Twilight character names belong to Stephenie Meyer. I own Dodge and Burn.
Much love and thanks to Editor Azucena, Pre-readers BtwntheStacks and Lemonmartinis and Beta-MsKathy
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Dodge and Burn / Chapter Eleven / Something Fierce
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Bella gasps, her eyes wide and her cheeks pink. "You told your wife that you want to sleep with me?"
"My estranged wife," he says, correcting her. "Yes. Honesty…remember?"
"Oh, God. I can't believe you did that."
"Actually, I don't want to sleep with you, I want to make love to you." He glides a little closer, but she holds her hand out to stop him.
Make love. His unexpected seduction is making her head spin. She's weak under his gaze.
"Wait a minute. What did she say?"
He runs his hands through his wet hair. "Lauren's a realist, Isabella, she pointed out that since I wanted to, she couldn't understand why I hadn't. She had cut her ties with me, after all. She finally asked me if it was because you didn't want to."
"What did you say?"
"I told her that I wasn't sure."
Overwhelmed, Bella sinks down into the water and pushes off, gliding backwards away from him. When she's a length away she just lets her bones go to jelly and she floats, her ears submerged so she's shrouded by silence. She closes her eyes as well, so the only sensory input is the shouting inside her head. She takes several deep breaths trying to calm herself.
After a minute, she senses he's near her again. She slowly turns her head so that one ear is exposed, and opens her eyes. He's watching her carefully, a hint of fear in his gaze. He reaches over and traces his fingertip down her cheek. "Are you okay?" he whispers.
Still floating, she nods her head. She's aware that she's laid out before him. She's completely vulnerable, yet she trusts him.
He looks hopeful. "Is this okay…?" he asks softly, as he circles his touch along her jaw.
She bites her lip and nods again.
His fingertip slowly trails down her neck and over her shoulder as she floats. Her heart is fluttering like a hummingbird. Her breasts rise out of the water and he drags his finger down between them, and when he gets to her belly button he circles it. She takes a sharp breath and closes her eyes.
She feels his hot breath against her ear-his voice ragged when he speaks. "Do you want me, Isabella? Do you want me the way I want you?"
She presses her eyes closed tighter and nods, every part of her aware of his nearness, the air on the wet areas of skin not submerged. They're surrounded by cool water, yet he's lit a fire inside of her. The fire is moving, hot licks against the underside of her skin.
Oh, how she burns.
This time his finger grazes over her lips, then circles her breasts, tracing slowly over her nipples. She feels her legs ache to be pulled open as she floats.
She moans as his single finger slides against her. She is wet in all this wetness.
"Edward…"
She feels his lips, soft against her cheek.
"You want me," he says, his eyes dark with emotion.
"Yes." She opens her eyes and for a moment it feels like he can see into her soul.
She feels his arm slide under her back, lifting and turning her until she's no longer floating but facing him in his arms.
"Isabella," he whispers, pulling her closer.
Wrapping her arms around him, she's sure that he can hear her heartbeat.
When he kisses her, it's everything, his lips all consuming. The passion thundering between them so powerful that she grabs onto his shoulders and holds tight. When they finally pull apart, they're both stunned.
"Why did I wait so long to do that?" he asks.
She sees joy in his expression and it makes her smile. "Because you wanted to make me so wound up for you that I wouldn't turn you down."
"Did I?"
"Oh, God, yes."
He kisses her again without restraint, one hand buried in her wet hair, the other wandering down to her breast. She shudders with the brush of his thumb back and forth across her nipple.
"I would have these long conversations with myself," he explains, breathless. "Stern conversations where I'd convince myself not to kiss or touch you." He leans over and slowly kisses his way up her neck.
"And why was it such a horrible idea to kiss me?" she asks, her head falling back to welcome his lips.
"Because you've become the most important friend to me, and if we kiss it'll mess up our friendship."
"That's true," she agrees and she lightly scrapes her teeth over his stubble. "We should never, ever kiss again." She presses her lips against his and works her tongue into his welcoming mouth.
He groans and lightly pinches her nipple before whispering into her ear. "Never, ever, ever. It's just a stupid idea. Think of all the bad things that could come out of it." He lightly bites her lower lip before kissing her again.
"Really bad things. I mean, you could get aroused against your will." She presses against him. "Oh, Jesus, really aroused."
"Yeah, and then I'd have to do something about that. You know…" He's rocking against her now. "I'd have to put it somewhere."
She gasps as she feels his hand slide between her legs. "Like inside of me."
"Yeah," he groans, his fingers stroking her. "And that's the worst idea in the world. I mean what will it do to our amazing friendship if I need to be inside of you all the time?"
She nods in agreement while her hand slides down to touch him. "Such a bad idea, because that would lead to other things we also shouldn't do."
"Absolutely," he agrees, kissing her hungrily. "What kind of wrong things do you have in mind?"
"Oh, I don't know, I may need to put my mouth on you and you may not like that at all."
His chest is heaving. "Oh, God. That could be hard to endure. I'm not sure your warm, wet mouth on me would be a good idea. Because then, of course, I would insist on putting my mouth on you, and my tongue…well, it may make you uncomfortable?"
"Yes," she gasps. "So uncomfortable."
He shakes his head sternly. "All of that pleasure can be very overwhelming. It might wear you out."
Latching on to her nipple, he sucks hard as he fights an internal battle not to just grab her hips and push her down over him right in the pool. This teasing is making him wild. He needs to be inside of her like a high school kid on prom night.
"I'm sure you'd wear me out." She groans as she takes his head and pulls him deeper into her cleavage.
He growls as he looks up at her. "This is all your breasts fault, you know. I'm going to blame them when our friendship implodes." He takes her other nipple in his teeth.
"Edward," she moans.
"Your breasts," he responds. "Your perfectly beautiful breasts."
"And why is it their fault?" She's panting as she looks down at him and his seductive, hooded eyes.
"The wet T-shirt, the hard nipples. What did you think, that I would see that and all this restraint I've maintained for weeks wouldn't just crumble? Did you think I'd not have to have you? I'm a man, Isabella…how much longer did you think I could hold back? Give me some credit."
"So a wet T-shirt and you're willing to throw our unique and special friendship away?"
"I guess so." He frowns. "Now you're making me think deep thoughts."
"Forget about deep thoughts, this isn't the time for that. Are you going to make love to me or what?"
He lifts her up and she wraps her legs around him. In his excitement, she feels weightless in his arms. With his hands firmly holding her up, he climbs up the stairs and out of the pool. As he stands with them dripping on the pool deck he pauses.
"Are you sure this is okay?"
"I'm not sure of anything," she answers honestly. "We're not even drunk."
"No, we're not. Maybe we should be. But I need you now, I can't…"
"My bed," she responds, nodding towards the French doors.
She buries her head in the crook of his shoulder as he carries her across the yard and into her house. They're dripping all over the floor and he has to focus not to slip.
"This way," she says, holding her hand up towards the hall to her bedroom . When they approach her bed, he gently lies her down and then crawls over her, kissing and touching her all the places he always wanted to.
He presses against her, desperately needing to be inside her, but first he props his weight up, trying to hold back just a minute longer. He knows once he has her there's no going back.
She reaches up and caresses his face. "Just one thing."
"Anything," he whispers, as she pulls apart her legs and his fingers glide over the soft, welcoming skin of her thighs.
"If we start doing this very thing we shouldn't…"
"Yeah?" He notices the sheets are getting soaked and he wipes the water that's trailed down his face out of his eyes. He leans over and slowly licks each nipple as he watches her, waiting for her request. He knows he'll give her anything.
"If we're going to mess with our friendship, and be stupid and selfish, and let our logic be overrun by our lust…"
"Uh huh?" he asks. He's having trouble focusing as he lifts up and his eyes move over her. She's even more beautiful bare than he imagined.
"…will you please do your very best not to break my heart?"
He takes a deep breath and he wants to joke, play with her like they've done to ease the tension, but he knows she means it. Her fear takes his breath away. He wants her to believe in him, but his heart's fragile as well.
He gives her a sad smile. "Maybe you'll be the one breaking my heart."
She nods, but then smiles back. "Or maybe I'll be the one unbreaking it. You know, helping put it back together again, Mr. Humpty."
You already have he thinks as he caresses her cheek, their looks as they gaze at each other saying all the rest.
Impatient, she pulls him closer.
As he slowly eases into her, he watches her intently, the delicate flutter of her eyelashes, the way her lips part. Good God, she's perfection and she doesn't even know it. He can't remember when he's felt so alive, as if he's just woken from a winterless hibernation.
When their hips finally meet, she arcs back and moans.
"Oh, God."
He pulls back and pushes in harder. He can't believe how right this feels.
"So good…" he responds, the heat spreading across his chest.
Her eyes blaze as she grabs a fist of his hair and pulls him down into a fierce kiss. Her hips swivel under him.
Knowing Isabella, he fantasized that she'd be an expressive, passionate lover, but there was no way to imagine the feeling when he's deeply seated inside of her: touching, thrusting, tasting…loving her.
"Harder," she encourages, as he sucks on her nipple. She looks euphoric as she rolls her head side to side. Her fingers move over him, caressing, pinching, pulling. She's not too wild, just wild enough to make his blood boil, each thrust pushing her into the mattress hard.
Oh God, this woman.
He rises like a warrior, amped up on the adrenaline high of her legs wrapped around him as her body moves in perfect synch with his. Her kisses, cries, and words make him believe he's perfection, too….make him feel like a king. He growls, his movements less controlled when he feels she's on her edge. He's electrified as he joins her there.
As she gazes into his eyes, she senses that every part of her self is opening up to him. When they climax, she falls and falls through air and light, landing in his open arms.
She isn't even afraid when she realizes the greatest truth yet – …that he now holds her heart in the palm of his hand.
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..~*~..
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They are spent and sprawled across the sheets when he finally speaks. "Maybe that wasn't such a bad idea after all."
She curls into his side and sighs happily. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was the best idea we've ever had."
She laughs softly.
Everything about her is charming him.
"What, sunshine?"
"I just realized that the bed is all wet."
"Maybe next time we'll dry off first."
"Or maybe not. Who cares about wet sheets. Hey, I'm starving. You want another bagel?"
"Bagel? Remember, I was going to take you out to dinner? Let's get some real food."
She rolls closer and nibbles on his shoulder. "I'm glad the bagels aren't in here to hear your belittling them. Not real food! What did bagels ever do to you? Besides, I'm all melty after what you just did to me. I'm not sure I can eat without laying down between bites."
He grins. "Do you want me to just order some pizza and feed you in bed?"
"Perfect. I have stuff to make a salad."
Something suddenly occurs to Edward. "Hey, when are you expecting Jacob back?"
"Don't worry about being caught in bed with me," she teases. "There's a dinner after his conference tonight and then he's meeting up with some old friends."
Edward relaxes back against the pillows. "Okay. I wouldn't want to make things awkward for you with your son. Where can I find the number to order pizza in this neighborhood?" He leans over and kisses her.
"I'll get up in a minute to find it, but there is one other thing I need to do first," she says.
"Yeah, what's that?"
"I just want to lie here for a while and stare at you."
"Really? And why do you want to do that?"
"I'm not done fathoming your magnificence."
"Oh Jesus, woman, you better tone it down. If you make me feel any better, any more ecstatically happy, I may never leave your wet bed."
She tips her head and smiles. "Well, that was kinda the idea."
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"Here, I just picked off all the green peppers for you. Are you happy now?"
"Can you pick off every other mushroom, too?"
"Why did you tell me it was okay to order the combo pizza when you have all of these vegetable issues and demands?"
She grins and shrugs. "I was testing you for flexibility in the face of my pizza eccentricities."
"How'd I do?"
"You lost points when you refused my request that the restaurant not exceed more than three olives per pizza slice, but then you picked off the extra olives for the win. As a result, you passed with flying colors." She pushes both arms up into the air in the 'touchdown' gesture.
He laughs. "Well, that's a relief. As incredibly charming as you are, you're a little odd about your pizza." He rubs his chin. "I suppose I should warn you though that I have issues, too. Sometimes I order pizza with no tomato sauce."
She shakes her head woefully. "Good grief. And you're calling me odd?"
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He leans back against the headboard while she stretches out her legs across his lap.
"Hey, your guitar's still here from last time. Are you still going to play for me later?"
"Mmm hmm." He nods after taking a bite of his third slice.
"Tonight I want only romantic and sexy songs."
"That's going to cost you more," he huffs.
"How much more?" She edges closer to him and bats her eyelashes.
He grins playfully, leans over and kisses the inside of her knee. "We can work something out. I have a very flexible payment plan."
"I bet you do," she says as she bites her lip and slowly eases the sheet off of him.
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..~*~..
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Now that the sun has fallen, she's turned on the little twinkly lights under the canopy, and they sit outside with their wine and their smiles. Their bare feet are dirty from the wet grass and their hair's wild, but they're blissfully happy.
He softly serenades her while she sits on a cushion at his feet, slowly stroking his calf. They can't stop touching each other now, as if there's a physical need to be connected.
The words to James Blunt's, You're Beautiful sound especially lovely to her tonight.
When he's done, he sets down his guitar and takes a sip of wine as he runs his fingers through her hair. "I got a call from an old friend named Sean yesterday."
"That's always a nice surprise."
"Yeah, when we were young, Sean and I used to play music together. Anyway, he's been teaching music at L.A. Unified for a while. He really built this program up in the middle school he's at, and he's devastated because he got laid off last week. The whole program was dismantled because of the budget cuts. It just kills me because you've never seen anyone put more heart into something."
"Oh, that's awful. Can't something be done?"
"He said that they've done every kind of fundraiser, but it's just not near enough to support the program if they don't have any backing from the city budget. He got all of these kids to fall in love with making music and now it's all been taken away."
Bella shakes her head sadly.
"So it got me thinking about what my mom had done, and wondering if maybe that's what the money they left me is supposed to be used for."
Her face lights up. "What are you thinking?"
"Well, I want to talk to Rose because, for tax reasons, we still own the building Mom ran her program out of. When her disease progressed, she had to let the project go so we leased the space to a local business. They went under over six months ago and the space is still standing empty. "
"So is that where you would establish things again?"
"Maybe. We'd convert it back to a music center the kids can go to after school and start up her program again. It's key that it be in their neighborhood. I was thinking that Sean and Julia, the other music teacher that got laid off, could teach there. Hell, I could, as well."
"I could help you with fundraising. I've done that before for Jacob's school and I'm good at it," Bella offers.
"I bet you are." He pulls her up onto his lap and kisses her cheek.
"I'll help you however I can."
"You'd do that?"
"I'd love to."
She looks up into his eyes and sees life and energy. His spirit feels powerful, and it's exciting to watch him realize that he can harness it to do something good.
He pulls her tight against him. "For the first time in a long time I feel a purpose, Isabella. You've inspired me. I know it's because of you."
"No.., it's you," she insists. "The right moment just needed to come along."
"You came along," he says, kissing her boldly. His eyes light up with another idea. "Hey do you think those sheets are still wet?"
"Maybe, but they can be changed. Why?" she asks, smiling.
He stands and lifts her up into his arms. "Because I need to lay you across them and make love to you again."
"Oh my," she whispers.
He takes his finger and lightly skims it up her arm. "I need to slowly worship you until I bring you to your complete undoing."
"You're well on your way," she says as she takes his hand and pulls him toward the house.
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..~*~..
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A couple of nights later, they join Alice and Jasper for dinner at El Coyote. They're seated in a booth in one of the side rooms under large mosaic and old Mexican lanterns. The stained glass panels of the lanterns glow in the soft light.
"So I talked to Rose and she's all for the idea," Edward says happily.
Alice and Jasper smile at each other before looking over at Bella. The waiter starts transferring the margaritas from the tray to the table as Jasper loads another chip with guacamole and stuffs it in his mouth.
"Edward says you've talked your accountant into helping look into grants," Alice says to Bella.
"Yes, he knows a lot about it because he helped his sister get a couple grants for an animal shelter project in San Francisco."
"Cool," Jasper enthuses.
"Yeah, I'm going to try to ignore the fact that her accountant is her ex-boyfriend," Edward says as he takes Bella's hand, squeezes it, then doesn't let go. Both Alice and Jasper notice and give each other a look.
"We broke up a long time ago and have been friends since," Bella explains to Alice and Jasper before turning toward Edward. "Like you have anything to worry about."
He grins happily and takes a sip of his margarita.
"I have an idea!" says Alice. "Why don't we have a launch party at the club? You could perform, Edward."
"And what if you got some of your friend, Sean's students to play," Bella throws in.
"Hey, what about Marley? She'd probably get involved," Jasper adds.
"Do you think she'd perform?" Edward asks excitedly.
"I bet she would, she's really into programs like this," Jasper says confidently. "You know she grew up in the projects and has done a lot of work to help families there."
"Why don't you talk to her and see what her touring schedule is like. Meanwhile, Emmett is helping me with the business plan. He wants the center to be able to sustain itself eventually without depending entirely on me. The non-profit stuff is really complicated. I remember Mom & Dad complaining about it."
"We'll also need to put together marketing materials to promote the event. You should get a website up," Alice says.
"I could shoot the portraits for the fliers and website," Bella offers. "I also bet a lot of my clients would be interested in supporting this idea."
"We're a good team," Alice points out.
Edward tips his head down and gets quiet.
Worried, Bella leans into him. "Are you okay?"
He looks up at her and she can tell that he's struggling with his emotions.
He presses his free hand down on the table top as he thinks. When he finally looks up, he smiles. "This is just…" He shakes his head.
"What?" Bella asks softly, squeezing his hand.
"It's just good. Really, really good."
..~*~..
During their drive home, they're both quiet, thinking about how everything is swirling around them with so many changes in a short period of time. When they pull into Bella's driveway, she turns to him.
"I'm so proud of you, Edward."
He smiles contentedly. "Thank you."
"And I want you to know that whatever happens with us, I'll support your efforts with this music project. Even if you get back with Lauren, I'd still like to be involved."
"Isabella…"
"No, don't say anything. I may be a very different woman than Lauren, but I'm also a realist. These last few days I've spent with you have been so wonderful, but I haven't forgotten that you and Lauren still have a lot to meet and talk about. You dedicated a lot of your life to loving her, that kind of stuff doesn't just go away."
He turns off the ignition and as soon as they are out of the car, he pulls her close.
"Hey, you…" He gently runs his fingers through her hair as he studies her. She's trying to be strong, but he sees the veil of vulnerability just under her skin.
She gives him a brave smile.
"Can you see that was my old life…this is my new one."
"I love that you're trying to reassure me, really I do." She takes his hand in hers. "Let's just take this a day at a time, see how things go and enjoy every moment that we can. Okay?"
He turns and looks over his shoulder. "Here, I'm going to prove to you that I'm a new man."
She grins. "Yeah? And how are you going to do that?"
"What did you say once? Sometimes a swing is the only thing that will do."
He steps back into her yard, smiling at her until he reaches the swing hanging from the old oak tree. "I hope I don't break this thing," he mutters.
He sits down and pushes off, feeling like a little kid. It takes him a bit to find his rhythm.
She sinks down onto the grass and lays back, propped up on her elbows as she watches. He's awkward at first, but then finally gets some air underneath him.
"Higher," she teases.
He scowls, but puts more weight behind it. Once he gets some height, he imagines he will fly up into the tree's branches. He allows himself to not feel childish, to embrace the moment. He closes his eyes and cuts through the night sky, wondering what it would be like to touch the moon.
She smiles happily as she watches, knowing he's surrendered to the feeling. It's glorious to see him soaring with each arc of the swing.
When he opens his eyes again, she calls to him, "You're flying!"
He nods and swings for a minute before slowing down enough so that he can jump off gracefully. He approaches her and settles down on the grass next to her.
"I'm impressed," she says.
"Yeah?" He pulls her over on top of him, and she straddles his hips and rests her hands on his chest.
"Very much so. You're an impressive man, you know."
"Well, you always make me feel that way." He pulls her down into a kiss that tastes delicious, warm and sweet with a hint of margarita salt.
When she sits back up, he slowly unbuttons her blouse from the bottom hem up as she watches him.
"You daring man," she teases, nodding out towards the quiet street. "Are we going to put on a show?"
Even under the shadow of night, they can't know for sure if anyone can see what he's doing to her.
"I just have been thinking about touching this soft skin all evening," he says in a low voice as he pulls the fabric panels apart, then runs his hands up her torso and cups her breasts. He smiles, his eyes shining in the moonlight. She sees in them how much he wants her.
How does he do it?
With a just a look and a few of his touches she is full of desire, not caring that they are on her front lawn and her neighbor Brian just pulled into his driveway. She presses down over him so she can feel him harden beneath her.
He groans and tightens his grip on her hips, but when he hears Brian's car door close, he quickly pulls her shirt closed. He scoots out from under her and rises up, offering her his hand.
"Come on, baby." He wraps his arm tightly around her waist as he walks her to the front door. Before she lets them in, he presses up behind her and brushes his lips against her ear. "I need you something fierce."
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Looks like we're getting somewhere...
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Thanks for reading and your reviews are so appreciated.
xoxo
abbie
I've put up a FaceBook page where I'll post pic teases and stuff from the story. Check it out. Just do a search on FB for Abstract Way or find the link on my FF profile page. See you next Saturday!