Breathe.
Just breathe.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Ruby shifted her weight from one foot to the other nervously, balancing the white paper bags filled with food that she'd acquired in her arm as she reached up with her somewhat free hand (she was still clinging to a half-empty cup of coffee) and pressed the doorbell with the tip of her pinkie.
The maid, Patricia, as Ruby found out when she did a little digging after her first meeting with Regina, pulled open the door after a few moments, and she smiled when she saw Ruby.
"Deputy Lucas," Patricia greeted, motioning Ruby into the house.
"Hey. Um, is Regina in?" Ruby asked, still struggling to cradle the bags and her drink. She was anxious enough already. The last thing she needed was to drop all the food or spill her coffee and muck things up.
"She is. Is she expecting you? Should I tell her you're here?"
"Uh, no. No, I'll just-can I go to her office?"
"She's up in her study at the moment. It's just up the stairs, first door on the left. She shouldn't be too busy," Patricia informed.
Ruby nodded. "Thanks," she said, as she slowly made her way toward the stairs.
She took the steps one at a time, careful not to trip or drop anything. When she finally reached the landing, she glanced left and found the door to the study. It was cracked open, and Ruby could make out a faint orange-y light and the sound of soft music coming from inside. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she continued on her journey. She nudged the door open just a little with her elbow and stuck her head inside, hazel eyes quickly finding and settling on Regina. The older woman was sitting on the couch, facing away from the door and gazing off into the fire crackling in the hearth, completely unaware that she had a visitor. There was a glass of wine in one hand and Regina held a book open on her lap with the other. She looked calm, peaceful even, deep in thoughts that Ruby found herself all too eager to want to know.
Ruby pushed the door open a little more and the hinges creaked faintly. Dark eyes snapped up and found her standing in the doorway. Ruby forced a smile and tried to remain calm as she held up one of the white paper bags in her hand. Regina looked surprised but not entirely angry when Ruby just let herself into the room and made her way over to the couch opposite Regina. The younger woman sat down and placed the food-laden bags and her coffee on the table.
"I hope you don't mind, I brought you lunch. I thought you might be hungry," Ruby said, trying to ignore the way Regina's eyes traveled over her, studying her carefully.
Regina planted her bare feet down on the floor and turned to face Ruby fully. She closed her book and set it down on the couch beside her, then rested her wine glass on the table. "Why are you here?" she asked, keeping her tone firm and even.
"I just said-to bring you lunch," Ruby said. "And to let you know that Boston PD caught the kids who set fire to City Hall."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you bring me lunch? Why come here in person when you could have just as easily phoned me or had someone else deliver the news?"
"Because I'm nice?"
Regina scoffed. "Deputy," she started, but Ruby cut her off.
"Do we really need the formalities?" she asked.
Regina bristled. "Yes, I believe we do."
Ruby expelled a breath and slid her slightly sweaty palms down her jeans. "Look, can we just-can we talk about what happened the other night?"
"There's nothing to talk about, dear," Regina said, letting her eyes slide away from Ruby's face and back to the fire. It was almost too much to handle, looking into hazel eyes and seeing all the things Regina was too afraid were reflected in her own eyes. All those emotions were just dangerous, unwanted, and Regina refused to let them get the better of her.
"I sent you flowers," Ruby went on, ignoring Regina's previous statement completely. "You brought them back. I guess you didn't want them, but you forgot the card. Did you keep it?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "It's in the trash," she lied, "along with those horrid chocolates you sent me."
Ruby grimaced. Ouch. "Okay. So, you're not a fan of flowers or candy. Got it. Tell me, what do you like?"
"Privacy. Solitude. People who do their jobs instead of harassing me."
Ouch again. Ruby shifted in her seat and then tried a different approach. "I had a good time the other night," she said slowly, gauging Regina's reaction to the simple statement. "In spite of you freaking out and running off, that is."
That definitely got Regina's attention. She snapped her eyes up and glared hard at Ruby. "I did not freak out, Deputy Lucas, and you'll do well to watch your words and your tone with me," she said, nostrils flaring.
Score. Ruby smiled to herself. "Oh, but you did freak out. You kissed me, and then you freaked out. Something about rules and that sort of behavior not being appropriate. It didn't feel too bad when I kissed you back though, did it?"
That hit a nerve. Regina stood abruptly and pointing a finger at the door. "Out," she said firmly. "Get out. Now."
Ruby leaned back against the couch. "I'm not leaving."
Regina huffed. "If you don't leave my house right this instant, so help me, I'll-"
"You'll what? Have me arrested? I'm the Deputy, Regina. You might wanna think that through," Ruby said, smirking, quite enjoying how quickly she'd managed to stir Regina up.
It didn't take much to get the other woman hot under the collar, and Ruby surmised it wouldn't take much to get her to an entirely different place either, one that was a lot less pissed off and much more turned on. All or nothing, Lucas. Go for it.
"Sit down," Ruby said a moment later.
"Excuse me?" Regina barked.
"I said, sit down. Threatening me is pointless. I just wanna talk. Can we do that?"
Regina looked for a moment like she was going to continue to protest, but then she sighed, rolled her eyes at Ruby, and then moved to sit down again.
"Uh-uh," Ruby told her, shaking her head. "Over here," she said, patting the sofa cushion next to her.
"You have got to be kidding me."
"Do I look like I'm kidding right now? I'm tired of playing games, Regina. Come here."
Regina reluctantly crossed the short distance and settled herself on the couch next to Ruby. Not too close. But Ruby quickly solved that problem by scooting in and turning to face Regina. She laid her arm across the back of the couch and subtlely grazed Regina's shoulder with her fingertips, and when Regina shuddered, Ruby mentally patted herself on the back.
"You said you wished to talk," Regina said, "so what are you waiting for?"
"You know you don't have to be like this around me, right?" Ruby asked, reaching out against her better judgment and taking Regina's hand into her own.
Regina flinched and tried to pull away, but Ruby just tightened her grip, not enough to hurt but to get her point across that she wasn't letting go.
"You were different the other night, at dinner. And don't get me wrong, you're ridiculously sexy when you're angry, but you're also incredibly beautiful when you let yourself go a little. I managed to get a little glimpse of that, that night, and I think there's more to that side of you. You're just afraid to show it," Ruby continued.
Regina tensed. "You don't know anything about me," she said, voice low.
"I know that you don't like flowers," Ruby told her, smiling a little, "or chocolate. Romantic gestures. I know that you like wine, and good conversation, and you love your job. You love this town. I know that you're smart and gorgeous and strong, and you can be pretty scary and stubborn and pig-headed when you don't get your way." Ruby paused and moved closer to Regina, her thumb ghosting across Regina's knuckles. "I know that you're not really comfortable with showing your feelings, opening yourself up to others. I don't know why, exactly, but I'd like to find out, if you'd let me."
Regina snorted and rolled her eyes at that.
"And I know that I like you. A lot," Ruby said, leaning in closer.
Regina's breath hitched. She didn't dare look at Ruby. Didn't dare to move a muscle or say anything. She was pretty sure she wouldn't be able to speak anyway, not with the way Ruby's body was currently pressing into her side, her warm breath ghosting across Regina's skin.
Ruby kept talking. "You know, the night of the fire? I wasn't even on call. I was going to your office because I wanted to talk to you. I wanted-I wanted to ask you out."
Regina peeled her eyes away from the speck of dust she'd been eyeing on the coffee table and finally, finally, looked at Ruby. "You did?" she asked softly.
Ruby nodded. "Ever since that gala. Ever since we danced together and I got to feel you in my arms." She slipped her arm down off the back of the couch and trailed her fingers across Regina's shoulders, lightly brushing the hair at the nape of Regina's neck. "You were so beautiful. You are beautiful. I see that, when I look at you. It's not so difficult for me to see past all this anger and these walls that you put up. I just wish you'd show me more."
Regina's mouth went dry. She opened it to speak, to say something, anything, but found that she couldn't. She hadn't been expecting to hear that. Hadn't expected to find that Ruby had been interested in her for as long as she had been interested in the Deputy. It was all a little bit overwhelming, too much information to process, too soon. Regina couldn't remember the last time she'd been left dumbstruck and speechless.
Actually, she could. She remembered all too well, to be honest. The gala. Ruby. That dress. The way Ruby had held her close when they danced. It all kept coming back to that. It was supposed to be a formal event, a party for the sake of business, for the sole purpose of Regina making sure all the proper Chess pieces were still being heavily influenced and controlled by her strategies. How quickly it had turned into something else, something so entirely different and unexpected that it made Regina's head spin.
"Regina."
Ruby's gentle voice startled the other woman out of her thoughts. She blinked a few times, trying to bring herself back to the here and now, and felt Ruby's fingers on her chin, lifting her head until their gazes met. Regina swallowed thickly, and before she had time to say or do anything, Ruby had leaned forward, closing the gap between them until her lips met Regina's in a slow, tentative kiss. Regina responded immediately, in spite of knowing that she shouldn't. She allowed herself to be kissed, and she kissed Ruby back with equal fervor, throwing caution and consequences to the wind, opting instead to just let go and enjoy the feeling of soft, warm lips moving against her own.
Things quickly got out of hand. Spurred on my Regina's fingers tangling in her hair, Ruby increased the intensity of her kisses, tilting her head slightly to get a better angle and nipping at Regina's lips. She slid her tongue along the seam of Regina's lips, asking for entrance that Regina was all too eager to grant her. Their tongues met and dueled and Regina moaned, pushing her body closer to Ruby's, arching up into the younger woman's touch.
Ruby rose up onto her knees and gently pushed Regina back onto the couch. She settled down on top of her, never once breaking contact with Regina's lips. Regina breathed in deep through her nose, and sighed into Ruby's mouth, hands moving around to Ruby's back, fingernails scratching at soft leather. When Ruby finally broke away, just long enough to shrug out of her jacket, Regina was struck with a moment of clarity. A little of the haze cleared from her mind and she stared up at Ruby, who was hovering over her, long, elegant fingers working quickly to get her belt buckle undone. Regina brought her hand up and laid it over Ruby's, stilling her movement.
"What's wrong?" Ruby asked, hazel eyes glistening in the low light.
Regina shook her head and smiled. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I just-what about lunch?" she said, and she knew it sounded silly the moment the words left her mouth, but she was grasping at straws here, still trying desperately to find some reason why she and Ruby shouldn't be doing this. Not now, anyway.
Ruby just grinned and leaned down to kiss Regina again. "Forget about lunch," she said, moving her lips down the elegant column of Regina's neck. "There are better things on the menu now."
Regina bit down on her lower lip to stifle back a moan when Ruby sucked at her pulse point. She closed her eyes and pushed her other thoughts aside, focused on how good it felt when Ruby's hands grazed her sides and slipped under her shirt, cool fingers tickling Regina's skin. Regina made a strangled noise in the back of her throat when Ruby just brushed the underside of her breasts, and Ruby pulled back, hands stilling on Regina's stomach, feeling the muscles twitching there beneath her fingers.
"You okay?" Ruby asked, genuine concern lacing her voice.
Regina nodded, eyes still shut tight, bottom lip still caught firmly between sharp white teeth. Ruby smiled and pressed a kiss to Regina's cheek.
"Are you sure?" Ruby asked, to which Regina nodded again. "If this is going to fast, you can tell me. I want you to tell me, okay?"
Dark eyes fluttered open and Regina smiled up at Ruby, warm and reassuring. "It's not too fast. I-I've been wanting this for a while, I think," she said, the admission rolling not so easily off her tongue.
"Yeah?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Maybe," Ruby started, but she trailed off, suddenly lost deep in thought for a moment. "Maybe we should wait," she finished.
Regina paled visibly at that. "Wait?"
"Yeah. I just-I don't want to rush things. I want to be able to take my time and touch all of you. I want to kiss you all over and make love to you slowly and-"
"If you don't stop talking like that, I won't make it there," Regina cut in, smirking, but it was obvious that she was quite serious, if the way her breath hitched and her voice wavered were anything to go by.
Ruby chuckled softly and the sound sent a shiver through Regina.
"We can wait though," Regina said, "if you want to."
"You're okay with that?" Ruby asked.
Regina nodded. "We've waited this long, haven't we? What's a little while longer?"
"I don't want us to both go crazy."
It was Regina's turn to laugh. "I won't."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
"Good, and I promise I won't go crazy either."
Ruby reluctantly pushed herself up and moved off of Regina, standing and straightening her clothes. She reached for her jacket and shrugged into it.
"I guess... I should go. I asked Graham to cover for me and he's probably wondering where the hell I am," Ruby said, watching as Regina sat up and leaned back against the couch.
"All right," was all the older woman said.
"Can I-can I come by tonight?" Ruby asked hesitantly.
"I would like that very much."
Ruby let out a relieved sigh and took a step forward, then she bent her head toward Regina and kissed her one last time before she left the room.
Regina brought her fingers up to her lips, still tingling from Ruby's touch, and she smiled to herself, no longer able to keep the rush and excitement she felt at bay. Her body was practically thrumming with anticipation, and she hoped to God that she could keep her promise and not go insane with want before she could see Ruby again.