Good Lord, unbunch your panties, people! Just adding a little dramatic tension. I needed a catalyst. Sheesh. Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you? Just a friendly reminder that your author can screw with the plotline in all sorts of diabolical and interesting ways. Never fear...Hook's heart is safe in my hands. I promise. Back to our twisted tale.
Graham helped Emma to her feet slowly.
"How?" She asked. "How is this possible?" She shook her head in denial. "You're dead. I watched you die."
"That you did. I remembered kissing you, and all my memories came flooding back, and then I remember nothing until I woke here in the forest. That was nigh a year ago."
"I don't understand." Emma said, in a daze.
"Hey! A little help over here!" Neal called out.
Graham gestured at the net. "I see you found my trap. Are they friends of yours?"
Emma nodded, still in shock. "They're with me."
Graham carefully cut the rope at the base of the tree, then lowered them slowly to the ground. "I apologize for netting you like fish, but King George's men have been all over these woods. I had to set up some safeguards."
"King George?" Neal got to his feet. "He's already made it this far?"
"He did. The witch has offered him an alliance."
"So we heard," Emma said.
"She has the ogres under her control as well, so we'd best move along. My cottage isn't far - it'll be safer for us to talk there." He started off through the trees, with Neal behind him. Emma picked up Excalibur and sheathed it, just as Hook walked up beside her.
"Who the bloody hell is that?" He asked, gripping her upper arm.
"An old friend."
"Don't lie to me, Emma."
She let out a breath, then looked away for a moment. "He was a one-time thing."
"For some reason, love, that makes me feel worse."
"Yeah, well, I can't even begin to describe to you what I'm feeling right now." She looked up at him. "It was a long time ago, Killian. I thought he was dead."
He let go of her arm, glancing around. "Let's go, love. I really don't want to end up an ogre's dinner."
Emma nodded, and they headed off after Neal and Graham. Hook stared after her thoughtfully before he fell into step behind her.
He wondered if she even realized she'd called him Killian.
They moved as soundlessly as they could through the trees, and within twenty minutes they came upon the cottage, so carefully concealed they would have never seen it if Graham didn't show them where it was. It had been half-dug into a hillside and behind a large grove of trees that made it invisible unless you pushed through them at exactly the right spot.
Once they'd stowed their gear, Graham poured out some ale and put out some food on the low table before starting a fire.
"You can rest here, all of you. There's a loft bed above and room in front of the fire, as well."
"I'm Neal." Neal stuck out a hand.
"Graham," He answered, shaking it.
"Neal is Henry's father." Emma explained. Graham looked from Emma to Neal.
"He's a fine lad." Graham glanced around. "Where is he? With Regina?"
Emma shook her head. "The witch has Regina. And we're going after her. This is Hook." She gestured over to him. "He's the one who got Henry and me back here."
"Then I'm in your debt," Graham said. Hook gave him a stiff nod.
"I still don't get it," Emma said. "How is it you're alive?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Regina thought it might be because when everything reversed, anything that took place during our cursed lives was erased. Reset, in a manner of speaking."
"You went to see Regina?" Emma asked, taking a seat at the table.
"I did. I had intended to kill her for what she'd done to me. Perhaps find my heart and steal it back."
"She had your heart?" Hook interjected.
"Yes, but when I confronted her, she gave it back to me, with an apology. Snow and the Prince were there as well, and they filled me in on everything I'd missed. I came back here, because this is home. I've always been more comfortable here in the woods."
"Well, it's great to see you. Alive, I mean." Emma gave him a smile. "How do you know about King George?"
"I've kept an eye on their movements, and you hear things in taverns and the like - "
Emma's eyes shifted to Hook, who quirked a brow at her.
"Since your parents have all but disappeared," Graham continued, "King George has decided to stake his claim on their castle and lands. I got word just a short while ago that his forces are marching there as we speak. I was on my way to warn your people when I came across you."
"George's army is on their way to the castle?" Neal asked, alarmed.
"Henry." Emma said. She turned to Graham. "Henry's at the castle."
"We need to get him out of there." Graham said. "George is sending six legions and he has the ogres at his back as well. Without a proper warning, they're not likely to survive the attack."
"You'll never make it there ahead of them on foot, mate." Hook pointed out.
"I have a small boat." Graham offered. "The river forks ahead into a smaller tributary that flows out to another river that will take us out to the coast, just above the castle. We can be there by nightfall."
Emma looked at Neal. "You have to go. Hook and I will go on to the beanstalk. You eliminate one threat, and we'll get the other."
Neal nodded. "You ready to go?" He asked Graham.
"The boat is hidden in some brush near the riverbank." He turned to Emma. "The two of you are welcome to stay and rest here. You may want to travel by day now - it'll be easier to see your adversaries, particularly the ogres. You sound a lot louder in the quiet of night."
Emma stood to hug Neal. "Get to Henry. Keep him safe."
He hugged her back, tightly. "I will, Em. You know I will." He gave Hook a measured look. "Take care of her. Watch her back."
"I plan to, mate. And you watch yours."
Graham reached out, taking Emma's hands. "I still can't believe I'm finally seeing you again."
"Me, either," She said with a half-smile. "I guess this is hello and goodbye."
"Then I'll hope for hello again soon." He pressed her hand to his lips, and then he and Neal were gone.
Hook busied himself, adding a few more logs to the fire, and then spreading his bedroll onto the fur pelt that was stretched in front of the hearth.
"You can have the loft," he said quietly. "You must be tired."
"It'll be warmer by the fire," She answered.
Hook nodded. "I'll take the loft, then." He started to move to the ladder.
"Killian."
He turned slowly and his eyes met hers.
"It'll be warmer for us both by the fire."
He didn't say anything for a moment. "Are you asking what I think you're asking?"
Emma looked away. "That depends." She let out a sigh, and her shoulders slumped. "On whether or not you're tired of dealing with all the baggage that comes with me being a savior."
"That depends," He answered her carefully. "Does that baggage include a handsome huntsman? Because I really was not expecting another challenger at this point in our relationship."
Emma sighed. "It was great seeing him alive again, but no. I've got enough to deal with." She sank down onto the bench seat at the table. "Oh, God. You just said the "R" word."
"Relationship?" His eyebrows went up. "So I did." He sat down next to her. "Does it help to know that I'm nearly as frightened of the word as you are?"
She looked at him sideways. "I won't hold you to it, you know. You can still take it back."
"And why would I want to do that?"
Emma stood up suddenly, pacing away. "Because you don't need this! Everybody around me is under constant threat - evil queens and kings, demon teenagers, sorcerers and witches and God knows what's going to hit us next. Who the hell would sign up for that?"
He crossed his arms, studying her. "So that's it then? You think you're too much trouble. Is that it?"
"I'm just saying that I care about you enough to warn you away. I don't do relationships. I think that's partly why I've been so damn attracted to you, because I thought we were on the same page with this, and that made you safer. Somewhere along the line we got away from that and now you're neck-deep in all this mess."
Hook stood up, walking over to her. "I'm a grown man, love. And if you're looking for something safer, you certainly shouldn't be considering a pirate."
Emma threw her hands up, raising her voice in pure frustration. "Look, I'm trying to do the right thing, here! You can back out now, and no hard feelings. Get away from all this - from me - before you get hurt. Because I hurt people. And people get hurt around me. It's just the way it is!"
His hand clamped down on her shoulder. "D'you think I haven't hurt people? Your sins are child's play compared to the hurt I've inflicted in my lifetime! I've lied, cheated, betrayed, maimed, murdered and a thousand other transgressions too numerous to remember. Do you know what happens to people who live my life? They become the target of others who share that lifestyle, and all of that darkness follows them, weighs on them, drags them down and swirls around them. You think you have baggage, love? I've got a barge full." He finished his tirade with a great deal of self-disgust evident in his tone, walking over to grip the mantel above the fireplace.
She stared at him, shaking her head slowly. "You're not that man anymore."
He said nothing, and she moved over to him, putting a hand on his back.
"Killian, you're not that man. And maybe you never really were. Maybe you were as stuck in what you were as I am now, in what I am."
He turned his head to look at her, his jaw flexing. He still didn't say anything.
She moved a lock of hair off his forehead. "You're not that man."
He reached out, caressing her cheek with the backs of his fingers. "Do you understand now, love, why I can't walk away? It's because you believe that. Because you make me believe it, too."
Emma's eyes filled with tears, and she blinked them back, hard. "You've given up enough because of me."
He shook his head. "It was a fair trade, love. I'd make it again if I had to."
"But that's just what I mean. You shouldn't have had to. If you hadn't gotten mixed up with me, you'd be on your ship sailing into some port with a crowd of barmaids waiting to welcome you at the dock. I bring calamity with me everywhere I go." She crossed her arms, hugging herself. "Honestly, have you had one moment of peace since we met?"
His eyes softened. "Maybe one. And I could ask the same of you, love. Maybe we're the ones that all this mayhem lands upon because we're the smartest and the strongest solution to it. Maybe you're meant to be the savior and I'm meant to be the man that savior saved." He pulled her into his arms. "And maybe you should realize that we're stronger together."
"We are a good team." She leaned up, kissing him softly.
"That we are." He kissed her back.
"I don't know how all this is going to work out." She kissed him again.
"Consider it an adventure." He kissed her once more.
"Okay."
He kissed her again, then picked her up in his arms, walking over and laying her down on the bedroll in front of the fire. His hands played across her and she touched him, caressing him even as they undressed each other. The firelight dancing across the planes of his chest, the hollows along his hipbones, and she found her fingers trailing after it, tracing it's shadows with her hands and lips and tongue. His hand fisted in her hair as she tormented him, drawing him into her mouth deeply and stroking him with her tongue and fingers before he pulled her beneath him, his mouth tearing at her breasts and belly with savage intent. He pushed her legs apart, holding her down as he repaid her in kind, torturing her with flicks of his tongue and the suction of his lips, pulling sounds from deep in her throat as her belly tightened and her heels dug into the fur beneath her.
She burst around him just as he slid into her, driving deeply and riding her hard. She gave a convulsive shudder as he pinned her down, whimpering as he ground himself harder into her, wringing every ounce of sensation out of her, then backing off, gentling his pace and touching and kissing her softly until she was moaning and pulling him in more insistently.
Emma rolled him beneath her, and the sight of her, silhouetted in the firelight, riding him was more than he could take. He pulled her down on him hard, pushing himself deep as she let go, then he followed her with a strangled cry as he lost himself within her.
She collapsed on top of him, and he held her there for a long time, stroking her hair and back and kissing her head. She raised herself up, stacking her hands on his chest and setting her chin atop them.
"In all my life, I could have never imagined a pirate coming along."
He gave her a slow, sexy smile. "And I've never had a princess before."
She reached out, threading her fingers through his hair. "I'm not calling you my boyfriend. Just so you know."
"Heaven forbid."
"And I'm not wearing that damn dress again."
"I'm perfectly happy to see you in nothing at all." He lifted her gently, settling her at his side and pulling her in to lay her head on his chest.
"Get some sleep, love. We've a long day tomorrow."
Emma yawned. "Climb a beanstalk, kill a witch, rescue a queen. Same old, same old."
Hook stretched, settling his hand on her backside.
"And thus begin the adventures of the princess and the pirate." He kissed her hair, feeling her smile against his chest.