awful. I want to come with you. We saw quite much already."

Bella smiled and stretched her hand to him, which he willingly took into his own.

Paul was mad as fuck. It's probably not the best mindset for a Bestman, but he couldn't help it. While he was here taking care of every whim of Sam's stuck-up bride, Bella was fucking Embry in San Francisco.

How the fuck could she still want Embry after the time she'd spent with him? Had he read the signs wrong? He had been so sure she was falling in love with him as he had fallen, fast and hard. He hadn't had a fucking change after the first time he had had her. She was it for him. He knew that. So how was it possible she was fucking Embry, that fucking squirt.

"Hey, Paul, where the fuck are your ears?" Sam asked, smacking the back of his head.

"Knock it off, you fucker," Paul sneered.

"What's the matter with you? Is it impossible for you to try to enjoy this? I would appreciate my Bestman not to look like a pissed raccoon at my wedding. You are getting Emily pissed, and when Emily is pissed, my life is pure hell. And if her wedding is anything else than perfect, I'll suffer for the rest of my life. So, whatever it is eating you, let it go for a few hours. Please, man."

What Sam asked was reasonable enough, so he turned his inner monologue off and tried to enjoy the occasion.

But fuck, it was boring, and it just dragged on and on. After Paul's speech which surprisingly made people cry and laugh equally, as a good speech at weddings usually did, Paul was planning to leave, but Sam wanted Paul to stay till it was time for him and Emily to go.

There were many bitches that tried to get it on with him, two of them were the Bridesmaids talking about fucking clichés, and he did think he should fuck them both at the same time, behind the fucking tent, to get even with Bella. But he didn't feel it, not really. He didn't want to; the mere idea was repulsive. Talking about fucked up. Before meeting Bella, he would have fucked them without thinking twice.

He decided that he would ask Bella to quit with others and be his when he went back to San Francisco. Quit this bullshit. He was ok with her not wanting to start a relationship with him, pretending like they already didn't have one, and he was ok her being in denial for now, but he needed her to stop fucking anybody else. He was all she needed; surely, she should see that. He would make her see that.

AN:

Yes, Bella's POV was needed, and since I had it ready for you, why not post it. She's a mess and so is the whole situation with the three of them.

Thank you for your support. It is much appreciated.