Beauty and the Beast

10

The sun shining through the curtains in her bedroom, caused her to wake up and when she tried to get up to close them she couldn't. She couldn't because there were two strong arms holding her close. She took the moment to look up at him. He was this big strong man with a tough exterior on the outside but when he was vulnerable and sleeping on the left side of the bed snores coming out of his mouth he looked tortured. But not just tortured, he looked sad and hurt and it was like he held the weight of the world on his shoulders. She felt bad for him. 

He could feel her eyes on him and he opened his eyes and the two of them locked lips. 

"Please tell me I wasn't your first," Lindsey says after a moment.

"No...third. Was I yours?" She asks.

"No. There was one other woman. I was your third. I didn't think you were that old?" He rubs her back.

"Believe it or not, I'm 36." She smiles.

"Huh, I'm 35. You look younger than 36. I figured you were mid-twenties." He shrugs.

"Nope, I'm old. Now you're probably wondering why I decided to give up my adult life to come and stay with you." She shifts in his arms as he rubs her bicep.

"Kind of. I'm not the nicest man in the world and I'm not the nicest looking either for that matter." He shrugs. 

"No, you're sexy. I will say you do have some anger issues but when you're calm you are pretty nice. I just don't know why you don't open yourself up to the public more." She shrugs.

"No, I'm just not comfortable with that. Especially after my family was pretty much wiped out. I like ruling my little kingdom from up here." He states.

"Shall we spend the rest of the day in bed?" Stevie asks straddling his waist.

"I think so." He nods.

***

December 24

Stevie was walking around the castle her arms crossed over her chest. She was searing for Christmas decorations but so far she wasn't haven't any luck.  She turned a corner and ran right smack into Christine, John, Chip, and Mick. 

"Well Hello." She laughs.

"Hey Stevie," Chip hugs her.

"My, you're in a good mood. Does it happen to do with what day it is?" She questions.

"It's just a normal Wednesday." He pulls him.

"No silly, it's December 24th." She laughs.

"What's so special about December 24th?" He inquires.

Stevie's eyes go wide and she looks up at the adults who just bite their lips and look elsewhere.

"It's the day before Christmas." Stevie gasps.

"Yes well, it is a beautiful day out why don't you just go for a walk or go ice skating. or Skiiing, there's that lovely hill in the backyard." John points out.

Christine leads her out of the house and throws their jackets over their shoulders. As they're walking out the side that leads to the garden and the little frozen pond where Chip was more than likely going to skate, as Christine had grabbed his little skates, Lindsey was walking in front of the door. 

"Well good morning." She laughs. 

Almost like in a movie he startles at her loud voice and his feet slide out from under him making her laugh even more. After he lands quite hard she bends down and helps him up. "Are you okay?" 

"Oh, I'm peachy. I mean how would you feel if you landed on your ass. Hard might I add." He growls.

"Well, at least you didn't break anything." She grins. 

It's been interesting in the nine days since their little date. They haven't had sex again and even though they start out the night in different rooms, she always wakes up plastered to his chest. But they've kept everything under wraps not wanting to flaunt everything in front of the servants. 

"I guess." He sighs.

"Would you like to go for a walk with me?" She asks her hand still clutched in his. 

As they trail through the gardens and the little trail in the backyard at some point she wrapped both of her arms around his waist and just laid her head on his shoulder. 

"Lindsey this is really nice." She smiles.

"Yeah it is, I like doing these little things with you." He leans down and captures her lips in his. 

"Tonight what do you say that we do something other than sleep?" He asks pulling away slightly.

"Why, whatever do you mean?" She asks slightly breathlessly. 

"I mean, you and I make love in front of a roaring fire in your bedroom hmm?" He questions capturing her lips in a fiery kiss. As it deepens she lets out a moan and for a split second, he breaks apart and presses his forehead to hers. 

"Hmm, what do you say?" 

"I...I..." She trails off as he captures her lips again.

"Come on Steph." He smirks.

"Alright..." She gives in.

"Good girl." He bites her lip before pulling away completely. 

When their heated moment seizes, she bites her lip and looks up at him. "What are our plans for Christmas?" 

"We don't have any." He tells her.

"Oh that's wonderful, I was thinking we could have a turkey dinner. And mashed potatoes and we could have pumpkin pie. I know Christine has all of the ingredients." She cheers.

"NO!" He states firmly.

"What? You don't like pumpkin that's fine we can have cherry or apple." She shakes her head.

"NO, WE ARE NOT HAVING CHRISTMAS!" He yells. 

She immediately pulls away from him and cowers into a tree on the edge of the trial. 

"And why not?" She asks.

"BECAUSE WE AREN'T END OF DISCUSSION!" He growls turning away from her and stalking off in what Stevie can only describe as the Lindsey way. 

She just leans against the tree for a moment to recover from his outburst and she slowly makes her way back over to Christine and Mick. John is building a snowman with Chip and Stevie's lip wobbles a little bit thinking over the family tradition that she has with her brother and sister-in-law every Christmas. Even now in their 30s, they build a snowman first thing Christmas morning.