The Beast And His Belle

Chapter 17

Belle stood breathing heavily in the bathroom. Trying to calm her racing heart, she felt it beating frantically out of every artery in her body. She was completely embarrassment her emotions had gotten the better of her and hoped Jackson wouldn't try to flush them out any further. But little did she know about Jackson's pledge to himself and how much he respected her to not pry any further. He knew his desires had overtaken his willpower for a moment and he promised himself to be stronger from here on out.

She finally stepped out of the bathroom with his stain-free shirt to find him clothed in a new one, standing with a napkin draped over his arm like a formal waiter.
"Ma chère Mademoiselle, it is with great pleasure that I welcome you tonight to relax as I take you wonder by wonder and show you a whole new world."
His horrible attempt at a French accent with posh waiter mannerisms made Belle burst out laughing as he bowed down. "But first, Miss, your dinner."

Within the instant of seeing his goofy actions her nerves had calmed down and she wasn't the least bit embarrassed anymore. He extended his hand for her to take while she sat down at the cloth-lined table as if they were eating at a five-star restaurant and not still on his personal jet.
"Oh my gosh! Is that-Did you plan all this?" she asked shocked seeing her favorite meal, ratatouille neatly plated for her. She looked to his plate and saw a bowl of delicious spaghetti and sauce.
"Our favorite meals!" she exclaimed and he took his seat across from her.
"Your favorite meal. Mine, well, we'll see," he smiled seeing her confusion before he elaborated. "I'm doing a little test to see what my mom might have made when I was younger. I've had your vegetarian version, now this is the meat version."
She watched him twirl his fork through the spaghetti and take in his bite.
"Well?" she questioned not able to read his smirking reaction.
"Hands down," he replied shaking his head. "It's yours."
"Seriously?" Belle questioned in disbelief.
"Yup. This tastes nothing like hers. Yours without a doubt does." Belle laughed with him at the realization.
"Maybe mommy dearest had to hide the vegetables so her little bad boy would eat them," Belle poked fun at him with a smile.
"Hey! I was a good little boy!" he defended but Belle just shook her head.
"Hmmm, I don't buy that for a second! I'm sure I could weasel some stories out of Flora and Fauna."
They both laughed and enjoyed conversation together until Cassidy came and cleaned up their dinner.

They made their way back to the sofa and Jackson noticed the old warn book again.
"I take it this is yours?" he said handing it to Belle.
"My mothers actually. One of the few things I have of hers. I thought it was fitting to bring it," Belle elaborated opening the book and flipping through the pages.
"It's like a French dictionary phrasebook. My father is of French descent; obviously with our last name being Le Fleur. When he was younger, he traveled to Paris to learn more about his heritage, and that's when he met my mother." Belle smiled thinking of the stories her father used to tell and Jackson smiled just admiring Belle.
"He says I got my love of books from her. She was studying abroad, wanting to become a novelist and she just found everything about the Parisian culture to be classical and romantic." Blush filled her face when she looked over to Jackson who was staring at her with a smile of true affection.
"Can you read me something?" he drew their attention to the book in her hand and she opened it and started to read to him.
It had felt like hours had gone by but they were both peacefully enjoying themselves as Belle read aloud phrases in French and read what they translated to in English.

Beginning with the common French phrases such as "Bonjour - Hello, Good morning."
"Merci beaucoup - Thank you very much." and continuing on to common words used in their culture that might be helpful to Jackson and her during their time there.
"Oh, this refers to us," she spoke before reading the phrases to him.
"La lune de miel, that means honeymoon."
"And un mari or un époux means husband. Une femme or une épouse means wife."
Just as she finished speaking, the plane shook with turbulence and she jumped fearfully in his arms. He tightly held her and before long the captain came over the loudspeaker.
"Sorry for the turbulence, Mr. Mason. Everything is alright, we just hit some weather. May be a bit bumpy with clouds and rain but no need to worry."
Jackson looked to Belle who looked slightly panicked but her tight grip on his forearm started to relax hearing from the captain.
"Everything's fine," he reassured her, combing her hair out of her face. "Would you like to keep reading? I liked listening to your voice." Her heart fluttered and she felt safer in his arms. She stayed in the position with her head resting against his chest and his arms wrapped around her as she lifted the book to continue reading.

As the book went on, the phrases became more elaborate, but she didn't think about what she was reading as she just recited the passages aloud.
"Tu es belle, you are beautiful."
"J'adore ton sourire, I love your smile."
"Tu es charmante, you are charming."
She was in a daze reading and enjoying the French dialogue as Jackson stayed quiet, occasionally running his hands through her hair as he listened. They both rejoiced in the comforts of their bodies touching and before long they were both in a sleepy state.
"J'ai envie de toi, I want you."
"J'ai besoin de toi, I need you."
"Fais-moi l'amour, make love to me."
"Je t'amerai pour toujours-"
"Mmm," Jackson mumbled sleepily. "That one sounds nice. What does that mean?"
"Je t'amerai pour toujours, I will always love you," Belle replied as the book slowly lowered to her lap and her eyes drifted closed. Both fell asleep together wrapped in each other's arms until another wave of turbulence woke Jackson. He silently laid still just taking in the beautiful sight of her fast asleep in his arms.
"Belle Rose Le Fleur," he whispered to himself as he caressed her cheek translating the meaning of her name back to its French origin. "Beautiful rose flower," whispering as he smiled with an ache in his chest as his heart grew bigger.

The moment he saw her, something stirred awake in his soul. And maybe he hated her for a brief moment in time because he knew what she could be capable of. He was deathly afraid of opening up to someone, of giving his heart to someone again in fear of them taking it just like Charlotte had done. Did he think Belle would do such a thing? No, not without reason or out of malice but there was always a price that came with love and he had to decide if Belle was worth the risk. And Jackson had already decided. He had already fallen completely and hopelessly in love with Belle.