Ex Delicto Chapter 29

I doubt you care what I say up here, so...

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I lunged for Edward as his eyes widened. Fisting his shirt front in my hands, I brought him down closer to my level and attacked his throat. His hands stroked my back, moving my hair to nibble on my ear.

"Oh, fuck, Bella, are you sure?" he growled.

I nodded against him, shoving my hands in his hair and going for his mouth. My body was writhing against his without conscious effort, and he groaned against my mouth. I couldn't get enough of him, couldn't get close enough. I was practically climbing him like a jungle gym in my effort to get more.

"I need you, God, Edward," I panted against his skin.

"If you're absolutely sure this is what you want, then I'm going to fuck you so hard, Bella."

My panties flooded with my arousal, and I'm pretty sure a whimper escaped. We were a tangle of teeth and tongues, hands grasping and groping and yanking off clothes. A few of my buttons went flying, and I think I ripped his shirt. When we were mostly undressed, I pulled his hands to my breasts to encourage him. He tugged my nipples, and I gasped loudly in the relative silence. Edward took control, turning me around and placing my hands on the handrail, pulling my hips back and running his fingertips over my ass.

When he lined up behind me, I met his eyes in the mirrored panel of the elevator and saw his face the moment he pushed inside me. It was glorious, a carnal reconnecting and letting go of the past.

"Fucking gorgeous, you're so fucking gorgeous," he ground out. His hands molded to my tits as they bounced, and I wasn't conscious of one moment from the next as my orgasm came barreling into me. I felt like I was weightless, only held to reality by the man pounding into me. It was surreal, and sweaty, and perfect.

"Bella." He sounded urgent as his movements sped erratically.

"I know, baby. Let go. Let it go."

With a roar, he stilled with his hips so tight to my body, his grip almost brutal. My head fell forward and we lost our shared gaze. Edward stepped away from me and staggered back to the other side of the elevator. I giggled at the thought of his ass print on the shiny metal.

"We have to get out of here," I laughed. I felt euphoric. Cleansed.

He smirked, grabbing his clothing and tossing mine at me. We tried to fix our attire, but it was hopeless. Edward kissed me, little pecks on my smiling mouth. When he hit the button to start the elevator, I snorted at the idea that there was little to no security to help out if there'd been a real problem, and no security cameras.

We walked back to the parking garage, since I'd ditched the idea of paperwork for now. I was buoyant as we swung our hands between us. "You're my lobster," I commented.

Edward looked at me with his brows raised. "Your what? Are you saying you're hungry?"

I laughed again, thinking that he'd missed out on that particular pop culture reference while being a studious nerd. "It's a reference to the myth that lobsters mate for life. I am hungry, though, so I say Chinese takeout so we can binge watch Friends."

"Whose friends are we watching?"

"Oh, hell no." I checked his face, and the corners of his mouth twitched. "I knew it!"

"I've seen a few episodes, and I know which one you're referring to. There are plenty of animals that mate for life, by the way. Wolves, owls, penguins, for example. And swans."

"Good to know," I grinned.

When we settled ourselves in my car, I turned to look at him. "I just want to say something that's been on my mind since my last therapy session." He raised his eyebrows and waited patiently. I took a deep breath. "When I was… spiraling. I should've thought of your pain, all the time you spent locked up for a crazy man's ego. You had it worse than I did, and I broke all over you as though your suffering was less than mine."

"That's not how I saw it. Everyone goes through hard times. I would never tell my mother that her issues with my father are less important because I spent ten years in prison. Your kidnapping doesn't need to be compared to my imprisonment."

"I love you."

"I know." He smirked.

I laughed, realizing what an extraordinary thing it was that we'd found each other. Fate was funny that way.

I received a letter in the mail a few days later informing me that my client had been awarded a sum of money from the state, and when I flipped to the second page, the copy of Edward's check had me sitting heavily on my couch. I had my phone in my hand in the next moment, calling Edward at the IP to ask if he'd had his mail forwarded somewhere.

"Yeah, to your place. Why?"

I shook my head, knowing he couldn't see me. "Our place. Because I got a letter regarding my client today, and I wondered where your copy was."

"Oh? What's it about?"

I could hear that he was distracted, working on whomever was lucky enough to have Edward and his quick mind on their case. "Um, you know, just a copy of your check for ten million dollars."

"That's nice… Wait, what the hell did you say?" His voice rose an octave as what I'd said sunk in.

"Yeah. I'm assuming yours will come with an armed guard and require a signature," I joked.

"Holy fuck," he whispered. "Do you know what this means, Bella?"

I did know. We'd discussed it thoroughly, and I knew what he wanted to do with any money he received from the state.

"I sure do, love. It's going to be awesome."

"I have to tell Lara. She's going to be so surprised when I tell her she gets half. After I pay back Mom and Dad for all they spent on lawyers, I can give the rest to that sexual assault victims charity, RAINN." He was quiet for a minute, and I let him think. "We have to have a dinner to remind people what a worthy cause the Innocence Project is. If I can turn over that much money, others can surely donate their time."

"I think that's a wonderful idea. Maybe you should wait to tell her until the dinner, then. You can make a speech about the work that we all do, and then hand over the money."

"It would make for a great excuse to get you dressed up. Although I don't know about speaking in front of a room full of people." He sounded nervous, the sweet man.

"You can do it, I have faith in you." I smiled at the whole idea.

"I know you do, but ugh. I guess I better start writing it. I bet Mom would love to help plan the event." He sounded more and more excited as he spoke. It was just like him to think of others first, to not want to accept anything for himself.

"We can talk about it when you get home. It hasn't even come yet, baby." His excitement was contagious, though, and I found myself thinking about that event and what it could look like.

I'd picked another case to throw myself into, and I felt rejuvenated with the work I was doing. It felt more important to work with them full time, and I was considering quitting my job to devote my time to those in positions like Edward had been. I knew we needed to invite past cases to the dinner to celebrate their lives, too. It felt like everything was falling into place.

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It was Isao84 that reminded me of Friends and the lobster quote. Thanks, sweetie!

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