Day two of EC Week! What happened after lasagna. Now this is actually a sneak peek in to the backstory of the story set up to replace Twisting the Tale. It will be titled Kiss Me and it will be posted in September if not by the end of this month. Enjoy!

"How did you like it?"

"Best lasagna I've ever had," he chuckled lightly and nodded in approval, "you really know how to work some magic," he complimented easily and she gave him a smile that seemed to hold a little more amusement than what he understood. He didn't linger too much on it though, "here, let me get the dishes."

"Oh, no, David," she tried to get up and help but he quickly stopped her.

"No, no, no, it's the least I can do," he smiled and moved to pick up her plate.

Regina laughed quietly, "you saved me from having to call a tow truck today and now you're doing my dishes," she looked up at him with a smile, "doesn't seem right."

David smiled in return and made his was to the kitchen with Regina following close behind, "please, the last couple weeks haven't been exactly easy for me and you've been there the whole time."

"Well I can't help it, I feel responsible for you," she spoke in a gentler tone. Caring and tender as she followed him to the sink and leaned her back against the counter, "ever since I," she paused and cocked her head ever so slightly, "found you."

"You know, after all this time, no one's ever told me the story," he prodded curiously as he wiped his hands on a dish cloth and then tossed it back across the sink as he turned to watch her.

"What story?" She cocked her head in an attempt to seem as though she didn't know what story he was referring to.

"About how you found me," he responded as he rested his hip against the counter so he could face her.

She let a smile play on her lips before she answered in something playing to be shy, "that's probably because I'm the only one who knows it," she tipped her chin down and her smile grew. She watched him as his face mirrored a smile as he waited to listen with his arms folded over his chest.

Regina let out a small laugh before she began and then leaned forward just a little, "I was working late. It was a cold night, must've been ten below. And on my drive home I realized I left my phone at the office. I remember thinking just to forget about it and that I didn't really need it," she shrugged a little and then continued, "but something inside me told me to turn around and go back," her smile faded as she reached the end of the story and he remained enthralled in every word that left her lips.

"And that's when you saw me?" David question as he unfolded his arms and waited for her answer. Her dark eyes were soft and quiet which was a pleasant alternative to their regular harsh and daring appearance. He found himself lost in them as she spoke.

"You were on the side of the road. So cold you felt like ice," She explained as her head moved in shakes and nods. "The doctor said if I had found you ten minutes later it would've been too late," she finished gently and his eyes dropped to the floor between them. "It's amazing isn't it? If I hadn't have forgotten my phone, I wouldn't have been on the road at that time," she added and tried to remind herself what she was supposed to be doing tonight and that that something was not develop a soft spot for the shepherd king.

David kept his eyes down for a moment longer as he nodded, "it's almost..." The very moment he looked up in to her eyes and was lost in them once again, "almost like the universe wanted you to find me."

It felt natural. It didn't feel forced or out of place like she thought it might. It felt like the right response and that is what made her pause for a moment before following through. He was kind and sincere and here she was lying straight to his face like she always had. Until she carefully stepped up to him. That was not a lie. Yes, it had been the plan all along, but now it wasn't a lie. It confused her.

He hesitated. So she paused. Her gentle hand resting its fingertips on his abdomen and her eyes focused on his lips as hers hovered over them. He hesitated but he didn't do anything more than that. So after giving him a chance to reject her, she softly pressed her lips to his, catching his bottom lip between hers.

His mouth was warm and soft and made her stomach flutter despite her efforts to feel nothing. It was just a single kiss that lingered there for a moment before she pulled back just far enough to hover once again. Her desire to tear him apart and show him the night of his life was slowly beginning to fade. She hated that it did...but it was. Suddenly she didn't want to push him, she didn't want to trick him in to this. She wanted him to want her and she cursed that foolish need that always came back to hurt her. However, tonight...it seemed she had played her cards right.

Slowly and tentatively his hand had lifted to carefully brush her hair back and tuck it behind her ear. Then his nose bumped gently against her cheek and as his fingers curled around the nape of her neck, his mouth caught hers in a kiss. This had not been what she had wanted. This was not what she was comfortable with. She didn't appreciate these tender kisses but as much as she tried to ignite the rougher and more playful passion inside her, her heart and mouth wouldn't allow for it and neither would David.

This was not solely because he was a kind hearted man. She could feel the restraint in his kiss and in his touch. Like he wanted to push harder but he made himself stop and give her what she needed. But she didn't want to admit that this is what she needed, that this was what she had craved for so many years. A loving hand, a gentle his, a caring heart. He had looked too deep in to her reaction to Henry 'missing' dinner. Or perhaps he had only scratched the surface.

Now she was conflicted. Her mind was busy and he noticed. So he stopped and she immediately missed him and hated that she did. Her eyes stayed closed and her head bowed ever so slightly as she rolled her lips in to her mouth. This was panning out to be an absolute disaster. She only opened her eyes when his thumb moved along her cheekbone and she wished she hadn't done so the moment she looked in to those kind blue eyes. If only he remembered what she had done to him. He wouldn't dare look at her like that if he knew who she was. It made her desire to cry even stronger than before.

"What is on your mind?" He asked quietly and softly as he stroked his thumb over her cheek again and her suddenly flighty eyes glanced at it as though it was going to bite her. When she looked back up at him he frowned gently and she gave a stressed laugh with her sharp exhale and remained completely tense against him.

"This just...isn't what I was expecting," she replied quietly and swallowed when his thumb moved again.

"You kissed me first," he teased and she did breathe out a small laugh and dipped her eyes down but it did nothing to ease the tension in her body.

"That was impulse," she excused and then his thumb moved over her bottom lip and she made herself look him in the eye.

"I haven't been able to do much right since I've woken up from that coma. I know that I am supposed to be married but I feel like that is wrong. Then there is whatever Mary Margaret is to me and that confuses me to no end. But then there is you. Everything is clear when it comes to you. It is like I can think again. You are my friend, Regina. I know it is new and I realize it is rather tentative on your end but you are a friend to me. And if there is one thing I know I can do right it is that I can show a beautiful woman that she is worth something when everyone else has tossed her aside and cast hatred upon her. Even her son who should love her no matter what," he told her softly and she quickly wiped away a tear.

"I am not using you," he assured softly, "it appears to me that too many people have done such a thing in the past. So I am inviting you to use me," he nodded and she could no longer look him in the eye and looked everywhere else as she tried to force her tears back in, "use me as a surrogate for who you have lost," he hit a sore spot he didn't really know was there. It was a shot in the dark and her face twisted in to a pain he didn't know she held. She tried and failed to hide it from him by looking up at the ceiling and taking a deep breath as his fingers slid softly down her neck, "no judgements held," he whispered and softly pressed a kiss to her chin which had her sucking in another shaky breath.

"You wouldn't be saying any of this if you knew who I was," she promised as she tipped her head forward again so she could look him in the eye and his face stayed close enough for her to want to run away.

"Who you are? Or who you were?" He countered softly and her jaw clenched with stress and unease.

"I haven't changed."

"People change every day. They grow and they learn. I know for a fact that you are not the same person you were ten years ago before you adopted that boy," he spoke softly as his thumb moved along her jaw. She didn't say anything else in return so he leaned in closer and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek and let it linger there before his voice danced over her lips, "if you wish for me to leave, I will go. If you wish for me to stay, I will stay."

...

Her voice rang through her room as her back arched off her bed and his hot breath blew down her neck. He didn't stop and she loved that he didn't. He just kept going and going and going as her muscles convulsed with her climax. Over and over and over again, jolting more and more pleasure deep inside her as she cried out his name through a hoarse throat and dug her nails in to the back of his neck.

His pace was steady and slower than what she would usually demand but he was hitting all the right places so she couldn't complain. He was heavy and his firm hands moved slowly up her ribs and down her thigh as his hard thrusts kept her from breathing. When her head pushed back in to her bed his mouth latched on to her throat in slow wet kisses that made her want to cry more than they should have.

She knew better, she knew this was only going to hurt in the long run but it felt too good to stop. It had been too long since someone had cared and even longer since she had felt cared for. It was her weakness.

She was out of breath and his quieter moans and groans echoing in her ears had shivers coursing through her skin. She was a mess of arousal and various emotions as his heavy hands explored her body with an attention to detail she had never felt. Her head was spinning and her vision was spotty as he stilled inside her and let her recover but his hands and mouth never stopped moving.

She whimpered and she panted as she squirmed beneath him, torn between wanting more and getting away. And then she was being lifted and she hooked her legs around his hips as his hands kept her up by her waist. His hard cock was pressed between them and it did nothing to cool the warmth boiling low in her belly. Nor did his lips hovering just over hers. She was dizzy and they breathed one another's short and heavy breaths as her arms slowly wound around his neck and her forehead tipped to rest against his.

When she kissed him it was slow and it was deep. She opened her mouth to him and she did the same for her despite the fact they already couldn't breathe. When a hand left her waist to tangle in her hair at the back of her head, she let out a long and low moan that had him furrowing his brow and tightening his grip. Then he moved forward on his knees until her back was against the wall and her headboard.

He pinned her there and when he felt she wouldn't slip down he slid both hands up her sides and over her arms, convincing her to let go of his neck as he stretched her arms above her head and intertwined their fingers. Never once breaking their kiss. Not until he dropped his mouth the the side of her neck and slowly dragged his hands down her arms, over her sides, and to her hips. Her hands fell gently to the nape of his neck and she held her breath as she watched him slide back inside her. Like everything with him, it was slow and allowed her to feel everything and when he filled her completely she let out a sharp little sigh that was strangled with arousal and her panting breaths returned.

She had forgotten sex could be so intense and intimate. She buried her face in to his neck as her legs wound tighter around his hips and her fingers raked through his short hair just so she could immerse herself in him as he started thrusting again. Sliding in and out of her with hisses and whispered comments on her beauty or how she felt around him while she moaned and whimpered and tried to breathe. His god damn hands were everywhere. She loved his hands.

This was the best mistake she had ever and would ever make. She breathed curses against his ear as she lifted her head and pressed it alongside his and he placed kisses on her shoulder in reply. He felt so good.

"I am going to come," he breathed in to her hair and her sharp breaths carried delightful little whines that made it harder for him to focus.

"Don't worry about it," she breathed back and curled around him as the pressure coiled inside her. Her teeth clenched together as her brow knitted together with her ever constant moans and whimpers of encouragement. His even rhythm was growing unsteady and a little quick but she didn't mind. She loved that too. "Fuck," she whimpered against his neck and gave a small fry of pleasure against his shoulder as he started to slam in to her a little harder. Not too much to shatter the mood he had created but definitely enough to cause her body to jolt with every one.

His breaths grew heavier and more hoarse and his body twitched as he came inside her with a moan of her name. It was more than enough to send her over with a cry of pleasure. And like the previous ones, he didn't stop. He was a very generous lover she had found and as he caught both her wrists in his hand so he could stretch her arms above her head again, he made her feel the full force of his work. Her muscles demanded she curl in on him as she orgasmed but he didn't allow for it. He muffled her screams with a sloppy kiss as his body vibrated with the after effects of his climax.

It was beautiful and painful and she greedily took the affection and selfless pleasure he offered her. She could hate herself in the morning.