*EPOV*
Downtown Hanover was crawling with college students on a Saturday night. So busy, in fact, that I had to circle twice to find parking, a rarity for me.
After I opened the car door for Bella, one bare, shapely leg stepped out onto the street and then the other.
She was wearing what could only be described as "fuck me" shoes; whatever dress she was wearing was covered up by a black knee-length raincoat that was belted at the waist. Her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders, and she even wore a little makeup.
"You look lovely," I said kissing her lightly on the lips as she rose up to my side. "What's the occasion? I feel a little underdressed," I chuckled, looking down at my khakis and sweater.
Bella shrugged. "Just wanted a chance to show off my pretty new clothes to my pretty new husband," she said smiling as she took my arm.
"Let's go here," she said, pulling me toward a loud, bustling Cheesecake Factory on the corner.
I opened the oversized door and held it for her to walk through. The lobby was crowded with people, but Bella didn't seem deterred. She pulled me by the hand to the hostess podium.
"How long of a wait for a table for two?" I asked over the Top 40 station being piped in over the loudspeaker.
"Forty minutes. But if you'd like to sit at the bar, we can seat you right away."
"Sounds great, let's do it," Bella said without hesitation. The hostess reached for two ludicrously long menus. It was more of a book, really. Did humans really need that many dining options?
"May I take your coat?" I asked Bella, now that we were inside.
"Why not?" she smiled and untied the sash. When the coat slid off her shoulders and I could see what she was wearing, not only with my own eyes but through the eyes of every man within view of her, it took every ounce of my restraint not to stuff her right back into the coat.
I inhaled sharply. "Bella…" I said through my teeth in an agonized voice.
"Tell me about it, stud," she winked. Was she...taunting me? Why would she do this?
Get a load of that.
Look at that ass. I'd so tap that.
She's looking for it!
What a slut.
Could that dress be any shorter?
I clenched my jaw trying in vain to tune out the intrusive thoughts. With a hand on the small of her back, I walked with her to the bar toward the back of the restaurant.
Goddamn.
What a fine piece of ass.
Slut.
What kind of man lets his woman walk around like that?
Is my date looking at her? I can't believe he's looking at her!
When Bella raised her leg to seat herself onto the tall barstool, her skirt rode impossibly higher, so I reflexively shielded her from view with my body before she could show her wares to the entire bar section.
I draped the coat over the back of her stool, fanning it out so that she couldn't be seen from behind, and then sat down on the stool next to her.
I folded my hands on the bar, not trusting them not to break something, and swallowed convulsively.
With as much calm as I could muster, I repeated the words she'd used the first time we'd sat in the school cafeteria together. "Well, this is different."
She sipped on a frosty glass of ice water that the bartender set in front of her. "What's the matter, Edward? You look tense. Don't you like my new dress?"
"What's not to love?" I asked, bitingly sarcastic. "Though, was the store out of your size?" I snapped.
Her eyes flashed angrily.
"I can't imagine why you'd be angry at me for doing something you explicitly asked me not to do. It's not like you have any trouble disregarding my wishes."
I narrowed my eyes at her. She was angry with me? What fresh hell was this?
"And what wish did I disregard?"
"The one where you promised me you'd never lie to me again. And this time it wasn't enough for you to lie to me, but you asked your—our—family to lie to me, too?" Profound hurt eclipsed the anger in her eyes.
Rosalie. I thought the name as if it were an expletive. This reeked of her.
"Bella, I didn't—"
"If you value my sanity, Edward, you won't finish that sentence. You did lie. A lie by omission is still a lie."
Hey baby, come home with me. I'll never lie to you.
I clenched my eyes shut, trying to focus. "Shut up," I growled at the voice under my breath.
"Excuse me?!" Bella's face flushed red with rage and she moved to stand.
Shiiit. That thought was mine. My eyes widened, horrified.
I took hold of her wrist before I had to chase her out of the godforsaken restaurant. "Bella, stop. I'm sorry, I wasn't saying that to you. I would never say that to you. Can we just please just go somewhere else? It's really hard for me to concentrate here," I pleaded.
Her eyes softened infinitesimally.
"Fine." Bella slammed her glass down on the bar, sloshing water over the rim. She swiveled her seat away from me so she could stand up. I groaned, suddenly inundated with an upskirt perspective of her as she slid off the barstool.
Reaching for my wallet, I quickly threw a bill on the bar. I grabbed her coat from the back of her seat and held it open for her to put on. My eyes were uncompromising. If I had to listen to one more person think my wife a slut, our adventure to Dartmouth would be over, tonight.
Bella stood in front of me with her teeth clenched. We glowered at each other. She seemed to be thinking it over before she furiously punched an arm through the sleeve of her coat, and shrugged it on over her shoulders. She cinched the sash so tightly around her waist that she winced, though she tried not to show it.
I exhaled loudly. Taking her hand, I escorted her outside as quickly as could be managed with her teetering on ankle-breaking stilettos. It was a very slow procession.
As soon as we were outside in the brisk night air, it was like someone turned the volume down on the drone of thoughts and I could think again.
I sighed. "I guess we better go find you something to eat," I muttered, looking around for better options.
"It's fine. I don't need to eat. Why don't we just go home?" She said softly, but with an edge.
Right. Like I was going to let her starve, so we could go home and argue within earshot of our family while she was hangry.
"And what did you eat today while you were out?" I raised an eyebrow at her.
With the exception of Carlisle and Esme, my family couldn't always be relied upon to remember Bella's human needs. Bella looked at the floor. It was as I suspected. I clenched my jaw, another thing to lambast my meddling sister about.
I raised her chin to look into her eyes. They were carefully controlled. She was giving nothing away. "Let's take care of you, and then we can take care of us, alright?" I murmured.
When she nodded, I took her hand and pulled her into a neighboring pizza joint. Save for one person, an older man, eating a slice by himself under the fluorescent "OPEN" sign that illuminated the front window, the place was empty.
"One medium cheese pizza, please," I ordered, remembering her stated preference from one of our first dates when I'd peppered Bella with questions trying to learn everything about her.
"I can't eat a whole pizza..." she started to protest.
"I was under the impression that breakfast pizza was some sort of phenomenon," I arched a questioning eyebrow at her.
She pursed her lips and tilted her head briefly to the side, allowing this.
"And a bottle of water, please," she quietly requested of the boy at the counter.
I paid for the food and took the plastic table number to a four-top in the rear corner.
Holding a chair out for Bella to sit down, she reflexively went to take off her coat but seemed to think better of it before ducking into the chair.
I took my seat across from her. The two of us said nothing, just appraised each other for an immeasurable amount of time.
"Can we talk about why you're angry with me?" I asked quietly.
Bella nodded once and took a deep breath.
"Did you or did you not tell Emmett to withhold the fact that your family can hear what goes on at our house?" Bella asked, clearly articulating each word.
"I did that. Yes," I admitted ruefully.
"Why?" She asked through her teeth.
My brow furrowed and I frowned. "I thought that was obvious. I didn't want you to feel self-conscious in your own home."
"And you didn't think I'd figure it out?" Her tone was ice cold.
"Bella, you're right. I shouldn't have been dishonest about that. I just didn't think you needed to lose your sense of privacy right away, with...everything else you're already losing," my voice faltered and my face fell. "I was trying to delay that. But regardless of my intentions, I was wrong, and I'm sorry."
"Edward…" She sighed. It was a frustrated sound. "The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
I winced. Whether or not she meant that in reference to the good intentions I had for leaving her, that's exactly how I took it.
"You're going to have to explain to me why you think I can handle becoming...one of you," she said, lowering her voice, "but you don't think I can handle the inconvenient realities that go along with that," she said pointedly.
I sighed. "Because I have a bad habit of underestimating you," I said with brutal honesty.
"Well if that isn't the most honest thing you've ever said," she growled, throwing her hands up in the air.
The pizza arrived then, hot and bubbling from the oven. The server rested the pizza on a wire rack that raised it above the level of the table.
"Anything else I can get for you guys?" he asked, wiping his hands on his tomato sauce-stained apron.
"That will be all, thank you," I said without looking at the boy.
Bella slid a slice onto her plate and set it aside to cool.
I'd never seen her look so angry still after I'd already apologized. "What can I do? How do I fix this?" I asked anxiously, reaching across the table to take her hand in mine.
"Just stop lying to me. Stop trying to protect me from the things you think I can't handle. All I want from you is the only thing I've ever asked of you: honesty."
"I will never deceive you again. You have my word," I vowed, hoping she could see the raw sincerity in my eyes.
She exhaled loudly and the ice in her gaze seemed to thaw a little. Reaching for the slice of pizza, she folded it in half and took a bite. Her eyes got huge, and she started fanning her mouth with her hand.
"What's wrong?" I was halfway out of my seat. Was she choking?
"Hot!" she managed to say with watering eyes around the mouthful of pizza. I uncapped her bottle of water and pushed it toward her. She frantically reached for it and gulped down half the bottle before she set it down again.
"Are you alright?" I asked, my voice heavy with concern.
"Yes, but I think that's going to have to be breakfast pizza because I just burned off the roof of my mouth," she said miserably.
"Is there something else I can get you? Something cold, maybe?"
She smirked at that. "Maybe later." I got the distinct impression she wasn't talking about food anymore.
"So am I forgiven?" I asked with repentant eyes, wanting to get back to the matter at hand.
She rolled her eyes."You know you are."
"Thank you...Though I'm afraid the apology portion of this evening isn't quite over."
"Edward, it's fine—"
"I meant it's your turn," I said patiently.
"To apologize? For what?" Her voice was indignant.
"Bella, you were angry with me tonight, and for good reason. And if you wanted to come home and yell at me or make me 'sleep' on the couch," I said using air quotes, "well that would have been your right. But this—" I made a sweeping gesture at her outfit.
"This isn't you. Taking me to that place and using my gift against me like that? That was just spiteful. And I've never known you to be a spiteful person."
Bella looked down at the table, immediately contrite.
"That was sort of Rose's idea," she muttered.
"I gathered as much. But Bella," I waited until she looked back up at me. "There's a very good reason why I fell in love with you and not Rosalie."
Bella nodded, looking completely deflated.
"We've talked a lot about ways I could be better about respecting your boundaries. And in the equal relationship that you're always aspiring for, respecting boundaries goes both ways. And that—" I pointed in the direction of the other restaurant, "can never happen again."
Bella reached across the table and took my hands in hers. She met my gaze with mournful eyes.
"I didn't think about it like that—that I was using your gift against you. I was just so mad that you kept keeping things from me and I didn't know how else to get my point across. I'm so sorry, Edward," she said in a wobbly voice. "That was horrible of me. I'll never listen to Rosalie again."
"Trust me when I say I've been there," I flashed a crooked smile.
"So...who were you telling to shut up back there?"
I groaned and scrubbed a hand over my face. "One of your many admirers."
"Many? I thought maybe I'd get a look or two, but many?"
"You still don't see yourself very clearly, do you? Too many to count, that's how many there were. And not all of their thoughts were flattering.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to keep calm when people are thinking disgusting, disrespectful things about you? It was like a gauntlet of Mike Newtons, but worse. I wanted to tear their throats out." It was not an exaggeration.
Bella frowned. "Sorry again. To put you through that."
I waved a hand dismissively through the space between us. "It's behind us."
Bella then looked up at me from under her long lashes. "Why don't we box this up and head for home?" Lowering her voice she added, "And I won't even be mad if you want to tear this stupid dress off me. Lord knows I'll never wear it again."
I blinked. "I'll get the car."
*BPOV*
As much as I hated fighting with Edward, there was something so bolstering about working through a conflict and coming out stronger on the other side.
While I had no doubt that there would be lots more arguments and mistakes made on both of our parts over the next thousand years, I was certain that neither of us would make these same mistakes again. I knew I wouldn't.
Once we had arrived home, Edward had been too impatient to get me inside to wait for me to walk the winding gravel path in my heels, so he swooped me up into his arms and carried me inside, kicking the door shut behind him as I giggled.
"How's your mouth, Mrs. Cullen?" he asked, planting a line of kisses along my jaw from my ear to my chin.
"Definitely in need of some cold therapy," I whispered huskily.
He moaned and brought his lips to mine. I opened my mouth to him and his icy breath soothed the scorched ridges of my mouth. Being less careful than he normally was, I felt him gingerly suck my bottom lip between his own.
"Mmm," I moaned at the sensation and the delicious taste of him, knotting my fingers into his hair. "Bed. Now."
Nobody knew the meaning of the word 'now,' like Edward. The art on the walls blurred into streaks of color as he flew down the hallway toward our bedroom and deposited me on the center of our bed.
Edward stalked toward me like a hunting lion. My heart raced at the sight of him looking so wild and amorous. I could feel the surge of moisture between my legs.
He took his time untying the knot in the sash of my coat. The smile of anticipation on his face looked like that of a boy opening the very last present on Christmas morning and knowing he got exactly what he asked for.
Once Edward had the coat open, I wriggled out of the sleeves, then he smoothly yanked it out from under me and tossed it aside.
He looked at me again, or rather, my dress with an expression of pure contempt. It was then that I noticed his eyes were extra buttery from a recent hunting trip. Buttery and blazing.
"I have been wanting to do this all night," he said in a gravelly whisper.
Hooking a finger around the neckline of my dress, he dragged his hand down toward the hem, shearing the fabric like scissors through wrapping paper.
I gasped at the feeling of being suddenly exposed. Then he freed me of my bra and panties and his own clothes in a much more humane fashion. All that remained were my shoes.
"There now. That's better," he crooned, running a frosty hand from my throat down the center of my body to my mound leaving behind a trail of goosebumps in his wake.
Then Edward backed away a few inches as if to get a better look at me.
"Stunning," he marveled. "Do you know why I chose these bed linens, love? Because the color reminds me of the towel you were lying on that day on the beach. Do you know what I wanted to do to you that day, my darling wife?"
"I have a feeling you're about to show me," I rasped.
He was kneeling between my knees now. His smile turned almost menacing.
Reaching behind him, he hooked a hand around my knee and drew my leg slowly up so that it was straight up in the air and he hugged it against his chest. My black strappy heel was in the space next to his ear.
Edward curled his palm around my shin and caress the length of my leg in long, slow downward strokes.
Then he turned his face and kissed the inside of my leg from my ankle up the soft curve of my calf to the inside of my knee.
He gave the same treatment to my other leg so that they were now both pressed against his chest and his perfect face peered down at me from between my ankles.
He seemed to notice them for the first time.
"If you're going to wear fuck-me shoes, be prepared for the consequences," he grinned.
In a motion that was too fast for my eyes, lowered himself down onto his front so that his face was nestled between my legs and his arms were wrapped around my thighs in an iron grip.
Feeling his cool breath on my core, I sucked in a breath and fisted my hands in the comforter.
"Edward!" I cried, feeling the first touch of his tongue on my heated skin.
He did not rush. His mouth kissed and teased and savored until I was panting and whining with need.
I gasped at the vulnerable feeling of his fingers gently spreading open my most secret parts to his eyes.
"Bella, you are utter perfection down to the last drop," he moaned. His face was shiny with my arousal, though he didn't come up for air for long.
Sliding first one, then another finger into my wet heat, he ducked down and sucked my throbbing bundle of nerves between his lips.
There wasn't room in my brain for coherent thought or self-consciousness. Just instinct and sensation.
"Please!" I moaned hoarsely, begging for release.
He chuckled darkly into my softest skin. With the heel of his hand, he pressed down deliciously against my pubic bone while his mouth and fingers continued to work me into a complete frenzy.
When my body began to tighten on the edge of climax, he hummed encouragingly into my folds and curled his fingers inside of me hitting that most perfect spot. I shattered into a million pieces, screaming his name as I fell over the abyss.
Edward crawled up my limp, boneless body until he was hovering over my flushed, panting face.
He smoothed away the hair that stuck to my clammy skin and kissed me hard on the mouth. I could taste myself on him. It was not unpleasant.
Edward's face was jubilant above my own. "My piano is going to get lonely because that is far and away my new favorite pastime," his wide smile lit up his face.
"How? How are you so good at that, too? You have just as much experience in that department as I do." It almost sounded like a complaint.
"Bella," he beamed, shaking his head a little as if I were missing something obvious. "I'm a vampire. That's what I do. I suck and I know things."
I laughed until it hurt, with him rolling right beside me.
Edward turned to face me, and his loving smile made him look almost warm.
"The only kind of tears I ever want to see you cry," he mused, brushing a cool finger along the hot, wet tracks that stretched from my temples to my hairline.
Now fully recovered, I rolled over onto my side and reached out to touch him.
I trailed my fingers along the sinuous ridges and angles that made up Edward's upper body. He purred contentedly under my touch.
Still as a doll, the cool, glassy smoothness of his skin felt like porcelain under my wandering fingers, but with 10,000 times the durability.
I couldn't break this angel.
I leaned down to kiss him. His lips, his chin, his Adam's apple—that made him gasp. I liked that, so I did it again.
Meanwhile, Edward's stone arms circled around me, stroking my arms and the sensitive skin between my shoulder blades.
I made my way down his throat to the juncture of his neck and the defined muscles of his shoulders. I playfully bit him there, drawing a throaty groan from Edward as he pressed his head back into the pillows.
I hummed into his skin. Duly noted. My vampire liked to be bitten.
"I wish you could know what this felt like," he sighed, sounding of pure elation.
"I didn't expect..to enjoy pleasing you this much," I admitted in a low voice, the fingers of one hand tracing the faintest patterns along the rock hardness of his manhood. Edward's eyes screwed shut and his square jaw hung open, his full lips forming a perfect "o."
"But seeing what I do to you is almost as pleasurable as being on the receiving end of it," I curled my hand around him, one finger at a time.
I knew he was starting to lose control of himself when his hands retreated for the ironwork of the headboard.
"Bella.." My name was a breath from his lips with barely any sound behind it.
Not wanting to surprise him while his eyes were closed, I asked, "May I?" Edward opened his eyes, seeing my mouth poised above him.
"Oh God, yes, please," he moaned. " I haven't been able to stop thinking about that gorgeous mouth of yours since the other ni—oohh." But I didn't let him finish.
"So hot," he breathed, as I took as much of him into my mouth as I could without gagging, and then stroked the inches that didn't fit.
I made a little game with myself, seeing which touches made the pitch of his velvety voice climb to a high, desperate whine, and which touches made his voice drop down low in the back of his throat as he groaned in satisfaction.
"Oh...oh Bella, oh my...ungh. If I don't make love to you soon, I'm going to go crazy.."
I pulled my mouth off of him and smirked. "I don't think that was the phrase you meant to use, Edward," I purred, playing with him some more.
"After all, they aren't called 'make-love-to-me shoes.'"
He looked at me, eyes dark and wild with need.
"Shall I rephrase? If I don't fuck you soon, I'm going to go crazy," he rasped.
"We can't have that!" I teased.
But I was out of cute responses once he exploded off his back in a blur of movement that left him kneeling on the mattress behind me with his impossibly hard erection pressed into my backside. This time he was prepared with a condom.
I sharply inhaled, feeling the slight sting that always accompanied initial penetration. I loved that sting, knowing that it meant I'd soon be joined with my otherworldly angel.
We'd never done it like this before, and I found that I loved the new angle of feeling him taking me from behind.
Edward's groan was low and deep as he fully sheathed himself in my wet heat. I felt the cool hardness of his body as it pressed against the curve of my ass.
He gently took my hips between my hands and rocked into me, our bodies making light slapping sounds as we connected.
This new position seemed to hit just the right spots inside and I felt my stomach muscles tighten again as I approached my second climax.
I reached between my legs and circled my swollen flesh with my fingers.
"That's it, love, make yourself come for me. I can feel it, you're so close," he panted, thrusting into me just a bit harder. That was all it took for me to be overtaken by the crashing waves of pleasures.
With my release, Edward found his, pumping into me once, twice, and then impaling me deeply one last time with a low oath.
Pulling out of me, we both shuddered at the loss, and then he collapsed onto the bed next to me, curling his body around mine.
I felt his cool lips press into the back of my shoulder, and his arms tighten around my middle.
"My God, Bella, does it ever stop getting better with you? Every time I think it can't get any better than the time before, but then it does," he exclaimed, his breathing still ragged.
I smiled at the praise, knowing exactly what he meant.
"Does this mean I get to keep the shoes?" I teased.
He laughed once, breathlessly. "I was thinking maybe you should start a collection."
*A/N* Well I'm spent. 😂 I hope you enjoyed this update, I think it's one of my favorites so far. I have a little boy on the spectrum, so there's a special place in my heart for the scene where Edward is in the busy restaurant and is overwhelmed by the voices. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and review! Your feedback really helps keep the creative juices flowing!
Also, since what would Twilight be without Muse, I feel I should tell you I've been listening to the song Without You by Parachute on repeat as I've been writing this. If this fic was a TV show, it would be the opening theme song for sure.
And if you'd like to keep up with my future writing projects, sign up for my mailing list! I promise not to spam you. The link is in my profile. Thanks again!