Robin and Regina are trapped in cave after being captured by Nottingham
She's trapped, trapped in a cave that seems to have no way out. And worse, she's trapped without her magic and with a vampire. It's his fault she's even in this mess, Nottingham only caught her because of this guy's idiocy.
She may not have her magic but she could do some damage if he tried to hurt her. He was knocked out hard, and she heard Nottingham's men laughing about how weak he was, when they threw him down into the cave with her, before covering the entrance and leaving her in near darkness. The cover lets in a little bit of sunlight, enough so she was able to see in front of her and explore the cave.
There's not much to see, but importantly there's a water source and to her surprise Nottingham's men lowered down some food, so it seems she won't be dying of starvation. However, there's nothing for this vampire to eat but her and she wasn't provided anything to restrain or subdue him with. She looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon but there is nothing, not even a loose rock.
The cave has clearly been used as a dungeon of sorts before. There's two furs in the corner, that had been arranged by a prior occupant as a bed. Regina's parked herself there, claiming the spot, the idiot vampire can freeze at night for all she cares, it's his fault they are in this mess anyway.
He stirs and she wonders how long it will take him to attack her. He should be weakened from his injuries, which may give her a slight chance, but she knows she's no match for the strength of a vampire.
Her only hope is if Nottingham moves her before he wakes up, but he's stirring again so it seems that's not happening.
His eyes open, he's confused, disoriented and this is her chance. She leaps up and pins him down with her bodyweight, wraps her hands around his neck and squeezes.
She's never been quite this close to a vampire before, but desperate times call for desperate measures. It's not as unpleasant as she would have expected, he's warm and soft, not cold and hard as she expected.
He growls and pulls at her hands, as she grips tighter and tighter, intent on choking the life out of him. But even injured he's stronger than she anticipated and easily pulls her hands off him, as she realizes just what a stupid plan this was, and how hard it is to actually kill a vampire. Strangling him was never going to work. Her heart races in anticipation as she braces herself for blows that don't come.
Instead he laughs, more of a scoff really. "If you wanted to get on top of me all you had to do was ask. I'd be more than happy to show you what it's like with a vampire."
She jumps up off of him disgusted. "As if I would ever do that willingly."
He smirks, the jerk. "So the humping me was an accident then?"
Who does this guy think he is, and better question is: why isn't he trying to kill her? Perhaps he's trying to lull her into a false sense of security.
"I was trying to kill you."
"Mm well you failed." He states plainly, as if she wasn't already aware of that fact.
She rolls her eyes. "Yes, thank you, I hadn't figured that out yet."
"You could try again, I wouldn't be opposed, I like it rough," he says, punctuating it with a wink.
"You're disgusting," she tells him as she settles back down on the makeshift bed, sighing and turning away from him.
Of course, he doesn't take the hint and keeps talking. "So did you take a look around or did you spend all of that time plotting to kill me?"
How stupid does he think she is? "I was looking for a weapon or a way out, but there aren't any."
"Hmm, we'll see."
Her eyes narrow, as she bites back, "Well, have at it then, but don't bitch at me when you don't find anything."
"You forget that I have enhanced senses."
God, is he ever going to shut up? "Tell you what, if you manage to find something, I'll give you the bed, that's how sure I am you won't."
He agrees and comes back, looking triumphant, gleefully telling her, "I found something."
"What?" she asks, and hopes it's an easy way out.
"Water."
She huffs, "I already found that, you said weapons or a way out, so the bed's mine."
"Actually you said you looked for those, but then when you challenged me, you said if I find something, and, well, I did."
She shakes her head, exasperated. "I am not giving you the bed."
"I'm not opposed to sharing."
"Over my dead body."
"That could also be arranged."
She doesn't know why, but her mind is telling her he's not a threat, after all, he could have killed her easily, but hasn't. He's still annoying and far too arrogant, but she feels safe, and so she pushes him.
"I don't think you could do it."
His eyes narrow. "Don't be so sure."
"If you were going to kill me, you'd have done it already."
"Well, maybe I'm just biding my time."
She looks at him skeptically. "The longer you wait, the weaker you get and the more likely it is I'll figure out how to get this thing off."
"The only way that's coming off is if I take it off, and I won't be doing that."
He's infuriating. If he took it off, then she could just transport them out of this prison, but he doesn't trust her, and she can't exactly blame him, she did jab him in the ribs earlier. And wait, why is she thinking about helping him? When she gets the cuff off, she can transport herself out of there, and what happens to him will be of no consequence to her.
She's going to have to build his trust if she's going to convince him to take this thing off, so she might as well keep up the conversation, no matter how annoying he is. "How'd you get into my vault anyway?"
"It was a shockingly easy place to break into, you'd think a witch would protect it better."
"I did protect it, no one who's had human blood could enter. How did you get past that?"
"I think you know the answer to that already, and it's the same reason I'm not feeding on you."
So he doesn't drink human blood, or at least hadn't in the last two weeks; that's surprising.
"And how long until that changes? How long do I have? Two, three days before the hunger outweighs whatever moral code you think you are following and I become your meal?"
He stares right into her eyes, his blue eyes piercing into hers as his tone softens. "I swear to you that I will not be feeding on you."
She's oddly touched by his declaration, and he said it with such conviction, she believes him.
"Then we'd better find a way out of here before you starve." And god what is with her? We, there's no we, just her gaining his trust so he will take the cuff off.
In the spirit of gaining his trust, she gives him one of the furs, even though it means she's sleeping on the rock hard ground.
His companion is very attractive but aloof, and he just can't help pushing her buttons. Logically he knows he should just uncuff her, but he knows that this cave blocks people from transporting in and out, so they will have to find another way anyway. She's much more likely to abandon him if she has her powers back.
He knows why Nottingham put them together. Knows that no blood will come for him and that they expect him to feed on her, until she's taken care of and his reputation is destroyed. And fuck Nottingham, Robin's not going to let that happen. He'll starve before he murders someone, even a witch.
No matter how tempting she smells, and she's very tempting, he will deny the primal urge to bury his fangs in her neck.
She hasn't bothered to tell him her name or really anything about her and he's curious, not because he's interested in her, no, just because he's bored and there's nothing better to do. And okay, maybe he's a little interested to know more about her, err, rather witches generally, just so he understands his sworn enemy better.
"I'm Robin by the way."
"That's nice," she says in that dismissive way of hers that makes him want to push her buttons.
"It is nice, especially when it's on the lips of a woman." He smirks at the exasperated look she gives him. Vampires have a reputation for being womanizers and, even though it's far from the truth where Robin's concerned, he likes flustering his companion, and these sorts of comments never fail to get a reaction out of her.
"And what's yours?"
She rolls her eyes. "Why would I tell you?"
"I mean I could keep referring to you in my head as my sexy companion, but I thought you might prefer something else."
She actually laughs a little at that to his surprise. It seems she has a sense of humor after all.
"Regina."
Queen, it fits with his mental image of a traditional witch, which she's not like, and still it suits her.
"So, Regina, why haven't you done anything to protect the people from Nottingham? Why are you letting people get burned alive when you know they aren't guilty of witchcraft?"
He watches her face carefully and for a second several emotions flash across it, but then it hardens and her tone comes out venomously. "You mean protecting them from your kind?"
He gets defensive. "No, not my kind, some of us actually protect and value human life, unlike you and your kind."
That enrages her, he sees the anger flash in her eyes, smells the fury rushing through her veins, so he's not surprised when she snaps at him. "Really? Well then, why haven't you stopped the trials and why the Hell were you wasting your time stealing from me when you could have been helping them?"
"There's only so much one can do without people noticing their grey skin unless they have the mask, and, since you are failing at your duty, I felt compelled to do something."
She's getting more and more angry, and shouts at him. "Well that worked out perfectly for you, didn't it. Now Nottingham's got the mask again."
He yells right back. "And who's fault is that? If you had just done your job in the first place, we wouldn't be in this mess."
"ME? You are the one that stole the damn thing and put it in his hands. You are the one that left me powerless so I couldn't get it back, anyone he hurts now, that's on you!"
As much as he hates to admit it, she's right. "I own my mistakes, and taking the mask was one. I just, I just wanted to be able to do something, to stop feeling so powerless watching Nottingham hurt people."
Her face softens and she looks at him curiously. "You were seriously going to use it to help humans?"
"Yes."
"But, I don't, you, you hate humans."
"That's not true at all, I want to protect. Vampires don't need them to survive, my men and I are proof of that, and my kind has caused humans enough suffering to last a lifetime."
She stews for a minute, pondering what he said, and then she admits softly, "I want to do more, you know, I don't like sitting idly by while all of this goes on, but I'm not strong enough alone."
"Then you need to convince others."
"Don't you think I've tried? I have spent my days pleading with my mother to do something, I watch every death in horror, ashamed of myself for not being able to stop it. I was given power to protect them and instead I'm stuck guarding a stupid mask day in and day out."
Her confession shocks him, he hadn't considered that she was just as frustrated as he with how this was being handled.
"Well, when we get out here, you've got yourself a partner to take down Nottingham."
"I don't remember asking for one."
"You didn't, but you need numbers and I have them."
"Just… don't get in my way, or I'll have to kill you," she teases.
"I wouldn't dream of it." God, she's beautiful when she's not eyeing him suspiciously and plotting his death. Now that he knows she trying to protect the humans, he doesn't feel guilty for noticing. He lets himself enjoy her beauty and her sass.
If she wasn't a witch, he'd be all over her; well, and if he wasn't so damned hungry. His hunger makes her that much more attractive and he's torn between a desire to feast on her neck, and fantasies of being with her, kissing down that neck, but not biting, drawing out sounds of her pleasure. His hunger has weakened his self control and he finds himself musing about how her mouth would taste, the sounds she would make if he kissed her, the feel of her hot and warm around him.
He realizes he's gone down an unfortunate path and wills himself to focus and stop with the inappropriate fantasies.
They get along much better after the fight, each day he trusts her more and more, and he thinks she feels the same. His problem is that every day his attraction grows, so does his hunger. It's been seven days since his last meal and he won't last much longer without sustenance.
That's why, on their third day in captivity, he takes off the cuff. He warns her that it will take some time for her magic to return, but she's determined. The day was cold and, as night falls, it grows colder and colder. He sees her trying to make a fire, but without success.
His teeth are chattering as he tells her, "It's not going to work, more time has to pass."
"I just need to keep trying," she insists, but he can see the weariness growing.
"You need to take a break."
She ignores his suggestion, still concentrating, trying to build a fire. "I won't risk sleeping and freezing to death just when I've got my magic back."
"You won't freeze to death."
She stops for a minute, actually looking at him this time. "Well I won't be able to sleep either, it's too fucking cold."
He blames the hunger. Why else would he be making such a ridiculous suggestion? "I could warm you up."
She arches a brow in response, a silent seriously?
He goes on, "Not like that, we could share the furs and our body heat."
She seems to be finally heeding his advice, has given up on building a fire, and has turned her attention to him. "I thought vampires were supposed to be stone cold."
He smirks at her, punctuating his response with a ridiculous wink. "Myth, my body actually runs warmer than most humans, but you can come see for yourself."
She doesn't move. "How do I know this isn't a trick?"
He rolls his eyes, not this again. "If I was going to hurt you, I would have done it already, and I uncuffed you, didn't I?"
"Okay."
He thinks she just acquiesced, but he's not sure. "Okay what?"
"Okay, let's try your idea, but if you try anything, I swear to god."
"You have my word."
An hour later he's regretting his decision, she fell asleep easily, and has moved closer, snuggling up to him in her sleep, and her presence and scent are far too distracting. God, he's so hungry, he must be getting close to the end. His body aches, his muscles tense and pained from starvation. Every breath is painful, with her so close, her heartbeat and scent torturing him. She's just so intoxicating, he wants to lose himself in her, the feeling of her body against his is magical and, well, at least if he dies, he's dying in the arms of a beautiful woman.
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