When Henry fell quiet, the rest of the world returned to Belle's ears. The wind was blowing through the trees, and the rain fell in a gentle whoosh, like a buzzing in the ear. Far away, she thought she could hear calls and shouts.
"You are worried about the horse?"
Belle felt herself growing annoyed. In fact, yes, sheshouldbe annoyed at Henry. There was something that she was angry about. Something that involved him. If only she could remember what it was...
"She was scared! She might have run the wrong way and gotten hurt."
Belle was shocked at the curse that passed Henry's lips. Before she knew what was going on, heavy arms had shot beneath hers, and she was being hauled to her feet. Her head swam, her breath caught, but she managed to stabilize herself. She took a breath and smelled fresh dew, the ashy scent of rain, and a closer aroma...the scent of a human body pressed close to hers.
Hands lifting, Belle found herself standing before her tutor, palms upon his chest and his arms wrapped around her, holding her steady. She wobbled and swayed and, for a moment, their chests collided, their heartbeats pressing into one another.
Goodness, but he was warm...
Belle's eyes fell upon Henry's throat. They traced the way his neck stretched down into a heavier collarbone. How the tendon of his throat ran from his ear to the center of his chest. At the base of his neck was a pulse thrumming beneath his skin. Before her very eyes, it seemed to quicken, to jump and sputter. She felt something brushed her hair and heard Henry breathe in, long and deep.
Belle could only swallow. She was too nervous to move closer but knew it would be impossible to move away. Her hands trembled against Henry's chest, seeking the warmth of his skin.
"Belle..."
He was calling her by name.
How had it taken her so long to notice this? Even at his least formal, Henry had only strayed to calling her Arabelle. He had never broken so far as to speak the wordBelleunless she had been in dire emotional straits. Now, he whispered it. Murmured it as a gentle caress beside her ear.
Belle gasped as fingers found her hair and reached for the back of her neck. Henry cradled her, drawing her into the safety of his neck.
Grateful, Belle let herself fall. She leaned against him with complete trust, his body heat seeping into hers and her lungs filling with his scent. A scent that was more feeling than it was smell: warm strength and familiar comfort. It filled her chest, bolstered her spirit, and set her mind at ease all at once.
"Henry..."
She had often called him Henry, ever since their first meeting when he had chastised her for it. But there was something in this moment that made it different. Something that took the word from her tongue and set it into metamorphosis. Once a friendly greeting, it was now sighed against his neck in a lover's sensual caress.
That pulse she had seen, the one she now felt against her cheek, beat still harder.
"Belle, we should—"
"Shh," she quieted him.
When he spoke, she could not hear his heart. Could not feel it against her face.
When she felt him move to talk again, Belle tried to chastise him with her eyes as well as her words. She lifted her head, turned to address him...
...and, somehow, found her lips upon his.
Both of them froze, paralyzed by the rain and by their moment. This time, there was no briefest touch. No hint of velvet lips and then absentia. This time, their mouths came together with the force of accident and clung through passion.
From one moment to the next, Henry was kissing her.Trulykissing her. Belle could feel the way he moved against her, how his lips stroked and undulated against hers. They kissed her in a way that forced no response but promised so much pleasure if she gave in.
Yet, there was nothing to relinquish for Belle.
Had she not already realized that this man held her heart?
Was he now admitting that he felt the same?
Reaching for him, Belle's hands snaked around Henry's neck and drew the two of them closer still. She kissed him with all the fervor she could manage and almost sent him back a step.
Though surprised by her wild and untutored touch, Henry was by no means put off. His arms tightened around her waist until they became flush against one another, a single entity of aching need that was chilled upon the surface but blazing hot within.
As she gave herself to him, Henry began to tease her mouth in a way that had her lips parting and his tongue slipping inside.
