A/N- I fell the need to sincerely apologize about the incredibly long lapse in time between the chapter updates. After two deaths and two moves in the past six months of my life, unfortunately, my fanfic writing has not been a priority. I hope you will forgive me for this, dear readers. I also hope you enjoy the new installment and, as always, feel free to comment or message me :)

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The rain left everything fresh and green and new and Venus pattered her hooves impatiently in the barn as the women packed and saddled her. She tossed her head about and looked suspiciously between the two; picking up on a tension that had not been there before. Regina finished her saddlebags and led the mare out onto the springy grass of the knoll in which the barn had been built.

"Ready, my sweet?" She nuzzled the horse and she whinnied.

Emma watched as Regina placed one sure foot in the stirrup and swung herself gracefully astride the palomino mare. Then the brunette turned to her and held out a hand. "On second thought, maybe I'll just walk beside you." Emma muttered.

"Don't be silly, we bought her to ride."

"We didn't exactly buy her-"

"Miss Swan, hide your emotions and take my hand." Emma squared her shoulders, took Regina's surprisingly strong hand, and placed her boot in the stirrup just as the brunette had done. She pushed up and Regina pulled her forward as Emma swung her other boot over. Her ass connected with the saddle and her chest was flush with the brunette's back.

Emma scooted back and away from her but clung to her shoulders as the horse suddenly moved under her. "It's really high up." She said quietly and longed to shut her eyes.

"Venus is rather tall, but so are you. I needed a horse that wouldn't have difficulty with your long legs." Regina muttered curtly. "Slide forward; you're throwing her off balance. We don't want her stumbling." Emma hesitated, still with her butt pressed against the ridge in the back of the saddle, remembering the slickness of Regina's heat last night had her blushing. "Do as I say." The woman hissed.

Emma reluctantly scooted forward until her thighs and hips were pressed tightly against the brunette's body. The woman wheeled the horse about slowly as they began their journey. Emma clung to her shoulders; uncomfortable with the lurching movement of the beast. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." She murmured and the brunette felt her breath against the back of her neck.

"I can't move the reigns properly; move your hands to my waist." The woman commanded and Emma hesitated again. Regina made an impatient noise in her throat. "Really, Miss Swan? Now is not the time to be squeamish." Emma dropped her hands and grabbed the woman's hips with more force than she had intended and Regina sucked in a quick breath which she turned into a small cough.

"I wasn't being squeamish."

"Prudish, then."

"I'm not a prude!" Emma growled into her hair and her fingers tightened on her small hipbones slightly; nails digging into her through the fabric of her dress and tights.

"Really? It seemed that way to me."

"Perhaps that's because you take every opportunity to straddle me." Emma burst and was surprised when Regina chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose you don't like that at all. Big, bad bounty hunter bested by a woman who spent the past thirty years behind a desk, hmmm?" Regina smiled wickedly as Emma grunted. "You forget who I am and what I did do before I came to Storybrook."

"No, the book's pretty clear on all that."

"That book is biased at best."

They rode on for miles in solitude. Meeting a few travelers, all of which gave greeting and none of which offered suspicion. Glad, at least that they were not drawing any undue attention, Emma began to relax slightly into Regina's back; her hands not gripping her hips quite as tight but instead, brushing the tops of her thighs lazily.

Regina had noticed this new development and was trying, with a great deal of difficulty, to stamp out the feelings whirling about her brain and lower. She could not fathom what it was about this woman that broke down all the walls and crushed her defenses so effortlessly. She had bedded men and women for the sheer pleasure of seeing them helpless under her. Clinging to her in desperation and pressing devoutly feverish lips against any part of her they could. Greedy hands ripping at her and pulling her down to them in haste and ferocity. And yet, an accidental brush of Emma's hand, her breath on her neck and the pressure of her hips pressed into her were enough to make the ride extremely uncomfortable.

Emma's head drooped low on her neck as sleep threatened to overcome her. She had not rested well after Regina had awakened her and marked her with her heat. The blonde felt the comfortable pressure of the woman before her and the rocking of the horse to be a lullaby that she heeded. She leaned forward and pressed her head onto Regina's shoulder. The brunette stiffened as hands around her hips relaxed and Emma's breathing evened out.

"Taking a nap?"

"I didn't sleep well last night."

"It won't be long before we're stopping for the day. Rain is coming in." Regina warned.

"Well then wake me before we dismount; I don't want to face-plant off a horse." She muttered and closed her eyes.

They rode on, Regina finding that she enjoyed the feel of Emma's heat a bit too much. But as the blonde was asleep she let her thoughts return to the dream she had had the previous night. Where the hell had that come from? She questioned herself. Emma was her enemy; the one that ruined her happily ever after. And yet she was dreaming about being bound by the blonde? Heat seared her body as she remembered Emma's fingers inside her, twisting and pumping.

Regina blushed in the humid air and looked down, realizing that Emma's hands were now cupping her thighs with her thumbs on her hipbones carelessly. The blonde nuzzled her shoulder and Regina's eyes widened as she felt one hand slip further over her leg so that her fingertips dusted her inner thigh as another hand skittered up lazily over her stomach.

She cleared her throat and Emma didn't move; save to trace a sleepy finger down her stomach then up across her ribs. Regina stifled an involuntary moan as the lower hand moved up her thigh to nearly press into her heat. "Miss Swan." She said loudly and Emma grunted as her hand continued to move just under Regina's breast. "Miss Swan!" She yelled in a panicked voice.

Emma jerked awake and snatched her hands away from the woman; jerking backward and falling off the horse. Regina tried to grab her but the fabric of her shirt slipped through her fingers and Emma landed hard on her right shoulder with a sickening thud. Tears sprang to her eyes as she gasped for air. The brunette slid quickly off Venus and crouched over her. Emma turned her face and tried to roll away from the searching eyes of the brunette.