A/N - This one is very heavily censored. Head to AO3 for the good stuff! Same username: greensearcher

When the prince opened his eyes, he could breathe, the Beast was still dreaming, and Belle was holding his hand. She'd fallen asleep against him, her head resting on his arm. The rose lay beside her, resting between her fingers, as though she'd been holding it, too, while drifting off.

If this was real, he would have been in legitimately serious trouble for taking one of Godmother's flowers. But it wasn't, and that old witch was never in this memory anyway. In fact, soon the Beast would wake, and everything would vanish. Reset, as it always did.

He looked down at Belle, with a terrible thought. Would they reset too?

No… she remembered the first dream, in the carriage. Surely she would remember this one. He relaxed again, but kept his gaze on her. She had actually wanted to do… that with him last night! He couldn't believe things had gone so far, so quickly. They had just met, after all… and yet at the same time, they hadn't? It felt like nostalgia. He couldn't describe it.

Adam brought a hand to his head. His brain hurt. He sighed and looked out the window. The black of night had grown to a deep blue, and he could just make out the horizon. The stars above were rapidly fading.

Belle shifted beside him, blinking her eyes open. She looked down at their joined hands. "I'm still here," she said, then looked up at him. She reached over and rested her hand on his chest. "How are you feeling?"

His collar was still open, and her fingertips rested lightly among the hairs on his chest. "Much better," he said, praying she couldn't feel how fast his heart was beating.

Belle smirked. She definitely felt it.

She pulled her hand away and he felt a sharp twinge of disappointment. But then she plucked up her skirts, stepped across him, and sat squarely in his lap.

Belle smiled demurely and rearranged her petticoats with care, as if she was simply sitting down for brunch and not straddling him half dressed. When she was finished, she rested her hands on the back of his neck and cocked her head. "Is this all right?"

Something wild within her, indeed! He had never been so quickly aroused. "Y-yes," he said hoarsely. God above, what was wrong with him? You'd think he'd never done this before!

And it was then that Adam considered the possibility that this Belle had.

The cruel part of him thought he shouldn't let some wanton country girl have the upper hand on him like this. Adam promptly told that part to go to hell.

Still, it had knocked some of the sense back into him and he finally moved his lovestruck limbs and sat up. "You are not what I expected," he murmured, pulling her against him.

"I'm just full of surprises."

They snickered, which was so delightfully new to the prince. He had never laughed with anyone else in such circumstances before, and yet it felt completely natural to do so with Belle.

They had only started and he could tell this would be different.

She was touching his hair now, amusement still playing at the corner of her mouth.

"What?" he asked.

She looked at him with those big, inquisitive eyes. "It really is you, isn't it?"

The Beast again! He wrinkled his nose.

Belle smiled, took his face in her hands, and kissed him.

Adam had planned to do this tenderly, like before, but Belle seemed intent on a lively dance this time. A fire had been lit and they tasted each other in turn, moving through the steps of a dance neither had been taught. While Belle clung tightly to him, Adam's hands wouldn't stay put, frustrated they couldn't hold onto all of her at once. They roamed her back and the sweet curve of her waist, cradled her face and buried themselves in her hair.

This had never, ever felt so good before. It was a total bliss, filling his body and, most surprisingly, his mind.

(censored)

Belle drew in a quaking breath and closed her eyes.

Adam leaned in and kissed her again. She kissed him back, gentler than before, brushing her fingers absently across his stomach. This, Adam thought, stunned that this was really happening. This is what it's supposed to feel like.

He sensed her hesitate, briefly, before tugging his shirt free. Her hands had some of a peasant's roughness, and the prince imagined her gripping Phillipe's leather reigns as she raced through the forests and hills. The thought excited him, and when she lifted the blouse further he happily took over over.

He had already cast it to the floor when he remembered his body. This body, the one that was too thin for his frame and had scars on its arms from years of bloodletting, visible even in the rose garden's faint glow. Adam looked away, not wishing to see her reaction. The barely hidden looks of disgust from the others had stung enough; seeing Belle's disappointment would surely hurt tenfold.

Adam didn't realize he'd closed his eyes until he felt Belle touch him. He opened them and watched as she ran her hands over his shoulders and knelt up so they were eye to eye. She smiled at him, then rested her hand on the side of his neck and kissed the place it met his shoulder on the other.

He sucked in a short breath, surprised by her tenderness. She trailed kisses along his shoulder, then his collarbone, running those small, strong hands over the scars on his arms.

Adam melted back against the pillows, pulling her with him. This all seemed so real. He wanted desperately for this to be real.

He reached for her legs, touching her ankles and running his hands up the back of her calves. Belle hummed in a pretty way as her skirts rose.

"Belle," he said, stopping as he reached her thighs. "How far do you want to…"

She looked up, and seemed surprised. Then her eyes softened again and she wove her arms back around his shoulders, nearly bringing them nose to nose. "It's only a dream, right? I don't see any reason for great caution."

Dream or not, this was definitely the best day of his life!

He pulled her closer and dragged his hands up her thighs, fingertips savoring their insides and ...

(censored)

He pulled away, reaching for her face with his other hand and searching it for distress. "Are you well?"

"I'm behaving… oddly," she said, trembling.

"You're not. Not at all."

"I'm not?"

"Definitely not." He reached up, smoothing down the mess he'd made of her hair and tucking the loose strands behind one ear. "Do you need a moment?"

"No. No, please," she whispered, closing her eyes and laying her head against his chest. "Don't stop."

Adam wrapped his arms around her, embracing her tightly for a moment. He almost didn't want to let go, and realized that even if she wanted to stop, he would be happy simply holding her like this.

But she didn't want to stop. And so he turned and laid her carefully beneath him, pulling her close in one arm. He reached down with the other, pulling up her top petticoat and touching her through the thin fabric of the other.

Belle looked up at him, eyes swimming with pleasure. It was the most goddamn beautiful thing he'd ever seen. The light of early morning fell over her now too, bringing out the golden sheen in her hair, the flush of her cheeks and nose. But dawn meant the old Beast was going to wake soon. The prince was running out of time.

He kissed her once more, then...

(censored)

But he was blinded by a ray of sunlight, now cresting the top of the garden wall. He hissed.

"What's wrong?" Belle asked.

"Dawn is here." He looked back at her. "He'll be waking soon."

She moaned, looking as tortured as he felt.

"There's still time," he said, willing it to be true. But even as he said it Belle had started to vanish, the cushion beneath her showing faintly through her skin.

"You're fading," she said, and looked around. "Everything is. I…" She looked back at him, a desperation in her eyes. "I don't want to go. Oh, please, can't I stay?"

Adam felt his heart break a little. He reached for her hand. "We'll see each other again. In another dream, right? And until then…" He took her hand...

(censored)

Then he looked up, wishing for one last look at her, desperate to watch her unfold completely.

But she was already gone.

Belle woke slowly. Unwillingly. She felt so pleasantly uncomfortable, so beautifully on edge.

The sound of a soft moan pulled her completely from her dreams and she opened her eyes. She was in the little mountain house again...

(censored)

Belle froze, blood rushing to her face as she realized the voice had been her own. What was she doing? She drew her hand to her chest and sat up, scanning the room lest she had been seen.

Adam was gone. Cesar, who had been napping in the corner, turned and gave her a strange look. He stood and jumped up on the windowsill, pawing at the latch until it came loose and he could push his way outside.

With a groan, Belle sprinted to the window and shut it again, shivering against the cold. She thought for a moment, drew the curtains closed, then hurried back beneath the warm covers.

She closed her eyes, relishing the sweet, secret darkness and wishing to return to that dream. She tried, but sleep had offered too much already and refused her.

And so, after a moment of hesitation, Belle reached beneath the furs and did something she'd never consciously done before. Something she hadn't even thought to do, until her dreams had suggested it.

Think of me.

She did. Not of the young prince, however, but of who he would be. Of her Adam, who must already be out plowing the paths for her. She warmed at the thought of him.

She caught the end of her chemise and dragged it up. The furs above settled against her, heavy and warm, and Belle imagined it was him.

She closed her eyes and...

(censored)

She trembled, remembering where she was. Then she fell back into the new, pleasant place she had created in her mind.

Belle, he told her there. You are everything I dreamed.

(censored)

She lay, wonderfully numb, as a sliver of winter sunshine broke through the curtains. The feeling, the one she'd been afraid she was too broken to feel… well, it seems she wasn't too broken.

She couldn't believe it had taken her so long to discover it!

Belle laughed softly. Her heart felt so full. After all those years of being owned and abused… now she was in charge. She was the master of her own body, powerful and feminine, sexual and unashamed. And suddenly, she realized something.

I can be loved, and still belong to myself.

She looked towards the window, and thought of him again. The one she had chosen, the one who, in dreams and reality, had taught her that true love felt like freedom.

Already, the knot was winding up again and she knew that next time, she wanted it with him. The real him.

And today she was going to try.

Adam whistled while he worked, hauling woody debris off the mountain trails. He'd woken from a pleasant dream, one he couldn't really remember but had left him in an exceptionally good mood.

Oblivious, the prince muttered. Absolutely oblivious.

The boy had been pacing around the back of Adam's mind all morning, groaning and tugging at his hair one moment then blushing and grinning like an utter fool the next.

What are you on about? Adam finally asked him.

The prince, who was now plucking the petals off one very unfortunate daisy, soured at once. I'm not talking to you.

Adam raised a brow. Why? What did I do?

The prince reached the last petal, and pouted. He tossed it aside and crossed his arms, looking away. You threw off my groove.

A/N - Reminder to join my future newsletter with original writing updates, and huge thank you to those who have joined already! I'll be posting a few more chapters here, then focusing fully on rewriting my Beauty and the Beast tales for publication. Shoot me an email (greensearcher90, at gee mail) to be added to the list :)