Violently in Love (A collection of three Pride and Prejudice Variations)

Prologue

Darcy draped his arm around his bride’s shoulders and stepped carefully, leading her forward with him. Elizabeth kept her eyes closed, as he had demanded, laughing.

“I must say that I am surprised that you interrupted our journey, Mr. Darcy. You seemed so eager to arrive in London that we left our own wedding breakfast.”

He leaned towards her, his lips brushing over hers, then whispered hoarsely, “I am eager, Mrs. Darcy. More than you know. But there are things that need to be done before other things can be enjoyed later.”

She quivered as his warm breath and soft lips touched her ear.

After a two month engagement, and after she had already tasted the flavour of passion — as little as the few moments of privacy had allowed them — Elizabeth still felt dizzy and shivered every time he was close to her.

Her husband. From the day he had confessed to her how ardently he loved and admired her, her life had changed for the better, more than she had ever imagined.

He had declared that she had completed and enhanced his life.

He had admitted he felt weak and powerless in front of her.

That his love and passion had almost defeated his self-control.

That he could think of little else but their wedding night and all the days and nights they would share in a lifetime.

But her own eagerness, her yearning, her newly-discovered passion and the recently understood meaning of ardent love were equally strong within her.

Darcy stopped and she felt his arms enclosing her in a tender embrace.

“You may open your eyes, my love,” he said. She did so and she found herself in front of the cottage. She smiled, as she had guessed his intention from the moment the carriage had stopped in the wood, but had allowed him the pleasure of surprising her.

He opened the door and lifted her into his arms, then carried her inside.

She laughed and her arms encircled his neck, her fingers sliding through his hair.

Inside, instead of putting her down, he sat with her on the chair that was still by the fire, where he had placed it for her three months ago. On the day that everything began.

The day that she had entered the cottage with no expectation of pleasure from his company.

They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, and he pulled her even closer to him.

“If you wish to stay here, we should light the fire, Mr. Darcy.”

“No, indeed, Mrs. Darcy. I have no intention of undressing either of us this time,” he teased her.

“I would not oppose it if you did…”

“I know you would not, my love, and I am painfully tempted to accept your offer. But it is neither the time nor the place to do that. I am indeed eager to arrive home, to enjoy a hot bath, a good dinner, and a long night of satisfying our other hungers and thirsts.”

“So am I,” she admitted, sealing their understanding with another passionate kiss.

“But we will return here when it is warmer outside. I spoke to your father and asked him to employ men to repair this house.”

“Did you?” She felt his hands caressing her through the thick fabric of her gown, and pleasure was already overwhelming her.

“Yes. You owe me a big favour, Mrs. Darcy.”

“Do I? What favour, Mr. Darcy?”

“The favour of seeing you completely naked here, in this room, by the light of the fire. Just as you saw me on that rainy day.”

“Oh…” She blushed, then laughed, while he placed countless kisses over her face and her throat. “If you insist, I will gladly pay my debt to you, my husband.”

“Although it will not be quite fair, Mrs. Darcy. For me, it will not be a surprise, as it was for you. By then, no fibre of your body, no spot of your skin will be a surprise to me. None of it will remain untouched, un-kissed, un-tasted, un-savoured.”

She had no time to reply, as her mouth was trapped in another kiss that took her breath away.

Yes, it had been a surprise, one that had haunted and tortured her for days and nights, even before she had begun to like him, before she could imagine that something more could happen between them.

Before she could believe that she would fall so deeply and completely in love with him.

Before she discovered that at that moment he had already been deeply in love with her. Ardently.

“Mrs. Darcy?” she heard him whisper after a while. He had broken the kiss and she already missed his lips.

“Yes, Mr. Darcy?”

“We should leave this instant, or else I will light the fire, as you suggested.”

She laughed wholeheartedly and this time she kissed him while whispering, “It is for you to decide, Mr. Darcy.”

He pulled away from her, but his arms remained around her.

“You are a tease, a temptation and a sweet torture, Mrs. Darcy. My aunt must be right that you used your arts and allurements to bewitch me,” he jested. “Otherwise, I cannot understand how I could have lost my mind over you.”

“It must have been when you dropped your clothes completely, Mr. Darcy.”

“No, it was long before that, I assure you. Even before I asked you to dance with me at Lucas Lodge. And I remember both of us were properly attired that evening.”

“Yes, we were. But I found you to be more pleasant company with neither clothes nor arrogance, Mr. Darcy. That is why I did agree to dance with you at the Netherfield ball.”

“Yes, but I convinced you only after I had cleared up some more misunderstandings. Have you noticed that we have had no more disagreements since I have been allowed to kiss you?”

“I have noticed, but you should be aware that I intend to argue and disagree with you rather frequently in the future.”

“I do not mind at all, as long as I am allowed to kiss you — and much more than that, Mrs. Darcy. Now come, let us go, the carriage is waiting. We will have time to debate this matter on the way to London.”