CS Outlander + Make Up Sex :] needless to say, this one is M rated.
Emma slammed her hairbrush down on the cold counter of the vanity in front of her, the abrupt force causing the mirror just ahead to vibrate slightly. Her head had been pounding for hours as the relentless victim of her gritted teeth and irritated temper. Staring at the glass, she tried to quell the rage that she'd been fighting all day. Yes, the continued, edgy anger she had toward one person - her highlander husband, Killian Jones.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd been this upset with a man.
An opening door caused her to jump, the sound of the lock being clicked into place moments later once the wood barrier was shut again. His footsteps were steady on the creaking floor and the caution Emma could sense in them was all too appropriate. He has every reason to be careful, she thought silently as she continued to untangle her long blonde locks. Sodding fool.
He paused a few paces away, lingering near the fireplace as he slipped off his boots. Emma spied him quietly out of the corner of her eye as she maintained her stubbornness. It was quiet between them - almost too quiet, but she wasn't about to break that silence. She had built quite the nice little grudge between them over the past day or so and chipping away at that wasn't currently something she felt interested in.
"I spoke to Graham," he said calmly, his tone indifferent as he tossed his satchel on a nearby chair. "He and Robin mended fences over the dealings with rent collections. A mere misunderstanding it would seem. Robin just….struggles with the morals of it I guess. Our lives here are seeped in tradition and ritual, Swan."
"So I've seen."
The quiet returned as quickly as it had left and Emma's icy demeanor escalated as she refused to meet his eyes. They were probably quite blue - the same blue that had pulled her close to drown mercilessly in them many times. Her shoulders stiffened as she realized she didn't need thoughts of that nature right now.
No, right now, she was still seething mad.
It had all started mid-daylight yesterday. They'd had a rather trying day on the dirt roads that wound in and out of the Scottish highlands, the green grass and tall cliffs providing the backdrop for the minor scuffle they'd had in the early afternoon. She'd wandered off in exploration, tired of being ordered about by her husband and his directions to 'stay put' while he attended to matters with the clan. Tensions had been intense and looming by the time Killian had found her surrounded by the Redcoats, well on her way to being Captain Gold's prisoner once again. The moment he'd rescued her was a heroic blur, the memory cut into pieces in her mind as she recalled the clang of bayonets and the feel of his firm hand as he pulled her onto his galloping horse. She'd fallen into his warm touch and strong arms with a terrified gasp despite the yells of the enemy lingering behind them. Killian's heart had pounded fiercely against her back as they rode out of harm's way and his ragged breath confirmed just how many emotions he was battling. Well, perhaps 'minor' was understating the truth.
"I'm waiting for you to say something, Emma," he'd snapped, his posture straight and tense. "Anything that even closely approaches an apology."
"An apology? Killian, I was almost taken hostage by enemy….again. Are you saying this is somehow-"
"It is your fault, Swan! Had you stayed where I told you to, none of this would have happened!"
"Killian, I begged you to take me with you! I told you that there was no danger in me going along, but why would you ever listen to me? I'm just your wife!"
"Women are only fit to-" Killian started, swallowing hard as if he was trying to stomach his own rebuttal. "-to….to listen and obey the orders of their husbands, Swan."
"Well, if that's what you think," Emma retorted with flushed cheeks. "Then you are a brute and a fool, Killian Jones."
She'd stormed off, up the hill back in the direction of the other clan members. Robin, who'd noticed her approaching with Killian walking distantly behind, wrangled the men so they could proceed back on their fast paced way. Emma felt the guilt rushing through her veins when she looked at him, the knowledge of how she'd put not just herself but the clan in unnecessary danger dawning on her like the quickly rising sun. She took a deep breath, fighting off tears as she mounted the horse and busied herself with the reins. Killian climbed up behind her, saying nothing as he clicked his tongue to prompt the mare into motion.
They rode for quite some time like that - without words and with unresolved tension. Emma found that the longer they were silent, the more frustrated she grew with her own behavior. As much as it pained her to say it, she'd been wrong. She'd been selfish. Regardless of the argument he'd hastily chosen to offer, she was the one who owed the apology. He'd been quick to accuse, sure - but he was worried about her. The look in his eyes when he lifted her onto the horse so they could leave the vengeful captors behind was evidence of that.
"I….I'm sorry, Killian," she'd said softly in the dim light of their room once they returned to the safe haven of the castle walls. "For everything. For putting you and the men in danger - do you….do you think they'll ever speak to me again?"
"Aye, they will," he nodded, kicking his boots toward the fireplace. "Give it time, lass."
"Okay," she agreed as she pulled the blankets over herself. "Come to bed?"
"I'm afraid there's still a matter we've got to attend to before sleep tonight, love."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Swan, you put the clan at risk today," he told her. "That's something that any man of the group would be flogged for….maybe killed outright in some circumstances."
"I know, Killian, and I'm-"
"I know, love. I know you're still learning about all of this - our ways and how we do things - and that's some excuse, but I did tell you to stay back. Now Gold will be on our trail, high and low, looking mostly for me….especially now that he's got a good sense of where I might be."
"I'm so sorry, Killian. I am."
"I know - and if it were just me you'd hurt, we'd be done with this conversation," he explained, tugging loosely on the leather strap around his waist. "But you put us all in jeopardy, Emma. So….best get on with it."
"What are you talking about?"
"You've done considerable damage disobeying my orders, Emma," he said in an overly serious tone that was laced in a bit of uncertainty. "I'm going to punish you for it."
"Punish me?"
"Aye. Come on now - just….get down by the bed and lift your shirt, love."
"I….I will do no such thing," Emma replied after a moment, her arms crossed. "No, Killian."
"Emma…."
"Killian, I said I'm sorry and I am," she reminded him. "I've told you I won't do such a thing again."
"But you might," he countered, his fingers tracing the texture of the belt. "That's just the point. Swan, I know things are different where you come from. I know you do as you please without consequences of life or death, but here you can't do that. The lightest action can have a drastic outcome. Such a thing is justice, love. Now get over here and we'll get this over with."
"What would ever make you think you've got the right to do something like that?"
"I'm your husband, Emma," he said firmly. "It's my duty to attend to it."
"I will not let you beat me, Killian Jones."
"Love, this is not-"
"Killian, stop it," she snapped, rising from the bed and taking a blanket from the bedside chair to wrap around herself. "I said I was sorry. I am, but if you lay a hand on me, I can promise you that come morning you will no longer have a wife to discipline."
"Emma, let's talk about this-"
"No! You heard me - you will not touch me," she cut him off, standing in the doorway with a fury. "I'm not going to stay here if that's what you've decided to be the correct way."
"Emma, you can't leave," he told her, standing to follow. "Where the bloody hell do you think you'll go?"
"Away from you," she retorted, the quilt tight around her. "Goodnight, soldier."
That night, she'd returned to the chamber after a long, calming walk around the grounds and gone to bed saying as little as possible to the man she'd just given her life to only days ago. He'd tossed and turned for a few hours as Emma pretended to sleep, hoping to avoid discussing the scene back on the hillside for a while longer.
It wasn't something she could hide from forever though - and now, here he was to remind her of that.
"It was staggering to see, love, but Robin….he changed his position on the whole thing publicly," Killian continued, leaning on the fireplace with his hand gripping the mantle. "He saw that peace was more important than tradition and he chose to make that call, even if it meant sacrificing a sliver or two of his own pride."
"Oh," Emma said after a moment, trying not to appear too interested. "I suppose that's good. I don't see how it pertains to you though, Killian - aside from being beneficial to the tranquility of the clan."
"Well, I….I saw something in him, love," he replied thoughtfully, his stare softening. "I saw a rigid man bend, Emma. It made me mindful."
"Of what?"
"Of...of us. Wives obey their husbands - and husbands discipline them when they don't," he explained with that observant caution. "That's the way it was with my father and with his father and then on back and back….but maybe for you and me, it has to go a different way."
Emma's breath and understanding hinged on his words, her eyes analyzing him as he moved closer. She stared curiously at him as he lowered himself to a knee and reached to the leather holster on his belt, retrieving the iron handled blade that was kept there. He pulled it from its case and extended it toward her with the metal grip first.
"I'm giving you this, Emma - this promise….in hopes that it's not too late for it," he started, a stutter surrounding his words. "I swear to you on my lord Jesus and by this blade - the one my father gave to me - that I give you my fealty and pledge to you my honorable loyalty."
It was a declaration unrivaled, not even by the honest and pure vows they'd shared in the candlelight of their wedding ceremony. While there was some form of love surrounding that event, the overall formality had been riddled with necessity and pride. This was different. This was Killian giving himself and his will to adapt to her. This was love of a determined, possibly 'true' sort.
"I would ask that if a time comes where I raise my hand or voice to you again," he continued, arching an eyebrow in suggestion. "That this blade might pierce my heart."
Emma absorbed the honesty and apology in his light blue gaze. His hands were warm and trembling as he wrapped them around hers, securing her grip around the weapon. The tension of trust broke between them as she stayed frozen in position.
"Is it not enough, Emma? Do you….do you not want me anymore?"
Of course I do, she thought to herself as her heart hit the floor. She searched for the words in her exhausted mind, the ones that would assure him and confirm that this moment was enough. He was enough. Emotion tugged on her lungs as she tried to figure out how to make him see that.
"Do you wish to live separately?"
A soft gasp left her lips, the shocked sound evident that she wanted nothing less. Their hands molded together and his palms grew cold as he waited for her response. He'd always been far too patient with her.
"I….I feel that's what I should want," Emma finally answered, studying their linked hands before raising her eyes back to find his. "But I don't."
It took him a moment to process her response, his eyes full of relief once his shoulders relaxed. They shifted to that cool blue, the same color that had comforted her the first night they'd spent alone in a room much like this one. The corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile as his thumb grazed the metal of the ring on her left hand.
"This was my brother's."
"The….ring?"
"Aye," Killian answered, spinning the jewelry on her finger. "He kept it with him when he was sailing - it was my mother's. He always said it would keep him safe until he could return home."
Emma felt her heart pound painfully, her knowledge of how Killian's older brother had been lost to the merciless waves of the ocean making the admission slightly sad. His hands still holding hers, his fingers moved back and forth over her knuckles. He pulled her fingers to his lips and placed a gentle kiss against them as the silence set the stage for his next confession.
"I didn't know that," Emma replied softly, looking down at the metal on her finger. "Why didn't you say so when you gave it to me?"
"I guess I was worried," Killian admitted with a weak smile. "He was my constant, Emma. Liam was my home for so long and when he was gone, that ring was all I had left of my….home."
Emma felt her soul swell for the man who'd lost everything when his country was attacked and he fled into the Scottish highlands. His face was pale as his eyes watered and their bright blue was like that of the sea, the one he'd promised to take her to see one day. Emma knew he would too - he'd never let her down. He'd promised her his intent not to more than once.
"That thought….doesn't pain me like it once did, love," he told her sweetly, his stare honest and committed. "You are my home now, Emma."
She barely felt her eyes close as his breath brushed her cheek, the scratch of his beard slow and teasing against her jaw. Emma inhaled the scent of his long, dark head of hair and smiled when she caught a hint of lingering rum on his skin. She knew he'd probably spent a fair amount of time testing the bottle that day and she truly couldn't blame him. She'd done the same - whiskey be damned.
"I….I want you, Emma," he breathed, his accent thick and slurred. "I want you so much, love. Will….will you have me?"
"Yes," she nodded, her hands tangled in his hair. "Yes, I'll have you."
His smile was brilliant and wanting as he cupped her face, pulling her forward to meet his lips. Emma melted into the kiss and the relationship that had turned her life around, shivering slightly as he slid her nightgown down one shoulder. His lips traced the indent of her collarbone as he swept her hair to the side and she gasped softly into the quiet air riddled with firelight. He groaned softly against her skin as he sucked light marks across her chest and Emma's eyes closed hard as her fingers gripped his shirt.
"Emma, love," he whispered, his breath labored and panting. "I want you - and this. I want us to be together, man and wife. Happy here or in the highlands or...wherever. I want all of it with you."
"I want that too, Killian," she told him, her fingers threading gently through his grown out hair. "I promise."
He stood instantly, pulling her up with him as she rose to her toes. He make quick work of the linen hanging loosely on her body and it slid off her shoulders with a silent sound to her waist. Emma bit her lip as his fingers began a purposeful drag down her now bare torso, causing her to shudder slightly when he brushed the space between her thighs. He let out an almost feral sound, his desire mounting as he felt just how much she did want this. He rubbed softly, the heel of his hand working gently against her as her hips set into slow motion.
God, he was perceptive. Emma didn't know how he'd learned her so quickly, but as his rogue lips found her neck once more, she found her list of grievances with her husband fading fast.
Her hands found the clasp of his belt, the buckle weakening and hitting the floor with a loud thud as she shoved the kilt from his hips. The plaid fell to the wood planks under their feet as he lifted her, propping her up on the edge of the bed with her nightdress bunched at her waist. The kiss he resumed was one she was growing to know well, the kind that promised passion and more as his tongue danced over hers. With anxious fingers, Emma found the hooks of his vest and yanked mercilessly on them until the fabric slid back over his shoulders. She caught the fire in his dark stare when he pulled back to tug on the strings of his shirt, ultimately stretching it enough to rip over his head in his impatience.
"God, Killian," she moaned, her head falling back as he ravaged her chest. "I want you….please…."
He gasped at her plea, his teeth caressing a path between her breasts before he latched onto her nipple with a tug. Emma pulled on his messy scalp as he nibbled gently and left a wet trail with his tongue before taking them back into a heated battle of lips and hands. Her fingers cupped his jaw when he gripped her lower back, slowly falling back to the floor instead of the bed. He landed with silence, his body horizontal on the rug as she straddled on top of him. With fabric still resting on her waist, her body vibrated and he trembled as her wet center moved down his torso.
"Bloody hell, love," he pleaded, his hands tangling and pulling on her twisted nightgown. "Let me have you."
Emma nodded fast, reaching down under the material to find him hard and beyond ready to take her. She stroked him once and allowed him to slide through her arousal several times before he pushed inside, their mutual moans music to her desperate ears. He pressed his palm flat on her stomach, sliding down to rub circles against her swollen center while she found the appropriate pace.
Riding him was something she hadn't done nearly enough of and Emma quickly decided if they were in the midst of changing traditions, adding this new one wouldn't be a terrible plan.
"Yes, darling," he growled, pushing harder as she raised and lowered herself on him. "That's it, love. As much as you need."
Emma's mouth parted with a soft cry as he gripped her thighs, coaxing her speed with a soft squeeze. Her hands fell to his chest for balance and she moved faster, his slurred curses multiplying by the minute as she gave into the pleasurable pace.
"Emma, you….are a vision-" he stammered, reaching for her wrist as he sat up. "-and you are mine."
She moaned her agreement as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers pulling hard on his hair as his thrusts upward went deeper. Emma felt herself about to fall when he quickly dropped them back to the floor, this time with her back flush against the wood while he hovered above.
"Mine-" he growled, his hand encircling her breast. "-now and forever, Emma."
"Yours," she repeated, her tone needy and compliant. "Always yours."
Her teeth found her lower lip when his palms pressed into the floor, bracing his body as he pushed firmly inside her. Emma's legs lifted and wrapped hard around his waist as his effort doubled. His weight shifted to one arm and his free hand moved to her cheek, his eyes wide and full of life - the life he was offering her despite everything she'd done.
"I love you, Emma," he breathed, holding her jaw as he slammed in and pulled out of her with a deep drag. "So much, darling."
"I….I love you too….god, Killian…."
Words dissolved between them as the fire crackled loudly and Killian shoved his hips forward once more, emptying himself with a groan as Emma collapsed around him. She fell over the edge with a near scream as he fought for breath, his forehead damp as he crumbled against her chest. His lips pressed against her neck as he rolled to the side and Emma ran her hand through his hair in a slow, automatic gesture. She wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but eventually the scratch of his beard on her skin brought her back to reality.
"Emma, love….that was…."
"Mmmm."
"I'm not sure how you're real, darling," he mumbled, placing a kiss on her shoulder. "Or how you're mine."
"Yours, huh? You've got quite the desire to own me, Jones," she smiled, snuggled into his chest. "Perhaps my soul isn't for sale."
"Probably for the best," he laughed as he pulled her hand to his chest. "It seems I cannot possess your soul without losing my own."
"So maybe it is you-" Emma replied, pressing her lips to the space over his heart. "-who belongs to me."
"Ah, perhaps that's more accurate," he grinned as he pulled her close. "But I can still mean to make you call me master."
"You can certainly try," she giggled, peeking up at him. "I know you love a challenge."
"Aye, that I do," he hummed, his accent sleepy and sated. "I definitely do."