Well, people wanted more, so who am I to deny them? Things get a bit steamier in this part.

Inspired by Beauty

Part Two

He closed up shop and they stepped out into the night together.

'I swear it's gotten colder in the last few minutes,' Belle commented, looping her arm around his and stepping close to his side.

'It's a night to be indoors,' he said, and looked down at her, delighting in having her so close.

She looked up at him and smiled.

'The car's just down this way,' he said, and she nodded, turning with him and walking by his side.

She took a breath of cold air and smiled.

'Can you smell that?' she asked, looking up at him: 'it's going to snow.'

He breathed in and he knew what she meant: he could smell the cold crispness of snow on the air.

'I think you may be right,' he murmured.

Belle smiled and squeezed his arm.

'A magical night to end a wonderful day,' she breathed.

He looked down at her again. Where had this beauty come from, and how was it that she'd chosen him of all men to be with?

She smiled up at him. She could see the surprise in his eyes that she was here with him and she wondered what had happened to him to make him think himself unworthy of someone's affection. Well, she was determined to give him hers. It would probably come as a surprise to him, but she didn't plan on parting from him until morning, and maybe not even then, if he was agreeable.

They reached his car and he held open the passenger door for her.

'Thank you,' she murmured, smiling at him.

He nodded and moved around to the driver's side.

'You're sure you want to do this?' he asked.

'I'm very sure,' she returned at once.

He nodded and started the car, and they drove towards his home.

Once there, he led her in and took her coat for her.

Beneath it, she was wearing a beautiful pale blue top made of lace and a dark blue skirt and tights. She wore her hair down, but pinned back off her face. He wanted to paint her just like this, just as she looked now.

Belle turned and smiled at him. 'Are you alright?' she asked.

He blinked. 'Yeah. S-sorry, I just…I was thinking about how I want to paint you.'

Her eyes lit up. 'May I ask?'

'Just as you look right now,' he told her.

She smiled. 'Alright.'

'But you must be hungry,' he said: 'why don't we eat?'

'Sounds wonderful.'

'Good,' he said: 'the kitchen's just this way.'

She followed him, slipping her hand into his as they walked. He looked back at her and smiled. She was affectionate and sweet. It had been a long time since a woman had touched him, a long time since he'd had any kind of affection. Even just the touch of Belle's hand made his blood sing.

'Your home is lovely,' she commented, as they entered the kitchen.

'Thank you. If you like, when we're done eating, I can give you the tour.'

'I would like that,' she told him. 'Where do you do your drawing and painting? Do you have a studio?'

'Not really. I keep everything in one of the spare rooms upstairs, but I tend to work mostly in the library, actually.'

'You have a library?' she asked, eyes lighting up. 'Of course you do,' she said, answering her own question: 'of course such a voracious reader would have his own library. Makes me wonder why you come to my library so often.'

He looked at her. 'I come to see you,' he told her.

'Oh,' she said, and blushed prettily. 'You know, your visits to the library are always the highlight of my day.'

'Yeah?' he asked.

'Mhm.' She smiled. 'We've been dancing around each other for months, haven't we?' she asked, and laughed a little. 'Well, at least we finally figured it out. All it took was a near-death experience.'

'Oh, don't,' he said, cringing: 'I thought you were…'

'Tristan,' she whispered, stepping close to him, touched at his concern. 'Did I, uh, did I thank you for saving my life?'

'Yes,' he said immediately.

But Belle smiled and shook her head. 'I don't think I did it properly.' And she reached up and kissed him gently.

Gold froze for a second and then kissed her back.

Belle pulled back a bit and smiled. 'There.'

'Your lips are so soft,' he said, awed, and then rolled his eyes at himself: he sounded like an idiot.

But Belle only smiled. 'Yours too,' she murmured, and licked her lips.

There was something in her eyes that made his blood rush south and made him stare at her for a moment. Suddenly he remembered that he was supposed to be making them dinner and blinked.

'Right: something to eat.'

Belle smiled and watched for a moment as he moved around. He was nervous, she saw, and it endeared him more to her.

She wasn't nervous: she'd actually never been less nervous in her life. She knew what she wanted and what would make her happy, and it was him.

She stepped up beside him and offered her help with making dinner. He smiled and they set to work.

0

It had been a long time since he'd been in such pleasant company. They chatted over dinner and he found himself relaxing and opening up in the face of Belle's sweet smiles, curious questions, and bright eyes.

'You've worked hard to get where you are,' she said in admiration after he'd told her how he started out in poverty in Glasgow.

'Hasn't been easy,' he told her: 'money can be a hindrance to real emotional connection.'

'People try to get close to you for the money,' she guessed, nodding sadly when he nodded. 'I'm sorry. Is that why you're surprised by me being here with you?'

'You're very perceptive,' he said quietly.

'I'm a reader,' she said, 'of people as well as books.'

He nodded. 'Part of it is the fear that anyone getting close to me is only really interested in the money, but part of it is…' He sighed. 'I was married once,' he told her, figuring he might as well say it.

'You were?' she asked.

He nodded. 'We were young and stupid. I thought we were happy together, but one day I discovered that she'd been seeing someone else. She left with him. Since then, I've…'

'You've loved no one,' she finished, 'and no one has loved you.' She reached for his hand. 'I think you'd be very easy to love,' she said softly. 'I think it would be very easy for me to love you.'

'Belle,' he whispered, his eyes watering. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had said something so sweet to him, and the best thing was that he knew she meant it

Belle saw that her words had affected him and she squeezed his hand. She wanted him to be comfortable, wanted him to know that she cared for him. It seemed he'd been hurt very badly and she wanted to make up for that.

Gold reached out with his free hand and traced her cheek with the backs of his fingers. The gentle touch made her want to nuzzle close to him.

'You're a sweet woman, Belle French,' he said.

She smiled. 'And you're a charming man, Tristan Gold.'

He laughed a little. 'If there's one thing I've never been called, it's charming. Heartless and ruthless, yes, but never charming.'

She shook her head. 'That's just a mask you wear,' she said knowingly: 'beneath that mask, you're sensitive and creative, and absolutely fascinating. You know, I've never enjoyed being in a man's company so much.'

'I've never enjoyed a woman's company so much. I'm surprised such an enchanting, beautiful woman doesn't have a boyfriend,' he said.

She smiled at his lovely compliment. 'I hadn't met a man I thought was interesting enough for me until about a year ago,' she said, nodding towards him with a smile. 'Some of the men in this town, they…they come on a bit strong: they think that's what a woman wants, but it's not what I want. I like you because you don't assume that anything is fair game.'

'You're talking about Nottingham and Gaston,' he said knowingly, and scowled. 'I think it's time I raised their rents.'

She smiled. 'You don't have to do that, but thank you for the thought. I don't think they'll be bothering me again, somehow.'

He smiled a little, still rather awed at the way she hinted at a future for them. It was still a lot to get his head around, but it was a very pleasant thought, the idea of having Belle on his arm, people seeing them as a couple. Yes, today had worked out really rather well for him.

They cleared away the dishes and he showed her around the Victorian mansion he called home. Having her here was like turning on a light in a long-darkened room. She just brought a new feeling to the place, a new life. It felt so right.

'And this is my favourite room in the house,' he said, opening the door to his library, the last stop on their tour.

Belle smiled at the sight of the books.

Gold watched as she moved around the room. The way she ran her fingertips along the spines of the books made him shiver a bit, and then there was a moment when she was standing at a bookcase, looking up, an awed expression on her face. Her pose and the way the light hit her face just had to be sketched.

'Can you stay standing just like that for a bit?' he asked.

'Yes,' Belle said, and bit her lip, excited at the tone of his voice.

He moved away and she heard him behind her, along with the rustle of paper and then fabric. Then she heard a shuffling sound and saw him place a chair where he had been standing. She looked over and saw him sit down, his tie now discarded and his shirtsleeves rolled up. He had a sketchbook and pencils in his hands.

'Do you mind if I sketch you looking up the way you were a minute ago?' he asked.

'No,' she said, and turned her head back the way she had it, looking up at the books on the shelf above.

She heard the scratch of pencil on paper and saw out of the corner of her eye the way he kept his eyes mostly on her as he sketched. It was like his eyes sent the signals to his hand and he just drew what he saw.

She felt her skin prickle under his intense gaze and she realised that this must have been how he'd looked at her every time he'd been drawing her over the past year. She wondered how she hadn't felt the intensity before now, but he had told her that he didn't want to make her uncomfortable, and he was capable of great discretion and subtlety. What she was beginning to feel wasn't so much discomfort as the tingling of arousal, pleasure beginning to spread from her core. The way he was looking at her, like he could see into her soul, made her want him very, very badly. Oh, yes, it would be very easy for her to love him.

She tried to keep a check on her desire, tried taking her mind off it by looking up at the books on the shelf above and reminding herself of the plots of any of the ones she'd read, but the sound of his pencil scratching kept bringing her back, kept reminding her that they were here because he'd made her his muse. Every time she remembered that, she flushed with pleasure, and she just had to glance over at him, and when she did, she found him still watching her, still with that mesmerising intensity, and she had to remind herself to breathe and be calm.

Gold finished up quickly enough and, pleased with his effort, he smiled.

'Thank you,' he said. It had only been about ten minutes, but it was still long enough to stand still with your head tilted back like that. Still, it hadn't seemed to faze Belle, or he thought it hadn't until she turned, leaned back against the bookcase and breathed deeply.

He frowned. 'Are you alright, Belle?' he asked, putting his drawing materials aside quickly.

She looked over at him. 'Can you come here?' she requested, her voice low: 'please?'

He stood and went to her at once. 'What is it?' he asked, seeing the way she shivered when he came close.

She looked up at him, her eyes dark. She reached for him and he curled his hands around her elbows, the look in her eyes drawing him in.

'Kiss me,' she requested, her hands pulling him closer: 'touch me, please.'

He shuddered and kissed her. All of his pent up desire fought with his intent to be gentle and his fear of not pleasing her, and the result was a very awkward kiss.

'I'm sorry,' he said, pulling away, his eyes slanting away, as if in shame.

'It's alright,' she said, stroking his cheek.

'It's…been a while,' he confessed: 'I worry about making you happy.'

'Why do you think you won't?' she asked, seeing that this was a big concern for him.

He sighed. 'Because I didn't manage very well with my ex-wife,' he admitted. 'That's why she left: I wasn't…enough for her.'

'Then it was her loss ,' Belle said at once. 'You are more than enough: you're wonderful, and you'll make me happy.'

'How do you know?' he asked.

She smiled. 'Because the way you've been looking at me, like you can see into my soul, has got me so aroused I can hardly stand it,' she said frankly. 'Touch me,' she murmured: 'don't be afraid, I want you to.'

He saw in her eyes that she did, so he kissed her again, not worrying so much this time about being out of practice. It seemed to please her because she moaned and pulled him closer.

Belle mewled as she felt his hands caressing her. She slid her hands into his hair and pressed close, kissing him fervently, delighted by the way he touched her.

Gold melted at the way her tongue played against his and the way her fingernails scraped gently against his scalp. Feeling her pressed against him was absolute heaven and he never wanted it to end.

'Mmm, you're a good kisser,' she breathed, smiling at him as she broke away to take a breath.

He could see in her eyes that she meant it and his confidence creeped up.

'You too,' he returned, his voice husky.

'Yeah, you'll make me happy,' she told him, sighing contentedly.

'I'm definitely gonna try,' he told her, his voice almost a growl.

She bit her lip in excitement. 'Come on then.'

He smiled, but then had a thought that made him freeze.

'What is it?' Belle asked gently, seeing his hesitation.

'I'm sorry,' he said: 'I don't have any protection.'

'Oh,' she said, pleased that he'd thought of that. 'It's alright: I'm actually on birth control. I get really bad cramps, so…' She smiled and stroked his arm. 'We can go ahead if you'd like.'

He kissed her. 'I would like to, if you're sure.'

She nodded. 'I'm very sure.'

He could hardly take his eyes off her as he led her down the hall to his room. He thought if he blinked or took his eyes off her for one moment, she'd disappear or he'd wake up.

She smiled as he led her in and flicked on the light. Without saying a word, she stepped up to him and kissed him sensuously, her hands on his chest and fingers unbuttoning his shirt.

Her hands on his bare skin sent a jolt through him and he was kissing her fiercely, his hands pulling her flush against him.

Belle gasped in excitement, her head tilted back and her hands buried in his hair as he kissed his way down her throat.

'Oh, yes,' she whispered: 'yes.'

He was kissing and nuzzling her neck, his hands hovering around where her top was tucked into her skirt.

'Undress me?' she requested, her voice breathy.

He didn't need to be asked twice. He pulled the fabric of her top out from her skirt and pulled it up. Belle raised her arms and he pulled it off over her head.

He looked down at her creamy glowing skin in awe.

Belle reached up for a kiss and finished unbuttoning his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders and stroking her hands over warm, bare skin.

'Belle,' he groaned, the touch of her hands setting him on fire.

She smiled and stepped back, stepping out of her shoes and unbuttoning her skirt. She rolled down her stockings and kicked them away. Now she stood in only her pale blue underwear.

Gold followed suit, discarding shoes, socks, and pants, until he stood only in his boxers.

Suddenly Belle was in his arms again, kissing him, her hands everywhere they could reach. He followed her lead, his hands exploring her body reverently.

'I love how you touch me,' she breathed, looking up into his eyes with a soft smile.

'I love that you're here,' he said, awed: 'that you want me to touch you.'

'I do,' she said earnestly: 'I want you to do more than touch me.'

'Anything,' he said at once.

She kissed his neck, her tongue slipping out to lick over his pulse point, making him catch his breath.

'Make love to me?' she whispered, pressing close, her hands sliding up and down his back.

He groaned. They were pressed skin-to-skin and he was hard and standing to attention against his belly. Her soft, warm skin pressed against him was doing nothing to help his composure and he felt himself twitch against her.

She looked up at him and smiled; then she stepped away and he missed her immediately, but then she reached behind her and undid the clasp of her bra. It fell away, baring perfect breasts, just the right size to fit into his hands.

Belle shuffled a little and he looked up, surprised to find her looking nervous.

'I know they're not spectacular,' she said apologetically: 'I've often wished they were bigger.'

It took him a moment to realise that she was talking about her breasts.

'Belle,' he admonished, 'they're perfect.'

'You think so?' she asked, in surprise.

He nodded. 'They're just the right size to fit into my hands.'

She saw him lift his hand, as if he would touch her, but he didn't, and she saw his fingers twitch. She could imagine how his hand would feel cupping her breast, could imagine his fingers plucking at her nipples, and she was almost on fire at the thought.

'Show me?' she requested, reaching for him.

He stepped up to her and reached out, cupping one of her breasts gently. He was right: it was just the right size to fill his hand.

Belle shuddered at the sight of his large hand covering her small breast. And now the thought of those hands on her other sensitive parts made her tremble and sigh.

'Perfect fit,' he said quietly.

'Yes,' she sighed, her breath catching as he moved his hand slightly, his fingertips tracing lightly over her skin.

She leaned into his touch. Milah had never done that. Oh, maybe once or twice in the early days, but she had never wanted him the way Belle seemed to.

'It's been a while, Belle: I—'

'For me too,' she told him, 'but I think we can figure it out together.'

He nodded. She knew how to encourage and soothe him. She was just so perfect, and she was here, wanting him to make love to her, and that was amazing.

Belle took his hand and stepped back towards the bed. He followed her: he'd follow her anywhere. She lay down and wriggled out of her panties, and then she reached for him.

He'd watched in awe as she bared herself completely for him, and he couldn't help the way his eyes travelled up her body. She was so perfect, so beautiful, and she was reaching for him now, smiling, and he carefully climbed above her, still not quite able to believe this was happening.

She shifted position in order to cradle him between her thighs and smiled at the feeling of him there, almost pressed against her.

Gold groaned at feeling her heat so close.

'Belle,' he gasped, unable to keep his hips from moving.

Belle caught her breath as they stared at each other. There was a hunger in his eyes that she'd never seen from anyone before. It made her feel so wanted, so beautiful.

'I need you,' she breathed, and reached down, tracing her fingertips over the skin above his boxers.

Gold took the hind and, rather ungracefully, struggled out of them.

Once he'd managed it, Belle smiled at him and bit her lip. He leaned down and did what he'd long wanted to do every time he saw her biting her lip: he kissed her, licking the spot she'd bitten. She shivered and gasped for him, and he felt her body rise beneath him: she liked him doing that.

Her responses gave him more confidence and he kept kissing her as he swept a hand down between her legs. She arched against him and moaned, and he felt how wet she was: her curls were soaked.

'You're so wet,' he stated, almost in shock.

She smiled. 'I've been thinking about this for months,' she confessed, almost shyly.

'You have?' he asked, in surprised awe.

'Yes,' she murmured.

'Me too,' he told her.

She smiled softly and reached up for a kiss. He obliged her, moving a little and lining them up.

'Yes!' Belle gasped against his mouth, and he slid inside her, as carefully and gently as he could.

His eyes slid closed and he savoured the feeling of her so warm and snug around him.

'God,' he sighed: 'oh, Belle. You feel…'

'You feel so good,' she told him, wrapping her arms around his neck and rolling her hips to bring him in deeper.

'Ohhh,' he sighed, holding still, trying to keep his cool so that he didn't finish before he'd started.

Belle waited for him, delighting in the feeling of him inside her. She smiled as he looked down at her and she kissed back eagerly as his lips found hers.

Concentrating on kissing her, Gold found it easier to keep himself under control and he started a steady rhythm, thrusting into her in smooth, unhurried strokes.

Belle caught her breath as he began to move and smiled against his mouth as she met his thrusts.

He felt her body rising to meet his and he knew that no one had ever responded to him like this. It gave him courage to follow his instincts and he began to alternate long slow thrusts with quick hard ones.

Belle keened long and low at the first slow, teasing thrust and then gasped in surprise as his next went hard and fast.

'So good,' she moaned.

'Yeah?'

'Mmm: oh yes,' she sighed. 'You're wonderful. Can't believe it took us all these months to figure this out: we could've been doing this all this time!'

He groaned at the thought. 'Then we just have to try and make up for lost time, I suppose.'

'I wouldn't have a problem with that.' She smiled and bit her lip.

He growled and kissed her, again licking the spot she'd bitten.

She shivered. 'That's so sexy,' she told him.

He smiled. He realised she didn't even know she bit her lip.

'So is the way you bite your lip when you're excited.'

Belle unconsciously did just that again and he growled and kissed her hard.

She squeaked in surprise and then smiled as he laughed.

'Sorry,' she murmured sheepishly.

He shook his head. 'Those little noises you make and the way you move against me…they let me know you really want me.'

She stroked his cheek. 'I do, very much.' And, keeping her eyes on his, she rolled her hips, catching her breath at the feeling of him rubbing against her.

'I don't know what your wife was thinking,' she told him: 'I really don't. You're amazing: you're perfect, and I've wanted you for so long. I want you now. Come on, Tristan: take me all the way, please.'

There could be no doubting her sincerity. He could see her desire for him in her eyes and there was no way he wouldn't give her absolutely everything she ever asked of him.

He moved a little, the new angle allowing him to go deeper with his thrusts, and, as he moved inside her, harder and faster now, building the intensity, he whispered endearments to her.

He called her 'sweet, beautiful Belle', 'my darling', 'sweetheart', 'lovely Belle', 'exquisite', 'perfect', and it was as much his words as the way he moved inside her that had her trembling and moaning.

'Darling,' she gasped when his movements and his sweet words had her trembling on the brink of orgasm, 'oh, my darling, I'm coming.'

And she did. She just couldn't hold on any more and she came hard, crying out and clinging to him, her body singing.

Gold felt her orgasm wash over her and the feeling of it, and knowing he'd done that to her, brought him a powerful release of his own and he just basked in it, losing all control of his body as it thrust and twitched and trembled in the aftermath of the most incredible orgasm of his life.

Eventually, he managed to roll off her and he looked over to see her stretching like a cat and hear her making a long sound like a purr. His heart thumped in his chest as he realised that that was a noise of complete contentment.

She looked over at him and giggled softly. Then she rolled onto her side to face him.

'That was the most incredible sex I've ever had,' she told him emphatically, 'and if I ever meet your ex, I'll tell her so. Foolish woman.'

He smiled. 'You're amazing. She never made me feel like this.'

'How do you feel?' she asked tenderly.

'Wanted, cared for.'

She smiled. 'I'm glad. And you make me feel very special, like I'm the only woman in the world.'

'You are, for me.'

She smiled. 'You say the loveliest things.' And she kissed him.

'Oh, Belle,' he whispered, 'I don't know how I'm going to be able to let you go after this.'

'Who says you have to?' she asked.

'Well, I can't keep you here forever, much as I might want to,' he said regretfully.

She wriggled a little closer to him. 'I wouldn't exactly be an unwilling captive, Tristan,' she told him. 'You know, I had a plan for tonight.'

'You did?'

'Mm, one that doesn't involve me leaving at least until morning, and maybe not even then if you wanted me to stay.'

He stared at her. She was fearless, and absolutely sure about what she wanted, and it was what he wanted too.

'Then stay forever,' he whispered, reaching a hand up to caress her cheek.

She smiled tenderly and kissed him.

He kissed her back and she pulled him close, and for a long while, the only sounds heard were soft sighs, excited gasps, and breathy moans.

There you go. Thanks for reading :)