AN: Yes, I am alive! School is kicking my ass and I decided that I wanted to give ya'll another full chapter just to tie up some loose ends before I wrapped up the story completely! Epilogue is happening.

As always, thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I didn't think this was going to amount to anything and neither did I ever think that so many people would like it as much as ya'll did!

Love, Steph!

Chapter 14

April greets Emma with Killian knocking on her office door at five in the afternoon, two cups of coffee in his hands.

"Hey, stranger." She greets, unable to stop the grin that was spreading across her lips.

She was his, and he was hers and they were together, finally.

"Hey, I've got your coffee, a venti, triple shot, hazelnut mocha as requested." He says proudly, placing the cup on her desk before kissing her on the cheek.

"Come here." She says, raising her hand to his chin and guiding his face back to hers, kissing his lips softly. She wants him. She's wanted him ever since he kissed her in her office the day before, ever since they shared a cab and his hand absentmindedly started drawing circles on her thigh, ever since he walked her to her apartment door and kissed her goodnight.

"I believe we have a coffee date, Swan." He chuckles, breaking away from the kiss as she tries to deepen it. "You ready?" he asks now standing near the door, raising his eyebrows questioningly at her as he takes a sip of his own coffee.

"Life ruiner." She mumbles, standing up grabbing her coffee and purse.

"What was that?" Killian asks her incredibly amused.

"Nothing." Emma singsongs.

"Come on then, you bloody infuriating woman." He grins, extending his hand towards hers, grabbing it, and walking alongside her down the hall.

-/-

"So, now what?" Emma asks expectantly as she sits down next to him on a bench, coffee cups placed idly on the floor. They had walked around Central Park for a good fifteen minutes before finding a spot where a local puppeteer was putting on a show for a bundle of little kids. Killian's hand was over hers, absentmindedly playing with her fingers, his gaze focused on the developing show in front of them.

Not answering her question, he turns towards her and fixes a warm gaze on her. She smiles at him, unable to believe that they had gotten to this point. Unable to believe that they were finally together, no obstacles anywhere near their path.

"Tell me about you." He says finally, grinning widely at her confused face.

"Killian, you already know everything there is to know about me." She answers him, chuckling incredulously.

"Not true," he begins. "After that dismal day that you walked out of my life I have no idea what happened to you when you left with Walter until I saw you again in July…" he drifts off hurriedly, probably unsure about how he should approach last July's linen closet incident. "Sorry, lass. My mouth has run away with me again." He adds apologetically, scratching the back of his neck nervously.

"No, it's okay. You're right. We need to talk about what happened, we can't just start on a completely new slate." She tells him earnestly, a reassuring smile on her face. She didn't want to relive what happened in D.C., but she had to if she wanted to make her relationship with Killian a trusting, honest, and working one. "My time with Walsh in D.C. was miserable." Emma starts slowly, squeezing Killian's hand tightly to reciprocate his own reassuring squeeze. "It really was, I thought of you every single moment. I couldn't sleep for the first week. I guess I was too shocked how it all had happened so quickly. I was terrified, angry, and just…fucking depressed."

"Careful, Swan, think of the children." Killian warns, pointing at the swarm of kids gathering around the puppeteer.

"Shut up. It really was absolutely miserable. He just had me trapped, placed on a mantelpiece like a trophy. I was like his own doll, he'd take me out, parade me, putting on this farce of a perfect marriage in front of the public. But it was all a sham, we would come home after campaigning and he'd screw his campaign manager every night in the room next to mine. He was able to keep up his affair with someone he didn't even love, and I was forced to give up the love of my life to ensure that he wouldn't hurt you." She finishes her voice breaking, swallowing the thick lump in her throat so she could breathe easily again. "Sorry." She says quickly, laughing nervously as she quickly wipes the rebel tears that streamed down her cheek.

Killian grabs her hand that's still on her cheek and brings it up to his lips, kissing the back of it softly. "Swan, you don't ever have to apologize for your choice. You did what you thought was best for both of us, I understand that now."

"Okay." She says softly. She's not sure she'll ever get used to not apologizing, when she was with Walsh it seemed like it was all she ever did.

"What happened next?" He asks, her hand still in his.

"Well, I decided that I needed to take my life back. I kept up with the torture until I thought of a plan that would make him have no other choice than to grant me a divorce and I went with it." She answers, a playful smile now gracing her face.

"What did you do?" He asks, his grin matching hers.

"I filmed him and his campaign manager having sex one night and waited until he was so deep in the campaign that he couldn't possibly refuse the divorce."

"You bribed him with a sex tape." He laughs.

"Killian, the children." Emma warns him, echoing the tone he used on her earlier making him rolls his eyes at her.

"I always knew there was a little pirate in you, Swan." He boasts, raising his arm and wrapping it behind her shoulders making Emma rest her head on his chest.

"Yeah, well I learned from the best."

They stay like that for a while, watching as the puppeteer finishes his show. It was actually rather good and funny, or so Emma gathered during the times that her attention wandered over to his skit. She stands and fishes inside of her wallet for some money and hands it to him. When she comes back Killian is grinning at her, she could really get used to that sight.

"So, what did you do when we were apart?" She asks him as she sits back down, bringing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them, looking at Killian expectantly.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Swan. I became rather fond of certain libations, completely obsessed with work. I was just hopelessly wandering around the world, to be honest." He says finishing with a dry, rueful chuckle.

She wants to ask him about Brunette Bombshell.

Maybe she shouldn't.

"I saw you with a girl one day." Well, there it was. He knits his eyebrows at her.

"When?" He asks.

"I went for a jog when I came to visit for Neal's christening. Somehow I ended up in your neck of the woods and I had some coffee at that shop we used to go to, and then I saw you two." Emma half expects him to deny it, but her expectations die down when she sees realization dawn on his face.

"Yeah, I might have had a fling with Regina's assistant for a couple of weeks." Killian says quickly, his cheeks red.

"Astrid? You had sex with Astrid?" Emma asks incredulously, mentally beating herself with a stick. Why was she jealous? She had a functioning relationship with August for almost three months.

"Swan, remember the children." He warns, laughing at her shaking her head at him. "Hey, you had a thing with September, she didn't mean anything to me. She was just there at a time when I needed someone, that's all, love. I promise."

"I know." Emma says quietly, trying to cover up that she was slightly miffed.

"Emma, if it makes you feel any better it didn't end even remotely well." Killian laughs, extending his hand towards her face and trying to stretch a smile from her pout with his thumb.

"How so?" Emma asks, playfully swatting away his hand from her face, trying to mask her incredibly obvious intrigue while making Killian shoot her a knowing look. He indulges her, nonetheless.

"Well, I believe she said I had the mental capacity of a thirteen year old and I was emotionally barren." He answers her question simply, shooting her a dazzling smile afterwards.

"You're none of those things." Emma tells him earnestly, her hand instinctively going to cup his cheek. Killian sighs, absentmindedly nuzzling his face against the palm of her hand.

"Aye, but I was when I was without you." He answers her quietly, blue eyes locking intensely with her green ones.

"How long did it last?" she breathes.

"I told her I couldn't see her again the night of the christening. I was a complete mess after that day. I haven't stopped thinking about you since." He answers her in the same hushed tone she used to pose the question. His eyes were sincere and Emma can see all the hurt that has been living behind them for the past two years in this one moment of candor. She smiles at him candidly, bringing her other hand to his other cheek and pressing a kiss to his lips. He moans, seemingly melting into the kiss, and digs his hands in her hair.

A chorus of disgust greets their ears and they break away when they notice it's coming from the throng of children still surrounding them.

"Bloody, kids." Killian mumbles against her lips, making her smile.

"Maybe we should take this somewhere more private." Emma suggests, raising an eyebrow at him as she pulls away.

"I'd like that." He answers, offering her his hand after standing up.

-/-

Emma all but attacks him when they get to her apartment later that evening. He grins against her lips when she pushes him against the wall and kisses him zealously, his breath hitching when her hand palms his growing erection. She bites his lip, tugging at it softly before guiding him back into her living room. Killian looks at her dazed, his eyes glossed over, lips slightly parted in awe, red and swollen. She grins at him, her eyes probably just as glazed as his, and lightly pushes him to sit down on the couch. Emma unzips her pants and lets them drop in a pool around her ankles before making her way towards the couch and straddling him.

Killian's breath shudders as his hands make their way to cup her bottom, his fingers playing with the thin fabric of her underwear. His head drops back to the couch, his gaze still dazed and awestruck. Emma smiles, nervously biting her lip in reaction to the look he gives her. One of his hands makes its way to her face, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear before pulling her face towards his and capturing her lips in a softer kiss.

"Swan, if memory serves me right you don't want to rush into anything." He tells her, his voice rough and hoarse against her lips.

"I don't." Emma concedes, fearing where this is going. "I still want you, though." She admits, pressing her lips against his neck, nipping him slightly with her teeth.

"And I thought you said you wanted to be courted properly." He continues, a moan escaping his lips when she started to grind against his noticeably throbbing erection.

"You are courting me properly, Killian." She tells him, her hands aptly going to the buttons of her shirt and undoing them slowly, mesmerizing him in the process. She has wanted him all day, she'll be damned if he decides that now is the time he needs to be a proper gentleman.

"Bloody minx." He whispers, giving into the temptation and pulling her off of him, making her sit on the couch instead. He kneels in front of her, parting her legs and hooking his hands around her calves to pull her forwards. Every movement happened so quickly that Emma did not get a hold of what was happening until she felt him pulling her underwear down her legs and proceeded to lick and kiss her inner thighs until his mouth was nestled on her core. She had forgotten how good he was at this, how he sucked and pulled slightly on her clit making her go wild. How he kissed her folds as if he were kissing her mouth, slow and steady, grinning widely when he heard the moans that he made her elicit through his actions.

Killian then slips two fingers into her, pressing the spot that makes her unravel during every stroke. She can feel the heat of her orgasm start to coil in her lower stomach when he starts sucking on her clit in addition to fingering her and palming her breast with his free hand. He nods when he hears her breaths become shallow, a sure-fire sign that she's close. With a couple of more strokes from Killian's part, Emma comes loudly. Her body shuddering and quivering in pleasure as wave after wave of her orgasm washes over her.

Emma lays still on the couch, her arm covering her eyes, her chest rising up and down quickly, her breaths still erratic and panting. She hears Killian chuckle as he kisses a trail from her inner thighs and up her stomach. She looks up to find him looking at her with a knowing smile on his face, resting his head on her knees.

"Satisfied, Swan?" he asks her cheekily.

"For now." She replies, grinning widely but still dazed from what had just happened.

"You always have been insatiable, love." He teases, standing up and leading her back to her bed, remembering that she always took a nap after a particularly fantastic orgasm.

Once in bed, Emma raises his arm and settles in his chest. She smiles as she feels him press his lips to the top of her head.

"I missed you." She sighs, her eyes already heavy with sleep.

"I missed you too, love." He tells her, tugging her closer to him.

Emma falls asleep shortly thereafter, feeling blissful and content in his arms.

-/-

Emma Swan considers herself a patient woman and when Killian obliges her request of not wanting to rush into things (she regrets ever saying those words), she's thankful for the first few days. However, it has been two weeks since they kissed in her office and told each other they loved the other in addition the almost year it has been since they've been intimate with the other.

Emma Swan's patience is wearing thin.

She has voiced her concerns to Killian, who always smiles at her devilishly and tells her to be patient, she wanted to be courted properly and he was going to give her that. They end up making out all night, his fingers working fervently inside of her making her crumble night after night, but it's not enough.

Tonight, of all nights, Emma decides that she's been courted well enough to last her a lifetime. Killian invited her to dinner at his place, and she decides to wear her most racy, lace underwear underneath her new royal blue pleated skater dress with the lace off shoulder sleeves. She wears her hair down in loose cascading waves, her lips a deep red color. The blue of the dress makes her hair look more golden than ever and contrasts magnificently with her skin tone.

"Killian?" She asks loudly as she steps through the threshold of his apartment. She still doesn't understand how she's capable of having a key to his apartment, but they haven't slept together yet.

The man is ridiculous.

"In the kitchen, love." He calls out to her and she makes her way towards the kitchen. She finds him opening a wine bottle he had selected for the night. Pouring the dry Pinot Noir Rosé into two full wine glasses, he looks at her for the first time and almost pours too much into one glass.

He swears under his breath, making Emma chuckle slightly. She has always been amused when he's flustered.

"You look stunning, Swan." He tells her as she goes around the kitchen island and wraps her hands around his neck.

"Thank you." She breathes kissing him full on the mouth, tasting the semi-sweet fruity Pinot Noir Rosé on his lips. "What are you making?" she asks, grinning widely at the way his gaze lingers on her lips after she had licked the wine from them.

"Ah, a feast worthy for my lovely Swan." He raises his eyebrows and the smug grin translating into his voice as he lifts the saucepan lid and shows her what he had been cooking.

"Crawfish Scampi? All for me?" She grins at him, her voice genuinely touched by his actions, and brings up the glass of rosé to her lips. Killian moves closer to her and presses his lips to the side of her forehead.

"Aye, only the best for you, my love." He whispers in her ear, his forehead resting against hers, his breath warm and welcome against her skin. She wants him so bad.

"I'm your love?" She asks him, unable to stop the grin spreading across her lips as she turns her body towards his, her arms circling against his neck.

"Of course, Swan. Do you doubt it?" He asks sincerely, blue eyes gazing intently into her green ones. The way he's looking at her practically knocks the breath out of her lungs and she can't resist herself when she kisses him again. He's taken aback at first, but he quickly regains his composure returning her kiss fervently one hand pressing firmly on the small of her back, the other dug deep in her hair.

"Not at all." She whispers when she pulls back, almost laughing at the dumfounded look on Killian's face. He looked almost pained that the kiss stopped. It was now or never. "I think we should have some pre-dinner activities." She tells him breathily, a knowing smirk gracing her delicate features.

"Oh?" Killian's eyebrows shoot up. "I'm not sure what kind of activities you mean, Swan." He responds, his voice innocent but his hands are travelling from her lower back to the cup the curve of her ass.

"Of course you do, I do believe you've been leading up to them these past weeks." She desperately wants to roll her eyes, but she desperately wants to have sex even more, so she starts to kiss his neck instead. Emma has to stop herself from emitting an irritated groan as he softly pushes her off him. She really thought that she was going to get her way by the way he had moaned when she bit and kissed his neck just moments ago.

Seriously, when did this man get such an impressive willpower?

"Swan, I went through all this trouble. Maybe we can indulge in those sinful activities after dinner." He offers, gently cupping her chin and guiding her face to look at his.

"Killian, why are you avoiding this?" Emma asks exasperatedly. If he isn't going to take the hint when she starts things, she's just going to have to talk it out of him.

"I'm not, love." He tells her, but she knows he's lying.

"Yes, you are. It took you less time to get me into bed when we saw each other for the first time in eight years and I was married, than it's taking you to get me into bed when you know I already love you and being with you is all I want. What is going on?" Emma asks him softly, cupping his cheek and guiding his gaze back onto hers when he tried to look away.

"I just feel guilty." He says finally, turning away from her and going to pour more wine into his glass.

Guilty?

"Guilty? Why on earth do you feel guilty?" Emma asks confused.

"Em, I don't know. Look, I want to have sex with you. Gods, I miss being one with you more than anything, but every time I feel like I'm ready to do it I remember how you said I had used your body and made you feel like nothing. And then I just can't go through with it." He pours himself another glass and downs it in two gulps.

Suddenly everything made sense, his hesitation when she slept over the first night, his want to 'properly court her', the way he's always being attentive to her every need but not really letting her reciprocate. Not that Emma was complaining at the attention to detail he had been giving her, but it's only normal that she reciprocates.

"Killian, you can't think that way." She tells him honestly, extending her hand towards his and smiling when he grabs it.

"It's true." He answers, miffed.

"Killian, look I'm not going to say that I deserved what happened, but I am going to tell you that I understand why you did it and that there's nothing to feel guilty about." She tells him.

"I just don't think I can forgive myself, love." He answers her quietly, unable to meet her gaze.

"Well, I forgave you a long time ago. Killian, you were heartbroken and you wanted me to feel the same hurt you felt. I left you, no matter what those circumstances were, no matter what happened, I didn't give you a proper explanation as to why I was leaving you. I thought that I was doing the right choice for both of us, but I didn't stop to think how it was going to affect you. I didn't do the first thing you're supposed to do with your significant other when I was faced with a problem. I chose for us instead of trying to figure out what could be beneficial for us and the way you reacted when I came back into your life is understandable to me now. I moved on from that and I want you to know that it's okay for you to do that too."

Killian's response is unprecedented and a welcome surprise when Emma feels his lips pressed up against hers again. His lips move softly against hers and she can tell he's trying to pour every ounce of love he feels for her into the kiss. His hands cradle her face and as he breaks for air he brushes the hair off her face, tucking it behind her right ear, and he smiles at her lovingly and hazily.

"You're too good for me, Swan." He whispers, pressing his lips to her cheek before nuzzling his face against hers.

"Not any better than you are for me." Emma breathes, kissing the corner of his mouth, hungry for more. "You are everything I've ever wanted, Killian. You've saved me not just once, but twice, and I don't plan on ever letting you go again."

And that did it, the next second Killian had scooped her up, her legs instinctively going around his waist and he brought her to his bed (then he went back to the kitchen to turn off the stove he probably had left on—or so he thought he had). He towered over her, knees on either side of her hips, before lowering himself and kissing every inch of exposed skin. The whole atmosphere felt hazy and dazed, as his lips traveled down her collarbone, the exposed skin of her belly that resulted in her dress being pushed up around her midriff. His lips kissed her hips (not without a snarky remark about her choice of underwear—which according to him she had to wear again), and then they travelled down her legs. He was kissing every inch of her as if he were worried she wasn't there, wasn't real, or wasn't going to be there forever even though she had every intention to be.

She doesn't really know how long it takes for it to happen—it could've been twenty minutes or it could've been two hours—but he's moving inside her, softly and slowly, every delicious inch slipping into her awakening her senses, every so often he'd kiss a random part of her face and he'd whisper how much he loved her, how he always wanted to be with her, how she was it for him. Never had Killian been so romantic and talkative during sex, and Emma knew he was probably trying to make up for the last time they were intimate, but she appreciated it nonetheless. He shifts them after what seemed like a blissful eternity, and now Emma was sitting on top of him, her hands resting on the headboard behind his head, using it for leverage as she slid up and down his length. She never had much patience for slow lovemaking and in a matter of minutes her pace had quickened, sweat beads forming on her hairline. She hadn't felt this good in forever it seemed, she hadn't been this connected to a lover since the first time she and Killian had sex knowing and accepting their relationship as an affair. She feels the familiar heat of her orgasm coiling in her belly and by the sounds of Killian's moans he is ready too. Dipping her hand between them she adds pressure against her clit, her breaths becoming shallower and shallower, the perfect loving rhythm they had been keeping for who knows how long was now becoming frantic and sloppy as they both chased their peaks. And then it happens; her walls clench around his member and make her frantically cry out his name over and over, he follows behind her almost immediately, her name the same frantic prayer on his lips as his name is on hers.

"Don't nap. I made us dinner, remember?" he whispers against her ear, smiling at her already heavy lidded eyes.

"I wasn't going to nap." Emma huffs indignantly as she lifts herself off of him.

"You always nap." He laughs. "I love you." Killian follows, kissing her on her temple.

"I love you too." Emma mumbles sleepily, her eyes threatening to shut for at least half an hour before Killian throws his shirt at her and pulls her off the bed.

They smile at each other over the elegantly prepared dinner table as they eat their dinner ten minutes later, mostly because he's eating while wearing nothing but his boxers, she's wearing an oversized shirt of his and nothing else, and raunchy adult cartoons are playing in the TV in the background.

It's hardly a picture perfect scenario, but then again no part of their relationship has ever been that way, and Emma wouldn't have it any other way.