Chapter 11: Best Interests
When Hook and Emma entered their guest quarters, Emma was amazed by the lavishness of the accommodations in a kingdom that seemed to have so little. Two servants at the castle offered to attend to their guests' every whim. While Hook was sort of amused by the attention, Emma was immediately overwhelmed at the very thought of a servant, so she quickly assured them she didn't need anything and sent them away. Before one of the young women who'd been sent to help them left the room, she politely said, "There's a bath that's been prepared in the next room with towels and nightclothes miss, if you need them."
Hook rambled about royal opulence and excess as he looked around the room, and Emma got the distinct impression that he was looking for treasure. Emma, with a tone of the utmost irritation, was griping about being perfectly capable of taking care of herself when she opened the door to the next room and gasped. He hurried to her side, never sure what was going to happen to them next, and he smiled when he saw what she was looking at. In the room in front of her, there was a large tub, steam wisping above the water. The tub was formed by beautiful carved stone, and the room the bath was in was bigger than some of Emma's apartments had been. "This is insane. What in the hell am I supposed to do with this?" she wondered numbly.
He leaned over her shoulder and smiled. "I thought you just finished saying you were perfectly able to take care of yourself. Royals…," he teased. "Can't do anything without one of us commoners to look after you."
She scowled as he circled in front of her, carefully sliding his hook into her shirt between her breasts and tugging her forward. "You're gonna rip my shirt," she warned.
"Then I suppose it's in your best interest to come without a fight," he answered. He knelt down with a flourish, and she folded her arms and scoffed with irritation because she thought he was just bowing before her. He tapped her foot until she lifted it, and he pulled off her boots and socks. His hand slid up her thighs over her jeans, and she could feel the heat of his hand pressing the fabric against her skin. After he unbuttoned her jeans, his hook slid in her waistband and started lowering her pants and panties. The cold metal slid over one thigh while warm fingers slid over the other.
Once her pants were off, he gazed at the juncture of her thighs, involuntarily licking his lip while his hand moved between her knees and brushed delicately up her leg. "What can I help you with next, your Highness?" he said, joking, but his voice was so low and desirous that it seemed more genuine than witty.
"I can undress myself," she answered, but just as his actions and tones gave away his true thoughts, her voice was soft and raspy, and she automatically opened her thighs just a little more, silently encouraging him.
"A true royal should know how to let someone else take care of them. Fortunately for you...you have me." He stood, helping her out of the last of her remaining clothes without his eyes leaving hers. "Of course," he commented as he worked, "The key to allowing someone to take care of you fully is finding someone you can trust. Then you simply…turn yourself over to them."
He slipped his arm under hers, and in one careful move, lifted her in his arms and carried her over to the bath. She slid slowly into the tub as the water enveloped her like warm silk. The heat of the water reached beneath her skin as she stretched, sinking completely underwater before allowing herself to float to the surface. It wasn't until the water covered most of her body that she realized how weary her muscles had become. She leaned forward, placing her arm on the edge of the tub and resting her forehead on it, taking a moment to just unwind.
She could feel him smirking at how easily she acquiesced to the luxury offered her. "Shut up," she said preemptively.
"Enjoy it while you can, Swan. Tomorrow we'll probably be back to beds of dirt and bathing with leeches," he commented as he undressed.
He stepped into the tub and gratefully exhaled at his own comfort. Her voice was muffled since her head was still down, but she jabbed, "Didn't take much to sway you to royal living either."
"Pirates have an appreciation for the finer things. We have, perhaps, the most well-developed appreciation for them."
"Yet so few have castles."
"We do have castles. They're called ships. I doubt I'm the first pirate to sneak his way into a princess' bedchamber to enjoy the…accommodations…for the night," he suggested before he completely submerged himself in the water and came up behind her.
His hand moved over her back, following the shape of her lowest rib to the front before he pressed his palm against the flat of her chest between her breasts and pulled her back against him. His hand explored her torso for the sheer joy of touching her, feeling her nipples hardening more each time he brushed over them. She lifted her head, allowing her whole body to float through the water into his embrace. She leaned her head back on his shoulder, her wet hair already chilly on his skin.
His hand finally surrounded her breast, done with the subtle brushes and teases that felt as wonderful as they did insufficient. He rolled her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, apply just enough pressure to make her breath quicken. He could feel her chest expand as she breathed harder.
She rocked back against him, pressing her butt against his groin. He inevitably groaned and lifted his hips, feeling the intoxicating bounce of her firm ass as she moved. The telltale twitch of his cock as blood rushed away from every other place in his body signaled his want to her, and his desire was her favorite aphrodisiac. "Easy, love," he warned as he stilled her hips with one firm grip of his hand. "This is a lesson in yielding to the services of a man with your best interests at heart. Not the other way 'round."
His wrists slipped between her knees, parting her legs and moving upward toward the meeting of her thighs. His hand slid steadily higher, his palm pressing against her sex, but only for a moment. His fingers rested on either side of her slit as he moved them in waves, offering enticing but indirect stimulation that had her wriggling against his chest. He pressed his fingers to the sides, opening her folds and allowing the water that was almost too hot to surround her sex. Her head pressed back further as she leaned into him, the water almost as nice as her memory of his hot mouth intimately covering her. His finger tapped softly at her clit, and she felt her entire sex throbbing from the water and his touch.
She started rocking her hips back against him again, but this time it was because she had to, and not simply because she wanted to. Her body was moving of its own accord.
She spun in his arms, deciding that, although passivity had its place, she was a woman of action. She wrapped her legs and arms around him, tightly inviting him into her body. He slipped his cock through her silken folds, sliding his erection along her slit a few times without entering her. And, fuck, she just wanted him inside her. She wanted pounding and thrusting and fulfillment. She wanted his breath against her skin and his grunts of pleasure and his hips pistoning between her legs as he filled her.
He moved in the water, positioning her back against the edge of the tub, and she was certain that in a few seconds, he'd be inside her. He lifted her legs, though, placing the backs of her knees over his shoulders. He grabbed the edge of the tub, cradling her hips in his arms as she leaned her elbows on the stone behind her to keep her balance. He kissed her thighs, his beard scratching at her skin and reminding her that he was going to go at his own pace and do exactly what he wanted. She was getting impatient for relief, so she complained, "Stop messing around."
"Perhaps I like messing around," he grinned. "You don't like surrendering control even at a time like this?"
"You're just teasing. It's making me crazy."
"I'm not just teasing. I fully intend to follow through. I promise your needs will not go unfulfilled."
He kissed her thighs again, moving to the very top as his tongue slid over her skin, coming closer to where she wanted him. His tongue slipped just barely between her folds, tasting the flavor of her desire on only the very tip of his tongue. Finally covering all of her sex with his warm mouth, he began to steadily move his lips to surround her clit.
He just barely sucked at her nub of nerves, his lips pulsing around it as his tongue flicked the tip, and her back arched at the long awaited sensation that burst through her body. He stayed like that for a few moments, and the consistent rhythm allowed her to start to anticipate the sensations, the ebbs and flows in attention between indirect and direct contact. She was lifting against him to encourage each suck and flicker. Her body fell into the rhythm, twitching against him as her peak neared. And then he stopped, inexplicably, frustratingly leaving her just shy of orgasm.
He moved lower, delving his tongue into her core while his upper lip just barely nudged her clit. Again he found it, that same steady but patient pattern of attention that made her whole body hum. At that point, she was so swept up in what he was doing that she couldn't have formed a coherent sentence if she tried. She finally seemed to fully surrender, her head tipping back as the frustration seemed to leave her body and transform into a desire that could fully indulge in the moment. Her moans of appreciation became almost ethereal as her body reacted without any reservation or control on her part. And her completely uncontrolled response was the thing that drove him wild. He was the man who could take her there. She'd turned over her careful control to him as she writhed against his face and let desire take over.
She'd been at that high level of stimulation for so long, just short of plunging over the edge, but he didn't want to provoke the end, he wanted to let it rise naturally as she reached that point. When she finally tipped the scales and the erotic pleasure flowered into climax, her hands grabbed the back of his neck and head, her nails digging into him while she screamed so beautifully it was almost like a sensual prayer, she lifted her body closer to him, practically sitting on his shoulders as she tried to get closer to the source of her pleasure. For a few moments, she wished it would never stop.
When the powerful sensations started to overwhelm her, she pulled away, letting her body sink into the water again. She turned, moving her back against his chest and dragging his arms around her. She pressed her forehead against his face as she sighed his name.
His needs could only go unanswered for so long. After all, she was the most alluring, arousing creature he'd ever found. He lifted her legs back over his thighs and positioned himself at her entrance. The head of his cock bumped her clit as he slid against her a few times, and she practically shrieked at the touch. He bit his lip as he anticipated the feelings that were soon to come. As soon as he moved into her body, he was convinced there was no other place in the world he wanted to be. He didn't pause, thrusting steadily into her, feeling the gradual stretch of her muscles as she clung to him. It felt like he just barely fit, her body snapped tightly around him, surrounding every contour of his erection. Her muscles were still clenching and releasing from her previous orgasm, tightening around him in repetitive pulses.
He stayed there, fully buried in her, feeling the tight grip and pulsation of her heat as she allowed him in. He took hold around her hips and started to move her as he stayed still, sliding her buoyant body along his raging erection. His patient escalation of her arousal had taken its toll on his resolve. He ran his nose up her spine, kissing her neck and nipping her shoulder, trying to give her a few more seconds to get used to him inside her before he let go of patience and claimed her body. The water sloshed around them, hitting the edges of the tub before splashing back around their bodies. They melded together, skin warmed by water and each other as they merged into one. The tension in him quickly built to the unbearable, and then he came, emptying his body, heart and soul into her.
They floated in the water for a few quiet moments as he kept her in his arms. Her head was still leaning back against his shoulder when she turned and muttered, "I could get used to this."
"You say that, love, but the first cry for help or sign of someone terrible doing something wretched, and you'll be battle-ready," he mused.
"That's true," she said as she smiled. Then she added sort of timidly, her lips barely moving, "But I wasn't talking about the royal housing."
"Oh," he replied, smirking just a little. "You meant…"
"Yea. I meant…" she said, mimicking him. Even that little admission seemed to make her really uncomfortable, so instead of letting him continue with whatever he was going to say, she kissed him.
When Emma woke the next morning, Hook had already left the room. Raina met Emma and took her on a brief tour of the castle. When they found Hook, he was in the room with the paintings and the book that had been so carefully guarded. Emma could hear his voice before she saw him. As she peered through the open door, she saw at least twenty soldiers and a few townspeople standing around him. He'd taken a spot at the front that was slightly raised, so she could see him beyond those who were gathered around him.
"How long has he been down here?" Emma asked.
"Before sunrise," Raina answered. "He came to study the book and paintings. The guards said he was there for hours looking at the walls before he called them in to talk about the stories."
Once Emma stepped farther into the room, she could hear exactly what he was saying. "And you," he said, pointing at one of the soldiers, "Do you want your wife back?"
The soldier nodded, answering with perfect militarily discipline, "Yes, Captain."
"What about you?" Hook asked, pointing at another solider, "You want your children back?"
The next soldier replied with the same formality, "Yes, Sir, Captain."
Hook moved across the line, pointing at the different soldiers and townspeople and asking, "And do you want your land, and your parents, and your husband?"
"Yes, Captain," the people yelled, almost in unison.
"I don't know how, and I don't know why, but this…thing…has taken something from every last one of us. And he may have taken what's ours, stolen it right away from us, but we'll not let him keep what is ours," Hook said with all of the energy and magnetism of a true leader.
The small crowd in front of him roared shouts of support.
He paused and then, with ominous determination, said, "They'll not keep us from our homes, separate us from those we love, rip our children from our arms as we stand idly by." As the shouting of support died down, he added, "We will fight. We will destroy this shadow."
The crowd followed with pledges of support and service, each offering to do what they could to help him destroy the menace. Emma wondered how long he'd been talking to them. He already seemed to know some of their stories, motivations, and the things that they'd lost. She'd become so accustomed to him as one in a pack of allies that she'd forgotten that, for most of his life, he was a leader. It became clear during those few moments why he'd been such a successful captain.
Stepping through the crowd, she could see plainly that he'd become devoted to his mission. When his eyes met hers, she could sense that he was waiting for her reaction. He quickly made his way to her, saying, "I apologize for leaving unannounced this morning. I needed to think."
"You don't have to apologize," Emma responded.
"While I was here, I did a little research, spoke to a few of these people about what has happened."
"Did you find out anything?"
"Quite a bit, actually. They told me Odalee is here in this world."
"Then who did we meet with before? Who sent us here?" Emma worriedly asked.
"I'm not sure," Hook answered, "but I'm going to bloody well find out."
"Which one is the real Odalee?"
Hook replied, "I don't know. We're going to meet her today. Perhaps we'll be able to figure it out."
He was studying Emma, looking for signs that would tell him what she was thinking. He wasn't even sure how long she'd been listening to him. He wasn't sure if she was able to easily read his thoughts and motivations. And he definitely had no idea if she wanted the same things that he wanted, but this wasn't the time or place for that particular conversation.
Emma replied resolutely, "Let's go get some answers."
Her answer was good enough for him. He could see it in her eyes, she wasn't pushing him away.