Belle & Jack

He seemed to grow in confidence as the song went on and as the tempo increased just a little so did the speed of his movement. His hands felt strong without being forceful and she felt like he was able to guide her, to show her what he wanted to do with an ease that only came with skill and practice. Although at one point, a short brass crescendo, she couldn't avoid a little yelp as he dipped her. He was smiling broadly when he brought her back up and Belle was aware that her heart was beating faster and her face was flushed and she wondered if this was what swooning felt like.

***Jack***

Jack's smile was genuine. He did love dancing, a fact well known to his friends and family. At parties, at weddings, at family events he danced. He danced with his friends' wives and partners, he danced with aunts and cousins, with his beloved mother, with his sisters. And he always loved it. And they loved dancing with him, not because he was good at it but because he so clearly enjoyed it so much.

So there was that. He liked dancing so of course it made him feel good. But he understood there was more going on in that hot, tiny room that night. He felt the heat of her body through her hands and her torso as she pressed lightly against him and even though he was a little worried about tripping over in the small space he couldn't tear his eyes away from her face.

As the song neared its end he added a few flourishes to their movement and basked in the glow of her contented smile and occasional giggle and he was immediately glad when the next song started playing without a break. He really wasn't sure he'd have been able to let go of her if it hadn't. As it was, he was happy to be able to carry on.

The Way You Look Tonight. He knew it well, as he assumed she did. For a moment they continued their movement until, as if some mutual unspoken decision had been made, they slowed until they were just swaying gently again. He felt Belle release her hands from his, felt them slide slowly up to his shoulders and around his back as she pulled herself against him and it was an entirely natural movement for his to wrap around her in turn.

***Belle***

Her head was swimming as their bodies swayed gently and her grip on him tightened. She didn't quite understand why the feel of his body pressed against hers was so good, so affecting, but she knew it was. She rested her head on his chest and felt herself carried away by a wave of happiness. She understood that she'd been drinking but she knew she wasn't drunk, that's not what this was.

And then, with an odd suddenness, she wondered if he was feeling the same. Really, it was that she hoped he was. She lifted her head slowly from his chest, daring to raise her chin so she could look into his eyes. Whatever it was she saw there, she knew it wasn't what she'd hoped. Confusion maybe, or even fear. She could see the muscles of his face relax as she looked at him and she wanted desperately for him to kiss her, more than she'd ever wanted to be kissed in her life.

But she knew he wouldn't. Everything she'd learned about Jack told her he wouldn't. And she wondered if she had the courage to override his common sense and do the hard work for him. But even as she wondered she felt herself lifting her feet, rising onto her toes towards him. Involuntarily, her eyes closed as her lips inched ever closer to his.

***Jack***

Jack's heart was racing. He had to concentrate to remain upright. She felt so good in his arms that he never wanted to let her go. And now, as she moved her lips slowly and inexorably towards his, he felt his desire working hard to overpower his senses, to allow him to give in to what he wanted, to kiss Belle more deeply, more passionately than he'd ever kissed anyone before.

But he couldn't. Somehow he managed to hold on to some semblance of self control. And even though he struggled to think of why, he trusted his instinct that it would be a mistake.

So he moved his arms so he could cup the softness of her face gently and raised his head to plant a light, deft kiss on her forehead.

"Time for me to hit the hay I think," he said, doing his utmost to smile warmly down at her. "Big day tomorrow."

***Belle***

Belle's heart leapt when she felt his hands touch her cheeks, daring to hope. But deep down, she knew and she didn't feel any surprise when she felt his lips caress her forehead gently.

"Very big day," she managed although her throat felt dry. She felt his hands move away from her and, with great reluctance, she loosened her own grip on him. She took her phone from the table where she'd left it and turned off the music.

"Goodnight so Belle. Sweet dreams," he said, still smiling but she couldn't ignore the feeling that he was in a hurry to get out of the room, to avoid any unpleasant discussion about what had just happened, or what had almost just happened.

"Night Jack," she said and then he was gone.

Although the room was still boiling hot from the roaring fire, she felt a strange, cold emptiness and knew it was the absence of his arms around her. Her mind swung between feelings of anger and disappointment but she sighed heavily as she concluded that neither of those would do.

She ambled to bed, brushing her teeth absent-mindedly, her thoughts unable to turn away from Jack. Every image was of him, of the two of them together. And when she climbed under the blankets she wrapped her arms around herself, pretending they were his, and closed her eyes.

In her mind, she saw him kiss her softly, felt his hands run gently over her arms, down her back, pulling her into him. She felt him kiss her neck and she moaned very softly as she felt her legs press themselves involuntarily together.

She couldn't specifically recall the last time she'd masturbated but she knew for certain that she was going to now. So no conscious thought was required as her hands drifted slowly down her body, dwelling briefly on her firm breasts, feeling her nipples harden.

Her right hand slipped slowly underneath the loose waistband of her pajamas and she was a little surprised at just how much moisture she could feel as it drifted gently over her pussy, her breath catching in her throat as her fingers just nudged against her clit.

As her hand moved, the intensity of the images in her mind grew. Jack's hands instead of hers, pressing his fingers inside her. Jack's mouth sucking on her nipples and devouring her pussy. Jack's cock. She groaned and felt his name on her lips as she pressed first one and then two fingers inside herself, shifting her hips for better purchase as in her mind she pictured Jack sliding inside her, his body pressing down on her, kissing her hard and deep as he did so.

The speed and force of her orgasm took her by surprise and she was faintly worried that Jack might have heard the strained whimper that escaped her lips. Her mind raced as she lay there, recovering her breathing. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she hadn't felt any of these things in a long time, that whatever intimacy there had been in her relationship with Brian may well have been dead for quite a while. She just hadn't noticed. She couldn't remember when she'd been so overwhelmed by a sexual fantasy, so turned on, so wet, had cum so hard.

***Jack***

Jack lay awake that night for a long time, not even able to bring himself to close his eyes for fear of the images his mind would force upon him.

And when he thought he'd heard noises coming from Belle's room, noises he was sure he recognized, he groaned out loud, briefly pulling a pillow over his face.

"Fuck this," he said eventually. He got up, dressed as quietly as possible before sneaking down the hallway and out the front door. He needed air.

The clear sky made for a cold night but at least there was a decent moon to light his way as he strolled toward the headland.

He wanted her, of course he did. There wasn't a man in the world who wouldn't have traded places with him tonight, to have his arms around her, her soft lips willing to be kissed.

So what was the harm then, he asked himself, why this nagging instinct to resist?

For one, he reasoned, there couldn't possibly be a future in it. In a little over a week, she would return to her world and he would stay in this one. There was no place for him in that spotlight, of that he was sure. And he didn't want there to be.

But even then, clearly she was attracted to him, clearly she'd wanted him to kiss her tonight. Even acknowledging his poorly equipped radar, there was no denying that. So surely there could be no argument against a fleeting moment or two of passion. If that's what she wanted. And he'd always have the memory of being with one of the most desirable women in the world, even if it was for just one night, or a few.

But it just didn't sit right with him. Obviously, she was in the middle of some kind of crisis in her life and he worried that she'd only regret anything that happened between them as some kind of lapse or worse, that she'd been taken advantage of when at her most vulnerable.

And more than that, he couldn't get away from the thought that, whatever had been developing between them meant more to him than some fleeting encounter could satisfy. Ultimately, he thought, maybe what he feared most was that if he did give in, kissed her, held her, made love to her, that he'd never be able to bring himself to stop. And what would that mean for his currently directionless life? He may not have had any clear plans for what he wanted to do but if there was one thing he was sure of it was that he didn't want to end up as some tabloid flavour of the month. The famous actress' nobody arm candy, a titillating spectacle for readers of gossip magazines.

And if he did have to make himself stop, as he knew he would, then that was a pain he had no interest in experiencing.

If only she wasn't fucking famous, he thought sadly as he made his way finally back towards the house, night closing in on day. I'd follow her anywhere.

***

FOUR

***

***Belle***

The smell of sex greeted Belle when she woke. She'd made herself cum a second time before falling asleep and she dreamed of Jack's arms around her. She took a long shower before making her way to the kitchen that morning, trying to steel herself for the inevitable embarrassment she knew she was going to feel.

She'd practically offered herself to him and he'd said no. It mattered, she thought, that he'd been kind about it, but he'd still turned her down. She hadn't even been tempted by another man in the four years she'd been with Brian and the first one she'd tried to kiss had rebuffed her. Despite her fame, Belle had never developed the sense of entitlement that she noticed in some of her peers so this didn't anger her so much as it embarrassed her.

So she felt a little bit foolish. She knew that Jack was also the first man she'd spent any time at all with and that it hadn't been much more than a week since she'd left Brian. So she did wonder whether whatever she was feeling for Jack was just some kind of anti-Brian reaction. She understood what a rebound was, although it was never something she'd experienced. Still, she didn't think something like that could possibly feel like this and her despite her embarrassment, she knew she was excited walking down the hall towards the kitchen, just at the prospect of seeing him again.

***Jack***

"Good morning!" Jack announced cheerily as Belle emerged into the kitchen, fresh from the shower.

"Hey Jack," she said softly but he could see that she wasn't herself. She struggled to look at him and seemed to shuffle as she made her way to the table to sit down.

He'd decided climbing back into bed, as dawn approached, that addressing what had happened the night before might take some time and be necessarily delicate and that in the interim, the best thing for him to do would be to carry on as normal.

He knew that their days together had been enjoyable, for her as well as him, so he saw no reason change the pattern. He knew she'd be feeling embarrassed and the best he could do was show her that she didn't need to be.

So he made it his mission for the day to be as normal as possible, as himself as possible and he was deliberately gregarious over breakfast. They'd planned to take a drive that day, to visit an adjacent peninsula and explore some more of the landscape that Belle was clearly falling in love with. But her aloofness persisted and he reminded himself to be patient. It was early yet.

The car journey was a little less than an hour but it wasn't pleasant. The radio got it's first airtime as Jack tried to fill what could only be described as awkward silence.

And when they reached their destination, for the first time in four days Jack felt he needed to ask Belle if she wanted him to accompany her as she prepared to set out for a walk on the beach.

"No, I'll be OK. Thanks Jack. I won't be too long."

"No worries, take a long as you want. I'll be here," he said, but his heart sank.

***Belle***

Belle had to resist the urge to look back at the car as she made her way along the beach. Part of her was hoping that he would just come after her, although she knew he wouldn't.

We should probably talk about last night, she thought and felt a heavy sense of disappointment weigh on her. When she thought about it, the past four days felt like the happiest, the most content she'd been in a long time. Sure there was the freedom of what she was doing, escaping from the hectic schedule of her life, disconnecting herself from the 24/7 cycle of news and communication and activity. But really, it was just being. Walking, talking, eating. Just being. With Jack. And that was probably over now.

When her phone rang, there were a couple of odd seconds when she didn't know what it was. She hadn't heard it make a sound other than the music of Frank Sinatra in four days. She didn't even realize she'd brought it with her to the beach. When she looked at the screen she saw her agent's name and a full signal. Evidently this remote beach wasn't quite as remote as the cottage's location. She thought about not answering but she knew Claire wouldn't be bothering her if it wasn't important.

"Hey Claire," she said weakly.

"Belle, thank God. I thought you were fucking dead or something. Where the fuck have you been?"

"I'm in Ireland Claire, you booked the flights."

"I know that, asshole, I'm saying where have you been. I've been trying to call you since last night."

"There's not really a lot of cell signal around the cottage. Why? What's the matter?" The day was chilly but she knew that wasn't the cause of the cold feeling she could feel making its way into her gut.

"It's out. It started last night, it's trending by now."

Belle took the phone away from her ear and glared out at the ocean. She could hear Claire calling her name but she needed a second. She knew the news of the end of her relationship with Brian would become public at some point, she just hadn't been expecting it so soon.

"... Belle? Are you there?"

"Yeah Claire, I'm here."

"OK, so here's what we're gonna do. I've been in touch with Brian's people..."

"You've what?"

"Of course I have honey, you have to coordinate with stuff like this. Trust me. We don't want to get into a social media war with Brian, he said, she said, anything like that."

"She said? What the fuck are you talking about Claire?" Belle wasn't really conscious that the volume of her voice, and of her anger, was rising. "There is no he said, she said Claire. My boyfriend, who I loved, was fucking whores in Vegas when he told me he was working. And apparently he's been fucking every piece of ass he could get his hands on whenever I wasn't around for the entire duration of our relationship so actually, there's no need to coordinate, the statement is simple. Brian is a sick, heartless, pig fuck who can't keep his cock in his pants and no woman should ever even look at that prick ever again!"

Her hand was shaking when she pressed the screen to hang up and she was breathing hard. She was glad the beach was deserted. She thought she might cry but she was too angry. She thought about just screaming into the wind for a minute but she was afraid Jack would hear.

It took about two minutes for her to calm down a little and when her phone rang again she actually smiled. Claire knew just how long she needed to wait.

"Feeling better now? Got that out of your system, have you?"

"Yeah. Sorry Claire. Look, just... just do whatever you think is best with Brian's people, I know you'll do the right thing. Just, make sure they know, make sure he knows, I don't want to see him, I don't want to hear from him, I swear to god Claire, if that bastard even tries to contact me..."

"I know honey, I know. And I'll make sure they know too."

"Thanks Claire... I..."

"It's OK Belle. Just leave it to me."

There was a moment of silence on the line as a little wave of affection passed over Belle and she reflected on how glad she was that Brian's betrayal hadn't completely ruined her faith in people, or at least in this one. She knew she was lucky to have Claire in her corner.

"So... how's it going over there?" Claire asked, her raspy voice a pleasant reminder of home. "How's that driver I booked working out?"

Belle couldn't suppress an ironic chortle. That's a good question, she thought.

"What? Is he OK? Belle, I can get a new driver..."

"No, no, Claire, it's fine, he's fine. He's great actually. Amazing."

"Amazing huh? Is he cute? Never too early for a rebound you know honey."

"Fuck off Claire," Belle said, and she knew Claire would hear the smile in her voice.

"I'm telling you Belle. Great lovers the Irish, or is that the Italians?"

"I'm hanging up now Claire."

"OK, OK. Listen, take care of yourself, OK? And don't leave it so long without calling me, like, ever again. Call me, OK?"

"I promise. Thanks Claire."

"Talk soon honey."

Before she put the phone in her pocket, Belle gave serious consideration to throwing it into the sea.

***Jack***

Jack hadn't really paid any attention to his phone in days either. Finding himself with nothing to do for the first time in a while, he sat in the car and started making his way though the notifications and messages he'd missed in four days of distraction.

There were the usual things. Large group chats that he usually ignored anyway with hundreds of messages built up, a couple from his mother and a fresh one from Charlie.

It contained a link to Twitter and Jack could see a photo of Belle and a man he vaguely recognized in the preview. Under it, Charlie had written: 'That explains it then. It's a broken heart she has. Play your cards right there boy and you could be on a winner. Told you she was a looker.'

He didn't resist the urge to open the link immediately. The gist wasn't hard to discover but he opened the gossip website article that was linked in the tweet anyway and read it.

Broken heart is right, he thought. His mind started to flood with thoughts and ideas and theories but there, overriding it all, was sorrow. He couldn't get away from that image of her on their first night in the cottage, sobbing desperately in front of the fire. He'd known then that something terrible had driven her to come here, to isolate herself and he'd considered what he now knew to be the truth as a likely candidate for what that was but the details he'd read in the article were far worse that he could have imagined. She hadn't just had her heart broken, she'd been betrayed, made a fool of in the cruelest way. It would be hard for anyone to take, he thought, but for Belle, who had to live her life in the public eye, it wasn't just her friends and family she had to face, who would know her pain, it was the whole world.