Neal and Emma won the game. Milah pouted at Neal, while I wandered back to the bar for another drink. Emma followed behind. Neither of us were in the mood to continue the evening. David and Mary Margaret walked over while we waited for our drinks.
"Hey, guys, we're going to head out," David said, cashing out with the bartender. "We'll catch you guys tomorrow."
"'Night, guys," I said, slugging David in the shoulder.
Mary Margaret gave us a strange look. "Emma, are you ok?" she asked, catching the wetness in Emma's eyes. Always perceptive, that lass.
"Fine," Emma said, tossing back her drink and ordering another. I looked up into the mirror above the bar and could see Neal and Milah trying to be sneaky, watching our backs and flirting. He tucked her hair behind her ear, and she tilted her face into his palm, a lover's caress. I looked at Emma in the mirror. She was watching, too, the hurt in her jade green eyes turning them almost onyx.
"Ok, well, we'll see you later," Mary Margaret said, knowing things weren't fine but deciding it was best to leave well enough alone. She would eventually pester the truth of the situation from Emma.
I finally caught Emma's eyes in the mirror. She and Neal had just gotten engaged though Milah and I had been together longer. We had met in New York while I was playing in a band. The band had gotten a couple of gigs in the Boston area and decided to change venues. There was more money and cheaper real estate here. The band had split up a year or two later, but Milah and I had stayed in Boston. We all started hanging out somewhere in between.
Her eyes were dark, her breathing barely controlled. I reached over, putting my hand on top of hers. "Swan, love, what are you thinking?"
She looked back up to them and then down at her drink. She picked it up and splashed it that same "fuck them" way she had moments before. She slammed her tumbler on the bar and turned to me, eyes flashing. In that brief moment between watching our lovers behind us and turning to me, her face completely morphed. The pain and sadness were exchanged for anger and vengeance. She smiled at me like she would smile at Neal before he'd drag her out back for a make out session. Her eyes were molten, half lidded as they skimmed my body. I tugged at my ear as her eyes traveled back to my face.
"Well, love, what do you think I'm thinking?" she asked, mocking me.
I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Are you sure you want to play this game, darling?" We both glanced up into the mirror and saw our lovers entirely too involved in one another, now ignoring us completely. I gave her the same heated inspection she had just given me. Returning to her face, I saw something unexpected in her eyes.
Fear and something unnamed pooled in my belly. I had always wondered what it would feel like to be on the receiving end of that gaze. Neal and I were, or so I thought, good together, but…Killian radiated something dangerous and exciting. My thoughts were interrupted by a hand brushing up my side, a thumb grazing gently under my breast. The fear ebbed and the unnamed dipped lower in my body.
"Killian," I said, my breath caught in my throat. I was frozen as he leaned over, lips again at my ear.
"Give it ten seconds, and meet me out back."
"What? No!" I panicked. I had expected some harmless flirting here inside. If he wanted to go outside, he was jumping a few levels ahead. I wasn't sure I wanted to play this mad, revenge game. He glanced over to Neal and Milah, who were getting more hands on and less worried about being caught.
He grabbed my waist and hauled me against him. "You know you want to," he was almost touching my lips with his. "You've wanted to for a while. I can see it in those beautiful green eyes of yours." My heart was thumping in my chest. Was it fear or something else more dangerous? I looked at Neal and Milah as he pulled away to leave.
I turned back to the bar as he left, picking up my latest beverage. I watched Killian walk out the back as Neal and Milah glanced over at me. Seeing me occupied and Killian gone, they grew more boisterous in their flirting. They went back to the dart board, ignoring me completely. I snuck out the back. As I stepped into the alley, Killian grabbed me and shoved me up against the wall, his hips pinning me.
"Killian, we can't do this," I said, trying to fight off his hands. They were everywhere. He pulled back enough to slide his hands down my waist and grab my ass, hauling me against him.
"Aye, love, we can do this," he growled into my neck. One hand had my ass and kept my hips ground into his, the other fished under my shirt, scalding my ribs as he sought my breast. He thumbed my nipple through the lacy cup of my bra while his tongue traced my heartbeat down my throat. I could feel his arousal through my jeans. Whatever was going on in his head, I needed to stop him.
"Killian, wait, stop," I grabbed his face in my hands and forced him to look at me, but what I saw in his eyes nearly crushed me. Pain, hurt, desperation, and fear, all swirling around in those sapphire depths. I imagine they mirrored my own, but this was no solution. I pulled him down so that our foreheads were touching, running my fingers along the back of his neck to soothe. His breathing was ragged; I could feel every muscle in his body tensed, ready to spring. He sunk to my shoulder, his arms wrapping around my waist. He took a deep breath and pulled back to look at me.
"Emma, I… I'm sorry," he whispered.
"Please, Killian," I said as I pushed him back a bit. "I'm as much to blame as you, but you're angry..." He glared at me. I was having a bit of trouble breathing with him that close. That would require some thought when sobriety kicked in.
"And you're not?" he hissed. Suddenly he was up against me again, mouth crushing down on mine, forcing my lips open, tongue plumbing my depths. He was enraged and intent on causing harm. My hands flew to his head, trying to pull him back, fingers woven through his hair, pulling fruitlessly. His hand slid back up my body, my fear was once again overwhelmed by that maddening unknown.