In Shadow

Chapter 36

Wards

RATING: NC-17

As it turned out, learning wards was much more enjoyable than Belle would have anticipated. Generally speaking, wards were magical barriers placed around a person or place that prevented other persons or things from entering and/or exiting that space. When she woke up, happily tangled in Rum's arms, she lay there reveling in the feeling of his body against hers. It was strange because as she felt the ridges, textures, raised edges and smoothness that made up all of him, she thought how unusual it would be to lay with anyone who had completely normal skin. She giggled. It would probably cause her to scream in terror and run naked out of the room.

She felt him move slightly underneath her. He was very happy she was there. He usually was in the morning. She wondered if this was simply normal for men, or if it was unique to him. He wiggled a little and Belle gasped, rolling over without actually removing herself from his body, which was quite a feat considering their current positions, and lay stretched out on top of him. She kissed her way across his forehead, something she had a fascination with she could not explain, and down his cheek to bury her face in his soft hair. Her fingernails trailed a path over his shoulders, across his nipples and down to his stomach. While he made soft sounds of desire, groans of need, and smalls grunts of frustration in the back of his throat, he said nothing. Belle took the time to explore him completely. Not that she hadn't before, but as he did not seem inclined to move beyond slight shivers and twitches, at least for the moment, she abandoned herself to kissing her way down his body, savoring every inch of skin she covered, lavishing him with lips and tongue until she reached his hardness lying against his stomach. She paused for a moment, unsure if he would enjoy her lips upon him, or if ...well, she didn't know. Rum made a louder sound, one of desperation, one of appreciation, and Belle took it as answer enough, allowing her tongue to flick out over him, and down his length.

He bucked, almost throwing her off, and she was not sure if he'd been injured. His body settled back to the bed and his hands came down to bury themselves in her hair. She could feel him physically trying to prevent himself from pushing her mouth back where it had been, but the pressure was still there. She obliged, taking him in her mouth. It felt strange, sucking gently on this part of him, but when she glanced up to look at his face, his eyes were closed, his head pressed into the pillows, his hands fisted in her hair. He was literally rigid, trying not to move. She could taste him, and although she had heard stories about this sort of thing, she found nothing disgusting about it. To her ...he tasted like salt, and sweat and her Rum. She was so involved in savoring the moment, in feeling the sensation of the smooth skin, compared to the textured, raised surface of his stomach, that she only realized he had come to his breaking point when he sat up quite suddenly, grabbed her waist, rolled her over and entered her with a harsh, desperate thrust that brought a groan of pleasure to both their lips. His mouth covered hers, ravaging, nibbling, tasting ...he couldn't seem to get enough of her fast enough. He had never been quite this frantic, never quite this rough. His hands pressed into the bed on either side of her head and he pushed his body up, bringing her legs up and pressing himself into her fast and hard. He never quite found a rhythm, his thrusts became erratic until he finally gasped, pressing his lips to hers, shoving his tongue into her mouth and spilled himself inside her. He reached between them, sliding his fingers over her nub and pleasure roared through her. It was too much; too frantic and she came almost immediately, wrapping her arms and legs around him; pulling him down to rest on top of her.

"Gods, Belle," he managed between harsh, gasping breaths. "I love you so much."

He was shivering, she realized, as he lay there, coated in a sheen of sweat. In fact, his entire body was shaking from the after effects of their love making. "Are you okay?" Her voice was a whisper; unsure. She was not at all certain what she'd done had been a good thing. She'd enjoyed it immensely, although she could feel the beginning ache between her legs. She was going to be sore this time.

He laughed. It was a rough, exhausted expulsion of breath and sound, but a laugh nevertheless. "Oh, sweetheart. I am so much more than okay."

Belle breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought ...I didn't know if you ..." She blushed, looking away from him. "If you would like that, but I ..." The blush deepened to beet red. "I was curious."

Rumplestiltskin finally had the energy to roll on to his back. "Oh, my darling. Please feel free to be as curious as you like. Did we not agree that I would tell you what makes me happy?"

"We did," Belle said, smiling. "But you seemed incapable of speech."

He turned his head and grinned. "For future reference, if I'm not able to speak, please don't stop."

She laughed, swatting his arm. "We should be practicing my lessons."

Rumplestiltskin motioned at his own body, and then at hers. "We need a bath. Fortunately, wards are something I can teach while we're doing just about anything."

Belle got up and he watched her hungrily as she went into the bathing room. She was in there for perhaps five minutes before she poked her head back out. "Are you coming?"

He considered her for a moment. "Come get me." She moved to do just that, but something blocked her path. She could clearly see that the bathing room door was open and yet there was a solid, invisible wall in front of her. She pushed at it and it didn't budge. She looked out at Rum who was sitting up in bed grinning and frowned."Aww, come on now. That, my Belle, is a ward."

Belle placed her hands against the wall, moving from top to bottom, edge to edge, it did not appear to have any weaknesses. It felt like a cold glass of water that had been sweating, and yet her hands were not wet. Rumplestiltskin stood up and walked toward her. She had just pressed her hands against the middle of the wall and pushed when he dropped the ward, catching her in his arms. "As much as I admire your curiosity, my Belle, your lack of clothing is making it hard to concentrate."

She had been so intent on the ward she'd forgotten that she was completely nude and that it was invisible. She blushed all the way to her toes and Rum giggled in delight, pulling her to the copper tub which was already filled with steaming water. He got in and she followed, leaning back against his chest. She sighed. "Heaven."

She felt his smile in her hair. "As close as I'm likely to get, angel."

It was in her nature to argue that he was not completely damned because of a curse, but she let it pass as he began slowly soaping her hair. If this was not heaven, she was content to just stay here. He worked on her hair for quite some time, soaping and rinsing it thoroughly and then creating, literally, a small bottle of something that smelled like lavender and roses. It was lovely. He stroked the oil gently through her wet locks until they were no longer tangled, and then let her hair fall back in to place. Belle was nearly asleep again when wet hair touched her back. She was absolutely clean now, but Rum had not been as thoroughly washed. "Trade places with me."

He looked on her with suspicion, but stood and let her scoot back against the edge of the tub that had magically warmed and cleaned the used water. He stretched out until his toes touched the opposite side and lay his head on her stomach. "You were right."

She had grabbed the soap and started to lather it into his hair. "About what?"

"This is heaven," he sighed.

Belle took her time washing his hair and body; enjoying every sigh, every happy moan, every contented sound he made. When he looked up at her after she had finished rinsing his shoulders, his eyes were solid black. She smiled. "I thought we were practicing wards."

His eyes didn't change, but he did raise a hand to grasp one of hers. "Right you are. Wards, my Belle, are much like the protection given to you by this ring." He indicated her promise ring, something she never removed. "They are more deliberate and are usually created to protect a place as opposed to a person, although that can be done as well, however, usually, you ward your home, or in our case, a cabinet."

Belle felt fear pool in her stomach. Every time she walked in to the lab it was like having an elephant in the room. She was entirely too aware of that cabinet, and more, what was inside. The book. She didn't even know how to read that book. From what she could remember, it was a language she'd never seen before, it had hurt her to hold it, it had made her fingers and palms bleed from the sheer darkness contained within the pages, and yet her hands itched to hold it once more. If not Regina the Bitch Queen, who else would hold a grudge against Rum? Okay, well, that was a long list that started with her father, and Gaston ...and Lord Avonlea ...but it would have to be someone very powerful. She knew that the castle was already warded against intruders. "Are the wards on the castle to prevent all intruders, or just human ones?"

"Human. I'd hate for the castle to attack a stray cat. Why?"

Belle considered for a moment. "What of spirits or ghosts? Could they pass the wards?"

Rumplestiltskin was silent for several minutes. "I suppose a spirit or entity could pass into the castle, but they've no physical form, how would they manipulate the cabinet, or for that matter, handle one of those books without becoming enthralled by it themselves?"

"Books?" Belle was alarmed. There was more than one?

"Yes, sweetheart," he said, stroking her arm in a soothing gesture. "The cabinet is filled with books of blood magic."

"Why keep them here, Rum? Is that not dangerous to you?"

He turned over in the water and got to his knees so he could lean over and kiss her temple, cheek, lips ...he started to linger, but Belle pulled back, her eyes clearly frightened. "No. I've no interest in blood magic, and as the Dark One, the pull of the darkness does not really effect me. It is safer that I keep them here, don't you think? Rather than let them fall into the hands of an innocent, or, gods forbid, someone who meant to use them?"

Belle nodded. Of course he was right. It was best that they were here. Locked up tight. "Can we not destroy them?"

He stood up and offered her his hand. She took it and he pulled her to her feet, wrapping her in a giant, fluffy towel. "Do you not think I would have done so already were it possible?"

"Of course you would," she sighed. "So, what do we do now?"

He gave an exaggerated sigh. "We get dressed and add more wards to that damn cabinet."

It was a strange sensation. Absolute terror of going anywhere near that cabinet coupled with an overwhelming desire to be close to it, to touch it, to open it ...she should tell Rum about these impulses, but she did not. She always remained silent, allowing him to believe her unaffected by the book she had held that night. She could not, for the life of her, explain why she was unable to voice her concerns. It was as if there was a block in her mind that prevented it, and while she knew that could not possibly be safe, she was incapable of stopping it. She hoped, in the process of learning wards, they would create something that would block the draw of the blood magic altogether. She would be grateful to never feel it's pull again.