The girl appeared to be no older than twenty.

Rumplestiltskin watched from the shadows as she hurried towards the crumbling ruins of an abandoned shack, which sat only just barely distinguishable from amongst decades' worth of vine overgrowth. A good half hour he had spent watching her progress until she'd finally fought her way to the entrance, amused as the slight frame of the girl began to tremble. The night being warm, he could only assume she was overcome by fear or excitement, or perhaps a mixture of both, at the realization that she had reached her destination.

Oh, he was mildly impressed by how far she had gotten. There were not many who made it even this far and most, upon reaching the shack, lost their nerves and simply fled. He did not blame them—he had yet met the desperate soul quite so willing to face the Dark One. The few who did cross the threshold did not return to their loved ones, he made certain of that.

She'd managed to get the front door open after only a brief struggle with the rusted handle. Though her cloaked back was to him, Rumplestiltskin could plainly read the unease in her body language. She'd expected the door to be bolted from the inside, no doubt impenetrable, and was disquieted to find it opened so easily in her grasp. For a fraction of a moment she hesitated before stepping through the entrance, the darkness dimming his view of her.

Without a trace of sound Rumplestiltskin vanished from the forest's edge and reappeared in the corner of the hut deepest in shadow, his appearance unnoticed by the intruder. He watched through narrowed eyes as she rummaged in the sack she had strapped over her back, finally pulling out a single, black candle. Cupping her free hand around the wick, the girl's hushed words floated across the room to where Rumplestiltskin stood, still as a statue.

"Hetese doni."

This young one knows the ancient words. Or perhaps merely that particular incantation, Rumplestiltskin mused as a single flame burst from the wick-less candle, casting the entire room in an eerie red glow. The girl did not notice where he stood in the corner as she set the candle on the table and immediately began a hurried search of the shack. She rummaged through dressers and overturned storage boxes, searching in the dim light with her hands rather than her eyes. Soon the room had every appearance of being ransacked, though the girl did not seem to have found what she was searching for. Every passing minute added to her panic and she kept glancing towards the door, as if expecting someone to come bursting through.

After a short while the girl stood by the table so that she was as close to the light as possible, her eyes darting around the room. Twice they passed directly over Rumplestiltskin, who did not need magic to remain invisible to her eyes from where he stood frozen. She clearly was not scanning her surroundings for any items as large in size as he. In her haste the hood of her cloak had fallen to her shoulders, giving Rumplestiltskin a clear view of the intruder's face.

There was no denying her beauty, even when her face was bathed in a spectral red glow. Her hair was long and dark, waving down and disappearing into the travel cloak that hid most of her frame from view. The anxious expression on her round face did not mar its loveliness, nor detract from the rather intoxicating way she chewed on her lower lip as she fell to her knees alongside a small bed near the wall, pounding her fists into the moldy straw mattress.

She froze, her hands splayed on the mattress until an elated smile swept the desperation away from her features. Immediately she reached into her sack and removed a small silver blade with trembling hands, plunging the knife into the mattress and gouging a hole down the middle. She let her own blade drop to the ground and reached her hand inside the straw, removing from its depths a long, jagged dagger that even in the dim light clearly read one word: Rumplestiltskin.

The joy emanating from the girl was palpable. She jumped to her feet and held the dagger out in front of her so that she could examine it. With a movement no louder than a falling feather Rumplestiltskin vanished and reappeared directly behind her, but so intent was she upon the blade that she didn't notice the stirring of shadows cast on the ground from the candle.

"Congratulations." As he had expected the girl nearly jumped out of her skin, clutching the dagger to her heart and leaping forward, twirling around in a rush of cloak and dress so that she could face him. He could see the terror in her light eyes and reveled in the power, allowing her a few long seconds of panic before continuing. "You've made it much farther than anyone else, which is perhaps more credit to your stupidity than bravery."

Still the girl could not speak, only cling the dagger to her chest with so tight of a grip that her hands shook with the effort. He saw her eyes dart briefly towards the door; he giggled, and the sound only enhanced the horror on her face. "There's no use in trying to escape, dearie. You are quite trapped."

"Dark One, Rumplestiltskin, I command you to stay where you are!" she burst out, pointing the dagger at him with a strength he had not anticipated. She stood there rather foolishly with her outstretched arm, perhaps waiting for a burst of magic to envelope them both. When nothing happened a trace of confusion flitted across her face.

"Sweet child, you don't really think I'd keep my dagger here in this shack, do you?"

A heavy silence greeted these words. He could see that they struck her as forcefully as his hand might have and she took a few steps backwards, shaking her head in stubborn denial. "Of course it is, the stories say—"

Rumplestiltskin stepped calmly towards her, inciting a faint s shudder from the girl; to her credit, she stood her ground as he closed the distance, standing a foot away from her and grinning impishly down into her eyes. "The stories are just that, dearie. Stories. I created them myself, ages ago. This way anyone foolish enough to attempt to conquer me would come here so that I may finish them off myself. There is magic that will trap any human inside unless I release them."

By now though she must have realized that the dagger was for all intents and purposes useless to her, the girl remained pointing it at him anyway. He took a step closer to her so that the point of it pressed into his chest. "Don't be a coward, girl. If you came all this way to kill me then please, don't let me stop you. See what happens when you stab the Dark One with an ordinary blade."

Her lip trembled, and Rumplestiltskin felt a stab of annoyance. Of all the humans who could have been the one to find the faux dagger, here was this young woman who seemed to be on the verge of tears. How could one so brave also be so weak?

"I don't want to kill you," she whispered, resuming the lip-chewing.

"Really? Well then, you must want to enslave me," he mused as he began to slowly encircle her, his hands clasped neatly behind his back. "Now that you know that dagger to in fact be fake, tell me how you plan to do this, child?"

"I'm not a child!" she lashed out at him venomously, which surprised him enough to stop his pacing and stand before her, staring so intently into her eyes that her momentary anger was extinguished in an instant.

"You have been in this life a mere flicker of how long I have. You may have the body of a woman but your experiences are little compared to mine, Belle." The young woman started at the usage of her name. Rumplestiltskin melded into nothingness before her eyes, reappearing so close behind her that his lips brushed the back of her hair. "Yes, I know who you are," he whispered, sensing a shudder run through her body at his closeness. "Do you expect me not to investigate those who try so desperately to find my cursed dagger? No, Belle, I know exactly who you are and what you want."

"Then let's make a deal," she said faintly. Again that streak of bravery interwoven with innocent fear, stirring an echo of some long-forgotten feeling in the pit Rumplestiltskin's stomach. She turned around to face him and almost instinctively his magic teleported him a good few feet away from her, his expression stony.

"A deal," he repeated incredulously. "You come to the shack where I lived my human years and attempt to steal the dagger that is the key to my powers, yet you have the presumption to try and strike a bargain with me?"

"I'm desperate, as you said," she pleaded, stepping towards him. "I will do anything you ask of me, please."

Rumplestiltskin was a blur of color as he ran with inhuman speed towards her, gripping Belle's throat in his hand with such force that he lifted her completely off the ground. His blackened fingers pressed into flesh mercilessly and she began to gasp for air, dropping the dagger to pluck at his hands. "You should consider yourself grateful that I've even let you live this long!" he hissed at her. When her face began to darken he let her drop to the ground where she sat in a huddled mass, clutching at her neck and coughing.

Rumplestiltskin began to pace manically around the hut, his mind racing. He could not let this girl live, not when she had made it so far into his personal history. She herself might not be a threat but even a single hint to certain, eager ears could bring about powerful enemies for him, one that even the Dark One himself might have reason to feel caution against. Only when he heard the girl's sharp intake of breath did he realize that his pacing must have appeared as nothing more than streaks of motion throughout the hut. Good, let her get a taste of his inhumanity and fear him further.

"Please," she said suddenly. He froze, turning to stare at her. She did not look away, but instead leaned forwards slightly so that her hand was outstretched on the dirt floor towards him. "They are going to take away my papa's farm because he cannot care for it anymore, he's very ill. We will end up on the streets unless I can find some way to keep those evil, greedy men from taking what my papa built with his own hands." Rumplestiltskin was surprised at the asperity in the girl's tone. He watched her, fascinated, as she took the dagger from the ground and began to plunge it repeatedly into the dirt. "I will not let them destroy what few years Papa has left," she added, more to herself than to Rumplestiltskin himself.

"You realize that this means you are to make not one deal with me, but two?" Rumplestiltskin murmured, his eyes boring into Belle's downcast face. "The first deal for me to spare your life after you attempted so unwisely to take mine. And the second deal for me to assist you."

Belle looked up at his face, and Rumplestiltskin could see the emptiness in her eyes. "Then that is what I will do."

"Excellent!" he exclaimed, rubbing his hands together with glee. "For the first part, in reparation for trying to steal my power," he chided her with a wagging finger, "I require your promise that you do not speak of what you have learned of me to anyone, in any shape or form."

Belle blinked up at him, visibly surprised at what she clearly assumed would have been a much more dire demand. She nodded once to show her assent. "I agree."

"Lovely," he proclaimed as he moved towards her once more, his steps slow and steady so that she could plainly see him approaching. "As for helping your father rid himself of these men who would steal his farm, yes I can help you. However I'm not sure the price is one you'd be willing to pay."

"I will do anything," Belle pleaded earnestly, pulling herself up so that she was sitting on her calves, looking up at him when he'd finally come to stand directly in front of her. "You have my word!"

"Ah, and given so freely," he quipped with a delicate twirl of his hand. "To have agreed upon my request before I'd even expressed it!"

Belle stood upright, her petite stature meaning she had to tilt her head slightly to meet his gaze. "I don't care what your demand is, you can take what you will so long as my father will live the remainder of his days without burden."

"Then the deal is struck! Child," Rumplestiltskin whispered, his face inches from hers. "You really must learn to specify technicalities."

In a flash Rumplestiltskin had pinned a stunned Belle against the wall, his hands gripping hers on either side of her head. She struggled against him but for all of her effort she might have been a fly in his clenched fist.

"What are you doing?" she cried out in anger, beating at him with her fists. "Let me go!"

"You said I could take what I wanted, so long as your father had comfort. Do you choose to go back on our bargain, dearie?" Rumplestiltskin watched as the comprehending horror dawned on her lovely face, and her lip began to tremble. When she spoke her voice wavered, yet not a single tear fell from her eyes.

"You tricked me."

"Oh no, not at all. You merely said I could take what I want, and what I want is you."

Belle gasped when he let her go and waved a hand lazily in the air, stripping away every ounce of her clothing and leaving her completely naked before him. He stepped back so as to fully look upon her. She attempted to cover herself but could not quite manage to hide herself from his penetrating gaze. His eyes raked in the firm little breasts that heaved slightly with her breathing before slowly making their way downwards to the slightly rounded belly. She was not overweight but curved, and her hips were wide and inviting. When he stared at the triangle of brown hair between her legs she pressed them together tightly.

"If you're going to do this then just get on with it!" she threw the words at Rumplestiltskin with a passion that sent a faint shiver down his spine.

"As you wish," he said, his voice a deadly calm.

Leather ropes appeared out of thin air and wrapped themselves around Belle's wrists, who had suddenly found herself sprawled on the small bed she had cut the dagger out of; the straps secured here to the wooden posts. Rumplestiltskin stood where he was, watching with interest as she struggled futilely against her bindings, managing only to tighten them against her skin. Once she gave up the fight she went still, glaring over at Rumplestiltskin.

"Are you finished?" he simpered, and Belle rolled her legs around in her frustration, though she did not flail her arms around quite as much. Rumplestiltskin smiled and materialized on top of her, his hands on either side of her face. "Good."

He lifted one hand and with feather-light fingers began to trace circles around Belle's right breast. She stiffened at his touch but did not look into his face, instead focusing at some point over his shoulder. Yet after only a few seconds of his ministrations the nipple had hardened without his ever even touching it directly. Suspicion tugged the corner of Rumplestiltskin's lips into a devious grin. He lowered his head so that his lip touched the hardened nipple. Belle gasped and tried to wriggle out from under his lips but he latched on, sucking and nibbling at the hardened mound of flesh until she cried out—a sound which Rumplestiltskin could not quite tell was from pain or pleasure.

Soon Belle's breathing was becoming labored and, though she still struggled against him and would not meet his eyes, he came to notice that she did not fight him off with nearly as much force as she had just moments prior. When she arched her back slightly, he released the nipple and grinned against her breast, looking up at Belle's averted gaze.

"Strange reactions from one so disgusted by me, wouldn't you say?"

She said nothing, her eyes remaining fastened on the ceiling. Without warning Rumplestiltskin spread her legs wide apart with his knees so that he was hovering over her, and reached one hand out to stroke the length of Belle's opening. She flinched away at his touch at first, but he continued to rub his finger along her heat, stopping occasionally to focus on the little nub near the top that was so sensitive for women. Soon he could feel her juices leaking out into his hand, and his suspicion was confirmed.

"You're enjoying this," he laughed rather unkindly, only just barely managing to conceal his own surprise at the fact. "Tell me, does this remind you of what your lover boys back home do to you in the haystacks?" Rumplestiltskin's cruel words did not seem to affect Belle, who continued to stare with forced calm at the roof.

He pushed his index and middle fingers inside of Belle, who gasped with pain and began to writhe against him, squeezing her thighs tightly against his hand. He immediately recognized the reaction—not as a mental protest to his action but as the unthinking reaction of one in considerable pain. He laughed again, cruelly, and began to move his fingers in a speedy rhythm, eliciting moans of mingled agony and unwitting enjoyment from Belle's throat. When she began to buck her hips slightly against his hand he removed his fingers and held it up in front of his face.

Her blood coated his fingers and dripped down his hand. He reached his other hand out and turned her face so that she could see his hand and, even in the red light of her enchanted candle, could make out the flush creeping into her face. "So you're a maid. How unfortunate for you, dearie, that your first encounter should be with a monster."

The blood had excited Rumplestiltskin more than he dared admit even to himself, and it was with an eagerness he'd not experienced in a lifetime that he reached down to unfasten his leather pants. The girl tensed beneath him and he felt a momentary stab of pity for her, his heart softening slightly when he realized that she was not recoiling so much from him as she was from an act of which she had no experience, and from a pain he suspected she feared rather greatly. His teasing of the girl had hardened him and he used the bloody fingers to coat the shaft. Cruel or not, Rumplestiltskin would spare her the agony of an unlubricated, dry cock tearing a path of destruction into her.

Belle had begun to writhe around on the bed and yank at her leather straps again, her breathing escalating before Rumplestiltskin couldn't continue on without fear or truly hurting the girl. "Belle," he said in a deeper voice than he'd yet used that night; the change shocked her into silence as she stared up at him. The moment of stillness was all he needed and he pushed himself inside of her.

Her reaction was profound. She twisted beneath him as he slowly squeezed the length of himself fully inside of her. Belle's body was almost unbearably tight and each sudden jerk of pain caused her insides to clench his cock so tightly he himself felt small spasms of pain. Rumplestiltskin closed his eyes at the sensation, struggling to collect his thoughts as he lost himself in the feel of her. His first thrusts were deep and slow, and after only a couple Belle's cries of pain faded away into gasps for air as she tugged helplessly at her binds. Unexpectedly she opened her eyes so that they met his—and Rumplestiltskin felt a thrill at the frenzy he saw in them.

The girl who had blanched from him in fear appeared to have been absorbed completely by a woman whose lusts had been awakened. She stretched herself beneath him in a delicate arch so that his pelvis rubbed against her own, then moaned fervently at the sensations this created in her. Aroused, Rumplestiltskin felt his cock throb inside of her with his own intensified lust at the change wrought in the girl. He gripped onto her hips and plunged into her with more momentum. Every time his cock reached past a certain depth she cried out in blissful agony, finally wrapping her legs so tightly around him that she was actually squeezing around his hips with her feet, encouraging him to take her more deeply.

"You really are enjoying this," he muttered in hoarse surprise. She silenced him with a clenching of her vaginal walls that brought out a groan of pleasure from Rumplestiltskin. Losing all sense of thought, he magicked the leather ropes away so that they vanished before he pulled out of her. Belle did not use this as opportunity to flee but instead cried out in frustration at the sudden emptiness within her. A moment later he had gripped her and rolled her onto her stomach. Realizing what he was doing Belle became putty in his hands, allowing him to reposition her so that she was resting on her elbows and knees, her legs spread wide so that he could easily shove himself inside of her once more.

Oh god, Rumplestiltskin thought in a haze as he plunged himself into the girl's depths, closing his eyes every time her body both fought and encouraged him to explore deeper. Whenever he went particularly deep Belle would unleash a groan of ecstasy that startled him, and he watched in wonder as she buried her face in the mattress and loosened her muscles. Rumplestiltskin had full control over the girl now and not only had she not tried to escape after her hands had been freed, but the slick walls constricting his shaft told him quite plainly that she was enjoying every moment of him being inside of her.

He felt her body beginning to tense and her breaths were coming in shallow, feverish bursts. Knowing she was close to coming Rumplestiltskin pulled out of her once more. She moaned in agony and pressed herself against his pelvis but he forced her down so that she was flat on her stomach, her legs spread so wide that she was nearly in a split. He dropped down so that his chest was flat against her back and his knees pushed behind her own. Belle turned her head sideways in an attempt to see what was happening but her hair had curtained her face. Without thinking Rumplestiltskin moved the locks aside with his hand so that she could see clearly. She met his eyes and did not look away as he then reached a hand down and guided himself into her at this new angle.

"Oh god!" Belle screamed, mirroring his own earlier thoughts and nearly in tears as he reached a depth that clearly brought her pain. Half-expecting her to pull away from him, Rumplestiltskin was stunned when she tilted her hips so that he could access her more easily, turning her head as far back as she could in an attempt to see where their bodies joined. Mystified but flattered, he gripped onto the headboard with his free hand and pounded inside of her, his right hand maintaining a grip on her hip so that he didn't slide out of her on accident. After a few of these thrusts he could feel Belle's orgasm rushing up on her. She began to clutch desperately at the mattress and whimper with every single movement of Rumplestiltskin's and in a swift motion one of her hands reached back to grip tightly on the forearm that held onto her hip. Her nails dug into his flesh and ignited his own flame so that he began to thrust with such force that the bed was shaking, the headboard rattling into the wall and Belle cried out in an agonized sort of joy. He could feel her toes curling as the orgasm shook her, could feel her muscles throbbing against his cock with such force that his own pleasure came spurting into Belle's convulsing body. Belle rolled herself against his still-driving shaft, moaning in mixed pleasure and sadness when he slid himself out of her.

Looking down Rumplestiltskin could see that he was covered in Belle's blood and his own semen, mingled together on both of their bodies. He waved a hand and the mess vanished, the both of them clothed as they had been before their rather aggressive acclimation. Surprised, Belle rolled over onto her back and looked up at Rumplestiltskin, her expression startled. He grinned down at her as he removed himself from the bed, breathing deeply to calm himself.

"How surprising of you, dear. Consider yourself thoroughly defiled." When he turned to leave he was stopped by jumping from the bed and running towards him, gripping onto his arm.

"Wait!" she pleaded as she tugged him towards her. He looked down at where her hand held onto his arm, then up at the girl's face. "What about your end of the deal?"

"My cock wasn't enough for you, then?" When the girl continued to stare at him, completely unabashed, the grin slid off his face and he turned himself so that he was bodily facing her. "My side of the bargain is already completed."

"I don't understand," Belle muttered, her brows burrowing in confusion. "You said you'd help my father."

"No, I said that I would guarantee you and your father lived a life without burden. That is exactly what I've done." He waved vaguely towards her stomach. She blinked, still uncomprehending; then he saw her eyes widen and knew she had finally understood. "No one will dare challenge the mother of the Dark One's child.

Belle's mouth fell open in silent surprise, and perhaps without realizing it she reached a small hand to her belly as she watched him. She seemed to be debating what to say, and Rumplestiltskin stared at her silently as he waited for her to overcome whatever internal battle was waging within her.

"Will you be around?"

Whatever Rumplestiltskin had expected her to say, it was not that. His eyes widened in surprise and the normally mischievous grin he maintained vanished. He blinked and tilted his head, watching her. "I'd not impose myself upon you. Just knowing the child is mine would keep most from double-crossing you."

"I see…" she fell silent, contemplating. "Well if you ever want to come visit, I'd like that." Belle stared at him without embarrassment, and it did not take a very big leap to guess what she was insinuating. Rumplestiltskin, amused and exasperated, smirked and bowed mockingly.

"As you wish, dearie. Now to home with you." He waved farewell and flicked his fingers, her gasp of surprise just audible before he'd transported her back to the farm she shared with her father. He wondered vaguely whether or not he'd to take her up on her offer. They'd certainly been compatible physically, and he had the nail marks on his arm to prove it he thought wryly as he shook up his sleeve to gaze at where she had clutched him so desperately as he'd ridden her to her finish. As he inspected the gouges his eyes found the forgotten dagger on the ground, and then he remembered that she had left her enchanted candle behind in the chaos. He picked it up, realizing that the girl must have spent a fair amount of gold to acquire it.

Maybe I will return it to her soon enough, he thought wickedly as he magicked himself back to the Dark Castle.