A/N: Hey everone! Hope you've all been enjoying your summer. Mine has been good so far, shuffling the kiddies back and forth between camp and summer activities and lounging by the pool any chance I get.
And speaking of lounging by the pool…
Sometimes you need a good, steamy story to keep you company while doing just so…;)
This one will be sixteen chapters, including an epilogue, and will update EVERY DAY MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. (NO UPDATES ON WEEKENDS). It will be ANGST-FREE.
Betad by the lovely Michelle Renker Rhodes.
Most characters belong to S. Meyer
Chapter 1 Blessing in Disguise
"Girl, get that garter higher up! Make that man hunt for that shit tonight!"
Alice rolls my lacey, baby-blue garter higher up my thigh, hitching it way past the white thigh-high under my long, white dress.
"Alice, you roll that thing any higher, and it'll be wrapped around my vajayjay."
"Isn't that the idea?" Rose says.
We all laugh. Behind me, Rose puts the finishing touches on my hair.
When Alice is done with her adjustments, I hook a finger under the garter, gazing at myself through the full-length mirror before me. My sleeveless wedding dress hugs my breasts and hips perfectly before flowing gracefully down to my ankles. Despite my petite height, the long, stiletto heels on my white Diors elongate my legs and give my calves a sexy curve. They won't show under my dress, but after the wedding…he'll see it all. I let the elastic garter snap against my thigh and then let go of the hem of my dress, watching it all fall into place. My light skin has a natural, rosy glow, enhanced by Rose's expert touch, and my long, auburn hair has been styled in an intricate up do of braids and loose spirals. A pleased grin spreads across my face, stretching wider when I think of tonight.
"Anyway, Mike'll probably be exhausted after the wedding and tonight's reception." I chuckle. "Poor guy won't have the energy to hunt for anything. I'll just show him exactly where everything is."
"You mean you're going to make it easy for him tonight?" Alice asks, looking horrified.
"Yeah," I say, shrugging my bare shoulders. "We'll both be too tired for games."
"Are you kidding me? Tonight's your wedding night, your first night as husband and wife! That man better fuck you within an inch of your life! I'm talking deviance, role-playing, he's the hunter, you're the prey, the whole nine yards!"
I glare at Alice through the mirror while Rose smoothes out my dress.
"Sure, Alice," I say. "I'd be willing to bet that you and Jasper didn't do all that on your wedding night."
"Then you'd lose – big time." She chuckles heartily.
"Alice is right, Bella," Rose says. "You'd better forget about how exhausted this wedding and tonight's party's going to leave you cuz if Mike's anything like Emmett was on our wedding night, Girl, you're going to be walking bowlegged for the rest of your honeymoon."
"Amen to that!" Alice says.
They both laugh hysterically.
"Ugh, I really didn't need to hear that about my brother."
"I'm sorry, but I've said it before, and I'll say it again," Rose says, "that brother of yours is hung like a-"
"Alright, alright!" I cover my ears. "Anyway, we've got our entire honeymoon for that."
"Oh yeah," Alice laughs. She closes one eye as if in deep concentration. "Hold on…I predict…that on that honeymoon…" – she opens up both eyes once more – "…you will get fucked within an inch of your life!"
The three of us fall into hysterics once again. Laughing, I move in closer to the mirror, examining myself and the shade of nude Rose put on my mouth.
"I think I need another coat of lipstick," I murmur while my two best friends slash bridesmaids now compare honeymoon notes behind me. Walking to the makeup bag lying open on the vanity table, I see my cellphone resting next to it, and I light up the screen out of habit. There's a message from Mike, sent five minutes ago.
Bella, I'm sorry, but I can't do this.
My brow furrows, but then I relax them because I don't want any of those crack lines showing through my foundation.
Hey, Hon. Can't do what? I reply.
I'm not coming, he responds thirty seconds later.
"Mike, Honey, we don't have time for jokes," I mutter to myself as I type out my response.
Mike, you need to hurry up. The ceremony starts in ten minutes!
I set the cell phone down and turn around just as my mom walks into the dressing room.
"Oh my God, you look absolutely perfect!" she says, dissolving into tears.
"Mom," I smile while walking towards her.
"And the church looks perfect, and Mike is going to look just perfect! Everything's going to work out perfectly! I can feel it in my bones!"
More tears.
"Mom." I make to wrap my arms around her.
"Isabella Swan-soon-to-be-Newton, don't you dare touch your mother!" Rose warns behind me. "She's already a mess of mascara, and she'll get it all over you, and then you'll wrinkle your dress, and I didn't just slave over you for the past three hours for you to ruin it all before you're even down the aisle!"
"She's right; she's right!" Mom waves me off, her bottom lip quivering weakly while she drags a finger under each eye. "Stay away from me."
My cell phone vibrates, and Alice picks it up from the vanity, glancing at the screen.
"It's Mike," she says.
I huff impatiently as I take the phone. "Mike, the ceremony starts in five minutes! Where are you?"
"Bella…I'm not coming."
"Come on, Mike, that's not funny," I say, shaking my head. "You can crack jokes later at the reception. Right now, we've got over a hundred people waiting." My finger hovers over the 'end call' button.
"Bella!"
"What?" I snap.
"I'm not coming. I can't do this."
My body stiffens.
"Bella…I'm sorry. I just can't."
"What exactly are you saying?"
Rose and Alice must see something in my expression because they both approach me instantly.
"It was fun when we got engaged, all the preparations and planning, and then the honeymoon…but when I woke up this morning…Bella, I've been nauseous all day!"
"Then take some fucking Pepto and get your ass over here!" I hiss. "Look, you're nervous; I get it. So am I. But we'll have ten days in Key West after this to relax and shed all the months of stress-"
"Bella, what's going on?" Mom asks.
"Bella, it's not that! I don't want to go to Key West with you! I don't want to relax with you! I don't want to marry you! I don't want to be your husband! I don't want to be with you anymore, Bella! I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH YOU!"
A sharp gasp escapes me, and cold dread seeps into my veins. Alice reaches for my hand, the corners of her eyes filling with moisture. Rose smoothes back my hair. My mom starts crying again.
"Mike, we've got over a hundred people outside," I say, my voice barely above a whisper, "and three hundred expected at the reception."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"You're sorry," I say.
"Look, you'll thank me for this later. I'm saving us both here."
I snort. "Really? Saving us. You're not the one who's going to have to announce to a church full of expectant wedding guests that they spent hours sifting through a wedding registry for nothing and then trekked all the way over here to waste even more of their time."
"I'm sorry."
"You're sorry."
"Bella…" I hear him sigh on the other end. "I'm going away for a while. Maybe you should do the same. Take those honeymoon tickets and-"
"And what?"
"And…just…go clear your head. Trust me, after you get over the initial shock, you'll see I'm doing the right thing - for the both of us."
"What do you know about doing the right thing? What do you know about me?"
"Not enough, Bella. That's the problem."
And then, the line goes dead.
A/N: Thoughts?
Anyway, this will post again tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that, etc., through Friday. Then we take a break for the weekend, and start again. :)
This will also post simultaneously on fiction pad.
Twitter: PattyRosa817
Link to 'Stories by PattyRose' is on my profile page.
See you all tomorrow!