CHAPTER FOUR
Warning: mild non-con & graphic violence (it is a Pirate ship) – Reminder Story is rated (M)
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The row boat reached the shore and three men dragged it up the beach before proceeding to slap Hook and each other on the backs enthusiastically. Emma couldn't say they looked like any Pirates she'd ever read about; apart from Hook, they all had their limbs, there wasn't a hat, a parrot, a peg leg or an eye patch in sight, although one seemed to be covered in tattoos. They did have swords though, and not the cutlass variety, these were long, sharp and expertly wielded as their attention shifted to her.
"She's with me." Hook informed them in a voice that brooked no argument. There were a couple of whispered suggestions as to what that meant, from the slightly stupid sounding one. Hook responded with swift brutality, his Hook flashed and the offending sailor clutched at his face as blood spurted from the new ugly looking gash across his eye.
Emma felt the instinct to raise her hand to her mouth in shock, but at the last minute resisted the urge, managing to look on with only mild disgust rather than the sudden flash of fear she felt. He'd warned her, in his own way that his charming mask might slip; he hadn't told her he'd throw it off entirely. The newly formed 'Sheriff Swan' part of her mentality demanded she do something, intervene, slap handcuffs on someone... only it was utterly the wrong instinct here and it left her feeling completely useless and more than a little out of her depth.
Hook grasped the front of the agonised man's shirt who was too busy clapping his hand over his eye to stem the sudden gush of blood whilst making an odd keening noise. "I said, she's with me." Hook snarled ignoring the snivelling sailor. "Apparently there have been some changes since my short absence if I'm suddenly having to repeat myself."
"No changes Captain." The heavily tattooed pirate spoke up. "Misunderstanding with Noodler here was all, you know he ain't all right in the head the lass just took him by surprise was all." Hook shoved the bleeding man away from him, wiping his hook on the shirt of the pirate who'd spoken, leaving a dark bloody stain behind. The pirate didn't even flinch, just stared resolutely ahead.
"You find what you needed Captain?" The third pirate who'd remained apparently wisely silent asked, he was older than the others, his white beard ragged, his skin like leather and his hands so weathered Emma didn't need to imagine he'd spent his entire long life at sea.
"Yes. Of a fashion." Hook smiled thinly, unamused, "It would seem the Dark Curse destroyed the Enchanted Forest." He gave the man a sharp look. "There is no going back. Neverland is our home permanently now."
"And your guest... a survivor?" The old pirate gave her a canny look, which seemed to take in her rather 'unenchanted' outfit.
Hook placed a warning hand on his shoulder. "Of a sort. A fellow portal jumper, handy lass in a fight, easy on the eyes, we could do worse." Hook winked at him, apparently whoever this man was, he was entitled to an opinion.
"Emma." She introduced herself, trying to mask her nervous energy with irritation as she held her hand out expectantly to the old pirate, because clearly Hook wasn't going to introduce her.
The old grizzled pirate gripped her hand firmly, it felt as rough as it looked she noted. "Gentleman Starkey, First Mate." He gave her a gap filled smile and indicated the resolute tattooed pirate with a glance. "That there's Bill Jukes and the mouth piece going to lose that eye is Noodler."
"Charmed." Emma smiled thinly back at him, trying to put enough bite into the expression to make him think twice about her being some sort of easy target, because no matter what Hook said, she wasn't entirely sure he was going to be able to keep her safe on a pirate ship... or if he would even try. Particularly if he had to half blind a man just for making the type of comment he'd been throwing her way since they'd first met. Suddenly she was starting to think she should have taken her chances back in the Enchanted Forest with Cora and her ogres.
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Hook stepped on board his ship and for the first time in months, he felt like he was home. His crew, those of it that hadn't been ripped away when the curse hit, welcomed him back. But it was a double edged sword, if he was back, then he hadn't succeeded, which meant they were trapped in Neverland forever... not that his promise to find a portal to another world had ever been going to benefit them, but he'd left that part out of his plan.
For some, he knew that the idea of Neverland forever would be no hardship, a world in which you can never age, where adventure is in every port and excitement in every wave... paradise. Others, the brighter minds amongst his crew, would need time.
He held his arms out wide, turning to take them all in. "Men your Captain is back, and in honour of this momentous occasion," he grinned with laughter in his voice, "I propose we go do what we do best... find trouble!" The cheer that greeted his statement was resounding as one by one his men turned to their duties, accepting their lot, so long as they were alive, at sea and bound for adventure and rum. For now.
He felt Emma step on board the ship, saw the appreciative looks in the lingering gazes that immediately lowered as she came to stand beside him. His crew had been with him long enough to know that he wouldn't allow another woman on board lightly, particularly not one who clearly wasn't here for entertainment purposes. For the slower amongst his crew, he slid an arm around her waist, curling the hook around the delicate flesh to pull her possessively against his side, her golden tresses moving like water with her so that every eye followed her. He caught the sideways look she gave him, but she didn't protest, which he filed away for later, clearly she'd been surrounded by dangerous men before and understood the delicate power game he was playing.
"Emma love." He called out loud enough to reach every ear, "Welcome on board the Jolly Roger." He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the knuckles lingering in surprise at the softness to them, "A vessel fit for a Princess is it not?" his lips curved at her, but he flashed the warning in his eyes, which again he knew she registered, because she gave him a half bow, her lips curling into a smile which masked her emotions, but gave her already beautiful face a breathtaking quality.
"Thank you, Captain." Her voice was softer than he remembered; the ever present bite missing and he instinctively tightened his grip around her hand, her sudden softness tightening his gut as her contradiction threw him. The enchantment of this place clearly already working its magic.
"Princess?" Gentleman Starkey appeared at Hook's side, his grizzled appearance making perfect sense surrounded by the rigging and smell of the sea, but Hook appreciated his voicing the point he'd wanted to make. He had missed the canny old pirate.
"Oh yes boys. We are truly moving up in the world, Princess Swan here, is the one and only daughter of our eminent, if absent Queen Snow." Hook didn't release her hand, keeping the firm grip, and trusting her to follow his lead, it was refreshing to not have to second guess someone all the time.
"She for ransom?" Starkey grumbled, giving him a shrewd look, voicing perfectly the questions Hook needed him to. He'd want his portion of rum increasing for this.
Hook gave him a dark look, taking in the eager looks of the others around him, the prospect of a princess and treasure lighting their dark little hearts.
"No one left to ransom too, not since the curse ripped them all away. No," he smiled thinly, getting a thrill out of the idea of cementing the words, "Princess Sawn here is my personal guest on board this ship... indefinitely." He pointed his hooked appendage under Starkey's chin, "Do I need to demonstrate again, what it means to touch my things?" he turned his head so they could follow it to take in Noodlers ruined face as he stumbled on board, supported by Jukes.
"Not at all Captain." Starkey grinned his toothless smile back at him. "Shall I escort the lovely lady to your quarters?"
"I think I remember where it is. Besides." He tugged her back into close proximity, letting his hand slide suggestively down her side, "the Princess and I have had a long day outrunning ogres and outwitting witches, I think it would be best if we got our rest." He gave Starkey an expression that was as packed with innuendo as he could manage, letting his hand curl instinctively around Emma in ever more possessive gestures. Crass laughter followed him as he led her away, whistles sounding out until he led her below to the quarter deck, to the stern of the ship which housed the Captain's quarters. The moment they were out of eyeshot she ripped her hand from his and pulled out of his grasp, dropping back and letting him lead the way. He sighed, pushing open his cabin door and waving her inside with a smirk as she passed him closely, having no choice but to touch his chest in such confined quarters.
He felt the tension radiating from her as she slid into his cabin, but she was clearly composing herself as he watched her clock all the corners... and to his surprise anything she could use as a weapon.
Hook kept his amusement to himself as he turned, bolting the door behind him, watching her out of the corner of his eye as she trailed her fingers over his large Captain's table, her eyes casting over the many maps which were still out where he'd left them. Emma wasn't like the women from his world, he'd known that the moment she'd pulled a blade to his throat, calling him a liar without a trace of doubt or hesitation. The sheer confidence that radiated from the woman as she stalked away from his trussed up form, as thought she'd have happily left him to the ogres, in that moment he'd been certain that was exactly what she'd do... except that she'd fooled him, completely. Hard she might have been, but a cold blooded killer? He replayed the memory of her shock at his suggestion that she'd tied him up to make him a meal for the giant. She'd never intended to kill him, wouldn't have been able to kill Cora, even if it meant risking her own and her mother's life. But that was the contradiction in her that he found fascinating. The hard embittered exterior, masking vulnerability and a broken heart.
"So Emma, my darling. What do you think?" he turned to lean arms crossed against the door, watching her assess him and her surroundings.
"I think I should sleep with my gun under my pillow." Was her quick reply, as she pulled the compact, explosive metal weapon out of her pocket and gripped it firmly in her hand, as if to reassure herself that it was there. He gave her hand held cannon an appreciative look, he'd been itching to examine it, to perhaps duplicate the extraordinary technology when he got the chance.
"My men will not harm you." he informed her coolly, he understood her trepidation, his men had a certain reputation and she wouldn't have been the first poor lass to come aboard this ship and find herself in trouble. The idea of his men laying their hands on her made him distinctly uncomfortable, but he doubted for the reasons she'd hope, for him it was far more about the idea that he wanted her all to himself. Possession was something he did very well, he was the pirate captain after all, and that was more than just a title, it was a way of life... it was who he was at his core.
Emma quirked a disbelieving eyebrow at him, her lips twisting into a sneer that should have made her look less attractive, but it just made her more real to him. The lust rose easily, it was his curse, his constant, but for the first time the lust was tempered with something more powerful, something that tightened his chest and twisted his gut with the promise and threat of it. Something he hadn't felt and hadn't want to feel since Mila.
"I should thank you." Emma acknowledged. "I appreciate you bringing me here, for letting me on your ship, I know it isn't as simple having a woman here as you pretend." Hook nodded, accepting what he already knew, that she understood the delicate balance here. He pushed off the wall and approached her quietly, noticing her scan every facet of him to determine his intention, he made it clearer as he walked, letting her know exactly his intention as he reached her and she didn't retreat. His hands slid around her waist, tugging her against his hips.
"How thankful are you Princess?" he breathed, leaning in close and enjoying the feel of her breath against his lips. Her resistance waivered and he pushed his advantage, lowering his lips to her neck and tasting the soft skin there, enjoying the involuntary shudder his actions sent rippling through her.
"No." she told him firmly, stilling his mouth, but she made no attempt to pull away, which curved his lips into a satisfied smile.
"Will you wound me Emma?" he teased, mocking her previous words and her threat made not an hour ago, if he touched her again.
"You don't want me." Emma murmured forcing his head up to meet her stony gaze, the deep azure blue of her eyes always reminded him of the bluest oceans of Neverland, the sheer untameable vastness of its beauty.
"Oh Love, how wrong you are." He breathed, raising his hand to brush his thumb over her lips, revelling in the softness of them against his rough weathered skin.
"You want a warm body... a pretty face, a challenge." She snapped, not softening to his gentle administrations one bit. "It has nothing to do with me."
Hook felt anger flare, his rage was legendary, it was why he had to be so charming all the time, lest people see the monster that lurked beneath the surface. He felt it raise its ugly head now at her resistance, which had nothing to do with the simple frustration of lust denied and everything to do with her insistence in seeing only the worst in him. He let his hand snap out and around her neck, driving her back into the hard wooden panels of his cabin with a thud that he knew winded her.
"You underestimate me." He snarled, furious with her, and with himself. They were both so broken by lost love, that their every interaction was a fresh reminder of its agony. He wanted to know her story, wanted to know what and who had damaged her so thoroughly. He knew bits and pieces, knew her abandonment as a child had left her with an inability to trust, had hardened her walls to impenetrable barriers that shielded her from the world. But somehow, someone had gotten through, someone had shattered them, forcing her to rebuild, stronger, sharper and thicker than ever.
Before he'd been able to resist his curiosity, control his temper, but not now, not in Neverland. "Tell me what he did to you." he insisted, feeling the steady beat of her heart beneath her chest pressed against his, so calm and strong despite the fingers curled around her throat. He longed to undress her, to feel the heat of her skin, to watch it flush at his touch and know that he affected her. To hear again the hitch in her breath that the touch of his lips to the pulse point of her throat had bought him. He loosened his grip around her throat, trailing his hand slowly down her breastbone to settle over her heart. "Tell me Emma." He begged, letting her see his desperate need to understand, to know her through the pain that defined her.
"I loved him." Emma whispered, her voice broke over the words, letting him know that the admission cost her. It had been her only love then he surmised. "I trusted him, despite what I knew he was... what I was."
"What was he Love, what were you?" he pressed, needing to know it all.
Her eyes flashed and he held his breath, willing her to give him this at least. "He was a lot like you, a liar and a thief... just like I was." She smiled sadly at the memory, "I stole his stolen ca...," he sensed her change the word to something he could understand, "ship, I stole his stolen ship with him still in it." She admitted without a hint of shame which stirred the lust afresh in him. "We were happy." She sighed, "I thought we were happy, we were going to stop, to get a home, set roots, be a family." She closed her eyes as if banishing the memories and the feelings associated with them.
"How did he betray you." he kissed the corner of her mouth, forcing her eyes to snap open on to his, but they were unreadable and she didn't move away. Mixed messages... it seemed to be her way.
"He stole something, a lot of something, worth a lot to someone. He was a wanted man." Emma's voice had gone hard, but he heard the way it waivered, the pain was buried but not nearly as deep as she'd have liked. "So he gave them me instead, left me holding the bag whilst he skipped the country." Emma swallowed. "I went to prison for him, gave birth to his child behind bars." Her eyes seared him and he leant in closer, feeling the emotion pouring out of her like a torrent. "I handed my baby over to the same damn system that broke me because I was in no position to take care of him. I gave him up to be raised by an Evil Queen, in some twisted cursed little fairytale town, because my life is just that fucked up." She snapped, tears threatening in her eyes. "But I should thank him... my bastard lover, because he made me the woman I am today, scared me straight back to my destiny. Straight back to my son. Who I've now lost forever." The tears fell slowly onto her cheeks now.
Hook was silent as she breathed heavily, struggling with the weight of her own revelation, he simply held her, digesting her words and using them to build a shattered picture of her heart. "Then he never loved you." he couldn't hold his tongue. "If he had, he wouldn't have been able to let you go." He kissed the corner of her mouth again, judging the chances of her striking him and deciding to take the risk as he pressed his mouth over hers. "I would never let you go." His hand lowered to slide over her stomach, imagining it swollen with a child that was a part of him and for the first time in his life, not repulsed by the prospect. "He was a fool." He hissed, kissing her hard and trying to insist with his touch what he was beginning to feel stirring inside of himself.
Emma placed a resisting hand against his chest, pulling back. "Won't be fooled twice." She promised. "You aren't what I need." She bit off and he smirked. "You aren't what I want." She added, wiping the smirk off his face. The woman could cut with words deeper than any blade, he had to admit feeling the lash of them now, as the rage bubbled inside of him again, tempered only by the knowledge that she'd trusted him with her past, and despite her insistence, he was wearing through her defences.
Hook raised his thumb to her lips one last time, imagining them parting with desire and whispering sweet nothings, promising himself that he'd have her that way, if it was the last thing he did. "Fair enough." He stepped away, forcing himself to release her exquisite form, resigned to the idea that it would take him time to discover its secrets for himself.
"I need to return to my men, they have been without a Captain too long, I need to ensure that my authority is paramount, and set a new heading." He stepped away from her, watching her visibly relax with the distance between them, which he noted with a sense of satisfaction, clearly he made her uneasy... she wasn't as unaffected by him as she liked to pretend. "These are your quarters now, there is simply nowhere else for you that would be appropriate... or safe. You will find suitable attire in the wardrobe, but I will have my men secure you something more when we next make birth." He nodded, considering his offer more than generous, she nodded and he felt another part of her slide into his heart, she was a woman not accustomed to the charity of others, not used to having much of her own at all he surmised. For a Princess, it was an alarming trait, one that only increased her allure to him. A woman used to little in the way of life's luxuries would fit easily into life on board a pirate ship. His jaw tensed at the impulse to capture her lips again, to claim her whether she wanted it or not, but he resisted the urge, redirecting it into a promise to himself, to see to it that she felt at home here, to bring some luxury to her life, what little a pirate like he could manage. After all, she was his responsibility now, which would have been laughable if it wasn't so tragic.
"And the bed?" she gave him a knowing look that was all challenge, her eyes darting once to the only bed in his rooms.
Hook kept his expression deadly serious. "I think you will find it more than large enough to accommodate us both my Lady." He gave her a mock bow and left her to silently fume as he locked the door from the outside. "Oh, and Princess," he called to her through the wood, hearing her muffled 'what?' of irritation loud and clear "I would advise running through with a blade anyone who enters this room and isn't me." Silence greeted his warning, but he imagined he saw her stunned look of dawning comprehension as she stared through the panels of wood to where he leant against the door. He sighed, turning away from the door, and returning to the main deck.
He needed to give her time to acclimatise, give his men the chance to adjust to her presence, flaunting her impossibly gold spun hair and flawless cream skin in front of them so soon was going to cause nothing but trouble. At no point did he let himself entertain the idea that he was locking her away out of some desire to keep her entirely to himself, even if it was only to watch from afar.
Hook returned to his cabin as the darkest part of the night began to pass, he moved to the door, hesitating when he found it unlocked. Drawing his sword he steeled himself for what might be beyond the door and cursed himself for not checking on her sooner. The sight that greeted him as he charged into the room, sword drawn was not what he'd expected. Two of his men were hog tied to the legs of his ornate and extremely heavy table, naked and gagged. Hook stared at them momentarily bewildered, his heart was still racing clouding his judgement as his eyes darted to the bed where Emma sat, her gun resting quietly beside her as she arched an eyebrow imperiously at him.
"Yes Hook, very safe here." she bit out and he heard the quiet fury in it as her eyes darkened to liquid midnight pools of sapphire, holding everything she wanted to say in that searing gaze.
"Well my lady, it would seem you have no need of protection from me or any other man." He smiled sharply, his words entirely for his men, and any ears listening, his relief was fleeting at finding her unharmed, the rage swept through him afresh.
Emma stood, crossing to the cringing pirates, who were muffling behind the strips of cloth she'd gagged them with. She gave them both a look that should have castrated them where they huddled and he felt them flinch at it with satisfaction.
Hook needed to act. These dogs had ignored his direct orders, had flouted his authority... they had come here to defile her, he was certain of it as he crouched low, lifting the head of the nearest and taking his measure. "Mutiny." He hissed, allowing the word to curve his lips into a smile he knew from the mirror was truly unpleasant. The men writhed, renewing their attempts to free themselves and speak through the gags. "Bad form." He added quietly.
