A/N: This is actually my first published smut, and I just wanted to thank my readers for reading this. I'm very new to this sector, so please go easy with any criticism. Also, I would like to thank my lovely friend Cu Chulainn 1945 for looking this over. She has a wonderful story called 'Kid Whisperer' you need to go check it. Seriously, it's insanely cute and yet has its serious moments. Go read it. As soon as you finish my story. And without further ado, onto the story! Enjoy!

The wind blew in and ruffled the bed sheet. Rumple had spent every night since she'd gone in here. Belle's old bedroom was just as she'd left it. An unfinished book dog-eared on the bedside table. Drapes flung open, windows open wide. Dresses in the closet. Everything exactly as she'd left it. She'd been gone nearly a week. Rumple had slept in the chair in her room every single night. He'd been tempted by the bed, but it seemed so wrong to sleep in her bed without her there as well. So Rumple sat in the chair, mesmerized by the billowing of the bed sheets as the night air blew in. It was a cool night, not cold but chilly enough to make him glad of his unfeeling. He hadn't felt anything since she'd left. Not hunger, not cold. He'd been… hollow. But the hollowness was worse than any pain he could have felt. She'd made him feel alive, filled him with emotion after emotion. It only made a horrific amount of sense that when she left, so would his tiny shred of humanity. Now he was just another desperate soul in the world, willing to make a deal. But Rumplestiltskin knew better than anyone that even magic could not recall the dead. The Evil Queen had visited yesterday morning. Since then, he'd done nothing but spin at the wheel and sleep in this chair.

"Is there something wrong with your bed?" asked a voice from the door. Rumple turned, recognizing that voice with dread. The Evil Queen stood in the doorway. He barely met her eyes before looking away,

"Did I tell you to come in?" he grumbled. She looked around in her haughty way,

"I took the open doors and meal on the table as welcome enough." He turned and glared at her. She did a double take at his expression,

"What, are expecting her to come back?" she grinned malevolently and slightly shook her head, "She wouldn't come back to you."

"So I've been told. Make your demand and begone, witch. You have no business here." He said. The Evil Queen glanced around with a sour expression on her face,

"I need you to do something for me. A good friend of mine needs a timed fatality spell. She herself has a few issues with magic, and I thought you'd be interested."

"And why would I help you?" he asked, rising from his chair. He glared at the Evil Queen. She smirked,

"Because I have information I'm fairly certain you'd like to know."

"Oh? And what could you know that I don't?" he asked. The Evil Queen leaned in,

"Spell first." Rumple was sorely tempted to refuse. Truly, what could she know that would interest him? But still, the idea she knew something he didn't irked him. She was an enemy, and an enemy willing to share information was a rare thing. He turned his back to her, made some complicated movements with his hands and whispered some unintelligible words and a bottle of amber potion appeared. He turned back to the Evil Queen and handed it to her. She happily accepted it and tucked it into a pocket Rumple wouldn't have believed she could hide on that dress.

"Information?" he said. The Evil Queen leaned in,

"She's not dead." She cackled at his shocked expression and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Rumple stared down the empty hallway. The Evil Queen could have only meant one she. But was it a trick? A way to tell the truth and let him assume Belle, when it is in fact someone else? Thinking back to his previous dealings with Regina, he shook his head. She wasn't quite that clever. But how to find Belle? And what if she didn't want to be found? Well, then she'll tell me to be gone and we'll be done with it, he thought, though he knew that wouldn't be the end of it. After all, he had kicked Belle out. Perhaps she could have forgiven him. Unlikely, whispered the damnably reasonable voice in the back of his mind. Still, it was worth a try. But there was still an unanswered question: How to find her? Even as the Dark One, it wasn't like he had an automatic knowledge of everyone on Earth. He had to be called. But maybe, just maybe…

He ran to her open closet and pulled out the yellow dress. Even after returning, she had worn it a few times before she had become more comfortable in her other clothes. But he hoped there might be just enough of her Essence left in it to perform a Tracking Charm. Holding the cloth to his nose, he inhaled deeply. Sure enough, there was plenty of her. She was so robust in her character, he probably could have used anything she just happened to brush past. He held a picture of her in his mind. It was nothing he'd ever seen, but he liked the idea of it. Belle was spread out in the grass, lounging in the green spring like he knew she would. Her hair was wildly fanned around her, a small smile of contentment on her lips. And perhaps a brown-haired green-eyed child spread beside her, laughing in the sunshine… He quickly pushed the child from his mind. That was a fantasy not meant for now.

Suddenly, something started pulling him. The charm was working. Rumple stood and followed it. The charm led him out the door and down the road. It was barely dusk when he left and he didn't come to the inn where the charm stopped until after dawn, just about halfway down the alley beside the inn. He was barely able to keep his eyes open, but he kept walking until the charm suddenly disappeared. She must be incredibly close. Rumple was suddenly awake, spinning and looking for his Belle. Nowhere in sight. There were empty boxes leaned up against the building, a cloth bag laying by the gutter… Wait…

The bag was not a bag. It was a shapeless dress. Rumple ran to it, flipping the woman over. It was Belle. Her face was muddy and her hair ratted, but it was definitely her. She wasn't breathing. Rumple panicked, whispering as tears formed in his eyes,

"Belle. No, Belle! Come on, breathe for me dearie. Belle!" In desperation, he pressed a kiss to her lips. Belle awoke with a start, hacking and coughing. Rumple sat back, unable to truly believe what had just happened. True Love's Kiss… he thought. She'd been right. Belle looked up at him,

"Rumplestiltskin?" she mumbled. Then fell back. He picked her up bridal-style and magicked them back to the Dark Castle.

When Belle woke up, she was on her old bed. Not the bed at the inn infested with mites and all manner of revolting things, but her wonderful bed in Rumplestiltskin's castle.

Rumplestiltskin…

She remembered him finding her in that gutter. She hadn't eaten since she'd left the castle because she'd forgotten to bring anything of value and wasn't prepared to pay the carnal price the innkeeper desired. She knew then that Rumple'd probably saved her from sure death. But as she stretched and felt the ache in her body, she wasn't sure this was much better. Her movement startled Rumple awake, who'd been sleeping in the chair next to her bed. He hurried over,

"Belle. Is there anything I can get you?" he said, checking that she was tucked into the blankets. She looked up at him,

"Water. Soup, maybe. Please." She croaked out.

"Of course, dearie." He disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared a moment later with the requested items. He helped her drink some of the water, then spoon-fed her some of the warm broth. When both were gone, Belle leaned back into the comfortable pillow,

"Thank you, Rumplestiltskin." She said as she drifted back to sleep. Just hearing his name float across her lips made him stop and revel in the sound. He hadn't thought he'd ever hear that again.

The next few weeks were went by quickly. Belle was slowly recuperating from her brush with death and filling out to look more like a woman and less like a skeleton. And as her health grew, so did her confusion. She had hated Rumplestiltskin. He had thrown her out, chosen power over her. She'd always sworn to herself that if she ever saw him again, she'd punch him right in that 'dearie' smirk. But now…now she wasn't sure. He'd somehow found her, brought her back to his castle, and nursed her better. How could this be the same person? In fact, he was almost smothering her right now. The only time he was away was when he was either fetching something or using the loo. The only time he let her out of bed was to use the loo, period. Once, she'd managed to sneak out and almost made it to the stairs before he caught her and carried her back to bed. While she was getting severely peeved with his overprotectiveness, a part of her absolutely relished his care. Could he have possibly come to see the truth of her words on that night so long ago? One day, once she was allowed on her feet, she asked him,

"Why did you come back?" They had just eaten dinner and she was drying dishes after he washed them. He had said he wanted to keep her from overexerting herself, but she had a suspicion he wanted to be close, for reasons she didn't dare say even to herself. He looked at her,

"What do you mean?"

"You had no idea where I was. I left no note. You kicked me out and I wasn't too kind about leaving. Why did you suddenly decide that you needed your caretaker back?" she asked, drying a plate. He plunged his hands into soapy water as he carefully thought over his answer. Just when Belle decided he was ignoring her, he said,

"I missed you. Not you being a caretaker, but you. And the chandeliers were getting dusty." He added with a smirk. Belle dipped her fingers in the water and spritzed it at him, laughing.

"And I don't suppose you have any idea why you missed me?" she said teasingly. He looked over and she caught just the faintest red tinge to his scaly cheeks,

"Would you care to enlighten me?" he said quietly. He turned to face her. Belle slowly shuffled closer to him until they were almost toe-to-toe. Her breasts just barely brushed up against him, making Rumple shiver.

"I think you realized I'm right. That kiss, that wasn't just any kiss. That was True Love's Kiss. And tell me, Rumplestiltskin, would you dare kiss me again? Would you become the man I know you are for love?" she whispered, looking up at him through her lashes. Rumple gulped. He'd thought about that question ever since she'd left. And through his ponderings, he'd come to one definite answer.

"Yes." He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Belle greedily ate up his kiss and he wanted to swallow her whole. He wrapped one arm around her waist and put a hand behind her neck, holding her to him. Belle ran one hand through his hair and let the other wander to his butt, squeezing it tightly. He gasped and Belle faux-pouted.

"Now Rumplestiltskin, I've been truly horrible to you. I suppose, to make things fair, you'd have to punish me." she said, barely managing not to lick her lips at the prospect. He grinned at her and growled sensually,

"With pleasure." He pushed her against the counted, hands wandering to her breasts and tongue fairly ravaging her mouth. She held him to her with one powerful hand against his butt and another roaming across his back. Soon both were fumbling with each other's clothing. Belle soon wore only her chemise and Rumple nothing. He stepped back to admire the prize he'd somehow managed to win in the lottery of life. Her breasts were full beneath the thin white fabric, and the sunlight from the window behind her shone through the flimsy fabric, revealing her slender form.

Belle was admiring her own prize. Rumple was exactly how she'd thought he'd be: toned chest, arms and legs most definitely muscled but not disgustingly so… And a certain manly member longer and thicker than she'd ever dreamed. Her eyes were drawn to it. If Rumple had been nervous about she'd receive him, he wasn't now. Her eyes were huge and hungry, like she couldn't wait to receive the gift he was most willing to give. With surprisingly tender fingers, he slowly began pulling up her chemise. Two shapely ankles, calves, knees… Almost half way up her thighs, he paused,

"Are you sure?" he whispered, his voice husky. Belle could only nod. With a devil's grin, he ripped the thing over her head, leaving her bare before him. Two beautiful breasts, gorgeous pale orbs with a hard cherry-red nipple in the middle of each that begged for his attention. A belly rounded just enough to prove she was no longer the skeleton he'd found weeks back. And of course, the main attraction… A small patch of hair that was already soaked at the bottom. He rushed back to her naked body, pressing himself against it. Somehow, just brushing against her was more sensual than if he'd been all over her. He could feel himself lengthening, hardening, pointing further out. He knew Belle could feel it too from the blush on her face. He leaned in and whispered,

"Only for you, dearie." He pushed himself against her a little harder to make his point obvious. She closed her eyes and shuddered in anticipation. He grabbed her upper arms and whirled her around, laying her down on the table before she could so much as blink. He was on top of her in a flash, his mouth suckling at one nipple while his hand massaged the other. Belle was gasping and writhing beneath him. Her hands were rubbing all over his back, her little nails occasionally digging into him. He relished the pain if it meant her pleasure. He switched his mouth for his hand and his hand for his mouth, paying equal attention to her other breast. Belle let her hands slide down and to the front, grabbing the shaft that had been sticking into her belly. When her soft hands hit him, Rumple froze. Belle smiled at the power she held and whispered breathily,

"Do you want this?"

"Yes." He said, voice deep.

"How badly do you want this?" She moved her hands gently up and down just a bit, rendering him speechless. He could only groan at her touch,

"Are you sure? I could just take away my hands and go back to doing dishes…" He growled and held her tightly, reaching down and thrusting a finger straight up through her wet opening. Now it was Belle's turn to be rendered speechless. She could only gasp as she felt the tensing and pooling of something in the pit of her belly. Her hands moved up and down Rumple's shaft, lightly rolling the tip between her fingers. Rumple pinched at her swollen clit, making Belle gasp his name softly. He pulled back just a bit,

"Are you ready for this?" He asked, positioning himself just above her entrance. Belle couldn't say anything. She simply pushed herself up to him, making just the tip of him enter her. He took this for an emphatic affirmative and pushed into her. She gasped louder this time.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked. She shook her head,

"Just a bit. Keep going; it should go away." He wasn't sure, but it was too late to stop anything. He slowly started a rhythm going. Belle quickly caught on and soon they were going just right pace. He started pounding faster and faster into her until Belle was mewling and shouting alternately as she writhed in pleasure. Rumple was sweating and almost panting himself. He hadn't made love to a woman in many years and it almost felt like the first time. She was so blissfully tight. It took all the self-control he had not to come right then. He wanted—was desperate for—her to come first. He didn't want Belle's first time ever to be anything less than absolutely perfect. Soon she was breathing in his ear,

"I'm close." And indeed he felt she was. With a deeper, more forceful push than ever before, he felt her walls incredibly tighten (was that even possible?) as she shouted his name. And she came, gushing juice all over him. And then he let his last shred of control slip away, almost pounding his way through her as he let himself climax, shouting her name. He collapsed on top of her, both breathing heavily. It was only with the fear that he'd crush her that made Rumple roll off of her. He lay beside her, an arm around her shoulders and Belle curled into his side.

"That…was…amazing." She panted out. Rumple grinned.

"Thank you. You aren't too bad yourself." He said. Belle pushed herself up onto one elbow, looking down at her master and now lover,

"Sorry to break the mood, but what if…" he voice trailed off. Rumple cracked one eye to look up at her,

"What?" he asked. Belle was suddenly embarrassed, looking down as she fiddled with the sheet Rumple had created when she'd started shivering,

"What if I end up…pregnant." She whispered. Rumple stared at her and she quickly hurried on, "I mean, not that I expect to be or anything, but just in case. I mean, I certainly didn't use any protection and you didn't either. Just operating under the 'in case of' clause…" she trailed off again. Neither of them was exactly used to discussing this. Rumple quickly regained his working brain and said,

"Well, should that come about, I'll love our little baby. We will have made it out of love, and nothing could make me love it more. Is that alright with you?" he asked, lightly kissing her brow…her nose…her lips. Belle opened her eyes and smiled gently, saying,

"Yes, I suppose that is." She lay back down, curling back into his side. And there the fell asleep, curled on the kitchen table beneath a sheet.

A/N: Well? What did you think? This is my first published attempt at full-blown smut (almost got there in 'A Kiss of Pulchritude', but that's a different story for a different time). How'd I do? Reviews and flames are welcome!