A/N- Thanks for all the reviews and messages. Reading the feedback and comments is like getting my fix for the day :) Enjoy this next installment and...oh, yeah; I don't own anything.
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Regina grabbed a bamboo spoon from the countertop and struck her across the hand.
XXX
The blonde retracted the appendage and looked up in surprise and astonishment.
"Hey!" Emma yelped and glared at the brunette.
"No donuts. You haven't earned them."
"Earned them?" The sheriff cried in exasperation. "Damn it, Regina! I work my ass off all day long. Chasing perps, locking up Will Scarlet, listening to the never-ending barrage of complaints that fill my inbox every hour! I think I have earned one, goddamn donut." The blonde reached out her hand once more and, once again, the brunette brought the spoon down on it with enough force to sting.
Completely losing her cool, the blonde reached across the donut strewn counter and grabbed the woman's wrist. "Let go." Regina commanded.
"Drop the spoon!" Emma growled as she tried to wrestle it from the woman's death grip.
"I will not, you deserved to be whipped-"
"I'll show you whipped." The blonde mumbled, but couldn't separate the brunette from her bamboo weapon. Abandoning her last, imaginary vestige of control, Emma slid atop the counter, swung her legs around and was suddenly on the other side of the island, pressing the brunette into the opposite wall and wrenching the spoon high above her head. "Drop the spoon."
"Get off of me this instance!" Regina hissed as she fought with the blonde for the spoon. Emma was pressing against her body, giving her no wiggle room and pinning her back flush against the wall. The brunette felt at a disadvantage; she also felt strangely alive as a result of the scuffle.
"Give me that spoon. I don't trust you not to beat me again."
"I would hardly say that I beat-"
"Slapped-"
"Spanked." Regina smirked and rolled the word out seductively. Emma slammed the hand holding the spoon against the wall and the utensil clattered to the floor. The brunette fisted her other hand in the blonde's jacket as Emma continued to press against her.
"Spanked? That's the word you're going with?" The blonde asked quietly.
"Yes, I think that word most accurately describes the nature of the blow."
Emma marveled at the woman's ability to sound matter-of-fact even at such a physical disadvantage. "You think that's funny do you? I could arrest you for assaulting an officer."
"And explain to Henry why you incarcerated me?" The brunette leaned her head back against the wall and laughed richly as if completely at ease. Leave it to Regina to seem disdainful with her back literally against the wall.
"It's easier than explaining to him that I killed you." The blonde leaned in close to the woman's ear. "And that it was a slow and painful death." Emma's lips were now whispering against Regina's neck and the brunette shuddered involuntarily. "Torturously slow." The blonde didn't know what possessed her to push her advantage. Perhaps, it was a desire to elicit a response, any response, from the sneering woman.
"That is quite enough, Miss Swan." The brunette found heat creeping slowly over her skin. "You may relinquish me."
"Thanks for giving me permission." The blonde said sarcastically. "But I rather like you from this angle, you seem much less...in control." She said as she breathed on the brunette's throat, causing another small shudder. Score one for Emma Swan. The blonde thought privately.
"I assure you, Emma, that I am in total control." Regina said with false confidence as she tightened her grip on the blonde's jacket to push her far enough back that she wasn't sandwiched against the wall any longer. The brunette tried, simultaneously, to ignore the goosebumps erupting all over her own skin.
"That must be why you're trembling." Emma chuckled softly and ran her free hand up the woman's back and then down before circling her body and pressing her hand against her lower abdomen.
"I'm not trembling." Regina growled as her body shook with anticipation and nervous energy.
"Sure seems that way to me." Smirking, the blonde looked into her eyes. "But I could be wrong. You are, after all, the master manipulator." The hand pinning the brunette's released and trailed down to rest on the woman's hip casually as the other hand circled back around to press into the small of her back. "The flour handprint was a nice touch, by the way."
Regina's eyes widened slightly. "I don't know what you're-" the brunette began, but was cut off by Emma's lips pressed to her own. She was so stunned, she gasped in surprise; allowing the blonde to infiltrate her mouth and possess it.
The blonde had no plan. She was kissing Regina Mills; holding Regina Mills; trying to cop a small feel on Regina Mills, and she had no evacuation plan. But Emma didn't care. The brunette was so responsive and receptive that her mouth and her body felt familiar and right. She pushed the brunette gently backward into the wall and Regina fell against it, this time willingly, as she tangled her hands in the blonde's thick, golden hair.
When Emma slid a hand down to gently caress Regina's ass, the brunette made a small noise of encouragement in her throat and that was all it took for the blonde. She reached down with both hands and grabbed each cheek greedily; squeezing and alternately massaging. All the while, their mouths explored each other's lips and tongues; drinking in each other as if they would never sate their desire.
Suddenly, a door closing upstairs caused them to come to their senses. They looked at one another and jumped apart quickly. Henry was crossing the hall to the bathroom and had shut the door rather loudly. Emma looked at Regina with her lipstick smeared and her hair mussed and grinned.
The brunette looked at her haughtily. "Stop smirking."
"Why? I can't look cheerful?"
"You look...arrogant." Regina returned.
"Hey, I just made out with the most desirable woman in Storybrook and I'm not allowed to be a bit cocky?"
"Hush, Henry will hear you." Regina said, but didn't quite manage not looking pleased at the compliment.
"He'll figure it out anyway." Emma waved her hand and wiped her mouth. "I don't have lipstick all over my face, do I?"
Regina beckoned and led her to the sink where she wet the corner of a hand towel and daubed at the blonde's mouth. When she had finished, she wiped her own and gathered up the donuts that had survived Emma's pounce across the counter. She put them in a bag and held them out to the blonde. "Here."
But Emma surprised her by shaking her head. "I don't need them."
"What? You're telling me you pinned me to a wall for the sake of these donuts and now you don't want them?"
"I pinned you to the wall because you hit me with a spoon...twice. And I don't need the donuts because I've found something else I would much rather sink my teeth into."
"What is that, dear?"
The blonde approached Regina once more and pecked her on the lips tenderly. "You." She smiled and pecked her again before turning on her heel. "Thanks for dinner." Emma took up her jacket, gave the brunette one last glance, and was out the door.
XXX
Emma paced back and forth in the office. David watched her. "You're even more antsy than usual." The man pointed out.
"What?" Emma asked and looked at her father. "Oh, yeah. I guess I just feel like a one day notice is a bit informal, even for Storybrook."
"There's Thomas now." David pointed out as the screech of brake pads could be heard in the parking lot.
"How do you know it's him and not some dwarf coming to complain about sewage overflow in his garden plot?"
"I've told him twice that he needs to get his brakes checked." David answered and paused as they heard a car door slam. "A dwarf? Sewage overflow?"
"Don't ask if you aren't prepared for the answer." She shook her head as Thomas walked in. "Hey there." She extended a hand and gestured to the chair as she settled behind her desk. The blonde man shook hands with her father and smiled as he sat. "Alright, Thomas. Let me get right to the point; David and I are overworked here. It's a pretty straightforward job, the hours aren't the worst, and you get retirement," Emma made air quotes with her fingers, "which I guess is important now that time is moving in Storybrook again."
David picked up the thread of the orientation speech. "The calls we take are more or less civil matters. Few violent crimes or anything such as that; unless there is another curse, or ogres, or the Dark One, or-"
"I think he gets it, Dad." Emma interjected, afraid the man would bolt.
"Right…" David trailed off, the light of fervor dwindling in his eyes.
"Anyway, I understand that you have military training as a prince and all and David likes to carry around his sword every now and again, but I use a gun-"
"I'm a pretty decent shot." Thomas said with a self-deprecating smile. "I used to go to the range a lot with my Dad. But I can take a test or whatever you want."
"Sure." Emma smiled at the young man. "We will be providing training; you will shadow David. He will show you how we operate, the paperwork and reports we file, as well as any necessary emergency protocol. Storybrook isn't exactly conventional, but we try to run like a normal Sheriff's office; gives the citizens a sense of stability."
"So any questions you have you can direct at me and I will discuss them with Emma so that we're all on the same page. Any comments or concerns so far?"
Thomas shrugged. "I just am very grateful for this opportunity. Anything will be better than the factory." He said. "I guess I'll have questions as I go, though."
"Alright." David grinned. "Let's see how this tactical duty belt works for you." David all but lept from the desk to retrieve the tac belt. "You won't have to carry it with you right now while you're training. Speaking of which…" David turned to his daughter.
"Yeah, go on." She waved a hand. "I'll talk with Mulan and see if she wants to go out with me for the rest of the day."
"Great. See you."
"Thanks again, Emma."
"No problem, Thomas." She smiled at him genuinely; finding that she was glad she had listened to Regina.
The blonde watched them go and turned her back to the door in order to shuffle through papers on her desk. She sorted them into stacks and carried a large quantity of papers over to the filing cabinet in the corner. When she heard the door to the station slam, the blonde assumed it was Mulan showing up early. It seemed the sort of thing the warrior would do. However, she heard heeled boots and turned expecting to see Regina.
So it was an unpleasant surprise to see Killian Jones limping into the police station. "Emma." He breathed.
"I have nothing to say to you, Hook."
He visibly winced at the disgust in her voice. "Just let me explain-"
"There is nothing you can say that will make me forget what you did. Time and again, we have discussed that I need to be able to trust you. That you act impulsively and selfishly. That's dangerous."
"I was drunk-"
"How old are you? Twenty-two? Act like an adult; a real adult. Storybrook may not be like the rest of the land around here, but binges and drunken assaults are not acceptable whether you're a pirate or not."
"I just care about you-"
"It's over-"
"Would you let me finish?" He blurted, surprising her into silence. "Do you have any idea what I have given up for you?"
"Do you have any idea what I have given up for ever-fucking-body in this crazy ass town? You want to know about sacrifice, Killian? Consider being at the beck and call of every citizen. Consider being labeled the goddamn Savior. You could never understand."
"But Regina can?"
Emma rolled her eyes. "This isn't about Regina. This is about me and you; the end of me and you. Regina is just your scapegoat; the way you are dealing with the rejection. It's easier to blame her than confront your own behavior." The blonde laughed sadly. "Get out." She waved a hand dismissively.
"Emma-"
"I think the princess was clear." A voice from the door called with a stern warning tone.
Emma peered around the man to see Mulan standing in the doorway with an air of feigned casualness. Killian turned on his heel quickly. "And who are you, wench?"
"My name is Fa Mulan and I believe you are dismissed. I have an appointment with Emma."
"Whatever." He laughed at her and waved a hand in her direction; discounting her presence. "I'll leave when I'm ready-"
But Mulan had moved quick as a flash and grabbed his hand to wrench it behind him while she kicked the back of his knees. The man went down hard; his kneecaps cracking soundly against the floor of the police station. "You are ready now." She said with the same even tone. "Aren't you?"
"Yes, yes, let go of my bloody arm." The pirate all but yelped in pain.
The woman let go of him and he fell forward onto the floor; catching himself with his hooked arm. Killian drug himself up and retreated from the room without another word. The dark-haired woman turned to the blonde.
"Princess."
"Jesus, just call me Sheriff or Emma or something, Mulan." She reached out and shook hands with her. "It's weird to be called a princess."
"Whatever you prefer." The warrior said. "That pirate, is the one they call Hook?"
"Yeah, we...dated."
"He is the one that assaulted Regina."
"Yes, he is." Emma found that though Mulan's way of conversation was sometimes abrupt and always to the point, she liked it; it was refreshing.
"He is a fool."
Emma laughed and the woman cracked a smile. "Yeah, he's lucky he's alive. If it had been me, he would have been toast. But Regina has a better handle on her magic and just tossed him about ten feet in the air."
"She was unscathed?"
"Initially, no. Had a ring of fingerprints on her throat, but she magicked them away. He did get grass stains on her skirt, though, and according to Regina, I should lock him up just for that."
Mulan laughed this time. "So. You want to offer me a job...here?" She looked around the station.
