Her soft skin was pressed against mine. Emma's chest was visibly going up and down as she recovered from our sexual activities one minute prior. I kissed her neck and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"Thank you," I whispered as I nuzzled my nose in her neck and puckered my lips against the warm, slick skin. She turned to my side and stroked hair out of my face.
"Don't thank me," Emma said. "I know it's wrong to enjoy this, but I'm very glad Robin is so bad in bed."
I chuckled softly and a content sigh left my throat. "Is this pleasurable for you as well? I mean, you must have slept with people far better than me. Am I worth coming back for?"
"Definitely. You really start to know what you're doing and even when you had no idea what the hell it was we were doing together, you were better than most," Emma said. I took what she said as a compliment, though it wasn't really true. I still had no idea what I was doing in bed, but I was glad she approved.
"I'm glad you think so," I responded. I kissed her warm neck and crawled closer to her. She was so beautiful as she lay beside me. Everything was so calm and relaxed. I hated knowing that I had to get home soon. Back to Robin. "Robin really liked you, the other day. He said you were a great listener and very interested."
Emma smiled. "I'm glad I came across that way," she said with a polite voice and I quirked an eyebrow.
"You really think he's awful, don't you?"
"No, I don't."
"Name one thing you like about him."
"His wife." Her response was quick and she eyed me defiantly. I felt her warm hands cupping my breasts and though I knew she was only trying to flatter me, I hated to admit it actually worked.
"Something other than that," I said, pretending to be annoyed, but that was so very hard with Emma pinching my nipple softly. She started massaging my breasts and I arched my back in pleasure.
When I didn't get a response, I moved her hands away from my breasts and looked at her. She sighed and stretched her arms. "Look, I think Robin can be very nice, very gentle..."
"But..?"
"But I think you two don't fit well together at all," Emma bluntly said. I moved slightly away from her and observed her facial expression, hoping to discover what she meant. "I think you've been too caught up with the idea of marrying him, your entire life, that you haven't looked at any other possibilities."
"That doesn't necessarily need to be a bad thing," I said, with a shrug.
"It is when you're unhappy with your marriage. I think Robin's just too.."
"Dominant?" I asked, before she could finish her sentence.
"I was going for arrogant, but dominant works as well," Emma muttered. It was refreshing to have her finally open up about Robin, but I didn't know how happy I was to hear it all. "Robin just needs someone that isn't opinionated. That doesn't care when her man walks all over her," she explained. "He should get like.. a dog."
I couldn't help but chuckle softly. "He did apologize once, for his behavior. Remember when I said he got more attentive? It was just a phase, apparently, but for a brief moment he did recognize his flaws," I said.
"That's great. I still think you both should be with someone different. You need someone fun and challenging, who listens to you. Someone who adores your curiosity and who's not as conservative," Emma said. She looked at me and briefly pressed her lips together.
"So, what you're saying is that I should get a divorce and date someone else?"
Emma shrugged. "I'm saying something needs to change. I've been saying for the past weeks that you should talk to Robin, but for some reason you keep postponing it."
She was right. We'd recently talked about exactly this and she'd encouraged me to start a conversation with Robin, but I still hadn't. She must be getting tired of me constantly whining about my marriage.
"Here's what's going to happen," she said and smirked. "We're not going to have sex until you've had a good conversation with Robin. Tell him you want changes, therapy or whatever. Something's going to need to come out of it and if you still want to sleep with me when that time has come, we'll continue our affair. For now, you need to work on your marriage with Robin, because I refuse to see you like this any longer."
I hated that she was doing this, but I couldn't blame her. It was very sweet that she wanted me to patch things up with Robin, but I was going to miss this. I knew it would be hard to talk to him, mainly because he barely listened.
"Okay," I muttered and kissed her cheek. She wrapped her arm around me and pulled my naked body closer to hers. Her lips moved towards mine and I felt my heart pound loudly. She was looking me in the eyes and her hand slid up to my face. I carefully connected my lips with hers. Her lips still felt so incredibly good against mine. I enjoyed this thoroughly, especially because I had no idea when our next kiss would be.
~~~~~
Conversations were sometimes easier when tipsy, so when Robin asked me to come with him, Ruby and Peter to get drinks, I didn't object. I figured tonight would be a good night to talk to him about our marital status.
It was as though I couldn't go to the bar without spotting Emma there, because when I sipped my third beer of the night, I saw her entering the bar.
Though it was very pleasant, hanging out with Ruby, Peter and my husband, I constantly felt my eyes drift off to Emma. At one point, her gaze met mine and she smiled briefly, but continued flirting with a very pretty woman.
"Isn't it weird to have a partner who has relationships outside of your own?" Robin asked. I was surprised that Robin wanted to know such things.
Emma briefly glanced at me, before she averted her eyes back to the brunette in front of her and glanced at the woman's lips. She moved closer and right before their lips touched, I looked away. I didn't want to see that.
"No, actually. I think we've found a great balance between spending time together and with others," Ruby said and looked at me. I forced a smile and found my eyes being drawn to Emma again. She now had her tongue down the other woman's throat and I couldn't help but feel jealous.
Just like last time I saw Emma flirt with someone in the bar. And again, it was incredibly hypocritical and unfair, but I couldn't help the feeling. I wanted to kiss Emma. I really disliked that she'd put off our affair. Seeing her kiss that stranger did encourage me to talk to Robin as soon as possible.
"I think it'd be very odd if Regina shared the bed with other people," Robin said. I was in slight dismay. I didn't think he'd ever talk about this with other people.
"Open relationships aren't for everyone," Peter said. "And it's better to make it clear to your partner that you seek more sexual relationships, than to cheat on them." He looked at me when he said that and I swallowed thickly. Clearly, Ruby had talked to him.
Robin looked at me as well and I chuckled softly. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Emma leave her hook-up and make her way to the bathroom. Feeling like taking a break from this conversation, I excused myself and headed to the bathroom as well.
Emma was gazing in the mirror and immediately looked at me when she heard the door open. "I already saw you at your table. How are you?"
"I'm doing great. Really great," I said and tensed my shoulders. I didn't need to use the bathroom, but it was the perfect excuse to talk to Emma. "So, I saw you hitting it off with that brunette at the bar."
Emma looked in her purse and grabbed some lip balm. She flashed a brief grin at me and started applying the balm. "Jealous?" she asked and I stepped closer to her.
"Absolutely not," I replied, seemingly convinced of myself. I looked in the mirror and smoothed my dress. I readjusted my hair and Emma glanced at me through the mirror.
"I hoped that me flirting with other people would hurry the process of starting a conversation with Robin."
I smiled slightly, because I'd thought the same. "I already talked to Robin," I said. "We're going to work on ourselves. We can continue our affair."
My hand touched hers and I tried my best to look as tempting as possible. I trailed my hand up her arm and moved closer. Emma blushed and chuckled softly.
"I know you didn't."
"How come?"
"If you'd really talked to Robin, if you'd really improved your relationship, you wouldn't be yearning for a meaningless affair anymore," Emma stated and I moved my hand away. I swallowed thickly and averted my eyes away from her.
When I looked back at her, she showed a hint of concern. "Emma, this was not some meaningless affair to me," I said and inhaled deeply. "I.. if it was really just about the sex, I'd find someone else. It's you I want. I've been saying that from the beginning. I really like you and I love sleeping with you. But not just because it's very pleasurable to have sex with someone who's good at it, but because I genuinely care about you. A lot."
Emma didn't say anything. She just looked at me in silence, her breathing steady. I didn't really know what to say to stop the rising tension, but these words had been bound to come out for weeks. I wasn't in love with Emma, but I did like her more than a regular friend should.
"I'm sorry, this was probably way too intense. I just wanted to have said it," I tried and Emma nodded slowly. She approached me and before I fully comprehended it, her lips were pressed against mine.
A moan immediately left my throat. Oh, how I'd missed her lips. She pulled me closer to her own body and slid her hand down to my ass. I felt a deep sense of joy and I really wished this moment would never end.
But it did. Of course.
Emma moved away and leaned her forehead against mine. "This was just an encouragement to talk to Robin. Either fix your relationship or destroy it fully. Don't keep hanging like this." She stepped back, smiled once more and left the bathroom with these words.
~~~~~
"You wanna have sex?"
My eyes widened and I chuckled nervously. He never asked the full sentence. It felt like my mind was both full and empty at the same time and I was surrounded by a strong smell of alcohol. Robin had been slurring the words and both of us had returned quite drunk from the bar.
"You're drunk," I muttered with a thick tongue and groaned. I was going to hate the hangover tomorrow, but I had so little motivation to care. "I'm drunk," I continued. "And you suck at sex."
Robin nudged my shoulder and frowned. "I don't like sex with you," I said. Some part of me knew it wasn't the best idea to start talking, but it was so hard to care.
"In fact, you're so bad at sex that I fou.."
"Stop it!" Robin yelled and kissed me possessively. I kissed him back, tasting the liquor on his tongue, but pulled away not long after.
"I want to get couples' therapy," I said. My mind was always unfiltered when I'd drunk a lot and I was proud of myself for starting this conversation.
Robin didn't seem very happy. Or maybe he was. It was hard to tell. "Why?" he asked. His tone sounded blank and I didn't really know what he was thinking.
"Because you're horrible at sex," I said and already grabbed my phone. I looked up Storybrooke's one and only psychologist Dr. Hopper and started dialing his number.
"You're really doing this?" Robin approached me and put his hands on my ass. I moved them away and kissed his lips as I heard the phone go to voicemail. "What's gotten into you?" Robin continued asking as I started to leave a message.
Emma's fingers. I almost wanted to reply, but for the first time since we got home, I managed to bite my tongue and shut up. I had to try and fix this with Robin.
I hang up the phone and looked at Robin. He seemed both confused and upset, so I kissed him gently and smiled. "I think it'd be good for us," she said.
"You've never shown you've got any problems with our marriage."
"The fact that you think that is one of the problems," I said and he pouted slightly. I feared he was going to cry, because where I got more open and unfiltered when I was drunk, Robin tended to become more emotional.
I was right, because his eyes started to become a little glossy. He cupped my cheeks and looked at me the way he only looked at me when he was drunk. Very intensely, without blinking.
"Regina, I love you, what are you doing?" A sob escaped his throat and I frowned in utter confusion. It wasn't like I was standing on the side of a bridge, ready to jump off.
I chuckled softly at his intensity and moved away. "Trying to make our marriage as good as possible," I said.
Maybe it was odd that the main reason I wanted to get therapy was because I could still feel my lips tingle where Emma touched them with her own. The only way I could get back to Emma was to fix my own marriage.
At least, that were her requirements. I just wanted her.