A Most Civil Proposal

by C. P. Odom

  She opened her eyes to find William looking down at her with a gratified smile. She smiled upward at him, conscious of her half-clad state as the cooler air of the bedroom swirled over her. But she made no move to cover herself with the bed coverings or to pull her nightgown back to its original position. She felt that same feeling of safety and security that she had felt the night he first held her, and she was suddenly certain that she could never have felt that with anyone else.

  If that is not love, what is? she wondered languidly. She did not know, but she did not believe that she could have acted as she just had with another man.

  “Mr. Darcy, sir,” she murmured to him contentedly.

  “Mrs. Darcy.” He smiled in return, and she cocked her eyebrow at him in her calculating and impertinent manner.

  “You will have to forgive me,” she said archly, her face so close to his that she could feel his breath on her cheek, “and it may be due to my inexperience, but as delightful as it was, I cannot believe that is all that there is to experience of the marriage bed.”

  “No, not quite all,” he agreed cheerfully, “but we did retire early. It will do for now, for we have the rest of the night.”

  “But you will show me more later?” she asked sweetly as she began to work on the buttons of his shirt again.

  “Most assuredly,” he answered her, looking down at her loveliness lying languidly on the bed, with one breast bare and with her gown up to her waist, and he felt the surge of arousal. But there is time, he told himself; there is no need to rush . . .

  Elizabeth finished the last button of his shirt and spread it wide, viewing William’s bare chest with considerable interest. She had no indication of the effect this had on her new husband, but Darcy had to bite back a growl as her hand moved up to his chest. She seemed to find the short hair there fascinating, for she kept stroking it before moving to other areas of his body to investigate.

  “Elizabeth . . .” he groaned.

  “Yes?” she said sweetly, raising her eyes to his with that delightfully mischievous smile.

  “Do you know what you are doing to me?”

  “No, I do not know what I am doing, but you are making me wait far too long before instructing me in the other intimacies of the marriage bed, so I am just exploring,” she said teasingly, and her hands continued their examination.

  “We have all night,” he said, making one last attempt at restraint.

  “I am impatient, sir.” She smiled, noting with interest that her hands seemed to be provoking the same sensitive response as he had produced in her, and she had to laugh at a sudden thought.

  “What?” Darcy asked helplessly.

  “I was just thinking,” she said saucily, smiling at him, “that you ought to remove those breeches. I am quite inexperienced, you know, but my investigation has given me some hints, and I do not believe that you can ravish me until you do so!”

  Darcy’s response was immediate. He sat up in bed and seized her by the shoulders to sit her up also. He took the hem of her nightgown and quickly pulled it upwards. Elizabeth assisted by raising her arms so that he could whisk it over her head and sail it off the bed. He slid his shirt off and likewise threw it away, and his breeches soon followed, while Elizabeth, sitting quite unclothed in bed, watched with interest. As he got back into bed beside her, she said to him slyly, “My aunt warned me this might happen.”

  “What?” he growled as he pulled her bare body down to his.

  “That you would likely take the gown that she helped me choose completely off of me . . . ooh!” She ended with a gasp as his mouth came down on her breast again.

  “I have always been quite impressed with your aunt’s wisdom,” Darcy said, his voice muffled, while Elizabeth crooned contentedly, cradling his head to her breast tenderly. But, as Darcy continued his attentions, their lovemaking lost its tender nature and became more urgent. His mouth at her breast was imperative, not soft, and it was not long before the urgency of Elizabeth’s breathing and the strength of her hands on him told Darcy that she was ready. He rolled her over on her back before swinging himself over her, and she pulled his head down to her hungry mouth, her arms roaming over the broad planes of his back until she felt a tightness and a single small but sharp pain as he started to enter her.

  Darcy raised his head, releasing her mouth. “This will hurt a bit, dearest Elizabeth,” he said, and his new wife thrilled at the soft and caressing tone that she had first heard that night in the Hunsford Parsonage. She nodded her understanding, her arms around him firmly as he pushed deeper and harder. She cried out softly at the sharp pain inside her, and Darcy stopped in concern, only to be urged on by the strength of her arms as she pulled him against her. He waited momentarily as he looked closely at her lovely face, watching until the pinched expression relaxed as she accommodated herself to him.

  At length, he asked tenderly, “Are you ready, dearest?” When she nodded, opening her eyes to watch him with a slight smile on her face, he began to move, slowly at first and then more rapidly as she began to take pleasure from the movement and urge him on. He lowered his mouth to hers, and her kisses in return grew hungrier and more demanding as their lovemaking continued. She began to respond, almost purring as she felt him inside her, awakening feelings that only a woman could feel. She knew her girlhood was gone forever, and she felt herself building to another crest of pleasure while Darcy began to move even more powerfully and deeply. She arched upward to meet him, instinctively opening to allow him complete entry, and she felt him surge powerfully inside her, pushing against her very limits while her own pleasure crested. She cried out in release, her cry smothered as Darcy’s mouth clung to hers, and she felt a sudden flood of wetness deep, deep inside her. Darcy himself was almost frozen over her for long moments until he slowly slumped as his own passion ebbed from its peak. She pulled him to her, holding him close while she trembled and shook in response to those receding sensations that were almost too extreme to bear.

  After a time, Darcy bestirred himself to pull the sheet up, shielding their unclothed bodies from the chilled air of the bedchamber. He rolled to the side and Elizabeth felt the delicious lassitude resulting from the release of passion and the equally delicious approach of sleep as a balm for exhaustion.

  “Well, Mr. Darcy,” she murmured sleepily, as she snuggled closer to him, “I do believe that I have now been ravished.”

  “Indeed you have, Mrs. Darcy,” he said as he shifted position onto his back until Elizabeth lay cradled against him, her head on his shoulder and her arm over his chest while he clasped her hand in his. She moved her thigh up over his hips as she snuggled closer, and within minutes, she was fast asleep.

  “Indeed you have, dearest, loveliest Elizabeth,” he whispered, holding her precious body against his as he treasured the memory of the night. In a very few minutes, he was asleep beside her.

  The hours of their bridal night passed as it usually does for those soul mates who are newly married. Periods of sleep alternated with periods of delicious exploration and turbulent activity. The candles had guttered out when Darcy first awoke in the dark to find Elizabeth nibbling at his ear while her hands caressed him intimately. Twice after that, Elizabeth was awakened by her new husband’s hands sliding gently over her bare skin, seeking those sensitive areas that he had already learned brought her such sweet pleasure. The sun was peeking though the curtains as he collapsed over her for the final time while she clasped his sweating body to her own, gasping as the last throes of pleasure gradually ebbed away. Contentedly, Elizabeth Darcy let her husband roll her over on her side and tuck her against him, her back nestled against his chest. She pulled his hand up and clasped it to her bare breast, with her own hand over his as she fell into the most secure and comforting sleep she ever had known.

  * * * * *

  It was full daylight and the sun was high in the sky when Darcy next awoke to a tickling sensation. When he opened his eyes, he found Elizabeth lying fully on top of him, he
r slender body pressing him down in the bed. Her face was only inches from his own, and her eyes were wide-open, bright, and dancing with merriment as her long, dark hair cascaded over his upper chest. He discovered that the tickling sensation was her using a lock of that hair to sweep it gently in a slow, gentle motion that brushed over his nose and lips.

  He looked up at her as she stared into his eyes, stopping when she saw that he was awake. He was conscious of her skin touching his from his shoulders to his knees, and he put his arms around her, stroking the silky softness and delighting in the firm muscles that lay beneath. She smiled, her eyes still bright as she moved against him in response to the pressure of his hands, and he felt himself becoming aroused once again. She levered herself higher up his body and lowered her face to his, kissing his nose gently then planting quick kisses over his cheeks and eyelids as the delicious curls of her hair surrounded both their faces.

  Darcy felt emotion catch in his throat as her soft lips caressed his with the lightness of a butterfly’s wings, as the full and true realization of his heart’s desire swept through him. He now understood that even the affection that led to his proposal at Hunsford could not match the love he felt for the woman who lay atop him, kissing him with a tenderness beyond even his dreams. Perhaps those emotions had contained the seeds of love, but those seeds had grown and blossomed into something that transcended the pale and feeble feelings of bewitchment, fascination, and desire. He remembered the moment in the church when he and Elizabeth had locked eyes together, and he knew that he could never doubt her bond to him. It might not be love from her point of view, but they were now husband and wife for the remainder of their lives, and he had never been as certain of anything as he was of Elizabeth’s total commitment to him and their marriage.

  But now Elizabeth’s kiss had grown deep and demanding, and her movement quickly brought him to full arousal even as her tongue danced over his, licking the inside of his lips as she pressed her mouth into his. He heard a delightful chuckle deep in her throat as she recognized the success of her actions, and she started to roll off him so that he might once more have his way with her. Darcy stopped her, holding her hips firmly astride his, then he lifted her up, pulling her forward so that she came to a sitting position on his belly with her legs on either side of his waist. He reached up to caress her breasts, and her breath caught in her throat. Then his fingers began to tantalize her, squeezing and stroking in the way he had learned that she loved.

  He grinned wickedly up at her, marvelling at the figure that he had once disdained but now could not look on enough. He moved her hips downward gently, and, once she understood his intention, she began to assist him so that quickly he found her entrance. She gasped in pleasure, and he pulled her down again so that his mouth could claim her breast. It did not take her long to find a rhythm that matched his and resulted in the most delicious feelings inside her. That the motion was to Darcy’s liking was clear from the expression on his face, and his mouth claimed hers as the tempo of their movements increased.

  It was a new and thrilling feeling for Elizabeth to experiment, to find her own rhythm to excite and stimulate different areas inside her, and she was soon gasping as shuddering thrills began to build in her belly. As her pleasure mounted, her cries were again smothered by Darcy’s mouth as she thrust herself downward and then went rigid as the molten pleasure inside her ebbed. When she finally managed to open her eyes, she found Darcy smiling up at her; then he suddenly rolled her onto her back as his own cadence resumed, while she moved against him to help him reach his own peak. Afterwards, she held him close as his rigid torso gradually slackened, and she held him atop her so that his weight pressed her deep into the bed.

  Slowly, his eyes opened to meet hers. “Good morning, Mr. Darcy,” she said wickedly, running her heels down the backs of his thighs. Before he could answer, Darcy’s empty stomach gave a rumble that sounded like the growling of a dog.

  Elizabeth looked down in amazement. “My goodness, sir,” she said cheerfully, “you appear to have missed your breakfast.”

  “As well as most of my dinner and a good portion of my wedding breakfast. I am suddenly ravenous — at least for food. My other appetites have been quite fully satisfied,” he said wickedly, and Elizabeth slapped him gently on his bottom as she smiled back at him. He made another move to slide off her, and again she restrained him.

  “I am afraid I will hurt you,” he said.

  “I will not break,” she said firmly, but then she relented. “But now that you mention food, I do believe that I might be interested in at least a nibble.”

  “Then let us ring for breakfast,” Darcy said cheerfully, “or whatever meal is closest, since I have not the slightest idea of the time.” He started to reach for the pull beside the bed, but Elizabeth put her arm on his.

  “Perhaps I might put on a robe before we have a servant respond to your call?” she said sweetly but with a significant lift to her eyebrow.

  “Yes, dearest,” Darcy said with an embarrassed grin. “Perhaps you might pull the covers up, and I can close the bed curtains to provide the necessary privacy.”

  “And it might be advisable to collect some of the clothing that went goodness knows where in the night time,” she suggested helpfully. “I believe that I should have asked my Aunt Gardiner many more questions before last night,” she continued thoughtfully as Darcy swung out of bed.

  “Your Aunt Gardiner has already become one of the most sensible women of my acquaintance,” Darcy said cheerfully as he gathered up the various clothing items and threw them onto the bed before he went to his dressing room to retrieve a long robe. “You should talk to her often,” he said over his shoulder.

  Elizabeth watched his bare body move across the room, interested and intrigued by the way the muscles in his legs and buttocks moved beneath his skin. So different from my own body, she thought with interest. This has been a most memorable day and night — so many new things that I had never before imagined. She sighed as she thought what her mother’s honeymoon must have been like to have caused her to give the advice that she had given; she was swept by a feeling of sorrow and loss to know that her mother had never experienced the warmth and delights that had marked her own wedding night.

  Poor Mama, she thought for the thousandth time.

  * * * * *

  Elizabeth lay back in the bed with a sigh. “That was delicious,” she said, as Darcy continued working on his own plate beside her. “Did you ever find out the time?”

  “It was past one when I first got out of bed,” Darcy said as he cut another large bite of ham. “It must be past two now.”

  “Much of the day is already gone, then,” Elizabeth said thoughtfully. “Whatever can we do for the rest of it?”

  Though she had put on her nightgown and tied her dressing gown around her, she saw the familiar expression come into Darcy’s eyes as he looked at her.

  “Besides that, sir,” she said gaily, patting him on the arm. “Perhaps we might at least manage a trip down your stairs before returning to your bed.”

  Darcy reached over and clasped her small hand, raising her fingers to his lips to kiss them gently. “I am the most fortunate of men.”

  Elizabeth felt her cheeks colour slightly as she struggled to contain the embarrassment at receiving such a heartfelt compliment as she remembered all her mistakes during their acquaintance, mistakes due to her own pride and misjudgements.

  “I do not deserve to be put on that lofty a pedestal,” she said uncomfortably. “I have many defects to rectify, and I will be content if I can simply be a good wife to the most honourable man I know.”

  After some thought, he decided that he could no longer avoid the subject that still concerned him. “Elizabeth,” he said carefully, “you must know how wonderful the past day has been. You have fulfilled and surpassed every desire and expectation that I ever could have entertained as my wife. But there is still . . . that is, I could not help but wonder . . . well, I was
thinking . . .”

  Elizabeth smiled and laid her hand along the stark curve of his jaw, feeling the stubble of his beard.

  “You are wondering how I could behave so wantonly when I cannot say I love you as you love me.”

  “I did not mean . . .”

  She laid her fingers again over his mouth. “William, you do not need to worry about my feelings. I did behave wantonly, and I would do so again and again to please my husband, for you deserve no less. I said that you are the most honourable man I know, and I know how much you would like to hear me say the words, ‘I love you,’ but I am quite confused as I wonder whether I really know what it is to love a man. Remember that less than two weeks ago I was totally ignorant of your regard for me. Already, my feelings for you have changed dramatically, and they are still changing. Is it love? I am too confused to answer; it is too soon. But this I know. In future years, I do not want our memories of this special time to be tainted because I withheld my affections in any way as a result of the rapidity of our courtship.” She paused as the most delightful smile appeared on her face. “You do understand, William, that Richard will rise to new heights when he tells our courtship story to our children? Your comment about my being ‘only tolerable’ will be nothing compared to what your cousin will tell them!”

  Darcy groaned as he considered it. “It was bad enough when he only had the story of my mother and father to tell. He will be simply insufferable now.”

  “Perhaps.” Elizabeth smiled. “But one day the good colonel will provide some amusement for the rest of the family himself.”

  “Richard?” Darcy laughed. “Marry? Never! He will be a bachelor forever!”

  “Perhaps,” Elizabeth said with a slight smile.

  Darcy looked at her quizzically, but she only looked back at him with a smile that hinted of secrecy. Dismissing the thought, he pulled Elizabeth more firmly to him. “Thank you, dearest. You have made me happier than I had any right to dream.”

  “For what,” Elizabeth teased. “For being a dutiful wife?”