11.
The old lady had gumption, Bella conceded.
The minute she'd heard Bella's voice, the woman had gone from jumping at Edward to swooning in his arms. The poor man clearly didn't know what to do with her, holding her awkwardly by the arm while angling his body as far away as he could.
Bella tried to hide her amusement as she hurried down the steps.
"Oh, Bella, is that you?" the lady asked in a feeble voice. "Don't worry about me, dear. I was feeling faint, but this nice young man offered to see me home. It's just down the hall. We'll be alright." She not so surreptitiously jabbed him in the side, making him jump.
Edward's face scrunched up in the universal expression for 'Hell no!' but before he could say a word, Bella stepped in.
"Oh no, Mrs. Pearce, I insist," she said, grabbing the old lady's free arm. Winking at Edward, she tilted her head towards the door leading to the first floor apartments. "I know you always have a nasty word or two for me, but that's just pure concern, right?"
The woman sputtered, "Why, I never…"
"Oh, not at all!" Bella laughed gaily. "It keeps things real. Reminds me not to go by appearances. Can you imagine what I'd have thought I just saw otherwise?"
The woman went red, nostrils flaring. She looked about thirty seconds away from hulking out. After everything he had gone through in the last ten minutes or so, Edward didn't want to risk something like that actually happening.
"Is this the place?" he asked hurriedly, as they came to a stop. "We should leave you to rest, ma'am. I'm sure your… the guy… uhh, whoever you were expecting... you won't want us around for that."
Bella bit back a laugh. "Shouldn't we at least take her in?"
The old lady gasped and tried to get between Bella and her door, barring the way. "No, no, get going you meddlesome little…"
"What you trying to hide, anyway?" Bella asked, casually leaning against the wall. "Do you have chains and handcuffs in there? Are you into kinky stuff?"
Edward's chuckle died a quick death under the old lady's evil glare.
"What? We're just making conversation, being neighborly," Bella protested.
"So go be neighborly on your own floor," the old lady grumbled. "You just about ruined my evening already; now go away."
Edward grabbed Bella's hand before she could rile up the woman any further. "We'll do that, ma'am. It was… uh… nice meeting you," he said, not sounding too sure about it. "I'm sure your guest will be around soon. The night is still young, and all that…right?"
Mrs. Pearce's grumpy face melted into a lascivious smile, and she reached out to pat Edward's retreating ass. "Same goes for you, pretty boy. You know where to find me when this hussy can't do it for you."
Edward snorted, grabbing Bella around the waist before she could leap at the old woman. "I'm pretty sure that's not going to be a problem."
Back in the stairwell of unexpected mauling, Edward set Bella down and blinked at her in disbelief.
"That was…"
"Fun, right?" Bella winked at him with a grin. "I bet you've never had a date this entertaining before."
"You could say that again."
"You still want to come up, or…" she looked away, biting her lip uncertainly.
"Bella," he whispered, raising her chin with a finger. "When you walked down those stairs and saved me from the horny old lady… it was the sexiest thing I've ever seen. Kind of made me want to…"
"What?" she asked, leaning closer, her hands inching their way up his chest.
His arms circled her waist, pulling her firmly up against his body. She barely had time to gasp, before his warm lips covered her own, tongue and teeth making themselves known.
It was as though they landed in the middle of a kiss, skipping all the tentative tasting and touching to get right down to all the heat and passion and want.
She leaned against the wall and his thigh pressed up between her legs. Their hips moved in a desperate dance to get closer, their lips and tongues mimicking the thrust and tug, while their hands grasped and touched and stroked till they were breathless and thoughtless, wild with desire, craving more.
They broke apart, panting for air, but unwilling to let go. His lips skimmed her cheek and jaw, down the side of her neck, till he rested his forehead on her sternum, admiring the best view in the world—the valley between her breasts. He swept his tongue out for a taste, making her shiver.
Raising his head slightly, he dragged a finger along the edge of the deep v of her dress. She nodded and his finger slipped beneath the cloth to caress the softness of her skin. He groaned and tugged the top of her dress aside, taking a moment to admire the sight of her uncovered breast. Then he gave in to the compulsion to suck on the hard pink nipple that was practically crying out his name.
Stunned and so turned on she couldn't think straight, Bella was dragged under by the tide of pleasure. Her head thrown back, eyes shut, she could focus on nothing beyond the sensation of his lips and teeth on her skin. She pressed closer, and her hips met his again. A tremor ran through her entire body, echoed by the unmistakable shudder that shook him.
"Oh helloo…." a cheerful voice called out. "The old bird told me to meet her in the stairwell, but I didn't realize it was like, a regular make out point. Oh shit, do we have to take time slots or something?"
Scrambling to tug her clothes into place, Bella barely registered the interloper's words. Edward, on the other hand, was swinging wildly between wanting to hit him for interrupting them, and laughing at the poor sucker for what he was in for with the awful old lady.
The woman in his arms, and his rather painful hard-on decided the matter for him.
"Yup you missed your slot at the stairwell of sex," he said, ushering Bella quickly up the stairs. "You'll probably have to call her 'mistress' and take a whipping or something. Or you could just make a run for it, man."
They didn't wait to hear his response, running up the last few steps and down the hallway to Bella's door, which was still partially open.
She pulled him in and shut the door. The two of them leaned up against opposite walls in her entryway, catching their breath and trying not laugh.
"I brought you flowers," he said after a moment. "But I'm afraid they're decorating the stairwell at the moment."
"The stairwell of sex," she said, and dissolved into giggles. Edward chuckled, and leaned in for a brief kiss.
Before they could get lost in the haze of desire that surrounded them thick as a fog, he backed away.
"Quite a start to our date, huh?" she commented, biting her lip.
"It's definitely different from the usual," he agreed, grinning. "So, what happens next?"
A/N: What, indeed?