Dark One's Daughter *Book Four*

Darkness on the Edge of Town {2}

With the fairies now free from the hat, Storybrooke celebrated in the only way that it knows how ... a welcome home party at Granny's. I swear this town had more welcome home parties than it did of any kind. And it was always at Granny's. Every damn time.

I spent a good portion of the first hour and a half conversing with the townsfolk, curious to find out what it was like in the hat. Let's just say I didn't envy the fairies and their previous predicament. One of the more shaken up of the fairies had told me about a certain familiar creature that had gotten trapped in that hat quite some time ago. It was when Papa and I first came into contact with the Dark Curse.

As I listened to a blonde fairy attempt a self-deprecating joke to myself and Emma, I noticed that a certain leather-wearing pirate wasn't in attendance. So, I excused myself from the conversation and started to look around the building. Eventually, I found my pirate lingering out the back, the laughing of the townsfolk muffled by the closed doors.

"You look a little lost," I commented, as I approached Killian.

"On the contrary, love, I think I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be," Killian muttered.

"Nonsense. You should be out there with the rest of us. Did you or did you not find a way to save the fairies?" I reminded him.

"The fairies wouldn't have needed saving if I hadn't put them in that hat," Killian insisted, making me sigh and lift my hands, cupping the back of his neck so that he was looking at me.

"That wasn't your fault, was it? We've been through this, Killian. Everything that happened was my father's doing. You were a victim just as much as the fairies were." I said, letting my thumb brush over the nape of his neck. "You got a little bit of a hero in you, Jones."

A brief smile flickered across Killian's face. "Been a while since I heard you call me that." I offered a small smile and a lift of my shoulders. "But I hope you're right. I need a couple hero points by this point."

"I promise you, you do," I reassured him. "Now come on. Come join the party."

Killian nodded his head once. "One more thing, though."

Before I could say anything more, his arm looped around my waist and he brought his mouth to mine, moving me so my back was against the wall, a situation I often found myself in. My hands reached up and felt the gentle bristle of his stubble as his mouth moved against mine in a rhythm that was beginning to feel so incredibly familiar. I was more than just aware that there was a roomful of fairy nuns in the room next to us, along with my brother, of course, but when I was with Killian my thoughts were no longer my own. They were their own person. They were the ones that allowed my hands to roam freely, tangling themselves in Killian's dark hair. They were the ones that made me open up to him, allowing him to dominate me and possess me in a way that I didn't truly understand. They were the ones that didn't stop Killian's hand holding me flush against him despite the lack of security in our setting.

I don't know how far we would have gone if I hadn't heard the sound of the door down the corridor opening, making me quickly pull away from Killian. My leather-wearing pirate took half a step back but didn't remove his arm even when my nephew walked innocently around the corridor.

"Hey, kid," I said casually, hoping that he wouldn't pick up on anything going on.

"Hey, Tash," Henry replied, looking between the two of us curiously. "My dad asked me to come get you. Apparently, there's something you should hear."

"Right. Okay," I nodded. "I'll be there in a moment, kid."

"I'll tell dad," Henry said, seemingly satisfied before he turned around and left down the corridor.