She finds you in the stables just moments after the fight with her mother.

She's upset. Nervous. It's so easy to tell, but when she looks at you, says your name, it's like that all disappears. All that's left is Regina herself, all traces of the anxious and frightened girl she was mere seconds before gone away.

"Emma," she says, and she smiles at you, small and tight, but it's a smile nonetheless and you are more than grateful to see it. "I'm sorry I snapped at you," she continues, not quite making eye contact as she comes toward you.

You pause in your task of brushing the horse and turn to her. "It's all right," you say, making your way closer to her. "We'll just have to find some way to make it up to me."

Before you know it, she's kissing you, wrapping her arms around you and pulling you flush against her. You kiss back, hands gripping her tightly to you, but she pulls away too soon. Breaks away before the kiss gets out of hand, but when she leans in to kiss you again, quick and fleeting, the look in her eyes says that maybe she wouldn't mind so much if things did get carried away.

You find out just how far she's willing to go when she backs you into an empty stall, her lips on your own again, kissing you hungrily. Your back hits the wall with a dull thud and she pulls back a little to look into your eyes. There's concern written all over her beautiful face, and only then do you realize that you made a sound at all.

"Did I hurt you?" she asks, a little breathless, and you shake your head, pull her back in, kiss her deeply.

She moans, body pressing into yours, fingers coming up to tangle in your long blonde hair before dropping down to the tie at the front of your cloak. She makes quick work of the knot and the heavy material drops away, pooling at your feet on the hay strewn floor. She doesn't break contact, even when you start popping the buttons on the front of her coat, and then you're pushing the garment down her arms, until it falls away.

You break the kiss moments later, simply for want of air, and you're both panting. Her eyes are shining, her entire body practically thrumming with excitement that matches your own perfectly.

She takes a step back from you and you groan at the loss of contact. You miss her warmth immediately, but your eyes follow her hands down to the hem of her simple white shirt, and you lick your lips in anticipation. She pulls her shirt over her head and tosses it aside, with little regard for where it lands, and then she's moving close again, gentle fingers pulling at your own clothes until she's managed to get them most of the way off, leaving you both in a state of semi-undress.

It's lewd, improper by just about anyone's standards. You know this, but you can't stop the way your body reacts when your eyes travel over her, naked from the waist up. And from what you can tell, her body reacts much the same to you. She lurches forward and captures your lips again, hauls you down onto a small pile of hay, settles herself half on top of you with one leg nudged between your own.

She rocks up, pushing her knee against you, and you moan into her mouth. Her hands are everywhere at once, touching, teasing, gliding over your skin with practiced ease. It isn't long before slender fingers are sliding into the front of your trousers, and you break the kiss to toss your head back as her fingers find your slick folds, teasing briefly before slipping inside.

"Oh, Regina," you breathe, pushing your hips up, begging her fingers to go a little deeper.

She acquiesces and you shudder. Your eyes flutter shut and you bite down on your lower lip to keep from moaning too loud as she gently pulls out and then pushes into you again, the heel of her palm brushing against your clit with every movement. It's amazing, the effect she has on you. How worked up she can get you with just a few strokes of her fingers, a well-timed kiss to your over-heated skin.

She bends her head and takes your nipple into her mouth, swirling her tongue around it as she plunges her fingers into you once more, and you nearly come undone right then and there. You clench your eyes shut tighter and concentrate on making the feeling last for as long as you possibly can, but she clearly wants just the opposite because she twists into you again, curls her fingers up just slightly to find that rough patch of sensitive skin deep inside you, and your climax hits you hard and fast, knocking the wind from your lungs.

You just barely manage to bite back a scream as she flicks her tongue over your nipple again and pushes the heel of her palm hard against your clit, sending you headlong into a second orgasm that's more intense than the first. Your whole body tenses and shudders in release, and then sags back against the scratchy hay. She collapses on top of you, fingers still stroking gently across your center in lazy circles as she brings you down. She kisses your open mouth, whispers familiar words against your lips, and you can't help the smile that takes over your entire face.

"I love you too," you tell her, bringing your hand up to push a stray strand of hair that's fallen from her braid away from her face.

You're fairly certain she's never looked more beautiful than she does now, hair mussed, eyes hooded with lust, lips kiss-bruised. It awakens something deep within you, and you surge up, grabbing her and pulling her roughly to you, your lust for her renewed. You press your lips together as you push her onto her back onto the ground and straddle her hips, running your hands down her front. Over full breasts heaving as she struggles to catch her breath, and then lower still, over her stomach, feeling the delicate muscles twitching under your fingers.

She gasps and writhes beneath you, pleads with you to touch her as you slide down her body, your lips and tongue trailing a blazing path down her stomach as you go. You hook your fingers into the waistband of her riding trousers and tug them down over her long legs until they're bunched around her ankles, exposing her to you, and it takes all you have not to moan at the mere sight of her, perfect in every way you can possibly think of.

You lower your head, place a kiss to each of her knees, and then you move your kisses up the length of one leg, until you reach her thigh. She shivers as your hand comes up to push at her knee, and she easily takes the hint, parts her legs for you to settle between them, offering herself up to you. You press your lips to the inside of her thigh and linger there for a moment, until she begins to squirm impatiently. You dip your head then, press the flat of your tongue against her aching sex and drag it up. That first tentative swipe earns you a moan, and her fingers tangle in your hair, flexing and tugging as she cants her hips up.

You push your tongue into her, curling the tip upward before you draw out slowly, and she lets out a little cry, muffled only by her own hand covering her mouth. You repeat the action, over and over and over again until she's bucking and whimpering and shaking beneath you, teetering on the edge of release.

You chance a glance up her, find her with her eyes closed, head thrown back, jaw slack, and it only serves to spur you on. You want her to come for you more than anything else, and so you replace your tongue with two fingers, filling her up, feeling her tighten around you instantly. You wrap your lips around her clit and suck gently, flick the tip of your tongue over the sensitive bud and make a corkscrew motion with your fingers. She comes undone quickly, body convulsing, choking out a sob of pleasure that she immediately silences by biting down on the hand still covering her mouth.

You're still lapping at her gently when she finally stops shaking, drinking up every ounce of pleasure she has to offer, marveling at how wonderful she tastes. Her nails scraping at your scalp gains your attention and you lift your head, wiping at your sticky mouth with the back of your hand as you move up her body. You can't resist the urge to kiss her then, sliding your tongue into her mouth and smiling against her lips when she gasps at the taste of herself still lingering there.

"I love you," you whisper fiercely when you pull away, and she smiles up at you, warm and blissful.

"I love you, Emma Swan," she rasps, and the sound of her voice sends a shiver down your spine.

You'd love nothing more than to be able to have her again, but you've been dangerously close to being caught since the moment she invaded your personal space. You kiss her one more time before you reluctantly crawl away from her, seeking out your shirt and slipping back into it quickly. She sits up and watches you, dark eyes sweeping over your body, and it makes your hands shake as you tuck your shirt into your trousers.

"You should dress," you tell her, stating the obvious, but she doesn't budge for several moments, content to just watch you as you straighten out your clothes.

Finally, she moves to dress, and she's much quicker and much more graceful than you are. Your legs are still wobbly and your fingers trip along as you try to tie your cloak, and she steps forward, gently pushing your hands aside and replacing them with her own. She ties a perfect knot in mere seconds, and you smile at her, then gasp when she presses a quick kiss to your lips.

"When will I see you again?" she asks, as you walk her to the stable doors. Your hands are linked, and you turn to face each other, making eye contact as you bring your hand up to cup her face.

"We see each other all the time," you tell her, but you know that's not what she means. She wants to know when she'll be able to touch you again, to be with you in this most intimate way, but she's too afraid to ask outright.

"Emma, that's not—"

You cut her off with a kiss. "I know, love. I know. Soon," you say, and the words feel like a lie because you know that the two of you can't be together nearly as much as you both want to be. Need to be.

She smiles, squeezes your hand, and nods. "Soon, then," she says, but her voice wavers just slightly, and it hurts your heart in ways you never thought possible.

"If your parents knew about us," you begin, knowing the moment the words leave your lips that they'll be shot down, "maybe we could be together more."

Regina frowns. "My mother cannot know about us. You know that as well as I do. She would never understand. She would never tolerate this. She'd have you sent away, and then I'd never see you again, and I couldn't bear it if that happened."

The words are familiar to your ears, but that doesn't stop them from cutting into every part of you, deep and merciless. "I know," you say quietly.

Her hand touches your cheek, and when you look up at her, into beautiful brown eyes, you know that you will push the hurt aside. You will move forward, regardless of the secrets and lies, regardless of how much your heart tells you that it's wrong to keep something so right and so good away from everyone you know. All that matters is how you feel about each other, how far you're willing to go to keep yourselves together. She will be the strength you need to get you through the lonely days and nights, and you in turn will be hers, and someday, you just may be able to be together, truly and completely.

Until then, you kiss her once more and watch her leave, and resign yourself to wait patiently for the next time you can see her, touch her, make her yours.