Chapter 35

It was three days before Christmas. Paul was teaching Bella to make bread rolls. He was standing behind her in his kitchen, and they both had their hands in the sticky dough. But Paul had difficulties concentrating on the job at hand; Bella had her hair tied up, leaving her long neck free for his mouth to roam.

"Don't we need more flour? It's quite sticky," Bella asked, spreading the dough between her fingers.

"Nah, it's good to be a bit sticky, harder to make but more delish to eat."

He kissed her neck and trailed his tongue to the point where the jaw met the neck, and sucked lightly. Bella shivered against his body.

"Marry me, Bella," Paul whispered.

Bella's breath hitched.

Silence. Paul closed his eyes, squeezing them tight. His heart was beating out of his chest.

"Did...Did you just ask me to marry you?" Bella whispered, staring at her hands that had frozen into the bowl.

Fuck, shit, FUCK! he hadn't planned to ask her now, but it had popped out of his mouth without thinking. FUCK! There was no turning back now.

"Yes, Bella, I asked you to marry me. Will you marry me?" He asked, and he held his breath. His whole body was rigid, fearing the worst possible outcome; she would leave him.

"Yes, Paul, I'll marry you. I'll marry you tomorrow if you want," Bella said, thickened with emotion.

Relief washed through Paul's whole body, and he breathed a long shaky breath. Their hands were still deep in the dough. He tugged his hands out and wiped most of the dough to the edge of the bowl.

Bella giggled and started to pull the dough off her hands with her fingers, only getting them messier still.

Paul went down on his left knee and took Bella's sticky hands into his.

"Isabella Marie Swan, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" Tears formed in Bella's eyes, and Paul felt his eyes getting wet too.

"Fuck Bella! Oh, baby."

Paul got up to his feet and hugged her tight. He couldn't believe he had asked her, and she had said yes, just like that. And all the time he'd spend worrying. Fuck she said YES!

He lifted Bella to the kitchen island and stepped between her legs.

"I was so fucking scared you say no and run a mile," Paul said, feeling the tears prickling in his eyes, and he kissed her deeply. He was still shaking.

"Poor baby, I would never run from you," Bella said softly and hugged him tightly.

Paul tightened his arms around her and breathed in her scent. The green tea was there, her shampoo, but she also smelled of cinnamon and cardamon; they'd been baking gingerbreads earlier.

"After what you told about Bane and how he wanted to get married, and you didn't, I just thought I would only scare you, and you would end up leaving me. But I had to ask. These past few months have been crazy, and just thinking you being away from me and not marked as mine had been making me crazy. It sounds possessive as fuck, but you know me, I'm possessive of you." Paul wanted to get it all out there.

Bella looked at him and wiped the big tear that ran down her cheek away with the back of her hand. A small piece of dried dough stuck on her damp skin. Paul wiped it away. There was some flour on her forehead too. She was so fucking cute.

"It was before I fell in love with you. Before you, I thought I'd never marry," Bella said and kissed him. "I'm as much possessive of you as you are of me. It has been so hard to watch all those women drooling after you all the time. I mean, seriously, it is almost comical to watch them check you out wherever you go. But I've noticed that most of them check if you have a ring on your finger. I've tried not to care, but it's so damn hard," Bella said while she outlined the logo on his t-shirt with her doughty finger.

Paul lifted her chin, urging her to look at him. "You never said you felt like that," Paul said softly.

"Well, we talked about my insecurities after that terrible Halloween party. And even you said there is no need to be jealous or insecure, I just can't help it, and I'm so tired of that shit. I don't know if it will put any of those women off you, but I want a ring on your finger as soon as possible, and I've been thinking about tattoo rings without names in them," Bella told him, looking at him.

A huge smile spread on Paul's face. She wanted his fucking name on her skin. Damn!

"You would love that, huh?" he asked, not entirely believing what he had just heard her say.

"Yeah, I would."

Paul felt his heart swelling out of his chest, "Jesus, woman you are incredible. I love you so much."

"Yeah, I'm fucking awesome," Bella grinned. "Should we wash our hands? Mine are itching."

Paul helped Bella down, and they went to the sink to wash their hands. After drying, Paul grabbed Bella into his arms and carried her bridal style to the couch.

"Practicing, eh?" Bella asked, amusement in her eyes.

Paul chuckled.

He sat down and placed Bella on his lap, straddling him.

"Where do you want to get married?" Paul asked. He had an idea but wanted to hear Bella's thoughts on the matter.

"I really don't care, baby. I don't need anybody else than you," Bella said. "Before you, I'd never thought I would get married, so I haven't planned my weddings like many girls my age have. I know my friends would love to be there, but they are all so far away, and I don't want to wait. I don't want to organize anything. We can celebrate with friends later if we want to. My father is probably ok about the idea of us getting married may be thinking that it is too soon, my mum would say it's crazy and would flip her shit, but I don't give a damn what she thinks. She has interfered enough. I'll tell them later. What about you? What do you want?"

"I just need you, baby," Paul kissed her. "What if we make it to the Courthouse in Port Angeles and, after the registration, go somewhere for a few nights?"

"Yes, somewhere, we do nothing else than stay in bed and eat. Food that someone else makes. I know you love to cook for me, but I want you, mister, all to myself in our bed."

"And I might know just the place." He was thinking about the place where he worked about two years ago. They had built awesome tree houses in the middle of a beautiful forest. That would be an excellent place for them. Isolated, he could prepare their food beforehand so they could only heat it in the oven. He felt his excitement rising.

"Do you trust me to make the bookings? I'll check what they have free in the Courthouse in Port Angeles after Christmas. Or if there isn't anything free, I'll call Seattle."

Bella would return to Seattle on the fifth of January, so they had to make it before that. He didn't want to let Bella go back to Seattle unmarried still. He needed the damn ring on her finger. They would need proper rings too, which he already had for them both. Yeah, he had really thought about this for a while now.

"Yes, of course, I'll trust you. Your plan sounds perfect," Bella leaned down and kissed him. She molded her body closer to him, sliding her hands under his t-shirt and deepened the kiss. Paul's body reacted to her instantly, but his mind was otherwise occupied now. Well, that is definitely a first.

"Should we get the tattoos next time I come to Seattle? We don't want our fingers sore on our honeymoon, do we?" Paul asked, smirking.

"Mm-mm. We definitely don't want our fingers sore on our honeymoon," Bella mumbled into his neck and nipped his earlobe, making him hiss.

"Sorry baby, I have to make the arrangements now. I can't concentrate before all is set. I make a few phone calls. It might take a while to get things organized. I want to surprise you where we are going after the registration."

"Eager much," Bella giggled.

"Damn right I am!"

"Ok, Mr. Ants-in-his-pants, I'll go and read in the bed. You've been distracting me from my reading, and the book is getting exciting; I might soon know who the murderer is," Bella got up from his lap, kissed him, and left.

Paul watched her closing the door behind her, and then he looked up the number for the Courthouse. Waiting to get through was killing him. He felt so fucking antsy. He was going to ask if there was anything free on New Year's Eve. He knew it was a popular wedding day, but he could always try. Finally, after 45 excruciating minutes later, he got through, and luck was on their side: there was a cancellation on New Year's Eve, and he booked the slot without a second thought. They would have enough time to get all the paperwork done.

The next call was to his boss. He had to ask few extra days off from work, and he needed the contact details of the place he was thinking about. He was going to call the guy that owned the business. They had come along well when he had worked on the site.

His boss was excited to hear his plans to get married and gave him four days off after New Year. The amount of work they've done before Christmas was paying off; it would be slower for the next couple of weeks. He got the number, and the owner Greg was pleased to offer them his best tree house for half the price. Fucking awesome. He pumped his fists in the air and cheered silently. Bella would be all his soon.

He could hardly contain himself when he went to the bedroom. He found Bella reading on their bed.

"All set," he grinned. "We're getting married on New Year's Eve. We're going to the Courthouse at 1 pm. They have witnesses for us and then three nights at the secret location."

"Are you serious!?" Bella tossed her book and glasses away and jumped into Paul's neck.

"Yeah, baby, I'm fucking serious. We're getting married in a week and three days." Paul was so happy he felt like crying again. He'd become a fucking crybaby.

Bella was crying. "I'm so happy, Paul," she said and kissed him. Paul kissed her tears away. They just stood there and held each other.

Then Bella pulled him to the bed with her.

"Let's have a nap. You didn't let me sleep last night," she said, yawning.

"You can sleep all you want when you're not with me. With me, there is no time to sleep." Paul nuzzled her neck but yawned himself.

"Ok, let's have a nap." Paul wrapped his arms around Bella, who molded her body against Paul's frontside. Paul draped his leg over Bella's, and they fell asleep.

Paul was sitting on the edge of his bed. He had just woken up from their nap and felt a bit disoriented. He had fallen asleep with Bella in his arms but found them empty when he had stirred from his sleep. He hated waking up alone; he couldn't lose the feeling that she'd left and was not coming back. But before he had too much time to wonder where she might be, Bella wandered into the bedroom. She was reading and finishing a banana. Damn, she looked cute in those reading glasses. She popped the last piece into her mouth and was heading to the bathroom when she noticed Paul had woken up.

"Oh, you're up," she mumbled, mouth full of banana.

"Yeah, I'm up alright," Paul smirked, "C'mere."

Bella sat on his lap and tossed the book and her reading glasses to the bed.

Paul sniffed Bella's banana breath and kissed the corner of her mouth. Then he kissed her on the cheek and nipped the ear lobe.

"Can I fuck you, baby, please?" Paul whispered. He kissed his way along Bella's jaw to her lips and kissed her lightly. The banana-tasting kiss turned very heated very fast, and he wanted to eat her. Bella straddled him and started slowly and torturously to grind against his hard rock dick.

"You would love that, hmm?" Bella whispered to his mouth and moved her hands to Paul's head, dragging her nails on his scalp. Paul's eyes turned back to his head, and he moaned loudly.

He fisted his right hand into Bella's hair while the other moved to her ass, pressing her harder to meet his hard erection.

"Would love that very much indeed," Paul said, thrusting his hips with a loud groan. He was losing his mind about how good she felt on him.

Bella arched her back, undulating her hips on him. Her long hair almost touched the floor. Paul drank the sight before him. Bella wasn't wearing any bra, so her aroused nipples pushed through the white t-shirt. Paul licked his lips and thrust harder, skimming his hand on her flat stomach under the shirt up to her chest. Bella moaned.

"Yeah, me too, but ..."

Bella said and straightened her back, slowly smiling mischievously. She raised her forefinger and pushed it into Paul's chest.

"... right now, YOU are going to make me some dinner, and then I will fuck you." Bella pecked Paul quickly on his cheek, got off his lap, and went to the bathroom giggling.

Hot damn. Paul was so stunned that for a while, he just sat motionless on the edge of his bed. Then he groaned and fell onto his back on his bed.

"You are killing me, woman." He said to the closed bathroom door.

He laid on his bed, rubbed his face, and sighed. Then a smile started to spread to his face, and he soon grinned like an idiot. That incredible woman would be his wife soon. Fucking wife! Life could not get any better than this, could it? He hoped that marrying her would ease some of his anxieties about losing her and would make those fuckers at the college fuck off.

He pushed himself off the bed and left to the kitchen. He had planned to make some fried rice of the leftover rice from yesterday. It would be ready in no time, so they would be fucking sooner than later, but not soon enough if you asked Paul. They did have all night, though, so he could be patient.

Paul smiled and started to pull ingredients out of the fridge.

He was chopping carrots when Bella came to the kitchen.

"What's for dinner?" Bella asked and snatched two chopped pieces of carrots from the chopping board.

Paul grabbed Bella's wrist, pulled her tightly against him, and grabbed her ass. He pushed her against the fridge door, grounding his erection into her. She moaned loudly and grabbed Paul's hair to pull his mouth to hers.

The doorbell rang when their lips were about to meet.

"Fuck," Paul groaned, "let it ring. Whoever it is will leave if we don't open the door." He leaned back to Bella's mouth, but Bella stopped him with her forefinger on his lips.

"Hey, we have all the lights on, and music is playing. We can hardly pretend we're not home. I'll get it. You do your thing," Bella said and brushed her palm over Paul's prominent erection. "We'll finish this later." She nipped Paul's ear lobe.

Paul slapped Bella's ass with his tea towel, and she squeaked and left to see who was at the door. Paul turned back to cutting the carrots when he heard a strange woman's voice coming from the door.

"Who the fuck is that?" Paul mumbled, dried his hands, and went to the door.

On the porch was a vaguely familiar woman with curly red hair.

"Merry Christmas, daddy-to-be," the woman said, placing her hands on her swollen midsection.

What the actual FUCK?!