A/N: Lyrics at the beginning are not mine, they're from Lana Del Rey's 'Off to the Races'. Enjoy!
"Likes to watch me in the glass room, bathroom,
Chateau Marmont. Slippin' on my red dress,
puttin' on my make-up. Glass room,
perfume, cognac, lilac, fumes,
Says it feels like heaven-
-Fuck..."
The Mayor smirks as the blonde's muffled singing tapers off instantly at her loud knock on the door. She had considered waiting until the younger woman had finished the song- both to sate her intrigue and to save the Sheriff from embarrassment- but only briefly.
After all, where's the fun in that.
Teasing her hair back distractedly, the brunette waits as light footsteps hurry towards the door and the shoddily painted wood is pulled briskly open.
"Hey!"
Regina's smirk broadens as she regards the blonde with glittering eyes. Emma stands expectantly in the doorway, her hair held back in a messy ponytail and looking pretty in a simple black t-shirt, a large grin plastered to her face.
"Good evening, dear."
The Mayor smiles pleasantly as the younger woman steps back to allow her into the apartment, and she surveys the large, open planned room curiously. She has visited the flat on several occasions- most recently when she had come across the papers left by Gold- but somehow this time feels very different. With the night sky pressing up against the windows, the room has been lit by a multitude of small lamps in various locations, creating a dusky yellow glow which illuminates everything in a most flattering manner. An ancient looking stereo sits on the kitchen island and continues to play soft music, and a number of candles flicker pleasingly on the windowsill. Most notable of all however, is the heat. The winter air outside has been well and truly thwarted as a couple of small blow-heaters work their magic in the corner.
"It would seem you aren't as mad as I first thought, Miss Swan."
"Huh?"
Emma regards her curiously as she takes the heavy coat and jacket the brunette holds out to her, green eyes flickering over the indigo sleeveless blouse buttoned low on the darker woman's enviable frame.
"Your choice of wardrobe, dear; December is generally not the time for such skimpy attire, but you appear to be running a sauna up here... One would almost assume you were trying to get me naked..."
She expects the Sheriff to roll her eyes or stammer something unintelligible, but Emma surprises her by swinging her fist into the palm of her hand and grinning cattily.
"Damn! Busted."
"A crude trick, Sheriff."
"Maybe, but it seems to be working!"
"Don't get cocky now, dear."
"Oh, come on, a hot woman walks into my apartment and I have her undressing before she's even sat down! You've got to give me some credit..."
"A 'hot woman'?"
"Smoking hot."
"Really, dear..."
Regina tries hard to hide her amusement, inwardly deciding that she quite likes this rarely seen side to the blonde; surely a result of the younger woman being a little more at ease on her own turf. Shaking her head and taking a seat at the dining table, she watches with a smirk as Emma hurries back into the kitchen and pulls herself up onto the countertop so as to reach the back of the top shelf to one of the cabinets that line the walls. When she swings effortlessly back down, she holds two expensive looking wineglasses, and she blushes slightly as she realizes the action has caused her jeans to ride down a little, a strip of pale flesh marring her otherwise dark ensemble.
"To be honest, there wasn't really a great deal of cunning behind it; the heating's busted and neither of us have gotten round to calling anyone in to fix it. I brought down the heaters from Mary Margaret's closet but I couldn't get them to work without making this weird whining noise, so I kicked them a little-"
"-Of course you did, dear."
"Yeah, well, they work... It's just I think I must have broken the temperature dial or whatever the hell you call it, because the left one now refuses to blast anything but full heat."
Emma shrugs in a way that suggests 'such is life' and the brunette raises an eyebrow.
"And it hasn't occurred to you to simply turn off the one on the left?"
"They switch off at the mains."
"And this is a problem because...?"
The blonde points to a chaotically overloaded outlet- the amount of wires heading this way and that a little concerning- and the brunette rolls her eyes as she takes in the way the identical leads to the heaters form a haphazard tangle of impressive proportions.
She muses to herself that the image before her sums the younger woman up perhaps better than she ever could verbally.
"You see the problem? So, we'll just have to spend the evening half naked!"
"Promises, promises..."
The Mayor teases as her eyes linger on the tantalizing swatch of bare flesh at the younger woman's hips. Following her gaze, Emma grins sheepishly and pulls down the hem of her top to narrow the gap. The brunette negates to inform her that in doing so a small sliver of her bra has come into view.
"Well, behave nicely and who knows what you'll get..."
"A bold insinuation."
"Call it whatever you like... Your move."
The blonde quips with a flash of teeth as she turns to fetch a bottle of wine from the fridge. Returning to pour them both a generous glassful, she holds her drink out to the brunette who studies her intently before clinking it with her own.
"To good health?"
"To whatever you like, I just want a drink!"
Emma sips from her glass as the Mayor shakes her head with a husky chuckle. She captures an escaped droplet as it trickles down the stem of her glass and licks it deftly from her finger.
"One second, I just need to take dinner out of the oven."
"You cooked? Well in that case I'm glad I wished for good health!"
"You want to go hungry, Regina?"
The brunette raises a brow challengingly, smirking at the Sheriff's glower. She leans forward in her seat so as to gain a better view of the younger woman as she crouches down by the oven to check on its contents. Poking around in the darkness with a metal skewer, the blonde seems to deem whatever cooks inside to be done and reaches up for the oven glove which rests by the sink.
"Smells good."
Regina doesn't bother to keep the surprise from her voice as she watches the Sheriff place the heavily laden oven tray on a heatproof mat and plate up a selection of various roasted vegetables with quick skill. Emma disappears behind the door to the fridge for a moment, before returning with two packets of goats cheese and some honey. Crumbling the cheese over the root vegetables and drizzling over a fair amount of honey, she proceeds to douse the plates with a small lashing of balsamic vinegar and some cracked black pepper. Padding to the table with the plates, she lays one to rest before the Mayor before taking up her own seat opposite. Regina raises an eyebrow and surveys the food before her with surprise.
"... You can cook?"
"You sound shocked?"
"I just never imagined you to be adept at something so domestic."
"... I'm going to take a guess that you assumed I live off take-out, pizza, cereal and frozen dessert?"
"And Mary Margaret's cooking washed down with a six pack."
The brunette adds silkily; deciding to rise to the bait rather than admit out loud that she appreciates her assumptions had been rather narrow minded. Emma rolls her eyes, spearing a piece of sweet potato onto her fork and regarding it thoughtfully.
"Tell me, Regina, do you also picture me sat in an overstuffed armchair wearing a string-vest and watching porn, or is it just in the kitchen you see me in such a complimentary way?"
"... I can't say it's a scenario I've pondered until just now- especially one key part of that little scene which I'm now having trouble erasing from my mind-... I didn't mean any offense, dear, I'm just surprised... This is exceptionally well seasoned...It's good."
She shrugs, taking a sip of her wine as she watches the blonde blush in response to her reaction on the mention of imagining the younger woman watching porn. Eyes glittering when Emma glances up with a mischievous grin, she sits back in her chair and waits for the Sheriff to share what has her suddenly looking quite so deviously amused.
"Actually, I'll let you in on a little secret. There's only seven meals I really know how to cook, so I've just learnt to perfect them in order to impress and deceive... It's worked well for me so far!"
She points to the darker woman's plate which shines with just a few leftover smears of glaze and smirks.
"And what about when you have to cook for someone for the eighth time?"
"Ah, that's why I never stick with anyone for more than seven dates!"
Pink tongue flashing through sharp white teeth, the younger woman laughs huskily. The brunette regards her with interest, sipping delicately at her wine as she watches the blonde swipe a finger through a drizzle of honey to the side of her plate.
"Is that true? You've never been with anyone longer than seven dates?"
"Actually... Real 'dates'? Then, yes... But it has little to do with my cooking."
"I see..."
"What about you?"
"What about me, dear?"
Regina inquires tetchily, causing the Sheriff to roll her eyes as, yet again, all questions seem to have somehow been diverted towards her alone.
"You must have had lovers in the past? Not counting Graham."
"Miss Swan..."
Low. Irritable. Warning.
"It's just a question, Regina."
"... Yes, I have had relationships in the past. Only one of note, however."
"Oh? Who was that?"
"Why don't we discuss that after you tell me the story of Henry's father..."
"... Don't."
The blonde sighs irritably and gets up to clear the table. The Mayor watches her silently, acutely aware of the sudden tension that fills the room. She supposes she should apologize- fully aware by her tone that Emma's question had been nothing more than polite curiosity- but she doesn't want to say anything more on the matter. To her relief, the Sheriff seems to be thinking the same thing, as she promptly returns from the kitchenette with a large bowl of what looks to be- at first glance- nothing more than cream.
"Eton mess; numero dos of my repertoire. Well, the meringue pieces are anyway."
"Good god, I can practically feel my arteries clogging."
The blonde chuckles, and moves to serve up the dessert into two smaller bowls. Acting with uncharacteristic childishness, the darker woman lunges forwards when the Sheriff leaves to deposit the serving bowl in the sink, and steals her dessert slyly from her place at the table. Returning to her seat, Emma frowns, before glancing up at the brunette and noting both the Mayor's smirk and the fact that she now has two bowls in front of her.
"Hey!"
"Something wrong?"
"Give it back!"
Dark eyes shining with mirth as she watches the Sheriff lean forwards across the table, Regina swipes her finger daintily through the heavy cream and holds it up before her with a feigned expression of confusion.
"Oh... Did you want some?"
Smirking, she extends her sweetened finger out to the Sheriff. For a brief moment, she wonders if Emma will refuse to play along- the blonde's expression wary as she regards the glistening offering held out to her- but then the younger woman leans forwards and runs her pointed tongue deftly through the cream.
"Delicious."
The brunette mutters as her eyes find the Sheriff's and she wills the younger woman to lean further still, moving a little herself so that she closes the gap between them and tastes the sweetness of the cream on the blonde's lips for herself.
Peeking beneath sooty lashes as she deepens their kiss, the Mayor scoops a handful of her dessert slyly into her palm before smearing it purposefully over the Sheriff's exposed neck and clavicles. Her eyes glitter superiorly as Emma jerks back with a cry.
"What the hell?!"
The blonde glares at her incredulously and the darker woman chuckles sultrily, pushing herself up from her seat and stalking quickly around the table to stand before the Sheriff. Emma studies her curiously, before reaching up and pulling the Mayor firmly down onto her lap. Smirking, the brunette moves so that she straddles narrow hips and searches lust-darkened eyes with her own. Pulling lightly on golden curls, she hums in approval as the blonde tilts back her jaw to expose the cream slathered down the column of her throat.
"Shit..."
Emma lets out a sharp gasp as the brunette's tongue slips over a particularly sensitive spot at the hollow between her collarbones, and entwines her fingers loosely within dark tresses. Dropping her hands to run her fingers playfully up the Mayor's thighs, she finds her hips and pulls her closer. Regina nips sharply at glistening pale flesh, before finding the blonde's lips once more and rewarding her passionately as the latter begins to undo the delicate buttons of her shirt.
Pulling away the light material to expose the brunette's scant purple bra, the Sheriff unhooks the unwanted garment easily before running a wet trail down between the valley of her breasts. Regina groans and leans back, enjoying the blonde's pleasurable attention before taking the younger woman's roaming hands in her own and standing to guide her up.
"You're sure Miss Blanchard isn't going to come walking through that door any time soon?"
"Positive."
The Sheriff's response is hoarse and breathless and the Mayor takes a moment to enjoy the rapid rise and fall of her chest before she closes quickly in on the blonde and backs her up against the wall; surreptitiously flipping the small frame depicting the younger woman with her housemate that rests upon the shelf beside them to face the other way.
"Well then..."
She presses herself up against the blonde; hands running up beneath the Sheriff's t-shirt as the younger woman works the clasp of her dress pants eagerly. Allowing the crisp material to fall down around her feet, the brunette flicks the pants neatly away with the toe of her shoe as her fingers wander beneath the blonde's bra and she presses her bare thigh against the apex of her jeans.
"Up, dear."
Regina beckons as she pulls at the younger woman so as to reach behind her and unclasp her bra. She slips emerald lace out from beneath black cotton as she continues to grind her leg against Emma's Levi's. The blonde growls, her hands finding the soft silk of the Mayor's underwear and plucking it hurriedly down slender legs as the latter fiddles with the button to her jeans. Tugging the rough denim down the Sheriff's thighs, the brunette pulls gray cotton swiftly aside and dips her finger sweetly into the younger woman's heat as the blonde plays her hands skillfully across pert breasts; hot breath tickling the Mayor's throat.
Pushing the blonde against the wall with a little more force, Regina increases the pace of her fingers; smirking into the younger woman's hair as she lets out a low mewl. Using her palm to grind against sensitive flesh, she bites at the blonde's throat before hissing harshly into her ear.
"Thank you for inviting me..."
Emma lets out a sharp cry as her legs shake, before finding purchase of the darker woman's lithe frame and switching their positions with surprising ferocity. Playing slender fingers teasingly over waiting flesh, she grins when the Mayor snaps at her to quit messing around and takes heed of her request; moving them swiftly between wet folds as she seeks out kiss-swollen lips with bruising force. Deepening her kiss savagely as the brunette begins to tremble against her, she allows the older woman to ride out her pleasure, before moving her lips up to the Mayor's flushed cheek and muttering huskily into the perfect shell of her ear.
"Thanks for coming."