24th Nov - Thanks everyone for the reviews and follows! Just a short update today but hope it keeps you interested! More on the way soon!.
There was something very primal in the husky tone of Killian's voice and the way that his tongue darted across his lips. With a rush of warmth to her core Emma wasn't sure if she should feel threatened or aroused - right now she was feeling both. She could sense his desire, but couldn't tell if he had an appetite for pleasure or pain.
She should have known what to expect. Killian had lashed out at her in Camelot too, although it had taken several days for the darkness to take hold. This time it was different - she didn't have his half of Excalibur to rein him back in. With his new found freedom he seemed determined to press her buttons, to provoke her own inner demon that she was trying so hard to keep at bay.
Emma surveyed him from a distance with her hands neatly folded behind her back. "There's no need for games," she responded finally, her voice quiet so as to not rile him up any further. "You can trust me."
"Ah, but now the question is, can you trust me?" He delicately twirled Excalibur's grip in the fingertips of his right hand. "You're so sure that I still love you, but can you be certain I won't use this sword against you?"
"If you didn't love me, what is to stop you from plunging that sword into my chest and taking the revenge you seem to so desperately seek?"
He pretended to give it serious thought. "That sounds so quick, so easy. So dissatisfying. Rest assured Love, I plan on doing some plunging, but not with Excalibur." His eyebrow raised as his words dripped with innuendo.
Emma's breath hitched in her throat. A blush spread across her pale cheeks. "What makes you think I wouldn't be a willing participant in your plans?"
Killian clucked disapprovingly and shook his head. "What makes you think you're included in my plans at all?"
Emma felt his words like a shot to the chest. The rejection hit first, and then the vision of him in the arms of another woman created a fire in her gut that made her want to pro-actively kill every other woman in Storybrooke.
"Oh Emma," he teased. "You're looking greener than the Wicked Witch."
With her jaw twitching on her otherwise motionless face, Emma curled her fingers on her right hand. A rage-filled ball of fire sparked against her palm - the flames crackled and flared as her fingers twitched angrily.
"Careful Swan. You better put that thing away before you burn down this lovely new house of ours."
"Like you give a damn," she growled at him, losing self-restraint, sounding almost like her old self for the briefest of moments.
"I quite like the place actually," he said, tapping his hook against the living room wall. "Although your décor leaves a bit to be desired."
"First you accuse me of being untrustworthy, and now you insult my home. I think you've outstayed your welcome." The ball of fire flashed in her open fist.
"Oh I'm not going anywhere Swan. Not yet. So put the fire out and sit yourself down."
Emma snarled and took a threatening step toward him.
Killian quickly lifted Excalibur and gestured toward it with his head - one eyebrow raised. "Nuh-uh. Don't make me use this, Love. Go on, go take a seat."
Begrudgingly Emma swallowed her pride and breathed in deeply through her nose, dousing the flame with her closed fist. She stepped backwards and sat down on a small wooden-framed chair by her writing desk, folding one leg neatly across the other. She then rested one hand on her knee on the other on the surface of the table - rapping her nails impatiently against the timber.
"It seems our game has begun, and I didn't have to use the sword! Good job! One point for Emma," Killian said condescendingly.
The old Emma would have rolled her eyes and told him in much more colourful terms to shove it where the sun don't shine but instead she just glared down her nose. Killian was testing her patience and making every effort to create a void between them. Yet she was determined to keep him close until she could find a way to restore him to the man he was - the man she loved. If that meant playing his games, she'd play along, within reason, until she could take Excalibur or find a way to win back his trust. Emma would do what she had to ensure that his rage remained fixated on her, and not on her family of the citizens of Storybrooke. "I've explained my actions. I've told you I loved you and I've apologised," said Emma. "Tell me what you want. Please."
Killian lunged toward her suddenly - the blood vessels in his temple throbbing as he spat his words at her. "I want you to pay for what you did to me."
"I lost the man I love to the darkness!" she hurled back at him, up out of the chair already storming over towards him. "I've already paid that price!"
"You think that was a price Swan? It was a bloody choice!" His face was close to hers, his eyes boring into her skull. "A choice that you made for your own selfish reasons, despite what I asked of you, begged of you in fact. And now, now I want to hurt you, the way that you hurt me."
"Then do your worst!" Emma taunted him with a growl. "But you won't see me suffer. I'll make sure you don't get one ounce of satisfaction from anything you think you can inflict on me."
"Oh but I'm already winning Love, because I have taken the one thing that both Emma Swan and The Dark One fear losing above all else." Killian reached out to stroke the smooth side of his hook against her cheek. "Do you want to know what that is, Emma?"
Emma craned her neck but didn't respond.
He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Control."