Chapter 20 - Blurring the lines

Note #120 never reach its intended recipient. It was a stuffed bear with a Get Well Soon message on its tee shirt and a pamphlet with a list of common potentially poisonous household and garden products. No, the bear and the note never reached its intended recipient and more importantly the toxic substance, the beverage prepped with strychnine, was never ingested by its intended recipient.

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During the short cab ride back to the Cullen/McCarthy buildingEdward never let go of her hand. It was as if he suspected she'd slip away if he didn't hold on to her tight enough. And to be honest the thought did cross her mind. They hadn't spoken a word to each other since they left the club and that had given her too much time to think, too much time to doubt, too much time to reconsider.

The silence between them wasn't broken until they stepped out of the car and into the cool damp night air and found themselves alone together for the first time in almost a week.

"Hey you," Edward whispered and tugged at her hand until she stumbled closer to him. "Will you deck me if I try to kiss you."

His words came out in somewhat of a drunken slur, but at least he had the presence of mind to keep his voice down. Even though the darkness provided a sense of privacy, Bella was fairly certain that they were being watched by multiple sets of eyes. Walking into the building hand in hand was one thing, being caught smooching on the other hand would certainly raise a feweye brows and ruffle quite a few feathers… to put it mildly…

Edward, of course, failed to notice Bella's hesitation, or maybe he did notice, but purposefully decided to ignore it and press forward anyway.

His arm slipped around her waist and he pulled her flush against his chest. His head lowered towards hers, eyes dipped to her mouth in a way that distracted her no end.

"Don't,"she protested in a voice that sounded weak even to her. "Look, this is not safe…anyone could see us, " she tried again, with a little more conviction this time. "Maybe this wasn't the best of ideas."

"No, no, no.. You can't back out now. You just can't…" After pausing — no doubt for effect — Edward went for the kill, "You can't and you wont. You haven't had a good fuck in ages, Isabella. I know what you need and I'll give it to you if you let me "

Heat instantly spread throughout her body, tightening her nipples and pooling moisture into her panties. Because fuck if it wasn't true. She really couldn't remember the last time she had had her urges thoroughly satisfied. And she could tell his promise was a very earnest one.

Bella suppressed a groan. Not only was he right, but judging by the smirk on his face he knew he was right.

She started to push herself out of his arms, instantly missing the heat and the contact she had now deprived herself of. She got as far as untangling their joined hands, then decided 'to hell with it'.Her body ached for him and she was not going to deny herself from what she really wantedany longer.

To hell with it!

The same though must have struck Edward at the same time. Bella wasn't sure who moved first, but half a second later their mouths were fused together in a hungry, almost angry kiss.

Her hands were in his hair, stroking down his neck, digging into his shoulders. Her tongue met his, tangling, teasing. When his hands slid down to cup her ass, pulling her against his arousal, she moaned. That sound seemed to seal their faith.

There would be hell to pay in the morning… or rather there would be colleagues to pay off and video footage to delete in the morning, but in that moment she didn't care for anything but the man standing before her.

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She took him to her place, or well the apartment rented under the name Arizona Bell Hawkins. Partly because it was the closest one, fewer stairs to climb, fewer cameras to pass, but mostly because it was the safest option.

After having led him to her bedroom, she had him wait on her bed while she removed her weapon from the belt holster at the small of her back, unloaded it, and placed it in the top drawer of her bedside table.

She stepped out of her shoes, and walked, wobbly-kneed across the room. The gorgeous, sexy man on her bed looked almost luminescent in the pale lighting of the street lights filtering through the windows.

His gaze followed her every movement, making her feel exposed and vulnerable like never before. It was ridicules how easily he could get to her just by looking at her a certain way. The power he held over her was frightening.

In order to give herself some time to collect her thoughts, she dug out her cell from her pocket and sent a quick text to Seth, informing him that she was about to host a private, one guest only, slumber party. She barely got the messages sent before there was a reply: 'I've got your back, you naughty, naughty girl.' Her colleague must have started typing that up the moment he saw them enter the building.

Meanwhile Edward was growing restless on the bed. Having heard the buzz indicating an incoming text message he sat straight up on the bed, cursing under his breath. "Damn it to hell! Not another one. Turn that fucking phone off I don't want that crazy psycho stalker bitch ruin this."

"She won't," Bella shook her head. "That was just Seth. I had to let him know our whereabouts and he responded by giving us his blessing."

"You told him?," Edward asked, surprise evident in both his face and voice. "I thought you didn't want anyone to know. I thought…" he trailed off frowning in obvious confusion. "Wait he saw us get in didn't he?"

"We have fourteen cameras in this building, there is no doubt in my mind he knows exactly where we are and what we're up to."

"Oh, I didn't think of that…" he muttered, racking his hand through his hair. "There is no surveillance in here, though, right?"

"Nope, we don't need an audience for this."

"Amen to that!" He stretched out an open hand, beckoning for her to come join him on the bed. "Now get over here so I can feel up that glorious body of yours "

"Last time we tried this - you and me in a bed together, I ended up on the floor," Bella reminded him as she slowly made her way across the room.

"Oh, I can't promise you that won't happen again, but if it does, you have my permission to smack me around until I wake up. I don't want anything to spoil this."

"Oooh, I get to smack you around, how romantic."

He shrugged. "I'm a romantic guy," he agreed mock solemnly, before he pulled her down to straddle his lap and started fumbling with the buttons holding her top together.

"Hands a bit shaky there Romeo."

"Heh, drinking can do that to a fella."

"Here let me help you," she offered and quickly unbuttoned the flimsy material, casting it to the floor.

"Much better," he nodded approvingly and pushed the bra straps out of the way. First one side, then the other, causing her amble bust to spill over the top of the cups.

"Even more beautiful than I remember." He stroked the creamy white skin exposed above the constraining material. "Fuller…," he breathed in amazement as his fingers tips traced the contours of the flesh. "Definitely fuller…and softer."

He nuzzled his face into her breasts, his mouth ghosting over every inch of skin he couldreach. Bella shuddered at the contact, shuddered at the sensation of gentle scrape of teeth against her flesh. She wanted - no needed- more. His lips ... oh, God, how she craved them on her skin, kissing every inch of her body.

Her hands were grasping blindly at his clothes trying to reach his skin. The need to feel his skin under her fingers so strong it was almost suffocating.

She managed to get the buttons of his shirt open, but lost her focus when Edward sucked one of her pebble hard nipples into his mouth. Oh damn, that tongue. It flicked and swirled over and around her taut areola until she thought she'dburst into flames. Then he bit it. She yelped and grabbed on to his now half naked chest. That's when reality came crashing back on her in all its horrific details.

Scar tissue. The texture beneath her palms was rough and uneven. A better part of his chest was still red and irritated in a blotchy raw sort of way.

"Oh-my-God! I can't believe I forgot!" She gasped the words out through ragged breaths as she pulled away to get a better look at his injuries. "I'm not hurting you, am I? Should I even be touching it?"

"It's mostly healed. As long as you don't scratch it, I'll be fine," he answered equally breathless. "No nails and no teeth, okay?"

"Are you sure?", she asked, frowning slightly. "It still looks painfully raw."

"If it hurts, I expect you to kiss and make it better."

"Like this?," she asked carefully placing light kisses along hiscollarbone down to the swells of his pectorals.

"mm," he moaned, shuddering slightly. "Yeah, that'll work."

She continued kissing and touching every inch of him she could get her hands on. Clothes were becoming a nuisance, so she shred them… Literally shred them….

She usually wasn't the aggressive type, but this had built up over quite some time. Her hands were everywhere and so was his, tearing seams and popping buttons. Soon they were rolling around naked on the bed with their bodies pressed close in a tangled embrace of arms and legs.

"Oh Sweet Jesus," Bella groaned, as a muscular thigh rubbed intimately against the damp mound of her sex. She humped it shamelessly, not able to remember the last time she had felt this alive. Every nerve, every cell in her body seemed to burn with pleasure at his touch.

She was wet and excited beyond all measure and Edward was equally aroused. She could feel it. She could feel his breathing, hard and labored, against her neck. She could feel the heat and the hardness of his erection probing against her stomach. The realization was mind blowing.

This was Edward, naked Edward, groaning and writhing under her touch.

Just when she thought she might pass from the sheer intensity of it all, he flipped them over and position himself on top of her.

She opened herself to him completely, welcoming the thrust that seated him deeply into her body. Both of them gasped at the initial penetration, both of them remembering another time ,another place. Memories flashed before their eyes like a kaleidoscope, but they were nothing compared to the new memories they were creating then and there. They found their perfect rhythm like they had never been apart, like they had never done anything else than fucking.

They climaxed almost simultaneously; Bella first, aided by two callused fingers against her swollen clit, with Edward following close behind driven over the edge by the way her walls clenched tightly around his throbbing member.

He cried out her name and Bella thought she had never heard a sweater sound than her name on his lips in ecstasy.

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Spent and exhausted, they both found sleep a welcome companion after such a tumultuous evening.

Edward slept better then he had in months. For the first time in a long while, his rest came naturally and well earned instead at the end of a pill bottle.

He felt carefree and joyful and strong. He felt like he was seventeen again and could take on the world single-handedly. Sure, the alcohol in his system probably helped in that department, but it didn't hurt to have a beautiful woman in his arms either.

Not just any woman, Bella.

The moment her fingers had fluttered over the skin of his chest, and he had felt as though he had found his nirvana, and felt no desire to flee from that embrace.