Stay With Me Ch. 01

Edward began to step towards her, clearly a confused look on his face. "But, love, didn't you ask me to stop at the bakery to get cannolis?"

Bella cleared her throat again and turned to face him squarely. "I know I did, Edward. But the more I thought about it, the more sense it makes to have cake. It goes better with the coffee, don't you think?" The last words held a false note of cheeriness as he came to stand face to face with her. She prayed he wouldn't be able to tell what she had been up to only two minutes prior in this spot, that he wouldn't somehow mystically smell the sex coming off of her or Jake's scent. Although, the idea of having his scent on her made her heady with desire.

Edward smiled and took her left hand in his, just brushing the skin on top with his lips ever so softly before releasing it. Bella tried not to think about how that hand had dug into Jake's back and clung tightly to him as he had fucked her. "Whatever you think is best, love. You're a marvelous hostess. You've been so understanding about this whole thing. I must apologize once more for the inconsiderate short notice."

Bella winced inwardly but managed to keep her expression smooth. She was getting better and better at the art keeping something hidden that she didn't want seen these last few weeks. That thought nearly made her sick. "Edward, we already discussed this. It wasn't your fault. You had as little warning as I did. It's perfectly fine. This is important for you and the new account you're working on. I don't mind at all." She gave him a small reassuring smile.

Edward leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. "What did I ever do to deserve someone so beautiful like you, loving me?"

Bella almost flinched as if he had hit her. Maybe it would have been better if he had. She didn't meet his eyes, she couldn't. She smiled wider and then turned towards the fridge, opening the door and grabbing the small white box within. When she closed the door and turned to follow him into the kitchen, Edward lifted the box from her hands and then let his left hand take her right one in his. She grimaced as she remembered where that hand had been not that long ago. Edward gave it a quick squeeze. "Let me get that for you, love." He led them back into the kitchen where the coffee pot was sitting in the machine, waiting to be dispensed. Bella felt a small lump form in her throat but she quickly swallowed it back down.

She washed her hands and set about pouring the coffee into cups and grabbing the creamer and sugar. Edward placed his hand gently on her arm. She glanced up to find him smiling her smile. The guilt continued to stab at her.

"Bella, I'll get that. Why don't you go to the bathroom and freshen up?"

Her eyes widened in horror and her breath caught. Oh no. He knew!

Edward chuckled. "Did you take a tumble in there or something? The corner of your mouth looks a bit swollen and your hair is a little disheveled."

Her cheeks flamed slightly at his choice of words. She had taken a tumble alright. Edward was still waiting for her response. Bella knew she only had a split second before he would figure it out, so she seized the opportunity. She chuckled back, "Yeah. You know me." She rolled her eyes dramatically.

Edward laughed. "Okay, well, why don't you go do that then? I'll take it from here." Bella smiled a small grateful smile and began to hurry out of there. "Oh, and Bella?"

Her heart stopped but she turned around to face him none the less.

"Why don't you turn on the lights next time? That way, you can see where you're going?" His emerald eyes sparkled with humor and he had a slight smirk on his face.

Bella let out a breath in relief. She rolled her eyes again and smiled. "Right. Good thinking." She turned and hastily made her exit, trying to keep herself from hyperventilating, at least until she could reach the bathroom.

She took great care to slip by the dining room unseen and made her way to the bathroom. She could hear Ness speaking lowly to Jacob as she passed. "Babe, I was thinking, after we leave here, why don't we go home a little earlier than planned?"

Bella froze, the anger rising up in her along with the need to gag. Ness was practically purring. She heard Jake chuckle lightly. Bella could feel the bile rising in her throat.

"You mean you can fit me into your schedule, Ness? I'm flattered. Gotta tell ya, though, I doubt you have that much time free. How about this? I've got that meeting tomorrow morning and Seth's handling things while I'm out. So, I'll take a rain check. That alright, babe?"

Bella winced at the acid in Jake's tone towards his wife. She knew his marriage wasn't perfect, obviously, and he had alluded to Ness' busy schedule being the main source of contention between them, but she never expected to ever hear him address the woman so harshly. Jake could certainly be a prick when he wanted to be, Bella knew that much, but she was not prepared for that much nastiness to ever come out of his mouth or for the icy response Ness gave him in return.

"Of course, dear. You're right. Even five minutes would be too disruptive to my schedule. There are far more important things that require my attention. Of course you can have a rain check, darling. How about taking a permanent one?"

Jake snorted. "Fine by me, babe. I'm surprised you didn't realize that I already had? You must have missed that memo."

Bella's mouth dropped. She and Edward had certainly had some arguments; she was no stranger to the practice of trading insults. But, from the sound of it, things must have been worse than Jake let on.

Ness laughed loudly. "Oh, Jake. How do you always know how to make me smile? You really are such an amazing husband; the best I could ask for." Bella waited to hear the sarcasm and was shocked to find none. Ness almost sounded.....adoring of her husband.

"You make me sick," Jake muttered quietly.

"Aww, love you, too, baby. But, let's not be rude to our hosts and save your affections for later."

Before Jake could respond, Bella heard Edward's pleasant voice enter the room. "Here we are. Bella will be right in; she just had to check on something for me. But don't worry, she made the coffee."

"Oh, thank God." They all laughed at Ness' witty reply.

Bella couldn't help but wonder just how bad things were in Jake's marriage. She shook her head in exasperation at herself. It wasn't any of her business. Yes, she and Jake may be.....involved, but that didn't mean she could pry into his personal life. If he wanted to confide in her, that was one thing, but she would not ask. She had no right just as Jake had no right to pry into hers. He was on a strict need-to-know basis and same went for her. She needed to respect that. Besides, maybe it really was just a normal argument between them; maybe, Ness had worked too late again or something. Bella didn't know and she shouldn't care. She had her own marriage to focus on, regardless of what had developed between her and Jake this past month.

Bella felt her stomach tighten at the thought and continued her journey to the bathroom. She quickly closed the door behind her and placed her back against it, letting out a deep breath and closing her eyes. She forced away all thoughts of Jake, Ness and everything else. She only thought of Edward and how she would need to rescue him soon from the awkward tension that was sure to be hovering in the dining room. Speaking of her own marriage, that had been close. What had she been thinking?

Bella propelled herself off the door and walked to the sink. One glance in the mirror brought back the horror. Holy crow! Not only was she someone who had been fucked thoroughly, she looked like one, too! How had Edward not picked up on it? Or had he just ignored it? Pretended it didn't really mean what he had seen? No, she would've seen the pain, the betrayal, in his eyes. And she doubted Ness and Jacob would still be sitting here. Ness would be in hysterics and Jacob would be on the floor, nursing a broken nose or worse, for sure.

They definitely would not be drinking coffee in the other room, laughing politely.

Disheveled had been a kind term to use. Her hair was all over the place and sticking damp with sweat to the sides of her face! And her lips, it wasn't just the corner that was swollen as Edward had claimed. She looked like someone had stuck a vacuum hose to her mouth and they were plumped and bruised. Her face was fully flushed and wait....was that a mark on the side of her neck?

Dammit, Jake! How was she going to explain that? Or better yet, how was she going to go back out there and keep it hidden to the two pairs of eyes that would notice it immediately?

She cursed Jake under her breath and proceeded to wash her face, using the emergency bag of make-up she kept in this bathroom for touch-ups. She ran a brush through her hair and lifted the collar of her dress to hide the mark that was beginning to darken a bit. But not before she tried to obscure it with concealer. Well, the next few days were going to be fun. That was for sure. Hopefully, Edward's lips and fingers wouldn't go exploring in that area anytime soon. She remembered his eyes from earlier and sighed, her heart wrenching painfully. Hopefully.

Bella remembered his smile in the kitchen, how loving he was to her, how sweet he had been, and the pain only got worse. She did love him and she truly didn't want to hurt him. She felt tears stinging the corner of her eyes as she thought of what she had just done in the garage, of what she had been doing for four weeks.

She sniffled and took a deep breath, checking her reflection in the mirror. She was now someone she ceased to recognize. The woman staring back at her was completely alien to her. This was not the Bella Swan who had fallen deeply in love with Edward Cullen way back when. Where did she go?

Bella bit her lip in thought. She knew where that Bella had gone; that woman was long gone. Bella Swan Cullen ceased to exist and in her place, an empty shell, a zombie, a robot. A robot that smiled when necessary, politely interacted with the outside world when prompted and went through the motions on a daily basis. A robot that no longer felt anything, except for the guilt, shame and self-hatred she felt every time she slept with Jake, every time she even saw him, talked to him on the phone, anything. Otherwise, she was.....empty. No, she had no idea who this person was, this.....replacement in her life, posing as Edward's wife, Emmett's friend and the owner of her bookshop, Belle's Books. She was simply a stand-in.

Bella shook her head, trying to get rid of memories, and appraised herself one more time. A shower was needed but that would have to wait until their guests left. She stared deeply into the brown orbs staring right back at her. She didn't care what Jake said. It was over. Tonight was the last time, ever. She loved Edward too much to lose him. She wouldn't survive it if she did.

She nodded at herself, feeling the air of confidence fill her chest, her very being, and she walked out of the bathroom with her head held high. She walked into the dining room and made her way to her seat, making her apologies, refusing to meet his gaze. Instead, Bella kept her eyes trained on her husband and Ness at the times the woman spoke. She smiled, she laughed, she made conversation and she held Edward's hand. She was the perfect little hostess.

Bella was right about the tension in the air but it was a different kind than the one she had been anticipating. She could feel his eyes boring into her but she never met his penetrating stare. She knew he was angry, she could feel it coming off of him in waves, but she refused to care. Good, let him be angry. Edward is who I love. Ness is who he loves. Or maybe not....not my business. Let that be that. She let her gaze fall on Edward, looking on him lovingly and squeezing his hand to affirm the fact, more to herself than her husband.

Once and only once did she sneak a quick glance in his direction. She was right; he was angry, but the unabashed, drowning desire was there, too.

When his eyes locked with hers, he very slowly moved his hand up to his cheek, unbeknownst to his wife and her husband who were engaged in another conversation about work, and then down to his chin and then up to his mouth. Very gingerly, he placed the tip of his finger to his lips, discreetly granting it entrance into his mouth, his lips enclosing around the head of the digit.

Bella's heart stopped as she realized it was that finger. Her breaths started to speed up and she felt the familiar heat returning.

He slowly pushed his finger in a little more, tasting it, his eyes never leaving hers. Then, he carefully removed it and placed his hand back on the table near his coffee cup as if nothing had happened. He inconspicuously slid his tongue in between his lips, gliding it from left to right, before letting it disappear again.

Bella was transfixed in his gaze. Edward's and Ness' chattering sounded far away as she heard her blood pounding in her ears. She was practically hyperventilating for the umpteenth time this evening and was shocked beyond belief that the people on both sides of her hadn't heard or noticed.

They were locked in a silent standoff. His eyes were telling her everything she needed to know: he wanted her, again, and he would have her, again.

She felt her heart start to speed up as she saw the cocky triumphant smirk on his face grow wider as realization dawned on them both. Bella gulped and looked away, afraid to look into his dark depths any longer.

He was right; it wasn't over.