Underneath The Surface

Chapter 34

Passion's Lights

Author's Note: As always, I owe LZClotho a huge debt for her time, advice and insight. The end is in sight my dears! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

"I do." Regina turned her head and even in the dim light Emma could see the brunette's sincerity. "But it would bother me knowing that we had simply turned our backs on the friends we've made here."

Emma smiled in response.

"What?" Regina's brow furrowed.

"Henry saw the changes in you before anyone else did, and my parents are always asking how I'm so sure you've changed."

"And?"

"Your answer." Emma replied. "The old Regina wouldn't care who she hurt to get what she wanted."

Regina sat up straighter. "Back then, I hurt people simply for my own amusement. I'm no saint, Emma."

"I know you've changed." Emma's thumb rubbed the back of Regina's hand.

"Yes...well...perhaps Archie was right when he said love could achieve great things."

The two of them sat quietly, content to hold hands. They could hear the pines sighing as a breeze blew through the needles, and somewhere off in the distance an owl called.

"Would you hate me if I suggested we stay here just a little longer?" Regina finally asked.

"Even when we fought all the time, I didn't hate you. But what brought this on?"

"I would like to have the possibility of returning here some day. I believe Henry would like it here. I think he would like Callie..."

Emma chuckled. "Really, Regina? You're already thinking about our son's love life?"

"I am merely considering a future where we may wish to return with Henry, and how it might benefit him. Besides, back in the Enchanted Forest, it was common for royalty to have a summer home. Your parents had one."

Emma reflected on the fight they had earlier, and countered that with the possibility of coming back to Desperation Lake, bringing Henry back with them, of making a home here in the summer. "Is that something you might want? A home outside of Storybrooke?"

"Once, I wanted control. I believed it would bring me happiness. But what I needed was love, and I have that now, with you and Henry. I'd like to have the chance to enjoy that like everyone else. But how do you feel about it?"

"Henry has grown into an amazing kid that I am so proud of." Emma ran her free hand through her hair as she spoke. "I want him to be more than a sheltered, privileged prince. I want him to be well-rounded, care about others even if they're strangers, I want him to lead with an open mind. If we can bring him back here, maybe we can stretch his horizons a bit."

"So you aren't angry with me for suggesting it?"

"It would be nice to be able to sleep late and know I don't have to be the Sheriff and Savior."

"You have the option of sleeping in now."

"That's true..." Emma rose from the chair and stood in front of her girlfriend, holding her other hand out. "I'd like to see you in bed, but not sleeping."

"Why, Miss Swan, that's quite a suggestive statement." Regina smiled.

"You drive me crazy when you smile like that, you know."

"That's good." Regina reached one long finger out and stroked Emma's jawbone. "Because I intend to having you begging for more by the time I'm done with you tonight."

Emma swallowed hard.

"I'm going to make us some tea, why don't you go upstairs and turn down the covers?"

"Tea? You're thinking of tea now?"

"Yes, love, one that I hope will boost our magic." Regina whispered as her lips brushed the blonde's earlobe.

"Oh...special tea." Emma's breath hitched.

"Indeed. I'll join you shortly."

With the kettle on, Regina opened the box of herbs from Charlie. She measured out a bit of basil, allspice, some cloves and juniper berries into a mortar. She ground it all slowly with a pestle, all the while envisioning a controlled portal home. From all of her lessons with Rumple in her youth, and all of her experiences since then, she knew intent and emotion were key factors.

Just before the kettle reached a boil, she took it off the heat and set it aside. A small vial of patchouli oil had slid to one side of the box, but she found it and shook three drops into the mortar before recapping it. With all of the herbs returned to the box, Regina ground the contents of the mortar together while murmuring an incantation for a power spell she knew worked in her youth. She added hot water, stirred again and carefully transferred the mixture into a dropper. Then she made them each a cup of tea and added a small measure of the booster. Finally ready, she picked up their cups and headed up the stairs.

Emma took a tentative sip from her cup. "It's not bad."

"What were you expecting, mud and twigs?" Regina smiled as she tucked a strand of golden hair behind Emma's ear.

"I don't know, but I have to say you look pretty damn sexy in my shirt and nothing else."

"Mmm, but you're biased, dear."

"Damn straight."

"I don't think that word can be applied to either of us, love."

Emma chuckled and leaned in to kiss the curve of Regina's neck. "You smell wonderful, did you know that?"

Regina murmured and lifted her chin.

Emma set her cup on the nightstand without ever lifting her lips from her lover's throat. Her eyes closed and she grazed her lips over the cool skin beneath her. The very tip of her tongue snaked along the contours of Regina's throat, under her chin and along her jawbone, ever so lightly.

Regina shivered with desire and raised her lips to Emma's.

When they parted, Emma laid on her side, propped her head up with a hand and smiled. "I could look at you all night."

"As indulgent as that sounds, I have other ideas." The brunette ran a feather-light index finger along the length of Emma's side. "Finish your tea, dear."

"Tea is the last thing on my mind."

"I know." Regina said quietly. "But there is a point to this seduction, remember?"

Emma finished her tea in two quick gulps.

As her fingers skipped over the curve of Emma's hips, Regina focused on her magic, and how it felt when it blended with the Saviour's light magic. She focused on the feel of it coursing through her palms, her blood, her skin. She recalled the taste it left in her mouth...cinnamon, apples, and a hint of scotch.

"Roll over, love."

With the blonde comfortably on her stomach, Regina finished her own tea and willed her palms to warm. She measured a small amount of oil from a bottle on the bedside, rubbed her hands together and began to spread the oil over Emma's back. The skin there was smooth and yet dimpled with souvenirs of fights and abuse. She kept her touch light, not only to heighten arousal but also to avoid irritating the scars that mapped her girlfriend's skin.

She heard Emma's breath catch and she lifted her hands. "Tell me if I hurt you."

"You won't." Came the muffled reply.

"Promise me that you'll tell me if I do."

"Promise."

Regina massaged, stroked and caressed as gently as she could. "Emma, think about how our magics feel when we work together…"

Emma had already been thinking about it. Jefferson's hat, the trigger in the mine, moving the moon in Neverland...every time they had blended their own power it had felt as if some part of her inside was clicking into it's correct place. Another piece of the puzzle adding to the larger picture that was her. Emma turned her head and rested it on her forearms as a realization came to mind.

"If I try and create another portal like this, and we end up at home, it might be more than we're ready to share just yet."

"You might be right." Regina agreed but her touches didn't falter.

"So what if we try and create a perfectly legal passport instead?"

"A passport?"

"It would allow us to have a believable deadline to wrap things up here."

"That's true."

Regina's touch was making it difficult to think of anything except her growing need. With the slightest brush, Emma's heart began to race and she could feel her pulse pounding in her ears.

Feel it at the nape of her neck, where the little hairs were all standing on end.

Feel it spreading over her skin like a tsunami of heat…

She struggled to focus on their goal; Regina's passport, stamped and approved by all the right authorities. But it was getting so hard to concentrate.

When Regina's palms slid to the back of Emma's thighs, her hips arched just a little bit.

"Holy…"

"Control yourself, love. Bring yourself back from the edge."

Emma thought about slipping in the puddle on Main St., the way her knee had smarted when it smacked into the road, she recalled how a hangover felt after one too many beers at The Rabbit Hole and she felt some of the heat dissipate.

"Tell me how a passport should look after someone has travelled for a bit. Describe it as thoroughly as you can." Regina coached as her palms returned to Emma's back.

Emma described the official seal on the cover, the inside pages, even some of the admittance stamps she had in her own documentation.

Each time she lost concentration, Regina would ask another question about the passport, prompting a more complete description.

"Regina...I can't...hover like this...I need…" Emma gasped as she dug her fingers into the sheets.

Without a sound, Regina's fingers slid to Emma's thighs and teased them apart. She caressed her most sensitive nerves, circling, flicking and stroking until Emma gasped into the pillow, arching into her orgasm completely missing the little bursts of blue lights over the bed.

By the time Regina had fulfilled her plans to have her lover begging, the wee hours of the morning had snuck up on them.

"You're exhausting, Regina." Emma yawned.

"Complaining, love?" The former queen ran an index finger along Emma's naked collarbone.

"Hell, no."

"Good. I expect you'll be sleeping in this morning?"

Emma's pulse quickened again at the teasing touch. "I don't think I could run right now if an ogre was after me. But if you want me to get any sleep, you need to stop touching me like that."

Regina chuckled and kissed the blonde passionately before pulling the covers up over them. "Sleep now."

Emma burrowed closer into Regina's embrace and yawned again. "Love you, 'Gina."

"And I love you, my sweet."

To Be Continued!