Author's Notes:
Special Thanks to ale_nena for her constant support and feedback with this chapter.
Setting: Misthaven non-magical modern AU. The society and political system will be based on a combination of modern countries, with a probable bias toward the American system as I am an American. However, all characters are fictional and resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidence.
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The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon casting a pinkish grey haze as Regina emerged from the front door. Chilly morning wind brought goosebumps to her skin even through her winter coat and hose. As she carefully walked down the front steps past the frost covered bushes, she wasn't consciously aware of the smile that crossed her lips when she saw that Robin was her assigned security for the day. In fact, if asked she would have denied the smile, and that she slowed her pace a little to get a few more seconds to watch him standing there in the morning light, the cold fogging his breath as he stood waiting for her next to the car.
"Morning," he said catching her eye secretively as he opened the door for her.
"Good morning to you," she answered, returning the look as she slid inside.
She settled her briefcase next to her in the seatwell as he walked around to the driver's side, got in, and fired up the engine.
"We're going to need to make a stop before heading to the foundation," she informed him.
"Okay," Robin answered, turning the car down the drive toward the main road, "Where are we going?"
"Andalasia," Regina answered, "I need to pick up my dress for tonight."
"Ah," he nodded, stopping at the gate to punch in the security code and wait for the gate to open. They rode in silence as he turned onto the main road, and then merged onto the highway.
Regina was scrolling through emails on her phone as they got up to speed. Without missing a beat he reached over and pried one of her hands off the phone.
She was just glancing at him questioningly, when he brought her hand to his lips and gently pressed a kiss to her knuckles and murmured, "Happy Birthday."
She couldn't fully suppress an eyeroll, but managed to sincerely respond, "Thank you...I really don't like making a big deal out of it, though."
He laughed, "A party with 100 guests isn't a big deal?"
"It's more like 200 actually, and, yeah, that's precisely what I mean, I'd prefer not to make a big deal out of it!"
"Oh," he answered, "Well, I'm sure it'll be fun."
She raised one eyebrow at him, "You haven't been to enough of these parties to figure out what they're for? It's just another excuse to entertain A-listers who might someday be important political allies."
"But some of them are your friends, right?"
She shrugged, "Lily will be there. Careful, you'll miss the turnoff to The Galleria!"
Robin glanced back at the road, dropping her hand to grip the steering wheel and quickly switch lanes over toward the off ramp. He steered the car through the winding roads into the shopping mall and found a spot in the parking deck.
The stores were just opening as he and Regina walked through the sparkling marble walkways to her favorite dress shop. They got there 30 minutes before the official opening time, but the owner opened the door for them as soon as she spotted them.
"Regina! So good to see you," the redheaded woman greeted with a warm smile, "I assume you're here for your gown for your birthday party?"
"Yes," Regina said, not quite managing to keep the sigh out of her voice, "Mother said she called and discussed what she wanted with you?"
"Yes, and I think I have something that you'll both love!"
With that the shop owner escorted Regina to the dressing area to show her whatever outfit she had in mind.
After taking a quick scan of the shop to make sure there were no other people or entrances he didn't know about, Robin sat down in one of the white chairs near the dressing rooms. The chair wasn't overly uncomfortable, so he simply watched the activity outside the front door as businesses began opening for the day.
The two women had a discussion for a while, most of which was over his head, before the shop owner sent Regina to a dressing room to try on her gown, and went back to the cash register area to begin putting some other slinky dresses on hangers. Making sure she was distracted, Robin rose from the chair and slowly made his way back into the dressing area.
Each room was hidden by a set of white saloon doors, glancing at the floor he saw Regina's painted toenails under stall at the very end. Stepping over, he held onto the two swinging doors and glanced over the lowest curve at the top.
Regina was inside wearing a silky dark green dress, the back mostly open as she tried fiddled with the little white buttons that started at the curve of her hip. Glancing up, she made eye contact with him in the mirror, "Nosy much?"
"It's my job," he defended.
She chuckled, "Oh, this is what my parents pay you for, huh?"
He pursed his lips against a laugh, and pushed one of the doors open. Stepping inside, he motioned to her and said, "Here."
Turning around, she gathered her hair up and lifted it away from her back. Working a little more slowly than was strictly necessary, he buttoned the dress up past her waist and the exposed band of her bra. He recognized it as a black lace one he'd seen her wear before.
"Thank you," she muttered, dropping her hair after he buttoned the top button, and smoothing down the skirt with a sigh.
"You look beautiful," he told her, admiring how, even with the fairly conservative style, the sleek material hugged her in all the right places.
"Yeah," she sighed with a shrug, lifting her hair and signaling for him to start unbuttoning the dress, "Mother should like it anyway."
"You don't?" Robin asked as he began undoing the buttons.
"The dress is fine," she answered, "I'm not worried about that."
He looked at her, confused by her listless demeanor, "You can't really be this upset about going to a party that's for you?"
She sighed again, "I just...don't have much energy for it today."
"Well how bad could it be?" he asked, "I mean if nothing else you get drinks, cake, and presents, right?"
"There will definitely be drinks and, yeah, probably cake," she answered, "but I won't be having any of those. I'm watching my figure."
He quirked his lips, blatantly glancing down her exposed back, "Me too."
She glared at him over her shoulder, "Very funny. Come on, get out of here before Giselle sees you!"
Nodding, he pushed back through the swinging doors and went back to the plush white chairs in the waiting area. The redheaded shop owner was still sorting through clothing at the register as he sat down. After a few moments, Regina emerged from the dressing room and she immediately perked up, "What did you think?"
"It's lovely," Regina answered smiling politely, "Thank you, Giselle, it's perfect."
"Oh, don't worry about it. You know you're one of my best clients," she answered, "Should I go ahead and bag it up for you?"
"Yes please, a garment bag if you don't mind. I need it for tonight."
"Of course!" Giselle answered, looking appalled at the thought of anything else. She went back to the dressing room for a few minutes and emerged with a white garment bag, "Here you are and I'll just charge this to your account."
"Thank you very much," Regina answered, picking up the garment bag and leading the way out the door.
"Here, I've got it," Robin said, taking the bag out of her hands. She looked at him with an amused expression, obviously thinking of their disastrous first trip to this shopping center and how much he'd objected to carrying her things that time.
"It's your birthday," he shrugged.
She laughed heartily, "Oh I see. Very generous of you, Locksley. I suppose you're going to tell me this counts as my present?"
His expression fell and he pursed his lips uncomfortably before admitting, "I didn't get you anything. I'm sorry. I was going to, really, but I couldn't figure out what you'd like."
She shook off the apology as they walked out to the parking deck, "Don't worry about it. You don't need to get me anything."
He stopped as they arrived at the car and she unlocked it, took the garment bag from him, and hung it in the backseat. As she closed the back door, he met her eyes, "Regina, it's your birthday."
"Robin, don't worry about it, really. When it comes to gifts...I never use most of the ones I get, so I really don't even pay attention to them."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
She looked at him a bit sadly as she said, "The people who come to these events all bring gifts, and it's more gift cards, and spa days, and spin classes, and free cruises than I could ever use! I mean that literally, there isn't enough time in the world for anyone to use all of it."
His lips dropped open at the thought, "So they just get thrown out?"
"No," she answered opening the passenger's side door, "We find uses for them. Charity raffles, prizes at fundraising events, that sort of thing."
"You don't get to keep your own birthday presents?"
She laughed, "I'd have thought you'd approve of me giving them away since I don't need them?"
With that she shut the door. He walked over to the driver's side, shame starting to burn it's way through his gut.
As he got in the car, he shut the door firmly and began, "Listen, Regina-"
"Robin don't," she cut him off gently, "I was only teasing you."
"I never meant-"
"I know!" she interjected again, "I wasn't implying you did. And you can stop looking so sad! Most of this stuff these people bring is useless crap that I wouldn't want to use even if I did have the time. It isn't like these people know me. They only bring gifts because they're afraid of offending my parents if they don't. It isn't a big deal, I keep telling you that! Now come on, let's go. I want to get to the office."
She turned to look out the windshield, her body language clearly conveying that she expected the conversation to end there.
Wordlessly he started up the car and drove them back to the highway. They continued on for about six more exits before he pulled off and drove them through the congested streets of downtown to the Mills Foundation headquarters. He scanned his access badge to gain entry to the parking garage and turned into a space near the elevator. Placing the car in park, he rested his hands on the steering wheel.
"Are you sure you want to go to work today?" he asked.
"What do you mean?" Regina asked.
"Well your party isn't until 7 tonight. That gives you all day to do whatever you want," he pointed out.
"Such as?"
"I don't know! Anything."
Regina simply looked at him skeptically.
Trying to think, he suggested, "Bars, restaurants...they all have birthday specials. It's tradition isn't it? Getting as much free food and drinks as you can on your birthday?"
She smiled, "I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I told you I'm trying to watch my weight."
"Well that's ridiculous!" he protested, "It's only one day, and you don't need to worry about your weight anyway!"
"I'm not particularly worried about it, but Mother wants me to make sure I don't gain any winter weight because of upcoming spring events," Regina answered, "Look can we just drop this? I really don't want to spend my birthday arguing with you about my birthday!"
He sighed but agreed, "Alright, I'm sorry."
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Robin sat outside of Regina's office, occasionally glancing at her through the glass doors. She'd been sitting at her desk typing something off and on for the past few hours. Overall, she looked totally engrossed in her work.
Quietly sliding his phone out of his jacket pocket, he typed out a message to her and hit SEND.
Regina's phone dinged announcing the arrival of a new text message. Frowning, she saved the memo she'd been typing up, picked up her phone, and opened the text.
"You know there's another birthday tradition we didn't talk about…"
She glanced out the glass wall of her office at where Robin was sitting outside the door. By all appearances, he appeared to be doing nothing besides thumbing through today's newspaper.
With a sigh, she typed out a response.
"Oh yeah? What does this one involve? Is this going to turn into another fight about food?"
She managed to type a few more lines of her memo before a response arrived.
Funny you should put it that way…
"What?" she asked.
"Well it involves eating but not food…"
She read the message in confusion before typing, "Robin, come on! What are you getting at?"
His response came after a few long moments, "A tradition where you'd be the one on the menu."
Regina swallowed and typed out a response.
She glanced over at where he was sitting, finding that he was looking up at her too. Their eyes met for a moment, causing her flush more deeply, before she shifted in her seat and responded.
"Very funny."
"Who says I'm joking?" he typed back.
She sighed, "Well you must be because I'm at work right now, and the estate is crawling with people getting ready for tonight! We'd be certain to get caught trying that today!"
"So you are interested?"
She huffed out a sigh and typed, "That's what you got out of what I said?!"
"I try to focus on the important things ;-)"
Regina glanced over at him again, noticing him shooting her a mirthful look over his newspaper. Shaking her head she answered.
"Yeah, sure you do!"
After a few silent moments, she typed another message, "Look, I know it's been awhile. In truth I wouldn't mind but...I don't think it's possible right now."
"I promise I'll make it worth your while...," he responded.
She let out a breath, feeling herself starting to flush down to the neckline of her blouse.
"You're not playing fair!"
":-)"
Was the only response she got. Crossing her legs more tightly against the heat throbbing between them, Regina looked back up at her computer trying to focus on what she'd been writing again. After reading over the last line two or three times, she deflated with a huff.
"Are you actually serious?"
She watched through the window as Robin took his phone out of his pocket, read the text message, and typed back a response. Her phone dinged a moment later and she picked it up.
"When am I ever not?"
Catching her bottom lip between her teeth, Regina contemplated this for a moment. However, deep down, she knew that she could never say 'no' when he got like this.
She did, however, let him sweat a little before typing back a response.
"Alright, just wait a moment and then go along with me…"
With that she deleted the conversation from her phone, and turned her attention back to finishing up her memo.
From his seat, Robin read her response, smiled to himself, and, somewhat regretfully, deleted the messages.
She stayed in her office for a good 20 minutes while he tried to turn his attention back to the newspaper he'd been reading. His mind, however, was already...other places.
Finally, Regina stepped out of her office and over to him, "Locksley, I need you to check in with the rest of the team at the home and make sure everything is in place for tonight."
"I think Drake would have called if he needed my help," Robin said, playing along with the ruse.
"He did. He just called to make sure I wasn't going anywhere besides the office this afternoon," she responded.
"I haven't gotten any calls or texts from him," he made a show of checking his phone.
"Well you'll have to ask him about that," Regina said impatiently.
He sighed, telling her to make sure she waited for him to get back before leaving the office.
Once Robin was out the door, Lily, who had overheard the exchange, look at her with raised eyebrows and commented, "Ditching your shadow? What's going on?"
Regina smiled, "I have a lunch date."
"Oh?"
"I also need a favor."
"From me?" Lily asked.
"Yeah," she nodded, "Since you're going to be at work anyway could I maybe borrow your apartment this afternoon?"
"Oh, that kind of lunch date," Lily laughed. Regina didn't comment, but looked at the other woman expectantly.
Finally she sighed and fished a spare key out of her purse, "Alright, but not in my bedroom! I mean it Regina!"
"Thank you," she grabbed the keys and made her way outside. From their conversation earlier, she was certain Robin had taken the car. She didn't really mind, though. The temperature had warmed up to be pleasant enough to take off her coat.
She draped it over her arm and started walking across the street in the direction of Lily's apartment. The other woman lived about 10 blocks from the Mills Foundation headquarters in a high rise luxury condo. She also lived alone, making it the perfect place to find privacy.
Once she was about half-way there, Regina took out her phone and texted Robin the address. After hitting SEND, she put her phone away in her purse, feeling a zing of thrill travel through her.
She was actually doing this! Playing hooky from work to have sex. That was so unlike her...and yet she absolutely was doing it, and, honestly, didn't feel at all bad about it!
As she reached Lily's apartment, she happened to walk by the businesses on the ground floor and saw that one had a sign out front that said Ginger's. Blinking in surprise, she walked over to see if it really was….yes it was!
It was her favorite bakery in Unity City. When had they opened a second location?
Staring into the window, she made an abrupt decisions to stop feeling bad about something else, and shoved the door open.
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She opened the door on the second knock, quickly ushering Robin inside, and pushing him up against it with a kiss.
"Mmm," he moaned, sliding his hands down her back and over her bottom.
She broke away, laughing at how he always did that. He smiled, completely unapologetically, kissing her again. Lifting one hand to tangle in her hair, he gently stroked her ear with his thumb.
She sighed against his lips, pulling him closer to her and whispering seductively, "What took you so long?"
He laughed again, "Mid-day traffic from circling the block while waiting for you to tell me what your plan was. That was sneaky of you."
"Well you see I know this former thief who is a very bad influence."
"Oh, is that so?" he asked.
"Yes," she answered, "Why else would I be sneaking into my friend's apartment while everyone thinks I'm at work?"
His smile fell slightly, and he stroked her ear again, "Because it's your birthday and you deserve to give yourself a break on occasion."
She swallowed hard at the sincerity in his gaze, clearing her throat before speaking again, "Yeah well...you made some pretty big promises back at the office."
"Hmm," he hummed, brushing her hair back and leaning in to kiss her neck. She squirmed as his whiskers tickled her.
"So..." she prompted, "...are you actually going to follow through or was it just talk?"
He pulled back to look at her, "You got demanding pretty quickly, Your Majesty."
She shrugged, but he didn't seem to mind, instead he kissed her one last time, crouched down, lifted her up off her feet, and began carrying her further into the apartment, "Where's the bedroom?"
Giggling, Regina pointed him in the direction of the guest room.
Shoving the door open, Robin carried her inside, and allowed the two of them to tumble onto the bed. Pulling on the lapels of his suit jacket, Regina captured his lips, parting her legs to allow him to settle between them.
She flexed her feet to kick her heels off onto the floor and stripped his jacket down off his shoulders.
Releasing her lips, he shrugged the jacket the rest of the way off. Tossing it aside, he leaned back over her, slowly running his hands up her thighs, pushing her skirt up in the process.
Regina sighed as he began gently nipping behind her ear, turning her insides to warm mush. Regaining her senses after a moment, she lifted her hands to his waistband and began tugging the tails of his shirt out.
He copied the action, pulling her blouse out and making quick work of the buttons. When he opened the last one, he leaned back to admire her as she laid back against the pillows in just her skirt and bra. He'd been right earlier about which one she was wearing. The dark color looked so beautiful against her skin, and the lace weave showed tantalizing glimpses of pink nipple beneath.
She smirked up at him, lifting her foot to run up his side. He gently caught her ankle so that he could position her legs, and kiss the inside of her knee through her hose. He placed similarly gentle kisses up her inner thigh, until he was laying with his head in her lap, nipping at the skin just above the top edge of her stockings.
Squirming in arousal, Regina placed her hands over where his were resting on her hips and guided them up to the waistband of her garter belt and panties.
Taking the hint, Robin hooked his fingers under the elastic and slid the undergarments, along with the attached nylons down her legs, untangled the sheer material from her feet, and tossed it aside.
Her hands immediately flew to the buttons on his shirt, which she began to undo. Quickly, he tugged at his tie in an attempt to undo it, but ended up fumbling with the knot.
Groaning in annoyance, he regretfully removed both hands from Regina's gorgeous body to work on fixing the mess he'd made.
With a grin, Regina took advantage of the distraction to continue to unbutton his shirt to just below the top button, and pull his undershirt up to expose the sensitive skin beneath of his lower belly. She ran her nails over the area gently, sliding her hand beneath the waistband of his pants as she went. Her hand brushed against his cock teasingly, as she reached all the way down to cup his balls.
With a growl, he yanked the tie off and threw it aside. Gripping Regina's hand, he pulled it out of his pants and pinned it, along with her other one, above her head.
She laughed, nipping at his lips.
Letting go of her wrists, he grabbed her underneath her knees and bit down on her inner thigh.
She hissed, tangling her fingers in his hair. He soothed the bite with his tongue, kissing his way up to place an open mouthed kiss on her sex.
A moan fell from her lips and her head fell back into the pillows as he flattened his tongue and licked wetly from her entrance to her clit.
Agonizingly slowly he circled her nub, making her legs shake.
"Oh Gods," she cried, "Robin, please!"
He smiled against her flesh continuing to tease her, backing away whenever she tilted her hips in an effort to get his mouth where she needed it most.
Finally, when she couldn't take it any longer, she gripped his hair and yanked him up to growl, "Fuck me now!"
He shook off her grip long enough to shed the rest of his clothes and retrieve a condom from his wallet.
Kneeling in front of her, he lifted one of her legs over his shoulder and slid himself inside her.
She gasped in relief and pleasured, wrapping her other leg around his back, and digging her nails into his shoulders as he started to move.
She rocked her hips, meeting him with every thrust.
Regina came first, back arching as intense pleasure rolled over her.
Gripping her hips, Robin followed her into oblivion.
They clung to each other, sweat beading between their bodies as they came back to earth.
When she caught her breath, Regina nipped Robins lips.
He chuckled, kissing her gently before rolling off her.
"Wow," he breathed.
She laughed, "Yeah."
After a few minutes, he stood from the bed and took a tissue from the box on the nightstand to remove the condom.
Regina stood as well, retrieving his discarded shirt from the floor and putting it on.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" she teased looking back at him over her shoulder, "Just get comfortable, Locksley. I'll be right back."
He laughed, but got back into bed as instructed.
Smiling to herself, Regina padded to the kitchen where she'd stored her box from Ginger's. The cake inside was chocolate buttermilk with honeycomb frosting. She took a plate and knife out to cut a slice and cut herself off a large bite with a fork. It was deliciously sinful.
Humming happily, she went back to the bedroom.
When she got there, she leaned against the doorway, jutting out her hip as she took another bite of cake.
Robin's eyebrows shot up as he caught sight of her, "Where'd you get that?"
"I bought it on the way here," she explained, walking over to sit down next to him on the bed. She forked a piece and offered it, "Want some?"
He opened his mouth to allow her to feed him a piece.
"Good?" she chuckled.
"Yes, it is," he licked the frosting from his lips, giving her a naughty look, "Not quite as good as you."
Regina rolled her eyes, eating another bite of cake.
"Hey," he called her attention, easing his hand into her hair, "Are you happy?"
"Yeah," she nodded, looking into his eyes, "Robin, I'm happy."
They stared at each other for a few moments before, he took the plate out of her hand and set it on the floor next to the bed.
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her into his lap and kissed her, tapping his nose against hers.
She sighed, hand resting against his chest, "I guess we should be getting back?"
"We could…" he nodded, undoing on of the buttons on his shirt to cup her breast, "...or we could stay a little longer?"
Regina smiled, allowing him to ease his shirt off her as they got lost in each other all over again.