Killian was happy for his excuse to sneak away early from the conference that afternoon. While the content of the lectures he'd attended so far hadn't exactly been boring, he was more than ready to take a break from socializing now. Ever since Milah had passed, Killian had much preferred his own company, or that of complete strangers, to being in large crowds. He'd forgotten how exhausting it could be to fake a smile and answer the same banal questions over and over and over again. Even while she was alive, socializing had never really been something he was good at, and with her gone, his skills had become virtually nonexistent.

Frankly, it was a miracle that he'd managed to find and keep a girlfriend for as long as he had, Killian mused, as he hailed a taxi to take himself to the airport. And yet, even as the thought occurred to him, he knew exactly why his relationship with Emma worked so well. While he wouldn't class his girlfriend as unsociable, she also wasn't as loud or outgoing as her friends. She didn't feel the need to fill every silence with inane chatter, which meant that the two of them could just enjoy being together, regardless of what they were doing at the time. There was something so very relaxing about being able to just enjoy being with another person, without worrying about what you would do or what you would talk about during that time. It was something he'd always looked for in a romantic partner, and something that had always proved difficult to find.

The ride to the airport wasn't long and after instructing his driver to wait for his return, Killian slipped out of the car and then made his way into the terminal, more excited to see Emma than he had been before he'd gotten into the cab. A quick glance at the arrivals board showed that her flight was due any moment, so he chose a spot he knew would be easily visible to the disembarking passengers, and then waited.

When they'd first made arrangements for the trip, Emma had been adamant that she didn't need anyone to pick her up from the airport. She hadn't wanted to ruin Jones's time spent at the conference and she would hear no argument against it. But no matter what she'd said, Killian knew that he would be waiting for her when she landed. It had been far too long since he'd last seen his girlfriend, and he wasn't willing to waste a single moment of the time they had together that weekend.

As passengers began making their way towards him, Killian pulled himself up to his full height and began scanning the crowd for Emma's familiar form. It didn't take long for him to find her. She looked a little nervous in this unfamiliar setting, but absolutely beautiful in her denim shorts and black, fitted t-shirt, with her hair scraped back into a messy ponytail.

Killian waited for the crowd to thin out a little before he took a couple of small steps forward, putting himself directly in her path, and then waited patiently for his girlfriend to lift her head.

Emma was so busy fiddling in her bag for her phone that it wasn't until a dark shadow suddenly fell over her that she realized someone was standing in her way.

"Excuse me," she mumbled, lifting her head to offer the offender a small, apologetic smile, but when her eyes landed on a familiar smirk, all thoughts of her phone vanished instantly. "Jones," she breathed out instead, as she allowed her eyes to rove greedily up and down his body, taking in the dark slacks and baby-blue shirt he was wearing. The top three buttons had been left undone, and Emma wasn't entirely sure if it was the dry Vegas air or the little peek of that chest hair that suddenly left her throat feeling dry.

"Miss me?" he asked cheekily, and she nodded her head enthusiastically before allowing herself to be swept up and into his arms.

The truth was that she'd missed him far more than she could ever articulate. While it had only been a few days since they'd last been together, those days had felt like months, given how hard she'd been studying for her exams. For the first time in her life, Emma hadn't been fully focused on the curriculum she was supposed to have been revising. Jones had always been close to the front of her mind with every page she read and every note she took. It had made being away from him that much harder, and it was why his embrace had never felt as warm and welcoming as it did at that moment.

"More than you can imagine," she whispered into his ear, before he could set her back down on her feet.

When she was standing once more, Killian pulled back to look her over and then leaned down to press his lips softly to her own. "I've missed you too," he told her, as he tucked a few flyaway strands of hair behind her ear before reaching for her bag with one hand, and taking hold of one of hers with the other. "Why don't we get out of here?"

"That sounds like a wonderful plan," she agreed, smiling up at him.

Emma allowed Jones to guide them through the crowded space and then out of the front entrance, over to where a taxi was parked and waiting for them. Jones helped her into the back seat and then followed her inside, setting Emma's bag down onto the floor beside his feet as he pulled the car door shut behind himself.

"How's the conference going?" she asked, while the driver started the engine and the car pulled smoothly away from the sidewalk.

"It's been okay. The lectures are interesting enough but the people…" Jones rolled his eyes dramatically as he reached for Emma's hand, "The people can be so dull. When did lawyers become so boring?"

She snorted out a laugh and laced their fingers together. "If you're only just working that out, I think you might have been out of the game for a little too long."

"I'm sure lawyers weren't this boring when I was at university. I remember being so inspired by their passion for the cause. Well, most of them. The guy that taught us Family Law was incredibly dull. I don't know how I managed to scrape a pass in that unit. I don't think I recall a word of what we were taught."

"That sounds a lot like our ethics unit," Emma teased, gently nudging his shoulder with her own. And then, out of nowhere, a thought suddenly occurred to her. "Except when you taught it to us. I remember being so moved by your passion for your work. How inspirational that lecture was. It was why I decided to approach you after you'd finished. I wanted to feel that kind of passion for my work when I graduated. I want to enjoy my work the way that you do."

She shifted suddenly in her seat and Killian didn't even need to meet her gaze to know where the conversation was going.

"Emma," he protested half-heartedly.

"This is why you have to take the job," she pressed on. "Other students deserve to feel that passion. They deserve to be inspired the way that you inspired me, Killian."

"I agree," he told her, reaching up to hold her face tenderly between his hands. "But there are other things we can do to make students feel that way. It doesn't have to be through me."

Emma opened her mouth to say something else and Killian leaned forward to silence her with a kiss. "Not this weekend," he said, pulling back to rest his forehead against her own. "We can discuss this again some other time but not this weekend, Emma. We're here to relax and have some fun. Okay?"

"Okay," she whispered, nodding her head against his before she pulled back and straightened up to declare, "Okay," a little louder.

"So… tell me about your exam," Killian invited, as he settled back into the leather of his seat. The atmosphere in the car had become slightly awkward again, which tended to happen whenever his job offer was on one of their minds, and he desperately wanted to shatter that tension before it could sour the entire weekend.

"It was horrible," she sighed, tilting her head back and screwing her eyes shut. "My plan for the essay looked so bare, and I'm pretty sure I wasted a thousand words just repeating myself. Then I rushed my reread so I probably missed dozens of silly little mistakes too. Ugh! I hate exams. Why do they make us sit them? There is no practical real-world application for an examination!"

"I agree," he chuckled, reaching for her hand once more. "Especially in this modern world where information is a simple Google search away. But I know you, Love. I know that you're panicking over nothing. You're one of the most naturally gifted students I've ever met. You have nothing to worry about. Nobody expects perfection from an examination. That being said, if anyone could come close to achieving that, it would be you."

Emma turned her head around to face her boyfriend and offered him a loving smile. "You're sweet," she said, reaching out to run her fingers softly over the hard lines of his jaw, "But you're also totally biased."

"Eh, maybe a little," he chuckled, leaning in to kiss her again.

Emma had fully intended to let him pull away as soon as he was finished, given that they were in the back of a cab in the middle of Las Vegas, but there was something about the gentle way that his lips were teasing hers that had her tightening her grip on the hair at the back of his head, and pulling him in closer.

The angle they were seated at wasn't helping to make things any easier for them, but thankfully, before either of them could work out how to rectify that, the sound of a harsh throat-clearing pulled them apart.

"We're here," a curt voice said from the front of the vehicle, and Emma flushed bright red at the idea of being caught making out with her boyfriend in the backseat of a cab.

"Don't worry, Love, this is Vegas," Killian whispered into her ear, before pressing a small kiss just below it. "I'm almost certain he's seen worse."

While Jones busied himself with paying their driver, Emma reached over to grab her bag and then pulled the car door open. Stepping out of the air-conditioned vehicle and into the Las Vegas afternoon was a slight shock to her system. She'd gotten so used to the weather in New York over the last few years that the hot, dry air was like a slap in the face. She turned around, intending to make a comment on the two vastly different climates to her boyfriend, but was quickly distracted by the large concrete building behind them.

"Holy shit," she whispered, "Is that what I think it is?"

"It depends on what you think it is," Jones replied absentmindedly, reaching out to take her bag from her. Once he'd shouldered it, he laced their fingers together and then turned to face the hotel.

"Don't be clever," Emma chastised, but there was no heat behind her voice. "Is the conference happening here or are you just showing off, Dr. Jones?"

"A little of both," he replied honestly, giving her an adorable shrug as he did. "I may have splashed out a bit on a nicer room than the ones blocked off for the conference, but in my defense, the ones they had allocated to us didn't have baths, and I simply couldn't allow you to spend all weekend here without access to a proper tub."

Emma leaned in to press a quick kiss to Jones's cheek. "Thank you," she told him, squeezing his hand tightly in her own.

"Always, Love," he promised, guiding her through the front door of the hotel.

Once inside the building, Emma wasn't exactly sure where to look first. She'd heard plenty from the people she went to school with about how luxurious the resort was, but she'd never dreamed it could be as bright and busy as it was.

"We can do some exploring once you get settled in," Jones promised. "There are spas and salons onsite if you want to relax a little after your exams. There's also a couple of places where we can do some shopping, and of course, plenty of different restaurants we can try."

"This is incredible," Emma whispered, almost like she was talking to herself more than anyone else. "But I uh… I don't think –"

"It's my treat," Jones rushed to assure her. "I bought you here with me this weekend. I was fulfilling my own selfish desires when I asked you to come. So this weekend is on me."

"I can't let you do that."

"Yes you can," he declared firmly, "Because when you have that degree in your back pocket and you're the one being invited to speak at conferences like this, then the next couple of trips will be on you."

"I think you're putting too much faith in my abilities there," Emma scoffed, as her boyfriend guided them down a busy corridor and towards a bank of elevators.

"Please! If I was putting too much faith in your abilities, Emma, I would be telling you that next year is on you," he teased. "While I am fully confident that you will become incredibly successful after law school, I'm also a realist, so I'm prepared to wait two or three years for my payback."

Emma snorted out a laugh as they stepped onto an elevator carriage and watched while Jones reached out to hit the button for their floor. "I have no idea how I'm gonna find my way around this place without you," she chuckled nervously.

"You'll be fine," Jones assured her. "I have a key card waiting for you in the room and that has all of the details on it. But you shouldn't need to use them, Love. I don't plan to let you out of my sight for long this weekend."

"Hmmm, I like the sound of that," she said, smiling up at him from underneath her lashes.

Jones let her bag drop to the floor with a loud clunk that jolted the elevator, but Emma didn't care. All she could focus on was the hot hand wrapped tightly around her waist, and the other that was cupping her cheek, tilting her head up to meet Jones's waiting lips.

His kisses were soft and sweet, gentle presses and teasing flicks of his tongue that promised so much more when they were finally within the comfort of their room, and left Emma burning with a passion she hadn't felt in years. Before she could voice that desire, however, the elevator rocked to a gentle stop on their floor and a melodic voice announced their arrival.

Jones pulled away from her with a small chuckle and Emma sighed in frustration as he reached for her bag and stepped out into the hallway.

"This way, Love," he told her, nodding his head to the left.

Emma followed him down the hall to a door labeled Suite 29607 but before she could question his choice of accommodation, Jones was pushing open the door and gesturing for her to step inside.

She had only taken five steps into the space when Emma realized where they must be. "Oh my God," she whispered, spinning on her heels to face her boyfriend. "How much did you pay for this place, Killian?"

"Not as much as you'd think," he assured her, dropping Emma's bag onto one of the seats in front of the large window. "Now, are we gonna waste precious time arguing over how expensive this nice and quiet and private suite might have been?" he continued, his hand moving down his body with every word he spoke, popping the buttons on his shirt as he went, "Or are you gonna take your clothes off?"

Emma's first instinct was to carry on protesting because she was absolutely not the kind of girl who could be distracted by sex, but the sight of Jones standing before her in nothing but a pair of well-fitted black slacks was definitely distracting.

"We're not done with this conversation," she warned, and waited for the bob of his head before she dropped her hands down to pull her shirt up her body.

"Finally," Jones growled. He waited just as long as it took for her shirt to hit the floor before he pulled her into his arms to kiss her the way he'd been dreaming about all day. "I missed you," he panted out, between teasing flicks of his tongue and playful nips of his teeth.

"God… I missed you too," she moaned, as her hands dropped down to the belt on his pants to begin unbuckling it so she could pull it free.

Jones's hands were much more certain than her own as he worked the clasp on her bra and pulled it down her arms, before he turned his attention to the buttons on her shorts. By the time Emma was standing in front of him in nothing but her panties, Jones still had his slacks on – although, he was quickly working to address that problem.

"Don't you think we should close the curtains?" Emma worried, tilting her head back to give her boyfriend access to the sensitive skin just below her ear.

"Why?" he asked, and then gently bit down on her lobe. Emma's hiss would have been worrying had it not been for the way her hips rocked forward to rub against his. "We're over three hundred feet above the ground. Nobody's gonna see you up here, Love."

"It wasn't me I was worried about," she grumbled good-naturedly, as her boyfriend's hands landed on her hips and he began guiding her back towards the large bed behind them.

"Don't worry about me, Sweetheart," he told her, pushing his boxer briefs down his legs as she fell back against the sheets with a small bounce.

The look behind Jones's eyes was almost predatory, and it only served to arouse her more.

"If anyone does manage to see through these windows, I can guarantee nobody will be looking at me with you in the same room."

Killian reached out to drag the only piece of clothing left on Emma's body down her legs and toss it over his shoulders, before sinking to his knees in front of her.

"You don't have to do that," she protested weakly, but Jones paid absolutely no attention to her words. Instead, he parted her legs, leaned forward, and then drew the tip of his index finger carefully through her wetness.

"My, my," he teased, raising his head just far enough to meet her eyes, "Someone was looking forward to this."

"Yeah, well, it's hard to adequately take care of yourself when you have exams to study for," she quipped.

"Don't worry, Love," Jones soothed, twisting his head to brush a soft kiss to her inner thigh. "You're free now, and I promise to help you take care of any needs that may arise from this point on." To emphasize his point, Jones leaned in and traced the same line his finger had taken with his tongue.

"Oh, God," Emma moaned, allowing her head to fall back against the mattress with a dull thud. A part of her wanted to watch her boyfriend work – after all, as far as she was concerned, there was nothing sexier than watching a man like Jones take so much pleasure in bringing her to the edge and back again. But it had been a long week and Emma wasn't sure she had the energy left in her body to hold herself up, when it all seemed to be focused on that one part of her that Jones was paying the most attention to.

"Relax, Sweetheart," he whispered against her damp flesh, somehow sensing the tension that had been building within her for all of the wrong reasons. "Just lay back and let me take care of you."

Emma struggled to push herself up onto one arm while she used her other to grip firmly at his hair and pull him back just far enough for their eyes to meet. "I love you," she told him.

"I love you too," he assured her, pressing another sweet kiss to her inner-knee this time.

Emma nodded her head twice and then let go of the hold she had on him as she allowed her body to collapse heavily onto the bed.

The next touch of Jones's tongue was accompanied by the gentle pressure of his fingers, and her eyes flew shut as she felt her body arch away from the bed.

"Oh… Killian!"

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