"Edward!" I giggled, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Put me down!"

"Not a chance," he told me, heading for the stairs. "We need to go take a shower."

I was unceremoniously thrown on the bed as Edward rushed off to the bathroom. I could hear the shower turn on, and I bided my time until Edward reappeared. I figured he had something planned, and I was rather excited to see what it might be.

When he didn't come out of the bathroom, I was slightly confused. We were already naked from our activities at breakfast, so it wasn't like he had to remove any clothing.

"Edward?" I called, pulling myself up and off the bed.

"Wait!" he called back. "Stay there for just a moment."

I sat back on the bed, now thoroughly confused. As much as I would be happy to spend the rest of the day with Edward in various rooms of the house, we didn't have that much time. His parents were expecting us for Christmas celebrations at their house around one, which meant that gave us about two hours in which to get ready. And while it didn't take me a long time to get ready, I would rather have more time than I needed than not enough. The rest of the family didn't need to know that we couldn't keep our hands off one another. Surely we could control ourselves long enough to share Christmas with family.

While I was pondering, Edward reappeared in the doorway of the bathroom in all his nakedness. A smile appeared on my face and I raked my eyes over his body, enjoying every bit of him.

"So… about that shower," he hedged, smirking slightly.

As many times as we had been together in the last day, my body still responded to his voice. I played it off, wanting to make him work for it.

I shrugged slightly. "You can go first," I told him. "I'm just going to relax here for a few minutes. I'm kind of tired."

His face fell at my nonchalance and I giggled inwardly. To offset my words, I leaned back into the pillows and stretched, arching my back and pushing my chest in his direction.

He seemed to get the message. "Are you sure you don't need a shower?" he asked, coming closer to the bed. "Are you sure you're not dirty?"

His voice was affecting me, but I wanted to draw this out. I shrugged again. "I do need a shower," I relented. "But like I said, you can use the shower first."

He leaned over the bed, bringing his face within inches of mine. "I'm kind of in the mood for a long shower. If you don't join me, you might not be ready to go in time."

With his confession he slid one arm under my knees and the other under my shoulders, lifting me effortlessly off the bed. I wrapped my arms around his neck to secure myself to him and gave a feigned yelp.

He took us towards the bathroom, stopping in the doorway. I finally got to see what had taken him so long earlier; in addition to starting the shower, he had pulled out fresh towels and set them on the counter and lit a few of the candles that I kept in the bathroom for when I wanted to take a more spa inspired bath. I laughed lightly.

"Candles?" I asked, glancing up at him.

He blushed slightly and shrugged as well as he could with me in his arms. "I thought it would make it a little more romantic."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing harder. He was so caught up on having everything be romantic. I was determined to break him from that mindset. I didn't mind the romance, don't get me wrong, but I couldn't wait for the day when he would forget that completely without any help from me. But right now, I was willing to overlook his constant need for romance and let him do things his way.

"So … a long shower, huh?"

He nodded seriously, walking further into the bathroom. He stopped in front of the shower, testing the temperature of the water with the hand that had been around my shoulders before stepping inside and turning so that his back was to the spray.

"A very long shower," he said before dipping his head to kiss me.

Edward slowly dropped my legs, letting me slide down his body until I was flush against him, never once breaking our kiss. His arms continued to support me, helping me to gain my footing on the slippery shower floor. Once he was sure I wasn't going to fall, his arms drew me closer before traveling lower to cup my ass, pushing our lower bodies together.

We stood like that for a long time, kissing and groping under the constant stream from the showerhead. He was still blocking most of the water from reaching me, but between the heat of his body and the heat from the steam, I was anything but cold. I enjoyed the feeling of his lips on mine, the feeling of his hands on my body, undeniably content at the moment to just be with him in any capacity.

He was the one to break the kiss. I took the opportunity to push him back so that he was out of the spray of the water, stepping forward to let the warm water hit my body. I turned around and arched my back, letting the water wet my hair.

Edward must have been disappointed with his view, because he put his hands on my hips and maneuvered around me so that we were again facing one another. He smiled and I once again took in the sight of his body, this time gloriously wet.

I brought my eyes back to his, catching his devious look. I quickly grabbed the body wash and applied some to my blue loofah before holding it up towards him. "The point of this shower, remember?"

He dropped the hand that he had raised in effort to touch me, shrugging slightly before stepping back further, giving me permission to wash his body.

I took advantage of the opportunity, running first the loofah over his chest, leaving behind a trail of soapy bubbles, then following with my free hand. I took my time spreading the bubbles around as I teased his chest with my fingers. His eyes closed and his breathing increased and I repeated my actions on both his arms.

When I stilled, Edward opened his eyes and gave me a curious look. I motioned for him to turn around and he complied, presenting me with his back. I continued my previous actions, washing him and teasing every exposed inch of skin. Satisfied that his upper body was clean, I pushed lightly on his back, wanting him to bend slightly. He got the message and leaned forward, bracing himself against the wall with his hands. I managed to spread his feet apart slightly without either of us slipping, a feat which I was immensely proud of.

I stopped for a moment, only letting my hands ghost over his back. I took in his position and I felt a rush of desire. He looked so unguarded at that moment, and I understood then why men loved to look at women like that. Well, maybe not exactly, but I had a better idea.

I took a breath to compose myself and continued to wash him, kneeling to get a better vantage point for his lower body. I didn't linger on his legs, figuring they weren't really all that dirty. I took my time with his ass, cupping and massaging everything from the top of his legs to his hips.

Knowing that both our time constraint and the capacity of our hot water heater limited our time in the shower, I moved on. "Edward, turn around."

He complied, and I was suddenly face to face, for lack of a better term, with his hardening length. I contemplated slightly with just taking him in my mouth and finishing him that way, but decided against it. We didn't have a lot of time, but we certainly had more time than that.

I continued on my quest to wash him, concluding with his manhood. I lathered my hands instead of using the loofah, spreading the bubbles over him that way. I spent more time on that particular part of his body then necessary, delighting in the changes in his breathing. I changed the pressure of my grip, earning strangled groans from his throat. He fought against the urge to thrust into my hand, finally giving in and matching the movements of his hips to the tempo of my hand.

I let him continue until I could tell he was close. I released him and stood, watching as he tried in vain to find release without the pressure of my hand.

"Bella…" he groaned, clearly less than pleased with my decision to leave him in his current state.

I backed away, pressing my back against the opposite wall and giving him the most seductive look I could. He didn't need much convincing, because he was pressed against me within seconds, hitching one leg up around his waist and testing my readiness for him.

I was surprised that he hadn't fallen, but I didn't have much time to register that thought before he pushed into me, lifting me higher on him for better leverage. My legs wrapped around his waist and my arms came around his shoulders, holding onto him so he could work to keep us standing. I can only assume that it was a difficult task because his movements were erratic as he tried to find a position where we wouldn't slip on the slick floor of the shower.

His thrusts grew more controlled as he became more confident in our position and he pressed me harder into the wall, bracing his arms around me. The coolness of the tile contrasted strongly with the warmth of his body and the steam around us, and I could feel myself starting to respond to him even more.

It wasn't long before I felt him grow and pulse inside me as he reached his peak, his groan echoing off the tile and getting lost in the rush of the running water. He slowed the movement of his hips, pushing into me fully one final time and dropping open-mouthed kisses along my neck and collarbone. My tight grip on him was twofold: I wanted to keep from falling while holding him close to convey my love for him.

He pulled back and I unwound my legs from his waist, dropping them so I could stand on my own. His hands were still braced on the wall around me, and my arms were still around his neck so that we were still pressed against one another.

Our breathing calmed and he spoke. "You didn't finish."

I shook my head slightly. He never was one to take pleasure without giving it in return.

He moved to reach for the body wash and the loofah. "And you're still dirty."

I smiled as he approached me. He started his ministrations on my body, mimicking my actions from earlier. He started with my arms and then moved to wash my back, avoiding the places I wanted him to touch most. I didn't have to wait long before his hands were all over my chest, palming my breasts with an new urgency, as if he were as aware of our time constraints as I was. He focused in on my nipples, pinching and rolling until I was desperate for breath. I squirmed against him as he lowered his hands, running his hands lower to picking up first the left one and spreading bubbles down the length of it before putting it back on the floor and picking up the right and repeating his actions. Instead of placing it back on the floor of the shower when he was done, he set my foot on the edge of the tub, opening me body further to him.

I braced myself against him, enjoying the feeling of his skin, slick against mine as he manipulated his way back up my leg. His fingers found their way to my center and I arched against him. I concentrated on his fingers as they danced around my opening, gasping as he pushed first one finger and then another into me.

He kept his eyes on mine as he worked me higher and higher toward my release. His fingers worked harder inside me, curling to reach every part of me while his thumb worked the bundle of nerves at the top of my sex.

I felt myself tumble over the edge and I shook against him. His free arm wound around my waist, supporting me as my knees weakened. He continued to move his hand against me until I relaxed against him. He withdrew his hand from me, holding me closer to him as the shower continued to thunder next to us.

"That's better," he said softly.

I waited half a minute for my breathing to return to normal and then kissed him softly.

"C'mon," I laughed. "I'm not sure how long this warm water will last."

We showered speedily, not wanting to be caught in the cold water, yet still managing to get in random touches and caresses whenever possible.

Finally though, we stepped out of the shower and I was grateful for the fluffy towels Edward had set out. I wrapped on around my body and turned, not realizing that Edward was right behind me, towel wrapped around his waist.

I looked up at him, a pout on my face. "I'm all pruney."

"And still beautiful," he laughed before kissing me.

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Not yet. But I will be."

"You're always beautiful," he told me, pulling me to him. I could feel him hardening against me again.

I pushed him away gently. "Not now, Casanova. We have to go get ready." His eyes grew sad. "And besides, we're clean now."

His eyes traveled through the doorway of the bathroom, glancing at the clock next to the bed. "We have some time. We could take another shower."

I shook my head. "I don't think our hot water heater could handle that. Go get ready. Your parents are expecting us." I pushed him gently out the door, shutting it behind him.

"Fine, but if I explode at my parent's house, it will be your fault!" I heard from the other room.

I laughed at his melodramatic tone. "I'll take that chance. You won't explode."

Author's Note: Christmas is a crazy time, so I'm very sorry about the delay. I managed a shower chapter, and I'm attributing the shortness of it to the fact that hot water only lasts so long. It's hard to be creative when you're working against a time constraint.

Thank you everyone for following this story and reviewing and favorite-ing and alert-ing – it's all given me warm fuzzies. I think I can now safely say that the Christmas love is done. I do have one more thing planned for Bella and Edward however… it's something that I've had planned since about chapter 2.

I'm still working on the long story … it's been slow going over the holidays, but I've got some help looking it over, so hopefully I can get back to it with renewed vigor and get it finished so I can post it. After the response here, I'm excited to see what I can do with an actual plot. Keep an eye out.