Chapter 4:

"Well?" The way Regina hesitated, Emma worried she was about to be turned down. In a roundabout way, she had propositioned her. Maybe I shouldn't have asked. She pulled her hand back, cupping her beer bottle in her hands while Regina appeared lost in silent contemplation.

"Okay."

"Um, what?" The place was crazy loud, and Emma, busy stressing, almost missed the answer.

"I said okay," Regina repeated with a smile.

Damn, she meant it. Emma grinned. "Cool. Shall we go?"

"Now? Don't you want to finish your beer first?"

Eyeing her bottle, Emma acted as if she was seeing it for the first time. "Yeah, okay." Picking up her beer, she gulped down more than half the contents within a matter of seconds. Try as she might, she couldn't completely stifle the belch that followed. When she placed the bottle back on the table, Emma noticed Regina's amused expression.

"Ready?" Emma didn't mean to act spastic, but she was afraid Regina would change her mind if she allowed her the opportunity.

Regina nodded.

Jumping down from her chair, Emma offered her hand to Regina, helping her step down to the floor. This time when their hands touched, Emma noticed more than just a warm, soft hand. An energetic connection that made her heart beat faster. Regina must have felt it as well. Hands joined, staring at each other, no one moved until someone bumped into Emma, shattering the moment.

With some reluctance, Emma released Regina's hand. "Come on. Let's go."

Leading the way, weaving around and in between the other people, Emma had to stop a few times to make certain Regina was keeping up. When she found her lagging behind, Emma had the perfect excuse to hold Regina's hand once more. Didn't want to lose her, now did she?

Her mind working fast and furious, Emma tried to decide where to take Regina before they reached the exit. If she did what she wanted, they'd be headed back to her place. No, she couldn't rush things between them.

The short time she'd spent working for Regina, she knew how the other woman approached things. If she wasn't certain about something, she took her time researching it until able to confidently undertake it. Regina had agreed to leave with her, so Emma figured she was interested, but she had to make certain.

As they approached the door to leave the club, Emma decided dinner and more drinks first. The weekend was before both of them, and with any luck, she wouldn't be spending it alone.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk, Emma started searching the street for an empty cab. No luck.

"Where are we headed, Ms. Swan?" Regina followed beside her.

"I thought Antonia's, down on the pier. Good food, great view, and a quiet place to talk."

"Yes. I've been there before."

"Now if we can find a cab." Emma started walking in the direction they needed to go. She hoped putting some distance between them and the club would make a difference locating a cab for hire.

They didn't get far before Emma felt cold droplets dotting the exposed skin of her face and arms. Looking up, she saw how thick and black the clouds were. She'd thought it was darker than normal at this time of night.

A low rumble sounded, echoing around the sky. The bright flash, which followed, lit up the night. About a minute later, the clouds opened up, letting loose a torrent of fat raindrops.

Making a run for it, Emma and Regina headed for the closest building to take shelter in. So preoccupied with not getting drenched, Emma didn't realize what kind of shop they'd entered into until she heard Regina's surprise-filled voice.

"Huh? This is…well, unusual."

Emma took a good look around. Her face heated up in embarrassment as she realized they were standing inside of Big Al's Sex Shop. The universe had a perverse sense of humor at times.

"Sorry, I didn't—"

"Why would you, my dear?" Regina's tone made it seem like she didn't quite believe her.

Before she could offer up a suggestion, a resounding boom shook the building, preventing Emma from responding. Focusing on the sound of rain pelting the building, Emma stated the obvious. "That's going to make getting a cab near impossible."

"Indeed."

Eyeing Regina, the evil part of Emma bubbled up to the surface. Studying how she was reacting to being inside the shop, Emma was too curious not to ask. "So, have you ever been in a place like this before?"

Tipping her head, Regina raised her eyebrows and responded to the challenge. "Have you?"

Damn! Why did Regina seem so calm about this? That wasn't fair."I asked you first."

"No, this isn't the type of place I've frequented. How about you, Ms. Swan?" She smirked. It was clear she intended to win this game they were playing.

"You know, I think under the circumstances, you should actually call me Emma." Glancing over at the S&M section of the store, she pictured Regina standing before her dressed in a leather bustier, a whip in one hand and a sex toy in the other. The visual caused her to lose her point as her focus shifted to the arousal blossoming between her thighs. No! Regina wasn't getting the upper hand. "It…well, it's kind of weird to call me Ms. Swan outside of the office."

A smug grin filled her face. "Anything you want, Em—ma."

A blind man could see that Regina was fucking with her, and she seemed to be taking great pleasure in making Emma squirm. That is, until a short, fat, bald elderly man appeared beside Regina.

"Good evening ladies." He spoke to both of them, but focused his attention on Regina. "Can I help you find something?"

"We just stepped inside to get out of the rain," Regina informed him.

"No need to be shy. We have all sorts of items I think you might like."

"N-no. Not—" Sputtering, her confidence began to falter.

"Nothing to be ashamed of."

Emma giggled. Not so confident now. Regina shot her a dirty look.

"Let me show you this new vibrator we just got in. I understand it can deliver multiple orgasms. It's one of our more popular items."

"No, that's okay, I—"

"Ruby! Could you bring over that new vibrator? You know the one. This young woman is interested—"

"No, really, that's okay." Floundering, she shuffled from foot to foot. Focusing on Emma, her look made a silent request for help.

"It's not a problem."

Emma sniggered. Staring down at the little man, an eyebrow raised, she wondered if this was Big Al. She knew the right thing to do was rescue Regina, but it was too funny watching how flustered she was getting.

Ruby entered their circle and handed Big Al the vibrator he'd requested. Before the young brunette woman turned to return to her position behind the counter, she looked between the two women. A quick wink to Emma and she was gone.

Big Al switched it on. He pressed a few buttons, demonstrating all the actions it performed. As the vibrator danced about, buzzing loud enough for others inside the store to hear, Regina's eyes widened. "See, all kinds of lovely settings. Guaranteed to fill and stimulate you in all the right places."

Emma couldn't resist. "How much?"

Big Al looked over at Emma, seeming pleased by her interest. "It's a bit pricey at a hundred dollars, but for a quality item such as this, sometimes you have to pay a little bit extra. But I'll tell you what. I'll throw in extra batteries, and the lube."

"Deal."

Mouth hanging open, Regina stared at Emma like she'd gone mad. Grinning back, unaffected, Emma thought, Ha, take that. Teach you to try and fuck with me.

Emma followed Big Al up to the register while Regina remained glued in her spot. Time would tell if having to win this little game would hurt or help Emma later.

###

The restaurant was upper scale, tastefully designed and intimate. Even though Emma made certain to have her purchase placed inside a non-descript bag, Regina felt like everyone knew what was inside the sack. In her mind, she saw a giant neon sign on the side flashing Large Vibrator Inside!

As soon as the hostess seated them, well before the menus were handed to them, Regina ordered a Scotch on the rocks. She needed something to try and make her forget the contents of the sack. It was an expensive way to one-up her. Oh Emma, so smug now. Just wait.

"This is a nice table," Emma observed, checking out the view from the window they were positioned in front of.

"I told you I'd been here before. The chef is a friend of mine."

"So, you always get a nice table when you dine here?"

"Pretty much." Regina's gaze drifted down to the side of Emma's chair.

"Don't worry. It's well hidden and wrapped."

Redirecting her attention to Emma's face, Regina said, "I can't believe you did that."

"Oh come on. We made Big Al's day." Emma chuckled.

"I don't find it as amusing as you do, Ms. Swan."

"Back to Ms. Swan again, are we?"

"You promised a fun night out."

"Are you saying it hasn't been fun so far?"

"Well—"

"Don't even try and lie, Regina."

"I just don't understand why you felt compelled to buy…it."

"It's just a vibra—"

"Don't you dare," Regina warned.

"Lots of women have them. Don't you have at least one?"

"Why do you insist on taking the conversation this way?"

"Is that a yes?"

Regina faltered a moment. "Will you please drop this?"

"You do, don't you?" Then she mimicked Big Al's voice. "Nothing to be ashamed of."

"That's not funny."

Becoming serious, Emma asked, "What are you afraid of Regina?"

Regina sat up straighter, narrowed her eyes, preparing to answer, even though she knew she was being baited. "I'm not afraid of anything."

"Prove it."


A/N: Hmm? How will she prove it?

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