Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! This chapter will have a few flashbacks, all of which will be in italics. We get to see how our favorite ladies got together! As usual, I love to know what you think, what you'd like to see, and what you think you'll see coming up.

For those of you who mentioned wanting a little more Ruby, you may get your wish, but it might be a couple chapters more before that happens.

I don't own anything to do with OUAT.

The tension between them had been thicker than ever. They had been friends for some time, but both of them wanted more, and neither of them knew how to initiate it. Regina swept into Emma's apartment and found the woman lying in bed on her stomach, fully-clothed, shoes and all, binge-watching a Netflix series.

Regina growled under her breath and with a flick of her wrist, muted the show and put her hands on her hips, expectant glare fixed on her closest friend.

"Emma, you were supposed to call me if the new guy came in. What happened?"

"Why'd you do that?" The blonde asked, reaching over to collect the remote so she could unmute the TV.

Regina materialized the remote in her own hand, "Nope, Swan, I'm talking to you, and this is serious, so can you focus, please?"

"I am listening," the blonde droned, straining to read the closed captions, resting her chin on her hands and swinging her legs idly. Truthfully, it was easier to limit direct contact with the brunette just because it felt like the heat between them was searing, but neither of them was brave enough to make anything of it.

"Okaaaaaay, except you're not looking at me. You haven't answered my question... you're being avoidant." Regina responded evenly, raising the remote to turn the flat screen off.

"No, I'm not." The blonde muttered angrily, still staring at the screen. She absentmindedly reached for her phone, fully intending to avoid the argument.

"Then why haven't you answered me? Why didn't you send over the information on the new guy?"

Emma waved her hand in Regina's direction, but continued scrolling through her newsfeed. "I know." she said, not really having even heard the questions.

The mayor had had enough. If they weren't at each other's throats, they were dismissing one another entirely. Whatever it was between them that they were desperately trying to ignore was not going away. It was just making everything worse. And Regina was fucking sick of Emma's shit. She appraised the blonde briefly before she allowed her irritation to flair and she reached out, bringing her open palm down, hard, like the very hand of God, on the sheriff's backside. The impact split the silence like a gunshot. Emma's phone clattered to the hardwood floor.

"OW! What the hell, Regina?!" The blonde howled, cutting the mayor a severe glare as she rubbed the stinging spot furiously, rolling over to protect herself from anything more.

The Queen shook her hand out, hoping to free it of it's own sting, but she smirked at the blonde coolly, playing it off.

"Use your words, woman! Shit!" The sheriff scowled, shocked at her friend, but not entirely angry.

Regina arched a brow unapologetically, "I have been trying to use my words, Miss Swan. You have been refusing to hear them."

"Okay, but you can't just go around hitting people!" The blonde protested, "That's assault! I could arrest you!" She shook her head, "What makes you think you can just hit someone because you think they're not listening?"

Frankly, Regina had been surprised at herself. She wasn't one to lose control so much anymore, and after a moment, she sighed, "Look, Emma, I'm sorry."

He blonde threw her hands up and sighed back, "No... I know I'm not exactly easy to deal with sometimes."

She wasn't angry. Something about that moment felt different... strained, but natural in a way. Any time she looked at Regina, she felt the urge to tell her how badly she just wanted to embrace her, but she was never sure if the brunette felt even remotely similar. She looked at her friend and smiled slightly, opting to lighten the mood with some teasing, "Besides, it's not like you hit that hard. It's all good."

Regina's eyebrow shot up again at the silly jab, "Please, push your luck, Miss Swan."

As the sting subsided, Emma's eyes glazed over as she tried to identify the new feeling creeping in. It was hot... tight... winding through her lower belly, distracting her...Was it arousal? She looked up at her friend who had moved on to lecturing her and wanted nothing more than to kiss her... but she didn't dare make a move. Regina was in the middle of something very serious. Emma knew because she could see the brunette's face set in a stern way as she spoke. She was beautiful, no doubt. And so authoritative. And she was really very-

"Aaaaaand you're not listening again." Regina deadpanned. "You are unbelievable, Emma." She turned to leave angrily.

"No, wait!" The blonde called quickly, reaching out to grab the other woman's wrist. "Don't go."

"What." Regina huffed, looking down at the blonde on the bed, irritated at what she felt was wasted time, "Now you want to talk?"

"I like you, Regina." Emma blurted out, letting the Mayor's hand fall. There went years of admiration and secret pining, flying out of her mouth in the form of 3 words and a name.

"You what? We're friends, Emma, I would expect that you like me. However, I can't spend all day-"

"No. I like you. Like you, like you." The blonde clarified carefully and quietly.

Regina had known very well what Emma meant the first time, but two could play a game of obtuseness. She had only been waiting for Emma to catch up for some time.

Regina thought for a second. This was a big moment for both of them... she could gather the blonde in her arms and profess her long-standing love, or she could make it a very Regina/Emma moment. And maybe even a teaching moment.

Regina/Emma teaching moment, it was. Her lips curled ever so slightly at the corners. She took a deep breath, inhaling deeply as a more serious look settled about her. "Emma-"

The blonde closed her eyes, fearing the queen would reject her.

"Look at me, please."

The blonde's green eyes rose to meet Regina's as the brunette made a huge decision to bridge the gap.

"I want to touch you, and I'm asking your permission right now... but if you allow me, I'm doing it my way. Okay?"

"Okay." Came the breathless reply after a pause.

"May I?"

"Please."

The brunette reached down and put two fingers on Emma's right shoulder, pushing gently. Emma was pliable from the instant, gasping as Regina made contact, and she laid down obediently. The mattress dipped as Regina placed her knees on either side of the blonde's hips, feeling glad she was wearing pants that day, and not a tight skirt. She grabbed Emma's wrists and slid them under her legs, effectively pinning the blonde to the bed. She leaned forward and put her hands on either side of Emma's head, letting her fingers tangle up in the long, blonde hair. She balled her fists up in it tightly, making sure the woman beneath her couldn't turn her head. She wanted full eye contact for what she was about to say, but she first wanted to make sure she wasn't doing too much.

"Are you okay, Emma?"

"Uh huh." The blonde murmured.

"That's not a real answer." The Queen teased, rolling her eyes at the sudden loss for words.

"I'm probably better than I've been in a while." Emma breathed.

Regina smirked.

She let herself down onto her elbows slowly and wound up with her nose mere centimeter's from the blonde's, still gripping her hair. She ghosted her lips over Emma's, just letting them brush by one another. Her brow followed a perfect arch, as usual. Her voice was firm, but very quiet.

"I like you, like you, too, Miss Swan, but I don't like when I speak to you, and I don't have your full attention."

The blonde wriggled against her and tried to defend herself, "It's just-"

"Ah." Regina interrupted with a slight frown, giving the blonde tresses a little yank. "It's my turn to speak and your turn to listen. Is that clear?"

Emma nodded silently. She was unbelievably aroused and only slightly less intimidated.

"I expect," the brunette began, straightening a leg out so she could slip it between Emma's, "that when I ask something of you,"

Never one to shy away, she brought her knee up and wedged it firmly against the blonde's core, simultaneously tugging her hair for emphasis, "you listen for long enough to know what it is. And then-" She leaned down, pulling the blonde's head back to expose her neck and trailed her lips across the pale flesh there. She relished the woman's shudder of excitement, " you do it."

Regina inhaled the blonde's scent for a moment before whispering into her ear. "Do you want to play a game, Emma?"

"Yes." Of course she did. She suddenly wanted to do everything with the older woman.

The Mayor grinned widely. She released the sheriff entirely, ignoring the woman's whimper of frustration and stood up, straightening her clothes out, "Okay, good. Now, get yourself back to the station and get me the information I asked for... if you do, I will see you for dinner at my home around 7. If you don't, well, I guess you'll just be missing out, won't you?"

Emma pouted at her situation as she sat up. That was no game. She never wanted Regina to let her go again. Her body was aching, she was so aroused. Now she just wanted release. She folded herarms and furrowed her brow, "You're a tease, Mayor Mills." She spat, feeling a bit hostile.

Regina reached down and pulled the blonde up, "And you, are in very big trouble if you don't do what I asked, Sheriff. Go." She ordered, pointing at the door.

"You can't kick me out of my own apartment!" The sheriff protested stubbornly.

Suddenly, there was a fist wrapped up in her hair and the Queen's voice purred in her ear, "Is this what you want, Miss Swan?"

"Well, you know, I was hoping for more..."she trailed off.

"The only way you get more of this" the brunette intoned, gesturing between them vaguely, "is by doing what I told you to do."

Once more, she released the blonde, "You have two hours to get it to me or fail, Emma. Choose."

Emma watched Regina disappear in a swirl of purple smoke. She exhaled forcefully and looked around for her jacket. There was no way she was going to let this shot slip away, but she hadn't written the report up, so she was going to have to bust her ass to get it to Regina within the time constraints.

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Regina chuckled to herself. The sheriff had made it just in time, and their first dinner had gone wonderfully. The evening had been capped off with the most intense, intimate, urgent sex either of them had ever had. After all, they had some catching up to do.

Their sex was still intimate and sometimes urgent, but the intensity could be lacking. Since the domestic discipline aspect of their relationship had been on the proverbial shelf due to differing schedules and life in general, so had their propensity for play. In her feelings, Regina thought back to how the whole thing had come about. It had only been about three months into the relationship when they had moved in together, and the cracks in the savior's veneer began to present themselves immediately.

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"Why are you doing this, Emma?" Regina sighed, pulling the woman's long, blond hair through the elastic band so she could vomit without it falling into the toilet.

"Uh, because I drank too much?" The blonde slurred between heaves, her sarcastic nature ever-present, miserable as she was in the moment.

"No, I mean, why are you drinking so much lately?" Regina asked softly, running her hands over her girlfriend's back, really wanting to scream at the blonde and forbid her from drinking another drop. "This is the third time this week..."

"What? What does that -hic- matter?"

"It matters because it's not healthy and I want to know why you're doing it."

"Can't you wait until I'm done painting the toilet to ask questions? But if you gotta know now, I'm just overwhelmed, honestly." The blonde croaked hoarsely, her green eyes sad.

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Of course, things had been weighing on the young woman... being the savior... realizing all she had missed with Henry... with her parents. She knew no other way than to take it out on herself because that's just what she had done for so long.

The mayor ran her fingers through her own hair as she finally realized. She had let things go too far again recently. She had a grip for the moment, but it wouldn't be long before the blonde slipped back into the void if the older woman didn't bring more structure back into their relationship. She had a tendency to fall into a pattern of trying to baby and kid glove her younger girlfriend through her issues and it had never worked. Emma had always needed a firmer touch.

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"Do you remember that time you got pissed off at me and... and you slapped my ass? Like, not for fun?" The blonde whispered, not quite looking at Regina.

"Honey, it wasn't that long ago." Regina chuckled, wrapping her arms around the much soberer sheriff as they sat in bed against the headboard.

Emma didn't smile. Her eyes were wet, tears threatening to spill over. The mayor stroked her cheek, "Oh, sweetie... what do you need?"

The sheriff pushed away from her, "I need you to stop being so nice to me sometimes. I need the Regina that got pissed at me for ignoring her. The one that just didn't accept my bullshit." She leaned back against the woman, "The serious side of the same one that holds me down and fucks me silly... who will stop if I don't listen. Who will make me suffer on the edge all day long, just to prove a point."

Regina frowned, confused, "You want me to Domme you? I don't think now is-"

"No. Well, yes, but not right now. I want.. I need consequences, Regina." She mumbled to the Mayor.

The brunette began to put the pieces together between "consequences" and the memory. "Emma, are you saying you want to be spanked?"

Another frustrated sigh left the blonde's lips, "No. I'm saying that sometimes... I feel like I… need it. And it's too hard to ask for, and you usually just know when something's up, and... I don't know."

Regina nodded slowly, drawing the blonde out to arm's length. "I love you, Emma Swan, and I will give you anything you need, but if this is what it is, I want you to tell me, in full, right now. Say it." She prodded firmly.

"Regina... don't make me, please. It's awkward."

"Emma, I have seen and done things with you that could be considered far more awkward."

"Fine."

"Go on."

"I will."

"Emma..."

"I think I need to be spanked sometimes." She muttered at warp speed in the brunette's general direction. "Maybe like, soon."

"Or now." The brunette finished simply.

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And so it happened for the first time, and she hadn't enjoyed it, but she felt so much better.

Regina hadn't particularly enjoyed it, either, but once she saw the change in her girlfriend's demeanor and behavior, she was committed. They had just gotten off track. So had their "playtime".

The mayor leaned back in her chair and put her feet on the desk, crossing them at the ankles. Her blood-red stilettos were an attractive finish to her beautifully toned legs. Her black dress was skintight and laced up the bodice. Regina had no problems admiring her physical self. She knew she was stunning. She applied her favorite red lipstick with a small flourish, smiling into the compact mirror to make sure there was none on her teeth. Then she rested her elbows on the arms of her chair and laced her fingers together in front of her chest, looking up as the blonde approached the home office.

The sheriff peeked in and grinned, a pleasant jolt of lust tearing through her lower abdomen. "Whoa, sexy lady!"

Regina gave her an evil grin, her eyes dark and hooded. "Hello, Miss Swan." she greeted huskily, "Would you like to play today?"

A/N: The next chapter will contain some explicit scenes of a D/s relationship.