wohoo, it's been more than a month, I'm so sorry y'all! thank you for following and reviewing this story. It's amazing the support I'm getting, especially on twitter. Thank you so so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Regina was nervous. Robin had told her to wait at home that afternoon, while he was going to take Angela at the airport. She had just nodded and smiled unsurely but she couldn't help her heart from beating wildly. She was anxious, she hadn't felt like that since she graduated. It never happened before, she hadn't had such experience, it was all so new… Robin. That whole situation. Their whole relationship had brought her so many firsts.

She kept looking in the mirror, wondering if that dark blue dress she had chosen was too much. She didn't want Angela to think she did that just for the occasion, to make a good impression on her; the only thing she wanted was to be herself and look natural. She didn't have to worry though, everything she did was real, born out of love.

The dress was tight, just above the knee, one of those dresses that, according to Robin, made her look like a really really sexy secretary. She smiled at that thought as she put on a simple gold wire necklace and a bit of perfume. She had pulled back two strands of hair, she was absolutely professional and perfect for the occasion, but… ready? Nope. At all.

"Honey, we're home!" she heard Robin's voice, accompanied by the sound of the door closing. Then she heard a second one, a feminine one, which had to be Angela's:
"Oh my goodness, Robin, this house is completely different from what I remembered, I knew it needed a woman's touch." it was a sweet voice, which Regina couldn't help but smile at. It was there that she realized: everything was going to be alright, Robin was right, she had nothing to fear.

"My love?" he called her, again.

"I'm here." she walked into the room with a shy smile and a slight blush Robin knew by heart. His heart started pounding in his chest, as one of the most beautiful smiles Regina had ever seen made its way on his face. The two most important women in his life were finally face to face and what Robin felt was… indescribable.

"Hello, Mrs. Locksley" she held out her hand and felt her cheeks burning.

Angela Locksley was definitely a beautiful woman in her seventies. She had slightly curly, white hair that didn't come to reach her shoulders, hazel eyes and her lips were constantly curved in that polite, loving smile. She was wearing a yellow dress for the occasion, and white shoes. She was the kind of woman you smile to, without even knowing why, which, in all honestly, her son had inherited in full.

"Oh, for God's sake, dear, come here and hug me immediately!" Robin bit his lip, trying to stop himself from bursting into a loud laugh, while the love of his life was literally crushed in his mother's hug. "Please, call me Angela. Robin told me a lot about you, he said you were beautiful, of course, actually he did nothing but talk about how beautiful you were" she laughed, and Robin blushed slightly "from the first time he met you he wouldn't stop telling me how beautiful you—"

"okay mom! she got it!" he had to look down not to blush some more and Regina giggled.

"I'm sorry darling. What I meant was… I knew you were beautiful, but not this much! You are truly wonderful."

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Lock— Angela." she smiled sweetly as Robin came closer and put an arm around Regina's waist, welcoming her in a warm embrace. He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and smiled.

"My mother will bombard you with question at any moment, she does it with everyone, including the postman." he whispered against her lips, making sure Angela couldn't hear him. Regina smiled. "so we better get out of here, so you can drown everything in the wine." he kissed her again, then returned his eyes to his mother and took Regina's hand:

"so… let's go!"

They spent a wonderful evening. Angela didn't make as many questions as Robin was expecting, which was strange. Although, he knew she was dying to, she was just trying to control herself not to scare off the woman her son loved.
She could say she was able to read Regina Mills like an open book. She surely was a strong woman, who had been through a lot in her life, who had suffered more than she could ever imagine, but she had no doubt when she heard her saying that she was completely, utterly, unconditionally in love with her son. Not to mention that she never missed an opportunity to prove that with every gesture, but without ostentation.

The thing Angela liked the most about Regina was surely her ability to do everything naturally, spontaneously, with the innocence of a young girl at her first boyfriend: every time Robin caressed her, or put his hands on hers, or kissed her sweetly in front of his mother, Regina blushed. It wasn't typical of the girls Robin used to bring home.

"your son saved my life several times, I owe him everything." she concluded the sentence with a sip of wine, while Angela smiled, with her chin on her knuckles, listening carefully to their story like a child listens to a fairytale.

"Robin always tells me about" she took a long breath before continuing: "the way you changed his mind and turned his world upside down since you came into his life. He used not to believe in long term relationships, even though he had the living proof right in front of his eyes" she pointed at herself, making the couple smile "but it was just because he never found that one person whom he was sure he was gonna spend the rest of his days with. And every time he looks at you, dear, I seem to see Clay. He looks at you the same way my husband used to look at me and, believe me, I remember that look and the way it made me feel, very well."

Robin took Regina's hand and intertwined their fingers.

"He loves you, sweetie. And I know you think he saved your life, but believe me, you saved my baby too, on so many levels. You gave him hope, you made him believe in love, which is something that he'd never had."

Regina turned to look at Robin and found him smiling, with that sparkle in his blue eyes typical of him. That was the spark that never failed to give her goosebumps.

"I love him too, very much." she whispered, burying her chocolate pools in his blue ones. She looked down for a second and, both Robin and Angela, saw the way her face suddenly darkened: "I'm only sorry that… well… I can not… give him the family he's always wanted."

Robin immediately opened his mouth to say something, but Angela preceded him: "Dear, you don't have to worry about this. Family can also consist of two people, believe me. And, if it's true love… it's just a perfect family, the most beautiful, the rarest one." Regina looked up and found Robin's eyes again. She got lost in them for a long time and it was as if, right then, she could read his soul. She knew how much he wanted a child, probably as much as she wanted it too, and the thought of not being able to give him one tormented her every night, when she closed her eyes and felt his protective arms wrapping around her in a warm embrace.

It was torture, a feeling that would never leave her. She had chosen not to tell him because she knew he would have said something like "it doesn't matter, I love you and I want to be with you", and the argument would have ended there because she would have smiled at his words and given him a tender, delicate kiss.

But now that she finally had the chance to talk about it… in all honesty, it felt good.

"Robin once told me about how much he'd love to have children…" damn it, she had tears in her eyes. Again. She couldn't cry, not there, she was gonna ruin everything.

"My love," he took her hand again, forcing her to turn around and face him, eyes in eyes "I don't care, really. All I want is you, I would give up anything to spend the rest of my life with you."

"You'd miss the chance of having children just to be with me, Robin? Honestly, what do you earn from all this crap? I can't do nothing but annoy you with my past, every move you make you always have to remember what I've been through, I bet you can't even be yourself when we make love" the tears were about to come out of her eyes and she couldn't stop them, it was too late. "how many times did you have to hold yourself back, fearing my reaction?" Robin didn't reply. Saying that he loved her wouldn't have helped, right? Because she already knew that. "God, I've been so selfish to think this story could work." she stood up from her chair, straightened her dress and took her purse "excuse me." she said before disappearing in the crowd.

She wasn't going anywhere but in the bathroom, Robin knew that. But still, he felt like something was trying to take her away from him.
God, God, how had they come to this?

He wanted to follow her, but his mother stopped him: "Allow me to take care of this, dear." they looked at each other for a long instant before Robin could nod and convince himself that his mother knew what she was doing. After all, she was one of the two women he loved the most.

When Angela Locksley walked into the luxurious bathroom of the restaurant in which her son had taken her to dinner to know her future daughter in law better, she found the aforementioned woman crying, trying in every way to control the flow of her tears in order to not ruin the makeup that she had put on with such precision and care.

She knew Regina was feeling like an idiot for running away like that for nonsense, but she also knew she was tired, tired of avoiding the inevitable.

"Honey?" when she heard Angela's voice, she couldn't help but let go another tear:

"Oh, Angela, why did you— You didn't have to, really. Everything's alright. It's just… a moment."

"No, it's not. You know that it's not." she approached her, taking the handkerchief from her hands and, slowly, retraced the path that Regina was making to dry her tears.

Regina found herself looking into those dark eyes, so different from the ones of the man she loved so much, as she tried, in vain, to stop crying. "Clay and I have wanted a child for a very long time, for fifteen long years of marriage, actually. We had lost hope, perhaps a child wasn't in our cards. We stopped worrying about it, behaving as if our lives depended on it, and it was then…" she made a little pause and Regina noticed how she had to blink several times to hold back the tears. "it was then that we conceived our beloved Robin." she returned the beautiful smile that had taken place on Regina's face. "you see, dear, I don't want to give you false hope, because I personally believe that is the cruelest thing of all. But maybe, things work out when they're supposed to. Maybe it's all about timing." when she made sure Regina had stopped crying, she threw the hanky in the trash and took a clean one from her beg, wetting it with cold water. She lightly dabbed under her eyes "and even if it doesn't happen, darling, believe me, you should not underestimate that son of a good woman" she giggled "often, in life, you're faced with choices and my son had to choose between having children with a woman that clearly wasn't the right one for him, and living happily ever after with the love of his life. Guess which one he chose."

Regina slightly blushed, but smiled anyway. Her heart beat faster every time Angela referred to her as the love of her son's life. It could only mean that it was the way Robin called her whenever he spoke to his mother, and she couldn't help but feel honored.

"Honey, don't ever underestimate the decisions that Robin makes. It takes him a lifetime to make one, of course, but when he does, he doesn't go back. He loves you, he loves you more than anything and anyone in this world. You have to trust him when he tells you, I know my boy." she smiled one last time before throwing the wet hanky away, too.

There, she was perfect again. Beautiful, as nothing had happened. As if her face had never seen a tear. Angela was a real expert in this. "Come on, now go to him. Knowing him, he'll be dying to get into this bathroom and kiss you."

They laughed together, then Regina nodded: "thank you so much, Angela."

"It's nothing, dear."

When they returned home, Robin helped Angela to arrange the guest room. He gave her some blankets, clean sheets, a comfortable pillow and made sure she had everything she needed. Both him and Regina said goodnight to her with a kiss on each cheek, then, when they were finally alone, Robin said nothing but stared deep into the eyes of the woman he loved. They stayed like that, eyes locked, for what seemed to be a lifetime. And then, he walked away, straight into their room, without a single word.

Regina was worried; after she had run away at the restaurant they hadn't had a chance to talk alone, apart from an "are you okay?" and a simple "yes" as an answer from him, they got in the car and headed back home.

They had to talk, he still needed to clarify several things before going to sleep.

"Robin?" she whispered shyly, entering what was now their bedroom. She walked in and closed the door behind her, leaning against its wooden surface. "I think… we should talk about it."

"no" he simply said, shrugging. He was standing in front of the bed, his hands on his hips and looked rather exhausted. Was he angry? At her? Damn, she shouldn't have said those things. "I'm tired of talking, Regina. For months I've been telling you the same things, I showed you my heart, I exposed my feelings to you and you just… don't believe me. Words aren't enough anymore." she noticed how he was walking towards her, slowly, very damn slowly. "You want to see me be myself?" his hands were suddenly on her hips, pulling her against him. Regina's heart sank and she gasped for air when she felt his hands on her back, caressing her shoulders, then straight down her arse, just to arrive to the ends of her blue dress. He kissed her, he kissed her with so much passion that Regina had to suffocate a moan in his mouth as she trapped his blond hair in her fists. He kissed her with so much passion that she forgot where she was, what had happened before and what was happening at the moment. She was so damn lost in that kiss that the house could have crumbled around them and she wouldn't mind, as long as she could feel his lips against hers.

He pulled away for a moment and suddenly his mouth was on Regina's neck, devouring it as if her skin had the flavor of his favorite food. He felt him lifting the soft, blue fabric of the dress, until it was just above her groin, as much as he needed to caress her thighs, as if he was inviting her to tighten them around his waist.

And so she did: in a second, Regina was in his arms, pinned against the door, just like their first time. This time, though, as she wanted, he wasn't going to hold himself back, he would give rise to all the fantasies he had had with her, he would let go and whisper in her ear just how much he wanted her, every dirty little detail, every sensation, explicitly.

He walked to the bed and put her down on the mattress. He looked straight into her eyes; it was dark in the room but she could still recognize that spark in his deep blue ocean that made her shiver.

He quickly got rid of his shoes, unbuttoned his shirt and threw it somewhere in the room. It took his time to undo the belt of his jeans, enjoying the way Regina's pupils dilated at every inch of his skin he uncovered. He wasn't going to take off those jeans, not this time.

"do you really want me to let go while I make love to you tonight, my love?" she felt his hands raising her dress as much as possible, then he grabbed the waistband of her panties and pulled it down, slowly, but not too much. Regina strangled a moan:

"Yes. Please."

"are you sure? Because there won't be cuddles, nor tenderness, hesitations or pausing. I'll take you here and now because I want you, I want you like crazy, Regina, I can't think of anything else since you put on this god damn dress." he took her bottom lip between his teeth and traced its outlines, feeling her skin electrifying every second more. "So I'm gonna ask you once again, my love." his tongue caressed what his teeth had just tasted, then he smiled. That. Smile.

"Do you really want me to let go while I make love to you, tonight?"

God, she wanted him. She wanted him then and there, she didn't want cuddles, nor tenderness, she didn't want to hesitate or wait a second longer. She didn't want him to stop in the middle of the pleasure just because he was afraid of her reaction. No more obstacles, he didn't have to hold back anymore.

While Robin's hand slipped inside her panties, just to make sure she was really comfortable with the whole situation, Regina moaned a "yes" and arched her spine to meet his touch. "Please, yes." she reiterated as Robin brought his eyes in hers, half closed. He was determined now, and so was she. She was ready.

Quickly, he took off that thin layer of fabric that was the only obstacle left between them. He looked at her one last time, before aligning his hips with Regina's and finally entering her.

Their eyes closed in unison and Regina's lips opened wide to let out a soft moan. The fabric of his trousers rubbed against her body and it did nothing but turn her on even more. It was all so quick, intense, passionate, dictated by the heat of the moment, there was nothing calculated, nothing rational, as sex should be.

His pace was irregular, he alternated strong and hard thrusts to lazier and sweeter ones, which he took advantage of to cherish and worship the rest of her body. He raised her dress —which was nothing but a layer of blue cloth rolled up above her breasts— a little more and took a nipple between his teeth, then he licked, sucked and finally kissed it, watching the way her spine arched as she begged for more.

She wanted more, of his tongue, everywhere. She needed to feel on every inch of her, and he understood it when she scratched his back, down until she met the waistband of his trousers, slipped inside of them, under the boxers and sank her nails in his arse. She could feel every movement of his pelvis against her palms and, as he started thrusting harder, she dug her fingers into his flesh, while a loud moan filled the room.

"More" she asked when she felt so close to her climax that she could no longer tolerate a slow and gentle pace "I want more."

Robin groaned in her ear before leaning on his palms to look at her. "You have no idea how beautiful you are right now, have you?" he whispered softly. And it was true: her naked body in the moonlight, fully beaded with sweat, her hair a complete disaster —but the kind of a sexy disaster that he liked so much. "I move inside of you, I have full control of your body and yet, I want more. I can't get enough of you, Regina, you're driving me insane." he hadn't stop thrusting for a single moment. She had sunk her head in the pillows, her neck arched upward, her mouth opened widely and her eyes half closed. She was in heaven, with him. "I want you all night, I want to take you in every possible way." Regina bit her lip so hard that a small drop of blood touched the tip of her tongue:
"Yes, please, yes." a smile made its way on Robin's face as he started thrusting even harder. Regina was shuddering, moaning, squirming beneath him; she closed her arms around his neck and that was a clear signal to her: she always covered her face when she came, usually burying it in his neck or his chest. But he was not gonna let her, not this time. She didn't have to hold back.

"Look at me." he whispered, struggling to bring her eyes in his. Regina had to stop herself from crying out his name again as Robin, with one last thrust, touched the most sensitive spot inside of her. "Look at me while you cum, my love. Let yourself go with me."

"Robin, don't— I'm about to—" she was about to collapse, that was the truth: she struggled to keep her eyes opened and look at him, at the way his deep blue ocean filled with pleasure, with lust, with that spark that made her wish for things she was so ashamed of. It was just too much for her. She had to explode, explode around him.

And so she did, just like him, who came a moment later inside of her with a deep groan. Not just their bodies were intertwined, but also their eyes, locked, chocolate and ocean.

He took her face in his hands and kissed her with so much passion that made her want to start it all over again, though she was still shaking from the previous orgasm.

She managed to turn over the situation: now she was on top of him and her tongue was still in Robin's mouth.

"I want you again" she moaned against his lips, feeling him hardening again inside of her. "Take me again, take me all night, take me in all the possible ways, Locksley. I'm yours." and her smile confirmed it.
There it was, his warrior queen, the strong, amazing woman he was madly in love with. There she was, again, after far too long, she was back and would never leave.

She was his.

thoughts?