16. Snuggling

EPOV

I took off my shoes and snuggled under the covers, marveling at the warmth emanating from the blanket. It was a lot like being in a sauna or a hot tub, but could thankfully be done comfortably while wearing a decent amount of clothing. I pulled the covers all the way over my head, wanting my face and lips to be warm too. I wondered how long it would take for my body to absorb enough heat energy to feel like a human would to Bella. I was thrilled with the idea that she could snuggle comfortably with me without getting too cold. My body reacted at the thought that we would no longer need to keep a barrier between us when I held her at night. The down side is that, without the barrier, she might actually feel my reaction. I definitely had no desire for her to understand just how hard it was for me to hold her in my arms all night long.

I heard Charlie ask Bella if she had seen me today. I realized suddenly that I couldn't hear his thoughts either! How odd. It must be genetic, if she inherited it from her father. Carlisle would be veryinterested to know this. I could get general impressions of his thoughts though. He wasn't completelysilent to me like she was. I could sense his approval as he mentioned me. That was good news. Now Ijust had to be careful not to do anything to change his impression of me. I smiled as I heard Bellaextolling my virtues. She mentioned me helping to carry bags. I felt guilty for not helping the girlscarry the bags into the house. Not that the bags were heavy, and my sisters wouldn't have felt it evenif they were. It still would have been the gentlemanly thing to do. Unfortunately, I was too busy tryingto take the mental equivalent of a cold shower, trying to diminish any evidence of my state of arousalbefore joining the family. I was fairly certain Emmett would feel the need to call attention to it if hewitnessed such a loss of control on my part. Not only would that be extremely embarrassing for bothme and Bella, but he would harass me endlessly about it over the next few years.

Charlie's mind projected concern and nostalgia as he encouraged Bella not to rush into anything. This was followed by relief as she reassured him and deftly changed the subject to other friends. I had a feeling he was still adjusting to the idea that his little girl was now a teenager rapidly approaching adulthood.

His thoughts became filled with frustration as he discussed Billy's prejudice against my family, followed by sadness at the reminder of decades of friendship, and ending with resolve as he agreed to call him up after dinner. He enjoyed the rest of his dinner in a state of happy contentment. After dinner, I heard him pick up the phone in the living room and start dialing as Bella cleaned off the table. I concentrated on the conversation, extremely interested in the outcome and knowing Bella would expect a recap when she joined me upstairs.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Billy, this is Charlie."

Pause. "Hey, Charlie."

"Listen, we've been friends for so long, I don't want to throw away our friendship over one issue. I've missed spending time with you. I know we don't see eye to eye about the Cullens and was wondering if you would agree to disagree about them. I won't try to convince you they're good, and you won't try to convince me they're evil. We just won't talk about them at all. Our time together will be a Cullen-free zone. What do you think?"

"I've missed you too, Charlie. I think I can agree to disagree. I've hated that they've come between us and ruined our friendship too. We won't talk about them at all to each other. Sounds good."

"Thanks, Billy! Hey, I don't know if you heard, but Bella is here now. She has grown up to be quite an excellent cook, and she remembers you and Jacob. She has volunteered to cook dinner for all of us tomorrow night, if you two would like to come over here. We can watch a game afterwards, while Jacob and Bella get caught up and get to know one another. What do you say?"

"That sounds great, Charlie! We'd love to come. What time?"

"How about six? I'm usually home by then."

"Should I bring anything?"

"Nah, I think Bells has it covered."

"Thanks for calling, Charlie. I really have missed you. We'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure thing, Billy. Bye."

Charlie was very happy. I could tell he felt like he'd had a weight lifted off of his shoulders. It was weird to be getting impressions instead of fully formed thoughts, almost like I had Jasper's ability and was reading his emotions instead.

I heard my love's beautiful voice informing Charlie she was coming up to her room. I smiled in anticipation. He teased her about not staying up too late. I would make sure she got enough sleep, though I was certain she would still be awake for a while after he had gone to bed. I heard Bella's measured tread up the stairs and lowered the blanket down from my face. She opened the door, her eyes searching out mine right away. I knew I had a big smile on my face. Our eyes met, and she smirked at me. I raised an eyebrow, as she continued into the room, shutting the door behind her.

"You look comfortable," she taunted, sauntering over to the bed and crawling up next to me. She reached out and caressed my cheek. Her hand still felt a bit warm to me, but nowhere near as warm as usual. She grinned. "While you look and smell delicious enough to eat, I think we still need to roast you a bit longer."

I pouted playfully.

"You're still not quite up to human temperature, Edward. Why don't you go ahead and cook yourself a bit longer, while I finish my homework?" she suggested with a wink.

"Only if you give me a kiss," I bargained.

"Gladly." She leaned forward, pressing her lips to mine. We kissed enthusiastically, until she needed to draw back and catch her breath. I smirked, listening to her heart racing and watching her chest heaving. I loved the effect I had on her.

"Okay, I really need to concentrate on homework now," she confessed, pulling the blanket back over my head. She kissed my forehead through the blanket. "I'm sure by the time I'm finished, you'll be nice and toasty warm."

I chuckled, listening to her pull her books and supplies out of her backpack. She sat at her desk. I could hear the scratching of her pencil on the paper as she began her assignments. I started thinking about our time at the mall. Specifically, the time at the lingerie store. It was obvious my sisters had deliberately set me up to witness a scantily clad Bella. The question of the day was whether Bella was in on it, or merely an innocent victim to my sisters' twisted prank. I sincerely hoped it was the former, for all of our sakes. My perfect recall conjured up a picture of Bella in the black lace teddy. I studied it in great detail, in a way I hadn't allowed myself to at the time. My body responded again, just as quickly as it did the first time. Of course, Bella chose that moment to finish her homework. I couldn't let her catch me like this. I quickly turned onto my side and moved my hands in front of my crotch. I waited as she put away her school stuff and approached the bed. The seconds ticked by like hours. I heard her chuckle softly.

"I'm going to go get ready for bed now," she whispered. "You just stay where you are, and I'll be right back."

"Okay," I responded quietly. I heard her rustling in some plastic before escaping from the room. She went into the bathroom to change. I started thinking unsexy thoughts to bring myself back under control. Okay, kittens, Jessica, Mike. Yep, that did it. Thinking about Mike was a foolproof way to kill the mood. I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. I heard the bedroom door open and close again. I was ready for her now. I sensed her come up to stand next to the bed.

"Close your eyes," she mumbled hesitantly.

"Okay," I murmured back.

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, just as I had done a minute before.

"I think it's time to check and see if you're 'done,'" she suggested seductively. I felt her join me in the bed, slipping under the covers and scooting close to me. She gently ran her hand over my forearm. I was surprised to note that her skin didn't feel warm. It felt the same as mine, or rather mine felt the same as hers. I reached out to pull her into my embrace and encountered something satiny. My eyes flew open to behold my love dressed in the blue satin baby doll pajamas I had picked out of Alice's head earlier today. I froze in shock. So much for calming down. I swiftly rose to the occasion. I heard a sweet giggle and looked up to meet Bella's eyes. I was even more shocked to see the direction of her gaze. She was looking at the front of my pants.

"I was going to ask if you liked it," she snickered. "But I can already tell that you do. I guess these were a good choice after all."

I stared at her, speechless. She finally moved her gaze up to meet mine, and she blushed. Then, with a mischievous grin, she started unbuttoning my shirt. By the third button, I had managed to summon enough energy to move my hand to catch hers.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"Unbuttoning your shirt," she answered with wide eyed innocence.

"Why?"

She smiled at me. "I just want to feel your chest while it's so warm. I promise not to rape you or anything."

I rolled my eyes. Like that was even a possibility. I did let go of her hand and allow her to keep unbuttoning my shirt. The gentleman in me was protesting vehemently that this was a bad idea, but the man in me wanted her to touch me at least as much, if not more so, than she did. I reminded myself that she had agreed to become my wife and spend eternity with me. That helped silence the gentleman, who was somewhat appeased at the idea that she was my fiancé and by my resolve not to remove any more of my clothing, nor to allow her to remove any of hers. So I made no protest when she slipped the sleeves of my shirt down my arms and over my hands, before tossing the shirt onto the floor.

She moaned a bit as her eyes eagerly devoured my chest and arms. Then, she put her hands on my chest and began exploring. My skin tingled wherever she touched it, and I couldn't help moaning myself. She traced the contours of the muscles in my chest, abdomen, and biceps. Then she scooted closer, pressing her chest against mine, as she allowed her hands to explore my back. She took her time with all of her explorations, as if she were trying to memorize the feel of my skin. I loved that she could be so close to me without shivering. When she began kissing my chest, I pulled away, groaning, needing to put a stop to this before I got carried away. She immediately started pouting, trying to pull me closer again.

"I think that's enough exploring for tonight, love," I gasped. "I just can't take anymore right now. It feels absolutely fabulous, and I'm in definite danger of forgetting everything but the need to make you mine in every sense of the word. Since that isn't possible right now, I'm going to calm down a bit."

"Ah, okay," she smirked. "I guess you're not the only one who seems to have a natural talent for this."

I grinned at her. "Perhaps. Or perhaps we're just meant for each other."

She nodded, grinning back. I removed her arms from around me and shifted to lie on my back. I reached over and dialed back the setting on the blanket, not wanting Bella to overheat. Then I pulled her over to me and kissed her gently.

"I think maybe you should get some sleep. I don't know if you heard, but your dad came up to bed about half an hour ago."

"I was a bit distracted."

I snickered this time. "Is that so? I never would have guessed."

She growled at me, a cute little kitten growl. I barely restrained my laughter, knowing she wouldn't appreciate it. As if she could intimidate me. Well, actually she could, but not by threats of violence. The thought of losing her now that I had found her was worse than intimidating. It was terrifying. I had to admit to myself that her anger actually did intimidate me, despite the fact that she couldn't cause me any physical pain. She could definitely cause me emotional pain, if she decided she didn't want to be around me. So I preferred not to make her truly angry.

She curled up next to me, resting her head on my chest and draping her arm over my stomach. I loved the sensation. It felt like she belonged there. I rubbed her back lightly with my hand, enjoying the texture of the satin sliding beneath my fingers. Watching her sleep last night had inspired a lullaby, just as the book had suggested. I began humming it for her, the portion I had composed thus far, and she quickly fell asleep. I tucked the blanket around us, thrilled to be able to have skin to skin contact without fear of giving her hypothermia.

As I snuggled with my beautiful Bella, I allowed myself to picture each of the different outfits she had modeled in the dressing room earlier. She was absolutely gorgeous. My breathing increased slightly, the longer I thought about her. I adjusted myself to be as comfortable as possible while wearing pants. Bella began dreaming. To my surprise, she threw her leg over my hips. She began moaning my name and rocking against me. It was obviously a very good dream and raised my own level of arousal to heights I had never known before. Her movement created the most delicious friction against me. The gentleman in me was screaming at me for my incredibly inappropriate behavior in allowing this to continue, but the man in me drowned him out. She continued moaning my name, moving her lips on my chest, rocking against my side. I was on sensual overload—the sound of her moaning for me, the smell of her arousal, the feel of her in my arms and against my skin, the sight of her in my mind dressed in sexy lingerie, the taste of her kiss lingering on my lips, and the feelings building up inside of me. The music in my body came to a full crescendo, and I clapped my free hand over my mouth to keep from shouting. I lay limply underneath of her as she stiffened, crying out into my chest. Then she became just as boneless as I felt. She was wearing a satisfied smile in her sleep. I decided it was a good time for me to go home, get cleaned up, and change my clothes. I gently slid her off of me and got out of bed. I tucked the covers around her and kissed her temple.

"I'll be back soon, love," I whispered to my sleeping angel. I grabbed my shirt and jumped out the window. As I ran home, I realized I was wearing a goofy grin. Try as I might, I couldn't wipe it off my face. I hoped my family members would all be too busy using their own electric blankets to notice me. Otherwise, I'd be faced with questions I really wasn't prepared to answer. I had a good idea they would all know what would cause that kind of goofy grin, considering some of the ones I've seen on my brothers and father, and I didn't want them thinking of me and Bella that way.

Luckily, they were all rather occupied when I arrived home. I doubted they even knew I was there. Certainly none of them directed their thoughts my way, and I did my absolute best to block the thoughts they were having. I removed my jeans, hiding them instead of placing them in the hamper. I didn't want Esme to see anything unusual while doing the laundry. I decided I'd better start doing my own laundry now. I took a much needed shower, changed my clothes, and rushed back to my Bella.

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Yeah..... I was kinda hesitant to upload this.... C'mon guys! please tell me if its good or not! Its not that hard to do! And if you want some laughs, go read my Crackfic A HP and Twilight Crossover....... I swear its funny....... I'm going to upload Starting Over today so be sure to check it out!

<3 ReadingTillEternity