Short and sweet, just like me.
Humps and smoochies to JaspersIzzy for prereading this chappie, and to HammerHips for workin' her magic, as per usual. Lubes you both.
Enjoy...
Chapter 8
It was maddening, sitting in Edward's car, one leg crossed, my fingers punishing the top of thigh, my nails dragging over the fine fabric of my outrageously expensive, just-this-side-of-legal-for-work, skirt.
But I didn't give a shit.
He was doing the Indy 500 run again, two hands on the wheel this time. Emmett and Rose were in front of us, both cars veering down the Stevenson and back into the city, presumably to lock me away and throw away the key.
I bristled.
Damn it to hell if I was going to let this go on much longer. The FUCK if I was going to let some hick cowboy get to me with his bullshit games, threaten my life, ruin my life without fighting back.
When I found him, that fucker was going to hurt. Burn. Beg for his balls.
But who the hell had gotten into my office? Who would have the stones to even walk around with that box, set it down, and get out without anyone even giving a flying fig?
How had no one seen a damn thing?
Behind my closed office door, Edward had stayed on one knee in front me, periodically running his hands over mine and then up my forearms, until he asked Rose for my jacket from behind the door. I remembered staring into his eyes, and then at the buckle on his belt as he stood up to grab it, and then at his fly as he wrapped my jacket around my shoulders. Those first moments after I'd recognized Edward were like a silent movie to me – the clackety-clack of Edward and Emmett speaking short, succinct, phrases like old school film running through a projector - but recognition and meaning were lost to the image of a bloody Swan head repeating in my conscious periphery. Rose was there…somewhere, in my office, sitting, standing, but strangely quiet. Edward demanded in a something just above a low growl to know what happened, looking from the two of them and then more tenderly at me.
"I just walked in. The box was on my desk. I thought it…" I hesitated, sneaking a sideways glance, feeling Rose's eyes bearing into me like javelins. "…they were from you."
"Emmett?" Edward said through gritted teeth as he spun on his knee toward where Emmett was still by the door.
"I didn't see a thing. Rose and I were right here."
Edward not-so-subtle sneer at Rose didn't go unnoticed by me.
"I didn't see anyone." She hastily added, slowly dropping into the chair behind her.
"Did you check her office when you got here?"
"No. The door was closed, I-"
"Fuck." Edward nearly whispered as he focused once again on me, stifling Emmett's attempt at explanation. His eyes searched mine, the scowl on his face softening just a smidge.
"Rose, go back to your desk and quietly gather your things. You're coming with us. Make your way out to the parking lot as inconspicuously as you possibly can. Emmett, go to my office, get my laptop, my keys should still be on my desk. Bring them to the garage, where I'll meet you to get them, get Rose, and meet us back at my place."
"Aren't you going to call the police?" Rose squeaked out.
Edward's neck nearly snapped his head turned so quickly toward her. The look he gave her would've stopped the running of any bull in Pamploma.
"Go." Edward's command took on the level of shouted whisper.
Emmett didn't waste a fucking minute, ushering Rose out, box tucked under his arm. Thank God the ruckus of nosey officeworkers had stopped banging on my door, stopped trying to get the next hour's gossip fodder for all things social media.
"I'd prefer not to carry you out of here, Bella. I'll garner too much attention."
"I can walk, Edward."
"Then let's go," he said quickly, extending his hand.
Our stealth exit had been successful, Edward using his best 007 escape tactics, pulling me along by my hand, ushering me by my hips into the service elevator, keeping my hand in his, my briefcase on his other shoulder as we descended. The fog that I'd been in from the utter disbelief of what had happened was rapidly subsiding, being replaced by the slow boil of rage. We reached the garage, and somehow Emmett was already there as the elevator doors opened, Rose waiting in his car. Handing Edward his laptop and keys, he sprinted away, as Edward's long legs and purposeful walk had me nearly running to keep up. Note to self: Laboutins aren't meant for the 50-yard dash.
With his powerful hand guiding my lower back, I slid into the seat obediently.
"I can do it." I snipped, his hand pulling on the seat belt.
He dropped the belt, shutting my door as he ran to his side. I buckled myself in, leaned my head back, and took the deepest breath known to man.
As we sped out of the garage and toward the highway, neither of us spoke.
No words, no music.
Just the fucking insanity of silence swirling around us both.
All I could think about was getting my hands on Assper's balls, twisting them, and relieving him of any chance of future procreation.
We were halfway to the city, when I glanced over the space between Edward and me, and then up at his hands on the steering wheel, focusing on those incredibly long, immensely satisfying fingers gripping the leather underneath them, turning and weaving with effortless fluidity, not caring the way my body swayed and swerved as he dodged each driver impeding his intended destination.
The impenetrable fortress of Edward Cullen.
Leaning my elbow against the center console, I huffed, my forehead pounding, my fingers running across it to alleviate what was becoming less of a pain in my ass, and more of a headache of gargantuan proportions.
Edward's one hand finally left the wheel, reaching across to touch my forearm, pulling it toward him until he had my hand, entwining his fingers between mine, a gentle squeeze of support as he held it captive.
"Talk to me." Although it was a command, his voice seemed gentle even in its authority. I wasn't sure if I was more shocked by the tone, or the fact that he'd broken the silence. "Tell me exactly what happened, every detail you can remember."
My huff was harder this time, although my eye roll was hidden. "Why? I've told you already. There isn't much to tell since I just walked in, Rose came in, I opened the box…I may have heard Emmett say…something…and then…it's a little fuzzy. Until I heard you. Saw you."
I turned to see his look of relief settle into his shoulders, the pad of his thumb running over mine, but the determination still set in that perfectly sculpted jaw line. The prickly feeling slowly going up my arms was not from the air conditioning blasting out from the vents. Staring at him, I caught his glance into the side rearview mirror, and then back forward.
What the fuck? He was hiding something.
"What aren't you telling me?" I pulled on his hand in mine, as his quick intake of breath and complete avoidance of my glare told me plenty, and it wasn't just because he was concentrating on blazing a trail.
"Dammit, Edward!" I quickly shifted forward again, swiping my hand from his and folding my arms across my chest.
"It was for your own protection." He veered onto the shoulder to pass an idiot in the left lane going nowhere near 55 mph. "Emmett came to my office the other day with his suspicions."
Wait until I saw Emmett again. A tongue lashing from anyone else would seem like a pink satin ribbon to flesh.
"You should've had them as well. You're smarter than this. You're letting emotions get in the way."
"Goddammit Edward, stop being so fucking cryptic. Right now, I only have oneemotion," I said through gritted teeth.
"Opportunity, access, and motive. Think, Bella."
"I can't fucking think anymore." I turned to look out the window, frustrated with my admission, getting increasingly pissed at my inability to see what was apparently right in front of me.
Right in front of me.
Right…fucking…in…front…of…
My eyes darted from the side window, over the dashboard, and then focused hard through the windshield, as the possibility and the inevitability of who they suspected became clearer and clearer. Suddenly I saw myself, whip in hand, precision thrown to the wind for the immense pleasure of breaking open flesh…
Squeezing my hands around that long slender neck as the last attempts at breath,
at life,
left it.
"Bella." Edward whisperyelled and tugged at my hand as we neared his door.
"Edward." I countered, knowing full well he was trying to get me to obey the instructions he'd given me in the car in a voice similar as if he were telling me changes to one of my proposals.
Fuck that.
The problem was…
I knew he was right.
Insufferable ass.
"Emmett, I demand you tell me what's going on."
We both stopped in our tracks right in front of the door, the carpeted hall hiding our approach. It was Rose's voice, her snark-level only at medium decibel, and Edward put his index finger to his lips. I tried not to think about that finger, or the lips behind them, and where my body was telling me I really wanted that finger, and possible another two.
I quickly flicked my head and the image from it, avoiding his gaze and leaning my ear to the door.
"I suggest you keep that fire in check and those pretty lips shut until they get here." I could just picture Emmett's sneer through the door.
Edward was already looking down at me as my eyes went up and met his. He put his finger up again, and mouthed the word "wait". I nodded, as the smack of 4 inch heels hit the floor.
"Emmett, what the fuck is going-"
"I suggest you sit down, Miss Hale."
Before Rose had a chance to blow like Old Faithful, Edward nodded to me and opened the door, letting me walk in first. My fists were balled up at my sides, trying to maintain, trying not to lunge at her as I walked down the hall and Rose's eyes met mine as I entered the room.
"Oh, thank God, Bella. Maybe you can tell me-"
"Hello, Rose." It was evenly delivered, downright friendly, and amazed even me. As I lofted my suit jacket onto the back of the couch, the force of my Laboutins on the hardwood was the only evidence of my mood. I walked to the bar to occupy my hands with something, anything, making myself a drink the first thing coming to mind, inwardly hoping I didn't crush a glass in my fingers. It was noon…somewhere.
"Emmett? The usual?"
"Yep."
"Edward?"
"I'm fine, Bella."
Rose's eyes went back and forth to each one of us, obviously pissed, and getting more so by the minute.
She didn't know pissed.
"Ok, I give. Bella, can I have-"
"Rosalie, as Emmett said, I suggest you remain quiet." Edward interrupted her. "I'll be asking the questions." His tone was exactly as it had been that day in Camelot with Jasper.
I snuck a glance at him, as he intimidatingly walked just shy of her dance space, pausing for a glare down at her, and then to nearly the stereo, turning back and stopping in front of the fireplace to face her once again. My gut coiled like a rattler, but for once in my life, I attempted to follow the rules. Edward's rules.
I could tell by her face she was trying to project that confident, pole-up-her-ass Rose-air, but I knew her too well. Not only did she not know she was dealing with a Dom, but she hadn't had enough dealings head-on with Edward to know how overmatched she was. I couldn't help but compare him now to what he'd been like our first meeting in my office, the raw power that he exuded then was nothing to what was coming off him now.
He would tear her to shreds.
And it made me so fuckin hot.
I hardly had to concentrate as I poured vodka, vermouth, and ice in the shaker since making my drink was like breathing for me. I opened Emmett's beer and set it on top of the bar. His hand was so fast reaching for it, I was already looking at the side of his head as he took a swig.
"I'm going to be very clear here, Rose. You either tell us where he is, or Emmett here…" Edward nodded in Emmett's direction, "my brother, will take care of getting the information out of you in other, less desirable ways than just mere conversation."
Rose's eyes flew to Emmett's, and from my vantage point, I couldn't help but see Emmett shift in his seat slightly, taking his eye off Rose to put his beer on the counter. It was an unnecessary movement, and one that made me wonder what was exactly going on between Emmett and Rose.
"Your brother? I…Emmett?" Her eyes stayed on the side of his head, until her shoulders straightened, her glare stopping on me for a brief moment, until she met Edward's eyes, tits out.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're asking me, Edward. Or who you're asking me about. Unless it's about what happened to Bella today, of which I'm in the dark as much as you. If you're insinuating that I know something, you're sadly mistaken."
Oh, Rose. You do NOT know who you're fucking with.
"I see." Edward shifted on his foot, walking toward the couch, turning back once again, but not sitting.
"So we're to believe that you have no knowledge of what's been happening to Bella-"
Rose's head whipped back to me, her expression surprisingly concerned. "No! What do you mean happening? Bella, I swear…" Rose went to get up, but Emmett was off the bar stool and in front of her before her Manolo's took another step. She sat back down slowly, her eyes darting between Emmett's and mine until she was seated again.
"I swear to you, Edward, to all of you. I don't know what you're implying or suggesting. I don't know a damn thing! But Bella, are you alright? What else happened to you?"
Leaning my elbow on the bar, I did a half turn to avoid answering her, my eyes roaming the top of the bar, over the floor, and landing on the magnificent profile curve of Edward's ass. Everything he'd told me in the car, everything I knew about Rose, my gut started to tingle. If anything, I could read Rose like no one else. I knew what made her tick, what got her off, and everything in between. However, right now that gnawing little feeling right above my very bare and slightly throbbing Godadavida was telling me that something wasn't right, something wasn't adding up.
Fuck.
My head fell, my eyes closed, and the fingers not holding my drink went through my hair in frustration. I knew it in my gut. I knew it between my legs. I knew it in my head.
It wasn't her.
I set my glass down on the bar, and started to walk straight in front of her.
"Bella, no." Edward's and Emmett's bark rang out, Emmett's arm flew out in front of me, as Edward took a step toward me.
I pushed away Emmett's arm, annoyingly strutting by him and stopped a foot in front of her. Her body language was as if there were no others in the room - the eyes going down, the shoulder slumping - a reaction so basic, so ingrained, it only served to reinforce what I already knew. If she was involved, there would have been some form of defiance, some slight movement or positioning that would lead me to think otherwise. But all signs were that her submissive tendencies hadn't died with whatever she knew now of Edward and me, and that in her mind, I was still her Queen.
"They know, Rose." Her eyes slowly came up from the floor, but only as high as my waist, as if she were taking in what I just said. For a brief moment, I actually felt a smidge of pity for her, something I could not, would not, ever tell her. "Did you willingly help him, or did he blackmail you in some way?"
"Bella, I swear, on everything, on whatever you want me to, I don't know what you're talking about."
I watched her for a minute longer, she didn't waver, she didn't even clench her hands from where she'd put them on the tops of her thighs. The pity that I felt had turned to sympathy, as I realized our world – my world with her – was ending.
"It's not her." Spinning around, I whisked back to the bar, grabbing my drink and heading into the kitchen. The realization that I didn't want her anymore, that I wanted someone else so much more, hit me like 95-mph fastball in the side of the head. It had taken everything I had in me to get out of that room, away from her, him, them, because the last thing I needed to do was show weakness, out there, in front of her, in front of Edward. I slid my glass on the kitchen counter, my palms on the edge, leaning into to it, as I took a deep, steadying breath to regain control.
"Please tell me what's going on. What happened to Bella?"
Even from the kitchen I could feel Rose's head whipping back and forth between Edward and Emmett, as Emmett gave her the short version.
"Jasper? Whitlock? What…why?"
The uneasy silence was enough to make me down the rest of my drink, and turn to walk back out to the others, toward the bar, because I desperately needed another. Edward had risen from where he'd apparently been sitting on the couch, just in time to see me reappear. His words were like slamming into a force field. I nearly bounced back, stopping in my tracks.
"Because he and I have… a history. The less you know the better, Rose. Emmett will take you home now."
The feeling in my fingers suddenly disappeared.
I heard glass shattering…somewhere…but the only thing my mind registered was the penitent stare of those Emerald fuck-me eyes, their intensity lasering into my brown ones now icily returning their unspoken plea.
Not now, Bella.
Fuming didn't even begin to describe what I felt like inside. His eyes held mine as Emmett gathered up Rose. She stopped between the war of silence that Edward and I were having, blocking my view and effectively distracting me.
Rose started to squat. "Let me help you-"
"Leave it, Rosalie." Edward's voice boomed from behind her.
She slowly stood back up, her expression one of chastisement, until she looked straight at me, flipping the blond strands that had fallen forward as she knelt, a defense mechanism to say fuck off to Edward without actually saying it. Those dark violet eyes now held mine, pleading. "I wouldn't hurt you Bella, despite what you may think, despite…" She tilted her head toward Edward. "I'll let you know if I think of anything." She turned away, her head hanging a bit, until she stood up straighter, once again tossing the blond mane as Emmett caught up to her.
She poked him the bicep. "You…you…ugh." She stopped at the door just long enough for Emmett to open it for her, before barreling through.
Emmett turned back to Edward and me. "I'll call you later," and walked out behind her, shutting the door, his voice just barely hearable, "Rose. Rose! You have to admit…" until his voice trailed off.
"Sometimes I can't believe he's my brother." Edward's statement brought my glare back to him, and then a cool glance of dismissal. I stepped over the broken glass, regaining my shit, on my way to the bar for a shot glass and the bottle of Patron, my inner thermometer now at seething.
Edward's loud exhale was uncharacteristic, as he went and took the seat that Rose had been in. I avoided looking at him, even though I could feel his eyes as they drilled holes in my skull. I tried to ignore the rage that was once again building, the unbelievable irony that Edward had a past with Jasper.
Correction, with ASSper.
A past he'd neglected to mention. To me.
Once again proving that all men are assholes and are only useful for a good rough fuck. Nine times out of ten, they fuck that up too.
"It's not what you think."
I smacked the shot glass against the counter, grabbing the tequila bottle, beginning to pour. "And just what am I thinking, Edward, since you know all about me, know every little detail of my past and every inch of my body. Just what the fuck am I thinking?"
"He wasn't my Sub."
I hauled back my shot, screw the salt and lime, the burning liquid making my eyes water.
An avoidable cough escaped, irritating me even more, as I poured another. "Oh, well then what was he? Your pool boy? Banana hammocks do it for ya?"
"Is that the pot calling the kettle?" His words struck like a cobra bite.
"Fuck you, Edward." I took the second shot like a champ, slamming the glass down once again on the bar, a fucking miracle it didn't shatter too. "Damn you for lying to me." Just above a whisper, and just this far from being a scream, my glare matching his.
"I didn't lie, Bella. I refrained from telling you."
"Semantics. You omitted a very integral piece of the enigma that is you, ass."
"Would you have told me about Rose? Or would you have just fucked me for a corner office?"
"I never got the chance, at either, so I guess you'll never know."
Concentrating on the black granite top, Edward's admission sunk in further, although now I wasn't sure if I was madder at his revelation, or his biting reply.
"Ugh!" I screamed, spinning toward the windows, the blue sky and sunshine in complete opposition with what going on inside me. My hands came up to rub my bare upper arms, the cold air-conditioning in direct contrast to the heat radiating from me. I couldn't look at him, the treachery which I knew was sitting just feet from me, because in my head, all I could think of was that I'd just been fucked royally up the ass, and not the way I enjoyed it.
The sound of movement had me trying to see the reflection of him in the glass, as he flung his coat on the back of the couch, and began walking toward me ripping at the knot of his tie.
"Don't you dare touch me," I said, as my eyes once again focused out over the blue waters of Lake Michigan.
"Bella…" His exhale was long, irritated. "Stop with the accusations and the bitch-probe for just a minute and listen to me."
He stood directly behind me again, just like the other night, but the difference was, he was not going to use my anger to fuck. No. Not this time.
"Just tell me one thing, Edward. Was this all a game? Was this some sort of sick, twisted plan of yours? Yours and his?"
"What? NO! Do you think what he did to you that night at the club…do you think the boat…do you think the other night, this past week, was all some sort of game? Jesus, Bella. For someone so incredible intelligent, you really-" I could hear the scratch of his shoes as he turned and walked away, but he was NOT getting away with just that, and I whipped back to face him.
"Then was it is, Edward? What the fuck is going on? And why the fuck does Jasper want to…"
A stinging in the corners of my eyes, made me close them and fling my head back.
I could not cry. I would not cry.
But it was almost too much, as I tried once again to get a read on him. My eyes met his, one of his amazing hands already in his hair, fingers clenching, twisting, my lower body reacting as if in their grip, the scant strip of my thong growing wetter with each tug.
"It's me he's after."
"For fuck's sake, tell me why, Edward." I demanded.
With one last glance at me, he strode over to the bar. The avoidance dance we were doing was becoming unbearable, but I was not going to back down.
He grabbed the Scotch, a glass, and poured, taking back the whole thing. "Because the Domme that he had left him…
…for me." He poured another.
So he was right.
It wasn't what I was thinking.
It was soooo not what I was thinking, I caught myself taking a step toward him.
"She spotted me at a function. Her name was Tanya. I was…new to the lifestyle, and she saw something in me. I didn't know at the time what was happening, until he started threatening her – the same MO as you – odd packages being delivered to her house, emails and notes sent - until they stopped. I happened to see one of the notes one day. I never…asked her what happened. To this day, I don't know why she left him, but due to current circumstances, I'm led to believe it's because he's unstable."
My arms fell to my sides. Suddenly my shoes were uncomfortable, and way too high. I felt like I was going to topple over, so I reached out for the side of the bar as I lifted my feet out of my shoes, planting them firmly on the floor.
"My name was Masen back then. I'd changed it to…keep that part of my life hidden. Private. But he knows what I look like, and undoubtedly recognized me at some point." He took another drink, slower this time.
"But…but when I didn't get the job, when you did, he was very…he tried to tell me what a get you were. That stealing you away was the biggest coup since…since…" Suddenly, I felt cold, really cold. The palms of my hands felt clammy, sweaty, and I reached out to grab the bar with my other hand. "He wanted you there."
"That's what he told you." Edward said through a derisive snort. "He was going to fuck me over. I think some of his financial bullshit was an attempt to do just that. You caught him before he could. The information you brought to my office that day was what I needed. Between your performance in the boardroom, or lack thereof, and the fact that I think he was following you and didn't like your other activities that didn't include him, you became his mark. You had chosen your side, and it wasn't his."
I thought back to that day in my office, where Assper had nearly…
"You're fuckin' him, aren't ya?"
"What happened to Tanya?"
"She overdosed, or so says the coroner's report."
With this, Edward turned toward me setting his glass on the bar, those dark, almost black Emeralds searching mine.
"She never did a drug in her life, Bella. Hell, she never even smoked a joint."
That…day. Their conversation when I woke up. Edward talking to Emmett.
"That was before a suspected murderer was after her."
That was what he meant.
"Shit." It just slipped out on a breath of disbelief, realization…and that feeling that had once been so foreign, now becoming way too familiar – fear. I grabbed the remainder of Edward's Scotch and took a sip, even though I hated it, not caring how wasted I was starting to feel.
"It was never proven. The community suspected him, but no one would come forward in fear that their lifestyle would be revealed. I thought after what he did to you at the club, after he was fired, that it would end. I won't allow him to get to you. Not again. I…"
I glanced up only because of Edward's hesitation, my head starting to swirl feeling like a dead weight as I did.
"I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."
Dropping the glass in my hand, I leaned in hard against the bar, Edward's admission churning my insides as if it was a very large wooden spoon and I was the stockpot. The words echoed in my head swam with them, my stomach gurgled. What the hell was happening to me? I had handled just about anything that had been thrown my way, anyone who dared fuck with me, but this…this? I wanted to run into the guest room, slam the door. No, I wanted to run out the door, gain my freedom, gain perspective. Even if I'd blurted out the other night the three words that I'd never thought to utter, I couldn't let myself believe in something I never thought existed.
Even if Edward hadn't heard them.
Even he didn't say them.
"I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you."
The room was spinning, no I was spinning, no… holy fuck I was drunk. I tried to swallow, but there was a very large hunk of shit in the back of my throat…
"Bella? Are you…"
I tried to take a step, my knee feeling like jello. My fingernails dug into granite until unavoidable recognition bubbled up my esophagus and I took off, straight to the bathroom, falling to my knees to worship once again the porcelain goddess. All of my drinks and chunks of my breakfast spewing out like Vesuvius. Until I felt Edward's hand grab my shoulder, the other whisking back my hair.
Not again.
"Fuck, Edward…" I choked out between eruptions.
"Jesus Christ, Bella."
This wasn't happening. It was as if my body wanted to puke out everything in my head, everything I'd heard, everything I felt. For the first time in my life I didn't have the will, the energy to fight any longer. As the dry heaves took over, I lost the strength to hold myself with my arms that were still clinging to the seat. They started to slip, but Edward's arm came around my middle on cue, the handful of hair he had keeping my head from falling forward. Until we were both sure I was finished, and I felt myself being pulled back, my head being guided to his arm by his gentle pull of my hair.
"No more tequila." Edward said rather forcefully, his attempt at being funny not even remotely fooling me. All I could do was scrunch up my face, burrowing it into the cotton material at his chest, the smells of him overcoming my god-awful stench. As if he knew, my body suddenly went forward, and the flush of the toilet clued me in as to why.
"Okay." I breathed out, and Edward's misfortune in that only dawned on me a minute later.
Edward's hand brushed across my cheeks and the wetness there. I didn't want to know if it was sweat, puke remnants, or some other liquid that was rarely found there, but his touch made me open my eyes to find his dark Emerald ones, the worry in his brow much deeper than I had ever seen it. I could barely lift my hand high enough to the deep v was between his eyes.
But I knew it was because of me.
"I did that." I whispered, touching the worry with my fingertips.
Losing strength, I ran them down over the strong cheekbones, across the chiseled line of his jaw feeling the tension, and his expression softened a bit. I trailed them down his neck onto his shirt, pushing them through the opening, feeling the soft hairs, the skin of his chest, and the racing of his heartbeat. I wanted to tell him thank you, as my fingers squeezed the material of his shirt. I wanted to tell him that I was scared, fisting the buttons and cotton. I wanted to tell him to hold me, just like this, for just a while longer.
I wanted to tell him…something.
"I…I need to brush my teeth." I finally croaked, pulling on his shirt to sit up on my own, but it wasn't the best decision I'd ever made, as the queasiness reared its ugly head, my head falling back as my grip loosened.
"Yes, you do." He quipped, his lips pressing gently to my forehead. "Allow me to assist you, My Queen." His low voice caressed, as I opened my eyes to just catch the quirk of the corner of his mouth.
Just like that, my ass was on the floor, Edward's arms sliding underneath mine, his hands locked just below my tits, until I felt myself being slowly lifted off the floor and led over to the sink.
"I'm not…finished…with you." I attempted to sound still sufficiently pissed through short breaths, even though I couldn't lift my head from the firm pects behind it. Steadying myself, I waited for the little flickering stars to fade, my head only lifting when they did. As my hands met the sink, I spotted Edward's face in the mirror to the side of my own.
I looked like shit twice over, and stepped on.
"Oh, we're finished. For now. We'll continue this discussion later, after you've brushed your teeth, I've put your gorgeous ass in my bed, and you've rested for at least an hour." Whatever small grin that had been there had disappeared, replaced by a look that told me he meant business.
I slowly reached up to open the medicine cabinet to get the toothpaste, effectively taking him from my view, attempting to hide that I couldn't fight him if I wanted to. Although it took every bit I had left to lift the toothbrush, I started to brush. Edward's arms were still holding around my ribs, when I noticed what my position was doing to him – my ass pressing against him - and the semi-erection in his pants.
There was some minute satisfaction that even in my current, roadkill-looking state, my ass up against that magnificent cock of his had some effect on him. I slowly leaned over to spit, pushing myself back into him, my teasing grin out of view as I leaned over the sink.
"If you're trying to test my patience, you're succeeding, Isabella." There wasn't even a smidge of joking in Edward's words, and even though he'd never done it before, his use of my full name was a clue.
"Patience, my ass." I muttered through the toothpaste, rinsed, and spit one last time.
"Precisely." His lips moved over the edge of my ear.
No sooner was my toothbrush in the holder, then said ass was lifted off the ground and hauled to Edward's bed, where for a split second I thought he was going to throw me. Even setting me down as gently as he did was enough to make my head spin again, and I laid it back on the pillow closing my eyes.
Edward moved in next to me taking my hand in both of his, the gentle massaging and the pressure of his thumb in my palm spoke volumes. "Cooperate, Bella. I know it's contrary to everything you're feeling, everything you know, but please just…sleep for a bit."
Taking a deep breath, I tried to listen to him, tried to wipe from my mind the bullshit swirling in it, but there were things I needed to do, things for next week, not to mention who was behind the box in my office.
"But Edward, the box, the NSM-"
"I'll make the necessary phone calls. Rose knows what needs to happen. The majority of the books and your materials are being shipped to the hotel. I know you have your shit in order, Bella. I'll make sure Rose and your team have it covered."
"Fine." I breathed out, turning on my side toward him.
"Thank you," he said, standing and walking over to a chair that had a decorative throw across the back, and coming back to lay it over me.
Leaning down, his lips barely touched mine. "Close those eyes, My Queen."
I couldn't help the yawn that escaped. "Y-yes, My King."
I never even heard the bedroom door close.
Thanks to all of you for your patience waiting for this one, for reading, and for reviewing if you so choose. MWAH!