Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
~0~
~~Bella~~
I woke with Edward's naked body spooning me from behind. The motion of the rise and fall of his chest against my back was so comforting. His steady breath blew my hair and tickled my ear.
When I opened my eyes, a brief moment of panic shot through me when my surroundings seemed unfamiliar. I calmed slightly as I realized we were in the house at the back of the B&B.
I guessed, from the soft light through the gap in the curtains, it was just before dawn.
I had never felt so content in all my life, lying in the arms of Edward. Everything that happened yesterday just seemed so blurred. Like I could blank out the horrid bits and just focus on the memory of Edward and I making love for the first time.
Instantly my heart rate spiked as I recalled our second installment in the shower. It had never been like that for me before. The feel of him pushing inside was so... electric.
It reminded me of the first time he shook my hand in the Purple Bar, the warmth and zapping sensation. In the shower, that same buzz of skin-to-skin contact was amplified and insanely intimate with no condom as a barrier. What I felt was Edward and I, joining as one in the most sublime expression of our love.
My eyes clenched shut tight and I squeezed my thighs together at the recollection. In the shower, all I'd needed to do was put pressure where I was throbbing. Like a trigger, I pretty much exploded into a quivering mess as the pleasure of feeling Edward shot through my body.
I couldn't believe that I'd practically begged him to take me that way, unprotected. It was so reckless and stupid. How many times had I scoffed when I'd heard about 'accidental' pregnancies? Each time I'd dismissed the notion as ridiculous. Yet, if Edward hadn't pulled out, I wouldn't have stopped him. I was so blissed out and exhausted by the intensity of my climax, he could have kept going—I wanted him to feel what I had just felt.
I need to apologize and tell him he should never let me coerce him like that!
I need to ask Kate to take me to her GP on Monday, so I can start back on the pill!
I opened my eyes again and blinked until they focused through the half-light. Regardless of my sleepy fits of panic, the calming awareness that Edward's body was against mine made everything completely perfect.
Our lovemaking was perfect.
I'd told Edward about Riley. I also told him I could be a secret from the media and fans, as long as I got to meet his family and I could tell my family all about him.
Edward was in love with me and now I understood he experienced normal emotions like everyone else.
Including jealousy.
He'd been jealous when he knew Demetri was going to make a move on me in the restaurant. I thought it was ironic that I was suffering the same emotion as Edward talked to almost every other person in the room, or when I heard the two girls in the bathroom freaking the fuck out and lusting after my boyfriend.
I should have known there was a reason for his unnerving coolness.
Edward was just so alertly conscious of the way he had to conduct himself in public. I suppose that wouldn't have been as clear to me, had I not seen what that girl Bree went through because the paparazzi and fans suspected Edward was in a relationship with her!
I have to accept that I need to deal with other women wanting him. I'm never going to get away from that!
My mind was swimming with everything. The calm I felt was dissipating rapidly and my breathing became erratic.
I shifted in Edward's embrace, turned my body to face him and made an admission to myself.
I can be loved. I'm worthy and I don't have to be afraid of Edward hurting me.
Edward stirred and woke. He put his nose against my throat and inhaled.
"I love you, so much," I croaked and pushed myself closer.
"Bella."
Edward sleepily whispered my name as our bodies took over. Hands glided across heated skin, lips touched shoulders, throats, and mouths. Breaths mingled. I couldn't stop myself from pushing my body flush with his, desperate to be closer to him. I pulled him tightly against me. I wanted full skin-to-skin contact everywhere.
Our kisses were gentle yet positively consuming and then Edward started slowly kissing down my chest.
Even though I was dizzy and tingling from his gentle and arousing hands, I managed to remember to apologize.
"I'm...I'm sorry...about the shower," I said in a breathy whisper just as I felt Edward's mouth lick over my nipple. I forced myself not to pull his head closer to me; instead I massaged my fingertips lightly through his hair.
Edward kissed the underside of my breast.
"Hmmmmm, I'm not sorry. But we... can't do that again until you're..." he continued kissing and licking my breast, only pausing to speak. "It's too dangerous."
"I know, I'm sorry. Please just ignore me..."
I didn't seem to possess the mental capacity to even finish the sentence.
Edward's kisses stayed soft and wet over my breasts. His touch fogged my mind and made me ache with want.
"Make love to me," I pleaded as my jelly-like arm tried to stretch to reach the bedside table drawer.
"Bella," I heard him whisper, and then my body sunk into a convulsive ache as I felt Edward's lips, tongue and fingers move swiftly down and arrive between my legs in a wet and sensual caress.
I tried to keep my eyes open. The room was slowly becoming brighter. I thought if I could see, then I'd be certain the whole experience wasn't an erotic dream. But it was as real as my heart beating and my toes flexing as they tingled from the intense sensation of Edward's languid tongue playing lightly over my pleasure point.
It didn't seem to take long for my body to peak and fall into a dizzying spiral. The orgasm had been just as intense as the first time Edward had kissed and licked me there. The moan of pleasure that seemed to rumble within my chest was stifled as I pushed my palm over my mouth.
My body was on fire. I was alive with sensation —the sensation of Edward—and I was consumed with euphoria. I was so happy I thought I would cry, because Edward meant everything to me, and the way he adored my body, was not losing any intensity.
Edward backed off the bed. When I opened my eyes I saw him bending down, riffling through his overnight bag that was on the floor. Even in the dim light, I could see he looked triumphant when he retrieved an unopened box of condoms and proceeded to shred the plastic wrapping off the box to get one out.
He's so beautiful: lean and pale and masculine.
I'm madly in love with you.
My body was so relaxed from my release. I closed my eyes, and tried to stretch the length of the bed. I was completely blissed out. With my eyes closed, everything seemed surreal. The smell of fresh sheets and Edward's skin, the barely audible piano music from the radio that I'd neglected to switch off last night.
Then in a frantic shuffle that I felt, rather than saw, Edward was nudging my jelly-like legs apart as he hovered above me.
"Bella?"
My eyes opened to see his face, soft and kind and radiating the love he felt for me.
"I hoped that one day, I'd find everything I've ever wanted," he said softly, but with a pained emotion that made my eyes water instantly. "But you found me. You found me. I love you."
He smiled lovingly as his thumb smeared the tear across my cheek.
So slowly, Edward made love to me. Every push and pull I felt to my toes and every shared breath was like an unspoken affirmation.
I'd never felt so overwhelmed. But it wasn't scary or too much. As he kissed me, I felt the truth, the truth of our love. It was undeniable. I felt it and breathed it and it was like our connection could never be severed.
I absorbed everything whilst experiencing deliberately gentle caresses from Edward as he made love to me.
Yet, I could tell he was holding something back; he was stopping himself.
He said we'd take it slow all weekend. If this was what he meant, then I never wanted it to end.
~0~
~~Edward~~
I knew I'd never been more connected to my own body and mind. Every heightened emotion I was feeling as I held Bella in my arms, made me think that my life up to this point seemed almost unauthentic.
Inhaling her, tasting her on my tongue and feeling how her skin felt against mine, had to be the most simple and yet most addictive experience of my life.
As I'd made love to her, I was in awe at how she responded to me. Every touch of my lips to hers, every soft pant, moan or whimper I elicited from her, every point of my fingertips caressing her back or gripping her waist, threatened to make me come.
It took all my self-discipline to take it slow; at least, I thought I was taking it slow. The problem was, when Bella and I were making love, I had no grasp of time. At all.
It's like I'm on some other physical plane...
I had no way to describe it...and was suddenly confused why I thought that I needed to? I could boil it all down to the fact that I was completely and irrevocably in love with Bella, my soul mate.
I'll never experience anything better than what we have together.
I hadn't been able to get back to sleep after she woke me, pleading with me to make love to her again. I'd never been woken with such need and pure desire.
I'd been holding her, my fingers tangling in her hair for what seemed like an hour...or minutes. Even now, I could feel my dick stirring again, ready to go a fourth round—and yes, I counted the very brief shower sex.
She'd said sorry for begging me. I didn't regret it. However, it had mentally sobered me though, because in that split second, or minute... that I was inside her without a condom and felt her come, I wanted to stay where I was.
She is perfection, my soul mate.
"Tell me what you're thinking?" she whispered.
Bella was resting in the crook if my arm, with her bare leg over my thigh.
I rolled her onto her back and pushed my dick into the mattress.
Suddenly I remembered what she told me last night and now I needed to think.
Bella had told me her asshole ex-boyfriend had hidden her away for three months and basically he... I couldn't even think the words. He used her body for pleasure, while cheating on his girlfriend, and had convinced Bella he was in love with her.
He kept her a secret.
My stomach twisted in knots with disbelief that a guy could give her up. I was thankful he had, and equally thankful I had no idea what the motherfucker looked like, because I didn't want an image of her with any guy in my head.
"Edward?" she prompted me.
"I was thinking that I wish..." Do not say that I never want us to leave this house. "That I can't wait to take you to L.A. to meet my family."
I meant it. I had no idea how I was going to achieve it—hide her from the fans and leeches and yet finally introduce the love of my life to my family.
Bella touched my jaw and bit her lip. "I can't wait to meet them. I hope they...like me."
I couldn't help but laugh. "They'll love you, because they I know I love you. Trust me, you don't have to worry about that. I think I should be more worried that Chief Swan won't like me. I don't want to be acquainted with his firearm."
Bella's hand glided to the back of my head and she pulled me down to kiss her.
"My dad will see how happy you make me. He'll never need to use his gun." She giggled and resumed kissing me passionately.
That 'time' distortion happened again...so I reluctantly pulled away. I stared at her, and took in deep breaths to try and calm myself from the overwhelming desire to take her body.
"Are you hungry?" I asked. I hoped the question would be a distraction. The look on her face told me she was just as aroused as I was.
"Yes," she panted in a breathy voice. "I need you again."
Bella's hands were instantly flat against my chest and she was trying to push me to roll onto my back.
"I wanna be on top, this time," she whimpered.
Jesus fucking Christ. YES!
I let her. I wouldn't have been able to resist. I only possessed about five seconds of clarity as she was tearing the condom packet open.
I don't want to be like him, her ex. We need to do more than just...I need...we can't make our relationship all about sex...
That thought was instantly gone as I felt Bella take me in her hand and roll on the condom. So. Fucking. Slowly.
Then she threw her leg over me and wiggled her body to line herself up, holding firmly and staring down at me with a look that obliterated any ounce of reasoning.
She rubbed my dick against her and then lowered herself.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
I couldn't close my eyes even though the sight and the feel of her was going to make this even quicker than it had been in the shower.
Bella didn't move when I was all the way inside.
"I love you, Edward. I wish... you and I..." she seemed to be slipping into a swoon. "Oh God, you feel so good..."
My body took over and I gently clutched Bella's waist and lifted her slightly so I could move my ass off the bed and thrust. She seemed to regain her focus and then she pushed sharply on my chest with both hands and raised herself up on her knees and started riding me.
She feels amazing. It's too good. I won't last.
"Bell-ahhh!"
She was slow and very deliberate in her movement, but then she increased her pace and was almost frantic.
"Please touch me," she moaned.
I fumbled to push my fingers against her with soft and then firm swirling pressure as the pleasure swamped my body, bringing me closer and closer. I wanted to hold back long enough to see the perfection of watching her come.
Time was an incomprehensible word that held no importance.
I couldn't look away from her beautiful face as she watched me. Her soft dark hair, the milky white skin of her breasts and the dizzying swirl of the room consumed my peripheral vision. It felt like slow motion, like I could see the dust motes wafting around and catching the light; floating away with each of Bella's deep exhalations.
I felt and saw when her orgasm caught her and I watched in fascination as her pelvis shook. She was profoundly beautiful as she climaxed. Holding off my release was an impossibility.
Exhausted and sated, Bella collapsed against my chest, just as I released, grunting and searching out her lips desperately.
Is this what it's always going to be like? Overwhelming and so hot that we can't last more than a few minutes because the pleasure engulfs us both?
Yes.
The answer was undoubtedly 'Yes'. Even though I'd tried to block out what Alice had told me over the years, I must have been paying attention, because I knew that it would always be overwhelmingly intense every time Bella and I connected.
Even Jasper had alluded to the ardency of his relationship with my sister.
They can barely keep their hands off each other!
Now I understood.
Alice was right. I couldn't understand it before. I had to experience what it was like to be bound to my soul mate.
"Bella," I held her tightly to me.
My dick had gone soft, but I didn't want to move. Instead I simply made sure the condom was still where it should be, as I tried to think of the words I needed to say. Bella beat me to it.
"I love you, I love touching you, feeling you," Bella whispered as her lips slowly kissed my neck. "I don't want to leave here, ever," she sighed.
The thought of hiding her here indefinitely made me desire it, and also hate myself for even thinking I could do that, after what he did to her.
I'm not like him and I never will be. I love her. I'm going to protect and care for her. She'll meet my family; they'll love and support us both. I won't allow her to be subjected to the horror and nastiness of the media hounds and the possessive fanatics, until we have no other choice.
I didn't want to make our relationship all about sex, but it was inevitable that sex would be at least a daily occurrence. I was a fool to think I wouldn't want her constantly, multiple times, and I knew I would never become indifferent when it came to my desire and need to be intimate with her.
Bella's hot breath was on my neck and her soft breasts against my chest. I never wanted to leave.
Bella's comfortable here, she's happy here.
A plan started to form in my head.
"Then let's not leave." I said simply. "Can we, I mean you said this was your friends' B&B? I'll pay them to keep this available for us. We can stay here instead of the Hotel."
Bella didn't say anything at first. Her lips kissed my neck, and she sighed.
"Really? Can you do that?" she asked.
I could tell by the hopeful inflection in her voice that she just needed reassurance.
"Why not? Emmett can get me here without anyone knowing. The studio is paying for my hotel suite; they won't even know that I'll never be there. The leeches can try and stalk me there, all the while we can be here, together."
Bella started hungrily kissing me. Her lips burned with an overwhelming determination.
She was killing me. I realized that she'd been holding back her passion. She'd been so tentative with me the whole time I'd known her. Now she knew I loved her, she wasn't holding anything back from me; she was expressing everything through her voice, her hands, and her lips.
I'm the fucking luckiest man on this Earth. She's mine and only mine. Nothing is going to keep us apart. We can't be apart.
"Yes. I wanna be wherever you are. I need to have you all to myself." Bella's quiet voice and moans and whimpers as we kissed, made me drunk with bliss.
When our kisses slowed and she pulled away to breathe, I asked her.
"Will Kate let us stay here, exclusively?"
Bella's fingers traced my jaw. Her touch was heavenly.
"I think so, well at least for the next two to three weeks. Kate and Garrett are going to move from the main house to live here, so the guests aren't disturbed when the baby is born."
"Baby?" I asked dumbly. "She's pregnant?"
"Yes! I can't wait for you to meet her, and Garrett. They're both really lovely."
I ran my fingertips over the small of her back, completely euphoric that this beautiful and compassionate woman was all mine.
Then I heard a loud knock, and my relaxed state was shattered.
"It's probably just Kate!" Bella assured me and scrambled off my body with purpose.
I watched as her face broke out into a huge grin as she slid her arms into my shirt that had been lying on the floor.
She looked so hot as she quickly forced the buttons through the holes. Her hair was a mess; she still had the shadow of smudged eye make-up under her eyes, yet she was glowing.
"Stay here, I'll be right back." Bella bent over and kissed me with a smile. I caught a glimpse of her creamy, shapely thighs as she skipped out of the bedroom.
She's happy. I've made her so vibrantly happy.
I rolled off the bed and walked into the bathroom to clean myself up and wash my face. My foot stepped on something and I looked down to see the condoms that I stupidly—or not so stupidly as it turned out—dropped on the floor before we showered.
Everything that we'd talked about, everything that we did, was like a swirl of important data in my head.
She loves me. I love her. We're going to make this work.
I tried to suppress the anxiety about how the paparazzi would treat her once they found out. It was a major concern for me. Maybe not an immediate concern, but still the thoughts and worst case scenarios were there, including the faint impression of my dream; the leeches not letting me help her, being separated from her.
"Edward?" she called out.
I instantly responded to her voice. She sounded excited. I scrambled into my boxers, still gripping the condoms, and hurried down the hallway.
Bella was in the kitchen, a large tray of food on the bench.
"Where did this come from?" I asked.
"Kate of course. She's so thoughtful."
I watched as Bella pulled the lids off a few plates. I stashed the condoms under a decorative bowl that was on the dining table.
There was sourdough toast, fresh fruit and poached eggs, orange juice and a pot of coffee.
"This was on the tray too," Bella handed me a white envelope. She was holding an envelope as well.
I recognized mine was hand-written by Emmett.
I didn't want to read it, but I reluctantly tore it open and unfolded the note.
Hey Ed,
You don't have to go to fight training today. I told them that you're taking a personal break because of the pap shit-fight last night.
I thought I'd better give you a heads up, Heidi and John have called me because you weren't answering your cell. Photos and videos of Bree from last night, and some of you performing, are all over the gossip sites. They say you've 'Dumped Rosalie for a younger, up and coming starlet.'
Apart from that, we weren't detected getting here. There are no leeches about, as far as I can tell. Kate and Garrett have set me up in one of the B&B rooms. Garrett works at the hotel, so he is bound by their NDA. I don't think they have any agenda apart from facilitating getting you and Bella together. I've checked the main house and all external fences, it's secure, and as long as you stay where you are, I'm sure you won't be spotted.
Enjoy your time with Bella and be ready to leave for the set at 4:30am Monday morning. No excuses!
Emmett.
P.S. Do you need anything from the drugstore?
Dread seemed to suck the breath from my lungs. I looked over to Bella. She was reading her note, smiling and happy.
I can't believe people are so easily fooled by what they read online or in gossip magazines. I've only met the girl twice!
It made me feel sick to the stomach. All I wanted was to tell the world that Bella was mine and I was hers. I wanted the chance to have a normal relationship, where I could take her out anywhere I wanted, without fear that my over-zealous fans or the leeches would make her feel self-conscious.
I'd had a taste of what that life could be like, at Laurent's. Everything about that night was perfect, except Bella didn't know that I was in love with her then, and I stupidly got drunk.
"Is everything OK?"
I tried to smile, to reassure her that everything would be OK. She didn't look convinced, mostly because I wasn't.
"What did your note say?" I asked her.
She smiled at me and stepped closer. "Kate said she'd deliver our meals and anything else we need, so we can stay here, and just...be."
Bella looked radiant. She held her note out for me to read.
I couldn't keep this information from her...she had a right to know exactly how the media worked, so she could deal with it when the time came.
I held my note to her. We swapped. I waited for Bella to start reading and then glanced down to her note in my hand.
Hi Bella,
I hope you and Edward worked everything out? I don't mean to be nosy, but I'm dying to know that you've talked?
I'll deliver food, starting with this brekkie, lunch at 1pm and dinner at 8pm. There are a few snacks in the cupboard and I think there is milk in the fridge. I don't want to disturb you, so I'll leave the tray at the door. Leave me a note if you need absolutely anything, OK? There's a notepad and pen in the bottom kitchen drawer.
Use the time to really talk (amongst other things, which I hope you ARE doing). I have a feeling everything will work out for you both. Listen to me, I'm soon to be a mum, I have enhanced intuition!
Love Kate xx
P.S. Paul and the other guys should be back on site at 7am Monday morning to finish off the bathroom. He has a key. I've left him a message that he needs to come and see me at the main house before he starts. I thought you should know.
I looked up to Bella. She was frowning, and I felt physically sick.
When she finally looked up to me, her face was pale.
"Will they release a statement saying you're not in a relationship with Bree?" Bella questioned.
I tugged at my hair, whilst trying to discount it all, and failing miserably. I answered her question truthfully.
"No. They'll let people believe what they want to. It sickens me to say it, but Bree probably loves the attention; she wants to become an actress. The perceived association with me will give her notoriety."
I thought back to last night, when I was onstage. I knew how emotional I was professing my love. 'Bella' was about to flow freely from my lips, but the bright lights and the awareness that I was in a room full of strangers had stopped me.
They'd mindlessly assumed 'B' was for Bree, because they had photos of me, taken on Thursday night with Jace and Bree at dinner. It was no-brainer; the leeches could sell the pictures and the story would write itself—instant magazine circulation boost.
"I don't think she will." Bella said. "I saw her, she looked frightened. She was overwhelmed and panicked by the attention. They were so horrible to her!"
My chest ached because I knew Bella realized that the same thing would happen to her, as soon as someone found out we we're together. I wouldn't be able to protect her from that. It made me feel inadequate.
Bella walked over to me and wrapped her warm arms around my waist.
"How old is she?"
"Seventeen."
"Don't you think they'll want to issue a statement in this instance, regardless of the contract? You're twenty-three. If people actually think you're in a…sexual relationship with her, that's illegal, isn't it?"
I looked into Bella's eyes. I had no idea what the law was in Canada, but in California, a six-year age difference was definitely a felony. Bella was right. This was vastly different from anything I'd ever encountered. I'd be damned if my reputation would be ruined, based on a falsity.
Fuck the contract and Heidi.
"I'll call my lawyer on Monday. Everything will be sorted out. You don't need to worry," I said as my fingers traced her lips.
"We're in this together. Of course I worry. I love you, I'm going to be upset if you are, just like you'd feel the same if I was upset." She said softly.
I kissed Bella. I forced everything out of my mind and focused on holding her and silently reassuring her that it would be OK. I'd make sure of it. I wouldn't lose her.
Nothing would drive us apart.
Nothing.
~0~
~~Bella~~
The weekend was everything I hoped it would be, and more.
We talked. We ate delicious meals that Kate left on our doorstep. We made love, over and over again.
It was Sunday night. My body was exhausted yet my mind was completely serene.
Edward.
Even though the second bathroom had unfinished tiling and an unpainted window frame, I turned on the water to fill the bath and added few drops of Rose oil I found in the bedroom.
Edward and I had spent the last 48 hours together in every way. We hadn't been separated, unless we needed the bathroom.
The steam from the water was infused with the smell of tea rose. I was still wearing Edward's plaid shirt, I hadn't taken it off all day. It was the only item of clothing I'd worn since yesterday morning.
I thought back to yesterday, as the bathtub slowly filled.
After we read the letters that Kate had left us, we'd eaten everything she provided. My body needed sustenance.
All throughout breakfast Edward kept staring at my mouth.
I could tell he was worried about how the Bree situation would play out. I didn't want to think about it.
I'm completely selfish! I want him to focus only on me!
When we'd finished eating I stood to stack the dirty plates. My intention was to wash them up so I could leave the clean plates on the tray for Kate to collect.
Warmth on the back of my thigh, tingly pleasure shot up my spine.
His hand! Oh God!
I was immobile, frozen as Edward's hand inched higher, slowly.
He knows I'm not wearing underwear!
Just his gentle touch could make me tremble with need. He stroked lightly over me, feeling my obvious desire.
"Come here," he pleaded, and guided me to straddle his lap.
Kissing Edward was surreal. The taste of bitter coffee mixed with him, his essence. His large hands held my head, his fingers covering my ears and he kissed me, so passionately, so determined, and sexually charged.
I could feel his desire for me pressed in between us. After long kisses that seemed to get more urgent, I desperately needed friction. I tried to push my pelvis forward.
"Do you know what you do to me? Seeing you in my shirt? Do you know how happy that makes me?" he almost growled the words.
Suddenly Edward's hands quickly glided down in between us, and he expertly flicked open each one of the buttons, exposing me completely to his devouring gaze.
He stared. I could feel a blush creeping up my chest and onto my face.
"I have to…" he said and then his hand supported the small of my back as he held me and pushed himself to almost stand.
He reached out his other arm across the table, knocking over an empty glass. The secure grip he had on me stayed constant as he sat back down. Before I could work out what was happening, he was holding up a row of three condoms.
Oh, please. Yes!
I tore at one frantically and threw the others on the floor.
Edward pulled himself out of his boxers with one hand, and he was right there, long and hard and straining for me.
I didn't have to think. I instinctively desired to have him, sitting at the kitchen table.
I rolled the condom on, acutely aware of his sudden intake of breath and the sexy twitch of his lips when I held him firmly.
Edward's hands slipped under my thighs and I gripped his shoulder and positioned him. We both watched as my body took him inside, so slowly, so erotically.
My thighs started to quiver.
I'll never get sick of this feeling. I want it to be this way, forever!
I looked down to where we were joined and I almost wept from the emotion and the feeling of absolute completeness.
I snapped myself out of the memory.
My cheeks hurt from smiling so widely. My body was in constant anticipation of how Edward would decide to touch me, where he'd kiss me and for how long.
I reveled in the memory of Edward's gentle touches.
He had managed to surprise me several times, just by his words, or the fervency of his desire. And yet, my body ached to feel him again and again. Just touching his skin could be enough to survive on, I was sure.
I laughed.
I think the bliss of numerous explosive orgasms and several breathless make out sessions has killed-off some of my brain cells.
How long can you sustain being completely blissed out and euphoric?
Then Edward's arms circled my waist as he stood behind me.
"Hmmmm, roses? You're killing me," he whispered in my ear. His large, gentle hands started undoing the shirt buttons, again.
I leaned back and closed my eyes. I was instantly ready, willing and so needy to have him.
"You better turn the water off, Bella," Edward's voice was husky and sexy.
I opened my eyes to see the water level had risen. Edward's fingers danced over my shoulders and he pulled his shirt from my body. I was naked and thoroughly aroused when his firm hands drifted down to my hips.
I bent forward and placed one hand on the lip of the bath to steady myself as I turned the tap off.
"Oh God. Don't move."
I was suddenly flushed as I realized Edward had a very intimate view and I could feel my skin heat instantly, as he gripped my hips tightly and groaned.
My chest expanded as I inhaled in long gusts. I could feel myself saturating with want, but I held no embarrassment about how my body would look or how he responded.
Once in my life, I would have.
But now, that self-consciousness had gone. There was no shield, no stupid mental security screen in my mind—and no inner fourteen-year-old—trying to refute Edward's love for me or discount that I was alluring to him.
Edward's hand moved to my thigh slowly. His warm fingers halted.
Every nerve ending in my body could anticipate what he wanted to do.
I steadied myself and lifted my knee to place it on the edge of the bath. It was an invitation for him to do what we bothwanted.
"Bella…"
The way he said my name…I'll never get tired of hearing the emotional way he speaks my name.
Slowly and erotically his long and attentive fingers started sliding between my legs, over me, making my knees weak and body burn. Then he pulled himself to where his fingers had been, sensuously sliding his arousal the length of me, so close to pushing inside.
"Yes, Edward."
As soon as the words left my lips I regretted them. I'd told him to ignore my coercing pleas, yet here I was practically begging him to push himself inside me.
"I mean, please get a condom. I want you, right now!"
Edward slowly kissed down my spine, as my body trembled. He continued to push and rub himself against me, so dangerously and erotically close. I wanted it, so badly.
He pulled away from me for a split second and then I heard the distinct snap of latex being rolled.
Oh God.
Edward's hands held my hips.
"I won't let you fall." He promised seductively.
I felt Edward's lips suck and lick the skin on my back. His tight grip held me steady.
"Bella, I love you. I need you."
Without a second of hesitation, Edward filled me swiftly.
The position and my drenched arousal, allowed him to slide fast and deep and even though I had a decent grip on the bath, my body lunged dangerously with each long and hard thrust.
This is fucking.
Edward was fucking me, so hard and so fast and my legs and arms were tensed with the strain of holding myself in the unnatural position. I absorbed the pure adrenaline coursing through my veins as my mind processed the need, the burning ache, as well as the sublime pleasure.
"Bella, Bella, Bella!" Edward chanted with each long thrust forward.
I shattered. My body shook so violently from my climax, I was sure I'd fall face forward into the warm, rose-scented water.
But Edward gripped my waist so tightly that the clenching pain became an intensified enhancement to the all-consuming stimulation.
"Yes!" Edward shouted through his release as he pounded into me roughly.
I squeezed my eyes shut so tightly that I saw a blurry pattern of kaleidoscope stars.
The bathroom reverberated the sound of our open mouths, gasping for oxygen.
I felt the excruciating loss of Edward as he pulled away.
Then soft hands helped me to stand up straight, and when I stretched to my full height, I turned to see Edward's flushed skin, sweat covered brow and eyes full of…regret?
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he lamented as he pulled me to his chest. "Are you OK? I lost my mind, I'm so, so sorry."
Edward was holding me with tense arms, his heart pounding.
He thinks he hurt me? He's sorry for blowing my mind?
I tried to compose myself. When I thought I could clearly communicate, I reached up to hold his face in my hands.
"That was… you make me feel things I've never felt. I trust you. I know you'd never hurt me —" he was about to cut me off but I covered his lips with my fingers to hush him.
"If I ever dislike something, I'll tell you, you know that, right? I'll let you know if anything makes me uncomfortable. I promise. I love you so much, I love the way we are together."
"No, Bella, look." He said with what sounded like hopelessness.
Edward's stepped back from me and his fingers trailed softly down my body to my waist, gently running over four red marks above my hip. I looked down at them in disbelief. They were the marks left by his supportive fingers that had held me steady.
I didn't know what to say.
"I'm, so sorry." He repeated.
"No. I'm not hurt. Please, Edward. It's nothing. I mean…I'm not going to break. I'm strong."
My words had a double meaning. I knew I'd been weak before. I'd been mentally fragile and emotionally stunted. I didn't want…I wouldn't be like that again. I wouldn't.
Edward stared at me. His eyes were filled with love and adoration, but he seemed to be going through some type of mental conflict.
"What's wrong? Is it because it may be our last night here?"
I was anxious, given that Edward would leave extremely early in the morning, and I hadn't yet seen Kate to ask if we could stay. The thought of going back to the hotel panicked me for some reason. I knew I was just being silly. As long as I could be with Edward, I really couldn't care less where we slept, or if we slept.
"No, Bella. It's not that. I…" he trailed off and tried to distract me by kissing my mouth so sweetly and gently. It was a complete contradiction to the voraciousness of what we had just experienced together.
I wasn't going to let him close up on me.
"Talk to me? We won't make it through any of what faces us outside this house unless we talk." I said as soon as he pulled back from the kiss.
He closed his eyes, and breathed in through his nose. His lips were pursed and his nostrils flared.
"I have to be so controlled, all the time. I'm conscious of hundreds of eyes on me constantly. Here, in this house, with you, I've never felt so liberated from scrutiny. It was like I…"
"Edward," I said and pushed myself against his hard body. "You can always be that way with me. You can be you. I'm here. I wanted it too. I needed it too!"
I did need it. I needed physical as well as verbal validation that he wanted this, that he wanted me. That even though we needed to be discreet, he wasn't compromising anything else when it came to our relationship. I certainly didn't want him to hold back his passion from me.
I wasn't holding back. I was giving myself fully. There was no other choice for me. I couldn't hide who I was, or what I wanted.
I was even more determined to ensure Edward knew exactly what he meant to me and I knew I had to be strong now.
I'd been a passive 'victim' for too long. I wasn't that girl any more. Edward's love had made me realize that life is what you make it. I had to summon all my strength and obliterate all my insecurities to be able to get over the obstacles that I knew were out there. I had no doubt in my mind that Edward and I belonged together.
He wants me too; we need each other.
It seemed as though I'd wasted years of my life letting things happen and not taking charge.
"I love you." Edward whispered and then he smiled and stepped into the bath, taking my hands in his and assisting me to step in as well. He reclined and pulled me down to sit between his legs
We soaked in the warm, fragrant water.
We touched and snuggled.
As soon as I felt Edward relax, I pulled his hand to my face, holding his fingers against my cheek, inhaling the fragrance of roses and feeling my skin tingle from his touch. "You've been holding out on me," I whispered.
"What? I…" he sounded confused.
"That was so… every time is so…I can't get enough of you. I can't explain what it feels like. I can't think of the words, it's so bizarre. I'm sorry, I'm not making any sense am I?" I kissed his hand.
How do I tell him that I seem to fall deeper in love with him every time he touches me?
"You make perfect sense to me. I feel the same. I just didn't expect I'd leave a mark."
"Edward—" I started, but he silenced me with his lips against my neck.
"Shhh, I'm sorry. Next time, I'll make sure when we do that, it's not so...precarious."
Next time.
The thought of the next time sent an erotic shiver over my entire body.
I turned my head so I could kiss him.
We both sat in quiet contemplation. Every now and then I'd hear the steady drone of cars a few streets away, but the night was still.
I didn't feel the need to speak. Edward regretted marking me, not making love to me that way. I understood that.
"Bella, I need you to meet my sister, Alice." he said softly. "We have a special bond. She's...probably not like anyone you've ever met before."
I pictured the photo Edward had of his sister in his wallet. I remembered back to when Edward had talked about her.
"You told me about your bond with Alice, remember? You told me about her husband too. You said they were soul mates."
Edward pulled me closer and kissed my cheek. "Alice and Jasper aren't married, yet." he said.
"Oh. They're engaged?" I asked.
He looked perplexed. "Well, no..."
His brow furrowed. He looked agitated.
"What is it?" I asked, I touched his lips, and dragged my fingers down his neck.
"They've been together for four years. I never really thought about why they weren't married. I..."
Edward looked to my face and his features softened into a smile. "Maybe I need to give Jasper a bit of a push. Anyway, I want you to meet Alice. We should go to LA as soon as possible. I'll remind the executive producer to arrange some studio recording time, like he promised. Will you come with me?"
"Yes," I said.
I suppressed the anxiety I felt. I wanted to meet Alice. The anxiety I felt was just the excitement of finally being acknowledged.
We're together. I want to tell Charlie and Elaine. I want to tell mum and Phil.
I wanted to tell everyone, and yet, I was anxious about what they'd all say.
"Thank you," he said softly and kissed me tenderly. The kiss wiped away all my doubts.
I know we can do this, and there's absolutely nothing, and nobody, that will convince me otherwise.
~0~
A/N: Thank you all for your varied reviews last chapter…I know I have your trust and I won't take that responsibility lightly *smiles widely*. I need to say a special 'Thank You' to mpg for her valuable feedback on this chapter (bear hugs)!
Thank you for reading xxx
