Getaway, Chapter 4
A Once Upon a Time fan fiction
Emma could hear Henry babbling excitedly as she walked to the door at the top of the stairs. Only once she'd entered the room and closed the door did the sound die away. The blonde scanned the space where she would be living for the next six days. It was a small room, and short. She guessed that it originally was not meant for guests, but that the owners had spruced it up a little and added a (tiny) bathroom so they could claim a two-bedroom home.
However, the room would work just fine for Emma. She wasn't too picky about living spaces; she'd spent too many long nights and uncomfortable mornings in her yellow bug for that. She threw her duffel bag onto the small bed and opened it, fishing for the swimsuit she'd gotten earlier in the week.
Logically, there were no places to buy swimwear in Storybrooke, Maine, so the young woman had taken her chances ordering a bikini online. She'd ended up with a flimsy little red thing, but Emma didn't care too much about any of that. She just hoped it fit.
As she slipped out of her jeans and t-shirt, the blonde could not help but remember the conversation she'd had with Ruby after Henry had left the diner.
"So, a beach vacation with the Mills family,"Ruby had said as she sauntered up to the counter. "I bet our Madame Mayor looks sexy as hell in a swimsuit."
Emma had scoffed and shot the tall young woman what she hoped was a look of total disdain. Unfortunately, it seemed that she was having none of that.
"I'd imagine she's irresistible," the brunette had continued, leaning over the counter and staring Emma down.
The blonde woman had stared back at her friend and then insisted, "Perhaps if you're into that sort of thing. But you know good and well that I don't swing that way. And I'd imagine Regina doesn't either."
Then came Ruby's turn to look disdainful. But her expression hadn't only contained disdain. It had also contained a lot of, don't even try to give me that bullshit or convince me that you believe it for one second. Emma could read all this in her friend's face, and her cheeks had flared red as she looked down at the counter.
Now the conversation was playing itself over and over in her head, and it was the last thing she wanted to hear.
"Goddammit," she whispered as she tied the strings of her bikini around her neck. Emma didn't want to think about this shit. Here she was, on vacation with Regina and her…their son, and she knew that all involved wanted this trip to go well. So the young woman decided then and there that, for the duration of their stay, she was simply going to ignore whatever it was she felt for the mayor. She could do that.
Emma dug the pair of cutoffs she'd borrowed from Ruby out of her bag and slipped them on over her bikini bottoms, then pulled a signature white tank top out and over her head. "Keep it in your pants, Swan," she muttered, trying to make herself laugh as she slid her feet into a pair of flip-flops.
She didn't really laugh, but the thought made her a little less emotionally screwy, and so she grabbed her sunglasses and tromped down the stairs.
"Mom, let me go!" Emma heard Henry whine as she reached the first floor. She could see the silhouettes of him and his mother standing on the deck through the open door.
"Henry Mills, you are a pale little boy, and I will not have you getting a sunburn. We're almost done. I promise the second I've finished your back, you can run out to the beach," Regina commanded, rubbing sunscreen into the boy's admittedly pale skin.
The over-dramatic sigh Henry let out was audible to Emma even from inside the house, where she was grabbing a towel from the set of shelves next to the staircase.
Regina stood up straight, rubbing her hands together, and said, "Okay, you're good to go."
That was all the encouragement Henry needed. Without a second thought, he was sprinting down the steps, only yelling "Thank you!" when he was almost halfway to the water.
Emma walked out onto the deck, watching her son collide with the crashing waves. She couldn't see his face, but she didn't need to; she knew he was grinning from ear to ear. It was only when the other woman standing on the deck let out a low chuckle that she turned towards her.
Looking at Regina turned out to be a very poor decision (though she realized it would have been unavoidable). The voluptuous woman was wearing a flowy cover-up. However, the material was almost sheer, and it was easy to make out the one-piece swimsuit underneath. It was a dark color, black or maybe navy blue. The suit tied at the neck and had a plunging neckline, which even under the cover up displayed her cleavage nicely. But that was not the kicker. Though a one-piece swimsuit, there were large cutouts on both sides, beginning beneath her breasts and ending at her full hips.
Emma's heart started beating a mile a minute when she got an eyeful of the gorgeous brunette, and she prayed for two things: that she could keep her face composed into some semblance of normalcy, and that Regina hadn't noticed the sudden change in her breathing pattern. She turned and looked back at the ocean, hoping that she looked like she was studying the view.
Only when she felt the blonde's eyes leave her body did Regina turn to examine her. She openly gawked for a second, but then realized that Emma could turn back at any moment and catch her. Attempting to be more discreet, the brunette scanned the woman standing next to her. She did not understand how someone dressed so simply, so casually, so "I-don't-give-a-fuck" could be so mind-blowingly hot.
She often wondered that when it came to Emma, but this was that normal thought multiplied by about a million. Regina first admired the sheriff's incredible legs. They were normally hidden under tight jeans (which also had their perks), but now they were on full view, only the very tops of muscular thighs covered by barely-there denim shorts. Next up was her slim torso, covered as usual by a white tank top. However, underneath her tank top today, a bright red string bikini was visible. Regina was amused by the fact that the shade of red almost exactly matched the blonde's favorite leather jacket.
Emma turned back to her and smiled. "Ready to hit the beach?" she asked, genuine excitement in her voice. Even her crazed sexual attraction could not discourage her from enjoying the gorgeous location.
In response, Regina picked up the towel and bottle of sunscreen she'd previously placed on a chair, smiled, and walked down towards the water.
The two women chose a spot on the beach and laid their towels out. Before leaving New England, Emma had decided that one of her goals for the trip was to get a tan, so before she sat down, she stripped off her tank top and readjusted her bikini top.
Though it had always been obvious that Emma was in great shape (unless she was wearing a parka, you could always tell that she had a tiny waist, and basically carrying Regina out of a burning building had proved that she was incredibly strong), the mayor still hadn't expected her to look like this. She was entranced by the blonde's taut abdomen, and between that and her toned arms, there was no denying it: the girl was fit.
By now, the brunette was sure that Emma could sense her staring, and she didn't like knowing that someone else had that sort of power over her. She had felt the other woman's eyes studying her when she first walked onto the deck, and that gave her an idea. Regina reached down and smoothly pulled off her own cover-up.
The low but audible gasp that escaped the blonde's throat (Shit that was loud, Emma thought) gave Regina a great sense of satisfaction, and a smug grin crossed her face as she gracefully lowered herself to the towel she had lain down earlier.
She knew she should stop, but Emma couldn't prevent herself from drinking in the brunette's long body with her eyes. Every inch of skin looked smooth and soft, and the way the swimsuit accentuated each curve of her body was out of this world.
Emma plopped herself down on her towel, and once again she heard Ruby's voice in her mind. Irresistible. Irresistible was right. This day, and every other spent on the beach, was going to be a trial.
As the blonde started to stretch out so she could start tanning, she realized she hadn't put sunscreen on. Looking over, she saw the bottle Regina had carried out, and, trying not to sound timid, she asked, "Um, Mayor—Regina…can I borrow that sunscreen?"
Regina looked over at her and answered, "Oh, of course Ms. Swan. Come to think of it, I should probably do the same," and then handed her the blue bottle.
"I really hope you're not planning on calling me 'Ms. Swan' all week," Emma said, feeling pleased that she had some of her normal bluster back in her voice. She squeezed sunscreen onto each leg, and then set the bottle down.
Regina picked up the bottle and squirted sunscreen into her palm, then started rubbing it into her arms. "I suppose that would be a little odd," she replied. "Emma, then." The woman's first name felt weird in her mouth, but she did realize that it was less weird than calling her housemate of almost the same age 'Ms. Swan.'
The two women continued lathering themselves up with sunscreen until all was done except for the parts of their backs that they couldn't reach on their own. Regina only saw one logical choice.
"Emma," she murmured, feeling the taste of the name in her mouth, "would you mind doing my back?" Though she hated that Henry sometimes called her the Evil Queen, she had to wonder at this moment if she did have an evil streak, because as Emma's eyes grew to the size of saucers at that question, Regina felt a strong sense of devious satisfaction.
After blinking a few times, trying to get her face back under control, Emma responded, "Of course." She picked up the sunscreen bottle and squeezed a little in her palm as the brunette turned the opposite way. Her traitorous hand shook as she extended it towards the woman's beautiful back. "Sorry, it's kind of cold," she said, and with that she placed her fingers at the nape of Regina's neck and started to rub the sunscreen in.
Regina chuckled gently. She could feel the blonde's hand trembling slightly as she began rubbing the lotion on her skin. However, the hand quickly steadied. Though the brunette was concentrating on sitting still, a sudden involuntary shiver ran through her body and she shuddered noticeably.
Now it was Emma's turn to feel smug. She knew that the shiver had not been caused by the cool temperature of the sunscreen, but by a gentle brushing of her nails against Regina's shoulder blade. She finished the woman's back quickly, and was greeted by another devious smile as she turned around.
"Thanks. Here, I'll do you now," Regina stated sweetly.
"Thank you," Emma replied, trying to keep her cool and sound equally as sweet. She flipped herself around and sat up straight.
It was obvious that Emma wanted to come across as calm, cool, and collected, but when Regina started touching her back, she could tell that the blonde was holding her breath. Though they hadn't been playing long, the older woman had already grown tired of this game of sexual chicken. She wanted to touch a lot more than Emma's back, and so she took charge.
Emma felt Regina scoot closer to her, still rubbing the sunscreen in, until she imagined that there were only inches between her back and the woman's chest. Suddenly, the smooth hand slid all the way down to the small of her back and grasped the top of her shorts.
"You want to move this inside?" Regina breathed into Emma's ear.
The blonde turned her head slowly, not so shocked to find that Regina's face was centimeters from her own.
"I thought you'd never ask."