The first slow strokes made her writhe against him, and the quick thrusts after that as he ground against her made her gasp. She touched every part of him she could, even wrapping her legs around him. With every stroke, he rubbed against her, reaching something deep inside her, and making her moan and sigh the entire time, until she finally called out his name.
Whatever Darcy felt at the same moment, it was surely just as intense and intimate. He said all manner of divine things before he cried out and became a lovely weight on top of her. Their frantic breaths eventually slowed and fell into a calmer rhythm together. He gathered her into his arms and rolled her to rest atop him. His arms were around her and his heartbeat was beneath her ear, his lips pressing a kiss into her hair.
“Do you feel like everything is well and happy now?” he asked.
Darcy certainly sounded like he felt that way. “You mean now that you have declared your affections in every tender and impressive term possible?” He murmured his agreement. “I fixed my fate in London when I ran for the mail coach, but now I can say that I am truly happy.”
“I was already delighted with you when we married, you know, even when I did not value you as you deserved. If I had any sense, I would have fallen in love with you on sight.”
She smiled. Darcy had more sense than anyone she knew. “I forgive you for not being so wise. I too ought to have known at our first meeting that you were perfect for me when you called me ‘tolerable.’” She sighed when she noticed how the sun shone in through thewindow. “I have been in this room since you left yesterday. I should get up.”
“No, we are not leaving for days,” he said, tightening his arms around her. “Everyone expects a newly-wed couple to idle in bed all day and refuse all callers.”
She laughed, although the idea tempted her. “But we have been married more than a month. Our honey-moon is over.”
“Too bad.” His fingertips traced lazily up and down her back. “I say it is only beginning now. I am not dressing or leaving your bed for a month.”
She kissed his jaw, warming to the idea. “Maybe for a few days, but we must go to the opera on Tuesday.” Now that she had the diamond aigrette back, she ought to wear it to lessen the chance anyone remarked on it not being seen since Lady Summerlin’s ball.
“No, no more parading. Forget I ever thought to show you off to my advantage. You already proved yourself to the masses, and I regret ever putting you in that position. The only thing that should have mattered was our new marriage and our happiness, not how we were perceived in society. Let us visit your parents for a fortnight and then go to Pemberley.”
“We owe them a wedding visit, but do you really want to miss the entire season?”
“I want to take you home, Elizabeth.” He turned on his side, moving her with him to look directly into her face. “We married hastily and have been on display, and have had more worries weigh on us than most new marriages. I say we take our weeks of courtship now and stop mingling in the world for a while.”
“Then let us stay in bed until Tuesday night, when we can be seen together at the opera with the pretty diamonds my lovestruck husband bought me. Then we can leave town in triumph and visit my parents. We can be in Derbyshire by the end of the month?”
“Very well, so long as you promise we will not leave this room until Tuesday night.”
Her heart beat fast at the thought, and she wondered if Darcy felt the same stirrings of desire again that she did. “I promise.” She kissedhim for emphasis, then asked, “Did you think this kind of devotion was possible for us when we stood in that innyard in Scotland?”
She watched him consider the question. “It is no longer difficult for me to conceive how a romantic passion can be felt with all its enthusiasm, however much I doubted it then. Love is a mingling of sensual desire and intellectual sympathy, and I suppose I must now admit that such an attraction began even before we left Ramsgate.”
He looked embarrassed by his admission, but it warmed her heart. “I admired you in Ramsgate. As rude as you sometimes were, I wanted to learn more of you and was always eager to talk to you. And you were rather handsome.”
He kissed her deeply, pulling her close, and she felt he was as eager to stay in bed as she was. “I felt I was always saying the wrong thing, and eager to be near you but anxious to talk with you. You could not have loved me then.”
“I did not love you in Ramsgate, but I did like you.” She kissed him and hooked her leg over his hip. “We are fortunate that we at least had an interest in one another from the beginning.”
Darcy pushed back her hair and looked into her eyes. “Henceforth, your fate is mine, Elizabeth. Whatever trials we face, we face them together. I hope you know that. You have become my own beating heart.”
She had no pretty words to answer him with, but she had an excellent idea how she could show him how much she admired and loved him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
First, we must call on the Gouldings and then Mrs Long. You met Sir William and Lady Lucas when they came last evening, but we should visit them in a more formal manner,” said Mrs Bennet to him over the breakfast table. “And Mrs Philips as well.”
Darcy slid his eye over to Elizabeth, who grimaced. They had arrived at Longbourn Wednesday afternoon, and all day Thursday was spent having half the county traipse through Mrs Bennet’s drawing room for a look at him. His mother-in-law had no prouder moment than displaying him like a shiny ornament, telling all the neighbourhood with exalted triumph how rich he was, how much pin money Elizabeth had, how expensive was their carriage, and how many acres he had at Pemberley.
“Lizzy, you do not look like that idea appeals to you,” her father quipped.
“Nonsense,” cried Mrs Bennet before Elizabeth could answer. “Darcy was very sociable in Ramsgate, and he lives in London. Of course, he will want to meet everyone as soon as possible.”
She looked at him for confirmation. He absolutely hated being made a spectacle of, but had he not done the same to Elizabeth all over Mayfair? Had he not wanted to make himself agreeable to his in-lawsboth because it was right to be done and because it would make Elizabeth happy?
“I have no objection to meeting more of your neighbours.”
“Yes, there may be stores of novelty yet unexhausted in your friends, Mrs Bennet,” said Mr Bennet with a sly look at him before returning to his paper.
