"It's rather… convenient, you having these chains right under your bed." Red mused, lounging on the captain's bed. His eyes flickered up from the papers he was surveying, his gaze lingering on the length of leg that she had exposed above the manacles clamped around her ankle, wetting his lip with his tongue subconsciously. By the time his eyes made their way to her face, she was smirking smugly. His lip quirked up slightly; how she managed to look confident and in control in her position, he might never know.

"Convenient is one word for it." He answered with a slight shrug. "Believe it or not, this isn't the first time they've come in handy."

"I can believe that." She tossed her hair back over her shoulder, glancing towards the porthole. "So, why is it that we haven't left port yet? You must realize that if the Queen discovers you have control of the Jolly Roger again, you'll never make it out of the bay."

"So eager to be on your own with me?" Killian chuckled darkly, and was surprised when she just winked at him in return. "Not that you need to know… but we need to get back what you took. As soon as we have that, we'll be underway, and I'll be able to give you my full attention." He grinned wickedly.

"You promise?" She fluttered her dark eyelashes at him, and pouted in a pretty way that might almost have convinced Killian she was serious, if he didn't know better. "The longer you stay here, the greater the risk of discovery…"

"Not with you down here. You're the most distinctive of your crew, you know. The rest… just look like pirates. Those who were on guard duty are dead now, by the way, and the rest will join them as soon as they return." Her expression darkened at his words, her eyebrows tilting downwards, something dark and primal filling her eyes and holding his gaze with fiery resolve.

"I suppose I shouldn't even bother asking about my ship?" The playful tone from a moment ago was gone, and Killian rose from his desk, his gut twisting uncomfortably as he found himself irresistibly drawn toward those smouldering eyes. When he reached the bed, he sat down next to her, his fingers trailing the length of her leg, so brazenly exposed in what he could only assume was an effort to tempt him. A successful effort.

"Scuttled it off the coast." He spoke softly, a challenge in his voice as his hand reached the rumpled layers of her skirt, pushing them aside as his hand ventured up the inside of her thigh. She growled, and he lifted an eyebrow in surprise at the sound more than the emotion behind it. It was a very convincing growl for such a delectable lady. "I hope you weren't too attached." Killian taunted cruelly, leaning in close to steal a kiss.

She growled threateningly at his advances, her teeth sinking into his lip hard, and he pulled back as his skin tore, cursing as he tasted blood in his mouth. He hardly had time to register her second growl before he was on his back, his wrists pinned to the bed by his head, her warm body pressing down on him. "Do you really think," she growled, leaning down over him, his blood smeared across her lips in a way that really shouldn't have turned him on as much as it did, "that after telling me that you've murdered my crew and sunk my ship, I'm going to let you kiss me?" Her voice was quiet, but thick with barely restrained rage, her grip on his wrists hard enough to bruise, sharp nails digging into his flesh.

"What's the plan, love?" He murmured, the confidence never leaving his voice. "You… tear my throat out with your teeth, I assume, then what?" He glanced towards the desk, where the key to her release was still safely out of reach. "Wait here until one of my crew comes in and finds you soaked in my blood? You're not leaving this ship alive without me, darling." He could feel her muscles tighten above him enticingly, her fury visibly doubling as she came to the realization that he was right.

Still staring into his eyes with a hatred that was only too familiar, she leaned in close, her tongue dipping out to lick the blood from his chin, and he cringed slightly at the sting as her tongue probed his cut. "Maybe I'd rather they killed me than be at your mercy," she growled, and it only took a few seconds for the pirate to realize that she was being serious and react. He whipped his head up suddenly, and headbutting the woman hard enough to daze her, he rolled her over onto her back.

"Come now love," he drawled, seizing both her wrists in his hand, he pressed his hook over her throat, dragging the tip down her chest until it was just over her heart. "I know we have our… disagreements, but is that how you really want this to end?" He lowered his voice, leaning low over her so that the tip of his nose brushed her cheek as he leaned close to her ear.

"And just how else do you think this will end, Killian?" She asked, writhing under him in a way that was frustrating in the best way. "Do you think that after you finish drowning my crew, assuming you manage to get away, that I'll just roll over and spread my thighs for you?"

Killian grinned. "That would be nice…" The way she glared at him with her lips pursed told him that wasn't a likely outcome, and his grin faded. "I'm not keeping you around for the pleasure of your company, love. You've driven me mad these past few months, and now I've got you I'm going to make you pay." Although if she kept shifting like that under him, he could be persuaded to change his mind.

"So… you plan to torture me? Rape me? Throw me into the sea?"

"All of the above?" He grinned wickedly, and releasing her wrists, he got to his feet.

"Or…" She turned onto her side, propping herself up on her elbow, waiting until he had turned around to look at her lounging on his bed, his blood still wet on her lips, before she continued. "We could parley."

Killian raised an intrigued eyebrow, leaning back against his desk and lifting a metal file to his hook as he listened… well outside her reach from the bed. "After all the trouble you've caused me, you want to make a deal?"

She sat up, her eyes intense behind her thick lashes, leaning forward from her perch on the edge of the bed so that her generous cleavage spilled forward over her corset. "I've lost my ship, you've lost profit and no small part of your reputation, and we've both lost good men. It seems to me that we've got more to gain from working together than being at one another's throats."

Killian raised his eyebrows at her brass. "So… not just a deal, the lady wants a partnership?" He asked with a large portion of incredulity, and when she nodded, he laughed. "Of course you would, you've nothing to lose, but I think you've failed to realize that you also have nothing to offer."

He thought that might put a damper on her plans, but instead, a wide, sly grin spread across her face, and she lifted her finger to her collarbone. "I wouldn't say nothing… For one thing, I know how to please a man in ways you didn't even know you could be pleased."

"Every whore I've ever lain with has claimed as much, love, and I've yet to be impressed." He told her frankly, even as he had trouble taking his eyes off the finger that was slowly making its way towards her cleavage.

"Not yet." The smile she still wore made it evident that she was very much aware of his difficulty. "But that's not all. I also know how to get that chest back from Queen Snow, and that without my help, you'll never succeed." She raised her eyebrows at him, aware that this was the more crucial part of the deal.

"And just why should I trust that you won't turn me over to your beloved Queen?"

"Because I won't be there, for one thing. Leave me tied up here, tell one of your men to cut my throat if you don't return, whatever you need to do to make yourself feel secure." She tossed her hair back over her shoulder, then sighed.

"What makes you so sure I'll fail on my own?"

"Because, Killian, daaarling," she drawled, pulling her legs up onto the bed under her, "I know something you don't know." He lifted an eyebrow at her, as though telling her to get on with it. "The chest is currently in the possession of Rumplestiltskin."