Unconditional
So, I'd been working on this for a while, but I rewrote it after getting inspired by a glimpse of a certain dance :) Comments always welcome.
I don't own Once Upon a Time: it belongs to Adam and Eddy and ABC.
It was so late it was almost early as Rumplestiltskin and Belle drove back through Storybrooke towards their home. They had said goodbye to her father and Archie, thanking them both for being part of their wedding, and Belle had smiled as Rumplestiltskin and her father politely shook hands. Now, as they drove, Belle knew it must be coming close to morning, but she wasn't at all tired.
When they stopped at traffic lights, they reached for each other's hands and then smiled at each other to find their thoughts so in sync. Rumplestiltskin was quite sure that he would never cease to be in awe that this perfect woman wanted to be close to him. As for Belle, every time she looked into his eyes, she could see that awe, and it made her feel more than special. At this moment, she didn't have words to express the emotion she was feeling, except to say the three little words she would never tire of saying to him.
'I love you.'
There was that awed look again, but with it a smile, and she knew that in this moment, he was just happy: nothing mattered but the two of them.
'My darling Belle: I love you too.' And he leaned over, cupping her cheek tenderly, and kissed her gently.
They set off again and Rumplestiltskin watched out of the corner of his eye as Belle took off her hat and set about removing all the pins holding her hair in place. His fingers itched to run through her curls as they settled about her shoulders, but there would be time for that: there would be time for everything.
'Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?' he asked, his voice soft and smooth.
She laughed softly. 'You have, but I don't mind hearing it again.'
'You look so beautiful, Belle,' he breathed.
'And you look very handsome, Rumple: I've always thought so.'
He smiled. 'Even with my scaly skin,' he said, meaning it self-deprecatingly.
'Even then,' she said earnestly.
'Really?' he asked.
She smiled and looked into his eyes. 'Really. I used to watch you: I'm surprised you never caught me I did it that much.'
He looked surprised for a moment and then smiled. 'Me too.'
'You did?' She smiled in delight as he nodded.
'I had a beautiful young woman in my home: of course I did. You proved quite the distraction, my love.'
Her eyes sparkled and she looked rather pleased with herself, but then her expression became earnest again.
'I dreamed of this, Rumple,' she confessed: 'I dreamed of being your wife. When you were gone, I grieved that we would never have this, but now that we can, I…I'm just so happy.'
The moment she said it, she felt the guilt at feeling so happy at having Rumple back when it had meant losing someone so dear to both of them, but Rumplestiltskin brought the car to a stop outside their home and took her hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it reverently.
'I dreamed of this too, Belle,' he confessed. 'From the moment I saw you in the shop the day the curse broke, in the back of my mind, I knew that I wanted you to be my wife. I'm only sorry that it took me so long to fully realise it.'
She reached out and stroked his cheek. 'We're here now,' she murmured, smiling.
He caught her hand and kissed her palm. 'Indeed we are. So, will you allow me to carry you across the threshold, Mrs Gold?'
She flushed at hearing her married name in this land spoken by her husband for the first time. Her husband: that made her smile.
'I'd love you to, Mr Gold.'
He got out of the car and came around to help her. They walked hand-in-hand up the steps to the door, which opened with a flick of Rumplestiltskin's wrist.
Belle smiled as he lifted her into his arms and carried her carefully into their home.
Belle remembered another time he'd held her like this, after that incident with the curtains. 'Thank you,' she murmured, as she had then.
He smiled. 'No matter,' he returned, also remembering that incident with the curtains. This time, however, he didn't put her down as far away from him as he could reach, but held her close.
Belle smiled at the familiar look of awe in his expression. 'Rumple,' she whispered, reaching up for a kiss, which he gave, sucking gently on her lips as he cradled her close. 'Hmm,' she sighed out, looking up at him happily as they parted.
Rumplestiltskin set her on her feet carefully and then flicked his wrist, making lights came on in the room to their right, which Belle knew was the formal dining room. She and Rumple hadn't used it during the time they'd lived here together: it was a beautiful room, leading out into the back garden, but it was rather large and needed at least a dozen people occupying it to make it not seem so huge and overwhelming, but it seemed her husband planned for them to use it now.
Rumplestiltskin removed his scarf and left it on the hall table, where Belle placed her hat also.
'May I help you with your coat, sweetheart?'
She smiled and turned, slipping the coat off her shoulders, and he took it from her. She turned to face him again then and he gasped.
'Oh, Belle.' He couldn't find words to express what he was feeling as he looked upon her in her wedding outfit. The delicate cardigan looked almost like lace and he could see her bra and glimpses of her soft, creamy skin beneath. And the simple white skirt showed off her legs beautifully. The outfit accentuated her slim figure and she looked, for all the world, like the angel he'd always thought her to be.
Belle dipped her head shyly as her husband gazed at her. She never felt more beautiful or special than when he looked at her like that, like she was all he'd ever wanted.
'You like it?' she asked softly.
'Oh, I do,' he murmured, taking her hand and drawing her into his arms. 'My beautiful, perfect wife.'
She smiled, dipping her head again. 'My wonderful, charming husband.'
'Charming, hmm?' He looked sceptical.
'Mhm,' she insisted, nodding: 'you're my Prince Charming, Rumple.'
He smiled. 'If you say so.' And he leaned down for a kiss, which she happily gave.
He took her hand then. 'Come along, Mrs Gold: I've arranged some dinner for us, or rather a midnight feast, even though it is nearly morning by now.'
She smiled and followed him into the large dining room, where he had laid the table for a romantic dinner.
'I really hope this tastes ok,' he said: 'I cooked it, but I used magic to keep it hot, and magic and food is not a good combination.'
She rubbed his arm. 'I'm sure it will be wonderful,' she soothed: 'after all, it was prepared with love.'
He smiled and pulled her chair out for her; then the lights dimmed and the candelabra were lit with a wave of his hand. Finally, he lifted the cloches from their plates and Belle laughed and clapped her hands.
'Hamburgers! Oh, Rumple.' She beamed at him.
He took his seat beside her. 'Well, I was trying to think what to cook to make it special and I couldn't think of anything more special than our favourite, with iced tea, of course.' And he picked up the pitcher and poured her a glass.
'This is perfect, Rumple,' she told him, taking his hand: 'this day, you and me together, our wedding, and this lovely meal. There's nothing I would change about any of it.' And she leaned forward and kissed him gently.
He smiled and kissed her, and Mr and Mrs Gold ate their first meal as husband and wife, the sun rising and casting its light into the room.
'That was delicious,' Belle said, wiping her lips after dinner.
He smiled. 'I'm glad you liked it, sweetheart.' At that moment, music started to play.
Belle's eyes widened. 'What's going on, Rumple?' she asked, looking curious and delighted and pleased all at once.
He took her hand. 'Back in our land, if you were getting married, you would have had a grand ball,' he began, 'with friends and family all there to wish you and your husband well. I'm afraid it's the nature of what I am that I can't give you that, but–'
She shook her head, cutting him off. 'I don't need that,' she insisted, squeezing his hand. 'Back in our land, I was meant to marry Gaston: remember?' And her expression was one of intense distaste, which made him smile. 'I think I can do without grand balls on that account; besides, like I said, all of this is perfect. And what you are is my husband: if people can't accept that and be happy for us, then we don't need them in our lives. I love you and you love me, and that's all that matters.'
He blinked and raised her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles, and sent her an emotion-filled look of gratitude.
'My sweet Belle,' he whispered, and kissed her hand again. 'You're right, of course: our love for each other is all that matters, but you should still have your ball.'
'Rumple,' Belle began, but he squeezed her hand and she shushed.
'Indulge me, sweetheart, please,' he requested: 'may I have this dance?' And he stood, holding her hand gently.
She smiled up at him. 'Oh, Rumple, of course.'
The moment she stood up, the table and chairs disappeared, and now the dining room turned into a ballroom, but that wasn't the only change Rumplestiltskin's magic made. Belle's eyes widened at the sight of the crimson smoke surrounding him. It cleared in a moment, and then she caught her breath as she saw what he was wearing. Rumple's wedding suit had been replaced by black boots, black breeches, a white shirt, a gold waistcoat, and a royal blue coat with gold brocade trim on the collar and cuffs, and gold buttons. He looked every bit the prince she'd said he was.
'Oh, Rumple,' she whispered, staring at him.
He smiled. 'May I?' he asked, intending to change her outfit too. 'It won't hurt: I promise, and you'll find your wedding clothes in your closet.'
She nodded. 'I know: I trust you.' And she looked down as golden smoke started at her feet. It tingled as it wrapped around her, but it didn't hurt. It cleared in a moment and then she gasped again as she saw the beautiful golden ball gown. It reminded her of the gown she wore the day they met, only this was a lighter colour: more yellow, and the skirt sparkled from all the little crystals sewn onto it.
She looked up at her husband, who was gazing with satisfaction at her.
'You make that far more beautiful than I imagined it,' he told her.
'It's-it's so beautiful, Rumple.' She looked down, turning this way and that to see the dress better.
'Here, sweetheart.' And he conjured a full-length mirror for her to see herself in.
Belle turned to look, and gasped again. The dress really was magnificent. She smiled in the mirror at her husband.
'I love it: I love you. Thank you, Rumple.'
He kissed her shoulder gently. 'You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen,' he murmured, and she smiled and flushed at the appreciative look in his eyes.
Belle turned and smiled at him, running her hand over the blue coat.
'You look so dashing, Rumple,' she murmured, her blue eyes full of light and love, and something else that he was feeling too. It had been a year since they'd made love: last night had been for remembering and tears, for talking and plans, and he could see now that she'd missed him as much as he'd missed her, but now the months of yearning and living off memories would finally come to an end.
As he had been working his magic and they had been talking, the music had continued to play quietly. It grew in volume now: a beautiful, tinkling tune, all strings and winds, with a hint of piano and percussion.
Rumplestiltskin bowed and Belle curtseyed, and then he took her into his arms and they were gliding across the floor.
Belle smiled in delight: she never knew Rumple could dance, but she wasn't surprised to find that he was good at it. She was enchanted: she always had been enchanted by him. Well, that first day, she'd been both curious and wary, but the wariness quickly faded when she realised that he was just a lonely man in need of love, a man who was capable of loving so deeply. That was how she knew that, no matter what he said, he wasn't the monster he saw himself as: a true monster would not be capable of love, but Rumple had so much love in his heart.
Rumplestiltskin was not surprised to find that his little wife was an elegant dancer: Belle did everything beautifully, after all. She was light on her feet, and so light in his arms that, as the music rose to a crescendo, he lifted her off her feet and twirled her around, and Belle, beautiful, beautiful Belle, simply smiled trustingly, her eyes lighting up even more. She laid her head against his chest then, smiling contentedly as she had that day by the well, after the curse broke. Her trust and faith and love would never cease to astonish him.
As the music was coming to an end, Belle smiled as Rumplestiltskin spun her, and then they finished as they had begun, with him bowing and her curtseying.
'Rumple,' she whispered, her voice full of emotion, and she came and hugged him tight. 'That was the most wonderful dance: thank you.'
He held her close. 'Oh, thank you, sweetheart.'
'No ball back in our land could compare to that,' she said definitively.
He smiled. 'I'm glad it pleased you, Belle.'
She reached up as he leaned down, and he held her close as he kissed her deeply.
Belle moaned, trembling at the intensity of the kiss. 'Rumple,' she whimpered, curling a hand around the lapel of his coat as the fingers of her other hand combed through his hair.
'My Belle,' he breathed between kisses.
'Yes, always,' she sighed in complete agreement: 'always your Belle.'
He was suddenly kissing her more fiercely, and she clung to him as best she could and returned his needy kisses. He could feel her struggling for breath, though, and pulled back, realising he'd gotten too caught up in his need for her.
'I'm sorry, Belle.'
'No,' she said at once: 'never apologise for kissing me like that.' She smiled.
He touched his forehead to hers. 'It's just that I…I need you, Belle: I need you so much, I…'
She raised her hands to his face, stroking it tenderly. 'I'm not going anywhere,' she promised, seeing the vulnerability and fear in his eyes, 'and do you know why?'
'Why?'
She smiled again. 'Because I need you too.' Her smile was soft as she saw the surprise in his expression. 'Rumple, you're the only person, apart from my mother, who ever thought I was worth more than an arranged marriage: you understood that I wanted more than that, and you gave me more than that. You give me courage: you make me feel like I could do anything. When you sent Ariel for my help when you were in Neverland, I realised the faith you had in me. That's the greatest gift anyone's ever given me.'
Rumplestiltskin stared at his wife and vowed that somehow he would show her every moment how much she was worth, how much she was loved, cherished, and desired.
'Belle,' he whispered, and kissed her again.
Belle caught her breath when he lifted her into his arms suddenly, but she settled herself quickly, draping her arms around his neck and kissing him again.
'Aren't I twice as heavy in this dress?' she asked, smiling.
'Well, I can get rid of the dress if you like,' he suggested, 'but I thought you might prefer I did it the old fashioned way.'
'Yes,' she murmured, flushing at memories of his hands undressing her: 'yes, I prefer the old fashioned way.'
He smiled. 'Thought so.' And he carried her out of the dining room and up the stairs to their room.
Belle's heart was beating fast in anticipation. It had been so long since they'd been together like this, but even beyond that, something told her that all the other times would pale in comparison to making love with her husband for the first time.
Rumplestiltskin opened the door to their bedroom and carried Belle in, kissing her sweetly as he stood in the middle of the room with her in his arms. The rising sun shone in on them, bathing the room in soft golden light.
They continued to kiss, him still holding her in his arms, but that was getting to be a hindrance to both of them, because she was longing to help him out of his clothes and he was eager to do the same for her.
'Rumple,' she whispered, pushing at his coat, and he took the hint and set her down.
Her hands went to work on his coat and vest as his fingers started on the fastenings on the back of her dress, but they proved tricky for even his nimble spinner's fingers.
He growled in frustration after a moment and she giggled.
'I clearly didn't think this through,' he said, pulling at one of the fastenings: 'can you turn around for me?'
She dutifully turned with a smile on her face and he quickly got the fastenings undone, dropping gentle kisses across her shoulders and along her neck as he got through them. Belle sighed and tilted her head to give him more room, her skin tingling wherever he kissed and touched.
Finally, he put his hands on her waist and pulled her against him, and she turned her head, obliging him as he sought a kiss.
'So beautiful,' he breathed reverently, and she smiled and kissed him again. Then she stepped away and turned to face him as she pushed the dress down, managing to step out of it without too much trouble. Now she was wearing a simple cotton shift and a pair of golden heels that were obviously meant to match the dress.
'They're beautiful,' she said, smiling at her husband and then looking admiringly at the shoes again as she stepped out of them.
'Nothing's too good for my wife,' he murmured, staring at her with glittering eyes. He didn't know if she knew it, but the light illuminated her curves in that shift: little was left to the imagination, and he was longing to touch her.
Belle smiled and came to him, setting about finishing the job of getting him out of his clothes. He shrugged out of his coat and vest at her urging, but kept his hands on her as much as he could, delighting in being able to touch her again after so long, but when he realised that she was shaking, he pulled back, alarmed.
'Are you alright?'
She nodded at once. 'Oh, yes,' she assured him: 'I've just missed you so much. Please, Rumple, don't stop: I need you.' And her hands urged him close again.
He came, of course, pulling her against him and kissing her passionately.
There was more urgency in their actions now: they kissed with desperate fervour as hands worked furiously to uncover bare skin. There wasn't much finesse about the way they got his boots and breeches off, but, between them, they managed it, and then he took her hand and helped her up, and kissed her as he scooped her into his arms for the third time, carrying her to the bed and laying her gently down.
She tugged at his shirt and pulled it off over his head, while his hands slid beneath her shift and pulled down her panties, Belle drawing her legs up to help him.
He slid his hands up her body, then, her shift gathering in soft folds as his hands moved. Breathing heavily, Belle obligingly lifted her torso and then her upper body, so he could slip the garment off her easily. She lay back then, smiling, as he looked her over. Rumple had never been shy about his appreciation for her figure and she felt her skin prickle at the heat in his gaze.
He smiled as she reached for him. He never had any doubt of Belle's desire for him. Her hands roamed over his skin with eager appreciation and it pleased him very much that she liked his body. Somehow, this beauty had seen fit to love the beast, inside and out: it was a miracle.
She stroked his hair back off his face and smiled tremulously at him.
'What is it?' he asked, pausing as he moved to line them up.
She shook her head at herself. 'It's just… I often think it's not possible to love you more than I do, and I always turn out to be wrong.'
He smiled. 'It still amazes me that you love me at all, but it's the same for me: I love you more with each day, and I missed you, so much.'
She nodded. 'Me too: I love you, Rumple.'
'And I love you, Belle,' he whispered, and then they both gasped as he slid inside her for the first time in a year.
Belle was crying and smiling. 'You feel so good, my love,' she breathed.
'Oh, so do you, my darling,' he returned, and kissed her, both of them crying as they clung to each other. Finally, there were no obstacles between them: no psychotic witch, no magic, no cage: finally, they were free to just love each other.
Belle cried out as he began to move slowly. 'Rumple,' she sighed, rocking against him.
'Belle,' he groaned, loving how she felt, so warm and soft.
They moved together, staring into each other's eyes, sharing deep, sweet kisses, hands caressing everywhere they could reach, and, for a blissful moment, they forgot the pain and the loss and the hurt: they forgot the separation and the darkness and the death. They knew only love and joy and perfect understanding: they knew only that they were together again at long, long last.
'Darling, Rumple,' Belle breathed, her body moving in sync with his, her chest rising and falling with her heavy breathing, her hands running up and down his back: 'my husband,' she murmured, smiling joyfully up at him.
He smiled and kissed her tenderly. 'My beautiful wife.' And her eyes shone so brightly he was sure they must light the darkest night. 'Oh, Belle,' he breathed, thrusting harder and faster now.
'Oh, gods, Rumple!' she cried, panting. She could feel her nerves tingling and her vision begin to blur, and then she was drowning in bliss, moaning her husband's name over and over.
He followed her, the look on her face, the sound of her voice, and the feeling of her body around him making him lose control happily. Oh, gods, he'd missed her, and he buried his face in her hair as he came, chanting her name.
Belle instinctively wrapped her arms around him as they both returned to earth, and then she smiled dreamily as he dropped sweet little kisses everywhere he could reach.
'You're perfect,' he kept saying, 'absolutely perfect.'
She laughed happily and hugged him. 'So are you, and so was that.'
He smiled. 'Well that was only round one.'
She smiled and bit her lip. A few minutes later, she was gasping for breath as he kissed and licked a trail down her stomach, his hands caressing her skin.
0
Belle sighed and smiled in complete contentment as Rumplestiltskin scooted closer behind her and kissed along her shoulder, his arms cradling her close. They'd drifted off to sleep after hours alternating between making love and just lying wrapped in each other's arms, sharing kisses, and talking, but now they were awake.
She turned her head and smiled. 'Hey.'
He kissed her. 'Hey.'
She reached up to stroke his cheek. 'Thank you, Rumple: thank you for our beautiful wedding and our lovely dinner and dancing and all of this.'
He caught her hand and kissed her fingertips. 'Thank you too: thank you for seeing something worth loving in me and for agreeing to be my wife.'
'There's no way I would ever have said no,' she told him, and he smiled. 'Oh, Rumple, I'm so happy,' she murmured: 'this is all so wonderful.'
He nodded and kissed her shoulder. 'I've never felt this way before,' he murmured.
'Never?' she asked, knowing that he'd loved two women before her, first Milah and then Cora. Had he really never felt for them what he felt for her?
He shook his head immediately. 'No,' he said, and kissed her shoulder again. 'With Milah, I was young: I hardly knew what love was. There was affection, I suppose, in the beginning, but nothing like what I feel for you. And with Cora, it was the darkness in me that loved the darkness in her. If we'd stayed together, we'd have destroyed each other in the end, and the world with us: it wasn't healthy or good, not like our love.' He smiled and kissed her. 'Whatever I had with them wasn't real anyway.'
'Because they left,' she said quietly. She knew that Milah had left with Hook and Cora had left for power, but Belle would never leave.
He nodded. 'They never loved me, not really, not like you.'
She stroked his cheek again. 'You've been hurt so much: I'm sorry.'
The corner of his mouth lifted into a rueful smile. 'It's nothing I didn't deserve, Belle.'
She shook her head. 'No: I won't accept that. Evil isn't born: it's made: isn't that what you always say?'
'Yes.'
'And it can be unmade,' she said decisively, smiling up at him. 'Our paths are not set in stone, Rumple: bad choices don't make you irredeemable. I see you trying to do what's right, fighting against the darkness that lives within you, wanting to be better, and I'm so proud of you for that. After everything you've been through, you still have goodness in you: it hasn't been snuffed out by all the darkness and pain, and that makes you so special, Rumple, so wonderful. I love you so much because of that.'
He blinked back tears. The way she saw him was so beautiful, so inspiring.
'You're the reason I keep trying, Belle,' he told her: 'you make me stronger. Nobody ever loved me like you do, unconditionally, unfailingly, and it still amazes me that you do.'
She turned a little and cupped his face in gentle hands. 'I will always love you, she vowed, 'always, and I will stay with you, forever, happy and proud to be your wife. I would love you in any time, in any realm, under any circumstances.'
He nodded, his eyes filling with grateful tears. 'I know.'
She smiled.
He dropped his forehead against hers, breathing deeply, staring into eyes that shone with love and faith. He did know how all encompassing and unconditional her love for him was: he knew it deep in his soul, and always had. He knew, too, that he would do anything and everything to make her happy, to be the man she deserved, the man who was worthy of that profound love. He wasn't that man right now, was far, far, from it, but he would get there, because she believed he could, and nobody had ever believed he was worth anything before. Her faith and love were powerful, more powerful than all the magic he possessed: they were the most powerful things he'd ever encountered, and he, fearsome sorcerer that he was, would lay himself at her feet for even the tiniest morsel of her affection.
'Whatever I am, whatever I've done, my love for you is deep and true and never ending,' he whispered urgently, needing her to know that, hoping she believed that praying she never forgot that.
She made a little sobbing sound in the back of her throat as she stroked his face, and then she smiled the most radiant smile.
'I know,' she whispered, and he closed his eyes and nodded.
Belle ran her fingers through his hair and reached up, kissing his nose, his cheeks, his forehead, his chin: everywhere she could reach. He had once told her that he was a difficult man to love: she had found him difficult to understand at times, the motivation for his actions sometimes baffling her, along with his secrecy and evasiveness, but loving him came easy, so very easy. She kissed him now, over and over, to remind him of that, and to communicate how happy she was to be loved by him. He thought her love was a miraculous thing, but she felt the same way about his: for a man who was capable of loving so deeply to love her…how was that not a miracle? How could she not feel privileged at that?
'Rumple,' she whispered now, wrapping her arms around him. She kissed his mouth and he kissed back, his eyes open, watching her as she watched him.
By unspoken agreement, they rearranged themselves, both of them moaning as he slid into her heat once again. Then they smiled at each other in wonder that they could finally have this, finally be together, and both of them silently vowed that nothing would ever part them again.
Thanks for reading :)