The Club

by Mellkat86

*AU* Ruby and Victor seek new thrills for their sex life. Victor is invited to 'The Club', a prestige club where people are able to lose themselves in their own pleasure and the pleasure of others. Ruby is apprehensive, so she asks Belle to go with her. Belle isn't keen about the idea, but goes along with them. The Club might entail more for Belle than she might actually realise...

6. Chapter 6: Blind Ecstasy

The last few days had been busy at the diner, so for once, Belle was grateful she had a day off, even if she had spent it at her father's shop. The pace at the flower shop was incredibly slow compared to Granny's, giving her a chance to sit down and recoup from the mad week. There was an endless amount of people late for their shifts, calling in sick and the urgent phone calls seeking help for the shifts that had become really busy. Belle, of course, had volunteered herself, working plenty of overtime and extra shifts. Her feet were giving her their usual complaint, aching and throbbing from being on her feet all day, running back and forth from the kitchen.

Her eyes flicked to the clock on the wall and she bit her lip, giddy with the thought of seeing him later that evening. Belle smiled as she swept the floor. It was hard not to look forward to seeing him. Their relationship might not be an emotional one, but what he made her feel was undeniable. He gave her the escape she needed from everything. It was going to be hard to find something that would match up to what he did for her. Even her nights out dancing wouldn't cut it anymore.

Belle whirled around with the broom, pretending it was her dance partner, feeling the spring in her step her thoughts of him gave her. It was foolish to objectify him so much. No matter how many times she told herself that nothing was going to come of this, her heart fluttered when she thought about him. Regarded him as he walked past the diner, which ironically he had done a few times this week. Belle rarely saw him, or caught a glimpse of him, through the windows of the diner. Nonetheless, there he had been, wandering by the diner, standing near the curb, loitering on the other side of the street, dressed impeccably. The temptation to go out and speak to him had been strong. But with people already restless from spotting him themselves, Belle knew the rumour mill would've made mincemeat of her going out of the diner to say hi to him. And the earache she would've gotten from her father, when she had gotten home, hadn't been worth it either.

Exchanging the broom for the dustpan and brush, she blew out a breath, recalling Wednesday evening, being interrogated by Ruby and the girls. The easy going night had quickly escalated into all of them ganging up on her, wanting to know all about 'Eddie' and his amazing prowess in the bedroom. It had been clear, Ruby had been telling them snippets of what Belle had told her.

"So what's he like?" Ariel had asked, huddled on the seat beside Belle on the couch, slurping at her glass of wine.

Belle had played ignorant to her question. "Who?"

"Tell them about Eddie!" Ruby had yelled from the small kitchenette in Granny's apartment, above the B&B.

"There isn't much to tell!" She had raised her voice, so Ruby could hear her. "He's just a guy, I've been having sex with. Nothing special."

Astrid had come in from the kitchen, carrying a tray with bowls of different snacks, telling everyone. "I want to hear about him tying you down and whipping you."

"He did what to you?" Donna had questioned, reaching for a bowl off the tray as Astrid put it down on the coffee table.

Belle had thrown her gaze up to the ceiling, asking why she had to lie, and took a long sip from her drink, needing the time to think about the things she had told Ruby. The girls had eagerly waited, hunching forward in their seats, wanting to hear the dirty gossip direct from the horse's mouth. It had been intimidating to have them all focus on her. She had done her best to ignore their expectant gazes as she had put down her drink and prepared herself to tell them what they wanted to know.

"Eddie's a businessman. He lives and works in Portland, but he travels weekly to Freeport on business, which is when he comes to see me." She had started to tell them, when Ruby had stuck her head through the doorway, shouting through. "They don't want his info, Belle. They want you to tell them about the fucking."

"Yeah, tell us about the sex!" Astrid had commanded, being unusually forward, as she stretched to grab a handful of peanuts from one of the bowls.

"Just the sex?" She had asked, looking round their faces, seeing their heads nod in unanimous agreement.

Donna had wiggled excitedly in her seat. "Tell us about the spanking!"

Raising an eyebrow at them, Belle had said. "I'm dating a guy," She had paused, feeling the heat of her lie burn up the front of her chest. "And all you guys want to hear about is the sex?"

"Yeah!" They had all said together.

The next hour of their girlie night had been spent with her going through everything they had done - positions, toys, technique, his physique. Belle hadn't lied about Mr Gold, except for his name. It was as she had been describing him, a voice in the back of her mind, had reminded her of the gag

agreement they had signed. If the girls were to actually sit and think about it, they could've easily matched the description to Mr Gold. In haste, Belle had moved the conversation on, turning the tables, so the conversation became about Ruby and Victor, inquiring when Ruby was next dumping Victor. Thankfully, the group had taken the bait and the conversation had swiftly moved on from her and 'Eddie'.

The door opening in the front of the shop made her look up from the pile she was sweeping into the dustpan. Her father had said he was going straight home after he had delivered the order to the funeral parlour. Visiting the parlour always put her father in a strange mood, so with that on top of his foul mood, Belle was glad he'd gone home. Knowing it wasn't her father, she got to her feet, groaning at her sore feet, and hurriedly emptied the dustpan, returned it to its home and jogged through to the front, wiping her hands down the front of her apron.

In the shop, looking through the buckets with his back to her, was a very flamboyantly dressed man. Partially she turned her head, her right eyebrow curved up at his appearance. Belle had lived in the town for over a decade. She had never seen this guy before. There was no way she would've forgotten him, if she had.

"Can I help you, sir?" Belle inquired, approaching him from behind.

Glancing at her over his shoulder, the handsome man smiled at her, then turned back to pluck a bouquet from one of the buckets and swivelled on the balls of his feet to face her, holding the bouquet out for her. "Just these, please."

"Okay…" She said, cautiously taking the bouquet from him.

"They're for my wife." He told her, clasping his hands behind his back, angling himself forward, offering her a reassuring smile.

She let her gaze travel down his attire, the mismatched clothing wouldn't have worked on anyone else, but on him… Catching herself staring, Belle blinked her eyes and returned his smile, holding the bouquet close to her chest like a shield. Slowly she backed up a couple of steps before she turned her back to him and went directly behind the counter, wanting something solid between her and the stranger. If he noticed her behaviour, he didn't seem to mind as he casually wandered to the counter, eyeing the other displays of bouquets and loose flowers on his journey. Belle tried not to stare at him, whilst she wrung in the order and wrapped the bouquet in two sheets of paper.

Unable to stop herself, her gaze wandered up and down his appearance again – Long black suede coat, olive coloured cravat, which kept drawing her eye, purple silk shirt with a turquoise waistcoat over top of it. His dress sense was questionable. She wondered how his wife dressed – Would she be as flamboyant as her husband or would her taste be more mundane?

"I haven't seen her for a week, so I thought I better take her some flowers." He explained, motioning to the bouquet, as he came to a stop on the other side of the counter.

Belle looked down at the basic bouquet. "Sure you don't want a bunch of roses or something like that?"

Holding open the left side of his coat, he reached inside of his coat and pulled out his wallet, telling her. "The days of buying roses for my wife have long gone."

"Oh…" Her eyes flicked from the bouquet laid on the counter, to him, to his wallet as he fingered through his bills, to the bucket of loose roses. "I can't ever imagine not being happy to receive roses."

"For us, small tokens of love are not needed." He looked up from his wallet, a twenty partially pulled out of his wallet. "How much?"

"Six dollars." She read the cash register as she said it.

Pulling the twenty out, he held his arm out to her, offering her the twenty-dollar bill. "You'll understand, when you and your boyfriend have been together long enough."

Freezing with her fingers clasping the bill, the green bit of paper connecting them, Belle looked him dead in the eye, surprised by his statement. He let go of the other side of the twenty-dollar bill and returned his wallet to the inside pocket of his coat, holding her gaze and grinning at the same time. There was something in his eyes. A twinkle of knowledge. Tilting her head on an angle, Belle couldn't place him. If Ruby had known him, then Belle was going to know him. Though, that didn't stop the little voice whispering in her ear, warning her that Ruby could've sent him. That was not Ruby's style. When Ruby wanted to know something, she was bold enough to ask for the truth herself, not send a lap dog to do her work for her.

Belle pulled back her hand, scrutinising him as she hit sale on the register and got his change out of the cash drawer, informing him. "Sadly, sir, I don't have the luxury or the hindrance of a boyfriend."

"No!" He eyed her. "A beautiful, young woman like you, is free and single? Surely, this can't be true! They must be beating down the door to go out on a date with you!" He teased, glancing to the door of the shop, but it felt more like he wanted to verify the fact.

A part of her didn't want to answer him, but she'd already said too much, so she went with it as she handed him his change. "Afraid not. Free and single." Moving the bouquet to his side of the counter, Belle gave him a cheeky wink. "Know anyone, who might be interested?"

Chuckling, he pulled back one side of his coat and put his change in his trouser pocket, saying. "Any of the men that I know, kid, are going to be too old and too dangerous for you."

For the second time, he caught her off guard with his comment. Pushing her hand on the cash draw, Belle closed it, while she looked at him. He looked close to her age. Though, there were shallow lines by his eyes, which creased any time he smiled. If she guessed, she would've said he was in his late twenties/early thirties, but she could've been wrong.

"Take some advice, kid," He started to say as he picked up the bouquet. "Don't settle. If you find the one you want, fight tooth and nail for them, because you never know how long you've got with them."

"Okay." She slowly nodded her head at him.

"Try and have a good evening, Belle." He told her, giving her one last smile, and waltzed out of the shop with a distinct swagger to his step.

Through the window of the door, Belle watched him close it, a grin on his face as he peered back through the glass at her, and she followed him as he walked along the front of the shop, heading in the direction of Grannies and the library. The guy was friendly enough, and apart from his strange dress sense, she didn't think he was a creep. Yet, the voice screaming in her ear, was adamant he was up to no good. The conversation had been innocent enough.

Crossing her arms over her chest, unintentionally pushing up her breasts, she frowned, still looking out the window. "How did he know my name?"

Did she tell him her name? Did he even mention his name? No… No names were given. Her brow sat heavily over her eyes, while the uneasy feeling she had magnified. There was definitely something off about him, but what exactly had he found out about her? That she was single? If that was what he was really after, he could've asked anyone in town… Although, if he happened upon one of the girls, they would've told him she was seeing sex god.

Rolling her eyes at the thought, Belle unfolded her arms, catching the back of her hand on the nametag, clipped to the loop of the apron around her neck. She bent her head, examining the tag, lifting it to read her name upside down on the piece of plastic. Her mother had it made, for her first day, officially helping out in the shop. It had been the best thing ever, to see her name etched into the tag. 'Now, everyone will know that you're a part of this shop.', her mother had said. Rubbing the pad of her thumb over the inscribed letters, Belle wanted to tear the badge off and throw it in the trash, tired of being a part of the shop and dealing with her father. She'd only kept it all these years, because her mother had given it to her, one of the last clear memories she had of her. Letting go of the badge, letting it fall back against her chest, Belle shrugged at herself, now that the mystery of how the stranger knew her name had been cleared up. As she did this, her gaze caught the small clock on the cash register.

"SHIT!" Belle exclaimed, jumping into action, racing into the back of the shop.

In a mad flurry, she slid the deadbolt across on the back door, untied her apron and threw it on a workbench, grabbed her bag and denim jacket, moved her coffee cup to the draining board and ran through into the front of the shop, throwing her things onto the floor by the counter. Belle cursed the clock as she hit the sale button to eject the cash draw and yanked the poor tray out of its snug little home. She prayed it was wrong, but it wasn't. Jogging through into the back, she hurried as best as she could without spilling the money from the tray, trying to make up the vital time she had lost, daydreaming about a conspiracy and her mother. She swiftly opened the safe and shoved the tray inside, uncaring whether it was sat on the shelf right, and slammed the door shut, hearing the change explode out of the tray. A turn of a key and quick spin of the combination knob, Belle was out of there.

Without slowing down, she snatched up her jacket and bag on her way to the front door and left, nearly shutting the door on herself. Delving under the flap of her bag, Belle searched blindly inside of her bag for her shop keys, finding everything and anything but her keys. She cursed, ripping open the flap, clumsily balancing her bag on her knee, while she held up her bag, searching for the elusive keys. Her jacket slipped from her grip, falling to the pool at her feet.

"Where the hell are my keys!" She asked, bending over to get a better view into her bag, with her hand rummaging through the items at the bottom of the bag.

There was a laugh before he said. "Watch it, kid, you might get sucked inside."

Startled, Belle dropped her bag, spilling the contents onto the ground, staring wide eyed at the man from earlier. He stopped in front of her, a sly grin on his face as he titled his head down to look at her bag on the floor. There was ample space between them, but Belle felt crowded in his presence and the uneasiness he made her feel. She studied his face, recognising more lines of age on his face and the beginnings of an old nasty scar, peeping out from underneath his cravat.

"If I did, I'd stand a better chance of finding my keys." Belle matched his jokative tone.

"Here," He was stooping down before she could decline his offer. "Let me help you." He said, laying the bouquet of flowers on the ground, passed her the jacket and began gathering her things, piling them back into her bag.

Embarrassed and helpless, she could only observe him as he put the few things into her bag and stood up, holding the large shoulder bag out for her to take as she said, "Thank you."

"Let it be known, chivalry isn't dead." His smile was genuine, but did nothing to stop her suspicion from growing.

"You ought to tell that to some of the guys I've dated." Belle told him, awkwardly holding her bag, reaching inside to hunt again for her keys.

"Dated, past tense." He commented, pointing his finger randomly into the air, indicating his point. "You're already ahead of the curve, kid."

Lifting her gaze to his face, she really wanted to shake this ill feeling and like the guy, yet there was just something about him. A darkness that clung to him. Belle didn't feel threatened by him, but she had the feeling, he wasn't against breaking the law to get the job done. Looking into his eyes, they harboured a sad kindness. It was intriguing, but right now, all Belle wanted to do was get away from him.

"Ah!" She called out at her fingers ghosting across something metal with slits cut into it.

The right side of his mouth pulled back, revealing a very deep dimple, as he asked. "Found them?"

Pushing some things aside, Belle snooped into her bag, smiling when she saw the bunch of keys and scooped them up into her hand, bringing them out to show him. "Yes!"

"Good." He bowed his head to her, causing her to smile awkwardly at him. "Enjoy your night out."

"What?" She asked, turning to follow him as he began to walk past her.

Turning to face her, walking backwards down the sidewalk, he shrugged his shoulders at her, cradling the bouquet in his left arm. "It's Saturday night. Young, free and single… No doubt, you'll be out on the prowl tonight."

"Yeah…" She couldn't fault his logic, if she wasn't meeting Mr Gold, she would've been at the club, dancing the night away, looking for someone to fuck before she went home.

"Have a good one, then." He wagged his eyebrows at her, all knowingly, and spun round, sauntering away from her.

There was just something about him that she couldn't quite put her finger on, which was really unsettling her. Belle waited until he turned at the end of the street, following the street towards the cannery. Turning to the shop door, she locked up for the evening, glancing to the end of the street, in case her mystery customer decided to come back.

A beep from her back pocket startled her. Cursing herself, Belle withdrew the key from the lock and threw the keys into the large compartment of her bag, and threw the flap over her bag before she put the long strap over her shoulder. She cut across the street and took the alleyway down the side of the barbers, exchanging her jacket to her other arm, and reached into the back pocket of her dungarees for her phone. The screen was lit, a small bubble in the middle of the screen, a text message from Ruby, 'Just finished, getting ready. Drinks before Club? You can ride with me and Victor?'. Belle smiled at the offer, liking the idea of a drink after the long boring day she'd had at the flower shop, even if Victor was there.

She typed a quick reply and went to put her phone in her back pocket, when a thought occurred to her. Tapping the button, Belle typed in her password and opened up her messages. Another tap and she was in their messages. Yep, like she had suspected. They hadn't confirmed they were meeting this weekend.

Biting her lip, Belle considered texting him, something she hadn't done before. All the messages had been sent by him. 'Saturday confirmed.', 'Booked room for Friday.', 'On for tonight.' – were the messages you had received from him so far. Straight to the point. No smiley faces. Nothing too familiar, just what he wanted to convey to her. Why she expected more from him, given their arrangement, was probably more her heart hoping for a sign. A small little crack in his armour, showing he felt something for her. Maybe even cared. Anything, she feared, would be enough to fuel her heart's maddening obsession with him. Which was making her thumb itch to type a message to him. Nothing too outlandish, a simple, 'Are we on tonight?'. An innocent question. Giving in to her reasoning, Belle typed the message out in a flash and sent it before she could change her mind, or add anything inappropriate to the message.

Belle slid her phone into the back pocket of her dungarees as she walked. It was strange to think how intimate they were with one another, yet she didn't know anything personal about him. Apart from boyfriends, this was the most she had ever had sex with a single guy, one that she wasn't in a relationship with. Though, she couldn't have told you his favourite colour, favourite food or drink, his habits, things someone, who had seen him naked, should probably know. A slow smile curled the corners of her lips as her mind wandered to him being naked.

Mr Gold wouldn't have fitted most women's ideals. He wasn't muscular, tall, dark and… He was handsome. Although, if women knew what he was capable of doing in bed, Belle would surely have a fight on her hands. It did, though, make her wonder why he'd never remarried. It was rumoured he was married once, to some big shot lawyer in New York, then moved to Storybrooke with Neal. She couldn't recall seeing him with a woman. Not one anyone had ever seen him with and if he had been dating someone, the whole town would've known. 'Hmm…', she thought, following the street corner into her street, 'Maybe that's what he did with the women he dated too.' Nevertheless, he was right. It would've been hot gossip, if anyone found out they were having sex, especially the kind of sex they were having. Her smile grew into a grin, her body tingling with memory of his touch, of him inside of her, of the power he had over her. Her thought of him was so vivid, it was like he was there with her, touching her.

Clutching at the strap of her shoulder bag, Belle didn't feel anything could ruin her mood as she bounced through the open gate and walked up the short path to their front door. She unbuttoned one of the breast pockets on her jacket, laid across her arm, and retrieved her door keys and opened the front door, humming some unknown tune to herself. Closing the door behind her, she then took her bag off her shoulder and was about to march up the stairs, when her father called to her.

"Did you lock up?" Her father asked from the living room.

Her shoulders slumped. "Yes, of course I did."

"Did you put the cash draw in the safe?" He questioned.

"Yes," Belle said with a tinge of guilt, knowing the draw had spilled its contents in the safe. "I locked it up in the safe."

"You swept up the back room?" Another question of distrust.

Belle breathed out heavily through her nose and started up the stairs, raising her voice for him to hear her say. "If you don't think, I know what I'm doing, then you should've come and shut up your own goddamn shop."

"There's no need to take that…" She slammed her bedroom door, cutting off whatever her father had to tell her.

Leaning back against the door, Belle bent her head forward, closing her eyes, and let her bag and jacket fall to the floor, with her keys giving a soft thud when they landed on the carpeted floor. His distrust had zapped her happy mood. The one person in this world, who should trust her more than anyone else, and have enough faith in her that he didn't need to ask these stupid questions, when she came home. Her mother wouldn't have been asking such things. The first question out of her mother's mouth would've been 'How was your day, sweetie?', 'Did you have any problems?', 'Anything I need to know for Monday?'. Why she expected more from her father was a question she'll always be seeking the answer to.

She pushed herself away from the door and bent over, snatching her jacket, bag and keys up from the floor. The jacket and bag were dumped onto the foot of her bed and her keys were tossed to her bedside table as she dropped onto the bed, bouncing a few times from the force. It would've been easy for her to crawl into bed, pull out her current book and ignore the rest of the world. And it was a very tempting offer.

Inclining to her left, Belle reached behind her and pulled her phone out of her pocket, checking the display with a tap of her thumb. No message. Glum, she slid the phone onto the bedside and sat looking at it for a couple of seconds, pondering if he was going to text her back. A dark thought entered her mind, taunting her that he had lost interest in her. If he was keen to continue, he would've messaged her like he'd done the other weeks, confirming they were on for the weekend. She'd heard about him toying with people, dangling them figuratively from the end of a rope, yanking them back when their goal was insight. Naively, Belle assumed he wouldn't do that to her. Was he, though? Toying with her?

Unable to answer her own questions, she crossed her right leg over her leg and undid her shoelace before yanking off her boot, and dropped her heavy boot to the floor. Exchanging her feet, her gaze drifted to her sleeping phone. She knew she was being stupid. He was a busy guy. So what, if he's forgotten to text her this week? It didn't mean anything. With how forward he had been suggesting their arrangement, Belle very much doubted, he'd have any problems telling her it was over.

Whilst she undressed and got showered, Belle pushed all the negative thoughts out of her head. Her father's mood was infectious. There was no reason for her to think such things about Mr Gold. So far, all he had asked of her was to trust him and be willing to participate. Unlike everyone, he hadn't put a price on his attention, belittled her or driven her to the point of despair like her father. If anything, when they were together, his attention was solely on her. Everything he did was solely about her and giving her pleasure. Truthfully, no one had treated her like that before. Painting him with the same brush as everyone else, was really unfair to him and left her feeling guilty.

She stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, misty from her shower, and wiped her hand through the condensation, appearing in the smear she cleared. Physically, she was tired. Mentally, she was exhausted. All she wanted was some time for herself. Belle could barely remember having a week off for herself. The only memory she had of having her own time, chilling and reading her books, lounging about her room in her pyjamas, was when she was at college.

Course, those days were long gone.

Drying herself off in her bedroom, Belle threw the towel to the dirty hamper in the corner and stood naked in the middle of her bedroom, looking at the selection of clothes in her wardrobe. She felt bad for turning up last week in her uniform for Granny's. The smell of the diner would've been hardly appealing for him.

Belle stepped closer to her wardrobe and moved a few outfits along on the rail, scrutinising each one, until her eye was caught by a dress she hadn't worn in a while. It was a satin blue dress. It wasn't overly revealing, the neckline dipped enough to show the valley between her breasts. The hem stopped midway down her thigh, while the material clung to her body like another skin. She had bought it for a party, when she had been at college and worn it a few times on her Saturday nights out with Ruby. Unhooking the hanger, Belle felt her hand down the side of the dress, flaring out the skirt of the dress.

The right side of her lips curled up.

Laying the dress on her bed, she crossed to her chest of draws and pulled out her underwear drawer. Belle rummaged through her underwear, picking out a matching set. They weren't the naughtiest set she owned, but they would do the job. Stepping first with her right leg into the knickers, she went to take a step, putting her left leg into her knickers, and had to hop to gain her balance, almost tumbling forward onto the floor. Belle did not need her father finding her sprawled out naked on the floor. Not tonight. Not ever.

She reached behind her back and deftly fastened the clasp of her bra, her gaze on her dress. While Belle wanted to look good for him, showing him she could scrub up well. She wanted to feel good about herself. For too long, she had felt guilty for wanting more than the life she had in Storybrooke. Desperate to leave and explore the world, abandoning her father and everyone. Be the selfish one for once. With him, she believed she could do this. Be the one put first, take everything he was willing to give her without feeling shameful for doing it. If Mr Gold wanted to give her the best orgasms of her life, why couldn't she do it, while looking million bucks?

Dressed, ready to impress, Belle pulled her bedroom door closed behind her before setting off down the stairs. Taking extra care due to the dark blue high heels she was wearing, she held onto the banister on the way down, carefully stepping down each step. Nearing the bottom, she heard her father's footsteps coming down the hallway from the kitchen.

"Don't you even think…" Belle stepped off the last step of the stairs, breathing a sigh of relief, while her father took a dramatic pause. "What the hell are you wearing?" Her father spat the question at her.

"A dress." She answered as simply as she could, while she peeped into the hallway mirror, checking her makeup.

Her father waved his hand holding his beer at her, gesturing to the length of her body, babbling at her. "You can't… It's… That's not… Christ, Belle!" Turning to him, his eyes were bulging out of his head. "I won't let you go out like that! What will everyone think? What would your mother have thought!"

"Don't bring her into this!" Belle snapped at him, pointing her finger at him.

"Look at you!" He exclaimed.

"I have!" She held her head high. "And I look amazing! Which is what you should be telling me before I go out for the night, instead of giving me this shit!" She told him, hands on her hips, her clutch purse in her left hand.

Her father shook his head. "I should be dragging you back upstairs and making you change! Not letting you out the door looking like… Like a…"

Crooking an eyebrow at him, she asked. "Like what?"

"I can't bring myself to say it." Without waiting for her reply, he retreated into the living room.

Belle scrunched her brow as she moved to stand in the doorway to the living room, watching her father drop into his lazy boy chair. "Look like what, dad?"

He refused to speak, indicating he was saying no more to her by waving his hand at her. Clenching her right hand into a fist, Belle hated her father more than she ever had in that moment. Nothing would've pleased her more than to pull him out of his chair, throw his beer at the wall, kick over the TV, knock everything off the mantelpiece, while screaming how much she hated this prison he had made for her. Had become accustomed to how he treated her, accepted the derogative tone he used when talking to her and worked herself to the point of exhaustion, to help him keep a roof over his head, for what? To have her life dictated and controlled by her father?

With a loud huff, Belle whipped round and strode out of the room without giving her father a backwards glance, slamming the living room door after herself. She hadn't planned on going straight out, but she couldn't stay another minute in the house with him. Checking the contents of her clutch purse once more, Belle yanked open the front door and slammed that door as well, rattling the old, seized knocker.

Clenching her hands around her purse, strangulating him, she knew her tether was getting to the point of snapping. If she was braver, she would've done it a long time ago. Grabbed her things and her money, and ran for the town line. Too long, Belle had spent nights dreaming of what could've been. Graduating college, travelling the world, settling down and writing a book of her adventures, finding love, having children… and having it all. These things used to make it worth it. Now, they were like a heavy weighted chain around her neck, reminding her of what she could've had, if she didn't let everyone tell her what to do, keeping her tie down to this small town.

Aaron, the bouncer of the Rabbit Hole, saw her approaching and swiftly moved to open one of the doors for her. This small act of kindness doused the fury of her temper. Her pace slowed a little, humbled. She smiled at him as she passed him and entered the subdued bar. Naturally, her gaze travelled around the bar, seeing familiar faces, some as regulars, others from the diner. It was nice that everyone knew her and she knew them. That had been one of the biggest shockers, when she had been at college. So many people, a million new faces and she had only known a handful of them. The change had been welcomed, where everyone in a town knew her by her name, a chance to become anonymous, but there is something about being somewhere, where everyone knows you. A safety net that someone will be there to help you. It was one of the plus sides of staying in Storybrooke.

Spotting her, Jake's face contorted into confusion as he wiped his hands, strolling along the bar to join her at the spot, where Ruby and her always sat. "You're starting to make a habit of getting earlier, or the call for booze is getting stronger."

"I wish I could say both." Belle dryly commented, hopping onto one of the stools, placing her clutch purse on the bar.

"Must have been a bad day." He said, flashing his eyes wider at her comment, and moved to the spirits hanging on the back wall of the bar. "Sounds like you need a shot."

"Or two." She opened her purse, selecting several bills from inside.

Jake peered at her over his shoulder, whilst he held up a glass to the bottle of vodka, pushing up the dispenser with the glass to fill the glass with a shot. "Why don't I just make it a large for you?"

Letting out a short scoff, she nodded her head at him. "Sounds good to me."

"Rum and coke?" He asked, delivering the small tumbler glass to her, placing his free hand on his side of the counter.

"Please." Belle smiled at him.

Turning around, he grabbed a glass from under the bar as he went back to the spirits, telling her. "I'll add a very healthy amount of rum for you."

"You don't need to do that, Jake." She told him, laying fifteen dollars on the bar.

"No, I don't." Jake said, watching the measure of rum dribble into the glass in his hand. "But for my favourite customer, I'll do it."

Raising a sceptical eyebrow at him, she said. "Don't give me that. You say that to all your customers, just so they'll tip you well and buy more drinks."

The grin on Jake's face was wide, drawing deep lines where his cheeks were pushed back, with his dimples on full show for everyone. She couldn't help, but return his smile, knowing the ploy well. Every customer was special, of course. It was just, making that one customer feel extra special didn't hurt, when it came time for tips and they left an extra couple of bills on the table.

"Here you go, Belle, one very healthy rum and coke." He set the large glass down in front of her on the bar and plopped a black plastic straw into her glass, his grin showing he was pleased with his creation.

"Thank you." She told him, pushing the pile of bills towards him, shaking her head at him.

His head slopped to the side, his eyes lowered, taking in the top half of her appearance. "You're looking rather… Ravishing tonight." His hand dipped under the bar and came back up, revealing he'd grabbed a cloth, and began cleaning the bar in front of her, pretending to be working. "Going anywhere nice?"

Midway, raising the small tumbler with her vodka shot to her mouth, Belle froze, looking at him over the small rim of the glass, mouth partly open, waiting for her shot. What was she supposed to tell him? 'Oh, I'm meeting Mr Gold to have mind blowing orgasms. Oh, yeah, I know, you wouldn't have thought it, would you?'. Belle closed her mouth. There was no way she could tell anyone the truth. They'd all think she'd gone mad. If they found out, the reason they having sex, they would definitely think she'd gone mad, or even insane. Maybe she was insane. It would explain why she accepted his offer in the first place, because she sure as hell, still didn't know why she had. Although… Belle wasn't complaining. Having sex with a man, she had fantasied about for years - possibly even a decade – wasn't something to begrudge.

"Nowhere in particular." Belle informed, with a soft smile, and knocked back her shot, placing the empty glass onto the bar in one motion.

"No? Well," He swept the cloth along the edge of his side of the bar. "There's nothing wrong with you looking good, if you don't mind me saying so."

A slight heat bloomed on her cheeks. "Thank you, Jake."

Jake picked up her money from the bar, while he dropped his cloth to the ledge below the bar, saying. "There's also nothing wrong, when certain bartenders give very beautiful women a discount, either."

He laid her ten-dollar bill back onto the bar, giving her a wink when she looked at him, and strolled away to the other end of the bar to put her 'drink order' into the cash register, depositing her five dollars into the cash drawer. Drooping forward, propping herself up on her left elbow, Belle was hit with another act of kindness, softening the hard lump her anger had left in her chest. On the walk over, she could have easily called it quits and walked out of town. In the space of ten minutes, Belle was reminded of the goodness of the town.

It was her father, who was the problem, not everyone else.

Picking up her drink, she casually drank from it before her eyes widened, shocked with the amount of rum Jake had put in her drink. She put it down, eyeing the innocent looking beverage. Enough drinks like that and she'd be crawling home instead of having her weekly visit with Mr Gold. Sliding it further away, Belle pulled her purse closer and flicked it open, taking out her phone. With time to kill, and a drink that would kill her, she unlocked her phone and checked her messages – Nothing. The little indicator, underneath her earlier message, indicated it had been sent and delivered, but he hadn't read it yet. Though, his phone would display it on the lock screen, like her phone did, so maybe he hadn't had a chance to answer her? Being busy was better than he didn't care and was tossing her aside. Or was he? Was this the end of their arrangement?

'No.' Belle shook her head at herself, putting her phone down on the bar. There was no need to worry. So, what if it was done? Life goes on. She knew that. Yet, she couldn't bear to think about it. Being with him… It made her feel at ease like she had never had before. Mr Gold never expected anything from her, or for her to do something for him, he was just there to be with her. No, not to be with her. To educate her and nothing else. This wasn't a relationship! She groaned, bearing forward onto her folded forearms. They'd had sex twice and she was turning into one of those clingy women, planning their wedding, designing their house and picking out names for their kids.

'Kids?!'. Belle covered her face with her hand. There really wasn't any hope for her.

She jumped at her phone going off, dropping her hand down onto the bar, and self-consciously looked around the nearly empty bar, for anyone who had witnessed her silliness. Picking up her phone, her heart thudded loudly inside her chest, anticipating it was from him. It wasn't disappointment, Belle felt at seeing Ruby's message. It really wasn't. She was grateful for the distraction as she slid her thumb across the message, bringing up a window to send back her reply. Her thumbs tapped out her message, informing Ruby she was already at the Rabbit Hole. Putting her phone back down, spying down at the dormant screen, she willed him to message her.

---

Adam sat behind his desk, reading glasses on, combing through a contract of sale, for a property he was buying in Cumberland. Cushioning his chin in the palm of his left hand, elbow propped on the desk, he was reading through the parties stated on the contract. His name, his company name, the name of the seller… Then his mind went blank. He'd had this problem since finding out she had a boyfriend. Adam had lost the ability to concentrate. Starting again, he read his name, his company name, address, the name of the seller, the address of the property he… In frustration, Adam casted the contract onto his desk, snatched his reading glasses off his face, tossed them onto his desk and whirled away from his desk on his chair, stopping when the back of his chair hit the desk. For two days, simple tasks, such as reading a contract, sending emails, organising his maintenance crews, were constantly interrupted with thoughts of her and her elusive boyfriend.

Pushing himself up and out of his chair, he tugged down on his waistcoat as he ambled to the large bay window, looking out on his backyard. Dove had assured him; he would get straight onto it. Making these sorts of inquiries, without arousing suspicion, was always difficult. It was one thing to be asking questions about someone, but to be asking something so personal, always sparked someone's interest. Which then led to them asking questions, infecting someone else with curiosity, who'd then ask someone else, leading to a big chain of Chinese whispers.

He crossed his arms over his chest, sighing heavily, deflating his chest. Ending things with her would make his life easier. Get back to his strict routine. No more of this nonsense. Sex was sex. There wasn't any need for him to become… obsessed with her. She was like every other woman, beautiful, but like every other woman. Head, arms, boobs, legs, a pussy. Nothing, but ordinary.

Adam had to keep telling himself this.

Behind him, his phone beeped his message tone and he instantly turned and went to his desk, and picked up his phone, hoping for news from Dove. He sat down into his chair as he unlocked his phone, picking up his reading glasses to put them back on, and sat back to read the message. 'Boyfriend's name is Eddie. Local business man. Member of The Club. Making further enquiries. Hatter yet to report'. Adam balked at the message before leaning forward and raising the phone closer to his face.

"A member of the Club." He stated the fact aloud, squinting at the small text.

In disbelief, he read through the message from start to end again, slowly taking in each word, digesting each one, making sure he understood the message. Belle had a boyfriend and not only did she have one, this 'Eddie' was a member of his fucking Club. 'Eddie?', he questioned, running through the members he knew, who had local businesses. But then, he could have joined, whilst Adam had been absent from the Club.

Annoyed with himself, he flung his phone onto his desk, followed by his glasses, and inclined back into his chair, rubbing a hand over his mouth. Was this some kind of ploy? Had Belle been there that night to tempt him? What had he gotten himself into? Did this 'Eddie' know him? Was he using her to get to him? Questions, upon questions, flew through his mind. Each building off the previous, feeding the anger harboured in his chest. The more he got agitated, the quicker his breathing got, the tighter his chest felt.

When his phone went off again, Adam was breathing heavily through his nose, ready to explode at the first person who spoke to him, or looked at him wrong, or just happened to be nearby. Grabbing his phone from his desk, Adam raised the screen to see a short inquiring message on his phone. He sat forward, swivelled on his chair to face his deck and planted his arms on the desk, staring at his phone in the palm of his hand. 'Are we on tonight?'. Her message was so out of the blue, blowing all of his troubling thoughts out of his head, clearing his mind for the first time in two days. He had been so distracted, he had forgotten to message her and confirm their booking at the Club. However, with this new information, did he want to continue? Knowing she had someone on the side-lines, lurking in the shadows, whispering in her ear?

Carefully, he laid his phone on his desk and sat back into his leather chair, propping his left elbow onto the arm of the chair, pushing his half closed fist into his cheek, pondering the situation. If he broke it down, using only the facts he knew, it was absurd to think she knew he would've been there three weeks ago. No one knew he was going to be there. Least of all himself. It was a whim. A lonely evening, where he was tired of looking at the four walls of his house, and wanted to get out and have a quiet drink. Belle wasn't to know he'd be there.

Neither would her boyfriend.

Lowering his hand, sitting up straighter, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. If it was all above board, why wouldn't Belle have told she had a boyfriend? Wouldn't that have been the first thing she should've said, when he propositioned her in the alley? If this boyfriend was a member, why wasn't she more aware sexually?

Adam's eyes snapped to the open doorway of his study, hearing the front doorbell ring twice, followed by random rhythm being knocked out on his front door. His brows pushed together as he rolled back his chair and stood, and headed out of his study, eyeballing the figure on the other side of the coloured glass of his front door. He was halfway through the kitchen, when the front door knob of the opening door turned. Clenching his hands into fists, he quickened his step, arriving in time to greet his visitor as they came through the doorway, grinning like a Cheshire, like he always did.

"You should really keep your front door locked." Jefferson advised, stepping more into the house, and closed the front door as Adam stopped in the opening for kitchen.

He waved his hand aimlessly through the air, then clasped his hands in front of him, saying to Jefferson. "Normally, people wait for the occupant of the house to open their front door. Not be disrespectful and let themselves into the house."

Jefferson pointed a single finger at the front door. "It was unlocked."

"Yes, because I'm at home." He snapped back.

"Unlocked doors don't need an invitation to be opened." Jefferson rallied back, grinning.

"As I said, normal people." Adam huffed a breath. "Course, to a thief, locked or unlocked, every door has an open invitation."

Scowling at Adam, Jefferson shoved his hands onto his hips. "Hey, that's low, even for you."

"Don't give me that. I've known you long enough to know you're not insulted by comments like that." He told him, dismissing Jefferson's comment with a wave of his hand, while he turned and started to walk back to his study.

"But did you have to call me a thief?" He queried, trailing behind Adam.

Abruptly stopping, swivelling round on the ball of his foot, Adam questioned him. "What would you like me to call you? Crook? Swindler? Criminal?"

"You have a filthy mouth!" Jefferson said as he strolled straight past Adam, overtaking him.

Adam rolled his eyes, pivoting back round, and watched as Jefferson yanked open the door to his fridge. "Oh, help yourself, Jefferson."

"Thank you." Jefferson said, peeping around the edge of the door, beaming a smile.

"I'll be in my study, when you're ready to conduct our business." He imparted as he ambled to the doorway of his study, glancing back at Jefferson, seeing only the open door of his fridge and the bottom half of Jefferson's legs.

"I'll be in shortly." Jefferson called.

Shaking his head, Adam made his way behind his desk, tugged down on his waistcoat and sat down, watching the doorway as he scooted his chair closer to his desk. Two decades, he had known Jefferson. They had become acquainted, when Adam had been working as a lawyer in New York. When they required information, which the opposition was reluctant to give, they had fixers, who would acquire the relevant information and perhaps some extra files they thought would help their case. Jefferson was good at what he did. Slipping into places undetected, gathering the needed information. Over the years, Jefferson's skills had become useful in some of the business deals Adam had done.

Jefferson waltzed into the room, biting a mouthful out of the sandwich he held, then spoke with his mouthful. "Where did you get that jelly from? It tastes amazing!"

"I made it." Adam slouched to the right side of his chair, leaning onto his elbow, resting on the arm of the chair.

"Ooo…" Jefferson rounded one of the chairs in front of Adam's desk and dropped heavily into it. "Aren't you the catch."

Gesturing to Jefferson, he said. "I take it, by you visiting me, you've got some information for me."

"No." was his quick reply and Jefferson took a bite of his sandwich, leaving a blob of jelly by the corner of his mouth.

Adam crooked an eyebrow at Jefferson. "No?"

"No." Jefferson repeated, happily chewing his mouthful of sandwich.

"What does that mean? No?" Confused, he asked him to clarify as Adam sat up in his chair.

Jefferson stopped chewing, looking at Adam directly across the desk, holding his sandwich up in the air. "No, she doesn't have a boyfriend."

His brow bore down over his eyes as Adam responded. "What do you mean, she doesn't have a boyfriend?"

"Why are you so interested, anyway? You've never asked me to get this sort of information before. If they have a mistress or a fancy man on the side, yes, but not if they have a boyfriend." Jefferson pondered out loud. "Is this for you? Or you got some kind of deal going with her?"

"Jefferson," Adam raised his voice, halting Jefferson's babbling. "How do you know; she doesn't have a boyfriend?"

"I asked." Jefferson said, shrugging his shoulders as if it was obvious.

His back snapped straight. "You asked her?!"

Jefferson's eyebrows rose at Adam's reaction. "Well… Not directly, but it came up in conversation."

"You spoke to her!" Adam's voice rose an octave.

"Generally, it's what happens when two people meet, they exchange words and pleasantries." Jefferson said, amused by Adam's reaction.

He blinked rapidly in disbelief, fixing his gaze on a random spot on his desk. "She must have made you."

"What?" Jefferson blurted, nearly spitting his bite of sandwich out of his mouth. "No way. Not possible."

"Either that, if someone's lying!" Adam picked up his phone, swiftly unlocking it with his thumb, and selected Dove's message, and threw the phone across to Jefferson, who clumsily caught it.

Jefferson read the message and said, returning the phone to Adam's desk. "I don't know who he's been talking to, but she said, she's not with anyone."

Firmly rubbing his thumb into the crook of his forefinger, Adam could feel a tight coil forming in his gut. The tension of it made him uncomfortable and he shifted in his chair, hoping to elevate it, but it made it worse. Even shifting back, increased the tension, winding him up to the point of unravelling. Two credible sources, both trustworthy, yet their information differed. His suspicious nature went into overdrive, generating new scenarios, twisting the lies and the truth together. Unable to make heads or tails of it, Adam wasn't sure what he should do next.

"Does she owe you money or something?" Jefferson questioned, rubbing his hands together.

"No." He responded without thinking.

Titling his head to the side in thought, Jefferson continued with his line of questions. "A family member of hers, owes you money, looking for a new angle to call in the debt?"

"Yes, but no." Adam shook his head, his mind elsewhere.

Jefferson straightened his head, his brows coming together in thought, as he asked. "Then why are you interested in her?" His face relaxed as he continued talking. "She doesn't seem to have much of a life, from what I saw, when I was following her. Gets up at six. Seven o'clock she goes to the diner, unlocks, preps the diner for the morning rush. Works until someone forces her to take lunch, which she wafts down, getting back to work ASAP. Then today, she spent it working at her father's shop, didn't have a break, was always working, then closed up late." Looking at Adam, he said. "Girl needs a break, if you ask me."

Adam had gone into his own little world, lost inside the conspiracy theories his insecurities were birthing. There was no way Belle would've known he was going to be there that night. Hell, even Regina had been surprised to see him there. He even saw her arrive, on her own, she would've known he was there until she had come downstairs… Unless… She had accessed the cameras. What if her 'fancy man' was a staff member. What if they were going to… No, he physically shook his head, fighting the voice lurking in the back of his mind. There was no conceivable way, Belle or anyone would've known he was going to be there.

"Boss," Jefferson's voice broke him out of his thoughts. "You okay?"

Adam breathed in noisily through his nose. "Yes, I'm fine." Looking at Jefferson, reminded him why the other man was there, and stated. "Your fee."

"Cutting to the chase." Jefferson braced a smile for Adam.

"The usual cost?" He asked, partly getting up from his chair, leaning over his desk to grab his phone.

"Please." He curtly responded.

Tapping the button to wake up his phone, Adam typed in his passcode and loaded up one of the banking apps on his phone. It didn't take him long to find Jefferson in his list of payees and sent across the 'usual payment', putting his reference as 'BELLE'.

"Done." Adam exited the banking app and locked his phone before delivering it to his desk, putting it near the keyboard of his computer, where it usually put it, keeping it close to hand.

Jefferson got up, saying. "Always a pleasure doing business, boss."

"If you find anything else out, I'd be interested to hear it." He told Jefferson, holding the other man's gaze.

"I'll keep my ear to the ground." Jefferson said, giving one of his flamboyant bows.

Pointing his finger at Jefferson, Adam warned. "Make sure it's credible, next time. Bringing me conflicting information doesn't help me, or forfeit your fee."

Jefferson stood still, narrowing his eyes at Adam, as he enquired. "When have I ever let you down?"

"You haven't." His left eyebrow flexed up as he added. "Yet."

"It's a good job, I like you." Jefferson remarked before he sauntered out of the study, leaving Adam alone.

Leaning forward, putting his elbows on his desk, Adam rubbed his hands over his face, feeling tired, irritated and frustrated. Something that should've been simple to find out and his most trusted associates couldn't get the truth. He lowered his hands from his face, flopping his arms onto his desk, his gaze instantly went to his phone. Lying there dormant, Adam wished another message would come through from Dove, confirming what Jefferson had told him or give him something to go on.

As he stared at his phone, he reasoned why it mattered so much. Like he kept telling himself, she was just another woman. A mere girl compared to him. Belle had hardly ever been on his radar before, a figure in the background, no one of importance. Yet, here he was, gripped by whether she had a boyfriend or not. When Adam had suspected Milah was being unfaithful, he hadn't been this fixated about it. He'd passed the job onto Jefferson and hadn't thought much more about it, until Jefferson had called him three days later with the news. This thing with Belle… Whatever it was, had taken over his life in such a short amount of time, Adam didn't like it. Hated that she dominated his thoughts. Two weeks ago, it had been refreshing, uplifting, whereas now, it was becoming insufferable.

Adam kept his gaze on his phone as he reached across for it, cautiously picked up the device and moved it to sit on his desk between his arms, willing it to give him a sign. Anything to quieten the endless cycle of questions and scenarios running through his head. Closing his eyes, he lifted his arms up and covered his face again, hiding his shame. Next year, he was fifty years old and here he was acting like a lovesick idiot.

Before that train of thought could leave the station, his phone beeped at him, prompting him to uncover his face, to see the screen lit up on the phone, a white box in the centre of the screen begging for his attention. Adam picked up the phone and cradled it in his hands. The text was a little blurry without his glasses, a subsequent side effect of not enough sleep, forcing him to squint his eyes at it.

'Are we not on tonight?', she asked.

Sitting back and lowering his phone to his desk, holding it so he could still see her message, Adam mulled it over. Aware that something was amiss, put him in a better position. Unless she had made Jefferson, when he went to see her, there was no way she could know that he was suspicious of her. This could be used in his favour. Especially, if he turned the tables on her and used their encounter to pump more information from her.

A grin slowly formed on his face as he pictured her strapped down, everything bared to him, giving him free rein over her beautiful body. The things he could do to her, extracting a confession from her, would have her screaming her safe word to the heavens for mercy.

Turning his hand over, hiding the screen of the phone, his grin fell from his face as he scowled at the direction his thoughts were taking. It didn't matter if she had a boyfriend. Fucking single women, taken women or married women wasn't ever a problem. And so what, if she did have a boyfriend. The fact she was coming back for more – correction – was very keen for more, showed her boyfriend couldn't have been doing her right. And like he had told himself, several times already, Belle was like any other woman. They could fuck and be done with it, when Adam had had her every way he wanted her and burned out this fascination with her. He flicked his hand over and unlocked his phone, quickly replying to her message with one simple word – Yes.

He didn't wait for her to reply. He got up and left his study, pocketing his phone, and marched through the kitchen into the foyer. Claiming his suit jacket from the banister, Adam slid his arms into it and straightened it, whilst walking across the foyer to the end table. Going through his going out routine: phone – he moved it from his trouser pocket to left inside pocket; wallet – suit jacket, right inside pocket; car keys – trouser pocket, left side… What? He pulled his keys out of his pocket and swapped them to his right hand, eyeing the keys warily, and put them into his pocket.

Refusing to reflect on what happened in the foyer, Adam got into his car and left, heading into the woods to cut around town. It took him slightly further than he wanted, forcing him to drive back towards town, but it was quicker than going through town at that time of night. Slowing and rolling round the bend, he flicked the turn signal down, preparing to turn into the mansion. When the turn for the driveway was in sight, Adam took the turn and powered down the drive, taking the last remaining spot at the front of the mansion. As he was getting out of his car, his phone beeped and vibrated against his chest, announcing the guests would be arriving at the Club soon.

Adam's heels clicked on the steps as he ascended to the entrance and strolled into the foyer, immediately turning his head, looking for the on-duty doorman. Steve and Giles, and another man, were huddled together by the podium in the corner. Walking over to them, he glimpsed round the foyer, noting two women and a man loitering near the entrance to the basement. They didn't notice him, intently whispering to one another.

"Mr Gold." Steve brought his attention back to the huddled doormen. "Good evening, sir."

"Evening, Mr Ickes." Adam politely returned the pleasantry. "I know, I haven't reserved my room, but is it available?" He asked, coming to stop near where the three men lingered near the podium.

Twisting to grab the iPad from the podium, Steve stepped away from Giles and the other man, while tapping and swiping at the screen, and said. "Yes, sir. Most of the guests are booked nearer to the stairs, so your room is still available."

"Good." He nodded his head at Steve. "Miss French should be arriving soon as well."

Steve tapped at the screen. "Mrs Mills made it clear to me that if Miss French is going to be frequently visiting you and using the Club, then I need to remind you that she should become a member herself."

Gazing at Steve, Adam held back the remark he wanted to snap and said. "I was unaware that membership was now forced onto guests."

"It's not, sir." Steve lowered the iPad. "Mrs Mills mentioned to me in passing and asked me to relay the message to you, which I've done." He said, clasping the iPad in both his hands.

"She can mind her own business." He mumbled under his breath, not appreciating that Cora was sticking her nose in.

"As far as I'm concerned, sir, Miss French can come and go as much as she pleases, as long as she's visiting you or another member." Steve shared.

'Another member'. Adam shifted closer to Steve and asked him. "Does Miss French visit anyone else?"

"No, sir. I haven't seen any other occasions, apart from the two times she's visited you, that she's signed the visitor log." Steve's reply was quick, giving him no time to think of a lie, if he was in on the scheme.

His eyebrows pushed together, forming a fine line in the middle of his brow. "Never been here before three weeks ago?"

Steve's expression began to mirror his own. "I've seen her in town, but never here, sir." His expression lightened. "She's not someone you'd soon forget."

"No… She's not." Adam drew out his response, his mind reeling with the new information.

"Is there a problem, sir?" Steve asked.

Lifting his gaze to Steve's face, he shook his head. "No, Mr Ickes, just clarifying something."

"Would you like me to send a drinks trolley to the room?" Steve questioned, raising the iPad, ready to put the order in for him.

He glanced at the awaiting pad in Steve's hand before he answered. "Yes, that would be good, thank you."

Deftly, he swiped and tapped the screen, causing the iPad to make a swoosh noise. "On its way, sir." Steve held the pad close to his chest as he enquired. "Will there be anything else, sir?"

"No, thank you, Mr Ickes." Adam briefly smiled at Steve and took his leave, proceeding up the stairs and taking the hallway to their usual room.

His pace was slower than it would've been normally. Mulling over what Steve had told him, along with what Jefferson had said at the house, it left Adam with more questions. Dove would've gone to a reliable source. Wherever he had gotten his information was either corrupted or toying with him, but no one could know they were involved. They'd signed the agreement. Other than Dove, who was barely aware of how they were involved, no one apart from the staff of the Club, would know anything. The more he found out, the more the situation was becoming a mystery.

One, Adam was itching to uncover.

Nearing the end of the hallway, and the door to the room, Adam could hear the drinks trolley chinking as it was wheeled down the adjourning hallway. A few feet from the turn in the hallway, the drinks trolley wheeled into sight and was parked in front of the door, while the young woman squeezed by it, to open the door.

"I'll take it from here." Adam told her, startling her.

"Oh! Mr Gold!" She jumped back, plastering herself to the doorframe, leading into the room.

Keeping his face neutral, he slowed to a stop on the other side of the trolley and reached into his jacket for his wallet, taking out a couple of bills to tip her. She glanced from his face to the money he held out to her, possibly fearing he'd bark, or worse, bite her for taking the money from him.

"Here you go." He insisted, holding the money further towards her.

Giving him one more fearful look, she took the money and ran, escaping to the hidden door to the old servants' stairwell. The door swoosh closed behind her, followed with a distinct click of the lock, locating into place. Adam shoved his wallet back into the inside pocket of his jacket, looking at the closed door. Straightening the flaps of his jacket, he moved to push the trolley into the room, closing the door after him, and parked the trolley in the same spot they had the previous weeks. He poured himself a glass of scotch and moved to sit down on the armchair he occupied the week before, crossed his legs, and perched the glass on top of his left thigh.

His mind was breaking down the facts, rearranging them, building them back up, attempting to fit them into the different scenarios in his head. What he knew of Belle, which wasn't much, if he was honest, she wasn't the kind of person who could deceive anyone. She was too pure of heart. Perhaps that was what was bugging him so much about it, and why finding out about this 'so-called' boyfriend occupied his mind. 'That made sense', he thought with a slight smile.

The door handle turned, catching his attention, and the door opened as he sat up straighter, appearing casual when she looked up to see him. His heart fluttered and thudded like a drum at the smile she beamed at him. Belle hopped into the room, glanced back into the hallway and closed the door. Her chest heaved, squishing her breasts in the satin blue dress she wore. Slowly, his mouth dropped open. She was breath-taking. The dull light of the room simmered across the fabric of her dress, highlighting the curve of her hip, the fine line of her back, pushing her breasts into firm mounds. Shifting his legs, Adam adjusted his growing erection, unable to take his eyes off her, as she strode to the drinks trolley and helped herself.

"I was worried something had happened to you." Belle remarked to him, pouring herself a large helping of rum into a glass. "I'm guessing you were busy."

His eyes travelled down the line of her back, following the small indentation of her spine, envisioning the rest of the path hidden underneath her dress. As his gaze traced the rump of her backside, Adam's head slightly tilted sideways, continuing down her legs to the very high, dark blue heels she wore. An image of her standing over him, pressing the heel of her shoe into his bare chest, popped into his head, encouraging his throbbing member to grow.

"Mr Gold?"

Snapping his eyes up from her heels, he found her looking at him, a small twitch of amusement tugged at the right side of her lips as she said. "Would you like a drink?"

"I've got one." He said, lifting his glass up, showing it to her.

Her eyes went to his glass, for a brief second, before she met his gaze again. A cheeky smile threatened to spread her lips wide, but Belle turned back to the trolley, topping up her glass with coke. Tearing his eyes away from her, Adam looked at the glass, he was still holding up into the air, and dropped it down, putting it back on his thigh, confused as to what was going on. Blown away, her dress had stupefied him. He slyly peered at her, from the corner of his eye, zipping his gaze up and down her appearance, and looked away before she turned and came to sit in the small sitting area.

"I didn't think I'd be able to lose Ruby downstairs, but thankfully, Steve came to my rescue." She said, sitting on the end of the couch nearest him.

Adam admired her legs as Belle sipped her drink, asking her. "Won't she be looking for you?"

"Probably." She leaned forward and put her glass on the table, and sat back, telling him. "But she won't look too hard, she knows I'm with someone."

Studying her face, he didn't see any slight changes that would indicate she was thinking of someone. No twitch of a smile. What he did notice was the look she casted down to the floor, a sign she was feeling guilty about something. For leaving her friend? Because she was deceiving him? He couldn't be sure, it was a fleeting glance and when she raised her eyes back to him, smiling at him, there was no trace of it.

"So…" Belle crossed her legs, causing the hem of her dress to hike up her thigh, instantly drawing his eye. "What do you have planned for us tonight?" She asked, with a touch of rouge warmly painting her cheeks.

He sipped his scotch. "I know, from the form you filled out, that you ticked you didn't mind, but are you sure you don't mind being blindfolded?"

Her eyebrows twitched, the corners of her mouth turned up into a sly smile. "No, I wouldn't mind."

"Stand up, and come and stand in front of me." Adam instructed, uncrossing his legs, and leisurely rested his glass on his thigh, watching her as she rose up and shuffled round to stand in the small space, between the armchair he was sitting in and the coffee table.

She looked down at him, the fingers of her right hand toyed with the fabric of her dress. "Now what?"

Inhaling the hint of her perfume, he ignored her question, trailing his gaze down the front of her dress, picturing her naked underneath, he followed her legs again and stopped when his gaze met the seat of the armchair. Her feet shifted, adjusting her stance, while she waited for him to respond. Adam made her wait. Taking his time as he took in every inch of her, migrating up her body till his gaze captured hers.

"Do you like to dance?" Adam asked.

Her hand clutched a pinch of her dress, further tightening the satin fabric wrapped around her body. "Yeah…"

"Dance." He commanded.

"Dance?" Belle gaped at him, looking around the room. "Here?"

Angling his head to the side, enjoying the uncertainty in her voice, he said. "Why not?" He gestured pointlessly at her. "Dance for me."

"What? Like a lap dance?" Belle asked, wanting to be sure what he meant.

He shrugged a shoulder at her, coolly answered her. "Whatever you want, but I want you to remove your dress as you do it."

"Striptease… Lap dance…" She hesitantly said, both her hands fidgeting with her dress.

Patiently, Adam raised his glass to his lips and took a very small measure of his scotch, doing it more for effect than to take a drink. Balancing his glass on his thigh again, openly ogling her, he smirked at how the confident woman, who had entered the room, forcing him off balance, had retreated at the simple request of a dance. It would've been more interesting, if she had stuck around, but there was plenty of time to tease her out. Even if it was the last thing he did before they parted ways.

'Something her so-called boyfriend hasn't done.', Adam mentally noted.

Growing more nervous, Belle touched a hand to her forehead and stroked her fingers across her forehead. Her brows pushed together, forming a deep line on her brow, while she turned one way and then the other way, searching the room with her gaze. Adam was enjoying her unease, when she narrowed her gaze at the control panel, situated above where the drinks trolley was parked.

"Does that panel have access to music?" Belle asked, while her eyes found the speakers recessed into the ceiling.

He delved his hand inside his jacket and brought out his phone, and unlocked it, so he could connect it to the panel. "No, but you can use my phone and it'll play through it."

"Thank you." She said, taking the phone once he offered it to her.

Hunching himself over the arm of the chair, Adam dropped his empty glass on the floor and settled back into the chair, laying his arms on top of the arms of the chair. Belle's thumbs tapped away, his phone making clicking noises as she typed. Licking the taste of his scotch from his lips, also anticipating the little treat she had in store for him, he caught her blue eyes peeking at him, distracted by his tongue. Adam let half a smile draw back the left side of his mouth, amused. He didn't care if she danced or not. If anything, it would've thrilled him more, if she did refuse. Getting her to dance was a distraction, while he conjured up what to do with her, involving a blindfold. It was a bonus that he had knocked her off balance.

A song started to play and her attention went up to the ceiling, listening to the first few seconds of the song. "No…" She mumbled, stopping the song, playing another. "No."

The song stopped abruptly and another was played. When this new song started, Adam cocked his head to the side, listening intently to it, unconsciously tapping his foot in time to the beat. She must have felt the gentle rhythm of his foot through the floor, as she looked down to their feet. Without saying anything, Belle let the song continue playing and pivoted round, bending at her knees, presenting him with her backside, and carefully discarded his phone to the table. As she straightened, her hips began swaying in time to the music, instantly hypnotising him. She kept her knees bent slightly, her back arched, rocking her whole body.

Steadily, her movements became bolder and her hips rotated more loosely, adding a quick whip to her movements. Belle glanced back over her shoulder at him, maintaining the motion, luring him to keep his gaze on her. Not knowing where to look, his gaze darted from her back, to her ass, to her legs - her whole body cried for his attention.

Belle swung round, lifting her chin, gazing down at him, sustaining the tantalising rock of her body. Gulping, his brain shut down, his eyes locked on her hands as she placed them on her flat stomach and skimmed them down the sheen fabric, bending forward at her hips as her hands got lower. Their eyes met, blue locking with brown, and Adam felt helpless. He had thought he would come here tonight with the upper hand and had been triumphant, when she had stumbled at the first hurdle. Watching her, witnessing the confident swing of her hips, he had misjudged her.

Straightening her back, she reached for the zip at the side of her dress, whilst she began to circle his chair, disappearing behind him. He strained his neck to follow her, hearing her unzip her dress and the sound of the dress falling from her body. Whipping his head to the other side, Adam was disappointed not to see her and was about to snap his head back the other way, when she placed her hands on his shoulders, gently but firmly massaging his shoulders. His toes clenched inside of his shoes. Till this moment, Adam had limited her contact with him, reducing her chances to touch him. Without realising it, he had given her free reign to do what she wanted to him.

He had to get control back.

One of her hands trailed across the breadth of his shoulders. Out of the corner of his eye, the light blue underwear she wore demanded his full attention. Adam turned his head to get a better angle to see her, taking in the whole of her. Using her hand on his shoulder, she stood at the side of the chair, sashaying her hips, her bare skin exaggerated the movement.

"Straddle me." Adam directed, offering his right hand as assistance.

Belle stopped dancing, taken aback. Inspecting his hand, there was a hint of her unease in her eyes, reluctant to give the control back to him. It was a short stalemate. She grabbed his hand, accepting his aid, and strutted round to stand in front of him. Her half nakedness made her normal walk sexier, sending a surge of blood to his rock hard member. Closing his legs, Adam helped her, guiding her knees in turn into the small space, wedging them into the armchair. His head fell back, resting on the back of the chair, allowing him to easily gaze up at her, where she towered above him.

Without being prompted, she grinded herself into him, bracing her hands on his shoulders. Stroking his hands up her bare thighs, he could feel her hot heat through his trousers, blatantly teasing him. He clutched his fingers into the tops of her thighs, hissing as she grounded herself firmly into him, bumping her entrapped breasts into his chin. Their gazes held each other, an intimate connection. The heels of her shoes dug into the sides of his knees, added to the pleasure of her grating herself into him, knocking his head back with her boobs.

"Take your bra off." He instructed, looking her dead in the eye.

The muscles in her stomach tensed, creating a shallow line down the centre of the smooth plane, when she leant back from him, looming over him as she reached behind and unclasped her bra. Adam didn't even wait for her to fully remove her bra. Surging forward, he wrapped his arms around her, supporting her, and sought the nipple of her right breast, sucking it into his mouth, sheathed in the lacy fabric of her bra. She let out a surprised squeak, grabbing his shoulders, further supporting herself. Teasing her nipple – nibbling, flicking it with his tongue, increasing the pressure, Belle let out a deep moan, rocking her hips into his. In a quick flurry of motion, he popped her breast out of his mouth, snatched her bra away from her, clumsily causing her arms to block his access to her chest. Adam grabbed her left arm and hooked it up behind her back, restraining her, and hungrily latched himself onto her boob, sucking her deep into his mouth.

"Oh… Fuck." Belle mumbled under her breath.

Wrapping his left arm around her backside, Adam urged her to grind herself into him, pulling down on her trapped arm to increase the pressure. She sucked in a breath as she bounced up from his lap, his bulge of an erection hitting the right spot for her. Repeating the motion, he bit into the flesh of her breast, tugging to grate her soft skin with his sharp teeth, making her cry out a hoarse 'yes' as her hot core bore down on him. The sharp pain of her nails digging through his suit jacket into his skin, didn't deter him. He clung to her, clamping her to his chest, and thrusting up to meet the rock of her hips, hardening to the point of bursting from her guttural cries of pleasure.

"Yes!" She cried, gripping his shoulder in a death grip. "Don't stop!"

Releasing her breast and her arm, he did exactly what she didn't want him to do, relenting from thrusting to meet her hips, whilst she feebly grounded herself down into his lap. Belle fell forward into him, unintentionally pushing her breasts into his face. He helped her sit back with his hands on her waist.

Belle's chest heaved as she spoke. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Adam reassured her with a small smile.

"Why did you stop then? I was going to come!" She insisted, pouting her lips.

He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. "Patience, dearie. All good things come to those who wait."

"Seriously?" Her face conveyed her disappointment.

Patting her thigh, Adam instructed her. "If you want your precious orgasm, dearie, I suggest you get off me, so we can continue."

Giving him a short-lived glare, Belle clambered off his lap and wobbled a couple of steps away, giving him room to get up as well. As he pushed himself up from the chair, he became aware of the cooling dampness. Looking down at himself, there was a distinct wet patch covering the peak of the hard bulge in his trousers. The tell-tale of her arousal made his own excruciatingly uncomfortable. Standing to his full height, his gaze went to her, recognising the hunger in her eyes that was no doubt mirrored in his own.

Adam held his hand out to her, a silent invitation he knew she would immediately accept, which she did. Stepping away from the armchair, he towed her behind him, leading her through into the bedroom, turning on the light as they entered. He led her to the middle of the large clear space and let go of her hand. Leaving her there, Adam traipsed to the chest of drawers and pulled out the top left drawer, exposing the contents of the drawer. Inside were various toys - several rolls of various tapes, different coloured ribbons, a bundle of large cable ties and a selection of blindfolds. He plucked a random blindfold out of the drawer and closed it.

"Have you worn a blindfold during sex before?" Adam queried as he ambled back to where he'd left her.

"No." She said with her gaze on the blindfold.

With no hesitation, he moved to stand behind her and wrapped the simple blindfold around her head, slanting the top half of his body to see if it covered her eyes. Belle touched the blindfold, adjusting its positioning on her nose and over her eyes, as he tied the two ends of the blindfold together.

"Too tight?" He inquired, laying his hands on her bare shoulders.

Craning her head to the side as if she could see him, Belle told him. "A little."

Unconsciously, his right thumb was stroking along the line of her shoulder. "Would you like me to loosen it?"

"No, I don't mind it being a little tight." She said, her blinded face still turned to him.

"Good girl." Adam praised her and moved his hand from her shoulder to stroke the back of his fingers down her cheek… but stopped, his hand inches from her face.

Pulling back his hand, he rubbed his fingers together, puzzled why he would want to touch her so intimately. As he took a step back, allowing his other hand to slip from her shoulder, Belle turned her head to face the front. The muscles in her shoulders tensed for a fleeting second, a reaction to his absent touch.

Letting his eyes roam down her body, Adam contemplated what he wanted to do to her, utilising her loss of sight. He pulled at the knot of his tie, loosening it, while his gaze settled near her hips, where her hands hung down at her sides. The silk fabric of his tie easily slid through the collar of his shirt as he removed his tie. The little jerk of her head showed she'd heard it. Smirking, Adam grabbed both her hands and brought her wrists together, so he could wrap and entwine his tie around her wrists, tying the two ends together. Belle didn't resist him. If anything, she aided him, holding her wrists together

Leaning in, bringing his mouth close to her ear, but keeping his body well away from her, Adam asked. "Comfortable?"

"Yes." She calmly answered.

"Wait here." He instructed and walked away from her, shrugging off his suit jacket, and laid it on one of the chairs in the little bay window.

Adam shifted on the spot till he could see her and began removing his shirt, first unhooking his cuff links to place on the small table that sat between the two chairs behind him. Admiring how beautiful she looked, practically naked in the middle of the room, he mentally picked out the toys he was going to use one her. While he unbuttoned his shirt, Belle started to nervously fidget, shuffling her feet, turning her head to get a fix on his location in the room. The sound of him pulling the tails of shirt from his trousers, caused her to turn her head away from him, aiming her right ear at him. He softly smiled at her, letting his shirt drop down his arms, catching it before it fell on the floor, and shook it out to lay it on top of his suit jacket.

"What are you doing?" Belle questioned, her uncertainty evident in her voice.

Staying silent, he sat down and removed his shoes and socks, tucking them underneath his chair. He stood up and took his car keys out of his pocket to put onto the table, then adjusted the waist of his trousers. Even from where he was, Adam could hear her breathing, her anxiety building from not knowing where he was, what he was doing, what he was going to do to her. The anticipation should help to drive her sensations through the roof, rapidly becoming hypersensitive to every sound, to every smell, to every touch.

The silence was filled with the music being played in the other room, aiding him as Adam stealthily moved across the room, padding silently in his bare feet. Her head jerked, targeting him with her ear, intently listening for the smallest of sounds. He approached her, watching her head turn to follow him, as he circled her like a predator. Rocking to a stop behind her, he reached out with the forefinger of his right hand, tracing a line down her spine. The muscles in her back briefly tensed from the contact, outlining her shoulder blades and revealing the hidden defeats in her skin. Following the shallow contour of her back to the base of her spine, Adam took his finger away before he reached her bound hands.

Stooping himself in height, he clawed at the back of her legs, dragging his nails up from the back of her knees to the start of her butt, leaving pink lines on her flesh. Belle sucked a breath in through her teeth, clenching her hands into fists at the pain. Admiring the lines with the slightest of grins, he edged round to her front and brushed a fingertip down her skin from the line of her collarbone. Deliberately, he retracted his finger near the valley of her breasts, observing as her body leaned forward, trying to keep the connection with him. She didn't have the wait long. His finger landed the jump over her breasts on her abdomen, triggering a spasm through the muscles of her stomach. Ignoring it, Adam tentatively drew a line down the centre of it and let his finger drop, when he neared her belly button.

He moved to stand at the side of her, close enough she's sense he was there, but without touched her. Travelling his gaze down the path his finger had just taken, Adam bent down at his knees, crouching enough so he could easily reach the inside of her right leg, and scraped his nails up the inside of her leg. Her chin lifted up at the contact, humming at the pleasure as his nails got nearer to her apex of her thighs. He stopped, taking away his hand, when his thumb made contact with the lace of her underwear.

Behind her, Adam hovered close to her, whilst reaching round to trail his fingertips up her stomach, teasing with a little pressure of his nails, etching more pink lines into her skin. Dropping her head back, Belle moaned at his hands transitioning to her breasts, firmly cupping the mounds of flesh in the palms of his hands. Impulsively, he shifted closer to her, pressing his bare chest to her back, offering the support of his body. Her loose hair draped over his shoulder, tickling the side of his face. He didn't think about it as he turned his face into her hair, taking in a lungful of her heavenly smell. It haunted him at night, when he dreamed of their first encounter in the basement.

Gently touching the skin around her nipples, he avoided her nipples, stroking his fingertips around her breasts, dipping down to the underside of her breasts. Turning his fingers over, he caressed up the sides of her breasts with his smooth nails, tickling her, causing her body shuddered against him. His smile hidden in her hair, he worked his way round and down the through the valley of her breasts, bringing her breasts naturally back into the palms of his hands. Her nipples were hard. Ghosting his fingers over them, Belle hissed and moaned at the contact, grabbing at the front of her trousers to support herself. He stroked his fingers back across her nipples, then lightly teased the peaks of them with the fingertips of his forefingers, aware that her hands had found his engorged cock.

She told him, cupping him through his trousers with her bound hands. "I really want you."

"Really, dearie?" He whispered into her hair. "Let's see, how much you want me."

His right hand slid down the front of her stomach, snuck into her knickers and delved between her legs, burrowing his fingers through her slick folds. He hummed his pleasure at finding her hot and wet for him into the side of her head. Dipping his fingertips into her opening, Belle sunk back against him, putting her weight onto him, as she let out a loud groan. Adam captured her with his other arm, while easily probing two fingers into her scorching hot core.

"Yes!" Belle muttered, bearing herself down onto his fingers.

Sliding his fingers back out of her, he held his breath, listening to her breath hitch as he circled the tips of his fingers around her opening and ever so slowly, dipped them back inside her. He'd dreamed of doing this to her. Instead of being the bystander, when he recalled that first time, it was his hand in her knickers, his fingers getting her off, while she watched Belfry fuck Spencer's brains out. Her inner walls clung to him, clamping down on his fingers, desperate to keep him inside of her as his fingers withdrew. The musk of her arousal grew each time he thrusted his fingers into her, squelching in her hot essence. Belle rode his hand, thrusting down to meet his fingers, grinding herself into him, rubbing him in time with his fingers entering. Adam closed his eyes, solely concentrating on her and ignoring the pleasure she was giving him.

"Ah!" Her whole body pushed up him, bumping her shoulder into his jaw, as she went up onto her tiptoes. "Yes, yes, yes!" She chanted up at the ceiling, relentlessly riding her orgasm out on his fingers.

Firmly holding her, Belle's entire body shook and shuddered inside of his hold. Easing off her tiptoes, her body slid down the front of his and he groaned, into the side of head, at her backside pushing her hands into his groin. She lifted her head off his shoulder and turned her face to him, burying his nose further into her hair, completely surrounding him in her smell.

"Wow…" She muttered with a breath.

Adam breathed her in. "Am I getting close to extraordinary?"

Her head nodded against him. "You're heading in the right direction."

Growling into her ear, he told her. "I should put you over my knee and spank you for that."

"I did tick 'yes'." Belle whispered.

"Hmm… Not tonight." He pulled his face out of her hair, examining her blindfolded profile. "I want to fuck you senseless."

Withdrawing his fingers from her, Adam pulled his hand out of her knickers and placed the two digits into his mouth, purposefully wafting his hand pass her nose, so she knew what he was doing. Humming at the delicious taste of her musk, Belle trapped her lower lip with her teeth, digging them into the plush flesh, while he licked and sucked her arousal from his fingers. He pulled them from his mouth and offered them to her, touching her mouth with them. Eagerly, she consumed them, taking them deep into her mouth. Her tongue encircled his fingers, playfully teasing the tips of his fingers. Adam's breathing quickened at the sight of her hollowing her cheeks. His jealous cock strained inside of his underwear, painfully throbbing to be released and be buried deep inside of her.

Adam eased his fingers out of her mouth, the motion pulled down her upper lip, baring her lower teeth to him. His fingertips dropped off her plump lip onto her chin, springing her lip back up into place. Parting his lips, his gaze focused on hers, struck with the impulse to kiss her. He always refrained from kissing. An intimate action he kept for more private encounters. Having this compulsion jarred him.

He turned her face away from him, removing the temptation, and walked her forward to the bed, taking her to the side of it, and spun her round to lower her carefully down onto it, laying her back onto her bound hands. With her arms behind her, forcing her chest out, Adam licked his lips at the sight of her breasts, the size of them accentuated by her arch of her back. Leaning forward, bracing his hands either side of her, he held up his weight as he lowered himself, hovering above her, and nipped at her left nipple. Belle jumped. Her legs nudged into his knees as the heels of her shoes scraped at the sides of his calves. Increasing the pressure on her nipple, whilst pulling back, he felt her body rise with him until her own weight went against her, freeing her nipple from his mouth.

"That feels so good." She praised, panting.

Adjusting his position above her, Adam grabbed her right breast and pinched her hard nipple, whilst he bent his knees, sinking down to kneel in front of her legs. After earning himself a hiss of pain from Belle, he released his hold on her breast and lazily caressed his hand down the centre of her body, and playfully scraped his nails across the plane of her stomach. Her upper body jolted up from the bed, but her trapped hands kept her from rising too high. As Belle settled back onto the bed, he brought his other hand down to meet his right at the waistband of her knickers. Clawing at them, hooking the flimsy band, Adam snatched them towards him, yanking them out from underneath her, causing her to let out a little cry of surprise. He worked them down her legs and helped guide her heels through them. With her knickers in his hands, the smell of her musk got stronger, enticing him to take a long, deep sniff of her underwear. Every fibre of his being tensed, while his cocked excitedly bobbed inside of his boxers, driven crazy by the natural smell of her. He took one more hit of her before tossing them to the ottoman at the foot of the bed.

Rolled more onto her right side, Belle had drawn up her legs and was rubbing her thighs together, gyrating her hips, she hopelessly sought relief for her building arousal. Sitting back on his heels, he watched her, amused. She had sunk into her own world with the blindfold blinding her. He stretched out and touched the side of her calf, the light touch was enough, with her heightened senses, to make her whole body jump. Awkwardly, her lower half twisted, curling her legs up, guarding the sensitive spot from him.

Adam sat forward onto his knees and captured her left foot, pulling her leg towards him, straightening her knee, and smoothed his other hand up the outside of her leg. Her calf muscle was hard under his hand. Resting her foot onto his chest, he leant forward as far as could, stroking the backs of his fingers up the inside of her leg, while the sharp heel of her shoe threatened pierce his chest.

"Oh, God…" Belle moaned, turning her blindfolded face into the bed covers.

Sticking out his tongue, he licked up the inside of the calf, following the path of his fingers, while he adjusted her leg, putting her foot over his shoulder. Belle tried to pull her leg away from the tease of his tongue, but he had a hold of her leg, keeping her exactly where he wanted her. He smirked as he turned his head in and nipped at her skin, provoking her leg to buck within his grasp. An inch or two down, Adam did it again and sucked the pinch of flesh. She hissed, throwing herself more onto her back, turning her head the other way, lying more uncomfortably onto her trapped arms. Advancing down her leg, he grabbed her other leg and bent it up onto the bed, pinning it into place, as he bit the more sensitive skin nearer the apex of her thighs. Squirming, Belle's back arched up from the bed and her upper body slumped onto her right side. He couldn't help the grin, adoring how sensitive her body was for him.

He sunk himself down and pushed her legs up, fully opening her up to him, and positioned himself directly between her legs. Peering up at her before he leant in, Adam drew his tongue up through her pussy, invading her inner lips, greedily dipping his tongue into her, while her whole body went rigid and her thighs tried to forcefully close around him. She sucked in a dramatic breath, gasping and twisting her body. Clamping down his grip on her legs, Adam didn't relent, he wanted her to scream. He wanted everyone to hear her. Wanted to hear her cry his name in desperation.

Opening his mouth, Adam consumed her clit, sucking at her pink little bud, whilst swiping at it with the tip of his tongue. Mindlessly mumbling expletives, Belle pushed her head back, thrusted out her chest and forced her hips down into the bed. Easily, he moved with her, keeping her exactly where he wanted her. Adding a bit of pain, Adam slanted his head and very light dug his teeth into her, tugging on shrouded bundle of nerves.

"Boo…!" Belle exclaimed, but her word was cut off, drowned out by the moan he evoked, when he instantly let go and quickly flicked at her clit with his tongue, distracting her from the pain.

Without any warning, he nudged his way through her folds and dipped his tongue into her honeypot, slurping down a mouthful of her arousal. Her hips slightly raised off the bed, her body begging for more as he burrowed his tongue into her opening, smothering himself in her sex. Fucking her, probing in and out of her, he rocked his head, nudging at her pink pearl with his nose, adding to her pleasure. Belle moaned, whilst her thighs fought his hold, raring to clamp him between her legs. Turning in her feet, they found his sides and a footing in his ribs, stabbing her heels into him. He groaned at the pain, but stayed on task, exploring deeper into her channel, lapping up the precious juices she was producing for him.

"Fuck me!" She begged. "Please, fuck me!"

Adam blatantly ignored her plead and adjusted his hold on her, taming her bucking hips with an arm across laid across them, freeing his other hand, so he could effortlessly slip his fingers into her seriously wet, hot channel. Feeling her inner muscles clench his two fingers, wanting to keep him inside of her, sent a surge of possessiveness through him. Right there, laid out in front of him, baring everything to him, Belle was his within those four walls and she wanted him. Stroking his fingers out of her, he thrusted them back into her, hard, producing a satisfactory squelch. He sat back onto his heels, needing to see, to witness the wetness of her arousal cover his fingers and dribble down the inside of his hand. Awed by her reaction to being blindfolded, Adam lunged forward, hungrily consuming her – sucking the lips of her pussy, slurping her arousal as it seeped out, licking teasing and dancing his tongue around her clit.

"Oh… Go…d…" Holding her breath, Belle titled her head back, lifting her chin into the air.

The walls of her channel quivered with the beginnings of her orgasm. Snatching his lips away, he glanced up at Belle and saw all the tendons in her neck were strained, her face red from holding her breath, franticly waiting for her orgasm to erupt. Inside of her, Adam curled his fingers, stroking the G-spot in her inner wall. After two or three passes, she released an almighty gasped, which briefly concerned him, until he saw her chest heave out with a deep breath and felt his fingers being constricted inside of her. A hot flush drenched his fingers and pooled in the creases in the palm of his hand, and ran off the side of his hand, trickling tracks over the back of his hand. Breathing out a ragged breath, on the cusp of abandoning all self-control, he sat back onto his heels, patiently watching her ride out her bliss on his fingers, persistently clenching on each up stroke.

It wasn't long till Belle's movements died out and she laid still, panting for breath. Withdrawing his fingers for the final time, Adam inserted them into his mouth, cleaning her essence from his fingers as he considered her spent form. His head lulled to the side as his mind was invaded with the thought of her boyfriend, wondering if she had come as hard for him. Had she clamped down on his fingers, never wanting to release them from her body? Was this how she always came, or was it something he summoned within her?

Pulling his fingers out of his mouth, Adam got up onto his feet and undid his belt and trousers, pushing them down with underwear in one movement. His erection bounced, free of constraint, bulging with thick veins. He stepped a foot out of his clothing and kicked it off to the side, his gaze on Belle as he stroked the length of him. The sensation of finally being touched, could've had him spill his seed there and then. He held himself in a tight grip, breathing slowly to control himself as he stooped down and guided both of her legs to wrap loosely around his waist. Bracing himself over her, Adam observed her as he lined himself up with her and thrusted hard and deep into her entrance. Shocked back to life, Belle sharply inhaled, while clumsily lifting her body off of the bed, hindered by her hands.

"FUCK!" She shouted, throwing back her head, and fell back onto the bed.

There was no easing into it. Adam set a crushing pace, hammering himself into her, their flesh slapping drowned out the music from the sitting room. Withering and contorting herself beneath him, Belle huffed and puffed for air. Shifting his weight onto his right hand, he snaked his arm around her left arm, using it to anchor himself, and pulled her down onto him, forcefully slamming them together. She groaned and tightened her legs around him, hanging onto him as he fucked her. Her heels scraped the top of his ass, digging in and out of his skin, causing him to hiss and thrust harder into her, enjoying the sting of pain.

Deep in the pit of his stomach, he could feel the coil of his orgasm growing, drawing up his balls to sit in tight underneath his cock. Yanking on her harder, slamming himself into her, he pushed for her to come again, wanting her to leave here tonight fully sated. Sore and unable to walk for the next few days. Leaving her with no doubt in her mind, who had fucked her so thoroughly. Spurred on by this thought, he pressed his knees into the mattress, maintaining his balance as he thrusted, allowing him to reach down between them and gently rub around her clit.

The added pleasure threw Belle completely, sending her over the edge, flooding her channel with another hot wave of ecstasy. "ARGH…! Yes! Fuck!"

Taking his hand away, he slowed his thrusts, taking long deliberately plunges into her, prolonging her orgasm as his own broke, digging his toes into the carpet, clawing at the bed clothes and her arm, groaning loudly whilst squeezing his eyes shut. He was barely aware that Belle was thrusting to meet him, milking every last bit with her inner muscles coaxing his come from him. Gradually, he stilled above her, sheathed comfortably in her warmth. Adam didn't want to move, it was inevitable, but this was the most intimate he could be with her. Joined like lovers, everyone else forgotten until the spell of their private meeting was broken. Thinking of nothing and each other. No boyfriends, no tenants, no business deals, or endless work hours. Just them.

The muscles of his arms began to shake, his energy depleted, he needed to break their connection and rest, even if he would be left disappointed. Blinking his eyes open, he found Belle lying motionless again. The subtle movement of her chest told him she was dozing. Watchfully, Adam withdrew himself from her, falling limp, and unwrapped the vice grip he had on her arm, a lapse in his control, leaving a hand mark on her forearm. A small wince pulled back the right side of his face. Not a mark he was proud to leave on her delicate skin.

Standing up properly, his gaze remained on her as he moved to retrieve his boxers and put them on, cautiously watching Belle. Concern ceased the corners of his eyes. Adam moved back to the bed, his eyes never leaving her for more than second, pulled back the covers and gathered her up into his arms, and put her into the bed. Gently rolling her onto her side, he untied her wrists and removed his tie. She groaned a little as she rolled onto her back, bringing her arms forward, whilst Adam covered her with the covers. Standing over her, he removed the blindfold and tossed it somewhere onto the bed, titling his head to examining Belle's face. He stroked the backs of his fingers down the side of her face before he could stop himself. Though, he hated he'd done it, her eyes fluttering open made him quickly forget it.

"Are you okay?" Adam asked, carefully sitting onto the edge of the bed. "Do you want anything? Food? Drink?"

The single shake of her head was definite. "No. Tired."

"That good, huh?" He jested with her, tucking the covers under her chin.

"Hmm…" She murmured, sleepily closing her eyes.

He lightly chuckled. "I'll wake you up in an hour."

Belle didn't answer him or registered she'd heard him as she snuggled further into the pillows, her loose hair cascaded down to partially cover her face. Studying her face, he couldn't think of anything more beautiful than the young woman lying before him. He shouldn't, but he carefully reached out and stroked her hair back from her face, allowing him to see more of her face. His heart thudded loudly, urging him to place a chastised kiss on her cheek, to crawl into bed with her and hold her until she woke up, stay and protect her from monsters in her dreams. Adam yanked his hand back and rubbed his fingertips over the pad of his thumb. Jumping up from the bed, he hurried out of the room, preventing himself from acting out his thoughts, but glanced back in the doorway, still rubbing his fingers together.

Song:
Rhianna – Skin (Striptease/Lap dance song)

These other songs are what I imagined played after the previous song.
Rosenfeld – I Want to
Nick Jones and Nicki Minaj – Bom Bidi Bom
Alyssa Shouse – Call out my Name