A/N: I kinda sorta enjoyed writing this chapter...

Chapter 39

The Ferris Wheel

Edward's POV

We dragged our asses onto the platform and headed to the adjacent one, where we were catching the connecting train to the airport. This was when Mom rang.

"Hey, honey. You'll have to stay another night in Australia, I'm afraid," she explained with a sigh.

"Huh?" I uttered blankly, still fucking half asleep. "We're five minutes from the airport!"

"Your plane was grounded. I'm still getting information on it, but it's definitely not going anywhere for the next twenty four hours, at least."

"What do you mean it was grounded? We're in Sydney, Mom. We can't go back now!" I replied in frustration, reefing my hand back through my hair.

"Calm down, Edward. I'll arrange for a hotel for tonight." She sighed again, no doubt at me this time, but as the meaning behind her words became clear, my senses immediately snapped back.

Fuck...

My eyes darted to Bella's; her brow was knotting with obvious disappointment, but I only stared at her as the implications of my mother's words began to sink in. In the next instant I was fully fucking erect, my skin prickling with rapidly building heat, while my mind completely shut down.

"Edward? Hello?"

"Uh... yeah... W-which hotel?" I stammered.

"I'll book you one and get back to you. Hold tight for about ten minutes, okay, honey?"

"Okay," I answered, clearing my throat roughly.

"We're staying another night?" Alice asked, her face lighting up at the prospect.

"Looks like it," I mumbled, raising my eyes to meet Bella's again, and as usual I couldn't read her. She appeared to be lost in thought, and her face was slightly flushed.

"Yay!" Alice clapped her hands and jumped up and down like a fucking infant, but I was too distracted to react to her.

All I could really register was the fact that if Mom booked us a two bedroom hotel...

Jesus…

"Mom's getting us a hotel. She's gonna ring back in a moment," I explained, rubbing my forehead and focusing on the ground in attempt to rein in my building fucking erection, before I sat down on a platform bench.

Bella immediately sat beside me, grabbing my hand and squeezing it, and when I looked back into her eyes they hamstringed me. They were burning and a million emotions were coursing through them but the most prominent one was uncertainty.

Like the fucking Chihuahua on crack that she was, Alice bounded onto the seat beside me, promptly bringing me out of my suspended stupor by slapping me on the back.

"A night in Sydney! What are we gonna do?" she squealed in my ear.

I cringed away from her. "Calm the fuck down, will you, Alice—Jesus!" I burst impatiently, turning back to Bella.

She still looked just as unsure, before she did something that I was becoming increasingly familiar with; she reached up and tugged on her lower lip. When she caught my gaze she immediately snapped out of it, but her expression was still ingrained with apprehension.

"We could go to Luna Park?" she suggested, raising her eyebrows, while I stared at her completely fucking confused, before I realized that she was answering Alice's question.

"Cool!" Alice replied too enthusiastically, her voice going up another decibel.

I rolled my eyes and thought about shoving the little rat off the bench. Trust her to fucking know what Luna Park was; to me it sounded like a fucking mental asylum.

My phone rang. Mom gave me the name and address of the hotel she'd booked for us before explaining the situation with the plane further. I nodded, not really hearing her. My thoughts had begun ticking over again and I think I was running my hand through my hair and jerking on the collar of my shirt.

"I'll call you when I know more, give Alice a k—"

I hung up and turned to Bella. "The Somerset Hotel at Darling Harbor, do you know it?"

Her eyebrows pulled together and she tilted her head slightly. "I know where Darling Harbor is."

To get to Darling Harbor we took a train three stations away and got off right at Sydney Harbor, with the giant Hell Gate bridge looming ahead of us. Of course, Alice had to go all touristy and start overdosing on her excitement, until a very nice local offered to take a photo of us "three Yankees" with the bridge and the bizarre shaped opera house behind us.

We boarded a ferry which went under the bridge and made stops at various locations around the harbor. One of them was Luna Park; a small amusement park, where the entry was a huge creepy looking smiling face.

"Oh, that is so cool—we so have to go there!" Alice gushed and sprang up to take a few more hundred fucking pictures of it.

Bella only smiled and shook her head lightly to herself.

Pressing my lips to the side of her wind swept hair, I bent down to murmur in her ear. "Want to adopt her?"

She chuckled and nudged me in response. "You love the little rat."

I grinned but felt my brow bridge. "How do you know I call her that?"

Her smile broadened with open amusement, before she leaned closer to me. "Because, you mutter it to yourself constantly."

Chuckling, I draped my arm over her shoulder.

At Alice's insistence, we'd sat outside at the bow of the ferry. But even with the cool sea air, and spurts of mist washing over us, I remained over fucking heated.

And Bella was well aware of it.

We found the hotel without too much drama—in the sense that Alice asked a couple of guys for directions and they practically walked us to the entrance.

The Somerset Hotel was a multi-story building with views of the harbor.

I stood gazing up at it, my mind racing with possibilities, while my dick reacted openly to every one.

Bella squeezed my side gently, and when I looked down at her, she was staring at me with her head slightly tilted, and that goddamn smile taking shape on her lips. "You okay?"

Two words we spoke way too fucking much to each other.

I grinned down at her and opened my mouth to reply, when Alice grabbed Bella's hand and hauled us inside in another fit of excitement.

They were expecting us. Alice did the talking, and once the concierge had given us a scrutinizing once over—obviously not liking the idea of having the three of us walking around—we were given the key, and sent in the general direction of the elevators.

I walked stiffly at best. I was suddenly an exposed nerve. I felt like I was going to burst and then I was going to fucking die. I was heated to the point that the collar at my neck was damp, and my skin felt charged, as if any touch would release a spark of energy through me that I'd go through the fucking ceiling. And my fucking dick refused to listen to reason.

I held steadfast to Bella's hand, and allowed her to lead me. I was restless, and I was so fucking horny that even the friction of walking caused me endless torture.

Bella noticed; she didn't miss much with me. In fact, she seemed to be pretty in tune.

After pulling me into the elevator behind her, she squeezed my hand and then prized it free of my grip. Glancing down at it, she openly grinned to herself, before wiping her palm on the front of my shirt.

"Very funny," I said lowly, attempting to convince her that I was pissed off, but she didn't fall for it.

Chuckling softly, she only wrapped her arm around my waist and snuggled closer to me.

Shaking my head lightly, I released my breath, and rested my arm on her shoulder.

Alice glanced over at us, rolling her eyes and huffing shortly. "I hope you two will remember that I'm sharing this room with you as well."

"Als, when I slept over your house you kicked me out of your room when Jazz came in, remember?" Bella teased her, her tone slightly incredulous.

"I did not kick you out!" Alice insisted.

"Well, what was I supposed to do—hang out and eat popcorn?"

I groaned and dipped my head, massaging my forehead with my fingertips. But I was secretly glad that the conversation was helping to stem the blood flow from my dick—at the bare minimum.

The elevator came to a halt with a 'ding', and the doors opened.

"As if you didn't want an excuse to hang out with my diaphoretic brother anyway," Alice replied, nudging her before practically skipping out into the foyer.

"Amusing, pixie-stick. Been googling again have you?" I said dryly.

She only looked back at me over her shoulder and flashed me a smug grin. Sighing, I hauled my bag over my shoulder, lifting Bella's suitcase with my other hand, and followed the little rat out.

Alice stopped at the door of our room and fumbled to unlock it. I placed Bella's suitcase down behind her for a moment, just as a burning surge of energy swelled within me.

Fuck me, I never knew it was even possible to be this horny.

I dragged the back of my hand across my brow, almost subconsciously, relieved that I wasn't dripping with sweat, at least.

But it was only a matter of time.

Bella picked up her suitcase then grabbed my hand and pulled me inside.

The room was less of a hotel and more of an apartment. It was fully equipped with a kitchen, laundry, living room, and two huge bedrooms.

While the little rat inspected the suite like a hyperactive poodle, Bella walked toward the bedrooms. I hung back and watched her—I needed a fucking moment to pull myself together, and disconnect my dick from my brain, before I even contemplated sharing a room with her.

She seemed to hesitate, before looking over her shoulder and catching my gaze. Her eyebrows rose slightly, and she bit down on her bottom lip. I only stared back at her, at her slightly cautious expression, still having no fucking idea what was going through her mind.

Was she letting me know she wasn't so keen on the whole idea all of a sudden?

I couldn't even presume, because despite the fact that her expression remained slightly guarded, her eyes were an ocean of contradictions.

Or, maybe I was just having a fucking panic attack at the idea that she might be stalling.

Of course, Alice then ran straight past her into one of the rooms and leaped onto the bed, loudly announcing, "I bag this room. You two can have the other one."

I took a couple of steps and stopped beside her. "You can share with Alice if you want, Bella."

She turned to gaze up at me, and I shrugged, completely fucking clueless. Quirking an eyebrow, an amused looking grin twitching at her lips, she opened her mouth to reply when Alice snorted loudly.

"Yeah, right." The little ferret scoffed, before springing up from the bed and walking over to us, raising one of her cocky, all knowing eyebrows. "Your room is that one, Bella and Edward." She motioned with her thumb to the adjoining room before slamming the door on us. "I'm going to have a shower."

Scoffing to herself, Bella broke into a small smile, turning to me. "Not that I wanted to share with her, she talks in her sleep more than you do."

We walked into the second bedroom, with Bella playfully nudging me through the doorway. I grinned to myself, freaking stupefied, dragging my fingers roughly through my hair for the fiftieth fucking time that day.

I'd lost the fight to keep my erection at a dignified level, especially when Bella dropped her suitcase at the foot of the bed, then dragged herself lazily to the middle of it, flopping stomach down with a long sigh that ended with a muffled groan. Flipping herself over, she pushed the heels of her palms into her eyes and rubbed them in a frustrated way. Releasing my bag from my shoulder with an exhausted breath, I placed it beside hers, and when I looked back over at her, she was giving me a funny look with her eyebrows bunching together. "You're doing that face again, Edward."

Then without warning, she leaned forward, grabbed me by my t-shirt with both fists and pulled me flush on top of her. I almost stumbled and came crashing against her with my full weight.

But I quickly realized it was just to snuggle with me.

She curled on her side, forcing me to mine, and wrapped her arms around my waist, laying her head on my chest.

"Just stay here with me for a minute," she mumbled, squeezing me tighter and closing her eyes.

I relaxed against the pillows, not really believing it was actually possible at that moment, before curving my hand around her hip. "Bella…?"

She took another deep breath and released it into a hum in answer to me.

I quickly kissed her on the top of her head and untangled myself from her arms. "I might have a shower too."

Okay, so I jerked off in the shower and actually contemplated a second time. I had no choice really, because if things were still status quo with Bella, if she still felt the same way she did at the bonfire, then I knew I'd be lucky to last twenty seconds. And that wouldn't be something I wanted her to remember for her first time—for our first time. But if Bella had changed her mind, and I couldn't for the life of me work out if that was the case or not, then if I stayed as strung out as I was, I would attack her, or I'd fucking throw myself out the window.

Afterward, I was only moderately at ease. My mind was still buzzing with the possibility and keeping my body on continuous high alert. And Bella was giving away no clues.

One part of her looked half scared to death, and she continued doing every little mannerism to validate it. But another part of her was relaxed and carefree, and she was suddenly a lot more hands on. In fact, by the time we left the hotel again to get something to eat, I almost needed to go back in the shower for round two. Bella's hands barely severed contact with me, and my skin was almost literally fucking tingling with her.

We walked around Darling Harbor looking for a place to eat. I was just as hungry as I was horny, and the idea of a meat pie and sauce in a café made me feel almost openly hostile. As it was, we decided on seafood and while I ate, with a little too much relish, I admit, Bella seemed more interested in watching me than eating herself. Mingled with her smile, she stared at me as if she was outright surprised. Yet every time I caught her gaze, her eyes flickered away and clouded with that uncertainty again. It fucked my appetite, and it was soon all I could focus on.

Whether or not Bella had changed her mind.

That's how it remained with her into the evening; she was at ease and smiling in that seductive fucking way, putting her hands on me and teasing the shit out of me, only to go cold turkey and withdrawn—then start doing shit like the lip tugging. She'd always snap out of it after a few moments and relax again, but it left me feeling like I was in suspended animation. I was too much of a pussy to ask her about it, because I was so fucking hung up on it that I'd probably burst into tears if she told me she wasn't ready.

The rational part of my mind told me two things. The first was that she was a virgin and regardless of how much she told me she was ready, it was natural that she'd be anxious about it. And the second thing was that if she wasn't ready I'd have to deal with it. In reality, after two weeks of being together with her, I had no right to expect her to want to have sex with me.

At around seven, we decided to catch a ferry back to Luna Park. It came alive at night; we heard the screams of people on the rollercoaster from across the harbor, and it drove the little rat into a fits of fucking excitement.

Amusement parks were not really my thing and I was glad that Bella seemed as reluctant to go on any of the rides as I was. She did the lip tugging at the prospect and while I tried not to over-analyze any comparisons, I used it as an excuse to get out of it as well—with a whole shit ton of relief. When I told Alice I was staying with Bella, she'd smiled up at me all grateful and fucking gorgeous, and I was forced to give Alice a silent warning that if she ratted me out I'd throw her into the harbor.

While Alice went psycho on the rides, Bella and I had our own fun riding the dodgem cars, the ghost train—which scared the shit out of her so much she ended up practically strangling me to fucking death—and playing the carnival games. She was as generally abysmal at them as she was at pinball, but since I'd won her everything she'd pointed out, she became insistent on winning me something in return.

I attempted not to laugh, but it wasn't easy, and in the dart and balloon game I was in physical pain trying not to. After several attempts, where her dart bounced off the balloons and fell to the ground, she decided on a new tactic; she threw the dart so that it spun around. It ended up ricocheting off a balloon, almost taking the guy's eye out that was running it. He eventually gave her a prize if she agreed not to play anymore. She picked out a stuffed crocodile, which she whacked me with when I slung my arm over her shoulder, no longer able to hold it together.

Dropping my head, I buried my face into the crook of her neck. "I'm sorry," I mumbled against her skin only to snort back another urge to laugh through my nose. She sighed loudly, but good-naturedly, before I lifted my head and kissed her on the side of her face. "You're funny."

"It's concerning how much amusement you get out of me, Edward." She rolled her eyes and nudged me playfully, before her attention was suddenly caught by something in front of her. Grabbing my hand she pulled me forward.

"Where are we going?" I asked, releasing her hand to wrap it around her shoulder again.

She pointed it out. "The Ferris wheel—want to go on with me?"

Fuck.

I froze, stopping midstride staring up at the contraption. It stood taller than the rollercoaster with caged carriages that would fucking trap us inside. And the very idea of getting inside one of them, especially with Bella beside me, made me want to go fucking fetal.

Bella curled her arm around my waist and snuggled against me before she immediately pulled back and gazed up at me, her forehead creasing. "Edward, what's wrong? You're … trembling."

I shrugged it off and smiled down at her in a pitiful attempt to put her at ease. "I'm fine. Just cold, I guess."

Her brow immediately shot up, cynically. "You're cold?"

Okay, not the smartest thing to say, but what was my alternative? Tell her I was afraid of the fucking Ferris wheel? As appealing as that was, my other option was to say nothing, get on with her and freak the fuck out like a giant pussy.

"Edward?" I looked down at her; she was staring at me, this time with her eyes widening with concern. "You okay?"

Those two words again.

I took a hurried breath before my courage waned. "I'm good, let's ride the bloody Ferris wheel."

Grabbing her hand, I pulled her forward, telling myself over and over that the last time I'd had a melt down over heights was when I was twelve and this was just a Ferris wheel, not the Sears Tower. I could handle it.

When we got in the line, I let go of her hand and shoved both of mine in my pockets. I was restless, my pulse was starting to race and I needed all my concentration to keep from wimping out.

Bella just stood next to me in the line, staring up at me, and biting on her lower lip. Worry lines were creasing her forehead, but she didn't say anything. I knew she definitely wanted to; her mouth opened and closed several times, but she eventually shut it, before pulling my left hand from my jeans pocket and held it tightly. She wasn't buying any of it, but she didn't hassle me; instead, her eyes barely left me.

I tried ignoring her while reminding myself again that it was just a fucking Ferris wheel and I'd be okay. But, by the time we made it to the front of the queue, I was definitely regretting it. My stomach was in knots and I was as tense as a fucking board. I stubbornly shoved it back, pissed off at myself, silently demanding I stop being a fucking pussy and get control.

Then we stepped into one of the carriages and sat down. I was okay, I'd made it that far; I was half way there. I tried to take a deep breath but my lungs felt restricted. I managed to get enough oxygen to calm myself and smile over at Bella, but then the guy shut the cage on us.

Breaking into a cold fucking sweat, my heart suddenly felt like it was going to tear through my chest.

Then the thing started rising.

The charade was up; I wasn't fooling anyone—least of all Bella. I grabbed the bars of the cage with both hands, closing my fists around them so tight my knuckles turned white, sitting stiffer than cement and unable to fucking breathe.

"Edward," Bella asked softly, her eyes were huge and I saw how fucking terrified I was reflected in them, "you're scaring the hell out of me."

And we continued rising.

"Bella, I-I'm not good with heights," I confessed stiffly, unable to inflate my lungs, and I needed fucking air.

She took a long breath, before shaking her head at me, and breaking into a smile. "You dope—why didn't you tell me?" She moved to sit closer to me and the carriage started rocking.

"Jesus—fuck—Bella! Don't move!" I burst, my voice rising with panic. I was shaking like a fucking leaf, my heart was going into overdrive, and I felt like I was going to pass out!

"Okay—okay." She held up her hands cautiously. "We'll go around once and get off. Can you handle that?" Her tone was soft and soothing, but I was fucking gone.

I could handle going around once—I'd just fucking make it at that point—but the freaking thing reached the top and then stopped, rocking back and forth.

And I made the catastrophic decision of looking out.

Right then, I knew if I didn't get off I was either going to puke in front of Bella or burst a fucking blood vessel in my brain.

This pathetic half groan, half whimper sound escaped me. My head was spinning, my ears were ringing, and my stomach was fucking churning; I felt like absolute death. Letting go of the bars, I slumped forward, and with my elbows on my knees, I dragged my fingers rigidly through my hair. I kept my eyes squeezed shut, as I concentrated desperately to expand my lungs and get a fucking grip, but I was failing miserably.

This is when I felt Bella's hand rub up and down my back gently. "Are you okay, honey?" Her voice was soft and tender before her hands moved into my hair.

And despite my fucked up condition, and while struggling to take a full breath, a goofy grin broke across my face.

She'd called me honey. Not Edwud, but honey.

I grabbed one of her hands using it for leverage—and to stop myself fucking shaking. "Bella, I-I need you to d-distract me."

I felt her body heat as she came toward me, but my blood was running ice cold through my veins. It was so fucking foreign; especially, with Bella beside me. She squeezed my hand and released it, circling her arm around my waist. Then with her free hand, she wiped my hair back—that was matted to my forehead. I cleared my mind and concentrated only on her. She leaned in and kissed me close to my ear, and again at my temple, keeping her lips pressed against my skin for a few moments. I took an uneven, rigid breath, attempting to use the feel of her to calm myself.

"Hey…" she spoke softly against my ear; her breath flooded me, making me feel slightly more off balance, but I held onto her voice. "Remember what I told you at the bonfire, about what I wanted to give you?"

My breath caught and my heart fucking stuttered, but I wasn't sure if I was hearing her correctly. I was half out cold and hanging on only by the barest sound of her voice.

I think I managed to groan out a pathetic excuse for a reply.

I felt her lips again, warm against my temple. Her breath was wavering—she seemed to be trembling, but then I couldn't tell if it was me or her—before her lips brushed softly back to my ear. "Well ... I want to give it to you ... tonight."

My breath stopped short, my fucking heart slammed to a halt and I was instantly buzzing. Lifting my head sluggishly, I met her gaze; she smiled at me, her eyes endlessly fucking deep. I just stared into them, in shock. My head was spinning, but I couldn't look away. I was drowning in them, while the heat flooded back through me until my skin began to burn cold.

Bringing my hand up to her cheek—it was trembling beyond my control—I ran my fingers across her skin. Almost apprehensively, she moistened her lips just as my eyes dropped and zeroed in on her mouth. I leaned toward her clumsily as my heart pounded without a fucking break against my ribs. She reached up and tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear and just as a smile was curving on her lips—just as her eyes met mine, I pulled her to me impulsively and kissed her.

I could feel the motion of the carriage dropping back down, and sway back and forth with our movement, but none of it had the effect on me that she did right then. I was lost in her, lost against her lips and the feel of her trembling body against mine, and all I wanted to do was to lose myself further. At one end, my dick was alive and fucking furious, but my heart was swelling and choking me. I felt out of control and thrown off balance, both at once, and all for her.

This girl was it for me, there was never going to be anyone but Bella, and right at that moment nothing was clearer.

We were going up again; I felt the motion in the pit of my stomach, I felt the night air running over my ignited skin and carry Bella's hair across my face. Reaching out I pushed it back gently, before pulling from her lips, and planting mine against her forehead. I paused for a moment, grazing my nose across her skin and into her hair, before I took her mouth with mine again. I was breathless and light headed, but as my lungs fought to expand, all I could focus on was the taste of her lips, the smell of her hair and the feel of her hands as they ran over my face and neck.

The carriage stopped again and swayed lightly in the breeze. I felt the temperature at the back of my neck; I knew we were at the top again, but the concept to be afraid had left my consciousness. I continued to be flooded with emotion—to the point that it was beginning to overwhelm me. I couldn't process it; I couldn't see or hear, or fucking feel anything other than this moment with her. My senses felt heightened but completely fucking compromised at the same time. I felt like I was bursting open and nothing fucking mattered any more.

I pulled back, stumbling against her, my nose sliding with hers. I was shaking beyond my control, and the smell of her was intoxicating me further.

Bending my head, I pressed my lips to her throat, before dropping them to the curve where her neck met her shoulders. She was quivering and I was suddenly overcome again. Wrapping my arms around her back, I pulled her tighter against me, and merged by lips back with hers.

She opened her mouth further to me, kissing me deeper and fucking deeper, completely drowning me in her. She kissed me until I lost myself in her, pushing me right to the edge of control. Then slowly, her hands—that were curved around the back of my neck—slid to my face, before her mouth closed and she seemed to pause.

Her lips were still connected to mine, when I felt them curve into a smile, before she pulled back. "We forgot to get off," she murmured teasingly, chuckling softly.

"I don't want ... to get off," I whispered, my voice breaking and rustic as I pulled her back to kiss her.

Again she let me go right to the fucking brink before eventually pulling back, sighing breathlessly as she bowed her forehead with mine.

"We have to get off," she said softly, before she brushed her nose playfully with mine.

Taking a heavy breath, I hummed in reply, pressing my lips to her cheek one more time, before I released her, wrapped my arm around her shoulders, and sat back in the seat.

We were coming down. I glanced around me and immediately felt myself lock up and turn rigid again. Bella grabbed the back of my neck, forcing my head down, until my forehead was resting against her chest. I could feel her heart; it appeared too fast, and too heavy to me, but focusing on it was distracting.

About half way down we stopped, and I could feel the panic begin to set in again—no matter how close Bella held me to her. My heart seemed lodged in my throat, and I was becoming dizzy almost as much as I was pissed off at myself.

"Close your eyes," Bella instructed me softly, curling her hands tighter around my neck before I felt her drop her face against my hair.

Without another thought, I raised my head and connected my mouth to hers.

"Do you need me to distract you again?" she mumbled half against my lips, before parting hers to kiss me deeper without waiting for me to answer.

I made some gasping, vulnerable fucking sound, engulfed again by her and by what she'd promised me—what she was doing to me.

We eventually reached the bottom, before the guy came forward to unlock the gate, smirking at us fucking mockingly. I grinned back at him, and must have looked as fucking drunk as I felt, because he only snorted to himself and opened the gate for us to get off.

Grabbing my hand, Bella pulled me out, and with shaky, unsteady legs I let her lead me through the crowds.

When we were clear, I pulled her against me and headed toward a darkened, grassy area by the harbor. With each step I took, the more the energy shifted in me, and by the time I pressed her up against a tree in a shadowed corner, I kissed her more intensely than I ever had previously; while the current that was burning through my veins was pure physical desire and nothing else.

I had one hand in her hair, the other around her naked waist—exposed by her shirt that had inched higher up her stomach as her arms wrapped around my neck—while I practically lifted her off the ground. I was letting it get away from us, but fuck me if I could stop. The primitive part of me that I'd been fighting ever since the day I'd laid eyes on her had finally won out. I surrendered myself to it for the moment, letting myself get lost in her physically, because at the back of my mind I knew when I got her back to the hotel I'd have to be more in control. As much as she was responding to me, I knew she was nervous; she was trembling all over. I could feel it in her skin, in her arms that clung to me; it resonated against me, keeping me from fully succumbing to her. But she sure as hell didn't kiss like a virgin, and as charged up as I was she was so fucking tempting.

I needed to get my bearings.

"Jesus ... Baby..." I groaned, pulling out of her mouth and struggling to take a breath.

She chuckled softly, partially beneath her breath, before pressing her hot lips to my face, slowly and repeatedly.

"We should go back," I said, my voice rustic, as if I was losing it, before kissing her briefly on the lips and loosening my arms around her; letting her slip to her feet.

She only clung to me for a moment, and resting my chin on top of her head, I closed my eyes, letting the buzzing calm within me.

Then, with fumbling, shaking hands, I pulled my iPhone from my breast pocket and called Alice.

"Hey!" she yelled into the receiver before I could utter a word. "I met a cool group of people and they've invited me to a pub crawl after—you and Bella want to come?"

I was confused for a moment, trying to wrap my head around this person that was my sister. "Pub crawl? What? Are you completely fucking mad?" I exclaimed, becoming impatient. "We're leaving."

"It's still early!" Her voice rose with annoyance.

"Alice, Bella and I are heading back. If you don't come in five minutes you can find your own way," I snapped. I was being an asshole, but I was too fucking strung out to care.

She snorted. "Okay, okay, spare me the details. Where are you?"

"By the Ferris wheel."

She scoffed this time, sounding smug. "Get on did you? Wish I was there to take a snap shot. That wou—"

I hung up on her, rolling my eyes, and shaking my head to myself as I did.

Bella was grinning to herself in amusement, her arms folded across her chest to protect herself from the cold air coming off the water.

Wrapping my arm around her, keeping her close to my soaring body heat, we walked back to the Ferris wheel.

. . .

"What the hell have you been doing? You look like death!" Alice exclaimed, a few minutes later, scrutinizing me with suspicion before her eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to be subjected to this at the hotel, am I?"

"We went on the Ferris wheel," Bella answered for me, as if it was all very innocent.

Alice glanced at me dubiously, her brow raised. Her smirk was mocking, yet slightly impressed, before she turned back to Bella. "You do know he's deathly afraid of heights, don't you?"

Bella smiled to herself, turning it on me, before answering, "Um ... well, I do now."

Alice did one of her over dramatized eye rolls, but thankfully, remained silent.

We headed to the pier to catch the ferry back across the harbor, stopping once when Alice insisted we have our photo taken in front of the creepy smiling face of the entrance.

When the ferry docked, we were the only ones that boarded; it was the last of the day. Alice sat outside taking more pictures of the night-time harbor while Bella and I sat inside the cabin. She was cold and, I was willing to bet, just as nervous.

We sat in silence for a few moments, while Bella played absently with my fingers as her trembling eased—reassuring me a little that she really was just cold.

Kissing the side of her head, I pulled her closer to me—despite the armrest that separated us.

"Have you always been afraid of heights?" she asked, her tone soft, breaking the silence.

"Hmm ... not always," I answered, turning to gaze at her, before taking a resigned breath I elaborated. "Just after my father died, I started having these reoccurring nightmares that I was falling. For about a year after, a couple of times a week, sometimes more, and always the same dream. We lived in Chicago, so one day Mom took Alice, Emmett and me to the top of the Sears Tower. I was okay until we got to the top and I looked down. I went completely nuts, and then Alice started screaming; which only made me freak out more. Ever since ... well you've seen what happens…" I broke her gaze, recalling how fucking pathetic I'd been and feeling my face burn. Removing my arm from around her, subconsciously, I rubbed the back of my neck.

Bella only grabbed my hand and brought the back of it to her lips, and when I met her gaze again she smiled at me sadly. "Do you still have that dream?" she asked.

"No, not really—rarely, now," I replied, shaking my head. "Maybe once a year and when I'm feeling crap about something." I shrugged.

She squeezed my hand, before bringing it to her lips again, running the tip of her nose along it, almost as if she was distracted. "I'm sorry, Edward—about your dad," she said eventually.

"Yeah," I mumbled, nodding my head slowly as that heavy feeling that was once a dominant part of my life crept up on my chest, but I shrugged it off with an edge of impatience.

Bella was quiet for a moment, her focus on me as she rubbed my hand with her fingers, her forehead knotting. "How did—" she began, before cutting herself off.

I cleared my throat quietly. "A boat accident," I answered the question that she'd abandoned. It was hard; I didn't like thinking about it, let alone speaking it out loud. But Bella had let me see all the dark secrets of her past and it only seemed right that I did the same. "My dad and my uncle were fishing, the ocean was pretty rough and their boat capsized…" I paused, needing to clear my throat. "They both drowned."

She only continued to stare up at me, her eyes wide; her brow furrowed and stricken.

"Oh..." was all she said, her voice barely a whisper, and despite myself, I broke into a small smile.

"It's okay, baby."

A tender smile lit up across her face before she rested her head against my shoulder.

"I barely know my father," she confessed a moment later. Her voice wavered slightly, making my emotions immediately switch from frazzled to pissed off.

What I knew about her father, I'd learnt from Alice. He was in the navy and Bella—his daughter—seemed to be an inconvenience to him. He sounded like a first class fucking asshole, and in response, I pushed the air on my lungs angrily through my nose shortly, attracting Bella's attention.

"Hey"—she nudged me playfully—"no doing that face."

When I turned to her, she was doing that fucking smile, and I realized how incredible she was. She was braver than I was, a shit ton more resilient, and she was in a hell of a lot more control.

Curving my elbow around her neck, I dragged her closer to me to kiss the side of her head. "Am I going to have to restrict your time with my freaky sister?" I teased her before I buried my face into the wild mess of silk that was her hair and took a heavy breath.

She only chuckled to herself, half beneath her breath, before she stood up, pulling me with her.

The ferry was docking...

A/N: Edward on the Ferris wheel I wrote from personal experience. I am deathly afraid of heights. I got brave once and went up the Centre Point Tower in Sydney, and had a major freak out. I plastered myself against the wall, hyperventilating, until a security guard hoisted me over his shoulder to carry me out. I was 18, and had my knickers flashing for all to see. The security guard was kinda hot, but as I tried not to puke over him, I couldn't get a good perv in ;)