Page 57 of Let Me Be Your Hero
He was going totreasurethis woman…
Gently, he lifted her face to his so he could kiss her.
And saw that she was blinking back tears.
CHAPTER 26
“Izzie,” Archibald said, his voice full of alarm, “what’s wrong?”
She wished he wouldn’t ask that question. “Nothing!” she lied.
His face was agonized. “Did I hurt you? Oh, God, Izzie—I’m so sorry, I—”
“It’s not that,” she bit out, then cringed because her phrasing implied that therewasa problem; it just happened to be something else.
“Then what is it?” he asked gently. When she sat up, looking away, he sat up, too, and took her hand. “Izzie?”
“I’m just”—she cast about for the right word—“disappointed.”
“I see.” He fell silent a moment. “I apologize. I somehow formed the impression that you reached a similar level of satisfaction during our lovemaking as I did. Clearly, that was not the case, and I will set about rectifying it immedia—”
“That’s not it,” she groaned. Lord, but this was embarrassing. “It was very good for me. It could not have been better.”
He waited for her to continue. When she didn’t, he asked, “Then what has you feeling disappointed?”
“There’s something the matter with me. I did enjoy it, but only when you started rubbing me at that spot between my legs. But I’m supposed to derive my pleasure from… from…” She blushed, looking away. “You know.”
“From my cock?” he asked.
“Yes. That.” Gracious, her cheeks were on fire. She might be bold, but she’d been a virgin a half-hour ago. “There’s obviously something wrong with me, and I…” She trailed off, looking down.
When she chanced a glance up, Archibald was studying her. “This is all starting to make sense.”
She laughed, incredulous. “It is? I’m glad one of us thinks so.”
“Yes.” He took her by the waist, hauling her into his lap. “Who says you’re ‘supposed to’ reach your pleasure from just my cock?”
“Everyone,” she answered immediately.
He shook his head. “No, not everyone. I don’t say that. So, who told you that?”
“One of our housemaids,” Izzie said in a rush. “When I was fourteen, I paid her a shilling to answer my questions, to explain what went on between a man and a woman.”
“Ah. And this housemaid was your primary source of information, other than your brother’s book, of course.”
“That’s correct.”
“And she didn’t say anything about that other spot? The one on the outside, where I touched you?”
“No. I was quite surprised when you started kissing me there in the drawing room. Although it worked remarkably well.”
He rubbed her back. “So, that’s why you were worried that you were frigid. When you experimented, you followed this maid’s advice and touched yourself on the inside, but you didn’t even know about your clitoris.”
Izzie was too startled to feel embarrassed about the fact that he had guessed exactly what she’d been doing—or at least, attempting to do—alone in her bed at night. “My… what’s it called? Cli…?”
“The clitoris. The spot that is the center of most women’s pleasure.”
Izzie frowned. “The maid I asked didn’t mention anything about that.”
