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“Why don’t we start with something easier, like last time.” I was sitting in front of my piano, gazing over at Bella who stood much too appealingly against the side of the piano’s keyboard. After returning from San Francisco, the first thing she wanted to do was play Aufschwung again. I was all for more lessons, but knowing where this particular song led to last time…I thought it would be wise if we began with something a little less passionate, especially with my siblings roaming the house.
She toyed with a piece of hair, winding it around her finger repeatedly, holding my gaze.
“Please?”
Bella had discovered my one weakness – telling her no. Particularly when she used that soft, pleading tone while peering at me from beneath her long lashes. Sighing dolefully, I motioned for her to sit on my lap. She smiled gleefully in response to my easy submission as she took her place, glancing back affectionately as she settled into a comfortable position before the piano. I closed my eyes for a split second and inhaled her scent, hoping to desensitize myself before our lesson began. Bella rocked back ever so slightly, brushing her warm, full lips against my cheek.
“I love you,” she purred against my cool skin.
I growled softly before answering.
“Behave.”
I felt her smirk against my face before sitting back up and obediently resting her hands on the keys. I leaned forward, moving her hands into position before placing mine on top of hers. We sat like that for a second as I ran the song through my head, searching for the safest way to assist her in playing such a fast-paced and turbulent piece.
“I don’t want to injure you, so you must do two things. First, you must be completely relaxed. Don’t freeze up if you think we’ve hit a wrong note or two. Second, you must tell me immediately if I hurt you, even a little bit.”
Bella nodded in response, letting her arm muscles go lax. “I’m ready.”
I took in a deep breath before beginning. Bella did the same, remembering my instructions from last time.
Then we began. I took the tempo down a few notches to be safe, and reminded myself repeatedly how breakable her fingers were. Normally, I gave my precious Kawai quite a beating when playing this particular piece. Today however, I played a lighter version of Aufschwung. Thankfully, the change in tempo and articulation did little to diminish the beauty and power of the song.
As we played, Bella’s body relaxed further, allowing me to move her forward and back with the flow of the music. I was surprised how easy it was to play this way – it reminded me of how perfect we were made for one another as my body fit easily around hers.
We were halfway through the song with no distractions or major slipups on the keys. After successfully crossing into the last melodic section, I permitted myself a few liberties. First, I pressed my cheek a little closer to Bella’s, savoring her warmth. I heard her heartbeat increase ever so slightly by my movements, yet she remained focused and relaxed. This spurred me on to try something a little more risqué – I breathed softly into her ear and smiled to myself as I felt her breathing pick up. We were nearing the end, but the final notes were just a repeat of the main theme. I could easily finish without my full attention on our hands. I opened my mouth slightly, sliding it down from Bella’s ear along her jaw line. She sucked in her breath sharply, but relaxed almost immediately, leaning further back into my chest while allowing me to continue leading her hands across the keys.
I was six bars away from the end, contemplating a different, more alluring sort of finale when Emmett suddenly bolted into the room.
“What are you two doing?” he boomed.
Bella nearly jumped out of my lap, her heart skipping a few beats. Thankfully she jumped away from my eager mouth; we could have had a real problem if my teeth had hit her jugular.
“You know, you should really warn the rest of us if you’re going to be messing around in the common areas of the house,” Emmett lectured as sternly as he could muster. I growled in response. “Take it upstairs at least. Hey wait! I thought you two weren’t supposed to be messing around like that for another couple weeks…”
Bella was still so frightened that she looked like she would flee the room at any moment. I pulled her protectively back on my lap.
“We’re not messing around Emmett,” I snarled. “I’m teaching Bella how to play the piano.”
Uh huh, sure. Whatever you want to call it, brother.
“Play the piano? That’s a new one – I’ll have to ask Rose to teach me that…trick.” Emmett laughed wildly at his own joke as he wagged his eyebrows at us.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not what you think.”
“Then why is Bella the color of a ripe tomato?”
I turned to look at her. She was blushing furiously.
See, I told you so. May have been innocent to you, but it certainly wasn’t to her!
I whipped my head back towards Emmett and hissed.
“Go find Rosalie and entertain yourselves – away from the house.”
Emmett snickered as he sauntered towards the door. “No problem. Just let me know when you’re done with the piano. Like I said, I’ll have to ask Rosalie to teach me whatever it is you’re teaching Bella.”
I would have lurched and tackled him to the floor if I wasn’t holding a beet-red Bella on my lap. I settled for verbal threats instead.
“Paybacks, Emmett…”
He chortled from outside of the house. “Bring it on. Or next time, just do your instructing somewhere more private!”
Have fun brother! It’s about time…
I ignored his departing thoughts and turned back to Bella.
“Sorry about that – you know Emmett. Even if we had told him to stay away, he probably would have come back anyway to – spy.” I cringed, knowing all too well that what I said was the absolute truth. Privacy or lack thereof in these type of situations was something we were both going to have to get used to soon.
Bella exhaled deeply, finally starting to breathe regularly again. She tucked her flushed face into my shoulder. “Well that was embarrassing,” she mumbled against me.
I chuckled as I rested my chin on top of her head. “What happened to the fearless Bella in San Francisco?”
“That was different – we didn’t have an audience.”
“I told you we should probably avoid the more passionate songs unless we know we’re alone,” I reminded her.
She sat up to look at me. “So are the lessons done for the day?”
I lifted my hand and traced a finger along her jaw. “Not unless you want them to be.”
“Can we try another song? One a little more tame?”
“Of course, love.”
Bella grimaced at me. “This time will you behave?”
I snickered flippantly. “Just returning the gesture from before.”
She wagged her finger at me. “I’ll behave if you will. I really don’t want Emmett returning and giving me a heart attack.”
“Anything you wish. How about a nice, safe, Chopin Prelude?”
“Perfect,” she replied as she turned away from me and settled back into her place abreast the keys.
We assumed our positions and began to play. This slower piece was perfect – it allowed me to really do the song justice through Bella’s fingers. Once again she relaxed, first her hands and arms, then her shoulders, and finally her torso as she leaned back and let my body guide hers through the song.
Similar to before, it was effortless to turn my attention to other things once I had established the flow of the piece. Bella aided me even further by remaining purposely calm. My thoughts drifted with the graceful notes, focusing on Bella’s warm body pressed deliciously against mine. To hold her like this was better then any other sensation on the planet. I took a deep breath and let her scent add another layer of bliss before swallowing a fresh flux of venom as I considered some not-so-innocent ways to continue these lessons when the song was finished.
Just then, as if hearing my own mischievous thoughts, Bella rocked back against me, simultaneously turning her head so that her lips brushed against my neck. I shivered unconsciously in delight, pushing forward to give her better access. Our hand continued across the keys in tandem, winding down to the peaceful ending of the piece. As we struck the final chord, Bella sighed contently before lusciously kissing my neck a second time. I closed my hands over hers, removing them slowly from the keyboard and pulling them towards us, resting them briefly against her taut stomach.
I tried to behave and not return her sweet kisses, relishing every ripple of pleasure that surged through my body. But her hot mouth against my cold flesh in such a position was simply maddening. Releasing my hold on her hands, I grasped one of her legs and lifted it while simultaneously spinning her around so that she was directly facing me, her legs effectively around my waist.
I grinned impishly at her stunned expression. “That’s better.”
Leaning her backwards against the piano, I slowly began kissing her neck exactly the way she had done to me, listening excitedly to her heart rate spike and her breathing become more labored. I had become accustomed enough to her body’s seditious reactions to my touch that I no longer worried she’d go into cardiac arrest. Fainting had been the worst side effect of our actions, but even that hadn’t happened in almost a year, so I confidently moved forward until I was suckling her earlobe.
Bella whimpered softly and reached up under my arms to dig her fingers into my back. Her tightening grasp fueled the growing blaze inside of me; I slid my mouth across her jaw until I had reached her awaiting lips, finally allowing us to release the tension that had slowly been building over the course of the lesson.
I slid forward on the bench, pushing her more firmly against the piano. She tightened her legs around me in response as her back hit a few of the keys, causing random chords of dissonance to ring out across the room. Bella freed one arm and reached up for my head, pulling me down harder against her mouth. I willingly obliged, kissing her more fervently which caused more notes to sound out.
One of my wildest fantasies was about to come true; Bella, the piano, and reckless behavior that I knew neither of us would be able to stop on our own. My hands traced down her sides, reaching underneath to scoop her up and set her more firmly on top of the keyboard. I briefly broke away from the heavy kiss to allow her to take a much needed breath as I lifted her up and placed her delicately on the keys, causing indiscriminate tones to fill the air around us.
Just as I was reaching one hand up to tangle itself in her hair while simultaneously kissing her throat, something odd flitted through my mind.
Edward! What are you doing?
I instantly ignored the voice in my head as Bella moved her hands around my torso so they could work on the buttons of my shirt. The blaze inside of me became a raging firestorm as her hot fingers tickled my cold chest.
Don’t make me come down there! Do you have any idea what you’re doing to Jasper right now?
Hearing my brother’s name extinguished just enough flames to make me pause. I opened my eyes, yet kept my mouth against Bella’s sweet skin.
I warned you…
Just then I heard loud footsteps racing down the stairs. How had I forgotten so quickly and easily that we were not alone?
“Edward, didn’t you hear…” Alice stopped short when she saw Bella atop the piano.
Oops. Sorry.
I slowly lifted my head up to meet Alice’s intruding stare.
“How did you not see this?” I inquired irritably. Bella had froze when she heard Alice, and was now leaning into me, her head hung to allow her hair to shield her growing blush. If Emmett thought she was red before, he would have had a field day seeing her reaction now.
Alice rolled her eyes. “Hello? Privacy! I don’t always sit and watch your future, you know.” She crossed her arms and began to pout. “Do you have any idea what you two have done to Jasper?”
I felt Bella begin to giggle against my chest, and I couldn’t help but smirk.
“That bad, huh?” I tried for my best nonchalant tone.
“You have no idea. I suppose on one hand I should thank you for his sudden – friskiness. But then again, I’d appreciate my husband’s sudden lust-filled advances to be because of me, and not because of you two.”
I breathed in deeply, both to settle the fire inside of my body and to also allow my masochistic side a delightfully tantalizing hint of her scent without getting to act out the responses it provoked. Sometimes pain was a good thing.
“Our apologies. I forgot you were upstairs.”
Alice huffed loudly. “Forgot we were upstairs? Highly doubtful, Edward.” She turned on her heel, about to dance back up the stairs to her tormented Jasper when she paused. “I thought you two were waiting until after the wedding…”
I fought off the grin that threatened to consume my face. “Are we?”
“Do you really want me to answer that right now?”
Bella’s head shot up and whipped around to face Alice. Her expression was absolutely priceless – a mixture of disbelief, unabashed excitement, desire, and once again, embarrassment. I chuckled and pulled her lovingly back into my chest.
“Later, Alice. It’s time to take Bella home. Next time we’ll make sure we have the house to ourselves.”
My darling sister blew us a kiss across her palm, then pirouetted back upstairs. Like I said, lack of privacy was something Bella and I were going to both have to get used to – soon.
She toyed with a piece of hair, winding it around her finger repeatedly, holding my gaze.
“Please?”
Bella had discovered my one weakness – telling her no. Particularly when she used that soft, pleading tone while peering at me from beneath her long lashes. Sighing dolefully, I motioned for her to sit on my lap. She smiled gleefully in response to my easy submission as she took her place, glancing back affectionately as she settled into a comfortable position before the piano. I closed my eyes for a split second and inhaled her scent, hoping to desensitize myself before our lesson began. Bella rocked back ever so slightly, brushing her warm, full lips against my cheek.
“I love you,” she purred against my cool skin.
I growled softly before answering.
“Behave.”
I felt her smirk against my face before sitting back up and obediently resting her hands on the keys. I leaned forward, moving her hands into position before placing mine on top of hers. We sat like that for a second as I ran the song through my head, searching for the safest way to assist her in playing such a fast-paced and turbulent piece.
“I don’t want to injure you, so you must do two things. First, you must be completely relaxed. Don’t freeze up if you think we’ve hit a wrong note or two. Second, you must tell me immediately if I hurt you, even a little bit.”
Bella nodded in response, letting her arm muscles go lax. “I’m ready.”
I took in a deep breath before beginning. Bella did the same, remembering my instructions from last time.
Then we began. I took the tempo down a few notches to be safe, and reminded myself repeatedly how breakable her fingers were. Normally, I gave my precious Kawai quite a beating when playing this particular piece. Today however, I played a lighter version of Aufschwung. Thankfully, the change in tempo and articulation did little to diminish the beauty and power of the song.
As we played, Bella’s body relaxed further, allowing me to move her forward and back with the flow of the music. I was surprised how easy it was to play this way – it reminded me of how perfect we were made for one another as my body fit easily around hers.
We were halfway through the song with no distractions or major slipups on the keys. After successfully crossing into the last melodic section, I permitted myself a few liberties. First, I pressed my cheek a little closer to Bella’s, savoring her warmth. I heard her heartbeat increase ever so slightly by my movements, yet she remained focused and relaxed. This spurred me on to try something a little more risqué – I breathed softly into her ear and smiled to myself as I felt her breathing pick up. We were nearing the end, but the final notes were just a repeat of the main theme. I could easily finish without my full attention on our hands. I opened my mouth slightly, sliding it down from Bella’s ear along her jaw line. She sucked in her breath sharply, but relaxed almost immediately, leaning further back into my chest while allowing me to continue leading her hands across the keys.
I was six bars away from the end, contemplating a different, more alluring sort of finale when Emmett suddenly bolted into the room.
“What are you two doing?” he boomed.
Bella nearly jumped out of my lap, her heart skipping a few beats. Thankfully she jumped away from my eager mouth; we could have had a real problem if my teeth had hit her jugular.
“You know, you should really warn the rest of us if you’re going to be messing around in the common areas of the house,” Emmett lectured as sternly as he could muster. I growled in response. “Take it upstairs at least. Hey wait! I thought you two weren’t supposed to be messing around like that for another couple weeks…”
Bella was still so frightened that she looked like she would flee the room at any moment. I pulled her protectively back on my lap.
“We’re not messing around Emmett,” I snarled. “I’m teaching Bella how to play the piano.”
Uh huh, sure. Whatever you want to call it, brother.
“Play the piano? That’s a new one – I’ll have to ask Rose to teach me that…trick.” Emmett laughed wildly at his own joke as he wagged his eyebrows at us.
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not what you think.”
“Then why is Bella the color of a ripe tomato?”
I turned to look at her. She was blushing furiously.
See, I told you so. May have been innocent to you, but it certainly wasn’t to her!
I whipped my head back towards Emmett and hissed.
“Go find Rosalie and entertain yourselves – away from the house.”
Emmett snickered as he sauntered towards the door. “No problem. Just let me know when you’re done with the piano. Like I said, I’ll have to ask Rosalie to teach me whatever it is you’re teaching Bella.”
I would have lurched and tackled him to the floor if I wasn’t holding a beet-red Bella on my lap. I settled for verbal threats instead.
“Paybacks, Emmett…”
He chortled from outside of the house. “Bring it on. Or next time, just do your instructing somewhere more private!”
Have fun brother! It’s about time…
I ignored his departing thoughts and turned back to Bella.
“Sorry about that – you know Emmett. Even if we had told him to stay away, he probably would have come back anyway to – spy.” I cringed, knowing all too well that what I said was the absolute truth. Privacy or lack thereof in these type of situations was something we were both going to have to get used to soon.
Bella exhaled deeply, finally starting to breathe regularly again. She tucked her flushed face into my shoulder. “Well that was embarrassing,” she mumbled against me.
I chuckled as I rested my chin on top of her head. “What happened to the fearless Bella in San Francisco?”
“That was different – we didn’t have an audience.”
“I told you we should probably avoid the more passionate songs unless we know we’re alone,” I reminded her.
She sat up to look at me. “So are the lessons done for the day?”
I lifted my hand and traced a finger along her jaw. “Not unless you want them to be.”
“Can we try another song? One a little more tame?”
“Of course, love.”
Bella grimaced at me. “This time will you behave?”
I snickered flippantly. “Just returning the gesture from before.”
She wagged her finger at me. “I’ll behave if you will. I really don’t want Emmett returning and giving me a heart attack.”
“Anything you wish. How about a nice, safe, Chopin Prelude?”
“Perfect,” she replied as she turned away from me and settled back into her place abreast the keys.
We assumed our positions and began to play. This slower piece was perfect – it allowed me to really do the song justice through Bella’s fingers. Once again she relaxed, first her hands and arms, then her shoulders, and finally her torso as she leaned back and let my body guide hers through the song.
Similar to before, it was effortless to turn my attention to other things once I had established the flow of the piece. Bella aided me even further by remaining purposely calm. My thoughts drifted with the graceful notes, focusing on Bella’s warm body pressed deliciously against mine. To hold her like this was better then any other sensation on the planet. I took a deep breath and let her scent add another layer of bliss before swallowing a fresh flux of venom as I considered some not-so-innocent ways to continue these lessons when the song was finished.
Just then, as if hearing my own mischievous thoughts, Bella rocked back against me, simultaneously turning her head so that her lips brushed against my neck. I shivered unconsciously in delight, pushing forward to give her better access. Our hand continued across the keys in tandem, winding down to the peaceful ending of the piece. As we struck the final chord, Bella sighed contently before lusciously kissing my neck a second time. I closed my hands over hers, removing them slowly from the keyboard and pulling them towards us, resting them briefly against her taut stomach.
I tried to behave and not return her sweet kisses, relishing every ripple of pleasure that surged through my body. But her hot mouth against my cold flesh in such a position was simply maddening. Releasing my hold on her hands, I grasped one of her legs and lifted it while simultaneously spinning her around so that she was directly facing me, her legs effectively around my waist.
I grinned impishly at her stunned expression. “That’s better.”
Leaning her backwards against the piano, I slowly began kissing her neck exactly the way she had done to me, listening excitedly to her heart rate spike and her breathing become more labored. I had become accustomed enough to her body’s seditious reactions to my touch that I no longer worried she’d go into cardiac arrest. Fainting had been the worst side effect of our actions, but even that hadn’t happened in almost a year, so I confidently moved forward until I was suckling her earlobe.
Bella whimpered softly and reached up under my arms to dig her fingers into my back. Her tightening grasp fueled the growing blaze inside of me; I slid my mouth across her jaw until I had reached her awaiting lips, finally allowing us to release the tension that had slowly been building over the course of the lesson.
I slid forward on the bench, pushing her more firmly against the piano. She tightened her legs around me in response as her back hit a few of the keys, causing random chords of dissonance to ring out across the room. Bella freed one arm and reached up for my head, pulling me down harder against her mouth. I willingly obliged, kissing her more fervently which caused more notes to sound out.
One of my wildest fantasies was about to come true; Bella, the piano, and reckless behavior that I knew neither of us would be able to stop on our own. My hands traced down her sides, reaching underneath to scoop her up and set her more firmly on top of the keyboard. I briefly broke away from the heavy kiss to allow her to take a much needed breath as I lifted her up and placed her delicately on the keys, causing indiscriminate tones to fill the air around us.
Just as I was reaching one hand up to tangle itself in her hair while simultaneously kissing her throat, something odd flitted through my mind.
Edward! What are you doing?
I instantly ignored the voice in my head as Bella moved her hands around my torso so they could work on the buttons of my shirt. The blaze inside of me became a raging firestorm as her hot fingers tickled my cold chest.
Don’t make me come down there! Do you have any idea what you’re doing to Jasper right now?
Hearing my brother’s name extinguished just enough flames to make me pause. I opened my eyes, yet kept my mouth against Bella’s sweet skin.
I warned you…
Just then I heard loud footsteps racing down the stairs. How had I forgotten so quickly and easily that we were not alone?
“Edward, didn’t you hear…” Alice stopped short when she saw Bella atop the piano.
Oops. Sorry.
I slowly lifted my head up to meet Alice’s intruding stare.
“How did you not see this?” I inquired irritably. Bella had froze when she heard Alice, and was now leaning into me, her head hung to allow her hair to shield her growing blush. If Emmett thought she was red before, he would have had a field day seeing her reaction now.
Alice rolled her eyes. “Hello? Privacy! I don’t always sit and watch your future, you know.” She crossed her arms and began to pout. “Do you have any idea what you two have done to Jasper?”
I felt Bella begin to giggle against my chest, and I couldn’t help but smirk.
“That bad, huh?” I tried for my best nonchalant tone.
“You have no idea. I suppose on one hand I should thank you for his sudden – friskiness. But then again, I’d appreciate my husband’s sudden lust-filled advances to be because of me, and not because of you two.”
I breathed in deeply, both to settle the fire inside of my body and to also allow my masochistic side a delightfully tantalizing hint of her scent without getting to act out the responses it provoked. Sometimes pain was a good thing.
“Our apologies. I forgot you were upstairs.”
Alice huffed loudly. “Forgot we were upstairs? Highly doubtful, Edward.” She turned on her heel, about to dance back up the stairs to her tormented Jasper when she paused. “I thought you two were waiting until after the wedding…”
I fought off the grin that threatened to consume my face. “Are we?”
“Do you really want me to answer that right now?”
Bella’s head shot up and whipped around to face Alice. Her expression was absolutely priceless – a mixture of disbelief, unabashed excitement, desire, and once again, embarrassment. I chuckled and pulled her lovingly back into my chest.
“Later, Alice. It’s time to take Bella home. Next time we’ll make sure we have the house to ourselves.”
My darling sister blew us a kiss across her palm, then pirouetted back upstairs. Like I said, lack of privacy was something Bella and I were going to both have to get used to – soon.
