Page 110 of The Rake's Daughter
“And he asked you to meet him secretly? At night? Alone in the summerhouse? Oh, that was not well done of him. But you went anyway?”
Izzy nodded.
“He kissed you again?”
Izzy nodded.
“And... was that all?”
Izzy gave a tight little shake of her head. “Worse.”
“A little bit worse or a lot worse?”
“All the way worse.”
Clarissa’s eyes widened. “You didn’t! You made love with Lord Salcott? Oh, Izzy.”
“I know,” Izzy said wretchedly. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I wasn’t thinking at all. Stupid, eh?”
There was a short silence. And then Clarissa asked, “And was it wonderful? Oh, I am so envious.”
“Clarissa!”
Her sister laughed. “Well, you were the first of the two of us to have a proper kiss from a handsome man, and now you’re the first of us to make love—with the same handsome man. Of course I’m envious. So what was it like?”
“I didn’t plan for it to happen.”
“Of course not. But what was it like?”
“It was all Milly Harrington’s fault.”
“Milly Harrington?” Clarissa’s voice rose almost to a squeak. “What on earth did she have to do with it?”
Izzy told her how Milly had come spying again and how they’d been hiding from her in the dark and how she’d tripped and ended up lying full length on top of him on the daybed.
“Lying full length on top of him in the dark. So shocking.” Clarissa sighed. “It sounds blissful. No wonder you got carried away.”
“Well, at first we were trying not to laugh because of the fuss Milly was making, and then he stopped my laughter... with a kiss.”
Clarissa gave a rapturous sigh. “And then what?”
“One thing led to another.”
Clarissa narrowed her eyes. “Izzy Studley, if you think you can get away with ‘one thing led to another,’ you’ve got another think coming!”
Izzy laughed. “It’s very hard to explain, ’Riss. It was wonderful, and very... carnal. Very physical—more than I’d expected, really. But also... transporting. I mean, Milly was outside, banging on the door and trying to shine her lantern inside when he first kissed me, and yet, I just... forgot about her.”
“You didn’t—I mean not with Milly there, did you?”
“Oh no, by the time things got really serious, she’d long since given up and gone home.” Izzy should have brought things to a halt then, the moment Milly had gone, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to stop the kissing and caressing...
The truth was, she hadn’t thought at all.
“So, what was it like? Doingit,I mean.”
“As I said, very physical. He caressed me everywhere—I mean everywhere, ’Riss. He put his mouth on my breasts.”Shivers rippled through her at the memory. “And touched me here.” She indicated with her hand. “The sensations... I can’t describe them. I forgot everything, everything except what was happening to my body.” And she wasn’t even thinking about that, not in any conscious way. Like being swept away on a wave of pleasure... and need. Just floating, drowning in sensation. Oblivious of everything except the intensity of the moment.
“Did you touch him in the same way?” Clarissa said breathlessly.
