Chapter 15:

It didn't take long for Tala to get back to her new home, the large, wooden building that housed Hook and most of his crew. As she came through the door, Tala noticed that the smell of rum had grown stronger than it had been when she left. She was a little worried what that might mean, but there was no one to be seen on the bottom floor.

Tala made her way up the stairs, trying to step lightly so no one would hear her coming in. Hook's crew was rather wily and unpreducatable when they were heavily intoxicated. She wasn't in the mood to deal with them that night, not after her friendly meeting with Sebastian.

Unfortunately, Hook seemed to be waiting up in his room, listening to that old staircase as he waited for her to return home. He was being too paranoid, she thought. Sebastian seemed to be a good man, or at least good enough.

Almost as soon as she pushed through the door to her room, Hook emerged from his across the hall. At first, he leaned against his doorframe with his shoulder, just looking over at her, but when she tried to disappear behind into the room, he quickly stepped in to plant a hand against her door to push it open again.

"You are drunk, James," she reminded him with a concerned frown. "You should rest."

"I needed to make sure you made it home safe, love," he muttered, stepping into her room behind her. "You left to meet that tavern boy, after all. How could I be sure no harm would come to you?"

"You see it now. No harm done." Tala hugged her upper body, suddenly wishing she was wearing more than she was at that very moment. She could feel his hazy eyes exploring her bare skin. Hook always struggled to control his hunger when there was rum coursing through him.

"Are you smitten with him?" He began to pace in small steps back and forth. "He's but a boy, Tala. Surely someone like that doesn't satisfy you."

"He is kind. He is my friend, an ally. Being satisfied has little to do with it," she frowned up at him. "You are drunk. Perhaps we can discuss this in the morning."

She tried to turn away from him, but Hook was quick to catch her wrist. He didn't grab her roughly, nor did his grip cause her any pain. It was clear he only meant to stop her, to keep her in place, as if he didn't want her to venture too far away from him.

For a long moment, he just held her there by the wrist, staring at her through the dark with that hunger in his gaze that she had seen before more than once. It might have made her uneasy if she wasn't certain that he wouldn't lay a hand on her against her will. For a pirate, he was rather considerate and gentle when it came to Tala.

"What must I do to see that smile? You give it to him as if it's nothing, but I have not seen it since the day we sailed back to your tribe. How does he earn it so easily?"

The desparation in his voice was a little concerning, but Tala reminded herself that it was likely the rum talking. He always spoke in that tone when he had been drinking, at least he did so whenever he was talking to her. It made her wonder if it was genuine or if it was feigned in order to try and break down her resolve. It also concerned her that it was working.

"What do you want me from me?" Tala tugged and twisted her wrist to try and free it from his grasp, but Hook held onto it firmly, easily. "Why does it matter when I smile or who is near when I smile?"

"You drive me mad, Tala," he scoffed, furrowing his brows. "No woman on this island has ever refused me before, and never have a wanted one more than I do right now. Yet you refuse me. It's absolutely maddening."

Tala tried to take a step backwards, but his feet followed herself. She could smell the sweet rum on his lips, and she could see it in his eyes. That hunger was growing by the second. He looked at her like a tomcat might look at an injured mouse.

"You are a pirate. Can't you just purchase a woman for the night?"

"Why would I pay for what I can get for free?" He grimaced at that. "I don't need to pay for a woman to want to lie in my bed. They always came willingly. Except you. No matter how hard I try to get close, you keep your distance."

She was growing more agitated by the second. He wouldn't release her wrist, and he was practically bragging about all of the women he bedded in the past. Tala wasn't interested in hearing about such things, and it honestly annoyed her more than she really cared to admit or understand.

It annoyed her so much that she lashed out with her words before she could think better of it.

"Of course I refuse. Why would I want to give my body to a filthy pirate?"

His eyes widened a bit at first like he was wounded by her harsh words. Tala regretted them almost immediately, but if it made him leave her alone for the night, she wouldn't take them back. Unfortunately, that initial hurt gave way to a sudden anger.

"How kind of you to remind me that I'm a filthy pirate. Since I'm a pirate, I should just take what I want, right? I shall claim whatever treasure I like."

His hand finally left her wrist, but there was no relief. Soon after, she felt both of his hands close around her upper arms, near her shoulders. Before she even realized what was going on, her back hit the wall behind her, and Hook had her pinned there with his chest and those needy hands.

Tala looked up at him, not showing any signs of fear or backing down. Even as the space between them began to shrink even more, Tala remained silent and calm. She turned her face away from his to try and escape that strong aroma of rum and fruit on his breath.

"What could you do to stop me? If I wanted to take you right this moment?"

"You won't."

"Can you be so sure?" He growled lowly, a predator with his prey within his grasp. Tala wasn't fond of the idea of being the prey. She was a wolf after all, by name and by nature.

A chill ran up her spine when she felt his hands drop from her shoulders to grip her hips boldly. He used that grip to pull her body closer to his, though Tala would have rather stayed against the wall.

"I said it once before, Tala... I will not allow another man to have the pleasure of being the first to touch you, to feel you. You're my treasure, little wolf. Mine to hold, to cherish. To touch... I won't let some meager tavern boy rob me of that pleasure."

"You were the first to touch me. Isn't that enough? My lips weren't enough?"

"There is so much more to taste than your pretty lips, love. You don't know the half of the pleasures I could give to you."

Was that true? Did Tala really know so little about her own body? She was a warrior all her life, not meant to be married and have a family. Her mother only told her so much about men because of this. She knew they had greedy hands, and that they would desire things from her that she could not give because she was a warrior. Her mother never spoke of pleasures given by men, only pain and danger.

"Could I not get the same pleasures from Sebastian?"

Hook was almost convinced she was trying to wound him on purpose. She was saying things that she must have known would hurt him, but she looked so innocent and naive at the same time. Tala really was going to be the thing that finally drives him into insanity.

"You can't."

His teeth were grinding together now, and for some reason, Tala felt satisfied in pushing his buttons. She liked having power over him, being able to drive him mad. It was a welcome change from being the prey.

"Why not? He's a man. He's handsome."

"Is he now?"

"He's much kinder than you, too," she pushed him further, sensing a rage boiling beneath the facade. She wondered how far she could push him before he snapped. She cursed herself for wanting to see him break. "Maybe I want to give him my treasure."

Tala flinched a little when Hook's hand suddenly jerked up, leaving her hip behind in order to wrap his fingers around her throat. He held her neck within his hand, and Tala was well aware that he could hurt her, even break her, if he so pleased. But he didn't. He barely applied any pressure at all. He only held her throat tight enough to keep her trapped within his grasp.

"Why must you push me? Have I been too kind? Have you forgotten who I am?"

"I know exactly who you are, which is how I know I can push you. You won't do anything to me. If you planned on hurting me, you would have done so long ago." She smirked up at him, finally learning of the power she held over him. It was all too clear when her words made him recoil, and she could see him twisting up inside.

"Watch your tongue, little wolf," he warned, trying to maintain his composure.

"I believe you once offered to bow before me, when I would not bow to you," Tala huffed up at him, angling her head upwards to make it even easier for him to choke her if he planned on doing so. She knew, however, that he wouldn't. "That is how I know you won't do anything to me, Hook."

She hadn't expected that to be his breaking point. Hearing her call him by his old nickname only drove him even further into madness. His half-drunken brain was unable to reason or rationalize with himself anymore. He had lost control, lost his power, and he had to do something, anything, to get it back.

Hook gave into his primal urges, those that he had long tried to control whenever Tala was near. In that moment, he became the wolf, and she was a pretty little doe he meant to devour.

He started with her lips. It was something he experienced only once before, but one he longed to experience again for quite some time. She was a taste of home, but that didn't quite extinguish the fire she set ablaze within him.

Tala planted her hands against his chest and tried to push once, twice, and a third time, though he never budged an inch. She didn't squirm under his grasp, didn't reach up to try and pry his hand from her neck. After the third shove, she gave up even trying to push him away.

Maybe she was curious. Maybe she hated him less than she pretended to. Whatever the reason, he couldn't be sure. Tala would never admit it if she didn't truly hate him. He was left to simply hope that was the case.

After dominated her soft lips, Hook broke the kiss to look down at her directly. Here eyes fluttered open, and she met his gaze boldly. She didn't look frightened at all, barely even concerned. How was it that he failed to be a villain in her eyes? Why was he weak for her? Hook hated feeling weak.

"I'm not afraid of you," she breathed softly, rolling her war-worn bottom lip between her teeth. "You don't scare me, James."

"Perhaps I should. You'd do better to be afraid of me." He kept one hand wrapped around her slender little neck, but he let the other drop low, allowing his fingertips to graze along her inner thigh. It made her shiver visibly, though she tried to hide it.

"I won't let you have your way."

"I'm not asking permission anymore."

"I don't belong to you."

"Then stop me," he growled under his breath.

Tala opened her mouth to protest again, but all words left her lips suddenly when those villainous fingers of his moved inwards, brushing against a part of her no man had ever touched before. The sensation that rolled through her body in that moment was like no other she had felt before. It was immediate and intense.

Hook felt her hands on his shoulders, gripping them tightly as if letting go meant her knees would buckle. He smirked at the feeling of her legs trembling as he barely brushed his knuckle over the most sensitive, private place on her body. A place he meant to conquer one day.

"Whatever power you think you have over me is lost... when it's so easy for me to make you melt in my hands, little wolf," Hook leaned forwards to whisper in her ear as he pressed into her soft womanhood a little harder with his finger, causing her to let out an audible whine.

Just like that, Hook decided it was enough for one night. He had pushed the boundaries far beyond what he would have if he was sober, but he got what he wanted. He got the power back, and he left Tala in a panting mess.

She slid to the ground once his touch was gone. Tala brought her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead against them. Perhaps she had pushed Hook too far after all. She let him take control of her again, and the worse part about it was...

She kind of liked it.