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Wednesday was a bitch.
And so was she.
Hook had deliberately stepped back to let Neal have his chance, all so he wouldn't be the reason another family broke up. He'd never told her, in so many words, the story of Milah, but she'd worked it out through things he and Neal had said. And it seemed like Hook was afraid of being the one to split up Henry's family.
She'd been angry about it the night before, but in the light of a new day — well, sort of — she realized it was just another way Hook was trying to be a man of honor.
Good form, and all that.
It will be because you want me.
Emma sighed. That was the thing, though. She knew she didn't want Neal, but she wasn't sure if she could take a risk with her heart again. Still, now was the perfect time to test the waters a bit, to see if their chemistry could ever develop into anything.
And tomorrow nobody but her would even remember.
She decided her first order of business was to finish the trashy romance novel she'd started the day before.
She knew damn well she'd never get to go back for it later once things started moving again. If she was going to play hooky, she figured she might as well do as she pleased.
After she finished, she stayed curled up in her comfy spot in the library and spent a little time pondering what she should do with her pirate.
Lord knows, there were a lot of things she'd like to do with Hook (sweaty, naked things, if she was going to be completely honest), but maybe a little harmless fun was in order. Maybe she could do something else she'd wanted to do with Hook for a while now.
She picked Henry up for lunch and half-listened as he chattered away. After they'd settled in their seats and ordered, she excused herself to lean on the counter by Hook.
"Hey, Hook," she said casually, tummy churning a little as he turned those blue eyes on her. Damn, the man was attractive. "Can you do me a favor?"
"I live to serve, Swan."
"Is that sarcasm?" She shrugged it off. "Whatever. After lunch I have to take Henry back to Regina's, then I'm picking you up."
"What exactly do you require of me, then?"
She grinned. "You'll see."
"No way in hell."
"No?"
"There are limits to what I would do even for you, love."
"Are there, though?" Emma smiled sweetly and stepped closer, waving a hand a the storefront. "We don't have to buy anything, but you might find something you like."
"I like my clothing now."
"Well, so do I," she said, slowly and deliberately taking in the way the leather molded to his body. She bit back a laugh as he swallowed hard and licked his lips. "But the truth is, I just kind of have this fantasy … I mean, I've always wanted to see what you'd look like in jeans."
She smiled smugly, knowing full well that she had him at the word "fantasy."
"Bloody hell."
To avoid traumatizing him any more, she picked out dark colors in everything. The clerk, who couldn't be more than 18, watched wide-eyed as they moved through the store. She said her name was Kim, and she probably was offering to help; it was hard to tell, because every time she looked at Hook, her words got scrambled. He sent her a wicked grin and asked if she was all right, and the poor girl literally fell over, tripping over her own feet.
"Stop that," Emma hissed as the embarrassed kid practically ran back to the counter.
"I did nothing," he protested.
"Please," she scoffed, shoving a deep red button-down into his arms. "She is just a kid; she can't handle the full-on Hook flirt."
He chuckled. "But you can handle it?"
"I have years of bullshit immunity built up," she said, scanning the racks. "I can deal with whatever you've got."
"I think I might like to test that theory," he said in her ear, and she jolted. He was standing much, much closer to her, eyeing her lips.
This time she was the one who swallowed hard, fighting the urge to lick her lips. Damn if she was going to let him win, though. She turned slightly so they were facing each other, as close as she could get while he had an armful of clothes, and brought her lips almost to his.
"Give it your best shot, pirate," she said.
Maybe she was a little more breathless than she'd have liked, but she was only human. She took some satisfaction in the way he sucked in a shaky breath himself.
She turned away and spoke briskly, like nothing had happened. "Okay, that's enough clothes for now. Let's find the changing rooms."
Hook was swearing up a storm in the changing room, and she was trying not to laugh listening to him. She considered herself pretty well-versed in the art of profanity, but he was putting her to shame. She'd never heard some of the terms he was using; she wasn't even sure what some of them meant.
"Bloody — Swan, I've had it with this."
She grinned and approached the door. "Are you decent?"
He snorted. "Very rarely, darling."
Rolling her eyes, she cautiously pushed the door open.
He seemed to have no problem with the jeans, and the dark denim sat just right on his hips, clung to his thighs and (she noticed in the mirror behind him) did fantastic things to his ass.
Damn, she knew he would wear the hell out of those.
He'd chosen (of course) a black button-down to try on, but it was just hanging open, giving her a tantalizing view of his chest.
She cleared her throat and wrenched her eyes up to his face. "What's the problem?"
"These blasted buttons," he said, tugging on his shirt tail. "The holes are too small."
"They're not too small," she said, stepping closer and grabbing both halves of the shirt front. She started with the third button from the top, slipping it into place before starting on the next one. Maybe it was totally unnecessary for her hand to actually touch his chest while buttoning his shirt, but, well, accidents happen, right?
"It's just a new shirt, so it's kind of tight. You've got to button it a few times, kind of work it in there so it fits just …" She trailed off as his hand moved over her hip, tugging her closer to him.
"Swan," he said hoarsely.
She looked up to meet his eyes, hands still tangled in his shirt. The way he was looking at her made her breath stutter and her brain go blank.
They stood, frozen like that, for what seemed like an eternity before they both moved, mouths crashing together. Hook sucked on her bottom lip until she moaned, then slipped his tongue in her mouth to tease hers. She twisted her arms around his neck and pulled him as close as possible, as he pushed her back against the wall, pressing his entire body into hers.
He kissed her like he couldn't get enough, and she knew the feeling. She started to hook one leg around his waist, chasing the friction she needed, and hummed into his mouth when he used his hand to anchor it there, grinding his growing hardness into her in the most wonderful way.
He broke away from her mouth to kiss his way over her jaw, down the column of her throat and zero in on the spot where her neck met her shoulder, sucking hard and drawing another loud moan from her.
"Is … is everything okay in there?"
Hook pulled back, breathing hard, and she wondered if she looked as dazed as he did.
"Um, sir?" the shop clerk sounded nervous. "Is there … can I get something for you?"
He was still looking out of it, so Emma punched him on the arm and motioned toward the door.
"Ehhh, no lass, I'm fine. I'm just about done." He cleared his throat. "Thank you for your concern."
Yeah, thanks a million.
Emma closed her eyes and shook her head as they heard the girl moving away. They had been making out in a changing room like horny teenagers or something.
She clapped her hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh and opened her eyes to find Hook grinning at her. "I knew you couldn't handle it, Swan," he said.
She snuck out of the changing room, relieved to see the clerk was nowhere to be found again, and let Hook change.
When he came out of the cubicle, she snatched the jeans out of his arms. "We're getting these," she said.
"You like those, then?" He bit his lip and stepped closer. "Do they live up to your fantasy?"
She flashed back to the feel of him pinning her against the wall, hips moving against hers. "Oh yeah."
He smirked, then held up the black shirt. "I like this one as well."
"Done." She snatched the shirt from him and motioned to the rack in the changing room. "Hang the rest of them there."
She made her way to the register. Shopgirl was staring at her and blushing. Emma had avoided looking in the mirror, but she could imagine how she looked; it was no surprise the girl knew exactly what was going on in that changing room.
Emma shrugged. "We'll take these," she said, handing over her credit card as Hook came up beside her.
"You're buying my clothing?"
"I don't think they take gold doubloons," she said. "You can probably find a way to make it up to me."
The clerk choked, and Hook grinned. "Oh, I always pay my debts, love."
"Counting on it."
He wandered off as she finished up the sale. "Thanks," Emma said. "I wasn't sure if we'd find anything in Storybrooke."
"I'm sure there's much better shopping outside town," the clerk agreed softly. "If … you know, if you can leave."
If you can leave.
Emma froze as an idea hit her, then signed the receipt quickly and pushed it back to the girl. She grabbed the bag and pulled Hook out of the store.
"Listen, Hook, there's something I have to do." She handed him the bag.
"Can I help?"
"No, it's … I can't really explain it right now. But it won't take long." She smiled at him, feeling suddenly awkward. "I could … if you want, I could come by your ship when I'm done?"
"Aye," he agreed. "I'd like that very much. We should probably talk."
She nodded, even though talking was the very last thing on her mind. "I'll see you in a bit, then," she said, then headed for her car.
She sped toward the town line, fingers rubbing absently over her lips.
She couldn't believe she hadn't thought to try leaving town; there was no telling if that would have any effect on the curse at all, but it was a simple thing that was worth trying.
Of course, if it worked, she'd have to deal with the consequences of … whatever it was that was going on between her and Hook. But that was a problem for (hopefully) another day.
If it didn't work, well, she couldn't think of one reason not to participate in some "enjoyable activities" with one Captain Hook.
God, kissing him was like lighting a match, and she was dying to feel the burn.
She saw the town line coming up and forced herself to focus on what she was doing. She wasn't sure if she would even know if anything changed when she crossed over or not, so she needed to pay attention and see if she noticed anything different.
Emma jerked suddenly, confused, as the car seemed to hit something solid. Her last thought before she lost consciousness was I can never leave Storybrooke.