Chapter 61

Chapter 61
BPOV

Freaking Leah, we were already behind schedule and she was making me wait until a fresh pan of sticky buns was ready. I had to agree with her that they are better right from the oven. The diner made the raised dough from scratch daily. On the weekends, or days when there was something happening, it was a non-stop production of yummy goodness. But we had a deadline of free time this morning and her craving was cutting into it.

The morning was going by quickly, Edward let me sleep longer than usual and by the time everyone showered and dressed there wasn’t much time for me to show him around. Then again why in the world he was so interested in seeing the schools I attended or the grocery store I worked at left me baffled. Those places meant nothing to me other than being somewhere I was forced to spend my time.

I could feel the eyes of the people in the diner on me, when I met a few of their stares some would look away. Others, like Brenda Nagel who was now Tatasure, sat with her mother and two children gawking openly. She looked out the window pointed at something and then continued to cast glances at me like I was some kind of science experiment.

The girl was irritating the crap out of me more than she ever had in high school and I was on the verge of going over and asking what the hell she found so interesting when Jake came inside.

“Are you making them?”

Rolling my eyes at his outburst, “Leah wants fresh ones.”

“How much longer do you have to wait?” his impatience with Leah was clear but she didn’t seem to care. “A few more minutes, we’ll be right out.”

“Well hurry the fuck up, Sue’s going to be pissed if we’re late and I have to stop at the store and you want to go to the bakery.”

Leah huffed, “They just came out of the oven give us another minute.”

Jacob sighed and looked out the door with narrowed eyes and left without saying another word.

Leah tisked, “What the hell, it’s not my fault.”

I smiled at her because it was her fault but I wasn’t going to say that. She continued to prattle on about some shoot she had done while I glanced around the diner. Several people were looking out the window with interest making me curious about what was happening. I would have gone over to see for myself but Bob called out to us that our buns were ready.

While we paid it seemed like I had gained even more attention from those inside and I wanted to get out of there in the worst way. Opening up the outer door Jake was standing next to Edward with his arm resting against his shoulder. Leah gave me a quizzical look and I shrugged because hell if I knew what was happening.

“Are you two bonding?” she asked going down the stairs while I stood on the bottom step behind Edward. Following his gaze my eyes focused on the other side of the street where Officer Mark was walking a few feet behind someone.

“What’s going on?” I asked putting both arms around his chest while resting my chin on his shoulder, kissing his cheek.

Edward’s head turn in my direction placing a soft kiss on my lips, “I’ll tell you later.”

Jake sighed loudly and Leah became agitated, “What happened?”

They seemed to be having a wordless conversation but I couldn’t pay attention because Edward started talking against my ear sending tingles through me, “Did you get your sticky bun?”

“Yes Sir,” I smiled coyly opening the bag so he could get a whiff the warm bun. “Do you want some?”

“Absolutely, I want everything you’re willing to give me,”

His words made me roll my eyes and blush at the double meaning. Ripping off a piece of the bun I brought it to his lips. As Edward opened his mouth taking it from my fingers he sucked the sticky molasses off. The feel of his tongue against the sensitive tips of my fingers went straight to my core and a small whimper escaped me. Edward’s eyes grew darker making my breathing quicken while I remained caught in his gaze.

“Alright that’s enough, you two need to get a fucking room if you’re going to do that shit,” Jakes comments made me blush while Edward chuckled.

We stood there for a minute talking while I took turns feeding Edward and myself the sweet treat. Leah was going to take Seth with her while they drove to the store so Jake could get beer. Edward and I were going to the bakery and then I was going to finish the tour of Forks before we met back up at Charlie’s. While we were finishing up the details I heard people coming out of the diner. Rather than release my hold on Edward I stepped with him off to the side to allow the exiting patrons room to maneuver the stairs.

Mrs. Nagel came down holding on to the hand of Brenda’s son while she was behind them with her daughter perched on her hip. Both women eyed Edward before shifting their gaze to my arms that were still draped over his shoulders.

“Hi Bella,” Brenda spoke to me. “Leah, Jake,” she added with a nod before looking back to me expectantly. I stepped away from Edward introducing them out of politeness. Mrs. Nagel asked if we were home for the parade and then made a comment about how time flies when we told her that Seth had graduated. Brenda wasn’t really listening as she continued to size up Edward before turning to Jake.

“What was the problem?” She asked in curiosity.

“There was no problem,” he answered solemnly to which her eyes narrowed, “Oh. It looked like…”

“Looks can be deceiving,” Jake cut her off with his retort. I had no idea what she was talking about; however, it was clear that she wasn’t going to get anything further from him and she was not happy about that.

“Hhm,” Brenda huffed, “maybe I’ll see you later.” She started to walk away and then turned, “Oh, by the way Bella, did you hear that Elaine was pregnant again?” She continued talking in a superior tone. “Her and Wade got married a year after you did and this will be their fourth baby.”

“I hadn’t heard but I’ll be sure to congratulate her.”

Brenda grinned at my statement then moved to her car. Her words were meant in a malicious fashion as if to hurt or insult me and for a second she succeeded.

“Elaine weighs two hundred and fifty pounds and Wade was caught sucking that guys dick down at the truck stop last year.” I burst out laughing at Leah’s take on the situation making her laugh with me. “Personally Bella I think you’re better off,” she added with a chuckle. “Really another woman Elaine might be able to contend with …”

Jake couldn’t resist to comment, “She could always sit on her or smother her with the rolls on her thighs.”

Leah shot Jake a look of disbelief and then laughed along with us while finishing her thought, “…and I don’t care how fat she gets or what else grows on her she’s never going to have a dick.”

“There’s always strap-on’s,” Edward said with a slight chuckle while Jake added even more to that suggestion. “She could get one of those double headed ones, so she gets off while doing him.” We all laughed as Jake put the motion of thrusting his hips along with the words.

“Ewww gross!” Leah commented through her laughter, “I don’t want that mental picture…big Elaine and skinny Wade…with his greasy hair…bending over and taking it up the ass!”

“Thanks for sharing,” I knew it was mean but the thought was just too much and I laughed.

“That’s worse…” Leah’s laugher was dying down to a chuckle, “…than walking in on Mom and Charlie on the chair!”

“Ohhh…Leahhh,” I complained, “why did you have to bring that up?”

That was not something I wanted to be reminded of, especially when we were going to be going over there. As our laughter died down all thoughts of Brenda’s disparaging comments were gone.

“Ok,” Jake chuckled, “let’s go or were never going to make it on time.”

As they walked away with Seth my arms wrapped back around Edward for a quick hug and he reached down with his hands gripping my thighs to hoist me up onto his back making me squeal. “Which way m’lady?’

“Ummm…that way,” I pointed down across the street with a giggle.

As Edward started walking across the road Charlie’s cruiser turned the corner. Seeing us he stopped driving, rolling down the window he eyed my position and the way Edward’s hands held on to me. “Something wrong with your legs Bells?”

“Nope…I get carried like this all the time.” I announced smugly while dad grinned “Oh yeah? How do you manage that?”

“Do you see this finger?” holding up my pinky with a giggle. Edward squeezed my thigh and kind of growled, he knew damn well what I was referring to. Charlie on the other hand just smiled shaking his head.

“What are you doing out? I thought Sue would be keeping you busy all day.” Charlie blinked a few times then his eyes went to Edward with a blank stare before shifting back to me.

“Just making sure that Mark had everything under control.”

Oh

“Ok…well we’re just going down to the bakery and then I’m going to show Edward the school and we’ll be over.” I told my dad our plans wondering what Officer Mark had to do that required Charlie checking up on him. Mark had been working with Charlie for ten years and he knew how to set up the barriers for the parade.

“See you at the house, oh and Bells…” I thought for sure he was going to comment about me hanging on Edward’s back but he surprised me. “Do your old man a favor and get a wet bottom pie.” I smiled as Charlie rolled up the window.

“You are in so much trouble,” Edward growled spinning in a circle so that I had to tighten my grip around his shoulders while I giggled burying my face into his neck. Placing a kiss under his jaw before tugging on his ear lobe with my teeth eliciting a small groan while I admitted into his ear, “Sometimes I like trouble.”

“Hmmm…I know you do.”

Turning my face into the crook of his neck the heady scent of his skin always drawing me in for more I whispered against him, “I love you.”

“Ah, my Bella.” I felt his arms tighten around my body while his shoulders rose as if giving me a hug

I realized that he came to a stop and when I looked up we were outside of the Bakery. Edward let go of my legs allowing my body to slide down his back until I was standing on my own two feet.
There was a young girl behind the counter whom I didn’t know. It was possible that she had just moved here or more than likely because of her age I knew her parents but couldn’t recall her.

“What’s wet bottom pie?” Edward asked while he held my hand walking back to the car.

I thought for a second while standing at the corner waiting to cross the street where the car was parked. “It’s like funny cake with a layer of sweet dark pudding on the bottom.”

Getting ready to cross the street my breath caught and I could feel my body stiffen at the sight of the light blue pick-up truck. James was driving with Vickie in the passenger seat, his head was facing forward but his eyes bore into us. His expression was passive and I noticed that he cut off his long hair but his stare contained the same the hardness that always caused me panic. His fury that constantly brought about my fear now produced an intense hatred that made me angry with myself for reacting as I did.

Edward noticed the difference in my stance immediately, squeezing my hand as the truck continued at a steady pace down the street. The movement of Edward’s feet caused me to follow along with him to the car. As he opened the door for me to get in his hand lifted my chin making me look into his searching eyes.

I had to say something so that Edward wouldn’t think I was crazy, “That was…”

“I know who it was,” he interrupted my explanation.

My eyes narrowed in confusion, “How?”

It was the only thing I could say while searching my brain to remember if Edward had seen a picture of James, or had he known strictly from my reaction. “We’ve met.”

What?

“When?” I was getting frustrated with myself and the one word responses that kept popping into my head, but I couldn’t help it. Edward’s eyes searched my face before letting go of my chin with a resounding sigh. “Get in, we’ll talk on the way.”

Strapping the seatbelt across my shoulder I sat with the cake box balanced on my lap watching Edward walk in front of the car to his door. He didn’t say anything while getting his own belt on and starting the engine. “Which way am I going Isabella?”

Isabella?

My mind automatically settled into a peaceful state as I pointed over my shoulder, “That way Sir.”

Putting the car in drive Edward pulled out of the parking space, made a U-turn and headed in the direction I had pointed. Keeping my eyes on the road I waited for a few minutes for him to start talking. The time seemed to drag on as I cleared my mind while concentrating on my breathing. Each breath that I took in was filled with Edward’s scent drawing me further into myself. I could feel a calm wash over me, and although I still wanted to know what happened I was content to wait until he thought it was the right time to speak.

“Are you better my pet?” the words were softly spoken as if out of concern while his hand lay on top of mine.

“Yes Master.”

As I said the words a thought occurred to me that Edward purposely tapped into my submissive nature as way of giving me fortitude. The words he said last night while we were getting ready to go to Sam’s came to my mind. “This weekend is going to be tricky Isabella, and believe me if I thought for one minute that it would be in your best interest, our usual would not be taking place at all.”

When he had said those words I thought he meant that our usual would be tricky, trying to have our D/s time around everyone else in such close proximity. Which I suppose was true, the thing I didn’t fully understand until that moment was the part about it being in my best interest. I assumed that Edward was talking about not wanting me to get complacent with a long interval of down time; forcing him to have to go backwards in my training, frustrating both of us and completely undermining my self confidence.

Sitting there in the car drawing in on all the training I had been through. Focusing my inner strength and self control, I realized that’s what it was all about. Since day one Edward had me working on control, not just my body but my mind, emotions, and basic functions. Forcing me to take stock of myself and getting to know myself better than I ever have before. Drawing on the power that I get not only from his control of me, but the control I have over myself.

These lessons weren’t just about sex; they were to be used to enhance my whole self, to embrace my submissive character and draw strength from it. Never before have I been as accepted as when I kneel before him with nothing but my desire to serve. Because never in my life have I felt as strong as I do laid bare, naked, before my Masters feet.

That was what he meant by his statement

Yesterday I told Leah that Edward understands me and he makes me understand myself. At the time I said it I thought those words to be true, but sitting there in the car I knew without a doubt that they were. He knew what I needed all along. At that thought my heart soared with more admiration and love for him then I had before.

“Thank you Master.”

A small smile played on his lips, “You’re welcome my love.”

Edward turned at the sign that pointed the way to Forks High School. “Isabella, I want you to remain quiet and not say a word until after I am finished. Do you understand?”

“Yes Sir.”

While we drove the half mile into the school Edward began telling me about James coming up to him outside of the diner. I listened with intense interest at his recall, grimacing at the nasty things that James had said but not at all surprised by the arrogance that he showed. Pulling up into the parking lot facing the main office Edward turned off the car, removed his seatbelt and then turned his body to me.

“I don’t want you to think that I was trying to hide it from you Isabella. I had every intention of telling you this evening. I told you before there are no secrets between us, however I wanted us to be alone in a private place where we could discuss it rationally, with both of us in the right frame of mind.”

The right frame of mind- It wasn’t just me that needed to delve into my inner self, Edward needed it too

That thought was cut off by his comment, “I have no idea how James knew my name. Other than to say that it is very apparent that everyone here seems to know that you are in a relationship. That leaves me to assume that with me standing there with Seth, he put two and two together.”

That made total sense to me, how many people had commented that it was about time they got to meet Edward? So it would only figure that James would know his name. I just felt bad that Edward was even put in that position. “Your girl is sorry Master.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. You have no control over other people; the only actions a person can be responsible for are their own.”

I knew that of course, and his words were meant to comfort me but instead I internalized them twisting it into a double meaning. Thinking that if it weren’t for me then he wouldn’t have been faced with the awkward situation he was in earlier. “Master takes responsibility for his submissive.”

“I do that willingly Isabella, and so far my submissive has yet to cause me embarrassment, so she can get that thought right out of her mind.”

He really does know me

The car was quiet for a moment until Edward opened the latch on my seatbelt, “Is there anything else that needs to be said on this issue, or can we put it behind us?”

“No Master, we can put it behind us.”

“Good choice.”

He got out opening my door, pulling me into his arms as I stepped out of the car. I could feel his lips against my hair but he never lifted my face to kiss my mouth and I was content feeling the warmth of his embrace. Stepping back he took my hand in his tugging me towards the buildings. As we walked the five separate structures that always reminded me of army barracks, I explained what each building was used for. Edward looked in a few windows and I marveled again at how interested he was with seemingly inconsequential things.

Walking around the back of building ‘C’ I explained about the trail in the woods and how when it wasn’t raining hard I would go out there to eat lunch alone to escape all the chaos of the cafeteria. So of course Edward had to see what I was talking about. Following the trail back about fifty yards was the tree limb that served as a bench. It had fallen over so long ago that it was covered with moss and surrounded by over brush that created a little canopy of sorts.

Sitting on the log Edward pulled me down into his lap, his hands wrapping around my waist holding me without crushing me to him. Looking towards the school the deserted buildings were still visible through the gaps in the forest.

“What did you do in there Isabella?” Edward asked motioning with his chin towards the red brick structures.

“Your girl went to school Master.”

“What else did you do?”

Thinking about that question I didn’t know how to answer so I said the first thing that came to mind, “Your girl went home from school.”

Edward chucked at my response, “No. I mean what did you get involved in? Sports, cheerleading, clubs, organizations, activities, what extra things did you do?”

Staring at the building I shook my head, “Nothing, just homework.”

“Nothing?” I could see from the corner of my eye Edward’s head turn to look at me.

“No…what did you do in school?” my head turned to meet his gaze, watching as his face took on a look of nostalgia.

“I played football, basketball and baseball. I was a member of the young republicans, the key club, and student council. I participated in odyssey of the mind and the year book.”

“You did all that?”

He smiled broadly, “yeah.”

Looking back at the school where I had spent four years just getting an education, there was no remorse in me for things I didn’t do. It had never occurred to me to be active in school. It was just a place that I had to go.

“Why didn’t you get involved in something?”

His question was simple enough, and I suppose to someone who fit into the ins and outs of the popular crowd it would seem strange that I never did.

“Your girl doesn’t know,” I answered with a shrug of my shoulders.

“Well what were your friends doing, didn’t they try to talk you into joining something?”

My head turned once again to look at him, “This one’s friends all went to school on the reservation.”

“Didn’t you have any friends here?” he asked with narrow eyes, making me feel insignificant and causing me to look away from his glare.

“No.”

“You spent four years here and had no friends?”

I thought about his question before answering, “There was the occasional lab partner or if we got grouped into a project. But no one to just hang out with, most of the people your girl knew from junior and senior year were friends of James, not hers. She spent evenings, weekends, and holidays with her friends from the reservation.”

“And you would sit out here eating lunch by yourself?” I nodded resting my back and head against his shoulder, staring out into the trees.

“When it was cold or raining too hard your girl would sit in the library. She didn’t fit in here, so your girl came here and did what she had to do, worked hard to get an education so she could get out. It went all the way back to when she first moved here. Your girl was in the second grade, it was the beginning of May and her mother had just died. Her whole life was turned upside down. Three weeks later school ended and she spent all summer at the reservation, and that was her life, they were her friends and family. The next year this girl was still an outsider to everyone in school, but she was one of the rez kids to everyone at La Push. She was proud of that and felt like she belonged there.”

After a long moment Edward spoke quietly, “So why didn’t you date one of the boys from the reservation?”

“Master, your girl is HO-quaht.”

“White?”

I nodded, “As much as she was just one of the kids, and the adults watched out for her like she was their own, in the back of her mind your girl always knew that she really wasn’t.”

I didn’t want to get into the proud heritage of the Quileute people or their land distribution policies. Edward didn’t need to know that as a white girl I would never have been accepted as a first wife. That was reserved for girls from the tribe who could breed full blooded Quileute babies so that family lands could be passed down generation to generation. Not that it really mattered to me anyway, all those guys were never more than friends to me. Except for the one summer when I played touchy feely games with one of them. That ended in a total mess when Jake kicked his ass because of rumors he had started about his male prowess.

Edward’s arms tightened around my middle, “Stand up Isabella.”

His hands held my hips for a second keeping me in place standing between his open legs as his hands worked to open the button and zipper on my jeans. His fingers wasted no time with teasing instead pushing down my pants and plunging two fingers deep inside me. The shock from his actions caused me to gasp and Edward swatted me fully on my bottom with a stern warning, “Quiet.”

His fingers were working in and out of me with such fervor that it didn’t take long before I was panting shamelessly.

“Lift up your shirt and touch yourself” the directness of his voice told me it wasn’t a request so I did as he said. Lifting the bottom of my sweat shirt up to my armpits my hands cupped each breast. Edward’s other hand reached up pulling my bra to free them.

“Don’t tease them Isabella, pinch your nipples, twist and pull,” as I did what I was told the pain from my fingers sent ripples of pleasure through me that added to the delight of Edward’s fingers inside me.

“Harder Isabella,” the extra pressure from my own hands made me whimper, earning me another swat and a warning to be quiet. My eyes focused on the brick building while I tried to think about anything other than what my body was feeling, but Edward wouldn’t allow that as he ordered with a harsh tone, “Harder.”

I could feel my legs starting to shake and my hips tucked slightly to try and rub my clit against his wrist. Edward knew what I was doing because he turned his hand so that I couldn’t get any friction while he order, “Harder!”

My breathing was erratic and my lip burned from the force of my teeth biting into it while the pressure in my stomach built.

“How desperate is my slut to cum?”

I couldn’t tell if he was asking me or making an observation so I remained quiet, trying to hold on to anything that would keep me from crying out. Edward’s hand twisted and the side of his thumb rubbed against my clit making a strangled whimper leave my throat. There was no way I was going to be able to continue and I was going to beg him to let me cum when he ordered sternly, “Hold it!”

Oh fuck – Alabama, Alaska, Arizona…

“Harder.” The word reached my brain taking me away from my internal thoughts making me realize that my own hands had let up on their task. The hasty removal of Edward’s hand from my body made me gasp with need. In my lust induced state I felt his hands pull my jeans down to my thighs. Placing both hands on my hips Edward pulled me backwards into his lap lowering me onto his errection. The feeling of fullness was so exquisite that it took me a second to realize what was happening.

“I want those nipples throbbing Isabella.”

The words spoken in my ear made my hands get back to work pinching and twisting the aching nubs as his hands on my hips started directing their movement. My back arched from the delight of the pain that I was causing myself while I rode through his thrusts inside me. My body responding to him in the most primal way and I could feel my muscles starting to squeeze around him.

“Don’t you cum.” The growl was a warning that I took seriously.

My mind was so lost in the sensations cursing through me that I lost all reality of where I was as my body responded with pure need. I tried really hard to keep quiet pushing against the pressure growing in my stomach. Edward started to thrust against my movements as small grunts sounded in my ear. I felt his fingers dig into the flesh of my hips using them to guide my body against his own. Slamming me against him a few more times his hand dipped down to my clit, pinching it tightly while he ordered, “Now!”

My body spasmed in sweet relief, as the back of my head slammed against Edward’s shoulder while my internal muscles clamped down on him. I heard him grunt a few times but I was too lost in my own release to think about it.

My eyes fluttered open for a brief moment as a small breathy moan left my throat from the feel of Edward’s warm hands on my breasts lightly rubbing the tender nipples. “Shhhh…Relax my pet.”

At his words my eyes closed while my head lay against the juncture of his neck and shoulder, the smell of Edward and sex hung in the damp air but it was peaceful. “What are you thinking Isabella? Tell me what you are feeling.”

“Right now your girl is feeling very content,” My eyes opened at the realization of where I was and I stiffened in reaction. “Your girl hated it here, she hated everything about it.”

“Shhh…” his hand moved to caress the side of my face. “…I know. Close your eyes Isabella,” as I did he continued talking. “Smell the earthy forest, listen to the rain drops against the leaves, the rustle of the trees and absorb your surroundings”

Becoming aware of all those things going on around me my body relaxed even more against his.

“Now tell me Isabella, what is the one thing that you sense the strongest?”

I didn’t even need to think about that, the words came out through closed eyes.

“You Master, all your girl can think about is you. The smell of your skin, the feel of your breath on her face, how your heart beats with the rise and fall of your chest. Your girl smells our sex in the air and feels you inside her. You Master are all that this girl can sense in this place.”

That was the best way that I could sum up what I was feeling. The old associations that were connected with that spot in the woods didn’t seem to matter anymore. There was no dread of the school bell ringing that making go back inside. There was no feeling of not belonging because at that moment I felt whole. I might have spent four years sitting there alone reading a book while eating sandwiches but those memories had been replaced.

From that moment on, whenever I thought about the space where I had spent so much time alone, my brain would automatically recall in vivid detail the time I spent there with Edward. It was only a short period of time in comparison, but the events and emotions involved surpassed everything else. Those feelings would always leave me with a smile on my face and a warm feeling in my heart.

We didn’t get to stay there very long. Edward tucked himself back into his pants while I fixed myself and by the time we got back to the car, I needed to take off my pants to remove my panties. He laughed at me while I struggled in the small space to pull my pants back on but I didn’t care there was no way I could spend the rest of the day with our sloppy juices amassed in my underwear.

We were thirty minutes late in getting to Charlie’s and everyone was waiting as we walked in the door. The little living room was filled with people as I handed the white box with the pie in it to Sue. Everyone said hello while Edward looked around the small room taking in the humble surroundings while I petting Seth who came over with a wagging tail.

“It’s about freaking time I’m starving,” Seth’s complaint coming in from the kitchen with Tracy. “Where the hell were you? I tried to call and it kept going to voice mail.”

“I was showing Edward around and I don’t think I get reception in the woods.”

“Why were you in the woods?” rolling my eyes at my own big mouth I came up with the best answer I could.

“We just followed the tail out behind the high school” my excuse didn’t seem to hold any weight as Leah eyed me suspiciously while my gaze shifted to the one person I had not had a chance to see yet. Sue told everyone they could eat while I took Edward over to meet the man who was like my second father.

“Hi Billy,” my arms wrapped around him in a hug. “I missed you last night.”

His legs were paralyzed but his arms were strong and it took nothing at all for him to draw me into his lap while Edward sat down in the chair next to us. “I know and I felt bad about that. It was the first ceremony I ever missed.” His eyes moved to Edward and I introduced them while they shook hands.

Jake and Leah sat on the couch with their plates while Billy focused his attention on Edward, “Now you tell me young man what your intentions are with our girl here.”

“Billy!” I squealed with embarrassment but he didn’t seem to care.

“No..no Bella, these are things we need to know.”

My eyes went to Edward trying to convey my sympathy; however he didn’t seem to care. He smiled shifting his eyes to me for a moment then looked back to Billy who was waiting for an answer.

“Well sir, at the moment I just want to make Bella happy.”

That sounded like a good answer to me and I would have thought that Billy would be content with that, I was wrong.

“And just how are you planning on doing that?” I think the whole room got quiet at Billy’s inquiry waiting to hear the response.

Edward’s eyes went to mine while he spoke, “I’m going to love her, with everything that’s in me.”

“Aweee….” Sue purred while Seth made a gagging noise and Edward chuckled at their reaction.

“That’s a good answer son,” Billy approved. “I thought maybe you were going to say something like spoil her rotten.”

Edward chuckled, “I would like to do that too. But Bella never asks for anything”

“That’s the way Bella has always been, she’s the responsible one. Never asking or expecting anything extra.”

My face heated up with embarrassment at Billy’s words, “hellooo, I’m sitting right here.”

“You hush up young lady and let me speak man-talk with Edward,” Billy admonished.

“Man-talk?”

Billy nodded at me.

“Well can your man talk wait until Edward has some food?”

At my question Sue came over with a plate for Billy. Standing I led Edward towards the small kitchen watching him as he eyed the pictures that covered the mantel. He stopped walking to look at them. Most were me in the traditional blue back ground that all schools use but there were a few more personal ones, Charlie leaning over Renee while she reclined in a hospital bed holding me. One of Jake and me up in the tree grinning triumphantly down at the camera and one of Leah and me in our bathing suits standing in the lake posing in what we thought were seductive stances. The one he picked up to look at was me in my wedding gown with the veil pulled over my face clasping Charlie’s arm.

“You were so young,” Edward’s fingers traced the outline of my face over the glass. I had no idea what he was thinking at that moment and his face gave nothing away. After a second he replaced the picture smiling sadly at me.

“Food?” he questioned making me show him into the kitchen.

Sue had made baked macaroni and cheese with broccoli along with scrambled eggs and sausage links. We got our plates full before going back into the living room to join everyone else. There were only a few spaces to sit down and as I walked by the recliner I mouthed to Edward, ‘don’t sit in this chair.’

He looked at me in confusion for a second and then realization came to him in the form of a grin. “Thanks for the warning,” he whispered in my ear as we sat down. I was on the couch next to Jake while Edward sat in the chair along side of me. Charlie was talking about getting together for some fishing trip while Billy was being evasive about a definite answer. It was so out of character that realization dawned on me.

Leaning over I whispered to Jake, “Does Billy have a lady friend?”

He smirked then nodded in response while I was annoyed at not knowing that, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I haven’t seen you.”

“You saw me last night and besides I think news like that warranted a phone call!”

He rolled his eyes at me and I couldn’t be mad because I wanted the details.

“Who is she? Where did they meet? How long have they been together?” I was rattling off questions in Jakes ear when Billy’s laughter made me stop talking.

“You better get use to that Edward.” Billy pointed over at Jake and me, “From the time they were little those two were inseparable. They did everything together they played, ate and slept together. Hell I even caught them in the bathtub together,” he laughed as Charlie’s voice stammered for words while I stared in shock.

“It was hot out and we were in our swimming suits,” Jake corrected him quickly while Billy kept laughing, “Sure you were son.”

Charlie had finally found his voice “My daughter never would have done that,”

My attention turned to Edward assuring him that we were in our swimming suits. Edward smiled at me leaning over to kiss my cheek while the conversation continued. When my attention came back to the group Billy was still talking.

“Well Leah could always defend herself, she was a hellion; there was no boy going to get anything over on her. But Jake was Bella’s defender; even got in a few fights with the others if I recall.”

I don’t know why Billy was bringing up these things and I didn’t think I liked going down memory lane, however Jake just fed right into it. “When was that old man?”

“I seem to remember Jared’s mother calling me.”

I knew exactly what he was talking about and so did Jake “That asshole was lucky I didn’t kill him”

I tried to come to his defense “Jake was defending my honor”

“Uhh…” Charlie grunted, “…you shouldn’t have been doing anything that needed your honor defended for.”

“That was the point dad; Jared started telling the guys that he did things that never happened.”

“Well you must have done something to encourage him.”

My mouth dropped open, “Are you saying it was my fault?”

“Now Charlie,” Sue interjected. “You know how boys are, a simple kiss becomes a grope and a grope becomes a lap dance and the next thing you know he’s talking about needing condoms.”

Charlie was on his feet staring at me, “Who needed a condom and how old were you?”

Seth couldn’t keep his mouth shut, “Damn Bella…my whole image of you has been shattered this weekend.”

“No one needed a condom!” I was trying to get that point across to both of them when Leah spoke up.

“Do you want to know what happened? I’ll tell you what happened,” Charlie who was still standing turned to Leah while she went on to explain. “Bella was kind of going out with Jared. Not really going out just holding hands and kissing every now and then…”

“When were you kissing him? How old were you?”

“Ohhh,” I groaned rubbing my forehead while Edward silently chuckled next to me. “I was fifteen it was the summer before…”

“Uh…” Charlie huffed again. I suppose it was difficult to have his image of the picture perfect daughter tarnished, he always did better living in ignorance.

“Anyway,” Leah interjected, “Paul and Quil came with Jared into town and he said that he needed condoms for him and Bella. Paul went back spreading that around and Jake heard it and went right to Jared to confront him. Jared tried to act all big like him and Bella were getting it on”

“Which was total bullshit” Jake interjected while Leah finished “So Jake called him a liar and beat the crap out of him.”

“It was all a lie Charlie nothing happened,” Sue assured him as he sat back down.

“You knew about this?” Sue smiled at him

“It was the summer we got married. Don’t you remember Bella was dancing with Jared all night?” Charlie nodded as she went on, “Towards the end of the summer Bella came home in tears and the next day Jared was at the door with a black eye and busted lip. I called around, found out that Jake beat him up and Bella stopped hanging around with Jared so I knew that something, not so nice must have happened.”

“You never told me.” Charlie was bewildered

Sue patted his arm reassuringly, “That’s because there was nothing to tell. I didn’t know the details, Bella never told me and I never asked.”

Charlie’s eyes met mine with a slight bit of sorrow in them, “You should have told me Bells.”

“Jake took care of it, he…”

My dad shook his head, “I’m your father, and it was my job to protect you.”

Charlie stood taking his empty plate into the kitchen while I stared after him. As he rounded the doorway I caught Sue’s glance and the small jerk of her head. Taking Edward’s plate along with mine I asked if he wanted a drink. One look in his eye told me that my farce of an excuse wasn’t fooling him but he said yes for the sake of appearances.

Charlie had his back to me looking out the window, his left arm leaning against the wooded frame with his head resting against the back of his wrist. Putting the plates down on the counter I didn’t know what to say to him so I wasted time filling the sink with hot soapy water to start the dishes.

Charlie cleared his throat, “You should have come to me Bells.”

“It was nothing dad, jus…” he stopped me mid sentence.

“I’m not talking about that, although, if you would have come to me about that mess with Jared, maybe you would have trusted me with other things.”

My father turned to look at me with red glassy eyes, “Do you know how hard it is for a father to watch his daughter die a little bit more each day? To know that something is very wrong but be unable to help because she refuses to tell you what’s happening, and still to this day won’t trust you with the details?”

I could feel the tears in my own eyes begin to form, “It’s better this way…”

“Better for who Bells? Last night was the first time I’ve seen you openly laugh in years. So who was the self imposed misery better for?”

“As a cop…”

“I’m not talking about being a cop, that’s my job. I’m talking about being your father, keeping you safe, that’s my responsibility.”

His words made me remember that he was out this afternoon patrolling, “Is that why you were out today?”

His eyes narrowed, “Mark called and told me that there had been a problem so I wanted to make sure you were alright. How did you find out about it? Jake told me you were in the diner when it happened.”

“I was, Edward told me about it after James passed us in the street.” I couldn’t tell if Charlie liked the idea or not that Edward had not kept that from me, and I felt the need to defend his choices. “Edward doesn’t keep things from me and he refuses to let me keep things from him.”

“What does that mean?” the suspicion was clear in his tone.

“That means when I’m upset he holds me until I tell him what’s bothering me, getting everything out in the open so that we can work through it together.”

Charlie sighed, “I guess that’s a good thing, maybe I should have done that, forced you to tell me. Then all the secrets could have been exposed and maybe it wouldn’t have gotten as bad as it did. I’m a man set in my ways who would rather turn a blind eye than look at what is right in front of him. Who out of shame for his own misdeeds let a criminal go unpunished,” he sighed lightly, shaking his head. “That’s my own private sorrow.”

I didn’t want my dad to feel guilty about anything. “You were, are a great dad.”

“I tried Bells, but sometimes I feel like I fell short of the mark.”

“Nobody is perfect,” it was all I could think of to say. Charlie was never a warm hug kind of guy, that was always reserved for Billy.

Charlie sighed again, “Yeah I guess not. But you look happy, you smile with a glow about you and you’ve gained some weight.”

Gained weight?

“I guess that I have Edward to thank for that” I heard what he said along with the tone he used but I was still stuck on the gained weight part as I looked down at my frame. “You’ll tell me Bells if something goes ... if Edward ever..”

My head shot up meeting his eyes as I spoke with conviction, “Edward’s not like that.”

“Promise you’ll tell your old man,” he pressed.

“I promise,” as the words left my mouth I could see his shoulders relax, so I asked the question that I needed to know, “What do you think of Edward?”

Charlie hummed, “hmmm…Well I haven’t felt the need to shoot him…yet.”

Uncharacteristically Charlie stepped forward wrapping me in a hug, while I giggled. “I guess that’s a good thing.”

“It’s a start Bells…it’s a start.”

Chapter 60

Chapter 60

BPOV

Thinking about the events of that night wasn’t on my list of things to do. Ever since Paul mentioned getting lost in the cave there was no stopping my brain from recalling it in perfect detail. School had just let out for the summer, I had a part-time job but had the whole day off so as usual, I spent it at LaPush. Being in the cave it’s self was daunting but we were all together and I knew that we would find our way out.

Paul on the other hand started hyperventilating with panic. We sat on the ground with his head on my lap while I ran my fingers through his hair until he became calm. Jacob and Leah stayed with us while Quil, Emery and Jared went down the different passageways to find the entrance. When they finally came back to get us, Paul had relaxed and was drawing on my jeans with a Sharpie. The pants were ruined but that didn’t matter to me, just so that Paul was composed enough to think rationally.

By the time we had gotten out of the cave and back to Jacob’s house I needed to leave right way so that I would be ready when James came to pick me up. He had graduated that year and just started working fulltime at his parent’s store. It was suppose to be a celebration, he was using his first real paycheck to take me out for dinner and a movie.

We weren’t going to go anywhere fancy, just to The Italian Restaurant in Port Angeles but I was still looking forward to it. After the prom, our relationship had become more physical, much to my dismay. I always felt like he was expecting me to give into is sexual advances, although I had on occasion, it wasn’t my favorite thing to do. Getting naked in the back of his car while he basically speared me with his penis while groping my breast and biting my neck was not enjoyable to me.

Whenever I would try to change the subject he would call me a cock-tease, ignore my protest and do whatever he wanted to anyway. Maybe I was naïve about the whole thing but I kept thinking eventually I would know enough about what I was doing so that it could at least be tolerable. Try as I might nothing ever got better and there was just no one for me to talk with about it.

Leah was as inexperienced as I was; she and Jake had been virgins until prom night. Her experience was similar to mine in that it hurt enough to leave her vag sore. Yet different in that she said it only lasted a few minutes and she wasn’t coved in bruises or bite marks, at least none that I ever saw. Then again it wasn’t like I showed her the marks on me either, it was just too embarrassing.

At home in the shower I realized that the black marker had bled through my jeans, leaving ink on my upper thigh. Scrubbing it with a loofah until my skin was red didn’t remove it, yet because of the location my kaki skirt kept it covered. Besides I honestly didn’t think anything of the ink, figuring that it in a few days time, it would wear off.

Charlie was working the night shift so the only one home when James beeped the horn was Sue. She found him rude making a comment about good manners and ringing the door bell like a gentleman. That just wasn’t the way James behaved, the only time he ever came to get me at the door was the first time we went out. According to James, Charlie gave him the third degree, wanting to know where we were going and reminding me about curfew. It didn’t seem that invasive to me but James took it as a personal attack.

Taking my purse I held on to the hand rail so that I didn’t fall going down the wet stairs but I still managed to stumble as I opened the car door. James was wearing jeans and a dark green polo shirt, the unmistakable smell of strong cologne filled the interior making my nose burn.

“Hi” I smiled in greeting as James nodded giving my appearance the once over.

“Couldn’t you do something else with your hair?” my hands automatically felt the barrette that held the two sides in place at the back of my head while he started to drive.

James didn’t speak another word and I was getting anxious at the uncomfortable silence so just to make small talk I asked how his day was. “It sucked, I hate working there”

“Well, maybe you could get a job…”

“There is no maybe nothing Bella, I’m stuck there” he sounded so defeated. James had just graduated high school; he could do anything he wanted to do.

“Why don’t you take some classes at …”

He cut me off again with a scoffing huff “Yeah, and who exactly is going to pay for that? Just face the fact that my life is going to be wasted away at a sporting goods store.”

“It could be worse” I was trying to get him to look on the bright side, he had a job and one day the store would his but he must not have thought that a good thing because he yelled back “How could it be any fucking worse!”

The anger in his tone caused me to cringe away, when I moved my skirt must have slipped up my thigh revealing a portion of the ink just as James looked in my direction. “What the fuck is on your leg, can’t you even fucking shower?”

“I did shower...” I told him with a nervous laugh. In the six months that we had been going out I had learned more about his anger problems than anything else. Up until that point he had never really hit me, there was a lot of pushing and shoving, he would grab my arm or pull my hair and there were always threats, but no actual hitting.

I started telling him about my day among the snide comments about ‘it must be nice’ and ‘the fucking tribal boys.’ Ignoring him as best I could my story continued until Paul was mentioned.
His eyes flared “what the fuck do you mean, you were holding him?”

“N…Not anything bad and we weren’t ever alone” I could feel the tension rising in my voice and was glad that we had gotten into town.

Being in the restaurant was better, after eating his mood seemed to improve and I didn’t think anymore about it. When we left I was surprised to be escorted back to the car because I thought we were going to a movie, instead I was met with a glare. “I spent enough money, besides we can’t all be spoiled brats some of us have to work tomorrow”

The movie wasn’t really important to me moreover with the mood James was in it would have been better to just go home. And although I had to work the next day, I didn’t mention it. My mistake came about ten miles outside of town when I reached down on the floor to get my purse, something gold caught my eye.

“What’s this?” I asked holding up the lipstick.

“What the fuck are you doing snooping around my car!” the accusation was overshadowed by the anger.

“I …I wasn’t …it was just lying on the floor” I was taken aback by what was being said that I didn’t even notice that the car had left the main road.

James pulled to a stop in a small dense wooded area, putting the car in park he got out slamming the door, leaving me stunned as I watched him walk around to my side. If I would have been thinking or had some kind of forewarning I would have locked the doors in an attempt to keep him away from me. But before I could think James ripped open my door and was pulling me by the hair yelling at me “Who the fuck do you think you are!”

The seatbelt was still connected keeping me where I was as my hands grabbed a hold of his to stop the pain from the grip he had on my hair. James was yelling at me while I pleaded with him to please leave go. I don’t know how the seatbelt got unfastened but the next thing I knew he threw me up against the hood of the car.

“You fucking little bitch! You’re out running around with all kinds of guys while I’m at work, and you have the fucking nerve to accuse me!”

The tears were running down my face as I tried to get my breath from the gasping sobs “I…I…didn’t mean…”

“You fucking whore! You’re laying around with tribal boy, letting him mark you all up…”

The fear shot through me as I tried to get away from the car while I watched James open the buckle on his belt. “You want fucking marks …I’ll fucking mark you!”

There is a distinct sound that a belt makes as it slides along the material while it is released from the loops. My heart was beating so fast and I tried pleading with him through my tears but it was no use. The swish of air accompanied the thwack as a searing pain ripped through my body from the leather belt hitting my thigh.

The scream hadn’t even left my throat when the leather made contact with my skin once again. James had me wedged between the still open door and the hood of the car as he hit me repeatedly over my thighs and hips. My screams and sobs were drown out by his angry words, calling me spoiled, whore and useless bitch along with the constant thwack of the belt against my lower body. I don’t know how many times he hit me all I knew was that my thighs felt like they were on fire while I cried begging him to stop.

James grabbed the back of my neck yelling in my face “Don’t you ever fucking accuse me!”

I couldn’t answer him through the gasping breaths as he shoved me towards the open door “Get in the fucking car!”

He threw the belt in the back seat as he got in the driver’s side yelling at me to stop crying or go to my tribal boys and let them comfort me since I love the dogs so much. The whole way home I rested my overheated forehead against the cool glass of the window trying to calm down my shuddering breaths. My thighs burned as my hands rubbed them through the material of my skirt, while my stomach wretched with nausea.

When we pulled up to Charlie’s house all I wanted to do was get as far away from James as possible. Opening the door he jerked my arm making me look at him “Thanks for ruining my night”

Running in the house I didn’t stop to say hi to Sue as I went straight to our room. Leah was sitting on her bed talking into the phone. When she saw my face she asked if I was alright, but all I told her was that James and I had a fight. She told he was an asshole and that I could do better but I didn’t want to stand there talking for fear I would say too much.

I was humiliated beyond belief by what happen; she didn’t need to know anything more then what I told her. Besides what was Leah going to do? Nothing she could have said or done would have taken it away and I was afraid that if someone said anything to James he would do it again. It was my own private hell that no one else needed to be a party to.

The arms around my waist pulled a little tighter bringing me back from the memories that had me in their wake. The scent of Edward’s skin was enough to pull me through the darkest recesses of my mind, telling me I was safe and loved.

“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to the house?” The concern was clear in both the words and his tone.

“Can we stay just a little longer?” Edward answered with a kiss on top of my head “We can stay as long as you like. But why don’t you go to the bathroom and wash your face, while I refill our glasses.”

I was just going to agree with that idea when Paul’s voice traveled through the room “Hey are you two going to have your own private party over there?”

“Is he always annoying?” I giggled at the question

“He grows on you” as I moved away Edward turned me to look at him. Cupping his palm against my face while his eyes bore into mine, there were no words needed for him to express what he was feeling, but I wanted him to know that I understood. My own hand rested softly against the back of his.

“I know” it was all I said as a bright smile formed on his face and Edward winked at me causing my face to heat up with a blush that made him chuckle.

We stayed at Sam’s for another hour talking about what everyone’s plans were for the next day. We had to be at Charlie’s for an early lunch then everyone was going to meet up on Main Street for the parade. When we left to go back home it was almost mid-night, Jake was slightly drunk and started singing ‘The Summer of 69’ which we all joined in with him on the trek through the woods back to the house.

Seth needed to go out before we went to bed, but I didn’t want him running off into the woods so I put his leash on to walk him around. Edward was sitting on the porch with Jake when I came out; he took the leash from me saying that he would handle the dog so I could get ready for bed.
I said goodnight to Jake leaving the three of them outside while I met Leah in the bathroom. It might seem weird to others but when you only have one bathroom there is no privacy.

Standing there brushing our teeth she kept looking at me in the mirror. I thought for sure she wanted to say something about what happened at Sam’s so she surprised me with her whiney words. “Are you going to be really loud?”

I had to stop mid-brush to glare at her “Is that your main concern?”

“Yes…” she said seriously.

I couldn’t help myself but to reply “You know Leah you need to put a bunch of pillows under your belly, lean over the bed and take one for the team. You’ll feel better” I added patting her back as I left the bathroom.

Just as I was shutting the curtains in the bedroom the door opened, Seth came in first going right for his bed on the floor while Edward picked up the toiletry bag. “Isabella wait on the bed, facing the door”

“Yes Sir” He left the room while I continued to get undressed.

There is always an excitement inside me whenever I’m preparing myself for Master, but this night I was even more excited. I knew that he had been waiting all day to give me my task and frankly my mind was running rampant with the possibilities.

Turning out all the lights except for the small one on the night stand I situated myself in the center of the bed listening to the squeak as my full weight settled into the mattress. My mind was in overdrive making it difficult for me to relax. The day had been filled with all kinds of revelations. Between Leah’s worries, my private life being aired in front of other people and then the memories of the cave I couldn’t seem to get into the right frame of mind.

Using the last few minutes I focused on my position, squaring my shoulders while my bottom sank further into the bed. My eyes glued to the patchwork quilt I heard the door open telling me that my Master was near. Something inside me settled, there was shift in my focus and nothing else matter but him, it was as if his raw essence put me at ease.

I didn’t look up but from the corner of my eye I could see him walking around the room, removing his shoes and then his clothes. My heart rate picked up in anticipation and I could feel the slick wetness filling my center as he moved to sit on the bed behind me. The shifting of the mattress caused me to readjust my own weight in order to keep upright as he leaned towards me. Edward’s body didn’t come in contact with mine but he was close enough that I could feel the heat coming off him. His hand gathered all my hair bringing it over my left shoulder to leave my back completely exposed.

“Tell me Isabella, who do you belong to?” the feel of his finger running down the length of my spine along with the stir of his words spoken so close to the back of my neck, sent a shiver through my body.

“This girl belongs to you Master” his finger moved back up my spine to the spot of the closure on my collar.

“What part of this girl belongs to me?” I didn’t know what he was getting at or why he felt the need to ask these questions but it wasn’t my place to try and guess so I answered him honestly.

“Every part is yours”

“Every part?” it was as if Edward was asking for clarification and I couldn’t help but to answer.

“Yes Sir, body, hea…” I stopped talking on my own, unsure if he wanted me to speak out or not.

“Go on” he prompted while his finger ran down the length of my side making my breath quicken.

“Your girl just wanted to say that she is yours body, heart and soul.” my stomach muscles tighten as his body moved closer to me while his hand slid down to the wetness between my thighs.

“That would include your words?”

I tried to think if I said something inappropriate to him or anyone else, my hesitation cause him to question me further. “Is that something that requires thought?”

“No Sir that would include words…” I answered immediately then added “…did this girl say…”

Edward cut be off “What did I tell you about trying to think for me?” at my silence Edward responded. “You are to answer the questions as they are given. If there is something that needs to be taken care of, do you have doubt that I will do it?”

If there was one thing I could count on it was Edward taking care of my mistakes. “No Sir”

He was quiet while his fingers slid along my outer lips making me fill with even more wetness. After a moment he sighed “So then back to your words, they also belong to me?”

“Yes Sir”

“Hmmm…” His nose moved slowly between shoulder blades making me take in a sharp breath and bite into my bottom lip to keep quiet.

“That is good to know Isabella because normally you would not be allowed at anytime to use my proper name. However due to the circumstances of meeting everyone for the first time, that simply is not a possibility. That means you have to be extra careful of how you say it.” His finger continued to skim up and down over my outer lips while he talked against my skin.

“You are to make sure that whenever you say my proper name, it is spoken with reverence. My name coming from your lips should sound like a prayer, reminding you of you place. Along with standing as a witness of your devotion to me to everyone who hears it. Do you understand?”

That seemed easy enough “Yes Sir”

Slipping one finger between my folds Edward groaned softly against my ear “Ugh…so wet, so ready.”

His words and actions were driving me crazy with need making me have to concentrate on what he was saying. “For the rest of the weekend Isabella you are to always be ready for me.”

Ready for him?

Unsure what he meant I wanted to ask, but he continued to explain as the finger began circling my clit. “At any given time, when I require the use of my property it should be primed to receive me. Do I make myself clear?”

Clear?

I understood what he was saying, however, was that possible? As I thought about it the only thing that came to my mind was the way my body reacts to him. How with a simple look, word or gesture he sends my pulse racing and my body responds with a yearning desire. I had no idea why he would want me to be in a constant state of arousal but he wasn’t asking me that, so I answered the only way I possibly could “Yes Master”

“Good girl” his finger twirled around through the wetness before he slid the tip along my stomach and between my breasts before bringing it to my mouth. “Don’t suck; use your tongue to lick it clean.” Opening my mouth the tangy flavor hit my tongue as it curled around his finger, my lips started to close making Edward admonish me.

“No…only your tongue” as he said the words his hand rotated to give me access to the other side before removing it from my mouth to hold out in front of my face. “Look at my finger Isabella…” the forefinger pointed straight in the air “…this is what I’m going to control you with tonight…one finger.” My eyes narrowed as I stared in wonder.

How the hell is he going to do that?

“It’s going to require you to pay attention and failure to do so will result in my extreme displeasure.” Edward pointed the finger downwards twirling it, telling me to turn around.

Once I faced Edward he moved back slightly putting more space between us. “There are two rules you have to follow. One, at no time is your mouth to be removed from my cock. And two, you are not allowed to release until after I have.”

That didn’t sound so hard

I still didn’t grasp what he meant about the whole one finger thing but when he asked me if I understood I answered with a “Yes Sir”

Edward had me lay on my side with my knee bent and my foot flat on the bed while he laid flat on his back with his head on the pillows. His beautifully hard dick was directly in my line of sight and I’m not embarrassed to say that I actually started to salivate.

Edward chuckled “What do you want to do Isabella?”

My breathing was increasing by the second, all I really wanted to do was take him into my mouth and keep him there, but I didn’t say that. “Your girl wants only to please you”

That wasn’t really a lie because I was sure that my actions would be pleasing to him but he chuckled deviously rubbing his hand down my leg to the junction between my thighs. “Somehow I think my girl is telling me a fib, but go ahead. Just remember the two rules while I explain the rest.”

What else was there to explain? I knew how to suck cock.

My tongue licked from the bottom of his shaft to the top as I did this Edward’s finger swept slowly along my clit. “When my finger is not penetrating you, are to pleasure me with your tongue parallel to what I am doing to you. So if I do this…” his finger moved in the opposite direction “…what would you do?”

Without thinking , my tongue moved slowly back down his shaft and I was rewarded with a ‘Good girl” and his finger moving back up over my clit while I moved my tongue back up him.

“Now if I do this…” his finger circled slowly around my clit and my mouth hovered over top of his dick as my tongue circled the head.

“Good girl. The only time your lips are actually wrapped around me is when you are being penetrated…” His finger circled around my entrance and my lips tighten around his velvety head “…then you are to go down on me as deeply as I have entered you coming back up when I do.”

His finger dipped inside me just a little bit and my mouth moved down him to mimic his actions coming back up when his finger came out of me. Then going half way down when his finger pushed that far into me. On the next pass his finger plunged deep inside me making me take him as deeply as I could.

It wasn’t a hard concept to understand however it became increasingly difficult to follow his lead. Edward would have me bring him to the point of where I thought for sure he would cum. Then stop penetrating me so he could manipulate my clit making my actions change to a licking motion. This would give him time to get back under control while driving me into frenzy where I would get so close to orgasm only to have him go back to the slow building penetration.

After the third time of my body screaming for release his finger slowly circled my entrance. So as my lips wrapped around him, my head moved side to side in the same motion. His finger circled inside me as it moved down and my head followed the same action. As his finger got deeper the circular motions increased in pressure hitting that spot making me moan against him.

I could feel the twitch of his dick against my lips as he grew harder and I expected him to remove his finger but he didn’t. Edward grunted making a noise that sounded like a rush of air escaping through clinched teeth. Pushing his finger deeper inside me my mouth clamped down on him and I moaned from the feel of his cum hitting the back of my throat.

His finger was still inside me moving in slow steady strokes so my mouth followed his lead while I swallowed around him. Edward’s other hand pulled my hips closer to him, lifted my leg and put his mouth on me. The warm feeling of his tongue moving against my over sensitive clit along with his finger inside me was too much. Using his thigh to muffle my cries, my jaw went slack as the rest of my body tensed while I rode out the bliss of my orgasm.

My body was spent as I laid there enjoying the numbness from the release. Edward lifted me up by my arms handing over a bottle of water. Taking a drink I realized my jaw was tender and I wondered what time it was. The clock on the night stand was facing the opposite direction and I was just too tired to worry about it. Edward took a drink from the bottle I handed back to him, and then gave it me again.

“Take another drink” After I complied he put the lid on before sitting it on the nightstand and turning the clock around. One –eighteen.

No wonder my jaw hurt.

Edward got to his knees pulling the blanket up for me to crawl underneath then moved over to his side of the bed, turned out the light and pulled me into the shelter of his arms. It had been a long day my body was relaxed, listening to the steady beating of his heart I could feel myself slipping of f into sleep. His arms tighten around me causing me to stir enough to think of something.

“Master?”

“Hmmm”

“Does that mean that your girl is wrapped around your finger?”

He chuckled making the sound echo in my ear “I suppose it does, now go to sleep.”

I felt his lips against my hair “Good night sweet girl.”

“Good night Master” I settled my head back into the nook of his neck and let his steady breathing lull me into a peaceful slumber.


EPOV

The room was still dark when I felt Seth’s paw tapping on the bed. He doesn’t normally have to go out in the middle of the night so I tried to ignore him by nuzzling my face into Bella’s hair. Unfortunately that didn’t seem to be working because the dog was persistent in his attempts to get me up. Glancing over my shoulder at the clock I understand why, it was after eight o’clock and past his normal time to be left out.

Bella made a sound of protest as I dislodged myself to sit on the edge of the bed. As my senses started to awaken I realized that the room was dark due to the drawn curtains, along with the gray sky that surly accompanied the rain that was pelting the roof.

While I dressed in my discarded clothes from last night I could hear the soft mummer of voices coming from the kitchen along with the alluring aroma of fresh coffee and bacon. Glancing over at Bella as I open the bedroom door she had tucked the pillow under her arm and remained asleep.

“Come on boy” Seth was out the of the room and around the corner that lead into the kitchen before I could shut the door leaving Bella in privacy. The voices were much clearer in the hallway and as I came around the corner the bright florescent kitchen light made me squint.

“Good morning Edward” Leah said from her place in front of the stove while Jacob greeted me with a simple ‘morning’ watching me as I opened the door to leave the dog out. Seth came in from the living room clapping my shoulder on his way to the coffee pot. “Dude you get doggy duty?”

“Usually” I answered while Leah turned to look at me asking where Bella was.

“She’s still sleeping” Seth handed me a cup while Leah narrowed her eyes in contemplation.

“Does she sleep better?” her question made me think as I poured coffee into the cup.

She has been sleeping better

“Lately yes…” I answered then clarified as I sat down across from Jacob “…it took a few weeks and she still has an occasional nightmare…” I didn’t think I was telling them something they didn’t already know “…but for the most part, her sleep has improved”

“No more two am walks around the neighborhood?” Jacob’s question made me remember when he told me about that – the day he fixed the tire – and I shook my head “nope”

I could feel Leah continue to watch me when I looked at her she smiled warmly “Do you want some chocolate chip pancakes?”

“No thank you” I was never one to eat dessert for breakfast besides Bella would be getting up soon and I would wait to see what she wanted to do.

Leah set a plate of pancakes on the table along with a tray of bacon before sitting down next to her husband. As she put a hotcake on her plate she looked at me again with what appeared to be concern. “Was Bella alright last night?”

I nodded knowing damn well what she was talking about but Seth who was digging into a plate of food had no clue and wanted to know “What happen?”

“Paul brought up the cave” Jacob announced taking a bite of bacon like it was common knowledge of what occurred. That thought unsettled me.

“You all knew what happened?” the accusation was clear in my tone. How could they have known and not done something?

“Not at first…” the sadness in Leah’s voice was tangible. “…Bella hid it for a while. Making excuses for bruises, and she used to be really klutzy so I didn’t question it. But then…”

“Why didn’t you tell her father?” I couldn’t understand how they knew and didn’t talk to the one person who could have stopped it before the abuse became worse.

Jacob got a distant look in his eye “I should have done that, instead of confronting James…”

Leah patted his hand in a comforting manner “At least you tried to do something…”

“No…that just made things worse for Bella.” he told her with conviction before her eyes came back to me.

“We were seventeen, parents were the enemy and once the guys knew what was happening, they went after James. But like Jake said, it just made it worse and Bella isolated herself from all of us. Which is what James wanted, it was like we played right into his hands. I tried so hard to talk Bella out of marring him…” the tears were forming in her eyes as Jacob rubbed her back trying to sooth his wife. “But she is sooo damn stubborn”

Stubborn? That’s an understatement

“I hate that fucker” Seth fumed under his breath. “I seen this documentary once about a guy who advocated that every city should have a sniper on the payroll”

My head turned to look at him in amazement. Apparently I wasn’t the only one because Jacob asked in wonder “What the fuck does that have to do with it?”

Seth answered as if it should be obvious “Dude the guy said that there are ‘some people who just need to be shot’ and that mother-fucker is one of them”

The three of us sat there looking at Seth and if the others were thinking the same thing I was, we were in agreement with him. The only thing was that in my opinion the great city of Forks needed to employ a sniper years ago, before all the turmoil and heartache had ever taken place. At the present time it was a matter of healing, not just for Bella but the whole family.

While we were at Sam’s the night before it occurred to me that Bella isolated herself from anyone who could have helped her. Leah had just confirmed my suspicions, calling Bella stubborn. I wasn’t so sure that was the only reason for her withdrawal. I would agree that there are times when Bella has the tenacity of a mule. However in this case I believe that she acted more out of fear and shame then obstinacy. She found herself in a situation that she didn’t know how to get out of and the people who could have helped were as Leah said, the enemy.

The subject was dropped with the sound of the bedroom door shutting and Bella coming into the kitchen yawning. She was wearing a pair of yoga pants with a sweat shirt and bright pink fuzzy slipper socks. Her hair was kind of wild and her eyes were still glassy from sleep but she was still the most beautiful woman I ever seen.

“Good morning” the words were garbled by another yawn as she moved to get herself coffee before sitting down next to me with a small kiss. “You should have woke me up”

I didn’t get a chance to reply because Seth injected “I was going to wake you up soon because I need to get ready to go if we have to be at moms by eleven”

“That wouldn’t have been good…” Bella answered while Seth reassured her “I would have knocked...” He thought for a second then added “…did you defile my bed?”

Jacob cough under his breath while saying one word “couch”

Seth rolled his eyes getting up to put his plate in the sink muttering something about ‘people needing to shut the fuck up’ while he headed into the bedroom.

Leah started cleaning up from breakfast while Bella left Seth in and then toasted some bagels for the two of us. While we ate and drank a few more cups of coffee everyone took turns in the shower. I had never lived in a house where there was only one bathroom. Bella on the other hand had never known anything different and assured me that it was all in the timing.

She and Leah explained that when they all lived at Charlie’s each person had a set time in the morning to shower and if someone over slept that was their loss. They either had to wait until the end hoping that there was hot water left or they went without. I asked what happened if someone needed to use the toilet. Leah made me laugh when she shrugged saying ‘that’s what shower curtains are for.’ Bella also explained that the only person that was never interrupted in the bathroom was Charlie.

The whole concept seemed very mid-evil to me however I could see how the lack of privacy could have helped shape Bella’s exhibitionist tendencies. If throughout her whole life there was never a feeling of shame attached to human needs it would be feasible that those notions carried over into adulthood.

By the time everyone was dressed for the day we only had an hour or so before the time we were to arrive for brunch. We had decided that it would be a good time to take the tour around Forks. Leah had told her mom that she would get a dessert from the bakery and Jacob wanted to get a case of beer because he refused to drink Charlie’s ‘cheap ass shit.’

I knew the town wasn’t very big, Main street consisted of the Municipal building which housed all of the civil offices, including the police and a few holding cells. There was a library, two banks, two pizza shops and various other businesses that the good people of Forks would need. While the four of us walked down the sidewalk with Seth on his leash a police officer and a municipal employee were setting barricades at the cross street. I assumed that they were to block off access to the main road for the parade.

While we were waiting at the crosswalk Bella introduced me to Officer Mark – Charlie’s deputy- along with Dennis. Some of the business along Main Street were setting up stands for the parade and as we walked by Bella always said hello before making an introduction. I was beginning to see what she meant about small towns gossip. More than a few people commented about either ‘finally getting to met me’ or saying outright ‘so this is the young man I heard so much about’.

When this happened Bella would give me a look of remorse while Leah or Jacob would comment right back ‘this is him’ or ‘now you know he’s not a gigolo.’

The first time Leah made the gigolo comment was to the woman who ran the bookstore. I thought poor Bella’s eyes were going to pop out of her head while I bite down on my tongue to keep from laughing. The woman’s face turned bright red telling me she had either believed that rumor or had helped to spread it.

“You shouldn’t say that to Mrs. Murray” Bella admonished her sister when we walked away.

“Oh Bella, she’s an old busy body, besides you asked me to squash the rumors…now it’s squashed”

Leah truly had no remorse for her comments and I wondered how Bella being meek ever stood up to her sister’s obvious dominating character. We walked by the dinner and Leah wanted to go inside to get some kind of sticky bun much to Bella’s protest. “You just ate. And we are going to Charlie’s to eat again”

Leah was pulling on her arm imploring “Come on…the baby wants a sticky bun”

“Why do I have to go in? I don’t want one”

“Bella you know damn well once you see them with that gooey shit hanging all over them with the nuts and raisins, you’re going to want one. And I’m not sharing mine”

Bella looked up at me silently asking if it was alright to get the sweet treat. While I took the leash from her hand I leaned in to kiss her cheek and whisper. “We’ll share it”

The girls went up the three stairs into the building leaving me outside with Jacob. I hadn’t spent very much time with Bella and Leah while they so freely interacted together so the last twenty-four hours had been eye opening. “Are they always like this?”

Jacob nodded at my question “Leah will push Bella and keep pushing until she fights back. Then Leah is happy because she feels like Bella is standing up for herself. But Bella gets all…”

“Guilty?” I asked

“Yeah…and she’ll just shut down which just frustrates Leah even more. She wants Bella to be happy but she thinks the only way for that to happen is for her to be assertive and aggressive.”

“That’s not Bella” I was telling him something Jacob already knew that much was clear from the look I got.

“That’s why I think it’s good that you are here this weekend. My wife thinks you’re…”

I cut off his train of thought “I know what she thinks, Bella told me”

“Sorry man”

I shrugged because there was nothing I could do about what Leah thought other then be myself and let time tell her the truth. But even that didn’t matter because regardless, Leah was going to think whatever she wanted.

“Look Edward, give Leah some time and she’ll come around. In the mean time she sees the difference in Bella, she laughs, she eats and she hasn’t thrown up once since she’s been here.”

Thrown up?

I didn’t get to dwell on that comment because Jacob continued talking “So my man whatever you are doing you have my blessing to keep doing it. Because the Bella I know and love is coming back to life” Jacob looked to door of the dinner “Where the hell are they?”

“There is probably some old woman in there wondering how Bella could fall victim to my charming ways” I smirked

“Fuck you, you’re not that god-damn charming” he laughed going up the stairs to see what was taking the women so long.

I wasn’t really paying much attention as I thought about what Jacob had said about the changes in Bella when Seth growled. Thinking that he was just getting antsy from waiting I squatted down to pet him when a pair of black boots and jeans filled my vision.

“Vicious little thing isn’t he”

Standing back up the dog continued to growl making me pull his leash tightly and caution him with a stern voice “Seth quiet”

He calmed some but still didn’t relax as I looked at the man in front of me. He was about my height, slightly broader through the shoulders with blond hair cut in military fashion and blue eyes that held more grey then actual blue. He continued to glance at Seth for a moment then his eyes fully met mine. “Too bad we can’t get women to listen like that”

My mind was so focused on Seth’s unusual behavior that I didn’t pay attention to what was being said “What?”

“I said…” his words were interrupted by Jacob’s voice coming from behind me “Keep walking Asshole!”

The guy smirked with a devious chuckle “Black…”

The two of them continued to stare each other down until the guy smirked “You still her little lap dog? I would have thought that with a new stud, she’d stop spreading her legs for you. Or maybe you both do her, she likes that” he added with a wink.

“What the fuck did you just say?” I could feel the bile rising in my stomach as his eyes moved from Jacob back to me.

He chuckled boldly keeping his eyes on me while Jacob asked “What the fuck do you want?”

The shrug of nonchalance was annoying as hell “I was just passing by, thought I would introduce myself, you know, being friendly”

“You aren’t my friend so there was no need to stop” Jacob answered with a menacing tone.

“I wasn’t talking about you Black. I was referring to Edward here”

“How the fuck do you know my name?” he laughed darkly making my fist clench together in anger.

“Anyway, I thought maybe I could introduce myself and give you some pointers. After all I did break her in for you.” the sarcastic tone of his voice pissed me off but not as much as when he put his hand up and patted my chest.

“Get your fucking hand off me!” I said gripping his wrist and wrenching it away from my body making him laugh dryly “Oh, you think you’re a big man”

“I’m not a woman that’s for sure” the smugness on his face was replaced with a scowl. He opened his mouth to say something but another voice came from behind me. “Is there a problem here?”

The grin was back on his face as he muttered under his breath ‘daddy’s calvary to the rescue’ then raised his voice to speak “No problem Officer Mark. I was just welcoming a stranger to our peaceful little town”

The officer was buying his story “Where’s Bella?”

“Inside” I answered coldly without hesitation watching as his eyes narrowed in disdain.

“Is that less than five hundred feet Mr. Cummings?” officer Mark didn’t even question what was happening. Something told me he already knew.

He huffed “I’m not physic, I don’t know where she is”

“Well now you do. So move along” the officer wasn’t giving him any choice

“Yes Sir” He turned to leave with that same damn smug-ass grin “See you around”

“Was that a threat Mr. Cummings?” Officer Mark called after him

“Absolutely not, just a parting goodbye” He said over his shoulder as he crossed the street with Officer Mark following him.

With them gone my worry was back on Bella “Where is she?”

“They were waiting for a fresh pan”

I nodded watching the two men walk down the street. Taking a few deep breaths to calm down I could feel the muscles in my face and chest relaxing. “James I presume”

“The one and only”

After a moment I felt more at ease “I really hate that son-of –a-bitch”

Jacob put his arm over my shoulder and laughed “Edward my man. I’m starting to like you more and more”

Chapter 59

BPOV

I watched as Edward and Jacob made their way outside while Paul went to the refrigerator and Seth brought the subject of the club back up. “I don’t understand why you get to go and I don’t.”

Glaring at him I tried to make it as clear as possible, “I’m not taking my little brother to a club, besides you have to be twenty-one.”

“When I’m twenty-one will you take me then?” his request was met with a harsh, “No!” as Paul walked out the door.

“Why not?” Seth beseeched in a whiney voice as Leah grew smug, “Yeah why not Bella? What’s so bad about it?” I glared at her in complete disbelief.

How dare she do this to me?

Ignoring both of their questions I lashed back at Leah, “What exactly did I do? You have been telling me for over a year to go get a life. To get a man so that I wouldn’t be alone; I found one who I love and loves me back, can’t you be happy for me?”

“Right Bella, I said a man, not a monster.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” My yelling was broken up by the door opening and Emily coming into the house.

“Hi. What’s going on?” it wasn’t asked in a prying manner, Emily was trying to defuse the situation. But I was too angry, “Ask Leah, she seems to have a problem with my choice of men”

“Gee, do you think…” she spit the words at me then added the insult, “especially with your record of choosing so damn great!”

I didn’t get to answer because Seth, who for some reason was still standing there, came to my defense. “I like Edward,” while Emily added, “I only met him for a minute, but he seems nice.”

Leah didn’t give me a chance to reply before she blurted out in a spiteful tone, “Ask her where she met him.”

“I met him where you told me to go, with your husband!” the words came out of my mouth through clinched teeth.

“You met Edward at New Moon?” My eyes went to Seth as I wondered aloud, “Why are you still here?”

“Why shouldn’t he be here?” Leah asked and then added, “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Your right, I have nothing to be ashamed of. Jacob escorted me to New Moon, at the bequest of my dear sister and I met Edward there - big fucking deal. I met a great guy…”

“You met someone who two days later you were naked on the couch with!” Leah yelled at me. “And less than a week later you’re in his fucking torture chamber!” she calmed down then became sarcastic, “Oh excuse me, I forgot, it’s a playroom.”

“Edward has a playroom?” Seth’s question pushed me over the edge and I yelled at him, “Why the fuck are you still here?!” while Leah yell at him, “Get the fuck out!”

As we were yelling at Seth the door opened again to a very intense bellow, “Ladies!”

Sue yelled at us the same way she has always done, while putting the casserole on the table. Taking a few breaths I calmed down slightly while Sue chastised us for our behavior and Emily moved to close the door. “This is not the way we behave. I didn’t raise you to be talking to each other with such foul language.”

“I’m sorry,” I said to Sue then looked to Leah, “But when I choose to get naked with someone or join him in the playroom it is my business. And if it bothers you so damn much why did you pressure me into going to the club in the first place?”

Leah huffed and rolled her eyes, “Because I was sick and tired of hearing you talk about it all the time. I thought that you would go there, see the horrific things that go on, and you would run the other way,” she flung her arm out in an exaggerated motion as she continued

“But ohhh..noooo…not Bella. She doesn’t run away from dangerous situations. No…she has to head right into it. You would think she would have learned from the last time!”

“I really resent the fact that you assume to put Edward in the same category as James. Or that you believe that Edward is dangerous or violent with me, because he’s not; if anything he is very tender and caring at all times,” I wanted to tell them all how loving and attentive Edward is but Leah interrupted my thoughts

“And how am I suppose to know that Bella? I asked to see it…you wouldn’t even show the playroom to me,” Leah’s voice was softer but the venom in her tone was still there, spiking my anger once again.

“That’s what this is about? Because I wouldn’t show it to you…why would you want to see the playroom? It has nothing to do with you,” I couldn’t figure out why that mattered to her so much.

“It has everything to do with me!” Leah screamed, “Don’t you get it?! I can’t do it again!” there were tears in her eyes as she yelled.

“Do what?” I screamed, as Sue was trying to insert herself into the argument, “Ladies please,” but Leah clinched her fist to her chest as tears came down her face making me cry too. “Jesus Christ Bella…It’s so fucking unfair and selfish of you to force me to do it again!”

“Do what?!” I yelled as tears ran down my face

“Don’t you get it? God Bella, are you so fucking dense?” tears were falling down her face as she screamed at me in a high pitch howl, “I can’t walk into a room…and find you strapped to a table…half dead! I can’t do it again! Don’t make me do it!”

I felt my chest crush in on itself as my body shook from the pain of all that we had been through. I lived through the nightmare of what James did to me, but those who love me lived through it too. I carry scares, both physical and emotional, but I forgot that they do too. My body wretched in a deep sob as my arms encased my sister. We clung to each other while we cried, in the understanding of the hell we both lived through and never want to go through again.

“Ok…” Sue’s gentle voice spoke against my ear as I felt her hand ran down the length of my hair in a soothing motherly manor. “Seth, I thought you had to go to Tracy’s?”

“I do,” his voice was quiet.

“Then go, so you can be back in hour to eat and get ready.” Sue sniffled and then spoke to us, “You two go into the bedroom and finish this, I don’t want to hear anymore yelling. I have to let the men in so I can get them fed and Charlie doesn’t need to hear this stuff.”

Leah and I separated as Sue kissed our foreheads before pushing us into the bedroom. Sitting in the middle of the bed I laid down with my head on the pillow while Leah lay next to me. It was quiet for a moment while I just stared up at the ceiling.

“I’m sorry,” we both said at the same time but I started with the explanation. “I didn’t mean to make it seem like I’m not there for you.”

She kind of groaned then rolled on her side sticking a pillow under the fullness of her belly. “I just miss you Bella. I know that you have someone in your life now and I’m happy for you I really am. But I’m so worried.”

“Don’t worry,” I reassured her but then figured I should tell her why. “Edward would never do anything to hurt me.”

“How do you know that? You’ve only know him for a month.”

I took a deep breath and turned to face her. “He loves me, he understands me and more than that, he makes me understand myself. I know that I’m the most important thing to him, and right now he’s probably freaking out wondering if I’m ok.”

“I’ve seen how much he cares for you,” I looked at Leah questionably but didn’t need to ask for clarification. “It was the last time you were supposed to come for dinner, but something happened and you left the Center. I guess his mom called him and he went right to you. Then he called me to say you were sleeping so you wouldn’t be able to come over.”

That was the day I told Edward what James had done to me in my kitchen.

“I got to your house as soon as I could Bella; you were sleeping and Edward was distraught holding those horrible pictures, he didn’t even want to look at them.” Leah sniffled and from outside the door Sue spoke loud enough for us to hear.

“And their staying in there until they can be nice to each other” we snickered at her words, because that was always the way she made us talk out our disagreements.

“Anyway,” she smiled sadly and then sniffled before going on, “I went to you and I checked all over your body looking for bruises.” I glowered at her in confusion. “In my mind I remember how with James you would avoid seeing me because of the bruises and I thought that’s what you were doing. Skipping Tuesday night dinners, making excuses why you couldn’t go to yoga with me so you could hide the bruises.”

“There are no bruises Leah.”

“Ever?”

I shook my head at her, “Never…I’ve had a few rope marks, but Edward takes care of them and they are gone in the morning.”

She sighed again laying her head down on her arm, “I don’t want to know that, and your right I don’t really want to see the playroom…I just don’t get it. How you can let him hurt you after James…?”

“Edward doesn’t hurt me, how can I make you see that it’s so different Leah. I cringed away from James touch but I lean into Edward’s. I feel whole with him, he makes me feel loved and accepted and strong…so very strong. There’s never fear…” she cut off my explanation.

“And there are no lasting bruises?” this seemed to astonish her.

“Nothing,” I lay back on the pillow while continuing, “my vag is kind of tender the next day,” I looked at Leah and smiled. “But that’s just a pleasant reminder”

“My vag is tender too,” Leah’s eyes met mine, “…and it’s purple…”

That shocked me, “What?” she nodded then preceded to explain, “…like an eggplant” I knew it wasn’t nice but I couldn’t help the giggle that came out, she snickered too and then added, “And it’s constantly dripping stuff.”

“Gross!” I laughed as Leah hit me with a pillow while she laughed out, “It’s not funny!”

I stopped laughing and then wondered, “Is that why you don’t want to have sex?”

“I just don’t feel sexy. Jake says he don’t care he even bought me this sleeky, sexy, frilly thing. But my boobs, my back, my legs, they all hurt and I always feel like I’m going to pee myself, how can that be desirable?”

I listened to what Leah was saying wondering if the lingerie was what Jake had Alice make. I suppose if I had all that stuff going on I wouldn’t feel sexy either and I could see how that would be hard to deal with. I didn’t have any advice for her and part of me felt bad about that because I was the advice queen. But another part of me wanted to tell her to suck it up and deal, that she should be glad that she had the capability to have babies.

However that was my own private regret so I gave her the best I could, “It will be over soon then you can get back to normal.” As I said the words something else came to my mind, “What about the Lamaze Classes?”

“Do you still want to go?”

Was she kidding?

“Try and stop me.”

“What if they are on Wednesday nights?” she questioned.

I shrugged, “Then they are on Wednesday, Edward will understand changing things for a few weeks, especially for something that’s so important.”

“Is it important?” she asked softly as tears rolled over her cheeks causing me to cry with her.

“Of course it’s important. You’re my sister …I love you.”

“I love you too,” we hugged as best we could with Leah’s belly letting her go a thought occurred to me “Why didn’t you answer my phone calls?”

“I just didn’t want to hear any more excuses Bella. I couldn’t listen to you pretending to be happy…”

Pretending?

“I’m not pretending anything Leah” my voice grew a little louder before I calmed down. She had to know.

“I am happy…deliriously happy. I couldn’t have found a better man to be with, he’s warm and kind and treats me with respect. Edward is always lovingly attentive to me sometimes so much that I feel like it’s all a dream and I wonder when I’m going to wake up…” the tears were back and I wiped them away with my hand mumbling “He’s all I ever hoped for and more then I deserve…”

“Don’t you say that! God Bella if anyone deserves to be happy…” Leah didn’t finish her sentence but I knew what she meant.

We were quiet for a few minutes before she sighed “I have to get to know Edward better, unlike you I’m not as trusting. I wanted to tell her that I had my own trust issues but that would be a lie when it came to Edward, I always felt safe with him. So I kept quiet while she added, “and I’ll try not to be a bitch anymore.”

“You can try…” I said with a smirk while she smiled then whined, “I really have to pee.”

Getting to my feet I held my hands out to help Leah off the bed, but we ended up in another hug where she whispered in my ear, “Please promise me you’ll be careful.”

I sniffled, “I will, I promise.”

Leah sighed as she stood back giving me strange look, “Jake says Edward does the dishes.”

She wasn’t asking but I answered anyway as we moved to the door, “yeah he does, and the laundry.”

Stopping with her hand on the door Leah turned to look at me, “UH…do you think he could train Jake to do that too?”

The seriousness of her face made me laugh, “With a whip?”

Leah laughed while opening the door, “I don’t care how he does it, just so it gets done.”

EPOV

The sound of her giggle was like music to my ears. It felt like forever since I’d walked out of the house leaving Bella to fight it out with her siblings. My heart was beating in my chest so hard I thought for sure it was audible to everyone in the kitchen.

After Paul’s botched attempt at an introduction, which I wanted to fucking punch him in the face for, Jacob took over defusing the situation with Charlie by punching Paul in the arm and calling him an ass. Charlie glanced between the two of them, scrunched his face, and then finally shook my hand, telling Paul to go home and stop being an instigator.

I suppose in the whole scheme of things Paul had done me a favor by breaking the tension because Charlie shook his head laughing. “That boy and his stories, I swear ever since he was young he was always talking nonsense trying to get my goat.”

A misty rain had started to fall but rather than move under the cover of the porch Charlie walked to the back of his car taking out a six pack and then rejoined us. “So tell me Edward how was the trip to Victoria?”

It was a way of making small talk as we tried to tune out the high pitched sounds that were coming from inside the house. “It was good Sir we…”

Charlie cut me off, “You go ahead and call me Charlie, everyone else does, hell my own daughter calls me that most of the time.”

I chuckled because I thought it was unusual myself; I had just begun to tell some of the things we had done when the door opened and Seth stepped outside. His face was crestfallen with bloodshot glassy eyes as if he was on the verge of tears.

I must not have been the only one to see it because Charlie stepped forward, “Everything ok in there?”

Seth looked between Jacob and me, blinking his eyes a few times, “Yeah, mom got everything settled.” The sullenness of his tone only fueled my anxiety, but Charlie didn’t seem to notice or he choose to overlook it. “She always does.”

Just as he spoke Sue came out on the porch pointed to her watch and told Seth ‘forty-five minutes,’ making him move quickly to get into his truck and drive away. She then announced that we should come into the house and get out of the rain. That was perfectly fine with me since I really wanted to see Bella to make sure she was alright.

Emily was by the oven pulling a tray out, Charlie gave her a quick hello and then asked where Leah and Bella were. The same question must have shown on my face too because Sue patted my arm telling me she alright before answering her husband.

“I sent them to their room to finish talking,” her voice grew a little louder and see seemed to direct it towards the bedroom, “And their staying in there until they can be nice to each other.”

Charlie gahuffed putting the rest of his six pack in the refrigerator, “What the sam-hill are they fighting about anyway?”

Emily looked to Sue who shrugged as if nothing happened, “They just needed to clear the air.”

Charlie rolled his eyes while he sat at the table. “Should have had all boys.”

“That’s a sexist thing to say,” Sue interjected motioning for me to sit down while Charlie answered, “It’s the truth.”

He then glanced in my direction as Jacob sat down next to me with two more beers. “Do you have siblings Edward?”

“Yes,” I told him twisting open the bottle, “a brother and a sister.”

Charlie nodded, “Then maybe you can understand, I know Jake does because he grew up with two sisters and now he has those two,” he pointed with his thumb in the direction of the bedroom. I wasn’t exactly sure how I liked him referencing Bella as being Jacob’s but I obviously didn’t say anything. However Sue did as walked behind him carrying a large mixing bowl

“What is that supposed to mean, and you better choose your words properly.” Jake laughed at the warning, while I smiled as Charlie seemed to think over his answer.

“All I’m saying is that when you have two boys and they fight, they punch each other and get it over with. Girls…” he rolled his eyes, “…they hold it inside and fuss about until they are ready to scratch each other’s eyes out. Then they scream and yell until they are both crying only to end up hugging.” I chuckled at his explanation as he went on, “They should just be like boys, not hold that stuff in and get the whole damn thing out in the open.”

“Is that what you think?” Emily asked while wiping her hands on a dish towel.

“That’s the way it is.” Charlie announced, “You ask any man that has to deal with more than one female at a time and he’ll tell you, one is hard enough. When you have two especially in the same household and around the same ages, he has to be a saint to put up with all the crap. That’s my shirt, she took my record and don’t even get me started on the moodiness from monthly stuff!”

I couldn’t help but laugh with everyone else at his little rant as Sue stood behind him staring wide eyed while she sighed loudly shaking her head. Charlie chuckled along with us before taking a drink from his can then glanced at Emily, “Are you staying for dinner?”

“No. In fact I have to get going. Sam asked me to relay a message. He wants to let you know that with Bella here, he was going to put on a few extra patrols. He’s not expecting any trouble but he doesn’t want to take the chance.”

Charlie chewed on the side of his lip while nodding his head, and then quickly shifted his eyes to me before going back to Emily, “Tell him alright. I don’t expect anyone is fool enough to cause trouble but stranger things have happened.”

Jacob huffed next to me in disgust while I processed what was being said. I knew what they were talking about, adding extra patrols just in case James decided to show up. The thought that came to my mind was: is this something that normally happens when Bella is here? Do they always take extra precautions to ensure her safety?

Emily left with a goodbye adding it was nice to meet me, just as I heard the door open from the bedroom. From the sound of their giggling I could only guess that Bella and Leah had worked out their differences. That sound brought a sense of relief to me for several reasons.

I hate when Bella is upset, everything within me screams to see to her happiness. I also knew that she loved Leah, after all the failed phone calls and passed up activities, it was clear that Bella missed her sister deeply. The most important reason was that I wanted Bella to relax so she could enjoy the weekend. That would have been impossible had the tension not been disbanded.

Leah went into the bathroom while Bella came around the corner into the kitchen. Our eyes met immediately as a warm smile engulfed her face. It was clear she had been crying and it took everything I had in me to remain in the chair and not run to comfort her. Sue looked up as she started putting food on the table and then went over to hug Bella just as I wanted to. Bella nodded at whatever Sue was saying then let her go so she could say hello to her father.

“Hi daddy,” Bella said wrapping her arms around him from the back before leaning down to kiss his cheek.

Charlie’s hand gripped her forearm then patted it in a fatherly manner. “Hi’ah Bells. How are you?”

“I’m good…” Bella gazed at me while adding, “…I guess you got to met Edward?”

“Yes, no thanks to you. Paul introduced us.”

Bella glared at Jacob mouthing ‘Paul.’

Jacob held his hands up in surrender, “You don’t want to know.”

Bella’s eyes shifted to me and I winked at her while Charlie chuckled, “That boy is always trying to get me riled up.” Bella let go of her father giving him a chance to take another drink from the can, “besides you two girls are old enough now to stop fighting.”

“Leah started it,” Bella announced while her sister was coming out of the bathroom announcing, “I did not!” Charlie glanced across the table at us with a knowing grin, “See…boys.”

Dinner was simple but good with brazed chicken, red beans and rice, coleslaw, and a salad. Everyone at the table watched Bella mix her rice and slaw together cutting the chicken into small pieces to add into the blend. Charlie laughed shaking his head, “If the sight of that don’t scare Edward away, I don’t think anything will.”

My hand squeezed her knee as she looked to me with a blush on her face while Sue told Charlie to let her alone at least she was eating. That comment made me wonder if her eating habits had always been unhealthy, or if the mere fact of where Bella was made her too anxious to eat. At that moment with everyone around her, Bella seemed relaxed.

The tasks that I was going to have her do would be part of my plan at keeping her that way. It would require me to keep a constant watch, judging her anxiety level. Something told me that her task might be tricky at times, but if it works she just might leave Forks feeling better about coming back. The problem was I needed to get her alone so she could receive my instructions. It didn’t appear like that was going to be happening until we actually went to bed. That was alright, I would bid my time knowing that the main task had more to do with the next day than anything else.

The rest of the meal was typical normal family time. There was an ease to the relationship between them. Charlie was a basic man with simple tastes who I could tell loved his family very much. I received the customary questions about my life, where I worked, where I grew up, and my relationship with my parents and siblings. Leah wondered why I didn’t finish with medical training and Sue commented that my decision to withdraw from that vocation must have been a shock to my parents.

When I agreed with her assessment Sue made sure to tell me that she found no fault with my decision because everyone should do what makes them happy. Her words were directed to me but her eyes rested upon Bella. I’m not exactly sure what was said during the earlier altercation, however it became clear to me that Sue was more aware of our personal relationship than she was letting on.

Charlie was much more interested in how we met, finding it shocking that Bella would be at a bar. “I went with Jake dad.”

That piece of information seemed to placate him but I suppose the cop must have kicked in because he wondered, “Why didn’t you go along Leah?”

She scoffed, “What was I going to do there, I can’t drink…”

“It just doesn’t make much sense,” he mused, “Bella was never one to go out like that.”

I spoke up in her defense, “I’m glad she did and then the next day we ran into each other in the pub…”

“Another bar?” Charlie questioned giving Bella suspicious eyes.

“It’s not a bar Charlie, it’s a pub. Carol and I go there for dinner sometimes and Edward came in to eat with his father.”

Charlie shook his head, “I don’t like it, next thing you know you’ll be coming home with things hanging out of your face and tattoos all over your body.”

Jacob started choking and while Leah patted his back all I could do was sit there waiting to see what Bella was going to say. Fortunately it was at that moment Seth came back home, putting an end to the awkward situation. Sue stood giving her son a chair to sit down as she got a plate full of warm food out of the oven while Charlie went outside saying he’d be right back.

Bella reached over touching Seth’s hand, “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”

The look he gave Bella was filled with an emotion I couldn’t comprehend, “It wasn’t the yelling Bella I just feel so damn…”

“Presents!” Charlie declared coming back in the door carrying a large wrapped gift while Bella continued to stare at her brother like they shared some secret pain.

“You’re giving him presents already; the little shit doesn’t even have his diploma yet”

Charlie had the reply to Jacob’s comment ready in a form of a question to his wife, “Aren’t we having cake?”

“Yes, banana,” Sue answered with a smile as Seth hissed out, “Sweet!” and Charlie looked to Jacob as if it was a forgone conclusion. “Cake time means presents.”

Seth sat back in his chair holding his hands out with wiggling fingers, “Come on, lay them on me.”

Sue put the cake down in the middle of table setting the dessert plates next to it while Charlie told Seth to open the gift. The kitchen seemed to become a flurry of movement with everyone scattering at the same time while Leah told Seth to wait. A minute later Bella was sitting down next to me holding out an envelope, Leah was focusing a camera on her brother and Sue was dishing out pieces of cake onto the little plates.

Accepting mine with a thank you I shrewdly pushed a plate towards Bella who lifted my wrist to glance at the time. Unsure of her reasoning I was taken aback when she leaned over to kiss my cheek then whispered in my ear, “Thank you Master.”

The unexpected gesture momentarily stunned me to the point where I needed to take a deep breath before answering her as quietly as I could, “You’re welcome my pet.”

The blush on her face was deepened by Charlie clearing his throat. We hadn’t done anything wrong but still I didn’t want it to appear that we were being disrespectful. Turning my attention back to the wrapped box on the table I glanced at Charlie. He was watching Bella with a thoughtful gaze and a small smile that made me wonder what he was thinking.

Seth tore into the gift and was more than happy with a new Television and Blue Ray. Bella handed over the card she had which contained a gift card for Huelit Packer telling him that there was enough on there for a basic model. He was even happier when Jacob gave him another saying that now he could upgrade. Sue presented him with a small unwrapped box that once he opened a wave of emotion caught in both their eyes.

“Dad’s tribal ring,” Seth declared looking to his mother who nodded, “It belongs to you…” she touched his face with motherly warmth “…he would be very proud of you.”

Seth put the ring on his finger looking at it for a few seconds before hugging his mother who patted his back. It was an emotional moment shared between a mother and her son. Sue straightened up wiping a stray tear from her face but the pride remained “You better go get ready or you’ll miss graduation and have to give all this back.”

“No way” Seth turned thanking everyone for the gifts then moved to go into the bedroom looking at his hand while he went.

Everyone moved to get the kitchen cleaned up and once the table was cleared off, Sue told us to relax while she finished the dishes. Seth came back into the room holding a deep purple cap and gown. He walked by Bella who stopped him, running the material from the gown through her fingers.

“Nice color, is that…” she glanced at Leah, “…eggplant?”

“Bitch!” Leah giggled throwing a napkin at Bella who was laughing while Charlie chastised “Hey…hey...hey,” and Sue spoke with irritation, “Leah!”

“She’s making fun of me,” Leah whined while her mother didn’t seem to fall for the excuse “How is she making fun of you?”

My arm was wrapped around Bella’s shoulder with her forehead resting against the side of my chest while she laughed her ass off with Leah joining her. I had absolutely no idea what was so funny but apparently Jacob must have because he was shaking his head smirking. Feeling like I was missing the joke my attention turned to Charlie. He was watching Bella with a keen eye and a look of pure joy on his face. His eyes met mine briefly before he smiled then added a nod as if in approval.

“What’s so funny?” I wanted to know but Leah swiftly stood up glaring at Bella and huffed, “Nothing! I swear to god…if you say one word!”

Bella’s laughter was ending as she raised her to pledge, “ I won’t,” while Seth shook his head muttering, “you two are messed up,” and Jacob looked at me smirking, “welcome to my world.”

Sue shuffled Seth out the door telling everyone that we had to leave soon. Bella excused herself to change while I waited in the kitchen with everyone else. They were all talking about the plans for the next day but my attention was torn between the conversation and the longing I had to be alone with Bella.

However I had to squelch that feeling because although Charlie seemed to approve of me, I didn’t think he would appreciate me being in the room while Bella was changing. I was fairly sure that he knew we were intimate but that didn’t mean he wanted it thrown in his face.

Bella came out dressed casually in black jeans and a white silk shirt that cris-crossed against her breasts. The sight of her made my dick stir especially when she opened the door calling Seth, who came into the house soaking wet and she bent over- sticking her butt out- to admonish him.

“Oh…where have you been?”

Sue said something about putting Seth on the back porch and Jacob was talking about someone named Bessie. I should have been paying more attention to the dog; however all I could think about was us naked and what we would be doing later. The thought process was not helping the situation in my pants so I tried to focus on what was going on rather than Bella’s round bottom.

A bottom I wanted so desperately to rub, lick, and spank

Shaking my head slightly in an attempt to clear it, Bella asked if I would get Seth’s bed out of our room. Once he was safely tucked away with a bowl of food and water, we left for the graduation ceremony. Jacob had invited us to ride along with them; however it was Bella who insisted that we take my car. She didn’t even wait for me to shut my door to start talking.

“I’m really sorry about leaving you alone with my dad.”

Looking at her while starting the engine I tried to make her realize that I understood, “You had to get things settled with Leah. Besides I wasn’t alone …

Bella rolled her eyes, “I could only imagine what Paul said.”

I laughed while following Jacob off the property. “I was just worried about you, but I’m glad that you two talked.”

I waited to see if Bella would enlighten me as to what exactly happened, it took a moment and then she sighed before telling me about Leah’s concern for her. As I listened it would have been easy to become angry with her sister for thinking that I could injure Bella. Leah was placing me in the same category as an abusive husband, who was loathed and feared. However her worries are understandable and they come from nothing other than love for Bella and how could I fault anyone for that.

While we continued to drive to the other side of the reservation, Bella became emotional as she told me of Leah’s memory of having to find her battered and bruised. It was then that I realized what would have made Seth as upset as he was. The anger, resentment, and terror that Bella lived through was horrible and has irrevocably affected her life. Those same emotions would also have the identical impact on all the people who loved her. The sheer helplessness of seeing it happen, knowing the devastation that the abuse is causing yet having no recourse to stop it, must have been madding.

Charlie’s watchful eye was completely understandable; Bella was his daughter, his only child and he was a policeman who was unable to keep her safe. I could only imagine the guilt and trepidation that must have caused him, so it was completely reasonable that I would have to prove myself honorable. I was just glad that he was willing to give me the benefit of the doubt until he could attest to my trustworthiness or prove it false.

There was no way that was going to happen

The school was located in an open area that housed three different buildings. Bella pointed out that one was elementary level, one was secondary level and the building we were going into was a combined gymnasium and cafeteria for both.

Pulling up next to Jacob I got out to open Bella’s door, stealing a quick kiss in the misty rain before shutting it and heading inside. Several people came up to say hello as we walked to our seats beside Charlie. Bella introduced me to at least fifteen different people most of which were parents or grandparents of the graduating class that consisted of twelve. Personally, as an educator I didn’t understand why the school system was separated from Forks. Bella explained that because it was on an Indian reservation the school stood as its own entity. It was a like a private school that allowed for instruction in tribal customs and language along with state requirements. I surmised that it was the same as the catholic school that my parents sent us to during our primary years.

Because the class was so small each graduate was allowed time to make a small speech, thanking their families, telling what their future plans were and reminiscing. It was very personal and much different from any other ceremony I had ever attended. After each student was awarded their diploma everyone stood saying a prayer in their native language, the headmaster said something else and the caps went into the air.

Bella looked at me with a smile, “There you go; you’re one of the few HO-quaht that gets to see this.”

“Did you just call me a Ho?”

She laughed, “HO-quaht, it means white man.”

“Is she teaching you words?” Jacob asked while we stood waiting for Seth. I told him the few words that I knew, and he nodded then promised to teach me better ones. I was wondering how I could get him to tell me how to say basic commands when Emily approached us with a man, who Bella hugged then introduced to me as Sam.

Sam was large with a build that reminded me of Emmett, muscular with sharp features and eyes that seemed wise beyond his years. After shaking hands he asked what I thought of Forks so far.
I was just starting to tell him that I didn’t get to see much of the town, only the diner, when a male voice called from behind us.

“Sweet cheeks!”

At the name Bella groaned while Jacob and Leah laughed.

This person walked up to our group and I didn’t need to be introduced to know who he was - Emery Sterla. However, after both he and his wife hugged Bella I was more than happy to shake his hand, and couldn’t wait to tell Emmett. It’s not that I would call myself star-struck, however it’s not every day that you get to personally meet a star Running Back, so when you do, you definitely rub that shit in.

They were all talking about getting together for a few hours after the festivities were over. That was fine with me, everyone seemed friendly enough and welcoming. They were just finalizing the plans to meet over at Sam and Emily’s when Sue called us to have pictures taken. As we walked away Emery called out to Bella, “Oh by the way sweet cheeks, I took care of you.”

“Yeah,” the curiosity I was feeling from Bella’s excitement was over shadowed by the irritation at the name he calls her.

Why the fuck is he calling my woman sweet cheeks?

I figured it had to be an innocent reason but I still didn’t like it one bit. Emery nodded telling her he would catch up with her sometime tomorrow. Sue wanted Leah to take pictures of everyone in various groupings, even including me in a few shots. They were just finishing up when a tall, thin, young girl came over; she was tentative in her approach until Seth grabbed her by the waist pulling her in for a kiss. I thought it was safe to assume that she was Tracy.

Bella was standing in front of me leaning her upper body against my chest. My arm snaked around her waist holding her to me while we talked to Jacob as Leah took the last few pictures of Seth and his girl. When she was done, Leah came over joining our conversation about the absence of Jacob’s father from the ceremony. I knew that Bella held him in high regard and was looking forward to meeting him.

Leah stood by her husband rolling her eyes, “At least the toe-Tah has her clothes on.”

“Don’t call her that, she’s just a young girl,” Bella chided and then asked under her breath, “was she completely naked?”

Leah leaned closer turning her head towards Bella so she wouldn’t be overheard, “Let’s just say that apparently our little brother is rather good at using his tongue to click the mouse.”

Bella gasped, “No?” then giggled, “that’s what you walked in on?” she questioned in surprise while I couldn’t help but look to Jacob for conformation, who was nodding as Bella added, “Oh she must have been mortified!”

“She was mortified? How about me?” Leah questioned in a hush tone before explaining, “That is not a mental picture I want to have embedded into my brain for the rest of my life,” while Jacob added, “I have to admit it was worse than walking in on you two.”

That admission made me chuckle as I remembered their faces when they burst into Bella’s house to find us on the floor. Glancing down at Bella I could see the blush forming on her and I couldn’t help but kiss her cheek before speaking against her ear, “At least my tongue wasn’t clicking your mouse.”

“Pity,” she murmured making me wonder, “Are you complaining?”

Her face turned towards me as she spoke against my lips, “Never,” before giving me a chaste kiss.

Straightening up, my vision went right to Charlie, he had a grin on his face but he wasn’t looking at me, his gaze was on Bella. He must have felt my stare because he glanced at me quickly then looked back to his wife, who was talking with an older woman.

Seth came over to tell us that he was going to a party and wouldn’t be home until late, we said our good-byes before walking out to the car. On the drive back to the house Bella was pointing out some of the houses where the people I met lived. It was a small reservation, only one mile square making me understand the closeness of the community. It also disconcerted me that so many people seemed to care about her welfare yet she was left out for the wolves and I wondered, as I often did, how that happened.

In my own mind the ideas that I had about abused women didn’t fit with her upbringing. How could someone who was so full of life and surrounded by obvious love fall prey to someone so devious? In the half day that I had been there no one had spoken of her ex-husband. He had been alluded to and through those little tidbits I got the feeling that he was unwelcome. But had it always been like that, and if it was, how did he get past all the safety nets that seemed to surround her? It just didn’t appear to fit what I was seeing making me wonder what pieces to the puzzle I was missing.

When we got back to the house Bella checked on Seth and since he was dry he was allowed back into the main area. I went into the bedroom to get a sweatshirt and just as I pulled it over my head Bella joined me, closing the door behind her. She stood rigid against the closed door biting into her bottom lip with her eyes focused to the floor. Although I wasn’t expecting it, I certainly recognized the stance.

My pet had come home for supper

“Isabella,” her eyes met mine as I signaled for her to come to me. Knowing that the walls were thin I kept my voice down while speaking, “tell me what’s on your mind.”

“Master, I,” raising one eyebrow I waited for her to correct herself, “this girl didn’t mean to make arrangements without asking your opinion first. If you would rather not go…”

“Did I do something to indicate that I didn’t?” wanting clarification why she would think that.

“No Sir, but your girl didn’t know if she usurped any of your plans.”

The sound of voices from in the hallway caused me to hold her chin to make sure that I had her full attention while I spoke firmly but in a quiet tone, “The only concrete plans I had for the weekend was to meet as many people who care about you as I can. So far, I have not been disappointed.”

I had thought that would ease her mind some, but not my Bella. Something flashed in her face that looked like …grief. I couldn’t begin to conceive what she was thinking and didn’t have the time to figure it out so I demanded.

“What?” when an answer wasn’t forthcoming I had no alternative but to issue a warning, “You have one minute to tell me what you are thinking or we will stay here and you won’t like the consequence of usurping my plans.”

“It’s just,” Bella stopped making me raise my eyes in irritation, and she sighed.

She fucking sighed

My jaw clenched while I let go of her chin as she started talking again, “you said that this girl was going to have tasks.”

“Yes, and she will.”

Bella’s eyes narrowed in confusion, “But you just said that you had no plans.”

“That is not what I said…” the words were harsher then I wanted them to be, “…my words were I have no concrete plans. This weekend is going to be tricky Isabella and believe me if I thought for one minute that it would be in your best interest, our usual would not be taking place at all.”

Watching Bella’s reaction to that statement I thought about what she said concerning the tasks, coming to the only concussion I could, “You want to know what the tasks entail.”

“Yes Sir,” she sounded hopeful, but I had already told her when she would be getting my instructions, then a thought occurred to me.

“Do you need to know because it is essential, or do you want to know simply out of curiosity?”

That was an important question, even though I already knew the answer. She was relaxed, focused, and jovial, without an air of tension in her body. Bella didn’t need to know to give her something solid to fall back on. Bella only wanted to know because she was impulsive. When again I didn’t get an immediate answer, my instincts lead me to forfeit her reply for mine.

“Patience…now hurry, your family and friends are waiting.” Not giving Bella a chance to reply I left the room.

Leah was putting things into a bag to take along. Bella came out a minute later with a sweat shirt on and her hair in a ponytail. Jacob handed me a flashlight off the top of the refrigerator and I took the bottle of wine Bella had put on the table and we left.

Sam and Emily lived two houses down with clear trails through the woods that separated the properties. Their home was still small like a cabin but much more modern, with large plate glass windows and a refurbished kitchen that contained stainless steel appliances and black granite counter tops. The kitchen smelled of olive oil and garlic and even though I wasn’t hungry my mouth watered.

A few minutes after we got there another couple arrived, Bella hugged them both before introducing me to Quil and his fiancée Claire. The last two people to arrive were Paul and his wife Rachel who Jacob introduced to me since Bella was helping the women in the kitchen. Sam handed me a beer while Quil asked how graduation went.

Jacob shrugged, “Little shit graduated.”

“How many?” I knew what Quil meant but Sam answered, “twelve,” while Paul took a drink of his beer then said thoughtfully, “I think we had the biggest class, twenty-one?”

“You all graduated together?” I asked just trying to make conversation.

“Most of us,” Paul answered, “Sam is a few years older and Jake was a year behind, but everyone else. Quil, Claire, the twins, Emery, Jared, Leah, even Bella graduated that year, of course, she went to Forks,” he said it like that was a bad thing then added, “She only pretended to be one of us cool kids,” he chuckled then glanced behind him at the women in the kitchen who were mixing something in the blender.

“Leah and Bella made up,” Paul surmised.

“Don’t they always?” Jacob answered tipping back the bottle as Sam commented, “Emily said they had a nasty disagreement.”

“What were they arguing about now?” it was the first words Quil had spoken. Neither Jacob nor I answered, but Paul couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“I didn’t hear the whole thing and Jake made me leave just as it was getting good. But it all started with Seth fucking Tracy on the couch.”

Jacob groaned while I glared at him, “Would you shut up! I still owe you for that crap you pulled with Charlie.” Paul laughed while Quil and Sam wondered what I was talking about. I listened while he told the story laughing at the appropriate parts, because looking back on the situation it was funny.

When he was done Paul smirked at me, “How did that work out for you?”

Asshole

I told them the ending of the story and by the time that was done the woman had all the food out and had joined us. We sat around laughing and talking while they were all telling stories about when they were younger. I learned that Leah use to coax Bella to sneak out at night through their bedroom window and one night while the boys were skinny dipping the girls took their clothes making them walk naked through the woods. That was in retaliation for scaring the girls when they were having a sleepover. It was all good clean childish play that sounded perfectly normal to me.

“Oh my word, remember when we got lost in that cave?” Quil brought up and it would have seemed like just another story to me except that Bella stiffened at my side. I tried to ignore it but as the story went on she became more rigid.

“That was not funny,” Leah inserted.

“It was fucking hilarious,” Paul chuckled while he talked.

“Dude, the funniest thing about that,” Quil spoke up, “was you crying like a bitch on Bella’s lap.”

“I was not crying,” the defensiveness of his tone told me he was lying.

“Bells was he crying?” she didn’t answer Jacob at first and my arm that was around her shoulder squeezed her tighter to me finally after taking a deep breath Bella nodded. “Yeah, remember you were drawing squiggly lines on my jeans with that black marker.” As she spoke her fingers moved along her thighs in demonstration.

“I might have been drawing but not cry…”

Bella suddenly looked up, “Yes, you were crying…” she was adamant about that fact as she stood quickly, “excuse me, I need a new drink.”

They all sat there bickering back and forth and my eyes followed Bella when I looked around the table Leah was watching her too. Excusing myself I made my way over to her running my hand down the length of her ponytail.

“Everything alright?” Bella nodded her head but wouldn’t turn to look at me. Wrapping my arms around her waist we stood with her back against my chest, “What’s the matter baby?”

I watched her in the reflection of the glass the blackened night making a perfect background to reproduce our images in the window. Her head was tilted down but I could see her nose crinkle as the tears fell over her cheeks. Using the back of my hand I gently wiped them away as her head moved to rest against my jaw while her hands gripped my other wrist holding on tightly.

“What happened?” Bella wasn’t in an all out crying fit but it was clear there was pain there that needed to come out. It took her a few moments while she seemed to run her nose along my skin taking in deep shuddering breaths before she could speak.

“It wasn’t a good night…I tried but I couldn’t get the marker off my leg…James hated…he hated when I came here…he never wanted me to come here.” She let out a humorless laugh as the words came out among the tears, “I was so stupid…I told him the truth, about the cave…Paul…the...marker.”

“Shhhh…” I wiped her face again while trying to ease her pain. “He didn’t want you here, because this is your support. These are the people who loved you and would have tried to keep you from him.”

Bella’s head nodded in agreement of my assessment. I still didn’t understand why she never told anyone, especially in the beginning or why they never saw any signs of what was happening. But hind sight is twenty-twenty and who’s to say I would have been any different than them. They were all just kids.

“Do I even want to know what he did to you?” I didn’t mean to speak the words out loud and I really didn’t want to hear her answer. “That was the first night … he beat me with the belt.”

Wiping her face one more time while our bodies swayed lightly I felt helpless because all I could do to ease her pain was clutch her to me. “Do you want to go back over to the house?”

“No…can you just hold me a minute?” the pressure on my wrist increased as she gripped tighter while I kissed the top of her head.

“That I can do.”

I couldn’t take the pain of the memories away or ease any of her past sufferings. While we stood there twenty feet away from all her friends it dawn on me why no one intervened. Rather than speak out she choose to separate herself from them, to be alone and suffer in silence. Whether that was from quilt, shame or stubbornness made no difference to me. I loved her more then I could ever imagine and if all Bella needed was for me to hold her. That’s what I will do.