Author's note: In advance, I have to say, don't worry! The story will not end here. There are three more chapters at least. And thanks so much for all of your reviews and helpful suggestions and encouraging words
Chapter 8:
An early evening run, followed by a chicken sandwich (she had very specific cravings when ill), followed by a hot shower eased Emma's hangover at last.
She wondered, pressing her forehead to the shower stall, just when they would stop all of this dancing around and actually get down to it.
The entire day had been torturous for Emma. Regina insisted on wearing a tight little blue dress for most of the afternoon, and Emma was totally certain that no underwear was involved in the wearing that dress. Emma was equally certain that she had felt Regina's eyes on her throughout the day—especially when she returned from her run, sweaty, hot, and wearing a long-sleeved shirt and stretchy pants.
The shower was cooling off by the time Emma emerged from it. She toweled off and promised herself at least a stolen kiss or two before bed.
There, waiting on the bed, wearing nothing but a black thong and a lacy black bra, was Regina. Regina stared at Emma like she wanted to eat her alive. Emma walked calmly toward her, leaned down, brushed dark hair back from Regina's face. When they kissed, it was warm and sweet and Regina's tongue caressing the inside of Emma's mouth felt like silk.
It turned intense fast. Emma dropped her towel just as Regina grasped her elbow, spun her and pressed her to the bed.
Then, Regina's tongue and lips were everywhere, kissing and licking over every curve of Emma's body, from her earlobes down to her neck, then over her rib cage. Emma was panting and shaking by the time Regina pinned her hands above her head and kissed her hard. Emma just wanted Regina close, but Regina was elusive, brushing everywhere over Emma's body.
What they were doing was intense enough without magic thrown into the mix. But magic demanded attention, dormant energies wanted release, and it wasn't just Regina who brought the energy out to play.
Just as Regina slipped her middle finger inside Emma, spreading her labia and touching her lightly there with the rest of her fingers, an electric blue light zapped the air that barely separated their bodies.
Regina's eyes grew wider—this wasn't just her doing. Emma growled, her eyes flashing blue-green, and suddenly Regina was completely naked.
"You have magic also." Regina laughed, delighted. "And just look at what you use it for."
"Undressing you is a good cause." Emma grinned in return and pulled Regina close for another kiss. Emma's hands smoothed over Regina's breasts, waves of blue electricity still emanating from her skin, and then Regina moaned and shook against her, and Emma asked quietly, "did you come from just that?" and received a breathless nod in reply. When Regina pulled back to meet Emma's eyes, her own pupils were shades of blue and purple, swimming together.
The energy was building even more intensely between them, as Regina flipped Emma onto all fours and found that now her hands emitted the blue-white jolts. She positioned Emma's hips in the air and leaned over to press Emma's head down onto the pillow. When her left hand plays between Emma's thighs and her right reaches around to circle Emma's clit, she rocked herself against Emma's thigh.
Something happened which was even stranger than before.
"Do you have five hands back there?" Emma asked, moaning and thrusting backward as every orifice, and even her breasts, were repeatedly and rhythmically stroked, zinged, caressed, and deeply massaged. Her g-spot was so engorged and her ass felt like it was dancing against Regina's fingertips and then, briefly, her tongue, which continued on and on…
Even when Regina sat back on her heels and watched as energy—her own and Emma's—mixed to create ghostlike touches and jolting caresses all over Emma's sweaty, trembling form. Emma shouted, hoarsely, close to coming but not wanting to without Regina's physical touch. She braced herself on her arms, then got to her feet, while Regina stood up on the bed and positioned herself behind her.
Regina slid the fingers of her left hand inside Emma's pussy, reached again with her right hand, and thrust herself again against Emma's thigh while she fucked her. Her own orgasm clenched and trembled deep inside her pussy, but she kept working her hands until Emma finally screamed her release.
Then Emma collapsed on the bed. Regina was quick to follow, pulling Emma close. Regina moved the sheets with her mind, levitating them so that both women were covered. "How did you do that?" Emma barely got the words out, and she just kept shaking. "I had…I think I had…I think…" She cupped Regina's neck and pressed her lips to her collarbone, "…like…at least three orgasms like…in a row…and that was just from what you did…here…" She gestured to her breasts and then grabbed Regina's hand to lazily flop over her left nipple. Emma shuddered again and then lay still.
For awhile, Regina let Emma sleep against her, sweaty and hot. She stroked Emma's shoulder and peeked down at her sleeping face, which looked younger in candlelight—younger and at peace. Regina kissed Emma's eyelids and mentally apologized for what she knew would be coming next for them.
An hour later, Regina rolled away from Emma, and stared at the flickering candles just beyond the doorway. There, in the shadows, was an image. Cora. Her mother. Waving and smiling. It wasn't a memory so much as a vision, and Regina had been having visions like these for days, but hadn't said a word to Emma about it all.
One night, very recently, while Emma slept peacefully against her back, Regina imagined herself turning to fire and then to ash, slipping through Emma's arms.
Now, Emma was awake and Regina still would tell her none of these terrible things.
"Can I touch you?" Emma asked softly, leaning up on one arm and brushing Regina's hair away from her face.
"You can try…" Regina swallowed a lump of fear, rolled onto her back and cupped Emma's face.
Emma's hands were sweaty again and her heart was suddenly racing, making it hard to breath evenly. She stayed on her side and just looked at Regina's form, her skin, mottled red but darker red than her own, and her belly trembling.
"Oh wow…" Emma gasped and leaned down to kiss Regina while she moved her hand slowly back and forth, using her palm to cup Regina's center. Emma's movements became more enthusiastic as she felt Regina swell inside and squirt just a little as she dug her heels in the bed and relaxed against Emma's fingers. "Oh double wow…" Emma stammered and hid her reddening face in Regina's hair, stroking her, again and again, just like that, almost gentle and rough—deep—at the same time. She felt Regina reach down, jamming her hand between Emma's palm and her clit, felt her rub herself frantically, and then pressed herself hard against Regina's hip bone, moaning as she felt Regina clenching around her fingers.
Then, using her mouth this time, Emma hummed as she explored the curves of Regina's breasts. She experimented with sucking on Regina's nipples, which earned her some fantastic sound effects. Regina's skin was softer than anybody else Emma had ever touched, and there were places that made her melt and shake at once. It was electrifying to take another woman into her mouth for the first time, despite the nerves that accompanied it all. Emma watched as Regina's neck arched; she felt Regina's clit harden in her mouth just as she heard her cry out.
Seconds later, from beside the bed, Emma's phone chose that moment to interrupt them.
"You should take that call." Regina decided, like she already knew who it was. She swiped a thumb over Emma's chin and smiled sweetly.
It was Snow. She wanted Emma to come back and to bring Regina with her. Now.
"Uh huh." Emma whispered. "You think it's safe? You think Regina's magic will be strong enough? I don't think she knows a lot of it anymore." She could have added, 'unless you count sex magic', but didn't really want to freak the increasingly maternal Snow out.
"Oh, I think she's been practicing." Snow chuckled on the other line. "Besides, I now trust—completely—that you can keep her in line. Of all people, I think that you've gotten through to her the most often. Despite all of your fights, you have a way with Regina."
"A way?" Emma asked quietly. She blushed bright red.
Snow sounded confused for a moment. "Yes, I mean, you two fight—you actually fight! She doesn't just order you around. You always manage to communicate even when it ends in an argument. Emma? Why are you so quiet?"
Regina didn't ask about the conversation, though she kept looking at Emma, trying to read her mood. She scowled when Emma started giggling like an idiot, just before hanging up.
They left early in the morning, after sneaking a few hours of sleep. When the door locked on Regina's sanctuary, Emma turned back, watching as Regina struggled to leave the place behind.
They drove mostly in silence, both lost in thought and worry, but then, Regina made Emma pull off onto the side of the highway, in the middle of an abandoned parking lot behind a husk of an old building, when they were still five hours from Storybrooke.
"What's wrong?" Emma asked as Regina shoved the driver's side seat back and straddled her hips.
Regina said breathlessly, "Nothing. Nothing at all…" She wrenched Emma's head close for a kiss and groaned as Emma's hands cupped her ass. The shirt Regina wore was unbuttoned quickly and opened so that Emma had room to bend and nudge her bra aside and take one hardening nipple into her mouth. Emma found her hand shoved between them, guided by Regina's, and then she was up the skirt Regina had insisted on wearing. It was easy to slip underwear aside, and easier to shove two fingers inside, when Regina was this hot and this wet. It did not take long before Regina began grinding faster and harder until her hips shook and her mouth fell open silently. She buried her face against Emma's neck when she came.
The rest of the drive back to Storybrooke would be completely blocked out of Emma's mind. It was romantic and gorgeous and boring, and everything Emma had ever wanted in a cheesy road trip.
Except for one problem.
Like when Regina totally used the opportunity to ditch Emma by the roadside, just outside of town.
To add insult to injury, Regina stole their car, leaving Emma to walk half an hour back into town and through town and then to Snow White's. Her feet and chest aching, Emma began to sob the second she saw her mother standing in the front yard expectantly.
"How did you know I'd be here right at this moment?" The question came muffled as Emma slumped against Snow's shoulder.
"I don't know." Snow decided after a moment. "Something made me come outside to find you…"
In the days and weeks that followed, Emma spoke very little and slept a great deal. Regina's name was not to be spoken, and she didn't try to contact anybody in Storybrooke. Emma assumed that Regina would be long gone by this point—way beyond Philly and into any part of the States she could disappear to.
Eventually, the wound healed to a dull ache.
It was Henry who got Emma out of her funk, but it was Rumpelstiltskin who challenged her to step up and take responsibility.
Henry and Emma had been walking on the beach, though it was late Fall and beginning to take on that awful damp coldness that had taken Emma so long to accustom herself to. Henry was asking about Regina, about Emma's time with her, about clues to this latest problem. "Maybe she has a plan and couldn't tell you about it." Henry guessed. He was often on repeat like that, worried about things he shouldn't be worried about. Emma wondered why he didn't feel more betrayed. Something in his conversations with Regina had convinced him that she was trying to fix things.
They came to a strange assortment of wooden stakes and piles of sand, about thirty yards from where Henry's old castle used to stand. Emma immediately took out her cell phone and called in reinforcements when Rumpelstiltskin emerged from behind one of the mounds.
"What now?" Emma growled at the idiot man who was now wearing nothing but a pair of leather leggings and an old green vest.
"Belle has left me. Yet again." He said with a smirk. Which was weird, since he was describing some sort of personal heartbreak.
"What does that have to do with me?" Emma replied. She sent Henry away to stand at a distance.
"I haven't decided." The man shrugged his thin shoulders and stared mournfully at Henry. "Perhaps I want lessons in parenting." He grinned, obviously meaning something other than what was said, but…really, who knew with this guy.
"What is it that you really want?" Emma asked him. "I mean be specific."
He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Revenge…" He said, obviously without meaning it. "Or perhaps I want you to find someone for me. Someone I once knew. You're a bounty hunter, I'm sure you'll be successful. You did bring our dear Queen back to us. Even if she ditched you by the side of the road…" He raised his cane and made a weird shape in the air with it. Something like an 'E' or maybe an 'S'. The letter blazed red for a moment then went out again. "I want Belle back, and for that, I need to show her that I'm capable of creating a real home. A family. All of that jazz."
"Oh give it a fucking rest!" Emma shouted. "You're so ridiculous. Just ask for help. Can't you do that?"
"I think I'd rather fight with you than ask for your help directly." Rumpel seemed almost powerless then, as though his words were honestly true. He couldn't help but make a mess of their interactions, even if something deeper lay beneath his requests.
He conjured a weapon from thin air—a long, silver sword, much like the one Emma had once used on a dragon, many months ago—and threw it to her. His own weapons consisted of fire, shooting in bursts from his hands, searing the skin on Emma's hands when she held the sword in front of her. She threw the weapon aside.
A moment later, Emma felt the impact of something—some kind of electricity—and she knew that he would kill her now. She could smell something burning, something like leather.
Except…Rumpelstiltskin wasn't doing this…
It was Emma herself.
It was the same energy that had flown from Emma's hands while she made love to Regina, except now the energy was too much for her to handle.
Alone. She couldn't handle it alone. It wasn't supposed to be her magic to take care of all by herself.
Voices emerged from beyond the bend of earth and grass, up higher than where she stood now.
"Emma!" It was James, panicked, but frozen in place.
Even as James' voice echoed in Emma's ears, another voice came to her.
Like a whisper of air and a whoosh of some familiar warmth, there was someone directly behind Emma. Sand and water flew behind her as the apparition solidified and became a human form.
Words were whispered in Emma's ear.
"Hold. On…"
Then, Emma was channeling the electricity that flowed through her. She felt fingers thread through her own and she was suddenly cool, as though a wave of water has moved through her.
As soon as it began, it was over. Emma stood, unharmed, as Rumpelstiltskin smiled and leaned heavily on his cane. Around him, was a glowing, electric-blue cage.
"Well done, dearies. You've passed your first test!" He spoke cheerfully but wearily. In fact, he looked really, really worn out.
Regina walked out from behind Emma and stared at him. "You have a choice." Regina drew the words out. Her hair was longer, again, and she looked too skinny. "Stay in that cage, or use your powers to help this town."
"Same choice that you have, Your Majesty." He replied, wiping a hand over his mouth hard. He fell to his knees, but not before a splash of water arced from Regina's hand to his lips. He gratefully cupped the water and drank it.
There wasn't time for Emma to take in their strange reunion. She was already scrambling back up the sandy embankment and storming away by the time Regina turned to follow.
Even Snow White was unprepared for her daughter's fury when they all came together. She cringed as Emma picked up the nearest object to her—a broken plastic Frisbee—and flung it violently at Regina's head.
"How could you!" Emma sobbed. "How could you do that to me?"
"I had to." Regina said. "I knew I'd die. You would have watched me turn to flames the second I stepped into Storybrooke. I felt it, the spell he used…and I." She paused and scowled. "Nevermind the rest. Whatever it was, it was old magic. I couldn't tell you because I needed you to convince the others that I was a complete turncoat and that I was never coming back." She spoke plainly, like she was bored or disinterested, or, maybe, like she'd already given up on forgiveness.
The next words from Emma's mouth stunned them both.
"You made me fall for you, you played me and then you left." She hissed the words, like they hurt her to say them.
"You'll never believe me, but I never pretended to care about you." Regina replied numbly before walking away.