“What about ‘enjoying’?”
His gaze was gratifyingly dark, and his voice dipped low. “Enjoying is a good word.”
Elizabeth placed a hand out to steady herself before kissing him again, but lost her balance as she landed on the diamonds and journal. Feeling mortified all over again, she hastily picked them up and put them on the table before crawling back to kneel on the bed next to him.
Avoiding his searching look, she asked, “Did you read it?”
“No,” he answered, to her surprise. “Your privacy has been violated enough.” He traced his fingertips across her hand before taking her wrist to put her hand back around his shoulder. “If you want…” He struggled with what to say, and Elizabeth’s embarrassment was excruciating. It was one thing to have a desire or even to engage in an intimate act; it was an entirely different thing to speak about it. “If you want me to know what you like or what you want, then just tell me.”
She was certain she blushed. “I don’t know what to ask for that would not shock or offend you. Or disappoint you.”
“Elizabeth, there is not an inch of your body that I don’t want to see, touch, and taste.”
Her breath caught. It was a staggering statement, but it matched her own feelings perfectly. She wanted so badly to touch him, to feel him, and now she could. She pressed a swift, hard kiss to his mouth, greedily taking what he gave her.
Darcy soon left her lips, dragging his teeth over her bottom lip before moving down the length of her neck, his hand still cradling her neck while the other tugged down the collar of her dressing gown, and pressing a kiss above her shoulder.
“I liked when you kissed my neck in the library.” He threaded hisfingers through the hair at her temple and brushed it back while he gently kissed her neck. “You could—you could kiss me a little more.” He stopped, and she regretted interrupting him, but then he leant close to her ear and nipped at the lobe before sucking it hard.
A heady tumult of sensations overpowered her and he continued the same motion of tongue, lips, and teeth along the curve between her shoulder and her neck. His fingertips dragged over the slopes of her breasts and down her sides until he finally palmed one of them, making her arch into him with a moan. The pleasure of it was exquisite, and she wanted to tear all of her clothes away.
Her whole body tightened and her breasts ached. Elizabeth let her head fall forward onto his shoulder as she raked her hands up his back. He was too fully clothed. She tried to untie his cravat as he kissed her, but he sat up, helping her to unwind it before he tore off his coat. While he did, she kissed the line of his jaw and across his neck, and he tilted his head back.
“Do you like that too?” she stammered as she unfastened his waistcoat buttons.
She had just used her teeth, and his answer was something between a growl and a moan. He pulled away to throw his shirt over his head. She outlined the contours of his chest and shoulders with her fingertips and was still admiring him when he tugged open her dressing gown and she had to stop touching him to pull her arms from it.
She reached for him again, but he clutched her shift and, in one swift motion, lifted it up and over her head. She gave a little gasp of surprise, but she never considered covering up with the longing way Darcy stared at her. It was a stark, hungry look. He gaped for a long moment before he blinked, then he tore off the rest of his clothes. She had liked the feel of him against her, and enjoyed the sight of him even more.
Elizabeth smiled as he came back to the centre of the bed. “Have you ever shed your clothes that fast?”
“I have never been so encouraged.”
“Darcy,” she said, trying to keep her eyes on his face, “I think I want to see and touch and taste every part of you too.”
He tugged her against him to kiss her, his tongue sweeping deepinside her mouth. He cupped her breasts with both hands, gently, then with more pressure. His thumbs moved over her nipples, and she moaned softly as more heady sensations claimed her. Her hands roamed his body too, tracing the narrow shape of his waist, the contours of his shoulders and chest, down his backside.
“Tell me something else,” he murmured between kisses.
“I liked you pressing against me in the library. I could tell…” Her cheeks were surely on fire. “I could tell how much you wanted me then.” It was just like how he felt now, hard edges, lean muscles, pulsing desire all evident.
Darcy swore softly, his hands on her more demanding than before as he whispered desires into her ear that were strikingly like what she had written in the journal. Surely words could not make a person swoon? Before she could agree or act on any of them, he gently pushed her back against the pillows.
He had kissed halfway down her body before she realised what he meant to do. “Do you really want to do that?” she asked breathlessly.
He paused and the hazy look in his eyes sharpened. “Yes. But a better question is, do you want me to?”
She nodded, too nervous to speak but not too shy to enjoy it. He gave her a promising grin, and she closed her eyes. Although she could see nothing, she could certainly feel everything. Each teasing flick of his tongue was an enjoyable but odd, novel sensation. But soon, each indescribable, pleasurable movement of his mouth and fingers built until her back arched off the bed, her fingers in his hair as she cried out.
She was languid when his mouth left her body, and his rapid breathing filled the room. His hands held a firm grip on her thighs and he watched her intently. Then his body covered hers, and he was breathing hard, staring down at her, his arms locked on either side of her. “Did you think of me while I was gone?”
She blushed, knowing what he meant, and nodded. She slowly stroked her hand down his chest until she gently grasped him. Was she supposed to touch him like this? He hissed, his hips rolling against her, and she suspected what his answer would be to the same question.
Darcy kissed her forehead, her cheek, the corner of her mouth. “Do you really want?—”
“I exceedingly desire true relations for us,” she interrupted before giving him a slow kiss.
She had to remember to breathe when the moment came. Darcy whispered about how good she felt, and while she enjoyed how tightly he fit inside her, it was a while before the lovely building ache from before returned. He stayed still, until she lifted her hips and then he began to move, long thrusts at first, then faster.
