Chapter Text
What a fucking day. Emma thought as she took a seat by the counter in her favorite lesbian bar and ordered a gin-tonic. She briefly considered ordering a beer, but then thought back on what brought her here in the first place and decided on gin-tonic. She desperately needed to forget. She was not in the mood for meeting anyone tonight, so she just drank and scrolled the news and Facebook on her phone, not really caring about the crowd. Suddenly a notification that the battery was at 1% appeared on her phone and Emma groaned. Just as I thought this day couldn’t get any worse. She had to put down her phone at that and looked around. She was a regular here and noticed some familiar faces and then…her gaze fell on a woman sitting alone the other side of the L-shaped bar. Emma’s breath hitched – the woman was absolutely gorgeous, like movie-star gorgeous. She looked like a real-life queen. Emma had been with her fair share of beautiful women, but this one was simply dazzling. Obviously, Emma was not the only one who noticed the woman and she watched as a few girls tried approaching the brunette, but she turned them all down with a shake of her head and a practiced smile. Emma sighed and looked down, focusing on her drink. This is not what I’m here for and she is waaaaay out of my league. Still, she couldn’t help stealing glances at the brunette and at one point she looked right back at her, meeting her eyes. The whole world stopped, or so it felt to Emma as she kept staring into those dark eyes, completely mesmerized and unable to look away. The blonde watched in shock as a tiny smile that made Emma’s insides do a flip-flop appeared on the brunette’s lips and she snapped out of it. Now or never. Emma jumped off the stool and made her way to the brunette who kept watching her curiously.
“Hi, I’m Emma.”
“Regina.” The brunette’s low voice totally suited her and Emma forgot how to breathe for a second.
“May I?” She nodded at the empty stool next to Regina and the brunette nodded. “Can I get you a drink? Whiskey?” Emma asked hopping on the stool and noticing what the brunette was drinking. Regina nodded again.
“So, what took you so long, Emma?” Regina asked with a smirk as the bartender brought their drinks.
“Huh?”
“You’ve been staring at me for what, like the past 40 minutes?”
“I…” Emma stuttered. “I wasn’t staring.” Regina raised a perfectly sculptured eyebrow. “Okay. Maybe I was, just a little. And you turned down everyone who tried to hit on you so far, so I didn’t want to add that to my shitshow of a day too.”
“You are so attractive, why would I turn you down?” Regina said nonchalantly and Emma blushed.
“Depends on why you are here. Maybe you just wanted to get a drink and stumbled upon this bar or…”
“I came here looking to getr laid.” Emma gulped and blushed even more. There’s no way this goddess of a woman would pick me for this.
“You are so beautiful when you blush.” Regina leaned in and whispered into Emma’s ear, while her hand landed on her knee tracing random patterns there. “I wonder if you look even more beautiful when you come.” That made Emma literally choke on her drink and Regina laughed. That’s it. Emma didn’t like being thrown off her game that easily so she turned to look the brunette straight in the eyes.
“There’s only one way to find out.” She whispered against Regina’s lips and noted with satisfaction how her eyes widened at Emma’s boldness. They stared at each other for a while until Regina’s eyes flickered down to Emma’s lips and that was all the confirmation the blonde needed. She closed the gap between them drawing Regina close by a hand on her neck. The kiss was neither hesitant nor tender, as if they’ve done this before, it was pure desire and it sent a heatwave down Emma’s body.
“Fuck, I want you.” Regina whispered as they broke apart for air. Without another word Emma grabbed Regina’s hand that was inching slowly to where the blonde needed her and led them to the restrooms. She cringed internally at that fact, Regina was the kind of woman to be ravished on a bed with expensive satin sheets, not against the bathroom stall door. She turned around to check with the brunette who simply followed her with a look of unhinged desire and Emma sped up. Pulling the brunette inside one of the stalls and locking the door behind them, Emma wasted no time in pinning the woman against the wall and capturing her lips in a hot and searing kiss. There were hands wandering and groping and pulling and Regina moaned and Emma swore she had never heard a more erotic sound. Her hands slowly traveled down Regina’s sides and hips and legs, finding the hem of her dress, hiking it up until it was bunched at her waist. One hand slid back down, and then up the inside of Regina’s thigh, stopping just shy of the heated core. Emma broke the kiss to look at Regina, a silent “Are you sure?” obvious in her eyes. Regina nodded quickly and pulled the blonde back for a kiss. Emma smiled and her hand slid all the way up, reaching Regina’s panties and the smile gave way to a moan as she felt just how wet the brunette was. Pushing aside the soaked material, she coated her fingers in the slick wetness before pushing two of them inside Regina. Both women moaned at the sensation. Emma kept thrusting her fingers in and out of Regina and the brunette couldn’t keep up with the kiss and kept moaning unabashedly into Emma’s mouth, the blonde taking the chance to kiss her way down the other woman’s jaw and neck, finding that sweet spot that made Regina mewl and clench onto her shoulders. All it took after that was a few more deep thrusts with curled fingers, a thumb on the clit and a bite to the soft skin of the neck for Regina to come with a groan and her body went limp against Emma’s. The blonde tenderly brought her down from her high and kissed her.
“Wow…” Regina said breathlessly and Emma grinned. “But…I thought the plan was to make YOU come.”
“Come home with me and we can still carry out this plan.” Emma whispered though a little bit insecurely.
“Lead the way.” Regina said and straightened out her dress and hair before following Emma to her place. As soon they were inside the apartment it was Regina who pushed Emma against the door and had her way with her before they even reached the bedroom.
A few hours later, as they both laid tangled together and exhausted, Regina finally decided to look around the room they were in.
“Sorry about the mess, I wasn’t really expecting company tonight.” Emma said, following the brunette’s line of sight and noticing the crumpled clothes lying around, the dust on the bedside tables, the books left open on her desk.
“Wait, you went to a lesbian bar and you didn’t expect to bring anyone back home?” Regina asked incredulously.
“Exactly.” Emma shrugged and rolled off Regina to her back, the brunette turning on her side to look down on the blonde curiously. “I just…wanted to get a drink. After the day I’ve had I couldn’t deal anymore with grabby men so “The Vault” was a perfect choice. And yes, the plan was to get drunk and go home, alone.” She stressed the last word and Regina snickered, but Emma wasn’t having it. “You, though, what were you doing there?”
“I told you, I was looking to get laid.” Regina wiggled her eyebrows and the blonde scoffed.
“That’s not what I meant. I mean you…” She motioned to the brunette’s body. “You belong somewhere in Manhattan, in some posh restaurant or bar. You look like you just came off the cover of “Wall Street weekly” or something, you probably live in…what? Upper East Side? And yet here you are, in a dingy lesbian bar in Brooklyn. Why?”
“I…” Regina considered her next words carefully. She was not used to opening up to strangers, even strangers as gorgeous as Emma, but this was a one-night stand, so it wouldn’t hurt telling the truth. Right? “My girlfriend recently broke up with me. Well…”broke up” is a nice way of putting it. I came home one day and she was there screwing some woman.” Emma cringed at this confession. Why would anyone in their right mind cheat on a woman like Regina? “Later she said that I had been working too much, not paying enough attention to her, and that she had no other choice but to seek happiness elsewhere.” Regina sighed and Emma pulled her in for an embrace. She knew what that felt like, she really did. “So…after a few weeks of sulking and drowning myself in work and alcohol I wanted to just forget it all. And I didn’t want to risk running into her in some bar on Manhattan, so I googled other venues, finding “The Vault”. That’s the story here.” Regina shrugged. “Plus, I live in Chelsea, not Upper East Side.” She chuckled and Emma smiled, keeping her arms tight around the brunette. “What happened with you and “grabby men” as you put it?” Regina asked and Emma’s expression darkened. She appreciated the brunette’s honesty, but she really didn’t want to get into the intricacies of her job right now.
“I thought the whole point of this was to forget.” Emma said tentatively, leaning in to shower kisses along Regina’s neck. “So let’s just…forget.” She bit down on the silky skin and the brunette moaned, her question forgotten, as Emma rolled on top of her, never stopping her ministrations.
***
When Emma woke up, it was nearly 8 am and she was alone in her bed. She got up and checked her apartment - Regina was gone, not having left a note, nothing. Even though Emma was more than familiar with the concept of a one-night stand, it still stung a bit that the brunette would just leave like that.
It’s been 2 weeks since Emma had slept with Regina and annoyingly (to herself), she couldn’t stop thinking about the brunette. There was just something about her, something unique, something alluring that the blonde just couldn’t let go of. Except for the mind-blowing sex, of course. Her best friend and her colleague, Ruby, noticed something was going on and pressured Emma to tell the truth. Ruby, the hopeless romantic, was sure that Emma had fallen in love which Emma denied vigorously. She didn’t do that, she didn’t fall in love, especially with someone so way out of her league. Right? A few days later Ruby suggested they go out and chose “The Vault” as their hanging out venue and Emma agreed.
So, Friday night and she and Ruby entered the bar which was surprisingly only half-full. Emma was having a really good time, even more so after she had a few drinks into her system, laughing with Ruby and dancing to the music. Suddenly she felt her hairs stand on edge, an intuitive feeling she got when someone was watching at her. She looked around and locked eyes with the dark eyes that had been haunting her ever since THAT night. Without a second thought she made her way to brunette who seemed to have captured her mind.
“Hi, there.” She said with a smile, her whole body tingling at being this close to Regina again.
“Emma.” Regina said matter-of-factly. “Won’t your girlfriend mind you talking to me?”
“Girlfriend?” Emma frowned and looked to where Regina was looking. “Oh, her?” She wanted to laugh, but Regina looked damn serious. “God, no! That’s my best friend, Ruby. Besides…” She turned to look at her friend. “That...is her girlfriend.” She watched a brunette approach Ruby and draw her in for a kiss. “See?” Emma couldn’t contain the smile that crossed her features at Regina’s obvious uneasiness. “Jealous, are you?” She joked.
“Me? Never!” Regina raised her head proudly to prove her point. “I just…don’t condone cheating. You know, because…” The brunette trailed off.
“I know. I hate cheating too, I do, I’ve been in your shoes.” Emma answered honestly and Regina eyed her suspiciously. “So, what are you doing here? Looking to get laid?” The blonde meant that as a joke, but Regina tensed immediately.
“What if I were?” She asked defensively.
“Well, in that case, I think I know a pretty blonde who is very good with her fingers and tongue and who can definitely help you with that.” Emma responded suggestively.
“I don’t know, she sounds too cocky for my liking.” Regina said but couldn’t contain the grin that crossed her lips.
“Well, she has every right to be cocky, considering…” Emma wiggled her eyebrows and Regina scoffed.
“You know that would totally defy the one-night stand concept. Plus, that would probably be a very bad idea.”
“So…you’re saying no?” Emma asked in hurt disbelief.
“I’m saying no such thing.” Regina smiled wickedly and Emma’s heartbeat sped up.
“Wanna get out of here then?” Emma stepped into Regina’s personal space but the brunette didn’t seem to mind, her eyes flicking down to the blonde’s lips.
"What about your friend?”
“She’ll be fine, I’m sure.” Emma pointed to Ruby being lip locked with her girlfriend. “Just wait a sec, I’ll say bye to her.”
Emma approached Ruby and whispered something in her ear that made the other girl almost squeal in delight. The blonde rolled her eyes and stepped back to Regina, grabbing her hand and leading them out of the bar and to her place.
***
Later that night when Regina got dressed and was about to head out of Emma’s apartment, the blonde (against her better judgement) followed her to the front door.
“Regina,” She said uncertainly. “Do you maybe…wanna do this again?”
“What do you mean?” The brunette asked putting on her designer heels.
“I mean…” How could Emma put it really? I wanna sleep with you again? You have captured my heart and I don’t want to let you go? “I mean you can’t deny this…physical compatibility between us, even on the first night we spent together. Honestly, I would really love to do this again. Maybe some kind of friends with benefits thing could grow from this…” Regina looked frozen at the suggestion and Emma couldn’t blame her really. “Geez, relax, I’m not asking you to marry me!” She joked and the brunette visibly relaxed. “Tell you what.” Emma looked around and located a piece of paper and a pen, grabbing it and scribbling something on it. “Here’s my number, call me if you’re up for it. Or don’t, it’s fine either way.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter to her. Regina hesitantly took the paper and bit her lip.
“I’ll think about it, okay?”
“Sure.” After a moment’s hesitation Emma leaned in and kissed the brunette before she left her apartment.
Two weeks passed and Regina hasn’t called. Emma was disappointed, if she was honest with herself, which of course she didn’t want to be. She really really hoped that she’d see Regina again, she even went to “The Vault” a couple of times, but the brunette wasn’t there. She hated herself for letting Regina get under her skin and tried to push all those stupid feelings down. Maybe it was a good thing that the brunette didn’t call, since she wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep it just at sex without wanting more. Anyway, Emma did her best trying to get over Regina and even slept with some random girl, feeling dirty and disgusted with herself in the morning. Plus, Ruby wasn’t helping at all, never failing to point out when Emma was moping.
“Just quit it, Ruby!” Emma snapped at some point when they were having lunch. "This is not some true love story, she is not my soulmate!"
Before Ruby could retort, Emma’s phone rang.
“Yes?” She asked way too angrily since she didn’t even know who was calling.
“Is this a bad time?” The familiar low voice asked on the other side of the line.
“Regina?” Emma asked in disbelief and Ruby grinned like an idiot, making the blonde flip the bird her way, though not unkindly.
“Yes. How have you been?”
“Good, you?”
“Not too bad either. Look, I’m sorry it took me so long to call you.”
“Don’t apologize. I’m sure you had your reasons.”
“Sort of. I was weighing the pros and cons, actually.”
“And?”
“And…if the offer still stands, I’d like to take you up on it.”
“It does.” Emma tried to sound disinterested but her insides did a couple of summersaults. “So…wanna come over tonight, if you’re free?”
“Sure, yes.”
“I’ll be home around 9:30 pm, so anytime after that is fine.”
“See you soon then.”
“See you, Regina.” Emma hung up and it took all her self-control not to throw her hand up in the air in a victorious move. Ruby watched her in amusement.
“Are you sure this is a good idea, Ems?”
“No. Absolutely not. But…” Emma shrugged. “She’s…I just can’t say no to her. Even if I wanted to.”
“Be careful, though, all right? I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“I will.” Emma smiled reassuringly and spent the rest of the day counting the minutes till evening.
That’s how Emma found herself in this friends-with-benefits arrangement that she herself had suggested. At first, they started meeting once a week, but their passion for each other seemed to grow with every night they spent together so now they were meeting two or three times a week. Regina never stayed till morning, though, always leaving in the middle of the night, leaving Emma wanting more.
One night a few weeks into their "arrangement” when the all-consuming flames of desire subsided a bit, Regina kept slowly showering Emma’s body with kisses and the blonde felt herself getting turned on again, when…
“Emma, what the hell is this?” Emma followed Regina’s line of sight to her elbow. Shit. There was a hand-shaped angry bruise there.
“Nothing.” She hoped that the brunette would drop this, but she knew her well enough already to think that would actually happen.
“That doesn’t look like nothing. This is a bruise and it seems like someone had grabbed you pretty hard.” Regina rolled off Emma on her side to look at the blonde seriously. “Emma, is someone hurting you?”
“No. Well, not exactly.” Regina only raised her eyebrow at that and Emma sighed, realizing there was no way out of this. “I…um…so, the thing is, I work as a hostess/manager at this private club.”
“Like a strip club?”
“God, no! Ew.” Emma cringed. “No, it’s basically a restaurant with a lounge zone, a cigar room and live music, but like super exclusive one. It’s mostly for top managers, CEOs, celebrities, people like that. You can’t just walk in and get a table, you can only get in if someone puts in a good word for you with the owner and then there’s a background check and all that. Most people come there to network, to woo new business partners or investors, or just to get away from prying eyes, if you’re a celebrity. But some of them…” Emma frowned. “Mostly they come from new money, like they had invested in some start-up and suddenly they are millionaires. People like that think they own the world and, sadly, that world includes you. They think they can have anyone they want and if you say no, they try to buy you, literally. They offer hundreds of dollars for a night with you, like you’re some elite whore. The biggest amount I’ve been offered was 6K, and that is A LOT of money for me, but I still said no. I couldn’t, I would never do that. Apart from the fact that I’m totally gay, it’s simply humiliating and just...goes against all my moral principles. But I know that some of the girls take the money, though.” Emma sighed. “I can’t really blame them, I mean you don’t become a waitress because you have a great fucking life. They have kids to put through school, debts, parents to take care of, so I do understand them. But it kinda sets the bar very low, the clients knowing that it IS possible in the club. To be fair, I don’t have it as bad as the waitresses, since they are the ones interacting with the visitors mostly, but sometimes there’s some self-entitled asshole who sets his eyes on me and…” Emma shook her head, shutting her eyes tightly. “Do you really wanna know this?”
“I do.” Regina said confidently and took the brunette’s hand in hers, intertwining their fingers.
“So, uh, he comes up to me, all cocky and self-assured and obviously not used to getting no for an answer, trying to seduce me with all those fucking terrible pick-up lines. I tell him no, he offers money, upping the amount with every “no” he gets. Most of the times he gives up at some point, but every once in a while, he, well, gets angry.” The blonde took a deep breath, trying to chase away the memories. “Today was one of those days. I let my guard down and I was on my way to the stuff’s room when he cornered and grabbed me, insulted me, tried to force himself on me…hence the bruise.”
“Did he…” Regina was so shocked she couldn’t even finish the question.
“No! I managed to push him away and run, so.” Emma had a deep frown etched between her eyebrows, not sure how the brunette would take this information.
“Come here.” Regina whispered after a few seconds of silence and the blonde scooted closer to her, daring to look the brunette in the eyes, who simply pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her ever so tenderly, making Emma’s insides melt. “I’m so sorry. I…” Regina said when they broke apart, stroking Emma’s cheek softly. “Can you take it up with the owner or something? I mean that is pure sexual harassment, it just shouldn’t happen.”
“We tried, but he simply looks the other way. Daniel, the owner, would rather let you go than say something to the client who is harassing. It’s…just business for him, you know.” Emma smiled a sad smile.
“That is so fucked up. Can I help somehow?” The brunette asked hesitatingly.
“Yeah. Kiss me.” So Regina did just that (and so much more).
TBC...