Lucas' lone words were enough to have Belle curl her toes that were bare and warm,

"Scared?" he asked, testing her if her feelings had changed but they hadn't. Belle shook her head as she had turned speechless.

She felt his hand reach her face that moved to place on half of her face, pulling her close to him as he leaned forward he placed his lips on her soft ones. He kissed her lips, a feeling that was new to both Lucas and Belle as neither of them had a partner before this. And even though Lucas was a grim reaper, he had seen the mortals enough times to know what to do.

Belle felt Lucas lean further towards her, his other hand moving around her waist to bring it closer to him. She felt her heart soar as Lucas kissed on her lips. Her hands turned weak and not knowing what to do she placed it on her lap, her hands clutching on the bottom of her dress as Lucas pried her lips open and slid his tongue into the hot cavern of her mouth.

To Lucas, the feeling was new as he had never felt something like this before.

He had noticed Belle before the girl had noticed her own feelings. Maybe more than a year ago but he had brushed it away every time he had appeared with the girl' antics where she always walked around him like he was the sun to her. Belle was indeed one of the most beautiful yet down to earth creature he had met. When she was young it often made him wonder if she would end up turning naive but she had turned better than that.

Lucas had noticed the way her eyes looked at him, full of admiration and respect which at first he hadn't understood, after all, he was a reaper who was dead but Belle was different.

Belle's lips were sweet as he kissed her and he finally pulled away to see her flutter her eyes open. He could tell her cheeks had turned warm and red. He took her hand and kissed the back of her hand,

"I won't leave your side, Belle," Lucas promised her with his eyes on her.

As happy as she was that Lucas was responding back to her feelings, she was worried about what would happen if the people in his world knew about it. The side of his hair had fallen on to his forehead.

Lucas noticed how Belle still had certain anxiousness in her eyes that she didn't know how to express. Her eyes had dilated with every kiss and touch on her, "What is it?"

"You k-kissed me."

"Is it that hard to believe?" he asked her with a small smile on his lips, "Let's put you back in bed," with his hand that had not let go of hers, he took her up to her room.

In that time, Belle didn't speak a word. Lucas tucked her in the bed where Barron was, as the fourth reaper had considered this room to be his own space.

"The pathway must have closed so don't worry about the spirits or Mighouls. They won't come to bother you," he assured her and Belle nodded her head. Her lips felt as if they had turned puffy where she could still feel the pressure of his lips on hers, "Did you meet the Mighouls in your sleep?"

"No," she answered him, "I met a reaper and Olivia."

Hearing the woman's name, Lucas' eyes narrowed and he asked, "Did she hurt you?" and she shook her head.

After seeing Mr. Robinson in her garden being buried, Belle couldn't stop her heart beating at the thought that it was Lucas who had killed him, "Did you kill Olivia too?"

Barron instead of keeping his mouth closed, said, "He's been having a long list of bodies being taken and buried. You shouldn't be surprised that he's been doing it for you."

Belle hearing this looked at Lucas who offered her a smile, "I thought she deserved it for pouring her tea and embarrassing you and your family," he killed Olivia for her sake. She didn't know if she should be scared or worried about it. She had seen how Mr. Robinson looked even though rotten as if he was beaten before being killed.

"I heard that Robinson had attempted to get close to you in the past," he said as the matter had slipped under his nose which he hadn't noticed before, "I won't let anyone hurt you. Not until when I am next to you. Barron," Lucas called the rabbit who was only settling himself ready to sleep, "You will be sleeping with me."

"What?!" Barron looked shocked and before he could say anything, Lucas picked up Barron and said to Belle, "I will see you in the morning. Have a good rest," and he left the room.

That night Belle had a hard time sleeping for some time, her lips felt tender and there was a smile on her lips that she couldn't get rid of. She somewhere understood why Lucas was the way he was. He was Grim reapers and folks spoke enough about how they were creatures from the dark who didn't feel a thing.

And though he came from the land of the dead, Lucas cared about her. Maybe it might not be the kind of love she was expecting but it was enough to keep her happy to know that he cared enough to get rid of people who had hurt her.

When she finally did fall asleep with no dreams to come to haunt her, far away from the Adams' mansion, the black witches had gathered in a lone forest where no one came to pass to explain their plan of how they would be creating a mass murder in the coming few weeks in an attempt to open the gates while sacrificing the people for their own purpose.