kindleheartheartzyou said:

Her Little Secret 'verse! Life at the dark castle ;D

Well, darling, you didn't specify exactly what you wanted, so I really hope you like this.

Rating: T

Verse: Her Little Secret

He Couldn't Stop Kissing Her

He couldn't stop kissing her. The smoke enveloping them faded away into the ether as they materialized into the Great Hall of the Dark Castle, yet Rumpelstiltskin paid heed to none of it. How could he when he had his beloved in his arms? She was real and whole and safe and perfect…and she was his at last. Two years and three days since last he'd held her. Two years and three days since he'd heard the melodic sound of her voice or gazed into the shimmering pools of her eyes.

She was no longer his little dearie, but his true love. His to hold forever close to his heart. He'd never thought to fall victim to that questionable emotion again, never thought the blackened husk which thumped erratically in his chest would ever beat for anything other than the next deal. Now it pumped for her…Belle…Belle…Belle… Seraphim couldn't have sounded any sweeter than the sound of her name singing through his blood.

"I love you," she whispered reverently against his lips as she broke away to draw breath, filling her lungs with sweet air before he claimed her mouth once more.

He tried desperately to hold the beast at bay as her light filled him with hope for their future, driving the darkness to the far reaches of his soul. She was his everything, his love. She'd sought comfort from him as a child and now she sought his love as an adult. He would not fail her again, would not push her away. He was a willing slave to her whims and would never willingly part from her again. He was convinced he wouldn't endure it.

"My Belle…" he murmured as his lips trailed softly over the smooth curve of her jaw to find the shell of her ear. "I love you. I'm sorry."

Belle tugged on the ends of his hair as she forced him to meet her gaze…a gaze so mellifluous and tender it made his heart ache with yearning. "There is no need to apologize, Rumpel. You came for me. You saved me and brought me home."

His lips brushed hers again and again as he tried to convey the depths of his regret, his arms tightly wrapped about her waist as he held her within his embrace. "Home…" he agreed with a slight nod of his head. "You are my home, Belle. I'll never let you go, never allow anything to separate us again. I promise."

She smiled, that lovely twist of her rosebud mouth that sent flutters of warmth spiraling through his wiry frame and he couldn't help but return it. Then she pulled away, her innate curiosity urging her to explore her new home, something she'd only dreamed about before. Instantly, he felt the loss of her light, the need to touch her, to kiss her, driving him forward to follow in her wake. She was his flame and he was a helpless moth drawn to her heat.

He felt as if he let her out of his sight, he would wake and it would all have been a dream, the years still moving forward as the chasm between them widened, time ever marching on as she went about her life without him. She clasped his hand as he showed her the treasures in his hall and he kissed her fingertips. He brought her onto the grounds and smiled, his arm firmly about her waist as they traversed the rose garden and his lips whispered butterfly kisses against her bare shoulder. With each new room he revealed to her delighted gaze, she rewarded him with a touch of her delicate fingertips or a kiss from her soft lips.

Her light spread throughout the castle, much like it spread through him and he felt something he hadn't thought ever to experience…happiness. She was home and she was his and hopefully someday soon he would wake up and feel confident that it was no longer his dream, but his reality and in the light of dawn it wouldn't fade with the morning dew.

The last room he showed her stole her breath and make her squeal with childlike glee, the walls covered in shelves upon shelves of the greatest treasures known to his little dearie. No longer would he only see her once a month to have her read to him in her garden under the moonlight. Now she would read to him here in their home before a cozy fire wrapped protectively in his arms as she uncovered another adventure, another romance…yet none that could rival their own.

"Rumpel!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms about him and raining kisses over his face in her excitement. "This is the most wonderful thing…I don't know what to say."

He didn't care what she said, as long as he could always see such joy upon her face, her eyes alight with happiness…happiness he had brought her. "I couldn't come into this room when we were apart. It was too painful to see the books we would never read together, and now…Oh, Belle…" His lips found hers again as his hand gently brushed against her nape to hold her to him, holding her in place as he captured her bottom lip between his.

She sighed breathlessly against the corner of his mouth and tugged on his hands, delighting in the feel of his claws against the smooth skin of her wrists as she pulled him over to the chaise. "And now we can enjoy this room together," she said, smiling sweetly as she urged him to sit.

With some reluctance, he let her go, but she returned to him after a mere moment with a hastily chosen selection from the nearest shelf. She seemed to be as averse to parting as he, needing his touch to reassure her that this was real. She smiled shyly at him as she moved to sit beside him and laughed merrily as he caught her in the last moment to pull her down to sit upon his lap.

Rumpelstiltskin smothered her laugh with his lips, his arms settling about her waist, his head upon her shoulder as her free hand stroked lightly over his wild curls. "I love you, my Belle," he whispered reverently as he trailed his lips along her shoulder to the crook of her neck, breathing her in.

"And I you, my love," she answered, tilting his face up to receive her kiss. "I always have." The book lay forgotten on her lap as she gave herself over to the seductive lure of his lips, because what was a book when he couldn't stop kissing her.