Plop.

Another soggy wad of paper towels were tossed into the wastebasket of their en suite bathroom. Killian had driven them to The Bird in Hand Country Inn for their night's stay though he would be leaving once she was good and settled. He needed to get back to the stables before that asshole had time to depart.

Emma was seated on the toilet while he worried over her busted and bruised knuckles, keeping relatively quiet as he grumbled under his breath. He had wrapped a dampened cold cloth around the wounds and tied it the best he could. "That should help with some of the swelling." he muttered with a flex of his own hand before placing it underneath the running water hissing quietly from the pain.

Slowly rising up and grabbing a few of the paper towels she reached across the basin to take his wrist in hand. Oddly relieved she found it an accomplishment when he didn't try to fight her being how pissy he was acting, though his gaze never met hers. Maybe this is just how he dealt with these types of issues. Honestly, she's never seen him in full 'work mode' if that's even what this was. Dabbing the now moistened dried blood away she took the chance to attempt conversation. "This makes what… three total now?" she asked while twisting his hand in hers.

"What?"

"Broken noses."

"There are countless more. But, aye. Three you've witnessed." he muttered as he bent over the sink taking his hand back to study it. "I told you to leave. To go with Amy."

Uh-oh. Here we go. "And I did." she said pointedly.

"I meant to stay, Emma. I would have returned to you. You had no place in doing what you did." he ran his fingers over the knuckles before pushing himself up. "He could've-"

"And he didn't." she interrupted with an aggravated bite. "So relax. If you wanted to boss someone around you should have brought Adam or Smee."

"This isn't about bossing you around!" he argued. "It's about keeping you safe!"

"And I am! I'm right here." she fought. "So if you could drop your attitude it would be greatly appreciated. I'm sorry, alright? I just meant to listen, but he started saying shit and it pissed me off!"

Killian straightened at her words and cocked his head to the side in confusing interest. "Listen?"

Her mouth opened as she shrugged and choked over her own words. "I mean yeah." her eyes averted from his as she pulled at the paper towels in her hands. "I was… curious."

"Curious?" he asked a small grin forming as his eyebrows rose.

"Yeah. You're… never mind." she muttered as she tossed the now ripped towels into the trash.

"I'm… what?" he asked while following her out of the bathroom and into their honeymoon suite. It was named after King George III who is said to have been a guest in that very room during the late 1700's. The suite oozes romance with its sumptuous soft furnishings and solid wood sleigh bed. Cozy armchairs and a table for breakfast adorned the far wall while champagne and strawberries lay upon it for the lovebirds. Plus beautiful paned double doors that opened into the bathroom they had just exited, complete with roll–top bath to enhance the romantic theme.

"It's nothing. Just… it's stupid. Okay?" she unceremoniously plopped herself down on the bed with a sigh. She should have never said anything. Silence was better than his intrigue.

He wasn't buying it. Killian slowly crossed the room to the bed and held out his hands as if to welcome her thoughts. "Nothing you could possibly say would be stupid, Swan. So what is it?"

Her face skewed in uncertainty while she chewed her lip. He wasn't going to stop until she spilled her thoughts so, "Promise?"

"Of course, love."

"Fine." Sighing a breath her eyes found his while slowly pulling her shoulders to her ears. "You're kinda… sexy when you get pissed off and I figured ya know… this guy was obviously the person you were looking for if you wanted me to leave. So I did as you asked, but ducked out right before we were supposed to go down the other row of horses and circled back around and up the other side to come up behind you guys. I saw how you calmed the horse and heard your speech about how they can sense the wrong in people and trust only those who they believe to be good. It got me thinking that if this horse could put her trust in you- a complete stranger- then… maybe I should give you the benefit of the doubt. I mean, you meant well you just went about it the wrong way. Then that shithead started running his mouth and…." she concluded with an over exaggerated shrug, a flex of her now unwrapped wounded hand and averted her gaze once more. "Told you it was stupid."

Killian took an oversized step forward with his most dashing smolder in place as he rubbed the spot behind his ear. "You think I'm sexy?"

"Killian!"

"Alright." he laughed while taking the place next to her on the sleigh bed. "So you're informing me that all it takes for you to trust in me again is to calm a horse and break someone's nose?" he asked before running the tip of his tongue along his lip while looking to her in complete astonishment. "Not apologies? Gifts? Romantically dates? Not even mind blowing sex? Just... a spooked horse and a right hook…?" he was entirely amused.

Twirling the rings on her finger, her brows furrowed at the nonsensical thought. "Huh. Well, when you put it like that…."

"I'll take it." he added quickly. "Whatever helps you to believe in me again is more than welcome." he stood from the bed offering his ringed hand for her to take. "Though, I will admit." he began while pulling on the hand she had slid into his to bring her into him. "You're an extremely complex woman."

Emma smiled softly as her arms wove around his neck and his slid around her waist. His thumbs stroked soothing caresses under her peach sweater as they exchanged doting looks. "I know. But, you love it." she whispered.

"Aye. That I do. I'm a fan of every part of you, Swan." he murmured back.

"Mmm," her fingers found the hair at the nape of his neck as she brushed her nose against his. "Maybe we can uh, pop open that bottle of champagne and you can maybe... show me which parts are your most favorite?" she suggested ghosting her lips over his. Their eyes drifted shut as her chin tilted up to meet him the rest of the way… but he was gone.

Killian had pulled back and unwrapped her from around him with an apologetic look. "As enticing as that sounds and trust me love- we'd be skipping the champagne- I have to go."

"Go? But we just got here."

"I know, but I've only-" he looked around for a clock and cursed at the time, "30 hours left and I'd prefer to be rid of this bastard tonight so I can enjoy the remainder of the evening with you to its fullest potential. You'll have my undivided attention." he raised a brow while slipping his finger into the front of her black leggings and yanked her forward. "Trust me on that." he breathed against her pout.

"Okay." Her eyes flickered to his lips before backing him away. "Let's go!" Emma went to retrieve her coat from one of the chairs and was nearly to the door when Killian stopped her.

"Pardon?" he asked taking a hold of the handle to keep her from leaving.

"I'm coming with you." she informed.

He let out a chuckle while raising his brows and scratching the back of his head. "You do realize what I'm going back there to do, aye?"

Rolling her eyes and shifting her weight she looked to him as if he were stupid. "Yes."

"So then you fully understand why I'm not allowing you to."

"I didn't come along just to sit here in some stupid Inn, Jones." she countered.

Killian still held firm on the handle while trying to reason with Emma. He knew what he promised himself earlier that morning, but dammit she knew how to press all the right buttons. He would stand firm his ground. "You shouldn't have come along in the first place! It's beyond dangerous. You're only here because I didn't find it appealing hacking with Adam."

"You mean Adam doesn't fit the profile for this?" she asked, holding up her left hand to show off the radiant sparkler.

His face softened as he let his head fall to the side. "No. See he's more of a princess cut solitaire sort of man. He doesn't much care for flashy." he teased.

Rolling her eyes, Emma began to pull on her jacket. "Are we going or not?"

"We? No. Me? Yes."

"Jones, I told you I can help."

"No."

"What if you get I don't know choked or stabbed or something?" she asked with concern.

"You don't need to worry about me, love. If it's one thing I'm good at its surviving."

Sighing and tossing her hands in the air she stared him down in challenge. "Killian, we can stand here all night arguing while wasting your precious hours and you know I will. Or we can just go so you can do what you need to do. Then we can come back here, open up that bottle of champagne and enjoy the rest of the evening without Ruby bursting in." she offered before adding with a purr. "Anything and anywhere you want."

A tense moment passed with challenged glares as he seriously debated her offer while running his tongue along the inside of his cheek. Emma certainly knew what to bait him with and it was offly tempting. "Fuck," A low growl finally sounded before his head fell back in defeat and opened the damn door. "You stay in the car. I mean it." he ordered while following an overzealous blonde out of the suite.

It was half past 6 o'clock which meant the stables were closed for the evening and the gates were locked. The stable hands would all be gathered in the main building to do the nightly checks before departing for home. It had taken him longer than he anticipated to find a clean way in without alerting anyone or anything around, but he managed. He watched them leave one by one until Felix was the last to go.

Of course he would be. Because he's a prick.

Killian was leaning against the barn wall with his foot propped up and his hands in the pockets of his leather (he switched from his wool coat at the Inn) when Felix stepped through the oversized doors. A devious smirk plagued his features as he eyed him. "Felix Thomas Grant." he called in a menacing tone.

The blonde haired, rat looking lad stopped in his tracks at the mention of his full name. "How do ya know my name?" he asked before turning around and setting his gray eyes onto Killian. "You! The prick from earlier!"

Pushing from the wall he outstretched his hands with a light chuckle. "It's always nice to make an impression."

"Ya have some nerve coming and showing your face back here." he warned pointing a finger in his direction.

Tilting his head to the side and squinting his eyes in thought, he gave a slight shake of his head in disagreement. "Nerve? No. I wouldn't call it that." he started. "I'd call it more of an objection to morality."

"Who are you?" he asked while taking a step backward. "What are ya doing back here? How'd ya get in?"

"Hook."

"What?"

"My name." he explained with a step forward. "It's Hook."

"What kind of fuckin' name is Hook?" he spat. "Your real name ya arsehole!"

"That is my name, but enough of me. How about we talk about you, yeah?" he looked to the ground in thought as he clasped his hands together and placed his forefingers against his lips. "My apologies. How can I be so forgetful?" he lowered his hands and rested his icy stare onto his. "I believe a belated birthday wish is in order. It was three days ago, correct? You're now-" he looked to the clouds before back to him with a grin, "26? Now… how is it that at such a youthful age you have so many crimes against you? Assault. Kidnappings. Molestations. Rapes. Murders. But yet…" he held out his arms to present his surroundings. "You continue to stay out of prison. You have an incredibly shitty job picking up after horses and you're constantly around new and alluring riders. Let me guess." he took another step forward and narrowed his eyes. "You have an in, aye? Someone who's turned a blind eye to your belligerent ways?" he asked not waiting for an answer. "Its sick fucks like you who keep my job sustained."

Without so much as a second thought Felix was off and running. With a roll of his eyes Killian followed after him. He'd pull out his gun and shoot the fucker to be done with it, but there were too many animals around. Plus he wouldn't be able to clean the blood before being found out. The dagger was the same way. So he's stuck doing this the old fashioned way. He was starting to gain ground when Felix decided to change direction causing Killian to slide in the gravel from the sudden change flinging dust and rock around before picking up pace again. When he got close for a second time the fucker turned just as he jumped to grab the back of his shirt causing him to tumble head first into the dirt. Killian was able to throw Felix to the ground when he fell, but he immediately scrambled to his feet and darted off towards the stables. "Fuck!" he growled. Jumping to his feet he took the path behind the corral he saw Felix take, but saw no sign of him. "Son of a-"

"You're welcome." Emma stated with a triumphant smirk as she watched Killian turn to look to where her voice was coming from. She was holding a horse shit covered shovel near the back of the building while standing over Felix. "And I told ya so."

"Bloody hell… Swan, you were to stay in-"

"Yeah, yeah I know. We gonna stand here and argue or are you gonna do this before we get caught?" she asked pointedly.

"How can I love someone so much yet despise them so greatly?" he mused as he went to grab hold of the man's arms.

"Join the club." Emma pushed the shovel away before taking the ankles and helping him in heaving the ashy blonde into the stables.

Standing over his unconscious body, Emma studied the man fully while trying to keep her mind away from what Killian was currently preparing. Rope was being tied into a noose for the purpose of setting the scene as a suicide. As grim as it was, she couldn't stop him. If she'd talk him out of it, they'd both be caught for sure. "Hey." she didn't mean for it to sound so broken, but she was beginning to feel as if she should have taken his advice and stayed in the car.

"Yes?" he asked while throwing the one end of the rope over the rafters.

"What did this guy do? I mean… to deserve... that?" she asked motioning to the loop in his hand before wrapping her arms around herself in an attempt to comfort her turning stomach.

Giving a soft sigh his eyes met hers and instantly felt the shame closing around him. "I'm sorry you have to see this, but I tried to warn you. What I do isn't for the faint of heart. This isn't how I want you to see me. I don't go around killing for the hell of it. I have my reasons. For example; Felix." he motioned to the man lying in front of her before continuing on with what he was doing. "He has kidnapped and raped twelve women. Four of which were under the age of 16. He killed two only because they fought back too hard. He has numerous assault charges against him and still continues to get away with it. The bastard gets paid under the table here so he can stay around women and children every day. You know what's amusing? His lawyer is the one who set this hit up because he's tired of being tied to such a sick individual."

Emma had put distance between Felix and herself with every piece of information he gave her. "A rapist?" she asked softly, bumping into the nearest stall.

"Aye."

"So, is everyone you… like him?" she asked as she hugged herself tighter into the stall of Pixie Dust. She could sense the dread Emma was feeling which is why the horse tried to nibble at her hair to make her feel better.

"More or less." he replied while adjusting the height of the noose. "In the beginning I took what I could get to show flexibility and desire to want to learn. As I grew more confident, my assignments I chose drifted into condemning those who I felt deserved it. Like this bastard here." He double checked everything and placed a stool under the rope before starting towards the body. "I'll be more than happy to answer whatever else it is you've questions over Swan, but I think you should go now. This is one area I will forbid you to see."

He didn't have to tell her twice.

She was out of the stables quicker than was probably necessary. Emma never gave much thought about who it was he actually went after. Or what it could be that earned them a hit. She just put Killian, guns, hitman, and murder in the same sentence and well… that was pretty self explanatory. It was still entirely wrong what he was doing, but at least there was now a valid reason for doing so. She couldn't necessarily hate him for it.

Her thoughts were pulled from her a few minutes later when Killian grabbed at her elbow and nudged her off to the direction they were to leave. "Go!"

An awkward silence fell between them on the way back to the Inn. It was entirely different in seeing what took place than it was to just talk about it. Was she angry? Not really. Hurt? Not so much. Confused? Upset? Shocked? Maybe.

They had arrived back to their suite and Killian had offered to draw a hot bath in hopes of relaxing her from the day and easing the tension between them. It was complete with a vast amount of lavender scented bubbles with pillar candles scattered about to set the ambience in the darkened space. Emma certainly soaked up the time (no pun intended) as she listened to Killian take his shower and tried her best to decipher his hushed whispers on the phone to whom she was guessing was Gold.

Her fingers and toes were pruned upon exiting the lukewarm water two hours later. Her mind and body had relaxed and she was feeling loads better than earlier. She had wrapped the silken robe around her damp frame and stepped through the doors to a still shirtless Killian popping the cork to the champagne. A smile spread across her face as she went to retrieve her glass and steal a strawberry.

"Swan?"

"Mmhmm?" she hummed around the lip of her fluted glass.

He placed the bottle to the table and ran his fingers along the surface while staring blankly to the chair next to it. "I shouldn't have brought you here. I should have come myself instead of being selfish. I thought- maybe I could do both. Spend the day showing you around the countryside and do what I needed to later on. I didn't account that you'd be so incredibly stubborn as to want to come along on my actual assignment. Nor had I considered you deliberately disobeying everything I had to tell you." his vision turned to hers and he watched as she slowly chewed the ripened strawberry while listening to his rant. "It was incredibly careless what I did today. You could have had the worse happen to you and I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if it did. After New York I vowed to keep you safe to the best of my ability and here I am throwing you into the lion's den. Was the situation under complete control? Yes. But things can happen in an instant. With that being said-" Killian looked back to the table to take his own glass in hand. "I do have to thank you, Swan. For catching him when I couldn't. If it weren't for you he would have gotten away and my arse would be on the run."

Not being completely sure of the correct response being as he's overly successful at scolding, praising, and self loathing all at the same damn time, she replied with an uncertain, "You're welcome?"

"Just to be clear. This is not happening again." he informed her as he sipped at his champagne.

"Okay?" Emma had made her way to one of the chairs and seated herself before the strawberries. She was incredibly hungry and wasn't about to ask for room service being that Killian had already spent a fortune on her today. So she began picking and eating one by one while trailing her eyes over his shirtless frame. There was one scar above his right hip bone that she's been eyeing for a while now. It was the one she noticed first after their sailing date when he was lying on the couch. It was larger than the others scattered around his body and since he was in the sharing mood now…. "Killian? Where did you get that?"

Raising his right arm to look to where she was referencing, he grazed his fingers of his left hand over the faded wound. "This?" Upon her nod he downed the champagne, placed the empty flute on the table and readied himself for a night of recollections. "Ehm, I got stabbed." he muttered as he sat down in the opposite chair.

"What?!" she yelled in shock around a mouthful of berry.

"It was a few years ago. I believe I was eh twenty… two? I was on an assignment in Drogheda with-" he trailed off once he realized the name he was about to mutter. He reached for the bottle and poured himself another flute.

"With Milah." she finished the thought for him as she plucked another berry from the bowl.

Taking some of the bubbly liquid in his mouth he simply nodded as he fiddled with the glass in his hand before continuing. "I was going after someone who actually was a competitor. Gold wanted her gone and I agreed."

"Her?"

"Aye. You can't expect them all to be masculine can you? She was brilliant. Very good. Our skills were evenly matched and it made for an interesting fight. Nimue was her name..." he trailed off again at the memory before leaning forward on the table. "I eh, had to use my charms on her. To lure her out of the bar and down to the abandoned harbor. She figured out who I was and elbowed me square in the back. Bloody powerful that one. We tussled a bit and we both pulled out our daggers but she ended up catching me off guard. I made a wrong move that opened up my side and she buried it in."

"What happened after that?" she asked as she pushed her empty flute towards him to refill.

"She took complete advantage of my situation and I was knocked off my feet. Nimue was too far into the need to kill that she made her own mistake of standing over me. I knocked her knees out from under her and I was able to pin her down. Then Milah showed up and…" he pushed the filled flute back and shrugged. "All I remember is waking up to my mark dead. Milah fussing over me. Saying I needed sutures or I'd bleed out. The next thing I know there was this… burning. Fucking immense pain from her pulling the needle through- trying to close it up. I hadn't a clue where I was and I couldn't stop bloody shivering. I was so cold. I suppose it was from the blood loss. After that I remember waking up in bed. I was pissed because I wanted to go back out. Do more. I was out on bedrest and put on bloody paperwork duty for weeks." he chuckled to himself before meeting Emma's eyes. "That's the first time I'he told anyone that. The full story."

She didn't know what to say about his admission. Emma quietly sipped her champagne as she thought about a similar time, though under entirely different circumstances. She began to feel the buzz through her body. Maybe she would order that room service in a little while, but for what she was going to tell him she needed the liquid courage. "I um, I have this scar." she pulled at the silk robe to reveal a wide, thick scar below her clavicle. "There was a night that Neal and I had been drinking. He had much more than I did. He could barely stand let alone speak coherent sentences. Anyway um, his phone rang- mind you this was one in the morning and uh… there was this woman on the other end. There was only a single name on the ID. Not even a name. It was just Her. Who the fuck puts Her in their phone?" she laughed before downing some more of her drink. "I answered and she started off the phone call with, 'Is she sleeping yet? I miss you.'."

Killian had a gut feeling about who this Her was. All of a sudden he wasn't feeling too guilty about what he had done in Ireland. He opened his mouth as he adjusted his position to stretch his arm across the table in hopes to taking her hand but she moved away. "Swan, you… you don't have to do this. Its fine."

"No. It's okay. It's only fair." she cleared her throat and watched as Killian pulled his chair closer, take one of her hands in his anyway and lacing the fingers for reassurance. Emma wasn't going to fight it. She'd need the comfort for the rest of the story. "So, naturally I question him about it. He flips the fuck out and starts screaming about how I invaded his privacy. What he does is none of my business. That I should just trust his word and that should be good enough. That I had too many problems and insecurities. We got into it pretty badly after that. Punches were thrown. Pictures were broken. Hearts crushed." she smiled in defense of the tears welling up which caused Killian to rub circles on the back of her hand while the other chased the tears away. "Uh-" her voice was breaking but she needed to finish. "The last thing I remember before Ruby was... him picking up a piece of glass from a broken bottle. I jumped out of the way when he swung but it still sliced me pretty badly. I picked up something to try and hit him to get him away from me, but I guess he got me first because I woke up with Ruby frantically yelling over me. I guess she saw him stumbling down the street passed her house and knew something was wrong. I had a busted lip, a gash on my chest. A fractured skull. Bruises everywhere. The house was trashed. He was gone for a week that time." she shrugged in conclusion. "Ruby is the only one to know the truth. I didn't even tell Whale the full occurrence because I was scared that he would make me press charges and that would only make matters worse. So, I lied and he walked away free. The town turned on Neal that night. They had their suspicions on what had happened and kind of put two and two together." she fell quiet while wiping her tears away, cursing at the fact that he could still make her feel this way.

So many emotions. So many feelings were coursing through him. Neal would be the exact sort of file he would take and wouldn't feel bad about doing it. Not once. But that's not what he needed to focus on. "Emma I had no idea it was that bad." he murmured.

"Well now you do. So…." She had finished the flute when Killian gently pulled her around on the chair so her body was facing him. "What Killian? I don't need your sympathy. It's in the past."

His eyes met hers as a finger hooked into the top of her robe. "That's not what I'm doing." Pulling it to the side and away from her paled scar, he traced his thumb over the flesh. "But I am sorry that happened to you."

Her forehead creased at the touch and furthermore when he dipped his head to place a long, sweet kiss to her scar. "Then what are doing?" she asked as he placed another chaste gesture before looking up at her.

"I'm replacing the bad with the good."

"How so?" she asked with a skeptical smirk.

"Because soon you won't be able to look at it without thinking of me."

"How do you figure?"

Killian's hands roamed behind her thighs to her ass and gripped tightly to slide her across his own and into his lap. His lips found her scar again before his tongue ran the length of it. "Lucky hunch." he whispered tilting his head up to hers while her arms lay lazily over his shoulders. "A man is to only touch a woman in loving affection. To comfort her. Make her feel safe. Loved. Wanted." he explained as his hands traveled up the back of her robe and over her smooth skin. "And only when she allows it. Wants it. Craves it. Only then should a man's hands be placed on a lady." his hands had traveled around her sides and down her stomach to her thighs and there they lay holding onto her. "No other time."

Her mind was completely cleared of all earlier thoughts, but was replaced with others as she gazed longingly into the blue pools of his eyes. "How do you do that? Make me forget?"

"It's my duty to always keep a smile on your face and the tears away. I'll always be here for you, Emma. Whenever you need me. Even if you are as stubborn as a mule." A smile was shared between them before he stole a kiss for his own. Since the tensions had dissipated he took the first opportunity that happened upon him to teasingly say, "Now I believe the wife promised her husband uninterrupted anything anywhere?"

Emma's forehead fell to his while her hands found the tie to her robe. "What kind of wife would that be if she broke her promise to her husband?" her shoulders shrugged off the silken number just before their mouths collided.

My chapters seem to be getting longer and longer!

Comments are welcome!

If there is anyone interested in seeing the rings I've described in this story feel free to message me for the links :)