AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Though tempted to ask, Louisa was more concerned with the impending rain. After a last farewell, she was off, hurrying off up the lane and to the street when the faint sounds of thunder were in the air. She tightened her cloak and hurried, praying thatthe rains would hold until she got to the estate.
She began to run while rain started to drizzle and she saw the tips of the Duke’s house in the distance, but it still was a way off. The rain fellharder and big, fat dropsbegan to soak her cloak and soak her dress underneath.
A roll of thunder hidthe clattering of carriage wheels, but when the door of the black lacquered carriage pulled up beside her, she barely had time to gasp out. An arm reached out, catching her by the waistand she was hauled into the carriage.
She made to scream but Isaac’s amused eyes stayed her. He tugged the wet cloak from her and set it aside. “It’s becoming a pattern, isn’t it? Me rescuing you from walking miles.”
“I suppose it is,” Louisa said grumpily.
He reached out and touched the ribbon of her wet bonnet. Louisa watched as his long fingers undidthe bow and slidthe hat off her head to rest it aside. He moved again to touch a strand of her wet curling hair at her nape.
“You look like a wet kitten,” he murmured.
Her eyes narrowed. “In what way?”
“Adorable and cantankerous at being wet.” Isaac grinned then outrightlaughed when Louisa scowled. “Don’t be so sullen; you are still beautiful to me.”
All her irritation disappeared the moment those words left his lips, and Louisa dropped her eyes a little. Rarely had she been complimented before and to hear those words coming from his lips, made part of her heart begin to melt.
After a long stint of silence, Isaac askedtenderly,“What is the matter? Have you never had someone tell you how lovely you look?”
“No,” Louisa replied. “Compliments were few and far between at the orphanage, and when I left, I came directly here. I never went anywhere to gain a man’s attention, nor had I believed that I would attract it anyway.”
He pulled her to sit on his lap, not caring about the wetness of her clothes or the mud on her petticoats. Isaac angled her chin to him.“Are you telling me that I am the first man to admire youandkiss you?”
“Yes, I am,” Louisa replied.
He held her firmly and his gaze smoldered. “Do you even know what that does to a man’s pride, sweetling?”
Louisa’s face reddened at theendearment—thatwas new as well. “Erm….no?”
“Knowing that one is a woman’s first in kisses, compliments, and best of all, lovemaking, is more potent than any drug you can conjure,” Isaac explained, while his hands dropped to her waist.
Again—as with the discussions on their past, she did not feel that he was trying to pull the wool over her eyes.“You’re telling me the truth.”
“You've never lied to me, and I won't lie to you,” Isaac replied before he kissed her.
With a palm in the middle of her back, Isaac pressed her forward crushing her to his chest. Louisa’s eyelids fluttered close as he took her lips in a hot, demanding kiss. Her arms laced around his neck and clung to him, opening herself completely to him as he explored her mouth. Isaac pulled away from her a little, then kissed her again, this time with a tenderness that made her heart sing.
“I'm so glad you came into my life,” he muttered.
“Isaac,” she paused. “I know you told me not to worry about Miss Follet, but I cannot help but feel something is off. Why now? Why not during those years you parted from her?”
He sighed heavilyand ran a hand through his hair. “The very same thoughtoccurred to me. But I will not let her or whatever machinations she is cooking up occupy my mind. I have more prominentmatters to attend do.”
“And what if it issomething underhanded?” Louisa asked. “Something that will possibly hurt you more?”
“I doubt that anything she could do would hurt me more than she had before,” Isaac said, as the carriage trundled into the estate’s drive. “But itdoes not matter as I am not giving her any more attention that she deserves. Miss Follet is reaching for something that is not there anymore.”
He glanced out the widow and his lips ticked down at the rain. He reached for her cloak and draped it over her head and shoulders. “Come to my library tonight. We’ll speak more about it there.”
Nodding, Louisa grasped the ends of the cloak while Isaac opened the door and led her out of it while quickly rushing with her through the rain to the doors. When a footman led them in, Isaac only brushed the wetness from his damp jacket and Louisa removed the cloak from her head.
As he had not bothered with putting his hat on, his sodden hair looked darkerand longer around his ears and began to curl at the naps of his neck—shebalked a little at the sudden arousal that flared into her from the sight.
Isaac nodded.“Try to warm up Miss Stone. I would not want to see you ill.”
The change from his warm intimacyto staid propriety jarred her a little. She knew why he had been forced to do it—they had other people around them—but it still smarted.
