Sorry about the delay. Computer issues and illness aren't any fun. Hope you enjoy this one.

…

7.

Unlocking the door to the house, I was assaulted with memories from the life I'd lived within the last few years.

Losing my parents and then letting Irina move in.

Irina becoming my best friend, then the night she became more.

Now it was time to close those chapters and move on, once again.

"So, this is the living room." I motioned to the sofa and entertainment unit. "Down the hall are the kitchen and dining room, and the bedrooms are upstairs with a full bathroom. There's storage in the basement and a half bath off the laundry room by the back door," I rambled. "It's not big, but my parents were blue collar, and I love this house," I explained.

"I like it," he said, coming to stand behind me, brushing my hair to the side, and kissing my neck. "It smells like you." His breath washed over the delicate skin on my collarbone making me shiver.

"It smells like home," I whispered shakily.

He kissed the side of my neck again, up to my earlobe then back down; his fingers pulling the neckline of my sweater to the side. "Exactly. I love this house. It reminds me of my parents' house."

"So you're not from some rich family?" I asked, turning around in his arms and wrapping my own arms around his neck.

He grinned, licking his lips, bringing my attention to his mouth. "Hardly. My mom's a social worker and my father owns a towing company. I just happened to be really smart." He shrugged.

"Really smart, huh?" I challenged, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. It was his turn to shudder.

"Dangerously so." He pulled me flush to his body and covered my mouth with his.

I melted into him instantly, forgetting about all those damn distractions that were holding me back before.

No more walls. No more doubt.

His tongue found mine easily, as we kissed with even more fervor than the first time which had only been moments ago.

I felt that familiar stirring deep inside me as his days' worth of stubble tickled my chin. It had been a while since a man had held me, but none of them had ever touched me this way.

My body hummed with pleasure as Edward walked me backward until I felt the wall by the front door against my back.

I moaned; breaking our kiss as my mouth found purchase on his chin and neck; his whiskers marking my skin.

His hands brushed the skin down my arms and found their way to mine, twining our fingers together before he raised them over my head, holding them there with one hand. He then ran his other hand down my side, settling it on my ribcage under my breast; his thumb dangerously close, but not close enough, to where I wanted it.

His kisses were firm yet gentle on my throat; his thumb grazing the underside of my breast as his body pinned me to the wall.

I was lost, wrapped up in him, my eyes closed and my other senses on alert. I hitched my leg up over his hip, trying to quell the intense desire building between my legs.

Edward covered my mouth with his and with a groan, thrust his hips into mine, creating delicious friction against my aching center. I pushed out my chest against his hand, my nipples straining against the lacy fabric of my bra. I was desperate for him to touch me.

Breathless moans and the sound of our lips brushing against flesh were the only noises heard in the room.

"We should," kiss, "take," hip grind, "this," kiss, "upstairs," I managed to say; my chest heaving as I lost myself further into him.

Edward let go of my hands and pulled back from having his face buried in my neck. "Are you sure about this, Bella? I mean, I was serious about coming here to see the place." He shrugged, then grinned, his dark, hooded eyes keeping me pinned against the wall. "This is just an added bonus."

The tent in the front of his pants indicated otherwise.

I slid my hand against the back of his neck, running my fingers through his hair and my thumb along his jaw. "I know. I think … I think you're right."

"About what?" he asked; his eyebrows rose mischievously.

"Fate." I grinned, kissing his lips softly. "Are you coming?"

"I hope so," he mumbled, taking my hand and following me up the stairs.

Retreating back into saleswoman mode, I motioned to the door at the top of the stairs. Clearing my throat, I said, "This is the bathroom. The only one up here."

I might have also been stalling a little, seeing as I hadn't had an actual man in years. If I hadn't been an educated woman, I might've thought about my poor hymen growing back, as it had been that long since I'd had a living cock inside me.

"Uh huh," he breathed into my neck as his lips ghosted over my skin; his hands kneading my breasts softly.

"This," I groaned, motioning to another door, "is the spare bedroom. It used to be my parents' bedroom. I feel weird about sleeping in there, so it's a spare room now."

"Yeah, that would be a bit strange." His thumbs flicked over my nipples and my eyes rolled to the back of my head.

I cleared my throat and motioned to a door across the hall from mine. "And this is Irina's room. It would be yours, I suppose."

"Not a chance," he murmured, taking my earlobe between his teeth. I was close to combusting on the spot. My panties were soaked and I was torturing myself by taking my sweet time with this tour.

I turned the knob to my bedroom door and pushed it open. "This is my room. It's been my room since forever."

Edward pulled himself away from me and took my hand in his. "I like it."

I grinned, meeting his eyes. "I like you in it."

He smiled crookedly. "Oh yeah?"

I licked my lips and pushed him to sit at the foot of the bed. "Definitely."

I stood between his parted thighs as he ran both hands behind my knees; his fingers tickling me through the fabric of my pants as his nose nuzzled against my belly.

I felt him inhale, as he buried his nose in my shirt, and ran my hand in his unruly hair, as he looked up at me. "You're beautiful, you know that?" His eyes searched my face; honest and open.

I felt the traitorous blush overtake my heated skin. "Sometimes."

"Yeah, well, you are." His hands were on my hips, pushing my shirt up as he peppered kisses around my navel. "I love how soft your skin is," he whispered between kisses.

My head fell back as I reveled in his touch. He pulled me to straddle him on the bed and found my lips with his.

My fingers worked away at the buttons of his shirt, exposing his firm chest. I grinned against his lips, letting my thoughts get away from me.

He pulled back, eyeing me with a lopsided grin of his own. "What now?"

"I just … for an old guy, you're pretty buff," I blurted out, then buried my face in the crook of his neck and inhaled the fresh scent of his newly exposed skin.

He poked my sides, making me squirm against him. "Who are you calling old? I'm only thirty-two."

"I know. It's just been a while, you know?" I pulled back, meeting his eyes. "And I don't think I've ever been with someone so … experienced." I felt my cheeks burn with embarrassment. Between school and the hospital there were never that many men. I'd sewn my wildest oats with Irina.

"I was with the same woman for years, Bella. It's not like I've had tons of partners," he confessed, running his hands up and down my back.

"I haven't either. The last person I was with was a woman," I blurted out, my eyes widening. "Shit, that wasn't supposed to come out that way. I mean, if that's a turnoff—" He cut off my rambling with a searing kiss that made my toes curl and my insides ache.

Somehow, he flipped us so that he was hovering over me, cradled between my thighs; his erection poking me just right as my hips ground into his with fervor.

I pushed the fabric of his shirt to the side and scraped my nails down his back, pulling him into me with my heels. Edward's lips left mine for an instant as he pulled up my shirt, somehow maneuvering it over my head, and threw it beside us.

"So the girl thing doesn't bother you?" I asked, breathless, as he kissed the top of my breasts, his fingers unfastening the front clasp of my bra.

"The girl thing is hot, Bella. Any hot-blooded American male saying the opposite is lying through his teeth." He sucked most of my breast into his mouth, flicking his tongue over my erect peak, making me arch off the bed as his fingers plucked at the opposite nipple.

"Good to know," I moaned, grinding myself against him, climbing higher and higher, feeling my pulse quicken with every little touch.

He pulled his mouth from my flesh, his eyes searching mine. "But, do know that I want you all to myself, Bella. I'm an only child and I've never been good with sharing," he stated, before crashing his lips to mine, once again.

This kiss was possessive as his hands made quick work of undoing my pants and pulling down the zipper. I was putty in his hands, letting him undress me as his mouth continued its assault on my lips.

I closed my eyes, lost in the moment and that was where everything fell into place. The kissing, the possessiveness, the emotions behind everything.

This was reminiscent to the Edward from my dream.

The dream where he had walked in on Irina and I, only to stay alone with me once she had left the room.

My eyes popped open to meet his, blissful and green. "Hey pretty girl, are you still with me?" He grinned; his fingers grazing the skin under the waistband of my panties.

I smiled up at him and pulled his face to mine, kissing him with everything I had. I poured my soul into the kiss as I undid his pants and lowered them over his hips as far as I could reach.

I felt him, thick, hard and warm against my belly. My pants needed to come off. "I need to be naked," I whined, as he helped me shimmy out of my skinny jeans.

I watched him stand there for a split second: tall, naked and erect in all his beauty. I sucked in a breath, lost for words, my chest heaving.

He lowered a knee between my legs and came at me like a lion stalking his lamb: eyes feral, teeth bared as he hovered over me.

He cupped my sex as he kissed me, then slowly slid his middle finger up and down my slit, gathering wetness and circling my clit. He did this a few times before finally slipping a finger inside me, then two as his thumb pressed against my most sensitive part, making me ache for him.

I bucked and squirmed, my hand reaching for him as he had me climbing higher and higher. Then he finally let me fall into a million little pieces; my orgasm taking over as my hand worked his thick length.

"Please," I begged, breathless and heaving, needing that final connection that would make us whole.

"I won't last long, Bella," he warned. His lips found mine as he jerked his cock a few times, the tip brushing up and down my slit to gather wetness before he finally sheathed himself inside me.

With his hips flush to mine, my legs wrapped around him and his arms bent at the elbows on either side of my head, his eyes found mine, pools of mossy green peering down at me. "Tell me what you like," he whispered breathlessly, dropping a kiss to the corner of my mouth.

I pulled him against me as he shifted his hips, pulling out and pushing back in slowly all the way. "Like that," I moaned as his pelvis rubbed up against my clit with his every movement. "Slow and steady so I can feel all of you."

I pushed his hair away from his forehead, softening the crease between his eyebrows with my thumb. He was so beautiful in that moment; getting lost in me, in himself, in the way our bodies moved together. My head fell back as a wave of pleasure rocked through me. I cried out his name as my body shook and clenched underneath his; my eyes closing on their own volition.

I came to, with Edward hovering over me, his breath mingling with mine, and our lips only inches apart. Threading my fingers through his hair, I pulled his face roughly to mine and kissed him while he shuddered and finally spilled inside me, finding his release.

"Oh, God, Bella," he sighed against my neck, his breath tickling my sensitive skin.

"I know." I was a hot and sweaty mess, boneless and breathless. I couldn't dare move. Not just because he was lying on top of me, but because every muscle in my body ached deliciously.

He pushed himself off me and pulled me into his arms, my head resting in the crook of his neck and his arm wrapped around my back.

He then somehow covered us with the blanket from the foot of my bed and ran a hand through my hair, pushing it away from my face before kissing me softly.

I closed my eyes, unable to keep them opened as I snuggled into his side. "When can you move in?"

He kissed my forehead. "I wasn't planning on leaving any time soon."

…

A huge thanks to Midnight Cougar for betaing this even when she's ill, and to Mandi and Joey for kicking my ass into gear.

Thank you each and everyone of you reading, lurking and reviewing.