Author: My-Sexy-Meagan
Characters: Emma, August, Jefferson
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my fantasies. If I did own anything Once related it would most definitely be Rumple, but sadly I do not :(
Chapter 1
Emma never thought that she'd have a second chance to lose her heart, much less have two guys fighting for it. She'd tried her best to lock love out of her life. In the foster system nobody had ever loved her. In fact when she was 13, her foster parents (the perpetually drunk Bill and the druggie Gretchen) had hit her multiple times a day to reinforce that fact. They never had, and never would love her. She was the source of their income and nothing more.
Some of the homes had been easier to live in than others, but after she had turned 13 she had gotten shoved in homes that only took her money and shoved her into corners, unnoticed and unwanted. When she turned 18 and finally had her freedom, she got a small apartment, and begun working as a waitress to make ends meet. During those brief two years she had fallen, and hard. But she shook those thoughts out of her head now. Too painful.
She groaned as she set her head down on her desk. Jefferson and August? Really? Both of them had made their intentions to seduce her quite clear. She'd thought that after 4 months in Storybrooke her life would settle down, at least a little bit. But quite the opposite had happened. Arson, winning sheriff's office, kidnappings (by the very man who now wanted in her pants). How much could one person deal with?
She'd made it clear to both men, however, that she wasn't interested. Yet they both had continued to ply her with very flattering, and sometimes unwanted, attentions. She'd agreed to allow them three date nights and two coffee dates each to appease them. But it had nothing to do with her desire for male attention, she told herself sternly. It was all about making them leave her alone.
Tonight she had a date with august. He wouldn't tell her where he was taking her though; said it was a surprise. They were supposed to meet at Granny's at 7:30.
7:30! Emma looked at her wrist watch it was6:45. She had just enough time to run back to Mary Margaret's place to shower and put on something nice. As she grabbed her keys to her VW, affectionately referred to as The Clunker, she puzzled over August's directions once again.
"Wear something comfy but nice," he'd instructed her. "Boots or tennies would be better than heels."
She thought this indicated a good bit of walking, but it also made her apprehensive of what they might be doing.
She put all thoughts of what-ifs and possibilities out of her head as she reached Mary Margaret's apartment. She hurried out of The Clunker and inside. It was now 7:05and she rushed through her shower. It was7:20 when she got out, and she patted herself on the back for laying out her outfit before leaving for work. After she got dressed she took 2 minutes to swipe mascara on her lashes and paint her lips red. Tousling her hair with a towel set her golden curls in a perfectly messy arrangement around her head.
Running out the door she headed down the street to Granny's. Her outfit consisted of a tight, v-necked, white tank-top under a brown jacket and paired with butt-hugging skinny jeans and her knee high leather boots.
Her outfit was just right from the look August gave her, scanning her head to toe and lingering in certain areas. He grabbed the two cups sitting on the counter in front of him and walked towards her.
"Here. Two sugars and a cream. Hope you like it. We've got to get moving." He smiled at her expression as he held the door for her.
"August! I just got here. Aren't you going to at least feed me?" She tried to keep the whine out of her voice. It had been a long day. She took a sip from her cup on her way through the door. Not bad.
(insert possible chapter break if it's too lengthy)
"Maybe. You'll have to wait and see." he grinned over his shoulder at her. They headed up the street towards his bike.
He handed her a helmet and then buckled his on. He held out a hand to steady her as she climbed on behind him. She didn't grip his waist until he began to move forward. Then she lurched forward pressing her front against his back. She turned her head to the side and watched the scenery pass instead of paying attention to the way his shoulders shook with laughter.
The ride passed quickly, taking them from the quietly busy streets to the calm and peaceful winding roads of the woods. The ride was over too quickly and Emma took three seconds longer than necessary to let go of her grip on August's waist. If he noticed, he didn't let on.
They had come to a quaint little cabin in the middle of the woods. It couldn't have contained more than three rooms, tops. She wondered just exactly what he had in mind bringing her here.
"August. I didn't agree to go on a date with you just so you could take me somewhere secluded and jump me at first chance." Her voice held equal notes of suspicion and warning. He looked at her and raised his brows slightly.
"Emma! Would I ever?" He feigned shock and dismay at her words while he quickly strapped their helmets to the bike. Then he grabbed her hand, disregarding her stunned inhale and led her to the cabin. He quirked a grin at her as he opened the door and walked in, pulling her along by her wrist. Emma was slightly disappointed.
"August, there isn't anything in here." She glanced around the empty room. There was a small kitchen separated from the main room by a thin bar. At the far end of the room there was a narrow hallway. She headed down the hallway, noting the cramped bathroom to the left, and opened the door at the end of the hall. She stepped into a room almost as large as the main one. She noticed a workbench on her left, a weird looking stand by the window in front of her, piles of skinny blocks on her left, and an overwhelming smell of wood.
"It's a lathe." August said in her ear, making her jump. He put his hand on her waist and chuckled into her ear. His warm breath wafted down her neck causing goosebumps to ripple down her arms and back. He put his hands on her shoulders and slid her jacket down her arms. She couldn't help but shiver.
"Cold?" he asked, feigning innocence.
"No. Of course not." She finished shrugging out of her jacket and he threw it over the stool in front of the workbench. "Now will you tell me what we're going to do?" She crossed her arms over her chest to keep her arousement from being noticed.
"No." He grinned at her, yet again. "I'll show you." He quickly divested himself of his own jacket and walked towards the blocks in the right corner of the room. He investigated each block individually and at length pulled one that looked just like the others from the pile.
"Perfect!" He beamed at her and motioned her towards the lathe.
"Now, we start the magic." He stepped behind her crowding her towards the weird looking machine. She looked at it doubtfully.
As if he could tell her suspicion he laughed again behind her. He reached around either side of her and placed the narrow block in the holders on the ends of the machine. He then grabbed two pairs of safety glasses and handed one to her while putting the other on.
"Hope you don't mind getting dusty." With that he grabbed a chisel and handed it to her.
"How am I supposed to use this?" She hefted the thing like a tiny baseball bat.
"Just hold it, right now." He reached around her again and flicked on a switch on the side. Then he repositioned the chisel in her hands and grabbed her other arm, spooning her while standing in front of the machine. He then moved their arms towards the rotating block.
When their hands met the block, the chisel jerked but August held Emma's arms steady against the vibrations of the machine. During the entire process Emma was aware of the taunt (taut I dunno how to spell it properly? Love Heather) body behind her. If he turned his head the right way, he would breathe down her neck. When his warm breath ghosted down her skin, goosebumps would race all the way to her toes.
She watched in fascination as the wood began to narrow and take shape under their combined effort. It was still unrecognizable until August turned the machine off. She gasped as he pulled it off the lathe and blew the remaining dust off the unfurled petals of a perfectly formed rose.
"Oh, August! It's so perfect! Did we really make this?" She looked up at him in completely unguarded wonder.
"You watched it, you tell me." He offered a pleased smile into her upturned face. "Yes, we made it. Together." He grabbed her left palm away from the stem and kissed the meaty part of her thumb. She gave a little startled gasp and pulled her hand away, but not hurriedly.
He directed her towards the work bench and opened three bottles of paint: one red, one gold, and one green.
"Paint this for me. I'll be back in a little while." She became so engrossed in the fine details of painting her rose that she didn't even notice that he left her by herself for close to an hour. As she finished tipping the petals with gold she put her brush in the mug of dirty water and took her rose with her.
"August?" She called down the hallway. She could hear muffled banging from the kitchen area. She walked into the main room to see a table newly set up and covered with a white tablecloth. Two white candles sat at either end of the table and a clear vase sat in between the candles, in the middle of the table. Emma took the clear invitation and set her rose in the vase before moving to the kitchen area.
As she walked towards the kitchen she saw August moving around the kitchen preparing the food. She took a quick inventory of the smells and guessed that they would be having something Italian tonight.
"Hey. I finished painting." August looked up at the table and grinned at the rose for a brief second, and then continued to move industriously around the kitchen. "Gonna tell me what's on the menu?" She crossed her arms again.
"Well, first I plan on a hearty little salad and then there will be spaghetti with Italian sausage and a surprise for dessert." He grinned again and took his apron off. He gestured her to grab a plate and a covered basket.
"Wow. That was amazing. I had no idea you were a chef, too." Emma was unusually impressed by August's efforts. "The strawberry cheesecake was delicious." She leaned back and stifled a yawn.
"Why, am I boring you, Sherriff?" August grinned his familiar lopsided grin.
"No. No, no." She assured him quickly. "Just a long day at the office. You know." She shrugged non-chalantly. "Oh, my god! It's 9:45!" (Kinda early)
"C'mon. I'll take you home. I can clean this up tomorrow." he added after seeing her expression. Before they left Emma grabbed her rose from the vase.
The ride home was chillier and she was glad for the comforting heat radiating from August's back. He dropped her off in front of Mary Margaret's apartment.
"Thanks, August. Tonight was absolutely wonderful." She turned to go back inside, hoping he wouldn't notice her flaming cheeks. Before she could get more than a half step away from him he had snagged her wrist again. Yanking on it he pulled her, a little unsteadily, closer to him. She gasped a tiny little thing that caused her cheeks to flame up even more. Why was she being this girly? She normally wasn't one to let a guy sweep her off her feet. But all of her frivolous thoughts were quickly silenced when he dropped his mouth to hers.
The kiss was everything at once. Both the sweetest and gentlest she'd ever experienced, and yet the most brutal and terrifying. She gasped against the pleasure of the kiss and against the terror coursing through her veins. But as he shoved his tongue into her still open mouth she quickly forgot everything. She responded without thought, moving her tongue to allow his to plunder her mouth. When that had gone on long enough, her tongue struck back, wrestling to enter his mouth and taste him. As soon as she had won her little battle and barely begun to taste him, he pulled back. She looked at him in complete shock at this turn of events.
He gave her a shove, not unkindly, to set her up on her feet. With that movement he started his bike and drove off, not even giving her a grin over his shoulder. He left her staring down at her perfect rose and touching her lips.