Chapter 7

The silence was suffocating as the two men walked through the dark streets next to each other, each of them lost in their own thoughts that were overtaken by worry for Emma. Now that they finally knew what happened to Emma, but still weren´t able to do anything to get her back, their mood was not lightening up at all. No, actually, Killian knew he hasn´t felt that lost for a very long time.

"Why are you so worried? I thought you must love that", David said.

"Love what? The fact that her safety depends on a man that is not able to feel anything for her at all? A man that has killed for less than what he thinks Emma wants to do. A man that has lost every sense of honor and -"

Killian abruptly stopped ranting, because he noticed that the prince was no longer next to him. He turned around to find him standing motionlessly a few steps behind, staring at him with shock in his eyes.

"You really do hate who you once were, don´t you?"

Hook gave him his signature smirk, but it was heavily faked and David, perceptive as he was, saw right through it. "You would too, if you knew me back then. And you already think I´m a bad choice right now."

"I don´t think you are -" David abruptly stopped talking when he saw Hooks unbelieving facial expression. "Well, you aren´t exactly a guy a father would wish to have as a son-in-law, but you aren´t the worst choice either. And I think Emma knows that too."

"Thanks mate", Killian said, not meeting the prince´s eyes, whose gentle words meant more to him than he would ever care to admit.

"You do realize that you have failed, right?" Hook snarled, piercing blue eyes flashing dangerously at her. After clumsily dragging her down the wooden ladder, that led to the Captain´s quarters, with more force and reckless brutality than the man she knew would ever treat her with, he pushed her towards the desk, which was scattered with all kinds of stuff like maps, books and strange instruments, that she remembered from the last time she has been here in his cabin. Now that she was thinking about it, her time in Neverland seemed to be long gone. So many things have happened, that it felt like it has been years since she allied with former enemies, fighting for Henry´s life as the most unusual group of people to ever set sail on this island.

A strange sense of sadness filled her, seeing the faces of her son, her parents, even Regina and everyone else in Storybrooke inside of her head. And of course, Hook´s face. Strangely enough, she always saw his face. The way his eyes always seemed to carry so much warmth for her, only her, in them; still, after all this time and all the horrible things that happened to him, he had the strength and hope in his heart to actually feel, to care about her. He proved that more times than she could count and she suddenly felt stupid for not noticing earlier.

The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to talk to him; to meet his eyes that burned her so deliciously every time they crossed her path. But instead, the eyes that were now settled on her face, lacked all of the emotion; all of the heat that used to pierce her very soul and set her body aflame. The eyes of the man in front of her were cold, mercilessly shooting daggers at her; he bloody well looked like he wanted to tear her into pieces. And remembering his reputation, the fear she has seen so many times in the faces of the former inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest, who seemed to shit their pants every time someone mentioned his name; and remembering her own panic she felt earlier when he threatened her on deck, she realized, that he probably would. She has already seen him in action once, driven by darkness and revenge, his handsome face a hard and unyielding mask of stubbornness as he ripped Rumplestiltskin´s chest open with his hook.

And by the look of it, the way he has behaved in New York wasn´t even the worst he had ever done. Of course not, she chided herself silently, he is a pirate after all.

"What´s wrong, love? Cat got your tongue?" he rasped at her with a cruel smirk on his face. His hips snapped into hers, once again not hiding the excitement he felt and pressing her into the wooden table. His hand moved up from her waist to her face, toying with a lock of hair, as his hook simultaneously pressed up to her neck in a silent threat.

"Let me go", she hissed through gritted teeth, trying very hard to not feel a rush of heat spreading through her when she felt him pressing into her even harder, hips moving in slow calculated circles. And as much as she´d like to fight this, she couldn´t deny that she was awkwardly turned on by this. But who could really blame her? The man was striking, deadly pirate or not.

Emma could already feel her heart starting to beat faster, and she couldn´t believe that he had this effect on her. Pulse racing, liquid heat pooling in her veins and setting her aflame with forbidden desire. She wasn´t supposed to feel like this, but honestly? She couldn´t help herself.

Hook actually had the nerves to laugh at her. The cold, lifeless sound rang in her ears, pulling her from her thoughts; and as she brought her eyes back to meet his, it was as if someone dumped a bucket of icy water on top of her head, her body shrinking away from him impulsively. Within seconds, the electric desire she felt for him, turned into another desire. The desire to get away from him as fast and far as possible, which was a result of her survival instincts kicking in, a small voice in her head whispering at her to run because this was indeed neither the right man nor the proper time to get carried away due to her treacherous, hormone-driven body.

"Let me go", she repeated, this time with much more force, trying to focus on finding a way out of here, instead of falling into the trap he was creating with tender touches and this irritatingly attractive smile of his.

"Never", he whispered back, leaning down towards her, brushing his lips against hers softly. And even though the alarm bells rang wildly inside of her head, the small voice now desperately shouting at her to back away, she stayed right where she was. The moment their lips met, every coherent thought was erased from her mind; all of her worries, her fears, the loneliness - it was all gone, sending Emma into a spiral of passion, as she kissed him right back, greedily swallowing his low grunt of pleasure.

Suddenly she heard a soft click of metal snapping into place, her eyes flying open to see the triumphant smirk on his flushed face. Looking down, she noticed the chain that he had managed to fasten around her wrists, tying her to the chair that stood near the table. Hook pushed her into it, forcing her to sit down, while he slowly came closer again, fingers stroking his own lips that were still curved in a malicious smile.

Emma had never felt so foolish before, her blood still pumping wildly, adrenaline shooting into her veins that still hummed with pleasure and now also guilt and complete and utter desperation, which made her swear to herself that she would never be so stupid again. This was not Killian, this was not the man she knew and her stupid body needed to realize that. The effect he had on her was destructive, and she needed it to stop.

"Now", he said, "you´re going to tell me everything you know about Rumplestiltskin."

"I don´t know anything about him. Now let me go, Hook", she hissed through gritted teeth, watching as his eyes flashed at her oh so dangerously. Slowly, and without tearing his gaze away from her, he leaned forwards, his hand sliding over her cotton-clad arm until it came to rest on her shoulder, gripping her tightly. Simultaneously, his hook grazed across her collar bone, scratching her skin. She knew without having to look down, that he left a pale red trail behind.

"Liar", he whispered, bringing his face even closer to hers, so close that she could feel his breath on her lips.

Adrenalin shot into her veins like poison, as a familiar panic took over. Close, too close. She needed to move. She couldn´t breathe. Desperation seemed to claw at her insides as her hands struggled to break free from their metallic prison, hips shuffling back on the chair while she was trying to get herself some space.

Her reaction didn´t go unnoticed by him, no. A curious spark lit up his eyes as he pushed a little closer, his nose grazing hers. She saw her chance when he closed his eyes, inhaling deeply, as if trying to breathe her in. Before he could make a move to stop her, her chained hands came up, knocking him right in the balls, hard. He yelped in pain, as he sank to his knees, hand hopelessly clutching his crotch.

Emma almost felt sorry for him and was a little guilty too, only hoping that she didn´t hurt him too badly. Killian would never forgive her, if she damaged the part of his body he was overly proud of. Not that he had no reason to not be proud of it, Emma knew by now that the whole "sword"-metaphor was very, very appropriate.

Pushing herself out of the chair, she scrabbled around to find something to break the chain with, but only seconds later she felt a hand and a hook digging into the skin of her hips. dragging her backwards into the chair again. Hook got to his feet under his breath, eyes even more deadly than before and unbelievably angry.

"Well, love. If you insist on doing this the hard way, I´m sure I can do you the favor", he hissed into her ear, making her tremble.

"You know what I don´t understand?" David began, only pausing to take a sip of the beer, which was standing in front of him on top of one of the tables at Granny's. He was aware of the curious eyes watching him and his unusual companion, but he honestly couldn´t care less. "Emma was with you during your time as a lieutenant, right?"

Hook merely nodded in acknowledgement, his fingers playing with the french fries on his table impatiently.

"And now she is with you again, three hundred years later. Why does that man not remember her, but you do?"

"Well that, mate, is a riddle I myself haven´t solved yet", Killian said, plopping a fry into his mouth.