Chapter 402 Roller coaster  

"What does he want now?" She had muttered to herself deliberately taking her sweet time to get dressed.

Now that she knew it wasn't an armed killer out her front door, she felt safe. Even safer knowing exactly who it was on her porch.

On her way down the steps, Amy had peeked in to see that her baby brother was still sleeping.

Edward's fist had created such raucous that she wouldn't be surprised if Gu, normally a deep sleeper, would be wide awake. To her surprise though, he wasn't.

So, she'd continued in careful, tentative steps to the door wondering why exactly Edward had returned to her house after their row.

Now, as she stared at him from her hiding place behind the door, Amy couldn't help the butterflies swimming in the bottomless ocean of her abdomen.

"What do you want?" Amy asked again after a few beats when Edward still hadn't said anything.

"You," was all he growled before pushing her backward into the house.

Without a chance for reaction, Amy's face was locked between two warm palms before her lips got carried into the mix. Soft, wet lips closed around her full pouty ones, gently at first before his tongue darted out to pull the bottom one in.

For the first intimate seconds of the lip embrace Amy was Edward's puppet, dancing along to the pull of his mouth strings.

He had her so lost in the euphoric feeling of having his lips on —for the second time that night— that it was only when Edward's straying hands roamed their way to her behind did Amy finally jolt out of whatever trance kissing had put her in.

"No. No, you don't get to yell at me and manhandle me and expect that everything will be alright. I won't be played like that."

Amy's chest was heaving and her reddened lips wobbly even as she addressed her feelings to Edward whose flushed expression wasn't different from hers.

There was a sigh of exasperation; Edward closed his eyes against the image of the most beautiful woman —as he had often referred to Amy I'm conversations with his guys— to berate himself, even if silently.

When he opened his eyes again, she was still staring at him, patiently waiting for him to explain why he had returned to her house.

"I'm not trying to manhandle you, Amy. I'm trying to protect you."

As Edward spoke, Amy could see the vulnerability in his eyes but she didn't let herself be moved by it. She had to put her foot down and show Edward how upset she was about his behaviour.

"Protect me from what?" she asked in a voice that would have been louder if it were any other time of the day. "I'm not your...your...um..." Amy struggled for the word to use, "...anything," she finally settled for. "It's not your job to protect me. I can take care of myself."

"No, you can't!" The reply was forceful and decisive, leaving no room for argument. "Not like the way I can."

There was a moment of silence as Amy swallowed the revelation. Her chest was having from the anger she felt as well as all the sexual tension that was beginning to build in the air.

Her eyes were red and watery from exhaustion and his were not any better. Hus hair was in a tousle from the number of times he had run his hand through it and while Amy's hadn't been freed from its night-out look, Edward now reached out to run his palm over the top.

She gulped. Having him this close was invading her senses with a lot of feelings that were beginning to overwhelm her. "Why do you want to take care of me? Why do you want to protect me?"

No answer.

"I'm asking you a question."

Still no answer. His hands just remained on her head, rubbing. Amy looked up at him and searched his eyes for an answer, but like usual, he was hiding his emotions.

"Why are you so possessive of me when you clearly want nothing from me?" Amy shrugged away from the hold. The moment of calmness was over and the anger was beginning to seep back into Amy's voice.

"That's not right. I do want something from you."

"Oh yeah, of course, you want me to be your secretary and do your bidding."

The first came up put of nowhere and struck the wall behind Amy. "Stop talking like that. I want you to be more than my secretary. I love you for crying out loud. I love you but I'm scared that I'll lose you. I have never had to commit to anyone the way I know I need to with you and it scares me. I don't want to give any one my heart and have it shredded but God knows all of that doesn't stop me from loving you."

The words came out in an angered, unexpected rush; Amy's pause was only natural. She blinked a long, slow blink as her mind absorbed the words. For a long time she refused to look at Edward.

She just didn't know how to take what he had just told her. All the attitude, his quick temper, the times he had made her feel like she wasn't worth his time, all of those moments went by in her head like a photo montage and Amy just couldn't reconcile any of it with Edward.

Finally, with the same deliberateness with which she had gone to the club, Amy looked up at Edward.

She searched his eyes which were firmly fixated on hers and without missing a beat reached up and slapped him squarely across the cheek.

"You took me on a rollercoaster of draining emotions all for nothing." Amy's hand remained on the cheeks it had just inflicted pain upon.

She turned as she spoke massaging the spot slowly. Edward's hands remained at his side, but his eyes registered the shock. He hadn't know the girl was that daring.

"Don't you ever do that again," she warned before pulling him down on her and enveloping his lips in a kiss that spoke volumes of how exactly she felt about him.