A/N Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a terrific weekend! Mine was really busy, but good! Anyway, here's the next chapter. I hope everyone enjoys it! Please let me know what you think!

Chapter 39 – Suspicions

Bella was euphoric. Her birthday may have started out a little rough, but she couldn't have asked for anything more than Edward being there for her every step of the way. Even after the serious talk about birth control they had this morning with Esme, he wasn't deterred at all.

The moment they got to his room, he had set her down on the bed and gone back to lock the door. When he turned around, the look in his eyes was filled with hunger, desire, and need. As soon as he reached the bed again, she threw herself into his arms and kissed him with all the love, passion, and desire she had in her.

It seemed that Edward couldn't get rid of her clothes fast enough and while he was pulling her shirt off, she found the button of his jeans. She couldn't get over how perfect he was. She would never be able to get enough of what he had to offer. She heard a guttural moan the moment her palm cupped his dick and she felt him thrust into her grip. She couldn't help but smile to herself, knowing he needed and wanted her as much as she needed and wanted him.

Edward pushed her onto her back on the bed and quickly removed his boxers from her, tossing them to the side. She watched as he grabbed her ankles and placed them on his shoulders as he positioned himself at her entrance. He started out with slow, shallow strokes that quickly became faster and deeper until her body engulfed him fully. He repeatedly thrust himself into her as fast and as deep as he could get.

As he continued his thrusting, he looked at her with so much love and adoration on his face. "Oh god Bella… I just couldn't take it anymore. I needed to be inside you, to feel your walls swallow my entire cock. You feel so effing perfect around me; so tight. Without warning, she felt his thumb on her clit causing her to buck her hips, drawing him in impossibly deeper.

As he rubbed fast circles around her clit she heard his voice through her haze. "Bella, baby, look at me." Automatically she tried to open her eyes but found it difficult. Everything he was doing felt absolutely incredible. Finally she was able to open her eyes and her gaze immediately found him. "It's okay love, let go. I need to feel you come and I'm so close." She knew he wouldn't allow himself to climax until he brought her to orgasm so it didn't surprise her to hear him ask the next question. "Will you come with me?"

She felt herself gasping for air as she called out to him. "Edward! Oh. My. God!" She tried to control her volume but it was really hard. "Yes! Right. Fucking. There!" The combination of his thrusts hitting her sweet spot and his thumb still tracing circles around her clit caused her to lose it completely. She didn't bother trying to control her body's reaction to her orgasm. Instead, she let go completely as she writhed beneath him.

Within seconds, she could feel him spray into her as he made a few more deep thrusting motions. After a few seconds, he collapsed beside her on the bed breathing heavily before whispering, "Bella, I know I've said it before, but you are absolutely amazing!"

After lying there for about ten minutes, he finally seemed to remember that they had something to do, so he helped her up and led her into the bathroom. When she first stood up, she felt her knees wobble a little, slightly weak from their encounter before. Edward gave her a concerned look but she simply waved off his concern and started the water.

Once they were showered and dressed, they went back downstairs to find Esme still in the den. When she heard their arrival, she looked up from whatever it was she was working on and smiled kindly at them. "How about some lunch?" she asked. "Then we can talk about everything that happened."

Realizing that she had missed breakfast completely this morning, she nodded her head enthusiastically. Edward ended up laughing at her and her heart warmed. It didn't matter what was going on in the world around them, as long as they had each other, they would make it.

…..

While Esme warmed up some tomato soup and made grilled cheese sandwiches, Bella helped him set three places at the breakfast bar. He was a little worried about the upcoming conversation, but he knew they could deal with anything thrown their way. Their love for each other was so strong that even God himself wasn't powerful enough to break the bond.

After they ate their lunch, Esme helped him fill Bella in on the exchange from this morning – the same talk that had caused her to have a really strong panic attack. He wasn't sure what it was this time, but Bella handled everything flawlessly. She was alert and focused on the conversation at hand as she listened to everything they explained.

A few times, Edward felt her squeezing the hand she was holding, but she never once showed any outward signs of another anxiety attack. He was so proud of her for staying strong through everything. When they finished talking about what had been done, she looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't know if she should.

Gently, Edward reached up to stroke her cheek. "What is it, love?" She started to shake her head, clearly unsure of voicing whatever was on her mind, but he quickly went on. "Bella, please tell me what you're thinking. You can trust me with anything, I promise you that."

Bella sighed and leaned into him. "I know, babe. It's just that when you were telling me what happened, one person's name popped into my head. I didn't really want to say anything because I don't even know him and I would feel just awful for accusing him of something I'm not even sure he's capable of."

Edward could sense her worry now and placed his index finger over her lips. "Shh. It's okay love. Just take a breath. You're not accusing anyone of anything right now. What you say here stays here, right mom?" He looked at Esme and she nodded to both him and Bella.

Still hesitant, Bella took a deep breath and then told him and Esme exactly who she thought could have done this. It was the same person that Edward had first thought of: James.

Esme looked a little incredulous, but Edward could tell that she wanted to believe them both. "Okay, explain to me why you think this James character is so terrible," she said.

Edward nodded for Bella to go first, but she didn't really have anything new to add from what she had told Esme yesterday. He felt creepy to her, when she was near him she was overcome with a feeling of completely dread, he was arrogant and it seemed like he wasn't used to being rejected. She explained that because she said no to him, she was afraid that he was just going to try to take what he wanted and it seemed that what he wanted was her.

Hearing her voice quiver as she tried to explain this all to Esme caused Edward to get more and more upset. His vision was overcome with a red hue and he wanted nothing more than to leave Bella right here in his kitchen and head to the school. He wanted to track down James, pull him out of class, and rip his to shreds.

Esme interrupted his thoughts by clearing her throat. "Edward, Bella explained why she thinks that all of this has something to do with James. Can you tell me why you think so?"

Completely back in the present now, Edward realized that he was gripping Bella's hand really hard, and he immediately released his death hold on her. She squeezed his hand to let him know she understood and gave him her beautiful smile, encouraging him to explain.

After taking a deep breath, he went on to tell Esme about the feeling he had when they had left Bella's house yesterday afternoon; that someone was watching them. It was the same foreboding feeling he got when he saw James' hand grabbing Bella's wrist at school. He couldn't really explain it any better than that, but it seemed to be enough.

"Alright, I want you both to wait here. I need to go call your Fathers. I think that this is something that needs to be brought to their attention. Bella, are you willing to tell your dad about James grabbing you yesterday and what he said to you?" Esme was always so considerate. She knew that Bella was nervous about voicing her concerns, so she asked if it would be okay. She didn't tell her that she had to talk about it; she left it up to her. Shakily, Bella nodded her head and Edward pulled her into a hug.

"It's going to be okay, sweetheart. I promise we'll find who did this." He hated seeing his girl so shaken but he was still proud of her for holding it together. He sat there holding her until Esme reentered the room.

"Okay, Bella, Carlisle said your house is still quite a mess, but he and your dad have gotten the worst of it cleaned up. He wants to know if you'd be willing to go home so you could talk to your dad about your suspicions. Even if it wasn't James responsible for this, he still needs to be held accountable for his actions at school yesterday."

Bella looked a little panicked when Esme had mentioned her going home but Edward squeezed her hand in reassurance. "I'm here, babe and I'm not going to leave you. I'll go with you and we'll explain everything together, okay? My mom is right, he does need to be held accountable for his actions and I plan on making sure he is."

…..

When Edward said he would go home with her to try to explain things to Charlie, she felt so relieved. She knew she needed to borrow his strength and calm in order to get through this and she did just that. The house was a disaster when they entered it, but the four of them went out to the back porch and sat down on the furniture out there.

Charlie and Carlisle both listened as she and Edward recanted their first meeting with James. Charlie looked as pissed as Edward had earlier but he held himself in check. After they were done with the explanations, Charlie called the station and asked the deputy on the other end of the line to find out everything he could on this boy. After a brief conversation, he disconnected the call.

She and Edward decided to help with the clean up since they were there, and they walked around picking up bits of shattered glass, and splintered furniture, disposing of everything that was broken. All the clothes that were strewn about the house needed to be washed, so Bella started the washing machine and ran the first load.

After an hour or two of cleaning up what they could, she went to find Edward. She had yet to go upstairs and refused to do so until Edward was securely by her side. Hand in hand, they walked up the stairs and into her room.

It appeared that Charlie and Carlisle had spent most of their time cleaning up in here because most of everything was gone: her mattress and bedspread, all of her clothes, and most of her books. There was hardly anything left. The walls had been scrubbed, but there was still a red hue covering everything. Charlie must have seen them heading upstairs so he quietly came into the room behind them.

When he spoke, he sounded tired. "I know there's not much left in here, Bells, but I spoke to Billy Black. He's my insurance agent. He assured me he would be here by two today with a check for the damages. I was planning to take a trip up to Port Angeles later this afternoon to replace everything." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Honey, you're going to need a whole new wardrobe. Whoever this asshole was, he got animal blood on every last piece of clothing you had in here. Do you want to come with me today? Edward is welcome to come along and I know Alice would be thrilled if you invited her to come help too. She's always loved shopping."

Bella looked at Edward, unsure if he would want to go with her and she wasn't sure how to even ask. Finally, she just requested it outright. "Babe, will you come with us? I can go another time if you don't want to. I really don't…"

Edward must have sensed her distressed because he was quick to interrupt her. "Love, you don't even have to ask. Of course I'll go with you. Honestly, after everything that's happened in the last twenty-four hours, I'm not willing to let you out of my sight." He smiled her favorite crooked smile and she nearly melted right there. No matter what happened, Edward would be there with her, for her. He loved her and everything he did was to show her how much.

They spent the next few hours making a list of everything she would need to replace: tops, pants, skirts, tanks, pajamas, bras, panties, CDs, books, sheets, pillows and cases, and a new comforter. The list was long and she knew they wouldn't be able to get everything in one day, but she was determined to at least get the pertinent items.

She was looking forward to Edward being there so he could help her pick out her bras and panties. She blushed just thinking about trying everything on and modeling for him. Whenever he was around she felt so beautiful. He would tell her all the time how gorgeous she was, but when she was wearing next to nothing in front of him he always had a look of pure lust in his eyes. She knew he wanted her; that much was always obvious.

Billy Black came and left and they all continued with the clean up efforts. Being the police chief apparently had its advantages. Normally, checks for damages would take at least two to three days to cut, but Billy had one in hand when he arrived. Charlie later explained to her that not only was it nice being the Chief of Police, but also that Billy happened to be a good friend of his because his son Jacob was the crime technician for the department.

By mid-afternoon, the majority of her and Charlie's belongings ended up out on the curb, waiting for garbage pick up. The house was finally in a position to allow for the new items to be moved in and they were all ready to head to Port Angeles.

At around four, Bella called Alice to see if she would come with them, knowing she would finally be home from school. Charlie was right; at the mention of shopping, Alice almost started squealing with excitement and readily agreed. Carlisle said he'd swing by to pick her up and Charlie said he would ride with them.

They left Bella and Edward alone and Bella couldn't help but feel grateful. It had been a trying afternoon, but he was always there, right by her side, helping her with everything. Slowly, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his face down to her level. Looking into his eyes she said, "Thank you Edward. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I'll never be able to fully make this up to you, but I want you to know how much it means to me that you've been here with me the entire time. I love you more than life itself." When she finished, she brought her lips in to meet his and felt his arms wrap around her waist.

He must have missed the physical contact this afternoon as much as she had because it didn't take long for him to lick her bottom lip, seeking permission to deepen the kiss. With a feral groan, Bella obliged his request and felt herself melt into his arms.

She wasn't sure how long they stood in the living room exploring each other's mouths with their tongues, but a loud throat clearing interrupted them. Immediately jumping apart, they both looked toward the door to see a tall, young man standing there in a police uniform.

Not sure what to do or say, Bella finally addressed him. "Um, can I help you?"

The man cleared his throat again before speaking. "Man, I'm so sorry. Um, I'm Jacob, Jacob Black. Almost everyone calls me Jake though. I'm the crime scene technician for the Forks Police Department. Chief Swan asked me to come sit at the house to make sure nothing else happened to it while he went shopping. I assumed everyone left with him, but then I saw a car out front and noticed the door was unlocked. I would have knocked had I known."

Thankfully, it was Edward who took over the conversation. "Hey man, don't sweat it. This," he said gesturing to Bella, "is Chief Swan's daughter and my girlfriend Bella Swan. I'm Edward Cullen." He held his hand out to Jacob who automatically reached up to shake it.

"Wait, you said you were the crime tech?" Edward asked. When Jacob nodded, Edward went on. "Have you found anything or any match to the prints you took?"

Jacob seemed to shift a little like he was uncomfortable. "Um, I'm really not allowed to talk about ongoing investigations, but honestly, I haven't even had a chance to run the prints. We have Chief Swan's prints on file at the station, but I'll also need to get your prints Miss Swan," he went on to say.

Bella was a little taken aback by his statement. "Wait, what? Why would you need my prints?" she asked him. When he went on to explain that he needed prints from anyone who frequented the house in order to rule them out it all started to make sense. "Then you'll need Edward's prints too. He's here almost as much as I am," she said as she smiled at Edward and winked.

"Oh, yeah. Of course," Jacob said. "Actually, I have my print kit in the car. If you want, I can take both of your prints now so you don't have to come down to the station later."

She looked at Edward and he nodded so they both followed Jacob to his car. When they were done with the fingerprinting, Edward opened the passenger side door of his car for her and helped her in. He quickly kissed her lips before going around and getting in the driver's seat. Before backing out, he leaned in to kiss her once more, lingering for a few moments. Finally, with a deep sigh, he pulled back from her and put the car into reverse and took her to Port Angeles.