Altered Remembrances of Love

Had Belle been in character, she would have noticed the shift in the atmosphere Aiden Cross brought with him. But she hadn't because she was simply Belle.

Aiden Cross's feet became leaden when his gaze danced upon the lovely vision before him. A goddess of midnight was certainly not what he had expected to find when he had followed Belle in this direction. But she was whom he had found. She teased and tantalized him in a black satin form-fitting gown that caressed her where he desired, from her breasts to her toes. Glittering diamonds served as straps holding the tempting creation together. Her long reddish-brown hair fell in soft curls down to the center of her back. Aiden paused as he took in its length, strength, and beauty. Never before had he seen hair as beautiful. Never before had his heart ceased its rhythmic beating from the presence of any woman. Most certainly never for a woman whose face he had yet to see. His mind shifted into overdrive. For the first time ever, his attempts at constructing a coherent sentence were in vain. Aiden could only describe the force that drew him to within arms reach of her, as magnetism. He was just close enough to catch the floral scent a breeze from the Atlantic blew to his nose. A walk in an exotic garden at midnight flashed through his mind, leaving him in a state of semi-arousal. He was just close enough to oblige himself this one fantasy.

Belle stiffened when she felt the warmth of Aiden' s presence behind her. The familiar smell of mountain and spice sent her pulse surging to alarming rates! Why is he the only man that affects me this way? He's an egotistical, arrogant jerk!

The words died in her mind as his long capable fingers sifted through the curly strands of her hair. Belle would have never believed that he was capable of anything so tender. He caressed her hair as if she were the most precious woman in the world, as if she were his woman. She longed for his hands to continue their path, gliding through the strands until they found the sensitive skin of her scalp. His caress was a lover's caress, a gentle stroking that she craved during the unbearable days and the countless solitary nights.

"Silk." A kind breeze carried his romantic declaration to her ears. "As soft as the finest silk."

He doesn't know who I am. The words danced around in her soul, awakening an anger and disappointment she could not explain.

An unsuspecting Aiden experienced an intense moment of deja vu as the mysterious woman whirled to face him. Stunned was the perfect word to describe his reaction when he came face to face with Katherine Isabelle Hunter, the Ice Princess! Her honeyed eyes shone like gold and her curly silken mane down around her breasts casted her in a completely different light. She's gorgeous. Of course he had always considered her easy on the eyes, but before she had always been staid and plain. Tonight she dazzled like a sinfully rich diamond. He belatedly dropped his hands back to his side but his mouth remained open.

"Do you always take such liberties with women while their backs are turned?" The coldness of her tone killed the warm atmosphere that had sizzled around them just moments before. Her transformation back to the Ice Princess was complete with her hair safely back in a version of its former chignon. Not a single solitary hair remained out of place, making a liar out of anyone that dared to say it had just flowed sensually around her shoulders like a satin sheet.

Aiden placed his hands into the pockets of his black tux and casually rocked back on his heels, highly disappointed with the abrupt change in her. Although his stance said otherwise, he felt anything but casual as his Kodak memory flashed him a reminder of Belle's unforgettable beauty. To the untrained eye, he painted the portrait of control. One raised eyebrow mocked her, as did his next comment. "Please forgive my mistake. You looked like a woman with your back turned and not the Hunter Viper." His mouth crooked into a grin as he lit a cigarette. "It was an honest mistake." He took two long drags. He only smoked during occasions like these, a habit that had started out as a social thing.

Belle considered him for a moment before replying, "Still sneaking up on people I see." She turned her back to him, dismissing him in one move.

Aiden didn't appreciate being dismissed, especially not by the Hunter Viper, his own nickname for her. He was a man to be seen, obeyed, and heeded. Every day he commanded people into action, demanded one hundred and twenty percent from them and they responded. He quickly put out the cigarette and grabbed her arm until she faced him. "Yes I prefer to steal upon my foes in their unguarded moments. For a brief second, I am able to see all of their fears and insecurities." He relaxed his hold, but pulled her until there was not an inch between them. "It's almost like looking through to their soul." His midnight gaze bore relentlessly into her golden one.

Belle snatched her arm from his grasp and mentally stopped herself from taking two steps backwards. She preferred to stand toe to toe with her enemies, and so she did now. "Oh really? So pray tell Cross, what did you see in mine? What did my unguarded moment reveal of my soul?" She then slipped back into the matching cardigan as if bored with their conversation. Truthfully, her heart stopped as it awaited his response. What does he see in me, the Ice Princess?

"You don't have one." The declaration was matter-of-fact like he had just delivered the weather report. Why should he believe that he had just touched the core of her soul? He circled her, going in for the kill. "So you see Belle, you really are the Ice Princess."

Over the years Belle had perfected indifference. It was her armor. It kept her from dying a thousand deaths from careless words whispered to her and behind her back. She relied on it now, when she really needed it. Her voice held just the right amount of humor and ice. "So you've discovered my secret have you? Well, kudos to you. Maybe now you'll have the good sense to be afraid like the rest of the men on this island." She squared her shoulders ready to protect herself from anything he gave.

Aiden shrugged his wide shoulders beneath the black tux and Belle failed at not noticing or being unaffected. "Or maybe now I'm a little intrigued."