Emma


Day one had been hard. She had to admit she had spent her entire run that afternoon in a complete and total freakout. She wasn't ready. She was not fucking ready to have Regina back in the house, just down the hall from her. She was not ready to look at her every day. She was not ready to see Regina morning, noon and night. The little bit of dating they had done had been good, yes. Very good even. She had begun to want things she hadn't wanted in a while, she had begun to feel things she hadn't felt in a while.

But this was too much.

Day two had been just as uncomfortable. Regina had helped with the kids. They had all gone about their days. The kids had clearly been happy that she was home. But it had been tense. Neither of them could relax, too busy being jumpy and nervous.

They had done their best to simply stay out of one another's way the majority of the day. This was made all the worse when, with flushes and uncomfortable mutters, they met not once, but twice in the upstairs hallway. Both had done an awkward little head nod and tried to step around the other, turning it into a shuffled momentary dance before they scurried quickly away.

Day three, no change. Regina had arrived home starving and exhausted to find that Emma had been stuck late at Henry's practice. Trying to help, Emma had to assume, Regina had materialized a dinner for five on the table. Emma hadn't appreciated it, as a matter of fact she hadn't liked such an outright show of Craft; especially when Regina's eyes had turned purple for a moment. Emma had snapped at her and alarmed and tired Regina had snapped back. The fight could have torn down the house, Emma insisting that she didn't want to see Craft like that and Regina insisting that she was fine and 'Craft was a part of her now'.

Day four, five and six, were filled with polite apologies when they wandered into the other's space and awkward, static glances. Emma had tried to be kind when Regina had made her coffee one morning, joking a little through the tension and pouring a cup from both of them. The only problem was though Regina had agreed in kind, Emma had turned with the full cup to hand it to her, only to turn directly into her; drenching them both with scalding coffee and forcing them to squirm as they tried to figure out how to disentangle themselves. Any progress the kind act or the joking had made was ruined and once again they scurried to the opposite sides of the house.

But then day seven came around and it was a little easier. They attended the children's back to school night together and fawning over the children was easy. Regina brought Emma a cookie from one of the snack tables and Emma held the doors open for her as they moved from classroom to classroom. Then day eight and day nine. Regina came home to Ollie and Emma singing songs from 'Wicked' and was surprised when Emma didn't clam up as soon as she saw her. So Regina had teasingly rolled her eyes, refusing to sing but willing to share a laugh.

They had taken the children to the park one afternoon, surprising them with a kite. Regina had planted herself in the grass and, in the midst of running with all three kids at her heels as they tried to get the kite into the air, Emma had looked back to see Regina grinning, glowing radiantly and cheering.

Emma arrived home after a very stressful afternoon and was surprised when Regina offered a small back rub, made awkward when Emma let out a deep moan and she felt Regina's fingers close like a vice on her for just a second.

They shared a hug with Ollie and instead of rebounding when their arms touched, they both held on for a little while.

There were looks - heated looks every now and then. Emma would come out of the shower and would step from her room wrapped in a towel to retrieve something from the hall closet. Their eyes would meet and then one would trip or turn to leave and run into the wall. Emma would finish a batch of laundry and politely bring up Regina's clothes, only to find her wife and Ollie stretched into a long yoga pose. Their eyes would meet and Regina would yelp, pulling a muscle and Emma would laugh awkwardly and then fall over Ollie in her attempt to put her clothes down. The building tension made Emma begin to wonder about dating. They couldn't just give it up, right? Should they just settle into this strange new life? As the days were passing it was almost as though Emma's guilt about the situation was growing. She knew that the only reason Regina wasn't mentioning it was because she was worried about Emma's comfort level. Sometimes she would seem to see the question in Regina's face, but out of courtesy Regina never verbalized it.

Finally, the evening of day ten came and Emma wasn't so nervous about Regina returning home. Emma had slept particularly well the night before and was in something of a silly mood. They had spent the morning joking and to both of their surprise, laughing.

It was Wednesday, Regina's night to stay late at work so by the time that she arrived the younger kids were both asleep.

Emma still jumped just a little when she heard someone putting a key in the door, but she was mastering control of that response, turning it into a cough or a gesture because Regina's eyes always seemed to track the reflex, never missing it.

She was sitting on the couch in front of the TV with a glass of wine when Regina came in, kicked her shoes off and crossed to the couch. "Long day?"

"Wednesdays are always my least favorite day. There is so much to do and though we have all been doing it for years, my colleagues act as though they have no idea that it's going to happen - every single week."

She fell with a huff into the cushions, tucking her pantyhosed feet under her and wordlessly reached for the kitchen. A glass of wine was in her hand instantly.

Emma schooled her expression. She still didn't know how to handle Regina using Craft. She understood that Regina was 'fine' and that they had done a bit together but she just didn't like to see it. It was like when they first met, Regina using her Craft casually, only with so much more baggage on top of it. She understood that it wasn't dangerous, she understood all of things she was supposed to, but she didn't fucking like it.

"What happened?" Emma asked to cover her moment of agitation.

Regina shook out her hair, "Oh, I just got stuck doing the paperwork of three instead of one. It was nothing unusual, just taxing and highly frustrating."

"Ah."

"Anyway, how was your day?"

Emma shrugged, stretching out long on the couch, "AcDec is today now, so I did that. Henry, god that kid might be a pain sometimes but he's fucking smart!"

Regina laughed.

"I don't know where he gets it." Trying to joke with Regina right now was like trying on shoes, some fit and some didn't and few were comfortable.

Regina scoffed and threw a throw pillow at her.

Emma giggled, blocking it with a swipe of her hand and nearly spilling her glass, "Hey this is your couch, remember. You are the one who insisted on this color."

"Yes, well, that is because it looks so nice in here."

Emma finished off the last of her glass and stood to get some more. She topped off her glass as well as Regina's and then took a seat on the opposite side of Regina's couch.

"So Mary-Margaret wants to have a play date this weekend."

"Oh? Her son and Bonnie?"

"Yup."

"That makes sense. Things have been so chaotic as of late that we haven't done that, have we?"

"Nope. I was thinking we needed to have her over anyway."

"That's a good idea." Regina popped her neck, stretching from side to side and groaning.

"So whose paperwork did you do and when are they buying you dinner?" Emma asked. She could see Regina flexing everything that hurt and decided to try something on. She reached over and pulled Regina's foot into her lap. She hadn't done anything of the sort in a while but Regina had been the first to do something like this a few days before; plus, she would do this for Mary-Margaret if it seemed that she needed it.

Instantly Regina sank into the couch, crossing her legs at the knee and groaning, "If only that was how it worked."

"I will never understand your job."

They fell into silence then, Regina's small sounds of pleasure going to Emma's head, muddling it and making it thick. It had been two weeks since their last date. She still couldn't decide if this was something that they needed to pursue or not, but she was beginning to find that she missed them. They had been fun, if nothing else. Well, the last couple had, anyway. And they had almost - well, they had reached a new level of intimacy the night of the last one, hadn't they? They had even kissed - politely yes - on the cheek yes - but still, it had been a step.

After a while, she switched to the other foot, not entirely sure that Regina was still awake.

"So I was thinking-"

"Mmmhmm."

"If we go on another date then I want to build another circle."

Regina's eyes popped open, "Really?"

"Yeah! Don't you?"

Regina's eyebrow rose, "I had assumed, well, the last time was - trying."

"In what way?"

Regina gave her a dry stare and she laughed.

"Yeah, but we didn't do it then. It's not like we don't feel that sometimes anyway."

Regina's eyebrows all but disappeared into her hairline, "Elaborate, please."

Emma shifted, wishing she hadn't said anything at all, "I don't know, you're telling me that you don't?" Regina's face remained dry and Emma laughed, a little guiltily, "Anyway. Where would you want to go?"

Regina leaned up a little, intrigued, "Is this fanciful or are we planning?"

Emma shrugged.

"Alright. Well, I'm not sure. Perhaps we should take the kids somewhere. We had promised to take them to an amusement park over the summer and we never went."

Emma grinned, "Rollercoasters and junk food? Count me in."

"Or perhaps an afternoon of wine tasting in Napa Valley. Or we could cut to the chase and have an afternoon in Tuscany." Emma liked the small smile on Regina's face as she said, "I've never taken you aboard. I always said I would."

"Can you just poof us there?"

"Poof? Is that what you call it?"

"Shut up."

"I suppose I could. It would be very hard, though. It's a very long way and water is difficult to cross."

"Alright, what about locally?"

"I don't hear you coming up with any ideas!"

Emma bit her lip, holding back a laugh, "Well, maybe I could use our situation to force you into coming to a haunted house with me! Come on, please! There's supposed to be this amazing haunted Christmas one in Vegas with crazy clown Santa's and Elves. Come oooon! Henry would love it!"

Regina was shaking her head, "Noooo, if you haven't gotten me in this many years of marriage you won't get me now."

"Pleeeeeeeeese." Emma gave Regina her best innocent grin.

Regina rolled her eyes, "I'm going to bed before you talk me into something that everyone will regret."

"I won't regret it!" Emma cried.

"You will when I kill you for making me go to a haunted house! No, thank you!"

Emma laughed, watching her climb the stairs.

There. See, that had been good. Playful and light. Good job.

That had been growing rapidly again too.

The ease.

The flirting.

Emma liked it.

It became complicated if she really let herself think about it, but she had found a wonderful solution to that.

She didn't let herself think about it. Or Mal. Or...any of it.

She downed the last of her wine, still smiling and clicked off the living room light.

"Bedtime." She said into the open crack of Henry's door, but the kid was already passed out on his bed, earbuds blasting.

Emma shook her head, remembering all of those times adults had told her off for playing music that loudly as a teen. Now it made her cringe wondering what kind of damage he was doing to himself.

Humming a bit, she changed and quickly brushed her teeth, exhaustion starting to overtake her.

Just as she was getting ready she heard the small knock on the door. It wasn't a big deal, Regina had been doing it nightly. "Everybody decent?"

Emma scoffed as Regina entered the room, grinning proudly at her joke and heading for the closet.

"What is it tomorrow?" Emma asked, stretching out on the bed. She had taken to wearing her little shorts and tank nightly now. She knew that Regina enjoyed them and she enjoyed the little glances that Regina thought she didn't see. In return, she had noticed that Regina had been wearing more and more of those little business skirt suits and dark tinted pantyhose that Emma had never admitted to liking but did - very much. "Business suit? Dress? Slacks? Hmmm, you wore a business suit today so I'm going to guess slacks."

Regina glanced behind her, giving Emma's long body one of those exact poorly hidden looks before letting out a rumbling chuckle and holding up the slacks she had just gathered.

"Ha! I win!"

"Am I so predictable?"

"Yeah," Emma made a teasingly apologetic face, "you are."

Regina rolled her eyes, leaning against the edge of the bed, "Would you like to go to Italy?"

Emma sat up a little, "I mean, of course I want to go to Italy or - anywhere, really."

She wasn't sure what the look on Regina's face said, "Alright."

"Alright? Alright as in, what, let's just go? Should I call a sitter?"

Regina chuckled, "One day perhaps."

Emma grunted, falling back onto the pillows.

Regina stretched, fluffing her hair ever so slightly, "You know, Emma, I've been wondering."

"Hmm?" Okay, she had always worn those silk pajamas, Emma knew that, but she had rarely worn both the tops and the bottoms. As a matter of fact, the mere presence of the bottoms simply made Emma think about the fact that they weren't supposed to be there. That was the post sex pajama top that she would throw on to run downstairs, braless and if the children were asleep pantyless. She looked away, guiltily pulling herself up to switch off the bathroom light; a simple distraction. "What's up?"

"I've been looking and I can't seem to find it. Do you know where my sleep mask is?"

Emma flushed, "Oh. Uh, yeah. It's in my nightstand. I might have started using it after you left."

Regina chuckled, "Really? You always said you hated the pressure on your face."

Emma bit her lip; she had started using it because it smelled like Regina but she wasn't going to - "Wait, no!"

Regina had just opened her nightstand, in search of the mask. Regina froze, her eyes wide. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Oh, my god, it was like being caught with your dirty magazine collection.

In their past relationship, the sex toys had always lived on Regina's side of the bed. There was no real reason for this, it just always had been that way. Emma blushed now, knowing that Regina was seeing not one of their sex toys but two moved over to the other side, an all but blatant admission of having used them.

"Sorry…" Emma covered her face with her hands, surprised by just how embarrassed, and slightly turned on she was by the crimson blush creeping across Regina's throat and face. "I - uh...sorry."

Regina cleared her throat, standing, her back straight and closing the drawer. "No, please." She cleared her throat again, "Don't apologize." Emma watched Regina blinking rapidly and, dear Jesus did she just lick her lips? "It's perfectly understandable. It's been a while. I imagine if I had more time I would do more of that myself." She was trying so hard to show that she wasn't affected, but she was failing miserably.

Regina's statement caught Emma off guard. This was actually something that she had been curious about. Could Regina respond - sexually - without triggering her essence, her Craft and pushing it into overdrive? There was always a small exchange during sex, nothing big; like swapping saliva during a kiss or - "You don't?" She slid back onto the bed, her embarrassment still hot on her cheeks, but far more curious than she really had a right to be, "I mean, don't feel like you have to tell me or anything..."

Regina slowly lowered herself onto the foot of the bed, thoughtfully; her face reddening again, "I did - once."

"Once? Is that because of your Craft?" There had been a few of these type of conversations over the last few days, not necessarily on this topic but about the - details. She always appreciated it when Regina was this honest, it felt...like she had a foundation to walk on. Regina wasn't lying to her nor refusing to answer her questions, that meant a lot.

"That is why I was afraid, yes. I'm not sure why." Regina's shoulders were stiff, tight as she tried to explain, "One didn't necessarily beget the other in the past."

"When?"

Regina took a deep breath and finally looked at her, "After that kiss. The one on Ollie's birthday."

"Jesus!" Emma hissed, falling back onto the pillows, her palms crushing her temples. She hadn't - that was - honest - whoa. A tremor rocked through her body and for just a second she considered asking for details. Would Regina give them? Should Emma have them?

"What?" There was something to Regina's voice that made Emma look up at her, alarmed; sadness - fear of condemnation? It was almost as though Regina was challenging her to have a problem with it.

"No, no," Emma rolled a little so she could touch her back, "Sorry, I didn't mean-" She laid back down, trying hard not to picture it else - whew- no, "I just meant, it's hard to imagine you - at Granny's-" She sucked in a deep breath, "And that it would have had anything to do with me and -" Nope, she had to stop this train of thought. It was the most alarming, comforting, arousing thing she had heard in quite a while.

"Emma." Regina's hand slid up her ankle and squeezed, lightly, "You center in all of my fantasies."

Emma's mouth popped open, the words, the touch hitting her in such intimate places. She -

But Regina stood, clearing her throat and playing with her wedding ring, "Anyway," she said with a flash of her eyes, "I better get to bed now."

She wanted to make a joke, but the joke wouldn't come. "Right." Emma breathed, "Okay. G'night."

She watched Regina close the door, her head spinning.

They needed to talk about this...soon.

The more they laughed together, the more they could touch and talk and get by on a daily basis the more that this side grew as well.

Emma stretched, but her body felt tight, tense.

She couldn't believe Regina had been so honest. She loved this new honest Regina, but the thought that Emma was the reason why Regina had ventured into self-pleasure...Regina rarely, if ever, did that. She had only caught her once, not compared to the fifty times that Regina had caught her. What was it exactly? What was it about that kiss that had prompted - that?

What did that confession mean - for them? Should she tell her...

Her door flew open and for a second she just stared at it confused before Regina came storming back in like a woman on fire.

"Regina?"

"I'm sorry, I just - I fucking can't -"

Regina was on top of her in a second, her hands in her hair, lips on hers, slipping instantly past Emma's lips.

It was as though the world had exploded. Emma clamped down on her, legs instantly wrapping around hers, hands clutching her neck, pulling her tighter. They were like two magnets, pulling together and locking into home.

She let out a cry of surprise that turned into a hungry moan which was cut off into silence midway as Regina purposefully stole her voice.

Emma's head and body screamed as hands slid up her stomach, hungrily cupping her breast, chanting 'yes, yes, yes'.

She didn't have enough hands for everything she wanted to touch at once. She pulled at Regina's blouse, ripping it from her body and instantly pulling a nipple into her mouth. This time, it was she who stole a voice mid cry of pleasure as the door behind them clicked closed.

There was no mistaking their need. Their hips moved, rubbing insistently against the other's. Regina's hands were in her hair, her lips on her throat, sucking and biting and Emma was reaching, forcing the silk pants down and cupping the woman atop her forcefully. She could not be patient and she could not wait; she pushed herself up to get a better angle and slid inside of her wife, soundlessly crying out as Regina did the same. They rocked together, fast and hard, mouths sucking on the others, pulling and pushing with everything they had.

It felt like seconds, maybe it was seconds before Regina was unfolding into Emma's palm, her body going stiff and she tripled her pressure into Emma. Stars broke across Emma's vision as she followed, mutely screaming Regina's name into the silence and then falling backward, taking Regina with her.

Regina sprawled across her, refusing to remove herself from Emma and Emma could only laugh. She had no brain left, otherwise she might be worried, she might have wanted to know what this meant or why, she might have put a stop to it. They were both half undressed, panting for breath, but their gentle stroking hadn't subsided. Emma wasn't done, she needed more. Now.

She flipped them, kneeling on one knee and pushing back into her. Regina's body arched, her eyes closed. She watched every movement, every twitch on her face; Regina's fingers playing idly against Emma, sliding in and out of her, up and down not for Emma's pleasure, but for Regina's own as Emma pushed her toward another climax. Emma was surprised to find that it wasn't the same face she had seen with Mal, there was no disconnect, no half lidded haze. Regina was very much there with her. Sensing her gaze Regina's eyes opened and they were the deep, lovely brown that Emma loved so much. Regina's fingers began to press harder, making Emma's head fall forward, brushing lips and enjoying the desperate kisses Regina left there. She felt Regina beginning to tense. She swore, holding Regina's fingers tightly to her as she watched Regina meet her climax again, and again followed willingly.

Just as Regina's body began to relax, losing its rigidity, Emma leaned down and took Regina's swollen little bud into her mouth, sucking in a way she knew well and bringing on another instant orgasm.

Regina pulled and without meaning to Emma fell across her but scooted quickly, knowing Regina's intention. Her body pressed against the wall, balancing over her, hands slid down the wall above Regina's head as she was placed over her. Gently at first, Regina took her into her mouth, her hands reaching up and caressing Emma's tender body.

Emma's face softly fell to the cool wall as she gasped and silently groaned, her fingers combing through the hair underneath her.

Fuck, it was too much, oh god, fuck - she was - she was-

Had she ever had this many this fast?

She fell backward, her body half covering Regina's, her feet beside Regina's face. She could feel Regina under her, touching herself. Emma joined her, bringing another on the tail of the last and then, in that strange position, she fell into a sudden and death like sleep.