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Prince Adam was a fortunate man.
A year ago, he would have scoffed at such a notion. Cursed into a monstrous form, he had watched the petals from that enchanted rose falling one by one, losing hope that things should ever return to the way they had been.
But then, she had come into his life.
Belle. His darling Belle. Spiteful yet kind-hearted, intelligent and full of compassion, she had given him everything even before she'd broken the spell.
And now, they were married. She was his beautiful, wonderful princess, and he would never ever take her for granted. She deserved the world.
That was why when the time had come to consummate their marriage on their wedding night, all his thoughts had been on her.
Not long ago, he'd been a beast. He'd lived so much of his life in that body, he had still feared he must be no better than an animal. So, he had been gentle with Belle.
It had been her first time, he knew – truthfully, it had been his as well. So long had he lived with his curse that he'd never had another partner with which to assuage his lust; urges which his beastly form did not spare him from. Quite the contrary, his appetites had been commensurate with his appearance – animalistic and primal. He'd felt a deep shame every time he'd had need to sate these passions, rutting against his bed and vainly trying to bring himself to climax with his massive clawed hands.
But Belle was a sweet young woman, had grown sheltered in a village so small that one could easily miss its existence entirely. How would she know of such things as passion and lust? So he had reasoned that she deserved nothing less than the most tender, careful lovemaking.
He had restrained himself, had kept reminding himself that he was once again a man, not a beast overcome with desire. Despite that, he could have easily lost himself in the moment – he loved Belle so much, and she was even more beautiful naked that she had been in that golden dress when they had danced together for the first time.
Nevertheless, he had kept hold of his humanity and done the deed. His climax had been glorious, though hers had eluded him. He supposed that was common for women their first time, and he had been tempted to make a point of focusing his efforts then to bring her to her peak, but truthfully, Belle had seemed distracted, so he hadn't pushed.
He had thought that it was only that she'd been overcome with all the sensations and emotions that lovemaking brought to the surface, but days later her preoccupation evidently remained. He often caught her looking at him when she thought he wouldn't notice, her gaze dropping to her feet with something resembling shame when he met her eyes.
Guilt gnawed at him. Had he done something wrong? He'd been so careful...
Unwilling to ignore his new wife's distress, Adam resolved to discuss this delicate issue with her.
But Belle's brow furrowed in confusion when he finally broached the subject.
“What do you mean?” she asked, looking up from the pages of the book which had held her attention when he approached her with the question.
“I only...” he faltered as he sat down next to her. Sighing in frustration, he raked a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face. “I'm worried that I... I don't know, hurt you. By accident. That I didn't take enough care...”
Belle's expression softened in sympathy, and she laid her book down atop the stack on the floor next to her. She spent most of her free time here in the library, and had quite an impressive to-read pile tucked next to her favorite chair, the green wing-back with the stuffing worn down in the middle of the seat. It had been his favorite for years, his beastly hindquarters wearing down the cushion, but Belle had pulled it up to the now uncovered window since having laid claim to it herself.
“Darling,” she said, laying her delicate fingertips to his forearm lovingly, “please don't worry about that. You didn't hurt me – not at all.”
“Oh,” he responded sheepishly. His gaze broke away from hers. “I suppose I just... wondered. Because you seemed, well...”
Adam let out a breath and simply spoke the words that niggled at his brain.
“Belle – did you enjoy it?”
Her eyes widened in surprise, and he recoiled in shame.
“Forget it,” Adam backpedaled, making as if to rise from his position seated on the armrest of her chair. “I shouldn't have said anything...”
“No, darling!” Belle hurried to stop him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back in place. “You mustn't be afraid to speak to me about your concerns. I'm your wife, now, and... and I want to make you happy.”
Adam's expression softened at her words, and he lifted a hand to cup Belle's chin, the pad of his thumb softly grazing her lips.
“That's what I want, as well – for you to be happy. In everything... including lovemaking,” he finished, holding her gaze despite his hesitation.
Belle nodded, taking both his hands in hers and squeezing them.
“Alright,” she said, taking a deep breath. “We must be honest with each other. So I will admit that... well, I suppose it just wasn't quite... what I was expecting.”
Adam blinked and cocked his head to the side. “And what exactly were you expecting?” he asked tentatively, a ripple of uncertainty wavering through his belly.
Belle looked down at their joined hands, her cheeks flushing a vibrant pink.
“Well, you see...” she began, clearing her throat before continuing. “As you know, I... I started having feelings for you, uh, before the spell was broken.”
This wasn't news to Adam. If Belle had not already been in love with him before the rose's last petal had fallen, then he would have been doomed to die as a beast. The fact that he sat here, human, at this moment, was proof that her affection had blossomed before that point.
“And so,” she continued, her tone determined despite an undercurrent of hesitation, “I will admit that I had some... thoughts... about you... before...”
Her cryptic reply left him uncertain. Did she mean... ?
“Are you saying that you were attracted to me in that way even when I was a beast?” he cautiously ventured.
Belle released his hands, bringing her own up to cover her face as she squealed in embarrassment.
“... Yes?” she finally answered, voice muffled by her palms pressed against her mouth.
Despite himself, a slow smile tugged at Adam's lips. Well, he thought, so much for having worried that she thought of me as a monster back then.
Belle peeked at him shyly from between her fingers, and he couldn't help but chuckle.
“So then, you were expecting it to be more like...” he began, turning the question into a low growl and making a clawing gesture toward her with his hand.
Belle stopped hiding her face, smacking his hand away with an affronted look.
“Stop teasing me!” she warned primly. “I didn't know what to think, or what to feel! It was all very...” she gestured, as if searching for the right words, “well, new, and confusing...”
She got up from the chair, and started pacing beside it as she continued to spill her secret.
“I suppose I could have talked to someone about it, maybe Mrs. Potts, but, well, she was a teapot at the time and it didn't quite feel like an appropriate question...
“So, I did what I always do,” she said, and gestured to the shelves upon shelves of books lining the walls. “I came here. And I searched and searched until, finally, I found what I was looking for.”
“And that was... ?” Adam questioned, genuinely curious.
“A shelf with certain books. A small section,” she specified, still pacing in the same absent-minded fashion, “with information about... about...”
Belle stopped, clearing her throat pointedly. “About mating,” she finally admitted, and resumed pacing once more.
Adam's eyebrows rose halfway up his forehead. He hadn't realized there were such books in his library - his wife certainly was resourceful if she had found them among everything else.
“And was your research... elucidating?” he asked, trying to keep his tone neutral, to avoid embarrassing her further.
“Oh, it was,” she continued, perhaps somewhat forgetting the subject at hand in favor of her enthusiasm with learning new things. “There were several books that detailed mating habits for all kinds of animals, so I started there. Of course, I had heard about some of it from the farmboys in the village, what with the horses needing help to birth and all that, but still -
“I started with farm animals,” she specified, “then moved on to other species – carnivorous ones. Wolves, lions... that sort of thing.”
Adam blinked. “And humans?” he asked, his voice devoid of inflection.
Belle snapped out of her reverie, finally looking at him. Her brow knit as she met his eyes and rushed over to sit beside him once more.
“I'm sorry,” she murmured, holding his hand up to her heart. “I didn't mean to imply that you were... that you weren't a man.”
“It's alright,” he deflected, shaking his head lightly. “In a lot of ways I wasn't. That's not your fault.”
He gave her a small smile. “You were saying?”
“I...” Belle faltered, self-consciousness apparently getting the better of her once more. “Um, I did find some books... about humans. I, uh... I read those too.”
“Scientific books?” Adam ventured, his lips curling, “Or salacious novels?”
Belle sighed heavily, her eyes rolling up to the heavens as if seeking a reprieve. “Mostly the latter...” she admitted in a small voice.
He chuckled in amusement, but his heart was full of fondness for his wife. He reached over, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. “It's alright, my dearest,” he murmured, “you need never be ashamed about such things. Not with me.”
She exhaled, seemingly with relief, and snuggled up against his chest.
“I'm glad,” she murmured. “I didn't want you to think my curiosity... odd.” There was a distaste to that last, as if it weren't the first time she'd been accused of such.
“Not at all,” he assured her, stroking her hair with his hand. “In fact, you've made me a bit curious myself,” he added, his voice betraying a smile.
Belle pulled back to look up at him. “Oh?” she asked. “About what?”
“About the kind of books we have in this library!” he answered with a grin. “Care to share some of your research with me, Belle?” he ventured, lifting a finger to gently tap the tip of her nose.
She scoffed. “You're impossible!” she scolded with a laugh.
“I'm serious!” Adam countered. “I'd like to learn more about... ” He faltered, and took a breath. “I want to know how to please you.”
“Adam...” she murmured, frowning.
“Think of it as an experiment,” he suggested before she could protest. “You share your findings with me, and we'll... conduct a test, if you will.”
Belle's face was now crimson, but she didn't seem to have a counter-argument to his suggestion. She sighed heavily, before muttering Oh, alright and rising from the chair.
It didn't take long for her to return to him with a tidy stack of books, having pulled them from a nearby shelf. She must have wanted to keep them within easy reach, Adam thought, his pulse beginning to race.
Belle set the volumes onto the floor in front of the chair and Adam scanned the spines, reading the titles with interest.
His wife reached over to grab the first book from the top of the pile and handed it to him.
“An Erotic Encyclopedia for the Discerning Lady?” Adam mused aloud, brows raised, “Fascinating.”
Belle groaned, hiding her face once more. “It was a starting point,” she mumbled noncommittally.
He flipped through the volume, his eyes widening. “Such... interesting illustrations,” he noted, swallowing hard at the sight of a man and woman locked in passionate intercourse.
His mind couldn't help but conjure visions of Belle sitting in this chair late at night with this very book, flipping through its pages while the rest of the castle slept. She must have blushed as fiercely as she did now... perhaps she'd even let her hands wander down...
Clearing his throat, Adam handed the book back to his wife. “What else?” he asked, trying to seem interested without sounding too eager.
With a small sigh, Belle leaned forward and chose another volume. Mating Habits of the Grey Wolf, it was called. He arched a brow, and as he skimmed the book's pages, he began to understand where his wife's expectations might have come from. There was something to be said for the eroticism of animalistic coupling; his previous form had not been lacking in power and virility, after all. But could he live up to that ideal now, as a normal man?
Shaking his doubts away, he gestured for another book. Belle reached for the top of the stack, pausing doubtfully a moment before handing him the next volume.
His brows rose at the cover illustration, which included a heroine with a rather heaving bosom cradled passionately in the arms of a shirtless man with long flowing hair. If the cover was this risqué, then what must the content of the story be like?
Opening the book midway through, he read a passage and promptly chuckled, rolling his eyes.
“What?” Belle asked, her arms crossed defensively.
“I'm sorry,” he explained, “it's only that it's rather... poorly written.”
“Oh, so you're a literary critic, now?” she asked, impatience coloring her tone.
Adam faltered, muttering a non-committal reply. He cleared his throat and gave the text another look.
His brows raised of their own volition as he read. Questionable prose aside, he supposed he could understand the appeal, now that he was giving it a chance. The lovemaking was described in rather... elaborate detail.
“Ah,” he quietly admitted, “I suppose I might have been a bit hasty in my judgment.”
Now it was Belle's turn to clear her throat. “I found that it was less the style and more the, ah... content that was of interest to me with this particular volume.”
“I see,” Adam simply replied, tearing his eyes away from the graphic descriptions and setting the book down.
All of this talk of erotic fiction was beginning to make him sweat. Adam could feel himself growing firm within his trousers, so he reached over to caress Belle's knee through her skirts.
“I think we've done enough research for now,” he posited, his palm coasting up and down his wife's thigh. “Think we should move on to conducting that experiment?”
Belle blushed in response, but she also giggled. “Well... I suppose we could go up to the bedroom and take things from there...”
Biting his lip, Adam took a deep breath and reached out towards Belle, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her flush against him.
“Who said anything about the bedroom?” he whispered in her ear, a smile in his voice.
A small gasp sounded from Belle in response. “Adam!” she scolded, “You can't possibly be suggesting that... that we...” her voice dropped to a hissing whisper as she concluded “make love in the library!”
He chuckled, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. “Why not?” he challenged nonchalantly, depositing kisses along the curve of her throat.
“Because!” she protested, “Anyone could just walk in!”
“Then we lock the door,” he answered, nipping at her skin playfully with his teeth.
Belle didn't seem to have an answer to that, so he set her down and rose in one smooth movement, striding over to the library's entrance.
A resounding click sounded through the space, echoing from the vaulted ceilings as he slid the bolt home. He then turned and leaned against the door, finding his wife with his gaze.
She had risen from her chair and was regarding him with wide eyes. Her cheeks were still red, but her lips were parted and her chest visibly rose and fell with each breath. He idly thought that, had he still been a beast, he could have surely smelled her arousal from across the room.
Channeling those remembered instincts, he locked eyes with her. My prey, he told himself, before stalking over towards her at a rapid pace.
Belle squeaked at the sight of his approach, hurrying to put the chair between him and herself.
He stood, breathing hard as he watched her warily, a smile curving on his lips. He hadn't felt his blood pumping through his veins in quite this way since he'd become human again. It was exhilarating...
“What will you do to me?” Belle asked, her voice low and husky as she watched him, her hands clutching at the sides of the chair.
Adam stalked slowly around the chair, Belle rounding to the opposite side of it in response.
“Ravish you,” he growled in answer, the words sending a surge of lust sweeping through his middle.
Belle let out a soft moan at his words, shutting her eyes. She bit her lip as she opened them again, staring him down with anticipation shining in her eyes.
“You'll have to catch me first,” she challenged with a smile, then shot off at a run towards the far side of the library.
Pausing only long enough to inhale a deep, satisfied breath, Adam gave chase. Belle giggled and squealed as he neared, putting a table between them. Thank God the furniture was no longer sentient, he absently thought.
He reached out and roughly pushed the table to one side, revealing a path to his prey. Ah! she cried out, turning tail and running once more. But Adam did not give up his pursuit.
His loins pulsed as he followed Belle around the room. He could have reached out and caught her a time or two already, but she seemed to be enjoying the chase, so he deliberately drew it out, allowing it to stoke her lust along with his own.
He had almost closed ranks with her when Belle surprised him, brilliantly climbing a nearby library ladder and kicking off with her foot, which sent it wheeling across the stacks with her aboard. Adam had reached out for her, but caught only air as she sailed away, a triumphant grin on her face as she made her escape.
Clever, he thought with a chuckle. But he would catch her yet.
When the ladder came to a stop, Belle dismounted and ran back towards the sitting area. Adam made a beeline for her, his course more direct than hers had been, allowing him to gain on her.
He lunged, grabbing her around the waist as he brought them both to the floor with a grunt and a protesting cry from Belle.
She lay beneath him on her back, tendrils of her hair in disarray, her breath rapid and uneven as she locked eyes on him. God, she was so beautiful, he thought as he dropped his face to hers for an urgent kiss.
Belle moaned into his mouth, her lips parting desperately as her tongue met his. It was more passionate even than when they'd reunited after his transformation, more eager and full of wanting.
They broke apart, inhaling each other's breath in the space between their gasping mouths. Belle looked at him, her pupils dilated so that her eyes seemed nearly black, seeming to say What are you waiting for?
Taking her unspoken cue, Adam reached down and hurriedly rucked up her skirts, gathering them up around her waist. Her breathing only grew more ragged in response, and the sight of her bare thighs and the triangle of chestnut hair at the apex between them only fed the fire burning in Adam's belly.
He coasted his palms up, from her ankles to her knees and beyond, squeezing her flesh between his fingers with a groan. Putting one hand on either of her legs, he roughly pulled them apart, revealing the wet pink skin hidden among her curls.
Belle let out a small cry, and he could almost hear her biting her lip in anticipation. He didn't make her wait long.
Adam dove his head down, and set to devouring his prize with his tongue. His wife's moans filled the air, a note of surprise to them. He deeply breathed in her scent, taking a distinct sense of pride in knowing that he was the first and only man to have shared this experience with her.
He licked and sucked and lightly nipped her with his teeth, making certain that she was fully aroused and ready for more. Belle left him with no doubt that that was the case, both from her wetness and the wanton sounds she was making in response to his touch.
When he pulled away, she mewled in disappointment, but he was not finished with her yet. Adam reached down to unlace his trousers, soon releasing his straining erection. He took a moment to pull off his shirt, as Belle hurried out of her dress. He then aligned himself and unceremoniously plunged into her.
He worried for a moment that he'd gone too far too quickly, but her answering cry, though loud and strident, had an unmistakable edge of ecstasy to it. Nevertheless, Adam took the time to lean down and whisper a question in her ear. “Is this what you wanted?” he breathed.
Overcome, Belle simply nodded frantically, her hands reaching up to wrap around his shoulders. She wiggled beneath him, seemingly unable to keep still.
Good, he thought. Though this whole thing was decidedly exciting to him, his only true desire was for Belle to enjoy herself. Knowing that was the case, he let himself become lost in the moment.
He began to thrust within her, not the slow, careful pace he'd set on their wedding night, but the wild, uncontrolled rutting of a beast. The feel of her was immaculate, and the way she bounced and keened in response to his movements only spurred him on more.
He dipped down his head, grabbing hold of her breast with his mouth. He licked it greedily, giving the soft flesh a gentle bite before he caught her dusky pink nipple between his lips and sucked hard. Belle squealed loudly at that, so he released her and moved to the pebbled peak of her other breast. She moaned long and low in response, her fingers gripping him all the more tightly.
The sound of their hips slapping together filled the air, accompanied by his groans and her cries. Adam shut his eyes, the exquisiteness of the experience almost more than he could bear. He met Belle's eyes and unexpectedly caught a mischievous glint in them.
Biting her lip, she grabbed hold of his waist and heaved him aside, rolling herself atop him as he ended up flat on his back on the floor. He had slipped out of her in the process, so Belle grabbed hold of him with her hand and guided him back into place, letting out a wanton moan as he slid back into her.
She reached her hands to his chest, grasping at his pectoral muscles, her fingertips digging in almost painfully as she began rolling her hips atop him. A shift in the dynamic, to be sure, but not an unwelcome one, as far as Adam was concerned. The sight of his wife riding him with abandon, her breasts bouncing with her efforts and her mouth open with moaning cries was nothing short of heavenly.
He reached out to grab hold of her hips, squeezing her skin until she yelped, then moved his hands up to cup her breasts. They jiggled in his grasp as Belle grinded against him ardently, each thrust of her hips punctuated by a breathy cry. She looked at him with such a lustful, predatory gaze that he knew their roles had truly reversed – it was now he who was the prey.
And so he would give and give as Belle took what she wanted. He lowered one hand from her chest, reaching down to cradle her mound, nestling a finger between her folds near where the two of them were coming together. He caught Belle's expression as her eyes rolled back in her head, her open mouth slack around a long, glorious moan.
Adam almost didn't need to move his hand to stimulate her, as she was rubbing against his fingers in her efforts, but he couldn't help himself. The nub beneath his finger stood erect and he circled it resolutely, his wife rewarding him with the passionate sounds she was making.
Belle increased her pace, her movements a bit out of sync and increasingly desperate. She must be chasing her climax, Adam realized, his own decidedly near as well. He didn't hesitate to help hers along.
His caressing of her intensified, her reactions echoing in response. From the sweat beading on her brow, to her heaving breasts and acute cries of increasing pleasure, Belle was a vision. Truly, Adam had never beheld such beauty.
All at once she stiffened, throwing her head back with a high, keening scream. Adam pressed his fingers against her, feeling her spasming beneath them. Her muscles clenched his length so deliciously, and he finally let himself go, all of the tension that had built up through his body rushing forth and leaving him euphoric and spent in its wake.
Belle collapsed onto him. Their chests rose and fell against each other as they both caught their breath. She sighed, long and content, and Adam raised a hand to stroke her hair.
It was a moment before he could speak. “Was that more along the lines of what you had in mind?” he muttered with a smirk, his arm reaching over to wrap around her waist.
She panted and groaned, verbalizing an answer clearly still beyond her at the moment. Adam held her tightly, basking in the afterglow.
“It was...” Belle finally answered between labored breaths, “better than I could have imagined...”
Adam smiled. “I'm glad,” he replied softly.
A moment of silence stretched comfortably between them. He traced his fingers lightly across Belle's back.
Adam hummed a light sigh.“So... I take it we'll be doing this again, then?”
“Oh, most definitely,” Belle agreed without hesitation.
“Soon?”
“Very soon.”
Adam smiled, holding Belle close. He was a fortunate man, indeed.