A/N: I apologize for promising to have this posted thursday and not posting. It was my intention to have it posted then, but things didn't work out. I hope this chapter makes up for it.

So, this is my first time writing a sex scene. Let me know what you think and please be gentle… I didn't mean that as a double entendre.

Also, in the Dollar Tree scene, I've hid 9 easter eggs giving shout-outs to other fics and an obvious OUAT reference; 10 in total. If you can name all 10, you get a gold star :) Hope you all enjoy! It might be easier to catch the references if you follow the great rumbelle writers on tumblr.

Chapter 8: A Day of Firsts

It had been a couple of days since Bae flew back to Glasgow, and Nick had promised him that he would be there in a month for his wedding. After the past couple of days, he felt the tension he had been holding in for years slowly release. Seeing his son again helped along with being able to talk to him again about the things he was afraid to admit.

Opening up with Belle eased the stress away also. He had almost expected her to be judging of him for his past, but she didn't say anything of the sort. She hugged him instead. He could still feel her arms wrapped around him as he woke up that morning.

After Bae was dropped off at the airport, Belle had called him and asked if they could have breakfast soon. Of course he agreed, offering to make it himself. This was why he was up so early, frying bacon and cooking pancakes at an ungodly hour. He preferred Belle's cooking rather than his own, but he didn't mind trying to cook for her. He decided to dress casual for the day, wearing a white button-up shirt and blue jeans.

Once Nick turned the stove off, the door knocked on cue. Setting aside his ovenmitts, he walked over to the door, and opened it to find Belle on the other side. She was dressed nicely, he noted. She wore a blue foral dress with a brown belt around the waist, and a white button-up sweater over it. "Hey," was all he could say.

"Good morning to you, too," she smiled, noticing how tired he must of looked. She walked through sniffing the air. "Smells delicious in here!"

"I should hope so," Nick replied as he closed the door behind them. "I've been cooking all morning."

She nodded her approval at the plate of pancakes on the island. "I'm impressed."

He grabbed two plates from one of the cabinets and handed her one. "As usual, you may help yourself."

She nodded, grabbing a fork and shoveling pancakes and bacon on her plate. "How was your time with your son?" she asked as she sat down in the booth.

"It was great," he began pouring her a glass of orange juice. "We visited the Statue of Liberty, took a walk around Central Park... We did a lot of things."

"That's great," she smiled just before taking a bite of her bacon.

"It's very interesting, you know?" he mused. "When we were together, it was just like the old days when I use to take him for rides through town and we would always eat lunch at this wee tiny restaurant everyday. It was nice to go back to that," he leaned against the island, his mug of coffe in his hands. "Relive the simpler times."

Belle nodded, understanding exactly those feelings. "It's always nice to take a break."

"Aye," he agreed. He snapped out of his daydreams quickly enough to start putting food on his own plate. "So, what have you been up to lately?"

"Well," she grinned setting her fork aside a moment to reach into her brown bag she brought in. "I've been making a little money on the side."

Nick was confused as to what she meant until she pushed a newspaper toward him that read The New York Times. "What's all this then?"

"Turn to page C3," she bit her lip as if she were holding something back.

He did as he was told, opening up the paper until he got to the desired page. Near the top of the page, just under the writer's section, was a long rectangle with the title "Wilted Roses" by Isabella French. "Is this part of your novel?" he asked, amazed.

"No," she shook her head, but the smile still stayed on her face. "Sometimes when I can't think of anything specific, I write little drabbles of story ideas and save them away for a rainy day. My agent suggested I send some of them to get my name out there again." Her grin got bigger, and she bounced in her seat a little, obviously excited.

"That's fantastic," Nick smiled, truly happy for her. "We should celebrate!" He then got up from the bar and opened the pantry tight next to the fridge.

"What are you doing?" Belle asked curiously.

"Good news calls for good champagne," he called back, his voice slightly muffled.

"Oh no," she tried to shake her head, but he obviously wasn't looking at her. "You don't have to waste champagne on me."

"Nothing is wasted when it comes to you," he argued, bending down to grab a bottle closer to the floor.

Even though Nick wasn't looking at her, she turned her face away so he wouldn't see her blush. "I've never had champagne for breakfast before," she said amused.

He stood back up with a champagne bottle in one hand and two skinny glasses on the other. "There's a first time for everything, dearie." He froze for a moment; an idea formed in his head. "Belle, what are your plans for today?"

She shrugged. "I was going to try and write, but inspiration takes a while. Why?"

"What if, and stop me if I start to souind crazy," he began, walking the rest of the way to the island to sit down. "What if we spent the day doing things we've never done before?" his tone sounded more sneaky than he intended.

Belle's eyebrow arched. She didn't seem to get where he was going with this. "What things are we talking about?"

"Well," he stumbled a moment, trying to put the right workd together. "For example, you're having champagne for breakfast, which you've never done before. Afterwards, we'll do something I've never done before, and we'll just keep going back and forth."

She bit her lip, glancing to the side. "Huh," she grinned. "Sounds like fun."

"Then it's settled," he finalized, tearing the wrapping off of the bottle. "You and I will have a day of firsts."

"It's a deal," she agreed just as he popped the cork off the bottle. She ducked under the counter to avoid getting doused in champagne.

...

"Where's the one place in New York City you haven't been?" Belle asked as the pair walked down the street.

"Hmm," Nick muttered as he tugged his leather jacket closer to fight the tiny chill that went through the air. "I've been to mostly everywhere here for TV spots and such."

She shook her head. Finding things he hadn't done before was harder than she thought. "Are we going to keep walking until we find a place you don't recognize?"

"Pretty much."

She didn't respond to that. They kept walking until they got to the really tall buildings. When they stopped at the crosswalk, Nick spotted a nice building with collums and a stone lion on each side of the staircase. "The New York Public Library," he read the sign aloud.

"Oh!" Belle grinned. "I've been there once. It's so lovely on the inside."

"It is?"

She looked at him astonished. "Don't tell me you've never been there before."

"I never had the time," he admitted. "All of the books I got here were from book stores and magazine stands."

Belle got an idea. "So you've never been to an American library?"

"No I-" he stopped, understanding where she was coming from. "So this will be my first?"

"Now we're tied," she grinned as she started dragging him towards the entrance. She was probably more excited by this than he was.

They stepped through the entrance and they found themselves in a large room where long tables lined up across the room. It reminded Belle of the Hogwarts Grand Hall.

"Wow," Nick marveled. "This place is big!"

She smiled at him. "I know."

They began walking where the tall bookshelves were, both of them staring at the books as if they were kids in a candy store. "How are you supposed to find anything here?"

"Don't the libraries in Scotland have card catalogs?"

"Not the small ones I've been too," he admitted. "There were only a few shelves, and if you didn't find what you were looking for, you were stuck."

She led him to a computer set up against a shelf. "Just type what you're looking for, and it should give you the answer."

He couldn't think of any book in particular, so he typed a random author name until a big list of pages popped up. "How do you read this?"

She leaned over. "The 'A' means you can find it in the adult section, and they are alphabatized by author name."

"Oh, I get ya," he then stepped in front of her to block her view of the computer. "You're not allowed to look."

She raaised her eyebrows. "Okay..." she said unsure, but she turned away from him anyway, listening to him type away.

Once he was finished, he switched back to the main menu, grabbed her wrist and led her down the shelves. They bobbed and weaved through them until Nick stopped at a shelf ner the front of the adult section. Belle was curious as to what he was looking for. He looked up at the tall bookshelf in front of him. "How am I suppose to get up there?"

She walked over and grabbed a ladder leaning against the shelf, sliding it over to him.

"Thanks," he told her as he gripped the ladder and began climbing up. He stopped midway, brushing his thumb along the spines and mouthing the author name as he went. Once he found what he was looking for, he grabbed it from the shelf and walked back down the ladder. He hopped over the last wrung and held the book out to her like a little kid.

He was holding her book.

"I didn't think they had a copy," Belle was astonished as she held the book in her hands. She opened the back cover where the Property of the New York Public Library stamp was in the top corner. She couldn't help but smile at that.

"You should sign it," he suggested.

"I'm sorry?" she looked back at him.

"You know, make it personal," he started digging his hands into his pockets, looking for a pen. "How many autographed books do you think this library has?"

"If they have any, they wouldn't put them in the system," she argued. "If they had a autographed J.K. Rowling book lying about, it would never get returned."

"Then they'll just have to keep buying more copies, and you'll get more money," he insisted, grabbing a pen he found by another computer. "You never know, it might make someone's day to see your signature in there."

She stared down at the pen in his hand. This was wrong, and she could get in big trouble for doing this. Then again, how many people were eager to read her books? Maybe no one would notice. She reluctantly grabbed the pen from him, and opened the back cover where it would be less noticeble. "What should I say?"

He cleared his throat and said, "to the New York Public- no. To you, my lovely reader. May you enjoy this book and bask in the greatness that is my writing. Love, Isabella French."

She rolled her eyes. "How about, to you my lovely reader, enjoy! love, Belle French?"

He shrugged. "I guess that works, too."

She began writing her message. Before she could write her last name, however, a stern voice called out, "What do you think you're doing?"

They both turned to see an older woman wearing a gray vest with a dark green dress. Her hair was tied in a bun, and she had a gold name tag pinned to her outfit. She was obviously one of the librarians.

Oh, shit, Belle blanched.

"Doodling in our books is defacing public property," she scolded.

"She's not doodling," Nick got defensive. "She's autographing it. She happens to be Isabella French, the author of this said book."

"Nick, don't-"

"I don't care if she's the President," the librarian shot back, planting her fists against her waist. "Writing in books is against our rules."

"Well you have a pretty fucked up system if authors can't personalize their work."

Both Belle and the librarian gasped. She handed the book back to the librarian. "Here, you can use white out." She then grabbed Nick's arm and they ran off.

"Stop!" the woman shouted, but it was useless.

Once they finally got out of the building, they hid on the far side behind a tall beam and collapsed against the wall, catching their breath.

Despite it all, Belle started giggling. "I can't believe you just cursed out a librarian."

"Does that count as another first for me?" he glanced at her, grinning victoriously.

She facepalmed. "Sure, why not."

...

Swearing at a librarian and "defacing public property" tied them both up. For lunch, they both went to a restaurant where they ordered things they never tried before. Nick ordered sushi, and Belle had escartgo. They both agreed they couldn't see themselves eating these everyday.

After lunch, Nick decided it was Belle's turn to do her first thing. When they passed by a tiny store, grinned evilly.

"Have you ever gotten a five-finger discount at a 25 cent store before?" he whispered.

It took Belle a minute to remember what "five-finger discount" meant. "No," she hissed. "I'm not stealing anything."

"Relax," he told her. "It's not like we're robbing a bank. Just taking a tiny bauble that no one's going to care about."

She shook her head. "We can't do that. Besides, we don't have 25 cent stores anymore."

"No, but we do have dollar stores," he pointed at the shop in front of them with a sign reading Dollar Tree. "Just follow my lead, and try not to look to obvious."

She held her breath as he led her to the front entrance. "I don't see the point in this," she whispered to him. "There's nothing I need in here badly enough to steal."

"Oh, you were one of those kids growing up," he said, seemingly insulting her.

She arched her eyebrow at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He didn't answer when they walked through the door. The store wasn't that full, but there was still quite a few people there, and the place was decorated for Halloween.

"Like I said, try to be inconspicuous," he whispered as they kept walking.

Okay, I can do this, she encouraged herself. Just pretend you're another customer browsing through the store like those other shoplifters on TV.

They stopped at a bin where various Halloween toys were stuffed. Nick picked up a stuffed cat with a red scarf sewn to it, turning it in his hands pretending to scrutinize it. Belle reached into the bin and pulled out a orange and black Jack-o-lantern in a box with a red peddle. She only turned it three times, but the springy pumpkin still popped out. She jumped, quickly closing the lid and throwing the box back into the bin. A few people glanced at them.

"Don't make eye contact," he whispered.

She looked way from them and they kept on walking. They glanced at a long set of coffee mugs; green, white, red, yellow... She was surprised there were that many colors. They stopped again, and she picked up a wine glass, pretending to admire the shiny glass. She then shrugged and put it back. She glanced at Nick who was grinning at her.

She smiled back as if to say, hey I can do this too. She sauntered past him where the paperback books were. She picked one up, unable to decipher the title because it was in such fancy writing. It had a red rose with tiny thorns and a yellow ribbon tied in a bow on the cover. She flipped to a random page, and the first sentence she saw was, "... and she whimpered beneath him-" She quickly put it back, picking up a sudoku book instead. She glanced over the edge of her book, watching Nick thumb through a row od Apollo chocolate bars.

She wondered for a moment how many times he had shoplifted as a kid, because he seemed too good at this. Then again, she hadn't seen him steal anything yet. She put the sudoku book down and walked past him towards a row of tiny porcelein dolls as big as her hand. She thought they were very pretty. Some were in old fashion dresses from the Victorian era, and a couple were dressed as Southern Belles. She picked up one with curly brown hair, and she war a Civil War era dress, just like the Southern Belles, but this one was a more simple dress. It was blue with yellow flowers on it. It remeinded her of Jo March from Little Women, which was one of her favorite books growing up.

She put the doll back, feeling strange eyes glancing her way. She quickly separated herself from Nick who was thumbing through cheap CDs. She walked past other bins and found herself in the clothing section... Or whatever passed as a clothing section. There were only a row of Halloween sweaters with a few normal ones mixed in. She thumbed through the Pumpkins, skeleton, one with red A's stitched to the sleeves, and the one Christmas sweater that made its way into the rack before it was even November. She moved away from the sweater, picking up a gold knit scarf at the end of the aisle. She looked at herself through the tiny mirror by the sunglasses, holding the tassles of the scarf to her face. It looked pretty enough on her, but she shook her head, putting it back on the rack with the other winter wear.

She walked past the cheap Halloween costumes where she saw Nick shuffling through a bin full of Halloween masks. He picked up a Batman mask, sticking his thumb through the eye holes. Belle followed suit, picking up a mask made to look like a grey cat. She slipped it on and turned her head sideways at Nick.

He glanced up at her, biting back a giggle. He then nodded at her, pointing at her mask. She figured this meant he wanted her to steal that. She made to take the mask off, but he put his hand on her arm, stopping her. He pushed the mask back over her face.

He had to be kidding. There was no way Belle could leave the store wearing the mask. As if he read her mind, he grabbed a a different cat mask, this one with orange and brown stripes, and slipped it over his head. He was offering to walk out with her.

Belle took a deep breath, the air barely escaping the mask. He bent his head down low, and grabbed her hand, comforting her, as the made their way back to the entrance. Belle's heart beat raced with every step they took.

Once the doors to the entrance slid open. Nick shouted, "Now!" And they both broke out into a run, their hands still intertwined with one another's.

...

They finally made it back to the apartment without much trouble. They were still wearing their masks when they walked through the door into the lobby. They leaned against the wall laughing.

"Oh my goodness," Belle exclaimed. "I've never ran so fast in my entire life!"

"Yeah," Nick agreed, sliding down the wall to sit. "Last time I ran from a security guard was Scotland. I was seventeen and me and a few others were spray painting the side of the school."

"How did that end?"

"Suspension," he shrugged. "So, I believe that's four for you and three for me."

"That's right, I'm in the lead," she taunted. "What's something you haven't done before?"

"That doesn't involve going out into public?"

"Preferably."

Nick took his mask off, scratching the top of his head in thought. What was something hadn't done that wouldn't get him arrested? He glanced over at Belle, remembering how brave she was today with the shoplifting and writing in a library book-

"I know!" he figured out. "You know that book you're writing?"

"What about it?"

"I've never read a manuscript for a novel before," he suggested. "Would you be willing to let me read your?"

Belle stood still, her nerves tightening up all of a sudden. She couldn't let Nick read it yet. He would know she was writing about him, and he would freak. She couldn't tell him no either. "Um... sure, I guess," she replied uneasily, taking her mask off.

"You're sure?" he asked, as if reading her discomfort.

"No, it's fine. Just..." she trailed off a moment, suddenly losing the ability to form coherent words. "I just need to print everything off. Give me a few moments, and I'll meet you back at your apartment."

"Okay," he agreed as he got up and began walking up the stairs.

Belle followed him a few steps behind. She knew she was going to have to tell him at one point, but she didn't think it would be now. If she didn't tell him, he would figure it out for himself. Do the brave thing, and bravery will follow, she told herself.

...

Nick waited in his living room for Belle to arrive with her manuscript. He knew it was probably unfinished and she hadn't had the time to go through and edit it. That was probably why she seemed so nervous when talking about it.

After about an hour of waiting, Belle knocked on his front door. She was still wearing her outfit from that day, but she had changed out of her heels and into a pair of house shoes. He immediately regretted making her run earlier.

"Well, here it is," she said, holding out a stack of papers shoved into a oversized folder. "Be as honest as you want," she paused a moment before adding, "but be gentle."

"I will definitely do that," he promised. Just as he opened the folder, she started walking away. He dashed into the hallway to catch up with her. "Where are you going?"

"Back to my apartment," she answered. "Why?"

"You're not gonna stay?"

"Oh, no," she shook her head. "I can't stand being in the same room with anyone while they read my stuff. Just come back to my place when you're done and tell me what you think."

He agreed to do that as she walked away.

Nick went back into his apartment and sat down on the couch. He pulled the stack of papers out of the folder. They were all the usual printer paper white except for the blue notebook paper on top. He sat the rest of the story down as he read the note:

Nick,

I've been meaning to tell you something. It's not easy for me to reveal things about my story like this, especially if they're still being worked on. The main character, Mr. Silver, might seem familiar to you...

He's based off of you.

He paused in his reading, staring shocked at the one sentence. She made a character for him? Why would she do something like that? He's not important enough for that. He tried to push it from his mind, and finished the note...

The idea came to me the day after the party, and I couldn't help myself. Mr. Silver does have some traits about him that aren't plesant, but I don't want you to think that I think you're unplesant. You're far from that. You are great to be around, and I look forward to our time together every morning.

With all that said, I do hope you enjoy what I've written and that you won't judge me too harshly.

With Love, Belle

He stared at the note, still amazed at her. Did she really think him that special? He tried to shake the thought away. He put the note aside and picked up the first page of the manuscript...

...

Belle sat on the couch, nervously biting her lip. Since she had gotten back to her apartment, she started wiping the kitchen down; not that it needed cleaning or anything. It was something for her to do while she waited for Nick to finish reading her unfinished manuscript. She was on pins and needles waiting for his reply.

When the kitchen was scrubbed to the point of the linoleum scraping off the floor, she went about organizing the living room. Whenever she was nervous, she would try to busy herself to keep her mind off of things.

Sadly, it wasn't working, and she was reduced to sitting on the couch and watching TV. Edward Scissorhands played, but she wasn't paying attention to it, staring at the screen while her conscience berated her.

What was she thinking, telling Nick that she was writing a book about him? Okay, not about him, but based the main character off of him. He might be offended, she thought. But she didn't say anything horrible about his character, if you didn't count that he was a Scrooge-like pawnbroker.

He's gonna hate me! She facepalmed.

Who knew what he would say about the chipped cup. Did he even remember that she still had it? Belle just knew he was going to think of her as some kind of stalker who was madly in love with him. Might as well, she thought miserably. I already climb through his window to say hello every once in a while.

She sat up straight, a light bulb clicking on in her head.

Nick climbed through her window just as much as she did his. A lot of the time he would initiate the conversations and ask about her. He invited her to his party and offered to make breakfast every once in a while. If he was going to call her a stalker, he might as well write the word 'hypocrite' across his forehead.

That was when Belle asked herself the question that needed to be discussed...

What kind of relationship do we have?

Nick had said off the bat that they were friends, but it didn't feel like it to her; it felt more... personal than that. As far as she knew, she was the only one he had told about Bae and his past digressions growing up, and he was the only one she had confided in, minus Mary Margaret, since moving to New York.

Sure, really good friends did all of that, but what about the other moments? The moments when they hugged each other and everything bad had melted away? Or the time when they sang in her living room, and she had found herself lost in his eyes when singing?

Belle had an idea of what it was, but she couldn't force herself to say nor think the word aloud. How could she even believe in feeling like that? They had only known each other for two weeks! She admitted it was longer than what Romeo and Juliet had, but it still felt too soon to be thinking things like that.

A knock on the door brought her back to reality. She quickly turned the TV off, and got up to answer the door. When she opened it, she saw Nick on the other side. He held the rolled up manuscript in his left hand. She kept her feet steady when all she wanted to do was run away. She gazed at his face, unable to read his blank expression.

"Hi," she said nervously, trying to fill the silence.

"Hi," he responded, keeping his voice neutral. "I finished reading your story."

"And?" She forced out.

He looked away for a moment, as if trying to find the right thing to say. It was the same look her high school English teacher gave when she was about to correct her grammar.

Oh no, he thinks it's bad. He thinks it's-

"When do you plan on finishing it?"

She froze. A small smile appeared on his face. "You like it?"

"Of course, Belle," he beamed. "This is a wonderful story! How could I not?"

"So, you're not mad at me? For using you as the main character?"

"Actually, I'm flattered," he answered honestly as he stepped into the room.

She closed the door behind them. "Flattered? How can you be flattered? I made you the grumpy one."

"The lead grumpy one," he corrected. "Sure, he has some," he paused, thinking of a word, "non-desirable traits, but who doesn't? That's what makes him realistic."

Belle breathed a sigh of relief. "So, you really do like it?"

He set the manuscript on the kitchen counter, and walked over to stand in front of her. "Yes, I love it. It's one of the best unfinished stories I've read." He then gave her a pointed look she knew meant finish it.

She smiled, then wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a hug. "Thank you."

He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Anytime, Belle."

There it was again. The way he said her name in her ear. It was unintentional on his part, but she couldn't help but feel a tiny bit of warmth in her belly. Her name sounded so good in his accent. She stepped back in an attempt to stop their embrace. On the way, however, he did something she never saw coming.

He kissed her.

Oh my, gosh! Oh my, gosh! Her mind was screaming; in fear or excitement, she couldn't tell which.

His lips gently moved against her attempting to deepen the kiss, but she couldn't respond. She was too shocked. He quickly pulled away, opening his eyes to see her expression. "Oh no, Belle," he trailed off, pulling away. "Oh God, Belle. I'm so sorry."

She felt the warmth leave when he let go of her. "Nick, I-"

"I should've asked or something," he said, nervously shifting his stance as if deciding whether to pace or not. "I should go."

He started to walk past her to go for the door. That was enough to snap her out of her frozen state and grab his forearm. They both quickly turned to face each other. Nick made a weak attempt at pulling his arm away from her, but she held on tighter and said, "No, don't go."

He stood still, shocked by her words. She was shocked herself. She ignored any logic that was probably running through her head. All she knew was she didn't want him to leave.

"Please stay," she pleaded.

She felt his arm relax and she eased her grip on him. What happened next was something she didn't give much thought to. She stepped forward and placed her lips on his.

It took Nick a second to respond and kiss back. It was sweet and gentle at first, with Belle resting her hands on his shoulders. Nick wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. The kiss got deeper as she encircled her arms around his neck. He brushed his tongue across her lower lip, begging entrance. She accepted, opening her mouth as his tongue slid through.

She could feel his heartbeat echo from his chest to hers. He gently bit her lip, eliciting a tiny moan from her throat. They slowly pulled apart, breathing deeply. He rested his forehead against hers. "Belle..." was all he could think to say.

"Don't say anything," she whispered, happily lost in whatever fantasy they just made for themselves.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, his voice husky.

She looked up into his eyes; brown and lust filled, yet cautious. She appreciated his asking, knowing he wouldn't take advantage if she said 'no'. This wouldn't be her first time having sex. Gary was her first and only partner, but there wasn't much lust on her part. She had felt obligated at the time.

Here, with Nick, she knew she wanted him. She ignored the denials of her head and agreed with her rapidly beating heart. She had a feeling she might regret this later, but for now, all she wanted was to be in Nick's arms. She wanted to kiss him, scratch her nails down his back, and ignore everything else around them.

"Yes," she responded just before she plundered his mouth once more.

Nick pulled away for a second to kick off his shoes, making Belle giggle. Once they were off, he kissed her again. He left her mouth and started trailing kisses along her jawline, stopping once he got to her ear and nibbled the lobe. Her breath hitched in her throat, and she could feel him smirking against her skin. He dipped his head lower, kissing the hollow between her neck and shoulder. He bit down on the soft flesh, making her gasp.

"You must've had a bad sex life if I turn you on this much," he joked, placing a soft kiss against the area he bit.

"When you have a fiance who screams his own name during climax, it tends to go downhill from there," she mused.

He let out a laugh as he reached his fingers to her back where the zipper on her dress was. "Don't worry, darling," he whispered in her ear. "The only one who'll be screaming my name is you." He pulled her zipper all the way down and brushed the straps down her arm.

Tired of standing still and letting him have all the fun, she leaned closer to kiss his neck just as he did to her and began unbuttoning his shirt. His warm breath on her shoulder slowed her fingers, but she was able to get to the last button. He helped her pull it off, revealing the lean body she hadn't seen since the day they met when she stumbled on his fire escape. They went back to each other's lips as he helped pull her dress down, the blue fabric falling around her ankles.

Nick walked her backwards towards the couch. She stumbled a little and fell back into the cushions. He eased himself down to straddle her lap. He sat still, staring down at the woman under him. Her brown hair draped over the arm rest, and she looked up at him with blue, lustful eyes. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. He never thought he would get the chance to see Belle like this; lying under him in only her lacy, skin colored underwear, and wanting.

"Is everything okay?" She asked, shifting under him so she was comfortable. The motion was enough for his member to stiffen.

"You're so beautiful," he replied softly, his voice awestruck.

He didn't give her the chance to say anything back as he bent down and took her mouth with his once more. She wrapped her arms around him, scratching her nails against his shoulder blades. He moaned against her lips and she slipped her tongue into his mouth. As they kissed, he reached around to unhook her bra. He had to stop kissing her to unhook the last clasp. He pulled it off of her and tossed it aside where it landed with their other discarded clothes.

They both chuckled as he lowered her down and kissed her chin. He trailed his kisses down her neck, then throat. He paused at the collarbone and nipped at her pulse point.

She shut her eyes tight, enjoying the feel of his teeth, lips, and tongue against her skin. He pulled his hand back to grope her right breast. His hand kept going as he went back to leaving kisses behind as he reached the other breast. He took her nipple between his teeth, and she arched her back.

She hummed her approval as he sucked and licked the puckered bead. He blew his hot breath against it, and she moaned. She felt him grunt against her breast just as she felt his hard-on rub against her thigh. She couldn't help but smirk as she reached her hand to rub his chest, trailing down until she reached the hem of his pants.

He moaned as she slipped her fingers through his jeans, one by one. "Oh, Belle," he gasped when she grabbed him. She stroked him back and forth as he pressed his mouth against her stomach. After a moment, he grabbed her arm making her stop.

"Problem?" She asked slyly.

He glanced up at her with dark eyes. "No," he breathed. "I just don't want to come apart in your hand."

A thought occurred to her. "Do you have a..."

She didn't have to say it. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a condom. "Always come prepared," he grinned.

She didn't dwell on the comment. She made to grab the condom from him so she could put it on him, but he jerked it away.

"Not yet, m'dear," he said pointedly. "Turnabout is fairplay."

Before she could ask what he meant, he grabbed her underwear. He had to stand up a second to pull the off of her. He pushed down his own pants, leaving him in his boxers, before lowering back down. He trailed a finger up her thigh and straight to her privates.

She shuddered as he slipped between her lips and began moving around, searching for the sweet spot. She moaned when he reached his target. He smirked, stroking circles around her clit. He lowered his head to her neck, sucking and kissing the same spot as before as he kept stroking her.

She slipped her fingers through his hair, fisting the strands between her fingers and lightly pulling with each wave of pleasure that went through her body.

"Nick, please..." she breathed. Her mind was clouded and she couldn't think straight. He flicked her once and she jerked under him. "Fuck," she squeaked.

He laughed lightly. "Is that a demand?"

She rolled her eyes, refusing to humor him. He stroked harder and faster, arching her back as she came. He slowly pulled his fingers out of her, and she groaned her disapproval. He lifted his head and began licking his fingers. "You taste better than I expected," he mused.

"How long do you plan to toy with me like this?" She asked, her voice ragged.

"Is that how you see this?" He asked, almost hurt.

"Not exactly," she responded, then grinned, adding, "I want you inside me as soon as possible."

He cocked his eyebrow. "As you wish."

He grabbed the condom again, ripping the wrapper. He sat up, slipping out of his boxers. Belle watched as he slipped it on. He lowered himself back down, lining them both up. "You ready?" He asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

She nodded. She bit back her cries as he pushed himself inside her. He moved around lightly until her cries of pain turned to pleasure. He pulled out halfway and thrust back into her again. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he kept moving inside her. They stifled each other's moans with kisses, keeping up a steady rhythm. He planted one foot on the ground as his thrusts got harder and faster.

"Oh, yes! Don't stop!" She begged, her legs wrapping tighter as the tension inside her built up. "Aahh!"

He groaned against her shoulder. "Belle. My wonderful Belle..."

Her head fell back against the arm rest. She could feel him getting closer to his breaking point. She clenched around him, arching her back as she came apart.

"Oh, Nick!" she screamed just as he said she would.

He moaned as he rode out her climax. He slowly went still as he bit back his cries, coming inside her.

He collapsed against her, both of them breathing heavily. He slipped out of her as he moved off of her to sit on the floor in front of her. His head fell back against her chest.

"Wow," was all Nick could say.

"Ditto," Belle agreed as she turned on her side to face him.

"It's only ten o'clock," he said glancing at the clock on the TV.

"So?" she chuckled.

"It's not midnight," he turned his head to look at her. "Which means today is still a day of firsts."

"Oh..." she nodded, remembering all they did that day. "Who's first is this?"

He wrapped his hand around hers, stroking her knuckles with his thumb. "I think this one's for both of us. This is your first time having good sex."

She laughed at him. "You're so humble."

"And," he continued, "This is the first time I've ever had sex with a writer."

She shook her head at him. She wouldn't be surprised if he told her how many women he'd had sex with. He had that playboy vibe when they first met. She didn't want to ask him. This was their night. "So it's a tie then."

He brought her hand to her lips and kissed it. "If you're willing, there are a few things I'd like to try before midnight," he looked at her flirtatiously.

"We'll see," she said, leaning over to kiss him.