Page 10 of Wallflower Games: Lady Be Vengeful
They groaned but rose to their feet and followed him out of the breakfast room. After a few hours outdoors, everything would be ready. Blake had some plans of his own duringthis snowball fight, and all of them involved getting Miss Emma Collins alone for something a little wicked.
Five
Emma strolled out to where the gentlemen had built the two separate forts for the upcoming snowball fight. At the base of each fort, a flag, or rather a ribbon, had been secured. Everyone could hide behind the stacked wood that had been built as a barricade. As for the armory… A neat pile of snowballs had been packed and formed. All the participants had to do was grab one and launch. After the preformed snowballs were depleted, then they would have to build their own.
“I think this will work,” she told the marquess. “I suppose we can start picking teams.”
“As long as you are on mine,” he said. “By all means start your selection.”
She narrowed her gaze on him. “You’re enjoying this far too much, my lord.”
He tilted his head to the side and studied her. “I may be, but trust me on this, I haven’t nearly begun.” Then he tilted his lips up into a wicked smile that did funny things to her belly. That smile made a promise. One filled with every sin imaginable, and she would like falling in with the devil that beckoned her. The marquess was a temptation she could not indulge in. Even when she desperately wanted to.
Emma shrugged. “Then I shall leave you to it.” She turned toward the rest of the guests that they had convinced to participate in the snowball fight. “All right, everyone.” She had an idea suddenly. It was perfect. The only problem, if one would consider it such, was the marquess would be quite irate with her. “I’ve decided this snowball fight is going to be more challenging. I hope that you all will appreciate how much.” She grinned. “There are only a few rules. Once whichever team captures the other’s flag first wins. If you’re captured while attempting to retrieve the flag, you must remain in the other team’s prison. There is always an opportunity to switch sides, if the other teams allows it.”
“Sounds fair,” Lord Clouston said. “How do we decide what teams we are on?”
“It will be simple.” She grinned. “All the men will be red, and all the ladies will be green.”
“What?” The marquess said. “That’s not…”
She ignored him and clapped her hands. “Everyone, go to your fort and prepare for the battle. Once the bell is rung, it will begin.”
Ardmore clasped her wrist. “This isn’t over.”
She met his gaze and tilted her lip up into a saucy smile. “Indeed, my lord. It has only just begun, as you so aptly remarked earlier.” She winked. “Man, your battle station, my lord. I intend on winning.”
He glared at her, but then spun on his heels to join the rest of the men. Emma had been correct. He was quite livid. But she couldn’t allow him to distract her from her plans. She needed those two nitwits on her team. How else was she going to control their actions and those of the two fops she’d been cajoling to do her bidding for the past couple of days?
“All right ladies,” she said with a grin. “Are you all ready to win?”
“I do not see how that is possible,” Lady Arabella said. “We’re but women against men that have far superior strength than us.”
She narrowed her gaze on her. “If that is how you feel, then perhaps you would like to walk over and surrender now.”
Lady Arabella lifted her chin defiantly. Good. She’d done as Emma believed she would. “I do not give in. I never will.”
“Then prepare to throw those snowballs.” Emma motioned toward the pile. Then she turned to the rest of the women. “Arm yourselves ladies.”
While they grabbed their snowballs, Emma retreated to the back. Then she rang the bell, signaling that they were to begin. Snow started to fly and mayhem ensued. Emma ducked behind the wall and took something out of her pocket. She’d hidden something special there before she’d come outside. She pulled out the slingshot and put a snowball into the small pouch. Emma peeked over the wall and surveyed everyone. Where was Ardmore? Snowballs were launched with regularity, but he was nowhere to be seen in the fray.
She could not waste any more time trying to find him. Her plan had to be set in motion. She slid behind Lady Arabella and then selected her target. The snowball flew through the air and hit Lord Marlinton in the face. It splatted perfectly. She knelt down and loaded the slingshot again. This time shegot behind Miss Harriett Smythe, then launched again. This time it hit Lord Clouston. Splendid. Both men reacted how she’d expected. They turned their attention to the ladies. Good. Lady Arabella had set her cap for Lord Marlinton. She was just helping them along. Harriett had fallen for Clouston, but he never noticed her. Well, he did not, and definitely not in the way she had hoped. The look on her face when he threw that snowball at her. Nothing would ever compare to that.
Emma circled back and considered the next place to send a snowball. She never got a chance to launch it. She was pulled back against something warm and solid. “Hello, love,” he said and he wrapped his arms around her. He put a hand over her mouth and dragged her away from the fort. “Time to join me and the others. You are my prisoner now.”
Drat. He had taken the part about capturing prisoners to heart. At least she’d gotten off two volleys before he’d done his own form of damage. Her plan was still in place. Emma didn’t really care who won the battle. She’d already won hers.
Ardmore didn’t take her back to the fort as she had thought he would. Instead, he took her into the woods and away from the snowballsstill flying through the air. He spun her around and pinned her against a tree. “Now,” he said, as he trailed a finger over her jawline. “that I have your attention. You owe me a forfeit.”
“I do not,” she glared at him.
“You do,” he said. “You agreed that we would be on the same team. Then you went and changed the rules as though there would be no consequences. There are, and you’re about to find out exactly what they are.”
Blake had never been soangry and aroused at the same time in his life. What was it about this woman that drove him to do things he normally would never have considered? He wanted her. Desperately. What the bloody hell was wrong with him?
All he knew was he had to kiss her. It was a driving need in him that he couldn’t ignore. Just one little kiss and once he had slaked his need, he could walk away from her. It would be enough. It had to be enough.
She pushed at him. “Let me go.”
