CHAPTER 6

DREAMS

"Just pull me down hard and drown me in love"-Come on Get Higher, Matt Nathanson

It's late in the morning.

He makes his way down the staircase slowly, and sees her scrubbing hard at the surface of the dining room table. She's biting her lip in concentration and not letting her eyes so much as meet his for a second.

"Good morning, Belle," he says to her.

The sound of his voice sends shivers all the way up her spine and back down again. Dammit, she thinks to herself, why is that so goddamn charming?. He slowly walks over to her. He's making large strides, but approaching her slowly so as to be more dramatic with it. That seemed to be his favorite thing in the world to do. Be overly dramatic. Belle scrubs harder at the surface of the table.

"You know," Rumpelstiltskin says, "As much as I appreciate your hard work, I'm having trouble seeing exactly what it is you're cleaning so hard."

It isn't until she feels his breath at her neck that she realizes he's right next to her. Her eyes dart up for only a second, but a second is all it takes. She's been reeled in. She breathes rapidly and licks her lips, trying to find words to answer his remark. "The…the table," she says, but it comes out with gasps inbetween, "I'm cleaning the table."

He breathes slowly and softly against her neck for a long moment before turning around and making his way over to the spinning wheel in the corner. "I see," he says softly.

Belle closes her eyes and chews on her lip. What on earth is wrong with me? she asks herself, it was only a dream. Only a dream.

But she found herself wondering if it wasn't only a dream. After all, if that's all it was, then why couldn't she stop thinking about it. About him. She can't stop herself from hoping that he'd just whip around from the spinning wheel and flip her over on the table before just having his way with her right there. If he'd only just kiss her like no one ever had before (including Gaston, the useless prick who constantly tried to have her.), if he'd only just make her feel everything she wanted.

It's then that she realizes she's staring, and that his eyes are boring right back into hers. She blushes and looks back down at the table.

"Why don't you take a break, dearie," he says.

She nods slowly and turns around before pushing herself up on the table. "Okay," she mutters, "Is there anything else you needed?" Anything at all? Perhaps me, naked on the table so you can have me any way you want…

"No. Honestly, I think you've done enough for the day. You can just relax. Read a book, perhaps?" he says to her.

"Really? It's hardly the middle of the day?" Why would you let me relax? I haven't done nearly enough.

But he doesn't ask anything more of her. Instead, he just smiles at her and says, "Yes, Belle. Really." She finds herself wearing a little pout because of that response, but wipes it away as soon as she notices, so as not to make him think she really cared that he didn't want to spend time around her. Even though she does care. She cares more than she's willing to admit to herself. Why was that? She'd feel guilty saying that it was pure lust. It was something more. The way she felt around him was unreal. He made her feel protected and cared for…and loved.

She sighs and turns around, making her way out of the spinning room and down the hall, considering it best not to over-analyze the way she's feeling. Instead, she turns a corner into the library. There were at least a thousand books in there, surely one of them could give her what she so desperately desired.

Sorry this is so short! The point was really just angst. I'm going to be sending them back to the tavern in the next chapter, and the entire story should only be nine or ten chapters. See ya'll soon, dearies 3

I also apologize for not having this up sooner. I was working nonstop on an EmmaxBaelfire fic (To Never Forget, Rated M), but now that it's done, I'm going to be able to focus on this again.