Disclaimer: This is no disclaimer.

Let Us Sport While We May

The guy in the mirror stared back at me like a castaway. Two days in bedded bliss, with the exception of showers and sustenance, had left him looking rough. I ran a hand across my scruffy jaw and grinned at the memory of Bella rubbing her cheek on it like a cat scratching an itch. She admitted to loving the bristly feel of it on her skin. To which I responded that girls are weird, but if she wanted me to grow a beard like Grizzly Adams, all she had to do was say the word.

It was Spring Break and while the rest of town had emptied out, Bella and I stayed in, playing house. We turned off our phones and ignored the rest of the world. She meant it when she said we had a lot of practicing to do. We practiced everywhere in the house, on all the furniture. Against the walls. Sometimes twice.

Bella was a born teacher – patient, funny, and devoted to the cause, so much so, that my lover had passed out after a rigorous session that couldn't be helped. (Naked spooning, I would discover, was just a sleepy prequel to rigorous middle-of-the-night sex.) It was a boost to my ego, not because she had declared me a natural, though I did strive to be a straight-A student, but because our lustful exercises challenged her stamina.

It was late morning when my growling stomach forced me out of our nest, and after a relieving leak, I headed downstairs for a snack.

There was nothing but vegetables and Tupperware filled with who-knows-what. I sniffed a dubious looking stew and decided not to test my luck. Resigned to make a grocery run, I climbed the stairs to change. That's when I heard a car pull into the driveway. Bacon ran excitedly to the door, readying a growl.

"Stand down, boy. This one's a friend."

I opened the door to find Emmett placing a box on the porch swing. He reached in, plucked out an apple, and shined it on his shirt.

"Gentleman Ed!" he greeted when he turned around, surprised, but no less pleased to see me. He pointed the apple accusingly. "You're a hard man to find," he chided before taking a bite.

Crossing my arms, I leaned against the doorway like we had planned this rendezvous a long time ago and watched him regard my rumpled state openly – unshaven, bare-chested, and glowing with the pride of a caveman long returned from a successful hunt. You would think I had a wooly mammoth at my feet and a woman thrown over my shoulder.

I shrugged then grinned.

He whistled. "Well, well, well," he started slowly, putting the fruit down on the rail. "Welcome to the club?"

A nod.

"Welcome to the club!" he boomed, before startling me with a hug that pulled me inches off the floor.

"Damn, it's like it happened to me. How was it? Did you last? Is she here?" Emmett craned his neck as if Bella was hidden behind me.

I motioned for him to lower his voice and pointed to the window directly above us. "She's asleep."

His eyebrows rose in understanding. "Then it's a good thing I brought replenishments." He handed me the box overflowing with enough munchies to feed a teenage smoke circle. Gatorade, frozen dinners, chips, cakes, and crackers.

"The champagne and strawberries, all that frilly stuff, that wasn't me."

"This is incredible. How did you know?"

He crossed his arms in momentary silence.

"What?" I said, ripping into a box of Pop Tarts.

"It's just," he wiped his eyes of absent tears. "You're all grown up now."

He stumbled on his heel after I landed a solid punch to his shoulder. It was good to see him. I hadn't realized it until he had shown up and I let him know it.

We sat on the porch steps enjoying the warmth of the day, eating and catching up. "Seriously," I said. "How'd you know to bring food? How'd you find me?"

"The way you were going on about your snowflake the other night, I figured there was only one place you'd be. After two days of radio silence, it was time to send in the cavalry."

"You have a hell of a radar for this shit, Em. It's a gift."

"I'm here to serve. Truth is, I would've left you two alone, but Rose insisted. That woman's stubborn as all get out."

At the mention of her, my guilt-level spiked to a new peak. "I'm an ass."

Emmett waved it off. "Don't worry about it. She told me to tell you, you get a pass since you're getting your cherry popped. I'm showing her a good time. Not like that, so get your head out of the gutter for five minutes."

He went on to describe her failed attempts at casting a line into Lake Jackson. From the sound of it, Emmett's efforts to introduce her to the outdoors just ran her back indoors. "She kicks my ass at Scrabble, though. She's also saying she won the bet. She wants you to call it."

"Rose won the bet."

"She'll gloat."

"That she will. Where's she now?"

"Back at the apartment. She's claimed your room, by the way."

"Glad she's made herself at home. Listen, I know I'm a jackass for leaving you to entertain her, but I have a feeling I'm not missed. Am I right? You and Rose?"

I couldn't come out with the rest of it. I had come to terms that there was inevitability about those two, and I was glad for them, but it was like family talking about family.

"You're not going to kill me if I tell you?"

"Jesus, Em. No, but don't make me regret it."

"I'm not interested in getting in her pants."

My jaw dropped. He looked, talked, and walked like Emmett.

He stared straight ahead like he had to get something off his chest. "I know it's hard to believe, but she's more of a friend. We don't have a whole lot in common, but I get her." He shook his head. "Never thought I'd ever meet a girl who's out of my league." He chuckled, finally meeting my eyes, not hiding his respect. "This wait-it-out business. Shit's hard, man. You must be rubbing off on me."

I was speechless. There it was, a shift. I had seen Emmett through the zenith of his skirt-chasing days, accumulating enough stories to fill a book, but the rake who had once dodged a bullet for a quickie with a trailer park cougar now sat beside me like a worn-out Casanova.

Here I was partaking in all sorts of carnal pleasures while my buddy abstained. He'd slowed down to my level just as I was catching up to his.

"How long have you felt this way?"

"I don't know. Since I saw her picture, I guess." He turned sullen. "I have to go back home after graduation. Big Poppa's drinking again, running the family business into the ground, and momma needs me. Anyway, Rose has got her own shit to deal with in New York. I don't have any good options here."

I empathized. A long distance relationship had built-in complications, and while I offered reassurances, I was keenly aware that Bella and I were hostages to a countdown of our own. She would be travelling for research soon, leaving us to deal with the same question of time and distance.

We dropped the subject. It was too depressing for a sunny day, he said. Emmett relayed messages from people I'd been ignoring. Aro and Caius had come by Riley's asking where the hell I was. I was signed on with the Volturi brothers to train and promote me, but no matches had been staged yet. My training regimen had begun and not a week in, I was shirking my duties. I would pay for it once vacation was over, but until then, I didn't want to think about it.

With promises to call them when I came up for air, I sent Emmett on his way.

Bacon's muzzle was in the box of goods in search of a snack. I opened a package of jerky and fed it to him. Poor dog had been neglected, except when it came time to fill his bowl. I sat and rubbed his belly in apology, promising to return his mistress just as soon as the week was over. Back in the kitchen, I put away our bounty and prepared a tray of milk and cookies for my girl.

I woke to a dark room. It was early evening and the curtains billowed before a steel-colored sky. Bella's side of the bed was empty. I got up, vaguely remembering curling around her as she slept. The saucer was empty of cookies, and there was no milk in the glass.

Where did you go?

Downstairs all was dark but for the light in the kitchen. I had a flashback to the first time I lurked in her bushes, except presently, she was wearing the Madagascar robe while rummaging in the refrigerator.

Her ass swayed to music playing out of an old CD player that sat on the windowsill. She had my attention. "What are you doing?"

Bella whipped around and assessed me. "This is a shirt and shoes establishment, Mr. Cullen," she admonished with no bite. This coming from a woman who had less modesty than an African bush queen inside the pages of a National Geographic magazine. After allowing me unrestricted access to her fleshly delights, there was little I hadn't seen of her, and she of me.

I backed her into the counter and unbuttoned my jeans. "I'll just take these off and go back upstairs for my shirt and shoes."

"You're evil. You wouldn't."

I tilted my head. "Be happy I'm wearing pants."

"Oh?"

"I have a thing for the proprietress."

"You charmer, you."

I ran a finger along the crease of her robe and nudged it open. Her wicked little smirk was all the invitation I needed.

Despite our hunger, we couldn't stop groping and grinding in that kitchen, kissing until the world fell to tatters. She did this thing where she dragged her blunt nails all over me, a discovery she took advantage of as it had the power to drive me wild. I was ready to bend her over the counter in a repeat performance but a horrible noise intruded in on the action.

"What are we listening to?"

"You've heard this." She hummed the tune. I shook my head, wishing she wouldn't. She sang it. "'I was beat, incomplete. I'd been had, I was sad and blue. But you made me feel, yeah, you made me feel shiny and new.'"

"What the hell? 'Like A Virgin'?"

"Too soon?" she snorted.

"You think you're funny, but there goes your boner," I muttered, turning away.

"It's the music of my era. This is what happens when you date an old lady."

"Three things. One, you're not old; two, good music is timeless; three, we can always fix your taste in bad music." I ejected the disc. 80s Dance Mix. Well, nobody's perfect.

"Oh, don't pout." She tugged on my jeans. "I promise to make it up to you."

"I'm listening."

She revealed a chicken potpie from the oven, showcasing it like Vanna White. I didn't know whether to be disappointed or impressed for failing to notice its aroma. (Adding to my discovery of sex was the fact that it made one deaf and dumb to the rest of the world.) My mouth watered.

"You baked that? How long was I out?"

"All afternoon. Thank you for the cookies, by the way. Now I know how Santa feels."

Bella rifled through the mountain of packaged goods and brandished a Twinkie. "I see your connections have kept us from dying of starvation. Geez, this is all bunker food. Don't take this the wrong way, but has your friend never heard of a vegetable?"

"You heard us?"

She grinned like one in possession of a secret. "He doesn't seem the type to practice his inside voice."

She gestured for me to sit and placed a plate with a hefty portion of potpie on the table. A glass of purple Gatorade followed. "Electrolytes," she said, reading the label on the bottle. "All it is, is sugar and salt, but I can't deny a strange addiction to the stuff. When I was in Africa, drinking water was scarce. We lived off of this."

"It doesn't bother you?"

"What?"

"Emmett was here, he knows."

"Oh," she said, as if it never occurred to her. "I guess it can't be helped that your friends know, now can it? I'm not naïve, but I do expect us to be discreet. You're still a student, and I'm not on good terms with my hosts. Perhaps we don't acknowledge it on campus, yes?"

"I can live with that," I lied.

She sat on my lap and lifted a forkful of pie to my lips. "Besides…open up. Good boy. It lends an air of the forbidden."

"And they say to watch out for the quiet ones."

"We have the most fun."

I shoved the plate away. "I'm tired of talking."

"Aren't you hungry?"

"I don't know if I'll ever get enough of you." As if in agreement, my hips pushed up of their own accord.

She pulled away sheepishly. "I'm sore."

"Where? Let me see." I made her stand. She stayed my hand on her Mound of Venus before I could play doctor. "I'm sore down here," she pressed, bemused.

It dawned on me slower than molasses, but when it did, "Damn, B. It's my fault?"

She hugged me. "It's no big deal. I want to, trust me. As a matter of fact, I've never felt this sex-crazed in my life," she said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "But I should probably wait it out."

I adjusted my inconsiderate cock in a futile effort. "I've been living with this condition for years, lady. Don't go doing me any favors," I jested, covering up for my lack of knowledge again.

She leaned in as if she did not want Bacon to overhear. The dog had been watching us all the while. "You know, my mouth can do just as well."

"You don't have to," I stammered stupidly. I had taken to ranking my favorite positions and oral sex hovered near the top.

She caught her hair at the nape of her neck and tied it back. "You'll make it up to me," she winked. Since she insisted on reciprocation, I moaned at the thought of tasting her again.

"Oh, fuck." I held on to the chair for dear life as she disappeared under the belt line. When her lips made contact, I sucked in a breath. A rush of blood drained from the top of my head to my stick.

Goddamn, the things we were doing. Everything we did was erotic and hot, compounded by our isolation, her experience, and our unchecked libidos.

No porn, no books, no advice could prepare me for the real thing. And my imagination, my best asset, it, too, had failed me. And for once, I was grateful.

Eventually, cabin fever set in, and the following day we packed a lunch. We hiked to Bessie's tree, aptly named after the banana spider she introduced me to, though the original owner had already been washed away in a storm.

Bacon, happy to be the recipient of his mistress' attention once again, ran ahead in chase of creatures large and small, looping back occasionally to sniff out a treat from Bella's pockets.

We picnicked under the shady oak, eating sandwiches and the strawberries that Rose had thoughtfully packed in our box of goods. We were sated and happy, our muscles heavy under the languid afternoon.

My head was in her lap as she raked fingers across my scalp. From my cushy spot I smelled the sweetness of wet earth mixed with the laundered freshness of her black skirt.

I had brought the champagne, and Bella was on her second glass when we got to talking about her exes.

"Do you really want to know?" she asked with a note of caution.

"Sure," I responded casually, though I meant no. Fuzzy with bubbly, I had blurted the question before I could take it back.

"I've had my share of lovers, not a lot, but enough to know what I wanted. They didn't last long."

"Did you love them?"

She shifted under me, and leaned back, propped up on her hands. I missed her touch immediately, afraid I'd crossed a line, and as if she could sense it, she played with my ear absentmindedly. She spoke as if recalling an old life.

I closed my eyes and listened.

"I was in love once, or so I thought. We were both biology majors at UW. I was twenty-four and working on my doctorate. He was thirty and a late starter. Mom and Dad were already dead and I couldn't stay busy enough to forget them. Anyway, he was sweet to me when I was at my loneliest. It was nice to come home to someone after the grueling hours of study. We became comfortable, really. Three years passed when we decided to move in together. Taking the next step, he said.

"What saved me from a making a huge mistake was a call to participate in a study funded by the World Health Organization. I was selected to travel with a group of scientists to observe a tribe in the Congo. It was a dream come true; I didn't even hesitate.

"The study was to last six months. When I told Jake about it, I suggested we postpone moving in together until I returned, but I underestimated his want of a wife. I was shocked when he gave me an ultimatum: him or the trip. I thought he was bluffing. Hell, I didn't even argue.

"The last time I saw Jake was when he drove me to the airport."

"Jake?"

"Jake. Paul. Embry." She met my eyes. "Men I once knew in my life."

"You named Leah's suitors after your ex-boyfriends?"

"I never said I was original."

"Your troop of male lovers."

"I didn't date them all at once, you know."

"Touché. Let's get back to Jake." I was delighted that he was out of the picture, but another part was decidedly curious as to how her ex got the boot.

"There's not much more to it. When I boarded the plane, I should have been sad, but I wasn't. I was too thrilled for guilt. What a red flag! I think we both knew that my leaving would not stand the test of time. I was at the beginning of my career, and so excited about the trip, I practically asked to break up. I wasn't ready to be anyone's wife."

She put her lips around the frown I did not realize I was wearing. "This is not the same thing," she whispered.

"What is it then?"

"I don't know," she replied, honestly.

The alcohol, the sun, her confession, it swirled and threatened to dissolve my happiness. Rationally, I expected her to have a past, but Bella not knowing what she wanted, that gave me pause. It was a stinging reminder that this could very well be temporary.

"Tell me about the Congo."

To her credit, she noted my change in subject, and with a lingering look that said we would talk about us later, she continued.

"There was a report of a newly discovered tribe, the Tutties. They lived in relative isolation until the Congolese government bumped into them. It had the anthropologists in our group in a tizzy, like they'd won the lottery. The Tutties' population was dying off at a rapid rate, and by the time we arrived, only a quarter of their initial population remained.

"Early theories attributed it to famine, but it didn't add up. They existed in a remote yet fertile stretch of land, probably the only land the Congolese government had not raped for its resources. And then there was the question of their males. They were disappearing, but why? So the organization sent us to investigate.

"After days of traveling, we arrived in Kinshasa, the capital. Nothing reminds you how well you have it when all of your daily conveniences are blown to smithereens. Cell service? Medicine? Adequate drinking water? Sure, if you remained in the clamor of the city, but our mission was due north into the jungle. Our final leg required us to traverse by a motorized canoe. When we got there, what we found was very interesting.

"Behind their huts, where the tribe planted their potato and cassava, the ground was covered in acres upon acres of gauzy spider webs. It didn't take long to for me to find him. Harry."

"Harry?"

"I found him, I named him. A spider of the Agelenopsis genus, your atypical grass spider. The problem with the Harry spider is that he's a funnel weaver, and his web looks like what cotton candy appears to you and me, which is to say, appetizing. Its webbing, you see, is a remarkable shade of pink.

"The Tutti women had taken to harvesting the web and dissolving it in hot water, a unique characteristic of this spider's silk. They made tea. They drank the tea. It had medicinal properties."

"Like what?"

She grinned. "Dysmenorrhea."

"Is that like, the shits?"

She barked out a laugh. "No! Menstrual cramps. It is an exceedingly effective reprieve from Aunt Flo."

"No kidding?"

"No kidding. One sip of this stuff and poof, it goes away for the duration of your cycle. The discovery of this would have had a huge implication in western culture. But alas."

"Alas."

"You see, as a matriarchal tribe, the Harry is valued. Honored, even. But harvesting their webs means destroying their homes, and eradicating them at astounding levels. The Harry spiders not only help women with their monthly, but they are effective as all spiders are wont to be. The Harry eats bugs and protects plants. But no Harry spider, means no crops. Indeed, famine was a consequence of this. A cruel cycle.

"It took months before we could convince the tribe to harvest with discretion. They had not realized they were grounding their ecosystem and devastating their food source. Naturally, they distrusted us.

"There I was, young, white, and ferried into their village to tell them how to change their lives. We worked on gaining their trust. With a lot of patience and coaxing we managed to relocate the spider population away from their crops, leaving only what was necessary for web cultivation and for the Harry to do his natural spider deed. We even flew in an herbalist who found an alternative method of alleviating menstrual pain.

"We planted, and vegetables grew again. It was hard work but we left knowing we did the best we could with the least amount of disruption. And as for me, well, Harry remains my greatest discovery."

"You're incredible."

"That's not what Jake thought when I returned. I developed a reputation as 'The Spider Lady', not a big deal, except you would think I had gone crazy in the jungle and become the self-proclaimed queen of spiders. What hogwash.

"News of our work travelled quickly. I became the star of the biology department, but given my age and gender, I was also an upstart."

"So that's how it started."

She nodded. "Not all of my colleagues subscribed to petty rivalries and jealousy, most were encouraging and valued my contributions. I am proud of that to this day. But a few couldn't stand for a young girl making a name for herself in a male-dominated field. It was hard for them to swallow, especially when my projects were funded over theirs."

"And Jake?"

"If I had to guess why he didn't sit at home waiting for me, it was the news that I was nearly wedded to one of the Tutties. I could have lied and made it out to be just another ridiculous story to spare him embarrassment, but I'm a terrible liar."

"There's always a catch." I regarded her, sitting there with a smile on her face. "Okay, I'll bite."

"As a thank you for my efforts, the Tutti women tried to marry me off to their best hunter. Since men were scarce, this was meant as a great honor. We had found that they were disappearing because many had left in search of food for their families. Away from the security of their tribe, they became victims of the civil war, forced to join as soldiers or worse. Few returned.

"As for the wedding, I had little choice in the matter, and neither the groom-to-be nor I were interested, but declining would have upset other aspects of the research. I had colleagues urging me to go through with it!

"The night before the wedding, my fiancé – a boy no older than sixteen – smuggled me out of the village under the cover of darkness. He gave me Peter Parkerus as a parting gift. I'll always be indebted to him. I am not welcomed back. Almost ruined the expedition, frankly."

"It's never boring with you."

"You wouldn't have it any other way."

If only she knew how right she was.

Later that day, we took a hot bath. She sat between my legs, humming while I trickled water over her wet mane. I was transfixed by the dark eel it created down her back.

I broached the subject we'd both been avoiding. "What happens now?"

"We work. We live." She turned her head and blew suds on my face. "We play."

"You know what I mean."

We had not talked about her trip, no plans had been made yet, but it was coming. While I had begun my courtship with the surety of a lion after his prey, suddenly I had real pangs of doubt. I felt no more fortunate than the luckless-in-love Emmett.

"When you go, how long will it be for?"

"Months, I don't know how many. I have to set up the study."

She leaned into me, resignedly. Her words were measured and emotionless. I knew what she was going to say before she said it.

"You should use the time to…to explore your options. You're too good to be wrapped up with me."

"How can you say that after the last few days?"

"I can't expect you to wait. You're young, impressionable. You'll change your mind."

"If I could will myself to be older and more mature for you, I would. But I'm not the kid you think I am. I swear, Bella, if we weren't in this tub, I'd shake you."

I jiggled her around in the slippery tub, causing her to giggle more than anything, but the playfulness was short-lived.

She pulled forward as if to collect her thoughts.

"Aren't you happy?" I asked.

"Very much. I've never met anyone like you."

"But?"

"There's more to this than you say." Leave it up to Bella to cut right to the heart of the matter.

"Listen – "

"No, let me get this out before I lose the nerve. I like you, a lot. More than I care to admit. It's not just the sex, although, it is incredible. You make me lose all reason when we're together. But I don't know what I'm doing. I just don't know if I'm capable of…you know."

"The four letter word," I said.

"Oh, you know."

"Let me help. It begins with an 'L'"

"Love. Love! I'm not afraid to say it," she insisted with false bravado. "See? Love, love, love. La-la-la."

"Music to my ears."

"Don't be a dunce."

"Don't be a killjoy."

I could feel her rolling her eyes, but I knew better than to lay all my cards on the table.

"You're putting the cart before the horse. What are you worried about, that I'll disappoint like your ex-boyfriends?"

Her silence told me this was so.

I rested my forehead in the middle of her back, because loving her was exhausting. One minute we were two peas in a pod, and the next she was trying to push me away. She was incapable of making it easy.

I caged her soft body in my arms, and contrary to her words, she gave me no resistance.

I kissed her temple feeling brave like I always did when she let me hold her. "I appreciate you trying to protect me, but I don't think this is about me hooking up with other girls."

She bent her knees, and my hand took it as an invitation to trail down her creamy thighs.

"Are you afraid of falling in love with me, Bella? Maybe I could make you so happy, you won't know which way is up."

"You're terribly cocky."

I laughed, poking her from behind.

"Strike that horrible pun from the record." She gasped when my fingers played in her fur. "This isn't just about sex, Edward."

"I know. But we can talk about it all you want. We can define it, or we can wait and see what happens. Do you trust me?"

Immersed in the pleasure taken from my ministrations, she turned her face toward mine, her eyes pleading with me for what? Understanding? Patience? Release?

I wished I had the right answers, that I could see into the future. But I couldn't.

I asked her again. "Do you trust me?"

She nodded in spite of herself. Water sloshed over the side of the tub.

"No more talk about me being with anyone else. Just be in the moment, that's all I ask. I don't care how long it takes for you to come around. I'll wait. You're worth it, B."

I kissed her and gripped her as she shuddered from her shoulders, before she could slide under a blanket of suds.

That night we made love with the windows open, the air smelling vaguely of thunder.

When I rocked inside her it wasn't with the moves she had taught me, so much as my own visceral need to show her love even if she wasn't ready to accept it. And near the end, when she put her hand on my face and pulled me in for a wild kiss fraught with teeth and tongue, I drove us home until we had forgotten our names, and she went limp inside the circle of my arms.

Once her breathing had evened out, and she was in the land of dreams, I kissed the one hand reaching out to me as she lay on her side, and placed it over my heart.

I couldn't sleep. Our uninterrupted bliss had come to an end. Tomorrow we returned to the real world, and I was anxious about what awaited us outside our bubble.

How much time did we have? How did two people hold on while being apart? For all her softness, I knew that Bella would fare better alone than I would. She had managed on her own before, that was the point of her story. Nothing, no one, could make her reach the level of ecstasy that was her work.

I had no intention of holding her back like Jake. All I could hope for was to be a constant in her life until she had to leave and then take things from there.

Time, as always, was my nemesis.

I drifted off to sleep with last thoughts of the Appalachian Trail. I remembered the time when Emmett and I had reached a crevasse as wide as a door. It plunged fifty feet below into a river that cut through the valley.

Some people attempted the jump, and others opted for the detour.

A running start and a decent leap would get an adult to the other side. It was easy enough to clear if you didn't think too long about it, if you did it before the fear paralyzed you.

I told myself that what Bella felt for me was similar to standing on that ledge, not knowing if it was safe, if the leap would seep the courage right out of her as the fall came into view.

A/N:

WriteOnTime, Faireyfan, and NotSoImmortal are so fantastic, it's cray. They make me smile hard.

So how about a review? I'm not ashamed to ask. I ain't stuck up, it's the only form of reciprocation as reader and writer that we'll have, so tell me what worked for you or what didn't. Or just say hi. It's always good to hear from you. Cheers and thanks for reading!