Chapter 23:

Hook started with her hand. It has the fewest and smallest cuts, but they were the easiest to access. He took great care to wrap the bandage around each of her little fingers and tie it gently but securely around her wrist.

The other wounds were less simple to care for. Sebastian had nearly begged Hook to let him help, but given the placement of the cuts, Hook refused.

"Was it worth it?" Hook asked her as he grabbed the bottom of her dress with shaky hands. "You hurt yourself trying to save two men who intended to hand you back over to Pan."

"It isn't their choice," she muttered. "They just do what they're told."

"Your loyalty is impressive, but..." Hook peeled her dress from her skin and began pushing it up, "it wasn't worth crawling through broken glass, love."

Under different circumstances, he would have savored the moment as he rolled the skirt up her legs, all the way to her stomach, exposing her legs entirely. Only a little bit of white cotton cloth kept her most private parts from being exposed with them.

There was a significant cut on the outside of her left thigh among other little cuts and scrapes, but the most concerning wound was the gash in the soft part of her hip just above it. It was losing the most blood, still dripping crimson even after having gauze pressed against it until Hook to get her into his cabin to treat it.

"Oh, little wolf," he sighed, brushing his fingertips along the skin underneath the wound. "You're going to give me a heartache at this rate."

"Why did you lock me in?"

"I wanted to lock everyone else out," he corrected her. "Including myself."

He picked up the threaded needle from the table beside him. He held the tip of it over the flame of the candle sitting on the same table. He told himself to remember to thank Smee for threading the needle for him as he carried Tala into his cabin.

"This won't feel good," he told her.

"I've stitched worse wounds."

She winced but surprisingly didn't cry out when the needle pierced her skin. In fact, she didn't make a noise at all except for a small whimper here and there as Hook stitched the gash on her hip, pulling the two sides of skin together again. It was difficult with the blood still spilling, but once it was completely sewn up, he was able to wipe most of it away.

"I've never known a woman to look so beautiful even when she's injured," Hook grinned up at her as he moved on to the only other large cut on her thigh. "Yet you look stunning."

"Why must you tease me," Tala whined, tilting her head back to hide the blush in her cheeks.

"I mean it." Hook let his free hand slide up her calf and rest on her uninjured thigh. Her skin was so soft against his palm. It made him remember his dream, and he longed to touch her even more.

"Does he really only want me because I'm a treasure to you?" Tala asked, the tiniest hint of fear in her voice.

"You're the most important treasure in my life," Hook sighed softly. "Pan must have realized that. Maybe he has a spy on the Isle. I don't know. But I do know the only thing he can take from me to hurt me now is you."He lifted his head and met her gaze. She pushed herself upright, wincing a little as the bandages on her hip shifted against her wound with her movement. Tala slid closer to the edge of the bed, closer to where Hook sat on a stool beside it.

"I don't want to be taken from you. This room... being by your side... is my home now. Wherever you go, I want to go."

Her words warmed him from head to toe. It was clear now that she meant what she said the night before, since she was confirming it now with a sober tongue. Tala was confessing her feelings in not so direct a way, but he understood them nonetheless.

"I won't let them take you. I would fight to the death before I let Pan hurt you again."

"To death?" Tala smiled. "Not afraid of death anymore, James?"

"I am," he confessed, "but I'm more afraid of living without you."

Tala's face turned red, noticably so even though her skin was dark and sun-kissed. She was aggressively blushing now, but she held his gaze fearlessly anyways. Tala reached up to lay her hand against his stubble-laced jaw.

He was surprised when she leaned down suddenly to press her lips to his. It was a tender and nervous kiss, speaking to her inexperience with such things. But it was still the most wonderful kiss Hook had ever felt grace his lips because it was from Tala. She had chosen to kiss him. She wanted to kiss him. It made his heart race inside his chest.

Unfortunately, it didn't last as long as he would have liked. He could've pulled her back down, showed her how to kiss hard and deep and with all the emotions she was feeling in that moment. But she was hurt, so he let her lips leave his without any protest.

"I don't know how to love," she said quietly, with a little shame in her voice. "I don't know how to be affectionate."

"I don't want you to be anything other than what you are," Hook chuckled. He quickly finished bandaging her wounds, then turned to fetch one of his shirts from a nearby chest.

"You may want to change. That dress is all but ruined."

"I'm sorry. I know it was expensive."

"It doesn't matter. What upsets me is your willingness to injure yourself for those bastards," Hook muttered in annoyance. "Go ahead and change. I'm sure your doting friend will want to be certain that you're alright."

Tala almost laughed at the bitterness in Hook's tone when he referred to Sebastian. If he hated him so much, why did he bring him along? She figured it must have been for her sake and her sake only. For that she was grateful.

"He's a good man. You shouldn't hate him."

"I hate him precisely because he's a good man," Hook grumbled. "If he wasn't, then he wouldn't be a threat."

"He's no threat to you."

"He is and he knows it. But because he's a good man, he makes no effort to make good on that threat."

Hook turned his back to her so she could change with some privacy. Though things were headed in a direction favorable to him, he didn't want to overstep her boundaries just yet. Seeing her bare legs was one thing. Seeing her bare breasts was another thing entirely.

"I'm sorry about your door," her voice floated over his shoulder.

"It's fine. I'll have it boarded up by this evening."

"Can I help?"

"I'd prefer it if you rested." When it had been enough time, he decided, he turned around to furrow his brow at her. "You've done enough for today. I'd like you to stay in here. Not under lock and key, but of your own accord."

"You know I don't like to be locked away."

"You're not." He approached her and lifted his hands to rest them on her arms gently. "It's a request. Those stitches could easily come out, so you must rest. Please."

She frowned, but she didn't protest. Tala sat back down on his bed, picking at the strings of the shirt he gave her. She was pouting, and it was kind of alluring in a way. He wanted to kiss those pouting lips until they were raw. The memory of her lips against his was making that urge grow stronger with every second.

"Alright. I'll wait here for you."

"Thank you. I'll go deal with the men. And with the door. If you need anything, I'll send your friend to get it for you." Hook grabbed his captain's hat from his vanity and set it atop his head. He gave her one last little grin before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.