Blank Canvas

By Everleigh Allen

Beta'd by: Pixie Kat, all other mistakes are mine.
Summary: Bella's an actress who does what she's told until her mother/ agent books her for a body painting shoot. Edward is an artist who has lost his muse. Will he find it with the young starlet, especially when her life is about to unfold before them?

Disclaimer: The author does not own any publicly recognizable characters herein. No copyright infringement is intended.

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Isabella Swan stood on the plush red carpet in the frigid night air trying not to shudder as she smiled at the flashing lights of what seemed like a million cameras.

This was the part she loathed the most. Standing there alone trying to not commit a wayward blink or sniffle so there wouldn't be any untoward pictures published ridiculing her. It was bad enough trying to not react to the paparazzi and their intrusive questions and comments.

"Time to move, sis," A gruff voice said next to her. Isabella gave a curt nod to her bodyguard, Emmett, as she opted for slight smirk with her chin down and eyes wide open. She was careful to move her jaw forward slightly to ensure there wouldn't be any threat of a double chin.

She followed Emmett ten feet down the carpet to stand and pose for the next set of photographers as they tried to coax her to move. She ignored their pleas for information about who made her dress, her shoes, her jewelry; they already knew anyway and they didn't truly care.

"Almost to the finish line," he smirked. "Just imagine me in a plaid speedo."

Isabella smiled widely, trying not to laugh or imagine Emmett in any sort of hairy nakedness. "Gross."

"Lumberjack is in, sweets," he chuckled as he led her ten more feet down the carpet.

"Thank you for this, Emmett, for coming to my rescue yet again. I wouldn't have wanted to brave this all on my own."

"We need to get you a man to take my place," He chuckled, "Someone with a giant 'fuck you, world' and 'don't fuck with her or else,' attitude. That's what attracted my Rosalie to me."

Isabella laughed toward the cameras, eyes shining. She turned to move away from the carpet and closer to the doors of the massive theater. "You got Rose through brute strength and determination. I know the whole story."

She did.

Emmett had been working as a federal agent when he'd come across the sound of quiet sobs and pleas from down a long, dark alleyway on his way home. Drawing his gun and moving against the wall, he was easily hidden as he called for backup. He then carefully stepped closer to evaluate the situation.

He was outnumbered, four to one, but so was she. She was already showing signs of their abuse and lay in a puddle of her own blood as they decided what to do with her battered and body.

But when her eyes met his, pleading yet horrified of another potential threat, he pulled his jacket slightly out of the way to show her his badge, put his finger to his lips, and then motioned for her to close her eyes to play dead.

She complied, but peeked to see her savior in action.

The tales of what happened that night differ depending on who was asked, but they all ended the same. Four drunkenly stupid men died that night after picking a fight with police.

Since that night Emmett was the only man Rosalie let in; the only one she trusted.

When Rosalie went back home to her roommate and cousin, Isabella Swan, she couldn't get through the night without fits of nightmares and it was affecting both of their acting careers. There needed to be an intervention; someone to take the reins, so to speak, and help Isabella help her cousin.

She couldn't keep going the way she was, and she was seriously close to gaining the worst kind of media attention.

Isabella had called Emmett and he came right over. He was able to eventually calm Rosalie down, and kept watch over her.

He convinced her to go into therapy and even went with her on occasion.

As tragic as their beginning was, they'd been together ever since and the public was none the wiser. They were strong as ever and Isabella couldn't help but be happy for them, if not a bit jealous.

The story was quickly silenced and anyone who had any inkling that the starlet had any incident was further muted.

Sometimes government intervention was a good thing.

A year later, Emmett had quit his job and opened up a personal security agency, but he only worked occasionally as security for Rose and Isabella when they needed him. The other petty celebrity babysitting jobs went to the guys he employed.

"Drink?" Emmett asked, instantly going into guard mode. His eyes raked over the crowd as he assessed any potential threats. To him, Isabella was more than a job; she was like his little sister.

"Yes, please," she grinned, "something strong to take the edge off… but sweet."

"I'll take us to our seats and then I'll wander around while you schmooze, take my time sweet talking to Rosalie over the phone, and listening to my baby babble for a bit before I make my way back around."

"You're so lucky," Isabella sighed. She wanted that someday. The husband and the kids, but at her age and the maturity level of the guy's her age it the odds weren't good.

Other than on screen, she didn't have anything to do with the men that wished to woo her. They treated her like she was a shiny new toy, something to own, to conquer, to brag about.

"That I am," he agreed with a grin as he walked away.

Isabella's thoughts instantly went to her real father. He was a simple man whose life ambition was to live within walking distance to his favorite fishing spot.

He was always working during Isabella's childhood so she had no choice but to live with her mother and step-father. She felt detached from her parents, like she just merely existed, but nothing more.

When her father retired from his job as the Chief of Police of the small town of Forks, Washington, he opted to be there for his daughter.

Not Isabella, but his other daughter, Leah.

The one he had with his new wife, Sue.

Having a life in Hollywood, thanks to her mother, she didn't really even have a chance to want to go back to Charlie if she wanted to anyway, so Isabella couldn't be too bitter. She visited and played with her half-sister when she could but Renee had pushed her relentlessly from one audition to the next. Bella followed a never-ending stream of acting lessons, singing lessons, voice lessons, music lessons, and so on and so on.

When her mother, Renee, married a movie producer, everyone was vying for Isabella to appear in their films as the next new child star and Renee couldn't be happier.

She either didn't notice or didn't care that her daughter wasn't happy off screen.

"Isabella," The sing song voice tittered through the crowds. "Fancy seeing you here! I thought you hated these things!" Jessica Stanley smirked as she waited for Isabella to rise from her chair for a hug.

"I do. We're always working it seems, in one way or another." Isabella chided as she moved out of Jessica's embrace and took in the girl before her.

"Don't sound too bitter," Jessica chided with hiss and laughed.

They were the same age, but Jessica's ample breasts were almost obscene in the dress she wore. It was made completely of black lace with only small skin colored pasties to shield her nipples from the public view.

"You have to be freezing," Isabella shuddered. She was cold just looking at her.

Jessica cackled as if it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "You are so funny, Isa! How can I be cold with all this excitement?"

"But your dress-"

"Oh, yes! Isn't it amazing?" Jessica took a moment to twist, posing for her friend. "Mikel made it just for me!"

Isabella refrained from rolling her eyes, knowing full well that Mikel aka "The gift from God" or so he claimed, was actually Mike Newton from Austin, Texas. He adopted a new, over the top accent and latched on to any star or starlet he could dig his nails into, hence Jessica Stanley.

"Of course," Isabella smiled before Jessica moved down the row. Sitting down awkwardly, Isabella refused to look around her. She didn't want to have to trade niceties with those who didn't really matter to her or vice versa.

This whole world didn't really matter to her.

"Here's your drink, sis." Emmett shuffled passed and sat down next to her.

Isabella thanked Emmett and smiled at the nickname. It was actually one she liked compared to all the ways people broke down her name.

She also preferred Bella, but Renee snubbed that quickly.

Renee snubbed everything she liked.

"You're really inside that head of yours, lately." He said, giving her the side eye as he leaned in closer to get a better look at her. "Is it the art thing?"

"What art thing?" Isabella turned toward Emmett, in confusion.

"I just got the alert today," he frowned before opening his jacket and removing his phone from the inside pocket. People were starting to fill in the seats and he knew this was the part Isabella hated the most. The networking and awards shows.

She liked to act and become a different person.

Any person.

"Right here," Emmett pointed at the screen and made the wording bigger so she could read it. "It says that you're to be in Seattle for a photo-shoot with some up and coming artist guy. Renee set it all up. I figured you knew and got the same info."

Isabella took her phone out of her clutch but she didn't have any emails or texts from her mother. She frowned as she pulled up her schedule. All there was the blocking of days that said, 'Seattle.'

"I'm sure it's coming," Emmett tried to smile through his frown, knowing full well that Renee did this kind of thing to Bella all the time. He assumed more, but kept quiet.

"What kind of shoot?"

"It doesn't say," Emmett shrugged as he sent a quick text to his wife, "but I'm sure you'll find out when you get there!"

"You aren't going?" Isabella couldn't hold in the gasp of shock, trying not to allow the enormity of being alone with the paps and screaming fans to send her into a tailspin.

"Nope, I can't. But I was told that you're going incognito and no one knows about the trip other than those who are in our small circle. The artist, Edward Cullen, his sister, and the photographer on their side are all who knows of the trip."

"I can't- I can't-"

"Calm down," He gave her a harsh look, before his eyes roamed around them. She couldn't flip out given their present company. Isabella got the hint, but still remained tense. "Just think of it as a few days of vacation from Renee… maybe you can go visit your sister and Dad too?"

"Yeah, okay." But even as the words left her lips she knew she was merely trying to appease him. She feared that things would be far from okay.

…

"I know you're in there," the tinkling voice called through the room as soon as she slid open the loft's huge, thick, barn wood door. Edward had bought it on a whim claiming that it spoke to him, but to Alice it just smelled of rotting wood and paint thinner.

The whole place did.

"As if I could get away from you," he chided back to her sarcastically. He rubbed his hand over the scruff on his chin as he stared at the bleached canvas in front of him. Nothing had come to him in a while as he stared, but it would, eventually.

He hoped.

"Ha. Ha." She sighed, putting the Italian food on the table- if you could call it a table. It was a large slab of a huge tree's trunk with a rock hard coat of shellac to preserve it indefinitely.

Edward had stained and shellacked it himself the afternoon of his opening night at the Seattle Arts Center, much to Alice's horror. He'd then gone to the gallery reeking of the resin and inadvertently caused many potential buyers to leave early to escape the fumes he radiated.

They lost thousands of dollars instantly and many buyers never came back, not that Edward cared.

"I brought you a calzone, just as you asked." Alice opened up the box allowing the smell to sift through the thick aromas of thinner and oil paints. "But I will not continue to enable this hermit behavior! It's been months, Edward."

Edward winced, looking away from the canvas quickly as if the memory of Tanya would somehow stain it.

"And I know just what you need as always baby brother!" Alice snickered as Edward's eyes instantly found hers.

"What did you do?" He seethed, eyes narrowed as he clutched the paintbrush in his hand tightly.

"I got you a muse," She said simply and laughed as if something was funny.

"A muse?"

"Yes. Something- or rather someone - to inspire you, you could say. Actually, she came to me, but that's neither here or there."

Edward stood up, flicked the paint soaked brush into the thinner, and walked to the table. Alice sat down opposite him on the other side.

"Explain." He spat through gritted teeth.

Alice remained unaffected by his sudden anger, "You want the long version or short."

"Short."

"You're painting Isabella Swan, nude."

The second sharp intake of breath had Alice smiling in anticipation of victory.

"What?"

"You heard me."

Not many people knew that Edward had somewhat of a crush on the young actress.

Isabella was the daughter of Renee Dwyer who was a new but eccentric producer that mostly worked on teen movies. Isabella was cast alongside her cousin, Rosalie, in the films and they gained instant notoriety for their dramatic portrayals of teenage rockers, among other things.

Edward had rushed out and saw her movie a handful of times, feeling like a creeper sitting in a teen movie by himself.

Once he got the pirated movie from a close friend, he watched it endlessly in the privacy of his own home, yet still felt like a creeper.

Oh, and the thoughts he had of her would make anyone blush.

Even his last piece had been inspired by Isabella's risky apparel in her last movie. So, even though Alice and Edward were the only ones who'd ever know that, it would never see the light of day in the outside world.

It was one piece he refused to sell, much to Alice's dismay.

"What's the long version?"

Alice laughed aloud as Edward's face flared with heat. "Her producer, aka agent, aka mother… so weird-" she snickered, "wants her audience to quote: 'See Isabella in a different perspective.' She thinks Isabella looks too harsh from her last movie, and too young, too. They want to soften her up, giving her an "Oh, look how I grew up!" but still the sexy slash gingham slash warm apple pie type of makeover without the whole drug, alcohol, or whatever- addiction phase."

"Okay… So, I have to paint her in a naked ass portrait to make her look older but sexy yet homely? Seems kind of lame." But his brain was fixated on the nude part even as he feigned interest.

Alice laughed. "For such an old man, you are so naïve!"

"I'm not that old," he groaned.

"You're not getting any younger, either." She quipped with a sharp tongue to go with her piercing eyes. Alice moved around the room easily, enjoying the fact that she was teasing with him and he was taking it.

"What am I being naïve about?" Edward needed her to get back on the topic of Isabella and off of him and his idiosyncrasies.

"Oh, just the part where she's the canvas, dear brother."

Edward's third sharp intake of breath had Alice laughing before she took a bite of her dinner. She smirked as she chewed watching the range of emotions race over his features.

"I can't paint her," he said as his thick, dark eyebrows creased over his emerald eyes. He hated the words even as they came out, swirling around the room before twisting into a rope around his neck.

He couldn't breathe.

"I can't paint Isabella, Alice," Edward stood up to pace back and forth, imagining her nude, lithe body sprawled out against his thick, stained glass windows.

It would be torture!

"Yes you can."

"I can't paint on her!"

"As your manager, you can and you will," She said abruptly to curb the anxiety attack he was trying to have. "I've already contacted her agent, uh, mom, and told her you'd be thrilled to work with her. This is big for her too, Edward, big for both of you. Every child celebrity wants to break out of the type-cast bubble they're in and this is a good way to do it beautifully. I won't even talk about the part where you need this. You may have lots of money to live off of for now, but it's not going to last forever."

Running his fingers through his hair before he sat back down at the table, Edward couldn't help wonder how something like this would be beneficial for her as much as it would be for him.

"I am so much older than her. I would feel like a creep just touching her."

"Only twelve years and have you seen yourself? I tease you, sure, but you're as ageless as Clooney." Alice flicked her hand waving his concerns away from her as she ate. "Who doesn't like a man like you? Tatted up and all ripple-y in the right places, a man who can cook, and a homebody to boot! I am sure it doesn't hurt that you're so pretty either."

"I hate when you say things like that. Every single time you do, I see myself wearing that princess dunce hat and matching dresses."

"And nail polish! You were very pretty, though! It's not my fault you weren't born my sister. But with the right makeup artist you could be…" Alice eyes lit up evilly.

"You're unhinged," Edward laughed and Alice beamed. "Where's Jazzy?"

Alice waved her hand, "off gallivanting around the country somewhere but he should be home this weekend, just in time to shoot Isabella's pictures."

Edward groaned, as Alice continued to revel in her brother's distress. This was exactly what he needed after Tanya wandered off with Jane and never looked back.

It had destroyed him, Alice knew that, but it was a temporary destruction and hopefully someday it wouldn't even be a blip on his radar.

Edward's art and his career had suffered drastically due to his break-up. His art went from edgy and thought provoking to seething and hateful since his sense of self was decimated and Tanya didn't seem to care.

It had been up to Alice to help him so he wouldn't self-destruct further.

Alice had had to take him out of the trenches slowly, build him up, and give him some jobs that inadvertently led to this one.

But Isabella needed this too, even if she didn't know it yet. Alice knew once they met they'd hit it off because Isabella needed someone like Edward just as much as he needed her.

Someone who looked rough on the outside but was soft on the inside, willing to see past the glitz and glamour of Hollywood to see her for who she was on the inside, and someone who actually wanted a deep and loving relationship.

"So clean this place up, Edward, or I'll definitely be calling Mom."

Edward's eyes snapped to Alice's as she smiled widely.

"Don't you dare."

…

"So," Renee's sickly sweet voice lingered dramatically. "I'm pretty mad at Emmett that you found out about the Seattle trip. I was hoping to keep it a surprise!" Her grin curled maliciously, calculating Bella's reaction. "But there's something that's been left out."

Isabella stiffened the hair on the back of her neck stood up. "What?" She asked warily, narrowing her eyes on her mother.

"Jeez, you need to loosen up a bit, Isabella. In any case, I kind of hired an artist and photographer to paint you."

"What did you leave out?"

"This is my entire point on why I've arranged this little photo shoot." Renee waved her hand over Isabella as if it proved her point.

"Emmett told me and I'm not happy that you went behind my back to set it all up."

"Ugh, get over it, precious," Renee barked out before she picked up her drink and downed it. Then she lifted the glass and shook it at the waiter. Isabella cringed, hating how her mother always acted so entitled. "Besides, I didn't get to the best part… The paint is body paint and you get to do it naked! How awesome is that?"

"What?" Isabella balked, her chair screeching as she backed up to leave.

"Stop making a scene, Isabella," Renee sneered as she grabbed her daughter's arm and pulled it roughly. Isabella looked down at her mother's hand on her with seething anger. "I thought you'd be pleased that you get to do something fun for once! Excuse me for trying to invest in you and your career."

Isabella twisted her arm trying to get her mother to release her, but she didn't. She sat down, hoping she would release her arm, then. If not it would surely bruise.

"Let me get this straight. My mother says that I'm to pose nude albeit paint and photographed for the world to see- by some stranger and that's supposed to be an investment in my career?"

"Gah, if I was your age, I'd jump on this opportunity! Think of all the publicity! Those rag-mags will go nuts. I can already see the dollars rolling in."

"Dollars for whom? Because last I checked, you've been helping yourself to my money for as long as I can remember."

Emmett was the one who actually noticed, but Renee had had her hands in every pot Isabella had and bled her dry. She wasn't going to confront her mother at the lunch in public but things weren't going as planned.

"Look here, Isabella," Renee spat, "I'm the one who made Isabella Swan; don't think I won't break her, too." Renee sneered with a sinister smile. "I am your agent after all. You're manager, too. Oh, what else? Yes… the producer of the movies you star in. Aren't I?

"I will blacklist you so fast you won't even be able to see straight. Renee hissed as her nails were imbedded in Isabella's arm but she didn't dare move. She was right. Renee basically owned Isabella and she had to do everything her mother said and it sickened her.

She basically reverted back into an admonished child mode as her took in her frazzled mother.

What could possess a woman to steal from her own child and feel so entitled?

Isabella needed to figure out how to sever the ties she had to her bank account, but this wasn't the time or the place.

Hearing the clicks from the nearby camera's Isabella knew it wouldn't be long before their scene was plastered all over the internet.

Maybe the trip to Seattle would be a good way to get away while Emmett looked into her financials.

"Of course, mother. I'll do the shoot." Isabella tried to smile. Renee's grip loosened as she grinned like the cat that ate the canary.

"I thought you would," She said snidely as she pulled her arm away from her daughter and toward the drink the waiter had sat on the table.

"I am going to head off and get ready for the shoot." Isabella said softly as she stood up, covering her arm with her hand. She watched Renee's eyes drift down to catch the gesture.

"Oh, of course, sweetie," Renee said too loud. "Kisses!"

Walking away quickly, Isabella pulled out her phone and made a call to Emmett. She needed to get his help without Renee noticing and before she was completely broke.

…

Isabella stepped off the plane, pulling the dark hood of her sweat shirt over her head. Her mood was as somber as the weather and Isabella instantly missed the sunshine of California.

When she entrusted Emmett with her accounts and he looked them over, but there wasn't any good news. Isabella wasn't surprised at the extent Renee was involved in Isabella's financial portfolio. But when he accessed her bank accounts he was less than pleased.

Renee had basically cleaned out all but two of the bank accounts she had to her name- the two small ones that her father had opened for her years ago.

It was embarrassing that she could be and adult yet so trusting and aloof about her money.

Isabella was basically bankrupt on paper and Renee had shifted the funds as various payments to herself as commissions and services as Bella's manager and her agent.

Isabella felt sick.

Emmett was able to stop the bleeding of the accounts by transferring all of the remaining funds into another account under a different name, but it wasn't enough to live off of but for more than a few months in Hollywood and definitely not enough to live off of any royalties of her latest movie role.

Millions of dollars were gone.

Her world tilted on its axis.

How could she have allowed her mother to do this to her?

But the most sickening question was where she was going to live?

Renee had already ruined her.

She was going to lose the home she was renting, the car she was driving, and there wasn't anything she could do about it unless she wanted to sue her own mother.

Bella was seriously considering it.

With a sigh of exasperation, she knew she would have to, but she had to think about all of that later, as she now had to get to the address that she had clutched in the palm of her hand.

…

The light knock on the door caused all the hair on Edward's body stand on end.

He had spent the morning cleaning his home, and he even changed the sheets which made Alice cackle and tease him.

But now he was alone and nervous.

Edward opened the door to a slight figure, under a soaking wet hooded sweater. "You must be Isabella?" He asked, his voice was hoarse and he had to clear it.

She nodded, her soft, dark eyes suddenly looking up at him and then wandering over his face and body.

"Can I come in?" She asked softly, with a small smirk.

Flustered, Edward chided himself as he gestured for her to come in; his eyes lingered as she passed by.

She was even more beautiful in person than on film.

"I guess I should tell you I've never painted on a person. It's kind of an odd request since it's not October." Edward said as he closed the door and moved to lead his guest through the room.

"You don't know my mother," she frowned.

"Pardon me?"

Isabella bit her lip as she diverted her eyes. She looked around the large space without an answer.

"Um, my sister will be here soon, to make you feel more at home. But you don't need to worry about me; I may look a little scarier than you're used to, but I-"

"I'm not worried," She said quickly. "Surprised, yes, but pleasantly so."

Edward couldn't help but smile. "Good."

"I have a few tattoos myself," she smiled and gave him a little wink. "But I guess you'll see them soon enough."

Edward gulped as Isabella giggled. This was actually a bit fun.

The front door's lock twisted and then a woman bounced over the threshold. "Hi, sorry I'm late; I figured that I'd bring some food to stock the fridge so you guys wouldn't have to be interrupted more than necessary."

"Isabella Swan, I'd like you to meet my sister, Alice." Edward gave her a little smile when he saw her shoulders relax at his words.

"Hi, I'm sure we'll be the best of friends later but we don't have much time to waste! We need to get you out of those wet clothes so we can talk painting plans."

Alice then ushered Isabella into the spare room, leaving Edward standing there stunned in their wake.

…

"Okay, now that we're all comfortable, warm, and fed I think it's only fair that there are no surprises for anyone. This is a new concept for all of us, so I guess we can play it by ear a bit and you two will make your own schedule for the most part." Alice chatted as she flitted around the room picking up plates and cups and moving them into the dishwasher. "The shoot will be a series of four shots, one every other day. Jasper will be here by ten at night to photograph the art on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and the last on Sunday."

"Why so late?" Bella asked.

"So the paint has enough time to dry and so you have time throughout the day for lunch and breaks. We'll take the pictures right before bed so you can shower it all off. Would you like me to show you to your room?" Alice said as she started to walk down the hallway.

But Isabella didn't move, "My room?"

Alice stopped and turned toward the young actress. It didn't escape her notice how quiet and watchful her brother had become and although entertaining, she wanted to make sure Isabella felt safe here.

"Edward has already done many four concept paintings, but he'll need time to paint both you and the canvas and that definitely takes time. He may need you bright and early in the morning or late afternoon. We thought it would be ideal for you to be here not only for creative reasons, but security wise as well. Of course if you would be more comfortable in a hotel there is that option, too."

"But we didn't think you'd want to travel back and forth to the hotel at odd hours and possible paparazzi but if it would make you more comfortable we'll definitely abide by your wishes and compromise." Edward said easily. He smiled kindly, wondering what she was thinking.

Isabella was a very quiet person which surprised him since she's played such outspoken characters on film. But now she stood, doe-eyed as her teeth played at her lip, he couldn't get a good read on her. She was obviously nervous, but there was a whole other level of tension there as well.

Something was going on with her, other than a mere case of nerves.

"Do you have a boyfriend you need to talk to about it?" Alice asked, watching Isabella intently, trying to figure her out.

Edward cocked his head at the question and watched with joy at all the bright rosy colors that painted her face. He imagined cherry blossoms on a crisp spring morning and fragrant grass adorned with glassy globes of dew.

He was itching to paint her.

"No, no boyfriend," Isabella said softly. "Renee, uh, my mother wasn't too keen on me having any romantic relationships with anyone other than someone who'd boost my career."

"So Jake Black…" Alice mused.

"He was a complete fabrication. The huge fight never happened either, nor did anything else with… him." Her eyes caught Edward's dark green ones and she couldn't help but smile at how intensely he was watching her.

How was she going to lay nude before him without reacting to him and those eyes? How was she going to sleep in the same home without wanting to wander into his bedroom?

She was okay about not going to the hotel, though she really didn't want to spend money on that. No paps either were another plus. She felt blessed that that wasn't something she'd have to deal with during her stay.

"Huh, how about that, Edward?" Alice snickered and winked at him as he glared at her.

"I'm missing something," Isabella frowned.

"Edward is a fan, that's all," Alice snickered. "Well, I guess after I show you to your room and then I'll be off."

"I can show her," Edward huffed with annoyance.

Alice chuckled, "What, into your room? She wouldn't know the difference until you crawl into bed with her."

"She's joking," Edward scoffed, "I'd never disrespect your privacy like that. I can be professional."

"That's too bad," Isabella mumbled before she watched Edward's eyes widen and Alice snicker.

"What was that?" Edward asked.

"Nothing. Please show me to the room Alice. Nice to meet you, Edward."

With that Isabella disappeared down the dark hall. It was then that Edward noticed she didn't have much for luggage, either.

Perhaps she didn't think she'd need many clothes considering she'd be posing nude for several days?

…

"I was hoping that I could get you in front of the canvas early," Edward said as he ran his hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes. The dark red strands seemed to do as they pleased, though and fell forward to frame his teal green eyes. "Now that Alice is gone, I thought we could get to know each other better, in hopes that you'll be at home in front of it later."

"Right now?" Isabella asked, playing with the oval opal ring on her index finger. It was a nervous habit and she could almost hear her mother screeching at her about it in her ear.

"Yeah, I mean, fully clothed is fine. Whatever makes you the most comfortable, because this is just us. Take the rest of the world out of it and it's just something fun that two people did on a whim."

"I've never done anything on a whim," Isabella sighed. She thought about how controlled her life had always been. "Renee controlled my money, my time, my jobs, even my love life- if you can call it that." She scoffed. "I probably shouldn't have told you all that."

"You're mom controlled your money? You're love life?" Edward asked with the tilt of his head.

"Yep." Isabella stood in front of a large draping of canvas that was painted in a dark forest theme before she awkwardly sat down in front of it. If Edward noticed, he didn't say anything.

The tear fell down her cheek before Edward moved forward to trap it with his finger.

He held the tear on his fingertip; it reminded him of the glassy morning dew he was thinking about earlier.

"I'll consider this the first part of you, that you've gifted me," He smiled as she blushed. Edward drew his finger to his lips and coated the soft flesh with it. His tongue peeked out, pulling the tear into his mouth as Isabella watched with a tiny gasp.

"That wasn't weird." She giggled.

Edward smiled; happy he could make her smile and break the tension. He moved forward slowly, knowing her watchful eyes caught every second of his advance motion. When Edward got to her lips he grinned widely, breathing her in before tilting his head to her ear and whispered, "I heard what you said, before, Isabella… and I plan to consume every part of you that you will allow."

Isabella's breath came out in a shudder, but Edward didn't back away. He was already too close but not close enough. His hand moved and rested on her hip as he stood over her on his knees.

"She may have taken everything away from you, but she had one misstep. She gave you to me," He chuckled; his tongue peeked out to taste her long neck. Isabella sat motionless, afraid to move. It was as if any movement would break the spell and Edward would retreat.

He nipped at the skin of her neck with his mouth, loving the way she angled her neck to give him more access. He took it greedily.

"Can I have you, Isabella?" He asked after releasing the thin skin from his sharp teeth. She knew she would have a mark but she welcomed to his harsh mark to her pristine skin.

"Bella," She sighed, as his lips moved along her jaw over her cheek and hovered over her lips. "Please, oh God, call me Bella." She breathed out right before his mouth covered hers.

The kiss was harsh, demanding, unyielding and Bella found herself being moved to the floor, draped on the canvas. Edward's hand, stained with a coalescence of colors, moved over her touching her neck with one hand holding her mouth to his as the other played with the hem of her shirt.

"So fucking beautiful," he gasped, as her hands flitted toward him. She was nervous to touch him, but he was a most patient man and would wait for her confidence to bloom.

It would bloom; too, he would make sure of it.

"You didn't answer my question," he pulled away from her leaving Bella pleading with her hands for his swift return to her. "Can I have you? Can I take you, consume you?" Each word spit out with desire as his jade eyes darkened into obsidian.

"Yes," she sighed, eyes lustful and yearning.

She knew this would change everything for her, for them.

Was she really going to sleep with this beautiful stranger?

If it got out, her reputation- her career could be forever ruined.

Bella smiled at that thought.

She didn't get a chance to have a second thought because the man with the stained fingers was using them to tear at her clothing. Her shirt pulled from her body so fast she scrambled to cover herself.

"No," he said with fierce authority. His thick voice melted her resolve as she uncovered the slightness of her breasts; breasts that she was forever self-conscious about and ridiculed over in the media. Even her mother had offered to have them augmented.

"You are so perfect. Better than I imagined." He grinned as his eyes moved over her face before dropping to her chest to take in the nipple. His tongue twisted as his lips pulled. His teeth teased as his hot breath heated her skin.

When Bella moaned, he grinned again and released the gem with a pop of his lips. He moved down her chest and over her stomach. He kissed the space just below her bellybutton and found her first tattoo. It was two small swans, one black one white in a Yin Yang symbol. He kissed it. Bella looked down to watch him with a soft smile, but flushed red when his fingers dipped down under her skirt.

"You said I could consume all of you," he teased. He sat up on his knees pulling at her clothing.

"If you do this to undress me for every painting, I may never leave." Bella giggled.

"Who says I will ever let you leave?" He teased, just before his mouth found her hip. He marked her there, too, pulling the skin tightly into his mouth and sucking it severely. "I may just want to keep you with me forever, Bella."

"You can't say things like that to me," She sighed, his words both enticing yet cutting.

"I can say whatever the fuck I want," he grinned. "Especially when it comes to something I want. Do you know what I want Bella?"

"No."

"No?" He scoffed. "I want you. I want to taste you, feel you, and I want to fuck you. I want you wild haired and sleep deprived on my lap and in my bed."

Bella exhaled as her fingers found Edward's hair and she pulled at it as he moved his mouth over her sensitive area. He licked her as he watched her face. His eyes sparking fire with desire she has never seen or felt before.

He looked at her as if she was something to eat.

He did say he wanted to consume her, after all, and that was exactly what he was doing.

Her head tilted back as her body coiled unto itself when he took her little pink pearl into his mouth and sucked harshly at as his fingers danced inside her, curling and scissoring relentlessly.

Bella shrieked, her body shuddering as he tasted her sweet essence. His moan caused her to tremor again before her eyes slid open. He watched her avidly as he lazily licked and teased her. After another moment, he pulled away but his eyes stayed locked with hers.

Edward pulled down his pants, his erection jutting out in front of him, but Bella could only stare. Artistic tattoos lined his back, torso, and arms, but his chest remained bare. She wanted to explore him. She wanted to hear all of the stories that they represented but she wouldn't get the chance. He covered himself with his hand, pumping himself with heavily lidded eyes.

"Open up for me," he demanded softly and she obliged. He watched her movements with rapt attention, as if memorizing her. "When I paint you tomorrow, this will be only mine." He bit out, touching her intimately.

"Yes," she breathed.

He moved forward to he could tease her with his cock and she whimpered with anticipation. "Tell me you want me, Bella."

Bella blushed as her body pricked with goose bumps at his words. She had never said anything like that. She never was one to say what she wanted let alone demand anything. But the man before her with imploring eyes wasn't moving.

"I want you, Edward." She sighed truthfully, wide-eyed and waiting for his next move.

He wanted to push her out of her normal comfort zone and actually do what she wanted rather than be told. "Show me you want me."

"What?"

"Come on, sweetheart," he taunted her with a devilish smirk. "Show me you want my cock."

Bella leaned on up on her elbows as Edward backed away from her.

"I don't…"

"Oh," he backed away more. "I thought you wanted me." He snickered as his heated glare bit into her soul. "But if you can't take what you want, how do I even know you really want it? You could be just saying the words that you think would please me."

She frowned. His words were harsh but true. She would've laid there and took his punishing sex happily, but it probably would've made her feel guilty later.

Bella had never come on to a man before; nor had she even looked for someone to fulfill any of her needs. It simply never crossed her mind.

But Edward was different. He demanded that she come out of her comfort zone. He got her out of her clothes but also out of her shell, too, it seemed.

She moved to her knees as Edward sat down on the floor. The canvas swam around them in ripples of fabric but neither paid it any mind.

He was too busy watching her bloom from the chrysalis shell of the woman she was into the woman she would become.

She leaned over him, lowering her head as she took his cock into her mouth. She sucked him in, greedily, but carefully since she didn't want to hurt him.

"That's it," he sighed, lying down. He watched his fantasy girl worshipping his cock timidly. He thrust upward a bit and he internally chuckled when she gagged a little. "You feel so good," He moaned, thrusting more, but she was expecting it that time and moved with him. "You like my cock, sweetheart?"

Bella moaned and swallowed the spit that pooled in her mouth, tasting the saltiness of his pre-cum. He continued his movements for a few more beats before Bella released him to suck in a few deep breaths.

"I love seeing your lips plump from sucking my cock. Tomorrow I'm going to paint you just like that. You are going to glisten with the morning dew in the dark forest. Your mind will be foggy from orgasms that only I will give you."

"Oh," Bella moaned as Edward continued to torture her with his words. He grabbed her legs, opening her wide right before he pushed into her.

Her body took him greedily, wincing for mere moments at the intrusion, but with every long stroke the pain faded and she began to move with him.

She was having sex with a virtual stranger.

No.

She was having sex with Edward.

"Please Edward," Bella begged as he thrust into her.

"Please what? Please suck my nipples? Please fuck me harder?" He teased with a cocky grin. "Please, Bella, tell me what you want."

"You," she gasped as his fingers fidgeted with her clit. He was a master at teasing her body, it seemed.

"Say it," he bit out, pushing in harder before pulling out and pushing back in. "Out loud."

"Fuck me, harder," She cried out, her hands pulling at his arms to cover her body with his.

"Oh, you really shouldn't have said that," he chuckled darkly. In an instant, he pulled out of her and had her on her hands and knees. She couldn't even protest before he slammed his hard cock back inside her. He put the fingers of one hand into his mouth while the other hand pulled and pushed her hip where he wanted her.

He found her second tattoo on her back, a small Celtic knot shaped into a heart.

The fingers coated with saliva, moved to her ass and he smiled as Bella clenched tighter around his cock. It was exactly as he suspected.

"So responsive, yet timid," He pushed his finger into the tightness as she groaned loudly. He pumped his finger in and out and he could feel his hard cock in her pussy through the thin barrier. "I can't wait until you let loose, baby. They won't even see it coming will they?"

Edward stilled his finger and started to pump her hard.

Bella growled; sweat dampening her brow as she took his sweet punishment.

"Edward," She squirmed, but he held her tighter. He removed his finger and grabbed her hips to give her everything she needed.

"I knew you'd be such a beautiful lover, Bella." He growled into her ear when he covered her body with his for mere seconds. "I thought I could see how lost you were, but you weren't lost were you, sweetheart? We found each other just in time."

Bella grunted, eyes closed and clutching the sheets as he ground forward, slick with sweat from his exertion. It wasn't long before her body finally relented and gave him what he wanted. Her body shook with silent convulsions, gripped his cock and demanded his essence.

He gave it to her, willingly.

He claimed her.

He marked her.

"You are mine now, Bella." He chuckled darkly, without humor. She felt another tremor rip through her as he scraped his teeth over the sensitive skin of her back across the tattoo on her shoulder. It was a series of lines of an unknown phrase. He reached around her and coaxed nerves with his fingertips and was rewarded with a few more small jolts out of her until her body clenching him before she finally fell into exhaustion.

He lay with her, refusing to move out of her, and pulled her back toward his torso, arms tightly wrapped around her torso. She couldn't move even if she wanted to.

"That was…" She panted, feeling him push himself deeper.

"Everything."

"Yes," Bella smiled. That was exactly what it was.

It was everything.

"Let's rest. We have a long day, tomorrow." Edward breathed her in; laying small kisses over her skin that his lips could reach until they finally fell asleep.

…

"Were you always an artist, Edward?"

Edward shook his head as he pulled several ingredients out of cabinets. He was glad that Alice had brought over some groceries so they wouldn't really have to leave the loft unless they wanted.

"I was pre-law actually," Edward said, flicking the gas stove on under a pot of salted water. "I was supposed to be a great number of things, but an artist wasn't one of them."

"What happened?"

With a small shrug he turned to the pantry and grabbed a jar of pasta sauce. "I've painted or sketched for as long as I remember. I've always had the desire to twist the world into my vision it. Make it different, make people think they see one thing, but wonder if they see something else."

"I love that,"

"You are that," he countered.

"How do you mean?"

"On screen you're as pretty as a picture, but that isn't what I see."

"What do you see?" Bella asked in a whisper, excited but afraid of his answer.

"You know what I see," He smirked, watching her little pout. "I see everything."

"That's so vague," she huffed.

He turned to her, then, and grabbed the hair at the back of her neck. It wasn't enough to hurt her, but enough to give him access to her mouth.

"I see a swan wanting to break her bindings and be free to fly in the blue sky or swim in the crystal calm water. She wants to make waves, but she's scared. So, she sits and waits and watches the world around her, wondering when it's her turn."

"That's… something." She huffed, distracted by his soft caress.

"She is something," he counters before he tickles the baby fine hair down her neck. "I'd even say that she's the only something that matters in my world. She soars through the sky. She dances on the water. She even takes a bite out of those who wish her harm."

They both laugh for a moment, the words breaking the intensity of the moment but then he continued, "She's trapped as the duckling that doesn't see herself clearly, but when she does… when she finally does, there will be nothing that will keep her on the ground."

"Edward," Bella tried to move away from him; to hide. But he didn't let her.

"I want to watch you soar, baby. I want to fly with you."

"I want you to." She said with a silent tear. "I wish it was that easy."

He turned her to face him, seeing the tears that fell over her peaches and cream cheeks. "It is that easy."

"You don't understand," She huffed, biting her lip.

"What don't I understand, Bella?"

She stared at him for several moments as the water began to boil, but he ignored it. The aqua of his eyes seemed to see everything she wanted to hide.

"Take the weight of your shoulders, Bella. You know I am not going to hurt you, by now."

She nodded, knowing that in the day they had spent together talking, laughing, and joking that he wouldn't hurt her. But could she really be sure? Because some people could be bought and if Edward wanted to, he could make so much off of her already.

But that didn't seem like something he would do.

He was exceedingly kind and yet has some kind of power over her that diminished any inhabitations she had. The way he was with her was so amazing that no one would ever compare.

How was she going to give him up?

"Stop it right now," he growled. "Whatever you are thinking right now."

"How do you-"

"Your face morphs into pain, your eyes darken with worry. Your teeth take your lip hostage as if you are trying to subconsciously stop yourself from saying what you really want to say. It's time to unload."

Tears fell over her face as her hands flittered around, shaking with nerves. She moved out of the kitchen and sat at the bar. She needed the distance.

Edward turned away from her, letting her take her time but showing her he was still expecting her to talk to him. He pulled out the spaghetti noodles and poured them into the flavored water. Then he pulled out some cooked meatballs from the freezer and put them in the pan. Pouring the sauce over the frozen meatballs, Edward put a lid on the pan to simmer before he went to Bella.

He sat next to her quietly waiting as she gathered her thoughts.

Finally, in a soft voice Bella started to talk. "My parents divorced when I was little and I went with my mother. My father doesn't live to far from here."

"Where does he live?"

"A small town called Forks."

"I am familiar with it," he grinned. "I have family that lives close by."

"Oh," Bella perked up, "Where?"

"Crescent Lake, but no trying to change the subject," He got up to stir the noodles and sauce but then sat back down as she continued.

"He's remarried with a new daughter and retired from the police force. I'd visit but it felt odd, like I didn't really belong. So, I stayed with my mom. She met Phil Dwyer and married him and doors started to open for her. She had always wanted to be an actress but couldn't seem to land anything more than a commercial here and there. She used his money to buy a couple of screenplays and produced them. She gave me and my cousin, Rosalie Hale, the leading parts. When they did well, she did well. She got more screenplays and went on from there, making a name for herself."

"You've made quite a name for yourself," He added with a smile but Bella just frowned and shrugged.

"It was a job and I liked the acting part of it, but none of the drama that comes with it." She said quietly. "I couldn't date who I would have wanted. I can't even make the movies I want."

"Why not?" Edward could feel his blood pressure rising, fearing that he already knew the answer.

"Renee basically owns Isabella Swan. She's my manager, agent, producer, boss, and accountant; apparently… she has handled all of my affairs and I blindly let her."

"Oh, no."

"It gets worse." Bella sobbed. "She's tapped all my finances. It's all gone. I have nothing left and if I do anything, she will destroy me."

Edward sat there quietly until the pans started to hiss and boil over. He needed to call Alice and make sure Bella was comfortable in sharing this with her so they could get the ball rolling to protect her.

"And where does this photo-shoot fall into the scheme of things?"

"I didn't even know about it until my cousin's husband told me a week before. This was meant to break me out of being seen as a young actress and more as an adult for bigger roles."

"Which, in turn, is more money for her," Edward mused. "And in theory, since she booked this and paid for it, she would also own the rights and distribution these pictures?"

Bella nodded.

Edward strained the noodles in the sink before adding a bit of sea salt, parmesan, and olive oil to the noodles and shaking them slightly in the strainer.

"Well, the biggest mistake Renee ever made was putting you in the right hands to completely fuck her plan up."

Bella's eyes widened with fear as she shook her head, "No, don't do anything, Edward, she would love to tear you and anyone else apart."

"I'd like to see her try," he scoffed. "Let's eat dinner and then we'll call Alice to come over. I have a plan."

"What's your plan?"

"Well, for starters, the last thing I want to do is share you nude with the world, so that whole concept is out."

Bella smiled, tucking into her food silently. She didn't really want to be shared with the world, either. "Just Edward."

"What was that?" He smiled, pasta sauce coating his lips.

"I said just Edward. I only want my naked body shared with you."

Edward's grin widened as he agreed. "Mine." He growled out, teasingly. Bella blushed, but agreed.

"And you're mine."

…

"Renee's got balls." Alice laughed. "Isabella's going to have to grow some bigger ones, fast."

"Bella. Please call me Bella."

Alice grinned as she watched Edward wrap a protective arm around the girl. Even with the age difference they both seemed to already be attuned with each other. So attuned it was as if they already knew each other intimately.

Suddenly, Alice gasped with the realization and leaped forward to smack her younger brother on his head. "How could you!" She admonished with humor.

"Ow! What?" Edward yelled out in pain from the slap, rubbing the spot she hit him.

"You two have already slept together," She mused. "Tanya who, eh, Edward?"

"Who's Tanya?" Bella asked, trying to move out of Edward's grasp but he wasn't having it. He held her tighter, not wanting her to escape and then glared at his sister for putting any doubt of him in her mind.

"Tanya is my ex and left me for another woman."

"She did offer to share her girlfriend, though, but Edward isn't one to share." Alice huffed playfully.

Bella relaxed under his arm again and he pulled her closer to his chest, breathing her in.

Alice watched the couple before with wonder. She had never seen her brother like this, so comically protective. He couldn't care when Tanya was there but Bella was different. It seemed as if Bella was the world and he was the moon, watching and orbiting around her.

"So what are we going to do?"

"We're calling in the big guns." Alice smirked. "We're calling Esme."

…

Esme Platt Cullen was Alice's and Edward's mother, but Renee didn't need to know that.

She was one of the top lawyers in Seattle and after hearing Bella's story of forgery and embezzlement, she couldn't wait to stick her teeth in the so-called mother.

They had spent the first two days going through all of Bella's assets and it didn't stop there.

Renee had actually been using Bella's name and social for herself for years.

The laundry list of unfathomable attacks on Bella's identification was terrifying.

She was basically posing as her daughter in every financial avenue possible.

Renee wasn't lying that she would ruin Bella because had they not caught it, she would have been completely destroyed while her mother's credit and identity stayed pristine.

"I am going to be sick," Bella said, and Esme ushered her and Edward out of the house quickly for a long walk through the park to get some fresh air.

"Take her on a picnic, make her forget about everything." Alice whispered, giving Edward a card of a nearby deli and the left the house full of Edward's family.

"Talk to me," he said as soon as they were settled at the park. He pulled a strand of hair out of her face and put it behind her ear. Neither wore any disguising clothing since Esme said that it would be good for the case for Bella to be seen out in public with an unknown man. Anything that would cause Renee to lose a bit of the reigns she had on her daughter would be a good thing.

"I was thinking that I should call my cousin's husband, Emmett. He sometimes does my personal security when I am out or during awards, but he also looks out for me. He knows the situation with Renee."

"I think I've seen him in the background at some point," Edward played with Bella's fingers.

Bella giggled a bit, "He would like you. He even said I needed to find some tatted up guy to take his place as personal security... among other things." She blushed.

"I fit that role," Edward grinned. "Maybe let me take his place?"

"You'd do the red carpet thing with me?"

Edward shrugged like it was no big deal.

"I'd like that," She grinned. Bella was doing that a lot lately. But then she remembered Renee and how livid she was going to be that Bella wasn't under her thumb anymore. "What do you think will happen?"

Edward sat back, choosing his words for a moment. "That's entirely up to you," he said kindly. "What she did was wrong and she knows it. But it'll get worse before it gets better."

"What do you mean? How much worse do you think she could get?"

"I expect her to lash out, threaten you, and even disown you if you don't cower to her. She isn't used to you standing up for yourself. It would be bad for her if you did. She's used to getting her way, getting away with her behavior because you back down. She has a lot to lose if you stand up to her. She has everything to lose if this gets out into the media.

We will probably need to get a restraining order."

Edward let his words sink in. He knew Bella would most likely bow down to Renee's will and that was only going to make things worse in the long run. She needed to stand up against Renee and the best- fastest way was to get her where it could hurt.

In the pocket book which was full of Isabella's money.

"We need to make sure we have our ducks in a row before confronting her, Bella. If she sees any signs of weakness she'll pounce. The best defense, in my opinion, is the media. If this gets out it would destroy her reputation. She needs to know that if she comes after you there will be consequences. We plan to make it so she can't even risk it. If she does, she will lose her reputation, her job, her credibility, her money, even her daughter. She needs to know that there's a wall around you and she will never again get through it to get to you."

"So I am going to lose my mother in all of this?"

"Did you ever really have her?"

Bella shrugged. Even though he didn't mean the way his words came out, they hurt nonetheless. But it didn't make it less true. Renee had hurt her in so many ways, so many directions that it was hard to see anything clearly.

"I know you're right, but I don't know any different."

"The two people in the world who should have put you first, never did, Bella. That isn't your fault."

"Edward,"

"No, listen to me, Bella. Based on what you've said, you couldn't even have the name you wanted. You couldn't be with a man you wanted; you didn't even get to explore what job you could've wanted. It's time you start getting who and what you want out of life."

"I am with who I want, now." Bella smirked, pulling Edward to her.

"You have me as long as you want me." He took her mouth greedily and it was then that they heard the rustling of leaves and the frantic clicking from the cameras.

They both ignored them, knowing this was the first part of their plan.

Edward pulled away first, loving the flush of her face next to the green grass. It was just as he first imagined it would be.

Life imitating art.

"I know we need to get back," Bella frowned. "But I don't want to. I want to stay in this Edward bubble and not think about reality."

Edward stood up and pulled Bella up to her feet. He pulled her body toward him and kissed her passionately. Bella folded into him easily, her hand moving up his back and into his hair.

They kissed frantically, knowing they were being watched.

Finally, Edward pulled away, but still held her in his arms. "Tonight we'll have the perfect bubble, I promise."

"Okay," she smiled, eyes shining.

…

"You are gone for an hour and you are already on TMZ!" Alice ranted with a wide grin. "Bella's phone has been going so crazy I just turned the thing off."

"Oh, no," Bella played with her ring, eyeing Edward but he didn't seem upset at all about being on T.V. He was actually grinning watching himself maul Bella in the park. She let out the nervous energy she was holding in her breath.

Edward could only imagine the martini glass shattering in Renee's hand as she watched and dialed Bella's phone.

"Oh, yes. Mommy Dearest is sure to know that you are up to no good, princess," Alice laughed. "I mean, what did she expect to happen when you set your daughter up to be painted nude by a hot artistic guy? Not that I think you're hot because you are my baby brother but you know what I mean?"

"Small favors." Edward chuckled as he shook his head. "What does our mom have to say?"

"Oh!" Alice gasped before she ran across the room to a stack of papers. "Renee has been so very naughty, it's not even funny. There will definitely be charges needing to be pressed and I know that she knows that."

"Charges?" Bella's hand rushed to her throat as Edward moved toward her. He wrapped his arms around her and guided her to the couch to sit. Alice went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and then gave it to Bella.

"That's how we plan to pigeon-hole her. Threaten to have her arrested. She deserves it, seriously, but that will be up to you. But once the police get involved there is no stopping that train."

"How bad is it?"

The bathroom door opened and Esme walked into the room, obviously listening in. "She stole millions from you, Bella. Hi, sweetheart you okay?" Esme said softly moving fluidly through the room toward Bella and embraced her in a hug as Bella nodded. She released Bella and sat down before she continued. "I just got off the phone from our firm in L.A. and we are set to move forward with the suit."

"That was so fast," Bella said her breathing hollowed and raspy. She felt as if her whole world was spinning on its access.

"We need to act fast so she's scrambling. If she has time to prepare, it may be too late." Esme shooed Edward and Alice out of the room and quickly dialed her husband to come over to Edward's. Bella seemed like she was going to faint and she wanted him to come assist if he was needed.

"I know things are overwhelming, right now, and you might feel like this is going to hurt your mother and I am not going to lie to you and say it won't. It will. But she has done some horrible things to you and she's never going to stop, Bella. She will never stop until she wins and you are destroyed. She'll only stop if she's made to stop and she's betting on your will."

"Sometimes you help the karma and sometimes you are the karma," Alice said from the other room.

"That's right. She's expecting your submission, you to bow down, to turn cheek. She has always gotten away with it and she's not going to take things well when her cash cow no longer gives her what she wants."

"I could talk to her,"

"And say what?"

Bella was silent but Esme wanted to give her a moment to think before she spoke again.

"Bella, you have nothing left, sweetie. It's all gone. She's stolen every red cent from you and everything you think you may own, including your identity. The scary thing is… the most disturbing thing about all of this is that she is you, at least on paper. She's got your bank accounts; she's signed your name to countless things. We need to get your life back."

"My apartment-"

"She set it all up for you, right? It's under her name and she can cancel your lease at any time. You are bankrupt. You are homeless. Even your car isn't really yours."

"Oh, God! I had thought about all that when I came here, but hearing you say that makes it seem more true." Bella started to breath in an out, but it wasn't as if the air was making it into her lungs.

There was a sudden knock on the door and everyone stilled. Esme got up and opened the big wooden door.

"Oh good, Carlisle's here." Esme gushed as she let her husband in. Then she turned to Bella, "Just so you know, Bella, real mothers don't do this to their children." She said seriously as she moved back to Bella.

"Hi, you must be Bella. I'm Carlisle, Edward and Alice's father." He smiled kindly as he looked into Bella's eyes. He looked just like Edward when he smiled. "You are handling everything well considering your life has been uprooted."

Bella gasped out a laugh but it got caught in her throat and she started to cough. Edward rushed over from the other room and patted her back as Esme eyed Carlisle with a smirk.

"She can stay here with me for as long as she wants."

"I think that's probably best." Esme said seriously. "I've been in contact with a man named Emmett McCarty who said he's willing to handle her affairs and tie up all the loose ends in California. He and about three other movers are packing up her apartment as we speak."

"Oh!" Bella gasped and Edward pulled her to him.

"It's better him than Renee, Bella," Esme said kindly. "I'm trying to say it all fast- like ripping off a Band-Aid."

"Just tell me," Bella huffed, grabbing Edward's hands.

"There's a subpoena on the way as we speak, detailing all of your claims of embezzlement, forgery, and identity theft for the past eighteen years, Bella. She's going to be as mad as pit viper without a song to sing when it falls into her lap."

"And scared shitless," Alice scoffed, "and scared, desperate people do stupid stuff."

"Alice is right. That's why we need to make sure she has no means of contact. No way of getting to you. That's why there's an order of protection also in the works. The police will be contacted of the embezzlement and the like if she doesn't comply with our demands."

"Demands?"

"We want you to get your money back, Bella. You're identity, and for her to stop using it. We will do whatever needs to be done to make her comply."

"What if she doesn't have it… the money?"

"Oh, she has it," Alice smirked, "that and more."

"So why would she take from me?"

"That, my dear, is the real question, isn't it?"

…

The days passed with Edward trying to keep Bella's mind off everything that was happening with her mother. She had signed all the papers presented to her, but this time she read each one carefully. She was never again going to allow someone to bulldoze her again.

Her relationship with Edward progressed, too, and as Bella looked over at the thick canvas she couldn't help but laugh at Edward.

He stood next to the draped canvas and painted large splotches of blue, black, and green paint. It was all seemingly sporadic, but as she looked closer pictures started to appear. Long, thick tree trunks rooted in the mossy ground seemed to come alive with faces in the knotted trunks and fairies in the leaves. Even the whimsical breeze seemed to have a bit of life to it.

"Edward," Bella gasped, moving forward. "Is that musical notes in the breeze?"

Edward blushed instantly and nodded his head.

"Is it real music? I mean, that you can play?"

"It is," He smiled.

"I wish I could hear it." She mused, itching to touch the notes, but not wanting to ruin them.

Bella was so wrapped up in the painting that she didn't notice Edward had got up and left the room. It wasn't until the soft, hauntingly beautiful notes filtered through the room.

"What is this?" Bella grinned, turning toward the small piano in the corner or the room.

"Just a lullaby I sometimes play with when I need a break from everything else."

"It's beautiful."

"Like you," he smirked, shaking his head shyly. "Perhaps I should call it Bella's Lullaby?"

She couldn't even contain how happy his words meant to her. She ran to him, arms circling around him and kissed him.

He moaned, grabbing her and placing her on his lap, deepening the kiss for several moments before it became soft, sensual kisses before the finally stilling to gaze into each other's eyes.

"I'd keep you with me forever if you let me."

"I would love to,"

"You'd walk away from acting?"

"Would I have to? I mean, I can go to LA or wherever on set and go back home here. Lots of people do that. You could come with me."

"True. First we need to get you a real agent," Edward pulled at the tip of her hair playfully. "And then we need to get you moved up here, with me. You ready for that?"

Bella smiled widely before she let out a squeal. "I'm so ready for that!"

…

"You have to do the painting and pictures, Edward. She hired you to do it and you can't break that contract." Alice sat on the couch looking between Bella and Edward while she sipped on her coffee. Jasper sat next to her looking stoic as his wife spoke.

But Edward was visibly angry. He looked toward Bella who just shrugged. "Can't we do something where you can maybe tell, but not tell that there's nudity? I don't want to give her anything to use against us." Bella asked, grabbing Edward's hand in hers to comfort him.

"I can. My problem is that she would own the photographs of you and use them as she deems fit."

"So don't give her anything usable. She wasn't specific on what to shoot or how. Not even the paint. The only way she can use this against her is if you give her something that would exploit her, but I don't see you doing that," Alice said.

"If you paint her into the wall, no one will even see her." Jasper said quietly, "An illusion, but not breaking the contract."

"If we can get several more models, you could also paint them and use them, too. No one will know which one is Bella. They will be the focus."

"I don't like the idea of a whole bunch of naked models to have to paint." Edward sneered.

"Then round up all of your painting buddies and have them each bring a model to paint. Tell them they all need to be brunette or wear dark wigs."

"That could actually work." Edward contemplated. "There is nothing in the contract saying she had to be the only model posing or that I had to paint them."

Alice clapped her hand on her leg. "It's settled. Make some phone calls and I will contact Esme and see how things are progressing in LA."

"Call me when you're about an hour from ready to shoot. I can set up lighting and take the pictures." Jasper said, "See if there's anything in the contract stating that she actually does own the pictures, or if it's just a set number of prints. We can see what we can get away with withholding them from her."

…

Edward used soft strokes over her warm body. And though paint was shockingly cold as it was brushed along her flushed skin she couldn't help but feel a sense of erotic pleasure with each swipe.

He smirked, as he dipped the brush into the black paint, accenting it with white to make a dull, smoky grey. "Right now, I am just doing some of the background in darker colors and then highlighting and adding small details to distract the eye from what's actually there.

The paint I'm using is acrylic and I'll be adding it in layers. I've added some latex to it so it'll peel off easily, yet still buffer you from exposing too much of yourself. You'll be there, but the rest will be an illusion."

"Thank you, Edward."

"No worries, love. I want to keep you all to myself and that includes your body." He teased with a gentle smile.

"I meant for everything… not just this. You didn't have to open your home and your arms to me, but you did. I didn't realize that I was so blind and complacent until I met you and Alice. I feel like you saved me."

Edward looked up at Bella and stilled his brush. "I didn't save you Bella, merely opened your eyes to the world around you."

"But you did save me. I probably would've shrugged and continued to follow Renee down that road, letting her control and manipulate me until it was far too late to fix it. It might already be too late."

He moved forward, touching her face lightly as her gentle eyes watched him. She was like a skittish kitten that just needed to find her inner tiger. With confidence, he knew Bella would move forward and would be a force of nature. He couldn't wait for that day.

He'd be right there with her, too, if she'd let him.

"Don't let what she did to you define you, Bella. I see you clearly. You have a true and honest air about you that others lack. You aren't superficial. You're loved on screen because you feel the parts you play deeply and you present those characters to the audience in their purest form. Not everyone can act, even fewer as well as you do."

"Edward," Bella sobbed, tears falling freely, "she gave me those parts, I didn't earn them."

"She may have handed those parts to you, but you didn't just get those parts because of her. You got them because you were the one meant to play them." Bella shook her head, disregarding his words until he forced her to look at him with a slight lift under her chin with his cold fingers. "Did you make them your own? Because as one of your 'fans' I doubt they would've given you another role if you didn't perform well. You're star is going to rise and Renee's is going to fall, and she only has herself to blame."

"She ruined me," She cried.

"Did she really, though? Are you really ruined, Bella?" He asked looking at her intently. But she stayed quiet. Finally Edward relented, "Financially- temporarily, yes, emotionally no. You're going to get passed this. We'll get through it together, every step of the way, if you'll have me."

"Edward! Of course I'll have you!" Bella reached forward and grabbed him by his shirt, paint be damned and kissed him hard. He teetered to regain his balance with little help from her as her hands were already lacing into his hair locking him to her as she awkwardly climbed onto his lap.

This was the tigress he was waiting for and moved away chuckling. He and pushed the hair back from her face. "Look at what you did," he teasingly chastised her. But she didn't care. She kissed him again, peppering his face with tiny pecks.

"I can't wait to see her face, when I tell her I'm not going back," Bella giggled. "She's going to be so mad that I want you. You're everything she's steered me away from."

Edward pulled away, eyes darting from one of her eyes to the other. "She can do her worst, I don't care. She has no power over you."

Bella bit her lip with worry.

"Say it, out loud." He narrowed his eyes at her, seeing the light in her eyes fading with her worry.

"She has no power over me." She said with a shaky voice, hands fluttering for something secure to ground herself. He grabbed her hands and she stilled, releasing the breath that was trapped inside her lungs as her eyes closed. He waited for her, allowing her to make things right in her mind. Finally, she opened her eyes and said with new confidence, "She has no power over me."

"I believe it." He grinned and she followed. The serenity of the moment amplified as he laid her down on the canvas again.

Once back into her original position, completely content and at ease with her body, Bella watched every move that Edward made. Especially, the way his arms flexed while holding the brush, the lithe muscles curving and rippling with every cool swipe of paint.

"She has no power over you." Green eyes pierced brown, playfully imploring and expectant.

"She has no power over me." Bella smirked.

"You'll never work for her again, Bella. You can't. Someone this malicious won't stop until she's stripped of power. You work for her again and this is all for naught."

"I know," Bella sighed, closing her eyes as he continued his painting on her. "She said she'd have me blacklisted, but I don't care. I have no problem leaving it all behind and doing something else."

Edward scoffed, as Bella's eyes opened and shot to his. "I'd like to see her try to blacklist you after we're done with her."

"I don't want to talk about her, anymore." Bella huffed, as she got more comfortable. "Let's just enjoy this."

Edward pushed a dot of paint on the tip of Bella's nose causing her to gasp in surprise. "Oh, believe me… I am enjoying this. More than you'll ever know."

…

Jasper and Alice arrived late that night and several other nights throughout the week. Each time he instantly put her at ease with his gentle demeanor. He snapped countless pictures, having her move so she was a mere allusion of a person in front of the background canvas.

She'd been painted as a tulip in a grassy field, face lit with butter yellows, peach, and crimson in front of a sapphire sky.

A tranquil river at twilight, body covered in lily pads and lotus flowers.

A sleepy mermaid in a colorful reef of corals, anemone and fish.

And finally, a tiger hiding in a lush, lively jungle ready to pounce.

"Done," Jasper beamed, finally pulling the camera from his face. "Sorry I was so late. I've been busy shooting some of others."

Edward waved off Jasper's apology as he moved toward the fridge and pulled out several beers. "That's good. How many did we end up getting to participate?" He asked, handing Jasper a bottle before taking a swig of his own beer.

"Five. James actually pulled out his paints again."

Edward laughed, shaking his head. "The old goat painted, huh? That's awesome. What got those creative juices flowing?"

"Victoria wanted to participate," Jasper smirked. Bella was confused and feeling left out before Edward turned to her and noticed.

"Of, course she did." He shook his head. "Bella, James owns a venue close by. He used to be a prominent artist here, until he let other… parts of him, dictate his life. He closed his gallery and opened a different kind of artistic... venue." Edward coughed uncontrollably, trying not laugh.

"Oh, stop trying to be nice, Edward," Alice chastised, "He owns a strip club slash 'art' venue. He used to be a local artist; a very popular one, at that. He sold everything and gave it to a stripper named Victoria when he gave her his last name."

"At least he was still painting," Edward said with humor, shaking his head.

Alice smacked at him, shaking her head. She turned to Bella to explain. "He painted the whole club in glow in the dark paint, even the dancers. It really looked amazing, yet creepy, especially when they all started to move. So this is right up his alley."

"Got it," Bella said as she pulled off some of latex paint with a grimace. She had a robe draped over her body now, but it did little to shield her from her new friends. "Thanks for calling your friends so they could help divert some of the attention from me and my body."

"We're so happy to help!" Alice grinned, nudging Jasper who agreed quickly before looking through his shots.

"You'll be completely covered. Not even a single nipple showing." Jasper smiled as Edward gave him a lazy high five. "So I will add this set of pictures to the others and make sure Bella is in there, but only just. She'll be in the background while the others are more colorful and in the forefront. Speaking of Victoria and James, they were excited to help and plan to have a 'gallery' show to present the art, if you'd like to present it there."

"I can ask Renee since we're the ones handling all of this. I'm sure she'd like seeing this debuted on a more public forum." Alice added with a roll of her eyes.

"She's going to hate the pictures; they aren't what she wanted," Bella muttered. Edward sat down beside her and started to rub coconut oil over her tender skin to help loosen the latex paint so that it could be peeled off more easily.

He was pleased that she was so comfortable with his touch. He remembered her shyness and uncertainty from when she first came in the door, but now things were definitely different.

She didn't even seem to their age difference a second thought.

"This was completely opposite of what Renee was expecting, for sure, but do we care?"

"Artist license and all that," Alice shrugged.

Bella was no longer the meek girl she'd been when she arrived, doing exactly as her mother expected.

She was empowered by her seething rage every time her phone rang.

Renee had called relentlessly, too, saying she was going to drop in unexpectedly if Bella didn't answer.

Edward had intercepted Renee's calls, saying he wouldn't be able to concentrate if she continued to be such a distraction and that they were working.

It wasn't entirely false.

But as the week ended and another one started, Renee's messages became crueler and threatening since Bella's allotted time in Seattle had come and gone.

"I think she got served," Bella said quietly after one especially hateful message.

"Why do you say that?" Edward pulled Bella closer to him, his arms wrapped around her easily as he waited for her response. They'd spent the past several days seeing Seattle and all of the gems the city had to offer and they'd spent their nights exploring each other's bodies.

But now as they lay in the comfort of Edward's bed, Bella was worried about her future.

"She went from verbally abusing my answering machine to complete silence. I don't know which is worse." She whispered, tucking her head into the crook of his neck. She kissed the soft skin before breathing him in.

He gave her a tight squeeze, choosing his words carefully. "She did, in fact, get served, Bella. Alice was able to terminate your lease early stating you had a job in Seattle and wouldn't be back before the lease was up and your friend, Emmett, cleared out your things before Renee was even aware what was happening. She's probably busy planning a counter attack, but I made sure that would be difficult."

"What do you mean?"

"Your accounts have been temporarily frozen and the police have been called to look into the embezzlement of your funds, which is normal. There's no way she can possibly give detailed accounts of where the all funds went. They're probably looking into forgery, too. You have an investigator assigned to the case and we'll be meeting with them as soon as they contact us."

Bella exhaled and nuzzled closer.

"It's all going to work out and until it does, I'll take care of you."

"Thank you."

"No problem," he smiled against her hair, kissing her softly.

If he had his way, they'd stay in the cocoon of his bed forever. He knew the responsibilities of life wouldn't allow that, so he'd enjoy these moments when he could.

Edward would make sure she was happy and safe, for as long as she'd let him.

Hopefully forever.

"You sure are thinking a lot," she mused, with a smile. She lifted her head to look into his grass green eyes.

"Just thinking about possibilities."

"Care to share the possibilities?"

He gazed into her eyes, giving her no doubt how serious he was, as he said, "I want you."

"I want you, too," She smirked, bright eyed.

But he didn't smile, he wasn't joking. He wanted to lay it all out, done with the game. "I mean forever, Bella. I want you forever. I want you as my wife and someday, the mother of our children. I want everything with you."

"Edward," Bella gasped, pulling his mouth to hers and kissing him deeply. "I want that, too. So much."

Edward braced his hands on her hips and watched as Bella got up on her knees and moved to straddle him. She leaned over him, gently kissing him, sensing his arousal. Grinding into him, she moaned before she lifted up just enough to grab him and place him at her entrance.

Their eyes stayed locked as she lowered herself onto him, completing their connection.

She squeezed, kegal muscles clenching him and watching the pained look on his face with amusement before she started to move.

"I'm going to make love to you, Edward," Bella gasped out, as she rode him softly. "Then I am going to let you fuck me the way you need to."

Edward groaned, tightening his grip on her hips to guide her before she giggled, the movement teasing his cock.

She clasped his hands in hers, holding them to her as they moved together. It was quiet, with soft gasps and moans filling the rain scented air.

When she came, her back arched, eyes closed, and her hands gripped his tightly.

He watched her raptly, memorizing every look, every sigh as she came back to him. Her eyes were shined with love and joy.

Edward vowed to always do his best to keep that look on her face.

But then, his cock pulsed and he surprised her, flipping her onto her back.

Scissoring her legs, he pushed one toward her, as the other lay between both of his.

He had perfect access to her.

Edward reversed her onto the bed, face up, and held her there. "Put your hand between your legs and play with your clit." He demanded before pushing into her tight pussy.

She obeyed, making soft swirls and pulls to the delicate bit, and moaned as he pushed in and out of her relentlessly.

He grasped at her hair with one hand as his other teased the flesh of her ass. Pulling and kneading the muscle with each thrust.

"I love fucking you," He groaned as she clenched and throbbed. He knew she was close, but he needed more. He released his grip on her ass, leaving her body and twisted her until she was face down, thighs open and ready to take him. He enjoyed the view for mere seconds before curling his arm around her torso and lifting her enough to receive him.

Bella gasped out, head pressed into the soft pillows as he pushed and pulled and pumped relentlessly. "You're going to take it, Bella?" He bit out, listening to her panting breath. "You going to take my cock, love?"

"Yes," she gasped, hand gripping the blankets and sheets as she bucked her hips. "I'll take whatever you want to give me, Edward."

He groaned, his body swaying at her words, wondering if she'd really take anything and everything he wanted to give her.

It had only a few weeks since they'd met, but he could already see their relationship blooming. He'd already told her what he wanted from her and wondered if this was this her way of saying she was ready for their future now?

He didn't know.

All he knew was that he was going to come inside her again and again and give a giant fuck it to the universe.

"I am going to come," he gasped out his warning.

He was going to leave it up to her to decide to accept him or walk away.

Bella's grip tightened, holding him to her and she smiled through her gasps as she felt him pulse inside of her. His hold on her tightened painfully, but she didn't care, she loved it. Her body tightened and locked him inside of her as her body spiraled and rippled with her ecstasy.

"Fuck," He gasped, enjoying the feeling of her body pulsing and clutching his cock. "I could get used to this." He ground out as he slowly, reluctantly pulled out of her. He was leaving a piece of him inside of her, at least, and he smiled.

Even though they were just starting out and they had a long, tough road ahead, they would get through it together. She was his and he'd do anything and everything to keep her happy and in love with him.

Bella would do the same.