A/N: Thanks to all who followed and favourited. There is smut in this chapter, you may or may not be pleased to hear.
ThisIsAGuest: Ha! Yes, they are pretty nerdy. Nerds rule! Glad you liked.
Jewel415, ecinspired, RaFire, spacecats, karolprado, Twyla Mercedes, Kiri Huo Ziv, PrincessTiannah, AngelOfMusic44, JustBFree, orthankg1, The Auburn Girl, deweymay, paulawer: thank you for all for comments, here's the next instalment.
Gold tried to shine his flashlight in every direction, stumbling and cursing his leg, as he followed Doc into the narrow tunnel. He kept looking over his shoulder to check on Belle, returning her brief smiles. The tunnel sloped downwards, and he had to watch his step to avoid tripping on the small rocks littering the uneven floor. A terrible coldness had seemed to sink through him as they left behind the spring sunlight, making him shiver. He felt as though there was something in the tunnel with them, growing in strength. A creeping darkness that they were walking slowly towards; a dreadful inevitability.
They had been walking for perhaps five minutes when Gold first heard the whispers. At first he thought it was a trick of the tunnel, that the sound of the rushing water that filled that place was being somehow warped by his nervous mind into something with the power of speech. As they continued down into the bowels of the hill, however, he began to make out words. The whispering noise grew louder, probing, taunting: …coward. Liar. Oathbreaker. What good are you to anyone? You are nothing without power. Who would want you as you are? Everyone leaves you. You will lose the one you love…
"Can't you hear that?" hissed Gold, drawing to a sharp halt, his chest heaving. Belle and Doc frowned, then looked at him. He could feel beads of sweat on his forehead and running in icy trickles down his spine, chilling him. That wasn't right, surely. It was freezing down in the tunnel; he could see his breath in the air before him.
"What is it?" asked Belle, concern on her face, and he sagged a little. Nothing. They heard nothing. Was he going mad?
"I – no matter," he muttered, trying in vain to drown out the voices. "It's nothing. Keep going."
Shooting anxious looks back at him, Doc continued to walk slowly forwards along the rock tunnel. Gold swallowed hard as the whispers increased in volume. Perhaps this was a trick of the cave. Perhaps there had been a spell cast here, to prey on weak minds. He tried to tell himself that he was not weak, but he knew that to be a lie. Of the three here, he was the weakest, the most flawed, of all of them. Perhaps it fed on that. He took a deep breath, hating everything about himself in that moment. He looked back at Belle once more, meeting beautiful blue eyes filled with love and worry, and he grimaced, desperate not to let her down. He would do what he had to. The voices seemed to mock him as he stumbled along after Doc.
Soon afterwards, the tunnel seemed to open out, and Gold stepped out behind Doc into a cave. The rushing of water was far louder here, the room dimly lit by a couple of small gaps in the rock above, enough to let a shaft or two of sunlight through. The cave looked as though it had been hollowed out by vortices of water over many centuries, its walls perfectly smooth and shaped in looping, swirling patterns of worn rock. The river itself was out of sight, beyond the rocks ahead of them. Gold looked around the cavern, noting that there were writings on the walls around them. He stepped over to the nearest, running his fingertips over the smooth rock and the letters that had been scratched into it.
"'Tom Parsons, 1856'," he read, and looked at another. "'Robert Browning, 1798, aged 12 years'. Are these dates of death?" He looked over at Belle, and she nodded, the eerie greenish light of the cave casting a strange glow over her pale skin. Gold had a sudden, irrational thought that she looked like a drowned woman, long hair streaming down her back, eyes dark in her pale face. He told himself to get a grip
"I think I know what this is," Belle said sadly. "I read a tale in my grandmother's book about a dark creature that lived under the hill. It was said that it goaded people into jumping across the river with the promise of riches, but that none of them ever made it. They were sucked down into the water and were never seen again. I guess this is where the inspiration came from." She looked around the cavern, noting how many names and dates covered the rocks, all in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
"I can see how that might be," agreed Doc. "Looking at how this cave was formed, the river currents would probably pull you straight down if you fell in. You may get spat out downstream a few weeks' later, but there would be no chance of hauling yourself out alive."
Belle nodded agreement. "I bet there are more caverns below this one, just full of water. The poor children." She bit her lip, rubbing her arms. "This place feels evil."
Gold had to agree with her. The whispering had continued to follow him, although it was more muted now that he was in the cave itself. Perhaps that was a good sign. On the other hand, perhaps this was where they (whoever they were) wanted him. He shifted uncomfortably, paranoia prickling at the back of his neck and making him sweat.
Belle pointed to the centre of the cavern. "Well, we've come this far. Shall we go and see what's up there?"
Doc led the way slowly up the smooth rocks, peering warily over the edge.
"This is where they tried to jump," he called, and Gold and Belle made their way up beside him. Gold felt his heart thumping hard in his mouth as he approached the edge. There was a gap of about four and a half feet, a gap that was completely black below. He had no idea how deep the chasm was, but could hear the river water rushing beneath. The odd spurt of spray from the raging waters speckled the rocks, which were covered with a fine green lichen. The whispers seemed excited as he looked down. He could hear a voice in the back of his head, separate to the whisperings: a smooth, warm, comforting voice, goading him, encouraging him.
Jump. You can make it. Just one step – see how narrow the gap is? You can easily make that. One small step, and just think of what you'll find. Everything you want is within your grasp. You just need to jump. Jump. JUMP!
"Marcus?" Belle's hand on his arm made him start and pull back from the edge, gasping with fear. She was eyeing him cautiously.
"Are you alright?" she asked quietly, and he shook his head.
"This is an evil place," he whispered, looking around him as though he expected some demon to leap from the shadows. The others were watching him curiously, as though he was about to go mad. Perhaps they were right.
"Luckily, we brought a ladder," said Doc cheerfully, lightening the mood. He opened up the folding ladder and stretched it carefully across the narrow gap. "I'll go across."
"No," said Belle loudly. "I will." She held up her hands as both men started to protest. "I'm the lightest. If I fall, you can easily pull me back."
"Try not to trip over anything, sweetheart," said Gold nervously, and she shot him a grin.
"Promise. Anything I need before I go?" She turned to Doc, who dug in his bag for the velvet pouch containing the triskelion.
"It's time," he announced, and all three pulled off their rings, unscrewing the gold-mounted stones from their settings. Doc screwed his black onyx in place first, at the outer curl of one of the spirals. Gold added his blue-grey moonstone, followed by Belle's fire opal. Belle felt a familiar warmth go through her as the stones were seated within the ancient symbol of three. She clutched it in her hands for a moment, remembering previous times when they had used the power contained within. The last time had been when they had bound the Dark One, back in the ninth century. She hoped that it would work just as well this time, whatever they had to face. She slipped the silver circlet back into its velvet bag, and tucked it safely into her pocket.
"Be careful," said Doc seriously, and she leant forward to hug him.
"Come back to us," added Gold, and wrapped his arms around her, clinging to her as he pressed a firm kiss to her cheek. She pulled back, looking worried.
"Are you sure you're alright?" she asked softly, and he shook his head.
"Let's get out of here as quickly as we can," he said. "I don't like this place."
She nodded, gave his arm a reassuring squeeze, and checked the tightness of the rope around her waist. She stepped out onto the ladder, and Doc and Gold braced themselves behind the surrounding rocks. Belle crossed over the hungry river without incident, and both men let out a heavy breath as she scrambled up onto the rock on the other side. She pushed herself up onto her feet when she got to the top.
"What do you see?" called Gold, and she looked down at them.
"There's a cave back here," she called, and started untying the rope around her. "Give me some more rope, I'm going in."
She pulled up more rope, re-tying it around herself when she had plenty of room to move, and strode purposefully towards the small cave that crouched, dark and sinister, at the edge of the rock. Her flashlight picked out shadows within, and she bent her head to walk inside, eyes shooting to left and right for the first signs of danger. To her surprise, the cave was completely empty. There were no tunnels out of it, and for a moment Belle felt keen disappointment. There was nothing here. It had all been for nothing. Just as she was about to turn and leave, however, she spotted something on the floor near the back. Lifting her flashlight, and approaching it slowly, she suddenly smiled. There was a pattern on the floor, three spirals in a circle, the curls of the spirals hollowed out further, holes showing black in the surface of the stone. The triskelion would fit perfectly.
Belle squatted down, brushing away the dust, and noted that the pattern was in the middle of a cunningly cut piece of stone. Unless she had bent down to inspect it, she would never have seen that it was not part of the floor. She hoped that the triskelion would open this little cache, and that she would be able to lift out the stone if it did.
She reached in her pocket for the silver amulet, pressing it into the grooves on the floor. It fitted perfectly, like a key in a lock, and Belle took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders, and turned. There was a slight grating noise, and the triskelion twisted around one full turn. Belle tried again, and it rotated through another turn. Once more, and at the end of the final turn there was a soft click. She sat back on her heels, looking at the stone, wondering how she could lever it up. She lifted out the amulet, and put her fingers through the tiny holes where the stones fitted. Although it was heavy, she managed to pull it upwards enough to get her fingertips under the edge. After that it was fairly easy, although she thought that her muscles would hurt the next day.
Belle put the stone lid to one side and shone her flashlight into the hole. She wasn't entirely sure what she had expected to see, but the only thing in there was a long box of wood, edged in silver. There was a design on the front, similar to the one on the floor, and Belle frowned at it. Should she open it?
"Belle?" Gold's voice, calling for her, made her jump. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay!" she shouted, her voice echoing weirdly in the cave. "I've found something. I'm coming back!"
She lifted the box out. It was about fourteen inches long, and perhaps six inches wide. It fitted in her backpack once she'd moved some things around, and she replaced the stone lid, locking it once more with the triskelion and marvelling over the quality of work displayed by whoever had made this ancient safe. Making sure that she had everything, she made her way back out onto the rocks once more, and re-tied her rope to ensure that she had taken up the slack.
Doc and Gold looked visibly relieved as she appeared again, and reached out to take her hands as she clambered back across the ladder. Gold drew her into a crushing hug, and she kissed his cheek affectionately. God, he was shaking! She pulled back, looking concerned, seeing for the first time that he was pale and sweating. She didn't recall him being claustrophobic, but she was certainly in agreement that the sooner they were out of there, the more comfortable she would feel.
She reached into her backpack, pulling out the box, and explained where she had found it.
Doc frowned as he ran his fingers over the smooth wood of the box.
"The box holds the key," whispered Gold, and Doc gave him a sharp look.
"We don't open it here," he said firmly. "We take it back to Storybrooke before we even think about opening it."
Belle looked surprised, but Gold nodded.
"A wise plan," he said grimly. "Let's get out of here. Lead the way, Belle."
He followed her as she left, Doc bringing up the rear. The whispers chased him back down the tunnel to the edge of the sunlight.
Once they were out of the tunnel, Gold bent over, hands on knees, breathing heavily and trying to ease his shaking. He felt a small hand on his shoulder, and tried not to flinch. He raised his eyes to Belle's anxious face, and straightened up with a sigh, allowing her to pull him into a hug as he tried to calm himself.
"What is it?" she whispered, and he shook his head.
"I don't know," he admitted. "There was something in there – something about that place that terrified me."
"You asked if we could hear something," she said. "What was it?"
He hesitated, looking between the pair of them. "I could hear – whispering. Perhaps it was a trick of the cave. Perhaps it was really the sound of the river; I – don't know." He shook his head wordlessly.
"What did the whispers say?" she asked softly, and he hesitated again.
"That no one would want me, and that everyone leaves me," he said quietly, and she squeezed his hand, sympathy on her face. He shook his head again. "It was telling me to jump across. For a moment I wanted to jump. I let it get under my skin. I'm sorry, Belle."
"Don't be," she said gently. "We got what we wanted, and I doubt we'll have to go back. Let's go home and see what it is we've found."
He nodded, untying the rope from around his waist with trembling fingers, and they set off on the walk back to the car, Belle collecting her fluorescent strips of plastic as she went.
Gold was relieved to get back to the house, leaving the cave and its dark secrets far behind them. He was surprised to see that it was mid-afternoon by the time they returned, and busied himself with making some tea while the others took off their boots and pulled some of the food they had packed from the backpacks.
"Well, it didn't take as long as we thought," announced Doc, biting into a sandwich. "That's one to us, in my opinion."
"Well, I'll be sure to say 'in your face' to whatever we're up against, just as soon as I get the opportunity," said Gold sardonically. "Unfortunately, we have no idea what or who that is right now. I think the time for celebrating isn't quite upon us."
"Don't be so grumpy," chided Belle, stroking his hair out of his face as she leant in to kiss him. "We retrieved something that had been hidden for a few hundred years. That's usually a good thing, for us."
Gold made a non-committal sound in his throat, setting the tea things on the kitchen table. He nodded to Belle.
"Let's see what we went to all that trouble for, shall we?"
She opened up her backpack, taking out the long wooden box and placing it carefully on the table in front of them. It was made of polished wood, warm in colour and worked in silver. There was a carving on the top, also inlaid in silver: a triskelion with three holes where their stones would fit exactly. Belle frowned.
"How the hell did that get on there?" she asked suspiciously. "You guys were around in this time, weren't you? Did you have the triskelion?"
"Actually, it's one time that we weren't around," admitted Doc. "This showdown between the priest and – whatever it was – appears to have occurred during a time that we were still waiting to be spun back out into the world." He looked questioningly at Gold, who nodded.
"Plus, we hadn't seen the triskelion since we lost you in Avonleigh," added Gold. "I was speechless when it turned up in your grandmother's safety deposit box."
Belle chewed her lip thoughtfully. "This just gets weirder."
"What do we know about the priest that used it?" asked Doc, and Belle sighed.
"Beyond the fact that he enlisted the help of those that this witchfinder had condemned and was threatened with ex-communication? Not a great deal. I'll read the book again. There must be something we're missing."
"He must have got the triskelion from somewhere," said Gold. "But did he have the stones? How did he make it work?"
"Perhaps the priest was another," Belle suggested. "Like us."
"A priest?" Gold frowned. "Unlikely, one would think."
"He may have been woken later in life," pointed out Belle. "It's worth considering, anyway."
"Another avenue for you to look down," said Gold, squeezing her shoulder, and she smiled at him, returning her attention to the box.
"Do we open it?" she asked, unsure. Doc frowned, looking it over.
"Let's see what we can find out about it, first," he said grimly. "What does your research tell you, Belle?"
Belle wrinkled her nose. "Unfortunately, not much," she admitted. "Father Thomas said that he stripped the creature of its power, and that he was then trapped underground, surrounded by running water. He didn't say anything about a box."
"The Seer said that the box holds the key," said Gold, frowning. "But the key to what? What if this box is actually the prison of the creature?"
"That's a good point." Doc stroked his chin thoughtfully. "The last thing we want to do is let it out, whatever it is."
"Not until we know how to kill it, anyway," added Gold. He turned to Belle. "Was this surrounded by water?"
She shook her head. "No, there was water on one side only. I don't think this is where the creature is trapped."
"We don't know enough to risk it," said Gold grimly. He picked up the box to look more closely at the pattern on the lid, and Belle gasped, pointing wordlessly at its underside. Puzzled, Gold turned it over, and his mouth set in a thin line as he saw a familiar warding mark: an oval crossed with two wavy lines. Belle had taken a step backwards, her breathing suddenly quickening.
"It's him!" she whispered. "It has to be him! That's the mark! That's what we used to ward off his evil!"
"It doesn't mean it's him, Belle," said Doc soothingly.
"Well, who else could it be?" she snapped, backing up some more. "I'm telling you, it's him! We have to get rid of that thing!"
Gold looked at her curiously. "We need to know what it is, Belle," he said gently. "You know that. We need to know so that, if it is him, we can defeat him again."
"We barely managed in the ninth century!" she said, fear making her eyes wide. "Last time we came up against him, I was executed, or have you forgotten?" Her voice had risen to a shout, and Doc and Gold exchanged worried looks, which annoyed her even more. She shook off Gold's hand when he reached for her, starting to pace, her expression agitated.
"Belle," said Doc gently. "You said that the Dark One had come to you when we were away hunting him. We need you to tell us exactly what he said."
"I already told you," she said, hunching in on herself. She could feel a part of her mind trying to close down. She wished they wouldn't ask her to remember.
"Tell us again," said Gold softly, and she folded her arms across her chest, taking a deep breath and trying to calm herself.
"He said – he said that he had swapped one prison for another," she said, her voice dull. "That he had a new master, and that he would kill him and steal back his power as soon as he could." She raised her eyes to Gold's. "He knew that we were married. He said…" She hesitated, swallowing hard. "He said that he could smell you on me. He knew that I was pregnant, too. Then he said that he would find you and that he would enjoy telling you exactly how I and our child had died." She looked at the floor. Gold's face was expressionless, but his Adam's apple bobbed.
"Anything else?" asked Doc gently, and she shook her head, turning away. Gold's eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. He reached out to her, pulling her close, and Belle finally let him, relaxing into his chest with a sigh.
"So, his power can be taken from him," mused Doc, tapping a finger on the lid of the box. "I wonder what that means. I think you're right, Marcus. We need to know more before we open this."
"Then I suggest Belle hits the books," said Gold quietly. "In the meantime, we can start looking for anything else we can find that may show us the way."
Doc left around six o'clock, announcing that he would be delving through his own books to see if there was anything he could come up with. Belle had started reading before he left, frowning as she turned pages and made notes in a pad of paper. Gold watched her as she worked, worried for her. The box sat on the table, looking darker and heavier than it actually was. There was a strange atmosphere within the kitchen; the box was unnerving him with its presence. It was as though he could feel it, a prickle at the back of his neck, like he was being watched. Part of him was repelled by the box, and part of him wanted to open the thing and have done with it. He took himself to his study after a while, pawing through the old documents he kept and which he had previously thought would be no help, just in case there was something he had missed.
He found nothing, and padded back to the kitchen at around nine o'clock. Belle was still studying, so he moved quietly to the back door and made his way down into the basement. The incident in the cave had unsettled him; he was still unsure whether the voices he had heard had been a trick of the echoes or a figment of his imagination, magnified by his own fears. Or something else. He wanted to forget about it, whatever the cause, and so he seated himself at the spinning wheel, letting his thoughts drift as he settled into the familiar position, nimble fingers twisting the thread as he span. As always, his thoughts began to fall into order, began to make sense to him, and he let his mind relax as he worked.
Belle looked up from her own books as the clock neared eleven, and yawned as she looked around herself. She had not seen Gold for some time, and she decided to go and get ready for bed, suspecting that he would be either in his study or in the basement. She stretched, her body stiff after being in one position for so long, and she made sure to stretch out her arms and legs before doing anything else. She put away her books, closing her notebook, and made her way up the stairs to get changed. She kept the nightdresses that he had bought her at his house, and she put on the grey one with the white lace trim, enjoying how it skimmed her slim figure and showed off her slender thighs. Pulling his dark grey silk robe over the top, she made her way downstairs to see if she could round him up and herd him towards the bedroom.
The study was silent and dark, and so she made her way outside and crept around the side of the house to the basement door. The night air was very cold, and Belle shivered, wishing she had thought to bring something warmer to wear. Her feet were bare, and her toes were already like blocks of ice. She opened the door to the basement, and raised her eyes to the ceiling with a fond expression as she saw him, his back to the door, spinning. Light gleamed off the blue silk of his shirt. She approached him on soft, silent cat-feet, and he jumped when she put her hands on his shoulders.
"Are you going to stay here all night?" she murmured. "I'd like some company."
He turned slowly to face her, his eyes strangely hollowed. He needed a decent night's sleep; neither of them had been sleeping well lately. Spinning had helped to calm him, but he was still unnerved by his reaction to the cave, and to the box. He smiled up at her, nonetheless.
"I didn't realise the time," he said truthfully, and she smiled, running slender fingers through his hair, watching the way the light gleamed on silver strands.
"I was worried about you today," she said softly. "You seemed upset by that place."
He hesitated. "I wasn't upset, exactly," he said carefully. "But it did seem to have a strange effect on me."
She seemed to be thinking over what she was about to say, chewing her lower lip and concentrating on touching him.
"You know, you don't have to be afraid for me," she said eventually. "It's not like last time. We'll stick together, and then nothing can hurt us." Her fingers dug into his scalp a little, and he wondered if she was trying to convince him, or herself.
"I don't want to fail you again," he said quietly, and she moved a little closer, standing between his legs.
"You didn't fail me last time," she said, her voice gentle. "You thought you'd left me safe. We didn't foresee any of the things that happened. We just have to learn from that, and stay together."
He let out a sigh then, wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his head against her belly as he breathed in her scent. He wanted her with a rising desperation, unsure whether it was fear of losing her or fear of his own failure. He nuzzled her belly, enjoying the feel of her hands on him.
"I was planning on comforting you," he said, his voice slightly muffled by the grey silk. She hugged him a little, carding his hair with gentle fingers, stroking his cheek and feeling the rasp of stubble under her thumb. He leaned into her touch, and put his mouth against the pulse point in her wrist, softly sucking on it. Belle gasped as a jolt went through her, and he smiled against her skin.
"Then kiss me," she said softly, and he turned his head up to face her, getting slowly to his feet. Her eyes were wide and dark blue in the light of the basement, and he cupped her face with his hands, smiling slightly as he looked at her.
"So beautiful," he whispered. "I love you, Belle."
She opened her mouth to reply, but he had already bent to kiss her, tasting her sweetness, his tongue gently probing her soft mouth as his fingers lightly caressed her pale cheeks. He pressed himself against her, enjoying the feel of her chest on his, as she slid her hands down around his waist and pulled him closer. He fumbled between them at the belt of the silk robe, pulling it undone so that his hands could slide in and over her hips. Belle gasped slightly into his mouth, and he dropped his lips to her neck, pressing hot kisses from her shoulder all the way up to her ear, his teeth gently tugging at her earlobe. She whimpered slightly, and he smiled, breaking off his kisses to look over her shoulder at the bench behind her. His hands suddenly dropped to the backs of her thighs, and he bent and grasped her firmly, lifting her up onto the bench so that her legs could wrap around his waist.
Belle was pulling at his tie, her eyes dark with desire, and he allowed her to tug it off and throw it to the side before kissing her again. She pulled him closer, so that he was pressed up against her core, her body undulating against his and driving him wild. His mouth sucked at the pale skin of her neck, marking her, drawing soft moans from her throat that made him twitch inside his pants. Slowly, he pushed the robe back from her shoulders, letting it fall to the bench behind her, revealing her slim, pale arms and the firm breasts peeping out from the white lace. Belle gasped as he bent his head to her left breast, freeing it from the nightdress and gently suckling at her hardened nipple. Her fingers dug into his hair, tugging at it, her nails causing a delicious pain as they scratched him, and he bit down on her gently, making her writhe.
He moved his attention to the other side as his fingers slid slowly up her thighs, pushing back the grey silk, exposing her to his gaze.
He raised his eyes to hers, smiling slowly at the hungry expression on her face, and gently stroked her cheek with his forefinger. He drew it across her lips, opening them slightly, exposing the shiny pink within, sliding across the soft wet skin, and gently probed inside. Belle took his finger into her mouth, sucking it with a contented sound that made him strain against his underwear, her tongue sliding over him. He withdrew it, dropping his hand to her lap and kissing her messily as he stroked between her legs, feeling the slick moisture there. She groaned as he touched her with the pad of his finger, her nails digging into his shoulders. He moved back from her a little way, making her whimper, and gently pulled her towards him so that she was seated right on the edge of the bench.
"Lie back, dearest," he whispered, and she obeyed, dark hair pooling on the bench, white skin hot to the touch. He pulled his stool towards him and sat down between her legs, stroking his hands up her thighs and making her shiver. He gently draped her legs over his shoulders, moving closer towards her, and his mouth trailed wet kisses up her inner thigh. Belle's breathing grew quicker as he neared the deep pink cleft between her legs. He stroked her gently, the skin as soft and smooth as silk, and slowly inserted a finger, feeling her creamy fluids coat his skin as he pulled it out. The scent of her arousal was intoxicating, and he put out his tongue to taste her, slipping in between her lips and running up towards her clit. Belle arched her back with a moan, her fingers sinking into his hair.
He began to lick her with a slow, steady rhythm that he knew she liked, the tip of his tongue occasionally swirling around the bundle of nerves at the top and making her cry out. She pulled at his hair, her thighs gripping the sides of his head as she moved against him, trying to increase the friction. He let his stubble scrape against her tender skin and she arched into him with a groan, whispering something he couldn't make out. She was close, he could tell. He was almost there himself, just from the sounds she was making, from the taste of her. His tongue probed inside her before teasing her clit again, and he slipped his forefinger into her as he sucked the tiny bud into his mouth. Belle rose up off the bench with a cry, body spasming and he continued to lick her as she jerked and moaned, the taste of her pleasure sweet against his tongue.
She fell back with a gasp, still twitching slightly, and he smiled to himself as he pressed a final kiss to her swollen sex and sat back on his stool. She pushed herself up on her elbows, gazing at him, heavy-lidded and sultry. God, she was even more beautiful when she'd just come. He licked his lips, making her eyes widen a little, and she sat up.
"Pants off," she ordered, and he began unbuckling himself with a grin as she slid from the bench to stand before him on legs that wobbled slightly. He managed to free himself before she straddled him, pushing up inside her with a gasp.
"You're beautifully wet, my sweet," he breathed. "So hot and wet and deliciously tight." He threw his head back with a gasp as she changed position slightly so that he could push deeper, her fingers tugging at the buttons of his shirt and sliding inside to pinch his nipples. She was moving against him rhythmically, her breasts within reach of his mouth, and she gasped as he pulled the straps of the nightgown roughly from her shoulders, exposing her chest. She let her head roll back as he sucked her, as he left small red marks on her perfect skin. He was thrusting against her, his body tensing as he neared his peak, holding her close and getting as deep into her as he could, feeling her all around him, buried in her heat and scent and softness. She threw her arms around his neck, her mouth suddenly against his ear, sending shivers down his spine.
"Come for me," she breathed, and that did for him. He felt an explosion that seemed to start in his lower back and shoot up into his brain, white light bursting through his head as he yelled something indecipherable that might have been her name or that of some deity. At that moment he was hard-pressed to tell the difference. He clung to her as he shuddered, noticing that she was riding out her own orgasm on him. The part of his brain that could still think was pleased that she had enjoyed herself too.
Eventually, the room swam back into focus and he held her close against him, both of them panting as though they'd run for miles. He kissed her sweat-slicked hair, stroking some of it out of her face, and out of his. She sighed contentedly against him.
"We have to add basement sex to the list, then," she murmured. "That was amazing."
He smiled against her hair. "So you think it was the ambience, and not our superior skills, do you?"
"Perhaps not," she said sleepily, and pushed herself into a more upright position. "Now, are you coming to bed?"
"Will I get any sleep?" he asked, grinning at her, and she returned his wicked smile.
"Sure," she said. "When I'm done with you."
He groaned, letting his head fall to her shoulder. "You're going to kill me."
"Oh, not just yet," she said comfortingly. "There's plenty of life left in you." She wiggled on his lap, making him jerk inside her with revived interest, and she chuckled. "See? I bet you anything I can convince you."
"I'm not making sex-deals with you," he growled, lifting her off him and fastening his pants. "They're the only ones I ever lose."
A/N: The smut was for JustBFree, who told me off for teasing in the last chapter. Hope it was satisfying!
So, I took the idea for the cave from a place called the Strid, which is a spot on the River Wharfe in the Yorkshire Dales. The river is narrow enough at that point that you could easily jump across it. However, there are no recorded incidents of anyone surviving a fall into this stretch of river, as anyone who does so is sucked into the caverns beneath, just as I have stated in my fic. The thing with the names and dates on the rocks around is taken from there, too. There are the names of victims going back a couple of hundred years. The odd body gets spat out a few weeks later, but most are still in there, pinned to the walls of the caverns underneath. It is also one of three places I have visited which have felt truly evil to me. I experienced exactly what Gold went through in terms of the voice at the back of your mind suggesting that jumping over is a really great idea. Apparently I'm not the first. Truly horrible, but a nice idea to use for my cave. Should you ever happen to go there, don't listen to the voices…
Next time: Belle finds some interesting things in her books.
Please note: I will do my best to get the next update on here as quickly as I can, but I'm going away this weekend, and the weekend is when I do most of my writing. So I can't promise anything :(