“Your scent drives me to distraction.” He nuzzled against her for one last minute, then let her go. “We need to prepare ourselves for our arrival.”
His voice suddenly turned so stiff and formal, he was not surprised that Elizabeth chuckled and made a point of sitting on the opposite seat.
“Do I look presentable enough?” She patted her hair and put on a haughty expression.
He laughed, noting with some satisfaction that she did not look at all presentable.
“Not in the least, Mrs. Darcy.”
She did look beautiful, however, in her moss green travel gown, her eyes full of life, her auburn hair aflame in the orange glow of the sun. He reached over to tuck in a few curls that had come loose, but he could not resist testing her reaction as he brushed the back of his hand down the soft skin of her neck.
She gave a little shiver. He loved how easily she responded to him.
“Maybe we can delay our arrival a little?” Moving to the other seat to be next to her, he considered using his lips to trace the same line his fingers had taken.
“Fitzwilliam Darcy, you must stop at once.” She slid down to the end of the seat, out of the reach of his hands. “What will the coachman think?”
Without the steady rhythm of the horse’s hooves, the coachman could undoubtedly hear them. Darcy came back down to earth and began to tug at his cravat.
“DoIlook presentable?” he said, echoing her earlier question.
Elizabeth leaned over and rearranged the curls that fell over his brow, then ran her fingers across through his hair.
“Is this strictly necessary?”
“It is neither strict nor necessary, but it is enjoyable.”
It was nearly impossible to drag himself away from her, but somehow, he managed to do it. He moved to the opposite seat and signaled the coachman to move forward slowly, as he had been instructed earlier.
“Are you ready?”
“Not really. I am shaking in my half-boots to think of stepping again inside Founder’s Hall. Promise me, Darcy, that you will not allow anyone to come between us.”
He had already promised, but he would do so again.
“I promise,” he said fiercely.
But Elizabeth was no longer listening. Her eyes widened, and she jumped up in the carriage, hitting her head.
“Did you feel that?” At the urgency in her voice, he grew fully alert, prepared to use his magic.
“What do you feel?”
“We need to leave the carriage. Now!”
She was already releasing the catch and swinging the door open. “There are Imperial mages close by, and they are about to attack.”
