Toe Curling Kisses

Nothing from the Twilight Series or Ms. Meyers works belong to me!

BPOV

When I returned home last night Ian had been waiting for me in the common room. When he heard me come in he came directly into the hall and removed my pack from my shoulders, putting it over his own. He gave me a quick kiss on my cheek, took my hand and led me out on the back deck.

He had converted the deck into our own private terrace. It was truly enchanting. The chiminea had been lit and there was a small table set up with covered plates. On the railing of the deck were candles and the entire deck was glowing with the light emanating from them. He sat me down at the table and lifted the cover off the plate. I laughed as I saw what he had prepared for dinner, hot dogs, Cole slaw, potato salad and chips. "You knew I didn't know how to cook, but even I can cook a hot dog" he smiled as he shrugged.

We talked through our meal, filling each other in on our days. After we had finished dinner, I said, "That was a nice little surprise. Thank you." I smiled at him as he stood to start clearing away the dishes.

"The evening is still young. Do you have any homework you need to do before tomorrow's classes?" he asked while carrying the dishes into the kitchen.

"Nope, I took care of all my assignments this weekend, why?" I asked him hoping he didn't have any homework himself.

"Because, I was thinking that we could continue sitting on the back deck while you had desert." He said sheepishly while pulling a box out of the refrigerator. He turned back to me and said, "Since you and I are both free, let me get you settled." Putting the box on the table, he pushed me towards the door and back out on the deck.

"Desert? Ian, what was in the box?" I questioned him shyly.

"Never mind, you are to just sit here and relax, while I finish my preparations." He gestured to the chaise lounge. I sat on it gently and looked up at him. "Bella, don't be difficult, sit back and relax." He said chuckling.

I sat back on the chair and he reached over to the other one and pulled a blanket over me. "It's beginning to get cool, are you warm enough?"

"Uh huh, this is great." I smiled and closed my eyes.

"Good, I'll be right back."

As I was waiting for him to return, I began thinking how cute he was to go to the effort of making me a meal even though he didn't cook. I really wasn't much of a hot dog person, but I ate it anyway because he had gone to such measures to put a smile on my face. One of these days I was going to have to tell him hot dogs aren't my thing, but we had time for that tale.

I heard the door open and turned to see Ian returning with a small plate and a cup of something hot. I grinned and asked, "Okay, what's that?"

He put the cup and plate on our dinner table and as I went to stand he said, "No, just let me finish, you're having your desert right there." Looking around the deck, he pulled a small table that had been in the corner of the deck and set it alongside the lounge chair. Quickly he walked back to the dining table and grabbed the cup and plate, placing them gently on the table he had just positioned by my side.

I looked to see what he had prepared as desert, hot chocolate and chocolate covered strawberries. Smiling at him, I clapped my hands gently and said, "How did you know?"

Grinning from ear to ear, he said, "I'm glad you're pleased." Shrugging his shoulders and sitting down in the chair alongside mine, "What woman doesn't like hot cocoa and chocolate covered strawberries, or just chocolate for that matter!"

Picking up the hot cocoa and blowing gently on it before taking a sip, I teased him. "Oh I see. So you do this with all the girls, huh?" I took a small sip to hide my smile as I saw him gulping for air and beginning to stutter. As I turned to face him, I noticed he was blushing.

I started laughing then, "Ian, I was teasing you. Don't make yourself crazy, this is wonderful."

"Honestly Bella, I've never done anything like this before. I just wanted to make your evening nice." He said while he looked nervously at me.

"Well you've succeeded." I took one of the strawberries and held it out to him.

"Nope those are yours. I have my desert," he said while he smiled slyly.

At first it didn't register what he was saying and then I blushed profusely. In order to move past the moment, I began eating the strawberry. It was so ripe I had to lick the juice from the chocolate to keep it from dripping on my hands. Continuing eating until just the stem was left, I reached over put the remains back on the plate and took another sip of my cocoa. I was so busy trying my best not to make a mess I hadn't paid attention to him. When I looked over he had a look of shock on his face.

"What, do I have chocolate on my face?" I reached over and grabbed the napkin and started wiping my mouth.

Shaking his head and smiling slowly he said, "No, not at all. That was truly desert for me, watching you eat that," he nudged his head towards the plate "was the best part of my evening." He was sitting forward in his chair with his hands clasped between his knees. "Bella, do you know how enticing you are?"

Shaking my head no, I looked down at the napkin in my lap and started folding it randomly. He rose from his chair and sat alongside me on the lounge taking my hands in his. He sighed before saying, "You are enchanting and I can't seem to get enough of you. At times I like to just watch you when you are unaware, you take my breath away." He looked up and smiled shrugging his shoulder as he tried to make it less serious.

I gently shifted over on the chair and lifted the cover he had put on my legs, "Well if I'm so enchanting, why were you sitting way over there?" I said smiling.

Quickly, he grabbed my hands pulled me to my feet and kissed me quickly on the lips. He sat down spreading his legs slightly making room for me and patted the seat right in front of him. I positioned myself in the chair as he helped me adjust the blanket over both our legs. I leaned back and sighed as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Bella…" he said hesitantly. "I don't want to scare you away, but you should know I'm beginning to…well…really enjoy spending time with you." He sighed.

When he first started his statement, my heart started to quicken, when he finished I realized he was struggling with this just as much as I was. He didn't have a clue where this relationship would go and it scared him. What a relief!

My background wasn't really one that gave me anything to reference in regard to getting into a relationship. Previous experience was not going to help me. 'He' was so different from any human boy my own age, the experiences I had with 'him' were ethereal, and being in Ian's arms was reality.

Ian nudged me, "Hey did you fall asleep?"

"No, I was just thinking about what you said." I turned slightly to see his face better, "I have a feeling you held back on what you really wanted to say. You should understand that I'm not sure of this any more than you are. So taking it slow and not blurting out things is probably a good idea." I repositioned myself so that I was more on my side and could see him.

He smiled down at me, "You really are amazing do you know that?" He reached under my chin to pull my face to his kissing me gently on the lips. He started slowly, at first it was just my bottom lip and then slowly our lips were fully joined. He pulled away and looked into my eyes, he must have seen something because he moved towards me again and began kissing me again. Bringing his tongue slightly out to lick my lips I opened my mouth to allow him access. Our tongues did a slow methodical dance that ended with small kiss. We both sighed, and I put my head on his chest just enjoying this time.

I could hear his heart beating a quick pace as his hand stroked my hair. "Ian, I need to tell you something that you might not be too happy to hear." I said as my hand slowly made circles on his chest. Hearing his heart rate increase and his body tense I decided to use the same method applied when removing a band-aid. I blurted it out, "I don't really care for hot dogs." I started giggling as I felt him freeze and then relax as my words sunk in.

"Oh, is that so. Well you did pretty well in choking them down, so I must be a very good cook." He retorted while poking me in the side. "For future reference you're just going to have to give me a list of the Bella likes and dislikes" he said as he stroked my cheek.

"Ut uh, it doesn't work that way. What fun would that be if I let you know all my likes and dislikes? Don't you want to learn by trial and error? I enjoyed tonight even with the hot dogs." I smiled at him playfully.

"That's not fair Bella, I'm a guy. Guys are no good at this stuff. Don't you know that? The least you could do is give me hints on some things. Like do you dislike all beef products, or just hot dogs? What if it were a turkey dog? Would that have been more to your liking?"

Laughing I said, "Fine, my favorite meal…chicken fingers, perogies and a chocolate shake. Does that help? Based on what I've seen of your culinary skills you wouldn't be able to prepare it." I said sticking my tongue out at him.

He gently pulled my head so that it was resting on his chest again. This felt nice, really nice! I lay there enjoying the feel of his body heat. Between him, the blanket and the chiminea I was getting drowsy. "Ian…would you tell me a story?" I asked him sleepily.

As he stroked my arm he asked quietly, "A story, what kind of story?"

"I want to hear about you as a child, tell me a story you remember from when you were growing up." I smiled as I thought about him as a young boy he was probably adorable.

"Humph, give me a moment and let me think which story I should share with you, hopefully one that won't scare you away. I was a bit of a handful for my mom." As he was talking he continued to stroke my arm and hearing the rumble of his voice coming from his chest was hauntingly familiar. I felt myself falling asleep to the sound of his voice as he told his story.

Waking up the next day, I found myself in my bed even though I didn't remember getting there. I peeked under the covers to see what I was wearing. Ian must have carried me to my room after I had fallen asleep, because I was fully dressed. Chuckling I got out of bed to prepare for the day.

Rox was not in the room, so I took my time in the shower. The night went by so fast yet the memories were still lingering in my head. This was a feeling I could get addicted to, it seemed like I had done nothing but smile for days. I couldn't help but grin thinking about Ian and how considerate he was. His kisses made my heart flutter and toes curl, I was beginning to live again.

My class schedule today was light, which meant I would be working additional hours at North Country. This made my decision in clothing choices a little more challenging. John preferred that I wear something a little more appropriate to work than a normal college student would wear to classes. Digging out my black jeans and navy blue v-neck sweater should fulfill the need for a bit dressier attire. After looking in the mirror I decided to enhance it with a wide belt and a pair of black boots tucking in the jeans. Voila, this should make John happy and yet I'd still be comfortable.

Grabbing my backpack I headed down the stairs to grab a bite before heading off to class. As I entered the kitchen, Roxanne and Anne were sitting at the table talking. "Hey, how are you two today?" I asked while grabbing a cup of coffee.

"Us? Who cares about us, we want details!" Roxanne shrieked.

Grinning like the cat that swallowed the canary, I sat down. Delaying the process was only going to make her nuts so I decided to stall by taking a sip of my coffee, "What details?"

Anne was laughing while she watched Roxanne's face get red. "Come on, you and Ian were awfully cozy last night. Is this a change of heart we're witnessing? We don't need to know all the details of last night, but understanding why would be great." She was leaning forward in her seat while watching me.

"You might as well say I told you so, you'll feel better. I decided to listen to your suggestion and enjoy life" I replied shrugging my shoulders.

She sat back smugly in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. "Good!" Looking at Anne she said, "Ian better be good to her or I'll smack him around like there's no tomorrow."

"Don't worry about Ian," she said as she pointed her thumb at me "she may not know it yet, but he's wrapped around her little finger. I've haven't seen a guy look this love sick since Drake started with you" she laughed. "Seriously though, it's great having you two around, it's nice not feeling like I'm hanging out with the three musketeers anymore."

"As much as I'd like to continue this chat, I've got to get to class." I said taking my coffee mug to the sink to wash it out. "I'll see you later tonight, I'm working at North Country until 8:00."

After classes, I headed to work leisurely walking down Church Street. The days were getting much cooler pretty quickly; the leaves were just beginning to turn. From what John had told me his business would pick up in the next couple of weeks as people headed to view the fall foliage. This was an experience I was looking forward to; everyone had told me it was their favorite time of the year.

John was behind the counter when I came in, "Hey John. What's on the agenda for today?"

"Good Afternoon. How about I begin teaching you how to process the Internet orders?" he asked as he came around the counter.

"That would be great, it will probably help me to understand my Integrating Technology class better." I replied excitedly. Walking behind the counter and taking a seat on the stool, I logged onto his site.

He began showing me the process and within two orders he felt comfortable enough to head back to his office and let me finish. I was deeply engrossed in calculating the orders and printing them when I heard the door open. Reaching under the counter to grab the orders I printed I called out, "Good afternoon, can I help you?"

"Yes, you can. I'd like to see your beautiful smile please."

My heart started racing as I heard his familiar voice and I jerked my head up to look into his beautiful face. I couldn't help but smile at the man standing in front of me.

"That's an easy request to fill, Ian. You always bring a smile to my face." I said as I leaned over the counter and kissed him.