Disclaimer: I am not Stephenie Meyer. This was intended to be an entry for the Dirty Talking Edward contest, but I got cold feet. So beware… filthy talk ahead.

Really, it was their boss's fault.

How many meetings had they sat through, Edward on one side of the table, Bella on the other, while their boss let one after another accidentally filthy statement tumble from her mouth?

Bella felt bad. She was supposed to be a grown, professional woman, not a twelve year old boy trying not to giggle at accidental dirty words. But really, the woman was throwing things out there like, "You gotta hit them hard and fast. Over and over."

When she said, "You really have to ram your point down their throat." Bella thought she was going to lose it for sure.

That was when she heard a noise, a muffled chortle. For a brief second, she panicked, thinking she'd actually let a titter loose, but then she realized Edward had his hand over his mouth, no doubt hiding his laughter.

Their eyes met across the table, and she smiled.

Edward Cullen worked around the corner from her in the cubicle farm. Bella knew who he was because his cubicle was far and away her favorite in the office. It was wall to wall, floor to the top of his cubicle covered in hardcore nerd wallpaper. The fact that a lot of what he had up was fanart told Bella he either went to a lot of conventions or Etsy knew his address by heart. Star Wars, Star Trek, Firefly, The X-Files, Supernatural, Doctor Who, Sherlock... they were all represented.

And though they should have had a thousand things to talk about, the few times Bella had come face to face with Edward, she'd found herself tongue-tied. The first time she'd seen his cubicle, she'd stared for minutes, trying to take it all in. She'd stared for so long, she didn't hear him approach, and when she'd turned around, she'd been face to face with the stubble on his chin. And his pursed lips. And then, behind the thick black glasses he wore, his soft green eyes.

"Hi. Um. Great...stuff. Sorry." That was what she'd stuttered before she made for her own cubicle. Aside from that, they'd both murmured soft, "Hi's" to each other when politeness and accidental eye contact dictated, but they'd never spoken.

Bella ducked her head, pretending to write something on the pad of paper in front of her. This man was the boy on the playground who'd tugged her pigtails; the grade school note: do you like me, check yes or no; the wondering if that cute boy from her middle school history class even knew her name, let alone that yes, yes, yes she would absolutely go to the dance with him if only he asked.

Why was she so twitterpated and stupid around him? It was ridiculous.

She was a grown woman and it didn't matter that he was some Clark Kent looking, super-nerd. He was just a man. They'd had a moment. They had things in common. They were co-workers. It was high time she had at least the obligatory small talk conversation with him. If opportunity presented itself, of course.

That kind of thought always got her into trouble. Such as after the meeting when they were all having the usual catered sandwich and salad lunch. She found herself backing away from another coworker of hers, Mike, who was persistently trying to get in her bubble space. She stepped back, back, back, nodding at him but not engaging in conversation. He wasn't getting the hint. And then she backed into something softer than a wall.

Bella whirled. "I'm-"

Her apology died on her lips because she was standing so close to Edward Cullen, her feet were in between his. She was face to face with his stubble, so close she would just have to tilt her head an inch or so to be nuzzling him.

She stumbled backward. "Sorry." Her heart was pounding way out of control. His eyes were still on her, and she couldn't seem to look away.

"No blood, no foul." His voice was quiet. Hesitant, almost shy. Their stare-off broke when another coworker reached in between them to get to the Pepsi bottle on the counter. Edward and Bella readjusted, both moving out of the way and, to Bella's relief, away from Mike. The conference room was clearing out, people taking their meals to their desks or the break room to eat.

"So," she said.

"So," he answered.

He rubbed the back of his neck, and she shuffled her feet. Her body was tensed to run, and that was stupid.

Small talk. You promised, the voice in her head admonished.

But rather than something innocuous like the weather, her tongue chose a different subject. "So I'm not the only one, huh?"

His brows furrowed. "Only one who what?"

Embarrassed, not really understanding why she was talking about this, Bella waved a hand in the vague direction of their boss. "The way she talks."

Bella was relieved when she saw realization dawn on his face. "If she's not doing it on purpose or out of some sort of sexual frustration, she has a talent." Edward smiled. "Then again, I've had my fair share of moments. My brother's one talent is making me look like a pervert." He shook his head. "More often than not, I don't even see them coming..."

"Well, if you don't see them coming, it's probably because you're inside them at the time."

Edward sucked in a breath, and Bella's eyes went wide when she realized what she'd said. Her cheeks flamed. He laughed that uncomfortable kind of laugh when the situation has gotten awkward and heavy and the air was thick.

"I, um..." He huffed again, but his lips turned up. "There's a perfect thing to say here. I can feel it on the tip of my tongue. It's frustrating how hard this is."

She should have been able to laugh, but she couldn't. The air around them was aflame, licking at her cheeks and coiling in the pit of her stomach. She saw when realization dawned on his face, when he heard what he'd said as it sounded when one's mind was several feet under the gutter. His cheeks turned the color Bella's felt, but his eyes swept over her face and down. His lips parted, his breath stuttered, and that was when it occurred to Bella her nipples were hard.

And he could see.

When he looked back up in her eyes, she felt as if he could see every image his words had brought on. The tip of his tongue. What might be hard and what frustrations she could help him relieve. She could have said any number of things. She wanted to.

But she didn't understand what was happening between them, didn't know how to react. His mouth opened and closed. She wondered if he was having the same problem finding words that wouldn't turn into sexual innuendos.

"Hey, Cullen."

They both jumped, startled and turned so they were leaning against the counter rather than toward each other. Bella grabbed blindly for a bottle of water and drank half of it before she breathed again.

Not daring to look at Edward, she made a beeline for the door.

~0~

Bella had never been good at this sort of thing. She'd never been the kind of girl who was able to tell when someone was attracted to her. She'd never been smooth enough to flirt. This whole thing with Edward had her in a tongue-tied, befuddled loop.

It had gotten to the point that her body had a physical reaction to the sight of him. Her cheeks heated, and that was understandable. Hadn't she embarrassed herself with their last exchange? But it was everything else that made the air between them... not awkward but just... different. Heavy. Intense. Heated. Electric.

She had no idea how to explain it. There was no rational reason why, when he entered a room, every other conversation turned to ambient noise. There was no reason her blood began to hum, and her body turned on. She felt more aware of everything. She felt the cold air of the air conditioning against the fine hairs on her arm. She felt the ground beneath her feet and most of all, she felt his gaze on her like a physical weight.

He could pin her in place with his gaze alone.

But like her, he seemed frozen. She watched his mouth work, but no words came out. Could it be he was at as much at a loss? Was he struggling, like her, to find rationality and reason?

Whatever was happening between them, could it be he was just as bad at talking it out as she was?

Weeks passed like this.

One day, Bella was in the supply closet. Edward had barely even looked her way all week, though she told herself they were all under deadlines. The end of the quarter was always a busy time. She was stretched up on her tiptoes, trying to reach a box on the top shelf. She didn't hear the door open, so when a warm hand pressed to her back she almost fell.

He caught her wrists before she dropped her hands to her side, and he kept them extended. He stepped up behind her, her back brushing his chest, and he pinned each of her hands spread above her against the metal shelving unit.

Bella opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She should have been frightened, but she wasn't. She should have told him to get his hands off her, but she didn't. She was frozen, and he seemed to be equally caught in this moment they were having. His breath was hot and ragged against her ear. She heard very distinctly when he swallowed before he finally spoke.

"I don't just want to see you naked."

Bella gasped, a thrill going down her spine when his voice rumbled so low, her skin nearly vibrated. He curled her fingers purposefully around the shelf, his silent instruction clear. When he let her go, she hung on, though she had no earthly idea why.

With his hands free now, he stepped even closer. He drew his finger down her hair, pressed the pad against her neck, before he touched her sides. "I want to see you exposed."

Bella bit the inside of her cheek. Her mouth was open but still no sound came out. Her breath came in shallow pants.

Edward drew his fingers up her sides, following the line of her arms up to her wrists. "I like you like this because your hands get in the way of things I want to see." His hands came back down, reaching around to ghost across her breasts. "To feel."

Again he pressed closer to her so her torso was pinned against the lower shelf. He used his feet to guide her legs apart. "And like this, so I can see all the places I want to fuck you, so I can take my time deciding." His hands were traveling lower, and Bella whimpered when his fingers rested just above her waistline. The tiny room might as well have been on fire.

Before she could beg him to go further, before he could speak again, conversation from outside got closer. He stepped away from her, and Bella exhaled in a gust.

By the time she could remember how to move, he was gone.

~0~

This was not normal. This was not how normal, human adults did things. This wasn't how normal people reacted when they were attracted to each other.

And that was about the only thing Bella had figured out about what was going on. She was attracted. Edward was attracted. They were enthralled. Obsessed. The only language he'd found was that of the debauched. He'd tried to speak to her normally. When they ran into each other in the hall or in the break room, he opened his mouth but no words came out. And for Bella, the extent of her ability to communicate was limited to the fact she let him. She didn't turn away, didn't stop him when he touched her and whispered filthy things in her ear.

But when he did, Edward was brazen. Just before their weekly meeting he would step close to her, intimately close, holding a folder in front of her as though he was showing her something. He ducked his head, to speak in a rumble near her ear.

"I want you on your back on my desk, spread so wide I can see right to your center."

Bella's whole body seized. Her eyes darted around, but no one else was even looking in their direction. He'd spoken directly in her ear, so no one heard above the din of conversation in the room.

"I think I could exist on the sweet nectar of your body for days." If anything, his voice dropped even lower. He continued, "Would you like that? Would you like my head between your thighs, lapping from your pussy?"

At the head of the room, their boss called the meeting to order, and Bella jumped away from Edward. His polite smile would have had her thinking she must have imagined that just happened, except his eyes were dark and mischievous. He held his folder strategically in front of his pants. He pulled out her chair, and Bella sat woodenly, her eyes frozen on his for several long seconds.

"Okay," their boss said. Bella's head snapped to the front. "Mike, do you have the figures we talked about?"

Bella tried to listen, but it was difficult.

She felt when Edward leaned in close, and her breath caught in her throat. "Do you think I could find your g-spot with my tongue?" he whispered.

After that, it was impossible.

~0~

He caught her alone in the breakroom next. This time she heard the door click shut. She froze in anticipation. His footfalls were quick but quiet. Bella's breath left her in a huff, unreasonable disappointment flooding her as he came to stand not behind her but beside her at the sink.

Bella took a moment to regroup. Maybe this time she could find her voice.

Anything she was about to say died on her lips when she felt his hand on her ass. Her body braced, and she waited for his smooth voice in her ear.

"Don't think I'm above kissing a little ass."

Bella breathed out through her nose, gripping her hands tight on the counter to keep herself upright. It was hard to concentrate on anything when she had no idea what would come out of his mouth next. His hands strummed her ass gently, up and down, sending waves of pleasure throughout her body. "How do you feel about a little ass kissing, Bella?" He moved his hand to cup one ass cheek in full. "My lips here." He cupped the other. "Here."

He stepped sideways so his body was against hers. Bella whimpered in surprise when he dragged the pad of his finger down her ass crack. "My tongue here."

Bella was dizzy. It wasn't something she'd ever thought of before and yet...

"And my fingers..." His hand cupped her between her legs, two fingers finding where she was hottest. He pushed, and she muffled a moan against tightly closed lips. "Right here."

Again, the moment was broken by talking outside and the sound of the doorknob turning. Edward stepped to the side, and Bella found she was too wobbly to move. She breathed in and out slowly as two of her coworkers came in, ignoring them and jabbering with each other as they congregated by the coffee machine. Bella's nostrils flared in irritation. She wanted them to leave, and she wanted to know how, while she was struggling to keep herself upright, Edward could be at the sink, calmly washing his coffee cup as if he hadn't been whispering to her about rimming just a few scant seconds earlier.

When he turned to walk away she grabbed his wrist, holding him still. He looked at her. She stared back at him. The expression in his eyes was a mirror of what she felt - all fire and need and the certain knowledge that if the other two weren't in the room, Edward and Bella would be on the floor in a pile of ripped clothes and writhing, naked limbs.

~0~

It was one of those things that the longer they didn't talk about it, the harder it was to broach the subject. And the harder it was to think about anything except Edward, to feel anything but the anticipation of the next time he would touch her, the next scene he would set in her head.

The things he said. Things she never would have thought about and, if she did, she wouldn't have thought they could be sexy. Some of the things, if anyone had thought to do them to her, Bella would have run the other direction, but Edward's voice, husky in her ear, just talking...

At this point, he was going to make her come with words alone.

It was ridiculous and strange and amazing and wonderful and the sexiest thing Bella had ever been involved in - ever. Work was torture. Her body was alive and desperate for touch. His touch. Desperate for more than just words, but she didn't know how to bridge that gap. She didn't even know if she should because she wasn't that girl. She wasn't that girl who craved only sex, and she was confused. She thought of the Edward who had a million different nerd posters at his desk, who giggled like a twelve-year-old at their boss's accidental innuendos. She thought she could like that Edward, but who had time to think about that when she was hornier than she'd ever been in her life?

It had been nearly a month of … whatever the hell this was, when Bella found the will to act. To do something. She was at her computer, and she hadn't gotten past the the first paragraph of the document she had been editing all morning. All because she could hear him. He was talking to a client. He had been for a good hour and a half. She could hear his frustration, could hear the rumble of his voice, if not the words.

And she was turned on. Her nipples were hard. Her panties were soaked. She knew damn well he was talking technicalities and coding, but she was hearing all the horribly dirty things he'd said to her.

She was done. She was just done. This had to change or she was going to combust. Explode. At the very least, she was going to lose her job due to the inability to concentrate, and that was stupid.

Pissed, Bella stood. She couldn't hear his rumble anymore. She took a shaky breath and strode in the direction of his cubicle with a purpose.

He was sitting there at his desk, one hand to his eyes, his glasses pushed up by his knuckles as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He was gorgeous and it was all Bella could do to not straddle him right there at his desk.

She cleared her throat. When he opened his eyes, she could see how instantly the tired irritation melted into surprise and... yes. Lust. He felt it. Even then, with their co-workers milling all around, he felt it. There was a magnetism between them, and though they were both pulling back, trying to tame it, they were too close now.

Bella crooked her finger, silently beckoning to him. She wakeded away. He followed. Bella's heart pounded against her chest. She got into the elevator and they stood side by side. His fingertips brushed hers. Bella fisted a bit of her shirt in her other hand to keep herself from grabbing him, pulling him toward her.

When they got down to the parking garage, she walked quickly. She could hear his footsteps, echoing off the concrete-enclosed space. Finally, finally, they were around a corner to a darkened space where only one car ever parked. It was not-quite-lunchtime. Everyone was working. They were alone.

Bella spun on her heel and grabbed him by his jacket. She pulled him to her, and his body hit hers like a brick wall. She was knocked breathless, but that didn't stop her from finding his mouth and latching on. Who needed to breathe? There was nothing but his lips moving with hers. For long seconds, it was as though their bodies didn't know where to start. They moved their lips hungrily, as if trying to find the best way to come at their kisses. It wasn't a matter of awkward. Each position was better than the last, but they couldn't settle. Bella had been thinking of exactly this for so long, she really didn't know what to do with herself. Her hands gripped at his jacket, his shirt, around to his back, and up to his neck. Edward was no better. His hands were in her hair, down to the small of her back, further down to cup her ass and bring her tighter against him.

They grappled. He tasted amazing. Better than anything she'd imagined. Whether she fell back or he pushed her, Bella didn't know. Somehow, she found herself pressed up against the wall with his body pinning hers. She lifted a leg, hitching it around him, and his hand was there on her thigh.

But finally the need to breathe burned in her lungs and overrode her need to know, to memorize every way he could touch her. She groaned into his mouth. If only they didn't need to breathe. They'd only barely touched a fraction of the whole they were capable of.

He slumped, pulling her to the side so they were both leaning up against the pillar, still wrapped in each others arms. He blinked as they panted. His eyes were dilated. He was as undone as she was, and there was comfort in that.

Maybe they were going to hell, but they were riding in the same handbasket.

Edward sighed and leaned in again. His lips brushed hers. "You make me so crazy I can't even think straight, you know that? Hmm?"

Bella huffed against his lips. She thought she had some idea, but she didn't say so. "Tell me," she said, her voice breathless.

His kiss was sweet. He paused.

It wasn't enough. She knew it. He knew it.

He kissed her again, his hands gripped so tightly around her arms, she wouldn't be surprised if he left bruises, but she welcomed the pressure. Without it, she swore she would get lost in the intensity of his kiss. Her whole body was alive, aware of his, calling for him.

Only when he'd kissed her so thoroughly she forgot what she'd asked did he release her lips. He spun her around. With his hand on the middle of her back, he pushed her over the hood of the lone car. He was over her the next second, his body bending along with hers. Her palms were flat on the metal. He was pressed up against her, his head next to hers.

"You want me to tell you what you do to me? You're sure you want to know?"

"Tell me what you think about." She swallowed hard. Her head was swimming, but she was done being silent. "You've been driving me crazy all month."

"This last month? Oh, little girl. You have no idea how long you've plagued me." He took the lobe of her ear between his teeth, biting down. His hands were between them, rough on her ass, grabbing, kneading. "Every day, Bella. Every day for months. All I could think about was how much I wanted you. It pissed me off." His lips were against her ear, his every word like a physical entity that hit every nerve ending she had. "You know what I think?"

"Tell me."

"I think you deserve to be punished."

His words were a growl that sent a rush of fear followed by a thrill of excitement.

For a moment, his weight was gone from her. She heard a clink and a rustle before his belt landed on the car in front of her face. "See this? You want to know what I thought of? I thought of bending you over your desk, just like this, and painting your pretty white ass with blue and purple stripes."

Bella turned her head into the hood of the car to hide her moan. She should be frightened, but she wasn't. She understood. She understood the... violence of the emotion she felt for him, the need that was maddening, the irrational anger.

Edward pushed his hips into hers, his erection obvious against her ass. "I wanted you to feel what I felt. How painful it was to see you every day and not to touch you. You drove me out of my mind. The filthy, depraved things I've thought about, Bella..." He reached out, wrapping his hand in a fist around the belt. Bella's body jolted against his. She wasn't at all sure he wasn't going to use it after all.

She wasn't at all sure she would protest if he did. She wasn't sure of anything about herself or what the fuck they were doing anymore.

"That's what I wanted," Edward continued. "One strike for every debased fantasy, every time the things I imagined made me feel like the world's biggest pervert. I wanted you to feel the sting." He straightened up slightly, keeping one hand splayed between her shoulders while he caressed her ass with the other. "And when your ass is on fire, I'm going to take you from behind so you feel it down to your bones every time I slam my cock deep inside you."

"Oh, god. Oh, god. Oh, god."

He bucked his hips against her, and he growled. It was such an animalistic sound. He bent his body over hers, his head next to hers. "Bella, Bella, Bella. This is driving me insane."

Bella bucked her body up against his chest, and he followed her silent direction, standing enough so she could wiggle around. When she was facing the other direction. She sat back on the car, and cupped his face in her hands. She brought him back to her and kissed him again, spreading her legs so his body fit between them.

"Why do you let me say these things to you?" he asked. For once, he sounded lost. Lost, confused, even scared. But his hands were firm at her side, and he dipped his head to scrape his teeth along her neck.

"I... I don't know."

"You have to know."

Bella whimpered as his teeth closed down along her neck. Her hands were in his hair. She tugged. "I want you," she whispered.

"What part of me?"

She understood what he was asking. Did she just want this heady lust or did she want more? She knew instinctively she could have him any which way she wanted.

Bella dropped her hands to his shoulders, then to his upper arms. "I want you."

He froze, his arms around her, his lips moist at her neck. He shook beneath her hands, his breath a shudder against her skin. Then he stepped back. His hands were still at her waist. He was still so close she could feel his heat, but not so close that she felt like he was about to devour her.

"So... do you, um." He swallowed hard and rested his forehead against hers as if he needed to touch her in as many ways as possible even though he was obviously trying to overcome his more hormonal urges. "Do you maybe want to get a cup of coffee with me?"

Bella couldn't help it. She giggled. He chuckled. Then both of them were cracking up. He pulled her up off the car, cradling her close. He kissed the tip of her nose. She sighed. "What don't I want to do with you."

He growled and his hands went down to her ass. He squeezed. "Dammit, Bella. Don't start that again."

She pushed up onto her tiptoes to kiss him again. "Yes. Let's get coffee. After work. Today."

He grinned. "Today." He sighed again and kissed her one more time before he reluctantly let her go. Bella watched, biting her bottom lip as he pulled his glasses from his pocket and readjusted them on his face.

There he was. Edward the geek.

It was always the quiet ones.

~The End~