by A. Anders
“Yes,” Belle said breathlessly. “Touch me,” she whispered into his ear resigning herself to his will.
It was then that Belle learned how the Captain had got his nickname. His hands pawed her like an animal’s. He was strong and determined. Stripping the clothes from her, he removed his own. Belle felt wonderfully helpless beneath him. And when he took her perky young nipples between his firm lips, a bolt of electricity cracked between her legs.
How could any woman resist such pleasure? Belle didn’t know. Her body rose and fell in waves of ecstasy and when the Captain’s thick fingers slid down her body and between her legs, it settled on a point that no one else except herself had fingered. She whimpered hardly able to contain the ecstasy.
Interrupting the waves of pleasure, the Captain laid her down and kneeled beside her. She had had her eyes closed. Immediately missing his touch, she opened them. The Captain’s naked body was beautiful. His horn was larger than Belle could ever have imagined. It was thick and rigid. She couldn’t imagine how it could all fit in her, but she had no doubt that she wanted him to try.
Repositioning himself between her legs, the captain pressed his thighs against hers pushing her knees into the air. Belle felt like one of her dolls. Still inching closer to her, the Captain leaned over her and slipped his large hand between the blanket and her back. He lifted her into the air with ease. As he did, her sensitive button rubbed against the length of his horn. When it stopped, the tip of him was pressed against the swollen folds between her legs. She could barely stand the wait for him to enter her. She didn’t have to wait long.
When the Captain pushed into her, Belle screamed. It was painful yet with it came pleasure. It hurt but she wanted more. As he pushed deeper, Belle felt herself losing control. And when he shifted directions as if pulling himself out, Belle’s eyes rolled back into her head and her toes curled.
What she had felt with Trudeau was good but there was no preparation for this. It felt like there were fireworks going off in her head. She couldn’t breathe.
As he strummed the length of his horn across her insides, she felt like she was about to pass out. It was with relief that the Captain began to grown. There was something rumbling inside of her too. Belle couldn’t move. She didn’t want to do anything but be in that moment and experience whatever it was happening to her. An explosion was building within Belle and she couldn’t stop it.
With her toes clenched so hard that her bones could break, a sudden wave of pleasure overcame her. She was drowning in it all. She felt like she was tumbling. She still couldn’t breathe.
When the Captain released a bellow, his thrusts stopped. It was with his strong arms around her that she regained her bearing. The sea of her mind was still a storm but the skies were beginning to clear.
Belle inhaled deeply as if coming up for air. With it came another wave of pleasure. There was no question, she was in love with the Captain. She never wanted to leave his arms. She never wanted to be away from him again.
Belle could feel it as the Captain’s thick horn shrank and slipped out of her. When he exited, her opening snapped shut painfully. She had never felt as sensitive down there as she did today. The Captain was a magnificent lover. And awash in the moment, Belle imagined what it might be like to be with the Captain for the rest of her life.
Neither of them spoke for what Belle thought was an hour. Needing to hear his voice again, she was the one who broke the silence.
“Captain Bernard?”
“I think it is time for you to start calling me Bernard.”
Belle smiled. “You’re right, again.” She paused. “Bernard?”
“Yes, Belle?”
“You had said that you are the way you are on the battlefield because of anger.”
“That is true.”
“What makes you so angry?”
It was then that Captain Bernard let go of Belle and rolled onto his back. Belle wasn’t sure how to respond. Not yet ready to be separated from him, she rolled onto her side wrapping her leg and arm over him.
Captain Bernard spoke in a thoughtful tone. “Belle, have you ever wondered why I feel for you the way I do?”
Belle hadn’t expected him to ask her that. “Actually, I have.” She wasn’t sure why, but she was suddenly afraid to hear the answer.
“Would you like me to tell you?”
Belle couldn’t get herself to speak so she shook her head ‘yes’ instead.
“It was because of the way I heard people speak of you. I’m sure you know this, but you haven’t made the same choices that others in your village might have. The close-minded people around you have rejected you for it and it is both heartbreaking and despicable. Well, Belle, I know what it feels like to be rejected by everyone you’ve ever known.”
It was only then that Belle dared to speak. “How could you know that, Bernard? You are the Captain of the guard. All of the men in the village want to be you and all of the women want to marry you. How could you possibly know what it’s like not to be accepted for something that you have done?”
Captain Bernard paused. “I am not the man you think I am, Belle.”
“What do you mean? Are you not Captain of the King’s Guard?”
“That is who I am. I am talking about what I am.”
Belle looked at him confused. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
Captain Bernard looked at Belle and paused again. He took a deep breath.
“Belle, there was once a time when I thought that I was in love. I was young so perhaps I didn’t know what love was. But I believed it and I thought that the person I loved, loved me back.”
Belle searched her mind trying to understand. “But young people fall in love all the time. Why would the people around you reject you for that?”
“It was who I fell in love with.”
When he didn’t continue, Belle found his hand and squeezed it. “Who did you fall in love with, Bernard?”
“If I tell you, Belle, I’m afraid that you might never love me back.”
Belle was utterly confused. “Who could you have loved that might cause me not to love you back?”
Gathering all of his courage, he told her. “Belle, it was a man. I once loved a man and I think he loved me back.”
Belle’s heart sank hearing the words. Her mind scrambled trying to put it all together. “Do you mean that you loved him like a brother?”
“No. I loved him like I now love you. And, the reason I feel the way I do for you is because I’m hoping that you might understand what it feels like to be on the outside. Maybe we could be on the outside together. Do you think you could ever love someone like me, Belle?”
Stunned silent, Belle wasn’t sure what to say. She had never heard of anything like this. In no book had she even read about such a thing.
And what did this mean about the way he felt about her? Did he want to be touched by men in the same way that she did? If he did, then why would he have said that he wanted her to be his wife?
When Belle’s silence drew out for longer than Captain Bernard could stand, he spoke. “I have made a decision, Belle.”
Having been offered something she could respond to, she replied. “What’s that?”
“That you’re finally strong enough to manage on your own. So, as I promised, in the morning, I will head to the city to find your father.”
With her spirits dampened from his confusing confession, she said, “Thank you, Captain Bernard. For that, I am very grateful.”
Silently devastated, he said, “You’re welcome.” Swallowing in order to prevent himself from crying, he changed the topic, pulled away from her and sat up. “Now, why don’t you show me the miracle that is your fishing box. A man deserves to know what it is that he was beaten by,” he said forcing a smile.
Removed from his body, Belle felt exposed and alone. Forcing a smile of her own, she did her best to seem casual as she reached for her clothes. She was so sure that she had begun to love the Captain
. Perhaps she had. But she didn’t know if she did now.
Putting her clothes on and moving towards her fishing box, she wondered if she could ever again feel for him the way she had only moments before.
Chapter 5
“Belle, are you sure you are going to be all right?” The Captain asked her as they walked towards the stable
“I’ll be fine. You took great care of me,” Belle said gratefully. “And if you find my father, I will be eternally grateful.”
“I promise you that I will do what I can. Are you sure that he didn’t give you a hint to where he might be staying or where he might visit?”
“He didn’t say. I think it might be my fault for not asking.”
The two entered the stables and continued to the pen that held Captain Bernard’s horse.
“Well, I’m sure there aren’t too many places a merchant selling a clock would go. Someone has got to have seen him. When I find him or get word of where he is, I promise I’ll come back and tell you.”
“Thank you, Captain Bernard,” Belle said positioning herself just outside of his reach.
The Captain stared back at her seeing how much distance there now was between them. His chest hurt understanding what that meant.
“You’re welcome, Belle. I want you to know that I would do anything for you,” he admitted hoping that his words would reignite the light he had once seen in her eyes.
“Thank you,” Belle said sensing Captain’s yearning.
About to climb onto his horse, the Captain stared at Belle again. His heart raced as he decided to give her a kiss. Hearing his thundering heartbeat in his ears, he leaned forward and took a step towards Belle. She recoiled turning her head to the side.
“Very well,” he said heartbroken.
“I’m sorry,” Belle said unable to explain why she had pulled away.
Without another word, the Captain got onto his horse and guided it to the exit. “I’ll be back soon,” he said without looking at her. “I will return your father to you,” he told her before shaking his reins and galloping away.
Belle stood at the door of the stables watching him. She hated herself for how she felt. She felt justified in not liking him when she found him arrogant and thought that he was only after one thing. But why didn’t she like him now?
He had taken care of her. He had shown her kindness when no one else had. And now, here he was, the only one willing to find her father. These were the acts of a nobleman. So how could his revelation affect her feelings so much? Was she no better than the townspeople? What did the way she treated him say about herself?
Belle stood there for ten minutes staring at the trees on the edge of the path leading to the city. She was hoping that by doing so, she might understand more. More about herself, and more about the man she had briefly loved. Alas, nothing came. Resigned, she headed back into the stables to cut back into town.
It was as she was about to turn towards the stable’s town entrance when something familiar flashed in the corner of her eye. With it came a familiar whinny. She spun toward it. It was a white mare that she had known for years.
“Tebo?” She asked the horse shocked. “Tebo, is that you? It is!” She said running towards it and touching her head to its. “What are you doing here? Where’s Papa?”
Thinking for a moment, Belle suddenly turned around and ran back to her house. In the time that she had walked the Captain to the stables, her father must’ve returned home. Moving her legs as quickly as she could, she approached the front steps of her house. Bounding up the stairs two at a time, she whipped open the door and yelled inside.
“Papa?” She yelled. “Papa?”
When no one replied, she entered scouring the large room. “If you’re here, please tell me. Don’t hide from me, Papa?”
Sure that she was alone, Belle sprinted out her front door and approached the first person she saw. “Mrs. Blanchard, have you seen my Papa?”
The sturdy older woman was startled. “No, Belle, I haven’t.”
“He’s missing. His horse is back but he isn’t,” she replied.
Not waiting for a response, Belle left Mrs. Blanchard and found the next person in sight. One by one she asked everyone in the square. When no one had seen her father, she sprinted back to the stables in search of the stable master.
“Mr. Willard, how did you get Tebo? My father left with him weeks ago and now neither Papa nor his carriage is back.”
“Your horse wandered in here three days ago. I thought that your father had forgotten to post him again so I put him in his stable and was planning on telling your father that he was here.”
“Three days ago? Why are you only telling me now? Why didn’t you come to my house and tell me when he first showed up?”
The older man was hesitant to answer. “Belle, you know that I have always liked you no matter what the people around here stay. But word was that for the past few days you have had a gentleman caller staying with you. I am not one to judge, but I thought it best to wait until that gentleman had left before I went over.”
Belle looked at Mr. Willard shocked. “No, you don’t understand. The Captain was there but he was taking care of me. I was… sick. Captain Bernard nursed me back to health.”
“So, are you saying that he wasn’t… courting you?”
“No!” Belle replied before remembering what they had done by the stream. “In any case, what might have gone on between myself and Captain Bernard is none of your concern. What is your concern is my father’s horse and letting me know that it had returned without my father.”
“Your father hasn’t returned?”
“No,” she told him before realizing that he couldn’t tell her any new information.
Leaving him, Belle returned to Tebo.
“Boy, can you tell me where Papa is?” Belle wasn’t expecting a response from her horse but amazingly enough seem to get one when it shook its head. “Can you?” Belle asked startled that she might’ve gotten an answer. The horse shook its head again.
With that, Belle retrieved the saddle from her father’s saddle stand and placed it on Tebo.
“What are you doing Belle? You don’t really think that your horse can lead you to your father, do you?”
Belle ignored him and continued what she was doing. When Tebo was saddled up and ready to go, Belle threw her leg over her mare and shook her reins ushering it forward.
In her village, good girls didn’t straddle horses like a man. It was thought to spoil them for their husband. Belle’s resistance to riding side-saddle was one of the first things that had made the villagers think that she was weird.
“How can you gallop if you’re riding side saddle?” She would ask them.
“Good girls don’t gallop,” they would reply.
“Then I guess I’m not a good girl,” Belle would say usually before galloping away.
Belle used all of her galloping skills as Tebo took her out of town into the field around it. Belle was expecting the horse to take her onto the path leading towards the city. It didn’t. Instead, it headed towards the Dark Forest. And thinking about all of the dangers that lay within, Belle’s heart clenched.
As her village disappeared through the trees, Belle thought that the air was growing colder. The deeper she went, the colder it got. She began to think that Tebo was leading her to her doom running randomly away from the village. Those fears were assuaged when Belle noticed something unnerving on the ground ahead of her.
“Whoa,” Belle said bringing Tebo to a stop.
Belle quickly slid off running to the object. The blood drained from her face as she touched what lay beneath her. It was a broken clock. It was her father’s clock. This was the item that he had left for the city to sell.
How had it ended up here? This didn’t make any sense. Her father knew how dangerous the Dark Forest was. Knowing that it had claimed Trudeau’s life, he would never have purposefully ventured in alone.
Leaving the mangled shards of wo
od and metal, Belle ran back to Tebo and threw herself on top of him. “Take me to Papa, Tebo. I think he’s in trouble.”
Tebo wasted no time returning to a gallop. Time seemed to speed up the faster he went. Not only did the day quickly turn into night, but the ground became covered with frost. Belle had never seen anything like it during late spring.
Filled with both terror and purpose, Belle clenched her fingers as the cold wind whooshed by her. It had become freezing and Belle was not dressed for it. The longer she rode, the harder it became for her to stay on her horse. Her legs and hands were freezing. And losing the feeling of the reins between her fingers, Belle felt herself begin to wobble unable to clamp her legs around her mare.