A/N: I'm going to try and get the next Chapter out on time but I've been sick for the past few days and creative juices haven't exactly been flowing :( However, I think you'll enjoy what I have here for you :)

This chapter was Beta'd by follytop, she's wonderful and all mistakes are mine :) I've never really been one to use Betas, not sure they're for me... the whole process just isn't my cup of tea but I figured I'd give it a shot for a chapter or two and see how I feel.

Anyways, you obviously know that I'm not Stephenie Meyer, I just like to pretend. Hope you enjoy! -K

"This is ridiculous; I mean, why would I even contemplate this?" I asked, flopping down on the couch beside Rose and kicking my feet up. Alice chuckled from where she sat in my recliner, her feet elevated and her hands rubbing her swollen stomach.

"That's my brother for you; a bastard but a glorious one. Ever since we were kids, Edward wants to save the world one person at a time."

Rose chuckled at the mock disgust on Alice's face and wrapped her arm around my shoulder so I would lean against her for support. "Look doll, all I'm saying is that it's a great opportunity and he seems like a great guy." I scoffed and Alice laughed, "okay, maybe he's not a GREAT guy, but he's obviously hot under the collar for you and he wants you to have a better life. Maybe that's because he's selfish, but hell, so are all men and this one can afford to take care of you."

"I've never needed to be taken care of before Rose and I don't need to be taken care of now."

"There's a difference between having never been taken care of and having never needed to be taken care of, Bella."

I tilted my head back to look at her face, "who are you and what have you done to my man hating friend?"

Rose let out a laugh, "I'm not man hating just… whatever, men suck."

Alice giggled, "Jasper aside, men do suck. My brother is no gem, I won't lie on his behalf, but I've also never seen him act that way about another woman before."

"Act what way," Rose and I asked in unison. "Jinx," Rose added and I rolled my eyes.

"I don't know, there's just something… different about him. Even Emmett said he's been distracted a lot the past couple of weeks. Edward doesn't do distracted; he's a workaholic."

"Distracted threatening my clientele," I mumbled petulantly and Rose bumped my shoulder while Alice laughed. This was their first time they'd met but they seemed to hit it off pretty well, at least they both thought Edward was good for me and my job was bad for me. Go figure.

"Your clientele isn't hard to spook, hon. They're all spineless assholes; sorry not sorry."

Now it was my turn to shove Rose, "get me a coke, bitch."

She rolled her eyes and got up off the couch, "want anything, Alice?"

"Oh just a water, please." She turned back to me, "Bella, I'm not saying you should run off and marry Edward or anything. God knows it would take a miracle for that man to make that sort of commitment to anything but his company, but he wouldn't have made an offer like that unless you were really something special." I opened my mouth to protest but she held her hand up. "Look, just… get to know him. I know that it's an insane offer and I don't think anyone in their right mind would expect you to accept it - except for Edward - but I'm just saying you should get to know him."

I thought about what Alice said all evening and I knew she was right. As I lay in bed that night, I couldn't help tossing and turning. One moment I was cold and the next I felt hot, tossing the covers aside and letting the stifling air cool my bare legs. It was just after midnight when I got a text from him. "Open up" followed by a knock on my front door.

It was a giddy feeling that I wasn't accustomed to that filled my chest as I hopped out of bed and raced barefoot across the apartment. He was standing at the door, his shirt untucked from his slacks and his jacket hanging from his shoulders looking slightly askew. I stood there in my underwear and a tank top feeling unashamed as his eyes wandered my body, his eyes turning dark with lust. "Hi," I breathed after a second and he smiled my favorite crooked little smirk.

"Hi." Edward wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me to him before backing me into my apartment, pushing the door closed behind us. "You look so sexy, so beautiful," he murmured against my ear before his lips were on mine. I moaned into his mouth as his tongue delved into me and explored me in the expert way that only he seemed to know how. A hand on each hip, Edward lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist then he carried me to bed.

It only took a few moments before he was buried inside of me, hip to hip and skin to skin. "Oh God," I cried as he pulled out and thrust back in. My nails found purchase on the bare skin of his back and seemed to give him and animalistic drive as he continued his punishing pace. It was torturous and rough, the way that he gripped my hips and lost himself in me.

"Touch yourself baby, I can't.. ugh.. I can't last much longer," the need and strain in his voice only added to my arousal. I reached between us and found my button of nerves, swollen and needy and it felt so good. Before I knew it, my toes were curling and I felt the coil of heat inside of me winding tighter. Edward thrust into me once more and I came spiraling down, my breath leaving me in a scream as my orgasm overcame me and I saw white.

Two more thrusts of his hips and Edward followed me into oblivion, stilling as he emptied himself inside of me and we rode out our orgasms together. "Fuck," I breathed and he chuckled, placing soft kisses on my lips and across my heated cheeks.

"I hope I didn't wake you," he commented in good humor, standing up and walking to the bathroom. He returned with a warm wash rag for me to clean myself up, tossing it in the hamper after I was finished and climbing into bed beside me.

"I couldn't sleep," I admitted, getting comfortable in his arms and allowing him to pull the covers over us. Edward smoothed my hair out of my face and placed a kiss on top of my head, obviously waiting for me to elaborate. I contemplated then sighed, "your sister was over today, she and my friend Rosalie seem to think I should take you up on your offer." Edward seemed to tense and I realized he was holding his breath, it was almost cute. "Well actually Alice thinks you're insane, but she does think I should get to know you better."

He chuckled, "isn't that what we just did?" I elbowed him playfully and he laughed, pulling me closer, "get to know me, huh? What exactly do you want to know Miss Swan?"

I contemplated his question for a moment, thinking back to everything we'd discussed over dinner the other night. "Where are you from?"

"Chicago."

"How'd you end up in New York?"

"My dad's a Doctor, Carlisle, and he was hired on at Langone Medical Center when I was in High School."
I traced patterns on his chest and wondered what his family must be like. "What about your mother?"
"My mother, Esme, is an interior designer. Mostly freelance, she just sort of dabbles now and likes to redecorate our offices."

I pictured a mother that popped in to rearrange furniture and it made me giggle. It must be wonderful having a mother who wanted to be involved in their lives. "You and Jasper seem very close; I notice you refer to him as your brother most of the time."

"Jasper and I have been best friends since 7th grade. You could say that we grew up together; we went through everything together, girls and high school, college. The girls were more for me though, Jasper's had his eyes on Ali since the first time I brought him home. Caused more than a few fights between us in the beginning, but Pix likes to say they were meant to be. They were dating when we moved here and they did the long distance thing for a couple of years, then Jasper moved here to go to college with me and Em."

"Are you all close, you and your siblings?"

"As close as we can be, I guess. Emmett and I are just over a year apart, while Alice and I are only separated by ten months. It was sort of nice though, having an older brother who looked out for me but was also going through a lot of the same things as me. Sure we all fight and stuff-what family doesn't-but mom always encouraged us to have a pretty close relationship."

I liked the way that he talked about his family; the love in his voice when he said their names made my heart hurt. I'd really only considered it me and my dad for a long time, my mother was gone long before she was ever really gone, but Charlie had never really been the type to show emotion. I knew that he loved me, he knew I loved him. Beyond that, we'd spent most of our nights in silence in front of the TV. "Three kids in two years, I can't even imagine."

Edward chuckled, "my parents are crazy about each other; even now, almost thirty years later, they can't keep their hands off of each other. It was sickening as a kid, but now I've grown to respect the strength of their relationship. I hope to have that one day," he added quietly and my heart skipped a beat.

I ignored the way my breath seemed to be choking me as I tried to press on with my interrogation. There was too much emotion in this, too much lust and uncertainty in everything; I needed to learn as much information as I could. "Where did you go to school?"

"I went to Harvard for a few semesters but I ended up dropping out to start the company with Emmett and Jasper."
"Wait.. you dropped out of Harvard to start a multi-million dollar company," I asked, astounded. This man was my age… well, a year older. I'd yet to make it to college and he'd already dropped out and started a promising career.

"You sound like a reporter," he chuckled and then winced when I smacked him on the chest. "Yes, I dropped out, much to my parent's disappointment. I used my inheritance from my grandfather to get the business off the ground and didn't see much use in an institutional education when I had come this far on my own."

"Emmett graduated the summer after I dropped out and Jasper just graduated this past spring. They each divided their time and muddled through, but I'm a one track mind kind of guy. Once I set my sights on something, I won't stop until I have it and nothing else seems to matter." I looked up from the hole I was drilling into his chest with my eyes and found him watching me, his gaze intense. My lip found its way between my teeth and I began to worry it. "Bella, say yes."

I swallowed back my fear and shook my head, struggling to find my voice as I responded, "I can't, Edward. I can't just let you take care of me; I have to do this for myself."

"You want to go to school, I know; please just let me take care of you while you go. You don't have to move in with me, unless you want to," his words caused my heart to stop beating and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Move in with him? That was an option? I barely knew him; surely this man was unstable. "I want you to be able to leave your past behind and start living a new life. Go to school and forget it ever happened, if that's what you want, or remember it and use it as motivation. I know this is not the life that you want Bella; I can see it when I look into your eyes. Your soul is so beautiful, so kind; you've done what you had to in order to survive, now let me help you make your dreams come true."

"It doesn't work that way," I began to protest but he flipped me onto my back and had me pinned in a second. I could feel his hard length against the skin of my thighs as his face hovered inches from mine. Even in the darkness of my bedroom, I could see the heat in his eyes.

"I am not a patient man, Isabella. I would never force you to do anything you didn't want to do, but you will be mine. I always get what I want, Bella, and you are what I want. I won't stop until you give in and, trust me, you will give in." He found my lips urgently and I gasped, allowing him entrance into my mouth as he lined himself up and thrust inside of me.

I cried out, fighting to free my wrists from his grip where they rested above my head but he only squeezed harder until it was almost painful and I stopped fighting him. "That's right, Bella," he growled, thrusting one-twice-three times until I was on the edge of the familiar cliff he drove me to. "It's so much easier when you don't fight me baby, just give me what I want and I will make all of your dreams come true." One more thrust and I cried out again, "I will give you the moon and the stars, all you have to do is ask and I will be your slave."

"Oh please," I begged, the words leaving my lips before I could comprehend them. The last thing I saw before I lost control was the smirk of a shark, calculated and ready to make the kill. Edward swiveled his hips just right and I was gone to all senses, crashing down in waves and screaming out his names in jumbled syllables that barely made sense.

He followed right behind me, allowing me to milk him for all he had to offer then collapsing on the bed beside me. Neither of us bothers to move or attempt to clean ourselves up. Instead, I curled into his side in a way that felt so natural to me and everything was gone within seconds.

PS: obviously I started out with chapter titles and that didn't last... never been very creative with those. I'd love to hear what y'all have to say for chapter names going forward? I made it to 4, but 5 and 6 are a blank. Well... 5 and 6 and everything else hehe. -K