30th November 2014 - So this will be a short 2-3 chapter fic. I was going to wait until I finished writing it all to post but I'm too impatient and just wanted to start sharing. Hopefully if you all enjoy it I'll be motivated to keep working on it. Chapter 2 is already well under way so hopefully it won't take too long :) I'm just going to pretend there is no Frozen or Snow Queen or ice wall for this story but Emma and Killian still got to have their first date, so roughly set just after 4x04. Lots of adult humor and innuendo inbound. Here's hoping you find the intro chapter entertaining enough to add to your follow list :)
Emma shivered in the cool afternoon breeze as it gusted up the street where she stood in the street outside Granny's diner. She shuffled up closely to the passenger-side door of her yellow, Volkswagen and discreetly began to count the small pile of bills in her hand. Ten dollars. Twenty. Fifty. A hundred. Two hundred. Jesus, five-hundred dollars? This little, one-time-only deal had taken on a sordid life of its own. It had started with Ruby, but then word of mouth and whispers had spread. Belle came next, then Tinkerbell, one of the dwarves, a few random townsfolk and last but least not, even Granny herself had discreetly stuffed some cash in Emma's hand and whispered in her ear.
Having racked her brain for an excuse for leaving town for the night Emma did the only thing she could - she texted her parents and lied through her teeth. She'd told them she was staying with Killian for the night and to call her if there was an emergency. Hopefully they could read between the lines and give her privacy. She could likely get over the town border and back before anyone noticed her missing.
Sadly, as much as she wanted to actually be spending the night with Killian, this was one secret Emma didn't want to share with him – not that he wouldn't understand, but she didn't want the burden of having to explain her actions. She knew he'd likely come looking for her tonight, and panic if he couldn't find her. So for now, she'd have to lie to him too. God, how she really would rather be spending the night with Killian. The flirtatious glances, the way they inevitably found a reason to touch whenever they were close – a stray eyelash, a crooked collar, a strand of hair that needed to be put back in place. They'd just never found the right moment to take their relationship to the next level.
With a loud sigh, Emma shoved the bundle of cash into one pocket and retrieved her phone from the other. She began to type a message to the freshly-tech-savvy pirate.
Got an errand to run. I'll see you tomorrow. Will make it up to you I promise – Emma xxx
"Swan?" asked a stern voice behind her. "What are you up to?"
Emma leapt from her skin upon hearing Hook's voice. She spun around to see him staring at her suspiciously. His eyebrow was raised and his arms folded over the front of the new leather coat he was sporting. "Oh my God you scared the crap out of me!"
"Aye, and you look like I just caught you with your hand in the proverbial cookie jar, so I'll ask again – what are you up to?"
"Nothing," she lied, trying to keep a straight face. "You just snuck up on me is all."
"Love, I'm not blind. I've seen you making arrangements and exchanging money under the table with the residents of this town." He took another step closer to her. "You've been making shady, back-alley deals and talking in hushed whispers. I know a bloody smuggler when I see one." Killian cornered her against the car door. "Now tell me, what wares are you trading? Spices? Magical ingredients? I see no shortage of rum and other forms of liquor in this town. Weapons?" His face lit up. "That's it isn't it? You're surreptitiously smuggling an arsenal of weapons and planning a revolution of some sort? What has the Evil Queen done this time to warrant such a hostile act?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "You have a very active imagination you know that?"
"Indeed," he winked and grinned. "Perhaps one day soon you'll get a glimpse at just how creative I can be when it comes to you."
She shivered with delight at his insinuation then forced herself to concentrate. "I'm not up to anything," she crossed her arms across her chest defensively.
"Love, I don't need your super power to know you're lying. Perhaps your father, the other Sheriff of this little town, would appreciate me alerting him to the very suspicious activities I have witnessed these last few days?" Killian clucked disapprovingly.
"No! Don't you dare tell David!" Emma said in a panic, her cheeks blushing bright red. "He's not to know about any of this."
"And precisely what is this you speak of?" he questioned, pushing for more information.
"I-," Emma stammered. "I can't tell you."
Killian traced his finger along Emma's arm, over her elbow, past her shoulder, trailing a line up to caress her neck just below her ear. "I have ways of making you talk Swan. I can be very persuasive when I need to be."
Emma shrugged her shoulders and rubbed her cheek against his hand. She crumpled to the power of his touch. Damn him. She sighed out loud. "Let's just say that being Sheriff doesn't exactly pay well, if at all actually, so when I was approached about a very particular business opportunity I decided to take it."
He stared at her with a blank expression. "I want in."
"In?" Emma asked, playing dumb.
Pressing his hips against Emma's, Killian pinned her against the side of the car. "Ah well I can think of at least one special place I'd like to get in to, but for now, I want in on whatever it is you're up to. Fifty-fifty split."
"For doing what?" blurted Emma. "I'm doing all the hard work and taking all the risk. Why should I give you anything?"
Killian gently thumbed her earlobe, relishing the way she tried to hold back her little gasps of pleasure. "Because if you don't, I will follow through on the threat to tell your father."
Emma scoffed loudly. "You wouldn't."
"Of course I would. I'm a bloody pirate. Besides, you're not the only one who could use some extra currency. A man has to eat, Swan, and in case you hadn't noticed I'm currently homeless and without a means of income. Granny won't allow me me stay at the Inn for free forever. I mean, I did give up my ship for you..." he added with a cheeky grin.
Emma groaned, gave him a gentle shove and opened the car door. "Just get in."
His eyes lit up like a five-year-old at Christmas. "Are you going to tell me where we're going?"
"No."
Emma yawned and stared at the yellow dividing line where the headlights of the car lit up the road in front of them. She really wished she'd thought to get coffee before they'd left. No time to stop now. Just gotta get there and back as quickly as possible, she told herself.
Meanwhile Killian was fidgeting in the passenger seat, alternating between tapping his finger against the arm rest and playing with his hook. "Well, it's been a good hour or more since we passed the town line," he said impatiently, scratching behind his ear. "Where are we going Swan? We're not going all the way back to New York are we? Not that I'd complain of course. I'd just rather not be accosted by another beautiful black man in a dress, who keeps calling me honey while promising to shiver my timbers."
"What?" Emma laughed out loud. "Where exactly did you go in New York?"
"Never-mind. Let's just say I ran into a few interesting characters during my short visit to retrieve you and Henry."
"I do need to go back and pack up all our stuff one of these days, but no, we're not going all the way to New York." She started to yawn again.
"Are you OK to drive Swan? If I knew how to captain this vessel I would offer to assist, but the mechanics of this contraption still have me somewhat confused."
"I'll be fine. Not too long to go. I just need cold air and some tunes." Emma wound down the window slightly before reaching over to turn on the radio. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and took a few deep breaths. "All good," she said reassuringly to Killian. Her face lit up as she recognised the song that began to play. She turned up the volume and threw caution to the wind, feeling silly as she broke into song. "Yo I tell you what I want, what I really really want..." she hummed a few bars before resuming. "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever. Friendship never eeeeeends."
Killian looked less than impressed, trying to hide the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips. "Are you serenading me with the song of your people Swan?"
"What? No," she replied, flushed with embarrassment as she turned the volume back down. "I'm just singing along to the radio like normal people do. I grew up listening to this music."
"Music? You call this noise, music?"
"And what would you know about music? I wouldn't have thought your tastes expanded beyond sea shanties?"
"I'll have you know I'm more than capable of strumming a good tune or two on a lute. I once had a member of my crew who was also excellent with the fiddle. We'd have the men up on their feet dancing a jig all too often." Killian coughed and cleared his throat. "All in a very manly way of course."
"Uh-huh," Emma snickered. "And you're making fun of me singing along to the Spice Girls."
"The Spice Girls? I'm afraid I don't know any Spice Girls, although I once knew some lovely tavern maids named Ginger, Rosemary and Saffron," he said teasingly. "Does that count?"
Emma took her eyes off the road for just a moment to give him the evil eye. "Careful pirate, or I'll pull over and leave you by the roadside."
"Are you jealous Love?" he suggested playfully.
"Jealous of all the wenches you've likely slept with over the last two centuries? No. I'd just rather not think about it. Ugh." She cringed.
"And precisely how many men have you taken to your bed Swan? I'm guessing it's more than just Baelfire and that flying monkey?"
Emma glared at him. "Don't you think it's a little early to be having this talk? From my experience this conversation usually happens much later in a relationship. We haven't even had sex yet!" Her heart started to thump at the thought of it, suddenly realising that she hadn't been in such close confines with Killian, or alone with him in forever. As she felt the heat rising in her cheeks she wound down the window a little more.
"Yet, Swan?"
"Yes, yet," she replied sternly. "As in, still a possibility. Well, that's if you play your cards right, behave yourself and do as I tell you on this little excursion tonight."
Killian reached over his with hook and trailed its sharp end gently along her denim-clad thigh. "What if I don't want to behave?" he asked mischievously.
Emma's breath hitched in her throat. "Killian," she growled.
He continued to scratch at her jeans. "Why must you always wear these thick cotton trousers? I had much easier access under that dress you wore to our date. Why didn't I make the most of that opportunity?"
"I don't know," she replied with a coy smile while still keeping her eyes on the road. "Why didn't you?"
He ground the curved edge of his hook against the gap between her legs. "I was being a gentleman, given it was our first date and all."
Putting her foot on the accelerator Emma used it as an excuse to arch her hips towards his hook. His smooth caresses were doing wonderful things to her insides. "Maybe I was hoping you'd be more pirate than gentleman," she purred.
"And I would have been happy to oblige, but you had two parents and a baby brother waiting at home remember?"
"I know, but that doesn't stop a girl from dreaming," replied Emma with a sigh. Her eyes were still on the road but she could feel Killian's hungry gaze boring into the side of her head. Despite the strong desire to pull the car over and tear his clothes off, Emma wanted their first time to be somewhere far more intimate – not on the side of a highway.
Killian was drawing little figure-eights above her knee with the tip of his hook. "So when are we going to make these dreams a reality Swan?"
Exhaling loudly Emma relaxed her foot on the accelerator. "Soon I hope, but right now we just have to do this one job and get back home before anyone realises we left."
Killian gave her an understanding smile and pulled his hook back to his own lap. "As you wish, but you should know, if you keep this gentleman waiting, the pirate might come looking to pillage and plunder after all."
"God I hope so," Emma replied with a husky, aroused sigh.
