A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter is a very late update. Things kept me busy, but tomorrow I shall promise you another one that is one of my personal favorites! :) Thank you all for your support and patience. Happy reading!

This chapter is slightly Rated M.

"Have you now?" Regina blinks. Her mouth goes completely dry, her heart starts pounding inside her chest. Why was she dressed this way? What was going on? What did it mean? She has been rejecting her this entire time, and now she's looking as hot as can be. Frankly, irresistible.

"I have." Emma's voice is kitten soft, but she's smirking as she strolls closer to Regina.

She looks hot- her jeans hanging from her hips. Does she want this? To distract her? Is this what this is? No. In no way is she about to be distracted by Mrs. Sex-On-Legs. She tries to decipher her mood as her wife walks toward her. Is she angry? Playful? Lustful? All? It's impossible to tell.

"I like your jeans," Regina murmurs, her eyes drinking the sight in.

Emma grins a disarming wolfish grin that doesn't reach her eyes, which makes Regina think that she is in fact- still mad. Clearly she wants to distract her. She halts in front of her, and Regina is seared by her level of intensity. Green eyes gaze down into her own, wide unreadable eyes burning.

"I understand you have issues, Mrs. Swan," she says silkily, and pulls something from the back pocket of her jeans. Regina can't tear her gaze from her wife, but she hears her unfold a piece of paper. Emma holds it up, and glancing briefly in its direction, Regina recognizes her email. Her brown eyes look back into Emma's now blazing, angered eyes.

"Yes, I have issues," Regina says, quite breathless. She needs some distance if they are going to discuss their issues. But before she can step back, Emma is already close, the tip of her nose touching hers.

"So do I," Emma whispers. She straightens and gazes intently at her wife once more.

"I think I'm familiar with your issues, Emma." Regina's voice is wry, and Emma narrows her eyes, suppressing the amusement that sparks there momentarily.

Regina takes a cautionary step back. She must physically distance herself from Emma- from her intoxicating scent, her look, her distracting body in those hot jeans. Emma frowns as her wife moves away.

"Why did you fly back from Seattle?" She whispers, wanting to get this argument over and done with.

"You know why." Her tone carries a warning ring to it.

"Because I went out with Belle?"

"Because you went back on your word, and you defied me, putting yourself at unnecessary risk."

"Went back on my word? Is that how you see it?" Regina grows angry.

"Yes."

Regina rolls her eyes, not caring about her wife's narrowing eyes directed her way. "Emma, I simply changed my mind," she explains slowly, patiently as if her wife were a small child. "We are women. Or you're telling me you've never changed your mind before about anything? That's what we do."

Emma blinks at her as if she doesn't comprehend this.

"If I had thought for one minute that you would cancel your business trip…" Words fail Regina. She realizes she doesn't know what to say. As much as she hates to fight with her, to see her angry, she's glad she is back in one piece.

"You changed your mind?" Emma can't hide her contemptuous disbelief.

"Yes."

"And you didn't think to call me?" She glares at her wife, incredulous, before continuing. Her hands on her hips. "What's more, you left the security detail short here and put Eugenia at risk."

Shit. The panic room. Regina's heart aches, because she didn't think of that.

"Okay, you're right. I should have called, but I didn't want to worry you. If I had, I'm sure you would have forbidden me to go, and I've missed Belle. I wanted to see her. Besides, it kept me out of the way when Robin was here."

"I told you Belle could come here-!" Emma shouted, being cut off from Regina.

"And then Robin would have probably attacked her, too! Or worse!" She scoffed, her hands on her hips, "Emma, I was safer out there in that bar than I would have been here."

Emma's eyes gleam wildly, then shut, her face tightening as if in pain. She shakes her head, and before Regina knows it she has pulled her into her arms, pulling her hard against her.

"Oh, Gina," she whispers as she tightens her hold on her wife so that she can barely breath. "If something were to happen to you-" Her voice is barely a whisper.

"It didn't," Regina manages to say.

"But it could have. I've died a thousand deaths today thinking about what might have happened. I was so mad, Gina. Mad at you. Mad at myself. Mad at everyone. I can't remember being this angry… except-" she stops again.

"Except?" Regina prompts.

"Once in your old apartment. When Lily was there."

That's another moment Regina wants to forget.

"You were so cold this morning," she murmurs. Her voice cracks on the last word as she remembers the hideous feeling of rejection in the shower. She feels Emma's hands move to the nape of her neck, loosening their grip on her, and Regina takes a deep breath. Emma pulls her head back.

"I don't know how to deal with this anger. I don't think I want to hurt you," she says, her eyes wide and wary. "This morning, I wanted to punish you, badly, and-" she stops.

"You were worried you'd hurt me?" Regina dares to finish her wife's sentence for her, not believing that she would hurt her for a minute. Not physically, anyway. A small vicious part of her feared it was because she didn't want her anymore.

"I didn't trust myself," Emma says quietly.

"Emma, I know you'd never hurt me. Not physically, anyway." She holds her wife's head in her hands.

"Do you?" she asks, and there's skepticism in her voice.

"Yes. I knew what you said was an empty, idle threat. I know you're not going to beat the shit out of me."

"I wanted to."

"No you didn't. You just thought you did."

"I don't know if that's true," she murmurs.

"Think about it," Regina urges, wrapping her arms around Emma once more and nuzzling her chest through the black tank top. Part of her skin comes in contact with the cold pendant of her necklace that always hung around her neck. "About how you felt when I left. You've told me often enough what that did to you. How it altered your view of the world, of me. I know what you've given up for me. Think about how you felt about the cuff marks on our honeymoon."

Emma stills, her eyes closing, her brain processing all of this information pointed out to her. She feels Regina tighten her arms around her form, her hands on her back, feeling her halt, no doubt. Slowly she begins to relax, her tension fading away.

Is this what's been worrying her? That she was so angry, she dedicated to be as cold as a block of ice to prevent herself from hurting her? Why was it that Regina always had more faith in Emma than Emma did in herself?

Regina feels a kiss being placed at the top of her head, and as she looks up to find Emma's eyes, she suddenly feels her wife's thin lips find her own, searching, taking, giving, begging- for what, she didn't know. She just wants to feel her mouth on hers, so she returns the kiss passionately.

"You have such faith in me," Emma whispers after she breaks away.

"I do." Regina can feel her wife's hand stroke her face. Her anger has gone. Her Emma is back from wherever she's been and it is a joy to see her. She smiles up at her. "Besides," she whispers, "you don't have the paperwork."

Emma's mouth drops open in amused shock, and she clutches the brunette against her chest again. "You're right. I don't." She laughs. And what a rich sound it is to the brunette's ears.

They stand in the middle of the great room, locked in their embrace, just holding each other.

"Come to bed," Emma whispers.

As tempting as that was, and it was… oh, it was… they needed to talk things out.

"Emma, we need to talk."

"Later," she urges softly.

"Emma, please. Talk to me."

The blonde sighs. "About what?"

"You know. You keep me in the dark."

"I want to protect you."

"I'm not a child."

"I am fully aware of that, Mrs. Swan." Her hands run down her wife's body, cupping eagerly at her backside. She flexes her hips against Regina's, to where the brunette can feel the bulge inside her jeans.

"Emma!" The brunette scolds her. "Talk to me."

Emma sighs once more with exasperation. "What do you want to know?" Her voice is resigned as she releases Regina.

"A lot of things," she mutters, as she feels Emma lead her toward the couch.

"Sit," Emma orders.

Some things never change. Regina obeys, watching as Emma sits beside her, raking a hand through her loose strands, brushing them back.

"Ask me," she says simply.

Here goes nothing. "Why the additional security for your family?" She dares to ask.

"Locksley was a threat to them."

"How do you know?"

"From his computer. It held personal details about me and the rest of my family. Especially David."

"David? Why him?"

"I don't know yet. Now, let's go to bed."

"Emma, tell me!"

"Tell you what?"

Regina rubbed away at her temples. "You are so… exasperating."

"So are you." She glares.

"You didn't worry so much about security like this when you first found out there was information about your family on the computer. So what happened? Why now?"

"I didn't know he was going to attempt to burn down my building, or-" she stops. "We thought it was an unwelcome obsession, but… when you're in the public eye, people are interested. It was random stuff, news reports on me from when I was at Harvard- my career. Reports on David- following his career, following my mom's career- and to some extent, Ruby and Ivy."

Regina's brow furrows. "You said or," she prompted.

"Or what?"

"You said, 'attempt to burn down my building, or…' Like you were going to say something else."

"Are you hungry?" Emma asks.

What? Regina frowns. She hadn't realized this, but yes- yes she was hungry.

"Did you eat today?" Emma's voice is sterner and her eyes still dark.

Regina shakes her head.

"As I thought." Her voice is clipped. "You know how I feel about you not eating. Come," she says. She stands and holds out her hand. "Let me feed you" Her voice was full of sensual promise.

Regina swallows the lump in her throat, while everything down South feels clenched together. She follows Emma into the kitchen and notices that they've been alone this entire time. Entirely alone.

"Where's Mrs. Lucas?" Regina asks as she sits on the stool.

"I've given her and Gold the night off."

"Why?"

She gazes at her for a minute, her amusement back. "Because I can." Her hand remains stretched out. "Come."

Regina knew where they would be going next.

Wrist by wrist, ankle by ankle, Regina was strapped with the leather cuffs against the rails that hung from the ceiling. She was blindfolded, not being able to see much of anything. She could only hear Emma moving around and pulling open one of the drawers in the playroom. Suddenly, the next thing she is able to hear is a vibration. A constant vibration. Her body jerks as she feels it traveling down her chest. It feels like a large ball-like vibrating against her. It makes her shiver as it moves across her skin, down between her breasts, across to the first one, then the other nipple, and she's washed over with sensation, tingling everywhere.

"I'm going to drive you wild, baby." Emma murmurs, her lips brushing softly against her own.

"Ah," She moans, feeling as Emma's fingers enter her, playing with her, teasing her. She can feel her wife move inside of her, and she's close. So close… her head is tilting backward and she lets out a much louder moan.

Emma stills, All sensations stop.

What? No! "Emma," Regina pleads, trying to thrust her hips forward for some friction.

Emma leans in, kissing her wife's lips. She starts up the vibrator, placing it slowly against Regina's sex. The way her jeans and her tank top feel brushing against her naked body, the way that wand feels vibrating against her very eager sex. It's crying for attention, attention that is being denied- attention that she finally understands, Emma is punishing her with by not giving in.

"Ah! Emma!" She cries out, feeling the intensity of the vibrator, feeling her wife's lips on her own once again, her tongue invading her mouth, until it suddenly pulls away, just like the vibrator. All sensation stops again.

"Frustrating, yes?" The blonde murmurs against her wife's throat. "Just like you."

"Emma, please!" Regina begs, her hips thrusting, craving the attention of the vibrator that teases its way back against her throbbing sex, and is suddenly harshly pulled away.

"Frustrating. You promise one thing and then do another." Her sensual voice trails off.

"Ah!" She feels the wand being pressed against her once again, and pulled right off. Each moment more intense than the last. "Emma!"

"Each time I stop, it feels more intense when I start again. Right?" With her free hand, she holds Regina in place, placing the wand against her sex again and withdrawing it with one harsh movement.

"Emma!" She whimpers. This game isn't fun anymore. "Red! Red! Red!" Tears stream down her cheeks, damping the blindfold.

Emma quickly drops the wand to the floor after shutting off, she unhooks one wrist, then the other. The same with her ankles, all in one quick motion. And as she does, Regina takes off the blindfold, pulls of the blanket from the bed inside the room and wraps it around herself. She plops down on the couch, her eyes burning holes through her wife in anger and pain.

"What the hell was that, Emma?"

"Denying an orgasm is a tool-"

"Denying?" She hisses. "That wasn't denial, Emma- that was punishment!"

"Yes, because you never do as you're told. You changed your mind, you didn't tell me where you were. Gina, I was in Seattle, powerless and livid. If I'd been here, I would have brought you home."

Regina scoffed. "I told you- I was safer out there with Belle than in here."

Emma's lips part at the sight of her wife's tears. "Gina, no." She wiped away her tears. "Please, don't cry."

"You have to stop doing this," Regina shook her head. "For starters, you only end up feeling shittier about yourself."

Emma snorts. "That's true," she mutters. "I don't like to see you like this."

"And I don't like feeling like this. You said on the Fair Lady that you hadn't married a submissive."

"I know. I know." Her voice is soft and raw.

"Then stop treating me like one. I'm sorry I didn't call you. I won't be so selfish again. I know you worry about me."

Emma gazes at the brunette, scrutinizing her closely, her eyes bleak and anxious. "Okay." She leans down but pauses, seeking permission- actually seeking permission from Regina before she places a soft kiss against her lips.

"I never promised to obey you, Emma," Regina whispers.

"I know."

"Deal with it, please. For both our sakes. And I will try to be more consolidate of your… controlling tendencies."

Emma looks lost and vulnerable. "I'll try," she murmurs, her voice burning with sincerity.

"Please, do." Regina sighs. "Besides, if I had been here…"

"I know," Emma's voice is low, angry at the thought that Robin could have done something to her. Regina pulls her wife close, curling up against her chest as they both lie on the couch. They lay in silence for a moment. Emma's hand caresses the brunette's hair. This is what this is really about- her fear… her irrational fear for her wife's safety.

"What did you mean earlier, when you said or?" Regina finally asks, breaking the silence.

"Or?"

"Something about Robin."

Emma peers down at her wife. "You don't give up, do you?"

Regina rests her chin against the blonde's chest, smirking, enjoying her skilled fingers caressing her hair. "Give up? Never. Tell me. I don't like being kept in the dark. You seem to have some overblown idea that I need protecting. You don't even know how to shoot- I do. Do you honestly think I can't handle whatever it is you won't tell me, Emma? I've had your stalker ex-sub pull a gun on me, your pedophile ex-lover harass me- and don't look at me like that," she snaps when her wife scowls at her. "Your mother feels the same way about her."

"You talked to my mother about Mal?" Emma's voice raises a few octaves.

"Yes, Mary Margaret and I talked about her."

Emma blinks, remaining silent.

"She's very upset about it, Emma. She blames herself."

"I can't believe you spoke to my mother." She places her arm over her face.

"I didn't go into any specifics."

"I should hope not. Mary Margaret doesn't need all the gory details. Christ, Gina." She sits up, causing Regina to sit up. "Did you talk to my father as well?"

"No!" Regina caresses her wife's face. "You know I don't have that kind of relationship with your father. Especially after he suggested we sign a prenup." His comment on the matter still stung her a bit. "You're trying to distract me- again. Robin. What about him?"

Emma lied back down, placing her arm over her face, releasing an exasperated sigh. "Locksley is implicated in Charlie Tango's sabotage. The investigators found a partial print- just partial, so they couldn't make a match. But then you recognized him in the server room. He has convictions as a minor in Boston, and the prints matched his." She pauses, taking in Regina's reaction.

Regina tries to process all this information. Robin wanted to kill Emma? Why? Was it because of her?

"This morning a cargo van was found in the garage here." Emma continues. "Locksley was the driver. Yesterday, he delivered some shit to that new guy who's moved in. The guy we met in the elevator."

"I don't remember his name."

"Me either." Emma says. "But that's how Locksley managed to get into the building legitimately. He was working for a delivery company-"

"And? What's so important about the van?"

Emma says nothing.

"Emma, tell me."

She sighs. "The cops found… things in the van." She stops again and tightens her hold around her wife once Regina finds her place against her again.

"What things?"

Emma is quiet for a short moment before she continues. The very thought of what she was informed angering her. "A mattress, enough horse tranquilizer to take down a dozen horses, and a note." Her voice has softened to barely a whisper while horror and revulsion roll off of her.

What the fuck? "A note?" Regina's voice mirror's Emma's.

Emma nods. "It was addressed to me."

"What did it say?"

Green eyes close, her jaw clenches. "Locksley came here last night with the intention of kidnapping you." She freezes, her face taunt with tension. And as Emma says those words, Regina travels back to the duct tape inside his jacket pocket.

Regina tries to think back on Robin in the office. Was he always this unhinged? He was bossy, sure and a creep.

"I don't understand why he would want to harm you, or me." Regina murmurs. "It doesn't make sense to me."

"I know. The police are digging ruther, and so is Humbert. But we think Boston is the connection."

"Boston?" Regina gazes at her, confused.

"Yeah. There's something there."

"I still don't understand, Emma."

Emma lifts her face and gazes at her wife, her expression unreadable. "Gina, I was born in Boston."