Chapter 27 - Distraction

Bella woke with a start, her body clammy with cold sweat and her senses on full alert. Her mind reeled with a foreboding that something was askew, out of place, out of balance, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was.

A noise had woken her, of that she was certain, but now all she could hear was the abnormally loud and thunderous beating of her heart and the occasional muffled howl of the snow-laden winds that still raged outside.

Then she heard it again; the quiet swooshing of something moving nearby. What was that? Scurried footsteps? A rustling of clothes? Heavy breathing?

Without lifting her head off the pillow, she directed her eyes towards the sound and became acutely aware that there was a silhouette of a person standing right next to her bed.

She squinted fiercely, as if narrowing her eyes would somehow grant the ability to see more clearly through the darkness of the room. Judging by built and height she took it to be a full grown, male figure. Could it be Edward? She sure hoped so, or else the situation was about to turn awkward real fast.

The chances of it being an actual intruder was thankfully pretty slim, but then again, none of the Cullen guestrooms had locks on their doors, so in theory anyone could waltz right in and do whatever. Damn, a taser gun would have been convenient, but nope... She was completely unarmed and would have to resort to old-fashioned hand labor if worse came to worst.

Just then, a slight movement registered in her peripheral vision. A hand came looming into sight. Her reaction was instinctual. With a practiced move, she grabbed a hold of the man's wrist. The surprise element worked in her favor. Using her good arm, she had him in an effective joint-lock in no time.

The response was instant, and came in form of a string of colorful curse words that was delivered in an unnaturally high-pitched, yet very familiar voice.

"Why hello Edward, you sound sort of pained," she greeted him calmly, giving his arm a final squeeze, before loosening her grip.

"F*ck, that bloody huuurt and you know it!" he grimaced in discomfort, pulling his arm close to his chest.

"Well good! You deserve it for sneaking up on me like that."

"'Scuse me, but you were snoring loudly and drooling on yourself. I thought you were asleep for sure."

"And you heard and saw this from outside the room, though the door? I don't think so!" Side-eyeing him accusingly, she scrambled to rearrange the comforter. "Ever heard of knocking before entering?" she added, once she was sure the fabric was covering what needed to be covered without outlining or emphasizing shapes and curves that shouldn't be emphasized.

Edward merely shrugged and then unceremoniously plopped himself down on the mattress next to her.

"What the hell!" Bella sneered, scooting herself as far away as she could get without falling off the bed. "What do you think you're doing? And is that alcohol I smell on your breath?"

"I'm a big boy. I'm allowed to drink if I want to." He wasn't slurring, but he wasn't far off either. "I've had a helluva day, I deserve a f*cking break!"

"You sound like a bratty seventeen year old right now," she told him pointedly. "And my original question still stands. What the heck are you doing here?"

"I'm doing what every seventeen year old male would do…" he smirked at her, snuggling closer. "Getting comfy, of course,"

"You have some serious boundary issues you know that, right?" Bella grunted, nudging him in the ribs with a not so gentle elbow. His closeness was unnerving, but ducking away wasn't an option, seeing as she was already teetering on the edge of the mattress.

"Damn, someone's crrrrranky!"

"You think?" Bella reached for the bedside lamp and the light flickered sharply. "I'm sorry, if my mood isn't rosy enough for you. You're not the only one that's had a less than stellar day. Do I need to remind you of the bandage on my arm? The one I got after I cut my arm open on a broken car window; a car that YOU wrecked!"

"Please, spare me your opinions about my driving. I've already heard them all." he answered, the obnoxiously smug tone of his voice replaced with an odd sort of seriousness. "I know I messed up. It's all I can think about; the red stains in the snow and the way your eyes rolled back into your head as you passed out. I see it every damn time I close my eyes."

Sighing, he shifted on the bed and brought a hand up to ghost over the bandage that peeked out from beneath the sleeve of her T-shirt. His touch was feather light; almost not touching at all, yet for Bella it felt every molecule in her body was taking notice.

"Edward, don't…," she sighed,not liking where this conversation was headed. "I'm sorry if I made you worry, but as you can see I'm fine, no serious injuries to speak of."

"Are you mad at me?" he asked, and then added, almost angrily, "You are almost always mad at me for one thing or another."

"No Edward, I'm not mad at you. However I can't say I'm particularly happy with you at the moment either. I mean, barging into my room in the middle of the night, reeking like a liquor store… What were you thinking?"

"I'll tell you what I was thinking…" With no fanfare and no warning, he put his hand behind her neck and pulled her closer until her forehead was almost touching his. "I was thinking we should talk. You're leaving and there is so much scsshit still up in the air."

His breath was warm against her cheek and the unmistakable scents of whiskey and cigarettes mixed with a subtle, masculine odor, invaded her senses. The urge to shudder was overwhelming. Revulsion, she told herself firmly, that's all it was. He was not getting to her that easily. No way, no how.

"It's the freakin' middle of the night!" She shut her eyes tightly and counted to ten, but when she opened them again he was still there, still staring intently at her. "Clearly I didn't twist your arm hard enough when I had a chance, or you're simply too dense to take a hint."

"I don't care what time it is. I'm not going anywhere," he declared stubbornly and drove his hands into her hair as if he was anchoring himself to her.

"Geez, you're like a leech, there is no getting rid of you, is there?"

"Nope," he responded in a determined tone, letting the roughened pads of his fingers stroke the bare skin above the neckline of her T-shirt. This time there was no stopping the shudder that ran down her spine.

"See, I knew you'd come around. You want me here…just as much as I want to be here." His lips curled upwards as he cupped her chin and forced her to look him in the eyes. "We can talk, or we can fool around. Either is fine by me. It's up too you."

"All right, you caught me… I find your drunken nonsense hugely appealing and can't bear the thought of being here without you… alone… sleeping in a quiet, empty, room ... alone. Just me and lots and lots of uninterrupted sleep. Who would want that? Not me. Nope…"

"Hey now, I'm not so wasted that I can't detect sarcasm."

"Are you sure? You seem a bit slow on the uptake. Let me break it down for you. Stop hogging the mattress! I want some breathing space and I want it now! You'd better get out of my face before I have to hurt you!"

Something sounding suspiciously like a giggle escaped his lips. "Aww, but I just wanna talk. Talking is GOOD. Talking is our FRIEND. Talkiiiing is what NORMAL people do."

"Yeah, well here's the thing, I refuse to have this conversation, or any serious conversation, with you, when my ass is cramping from hanging halfway over the edge of the bed."

"Ops, sorry," he apologized, with a sheepish laugh. "Wouldn't want that fabulous tuschhh of yours to go numb."

"Then get moving, you big lug!"

"I'm working on it." Rather than just backing away, he quickly, and quite abruptly, cradled her to his chest, and rolled them both backwards until they were laying sideways, face to face, at the dead the center of the bed.

"Better?" Edward asked, looking mighty pleased with himself.

Bella bit back a strangled groan of frustration. Her arm throbbed in protest and then the room swirled for a second, before righting itself. "You're making my head spin, and not in a good way," she finally managed to utter.

She was half expecting her stomach to lurch. It didn't, but once the initial wave of dizziness had subsided, she became acutely aware that the comforter, which had been doubling as her security blanket all this time, was now bunched up in a tangled heap underneath Edward on the bed. Even more alarming, though, was unmistakable sensation of something hard and warm pressing against her thigh. Only Edward would get turned on from bickering like a pair of high school kids. He was one horny bastard, that one, that's for sure.

Another cause of concern was the knee between her legs and the hand resting on her hip, dangerously close to her swollen abdomen. And on top of everything else, her hormones had chosen that exact moment to run wild on her. In a matter of seconds there was wetness where there shouldn't be, and an ache that had little to do with her wounded arm and everything to do with the close proximity to hard male flesh.

Great! Just great! If Edward got wind of this, he would never back down.

Her mind screamed at her to act, to put some distance between them. "Distract, delay, delude" it chanted over and over again, but how could she distract him, when she was utterly and completely distracted herself at the moment?

He said he wanted to talk, but talking was off the table. It was safe to say that they were both going to need a clear and rested, not to mention sober, mind for that.

Sadly, sex was a no-go as well. She was feeling flabby and bloated all around and had pretty much resigned to the fact that she wasn't going to be getting naked with anyone for a very, very a long time.

Now, kicking his ass out of the bed, however satisfying it would be, wasn't an ideal solution either. Despite her threats, she wasn't prepared to try and physically remove him from the room. There was a pretty big risk that he wouldn't go quietly, and waking the whole house was something she most definitely wanted to avoid. But frankly, it wasn't like she had a shitload of options to choose from.

Distract, delay, delude… she needed to do something, fast… While her mind was still busy going over the pros and cons in her head, her hands had already made the decision for her. Without even realizing what she was doing, shehad reached for the waistband of his sweatpants. Damn hormones!

"On your back," she heard herself bark in a strangely hoarse voice.

This was going to come back and bite her in the ass, big time, but if a god ol' hand job wasn't distraction enough, she didn't know what was. Edward seemed to be in agreement, because he was quick to obey, scrambling to lie on his back like a good little puppy. And WOALA… there was that breathing space she had wished for.

With a little bit of tugging and a lot of wiggling, she managed to get the comforter not only freed, but back where it belonged again - wrapped around her body, toga style this time. If Edward thought she was acting strange, he didn't let it on. It seemed almost too easy. Now all she had to do was to keep him distracted… Oh, and keep her hormones in check. How hard could it be?

Speaking of hard… With all the wiggling that had been going on, Edward's already quite visible bulge had grown to monstrous proportions, straining against the front of his gray sweatpants.

''You say you wanna talk, but are you sure talking is what you really want me to do with my mouth?"

She watched his breath hitch at her words and smirked. His breathing was becoming laboured, and she hadn't even touched him yet.

With the comforter still wrapped firmly around her, she straddled his thighs. It gave her immense satisfaction to see his stomach muscles clenching in anticipation. What she didn't like though was the way his roving hands went straight for her hips.

"I want you gripping the headboard!" she told him, him using her most commanding voice, which, unfortunately wasn't very commanding at all. The effort to hold it all in-, hold herself together, made her sound breathy and weak. Apparently though, it must have hit a nerve with Edward, because he complied to her wishes almost instantly, but not without planting the soles of his feet against the mattress first.

This new angle of his thighs bought on a shift in balance. Bella found herself tipping forward, sliding almost all the down to his groin. She caught herself on her hands and knees just inches short of a homerun. His erection was trapped between their bodies, so very, very close to her aching core. Leaving her feeling awkward and vulnerable and more turned on than she could ever remember being in her life.

It took a great deal of willpower not to rub herself against that bulge, against those thighs, against any hard surface really. However, reality put a damper on things. There was only so much weight her injured arm could take before it threatened to cave. Before she knew what had happened she found herself stuck in a twister like pose that was far from comfortable.

Edward found her predicament highly amusing. "You're looking a bit shaky there, tiger."

"Let me down, you cocky bastard! If I tear my stitches, it won't be pretty! "

"What stitches? I'm pretty sure you didn't get any stitches."

"Ugh.. You know what I mean!"

"Fine, " he relented, letting his thighs sink down into the matters again. "I expect a reward though, for being such a good sport."

"What did you have in mind?" she asked, already straddling his thighs again, tugging at the drawstring that held his pants together. She saw no point in dragging it out any longer than necessary.

"I'm sure we can work something out," he groaned as her knuckles, 'accidentally' brushed against his arousal.

After a few moments of picking at the knot, she got it undone. Actually, in her determination to move things along, she managed to get the drawstring completely separated from the rest of the fabric of his sweatpants. She hadn't planned it that way, it just sort of happened.

The string was of the elastic kind, so it stretched and snapped against Edwards lower abs, causing him to jerk quite violently in surprise. Some colorful words could be heard, but there was also some serious twitching going on in the nether regions.

Edward's eyes were suddenly growing dark and heavy-lidded and gawd… he looked adorable all flushed like that.

She did it again, letting the string snap against his hipbone this time.

Edward moaned, the sound definitely one of pleasure this time. "Bella, what are y-"

"Relax," she told him. "I promise I'll make it good for you."

"You're making me nervous with that thingy," he whined, trying, but failing to grab the drawstring from her hand.

"Why is that?" she asked. "It's soft and thin. It doesn't chafe or scratch. I bet it would look great around your wrists, don't you think?"

"You're tying me up?" he gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously.

"Now that's an idea worthy of consideration," she smirked. "What if I am? Would that be a problem?"

His hesitation was visible, and Bella could almost see the conflict raging within him. His fear of being restrained versus the undeniable pull he felt for these kind of power games.

"Just my arms?" he asked, for clarification. "I'll let you do it as long as it's just my arms."

"Just your arms," she agreed, letting a hand slid down to palm his arousal. "… and perhaps maybe a blindfold?"

"You're not playing fair, Bella," he growled low in his throat.

"You want me to stop?" She accented her question by squeezing him tighter.

"Yes! No! Christ! Just give me a second let me think," he all but whimpered. "Will you still be here in the morning?" he panted. "If I agree to this, you won't disappear like you did last time?"

"You have my word," she promised him somberly." I won't leave until we've had that 'talk' you've been insisting on. And unlike all the other times the times in the past, you'll actually listen to what I have to say before you pass your judgment."

He nodded vigorously, because, really, what else could he do, she literally had him by the balls. While she knew it didn't mean much, she still hoped he wold remember and honor his part of the deal in the morning.

She realized she was still fondling him and him go. He let out what sounded like a whimper at the loss of her touch. This was just too much. Clutching the comforter to her chest, she inched away from him. Part of her wanted hurry the fuck of and get it over with already. Another part, a bigger part, told her to savor the moment, because she might never get the chance to touch him like this again.

While she was fretted over her decision, Edward's hands had found their way to her hips again. Stubborn bastard! Shaking her head, she crawled off of him and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

"I'm gonna use the bathroom real fast, but when I get back I expect to see you in your full naked glory."

"You'll let me see your sch-… schpec-… spectacular tits this time?"

"Do I need to explain the concept of a blindfold to you?"

"Just a quick peek; a nipple, some cleavage, something… anything…" he pleaded, pushing himself up to kneel unsteadily at the center of the bed. Without the drawstring, his sweatpants hung so low on his hips that it looked like there might be a wardrobe malfunction at any moment.

Bella fled the room while she still had control over her mind and body.

She let out a deep sigh when she had closed and locked the door, relieved to be in the sanctuary of the bathroom.

There, hanging on a wooden hanger, was the terry robe that Esme had lent her. It was ridiculously thick and plush, with a fit that could probably be described as the complete opposite of slimming. Sometimes though a little bit of bulkiness could be strangely forgiving on the curves. At least that was the effect that Bella was hoping for.

Trading one armor for another, she let the comforter fall to the floor and hurriedly slipped into the robe. Guiding the heavy fabric over the bandage on her arm proved to be darn near impossible. The robe was simply too snug in the area around the armpit. The T-shirt would have to go. It was either that, or losing the bandage all together, with all the risks that would entail. It was an easy decision.

Deliberately avoiding the mirrors in the room, she disrobed again and pulled the shirt over her head. By the time the robe was back on again, with the sash tied securely around her waist, her pulse had become so erratic she feared she might pass out.

Was she really going through with this? Was she really going to do this?

There was no question that she wanted him; that she wanted to do this for him… with him. Surely, one more deception wouldn't matter at this point. He was bound to hate her either way. Besides, it wasn't deception if she wasn't lying, right? She REALLY wanted this, with every fiber of her being. That was no lie.

The decision was made. As she unlocked the door, it wasn't just her doubts she was leaving behind - no, her panties had somehow gone missing as well.