Emma tried to convince herself it was for the best he took off. What they were doing was highly illegal. She should know better. The council explicitly forbid "fraternization" between the various races. In their minds, reduced contact was supposed to cut down on the amount of infighting that had been plaguing them for centuries. She thought that was a load of bull, but it was the law. Vampires, werewolves, witches and wizards, nymphs, all part of this vast underground world right in the face of humanity and no one knew a thing. It was only through careful management and lawfulness they managed to keep their existence a secret. For the most part, the various races did not associate with each other. Even just speaking a little too friendly was enough to arouse suspicions. They lived separately, all under the rule of the council made up of a group of immortals. Emma had more contact then most with other supernatural beings, given her occupation. She'd "known" Killian for years, he was always dodging the law and then getting out of it at the last second because he knew where the lines were and how to cover his tracks.

She returned to the kitchen. She had a mess to clean up. Seeing the remains of Killian's attempt to cook her breakfast, she tried not to smile as she imagined him struggling with the eggshells. He had left several failed attempts in her trashcan. Again she wondered what the hell had caused the change in mood all the sudden.

All she could figure is he got cold feet about their situation and wanted to leave. Emma did worry that he left during the day. Its not like the sunlight would kill him, and the sun had already started to set anyhow, but it wouldn't be pleasant if he strayed from the shadows. She had even found his gloves in her bedroom, so he had one less way to cover himself.

Finishing up the chores with a few flicks of her wrist, she was ready to curl up with a good book for a while before she had to go out again. She still felt a little less than 100% and wondered if there were any potions that would speed her recovery from "blood donation" along. Finally crawling under the blankets, her tabby cat almost gave her a heart attack when he jumped up beside her.

"There you are Henry! Where have you been hiding all this time?" She was used to her familiar disappearing though and was not surprised he had not revealed himself to Killian. Henry was not a pet and did not take kindly to strangers. Witch's familiars were fiercely loyal and choose their hosts carefully. He would be granted a long life and in return served to magnify and channel some of her magic. The bond was very strong. She rubbed his ears and said, "do me a favor Henry, next time you see Killian, bite him for me." He purred and she almost thought he grinned in return.


She had not heard from Killian in 5 days. Emma tried not to think about him, she really did, but her thoughts kept drifting to that night. Its not often she does things like that anymore. At 28 years old she thought she was above such reckless one night stands, especially with someone outside her species. She didn't get along with too many people anyway. Besides a shitty date with the occasional wizard she hadn't had a boyfriend in a very long time. Walsh had been the last, and he was so focused on having a her as a trophy and admiring her "wonderful spellwork" that she had never felt like he was actually her boyfriend. No connection. No one since then had even bothered, besides Killian's constant efforts to get her to talk to him.

Over the last week she had thrown herself into her work trying to get Killian's stupid face out of her head. She may have bitten off a bit more than she could chew because she got in a scuffle and let a werewolf (who had revealed himself to a human and made a huge mess for damage control to clean up, before skipping town) land a pretty hard punch or two before he ran off. It was easy enough to heal but she cursed herself for being so sloppy. Regina had given her an earful about that.

In the middle of the night (otherwise known as mid morning) she was ripped from sleep with a fiery pain in her left hand racing all the way to her elbow. It was excruciating and felt like actual flames. She fell out of bed trying to get her bearings and by the time she got the lights on the pain had lessened slightly, but still stung like a bitch. Totally awake now, for some reason her thoughts ripped to Killian. She actually walked towards the door with some vague intention of going to him before she remembered she had no idea where he is and there was no reason to go wandering around looking for him at this ungodly hour.

She tried to pull herself together because woah, where had any of this come from. Concluding she must have been half dreaming, she attempted to heal whatever was wrong with her arm. Nothing happened. Which meant it was probably magical in origin and she was going to need something else. Of course.

She looked back to her bed and Henry was already awake and watching her closely. "Ok bud, lets try this again," she said, still cradling her hand. "You know the drill."

The cat gently padded to the edge of the bed and she held her hand out for him to touch. She again tried to heal herself, the glow filling the room.

Nothing. She sighed and rubbed her arm again, nothing she did even touched the pain.

"You have any ideas?" She had long gotten used to talking to him without real answers. Not like she had another companion. Sometimes he would nod or lead her in the right direction, but nothing more. This time was no exception. She wasn't getting sleep anytime soon so she dragged out her magical textbooks and tried to figure out what the hell was wrong with her.


The next morning she hadn't gotten any closer to making it stop and resigned herself to just ignoring it. Her arm wasn't in excruciating pain anymore but it still hurt, like a bad sunburn. She had to go into the office that day to get a new list of potential marks. Perfect, she thought, just what I want to do.

Regina was waiting for her when she got in, a little late.

"Where have you been? Nevermind, get in here. I have an assignment specifically for you," Regina said.

That's interesting, Emma thought. She was the best at her job but this never happened.

"Hit me with the best you got, boss." She loved messing with Regina. They had a long history and her boss hated it when she used any kind of unprofessional language at work. This time though, Regina ignored her and continued speaking. Bad sign.

"This is a bit sensitive. A vampire has been caught feeding from a witch, and I believe a lot more than that. It appears they had a relationship. It seems the council is throwing the book at him for whatever reason and they are still trying to figure out who the woman is. Law enforcement arrested him and he escaped, so hes been on the run since then. I need you to track him down, and you might have to travel a bit."

Emma gulped. Killian. She hoped Regina couldn't read it on her face. Was this some kind of test? Get her to confess? I mean, she and Killian never had a relationship but still-

"His name is August Booth and I have reason to suspect the witch is someone from my own coven."

Oh thank god. She let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding in.

"So what I'm asking is for some discretion when you handle this case. There is no need to stoke the anti-vampire tensions that have been floating around here recently. If people find out one of our own community were a 'target' there will likely be riots. You and I both know it was more than likely consensual but most people don't see it that way." Regina finished, looking at her expectantly.

"Of course, Regina. Anything you want. I can handle discretion." Her mind was still reeling, that was actually far too close for comfort she thought. She was glad now that Killian had taken off, shes not sure what she would do if either of them were caught.

"Good. Now here is the file, everything we know so far, which admittedly isn't much." When Emma reached out to take it, pain suddenly shot through her left hand again and she pulled back, wincing, before grabbing it with her other hand. Regina's eyes narrowed. "Whats wrong with your left hand, Miss Swan?"

"I don't know. It just started hurting last night and everything I tried to heal it with doesn't work. It feels like I'v been burned."

"You tried using Henry I assume?" Regina had actually been the one to introduce her to Henry, and had gotten a kick out of it when her new familiar had chosen the same name as her then-newborn son.

"Of course I did," she snapped, "Its not really a big deal, its been getting better on its own."

"As long as it doesn't interfere with your work," Regina said skeptically.

"It won't."


It was 2 days later (a week since she had seen Killian, no she wasn't counting) and she was no further on her newest case when she heard a knock on her door. Expecting Elsa as no one else ever came to visit, especially not unannounced, she moved to open the door.

When she opened the door shes pretty sure the last person she expected to see was Killian, with a very serious look on his face. However, she barely had time to think about that, because a Henry-shaped blur immediately launched himself directly at the man and bit him right on the hand.

Killian exclaimed "What the hell?!" and jumped back at about the exact moment Emma couldn't stop the gasp that came from her mouth when her own right hand felt a very distinct pain. Henry calmly walked back and stood in the middle of the kitchen, swishing his tail and appearing for all the world satisfied with himself.

"Um, im sorry," She started, trying to figure out what the hell just happened. "I don't know what Henry just did but this isn't a good time." She didn't need to keep getting involved with him. He had to go.

Killian looked almost ill when she turned back to him.

"We need to talk, Emma." Emma very nearly shut the door in his face but he looked awful, like he'd not slept in days. Worry painted his features. Something made her want to hear whatever it is he has to say.

"Alright, come in," Emma said. "Talk."

Killian winced at her words and very much looked like he didn't want to have this talk. He slung himself into one of her kitchen chairs and she tried not to imagine the last time he had been sitting there.

"I assume you felt that just now? When your beast bit me?" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. "Have you noticed anything out of the ordinary this week, perhaps about your thoughts or body?" She squeezed her hand. The phantom burn was almost gone but it still stung sometimes.

"Yes… My hand has been killing me and I can't heal it. But how do you know about that?"

He closed his eyes and pulled his left hand out of his pocket and it took her a few seconds to understand. It was an angry red color, almost all the way up to his elbow. A burn.

"I believe that may be my fault, love. I left my gloves here and got my hand caught in the sun for just a few seconds the other day on my way to see.. some friends."

She felt the blood drain from her face. They couldn't.. the only way they could be sharing that is..

"I'm afraid we have found ourselves bonded. I don't have a clue how, and no one has EVER heard of this working cross species like this, it shouldn't have happened even if it were possible, because its not like you drank from me and it always requires both..."

She cut him off with a whisper, "We have to undo it."

"I..I don't think we can. With vampires at least, its permanent. It ends only when one partner dies and takes the other down with them. So unless you feel like a joint suicide tomorrow we are stuck."

"There has to be a way! What if the other symptoms start? How are we going to explain this? When did you know?!" She was rapidly panicking, this couldn't be happening-

"I don't bloody know! Ok!" He stood now, facing her, "I didn't mean for thing this to happen, its not even possible, and I had convinced myself I imagined feeling your pain that night in your bedroom. Until there I was, sitting at home alone, and I felt YOU get punched in the gut twice and the draw of the bond nearly drove me to straight to your doorstep! There is a reason I'v gone so long without a mate, I don't bloody want this either!"

"Are you sure Killian, because I seem to remember you being all too eager to just flaunt the laws we have-"

"Don't you DARE put this all on me, YOU kissed me Emma! Not once did I do a single thing without your permission and if I had known this would be the outcome I bloody well would have avoided you!"

"Avoid me? You've been playing games with me for YEARS, always showing up while I'm trying to do my damn job and mucking things up and I think its just because you were lonely! With your stupid flashy black coat and stupid fangs and-"

She found her words suddenly cut off by Killian's lips on her own, his solid body forcing her back against the counter top. Without missing a beat, she responded just as roughly. She couldn't stop herself from wanting to taste more of him and from burying her fingers in his hair. Emma felt herself come alive. His hands were already roaming, and she suppressed a yelp when he roughly palmed one of her breasts. She sucked his lower lip into her mouth and bit down and he groaned, bucking his hips into hers. They fought for dominance, all anger evaporating into lust, and already she was gasping for air.

With a sense of deja vu she pushed his coat off his shoulders and let it fall to the floor and began working at his buttons. Growing frustrated, she twisted her wrist and with a pop, all the buttons dropped to the floor so she could run her hands over his heated chest and around to his back. He gave her ass a squeeze and drew his hands to her hips and she expected him to lift her shirt, but instead he lifted her onto the countertop and stepped between her legs, bringing them even closer.

She responded by looping her fingers into his belt and dragging his him into her center. "I need you, now," she felt herself say.

Immediately he divested her of a top and pulled her hips to the edge of the counter. Soon enough they were both bare and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He wasted no time and lined himself up, his eyes flashing. He gave her a passionate kiss and then drove forward without preamble, making her yelp. The sensation was even better than she remembered.

His strokes were long and deep, and he held tightly onto her hips for leverage. She clung to him and raked her nails down his back, each thrust sending sparks of pleasure through her body. Rapidly she was approaching climax and she could feel him panting against her. After a particularly hard thrust that had her head spinning, he pulled back and kissed her long and hard, then his lips went to her ear.

"Come on, love," he said, "come for me." He rubbed at her clit and snapped his hips into her. She had just enough time to brace herself this time before he sent her over the edge. She thinks she stopped breathing as her entire body tightened around him and her toes curled. She forced her eyes open to watch the ecstasy play out on his face as he pumped into her once, twice, and then again, releasing her to cry out as he came.

Fully spent, he dropped his head to her shoulder and whispered, "Gods Swan, what have you done to me?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out," she said breathless, her thoughts still trying to catch up with what just happened. He chuckled and stepped back, looking around for his boxers.

She hopped off the counter and tried not to topple over. She pulled on her underwear and grabbed Killian's shirt just as he reached for it, giving him a sly smile.

"Come on, we can talk in the bedroom," she said, not relishing the conversation they were going to have to have very soon. For now at least, she needed to process it herself.

They crawled under the sheets together and she let his arms come around her, so his warm body could calm her racing heart.

"So what do we do now?"

x

x


So... yeah.

Im actually doing NaNoWriMo right now so this should get very frequent updates :D My tumblr is theworldwithoutmagic if you want updates about my progress with writing~

I want to be clear that the "night" and "day" is flipped anytime Emma or Killian is talking about it unless they specifically talk about sunlight. Even though Emma is fine to go out, most "supernaturals" end up on a nocturnal schedule just because.

PLEASE tell me if im making this too weird or confusing. I have no idea. I didn't plan the mechanics of this universe before I wrote the first chapter, so now I have to make up stuff that makes sense and create conflict to continue the story. Like literally, for example if you think Henry the cat is weird, tell me and I can just delete it and I won't feel offended haha.

Anyway. Reviews are my applause and it makes me write faster, you have no idea! Im glad so many people seem to like this, its a TON of fun to write.