A/N: First, wow I am so new to this that I didn't even remember these Author's Notes were a thing on ff. Anyways, this story is something that's coming to me in waves. The muses are hot right now, but, again, such a new endeavor for me, I'd love any feedback and thanks for reading!
Emma
"So… anything interesting happen in the stables today?"
Emma nearly choked on the surprisingly good chicken parm she'd just bitten into but managed, she hoped, to keep her composure. Ruby's hopeful gaze told her that she didn't know anything but that as Emma had picked up on before, Ruby was definitely scheming. Emma hazarded a glance at Killian who was seated two seats over with Henry between them. Schooling her features became a bit trickier when she saw the teasing glint in his eyes.
"I gather Emma would have a better gauge on that, dear Ruby. Everything about this place is of interest to me."
He busied himself with a bite of the food before him. Emma couldn't tell if he intended to make it sensual or if that was a byproduct of this inconvenient attraction she had to him. But now everyone's eyes were on her so she had to gulp down the frog in her throat and fake indifference.
"No, pretty ordinary really. Nothing exceptional." She could have sworn that she heard a tsking sound from Killian but he brought his beer to his lips and no one else seemed to notice.
"Mary Margaret, what happened with that poor dog?" Emma hated to use the badly treated animal as an escape but she wasn't too proud to do it. She needed the reprieve from her friend's attempt at matchmaking. And it worked, because David and Mary Margaret were all too excited to sing each other's praises.
"Oh she's so tough. She's been through so much but underneath it all she was really just the sweetest most loving thing. And she really loved David, probably because he was so good with her." Mary Margaret had the happy pleasure of sitting directly next to the man in question and her affections, though not sickeningly overt, were far more front and center than they had been this morning. She was smiling and happy and had this sort of glow about her that Emma hadn't seen in a long time.
"I just had an excellent teacher. Mary Margaret managed to get her eating and we got her cleaned up. She'll find a good home in no time."
The two of them sitting there, looking happy and like the world was filled with rainbows and butterflies should have made Emma want to retch, but somehow she just couldn't find it in her to resent them. Glancing over to Belle, Emma found that there too was this sort of magnetism between her friend and Will. Whatever had been wrong before seemed now behind them, and she'd bet that the absence of their left and right hands respectively indicated that they were intertwined under the table.
Damn it! On the one hand it was nice, because she liked seeing her friends so happy, but on the other hand it was going to make resisting the advances of one particular charmer that much harder.
"Meanwhile, I had a fantastic afternoon with the fair Regina Mills. How no man in these parts has swept that woman off and claimed her is beyond me. She's just so…" Robin searched for the right words.
"Crazy?" Mary Margaret supplied.
"Unhinged?" Ruby responded.
"Terrifying?" Belle chimed in.
"Well she's bloody perfect and if I don't convince her to come back across the pond with me by the end of this trip I'm moving here." The general assembly laughed at what they assumed was all a joke, but Emma noticed that Robin's own laughter felt a bit forced. Maybe there was some truth under those words. Someone for everyone, after all, right?
"Miss Mills is okay. Most people in town don't like her but she told me I have 'a certain air about me that's less awful than most.'" The passing comment from a steadily eating Henry drew Robin's notice, but the man kept quiet. "She says Mom's okay too in spite of the company she keeps. I told her Ruby, Belle, and Mary Margaret are the best friends I could have ever wished for my Mom and me."
This earned Henry an audible 'aww' from Emma's friends and a slight eye roll from Emma. She knew her kid, he was a miniature version of her after all, and she also knew that buttering up the adults was a good way to prime them for asking for extra dessert.
"Well, now seems as good a time as any for me to say a few words then." Liam placed a soft kiss on Ruby's lips before pushing his chair back and standing, glass in hand.
"A month ago, if you had told me I'd be married to the loveliest jewel of the realm I'd likely have laughed in your face. But Ruby changed all that and in doing so, she made the last month the best of my life. When I asked her to be my wife I couldn't bear to wait and in doing so, I denied my love the wedding every woman deserves. The one where she's surrounded by her friends and her family, which for Ruby happen to be the same. The one where she wears the dress, has her dance and stands before all those who matter to her to say this is who I've chosen. All of you being here, supporting us, and celebrating with us – well it means the world and it's empowered me to give the woman I love what she deserves. For that I'm eternally grateful. To Ruby." He raised his glass as did the others.
"And to her very hot and very well spoken husband." Ruby popped up to stand beside him and pulled him in for a kiss. The others called out a 'here, here' and took a sip in honor of the bride and groom.
Emma's eyes seemed to seek Killian's out of their own volition and in them she saw the same earnest feeling from that afternoon. The mirth was still there but now it was more than teasing. They told her that she meant more to him than just an easy lay. Maybe she was reading too much into it, but she felt like those eyes were promising to love her. And wondrously, that wasn't scaring her shitless.
"Oh I nearly forgot- Henry, Grace's Dad called. Seems Miss Grace was very disappointed to cut the puppy date short so she's wondering if you want to stay over there tonight."
Henry nodded enthusiastically before looking at his Mom for the final approval. Emma had to smile at his excitement and since she trusted Jefferson and knew he'd never let anything happen to Grace or by extension Henry, she agreed. With barely an 'excuse me,' he was off to prepare for the sleepover.
"Excellent! So, with the little lad out for the night, I think it may be fun for the lot of us to go explore this quaint little town. And of course any good tour should end with a pint," Liam declared. Emma had the sneaking suspicion now that maybe, just maybe, Grace hadn't been the mastermind behind tonight's sleepover, but knowing the kids would have fun either way, she let it slide. What Ruby muttered next though pulled an actual eye roll from Emma.
"Or, you know, maybe a kiss."
At the exact same time David and Mary Margaret started coughing, their wine having gone down the wrong pipe. It was hard to imagine a way that they could have made themselves more obvious. Maybe a neon sign above them reading 'We totally had a good tour.' Emma made a mental note to ask Mary Margaret about said kiss without giving away that she'd had one of her own.
"The Rabbit Hole might be fun," Belle mused. Emma knew not to let the highly polished exterior fool her; Belle French may look dainty or frail, but the girl knew her way around a bar and she could seriously hold her own when drinking.
"Mary Margaret? Emma?" Ruby asked.
"The Rabbit Hole sounds great."
Emma suspected Belle could have offered up the Artic Tundra and Mary Margaret would have found it great as long as David was there. Where wouldn't she love to be if he was there. The list was damn short. Her guesses were limited. A dog fighting ring, a root canal procedure (Mary Margaret was terrified of dentists and so kept her teeth completely perfect to avoid them), and Regina Mill's house were as far as she got
"Emma?" Ruby's prodding took her out of her wandering mind.
"Sure. The Rabbit Hole it is."
As the other's hashed out the details, Emma couldn't quite decide if she desperately needed a drink or should abstain for the night. While it would likely take the edge off of this sexual tension, she couldn't fully trust herself to steer clear of Killian if at all inebriated. Hell, she barely knew if she could avoid him sober. Their eyes met again and that low fluttering in the pit of her stomach started and heat coiled between her legs.
Fuck it, she thought to herself. No more running.
…
Killian
Killian couldn't be exactly sure when the change occurred, all he knew was that one minute Emma Swan was playing it cool, surrounded by walls and unwilling to look at him even a smidgen more than the others, and the next she had turned up the heat. He was now a bit worried he may not be able to handle it. He'd felt entranced by the woman when she'd been holding back, but this flirtation with more openness in her affection made him damn near lose his mind. He pulled another drink to his lips trying to ease the thirst clenching at him. It did very little to help.
Across the bar on the dance floor Emma swung her hips in tandem with the country music sounding through the bar's speakers. Though she stood amongst her friends, Killian could only see her. That magnificent golden hair he'd come to love so much was more attentively curled and hung low on her back. It set his fingers itching to run his hands through it. Accompanied by a tight red dress and shoes he had to imagine were very painful (but looked fucking hot) she looked like something out of his wildest fantasies. And the bloody minx was looking at him like it was entirely done for his benefit.
"Careful there, Killian. Little lads who play with fire are likely to get burned." If looks could kill, Robin Locksley would be dead several times over. Killian barely managed to suppress a growl at the insinuation that there was anything little about him.
"You're one to talk, Locksley. I see you eying the door like a hawk in the hopes that Regina's going to walk in. At least Killian chose someone interested in him." Killian subtly nodded to David in thanks for the back up.
"Hey, she's interested. But a woman like that takes time – takes patience."
"What is she, royalty?" Will leaned against the bar, only just now looking away from Belle on the dance floor.
"She certainly thinks so," Dave countered. Then his eyes flicked back towards the floor and whatever other words he may have intended were swallowed down in an audible gulp. Mary Margaret walked straight up to him and held out her hand.
"Would you care to dance?"
"Oh I don't know – I don't know how to dance to this kind of music."
"Aye, so it's good to have an excellent teacher then, right Dave?" Killian couldn't bear to see his friend keep his own personal anxieties from dancing with a woman he was clearly interested in. David still hesitated for a beat but then Emma was there and Killian's whole point of focus changed.
"Why don't we show him how it's done, Jones?" The gravely intone of Emma's voice sent a rush through Killian and he looked her dead on and fought to keep his breathing normal. The thought of holding Emma in his arms, bodies close, was something he most certainly was not going to pass up.
"Lead the way, love."
Taking his hand and turning back to the dance floor Emma moved with the music and in the middle of the floor turned back to Killian and pulled him forward. While their bodies touched, Emma slung her hands around Killian's neck and lightly grazed her fingers on the base of his hairline. She'd have to be blind to miss the growing heat in his gaze and the increase in his libido. His own hands slid behind her back and pulled her even closer. Though the music was foreign for him, the beat was slow enough to allow for the heated, sultry dancing and he had to admit a rapidly increasing fondness for any tune that allowed him access to Emma Swan like this.
"If you don't mind me asking, love, what's brought on this most delightful change of attitude?" Killian stood there hoping his mention of her demeanor wouldn't bring back the walls from before, but instead all they brought was a slow smile from the goddess before him.
"Remember when I told you about my superpower?" Killian nodded.
"Are you a good guy?"
"Aye, love, I try to be a good man – an honorable man."
"Would you ever intentionally hurt me or my son?"
"Never, lass."
"And do you want to see where this goes as badly as I do?"
"Much, much more I promise you." At this she shook her head smiling.
"Then there's your answer. I know you're telling the truth and I'm tired of telling myself no. So I want to take this one-day at a time. We only have a week, after all."
The reminder made Killian feel like he'd been punched in the stomach. How would a week ever be enough with a woman like Emma?But rather than despair over it, he intended to take full advantage of her proclaimed desire.
"I don't intend to let you down, love."
She pulled at his collar and their mouths met. Gentle at first, the kiss grew deeper and hotter. The dancing became less guided by the beat and more by their need. For a moment both of them forgot their audience and it wasn't until a light tap at Killian's shoulder that the world came crashing back down around them.
"Congrats on managing to get the girl, brother, but maybe you don't give the rest of us a show while you're at it, aye?"
Liam's smug tone, irritating as it usually would have been, couldn't bring down Killian's spirits. Somehow, by some form of magic, he and Emma were together, trying to see if this could be something more than just lust. The truth was that for him it already was, and if the look in her eyes was anything to go off of, it was likely so for her as well.
"My brother's right, love, forgive me. A gentleman courts a lady before engaging in such displays."
"You're going to court me, huh? And this courting… will it keep us from exploring what may be between us tonight?" Her tone implied that the woman was up to quite a bit of debauchery and it took nearly everything to nod and stay strong.
"Aye love." She frowned slightly and shifted her weight. He bent his head low to her ear and whispered.
"Worried you won't find the release I know you're craving." He watched as her pulse quickened and her skin flushed. She nodded sharply. "Well not to worry Swan, a gentleman never leaves his lady wanting."
Her eyes flashed to him and then she started scanning the bar for some quiet place of seclusion where he could follow through earning her a chuckle from him.
"At home love. I meant at home." And somehow, despite the fact that he'd been there merely a day, Killian was starting to feel that the ranch and this town were more a home than any he'd ever truly had.
"Give me five minutes."
With that, Emma slinked off the dance floor and pulled her three friends into a huddle. Killian wondered what she must be saying, but assumed it was a direct play by play as the three other women kept shooting glances his way with a mix of awe and respect. At one point the three women went so far as to clap and he couldn't help but scratch behind his ears in nervousness.
Did she have to tell the women everything? His fears were soon alleviated though as the focus shifted from himself to David, to Will and finally, fleetingly, to Liam again. Seems each of the ladies had some updates to share. That fact relieved some of the awkwardness he'd been feeling.
Then, as promised, Emma was returning to him with her hand outstretched. The group all headed to the cars and they were back at the ranch faster than he would have thought possible. After an array of half-assed excuses, everyone disbanded and Killian found himself being led to Emma's personal quarters.
Killian took only a brief look at the room surrounding him as she turned on the light. He should have known that it would be done in yellow with reminders of her friend and son scattered throughout. The room was exactly what he would have expected for Emma. Yet, in this moment, he frankly didn't give a damn if she'd led him to a dingy basement. He had a promise to keep and a keen want to satisfy his Swan.
"Turn around love."
His commanding tone caused a shiver in Emma that told him just how much she approved and that caused his already hard cock to stiffen even more. Slowly he unzipped her dress and watched as the silky garment fell to the floor. Underneath she wore a matching strapless bra and barely-there panties that drove him mad. Unwilling to deny himself anymore, his hands moved to the smooth skin of her stomach and trailed lower, as they reached the top of the panties she groaned his name out loud.
"Killian, please."
"Tell me what you want, love."
"I want you to touch me." That I can definitely do, he thought to himself happily.
"Where, love?" Emma took his hand in hers and guided him down to her dripping wet sex pulling a groan from him. Picking her up and putting her on the bed before him, laid out for him to do with as he would he only paused a moment to look his fill at his golden haired siren.
"As you wish."
He gingerly pulled off the scraps of lace and his fingers traced around her eagerly awaiting clit. As he moved in circles and increased the pressure, he watched her writhe and listened to her try and keep from moaning. She eventually pulled her lower lip between her teeth and as he watched her need rise and felt her grow wetter he inserted one finger and then another, pumping them in as he stroked her clit.
"Let go love," and in seconds she did, careening off the edge.
Killian luxuriated in the sight of Emma who was beautiful in a way beyond anything he'd ever seen when in the grips of her orgasm. The fierce pride he felt at satisfying her only fueled his own desire but he pulled his fingers from her and brought his lips to meet hers. She met his tongue thrust for thrust until he pulled back.
"Good night, love." He turned to leave but her hand gripped his arm.
"Wait that's it? What about you?" She sat upright in her bed confused.
"This wasn't about me love."
"But I wanted – I wanted – " she looked so cute trying to come to terms with this that Killian pulled her in for another kiss before turning and finally making his way to the threshold of her room.
"Hey, pirate!" He turned and raised his eyebrow at the endearment.
"You walk in here solely to pillage and ravish me, you get the nickname. Just know that tomorrow, turn around is fair play."
"I bloody well hope so love," and with that he left, closing the door and using every inch of his will power to keep moving towards his room instead of returning to the woman he was swiftly falling in love with.
