Ok, so I know it's been a while but this has been such a huge chapter that I've had to split it into two parts. So this is the first part now, and the next shall be up whenever my beta has worked her magic :)
Thanks for putting up with my slow updates :) you guys are amazing.
As always please, please review but it makes my day like you would not believe :D
xXx
Regina sat at a table, head resting on one hand with the other holding open her book. She was thoroughly engrossed in reading about mythical beings and age-old potions, searching for anything that could be of use to her. Well, that and silently stewing about the whole interruption fiasco. She was growing more and more frustrated as she remembered that Robin had walked out on her—for something so important that, apparently, it just couldn't wait.
Hearing soft footfalls behind her, Regina prayed that it was the thief so that she could work him up, then leave him high and dry. She wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. But the slight scent that she caught was not that of the thief. Well, not her particular thief anyway.
Looking to her right, Regina could see the man with one hand on the chair beside her. She couldn't help but feel a touch of disappointment that the Merry Man in front of her was George and not Robin.
With a short-sleeved green shirt and the loose, dark brown trousers that the Merry Men seemed to live in, the Queen couldn't help but wonder if the group of outlaws shared clothing as well as everything else.
"Is this seat taken?" George asked quietly, so as to not shatter the silence that had befallen the large room.
It obviously wasn't; the whole room was empty. But nevertheless, George didn't seem to feel comfortable sitting next to the Queen without asking for her permission first.
When Regina gestured at the seat whilst inclining her head, George sat down, his hands in his lap to avoid his bare arms coming into contact with the cold metal décor on the chair.
"So," George started, "what's going on between you and my fearless leader?"
Regina's eyebrows furrowed together. "Excuse me?"
"You and Robin," he said. "What's there?"
"What do you mean?" Regina asked, sounding more nervous than she intended. "Nothing."
"Oh, well I've just been told, more or less, that you are unavailable." George watched as Regina's jaw set and she took a controlled breath in. "If there was a mix up somewhere—"
"No. It's not… there's…" With a deep sigh, Regina turned in her chair to fully face George. "I apologise if I've given you the impression that I'm…looking for something. But I'm not."
George nodded his head, sitting back in his chair. "Oh."
"And it has nothing to do with Robin," Regina hastily clarified. "I'm just… not suitable for a relationship. With anyone."
"I see," George nodded again. "My mistake."
"I'm sure you're a great guy," Regina added, feeling slightly guilty upon seeing the dejected face in front of her. "But… this," she gestured between the two of them, "won't go anywhere. I didn't mean to let you think otherwise."
George just gave a small smile. "No, it's fine. Thank you for clarifying. You can take my failed advances as flattery."
"They didn't fail, I—"
He smiled and leaned forward, "You don't find me irresistible, milady, so they failed."
Regina laughed. "Well, I'm sure if you were to 'advance' on any other woman, she'd be forever yours."
"You're only saying that to make me feel better," George said, folding his arms as if doing an impression of a young boy in a tantrum.
Regina couldn't help a mocking, "Well…yes."
"I see how it is, then; if it wasn't bad enough that my seductive powers have failed me, I do believe that the Queen is mocking me." George raised an arm over his forehead in a typical over-reaction as he declared, "My life is not worth living anymore."
"Oh, stop being so melodramatic," Regina said as she turned back to her book, glancing at him from the corner of her eye with a grin.
"Of course, it's only you who's allowed to be melodramatic. Isn't that right, your majesty?"
Regina looked at him in mock outrage that softened into a chuckle when she saw his mischievous grin. "You can't blame a man for trying, your majesty," George said as his grin faded. "I mean you're…well, you're…beautiful."
Regina bit her lip. "Thank you."
"So… friends it is, then?" He held his hand out to her, but the offer of friendship took Regina aback and she sat there staring, searching her mind for a reason that he would choose to befriend the Evil Queen.
"You shake it," he whispered mockingly, after a few moments of heavy silence.
Regina's eyes snapped to his amused smile. "I know. I'm just… not used to people asking to be my friend."
"Well, that's their loss," George said, his gaze falling down to his hand before his eyes flicked back up to see a small smile appear on the Queen's face.
Regina took George's hand, her smile growing with his.
It was that moment that Robin walked in. And at the sight of his Queen and his friend—the one he had just told to watch himself—holding hands and smiling, the unwanted pangs of jealousy returned.
George stood up to leave, placing a kiss to the Queen's knuckles before sweeping into an elaborate bow. "By your leave, your majesty."
"Get out of here," Regina chuckled.
George couldn't help teasing his leader with a suggestive wink as he left the room, not bothering to shut the door behind him. Robin stalked over to the round table and immediately sat down in the chair George had just vacated.
After a few seconds of waiting, Robin caved and turned to Regina. "What was that?"
"What was what?" asked Regina, eyes fixated on her book as she turned a page.
Robin pointed to the door where George had just through. "What was that?"
"George was asking if I was available," Regina coolly explained, her eyes skimming the text in front of her.
"Oh." Robin watched his fingers as they trailed over the metal arm of the chair that his hand was resting on, trying to appear nonchalant. "And you said?"
"What is your problem?" she asked irritably.
When Regina looked back up at the thief sat next to her, Robin looked very confused.
"That's not what I said to George," Regina explained. "I'm asking you; what is your problem?"
"My problem?" Robin asked.
"Yes, Robin. Your problem," Regina snapped. "Because you cannot go and overreact every time somebody who's not you shows me a little attention."
"I'm not overreacting," Robin mumbled.
Regina gave Robin an incredulous look. "From what I gather, you just told George that I am 'unavailable'."
"I never actually said that," protested Robin.
"Well, you certainly implied it," Regina retorted. "Does it even occur to you how childish you are acting right now?"
Robin sat back in his chair, affronted. "I'm not being childish!"
"Robin, you're acting like somebody's trying to steal your toy," she sniped. "I understand that you're not used to sharing—being a thief and all—but you need to stop."
"Regina—"
"No," Regina interrupted as she slammed her book shut. "You need to understand this; I am not a possession. I do not belong to you. And just because we're having sex does not mean that you can act like a jealous husband."
Robin held his hands out in an attempted display of protest. "I'm not acting like a jealous husband."
"No? You're trying to control who talks to me." His actions starkly being spelled out to him was a slap to Robin's face. "I had enough of that with Leopold. I do not need it from you."
Regina stood – the scrape of the chair against the floor made Robin wince – and walked away from the thief, intending to leave him sitting there. She would collect all of her books later. But Robin soon rose to his feet and chased after her, grasping her hand before she could reach the door and turning her to face him.
"I'm sorry," Robin said, his eyes boring into Regina's in an attempt to show his sincerity.
Regina merely replied, "I don't care," before turning away again.
Refusing to let go of her hand, Robin pulled her back to him. "No, Regina. You're right. I was out of line."
"Yes, you were," Regina agreed.
"I didn't mean… I just…" Robin stuttered, taking a breath to try and collect his words. "I didn't know. About Leopold, I mean. I had no idea he treated you like that."
"Not many people do," Regina admitted, eyes downcast. "The King couldn't love me, but he refused to let anybody else try."
Robin let go of her hand and grasped her shoulders, waiting until she looked up at him. "Regina… I assure you, it was never my intention to hurt you. I will do all I can to make it up to you."
With a sad smile Regina gently shook her head, trying to brush off their argument, not feeling up to sparring with the thief when the memories of her past marriage were running through her head. "Forget it."
Robin trailed his hands from her shoulders to her cheeks. "Regina, I'm… I'm not used to fighting for someone's attention." Tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear, Robin's eyes catalogued every detail of the face in front of him. From Regina's chocolate brown eyes, to her long lashes, to her full lips and to the scar he had wondered about but never inquired after. "And for someone as beautiful as you… I was naïve for thinking I would be the only person interested in pursuing you."
Regina couldn't help the blush from heating up her cheeks, and she ducked her head to hide the smile now gracing her lips, the thief's hands falling back to her shoulders. "Robin…"
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine." Regina brought her hands up to Robin's face. "But you don't have to fight for anything; you told me you wanted me to yourself. That was enough. I wouldn't—"
"No, I know," Robin assured her, offering a smile.
"Besides," the Queen's gaze turned towards the floor as her voice took on a more sensual tone, "you made your claim on me quite clear last night."
"I did, didn't I?" Regina didn't even need to look up to know that Robin wore a smug smile; she could hear it in every word the thief said.
"Yes, you did." Memories of the events of the previous night flashed before both of them, making Regina's blush deepen and Robin sink his teeth into his lower lip.
"Can I claim you again?" He asked.
Regina looked up at the thief with an exasperated smile, expecting his signature smirk, but his gaze was intense and focused on her lips.
"What? Now?"
Robin leaned forwards until his lips were against her cheek, "I want you, Regina." His hands trailed to her back, one up towards the nape of her neck, the other down towards her backside. "I want to feel your—"
"Okay," Regina leaned back and placed her right index finger on his lips, "Enough of that, Robin. Anyone could walk in."
"Then use your magic and take us to your room," He spoke around her finger before pressing a kiss to it.
"I can't, I'm here to meet the un-Charmings," Regina said with a roll of her eyes.
Robin took the hand silencing him in his as he let his head fell to her shoulder with a groan. "I'm beginning to agree with you about the sabotage; they're always ruining our fun."
Regina let out a wry chuckle, "Tell me about it." Robin raised his head and opened his mouth, just as Regina had done earlier, until she stopped him, "Actually, don't."
As fate would have it, it was that exact moment that Snow reached their general council chamber. Walking in the room she assumed to be empty, the princess was shocked at the unaware couple standing in close quarters. From the angle she was stood at Snow could not see the expression on either of their faces but, she did see Robin's hand trailing up Regina's arm to rest on her shoulder and the Queen pulling back a little. Not wanting to be stuck in the middle of yet another argument between the Queen and the thief, Snow debated if it would be better to just retreat and come back in a few minutes.
Backing up and standing just outside of the door, hidden from sight, Snow waited for the sound of the outlaw receiving a slap to the face or the cracking of his knuckles—having heard the stories of Regina breaking a wandering hand or two in her time as Queen—but she heard nothing.
Peeking around the door, Snow couldn't help but smile at the sight of Regina letting out a low chuckle as Robin leaned even closer to murmur something to her, pulling back with a smile on his face.
Down the hallway, Charming had finally caught up with his wife—having had to stop and talk to Dr. Whale about sending out a group of men to collect medicinal plants—Snow walked towards him and started a conversation, talking loud enough so she knew that the couple inside could break away in good time.
When both the Charmings walked in, Regina was in a chair and leaning over a book, Robin sat on the table a little distance away pretending to read another. If Snow hadn't been with her husband she would have laughed at Robin subtly turning it the right way up, but as far as they knew she hadn't seen anything. Whatever was going on between the two of them was none of her business, even if the curious part of her desperately wanted to know everything about the pair.
Her friendship with Regina was still incredibly fragile at best, and Snow did not want to risk that. So, she would say nothing; nothing about the couple she had seen in a very close embrace or about the Queen apparently enjoying an outlaw's attention, and she would say nothing about the manoeuvre to cover themselves—performed so quickly that Snow knew that this was not the first time they had nearly been caught together.
So, pushing the duo—now pretending they weren't glancing at each other—to the back of her mind, Snow walked towards the table and sat down, patting the seat on her left to encourage her husband to sit beside her.
…
The meeting went as expected; those who had information sharing it when required, a few interruptions when people disagreed, a few mild threats when those disagreements got out of hand and more than a few eyerolls on the Queen's part at everyone's alarming display of stupidity.
Robin, however, couldn't help but feel a bit useless; he didn't have much of anything to contribute, as he had not been officially invited to the meeting. Snow had requested an extra chair at the table for him and had told him to sit without really giving him much choice in the matter.
So there he was, sitting with a dwarf on his right and a princess on his left, listening intently to the conversation around him and trying to recall any information, opinions or experience he had to offer, but so far he had come up with nothing.
Robin leaned back in his chair and looked over at Regina, who was gazing at him with an expression difficult to read, but clearly flirtatious in nature. The thief was unsure if it was the way the Queen was looking at him that stirred the feelings of arousal, or if, perhaps, it was the way that the rich purple corset on her dress dropped in a very low neckline that he had just noticed—he suddenly wanted to trace it with his fingers, and then his tongue.
The outlaw's stomach clenched at the thought, and then his trousers felt a bit too tight and this was unusual; he shouldn't be feeling this much this quickly. Usually, he had time to rein his thoughts in at least a bit before there was a physical reaction. Looking up at Regina and seeing her smirk still growing, Robin couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy as he considered what thoughts might have been running through the Queen's mind, she probably knew all about his problem already. And Robin doubted that her majesty would help him out in the slightest.
Robin was startled when he felt a hand pressing gently into his crotch, just managing to stifle a yelp. Looking down, Robin was completely confounded when he saw nothing there. Then he looked back up at Regina and noticed she was still grinning at him.
Robin worked out what she was doing. And he bloody hated her for it.
When the pressure increased slightly, Robin jerked his leg into the table, knocking over a few of the books and making Snow and Red jump in shock. Charming looked over at Robin— now grimacing as he rubbed his sore knee—and asked if he was alright. After he replied in the affirmative, Robin looked over to Regina, who had schooled her expression into the picture of innocence, and sent a glare her way.
The pressure lifted and Robin took a deep breath in, thankful that he could finally concentrate on the conversations around him. But then there was a feather light touch against his knee, slowly crawling inch by torturous inch up his thigh, and his breath started to become uneven again. Robin couldn't work out if this was better or worse than when she pressed flush against him.
Looking up at Regina, he saw the tip of her tongue swipe her parted lips. Then, he felt the same warm, wet touch at the tip of him his eyes closed and his jaw clenched. With his hands grasping the arms of his chair so tightly that his knuckles turned white, he sent her a warning glare, although it waned into contentment as her magic became more focussed and the thief could feel it mimicking the palm of her hand, trailing up and down his length in time with his breaths.
What was she thinking? He knew she was bold and reckless, but this? This was a dangerous game, even for her. Charming kept glancing over at Robin, silently asking if he was alright, and each time Robin replied with a nod, which was—thankfully—enough to placate the prince. But if he ever needed to give a verbal response, it was unlikely that the thief could convince them that everything was fine.
Because everything was not fine.
Robin was having difficulty breathing evenly and he kept shifting in his seat, trying to alleviate some of the pressure of his too-tight trousers, without reaching down and adjusting – which he would never get away with, sitting at a table with five other people. It was no use, and he was loathe to admit that he had no option but to sit through the Evil Queen's torture and pretend that he didn't want to be close enough to return the favour.
Although he wasn't near enough to reach her, Robin let his mind wander with ideas of how to exact his revenge at a later date. He could sit next to her at the next meeting, pray that she wore her leather trousers or something similar with easy access, and she would be the one caught out of breath and trying to maintain eye contact with the prince and princess, whilst her mind was clouded and she could think of nothing other than fucking the person responsible for her unsettled nerves.
Or, perhaps, he could torture her somewhere less public. Somewhere he could tease and tease her until she was right on the edge, then stop, and then repeat. Somewhere he would make her beg and plead with him, and only then would he even consider being merciful. Because whilst she may have been the Queen of the castle, she was just Regina to him. And he didn't mind teaching Regina a little lesson on how to behave in public.
Because this was not fair.
She gave him a mischievous smirk and he watched her rest her head on her hand, biting on one of her fingers and raising her eyebrows, her eyes staring straight into his. Then, it felt as if she had wrapped her hand around him completely, and Robin couldn't supress the deep, guttural groan that escaping his lips.
Charming looked at him in concern, "Robin? Are you okay?"
"Fine," Robin replied through gritted teeth. "Only a headache."
He looked to Regina and saw her hiding a smile behind her fingers, her mischievous eyes peeking out at him. Robin looked away and tried to focus on something—anything—other than the fact that he was almost over the edge, without even having been touched. But when the Queen's pace became firmer, faster, Robin sank his teeth into his bottom lip to stifle a moan, and Regina continued to watch him squirm, thoroughly amused.
Clenching his fists, Robin started to breathe heavily through his nose. He knew that if he opened his mouth, the game would be over and everyone around the table would be embarrassingly aware of just what, exactly, was wrong with him. Robin swallowed and prayed that either this torment would stop incredibly soon, or everyone would be too damn occupied in conversation to notice the Prince of Thieves coming in his pants—a fate that could easily come true, if Regina continued this unique brand of torture of hers.
But she didn't; she stopped. Moments before Robin lost control.
Robin sent a fierce glare her way. Although, if you were to ask him, Robin couldn't honestly say if the glare was because Regina had started this mess, or because she refused to finish it.
The outlaw's desperate thoughts turned to just taking her on the table, removing all the books and bending her over, pulling up her skirts and thrusting into her without caring for anything else. The others could stay and watch for all he cared; this urgent need to be inside her muddled his sense of reasoning.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Robin's head whipped to his left to look at Snow, her brows furrowed in worry as the rest of the table gaped at him.
Robin was aiming to say "I'm fine", but just as he got past "I", the sensations of Regina taking him into her mouth overwhelmed him and his head fell forward to hide his gasp. His eyes closed for a second and he took a deep, shaky breath, trying to compose himself before he attempted to answer again.
"I'm—" he paused once more at the feeling of Regina's nails scraping down his thighs, "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?" asked Regina innocently from across the table, "You look a bit worked up."
It took Regina all the willpower that she had to not laugh at the outlaw's glare; if looks could kill, then the kingdom would definitely need a new reigning monarch. But, as it were, Robin rose to his feet and left. Walking out of the room with his fists clenched, unsteady footfalls and a slightly different gait, the thief was simply unable to endure a second more. Regina grinned at the sound of the door slamming, feeling somewhat proud of her ability to rile the usually calm thief enough to make him storm out.
Red, Grumpy, Snow and Charming traded glances, their confusion evident at the cause of the archer's sudden departure. Then Snow's gaze fell on Regina. Looking down at her hands placed in her lap with a smug smile, it was completely obvious that Robin had left because of something she had done. Snow rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"Regina," Snow sighed, "whatever you've just done, go and fix it."
"What?" asked Regina, keeping up the pretences of her innocence. "Why does everyone assume when anyone goes off in a huff that it's always my fault?"
"Because it usually is," Charming offered.
Regina glared at him.
"Regina, just go and apologise," Snow ordered.
"I didn't—" Regina stopped when she realised that she had just been given an excuse to go missing for a while, and she could—finally—fuck the outlaw into the ground. Hiding her sudden enthusiasm—and the reasoning behind it she mustered up a frustrated sigh and stood with false reluctance. "Fine," huffed the Queen.
Leaving the table and walking toward the door, Regina's smile grew with every step she took.
That smile turned into a chuckle when she closed the heavy door behind her and set out to follow the outlaw.
This was going to be fun.
