Title: Precursor to a Kiss

Part 1 of 2

Author: Roguie – and all my alternate identities.

Fandom: Once Upon A Time

Pairing: Hook/Emma

Rated: M

Spoilers: Up to and including 3x18: Bleeding Through

Summary: When she looked at him with those big, green eyes... When her body moved against his without remorse... When she offered him everything he'd ever dreamed... He only had two choices. Walk away and devastate her or tell her the truth and break her heart. He could fix this, dammit! After all, the curse did only mention her lips.

Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time definitely does not belong to me. If it belonged to me, the sexual tension would have ended the moment she saved him from the trip wire. And Rumple's cage? Yeah. Definitely defiled. So, since it's not on HBO and no one's ever given me a cent for what I've done with it, I can safely say, not it!

A/N: FML... this was meant to be a one-shot; I meant to post the smut with it today, but of course the kids came over last night and I was stupid and put on S2 so of course I ended up lost in the pretty Hook and absolutely no writing got done. If I hadn't promised a friend I'd attend her kids baptism today, then I'd probably still get it finished, but nope, I'm going to do the honourable thing here and keep my promises. As such, you'll have the smut by no later than Tuesday night. I wanted to make sure the bones of this fic at least got up before the new ep airs in a few hours.. I'm sure no one minds waiting for the... uh... meat. ;)

~~~?~~~

Why she'd finally come around, he couldn't say, but the way her body moved against his could no longer be denied. He groaned softly in her ear, his hook moving to her hip to bring her closer, his fingers splaying out against the warm flesh of her stomach, pressing her flush against the rapidly growing hardness of his long denied arousal.

Her arms came up over her head, her fingers linking behind his neck in response to the harsh growl that escaped his lips. Pressed together, they swayed to the hedonistic beat that filled the otherwise empty diner.

The soft flesh of her shoulder absorbed his heated breath as the witch's curse ran it's three millionth circuit through what was left functioning of his brain. He couldn't get past the words. "The next time your lips touch hers…" From what he remembered of curses, they were very specific to the words spoken to enact them. As such, only her lips should be off limits, only the intimacy of a shared kiss should trigger the curse.

His heart beat heavily in his chest, whether from her unexpectedly close proximity or the fear of what he was about to try, he didn't know. All he knew was that he'd been denied long enough.

He closed the distance between his lips and the soft skin connecting her shoulder and her neck. When nothing magical seemed to take over, Killian let go of the wanton groan filling his chest and fed deeply on the flavour of her flesh.

"Fuck, Emma," he whispered brokenly, lips and teeth moving across her skin, kissing, nipping, tongue darting out to soothe the hurt left behind before switching shoulders and starting all over again. His fingers cut a heated path from her flat stomach to the curve of her breast, stroking and squeezing gently, drinking in the soft gasps that fled past her lips.

She moved to turn in his arms, forcing him to freeze, his hook catching her as he lowered his lips to her ear, gently tracing the shell with his tongue before sucking the lobe into his mouth. He allowed their breathing to calm, continuing to stroke gentle fingers across the underside of her breast.

"There's something I haven't told you, love," he whispered softly.

A sharp bark of laughter escaped her lips as she moved her own hands to cover his hook and fingers. "The long story too long for the moment?" she breathed glibly, pressing their entwined hands upward until her entire breast was covered by his palm.

"As usual, you know me too well." Together they found her nipple beneath fabric and lace, his own soft pressure pushed harder by her insistent fingers, until she found the exact caress she craved beneath his loving hand.

"Must be pretty important to bring up now," she gasped softly, rolling her head back until it rested on his shoulder, her lips finding the underside of his jaw, teeth nipping at him gently.

"Ah, my love, if there were any time to tell you, it would be now." He breathed in deeply, simultaneously turning her in his arms as he fell to his knees in front of her, wrapping his arms around her thighs, burying his face against her stomach. He lifted her shirt, laving hot, opened mouth kisses across her flesh.

"Focus, pirate. You're supposed to be talking here," she teased lightly, the lilt in her voice broken by soft pants of pleasure.

"Are you complaining, saviour?"

"The longer we spend talking, the longer it'll take to get to my room, so yeah, right now, I'm complaining."

Her smirk was unmatched by anything he'd ever seen before, instant desire flaming alive in his veins, his pants growing far too tight for kneeling while he shifted in place trying vainly to find some kind of position that would offer comfort.

In an effort to distract himself, Killian chuckled softly, placing one last kiss to her navel before leaning back on his heels, gazing up at her with a mixture of adoration and trepidation.

"You'll forgive me if I'm hesitant, love. If you haven't noticed, I find myself a starving man at a banquet at the moment. I simply dread the change of wind that's sure to come with what I have to say."

She sighed softly, reaching down to run warm fingers across his jaw, cupping his face with the gentlest touch she could manage. "I told you, no more living in the past. The only thing that matters is right now."

He mirrored her sigh, turning his face to kiss the inside of her wrist. "Ah, lass, if only it were something as simple as your forgiveness. I would dedicate my life to earning my time at your side, but the now, as you've said, is what I'm fighting." He drew in a deep breath. "I allowed my guilt over actions I took during my year away from you to lead me into a conniving trap set by the wicked one."

Emma froze in place, her fingers twining into his hair, pulling his head back, forcing him to look her in the eye. "Tell me you haven't betrayed us, Hook."

He cringed at the harsh sound of his moniker falling from her lips, taking comfort only in the fact that there was no accusation in her eyes, only growing desperation. "Gods no, love. I swear I've done nothing of the sort."

She relaxed slightly, the grip her fingers held in his hair relaxing enough that instead of holding him in place, she instead found herself stroking his scalp, quietly bleeding the tension from his trembling body. "Tell me."

"It's a curse." He swallowed thickly, his gaze never straying from her green eyes as he relented the final piece of information. "She tricked me into swearing on the name of my love, lass, and cursed me from being able to," he cleared his throat roughly, "Kiss said love without consequence."

Emma peered down at him in confusion, stroking his head softly. "What kind of consequence could come from kissing the one you love?"

Killian smiled at her sadly. "The kind where that kiss drains away every ounce of her newly discovered magic and dooms the entire town to destruction."

Cold fingers of realization trailed down Emma's spine as she met the sea blue depths of his gaze and read no trace of a lie within.

"I'm so sorry, love," he whispered, his heart breaking before her eyes as he admitted to once again letting her down.

"Oh, Killian, no."

"I'm a failure, lass. I can't do something as simple as pressing my lips to yours. I can't even begin to show you what's in my heart."

Emma swallowed heavily as sudden tears clouded her vision. Her entire body trembled with the need to run, held in place only by the broken look on Killian's face. "Just…" her voice broke inexplicably as a stray tear trailed down her cheek. "Just tell me."

"What's there to tell that I've not already said time and again?"

She sighed softly, closing her eyes to gain control over the tears threatening to break free, breathing in deeply, then meeting his gaze once more. "Just say the words, pirate." The corners of her lips curved slightly, softening her sharp words.

He paused only a fraction of a second, but found himself unable to deny her anything that she asked. "I love you, Emma Swan."

Truth radiated from him in waves, pulsing around her, enveloping her, warming and chilling her all at once as she stared down at him silently. She had no doubt that he believed every word that he spoke, but that one last niggling piece of her cried out, heard above all else: believing in something and actually having it be so were two entirely different things.

"You never did know when to give up, did you, Hook?"

He chuckled softly though the sound was utterly devoid of humour, shaking his head as he climbed to his feet, using every last iota of will power he possessed to not show her the splintering devastation tearing through his heart at her words. "No, love, I guess not." He turned quickly, moving towards the entrance to the diner and far away from the blonde that had single handedly managed to shred him apart. "And on that note, I'd say this wonderful evening has come to an end."

"Hey!" The sharp, confused tone in her voice gave him pause and he froze with his hand on the door. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Home, such as it is."

"Oh. Oh, no. You do not get to drop loving me at my feet and then walk away when I don't immediately spit the words back at you. Jesus Christ, Hook! You just told me that on top of everything else, we're cursed too! Like, what the actual hell?"

"You asked for the words, Princess, and you got them. If you can't handle them, then that's your own problem. I'm a pirate, love, not a puppy. I can't spend my life at your feet hoping you'll see fit to pat me on the head and tell me I'm a good boy. I love you, Swan. I've loved you for quite some time, and with all due respect, it's not like I've been quiet enough about it to truly have it come as a shock. What you do from here is your choice. Act on it, ignore it, go meet up with your mother and laugh about the lovesick scallywag that thought he had a chance with a princess. Do whatever it is you bloody want. I just want a shot of rum and a warm bed to lie on."

"Seriously? With everything going on around us, you're honestly going to stand there and climb up on a soap box with me?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Swan."

"Then maybe it's time to quit talking."

"What?"

He turned just in time to catch her in his arms, her lips moving immediately to his jaw, nipping at him lightly. "For a man who prides himself on his observational skills, you're a little slow on the uptake tonight."

Killian cleared his throat, desperately trying to reign in his body's reaction to her lips moving across his throat as he trembled quietly, uncertainty leaving him frozen.

"Do I need to spell it out for you, Hook?"

"Perhaps that would be for the best. I find myself at a bit of an impasse as to what to believe."

Emma chuckled softly, leaning up to breathe softly into his ear, darting her tongue out to tease before her words chased it. "Take me to my room, pirate."

"Don't tease me, love."

"Do I sound like I'm teasing?"

Killian could almost feel the part of him that snapped with her words, his entire body losing tension, his entire soul suddenly lighter than it had been in centuries. "Bloody hell, love, I'm not sure I could bring myself to care if you were."

In a second he had her in his arms, his face buried against her throat, lips and tongue feasting on her flesh as he dragged her through the door and up the stairs to her room.

"I'd ask you if you're sure, my love, but I'm entirely too afraid of your response, so you'll forgive me if I skip the formalities of being a gentleman this one time." He offered her a saucy wink as he spun them in place, his instant and complete happiness changing the very structure of his being, suddenly very much a different man than he'd been even five minutes before.

Her laughter was infectious and he found himself joining in as he tossed her onto her bed, crawling up after her, kissing and licking every inch of flesh that her clothing revealed as he settled over top of her and once again buried his face against her throat.

Neither could deny the shudder that coursed first through his body then through hers as if in response. They immediately fit together like two broken halves, body, mind, and soul, not a trace of awkwardness in sight as they slowly began moving together, keeping mind only to avoid the one thing that could ruin them.

Still, kiss or no kiss, tonight would be something not easily forgotten.

~~~TBC~~~

For those of you into smut, feel free to put the fic on follow; the latest I'll have the last bit up is Tuesday. For those not into smut, I thought this wrapped up well here for our two star crossed lovelies. Either way... I hope you enjoyed the product of far too much coffee on a Saturday afternoon whilst trying to ignore the fact I was supposed to be working. ;)

Much like magic, all muses come with a price. Mine muse's price is that little box just below here. Please don't make her chase you to collect. ;)