A bit of a longer one than usual for you.

From there, she led him across the room and into a curtained section where Jared, one of the bouncers, was standing, his thick arms crossed over his chest.

Edward couldn't help the corner of his mouth twitching down in a frown as he noted the way one of the bouncers at the entrance of the guarded section blatantly checked Bella out. Not Bella, he reminded himself with a scowl, Isa. As hard as it was, for the sake of his own sanity he had to keep the two identities separate in his mind.

She turned the corner and led Edward toward the back. Stereo speakers were set up around the place, pumping music, although at a much quieter level than what was playing in the main area.

"Why don't you take a seat?" she said, gesturing to the large leather seat.

Edward settled down on the long chaise she pointed out to him. As she turned to fiddle with the music, Edward observed his surroundings. He didn't think much of her actions, figuring she needed to at least give the appearance that she was entertaining him even if she really wasn't. But Edward still felt a twinge of impatience at her slow going.

Bella turned back around to face Edward, her game face on. She looked up at him through her eyelashes, her lips parted as she began to sway in time to the music. She moved closer and leaned over Edward, and using her fingernails, she drew a light, teasing line down his arms.

Her hips moved in time to the beat, drawing an invisible circle as she gyrated. She moved closer until she was standing between his thighs and could rub her hands upward over his jeans, stroking his inner thighs and then moving back down again.

A look of confusion crossed Edward's face. "What are you doing?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she moved closer to him, her torso brushing up against his inner thighs and sending pleasant bolts of electricity through his body. Bella leaned forward, giving Edward a good eyeful of her cleavage as her hands stroked down his stomach to the dangerous territory of his jeans.

He grabbed her wrist, steeling her movements. "Bella, what exactly do you think you're doing?" His eyes were dark with unmistaken annoyance.

"You paid for a dance, Edward. That's what I'm doing. I'm dancing…" She gave him a sweet, coy smile, and glanced at the hand currently wrapped around her wrist. She turned her body so that her back was facing him, and while he gripped her wrist, it didn't hinder her from moving her body.

Bella lowered herself until her ass was resting directly against Edward's crotch; she began to move, still in time with the music, against him. A small smile grew over her lips as something else began to grow beneath her.

"I paid for six dances because I couldn't get you alone to talk any other way. You're damn well not going to dance six times like this." Edward growled as he felt himself grow uncomfortably hard at the friction from Bella's warm body rubbing up against his crotch. While he had one of her hands secured, the other hand mischievously moved down to gently trail over the bulge in his pants. His body stiffened with a mixture of lust and anger, his grip on her hand tightening instinctively.

"Bella, stop it," he hissed as he grabbed her waist, tugging her against him in a desperate attempt to stop her.

Bella looked over her shoulder, her eyes meeting Edward's. "If you want to talk to me, fine, but I'm not going to stop dancing. If you don't want me to dance, then let me know and I can leave."

How the fuck was he supposed to be able to talk to her with her hot as fuck ass grinding up against his erection like that? Edward growled at the innocent look in Bella's eyes as she offered, just as sweetly, to leave.

He was aware that his grip on her was probably starting to get a little painful – not that Bella had made any sound to indicate so. The more sadistic side of him hoped that it left a mark on her. He had never met a more infuriating woman before in his life.

"No." He clenched his jaw. "Fine. Stay. Dance."

Edward slowly let go of her wrist, pausing just long enough to brush his fingers over the tender skin in a silent apology. He leaned back against the sofa and allowed Bella to continue. How am I going to sit through six songs of this?he thought as Bella bent down again, letting the hem of her indecently short teddy ride up to expose the skimpy thong she was wearing. If she kept this up, he wouldn't even be able to sit through one.

"But… rules," he declared, his green eyes dark as Bella turned around to straddle his lap. He hid a satisfied smile as his words clearly caught her off guard. "Dance all six damn songs if you must, but you'll have to answer every question I have for you."

Bella smiled triumphantly, although she didn't like the sound of Edward wanting to ask her questions while she danced. Normally guys didn't talk… They were too distracted. She especially didn't like where this was heading, with Edward. She nodded her head. He'd said nothing about answering honestly.

Bella turned her head so she could continue dancing. She placed her hands on Edward's thighs for support and began to grind her ass over him. Maybe if she distracted Edward, he wouldn't ask many questions.

"Why are you here, Bella?" His question was soft, gentle. Certainly not harsh and demanding, or judgmental, like she'd expected such a question from him to be.

Bella slowly moved her arms up her body, caressing herself through the fabric of her baby doll, to the ties around her back. Her hips continued to gyrate in time to the music as she considered his question.

She couldn't tell him the truth. But she could tell him some of it. Shrugging, she played it off as no big deal. "I need a bit of extra cash," she said.

Edward watched as Bella ran her fingers through her long, glossy hair, fanning out across her back and over her shoulders. He watched the baby doll slither to the floor, leaving him with an undisturbed view of Bella's soft, tantalizing curves. Catching his eye, she leaned over, cupped her breasts with her hands as if offering them invitingly for him to feast his gaze on. Edward drew in a sharp breath as he felt another heady surge of lust grip him.

It wasn't just the sight of her stripping off her clothes or her swaying body that had his cock chafing against his pants, but the way she bit down on her bottom lip, glancing up at him through her dark lashes, feigning shyness. It was that satisfied smile that danced on the corners of her lips as her eyes flicked down to his growing bulge and the way she stroked her hands over her taut stomach, down the soft skin of her inner thighs as she watched him, seeming to know just how much he wished they were his hands touching her like that. The coquettish smile she flashed at him as she slowly came forward to climb back on top of him seemed to say: I know what you're thinking. I knowexactlyhow much you want me. I know you hate yourself for wanting to touch me… to taste me…

His hips arched instinctively as she rubbed over his crotch, earning a low laugh from the vixen. Edward narrowed his eyes and straightened his back as he tried to focus. Focus! But how could he focus with the sight of that almost bare ass moving against him like that?

Edward wasn't sure he would be able to control himself. Not with her so close to him like this. Not after what he'd seen tonight.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to clear the cloud of lust from his mind. What had Bella said? She needed the extra cash? "Why?" he asked. Realizing that it sounded a little brusque, Edward added more gently, "Is everything okay?"

So one of his guesses had indeed been right. It was a financial thing. Although he wasn't quite sure why. She had a good job writing for the magazine. And it was hardly like she could be earning big money here at this seedy establishment. She could be easily raking in more at one of the higher-end gentlemen's clubs in town. She probably wouldn't even need to resort to such lewd, naked displays to earn half of what she was getting for them here.

Bella's skin pebbled under Edward's fingers as he ever so lightly brushed his hands over the narrowest part of her waist. Her breath hitched. Guys touched her all the time. They were constantly testing where the boundary lines were, and Bella would always subtly guide them to what was okay and what wasn't. It was a silent communication that didn't shatter the illusion that Bella wanted them, and it kept her safe.

Except, Bella realized, she did want Edward. Her body responded to him in a way it had never responded to any man before. And she'd been with a lot of men. He had so much power over her, over her body and her mind. She knew part of the reason why she didn't get along with Edward was because of the way he made her feel when she was around him. Except she didn't know why, and she certainly didn't want to know.

"Fine," Bella said. Obviously, he was refusing to be distracted. Why did she need the extra cash? She refused to tell him the truth.

"I've got a guilty secret," she murmured as she leaned forward, her clothed breasts swaying in front of his face. "Promise not to tell anyone?" Edward nodded his head, his eyes battling between looking up at her face and staring at her curves.

So do you think that Bella is gonna tell Edward the truth here?