Sorry for the delay with this one. Between my husband's accident and work, I've not had a great deal of time to do much of anything.
Killian jolted awake at the sound of the loud beeping noise coming from somewhere to his left. It took him a moment to shake the haze of sleep that was clouding his mind, but when he did, he reached over to silence the alarm sounding from Emma's phone. When the room was blessedly silent once more, he dropped his gaze down to the beauty who was stirring in his arms.
Emma stretched her body out along the line of his own, but instead of waking as he'd expected, she simply nuzzled herself in a little closer, before her breathing evened out once more. Killian released a small sigh of relief as he slid her phone back onto the table, before turning his attention down to the head of blonde hair that was tickling his chin.
Their night together had ended just as perfectly as it had begun.
After demolishing the food that Emma had ordered for them to share, and disposing of the trash, Killian had climbed back into bed and pulled his girlfriend into his arms, with the intention of starting the movie she'd picked for them to watch.
The two of them barely made it to the second scene before their soft touches and sweet kisses had turned to needy hands, pulling at what was left of their clothing, between bruising kisses. When Emma had come apart for the final time that evening, her climax had been so powerful that it had left her thighs trembling, as Killian spilled himself inside of her.
By the time he'd slipped from the bed to clean himself up, and returned with a damp washcloth for his girlfriend, he'd found her curled into his pillow fast asleep. Killian had taken a moment just watch the smile break over her face as she dreamed peacefully, before he gently wiped away the sticky mess on her thighs, and then climbed into bed beside her.
Emma had seemed to sense his presence though, as she'd wiggled her way across the space between them to curl into his chest, and Killian had drifted to sleep marvelling over the turn his life had taken, since his return to New York.
But that morning, as he smoothed back the hair from around her face, his thoughts took a slightly different turn. He couldn't remember the last time he'd held someone while they slept. The women he'd been with in recent years had all wanted the same thing he had from their encounters, and that certainly hadn't involved sleeping. Milah had been just as fiercely independent in her sleep, as she had been while she was awake. While she had enjoyed the intimacy that came from being held by him when they were alone together, she had always preferred to sleep in her own space, telling Killian that she got too hot when they were pressed together too tightly.
But Emma Swan was completely different.
Even in her sleep, she couldn't seem to get close enough to him. And Killian wasn't going to complain about that.
As she snuggled into his chest, he'd watch as all the tension and burdens she'd carried throughout the day slowly drained away from her, leaving her looking lighter and happier than she ever had before. It was only a subtle change, and one that he doubted many others would pick up on. But it was one he hoped he'd get the pleasure of seeing more often.
"I can hear you thinking," Emma mumbled, and he jumped a little in surprise.
"I thought you were sleeping," he threw back at her.
Emma did her best to supress a yawn, but she didn't say anything else. For a moment, Killian contemplated letting the silence hang between them, as he ran his fingers softly through her hair. But that didn't quite feel right to him.
"This is nice," he said instead, and then mentally berated himself for it. After spending all of those years in the world's best educational institutes, this is nice was the best he could come up with.
Emma hummed her agreement into his chest, before brushing a kiss to the skin under her lips.
"I didn't mean that," he told her, before shaking his head firmly. "Actually, I did. I was just trying to be more eloquent and that didn't really work out for me."
Emma snorted out a laugh as she brought her fingers up to dance across his abdomen.
"What I meant to say was that I had a great night, Emma. One of the best I've ever had. And I don't know how I'm supposed to let you go in a few hours' time."
That finally had her lifting her head, blinking rapidly to try and clear away the sleep, as she struggled to pick out his face in the semi-darkness. "We have plenty of time left together," she assured him, reaching out to run her fingers gently over the line of his jaw. "I had a great time too. It was the best date night I've ever had."
"You mean better than a McDonalds in the park?" Killian teased softly, as she playfully swatted at his chest.
"It was close, but the pizza in bed definitely sealed the deal for you."
"I'm sensing a theme here. Maybe I should take you to Subway on Wednesday?"
"I wouldn't complain," Emma told him honestly, as she leaned down to brush her lips over his, before settling back into his embrace. "As long as I'm with you, I don't care what we eat or where."
"Me either, Sweetheart. Me either."
When Emma woke again she could tell it was later in the day. The heavy drapes did a good job of blocking most of the light from spilling through the large windows, but the room held a warm glow that had been missing before.
She took a moment to enjoy pulling herself lazily from her sleep. It wasn't often that Emma woke without the sound of her alarm blaring, and a pressing need to get to either work or class at a certain time of the day. So she wanted to treasure every moment of that morning.
When the haze finally seemed to clear, she tilted her head back to look up at the man she'd been sleeping with all night. Jones was still fast asleep. His long lashes rested undisturbed against his cheekbones, and a small smile was tugging at the corner of his lips. Emma thought that whatever he was dreaming about must have been good, to provoke that kind of reaction in his state of unconsciousness.
She would have liked to have stayed in the warm and comforting embrace of her boyfriend's arms for longer, but her need for the bathroom eventually had her wiggling carefully away from him. However, when Emma turned herself to sit on the edge of the bed, she hissed a little at the discomfort she felt down below.
She hadn't been lying when she'd told Jones that she'd never been that sexually active before. But as she padded her way through to the bathroom, snatching one of his discarded shirts from the floor along the way, Emma knew that she wouldn't have changed a single moment about their evening together. Everything from the show he'd booked for them to see, to the pizza party they'd had in bed, had been completely perfect.
And the memories he'd given to her, of her very first bath, were more than she could ever have asked for.
"I should've known I'd find you here," Jones purred, wrapping his arms around her from behind, to pulled her back into his warm, bare chest.
Emma chuckled a little as she melted into his embrace. "Thank you again, for this." She tilted her head back to press a series of kisses along his jawline. "I never really thought I was missing out on taking a bath, until last night."
Killian tightened his arms around his girlfriend in response, as he dropped a kiss to her shoulder. For a moment, the two of them stood in silence as the memories of their evening together played through their minds. But it was eventually broken by his whispered words.
"In case it wasn't clear last night, I meant what I said, Emma."
"You said a lot last night," she teased, turning in his arms. But the look on Jones's face had her humour dying behind her eyes.
He swallowed hard as he took in that shift in her expression, before tightening his grip on her waist. "I'm in love with you, Emma Swan."
Emma's breath caught in her throat when she tried to swallow down the emotion clawing its way up. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, as she attempted to form some kind of words to offer to her boyfriend.
It struck her, in that instant, that she'd never said those words to anyone in that way before. In fact, she could count the amount of people she had given them to on one hand. Ruby, Ruby's grandmother, Gloria and Betty were the only people in her life that she could recall saying them to. The only people who had stuck around long enough for her to feel comfortable offering them to.
And now she found herself wanting to offer them to someone else. To the beautiful man stood before her, staring down nervously at her as he waited to see how she would process his declaration.
"I'm in love with you too," she whispered back. The words were uttered so softly that he would have missed them, had it not been for the way they echoed slightly off the tiles.
Killian's face twitched ever so slightly upon hearing them, before it broke into the widest and most beautiful smile that she'd ever seen. Before Emma knew what was happening, he'd dipped his head to give her an earth-shattering kiss. One that had her clinging to his shoulders to keep herself upright.
"My God you're beautiful," he mumbled, pulling back to look down at the woman he loved. His happiness was infectious, and Emma couldn't help but return his smiles.
"You're not too bad yourself, Jones. But I uh… I really need to use the facilities, before I embarrass myself."
Killian snorted out a laugh that had Emma chuckling along with him, before he dropped another kiss to her lips and released her. "Go," he encouraged. "I'll be in the kitchen making us some breakfast."
Emma squeezed his hand tightly in thanks and turned to head for the half-wall the toilet was hidden behind, but was stopped when Jones tugged gently on her wrist.
"Are you okay?" he worried.
"Yeah. Why?"
"You hissed a little as you moved." Killian tugged a little harder on her wrist to turn her to face him, before lifting his free hand up to cup her face. "I didn't hurt you last night, did I?"
"No," Emma soothed, leaning up to mimic his pose. "Everything we did last night was wonderful, Killian. I don't regret a single moment of it. I'm just… not used to being so sexually active," she chuckled. "But I'm hoping you might helpme get used to it."
Killian couldn't stop his sharp bark of laughter at the way her brows climbed with her suggestive words. "I do hope you're not expecting that every night. I'm not sure my stamina is up to it."
Emma dropped her eyes down the length of his body, lingering a little over the bulge that she'd felt pressed into her lower back, when he'd held her.
"I dunno about that, Dr Jones. You seem to be doing pretty well on the stamina front."
Killian leaned down to press another kiss to her lips, and then finally pulled away with a frustrated groan, when his traitorous body started reacting to her intoxicating presence. "Go and use the facilities," he instructed. "I'm gonna draw you a bath to help with the ache, that you can take alone this morning, and then I'll make us some breakfast."
"Thank you." Emma forced herself to move before she could become distracted by his gently lips and wandering hands again. But she smiled softly to herself when the sound of running water met her ears once more, as the room began to fill with steam.
When she finally pulled herself from the wonderfully relaxing bath he'd drawn for her, Emma slipped into a pair of her most comfortable jeans, and a simple red cotton shirt, before making her way out to the kitchen.
Jones was stood behind the stove, frying something that smelled like bacon as he hummed to the music filling the space. He'd pulled on his own pair of light jeans and a dark grey sweater while Emma had been bathing, and she took a moment just to marvel over how good he looked, wearing something so simple.
"Do you like what you see?" he called over his shoulder, wiggling his ass a little for added effect.
Emma's composure broke as the giggles overtook her body. She loved seeing this playful and joyful side to her boyfriend. It stood in complete contrast to the serious and intelligent professor vibe he had given off during their very first encounter. But it was no less appealing than the other side of him had been on that first day.
"I very much like what I see, Jones," she assured him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she rocked up onto her toes to press a kiss to the side of his neck.
"The feeling is mutual," he assured her, craning his head around to brush their lips together awkwardly.
When she pulled back he gestured to the pot of fresh coffee that was brewing off to one side, before he turned off the burners and began plating up the food he'd prepared for them both. While Emma wasn't yet familiar with every aspect of the space, she managed to find the mugs with relative ease, as Jones set their food down on the breakfast bar.
He didn't normally like having people in his space when he was trying to get something done, but as per usual, Emma Swan seemed to be the exception to that rule. There was something so easy about the way they moved around the small kitchen together, never getting in each other's way, but remaining close enough to touch. He would drop a kiss to the crown of her head as he reached into the draw for cutlery, and Emma would lean in to press another to his cheek, while she passed him to grab the creamer from the fridge.
It was everything he'd always scoffed at seeing in the movies. And something he had no idea he'd ever really wanted before.
"What's this?" Emma asked, as he finally joined her at the breakfast bar, and slid a small brown envelope across the countertop in her direction.
"A gift." Jones's reply sounded more like a question than an answer, and Emma reached for the stationary between them with curious fingers. She wasn't sure what he could possibly have gotten for her that would cause him to look as nervous as he currently did.
Not after everything that they'd shared over the last few days.
When she finally had it open, Emma turned the small envelope upside down so that the contents of it would drop out onto the table beside her plate. A small silver key bounced across the surface, before settling beside her coffee mug, as a piece of plastic dropped down to land next to her fork. The two items looked innocent enough, but had her brows shooting up as she turned her eyes back to her boyfriend.
"I don't understand."
"They're keys," he stated unnecessarily. "To my place. This place. I uh… I just thought that this way, you could come over and take a bath whenever you wanted one. You've been without for long enough, Emma. I don't want you to ever go without again."
Emma tried hard to fight back the moisture that she could feel pooling at the corners of her eyes. It was such a small gesture, but one that she would treasure, like she would have the finest of jewels.
"Thank you, Killian."
"You're welcome," he whispered back shyly, before turning his attention down to his meal.
The two of them ate in a companionable silence to begin with, just enjoying the good food and the even better company. Jones was the one to eventually break it, when a thought suddenly occurred to him.
"So, um… how long do I have you for today?"
Emma's eyes flicked over to the clock on his oven. She knew that Ruby would probably assume that she was working that morning, just like she did every Sunday. So that would give her some time to play with. But she also knew that she had a paper to start work on, and notes to review before her classes the following morning. And if she were being brutally honest with herself, there was another reason she wanted to get back to her apartment on time too.
"I usually finish at around four on a Sunday. I can stay until then?" she offered. "I uh… I kinda wanted to spend some time with Ruby tonight, if that's okay with you? We haven't had a lot of time together recently, and I kinda miss my friend."
Jones reached across the breakfast bar to tilt his girlfriend's head up, so that her eyes would meet his. "That's nothing to be ashamed of, my love. I'm the new person in your life. I'm the one that needs to learn to share you with everyone else."
"I'd say you're doing pretty well so far," she chuckled, before ducking her head back down to focus on her plate.
Even though the two of them had finally spoken the words that had been hanging over their relationship for the past few weeks, they were both in relatively new territory, when it came to learning to deal with their feelings for each other.
"Have you uh… have you had any more thoughts about joining me in Vegas?" Jones eventually asked, keeping his gaze on his plate.
"Betty said I could take the weekend off for it. But I'm still waiting to hear what my exam schedule will look like for that week. Sorry."
"You could um… you could always fly out Friday night when you're finished," he suggested. "You'd miss the first day of the conference, but at least we could spend the weekend together, before coming back?"
Emma's eyes softened as she reached out to take her nervous boyfriend's hand into her own. His desire to spend the weekend with her, a weekend where he would also be surrounded by people of his own age and educational background, made her heart skip a beat. She still couldn't quite believe that he would rather spend time with her, than with them.
"I uh… I'd really like that," she told him. "As long as I'm not going to be a bother to you. I know this is your big weekend."
"It's just a conference," he chuckled. "It's really nothing overly special."
"It is for you. And for me," she added. Because while she wasn't currently the chosen demographic for its attendees, Emma hoped that one day soon she would be. That maybe, in the not-too-distant future, she might be the one asking Jones to join her while she spoke at the event. "Besides, I've seen your background, Jones. You're like a rock star in our world," she teased.
Killian snorted into his mug of coffee at her words. "I'll trade the Merc in for a Harley, shall I?"
"God no," Emma protested fiercely. "You're sexy enough as it is. Adding leather and a motorcycle to that mix would be too much for the female population to handle."
Killian chuckled heartily as he reached out to take her empty plate from her, and Emma grabbed their coffee mugs to refill. She didn't startle when his arms wrapped around her waist, and his chin came down to rest against the top of her head. It already felt so natural to her.
"As long as I'm enough for you to handle, I don't care about the rest of the female population."
Emma waited until she'd finished preparing their drinks to their liking, before she dropped her hands down to cover his. "I think there are times where you're still too much for me to handle, Jones. And I hope that never changes."
Killian dropped his chin down to rest on her shoulder as he pressed his cheek tightly against her own. "The feeling's very much mutual, my love," he whispered into her ear, before pressing a kiss to the skin just below it.
Emma and Killian spent most of their morning together on the sofa.
Killian wanted to work on the revisions his editor had suggested, and Emma had discovered a book on ethics in his study, that she wanted to read. So he'd settled himself into the corner of the couch, with his laptop resting on the arm, as Emma stretched out along it, with her head propped up on a cushion resting over his lap.
As his eyes scanned the lines of text he'd written, his fingers would drift through Emma's hair, scratching gently at her scalp. Every time she came to a part of the book she found particularly interesting, she'd reach out and squeeze his hand, mumbling a page and line number that he would jot down into a blank document for her.
It was the perfect way for the two of them to spend a lazy morning together. And even though they barely spoke, Killian was positive that it was one of the best of his entire life.
As the time inched closer to noon, Emma marked her page with a piece of scrap paper, before dropping the heavy book down onto the coffee table to her left. Her body tensed briefly as she stretched out her muscles, groaning a little at the stiffness it held, before she relaxed back into the cushions once more.
"How about we head out for lunch?" Killian suggested, saving his document before closing down his laptop. He'd noticed that Emma's focus had been wavering over the last hour, and she had taken his own with it.
Emma pushed herself up and twisted around to drop her feet down to the floor, as she brought her eyes over to meet his. A part of her wanted to ask if they could order in. The thought of having the outside world intrude on their perfect weekend was a little scary, because the outside world had already proven before, that it had the ability to shatter their happiness in the space of only a few moments.
But after everything that they'd said the night before, and everything that had been said since then, Emma was no longer worried about what the outside world had to say about their relationship. Killian Jones loved her. And it would take one hell of a bombshell to rock their relationship now.
"Do you have anywhere in mind?" she asked, her eyes twinkling a little with supressed humour.
"Not McDonalds," he protested quickly, sensing where her thoughts had gone. "I was thinking that maybe we could just go for a walk, and see where we end up?"
"That sounds wonderful." Emma leaned in to press a soft kiss to his lips, lingering a little longer than she had intended, as Jones slid his arm around her waist to stroke his index finger over the bare skin above the waistband of her jeans. But she eventually pulled back when the desire to jump him became almost impossible to resist.
Even though they were already well into the month of April, Killian made sure that Emma was well wrapped up before he grabbed his keys from the bowl by the front door, and ushered her out of his apartment. The last thing he wanted to do was get her sick. Especially if that meant that he wouldn't get to see his girlfriend while she was recovering.
"Left or right?" he asked, lacing his fingers through hers as they stepped out of the large glass doors of his building. It was the first time that Emma had used the main entrance, and it was every bit as grand as the rest of the building had been.
"If we go left, then…"
Killian brought his free hand up to lightly rest his index finger over Emma's lips, effectively silencing her. "I don't care what's where. All I wanna do today is enjoy spending the rest of our time together. So pick a direction – not because it'll help us avoid certain groups of people, and not because there's something there that we can do. Pick one so we can just walk and enjoy being together."
"Right," she told him. "Let's head right."
As they walked, Jones and Emma made idle chat about the plans they had for the following week, which included a meeting with Jones's publisher. It was an event that he shrugged off as being no big deal, but one that Emma was incredibly excited to hear about. It hadn't taken long during her initial research on him to realize that Jones was considered a leading authority on the topic of legal ethics. And she knew that any book he ended up publishing would soon end up on the recommended reading lists of every major law school around the world.
Even if she hadn't played a part in any of that, she was proud of her boyfriend for everything that he'd managed to achieve. So Emma absolutely refused to shrug off any of his accomplishments.
The first eatery they came to happened to be a small café, and the two lovers headed in from the cold. Emma picked a table towards the back of the space, and near the roaring fire that had been lit, while Jones made his way over to the counter to order them both some refreshments.
It was a wonderful way to spend their afternoon, and by the time they left a few hours later, hand-in-hand once more, Emma was certain that they would be back again soon.
Saying goodbye later that day turned out to be harder than either of them thought it would be. While Emma promised that she would meet Jones in their usual spot once more on Wednesday afternoon, that date seemed so far away, after the wonderful weekend they'd spent together.
"Are you sure I can't talk you into staying tonight?" he asked, as he peppered soft kisses up and down the side of her neck, straying a little lower every time. Killian knew that his request was selfish, but he'd been without the kind of love and affection that Emma was blessing him with for too long. And he wasn't ready to let it go yet.
"If I stay tonight, you and I both know that I'll probably never leave. And I'm not sure either of us are ready for that kind of commitment just yet," she pointed out, as she tried hard to swallow back the breathy moan that was building in her throat. If she let that slip, Emma knew that it would be game over.
"I wouldn't complain," he mumbled quietly, between presses of his lips. "Will you stay Wednesday night?"
"I can't. I have early classes on Thursday morning. But I um… I could come Friday," she offered instead. "I have to work all weekend, but at least we'd get some time together after I finish school and my shifts."
"I'll take it," he chuckled, before guiding her head around to bring his lips down to meet hers. Killian was hoping to leave Emma with the kind of kiss that would have her thinking of him for the rest of the day. And if the dazed expression on her face when he pulled back was anything to judge by, he was pretty sure that he'd managed to achieve that.
"Call me tomorrow?" he asked, pulling back to give her some room to breathe.
"I will. I uh… I love you, Killian."
The smile that he wore at the sound of those three small words falling from her lips, was nothing short of stunning. He wasn't sure there would ever come a time where they didn't fail to make his heart skip a beat.
"I love you too, Emma." Killian took her hand into his own and brought it up to his lips, before dropping it back down to her lap as he reached over to open the door for her. "You should probably go now, though. I'm so close to locking the doors and driving you back home. Consequences be damned."
Emma chuckled but reluctantly nodded her agreement. The longer she lingered, the less important the reasons for her needing to leave seemed. "Drive safe," she whispered, before pressing a kiss to his cheek and slipping from the vehicle.
Killian waited until she was safely inside of her building once more, before he started his engine to head back to his own apartment.
Wednesday afternoon couldn't come fast enough.
Killian reached for his phone as it buzzed on the bedside table, and quickly unlocked the device when his eyes landed on Emma's name. For a moment, he was far too captivated by the image she'd sent him to realize that there were words attached to the message.
Emma had sent her boyfriend a picture of herself, resting in her bed. He couldn't see everything that she was wearing, thanks to the duvet she had covering herself. But his eyes were inexplicably drawn to the thin white strap of her shirt that had slipped down over her shoulder, and now rested around her upper arm like a cuff.
Only Emma Swan could make something so simple and innocent, seem so damned sexy.
As he finally pulled his eyes away from her image to read her accompanying words, Killian found his hand coming up to rub at the space where his heart was beating in his chest. Almost as if he could soothe the ache of missing her that way.
I wish you were here to keep me warm tonight.
He took a moment to save the image she'd sent to his device, and then set it as his wallpaper, before tapping out his reply.
I can be there in twenty minutes?
Those three little dots appeared almost instantly, so Killian waited to see what her response would be, before he sent anything else. When the screen eventually darkened without her reply, he unlocked it once more and lifted the device above his head, to snap a picture of himself.
I wish you were here too.
But I can be patient.
I love you. X
I love you too. X
Killian locked his phone once more and slid it back onto the table, before rolling over in his bed. He knew that sleep wouldn't come easily for him that evening.
Not when the scent of her… of them… still lingered on his sheets.
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