He was curious. He was always curious. Emma left him alone during the day most of the week, so what else was there to do but explore? Hook had started off with the town, but the longer he was in Storybrooke, the more boring it became. He already knew where everything was, where everyone lived and worked, and he had no interest in venturing out of Storybrooke without Emma. Not that he could even if he wanted to because he had proven time and time again that driving a car was just not his thing. He'd nearly crashed her little yellow bug on more than one occasion, and she swore she wasn't letting him drive again until they were in a field with nothing around for miles. Which pretty much meant she never intended on handing over the keys again.
So now, naturally, he'd taken to exploring Emma's apartment instead. It was technically his apartment too now, but the difference was that she actually had things there that were hers, and he really had nothing of his own. Most of his things were on his ship, where they would be staying because he didn't actually need any of it. Everything of his in the apartment had been bought post-Neverland for him.
The thought of going through drawers and boxes never really came to him until he was sitting there that night on the couch, bored out of his mind, waiting for Emma to return from work or wherever she happened to be. Sometimes she went to Granny's with David for dinner, which always annoyed him because he just wanted her home and with him, but she always made up for it. And besides, the thought of dinner with Prince Charming was not pleasant, which is why he never even asked to be invited along. It would be an hour of enduring glares because the man was still not happy that his darling daughter was living with a pirate.
Getting up from the couch, Killian ventured into the bedroom to see what he could get into. There was no point in going through dresser drawers because they shared half of them, and he already knew what was in all of them, including the contents of her underwear drawer, of course.
No, he knew exactly what he wanted to look through.
Emma kept a small box at the top of the closet with things she'd brought to Storybrooke from Boston when she moved, but he never saw her take it down or get anything out of it, so of course, what better way to kill some time than to go through it? And if she got mad at him, oh well. It wasn't like she didn't get mad at him every day for something anyway. If they didn't fight at least once a day, it would be quite unusual.
Just to prove he really didn't care if he got caught snooping through her things, he took the box into the kitchen and sat down at the table to go through it. It was mostly a lot of papers and envelopes with cards inside, but he thought that maybe reading through some of it would give him more insight on her past or at least tell him something he didn't know about her. Most of the cards were boring and generic, and the people who gave them to her obviously didn't give much thought to what they were writing. He wondered why she even kept them, but whatever. If it didn't hold his interest, it was forgotten almost as soon as he tossed it aside.
Killian was about to give up all hope that he'd find anything interesting when he noticed that the next envelope was blank on the outside. All the others had Emma written in different variations of handwriting on them, but this one was suspiciously bare. Pulling the flap from where it was tucked inside, he let the contents spill onto the table.
His eyes widened as he looked at the pictures laying in front of him. This was most unexpected.
He laid them all side by side, swallowing thickly as he felt a stirring below the belt. There was Emma - a slightly younger Emma - staring seductively into the camera while wearing leather. Well, she was barely wearing leather. There was a ripped skirt around her hips that hardly covered her ass, and the strip around her breasts pushed them up so they were practically spilling over the edge of it.
What on earth was he supposed to do now? There was no way he could just pretend that he hadn't seen them, not with the way his pants were tightening. The images would be burned in his retinas for good, he had no doubt about that.
When Emma walked in not too long after, she was exhausted, having passed on dinner with David that night because she just wanted to go home and relax. Hook had put the box back by then but kept the pictures, obviously, because he just had to find out the story behind them.
She kicked off her boots and hung up her jacket, completely blind for the moment to the pirate sitting at the table with a huge grin on his face. It was the tiredness kicking in, and she probably would have walked right by him and gone to take a shower if he hadn't spoken up.
"Rough day, love?"
Looking over, she rolled her eyes. "Why are you smiling like that? What did you do?"
"Oh, it's not what I did. It's what you did." The grin only widened when he saw the confusion take over her delicate features.
Emma was in no mood to play games. She stood across the table from where he was sitting, arms crossed over her chest. "Okay, what did I do then? Come on, Hook, I just want to-" Her words died in her throat when he held up a picture. She was positive she'd never moved so fast in her life as she lunged across the table, grabbing for the picture, but he held it out of her reach. "What the fuck? You went through my stuff?" she practically yelled.
"I was bored, and I'm very glad I was." He was laughing now, enjoying her reaction and the blush on her cheeks. "I mean, look at you! Leaning against the wall, arching your back…" he trailed off as he bit his lip, a soft groan slipping out.
Emma snatched the picture finally, but that only made Hook laugh more as he pulled another one out. "Ugh!" Her face was burning from embarrassment and anger…but mostly embarrassment. No one was ever supposed to see these except for one person, but she never even ended up showing him.
"Why are you crossing your legs in this one? I can't imagine you have anything on underneath that…whatever it is." Hook held the picture up like he was inspecting it closely, and she audibly groaned in frustration.
"Give it to me," she demanded, and when he gave her a look like Oh, I'll give it to you, she just reached out and grabbed it. "Shut up."
"I didn't even say anything!"
"I can read your mind, you disgusting pirate."
"Ouch, darling, that hurts." But then he just pulled the last picture out and all was forgotten.
"Oh, for the love of god." Emma covered her face, willing herself to act cool, but it was useless.
"This one is my favorite."
And she knew which one it was. She was standing with her legs spread, thumbs hooked in the leather skirt at her waist, tugging it down so her protruding hip bones were the center of attention. Why she had agreed to any of these poses was beyond her, and now she knew he was going to tease her about it for the rest of her life. She really should have burned them when she had the chance, but she'd honestly forgotten they were even in that box.
When she came around to his side of the table to wrestle it out of his hands, she stopped once she saw the obvious bulge in his pants. Here she was dying of embarrassment and he was getting turned on. "Seriously?" she practically whined because she saw nothing sexy about these pictures. She was young and stupid when she had them taken, and she thought that she looked absolutely ridiculous.
"You're wearing leather, Emma. What did you expect?" Hook abandoned the picture on the table, standing up so his body was barely an inch away from hers. "You really should wear it more often. For me." A hint of jealously tinged his voice because she had worn it for someone. Someone that wasn't him.
"Hook…" Emma tried to protest, but her brain wasn't working properly because of his close proximity.
"You look stunning, really."
She grabbed the third picture from him, adding it to her little collection in her hand. "Well, I hope you remember what I looked like because you're never going to see these again."
Now he was the one whining. "That's not very fair, love."
"No, it's not fair that you saw them in the first place."
Emma started to move away from him, but he pulled her right back. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about."
Of course, Killian telling her that she didn't need to be embarrassed made her cheeks feel enflamed.
"Look at your ass in this one!" He took one of the pictures back, keeping his other arm around her waist so she wouldn't try to get away from him anymore.
"Ugh!" She hid her face against his chest, only because he wouldn't let her go anywhere else.
"Emma." Grabbing the last picture she was holding and tossing that and the one he had on the table, he tucked strands of blonde behind her ear before leaning in to brush his lips lightly against her ear. "You're gorgeous."
Pulling her head back, Emma looked up at him, biting her lip as she tried to maintain eye contact and not act like such a little girl. After all, he'd seen her naked before. Why was she so insecure all of a sudden?
His arm tightened around her, forcing her forward, closer, so she'd feel him pressed up against her.
"You did that to me, darling."
"You mean the pictures did th-"
"No, I mean you," Killian insisted, cutting her off because she had to know by now how much she affected him. Not only in that way but in every other way as well. Hell, he just spent his whole day sitting around a small apartment in clothes that he still wasn't used to (but liked the way Emma looked at him when he was wearing them) because he knew she wanted him to stay out of trouble. Any time his mind wandered off into a dark place, all he had to do was think of her to put everything back in perspective.
Emma couldn't look away, couldn't move. Those blue eyes of his always seemed to be looking into her soul, and it used to unnerve her a great deal, but now she just melted under his gaze.
"Stop looking at me like that." It wasn't a very forceful request, and she was failing in trying to act like she didn't want him the same way he wanted her right then.
"Like what?" Killian brushed his lips against hers briefly before continuing. "Like you're the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on?"
Any words she might have said in response to that stuck in her throat, and she finally gave in, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him hard, lips crashing against his and sending him back toward the wall from the force of it. Killian wasn't complaining, though.
"Up," he mumbled into the kiss, hand on Emma's ass, ready to catch her and hold her weight once she wrapped her legs around him so he could carry her to the bedroom. Because he didn't want to fuck her against the wall, as enjoyable as that would be; he wanted to make love to her in their bed and show her just how amazing she was to him and that she had absolutely nothing to be self-conscious about.
Tossing her gently on the bed, Killian first removed his shirt before climbing on top of her, lifting her own up to reveal the smooth, pale skin of her stomach. He reveled in her intake of breath as he kissed near the top of her jeans, rough jaw grazing and tickling. Popping the button open, he trailed his lips lower, pulling the zipper down next and smirking as she squirmed under his touch. The whole discarding of clothing usually took very little time, but he wanted to make it last as long as possible - wanted to make the night last as long as possible.
He had a feeling she wouldn't let that happen, though, especially after all the teasing.
Emma struggled to keep still, fingers clenching and unclenching beside her. He always enjoyed the way she couldn't resist him, and she'd long since given up trying to be nonchalant about what he was doing when he was obviously just doing it to get a reaction out of her. She just gave him the reaction because she had no choice. Her body always betrayed her, responding to his every touch before she could even think about it.
Now he was tugging her jeans down her legs and abandoning them on the floor. Starting on the inside of one knee, he kissed an incredibly slow line up to the very top of her thigh, then he returned to the same spot on the other knee and did it again, all while his hand held tightly to her hip. Emma bit down on her lip, letting out a breath when she thought he might finally stop ignoring the obvious area he was ignoring only to be disappointed by him going right back to teasing her above the waistband of her underwear.
"Killian!" If he was trying to frustrate her, he was doing a damn good job.
Hearing his name was always a good sign. She called him Hook most of the time, especially when she was mad at him, but she'd never called him Hook during sex or even when they were just kissing. That's how he knew she felt something for him that was more than just physical, but they really hadn't had that conversation yet. Emma insisted she was just being nice by letting him stay with her, that she liked his company, that the sex was just sex, but he was smarter than that, though he wasn't about to push his luck.
"Yes?" he wondered aloud, warm breath blowing over her through the fabric, fingers teasing covered folds. But an answer never came, and he knew she was biting her lip in an attempt to not make any sounds that would only encourage his teasing.
She wanted to protest how slow he was going, but she couldn't.
"This what you want, love?" The panties came off, fingers returning to their previous position, except this time, there was nothing keeping him from slipping one inside.
A quiet moan escaped her lips before she whispered, "Yeah."
After pumping his finger slowly in and out of her for several moments, he brought it upward, drawing the wetness up onto her clit where he began rubbing in small circles all while watching her face, which was contorted due to the pleasure. Her eyes were screwed shut, but she forced them open, reaching out to pull his face closer so she could kiss him.
There was more emotion pouring out of her than she realized she possessed, fingers threading through the hair at the back of his head as she crashed her mouth against his. The intensity of the kiss took him by surprise because she usually wasn't like this. He couldn't remember her ever kissing him quite like this - like she was afraid if she stopped, she might come apart, like she couldn't survive without him.
The only reason that she stopped was because his finger dipped back into her, and she couldn't help the moan forcing its way out as she bucked up against his hand. They were both breathing heavily now, and Emma couldn't help but notice at that point, when she was craving more, that they were both still wearing entirely too much clothing. "Take your pants off."
Emma didn't have to tell him twice. Killian retracted his hand and put it to good use in finishing undressing himself, and Emma pulled her shirt over her head and unclasped her bra for him as well. No more teasing; she was more than ready to let him have her.
And in agreement with that, he wasted no more time. As he eased her back against the pillows and lowered his mouth to her neck, a knee moved between her legs to part them. His lips dragged over the expanse of skin before him, kissing as much of it as he could before he had to stop to gaze down at her.
Killian wanted to make her feel whole again - the way she made him feel whole again. He wanted to be what she needed, what she wanted, because he knew there was no going back for him. She'd captured his heart so completely, and even if he wouldn't tell her he loved her for fear of scaring her away, he could make her feel it.
When Emma looked up at him, realizing that he had stopped all movements, she was caught off guard by the way he was staring at her again, desire so evident, and it made her heart stutter in her chest. A rush of heat traveled through her, and in that moment, all she wanted was to be as close to him as she had been so many times before. Only this time, it felt like it was about so much more.
"You are beautiful, Emma," Killian whispered, leaning down to press his forehead against hers, and with a swift thrust, buried himself inside her.
She cried out, her moans mixing with the deep groans that resonated from his chest as he settled into a rhythm that was far slower and gentler than how he usually was with her. Because she never wanted this…until now apparently.
It was impossible for him to look away from the woman beneath him. His woman. The way she had her head tipped back, mouth parted, hair fanned out around the pillow was driving him mad. And then her eyes found his.
Emma still couldn't get over how he made her feel. She'd been ignoring it for weeks, hiding behind quick sex and sarcastic comments, telling everyone who asked that she was just letting him stay because he had no where else to go, and even if he had, she didn't trust him to be on his own. She wanted to keep an eye on him. But it was so much more than that, and she got the feeling that he realized that she was realizing that now.
"Come here, darling." Slipping his hand between the sheets and her, he placed his palm on the middle of her back, pulling her with him as he sat back so she was sitting with her legs on either side of him. Emma rested a hand on his thigh, the other curling around his neck as she thrust her body against his, gasping at the way he was completely filling her now, hitting spots deep inside her that she didn't even know existed.
Throwing her head back, Emma rocked her hips against him, feeling him pressed against her walls and stretching her in that perfect way that could almost be painful if she wasn't so turned on and wet and wanting it.
The position they were now in was much more intimate. Killian had both arms wrapped around her, his hand still splayed wide on her back to keep her upright, and Emma brought her face back up so it was barely a hairsbreadth away from his. Just looking into eyes and seeing the heated gaze he reserved only for her sent fire rushing through her veins, and she closed the space between them and captured his lips again.
A desperate sort of whimper came out of him when Emma sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, her hips relentlessly rocking as the need for more - to find that release - grew urgent. His heart felt like it might beat right out of his chest when she made eye contact again, green eyes searching his blue ones as her mouth stayed open in a silent moan.
He felt her hand move between their bodies, knew she was touching herself, but he just couldn't look away, and it wasn't long before he was coming. His hand pushed harder against her back, thrusting his hips up the best he could as he came fast and warm inside her.
Emma was right behind him, her orgasm crashing over her like a massive wave, drowning her in pleasure and making her cry out his name over and over again while she clung to him like he was the only thing keeping her from washing away completely.
They both had to remind themselves to breathe as they sat there on the bed, wrapped up in each other and panting. Normally, she'd go to sleep right about now - turn away from him, curl up on her side of the bed - but she found herself wanting to curl up with him, in the middle of the bed, falling asleep in his arms.
All this from some scandalous pictures she took years ago.
"Emma," Killian whispered, breaking the many minutes of silence that had passed.
"Killian," she whispered in return, raising her head from the crook of his neck.
"You really did look bloody amazing in those pictures." And now the smirk was back in full force.
"Fuck you." Emma smiled a tiny smile. "But…we'll see about me wearing that leather for you sometime."
Killian simply grinned, nipping her bottom lip. "That's my girl."