Chapter 22 #3
She reached for him again, but he clutched her shift and, in one swift motion, lifted it up and over her head.
She gave a little gasp of surprise, but she never considered covering up with the longing way Darcy stared at her.
It was a stark, hungry look. He gaped for a long moment before he blinked, then he tore off the rest of his clothes.
She had liked the feel of him against her, and enjoyed the sight of him even more.
Elizabeth smiled as he came back to the centre of the bed. “Have you ever shed your clothes that fast?”
“I have never been so encouraged.”
“Darcy,” she said, trying to keep her eyes on his face, “I think I want to see and touch and taste every part of you too.”
He tugged her against him to kiss her, his tongue sweeping deep inside her mouth.
He cupped her breasts with both hands, gently, then with more pressure.
His thumbs moved over her nipples, and she moaned softly as more heady sensations claimed her.
Her hands roamed his body too, tracing the narrow shape of his waist, the contours of his shoulders and chest, down his backside.
“Tell me something else,” he murmured between kisses.
“I liked you pressing against me in the library. I could tell…” Her cheeks were surely on fire. “I could tell how much you wanted me then.” It was just like how he felt now, hard edges, lean muscles, pulsing desire all evident.
Darcy swore softly, his hands on her more demanding than before as he whispered desires into her ear that were strikingly like what she had written in the journal.
Surely words could not make a person swoon?
Before she could agree or act on any of them, he gently pushed her back against the pillows.
He had kissed halfway down her body before she realised what he meant to do. “Do you really want to do that?” she asked breathlessly.
He paused and the hazy look in his eyes sharpened. “Yes. But a better question is, do you want me to?”
She nodded, too nervous to speak but not too shy to enjoy it.
He gave her a promising grin, and she closed her eyes.
Although she could see nothing, she could certainly feel everything.
Each teasing flick of his tongue was an enjoyable but odd, novel sensation.
But soon, each indescribable, pleasurable movement of his mouth and fingers built until her back arched off the bed, her fingers in his hair as she cried out.
She was languid when his mouth left her body, and his rapid breathing filled the room.
His hands held a firm grip on her thighs and he watched her intently.
Then his body covered hers, and he was breathing hard, staring down at her, his arms locked on either side of her. “Did you think of me while I was gone?”
She blushed, knowing what he meant, and nodded. She slowly stroked her hand down his chest until she gently grasped him. Was she supposed to touch him like this? He hissed, his hips rolling against her, and she suspected what his answer would be to the same question.
Darcy kissed her forehead, her cheek, the corner of her mouth. “Do you really want—”
“I exceedingly desire true relations for us,” she interrupted before giving him a slow kiss.
She had to remember to breathe when the moment came.
Darcy whispered about how good she felt, and while she enjoyed how tightly he fit inside her, it was a while before the lovely building ache from before returned.
He stayed still, until she lifted her hips and then he began to move, long thrusts at first, then faster.
The first slow strokes made her writhe against him, and the quick thrusts after that as he ground against her made her gasp.
She touched every part of him she could, even wrapping her legs around him.
With every stroke, he rubbed against her, reaching something deep inside her, and making her moan and sigh the entire time, until she finally called out his name.
Whatever Darcy felt at the same moment, it was surely just as intense and intimate.
He said all manner of divine things before he cried out and became a lovely weight on top of her.
Their frantic breaths eventually slowed and fell into a calmer rhythm together.
He gathered her into his arms and rolled her to rest atop him.
His arms were around her and his heartbeat was beneath her ear, his lips pressing a kiss into her hair.
“Do you feel like everything is well and happy now?” he asked.
Darcy certainly sounded like he felt that way. “You mean now that you have declared your affections in every tender and impressive term possible?” He murmured his agreement. “I fixed my fate in London when I ran for the mail coach, but now I can say that I am truly happy.”
“I was already delighted with you when we married, you know, even when I did not value you as you deserved. If I had any sense, I would have fallen in love with you on sight.”
She smiled. Darcy had more sense than anyone she knew.
“I forgive you for not being so wise. I too ought to have known at our first meeting that you were perfect for me when you called me ‘tolerable.’” She sighed when she noticed how the sun shone in through the window.
“I have been in this room since you left yesterday. I should get up.”
“No, we are not leaving for days,” he said, tightening his arms around her. “Everyone expects a newly-wed couple to idle in bed all day and refuse all callers.”
She laughed, although the idea tempted her. “But we have been married more than a month. Our honey-moon is over.”
“Too bad.” His fingertips traced lazily up and down her back. “I say it is only beginning now. I am not dressing or leaving your bed for a month.”
She kissed his jaw, warming to the idea. “Maybe for a few days, but we must go to the opera on Tuesday.” Now that she had the diamond aigrette back, she ought to wear it to lessen the chance anyone remarked on it not being seen since Lady Summerlin’s ball.
“No, no more parading. Forget I ever thought to show you off to my advantage. You already proved yourself to the masses, and I regret ever putting you in that position. The only thing that should have mattered was our new marriage and our happiness, not how we were perceived in society. Let us visit your parents for a fortnight and then go to Pemberley.”
“We owe them a wedding visit, but do you really want to miss the entire season?”
“I want to take you home, Elizabeth.” He turned on his side, moving her with him to look directly into her face.
“We married hastily and have been on display, and have had more worries weigh on us than most new marriages. I say we take our weeks of courtship now and stop mingling in the world for a while.”
“Then let us stay in bed until Tuesday night, when we can be seen together at the opera with the pretty diamonds my lovestruck husband bought me. Then we can leave town in triumph and visit my parents. We can be in Derbyshire by the end of the month?”
“Very well, so long as you promise we will not leave this room until Tuesday night.”
Her heart beat fast at the thought, and she wondered if Darcy felt the same stirrings of desire again that she did. “I promise.” She kissed him for emphasis, then asked, “Did you think this kind of devotion was possible for us when we stood in that innyard in Scotland?”
She watched him consider the question. “It is no longer difficult for me to conceive how a romantic passion can be felt with all its enthusiasm, however much I doubted it then. Love is a mingling of sensual desire and intellectual sympathy, and I suppose I must now admit that such an attraction began even before we left Ramsgate.”
He looked embarrassed by his admission, but it warmed her heart. “I admired you in Ramsgate. As rude as you sometimes were, I wanted to learn more of you and was always eager to talk to you. And you were rather handsome.”
He kissed her deeply, pulling her close, and she felt he was as eager to stay in bed as she was. “I felt I was always saying the wrong thing, and eager to be near you but anxious to talk with you. You could not have loved me then.”
“I did not love you in Ramsgate, but I did like you.” She kissed him and hooked her leg over his hip. “We are fortunate that we at least had an interest in one another from the beginning.”
Darcy pushed back her hair and looked into her eyes. “Henceforth, your fate is mine, Elizabeth. Whatever trials we face, we face them together. I hope you know that. You have become my own beating heart.”
She had no pretty words to answer him with, but she had an excellent idea how she could show him how much she admired and loved him.