Page 102 of The Rake's Daughter
And what on earth did she think she was doing coming out here in the middle of the night, dressed as she was? Her mother would have kittens if she knew her precious daughter was a night prowler.
“Don’t move or make a sound,” Izzy breathed.
Strong arms wrapped around her, and he settled down as if getting comfortable.Comfortable?In this situation?
Milly shone the lantern in at the window. Izzy tensed, and pressed herself down against Lord Salcott, hoping that from the outside they would look like cushions on the daybed.
His body was big and firm and warm.
Milly shone the lantern this way and that. Luckily the beam was too weak to illuminate the scene inside. Mainly it lit up Milly’s face. She rattled the door handle again. “Izzy? Is that you in there, Izzy Studley?” Thank goodness the door was locked.
She bent down and scrabbled around in the stone lantern by the door. “The key’s gone. You’re not supposed to remove the key.”
Izzy grinned to herself. She’d placed the key on the inside of the lock, just in case.
Milly knocked on the window. “I know you’re in there, Isobel Studley. What are you doing sitting in the dark? I saw the lights before I came down, so I know you’re hiding. Do you have a man in there with you?” She pressed her face up close to the window, desperately trying to peer inside. The night was gray and gloomy, but inside the summerhouse all was dark and still.
“You do have a man there, I’m sure of it. Why else hide in the dark?” She rattled the door handle again. “Locked in with a man! You’re a disgrace, that’s what you are. I’ll tell Mama, I will.”
Izzy wanted to say, “And what will Mama say when she learns you wander around the garden in the wee small hours in your nightgown?” But the situation was so ridiculous she wanted to laugh. Instead she pressed her face against Lord Salcott’s chest.
Big mistake. The man smelled... enticing. A combination of clean linen, soap, his spicy cologne water and, underneath it all, the tantalizing scent of a deeply masculine man.
She ought to pull away. She really should. At least turn her face away so she wasn’t breathing in that compelling male essence. That addictive male essence.
She buried her nose in the smooth linen of his shirt and inhaled deeply. How was it that a man could smell so... irresistible?
She lay plastered against him, covering his body with hers, connecting so intimately that were she not wearing this very thin dress, and he those supple breeches...
Best not to think about that. It was a shocking position to be in. Instead it felt right, so very right.
Milly thumped a frustrated fist on the window. “You are so bad, Izzy Studley. Oh, let me in, do.”
She was being bad, Izzy reflected. And enjoying every delicious moment.
Beneath Izzy, Lord Salcott’s body started to shake. “Stop that,” Izzy whispered.
The shaking continued. The wretched man—how could he laugh at a time like this? She poked him. “Hush, it’s not funny.”
The shaking increased. “It’s hilarious. That female is deranged.” He pulled her tighter against him, his big warm hands bracing her hips. He moved his legs slightly apart and gave a kind of wriggle, and Izzy’s body slipped into thespace he’d made, as if she belonged there. She lay cradled against him, her breasts pressing against his chest, her legs bracketed between his.
He felt very warm and firm beneath her. His hands rested lightly on her hips, barely a touch, but she felt them clear through to her core. The heat of his body soaked into her. And there was a growing hardness against her stomach that she ought not be able to feel. She really should pull away. Roll off him. Separate herself from him.
She couldn’t bring herself to move.
His hands slipped from her hips to cup her bottom, and he did that little wriggle again that somehow brought them even closer. Her body was melting around him.
She closed her eyes, willing herself not to respond, not to feel. But every sense she possessed—including common sense—was scrambled by his proximity. The scent of him, the touch, the feel...
He moved his hand in slow lazy circles, caressing her through the fabric of her dress. Warm shivers rippled through her.
She swallowed. Her mouth was dry.
“Iknowyou’re in there.” Milly rapped on the window, jerking Izzy back to awareness. Turning her head, she watched as Milly cupped her hands around her eyes and pressed her face against the glass, trying again to peer into the dark interior. “The windows are steaming up. What are you doing in there to make the windows steam up?”
Lord Salcott’s big body jerked with silent laughter. Izzy bit her lip, but she couldn’t help it, she started laughing, too. She stuffed her fist in her mouth to keep from making a noise.
A large hand came up and gently removed her fist. “What are you—mmff.”
