Title: Forbidden Attraction

Author: MarieCarro

Genre: Drama/Romance

Rating: NC-17

Summary: To Edward Masen, Bella Swan was nothing more than his daughter's best friend, but that all changed when they both applied for the same weekly writing course. Suddenly, she didn't appear to be the young girl that had played with his daughter since her family moved in next door. What will Edward do when he realizes that he's developing a very forbidden attraction for a woman twenty-five years his junior? AH

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.

Chapter Word Count: 3, 405

CHAPTER 6

My Christmas was very uneventful.

I spent Christmas Eve with Alice since Mary had insisted on Christmas Day with our daughter. I didn't put up a fight because the whole reason for our divorce was so that Alice wouldn't have to witness any more of them.

I was sort of happy when I got the news from Mary that Alice had indeed calmed down a bit. Of course, she still had those days where she was almost out of control, but she was a lot more open to listening to both Mary and me when we explained that her behavior wasn't something that would get her anywhere in life.

The reason that I wasn't a hundred percent pleased was that my daughter was still dating that tool with the motorcycle. Apparently, his name was Jasper, he was a bass player in an alternative rock band, and I had imprinted that name into my memory the second I understood he was going to be a big part of my daughter's life, in case I would ever have to do anything not-so-legal to protect my little girl.

However, I still messed with Alice from time to time, pretending as if the tool's name was hard to remember, and I continuously mispronounced it. I'm sure she knew I was teasing her at this point, but it didn't take the fun out of my little game.

It was very good that Alice and I got Christmas Eve to be together. It gave me the chance to get to know her again, and I cherished that like nothing else.

I was also a bit worried, though, that building a new foundation with Alice, strengthening our relationship, could possibly make everything worse if my dirty secret ever came out. Even worse was that I wished it wasn't a secret. I wanted to be with Bella in every way. I had long ago passed the stage of simple physical attraction and juvenile feelings when it came to that young woman.

However, I was sure it wasn't ever a possibility for us to be together. By now, it wouldn't just ruin my life, it would ruin hers as well.

Alice would never speak to her again, and she would never have a family of her own; I was too old to start all over again. She would lose so much with her choice of being with me.

That didn't stop me from longing for the moment when we would be alone, truly alone, in my apartment, and as I drove to pick her up, my heart was about to burst out of my chest because of nerves that I didn't know I could even feel anymore. Something else was also about to bust free down south, but for a completely different reason.

I saw her the second I drove into Frank's parking lot, and she took my breath away. It was very cold outside and she was dressed quite casually in jeans, a white knitted sweater, her brown winter coat and boots. She had an adorably cute white hat over her brown locks, and her shoulders were slightly hunched against the cool wind. Still, she was the most beautiful girl at that moment.

She looked toward my car as I drove closer to her, and I had barely stopped moving before she had the door open and climbing inside.

"Fuck, it's cold," she said as soon as she was next to me, and I looked over at her in slight shock because I'd never heard her curse like that before, but it didn't bother me. I actually, weirdly enough, liked that she was a bit harsh around the edges.

"I can turn up the heat if you want," I replied and reached for the switch, but her freezing cold fingers stopped me.

"No, it's fine. I'll get warm soon enough."

My mind was instantly in the gutter as I contemplated all the ways we could get warm once we were at my place, and I know Bella knew where my thoughts went because when my eyes met hers, she had a small smile stretching across her face.

"You look beautiful by the way," I said, but it caused her to roll her eyes.

"Only to you," she replied.

"No," I disagreed. "I believe anyone would say you're beautiful right now. All flushed and dark-eyed."

Bella reached out a hand and touched my thigh. It felt as if she zapped me and it went straight to my crotch. With a sigh, I removed her hand.

"Let's wait with that, or I will drive us into the ditch." She gave me another smile and then turned to look out her window.

We didn't waste a single second once we entered my apartment. Gone was the blushing, shy girl Bella was around others as she grabbed me by my hand and led me into my bedroom. She was so confident it was almost as if this was her place and I was the guest.

"Don't you want to eat first?" I asked with an amused smile as I followed her.

Her own smile widened and she shook her head. "I'd rather not waste any time on something I can do at home."

I wasn't going to argue with her. I was at her mercy, and she made sure I knew it as she let go of my hand and knelt down before me, unzipped the fly in my jeans, released my cock and took me in her mouth as if it wasn't the first time she did this to me.

For a second, I blacked out from the pure pleasure of being inside her hot mouth, and I almost fell to the floor. Bella didn't appear to notice my struggle. Her eyes were closed as she focused on what she did; her long eyelashes brushed against her cheeks and her brown locks moved in time with her rhythmic movements. Her tongue was incredibly soft as she seemed to wrap it around me, and for a short while I wondered where she had learned her technique, but then as my orgasm approached, I threw that thought out of my head.

I was on the very edge of coming when Bella suddenly moved away, and I was so stunned by her sudden stop that I stood like a complete idiot for a few seconds while she walked to my bed, taking off one item of clothing with each step. When she was completely nude, she turned to me. "Are you gonna join me?" she asked innocently, and all I could do was gape.

"Who are you?" I asked, mostly to myself and it only caused Bella to laugh.

I removed my own clothes and stood in front of the woman I'd just understood had a lot more to her than I first thought, and with a small push, she forced me down on the bed. She crawled up next to me on all fours and took a hold of my hand, which she brought down toward her center. She was warm and already very wet, and even though she had deprived me of my own orgasm, I wasn't going to deny her hers.

She writhed underneath my hands and gasped when the pleasure took her over, and I swear, she was the sexiest woman I'd ever laid eyes on in that moment. I wanted to see if she would hold on to her confidence if I showed her that I wanted her to take control, and therefore, I grabbed her leg, pulled it over my hip and rolled over on my back so that she ended up on top. She didn't even hesitate as she used her hand to slip me inside of her, and when I was deep within, she started to slowly rotate her hips.

It was so different this time, compared to on my desk in the carpentry. It didn't have the feeling of having to rush through anything or that we had to keep quiet or hide away. It was so very liberating and we could indulge ourselves in our feelings.

My erection grew harder and larger and it felt as if I was about to bust wide open. The sensation was foreign to me and went far beyond simple sexual pleasure. It was as if something in her connected with me, altering everything.

Afterward, I was on my back; Bella was next to me with her hand on my chest and her leg slung over my hips. I had my arm around her and holding her hand against my side, just reveling in us finally being alone.

"Edward?" Bella said softly and I turned my head toward her. Her eyes were the softest brown I'd ever seen, and her face appeared to be glowing. She looked exquisite in her happiness, and my heart swelled, knowing that being here with me was what caused her happiness. "Kiss me," she said, and it wasn't a question, but I was all too happy to oblige.

Our mouths moved in sync and I couldn't believe I was so lucky to have this woman in my life.

When we parted, she moved even closer to me and brought her arms around my neck. My hands moved to hold her body against mine and she sighed contentedly. "What are you thinking?" I asked when she didn't explain her need to almost crawl inside me to be close enough.

"Just hold me," she replied. "It makes this more real." Her voice was quiet, but I could still catch the hint of skepticism.

"What do you mean?"

She exhaled, her moist breath hitting the skin on my shoulder and caused goosebumps. "I can barely believe you're with me. That you're lying here beside me. That you want me."

"Of course I want you. I always want you."

"I'll imprint every second of this into my head," she continued as if I had not said anything. "In case this is a one-time deal."

It was painful to know that I had instilled such insecurities in her, but she had all the right in the world to doubt me. I hadn't exactly been consistent when it came to her, and I understood her fears. Every time we went deeper into our relationship, I had pulled away for a time, and it was expected to leave its' mark on her.

This time, however, I wanted to let her know that I wouldn't pull back. While we couldn't, as of now, pursue a real relationship, right this moment, I didn't care about that. I just needed to let her know that then and there, she was mine and I was hers.

"It may be incredibly stupid of me to say this, or maybe it will lead to something amazing, but I need you to understand something." She looked up and supported herself on her elbows to look at me. "I know I've emphasized on how being with you makes me feel young again, but that's not the only reason for being with you. You make me feel something I haven't felt before, something I can't name yet. You've made me look at things differently, and I don't want to look back."

She opened her mouth, but I placed my finger over her lips because I wasn't quite finished. "You have every right to doubt me. I haven't been very kind to you or considered your feelings. I've been unforgivably selfish, but it's also because of that selfishness that I won't be able to let you go now because I'm in love with you."

Her eyes watered up and she appeared speechless, but I wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Finally, she opened her mouth again. "Wow, Edward, I don't know what to say."

I smiled and touched her cheek with the tips of my fingers. "You don't have to say anything. I don't even need to know if you feel the same way. I just wanted you to know."

She nodded and then leaned forward to give me the sweetest, softest kiss. I couldn't stop there. We were completely alone in my apartment after all, and we had the entire day to ourselves. I didn't know what she had told her family about where she would be today, but I didn't care either. I pressed harder against her lips and rolled her over on her back so that I was hovering above her. With a small shift of my hips, I was between her legs again and easily entered her.

Our breathing was shallow, her cheeks and chest were flushed with color, and my skin tingled all over. Our moans echoed in the room and became increasingly louder as we rocked closer to that sweet, and somehow torturing, pleasure.

"I have chicken, beef patties, salmon ... anything sound good?" I asked with my head in my fridge. Bella had insisted that she didn't want to waste our short time on eating, but when her stomach growled in time with mine, there was no way I would ignore it any longer, and therefore, we were now in my kitchen; Bella sitting by the table in a borrowed shirt and boxer shorts, and me looking in the fridge only wearing sweatpants. Neither of us had felt we wanted to get further dressed.

"You do know that I'm a vegetarian, right?" Bella replied, and it caused me to stop in my tracks. I tried to think back to all those times our families had eaten dinner together, but I had never taken notice of what Bella ate. I had no idea if this was something she'd been for a long time or a recent occurrence.

I looked over my shoulder at her and gave her an apologetic smile. "I did not know that. Sorry."

She just shrugged. "It's okay. I can't blame you for having your thoughts on other things than my diet. I mean, we have only been neighbors for seventeen years and had family dinners together more times than I can count, but that's fine."

For a moment, I felt guilty for having missed this detail, but then I saw the gleam in her eyes, and I knew she was teasing me. I closed the door to the fridge and walked up to her. I was towering over her when she sat down, and she had to bend her neck back to be able to see my face. I stroke her hair and placed a hand underneath her chin before answering.

"How am I to take notice of your diet when you're sitting across from me looking more edible than the food?" I said and bent down to kiss her. I felt her giggle against my lips, but when I bent further down to get a hold of her thighs to assist me in wrapping her legs around my waist as I stood back up, her giggle transformed to a moan.

I turned us around and sat on the chair. I was already growing hard again and it didn't help that Bella was rolling her hips over my erection. Dry sex wasn't usually my thing because I didn't like making a mess in my pants, but with Bella, it felt so good I simply didn't care about my sweats.

Our mouths never parted as the thrusting of our hips became more irregular. I rubbed her hard against my cock by holding tight onto her ass with my hand, and the other went up to her breast where I touched her erect nipples with light feather touches.

Bella was so caught in the sensations and I knew she wanted to come desperately because one hand moved from where it had gripped my shoulder and went down inside her borrowed boxers to touch herself.

Just knowing that she touched herself was enough for me, and my orgasm shot through me at a speed it left me feeling dizzy and light-headed. The last time I came that fast was the first time Bella and I had sex, but this had felt a hundred times more intimate.

"We might have to postpone lunch," I said, and Bella laughed. "I need to clean up a bit, and my guess is that you do too."

"I do, but unless we take separate showers, we won't get very clean," she said against my mouth and kissed me again. We just couldn't stop touching or kissing. It was an all-consuming desire that was never sated, and it was that desire that caused me to shrug slightly as if our cleanliness wasn't an issue.

"Well, too bad, because I'm not getting in that shower without you. I've fantasized about having you in there with me ever since I was surprised by finding you sitting on my couch after I came home from work."

Her eyes glittered excitedly. "Are you serious?"

"Why do you think it took me so long to join you out here?" I answered, and for the first time since I picked her up at Frank's, a blush crept up on her cheeks. She was no-doubtingly imagining what I had been up to in the shower while she was sitting on the couch in my living room, none-the-wiser.

"You're a dangerous man, Mr. Masen. One day, I might regret crossing paths with you."

"I sure hope not."

It was past six when we knew we had to start saying goodbye. Bella insisted on taking the bus; I had opposed because it was pitch black outside, and I lived at least an hour by bus away from Bella's house, but she gave me the argument that if I drove her, we wouldn't be able to say goodbye properly because there could be people watching and there was no reason for me to drive her when Alice obviously was with her mother during the weeks.

I couldn't disagree because I knew Bella was right, but I still didn't like it.

We were standing by my front door; my hands were on her hips and her arms were around my neck as we kissed. I didn't want to let her go, and I was on the verge of asking her to stay the night, but the rational side of me told me it just wasn't possible.

"When can I see you again?" I asked when we parted and Bella sighed sadly.

"I have a week left before I have to go back to school. It's New Year's in three days, and then I have to go back on the fourth. Do you have time on the second?"

"I'll make time," I promised her, and she practically melted against me.

"Maybe you can come visit me at school?" she asked hopefully. "We won't have to hide there either."

It was very tempting as she said it, but I also knew that if I visited her at college, we would make the relationship official in ways I didn't think either of us was ready for yet. And I needed to establish my life after my divorce was final.

I truly wished the entire situation was less complicated, that Bella and I had been the same age at least because even if the gap didn't bother us, it sure would bother other people who felt they had a say in how we should live our lives.

A part of me, although a dark one, actually wished that Bella and Alice would stop being friends because that, too, would make everything easier. Alice would still hate that her dad was with someone who was technically younger than she was, but if they had no relationship, that would be the only thing she opposed of.

So, instead of giving Bella a solid answer, I replied with a, "We'll see."

After sharing one last kiss, and promises that we would meet again on January second, Bella walked out my front door. As soon as the sound of her steps out in the hall faded away, I realized how quiet my apartment was, and I had to put on some music to make the heavy feeling go away.

I had no idea how it would work out, but after that day, I knew that I had to have Bella in my life, and not as my mistress because she deserved so much more than that.

Somehow we would figure it out.

The question was just "when"?