A/N- Yay! Another chapter! An enormous, huge, gigantic and very heart-felt thanks to lola84 for agreeing to be my beta for this story. She is fantastic and turned a mediocre chapter into something worth reading. She is AWESOME! "Awesome" was bellowed out in a loud sing-song voice. Please give her props by reading it right.

Bella's POV

He pounced on me and caged his arms around me, rolling until I was on top of him. I looked down onto his grinning face and had to catch my breath. I gasped out, "Wow, and here I thought I was going to have to talk you into touching me again."

The grin never left his face as he replied cheekily, "I can't think of an instance when I could stop myself from touching you."

I shifted and leaned down to touch my lips to his, and he was once again moving, spinning us around until I was looking up at him. He braced his arms on either side of me to hold the bulk of his weight off of me, then his knees moved my legs apart until he was lightly resting between my thighs. My breath caught in my throat and I reached my hands up to stroke his face, moving down his neck and over his shoulders, my eyes following the path that my hands traveled. "You're so hard," I breathed out. He stilled and I looked up to see him smirking down at me. "I... I mean," I stuttered. "I mean, you are like marble or steel." His smile got wider. "No! I don't mean your... I mean your whole body is just so... hard! Argh!"

I could feel Edward shaking above me as he tried to contain his laughter. I figured that by this time my blush had probably progressed from a mere red to purple. It was impossible to hide my face as he was inches away from it, but the least I could do was keep my eyes down and hope that the earth would just swallow me whole before I could spout out anything else that sounded completely ridiculous.

Edward appeared to get a hold of himself and nuzzled my cheek with his nose, trying to get me to look at him again. "Don't be embarrassed. I am hard. I mean, my whole body is hard. We can talk about specific parts at another time," he winked.

"You aren't helping," I groused.

"Oh Bella," he said softly. "If anyone should be embarrassed, it's me."

"Really," I said. "You weren't the one with the mortifying case of word vomit."

"Yes, well," he replied. "If you hadn't gotten embarrassed, then the conversation would have taken a much different turn and then I would have been the one back-tracking."

I was confused. "What do you mean?"

He put his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. "I think that once you discover what you do to me, you are going to end up being very dangerous."

I couldn't let it go. "What do you mean," I asked again.

"Let's just say you aren't wrong," he said, with a smile in his voice. "While my entire body is hard, there are certain areas that are a bit... more so."

Well, that sounded promising. I decided that if my mouth were otherwise occupied, there would be less chance of me saying something else that I would regret. "Will you kiss me?" I asked. He answered by kissing my brow and then moving his lips across my temple and down my jaw. He licked at my bottom lip and I opened my mouth reflexively.

"Just relax," he whispered. "Let me..." and then he stroked his tongue against my upper lip and lightly touched my tongue. "You taste so good," he groaned. "Please, just stay still."

I couldn't have moved if my life depended on it. I was so dizzy and I wasn't sure if it was the sweet taste of Edward or the fact that I could not catch my breath. I lay there, completely pliant as he moved his lips up the other side of my jaw and down again. Every time I wanted to demand that he kiss me properly
before I exploded, he would lick at my mouth, befuddling my senses. Finally I panted, "Please... kiss me."

"I am," he rubbed his lips up my jaw and I felt his tongue just below my ear.

"Oh God," I whispered as heat blossomed in my belly, moving steadily south. His mouth kept moving over my neck, licking and sucking and my body started squirming, searching for something. I grabbed his arms and pulled myself closer to him until I could feel his hard length pushing against the center of me. It felt so good that I did it again and again. I was panting now, trying to get even closer. Edward began to shake, growling into my neck. I felt out of control, my body undulating beneath his.

"Bella," he rasped in my ear. "So hot, so sweet..." He pushed his hips down, rubbing against me. The friction was so good. I pushed my hands under his shirt and ran my hands over his stomach, stroking the ridges of his muscles and moving up to his chest. I could feel the strength and the power he kept tightly leashed. I had seen what he could do and I knew how strong he was, and yet he was so gentle with me.

I lifted my hands to his hair, winding my fingers through the soft strands and pulling. "Kiss me," I begged again. I felt as if I would die without his mouth on mine.

He let me pull him down to my mouth but he warned, "Let me. I don't want you near my teeth." I wanted to argue that he couldn't hurt me, but I would take his kiss any way I could get it. He licked at my lips again and I opened up in what I hoped he would see as an invitation. He stroked my tongue again and I moaned at the taste of him. His cold tongue tasted so good, like cinnamon and sunshine. He tilted his head and moved his tongue deeper, leaving no part of my mouth unexplored. He began to shake again, a growl rumbling from his chest.

He pulled back minutely and I dragged in breath. "More," I pleaded. I felt surrounded and consumed by Edward and I still wanted more. I needed more. I slowly moved my hand down his chest, over his stomach and... lower. I wanted to feel him so badly.

Edward abruptly stilled and grabbed my hand, pulling it above my head. "We have to slow down," he said huskily. "I need to get myself under control."

I knew he was right. We were out of control and I wasn't even acting like myself. This was moving way too fast... but my body was rebelling. It knew what it wanted, no matter where my head was. I tried to slide up him once again but he shifted back and sat up with his head hanging and his hands on his knees, his breath coming hard. He looked as if he was arguing with himself and he shook his head as if to clear it. Lifting his head, he looked down on me and stared. "You are so beautiful," he whispered. "I have imagined seeing you like this for so long, but my fantasies don't even compare."

Though I was disappointed that he had pulled away, his words made my breath catch in my throat. "You make me feel beautiful," I responded. And he did. When I had dated Mike, the few times we made out were fumbling disasters and I had always felt self-conscious. With Edward, I felt like a goddess.

He continued to watch my face intently as he stroked his fingers up and down my thighs. "I want you so much Bella," he said. "But there are things you need to know before we take this any further. I would never want you to regret anything between us." He continued to caress me lightly, moving from my legs to my arms and back again. As I watched the motion of his fingers, my body began to relax into his touch. The effect of his gaze and his soft touch was hypnotic and my eyes began to droop.

I knew I should try questioning him again, but I suddenly felt tired. Both the scare with Jasper and Edward's mind-numbing kisses had taken their toll. I was done. I yawned and asked softly, "Will you stay with me?"

"I could never leave you," he told me just as softly. He shifted to my side and pulled the covers over me. I snuggled into him and lay my head on his chest. It was cold and hard, but felt good on my feverish skin. I rubbed my face against his shirt and breathed him in. As I started to doze, something pricked at the back of my mind – something I was missing. Too tired to worry about it, I drifted off, confident that I would remember whatever it was in the morning.

A/N- Whew! My first foray into citrusy realms... I'll be honest. I have read a lot of smut. I'm a single mom of three whose only romance comes in the form of fiction, so... but writing it is whole other animal. After I typed out "hard length," I must have giggled for at least five minutes. Hearing the word 'erection' in health class 20 years ago suddenly doesn't feel that far away. Man, I am one ridiculous woman! Please review! I hunger for them! Seriously, I am starving and only you can feed me!