Moonlight casting a silver glow off of her dark hair, Regina looks up at the red brick of the apartment block shared by the Sheriff and the schoolteacher.
When she'd arrived, there had been a faint glow emanating from the small window to the right of the building that she knows belongs to the blonde's bedroom, but, just as she had taken a step closer into the back lot below, the light had been extinguished, leaving her staring up into the empty eyes of blackened windows where her people sleep.
She frowns; wondering just what in the hell she plans on doing now that she's here.
On her walk over, she had taken her time; not wishing to run into the waitress should Ruby decide to follow through on her offer to accompany the Sheriff home before turning back on herself to retread the block and a half to the diner. She doesn't imagine Emma would have actually allowed her to offer up such a caring form of support, but the last thing she needs is to be proven wrong on that count.
As such, the hour is late, and there is something curiously, well, forbidden about her prowling the streets in a way reminiscent of a sleek black panther.
She smiles; savouring the analogy.
Such sly behaviour only serves to feed the fire building mercilessly in her loins, as for the last couple of blocks, she has found herself obscurely aware of the way delicate lace brushes against her intimately as she walks.
"This is ridiculous."
She hisses; her breath misting in the streetlights.
She isn't willing to let this go, though; ridiculous or not. Emma has well and truly crossed a line with her behaviour tonight. Serving not only to infuriate and insult her, but to confuse her also, and this is something she cannot allow to go unpunished.
And not just that!
In forcing her to bring her convenient little tryst with Graham to an unfortunately fatal conclusion, the blonde has subsequently left her entirely celibate, and, as such, the demanding ache of her sex is of an almost maddening intensity.
"Well, you did cheat."
"I didn't! Well, not a lot..."
"Mmmhm..."
"Seriously!"
"Yeah, sure, just like you seriously wanted to get Regina naked."
"Hasn't anyone ever warned you to be careful what you wish for, dear..."
The Mayor murmurs, slipping around to the front of the building and fishing into the pocket of her coat for her keys. Ordinarily, she doesn't make a habit of keeping her skeleton keys on her person, but, ever since Emma came to town, she has kept the keys for the schoolteacher's apartment with her at all times.
She would hate for an opportunity to best the vile woman to present itself, only to find herself unable to utilise such a gift and get rid of the bitch.
Sliding the first of the keys into the large lock of the front door, she lets herself in and stalks down the darkened hallway with a sweep of her coat; taking a moment to smile as the heavy wood thuds quietly shut behind her before making her way stealthily up the stairs to the second floor.
She finds herself mildly relieved upon reaching the top of the iron steps leading to Emma's bedroom; still considering Mary Margaret's living arrangements to be decidedly strange, and having hurried past the slumbering schoolteacher's bed in the living room with no more than a brief scowl of distaste at the girlish white silk of her nightdress.
She has a feeling she doesn't need to fear such atrocious bedclothes from the blonde.
Smirking as she crosses the threshold of the Sheriff's room, her eyes glitter with malicious glee when she is instantly proven right; Emma lying on her back atop crumpled covers, still clad in her poorly buttoned shirt, and providing an amusing flashback to earlier on in the evening as - yet again - she seems only to have remembered to remove one of her socks.
Soft lips parted in sleep.
Slender legs, much the same.
Taking a few steps closer to the bed, the brunette's gaze flickers to a cluttered nightstand on which a half-empty bottle of scotch stands open, lending the room a peaty, adult smell that she can't help but find suitably intoxicating.
"You really do need to learn how to behave, dear..."
She murmurs, studying the sleeping Sheriff with a look of deadly seriousness, before taking her final step towards the bed and placing her hand swiftly over the younger woman's mouth.
Green eyes shoot open, and it's more by luck than preconception that the Mayor catches the fist that comes flying at her with all the skilled finesse of one feral, yet half-asleep.
"Shut up!"
She hisses as Emma makes a choked sound muffled by her fingers. Waiting for her order to be obeyed, she glares down into wide eyes, before continuing in a low voice as she looms over the Sheriff.
"Let me remind you that Mary Margaret is sleeping downstairs, and I don't think either of us wants to explain to that wet blanket what I might be doing here in your room with you reeking of alcohol and half-naked... Now... I'm going to remove my hand, and you're going to be quiet... Understood?"
Bright eyes dart nervously over her moonlit features and Emma gives a small nod, garnering herself a smirk as the brunette pulls her hand away, true to her word.
"Well, what the hell are you doing here?!"
The Sheriff hisses, pulling herself up and pushing her hair out of her face as she struggles to accept the fact that this isn't simply some sort of hyper-realistic dream.
Regina doesn't answer her.
Instead, the darker woman takes a step back from the bed, never once breaking eye contact with the stunned blonde. Offering a curious smile, she crosses her arms in front of her chest interrogation style as she stands silhouetted by the moonlight.
"I heard everything."
"What do you mean? When?"
Emma frowns, stifling a yawn as she scrubs at her face.
"I heard what you said when you and Miss Lucas were leaving the station... I was still in my car, and I heard exactly what the two of you were gossiping about."
"I don't gossip... And... What?"
The blonde shakes her head as her brow creases in confusion; struggling to recall just what in the hell she had said to Ruby back at the station.
Clearly something offensive enough to have the Mayor fucking breaking and entering!
"Oh, come now, don't be coy. It doesn't suit you."
Regina shakes her head with a dangerous lilt to her tone.
"I mean-... I don't-..."
Shit, what was it?... It was probably something about her pussying out of the game... But how bad could it have been? I mean-
"-Naked."
"Huh?"
The Sheriff grunts; Regina's low accusation shaking her from her thoughts.
"Miss Lucas seemed under the impression that you found yourself oh so very perturbed when I refused to let you cheat, as you had wanted to, ah, get me naked..."
"Sh-she did?"
"Yes, dear. Indeed she did."
"... Oh."
Emma offers lamely, looking decidedly uncomfortable as she continues to try and wake herself up enough to fully comprehend what might be going on.
"Cat got your tongue?"
"I mean... Maybe you misheard her? I don't-... That-... It's not-"
"-Oh, I don't think so, Miss Swan."
"... No?"
The blonde croaks, and the Mayor bites back a laugh at the glimmer of hope that slowly dies in the Sheriff's eyes. Shaking her head, Regina places her hands on her hips, allowing herself to take in bare legs, and the somehow exhilarating image of the younger woman sat looking up at her so vulnerably from her bed. Offering a slow smile that has Emma swallowing audibly, she fusses primly with her hair before cocking her head to the side as though curious.
"I didn't mishear anything, Sheriff... So I suppose my question to you is... Was Miss Lucas wrong?"
If it's possible, already saucer-like eyes become even wider and the blonde's mouth falls open, before she pulls herself under control and clears her throat. She searches for something to say - preferably something cutting and sarcastic - but with the way Regina regards her so intently with her pupils so beautifully blown, she can't help but wonder whether the Mayor comes bearing trick, or treat.
It's fucking Regina! What do you think, Swan?!
Yes, it's Regina... But it's Regina standing here in your goddamned bedroom after breaking in, watching you sleep, and asking you whether you want a better look at what she has to offer...
It's Regina, who seems to be having a hard time not staring at your legs...
Blinking as she comes to this curious realisation, Emma allows herself a quick experiment; not prepared to have solicitation added to the long list of grievances the Mayor already keeps reserved just for her.
Cocking her head as she sits with her palms sinking heavily into the mattress, she spreads her legs just a little wider; a surreptitious movement unless taken otherwise.
Dark eyes follow this minute change intently - the brunette's throat rippling as she swallows - and the Sheriff has had enough experience with her own lust to know that this is the emotion the darker woman is only vaguely attempting to hide.
Relaxing a little, when she answers, her voice is low.
"No... Ruby wasn't wrong."
The Mayor's eyes sparkle in the darkness at the younger woman's husky admission and her smile widens when she catches the faint twitch of the blonde's jaw as Emma clenches her teeth defiantly; her gaze hard as though daring her to ridicule her for her confession.
"Good."
A simple word - so different from their usual complex and multi-layered bickering - and it catches Emma off guard; her previous smoulder broken by tentative confusion. Regina pays this no mind; supposing she should expect little more from the younger woman. Recapturing green eyes, she merely raises her own jaw ever so slightly; adopting a clear stance of dominance which is neither argued nor openly accepted.
The Sheriff simply gazes back at her.
Moving her fingers slowly, the brunette works loose the fastenings of her coat and lets the heavy fabric fall to the floor at her feet.
She proceeds with similar nonchalance as she allows delicate silk to fall from her torso and crisp linen to pool around her heels, never once looking away from the Sheriff as the younger woman drinks in every inch of newly exposed flesh.
"As you were, Miss Swan."
"S-sorry?"
"You seem to be wearing a little more than you were earlier... You clearly wanted me to admire the view back at the Station enough to cheat your hand."
"I didn't!"
"Don't argue. Take off your shirt."
Her order is little more than a throaty purr, and the blonde decides that if there should ever be a time to let Regina boss her around, it's now, as the darker woman stands clad in nothing but exquisite lace and pearlescent silk.
Smirking as the Sheriff makes a small noise of amusement upon discovering the ineptitude of her earlier redressing, the brunette watches as the younger woman frees herself of hellishly crumpled material and tosses it carelessly into the corner of her room where several fallen comrades seem to have suffered a similar fate.
"And the sock..."
She demands.
It should be funny, it really should, and Emma seems to find it to be just that as she chuckles huskily, but the underlying intensity of the situation has the Mayor's head spinning, and she lunges suddenly forwards; yanking the Sheriff down the bed by her ankle as she rips away the offending item herself, before cutting off the resultant noise the act garners with her mouth rather than her hand this time.
A strong thigh hooks around at her hip to pull her in closer as pale fingers fly into her hair, and she concludes that she hasn't been the only one suffering from heady desire.
The knee that falls involuntarily between the younger woman's legs as she strives to keep her balance brushes against damp cotton that seconds this notion.
"Take off the rest..."
Emma's own request is little more than a murmur in the darker woman's ear as the latter leaves her lips for the pale column of her throat, and Regina flashes her teeth; entirely unimpressed that the Sheriff should think it her place to make demands.
"No."
"No?! But I thought-"
"-Hush! Never mind what you thought! What I told you was to strip off to the point you were at while at the station. Why should I give you a reward when you fail to do so much as listen?"
"Huh?"
The blonde frowns distractedly; vaguely aware that she should be snapping back at the Mayor for implying that she's the lucky recipient in all this - not that she entirely disagrees on that count, but she has to preserve her dignity somehow - but she finds herself lacking in sarcastic wit as the darker woman remains hovering so tantalisingly close.
"Your bra."
Regina elaborates, while ripping at the garment ruthlessly to push scant lace roughly up to release its bounty.
"Hey!"
"Shut up!"
The brunette hisses as the younger woman cries out incredulously.
"Don't wreck my things, then!"
Emma whispers waspishly, but she pushes herself up so that she can hook an arm awkwardly behind herself and pull green lace completely free.
"Much better..."
The Mayor murmurs into the salted hollow of the Sheriff's collarbone; her hands exploring pert flesh as the younger woman attempts to pull her back up to meet her lips.
Holy shit... Fuck me... This is actually happening... What in the hell has gotten into her?!
And why do I care?!
Fractured thoughts as the blonde allows the darker woman dominance of their kiss.
Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she walks her fingers playfully down the Mayor's spine to find the thin banner of silk below her shoulder blades and fiddles tricky little teeth loose; tensing slightly as she anticipates probable punishment.
"...You drop that on your dirty floor, Sheriff, and you'll have another thing coming."
Regina warns quietly as she moves to allow the younger woman to untangle her from the expensive garment.
"Oh?"
That ever-vexing, impish grin as the Sheriff dangles the Mayor's bra playfully over the edge of the bed.
"Don't play with fire, Miss Swan."
"Or I'll get burned?... And who says my floor's dirty anyway?!"
"Your ownership of the room leaves little to question."
"A rather roundabout way to call me filthy, don't you think? You could just- Hey!"
The blonde's throaty teasing is broken up by a choked gasp as the darker woman grabs at globed flesh in vicious reprimand.
"I told you to be quiet!"
Regina snaps.
"I'm whispering!"
"Well, then let's try silence..."
The brunette mutters irritably, cutting off any further argument swiftly with kiss-swollen lips, and letting out a low groan as skilled fingers find her freed breasts and manipulate soft buds slowly until painfully taut.
She moans a little louder when those same fingers wander south and slip into the waistband of her lingerie.
Manoeuvring herself into a better position, she keeps up a gentle, encouraging rhythm with her hips so as to wordlessly instruct the blonde to continue with her delicious ministrations, rising up only slightly in order to slip the Sheriff's underwear down slim legs.
She lets out a low chuckle when Emma instantly moves to reciprocate the act; the younger woman hooking her fingers into elegant lace and coaxing it to fall and catch at bent knees. Taking a moment to free herself fully, Regina notes that the Sheriff makes no move to liberate her of her hold-ups, and so allows the sheer nylon to remain in place; rewarding the blonde with a decidedly wet kiss as the latter drags her nails gently across the intricate whorls at the tops.
Lowering herself back down heavily - her fingers buried deep within messy curls - Regina sighs blissfully as the younger woman enters her with two fingers while brushing against her most sensitive spot with her thumb. She continues to move above the blonde; tasting her slowly as her head spins with such pent-up lust that she is sure she might just go mad.
Pale fingers curl up and take on a new approach to her undoing, and the Mayor finds herself unable to keep from making small noises of pleasure that are immediately swallowed.
Pushing herself up to ride the Sheriff's hand with a better view, she stares down into glittering eyes dark with aggressive arousal and knows her own must mirror the blonde's.
Nodding in encouragement as Emma uses her free hand to explore, she lets her eyes slip closed; her own fingers tracing gentle patterns over the pale flesh of the younger woman's stomach and chest.
The blonde's teasing picks up speed and passion and she feels herself suddenly hurtling towards the edge at an alarming speed; flying over it without warning into a blacked-out bliss as she shudders and her mouth falls open in a silent cry.
She will later muse that the subsequent ripples of pleasure had continued for a good two or three minutes before she had finally collapsed back down to find the Sheriff's lips and manoeuvred with great care of her tender satiation to get away from cruelly adept fingers.
"Good god..."
She murmurs into unruly tresses, before smirking as she becomes aware of the blonde's own heavy breathing.
Feeling a little left out, are we dear?
The noise the younger woman offers against the slick skin of her shoulder as she slips a single finger between tense thighs answers the question beautifully.
Although, I did tell you to be quiet...
Adding another finger experimentally, she shakes her head as this action garners a louder hum.
"Hush."
She hisses, but she doubts Emma even hears her; the Sheriff attempting both to buck her hips to increase her pleasure, and to pull Regina down to her to resume their battle of tongues.
Shaking her head, and placing her hand once more over lust-parted lips, the brunette moves the fingers of the hand working lower down with a sudden, cruel roughness; eyes dark with warning.
Reacting to the Mayor's punishment with little less than a shriek, Emma opens her eyes and glares up at the darker woman angrily.
"That hurt!"
"It was supposed to... Now, do as I say and I won't do it again."
Arched brows furrow as Emma tries to conjure up a retort to that little unwarranted display of dominance, but then the brunette begins moving down her body with clear intent and she stills; simply watching her.
Pushing apart slim thighs with obscure primness, Regina wets her bottom lip before glancing back up to offer the Sheriff a stern expression.
"Well?"
"Well, what?"
"Are you going to behave yourself?"
"Ugh, Regina-"
"-Yes or no, Miss Swan, I didn't ask for a debate."
"... Fine."
Rolling her eyes at this rather contrary answer, the Mayor lowers herself carefully so that she rests between the blonde's legs; smirking when the younger woman spreads them impatiently wider.
Taking momentary pity on the woman who most days plays the bane of her existence, the brunette offers a few quick strokes of her fingers, before moving in with her tongue.
One sweep of pointed velvet and the younger woman breaks her promise; letting out a quiet hiss that has Regina speaking against glistening folds.
"Why must you continue to misbehave...?"
Her tone carries an irritable note of reprimand, but she slips a finger back down to explore the Sheriff's wetness as she pushes herself up to regard the blonde sternly.
Emma simply rocks her hips to intensify the intrusion.
Thinning her lips before adopting a positively cruel smile; the brunette reaches beside them to snag up the discarded lace of her underwear. Moving back up the blonde's body, she teases her with soft nips of her teeth and quick flicks of her tongue over pale lips; schooling the younger woman to keep her mouth slightly open in anticipation of her next assault.
Green eyes shoot open when lust-dampened lace is pushed none too gently between her obediently parted teeth.
The noise of irritation she makes at such a forced position of submission is duly muffled, and Regina chuckles huskily as she manoeuvres swiftly down over taut limbs to renew her assault further south.
It takes no time at all for her to conclude that her - admittedly crass - use of lingerie had been a good idea, as Emma greets each hungry lash of her tongue with a small noise of what she imagines is approval.
The pale fingers playing urgently through her hair seem to support this theory.
Taking delicate flesh in her mouth and slipping her fingers sweetly where they're needed, the Mayor offers just a little more pressure, before the soft sounds trapped by sodden lace are replaced by a dampened cry, and toned thighs shake tellingly.
Chuckling against spent flesh, the brunette pushes herself back up and removes ruined lingerie to place a kiss on soft lips; parted and panting.
"I'll let you keep that, dear."
Slipping back into the rest of her clothes, she offers one final glance over her shoulder at the exhausted blonde and takes her leave with a smile.
Groaning as she recognises the sharp tap of heels down the hallway of the station, Emma drains the last of her coffee; not entirely sure what constitutes as the 'right' thing to say in the situation she's about to find herself in.
She'd awoken this morning with a pounding headache, but an otherwise blissfully relaxed feeling to her normally tight limbs, and it had only been when she'd staggered past the small mirror beside her door to catch the small bruises - five in total - circling her left breast that she had remembered the reality of the previous evening.
"Oh, fuck..."
She whispers now; dropping down from her balancing act on the back two legs of her chair to study the doorway soberly.
Sure enough, it is Regina who enters in a breeze of arrogance and Chanel no. 5.
"Sheriff."
"... Regina."
At a loss of what else to say, she simply offers a slightly crooked smile; a little embarrassed, but finding herself curiously thrilled now that the Mayor actually stands in front of her.
"Wipe that smile off your face, what's the matter with you?"
The brunette snaps.
"I-... uh-... Nothing, I guess."
Okay... Playing it cool... Pretending nothing happened while in the workplace... Makes sense... That's fine...
"Sorry... Um, What can I do for you, Madame Mayor?"
"It's eight AM."
"Uh, yeah... It is... So?"
"So, if you would kindly recall; I'm here to discuss the repercussions and disciplinary action that are to follow your grossly inappropriate behaviour last night."
"My-... Wait, what?! Are you shitting me?!"
An incredulous cry matches an equally incredulous expression, and Regina hastens to bite back a laugh.
"Oh, no, Miss Swan... I'm not 'shitting you' at all."