I hope you guys are ready for the angst, 'cause it's coming real soon...
Chapter Thirteen
"Good trip, I take it?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow as Regina stepped into her home, finally, after a long, turbulent flight.
"What makes you think that?"
"You're grinning like an idiot," Ruby shrugged. Though they never discussed it, Ruby wasn't so naive as to not figure out exactly what Regina did on her trips away.
Regina scowled, as she hated to ever appear transparent. "I'm just happy to be home and see my son. Where is he?"
"I put him down for a nap about twenty minutes ago. I didn't expect you back so soon," Ruby shrugged.
"I caught an earlier flight," Regina said, finally dropping her bags in the hallway and walking over to pour herself a drink.
"Oh, so things didn't go as well as I thought," Ruby said, following her.
"Miss Lucas, I don't know what you are referring to."
Truthfully, the issue wasn't that things didn't go well, it was that things were going too well. As much as she hated to admit it, she liked Emma, and she feared that even a few more hours with her, and she would have been buying her a plane ticket and bringing her home to Storybrooke.
And that just couldn't happen.
If it weren't enough that Regina never wanted to find herself tied down to one person, willingly or not, she knew she couldn't bring Emma to Storybrooke for the simple fact that she would realize something was wrong. How long before Emma realized that time didn't move here?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Henry crying. She turned to Ruby before going to get her son. "Thanks for everything, Miss Lucas. I've got it from here."
Ruby let herself out as Regina headed up to Henry's room, and lifted the toddler from his bed. Henry's little face lit up as soon as he saw her. "Hello, my prince," Regina cooed, as she carried Henry over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room. "Did you miss Mommy?"
Henry grinned and hugged her tight, as he nestled into her lap. He was asleep again in moments, but Regina was content to sit and rock with him for a while. As she rubbed his back absently, her mind drifted back to Emma again.
As her mind wandered, she wondered what it might be like to come home after a business trip and be greeted by Henry and Emma. Would they pick her up at the airport? She guessed maybe they would. And maybe they'd all go out to dinner. Or perhaps just spend a quiet evening at home, cuddled up in front of the fireplace.
And once Henry was in bed, she and Emma could cuddle and kiss and make love.
Regina shook her head, berating herself silently as she stood to put Henry back down. She and Emma did not 'make love'. They fucked, plain and simple. Regina was not about to let herself develop feelings for this girl.
It was a week after she'd been home that Regina received a text from Emma. The girl had a bad habit of texting her late at night on weekends, and Regina was sure she could safely assume that Emma was drunk. Regina rarely answered, as she didn't want to encourage this behaviour. Emma needed boundaries.
Heeyyyy… has it been 8 wks yet? ;)
Regina stared at the screen for longer than was probably necessary, debating - as always - whether or not to respond.
It's been one week. If you're bored, call your redhead.
My redhead has a gf now :( I'm lonely.
That's unfortunate. How drunk are you?
Not at all. I'm not even out. I'm home and sober and bored and lonely.
Regina sighed and looked at the clock. It was past midnight, and Henry was unlikely to wake up now until morning. She grabbed the baby monitor anyway, and headed into her study, where she could shut the door and Henry wouldn't hear her.
Despite her better judgment, she called Emma. And not surprisingly, Emma picked up on the first ring.
"Hey!" came the blonde's breathless voice, clearly surprised.
"What are you wearing?"
Emma laughed out loud. "Wow, that's classy. Uh, underwear and a tank top. If I'd known you were calling I'd have-"
"Take it off," Regina said, cutting Emma off mid-sentence.
"Uh, okay," Emma replied, and Regina could hear a few moments of muffled noises in the background, and she knew Emma was stripping. "Okay, now I'm naked. Are we going to have phone sex or something?"
This time, Regina laughed. "You are. You said you're bored, didn't you?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Go lie on your bed, and put your phone on speaker, next to your ear. You'll need your hands free."
More moments of shuffling, and Regina heard the change in the phone's sound, and she knew she was on speaker.
"Okay, ready," Emma said, eagerly.
"Good girl. Now tell me what you would do to me if I were there right now."
There was a pause, and Regina knew the question had caught Emma off-guard, since it was never Emma doing anything other than what she was told.
"Uh, I'd kiss you."
"How?"
"Hard. Against the wall."
Regina smirked. "I highly doubt that," she mused.
"Ok, I'd be against the wall," Emma conceded, knowing it was true. "And I, uh…"
Regina smiled to herself, loving that even after all this time, Emma sounded so innocent, when Regina knew for a fact she was anything but.
"What would you do to your redhead?"
Emma groaned audible. "I don't want to think about what I'd do to her. I only want to think about what you'd do to me."
"And what would you like me to do to you?"
"Whatever you want…" Emma drawled.
"Hmm… I want to tie you up again, but I guess that will just have to wait."
"What else do you want?"
Regina relaxed into her chair and closed her eyes, envisioning Emma's body in her mind. "I would kiss you, so hard, and then run my tongue down your jaw, and your neck, and your collarbone. I'd run my hands up your body, from your hips to your ribs, and then squeeze those exquisite breasts of yours. Are you doing it?"
"Mm-hmm…"
"I'd pinch your nipples, and maybe bite one, just a little… just enough to hear a whimper…"
And Emma did whimper, and it sent a jolt right to Regina's core.
"I'd keep playing with that one between my fingers, while I slid my other hand down your stomach to your… do you have ice?"
"What?" came Emma's confused gasp.
"Ice. Ice cubes. Do you have any?"
"Uhhh… yeah?"
"Go get some, in a bowl, and come back."
In the minutes that Emma was gone, Regina slid her hand into her own pants, under her panties, and began to massage the wet folds there, to relieve some of the pressure building up in her own core.
"Back!" Emma said, making startling Regina. She only faltered for a moment, and continued to worked her own fingers effortlessly, massaging her clit as she regained control.
"Good. Lie back as you were, keep that ice within reach. What are you doing now?"
Emma giggled through the phone. "Uh, I'm playing with my nipple and waiting to touch my pussy."
Regina cringed. "Don't… use that word. I hate it. Slide your fingers to your cunt and tell me how wet you are."
"Mmmm so wet…"
Regina hummed her approval as she continued to rub circles around her engorged clit. "Go slow… Emma… feel yourself. Close your eyes and slide your fingers inside… two… imagine they're my fingers."
"Fuck…" Emma voice was just a whisper now.
"Keep moving your fingers, slowly, in and out…. get one of those ice cubes… rub it on your nipple…"
"Shit! Regina that's cold!"
Regina chuckled. "It's ice, dear. What did you expect? Don't stop… rub it on both nipples… back and forth… it's starting to feel good, isn't it?"
"Mmm-hmmm…."
"Tell me when it's melted…" Regina closed her eyes and listened to the low moans coming through the phone now.
"It's gone…"
"Pick up another one… rub it on your clit…"
"What? It's cold Regina! You can't be serious!"
"Have you ever known me not to be serious?"
Regina listened to the whimpers on the other end, and she knew Emma was doing as she was told. "How does that feel?"
"Mmm… good… cold…"
"Keep rubbing your clit when the ice is gone… imagine it's me… tell me how good I make you feel…"
"So good… you don't… even… fucking know…" Emma's breath was becoming more and more laboured.
"Are you close?"
"Mmm… yes!"
"Come for me, Emma."
Right on cue, Emma let out a long, low moan, followed by a whispered "fuck….". The word was enough to send Regina over the edge, silently, as she didn't want Emma to know she was just as affected as she was.
"Still bored?" Regina asked, after a few long moments of shared silence.
"No… thank you," Emma breathed into the phone. It was still on speaker, and Regina could tell the blonde was nearly asleep.
"Move that ice off your bed, Emma, before you fall asleep."
"Mmm. Okay…"
Regina wasn't sure if she actually did it, and she supposed that would be Emma's issued to deal with if she suddenly rolled over onto it in the night. She listened as Emma's breathing became steady and rhythmic, and assumed she had, in fact, fallen asleep.
"Good night, Emma," Regina said, quietly, and was about to hang up when she caught Emma's mumbled, sleepy voice on the other end.
"I love you, Regina."
"Mmmm… what the fuck?" Emma murmured, still half asleep, as she rolled into a large wet puddle on her bed. She blinked her eyes open, and sure enough, the bowl of melted ice had tipped over in the night, and now her bed was soaked.
"Fucking wonderful," she mumbled, scooting away from the wet spot, and grabbing her phone from the pillow. She didn't remember falling asleep, but her call log said the call had been ended at 12:36am. She guessed Regina must have hung up when Emma passed out. The last thing she remembered was Regina telling her to move the ice.
Which she clearly did not.
She debated whether or not she should text Regina again. Usually she opted not to, but since last night had gone so well, she decided it was worth a shot.
Thx for last night… we should do that again sometime ;)
Emma tossed the phone back on her nightstand, not expecting a text back any time soon. Regina rarely texted back, but Emma wondered if that would change after last night. She tried not to let herself dwell on the possibility, as she got up and pulled the wet sheets from her bed, and got ready to start her day.
Regina stared at the text on her screen. She was already awake - or, rather still awake, as she'd not been able to sleep after hanging up on Emma the night before.
She had spent the night chastising herself for letting what was supposed to be a one night stand three years ago evolve to the point of half asleep confessions of love.
Of course, Regina knew Emma didn't love her. How could she? She barely even knew her. After three years, Emma had only even learned Regina's last name a week ago. And Regina was glad she knew nothing about her. Truthfully, she knew nothing more about Emma than how to make her come, and in her mind, that's the way it should be. Her time with Emma had been fun, but she knew she couldn't let it continue, not now. It had already gone way too far.
She called her cell phone provider at 9:00am to have her number changed.
Weeks went by, and still Emma hadn't heard from Regina. All her texts went unanswered, and she obsessively replayed their last night together - well, separate, but together - over and over in her mind, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.
She tried to convince herself that this was just Regina being Regina, and trying to enforce that this was just sex, and nothing more. Emma guessed she shouldn't have sent the morning after text, as she couldn't think of another thing she'd done wrong.
When it neared eight weeks since Regina had last been in Tallahassee, and she still hadn't heard from her, Emma started to worry.
What if Regina wasn't mad at all? What if something terrible had happened to her? She needed to know.
She called Regina.
Emma's jaw dropped when she heard the voice come through the other end, telling her that the number she had dialed was not in service.
"That fucking bitch!" Emma cried, chucking her phone across the room. Regina had changed her number, Emma was sure. She had been wasting her times sending texts into oblivion because she was texting a number that didn't even exist anymore.
Emma was shaking now, with rage, and betrayal. She hated the hot tears that were working their way down her cheeks now. Why should she even cry? She used to used to this by now. Every single person in her life: her birth parents, every foster parent, Neal… they'd all abandoned her when she needed them. Why should Regina be any different?
She supposed she shouldn't even be upset with Regina. After all, wasn't it Emma who was the common denominator in all of this? Deep down, she knew no one would ever keep her. She was so unlovable as a newborn that her birth mother had tossed her on the side of the highway, so why should she expect different now?
But Regina had felt different. The lack of expectation, the lack of commitment, that had felt safe to Emma. She had assumed she couldn't be left, if there was no relationship to leave.
Now she knew, she had been dead wrong.
Regina had cancelled her trip to Tallahassee, opting to send one of her actual interns instead. Even though she had changed her number, she knew she and Emma had a bad habit of running into each other by accident, and she wasn't about to risk that. It needed to be a clean break. It didn't feel good to hurt Emma, but she knew just telling it was over wouldn't be enough for the girl. She had to hurt her, so that Emma wouldn't want to pursue her any longer.
It wasn't what Regina wanted, but she knew, there wasn't any other way.
Sooooo….. what do you think? Have Emma seen the last of Regina? Will she have to wait till she's 28 and Henry comes to find her, or will fate have other things in store for these ladies, who just can't seem to stay apart, no matter what part of the country they happen to be in.
(BTW I've already decided which it will be, I'm just wondering how you all think it will go!)
Tune in next Wednesday to find out!