Chapter 1.27 #4
“And what is it that you want, Elizabeth?” He stopped his caresses and looked at her; under his intense stare, she had to open her eyes and, searching for air, gained courage to speak the truth.
“What I want is to make all your doubts and worries vanish, to make you always certain of how much I love and desire you, to feel your love and passion upon and inside my body.”
With each of her words, he leaned closer to her until his face was touching hers; her arms stroked his back while her legs opened for him and encircled his waist. Holding his gaze a little longer, she had to close her eyes when she felt him crushing her with his weight, and his mouth covered her moans the moment he slid inside her.
The time went by in the rhythm of their joined movements, and Elizabeth could not say for how long their restrained passion searched for its eventual fulfilment.
All she noticed from time to time—as her body struggled to recover from the exhaustion of pleasure—was the fire that became less intense as the logs within the fireplace burned one by one.
It will be cold if the fire dies, she thought, and then she returned her face to meet her husband’s lips once more.
She did not need the fire to keep her warm, as long as she could feel her husband’s passion deep within her body and his love deep within her soul.
∞∞∞
Elizabeth, wrapped in her robe, watched her husband as he tried to remake the fire.
A moment later, while he was preoccupied with his task, she silently exited the room, barefoot.
When she returned a few minutes later, the fire was burning, and Darcy was filling her plate with food. He smiled at her.
“How is Will?”
“He is asleep; he sleeps so peacefully, my little treasure,” she replied, her eyes glowing with tenderness.
“How many times a night do you check on him?”
She laughed. “Yes, I know I am being unreasonable; even Mrs Taylor scolded me that I disturb the poor child, entering the nursery so many times. She even suggested that we hire two maids to watch him for nothing.”
“Would you be more content if we were to hire three maids? Another one to watch the first two, and of course, Mrs Taylor would watch the third maid to be sure she takes care in supervising the others.”
“You are mocking me, sir, and enjoy laughing at me, but you are no better; I know how many times you check on Will yourself.”
“It is not the same,” Darcy replied. “I am the master of the house, and I may do whatever I want—just ask your mother.”
“Oh, I have not the smallest doubt of that, sir,” Elizabeth said, playfully. “You are twisting the rules however it pleases you.”
“It is the advantage of my ten thousand a year, madam.”
She laughed, and he sat near her, pulling the small table in front of them. Elizabeth started to eat, but he remained still, watching her. She looked at him, puzzled, her eyes still laughing from his last statement.
“Are you not hungry?”
“Not really. I feel quite satiated for the moment.”
She laughed again, her cheeks crimson. “I was speaking about the food.”
“As was I, madam. I feel content to have a glass of wine and watch you.”
She found nothing to say for a few minutes and only continued to take small bites; finally, he decided to put some cold meat on his plate and join her. She cast a quick glance at him and suddenly began to laugh.
“You had a wonderful idea ordering dinner in your room; this way we did not waste any time in changing our garments and preparing for dinner.”
“Indeed, we have employed our time much better.”
“I am being very serious, William. I mean, if this is acceptable to you, we could have all of our dinners in one of our rooms every time we dine alone.”
“Elizabeth—it is a splendid idea. Perhaps we can bring our son to stay with us for a couple of hours, just before you feed him and put him to bed.”
“I would love that.” She smiled lovingly.
“Of course, that would be possible only when we are at home for dinner and have no company.”
“I trust we will succeed in rearranging our social engagements to our mutual satisfaction,” she replied. “Besides, I have started to feel quite tired lately. Lady Fitzwilliam suggested I should rest more, so I plan to follow her advice.”
“Are you unwell?”
“Not all the time, but I am sure I will be—quite often—especially during the evenings when we have visitors.” Her eyebrow rose in challenge, and she leaned to whisper to him.
“You seem surprised, husband. Perhaps you disapprove of my mischievous plan. I am ready to abandon it if it displeases you. I know only too well that disguise of every sort is your abhorrence.”
He stared at her, and for a moment the shadow of that painful day in their past clouded his visage—but only for a moment as Elizabeth’s smiling eyes were watching him closely, lightening any dark memory.
Darcy smiled and cupped her face. “Well, ‘disguise’ is a relative term, and so is my abhorrence.”
He paused a few moments, caressing her cheeks as their gazes locked.
“The only thing beyond any doubt or relativity is how ardently I admire and love you, Elizabeth.”