Still a little scandalized by her own dream, she replayed what had happened, searching for clues to the identity of the man.
The bed curtains were drawn and everything around her was dark.She felt a hand skating along the outer edge of her arm, rousing her from sleep.Then there was warm breath on her ear and soft lips kissing down her neck.
“Elizabeth,” he rasped, his voice deep and gruff.
She smiled, loving the sound of his voice and the way he said her name like a caress.
“My love,” she replied, her voice soft.She reached behind her and ran her fingers through his hair.He groaned and she smiled, reveling in the power of knowing how to please him.“What time is it?”
“Too long since I’ve had you,” he replied.
She allowed him to pull her onto her back.She smiled up at him—seeing only a vague shape in the dark bedchamber.
His hands snaked beneath her nightshift, and she lifted her hips to help him slide it up, then raised her arms so he could pull it over her head.She reached for him and found his chest bare.She ran her palms over his warm skin, letting the hair tickle her.She dug her fingers into him and leaned forward until they were chest to chest, face to face.
“My Lizzy,” he slurred.She smelled whisky on his lips, but she did not mind it.It made his kisses taste woodsy and crisp.
His tongue slid into her mouth and his arms crushed her against him.She wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders.He shifted, his strength lifting her with ease, until he sat propped on the pillows behind them and she was on top of him.Her breasts brushing his chest, her plait falling over one shoulder.She held his face in her hands and kissed him with fervor, her lips on fire.She felt his hands in her hair releasing her plait and spreading her hair around them like a curtain.
He ran his fingers through the long strands reverently.“You are breathtaking, my love.”
She smiled at the compliment and pressed kisses to his face.On his forehead, his strong nose, the soft apples of his cheeks, and the rough skin around his jaw where his beard was growing in.“I love you so, my husband,” she whispered.
Elizabeth forced herself to take deep breaths.It was only a dream.It was not happening now.She was alone in her room—not with a strange man she called husband—no matter how real it had felt.
However, there was one thing she knew was real.She loved that man with all her heart.She had felt the truth of it thrumming through her veins.Whoever he was, she would love him with every fiber of her being.
“Did you sleep well?”asked Jane.
Elizabeth flushed, remembering the vivid dream of the night before.“Well enough.And you?”
“Tolerably well.I woke coughing sometime in the night, and Hannah brought me tea.”
“I am sorry.I did not hear you, or I would have attended you.Do you want me to sleep with you tonight?”
“I do not think that is necessary.Hannah will be here, and I feel better this morning already.”
Elizabeth nodded, guilt eating away at her.She was supposed to be caring for her sister, not reveling in inappropriate dreams with strange men.
“Are you well, Lizzy?You look flushed.I hope you are not catching my fever.”
“I am quite well.But I feel badly I was not here to attend you.That is why I am at Netherfield, after all.”
Jane gave her an understanding look.“You cannot look after me every moment of the day.You need your rest.”
Desperately wishing to change the subject, she reached for a book on the table by the bed.“Shall I read to you?”
“Not yet.I wish to hear about dinner.Did you make any progress in your study of Mr.Darcy?”
“I cannot make him out,” Elizabeth said thoughtfully.“I think you are right, Jane.He is a complicated man.He confuses me exceedingly.”
“And that vexes you, I imagine.”She smiled knowingly at her sister.“You do like to have your world organized into tidy boxes.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Jane looked away and nearly shrugged.“Nothing critical, I assure you.Only that you tend to categorize people and ignore that behavior which deviates from what you expect of them.”
Elizabeth’s surprise showed on her face.“I must insist that you explain, Jane.”She tried to keep the harshness out of her voice, but she was not entirely successful.
