Emma had been thinking about that damn pirate the entire way to Tyverna.
She'd heard of Hook - who the hell hadn't? His reputation preceded him in numerous directions. He was a known rogue, an accomplished thief, and worst of all, the queen's personal assassin, if the rumors were to be believed.
And if Granny's instincts were good - and they usually were - he was working with someone who was looking for her. Emma had always believed that forewarned is forearmed, so it was time to head to Tyverna and see what she could ferret out from the two "newlyweds" that were onto her. She wasn't going anywhere near Hook, not if she could help it.
Damn pirate. Nobody had ever told her he was that handsome. And those eyes...
Emma shook her head to clear it before she ran her horse into a tree. She had to stop thinking about him. She'd patted herself on the back for luring him in with that kiss, but now she felt more like kicking herself in the rear for it.
It was just a kiss, Emma.
It wasn't like she'd never been kissed before. She certainly had. Lots of times. She'd even liked it a few times, too.
Why the hell did she like his kiss so much?
She was rolling her eyes at herself when suddenly, her horse shied, rearing back and tossing her to the ground. She rolled several times, right into a patch of loamy ground covered in leaves and twigs. She laid there a moment to get her breath back, then let out a groan at the pain in her backside.
She reached down to rub the soreness away, only to find a hand there ahead of her, pushing her back down.
"Don't get up, love," Came the voice that irked her to no end. "I quite like you in this position. And I'd be happy to keep my hand here while you recover your wits."
"You." She put a world of loathing into that one syllable.
He rolled her over, and she pulled herself up to sit.
"What did you do to my horse?" She demanded.
"He's fine," Hook said, glancing over to where her horse stood. "But you appear to need some...attention."
"Is this the way you normally talk to women?" Emma asked, brushing herself off. "Because this isn't really working for me."
Hook rested his elbow on his knee, giving her a wide smile that crinkled his eyes.
"Where's my carriage?"
"Your carriage?" She raised her eyebrows. "So it's yours now?"
"It was in my possession," He said, waving a casual hand. "That made it mine."
"And then I took it," She said with a sugary smile. "And now it's mine."
He looked more than a little perturbed. "Look, I'm not going to argue with you, love. I need that carriage and you're going to take me to it." He stood up, putting out his hand to help her to her feet. Emma sighed, taking his hand.
Then her legs met his chest as she pulled hard on his arm and flipped him over her. A second later she was up and sprinting for the horse. She'd just grabbed the reins when he hit her from behind, flattening her again. Emma reared up, trying to throw him off her, but he grabbed her by the hair, twisting her around and slamming her back into the ground before coming down on top of her.
She let out an involuntary groan when her sore backside slammed into the dirt. Hook raised a brow. "That's more like it, love," He said with a smile. "I do love it when a woman's on her back and moaning beneath me. Now be a good girl, tell me where I can find the carriage, and we'll spend our time getting better acquainted."
"I'm not telling you anything," Emma's eyes flashed. "And I am definitely not interested in furthering an acquaintance, so you might as well let me go." She tried to raise up, but he yanked on her hair, pulling her head back down.
"Not so fast, love," He brought his face down very, very close to hers. "I've got you right where I want you. And I can stay here for a good, long while." He loosened his grip on her hair, twining and stroking his fingers through it. "I'm sure we can think of a way to pass the time."
"Oh, no you don-"
Emma didn't get a chance to finish her protest. He brought his mouth down on hers and no amount of pushing against him was making him stop.
She kept her lips tightly shut even as she felt him tracing the seam between them with the tip of his tongue. It did something odd to her stomach and she tried once more to throw him off. He pulled her hair hard enough that she cried out, and that fast, his tongue was sliding between her lips, rubbing and circling against hers as he settled his body more fully upon her.
Emma wasn't entirely sure when she stopped fighting him, but Hook took note of every single part of her body as it gave over. First, her lips softened, then her hands stopped pushing, curling into the front of his shirt. Next, her legs relaxed, then her back arched slightly, pushing her chest up into him. He couldn't resist the invitation, sliding his hand down to stroke down her side, coming back up to brush the underside of her breast.
The kiss grew wild as their bodies pushed against each other and their lips sucked and slid and their tongues imitated the act that Hook was craving with rapidly growing urgency. The kiss continued on, growing in intensity to the point that the ground should have been scorched beneath them.
"God's death, love," He murmured against her lips, "We need to get out of the dirt."
His mouth closed over hers again as Emma's eyes snapped open. She bit down on his tongue, hard. Hook reared back with a roar, just in time to feel her boot meet his chest, kicking him over backwards. She'd already swung herself up on her horse by the time he gained his feet, and she urged it into a gallop and took off.
"I'm going to find you!" He shouted after her.
Her voice carried back on the wind as she rode away.
"Good luck with that!"
He dusted off his breeches, then brought his hand up to probe at his sore tongue. Bloodthirsty wench. He gave a chuckle. Bested twice by the same bloody woman. When had that ever happened?
And he still didn't know her damn name.