Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

A rchibald considered the task at hand.

He had only eleven minutes to bring an innocent to climax. An innocent who had tried and failed to find pleasure on her own.

But he did have some advantages on his side.

One—Archibald liked to know how things worked. He’d had two previous lovers—experienced widows with whom he’d entered into a temporary financial arrangement—and he had asked both of them questions.

Lots of questions.

He therefore had several ideas where he could start when it came to Izzie.

Two—she was naturally attracted to him. He knew she was.

And three—Archibald was a craftsman.

Which meant he was very good with his hands.

Without warning, he pulled Izzie onto his lap.

Normally, he would have started with a little more finesse. But he only had eleven minutes, damn it, so finesse would just have to wait.

He kissed her fiercely, the way he thought she liked, and allowed his hands to rove over all the delicate places to which he had denied himself access last night.

He could feel her stomach trembling with nervous energy, like a bumblebee’s wings. As he stroked his way up her delicate torso, she shivered. And when his calloused thumb found a nipple, already peaked, through the silk of her gown, Izzie moaned into his mouth.

Recalling what she had said last night about loving the feeling of him holding her down, he pressed her back against the cushions of the sofa, pinning her in place with his hips. He caught both of her wrists in one hand and brought them up over her head, restraining her.

Rather than trying to be gentle, he let go. He kissed her like he wanted to devour her, which he did. He let his free hand rove over her body, the way he’d been dreaming of doing for years. With a snarl, he yanked the front of her bodice down, exposing the delicate curves of her breasts to his hungry gaze.

He worried he was being too rough, but as he kissed his way across her collarbone, her chest rose and fell in rapid pants. Her cheeks were flushed, but not, he thought, with embarrassment. No, the dazed look in her eyes bespoke arousal.

Encouraged, he bent down and sucked a perfect, dusky rose nipple into his mouth. She gave a soft cry, her hips bucking against him.

All signs seemed extremely promising. How he would’ve liked to linger on her breasts, to tease her until she was out of her mind with pleasure and crying out for what came next. But, seeing as time was of the essence, he went ahead and started drawing up her skirts. He had to release her wrists in order to kneel on the floor between her legs.

Izzie sat halfway up. “Archibald?” she asked, suddenly looking nervous again. “Won’t I bleed if you take my—my maidenhead?”

He’d reached the skin on her thighs, which was the color of cream and as soft as satin. “You would. But I’m not going to take your maidenhead.”

She frowned but didn’t offer any resistance as he pressed her thighs open. God, she was gorgeous here, too, flushed and pink and already slick for him. She even smelled like heaven.

He started kissing his way up the inside of her thighs.

“But if you’re not going to take my maidenhead, how are you going to—oh. Oh. Oh! ”

His tongue found the little bud at the juncture of her thighs, and Izzie didn’t ask any more questions for some time.

Izzie didn’t see how Archibald was going to bring her pleasure without taking her maidenhead. The maid she had paid a shilling to answer her questions when she was fourteen had told her she would find her enjoyment from a man’s cock, sliding in and out of her passage.

But as soon as Archibald started flicking his tongue over that amazing spot, Izzie realized that there were quite a few things the maid had failed to mention.

It felt beautiful , it felt beyond beautiful, and she understood in an instant that this was it, the thing the poets sang about, the reason people did foolish things in pursuit of this pleasure, even when it brought them to ruin.

Everything seemed to crescendo. Helpless sounds of bliss emerged from her lips, and the panicked thought that her mother was probably listening at the door flitted across her dazed mind. But she couldn’t seem to stop making them, any more than she could stop the trembling of her thighs.

Suddenly, Archibald’s hand appeared next to her mouth but not to clamp down over her lips. She realized with a start that he was offering her the heel of his hand to bite down on. She availed herself of his offer, wrapping her lips over her teeth so she wouldn’t hurt him… although, who knew if she even could have, given the thick callouses covering his palm.

But there was no time to worry about that now, because Archibald had started swirling his tongue faster, which felt so good , which felt like magic and rainbows and perfection , and she was going to… She was going to… Oh, God , she was going to…

That was when everything shattered.