A/N: It's a very special weekend in the fandom, loves. Our Edward's Eternal is celebrating her birthday. She is one of the most amazing people I've ever had the pleasure of calling my friend. She has the biggest heart, the perviest mind, and the best advice. Those of you who know her know how lucky we are to have her. Those that don't know her definitely should!

Melanie, there are only so many ways to tell you that I adore you, and I'm pretty sure I've overused at least 95 percent of them. The truth is though, I do adore you. This one is you for. I love you, my smut-loving, BDB-reading, shank-enabling, pet-sending, pre-reading, beta extraordinaire! Thank you for all that you do, not just for me, but for everyone in your life. We would not be complete without you. Happy birthday, my love.

Lighting Up The Sky-

Cool as the water melting from the winter snows
You are the island I've been looking for
I don't know where you come from
But I can feel you comin' on
You're a storm inside my soul
That's ragin' out of control

(REO Speedwagon – Lightning)

Dark clouds loomed in the sky like angry gray blotches in starless black. Lightning shot through in the distance, backlighting the ominous roil with silver flashes and distant claps of sound. The thunder that followed rumbled like a charging bull, rippling in echoes that seemed to shake the city spread out like a spider web as far as Edward could see.

The storm was going to slam the city. The television was already beeping its warnings from the house behind him. Another emergency alert. They were as endless as the storms anymore, screeching through the house until he dreamed them. So did his wife.

Bella had jerked awake twice last night and grabbed for him, certain she'd heard tornado sirens. Her little body had trembled against him as he pulled her into his chest and tried to soothe her. She was terrified of the storms, and they just kept coming.

Edward sighed heavily and rolled his head on his neck, too tired to even bother wishing this one would go around them. It wouldn't. They never did. It was mid-April in the South, and the latest round of storms was pounding St. Louis like a nail. They had been merciless, hitting the city from all sides for weeks.

Tornadoes and flash floods had become the norm in the city, and this latest system promised more of the same. Edward could smell it in the air. It was rain, wood, and the bitter stench of electrified air. It tasted like metal on his tongue, and felt like little shocks in his veins.

Bella wouldn't be sleeping tonight.

Edward sighed again and stepped back into the house. The glass door slid shut with a little snick. The blinds rustled against one another as he pulled them closed, determined to block out as much of the storm for his wife as he could.

She glanced up at him from the center of their big bed, her lip between her teeth and her big, brown eyes full of worry. "It's going to get bad, isn't it?"

His heart ached at the frightened sound of her voice. She looked so small huddled up in the center of the bed like she was. The comforter was bunched up around her until she was little more than a brown and pale white spot in a sea of forest green. Her skin seemed more translucent than ever, peeking out from beneath the deep green blanket.

Edward tugged his tie loose and strolled toward her. "Not too bad," he lied, pulling his cufflinks free and placing them on the bedside table. He kicked his shoes off as he loosened the top button of his shirt.

Bella sighed dejectedly at his answer. "I hate storms," she said. Her eyebrows furrowed with the vehemence of that statement.

Edward smiled crookedly and crawled onto the bed beside her before placing a kiss on her soft shoulder. "Do you want to go to the basement now, angel?" he asked softly, tucking a strand of silky hair back behind her ear.

"No," she sighed, snuggling up against his side. "We might as well wait."

"Are you sure?" he asked, running his fingers through her hair. It was soft to the touch, ropes of thick, glossy silk.

"I'm sure," she mumbled into his chest. "I just want to stay here with you." Her fingers fumbled with his shirt buttons, slipping them free one by one. "It's safe and warm here."

"It's safer in the basement," Edward said, digging his fingers into her hair and tugging lightly as heat began to stir in his veins. He knew what Bella was after, and he was more than happy to give it to her. Preferably from the basement, where he could be certain the house wasn't going to fall down around their ears while he made her writhe and come.

He was her favorite distraction when it stormed, and he had no complaints at all about that. He'd just have rather made love to his delectable wife when she wasn't scared out of her mind. He hated seeing her little body tremble with fear, or hearing the frightened quiver in her voice.

She was the very center of his universe. He could make her scream his name and come apart when he touched her. He could make her pupils dilate and her toes curl when he kissed her. He could even make her eyes light up and her smile spread like sun rays when he sang to her. But he couldn't take her fear away when thunder shook the house and tornado sirens wailed in the distance.

Seeing her afraid shattered him. It had since they were teenagers, standing in the hospital after her father was critically injured in a car accident. Her eyes had been so wide, and her skin so pale as tears spilled down her cheeks. He'd made a promise to God right then and there to take care of her for the rest of his life if He just saved her father.

Edward wasn't particularly religious, or religious at all really, but God had come through. Charlie had recovered, and Edward had happily set about honoring his promise to take care of Bella. He'd married her right out of high school, and worked hard to provide for her through college and law school. She was his heart and soul, and he'd do anything to make her happy. He considered it a personal failure when he couldn't.

And unfortunately, he just couldn't control the weather for her. These blasted storms were seriously beginning to piss him off. His girl was scared, and that just wasn't okay with him.

"I'm tired of the basement," she said, slipping her hands inside of his shirt and over his heart. Her fingers played through his chest hair. "I just want you to make love to me in our bed at least once this week."

"Angel," Edward groaned as she rose to her knees beside him. The comforter slipped from her shoulders as she did, revealing her body. She was little, petite, and soft in all the right places. Her breasts were firm, the nipples puckered pink.

God, she was a sight for sore eyes. So beautiful, she still took his breath away. She had every day for the last twelve years... ever since they were fifteen years old, fumbling along in the tree-house in his backyard. She'd been his first, his last, his everything. She always would be.

"Please, Edward," she whispered, straddling his lap. "We'll go to the basement later."

He knew he shouldn't agree, that later might well be too late… but damn if he could find the will to tell her no. He never had been able to. She was his girl, and it was his God-given right to spoil her. It was a job Edward took seriously. Isabella got what she wanted, when she wanted it.

She wasn't a bitch about it or anything remotely close to it. She rarely asked for anything, rarely wanted anything. Her eyes lit up every time he showered her with gifts, and her thanks were always heartfelt and profuse. The way her brown eyes shone with happiness over the littlest things made his heart catch in his throat. When he brought her wildflowers or those little cupcakes she loved. When he played his guitar for her, or snaked an arm around her waist and whispered his love in her ear while she baked. When he woke her with soft kisses rained across her face… those brown eyes shone like diamonds.

It made telling her no all that much more impossible for him.

"Please?" she said again, her voice a soft whisper across his cheek.

Edward groaned again as she wriggled on his lap. He could feel the heat of her pussy through his thin slacks. It shot right to his cock, hardening him in an instant. His resolve over the basement fell away completely, just as he'd known it would, and he reached out for her.

His palms slid across her tight nipples and up her arms before curling around her shoulders and pulling her forward. She giggled as she lost her balance and landed against his chest. The sound sent another wave of heat through his veins. If he heard that little giggle every day forever, it wouldn't be long enough.

His hands swept across her body, feeling her soft skin beneath the pads of his fingers. It was skin he knew as well as his own. He knew exactly how to touch her and where, and exactly how she'd respond to each touch. She sighed softly as his fingers ghosted like wings across her hips, whimpered when they pressed firmly into her hips, and moaned when they kneaded gently at her firm ass.

Yes, he knew her body. It was his greatest pleasure in life to know her beautiful little body as well as he did.

"Kiss me," she said, placing her palms on his chest and lifting her head. Her eyes were already beginning to darken with lust. Fear still lurked deep in their depths, but for now, lust was winning.

He could work with that.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. Her breath was sweet as it fanned across his face; sugar, honey and cinnamon. God, she was the sweetest little flower. His lips moved across hers in a silent demand for her to open to him.

She did, of course, her lips parting on a quiet moan for his tongue to sweep inside. She tasted just as perfect as she always did. His tongue slid against hers as his hands tightened on her ass, kneading more firmly.

Another little moan rippled across the room, though he wasn't sure if it was hers or his. She was writhing on his lap, her pussy pressing against his cock through the fabric of his slacks. Her breasts laved across his chest, warm silk across his rough skin. Every press of her body against his was heaven. It was those little electric shocks like he'd felt outside, only she was lightning in his veins, electrifying him from the inside out. The storm preparing to rage outside was nothing compared to that.

"Roll over," he whispered against her lips, following her over as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rolled. His body pressed firmly against hers, fitting as perfectly as it ever had. He was so much bigger, so much harder than she, and yet her softness cradled him as if made to do exactly that. Her legs fell apart, allowing him to nestle between her thighs.

He pressed down against her, his cock grinding into her pussy as she hitched her leg over his hip, urging him closer. He needed no urging though. Not with her. His body responded to her by instinct alone. It had been made for her alone, and they both knew it. They always had.

He broke their kiss, needing to feel her skin against his lips and tongue. It would be as sweet as her mouth, light honey bursting like flower petals opening. Her head tilted to the side on the pillows, her dark hair spilling out across the forest green and granting him access to the sweet places that would drive them both wild.

He accepted her artless invitation willingly, trailing open mouthed kisses across her throat and collarbones. Her approval of his little kisses and gentle bites came in soft sighs. "Edward, Edward." Each little nip he gave was rewarded with another adoring whisper of his name.

He made certain he deserved each one, lavishing attention upon her with his lips and tongue until he was dizzy with the feel of her, full of the taste of her. And still it wasn't nearly enough to satisfy him. He was starving for her, always.

She mewled her approval to him as his mouth swept along the swells of her breasts, his tongue swirling across her nipples. He would never have his fill of her. She was as intoxicating as fine wine. Liquid gold against his lips as his teeth and tongue worked at her nipples. They were firm buds in his mouth as he rolled them.

Lightning crashed outside, the glass door rattling as it struck. Bella didn't even notice it though. She was lost to his ministrations, her back arching from the bed as he tongued her nipples and grinded against her pussy. Her fingers roamed across his back and into the hair at the nape of his neck. She twisted, tugged, and then her fingers were questing on, tugging his dress shirt from his arms.

He helped her slide it off, never lifting himself from his ardent worship. Her little body never stopped writhing pleasurably beneath his own. Her little sighs never stopped whispering through the room and into his heart.

He had ten years of those little sighs stored in there, and still, every time she said his name like that, it shot straight to his heart and nestled there until it was as full of her as the rest of him.

Her nipples reddened beneath his ministrations, puckering further. He placed a gentle kiss to each one before sliding down her body. Little kisses were pressed into the skin of her stomach. His tongue dipped into her belly button and continued on to swirl across each hip bone. He bit at each one, sucking the tight flesh into his mouth as she gasped and arched toward his mouth.

He leaned back then, needing to see her before he tasted her on his tongue. As always, his heart slammed against his ribcage at the sight of her spread wantonly before him. Her folds were soft pink, glistening wetly for him, because of him. He inhaled deeply as he stared ravenously down at her, filling his lungs with the musky, honeyed scent of her.

Lightning crashed outside again, and the sky broke open. Rain lashed against the house in a dull roar, pelting it from all sides as wind whipped it into stinging drops that would leave little marks against flesh. Bella's body tensed as the television began to beep another warning, her eyes widening a little as the fury of the storm began to break through the haze he'd set spinning in her mind.

Edward was having none of that though. Not tonight. Tonight, she wanted him to make love to her in their bed, and he had every intention of doing exactly that. The storm could rage all it wanted. He wasn't leaving his pretty wife's body until the last drop fell.

"Look at me," he said, reaching out to run one bold finger across her pussy. It dipped inside, collecting her arousal, before he lifted it to his lips. As Bella's eyes met his, he stuck his tongue out, licking her thick cream from his finger.

Desire burned through her eyes like sparklers again. Her body lifted from the bed again, the storm outside and the shrieking beep from the television all but forgotten.

Edward smiled wickedly down at her and settled between her legs once more. "Eyes on me," he commanded softly, and lowered his head. He inhaled again, holding her scent in his lungs for a heartbeat before he spread the soft folds of her pussy and swiped his tongue through. Her arousal gathered on his tongue, sending another wave of electric shocks dancing through him.

She was the finest wine, the most delicate honey. He could gorge himself on her pussy forever, and still crave more of that thick arousal against his tongue. His eyes held hers as he nuzzled into her, his nose pressing into her as his tongue lapped circles around her clit.

He loved watching the play of emotion across her face while he ate her. Pleasure and love chased one another through her expressive eyes, wiping away fear. He knew somewhere deep inside, she still felt it, but when he was between her legs, devouring her, it lay quiet beneath the ecstasy he gave her.

She moaned wantonly, her eyes rolling and her fingers grasping at the bed as his fingers joined his tongue. She was still as tight as she'd been the first time he'd pressed his way inside of her. Her walls gripped his fingers securely as he pumped them in and out in time to the attention he heaped upon her clit.

She was just as responsive as she'd always been too. As his fingers stroked against her g-spot, her hips arched up from the bed, a shocked cry escaping her lips. Within seconds, he was rewarded with her first orgasm of the night. It brought another wave of honey spilling across his fingers.

He swallowed every drop, his lips and tongue gathering it up as her pussy fluttered wildly around his fingers. He didn't stop as she cried out again, his name breaking through the sounds of driving rain and echoing around the room. His fingers continued to pump and press inside of her, stroking at her walls as she rode out the waves of pleasure he'd sent rippling through her.

There was nothing in the world like watching his wife come for him. Her sighs settled in his heart, but her orgasms? Those he felt deep in his stomach. They were ropes of pleasure, twisting inside until his balls ached with the desire to feel her coming on his cock.

He eased off slowly as Bella fell limp beneath him. Her chest rose and fell in ragged pants. Her eyes were wide and dazed as he pressed a loving kiss to her clit and slipped his fingers from her pussy.

He pressed another kiss against the inside of one creamy thigh and then the other before he rolled from the bed to remove his clothing. Bella lay quietly on the bed as he popped the button and allowed his slacks to fall. Little rumbles whispered from her throat like the contented purrs of a small kitten.

Edward's eyes roved hungrily across her body as he pulled his boxers down and freed his cock. A fine sheen of sweat coated her body, kissing the soft flush that ran from her cheeks to her chest.

Edward kicked his socks free and crawled back up the bed to her. He held himself above her on his forearms, memorizing her face again. He could see it clearly even with his eyes closed, but seeing the satisfied haze in her eyes and the way her lips parted slightly was perfection. He'd long ago lost track of the number of times he'd brought her to orgasm simply to see that wondering expression on her face.

"More?" he asked.

A soft, womanly smile curved at her lips as her eyes met his again and focused. Another little rumble of pleasure sounded in her throat. She lifting one hand weakly and raked it through his hair. "More," she said.

Edward smiled crookedly as she lifted her other hand and pushed weakly against his chest in a silent demand for him to lay down. He obliged her, dropped onto his back on the bed so she could sit up. She leaned forward as she did and brushed a soft kiss across his mouth.

Her lips trailed down his jaw before her teeth sank lightly into the tendons on his neck. Edward groaned as lust twisted in his guts again, intensifying the ache in his balls. They were so tight, his need to feel her wrapped around him vibrating through him.

He had no intentions of stopping his wife though, not when her lips were trailing down his chest. Her teeth raked across his abs as she inched her way down his body, exploring his skin as fully as he had hers.

He kept his eyes wide open, glued to her as she blew a soft breath over his straining cock. Her eyes locked with his, gleaming wickedly as she took him into her mouth. He moaned as wantonly as she had when the head of his cock disappeared into her perfect mouth. It was warm, wet heaven.

His hips bucked up from the bed just as hers had. She hummed in response, sucking more of him into her mouth and swirling her tongue around the sensitive head. Every muscle in his body clenched as he hit the back of her throat and she swallowed around him.

"Fuck," he groaned, reaching for her hair and wrapping it around his fist. He didn't pull, but he had to see her with her mouth full of his cock. Her lips were stretched around his girth, her eyes as wide with pleasure as they had been when he'd been feasting on her pussy.

The sight hit him like a fist as she bobbed up and down, taking him all the way in and then pulling back again. Her cheeks were hollowed around him, her tongue stroking the head of his cock every time she pulled back and then pressed forward again.

She took him deep again and stopped moving, her eyes focused on him expectantly.

Edward couldn't hold back the groan that poured from his throat at that look and what it meant. It was every man's dream to see a beautiful pair of eyes begging him to fuck her mouth, and Edward was all for living the fantasy.

His hand fisted tighter in her hair as he flexed his hips and began to gently fuck her mouth. She hummed her approval around him, her hand sliding from his hip and down her body.

"Oh fuck," Edward whispered prayerfully at the realization that she was playing with her pussy. His hips flexed more forcefully, pushing his cock deep into her throat again. He loved that he was the only man that had ever been there. He would be the only one to ever feel her throat constrict around his cock. He would be the only one to ever fuck her mouth while she fingered herself.

"Fuck, fuck," he whispered again, getting lost in the feel of her mouth sliding over his cock again and again. His balls were so tight it was a painful pleasure. His hips rocked forward again, pushing him down her throat once more. He groaned, his eyes closing as he held himself there for a moment, fighting the urge to come.

He released her hair regretfully and slipped from her mouth before reaching for her. Her skin was fevered beneath his hands, burning at his palms as he lifted her up his body and over his cock. "Ride me, angel," he breathed as she steadied herself against his chest.

"Edward," she sighed again, straddling his hips. His cock teased at her entrance for a moment. It was that eternal heartbeat of anticipation that seemed to stretch on and on. She lowered herself onto his cock slowly, impaling herself inch by inch. He felt every one. His heart stopped beating and his lungs stopped functioning as her wet heat stretched around him. It was pain, pleasure, and perfection all rolled into one.

"Bella," he moaned loudly as he filled her.

Her head was tilted back, her own moan sounding through the room. Lightning lit up the sky outside and thunder shook the house again. It didn't register though. He was inside her and everything was tight and warm and so good he couldn't breathe.

"Edward," she whispered reverently as her ass settled against his thighs. She circled her hips as if she were dancing, his cock moving inside of her.

Edward groaned again, completely lost to the sensation of being buried balls deep in his wife. His hips bucked beneath her in a silent plea for more. Her hands settled on his thighs, her body arched back above him as she began to lift herself up and down his cock.

His eyes were fixated on her, staring hungrily at the way her body rolled atop him as she rode his cock. She moved as if she'd been born to ride him, her body undulating beautifully as he filled her again and again. He was so deep in her he could feel the head of his cock hitting her cervix each time she dropped back down on top of him.

The sensations buffeting him were indescribable. It was layers of emotion wrapped tightly around one another. Love, reverence, pleasure, desire, ecstasy. Where one ended another began.

Bella moaned his name as his thumb found her clit. Her body rocked faster, until her ass slapped against his heavy balls every time she dropped down on him. Each time he bottomed out in her, she moaned wordlessly. Those sounds blended with the rain sheeting down outside until Edward felt as if they were completely alone in the world. It was just him and her and the storm raging outside, inside… everywhere.

"Bella, Bella," he groaned, his thumb rubbing circles into her clit as her muscles clenched around him and she came for him again. Her head lashed backwards, a little scream burbling from her lips as she rode him and her orgasm both like a hedonistic goddess. She was air and fire, water and Earth all four, sizzling around him as her hair brushed his thighs and her pussy gripped his cock.

He rose up beneath her, flipping her onto her stomach and following her down again. Her ass lifted beneath him, her hips circling impatiently. He pressed his cock to her opening and pressed inside again.

They moaned in tandem as her still convulsing walls gripped him again, pulling him in deeper. His hands settled around her hips, holding her tightly to him as he began to move inside of her again. He fucked her in time to the rain raging outside the room, his body pounding into hers as forcefully as the lightning striking outside their door.

His eyes were closed, his head thrown back as he listened to her little cries of pleasure and felt her rocking back against him, trying to get him deeper and harder. Both drove him onward, setting off a frenzy in his body that only Bella would ever tame.

He slammed himself into her, hissing each time she cried out for more. The pleasure ripping through him was intense, not shocks any longer but liquid fire coursing through his veins with each crash of his hips into her soft ass.

"Fuck," he chanted under his breath. "Fuck, angel." Climax was coming for him like a freight train, tightening his stomach to the point of pain. Everything seemed focused on where they were joined. His vision was black and sound came through a long tunnel. He cried out in bliss, loving how much it heightened the feel of her pussy stretching around him. It was all heat and steam, wet and soft. Just as it had been for twelve years.

"Edward!" Bella screamed as she came for the third time, her body thrashing beneath his.

Edward roared her name as her pussy gripped him like a vice, demanding his own orgasm. His hips slammed into her again, and then again, before they stilled. His cock jerked deep inside of her as he came hard, semen pulsing from his cock with force.

"Goddamn," he groaned, his fingers digging into her ass as they came together.

Bella sobbed her wordless agreement, her body still writhing wildly beneath his hands as they rode out the storm together. Edward's cock jerked a final time and he collapsed forward, unable to hold himself up.

Blood rushed in his ears in a frenetic roar as he slipped from her body and landed atop her. He would never crush her with his weight, but feeling her body so fully beneath his was home for him. He loved the way her slick skin glided with his, and the little hum of contentment that always left her mouth as his weight settled against hers.

He lay there for a moment, his arms holding him weakly, before he groaned and rolled onto his side, dragging Bella down with him. Her ass nestled against his softening cock. Her head settled beneath his chin. He could feel her heart beating wildly where her back pressed against his chest, and knew that she could feel his beating just as madly for her.

"I love you," she mumbled thickly.

"I love you, sweet girl," he whispered back.

They lay quietly together as the storm continued to rage outside. Eventually their hearts slowed, and their fevered skin began to cool. Little by little, tension began to stiffen the beautiful angel in his arms. Her fear was back again, creeping up from that place inside that he couldn't touch.

"Want to go to the basement now, angel?" he asked her softly, stroking her side in soothing passes.

As if on cue, the television began to beep another emergency warning.

Bella's little body trembled in his arms, and she nodded.

Edward pressed a kiss to her shoulder and gathered her up in his arms before standing from the bed. Her head rested against his shoulder as he looked down at her. "I'm sorry," she mumbled miserably.

His heart ached at the quiver in her voice. He hated that she always apologized for being afraid. It wasn't her fault, and he was never upset with her for it. He was upset that he couldn't take it away. "Hey," he whispered, meeting her miserable gaze. "No apologies, sweet girl. Not ever, okay?"

She nodded again, her expression as vulnerable as he'd ever seen it before.

He pressed his lips to her forehead before striding out of the room with her in his arms. Within minutes, he had her tucked into the bed in the basement and was curled protectively around her.

"Edward?" she whispered.

"Yeah, angel?" His hands ran through her hair again.

"When you make love to me, I forget to be scared," she said softly as thunder shook the house again. "I just remember you."

Edward smiled a little. "That's good, sweet girl. That's real good."

"Make me forget again?" she asked, rolling over in his arms to look up at him from beneath her lashes. Her eyes were earnest, hopeful. "Please?"

He kissed her softly. "Until the last drop falls, sweet girl," he promised.

E/N: Sex is awesome and all, but please to be taking it somewhere safe if you're going to be doing it in a storm. You all live too far away to make search and rescue easy for me, so let's just avoid the need, 'mmkay?

Melanie, we talk so much about how much our men love us and take care of us. I just had to capture the spirit of that here for you. I hope I did your sweet mister justice, my friend! Love you. Happy, happy birthday!