The Hidden Years by Penny Jordan Page A

ever goes there. We'll have to
walk, though.'
    The place she had in mind was a small, neglected
summer-house in an overgrown glade, hidden deep in the tangled
undergrowth of the neglected grounds. Even the path to it was overgrown
with saplings and brambles. She had discovered it by accident and often
went there when she wanted privacy. She had half contemplated taking
Edward there, knowing he would enjoy it as she had… She had
seen the first primroses flower there on the banks of its quiet pool,
followed by wild bluebells, but the difficulties of pushing Edward's
chair down the overgrown and soft earth path had made her decide
against suggesting such an outing. Now she was fiercely glad, because
now it would be
their
secret place, known to them
alone… a sacred temple to their love.
    Kit parked his car at the end of the lane. When he lifted
her out of her seat Lizzie clung shyly to him, blushing as he looked
down at her mouth. The red lipstick was gone now, but her lips glowed
with their own colour, softened and swollen from his earlier kiss.
    'Mm… innocent little thing, aren't
you…? Not that I mind.' His hands slid down her back, past
her waist and over her buttocks, squeezing them as he lifted her into
his own body and moved urgently against her.
    Dizzy with the tumult of sensations inside her, Lizzie
could only cling to him, innocently offering herself to him, wanting
only to please him.
    When he released her, she felt disorientated and bereft.
    'Which way is it…this place?' Kit was
demanding, hoarsely.
    As she pointed in the direction of the glade, Lizzy
realised guiltily that Mary's shoes were going to be ruined. They had
to cross two fields and then fight their way down the overgrown pathway
to get to the glade and Mary's courts were not designed for such stuff.
    Neither, it seemed, were Kit's flannels and blazer. He
frowned impatiently when the brambles caught in the fabric, and
complained that she might have warned him what to expect. His
irritation jarred a little but Lizzie dismissed those feelings.
    The path seemed more overgrown than it had been the last
time she had visited the glade a few weeks ago, but at last she could
see the glint of sunlight on water through the tangled undergrowth and
branches and when at last they broke through into the silence of the
sun-dappled clearing she asked breathlessly, 'Will this be all right?'
    'Well, we certainly won't be disturbed,' Kit told her,
examining their surroundings, and walking towards the dilapidated
summer-house. Personally he would have preferred the comfort of a
double bed, but beggars couldn't be choosers and the woman running the
boarding-house where he was staying had made it plain that she did not
allow her guests to bring in 'friends'.
    'Pity you didn't think to bring a rug,' Kit added as he
studied their surroundings.
    'But it
is
private, isn't it?'
Lizzie asked him anxiously, suddenly desperate to placate him and win
some word of approval, knowing that she was somehow responsible for
that frown of displeasure which had banished the warmth of his smile
and hating herself for it.
    'Oh, it is private,' Kit agreed, and suddenly he was
smiling at her again so that her heart and body were flooded with
warmth and love. She went eagerly towards him, feeling as though she
had stepped into heaven itself when he took hold of her arm and led her
inside the summer-house, and then turned her more fully into his arms.
    Even with familiarity the sensation of his tongue moving
erotically within her mouth didn't lose its power to make her body ache
and melt, Lizzie recognised, thrilled by the way Kit was moving against
her, silently telling her how much he loved and wanted her.
    'You know how much I want you, don't you?' he told her
thickly. She trembled, too full of emotion to speak, tremulously eager
to show him how much she loved him… how much she needed him.
She was still so bemused by it all, still caught up in the miracle of
it all, totally blinded to