The door flew open and banged against the stone wall. Belle startled from her curled up position on the small pallet in the corner. The torches in the corridor back lit the form of her employer. He was standing legs apart and arms akimbo.
"What in all the realms is that noise?" he demanded.
"I'm s-s-sorry?" Belle got out through her chattering teeth.
"That noise you're making, dearie. I can hear you three floors away," he reprimanded.
"I'm s-s-sorry. I'll t-t-try to st-t-top," Belle said biting her thumb to keep her teeth from touching. Rumplestiltskin stepped further into the room letting the light from the corridor fall onto the petite form curled into a ball on the rough straw mattress. At that moment, Belle shuddered and tensed further in on herself trying to stop the shaking.
"Why is your dress all wet?" he asked her with a puzzled tilt to his head. Belle pulled the thumb from her mouth to answer.
"I d-d-did the land-d-ry after sup-per so that-t-t it c-c-could d-dry overnight-t-t. My d-dress got (shudder) wet."
"Seems to me you should have left your dress to dry as well, eh?" he responded with his eyebrows raised
"It's-s all I have," she managed to get out before she trembled again.
"Right. Well, you'd best come with me, or I'm never going to get any sleep," he stated before turning and disappearing through the door. Belle struggled to her feet and made it to the door frame before she heard him call out to her. "Do try to keep up, dearie."
"Where are you t-t-taking me?" she asked as she trotted after him up two flights of stairs and down along a corridor. He made a tsking sound with his tongue.
"You didn't like the answer the last time you asked that question," he giggled.
"That's-s-s why I'm worried," Belle muttered, while rubbing her hands up and down her arms. Suddenly a door in front of him flew open and he stepped inside. Belle paused on the threshold as he blew gently on a candle. Any normal person would have performed this action to extinguish a candle. Belle had to remind herself that he was not a normal person when the candle lit instead. She moved forward to see that they were standing in one of the smaller bedrooms on the floor above the main hall. He set the candle on a trunk beside the bed and turned to her.
"Now, my dear, I want you to picture in your mind appropriate sleeping attire," he ordered. Belle looked at him confused for a moment, but then shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes. She felt a tingling along her skin and when she opened her eyes to look down she gasped. She was swaddled in white flannel from a ruffle at her neck to a flounce at her toes. Her finger tips were just visible beyond the cuff of the sleeve. Rumplestiltskin snorted as he studied what his magic had pulled from her mind.
"I suppose I should be careful what adjectives I use around you," he mused as he moved to the door. Belle's words made him pause just outside the room.
"What happened to my dress?" she queried.
"In front of the fire in the kitchen with the rest of the laundry," he informed her. "Now, go to bed before I decide to throw you back in the dungeon," he said as the door slammed shut. Belle looked around at the room that was infinitely cozier than where she had been sleeping and gave a little smile as she shuddered with the cold again. She turned down the bed covers and blew out the candle before she crawled into bed and again huddled in a ball. At least she was dry now but, as petite as she was, her body couldn't generate enough heat to warm the small space she made between the feather mattress and the covers. Her teeth were still chattering and it wasn't five minutes before the door banged open again.
"I'm s-s-sorry!" she exclaimed before he could get a word out. Instead, he marched over to her bedside and lit the candle again. He grabbed her chin and turned her head to the light.
"Your lips are blue," he announced with an odd look on his face.
"I can't-t-t seem to get-t-t warm," Belle replied looking up at him. He just snorted again and threw the covers back off of her. Grabbing her hand he pulled her out of bed and towards the door. "Oh, please don't put me back in the dungeon," she begged, pulling on his hand. He glanced at her over his shoulder.
"I have something infinitely worse than the dungeon planned for you dearie" he exclaimed with his usual high pitched giggle. He was too strong for her to wrestle her hand away, so she stumbled along behind him. Back down the corridor they went, but instead of down the stairs, as she expected, they went up. There was only a small landing at the top of the flight, with a large doorway on the far wall. She knew this was his private domain; she had been warned never to roam the third floor. However, across the landing they went, and as he circled his hand in the air the doors flew open. He dragged her inside and the doors slammed closed behind them.
"Welcome to the lair of the beast," he intoned as he dropped her hand and moved towards a large stone fire place. Belle slowly backed away from him until she came to an abrupt stop with her back against the doors. She watched fascinated as he rubbed his hands quickly together for several seconds and then blew across them towards the fire place. Instantly, a roaring fire ignited where there had been none before. Forgetting her trepidation at the sight of the flames, Belle gave a small exclamation and then hurried to his side, her hands extended towards the warmth. He left her standing in front of the fire and disappeared through one of the smaller doors along one wall of the room. While he was gone, Belle's curiosity got the better of her and she turned around holding her hands behind her back, so that she could examine the room. Like the main hall, it was large and decorated in shades of red and cream. A large four poster bed, complete with red velvet hangings, sat on a dais not far from the fire.
Rumplestiltskin emerged from the doorway beyond the bed after changing his clothes. Normally, he slept naked but he didn't think Belle would appreciate that under the circumstances. He had found a pair of loose cotton trousers and a collarless tunic buried in a trunk that had come from the Far East at some point. He moved to the bed and pulled the covers back, before he made eye contact with Belle again.
"All right, dearie, in you get," he motioned to the side of the bed closest to the fire. He could see Belle's eyes go wide in shock and he giggled at the look on her face. Sobering he spoke again in a firmer tone "It's late and I'm tired. Don't test my patience," he warned her. Belle didn't say a word as she stepped up to the bed and lay down on the very edge facing the fire with her back to him. She felt the mattress dip as he got in beside her and pulled the covers up. She had automatically curled into a protective ball again, but she gasped when she felt his arm curl around her waist. His hand was flat on her stomach as he pulled her to the middle of the mattress.
"You'll fall off the edge if you stay there," he whispered against her ear. She shivered again but not from the cold this time. He lay down facing her, pulling her further into the curve of his body until her back was flush against his chest.
"Oh, you're so warm!" she exclaimed on a short breath. He could feel her muscles loosening from their huddled position as she snuggled back into his embrace.
"Good grief, woman!" he gasped as her ice cold feet made contact with his calves. She instantly moved them away with a stuttered apology. He growled against the nape of her neck and shifted his leg to pull her lower limbs back into contact with his body heat. They were now spooned together, close as two peas in a pod.
"Now go to sleep," he grumbled in a voice much lower that what she was used to hearing. She laid her hand over the one still resting on her stomach and relaxed as she was finally warm again.
"Yes, Rumple…" she drifted off partway through whispering his name. He sighed softly and fell asleep breathing in the scent of her hair.