Hello Sweet Doves! So, after that last chapter, I crawled into the fetal position, watched some SwanQueen fanvids and OUaT bloopers, listened to some Lindsey Stirling and then came up with this next scene. Some fluff and angst to get us from point A to point B.
Enjoy Lovelies!
Songs: Shatter Me by Lzzy Hale and Lindsey Stirling, We Found Love by Lindsey Stirling and VenTribe, Off With Her Head and Only a Memory by Icon for Hire
Over the next ten days, the wolf, the witch and the librarian developed a schedule naturally. Henry returned to school. Regina fixed breakfast form all four, and then Belle walked him to the bus stop and saw him off as Regina still terrified most of the citizens of Storybrooke. She cared little what they thought of her, but she wanted the other children to include Henry again. Staying out of sight was the best way to achieve that. She and Ruby cleaned up breakfast, and then the young woman flitted off on whatever frivolous crisis the general populace of fairy tale characters blew out of proportion.
Nearly everyday, Stacy called, and before she'd stated her issue, Regina magic flashed into the mayor's office to avoid turning heat onto the young mayor for her presence. Every time it pleased her to see that Stacy hadn't redecorated, insisting that she only held the position until the people asked for Regina to come back.
At noon, Regina went to see Archie, and then had lunch at Granny's with Ruby at one-thirty, just after the lunch rush. They never spoke about what happened in the stables, but any remaining tension that had lingered between them disappeared with Daniel. At two-fifteen, Regina went to the kitchen and helped Granny. She prepared pies from scratch at first, but with Ruby keeping order full time, Granny wasn't shy about handing her a spatula if a burger needed flipped. She knew that her allies intentionally filled her schedule with things she loved doing, kept her mind off the fact that Emma hadn't woken yet.
Dr. Zambrano kept her promise and pulled the savior through her surgery with minimal hiccups but kept her in a comma for the next four days until Emma was strong enough to be extubated. Lucky for Emma that Zambrano stepped in because Whale and his arm disappeared the day after he brought Daniel back. No had seen or heard from him since then.
This was day six that Emma stubbornly refused to open her eyes, and the entire town felt the strain, but no one more than Regina and Henry. The boy's nightmares about the room of flames and the woman in the corner who stared at him were increasing in length and intensity. So much, that Regina kept him home from school one day last week and watched over him, bringing him back to reality at any sign of disturbance. It helped, and the next day, the boy begged to go back to a friend he'd made.
At three-thirty, Belle collected Henry from school and ushered him to the library to help her clean and sort through books, and Regina sat with Emma. She spoke freely to the unconscious woman, telling her all of the secrets she wasn't strong enough to say aloud while looking into those bright green eyes, everything from her mother's abuse to how much she secretly enjoyed Ruby's bodacious personality and comfortable company.
At five-fifteen sharp everyday, Belle and Henry bumbled into Emma's room, squealing about the books they discovered that day and covered with dust and who knew what else from the aged library. They helped him with his homework and talked to Emma until Ruby arrived between six and seven. She always leaned down and whispered something into Emma's ear and then escorted them all to the Mills' mansion in the cruiser. If Henry hadn't finished his school work, he and Belle disappeared to the dining room to finish. If he had, they worked on Henry's foreign language skills in the living room.
He was completely smitten with the young woman, and so was Ruby.
She paused a few minutes every evening and simply watched Belle and Henry as they worked before joining Regina in the kitchen for a drink as the former mayor prepared their dinner. Most nights, they spoke very little during this time and just enjoyed being comfortable enough to be silent in the presence of another human being. Sometimes Ruby vented about something particularly stupid that on of the townsfolk had done.
And sometimes Regina cried at the stove as she stirred vegetables or pasta. Ruby always came to her, wrapping her arms around the broken woman like she had that day in the stables. She never looked at Regina when she cried, knowing it would have destroyed any chance Ruby had to comfort her. She accepted it as long as she maintained the illusion that Ruby hadn't seen her tears.
It wasn't a particularly bad schedule, but everyone felt the absence of the blonde woman in the hospital bed across town.
Regina pulled from her musing as the bell above Granny's door jingled. It was one-thirty, and Ruby arrived right on time. She entered confidently in her Deputy's uniform that Emma blatantly refused to wear it when she'd taken the job. The younger woman had wanted it, though, perhaps as reassurance for herself or to remind people that she no longer waited tables at Granny's.
Either way, the girl's entire demeanor changed when she donned the tan button-up shirt and black slacks. Regina chuckled the first time she saw it on the tall, lanky woman, but Ruby merely tipped her chin upwards and slid her gun into the holster at her hip. She'd changed so very much in the past two weeks, grown up, grown into herself, and Regina prided herself on being a part of that.
Ruby slipped into the kitchen and gave Granny a kiss and then slumped into the booth across from her, just like she'd done for the past ten days. Today, though, something was different. Regina sensed it in the girl's rigid body language.
"What's happened, Wolf Pup?" Jostled Regina carefully, asking the girl to open up without being too serious, as was their usual dance.
Ruby tapped the knuckles of her fist on the table a few times and then leaned forward. "Belle finally told me what The Evil Queen did to her last night."
Regina's face fell, eyes finding her hands very interesting. She knew her tentative friendship with Ruby had a limited number of days, but she hadn't expected it to cut as deeply as it did. She truly cared for the girl in all of her foolishness and fake bravado and awkward sexuality. She ran a hand over her hair and then slid out of the booth.
"I'll go," Regina said quietly.
"Hey," Ruby grabbed her hand as she passed and stopped her in her tracks. "I said The Evil Queen, not Regina."
Regina's breath came sharply and her gaze jerked towards the deputy. Had she heard correctly? Ruby's big sad puppy eyes told so much of the girl's inner workings, and Regina studied them carefully, finding to no trickery behind her words.
"I just wanted you to know that I knew. I'm not here to punish Regina, my friend." Ruby stood, hand still gripping Regina's tightly. "I'm here to tell her that I'm proud of her. I'm proud to call Regina Mills my friend," Ruby stated firmly, "especially now that I know how much strength it takes for her to walk around this town with her head held high. How much it hurts her to feel the guilt of her actions everyday while knowing there is truly nothing she can do to make up for it. In spite of that, she'd trying. Belle was right, you know, that night in your study. The Evil Queen died when you cast that curse. I only hope that one day everyone else will let her, so that Regina Mills might actually live."
Ruby grunted when Regina slammed into her. They had never hugged like real people, and it caught Ruby off guard. They always hugged each other from behind because it worked for them, but Ruby immediately wrapped her arms around Regina's back and smiled into her hair.
"You have a thing for law enforcement, don't you girl?" Granny snipped when the hugged lingered an awkward amount of time.
Regina pulled back with a smile and then, to everyone's shock and terror who remained in the dinner, kissed the side of Granny's head before returning to her side of the booth. Granny harrumphed but said nothing as she sat their food in front of them.
"Proud of you," she whispered at Ruby before turning around.
"What was that?" The girl teased her grandmother, only ever having heard those words once before form her grandmother.
"You heard me," Granny muttered. She stopped and glanced at Regina over her shoulder. "Proud of you, too." And then she stomped back to the kitchen before Regina responded.
"She's going soft in her old age," Ruby wiggled a fry towards the kitchen and leaned forward conspiratorially and pointed the fry at her temple, "in the head."
"So, you're not mad at me? You don't hate me?" Regina loathed the insecurity in her voice, but she needed to know. Ruby sighed.
"I'm pissed as hell about what happened to Belle, but I never knew that woman, Regina. I only know you, and as far as I am concerned, aside from making me eat vegetables everyday, you are as far from evil as they come. Snow told me about the things you did, but I can't help thinking there is more to the story than she knows. For example, she told me that Daniel left you, but that's not entirely true, is it? She was a child when you married her father. People hide things from children, and no matter how much they think they know, it's never really the full truth." Her fry broke under the strain of her speech. She stared at it for a moment and then popped it in her mouth.
"No, it isn't," Regina agreed as she thought of how much her son misunderstood about the whole situation.
"I'm angry," Ruby said again. "I'm trying not to make you into her, okay? Even when Belle was talking about it, she never said your name. She always said The Evil Queen. I think she was making the distinction between you and her. I mean, if Belle can forgive, then it'd be a little silly of me to hang onto it, right? I'm sure something far worse happened to The Evil Queen to make her do the things she did. We just don't get to hear those parts of the story." Ruby sighed and then shoved some fries in her mouth.
Unlike Emma, when Ruby was upset, she ate to comfort herself. Regina's brow furrowed sadly. She missed Emma. She was doing her best, but everyday the hollowing ache in her chest wore her resolve to be good and not use magic. She'd lose it soon, and there wasn't a thing anyone could have done to stop it.
"I need to tell Belle I'm a werewolf," Ruby spurted suddenly, and Regina dragged her mind back to the conversation.
"So, tell her," Regina deadpanned and picked through her grilled chicken salad.
"You think she'd be okay with it?" Ruby's terrified eyes glanced up though her head stayed bowed towards her plate.
"Ruby…" Regina massaged her temple and propped her head on her hand. "You truly don't see the way that girl looks at you, do you?"
"What do you mean?" Ruby held a French fry in the glob of ketchup on her plate as the grease stick was forgotten in lieu of uncovering Regina's wisdom.
"I mean, it's that same irritatingly lovesick gaze that Snow and her idiot use when looking at each other." Regina rolled her eyes to emphasize her words.
"You mean the one you use when you're talking to Emma?" Ruby fixed her gleeful eyes on the former mayor, waiting for a reaction.
"If you weren't in uniform, I'd flip this bleu cheese dressing at you," Regina seethed, Red had the good sense to bow her head before smiling. She had no doubt that Regina would make good on her threat if she continued pushing.
"Anyway, wolf's time is coming up in like 3 days. I need to tell her. I need to find my cloak. I've checked everywhere. Here. Every single box and drawer in the Inn. Gold's. It's gone, and I've no clue where to get another one. Hey! You couldn't charm something for me, could you? Something smaller, like a ring or a necklace?" Regina's heart fell at Ruby's hopeful eyes.
"I wouldn't be able to do that without my mother's spell book, and I suspect Gold has it. She was the one who enchanted the cloak. Did you know that?" The older woman wanted to protect the naïve deputy, but she also believed Ruby strong enough to know the truth about her life.
"Really?" Regina nodded. "Huh. Small world." Well, that was easier than expected.
"Are you even certain that you will change?" Regina asked suddenly.
"Not 100 percent, but I have everything else, the strength, the sense of smell, the hearing, the hunger, the rage. So, it pretty much tells me that in three days, Storybrooke's acting sheriff is going to be a murderous canine and there is nothing anyone can do to stop me." Ruby's face fell dejectedly, hauntingly, and she buried her face in her cheeseburger.
"I can stop you," Regina said with a shrug and nonchalantly brought a piece of chicken to her mouth.
"Would you? I mean, don't wait for it to happen, just knock me out or something. Maybe I could lock myself in jail." Ruby was truly upset by her wolf, and Regina was clueless as to how to help.
"You controlled it once before. You'll learn control once more. If you step out of line, I'll singe your fur and spank you." Regina raised one thin eyebrow as the implication of what she'd said dawned on her. Ruby froze, fry halfway to her mouth.
"Promise?" She said in a deep, thick voice, and Regina rolled her eyes as red crept up her neck. What the hell was this wolf doing to her? She'd never liked dogs.
Regina was saved by the sudden blaring of "Hungry Like a Wolf" by Steppenwolf. Ruby sighed and pulled a cell phone from the front pocket of her uniform top.
"Sheriff," she barked, and Regina surprised everyone when she let out one sharp laugh. Only Ruby would make a joke out of eating someone in the name of the law. "Oh hey Grumpy. What? You did? I'll be there in a minute!" She snapped the phone shut and bounced in her seat.
"They found diamonds in the mines!" Ruby whispered excitedly. "We can get the hat to work again!" She grabbed the rest of her uneaten burger and clamored out the door before Regina responded.
She smiled sadly, slipped a twenty onto the table and then followed Ruby out the door. Emma needed to know that they might have found a way to bring her parents back. Her steps were labored as she gathered her thoughts. Her leg still stretched and burned occasionally, but she'd thankfully been able to get back into her heels comfortably enough. She felt incomplete without them tapping out her own personal theme song.
When she entered the hospital, the receptionist nodded at her, and she returned it. They never spoke, but at least most everyone had stopped cowering in her presence. Ruby had begun escorting her so that she needn't use magic just to visit Emma, much to Dr. Zambrano's chagrin, but a few days ago she'd been called away to do "sheriff-y things," so Regina came on her own, and the hospital hadn't fallen down. So, they all decided to just ignore the dark woman and allowed her to come and go as she pleased as long as she stayed calm and silent.
Like always, Emma lay unmoving in the irritatingly bright room, and like always, Regina closed the curtains in a huff. Hadn't these idiots realized yet that Emma didn't like the bright light of morning?
"Hi," she said shyly when she finished fussing with the blinds. She pressed a kiss to Emma's temple and then smoothed her hair.
"You were right, Emma. The fairy dust returned with magic. There's always a way as much as I begrudgingly admit it. I thought perhaps I might spend some extra time with you today to celebrate." She chuckled at herself as she pressed her forehead into Emma's temple.
"It's time to wake up now, Darling," she whispered thickly, fighting back the tears that always came when she said this to Emma. Like always, Emma remained silent, sleeping through her anguish.
Regina pulled back and sat primly in the chair at Emma's side. "I don't much feel like talking today either. How about some television?" She glanced at Emma's face, knowing a response was impossible and then pressed the button built into the bed that controlled the T.V.
She never even registered anything flashing across the screen, her gaze mostly on Emma's knuckles where her thumb brushed gentle strokes over and over. She ached to feel the gentle pressure of Emma's fingers against her own, but like always, it never came. Regina bowed her head when her throat tightened with tears. How long would Emma punish her?
"She's getting better, Regina," a soft voice comforted from the door.
"You're late, Doctor, I've been here a while," Regina sniffed and glared at the woman regally.
"Didn't hear any screaming. Thought you skipped today's visit," Dr. Zambrano shrugged and then checked Emma's chart. "I know it doesn't seem like it, but she is improving. Blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen levels, they're all getting stronger. She's fine, Regina. She's just being stubborn."
"Typical, Miss Swan," Regina berated the sleeping savior. Zambrano smirked and then left the room without further comment.
Regina settled into the chair again and resumed staring at their joined hands, willing Emma to return her desperate grasp. She knew she'd die a little when Emma awoken and denied her the simple pleasure of touching her, but at least she'd have her back. This ambivalent loss tore her apart worst than watching Emma slip from her grasp.
Her phone buzzed, and Regina's brow scrunched as she realized it was already five. She'd been staring at their hands for three hours. She punched the button to read the text, lips quirking against her will when she saw Ruby's name. The girl sent some pretty colorful texts.
Hey Sweet Thang, get your tight ass over to Granny's. We're drinking with dwarves tonight.
Classy. Is Henry there? Regina replied before standing. There wasn't any point resisting because Ruby would relentlessly hound her until she agreed.
Yep. He's getting drunk on cocoa. Regina rolled her eyes as she shoved her phone in her jacket pocket.
"I'll get the idiots back for you. I promise. Don't let go, Savior," Regina whispered and then pressed her lips to Emma's forehead, resting them there for a long time before she found the strength to move again.
She walked quickly towards the door, and just as she came into view of the nurses, she grinned wickedly, waved her hands above her head and disappeared in a flourish of purple haze. She imagined their anxious faces as she reappeared on the walkway of Granny's, pace not faltering one bit from that set at the hospital, and chuckled. The confidence that came with using magic filled her, and she opened the door confidently.
All eyes fell to her, drinks paused halfway to mouths, but she ignored it all and glided directly to her son. His back was to her, and he lapped up whatever story Belle told him. They were the only ones who hadn't noticed her entrance, too engrossed in their story to hear anything else.
"Miss French," Regina greeted cordially, and the skin around Belle's eyes tightened slightly. Ruby had been right. She was angry and traumatized, but she was trying.
"Mom!" Henry greeted more enthusiastically and then hugged her, killing whatever tension had begun building between her and Belle.
"Hello Sweetheart," Regina said gently and dropped a kiss onto his head.
"Mom, Belle is teaching me Latin. Did you know that Regina means "queen" in Latin?" Henry boiled and spewed with his excitement, and Regina took a steadying breath.
"I did," she smiled down at her son, her whole world.
"Oh, no you don't. Umm, excuse me," Belle said awkwardly, a flash of irritation in her eyes, and Regina raised an eyebrow as she watched her cross to Ruby and Billy.
Regina was surprised to see Ruby scantily clad in her normal, revealing waitress garb and packing around a bus pan. Granny must have told her that if she wanted to open after restaurant hours then she'd be running the joint. Regina ignored the reasons for her state of dress, or lack thereof, and studied the interaction between Ruby and Billy with curiosity.
She flirted back, but it was half-hearted as she shifted her weight from one foot to another and crossed one arm over her chest to grip the other tightly. Ruby was uncomfortable with the attention because she'd fallen head over hills for a certain librarian, but no one knew that but them and Henry. He wasn't telling anyone any time soon.
Billy stuttered about getting together later as Belle sidled up to a flustered Ruby.
"Actually, we have plans," Belle said pointedly and slipped a possessive arm around the wolf's waist. Regina's eyebrows shot towards the sky, and her mouth fell open before she stopped the reactions. She'd never pegged Belle as the jealous type.
"Uh yes," Ruby stuttered, clearly as surprised as Regina. "Girls' night. I'm bringing the cheese," Ruby gushed, thankful for the save from her new friend. Her eyes widened and almost imperceptibly slid to Belle's hand at her side as the shorter woman slipped two fingers into the waist of her tight pants, right over her hip bone.
"Uhh!" Ruby exclaimed and jumped at the jolt that shot through her. She babbled, knowing her outburst needed explanation. "Not that that has anything to do with you being a mouse. Shit. I'm sorry. It's for the… wine," a very flustered and furiously blushing Ruby finished.
"Well, some other time, then," Billy smiled shyly at her, clearly ignorant to the obvious territory claim Belle had just thrown down.
Ruby glared down at the smaller woman and then clutched her hand painfully as she ripped it away from her hip. Regina raised an eyebrow as she thought Ruby might have taken Belle right there on the table had the diner not been full. She shoved the dish pan into the librarian's hands, pointing towards the kitchen before gathering a few more glasses in her own. She surveyed the room to see who might have watched their little interaction and then slipped into the kitchen behind Belle. Regina made a mental note to give them the guest room before Henry discovered how lesbian sex worked.
"Mom, are you listening to me?" Henry asked in a huff. She wiped a glob of whipped cream from his cheek and smiled.
"Yes, Sweetheart, but I think maybe we should wait until tomorrow before we go see Emma again. Dr. Zambrano said that she is getting stronger and that she should be awake any day now. Emma's just being stubborn," she whispered the last part conspiratorially and winked. Just because she was terrified that Emma wouldn't awaken didn't give her cause to alarm their son.
"But I don't want to go to bed," Henry admitted sadly and stared into his cocoa.
"The dream?" Regina already knew the answer, but Henry nodded anyway. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart. It's only temporary." She brushed her fingers through his hair soothingly as Ruby's earlier words came back to her. People hide things from children. And she was. She couldn't prove anything, but she feared that Henry's dream indicated something more than the nightmare of child. As much as it frustrated her, she needed to ask Gold.
"Henry, why don't you get yourself another cocoa and grab me a coffee. I need to use the restroom." Regina brushed his hair again and then disappeared down the hall towards the back door.
She leaned against the wall and caught her breath, trying not to think about what Gold might want in return for helping Henry. She'd paid his prices before and would again for Henry, but that hadn't made the thought any better. Just one minute longer, she told herself, and then she forced herself to return to the main room.
She opened her eyes to move when suddenly fingers grabbed her throat. She sputtered and oriented her gaze to the face attached to the hand. King George. They'd been allied against Snow and James, so why the hell was she being attacked.
"I know you're trying to bring them back," he seethed into her ear, breath hot against her neck.
"And?" Regina's deep, calm voice rumbled against his hand.
"And I won't let you," he vowed. She laughed, a deep chuckle, reminding him exactly whose throat was in his hand.
"Oh, you pathetic thing. Not satisfied as a banker? Mm, come to think of it, you were never that good with money. That is why you whored your son out to Midas' daughter, wasn't it?" His hand tightened, and she sneered, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her fear. She only needed to blink to throw him against the wall, but she refrained from using her magic to harm another unless absolutely necessary, knowing one step in that direction without Emma's guidance back to the light would be her undoing in her compromised state.
"If they come back, I pull the plug on your savior," he growled and then was met with another more dangerous snarl.
Thin but strong fingers slid around his wrist at Regina's throat and squeezed. He released the former queen, but Red hadn't released him. Regina watched breathlessly, aroused by the dark rage simmering in Ruby's normally kind and compassionate eyes. The man fell to his knees with a sharp cry as a sickening crack echoed off the walls. Regina spared a glance at the dining room, but no one seemed to have heard over the cacophony of happily celebrating dwarves.
Her chest heaved when Ruby's yellow glow met her glazed brown. The darkness and rage in her reflected the darkness and rage in the young wolf, and if she'd been half as sexy as the deputy was right now, she now understood her many bed offers from men and women alike. She shook her head.
"Release him, Red," Regina's voice still rumbled with her fading passion, but she sat a calm and innocent hand on Ruby's forearm.
"This is not a path you want to walk, Wolf," Regina promised in a harsh whisper. "Release him." Ruby nodded once and loosened her grip on the crushed wrist. She grabbed the man's coat and hauled him to his feet and then walked him to the dining room.
"He attacked Regina," came the tight explanation when all eyes turned to the waitress and her captive. She opened the front door and effortlessly tossed the man over the steps and onto the walkway. He rolled a few feet and then groaned.
Red whipped away from the door, eyes promising that anyone who challenged her decision would be subjected to a similar fate. She stalked to the kitchen and disappeared behind the swinging doors. Belle glanced at Regina rubbing her throat and then at the kitchen doors and then at Regina again. Regina waved her hand, dismissing her to follow Ruby, and Belle smiled gratefully.
Ruby paced in the pantry near the door of the walk-in freezer. Her hands clenched and released, muscles in her forearms bouncing and bulging as she worked to control her anger. Belle watched for a moment and then stepped into the pantry, confident that Ruby would never have harmed her in any way.
"Ruby?" She called gently, and the other woman's head snapped to attention. Belle gasped when the usual deep chocolate color of Ruby's eyes had been replaced with a harsh yellow glow.
She stepped back instinctively, and her spine met the door frame. She could have easily left, but she pressed herself into the frame and watched Ruby approach her with slow steps. Belle swallowed audibly when Ruby pressed her tall body into her. The corner of the wood pressed painfully into her back, but she protested nothing.
And then Ruby's lips captured hers.
It wasn't sweet and gentle like the ones they'd shared at the foot of the stairs. This was wild and passionate, revealing a primitive need inside Ruby that she normally clutched closely to her chest until she lost control of her anger. Regina's glazed eyes flashed through her mind, and Ruby dug her fingers into Belle's shoulders. Regina had wanted her to give into the darkness, the rage that they both loved so much, but she hadn't allowed it. Ruby pulled back as quickly as she'd come, guilt in her now brown eyes.
Belle watched the transformation, chest heaving.
"Belle, I'm sor…" Ruby stopped mid-apology when Belle rushed at her.
Air whooshed out in a grunt when her back hit the freezer door. Belle reclaimed her lips before she recovered. Her passion matched Ruby's rage, and the wolf pulled their hips together forcefully. This kiss said so many things without words. Belle told her that she had seen and accepted her rage, that she wanted Ruby as she was, the rage, the wolf, the awkward deputy who opened doors for her. Most of all, it told Ruby that it was acceptable that she viewed her as a sexual being, something which Ruby had fought from day one after seeing how broken and abused the librarian had been. She stopped fighting.
Belle gasped in surprise when Ruby easily lifted her and flipped their positions, pressing Belle against the freezer and holding her in place with hips between her legs and strong hands on her bare thighs. She wrapped her legs around the slim waist in front of her and tipped her head against the freezer with a small thump when Ruby's lips left hers and moved down her neck.
One hand clutched Ruby's back and the other tangled in Ruby's long black hair, holding her head in place, encouraging her to continue her exploration of skin. Before she stopped them, Belle's hips rolled against Ruby's stomach when the wolf bit down on the muscle between her neck and shoulder. The wolf growled and repeated the action, moaning slightly when Belle's hips pressed against her again. Her mind swirled with the sensations this quietly fierce librarian ignited within her.
Belle panted and jerked Ruby's mouth from her skin with a sharp tug on her hair. Ruby's eyes flashed yellow again as her arousal spiked at the less-than-gentle command. Belle watched the change with a heaving chest. She hadn't a clue why Ruby's eyes morphed like that, but she knew that she'd done something right. She pulled Ruby's lips into hers again, teeth clanking together with the force.
One of Ruby's hands slid up her thigh, dragging the flimsy material of the cotton dress with it. She reminded herself that she should slow down, enjoyed this moment, but she wanted Belle in the worst way. The closer she came to wolf's moon, the angrier and hornier she became, and the wolf had been suppressed for 28 years because of the curse. At least that's what she told herself, unwilling yet to consider the possibility that Belle's thrall on her heart caused the overwhelming reactions.
Belle broke the kiss when Ruby's hand reached her bare hip, and Ruby nearly lost her grip on the smaller woman when she realized that Belle wore no underwear. Belle panted and gave Ruby an open-lipped smile.
"We never had such infernal things in our land," she offered simply, her accent thicker in her sensitized state. Ruby's eyes flashed again, and Belle smiled wider. She'd done that to Ruby with only her words. It was quite a sight to behold.
"I do hope you don't teach my son such things about our land, Miss French," Regina's gravely voice stretched across the pantry from the door, and Ruby's grip on Belle slipped.
The librarian lowered her legs slowly, still held in place by Ruby's hips, and it was absolute torture to have her entire weight held in the one spot she most needed pressure. Ruby grabbed her ribs with shaking hands and stepped away, her hands keeping her upright as she found her footing. Ruby then pressed both hands into the door above Belle and turned her head enough to see Regina out of one eye.
"Good reason. Now, witch." Ruby's dangerously deep voice demanded. Regina raised one thin eyebrow in amusement.
"Don't let me stop you," she winked, an unusual glint of excitement in her eyes. "But I thought you'd like to know. She woke up." She smiled, the vein in her forehead popping out to proudly display the deep emotions the former mayor would never display openly.
"Why haven't you poofed there yet, woman?" Ruby demanded.
"Dr. Zambrano said there was a problem. Emma apparently 'freaked out' and they had to sedate her," Regina air quote the doctor's exact words. "Not very clinical, but an effective description." They all knew that she hid behind her eloquent words when her emotions became too intense.
"You need us to watch Henry?" Belle asked underneath Ruby's arm, and the former mayor nodded once.
"At least until I figure out exactly what happened with Emma's episode. He doesn't know yet that she's awoken. I'll call when it is acceptable to bring him, but if he is asleep, then it will wait until morning as he hasn't been sleeping well as it is." Regina explained, worry in her voice at both her son and his other mother.
"Just go, Regina, poof, be gone and stop staring, perv. We got the kid, and uhhh," Ruby squirmed as the heat between her legs throbbed and the muscles at the bottom of her stomach clenched. "We need a minute anyway."
"Miss Lucas, if you intend to finish what you've started, you could simply give me the keys to Emma's cruiser," Regina pestered the young woman.
"We'll be there in 20 minutes. We'll take Henry up to Granny," Belle assured as she stepped beneath Ruby's arm, clearly more in control than the wolf. She straightened her dress and smoothed the wrinkles. Ruby collapsed and turned at the same time so that her back supported her against the door.
"Yep," she agreed less than enthusiastically. "No bangin' on babysitting duty," she saluted Regina with a sloppy, shaking hand. The dark woman narrowed her eyes at the crude choice of words and then poofed away.
Belle whipped around and crossed the floor until she was pressed into Ruby again. She kissed her chastely and snaked her arms around Ruby's waist and then rested her head against Ruby's chest. Ruby's hands raised as far as her hips but struggled to rise further. Her heart pounded against Belle's ear, and she knew the other women felt it.
"Did I do that or is part of it from being embarrassed that we got caught?" Belle traced a finger where she figured Ruby's heart rested in her chest.
"Belle, that was certainly nothing to be embarrassed about," Ruby replied reverently, focusing on anything except Belle's finger drawing patterns on her chest. Good grief, what had this woman done to her?
"Belle?" Ruby said as he eyes closed.
"Hmm?" the shorter woman hummed against her chest, and Ruby squirmed.
"I… I really need you to…" Fuck me hard. Ruby finished silently and bit her lip. "Get off me before I break my promise to Regina." Red choked out as her fingers clenched the hips beneath them painfully. Belle winced at the sensation, not all unpleasant, and pulled back to gaze up at her, what… friend, girlfriend, lover?
Ruby's eyes flashed yellow and then brown and then back to yellow, and each time her fingers clenched or released her hips. "Why do your eyes do that?" She wondered, not having meant to speak the words aloud.
"Belle!" Ruby jerked their hips together forcefully, fingers digging trenches in Belle's flesh. Her eyes glowed and then faded back to brown. Ruby thumped her head hard against the freezer, hoping the pain distracted her enough to gain control.
Belle pulled out of her grasp and backed up a few steps, not out of fear, just fascination that whatever gripped Ruby from the inside clearly took control when she did something that aroused Ruby. The taller woman panted and slammed her fists straight back into the door holding her weight. Belle gasped at the indentations they left behind.
"I'm a werewolf," Red confessed through clenched teeth, her control beginning to reassert itself over her primal urges.
"What?" Belle's eye widened in shock but not fear. It was a start.
"A werewolf. I change under the full moon. When I have complete control, I don't even need the moon. Superhuman strength, nearly uncontrollable rage, the whole shebang." Ruby explained quickly before she lost her nerve.
"What about uncontrollable, umm, desire?" Belle asked, looking up at her almost shyly but with a seriousness that stopped Ruby's heart.
"As you can see…" Ruby waved her hand over the length of her torso, not quite sure what Belle hinted at.
"So, it wasn't me then? Your racing heart?" Belle gestured in her general direction and then dropped the hand to the other one. Her face fell as disappointment stung in the back of her throat and tightened the skin around her eyes with tears.
"It was you," Ruby stated in a dangerously deep voice that tumbled down Belle's spine. "If I wanted just anybody, I'd have had Billy earlier. Trust me when I say that I might have even had a go at Regina." Belle's forehead scrunched in question, and Ruby waved her hand in dismissal.
"We had a moment after I pulled Spencer off of her. Her magic and my wolf, I think they might come from the same place. Something that we both barely have control over but something that neither one of us can get rid of. It's something that was forced onto both of us against our wills.
"So, yes, I feel that urge, too, but not like this, Belle. I've never been out of control before, not like this, not before the wolf's moon. During maybe, but never before. It's irritating as hell, but I've never been out of my mind. It's you. It's all for you," Ruby finished breathlessly.
"I'm not a wolf, Ruby," Belle started as she took a few steps towards the panting woman. She traced Ruby's lips with her fingers as she continued in a whisper, "but I think I was out of control, too."
Her fingers clenched into a fist and she stepped back once more. "I'm going to go get Henry and take him upstairs. I will be back in exactly ten minutes," she checked her watch. "If you need to… uhh… finish," she stuttered, but Ruby understood her meaning.
Ruby nodded enthusiastically. "Probably for the best or I'm not going to be able to be around you for the rest of the night," Ruby admitted honestly. She pressed against the freezer until she heard the swinging swoosh of Belle leaving the kitchen and then slid to the floor in a head. What the hell happened to her control?
