Chapter 7
When Hook woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed was the smooth, warm skin under the palm of his hand and the pleasant smell of roses in his nose. He somehow felt pleasantly trapped but didn't dare to open his eyes, at least not yet. If this was still some kind of dream, he was not yet ready to wake up. After a few moments, his trap slightly moved, clinging tighter at him.
Wait. Since when do traps move and – most notably – smell that heavenly?
Hook finally managed to open his eyes, blinking due to the blinding sun. The trap, as he soon found out, was a small, warm woman with auburn hair sleeping next to him. They were facing each other and her legs were twining around his complete lower body. Even if he had wanted to (and of course he did not), there was hardly a way out. Hook's gaze wandered up to his arm. During sleep, he had apparently laid his hand possessively around her small waist. Well, actually, he had somehow managed to shove his hand slightly under her shirt so that his hand was now lying on bare skin. Well, force of habit.
Gods, her skin feels incredibly soft.
Belle was still sound asleep, her delicious breasts steadily moving up and down. Hook smiled to himself while watching her sleep. He knew damn well that every single man she had ever met had told her how much she lived up to her name. Not a very clever pick-up line, to be honest. But as he watched her flawless porcelain face framed by dark, soft curls, he couldn't help himself but think just the same. She was stunningly beautiful. She smelled divine and the feeling of her naked skin beneath his own, rough paw sent down familiar sensations to certain parts of his lower body. But more stunningly, it felt good to lie next to Belle, having her so close. Not good in a lecherous, longing way (ok – maybe not only),but good in a quite innocent, the-whole-world-consists-of-purple-bubbles way. And this was a feeling he hadn't had for a rather great amount of time. He knew it was already late and they should probably get up and continue their journey. But listening to her steady breath, inhaling the smell of flowers, he didn't feel any rush. Instead, he closed his eyes again, shifted his body slightly and nestled even closer up to her.
Unfortunately, this slightest of movements caused Belle to wake up. Yawning loudly, she freed her legs from Hook's body and rolled on her back, causing Hook's hand to rest on her flat stomach. Startled, she turned her head to the side to look straight into the pirate's blue eyes.
"Good morning, love." Hook said in a deep, hoarse voice. "Did you sleep well?"
Removing his hand from her stomach, Hook reached out to gently tuck a loose flick of hair behind her ear. Regaining her composure after some moments, Belle sat up hastily.
"Um, yes. Quite well, actually." Belle replied sheepishly. "Thank you. How about you?"
Hook stretched his arms and legs contentedly, grinning at her broadly. "Best sleep in a while."
Looking at the sun's position in the sky, Belle breathed out noisily. "It's quite late, isn't it? Close to noon. Why didn't you wake me?"
"Well, first of all you needed to catch up some sleep. And secondly, I didn't have the heart to disturb your pleasant sleep. You were simply looking too peaceful. But you're right. We better get going."
Belle and Hook were walking in silence for quite a long time. Hook just now and then darted a worried glance at his companion, still wondering about the events of the day before. Belle didn't look at him. She seemed to be completely lost in thought, her eyes firmly fixed on the ground.
Hook finally couldn't stand their silence anymore. He missed her chatty, light spirit and the blithe, friendly smile on her face. Sure, an encounter with Pan never was an enjoyable one, but the fainting, the screams, the whole sudden change of her behavior were simply … unsettling.
He started an uncreative jabber about their journey, the landscape, gods, even the weather. When here only reaction consisted of "humph"s and "uh-huh"s, he finally had enough.
"You are alight, love?" he said quite loudly to break through her thoughts.
Startled, Belle turned her head for the first time to look at him.
"I'm sorry. What was that? I'd somehow got carried away by my thoughts."
"I asked if you were ok." Hook replied firmly with an oddly upset expression on his face.
When Belle didn't answer, Hook breathed in sharply.
"Look, love." He continued, trying to calm his voice. He didn't know what exactly made him feel that upset, but he wanted her to talk to him. He wanted her to trust him. Hadn't he proven himself often enough? Hadn't it been him who had held her throughout the night, protecting her from darkness and nightmares?
"I need you to talk to me. Since you've met this greenish, vicious forest dweller, you have …" he swirled his hook through the air as if to catch the right words, "changed somehow."
Belle stared at him for a moment, apparently undecisive what to respond.
"I'm not frightened if that's what you mean." Belle finally replied, raising her brows.
"No, Belle. This is exactly not what I meant." Hook had stopped his walking to glare at her. "This would at least be a reaction I'd be able to understand. You should be frightened. But instead, you just look utterly … confused?" He lifted his shoulders and waited for her to affirm his choice of word.
Hook waited for her to say something, but the only response he received was a reluctant nod.
"Alright." Hook finally stated. "If you don't want to tell me what Pan had said to you when the two of you were alone, I'm perfectly fine with it. I have no idea what he's after. But I do know one thing, love, and you have to keep this in mind. Pan is a manipulative, evil boy. He loves to play his wicked little mind games and, more importantly, he loves to win them. He is quite good at detecting the slightest of weakness in a person to finally use it against them. So, whatever he told you, neither believe nor even think about it. And if you feel like talking, well … let's just say that as the charming lad that I am, I was many a time able to solve any kind of problem."
He cocked his head, offering her a slight, unsure smile.
After having thought about his words, Belle's facial features finally softened and she slowly approached the pirate. Reassuringly, she softly laid her hand on his right upper arm, searching for his eyes.
"You are right, Killian. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken his words to heart. His presence just feels so … lasting." Belle struggled to find the right word to describe the strange feeling Pan had caused, and still did. But lasting was the best she could think of.
"Lasting?" Hook furrowed his brow. "Like a permanent pain in the ass, I guess?"
Belle broke out in laughter. "Yes I think you could put it that way."
"Well he's certainly good at that." Hook agreed.
"So … shall we move on then, my lady?" Hook asked after a while, offering his arm self-mockingly like a gentleman.
"Why sure, good Sir." Belle bobbed a curtsey, giving him a warm smile. She then raised herself on tiptoes and placed a chaste kiss on his cheek, whispering a soft "Thank you." against his ear. When she moved back, Belle squeezed his arm and turned around to continue the walk.
Hook just stood there, completely frozen. His hand wandered unconsciously toward his cheek, still sensing the warmth of her lips on his skin. Belle turned around to face him again.
"Aren't you coming?" she asked, smiling innocently at him.
Hook somehow managed to remember how to move his legs again and quickly caught up.
Oh come on, mate. She's not the first woman to kiss you. On. Your. Cheek. You had many women doing quite a lot more than that!
Belle linked arms with him and restarted a cheerful chat. Hook just listened to the sound of her voice. He couldn't help the feeling that he was starting to get in big, big trouble.
