Emma eyed the single bed with a doubtful expression. They'd been unable to find even the faintest trace of the Snow Queen and had resorted to their last straw, Emma's lost memories. They had a lead on where the foster home might be, but it was more than a convenient day's ride away from Storybrook. Hence, the overnight stay at this lousy establishment. The single bed was courtesy of some local film festival that had every damn double room in the whole town booked. The hotelier told them they had been lucky to get this one.

Killian dropped down into the large chair, clearly exhausted from the day's travel. He saw Emma's expression and offered, his voice carefully neutral, "I can sleep here, it's fine."

Emma eyed the chair sceptically. "Don't be silly, you'll ruin your back. We can sleep in that bed together." At his raised eyebrow, she added, "While keeping our hands to ourselves."

He sighed and closed his eyes. "And here I was, hoping for a quiet moment."

"Look. We just need to get this sorted first. I need to know what happened between me and that woman in the past. We need to stay focussed on the task."

"Sure, love." He didn't open his eyes and the resignation in his voice made Emma's heart clench, but she just couldn't worry about him right now with so many other things going on.

She went to the bathroom to get ready for bed. When she came out, wearing sweat pants and an oversized shirt, she noticed that Killian had changed as well. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of grey sweat pants. He looked decidedly normal. It was a good look on him. His hook lay discarded on the bedside table, but he was still wearing his brace.

She quickly stepped past him into the bed, trying not to dwell on the situation too much. After a second's hesitation, he turned off the lights and joined her. It was pretty obvious that there wasn't enough room for them to lie next to each other, so he just sat down on the edge of the bed, letting Emma make the decision, as always.

"How do you want to do this, Swan?", he asked in a tired voice.

"Just lay down, facing away from me."

He did as he was told. After a moment, Emma spooned him, wrapping her left arm over him. She searched for his right hand, then interlocked their fingers. His breathing sped up immediately and his heart started thundering in his chest. Which was ridiculous. He'd been courting her for a while now and they'd shared some very heated kisses. But this felt different. He was hyper-aware of Emma's breath ghosting over his neck, of every single spot where their bodies touched. He sighed softly and prepared himself for a long, sleepless night.


Emma awoke slowly, surfacing from a pleasant dream she couldn't quite recall. She came fully awake in an instant when she remembered how she'd gone to sleep. Somehow, they had reversed their positions during the night. Now, Killian was spooning her, his right arm draped over her. She noticed that his breathing was too fast for him to be asleep. She also saw that his right hand was gripping the sheets in front of her rather than touching her. She narrowed her eyes, wondering what was going on.

With a start, she became aware of his erection pressing into her back and everything clicked into place. The thought that he was this worked up just from sleeping next to her sent a jolt of arousal cursing through her. She was surprised at the intensity of the feeling. Under the guise of moving in her sleep, she arched back experimentally and was rewarded with a small moan.

She considered to just get up quickly and forget about the whole thing. After all, they had a job to do. On the other hand, he had been right when he pointed out that there would always be monsters to fight, villains to face. The moment would not get any quieter than this. She made a decision and turned around to face him. The sight before her was breathtaking. His hair was an adorable mess, sticking out at odd angles. But what made her breath catch in her throat was the expression in his eyes. It was barely concealed hunger, lust, longing. She could not wrap her head around the thought that she was the cause of this look.

She lifted her hand to his face and slowly stroked her thumb over his cheek, feeling the rough stubble. Killian closed his eyes and sighed. It was perfect. He was perfect, the moment was perfect, everything was perfect. A slow smile spread over her face. Then she dived in for a kiss that was pure passion, all tongue and twists and more, yes, please. He moaned again, then his hand lifted from the sheets and sneaked under her shirt, roaming over her back, her arm, her shoulder. She melted against him, deepening the kiss.

He suddenly pulled back, panting heavily. "Emma. Stop." He tried to catch his breath. Emma's eyes narrowed in question. There might have been a hint of hurt ghosting over her features as well.

"What's wrong?"

His voice was deep and husky, sending another jolt of desire through her. "Nothing's wrong. Everything is right. Very, very right. But if you do not desire to go any further than this, love, as much as it pains me, we will have to stop right now, because I'm afraid my control is slipping away from me."

Emma looked at him curiously. "Can I ask you a personal question?"

Killian had to smile at the absurdity of the question. As if he could ever deny her anything. "Of course, love."

Emma bit her lower lip, clearly nervous. "How long has it been for you?"

He had an inkling to what she was referring, but he decided that he would very much like to hear her say it. "How long has it been since what?"

"You know."

He raised his eyebrows at her, his expression innocent. Emma rolled her eyes.

"How long has it been since you had sex?"

"Interested in my sex life now, are we?", he said with a cocky grin.

Emma rolled her eyes again. "Just spit it out."

He actually gave the subject some thought, then shrugged. "I don't know."

Emma's eyes widened. "Stop kidding around."

"It's the truth."

"How can you not know.?" Her voice was unbelieving.

"It was before Neverland. A long time ago." His hand was still drawing slow circles on her back, distracting her.

"That's more than two hundred years ago." She stared at him in disbelief.

"Aye."

"How?"

He smiled at her obvious confusion. Then a flash of something dark ghosted over his face. "It just didn't hold any importance to me at the time. I was focussed on other things."

He drew one eyebrow up, giving her his best flirtatious grin. "But ever since I started thinking about it again, my thoughts have been solely focussed on you, milady."

He was delighted to see a small blush creep up her neck. A worried frown followed close behind.

"What if it's not good? That's a lot of pressure. I mean, you waited Two. Hundred. Years. That's an unbel..."

He put his outstretched index finger on her mouth, shushing her. "It's you and me. It's going to be great, no matter what."

She gave him a wicked grin, then opened her mouth and licked along his finger, sucking the tip into her mouth. He groaned.

"You will be the bloody death of me, Swan."

Her grin widened, then her expression slowly changed into something else. She kissed him again, deep and passionately. Then she manoeuvred them around on the small bed, until he was lying flat on his back, with her draped over him.

"Emma", he whispered. There was an unmistakeable warning note in his voice. She met his gaze and he saw the resolve in her eyes. Still, this time he had to be certain he was reading her correctly.

"Are you sure?"

She gave a small but determined nod. Then, she sat up and was finally in a position to let her hands roam over his chest. He was delightfully responsive to her touch, already squirming beneath her. She leaned down and experimentally licked over a nipple. She was rewarded with another small moan. She could feel him through the thin fabric of their pants, his hard erection pressing into her thigh.

She kissed her way up his chest, over his collarbone, along his neck, then captured his mouth in a hungry kiss. He started moving his hips then, slow, jerky movements that made her blood coil. She was enthralled by the palpable effect she was having on him. He was getting more and more frantic and she relished the thought that it was her doing this to him, finally making him lose his cool.

She sat up again and tugged at the waistband of his pants. He lifted up his hips, allowing her to pull the pants down to his knees. Then she leaned over to her handbag, retrieving a condom from her purse. He looked at her curiously. She opened the package and showed him the content, raising her eyebrow in question. He nodded slowly, still confused. She wrapped it over him and he drew in a sharp breath at her touch, letting his head fall back on the bed and closing his eyes. Fascinated by his reaction, she repeated the movement, again, then a little faster, brushing her thumb over the top with each stroke.

He was moving restlessly, his hand once more fisted into the sheets. His voice was a deep, hoarse growl. "Emma, love, if you wish for this performance to include a main act, I suggest you stop that right now."

Emma grinned, but released him, instead pulling her pants down as well. She moved her hips in position and their eyes locked. She could feel his rock hard erection against her and it was absolutely delicious. She ground her hips against him a couple of times, delighting in the friction it provided.

"Emma." The word was barely a whisper, his voice broken. Emma stopped and took him in hand again, guiding him to her entrance. She took a deep breath and ... a loud wailing noise started blaring all around them.

"Fuck", Emma breathed.

Killian looked like a man suddenly snapped out of a pleasant dream. "What in the realms is that noise?"

"Fire alarm." She looked around, as if searching for the source of the noise. "Maybe it's just a drill. Or a false alarm", she said hopefully.

Then she spotted a whisp of black smoke appearing under the door and her eyes widened. "Move!", she yelled, jumping up from the bed and pulling up her pants in one swift motion. She grabbed her handbag from the bedside table and her coat from where she had discarded it on the chair. Then she was at the door, Hook following close behind.