Chapter Seventeen: Behind Closed Doors

Marian seemed a bit distracted.

Robin kissed her. "I might be home early. I don't know."

"Okay," she uttered tonelessly, her eyes cloudy.

Whether he was "early" or not depended on Regina.

Regina was not a good person. Robin knew this but didn't care. He didn't feel bad, either, about going behind Marian's back.

It was one of those things. Marian didn't seem to be attracted to him anyway. He hadn't tried to connect with her since he first kissed Regina's delicious lips. And Marian hadn't once wondered why or attempted to satisfy him.

It had been four months now. If Marian were "hubba-hubba" for him, she would have tried. Robin would have done his best to reciprocate, but truth be told, his mind was so full of Regina that he wasn't sure he would have faked it very well.

They may no longer be physically attracted to one another, but they were still connected by a sheet of paper. And Roland.

Regina wasn't interested in commitment and a piece of paper. She liked him. They had fun together, end sentence.

Robin had no idea if he'd leave Marian for Regina if Regina were the type to rejoice in stealing a husband. At this point, he had no passion for Marian. On the other hand, before Emma and Hook brought Marian back, Robin had been a single parent.

He did not relish the thought of regularly sleeping under one roof while Roland slept under another.

But if Regina were the type to make him choose, she would not be her. And he was attracted to everything about her.

Therefore, if she were that type, likely, he wouldn't be in love with her.

Albeit there was only one reason he could live with himself having fallen for her. He fell for her when Marian was dead. He moved on.

He could still see how she died. They'd been on a road. She'd left Roland to fend for himself. Arrows were flying, a sword was chopping. Two of his men were shot in their hearts; another was captured.

The rich men's guards came close enough. He grabbed the closest body and hurled it at them as they loosed an arrow for him.

It hit Marian instead. She made a soft sound as she fell to her death.

Marian had died because he put her in harm's way.

He'd bolted, slipping in and out of trees. He got away with his life.

He'd vowed never to let anything bad happen to Roland.

In the middle of his work day, Regina texted him.

Regina: Come over after work?

Robin: Of course.

Roland loved her too. In fact, he was more accepting of her magic than Henry had ever been.

Marian had died when Roland was eighteen months old. Robin still winced recalling how certain he'd been that Marian was invincible. Just because he used the wand to save her life during pregnancy.

The curse had frozen Roland for 28 years, as well as all the other rebels. That was an extra 28 piled on the kid years between his mother's death and the curse.

Roland hadn't even remembered his mom. They were strangers to each other. This Marian had been imprisoned by Regina when Roland was nine months. In Robin's memory, Marian had escaped. She blinked and suddenly her baby son was seven years old. She hadn't recognized him either.

It was a mess, and it was Emma's fault for not minding her own business. Regina didn't even kil Marian in the first place.

Regina was waiting. She'd used magic to elongate her hair and had stuffed it in a sloppy bun.

As she covered his face in hot kisses, he instinctively knew why. So he could pull it free.

So he tugged on her ponytail and watched her glorious magic hair drop from her head. Fall around her shoulders like a seductive curtain.

His eyes rounded with surprise. "You're beautiful with long hair." Then he reached up and squeezed his bangs, grimacing as Regina chuckled. "I mean—"

"Oh, who cares?" she admonished, tugging him out of her doorway. She kicked the door shut with her heel and locked it with her magic. "I don't care. I'm not offended. Stop being nice."

With that, she led him to the sitting room.

"So, Robin," Regina purred as she lay on the couch with her head on his thigh. She smiled dreamily up at him. "What did you dream of last night?"

"Horses. A strong bay and lovely chestnut mare. The bay was a rascal. He was yours, obviously."

Regina chuckled. Petting the back of Robin's hand, which was beside his thigh and in front of her, she marveled, "That would have been a nice dream to have. Tell ya what." She winked. "You steal a horse just like that for me, and I'll marry you."

Under his breath, Robin muttered, "I wish." If not for Marian, he could see himself proposing.

Now he couldn't unsee Marian, even in his strongest daydreams, even in his actual dreams. She was a barrier, but not because he was in love with her.

Because Roland was hers. Yet, he was more Robin's son now than Marian's. She wasn't even interested in the way she should be.

He'd even found a ring at Zales he would give Regina if he could. Shaped like the Evil Queen's crown, with a poison apple. It had tiny black and purple diamonds on the sides.

It was absolutely perfect. He knew she'd love it.

It drove his itchy fingers insane. He longed to steal it, especially since the model was Regina's size.

To distract himself from the unfairness, he bent down to kiss her forehead. "What did you dream of, my dear?"

"Lucifer," she spat viciously, then smiled coldly, "on a roasting spit. The full moon overhead. Lady Tremaine shrieking at me to rescue her bloody cat. Me snapping that I'm the one who put him on there."

Surprised, Robin stared at her. "You eat cats?"

Regina glanced at her giant fish tank. Her mermaid flipped her off. "No. I kill them."

The way she said it sent a dark purple cloud chill to his heart. "Ever use them for black magic spells near Halloween?"

Smiling thinly, Regina replied, "Of course."

Robin pointed at the mermaid. "What's her name?"

"Hell if I know," Regina answered crabbily. "She's a liar. Ariel's the only mermaid you can trust. When someone lies as much as the average mermaid does, you can't even believe what they claim their name is." Flippantly, she informed him, "I call her Terese."

Robin gazed amorously into Regina's eyes. "I love you." He meant it with his soul.

They exchanged a kiss. "I love you too."