The Twilight 25

Prompt: Rapacious

Pen Name: CherBella

Pairing: EdwardxBella

Rating: M

All copyright and trademarked items mentioned herein belong to their respective owners. The remaining content is all mine. No copying or reproduction of this work is permitted without my express written authorization.

A/N: Okay while I consider myself fairly literate I am not ashamed to admit this was the one prompt I had to look up the definition:

ra·pa·cious –adjective

1. given to seizing for plunder or the satisfaction of greed.

2. inordinately greedy; predatory; extortionate: a rapacious disposition.

—Synonyms

ravenous, voracious, grasping; preying.

Hopefully that will help explain Edward's behavior in this chapter.

More A/N info at the end.

~*~ Rapacious ~*~

Edward was silent the entire trip into London, staring blankly out the car window. In fact, he had not uttered another word since ordering Carlisle to drive him to London. Carlisle left him alone with his thoughts but couldn't deny his curiosity about what those thoughts were. He had never seen Edward like this before and this deeply concerned him because he had no clue what Edward's state of mind was at the moment.

When the car finally stopped and the motor turned off there was an empty silence. They were parked across the street from a nondescript brick building with a small, simple wooden sign above the front door, The Black Swan.

After several minutes, Carlisle cleared his throat before speaking, "We're here sir."

Edward still said nothing, just continued staring out the window from the back seat of the car. His emotions were raging and they all centered around Isabella. He was furious, hurt, devastated, disappointed…and elated. Yes there was a part of his heart that was near bursting with joy that he had found her and that she was here, just beyond the doors of that brick building. But right now there was a bigger part of him that raged–raged because she was so near , raged that she had not been truthful with him, raged that she…really worked at such a place.

Edward had spent the entire car ride into the city rolling the information from Carlisle over and over in his brain. He had ordered Carlisle to drive here with no thought as to what to do once he actually got here–which left him now sitting frozen in the car, staring at the disreputable business across the street that held the woman of his obsession.

Carlisle turned his head to face him across the front seatback. "Edward?"

Edward still sat unmoving. Minutes passed that felt like hours as his mind battled with the choices. Several times he opened his mouth to tell Carlisle to turn around and take him home but he just couldn't utter the words. He kept telling himself he should just forget about her…but he knew it was too late. He needed to see her, to touch her again… and he needed answers.

Before he was even aware of what he was doing, his body was moving, out of the car, every footstep taking him across the street, closer and closer to her.

"Edward!" Carlisle yelled out after him in futility. It was clear that any warnings he might impart would be of no use now. The boy had been fighting with his thoughts, sorting things out, and a decision–whether good or bad–had just been made.

~*~O~*~X~*~O~*~

The trip from the car to the front steps of the gentleman's club felt surreal but as soon as Edward stepped inside reality descended upon him. His heart hammered in his chest and he broke out into a sweat.

A young woman in a tight corseted dress, her breasts almost overflowing her low-cut neckline, greeted him and took his coat. Another similarly dressed woman led him to a table and yet another young lady came to take his drink order and to inquire if there was anything else he might be "interested in" this evening. He declined politely, ordering a gin and tonic only. He sat down and his eyes began to roam around the room. It was a rather lush, rich environment. High ceilings; deep dark mahogany wood everywhere–the walls, the floorboards, the shiny, varnished bar in the left corner of the room. There were a few large round tables in the middle of the room, and one of them was inhabited by a group of men playing poker, the cigar smoke swirling thickly around them.

Along the walls were small curved booths with high wooden "walls" extending from the plush red velvet cushions of the seatbacks. The high backs provided the booths with an intimate privacy. To complete the ambience, the room was dimly lit with only small lamps burning along the walls and on the tables.

Edward had actually been here once before, on his eighteenth birthday. His older brother, Emmett had told him that he had a special present for him. Edward thought they were simply going out for the evening for a bit of brotherly bonding until Emmett brought him here. Before Edward realized what was going on, his "gift" appeared at the table–Emmett had purchased the "services" of one of the young ladies for Edward. As Edward stared in shock, Emmett clapped him on his back and told him that now that he was a "man" of eighteen it was time he was "educated in the pleasures of being a man."

Edward was appalled and shocked and scared all at the same time. And yet he found himself blindly following the buxom strawberry-blonde as she pulled him up the stairs to a private room. She told him her name was Tanya and she was going to take very good care of him. He was timid and his heart was pounding but Tanya was persistent with her advances and Edward soon weakened under her spell, giving into her womanly wiles. Later he couldn't deny how amazing that night had been, but he still felt shamed that he had been with such a "lady" as she.

Edward shook his head of those memories and rubbed his hands tiredly over his face. Thinking of that night just enraged him more because all he could think of was Isabella…Isabella with other men, doing to them the things Tanya had done to him…doing those things with the Italian Viscount. Those thoughts running through his mind just inflamed him even further. He found himself gripping the tabletop so hard his knuckles were pure white and his heart was racing. He drew in a few deep breaths to try and calm himself down before he completely exploded.

It was with great luck that Edward had been given one of the more secluded booths in the back corner of the room opposite from the bar. He of course did not need the privacy afforded by the booth as he was not here to partake of any of the "perks" offered at the club, but the booth gave him an easy, half-hidden vantage point to easily spy on the room and its inhabitants.

There were numerous women, all garishly made up and dressed in bright colored gowns. Many skirts obviously modified with cutaways up to the thigh to purposely allow stocking-ed legs to show, many corsets pulled extra tight to "enhance" already ample breasts. They flitted about from booth to booth, man to man. Eventually one would lure a man up the stairs. Some of them tried to faun over Edward but he would wave them away, dismissing them with barely a fleeting look. It only took a glance to see that they weren't Isabella and she was the only woman he was there to see.

Half an hour passed and Edward was getting impatient. Combing the room, his eyes flicking immediately to movements of the other patrons. None were Isabella.

Just as a small part of him began to wish and hope that maybe she wasn't here, that maybe Carlisle's sources of information were wrong…he found her. She emerged through a doorway behind the bar and it was like every fiber, every cell in his body knew she was in the room before he even looked. She was dressed a bit more modestly than the other girls and where the others wore at least part of their hair down, all of her hair was pinned up. She immediately started busying herself behind the bar, cleaning, pouring drinks, counting money. He watched her for quite a while, noticing that she was the one the other girls seemed to report to with drink orders and before and after every "upstairs encounter." She also corresponded with the male patrons on their way out for the evening, settling up their tab and accepting their money. She never ventured forth from behind the bar and she never searched any of the male patrons out as the other girls did.

This mystified Edward the more and more he watched her, until finally his curiosity could take no more. The next time one of the other girls came near, he signaled her over. She pasted a leering smile on her face as she sauntered toward him but he never took his eyes off of Isabella.

"Excuse me, miss…the lady at the bar –might she be available for a few minutes? I would like to speak with her."

The girl's smile faded and one of her eyebrows rose in question, as her eyes scanned him from top to bottom. She turned and walked away without a word, but Edward didn't care if he had offended her. He watched her talk with Isabella, watched her point over to him in gesture. And he watched as Isabella looked up and saw him. Her eyes widened as she stared at him for a few seconds, before saying something to the girl and then turning around, away from Edward.

The girl came back over to Edward's booth.

"I'm sorry sir, she's not available this evening," she paused to draw her finger along Edward's cheek. "I'm sure that I could help you out with anything you might need…"

Edward grimaced and jerked his face away from her clammy touch. "No…thank you." He tipped his glass up and threw back the rest of the gin in his glass, feeling it burn on the way down. He slammed it back down on the table and she jumped at the noise, backing off and slowly moving away from him with a look on her face like he was unbalanced.

He sat for another hour, watching her and quietly seething inside, trying to figure out why she refused him. She never looked his way again, and she never availed her self to any other men.

He finally got up and stalked out, leaving money on the table for his drinks so that he wouldn't have to settle his tab with her on his way out, since she so obviously didn't want to speak to him.

He slammed the door as he got in the car and ordered Carlisle to head home. Like the drive to town, this one was equally as quiet as Edward said not a word and again spent the time mulling his thoughts over in his head.

When they were finally back at the house in Edward's room and Carlisle was helping him off with his coat, Carlisle finally tried to get something out of him.

"Not meaning to intrude, Edward but…did you see her tonight?"

"Yes." Edward said tersely, refusing to offer anymore than that one word. "It's late, and you have gone beyond duty, taking me to London tonight. You are dismissed for the night Carlisle."

Carlisle finished hanging up his coat and then nodded toward Edward. "As you wish, good night Edward."

He was almost out the door when he heard Edward speak again, quietly.

"Thank you Carlisle…for everything."

~*~O~*~X~*~O~*~

Edward spent the rest of the night sleepless, tossing and turning and trying to figure out what to do. He again kept telling himself he needed to forget her as she was obviously doing so of him…but he just couldn't shake her. She was already under his skin, in his blood…fused with him somehow. He felt something so strong with her that he refused to believe that she could not be his.

He returned to the club every night that week. Each night was spent the same as the first, sitting alone in a booth sipping his drink and watching her, watching every move she made.

She never looked in his direction. She worked behind the bar night after night and never left with any men. Sometimes she would disappear into the back for a while and one of the other girls would take over the bar. She always went and returned alone, but that didn't mean she wasn't meeting a male "customer" in the back, or upstairs.

Whenever she left, his blood would heat up, and his hands would clench into fists. The longer she was gone the more incensed he would get, breathing heavily through gritted teeth, while his imagination ran wild. Just the thought of her with another man's…filthy hands on her body…unleashed a green-eyed monster in him that was almost impossible to control.

One specific night she was particularly busy, in and out from the bar constantly, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for much longer. Edward sat there for hours watching…and drinking…watching and drinking. When she left the bar again for the tenth time, Edward couldn't take anymore, and left, stalking out the door into the clear air of night. Furious, he took in deep gulps of the crisp air, helping to sober him up and clear his head.

He slammed the car door behind him as he settled into the seat. Carlisle began to start the car up when Edward called out to him.

"No, Carlisle!"

Carlisle turned his head around to face him. "Edward?" he asked in a confused tone.

"Just…wait. I'm not ready to go home yet."

And so they sat in the parked car for a few more hours. Edward silent and staring out into the dark night, his eyes trained on the gentleman's club.

Carlisle saw a strange, wild look in his eye and was concerned that Edward was slipping over the edge of sanity. Spending night after night after night at this club…he still did not know what was happening inside, Edward would not speak of what went on, so he did not know if Edward had even talked to the woman.

Just as he was starting to nod off to sleep, Edward's voice broke into his consciousness.

"Carlisle! Start the car…and follow her." Bleary-eyed he looked out and saw a stunning young woman exiting the club and walking north up the street. He turned the car around and followed her slowly, at a discreet distance. She walked for about seven blocks, the neighborhood changing to a more dirtier, working class section of London as she walked. She finally stopped in front of a seedy looking bar called the Blue Lantern. She rounded the corner of the building and walked up an outside staircase to a nondescript door on the second floor of the old brick building.

Carlisle stopped the car and they watched as she fiddled with the door and then disappeared inside. One of the windows soon glowed yellow from an inside light being turned on.

Just like at the club, Edward sat there staring up at the door. Carlisle gave him some time but he was still worried about Edward. This couldn't go on, it wasn't healthy. He was about to just start the car up and head home, regardless of however Edward might protest, but before he got the chance Edward suddenly bolted out of the car, slamming the door and stalking over to the building.

~*~O~*~X~*~O~*~

Bella jumped at the sound of someone pounding on her apartment door. She hurried out of the bathroom, pulling her tea gown closed around her. It was the wee hours of the morning, whomever could be at her door at this time of night? She began to tense up in fear, hoping something wasn't wrong with one of the girls…or that it wasn't some vagrant or crook looking for more trouble.

Her hand on the doorknob she wisely paused first. "Who's there?"

"It's Edward, Isabella…Edward Masen."

Her eyes widened, she sighed in both relief and exasperation. She had seen him, night after night at the club, the girls had complained that he didn't seem interested in them, that all he did was sit there and drink…and stare at her. She didn't know what he wanted or why he was persisting. Or how he even found out where she lived.

She opened the door just enough to peek her face around.

"Edward, it is late, what do you want at this hour?"

Edward was dumbfounded for a moment at finally seeing her face mere inches from his, but then her words registered with him. What did he want? What did he WANT?

Without processing what he was doing he pushed on the door, forcing her to stumble backward. He slammed the door behind him.

"What do I want? I want answers! Why did you not tell me the truth about who you were and why you were at the ball that night? Why have you not spoken to me at the club? Every night I have been there…to see you, to talk to you!"

She had not said a word yet, just continued watching him with wary eyes, as he unleashed his tirade upon her. Her silence was maddening to Edward and it only made his fury grow more heated.

He grasped her arms roughly, and she gasped…from fear or from the current that shot through their skin when they touched he did not know.

"You have been haunting me every day, every night since we danced. Since I held you in my arms. I haven't slept; I haven't been able to think of anything or anyone else. But you." His voice was low and thick with a menacing, desperate need.

He shook her and then pulled her roughly to him. Her breathing was picking up and he could see from the rise and fall of her chest that her heart was racing. The room was silent as they stared into each other's eyes, neither willing to budge, but desire obviously flowing between them. Their faces were so close he felt her warm breath blow across his lips. Finally she looked away and started to tug her arms from his grip, but he only tightened his hold and crashed his lips to hers in a brutal, forceful kiss of lust and passion. Her struggle against his hold was soon forgotten as her lips lit up in flames. They responded of their own accord to his lips and began molding to his and moving in reaction. When she felt his tongue pressing insistently she parted her lips and he invaded her warm mouth, plundering every inch. She moaned and it caused him to break away. The heart of the green-eyed monster that was in him rejoiced at the sound she was making…for him.

His hands were now on her lower back pressing her even tighter into his body. "You do feel it too don't you?" he whispered. He could feel her whole body quivering. "Then why, why do you ignore me?" He pushed her backward, against the wall. She cried out as she made contact with the hard surface. He rubbed his cheek against hers and down her throat, inhaling her scent as he went, letting it intoxicate him. "Night after night after fucking night…God! Watching you, wondering what you were doing when you disappeared from the bar…going into the "back room" were you? What do you do back there, Isabella, hmm? Or maybe you were slipping upstairs with one of your 'customers?'" He began nipping painfully at her throat and pressing his body harder against her.

She could feel the heat from his entire body through the thin fabric of her gown, and it lit her body on fire. She felt his hardness rubbing against her abdomen and the flames curled and licked, spreading quickly throughout her lower body…igniting an ache she hadn't felt in so long. She was helpless at quelling her body's reaction to him and she tried to hold back but a needy whimper escaped as he continued his assault down the v of her skin left exposed by the top of her gown.

Edward was tightly wound, and hearing her whimper made something in him snap. Finally having her in his arms, feeling her soft, warm, body so close to his unhinged him, releasing something in him he didn't even know was there. His body reacted so primally, so urgently to her…he felt like there was a current surging throughout him, charging him up.

He snarled, "Do you like this? Do you like me touching you?" He moved his face up again so that his mouth was next to her ear and he spoke in a low, rough tone. "Do you feel what you do to me? Can you tell how much I need you?"

There was a small table right next to where they were standing against the wall. Suddenly he lifted her and swung her over to the table and sat her down on it, moving his body between her legs. The table wobbled and there was a crashing sound of something falling to the floor.

Her silk tea gown was now all tangled and twisted between them and before he knew it he was ripping it, tearing at the fabric to get it out of the way. Isabella gripped the edge of the table with both hands to steady herself against the force of him as her wide eyes stared at him in shock. His eyes bore down on her, dark and fueled by desire and…anger? They were crazed and feral…and she knew she should be frightened, but instead she just hungered for him even more.

Edward looked down for a moment at her body, hidden now only by a camisole slip in a lightweight material. He could see her nipples, hard and straining against the fabric. Her breathing was still erratic, her chest heaving. He looked down at his hands, unbelieving that they had just ripped her gown to pieces. Shaking, he felt like he was not in control of what his body chose to do at this moment. He looked up to see her eyes wide and staring at him. And his fury began to build even more. He grabbed her slip roughly and ripped that as well. She gasped as his eyes raked hungrily over her exposed breasts.

He greedily grasped one in his hand, kneading and massaging it and pinching the dusky, hardened nipple. Her head lolled backward and her eyes fluttered shut as she bit her lip to repress another moan. He moved his face right up to hers again as he continued touching and playing with her breasts.

"You like that don't you? How many men have touched these breasts, hmm, Isabella? Did the Viscount touch them? Did you let his filthy hands defile your beautiful body Isabella?"

Her eyelids snapped open and anger now flashed in her dark eyes, as she started struggling and squirming against him. Her hands were pushing against his shoulders, but that just seemed to egg him on more.

He ripped what was left of the slip and it fell away, exposing her entire body to him. He trailed his fingers down her stomach, along her thighs. He thrust his fingers into her, swirling them in and out of her slick, warm wetness. She gripped his shoulders and could not control her moans at the shockwaves ripping through her body. Her hips moved of their own accord pressing herself against his fingers.

He watched her, under him, as she reacted to his touch. He saw the veins straining in her neck; her eyes closed; her lips red from biting them; her creamy skin, red and flushed. His own body was at its limits, every muscle taut and straining, wanting, needing more. It was almost painful how hard he was; he had to be inside her, surrounded by her, now. He withdrew his wet fingers from her. With record speed he unfastened his trousers and pushed her legs apart roughly and thrust his entire length into her at once. She cried out and he paused for a moment until he felt her clutching at him, her legs wrapping around him and pulling him even closer. His last vestige of control was shattered and he began thrusting into her as swiftly and deeply as he could.

Isabella was moaning and arching into him, shuddering and taking all of him in. He was doing that to her, he was the one drawing those sounds from her. But just as he triumphed at those thoughts, the green-eyed monster reared its head again.

"My God Isabella you feel so exquisite, so warm and wet around me…have the other men made you feel like this, Isabella, hmm? Have they ever aroused you this much, have they made you scream like this?" He punctuated his hurtful words with wilder, even deeper thrusts, and all she could do was gasp and claw at his back, ripping his shirt in several places.

His voice was raspy and snarling again. "Did the Viscount make you feel this good, did he know just how to fill you up and bring you such pleasure, hmm, Isabella? Answer me Isabella!"

Her answer was one last scream as she shook and shuddered around him. This drew him over the edge as well, and he roared as he thrust a few more times before exploding inside her. Their bodies slumped against each other, spent and sated, their chests heaving. She was reclining against the wall and his hands were on each side of her, on the table holding himself up. As their breathing finally calmed she began to speak, quietly.

"I did try, several times that evening at the ball, to warn you, to tell you what I was. I tried to tell you that you shouldn't be with me but you would not listen, you refused to listen! You were the one who assumed that all of the…gossip…about me was false."

There was a catch in her voice, but she continued on, never wavering. "Yes the Viscount came into the club and took a liking to me and yes he hired me to attend the ball with him, but that was as far as it went. I made an exception even going with him, because of who he was and how much money he offered. He knew upfront there would be…nothing else. I own the club now and I haven't had to…well…" she paused and her posture stiffened before she continued. "I don't have to be beholden to any man ever again."

As the color drained from Edward's face at the reality of her words, she reached up and slapped him across the face. She pushed him away and gathered up what was left of her clothing around her, as she looked him one last time in the eye. Her eyes were hard and her face expressionless. "Now get out." And she slipped down off the table and rushed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

~*~O~X~X~O~*~

A/N: I've been in a bit of "writing fail" the past few weeks and haven't written nearly as much as I should have. This chapter also seemed to take forever to write itself. So obviously I am not going to be finishing this by the Twilight 25 challenge deadline (next week!). I will however continue the story using the same prompts and parameters. So not to worry Edward and Isabella are not done yet! :)

The tea gown that Bella is wearing is more like what we would consider a robe or dressing gown. Some Google searching mainly referenced a tea gown as an actual simply-made dress worn for afternoon gatherings. However the book I took this image from called this type of "robe-like" garment also a tea gown. Picture of it here if you're curious:

http://i915 . Photobucket . com/albums/ac359/CherBella09/Twi25%20images/Bellas_tea_gown . jpg