The following week brought with it new challenges for the two leading ladies as things for their characters began to heat up even more,
"Have you read the next script yet?" Regina asked as they sat in her trailer drinking wine a few evenings after they had returned,
"Yup" Emma replied casually
"And what did you think?" Regina pressed
"About what?" Emma asked though she thought that she knew where this might be heading,
"The sex scenes Emma" Regina said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world confirming Emma's suspicions
"Oh those" Emma frowned "To be honest I feel kinda weird about them"
"Oh, you do" Regina sighed looking deflated
"Yeah, it's the whole getting naked in front of the camera with all those people watching" Emma shuddered, and Regina smiled
"We could use body doubles you know" she shrugged
"Really" Emma asked tilting her head towards Regina "Is that what you usually do?" she asked, and Regina nodded in response
"For scenes that require this much nudity yes" she replied
"We'll do that then" Emma declared smiling at Regina who looked a little disappointed,
"Okay" she said with a small shrug
"What's that look for?" Emma frowned "did I say something wrong?"
"No, it's just………...Never mind" Regina trailed off
"Regina please speak to me, what's wrong" Emma asked
"It's just……..." Regina looked at Emma's expectant face "Look if I tell you this it has to in the strictest confidence, I've never spoken about this before, and I can't have it ending up in some fan page or gossip rag" Regina said
"Regina, everything you've ever told me has been kept between me and you, both when we were strangers and now that we're friends, you can trust me, I've never seen you as a juicy piece of gossip, I see you as the person you are and I'd never betray your trust" Emma assured her,
"I know" Regina sighed and nodded then continued "these sex scenes even though it's acting and the feelings aren't real, it would still be me taking my clothes off, and letting you place your hands on my body, I've never been able to trust a co-star like that before at best they don't give a shit about me and at worst they are leching slimeballs like Robin, who'll use any excuse to allow their hand to slip somewhere it's not invited, that's why I use the body doubles, I didn't lie when I said that I haven't had an experience the same as you or Isabella but I've had a couple of close calls in the past Emma so I just don't put myself out there for these types of scenes anymore"
"I understand" Emma smiled sadly "really, I do, you don't have to explain yourself Regina, body doubles it is"
"What about you" Regina ventured "you could work with a body double if you wanted to be in the scenes yourself"
"Nah" Emma shrugged taking a sip of her wine "I'd only want to film those with you, it wouldn't feel right with a stranger"
"Me too" Regina replied
"So that's settled then body doubles it is" Emma smiled clinking her glass against Regina's
"No Emma I mean I want to film them with you, that is if you're game" Regina explained taking Emma by surprise,
"Oh" Emma blinked trying to properly process what Regina had said,
"Forget it" Regina blushed "It was a stupid idea"
"No, I want to" Emma said "you just surprised me is all"
"Okay, so we're filming them together then" Regina sought confirmation which Emma was quick to give her,
"Yes" she nodded her heart racing as it began to dawn on her exactly what she had just agreed to and with that decided, they started to read through the script for the next day's scenes, these regular sessions were helping to boost Emma's confidence and gone were her prior anxiety's over how many lines she had.
The following morning, they left hair and make-up together and headed for their filming location as had become their customary whenever they were due to start filming for the morning together which was most days now.
Regina stepped up to her mark and like the artist that she was she morphed into Isabella in front of Emma's eyes while Emma as usual put a lot of herself into becoming Leah, the clapper was brought down action was called and the cameras began to roll,
Emma delivered her line and reached out a hand towards Regina just as the script instructed, and Regina immediately flinched back a movement that Emma had expected but it still somehow pained her a little, what she hadn't expected was the force of the incredibly believable look of fear mingled with sadness and confusion in Regina's eye's, the sight damn near broke Emma's heart,
So believable was it that Emma hadn't need to act her part for the look of sadness mixed with concern within her eyes were genuine and real, she knew the feelings that Regina was showing weren't real yet still she wanted nothing more than to reach out and engulf her in her arms, how in the hell was she doing that, she, Emma thought as she swallowed the lump forming in her throat was just amazing and the more that she grew to care about Regina the harder it was becoming to separate her own emotions from Leah's, it made her heart ache every time she saw hurt and pain in Regina's eyes even when she knew that she was acting.
Filming this series was definitely taking an emotional toll on Emma and apparently Regina even with her vast experience wasn't completely immune either and many a shoot was ending in tears as she too struggled with the reactions that her performances were evoking from Emma, each flash of hurt and rejection in the blondes eyes felt like a stab to heart for her, so it came as a great relief when the scenes towards the end of that week finally became a bit lighter, it was nice that Isabella and Leah got to have some lighter fun for both the audience when it came to viewing later on and for Emma and Regina playing the roles, a lighter mood was just what they all needed to break up the intensity of the piece a little, even if Emma's anxiety over the pending love scene was steadily beginning to grow.
"Stop worrying" Regina smiled as they waited outside of the bedroom set when the day had finally come, "It's just you and me and it's not as though we haven't ever shared a bed before" she winked
"Yes, well we weren't in front of a whole team of cast and crew then and we were wearing a lot more than just a pair of flesh-coloured knickers" Emma pointed out, not to mention she added in her head that I wasn't pretending to make love to you,
"Well, there is that I suppose" Regina laughed "Just think of it this way, we get this scene over with and tomorrow I finally get my tour" she grinned, and Emma rolled her eyes, but before she could retort Gold was summoning them to their places,
Swallowing nervously Emma made her way to her mark while Regina did the same, she returned the kiss that Regina initiated and began to relax into it until they pulled apart and Regina began to remove her clothing, Emma gulped as she watched the articles that Regina removed drop to the floor exposing more and more flawless olive skin until she was standing there in front of Emma wearing nothing but those flesh-coloured panties,
"You're so beautiful" Emma breathed out her line meaning it, her heart racing as her eyes raked over Regina's exposed breasts and toned abdomen, Regina blushed and looked away coyly before slipping between the sheets to cover her modesty, Emma didn't even know how she managed to get her own clothes off before she too joined Regina in the bed her brain seeming to malfunction as she felt the heat radiating from Regina's mostly naked body as she moved closer beside her and placed a tentative hand on her arm.
With the blankets covering most of their bodies Regina slid even closer to Emma and gently caressed her face, Emma responded by wrapping her arms protectively around her, her heart racing like it never had before as she felt Regina's warm soft skin pressing against her own and Regina's hand finding its way into Emma's hair.
Trying to focus on her cues Emma slipped her hand under the blanket, moving it purposefully down over Regina's abdomen towards her intimate area making sure that her movements were visible through the blanket while also ensuring that she never broke eye contact with Regina,
"Is this okay" she whispered pausing in her movements her hand resting just above Regina's knicker line waiting for Regina to nod her response before she moved her hand lower still veering off unnoticed by the cameras at the last second and resting her hand gently on Regina's outer thigh feeling Regina's breath hitch and then release again in time with her movements.
As Emma's hand moved so did her mouth peppering kisses from Regina's lips to her jaw then down across her collar bone, Regina threw her head back, closed her eyes and began to wriggle deliciously beneath Emma's attentions releasing the most realistic little moans of pleasure as Emma continued with those attentions bringing her mouth back up to gently nibble Regina's ear lobe,
"Emma" Regina suddenly whispered causing Emma to freeze for a split second before continuing her trails of kisses and nibbles on Regina's upper body while she tried to wrap her head around what she thought that she had heard.
Had Regina Mills really just uttered her name in the middle of filming an intimate scene? She couldn't have right Emma tried to reason forcing her full focus back onto the scene just as Isabella reached her peak and Leah whispered "I love you" to her,
Regina looked Emma in the eye dark brown eyes brimming with emotion as she silently communicated Isabella's love back to her. Nothing had felt as intense as this moment with the two of them just lying there together almost naked holding each other close the characters words of love filling and surrounding them, seeming to warm their very cores.
Emma gently stroked Regina's hair she longed to lean in and kiss her again but there wasn't a kiss in this part of the scene so she held back, Regina however didn't she leant in and in keeping with her character hesitated for the briefest of seconds before bringing their lips to meet again feeling relieved when Emma responded how she had wanted her to, the kiss wasn't in the script at that point but it worked perfectly there and it achieved what Regina had hoped it would naturally breaking the tension that had built between them, when they parted again she smiled and nuzzled her nose against Emma then dropped her head onto her bare chest snuggling in and listening to Emma's heart beat steadily as her eyes dropped closed and she forced her breathing to even out as though she were asleep.
Emma wrapped her arms around Regina holding her close and dropping a gentle kiss on top of her head her mind racing, she too closed her eyes, but before she could get lost in those thoughts a voice cut across them shouting cut and the clapper board came crashing down with a resounding bang startling them apart,
"That was perfect" Gold called "I loved the improv dearies it worked magnificently now if you could just do the same thing a few more times so we can get takes from a few more angles" he instructed
Emma nodded took a deep breath and turned her attentions back to Regina who showed no signs of anything being a miss or having said anything out of the ordinary ready to begin the scene again.
It was well over an hour later by the time that Gold was satisfied with his takes by which time both Emma and Regina were exhausted, both of their bodies glistened with a thin layer of perspiration and there was no doubt in Emma's mind that she had imagined her name being whispered by Regina during the first take.
The wrap was called and Emma returned to her trailer to take a cold shower something that she seemed to do a lot of late but they did help her clear her head, she found that she had received several texts from Regina telling that she had done some fantastic work that day and that Regina couldn't wait for her tour the next day, Emma smiled to herself as she replied, she too was looking forward to spending a day with Regina outside of work,
Bring some clothes for clubbing,
I'm taking you to the Rabbit Hole
tomorrow and we'll be getting
ready at the loft, xxx
Emma text leaving her phone on the bed while she rooted through her own wardrobe before she realised that she had left all her favourite going out gear at the loft choosing to bring only her casual comfy garments to the trailers not seeing a need for anything more, she sighed hoping that Regina would have something suitable with her, somehow she didn't think that anything she had would suffice and she definitely couldn't imagine Regina donning anything belonging to Ruby or Dorothy either, while Emma didn't doubt for a second that Regina would look hot as hell in anything of Ruby's she just didn't think it would really be Regina's style, still perhaps if it came to it there was something in Isabella's wardrobe that Regina could borrow for one evening, or Emma could take her in some shops on their tour and she could buy something new.
Sure, can't wait
Xxx
Regina text back immediately easing Emma's concerns.