“Then I ought to assist you in removing what remains of your determination.” Darcy looked on her in wonder as she unfastened the buttons of his waistcoat and pushed the garment off his shoulders. The gravity of their situation was plain; they were alone in the most compromising position imaginable. Elizabeth’s sparkling eyes, playful smile, and occupied hands led Darcy to believe she was perfectly happy.
“I know I told you to come to me any time you wish,” he breathed, “but should we not wait until you are my wife?”
Elizabeth pulled her hands away from where she had untied the knot of his cravat. “I comprehend the distinction between being one’s intended and being one’s wife, but I cannot help feeling more like the latter. We may not have said the vows in the church, but in my mind and in my heart, there is nothing to prevent us from being together. I was only afraid to be alone with you because I did not want to deny you any part of myself and feared you would question my virtue.”
Darcy was slow to realise what she was offering him and unable to speak. It was unnatural for him to have so little control over himself, but love and desire overcame him. Elizabeth Bennet was the one person in the world who could exercise such command over him. As he attempted to connect the appropriate words to the swirl of emotions coursing through him, he was aware of her apologies over the thrum of his own pulse pounding in his ears.
“I did not intend to coax you into compromising your values,” she stammered. “I only wanted you to understand all I feel for you. Let us return.” She bent to pick up his waistcoat and held it out to him. Her movement startled Darcy out of his contemplation. He took the garment from her hands and threw it aside, then held her upturned face in his hands.
“What I want most in this world—what I need most—is to be your husband. You think too little of your power over me. In my heart, you are already my wife, and to hear you say that you feel the same for me…” Darcy lacked the words to express all he felt. “Elizabeth, I want to make you mine in every possible way.”
They found themselves locked in an ardent embrace, and when the need for air parted them, her fine, dark eyes looked lustily back at him. Her kisses were just as demanding, and her hands roamed his hair and then down to his chest. Darcy groaned at the pleasure of having her in his arms, and he released her mouth only to turn his attentions to the line of her jaw and then down her throat. He ran his fingers through her dark hair, carelessly tossing away any pins that were in his way.
Elizabeth pulled his shirt from his trousers, then slid her fingers under the white linen to trace up and across his chest. He pulled the garment over his head and flung it aside, then returned his lips to her neck. It startled him when she pulled away, but she was pausing to look at him. Darcy found her gentle scrutiny exciting; she laid her hands flat against his chest, gazing up and down, and he was certain she could see the pounding of his heart. Elizabeth leant into him to put her lips to the base of his neck and began to nip and suck at his skin. He tilted his head back, allowing her full liberty to touch him anywhere she pleased. He groaned aloud as she pressed her body fully against him, making him writhe with desire, and he tightened his hold on her hips.
Darcy released the ties of her gown until he could pull it off her shoulders. Elizabeth pulled her arms out of the sleeves, and he swiftly tugged it down her hips and let it fall to the floor. His lips now had full access to the skin above her chemise, and he made it his purpose to taste every inch of her. The feel of her warm breath on his neck was exhilarating, and he felt her shiver as his hands roamed the length of her back from her shoulders to her waist.
She hungrily pulled his lips back to hers when his hand caressed the soft firmness of her breasts through the thin fabric. Elizabeth moaned against his mouth and pushed her chest into his hands. Her fingertips scraped against his scalp as she pulled her mouth away from his lips and trailed kisses across his jaw. He shuddered when her teeth gently followed the outside of his ear, and he gave a growl of pleasure when her tongue darted into his ear.
“Elizabeth,” he breathed into her hair, “how do you know so well how to please me?”
She withdrew to look into his eyes. “I could not say,” she said shyly. “I only touch you the way I want you to touch me.”
The culmination of all his daydreams and the reality of Elizabeth’s responsiveness made coherent thought nearly impossible. “I want to see you,” he gasped, “all of you.”
Elizabeth looked disbelieving at his near demand, but perched herself on the edge of the bed. She bent at the waist and untied the laces on one small boot and slipped it off her foot. Then she lifted the hem of her chemise to tug at the small ribbon holding her stockings at her knee. Darcy stood at rapt attention as Elizabeth’s shapely leg came into view. Elizabeth peeled off one stocking but stopped and looked at him.
“You do not intend to watch me undress, do you?”
Darcy’s mind screamedyes,but from the tone of her voice, he knew this was not what Elizabeth wanted. He mutely shook his head and turned away. He picked up Elizabeth’s gown from the floor and tossed it and her spencer over the washstand. When he had pried off his own shoes and stockings, he dared to look toward his betrothed.
She stood by the bed, holding her chemise crumpled in her hands in front of her chest. Darcy could only see the outline of one breast, part of her bare stomach and hips, and most of her legs from below her thighs. He raised an expectant eyebrow. An anxious smile tugged at her lips as she dropped the fabric to the floor. When Elizabeth could meet his eyes, he marvelled at her in complete delight.
Darcy crossed the distance between them, but stopped before he got within arm’s reach. “You are perfect.” His eyes raked up and down her body, and his breath hitched.
“You are very welcome to do more than look at me.”
Darcy laughed aloud at her playful manner that he loved so. His amusement was short-lived as Elizabeth let her hands trail across his chest and then carefully move farther down. Darcy’s laugh dissolved into a moan before he quickly brought his lips to hers.
Some part of his mind was grateful that her touch was gentle because he was unsure how much restraint he could show. Quickly, he gathered her into his arms and laid her on the bed, then tore off his trousers, nearly ripping off the buttons. Darcy heard her amused laugh as he kicked them away.
“I suppose, given your enthusiasm, that you must laugh at me for being so worried you would despise me for what happened at the assembly.”
He noticed her eyes had drifted lower as he joined her on the bed, and he gave her a smile. “I can assure you, laughing at you is not at all what I have in mind.”
Darcy caught her hand and brought it to his lips, slowly kissing every fingertip and sucking on her wrist before she pulled it away to touch him again. He tenderly ran his hands over her body, eager to touch every part of her that had been cruelly hidden from view. He heard her soft gasp when he lowered his head and brought a taut nipple into his mouth.
Their curiosity and desire to please each other quickly won out over uncertainty, and when he eventually moved his hand from her breasts to where her legs parted, the way she sighed and whispered his name made a desire blaze in him to show her all the enjoyment he could give her. Soon her hand fell away from him, and she clenched the fabric beneath her. While her hips began a rhythm of their own against his hand, she roughly pulled him closer to kiss. Darcy was just as desperate to taste her lips again and kissed her fiercely as he felt his own passion rising. He could sense her beginning to tremble, but nothing prepared him for the excitement he felt when she suddenly pulled away from his mouth and arched her back with a gasp. None of his lustful imaginings ever approached the delight he derived from hearing high-pitched cries from her swollen, parted lips.
She was still breathing fast when she opened her eyes, gave him a satisfied smile, and pulled him to lie atop her. Darcy chuckled softly as he trailed kisses over her jaw and down her neck. When Elizabeth trailed her foot along his calf and hooked a leg around his waist, he shuddered with a desire he could no longer repress.
“Are you cer—”
“Yes.” Her eyes showed a burning eagerness for him. “If you are,” she added quietly.
He felt too much to speak, but nodded and brushed her lips with his.
The feel of her fingernails scraping his shoulders, the sound of her moans in his ear, the very sight of her moving beneath him, was more intense than he had ever imagined. Later, Darcy was transported to another place when Elizabeth called out his name, and he felt waves of pleasure coursing through his body.
