Emma sat on Regina's couch sure that she wasn't going to be able to walk if she could ever get up. Regina brought her a glass of wine.

"I did warn you there was a reason for a tame horse."

"How do you ride without you ass constantly bouncing up and down on the saddle and why do the insides of my thighs hurt so much?"

"To answer your first question, practice. It takes practice to ride a horse. And as for your thighs, as well toned as they are it's doubtful you are used to using the inside muscles to keep a constant grip on something. Then again I don't know you that well so…"

"Funny."

"I would like to thank you though, for taking me out there I mean. When I was growing up there wasn't a day that went by that I wasn't riding a horse, or out at the stable to spend time brushing down a horse or feeding it. I had denied myself something I enjoyed doing because I was afraid of ghosts from my past. When we were out there today I didn't feel those ghosts. All I felt was the joy of once again being out there and riding, feeling the horse underneath me and yes, seeing you struggle was an added bonus."

"You know you were really speaking all touchy feely up until that last bit," Emma said.

"Sorry," Regina smiled. "My point was thank you. Thank you for taking me there and thank you for sharing that experience with me."

"Come here because I am not moving so quick."

Regina leaned in and they kissed.

…

The next day Regina couldn't help but smile when she got a text first thing in the morning that simply said, "Still sore."

"Put some ice on it," she replied.

"I would like it better if you offered to massage my sore muscles," she got a short time later.

They had kissed again last night, but hadn't taken it any further. She was actually wondering when an appropriate time to do that would be. Everything about what they were doing felt out of order. They had fallen in love with each other before they had even gone on a date. Kissing Emma came so naturally, as did spending time with her. But sex was a whole other part of the equation.

They had joked about the 20th date being the sex date, but they both knew that was all it was – a joke. Last night Emma had been sore, but even if she hadn't Regina wasn't sure they would have done much more than just kissed. There was no way to interpret this text from Emma other than suggestive, so she decided to give her back a piece of her own medicine.

"I would be happy to massage all your muscles even the non-sore ones."

A little flirting wasn't a bad thing she thought; after all she practically considered half the confrontations they had as being a form of foreplay at times.

…

Emma read the text from Regina and smiled but then wondered how she should respond back. The kissing they had done was nice but Emma knew that sometime soon they would have to decide if they were taking this to another level. She wasn't opposed to that in any way, but she hadn't gotten any signals from Regina that she was ready to do that. Then again this text was suggestive.

Maybe it was time to test the waters.

"I could make myself available at any time that it fits into your schedule," she texted back.

…

Regina was both pleased and a little afraid when she got Emma's text. She was pleased with the flirtation but afraid because it as now her turn to respond and she wasn't sure how to do so. She did some work, but kept pausing to think what she should say back. Finally she sent a one word message "Tonight?"

…

When Regina didn't respond to her text immediately Emma got a little worried that maybe she had overstepped a boundary. Then she got Regina's text.

Tonight. Did Regina mean tonight, as in tonight was the night, or did she mean that tonight would merely be a good time for them to see each other. Either way Emma was game.

"Tonight it is," she responded.

…

Regina had what was probably the most useless day at the office that she had ever had. Her mind was completely preoccupied with her texting conversation with Emma and their date tonight. She had told Emma to come over for dinner, but dinner was the last thing she was thinking about.

When she got home and started to make dinner she had to really concentrate on what she was doing because she kept thinking about whether she would be having sex with Emma tonight. She kept the meal simple because she wasn't sure she could do anything complicated at this moment.

Emma came over around 6:30 p.m. and the three of them sat down to eat. The conversation was rather mundane and Regina wondered if Emma was as nervous as she was suddenly.

After dinner she told Emma and Henry she would clean up if they wanted to go play a video game or watch a movie. They disappeared and Regina took her time with the clean up. Once she was done she found Emma and Henry watching a movie in the living room – Emma on the couch and Henry on the chair. She took a seat on the couch and tried her best to get into the movie which seemed to be nothing more than an excuse to blow things up. Emma explained that it was based on a comic book.

The movie was over and Henry went up to bed since it was a school night, although Regina knew her son often stayed up when he was supposed to be asleep. She assumed he got that from Emma.

When he was gone, the two women were there alone and neither said much at first.

"Do you want to watch anything?" Emma asked.

"No."

She shut the TV off and now they were alone with silence.

…

Emma was pretty sure she wasn't going to be having sex with Regina tonight. There wasn't any vibe that she could tell that meant sex. In fact Regina seemed tense.

"How do your legs feel?" Regina asked her.

"Better," Emma said. "My butt is still a little sore though."

"We will have to go riding again soon so you can get more used to it. I'd also like to take Henry."

"That would be nice. Maybe the three of us can make a day out of it, have a picnic or something."

"I would like that very much."

Silence.

"About earlier, with the text messages, I hope you didn't think you needed to massage anything," Emma said finally. "I was just trying to be flirty."

Regina smiled. "I was too."

"It worked."

"Clearly, I got you over here." Emma noticed more confidence in her voice than earlier now that the subject had been broached and essentially eliminated. She was content to just spend some time with Regina and Henry.

Regina moved closer to her though and soon their lips were attached to each other, kissing slowly and gently.

…

As they continued to kiss Regina was fairly sure it wouldn't go much beyond that tonight, and she was content with that. She knew they were working their way towards something – not just sex but an established relationship and she didn't want to misstep by going too quickly.

Still, the kisses got deeper and Regina placed her hand on Emma's leg and moved it to her inner thigh, massaging the area through Emma's pants. Emma spread her legs a little more to make the access easier. Regina hand kept rubbing along her thigh and occasionally her hand would move north enough that she barely brushed Emma's crotch.

….

Emma gave some thought to pulling Regina down on top of her or taking her upstairs to her bedroom where she could have more room to touch the mayor, but she didn't. What Regina was doing was certainly working for her, but she wanted their first time to be special not something that started as a make out session on the couch after watching a movie with their son.

Finally both women seemed to sense it was time to stop or go further so they stopped. Emma gave her another kiss, "I should get going. It is a school night after all."

"Yes it is."

"Lunch tomorrow at Granny's."

"Sure," Regina said.

"Good, then maybe we can plan our next date. Something that doesn't involve me being unable to move."

"I am sure we can come up with something."

Emma smiled and kissed her good night.