A/N: This is, uh, NSFW. If that's not your thing, you might wanna skip this chapter. I just feel like the mating bond as Meyer describes would necessitate a physical connection, even if E is hesitant to fully give over to that side.

Also, I know I've been updating this story daily, but this'll have to hold you over for a couple more days... I need to figure out where I'm going with this.

THE SIXTEENTH TIME

When I stroll up to my apartment complex in the twilight, Edward is leaning casually against the brick, one ankle crossed over the other. He's wearing his leather jacket, white tee, and jeans. I swallow hard because he looks damn good. The insecurity I used to have regarding my body compared to his rears its ugly head and suddenly my old hoodie and jeans feel out of place.

He smiles as I approach, uncrossing his ankles and pushing off of the wall. "Hi."

"Hi." I can't help but smile back.

He prowls toward me and kisses my lips soft and slow. Removing my backpack from my shoulder, he leads me inside.

As soon as I close my apartment door behind us, he's lifting me up and I'm throwing my legs around his waist like it's some synchronized move. Our lips clash and I sigh into his mouth.

"I missed you." His voice is husky and low as his lips move to my neck. The words vibrate against my skin.

My hands tangle in his bronze hair, I yank firmly knowing I won't hurt him, that he likes it. He swears against my lips and I'm flying through the air as he tosses me to the bed. I bounce once and then he's surrounding me, his hands moving from my waist down to the hem of my sweatshirt. He pulls back from kissing me. "Can I?" Consent has never been sexier.

"Yes, please," I whisper.

In one swoop, he has my sweatshirt off and his lips caress down my chest to my stomach, land next to my hip bone; I let out an embarrassingly loud moan, which only prompts him to suck the tender skin harder. I shiver from the pleasure and the chill.

He is suddenly off of me, a breeze blowing through my apartment at his speed. It ruffles the baby hairs around my face. I raise up onto my forearms to find out where he's gone: he's plugging in the electric blanket. "Up," he commands.

Scrambling to stand, I kick off my shoes as he lays the blanket down, pushing me gently back on it so heat radiates up my back.

He looks down at me, his eyes tracing my cotton bra. And I mentally castigate myself - I should have lacier things. But then I realize he's about to take it off, because he's looking at me in question and I'm nodding as he leans down to kiss the tops of my breasts, which are heaving with gasping breaths.

"I need more," I whimper.

He watches me as he moves the straps of my bra from my shoulders. I arch my back so he can reach around and unhook the clasp. When it's finally removed, he gapes down at me.

I'm bare before him and he's looking at me like he's never seen anything more beautiful. When he leans down and takes one nipple into his mouth, my hands fly to his shoulders, gripping hard. "More."

Edward's hands lift me so that I'm straddling his hips. "Show me how to touch you." His eyes are smoldering, pupils blown wide so that his amber irises are like a ring of light in the darkness.

I'm a fucking goner. I unbutton my jeans and he moves so he can presumably watch me while I touch myself. My hand slips into my panties and he shifts slightly under me. "No, Bella," his voice trembles with barely held restraint. He pulls my hand out and replaces it with his. "Show me," he instructs.

Oh, fuck. His hand is cool on my center, smooth like marble. I shiver.

I move my hand inside to cover his and show him how I like to be touched. One finger circles my clit slowly with slight pressure. "I couldn't stop thinking of you like this," he whispers, leaning forward to kiss my pulse point. "It was driving me crazy." His tongue traces over the racing beat. "I need all of you."

Edward's a fast learner. I remove my hand and grasp his shoulders to hold myself up. His lips suck at my clavicle and I hope, I pray that he leaves a mark. It's got to be blasphemous.

My core tenses. He slips one finger, then another inside of me and I mewl. I'm riding his hand when I feel his teeth gently graze the side of my neck, feel the slight sting of a cut opening. A hitch in my breath as colors erupt in front of my eyes, blur around us like a hurricane. I come hard on his hand, shaking, my head lolling to his shoulder.

A grow fills my ears, an animalistic sound erupting from the back of his throat as I ride out the orgasm. When I still, he throws me onto my back, the heat of the blanket seeping into my bones.

My mouth is dry and my body is tingling all over; I can barely think. This supernatural being - my mate - is poised above me, venom dripping from his teeth, his cool breath coming out in puffs and fanning my overheated face. He looks like a demon or an angel, I can't decide. All I can think is that I want him to bite me. I want him to take some part of me for his own. I want him to claim.

I close my eyes and attempt to focus beyond the colors dancing across my vision; the overstimulated need that has my core throbbing; what must be the mating bond that fuddles our minds and creates this overwhelming need to give and take. I hear a ripping noise and feel cool air on my legs, at my center.

I lift my head just in time to see Edward's full lips suck at my breast; his fingers move back to my core to coax another orgasm from me. My heart thumps, the sound reverberating with my gasps, filling the otherwise quiet room. My core pulses as I climax harder than I ever have. A shout snakes its way past my lips, one that Edward consumes with his mouth, like he's trying to devour me whole.

"Can I?" I ask when he pulls back, hoping he'd let me touch him.

He shakes his head; a muscle in his jaw ticks. "I'm barely controlling myself as is," he bites out. His hand doesn't move from my core as I become one with the bed, melting, panting.

Oh, shit, is he going for another? "I need you…" he growls, his teeth scraping against the top of my breast.

Everything around us fades the black. The amber of his irises shines in the darkness like a beacon.

I lose count of how many times Edward makes me come - it's harsh pleasure and it's sweet pain, it's pure need. Part of my brain wonders if we should stop, if this will continue forever because he won't get release, so he makes me get mine. Over and over.

A noise far off in the distance slowly grows louder and louder.

Edward snarls as he pulls back, looking far more like a monster than I've ever seen. I'm completely bare before him, my panties in shreds on the bed, my breasts wet with his venom, my core throbbing and sore. My bra hangs from the chair on the other side of the room. His leather jacket is half on, half off; his white t-shirt wrinkled from my fists grasping it over and over. Moonlight streaks in through the blinds, stark against the shadows surrounding us.

The sound picks up again and I realize it's his phone ringing and ringing and ringing. I reach out and pluck it from his front pocket, his eyes are hard like steel on movements. The screen cracks under my eager hand and we both startle. I ease up on my grip.

Somehow, I can still see the caller ID: it's Alice.

I hold it up to my ear. "Hi, Bella," her voice is chipper.

"Hi," I wheeze, out of breath. There's ringing in my ears.

"It's past midnight." She says observationally. Like she's a scientist and we are an experiment.

"What?!" I sputter. Edward is still above me, eyes dark, looking wholly other. He sucks two fingers - the ones that were inside of me - into his mouth.

I nearly choke.

"You should stop now," Alice adds. "You do have class in the morning."

"Oh," I say, half turned on and half embarrassed, as I realize I'm fully naked and she's just seen us…

"Bella?" She questions, her voice still oddly cheerful.

"Huh?" I wheeze for the second time. Edward and I are locked in a staring contest, his hands clenched hard into fists, his knuckles are stark and luminous in the light from the full moon. I think about what it would feel like to have all of him inside of me.

"I'd really like to talk to you and Edward when I'm not interrupting your alone time."

"Okay," I breathe. I'm completely dazed, dazzled, lost to the physical world. I'm spent physically and barely there mentally because I'm wondering if he'd let me take the white tshirt off… his jeans…?

"Great! I'll see you in a couple of days!" She hangs up.

I blink a few times. Edward doesn't move. He becomes a statue.

"Damn," I whisper, nearly falling out of bed and grabbing my hoodie from the floor. I stagger into the bathroom like someone three sheets to the wind.

I need a cold shower.