Chapter Text
Regina Mills was used to showing up to the shop early, clearing away any trash from the night before, ensuring all the chairs were placed symmetrically in the waiting area, and sterilizing the tools for her first appointment. Today’s was an Emma Swan, booked online a few weeks prior with a back design Regina couldn’t turn down. She didn’t do tattoos as much these days, focusing her time on running the shop, doing marketing, and overseeing the back end of the business, but she liked to do a few a month to keep on top of her art and methods — she never wanted to lose touch with a needle.
She allowed herself a snack and an orange juice prior to the appointment, still the only one in the shop. She hopped up on the counter in the employee kitchen and considered the text she’d gotten that morning from her last date, a boring, normal woman she’d tried to convince herself she could like. She hadn’t texted back.
She heard the shop door thud and looked at her watch. If that was Emma she was almost 20 minutes early, a rare occurrence in this industry. She slid off the counter, cracked her neck, straightened her top, and pushed the door open with a practiced smile on her face. “Miss Swan, I presume?” she said to the back of the blond woman in front of her.
Regina’s breath caught when she turned around, her leather jacket, tight t-shirt, and effortless long hair exactly Regina’s type when she played with women, though she doubted Emma was interested in anyone other than muscular men. She could just tell the woman had called a man daddy before.
“Regina?” the little blonde asked. “Sorry if I’m too early. I’ve been up for hours and needed to get out of my house.”
“Don’t apologize,” Regina said quietly, approaching the woman whose eyes widened. “Can I take your jacket?”
Emma’s pupils dilated and she shrugged out of the red leather. “Please,” she breathed out.
“You can follow me over this way,” Regina said, hanging the jacket up and getting the slightest hint of vanilla from the fabric. “I’ve already printed out the stencil of the design you approved, so we can get started pretty quickly.”
Emma followed her over to the padded table and stood a bit awkwardly next to it.
“This isn’t your first tattoo, right?” Regina prodded.
“No, no, sorry, I’m just a little nervous,” Emma said, rubbing her hands up and down her thighs.
Regina walked back over to the side of the table Emma stood on. “Listen, sweetheart, you’re early. Do you want to chat for a minute? I’m not in a rush to get started.”
Emma visibly relaxed. “Please,” she sighed out. “How long have you been doing this?”
“Well, I own this shop, which I’ve managed for about three years. I’ve been tattooing for nearly 15, starting out in my college dorm.”
“Wow, that’s so cool. I would have been so intimidated by you in college. I mean- I still am.” Emma blanched, realizing what she’d said, but Regina only chuckled.
“That’s sweet,” the older woman smiled. “But I’m sure we would have been friends. You like tattoos, after all… Speaking of, do you want to take your shirt off so I can get to your back? We’re the only ones who will be here for a while, so you don’t need to worry about other people seeing you.”
Emma blushed and pulled the black t-shirt over her head, revealing tattoos on her shoulders, breast bone, ribs, and shoulder blades, along with a black lacy bra. Regina smiled, admiring Emma’s chest, as well as the existing work, and a bit surprised at how much Emma seemed concerned with hiding them under a shirt. “Do you have more than this?” Regina asked. “These are lovely.”
“Um, yes, on my thighs and hips, as well.”
She still seemed mildly uncomfortable, but Regina chalked it up to her standing in the chilly studio in her bra. “Are you ready to get started?” Regina asked.
“Um, sure, yes,” Emma nodded.
“You can lay down on your stomach whenever you’re ready,” Regina instructed. “Is it okay if I unhook your bra?”
Emma nodded on the table without saying anything but gasped when she felt the older woman’s hands on her spine.
Regina was increasingly intrigued by this shy, quiet woman, and went through the motions of laying the stencil and getting Emma’s approval on size, design, and placement before getting started. Once she had it, she made sure the needles and ink she had on hand at her station would be everything she needed. The piece would take several hours altogether. “Okay, Emma, I’m going to get started now. Are you comfortable?”
“Yes, thank you,” she responded quietly, but she clearly wanted to say more. Regina waited. “I just want to let you know…” she faded out, not finishing her thought.
“Yes, dear?”
Emma blushed fiercely, the red creeping down her shoulders. “Um, so, the pain… is good for me. I mean, I like it. So I might, um, I might make noises. I’ll try not to, but I can’t always help it.”
Regina had an idea what the younger woman was getting at, but she wanted to be sure. “You like the way the needles feel, Emma?” she asked breathily.
The blonde nodded, facing the table, and not saying anything else.
“Okay, dear, I won’t judge, and like I said we should be alone for several hours, so don’t worry about making noise. There’s no one here but me.”
Emma nodded again and relaxed against the table, her breasts pressing against the leather as she laid flat.
Regina began her work, lining up the needle with the tree design Emma had picked out. She could see goosebumps break out all over the woman’s back in the first minute, and she smiled to herself, relishing seeing Emma enjoy what Regina was doing to her and enjoying the thought that she was getting to permanently mark the little masochist with her art. She squirmed a little on her leather stool as she leaned on Emma’s back.
Nearly an hour had passed with no alarming sounds from Emma, but when Regina informed her it was time for a break she could see the heavy breathing Emma tried to conceal. “Here’s a towel you can cover your chest with if you want to stand up for a minute or use the bathroom. And here’s some water I’d like you to drink.”
Emma guzzled down the bottle of water, her neck flushed, and Regina sipped from her own, eyeing the other woman up and down as she held the towel flush against her breasts.
“You doing okay?” Regina inquired. Again the blonde only nodded and moved back to lay down on the table, setting the towel aside as she did so. Regina liked seeing her breasts mashed against her table as she worked. It only took another 15 minutes or so, and for Regina to approach Emma’s spine with her needle, for little whimpers to become audible from Emma. Regina stayed quiet, but was admittedly intrigued by Emma’s reaction.
She finished up another big section and noticed Emma’s hips had started moving against the table the slightest bit. Regina couldn’t pretend this wasn’t affecting her. “Do you want to take a break?” she asked quietly. The blonde flew up from the table, covering her chest and jumping up in one quick motion. Regina recomposed herself as the younger woman used the bathroom. She resupplied her ink and disposed of the bloody paper towels she’d used already. As Emma walked back to the table, she realized with a start that her panties were wet. She’d been tattooing nearly for two decades and never could she remember getting aroused while she was working.
Emma sat back on the table and looked towards the floor. She moved to lay back down when Regina said her name, forcing the blonde to make eye contact. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, Emma,” Regina said firmly. “I’m glad we’re alone and that you can feel comfortable enough with me to not worry about judgment.”
Emma blushed and said quietly, “you’re really good at your job. I looked in the bathroom and I love the way it looks so far.” Even more quietly and with a blush she said, “and it feels really good too.”
Regina smiled and put her hand on Emma’s shoulder. “You’re safe with me. Though can I ask, do you have a regular artist? I imagine it might be hard to do this with new artists constantly.”
“I saw the same guy in Maine for all the big pieces. It’s easier to… contain myself… with the little ones, so those are from all over.”
“I see. And any particular reason you’re coming to me and not him for this one?”
“I moved here recently and needed to find someone new. I had a… bad experience a few weeks ago and couldn’t wait until the next time I was in Maine to schedule something. My friend Ruby recommended your shop, though she didn’t mention you,” Emma blushed again and Regina smiled coyly.
“So you get tattoos when you need to feel better?” Emma only nodded this time. “May I ask what happened? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want.”
“It’s okay. I, um, I had a really bad date.”
Regina tilted her head and looked down at Emma. “That doesn’t seem too awful?”
“It was my first date in several years… with a woman.”
Regina inhaled through her nose strongly. “I see. And it went poorly?”
“Yes ma’am,” Emma nodded. Regina smiled at the respectful address Emma didn’t even seem to notice she’d uttered.
“Well, let’s continue; I’d like to finish for you before my artists start showing up, but I’d like to hear what happened afterward if you feel comfortable telling me.”
Emma released a sigh and laid back down. The two continued in silence for another two hours, and by the time Regina finished the last strokes on the tree's roots she could have sworn she could smell arousal, though she had to admit she wasn’t sure if it was hers or Emma’s. She took a few pictures and taped plastic wrap over the woman’s back to keep the ink protected. Emma gingerly re-hooked her bra and pulled her shirt back on, just in time for the front door to open and Regina's artists begin to trickle in.
The young blonde seemed to be coming out of a trance, and Regina had to admit she wished they had more time alone. “Um, thank you, it looks great, Regina.”
“Now, about that date? Care to tell me about it over coffee? I don’t have any more appointments today.”
Emma looked surprised but nodded vigorously, “I’d like that.”
“Come on then, follow me,” Regina instructed, grabbing the woman’s hand gently and pulling her towards the back of the shop.
“Where are we going?” Emma asked, and Regina informed her she lived in the apartment upstairs.
“I’d like to take another look at the bleeding before you leave, which I can’t do in a coffee shop. Are you comfortable with that?” Another blush crept across Emma’s cheeks as she nodded. Regina led Emma into her cozy one-bedroom apartment, guiding her towards one of the black leather stools at the kitchen bar as she put coffee on. “So, Emma, tell me. What happened with the woman?”
Emma finally seemed to relax a little and began to spill the whole story. She’d been talking to a woman for nearly two weeks when she invited her to her house. The chemistry was there, so Emma had eagerly agreed to the two-hour drive, only to find herself feeling disappointed and trapped at the end of the night when the woman had brutally forced herself on the blonde and aggressively toyed with her until Emma’d had to beg her to stop (and not in a good way), culminating in a night spent awkwardly laying next to one another and exchanging no words until Emma felt comfortable enough to leave, fighting off a panic attack the whole drive home.
“Emma, that’s happened to plenty of women, and it’s absolutely not your fault. Why do you seem so embarrassed?” Emma looked to the floor and Regina thought she might be fighting back tears.
“Because I told her I like it rough,” Emma whispered, and it felt like Regina had been punched in the stomach. She walked around the counter and gently grabbed Emma’s shoulder with her left hand and her chin with her right. “Emma, dear, all you did was communicate your fantasies. You did not ask her to hurt you, and what you may have asked for does not in any way make what she did okay, do you understand me?” Emma was visibly fighting back tears now.
“She said I’m a slut and a masochist and that I wanted it,” Emma said so quietly Regina had to lean her ear down to hear. Rage blossomed in Regina’s chest and she pulled the woman towards her, wrapping a hand around the back of Emma’s head and laying it against her chest while trying to avoid touching her sensitive back.
“Listen, darling, I’ve been dominating women for a long time and having sex with them for even longer and you did absolutely nothing wrong. It is absolutely acceptable to share your kinks and fantasies with a woman you trust. She should never have treated you the way she did.” Tears ran down Emma’s cheeks, but she nodded.
“Thank you, Regina,” she said quietly. “I don’t know anyone else who likes what I like or has any experience with it, so it’s so hard to know what’s okay or what to expect.”
Regina couldn’t fathom letting the girl go without seeing her again, so she pulled out her phone. “Let’s change that now,” she said gently. “I’d like you to give me your number, if you’re comfortable with that, and reach out any time you need advice or have questions about this dynamic. I know how hard it is to make friends who’ve had experience with our interests.”
“I’d like that, Miss Regina,” Emma said quietly.
Regina flushed at the name and nodded, then got to work making sure Emma’s back was set to heal properly. She sent her off with instructions to check in soon and come back in two weeks for their last session.
When she left, Regina texted down to the shop to let them know she wouldn’t be in for the rest of the day. Then she ran herself a bath, grabbed a dildo and a vibrator from her bedside table, and sank into the scorching-hot water with plans to finally ease her throbbing clit.