Title: Black Lace

Pairing: Swan Queen

Rating: NC-17

Chapter VIII: Nude

A/N: Because even I'm not mean enough to make you all wait a full two weeks before updating. Extra-long chapter, gentle readers! Enjoy.

~M

"...Take it?" Emma echoed, unsure if she'd heard the woman beneath her properly or not. The pressure of her arm against Regina's neck lessened just a little.

Chuckling, Regina took advantage of the fact that one of her hands was free, brushing a bit of blonde hair behind Emma's ear in a gesture that was oddly tender. Almost disturbingly so, everything else considered. Her gaze fell intently on Emma's lips, already kiss-swollen and dark, before looking her in the eye. "Take it," Regina repeated, still smiling. That same dangerous look returned to her eyes, belying the gentility of her hand. "If you can."

A challenge. God, everything with Regina was a fucking challenge. Even fucking. Emma paused a moment, as if weighing a options. Regina had thrown down the gauntlet. But by trying to take control, would Emma be playing right into the mayor's hands? Did the mayor want to be dominated? Swearing inwardly, Emma realized that now no matter which path she chose, submission or domination, Regina would win. If she submitted, Regina would have her way, but if she dominated... well, the older woman had dared her to do so. So she'd still get what she wanted.

As if watching the understanding dawn in her eyes, the darker woman grinned, leaning up to playfully nip at her collarbone. "Figure it out, did you, dear?"

And then Emma did swear, under her breath. She had to think of something... do... something. She became consciously aware of the buttons of Regina's shirt, dragging and catching along the thin material of her tank top every time the older woman drew in another slightly ragged breath. Her decision made itself. "Right," she finally decided, releasing the other woman and rolling so her feet could hit the floor. "Get up." She stood without waiting for the other woman to comply, her hands flying to the base of her tank top.

"Excuse me?"

Already preoccupied in removing her own clothing, Emma flung the white garment to floor before turning back and glaring at Regina. "Get up!" she insisted, grabbing Regina's wrist again and tugging her forwards. "You're wearing too much."

Incredulous, Regina just looked at her soon-to-be lover, wrenching her wrist from Emma's grasp and glaring as she sat up on the bed. "If you'll remember, I already gave you a show, dear," she huffed. "I don't do repeat performances."

"Good!" Emma growled, reaching for the zipper of her jeans and pulling it down. "Because like hell I'd be just watching!" She struggled with her jeans, managing to shimmy them down her hips in her haste, but fighting to get the tight material off of her legs.

After a moment amusement spent just watching Emma lose a battle to too-tight denim, Regina rolled her eyes and slid off the bed. "Oh, for god's sake, here." Firm, steady hands landed on the troublesome fabric. A few precise tugs later, and the tight jeans fell to floor in a heap, leaving Emma bare but for her undergarments. She stood staring at the jumbled heap of her jeans, bewildered.

"...How did you do that?"

Regina tossed her hair over to one side of her neck, moving it out of the way as she began to slowly and methodically undo the buttons of her shirt. "I used to wear a lot of leather," she offered nonchalantly. "Be a dear and unzip me, will you?"

Regina... in... leather. Emma had to take a second to process the image that followed. She seemed to be doing that with increasing regularity, in Regina's presence, and this time, she tried desperately not to drool. "...Uh, sure." Her fingers found the zipper of Regina's skirt, and she had to stop them from trembling as she began to tug it down. Though she made no such effort when her hands automatically moved to cup Regina's ass as it came into prominent view, hidden slightly, as always, by sheer black lace.

"Thank you, dear," Regina murmured, though whether in response to the grope or the zipper, Emma couldn't be sure. Regina slid out of her grasp for a moment, stepping out of the garment in the same motion she flung her shirt to the floor. "Now then," she purred, her eyes trailing a hungry path down the revealed curves of Emma's body. She stepped closer, wrapping an arm around the sheriff's waist in a gesture that positively oozed sexuality, tugging her closer. "Where were we?"

As an answer, Emma curled both hands around that glorious ass, and likewise pulled Regina to her. Their mouths met, and the mayor responded immediately, her tongue flicking over the edge of Emma's lower lip. Demanding entry. Entry that Emma was all too happy to give her. She kept her eyes open, watching Regina's as the older woman's tongue invaded her mouth, tracing over every inch. Exploring her. Claiming her. She watched as Regina's eyes sparkled with pleasure, content and pleased in the knowledge that she'd won.

And she watched when that expression changed to confusion and pain as Emma took advantage of her distraction and kicked Regina's legs out from under her in one fell swoop. Startled, Regina crumpled, falling to the floor with a loud thump and a hiss of pain. Not giving her any time to regroup or even protest, Emma was on her, pressing her into the carpet, hands raking over bare shoulders and then lower still to grip over biceps, mouth falling once more over those delectable lips, drinking in her protest.

Arching her back, Regina tried desperately to object physically to this new position as best she could, but Emma would not be bucked off. Regina growled against the sheriff's lips, her hands coming around to weave through blonde curls and tug, viciously. Emma hissed, but did not budge. And still their kiss continued, far angrier, far more violent. Tongues dueled for supremacy in a fury of bites and licks, each determined to rip their pleasure from the other woman's mouth. Lack of oxygen finally forced them to part, and heads turned to the side, gasping, grunting as they lay on the floor.

Emma's hands slid up and then down, coming to rest just over Regina's neck. Dark eyes grew wide for a moment, though not with fear. With another smirk, far less easy in coming than those previous, Regina slid one of her thighs between Emma's legs, a shiver of approval running through her when Emma couldn't help but moan. Their breathing had synched by then, chests rising and falling heavily in the same cadence as Emma pressed herself closer still. Cotton against lace.

Hands traveling lower, the blonde's fingers slipped just underneath the black bra strap, sliding it almost teasingly down until it fell completely off Regina's shoulder. Regina glanced at it, at the fingers sliding steadily further down her chest. "I'm beginning to detect a pattern here, Sheriff." She arched a perfect brow. "The wall, the cells, the bed. But really, dear. The floor?"

Emma smirked back, her knees maneuvering to hit the floor on either side of Regina's thighs. "At least you can never say I'm not adaptable."

Still wanting desperately to fight and get the blonde off of her, something in green eyes gave Regina pause. Her other protests died before she gave them voice. Her hands slowly fell away from Emma's hair, resting with wrists bared to either side of her own head. She waited. It wasn't something she was used to.

Keeping her eyes on Regina's, Emma inched her head forward and down, as if moving in for another kiss. But her lips had another destination in mind, veering instead to take the topmost edge of lace between her teeth, and tug it down.

Regina wet her lips, her hands moving to rub over the sheriff's back. "Uh-uh," Emma snapped, stopping immediately. "No hands."

Regina blinked, arching a brow incredulously. "You cannot be serious."

"Hey, you said 'take control,' I'm taking control. But I'm doing it my way, Regina. Which means: No. hands." Emma smiled, but her gaze was hard. She was deadly serious. Their previous encounters over the course of the past two days had proved one thing to her above all: Regina was handsy. Very handsy. And Emma found it hard think when the brunette was touching her. Thus, eliminating it was the only thing she could think of to keep Regina from completely winning this. "Got it? Because I think my handcuffs are still in my jacket, and I do kinda owe you one..."

"That won't be necessary, Sheriff," Regina nearly spat, making sure to emphasize the title. "I'll keep my hands to myself. For now." She didn't mention the fact that the idea of being handcuffed... of being bound in any way filled her with dread, flooding her with memories long since buried. Or at least attempted to be. She gave a slight shudder, hoping that Emma took it as one of desire.

Emma didn't seem to notice at all, really. She was too focused on the fact that Regina had agreed so quickly. "Good,"was all she said. Then maybe I can actually think. And she bent her head to return to her previous task. Regina's breath hitched as lips came a breath away from her nipple, but Emma would not be tempted away from her task. Not yet. She waited until the cup of Regina's bra had been completely pulled down by her teeth, revealing the creamy skin of her breast in its entirety, so much paler than the rest of her tanned skin. And then she did the same to the other side.

Making sure to keep her hands clenched firmly at her sides, Regina could only watch in aroused fascination the almost... reverence with which Emma exposed her chest. Finally, both breasts were completely revealed to the hungry gaze of the blonde, shaking slightly with each of Regina's trembling breaths, each inhale growing heavier than the last.

"It's really not fair, you know," Emma whispered, leaning over her hungrily.

Long strands of blonde hair brushing over the olive skin of the mayor, making her shake her head repeatedly. Almost tempted to gather it in her hands and get the tickling stuff away, she gave a long-suffering sigh, but her hands stayed put. "What isn't?" she growled, a little annoyed.

Emma chuckled, her warm breath brushing over Regina's chest. She strung a trail of hot kisses to a rapidly stiffening nipple, and laved her tongue across it before blowing cool air over the wet flesh. Regina gasped at the sudden sensation, hands wanting to twist in Emma's hair, to tug her head down closer to her chest. Instead she clenched her fists, her fingernails digging small crescents into the inside of her palms. But she did not touch the blonde. It was a stupid rule, she thought. But if Emma thought she could break her with it, she was sorely mistaken.

But Emma was just as stubborn as she was, a fact they both knew from repeated encounters, and refused to be hurried. Watching the nipple stiffen from the attention, she quirked her head to the side before finally completing her thought."...How beautiful you are," she confessed. And with no further warning, her lips closed around the nipple, sucking on it roughly. The very tip of her tongue toyed with it, flicking across the sensitive flesh while it was in her mouth before slowly releasing, raking her teeth lightly over the sensitive flesh as she did so.

The words alone were enough to send a startled pulse of fresh arousal coursing through the older woman. When coupled with the sudden action... she came very close to screaming, only stopping by quickly pressing the back of her own hand against her mouth and biting down. Henry's room was just down the hall, after all. Any further doubts in her mind about having Emma being on top were quickly laid to rest, especially when, noting her reaction, the blonde switched to her other nipple and repeated the whole process again. Regina's hips bucked, her legs shifting beneath the blonde, eliciting a muffled grunt against her breast.

A wonderfully dangerous look began to burn behind Regina's eyes. Refusing to simply sit still any longer, she bent her knee, arching it upwards in one swift motion to rub her thigh, tauntingly, over Emma's sex. The resulting surprised groan of arousal was positively delicious. And she wasn't using her hands.

"Oh, god!" Emma hissed, pausing in her own ministrations as Regina rocked her thigh backwards and forwards against her heat. Biting her lip, Emma fell against her lover's chest, arms shaking as she tried to distribute her weight on either side of Regina's shoulders. "Regina!"

The mayor managed a smirk. "Problem, Miss Swan?"Her thigh arced high still, grinding into the sheriff until she could feel Emma's wetness through her panties. She gave a delighted laugh. "I'm curious, dear: are you always so wet, or is it just me?"

But the laugh seemed to pull Emma out of her temporary haze of lust. Taking a deep breath, she reared back, her weight shifting to force Regina's thigh back to the floor. "Wouldn't you like to know?" she grinned, her own chest beginning to quiver with uneven breaths.

A frown graced the other woman's full lips, unhappy that the sheriff had recovered so quickly. But her attention was quickly consumed by Emma's hand slipping lower, skipping over the area that so wanted to be touched and crawling down to Regina's inner thighs, tracing patterns over the skin there. Laughter dying in her throat, Regina could only grunt, her head falling back to the floor as Emma began to toy with the pooling wetness that proved she was not as unaffected she sometimes appeared. "What about you, Madame Mayor?" Emma asked with a taunt, rolling her hips forward directly onto both of Regina's thighs.

Regina could only gasp in response, biting down harder on her own hand as Emma rocked against her. Finally, Emma could wait no longer, and slid her fingers under the soaked lace, and very, very lightly rubbed over Regina's clitoris. Shuddering, the mayor dropped both hands, raking her fingernails roughly over the carpet. Emma gradually increased the pressure on Regina's clit, a second finger extending to run up and down the full length of her heat. She loved how wet the older woman was for her. With a wicked little grin, she drew her hand and head teasingly away. And finally, after dreaming about it since watching so hungrily the night before, Emma brought her fingers to her lips, and had her first taste of Regina Mills.

She half expected to taste apples.

Regina could only watch in rapt fascination as Emma's mouth closed around her fingers, eagerly lapping up her taste. She groaned at the sight, brown eyes clouding over with lust. Her back arched of its own accord, pressing her chest up to meet the blonde's. Though her hands stayed still, continuing to obey Emma's rule. At least for now.

After what seemed like hours, Emma finished, licking her lips to consume every last bit. With a pleased smile, she ran her wet hand teasingly down the older woman's chest, so wonderfully presented before her, before traveling lower still, slipping again beneath the waistband of still-present, soaked lace panties. "You taste amazing, Regina," she purred, her lips hovering just over those of her lover.

"Do I?" Regina managed to gasp out, and was proud that her words were more than halfway coherent. "I'm glad you like it," she finished, and then lunged, damning the rules and wrapping her arms around Emma's shoulders to pull her close, desperate to cover the blonde's lips with her own.

Emma gave a squeak of protest, but recovered quickly, answering the kiss with passionate abandon, loving the two combined tastes of Regina Mills. And the fact that she'd made her break. But her retribution to the rule-breaking was swift. With a sudden, single thrust, her fingers slid deep within the mayor. As deep as she could, and then she left them there for a moment. Groaning loudly into the their kiss, Regina clenched her inner walls around them. With a smile, Emma gradually spread her fingers further apart, stretching those walls even as they contracted. She pulsed her fingers shallowly within the other woman, never really removing them or drawing them out, but simply bending the digits at the second knuckle and then extending them again in quick succession. Her thumb began to brush over Regina's clitoris.

Regina broke the kiss first, her fingers tangling in blonde curls, wrapping them around her fingers as she clung, gasping, to Emma. She buried her face at the meeting of neck and shoulder, sucking, nipping, tasting the sweat-covered skin. Tasting Emma as much as the blonde had just done the same. Each thrust of fingers caused another panting moan, another heave of her chest, around which the scraps of lace still hung uselessly. Emma knew Regina was getting desperately, feverishly close. She waited until the moans began to build, until the very last possible moment before sending the older woman crashing over that glorious edge of ecstasy. And then she pulled away.

"Goddammit!" Regina growled, so very close to the edge of her pleasure, arching herself into those taunting, terrible fingers. She was so close. So very, very close.

Laughing, Emma kept her fingers dancing within the older woman, just enough to tease horribly. "Not fun, is it?" the sheriff taunted with another partial thrust, her thumb just barely skirting over Regina's clit. "Being left hanging on that edge."

The answering glare would probably have melted glass, had Regina willed it so. Emma just laughed again. Turnabout was fair play, and all. She kept her eyes on Regina's, letting her watch as she bent and kissed a swollen nipple before taking it between her lips. Working her fingers in tandem with her mouth, she laved her tongue over the stiff bud just as her fingers pulled further away, only to suckle deeply when they suddenly slammed back in.

Bucking, Regina tugged violently on the blonde's hair, her fingers deeply entwined in the curling locks, eliciting a hiss of pain and a light bite around her nipple. "Dammit, Emma!" Regina snapped. She was writhing with every breath, now, and she released her vice-like hold on Emma's hair to rake dark paths down her lover's bare shoulders with her fingernails. Desperate. Pleading.

"God, Regina..." A groan of sheer pleasure fell from the blonde, loving the sound of her name out of Regina's mouth. She curled her fingers within the mayor, tracing them along her upper walls, and then straightened, crossing and uncrossing in rapid succession. "...Say that again," she ordered.

Nearly swearing, Regina was unable to keep her hips from shaking, her body pressing itself even further into Emma's attentions. God, it felt... it was perfect. This was want she wanted, what she needed, and far, far better than she ever could have imagined. The extra sensation built into her, overwhelming her senses, and she gave a strangled, wordless cry as she drew close. She stared up into the blonde's face, watching as green eyes widened, waiting to hear it... Waiting for her to say it. Falling back against the floor, she moaned again, as much for Emma's benefit as her own, as gave in. "Emma..." she whispered lowly, her fingers gripping tanned shoulders as she bared herself before her lover. "Fuck me."

"That's all you had to say," Emma preened, and a second finger slipped with Regina. And then a third. Adjusting her position, she pressed herself closer to her lover, sliding the full length of her body against Regina's and arching her back, forcing the mayor further into the carpet. With every thrust of her fingers, their nipples slid against one another, the sweat beading between their heaving bodies as they moved as one. Increasing the pace, she began pounding her fingers within clenching hear. Faster, more roughly than before, she dug the heel of her palm into the engorged clit beneath it with every deliciously deep thrust of her fingers.

Knowing she was coming, Regina frantically pulled Emma closer still, crashing their lips together in vague attempt to muffle her cries as the first waves of pleasure began to cascade through her. Emma winced as firm hands gripped her shoulders even tighter, but she did not stop, loving every second of feeling Regina buck against her hand. Though part of the mayor's mind still screamed at this loss of control, the rest of her simply gave in to it, allowing the feeling to escape in every shaking, bucking spasm of her body against her lover's. Giving herself over to sensation, her eyes squeezed shut, and her tongue danced across Emma's lips as she came.

Finally, the spasms within her slowed, the clenching of her walls relaxed, and Emma's fingers stilled within her. Regina released her hold, their lips coming apart in a burning need for oxygen. Emma slid to one side, draping her head over the mayor's chest. Her fingers slipped out of lace underwear with a snap of elastic against skin. But Regina couldn't be bothered to care, still reeling from her pleasure. The room still spun. Emma's hands had fallen to rest with one over Regina's middle, the other curling around a kneecap. She kept them there, lightly caressing over flushed skin, enjoying the moment of post-coital bliss and quiet. Still recovering herself, really. Fucking Regina was... an extremely heady experience. She didn't think she'd ever forget the way the mayor's face had looked, completely relaxed, all traces of the stiff, mayoral persona finally stripped away. It had been extremely gratifying.

Though both women were panting, it was, of course, Regina who managed the breath to speak first, the corners of her lips lifting in an honest smile. "Thank you, dear," she gasped quietly. "You were... better than I thought you'd be."

Lifting her head and shaking mussed hair out of her eyes, Emma just stared at her, then shook her head, stunned. Though she supposed she really shouldn't have been. It was still Regina, after all. "Christ, you really know how to shatter a moment, don't you?"

A breathy laugh. "Do I? Hmmn. Allow me to rectify it, then." Without warning, Regina shifted, arching her back off the floor and using the motion to propel herself forward. Emma's hands went wild, releasing Regina as the older woman pounced. Scrambling for balance, Emma found herself flipped neatly over, like an omelet, until it was she whose back was pressed into the carpet, forced to look up as Regina smirked above her. And found her wrists neatly pinned above her head by only one of Regina's hands. "Better?" the mayor purred.

The impressive feat of dexterity and power left Emma more stunned than anything else, gasping raggedly as Regina moved to straddle her knees. "How the fuck did you do that?"

The Mayor only smiled, leaning in low to nip and suckle at Emma's exposed neck. "Despite what you think, dear, I have actually done more than sit behind a desk for the past ten years." And without a word, the fingernails of her free hand began slowly raking their way up Emma's thighs, and any other questions flew completely out of her mind.

Trailing a string of heated kisses from neck to hover over her breasts, her fingers gripped the edge of Emma's bra. Roughly, she yanked it down, and her lips closed over one of the nipples, suckling and toying with it. Just barely grazing it with the edges of her teeth.

Hands held tightly down to the floor, all Emma could do was writhe against the hand holding her. But Regina was either too strong or else she was too weak, her mind and body hazy and overcome with lust, so eventually she stopped struggling. "Good, girl," She felt hot breath whisper against the cool skin of her chest, followed by an even hotter tongue. Emma groaned, managing to contain the volume, but her body trembled and her head spun as Regina's tongue toyed mercilessly with her nipple.

"Since you seemed to take such issue with me using my hands," Regina purred, "I think that's all I'll use inside you, dear." Slowly, leisurely, lithe fingers began toying with the waistband of her underwear.

"God," Emma gasped, spreading her legs wider to encourage her lover. "...Regina..."

With an amused chuckle, Regina took the hint, snaking her hand completely under the garment and quickly cupping Emma's sex. Shuddering, Emma fought again at the hand keeping her pinned, though Regina suspected it was more a reflex than anything else. Laving her tongue in a heated path over Emma's chest, she brought her teeth over to her second nipple, and bit down. Not roughly, but not entirely gently either.

The sheriff flushed a delightful shade of pink, her teeth sinking into her own lower lip to muffle her cries. Regina's tongue flicked back and forth over the bit of flesh between her teeth before finally releasing it. Only to suck deeply on it a second later, at the same moment two of her fingers began to mercilessly circle Emma's clit.

"Oh, god!" the sheriff gasped, eyes gone wide as her head fell back against the floor. Another dark chuckle, and then, finally, Regina slid her fingers inside of her, quickly, deeply, and without preamble. It was Emma's turn to bite back a scream. Groaning with abandon, her head fell back against the floor, eyes glazing over with lust. God, Regina felt amazing inside of her. Her fingers never seemed to stop moving. Turning, twisting, thrusting. Hitting every sweet spot with each glorious, deep thrust. She groaned again with every exhale, knowing with how worked up she was- hell, how worked up she'd been all day- it wouldn't take long.

She was already getting feverishly close, just needing that one tiny bit more, that one final push that would send her crashing over the edge of orgasm. Regina released her breast to grin up at her, watching every movement of her face. Her lips pulled back, and Emma almost whimpered. She knew what Regina was waiting for. She shook her head, refusing. She would not give in.

The mayor only chuckled, taking the other nipple between her teeth, flicking the very tip of it with her tongue.

Emma squeaked. A third finger slid within her, and she bucked into the touch without warning. "Regina, please!" she cried, and the first wave of her orgasm came crashing down around her. Full lips moved to cover her own, and the following moans and screams and whimpers of her pleasure were swallowed by the kiss. Regina's fingers continued to work inside of her, drawing out every last second of ecstatic bliss. She whimpered and screamed, cried and moan out in ecstasy into the kiss as her climax overcame her, her legs gripping fingers as tightly as they could as she shook and shuddered around them.

Finally, after what seemed like years, Regina withdrew, Emma's breath growing heavy and labored against her lips, and she pulled back to look down at the sheriff with an extremely satisfied grin.

Emma lay collapsed on the floor, blood rushing in her ears, her vision swimming as the final pulses swept through her body. "Wow," was all she could gasp out, and an amused chuckle sounded beside her ear.

"Enjoy that?" Regina murmured, her own breathing still not completely settled. With her eyes still on the blonde, she brought her wet fingers to her lips. Slowly. She wanted to be sure Emma was watching. The slightly whimpering moan of arousal confirmed that she was. Regina cleaned her fingers hungrily, drinking in the taste of her lover with vigor. She was not, she realized as she took in the last of that taste, sated. She wanted more. Perhaps more directly, no that the 'no hands' rule had completely been thrown out the window. Looking down, she idly stroked her hand up and down Emma's torso, lightly running her fingernails across still flushed skin, enjoying the shiver they provoked. "I know I did," she finished.

Regina's voice was darker than usual, more husky, and the sound of it made Emma's insides quiver with desire anew. She groaned pitiably. Intrigued, the mayor raised an eyebrow, watching Emma's pupils- still dilated with lust. The shifting of her breathing. Apparently she wasn't the other one who wanted more. She grinned, and traced her fingers teasingly just below the blonde's stomach. "Again, dear?"

Taking a steadying breath, Emma turned from her supine position to rest on her side, propping her head up on her arm. She smirked. "If you think you can keep up."

Regina's eyes narrowed, but the sparkle behind them revealed her pleasure. "Is that a challenge, Miss Swan?"

"Hell, yes." And she rose onto still slightly shaking knees to once again straddle the other woman, leaning down to press another kiss to lips she could taste herself on.

A knock sounded on the door, freezing both women in their places. "Um... Mom?" called out a child's voice through the door. "I heard weird noises. ...Are you okay?"

Regina hissed a swear word. Of course the one night Henry actually bothered to care enough to check up on her was when she- she sighed, and then moved. She practically threw Emma off of her, rolling out from under the other woman with entirely too much ease. "Yes, Henry!" she called, voice ragged but controlled. "I just... had a nightmare."

"Oh." A pause. "Okay then. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Henry," Regina called, and once again Emma envied the calmness of her voice, the evident evenness of her pulse. Her own was racing.

Regina waited a few minutes, barely even breathing, and then she rose from the floor. Straightening and then re-situating her bra and soaked panties to actually attempt to be of some use, she began collecting the scattered articles of her clothing, pulling them on without a word.

After a beat or two, Emma fumed, and did the same. Damn, Henry. She loved the kid, of course, but he was sure turning out to be a hell of a cockblock. She tugged her jeans up and over her hips without any help. Which is good, because from the icy look on Regina's face, she didn't think any would be offered. Once jeans and tank were back on, Emma looked around hopelessly for her jacket and boots, before realizing she'd taken them off downstairs. "Shit," she muttered.

As if realizing her plight, Regina just rolled her eyes, and reached for the bag that she'd brought in the room with her. Emma had long since forgotten about it. To her shock, boots and jacket were pulled out and tossed to the end of the bed unceremoniously. "You're as bad as Henry about leaving your things everywhere," Regina said in reply to Emma's stupefied stare, before turning towards her vanity and running her fingers through her hair.

"Uh... sorry?" Her apology was awkward, hushed so that their son wouldn't hear and nearly forced out of her lips. She pulled on her boots, re-lacing them in record time. Sighing, Regina just brushed past her and moved to open the window. The window. For her to crawl out of, no doubt. Emma looked at it, then back to Regina, incredulous. "No. Fucking. Way."

"Miss Swan-" the mayor began, a warning building in the back of her throat.

Emma wasn't having it, pulling on her jacket with a glare that rivaled her lover's. "There is no way in hell I'm sneaking out your fucking window, Regina! What are you going to do, push me?"

For a moment, the expression on the older woman's face was enough to suggest that yes, she might actually consider it. But it died after a few minutes, to Emma's relief. "No, I suppose not," Regina sighed. "My hedges have suffered enough damage due to you."

Emma flushed at the reminder, shoving her hands in her pockets. "Whatever."

With an icy glare, Regina gave a long-suffering sigh and brushed past her again, unlocking the door to her room and pausing to listen at it before silently opening. Henry's door was shut, all lights in the house turned off. "Come on, then," she whispered, and slid out of her room with catlike grace.

Emma followed, less gracefully, but still managing to make very little noise as they both crept down the stairs. Even though it upped the risk of her running into stray bits of furniture, she was suddenly thankful the house was dark. She knew the blush on her cheeks was probably quite noticeable indeed. Of all the scenarios that had run through her head when she first came to Storybrooke, fucking and then tiptoeing out of the house of her son's adopted mother had never even crossed her mind. Though, she realized with a pang of fresh desire, she would do it again in a heartbeat.

Glancing up the hall in case Henry should get curious again, Emma gave a quiet sigh of relief when she reached the door. Regina opened it, standing just inside the door as Emma slid outside. Silent.

"Well... this isn't awkward at all." Emma sighed, preparing to make the uncomfortable walk to her car, drive home, drown her conflicting emotions with a stiff drink or four, and pass out.

Regina nodded, pressing her head against the cool wood of the door. Quietly, she whispered with a ghost of a smirk, "It was a ...lovely evening, Miss Swan. We should do it again sometime."

Blinking, the Sheriff stared at her, raising an eyebrow. "'A lovely evening?' That's what you're going with? Even after you didn't get your way?"

An all-too-familiar dark laugh. "Oh, Emma," Regina smirked all out now, that same dangerous twinkle coming into her eye. "Who said I didn't get exactly what I wanted?"

From the bag she'd brought with her down the stairs, Regina pulled out the last of its contents and tossed the item to the Sheriff flippantly.

Catching it, Emma's eyes widened. The keys to her bug. "What the-?"

Regina shushed her with a glare. "I couldn't exactly have Henry wake up and see your car still out front, dear. I parked it outside the station." With a little shrug, she smirked, and began to close the door. "I hope you enjoy the walk."

Emma was still staring in shock at her keys when the door closed. Regina... had driven her car? She had to laugh at that idea, and could just imagine the older woman wrinkling her nose at the state of her beat-up little vehicle as she steered it distastefully down the streets of Storybrooke. So that's where Regina had gone.

A few long seconds passed by, staring at her keys and then the door of the house. And sighed. "...Goddamnit!" Emma huffed, and resigned herself to her walk. Uncomfortably. She was still really damn aroused. And annoyed, irritated, and even more sexually frustrated than before. Somehow, she wondered if Regina had somehow planned for Henry to come barging in on them. But no parent would actually plan that, right?

…Right?

At the end of the hedge row, she paused and turned back to look at the house, glancing automatically for Regina's window. The curtains were open, and in the dim light of the lamp, she could just make out the sight of Regina once again removing her clothes. Emma couldn't help it.

She watched.

FIN

A/N: So that's the end! I'd like to thank everyone who's favorited, followed, or even just read this story, with special thanks to my lovely reviewers. Reading your comments always brightens my day. I'm so glad so many of you have enjoyed this story. It's been a lot of fun to write.

Ta-ta for now,

~M

(And just as a moment of clarification: I am fully aware that Regina is not a pale woman. When, at the end of the first chapter of this story, Emma dreams of "pale skin and black lace," the skin in question is that of Regina's breasts and ass, which, as mentioned in that chapter, are "paler than the rest of her.")