Chapter nine
As she battled through the stilted conversation, Emma forced herself to focus on how grateful she was that Mr Gold didn't seem to have told her father the truth about who he was or why he was there.
David was watching them curiously, though, like he didn't buy Emma's hurriedly bitten out story that they knew each other from work. They all sat together for maybe 15 minutes making polite small talk, and then David finally excused himself. He kissed his daughter on the top of her head before he left.
"So," Mr Gold said as soon as his footsteps had faded. "Things are moving fast, I see."
Emma stared flatly back at him. "My parents want to see us get married, and Regina and I are both pretty laidback in terms of when or where it happens, so we decided to do it tomorrow."
"How convenient," Mr Gold replied. Emma didn't even grace him with her coldest smile.
Then there were footsteps on the stairs, and a second later Regina appeared in the doorway. She was bundled up in Emma's bathrobe and had thick socks on her feet, and Emma was relieved to see that her skin wasn't so pale anymore. Her lips were their normal deep pink.
Her eyes widened the second she saw who was sitting at the table with her fiancée. She forced a smile.
"Mr Gold," she said. "I thought I heard your voice."
She sidled over to the table and placed her hand on Emma's shoulder before slipping into the chair beside her. Emma recognised her strained expression. "What can we help you with?"
"Not a great deal," Gold said. He was taking notes, for some reason. "I promised to check up on you, and I'm a man of my word."
"Right," Emma said flatly. "Well, here we are. Is there anything else?"
Regina glanced at her with surprise: in his office the previous week, they'd both been simperingly polite and tense down to their bones. Now, though, Emma was audibly annoyed. Regina wasn't sure what to make of it.
"You can give me a quick update on how your sham engagement is going," Gold replied. Emma's entire body twitched.
"I beg your pardon?"
"Emma," Regina said quietly, reaching for her hand under the table. Emma snatched it away.
"No," she snapped. "This isn't okay. You don't get to show up here at my parents' house, the day before our wedding, and start accusing us like this. We already told you the truth and agreed to your stupid interview. You're not getting anything new from us today."
She sounded so agitated, and for a second even Regina believed her. Her green eyes were flashing at the implication that they could be faking this whole thing, and it was surprisingly easy for Regina to slip into her role beside her and nod. "Exactly. You can't interrupt a family event just because you're unduly suspicious."
"Unduly?" Gold asked, not sounding the least bit perturbed. "I'd say I'm very justified in my suspicions."
"My entire family is here," Emma replied. "How far do you think I'd be willing to take this? We're getting married because we're in love and that's all there is to it."
And there was that scratching in Regina's chest again. That feeling of pure inadequacy.
Gold's eyes suddenly shifted over toward her, and he stared like he could see her guilt brewing. Regina forced herself to hold his gaze.
"You've gotten better at lying," he said softly. "But not to worry. I'm a patient man. And I do so love a wedding."
"You're not invited."
"Unfortunately, Miss Swan, your father already told me exactly when and where it's being held. I'll be right there in the front row."
Emma's nostrils flared, but she didn't say anything. After a beat, Gold got to his feet.
"I won't take up any more of your time. I found a lovely B&B on the mainland, so I think I'll go back there and rest up for the main event tomorrow."
Regina stood up like she was going to see him out, but he waved her off. "Don't worry, Ms Mills. I'm sure you two have plenty to discuss."
He hobbled out, the front door clicking shut behind him a few moments later. Emma stormed over to the window to make sure she could see him disappearing down the path. When she turned back around, Regina was pale again.
"Are you cold?" Emma asked at once, making Regina's heart throb.
"No, I'm fine. I just…"
She'd never sounded quite so small before, and it was all Emma could do not to fall to her knees beside her and give her a hug.
"We knew he'd come sniffing around eventually," Emma said, walking over to the counter and pouring them each a cup of coffee. "We shouldn't have been surprised by it."
"I guess," Regina conceded. After a long pause, she added, "You were convincing, you know."
Emma scoffed, returning to her seat and passing one of the cups to Regina. "He's an ass. I don't like him."
"I know. Me either. I just wasn't expecting you to defend us so vehemently."
Emma looked back at her with a crinkled forehead. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Because we are lying," Regina said, lowering her voice. "All the stuff he's accusing us of… It's true."
"Right. But he doesn't know that and he doesn't actually have reason to suspect it. He's probably just a homophobe and a xenophobe all rolled into one and that makes him hate us even more." She took a sip of her coffee and sighed. "I know I can't really get offended about stuff that's true, but I don't like the way he looks at us. Like there's no way we could possibly be together."
Forcing a smile, Regina asked, "Because you're so out of my league, you mean?"
"No, moron. Because you're so out of mine," Emma replied without so much as a pause.
Regina took in Emma's perfect blonde curls, her green eyes, her heart-shaped face. She remembered how lean and muscly her naked body was, and how kind she could be even though Regina didn't deserve it.
"Right," she said slowly. "If you say so."
"Anyway – I just don't like defending our relationship to him," Emma said angrily, picking at a groove in the table with her thumbnail. "I don't see why it matters. I've chosen to help you and I'm willing to marry you. I want to marry you. So what difference does it make? I'm your fiancée whether he likes it or not and I don't see why our motives are so important to him."
In spite of herself, Regina felt a smile twitch at her lips. "You want to marry me?"
"Sure," Emma said, then hesitated. "I mean, I'd rather marry someone who doesn't call me an idiot 15 times a day, but you'll do for now."
She said the words so lightly that Regina couldn't take offence at them. "You'll do for me too."
Emma grinned at her, her anger apparently gone. "Well, anyway – at least we'll have an extra person filling out the venue tomorrow."
"I can tell people he's my weird uncle," Regina agreed. "So everyone stops thinking I'm actually an orphan."
"You can borrow Granny too."
"Great. And your mother might come over to my side as well, you know."
As they laughed together, Emma tried to ignore the fact that Regina's chuckle made her heart light up.
Regina glanced down and realised that her robe was starting to peel apart, and she hurriedly yanked it shut before Emma could catch another unintended glimpse of her chest. When she looked up, she found Emma's gaze resting on the soft white fabric. Her cheeks were slightly pink.
"Thank you for standing up for me," Regina heard herself saying. Her words made Emma jolt out of her trance.
"Of course."
"I mean it. I know none of this is easy for you and it must be awful lying to everyone."
Emma shrugged. "Well, it's not my favourite thing I've ever done. But like I said – I want to do this. I'm not going to back out."
And Regina knew she was being serious, somehow. Emma's face was determined and earnest, and all at once she felt her heart reach out for her. She had to press a hand over her chest to push the yearning away.
"You're…" she said, then stopped herself. Words were brewing and she shouldn't say them, but Emma was watching her expectantly – maybe even hopefully – and they came slipping out anyway. "You're far too good for me."
Normally Emma would laugh and agree, but there was something glistening in Regina's eyes and she could feel a dull and unfamiliar ache twisting in her chest. She couldn't bring herself to make light of it.
Her palms were sweating. They hadn't done that in years.
"Nah," she said eventually. With the way the light was flooding in through the window, the scar on Regina's lip stood out more starkly. Emma wondered what it would feel like to reach out with the tip of her thumb and run it along the groove until she met Regina's mouth.
She shook herself until the thought went away.
"I've seen the real Regina now," she continued eventually. "It's too late to talk about how evil you are."
Regina felt herself blush, but she put it down to the fact that her body temperature had been through the wringer that day. In the end, she couldn't think of a response. All she could do was shrug.
Emma watched the pinkness spread across her cheeks and felt something warm creeping up her spine. Regina's hair was drying into messy curls again, and she wondered how soft it would be if she fisted a hand in it.
"You should go get dressed," Emma said, her voice cracking. "It'll be difficult to drag you down the aisle tomorrow if you're got hypothermia."
Regina laughed softly and nodded. When she got up and left the table, she wondered why it felt like she was leaving something so important behind her.
The atmosphere was subdued as they got ready for bed that night. The entire day had been a mess of activity and emotion, and by the time the sun had set and they'd been ushered off by Emma's parents, both women felt totally unsure of what to do next.
"Did you see the decorations my mom bought?" Emma asked as they slowly moved around the bedroom in their pyjamas. Emma's blankets were on the floor again.
"I did," Regina sighed, trying to smile. "They were… very frilly."
"Dad promised me he'd try and tone them down somehow," Emma said. There was a long pause. "Maybe he'll take a pair of scissors to them, or something."
Regina smiled again, but she looked sad. Emma didn't ask why, because she already knew what the reason was and she wasn't sure she felt much better anyway.
She did want to go through with this. She did. She was suddenly more committed to keeping Regina safe and in the country than she'd ever been about anything in her life. But it didn't stop her from wondering what would happen next, or what her parents would say when they inevitably separated, or how Regina would look at her once her end of the deal was finalised and she didn't need Emma's help for anything anymore.
That was the worst part – imagining a future where Regina suddenly wasn't beside her anymore. It hurt her to think about waking up alone back in Manhattan and not being able to earn one of Regina's blinding smiles ever again.
Regina was standing by the side of the bed, no longer uncomfortable with the fact that Emma could see her bare legs and arms and braless breasts. She was folding a shirt, and her shoulders were just slumped enough for Emma to be able to notice.
With her hands twitching by her sides, Emma finally asked, "Are you okay?"
But before she could get an answer, there was a knock at the door. Mary Margaret flew in with a determined smile on her face.
"What do you think you're doing?" she demanded. Emma thought for a second she was referring to the nest of blankets and pillows on the floor, but her mother seemingly hadn't even noticed them. "You can't sleep in here tonight."
Emma sighed. "Excuse me?"
"It's the night before your wedding!" Mary Margaret said, grabbing her daughter's arm and tugging her toward the open door. "Come on. You're sleeping in the spare room."
"Mo-om," Emma whined. Regina couldn't help but laugh. "That's such a stupid tradition."
"I don't care. Say goodnight and then come with me."
Emma looked over at Regina, who was standing awkwardly with her folded shirt clasped against her stomach. She looked even sadder than she had done a second ago. When Emma realised why, she turned back to her mother and said, "I'm staying here."
"You will do no such thing," Mary Margaret replied, moving behind her and beginning to shove her toward the door. "Regina will cope without you for one night."
"But—"
"But nothing. Goodnight, Regina! Do you need anything before we go?"
Regina forced a smile and said, "No. I'll be fine."
She and Emma kept their eyes on each other as Emma was forcibly removed from the room. As the door clicked shut, Regina wondered if that's what it would be like the other way round – if Regina got taken from the country, would Emma feel quite so devastated as she disappeared?
Regina climbed into bed and turned off the light. She tried to convince herself that this was better – she could do with some time alone with her thoughts, and Emma could do with sleeping in a proper bed for once. They'd see each other in the morning and they'd both feel well rested and much calmer than they had done that day, and the wedding would go by without a hitch. Gold would feel so embarrassed.
Except sleep wasn't coming to her, and an hour later Regina was still staring up at the ceiling. She felt cold again, because there wasn't a human-sized hot water bottle in her bed anymore and she was surprised by how much she missed its presence. She wondered whether Emma was lying on the other side of the house missing her too.
Don't be stupid, she muttered to herself, rolling onto her side and burying her face in the pillow. It was the one Emma had slept on the night before. Regina didn't realise it until she found herself breathing it in.
Her toes curled and her muscles ached, and she wondered what would happen if she climbed out of bed and padded down the hall to whichever room Emma was sleeping in and clambered into bed beside her. She imagined Emma's reaction to her shuffling up against her back, pushing her curls away from her shoulder and nuzzling her nose into the back of her neck. Ghosting her lips over her skin and kissing her softly enough to make her shiver.
She wondered what Emma's lips felt like when they were bruising her throat and sliding down the front of her body into the cavern of the bed sheets.
The thought made her groan and she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to push the images away. She was confusing herself, and she was only feeling like this because they'd had to act so close all weekend. In a couple of days she'd feel normal again, and she and Emma would—
There was a light knock at the door and Regina jumped, yanking her face out of the pillow. She was breathing hard, and she could feel a throbbing deep inside herself that hadn't been there for a while.
She didn't say anything, but the door creaked open anyway. Emma's face appeared through it, peering into the dark, and when she found Regina awake and propped up on her elbows to look back at her, she smiled sheepishly.
"Promise not to tell my mom that I came back?"
Regina laughed and, without a word, reached out for the covers on the opposite side of the bed. As soon as they were pulled down, Emma stepped into the room and shut the door behind her.
Regina felt the heat of her as soon as she slipped into the bed.
"God," Emma hissed with her usual shock. "I forgot how cold you get."
"I'm not even touching you."
"I know – that's how freezing you are," Emma said, rolling onto her back and holding out an arm. "Come closer."
Hope lit up like a match in Regina's chest and she asked, "Really?"
"Yeah. I won't be able to sleep knowing that you're shivering over there."
Without needing any further convincing, Regina edged forward and slotted herself into the gap between Emma's arm and her side. Emma flinched when she felt a frozen leg being hooked over her own, but when Regina sighed happily and snuggled in closer, she relaxed. Regina's body was small and tight all over, like her muscles didn't physically know how to unclench, but the longer she laid there, the looser she began to feel.
It also helped that her right hand had found its new home on top of Emma's stomach, and it was slowly rubbing back and forth in a way that suggested she didn't even realise she was doing it.
Emma's own hand was pressed against Regina's upper arm, and she returned the favour by stroking it with her thumb. She could feel Regina's skin starting to warm up, and she tried to focus on that and let herself drift off to sleep. It was late, and tomorrow was a big day – possibly the biggest of her life, minus her actual wedding if someone willing to marry her for something besides her residency status decided to show up. She needed some proper rest.
She closed her eyes and willed her thoughts to stop, but they wouldn't cooperate. They were buzzing around, getting louder and louder with every shift of Regina's hand. The top of her head was wedged beneath Emma's chin, and she couldn't help but notice how good her hair smelled. It was soft, too. She could feel it tickling her neck.
Regina shifted slightly, and her leg hooked further around Emma's. She suddenly realised how close she was to straddling her thigh, but Emma didn't pull away or ask her what she was doing. She didn't say anything at all. Her thumb kept stroking Regina's shoulder, and then her hips bucked up slightly. Regina wasn't sure whether she'd imagined it or not.
She'd been freezing cold five minutes earlier, but now she was burning. Every cell in her body had sprung awake the second Emma had slipped into bed beside her.
She swallowed hard and tried to ignore the fact that Emma smelled like mouthwash and citrus shower gel; tried to ignore the fact that Emma's arm was just slightly too hard beneath her because of all the toned muscles twitching under her skin. She tried to ignore the fact that she could feel Emma's breathing getting quicker, and that she was holding herself rigid in an attempt not to scare Regina off.
Regina took a deep breath and shifted her hand. She felt Emma twitch when she realised it was moving south.
Lifting Emma's shirt just slightly, Regina slid her hand beneath it and let it rest flat on her lower abdomen. The muscles there were hard and flat, and she sighed happily.
"You're so warm," she murmured. She sounded sleepy, but she wasn't.
Emma couldn't reply, because her blood had started to surge and she could feel it pounding in her temples and between her legs. She desperately wanted to clench her thighs together to ease some of the pressure, but Regina's leg was in the way. She realised then that if she ground down just slightly, her pussy would make contact with Regina's knee. She groaned softly, and at once the hand on her stomach stopped moving.
No, she thought, shutting her eyes. Please don't stop.
She wasn't brave enough to say it out loud, because this was crazy. It was Regina. Regina, her boss, who was severe and terrifying and straight. There was no way they were on the same page here, and in a second Regina would fall asleep and roll away and Emma might be able to sneak her fingers into her pants and take care of herself without anyone ever finding out. She swallowed and waited. Regina's hand still wasn't moving.
Then it inched downward. When it reached the waistband of her pyjamas, Emma's heart stopped.
Regina's fingers didn't stray any further, but they teased at the elastic and crept along the edge of the soft flannel like they were too shy to ask for entry. Emma was frozen, her pussy throbbing to the point of pain, and she felt tears in her eyes when she realised how close she was to getting something she'd never even thought about before landing on Maine soil, but was suddenly occupying every millimetre of space inside her head. The whole weekend she'd looked at Regina's wicked smiles and uneasy frowns and she'd watched as her walls gradually came down. She'd stopped seeing her as a cold-hearted tyrant and started to notice all the things about her that were beautiful, that were unique, that were perfect and could easily make Emma fall in love with her if things weren't already so fucking complicated.
But right then, she didn't care very much about complications. She could feel uncertain fingers against her skin and she wanted them inside her so badly it hurt.
Regina waited where she was, hoping Emma would say something or give her some kind of sign, but the body pressed up against hers was totally still.
Disappointment swelled inside her, and Regina slowly pulled her fingers back.
Before she was even an inch away, a hand came down on top of hers and stopped it from moving any further. Regina gasped at the sudden contact, feeling how firm and pleading Emma's fingers were against her own, and slid her hand further down again. She felt Emma's breath of relief deep in her groin.
Propping herself up onto one elbow, Regina looked down at the woman lying beside her. Emma's eyes were wide and glistening in the dark, and her lower lip was trapped between her teeth. She didn't look afraid, or even confused – she looked desperate. Her hand was still gripping Regina's, begging her not to pull it away, and a rush of desire flooded through Regina's body with enough force to make her dizzy.
She dipped forward and pressed her lips against Emma's, remembering the first time they'd done this in front of a room of people and how strange it had felt. They'd both been stiff and uncertain, and when Emma's hand had rested uncertainly on her waist, Regina had felt a jolt of shock. Now all she felt was need – it was pulsing inside her like bruise.
Emma pulled her hand away from Regina's the second she felt their lips touch, and she lifted it to the back of her neck. Regina's hair twisted and coiled so easily beneath her fingers and she gripped it harder, willing her to come closer. Regina took the hint and pressed their bodies together, her hand leaving Emma's stomach for the time being so she could grip her beneath her jaw and tilt her head back. Emma was breathing hard and her kisses were already frantic, and when she bit down on Regina's bottom lip, all Regina could do was moan into her mouth. She tugged herself free of Emma's teeth and slipped her tongue between them, sinking in slowly enough to make Emma's body go soft beneath her.
Regina slid her hands down the front of Emma's body and sought out her breasts, feeling the weight of them in her hands and sighing at the unfamiliar sensation. She'd only been with men before, and everything with them was hard and angular and overpowering. Emma was lean but somehow still soft, and the little whining noises she made when Regina found her nipples through her shirt and gently pinched were enough to make Regina's pussy flood all over again.
Everything happened so quickly after that. Regina's hands slid under Emma's shirt without any input from her brain, and when she felt Emma's back arch up to press herself harder into her touch, she cupped her breasts and marvelled at the warmth of them. Emma moaned and reached for Regina's waist, and a split second later Regina was on her back, her legs pushed apart by Emma's knees and her shirt being tentatively eased up. She nodded, her entire body throbbing, and Emma's hand slid beneath the silky fabric. Regina's skin was smooth and, for the first time since she'd known her, burning hot. Emma sighed and bent forward, pressing her lips against Regina's abdomen before kissing up, up, up until Regina was peeling off her own shirt and her breasts were on display.
It didn't matter than Emma had seen them before. She stared down at them like the gates of heaven had just been opened for her, and then she tumbled forward with a moan. When her mouth latched around one nipple, Regina gasped and weaved her fingers through her blonde curls like she'd been dreaming of doing for days, her body arching up so they were pressed even closer together. Emma lapped her tongue over her skin before gently sucking her nipple into her mouth, and Regina was almost ashamed of how little time it took before she was writhing and whimpering beneath her. Almost.
She tightened her grip in Emma's hair and felt the corners of her mouth flicker against her breast. Then her other nipple was being pinched with a pressure that erred just on the right side of painful, and Regina was being completely overtaken by the urge to feel Emma's wetness on her fingertips. She wanted to slick it all over the palm of her hand and feel Emma tremble against her, and she wanted to know what noises she made when she was just about coming apart.
As Emma's mouth moved over her breasts, biting and sucking and making stars flash up before Regina's eyes, Regina snaked a hand down between their bodies and found the waistband of her pyjamas bottoms again. This time, she didn't hesitate. She slid her hand down the front, down into Emma's panties, and when she felt her fingertips make contact with wet, slick skin, she threw her head back and moaned.
"Emma," she bit out. "Is this all for me?"
Emma just nodded in response, her lips no longer working over Regina's breasts but instead pressed up against her ear. Her eyes were sprung wide and her breath was sputtering out of her as Regina's fingers moved slowly against her, slipping through her folds and then dipping inside for just a second with absolutely no resistance. Regina moaned at the feel of her, using her other hand to grab Emma's hip and tug her closer. When her finger skated over her clit before slipping back inside, Emma finally snapped back to reality.
She reached down for Regina's hand and tugged it free, pinning both her wrists against the sheets in one swift movement. Regina blinked up at her, worried for a moment that she'd gone too far, until she saw the determination burning in her eyes: normally green, they were black and sharp in the dim room, and they told Regina that there was time for that later.
Regina nodded, and her wrists were released. Emma went back to peppering kisses over her throat and chest, and when Regina's arms slid up and wrapped around her neck, Emma could only moan at the feel of her. She was clinging on with her hands buried in the roots of her hair, and whenever Emma kissed that perfectly sensitive spot beneath her ear, she whimpered out loud. Five days earlier, Emma wouldn't have even been able to dream that she could make such a noise.
Once Regina was arching and writhing beneath her again, Emma finally started crawling lower. She cupped Regina's breasts as she kissed her way down her ribs, down her stomach, pausing to leave an almost painful bruise at the dip of her waist and only pulling away because Regina was bucking her hips up in desperation. When she reached the waistband of her silky shorts, she caught it between her teeth and pulled it down an inch. Regina immediately groaned, arching up again, her hands getting more demanding in Emma's hair as she tried to push her further.
Emma grinned and pulled back, grabbing the shorts with both hands and slowly peeling them down Regina's legs. She suddenly wished the lights were on so she could see her properly: in the darkness, she could make out Regina's naked body, her long legs, the black panties that were the only scrap of fabric left on her, but Emma wanted to see the details. She wanted to count the freckles on her shoulders and she wanted to see how glisteningly wet she was between her thighs.
But she wasn't willing to pull away any further, so she just curled her fingers through Regina's panties and removed them as well. Regina lifted her hips to help her, breathing quickly, and watched with a throbbing in her ears as Emma's gaze took in every last inch of her.
Then Emma crawled forward again, pressing one hand into the sheets by Regina's waist and leaning her weight against it. Regina watched her approaching, her curls hanging between them and threatening to graze against her bare skin. She wriggled again and spread her legs another inch. Emma caught the movement and smiled.
Her right hand skated down Regina's stomach, pausing for long enough at the top of her pelvis so that Regina could ask her to stop if she needed to, but in response she received silence and a look of total desperation. Regina was gripping the pillow with one hand, and there was a visible tremor in her throat as she struggled to swallow.
When Emma finally slipped her fingers between her legs, Regina's eyes fluttered shut. She tilted her head back against the pillow with a groan.
Emma's movements were almost infuriatingly slow. Regina could feel her fingers glossing over her skin, teasing at her clit, tracing the very edges of her pussy before drawing back again. She was watching Regina carefully, taking in every gasp that came from her mouth and every twitch of pleasure that rippled through her body, before she finally slid a finger inside her, groaning out loud when she felt just how much wetness there was waiting for her.
She was barely an inch inside her before Regina was frantically nodding.
"Yes?" Emma asked carefully, pulling out again and grazing a sticky fingertip over her clit. Regina's eyes snapped open at once and she let out a whine of frustration.
"Stop being so cautious," she gasped. Her other hand came up and grabbed at the wrist that was anchored beside her. "Please. I need this."
For the whole weekend, Emma had loved being able to ignore Regina's commands. The fury on her face whenever she did so had filled her with perverse pleasure. Right then, though, nothing made her happier than doing exactly as she was told – she pressed two fingers against Regina's clit, slowly drawing them back and forth until she could see the wetness glinting off her skin, before sliding them inside her. Regina moaned with relief, her hips bucking up, and when Emma planted a thumb on her clit and began to rub it with every single thrust, a rush of pleasure rippled through her.
"No, no," she whimpered, although she didn't try to wriggle away. If anything, she seemed to be bucking up harder.
Emma thrust her fingers in deep and held them there, using her thumb to draw slow circles around Regina's clit. She was barely moving, but everything was in exactly the right place and Regina gasped with something that might have been horror when she realised what it was doing to her. She felt Emma's fingers curl inside her, pressing down against a spot that she hadn't fully believed existed until then, and felt a hot, slow-moving ecstasy beginning to creep through her. She gasped, gripping her pillow harder, and met Emma's carefully observing eyes.
"What are you doing?" she blurted out. Emma didn't speed up, didn't change her tactic – she just kept slowly swirling her thumb around as her two buried fingers rubbed her from the inside. She could feel Regina beginning to shake, and every few seconds her eyes would roll back. Emma lifted her left hand from the sheets and used it to squeeze her breast.
"I'm fucking you properly," she replied. A split second later, Regina was throwing her arm across her face so she could bite down on it and smother her own scream. Emma felt her coming over her hand and grinned, continuing with her slow rhythm and watching the way she made Regina's body quake and fall apart. By the time the orgasm was finally over, she was glistening with sweat and there were teeth marks in her forearm that even Emma could see in the dark.
Regina lay staring up at the ceiling for a few moments, wondering whether she'd be able to walk if she tried to right then.
She didn't have time to find out, though, because Emma was already moving lower. Regina jumped when she realised she was about to lie down between her thighs.
Self-consciousness and uncertainty gripped her, and she heard herself gasping, "You don't have to do that."
Emma looked up at her immediately, her forehead creased.
"What?"
"That," Regina said, though her pussy was aching and part of her wanted to grab Emma by the hair and shove her down there herself. "If you don't want to."
For that, she received a look that told her she was totally insane.
"Are you asking me not to?" Emma clarified.
After a moment, Regina shook her head.
"Good," Emma said, going back to where she'd been 10 seconds earlier. "Then, for once in your life, be quiet."
Regina's uncertainty wisped away from her the instant she felt Emma's tongue between her legs. She tried to remember the last time someone had done this to her, but she only got back as far as 2015 before her attention was snatched away. Emma was humming gratefully, curling her tongue through her soaked flesh until the tip of it grazed her still-aching clit, and immediately Regina was swept back under.
She tightened her thighs around Emma's head and grabbed her hair with one fist. Emma was already pressed up hard against her, her tongue gliding over her slick skin like she had all the time in the world. When she felt the urgency in Regina's grip, she slid her hands down her thighs and under her ass, reaching round to the small of her back just as Regina's spine began to arch. Her head was tossed back against the pillow, her dark hair spilling out like weeds, and she was releasing the most deliciously grateful whining noises as she bucked and shook. Emma grinned and dipped her tongue in again, causing Regina's hips to wriggle and thrust down against her. Emma shouldn't have been surprised by how greedy she was for another orgasm – not when she was so demanding in everyday life as well – and Emma was suddenly desperate to do exactly as she asked. She gripped her waist and yanked her hard against her tongue, making Regina moan with relief.
Regina could feel Emma pushing her way inside her, her tongue firm and unforgiving, and tears sprung up in her eyes at the realisation that she was about to come again. The twisting feeling that had been almost entirely unfamiliar to her until that night was taking up residence in her feet and her thighs and the tightly clenched muscles in the base of her stomach, and she gripped Emma's hair even tighter.
When her orgasm washed over her, Regina ground down against Emma's mouth like she was trying to lose herself in it. Emma moaned at the feeling, and the vibration from that sound only made Regina come harder.
It seemed to go on forever. Regina's spine was arched to the point of pain and her knuckles had turned white in Emma's hair, and when she finally collapsed back down to the bed, she was struggling to breathe. The room wasn't dark anymore, but bright and glittery. She looked down between her legs and found the same shimmer in Emma's eyes.
A second later, she was crawling back up Regina's body. She looked strangely nervous, like she was expecting Regina to push her away again now that she'd had her fill.
As soon as she was within grabbing distance, Regina reached out for her and tugged her face toward her. It was so utterly strange to taste herself on her lips, and she moaned into the sensation before she could stop herself. Instantly, she felt Emma relax. Her hands came up to the sides of Regina's face and cupped it, and her hips automatically ground down against Regina's.
The fabric of her pyjamas felt heavenly against Regina's bare pussy, but she ignored that fact. Instead, it was time to focus on why Emma was still wearing clothes at all.
She grappled for the bottom of Emma's shirt and immediately began tugging. Emma jumped to help, wriggling back an inch so she could pull herself free of the fabric. The tank top had barely hit the floor before she felt a pair of urgent hands on her hips, and then suddenly her pants were being shoved downward.
"In a hurry?" she muttered as her lips met the corner of Regina's mouth once more.
"Shut up," Regina replied. With one hand cupped around the back of Emma's neck, the other slipped down the front of her body. This time, nothing stopped her.
She was slightly mesmerised by the way Emma gasped at her first touch. Emma was holding herself up above her using her arms, and they immediately began to shake when she felt two fingers skimming over the wet skin between her legs.
"Lie down," Regina murmured, kissing her again. As her tongue dipped back inside Emma's mouth, her index finger began to slowly circle her clit.
Emma all but collapsed down against her as she hissed out, "Fuck, Regina."
Regina took that to be a good sign, so she carried on with exactly what she was doing. Emma's pussy was slippery and hot against her fingertips, and it was surprising just how different it felt compared with when she was lying in bed at night with her fingers thrust between her own legs.
She pushed herself up off the mattress and guided Emma onto her back, her hand never straying from between her legs. It was then that she got her first real look at Emma's naked body: it looked different to the day before, when they'd crashed into one another and immediately sprung apart with their cheeks burning. Right then, Emma was arching up into her, her hands reaching and grabbing and skimming down Regina's back, and the wash of sensations was dizzying. Whenever Regina grazed her clit in just the right way, her chest lifted off the bed and she whimpered like she was begging for something.
Regina propped herself up on one elbow and watched her closely, her mouth getting drier and drier as she witnessed her coming apart.
Emma didn't say a word when she came. She barely made a noise. Regina still knew, though, because she felt the sudden pulsing against her fingers and she saw the way Emma threw her head back and opened her mouth and gasped desperately. Her body had gone rigid, and even in the dark Regina could see the muscles rippling beneath her skin. She kept driving her fingers in and out, her thumb planted on Emma's clit so the orgasm would last just another beat.
When Emma reached down between them and gripped Regina's wrist, Regina sagged with the disappointment that she was about to be pushed away. She was wrong, though – Emma grabbed her hard and ground down against her fingers, holding them inside her as her pussy fluttered and clenched. Regina watched with ravenous eyes, her own body aching just from looking at her.
When it was over, she missed it. She missed Emma when she was already lying directly beneath her.
A/N: Just a note for anyone who missed the author's note in chapter one: next week's chapter will be both the last one for this fic and probably my last one ever for swan queen. I hope you've been enjoying this story so far! Love you all xxx
