A/N: Hey everyone! So as promised this chapter picks up right where we left off with Emma going to get her man (finally) and then tracking the morning after. Basically the train is coming into smut station (at last). We're also back to the dueling POVs so we will start with Killian and end with Emma this time. It's smuffy and feels charged and was great fun to write and I really hope you guys will enjoy this. Anyway thank you for reading and I hope you all have a lovely rest of your day!

In the aftermath of the town's harvest festivities, Killian found himself to be far more restless than usual. That was probably thanks to the fact that unlike other nights before, he knew that Emma would be coming home to an empty house and feeling the same kind of solitude that Killian experienced every day.

Part of his dueling emotions in the face of this was to think that neither of them should be feeling any kind of loneliness. What better moment could there be to soak up more quality time together then when they wouldn't have to worry about interruption from Emma's boy? Yet at the same time, and in a stronger, more tangible way, Killian was worried about Emma. From what he knew about her past and from the glimpses of her childhood that she'd shared with him, the thing Emma hated (and feared) the most was being alone.

And yes, technically it was just one night in a house that Emma had truly made a home. He assumed she'd faced this kind of situation before and that perhaps there had been evenings where she was apart from Henry prior to Killian's moving to town, but the thought that there might even be a second tonight where Emma felt disheartened from being by herself tugged at his heartstrings, enough so that he was currently pacing the front hall of his house trying his best to get it together and keep collected.

"I'm making too big a deal of this," he said aloud to no one but himself and a lazily dozing Luna who was curled up on the couch in the living room. "If she needs me, she'll come. She knows she can come here."

But the question wasn't whether Emma knew that, rather it was whether she believed it. As far as they'd gotten in recent weeks there was still the element of her holding back and Killian knew part of that stemmed from her not wanting to inconvenience him or to need him too much. What she didn't see, and what he'd been trying to show but in moderation so as not to scare her, was that Killian would always answer her call to action. Whatever Emma needed, whatever would make her happy, it would make him happy too and so none of it was a burden. When he said she was invited anytime no matter the hour, he meant it, and in this moment he was praying that she would choose to come here harder than he'd prayed for anything in a very long time.

At that moment Luna decided to intercede in Killian's ranging thoughts with a loud meow and he looked over to his furry companion, finding that her ears had perked up. Was there something of interest to her now? Hell, maybe she found it comical that he was pacing like this and just felt like announcing that aloud in the only way that a cat could. But then Killian heard what had caught her attention too, footsteps making their way up the walk, followed swiftly by a soft knock at the door.

Killian couldn't get there to open it fast enough because he knew in his gut it had to be Emma. No one else would ever be stopping by this late, and his heart began to race at the thought that she'd actually come. She'd chosen him, and for her to seek him out like this felt important. He was proud to be the man she chose to let into her heart and to make room for in her life, but then he opened the door and that rush magnified all the more, almost knocking him over with its intensity.

"Emma," he said, not really meaning to speak but finding her name fell from his lips as if it were out of his control.

"So I see I didn't wake you," she teased as the porch light lit her up and brightened her smile even more. Emma was effortlessly beautiful out here and the fact that he could even respond at all was a bloody miracle.

"Oh but you did, love. Before you… hell I feel like I can't even remember a time before knowing you. I must have been sleeping or worse, and then all that changed when I found you."

His words were deep and had given more intimate feelings away than he was prepared to offer, but that was the risk he ran in following his heart. Sometimes things just needed to be said, and this was one of those times. Killian couldn't regret it, and he didn't have to, not when Emma's reaction was to step into him and kiss him with the same passion they'd displayed back at the fair minus the worry of being found out.

With swift movements and a distinct feel of purpose Killian brought Emma inside closing the door behind them and bolting it shut quickly. He didn't want to think about particulars; all he wanted was to finally taste the bliss this woman had been offering him since their first kiss. Holding Emma like this, feeling her heat and her anxious anticipation right there at the surface as she met him beat for beat was almost too much to handle, but the only way to survive was to move forward. If they were interrupted again or called upon to stop this he might just lose his mind, but if they kept going and followed these urges then he'd be branded by her forever even more than he already had been. It was a hazard of the heart, but there was no choice to make, not when the potential prize was belonging to Emma and finally securing this thing between them in a more substantial way.

As if they were of the same mind, Emma and Killian both moved further into the house, kissing and grasping and breathing the other in until they reached the stairs where they broke apart only for the length of time it took to ascend to the next floor hand in hand. When they were in the upper hall Killian pulled Emma back to him again, reveling in the feel of her lush curves pressed against him and noticing the way her cheeks were flushed and her eyes wide with the delicious thrill of what would come next.

"Before we do this, Emma, I think it's only fair for me to tell you that this will change things. I've been holding off and trying to take this as slow as I can, but if I have you then that ability will crumble. One taste won't be nearly enough."

"I know," Emma responded immediately, her hand coming up to his cheek, her fingertips tracing his jawline with a softness designed for seduction even in its innocence. "I'm ready for that. I'm ready for this."

That was all Killian needed to hear to pick her up into his arms and get her into his bedroom as fast as he possibly could without putting her at risk. It was still too long though, and by the time her feet were on the floor again, Killian wanted to be ten steps further than they were. He wanted her bared to him, spread out on the sheets of his bed and ready to take the pleasure he was intent on giving her, but it wouldn't do to rush, not when they could only have this first time once in their whole lives.

Instead of following the animalistic and primal voices in his brain to take her fast and hard and without delay, Killian bolstered himself to a new plan and one that would prove so much more gratifying. He helped Emma out of each piece of her clothing, stripping away her shirt and skirt until she was standing there before him in nothing but two white scraps of lace and that blasted flower crown in her hair. Her eyes noticed how his appreciative and ravenous gaze moved up her body and landed on the accessory and then she blushed a brilliant shade of crimson as her hand came to remove it from the tangled curls of her hair.

"Sorry, I forgot I still had this on," Emma exclaimed as she put it down on the bedside table and ran her fingers through her the blonde locks. Killian meanwhile was unable to deny the urge to move towards her and hold her once more, his fingers tracing over the smooth lines of her body and feeling the petal soft touch of her skin on his.

"There's nothing to be sorry about. A crown suits you, love," he said and Emma's lips curled up into a smile before her hands came to roam across his body as well, pulling his shirt away first and then drawing down a lazy path along his chest and abs to the button of his jeans where they teased him further.

"Does it? So what does that make me, a princess? A queen…?"

Killian groaned not at the words but at the action of Emma's expertly getting past the fastenings of his pants and pushing down the denim he was wearing, revealing his hard length to her sights at last. She was totally in control right now, the embodiment of a seductress in every conceivable way, and then she took him in hand and he was lost to the feel of it, knowing it was so good but that it would be nothing to what they were going to have in just a little bit more time.

"You could be anything you want, Swan, but to me you're everything."

A second passed with those charged words that said so much crackling between them and time felt like it was coming to a total stop. In the corners of his vision Killian swore the room got brighter, that the light around them shone with an unnatural but transcendent golden hue. Yet he didn't give a damn, not when Emma was on him, her hands coming back around his neck and her lips crashing to his. The tides had shifted, the last line of resistance snapped, and Killian could feel how badly Emma wanted this and how ready she was to be loved in the way she deserved. She was starved for it, holding onto him like a lift raft in the midst of a terrible storm, and he was right there with her, knowing she was the anchor to the good things he'd found in his life and never wanting to be swept out into the world's mediocre seas again. All he wanted was Emma and he'd have her right bloody now.

Getting them back to his bed with Emma underneath him was something out of a dream, and there had been many a night that Killian imagined something like this playing out until sleep had finally taken him. He'd taken himself in hand day in and day out imagining the moment when the stars would align and he'd finally get to make love to Emma and each of these fantasies varied in their detail and direction to the point where he felt he'd conceived every possibility under the sun. But those imaginings were hardly expansive enough. They'd never contained this bursting of emotion or the insatiable want low in his gut. They had imagined Emma in all her splendor with that effortless beauty of hers on full display, but in the flesh it was even more enchanting and he entered this state of mind sharp enough to take everything about her in while still feeling every action and touch and kiss all too keenly.

The only hope he had of not falling apart too soon or caving to the ecstasy that was Emma's touch was pouring all his efforts and intentions on her. It began with roaming hands and removing the bra she'd been wearing before he let himself explore and learn every spot and lick and nip that made her breathless. He traced the freckles on her body that had come from the summer sun but been concealed most of the times they were together. He riled her up with his fingers and his mouth until she was pleading for something more, and then he gave it to her with his hand moving lower and his fingers slipping past the last piece of fabric that kept them apart, touching her tender flesh and pulling a thready moan from her lips.

"Killian," Emma crooned, her voice coming out ragged but making him harder all the same. The sound of her wanting licked against his skin like flames against ice and he was unable to resist it, purposefully pulling more cries of yearning from her just to luxuriate in those sighs over and over again.

There was nothing like Emma lost in pleasure, and as his thumb swirled against her clit and his fingers filled her one by one she gave more of that and more of herself. Every response set Killian alight, and every breathy sigh or arch for closeness was a sign he intended to follow until he'd led her right over the edge and she shattered beneath him, looking more beautiful than ever before.

"God you're perfect," he found himself saying as he looked down at her and brushed some strands of her curled blonde hair out of her eyes.

At the intimate motion and the sincere words of worship Emma blushed again but smiled. Killian didn't know if she believed him in full, but she most certainly should because he meant it. He'd never met a person with more impact on his soul, and he'd never met a woman who could build him up and give him hope as she did. She had flaws perhaps, and secrets still that she held close but not close enough for him to miss, but Emma Swan was everything a man could ever want made real, and Killian still couldn't comprehend how he was lucky enough to be here.

"I think I'm supposed to be the one with the compliments right now. That was…"

"Only the beginning, Swan," Killian said with a grin and one more kiss before he trailed lower.

With meticulous attentions designed to entice at every stop, Killian allowed Emma's body to climb once more to that riled state of being until his mouth kissed on her inner thigh and she jumped a bit as a result of her bubbling anticipation. Killian looked up to meet her now emerald colored eyes once more as his hands held her steady, needing to know that this was what she wanted and what he saw was irrefutable. Emma was just as desirous for this as he was, and Killian was never so glad for anything in his life.

When his tongue met her sensitive sex he could taste her need for him and feel her body writhing beneath his seductive onslaught. She was wound up tight, the desire twisting around inside her, and he built it up wanting to give her something she'd never forget and never tire of. With slow, particular attention he played each sensation to a tee and only when he himself was about to break from the sound of her crying out for release and the feel of her hands in his hair holding him close did he give her that second climax she'd been wanting so badly.

"Wow," Emma said as Killian kissed back up her creamy skin until he was over her again. "I mean really, wow!"

Killian chuckled at the fact that Emma wasn't at her most articulate right now. It was a great compliment to his actions that the woman who always had a witty retort at the ready was struck near speechless, but then she flipped the script on him with her hands on his body again, moving for his cock and intending to make him fall apart just as he'd done with her. The only hope of his not coming undone at the seams right there was to give into what she wanted – what they both wanted – and with just a few more words to tell her how he was feeling and to check that she still wanted this, Killian thrust inside her waiting heat and moaned aloud.

"Fuck, that's good," he said aloud, not even meaning to but unable to feel any shame. All he could feel was a deliriously tangible form of pleasure, and though Emma chuckled at his reaction, she was right there moaning with him a second later when he thrust in again.

"So good," Emma replied, her hands clawing at him for purchase and her body moving beneath him. "More."

Her wish was his command and they set a relentless pace built to hoist them both higher and higher before they were right at the precipice of falling again. For Killian it was torture of the sweetest kind, holding off from his own reward until Emma would come again, but then two little words from his Swan were enough to have him caving into everything he wanted and surrendering to her once and for all.

"Let go," she whispered and he did right at the same moment that she fell over too.

They crashed together until they were both spent and glowing from this union that outshone all others, and just like Emma had been, Killian found himself speechless in the aftermath. He was totally dazed yet more invigorated than ever, still feeling that current of pure life and love racing through him. It was all thanks to Emma for he'd never felt anything like it in his life before, and his eyes gazed upon her, trying to make sense of an interlude that had just been too incredible to describe. What words were possibly worthy a moment like this when time had stood still and everything he'd ever wanted was finally in his grasp?

The only three words he could think right now were risky even if there had never been anything truer to Killian before. He wanted to tell Emma right here and right now that he loved her and that he would always love her. He wanted to tell her that he knew already about the magic and the strangeness and the hurt that she'd endured before. He wanted to make her see that nothing and no one would scare him away from this, that this was his place now, right beside her, for as long as she would have him. But most of all he wanted to tell her that he was hers, completely and without restrictions. His heart was now in her possession forever more and she should know that, but then she looked back at him with a shy, innocent expression, curling into his chest and holding on with a smile so sweet and so warm he couldn't bring himself to say anything at all.

Killian couldn't even contemplate endangering this kind of otherworldly joy, and if that was selfish of him so be it. He would proudly wear that mark of dishonor if it meant more precious moments of happiness with Emma right now. Happiness in romance, after all, was so fleeting a concept in his life up to this point, and for Emma too. So why should he mess with something just short of perfection, when he could linger here instead, at least for a little while longer.

"It's never been like that for me," Emma whispered against him, the confession tugging at Killian's pride and sense of accomplishment as it washed across his skin.

"I think it goes without saying by now that has ever come close to you, Emma." And truth be told, Killian knew that nothing ever would.

"So what you're saying is it won't be just a one time thing?" Emma goaded, but she didn't realize she was poking the bear until Killian was on her once again, intent on proving to her all through the night just how permanent and habitual this new bond would be from here on out.

…..

Stirring to sunlight streaming into unfamiliar windows, Emma woke the next morning and at first there was some confusion. This wasn't her bed or her room or her house, and she was aching in places that hadn't been touched in so long, but after a quick second it all came flooding back to her and the questioning melted into something so much better: real and unyielding happiness.

The comfort that Emma had found in Killian's arms last night had been amazing and unlike anything she had ever known, and it was hardly over. Right now she was curled up into him feeling all of the warmth and safety he could provide, as if her sleeping self had been so attached to him and so desirous to stick by his side that she'd entangled herself here all evening. It was remarkable how close she felt to him, and in the light of day it also suddenly felt more real.

In a single word last night had been fantastic, and to be honest Emma had never had a night that she could even begin to compare it to. No other man that she had ever encountered in her past had been able to read her wants and her needs so clearly and bring her such pure and unadulterated pleasure. Plus Emma had certainly never felt a connection like the one she had with Killian in that moment. It was so strong and so bright and yet somehow effortless in all of its complexity. She was still dizzy from it all these hours later, and as her eyes gazed across his body and then back up to his face, which was totally relaxed in sleep, she couldn't help but smile wider.

It felt like a victory for Emma to even still be here. Sleepovers were never her thing in the past, at least not since Neal and his rejection of her, and yet this one had felt totally natural and instinctive. Of course she would choose Killian if given the choice and with Henry's perfectly timed sleepover it was like everything had come together to provide them one perfect night. But Emma hated to think it would be over, that the clock had struck midnight and the magic had ended. Instead she wanted to keep it going as long as she could.

Looking over to the clock Killian had on the bedside table she noticed she still had a number of hours before Henry would be back and she decided to do something to show Killian how appreciative she was and to also symbolize her comfort here. It hadn't escaped Emma's notice that it was the little things she did to tie them together that brought Killian the most joy, and she figured there was no better way to seek that out then heading downstairs and making them some breakfast. Who knew? Maybe he'd wake up and come find her and they could fulfill a fantasy she'd had a time or two of her and him together in that big, spacious kitchen of his…

That thought alone was enough to have Emma moving, but before she disentangled herself from him completely, she pressed a kiss to his chest right above his heart, smiling when she noticed that Killian's lips twitched up in sleep, as if his dream had just taken a particularly pleasing turn. It was so hard to leave, but Emma rallied, and with some expert maneuvering she was out of his bed and borrowing one of his t-shirts and a pair of boxers before heading quietly out of his room.

Moving through the upstairs corridor of the house, Emma watched out for creakier floorboards that an older home like this would have, and right at the top of the landing she found Luna looking at the stairs dubiously, as if the prospect of descending them was beneath her. This made Emma laugh and she slowly crouched to pick the darling kitten up, finding the little girl more than willing to hitch a ride.

"I bet you have him tied around your little black paw, don't you girl?"

A subtle purr was the only response Emma got from the tiny onyx colored cat but Emma didn't need to be told. She was certain of Killian's being a good pet owner despite his claims that he'd never done it before because he was the kind of man who always put his best foot forward. It was one of the things she loved most about him, all of that positivity despite not really having the backstory to merit it. It was endearing that Killian believed good things could happen and that he led his life as a good man in the meantime because he knew it was the right thing to do. It was also rare because Emma's experience with men hadn't always painted them as the best of the sexes.

As Emma turned the corner of the staircase she decided to shake away those comparisons again, actively trying to train herself away from thinking of Killian through an already biased lens of all her past romantic missteps. But her mind didn't get the chance to start formulating what they'd have for breakfast or what new adventures would await them this morning because as she got downstairs she came face to face with a magical demonstration so damning she could do nothing but gape at the excess of it all. Her jaw nearly hit the floor at the sight of it, but even this reaction was tame to what she was feeling inside which was complete and absolute panic.

"Oh shit!" Emma almost yelled and then she realized that she couldn't risk waking Killian, not when she'd done this to his house.

Casting her glance around the living room Emma didn't know what part was weirder, the fact that the whole room was filled with flowers and more magical plant life that should never have been there, or the fact that Killian's furniture was suspended in mid air like it was floating on the same happy high Emma had just been embodying. There was this essence in the air of raw magic that shone gold and silver, almost like suspended mist to the unknowing eye, and the light coming through the windows was heightened by it all, casting the room in an almost ethereal kind of way so it looked like more of an enchanted refuge than a house at all. Emma almost didn't dare to continue on, but she had to know… how bad was the damage and how far had it spread?

Further investigation proved that the problem was localized to the first floor, and Emma could begin to see why. At the front door there was a more pronounced magical essence, as if the first kiss they'd shared when Emma arrived last night sparked a chain reaction and their subsequent actions and lovemaking upstairs through the night had caused it to grow into something totally overwhelming. It was actually so bad that Emma knew she couldn't handle it alone and that was all it took for her hands to start shaking and the panic to set in.

Oh my God he's going to freak. He's gonna think I'm a freak! I have to call someone. I have to – Ruby!

Her brain's nudge in the direction of her best friend sent Emma scrambling for the phone that Killian had in the kitchen and she dialed her friend's number praying that Ruby would wake up despite the early hour. After the third ring she almost cried in relief at the sound of her friend's groggy and grumpy voice.

"Do you have any idea what time it is whoever you are? Because it's way too early to be -,"

"Ruby it's me!" Emma urged. "I'm at Killian's and something happened, something with my magic. I need help."

"Give me two minutes," Ruby responded before hanging up and then Emma was pacing back and forth, not even able to focus on collecting some information on what kind of magic it was. She could be taking concrete steps to fix this but she couldn't bear to and she was just glad that two minutes later Ruby was there and not alone. For right next to her, dressed in the PJs she'd slept in, was Belle with a book. And with Belle, a book in hand meant answers and hopefully, in this case, salvation from this crisis.

"Are you okay, Emma?" Ruby asked as soon as she walked in and Emma began to nod but then couldn't seem to do it. She just opened the door urging them to be quiet as she pointed around them.

"Wow," Belle whispered as she took it all in. "This is amazing, Emma. How did you do it?"

"I have no idea," Emma confessed before giving them the briefest summary. She had come over to Killian's, things had escalated in the intimacy department, and then she'd spent the night having admittedly the best sex of her life. The next thing she knew she was coming down to make breakfast and this was waiting for her.

"Okay so obviously right now we have to deal with this little flare up, but I should just mention that there's no way we aren't talking about the good parts of all of this later. Just fair warning," Ruby said as she rolled up her sleeves and looked around as if sizing up the room. She walked over to one of the flowers (that was admittedly gorgeous and that Emma would have loved under different circumstances) and inspected it before turning back to Belle. "So what do we do Belle? Is there a reversal spell in that book of yours for magic of this caliber?"

"Not if Emma didn't do this knowingly. The only thing we could do immediately as far as I can tell is send the magic elsewhere. We can't destroy what we don't know how to make."

Emma had heard this rule before and it was one that she'd grown accustomed to in the first few months of her being in Storybrooke. It was why as a kid and in the first years of being Henry's mother she'd had magical outbursts thanks to fear of her powers that she couldn't then fix. It had taken coming to Storybrooke and being open with her gift and working hard to be an active participant in it instead of a bystander for her to learn control. But now everything was thrown out of whack for one reason – because she hadn't yet told Killian about her magic and her magic was acting out until she would.

"So let's send it. But damn there's a lot of it, and this is a really big house... I don't think it will all fit anywhere discretely." Ruby said before a look of inspiration crossed her features. "I got it! We'll send some to Emma's and some to my place. Some back to yours and maybe Elsa and Mary Margaret too. Then we can all figure out what to do with it later."

"Let's just do it quick," Emma said, finally finding her voice and a bit more of her strength now that they had a plan. "I don't want Killian to wake up and see all of this."

The thought of that happening had Emma closing her eyes again, trying to get her bearings and failing a little bit. All of her old doubts were rushing back to the surface, and not because of Killian but because of her. Her old scars were at it again and this outburst, this lack of control in the face of what had been an absolutely beautiful evening, hurt her. Why did it have to be this way? Why couldn't she have told him about her magic before crazy shit like this happened? What was she waiting for that she didn't already have?

"Would it really be so bad if he found it?" Belle asked then, bringing Emma's attention back to her friends. "I mean as far as magic goes, this is some of the most beautiful work I've ever seen, Emma, and you made this because of how you feel about him. Maybe he'd be flattered. Maybe he'd enjoy it."

"Maybe," Emma admitted, yielding the fact to Belle and to herself that that might be true. "But it's not how I planned it. Last night when we were together I finally realized how I wanted to do this – and I do want to do this – but not in this way… it's too much too quickly."

There was no more delicate way to say it without drudging up the terrible story of Emma's one other magical reveal to a normal, non-magical man. Neal had freaked out over practically nothing, a little demonstration of what she could do when she made some kitchen cutlery levitate, that was it. He had no idea how much power Emma had and he'd labeled her an abomination, and though Emma knew that Killian was a better man than Neal had ever been in every way she still didn't want to risk it. She had to take baby steps to keep her control on the situation and that was the only way she'd ever get past the fear and hopefully to the actual peace she'd tasted last night with Killian before all of this happened.

"Okay then, Emma. We're following your lead. Let's get this gone and go from there."

It only took a minute for Belle to find a spell she thought may work, and with some tweaks to the language they were able to send the magical display to multiple places at once, moving through each room affected and cleansing it from the magic that had been, but they barely had finished up with the final room when Emma heard movement upstairs.

"Crap, he's up. Could you guys -?"

"Sneak out the back door and get the hell out of dodge?" Ruby offered. "Yeah we got it, Ems, and so do you. Just… promise us you won't take this out on Killian. Just because your magic did this doesn't mean Killian isn't your one. I think it actually means that he is, so trust your heart and trust him, even when it's hard, okay?"

"I will," Emma vowed truly meaning it. There was no way she'd blame for Killian for this at all, and even if all of this had happened, she wouldn't let it detract from what they'd had last night or what they might have in the future.

"And don't rush yourself out of here either," Belle added hastily. "We'll work on figuring this out. You work on enjoying the rest of your morning before Henry gets home. Got it?"

"I've got it," Emma said with a small attempt at a smile and then her friends were gone and Emma was left with about thirty seconds to look like she was doing something before Killian made his way down the stairs and found her.

Quickly she gathered everything she'd need for pancakes from the cupboards and the fridge, collecting them together with a bowl and tossing ingredients in as fast as she could so by the time he was in the kitchen and his arms had come to wrap around her with her back to his chest it looked like she was well on her way. As soon as his touch came Emma jumped a bit, but then instinctively she settled, melting into him and feeling the comfort that being with Killian brought even in the midst of all sorts of chaos. What a relief it was to feel this again, because despite the promise to her friends and to herself just seconds ago she'd been terrified that the damage was done and she'd recede into her shell again. But that clearly wasn't happening, not when she felt so much better just from Killian holding her like this.

"You had me worried for a minute when I woke up alone, love, but now I see you've been making breakfast and my feelings on the matter have shifted."

"Have they?" Emma asked, her voice charged with the overwhelming sensations she'd been grappling with before now turned into something new. Killian always had this effect on her but now all of her earlier worries were being channeled into wanting that she couldn't readily explain.

"Aye. I've always been rather fond of pancakes," he said as his lips came to brush the spot just behind her ear and Emma sighed into the sensation, opening herself up better to him as her hands gripped the counter.

"Is that all you're fond of?" Emma asked with an attempt at jest that somehow came out as more yearning as she turned around. Killian growled low at the insinuation, his hands coming to hold her more firmly as if he was scared she'd slip away from his grasp. Those eyes of his were radiating so much, expressing all of Emma's own feelings back at her, and she felt caught in them and in him so substantially there was no fending it off.

"If you still have to ask that after last night then clearly I didn't do my job…" Killian replied and Emma licked her lips as her eyes cast down to his mouth. She gulped harshly and shook her head.

"No you did. More than once."

The grin Killian responded with was all ego and it should have been a turn off, but how could Emma fault him when he'd proven over and over again all through the night just how much right he had to be self assured? He'd taken her to new heights last night more than once, and though her pride wouldn't allow her to bluntly confess it, she was already becoming somewhat addicted to that feeling and to him in general. Killian was too good to be true, but he was true, and for now at least he was hers and Emma wanted to lose herself in that blissful feeling of knowing they were together and each others however long she could.

Her fingers came up to run across his bare chest, teasing the bit of hair there and then they slipped lower, going for the drawstring of the sleep pants he'd put on to come and find her. She took the chance to trail her eyes lower at the same time, taking in yet again how unfairly attractive he was. How could anyone resist him? Emma didn't know but she was done trying. Yet unfortunately for Emma's ever-active imagination, and the restless energy she'd picked up from this morning's debacle, Killian's hands came up to stall her motions, keeping her from giving them what she knew they both wanted.

"Trust me love, waiting in this instance will pay off. For what I have planned we'll want the food already cooked."

A lust-fueled chill broke out over Emma's skin and she shivered at the suggestion that he'd exhaust her and rile her so completely that she'd be unable to make pancakes in the aftermath. If someone had told her a day ago that was even possible she'd have laughed in their faces, but after last night… well Emma was willing to trust Killian's instincts. If he said they'd be famished then she trusted him and she could hardly wait for the proof.

"And these plans of yours…" Emma prodded. "Any chance they don't involve a change of setting?"

Jackpot! At her words Killian's gaze heated all the more and she knew he was right on the edge of contradicting his earlier request and taking her right here and right now, but then he stopped, inhaling a steadying breath and darting his gaze to the counter. He reached for something then, something Emma couldn't see, but when he brought it back up her heart stopped. It was a single pink flower, a remnant from the one's she'd created overnight, but Killian didn't look at it with any disgust or suspicion. Instead he tucked it in behind her ear with the gentlest touch, and then looked at her with all the love and affection he'd always shown her.

"The 'plan' is to give you everything, Emma. Everything you want you'll have. I can promise you that."

All Emma could think with that confession was that her one real want was for Killian to want her too. Emma wanted this thing between them to have its chance to grow and she wanted to be honest with him in every way. She wanted to dare to dream of dreams she'd long given up on, like finding a forever kind of love and a man to take on the roll of a father figure for Henry. She wanted to think about blending her life with someone's and maybe having more kids. But more than anything, she wanted Killian to stay, and from this promise, Emma believed that he would now and always.

But for now, all of that would have to wait and with a chaste kiss and some inquiries about what he could do to help, Killian began steering them in the direction of just enjoying their morning and soaking up every happy moment that they could. They managed to get their breakfast together, and as requested they found that mind blowing pleasure right there on the kitchen counter before eating and spending the rest of the morning hours together. And later, when Henry returned and things had to return to 'normal' once more, Emma was thrilled to find that her normal was changing, and that despite the hiccup with her magic, things had really never been better and there was so much hope in her heart that they'd continue to be so as long as she had Killian.

Post-Note: It's so exciting to get this chapter out there and to be able to say this – next chapter there will definitely be the magical reveal. Finally finally finally I'm ready to write it (and I have already begun doing so in the hopes it won't take too long to update, maybe about a week)! As you can all probably guess the installment will be feels filled because of this final step of honesty and trust, but there will be a kind of twist to it that I haven't really hinted at very much. Anyway, I hope you guys all enjoyed this chapter and I want to thank you all so much for reading and for your kind words. All your lovely messages and reviews always make my day so keep them coming! Thanks again!