Inspired by recent BTS pictures of O'Liferuiner (no spoilers so you can safely read!) and lack of sleep!

Emma slowly opened her eyes to a black sea, the morning sunlight tinting its waves a slight auburn as they crashed in every conceivable direction.

Killian was asleep with his head on her chest, good arm slung over her and his hand resting comfortably on the swell of her hip, thumb twitching slightly against her bare skin. Their legs were tangled together in that delicious way that spoke of the previous night's activities, his bare warmth beneath the thin sheet that covered their lower halves chasing away the cold morning air. Nothing could have dragged Emma from their bed in that moment and although the hardness against her thigh had a warmth spreading through her lower belly, it wasn't what had her completely captivated in that moment.

No, it was the dark locks of the man she loved that she couldn't look away from.

The first time her fingers had slipped through that raven sea it had been fast and brutal, her tug on them accentuated by the dagger she held to their owner's throat. The second time had been just the barest of brushes, her fingers unconsciously dancing at the point where the sea met the shore as his lips caressed hers, the revelation that he had given up his home for her echoing through her mind. The third time had been much like the first only tinged with darkness, her trying to tame the wild sea as she manipulated him with dark promises and shattered illusions. There had been fleeting moments between the second and third time - moments were a finger skimmed its silky surface as she drew patterns in the sand around it - but she had never taken the time to simply dive below its surface and get lost in the inky blackness, her hands always needed for one reason or another.

But there was no reason this morning, no dire threat that prevented her from dipping into that dark sea and her fingers twitched on his back at the thought.

There wasn't much good that had come of her turning dark. Friendships, relationships, and entire kingdoms had been destroyed as she wreaked her havoc but the one thing the darkness had shown her was the freedom of simply doing because she wanted to. She had wanted an entirely new wardrobe of plunging necklines and barely there hemlines so she had gotten it. She had wanted the house she currently resided in, all baby blue with the white picket fence - so she had taken it. She had wanted more power no matter how much it tore Arthur's kingdom apart so, she did.

There wasn't time to be afraid, to question herself if this was right or wrong - she wanted it so she was going to have it.

Slowly moving her arm so as not to wake him, she started by lightly running the tips of her fingers up his neck to where the darkness began, her fingers curling around the almost too long strands there. When her entire hand sunk beneath the waves she knew she was lost. Silky water ran through her fingers, flowing over them in a never ending circle. She explored everything from the shallow end at his neck to the depths of where his part was, studying the way the waves shimmered from raven to auburn with the passage of her hand, not a hint of grey in all that beautiful blackness.

"Having fun, love?"

She stilled as his rough voice echoed loudly in the silent room. She didn't know how long she had been running her fingers through his hair but it apparently had been long enough for him to awaken or for her gentle exploration to bring him from the land of dreams. Even the embarrassment of him catching her couldn't make her let go though. He lifted his head off her chest, her hand an anchor in that depthless sea and then she was looking into another kind of ocean - a vivid blue that stared into her very soul, the swirls of grey reminding her of the foam waves created as they crested.

"Just doing some early morning exploring."

A dark eyebrow rose, blue eyes twinkling with mirth. "Without a map? Tsk - it's easy to get lost that way, lass."

"Not if I follow my heart," she whispered, her hand moving on its own violation, emerging from the sea to stroke his neck, her index finger twirling once again around the lone curl that rested there. The sea was even more turbulent than before because of her exploration - waves crashing all over the place, almost no calm place on its surface. Like the ocean he had sailed for hundreds of years it couldn't be tamed and a part of her, the part that would always remember what she had done to him when the darkness had consumed her, was thankful for that.

No matter what she had seduced him with - even her own body, bare and lying open for him in his cabin - he hadn't given in to the darkness, fighting it with everything he had to be the one that brought her home… That brought her back to herself.

She saw the flash of heat in that blue sea at her words and before she could even take her next breath his hand slid from her hip to between her legs where she already had a sea herself, her body instantly arching towards his touch. He silenced her gasp with his lips, stealing her breath as he kissed her - hungrily, devouring. She explored the planes of his body as he worked her towards bliss, feeling more powerful than she had when darkness coursed through her at the way his muscles rippled underneath her touch and the way she was able to steal his breath when she found the hardness that lay between them.

After sending her over the edge, playing her body as easily as he had commanded his ship, he shifted over her and just as she was getting lost in depthless cerulean he thrust home, moans of pleasure echoing in the early morning air. He moved above her like a ship moved through the water - a gentle but steady rolling that had her building again, her body trembling as he made love to her in a way that chased away any remaining darkness that lurked within her. When he increased his pace, his hips crashing into hers like waves crashed onto the shore she knew she was gone.

As he brought them both into oblivion she anchored herself in that black sea again, grasping onto its waves as pleasure radiated through her, his name falling from her lips like a prayer. When they could both breathe again he moved, her body instantly feeling the loss. With a soft kiss to her lips he tucked himself into her side again, legs tangling with hers as his hand rested on her stomach. She fell asleep to the gentle movement of those waves between her fingers again, a vow in her heart to forever explore them even when age had turned them into an ocean of white.

Because even though it was the darkest sea it was one facet of the man she loved, her dark beacon in a world of shifting grey that would always bring her home.