Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights to Once Upon a Time or the characters used. They are the property of their respective owners. No profit is made from this writing.
Any and all mistakes are mine.
"I want you to stop," Emma whispers into the hollow of Regina's neck.
"Stop what, dear?" Regina answers contentedly.
"You know what."
Regina gently prods Emma's shoulder, signaling her to roll off of her.
"Emma, we've talked about this," she says warningly, a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Well, maybe I want to talk about this again," Emma insists, moving to lay on her side next to Regina.
"Why? It's just going to end the same way," Regina replies, turning so that she's facing the sheriff.
Emma sighs, her breath hot against the Mayor's lips. "Maybe I'm still under the belief that I can change your mind," she whispers, leaning forward to place a chaste kiss on Regina's lips.
"It won't happen, Ms. Swan," Regina responds sternly, trying her best to inject some form of authority into her voice, even as she seeks to recapture Emma's lips.
"What does Graham give you that I can't?" Emma asks dubiously, pulling back to look into Regina's eyes.
"You mean besides a penis?" Regina replies sarcastically.
Emma reaches her hand up to stroke her fingers over Regina's jaw. "Obviously," she says, giving a faint roll of her eyes.
"I don't... I don't know," Regina murmurs, her gaze shifting to anywhere but Emma's. "It's just... something different, that's all."
After a few moments Regina returns her gaze to the blonde and sees Emma's frown in what little moonlight is present. "I don't like to be tied down, you know that," the brunette says, not able to help explaining herself. She's never had a problem with kicking people out of her bed before, but for some reason, she's never quite been able to be as straightforward with Emma.
"I know, I know," Emma says quickly. "I just... I don't like it."
Emma turns her eyes away from Regina, from the penetrating gaze, running her hand absently over the skin of the other woman's neck. "I don't like the thought of... of others," Emma states quietly. "I should be the only one," she whispers, her nails digging into the soft flesh beneath her fingertips.
Regina sighs, running her hand up the blonde's arm to grasp at the hand now at the nape of her neck. "You know," she states, grasping Emma's hand more firmly, "that you are important to me."
Emma uses her thumb to squeeze the fingers settled upon hers, a sad smile forming upon her face. "Not important enough," she breathes.
"Emma..." Regina murmurs, finding herself hating the solemn look that has occupied the sheriff's features. "You know the type of person that I am."
"That's just who society has molded you to be," Emma retorts, her fingers grasping even tighter. "They've made you out to be this way, they've-"
"They have done nothing to influence me, Emma," Regina states calmly. "They can call me a villainous whore, a wretched beast that seeks only to use... but I know what I am..."
Regina breaks Emma's grip on her hand and reaches forward, tucking a lock of hair behind the blonde's ear. "I enjoy our time together, Emma," she whispers softly. "But yours is not the only company that I seek."
They stare at each other for a few moments longer, the atmosphere becoming thick and smothering.
"Why am I not enough?" Emma mutters dejectedly. "Why can't I be enough for you?"
Regina's brow creases as she looks upon Emma with something akin to pity. "I feel that you can be more than enough," she replies. "If you navigate all of the love in your heart to the right person."
"You are the right person," Emma fires back, her chest swelling.
Regina smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes, it barely manages to make her dimples visible. "I am not. You may think so now, but soon, you will realize that I am merely another person, another body, that has occupied your time."
"No, I won't th-"
"You will," Regina interrupts. "You will, and a part of you may even regret the time spent in my bed, Ms. Swan. I say this not to be cruel, but to be honest."
Emma's eyes flit back and forth between Regina's, searching for the lie, searching for something that will deem any of Regina's words untrue.
"And I think a part of you knows," Regina continues, letting her thumb skim over Emma's bottom lip, "knows that what I speak is the truth."
Emma says nothing, letting herself lay still as Regina continues to let words tumble from her mouth.
"So... why question what we already know the answer to?" Regina breathes. "Why not keep pretending? Why not keep appropriating what we have never believed in in the first place?... I am a selfish woman, Ms. Swan. I get what I want. And currently," she licks her lips, "what I want, is you."
Before Emma even has a chance of digesting any of Regina's words, the brunette pulls her forward and presses her lips firmly upon Emma's.
After a few seconds, Emma rips her mouth away, but remains close, panting into Regina's face. "So... that really is all I am to you? Someone that you pretend to give a damn about long enough to fuck?"
Regina drags her fingers over Emma's collarbone, a sad look still encompassing her features. "Now that, I do not pretend, do not fake with you, Emma. I care, I-"
"Save it, Regina."
Regardless of what is said, they both know how the night will end.
"You are important to me," Regina repeats, her eyes meeting Emma's unashamedly.
A long pause drags on between them, fingers grazing random patches of skin beneath the sheets.
"Is that what you say to Graham?" Emma finally whispers.
Regina is taken off guard momentarily. "Why do you-"
"Is that what you say to Graham?" Emma asks again, her eyes hard. "To the others?"
Regina lets her gaze drift to somewhere behind the blonde, seemingly letting herself gaze through the wall, through the exteriors, through the town, through... anywhere, really.
"That shouldn't matter," she says softly.
"It matters to me," Emma retorts, skimming her fingers over Regina's abdomen.
"It shouldn't," Regina replies, not willing to venture forth any more on the topic.
Emma drags her fingers even lower, letting them pass through coarse curls into the wet depths of Regina herself, gaining back her attention. The Mayor hisses, her hips arching into the fingers instinctively as she sweeps her gaze back to Emma's.
"Are you wet because of me?" Emma asks, her tone not angry, just curious.
"Yes..." Regina automatically replies, because it is true. "Yes," she repeats, her lips mere centimeters away from the blonde's. "When you are here, I think of no one else."
Emma continues running her fingers through Regina's folds, seeming to be more intent on feeling the wetness present than for any sort of pleasure. Regina begins subtly rocking her hips against the slow exploration nonetheless, knowing that she will feel anything but victorious once their night together has ended.
Emma gazes unblinkingly into the steady, hooded eyes of the somber woman laying next to her, before gently entering her and watching as Regina's eyes slip closed.
"So you say."
A/N: Please let me know what you think. Thank you for reading.