A/N:

Guys, your response to the previous chapter was uh-maze-balls! :-D Not only is the story closing in on 1000 reviews, but every time I update, alerts and favorites rain into my inbox.

Seriously, it's crazy, but I am so thankful and appreciate it so much.

Since you were soooo kind, I keep my promise to you and give you an extra chapter this weekend so that you guys won't have to wait til tomorrow to find out what Bella's reaction to the kiss will be ;-)

Title: The Perfect Partner Program

Author: MarieCarro

Beta: EdwardsFirstKiss

Pre-reader: brwneyedgrl01

Genre: Angst/Hurt&Comfort/Romance

Rating: NC-17

Summary: The summer of 2005 was the summer that changed Bella Swan's life forever. Sent to Ohio by her mother to attend a school for debutante girls not quite up to par, she meets Edward Masen, an apprentice. But is that really all he is? 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: 2, 856

CHAPTER 23 PHYSICAL NEEDS GIVE SECOND CHANCES

For a moment, the only thing I could hear was my own heartbeat and our mutual breathing.

Our lips mashed together and danced in an all-too-familiar choreography, but when our tongues touched, Edward let out a throaty moan, and I was burning all over.

I blanked out, and all I could think was more; closer.

My hands gripped the lapels of his jacket and I used it as leverage to pull him tighter against my body, which wasn't easy because my stomach was slightly in the way, but I wasn't going to let that deter me.

The sensations shot through me at lightning speed, and my heart sped up considerably. I hadn't felt anything like it in years, but I didn't realize until that moment how much I'd craved it. I had missed being taken by storm by a guy, having him sweep me off my feet and then tell me how much he wanted me. It was every girl's dream, and I had deprived myself of it because of the very guy that was now kissing me with a passion that could have burned down my entire house.

Edward placed his hands on my hips, but we weren't close enough for either of our liking and so he spun me around and started to kiss and lightly bite my neck. His hands unhesitatingly slid up my stomach and over my breasts where they stayed.

"Holy shit," I breathed out when he brushed my sensitive nipples. I was incredibly relieved my breasts weren't painfully tender anymore like they had been during my first trimester.

"Do you want me to stop?" Edward asked huskily close to my ear, and I didn't care that we shouldn't do this, or that it could complicate things further.

I was worked up to the point of no return and I hadn't gotten any real physical action since long before the insemination. "Hell no," I said, turned back around to face him and captured his mouth in another searing kiss. "I want more," I told him against his lips.

"Here?"

"Yes!"

He started to gently back me toward one of my couches and then had me sit down, but he didn't follow, which caused me to frown in confusion.

I didn't have to worry, though. Edward wanted this just as much, if not even more, than I did, and he only took the opportunity to shed his jacket and shirt. It left him in his jeans only, and when he knelt down on the floor to be level with me, I had to run my hand across his torso.

He had taken good care of his body and his stomach was taut and firm. I also noticed a tattoo on his left pectoral, and when I focused on it, I saw that it was a date from over six years back.

2011-06-15

"What does this mean?" I asked, intrigued by it.

Edward glanced down at the tattoo, and for a second, the desire died down in his eyes and pain took over, but he shook his head and smiled to cover it. "It's a story I will tell you if you want to hear it, but it's not fit for this occasion."

He pulled me close to kiss me again, his hands sliding up my arms and then down my body until they reached the hem of my shirt. "Unless you do want to stop here," he said and made no move to remove the clothing from my body.

I decided the tattoo wasn't important, and I pulled the shirt over my head on my own. "I definitely don't want to stop here." I looked into his eyes that still held a trace of the pain he tried to hide. Even though I was dying to know what had happened, I knew, as he did, that this wasn't the right time or place to talk about it. I placed my hand on the back of his neck. "Just kiss me again."

He complied without hesitance, but to my surprise, I noticed that he was somewhat shaking.

"Do you want to stop?" I asked, uncertain if I had ruined everything and the moment had passed.

He shook his head and forced out a smile. "Not a chance in hell," he said and then captured my mouth in a kiss much fiercer than the previous ones. There was a new urgency in the way he touched me, and how he removed my clothes one item at a time, and when he had me completely bare, he pulled me forward so that I was laying down on the couch but my legs were down over the edge.

He didn't allow my stomach to be any more of a problem than I did, and when he rose up on his knees, he was in the perfect height to settle in between my thighs and enter me, but he didn't. Instead, he changed his pace, let his hands roam all over my naked skin, touch my kiss-swollen lips with his thumb, teased my sensitive and hard nipples, and kissed the inside of my knee until I was trembling with need.

His touch was too sensual, too tender and loving.

It wasn't what I wanted.

"Could you skip the foreplay?" I told him much more harshly than I intended, but his care and consideration stirred emotions in me I didn't want to acknowledge. Not now. Maybe not ever.

He stopped his ministrations and glanced at me, first questioningly, but he must have read something in my eyes because his darkened before he smiled wickedly. "If that's what you want, but you asked for it."

I exhaled with frustration. "Just get on with it already."

His smile widened and the dark look in his eyes turned amusing. "Wow, Ms. Swan, you sure know what to say to bring a man to his knees." He chuckled, but still parted my legs.

I narrowed my eyes. "I didn't know you needed sweet nothings whispered in your ear to—" I was interrupted mid-sentence by him unexpectedly thrusting hard into me, and my words changed into a surprised gasp.

"Fuck, you feel good!" he groaned out and then grabbed a hold of the back of the couch to use as leverage as he started up a rhythmic pace of hard thrusts. "You don't know how often I wanted this with you."

"Don't," I moaned out and pulled him closer to me. "Please, don't talk about that."

He listened to me and didn't speak again. The only sounds were of us coming together over and over again and our moans and groans that were impossible to keep in.

When his steady thrusts lost rhythm and became more erratic, I knew he was close, but I wasn't there yet and immediately placed my hand down between us to give myself extra stimulation.

"Damn, Bella, tell me where you want me!" Edward panted out as he held back with all his strength. He made it obvious that he didn't want to finish before me, but he was right on the edge, and it wasn't easy to hold back.

"Deeper," I told him, and when he did exactly that, he hit the exact spot I needed, and my back arched to the best of its abilities when sparks of pleasure went off all over my body. "Uh, yes. Keep going."

Edward clenched his eyes shut tightly, but no matter how much he held back, it didn't take long until he thrust one final time and came intensely in me. Fortunately, I followed shortly and dug my nails into his arms to the point where I knew I was leaving marks.

Once we both had come down from our highs, he pulled out and collapsed on his back on my carpeted floor. With some difficulty, I scooted up to sit straighter and instantly searched around for my clothes. My underwear was right next to me, but my bra was mysteriously gone. I decided to forget about it for now and pulled my shirt over my head again.

The entire time, Edward remained on the floor, stark naked and grinning at me with amusement.

"What's so funny?" I asked him and pulled on my pants.

He shrugged. "I guess I've never seen anyone get dressed that quickly after sex."

I put my hair up in a ponytail to get it out of my face and brushed away any lint or dust from my clothes. "I'm not in the mood to cuddle and spill my heart out," I told him and went over to my fridge to get a bottle of water. I felt my baby stir, which didn't surprise me. We most likely woke him or her with our activities.

He sat up to keep me in sight, and then with a sigh, he got dressed as well. "Are you still angry?"

The cold water felt good as I took a few gulps before looking back at him. "Why wouldn't I be? We had sex, Edward, and it was great, but it doesn't magically erase everything."

"You convinced me," he said and ran his hand through his hair.

"It was a physical need," I explained to him. "I haven't been intimate with a man since before I got pregnant, and your smooth talk got to me. I am the epitome of pregnancy hormones right now, so don't try to guilt trip me."

He laughed and sat down in front of me by the breakfast bar. "I wasn't going to. I am not under the impression that everything is green meadows and sunshine between us now, but tell me one thing." He paused, and I waited for him to continue. "Will you at least consider giving me a second chance to redeem myself? Or do I have to take the walk of shame out of here down your driveway?"

His smile remained easy and open, and damn him, he charmed me. It was so easy to see what the naïve sixteen-year-old me had fallen for. A little too easy, in fact, because I could also see how dangerously easy it would be to fall for him again.

I couldn't come up with a good reason to deny him, though. He hadn't been anything but polite and nice to me since we had met again back in October. Almost two months ago, and the only suspicious thing he'd done was to show up at the station with a CIA badge and a fake name. But that had been cleared up by his boss and Demetri, so I couldn't continue to hold that against him either.

Leaning forward on the bar, I looked straight into his eyes in a way I never dared to do thirteen years ago. I stared and scrutinized and appraised, but I couldn't find anything apart from sincerity in his green orbs.

"Fine," I finally acquiesced, and the surprise on his face was close to humorous. "But," I hurried to say before he became too hopeful. "I call the shots, and if I suspect even the smallest bit of shady business from you, I don't ever want to see your face again. Understood?"

He puffed his cheeks on an exhale theatrically, scratched the back of his as if he contemplated it. "You drive a hard bargain, Ms. Swan," he said, and then glanced at me with eyes filled with suppressed laughter. He swallowed it down, though, because he could see that I wasn't joking around. "Of course you call the shots. In our situation, I wouldn't have it any other way, but I want to add something to that."

I straightened out and crossed my arms. I was filled with uncertainty because I had no idea what I was getting myself into by giving Edward a second chance, but it was too late to back out now. "And what would that be?"

He stood up from his seat and walked up to me until our bodies almost touched. His proximity didn't make me uncomfortable anymore, but it still made me wonder what it was he believed I was agreeing to.

"If I do anything you feel is out of line, I give you full permission to either kick my ass yourself, or send your colleagues after me," he said seriously, but now it was I who couldn't hold in my laugh.

"I'm sorry," I said to apologize for my inappropriate reaction. "It's just, uh … if I sent the boys at the station after you, they wouldn't just kick your ass. Your body would never be found."

He nodded, still serious. "I don't doubt that. Which is exactly why I'm giving you that permission." He placed a strand of hair that had fallen from my ponytail behind my ear. "It's my way of reassuring you that I'm telling the truth, and the only thing I know that will make you believe me."

He wasn't wrong, and in a weird way, I appreciated the gesture, and so I smiled at him, for the first time, genuinely. "Alright then. I guess I'll have to believe you."

"Yeah, I guess you will."

{=A=}

I didn't tell Becca what had happened between Edward and me, and I think that it was one of my biggest mistakes; especially since I had every chance in the world to do it when she and Solomon celebrated Christmas with my family and me.

My lips stayed sealed about the entire thing, mostly because I wanted to handle it on my own. I knew she would advise me against seeing Edward again, but that wasn't really her call to make.

I was giving him a second chance, but he would have to prove that he deserved it. I still didn't trust him, but time would tell the truth.

I never noticed anything shady with Edward at the Academy, and that was the biggest reason I had a hard time letting my guard down. He'd had those small moments when the mask slipped, and I had seen the real him, but they had been so brief I never really thought about it. And he had said it himself; he was a good actor, and I didn't have anything that could tell me if he was playing me all over again or not.

But something was different this time. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was, but it had compelled me to do what I never thought I would. I wanted to believe that he had truly changed, but I was also afraid that maybe he had just gotten better at what he did.

I had every reason to be careful, and not just for myself. Every decision I made would also affect my unborn child.

Those thoughts whirled around in my mind day and night, but they still didn't stop me from accepting Edward's invitation to eat lunch with him a week into the new year.

I wasn't going to deny that I was curious. I didn't know what Edward expected out of the second chance I had given him, but I had a feeling it could be more than I was ready or willing to give him. His explanation that he just wanted me to forgive him for my own sake didn't sit right with me, and the explosive sex we'd had on my couch would most likely not have happened if that was all he wanted.

Assuming was the last thing I wanted to do, though, and until he gave me signs of wanting more with me, I was going to stay quiet and just observe what he planned to do to earn my forgiveness.

The first thing he did was to take me to lunch at a very nice restaurant.

"Wow," I said as I looked around at the interior and the formally dressed waiters. I usually shunned these kinds of places since they reminded me of the luncheons that Renée always put together with the ladies from the charities she was involved in. "I have to say, these places always have me thinking they're overcompensating for something."

Edward chuckled as he perused his menu. "Still not impressed with luxury, huh?"

"Not one bit," I said honestly and sipped my water.

He studied my face over the top of his menu, but I immediately narrowed my eyes because I knew he was reading me.

"Stop that," I told him harshly, and he looked back down with a small smile. "That's not helping your case, you know?" I pointed out.

"What?"

"You reading me like that. Makes me wonder why, and if I was stupid to give you a second chance."

He closed his menu and leaned forward over the table. "Bella, I'm not acting any differently than I would when getting to know a new person which is essentially what you are to me. A few of your old traits remain, but many have been replaced with something stronger. Can you blame me for wanting to get to know the new you?"

A/N:

Do not worry me lovlies! You will get some background story on Edward as well and find out what he's been up to for 13 years. In fact, you will get it tomorrow, but here is were I give you another angst warning. Tomorrow's chapter has a heavy angst warning because Edward's life for the past 13 years has not been particularly easy, and it has to do with a certain tattoo...

Until tomorrow,

Stay Awesome!