Hello everyone. Sorry for the late update. It's been really, really tough since my attack. I don't really want to get into it on here. Please just enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter Forty-Two

"You love me?" I asked again, moving to sit up on my bottom.

Edward blushed, covering his face slightly as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Um, shit, I'm sorry. I didn't mean—,"

"I love you to," I blurted out, my eyes widening at my own words.

He looked at me in surprise. "You do?"

I blushed; well, I had said this much, I might as well keep going.

"Yeah. I-I think I do," I nodded before looking down. "I've been… I don't know, I've been thinking about it for a while and I came to the conclusion the other night, when we were watching movies. I do love you."

A smile very slowly started to grace his face. "Really? You do?"

I nodded. "D-did you mean it?"

"Yes, I one hundred percent meant it. I love you, very much," He grabbed me and pulled me against him, snuggling me. "I have felt this way for a very long time and every day I just fall more and more in love with you. I wasn't planning on saying it so soon because I didn't want to overwhelm you, but I love you, so much."

I placed my hands on his cheeks and kissed him deeply before whispering. "Don't break my heart please. I've never loved someone before."

"Never," He whispered back. "I love you Bella Swan."

"I love you, Edward Cullen."

The Next Morning

I woke up with a big stretch and found that I was cuddling with someone. I slowly opened my eyes and started to scratch his stomach with my fingernails in a subconscious motion as I slowly woke up.

"Good morning," Edward said in a sleepy voice. "You're awake now. Finally, I've only been waiting for the longest time."

I chuckled and looked up at him, my head still on his chest. I smiled widely.

"Good morning." I said. "How'd you sleep?"

"Best sleep I've ever had," He said as he pulled me up to kiss me on the lips. "I love you."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh god, am I going to hear that constantly?"

"Every second of every day. I love you so much Isabella Marie Swan."

I rolled my eyes and sat up. I yawned and started to stretch. As I stretched, Edward's hand reached forward and gently started stroking my nipple. I laughed when he leaned forward and sucked the nipple into his mouth.

"I know it's too soon again," He said, letting my nipple go, "You're probably sore. I just want to touch you."

"Pervert," I giggled.

He growled and rolled me onto my back. He sucked on my neck, pressing his semi-hard cock against my center. I felt myself getting wet.

"As much as I'd love to fuck again—,"

"Make love," Edward corrected.

"I am sore," I giggled again, but wince slightly when a small, cramp-like pain appeared. "Do you have Advil? Or something?"

"I do," He said, "Got you a whole thing of medication last night."

"You went out last night?"

"No," He said as he got out of the bed and walked to the decorative table. I smiled as I watched him walk, my eyes zoned in on his very sculpted ass. "I texted the people in the front. I got you a couple other things too, I wasn't sure what you'd need."

He grabbed the bag and came back to the bed, sitting next to me. He handed me a bottle of fancy water and medication that was also in a fancy bottle.

"Are you drugging me?" I asked as I tossed back three pills.

He chuckled. "It's from Denmark. It comes from the fancy grocery store. My sister swears it's better than regular Advil."

"Mm," I said as I looked through the bag; there was a variety of care items in it, ranging from a face mask to panty liners. It made me snort and shake my head. "Well, thank you. I appreciate it."

He leaned over to his nightstand and pulled a red box out. "I have something else for you to."

"If you're going to propose, I'm going to say no."

He chuckled. "No, no. I'm not proposing. But I did want to give you something special. I had been planning on giving you this for a while now, but I thought, I don't know, now would be a great time."

He plopped the small box on my lap. I smiled at him before opening it. Inside was a key on a nice keychain. I smiled.

"Is this a key to your apartment?" I asked.

"Yeah," He smiled. "I figured I'd get you a key to start with. I figured you wouldn't want to move in with me yet."

I chuckled, smiling as I looked up at him. "Thank you.

He leaned forward and gave me a deep kiss. "So, I was thinking, how about we spend the whole day together?"

I cocked my head. "And what do you want to do?"

"I don't know. Lay around in bed, watch tv, order takeout. Nothing over the top. I just want to spend time with you."

"As much as I'd love that, I do have work tonight." I said, "I do need to sleep today."

He groaned, "Quit your job," he grabbed me by the waist and rolled me on top of him.

"No," I laughed. "I love my job."

"Such a liar. I don't like you being there by yourself with all those criminals." He said.

"It's where we met," I snorted.

"Ah, c'mon, call out. Please," He begged. "Please, please. I'll let you use my body however you want."

"Oh how tempting."

He chuckled and kissed me on top of the head. "Fine, we'll just sleep today."

My finger traced his chest. "You know, there would be something we could do that would make me call out."

"Oh yeah? Name it and we'll do it."

I looked up at him. "I want to go to your strip club."

He made a face and sighed heavily. "Jeez, this is like the tenth time you've asked."

"Well take me. I want to see it. I've never been in a strip club before." I said. "I want to see some naked women."

He groaned. "You're such a strange freaking woman."

"So, is that a yes?"

He inhaled deeply. "Yes. I will take you. We'll have dinner there."

I grinned widely. "Yes!"

He laughed and shook his head, pulling me down into a deep kiss.

Fantasy

"Wow, what a great name." I said sarcastically.

Edward snorted. "I was eighteen when I opened this place. I'm not creative. Shut up."

I laughed. "It doesn't look sketchy."

"It's not. It's an upscale gentleman's club," He said as he shut the car door behind me. "Are you absolutely sure you want to have dinner here? Like one hundred percent positive?"

"Yes Edward. For the millionth time, yes. I want to see your strip club." I chuckled. "I don't know why you're nervous. I just want to see the place that made you."

"It didn't make me, it just got me started." He sighed softly. "My mother hates this place."

"Yeah, but I'm not as… refined as your mother," I chuckled. "I want to see some titties."

Edward chuckled and shook his head. "You are completely insane."

"So Tanya never asked to see your strip club?"

"No she hated it. We had many heated arguments over the time I spent here. But back then I was just getting started, so I needed to be here a lot. Plus, I am friends with the women who work here, we all have a great relationship. She got very jealous," He said before his head darted to me. "Wait, are you going to get jealous?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, I'm not going to be jealous. Why would I be jealous? Is there a reason I should be jealous? Have you slept with these girls?"

"No, my relationship with the girls is purely professional, but you know we are kind of like a family. I protect them and they bring in the money. But it's not like I—,"

"Edward calm down," I said with a smile. "I promise you I'm not going to be jealous. You said these girls have worked for you since you've opened the place, so I understand there is a good relationship between you guys. Unless they're hanging all over you or you've slept with one of them, I'm not going to be jealous, I'm not the type."

He nodded and let me step into the elevator. Edward's club occupied the two floors at the top of the tall building. Edward explained to me that he had expanded his strip business to the entire building by opening floors dedicated to making and selling items of the sexual nature. I wasn't exactly sure what he sold, but I knew he made a ton of money off it.

Edward somewhat hesitated as he opened the door. Inside was pretty much what I expected. I knew Edward's strip club wasn't going to be trashy, but it had the typical strip club items; a stage, three poles, and a wall of red velvet seats. There were tables, a long bar in the back, and then single armchairs placed around the room. It looked like a typical nightclub.

"Edward!" A man behind the bar smiled widely. "Long time now see, how are you?"

Edward smiled. "Hey, Santiago. I'm hanging in there. How are you doing?"

"It's all good here," Santiago smiled charmingly. "Got a new girl for us?"

"No, no." Edward shook his head quickly. "This is my girlfriend, Bella."

"Girlfriend?" Santiago said with his eyebrows raised. "Well, good for you man. It's about time."

I smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," He said. "So what are you guys doing here?"

"She wanted to come see my club for some reason." Edward said. "She's crazy."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here," I laughed, playfully shoving his arm. "I've never seen one before and I don't know. I'm pretty liberal."

"Right on," Santiago nodded with a grin. "Well, the girls are back there getting ready. They'll be so excited to see you. They've missed you."

Edward grimaced and discreetly looked over at me. I wasn't sure why he was being so awkward and uptight, but I figured it had something to do with Tanya.

"Can we go back there? I want to meet them," I said. "Edward says everyone here is like family."

"Oh yeah, we all are." Santiago said as he pressed the button on the side of the counter. "Hey girls, are you up for some visitors? Edward is here and he brought his girlfriend."

There was a loud squeal of excitement that I heard through the wall. Edward grimaced and discreetly looked over at me. I gave him a look to chill out.

"Send them back!" A feminine voice rang out over the intercom.

I grabbed Edward by the hand and tugged him towards the back room. The back of the club was nice. It was literally a dressing room, but a very upscale one. There were privacy curtains for changing, a long vanity table with several light up mirrors, and professional photos of naked women in different poses.

"Edward!" Several scantily clad women shouted happily.

"Oh my god where have you been!?" A small red head asked.

"He's to good for us to come by and hangout anymore," A blond woman chuckled as she stood and gave Edward a tight hug, "It's nice to see you Eddie."

"Nice to see you too Lucy," He said, patting her back. "Lucy, this is Bella. My girlfriend. Bella, this is Lucy. She's pretty much my partner here."

"It's so nice to meet you," Lucy smiled widely. "I'm hoping you're better than the last one."

"Oh don't worry. I'm nothing like the last one." I smiled at her. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Hi, I'm Maggie," The small red head said.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled at her. "I love your outfit."

"Thank you!" She beamed. "I made it myself."

"Wow, that's talent."

"Thank you," She said, giving Edward a pointed look. "Your girlfriend likes my outfits."

"We're not getting into this now Maggie," Edward said.

She scoffed at him before returning to her vanity. Edward introduced me to several other women, who gave him a hug and either told me they were happy to meet me or hoped that I was better than the last girlfriend.

"It's so nice to meet all of you," I smiled.

"It's nice to meet you to," Lucy smiled. Then she quickly glanced at Edward. "I know Edward probably doesn't want me saying this, but I can't help myself. Why did you want to come here? The last one wanted to burn this place down with all of us in it."

"I've never seen a club like this before and I was really curious. I've been begging him to bring me here for the longest time and he finally agreed. Plus, I wanted to meet all of you. Edward's mentioned how you guys are like a family."

"So this place doesn't make you uncomfortable?" The woman with long, beautiful, beaded braids asked. "Even when we hug up on him? It doesn't bother you?"

"Not really." I shrugged. "I trust Edward."

"That's nice." Lucy said. "I just want to make sure Edward is with a woman who trusts him. He's a really good guy and deserves someone nice."

I smiled. "Don't worry. I trust him. He's a really great guy."

"He really is," Lucy said. "I'm just going to put it out there. If you hurt him, I'll hurt you. The last girlfriend got away with it. I'm not letting that happen to Edward again."

"Understood." I said, feeling a cold chill down my spine.