Hook winked at Emma. She rolled her eyes. He disgusted her. He thought he was such an enigma, but he wasn't an enigma, he wasn't a complicated man that only she could help. She understood everything about him. She knew that he had lost someone that he had loved, just like Emma, so he had closed himself off to future love. Just like Emma. He wanted revenge on the person who had taken that love away from him, and would do anything to get it. He had no loyalty for anyone or anything except for himself and his all-consuming quest for vengeance. He would ally himself with anyone that he thought would help him fulfill that quest.
She could sense all of these things in him, because they were once a part of her. He was exactly in the place that she used to be in. After Neal had left her to take the fall for stealing those watches and she was left to give birth to his son in prison, all alone, she had been so filled with fury and bitterness that she could only find one outlet for all of her anger. She became a bounty hunter. Every time she chased down and cuffed some bail-jumping dirtbag, the only face she saw was Neal's. It was what made her such an effective bounty-hunter. Her anger made her single-minded. She would hunt them down and bring them in. She was ready at any time because she had no personal life. She was brave and reckless because she had no one to miss her if she died. She was the best bounty hunter that she could be, because it was all that she had. She saw the same qualities in Hook. She saw the same single-minded determination to right the wrongs of his past, and because of it, she could never start a relationship with him. He would drag her back into that dark pit, the one that Henry had pulled her out of. She didn't want to go back into that pit. It was cold and lonely there, there was no time for friends or family, the friends and family that she had come to love so much. No, she wasn't willing to give that up for any quest or any man, even if he was incredibly charming. Even if he did understand her a way that no other man could. Emma had already been in a relationship with a man like that. He'd made her feel alive, like she was the only woman in the entire world. Those first few months with him have been amazing, but he'd driven her entire life off track. He had broken her, and it had taken her a decade to put herself back together. Emma had promised herself that she would never fall for a bad boy again. She'd had her share of bad boys and they had all left her broken, in more pieces than they had found her in. She would never let a man break her again.
This seduction was turning out to be harder than Hook had thought. In the past, Hook had been able to wink at a woman and she would rush into his arms. But not Emma. No, Emma was much more discriminating than that. He could tell that he would have to work a lot harder if he wanted her to fall in love with him. Seducing a woman like Emma was an art, and he couldn't wait to get started.
The opportunity came when Emma got her foot caught in a hole and tripped. Hook swooped in to catch her and swept her off her feet. He leaned in. Emma's heart raced, thinking that he was about to kiss her. She repeated her mantra in her head over and over. I am not going to fall for bad boys. I am not going to fall for bad boys. She did everything she could to keep her breathing even. Hook's lips were less than two inches away from Emma's, but instead of kissing her, he softly whispered to her.
"Careful, Love. you don't want to fall for a bad boy."
"Oh, please, you are not a bad boy." Emma stood up. "Thanks for not stabbing me, Edward Scissorhands."
"It's not a pair of scissors, it's a hook. Get your weapons straight."
Emma scoffed, then she smirked.
"Hey, we should just tie a rope to your legs and throw you into the ocean. We could go fishing! You can be the bait and the hook!"
Hook matched her smirk with one of his own. "Cute. But I'd rather use my hands for more...creative purposes."
"Ooooh, good thing I'm not a blusher." Emma retorted sarcastically as she walked away.
Hook was surprised at her prickliness. At least he had taken the first step towards seducing her. He knew that if she fell in love with him, she would be more likely to trust him with information that could help him and Cora get through the portal to Storybrooke. Surprisingly, though, her prickliness kind of turned him on. Most of the women in his land were taught to be simpering little airheads who would do and think anything that the men in their lives told them to. Emma thought for herself. She was angry and headstrong, and most of all, independent. He had only once met another woman like her. He reminded her of Milah, who had been ripped from him far too early. She was the only woman that he had ever loved, and he could never see himself loving another woman ever again.
Emma knew what Hook was doing. She knew that he was trying to seduce her so that she would give away some secrets about getting to Storybrooke. She walked into his tent and kissed him. Telling herself that she was just screwing with him. That she was paying him back for trying to trick her, never even entertaining the very real possibility that his seduction was working.
They kissed passionately, hungrily, unable to get enough of each other. Emma knew that what she was doing was wrong, that she was treading a very dangerous path and that she should turn back soon before it was too late. Before he broke her again. But she couldn't seem to stop herself. And instead of feeling broken, she felt more whole than she ever in her entire life.