Belle awoke the next morning to Rumple pacing a few feet away; back and forth, back and forth as though he intended to dig his own tunnel through the rock. He looked just like when she'd settled down to sleep causing her to highly doubt he'd slept. The two Watchers had already begun packing their things away so Belle followed suit quickly after giving Azzy a bowl of water. Though morning, Belle saw no evidence of it, the cave would have been pitch black had Rumple not already used one of his fireballs to light the place since the campfire had gone out. Everything smelt cold and damp, icy water dripped down sections of rock from the surface and Belle hoped she never had to sleep in a cave again once they left the Osgar Hall Caverns. Sunlight's radiant warmth on her skin had been a pleasure she'd taken for granted until waking up in the Caverns, never again.

Soon they'd tucked into their morning rations and, since Belle felt more comfortable with Rumple than the two Watchers, she'd headed over to him with the last of her breakfast. Just as with the night before he scrutinized the map and had clearly added notes at some point.

"Did you sleep?"

"We're going through the branching tunnels off of the Pit first. They're closest and appear to descend more than the tunnels we've already traversed."

Well, that answered her question then. The eighteen-year-old beauty knew this quest for Gordana was pressing, of the utmost importance, but Belle had started to wonder if simply wandering the Caverns hoping to find a path lower was just plain dangerous. All that said, Belle didn't really have a better idea.

To save time once camp had been packed away, Rumple just teleported them back to Spider's Nexus and up onto the ledge which led to the Pit. Erling looked like he wanted to say something about spacial magic being only accessible to those who used dark magic, but thankfully held his tongue. Last thing they needed was the Watchers turning on them down in the darkness.

Their walk took them down a small but constant slope until they finally reached the Pit, an aptly named shaft which just descended into darkness and possibly the underworld as well. A painful death awaited anybody who lost their footing.

"Does that ever end?"

"Probably, but I'd not volunteer to find out." Ektor peeked over the side into the abyss.

While certainly a way downward, Rumple could neither see the bottom nor determine if travelling that way would actually take them to the source of all these deaths. The tunnels remained the better option.

"Belle, want to go left or right first?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not in the slightest." Rumple answered with a small shrug.

"Then let's go right, it looks wider."

So that was exactly what they did. For a time their path seemed to be constantly folding back on itself, but then they found themselves on a ledge with teratects below. Sizeable beasts of brown scampering about in the darkness like living stone. The Watchers unsheathed their swords but it was all for naught, Rumple simply incinerated the monsters then teleported them all down so they could continue on their way: he had no time for eight-legged hindrances. Eventually their exploring funnelled them out into a chilled cavernous room with a hellish drop into nothingness on either side, and a single rock bridge providing access to the other side. Erling and Ektor tested the bridge a few times for stability's sake, while Rumple lamented being unable to use magic to hop forward. Since the other side was littered with cracks and shadows, he couldn't be certain he'd not just drop them down a hole.

When the two Watchers had decided the bridge to be stable enough, the group slowly made their way across. It was wide so falling didn't seem like too much of an option, but the stalactites appeared precarious to say the least. The whole room radiated with unease.

Suddenly Azzy stopped, his hackles up as he sniffed the air. Before Belle could question though a sandstone spear launched from a higher ledge and skewered Ektor through the chest killing him instantly. Belle's mouth fell open as all hell broke loose. Crixx launched down from wherever they'd been hidden, spears in hand and ready to kill with savage ferocity. Erling rushed the front two mud-colored monsters, cutting them down swiftly while Azzy darted around him to bite a third in half. More crixx dropped down behind them, half of which were instantly burnt to a crisp by an angry Rumpelstiltskin. He swung around to pull Belle close … but she wasn't there. She couldn't have just vanished, then the screaming started. Be it pushed or stumbled, Belle had gone over the edge and the distance had triggered her collar. All Rumple could see was a fading green glow as she tumbled deeper, deeper and deeper. He'd let one person he loved fall alone and lost him, Rumple wouldn't let Belle suffer the same fate. Her screams were of pure agony, just unimaginable pain as the collar tortured her for something totally out of her control. Rumple couldn't summon her back, she was falling too fast for him to get a lock on her, but if he teleported below her, he might have stood a chance. Azzy and Erling were left to deal with the crixx, Rumple had a princess to save.

He appeared in the darkness with Belle's collar being the only pathetic light to guide his movements. With not knowing how deep the shaft actually was, he only had a single chance to catch her and he'd not waste it. A teleport then a burst of wind thrust him upwards just in time to grab Belle then, in the blink of an eye, he took them back up to the bridge. Her collar had ceased its punishment, but the agony continued to have her body spasm. Rumple would have set her down but he distantly heard Erling scream for them to run and then the bridge exploded dropping it, the remaining crixx and Erling into the unending darkness never to be seen again. Rumple just blinked; everything had happened so suddenly, so violently. Rock rumbled and cracked as the cavern caved in on itself, and Rumple had no choice but to grab Azzy by the tail and teleport them all up to the ledge the crixx had attacked from in the first place.

Belle continued to scream and convulse. Rumple set her down on the cold ground and pushed her beautiful hair out of her eyes knowing there was little else he could do for her. The collar hadn't actually caused any damage to her body that magic need heal, just inflicted a draconian level of pain as a punishment for something which hadn't even been her fault. That realization was when Rumple started to panic – now that hadn't happened in a few hundred years. If his magic couldn't help Belle then he was useless to her, all he could do was lift her head to rest on his thighs while tears streamed down her face and yelps escaped her throat.

It took a long time for screams and tears to lessen to whimpers and sniffles, but when they finally had, her cerulean eyes fluttered open to look at him.

"We have to get this collar off you." If he spoke to himself or Belle neither were certain.

She continued shaking – or maybe trembling was a better description. Azzy, bless his heart, started to circle the perimeter with a snarl lest any other crixx try their luck: Rumple hoped he ripped their lungs out.

"We should return to the inn so you can rest."

Rumple made to lift Belle into his arms but Belle shook her head and grabbed his wrist. "No, we'll fail the quest and you can't go back on your deal."

For a moment Rumple actually couldn't have cared less, but he'd made a silent vow to never break another deal and couldn't give that up. Brave was Belle, so brave and resilient to the point she made him want to be a better man. With a nod he consented to them seeing things through and helped her to sit up.

The section of the Caverns they'd found themselves in was fairly flat despite being so high up, and had thick stalagmites which hid them from where the bridge had collapsed – probably the reason neither of the Watchers nor Rumple himself had spotted the crixx until it was too late. A passage so small even Belle would have struggled to squeeze through, lay off to Rumple's right. From the way Azzy sniffed at it and stared intently, he suspected that was how the crixx had gotten up there in the first place. Rumple called Azzy over so he could use earth magic to block the crack then set to work building another barrier. They might not have been travelling very long that day, but both Erling and Ektor were dead, part of the Cavern's had collapsed and Belle desperately needed to rest. It had been Rumple and Skane who'd wanted everything dealt with fast, but the quest hadn't actually placed them on a time limit. 'If this is the first quest Gordana has made me do for her, I shudder to think what the second will be' Rumple's mind sighed as he crafted wards.

When the barrier finally sprang up it formed a small dome about twice the height of Rumple, a dome strong enough to keep even the most persistent of monsters out. Meanwhile, Belle rested lethargically against one of the larger stalagmites and stroked tiny specks of rubble out of Azzy's fur while he fussed over her. The pain had died down but her legs still felt numb and random muscles would occasionally twitch, hopefully the fire Rumple set about building would warm her up and sooth away the lingering twinges. Stuck in the Osgar Hall Caverns with a waheela and the famed Dark One quietly fussing over her – well, at least Belle's life wasn't boring. Erling and Ektor had died fighting those crixx and it hurt Belle's heart, but they'd known the dangers of entering the cave and Belle tried not to let her thirst for adventure overshadow that fact.

From his vault, Rumple had summoned tea which he'd brewed over the fire; Belle drank her steaming cup while she watched Rumple scribble the new parts of the cave down on the map as best he could. It occurred to her as she watched him that they were in parts of the Caverns no other person had likely ever seen, it was the adventure Belle had always wanted. Once rid of the collar and Avonlea had been saved, Belle would miss Rumpelstiltskin, miss his quips and their journeys together. She hoped he got to meet Lorrimer before he returned to his realm, her little brother would surely love to meet the True Demon Lord who'd saved them all and won the heart of the princess – 'Wait!' Belle's mind suddenly ground to a halt. 'I know I like him but do I really like him that much? He's attractive even though he scowls all the time, he's funny and thoughtful too but – oh gods, I do! I feel … that way about him.' Blue eyes subtly peered over at the man on the other side of the fire clearly lost in thought. Belle had fallen in love with a demon lord and not even noticed.

~X~

The next morning when she awoke – or at least she thought it was morning – Belle jolted upon seeing a massive teratect atop the dome barrier trying to break through it. Apparently, Rumple had just been leaving it be since it couldn't penetrate the barrier and Rumple hadn't wished to wake Belle; who'd been snoozing on Azzy lovely fluff. That animal slept more than any other being Belle had encountered in her eighteen years and didn't so much as twitch an ear when she sat upright, eyes wide as she stared at the giant spider over her head.

"Now you're awake, I'll deal with it." He shot a fireball upwards without so much as glancing. The fire burst through the gold-tinted shield to kill the spider instantly, legs curled inward and it simply slipped off the dome and into the dark abyss below. "That's better. There is tea, Belle, should you like."

Tea did sound good, so Belle left Azzy snuggled up and snoring, in favor of joining Rumple by the campfire. She stretched almost obscenely then accepted a cup of tea and took a sip: If there was one thing she'd never expected of the Dark One, it was how good his tea was. He stared down at his half-empty cup thinking as he always did, so Belle leaned in to kiss his golden-green cheek. Unique brown eyes snapped to Belle with so much confusion it was practically comical though also adorable.

"Why?" He asked quietly.

"You're always taking care of me. Always so kind even though you don't think you are." She placed her tea down as the realization from the other day returned to her. "You're a good man, Rumple. It doesn't matter that you're a demon lord, you're still good and I care about you."

Having decided to be brave, Belle closed the gap between them and kissed him properly for the first time, a gentle brush of lips that left him dumbfounded – 'dumbfounded demon lord' sounded like a children's book.

For a moment after their lips parted, he floundered as if trying to remember how to speak. He'd thought about kissing her so many times but never expected it to actually happen. 'Maybe I was hit with some rubble and this is all in my head? Yes, that seems more likely'. He was a monster, so blunt force trauma was statistically more probable in his eyes.

"Belle-"

She'd made her mind up and wouldn't let him overthink his way out of this situation. Their titles and the reasons they'd been thrown together didn't matter, only what they felt. Belle kissed him again, this time with more passion and desire before she moved to straddle his leather-clad thighs.

"Please, Rumple, I want this." She told him between kisses. "I want you."

"You – you can't mean that, sweetheart."

"I do! I mean it. I want to be with you, Rumple. I love you."

Nobody loved him; only Bae ever had and he'd destroyed that. Yet there Belle was atop him, kissing him, wanting him. It had been so very long since he'd felt the warmth of a woman and with every fibre of his being he wanted her, but Belle was an eighteen-year-old princess who could have done significantly better than a beast like him. Rumple tried to do the right thing, tried to push her away and explain it to her, but she didn't relent, just kept kissing him. Selfish, Rumple was a selfish man, and it eventually won out. If Belle was willing to be with him, then he'd savor every blissful second of it until she came to her senses. It had been so painfully long and Belle smelt so good.

Rumple's whole body vibrated with want for her. Part of him continued to scream that he should have said no, that she deserved silk sheets and a soft bed at the very least, but selfishness and desire had overtaken him leaving him deaf to logical arguments.

Carefully he lay her down on her back by the fire, a warm glow illuminated her porcelain skin as her arms snaked around his neck to deepen their kisses. Her legs parted to accommodate him, her body so warm and wonderful.

"Belle, sweetheart, we don't have to do this." Maybe he hadn't entirely gone deaf to logical reason after all.

"I'm not changing my mind, Rumple." She breathed. "I want this, I've just … never done this before.

Eighteen, a princess and future queen, of course she was a damn virgin and Rumple should have made himself stop, but he'd dreamed of being with her.

Slowly, so as not to spook the beauty, he leaned back on his haunches and pushed off his thick coat. She looked so stunning beneath him, so willing and her eyes so filled with … love? Did he dare think Belle could love him the way he'd come to love her?

Blue eyes like polished sapphires watched him as he carefully removed her burgundy outfit; the way he loosened the laces with talented fingers to steadily reveal her flesh to him. Flat stomach, beautiful breasts and a bottom lip held wantonly between her teeth; had Rumple not been an immortal, he'd have died a happy man. Tantalizing was Belle du Marchand.

"Can I?" He asked as a claw pointed to her burgundy breeches, his words but a whisper as though he feared a louder noise would suddenly change her mind.

Belle nodded eagerly and that was the true moment that he went deaf to those cautious voices at the back of his head.

Once finally bare to him, Belle innately tried to press her thighs together but all she succeeded in doing was wrapping her legs around Rumple's hips.

A growl escaped his throat. "No, sweetheart, let me see you."

He looked upon Belle as though she were a goddess unlike Gaston who'd ogled her like a slab of meat: was it any wonder Rumpelstiltskin was the first man she allowed to see the most intimate parts of herself?

Her delicate chestnut locks had fallen to the rock floor like a warm cloak which reflected the fire's orange glow leaving Belle appearing etherial. Her pointed ears flushed a little at the tips.

Between her legs was where his attention kept returning though, so wet and all he'd done was kiss her. If there was any doubt left that she wanted him, that glistering wetness surely banished it.

She moaned, loud and needy; if Rumple never heard another sound ever again he'd die a happy man. She was beautiful beneath him, arms falling from covering herself to grip at bed sheets that weren't there, lips parted to let little groans and pants escape as his clever fingers explored her wetness.

Belle had touched herself before in the quietude of night, she wasn't a prude nor naïve to the ways of bedfellows, but she'd never ached so desperately for someone else's touch before. The timid and curious exploration of her body hadn't been anything when compared to the moment Rumple's fingers found her wetness. She craved Rumple in a way no romantic novel or risqué dream had ever prepared her for.

His tongue found her nipples while his skilled fingers explored her core in a way no other had, all while Belle mewed and moaned out his name and tried to cling to the floor with clenching fingers.

Desperate to give this stunningly perfect woman every ounce of pleasure she deserved and more, Rumple brought her to the brink of pleasure while bestowing kisses to every inch of her between lips and navel. Yet, just when Belle felt as though a dam would burst, he pulled away to sit on his haunches once more.

"Please, Rumple, please don't stop."

"Oh, my beautiful Belle, I don't think I could stop now if I tried."

Grinning, he pushed her thighs further apart to kiss and nip at them while Belle watched him through half-lidded eyes. When his tongue found her needy sex, Belle let out a moan and let her head fall backwards in bliss. As she'd approached marriage age, maids had started to warn her that the first time would always hurt, that a man would rut into her and be done with it, it had sounded scary and violent. Maids hadn't ever told her of the things Rumple did, hadn't told her how good fingers would feel inside her, how sensitive her nipples would be when a man kissed them, and they'd certainly not told her how utterly amazing being pleasured orally would be.

Being buried in her core was something Rumple had fantasized about for months. His tongue licked at her folds hungry and desperate for the nectar between his Belle's thighs – because she was his now. Belle gasped out a strangled moan as her hips bucked, an encouragement for the Dark One to redouble his efforts. However, when her soft fingers slid into his hair, nails against his scalp, Rumple groaned into her then circled her clit with his tongue. He lavished that sensitive bundle of nerves with all the attention it deserved, kissed, licked and sucked over and over as he delighted in those wanton gasps until he slipped two fingers back inside her and they turned to moans. Rumple crooked them as she started to push desperately to meet his thrusts, her fingers fisted in his brown hair. Belle was extremely close so, with his free hand, Rumple reached up to tease a nipple and Belle finally came with the cutest squeal he'd ever heard. Her body convulsed, her eyes fluttered shut and his name fell from her tongue.

Rumple smirked, nothing had stroked his ego so perfectly in – well, nothing had ever stroked his ego so perfectly before. His lips found hers, her fingers still balled in his hair. Belle may have technically remained a virgin, but she certainly couldn't be considered innocent any longer. Their lips met again and Rumple knew he'd savor it for the rest of eternity.

He strained inside his leather breeches, that demanding part of him which urged to be inside her. In a flash he'd opened the laces while Belle managed to regain enough composure to push at his shirt. He'd tried to stop her but Belle refused to be denied; he wasn't muscular, just more monstrous skin that oddly twinkled in the firelight. He thought himself beastly, but Belle smiled warmly once his shirt was on the ground and seemed genuinely happy.

Rumple didn't miss the way she eyed his manhood as he pulled himself free of his breeches, her curious mind anticipated a new experience.

"Are you sure, sweetheart?" Later, he'd be proud he managed to ask that with his mind so clouded by lust, love and amazement.

"… Completely."

Her beautiful smile turned out to be infectious and her voice enticing. An evil beast like him shouldn't have gotten the girl and a happy ending though, thanks to Belle's eternally wonderful heart and a good deed probably performed in a previous life, Rumple had eked out this small piece of happiness.

"You have no idea how beautiful you are, Belle." She smiled at him before pulling him into another kiss. "Utter perfection."

In that moment as he lined himself up with her core, nothing mattered; the collar around her neck, the quest, his need to get back to the Enchanted Forest or the Dark Curse, nothing but the angelic beauty who'd chosen him over all others.

Rumple's hips thrust teasingly against her opening as he fisted a handful of Belle's luxurious hair and tipped her head back exposing her neck to his kisses and nips. A tiny sound somewhere between a whimper and purr escaped her when he finally entered her, Belle's hands flew to his shoulders at the intrusion. This was more akin to what her maids had quietly described, but she'd have called it uncomfortable instead of painful.

The enslavement collar said he owned Belle, but only in that moment did she really think she became his. Being taken by the Dark One was the sort of thing the Church would turn into a horror story, but Belle felt loved rather than terrified.

"Relax, sweetheart." Rumple whispered with a gentle smile few knew him capable of. "The more you tense, the more likely I am to hurt you, and we don't want that."

His words were soothing and helped lingering worries to melt away. The fire crackled. She took a deep breath and willed her body to relax. She'd have given herself to the First Demon Lord quite willingly. Polished sapphires met his oddly hypnotic eyes and, with a nod, Rumple began to move. At first his thrusts were slow and gentle, but soon need and want took over turning those thrusts into swift snaps of his hips. Belle's arms stayed around his neck urging passionate kisses out of him while Rumple's clawed hands gripped her hips tightly to maintain the unrelenting rhythm.

Belle could only moan into their kisses as she dangled on the very edge looking down into the euphoric depths below with her demon lord not far behind her. She may have been a virgin when this had started but Belle was a quick study and soon wiggled her hips in just the right way to send Rumple into some kind of primal rut. Deep thrusts illuminated only by the dying fire and a grasp so tight on her hips she'd surely have fingertip bruises. It was then that she could take it no longer and plunged into the smouldering waters of bliss and euphoria, her body clamped down around Rumple as she rode out her orgasm which forced him over the edge and into climax alongside her.

Panting, he fell onto his back, the cool rock a welcome relief for his heated skin, and Belle snuggled into him. Nothing needed to be said, so no word was spoken. A peaceful silence punctuated only by deep breaths and the crackles of the fire.

The day would come when Belle returned to being royalty and Rumple continued his quest to find his son and, because of the pleasure they'd just shared, it would be an even more painful farewell than before. Had he not had a son to find, Rumple would have remained in Dreymyr with her and, had Belle not had a kingdom to eventually rule over, he'd have asked her to go with him forever: if he wished on every star and cashed in every favor, maybe she'd have even said yes. Their lives weren't one of her romantic novels though, Belle wasn't a damsel and Rumple was certainly no prince charming. 'Parting is such sweet sorrow' was the famed line, but the sweetness would never come for there wouldn't be a pleasant renewed acquaintance in the future. Perhaps he'd steal one of her books or a lock of hair as a memento, he'd certainly steal a kiss for true love did exist … and Belle was his.