Chapter 2
Surprise, Surprise
Disclaimer: Canan characters and settings belong to Disney.
Author's Note: Special thanks to everyone that sent in a review and gave me the motivation to write this chapter! Also, thanks to everyone that favorited and added me to their story alerts! If anyone would like to see any visuals of any characters or scenery or any other extra tidbits then shoot me a message and I'll give you my tumblr. :)
The stable boy was in for quite the surprise that morning when he was going about his duties. He was just minding his own business, clearing and mucking the stalls when what did he find, but a beautiful young woman asleep in a pile of hay. She was camped near the small, ugly horse the master had instructed them to care for. His first instinct was to take a quick peak down the blouse of her dress and the second was to find a groom to show him the discovery. So, that was exactly what he did.
When he fetched the groom, Bartlett his name was, the man just scratched his head and stared. He had nor more thoughts on finding a solution than the stable boy did. He nudged her with the toe of his boot, leaving a brown smudge on the hem of her dress. He had hoped that this small touch would wake her, but he was disappointed. Belle whimpered slightly in her sleep before again falling quiet again.
"Lemme fetch the stable master." He said gruffly. With a small shake of his head he left and the stable boy was once again left alone with Belle. His first thought after Bartlett left was that she had a mighty fine set of tits, his second was that maybe he should get a second look and his third was that he should try to cop a feel before Bartlett returned with Master Leodegrance. He never claimed to be a saint, only a horny devil in the middle of maturity.
The boy took a step forward, towards the woman, but stopped in his tracks when he hears an odd shuffling noise posterior to him. Trying to look as innocent as was possible, he hooked his fingers into his belt-loops and casually turned around.
"What in damnation is going on?" Master Leodegrance didn't exactly shout or holler in any way, but the tone of his voice was so hostile and unfriendly that it was worse than yelling. The boy looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet, unwilling or incapable of giving an answer. "Daniel." Leodegrance warned, taking a half step towards the boy who was even then starting to cower in fear of his Master's hulking mass.
'Daniel's' face turned the color of watery, mushy oatmeal and he stuttered out something that sounded like, "I-I was j-just going ab-bout me duties Sir, I f-found that there," He made a vague motion towards Belle, who was just now beginning to stir. She tried to be quiet about it, so that she wouldn't draw any more undue attention to herself.
Master Leodegrance glanced swiftly over towards what he assumed to be a sleeping woman, or a devil in disguise. She was beautiful, even though the majority of her face was hidden by the shadow of the stable, she exuded something more than earthly, something magical or heavenly that just called out to him. She did more than just appear to be beautiful, she was gorgeous on the inside as well. A single brow flicked upwards on his face, none of his emotions or feelings showed, he was forever a professional. "Well I'll be damned." He whispered. He took a few steps towards Belle and then thought better of himself. He turned to face Daniel again and spoke, "Git going boy, go up to the castle and have Mrs. Potts prepare a breaking of the fast and air out a room."
When Daniel just stared back at him slack-jawed and glass-eyed for a minute, all Leodegrance was give the simple fool a hostile glance and he scampered off, leaving the two alone. Now, Leodegrance was no monk, but it had been quite a while since he had last bedded or even touched a woman. (He did seem to have a lot of baggage.) He sat down in the straw next to Belle and took a deep breath. For a few moments he simple sat there and breathed, strongly to keep himself under control. He inhaled her scent, roses, freshly baked bread and soap. An odd combination but not unpleasant.
He smelled like leather, sandalwood and a strange musky scent. A strange combination but pleasing none-the-less. But what was truly shocking to Belle and was making her grow increasing uncomfortable by the second was the overwhelming amount of body heat that the man gave off. She almost jumped when she felt his callused, rough hands gentle stroking her arm, the heat of his palm and fingers burned so that she almost turned to look and see if there were marks on her skin. Then, a gentle pressure and warmth on her calf told her that his hand had wandered there as well. She could feel her heartbeat quickened and hoped to hell that he couldn't hear it.
Leodegrance could feel her heart start to pick up and beat faster at his touch. He chuckled at the appearance of goosebumps upon her skin but continued to casually tickle her skin with the roughness of his fingers. "I know you're awake." His deep baritone rumbled so that Belle could feel the vibrations of it deep within her own chest. She cautiously opened way and struggled to scrutinized both the man and her surroundings that way. Oh god but the man was perfect. Godly. He exuded masculinity, confidence and pure sex with everything that he did, every movement he made. However, she had some difficulty keeping the man in her sights and trying to figure out where the hell she was so she casually opened the other eye. She was rewarded with the sight not only of the surrounding stable but also with the other side of the man's face. She didn't gasp, cry out or make an sort of surprised noise. Most women screamed or at least did the latter so this was a new development. She did however stare which was nothing new, but the way that she was looking at him was different than he was used to. She was afraid, horrified, shocked or any of those things. She simply looked...interested and curious. Leodegrance's face, the left side was decorated with 4 long, thick upraised and dark scars that started at his hairline and continued on past the neckline of his shirt. Self-consciously, Belle stroked the side of her chin, the flawed side still hidden in shadow.
Leodegrance raised his right brow-the left one was missing and asked, "What? No hysterics? This is...I'm going to be honest I've never gotten this reaction before." He ran a hand through his hair, exhaled and smiled crookedly, for the scars ran through part of his lips, making them uneven.
Belle cleared her throat and rubbed the remaining bits of grit and sleep out of her eyes before she deigned to answer him. "I don't understand why, I don't going into hysterics and gross amounts of stereotypical female simpering every time I see a human being. Oh dear fetch my smelling salts!" Belle gave a toothy smile that was decidedly unladylike and totally un-proper.
Leodegrance seemed to be slightly taken aback by her response. He scratched at his head and then finally shrugged and decided that he was putting much too much thought into this and he should simply take this moment for what it was- a gift. "No matter. I suppose your calm temperament and even demeanor will only make things easier for everyone."
"What are you talking about?" Belle crossed her arms and braced herself for a lucrative explanation. But- it never came. Instead, Leodegrance slapped his muscled thing and laughed, releasing a strange scent that Belle couldn't quite hold down long enough to name. She pushed herself further away from him and kept her arms tight to her chest, as if it offered some protection.
Leodegrance chuckled again at her brave attempt to face him. On his hands and knees he started towards her, prowling, a predator stalking it's prey. His large hands soon reached her legs and began to slowly travel up her thighs, gently squeezing and caressing as they went. Again, he was pleasantly surprised to find that she didn't shudder in revulsion at his touch. Belle was starting to have difficulty sorting out her emotions and feelings. She was frightened because a strange man was assaulting her (in a most pleasant way) but she was also scandalized by how much she was enjoying the attentions that he was giving her. His hands had reached the top of her stockings now and his fingers were making lazy circles on her bare skin. She shivered, disgusting with her herself for enjoying this but also finding that she didn't want it to end. Just as she was about to forget about all propriety and her virtue altogether, he stiffened. Something about him had changed, his appearance was the same but something about him, was different. He pulled a small time-piece out of the neckline of her shirt, took a long look at it and then put it away. He took an agonizing breath and summoned all his will-power. All the while, Belle was looking at him with big brown doe-eyes, wandering what the hell was going on.
"Come on, we need to get you up to the castle." He offered her a hand and helped her up off the floor. Shocked by this sudden development, she made no protest and only had time for a halfhearted wave to Philippe before the man had practically dragged her outside. Once out of the stable he released her to walk on her own but was soon several yards ahead of her after only ten strides. He quickly noticed that Belle lagged behind, checked his timepiece again before he picked her up and flung her over his shoulder like a sag of potatoes.
"What is all the hurry for? Could you at least ask before you do something like that?" She bellowed this while simultaneously pounding her fists on his broad back.
"Do you mind terribly if I forcibly pick you up and escort you to my place of residence?" The sweetness in his voice was false but Belle didn't know him well enough to pick it up.
"Little late now." She grumbled, resigned now to her fate.
"I do apologize for my ungentlemanly behavior. Generally, I'm much better behaved." Rather like a trained dog. He thought bitterly. This time the falseness and poorly concealed hostility in his voice was easy to pick up.
Belle frowned, not that he could see her facial expressions. "You know," Belle spoke as if bored, leaning her face in her hand, "Neither of the statements actually answered any of the questions I posed."
From that point on, he refused to respond, he seemed to be incredibly focused on his feet and occasionally his timepiece. When they reached the castle Belle didn't even get the chance to admire it as she was still facing backwards, before Leodegrance flung open the giant oak doors as if they were flimsy as paper and bellowed, "Mrs Potts!"
A kindly voice answered him back, "Green room with the view nearest the library dear. And do be quick, It's almost noon." After hearing this Leodegrance took off at full sprint Belle just barely caught the blur of a short, older woman with curly white hair. She didn't even have time to look at the scenery or furnishings before she was abruptly plopped down on a mattress. The bed was huge, bug enough to fit a whole family and covered with luxurious red silk. Belle stroked the bedding and looked up at Leodegrance, hoping to finally get some answers.
He was standing over her, breathing hard and radiating even more heat, if that was possible. He was looking at his time-piece again.
"Three minutes." He mumbled
"What the hell is going on here?" Belle suddenly yelled this but the man seemed less than startled. Instead he gave her a beastly grin and descended onto the bed. Belle swallowed a hard lump in her throat and backed away until she hit the headboard. His arms were on either side of her now, his hands pressed flat against the wall, his breathing was ragged.
"What are you going to do?" Belle asked, her voice small.
"I won't hurt you." Leodegrance said as his lips brushed against her own. The touch brought a red-hot sensation to Belle's body, something she'd never experianced before and was afraid of. A growl issued forth from the man, something that didn't sound completely human, before he took full possession and ownership of her lips. Nipping and sucking at her bottom lip, he continually made animalistic growls and grunts. But Belle hardly noticed. Her senses were being assaulted b y this new red-hot burning that she could feel everywhere, and it wasn't just from the heat of his body. She felt it inside her. Just as she began to lose herself to his touch, he jumped back and growled loud and full of pain and fury. Belle didn't quite know what was happening, had she done something wrong? Was this normal? Before she could ask, Leodegrance had gone from the room, she could hear his receding footsteps as they grew heavier the farther away he went. She turned to look at the large clock in the corner, 12:01.
