Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of it's characters, but I bet I could sure rake in some serious cash if I could rent Dante out for the evening!

Chapter 13 – Confessions

EPOV

It has been years since I have seen Jasper that wasted! I forgot how hilarious he is. Listening to him singing that obnoxious song, and edit out the foul language as he went along, was quite possibly the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. I wish I had a video camera!

It was surprisingly easy convincing him it was time for bed. He put up a fight at first, but then Bella gave him a stern look and said, "Jasper, come on. You are going to your room so we can tuck you in, right Alice?"

Alice gave her a wink and said, "Yes, Jasper, don't you want Bella and I to tuck you in?"

Jasper got a huge smile on his face and practically ran to his room. When Alice unlocked the door, he went inside and flopped across the bed mumbling something that I couldn't make out. Bella and I talked to Alice for a minute then helped her turn him the right direction on the bed, since he was already passed out cold.

When we left Alice, I walked with Bella to her room. I expected to just give her a good night kiss and be on my way back down to my own room, but she invited me in. I admit, the first thing that crossed my mind was, "Yes! Time for round two!" but then she said, "We need to talk." And I thought, "Shit! Can we do it after round two?" Of course I didn't actually ask that. I already had one black eye. I didn't want another.

We went inside and took a seat on the little sofa. "Edward, I want to talk about what happened today. I think it is best to just go ahead and get it out in the open. I think we are both calm now, so there is no reason we can't talk like adults. In order for this to work, we both need to be completely honest and we need to keep an open mind. It is important that we listen to each other. Do you think you can do that?"

I turned so I could look her in the eye and said, "I will do my best."

"Thank you, that's all I can ask for." She leaned over and kissed my cheek. "The fist thing I wanted to ask you about was why you ran when you saw my tattoo."

I picked up a pen from the coffee table and started playing with it nervously. "Your tattoo was what made me realize that you and Izzy are the same person. I needed to get away so I could think."

"Why didn't you just ask me about it?"

"I don't process things like that. I needed time to get my own thoughts straight before I spoke to you. I intended to talk to you about it tonight, after I had had a day to figure out how I felt about things."

"But when you saw me, you blew up. Why is that?"

"I hadn't had time to finish composing my thoughts. I didn't expect to see you and when I did, you seemed angry with me. I guess it kind of hurt my feelings."

"I was angry with you. I was angry that you ran away and didn't talk to me. It made me feel abandoned." She said putting her hand on my knee.

I can't believe I am doing this. I am not the kind of guy that talks about stuff. I think about it for awhile and then I either get over it, or I decide that I can't and I move on. That's just the way I work. I don't talk things through with people, but Bella is important and if this is what she wants, then this is what I am going to do.

I took a deep breath. "When that tour guide kept hitting on you, I kind of got jealous."

"Did you think that I was interested in him?" she asked softly.

"No, I wasn't thinking that you might want him. I was just thinking that he wanted you and…" I tried to find the best way to word it, "Then I started thinking about other guys wanting you, which led to thoughts of other guys seeing you, and thoughts of what the other guys were doing when they saw you…. I guess it snowballed and I blew up."

She looked down at her feet and said, "So it was ok when you thought you were watching someone else but not ok now that you know that it was me?"

I shook my head, "No, Bella, that's not what I said. It wasn't about me knowing that I was watching you. I admit, I still haven't quite wrapped my head around that one yet, but that's not what got me upset at the time. It was the thought that a bunch of other guys saw you and… got off while watching you. That is what made me upset. When I thought of Izzy being a totally different person, it didn't bother me at all. I didn't really think of her as anything but a sex object that I had a crush on. Now that I know that you are Izzy… it feels… dirty. Like those men are defiling you in some way and you were letting them do it." I paused for a minute and said, "I don't think I am explaining it right."

"No, I think I understand. Your feelings were hurt because I was mad at you and you got mad at me because you thought that I was purposely letting men defile me." She sounded like she was in deep thought.

"I guess that's kind of right. Basically what it comes down to is that I was suddenly jealous of all those men that have ever seen you naked. I was upset that you let them see you like that. Like I said, if it would have been Izzy, or any other performer for that matter, I wouldn't have cared because that is who they are. Bella, on the other hand, is a woman that I cherish, so the thought that Bella would let someone do that to her disturbs me immensely. She is too precious to me. I don't want other men seeing her like that or thinking about her that way."

Her eyebrows furrowed together and she said, "Edward, I think you are under the impression that I have performed for hundreds of different guys."

I leaned back against the couch and looked up at the ceiling, "I wouldn't say hundreds, but in my head, I picture it as… at least 30." I try to gage her reaction from the corner of my eye. I could see her roll her eyes and shake her head.

"Edward, I did two performances before Wolf Boy became a regular. I did the group performance which had a total of three guys in it, including you. Then I only performed for you and Wolf Boy. That makes a total of five guys that have seen me perform, until the dual thing with Dante. So you know about those guys because you were there."

"Heidi never told me how many people there were in the rooms." I said looking at her.

"The two center rooms each contained two heterosexual couples. The room on the right contained a lesbian couple and the room on the left contained another heterosexual couple. So that makes a total of five men, all whom had women with them. In situations like that, you don't know for sure if it is the man who is watching, or if the man is there to watch the woman who is watching. You would be surprised how often it is the woman who is interested in dual sessions because she is living vicariously through the performer. The man is just there to get her off, nothing more than an interactive toy."

"Really?" This surprised me. I always figured it was the guys that were interested. "I never thought about it like that. So you're saying that those women were most likely there pretending they were you, so they could imagine themselves fucking me?"

"Yes, Edward. Heidi says that the majority of her dual customers are women. They just bring men with them to the performances for physical stimuli. So that gives me a grand total of ten men that have seen me perform." She put her hand on my cheek to make me look at her. "Now, I want to talk to you about some more important numbers… I started dating Mike Newton when I was in Junior High. We never broke up and I never cheated. He was the first man I ever had sex with. Other than Mike, the only other guys that I have ever had sex with are you and Dante, but since you ARE Dante, then that reduces the number of total lovers to two. So, including Mike, 11 men have seen me naked and I have had sex with only two of them. How about you, how many women have seen you naked? With your performance as Dante, you had seven. So how many more and how many women have you had sex with? You're obviously no amateur!" I am only her second lover? Really? The only guy she has ever fucked was Mike? No wonder she felt like a virgin!

I cleared my throat and gave her a nervous smile, "I guess you could say that the number of women that I have had sex with is slightly bigger than the number of men that have seen you naked." I felt myself blush. I suddenly felt ashamed of something that I was once proud of.

"Numbers, Edward. I gave you mine, so you can give me yours. How many have you done and how many have seen you naked?" She said with a cocked eyebrow.

"Umm, well… Including you… well…You were my fourteenth lover." She didn't look surprised. "As far has the naked part, I honestly couldn't tell you. Of course there was the fourteen, and the seven from the performance, but there were a few parties in college where everyone went skinny dipping. I have no idea how many women were there, but I don't think that's the same thing. I mean I wasn't jacking off at the party in front of them I was swimming… well there was one time when I was cooking burgers on the grill for Jasper while he snuck off with Alice, but that shouldn't count either because I was holding a dish towel up to protect myself from the heat coming off the grill."

She snickered "Only a man would do something like that!"

I laughed, "You should have seen Jasper trying to cook the bacon to put on the burgers!"

She shook her head and laughed, "Good old Jasper!" When she calmed back down she said, "Ok so even if we don't count the party stupidity, twenty one women have seen you in action and you have fucked fourteen of them. I think over all I have much better numbers than you. You were practically calling me a whore with my 11 to 2 when you have a whopping 21 to 14! You have twice the number of viewers and SEVEN TIMES the number of sexual partners! I should be calling YOU a whore!" She gave me a wink.

We sat in silence for a few minutes so I could process this information. I guess it wasn't as bad as I was making it out to be. Now that I knew the facts and was not making assumptions, I could see that I was wrong. It still didn't make me feel any better about the idea of her performing. "Bella, why did you become a performer?"

She thought a moment then said, "Sexual frustration. I wasn't getting any satisfaction with Mike. He never wanted to have sex and when he did, it was over before I realized we even got started." She rolled her eyes, "Anyway, he refused to take me out for my birthday, so I decided to go dancing by myself. I ended up at Volterra because I thought it was a dance club. I was standing there in shock watching the dancers when Aro approached me, thinking I was there for amateur night. Before I knew it, Heidi had me backstage in a bikini with my hair and makeup done, ready to go out on stage. I panicked when it was my time to dance. She took me for a walk to calm me down. We ended up sitting on a loveseat watching the end of one of Jane's performances. All the sexual tension built up and had me precariously on edge. Heidi took me to a solo room so I could take care of myself. When the green light came on and I knew I was being watched it all seemed to intensify. I thought of how much Jane seemed to enjoy it and how she affected the viewers. I felt a sense of control that I had never had before. I felt sexy and erotic for the first time in my life. When I made myself cum, it was the best orgasm I had ever had up to that point. For the first time in years I felt relief. I wanted to do it again and again."

I didn't know how to take that. "So you do it because it gets you off?"

"That was the original reason, yes. The money was great too, but primarily it was my only form of sexual release. I thought it was the only way I could climax. I had only had five orgasms with Mike in the years we were together and those were only because I secretly touched myself until I was right on the edge then jumped him to finish the job. If it wasn't for the fact that I was attracted to men and not women, I would have thought that I was a lesbian. Dante – you were the first man that ever gave me a real orgasm."

Really? I didn't know if I should feel bad for her or happy for myself. I had conquered uncharted territory! I could have kicked Mike's ass for almost ruining sex for this woman. If her only sexual release was found in a performance room at Heidi's, no wonder she kept going back for more! "So, now that you know what it's like to have a real man… Is it the same? Do you still want to be a performer?"

"I only performed with Dante because I needed the money for this trip. After Dante, I knew what I was missing and wanted more of it. I made the decision that I was going to find some way to talk to you, Edward Cullen, not Dante," she blushed, "because I have had a major crush on you for years. If I was going to get into a relationship with a guy, it was going to be with someone I really liked and not someone like Mike Newton. I figured I would keep performing until I found a way to interest you. You took me by surprise by approaching me first, and then when Jasper invited me to ride with you guys, it felt like the stars had finally aligned in my favor or something. It all seemed to be perfect… well until the tattoo thing." She looked down and scowled.

"I'm sorry about that." I said as I pulled her into a hug. "Don't be mad at me. I was just shocked. It was just an uneducated reaction. I understand now." I pulled back so I could look her in the eye. "Bella, do you realize that our relationship has gone completely out of order? You liked me before I knew your name. I saw you naked before I ever talked to you. We had sex before we became friends and I told you that I loved you before I ever asked you if you would be my girlfriend… Will you be my girlfriend, Bella?"

She gave me a strange look, "Your girlfriend?"

"Yes, my girlfriend…. an exclusive relationship between the two of us." I smiled. "I won't date other women. I will take you out on dates. I will buy you presents on your birthday, Valentines Day, Christmas, and any other day you deem appropriate. We will have an anniversary to celebrate. I can guarantee that I will do a MUCH better job at satisfying your physical needs…" I smirked.

She laughed and said, "I don't know, you have to pretty big shoes to fill..."

"Seriously Bella, I can safely say that we have similar sex drives, the same tastes in movies, we have the same sense of humor, we work at the same place, we like the same music, I think we could be great together."

Her eyes sparkled, "Ok, Edward, you give a pretty good sales pitch. Yes, I will be your girlfriend."

I felt my heart swell. I am sure I looked like a grinning fool. I leaned forward to give her a kiss but then remembered one more thing. "Wait. Before you say yes, I only have one stipulation…" I tried to think of a nice way to say it, but just couldn't, so I went with the direct approach. "I want you to stop performing."

She thought about it for a few minutes. This made me a little nervous. Was she concerned that I wouldn't keep her satisfied enough? Finally she said, "Edward, I would like nothing more than to be your girlfriend. I agree that we would make a good couple. I believe whole heartedly that you could satisfy my sexual appetite. I only have one problem with your stipulation..." She paused and took a deep breath. "This cruise is going to deplete my savings account and I really need a new car. Before I thought we had a chance of getting together, I kind of assumed that I would do some more performances to help save up for a down payment… I guess I could get a second job somewhere else…"

"I could help you." I said rubbing her back. "I get a trust fund payment every quarter. I could set aside some money and help you with your down payment."

Her eyebrows scrunched together, "Absolutely NOT! I am not going to let you pay my way, Edward. If you paid for my car, I would be no better than a gold-digger. With a few performances, I can get a car. My salary at the school will pay the car notes, so I should be able to quit after that… Or if I take a second job and work at nights for the next six months I should be able to get something. I may need a ride to and from work if my car breaks down again during that time."

I thought about it for a few minutes. She wouldn't let me pay her way. She was too proud for that. She could take a second job, but that would mean that I couldn't see her very much and the only place in Forks that is even hiring right now is Mike Newton's parents' store. I definitely don't want her working up there with that ball sack. I came up with an idea that would allow me to help her get her car and not interrupt my time with Bella. I know. I am a selfish bastard…

"Bella, what if I made a small exception to my stipulation. If we performed together, as Dante and Izzy, we could make much more money than you could by yourself. Plus, you just lost your regular customer so you would have to find a new client anyway. Do you think we could ask Heidi to only invite her female clients? This would help me feel a little more confident that the guys attending the performance are there to be with their women and not there because they lust after you." I kissed her on the nose.

"I think that would work." She said with a smile. "With the two of us working together, we can make money much faster. When we get back, I'll call her to set it up." She thought about it briefly and said, "Edward, thank you for doing this for me. I know this is hard on you."

"I love you, Bella. I just want to help." I said kissing her softly. "Is there anything else you would like to talk about now?" She shook her head.

I went out onto the balcony and she followed me. We looked out at the water sparkling in the moonlight and listened to the sound of the boat passing through the water. It was very soothing. All the tension that I had during our conversation blew away with the warm breeze. I could stay out here forever. The balcony stateroom was well worth the extra money. It gave you a place to relax and get away from everyone without feeling cooped up inside a tiny room.

Bella was standing with her elbows on the railing looking out at the water. No words could describe the way she looked in the moonlight. Beautiful is not good enough. With the dark sparkling ocean as a backdrop and the wind blowing in her hair, she was stunning. I will forever remember her just like this.

Seeing her like that warmed my heart. I did a very bad thing today and she had every right to be angry with me. She would have been completely justified in telling me to go to hell and never speak to me again but she didn't. She chose to talk to me and help me see where I was wrong. She chose to forgive me and give me a chance to make things right between us. All of this gave me an overwhelming need to hold her.

I stood behind her and wrapped her in my arms, nuzzling my face into her hair at her ear. With the silky strands caressing my face, her warm body in my arms, and the smell of her filling my senses, I felt whole. She leaned back against my chest and sighed. She didn't have to say anything. I knew exactly how she felt.

Holding her in my arms made me realize that I could never intentionally hurt this woman again. I also realized that I needed to accept her for who she was. This sweet, loving, beautiful woman that I held gently in my arms had a sexy, seductive side that needed attention too. Just thinking about it made me want her.

"Mmmm, Bella," I said softly into her ear, "don't you love the way the wind feels on your skin?" I ran my fingers lightly up her exposed arms and moved her hair out of the way so I could nibble her ear. She tilted her head giving me better access and moaned softly. I kissed my way down and bit her neck softly, making her gasp and giving her goose bumps.

"Oh, baby, that feels so good!" Her hand slid behind her to stroke the growing bulge in the front of my pants.

I slid my hands back around her waist, then up to her breasts to caress her nipples. They were hard already. She let out a moan as I used my fingernails to lightly scrape across the buds through the material of her dress. I slid my hands down and untied the bow that held the dress closed. "Wouldn't you like to feel the wind on the rest of your skin?" I let the dress fall open exposing one of her breasts. I cupped it in my hand and began teasing her nipple while my other hand untied the hidden bow on the inside that held the dress on. Once it was untied, I slipped the dress from her shoulders and laid it across one of the chairs sitting on the balcony.

There were thin privacy dividers between each room, so none of the neighbors would be able to see us if they stepped out on their balconies. Each floor was slightly thinner than the one below it, so people above us would be able to see us if we were standing against the railing and they happened to look down, so I pulled her back toward me, away from the railing.

"You look so beautiful in the moonlight, Bella." I said as I continued to kiss her neck and caress her skin.

I ran my hands up her arms, over her shoulders, down her chest, across her breasts, down her stomach, to her hip, slightly down her thighs, and then back up again, stopping to tease her breasts some more. "Do you feel exposed out here with no clothes on? Does it make you nervous? I don't think so. I think you feel exhilarated. I think you feel alive. But most of all, I think the exhibitionist in you feels aroused." I gently slid a single fingertip between her thighs to lightly caress her outer folds that were already wet with anticipation.

"Oh, Edward, I want you so badly," she said, turning her face to take my lips into hers.

We kissed with unbridled passion as she stoked me harder through my pants. I stepped back a little further and sat in one of the chairs, bringing her with me, to sit on my lap with her back against my chest. She tilted her head back on my shoulder as I fondled her breasts and whispered in her ear. "I'm going to make you cum with my fingers, and then I am going to turn you around and let you ride my cock so you can cum again. Would you like that, Bella?" I spread her legs and hung one over each armrest of the chair.

"Oh god, yes. Make me cum baby!" She said softly as I began circling her clit with the fingers of one hand, while I taunted and teased her nipples with the other. I did this while I sucked and nibbled the sensitive skin beneath her ear, making her moan softly.

"You've got to be quiet, baby. We don't want the neighbors hearing us, do we?" I said as I slipped two fingers deep inside.

"Fuck! Oh, yes, I can be quiet. I can be quiet." It sounded more like she was giving herself a pep talk than making any promises.

I didn't waste any time, I started pumping her with my fingers then circling her clit and pumping her again, just the way she liked it. I had watched her do this many times, so I knew exactly what her body needed. I could play her like an instrument. In a matter of minutes, her body was shaking with her orgasm and she was breathing heavy.

We stood up and I spun her around for a passionate kiss. She was still slightly out of breath, but my dick was rock hard and ready, so I was in no mood to wait for her to catch her breath. I pulled my pants down and sat back in the chair while she climbed up on my lap, putting a leg over each arm rest. It was the same position as before, but now she was facing me instead of facing away from me.

She used her legs to lift herself upward so I could position myself at her entrance. With her lifted up like this, I was in perfect position to take her nipples in my mouth and suck them firmly, making her moan again. "Oh fuck!" she said throwing her head back.

Her hips began to gyrate while I sucked her nipples, allowing just the head of my dick to slip inside her. I couldn't hold back anymore, so I let her nipple slip out of my mouth and grabbed her shoulders slamming her down on my dick.

"Fuck, Bella! Oh shit, that feels fucking fantastic" I said as she used her legs to lift herself back up and did it again. I moaned and let my head fall back against the chair.

"Do you like the way my pussy feels, Edward? Is it tight enough for you? Can you feel the way you fill me completely?" she was whispering softly as she rode me hard.

I couldn't just sit there anymore, I had to move. I started trusting up to meet her thrusts causing my balls to slap against her ass and her clit to slam into my pelvis. "Yes, Bella, don't stop! It feels so good when you fuck me like that. Oh god! I'm so close, Bella." I said desperately as we continued slamming into each other.

"That's right, fuck me, Edward! Give it to me hard! I love the feel of your dick inside me. Oh fuck! I'm gonna cum! Edward! Oh fuck, Edward! I'm cumming!" When I felt her pussy clamp down around my dick, I couldn't hold back anymore. I made one last thrust and held her still as I rode out the waves of my own orgasm.

When we recovered, she led me inside so we could clean up. "Edward, would you like to sleep here with me tonight?" she asked sweetly.

"I would love to, Bella." I took off my clothes and set them on the couch before climbing in the bed. We slept in each other's arms. It was perfect... She was perfect. I guess Jasper was right.

A/N – Happy Tuesday! I hope you enjoyed their little talk and some make-up goodness on the balcony! At least they didn't waist the entire cruise being mad at each other. Tune in next week for some more time in Mexico.

Stats update: 891 people following the story through alerts and favorites. 647 Reviews! Wahoo! Keep 'em coming!

Hugs and kisses for of you who diligently post reviews. It really makes my day and lets me know how much you care. As a treat for all of you that love the story, I will be posting chapter 14 on Valentine's Day (the 14th) then I will go back to my regular Tuesday schedule, so chapter 15 will be posted on Tuesday the 16th.

A very special thanks to Vicki (NoWayWithWords) for being such a wonderful beta and a great friend. If I am Cupid's arrow, she is definitely the bow, because I would never have been able to get the story this far without her.