Chapter 8
Regina stood at the counter, looking down at the package of bacon and the single pre-made burger patty, wondering what the hell to do next. She hadn't prepared food in nearly six decades, and even then, cheeseburgers were reserved for special occasions when she was out at a restaurant. This would be her very first time cooking a burger. She pulled out her phone once more, quickly searching for a different YouTube video, watching carefully as the internet chef skillfully flipped the patty over in the pan. She suddenly wished she had bought more than one burger patty, certain she was going to screw this up. She took a deep breath and turned the stove on, laying three strips of bacon into the borrowed frying pan, listening to the meat sizzle over the warm heat. A few minutes later, she flipped the strips over, watching as the meat shriveled and shrank in size as it cooked. A few more minutes after that, she pulled the strips off, placing them over the square of paper towel she had laid over a paper plate, as the internet instructed her to do, laying a second paper towel over the cooked bacon, the grease still sizzling. Her bacon looked darker than the internet chef's bacon had been, and she was sure she had burned it, already screwing up Emma's dinner.
Next came the moment of truth, cooking the burger patty. One of the videos had suggested cooking the burger in the bacon grease to increase the bacon flavor. She shrugged as she placed the patty into the hot grease, causing more sizzling. She watched the patty closely as it cooked, not wanting to burn Emma's dinner even more. She carefully flipped it over, and watched as the other side cooked slowly before adding the cheese at the exact right moment. She looked at the time on her phone just as she pulled the burger off the heat, knowing Emma would be there any moment. She attempted to assemble the burger, carefully placing each piece of slightly burnt bacon on top of the cheeseburger. She was carefully placing the top bun as the front door opened, revealing Emma had arrived.
"Oh my god, it smells delicious in here." Emma inhaled the heavenly smell of food cooking deeply. "Wait, why does it smell delicious in here?" Emma asked, dropping her duffle bag in the corner. "Did you cook?" She followed the scent to the kitchen, where she found Regina holding the plate containing the single bacon cheeseburger.
"I wanted to make you something special," Regina said, her face turning slightly red.
"It smells delicious!" Emma smiled, taking the plate and shoving her nose into the dish, smelling the burger deeply.
"I brought you something special too." Emma placed the plate on the coffee table, rushing to her duffle bag to pull out a small container of thick red blood. "It's AB+. I know it's your favorite," Emma said, offering the container to Regina.
"Emma, this isn't your blood, is it?" Regina asked seriously, looking at Emma with a concerned look.
"No! I mean, I'm not going to lie, I did think about it. But I knew you would have killed me if I gave you a container of my blood. And I know you would have been able to tell if it was my blood." Emma chuckled. "I asked Graham to try to track some down for me. This was all he could get though." Emma frowned.
"It's perfect, thank you," Regina said, kissing Emma sweetly before making her way back to the stove to heat up her meal, pouring it into her favorite purple mug when it was just right. She joined Emma on the couch and watched as Emma took a bite of her burger, holding back her face.
"It's horrible, isn't it?" Regina asked, her voice sounding disappointed.
"Not at all. It's really good." Emma smiled, taking a second bite.
"You're just saying that," Regina said.
"No, it's really good. And what makes it even better is that you made it for me! And that makes it perfect." Emma smiled, taking a third bite, swallowing a little hard.
They continued to eat together, the soft sound of classical music playing in the background creating the perfect ambiance. As soon as they both finished eating, Emma grabbed Regina, pulling her to straddled her lap. She pressed her lips into Regina's as her hands found their way to the cool skin of Regina's back. Their lips separated only when Emma pulled Regina's shirt off, revealing her bare chest. Emma smiled when she realized Regina had gone braless for her. She hoped she went without underwear as well.
"It's time for dessert," Emma said as she took Regina's nipple into her mouth, sucking slightly, causing Regina to throw her head back and moan slightly. Regina pulled Emma's shirt over her head before she could switch sides, her bra following shortly after, tossing them both behind the couch as Emma took her other nipple into her mouth. Emma's hands make their way down Regina's back, finding their way inside the back of Regina's pants, discovering that her wish came true—Regina wasn't wearing underwear either. She grabbed hard onto Regina's ass, causing Regina to grind in her lap slowly as she pulled Emma's face back to her own, capturing her lips in a crushing kiss. Emma's hand moved slowly across Regina's hip until it found her core, running her finger through the wetness that had already begun to accumulate, settling on Regina's sensitive clit. Her left hand held Regina closer as she inserted a finger, twisting it around for a few moments, teasing the woman in her lap, before inserting a second. Regina started to grind against her fingers as Emma matched her rhythm, thrusting her fingers deeper inside Regina, the tip of her middle finger making contact with her g-spot. Regina moaned into Emma's ear, sending shockwaves of pleasure directly to Emma's clit as she wrapped her arms around Emma's neck, lacing her fingers through Emma's long blonde hair, her eyes squeezed shut. She orgasmed hard, soaking the palm of Emma's hand with her essence. Emma licked her hand and fingers clean before wrapping her arms around Regina's twitching body, her head nestled in the crook of Emma's neck.
Before she knew what was happening, Emma stood up from the couch, lifting Regina in the process and carrying her over to the bed, gently placing her in the middle. She crawled down her body, peppering soft kisses in the process until she reached Regina's pants, pulling them off in one swift motion, climbing off the bed in the process. She removed her own pants and joined her girlfriend on the bed, reaching into Regina's nightstand, pulling out their purple feeldoe.
"I'm going to wear it tonight. I know you really like it when I wear it." Emma smiled, kissing Regina firmly before she could argue. She moved to kneel in between Regina's legs, slowly teasing the bulb of the feeldoe between her own folds. Regina shot up suddenly, taking the dildo from Emma and licking the top of the bulb, the faint taste of Emma already present. She took the bulb into her mouth for a moment before moving it between Emma's legs.
"I also like it when you let me put it in you too," Regina whispered as she returned the bulb to Emma's folds, teasing it against Emma's clit while coating it in Emma's wetness. She slowly pushed it into Emma's vagina until it was in place, adjusting it just right so it pressed against Emma's slightly swollen clit as well. She pushed Emma back onto her heels as she climbed onto her lap, seductively teasing the latex phallus between her folds, coating it with her juices before slowly lowering herself onto the other end of the dildo. She wrapped her arms and legs around Emma, rocking slowly as her lips made contact with Emma's neck, kissing her warm skin softly. Emma nodded, her arms wrapping around Regina, holding her closer as she felt Regina's fangs pierce the flesh on her neck. Regina swallowed a small amount of Emma's blood, stopping when they felt the familiar pulse of energy pass through them. Regina's skin began to heat up slowly as their bond was created once again. Regina started to move up and down against the dildo, making sure to rock back and forth as she did, stimulating Emma at the same time.
In one swift and sudden moment, Emma lifted Regina and tossed them both forward so Regina is on her back once again, trapping her own arms under Regina's body as her hips began to thrust the dildo into Regina until their pelvic bones made contact, filling Regina completely with the false penis. Regina's legs and arms held Emma impossibly close as she continued to thrust into her. There are times when they have rough sex, smashing into each other until they are both blissfully sore. But tonight was not one of those nights.
Tonight was about love.
Emma's thrusts never moved even a fraction faster, their pace staying slow and steady. Their bond made each move, each kiss and each caress more intense as they moved together. Regina held her even tighter as her second orgasm barreled through her, causing her head to completely fog as her body exploded with fireworks.
"Emma…" she whispered a few minutes later when she regained the ability to speak. "…you didn't…" she managed to say, knowing that Emma wasn't able to reach her own orgasm in time. She rolled over slowly, reaching down to gently pull the feeldoe out from inside Emma, her fingers slowly circling Emma's sore clit.
"It's okay, enjoy yours," Emma said, slightly out of breath.
"You know I can't, knowing you're painfully close." Regina said as she stretched slightly, her body already blissfully sore. Her head was still fuzzy as she moved down Emma's body, replacing her fingertips with her tongue, softly licking Emma's sensitive clit, causing Emma's back to arch off the bed. She looked up at Emma from between her legs, watching as her lover fell over the edge, screaming Regina's name as the walls of her vagina clamped around Regina's tongue, joining Regina in post-orgasmic bliss. She slowly ran her tongue through Emma's folds a few more times before climbing back up to lay next to her, immediately being pulled into Emma's arms, their bodies weaving together.
That was only the beginning of their night of love making. They spent the rest of the night worshiping each other like the Goddesses they were until the sun began to rise.
"We…need to…stop…" Emma said as she struggled to regain her ability to breathe. "You…need to…sleep…"
"I…know…" Regina answered as the first rays of light flooded into the room, causing her to begin to feel sick.
"Don't move," Emma said, rolling off the bed to quickly close the curtains in front of the window, stopping the sun from touching Regina's skin. She ran quickly to make sure the door was locked tight before climbing back into bed and securing the bed curtains around them, completely blocking out what small amount of light that made it into the apartment. She didn't need to reach out for Regina in the dark. Regina was in her arms the moment she wrapped her blanket around her naked body, preparing to keep her warm while she held Regina all day.
"Happy anniversary, my love," Regina whispered as she slowly drifted off to sleep.
"Happy anniversary," Emma whispered, kissing the top of Regina's head as she tightened her grip around her. They were both sound asleep a few minutes later.
"Well well well, look who decided to finally grace us with her presence," Graham said as Regina took her usual spot at the bar.
"It's good to see you too, Graham." Regina laughed.
"Usual?" Graham received a nod from Regina in agreement. "So, I take it everything is going well with blondie, since we haven't seen you much in the past six months," Graham said, sliding Regina a pint of B+.
"Things are amazing, Graham," Regina said, with a dreamy look on her face, taking a small sip of her blood. "I don't think I've ever been this happy in my entire life, Human or Vampire."
"I'm happy for you, Regina. You deserve some happiness every once in a while." Graham laughed. "Where is your beautiful blonde now? Why don't you have your legs wrapped around her right now?" Graham asked, winking, receiving a balled-up napkin to the face for his crude comment.
"She's working right now. She's coming over after work," Regina answered, taking another sip of her blood. "I think I'm going to ask her to move in with me, Graham. How insane is that? Me, living with my girlfriend, the love of my life."
"Regina Mills, perpetual loaner, inviting someone to live with her? Now THAT is a huge step," Graham said with a huge smile on his face. He quickly walked away to attend to another customer as Regina felt her cell phone buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out to find a text message from Emma.
"Hey! Looks like I'm getting off of work early tonight, so I'll be over before sunrise after all."
"That's the best news I've heard all night," Regina responded back, taking another sip of blood.
"I can't wait to see you," Emma responded a few minutes later.
"Me too. I miss you."
"I miss you too. I better go. I'll see you soon," Emma responded. Regina resisted the urge to send Emma one last message, knowing that would cause Emma to check her phone and continue talking. She knew Emma's job could get dangerous sometimes, and she didn't want to cause her to be distracted even in the slightest.
She stayed at The Blood Moon for another hour, talking to Graham in between serving other patrons. She even struck up a conversation with someone new who happened to sit on the stool next to her. She was feeling incredible, high on the love she felt to Emma, and the love she knew Emma felt for her. Before she left, Graham filled her usual to-go bottle of blood before sending her on her way to wait for Emma.
"Hold on, before you leave," Graham said, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. "Let me get a picture of you before you go. It might be a really long time before I see you again. I want to make sure I don't forget what you look like." Graham laughed.
"Ha Ha. Very funny," Regina said, flipping Graham the middle finger as he snapped a picture of her, her smile so big it almost filled the entire screen.
"You know, you could bring her around the bar once in a while, instead of hiding out in your apartment all the time. That is, if you can pry yourselves away from each other for a few minutes," Graham said, flipping Regina the finger to match. "Have a great night with your lady, and good luck!" he yelled as Regina walked out of the bar and into the Boston evening. She rushed back to her apartment, not knowing exactly when Emma would finish with work for the evening. She wanted to make sure she was home when Emma got there, not wanting to miss even a single moment with her.
She was slightly disappointed when she arrived home to find her small apartment still empty. She knew Emma wouldn't have been finished with work that soon, but a small part of her hoped she would be there already. She placed her blood in the refrigerator and settled into bed with her book, disappearing into the story as she waited for Emma.
But Emma never came.
As it grew later and later, Regina became more and more worried, sending Emma countless unanswered text messages. She knew Emma often worked until just before sunrise, but she had told Regina she would be coming over early. Regina's mind immediately assumed the worst as she felt the sunrise approaching. This is it. Emma is dead, she thought to herself as she heard Emma's voicemail greeting on the other end of the phone. She left Emma a frantic voicemail, begging her to call her when she received the message.
The sun was starting to filter into the apartment slightly as Regina began to pace around in the dark corners, frantically calling Emma again. As soon as she hung up on the unanswered call, the sickness hit her like a ton of bricks. She ran to the bathroom and proceeded to throw up violently, filling the bowl with thick blood. She continued to throw up for the next several minutes until there was nothing left inside her, dry heaving for several minutes more. She felt lightheaded from the blood loss and fell backward, cutting her forehead as it made contact with the tile floor. Feeling too weak to move, Regina started weeping, her blood tears mixing with the small pool of blood that began to collect from the small gash in her head. Her entire body was on fire from the sun outside as she laid on the tile floor, praying to whatever deity was listening for Emma's safety. She knew she needed to move but the pain was too great. She laid on the floor for another hour in complete stillness until her body began to convulse and she began to dry heave again as blood began to ooze from her nose and ears. She tried to hold on as long as she could, but she eventually passed out, a common side effect of advanced sun sickness.
Emma was exhausted. She was beyond exhausted. She didn't know how she still had any energy left in her as she tried to turn the key to Regina's apartment as quietly as she could. It was already well past sunrise, and she knew Regina would already be sleeping. She quietly slipped into the apartment, swiftly locking the door behind her. Discarding her jacket, she peeled back the bed curtains around Regina's bed ever so slightly, like she did every morning, climbing into the dark bed to give Regina a small kiss before getting ready to join her in bed.
Except this time, Regina wasn't in bed.
"Regina?" Emma whispered, searching in the darkness for her girlfriend, finding nothing but an empty bed. "Regina?" she asked again as she began her search through the small apartment. She made her way to the bathroom, thinking that maybe Regina fell asleep reading in the tub.
"REGINA!" Emma yelled as she peered into the bathroom, finding Regina passed out on the floor, surrounded by blood.
Emma raced in and was immediately by her side, pulling Regina's unconscious body into her lap. She pressed her fingers firmly against Regina's neck, feeling Regina's pulse tap against her fingertips. She rested her hand against Regina's chest, feeling it rise and fall as she breathed in and out.
"Regina, what happened?" she whispered as she kissed Regina's head lightly, trying to avoid the small gash that had yet to begin to heal. She shifted slightly, reaching for a towel. She ran it under cool water before gently wiping Regina's face, cleaning the dried blood that covered her beautiful face and neck, including the dried blood from the corner of Regina's mouth, a result of vomiting.
Once Regina was all cleaned up, Emma gently scooped her into her arms, carrying her still comatose girlfriend back to bed, laying her down softly on the mattress before rushing off to clean up the blood that covered the bathroom floor. A half an hour later, she finally crawled into bed. This time, Regina didn't shift closer to her as soon as she laid down, like she usually did. This time, Regina laid so still; the only indication she was still alive was the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. Emma shifted toward her, wrapping her arm around Regina's waist, laying her head on her cool shoulder, She's going to be fine. You got her back to bed before it was too late, so she's going to be fine, Emma reminded herself as her eyes slowly began to close.
Regina woke up about an hour before sunset. The first thing she felt was the nauseous feeling in her stomach associated with being awake during the day. She tried to lift her head to look around but soon found she was too weak to even do that. She took a deep breath as she tried to get her bearings through the slowly growing headache, another side effect of sun sickness. She shifted slightly, realizing she was no longer laying on the hard bathroom floor. Instead, she was laying in her comfortable bed, a light sheet draped over her body. She reached out next to her, hoping to find Emma's familiar body laying beside her, but was left with only an empty hole where Emma should be. It took Regina a moment to realize that, although Emma wasn't laying next to her, the sheets were still warm.
"Emma?" she managed to say, her voice hoarse and tired. She heard bare feet pad through the apartment, moving closer before the curtains separated slightly as Emma's face peered in.
"Hey, I'm here. It's still light out though so go back to sleep," Emma whispered.
"Will you lay with me?" Regina asked, her voice sounding so weak.
"Of course. Give me a few seconds. I'm defrosting some O- for you when you wake up. You're going to need something gentle on your stomach." Emma smiled, disappearing back into the bright room. Regina listened as she heard Emma pour the water she was warming on the stove into a large bowl, dropping the frozen blood bag into the water with a splash. The curtains moved once again, and this time Emma climbed onto the bed, carefully wrapping her arms around Regina's weak body. Regina was sound asleep again as soon as she was safe in Emma's arms again, her head resting on Emma's chest.
"You're here," she whispered two hours later, her tired eyes focusing on Emma's face next to her.
"I told you I wouldn't go anywhere." Emma smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Alright. Tired and weak, but alright considering," Regina answered, shifting slightly in Emma's arms so she could see Emma better.
"Do you want me to warm up the O- I defrosted?" Emma asked, pointing toward the kitchen.
"Not yet. Just stay here with me a little longer," Regina said, smiling up at Emma.
"Of course." Regina reached out and laced their fingers together, Emma's grip kept loose. They laid together in silence for a few more minutes. "What happened?" Emma asked, breaking the silence.
"You didn't come home when you said you were going to, and you didn't answer your phone or my texts. My first thought was that you were dead. And I couldn't get to you because of the sun," Regina continued, taking a deep breath to keep from crying. "Then I got sick. I think I hit my head on the floor." Regina pointed to the healing gash in her forehead. Once she regained her strength, her Vampire healing abilities would heal the rest of it.
"I'm so sorry, my love," Emma said. "I was on my way over here when I was called back for emergency backup. There was a situation and a hunter needed backup. My colleague passed away in the fight."
"Emma, I'm so sorry," Regina said, squeezing Emma's hand tighter. She knew she shouldn't care that another hunter was dead, but a part of her did actually care. That person could have easily been Emma.
"Thanks. I didn't really know him. I think he was new. I don't know exactly what happened. But since I was called in for backup and was there when he died, I had to fill out incident reports and had mandatory interviews and debriefing with what seems like every person who works at The Agency. By the time they let me leave, it was way past sunrise and all I wanted to do was get back here to you. I should have called when I left The Agency, but I knew you would already be sleeping," Emma explained.
"It's okay. I panicked. I just worry about you when you're at work. I know it's dangerous," Regina whispered, trying not to think about the worst-case scenarios.
"I'm so sorry I made you worry. I'll try to never do that again." Emma ran her free hand through Regina's hair. "Regina, there's something we need to talk about," Emma said eventually, her voice sounding sad.
"Emma?" Regina asked, sitting up slightly, giving her a better view of Emma's sad face.
"Do I hurt you?" Emma asked, her voice low.
"Of course not," Regina said, her voice questioning.
"Tell me the truth, Regina. Do I hurt you?" she asked once again, slightly irritated.
"No. Why do you keep asking that?" Regina asked, her voice filled with confusion.
"Last night, after I found you and carried you to bed, I noticed something. When I touched your skin, you winced. Everytime. When I kissed your forehead, you whimpered in pain, Regina. I held you in my arms and you cried from the pain of my touch. Tell me the truth, Regina. Does my body heat hurt you?"
"Emma, no, you could never hurt me," Regina responded, her voice sounding a little more uncertain.
"Regina. Tell me the truth, please." Emma could sense that Regina was lying as she reached out to gently cup Regina's cheek. "Does your face hurt right now?" she asked, tears welling in her eyes. Regina hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded her head, thick red tears spilling out her eyes. Emma pulled her hand back quickly, tears falling from her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't want you to stop touching me," Regina answered, not skipping a beat.
"But I'm hurting you, Regina. Everytime I touch you, I hurt you." Emma's tears spilled onto the pillow, her face changing suddenly as if a light bulb went off in her head. "That's why you like using the dildo all the time. I hurt you even when I'm inside you!" Emma said, her voice growing slightly louder. Regina simply nodded, knowing she couldn't lie to Emma any longer. "I burn you everytime I touch you, Regina. God! We were so focused on making sure your body wasn't too cold for me, and I never once thought how my body heat could be affecting you! How could I be so selfish?" Emma said, chastising herself for being so selfish.
"You're not being selfish, Emma," Regina said, reaching to gently cup Emma's face. "It's okay. I can live with it. It's not that bad, really," Regina added, trying to convince Emma that everything is alright.
"No, it's not okay, Regina." She reached out for Regina, pulling her hand back suddenly as tears streamed down her face. "But I think I have a solution," she said, struggling to control her emotions. "I want you to turn me…into a Vampire."
"No! Absolutely not!" Regina shouted, her voice sounding firm.
"Regina, hear me out. I know you never had a choice. I respect that. But this is something I want. I'm choosing this, I'm choosing you," Emma said. "This isn't a decision I've come to suddenly. This is something I've been thinking about for a while now. And this is something that I want," Emma explained further.
"No. I won't take your life, Emma."
"Don't think of it like that. Think of it as giving us a chance to be together. I hurt you. Everytime I touch you, I'm physically burning your skin, Regina."
"I can live with that. It's not that bad, really," Regina said, trying to talk Emma out of her decision.
"I can't, Regina. I can't live with myself knowing you are in pain everytime I touch you. I won't keep hurting you." Emma wiped the tears from her face. "And what happens in fifty years? I'm going to grow old, Regina. I'm going to grow old and die eventually and you're going to stay young. My forever is drastically shorter than yours," Emma said, reaching out for Regina, taking her hand this time. "We could be together forever. Just you and me, no pain, forever."
"I can't take your life, Emma. I can't and I won't. Not everyone survives the change, Emma. What if you don't survive? What if the change kills you? Then I would have taken your life. I would have killed the love of my life, and I could never live with myself if that happens. Emma, I can't risk it," Regina said, bloody tears running down her face.
"And I can't be with you, knowing that everytime I touch you I'm hurting you," Emma said, heartbreak already written across her face. "I better go. I'll leave my key on the coffee table." A deep sob escaped out of Emma's chest.
"Emma! No! Please! We can talk about this," Regina pleaded, reaching for Emma who was already climbing out of bed.
"I left the defrosted packet of O- on the counter. You need to eat that and rest for tonight, or you'll get sicker," Emma said, sniffling every few words, trying to keep herself composed.
"Emma, no! Don't leave! Please don't leave me," Regina pleaded, bloody tears dripping down her face, staining her shirt.
"Goodbye, Regina," Emma cried, grabbing her duffle bag, the sound of her metal key being placed on the coffee table ringing through the apartment.
"EMMA!" Regina screamed, her voice being drowned out by the sound of the door closing.
Emma was gone.