Happy Friday! This is long, so I'll be short! Enjoy!

Sex on Fire- Kings of Leon (they've been in my head all week)

~~oo~~

Chapter 27: Not innocent at all.

EPOV

I was trying to behave.

I truly was.

But she constantly challenged my will power with every thing she said and did.

I sat in forth period, antsy for lunch, wishing I had the strength to simply stay out of the bathroom and concentrate instead on my class work. But since leaving Bella at her first class, and seeing her from a distance go about her daily routine, I felt myself grow weaker at every thought of her.

Mike Newton of course helped to distract me.

Before Bella, I had no idea that he was in so many classes with me.

What can I say, I wasn't that observant when it came to people like Newton.

After Bella, it was entertaining to see Newton try and avoid me. In second period, Mike walked in and saw me, our eyes connecting. He looked away quickly before sitting down in his seat across the aisle from me. I'm sure he never watched me before as much as he did now.

And of course I toyed with him.

"Newton," I said and nodded to him.

His eyes narrowed and he nodded back.

"I hear Chief Swan and you had a talk yesterday," I said casually, fighting a grin.

"I saw your car there, Cullen," he hissed. "Don't think I don't know how you sweet talked her into believing you're such a nice guy."

I chuckled and shook my head.

I knew I wasn't a nice guy.

"I guess it's up to her who she wants to spend time with, Newton," I said, grinning.

"Yeah, well if I had gotten there first," he started, but closed his mouth when I leaned in glaring at him.

"Well you didn't, regardless of what you had planned," I replied, feeling my heart start to pound.

What would have happened if he had?

Would Bella have picked him instead of me?

I couldn't ever let that happen.

She needed to know exactly how I felt.

"She'll figure you out, Cullen," he shot back. "It's just too bad she can't see what she was warned about."

I leaned towards him, eyes blazing.

"What you and your stupid girlfriends did to her yesterday was inexcusable," I breathed. "I won't let you hurt her again. None of you. Whatever you do, I'd stay far away from her. And me."

His eyes took me in, trying to gauge just how serious I was. When I didn't back down from his pitiful stare, he sat back and turned away. I sat through class, happy with his tense posture, but suddenly worried that perhaps Bella would lose interest in me.

Or worse, be frightened of who I was.

With their lies and my issues, she could find it too much work.

She needed to see me for the good person that I was, not the bad.

Well, maybe the bad. Later. Once she understood I couldn't help it.

No, she didn't need to know. I was going to get better.

I'd be respectful.

Even if I did want to stay permanently attached to her in some way.

So as I sat in fifth period, eyeing the clock to will it to go faster so that I could be with Bella again, I thought about how much I wanted to just be alone with her. I didn't want to have to compete with Mike and his cronies.

I wanted to dazzle her.

Impress her.

And protect her from the things I could protect her from.

Including my darker side.

When the bell rang, I was the first out of the classroom, my mind set on finding Bella and finding a place to sit and talk with her, alone. To learn more about her. To just be with her, without distraction.

Was it tempting to do more?

Absolutely.

When I saw her across the courtyard watching me as I walked her way, I could imagine every sort of thing we could do where I wanted to take her.

Kiss her. Feel her, make her plead. Taste her, make her gasp out my name.

Behave.

Fuck it.

Respect.

Look at her eyes, she is telling you.

Dazzled.

Fuck.

"Trust me?" I asked, my heart hammering at the fell of her hand around my waist.

She nodded and I felt a moment's glee at having swayed her so easily.

Respect her.

I could respect every inch of her.

Behave.

"Where are we going?" she asked as we crossed the football field.

"Someplace quiet," I replied, my nose burying itself into her hair to inhale her.

Clean. Pure.

Innocent.

Respect.

I swallowed and quickened our pace, past the bleachers and towards the path that led into the trees. I felt her slow beside me just slightly, her body tensing as she watched the trees loom over us.

"Where exactly?" she asked, and I could feel she was nervous.

Her fear instantly made me remorseful.

What the fuck was I doing?

All that talk to convince myself to treat her right. What the hell?

I loosened my grip on her and felt her slip from my arm just enough so that she could look up into my eyes. She looked cautious, but not fearful.

How could she ever be safe around me?

Sweet. Pure. Innocent. She was nothing like me.

"We can go back," I started, turning back towards the school.

"No."

I stopped in my tracks, turning my head to see her standing there, hands on her hips.

"Edward," she said, her voice purposeful. "I'm not scared of you. I just want to know why we're eating lunch in the woods where it's cold and probably wet."

I swallowed and looked back towards the trail.

I had to behave.

Should go back.

Too tempting there.

She surprised me when she took my hand and pulled me back towards the trail, smiling such an innocent smile I thought I'd burst into flames from the need to corrupt her. I wanted too so much.

"Show me," she whispered.

I hesitated for a moment before holding her hand a little more securely, turning back to the forest. It wasn't far from the football field, I had found it in the first week I had come to school, hiding from Emmett as he complained about leaving his old team behind and bemoaning the time he had to wait to try out for the Forks team.

Nestled in the forest, where the old growth died away and new growth had not yet surfaced, was a small clearing. A large fallen tree lay on one side of the clearing, moss growing over it to create a nice place to sit and catch a small glimmer of sunlight peeking through the tall branches above.

When we stepped into the clearing, Bella gasped and turned to grin up at me.

"How did you know this was here?" she asked, wide eyed.

"I used to come here every lunch period to get away," I mumbled and pulled her towards the tree, sitting carefully on it.

Just as I had remembered, it was warm from the morning sun, and soft.

She settled in next to me and looked around contentedly.

"This is perfect," she said, closing her eyes and tipping her head up to the tiny sunbeam that fell on us.

She had no idea how perfect.

I could see the beauty of her long neck as she sat there.

I could almost taste her smiling lips.

Deep breaths made her breasts rise and fall slowly.

The way she sat, crosslegged, her thighs open for me to explore.

I desperately needed looser jeans.

Behave.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked, and my eyes shot up from where her thighs joined to her mirthful eyes as they regarded me.

"You."

"What about me?" she pressed, a bashful smile on her face.

"Are you hungry?" I asked, deflecting her question.

"Yes," she whispered, her voice barely audible. Her eyes, dark and asking for me to misbehave.

She was going to kill me.

One second she was so innocent, the next she seemed to ooze sex with that soft voice and dark eyes.

Don't touch.

Lunch. Conversation. Aching.

And no bathroom nearby to retreat to.

"Do you want my cookie?"

I blinked, focusing on Bella again as she sat there, holding out a cookie for me.

Killing me.

I took it from her and she smiled brightly, back to that innocent girl I was destined to sully.

Fuck, I wanted to dirty her up right there on this tree.

Esme would kill me.

"So, you're from Phoenix," I said, groaning on the inside at how stupid that sounded.

Her chewing slowed and she tipped her head to the side a little.

"And you're from Alaska," she countered.

"Why did you come to Forks?"

"My mom got married and wanted to tour with her husband," she replied simply. "Why did you move to Forks?"

I swallowed down the cookie.

"Carlisle changed jobs."

"Carlisle?" she asked, confused.

Fuck. I wasn't really ready for this.

"Um, yeah," I replied quietly. "I'm…. Carlisle isn't my real father."

She was still beside me, watching me with that thoughtful gaze.

"And Esme isn't your real mother."

She said it so easily, as if it were nothing but a conversation about the weather.

"How did you?" I asked, her smile silencing me.

She shrugged and handed me another cookie.

"I guessed," she replied and laughed when I frowned at her.

"You guessed?" I asked, incredulous. Most people assumed I was Esme's son for sure, given the similar hair and green eyes. And she didn't seemed at all fazed by it.

"I'm a good read of people, Edward," she said and scooted a little closer to me, her knees rubbing against my thigh lightly, making my cock ache more than it already did.

"And what do you read from me?" I whispered, hardly able to breathe.

Did she know?

Could she tell?

She blushed and looked down, her eyes trailing over me slowly.

"That you're not as bad as you think you are."

"I don't know about that," I whispered, looking away.

I wasn't prepared for her sudden movement as she moved closer, one hand firm on my thigh, the other clutching at my hand that sat between us. Even more surprising was her lips as they trailed across my cheek and to my mouth, a soft hum escaping her lips when she found my lips far too easily.

I didn't put up much of a fight.

I had been an idiot for thinking I could behave.

I pulled her closer to me, her body practically perched over me as I leaned back into the tree. Her hands were in my hair, running along my jaw, pressing onto my chest, pushing me further into the moss.

It was supposed to be me pushing her down.

But her hands moved over my body while I held her to me. She adjusted against me, the warmth of her leg burning across my thigh.

Hands moving. Caressing. Dipping. Tracing. Down

Mouth exploring. Tongue tasting like chocolate and more.

Not innocent at all.

I was losing any will I had to hold out.

I couldn't resist her.

She wouldn't allow it.

She was taking charge.

Taking control.

One hand snaked down my stomach, making me groan and gasp when it traveled further.

Innocent. Not innocent. So not innocent!

I shuddered and broke away from her kiss when I felt her hot palm over me, the tingling sensation of my hard on now a raging inferno that was about to explode. Gentle pressure against me, tentative but daring at the same time.

It was too much. She was so much more than I anticipated.

"Bella," I croaked, trying weakly to pull away. Because really, I didn't want her to stop.

It was just more than I had ever felt, without permission.

Without having earned it.

Was she rewarding me?

I held her hand over me, fighting with myself to push her into me, at the same time to push away.

She looked down at me with those dark eyes, a combination of lust and worry in them as she felt me put a little distance between us and carefully shifted her hand away from my raging cock finally. When she felt me push her away, her eyes seemed to clear, the heated flush to her face then blossoming to a full on blush.

Fuck.

Shit.

Put her hand back. Don't let her be embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled and pulled away completely to sit as she had before.

I slowly sat up and let out a calming breath.

Not going to reciprocate. Not going to.

"It's me, Bella, not you," I said softly. "I'm not used to having someone touch me like that. I'm just trying to go slow."

Her brow furrowed and she glanced at me, confused.

"No one's touched you before?"

I swallowed and struggled to look up into her eyes, fighting the fear of having to admit my past.

"Not so much in that way," I murmured. "I'm not really used to having a girlfriend."

Her mouth twitched and she glanced up at me cautiously.

Did she not think of herself as my girlfriend?

"Um," I stammered. "I just want to do this right."

Her head tipped up to regard me thoughtfully, a half smile fighting at her lips.

"You're so weird," she whispered and let out a sigh. "Slow. All right. I wouldn't have thought that about you."

"Thought what?" I asked cautiously.

She jumped off the tree and brushed off her jeans, shaking her head. Grabbing her backpack she pulled it up over her shoulder and started towards the trail, looking back towards me with a peculiar look on her face.

"I thought I was the only virgin here," she said and headed down the trail, leaving me looking after her with my mouth wide open in shock.

Her comment left me stunned.

She thought I was the innocent one?

I made my way down the trail to catch up to her before class, the two of us walking side by side, but not touching. I desperately wanted to drag her back into the woods and show her how depraved I really was. But I didn't.

I learned a lot from this foray.

Bella was not so innocent.

And I was in big trouble.

~~oo~~

AN: Oh boy, Edward. You have no idea with Bella.

Are you confused by Edward's comments about being touched? Good… we'll learn more very, very soon.

More tomorrow. I promise, Whit by Sunday!

MWAH!

steph