Page 48 of The Hellion and the Captain
With his eyes on her face, he slid the piece of linendown lower until he was hovering just between her thighs, and she stared at him, challenging him to continue.
When he met that challenge, excitement flared inside of her, and she opened her legs wider toward him as she unfastened her fall, sliding the pants open just enough to give him access to what he needed.
He slid the cloth in, using it to swipe over her most intimate places as she watched him, a catch in her throat as he kept his eyes on her face.
When he found where she ached for him, her hips bucked up toward him, and while he didn’t stop, he threw the linen to the side and replaced it with his fingers, rubbing his thumb over her while his finger slid inside. When he began to thrust it back and forth, her head fell back against the wall.
“That is perfect,” she said as she had to will away tears that threatened to form at just how much she loved this.
“Just like you,” he whispered, and at that, she fell apart.
Chapter Sixteen
Emmaline recovered quickly enough, especially with a good deal of icing her ribs and resting through the week, as much as she would have preferred to practice and do… other things with Rhys.
But they had their first game in the FA Cup coming up that weekend, and he told her that they needed her at full strength.
As much as she wanted to argue, the fact that a team competing for the Cup would needherwas nearly incomprehensible.
When she finally took the field feeling nearly as well as the previous week, she had to begrudgingly admit that he had been right, even if she had missed her time with him.
Despite this being the first game of their Cup quest, the team they played was new to the tournament, and they easily beat them to the point that Rhys told the team to stop scoring goals and instead try to pass to each player before sending the ball through the goal posts.
Colin bristled at that, for it was in his very nature to score, but he agreed, and when the game was over, betweenEmmaline’s rest and the fact that no one had spent the game trying to send her to the ground, Emmaline was riding a high she hadn’t felt in days – in fact, since she had been intimate with Rhys.
She accompanied Colin to speak to Lily after the game, saving her time in the bathing room afterward so that she could change by herself before she wholeheartedly agreed to go to The King’s Head for a drink with the rest of the team.
She and Colin shared an amused glance, for he knew of the little surprise she had planned for tonight. She hadn’t even told Rhys about it yet.
Truthfully, she was a little nervous about how he would react. It wasn’t so much that she was worried he would be concerned about it. She was wondering if he would enjoy it a little too much, for she didn’t entirely believe what he had to say last time.
“Well, we’ll leave you to dress, Emmaline,” Colin said as he and Rhys were, as always, the last to leave. Rhys hesitated as though he wanted to stay, but with one final smouldering glance over his shoulder at her, he followed Colin out the door.
Emmaline understood. With their lack of solo practice time, it had been far too long since they’d had the opportunity to spend more…qualitytime with one another.
When she emerged from the dressing room, it was Colin and Lily who awaited her.
“Expecting someone else?” Lily teased as Emmaline tried to fix her expression into one of gladness to see them.
“Of course not,” she said, frowning and looking down at herself. True to his word, Rhys had not only outfitted her in clothing to wear during the practices but also a small variety to don after the matches.
Emmaline enjoyed wearing men’s clothing on the field for the freedom of movement, but shehad to admit that, as much as she didn’t miss the confines of most of her undergarments, she would have liked to have the opportunity to wear something more feminine for Rhys. He had been seeing far too much of her as Emmett and not nearly enough as Emmaline.
“Emma—ett!”
Emmaline whirled around, wondering who had discovered her identity, but broke out into a wide smile when she saw who awaited her.
“Minnie!” she said, embracing her friend, who was practically glowing with excitement.
“I could hardly wait for an opportunity to accompany you,” Minnie said, her light hair tumbling in beautiful tendrils around her face as though she had placed them perfectly, falling into step with Emmaline, taking her elbow. Emmaline was taller than most women, which gave greater credibility to their disguise. “How should we act?”
Emmaline stared at her. “I don’t know, Min. If we were truly a couple, it is not as though we would be physical with one another in a public setting, would we?”
Minnie glanced over at Colin and Lily, who walked just ahead of them toward the awaiting carriages. While they both attempted to ignore that comment, when Lily glanced back at them, her cheeks were a mild shade of pink.
“We are newlyweds,” Colin finally said, although he didn’t turn around. “That’s different.”
“Right,” Emmaline said, rolling her eyes to Minnie. “We should come up with a story. Although we have been friends for ages, I have just begun to court you. Our parents know one another. It is always best to stay as close to the truth as possible, is it not?”
