Disclaimer: I own nothing no matter how much I wish I did. I just took them out of the cupboard to play.
A/N: Many thanks to my beta, Jo, who has done fantastic work making sure this story is good enough to see the light of day :)
o
Emma gasped as she was pulled from her dream world, a low moan escaping her lips. Reaching out she tangled her fingers in soft, chestnut brown hair as her body arched to meet that of the woman above her.
Regina raised her eyes as she heard the first moan from the blonde, catching her forest-green eyes and holding them as she released the now hard nipple from her mouth with a satisfying pop. The fog of sleep that Regina had seen present in Emma's eyes was fast giving way to a look of pure desire, pupils already dilating as she anticipated what was to come. The fingers threading through Regina's hair held her head close and she couldn't help but hum softly in appreciation of the beautiful woman before her.
As Regina's lips travelled lower leaving a blazing trail of kisses in her wake, her left hand made its way down and was now gently teasing at Emma's entrance. Slowly but surely the brunette's mouth reached its destination and sucked gently at the small bundle of nerves before her. As she buried two fingers knuckle deep in the blonde's wet heat the body below her arched again, quickly matching Regina's rhythm. With her right arm she snaked her way around the blonde's thigh and placed her hand on her stomach effectively stilling her. Regina knew she was close and with that she added a third finger and increased her pace whilst lightly grazing Emma's clit with her teeth
It was with this that Emma crested, finally tumbling over the edge, and Regina was more than happy to catch her as she rode out the waves of her orgasm. Eventually the hand on the back of her head disentangled itself from her hair and she slipped her fingers out, taking the time to savour the woman's heady arousal. If Regina was to be honest with herself, she believed she could do this every day; the blonde looking so peaceful, flushed and completely and utterly undone was probably the most stunning sight Regina could ever remember seeing.
She moved up over Emma's body, capturing her mouth with her own.
"Gods, Regina," Emma said as they finally broke their kiss, "a girl could get used to waking up like that."
Regina rolled to her side and began tracing lazy lines over Emma's exposed stomach, watching as the muscles tensed and quivered slightly at the contact.
"Only if it's me doing the waking," Regina replied and was rewarded with Emma snaking her hand around the back of her head, pulling her in for another deep kiss.
"Have you thought any more about what I said last night?" Regina asked as they broke apart once more as oxygen became an issue.
Emma smiled up at the loving features of the woman next to her; her deep brown eyes the colour of a fine cognac, drawing her inexplicably forward in to a new beginning - a spark of fire smouldering deep within. Double or nothing, Em, she thought and finally, for the first time in her life, went the way of the gambler.
"If the offer is still there, then yes, I will move. I will follow you to Maine."
A smile of pure joy broke across Regina's face as she captured the blonde's lips one more time. She wouldn't question why the impossible spark was granting her a second chance, wouldn't shy from the tether that now joined the pair, stronger than any 'til death us do part spoken from a preacher; she would simply accept that for the second time in her life she may indeed have her chance at a happy ending.
"I'm going to take a shower and then get us some breakfast," she glanced at the bedside clock before amending her statement, "or lunch, as seems more appropriate."
o
Emma watched as Regina headed for the bathroom, her naked hips swaying as she walked. If she didn't know better, she'd have believed there was something almost magical about the woman, a siren straight from any Greek myth, calling to her with her sweet melody. She smiled softly, allowing herself to enjoy the comforts of this bed, these sheets and the memories the pair had made the night before.
She felt a small shiver of arousal as her mind floated back. After the first, almost desperate touches, their consecutive love making had focused on exploration of each other; an almost reverence in their mutual contact as two bodies joined and became as one. The brunette had been so yielding under her hands, under her tongue; Emma had been in awe that Regina had wanted her just as much, could see the hunger in her honey-brown eyes and she found herself succumbing to the same need, the same desire. They had spent the better part of the night alternating between heated passion and exhausted sleep, breaking the cycle only once for late night room service - however the food had quickly been discarded in favour of other activities.
Gods knew she could spend a life time exploring this woman and never feel content with what she had discovered; she would always want more. For once Emma decided not to question, not to over-analyze; for once she would follow her heart.
She rolled over, looking out between the crack in the curtains, the sunlight streaming in across the carpeted floor. The sapphire blue sky looked enticing and she smiled. Yes, today was a good day.
Her eyes roamed around the room, falling to an armchair in the corner where her bag had been thrown, a small wrapped toy having fallen from it. The smile slipped from her face as she stared at the tiny parcel; her yearly ritual. She would have to make sure to put it in a charity bin before she left today. In her more private moments she would let herself imagine what it might have been like, to have been able to offer the type of life a child would want. The nurses had offered him to her to hold after she had given birth, but she had refused, she knew that if she so much as looked in his eyes she would be unable to act so selflessly, she would be unable to put his interests before her own. Her only comfort now was once a year buying a small gift and leaving it with a charity, hoping it would find its way to another child in need of a smile.
She turned back towards the bathroom door as she heard the water from the shower stop. The woman beyond the door had a young son herself, she'd mentioned it the previous night - felt it was important to be upfront about that. Emma felt that she should have been concerned, that perhaps there would be some nagging doubt in the back of her mind - but she felt nothing but a sense of peace and rightness about the situation. Still watching the bathroom door she was rewarded minutes later as Regina stepped through the doorway, a white towel around her hair but otherwise as naked as the day she was born. Subconsciously Emma licked her lips and felt her smile return.
Emma rose up to her knees as Regina made her way past the bed, grabbing the brunette by the waist and pulling her down on top of her. Smiling she watched as the brunette lifted herself up, straddling herself over Emma's hips, the towel falling from her head. Emma reached up and ran her fingers through damp, chocolate-brown hair, tracing a finger down the brunette's jaw before cupping her cheek with her hand.
"Gods you're beautiful," she whispered, almost in reverence, her forest-green eyes alight with wonder. She slid her hands down Regina's body, holding on to the older woman's hips as she pulled her closer, delighted when she heard the soft sounds of laughter coming from above.
"And you, my dear, are insatiable," Regina answered, but not before she started leisurely moving against the blonde below her, a soft sigh escaping her lips.
Emma watched in rapt attention as the woman above her slowly became unravelled; chocolate brown eyes darkening to black coal as her desire thrummed through her. Her hands never left the brunette's hips, guiding her, pulling her, encouraged by every soft moan and whimper.
It did not take long for Regina to throw her head back in a silent scream and Emma ran her hand up between the older woman's breasts, a thin film of sweat on her skin. She could feel the rapid beating below her hand and she smiled as she splayed her fingers over the brunette's heart. She could get very used to this.
Regina took Emma's hand and kissed the palm, smiling down at her.
"We could just get room service again," Emma offered.
Regina took a moment to eye the last lot of room service they had, most of it was still on the plates - more a testament to its quality than their own desire for food. Emma's stomach took that opportunity to make itself known and emitted a low growl.
"I think maybe I'll chance a trip to Mama's for us," Regina replied. She slipped off Emma's hips and started to move around the room, finding clothes and dressing as she went.
Emma's eyes followed Regina's movements as she clothed herself again and fixed her hair and makeup. Even wearing mostly yesterday's clothes she still looked impeccable; Emma wondered how she managed to pull that off.
"A kiss for the road?" she asked as Regina was ready to leave.
"How could I say no?"
With that Emma was pulled in to a deep kiss and she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this is what it felt like to be in love.
o
"Regina!" Mama exclaimed, moving out from behind the counter to grasp the other woman by the hands, kissing each cheek in turn. "I didn't think I would see you today."
Regina looked quizzically at the older woman. "Why ever not?" she queried.
Mama let out a hearty laugh. "I am not so old and blind that I do not see love when it is acting so openly on my own doorstep. I thought perhaps love would keep you indoors today as well."
Regina had the good grace to blush. "I'm sorry, Mama, if we offended.." she began, but was quieted as Mama raised a hand.
"Nonsense. I am happy that Emma has finally found someone who will look after her and cherish her as she deserves."
"And I plan to do just that, Mama."
"Good. Now, what can I get you both, hmm?"
Regina ordered two coffees and two slices of apple pie, happy to wait as the pie was still a few minutes away from coming out of the oven. She headed over to the bookshelf at the back of the room whilst Mama headed in to the kitchen; she scanned the titles of the books without really taking in any information. She had not felt this happy in such a long time. On one hand, she believed, she could count the number of times she had been truly happy. First with Daniel, then with Henry and now she had Emma.
She didn't understand how or why that impossible spark could even exist in this place without magic, why it had decided to give her a second chance or what she had done to deserve such a thing; but she knew she would not squander it, she would revel in it. She felt a smile tug at the corners of her mouth and she allowed it to come forth, lighting her entire face. If she were honest with herself, she had been completely unprepared for this from the moment she had stepped off the plane, but there was something so right in it all that she couldn't help but believe this was almost fate. Who else could she trust in Henry's life if not his birth mother? And she knew Emma had felt the spark, knew it was inside the blonde as much as it was inside herself; knew that they had tethered the sparks to each other and whilst they still had much to learn of one another, they would be moving in the right direction, together.
She was pulled from her thoughts as she heard Mama calling to her. She paid and bid the older woman a good day as she headed back to the hotel, finding herself humming as she walked.
o
Emma sighed and rolled out of bed, running her fingers through her tangled hair, wincing slightly when they caught a knot. She groaned softly as she stood up, stretching her arms above her head, relishing the feel of her muscles and joints moving. She padded her way in to the bathroom and turned the hot water on as she looked at herself in the mirror, waiting for the water to heat up. For the first time in a long time her face was free of tension and she couldn't hide the smile that found its way to the surface. She lifted her hands up to her hair, working it in to a bun - she didn't want to take the time to wash and dry her hair, not with Regina being less than half an hour away.
She slipped her hand under the flowing water, adding some cold as she tested the temperature before stepping in to the shower. A sigh of appreciation escaped her lips as the hot water worked its way over her body, over her shoulders and down her torso; little rivulets of water dancing their way across her skin.
Emma thought about the things she would have to do today; everything from dropping off the toy to the nearest charity to calling her boss and resigning from work to packing up her meagre possessions. Her stomach fluttered at the prospect, nervous about moving for the first time she could remember. She opened a packet of what appeared to be a hotel supplied loofah and squirted some of Regina's body-wash on to it, letting the soap do its magic. She inhaled the scent softly and smiled.
The water ran hot over her as she rinsed herself off and she allowed herself to stand for a few more moments in the cleansing jets before finally turning off the taps and stepping out.
She found a spare towel and began patting herself dry. Idly she let her fingers trace the faint stretch marks she had from her son and once again found herself wondering how things might have been different. She shook her head as she dropped the towel to the ground, dismissing that train of thought. It didn't pay to dwell on the past, not when she had such a future to look forward to now.
As she exited the bathroom she eyed the bed in the centre of the room. Oh how easy it would be to climb back in between those sheets and wait for Regina to come back; but the day was quickly fading and Regina needed to be back in Maine. Emma could afford the delay, but without Regina here, there would be no point.
She moved around the hotel room in her quest for clothes. By the entry way she found her panties and jeans, laying in a heap where Regina had pushed them from her hips the night before - a faint shudder of arousal shot through her as she remembered those first touches and then all the subsequent ones.
It took her a few more minutes to find her tank top mysteriously behind a small table which had a phone and the hotel menu on it. Fantastic, she thought, I'm three for four on clothes. Where in the hell is my bra? She searched high and low for the bra, even throwing back all the bed covers in case it had been tangled within, looked behind the two seats that were in the room, even behind the television. Finally, sighing in irritation, she got down on her hands and knees and looked under the bed. She shook her head slightly as she laughed to herself, wondering how on earth her bra had made it under there.
As she was moving to stand up she noticed a few papers against the wall towards the head of the bed. If these are from Regina's work, she's going to want them, she told herself as she wriggled further under the bed to pull out the couple of sheets of paper. Clearly housekeeping doesn't often make it this far, she thought as she coughed. Sliding back out she put the paper on the nightstand next to the bed as she resumed getting dressed. She took another cursory look around the room for socks, but gave them up as lost. She hadn't found them on her original passes for clothes and she wasn't really that concerned about a pair of Daffy Duck socks anyway.
She pushed up a few pillows to the head of the bed and sat back against them as she flicked the tv on with the remote as she waited for Regina to return with lunch. Oprah Winfrey *click* Dr Phil *click* Ellen - ok, this can stay. She reached back over to put the remote on the nightstand, her eyes inadvertently glancing over the sheets of paper she'd pulled out from under the bed.
Two words caught her eye immediately: Emma Swan.
She gulped and re-read the words again.
With shaking hands she picked up the sheets of paper, Ellen dancing through the studio audience quickly becoming white noise to the pounding in Emma's ears. She felt her blood drain as her body temperature dropped; found she was thankful for having no food in her stomach as she dry retched. Here was Emma Swan in black and white; her age, her suspected date of birth, the foster homes she'd been through, her time in juvie, every address she'd had since she was born. For the first time in her life she wondered if she was asthmatic as she began to gasp for breath. As she flipped the page she found her more current personal habits - her work at the diner, her boss's name, where she spent her free time; the list went on.
She felt herself grinding her jaw, the tension becoming painful, but she refused to stop. Refused because she knew the alternative would be to let the tears fall, the tears she was struggling so hard to hold back.
Maybe there's a good explanation for this, she tried to reason with herself, but that sounded hollow even to her own ears. Double or nothing, Em? Her mind queried her - but she already knew the answer, it's what it should have been all along. She should know by now when to cut her losses.
Slowly she stood up and placed the two sheets of paper back on the nightstand; walking over to her bag she pulled out the pen from inside and walked back to the paper, marking down a few words upon it before she went to the door, put her boots on and left.
o
Regina slipped the key card in to the lock and pushed the door open, hearing Ellen interviewing some new upcoming actress on the tv in the background.
"Emma, I'm back," she called out in to the room as she closed the door behind her, kicking off her heels once again.
She walked in to the room proper and set the coffee and pie down on the table, noting the room to be empty but the bathroom door closed.
"Hey," she called out towards the bathroom, "I'm going to start packing. We're on the early flight tonight, but it means we'll get in around midnight. It shouldn't take us long from the airport." Regina started to move around methodically as she began to pack her suitcase, taking the occasional sip of the coffee and the more seldom bite of the pie. The coffee could claim to be the best she had ever tasted, but she knew her own apple pies would beat this one hands down. She smiled as she thought about baking one for Emma. Gods, now this is just getting pathetic. Baking? She almost laughed at herself, only catching herself from doing so as she noticed that Emma's bag was missing from the chair.
Something felt wrong.
She turned and walked over to the bathroom door, rapping on it lightly with her knuckles.
"Hey Emma, you ok in there?" She waited for a reply, counted to ten, then slowly turned the handle, pushing the door open.
What greeted her was a bathroom devoid of Emma Swan, only a wet towel lay on the floor.
Regina felt her stomach sink as she turned worriedly back in to the room, taking notice once more of the missing bag and the missing clothes. She ran to the door and threw it open, looking frantically up and down the corridor.
"Emma!" she called out, but was greeted only with silence.
She closed the door behind her as she backed her way into the room, her legs giving out as she fell to the bed. No, this can't be happening, it just can't. She felt as if her entire world had been turned inside out.
It was from this position she noticed two sheets of paper on the bedside table and felt her blood freeze with recognition of what they were. Gods no, she thought as she reached for them, noticing red writing across the top.
If only you'd just asked me.
Regina howled in anguish as she read and re-read those words. For the second time in her life she felt as if her heart had been ripped from her chest. Her blood pounded in her ears and her brain threatened to lose consciousness. How had she been so careless, so stupid?
The minutes dragged on and she allowed her fear and weakness to consume her, to bring up every painful image she could, for her mind to play 'what if' and end with her a bitter, old woman with no redemption, no happy ending.
Then slowly, purposefully, she stood back up and went to the door, grabbing her handbag on the way as she slipped her feet back in to her high heels.
She would find Emma Swan and she would bring her home.
