Regina answered the door with irritated, glassy eyes, and she looked genuinely surprised that the Savior was standing in her doorway.
"Miss Sw… Emma."
"Alright," Emma conceded, "I deserved that. Can I come in?"
"I don't think that would be wise. It's late."
"It's nine o'clock. We need to talk." Emma donned her cool assertive look hoping to take away the brunette's argument.
Regina was not convinced, so Emma pushed open the door and made her way past the protesting Mayor.
The irritated brunette demanded, "Do you take nothing seriously?"
Emma noticed right away the light to the woman's office was on, and the rest of the house was dark. She turned and gave Regina a once over and saw that the woman's clothes were a little disheveled, as was her hair and makeup. Emma stepped closer to the Queen and asked, "Have you been drinking?"
"What I consume is of no concern to you." The bite of the tone did not surprise the Sheriff, but she still lifted a questioning eyebrow nonetheless.
Emma stepped into the Mayor's personal space and replied, "Everything you do concerns me."
"Not anymore. I believe I made a mista…" Emma pressed her finger to Regina's lips, effectively shushing her, then cupped her cheek and looked into dark eyes and said, "You are Mine."
The tremble that passed over Regina's body was about a six point seven on the Richter Scale, and Emma licked her lips and steadied herself. "I know I'm letting you down. I'm sorry. I'm really new to all of this and wanted what we did to be safe." She traced her thumb down Regina's temple and admitted, "I've been learning how to own you." Her fingers slid down over her collarbone, and she added, "How to please you."
The hard swallow wasn't missed by the Savior as her knuckles gently caressed the swell of the woman's breasts, "How to hurt you the way you want me to."
"You've been playing with Miss Lucas and her pets." The words the Mayor used were accusatory, but her tone was that of hurt and betrayal.
"Playing? No. She's shown me proper technique, on a frumpy dwarf might I add, but mostly she just answers questions I have."
"Oh," Regina said, and Emma could see the gears turning in the woman's head. "You don't want to practice on me?"
"Not with Miss Lucas, no."
Dark brows furrowed in confusion and the Mayor demanded, "Why the hell not?"
"Because I can't stand even to imagine her touching you…"
"You're jealous?" The shock on the older woman's face was evident.
Emma easily smiled and replied, "You look surprised."
"I am!"
Emma took a step closer and repeated with a level of force that surprised herself, "You're Mine." She knew exactly where her jealousy stemmed from but didn't want to burden the brunette with the brutal truth just yet.
Regina nodded her head quickly complying with the sentiment, and Emma reached down and took the older woman's hand and said, "Come. Let's get some coffee in you. We have things to discuss."
Emma set down her bag on one of the stools in the Mayor's kitchen and took out a folder filled with her notes and new contract outline and set it down on the kitchen island.
"What's that?" Regina asked as she tended to making the coffee Emma insisted she consume.
"Rules, expectations and my personal limits," Emma answered as she shuffled through the paperwork. Once she found the notebook paper she was looking for, she looked up and saw the Mayor was looking apprehensive as she was trying to make out the Sheriff's chicken scratch writing. "First," Emma said with strength to get the brunette's attention, and once dark eyes looked up, she continued, "I understand that our history is messy and for this to work, I'd like to clarify some things with you out of the gate."
"Such as?"
"I am interested in permanence with you."
Regina snapped, "What does that mean?" The alcohol she'd consumed from that afternoon, and well into the evening, caused her to be less guarded with her internal monologue and therefore more open with her fears.
Emma circled the island when she saw that the coffee maker was finished brewing and got a mug down from the cabinet and poured the hot beverage into it. She went to the fridge and took out the almond milk and poured just a dash in the way the Mayor prefers then handed the mug to the stunned woman.
Regina asked cautiously, "You know how I take my coffee?"
"Of course I do, you're Mine," Emma smirked when she turned back to the paperwork and continued, "It means I don't want you part-time or for a little while. I want your obedience. I want to care for you. I want your submission. I want your heart."
Regina choked on the sip of coffee she was drinking, and Emma rushed to her side. She took the mug from her hand and pulled the tea towel off of the rack and wiped away the coffee that trickled down the Queen's chin. "Are you okay?"
Regina coughed, clearing her lungs of her inhaled beverage and nodded her head. She felt the protective arm around her and the tingles low in her stomach that security caused and she asked, "What do you mean you want my heart?"
Emma smiled and asked, "How many different meanings does that have?"
"Two that I am aware of, the first being you physically remove the organ from my chest, and the second is you desire my affection."
With a shocked look, Emma exclaimed, "Oh god, the second one, Regina!"
"Really? Why?" There was no snark or sass in the woman's voice, and Emma realized she was genuinely asking the question. Emma had learned much of the Queen in her effort to understand the woman and her motivations, and she realized the things she found out about her son's mother were most likely accurate. She didn't feel worthy of love.
"I don't always like the things you do, but the reasons behind the things you do are often reasonable to me. I don't always make right choices myself," Emma admitted. "I've watched you, Regina Mills. I see you. I see you fighting for the life you lost and for the son you love. You deserve my admiration and the affection I feel towards you."
The Mayor stood stunned and noted the Savior's arm was still firmly holding her close, and when dark watery eyes looked up, she saw the sincerity in the woman's features.
"I… I don't know how to love very well," the Queen admitted softly. Emma smirked then pulled her in and kissed the side of her head and said, "That's okay. We can learn together. To start, I just require your trust. Can you do that for me?" A silent head nod was her answer.
For the first time that evening, Emma felt the Queen relax into her, and she was filled with the confidence to move toward the next hurdle. She pulled her paperwork to where they were standing so she could continue to hold the Queen and then went over the expectations part of Emma's list.
"I want control over you in ways Ruby never had. I want to know your schedule and have the final say on every aspect of your life." She saw darkness cloud the older woman's features, and she added, "That does not mean you do not have a say, nor do you lose your autonomy."
"It certainly sounds like it."
"Remember, I desire your trust, Regina. I wish for you to believe in me. To know that I have your best interest at the core of my being because I do."
"Will I retain my safeword?"
"Of course."
"Alright," The Queen tentatively said, and Emma moved on. "Look over this please, it's my limits. Is there any you'd like to add to yours?"
"What does this say?"
"Fury play. That isn't the same as pet play, which is also something I'm not entirely sold on, but not enough to add it to my limits."
"Alright," the Queen said again and then put the list down before answering, "I don't have anything to add to what limits I had with Miss Lucas, however, there perhaps is something I could remove if that would be okay?"
Emma's smile could not be contained, and she nodded her permission.
"I had a strict no bodily fluids exchange with Miss Lucas. I was aware she had other submissives and didn't feel comfortable with that level of intimacy."
"Define bodily fluids," Emma pried, her heart pounding in her chest with anticipation.
"Saliva, vaginal juices, blood, urine, and ejaculate may be removed from my limit list. I still have no desire to exchange bodily waste or vomit."
"Blood?" Emma asked with an eyebrow raise.
"Specifically, blood play. Are you familiar with the practice, Miss Swan?"
"Vaguely. It wasn't part of my research this week because it was part of your limit list. We can discuss it though. Thank you," Emma said as she reached for her pen and started crossing things off of the list Ruby gave her of Regina's limits.
"Thank me? For what?"
"For trusting me to keep you safe."
Regina swallowed thickly and added, "And breath play, to be removed from my limits."
"That's my good girl, let's leave the rest and get used to what we have here, shall we? I want you to be open and honest with me Regina, if there is something that we are doing that you dislike, you will tell me immediately. If there is something we are doing you'd like differently, harder, softer, rougher, deeper, you will tell me immediately."
"I can do that."
"Of course you can, you're my good girl. Now there's one last thing I'd like to discuss with you before I take you upstairs."
Emma turned and looked Regina in the eye, and said, "I want all of our crap wiped clean. Everything that is out there stays out there. None of that affects what is between us, here. I am on your side from this moment forward. In turn, you are on mine. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Miss Swan."
"Alright we have more to discuss but not tonight. I'm going to take you upstairs and get you presentable." Running her thumb over the mascara smudged cheek of the Queen, she smirked. "Then it's time for bed."
Regina's eyes grew wide with her unasked question, and Emma stepped closer and did the one thing she'd been thinking about doing for weeks and took possession of the Queen's mouth. Tongues greedily explored, and Emma broke away long before she wanted to. "Lead the way," the blonde commanded.