Chapter 55
Elizabeth woke up before dawn, held in her husband’s arms. Chastely held.
This was unfamiliar territory, but not at all unpleasant.
Her cheek was nestled against the soft hair on his chest, where his shirt had loosened in the night.
Her hand was on his stomach, while his was looped around her back.
His other hand rested on her belly like a lead weight, so deeply was he asleep.
Darcy had fought hard for his sobriety and had fallen unconscious only a few minutes after he laid down on Elizabeth’s bed.
He did not snore but breathed so deeply that Lizzie felt herself rising up and down.
A small yelp and a rattle made her raise her head. A maid looked back at her from the hearth, where she had just dropped a piece of coal from the scuttle. Her guilty gaze moved from Lizzie to Darcy, and then her eyes widened.
Yet again, the new Mrs. Darcy had been shockingly unconventional.
Mentally resigning herself to the smirks the servants would doubtless be sharing by breakfast, Lizzie raised her eyebrows meaningfully and then jabbed one finger towards the door.
The maid took the hint and scurried away, forgetting her coal bucket in her haste.
“You have a way with people.” Darcy murmured sleepily, “She looked terrified.”
Elizabeth cuddled back against him. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I was drifting.” he stroked her stomach gently with his fingertips, crinkling her cotton nightdress. “This is much better than the last time we shared a bed.”
“Mm.” she blushed, “I don’t want to think about that. Not about how much better or worse things can be. I like this just the way it is.”
Darcy kissed the crown of her head and held her gently. Elizabeth felt a great weight lift from her shoulders. She had not even realised it was there. Guilt, regret, fear - none of it mattered here. She was being held by the man who loved her, and they were safe.
Safe… and warm… and…
The hand against her belly moved. Elizabeth felt her curls being brushed away from her cheek.
“Elizabeth, it’s time to wake up.”
“Just a few more minutes…” she sighed.
Surely, their soft, dark dawn was only a few seconds gone.
Elizabeth had no idea that she had fallen back asleep, or that time had passed.
Now, the room was flooded with morning sunlight, making her sleepy eyes water.
Of course, she had forgotten to close the curtains.
With a groan, Elizabeth sat up and rubbed her eyes.
“Good morning.” her husband said, idly twisting one of her long strands of hair between his fingers. Elizabeth yawned and swatted him off with a teasing smile.
“Good morning to you, too, Mr. Darcy! If I must get up, sir, then I certainly shall not permit you to keep lazing around in my bed!”
“If I had time to stay in bed with you, Mrs. Darcy, then I would hardly spend it ‘lazing around’.” he waited for her to blush and then added, “I confess that I was tempted to wake you up sooner. Now, I fear, we must make haste.”
“What pressing engagement could possibly force us to get up before noon, sir?”
“Oh, that awful cousin that you invited here wants to meet you. I said that we will walk with him to the river straight after breakfast. After that, we can all go to see Georgiana together.”
“All things that require me to be dressed,” Lizzie summarised, adding wickedly: “And not weak at the knees.”
“Ideally.” Darcy smiled serenely, not rising to her teasing at all. He stroked her cheek, tapped the end of her nose playfully, and then stood up and bowed. “I shall see you at breakfast, madam.”
Elizabeth caught her breath when the adjoining door swung shut behind him. She had been all but panting! At silly words and fleeting touches. He hadn’t even kissed her, and she felt like she was aflame!
Growling with genuine irritation, Elizabeth stood up to ring for her maid.
Changing her mind at the last minute, she instead marched into her husband’s room.
The sound of the door snapping closed behind her made her marvel at her own daring; the laughing delight on Darcy’s face when she threw herself into his arms made the rest of the world fade away completely.
Their lips met in a heartbeat, first playful, then hungry.
Elizabeth felt her feet being lifted from the ground, then the hard press of the door against her back as Darcy held her against it.
Gasping, she instinctively wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his shoulders, seeking his lips with greedy delight, pulling him closer until she could feel his heart racing against her own.
Then, laughing, Darcy’s arms relaxed and he carefully set her down.
“You do not seem surprised to see me, sir.” Elizabeth teased breathlessly. “Should I have knocked?”
“I was rather hoping you would follow me, angel.” he murmured, running his fingertips along her jaw. A wicked smile crossed his lips. “You looked furious when I left.”
“Then you admit you did it on purpose, to vex me!”
“Not at all. I was just curious to see if you would. You didn’t come to me out of duty, or obedience, or even affection - you followed me because you wanted to be kissed.”
“You make me sound so…” she blushed scarlet. Darcy shook his head and kissed her fiercely.
“It is not an insult, my angel.”
“It is hardly angelic.”
“The best things often aren’t.” he lifted her up again with a suddenness that made her gasp and carried her to his bed.
This time their kiss was not playful; Elizabeth felt his hand pushing her nightgown up and then searching, stroking and teasing with slow, burning command.
When she whimpered, he slipped his hand between her thighs, caressing and then pressing his thumb against and into her most intimate part, demanding pleasure until she choked out a cry and collapsed weakly against him.
“Dear God, Elizabeth,” he breathed, kissing her as she gasped and shivered, “How could that possibly be an insult?”
“You…” she could not catch her breath, but clutched at his arms as if he was the only thing stopping her from drowning, “You want me to be like that? To be… immodest?”
“Do you fault me for wanting you?” Darcy smiled when she mutely shook his head, “What difference is there between us, then, that makes you ashamed of the very same thing you accept in me? Do you think that I will be ashamed of you, because you like to be touched? When you are married must all your pleasures be at the whims of your husband? Must food lose its flavour, and perfume its aroma? Of course not. It is ridiculous to think that any of your senses should be ignored.”
“Yes, but… when I smell perfume, I do not… make such noises!”
“What a shame. They are lovely noises.”
“You are teasing me, I think.”
“And you have your breath back. Can you sit up, my love? I want to speak to you.”
She did, pulling her nightdress down over her legs with a blush but, for the first time, refusing to avoid his gaze.
Darcy kissed the end of her nose and then pulled her into his lap.
There was a strange, uncertain expression in his eyes that somehow managed to be both worried and amused.
When he finally spoke his mind, it was baffling:
“Fitzwilliam is a dreadful gallant.” he said. “He flirts shamefully with every woman he meets.”
Elizabeth’s hands went suddenly limp on his shoulders. Her eyes grew wide. “I told you - I promise you - in our letters, we never…”
“Of course you did not.” Darcy soothed her at once with a smile.
“And Fitzwilliam would never dream of making advances towards you. He is a man of honour, he is just a fool. He cannot see a woman without trying to turn her head. It is like a game to him, finding out the perfect compliment for every lady he meets. I am sure that he will behave just as strangely here. He will be charming.”
Darcy spat out this last word as if it were truly grotesque. Elizabeth hid a smile.
“Are you jealous, my love? Even if he is charming, he shall not have any effect on me.”
“I have no doubt of that. You are a woman of sense. But if you are to be flirted with…” he looked sidelong at her, at her innocent blushes and hungry eyes. She was irresistible.
Darcy ran his knuckles lightly down her neck.
It tickled enough to make her laugh, and he captured her parted lips with playful nips.
This was not the frantic, fiery kissing that Elizabeth knew.
Darcy took his time, teasing and tasting her and slowly lowering her back onto the bed until she lay beneath him.
Then Darcy deepened the kiss, holding her cheek firmly and swallowing her soft mewling cries.
His other hand slowly moved up her body, finding the swell of her breasts and then impatiently pulling the neck of her nightdress away.
When he lowered his head to kiss the sweet rosebuds on her chest, she cried out and arched under him so exquisitely that he groaned.
When he reluctantly drew away, Elizabeth was pink and warm in his arms. Her eyes, always so beautiful, were lost and pleading.
“Now, angel, listen to me.” Darcy murmured, “We shall not sleep alone again. Tonight you will come to my bed, and we shall lock the door. Say yes.”
She nodded at once, mute and trembling. Darcy smiled and kissed the end of her nose.
“I shall keep my promise to you, Elizabeth. But when the door is locked there are many other ways I would like to please you. Do you agree?”
“Will they please you, too?”
“Most assuredly.”
“Then I agree. Of course I agree.” she breathed and caught his cheek with her hand. “I do believe I would agree to anything you say. But you must solve one mystery for me, my love. What on Earth does this have to do with your cousin being a flirt?”
Darcy let out a dark chuckle and kissed her neck. His lips lingered, she felt the heat of his breath and then heard his voice filled with such commanding desire that her heart raced.
“Because I am going to show you what happens when the door is locked, my love. I want you to think of that, and of me, and our locked door, until there is no room in your mind for anything else.”
“Not even your charming cousin’s wonderful compliments, sir?” Elizabeth teased.
It was hard to put any strength into her voice. It came out in a low, breathy croak. Her whole body felt electrified, like the tingling air in a thunderstorm. She had no idea what he was planning, so why did her body understand every word?
“Do you consent?” Darcy murmured, trailing his lips from her neck down to her shoulders.
“Yes,” she whispered, drawing him up to press her lips to his. “Show me.”