Chapter X

The Closet

The morning sun came through the still-open window and Regina turned away from the light. She snuggled into the warmth of the soft body beside her. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw an unkempt mane of blonde curls. Emma. Regina smiled and wrapped one of the twisted lock of gold around her finger. She was still here, Emma had told her she would stay through 'till the morning, and she had. Emma's arm was a comfortable weight thrown across her stomach and their legs, their very bare legs, were still tangled together. When she had rolled over she had curled her legs around Emma's one. The Savior was asleep on her side, face mostly covered by her abundance of hair. She could see a small smile on her lips underneath the other woman's curls. She reached out and pushed the hair aside so she could see the other woman's face.

God, she was beautiful. Regina traced a single finger down the sleeping woman's cheek. Beautiful and wonderfully sweet and in her bed. Emma had not only stayed, she had held her all night. A night, a complete and uninterrupted night, of sleep. The Savior had kept her nightmares at bay. Regina couldn't remember the last night she had slept without nightmares. Her heart warmed in her chest and she laid her head on Emma's shoulder and wrapped her arms around the other woman's waist. She didn't want to get up. She had things to do, a son to get ready for school, a day to get underway, and yet she closed her eyes and smiled when Emma sleepily squeezed her tighter and closer.

Just five more minutes, she just wanted this moment to last a little bit longer. The day would bring worry, confusion and a whole new set of complications. As Emma had said, all of their problems were still waiting on them. Outside of the warm cocoon of her bedcovers, Storybrooke was waiting. A re-cursed Storybrooke full of amnesiatic automatons stuck on an endless loop. Then there was the matter of her mother, Graham and their miraculous return from the dead. Not to mention that Henry didn't believe them. It felt like every step she had taken, every tiny millimeter of progress she'd made had been ripped away. He hated her again. She was nothing but the Evil Queen in her son's eyes. Only this time he didn't even have The Savior to turn to. Though she had despised her, Regina had known that Emma would not let harm come to Henry. Though she had bitterly rejected the notion, every maternal instinct had told her to trust Emma from the very beginning.

"How can you think so hard this early in the morning?"

Emma's words were soft and slurred with sleep. Her eyes, a brighter blue in the morning light it seemed, were half open. Before she could even formulate an answer, Emma's lips were pressed against her and her thoughts immediately came to a screeching halt. Their mostly naked bodies were still pressed up against each other intimately so she could feel Emma's nipples harden and her hips twitch against her as their kiss deepened. Her hands fisted in Emma's hair and the other woman's hands drifted down to her rear.

Emma Swan was apparently an "ass woman". Regina didn't mind, in fact she was coming to enjoy the way Emma had taken possession of her posterior. It wasn't a bruising grip meant to hold her in position or a fumbling squeeze that failed to entice, it was- Short fingernails scrapped along the edges of her panties, drawing lines across the sensitive skin of her rear and she gasped. Her hips bucked and she broke their kiss because her neck arched back without her command.

"That's my girl." Emma's voice was still low and rough, but Regina wasn't quite sure if it was from sleep or something else. She didn't even time to raise an eyebrow at being called Emma Swan's girl before the woman in question started to nuzzle, nibble and kiss her neck.

Regina's hands fell, very naturally, to Emma's bare chest. The pert, round, creamy perfection of Emma's breasts was something that she found herself very attracted to. She loved the way the other woman arched into her hands and the way her nipples hardened underneath her light-as-air touches. She wanted more so she slid her leg over both of Emma's and straddled the other woman's hips the same way she had the night before. Emma's morning-blue eyes went wide and darkened a little. Regina bent down to kiss her and felt the hand that had been pinned underneath her waist join Emma's other on her rear. She shuddered in delight at the touch and let out a breathy moan with both hands started to squeeze and knead.

Emma nipped her lower lip playfully and Regina let her eyes fall shut. Forget five minutes, she wanted to spend the rest of the day in bed with Emma Swan.

Three sharp raps on her bedroom door shattered that particular fantasy.

"Regina are you up?"

Her mother had always been an early riser.

She broke her kiss with Emma, "Yes, I'm changing clothes, I'll be out in just a minute."

Please don't come in, please don't come in. She had a naked Savior between her thighs and no explanation to give, so please don't come in. She mentally begged every higher power she'd ever heard of for a small miracle.

"I'm going to take Henry to school today, Dear. So you can take your time getting ready for work."

She almost screamed when Emma raked her nails down her rear and the backs of her legs.

"Thank you, I appreciate that, Mom."

She hoped her desperation and hesitation didn't come through her voice.

"Have a good day, Dear."

She listened to her mother's heel-clicks and when they faded down the hall, she collapsed on Emma's body. She felt Emma chuckle beneath her.

"She may have her heart, but your mother is still evil."

Regina rolled her eyes and started to slide off of the blonde, "You are terrible."

Emma grabbed her hips to hold her in place, "And you like me that way."

She did, damn her to hell, she did.

"Well, Sheriff Swan," She pointedly ignored the butterflies in her stomach and the warmth in her chest, "we have to get up and start the day."

Emma rolled her eyes, "But I don't want to."

Neither did Regina.

"But you must, Dear. You know how the Mayor expects all the city employees to be on time to work."

"Yeah, she does get a little anal" Emma gave her rear a squeeze as if to make a point, "retentive about that kind of thing."

She chuckled and that surprised her. It hadn't been a pre-ordained, calculated and measured laugh, it had almost been a giggle. She had genuinely laughed at Emma's very corny joke.

"Gotta admit, though, I could get used to this sort of wake-up call."

Regina answered that with one last long kiss before crawling off of the Savior and out of bed.

She sauntered to her walk-in closet and made sure to swing her hips just a little more than usual. Emma did so enjoy watching and touching her backside, why would she deny her a little show.

She didn't expect warm arms to circle her waist as she picked through her clothes.

"The blue shirt." Emma's voice was right against her ear. "you know the one."

Regina's hand brushed up against the silk long sleeve shirt that Henry had once loaned Emma.

"That's it."

She had not allowed anyone to choose her clothes for her, not for a very long time.

"And one of those pairs of pants." Though she should kick Emma out of her closet, she let her hands slide across the well-ordered rack of slacks instead.

When she picked a pair off of the hangar, Emma pressed a little kiss to back of her neck. "And heels?"

Her shoes were arranged in a specially constructed shelves and though there were plenty of heels that would match the outfit, she knew exactly what Emma wanted. She bent down and picked up a pair of Jimmy Choos from the bottom shelf, and gave Emma a very long and lascivious view of her lace covered behind.

"Keep that up and we're both going to call in sick, Madame Mayor."

The idea was not without merit, but there was so much to do.

"We can't."

Emma rested her chin on her shoulder and pulled her close. She was holding her again, wrapping around her like a vine. She should have felt restricted, confined, claustrophobic, but she didn't. She felt safe and lov-cared about. Regina refused to even think of the other word. In Emma's arms she was safe and cared for.

"C'mon, I have to tell you something before I go."

Emma pulled her back out to the bedroom and sat her down on the bed. They were both still mostly naked and her bubbling arousal only spiked when Emma knelt down in front of her.

"Regina. Last night I saw something and I'm pretty sure I know what it means."

She raised a brow, unsure of where the blonde was going.

"When we were arguing, after you broke the glass. Your eyes flickered purple."

No. That was not possible. If the curse was re-cast then there could be no magic.

Only, Regina blinked, she could feel the tingle of magic in the air, in her skin and radiating off of Emma. She had thought that it had all been butterflies and endorphins. She closed her eyes and focused for a second. Purple smoke swirled in her hand for a moment before it dissipated to reveal a fresh bear claw from Granny's.

There was magic in Storybrooke.

Emma took the pastry out of her hand and took a quick bite. "Magically delicious."

Regina rolled her eyes. Of course Emma would make a joke about something so serious. If she had magic then her Mo-Cora had it too. Not to mention Gold. Magic crackling in the hands of people who had no memory of how to wield it. It was a disaster just waiting to happen.

"Well this is certainly unexpected." To say the least.

Emma chewed another bite of the bear claw, swallowed and spoke. "Do you think we did all of this. I mean, we tried to stop the diamond but couldn't. Could our combined magic have hit a bit reset button on Storybrooke?"

Magic was emotion and she clearly remembered wishing, hoping and dreaming of another chance to show Henry that she loved him. She had wanted another chance with Emma. To show her how much and how deeply she cared for her.

"Perhaps." She wasn't at all sure.

Emma finished her pastry put her slightly sticky hands on her legs again, almost hugging her lap. "We'll figure this out. I mean Henry figured it out and he's just a Kid."

Regina let her hands fall into Emma's hair. "Of course we will. We are, to quote, unstoppable together."

Emma gave her a smile before getting up. She started to gather her clothes and Regina watched her do so. She shimmied into her tight jeans and pulled yesterday's stained tank top over her head. Her bra, which had somehow ended up on the doorknob of her en-suite master bath, was tucked into her back pocket. She was surprised when Emma moved to the window and not the door.

"You can use the door, you know." She smiled despite herself.

Emma only shrugged, "Nah. If you come sneak in the window you gotta sneak out the same way. It's the rules. Besides it's easier to get to my Bug this way." She leaned against the window, "Besides you like it. Big and bad Emma Swan climbing up you house to sneak in to see you right under Mama-Cora's nose. Hell, it makes me feel like a teenager again."

Regina froze, Daniel had never been bold enough to sneak in her room. The consequences would have been deadly. She still felt a tingle of fear when the idea of Cora catching Emma in her room crossed her mind. It was silly, she was far too old to have to hide her paramour from her mother. If Cora didn't know, though, Emma would be safe. Heart or no heart, she simply couldn't trust her mother not to hurt the woman that she lov-cared about.

"Hey-"Emma grabbed her hand, "it's going to be okay. She can't take my heart, remember."

Regina blinked at that statement and couldn't help but smile again. Somehow the infuriating blonde sheriff had known exactly what she needed to hear.

"So I'll see you at lunch time?"

Emma cupped her cheek again and Regina leaned into the touch. "My office at one?"

Emma grinned, "It's a date." With that the woman climbed out of her bedroom window, walked to the side of the roof and eased herself onto a tree branch. Regina watched her climb down the tree, convinced that the woman would fall. She didn't. Emma touched the ground with her half-laced boots and walked, strutted, across the backyard. Regina watched her until she disappeared into the high hedges that marked the border of her property.

What had she gotten herself into?

She turned to retreat into the bathroom for her shower but paused. The sleeve of Emma's red jacket peeked out from beneath her bed. She scooped it up smiled at the usually offensive garment. It was bright, garish, banged up and bold, like Emma. She folded it over her arm and smiled. Maybe it wasn't so bad. She lifted the garment to her face and let the scent of cheap leather, cinnamon and Emma wash over her.

Her carefully ordered life and town was in shambles, her mother was miraculously and magically back from the dead and she was stuck in a town full of magical creatures that were ignorant of the fact that magic was all around them. It was a recipe for disaster, just add the right spark and the entire town would blow like a powder keg.

Yet she was standing in the middle of her bedroom, bare but for a scrap of lace sniffing Emma Swan's leather jacket and smiling like a lunatic. This could either be the worst thing to ever happen to Storybrooke or the best thing that had happened to her in her very long and dark life. Only time would tell which.

With that though burning in her mind, she laid the jacket on her bed and headed to take a very long, very cold shower.