a|n: for dee-thequeenbee. the first part was originally written as a series of tweets, so apologies for any glaring seams that show!


stay


His men had never met a woman quite like Regina before, and when the time came for her to bid them goodbye (John looking most despondent of all), Robin sighed, took stock of their bed pallets, and asked her, begrudging, "Would you like to stay the night?"

Robin washed up and was rounding the corner of his tent when he nearly knocked into Regina, already halfway inside. "John told me to take this one."

He looked at the entrance and then back at her before saying dumbly, "But this tent is mine."

"Is that going to be a problem?"

He thought to protest, but his so-called mate John was looking slyly across the campfire waving the last of their bed pallets at him, and so Robin turned to Regina (a challenge in every line of her body) and said, "That depends. Can you keep your hands to yourself for a change?"

He expected her to deny it, but Regina only smirked as she held the tent open for him. "If you're referring to that treasure the dragon was guarding—"

"Among other things."

She leaned close with a smile that meant nothing but trouble. "Didn't I warn you not to get in my way?"

The tent was just tall enough for her to barely duck her head, but Robin suddenly found himself half-crouched over her with nothing to hold onto, and when Regina glanced coyly up her lashes at him he feared that falling might be his only option as far as this woman was concerned.

She was the first to look away (he should have felt more relieved than he did), pointing to a sliver of space by his bed. "I'll take the floor."

"Nonsense," Robin cut in. "I'll sleep outside."

"I don't bite," she said, something unguarded in her tone as he turned away from her.

"Somehow I doubt that very much," Robin told her. She cracked half a smile, eyes careful on his as he moved inside and shut the tent flap behind him. The light dimmed, the air suddenly thick as he felt her shifting closer.

"Please take the bed," he said, voice rough. "I insist."

Robin waited for her to get settled (a rustling sound, a quiet exhale as she arranged the thin sheet of blanket over her body), and then he gingerly laid himself down until they rested back to back. He held himself as still as he could – there wasn't room to do much else anyway.

Sleep did not come.

It wasn't the ground he minded but the chill that had seeped into it. He willed himself not to stir (freezing was preferable to accidentally waking Regina), but then a warmth suddenly draped over him, a quiet "Here" as she tucked the blanket around them both.

He murmured his thanks as she pressed her back into his, all that heat now held between them. He let his eyes shut, but every breath of hers seemed to make his entire body come alive again, and he closed his arms more firmly together, wondering how on earth he'd get to sleep now.

Sleep he eventually did, though even then he couldn't escape her. He dreamt of Regina an arm's length away, but each time instinct drove him to reach for her his fingers brushed nothing but air, the vision of her blinking back into existence only after his hand had dropped away.

He woke briefly in the night and was dismayed to find he'd turned over in his sleep, his nose half-buried into Regina's hair now. Her back was still facing him, the rest of her body curled away from his, and he should've felt guiltier, letting himself breathe her in for a moment.

He fell back into a doze, hoping he'd have the good sense not to try anything bolder than smelling her hair this time. He dreamed next of that dragon's cave, Regina turning to wink most slyly at him before a wall of fire erupted and vanished both her and the dragon out of sight.

It was, quite possibly, the worst sleep he'd had in a very long time. The torture he'd endured at the hands of his enemies – that maniacal Queen and the insufferable Sheriff, just to name a few – paled in comparison to this, with Regina this close and entirely untouchable to him.

It appeared, however, that he was not the only one sleep had eluded. The next time he woke it was to the sound of Regina – clearly in the midst of some nightmare, shifting desperately around and knocking an elbow into Robin as she gasped, "No, please no – please don't hurt him!"

"Regina." He leaned over her, grasping her arm as she shuddered and clenched at the blanket. "It's all right."

"Don't—" she muttered fitfully, "please, just – leave him alone!" and she thrashed against Robin in a panic, startling awake as he wrapped his arm around to steady her.

"I've got you," he murmured as she blinked up at him, looking all out of sorts. "It was just a bad dream."

Her hands dug into his collar, eyes still half-wild from whatever she thought she had seen. Her voice sounded small as he held her just a bit closer. "Robin?"

"I'm here."

He brushed the sweat-streaked hair from her face while she seemed to gather her senses, her breathing finally starting to slow. She dropped her gaze, reaching down with a tentative hand to touch the side of his torso as though looking for something.

"I'm all right," he told her.

She furrowed her brow like she didn't believe him, pressing into his side and feeling around some invisible wound. He winced before he could help it, and she withdrew with a horrified look until he crooked a smile at her, teasing, "Your elbow did a bit of damage there earlier."

That seemed to wake her up at last. "My elbow will be the least of your concerns by the time I'm through with you."

Robin hummed his agreement, relaxing back while she scowled and scowled above him, hands still fisted into his side. "Could it perhaps wait until morning though?"

He closed his eyes, meaning to give her whatever space she might need, and she paused before settling back, her shoulder just touching his.

He felt her gaze on him still (imagining that glare of hers softening now that he could no longer see it) and tried very hard not to smile.

She sighed as she slipped under the covers, and when she brushed up against him more than once, he liked to think it was no accident.

But she was soon shifting again, and so he turned to nudge an arm back around her. "Sleep," he said softly. "We'll still be here in the morning."

Perhaps it was that they could no longer see one another, or that he'd already seen too much, but after a moment Regina tucked herself against his chest, letting Robin move his other arm beneath her until she was properly folded up into him.

"Sleep," he murmured into her hair.

She burrowed closer, hands wedging between them to curl around his shirt. Her forehead found a natural resting place beneath his chin, all of her finally relaxing into him as her breathing lulled him back under.

This time he dreamed not a thing, and neither, it seemed, did she.

He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting when he woke up the next morning – her already gone, or simply just out of reach again – but when he opened his eyes to the sight of her curled into him (that arm underneath her now entirely numb), he thought he might be dreaming after all.

Uncertain whether she was real or not, he tucked back the hair by her ear, feeling guilty that he hadn't asked her permission to be this up close. But it was too easy to lose himself this way, and he didn't notice her stir until she muttered, drowsily accusing, "Can I help you?"

"You're still here," Robin marveled, wondering how much longer this sort of heaven would last.

She finally blinked her eyes open to gaze up at him. "You said we'd both be," she reminded.

"I did say that," he smiled, touching his thumb to her cheek. "But I'm glad all the same."

Her hand had splayed over his chest, and she rested her chin there, eyes closing again for a moment when he trailed his knuckles down her jawline. Her lips parted slightly, inviting, and he couldn't resist it, his fingers stilling over her scar as her lashes fluttered back open.

"Am I ever going to know what went on in your dream?" he murmured.

The memory had her gripping his tunic again, one hand moving almost reflexively back down to his side. "I hope not, for your sake."

He nudged a kiss to her hairline, and she leaned into his touch with a sigh.

"That feels nice," she whispered, and he let his mouth linger over her brow next, her temple, the curve of her cheek. When he pulled slightly back, her lashes were heavy, blinking languidly up at him, and if this woman was determined to be the death of him, well, then so be it.

Their noses touched, lips hovering together for some endless seconds.

"I seem to recall you making me a promise of your own," he hummed, feeling her smile in response.

"I did." Her body inched closer, the front of her pressed flush with his as he tightened his arms around her.

"Then…" his mouth skimmed over hers in the barest of kisses, lips parting and brushing almost tentatively against one another, "…I invite you to do your worst."

The breath they shared warmed to an irresistible degree as she stretched up and captured their lips back together.

It was gentle to start, slow and even slightly shy as they took their time learning the feel of each other – how Regina shivered and sighed into him when he stroked his tongue against hers, and then the way her spine arched as their kisses grew more and more heated.

He wondered if it was wrong of him, greedy somehow to want even more, even now. To discover how every inch of them might press together, to touch her like nothing else mattered – to simply be with this woman, and to never know anything else.

Robin let his hands wander, sliding down her back to grip at her hips, and when she ground them against his lower body in response, he let out a small groan in her mouth.

"We should probably…" Not get carried away, he wanted to tell her, thinking of John and his men, and the thinness of this blasted tent, but then Regina was nibbling at his earlobe and thinking at all felt like a rather pointless endeavor.

"Take our clothes off?" she breathed in suggestion, pulling up on the hem of his tunic, and he lifted himself accommodatingly while she tugged it over his head, humming in a satisfied manner and running her hands over his bare chest.

She pulled away for a moment, straightening and reaching for the lacing of her vest, but Robin moved to stop her, sitting up and kissing her again when she frowned in confusion at him.

"Allow me, milady."

He pressed his lips back to hers, a new kind of fervor igniting them both upon contact, and Regina maneuvered herself onto his lap as he deftly undid her laces, sliding his hands warmly up and down her sides before peeling all that offending fabric away.

She was, in short, a vision.

Her braid had come unraveled in her sleep, her hair curling freely over her shoulders when he tossed her clothes off to one side. Individual strands of it glinted halo-like where the morning sun had filtered in to join them, and the sight of her alone was more than he felt he deserved to know, let alone touch as though she were his.

But then Regina was gazing down at him with those dark, inviting eyes, shifting forward as he leaned in, and he carefully gathered her hair back, bending over her throat to plant an open-mouthed kiss to her skin.

He felt her swallow, a quiet moan escaping her, and then her fingers were threading up his nape to grasp at his hair, slowly guiding his kisses downward, toward her collarbone, the upper swell of her breast. She'd half-covered herself, her elbows bent and drawn almost demurely together across the front of her chest, but her arms opened willingly when Robin nudged them aside. He moved his hands up her spine, splaying over her skin and bracing there when she leaned back to grant him better access.

He kissed his way to the center of one breast, feeling her shiver each time his beard scraped her skin. He closed his mouth over her nipple, biting gently down, and a burst of heat spread low in his body at the feel of her blissfully sighing again. Every touch of his seemed to spark through her, and Robin wondered, not for the first time this morning, whether he might indeed still be dreaming.

If he'd been told the night before that this was in store for his future, kissing Regina and hearing these sounds that she made just for him, he would not have believed it. He could hardly believe it even now, even as she gasped and writhed down into him, where his desire for her had become more than apparent.

His breath caught when she pressed herself firmly over the hard length of him, rocking slowly back and forth, and he half-cursed the number of layers still between them, the friction of it unbearable in the most exquisite of ways. She wasn't unaffected, he knew, her breath coming out a bit shakily as she held his face in her hands, drawing his gaze back up to hers.

Her cheeks were flushed, her lips half-parted, and she was so beautiful to him that he almost had to close his eyes for a moment.

She bumped their foreheads together.

"Kiss me again, please."

Robin scooped her up in one motion, an arm snugly cupping her backside with the other wrapped around her shoulders, and he tumbled them over, pinning her down into his bed pallet. Her legs came up around his waist, wriggling to bring him closer, his erection settling into the warmth between her thighs.

He lowered himself over her, until they were belly to belly, chest to chest, and for a moment they simply gazed at each other. She trailed her fingertips over his stubble, coming to rest over his lower lip as he bent down and eased his mouth over hers.

It was headier than their earlier kisses, less careful, edged with the promise of something more. They were rubbing shamelessly into one another now, arms winding, hands searching, groping blindly for purchase. His palm found its way between them, inching up her rib cage to close around her breast and squeeze.

She broke the kiss with another one of those soft moaning sounds, and he felt it go straight to his cock, burying his groan into her neck as he rocked their hips more insistently together.

"You may be the death of me," he murmured, and regretted it instantly.

Regina froze beneath him, something hollow in her expression as she pushed back a bit of space between them, but before he could attempt an apology she'd shoved him sideways onto his back, straddling him at the hips.

"Regina," he began, letting out a shuddering breath when she pressed punishingly into him. "I didn't mean…gods…" His eyes fluttered closed for a moment, and he gripped his hands around her waist, feeling her move up and down his length through all those damnable layers of fabric.

She was a sight to behold when he opened his eyes again, her skin flushed with that darkening gaze of hers framed in hair and sunlight, her breasts bouncing in a tantalizing manner each time she rocked against him.

"It was only a dream," Robin tried, reaching to touch the side of her cheek.

Regina brushed his hand off, and he dropped it obligingly back down to her side as she grit out, "I don't want to talk about it." She bent over him, lips just grazing his. "In fact, I'd rather we not talk, period."

She pressed a bruising kiss to his mouth, but he refused to be rough with her in turn, warmly wrapping his arms around her body and closing a gentle fist in her hair. He kissed her back with a tenderness that must have caught her off guard, feeling her soften, and then she was kissing him in earnest again, parting her lips to tangle their tongues together.

He let his hands roam, and then wander with a little more intent, coasting down toward her backside, sliding just beneath the hem of her underthings.

"Is this all right?" he rasped, thinking of how very devastated he'd be if she denied him.

Regina only writhed encouragingly against him, breathing out a "God, yes" that had his cock twitching. The smirk she gave him was promptly wiped away when he slipped his hand further down, following the curve of her arse back up toward her center.

She made a small, sinful sound in her throat when he dipped a finger between her folds, and he groaned to feel how wet she was for him, how warm, how deliciously tight.

This was not how he'd ever thought of being with her, out of some need to ensure he was safe, and it felt a bit like taking advantage when he was perfectly all right – more than all right, even, gods what was she doing to him—

Their kisses had grown sloppy, heated passes of his tongue against hers as she rocked and rocked above him, his ache for her building until he thought he couldn't hold himself back any longer.

But Regina was one step ahead of him, breaking the kiss and leaning away to yank impatiently at his britches. His fingers slipped out of her, and he ran his palms up and down her thighs instead, the breath stuttering out of him again when she wrapped her hand around his cock and pulled him free.

He watched her stare down at him, licking her lips, and he thought he might simply perish on the spot. He grasped at her undergarments, and she let go of him for a moment as they both got rid of all those remaining layers between them, kicking everything aside and settling back into each other with hums of content.

It was as close to heaven as Robin figured he was ever bound to get, with Regina all bare and pressed up against him, like they were made to fit this way. He sought out her mouth, the kiss heady and tongue-filled from the start, his hands touching everywhere that they could, just to feel her sigh, and stretch, and kiss him some more.

He could feel the wet heat of her each time she moved over him, rubbing that bundle of nerves along the length of his cock, and he hated to rush this moment with her, wanting to spend an eternity of mornings like this just enjoying one another. But the sunlight was streaming in on them now, and while his men were not early risers, he knew it was only a matter of time before the world was no longer theirs alone.

Regina pulled slightly back again, putting just enough distance between them to gaze down into his eyes for a moment. Her hips didn't slow their languid rocking motion, and he swallowed thickly, sweeping his thumb across her cheekbone, feeling the air warm as they breathed each other in.

She slid her hand down his torso, slipping between their bodies to drag his length across her sex. He jerked his hips reflexively, the tip of his cock just pressing into her, and they both froze, adjusting themselves to this new sensation. Inch by inch, she sank down onto him, letting out a low moan each time she canted her hips back up to take him further in.

"Fuck, Regina," he gasped, rocking into her slowly to savor the sensation of it. He craned his neck up for another kiss, but the bliss of feeling her surround him like this, of his cock burying snugly inside of her, was all he knew for a moment, and he could only breathe shallowly into her mouth as she stilled and tightened around him.

"Is this all right?" she murmured, a teasing echo of his earlier question, and Robin groaned out a chuckle when she started moving again, slow rolling snaps of her hips that slid his cock in and out of her at a pace that felt akin to torture.

He palmed her arse and squeezed, half-bracing her movements, half-reveling in that feel of her sinking back onto him with a rapturous sigh of her own. He let his fingers dig into her skin just a little, gently massaging – her backside was something truly spectacular, which he made a vow to better appreciate later – and he felt his cock pulse when she whispered his name.

He tightened his grip on her, surging back upward to bring their lips together for a brief but heated kiss. She broke away from him on a gasp, mouth still hovering over his as they filled the air with more broken sounds, building a rhythm between their bodies until he could hardly tell them apart anymore.

Robin worked his hands up to clutch at her hips before cupping her rear again, moving her up and down his cock as she ran her palms all over his chest, his shoulders. She sank her elbows into the pillow on either side of his head, and he felt another pulse of desire when she fully lowered her body back down to his, their bellies sweat-sheened and sliding, her breasts pressing flush to his chest.

"Fuck," he muttered. "You feel…" and he trailed off with another groan when Regina gave a tormenting roll of her hips, nearly slipping his cock completely out of her before taking him in to the hilt and riding him in earnest again.

"I know," she breathed. "You, too."

For long, trembling seconds he lost himself to the sounds of their lovemaking, of him entering her over and over, and then she was shifting above him, tonguing up his jawline to nip at his ear.

"Harder," she whispered.

He bent his knees, planting his heels firmly on ground, and then he thrust up into her, fucking her deep each time she pressed back down. She was nothing short of glorious, the way that she moved, and the way that she moaned into him, the pebbled peaks of her breasts teasing up and down his chest as they rocked and clenched and gasped, their bodies tightening around each other in a sort of blindsiding ecstasy.

He grasped for the hair at her nape, angling her back down to him, and their lips dragged together, open-mouthed and careless as the pleasure grew to something exquisite, a telltale coiling of heat in his belly, and everything in him ached for release.

He reached down between them, to touch her, to hear her cry out for him, but Regina shook her head and coaxed him away with a breathy "I'm close," and "I'm – oh – mmm—" as he pounded his cock into her.

She ground down onto him a final time and he felt the shuddering bliss of it course up her body, a low cry getting caught in her throat as he held her, and kissed her, while she trembled.

He was throbbing with need now, his breath coming out in short panting bursts as she rose onto her knees, palms pressed into his chest for purchase, and began to move her hips again. Robin dropped his head back onto the pillow, watching through half-lidded eyes as she lifted herself up until he nearly slipped out of her, his cock glistening, stretching her at a wondrous new angle when she sank back down onto him.

Settling his hands around her waist, he took in the sight of her, breasts soft and inviting, her hair loose and free as she sighed another sinful sigh – and then the sound of her uttering his name one more time pushed him over that perilous edge, and he jerked his hips on a low, strangled groan of her name in return.

"I'm about to—" he gasped, and that coil of heat sprang apart, shaking through him as Regina pulled away, taking him in hand. She stroked up and down his cock, and it pulsed into her touch as he came, spilling onto his lower belly until he sagged back into the bedsheets, spent.

She pressed a kiss to his shoulder while his breath came back to him in shuddering increments, her lips curving into a smile when he let out a half-shaky laugh. He turned toward her as she scooted up along his body, seeking out her mouth and drawing her in for a long, clumsy kiss, still somewhat dazed as he was.

They didn't move for some lazy minutes, trading kisses and shifting their bodies languidly together, hands gently dragging and groping where they could. His fingers wound up in her hair, caressing the back of her neck, and she wriggled closer, slinging a leg around his waist.

"I should clean up a bit," he murmured in some form of an apology, feeling the way her belly slid against his and wincing slightly on her behalf.

Regina made a humming noise, tilting her chin and sighing out an unconcerned "Later" as she touched her lips to the underside of his jaw.

"Later it is," he rasped, clenching all over when she opened her mouth over his throat and sucked a hot kiss there.

"I told you I didn't bite," she said, and then, after a pause that Robin could only think of as naughty, she nibbled at his skin, trailing her tongue over the mark that she'd made while he tightened around her and groaned. "Not much, anyway."

"Is that a promise?" he husked, hands caressing down her sides, flipping them over until his body was draped above hers. "Or a threat?" and she tugged her lower lip between her teeth in anticipation as he bent down and nipped at her collarbone.

The sunlight was all around them now, the warm glow of it touching their skin as he gathered her into his arms and kissed his way up her body, pausing to smile before settling his mouth back over hers.

There were dimly heard sounds of the campsite coming to life for the day, of his men lumbering about their morning routines. Robin couldn't know what to expect once they left this tent to rejoin them, but he would reach for Regina's hand, and perhaps she would let him, and say yes when he asked her to stay.