Regina opened her front door to find Mal on her porch, completely soaked from head to toe. Mal's usually perfectly coiffed hair streamed with water, was plastered to her face and neck the same way her dress was plastered to her skin. She knew she shouldn't find it funny, she really shouldn't, she should be understanding and sympathetic, but…
There was nothing more pathetic than a drenched dragon, even when-or maybe especially when-said dragon looked just about ready to murder someone.
Regina knew her expression betrayed her amusement, but she did manage not to laugh. "Why on earth didn't you just transport yourself over here?"
"I tired myself out this morning doing magic with Lily, so I decided to walk," Mal said. "By the time it started raining I was closer to here and so I just kept walking." She shivered. "Can we do this inside?"
"Of course," Regina said. She ushered Mal inside and shut the door. "Henry's already gone. Would you like me to dry you off?" Regina raised her hands to gesture, surprised when Mal shook her head.
"Not like that," Mal said. "I'm still sensitive from this morning. It was a complex spell." She tilted her head in a way Regina found inviting. "You're going to have to find another way to warm me up."
Regina lowered her hand. "Well, then."
Removing wet clothes was easy enough, even without magic. Mal's skin, normally smooth and warm to the touch, was dotted with goose bumps and cold and clammy. Regina cheated a bit and conjured towels to hand, both to wrap around Mal and to prevent water from dripping all over her hardwood floors. She led Mal to her bedroom and set her on the bed.
"I'll be right back," she said, and stepped into her bathroom, leaving a puzzled Mal behind.
She had trouble finding what she was looking for (she usually used magic instead of doing her hair by hand these days) so it wasn't a surprise when Mal called from the other room,
"Dear one, I don't need whatever it is-"
Regina leaned out of the doorway. "So impatient."
"Not impatient. Cold."
Regina smiled and spotted what she needed. "Ah ha," she said, and headed back toward Mal.
Mal eyed the hairdryer with suspicion. "That looks noisy."
Regina shrugged. "It is, but it's warm." She plugged it into the wall, in the nearest outlet. It would reach. She turned it onto low and began to brush through Mal's hair, separating sections of it for the dryer. After a minute or so, she seemed to get used to the noise, relaxing into the gentle pull of her hair as Regina dried each part, taking her time and keeping a gentle rhythm: pull, release, pull, release.
By the time Mal's hair was dry, she was considerably less stiff and no longer shivering. Her eyes were closed, and she was almost certainly humming under her breath.
Regina turned off the hairdryer and set it on her dresser, keeping an eye on Mal. She still had her eyes closed, so Regina quickly slid out of her skirt and took off her bra, leaving her in just a button-up shirt and her underwear; she'd been feeling overdressed for a while.
Mal opened her eyes, finally, and smiled when she saw the change in Regina's attire. Her gaze lingered from her head to her toes, drawing conclusions about what was and wasn't worn. Finished with her appraisal, she braced her arms behind her and stretched out her legs from beneath the short towel, showing them off to nice effect.
Regina smirked and walked to her, straddling her and getting as close as she could without climbing onto the bed.
"Are you still cold?" she asked.
"Dreadfully," Mal said. "Especially my lips."
Regina pursed her lips to keep from laughing. "Terrible," she said, and leaned down for a kiss. She loved kissing Mal, loved that this was someone who knew all the worst parts of her and yet kissed her like there were only good parts. Mal hadn't quite been lying when she said that her lips were cold; apparently dragons took some effort to heat up.
Mal took hold of her, hands sliding underneath Regina's shirt from her hips to her waist. She moved back onto the bed and tugged Regina with her until she was on the bed, kneeling above her.
Regina pushed her backward so she was lying down, breaking their kiss but making it possible to pull away the towel and admire Mal's body stretched out below her. She smoothed her palms from the tops of Mal's thighs, over her hips, coming together in the center of her chest and then out over Mal's collarbone and shoulders so she was leaning over her.
"Warmer," Regina said, approving.
Mal released her waist and unbuttoned her shirt. "We still have some work to do in that regard." She finished with the buttons and Regina dipped down so Mal could help her draw the blouse over her shoulders, only moving her hands long enough to shake out of her sleeves.
Regina resisted moving right away, knowing that Mal liked to look, to possess with her eyes first before claiming with her body. Others had forgotten to observe what they had after they bought it; so they forgot her and forgot to see her. It had taken Regina a while to appreciate the warm approval that radiated from Mal when she looked.
"You are lovely," Mal said, and Regina couldn't help but kiss her for the compliment, letting go of some of the control she'd maintained until now and allowing herself to touch Mal in the ways she knew she liked, always looking for her reaction to adjust. She found a spot on Mal's neck that proved too tempting and nipped at it, even as Mal used her own hands to keep her steady, pull her closer, her fingers flexing into flesh when Regina's kisses found their mark.
Mal attempted to roll them over, but Regina stilled her with a hand on her breastbone.
"You first," she said, and they readjusted to a better position, where Regina could reach more easily and Mal could prop herself up with the pillows to see. Mal tensed when Regina trailed her fingers over Mal's hips and drew in a breath when Regina brushed them just over where she was always warm.
Regina took her time, her fingers stroking shallow at first, then deeper, using a similar rhythm as earlier, only pushing in again instead of releasing, knowing by the look in Mal's eyes that she recognized it. Regina added her thumb, slow circles that had Mal arching into her touch, her head falling back and her eyes closing-so close, but Regina knew that immediate release wasn't what Mal needed.
Tonight, Mal needed the physicality of sex to ground her back in her body and wash away some of the sensitivity from whatever magic she'd done earlier. It was a trick Mal had taught her, after all, a vivid lesson Regina had never forgotten.
Regina slowed even further, prompting an irritated groan from Mal that she was quick to stifle with a deep kiss, rearranging herself again so her leg was pressed against Mal's sex, leaving her hands free to cup Mal's breasts, her fingers teasing and pinching, her mouth never far behind to soothe.
Mal ground into her but Regina knew it wasn't enough. She pretended not to notice Mal moving her hand between her thighs, let her get close again before taking her wrist and pulling it away, pinning it by Mal's side and grinning at her lover, who was more than a little annoyed.
"Patience," Regina scolded.
Mal actually growled, a sound Regina found entirely too endearing, especially because she knew that Mal, had she wanted to, could easily break out of Regina's hold.
Regina moved back down Mal's body, this time using her teeth to mark where she'd been: her rib cage, her belly, the crease where her left leg met her torso, and her inner thigh. Knowing Mal's patience would only extend so far, she plunged her fingers back in even before covering her sex with her tongue, laving and sucking her way around everywhere except her clit.
Mal's hands slid through her hair and held her there; there was no getting away with games this time, not that Regina had planned to tease her yet again.
She pulled back just enough to add a finger and quickened her pace, pressing harder on each stroke until Mal was shaking. She flicked her tongue over her clit and Mal whined-so she did it again, and again, until Mal jerked back, every muscle taut, her thighs pressed hard around Regina's head. Regina kept up a steady rhythm until Mal collapsed against the pillows.
Regina moved up to cover Mal, knowing she liked the extra contact. Mal shifted and tucked her head into the crook of Regina's neck, humming against her skin. It tickled a little, but Regina shifted closer still, knowing if she looked she would see Mal's satisfied smirk.
After a minute or so, Mal sighed and shifted, bringing her hand around to brush Regina's cheek. "You never stop surprising me."
"Oh?"
"That was very different from what I had in mind," Mal said. She was already moving, and this time Regina allowed her to turn her onto her back, tug her and prop her up with a pillow underneath her so she was deliciously exposed. "That was quite the lesson in patience, darling." She smiled wickedly. "I think it's time to return the favor."
Regina shivered with anticipation. Mal lowered herself onto her forearms, and Regina couldn't see her anymore-but that didn't matter anymore, because Mal wasn't wasting any time beginning her lesson. She ran her tongue in a line from bottom to top and then concentrated on Regina's clit. Regina knew better than to think Mal had forgotten to give her the lesson in patience she'd promised, but it was hard to resist the way Mal flicked her tongue, building every sensation onto the last until she was so close that she thought that maybe-
Mal moved away to nip at the inside of Regina's thigh. Regina gasped in frustration but not surprise.
"Patience," Mal said.
Regina groaned and surrendered herself to Mal, who teased her again and again until she lost count, until she could hear herself begging to please, just let me come, God, Mal, please. When Mal finally took pity on her, she was beyond words, unable to comprehend whatever Mal was saying to her.
She knew the general gist, anyway, and more important was Mal curling around her, grounding her while she practically melted into the bed. More important was Mal tucking her hair behind her ears, kissing her neck, arms tight around her in a way that made her feel completely safe as she caught her breath and the world came back into focus.
Regina turned and put her head on Mal's chest. She now radiated heat, her usual self, which only added to Regina's feeling of contentment.
She put a palm by her head, just over Mal's heart. "Much better," Regina said. "Maybe you should walk over every time it rains."
Mal shuddered. "No." Then, more thoughtfully, "You could walk to me. I like your hair when it's all wet and unruly."
Regina smiled. "Oh? And you'd return the favor I helpfully gave you tonight?"
Mal tightened her arms around her. "I know more than one way to warm up," she said, a definite suggestion in her voice.
She pretended to consider the offer. "I'll need a demonstration, you understand, before I entrust myself to driving rains and-"
But Mal moved before she finished the sentence, wasting no time before beginning a very compelling demonstration indeed.