A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and faves and follows. I'm so glad so many people are enjoying it! Although after this, I don't know if "enjoying" is the right word...
When Regina woke, Emma was sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, watching her. "Why didn't you meet me last night?" the blonde asked softly, her eyes a little watery.
Regina blinked a few times, taking a second to remember what had happened the night before. She sat up, leaning back against the headboard. "I was busy."
"You couldn't take a break from dancing with my cousin to dance with me?"
The sadness in Emma's face almost earned an apology, but then Regina stiffened, her face going cold. "He told me about you. About all of the girls you seduce and throw away. Maybe it's time for you to find someone new and move on."
Emma slipped closer on the bed, sinking down to lie on her side facing the brunette. "That's not true."
"Why would he lie to me?"
Emma tilted her head back to meet Regina's eyes. "He didn't lie to you. I have done those things in the past. But you're not just another girl, Regina." Emma tried to blink back tears but Regina could see them slowly seeping out. "I love you."
Regina once again resisted the temptation to comfort the princess. "I'm sure you've said that a million times."
"If I didn't care, I would have left you at home with your mother," Emma replied. "I would have been gone as soon as things got complicated. But I brought you here, and I'm worried about what to tell my parents, and, hell, I asked you to run away with me and live in the forest and eat berries." She sat up again, drawing closer still, crawling to sit beside the brunette. "I wouldn't do that if you were disposable."
They looked at each other for a long, silent moment, Emma wiping furiously at her tears. "Promise?" Regina asked softly.
"I swear to you, Regina," Emma said, her green eyes honest though bleary. "I will never hurt you, and I will protect you from anything that tries."
Regina allowed herself to smile. Despite all the things Tiernan had said, Emma was looking at her now like she was the only thing that mattered. The brunette leaned forward to capture the blonde's lips.
Emma brought both hands up to Regina's hair, holding her in place so she could pull back from the kiss and look at her. "Why won't you tell me what's really wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," Regina promised. "I'm just figuring things out. Who I am and what I want."
"What do you want, Regina?" Emma asked reluctantly, afraid that whatever it was wouldn't include her.
Regina put her arms around the blonde and pulled her forward. "You," she whispered.
Something wasn't right in her eyes, something Emma couldn't quite define, but Regina slipped her hands up under Emma's shirt, fingers brushing the sides of her breasts, and Emma stopped worrying. Their kisses were uncharacteristically desperate, both girls trying to convince themselves that there was no cause for worry.
The princess moved to straddle one of Regina's legs, her knee pressing up against the brunette's core, and Regina gasped and pushed down against her. Without words, without undressing, Emma began to rock her hips against Regina, the other girl following suit. Regina dug her nails into Emma's back, urging her closer, and Emma responded with a sharp hiss of pain without missing a beat. Emma braced herself against the headboard with one hand, and kept the other pressed to the small of Regina's back. They rolled their hips together, Emma's breathing going jagged while Regina let out a quiet whimper.
"Regina," Emma whispered, moving faster. It only took another few seconds of friction before she was shaking, and Regina pushed against her hard, losing control just a second later. The blonde buried her face in Regina's neck as they both panted for air. "I love you," she added as soon as she could manage the words. "I promise."
The girls spent the afternoon in the garden, both tired from a late night and an active morning. Emma sat up abruptly from where she'd been resting her head on Regina's shoulder when they heard footsteps, relaxing back into the brunette when she saw that it was only Tiernan. She considered scolding him for the things he'd told Regina the night before, but any reaction would just let him know he was winning.
"Emma, Regina," he said in greeting, smiling at them both.
"What?" Emma asked, betraying just a little annoyance.
"I'm only saying hello." He glanced from Emma to Regina. "You don't have any better way to entertain your friend than sitting and staring at flowers?"
"I entertained her plenty this morning," Emma grumbled.
"Emma!" Regina hissed, blushing.
Tiernan raised an eyebrow but said nothing, instead holding out a hand to the brunette. "Can I offer you a stroll around the garden, Miss Regina? Seeing as my cousin seems to be incapacitated."
Regina placed her hand in his, and Emma sat up with a sigh to give Regina space. The brunette couldn't help smiling as Tiernan settled her hand in the crook of his arm and started down the path that led around the garden.
They made pleasant but boring conversation as they walked among the white flowers, conversation that stopped abruptly when they'd made it halfway around the garden and were shielded from Emma by trees. Tiernan suddenly turned to face Regina while she was mid-sentence, cutting her off by pressing his lips hard against hers.
Regina closed her eyes for a moment, trying desperately to think. Tiernan's touch was nowhere near as wonderful as Emma's. There was no thrill running through her, no desire to kiss back, but she wasn't about to push him away. Tiernan kept one arm tight around her waist, and she opened her eyes to see his free hand going to his pocket and pulling out a ring with the biggest diamond she'd ever seen.
"You're going to marry me, Regina," he said.
Regina glanced up at his face briefly before dropping her eyes again to the diamond. "Isn't that supposed to be a question?"
"As I said last night, you're a woman who knows what she wants. And I can give you everything."
She met his gaze again, her mouth suddenly dry. "Emma loves me," she said, almost in a whisper.
"Who cares?" Tiernan ushered her to a nearby bench, sitting close to her. "Regina, my father is very ill. He doesn't have much longer, and when he dies, I will be the Duke. How does being a duchess sound to you?"
Regina couldn't help smiling at that.
"And later on, when Emma abdicates the throne, which she will because she is in no way fit to rule…" He brought his fingers to her chin, tilting her face up towards his. "I'm next in line, and I will make you Queen."
His mention of Emma's name brought Regina's mind back to the blonde. "But what if she doesn't abdicate? With her, I…"
"With her, you'll never be anything more than a mistress," Tiernan said firmly. "And if word of what you've done with her gets out, you'll never see another marriage proposal." He leaned in for another kiss, and Regina's lips yielded this time. "What do you want, Regina?"
As much as she didn't want to hurt Emma, the advantages of the match were undeniable. She pulled back from the kiss, her smile spreading, and held out her hand. "You."
Regina was thankful that she didn't have to face Emma as they made their way inside. Once they'd told the king and queen the news, she at least felt secure that nothing was going to stand in their way.
She followed Snow White when the queen asked to speak with her, looking down at her hand from time to time as they walked down the hall. "I just want to make sure that this is what you want," Snow said, and Regina looked up to see her kind smile. "You only met him yesterday, after all. I know Tiernan's in a hurry to get married, but just say the word and we can slow this down."
"Thank you," Regina replied. "But when you know it's true love, what's the sense in waiting?"
She knew she'd chosen the right words from the queen's expression, and she was so busy watching Snow that she didn't notice Emma coming around the corner. When she did glance up at the blonde, there was a glimmer in her green eyes, a shy smile on her lips. "What's this about true love?" she asked, glancing from Regina to her mother hopefully.
"Oh, Emma, it's wonderful news," Snow gushed, taking Regina's left hand and holding it up. "Your friend and your cousin are to be married."
Emma froze, fighting to keep her smile from fading. Regina let her eyes fall again to her hand, focusing on the diamond instead. "Regina," the blonde said, her voice stilted. "Come with me, please."
"I'll leave you two to talk," Snow said, flashing a brilliant grin at Regina before heading back the way they'd come. Emma grabbed Regina by the wrist immediately and tugged her up the stairs, thrusting the brunette into her sitting room and slamming the door behind them.
Regina spoke first, since Emma's face was all but vacant, the princess at a loss for words. "Don't make a scene," she said stiffly. "It's for the best."
"The best?" Emma stayed standing, hands balled into fists, while Regina took a seat and put her hands in her lap where she could see her ring. "Regina, I thought… After this morning…"
"Tiernan can give me a title," Regina said, her voice almost dreamy, tilting her hand so that the diamond caught the light. "And a fortune, and a respectable marriage. All I ever wanted."
"You don't want those things!" Unable to fight back the tears any longer, Emma let them spill out.
Regina sighed as if she was incredibly tired of this conversation already. "You don't know anything about what I want, Emma."
"Neither do you," the blonde shot back. "What about freedom? What about love?"
"You can't live on love alone." Regina slowly stood up and headed towards her door. "And really, Emma, before you throw a fit, consider the fact that your cousin is the only chance I'm ever going to have. After what you did to me." She glanced over her shoulder to see Emma tense up further.
"What I did to you?" she yelled so loudly that Regina was sure someone would overhear her. She stalked forward to meet the brunette before she could open the door, reaching out as if to touch Regina but not daring to make contact. "That's not fair," she said, her voice going soft again, her expression so miserable that Regina had to look away. "I never made you do anything you didn't want to do. I never hurt you."
Regina opened the door, and in desperation Emma finally reached out to grab her hand, the oversized diamond digging into the blonde's palm.
"Don't leave me," she whispered. "Regina, please. I love you."
Regina met her eyes again briefly, showing no reaction to the princess's tears. "If you really loved me, you'd let me go," she said curtly, yanking her hand out of Emma's grasp and slamming the door behind her so fast that the blonde had to jump back to avoid being hit. She secured the locks on both that door and the hidden one that connected their rooms, but Emma didn't try to come in.