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Chapter 11

It's interesting when you think about the word "extraordinary." It is, by definition, not a word that you use in everyday life. And even less, in a life that was as ordinary as mine. I was nothing special and truth be told, nothing extraordinary had ever really happened to me.

Until then.

It wasn't until that moment that I understood what extraordinary actually was. What it meant for something so beyond the realm of possibility to actually happen to me. And yet, as I stood there looking at him – at this beautiful man – standing in my ordinary home on what should have been an ordinary night, I was overwhelmed with just how extraordinary it all was.

How extraordinary he was.

My days were painted with the greys of rain clouds and the black of long nights spent working. They were shaded with the browns of wooden floors in a small bar and the dingy white of towels used to keep the bar clean. But this was color. This was vivid. And even though it felt dark…nothing about it felt wrong. Everything about it felt extraordinarily right.

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"Are you scared?" he asked.

It should have scared me, but it didn't. I shouldn't have wanted it, but I did. And as I realized that simple truth, I began to cry. Not because of what he was, but because it didn't matter. None of it mattered to me. Not any of it. Not at all.

"No," I told him. "I'm still not scared…not of you."

"You should be."

His warning words lingered in the air, but they were surpassed by the feeling of his arms wrapped around me, pulling me closer…tighter. I still didn't understand him, but I understood the duality of what he was giving me. He wanted me to know the truth, but he didn't want me to accept it…to accept him.

And I did.

I'd seen the relief on his face when I acknowledged what he was. And I really didn't know…not until that moment. Not until he stood behind me, his lips pressed against my skin…his cold breath against my neck. Talking to me about blood…my blood. And yes, I was scared. But I was never scared of him. For all of his fear that I would run once I knew, the truth was that the only fear that I possessed was the fear that he would be the one to run. And I couldn't allow that to happen.

Ever.

"Please," I whispered. "Please don't tell me that I should be scared of you when I know that I shouldn't, Edward. I can't."

"Why?" he asked simply. "Why aren't you afraid?"

"I told you. I know you won't hurt me."

His expression softened and he crushed me against his chest.

"I wouldn't," he said. "I could never."

And there it was again…the overwhelming sense of rightness that I felt. Like all of it had been fated long before that moment. I'd never really been one to consider the possibility of fate or what it held for me. So much of my life had been filled with pain and regret and deep-seated need for answers to questions that I was too afraid to ask. I was afraid of questions, but I wasn't afraid of him. Because I knew that he wouldn't hurt me. It didn't matter what he was.

And he knew it, too.

It occurred to me that I still hadn't heard from Alice or Rose. And Edward told me that she was okay. I didn't know who it was that she had been with; I only knew the way that Edward's entire body tensed as he spoke to him with a voice that was tight and filled with controlled anger. I only knew that his relief that she was okay mirrored my own. And while I didn't know this man, I had a suspicion that he was like Edward. A vampire. And I had to think that maybe Alice wasn't as safe with him as I was with Edward.

"I need to call Alice," I whispered against his neck.

He was still holding me tightly to him and even though I didn't want him to let me go, I had to make sure that she was okay. I wouldn't be able to be with him completely until I knew. And I wanted to be with him completely. Reluctantly, he released me.

"I understand."

I looked up at him again, into his dark, wide eyes and I touched his cheek.

"Don't disappear," I told him seriously. "I'll be right back."

"I won't."

I made my way into the foyer to get my phone, walking back into the living room quickly because yeah, I was afraid that he would run. He stood there looking down, but lifted his eyes to mine when I walked back in the room. Holding his gaze, I placed the call. She answered on the third ring.

"I'm not a child, you know," she hissed into the phone. "I'm allowed to be out past ten."

"I never said you weren't," I told her, laughing at the relief I felt just from hearing her voice. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Well, fucking tell Rose that, would you?" she said. "She just gave me the goddamn fifth degree and she is in no position to tell me what to do. I could hear Emmett in the background. At least if I'm going to fuck someone, they're not going to be…"

"Hey," I interrupted her. "Rose was just worried about you. There's no need to be that way. And Emmett was there with her because I left the bar early. I would have been there otherwise."

"I'm sorry," she whispered sadly. "I'm not upset with her."

"Why are you upset?"

"He didn't…" she paused and I heard her sniffle. "Nothing. Never mind."

"You can talk to me, Alice," I encouraged her. "About anything."

"Sometimes there are things that you just don't want to talk about, Bella," she said softly. "You should know that better than anyone. I never push you and when I tell you that I don't want to talk about something, I'd like for you to do the same for me."

She was right. I had no right asking for what I was rarely willing to give. Even to her. To any of my friends, really.

"Okay," I conceded.

"I'm home now. I'm going to bed."

I tried to tell her goodnight, but the line was dead before I had the chance.

"Is everything alright?" Edward asked.

"She's okay, but she wouldn't really give me any information."

His brow furrowed as he took on this reserved and questioning demeanor. He was broody and for lack of a better description, he looked vampiric.

"But she wasn't hurt?"

"No," I said softly. "At least…well, at least not in the way I think you mean."

"He said he didn't hurt her…that he wouldn't."

"But do you believe him?"

He looked at me, his eyes piercing mine. It was almost as if I could feel his anxiety mixed with whatever it was that was happening between us. And suddenly, I didn't want the distance that was between us anymore. I wanted to be close to him again. I wanted to feel his arms around me and I didn't quite know how to go about getting back to that place with him.

"I do," he said simply.

Biting down on my lip, I looked up at him again and then over to the couch.

"Did you…" I started nervously. "Well…I mean...did you want to maybe sit down with me on the couch?"

Fuck, I was lame.

"Bella, I…" he said softly. He was nervous, too. "I don't really know what to do. None of this makes sense. I shouldn't be here. You…you shouldn't want me here."

Before he could say another word, I walked toward him – determined and quite honestly, more than a little pissed off. Didn't he feel this? I knew it wasn't one sided. And beyond all of that – in spite of the circumstance and the reasons that it shouldn't be happening – it was fucking happening. And I refused to believe that it should be any other way. I'd never been someone who believed in fate. For me – to believe in that – it would mean what happened to me was supposed to happen. That a god or the universe had planned it out, orchestrated it and made it happen. And I simply couldn't allow myself to think that anyone deserved that kind of pain. But this – this was different.

I knew he was supposed to be here.

"Aren't we past this already?" I asked. "Aren't you past it?"

"I just…it's just..." he started, but I interrupted.

"It's just nothing, Edward. Don't you see? I know you want to be here. I can feel you. You told me you were afraid that I was going to run. Well, I'm not running. I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere and it doesn't matter how many times you try to scare me with your talk of blood and how you could possibly hurt me. You told me that you wouldn't. And I…I believe you."

I was standing before him and I could feel the energy coursing between us.

"You say it," I told him, reaching up and taking his face between my hands. "You say it to me this time."

"What?" he asked. His eyes were so intense, but I could see the confusion in them even in their darkness. "What do you want me to say?"

"Tell me what you are."

"You know what I am."

"Say it."

He stared at me, his expression portraying a million different things, but I only picked up on a few. Shame, anger, need…and desire.

"Say it," I repeated.

"I'm a vampire, Bella." His voice was tight and controlled, but there was so much underneath the smooth, cool intonation.

"I don't care," I told him. "It doesn't matter."

I felt his hands twitch at my sides and while I wanted nothing more than for him to pull me in his arms, I stood still where I was, never once looking away from his eyes.

"How can you say that?" he asked.

"Because I know now, that if it mattered to you…if it really mattered to you…you never would have come here last night. You never would have entered my home and got in my bed and touched me the way that you touched me. I wanted you to touch me. So much. And even though I didn't know what you were, I knew that you were different."

He stepped in closer. So close, that I could feel his breath…could literally taste him in the air around me.

"And now?" he asked, his voice husky and soft. "And now what, Bella?"

"It's just the same," I whispered, feeling him, finally wrap his arms around me. "No, it's more. I want you…I want this…even more."

He pulled me close, leaning down and running his nose along the line of my neck. "I need you to mean it," he whispered, the vulnerability in his voice and the feeling of him against my skin making me weak. "I don't think you know just how much I need you to mean it."

"I mean it."

Before I knew what was happening, his mouth covered mine and he kissed me with a passion I'd never felt. Not even from him. If he was controlled at all in his actions, I couldn't tell. I could only allow myself to bask in the way his lips felt moving against mine. The way his tongue tasted like the sweetness of relief in my mouth. And when he groaned, the sweet flavor morphed into something spicy…something filled with the heavy notes of desire and longing and an overwhelming and desperate need to be with him again.

To be with him lucidly…completely.

"Fuck, Bella," he rasped. "I don't know why, but I need you so much."

His hands slid down as he grabbed my ass and pulled me closer.

"It's the same for me, Edward," I told him, my voice filled with unshed tears of so much relief that he wasn't leaving…that he wanted me the same way that I wanted him. "I don't understand it, but I feel it, too. I need you, too."

"How do you need me?" he asked roughly.

"I need all of you. Everything that you will give me."

My words were too honest and they said too much. He could break my heart so easily if he still decided to run, but the way he was looking at me made me think that he wouldn't. That he couldn't.

"I would give you anything," he said. "Everything that I have."

"Please, then," I told him. "I need you. All of you. I need to feel you the way I felt you last night. I need to know that this time, you're real. That this…this is really happening."

"Bella…"

His hands gripped me tightly; I could feel his chest heaving against me. I wanted to feel him everywhere. I needed it. Desperately.

"I need…I need…"

"What?" he asked. "Tell me."

My heart was pounding as I looked at him; I knew he could feel it…could hear it. Did he understand that he was the only one that had ever made me feel that way? That no other man had ever come close. Yes, he was extraordinary…and with him, I felt extraordinary, too. He was meant to be mine and I was destined to be his. At least in that moment. For as long as he would stay.

"I need to feel you inside me."

"Fuck," he hissed just before he covered my mouth.

I was so consumed in his kiss that it barely registered when he picked me up. Without even realizing, I'd wrapped my legs around his waist. His mouth never left mine as he began to walk, carrying me, effortlessly, across the room before making his way up the stairs. He knew where he was going – where I wanted him to take me. And yes, it should have been unsettling, but I found so much comfort in the ease in which he navigated the space of my home.

He paused at the door to my bedroom and his eyes glanced briefly, to the door across the hall. Something in his eyes registered and I wondered if he knew…if he could tell. He looked back into my eyes and he told me, "I know that you've been hurt, Bella. But I…I will never hurt you. I will never leave you."

"How did you…?" I asked.

"Shh…" he hushed me, pushing me back against the door and kissing me softly. "You told me this morning, Bella. You told me that everyone leaves."

"And you won't?"

He stared directly into my eyes and the moment was so intense that I almost needed to look away, but I couldn't. I asked because I knew I was afraid that it would be the same with him. But I needed to know.

His head lowered and I felt the cool chill of his tongue as he kissed and licked the skin of my collarbone. It tingled, causing me to shiver and when he reached my neck and sucked me softly, I could feel my entire body shudder in his arms.

"Not unless you make me."

"That will never happen."

He opened the door with one hand, his other still comfortably holding me against him. I barely registered the room; I could only smell the lingering scent of my perfume in the air as it mingled with his scent. My eyes were closed but I knew that it was dark. He made no effort to turn on a light, however, only choosing to carry me over to the bed.

"Look at me," he said.

My eyes opened at the commanding tone of his voice, but his eyes didn't match the tenor. They were questioning…pleading.

"You can still tell me no," he said. "You don't have to do this."

"Would it hurt you if I told you no?"

Silence.

Nothing.

Just my breath and the sound of the still-pouring rain on my window.

"Yes," he admitted…finally. "I would be devastated."

"Then I would never tell you no," I said. "I would never hurt you, either."

"Tell me again," he whispered. "I need to hear you say it."

"Make love to me, Edward," I told him. "Make love to me tonight and be with me…exactly as you are. No dreams…no secrets. Just you and me. That is what I want and I know…I know you want that, too. Let go and just…just…give into this with me. We can do this together."

"I've never…" he started. "I…I've never done that with anyone else. Not in this…this existence."

I wanted to ask him what he meant by that. Did he mean that he'd never been with another woman as a vampire? Did he mean ever? Did he mean he'd never made love, but only had sex? Because his hands had been so skilled and the memory of his mouth against my sex, though fuzzy, was not the memory of someone who had never been intimate with anyone.

I decided that it didn't matter. That he was there with me – that he was supposed to be there with me. And a part of me wished that he could have been my first, but I knew that everything that happened to us before had led us to this time and place where we could be together. And I wouldn't change anything about my past if it meant that this would all be something different.

"Nothing before this matters," I told him. "Be with me now."

He whispered something before kissing me deeply and I thought it sounded a lot like, "Always."

And it was with the single thought of that one word that everything but him fell away.

"I wanted you," he murmured, setting me down on the floor and placing his hands on my hips. "I followed you…I wanted you all day. I wanted to come back to you."

"Then come, Edward."

His hands reached up and played with the hem of my shirt, his cold fingers on my skin making me shiver.

"The way your body felt against mine," he said, lifting my shirt. I raised my arms and allowed him to slide it off of me. "You were so soft and warm. You are so soft and warm."

I slid my hands back down his chest, pushing his unbuttoned shirt open and over his sculpted shoulders, and admiring, once again, the beauty of his perfect body.

"You want me to make love to you?" he asked in a voice so seductive, that the velvet sound seemed to wrap around and cover me completely.

"Yes."

His hands trailed simultaneously up and down my sides – one reaching to the back and unclasping my bra and the other sliding lower.

"You want me to kiss you?" he asked, bringing his hand to my hair and pulling it to the side so that he could suck and blow on my ear.

I couldn't answer him then. I could only nod my head as I silently prayed that he wouldn't tease me, but secretly hoped that he would continue.

"You want me to touch you?' he asked thickly.

His hand reached between my legs and cupped me fully before pressing his middle finger against the seam of my pants. In long, deliberate motions, he stroked me hard, causing me to writhe against his palm as I whimpered into his neck.

"Yes."

"Do you know that I can feel you?" he whispered. "How wet you are…even through the denim?"

I didn't answer him. I couldn't.

"You always feel hot to me, but this…" he said, squeezing me firmly, "…your pussy, Bella…your pussy feels like fire."

His words were too much and not enough. I had never been more aroused than I was right then. Even more than I remembered being the night before. And I thought I was dreaming before. I thought he was a fantasy that my mind created. But standing before me, he was real. He was real and he was touching me…talking to me like he knew everything about me. The secret things I wanted, but was always too embarrassed to ask for, myself.

"Do you feel that?" he said, louder this time.

"Yes," I whimpered, clutching his chest, feeling my nails as they tried to dig into his stone skin.

"Does it feel good?"

"Fuck," I groaned. "It does."

He stroked me long and hard one last time, before taking his thumb and pressing it right against my clit. I cried out at the sensation, wondering how I'd gone my entire life without ever having felt this way.

"I'm going to make you feel even better."

He removed his hand from my sex, bringing both of his hands to my chest. His thumbs traced softly across the slope of my breasts before one of them reached down and grabbed the center of my bra, pulling it from my body. My hands fell to my side as I stood there before him, completely exposed from the waist up and he looked down at me with wide eyes like I was something to be looked at.

Like I was someone to be admired.

"

Do you know how beautiful you are?" he asked, not waiting for an answer. Not that I could have answered him at all. "Do you know how long I've existed, how long I've wandered and never – not once – have I ever encountered another person as beautiful as you?"

"Edward," I whimpered, not really knowing what to say, but needing to say his name. Needing so much just to know that this was real. That he was real.

"So long, Bella," he told me. "So fucking long. And I thought that I would never find you. I thought that this would never happen for me. That I didn't deserve it. I still don't deserve you."

His words touched me in a place deep inside. They pierced my heart as I thought about him, as I wondered how long he'd been alone. And why…why did he think he didn't deserve to be with anyone? What had happened to him that caused him to be so solitary?

"I've been waiting, too," I whispered. "I've been waiting, Edward. And I don't know what brought you here…or how you found me. I only know that you did and I'm here. And you never have to wait for anyone ever again."

"It has been you," he said, pulling me against him roughly. Our bare skin completely connected as we embraced. He was so cold and I could feel my nipples harden against the icy feel of his body. "It has been you since the first night. Since the first night when I saw you and couldn't hear you. And I didn't know. I didn't know."

"What didn't you know?" I asked.

"That it would be the same for you," he said against my cheek. "That it would be the same. That you could…that you would feel the same."

"I do."

It was only two little words. One small sentiment, but there with him holding me, feeling the way he trembled just like me, I knew that those two words…they were everything.

It was the truth and he needed to accept it.

We both did.

I kissed his neck, his shoulders and his chest. My lips were everywhere that I could reach. I ignored the cold I felt in his arms and to be honest, it was easy. It was easy because the way I felt was almost as if my entire body was on fire at the thought of being with him that way. I licked his sternum, loving the way it made him moan and say my name.

"Your mouth," he rasped, as I moved across to his nipple. "It's so hot and you…you feel so good."

Without much further thought, I reached between us, pulling at his belt and undoing his pants. I pushed them over his narrow hips before running my hands back up his abdomen, feeling the trail of hair I found there. I felt his cock jump between us – cold and hard and smooth against the skin of my belly.

And then I fell.

I sunk to my knees in front of him, wanting to take him in my mouth. I remembered the pleasure I gave him and I wanted so much to make him feel that way again. But as I kneeled before him, I got lost in the sight of his beautiful, glorious cock.

Fuck.

It was gorgeous.

Just like him.

Looking up at him, I reached out and took him in my hand. He was so fucking hard, but his skin was smooth. He was long and thick and I couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like as it moved inside me.

It felt different.

It felt interesting.

I wanted to taste it.

But just as much as that, I wanted him to tell me that he wanted it, too.

"Do you want me to touch you?" I asked, feeling emboldened by the way that he's touched and talked to me...

"Yes," he rasped.

I stroked him once, long and firm, moving my thumb across his head and feeling the wetness seeping there. I brought my other hand to the base of his cock and with my eyes never leaving his; I sucked my thumb and tasted him. He cried out my name and I had never felt so desirable, so sexy. It was as good as my memory. His taste was like his smell – earthy and masculine and distinctively him.

"Do you want me to…suck you?"

"Yes." His voice was barely above a whisper.

My heart felt like it would come out of my chest, it was beating so hard. But I sucked in a breath and I spoke again.

"Tell me."

Even in the night, I could see his eyes darken. He brought his hands to the side of my face, his fingers in my hair and he slowly tilted my head up.

"I want you to," he said, his voice strained. "I want to feel your mouth around my cock before you feel it inside you."

I shuddered at his words.

"Please, Bella," he continued, "suck me."

And with that he guided my mouth to his cock.

I licked him softly at first, sucking just the tip. He was big, and while I knew that I could take him in deeper, I wanted to tease him the way that he'd teased me earlier. But as I continued to taste him, I found that I didn't want to tease him. I only wanted to make him feel good. I only wanted to make him feel needed. And there on my knees, I understood how significant that was. Even more than that, I understood that he needed that, too.

"Please," he whispered above me. "Please, please…oh, god…your mouth."

I sucked him harder as he slid deeper and his hands never once left my hair. He never pushed me, though I loved it when I felt him thrust gently in my mouth. I felt him growing bigger, tighter and when I heard him call my name above me, I knew that he was close.

"Bella," he rasped, stopping the movement of my head with his hands. "Please, Bella…ugh!"

He was wet and cold as he came and I swallowed around him as he softened in my mouth. I pulled back slightly, feeling him slide from my lips, marveling at his length even though he was no longer erect.

So quickly, I didn't know what was happening, I was up and in his arms. His face didn't even register before I felt his lips on mine and his tongue inside my mouth as he kissed me deeply, passionately.

"I can taste it," he breathed. "I can taste myself on your tongue."

I was moaning and breathing heavily from the kiss and I felt him move us backwards before he placed me on the bed. His hands worked quickly as he opened and unzipped my jeans, not waiting to pull them down before slipping his hand inside my panties.

"You're so wet," he marveled as his fingers slipped along my folds. "Did sucking my cock make you this wet?"

"You," I panted. "It was you…it's you."

"I need to be inside you," he said.

"Please," I whispered. "Just…please."

He pushed up on his knees, staring into my eyes as he leaned over me. I felt the denim slide down my legs as he slowly removed my jeans. My entire body was on edge and I felt this delicious anxiety cover me as he moved and positioned himself between my parted legs.

"There is nothing," he whispered. "No pleasure on this earth more intense and more erotic than what you just gave me."

"I want to give you everything," I told him honestly. "I don't know why, but I know I do, Edward."

"Bella, I…" his voice sounded broken. "I want that, too."

"Then take it," I said. "Take me."

I didn't know what I was asking for, but as the words left my mouth I knew that I was talking about more than just sex. And my mind couldn't process what that meant while I was lying naked before him…and he was naked before me.

He ran his hands along the inside of my legs and up my thighs, spreading me open completely before him. He took his index finger and he slipped it barely inside me, running it along the lips of my pussy. I jumped from the cold feeling of his finger, but my body adjusted quickly, only feeling the pleasure of what he was doing to me.

"I can smell you," he whispered. "Your blood doesn't call to me, Bella, but your sex…the smell of your sweet pussy does."

"Edward," I whimpered and cried and I felt him push his fingers inside me. "Oh, god!"

"You want this," he continued, pumping them in and out. "You're so ready for me."

"I want you," I told him, feeling my muscles clench around his fingers. "I only want you."

"You're so tight around my fingers," he said as he pushed in once more, holding them there and twisting them inside me. I could feel my body shaking under his touch. "I can't imagine what you'll feel like around my cock."

"You don't have to imagine!" I cried. "You can know. Please, Edward. I need this…I need you."

He leaned over me, kissing me again and I felt his fingers slide from inside me. My whole body ached to be filled with him, to feel him fuck me the way I knew that he could. He would make it so good. He would make everything so fucking good.

"I promise, Bella, he murmured against my neck. "I promise that I won't hurt you. I will never hurt you."

"I know."

He reached between us, taking his cock in his hand and slipped it between the wet flesh of my sex. I shivered as his entire body covered mine, but I couldn't help but cling to him as I waited in anticipation for what he was about to do. He rubbed the head along my skin, circling my clit when he reached the top. And then I felt him at my entrance.

"Look at me," he whispered. "Please, look at me when I enter you."

Holding his eyes, I whispered, "I would never look away."

As he slowly pushed in, I held my breath. And as he filled me completely, he breathed my name. I had never felt anything more amazing than the way he felt inside me. It was more consuming than the air that I was breathing.

"It's never…I've never…" he rasped. "Oh, god…Bella."

"I know," I told him.

And I did.

He began to move, slowly at first, but then faster. I hitched my leg around his hip and my arms circled around him, trying desperately to hold him closer…feel him deeper. I had never known anything like this could exist. Not a connection this intense…both physically and emotionally. And as he continued to move inside me, I understood that connected was exactly what we were. In every sense of the word.

I had never had that.

Not with anyone.

I cried out in pleasure as he reached between us, seeking out my clit.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

I couldn't even speak; I could only hold him closer.

"I'm not going to last," he cried. "It's so…you're so…god, it's so fucking good."

He rubbed me in tight circles and the feeling of him inside me, his hand on my skin, his voice in my ear and his entire body surrounding me was suddenly all too much. It was too much as I realized that I had lost any and all control, but before I could say anything else, I felt myself falling and coming and screaming out his name in my release.

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And then everything went black.

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A/N

Reviews are love.

Please leave me some. (Or you know, maybe a cigarette.)

Sorry for the delay in updating. Most of you who know and follow me, know that with my career, holidays are particularly challenging. I'm sorry making you guys wait. I love each and everyone of you that reads. Please hang in there with me through Christmas and I promise it will get much better. I can assure you that I will try to update at least once before the holidays are over. After that, I should be back to a regular posting schedule.

Thank you to my ficwife, soulmate and beta, Marvar. You make my words better and you're not afraid to tell me when my words sound ridiculous. Also, I really love your voice.

Thanks to my pre-readers, Caren (Nerac), raina, and ltlerthqak. You all make me smile and I love that you love my dirty words. Pervy h00rs FTW!

My Recc' this week: Marvar wrote a story for me as a gift for my birthday. I loved it. It's called, "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover." Please check it out and leave her some love. I gave her one prompt: Clooney in One Fine Day.

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful birthday wishes yesterday! You all made my day so much better! I puffy-heart each and every one of you!