A/N: Hello all and Happy Valentine's day! This chapter was originally supposed to be a lot longer, but after a bit of arm-twisting by tby789, I decided to post this for you all. As soon as this is posted, I will go back to writing the remainder of this chapter and hoping to have the remainder of it posted very shortly. The next chapter will probably be split between EPOV and BPOV, and will be quite a bit longer than this (and most of the chapters in general), and encompass more of E & B's time in New York.

Hope you all enjoy, and again Happy V-day! xo

Dawn

Late Night Encounters 10 ~ Here in New York

Staring at the ceiling and still attempting to catch my breath, a smile spread across my lips as the reality of it all set in.

I was there. In New York. With Edward.

For the past two weeks, I had been building up the anticipation of that day and what it would be like. Seeing him for the first time, spending time with him, being with him in that way; so fearful that nothing would live up to my expectations and I'd be left disappointed.

Yet, Edward had been everything I'd expected and more, and I couldn't see a way that he could be any more perfect in my eyes. It all started with the airport, how he seemed as desperate to feel and touch me as I was for him. That first kiss was absolute bliss, as was each one that followed, but it was more than that. Nothing felt like a 'first'; no nervousness or easing into things, and I couldn't stop touching him. I actually wanted nothing more than to feel him against me and consume me completely when we finally got to the hotel.

It was a simple room, yet so beautiful and the view was enough to bring tears to my eyes. I was staring right down into the heart of Times Square. That in itself must have cost a fortune, and I probably should have felt a little guilty. Instead, I only felt insanely happy and grateful, and if at all possible, it served to make me want him even more. There was almost a childlike giddiness about him through it all that I'd never seen, his eyes sparkling even in the dimming light of the room. I'd never seen anyone so intent on my happiness before, and I would have been a fool to not appreciate it.

Even the case of his slightly overbearing protectiveness at dinner was somewhat endearing. He cared about my safety, about me—for my being in New York, with someone technically little more than a stranger and no one else knowing, to be an issue and to confront it. However, Edward had never once felt like a 'stranger' to me from the moment that I spotted him coming through the crowd toward me. And though he seemed surprised by my comfort level with him, and my declaration of feeling safe with him, he allowed the topic to rest.

All through dinner, conversation flowed so naturally, it was almost unnerving. The one thing I had not expected was for everything to be so easy—no lulls, no tension, no awkward silences. It was as simple as if we were talking on the phone, rather than face-to-face. Where I could feel him holding my hand over the table, watch every movement of his mouth as he spoke, inhale the scent of his aftershave and see every speck of stubble lining his jaw that the webcam tended to blend together.

Only when we were heading back to the room did I begin to feel even a hint of tension between us, but it was not unwelcome. It was something that we had both been waiting for and the moment the doors to the elevator closed, I couldn't resist the temptation anymore. I needed to feel his arms around me, his lips against mine, and the desire from him that I'd only gotten a glimpse of earlier; and again, I wasn't disappointed. I felt a warmth spread through me as he kissed me with more passion than anything I'd ever felt before, even with our numerous kisses before that. I hesitantly pulled away from him when the elevator signaled our arrival to our floor, and gazed at him expectantly for a moment before we were making our way down the hall to our room.

I was ready, and I couldn't get him in the room fast enough.

Yet, the moment I felt him inside me, I wanted time to stop, to stay with him that way. The feeling was indescribable and the more he gave me, the more I craved. I knew that being with him physically would be unlike anything we'd experienced online, given the intensity of even those interactions, but nothing could have prepared me for that. The fire inside of me began building quickly and I ached for release. But as I slid my hand between our bodies, his fingers gripped mine and raised them above my head. The frustrated growl halted in my throat, escaping as a whimper, begging him to allow me to come. I'd never done it through sex alone and wanted to feel it with him inside me.

With the slightest shift of his hips, my head felt light and spun as a new wave of sensations began rushing through me. His soft voice whispering in my ear only heightened them, and I begged him one more time to allow me to come, squeezing his hand tightly with mine. I could hear it in his voice and see it in his face as I opened my eyes to glance at him, how close he was—and I was running out of time.

Then, the impossible happened. With a growl, his teeth clenched on my earlobe, a surge of heat shot through my body and exploded into the most powerful orgasm I'd ever felt, by my hand or his words. My vision went black and I clung to him tightly, my entire body rigid as I trembled against his movements.

Before it could completely subside, I wanted to feel him; the orgasm that my body had brought him, the way his brought mine.

"Your turn. Let me feel you," I breathed out heavily and I watched his forehead creased as it fell to mine, his handsome features contorting as he came. My muscles tightened around him, each wave of his release coaxing a moan from deep in my throat until his movements stilled and his body relaxed on top of mine.

We laid there for an immeasurable time, our breaths ragged and heavy as I lightly traced the skin of his neck with my fingertips. The feel of him against me was, for lack of better words in my post coital thoughts, pure bliss. I'd never wanted that before, the simple pleasure of holding a man after sex.

Yet at that moment, as I glanced to the floor at the light streaming out from underneath the bathroom door, I felt empty without him against me. Shivering slightly, I pulled the comforter from beneath me and covered myself over, burying myself in the warmth our bodies had provided.

"Edward?" I called out toward the door, hearing the running water from the faucet halt.

The light disappeared and the door opened, my smile widening at the sight of his naked form walking toward me. I held my arms out to him as he drew closer and he grinned, lowering his body above me and brushing his lips against mine. "Saving the cold side of the bed for me, huh?"

Tightening my hold around him, I chuckled against his lips and watched the lines around his eyes increase with his smile. "I'm smaller, I chill easily."

"Says the girl who sleeps with her window open, even in the dead of winter," he teased me, peppering kisses around my mouth.

"LA winters are just a bit different than Chicago ones," I whispered softly as his lips began moving along my jaw to my neck.

"How do you know? You've never been to Chicago," he murmured in my ear, his warm hand moving over my arm.

"I've seen pictures. And Chicago is notorious for its cold, snowy winters," I replied pointedly.

"I think you should experience it before you bestow judgment," he said in a teasing tone, biting back a smirk and wiggling his eyebrows as he rolled off me. I groaned discontentedly at the loss of the warmth from his body until he slid under the covers and took me back into his arms.

Turning on my side to face him, I ran my fingers in slow circles on his chest, memorizing the feel of the contours of his muscles. Tilting my head back slightly, I brought my gaze up to meet his. "Is that an invitation?"

His eyes widened a little, and I felt my face heat from my presumptuous statement, bringing my forehead to rest on his shoulder in embarrassment. "If you'd like it to be. I, for one, would definitely not object."

Lifting my eyes again, I gazed at him in surprise. "Really?"

"That shocks you? Why wouldn't I want you to come visit me in Chicago?" he asked, perplexed.

I shrugged slightly, resuming the motions of my fingers on his chest, concentrating heavily on the movements. "I don't know. It's your home, and I don't know what your family or friends would think of me."

He lifted my chin with his fingers and brushed a light kiss on my lips, pulling me closer. "The only friend that matters is the reason we're here. And my parents would be far too thrilled with the presence of a woman in my life to question the hows or whys."

I slid my arm around him as my leg moved between his, pressing my body as close to his as I could, closing my eyes and enjoying his warmth. I wished things could be that simple on my end; that I could feel as if my friends and parents would be as accepting of it. But even with as much as my mother wished for me to find a good man, I knew that neither she or my father would forgo the 'hows or whys' I came across a successful doctor from Chicago. My dad alone had proven his protectiveness of his only daughter by running a background check on every guy I'd had in my life, romantically or otherwise, since high school. And Alice was far too detail oriented to allow me any room for glazing over information. Rose might be a little more understanding of the situation with Edward, but not of my hiding it, now or in the future.

With these thoughts in mind draining me, combined with my already exhausted state and the comforting warmth of Edward's body, I drifted off to sleep.

When I woke a few hours later, I faced away from Edward with his chest pressed against my back, whispering my name as his lips ghosted over my hair. I didn't want to open my eyes for fear that the beautiful dream I'd been having would disappear.

"Bella baby, wake up. You're dreaming," he murmured, his arms tightening gently around my waist.

"I know. So why should I wake up?" I grumbled sleepily, burying my face further into the pillow.

"Because you're thrashing," he said, a trace of concern in his tone; not the voice I'd been hearing only moments before. "You okay?"

I finally opened my eyes to look back at him and smiled, nuzzling my face back into his neck. "Perfect."

"Didn't sound like a very good dream," he whispered, kissing my temple and running his hand over my abdomen under the covers.

"On the contrary," I replied with a smile, lacing my fingers with his and guiding them down between my legs, pressing them against the apparent result of it. "It was a very good dream."

A soft groan erupted from his throat as he pressed his erection against me and began massaging my slickened skin, his lips moving languidly against mine. My hand left his and reached back to thread into his hair, my hips arching back to grind against him and tracing his lips with my tongue. Even after just having been with him only hours before, and for the first time at that, my need for him had only grown. And as our kiss deepened and his tongue slid along mine, I felt his fingers enter me and I parted my legs more in response. I gripped his hair more firmly in my fist as his hand began moving against me, striking my sensitive skin with each pass.

My lips broke from his in a gasp as I felt the tension building, his fingers hitting that delicious spot deep inside me. "Oh God, Edward."

"Are you still on the pill?" he asked in a husky tone, and I could only nod incoherently as my entire body began tensing. Just as I felt the peak of my climax approaching, he withdrew his hand from my body and I cried out in response. Turning my chin with his fingertips, his lips sealed over mine and we both groaned simultaneously as he slowly slid inside me.

My head fell back against his shoulder, my breath halted in my throat as he began a slow rhythm of thrusts. If I'd thought that earlier had been amazing, it was nowhere near as indescribable as that moment. His movements inside of me, with nothing between us, was incomparable to anything else I'd ever felt. Pulling his lips back to mine, I whimpered softly as he pressed deep inside me, stilling there as he kissed me passionately. I rolled my hips back against him, anxious for his movements to resume. My teeth clenched lightly on his lip as his ministrations began again, a deep groan emanating from him and I felt my orgasm beginning to build. His thrusts were urgent, yet never rough, leaving me tingling and clinging him tightly to me.

"Oh fuck, yes," I breathed out heavily, my head tilting back while his lips moved to my neck. I moaned as every nerve in my body came alive, feeling his breath on my skin, his fingers rubbing vigorously against my clit, and his cock repeatedly burying deep inside me. "God, you feel so good."

"So do you. So warm and soft," he grunted with the movement of his hips, my lips parting as the sensations began to overwhelm me. My stomach coiled tightly and my muscles began clenching around him in anticipation, my breaths coming in uneven shudders. "Come, baby."

I growled as my orgasm dangled at the edge, refusing to let go, and arched my back more to feel more of him. "Pinch me."

"What?" he panted in confusion, but never ceased his movements.

My hand released his hair and trailed down to meet his between my legs, guiding his fingers to comply with my request. My body went rigid the moment I felt the sharp pinch on my sensitive swollen skin, my nails digging into the back of his hand as I began trembling with the force of my orgasm.

"Oh shit, Bella," he groaned loudly and I felt his teeth bite down lightly at the base of my neck as he released inside me.

We held to each other tightly as we rode out wave after beautiful wave together until our bodies relaxed against the other and I felt his arms come around me again. I turned my head to gaze back at him, raising my lips to his, and brushing them lightly. As I snuggled back into him, his hold around me tightened and I traced my fingertips along his arm around my shoulders and gazed out the window. I could never remember a time that I had ever felt that happy, that any man had made me feel this desirable, that his need for me was as great as mine was for him. That I'd actually relished in the feel of a man's arms around me and not felt crowded or smothered.

As his breaths began slowing and I felt his muscles lax around me, I looked back at him against to find his eyes closed and his face serene. I turned in his arms slowly, so as not to wake him, and completely drank him in for the first time since landing in New York. Everything about the man was so perfect in my eyes, my heart constricted at the thought that even though he was right there in front of me, in a week, he would be thousands of miles away from me again. Yet, as I watched the fluttering of his eyelashes and the occasional twitch in the corner of his mouth just before they pursed as he dreamt, I couldn't keep myself from kissing him gently.

The sun was already beginning to make its appearance on the horizon, casting his face in a blend of light and shadow, and I hugged his arm around me.

One day down, I thought sadly.