Joseph hurts his back. Belle makes him feel better.

When Belle heard the front door open, she called a greeting, surprised when Joseph's voice didn't answer her. He always said hello before he'd even gotten his coat off. Concerned, she ducked out of the office to see him standing in the entranceway, face pale as he stared at the closet door like it had personally offended him.

He was making no move to take his coat off, and she approached him slowly. "Joseph?"

He jerked his head to look at her, lines of pain etched around his mouth as he tried to smile for her. "Sorry! Hi."

"Baby, what's wrong?" she asked in dismay, darting to his side. Beads of sweat were dotted along his hairline, his breathing harsh.

"Helped move some boxes. Just wrenched my back a little," he explained, his voice breathless.

From the look of him, he'd done more than wrench it a little. Joseph sighed in relief when she eased his coat off his shoulders and hung it up for him, his jacket following immediately.

Between helping when Rumpelstiltskin's knee played up and assisting TJ in the infirmary, this was something Belle could handle. "Can you make it up the stairs?" she asked.

"Maybe?" he said doubtfully, and she could see how stiffly and awkwardly he was moving as he slowly made his way across the living room to the stairs. She left his side long enough to retrieve a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and a towel, catching up with him before he'd even attempted the stairs.

There wasn't much she could do to help as he clung to the bannister for support, so she stuck close to his side, braced to catch him if he stumbled. Somehow they managed to reach the second floor, although he lost even more color on the way.

"Oh, my poor baby," she crooned, pressing a soft kiss to his lips as her hands busied themselves with getting him out of his shirt. He helped her as much as he could, wincing with every movement. "Let's get some aspirin in you."

She retrieved the pills from the bathroom, and he swallowed them quickly, taking only a sip of the water she'd brought him. "Hurts to move my head," he admitted when she tried to coax him into drinking more, and Belle let the matter drop.

Getting him out of his shoes and trousers was a production. She ended up undoing his belt, letting the fabric pool around his feet as he shuffled closer to the bed, managing to get himself lying face down on it. She pulled off his shoes and socks, tossing his trousers to the floor before trailing her hand gently over his back. "Tell me where it hurts."

A pained grunt directed her to a spot just above his right hip, and she kissed his shoulder blade in apology as she probed at it as gently as she could, his muffled groan filling her with guilt. Nothing seemed out of place, she realized with relief, kissing the sore place. "I think you pulled a muscle."

"No kidding," he grumbled into the pillow, and Belle choked back a laugh. For all his sweetness, apparently Joseph was as grouchy as any other man when he was in pain.

She wrapped the frozen peas in the towel and arranged it carefully on his back, checking the clock. "Twenty minutes."

His muttered response was lost to the pillow, and she snickered, curling up beside him to stroke his hair. "Take deep breaths, baby," she coaxed, "Try to relax."

They sat in silence for long minutes as she petted him, hoping the cold was bringing down the inflammation. Seeing Joseph in pain hurt her heart, but there was little she could do for a pulled muscle.

When the twenty minutes were up, she kissed the top of his head. "How are you doing, baby?"

He turned his head enough to be comprehensible as he sighed, "I'm sorry."

Belle tapped his nose affectionately. Joseph's rare show of bad temper had nothing on Nick in one of his good moods. She was opening her mouth to tell him so when he continued, "I'm sorry I'm so... old."

"Baby..." she breathed in dismay, tossing the ice pack onto the nightstand before snuggling down beside him. "You're not old."

His bitter laugh didn't reassure her. "I'm almost fifty, and you're barely out of your twenties. I'm sorry, angel."

"Hush," she murmured, kissing his lips to force him to be silent. "My husband was fifty-two when we got married, and Nick was forty-nine when I met him. You're actually the youngest man I've ever been with."

"Really?" he brightened a bit at her words, and she kissed him again.

"Besides, I'm officially closer to forty than I am to my twenties. I think we're both exactly the right age," she concluded, relieved when that won her a smile, small but genuine. "You just feel old because you're hurting. Let me help."

Belle moved to straddle his thighs, making sure not to put too much pressure on him as she rested her hands over the sore spot, letting her body heat soothe the ache. Beneath her, Joseph made a soft little noise that wasn't quite pain, and she started to massage gently, just enough to encourage blood flow so he'd heal more quickly.

"Is this all right, baby?" she murmured, and he answered her with a sigh. Smiling to herself, she kept going, gradually working her way out from the pulled muscle to the rest of his back, applying more pressure. Under her fingers, she could feel how tense he was, his other muscles working too hard to compensate. "Nice deep breaths," she reminded him, using her body weight to work out some of the kinks.

A smothered groan met her ears, and Belle stopped at once. "Am I hurting you?"

"Don't stop!" he pleaded, and she smiled tenderly down at him, leaning just a little harder as she pushed the heels of her palms up his spine, feeling him growing looser with every stroke.

"Sweet baby," she murmured fondly, concentrating her attention on his neck. She gently probed the place where his neck met his shoulders, feeling the tension in his muscles. No wonder it hurt to move his head. Her poor Joseph was completely done up. "You kept working after you hurt your back, didn't you?"

"They needed help," he defended weakly, and Belle wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry. Of course Joseph would ignore his own needs in order to help someone else. She didn't know why she was surprised.

"You'll take it easy until you feel better," she directed, and he didn't argue with her. The damage was already done, but at least she should be able to stop him from hurting himself again. Exerting firm pressure, she dragged her fingers down his neck, repeating the motion until she felt the tension ease.

"There we go," she crooned, pressing a kiss to the back of his neck, and Joseph groaned like she was torturing him. Only then did Belle realized she'd draped herself over his back, no doubt putting uncomfortable pressure on his pulled muscle. "Oh baby, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, quickly getting off of him, and he groaned louder.

"No, please... please...!" he gritted out, his face tight with what looked like pain, but pain had never sounded like that. As she swept her gaze over him, she noticed the way he was pressing his hips down, rubbing himself against the bed.

Apparently she'd made him feel much better.

It wasn't one of their six days, and there was no way they could make love with him done up like this, but there were other options. "Roll over on your side, baby," she breathed, and he obeyed, allowing her to spoon up behind him. "Does that feel okay?"

"Angel, please!" he begged, and Belle had a feeling that the pain in his back was the last thing on his mind. Reaching down she cupped him through his boxers, feeling him buck against her hand. Normally Joseph was patient in bed, and she rather liked this new, desperate version.

She eased his boxers down and wrapped her hand around him, his heat searing her fingers. "That's it, baby," she crooned, nibbling on the shell of his ear.

"Belle... Belle... Angel..." he moaned, and she let her free hand explore his chest, playing with his nipples as she started to stroke him.

She tried not to let him move too much, concerned he'd aggravate his injury, but Joseph was pushing eagerly into her touch, his soft groans filling the room. When she pinched his nipple between thumb and forefinger, he cried out, arching back into her, and she nuzzled his throat as she trailed her hand down his chest to rub his quivering stomach. "Easy, baby. Just let it feel good."

Joseph laughed breathlessly. "Oh, it does."

Her hand strayed lower, cradling his balls as she stroked him, loving how hard and hot he was in her hand, knowing that only she affected him this way. "Do you ever do this?" she asked, suddenly curious. Surely Joseph had the same desires as any other man, but they shared a bed, and she'd never had a hint that he'd been touching himself.

"Some... sometimes," he confessed, and she could feel his blush under her lips.

The hesitant word sent a flood of heat through her, and she couldn't resist pushing for more. "Tell me?"

His cock pulsed in her hand, and she picked up her pace the tiniest bit as he rasped. "The shower. Sometimes... in the shower."

Belle hummed at the thought of Joseph standing in the spray of water, his cock in his hand. "What do you think about?"

"You!" he gasped, and she scraped her teeth gently over his pulse point. "I... I think about how beautiful you are... how it feels to be inside you... how you sound when I'm pleasing you..."

She moaned at the words, and he thrust into her hand. "Angel... I pretend it doesn't have to be a secret... that I can kiss you in front of everyone... in front of Ben..."

She'd had no idea that Joseph was still jealous over Ben, and knowing that he was shouldn't turn her on so much. "I never did this with him," she reminded him, and he grunted, picking up his pace. "Is that your favorite fantasy, baby? Tell me your favorite."

Belle nuzzled his jaw, tasting heat and lust and the faintest hint of stubble against her lips, the prickling sensation incredibly erotic as they worked together to bring him pleasure. Joseph thrust rhythmically into her hand, all thought of back pain gone as she moved with him, rubbing her thumb over the head of his cock with every stroke, feeling the telltale wetness that showed her just how close he was.

"You... you had a bad day," he panted, and she had to concentrate to make out the words as his accent thickened. "You're tired, so I run you a bath. You let me stay with you, bathe you, wash your hair... You let me brush it for you afterwards, and I take you to bed... Then you... you..."

"What, baby?" she murmured, craning her neck so she could kiss the corner of his mouth, and Joseph groaned like she was killing him.

"You tell me to take care of you... to make you feel good... I kiss you for hours... touch and lick and use my mouth on you over and over again..." He was moaning with every breath, barely comprehensible, and she stroked him more firmly, feeling the fine trembling that heralded his climax.

"You... you let me do everything for you... You..." His fantasy dissolved into desperate groans, and she pressed her thumb against the sensitive spot right under the head, feeling him tense in her embrace as sticky heat bathed her fingers. Belle kept stroking him, easing him through it, trying to give him as much pleasure as she could as she trailed biting kisses down his neck.

"Oh, angel..." he moaned, slumping back against her, and she smiled against his throat, cuddling him close.

"How's your back?" she asked softly, and he chuckled.

"Never better." Turning his head, they brushed their lips together, Belle tracing her tongue over his bottom lip.

"I like your fantasy," she told him, and his face lit with a shy smile. It felt wonderful to care for Joseph, but the thought of letting him care for her had its own appeal. As they snuggled in to sleep, Belle made a mental note to have a bad day sometime in the very near future.