Wasn't it easier in your firefly-catchin' days? And everything out of reach, someone bigger brought down to you? Wasn't it beautiful runnin' wild 'til you fell asleep? Before the monsters caught up to you. ~ Taylor Swift, Innocent

EPOV

"I'm… confused," Aiden said with a frown for the fifth time in the last hour. Emmett, Jasper, and I had just finished telling him the first half of our family history. Our troubles with the Volturi's, how Ronan came to Chicago with Carlisle, all of the stuff that seemed like it happened eons ago. We hadn't even gotten to the real issues yet. But he knew. He knew what we did, what I did. The drugs, the weapons, the money, he knew it all.

It was simultaneously freeing and gut-wrenching. It wasn't that I was ashamed of what I did. I had felt no intense guilt for my job since I was a teenager. There were times I regretted it, of course. When Bella was shot. When Bella was in jail. And now, when my son was looking at me like I was a stranger.

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"It's no joke, Aiden. The Cullen's have been running the Chicago crime world for decades." I've been running it for decades.

He was so much like his mother, his emotions so obviously playing through his face. Confusion lasted the longest, then I could see him start to piece things together, start to believe. He got up and started to pace in front of the fire.

We were in the middle of nowhere in Ireland, not too far from the small home I took Bella to after the shooting. I owned all of the land, and we had hiked for nearly a whole day to get to the perfect camp ground.

"You're all… in the mob?"

"We are the mob," Emmett said with a cocky smirk. I frowned at him.

"Holy shit," Aiden mumbled, pulling at his hair. "Holy shit." He kept pacing, kicking whatever rocks or twigs were in his way.

"I mean… I always knew our family was different. I hear people talk, you know? People are intimidated by you guys, everyone stops talking as soon as any of you guys enter the room. You were always so strict on me not looking into anyone online. It was like, the only serious rule you guys had for me. Which I guess makes sense now because what would I find?"

We all let him talk, watching as years of lies became clear to him. Maybe it would have been easier to never keep the secret from him. We could have followed the same route Carlisle did with us and just let it be common knowledge as soon as he was old enough to keep the secret. But my childhood wasn't a childhood. It was stressful and gory and felt more like a business than a life.

Aiden had a wonderful childhood. He had experiences most children never got; he spent summer's on movie sets and traveling the world. He went to school without wondering if his father was out getting blood on his hands. He was able to become his own person before my world sucked him in.

But, fuck, what if that wasn't a good thing? I had always been confident that he would want to join the family business, but what if he didn't? Forcing him wasn't an option, I would never do that to my son and Bella would never allow it in the first place. I had an undeniable desire to have him by my side, though. Teach him everything I knew and watch as he adapted to the situation.

Either way it was a fucked up situation. Either I stole his childhood and forced him to make decisions before he knew what he was doing or I crushed him when he was old enough to understand. What's done was done and that was that.

"How did you guys keep it a secret for so long? How are you not locked up if me googling you would turn something up? Shit, how does mom not even know?"

Fucking hell. He thought Bella didn't know?

"Oh, my God. She's going to be furious. Remember that time she was out of town and I didn't tell her about my rescheduled game and she missed it? She was so upset… and you've been lying to her for your entire relationship? That's… fucked up Dad."

Aiden went on, focusing his worry on his mother instead of himself. Part of me wanted to let him continue to think Bella was in the dark. I knew he never watched any of the films she made about herself, didn't know the extent of the home invasion he knew happened so long ago. It would be work, but we could put off telling him she was part of the lie.

But that lie would lead to a thousand more, and Bella wouldn't want that. I interrupted his senseless rambling he learned from Bella. "Your mother knows, Aiden."

He froze in his tracks. "Mom knows you're 'in the mob,'" he stated, using air quotes around in the mob like he still didn't really believe it. "Mom. My mother who bakes us snickerdoodles every weekend and cries whenever a dog dies in a movie? She knows what you do?"

Fuck. I didn't want him turning this around on Bella. "This isn't about your mother. It's about –"

"No, it is about her, because she married you and you both had me. You've both been lying to me my entire life."

That was when I lost him, because all of my planning revolved around him hating me for what I did. I didn't expect him to turn it around and focus his anger on Bella. Never wanted her relationship with Aiden to suffer because she kept my secret. She had been through too much keeping it already.

"It wasn't your mother's secret to tell, Aiden."

"No, but she's… You've always said it was our job to protect her. I remember, that day in your office you said you were proud of me for sticking up for her. I've always thought of her as… fragile, I guess. Sweet, caring… innocent. She's not, though. Not if she knowingly married you."

"Watch yourself, Aiden," I warned. He was walking a thin line talking about Bella.

"Yeah? Or what?" he said defiantly. If it was anyone else, they'd have a bullet in their head right now. "This is so fucked!" he shouted, storming off through the trees.

Jasper stood to follow him, but I shook my head. He needed time to think. Bella needed time to think, too. He would come around.

Dark…

Aiden hadn't said a word to me in a week. He responded in grunts or one-syllable answers when Emmett or Jasper talked, but that was it. We all constantly tried to talk to him, but it was obvious he wasn't listening.

I left him with Emmett and Jasper and hiked back to the house alone. It was the closest place to get any kind of reception. Things weren't going according to plan and I needed to regroup alone.

I took a quick shower before collapsing on the couch and grabbing my phone. The last time I talked to Bella had been when we left Chicago. She sent messages through Greyson, some simple updates and other times my ex-military bodyguard had to say 'I love you' to me.

As expected, she answered on the first ring.

"Hey, baby," I said, sighing at the sound of her voice. Decades together and the woman still had me wrapped around her finger.

"Is everything okay?" she asked skeptically.

"Everything is fine, everyone is safe. How are you?"

"I'm fine. Everything here is… good." We both understood the undertones of what we were asking. "Is Aiden okay?" she asked softly.

I sighed, not knowing the answer to her question. "He's alright. Still adjusting." All true, if not exceptionally vague. "I don't know if you should come out in a week, though. I think we'll need more time with him before –"

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"No. I just… I need to be there, Edward."

"Bella…" How did I tell my wife that our son seemed to hate both of us now?

"You still have a week to sort out whatever issue you're having. I've seen you solve bigger issues in a shorter amount of time."

"This is different, Bella." None of my usual tactics worked because this was my son. My flesh and blood that was turning on me. And it was all my fault.

The line was silent for a while before Bella spoke again softly. "Are you okay?"

"That's my line," I said with a humorless chuckle.

"Well, I am sitting at your desk doing your job. Must be something about the office." I could picture the little smirk she would have on her face as she talked.

"Fuck, I miss you."

"I miss you, too," she sighed. "Where are you guys, anyway?"

"Do you remember that little house I took you to in Ireland?"

"Yeah. That's awfully small for four people."

"We hiked a few miles away. We own all the land, so we're camping out there."

"Oh." Her voice was oddly high pitched. "Camping is… nice." She paused before continuing. "So, I'll see you in a week?"

I wanted to say yes, but I didn't want Aiden taking all of his pent-up anger out on Bella in person. It would destroy her. "I'll call you again in a few days. We'll see how things are going."

"Okay," she sighed.

"You're sure everything is okay there? You're being careful?"

I spent weeks trying to decide who should keep an eye on things while we were gone. Alec was in his early twenties, not nearly experienced enough to take over completely for any period of time. There were a few people who were qualified, but I rarely trusted anyone completely.

Incarceration excluded, Bella did a phenomenal job up until that point last time. She had more business experience now, and I knew she would need the distraction. Plus, we didn't have anyone actively trying to destroy the family now.

Still, there was part of me that needed confirmation that everything was going smoothly.

"Yes, everything is going fine. You were right. It's a good distraction from thinking about what you guys are doing."

"Good. If anything goes wrong –"

"Nothing is going wrong. I'm fine. Don't worry about me."

"Now you're telling me not to worry? We really have switched places."

"I love you and I'll see you soon," she laughed.

"I love you, too."

The line went dead and I leaned back and closed my eyes for a minute. I never considered myself a soft person, except with my family. Bella and Aiden were the only ones I would fold for, ever. But I had given him a week to himself, a week to think things through without any major disruptions. If he was going to follow in my footsteps, he was going to have to learn to deal with change and adapt quickly.

It was time to have another talk.

Dark…

"So, did she do it?" Aiden asked, his tone that of the annoyed teenager that he was. He was no longer the sympathetic kid who punched a classmate that called his mother a murderer.

"I tell you that your mother was attacked in our home and defended herself, unfairly put on trial for the murder of the attacker, and your response is did she do it?"

I had reached my breaking point. The attitude would no longer be acceptable.

"If she was on trial there had to have been evidence that she planned it. Did she?"

"You think your mother would have planned someone's death?" It was hypocritical, but this was one secret that I wouldn't be divulging to Aiden. Too many people knew the truth already.

"I think I don't know anything anymore! I've been lied to my whole life. I don't know who any of you are anymore. When you go to work are you going to your office or are you going to – "

"Am I going to kill someone? Check on a shipment of drugs coming in? Weapons? Maybe. Just because you know now, doesn't make any of us different."

"How can you just talk about killing people like that?" Aiden asked, looking at me like I had three heads.

"This is the only life I've ever known, Aiden. My father never hid anything from me. He came home with bloody shirts when I was a child, never caring if I saw or not. From the time I was twelve we had a strictly business relationship. I don't want that for us."

"What?" I frowned, unsure what had him so shocked. "You expect me to work with you? God, I don't want to talk about this anymore."

Aiden got up to storm off into the forest again, but I stood and grabbed his arm as he passed me. "You can't keep running off."

"Well, I can't talk to any of you about how I'm feeling. What else am I supposed to do, Dad?"

"You can talk to us, Aiden. That's why we're all here."

"No, it's not the same. I can't talk to you about these things now that I know. You're the only people I would want to talk to about it, but you're not the same anymore." I could see it in his eyes, all of the same fears that I saw in Bella's years ago. His words were eerily similar to what she told me.

I realized in my effort to protect her from Aiden's outbursts, I failed to connect the dots. The only person in the world who could possibly understand what he was going through was her. She'd had the same bomb dropped on her before, been the one blissfully unaware of who she was really with.

I would give him a few more days, more time to come to terms with the family history that he had heard today. But after that, it was time to move forward. Time for Bella to help him in ways that I couldn't.

Dark…

"Your mother is getting here tomorrow afternoon," I told Aiden as we sat around a campfire. It was just us and Jasper now. I sent Emmett back to the states a few days ago so Bella would have time to brief him on whatever had been going on in our absence before she left.

Aiden shrugged, staring at the flames in front of us.

"I don't want you pulling shit like this with her."

"She's lied to me my entire life."

"Aiden," I warned.

"Upset I don't do whatever you say like everyone else? Uncle Emmett just goes wherever you tell him… I'm sure Uncle Jasper would rather be anywhere but here. Everyone just does whatever you say, huh?"

Before I could say a thing, Jasper interrupted. "He's not a fucking dictator, Aiden," he snapped.

"No, he's a mob boss. Same thing."

"No, it's not. If you bothered to listen to what we were trying to talk to you about the last two weeks, you would know that."

"Whatever," he huffed. "I'm going to bed."

The next morning Jasper and I were silently sitting outside, looking over the horizon. Jasper had always been the most sensitive of us all. He wasn't born into the lifestyle like Emmett and I, so I thought having him here would help Aiden understand. It might still, if he ever listened to a word we said.

"You know, we should have seen this coming."

"What?"

"He's too much like his parents," he said, glancing over in my direction. "He's got Bella's stubbornness and your temper. You've both figured out how to use those traits to your advantage, but Aiden doesn't know what to do with them yet."

Before I could respond, we both stiffened at the sound of footsteps in the distance. "Son of a bitch. Whose idea was it to camp all the way out here?"

The smile was already on my face before I turned and saw Bella making her way toward us. Ben had a firm grip on her arm as she regained her footing. I stood and watched her for a minute as she walked over, her eyes on the ground to keep herself from tripping again. It didn't matter how many years I had spent with the woman, every time I saw her she was prettier than before.

Then I had her in my arms, her tiny frame fitting perfectly against me. It had been two weeks of hell, and she was just what I needed. "Damn, I've missed you."

Before she could reply, the sound of a tent unzipping made us all freeze.

"Hey, Ma," Aiden said, his voice quiet. More calm than I had heard him in weeks.

"Hey," Bella said, turning herself toward him. She gave my hand a soft squeeze before going to him. "Want to go for a walk?"

Aiden shrugged and Bella reached for a bag Ben had been carrying. Jasper and I watched as they wandered off together.

"If anyone can get through to him, it's her," Jasper said, patting me on my shoulder before walking over to Ben.

It was an invasion of privacy on every level, but I had to know what Bella was going to say to him. What he would say to her. I wasn't sure if I would get the whole story from either of them after.

I followed silently, keeping close to the tree line they seemed to be following. It didn't seem like either of them were saying anything yet. Bella eventually pulled him over to a fallen tree, both sitting on the trunk while she ruffled through her bag. I made my way a little deeper into the forest and sat against a tree to listen.

"Dad said you've known for a long time," Aiden said tentatively. "How did he tell you?"

I heard Bella sigh before she started talking. "Someone had sent him pictures of me, like they were following me. Your father thought I was in danger and told me so I would take the threat seriously."

"Were you? In danger?"

"I was shot twice a few weeks later."

"You were… what? Mom –"

"You've never seen this scar on my shoulder?" I heard a ruffling, probably her showing him the scar. "There's a lot we haven't told you. And I'm so sorry about that, but we wanted you to have a normal childhood. We wanted you to be able to make friends and find interests outside of all of this. We –"

"Before you start this whole speech… You're not trapped, are you? Is Dad forcing you to –"

"You father has never forced me to do anything. He's never hurt me, I'm not being blackmailed or tricked into anything. I don't know what he's told you, but I think if you heard my side of things you might understand this family a little better."

Dark…

Bella only stayed for a few of days. I hardly saw her while she was with us. For three days, her and Aiden went off on their own for hours and talked. It took every ounce of my willpower not to follow every time. Only a few minutes into their conversation the first day I knew I was overstepping and I left them alone. I knew, eventually, Bella would tell me what they talked about but it would be a long time before I got her to myself.

On Bella's last night, as we all sat around for an awkward dinner, she sheepishly announced there was going to be a continuation of the Tainted series, the films that had started her career. The author of the original books came to Bella personally with the idea, hoping she would not only star in the film, but produce and work on the music for it.

It was a hell of a lot of work, and I could see how guilty she was that it would be taking her away from Aiden, but he seemed genuinely happy when she told us about it. Somehow, Bella had brought him out of the shell he was forming on this trip. He wasn't as confrontational with her around, and I had even seen him smile a few times.

"Do you think I helped him at all?" Bella asked her last night here as she got into bed next to me. The air mattress in the tent was about three sizes smaller than our bed at home, but that had its perks. I pulled her right into me, enjoying having her close.

"He actually looked me in the eye today. He hasn't done that since the first night we were here."

"Maybe I should turn down the –"

"No, Bella. You want to do the film, yes?"

"Yes, but – "

"But, nothing. He's growing up. He doesn't need our constant supervision. Depending on how the next few weeks go here, Aiden might be spending more time working with me anyway." He was still young, but I wanted him to start getting comfortable around the family business.

"You're sure it'll be okay if I'm gone? We'll be filming in the winter and spring. Usually I would work during the summer so –"

With my fingers under her chin, I lifted her face so she was looking at me. "We'll be fine."

Bella's entire body relaxed into me, and I pressed my lips to her forehead. Without thinking about the fact that we weren't really alone, I moved my lips to hers and got lost in the feel of my wife finally beside me.

As soon as I had her pinned to the bed beneath me, I felt her tense again.

"You know I love you, a lot. And I really love having sex with you. But I can't have sex in the woods. In a tent, on an air mattress. With Jasper and Aiden right outside," Bella rambled.

I understood the last reason, but the first few confused me. "What's wrong with being in the woods?" I asked, situating myself on my back with Bella's head on my chest. She looked up at me, guilt swimming in her chocolate eyes.

"I hate camping."

"What?" It was the last thing I expected her to say. I took her once, when we were traveling after the shooting. She didn't seem to hate it at all, she had told me how much fun she had on multiple occasions.

"I know, I lied to you about it. It's the biggest secret I've ever kept from you. But you had so much fun on that trip! And seemed so excited about fishing and being outdoors that I couldn't tell you I was miserable. I'm not an outdoor person. Or a sleep on dirty ground person."

Maybe it was the stress of the last few weeks, or the adorable blush on Bella's cheeks, but the whole thing made me laugh. Especially the fact that the biggest secret she'd ever kept from me was that she hated camping. Not the fact that she had once planned and executed a murder.

"I'm going to miss you," I sighed, smiling down at her. She was leaving again tomorrow morning, and I wasn't sure how much longer we would be gone. Now that Aiden finally seemed open to hearing what I had to say, we could finally talk about the real issues. And we had a lot of those.

Dark…

After Bella left, my conversations with Aiden slowly improved. We left the campsite a few days later and stayed in Dublin for a while. I thought about calling our family in the area, but didn't wait Aiden to be too overwhelmed. I knew I was still walking a thin line with him, and I didn't want to push it.

As the days went on, he finally seemed to be comfortable around me again. He wasn't constantly looking at me like I was going to go on a rampage. Jasper and I gradually threw in bits of our life as we traveled. We told him the rest of our family history, though I left out the details of Bella's arrest and how serious the situation was. I wasn't sure how much she told him during their talks.

We were at a pub, talking about the game on the televisions, when Aiden started asking questions. Finally showing more interest than his quiet nods as Jasper and I would talk.

"What happened when… when Mom was shot? She didn't tell me a lot of details."

"He was a hired hitman. Your uncle's and I spent a month afterwards tracking him down."

"Who hired him?"

My instinct was to lie. Maybe be vague enough that he wouldn't know the extent of our issues with Aro, but I had to tell him the truth. I needed him to know all of the facts to be able to decide about whether he would work with us or not.

"The man who broke into our home and attacked your mother two years later."

"The one she…" He thought for a minute, then his wide eyes looked up at me as he put the pieces together.

"Yes."

"The hitman… you got him?"

"We took care of him, yes."

It was the first individual person I had told him I killed. He knew, of course, that it wasn't the only one. But it was different, having an individual person identified as opposed to an unknown group. I thought he would get closed off again, storm off in a huff.

His answer was unexpected ,but encouraging. "Good."

We left Ireland shortly after that, Jasper heading home to Chicago while Aiden and I traveled a bit. Aiden seemed more interested in knowing the details. He didn't get uncomfortable about them anymore. I could see his mind constantly working through what I was telling him. He saw the job for the puzzle it was, and now he wanted to solve it just like I did.

We didn't spend all of our time talking about work though. I wanted Aiden to understand that the job didn't define us. We spent some time in New York City. When we arrived at the hotel there was a basket of Aiden's favorite snacks and an envelope of tickets to a Broadway play from Bella. She made a point to have something waiting for him at every place we stopped.

It had been nearly two months since we left Chicago, and I was itching to get back. There was still one final step I knew I had to take. One more thing Aiden needed to know, needed to see before he could truly know what it took to be part of this business. Emmett and Jasper had done most of the leg work and planning. I was the one doing the executing.

Then, finally, we would go home. I would get to talk to my wife for more than half an hour a day, would get to see her for the first time in six weeks. We would be able to start this new phase.

"I didn't know you had a place in Los Angeles," Aiden said, dropping his bag by the door and wandering through the entryway.

"I don't. This was your mother's place when we met." The house was kept up through the years, and Bella stayed whenever she was in town working. It still gave off the perfect Bella vibe. Calm and cozy.

"Oh, cool," he said, walking toward the piano in the corner of the living room. There were a few old plaques hanging around it, sales records from her first album. "Sometimes I don't think I understand how… big Mom was. Is, I guess."

"That's because, first and foremost, she's your mom. As it should be. I don't see her as the woman with all of the fancy awards, either. She's just Bella."

Aiden nodded, looking closer at the plaques before turning to me. "So, what are we doing here?"

"Tying up a loose end," I said, just as Emmett and Jasper showed up.

It was an odd, rainy day in Los Angeles. I cleared my mind as Emmett drove, watching the dreary day around us. It was gloomy, but I felt a rush of adrenaline. I had been waiting for this day for years.

"What are we doing here?" Aiden asked as we pulled up to the anything-but-modest home. His career had been over for years, but he obviously knew how to handle his money. It was miles away from any neighbor, that was all that mattered.

"If at any point you get uncomfortable, tell Jasper and he'll take you out of there, okay?"

Jasper and Emmett had been here earlier, getting everything set up. All I had to do was pull the trigger. Literally.

"Dad, what are we doing here?"

"Don't say anything, don't touch anything, just watch, okay?"

I buttoned my suit coat as I got out of the car, relishing in the difference of the high-quality fabric as opposed to the jeans and t-shirts I had been wearing the last two months. It was good to be back.

The house was dark and empty. He was sitting in the middle of his bedroom, gagged and tied to a chair. I pulled another chair up in front of him and sat as Emmett pulled off his blindfold.

"Hello, Jacob."

Dark…

"Are you okay?" I asked again as we walked through the front door. The house was dark and quiet, but it felt good to be back. Aiden had been quiet for most of the flight, but not the same quiet as the first few weeks of our trip. He was contemplative, but not angry.

"I, uh, I think so. Just tired, you know?"

I ruffled his hair as he turned toward the hall to his room. He moved from the room down the hall from our bedroom a few years ago to a bigger room on the ground floor. "Get some sleep, kid. We'll talk in the morning."

I sighed against the bedroom door as soon as I closed it behind me. It felt like I had been on a rollercoaster the last two months. It had been necessary, and I was glad that Aiden knew everything now, but I was damn glad to be back home. I was especially glad to be back with the woman currently taking up the entire king-sized bed in front of me.

Kneeling beside the bed, I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and traced a finger along the cluster of necklaces she had around her neck. The same ones I gave her on our wedding night. The second my fingers touched her neck she stiffened and then the barrel of a gun was pressed into my chest.

"Christ, it's me, Bella," I whispered, carefully pulling the weapon out of her hands.

"Fuck. You're not supposed to be back until tomorrow," she said, falling back into bed, though her eyes were wide open now.

"You've been sleeping with a loaded gun under your pillow?" I asked, dismembering the weapon and setting it on the dresser across the room.

"Um, well, yes," she admitted, pulling the comforter closer to herself and fiddling with the end. The thought of her scared and alone in this house made my chest hurt.

"Are you scared to be here alone?"

"No, not usually. It was just a long time and I got a little… paranoid I guess." Bella knelt on the edge of the bed and pulled me to her. "I'm really glad you're back," she mumbled against my neck, her arms wrapping around me. "I should go check on –"

"He's probably already asleep," I told her, running my hands along her bare thighs, up under the oversized t-shirt she was in. I stood there, relishing in her company for a few minutes. Enjoying the way her fingers tugged lightly at my hair and the way her hair tickled my nose as I breathed her in.

"Two months is too long," I whispered against her, gripping her waist and pulling her to me. "Too long since I've heard that breathy little moan you let out every time I slide into you the first time. Too long since I've felt the way your legs shake when you're about to come on my tongue." I slid my hands down her waist, under the simple cotton panties she had on. "Too goddamn long since I've had you moaning my name."

"Edward," she whispered, her hips grinding against my fingers.

"Oh, we can do better than that, baby."

I pulled her legs out from under her, watching with a grin as she fell back against the bed with a laugh. Bella looked up at me and watched as I slowly unbuttoned my shirt. She made a quite noise of protest when my hands went to my belt and quickly sat up, pushing my hands out of the way. Soft lips peppered kisses along my abdomen as she undid my pants as slowly as humanly possible, never missing an opportunity of brush her fingers against my straining cock.

With my clothes out of the way, I tore her shirt over her head. I pushed her up the bed, situating myself over her. Something in me clicked when she smirked up at me, as she pressed her lips so softly to mine once, then twice, then a third time before she deepened the kiss. It was like all of the stress and worry and adrenaline from the last two months took over. The groan I let out as her tongue gently traced my bottom lip was almost pained.

My hands were rough as they traveled over her soft skin, tweaking her nipples until they were hard peaks and nibbling on her neck until I knew there would be a mark there in the morning.

I pushed her panties to the side, too impatient to deal with discarding them. As always, I was rewarded with the sweetest little moan in my ear as I slid inside her. I braced my arms on either side of Bella's head, careful not to tug on her hair that was spread out around her. Small hands gripped my back as I pulled out and pushed back inside, quick and hard.

I was finally able to let go of all of the stress from the last two months. The adrenaline from finally getting rid of Jacob Black. The pride of knowing he would never hurt my wife again. Every emotion I had held in while dealing with Aiden was finally getting released.

As much as I wanted to worship my wife the way she deserved, I was too pent up. "Bella," I groaned.

Her nails dug into my back and her passionate, strong, sloppy kiss told me everything I needed to as I finally let my body take over and my mind rest. My movements were hard and fast, the feeling of Bella warm and wet around me too good to control myself. Her soft curves pressed against me were an all too familiar comfort, and the moans the encouragement I needed to continue.

It wasn't long before she buried her head in my neck, biting down as her hips frantically bucked up against me. I froze, buried inside her as she came around me, mumbling incoherently in my ear.

I kissed her, sucking on her bottom lip before I leaned up and carefully flipped her over. I admired her back, the dark tattoo that covered her pale skin. The soft curve of her waist and the perfect slope of her ass. Just as perfect as the day I met her. I squeezed her ass, smiling at the deep moan it got me, and slid slowly back inside her.

Leaning over her, I kissed and licked and nibbled on the tattoo covering her back. Nothing compared to the way she tasted, covered in a light sheen of sweat and moaning my name. When she gripped the bed, using the leverage to push herself back into me I knew I was done for. Burying my head against her neck, I grabbed her waist and pounded my release into her as she came around me again.

I collapsed on my back beside her, careful not to crush her under my weight and pulled her beside me. There were a million things we had to talk about, but as soon as Bella mumbled a quiet, "love you," I felt her body relax as she fell asleep against me. Talking could wait. For now, I was content with my wife in my arms.

A/N: A shorter wait than last time! I'm improving! Anyway… I didn't mean for it to happen, but we've got another two-parter on our hands. I didn't really want it to happen, but this was on it's way to being nearly 12,000 words and I felt like that was just too long. It actually works out well, because the chapter after this two parter might take some time and I've already got this whole thing done. So, you'll FOR SURE get another update next Friday, as usual! For now, you've got this Thursday update because I still feel guilty about how long you waited last time.

As always, thanks to everyone who takes the time to read and review this thing. You guys really do keep me going. See ya next week!