A/N: Big thanks to Lolymoon for her beta work!

Stronger than ever

Robin of Locksley, steward of the Prince's household, Master of the Horse, member of the Privy Council, saluted the royal guards as he walked along the corridor leading him to his Queen's private apartment, he knocked three times, as was his custom, and slipped inside. The room was dimly lit with only a few candles scattered around, and he had to squint to find his Queen. She was seated at her dressing table, looking at him through the mirror, studying him silently as he made his way inside.

Nightshade, her four-legged companion of many years, brushed against his legs, meowing in greeting on her way out of the room, presumably to the kitchens. He bent down to gently stroke the soft, black fur before holding the door open and closing it firmly behind her.

Regina was now sporting an affectionate smile, and he returned it in kind. He crossed the room until he was standing behind her, and his breath caught in his throat at the tantalizing view offered by the red, satin bodice encasing her upper body, the deep V of her cleavage lined with rubies of various shapes splitting it in the middle. He could feel his blood rushing south so fast it made him feel dizzy.

"This dress is new," he managed to say, his tone rougher than usual, and her smile turned sly as she nodded.

"I received it today, do you like it?" She asked, leaning back in her chair, bending her right leg at the knee, until her foot rested on her seat, causing the skirt to slide against her naked skin and bunch high on her thighs, the golden underskirt complimenting her skin tone nicely.

Robin swallowed heavily. "Yes," he breathed out. "I like it." His brain could not handle more words at the moment, and she seemed to know it for her grin widened even more.

"It's a new fashion, from the Maritime Kingdom. The kirtle is much more rigid with the whalebones and it's not exactly comfortable, but it's supposed to redraw the silhouette and emphasize the waist. What do you think?" She continued conversationally, illustrating her point by framing said waist with her bejewelled hands, pushing up her chest in the process.

She is going to kill me, Robin thought, and not for the first time. "Oh, I think it is fulfilling its purpose splendidly," he replied instead, and she laughed.

"Given my ladies' reaction to it, I would say so. I think Tink's eyes were seconds away from bulging out, she was convinced that there was something wrong with it."

Katherine 'Tink' Bell was Regina's closest confident and the first of her ladies, just like Robin she had known Regina since their childhood, the three of them had shared a tutor since they were five-years old. Robin chortled as he pictured their friend's reaction to the daring garment. "I can imagine. Would it be too forward of me to hope that you do not plan to wear it outside of this room? I am not sure that the other inhabitants of this castle could handle it."

"You mean the way you are handling it?" She retorted, eyebrows raised, clearly amused.

"Exactly," he concurred at once, there was no point denying how she affected him, they had stopped playing that game since they were fifteen, when her father, King Henry, had told her that the Privy Council was considering a serious marriage proposal from the heir of the Southern Isles, Prince Zeus. Regina's older sister Zelena had run away with the Prince's younger brother, Hades, a few months prior, and they had been attempting to restore the diplomatic balance. Regina had still been coming to terms with the fact that she had become the new heir to the Throne at the time, she hadn't yet realised that their lifelong dream of getting married had been destroyed in the process. She had come to him that night. If her fate was to be tied forever to a man she neither knew nor loved, at least she would decide who she would give her maidenhead to, and deal with the consequences later.

"You are drifting away," Regina told him, and he shook himself from his memories, placing his hands on her shoulders to ground himself.

"I was just thinking about a lifetime of being unable to resist you," he told her, slowly caressing her arms, raising goosebumps along the way, before gathering the dark tresses resting on her right shoulder to bare the skin.

"Nice save," she smirked, humming contently at his ministrations.

"May I ask what I did to deserve such a lovely surprise, so I can do it more often?" He asked, whispering the words against her ear, and pressing a kiss at the junction of her neck and shoulder.

She huffed a laugh, and then moaned when the kiss turned into a gentle bite.

"I just thought we deserved a evening to ourselves after the past couple of days, and with our sons away," she told him, leaning her head against his.

'Our sons', it never failed to warm his heart to hear her say those words, to have her claim his now motherless boy, and to value his role in her own son's life. Roland and Henry, brothers in every way but through blood. His son, the product of a marriage he had not chosen, with a woman who had proven to be far more understanding that he could have ever hoped. Regina's son, her gift as she called him, not born from her womb, but who had held a piece of her heart from the moment she first saw him.

"As unhappy as I am to have them away, I'm glad we could spare them this Royal summit, it left something to be desired," Robin mumbled against her neck.

"Midas and Georges were particularly obnoxious, but at least Snow and her Prince Charming were quiet, that's a nice change from the usual insults and recriminations," Regina commented, cocking her head to the side, revealing more skin to Robin's eager lips.

Their enduring conflict with the White Kingdom and Queen Snow had ended a few years ago, but it had left its mark, and this was only the second time in almost twenty years that Regina and Snow had found themselves sitting at the same table for the Royal summit, a yearly occurrence to attempt to maintain peaceful relations between the most powerful Realms. Last year's hadn't exactly been a resounding success.

"I think they were disappointed not to see their daughter and grandchild," Robin paused his exploration to unfasten the tiny clasp of her golden necklace. One of their rituals: he spent his days by the Queen's side, but at night, when they indulged themselves, he got to see his Regina, his friend, his soulmate in the words of Tink herself, and she needed nor wanted any jewellery or crown in his presence.

"They only have themselves to blame, they can't be trusted yet. I would rather that Henry spend a few days with his birth mother far from here, than taking the risk that his grandparents throw our hard-worked for peace treaty out of the windows during a moment of insanity," Regina explained, leaning forward slightly to help him.

"I'm still surprised that the sky didn't fall on our heads after you made that announcement," Robin teased, placing the necklace on the table before taking off her diadem.

"Princess Emma made a great sacrifice by coming to us to put an end to this senseless war, she had no way of knowing that we would be magnanimous. I can recognize it, and I'm not heartless, contrary to what dear Snow has always tried to make anyone willing to listen believe," Regina huffed, and then let out a sigh of relief as the weight was literally lifted off her head.

"I would never accuse you of being heartless, Milady," Robin said, combing his fingers through her hair in a familiar, soothing manner, but she was riled up by the turn of their conversation.

"All those years, and for what? What use could I possible have had to kill her father? I had just been crowned, the realm was in shambles, I had other things to worry about than that old man trying to woo me. We only received him as a matter of courtesy, and where did that lead us? He burst into my rooms, as if he had any right or claim to do so, and then he was murdered while we were trying to decide whether or not to throw him out, and of course that silly girl immediately believed I had something to do with it. Because after years spent in a dark and damp cell, never knowing whether or not my mother and sister would finish me off in their madness and lust for power, killing that old buffoon had to be a priority."

Robin captured one of her swinging hands, trying to calm her rising temper, a usual reaction when she thought or talked about the young woman who had accused her of every sin under the sun for the past twenty years. He delicately pressed a kiss onto each ring covering her fingers before removing them and placing them beside her other pieces of jewellery.

"I know that it's not easy for you, but we have to move past this. The war is over, the peace treaty has been signed, and we have two guarantees that they won't try anything against us ever again," he told her, kneeling on the ground to be able to properly look into her eyes.

Regina exhaled forcefully. "Henry is not a guarantee, he is an innocent boy, he is my son."

Robin squeezed her hand. "I am aware of that Regina, you know how much I love this boy, as if he were my own, but we have to be realistic. He and his mother are the reason we managed to put an end to this conflict, and I can't imagine it to be very easy for Queen Snow and King David to know that they let things go so far that their own daughter decided to side with the enemy to help her people. Queen Snow was just a grieving daughter looking for someone to blame, it got out of hand, but in the end you got the greatest present, and little Henry will inherit a vast and powerful realm with Misthaven and the White Kingdom united under his banner. He will be a wise and fair King under your guidance, and neither his mother or his grandparents will be able to get any credit in that, it will be all you, your son. Until they have fully accepted that, there need to be some element of fear. They have to believe that we are capable of hurting them, even if we would never do so. I know that's not what you want, if we had let you have your way, you would have ridden out to meet them upfront and settle this in a duel long ago, but someone has to think about your safety. You can be a bit reckless with your own life," he concluded, an indulgent smile on his face as he pressed a kiss to her hand.

She shook her head at him, a fond grin playing on her lips, and she rolled her suddenly misty eyes. "You're one to talk of recklessness. You still have the scars from the lashings you used to take after standing up to Zelena and her bullying, and I know that you could have ran with your father when she returned with Mother after Daddy's death. You could have spared yourself those long months of imprisonment if it hadn't been for your loyalty to me."

"And look what happened to my father. He died a traitor's death for trying to help us. Who knows what my presence by his side would have changed? I was where I belonged, just as I am today."

Regina cupped his cheek, her thumb stroking the stubble it found there. "No matter how much I love Henry and Roland, sometimes I can't help but wish…" She trailed off, the guilt of this train of thought always squeezing her insides tightly.

"That we could have had our own?" He finished for her. "This little girl with dark hair and blue eyes, a sharp wit, ruling her little world with an iron fist in a velvet glove; a little boy with blond hair and dark eyes, spending his days outdoors, running around with his wooden sword or his bow." He closed his eyes as he imagined them, just as he had thousands times before. "We have dreamt of them for years, I haven't forgotten, I never could. We put our duties ahead of everything else, it may not have been everything we had envisioned as children, but I would say many would be envious of the lives we have led, of our accomplishments."

She nodded, leaning until her forehead rested against his. "And we're still here, together."

"Stronger than ever," he whispered, framing her face in his larger hands, pressing his lips on hers in a sweet kiss.

She let escape a watery chuckle that could have been a sob. "This wasn't exactly the mood I was aiming for tonight, I was hoping to distract us from our gloomy thoughts, not add to them," she told him, and he stood up, bringing her to her feet as well, encircling her in his arms.

"Maybe we should get back to your plan then, it seemed far more enjoyable," he said.

"I agree wholeheartedly," she breathed out, kissing him hungrily, pushing out every other thought than them, in this moment, her body molding against his perfectly, as if she was always meant to be there.

She broke away only long enough to take a much needed breath and to remove his livery collar until the chain dropped to the ground with a satisfying clang, thus giving her unrestricted access to his dark leather doublet. She started to unsnap it, while he lowered the thin straps of her bodice before untying it. The two garments fell from their bodies at roughly the same time, leaving Robin still wearing a white chemise, his black slops and his leather boots, while Regina was entirely naked.

Robin's mouth went dry at the sight. "Once more, I have to say that I won't be held accountable for my actions if you ever wear this outside of this room."

She smirked, biting her bottom lip, and he licked his own in anticipation. "As enjoyable as it would be to see you lose control, I think the Council would collectively keel over, and then where would that leave us?"

"Cheeky," he said, before sweeping her into his arms, relishing in the laugh she let out at the action. A lifetime of this would never be enough, he thought, but he had learned long ago to be satisfied with whatever she could give him. She was the love of his life, there had never nor would there ever be another for him. He knew he had shattered Marian's heart when he had admitted that he could never give up on Regina, but then their marriage had been arranged by Zelena in a sadistic attempt to break her sister. He had come to care about his good-hearted, brave wife, and he had given her a son that he adored, as had been his duty, but the passion he could feel coursing through his veins each time he laid eyes on his Queen was not something that could be faked or repeated with another.

He carefully deposited her on the bed, swiftly ridding himself of his remaining clothes before joining her. He lay on his side, rising himself on his bent elbow to hover over her, his eyes trailing slowly along her supine form, completely relaxed, from her long, dark tresses fanned out on the pillows to her long, glorious legs.

He ran the tips of his fingers along her bare skin, first her left arm then across her shoulders to the right, watching her shiver at the sensation of his gentle exploration. Her belly was next, around her navel, and then he found her most ticklish points at her sides and made her shriek with laughter, the sound music to his ears. He captured her lips as he reached the valley between her breasts and cupped one of them, feeling the vibration of her moan in his mouth. She whimpered, breaking the connection, when he pinched her nipple between two fingers.

He moved further down the bed to press kisses down her throat and chest, until he reached her neglected breast. He nuzzled the nipple before laving it with his tongue, and then worrying it between his teeth. Her back arched into the contact, her mouth opening in a soundless gasp. His hand left her breast to frame her leg, bending it, opening it to reveal her.

"No more teasing," Regina commanded, hooking her leg over his hip to bring him even closer between her thighs.

They both groaned when his erected shaft was pressed against her mound. He could already feel her wetness on his sensitive skin, though he could not help but to disobey her order by tracing her folds, pressing his thumb against her clit, and easing a finger then two inside her.

"I need more than that, Robin," she breathed out, her arms surrounding him, one hand raking through his hair, the other tracing the faded scars on his back.

"And I shall give you everything you want, Regina," he replied, kissing her deeply as he entered her.

It was to be a slow rhythm tonight, deep, unhurried strokes as they kept kissing, languidly building towards their release until it almost hit them by surprise.

Robin turned them over, so he had Regina in his arm, his chest as her pillow.

"I think it's time to stop hiding," she said hoarsely after a while, as she drew random patterns on his chest.

He looked down at her, surprised. "What has brought this on?"

She sighed. "A conversation I had with Tink. She told me that I need love, a chance at happiness, and that after everything we have been through, we deserve more than a few hours in the shadows."

Robin pressed his lips to her brow. "She was always our staunchest supporter."

"And she may be an incurable romantic, but this time I think she is right. We have spent the past twenty years putting our duties ahead of everything else, by doing so we have hurt some people, including ourselves. The succession is secured, Marian is gone, any obstacles left in our path are those we put there ourselves, and frankly, I'm tired of getting in the way of my own happiness," she declared passionately, raising her head to look into his eyes as she did so. "I love you, Robin, there has never been anyone else, there will never be anyone else. I want the world to know that, whether they like it or not is a matter of little consequence to me."

He knew that he must looked a little dazed after such a speech. "There is nothing I have ever wanted to hear more that those words, my love."