BPOV
My face must have been redder then a beet as I stood looking back and forth between Edward’s parents. His question about the certificate for dance lessons was filled with bewildered astonishment as he looked to me.
“Why didn’t you tell me you wanted to take dance lessons?”
I rolled my eyes while his parents laughed even harder.
Oh my poor oblivious man
“It’s a joke Edward. They all…” I stopped talking because there was no way I wanted to explain it to him, let his devious parents do that. “…ask your dad, he’ll fill you in. I want to go talk to Sally.”
Edward’s eyes narrowed and I knew that he wanted me to explain it to him, but I really wanted to find out what happened last night with Heather, besides I was embarrassed enough for one morning.
Sally was sitting up towards the front with Dana watching the children dancing around, as I approached the table they giggled at me.
“Did you like your gift Bella?” Dana snickered then added, “we all thought that maybe you could learn some new moves. By the way your dance partner is …wow!”
“Told ya so,” Sally added looking over my shoulder in Edward’s direction. I couldn’t help but glance back at him; he looked to me with a grin on his face adding a wink for good measure. I guess he found their little stunt amusing, which I had to admit it was. But that wasn’t what I came over to talk about.
“Sally what happened last night?”
Her face became serious as she rolled her eyes but it was Dana who started talking. “Heather went off. When she came back from the walk…which I don’t even know why she went…” the words were almost angry, as if she was appalled by Heather’s actions.
Sally chimed in, “She’s a strange girl Bella. She never fit in, never even tried to and she lied…a lot”
I don’t know why but I felt the need to defend Heather. “She was only there a few days and sometimes it takes time to ….”
“No!” both women stopped me with their assertive answer and Dana looked at me pointedly, “I’m telling you Bella, we caught her in so many lies. First she’s married, and then she’s not. She goes to college but she never graduated. She comes from a loving caring family but her mom kicked her out of the house when she was pregnant. She’s always lived in the city but her mom lives hours away.” Dana stopped talking and Sally added.
“She would say one thing and then later say the complete opposite to someone else. It was like she was saying whatever she thought we wanted to hear, it was all lies and you never knew if what she was saying was the truth. You know how you always want us to help each other?” I nodded because I felt like the best person to talk to about what you are going through is someone who walked in your shoes. They have the most understanding and compassion for your situation.
“Yeah well…” Sally continued, “…that wasn’t possible with Heather because you just knew everything she was saying was bullshit.” We grew quiet for a few seconds as I took in all their words before Dana spoke.
“There was definitely something wrong about her, and then when she came back from the walk I swear…” Dana was adamant about her next words, “…the girl was jonesing.”
Sally nodded her head in agreement, “…like shaking and edgy. Then she cornered me in the community room, insisting that I give her your phone number,” that knowledge caused me to listen with concentrated interest.
“I told her ‘I don’t have it,’” Sally touched my hand in a reassuring gesture as she said, “Bella I threw that away…” I nodded at her admission, because we had talked about her doing that.
“…anyway, I guess she didn’t believe me because she went crazy. Yelling at me that it was very important and that she had to have your number. Then she threatened me saying that I didn’t know who I was messing with…” Sally stopped for a second shaking her head in disbelief, “…then Heather told me that she would pay me for the number…like at that point even if I had it, I would give it to her.”
“Did Heather say why she wanted it?” I couldn’t understand what her attraction to me was.
“Nope…when she realized I didn’t have it, she started freaking out. Saying she had to leave, she couldn’t stand being at the center anymore, she hated it there, we were all a bunch of losers. A little while later she made Mildred let her out.”
Mildred was the woman who manned the center on the weekends; she was older and grandmotherly but fierce as hell and didn’t take shit from anyone. I tried to process what I was being told; if Heather lied about whom and what she was, could it be possible that she only came to the center to get to me? That seemed questionable; she would have had a better chance doing something to me outside of the center. Then again if she was on some kind of drugs she wouldn’t be thinking correctly. That thought made me wonder if the reason she wanted to go to the walk was so she could score? Thinking about it I remembered that she was very conscious of the people outside, I thought that she was worried about being found, but perhaps she was scanning the crowd for her dealer. Dana’s comment brought me out of my conjecture.
“I don’t know what is up with that girl but I sure do pity EJ.”
“EJ?” I asked
“Heather’s son,” Sally explained, “His name is Evan but she calls him EJ.”
“Like Evan Junior?”
She shrugged, “I guess.”
I looked back and forth between the two women, “What is her last name?”
“Conner,” Sally answered but Dana added, “With a K.”
“K-O-N-N-E-R?”
“No…” Dana clarified, “…K-O-H-N-E-R, or so she says.”
It became clear to me that these two women really didn’t believe anything that Heather told them. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t notice Edward approaching us until I was startled by him placing his hand on my shoulder. My reaction caused him to chuckle.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”
The two women sitting with me smiled warmly at him and after a small introduction Edward asked if I was ready to leave. The breakfast was over at noon and before I could look at the time Carol was back on the microphone thanking everyone for coming and reminding all the volunteers to be sure and take a Thank-You Bag on their way out.
I really wanted to take a few minutes to tell Edward what I had just learned but it wasn’t the place for that conversation. I hugged both women telling them to be safe and they wished me a good time on my vacation. As we walked back over to our table I said goodbye to a few others and then walked outside with Edward’s parents, who stopped with us by the bike to say goodbye.
Esme looked horrified, “Edward are you making Bella ride on that thing?”
“What? She likes the bike.”
I nodded while taking the helmet from him. She rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh before pulling me into a one armed hug.
“Bella, I’ll be sure to call you when I get home.”
I figured since everyone seemed to love her mother’s Red Velvet Cake it would be a good choice to make for tomorrow night’s dinner.
“That would be great,” I told her hugging Carlisle goodbye while she cupped her son’s face, “You be careful on that thing,” when she let him go Esme added, “especially with Bella on the back.”
“Oh…I see how it is. Be careful with Bella but it’s ok if I fall off!” I snickered at Edward’s mock indignation.
“No…I don’t want either of you to fall off, but you’re tougher than Bella.”
“I don’t know mom, she’s pretty damn tough…” he pointed to his arm, “…you should see the bruises she gave me.” I gasped in shock elbowing him in the ribs with a giggle.
“Look there she goes again!”
“Edward…” she scolded and then out of simple polite conversation added, “What are your plans for the rest of the day?”
I knew we had a few people coming to the house and Edward and I had a three o’clock appointment to resume our ‘usual’ but I was shocked as I heard the words come out of his mouth.
“I think we’re going to spend the afternoon…dancing.”
I gasped in embarrassment feeling the heat of my blush as I stared wide eyed at Edward. Esme must have been just as shaken because her mouth dropped open and she stood there in stunned silence while Edward chuckled.
“oh my god” was all I could say as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder pulling me close to him.
“What?” he questioned innocently. “Dancing is good exercise, it keeps you fit, keeps you young and it makes you tired so you sleep well. See? there are lots of benefits to a good dancing session.”
I couldn’t believe he just said that to of all people his mother, thank God Carlisle was there because his laugher broke up the awkward embarrassment.
“Just be careful son,” he said patting Edward on the shoulder, and I wasn’t sure of he meant on the bike or while we were...dancing. I didn’t get to think about it too long because he added, “and we will see you next week.”
I had forgotten that they were coming to the beach with us and as I climbed on the bike I mentally started making a list of all the things I needed to get ready for our trip. I was truly excited about going away. The last trip that I had gone on was with Jake and Leah; the previous summer right after I graduated we took a trip to Juno for a few days. It was fun and nice to get away but I felt like I was tagging along and Leah was always trying to hook me up with someone. This would be the first vacation I had gone on with a man.
The time I was actually with James during our marriage we had never gone any place, except on our wedding night. That night we drove to Port Angles to stay in the Quality Inn Motel. For some reason I thought that my wedding night would be romantic, but I was wrong. We had barely gotten into the room when James set his beer can down grabbed ahold of my arms and started what he considered foreplay.
There were no tender words or lit candles; it was just a lot of biting, hair pulling, and fingers digging into my flesh. The only thing that he said to me that night was ‘I’m going to fuck the shit out of you,’ other than that it was his grunting over top of me with Sports Center playing on the TV. The next morning I awoke to bite marks on my shoulders and breasts along with black and blue marks on my arms and hips from when he held me down.
My heart didn’t want my mind to go to those dark places so I wrapped my arms around Edward’s waist a little tighter, placed a kiss on his shoulder and held on to the present. An hour later we were pulling into the driveway after taking a ride through the surrounding country side. Walking into the house all the cares that had been forgotten came crashing back as he told me that the locksmith would be there in about a half-hour. I used that time to tell him what I had learned about Heather.
“Do you think that could have been her on the video?” He asked me as we sat outback playing fetch with Seth and a tennis ball.
“It could have been. But how would she know where you lived? I mean really Edward if she knew where I was why go to the center?” He thought about that for a few seconds as he once again threw the ball into the grass.
“I’m going to call Mr. Weiss and let him check on it, I’m also going to see if he can check on your Officer Hawk.”
“My Officer Hawk?”
He smirked, “Well he’s not mine, besides he didn’t really care until he found out who you were, and I’m not taking any chances. I don’t know how it will work with him being a cop and all but…” I cut him off because I had gotten an ingenious idea.
“I could have Charlie do it. That might be easier and my dad being who he is would have access to all the police files.” Edward agreed with me but before he could say anything else the doorbell rang.
“Come on let’s go pick out some locks,” I giggled as Edward took my hand to help me up from the patio chair.
The little man on the other side of the door was a spunky older gentleman; he was only about my height with wisp of gray hair sticking out from under his black baseball cap. The white overalls he wore reminded me of a hazard suit, shaking Edward’s hand introducing himself as Joe, which was unnecessary because it was written in the little oval on his chest.
Edward must have told him what he wanted because he showed us two different locking systems. The first one was a basic lock that still required a key for a deadbolt, the second was an all in one system that required a six digit combination to open the whole thing; we picked the later. Joe said he could have both doors done and ready in an hour, so we went into the kitchen leaving him to do his job.
It was close to two-thirty and very clear there was no way we were going to meet our three o’clock appointment. While I was looking through the freezer for something to make for dinner Edward moved in behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and nuzzling his face in my neck. I couldn’t help but nuzzle back while my hand moved up to run my fingers through his hair.
“The security company should be here soon and don’t worry about dinner, I have it covered. But make sure you eat something before you go upstairs.”
Upstairs?
He stood straight as I turned in his arms, “Are we still going to start at three?”
“Absolutely,” Edward said without any uncertainty.
“But there will be people here,” I could hear the hesitation in my own voice. Edward on the other hand was composed as always.
“There will be people down here, however at three o’clock you should be in my room waiting for me,” glancing over my shoulder he added, “eat something because dinner is going to be later and you are going to need the energy.” The grin on his face made the muscles in my belly tighten and a tingle run through me that went straight to my clit.
Oh Boy!
“Mr. Cullen,” Joe was calling from the other side of the kitchen door and I grudgingly let go of Edward so he could go see what he wanted.
Not needing to think about dinner I shut the freezer, Edward wanted me eat something and I figured he would be hungry also, so I made him a sandwich along with mine. Leaving his wrapped on the counter while I took mine with a glass of milk and went to go up to my room.
Edward was sitting at the dining room table talking with a man who was about our age wearing a dress shirt and tie. “Bella this is Todd from the security company.”
After saying hello I told Edward that there was a sandwich waiting for him and excused myself, leaving them to what they were doing. My curiosity was spiked and I was dying to know what they had found out. It would be very easy to dwell on those thoughts but it was more important that I get myself ready. After all there wasn’t much I could do with the information and I was sure that Edward would tell me later.
My main concern at that moment was to clear my mind of outside influences so that I could go to my Master with the correct attitude. I wasn’t sure how to do that and I found that trying to force myself to think submissive was just frustrating me. The more I tried to push myself into that role the harder it seemed to achieve.
Looking at the clock I realized there was no time left, I quickly went to use the bathroom and brush my teeth. He hadn’t told me what to wear or what not to wear so I opted for my pink silk robe. As I padded down the hallway to his room I was self-conscious of the fact that other people were in the house. I figured that he would have me stay upstairs until they were gone and then we could have the night to ourselves.
The afternoon sun was filtering in through the windows casting rays of warm light onto the beige carpet. There was no mat or pillow on the floor indicating where he wanted me to wait so I figured it would be best to just pick a spot to kneel with my back towards the door.
Opening the sash of the robe I hadn’t heard Edward come into the room. “Isabella.”
The sound of his unexpected voice caused me to flinch as an exaggerated sigh reached my ears, “I had hoped we would have gotten over the jumpiness.”
“Sorry Mas…”
“Did I ask you to talk?” the softness of his tone made the words all the more intimidating.
“No Sir.”
“Then remain quiet,” it wasn’t a suggestion.
Edward moved to his dresser while I watched him, my eyes catching his in the reflection of the mirror, the intensity of his glare caused me to lower my eyes. It was then that realization came to me. I had spent the last half-hour trying to get myself into a submissive mind frame. What I was unable to accomplish; Edward did it with a single look.
“Isabella…” Edward said my name while moving to stand in front of me giving me the signal to keep my eyes down.
“Chin up,” using two fingers he lifted my chin slightly until it was square while I kept my eyes on the floor. His proximity caused my heart to race as I felt the heat from his body while his breath flowed across my face at his words. “You are to wait for me uncovered.”
I knew that but had not had the time to remove the robe. Edward’s hands moved to the opening above my breasts, sliding his palms in opposite directions over my chest and shoulders taking the material of the robe with him. My breath hitched as the silkiness slinked down my arms and back until it pooled on the floor at my feet.
“Much better,” he announced while moving to my side.
“Back very straight,” the back of his knuckles ran up the length of my spine while he moved again to stand behind me. I had to focus hard to keep my breathing even as he took both of my wrists in his large hands bringing them to the small of my back. “Hands clasped behind you.”
Running his hands over my bottom to the juncture between my legs separating them, “Thighs spread shoulder width apart.”
Edward continued his movement around me. I was beginning to feel like his willing prey as he watched my every move while circling in for the kill.
“This Isabella,” he said standing back in front of me, “is a standing waiting position. You are to use this if and only when there is no indication of where I want you. Do you understand?”
“Yes Master.”
“Very well.”
With the two words he once again moved back to his dresser opening a drawer before I heard the door to the closet opening then close. The next thing I heard was the door to the bedroom click shut as Edward left the room with me standing there. I thought he would be right back but when he didn’t return I began to feel self-conscious about my situation. Every fiber of my being was telling me to move or at the very least look over my shoulder at the clock. I had to fight with my own conscience to remain unmoved and in all honesty it was only through sheer determination that I was able to remain.
My mind began to wonder how long he was going to leave me standing there and again I fought off the urge to look at the clock. I knew that Joe was still in the house working on the locks perhaps Edward went to speak with him. Perhaps he was going to leave me where I was until we were alone. Or possibly Todd from the security company was still here and they had things to discuss, leaving me to be a lesser priority.
Irrational as it might have been, the sorrow from that thought brought tears to my eyes as the familiar feeling of being insignificant came over me. My brain began to spiral into despair and I was on the verge of a full blown crying fit from what I perceived as abandonment. I knew it was foolish to feel that way; there was really no reason for it and I couldn’t understand why I felt so dejected.
Edward had let me stew in my own thoughts many times before. The difference was he was always present in the room. Even if I was blindfolded I knew he was there and I was his number one priority, at that particular moment I was beginning to doubt that assumption.
Blinking, I couldn’t help the tears that fell from my eyes as I heard Edward’s voice while he opened the door. He was talking to someone but I couldn’t concentrate on anything as the tears fell freely from a wave of emotion that came over me.
“Mom, I have to call you back.”
Before I even registered the fact that Edward was in front of me, I was wrapped up in his arms. He didn’t even ask what was the matter with me, before he started apologizing. “I’m sorry baby. My mother insisted on giving me some stupid recipe.”
Oh
“I told her you would call later but she and dad are going out and she said you wanted it for the morning,” He sighed while running his hand through my hair. “Then she started saying something about substituting sour cream and chocolate liquor…”
Edward let out a deep sigh, “it was my fault. I never should have answered the damn phone when you were in such a vulnerable state. Had it been anyone else…” His words trailed off as he buried his face into the side of my neck.
“I thought maybe something more important…”
“Never!” Edward growled the word as he took my chin forcing me to look at him. “Nothing or no one is more important than you. If that damn cake recipe hadn’t been for you, I never would have taken the time…”
“Did you write it down?” I asked in a hushed wisper.
“Ye..es” he stretched the word out into two syllables as he laid down on the bed letting me snuggle in next to him while he drew the blanket up over my body.
“Did they leave?” I asked quietly.
“Joe is down there, he just started the back door when I came up. I’m going to go check on him in a few minutes.” I nodded and in the safety of Edward’s arms I was beginning to feel foolish for the way I responded to his absence.
“I’m sorry for being so overly sensitive.” Maybe it was PMS, my period should be coming any day and that would explain my highly emotional state.
“You were not overly sensitive Isabella. When you are in your submissive nature it’s natural for you to need me, which is why I never leave you alone. If I ever do, it should always be with your understanding of where I am and when I am coming back. What happened here today was my fault, all I wanted to do was get the bands from your room, and then I got sidetracked. It will not happen again.”
I didn’t understand what he was saying or why he would leave me alone but I didn’t ask, instead I just drew my strength from his promise along with his embrace.
“Will you be alright if I go check on Joe, or do you want to come down with me?” Not wanting to seem like I was an overly needy crazy person I told him I would fine and that he should go do what needed to be done.
Edward sat up pulling me along with him. “No. Put on the bands.”
“Really I…”
“I’m not asking Isabella, and don’t refer to yourself in the first person again.” The tone of his voice along with the look in his eyes told me that my chance to choose had been revoked.
“Yes Sir.”
Moving quickly Edward handed me the applicator which I expertly used to put the bands on. He handed me the clothes that was to wear beginning with a lacy white thong. He had me put my hands up while pulling a white tank top over my head. As he tugged it down my torso the back of his hands ran over my nipples making me whimper from the throb.
Edward raised his one eyebrow and then proceeded to roll my nipples between his thumbs and forefingers. The action made me suck in a breath and I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep quiet as the moisture flooded between my thighs.
“That’s much better Isabella,” at his words his hands left my body picking up the black ruffled skirt that I would normally wear with a swimming suit. But instead of having me step into it, he had me put my hands up once again, pulling it over my head, down my body until it was in place around my waist.
Edward took a step back once again skimming the back of his hands over my sensitive nipples. “I do so like this shirt; however I would hate to give poor Joe a coronary by how luscious you look in it, so…”
He motioned for me to turn around before holding out his light blue button down for me to put my arms in. Once it was over my shoulders, Edward pulled my hair out from the confinement of the shirts before spinning me around to take one more look at my appearance. The sigh that left his mouth was hard to discern, I couldn’t tell if it was from discontent or irritation, then his next comment answered my unspoken question.
“It’s a shame to have to cover you up. Come along,” but before we moved he continued, “Do you remember your task Isabella? Nothing touches your lips without my permission or by my hand.”
I had remembered that, and in fact I was hoping that was how we would eat dinner. “Yes Sir.”
As I followed him down the steps something occurred to me. “Master?”
Edward stopped before reaching the bottom to turn in my direction, “Yes Isabella?”
“Your girl was wondering if we would be modified while Joe was here?”
His eyes scanned my face before answering, “No, he will not be here much longer and I’m sure you can use your ingenuity to not let him catch on to what is happening.”
Following Edward into the kitchen I wondered if I was truly cleaver enough to pull this off and I hoped that Joe wasn’t very observant. The back door was open while he worked with a drill putting in the new locks. Seth was outside trying desperately to get around the man that was blocking the entrance. Once Joe saw the dog’s predicament he moved to allow him entrance and then watched as Seth came over to me.
“I’m almost done Mr. Cullen, shouldn’t be more then fifteen minutes.” He smiled at me with a slight nod, while I squatted down to rub Seth’s ears.
“That’s fine Joe, we have no plans to go anywhere and Isabella will sleep better knowing that the house is secure,” I heard what Edward said but my mind was on my pet.
“Are you hungry?”
“I fed him Isabella, maybe some fresh water and a snack,” Edward suggested and then added, “I would like a bottle of water.”
“Yes Sir.”
The words left my mouth without any conscious thought. The blush came to my face as soon as it registered that Joe might have heard me. But upon looking in his direction he seemed to be oblivious to our exchange. He was either unobservant or very good at acting obtuse.
I got Edward his water offering it to him while he sat at the table looking over some papers. My self-consciousness once again coming into play while I stood to his side with my head bowed in submission holding the bottle of water out in front of me. He took it right away waving his hand to tell me to carry on before I took care of Seth. As I put the bowl of fresh water down and got a few snacks out of the jar I thought of something else.
“Joe, would you like something to drink?” The man who I thought to be unperceptive answered me immediately, “No ma’am, I’m fine.”
Glancing to Edward I could feel my face flush once again but he just grinned motioning for me to come sit with him at the table. Seth smelling the snacks in my hand followed me over sitting next to me patiently waiting for his treat. Edward watched me make the dog give a paw, lay down, and roll over before each reward was given.
“He listens better than you,” I gasped at Edward’s comment while he chuckled at my reaction leaning over to place a kiss on my cheek.
“Well maybe if someone rewarded me with a treat more often,” I reminded him.
“And what kind of treat would you like my pet?”
Edward’s eyes were alight with amusement while the back of his hand skimmed across my breast making me look over his shoulder to see if we were being observed. Joe was once again back to being oblivious and I suppose that even if he wasn’t, the way we were positioned there would be no way for him to see what Edward was doing.
The snapping of fingers brought my attention back to where it should be, followed by a hand motion telling me to look at him. “Isabella, your attention belongs on me at all times.”
“Yes Sir, I’m sorry.”
“You’re doing very well, don’t let it happen again.” After a moment of quiet to allow his warning to sink in he asked me again, “Now what kind of treat would you like?”
I thought about it and blurted out the one thing that I have been waiting for a repeat of all weekend, “Your girl would like you to hand feed her.”
Edward’s eyes never left mine as they grew slightly darker, “perhaps later…if you’re a good girl.”
Holy hell if that was all it was going to take I’d be a really good girl. I’d sit, shake, roll over fucking bark if I had to. Just the thought of Edward feeding me again made my stomach clinch and so much moisture gather that my thighs rubbed together in an attempt to get some friction.
Of course Edward saw it, “that’s not being a good girl.”
He warned me with a stern look before his attention went back to the paper on the table. I figured it might be a good idea to get my mind off of his arms holding me tightly against his body while I licked food from his fingers.
Come on Bella, stop that train of thought.
It was Joe that brought me back to my senses. “All done Mr. Cullen.”
Edward turned to look at me, “Isabella I put that recipe from my mom up on your dresser, why don’t you go get it?”
I wasn’t exactly sure why, but I had the feeling that Edward was trying to get rid of me while he talked with Joe. However, I did as I was told. The recipe was exactly where Edward said it was and by the time I made my way back downstairs Edward and Joe were exchanging papers. Joe received a check and Edward an invoice, as I presented myself it was obvious to me why I was sent out of the room. He didn’t want me to know how much it cost to change the locks.
Joe left us and instead of acknowledging me Edward immediately began to play with the door. “Isabella, please come over here,” he was pressing some buttons on the new lock, “I need another six letter word.”
“Ummm…how about …dancer?”
Edward’s eyes sparkled as a huge grin formed on his face while he pushed the corresponding numbers into the key pad. As he shut the door with him on the outside he mumbled something about a bunch of crazy ass women. Once the door opened again, he had me join him on the porch so I could try the lock, then we moved to the kitchen where he did the same thing with the back door. Finally satisfied that both doors were locked he set the alarm system, effectively securing us inside.
“Alright my pet, get yourself something to drink and join me at the table.”
“Would you like something Master?”
“No, I still have my water.”
I sat down at the table with a small glass of milk waiting for him to start talking but he didn’t, instead he placed the papers he was looking at earlier in front of me. I understood what they were, the report from the security company; what I didn’t completely comprehend was what they meant.
“That code there… ” Edward pointed to numbers that was circled at the top of the first page, “…is what our intruder attempted to shut off the alarm with.” I looked at the number again while Edward added with a grave voice “…that was the default code.”
“The one it came with? Do you mean it was one of the guys who installed…?” I didn’t even get to finish my thought before Edward let out a deep sigh.
“Todd from the security company is going to look into that but I don’t believe it was any of them. I just want to ask you if by chance you gave the number to anyone?”
“Noooo…I ...I didn’t even know the number.”
Edward’s eyes softened, “I didn’t think you did and I knew you wouldn’t give it to anyone but Todd wanted me to make sure, so that’s all I was doing,” an expression of distress crossed his face, making me wonder.
“Did you give the number to someone?”
His lips pressed into a firm line while he shook his head. “No…but there was someone who could have seen me entering that code.”
“Who?”
Edward gave me a pointed look before taking his phone out and making a call. “Hey are you still going to the club tonight…” looking in my eyes he said the words I didn’t want to hear “…we’ll meet you there”
My original Fan-fiction
Mine
A riding crop and a blindfold doesn't make it BDSM. There is a big difference between being kinky and being in the scene. It's not a sexual thing to me, it's a very spiritual thing. ~ DominaBlue
3/24/11
Chapter 48
EPOV
A light sheen of sweat covered Bella’s flushed body while she rested against my chest attempting to get her breathing under control. My palms rest against the soft silkiness of her skin holding her against me. A feeling of satisfaction dominated my emotions, I hadn’t thought about the possibility of her having an orgasm while removing the clip. In hindsight I should have but it still didn’t matter, retribution had to be paid.
Kissing her temple I thought I would let that fact be known. “Now we’re even.”
“Even?” Bella said the word with a hint of skepticism along with a humorless laugh, making me pull back to look at her.
“Yes even. You not only came without permission, you came while I wasn’t there.”
Her eyes widened as she turned her body to face me, her fingers tracing over the muscles of my stomach and down over my hard on that was still covered up with my boxers. “But it was only a little one and I didn’t know what to expect,” her eyes fluttered through her lashes before narrowing in accusation, “you should have warned me.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that came out, “warned you?”
Her fingers were now on my hips sliding the thin layer of cotton down until my dick was partially uncovered. Bella’s hand wrapped around me sliding downwards taking the boxers with her until I was fully exposed. Closing my eyes I enjoyed the feeling of her hand moving over me, so her next words made my lust induced haze slightly dissipate.
“Yes warned me,” she answered while straddling my thighs bringing her warm center over my straining dick causing me to hiss as the lust returned. “Besides how do you suppose that torturing me made us even?”
“Ahhhh,” the moan was unavoidable while her slickness slid along my length. My hands tightened around Bella’s hips causing more pressure to be applied, “Well…”
What was she asking?
Oh yeah
“Since I wasn’t there you had to tell me what I missed…” the sigh that left her mouth caused me to hesitate for a split second before I could go on with my explanation, “…and since you already had a release one had to be denied…it’s that simple.”
“Oh.” Bella tilted her hips rose slightly higher and slid herself over me.
“Fuck…Jesus baby,” the warm wetness of her core caused me to cry out. I could live within her, crawl up inside her and feast on nothing but Bella.
Her arms wrapped around the back of my neck as she used her thighs to move over me. “Besides Edward,” she cooed sliding up until just only my tip remained inside her, “this makes us even” and she slammed her weigh down taking every bit of me inside her.
“MotherFucker!” The movement was so unexpected that the word left my mouth in a shout.
“You seem a little…jumpy Edward,” Bella laughed… she fucking laughed.
“Oh, little one…I’ll show you jumpy!”
My hands gripped her hips tighter and I lifted her up to lay back on the bed bringing her legs against my chest with her ankles on either side of my neck while my eyes gazed into hers. “How jumpy do you want me Bella? Slow and soft?” I took a long slow stroke that was almost painful. “Or fast and hard?” gripping her tighter I slammed into her making her scream out.
“Yesss! Hard…fast …please, Edward …Fuck Me!”
“As you wish.”
Wasting no time in setting a hard fast pace it didn’t take long until she was withering underneath me. Lifting her hips up off the bed and hearing the moan that left her mouth told me I had the right spot. The sounds that resonated through the room were a mixture of pleasure and meeting flesh. Bella was panting as the tight grip she held on my forearms caused her nails to dig into my skin.
“Edward …I’m going to…cum…”
“Cum!” I growled out the word as my balls started to ache.
Bella’s hands left my arms as she gripped the comforter screaming out my name. She arched her back as her internal muscles clamped down making me lose my own battle. I came inside her with a primal grunt, breathlessly collapsing over top of her heaving chest.
“Oh baby…,” my lips found hers for a quick breathless kiss and before I could say anything she finished my thought through her own breathless words. “Now, we’re even.”
Gazing into her eyes I wondered how she knew what I was going to say. Part of me was unnerved by the fluency but a larger part found the effortlessness to enhance the intimacy and I smiled wondering when I became such a sap.
Bella’s hand cupped my face, “what?”
The fact that she seemed to know me so well only made my smile more pronounced. “You just finished my thought. It’s like were an old married couple,” I told her rolling over onto my back and pulling her along with me. “Next thing you know you’ll be telling me to take liver pills and worrying about me getting constipated.”
Propping her chin on my chest she laughed, “I don’t think we are quite there yet. You are going to have to worry about your own constipation, although I did pick out high fiber cereal.”
“There you go,” sweeping her hair over her shoulder, “you’re already worried.”
We laid there quietly looking into each other’s eyes and I saw it, only a glimpse‒but it was there. The vision of me on one knee asking for her hand, Bella in a white dress while I waited at the end of the aisle with our family and friends gathered around. It was the first time I had thought about it and rather than scaring me, I wanted it badly.
“I love you babe,” the smile that formed on her face made me even more sure.
“I love you too.”
The moment was sealed with a small kiss that would have gone further had it not been from the whine that came from the closed door. Groaning, my head turned to look over the foot of the bed to see Seth glancing back and forth between us and the door. “Come on, I’ll let you out one more time.”
Bella giggled as she moved to let me get up. “He can’t help it Edward, he’s used to having free rein; to come and go as he wants.”
Pulling a t-shirt over my head and my boxers back into place, I made the observation, “You mean he’s like his mommy…spoiled,” I added with a small swat on Bella’s bottom making her giggle.
Taking the dog out I decided to have a small heart to heart with him, “Hey boy, how about you be a trooper tonight? I’ll let you out one more time and then you be quiet for the rest of the night so I can sleep and I will take you for a run in the morning. What do you say…deal?”
Seth looked at me like he completely understood, and even though I knew that it was a hopeless case I couldn’t help but be optimistic that he would comply. Sitting on the back patio I watched him run around exerting some of his energy. The night had not turned out like I had planned. The idea was to go home spend a few hours in the playroom and then fall asleep with Bella tethered to my bed.
Where a few months ago I would have been completely thrown off kilter because my plans had to change now I found that it was easier to go with the flow, I also realized that not everything can fit into a one inch square box on the calendar. Outside influences and occurrences beyond my control tend to pop up at the most inopportune time, throwing a monkey wrench into my agenda.
However, the wench tonight was the worse one yet. I was not happy about someone breaking into the house, and the first thing I was going to do in the morning was get the locksmith there. I had called the security company to see if they could tell what code was attempted to be entered. They were going to send someone over tomorrow afternoon to retrieve the chip with that information on it.
I was still bewildered over who would have been in my home, and while we were on the way to check Bella’s house Emmett had suggested that perhaps it was Tanya. I figured at that time of night she would be at the club, which should be easy to check on when I went to New Moon on Monday morning. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why she would do that. Tanya wasn’t happy about the relationship I had with Bella - that was obvious - although I don’t know why. We had separated months before she left and my life had to go on while she was gone. Had she stayed away another six months she would have come back to find us engaged.
Engaged? It was a small glimpse Edward! Are you seriously thinking about marring a woman you’ve only known a month?
Sitting there in the calm quiet of the night watching Seth, the answer was clear yes…yes I was. Because it wasn’t just any woman, it was Bella. Five minutes later I found her snuggled under the covers sound asleep. Shutting the door I looked down at Seth who had taken up residence sitting by the door.
“You and I had a deal,” I told him with a pointed look; he dropped his head before moving to lie down in his bed. Encouraged by his actions that I might not be spending the whole night listening to him whine by the door or taking him outside five times, I took my place spooning in next to Bella. Her body fit against mine in the most perfect way. As my arms wrapped around her she relaxed once again with a sigh, “Edward…love you.”
Her sleepy-time admissions never failing to make me smile, I drifted off to sleep breathing in the scent of her hair along with the lingering aroma of our sex.
My brain registered the sound of whimpering and I groaned, “Seth we had a deal.” Then the sound became more pronounced as the woman in my arms squirmed letting out a high pitched scream, “No! No…stay away from me!”
Fuck!
Instinctually my arms tightened as she tried to push away from me, that fact alone pissed me off. Whatever had her in the grips of terror was so bad that she couldn’t even sense my presence. “Bella…” I shook her shoulders trying to get her awake, “…baby wake up…”
Her eyes fluttered open as a gasp left her throat while her hands gripped my shirt and she started crying. “Shhh…” I held her close to my chest, “…it was just a dream baby. Only a dream, nothing is going to hurt you.”
Continuing to soothe her the best that I could until she finally calmed down enough to listen to me. “Tell me about your dream.”
“Someone came into the house…I couldn’t tell who…and they…wanted to take me.” Her words were a mixture of tears and hiccups.
“Shhhh…” my hands ran though the length of her hair as she clung to me, “…it was just a response from what happened baby. Shhh…settle down.”
I should have expected that she would have a nightmare, the trauma of having our home invaded was enough to unnerve me, I can only guess what memories it stirred in her. Removing my shirt that was full of tears and dirty from her nose, I laid back down with her head on my chest. “We’ll change the locks tomorrow and figure out who it was, that will make you feel safer. It was just a dream Bella; I swear I would die before I let anyone hurt you.”
“Don’t say that!”
I wasn’t sure what she was talking about when she abruptly shot her head up to look at me. “I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you. I couldn’t take it!”
Even in the darkness of the room I could see the fierceness in Bella’s eyes as the tears fell down her face. “Nothing is going to happen to me, and nothing is going to happen to you. Now stop with the tears and let’s go back to sleep.”
Cupping her face my thumb wiped away the tears as she nuzzled her cheek against my palm before turning her head to placing a soft kiss in the center of my hand. “Do you think I’m crazy?”
“No…”
Why the hell would I think that?
“…I think it was a stressful night and I think you have a lot on your mind and have dealt with more in your life then any one person should have to deal with. I told you before baby, I think you are the strongest person I know; a lesser person would have called it quits a long time ago. Now let’s go back to sleep, I have a promise to keep to a dog.”
Bella snuggled back into my chest so tightly I could feel her heart beating against my skin. The next thing I was aware of was the feeling of being watched. I tried to turn over and ignore it but no matter what I did it wouldn’t go away. Opening my eyes taking a quick scan everything seemed the way it was last night except that the sunlight was filtering through the window above the bed. Glancing over my shoulder I was greeted with two of the saddest brown eyes I have ever seen.
Seth had his two front paws on the edge of the bed bringing his head level with mine. My movement must have disturbed Bella, because she snuggled back in closer to me while I tried to go back to sleep. Seth made no movement or even a sound but I knew he was there and I knew what he wanted. “Alright, you lived up to your end.”
Trying not to disturb the beautiful woman in my arms I moved away from her to sit on the edge of the bed while glancing at the clock – 7:02. Bella rolled onto her back the long tresses of dark hair laid against her bare shoulders partially concealing the small amount of her breast that had become uncovered. She was beautiful.
“Do you see what you’re making me leave?”
Seth didn’t seem to care that there was a naked Bella in the bed, and even though I did some things were just out of my control. Throwing on my clothes from last night I quickly wrote Bella a note telling her where I was before putting the leash on Seth and heading to my house to change.
I had brought a clean set of clothes with me to Bella’s but had not planned on running, so I needed to get something more comfortable then jeans. My house was just as we had left it; no unexpected nightly visitor came by, but even so, it was better for Bella’s peace of mind to stay away for the night. Although the nightmare crept into her sleep anyway, it was still better.
Seth loved to go on a run, and I kept a slow even pace. Last night I was able to shove the events to the back of my mind, but in the light of day there were things that had to be taken care of. Besides the obvious of knowing who broke into my home, I also wanted to know why. They didn’t take or disturb anything, that much was evident while Emmett and I walked through the house with the police.
The police immediately noticed that there were two people living in my room and I told them that Bella had been staying with me. Officer Hawk had inquired as to where she was at that moment and once I told him he seemed fine with my decision to keep her away. That was until we entered her bedroom and it was obvious that Bella also occupied that space.
“Mr. Cullen, is there someone else who lives here with you?”
“No…” I didn’t understand his question, “…only Bella.” His eyes narrowed as he looked around her room.
He then inquired as to her name and any personal information I could give, address, date of birth, those kind of things, which he then called into the dispatch. I didn’t want to take them down into the cellar but officer Hawk insisted and again insisted on me unlocking the playroom. I wasn’t sure why it was so important, perhaps they just wanted to make sure that nothing illegal was occurring.
Personally I never felt ashamed of my sexual practices, what two consenting adults choose to do in the privacy of their home is no one’s business. However that didn’t mean that I wanted these men to pass judgment onto Bella and I was glad that she was not there. No comments were made while we were down there just a lot of stares and facial expressions.
Once we were back upstairs I told them about the new security system and they asked me to pull up the feed from the video. It had barely started when Officer Hawk’s transmitter beeped. Clicking the button on his shoulder he spoke.
“Dispatch do you have that 10-27 ready?”
“Affirmative 10-63,” Officer Hawk took a small black notebook out of his breast pocket and the dispatch began speaking in codes.
“10-36, Isabella M Swan, AKA Isabella M Cummings of 344 Ferndale, Seattle. 931on a 240, 261 that occurred 01-04-08. RO in effect from 01-15-08 to present against James A Cummings, 230 E State Street, Forks Washington.”
I had no idea what the heck was just said, I knew it involved Bella and James but the language made absolutely no sense to me. The three officers on the other hand were very interested in what was being said, especially officer Hawk.
“10-4 dispatch,” Officer Hawk’s eyes went to me. “Mr. Cullen do you know James Cummings?”
“I’ve never met him and only know what I’ve been told…” I wasn’t given a chance to finish before he interrupted my thoughts.
“And what exactly is that Mr. Cullen?”
“They married young, he was abusive and she moved across the country to go to school to get away from him.” While I spoke officer Hawk nodded his head while jotting notes onto the pad.
“And you have never seen him?” I told him no and then he asked if there had been any other incidences that seemed suspicious, which I answered.
“Mr. Cullen is it possible for you to call Ms. Swan and have her come here so that I may speak with her?”
I really didn’t want to have Bella come home until they were gone, but he was unrelenting. After calling her we watched the video. Emmett didn’t have a clue who that could be, but we were sure it was not a man. The third officer wanted to do a walk around the back yard, but there was nothing out there; and when we came in Bella was already speaking with the officer and making her irritation known.
Exactly why Officer Hawk took it upon himself to interrogate Bella about her affairs I had no clue, but there was some reason for it. I didn’t know if it was feasible for Mr. Weiss to check out a police officer, but I was going to ask. The time had come to start paying attention to all the seemingly little circumstances that have been going on. I couldn’t any longer brush it off as coincidence and until I knew what was going on I was damn sure going to be paying more attention.
We only did the half circuit around the park ending up back at my house. Seth needed food and water which I gave him, leaving him there while I headed back to Bella’s. Since it was going to be a nice day I had opted to take the bike. She truly enjoyed the bike and I thought that perhaps if there was time after the breakfast maybe we could squeeze in a small ride.
Bella was sitting on the couch writing in her journal, she was covered up in a thick robe with a towel wrapped around her hair. Although Bella had become much more open with me about her thoughts and feelings, I was glad that she was using the journal as a therapeutic escape.
“Hey,” the smile that formed on her face lit up the room. “A promise to keep, huh?”
“Absolutely, I’m a man of my word,” I told her before leaning over the back of the couch for a kiss. She dropped the book wrapping her arms around my neck pulling me over the top of her making me land with a thud between her thighs.
“Ut…woman, what are you doing? I’m all sweaty,” my face nuzzled in the nook under her neck kissing the exposed skin while she giggled.
“I like you sweaty.”
My head shot up to look in her cheerful eyes, “Yeah?”
“Uh huh…” taking a deep breath while her fingers ran through my hair she continued, “…you have that manly aroma that makes me all …wet.” The last word came out in a sigh that went straight to my dick making me groan.
“Ohhh…baby… how much time do we have?”
She giggled at my predicament, “Not much, you’d better shower.”
“One day my pet, your teasing is going to get you into trouble.”
The grin on her face was as infectious as the sparkle in her eyes, “I think I’ll take my chances.”
Giving her a quick kiss I moved to get up, pulling her hands so she would follow, “Come on, talk to me while we get ready.”
While I showered Bella dried her hair it was quarter after eight and we didn’t have very much time, but I wanted to get our morning discussion out of the way. It’s so much better when we can sit over breakfast and talk. That just wasn’t going to be possible so I had to do it while we dressed.
“So how did you like the clip?” Bella stopped what she was doing which was clasping the front closure of her bra to look at me.
“It is very different from a clamp,” I nodded while tucking the t-shirt into my jeans but waited for her to give me more information. “The clamp makes it kind of numb, at least for a little while,” the grin on her face turned to a blush and I couldn’t wait to hear what she was thinking, “the clip is like someone is constantly playing with my clit…it was very…difficult to ignore.”
I nodded again and before I could talk she added, “of course it would have helped if someone would have stopped rubbing it very chance he got.”
Is she kidding?
That’s part of the fun – for me anyway, but I wasn’t going to tell her that, so instead I brushed it off by saying, “just doing my job,” knowing full well that next time I would be sure to provide her with even more rubbing.
I noticed that Bella had taken out a denim skirt and I suggested that perhaps she should wear jeans. Once we were both dressed I wanted to sit down while we talked about the next thing. I took her hands tugging her body into my lap so we could be close. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to have an after punishment discussion last night.”
Tilting her head to the side she first looked at me perplexed until understanding came over her features and her eyes dropped along with the tone of her voice. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
I waited and when it was clear that she wasn’t going to look at me, I lifted her chin. “I know you were frustrated both physically and mentally,” I let out a small sigh, “but I cannot and will not have you disrespect me like that, whether we are alone or in front of people. I will not abide it. Do you understand?”
She nodded her head. “Answer please.”
“Yes I understand,” the tears were beginning to form in her eyes and I wiped them away before they could spill.
“I…” Bella stopped talking so I encouraged her, “What?”
“I…” she shrugged, “I didn’t like not being able to look at your face.”
“I didn’t like it either Bella,” My words caused more tears which I wiped away. “Don’t cry, it’s over and done, just remember your place and keep your temper in check.”
“Ok…” I knew there was something else on her mind so I waited and was not disappointed, “Is that why you gave me the pâté?”
Internally I was laughing, externally my face remained as still as stone. “No. I gave you the pâté because I could.”
My mind went back to the previous night and Bella’s reaction to the two crackers on her plate and then the request for ketchup. That time I couldn’t help the chuckle, of course she thought I was laughing at her reaction - which in a way I was.
“Are you going to do that a lot?”
Wouldn’t she like to know?
I suppose she would, but again, not something I was going to share. Instead I gave her an honest answer, “Whenever the spirit moves me.”
That was not the answer that Bella had hoped to hear and she huffed in irritation, causing me to raise my one eyebrow in question.
“What?” she questioned innocently as her index finger moved back and forth between us. “We’re just Edward and Bella here,”
“That we are.” I assured her with a grin.
“Although, you said something about picking up our ‘usual’ this afternoon until tomorrow morning?”
I did suggest that, and was still willing to. “Is that something you want to do?”
The smile that formed on her face told me the answer to my question before the words left her mouth. “Yes. I was thinking from three o’clock today until tomorrow morning like around eight?”
Eight?
That seemed like a strange time to me and I couldn’t figure out why she would pick that particular hour, but I agreed with her and we made our way to leave. Bella wanted to brush her teeth once more and still needed to put on her shoes, and I went through the house making sure all the blinds were closed and the house was secure. We definitely would not be returning here before we left for Victoria.
I told Bella to make sure she had a jacket before following her out the back door; she unexpectedly stopped causing me to stumble before I knocked her over. “You brought the bike!” the excitement she felt was tantamount to the joy that she brought to me as she spun around to embrace me.
“So I did,” I told her hugging her body to mine. “If I knew it would bring this kind of reaction I would do it more often”
Bella got that coy smile on her face as she looked up at me through her eye lashes, “You don’t need the bike to get that reaction…it’s just an extra bonus,” she added with a grin.
A grin that I couldn’t help but to kiss away.
Her lips were soft and supple, melding against mine in the most perfect way. Her hands wrapped around the back of my neck sending shivers through me as her fingers ran through my hair. Her soft moan matched my own as our tongues sought out each other’s. Bella pressed her body closer to me and I could feel her chest heaving through the panting breaths. Somehow my brain registered where we were and what we had to do making it possible to pull away from her with one more single kiss.
“Ah, my Bella,” I sighed while I watched her tongue peek out through her lips to sweep across the surface.
“Later?” the hopeful innocence mixed with the passion that I knew lay underneath was an intoxicating combination that never ceased to entice me.
“Absolutely.”
Straddling a Harley with a hard-on is not the easiest or most comfortable thing to do, and my predicament wasn’t made any easier by the feel of Bella’s thighs straddling my hips. I had thought about taking the long way to the church where the breakfast was being held, but between our talk in the bedroom and the small make out session we were running late.
The breakfast was being held in the basement of the church on the corner down the street from the center. I didn’t know how it was possible to hold a breakfast on Sunday morning in a church.
Isn’t Sunday Morning their busy time?
Apparently this church must be different because no one was there except for the people from the center. Once the door was open music filtered out into the foyer, but it wasn’t the church choir singing heavenly hymns, no - it was Beyonce’s, Single Ladies.
The whole basement was set up with about fifteen or sixteen large round tables with several long tables full of chafing trays and round platters of various foods. Another long table was set up with fruits and muffins, while still another contained drinks and large commercial coffee pots. There must have been over a hundred and twenty-five people there and as soon as we walked through the door Carol came up to grab Bella into a hug.
“There you are. I was wondering when you would get here.”
“Sorry, it was a nice day so Edward brought the bike and we took the long way.”
Smooth Bella, who said she couldn’t lie?
Carol smiled brightly, “Well I’m glad you finally made it,” she then looked to me, “hello Edward.” After saying hello Carol told us to find a place to sit and get some food, but before she walked away she whispered something to Bella that made Carol giggle and Bella look ill. I was going to ask what that was about when a woman in her mid-twenties with shoulder length jet black curly hair came up to us.
Actually, she danced up to us singing along with the music, “So dance dance, like it’s the last last night of your life Im’ma get you right…” by this time she was standing in front of us and Bella was laughing while the woman finished singing. “Cuz baby tonight…” that was as far as she got before she too started laughing and threw her arms around my girl.
“Behave,” Bella half pleaded through her laughter.
“I will…I will…I couldn’t …resist!” the woman said through her fits of laughter before she turned to look at me holding her hand out in greeting. “Hello you must be the dance master?”
“Excuse me?” what the hell did she mean dance master? Why is she calling me master, did I know this girl? was she aware of my lifestyle?
“Stop!” Bella pleaded with a whine and then shook her head with humor. “Tammy this is Edward. Edward meet Tammy…she is one of the women who stay at the center.”
Oh
I didn’t get to think about that because Tammy proudly announced, “Not for long!”
“What?” Bella seemed puzzled.
“Nope, Stacy and I talked about it, and I’m going back to work next week.”
“But I don’t have your stuff together,” Bella went from puzzled to anxious.
“Carol said that you were going on vacation and she was going to take care of it.”
Bella’s face warped into a perceptive calm and I could see the counselor in her come out as she asked, “Are you ready for that?”
“Yeah…I’m done hiding Bella, I have a life and I want to live it,” the determination in Tammy’s voice was in direct contrast to the lighthearted banter that had been present before.
“Good.”
That was all Bella said, but it was like she was giving Tammy a blessing because a huge smile took up residence on her face and she hugged Bella again. “Don’t worry, you’re not getting rid of me.”
Bella took ahold of my hand telling Tammy that we were going to get some food and that they could talk later. My mother and Father were sitting at a table talking with a couple, the woman I remember was Gail and I could only assume that the man was her husband. As we approached my parents stood to give Bella a hug hello and me a clap on the shoulder from my dad and a peck on the cheek from mom.
The man with Gail was indeed her husband George and after an introduction and pleasantries Bella and I went to get food. As we walked over I was introduced to several more people and by the time we had our plates full two other woman had come up singing some kind of song to Bella. I had no idea what that was about but whatever it was caused the most luscious blush to form on her face.
While we ate Gail asked Bella if she had a chance to talk to Sally. I could see the concern on Bella’s face as she scanned the room and the relief when she must have spotted the woman. I knew that Sally held a special place in my girl’s heart; she had worked hard to make sure that she was safe and if I was being honest Sally was the one person I really hoped made it.
“Why what happened?”
Gail held her hands up in a motion of surrender. “I’m going to let Sally tell you, but suffice to say Heather left last night.”
“When?” I couldn’t tell if the tone in Bella’s voice was shock or fear.
Gail shrugged, “I think it was around seven or seven-thirty?”
Bella dropped her fork and looked to me with a blank expression. I had no idea who Heather was but I got the feeling that Bella was trying to tell me that she just might have been our unwanted guest.
“I have to talk to Sally,” her words were hushed and directed towards me as she started to get up.
Taking ahold of her hand I spoke softly but firmly, “Bella whatever she has to tell you will still be there after you eat.” I knew that she wanted to find out what happened but I didn’t want her to get up and not finish her breakfast, her health was more important.
As it was, Bella ended up only eating half of what was left on her plate, but at least it was more then she would have eaten. Dad, George and I were talking about baseball while Bella was talking with the women when a group of three kids came running up to dad.
“Dr. Cullen…Dr. Cullen, you are supposed to come up front right now.” The spokesman was the oldest boy with blond hair and blue eyes.
“Hello Zachary,” dad turned to talk to the boy, “have you met Edward? Edward is my son.”
The child looked to me with a tilted head and then over my shoulder to Bella before giving me his attention once again. “Do you dance with Miss Bella?”
Dad snickered, but I was confused as to what the boy meant. “Sometimes we dance,” as I said the words Bella started coughing but dad took the child hands with a snicker, patting Bella’s shoulder and kissing mom’s head before letting the children lead him to the front of the room.
When I glanced at Bella her face was the color of an apple and Gail was shaking her head laughing under her breath, while mom patted Bella’s hand with a smile on her face.
What the fuck was going on here?
Gail took the microphone and started talking so I didn’t get a chance to ask, but I was going to be finding out soon. “I hope you all enjoyed the food and please eat, Wegman’s has provided us with enough food to feed twice as many people. I don’t know if you all had a chance to meet Dr. Cullen, he joined our staff a month ago and we are very blessed to have him. So make sure that you all say hello and thank you to him for all the time and supplies that he donates to the center.”
There was a round of applause and I could see dad’s face turning red. “Boys,” Carol went on, “Dr. Cullen, I know you insisted that we not get you a thank you gift, but the children made you something.”
The boy who asked if I danced with Bella handed dad a box while all the children said Thank You in unison. Dad opened it and after removing the layer of white tissue paper pulled out a t-shirt with a bunch of small hand prints in various colors all over it. On the front was the question ‘Who’s You’re Doctor’ and on the back amongst more hand prints was the name ‘Cullen’. Dad thanked them with a chuckle as he pulled the new shirt on over his shirt and tie.
As dad moved to come back over to the table Carol got back on the microphone. “Alright ladies lets go, I know you love me and you look forward to this all year long. Gail, Tori, Julie, Bella, Nancy, come on get up here.” Next to me Bella sighed but got up to join Gail and the other women at the front.
“They really do love this,” Carol teased, and as I looked at the women up there Bella was not the only one that was uncomfortable. “These women are the life blood of the center. Their time, talents, and dedication is what keeps our mission alive. On a personal note, I consider each one to not only be a colleague but also a dear friend.”
“This is the part they love,” Carol whispered into the microphone adding a wink. “Each person that comes to volunteer at the center comes for their own reason, I’m going to ask each one to give their reason why they work here. We’ll start with Gail. Gail is in charge of all our children; she has worked with all ages from pre-school all the way up to AP Physics.”
Gail giggled as she took the microphone but I was impressed. “In all honesty that girl was a bright young woman who really did it by herself and has gone on to MIT. I’m very proud of her.” Gail sighed and the smile faded from her face, “My sister Mary Katherine, that’s why I’m here. She was the baby of the family and at the age of twenty-four she was killed by her husband.” Gail cleared her throat before going on, “She had left him many times and always went back, I didn’t understand the dynamics of what she was going through and I blamed her. When she died, my family set up a college fund in her name and I came to speak with Carol about putting that in place, two years later I quit my job as a teacher to work with the children. It was my way of keeping a promise to my baby sister and I have never been more fulfilled.”
As Gail gave the microphone to Carol she was handed an envelope and was allowed to come back to the table and sit down.
The next one up was Tori, she was in charge of fund raising and she said that she came to work at the center because her mother was always involved with men who were abusive and she actually came for counseling to understand the reason’s behind her mother’s decisions, and she started volunteering because the center was in need of a someone.
Julie handled all legal and court volunteers, she said that as a paralegal she watched women come into the lawyers office where she works with hopeless expressions of fear and doubt on their faces and she wanted to give them hope and strength, so that is why she volunteers.
Bella took the microphone next and before she said anything at all, her eyes met mine for a split second. “I was that girl, the one who was afraid and hopeless. I was you…” she pointed to someone in the front.
“…and you…” pointing to someone on the right with a sniffle.
“…and you…” this time it was someone in the back. As she smiled sadly, one of the women sitting at the next table said, “we love you Bella.”
Bella glanced over with tear filled eyes, “I love you too” she swallowed hard gave a half smile then went on “…and that’s why I’m here. Because if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone and no one deserves that, and those of us that know the fear and misery, we have to help others to know that there is life on the other side...and it’s worth the fight to get there.” As Bella handed the microphone back I glanced at my mother to see a signal tear fall down her cheek.
Bella took her envelope and began to move away when Gail stopped her, “Ah Bella, they would like you to open your envelope up here.”
She looked skeptical but with a resounding sigh opened it, taking out a piece of paper while at least a half of dozen women started singing, “I’ll be your private dancer… a dancer for money.” Bella’s face turned bright red and she was biting her lip so hard I thought she would bite clear through. Dad was snickering again while at least half of the women in the hall were giggling.
“Bella, I didn’t know you liked dancing…” Gail’s comment only caused more giggling, “…the girls insisted and Dr. Cullen said…” once Bella heard dad’s name her mouth dropped in shock as her eyes glared at him while he laughed, but then Gail giggled too so whatever the joke was she was in on it.
Dad was still laughing when Bella came back to the table. “I can’t believe you did that!” she accused dad with a giggle.
“What is it?” Bella handed me the paper while listening to my father.
“I didn’t do anything, they all came to me,” dad held his hands up, “it was Esme, she bought it!”
Bella’s eyes widened in shock as she looked to my mother who was laughing.
“I’m sorry dear, I thought it was so cute,” mom laughed.
I wasn’t getting anything out of this conversation so I looked down at the sheet of paper in bewilderment and then gazed at my mother.
“You got Bella a certificate for advanced dance lessons?”
A/N
Anyway I will translate for you…
“Dispatch do you have that 10-27 ready?”
10-27 - DDL report (a background check)
“Affirmative 10-63,” Officer Hawk took a small black notebook out of his breast pocket and the dispatch began speaking in codes.
10-63 – prepare to copy
“10-36, Isabella M Swan, AKA Isabella M Cummings of 344 Ferndale, Seattle. 931on a 240, 261 that occurred 01-04-08. RO in effect from 01-15-08 to present against James A Cummings, 230 E State Street, Forks Washington.”
10-36 – confidential information
931 – see woman regarding complaint
240 –assault
261 – rape
RO – restraining order
A light sheen of sweat covered Bella’s flushed body while she rested against my chest attempting to get her breathing under control. My palms rest against the soft silkiness of her skin holding her against me. A feeling of satisfaction dominated my emotions, I hadn’t thought about the possibility of her having an orgasm while removing the clip. In hindsight I should have but it still didn’t matter, retribution had to be paid.
Kissing her temple I thought I would let that fact be known. “Now we’re even.”
“Even?” Bella said the word with a hint of skepticism along with a humorless laugh, making me pull back to look at her.
“Yes even. You not only came without permission, you came while I wasn’t there.”
Her eyes widened as she turned her body to face me, her fingers tracing over the muscles of my stomach and down over my hard on that was still covered up with my boxers. “But it was only a little one and I didn’t know what to expect,” her eyes fluttered through her lashes before narrowing in accusation, “you should have warned me.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that came out, “warned you?”
Her fingers were now on my hips sliding the thin layer of cotton down until my dick was partially uncovered. Bella’s hand wrapped around me sliding downwards taking the boxers with her until I was fully exposed. Closing my eyes I enjoyed the feeling of her hand moving over me, so her next words made my lust induced haze slightly dissipate.
“Yes warned me,” she answered while straddling my thighs bringing her warm center over my straining dick causing me to hiss as the lust returned. “Besides how do you suppose that torturing me made us even?”
“Ahhhh,” the moan was unavoidable while her slickness slid along my length. My hands tightened around Bella’s hips causing more pressure to be applied, “Well…”
What was she asking?
Oh yeah
“Since I wasn’t there you had to tell me what I missed…” the sigh that left her mouth caused me to hesitate for a split second before I could go on with my explanation, “…and since you already had a release one had to be denied…it’s that simple.”
“Oh.” Bella tilted her hips rose slightly higher and slid herself over me.
“Fuck…Jesus baby,” the warm wetness of her core caused me to cry out. I could live within her, crawl up inside her and feast on nothing but Bella.
Her arms wrapped around the back of my neck as she used her thighs to move over me. “Besides Edward,” she cooed sliding up until just only my tip remained inside her, “this makes us even” and she slammed her weigh down taking every bit of me inside her.
“MotherFucker!” The movement was so unexpected that the word left my mouth in a shout.
“You seem a little…jumpy Edward,” Bella laughed… she fucking laughed.
“Oh, little one…I’ll show you jumpy!”
My hands gripped her hips tighter and I lifted her up to lay back on the bed bringing her legs against my chest with her ankles on either side of my neck while my eyes gazed into hers. “How jumpy do you want me Bella? Slow and soft?” I took a long slow stroke that was almost painful. “Or fast and hard?” gripping her tighter I slammed into her making her scream out.
“Yesss! Hard…fast …please, Edward …Fuck Me!”
“As you wish.”
Wasting no time in setting a hard fast pace it didn’t take long until she was withering underneath me. Lifting her hips up off the bed and hearing the moan that left her mouth told me I had the right spot. The sounds that resonated through the room were a mixture of pleasure and meeting flesh. Bella was panting as the tight grip she held on my forearms caused her nails to dig into my skin.
“Edward …I’m going to…cum…”
“Cum!” I growled out the word as my balls started to ache.
Bella’s hands left my arms as she gripped the comforter screaming out my name. She arched her back as her internal muscles clamped down making me lose my own battle. I came inside her with a primal grunt, breathlessly collapsing over top of her heaving chest.
“Oh baby…,” my lips found hers for a quick breathless kiss and before I could say anything she finished my thought through her own breathless words. “Now, we’re even.”
Gazing into her eyes I wondered how she knew what I was going to say. Part of me was unnerved by the fluency but a larger part found the effortlessness to enhance the intimacy and I smiled wondering when I became such a sap.
Bella’s hand cupped my face, “what?”
The fact that she seemed to know me so well only made my smile more pronounced. “You just finished my thought. It’s like were an old married couple,” I told her rolling over onto my back and pulling her along with me. “Next thing you know you’ll be telling me to take liver pills and worrying about me getting constipated.”
Propping her chin on my chest she laughed, “I don’t think we are quite there yet. You are going to have to worry about your own constipation, although I did pick out high fiber cereal.”
“There you go,” sweeping her hair over her shoulder, “you’re already worried.”
We laid there quietly looking into each other’s eyes and I saw it, only a glimpse‒but it was there. The vision of me on one knee asking for her hand, Bella in a white dress while I waited at the end of the aisle with our family and friends gathered around. It was the first time I had thought about it and rather than scaring me, I wanted it badly.
“I love you babe,” the smile that formed on her face made me even more sure.
“I love you too.”
The moment was sealed with a small kiss that would have gone further had it not been from the whine that came from the closed door. Groaning, my head turned to look over the foot of the bed to see Seth glancing back and forth between us and the door. “Come on, I’ll let you out one more time.”
Bella giggled as she moved to let me get up. “He can’t help it Edward, he’s used to having free rein; to come and go as he wants.”
Pulling a t-shirt over my head and my boxers back into place, I made the observation, “You mean he’s like his mommy…spoiled,” I added with a small swat on Bella’s bottom making her giggle.
Taking the dog out I decided to have a small heart to heart with him, “Hey boy, how about you be a trooper tonight? I’ll let you out one more time and then you be quiet for the rest of the night so I can sleep and I will take you for a run in the morning. What do you say…deal?”
Seth looked at me like he completely understood, and even though I knew that it was a hopeless case I couldn’t help but be optimistic that he would comply. Sitting on the back patio I watched him run around exerting some of his energy. The night had not turned out like I had planned. The idea was to go home spend a few hours in the playroom and then fall asleep with Bella tethered to my bed.
Where a few months ago I would have been completely thrown off kilter because my plans had to change now I found that it was easier to go with the flow, I also realized that not everything can fit into a one inch square box on the calendar. Outside influences and occurrences beyond my control tend to pop up at the most inopportune time, throwing a monkey wrench into my agenda.
However, the wench tonight was the worse one yet. I was not happy about someone breaking into the house, and the first thing I was going to do in the morning was get the locksmith there. I had called the security company to see if they could tell what code was attempted to be entered. They were going to send someone over tomorrow afternoon to retrieve the chip with that information on it.
I was still bewildered over who would have been in my home, and while we were on the way to check Bella’s house Emmett had suggested that perhaps it was Tanya. I figured at that time of night she would be at the club, which should be easy to check on when I went to New Moon on Monday morning. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why she would do that. Tanya wasn’t happy about the relationship I had with Bella - that was obvious - although I don’t know why. We had separated months before she left and my life had to go on while she was gone. Had she stayed away another six months she would have come back to find us engaged.
Engaged? It was a small glimpse Edward! Are you seriously thinking about marring a woman you’ve only known a month?
Sitting there in the calm quiet of the night watching Seth, the answer was clear yes…yes I was. Because it wasn’t just any woman, it was Bella. Five minutes later I found her snuggled under the covers sound asleep. Shutting the door I looked down at Seth who had taken up residence sitting by the door.
“You and I had a deal,” I told him with a pointed look; he dropped his head before moving to lie down in his bed. Encouraged by his actions that I might not be spending the whole night listening to him whine by the door or taking him outside five times, I took my place spooning in next to Bella. Her body fit against mine in the most perfect way. As my arms wrapped around her she relaxed once again with a sigh, “Edward…love you.”
Her sleepy-time admissions never failing to make me smile, I drifted off to sleep breathing in the scent of her hair along with the lingering aroma of our sex.
My brain registered the sound of whimpering and I groaned, “Seth we had a deal.” Then the sound became more pronounced as the woman in my arms squirmed letting out a high pitched scream, “No! No…stay away from me!”
Fuck!
Instinctually my arms tightened as she tried to push away from me, that fact alone pissed me off. Whatever had her in the grips of terror was so bad that she couldn’t even sense my presence. “Bella…” I shook her shoulders trying to get her awake, “…baby wake up…”
Her eyes fluttered open as a gasp left her throat while her hands gripped my shirt and she started crying. “Shhh…” I held her close to my chest, “…it was just a dream baby. Only a dream, nothing is going to hurt you.”
Continuing to soothe her the best that I could until she finally calmed down enough to listen to me. “Tell me about your dream.”
“Someone came into the house…I couldn’t tell who…and they…wanted to take me.” Her words were a mixture of tears and hiccups.
“Shhhh…” my hands ran though the length of her hair as she clung to me, “…it was just a response from what happened baby. Shhh…settle down.”
I should have expected that she would have a nightmare, the trauma of having our home invaded was enough to unnerve me, I can only guess what memories it stirred in her. Removing my shirt that was full of tears and dirty from her nose, I laid back down with her head on my chest. “We’ll change the locks tomorrow and figure out who it was, that will make you feel safer. It was just a dream Bella; I swear I would die before I let anyone hurt you.”
“Don’t say that!”
I wasn’t sure what she was talking about when she abruptly shot her head up to look at me. “I couldn’t stand it if something happened to you. I couldn’t take it!”
Even in the darkness of the room I could see the fierceness in Bella’s eyes as the tears fell down her face. “Nothing is going to happen to me, and nothing is going to happen to you. Now stop with the tears and let’s go back to sleep.”
Cupping her face my thumb wiped away the tears as she nuzzled her cheek against my palm before turning her head to placing a soft kiss in the center of my hand. “Do you think I’m crazy?”
“No…”
Why the hell would I think that?
“…I think it was a stressful night and I think you have a lot on your mind and have dealt with more in your life then any one person should have to deal with. I told you before baby, I think you are the strongest person I know; a lesser person would have called it quits a long time ago. Now let’s go back to sleep, I have a promise to keep to a dog.”
Bella snuggled back into my chest so tightly I could feel her heart beating against my skin. The next thing I was aware of was the feeling of being watched. I tried to turn over and ignore it but no matter what I did it wouldn’t go away. Opening my eyes taking a quick scan everything seemed the way it was last night except that the sunlight was filtering through the window above the bed. Glancing over my shoulder I was greeted with two of the saddest brown eyes I have ever seen.
Seth had his two front paws on the edge of the bed bringing his head level with mine. My movement must have disturbed Bella, because she snuggled back in closer to me while I tried to go back to sleep. Seth made no movement or even a sound but I knew he was there and I knew what he wanted. “Alright, you lived up to your end.”
Trying not to disturb the beautiful woman in my arms I moved away from her to sit on the edge of the bed while glancing at the clock – 7:02. Bella rolled onto her back the long tresses of dark hair laid against her bare shoulders partially concealing the small amount of her breast that had become uncovered. She was beautiful.
“Do you see what you’re making me leave?”
Seth didn’t seem to care that there was a naked Bella in the bed, and even though I did some things were just out of my control. Throwing on my clothes from last night I quickly wrote Bella a note telling her where I was before putting the leash on Seth and heading to my house to change.
I had brought a clean set of clothes with me to Bella’s but had not planned on running, so I needed to get something more comfortable then jeans. My house was just as we had left it; no unexpected nightly visitor came by, but even so, it was better for Bella’s peace of mind to stay away for the night. Although the nightmare crept into her sleep anyway, it was still better.
Seth loved to go on a run, and I kept a slow even pace. Last night I was able to shove the events to the back of my mind, but in the light of day there were things that had to be taken care of. Besides the obvious of knowing who broke into my home, I also wanted to know why. They didn’t take or disturb anything, that much was evident while Emmett and I walked through the house with the police.
The police immediately noticed that there were two people living in my room and I told them that Bella had been staying with me. Officer Hawk had inquired as to where she was at that moment and once I told him he seemed fine with my decision to keep her away. That was until we entered her bedroom and it was obvious that Bella also occupied that space.
“Mr. Cullen, is there someone else who lives here with you?”
“No…” I didn’t understand his question, “…only Bella.” His eyes narrowed as he looked around her room.
He then inquired as to her name and any personal information I could give, address, date of birth, those kind of things, which he then called into the dispatch. I didn’t want to take them down into the cellar but officer Hawk insisted and again insisted on me unlocking the playroom. I wasn’t sure why it was so important, perhaps they just wanted to make sure that nothing illegal was occurring.
Personally I never felt ashamed of my sexual practices, what two consenting adults choose to do in the privacy of their home is no one’s business. However that didn’t mean that I wanted these men to pass judgment onto Bella and I was glad that she was not there. No comments were made while we were down there just a lot of stares and facial expressions.
Once we were back upstairs I told them about the new security system and they asked me to pull up the feed from the video. It had barely started when Officer Hawk’s transmitter beeped. Clicking the button on his shoulder he spoke.
“Dispatch do you have that 10-27 ready?”
“Affirmative 10-63,” Officer Hawk took a small black notebook out of his breast pocket and the dispatch began speaking in codes.
“10-36, Isabella M Swan, AKA Isabella M Cummings of 344 Ferndale, Seattle. 931on a 240, 261 that occurred 01-04-08. RO in effect from 01-15-08 to present against James A Cummings, 230 E State Street, Forks Washington.”
I had no idea what the heck was just said, I knew it involved Bella and James but the language made absolutely no sense to me. The three officers on the other hand were very interested in what was being said, especially officer Hawk.
“10-4 dispatch,” Officer Hawk’s eyes went to me. “Mr. Cullen do you know James Cummings?”
“I’ve never met him and only know what I’ve been told…” I wasn’t given a chance to finish before he interrupted my thoughts.
“And what exactly is that Mr. Cullen?”
“They married young, he was abusive and she moved across the country to go to school to get away from him.” While I spoke officer Hawk nodded his head while jotting notes onto the pad.
“And you have never seen him?” I told him no and then he asked if there had been any other incidences that seemed suspicious, which I answered.
“Mr. Cullen is it possible for you to call Ms. Swan and have her come here so that I may speak with her?”
I really didn’t want to have Bella come home until they were gone, but he was unrelenting. After calling her we watched the video. Emmett didn’t have a clue who that could be, but we were sure it was not a man. The third officer wanted to do a walk around the back yard, but there was nothing out there; and when we came in Bella was already speaking with the officer and making her irritation known.
Exactly why Officer Hawk took it upon himself to interrogate Bella about her affairs I had no clue, but there was some reason for it. I didn’t know if it was feasible for Mr. Weiss to check out a police officer, but I was going to ask. The time had come to start paying attention to all the seemingly little circumstances that have been going on. I couldn’t any longer brush it off as coincidence and until I knew what was going on I was damn sure going to be paying more attention.
We only did the half circuit around the park ending up back at my house. Seth needed food and water which I gave him, leaving him there while I headed back to Bella’s. Since it was going to be a nice day I had opted to take the bike. She truly enjoyed the bike and I thought that perhaps if there was time after the breakfast maybe we could squeeze in a small ride.
Bella was sitting on the couch writing in her journal, she was covered up in a thick robe with a towel wrapped around her hair. Although Bella had become much more open with me about her thoughts and feelings, I was glad that she was using the journal as a therapeutic escape.
“Hey,” the smile that formed on her face lit up the room. “A promise to keep, huh?”
“Absolutely, I’m a man of my word,” I told her before leaning over the back of the couch for a kiss. She dropped the book wrapping her arms around my neck pulling me over the top of her making me land with a thud between her thighs.
“Ut…woman, what are you doing? I’m all sweaty,” my face nuzzled in the nook under her neck kissing the exposed skin while she giggled.
“I like you sweaty.”
My head shot up to look in her cheerful eyes, “Yeah?”
“Uh huh…” taking a deep breath while her fingers ran through my hair she continued, “…you have that manly aroma that makes me all …wet.” The last word came out in a sigh that went straight to my dick making me groan.
“Ohhh…baby… how much time do we have?”
She giggled at my predicament, “Not much, you’d better shower.”
“One day my pet, your teasing is going to get you into trouble.”
The grin on her face was as infectious as the sparkle in her eyes, “I think I’ll take my chances.”
Giving her a quick kiss I moved to get up, pulling her hands so she would follow, “Come on, talk to me while we get ready.”
While I showered Bella dried her hair it was quarter after eight and we didn’t have very much time, but I wanted to get our morning discussion out of the way. It’s so much better when we can sit over breakfast and talk. That just wasn’t going to be possible so I had to do it while we dressed.
“So how did you like the clip?” Bella stopped what she was doing which was clasping the front closure of her bra to look at me.
“It is very different from a clamp,” I nodded while tucking the t-shirt into my jeans but waited for her to give me more information. “The clamp makes it kind of numb, at least for a little while,” the grin on her face turned to a blush and I couldn’t wait to hear what she was thinking, “the clip is like someone is constantly playing with my clit…it was very…difficult to ignore.”
I nodded again and before I could talk she added, “of course it would have helped if someone would have stopped rubbing it very chance he got.”
Is she kidding?
That’s part of the fun – for me anyway, but I wasn’t going to tell her that, so instead I brushed it off by saying, “just doing my job,” knowing full well that next time I would be sure to provide her with even more rubbing.
I noticed that Bella had taken out a denim skirt and I suggested that perhaps she should wear jeans. Once we were both dressed I wanted to sit down while we talked about the next thing. I took her hands tugging her body into my lap so we could be close. “I’m sorry we didn’t get to have an after punishment discussion last night.”
Tilting her head to the side she first looked at me perplexed until understanding came over her features and her eyes dropped along with the tone of her voice. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
I waited and when it was clear that she wasn’t going to look at me, I lifted her chin. “I know you were frustrated both physically and mentally,” I let out a small sigh, “but I cannot and will not have you disrespect me like that, whether we are alone or in front of people. I will not abide it. Do you understand?”
She nodded her head. “Answer please.”
“Yes I understand,” the tears were beginning to form in her eyes and I wiped them away before they could spill.
“I…” Bella stopped talking so I encouraged her, “What?”
“I…” she shrugged, “I didn’t like not being able to look at your face.”
“I didn’t like it either Bella,” My words caused more tears which I wiped away. “Don’t cry, it’s over and done, just remember your place and keep your temper in check.”
“Ok…” I knew there was something else on her mind so I waited and was not disappointed, “Is that why you gave me the pâté?”
Internally I was laughing, externally my face remained as still as stone. “No. I gave you the pâté because I could.”
My mind went back to the previous night and Bella’s reaction to the two crackers on her plate and then the request for ketchup. That time I couldn’t help the chuckle, of course she thought I was laughing at her reaction - which in a way I was.
“Are you going to do that a lot?”
Wouldn’t she like to know?
I suppose she would, but again, not something I was going to share. Instead I gave her an honest answer, “Whenever the spirit moves me.”
That was not the answer that Bella had hoped to hear and she huffed in irritation, causing me to raise my one eyebrow in question.
“What?” she questioned innocently as her index finger moved back and forth between us. “We’re just Edward and Bella here,”
“That we are.” I assured her with a grin.
“Although, you said something about picking up our ‘usual’ this afternoon until tomorrow morning?”
I did suggest that, and was still willing to. “Is that something you want to do?”
The smile that formed on her face told me the answer to my question before the words left her mouth. “Yes. I was thinking from three o’clock today until tomorrow morning like around eight?”
Eight?
That seemed like a strange time to me and I couldn’t figure out why she would pick that particular hour, but I agreed with her and we made our way to leave. Bella wanted to brush her teeth once more and still needed to put on her shoes, and I went through the house making sure all the blinds were closed and the house was secure. We definitely would not be returning here before we left for Victoria.
I told Bella to make sure she had a jacket before following her out the back door; she unexpectedly stopped causing me to stumble before I knocked her over. “You brought the bike!” the excitement she felt was tantamount to the joy that she brought to me as she spun around to embrace me.
“So I did,” I told her hugging her body to mine. “If I knew it would bring this kind of reaction I would do it more often”
Bella got that coy smile on her face as she looked up at me through her eye lashes, “You don’t need the bike to get that reaction…it’s just an extra bonus,” she added with a grin.
A grin that I couldn’t help but to kiss away.
Her lips were soft and supple, melding against mine in the most perfect way. Her hands wrapped around the back of my neck sending shivers through me as her fingers ran through my hair. Her soft moan matched my own as our tongues sought out each other’s. Bella pressed her body closer to me and I could feel her chest heaving through the panting breaths. Somehow my brain registered where we were and what we had to do making it possible to pull away from her with one more single kiss.
“Ah, my Bella,” I sighed while I watched her tongue peek out through her lips to sweep across the surface.
“Later?” the hopeful innocence mixed with the passion that I knew lay underneath was an intoxicating combination that never ceased to entice me.
“Absolutely.”
Straddling a Harley with a hard-on is not the easiest or most comfortable thing to do, and my predicament wasn’t made any easier by the feel of Bella’s thighs straddling my hips. I had thought about taking the long way to the church where the breakfast was being held, but between our talk in the bedroom and the small make out session we were running late.
The breakfast was being held in the basement of the church on the corner down the street from the center. I didn’t know how it was possible to hold a breakfast on Sunday morning in a church.
Isn’t Sunday Morning their busy time?
Apparently this church must be different because no one was there except for the people from the center. Once the door was open music filtered out into the foyer, but it wasn’t the church choir singing heavenly hymns, no - it was Beyonce’s, Single Ladies.
The whole basement was set up with about fifteen or sixteen large round tables with several long tables full of chafing trays and round platters of various foods. Another long table was set up with fruits and muffins, while still another contained drinks and large commercial coffee pots. There must have been over a hundred and twenty-five people there and as soon as we walked through the door Carol came up to grab Bella into a hug.
“There you are. I was wondering when you would get here.”
“Sorry, it was a nice day so Edward brought the bike and we took the long way.”
Smooth Bella, who said she couldn’t lie?
Carol smiled brightly, “Well I’m glad you finally made it,” she then looked to me, “hello Edward.” After saying hello Carol told us to find a place to sit and get some food, but before she walked away she whispered something to Bella that made Carol giggle and Bella look ill. I was going to ask what that was about when a woman in her mid-twenties with shoulder length jet black curly hair came up to us.
Actually, she danced up to us singing along with the music, “So dance dance, like it’s the last last night of your life Im’ma get you right…” by this time she was standing in front of us and Bella was laughing while the woman finished singing. “Cuz baby tonight…” that was as far as she got before she too started laughing and threw her arms around my girl.
“Behave,” Bella half pleaded through her laughter.
“I will…I will…I couldn’t …resist!” the woman said through her fits of laughter before she turned to look at me holding her hand out in greeting. “Hello you must be the dance master?”
“Excuse me?” what the hell did she mean dance master? Why is she calling me master, did I know this girl? was she aware of my lifestyle?
“Stop!” Bella pleaded with a whine and then shook her head with humor. “Tammy this is Edward. Edward meet Tammy…she is one of the women who stay at the center.”
Oh
I didn’t get to think about that because Tammy proudly announced, “Not for long!”
“What?” Bella seemed puzzled.
“Nope, Stacy and I talked about it, and I’m going back to work next week.”
“But I don’t have your stuff together,” Bella went from puzzled to anxious.
“Carol said that you were going on vacation and she was going to take care of it.”
Bella’s face warped into a perceptive calm and I could see the counselor in her come out as she asked, “Are you ready for that?”
“Yeah…I’m done hiding Bella, I have a life and I want to live it,” the determination in Tammy’s voice was in direct contrast to the lighthearted banter that had been present before.
“Good.”
That was all Bella said, but it was like she was giving Tammy a blessing because a huge smile took up residence on her face and she hugged Bella again. “Don’t worry, you’re not getting rid of me.”
Bella took ahold of my hand telling Tammy that we were going to get some food and that they could talk later. My mother and Father were sitting at a table talking with a couple, the woman I remember was Gail and I could only assume that the man was her husband. As we approached my parents stood to give Bella a hug hello and me a clap on the shoulder from my dad and a peck on the cheek from mom.
The man with Gail was indeed her husband George and after an introduction and pleasantries Bella and I went to get food. As we walked over I was introduced to several more people and by the time we had our plates full two other woman had come up singing some kind of song to Bella. I had no idea what that was about but whatever it was caused the most luscious blush to form on her face.
While we ate Gail asked Bella if she had a chance to talk to Sally. I could see the concern on Bella’s face as she scanned the room and the relief when she must have spotted the woman. I knew that Sally held a special place in my girl’s heart; she had worked hard to make sure that she was safe and if I was being honest Sally was the one person I really hoped made it.
“Why what happened?”
Gail held her hands up in a motion of surrender. “I’m going to let Sally tell you, but suffice to say Heather left last night.”
“When?” I couldn’t tell if the tone in Bella’s voice was shock or fear.
Gail shrugged, “I think it was around seven or seven-thirty?”
Bella dropped her fork and looked to me with a blank expression. I had no idea who Heather was but I got the feeling that Bella was trying to tell me that she just might have been our unwanted guest.
“I have to talk to Sally,” her words were hushed and directed towards me as she started to get up.
Taking ahold of her hand I spoke softly but firmly, “Bella whatever she has to tell you will still be there after you eat.” I knew that she wanted to find out what happened but I didn’t want her to get up and not finish her breakfast, her health was more important.
As it was, Bella ended up only eating half of what was left on her plate, but at least it was more then she would have eaten. Dad, George and I were talking about baseball while Bella was talking with the women when a group of three kids came running up to dad.
“Dr. Cullen…Dr. Cullen, you are supposed to come up front right now.” The spokesman was the oldest boy with blond hair and blue eyes.
“Hello Zachary,” dad turned to talk to the boy, “have you met Edward? Edward is my son.”
The child looked to me with a tilted head and then over my shoulder to Bella before giving me his attention once again. “Do you dance with Miss Bella?”
Dad snickered, but I was confused as to what the boy meant. “Sometimes we dance,” as I said the words Bella started coughing but dad took the child hands with a snicker, patting Bella’s shoulder and kissing mom’s head before letting the children lead him to the front of the room.
When I glanced at Bella her face was the color of an apple and Gail was shaking her head laughing under her breath, while mom patted Bella’s hand with a smile on her face.
What the fuck was going on here?
Gail took the microphone and started talking so I didn’t get a chance to ask, but I was going to be finding out soon. “I hope you all enjoyed the food and please eat, Wegman’s has provided us with enough food to feed twice as many people. I don’t know if you all had a chance to meet Dr. Cullen, he joined our staff a month ago and we are very blessed to have him. So make sure that you all say hello and thank you to him for all the time and supplies that he donates to the center.”
There was a round of applause and I could see dad’s face turning red. “Boys,” Carol went on, “Dr. Cullen, I know you insisted that we not get you a thank you gift, but the children made you something.”
The boy who asked if I danced with Bella handed dad a box while all the children said Thank You in unison. Dad opened it and after removing the layer of white tissue paper pulled out a t-shirt with a bunch of small hand prints in various colors all over it. On the front was the question ‘Who’s You’re Doctor’ and on the back amongst more hand prints was the name ‘Cullen’. Dad thanked them with a chuckle as he pulled the new shirt on over his shirt and tie.
As dad moved to come back over to the table Carol got back on the microphone. “Alright ladies lets go, I know you love me and you look forward to this all year long. Gail, Tori, Julie, Bella, Nancy, come on get up here.” Next to me Bella sighed but got up to join Gail and the other women at the front.
“They really do love this,” Carol teased, and as I looked at the women up there Bella was not the only one that was uncomfortable. “These women are the life blood of the center. Their time, talents, and dedication is what keeps our mission alive. On a personal note, I consider each one to not only be a colleague but also a dear friend.”
“This is the part they love,” Carol whispered into the microphone adding a wink. “Each person that comes to volunteer at the center comes for their own reason, I’m going to ask each one to give their reason why they work here. We’ll start with Gail. Gail is in charge of all our children; she has worked with all ages from pre-school all the way up to AP Physics.”
Gail giggled as she took the microphone but I was impressed. “In all honesty that girl was a bright young woman who really did it by herself and has gone on to MIT. I’m very proud of her.” Gail sighed and the smile faded from her face, “My sister Mary Katherine, that’s why I’m here. She was the baby of the family and at the age of twenty-four she was killed by her husband.” Gail cleared her throat before going on, “She had left him many times and always went back, I didn’t understand the dynamics of what she was going through and I blamed her. When she died, my family set up a college fund in her name and I came to speak with Carol about putting that in place, two years later I quit my job as a teacher to work with the children. It was my way of keeping a promise to my baby sister and I have never been more fulfilled.”
As Gail gave the microphone to Carol she was handed an envelope and was allowed to come back to the table and sit down.
The next one up was Tori, she was in charge of fund raising and she said that she came to work at the center because her mother was always involved with men who were abusive and she actually came for counseling to understand the reason’s behind her mother’s decisions, and she started volunteering because the center was in need of a someone.
Julie handled all legal and court volunteers, she said that as a paralegal she watched women come into the lawyers office where she works with hopeless expressions of fear and doubt on their faces and she wanted to give them hope and strength, so that is why she volunteers.
Bella took the microphone next and before she said anything at all, her eyes met mine for a split second. “I was that girl, the one who was afraid and hopeless. I was you…” she pointed to someone in the front.
“…and you…” pointing to someone on the right with a sniffle.
“…and you…” this time it was someone in the back. As she smiled sadly, one of the women sitting at the next table said, “we love you Bella.”
Bella glanced over with tear filled eyes, “I love you too” she swallowed hard gave a half smile then went on “…and that’s why I’m here. Because if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone and no one deserves that, and those of us that know the fear and misery, we have to help others to know that there is life on the other side...and it’s worth the fight to get there.” As Bella handed the microphone back I glanced at my mother to see a signal tear fall down her cheek.
Bella took her envelope and began to move away when Gail stopped her, “Ah Bella, they would like you to open your envelope up here.”
She looked skeptical but with a resounding sigh opened it, taking out a piece of paper while at least a half of dozen women started singing, “I’ll be your private dancer… a dancer for money.” Bella’s face turned bright red and she was biting her lip so hard I thought she would bite clear through. Dad was snickering again while at least half of the women in the hall were giggling.
“Bella, I didn’t know you liked dancing…” Gail’s comment only caused more giggling, “…the girls insisted and Dr. Cullen said…” once Bella heard dad’s name her mouth dropped in shock as her eyes glared at him while he laughed, but then Gail giggled too so whatever the joke was she was in on it.
Dad was still laughing when Bella came back to the table. “I can’t believe you did that!” she accused dad with a giggle.
“What is it?” Bella handed me the paper while listening to my father.
“I didn’t do anything, they all came to me,” dad held his hands up, “it was Esme, she bought it!”
Bella’s eyes widened in shock as she looked to my mother who was laughing.
“I’m sorry dear, I thought it was so cute,” mom laughed.
I wasn’t getting anything out of this conversation so I looked down at the sheet of paper in bewilderment and then gazed at my mother.
“You got Bella a certificate for advanced dance lessons?”
A/N
Anyway I will translate for you…
“Dispatch do you have that 10-27 ready?”
10-27 - DDL report (a background check)
“Affirmative 10-63,” Officer Hawk took a small black notebook out of his breast pocket and the dispatch began speaking in codes.
10-63 – prepare to copy
“10-36, Isabella M Swan, AKA Isabella M Cummings of 344 Ferndale, Seattle. 931on a 240, 261 that occurred 01-04-08. RO in effect from 01-15-08 to present against James A Cummings, 230 E State Street, Forks Washington.”
10-36 – confidential information
931 – see woman regarding complaint
240 –assault
261 – rape
RO – restraining order
Chapter 47
BPOV
The alarm was triggered?
I didn’t want to stay at Alice’s, I wanted to be with Edward, but I didn’t get a chance to say anything before he took me aside. Lifting my chin so I could look at his face, it was the first time I got to look into his eyes all night. They were soft yet meaningful.
“Isabella I want you to stay here until I find out what happened,” I only nodded as he continued with his instructions. “Go to the bathroom and remove the clip and I would say that until we know what has happened it would be best to cease our …usual…,” the smirk played at the side of his lips, “…for the evening.”
“Yes Sir, but,” I hesitated because there was so much I wanted to say that I couldn’t get them into the right order of importance.
“What?”
I figured the most important thing was to tell him that the alarm was more than likely a malfunction.
“Let’s hope so.” His hand cupped my face as he continued, “But on the off chance it’s not, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. Now be a good girl do as I say, so that your safety and comfort is one less thing on my mind until we know for sure.”
“Yes Sir.”
Edward smiled giving me a quick kiss, leaving with Emmett before I could voice my other thoughts.
Excusing myself to use the bathroom I wondered if Seth was alright, if someone had come into the house would they have hurt him? Then the thought that someone was still there worried me even more as I feared for Edward’s safety.
A slight hiss escaped my mouth and I shuddered while removing the silver clip. It was not in pain but actually a small orgasm that I wasn’t expecting so I couldn’t stop. I knew that I would have to confess to Edward later but at that moment I just enjoyed the release, washed my hands and joined the others to wait.
We stayed at Alice’s for over an hour before Edward finally called to say that Rose should bring me home. I tried to tell myself the whole time that it was a new system and that for the first few weeks there can be a lot of false alarms. When my system was first installed it took some time until the settings were correct, resulting in four different incidents in the first ten days. It was with that hope that I kept telling myself it was just a glitch. However that idea was quickly squashed when Rose rounded the corner and I saw the two police cars in the driveway.
“Do you think they have someone in there?” She asked me while shifting the Jeep into park.
“I don’t know,” my voice was quiet as my eyes took in the scene before glancing over at Rose. “I guess there is only one way to find out.” Not sure if I wanted to go into the house or not my hand hesitated on the handle, before deciding that Edward would not have told me to come home if there was any kind of danger.
The front door was unlocked and it didn’t appear to be disturbed or broken in anyway. Seth greeted me with a wagging tail and after bending to say hello to him, I addressed the two officers who were standing in the living room. Emmett was off to the side of the room and Rose went to her husband. Edward wasn’t anywhere to be found and as my eyes moved back to his brother; he inclined his head towards the kitchen area.
“Ms Swan?” the taller, brawny, bald headed officer began to speak. “I’m officer Hawk and I have a few questions for you.”
“Certainly…” I was going to ask him if I could have a minute to get a drink, but just then Edward came in from the kitchen followed by yet another officer who was eyeing me suspiciously. As soon as Edward’s eye met mine, I felt much more at ease. That ease was enhanced once his arm wrapped around my shoulder and I felt his lips against my hair as he handed me a bottle of water.
“Mr. Cullen says that you have been staying here with him,” it wasn’t a question, but I answered him before taking a drink.
“Yes”
“He also says that you only live a few blocks away and that you have had someone tamper with your vehicle, as well as your animal. Is that correct?”
I affirmed Edward’s answer and wanted to ask my own question when officer Hawk inquired, “Do you have any idea who would have done that? Mr. Cullen tells us that you have an ex-husband who was less then admirable to you…”
Interrupting his question I asked the one I wanted to know, “I’m sorry, has someone tried to break into the house?”
Both Edward and the officer answered, “Yes.”
I could feel my eyes widen, “What showed on the cameras?”
“We will get to that in a minute Ms. Swan, right now I need you to answer my question,” he sounded rather exasperated. I had lived with Charlie most of my life and I knew that my father was only a small town cop, but still he was a cop and I don’t think he would ever be rude to anyone, especially the victim. Officer Hawk was looking at me in anticipation of my answer.
“Yes my ex-husband was less then admirable; however we have been divorced for two years prior to that we were estranged four years and he doesn’t come around here.”
“And yet for the past two years you have a standing restraining order against one…” he looked down at the small notebook in his hand before saying, “…James A. Cummings of Forks, Washington…” his eyes went back to mine, “…is that your ex-husband?” I was taken aback by the coldness in his voice and I couldn’t tell if he was naturally aloof or if it was souly directed towards me; either way it was irritating.
“Yes it is and yes I renew my restraining order each year and I will continue to do so as long as possible. Is there a problem with that?” Edward stiffened at my side and I could tell he didn’t like my tone of voice, neither did officer Hawk.
“No ma’am, I’m just curious as to why after four years of separation you felt the need to get a retaining order at that time, especially if as you say Mr. Cummings, never comes around?” there was finally a small smile on his face however his next question caught me off guard.
“Ms. Swan you have an open sexual assault case that was perpetrated on your person in your home at 334 Ferndale in January of 08.”
I could feel the shock on my face along with the sickness in the pit of my stomach as I answered, “Yes,” my eyes automatically looking down at the floor as I felt that familiar shame and I wished that Emmett and Rose were not hearing any of what was being said.
Edward’s voice broke through my anxiety. “What does that have to do with tonight?”
“I’m just trying to get the facts together Mr. Cullen,” his composed tone cut through the room when he spoke to me his voice was gruff. Completely ignoring Edward, officer Hawk got right to the point he wanted to make, and in the process making my anxiety spike.
“Ms. Swan do you know where your ex-husband is now?”
“He lives in Forks,” I shrugged. “I assume that is where he is, we don’t have any contact.” The contents of my stomach churned at just the thought of James having anything to do with breaking into Edward’s house.
Officer Hawk turned to the uniformed man next to him, “Officer Miller would you call Forks PD and see if someone could check on his whereabouts?”
There are times when my mouth talks before my brain and I asked, “Officer Miller do you want the station’s number or would prefer the Chiefs home or cell number?” The officer gave me a strange look so I explained who my father was giving him the number to the station as he requested.
However it was officer Hawk who commented, “Is that how you continue to get your restraining orders?”
I was beginning not to like him or what he was insinuating.
“No, I continue to get restraining orders due to the permanent physical damage that I received, along with threats that have been made to other people. I assure you officer Hawk that my legal documents are obtained through honest means. They also are not something that I will bullied into giving up. If you have a problem with them, then you can take it up with the Judge who signs them. But as for me, I am conducting my personal business through the only means that I have accessible to keep myself safe!”
“Ms. Swan I am not passing judgment upon you and I would never begrudge anyone the right to protect themselves I just find the timing to be suspicious.” His dark blue eyes bore into mine, “Are you sure you have no idea who commented that assault against you in January of 08?”
Is that what all these questions were about? Was officer Hawk trying to get promoted by solving an open case?
I could feel my eyes begin to fill with tears at the thought of how that one day has impacted my life and probably always would. It wouldn’t take much to put James behind bars although at that point I suppose I could be charges with obstructing justice. Then there was Jake and all the trouble he could get into.
Looking in the officers eyes I said the same thing I have always said, and would continue to say until my dying day, “I don’t know who it was.”
The look in Officer Hawks eyes was one of suspicion and I knew he didn’t believe me.
Edward broke up the inquisition by asking again what any of this had to do with what happened at his home. Officer Miller handed his phone to Officer Hawk which I assumed had my father on the other end. I also was very sure that I would be receiving my own distraught phone call before the night was over.
The third officer (I had not been told his name) asked Edward to show me the feed from the security cameras. Rose sat down next to me holding my hand while Edward stood behind me looking at the video on his laptop. It was fairly dark out when the person wearing a black hoodie that was much too large for them walked to the front of the house. There was nothing discernable about the person; their head was down with the hood pulled up covering anything that might identify them. Crouching down at the door, the person pulled something out of their pocket and began playing with the knob.
What is he doing?
I must have said that out loud because Rose answered my question. “Picking the lock.”
It took a few minutes and then the door opened allowing the person to step inside. The hand that Edward had on my shoulder held on a little tighter and I patted it with my own hand before looking up into his face. He gazed down at me with the same emotion expressed in his eyes I was feeling, violated.
Someone, an uninvited stranger was in the house, Edward placed a kiss on my forehead and I went back to watching the video. It was less than a minute later the intruder bolted out the door and back down the driveway.
“The alarm went off,” Edward’s voice came from above my head. “Whoever it was tried to put the wrong code into the system setting off the alarm.”
I watched the feed one more time so that when Officer Hawk asked if I recognized the person I could truthfully answer no. I couldn’t even see the person; he did appear to be rather on the small side so it was either a very petite male or a better guess would be a female. All three officers agreed with that assessment.
Rose asked if there was any way to know what code was attempted to be entered, but Edward would have to call the security company to find out if that was possible to learn. Officer Hawk left two business cards, one for Edward with the case number written on the back and one for me just in case I should remember anything.
I went out to make a pot of coffee and just flipped on the maker when Edward came through the door wrapping me in a hug. My arms reached up to his shoulder blades pulling myself to his chest breathing in his scent while his hand ran down the length of my hair in comfort.
“Are you alright?” snuggling in closer to his chest I nodded as he added, “this night hasn’t exactly turned out the way I had planned.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
He pulled back lifting my chin so I would look at him. “What are you sorry for?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know. Lots of things; but mostly that for some reason all this shit is coming down around you because of me. Did you ever think it would have been better for you if we had never met?”
“Don’t talk like that. You’re the best part of my life and whatever shit is going on we will figure out together.” His lips met mine for a brief moment before a evil grin took over his face “I’m just sorry I didn’t get the pleasure of removing that clip.”
My eyes dropped as Edward’s thumb pulled my bottom lip from the grasp of my teeth. “What is it Bella?” He asked raising my chin to look into my eyes.
“I’m kind of sorry about that myself.” I knew once he knew what happened there would be consequences for that, but at the moment I just kept my mouth shut. Edward eyed me knowing that there was something I wasn’t telling him, but he let it go for the moment.
“If all goes well maybe we can resume our weekend tomorrow into Monday morning.” Edward smirked at my smile, “you like that idea, huh?”
“Yes, but,” he cocked his head to the side waiting, “well, I’ll tell you later.” The look on his face told me that he was not happy about having to wait but I didn’t want to get into the conversation now with Emmett and Rose waiting for us.
The coffee was brewed and I had made Rose a small pot of tea which I placed on a tray with some shortbread cookies. Edward picked it up to carry into the dining room for me. The four of us sat there talking; Emmett had said that it wasn’t easy to pick a lock and that whoever did it must have been trained. That thought scared me and I wondered if we would be safe for the rest of the night, because obviously whatever the person wanted they didn’t get.
“Do you think they will be back?” I asked trying to mask the fear I was holding.
Edward took my hand in his, “I don’t think they will be back tonight Bella, but if it will make you feel better we could go to your house until I get a keyless entry installed tomorrow.”
That idea made Rose speak up, “maybe someone should check out Bella’s house.”
I had not received an alert from the alarm company so I assumed that everything was alright there. But Edward thought it best that he and Emmett go and make sure. As they left he turned on all the outside lighting and had me double check the locks. When I went back to join Rose she had a look on her face that told me there was something on her mind. Sitting down Seth curled up under my chair while I waited for her to begin.
“You know who it was?” Rose didn’t need to tell me what she as talking about I understood, but I remained quiet, the less she knew the better.
Rose took my silence for admission, “Bella, I don’t understand why you feel the need to protect him, and I can’t say that I agree with your decision. I just want you to know that I don’t judge you for it.”
I remained quiet afraid that if spoke any words at all they would be the wrong ones. “Can I ask you how you can let him get away with it?”
I could feel the tears in my eyes starting to form as I spoke, “I just want it to be over.”
“It’s never over Bella, for the rest of your life you are going to carry the fear and scars of what happened to you,” she huffed. “That officer didn’t sound like he is going to let it go.”
I could feel the shock on my face, “They can’t force James to give DNA without cause!”
Rose shrugged, “I don’t know Bella, it sounded to me like that cop was trying to pin what happened here tonight on him, like he was looking for a reason to talk to your ex-husband.”
“But why? If he goes after James in any way, all that’s going to do is piss him off. Besides that person on the video was not James.” That I was absolutely sure of. “He might have done a lot of things but in all honesty breaking in to someone’s house is not one of them.” I sighed before adding, “Great, and we are going to Forks next weekend.”
“Is it that bad for you Bella?” the concern in her voice was palpable and the look in her eyes told me she already knew my answer, but I responded anyway.
“Do you know how you feel about going to Chicago?” her glassy eyes never left mine as she nodded while I affirmed the sentiment, “Yeah…it’s that bad.”
The front door opened and Emmett’s loud voice resonated through the rooms, “that’s a great little house Bella; you should do well when you sell it.”
“Sell it?”
He shrugged, “You could rent it but then you would have to deal with tenants.” Emmett made a face as he said the word before looking to Rose, “she has a great bathroom babe, you would kill for that tub.”
I heard what he said, yet my mind was still contemplating his first statement, “Why would I sell it, where would I live?”
Emmett narrowed his eyes with a look of disbelief while Edward explained, “I’m afraid my brother already has a married with two-point-four kids.”
Oh
I didn’t know what to say and I could feel every eye in the room on me.
“Maybe before you have them walking down the aisle Em, we should leave so they can get settled for the night.”
Glad as ever for Rose’s insightfulness I stood to walk them to the door. Emmett offered their spare bedroom to us, but Edward declined saying that we had an early day tomorrow and we would be fine. Once they left, I gathered up the things in the dining room taking them into the kitchen while Edward went upstairs to get the clothes that he would need. Fifteen minutes later he was setting the alarm and I was leading Seth by his leash out to the car.
It was strange walking into my house, Edward had left the lights on and my refrigerator was completely empty except for the essentials on the door. Seth seemed happy to be there as he walked around from room to room reacquainting himself, before sitting beside his door.
“Oh…I forgot about the whining,” the poor dog wasn’t the only one whining. Edward’s pouty face made me snicker as I moved past him saying that I was going to take a bath.
The hot water was just what I needed to relax. Sitting among the steam and lilac scented bubbles I could put all of the events of the day into the right perspective. I was concerned about Heather; she seemed to have a knowledge of my personal life that goes above idle gossip. It’s one thing for the girls at the center to be curious or to tease me about my love life, that’s what women do. Especially women who have been kind of locked up without any males; it’s natural to live vicariously through someone else.
Ever since Edward was there when I brought Sally to the center they have been teasing me about my ‘private dancer’ and are all excited about meeting him tomorrow at the breakfast. For obvious reasons the girls from the center don’t participate in the walk which was another reason why it was so unusual that Heather was there. Things didn’t seem to add up with her and the stories that she was telling. Out of fear, it’s natural for a woman to be confused when they first come to the center. Bonds of trust have to be formed with their counselor before they are forthcoming with information. Heather just didn’t seem to fit the norm.
That would be alright because not everyone fits into a nice neat little box that we call ‘text book,’ those are the people that follow and do exactly as we have been told they would. People outside of the box are individuals who for whatever reason, don’t seem to follow typical behaviors and that certainly was Heather.
There were just too many questions I had about her besides that my spidy-sense was tingling and I didn’t like it one bit. Perhaps I would speak to Edward about having Mr. Weiss add her to the list of people to check out. I didn’t really want to do that - confidentiality being what it was - I felt like I was betraying her in some way. Although she was not my client there was still a conflict of interest due to the fact that I had access to all of Jean’s notes. I would have to speak with Carol and see if in this one instance she would oversee the case.
I still didn’t know what to make of officer Hawk. For some reason he seemed more interested in my personal legal affairs than he did in the person who broke into Edward’s home. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why that would be. Although as I thought about it, a few theories came to mind.
Perhaps he was bucking for a promotion and maybe solving an open case would get him there faster. That would provide him with better pay, a larger pension, as well as status. I’m sure that working in a large city the competition for advancement is fierce. Solving a two and a half year old rape case involving the daughter of a fellow officer just might be the catalyst to put him above all the others.
Then I wondered if it was possible that Officer Hawk was one of the original policemen who were at my home after the attack. I was so out of it, there was no way I could remember him so I would have to look at the reports that are in my safe. I suppose that would also give him reason to want to put an end to that case. My father would agonize over not being able to solve a simple crime. I could not imagine what it would do to his self-esteem if he had to let the heinous rape of a woman in her own home go unsolved.
The last theory I had came back to Heather. She had said that her boyfriend was in law enforcement. I suppose it could be possible that officer Hawk was that man, although I highly doubted that notion because he was at least mid-thirty so he would have been much older than her. Also if his reason was to get information about her, then his focus would have been on my work at the center not on my attack.
“Hey.”
My thoughts had taken over my attention so much that Edward’s voice startled me making me flinch.
“I’m sorry babe,” he chuckled. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
My eyes moved towards his, finding they were warm and bright making me smile.
“It’s ok. Where have you been?”
Edward sighed, “Ahhh…well, while some of us get to lay around in the tub others have to let the dog out, hang up their clothes, and talk to irate fathers from Forks.”
The audible gasp left my throat and I couldn’t mask the horror in my voice, “You talked to Charlie?”
“Hmm, yes I did.” Edward sat down on the floor with his back against the wall of the tub pulling the cork out of a bottle of wine that I didn’t see he had.
“What did he want?”
As I sat up straight turning with my arm lying on the wall by his head, Edward handed me a glass before he started talking, “he was just concerned about you Bella, and he wanted to make sure that after what happened you were safe.”
“And?” I knew there had to be more.
“And,” Edward took a drink, “he gave me suggestions on ways to secure my home.”
My eyes narrowed because I had the distinct feeling that Edward was editing.
“What?”
“You’re telling me that Charlie -my father- was content in the knowledge that I was staying with you, and he had nothing else to say?” I knew my father and his old-fashioned conservative ideas.
Edward smirked, “Well, he might have said something along the lines of: if I was going to play house with you then I was damn sure going to listen to his advice.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Charlie,” I said leaning back with a giggle. “I’m surprised he didn’t give you the ‘make an honest women’ out of me speech.”
“He did say that he was looking forward to meeting me next weekend, so maybe he is saving that for then,” Edward grinned before becoming somber. “ Oh, and he said that James has been in a local bar all night and there are at least a dozen people to verify that.”
I didn’t answer him, instead just nodding and watching the red liquid swirl around in the glass. I hoped that when Charlie went to check he was diplomatic because the last thing I wanted to do was rile James up, especially with our visit next week.
“Are you almost done in here?” he asked while turning to look at me.
“Yes, I’m getting all pruney,” lifting my hand out of the water to show him my wrinkled fingers. “By the way, where did you get the wine?” I knew there was some in the cabinet but it wasn’t cold.
Edward’s smirk made me all the more intrigued, “I brought a few basics because I remembered that your house was wiped out.”
Sitting up straight I brought my face to his, “that was very attentive of you.”
“Ah my Bella, I always try to be attentive where you are concerned,” his nose brushed against mine while he spoke. The kiss that followed was sweet our lips molding against each other, his tongue seeking entrance which I gave. The warmth of his mouth mixed with the taste of the wine caused me to moan and I had to hold the glass tighter so I didn’t drop it. Edward pulled back slightly breaking the kiss but not the contact as his nose skimmed over mine.
“I’ll be waiting for you, don’t be too long,” I could feel the movement of his lips against my cheek as he spoke the words in a hushed whisper before he stood to leave.
The bath had served its purpose and the water was starting to cool off while my body was heating up. I didn’t waste any time drying off quickly, wrapping a towel around me and releasing the clip that held my hair up off my shoulders.
Edward was stripped down to his t-shirt and boxers he had his feet propped up on the bed with his ankles crossed. I idly sat down next to him drawing my legs up to apply lotion to my feet. “Edward when you got to your house was the door open?”
“No, it wasn’t locked either and the police were already there.”
“Oh,” I knew the security company notifies the police department immediately.
Edward sat up moving closer to me lifting my hair and sweeping it over my left shoulder. Taking the lotion he squirted some in his hands before rubbing in it gently onto my back. The strength of his hands felt so good against my skin and I closed my eyes relishing the feeling. He was so considerate to me it was hard to believe that a few hours ago he was dealing with the trauma of a home invasion.
“You are awfully calm about what happened tonight.”
His hands stilled against my skin. “I wasn’t calm Bella. In fact I was quite the opposite, which was why I wanted Emmett to come along with me. My brother may be bold and crass but he knows human nature and is cool under pressure. When we got to the house I was anything but calm, I was mad as hell. I had no clue what I was walking into which was another reason I wanted you to stay at Alice’s.” Edward sighed wrapping his arms across the front of my chest pulling me back against him.
“Once the police did a walk through the house and had given an all clear the anger crept back in. All I kept thinking about was what if you had been in the house alone, and then the damn cameras didn’t do any good, other than to show what happened.” I could feel his lips against the top of my head.
“That cop irritated the shit out of me, he asked if I lived alone, and I said that you had been staying with me. I told him that the system was new and that there had been a few incidences that appeared to be childish vandalism, ten minutes later his whole demeanor changed, and he was the one who insisted that you come back so he could speak with you directly.”
Edward’s fingers skimmed across the exposed skin above the towel, “do you know him Bella?”
“No, I don’t think I do.” I told Edward my theories on Officer Hawk, we were quiet while he considered my ideas, finally sighing.
“I’ll see what Mr. Weiss has to say about this tomorrow. In the mean time, how are you feeling?”
My back snuggled in closer to his chest while my head found its resting spot in the nook of Edward’s neck. “I feel violated, angry, and robbed.”
“Whoever it was didn’t steal anything Bella,” his arms tightened around me.
“Yes they did, they stole our peace of mind, our sense of security, and…” I trailed off because I didn’t want to sound selfish.
“And what?”
“And they stole my alone time with my Master.”
He chuckled by my ear, “And that’s important?’
“Uh huh.”
Edward’s hands played with the top of the towel pulling it apart to reveal my breasts. “Well I would hate for you to feel robbed, especially after you wore that clip all night.”
My body tensed at his words and I could feel the heat of the blush on my face. Edwards hands stilled as his head moved back to try and look at me, but I tucked my chin in an attempt to hide from his knowing eyes. “Do you have something you wish to tell me?”
Releasing my lip from its confinement between my teeth and letting out a resigned sigh, “I didn’t mean to, but when I took off the clip…”
“Yes?” the tone of his voice told me that he probably already knew what I was going to say.
“I didn’t know what to expect, and it was just happened.”
Shifting behind me he lifted my chin to force me to look into his deep eyes, “then I’m the one who was robbed.”
I didn’t know what to say so all I could do was look into his eyes getting that feeling of being a insolent child that for some reason made the wetness pool between my thighs.
“Isn’t that right?” He asked as his thumb ran across my lip again making me conscious of the fact that I was once more biting it.
“But it was just a little one,” my explanation sounded more like a whine as Edward’s hand snaked down over my stomach tugging on the small patch of hair that remained. The slight pain caused my stomach to tighten while I could feel the moisture seep from my core.
“I guess that means you owe me one.”
Owe him one?
His one hand moved to cup my breast letting his thumb roll lazily around the nipple while his other hand moved to skim over my slit. “Tell me Bella, what did it feel like?”
I looked at him in confusion; he must have seen it on my face because he asked, “Do you need some help to jog your memory?”
I still wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do as his hand dipped into my folds making me twitch as his fingers came in contact with my clit while he squeezed the nipple he had been playing with. “Oh yes, still jumpy. But I’m waiting for you to start telling me how it felt. I need you to tell me exactly what was stolen from me.”
I could feel his erection pressing into my back, “Mmmmm,” was the only sound that came from my mouth as Edward relentlessly worked over the most sensitive areas of my body.
“Look at me,” when my eyes met his they had that deep darkness to them. “Don’t make me wait very long.” I closed my eyes, and Edward pinched my nipples painfully making me gasp “Augh..”
“Look at me, and tell me what you are feeling.” His voice was resigned while his fingers soothingly massaged away the pain that had just been inflicted on my nipple while the hand between my folds moved with precision over the bundle of nerves.
My eyes met his again, “It feels so good, like a tickle, mmm…” his fingers once again twisted and pinched the nipple they had encased between them.
“Ah…pain…ahhh…sooo …gooood…ah,” my hips started moving on their own accord and I had to fight to keep my eyes open as his fingers let up some of the tension on my nipple while his other hand began making circular motions over my clit.
“Ahhh…ahhh…so…so …good,” as my hips started moving again Edward stopped and before I realized what he was doing I was being lifted off the bed and turned so that I was straddling his lap. His hands grabbed a hold of my hips effectively pushing me against his pelvis and positioning Little Eddie between my folds. Again my hips automatically wiggled so I could grind against him and had it not been for the thin layer of cotton from his boxers I could have happily slid him home.
I didn’t have time to think about that because Edward lifted my hips so I moved to my knees bringing my breasts to the perfect level of his mouth. My hands rested on his shoulders and he tilted his neck back to gaze into my eyes, “I want to hear what you feel, don’t stop talking until I’m through.”
I still wasn’t sure what he wanted me to say and I didn’t have time to think because his mouth attacked my nipple. Sucking it into his mouth while one hand held me firmly on the small of back and the other played with the other breast.
“Ahhh... it feels warm and wet…Mmmmm… feels so good like an itch being scratched.”
Abruptly he bit down while squeezing the other one hard making me gasp, “Oh…pain…like hot fire… but good,” the words came out in a pant.
I tried to thrust my hips to get some friction between my thighs but there was nowhere to go and I ended up frustrated while Edward soothed over the parts of my body that he had just tortured. His mouth and fingers worked me to a boiling point while the whole time I continued to tell him what I was feeling.
He was an expert at playing my body and the words were quickly becoming more sighs and moans of pleasure than anything coherent. I was running out of words and endurance as the pressure in my belly started to build. It was a sweet torture that I found to be both pleasurable and annoying.
The hand that held my back wrapped around my thigh and without warning two fingers plunged inside of me making me cry out. “Ahhh…shit….God…pleeease….please Edward … it feels so good!”
My hips moved against the invasion and my muscles squeezed around his fingers while his mouth and other hand continued their assault on my nipples. I wasn’t going to be able to hold it much longer and my brain searched for words to tell him what I was feeling.
“God…please…it’s like a…building …intense…tight…ahhh… a pressure …in my…belly…squeezing,” I said through breathy hushed words. My stomach muscles started to tighten and I could feel Edwards arm around my thigh draw tighter in an attempt to keep me still.
“Edward…please…it’s to…much…pressure…please...please...make…” my words were panting out my need, “please…make ..it stop…please?” the last word left my mouth as I sucked in a breath.
Edward’s mouth left my breast only for a few seconds; his eyes met mine with an intensity behind them that made the pressure in my belly grow even stronger as his fingers never stopped moving inside of me. “Hold on to the head board, and stay still.”
I did as I was told bracing my legs and holding on as tightly as I possibly could. Edward slid down my body as his shoulders reached my knees he pushed them out making my center come flush with his face and the true torture began.
Bracing myself as both his hands found my breasts and his tongue made the first pass through my folds causing me to let out a shuddering moan. “Ohhhh…that feels so good…warm…wet...tingly.”
His mouth was doing figure eights around my clit while his fingers tugged, twisted and pinched my nipples. My legs started shaking and his efforts were once again leaving me breathless and panting in wanton need. The intensity of the pressure was building again and my need for release became too much
“Please…I want to…”
“I didn’t ask you what you want…I said tell me what you feel,” he growled out the words against my hot center before going back to using his mouth as a sensual torture device.
Oh God, why is he making me do this?
“I feel pressure…building…needing…more, please, please more? Oh god Edward…I can’t hold it!”
My arms were starting to ache from the grip I had on the headboard while pressure in my stomach grew unbearable. It felt so good that I couldn’t even stop my hips from moving while my legs began to shake. There was no doubt in my mind I was going to cum, so I did the only thing I could think to do.
“Yellow!”
Edward’s hands immediately left my breasts as his mouth peppered small kisses at the juncture of my thigh while I continued to get my breathing under control. I could feel my body coming back down from the brink while he slid the rest of the way out from under me. His arms wrapped around my waist pulling me back against his chest wedging a very hard Little Eddie between us.
I rested in the warmth and sanctity of his embrace until I was fully recovered. Edward swept the hair from my face resting his cheek against the side of my head. Placing a kiss on my temple he murmured with a voice of authority,
“Now we’re even.”
The alarm was triggered?
I didn’t want to stay at Alice’s, I wanted to be with Edward, but I didn’t get a chance to say anything before he took me aside. Lifting my chin so I could look at his face, it was the first time I got to look into his eyes all night. They were soft yet meaningful.
“Isabella I want you to stay here until I find out what happened,” I only nodded as he continued with his instructions. “Go to the bathroom and remove the clip and I would say that until we know what has happened it would be best to cease our …usual…,” the smirk played at the side of his lips, “…for the evening.”
“Yes Sir, but,” I hesitated because there was so much I wanted to say that I couldn’t get them into the right order of importance.
“What?”
I figured the most important thing was to tell him that the alarm was more than likely a malfunction.
“Let’s hope so.” His hand cupped my face as he continued, “But on the off chance it’s not, I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. Now be a good girl do as I say, so that your safety and comfort is one less thing on my mind until we know for sure.”
“Yes Sir.”
Edward smiled giving me a quick kiss, leaving with Emmett before I could voice my other thoughts.
Excusing myself to use the bathroom I wondered if Seth was alright, if someone had come into the house would they have hurt him? Then the thought that someone was still there worried me even more as I feared for Edward’s safety.
A slight hiss escaped my mouth and I shuddered while removing the silver clip. It was not in pain but actually a small orgasm that I wasn’t expecting so I couldn’t stop. I knew that I would have to confess to Edward later but at that moment I just enjoyed the release, washed my hands and joined the others to wait.
We stayed at Alice’s for over an hour before Edward finally called to say that Rose should bring me home. I tried to tell myself the whole time that it was a new system and that for the first few weeks there can be a lot of false alarms. When my system was first installed it took some time until the settings were correct, resulting in four different incidents in the first ten days. It was with that hope that I kept telling myself it was just a glitch. However that idea was quickly squashed when Rose rounded the corner and I saw the two police cars in the driveway.
“Do you think they have someone in there?” She asked me while shifting the Jeep into park.
“I don’t know,” my voice was quiet as my eyes took in the scene before glancing over at Rose. “I guess there is only one way to find out.” Not sure if I wanted to go into the house or not my hand hesitated on the handle, before deciding that Edward would not have told me to come home if there was any kind of danger.
The front door was unlocked and it didn’t appear to be disturbed or broken in anyway. Seth greeted me with a wagging tail and after bending to say hello to him, I addressed the two officers who were standing in the living room. Emmett was off to the side of the room and Rose went to her husband. Edward wasn’t anywhere to be found and as my eyes moved back to his brother; he inclined his head towards the kitchen area.
“Ms Swan?” the taller, brawny, bald headed officer began to speak. “I’m officer Hawk and I have a few questions for you.”
“Certainly…” I was going to ask him if I could have a minute to get a drink, but just then Edward came in from the kitchen followed by yet another officer who was eyeing me suspiciously. As soon as Edward’s eye met mine, I felt much more at ease. That ease was enhanced once his arm wrapped around my shoulder and I felt his lips against my hair as he handed me a bottle of water.
“Mr. Cullen says that you have been staying here with him,” it wasn’t a question, but I answered him before taking a drink.
“Yes”
“He also says that you only live a few blocks away and that you have had someone tamper with your vehicle, as well as your animal. Is that correct?”
I affirmed Edward’s answer and wanted to ask my own question when officer Hawk inquired, “Do you have any idea who would have done that? Mr. Cullen tells us that you have an ex-husband who was less then admirable to you…”
Interrupting his question I asked the one I wanted to know, “I’m sorry, has someone tried to break into the house?”
Both Edward and the officer answered, “Yes.”
I could feel my eyes widen, “What showed on the cameras?”
“We will get to that in a minute Ms. Swan, right now I need you to answer my question,” he sounded rather exasperated. I had lived with Charlie most of my life and I knew that my father was only a small town cop, but still he was a cop and I don’t think he would ever be rude to anyone, especially the victim. Officer Hawk was looking at me in anticipation of my answer.
“Yes my ex-husband was less then admirable; however we have been divorced for two years prior to that we were estranged four years and he doesn’t come around here.”
“And yet for the past two years you have a standing restraining order against one…” he looked down at the small notebook in his hand before saying, “…James A. Cummings of Forks, Washington…” his eyes went back to mine, “…is that your ex-husband?” I was taken aback by the coldness in his voice and I couldn’t tell if he was naturally aloof or if it was souly directed towards me; either way it was irritating.
“Yes it is and yes I renew my restraining order each year and I will continue to do so as long as possible. Is there a problem with that?” Edward stiffened at my side and I could tell he didn’t like my tone of voice, neither did officer Hawk.
“No ma’am, I’m just curious as to why after four years of separation you felt the need to get a retaining order at that time, especially if as you say Mr. Cummings, never comes around?” there was finally a small smile on his face however his next question caught me off guard.
“Ms. Swan you have an open sexual assault case that was perpetrated on your person in your home at 334 Ferndale in January of 08.”
I could feel the shock on my face along with the sickness in the pit of my stomach as I answered, “Yes,” my eyes automatically looking down at the floor as I felt that familiar shame and I wished that Emmett and Rose were not hearing any of what was being said.
Edward’s voice broke through my anxiety. “What does that have to do with tonight?”
“I’m just trying to get the facts together Mr. Cullen,” his composed tone cut through the room when he spoke to me his voice was gruff. Completely ignoring Edward, officer Hawk got right to the point he wanted to make, and in the process making my anxiety spike.
“Ms. Swan do you know where your ex-husband is now?”
“He lives in Forks,” I shrugged. “I assume that is where he is, we don’t have any contact.” The contents of my stomach churned at just the thought of James having anything to do with breaking into Edward’s house.
Officer Hawk turned to the uniformed man next to him, “Officer Miller would you call Forks PD and see if someone could check on his whereabouts?”
There are times when my mouth talks before my brain and I asked, “Officer Miller do you want the station’s number or would prefer the Chiefs home or cell number?” The officer gave me a strange look so I explained who my father was giving him the number to the station as he requested.
However it was officer Hawk who commented, “Is that how you continue to get your restraining orders?”
I was beginning not to like him or what he was insinuating.
“No, I continue to get restraining orders due to the permanent physical damage that I received, along with threats that have been made to other people. I assure you officer Hawk that my legal documents are obtained through honest means. They also are not something that I will bullied into giving up. If you have a problem with them, then you can take it up with the Judge who signs them. But as for me, I am conducting my personal business through the only means that I have accessible to keep myself safe!”
“Ms. Swan I am not passing judgment upon you and I would never begrudge anyone the right to protect themselves I just find the timing to be suspicious.” His dark blue eyes bore into mine, “Are you sure you have no idea who commented that assault against you in January of 08?”
Is that what all these questions were about? Was officer Hawk trying to get promoted by solving an open case?
I could feel my eyes begin to fill with tears at the thought of how that one day has impacted my life and probably always would. It wouldn’t take much to put James behind bars although at that point I suppose I could be charges with obstructing justice. Then there was Jake and all the trouble he could get into.
Looking in the officers eyes I said the same thing I have always said, and would continue to say until my dying day, “I don’t know who it was.”
The look in Officer Hawks eyes was one of suspicion and I knew he didn’t believe me.
Edward broke up the inquisition by asking again what any of this had to do with what happened at his home. Officer Miller handed his phone to Officer Hawk which I assumed had my father on the other end. I also was very sure that I would be receiving my own distraught phone call before the night was over.
The third officer (I had not been told his name) asked Edward to show me the feed from the security cameras. Rose sat down next to me holding my hand while Edward stood behind me looking at the video on his laptop. It was fairly dark out when the person wearing a black hoodie that was much too large for them walked to the front of the house. There was nothing discernable about the person; their head was down with the hood pulled up covering anything that might identify them. Crouching down at the door, the person pulled something out of their pocket and began playing with the knob.
What is he doing?
I must have said that out loud because Rose answered my question. “Picking the lock.”
It took a few minutes and then the door opened allowing the person to step inside. The hand that Edward had on my shoulder held on a little tighter and I patted it with my own hand before looking up into his face. He gazed down at me with the same emotion expressed in his eyes I was feeling, violated.
Someone, an uninvited stranger was in the house, Edward placed a kiss on my forehead and I went back to watching the video. It was less than a minute later the intruder bolted out the door and back down the driveway.
“The alarm went off,” Edward’s voice came from above my head. “Whoever it was tried to put the wrong code into the system setting off the alarm.”
I watched the feed one more time so that when Officer Hawk asked if I recognized the person I could truthfully answer no. I couldn’t even see the person; he did appear to be rather on the small side so it was either a very petite male or a better guess would be a female. All three officers agreed with that assessment.
Rose asked if there was any way to know what code was attempted to be entered, but Edward would have to call the security company to find out if that was possible to learn. Officer Hawk left two business cards, one for Edward with the case number written on the back and one for me just in case I should remember anything.
I went out to make a pot of coffee and just flipped on the maker when Edward came through the door wrapping me in a hug. My arms reached up to his shoulder blades pulling myself to his chest breathing in his scent while his hand ran down the length of my hair in comfort.
“Are you alright?” snuggling in closer to his chest I nodded as he added, “this night hasn’t exactly turned out the way I had planned.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
He pulled back lifting my chin so I would look at him. “What are you sorry for?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know. Lots of things; but mostly that for some reason all this shit is coming down around you because of me. Did you ever think it would have been better for you if we had never met?”
“Don’t talk like that. You’re the best part of my life and whatever shit is going on we will figure out together.” His lips met mine for a brief moment before a evil grin took over his face “I’m just sorry I didn’t get the pleasure of removing that clip.”
My eyes dropped as Edward’s thumb pulled my bottom lip from the grasp of my teeth. “What is it Bella?” He asked raising my chin to look into my eyes.
“I’m kind of sorry about that myself.” I knew once he knew what happened there would be consequences for that, but at the moment I just kept my mouth shut. Edward eyed me knowing that there was something I wasn’t telling him, but he let it go for the moment.
“If all goes well maybe we can resume our weekend tomorrow into Monday morning.” Edward smirked at my smile, “you like that idea, huh?”
“Yes, but,” he cocked his head to the side waiting, “well, I’ll tell you later.” The look on his face told me that he was not happy about having to wait but I didn’t want to get into the conversation now with Emmett and Rose waiting for us.
The coffee was brewed and I had made Rose a small pot of tea which I placed on a tray with some shortbread cookies. Edward picked it up to carry into the dining room for me. The four of us sat there talking; Emmett had said that it wasn’t easy to pick a lock and that whoever did it must have been trained. That thought scared me and I wondered if we would be safe for the rest of the night, because obviously whatever the person wanted they didn’t get.
“Do you think they will be back?” I asked trying to mask the fear I was holding.
Edward took my hand in his, “I don’t think they will be back tonight Bella, but if it will make you feel better we could go to your house until I get a keyless entry installed tomorrow.”
That idea made Rose speak up, “maybe someone should check out Bella’s house.”
I had not received an alert from the alarm company so I assumed that everything was alright there. But Edward thought it best that he and Emmett go and make sure. As they left he turned on all the outside lighting and had me double check the locks. When I went back to join Rose she had a look on her face that told me there was something on her mind. Sitting down Seth curled up under my chair while I waited for her to begin.
“You know who it was?” Rose didn’t need to tell me what she as talking about I understood, but I remained quiet, the less she knew the better.
Rose took my silence for admission, “Bella, I don’t understand why you feel the need to protect him, and I can’t say that I agree with your decision. I just want you to know that I don’t judge you for it.”
I remained quiet afraid that if spoke any words at all they would be the wrong ones. “Can I ask you how you can let him get away with it?”
I could feel the tears in my eyes starting to form as I spoke, “I just want it to be over.”
“It’s never over Bella, for the rest of your life you are going to carry the fear and scars of what happened to you,” she huffed. “That officer didn’t sound like he is going to let it go.”
I could feel the shock on my face, “They can’t force James to give DNA without cause!”
Rose shrugged, “I don’t know Bella, it sounded to me like that cop was trying to pin what happened here tonight on him, like he was looking for a reason to talk to your ex-husband.”
“But why? If he goes after James in any way, all that’s going to do is piss him off. Besides that person on the video was not James.” That I was absolutely sure of. “He might have done a lot of things but in all honesty breaking in to someone’s house is not one of them.” I sighed before adding, “Great, and we are going to Forks next weekend.”
“Is it that bad for you Bella?” the concern in her voice was palpable and the look in her eyes told me she already knew my answer, but I responded anyway.
“Do you know how you feel about going to Chicago?” her glassy eyes never left mine as she nodded while I affirmed the sentiment, “Yeah…it’s that bad.”
The front door opened and Emmett’s loud voice resonated through the rooms, “that’s a great little house Bella; you should do well when you sell it.”
“Sell it?”
He shrugged, “You could rent it but then you would have to deal with tenants.” Emmett made a face as he said the word before looking to Rose, “she has a great bathroom babe, you would kill for that tub.”
I heard what he said, yet my mind was still contemplating his first statement, “Why would I sell it, where would I live?”
Emmett narrowed his eyes with a look of disbelief while Edward explained, “I’m afraid my brother already has a married with two-point-four kids.”
Oh
I didn’t know what to say and I could feel every eye in the room on me.
“Maybe before you have them walking down the aisle Em, we should leave so they can get settled for the night.”
Glad as ever for Rose’s insightfulness I stood to walk them to the door. Emmett offered their spare bedroom to us, but Edward declined saying that we had an early day tomorrow and we would be fine. Once they left, I gathered up the things in the dining room taking them into the kitchen while Edward went upstairs to get the clothes that he would need. Fifteen minutes later he was setting the alarm and I was leading Seth by his leash out to the car.
It was strange walking into my house, Edward had left the lights on and my refrigerator was completely empty except for the essentials on the door. Seth seemed happy to be there as he walked around from room to room reacquainting himself, before sitting beside his door.
“Oh…I forgot about the whining,” the poor dog wasn’t the only one whining. Edward’s pouty face made me snicker as I moved past him saying that I was going to take a bath.
The hot water was just what I needed to relax. Sitting among the steam and lilac scented bubbles I could put all of the events of the day into the right perspective. I was concerned about Heather; she seemed to have a knowledge of my personal life that goes above idle gossip. It’s one thing for the girls at the center to be curious or to tease me about my love life, that’s what women do. Especially women who have been kind of locked up without any males; it’s natural to live vicariously through someone else.
Ever since Edward was there when I brought Sally to the center they have been teasing me about my ‘private dancer’ and are all excited about meeting him tomorrow at the breakfast. For obvious reasons the girls from the center don’t participate in the walk which was another reason why it was so unusual that Heather was there. Things didn’t seem to add up with her and the stories that she was telling. Out of fear, it’s natural for a woman to be confused when they first come to the center. Bonds of trust have to be formed with their counselor before they are forthcoming with information. Heather just didn’t seem to fit the norm.
That would be alright because not everyone fits into a nice neat little box that we call ‘text book,’ those are the people that follow and do exactly as we have been told they would. People outside of the box are individuals who for whatever reason, don’t seem to follow typical behaviors and that certainly was Heather.
There were just too many questions I had about her besides that my spidy-sense was tingling and I didn’t like it one bit. Perhaps I would speak to Edward about having Mr. Weiss add her to the list of people to check out. I didn’t really want to do that - confidentiality being what it was - I felt like I was betraying her in some way. Although she was not my client there was still a conflict of interest due to the fact that I had access to all of Jean’s notes. I would have to speak with Carol and see if in this one instance she would oversee the case.
I still didn’t know what to make of officer Hawk. For some reason he seemed more interested in my personal legal affairs than he did in the person who broke into Edward’s home. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why that would be. Although as I thought about it, a few theories came to mind.
Perhaps he was bucking for a promotion and maybe solving an open case would get him there faster. That would provide him with better pay, a larger pension, as well as status. I’m sure that working in a large city the competition for advancement is fierce. Solving a two and a half year old rape case involving the daughter of a fellow officer just might be the catalyst to put him above all the others.
Then I wondered if it was possible that Officer Hawk was one of the original policemen who were at my home after the attack. I was so out of it, there was no way I could remember him so I would have to look at the reports that are in my safe. I suppose that would also give him reason to want to put an end to that case. My father would agonize over not being able to solve a simple crime. I could not imagine what it would do to his self-esteem if he had to let the heinous rape of a woman in her own home go unsolved.
The last theory I had came back to Heather. She had said that her boyfriend was in law enforcement. I suppose it could be possible that officer Hawk was that man, although I highly doubted that notion because he was at least mid-thirty so he would have been much older than her. Also if his reason was to get information about her, then his focus would have been on my work at the center not on my attack.
“Hey.”
My thoughts had taken over my attention so much that Edward’s voice startled me making me flinch.
“I’m sorry babe,” he chuckled. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
My eyes moved towards his, finding they were warm and bright making me smile.
“It’s ok. Where have you been?”
Edward sighed, “Ahhh…well, while some of us get to lay around in the tub others have to let the dog out, hang up their clothes, and talk to irate fathers from Forks.”
The audible gasp left my throat and I couldn’t mask the horror in my voice, “You talked to Charlie?”
“Hmm, yes I did.” Edward sat down on the floor with his back against the wall of the tub pulling the cork out of a bottle of wine that I didn’t see he had.
“What did he want?”
As I sat up straight turning with my arm lying on the wall by his head, Edward handed me a glass before he started talking, “he was just concerned about you Bella, and he wanted to make sure that after what happened you were safe.”
“And?” I knew there had to be more.
“And,” Edward took a drink, “he gave me suggestions on ways to secure my home.”
My eyes narrowed because I had the distinct feeling that Edward was editing.
“What?”
“You’re telling me that Charlie -my father- was content in the knowledge that I was staying with you, and he had nothing else to say?” I knew my father and his old-fashioned conservative ideas.
Edward smirked, “Well, he might have said something along the lines of: if I was going to play house with you then I was damn sure going to listen to his advice.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Charlie,” I said leaning back with a giggle. “I’m surprised he didn’t give you the ‘make an honest women’ out of me speech.”
“He did say that he was looking forward to meeting me next weekend, so maybe he is saving that for then,” Edward grinned before becoming somber. “ Oh, and he said that James has been in a local bar all night and there are at least a dozen people to verify that.”
I didn’t answer him, instead just nodding and watching the red liquid swirl around in the glass. I hoped that when Charlie went to check he was diplomatic because the last thing I wanted to do was rile James up, especially with our visit next week.
“Are you almost done in here?” he asked while turning to look at me.
“Yes, I’m getting all pruney,” lifting my hand out of the water to show him my wrinkled fingers. “By the way, where did you get the wine?” I knew there was some in the cabinet but it wasn’t cold.
Edward’s smirk made me all the more intrigued, “I brought a few basics because I remembered that your house was wiped out.”
Sitting up straight I brought my face to his, “that was very attentive of you.”
“Ah my Bella, I always try to be attentive where you are concerned,” his nose brushed against mine while he spoke. The kiss that followed was sweet our lips molding against each other, his tongue seeking entrance which I gave. The warmth of his mouth mixed with the taste of the wine caused me to moan and I had to hold the glass tighter so I didn’t drop it. Edward pulled back slightly breaking the kiss but not the contact as his nose skimmed over mine.
“I’ll be waiting for you, don’t be too long,” I could feel the movement of his lips against my cheek as he spoke the words in a hushed whisper before he stood to leave.
The bath had served its purpose and the water was starting to cool off while my body was heating up. I didn’t waste any time drying off quickly, wrapping a towel around me and releasing the clip that held my hair up off my shoulders.
Edward was stripped down to his t-shirt and boxers he had his feet propped up on the bed with his ankles crossed. I idly sat down next to him drawing my legs up to apply lotion to my feet. “Edward when you got to your house was the door open?”
“No, it wasn’t locked either and the police were already there.”
“Oh,” I knew the security company notifies the police department immediately.
Edward sat up moving closer to me lifting my hair and sweeping it over my left shoulder. Taking the lotion he squirted some in his hands before rubbing in it gently onto my back. The strength of his hands felt so good against my skin and I closed my eyes relishing the feeling. He was so considerate to me it was hard to believe that a few hours ago he was dealing with the trauma of a home invasion.
“You are awfully calm about what happened tonight.”
His hands stilled against my skin. “I wasn’t calm Bella. In fact I was quite the opposite, which was why I wanted Emmett to come along with me. My brother may be bold and crass but he knows human nature and is cool under pressure. When we got to the house I was anything but calm, I was mad as hell. I had no clue what I was walking into which was another reason I wanted you to stay at Alice’s.” Edward sighed wrapping his arms across the front of my chest pulling me back against him.
“Once the police did a walk through the house and had given an all clear the anger crept back in. All I kept thinking about was what if you had been in the house alone, and then the damn cameras didn’t do any good, other than to show what happened.” I could feel his lips against the top of my head.
“That cop irritated the shit out of me, he asked if I lived alone, and I said that you had been staying with me. I told him that the system was new and that there had been a few incidences that appeared to be childish vandalism, ten minutes later his whole demeanor changed, and he was the one who insisted that you come back so he could speak with you directly.”
Edward’s fingers skimmed across the exposed skin above the towel, “do you know him Bella?”
“No, I don’t think I do.” I told Edward my theories on Officer Hawk, we were quiet while he considered my ideas, finally sighing.
“I’ll see what Mr. Weiss has to say about this tomorrow. In the mean time, how are you feeling?”
My back snuggled in closer to his chest while my head found its resting spot in the nook of Edward’s neck. “I feel violated, angry, and robbed.”
“Whoever it was didn’t steal anything Bella,” his arms tightened around me.
“Yes they did, they stole our peace of mind, our sense of security, and…” I trailed off because I didn’t want to sound selfish.
“And what?”
“And they stole my alone time with my Master.”
He chuckled by my ear, “And that’s important?’
“Uh huh.”
Edward’s hands played with the top of the towel pulling it apart to reveal my breasts. “Well I would hate for you to feel robbed, especially after you wore that clip all night.”
My body tensed at his words and I could feel the heat of the blush on my face. Edwards hands stilled as his head moved back to try and look at me, but I tucked my chin in an attempt to hide from his knowing eyes. “Do you have something you wish to tell me?”
Releasing my lip from its confinement between my teeth and letting out a resigned sigh, “I didn’t mean to, but when I took off the clip…”
“Yes?” the tone of his voice told me that he probably already knew what I was going to say.
“I didn’t know what to expect, and it was just happened.”
Shifting behind me he lifted my chin to force me to look into his deep eyes, “then I’m the one who was robbed.”
I didn’t know what to say so all I could do was look into his eyes getting that feeling of being a insolent child that for some reason made the wetness pool between my thighs.
“Isn’t that right?” He asked as his thumb ran across my lip again making me conscious of the fact that I was once more biting it.
“But it was just a little one,” my explanation sounded more like a whine as Edward’s hand snaked down over my stomach tugging on the small patch of hair that remained. The slight pain caused my stomach to tighten while I could feel the moisture seep from my core.
“I guess that means you owe me one.”
Owe him one?
His one hand moved to cup my breast letting his thumb roll lazily around the nipple while his other hand moved to skim over my slit. “Tell me Bella, what did it feel like?”
I looked at him in confusion; he must have seen it on my face because he asked, “Do you need some help to jog your memory?”
I still wasn’t sure what he wanted me to do as his hand dipped into my folds making me twitch as his fingers came in contact with my clit while he squeezed the nipple he had been playing with. “Oh yes, still jumpy. But I’m waiting for you to start telling me how it felt. I need you to tell me exactly what was stolen from me.”
I could feel his erection pressing into my back, “Mmmmm,” was the only sound that came from my mouth as Edward relentlessly worked over the most sensitive areas of my body.
“Look at me,” when my eyes met his they had that deep darkness to them. “Don’t make me wait very long.” I closed my eyes, and Edward pinched my nipples painfully making me gasp “Augh..”
“Look at me, and tell me what you are feeling.” His voice was resigned while his fingers soothingly massaged away the pain that had just been inflicted on my nipple while the hand between my folds moved with precision over the bundle of nerves.
My eyes met his again, “It feels so good, like a tickle, mmm…” his fingers once again twisted and pinched the nipple they had encased between them.
“Ah…pain…ahhh…sooo …gooood…ah,” my hips started moving on their own accord and I had to fight to keep my eyes open as his fingers let up some of the tension on my nipple while his other hand began making circular motions over my clit.
“Ahhh…ahhh…so…so …good,” as my hips started moving again Edward stopped and before I realized what he was doing I was being lifted off the bed and turned so that I was straddling his lap. His hands grabbed a hold of my hips effectively pushing me against his pelvis and positioning Little Eddie between my folds. Again my hips automatically wiggled so I could grind against him and had it not been for the thin layer of cotton from his boxers I could have happily slid him home.
I didn’t have time to think about that because Edward lifted my hips so I moved to my knees bringing my breasts to the perfect level of his mouth. My hands rested on his shoulders and he tilted his neck back to gaze into my eyes, “I want to hear what you feel, don’t stop talking until I’m through.”
I still wasn’t sure what he wanted me to say and I didn’t have time to think because his mouth attacked my nipple. Sucking it into his mouth while one hand held me firmly on the small of back and the other played with the other breast.
“Ahhh... it feels warm and wet…Mmmmm… feels so good like an itch being scratched.”
Abruptly he bit down while squeezing the other one hard making me gasp, “Oh…pain…like hot fire… but good,” the words came out in a pant.
I tried to thrust my hips to get some friction between my thighs but there was nowhere to go and I ended up frustrated while Edward soothed over the parts of my body that he had just tortured. His mouth and fingers worked me to a boiling point while the whole time I continued to tell him what I was feeling.
He was an expert at playing my body and the words were quickly becoming more sighs and moans of pleasure than anything coherent. I was running out of words and endurance as the pressure in my belly started to build. It was a sweet torture that I found to be both pleasurable and annoying.
The hand that held my back wrapped around my thigh and without warning two fingers plunged inside of me making me cry out. “Ahhh…shit….God…pleeease….please Edward … it feels so good!”
My hips moved against the invasion and my muscles squeezed around his fingers while his mouth and other hand continued their assault on my nipples. I wasn’t going to be able to hold it much longer and my brain searched for words to tell him what I was feeling.
“God…please…it’s like a…building …intense…tight…ahhh… a pressure …in my…belly…squeezing,” I said through breathy hushed words. My stomach muscles started to tighten and I could feel Edwards arm around my thigh draw tighter in an attempt to keep me still.
“Edward…please…it’s to…much…pressure…please...please...make…” my words were panting out my need, “please…make ..it stop…please?” the last word left my mouth as I sucked in a breath.
Edward’s mouth left my breast only for a few seconds; his eyes met mine with an intensity behind them that made the pressure in my belly grow even stronger as his fingers never stopped moving inside of me. “Hold on to the head board, and stay still.”
I did as I was told bracing my legs and holding on as tightly as I possibly could. Edward slid down my body as his shoulders reached my knees he pushed them out making my center come flush with his face and the true torture began.
Bracing myself as both his hands found my breasts and his tongue made the first pass through my folds causing me to let out a shuddering moan. “Ohhhh…that feels so good…warm…wet...tingly.”
His mouth was doing figure eights around my clit while his fingers tugged, twisted and pinched my nipples. My legs started shaking and his efforts were once again leaving me breathless and panting in wanton need. The intensity of the pressure was building again and my need for release became too much
“Please…I want to…”
“I didn’t ask you what you want…I said tell me what you feel,” he growled out the words against my hot center before going back to using his mouth as a sensual torture device.
Oh God, why is he making me do this?
“I feel pressure…building…needing…more, please, please more? Oh god Edward…I can’t hold it!”
My arms were starting to ache from the grip I had on the headboard while pressure in my stomach grew unbearable. It felt so good that I couldn’t even stop my hips from moving while my legs began to shake. There was no doubt in my mind I was going to cum, so I did the only thing I could think to do.
“Yellow!”
Edward’s hands immediately left my breasts as his mouth peppered small kisses at the juncture of my thigh while I continued to get my breathing under control. I could feel my body coming back down from the brink while he slid the rest of the way out from under me. His arms wrapped around my waist pulling me back against his chest wedging a very hard Little Eddie between us.
I rested in the warmth and sanctity of his embrace until I was fully recovered. Edward swept the hair from my face resting his cheek against the side of my head. Placing a kiss on my temple he murmured with a voice of authority,
“Now we’re even.”
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)