A/N: Prompt #132 Regina watching Robin sleep the morning after the vault before she gets up and dressed for OQ Prompt Party. Thanks to Brittany for the beta!
She's an early riser by nature.
Has always been up with the sun, no matter what. It's as if her internal clock is tuned to the rising of a new dawn, waking her naturally to begin anew each and every morning. So it's no surprise really when Regina feels herself pulled from the seductive oblivion of sleep in the wee hours of the morning.
However, the light of the rising sun does not filter through her sheer bedroom curtains of her mansion, slanting across her torso as it normally does. In fact, there is no light besides the low burning of a few candles that are just petering out as she opens her eyes. There are no birds chirping outside her window. For a moment, she's disoriented, confused by her unfamiliar surroundings.
Shifting on the mattress, Regina suddenly becomes overly aware of the arm draped across her middle, and images of the night before come rushing back to her in clairvoyant waves.
Robin.
Her vault.
Their kiss.
Of course, it hadn't ended with only a kiss. Not with his declaration. The distance they'd both been trying to keep from each other, for the sake of honor and doing the right thing, had crumbled beneath their feet. Unable to resist the simmering passion between them, they'd both succumbed to the desires of their hearts and bodies.
Regina shivers at the memories. Robin's hands stroking over her body, eliciting feelings and sensations she's never felt with any other man in her entire life. His mouth sucking kisses along the column of her throat, down to her breasts and further south still until he'd made her cry out in ecstasy.
They'd been connected.
Heart and body. Mind and soul.
Falling asleep in his arms, after everything they'd been through, had felt like a dream. But it's not a dream and as the dawn rises and she has to face the reality of the day before her, Regina suddenly doesn't want to burst this bubble they find themselves in. They're hidden away here in her vault, the stone walls keeping the outside world from them for awhile longer.
Turning in his arms, Regina allows her gaze to wander over Robin's sleeping features, taking this rare and likely singular opportunity to study him like this. He looks peaceful. The worry lines that have marred his forehead each time she's seen him lately smoothed away. A slight smile tips the corners of his mouth up, teasing just a hint of the dimples she adores.
Suddenly overcome with the need to touch him, not to arouse, not to wake, simply to touch, Regina slowly maneuvers the hand trapped between their bodies up to run her forefinger lightly along Robin's jaw. His stubble is scratchy beneath the pad of her finger, and it brings back memories of the delicious way it had felt against her skin the night before.
Continuing her journey, she swipes it over his bottom lip in one fluid motion, running it down the bridge of his nose. He's gorgeous. And for just this moment, this quiet period before the day fully begins, he's hers.
It won't last. Regina knows that. It can't last. Frozen or not, he still has a wife , and Regina is still the other woman in this scenario. And after all the daggers life has thrown at her, she doesn't quite believe that the universe won't come and kick her in the teeth yet again. As nice as this brief interlude has been, Regina isn't foolish enough to believe that she will be gifted with her happy ending. One that includes waking up with this man every morning.
So she'll savor this time while she has it. The dimming candlelight flickers over his face, casting shadows over it that somehow only make him appear handsomer, and his arm is still warm over her naked body, holding her to him in his sleep.
Oh how she wants to stay just like this forever.
For awhile Regina simply watches him. The slow and steady rise and fall of his chest as he breathes deeply in sleep. Her gaze takes in every inch of him she can, memorizing exactly how he looks so that she can hold it close to her bruised and battered heart (resilient be damned) on the cold and lonely nights that she knows are within her future.
The cell phone left forgotten on the floor, lying among their scattered articles of clothing, buzzes alarmingly in the still quiet of the room, and Regina fears for a moment that Robin will wake from the noise. With a quick flick of her hand, the noise stops and much to her relief, Robin doesn't move a muscle except to shift slightly, drawing her closer to his body.
Apparently, as light of a sleeper as she is, Robin is a heavy one.
The realization makes her smile and Regina can't help lying there with him for just a little while longer, letting her head rest on his shoulder, her hands drawing absentminded patterns over his chest as her thigh wedges itself between his legs.
Closing her eyes, Regina struggles to stay in the moment, to not dwell on anything but the heat of Robin's skin against her own and the sound of his breathing. But there's no denying the truth she's avoided admitting to herself since the moment her perfect world had come to a screeching halt and she'd watched her soulmate be reunited with his wife.
She's in love with him.
That reckless leap she'd taken with her heart only a few weeks ago has led her here. And despite the fact Robin's admitted to loving her as well, they can't be together. It won't work. Not with everything else going on. Not with his wife's return and the chance for his family to be whole again. As much as Regina had wished and hoped that they could build that future, their second chance together, it's not in the cards for them. They're only lying to themselves to think anything otherwise. The previous night's events notwithstanding.
Her damn cell phone rings again and Regina silences it magically with an annoyed huff. Who is calling her this early in the morning? Interrupting her last few precious moments with her soulmate — the man she's destined to be with, destined to continuously miss her chance with.
It's but another reminder that she can't stay here like this, with him, for much longer. With a resigned sigh, Regina turns her head and places a light, gentle kiss over Robin's heart, breathing in his pine scent as she does her best to keep the tears threatening to spill over at bay.
Letting out another weary breath, she extricates herself from his embrace, ignoring the chill that instantly seeps through her bones as she rises from the bed. Gathering a fresh set of clothes from the wardrobe she keeps in this hidden room and fishing out the annoying cell phone from the heap of her dress and Robin's vest on the floor, she begins to tiptoe from the room, not wanting to wake him.
She may be an early riser, but he looks entirely too peaceful for her to disturb him yet, for the harsh reality of their world to intrude on this all too short interlude.
Still, Regina can't help but pause at the door, turning back to gaze at Robin's sleeping form for just another minute, taking in the sight of him naked and asleep in her bed. It's not something she's ever likely to see again, at least not if she wants to continue on this path of redemption she's set out on, and she wants to remember every second of it.
Her heart aches deep within her chest with as much joy as there is confusing blend of emotions is too much for her. With one last long, lingering glance, Regina quietly whispers, "I love you," into the silent room and then turns to leave, unsure what her next step should be.
All she knows is that everything they've shared in the last few hours is nothing more than a precious memory, and with the rising sun, their tentative hold on each other is about to come to a close, shattering like rays of light in a sunrise with the coming day.