Another snowy chapter for you kind readers! I will post another chapter up and maybe one more after that but this one isn't going to be a long story like Unfolding a Plan or Secret Lives and Broken Promises :) Enjoy!
He woke up to the sounds and smells of food cooking and it smelled good. He stretched the sleep from his muscles only to find that he was on the couch and his confusion as to why he was there only lead him to wonder who was in the kitchen. It most certainly wasn't Henry. He sat up slowly and his eyes landed on the tree and everything came back to him at once. Regina was in his kitchen and he had kissed her and it was wonderful.
He rubbed his face with his hands and sighed, he had quite the mess to figure out. Walking toward the kitchen he found Regina with her back to him pouring batter on a griddle, "good morning," she turned around with a finger in her mouth, sucking off the batter she had spilled.
"Morning," she beamed and put the large bowl back on the counter, "figured I'd make breakfast, I didn't have the chance to get you anything for Christmas and you let me stay the night," she smiled at him warmly and pulled the pan of sausages from the stove so as not to burn them. With the sausages safe from the heat she relaxed against the counter, holding the black spatula in both her hands across her thighs, "we've got pancakes, sausages, fruit, fresh orange juice, and if you'd like I can make eggs."
"What no apple juice?" he teased as he walked around the island to stand across from her.
"No it seems Snow has a shortage of apples in her home," she smiled and cocked her head, "I can't imagine why," she pushed her lips together tightly in an attempt to keep herself from grinning.
"Oh I can think of one reason," he laughed lightly, enjoying her playful behavior.
Regina smirked and pushed herself off the counter and lifted the spatula to turn over the pancakes, "I should have asked, do you even like pancakes?"
"Of course," he breathed out a laugh and found his eyes wandering over her once again. She moved around the kitchen effortlessly, sometimes rising to her tip toes just because she could, it made him smile. The white shirt was a little loose over her frame and the red bottoms were tied tight around her hips and the hem skimmed the floor. Her hair, a gorgeous tousled mess of dark curls that bounced above her shoulders with every step and turn of her head.
"You're staring again," she smiled and looked at him from the corner of her eye after she had said it just to see the look on his face before she finished flipping the pancakes, "you're going to have to work on that if you don't want to keep getting caught," she chuckled softly through a wide grin. When he didn't answer she lifted her head to find him staring at her almost ashamed, "relax, I'm only teasing, you're fine," it didn't seem to calm him down.
She took the pancakes off the griddle quickly and placed them on a large plate with the other finished pancakes and dropped the spatula on the counter as she turned to face him, "James," she stepped closer, "hey it's alright, really I don't mind, I'm not accusing you of anything."
"I know it's just that I shouldn't be looking at you like this, I just shouldn't."
"I know," her face creased in understanding but she didn't look away. He was fighting a similar battle as the one she fought the night before, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kissed you back last night."
"No don't say that, this is not your fault, I'm the one that kissed you in the first place."
"How about we just move on. It happened, we both enjoyed it more than we should have, you were lonely and you miss Snow, I was lonely and grasping at any shred of-" she was cut off sharply with his lips pressed against hers. Her face was held firmly between his hands and she inhaled quickly through her nose as her eyes instinctively closed. Her hands were up at her sides, stuck in position from when she was moving them as she talked.
Almost instantly she gave in and kissed him back, she kept her hands up and away from him but did not fight him when he stepped closer so their bodies ran flush against each other. Her brow creased in pleasure and confusion as he pulled her closer in to him, only moments ago he had said it was wrong and she was content with that but now she was entirely lost.
She was so warm, she felt so right in his arms. It calmed his mind as he kissed her, everything felt right and everything was clear. He pulled away slowly and opened his eyes to find her watching him, a soft pain building in her features and he took a breath to speak but her voice was heard first.
"Please don't play with me James. You know how badly I am hurt," the words slipped from her mouth before she even heard them herself. She stood vulnerable in front of him, it was true, she was hurt and she didn't want to get hurt any further.
"Regina, I would never-"
"Is breakfast ready?" Henry walked out of his room rubbing the sleep from his eyes as a long yawn widened his mouth.
Regina's eyes widened at the sound of him, she had forgotten he was in bed and she all but jumped away from James, "yes it is," she was relieved to find he had had his eyes closed and did not see James holding her. She shot James a sad smile before grabbing a plate, "how many pancakes, dear?"
...
The two of them had relaxed considerably since the kiss they shared that morning. They could walk around and sit next to each other with out the air growing thick between them. James was surprised really, he didn't know Regina as the forgive and forget kind of person. He would still catch himself staring at her and every time he would curse at himself and try hopelessly to stomp out the calming warmth that grew inside of him every time he looked at her.
He would try and keep himself distracted with the gifts but with every laugh and every smile she had caught his undivided attention once again. He was grateful that Henry was too caught up in his gifts to notice the way he was looking at his mother, he was a quick and very clever child and there was no doubt in that if he were paying attention he would be able to read his thoughts with ease. As if on cue, James turned his gaze from Regina and Henry lifted his eyes from his newly opened gift.
"Mom's turn?" He grinned excitedly.
"Wha- my turn?" She lifted her hand and rested her finger tips on her chest. Both boys were grinning at each other and at James' nod Henry giggled and picked up a small box, relatively the size of a small book. When offered to her, she took it gently, "what's this?" She was excited, it wasn't often that she had gotten gifts and even less so ones that she didn't suspect coming.
James laughed softly at her, "you didn't really think we were in there buying ornaments for that long did you?" His heart beat erratically at the joy on her face, her dark eyes were lit up and her smile was unable to go any wider.
"Open it!"
Regina laughed as Henry bounced closer so he was sitting right next to her, she shifted so she sat cross legged, "okay okay," she could feel James' eyes studying her as she pulled on the bow, it was soothing. With the ribbon and paper discarded, she held a small thin black box and she eyed it over, truly curious as to what it could be. As she opened the lid one of her rarest smiles formed over her entire face.
James felt his heart stop at the sight. White teeth flashed from beneath red lips as her mouth opened in to a wide smile and corners of her eyes creased because of it. A greatly amused laugh rose in her throat as she examined her gift which in turn caused him to laugh softly.
She let the laughter flow through her as she lifted the necklace out of the box, "I love it, it's perfect," she couldn't have wiped the smile off her face even if she had wanted to. She dangled the small pendant from the gold chain and put the box on the floor, bringing the small apple to eye level and standing it upright on her open palm. It was a polished deep red, the stem was gold and the small leaf was gold as well with three small white crystals set in the metal.
Henry shifted his eyes between the necklace and his mother's face, "yeah?" He had never seen her so relaxed and cheerful.
Regina wrapped and arm around him and pulled him in to a hug, "yes!" She kissed the top of his head as he laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist. She never wanted him to let go, she pulled him in closer and he nuzzled his head in to her side as he squeezed tighter.
"This is the best Christmas ever!"
Regina rubbed his arm affectionately, "I couldn't agree more."
"Here," James moved forward and placed his hand over Regina's fingers earning him a a relaxed but questioning look, "let me," he smiled as the confusion grew on her face before she smiled and nodded, releasing the necklace in to his hands.
"Aren't you just charming," she teased him as she lifted her hair from her neck with her free hand. She worked on staying focused on what he was doing rather than how he was doing it because the way he was doing it was making her heart thunder in her chest.
His fingers trailed over the sides of her neck as he kneeled behind her closer than he really needed to be. Shivers ran down her spine as his breath skimmed the back of her neck when he leaned in closer to examine the small gold clasp. She felt his fingertips smooth the back of the chain against her skin and she closed her eyes tightly to try and focus on anything else. She focused on the warmth of Henry holding her tightly with his face buried in to her side. It was short lived however when she felt James' lips on her neck, laying soft and silent kisses over her skin.
It was risky, he knew that, but Henry wasn't watching and her smooth skin was so inviting. Her scent was intoxicating, so much so that it took all of his control not to do any more than silently kiss her neck. The first kiss she was tense but by the second and third she had slightly tilted her head, exposing her neck further. He obliged and trailed his lips to her jaw line where she let out a soft hum of approval that he was certain got out without her permission.
"What?"
Her eyes snapped open and she cleared her throat gently as James pulled away before Henry tilted his head to look up at her, "nothing, I've just missed your hugs," her voice was thick from James' kisses and she smiled warmly down at Henry, hoping he wouldn't notice.
Henry smiled up at her, "you sound different."
"Do I?" She shrugged as her voice started to come back, "must have something in my throat," she was still fully aware of James' proximity. He had moved beside her, verging on too close to be considered friendly and his eyes were dark with lust. She was quickly losing her battle of wills. Her will to stay strong and stay away was rapidly losing ground to her want to give in to him and to give in to him right then.
Shaking the thoughts from her head she tilted her chin up, "how does it look?"
Henry loosened his grip around her but did not fully let go as he sat up to look at the necklace, "it's really pretty," then he started to giggle, "it's very you," he smirked and it earned him a throaty laugh from his mother and a rough pull in to her.
"Come here," she growled playfully, "brat," it only made the two of them laugh more. She gave his head a tight and loving squeeze before sending him off with a light push, "go get dressed so we can get outside," she watched him run off laughing and then turned her attention to James. He watched Henry leave as well and then his eyes were quickly back to hers, "what are you doing?" It was a desperate whisper, she wanted the temptations to go away.
He spoke in a whisper as well so as not to let Henry in, "I don't know, I have no idea what I'm doing. What I do know is that I can't get you out of my head."
"Well you're going to have to try harder!"
"Try har-," he took a tense breath, "I could not possibly be trying any harder, Regina."
"Just stop kissing me James, that's all I ask, you can watch all you want but stop kissing me. I can't do this James, I can't be that woman who breaks up Snow White and Prince Charming."
"You've already ripped us apart."
Regina scoffed and widened her eyes in disbelief, "there is a huge difference between that and," she motioned to him with her hands, "this!"
James slid forward, she was uncomfortable in their situation he could see that, what he could also see was the flicker of fear in her features, "tell me you don't want to kiss me."
Her chest tightened as he moved closer, "I...I uh," her eyes moved to his mouth and her whisper faded in to silence as he inched forward. She felt that same burning desire to let him take her, to give in to him and let him lift her tired heart. It had felt so wonderful when she had done it the night before, it had felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders and she couldn't help but wonder what it would feel like if she were to let it happen again.
She took in a slow breath through slightly parted lips as he hovered over her but then closed them and shook her head as she backed away from him, "no, no I can't do this," she got up to her feet and pushed her fingers through her hair, "I'm sorry, I can't, I can't do this," she looked down at him, unsure of what her face was giving away before she quite suddenly pivoted and all but ran up to the loft. She was trying to be better, kissing Prince Charming was not better.
It was like he had blinders on from the rest of the world when she was in his presence, he had no recollection of Snow or his love for her when Regina was in his line of sight. It made him feel awful, he was betraying Snow with every look he gave Regina. He was angry at himself, not at Regina, she was the one talking sense for once, he was the one pursuing her not the other way around.
He knew it was wrong, now that his head was somewhat cleared by her absence, but it couldn't be all wrong could it? The way she filled his head and the way he felt when he kissed her proved to him that there was something there. He hoped that it would pass, but he also hoped it wouldn't.
...
She unzipped her dress and stepped out of it and laid it flat over her bed to care for later before she moved to her closet. She was grateful for Henry being in the truck with them on the drive to her home, he had given her something to keep her mind off of James. She was thrilled by how he actually talked to her, he didn't dance around her voice to avoid talking to her. She paused and smiled as she recalled the recent memory and then continued to button the ivory silk shirt over her bare stomach.
She mumbled under her breath as she contemplated what to do about James, if not for Henry's plea to spend the day with them she would have stayed home and not had to worry about him stealing any more kisses. Not that she would mind...she shook her head and mumbled under her breath once more as she rolled her hips in to a pair of very dark washed jeans. She tucked the silk in to the waist band and buttoned the denim closed.
She pulled a black blazer from a hanger as she hurried out of the closet to the bathroom to touch up her face and brush her teeth. She looked over her reflection and nodded in approval, she had always enjoyed how she never had to do much to her hair or face in the morning.
...
James crouched behind the corner of Regina's house with a snowball in hand, his target was Henry who, claiming he had to go to the bathroom, had snuck around the truck and quickly opened the driver side door to throw a good sized snowball at his face before running away to hide laughing like a maniac as James stumbled out of the truck after him.
He grinned when he heard footsteps crunching in the snow and he creeped closer to the edge of the corner and bounced the snowball in his gloved hand. Without looking he threw the snowball hard and instantly regretted his decision not to make sure it was Henry.
Regina stopped in her tracks when the cold powder hit her in the back of the head. She spun around to see the culprit and found James standing stiff with a hand over his mouth. She spun the other way when a loud laughter burst out and she found Henry holding his stomach as he bent over, unable to stop.
"Regina," he half laughed and put his hands out in front of him as she turned to face him again, "I didn't mean to I-," his eyes widened as she stepped toward him and crouched down, gathering a pile of snow. He laughed nervously, "no. No no no Regina, Regina I didn't mean it!" He lifted his leg and covered his face with his arms as he blocked the snowball she threw at him with impressive force.
When he lowered his arms and stood back on both feet he looked up at Regina, wary that she may have another snowball. She wore a smug grin and held her chin high as she dusted the snow from her black leather gloves. Henry was keeled over on his knees laughing so hard barely any sound came out and he pointed at him.
"You should have seen the look on your face!" He held his stomach as he laughed, "you were terrified!" Another rich laughter tore threw his body.
"You, young man," he pointed at Henry who was wiping the tears from his eyes as he continued to laugh, "we are not even," he turned to Regina and grinned deviously, "what do you say? You want to team up?"
Regina raised her eye brows, "with you? The man who hit me square in the back of the head for no reason? To gang up on my ten year old son? Surely you must be joking."
"He started it!" James pointed to Henry who only started laughing again.
"Well in that case I'm sure you deserved it."
James smirked at her, she was mocking him, taunting him. Once again his mind was clouded and all he could truly focus on was the visible breaths she took in the cold air and the way her nose and cheeks had started to turn red, "suit yourself," he shrugged and picked up a handful of snow and efficiently made it into a ball. Apparently he was not fast enough, he got hit on the side of the head and stumbled backward from the cold shock of the snow. He looked up to see Regina standing with her weight on one foot and a hand on her hip while the other held another snowball as she motioned to him.
Regina laughed darkly at the surprised expression, "I don't think so," the sound of Henry laughing behind her had her spirits instantly lifting and her smile widening, "just because I said I wasn't going to team up with you doesn't mean I'm going to stand by and let you go after my son."
"Well isn't that motherly," he was enjoying this playful side to Regina. She only shrugged her shoulders and cocked her head in response and he lunged toward her only to get hit once more in the face before she turned and ran away laughing with Henry. He wiped the snow from his face and threw the snowball at the pair, missing them by inches but was rewarded with a surprised and adrenaline filled laugh from Henry. He squatted down and began making an armful of snowballs, keeping his eyes and ears tuned for any sign of the mother and son.
She held Henry's hand as they ran to the back of the house, laughing the entire time. She had never played like this before, her mother had always frowned upon it when she was younger, she was enjoying it, "where is he?" She looked over her shoulder when they had stopped, still holding on to Henry's small hand.
"I don't know," Henry giggled, "that was so awesome! You totally had him scared!" His laughter grew wildly and he looked up to see she was laughing as well, her eyes full of life. He wished he had given her more of a chance before calling her an evil queen especially it this was what she was really like. "You keep look out and I'll make snowballs! Come on!" He tugged on her hand as he ran and she kept up with him easily.
She remained standing as Henry let go of her hand and dropped to his knees next to a perfectly trimmed hedge. She watched him with amusement as he meticulously formed the white powder in to perfect balls, focus creasing his face and pursing his lips, something he had caught from her she imagined.
She lifted her head and listened carefully for any approaching footsteps and watched for any movement to come from either side of the corner they had stopped at. The property was silent except for the sounds of Henry making more balls, she felt the excitement and anticipation build up inside of her. She wanted James to come whipping around the corner, "nothing yet. How many have you made?"
"Four."
"Four?!"
"Hey! These are expertly crafted snowballs mom, they take time to make!"
"Alright, alright, sorry," she laughed softly, amused by his tone and choice of words. She glanced over his stack of snowballs and had to admit that they were quite spherical.
It was still a joy to have him call her 'mom', it was something he had only just started frequently calling her that after years of rarely saying the word.
Both of their heads snapped up at the sound of crunching snow, "how many do you have?" She whispered quietly and scanned both sides of the house.
"One, two, three...seven! I've got seven, here, take these," Henry gathered four of the balls and handed them to Regina. They both shared a wicked grin and she winked at him before lifting her eyes to keep a watch for James, "you go that way and I'll go this way," he pointed to either side of the corner on the house and they both nodded in excited agreement before splitting up.
She had made it almost the full length of the one side of her house when she was pelted with snow. She gasped at the sudden cold that covered her and threw her own snowballs at him just as successfully as he had done to her. Both were laughing like small children and a sharp yelp escaped her as she was tackled to the ground landing with a thud but rolling over several times until she had him pinned. She grinned wildly down at him, her hands pinning his arms out at his sides and her knees on the ground so she straddled his waist, "well that certainly didn't work out as you had hoped did it?" She panted quietly from the tumble and she couldn't stop the laugh rising in her throat as he looked up at her covered in snow.
James laughed and tried to fight her off but she was deceivingly strong for her size and she kept him pinned with ease, "no," he admitted through a laugh and gave up struggling, "no it did not," her grip on him remained unchanged despite him relaxing. Snow was combed through her dark curls and some had melted leaving glistening beads of water to sit on the strands, her cheeks were flushed from the cold, her eyes were bright with playfulness, her jeans and black winter jacket coated in a layer of snow from their rolling, and her red lips parted to breathe.
"You're staring again," she grinned and leaned down closer, "tsk tsk," she shook her head slowly and her hair fell softly over her shoulders. She almost feared she wouldn't be able to hold herself back from kissing him herself but a hard hit to her side lifted her head and caught her attention. Quickly he took advantage of her distraction and flipped them over so he was on top of her, "treason!" She shouted through a loud laugh at Henry.
"No! I have terrible aim! Just a second!"
James chuckled and looked down at her smugly, "this is much better," she tried to look irritated but as she struggled underneath him he knew it was half hearted because of the laugh that was growing louder through her pursed lips. The snow flakes on her eyelashes were starting to melt and shine in the afternoon sun, the white contrasting beautifully with the dark brown that looked back at him. She was completely relaxed under him with a wide smile, lifting a knee until her foot was flat against the ground for comfort.
"Now what," the cold of the snow was beginning to seep in to her back and legs but the heat of his body on top of her was much more distracting, "you going to kiss me again?" She knew he was thinking it, she could read it all over his face.
"Maybe," he grinned and slowly began to lower himself down. He was expecting her to fight him or at least hesitate after what had happened that morning but she remained entirely relaxed underneath him with her lips pursed in a knowing smirk and her eyes set on fire with amusement. Never once did she break eye contact, it was like she was lowering him down herself which only made him curious as to why but he didn't really care, not if she was going to let him kiss her.
When inches from her face he was tackled hard from the side and was knocked over off of Regina who let out a rich laughter, clearly she had known what was going to happen. The breath was knocked out of him when he hit the ground and Henry sat on his chest, throwing his arms up in the air as he let out a victorious shout and then quickly ran off knowing he was much smaller and could easily be over powered. Letting out a half pained moan though a laugh as he rolled over slightly to push himself up in to a sitting position.
Regina's legs were the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. They stood straight and even and his eyes followed them appreciatively over her hips and her waist, accentuated nicely from the tightly tied knot around her jacket. He wished her neck had not been covered by the cream scarf but he had nothing against it either. He reached her lips and they were pulled in to a tight smirk as though she was trying not to let it get and bigger and he met her eyes only for a moment and in that moment they were dark and devious.
His vision was blurred after that moment because of the snow she so kindly sifted through her fingers to land icily on his face as she laughed. He closed his eyes and hung his head only to have the snow land on the back of his neck. He shook his head slowly as he laughed quietly, "so that's how it's gonna be?" Feeling the lack of snow falling on his neck he lifted his chin to look up at her again and found she was out of snow but her smirk had turned into a wide grin as she chuckled, "fine," he smirked and cocked his head and then lunged for her legs but she was faster and took off running, laughing freely.
The instant he missed her legs he rolled forward on to his feet and sprinted after her and Henry. The three of them filled the air with laughter and as Henry looked over his shoulder and saw how close James had gotten his laughter became spastic and he willed his legs to move faster, pulling Regina along with him.
