She can't stop running her fingers over his abdomen. Over the place where he'd been stabbed, she reminds. Can't help reassuring herself that he is here and alive and well.
Today had been entirely too close, she'd nearly lost him. The memory of it grips her by the throat, of the awful blood chilling fear that had seized Regina as she'd watched Robin stumble with Percival over the dance floor, for her, and later when her magic had been unable to heal him. Horrible flashes of holding Daniel's lifeless body in her arms had crowded her brain, making it impossible to think past the overwhelming terror that she was going to lose another true love, worse, her soulmate, because of her. All because they had loved her. It was unthinkable.
So she'd done the only thing possible, had begged Emma, the woman who had been determined to help her get her happy ending, to save him, to keep Robin from dying right before her eyes. And now, no matter what might happen regarding the darkness within her or how Emma will be affected from using her dark magic, Regina can't bring herself to regret it. Not when Robin's heart beats steadily beneath her ear.
Regina presses a trembling hand to the place Robin had been wounded yet again, unable to let herself relax, even here while she is lying in his arms.
"I'm fine, my love. I promise." Robin's voice breaks through the quiet darkness, and she realizes he's caught on, knows exactly what she's been doing.
Lifting her head sheepishly, Regina meets Robin's gaze, relishes the feel of his hand sliding soothingly up and down her spine while arching into his touch. It's grounding. That light pass of his fingertips against her skin, even through the thin silk of her nightgown she can feel the heat of his palm, cementing the fact that he is alive.
"I was so scared. For a minute there I wasn't sure we were going to be able to save you." Regina's voice is thick with unshed tears, memories of those horrifying minutes that had felt like hours, days, as they'd carried Robin from the ballroom assaulting her. The impenetrable wall upon which her magic had come upon, unable to heal him from the magic that had been intended to kill her. The panic that had torn through her gut, slicing harshly through her very being at the prospect of losing her soulmate to Death's all too familiar hold.
A lonesome tear escapes the confines of her eye, sliding leisurely down the apple of her cheek only to be caught by Robin's thumb as he brushes the drop away.
Forcing the rest of the words past the lump in her throat, Regina murmurs wetly, "I can't lose you, Robin. Not again. Not permanently." She's not sure she would survive that kind of loss a second time. It had nearly destroyed the very essence of who she is the first time around. And although she's grown, now has a support system around her, people who would pull her back from the edge of despair and anger (now that she's learned to let them), Regina isn't sure it would matter. Doesn't think she'd ever be capable of truly opening her heart to anyone but her son again were history to repeat itself.
His hand immediately reaches to card tranquilly through Regina's hair. "Shhhhh… it's okay. I'm not going anywhere, Regina."
Robin's words are a balm to the part of her that is terrified he's going to disappear from her life again, but it's not enough. Suddenly she doesn't want to talk, however much Robin's declaration soothes her soul. Rather than verbally responding, Regina tilts her head up and presses her lips against his. If the tone of her kiss is a bit frantic, a hint of the desperation she feels pounding through every inch of her being pouring into it, neither of them stop to give it much thought. Right now she needs to feel him, to be with him in the most basic, elemental of ways possible. Needs to feel his body against her own, their skin sliding against one another's. Needs to feel Robin inside her, to be as close to him as she can manage.
Leaning forward into the kiss, Robin groans and presses his lips harder into Regina's, answering the silent plea in her actions. The hand that had been running through her dark locks slides down her back once more until he is gripping her ass, pulling her closer to him as his other hand finds her hip, brushes past her breast ever so lightly on the way, and Regina moans at the contact. Her hand is gripping the hair at the nape of Robin's neck, fingers scratching lightly against him.
Then the tone of the kiss shifts, morphs into something much softer, filled with emotion as Robin releases her lips with a soft pop and he draws back to look down at her face. The moon illuminates her beauty as he smiles down at the woman he loves, bumping his forehead against hers, noses rubbing affectionately as he hums in appreciation. "I love you," Robin whispers, breath washing over her lips with the declaration.
He's said it before, in a million ways but the most basic, knows she is aware of how utterly in love with her he is, besotted with every fibre of his being by this mesmerizing creature, but he's never told her in so many words. Perhaps now isn't the most ideal time to take that leap, but then again maybe now is the perfect time to say it aloud after all. Life is far too short and far too precious, today has taught them that at the very least.
Regina's gaze goes a bit watery again, but she doesn't let the tears welling up in her eyes fall, gives Robin the most dazzling smile he's ever seen on her face and takes a deep breath, as if she's screwing up her courage and whispers, "I love you, too," into the air between them.
Robin can't help the grin that breaks out over his face, knowing with a certainty he's rarely experienced in his life that he will never tire of hearing her say those words for as long as he lives. Then he's captured her lips again, his tongue tracing over hers as Regina lets out a moan into his mouth and they are suddenly shifting over the soft sheets of the bed. Regina moves to straddle Robin's hips, never breaking their kiss, but she wants to be as close to him as possible.
Because for now, this is enough. The two of them entangled together, limbs intertwined as they pleasure one another in the darkness, and the reassurance that they're exactly where they belong. Safe and together. Forever.