"Emma..." Regina began. It was so hard to get a full sentence out with Emma kissing along her collar bone ever so softly. "God.." She thought she would explode from the subtle pleasure it gave her.
"Yes, Madame Mayor?" Emma didn't look up as she said this, she continued basking in the physical bliss of the moment as her lips worked their way up to Regina's jaw.
"Damn..." Regina thought. She was half hoping Emma hadn't heard her so that she could put off what needed to be said.
"Emma what happened last night..." and so many other nights, she mentally added, "was pure magic."
In that instant, Emma repositioned herself so that she was laying next to Regina, instead of being entwined. She knew Regina's tone quite well, it was a tone she had used on her for a long time."Why do I sense a 'but' coming...?"
"It can't happen anymore." Regina was too scared to look Emma in the eyes as she said this. She couldn't bare to see what her expression would be.
"Oh," Emma breathed. She slowly sat up and pulled a separate blanket from the ground to cover her somewhat exposed body. "I'm sorry if I misread things."
And just like that, Emma's walls were building themselves up again.
"It's not like that at all. We can't be together because we can't have people know that we are each other's weaknesses." Regina tried to stay strong to her resolve, I'm not willing to risk losing you."
"Are you going to banish me to Wonderland now?" Emma regretted the words as soon as they escaped her lips and turned away in shame.
Regina recoiled as if she had been slapped. She felt anger...but then sadness washed over her. "I would never..." She mumbled.
"I'm sorry. I know you wouldn't. You've changed." Emma tried to make up for the blow.
"Miss Swan...there's a Wicked Witch in this town that is hell-bent on destroying my happiness. Before that? Well, the list is long and quite frankly we'd be here all day."
Emma cracked a smile and rejoined Regina in bed, but kept her distance.
"I have a proposition for you, if you'll hear me out," Regina offered.
"Of course," Emma tentatively responded.
"Someday, when things aren't as crazy and both of us have done what we need to, we can be together." Tears began to fill her eyes as she prepared to finish her thought. "If you're with someone else, I won't stand in the way. But just promise me you won't forget this? Promise me that we will save each other for last..."
"Regina..." Emma couldn't bare to see Regina cry, and she lifted her chin up with her index finger, slowly leaned her face to hers so that their lips were almost touching and whispered, "I promise you...no matter who or what comes in our way, I will always love you the most. We are endgame."
"Endgame," Regina agreed as she closed the short distance between their lips with one soft, gentle last kiss...
For now...