Chapter 6

Chapter 6

I stepped out of the cab, quickly rooting through my wallet for cash as the driver - a nice older man with five grandchildren displayed in a picture on the dashboard - carried on talking and asking me questions.

"Will you be running for Senate again when your term finishes?" he inquired as he leaned out of his window, one arm resting on it casually, the other holding his cigarette.

"Um, no. I don't have any plans to at this moment," I told him as I waved two fifties in his direction.

I could still remember the days when the prices for cabs were a lot more decent, and if I hadn't been too lazy to drive myself, I probably could saved a whole lot of money. I could as easily blame my sister for living in the suburbs, which were so far away from my apartment, but in the end it wouldn't change the fact that I was a hundred dollars poorer.

Damn, I could be a cheap bastard sometimes.

"Shame," he murmured as he plucked the bills out of my hand. "I would have voted for you."

I told him to keep the change, and he gave me a smile as he pulled away from the curb, gunning the engine and peeling down the street like the hounds of hell were hot on his ass. I shook my head and walked down the drive, dodging toys and what seemed to be weapons of destruction on the way. My hand had barely reached up to knock on the door when it was flung open, and a very frazzled sister of mine pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

"God, I've missed you, Ed," she murmured, pulling back and looking me over like she hadn't seen me in years, not just a few months. I was glad that I had taken the Sunday off to have a BBQ at her house, because while we talked on the phone, it had been too long since we had face-to-face interaction.

"Missed you too, Ness," I said, smiling softly.

"Don't stay away so long next time then," she told me with a wide grin just as the screaming commenced and the triplets came barreling down the hall, all trying to scramble past their mother to attach themselves to my legs.

"Uncle Eddie! Uncle Eddie!" they screeched, and I wondered just how my sister managed to deal with three girls. They were cute, that I could admit, but I found myself trying not to shake them off me like annoying little bugs. Children tended to make me mildly uncomfortable since I had no idea what to do with them.

They usually tended to be easily pleased - candy and toys seemed to be their weakness - but I had never really learned how to cope around them for long periods of time.

"Tia, Zafrina, and Siobhan, stop attacking your poor uncle," boomed the voice of my favorite - and only - brother-in-law, Alistair. He was a defense attorney at one of the biggest law firms in the country, and the only man who could put up with my sister's erratic and flighty behavior.

"Hey, man," I said, wiggling my way out of the grubby hands clutching at my expensive Valentino slacks and gave him a hug. "Long time no see."

He grinned and scooped up one the squealing girls - I think it was Tia; they all kind of looked the same - into his arms where she seemed to settle happily. "If it weren't for the frequent phone calls, I would have thought you'd died, Ed," he joked.

"Uncle Eddie's not dead," Tia - I'm still not sure if I got that right - said, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"No, he isn't," my sister chimed in, giving Alistair a look as she took Tia from him. "And if you are good, Daddy will watch High School musical with you."

Screeches and cries of happiness rang out from the girls and I had to hold back a laugh at the horrified expression on Al's face.

"Hon," he whined. "Couldn't you have at least said Kung Fu Panda or even Tangled; something that I wouldn't think about committing suicide while watching?"

I snickered, completely unsympathetic to his plight.

"Just wait till you have kids of your own," he grumbled, and I felt my smile wane slightly, but pretended nothing was wrong.

The truth was that I was losing hope in actually finding a woman who would have my children, if I even wanted them. I wasn't sure that I had all that I needed to be a good father, and since my sister was probably tricking Alistair into having another little one, not that he would mind, I didn't feel pressured to give my parents grandkids. Who knew how long I had left to even attempt it; I wasn't exactly a spring chicken.

"Come on, Mum and Dad are already here and the kids are just dying to get to the food," Ness said, ushering us through the house and out into the backyard.

"Edward, we thought you'd never get here!" my mother exclaimed as she placed a delicate kiss on my cheek. She cupped my face in her hands, searching it with her dark green eyes.

"You look so good and healthy," she murmured and stroked a hand through my hair. "Is there any specific reason why?" she tacked on at the end, hope shining brightly in her eyes, ruining all hopes that the day would be 'find Edward a wife' free.

"Exercise and eating well," I replied innocently, pretending like I couldn't sense her hope that I had finally settled down. She looked disappointed, but merely patted me on the cheek before moving back, a sigh escaping her.

"You know, you won't be young and handsome forever," she chided, but I chose to ignore her words and the pang that sparked through my chest as I sat at the table outside. I hated the fact that she thought that I wasn't fully aware that I was alone with no immediate prospects of settling down and building my white picket fence.

It made me feel so isolated from my family because, honestly, that would never be me. I was just not that kind of guy. Even if I did marry, I had no intentions of moving to the suburbs to have two point five kids and a dog.

It was something I had tried to tell my mother without going too deep into the specifics - as much as I wanted my family to know me, I doubted that they would be welcoming of my lifestyle - but she had just brushed of my concerns and objections, stating that I didn't know what I wanted.

I understood that she only wanted the best for me, but it was time she realized that maybe I knew the best for me.

Carlisle stepped out of the house, ending any more of her prodding.

"About time you showed up," he grumbled. "I'm starving."

"Traffic was bad," I offered up in explanation.

He grunted. "How do you expect to represent this state when you can't even get to places on time?" he lectured.

I sucked in a deep breath and counted to ten before letting it out, realizing this was the exact reason I ended up avoiding my parents for long periods of time. Carlisle - and from what I gathered, most of the Cullen men like his grandfather and his grandfather's father - seemed to be under the belief that children were simply a means to an end. The boys were shaped to be the next top lawyer or even president, while the girls were left to the mothers to be raised.

Since my mother was sick for most of Ness's childhood, it wasn't surprising that she turned out to be some tree hugging hippy, while I had been sent to an all-boys boarding school in England that Cullen boys had been sent to for generations.

I wouldn't lie and say that I was particularly close to either of my parents, but my relationship with Carlisle was beyond strained. I think that it was the reason I was so close to my grandparents, since I would stay over in Italy at every available holiday while my parents were too busy attending functions and rubbing elbows with politicians.

I used to be jealous of my sister who would just stay at her friend's houses, while I had no real friends to speak of.

"Well, we can't all be you, Carlisle" I responded icily, and he narrowed his eyes, shooting me a look of thinly veiled disdain. I met his gaze easily with a hard one of my own. I learned to be very thick skinned when you had pressure on all sides while the press try and run your ass into the ground, and while I was sometimes prone to overreacting, it took more than the look he was giving me to break through the defenses I had spent my whole life building.

I barely managed to stop a smirk spreading across my lips as he dropped his eyes and cleared his throat, bringing my attention to the fact that the rest of the family was staring at us, waiting for us to get through the customary first icy five minutes before we could go back to pretending we were just a normal, happy family.

It didn't take long before the table was alight with chatter.

Ness yammered on with Mum about some sort of yoga that you do in intense heat to cleanse the body, while Carlisle and Alistair talked animatedly about law since he also was also a lawyer, leaving me to entertain the kids and make sure that their food went into their mouths, not everywhere else, which sadly seemed to be the case. I cringed, wondering if I was ever this messy, but since my childhood was so stiff and structured, I doubted it immensely.

It was actually only by a small miracle that I ended up as normal as I did.

"So, Edward, what do you intend to do once your term ends? I hope you've thought of the future," Carlisle said, and I steeled myself for what I was about to say. I knew Carlisle well, and because of that, I knew he already had my rise from the Senate to Presidency mapped out for me, even though I had absolutely no plans in following that path.

"I'm planning on taking some time off and going to Italy to visit Nonna and Nonno for a while." I didn't mention that I already had a house over there waiting for me and that I was weighing the option of moving there permanently.

"What are you talking about, boy?" he demanded. "If you get out of the game, they'll forget you even exist after a few weeks. You need to make yourself known; you should serve at least another term in the Senate."

"Carlisle, I have no plans whatsoever of serving another term in public office. That was your dream, not mine, and I don't intend to go back into politics when or if I come back to the States."

The table fell silent at my declaration and Carlisle's face started to turn a very strange red color.

"How can even think to throw your life away like that? After all I've done for you, you're just going throw it away without so much as blinking!" he bellowed, and the mounting anger inside me hit its peak.

"All you've done for me?" I scoffed. "Paying for my education doesn't give you the right to dictate my life."

"Without that education, you would be nothing. Without the Cullen name, you would be the shit that I wipe off my shoes. You should be tripping over yourself to thank me, but no, you have act like your good for nothing real father."

I seethed as my mother let out a cry. My real father was a topic we did not broach for many reasons, and I couldn't believe he would do it now.

"Vaffanculo!" I spat at him, standing up to leave. I didn't need to hear anymore of what he had to say. It was my life to do with what I pleased. I was not the little boy that he could treat however he liked. I was a full grown man capable of deciding what I wanted to do with my life, and if he couldn't take that, then he could just go and fuck himself, just like I had aptly told him to. "Bastardo." I seethed as I stalked through Ness's house.

It hurt that I could never, would never, be a real part of the Cullen family, not when Carlisle forever held it above my head that I wasn't his son by blood. Sure, he had adopted me when my mother had married him. I had been barely old enough to crawl, let alone walk when he had represented my mother and helped her escape from her abusive marriage, falling in love with her in the process.

Yes, I was an inconvenience to him at the time, but after the complications following Ness's birth that led to it being impossible for my mother to conceive again, he had decided to put me to good use to carry on the Cullen family legacy.

He had never made an effort to make me feel welcome and I had long ago stopped trying to get him to accept me.

I could hear my mother calling after me as I burst out of the front door and strode down the drive, cursing myself for not driving. What was the point of having a car if I never used it? I raked a hand through my hair, frustration and anger churning in my stomach as feelings of inadequacy filled me. I hated how he managed to always hit me low and hard, finding the cracks in my defense and using them to his advantage.

"Edward, wait!" she called as I started to make my way down the street, my fingers stabbing at the keypad of my Blackberry as I tried to call Tanya. She grasped my arm and I wrenched it away and spun to face her.

"Don't! Just don't bother, okay? I know what you're going to say, but I'm done. The bastard can rot in hell for all I care."

"Please don't do this, Edward. You're ripping the family apart," she begged, and I let out a bleak laugh.

"I can't tear something apart if it doesn't exist. I'm not part of that family; I haven't been for a long time and I'm beginning to think I never was."

She opened her mouth to interrupt, but I held up a hand to show her that I wasn't done, and dammit, for once she was actually going to listen to me.

"You can dress me up like a Cullen, parade me around like a Cullen, but inside I will never be a Cullen, and you know what? I don't want to be. This family," I practically sneered the word, "is fucked up and I'm done being degraded and made to think less of myself. I matter. How I feel matters, whether you acknowledge that fact or not."

"I care how you feel," she said indignantly and I just gave her a sad look.

"Mum, you don't know me anymore. I've changed from that little boy who needed you and I'm a man now. If you really cared how I felt, you would let me live my life how I choose to, and you would actually defend me every once in a while."

I looked down at my phone to see that the call to Tanya was connected. I leaned down and placed a kiss on my mother's cheek. "Bye, Mom," I murmured before turning away and lifting the phone to my ear.

"That was quick. Are you trying to set a new record for shortest dinner with the family?" Tanya quipped, and I sighed, running a hand over my face,

"Can you just send a car, please?" I asked, my voice tired.

"Already done. I had one on reserve since you never think to actually drive your own car. It's the essential way of getting yourself trapped somewhere you don't want to be. Thankfully, you have me, and a car should reach you in a few minutes."

"Thanks," I murmured with a sigh, feeling completely and utterly drained.

"Wanna talk about it?" she asked softly, and I couldn't help feeling grateful for having such a good friend, even if she could be a bitch sometimes.

"Not particularly, no. I don't think I've quite wrapped my head around it myself. I think though...I think I may have just cut my ties with my family." My tone sounded slightly bewildered, even to me.

"Well, fuck me running, Eddiekins! I didn't think you had it in you. I hope you put your bastard of a step father in his place."

I gave a strained chuckle. "I may have told him to go fuck himself in Italian," I confided, and she snickered.

"Classic! It would have been better if you stuck to a language you know he knows for sure, but I'll give you props for drama."

I heard some talking in the background before Tanya came back on the line. "Hate to abandon you in your time of need, but my girlfriend's a needy bitch. Talk to you tomorrow and don't forget to tell me every detail when you do, you hear? Don't leave a thing out. Gotta go. Hope you can salvage the rest of your day. Love ya." And with that she was gone, and all I was left with was a dial tone.

...

I didn't really do much for the rest of the afternoon, just puttered around my apartment, a scotch in one hand, not really doing anything. The scotch burned my throat, but soothed my thoughts until they simmered down, buzzing quietly like background noise. I had changed into a pair of black and grey plaid, cotton sleep pants and a white wife beater, opting for comfort since I had no plans to go anywhere.

I switched the T.V. on, flicking through the channels, not pausing long enough to really see what was actually on, and wondered why I had so many channels when I hardly ever had time to watch them.

It didn't take long for me to fall to sleep, the scotch doing its job and making me feel drowsy. My eyelids felt heavy and I decided to just close for a few minutes. Not too long, but enough to get my bearings straight.

It was dark outside by the time I woke, shadows looming and casting themselves across the apartment and I sighed, my mind heavy and thick. It was probably how I passed over the figure perched on the arm of the couch, looking at me. I rubbed my eyes and hoisted my tired limbs up so that I leaning on my elbows, thinking that maybe I was imagining her.

"Bellezza?" I asked, confused, my voice hoarse.

"In the flesh," she murmured, her voice sounding loud in the quiet of the apartment. I let my eyes graze over her body, dragging them slowly down to the tartan patterned bra that her tits were practically spilling out of. She had a small, matching skirt that showed a hint of her panties, and her black stockings ended mid thigh.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, wondering if this was some sort of elaborate dream that my brain had conjured up.

"Tanya called me, saying that you needed me tonight. Somehow, I ended up agreeing and she gave me a key. So here I am." Her story made sense and I was starting to believe that she was actually here. I lifted up a hand and beckoned for her to come to me, the last of haze sleeping had caused, dropping away.

She slowly crawled up my body, brushing her thighs against mine, until she hovered over me. Her full, pouty lips parted slightly as she ducked her head down and started placing open-mouthed kisses along my neck.

"Let me take care of you, Papi," she murmured. "Let your little girl make it all better."

I groaned quietly and rested my hands on her hips as her hot, wet lips trailed across my jaw while her small hands rubbed along my chest. There was such a sweet satisfaction when her lips finally met mine and I let go of everything.

I was a man and no one could take that away from me, not without one hell of a fight.

Just tasting the plump, sweet flesh of her lips, sucking her bottom lip into my mouth as little pants left her, made me relax further into the couch. I hadn't even realized how much I needed this, how tense my muscles had been, until her fingers had dipped under my wife beater and dragged it up my chest, the heat of her hands saturating my skin.

I reluctantly pulled my lips away from hers so that she could pull it over my head, but as soon as it was off, my lips reclaimed hers, harder than before, but no less passionately.

She sighed in my mouth and let her hands slide down my body, her fingers tracing the lines of my muscles as I tilted my head to the side and swiped my tongue over her bottom lip, seeking entrance into her mouth. There was no hesitation in her movements as her lips parted, and I darted my tongue between them, meeting her own tongue and deepening the kiss.

I felt her hands on the waistband of my sleep pants and while my cock was stirring, I didn't want her undressing me just yet. My hand shot down and grasped both of her small hands in one of mine as I used my other hand to push myself up into a sitting position. She moaned and squirmed in my grip as I held her hands above her head and let my lips dip down along her throat.

My tongue laved over it and I groaned at the taste of strawberries and cream that seemed to burst in my mouth.

Her chest was pushed forward, the round globes of her tits given to me in a silent offering as I sucked and nipped on the exposed skin falling out of her bra.

I raised my hand to the clasp between her the round globes of her tits, and it was like Red Sea parting as it opened and fell away, allowing her tits to spill out freely. She whimpered as I took her right nipple into my mouth and fondled her other, loving the feel of the soft, pliable flesh in my hand.

Her hips rocked against me, seeking out friction, and we both moaned at the sensation of pleasure flooding us. I could feel the heat of her pussy through the thin fabric of my sleep pants and her panties, and I couldn't help but reciprocate by bucking my hips up.

I let the hand that was holding hers above her head slide down to discard her bra that hung limply on her shoulders. My fingers clawed at it impatiently, dragging it down her arms and throwing it somewhere behind me.

She used her new found freedom to touch me greedily, her little nails scratching against my nipples, making me hiss, and heading down to my waist.

"Let me take care of you, Papi," she begged, stroking the length of me through thin cotton of my sleep pants. My mouth fell open in a silent gasp and I fought to keep my eyes open.

"Yes, little one, take care of Papi," I groaned, shifting my hips upwards as I reclined back on my elbows, my eyelids finally giving up their battle to stay open.

She tugged on the waistband and I lifted my hips up as she pulled my sleep pants down my thighs, leaving me to kick them off as her hands wrapped around me. I gripped the cushion above my head, my fingers digging into the fabric as she started pumping me. My hips flexed up, moving in time with her strokes, and I panted, reveling in the pleasure as the last of the tension fell away like the discarding of a coat.

"Mmmm, your hands feel so good, Bellezza. Squeeze me tighter...yes, just like that...urgh."

She tightened her grip on me and twisted her hand once she reached the tip, intensifying the pleasure even more. I forced my eyes to open so I could watch her, and I twitched in her hands as I observed the way her brow furrowed in concentration and how the white pearls of her teeth dug into her bottom lip as her face moved closer and closer to my cock.

I was so glad that her hair was pulled back into braided pigtails so that my view wasn't obstructed and I thrust my hips up, bringing her mouth even closer to my cock, the swollen head leaking and almost begging for her to take it in her sweet mouth. Almost as if she could hear my thoughts, her tongue darted out, lapping up the pre-cum on the tip and making me groan and throb.

"Yes, Bellezza, more," I urged, my eyes transfixed on her pink, little tongue as it lapped at me like a kitten at its milk.

She was so young, so vital, and she gave me exactly what I needed. I needed someone to nurture and take care, but I also needed someone that was ready to serve me in whatever capacity I chose.

This was me. This was the man that my family didn't know. The man who I had to hide from everyone, all the while hating that it was my dirty, little secret. Was it so wrong that I needed the supple, fleshy curves of a woman and the innocence and naivety of a child?

She licked a fiery trail down my cock until she reached my balls, and I let out a strangled groan as she took one in her mouth, wrapping it in wet heat. Her hands never stopped their rhythm and my stomach muscles clenched as my orgasm neared.

Not wanting to cum so soon, I reached a hand down, nudging her head away from me. "Stop, little one," I commanded breathlessly, and she pulled away, looking up at me with confusion.

"Did I do something wrong, Papi?" she asked cautiously, and I sat up, a strained chuckle leaving me.

"Not at all; if anything it was too good. I just didn't want to cum so soon."

She seemed placated by my response and I placed little kisses along the length of her shoulder, making her relax into my body.

"Hmmm, Papi," she hummed as I sucked the skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder into my mouth and soothingly ran my hands up and down her back. I pulled back and lifted her up by her hips, resting her on the arm of the couch and spreading her legs. Shadows fell across her face as her tongue darted out and slid over her bottom lip, wetting it. It didn't take me long to realize that minuscule skirt was actually part of her panties and that her panties were actually a thong.

My hands gripped the ripe globes of her ass as I ducked my head down and licked a long line along the crotch of her panties. She breathed out a moan as I sucked her clit through the fabric and her hips rolled forward, pushing me deeper into her.

"That's my good little girl, don't hold back," I encouraged her as I pushed her thong aside to reveal the swollen, pink, glistening lips of her pussy. I watched in fascination as a little trickle of wetness dripped down from it, and with my mouth practically watering, I dived down to lick it up. My hands urged her forward as I licked and sucked enthusiastically at her pussy until she started rocking and swiveling her hips against my face, effectively fucking it.

Her hands threaded through my hair, grasping handfuls of it as she moved wantonly.

I could feel her juices dripping down my chin and coating my face. I felt almost light headed as my nose bumped into her clit, sending a new wave of arousal through her and thickening her scent as it wafted up my nose. It was completely intoxicating and I ate her out hungrily.

"So wet, Bellezza, always so wet," I mumbled against her skin before sucking her clit into my mouth

"For you, Papi," she panted. "Always for you."

A growl rumbled deep in my chest at her words and pleasure rippled through me, heading straight for my cock. Unable to take the throbbing pain of my erection any longer, I reared back, dragging in a deep breath, completely uncaring to the fact that my face was covered in her juices as I raised myself up on my knees and positioned myself between her thighs. She barely had time to protest at my departure from licking her pussy before I plunged into her, sliding in with ease.

Her hand moved to my shoulders, scraping and grabbing at the skin with her nails as I grasped onto her hips and started fucking her. Her mouth was hot and needy as she sucked and licked all her juices of my chin, cheeks, and even my nose, before crashing her lips to mine. She was nothing if not thorough as she sucked my bottom and then my top lip into her mouth before finishing off with my tongue, cleaning any residual arousal off of me.

If there was any feeling in the world that I couldn't get used to, it was the fierce grip of her hot, wet pussy as I pounded into her. I grunted in frustration as my body asked for more, telling me that this wasn't enough.

The ache of that knowledge sat deep in my groin and I pulled out of her, man handling her body so that I could maneuver her body so that she positioned on the opposite side of the couch, her hands resting on the arm and her ass high up in the air, held up by her knees.

I dragged her thong and little skirt down her thighs and shifted my position so that I was standing up with one foot - the knee bent - on the floor and the other kneeling on the couch. The leverage of my position was so much better as I slid back into her willing body, her walls automatically clenching down around me in a silent welcome.

No words were exchanged between us as I slammed into her, only to drag myself slowly out of her and repeat the process.

It wasn't long until she managed to whimper out a 'more,' and I obliged by speeding up my rhythm and going harder. I could hear the slick sounds of her pussy as I invaded it again and again. Beads of sweat trickled down the hard edge of my jaw and I could feel perspiration making a sheen of it down my back.

I forced her to take more of me, quicker and harder, and I reveled in the sound of her screams of pleasure as she pushed back against me, greeting every thrust. Desire bloomed inside me and I gripped the back of her neck tightly and wrenched her backwards, pulling her back flush to my front.

I lowered my mouth her ear, panting heavily in it as I stated my request. "Say my name," I whispered, not knowing where the desire stemmed from, but wanting her full lips to wrap around the syllables that, until now. She had never spoken it around me.

Her breath hitched and she hesitated for a split second before breathing, "Edward."

I twitched inside her, loving my name on her lips almost as much as I loved hearing her call me 'Papi.'

"Again," I demanded, my hand still gripping her neck, and she complied without hesitating this time.

"Edward." Her voice was stronger, more sure as she practically moaned out my name and I couldn't help but mouth her own name against her cheek.

I had never requested any of the other girls I had been with to use my given name-or, in fact, used theirs-since this was a form of role play and I wasn't Edward to them, but somehow this felt different. My fingers loosened their hold on her neck and she fell forward, barely managing to grip the arm as she almost collapsed. I blinked a few times, shaking away the moment, feeling almost as if I had just stepped out of the Twilight Zone or an alternative universe.

A shiver of something new shot down my back and I forced myself to concentrate on what I was doing, instead of allowing myself to get sucked into my thoughts like I so often did.

No one could have accused me of not putting every inch of effort into my thrusts as I sank into her repeatedly, the force of my thrusts pushing her, almost making her lose the precarious hold she had on the arm of the couch.

"Are you close?" I asked her, and she nodded vigorously.

"Yes," she moaned out, her walls spasming slightly around me in confirmation.

"Touch yourself," I ordered, and wasn't surprised when she paused, most likely remembering her punishment for touching herself without permission. I truly wasn't joking when I had told her that sitting would be a luxury she had to live without if she ever did it again. I tended to be a little possessive of what I thought belonged to me - never having learned to share as a child had left me a little selfish-and it was something that I doubted would change.

Finally, her hand moved under her body and slipped between my thighs, the tips of her fingers brushing against my cock in the process.

I could feel my body straining as the heat that coiled in my stomach moved down to my balls, making them tighten in response. My hands seemed to have a mind of their own as they ran over her body, cupping the soft, round curves of her tits, running up and down her back, and stroking her neck.

Her cries and screams got louder the closer she got her release, and I continued pounding into her, giving her no reprieve from my furious pace as I tried to hold off my own release that threatened to hit me at any moment.

"I'm going to cum," I warned her just before a shot of adrenaline and pleasure spiraled through me, darting through my body until it struck me deep in my groin. I threw my head back in ecstasy, a snarl ripping through me as I pulsed in thick, heavy streams, emptying myself deep in her pussy as it clenched down around me, gripping me tighter.

Shudders wracked through my body as my eyes rolled back into their sockets and my eyelids fluttered shut, the blood thumping in my ears drowning out her screams. I practically collapsed on the couch, the leg on the floor almost giving out once my orgasm had passed. I slipped out of her body, narrowly missing falling on her as I braced myself against the couch on either side of her.

My arms shook as I held myself up and I twisted to lie on my side as she slid down onto her stomach, thankful that my couch was so large. I pulled her to me, not caring about our sweaty bodies as I pressed against her.

She sighed in contentment, and I found myself feeling drained of all energy, even after my nap. My hand stroked through her hair languidly, knowing just how much she liked it and she hummed, moving even closer to me as I slung my free arm over her waist. It took me a moment to realize that we were spooning, and thoughts of our weekend together and how she had curled up to me in her sleep, flittered absently through my mind.

It seemed that underneath all that armor she carried, there was just a girl wanting a bit of real affection directed her way, but had gotten lost.

I buried my face in the side of her neck, inhaling deeply as my heavy eyelids slowly slid shut, slowly dragging me into sleep.

I woke up about - what I estimated to be - an hour later to find myself alone and naked, a blanket thrown over my body for modesty. I sighed, running my hands over my face, knowing that if it wasn't for the fact that I was butt naked on my very expensive leather couch, I would have thought her presence had been a dream.

I sat up slowly, stretching my muscles and yawning.

"Bellezza?" I called out, wondering she was still here, but only silence greeted me. I couldn't stop the disappointment from seeping through as I lay back down, chastising myself for thinking that she would actually stay. I wasn't sure for how long she was meant to stay for, but I doubted she wanted to stick around to watch an old guy sleep.

Just then I heard the sound of the toilet flush, sending a spark of hope through me. The light sound of her feet seemed to match the beat of my heart as she came into view, wearing only my wife beater.

"Hey, you're up," she said, giving me a smile as she nervously tugged on the hem of my wife beater, trying to pull it lower over her thighs. "I hope you didn't mind me borrowing you shirt, I can always-"

"Its fine," I said, cutting off her nervous ramblings. "I thought you'd left," I added after a moment of silence and her eyes - which had been moving around room, refusing to settle on one thing - darted up to mine and widened slightly.

"I can leave if you want. It's understandable that you don't want me here-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," I said, sitting up and holding up a hand to stop her. "I want you here, okay?" I admitted, though I doubted she understood the full context of what I was saying. I had seen her like this briefly on our weekend together and I wondered what it was about me that made her nervous since she usually acted like a confident and independent woman.

"Oh, ummm, okay," she finally responded and I lay back, resting my hands behind my head.

"Join me," I requested, trying not to demand her immediate presence by me, but the firm note in my voice didn't really leave any questions. She slid onto the couch next to me, pressing up against me, looking almost relieved that I had made the decision for her, instead of leaving her to guess.

My hand went to her hair, picking up where I had left off before I fell asleep, and she purred in appreciation before snuggling up to me further.

The Twilight Zone feeling was back in full force, and I wondered just what was happening between me and Isabella.