She didn't understand how she could feel this way without her heart. She pondered Snow's words, the conversation that had encouraged her to pursue Robin tonight, 'You feel things with your whole soul'. Combined with Tinkerbelle's assertion that he was her soul mate, Regina figured the feelings she felt must be coming from the very fiber of her being. And it terrified her.
Yet, for the first time, Regina didn't let her fear stop her. She could hardly believe that Robin was willing to leave Roland at the camp in the care of his Merry Men so that he could meet her at Granny's. But after being caught in a rather compromising position by the boy earlier that evening she was grateful for the privacy. She smiled at the memory.
She had sought Robin out, unwilling to leave him suffering under the guilt he felt. She wanted to tell him that it was okay, that they would defeat Zelena either way. But when she saw the anguish on his face over his failure to protect her heart, she was overwhelmed with the need to show him that she was okay. Instead of words, she pressed her lips to his; releasing the tension that had been tightening her muscles since that afternoon she had first met him at Zelena's farmhouse. When she pulled away, she looked in his eyes, desperate to see what she felt mirrored therein. She was not disappointed. He grasped her, and pulled her close, moving in for an open-mouthed kiss that left her utterly breathless. His hands parted, one hand pressing her head into his mouth in a desperate attempt to grant deeper access, his other hand slipping below the small of her back, pulling her closer until their pelvises were grinding against each other. She was barely aware of the fact that she moaned into his mouth as her hands slipped to the nape of his neck. She wrapped her leg around his, pulling him impossibly closer, frustrated at the layers of clothes between them. They had just pulled apart, fumbling at buttons and knots when they were interrupted by a tiny voice.
'Papa, what are you doing?'
They leapt apart, adjusting clothing and wiping their lips. Regina blushed slightly, but Robin knelt down in front of Roland and simply told him the truth.
'I was kissing the Queen goodnight.'
'Will you kiss me goodnight, too, Papa?'
'Of course. I'll be right there.'
And he turned around and whispered in Regina's ear, 'Meet me at Granny's. I'll be there once Roland is asleep.'
She had initially wanted to rush right over to the B and B in her anxious desire to get closer to her thief, but practicality had won out. She had returned home and picked up clean clothes and her cosmetic bag before approaching Granny's with an odd sense of embarrassment. Granny was well aware of Regina's regular trysts with Graham, so why had she felt like a schoolgirl trying to sneak home after curfew? Perhaps it was because, unlike those long ago meetings, this time her heart was racing with anticipation. She wasn't holding her chin high in condemnation, flaunting her exalted status over the inn's owner. She was biting her lower lip in a failed attempt to hide the flush that refused to leave her cheeks, her arousal painfully obvious, especially to a werewolf like Granny.
Granny had simply offered Regina her usual room; smiling when Regina let out a nervous breath she hadn't been aware of holding.
"I'll tell him the room number when he arrives," Granny had stated, causing Regina's blush to deepen considerably.
She didn't have to wait long before Robin had arrived. He had greeted her with a slow and gentle kiss, but things hadn't stayed slow for long.
Now, as the early morning sun sneaked in through the curtains, she was lying awake watching him sleep beside her. His toned chest rising and falling with each breath. She was lost in thought. What is a soul mate? Is it the same as True Love? Is that even possible, for someone as evil as her, to find someone to love? And how could she love him without a heart? Did she just admit she loves him?
She slipped out of bed, getting dressed and ready for the day. She needed to go, she had a meeting to attend. And yet…
She leaned over and kissed Robin. He moaned into her mouth, not yet fully awake. His body reacted to her touch and she smiled, reaching under the sheets with a new plan for waking him.
Twenty minutes later, she was running late, standing in the hallway, bag and coat draped over her arm, lips locked with Robin's. She was finding it incomprehensibly difficult to leave him. And yet equally hard to understand was the fact that he returned her feelings.
"What do you see in me?" she asked.
"Hopefully the same thing you see in me- a second chance."
He paused before adding with a smirk, "And you're quite a good kisser."
"Just wait until I actually have my heart back."
She raised her eyebrow in a suggestive smirk that sent shockwaves of desire through both of them. It was a promise of things to come, a statement of unwavering hope. This was only just the beginning.