For Marquesa de Santos' prompt, "Gold teaches Belle to drive."
Belle had a conflicted relationship with technology.
On the one hand, it enraptured her. She adored the internet—she spent hours on Google and JSTOR, completely captivated by this world's history and books. Belle also spent a great deal of time on Amazon. Mr. Gold knew this, because books had been arriving on his doorstep literally every day, much to the delight of his love.
(That had sparked an entirely different conversation on how to use a credit card. Gold's explanation had bewildered Belle—she simply could not understand why the computer and other stores around town accepted a thin slip of plastic rather than a sack of gold—but she hadn't questioned it enough to stop buying books.)
But of course, other kinds of technology frightened Belle. The first Monday they'd spent together, Gold had awoken to find Belle valiantly defending them both by beating his alarm clock into a thousand pieces with his cane. After his clarification on the alarm clock's purpose, she'd apologized profusely and offered to buy him a new one. (She picked out a furry blue alarm clock that purred.) And although she liked the internet, television frightened her—too loud, too depressing, too unseemly. (The HBO channel had deeply embarrassed her, although he was pretty sure she was secretly watching Game of Thrones.)
Mr. Gold had expected that larger technologies—planes and cars and whatnot—would have frightened her more. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The moment she saw his car and how it worked, she was fascinated.
"It's absolutely incredible," She declared. "A horse-less carriage! Who even imagined such a thing! To think—you can travel so many great distances in such little time!"
It wasn't long after when she began to beg him to teach her how to drive.
Gold had been completely comfortable teaching her how to operate a toaster and the electric kettle—and was genuinely pleased that she'd been giving his credit cards a good workout. But teaching her to drive was quite another matter.
His expression was unreadable as he looked at her across the breakfast table. "Why…why do you want to learn to drive?" Gold asked slowly. "I can drive you anywhere you wish to go."
Belle's lips twisted a little bit. "I can't ask you to do that all the time," She replied, taking a bite of toast. "Besides, you work every day. And as much as I love helping you in the store, I'd like to spend a little time exploring Storybrooke too."
"I could hire a chauffeur," He suggested amiably. He was nothing if not willing to compromise.
She shrugged, taking a sip of tea. "I don't want a chauffeur. I want to learn how to drive! It looks like so much fun. Won't you teach me?" She stared at him, her blue eyes wide and pleading.
Gold was loath to refuse her anything, but he really didn't much like this request. "Well…it's a complicated matter, love," He stalled.
"How so?"
"Well—in this world, you have to get a permit. You have to take a written test for one. And then I'd be permitted to teach you to drive."
Belle brightened immediately. "Oh, I can do that! I'm good at taking tests." She went back to her tea quite cheerfully, and Gold thanked the gods that the discussion was now over. Unfortunately, Belle went out that day to Sheriff Swan's office and obtained a driving manual, which she promptly memorized. Within a week, she'd received her learner's permit.
"All right, dearie. Turn the key."
Gold watched with trepidation as Belle twisted the key and visibly glowed with pleasure when the engine turned over. They were in his black Cadillac, at a standstill in the middle of one of the factory parking lots. Despite the twisting in his stomach, he couldn't help but notice how lovely she looked today, clad in blue jeans and a dark gray sweater dress. She'd bounced about the house all morning, excitedly rambling on and on about her first driving lesson. She was simply so thrilled with the whole thing, it was hard to hold on to his gloomy predictions about the outcome of this endeavor. That was his Belle. She was infectious.
"Good, love. Now—like I told you before—put it in Drive."
Belle's brow furrowed as she slowly pulled the gearshift downwards until it landed on D. The car rumbled and began to slowly move forward.
"Remember how to stop, left pedal," Gold directed.
Belle confidently stepped down. Without warning, the car accelerated, and began to barrel down the lot.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Belle cried out. "I thought it was the brake!" She stomped on the correct pedal and the car immediately halted, nearly causing Gold to crash his head against the glove compartment.
"Okay, I've got it now," Belle said determinedly, easily pushing her foot on the brake.
"Of course you do," Gold swallowed, trying to sound blasé. "Happens to everyone. Try again, love."
She pushed down on the gas pedal and began to pull forward, squinting in concentration. "Look! Look! I'm doing it!"
"So you are," Gold smiled. "Try turning."
Belle flicked the turn signal upwards and turned right, beginning to circle the lot with ease. She cruised around the parking lot, happily chattering away.
"Look how smooth this is! Much less bumpier than a carriage. I do love horses, but I can see why this world prefers cars." She turned towards him with shining eyes. "Could I try driving home?"
Ordinarily, Gold would never have agreed to it. But hearing her call his house 'home' assuaged some of his fears. Besides, he never could refuse her, anyway.
This of course, was a rather big mistake.
Belle had mastered driving around the factory lot in a short amount of time, but driving with traffic was quite another matter. It wasn't as though Storybrooke was a particularly trafficked area, but poor drivers are a universal truth of every town. As soon as Belle turned onto Main Street, Gold was regretting his hasty decision.
Everything was going fine until she came upon her first stoplight. The light flicked to yellow. Belle, being a naturally cautious driver, slowed the vehicle down in preparation to stop. However, this did not please the blue Nissan behind her, who honked at her violently.
Gold took a mental picture of the license plate—the Nissan's driver would come to regret his impatience. Belle, however, jumped in her seat in alarm. Frightened she was doing wrong, she chose to accelerate right as the stoplight turned red.
"Belle, no, don't, stop!" Gold tried to warn her. Startled, Belle obeyed, slamming on the brakes and coming to a complete halt in the middle of the intersection.
Now everyone was honking at her.
"Oh no," Belle stammered nervously. "What—what do I do?"
"Just go forward, go forward!" Gold ordered, suddenly terrified someone would T-bone them, and come crashing into Belle. Despite his fear, this was probably not the best idea, as a few began to careen around her. Panicked, Belle pressed hard on the accelerator, rearing forward. Gold's head slammed back into his seat as Belle attempted to navigate forward, narrowly missing scraping Dr. Whale's car, weaving in and out of every lane.
They were finally out of the intersection, although Gold heard a telltale metal squeals behind them. Apparently the other drivers had not made it out quite as unscathed. He rather hoped they all wrecked, it served them right for scaring her.
"Slow down, love, you're still weaving—" He tried to keep his voice calm as he noticed Belle's knuckles were ghostly white, gripping the steering wheel. Belle attempted to straighten, over-corrected, and promptly rear-ended a parked car with a sickening crunch.
There was a pause.
"Oh dear," Belle said in a small voice.
"Are you all right?" Gold demanded hurriedly, checking to see if she'd hit her head.
"I'm fine, but—the other car—" Belle pointed weakly forwards.
The other car's back end was completely crumpled. Gold winced as he exited his Cadillac to examine the damage; the Cadillac was dented badly itself. Still, all things considered, his Cadillac had minimal damage. The other car, however, was not so lucky.
"Oh dear," Belle's face was ashen. "Look what I've done!"
"Nonsense," Gold said presently. "It was completely everyone in that intersection's fault. I will sue half of them and evict the rest."
Belle gave an incomprehensible look and then gasped. "Oh good lord," She whispered. "I think that's Regina's car."
Well, every situation had its silver lining.
"Should—should we call her?" Belle asked, clinging slightly to Gold's elbow. He shrugged in response.
"Let's just go home," He decided. "I'll drive, I think we'll let you practice a little more before you're forced to deal with buffoons on the road again."
"But her car—"
"I'll leave my business card," Gold said generously, neatly tucking it behind the windshield wiper.
When they finally pulled into his garage, Gold turned off the engine with a sigh. He unbuckled his seatbeled and glanced at Belle, whose face was withdrawn and ashamed. He tugged a lock of her hair.
"What's the matter?" He wanted to know.
"Are—are you mad at me?" Belle asked, staring at her hands.
He blinked in confusion.
"For hurting your car," Belle sighed. "You've been in a dour mood since the driving lessons. Is it because I keep breaking your things? Like your alarm clock and now your car and your air conditioner—"
"What happened to my air conditioner?" Gold said bewildered. He watched in horror as a tear slipped down her cheek.
"I am so happy to be back with you again," She said, wiping her eyes hurriedly. "And I know—I know you've lived alone for a while and you're used to living your life a certain way—I'm trying so hard, Rum. I don't—I don't mean to keep disrupting your life…"
Gold stared at her in disbelief. "That's what you think?"
She turned her head sideways guiltily. "Isn't it?"
"Gods," Gold groaned, pulling her towards him roughly, burying his face in her curls. "Belle, you have my full permission to demolish my house, destroy my shop, and total my car. I'll provide you a sledgehammer. I'll rent you out a steamroller. I don't give a damn about what you do, I just care that you're with me when you do it. As for the driving—I was worried that if you learned to drive you'd want to…" He found he was unable to finish his sentence.
Belle tilted her head up at him. "You thought I'd want leave?" She asked wonderingly.
He didn't answer, but hugged her more tightly, inhaling her scent. Belle wriggled slightly until she was comfortably seated on his lap.
"You are a silly man," She said fondly, poking his chest teasingly. "As if I'd ever leave you again. Made that mistake in different world, not doing it again. You are stuck with me, forever."
A wave of relief washed over Gold. He felt as though a large weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He chuckled slightly.
"What?" Belle grinned.
"I was thinking," He twirled one of her chestnut tendrils around his finger. "That you were quite a bit of trouble at the Dark Castle. Breaking my tea sets, ripping my curtains, falling off ladders. Why on earth should it be any different in this world where there's so much more to break?"
The smile she gave him could've lit up Storybrooke. "Right," She purred against his chest and Gold was suddenly reminded that she was seated on his lap in a confined space. Belle seemed to get a glimmer of that notion too, because her blue eyes suddenly sparked with mischief. She kissed him lingeringly, pushing him against his seat, shifting a little in his lap. He groaned. She always tasted amazing, sweet and fresh like summer rain.
"I think," Gold growled against her ear. "We better get inside." To his surprise, Belle shook her head.
"No," She said, pressing a button on the side door. His seat hummed and reclined completely, as well as shifted backwards, giving them plenty of legroom. "When you get in this car again, I want you to be sure and certain that I will not be leaving you ever." She kissed him hotly again, tangling her fingers in his gray-streaked hair. She twisted a bit so she was straddling his lap, the friction earning her another groan from Gold.
Of course Gold could never refuse her. His hands roamed up and down her sides, taking generous time at the curve of her backside. Belle drank him in, her fingers still deliciously carding his hair, pushing her unfortunately clothed body as close to him as she could. He started to turn, intending on turning her on her back, but she refused to budge from her position. Her eyes were deep and heady as she shook her head, tracing his jaw-line with her lips.
"Like this," Belle whispered. "You'll put too much pressure on your bad leg if you move."
Generally, Gold liked to be in control of everything. He liked having mastery of every situation and enjoyed asserting his dominance. This extended to all areas of his life.
But as Belle set the pace of their kisses, licked and nipped at his neck, her fingers deftly undoing his tie, Gold came to the conclusion that Belle was welcome to control this situation any time she wanted.
She broke away from him for half a moment to clumsily pull off her sweater dress. As soon as Gold saw her pale form and blue lace bra, he thrust forward, pushing her against the steering wheel. She shivered delightfully as he kissed up her belly and palmed her breast, eager to get the flimsy material off of her when he heard Belle's breathy little moan that very nearly made him instantly hard.
Within moments, the bra was nearly torn off of her as Gold hungrily bit and sucked at her breast. When his tongue swirled around her nipple, Belle cried out throatily and they were briefly interrupted by her slamming her back against the horn. Both of them jumped.
Belle giggled and Gold smirked wickedly, returning to his work. He laved her breast with his tongue, performing the same treatment on the other, gently nipping. He loved seeing the marks appear where no one but him would see.
She pushed him forward against the seat, returning to his mouth, her scorching kisses leaving him gasping. Her fingers fumbled against his shirt, unbuttoning in a rush, impatiently shoving off his suitcoat. He still wore his shirt, but it didn't seem to matter as Belle's tongue swiped along his collarbone, causing him to moan her name. Gold's hands spanned her waists, tugging at her jeans. She rolled off of him for half a moment to shimmy out of her jeans, revealing lacy blue boy-shorts. She was on him within moments, rubbing herself against his hardness. He hissed through his teeth, jerking his hips against her.
Belle smiled and her hands went to his pants zipper, pulling them down just enough to get at his tented boxers. She cupped him and he hissed again. He was literally throbbing; he needed to be inside her this minute.
Somewhere along the line, she'd removed the boy shorts, and Belle was stark naked, straddling him in the middle of his car. The torturous image of it all nearly made him come right there. But then she was lowering herself onto him, and all he could feel was her tight heat.
She began to ride him, and he rose up eagerly to meet her, desperate to drive himself as deep as possible. The pressure began to build within him; his hands trembled as they ran up and down her sides. He clutched at her hips, pulling her down harder, and she began to move faster, her beautiful face taut with passion. Gold thrust upwards and kissed her, all tongue and teeth, biting her lip savagely. She keened intensely at the action, and her movements became more frantic and erratic.
"Belle," Gold grunted, nearing his own climax. "Gods, Belle…" He reached between them, fingers desperate to touch her core, to make her feel the white-hot pleasure he was feeling.
"Rumplestiltskin," She breathed, her voice thick with lust. Hearing his name on her lips this way nearly sent him over the edge; he gritted his teeth. His fingers twisted at her core and she cried out, beginning to shake. Her inner walls fluttered all around him and she moaned, the sound of her release finally undoing him. He jerked her up and down, riding out every bit of pleasure he could hold onto, his fingers digging into her bare shoulders. His brain shorted out into fuzz; he may have shouted as he climaxed, but his focus was completely on Belle, who slumped against his chest, panting slightly.
For a while they held each other, Gold to exhausted to move. Besides, exiting his Cadillac would involve his Belle putting on clothes again, which was completely out of the question.
Belle sighed as she snuggled into him. "I love this car."
Gold was inclined to agree.