Marooned With Darcy

by Abbey North

  5

  Lizzy had hardly sat inactive on the beach, and she wasn’t likely to. Her survival depended on what they could do with the situation as much as Mr. Darcy’s… Will’s, she corrected herself. Instead of idling away her time like she was at a garden party, she started collecting materials to build two shelters.

  She was in the process of arranging them when Mr. Darcy returned bearing the bark of a log full of water. He set it down carefully, and she rushed forward to slake her thirst before using a bit to wash off her face and hands. “I should very much like to go swimming in this water and get off the sticky salt feeling, Mr. Darcy.”

  “Will,” he corrected. “I am certain that can be arranged. I did not see anything overtly threatening on my way to discovering it.” He looked at the pile of rocks, bark, twigs, and leaves she’d assembled. “What is all this?”

  “We shall need shelters, so I was starting on them.”

  He nodded. “I have a bold suggestion, Lizzy.”

  She arched a brow. “What is it?”

  “Rather than making two smaller shelters, I think we should combine our efforts to make a sturdier one large enough for both of us. Would you find that acceptable?”

  She bit her lip, seeing the wisdom despite the impropriety. After a moment, she shrugged. “It hardly matters, does it, Will? Whether we have separate shelters or share one, we are both alone on this island. I do not think anyone will ever know.”

  He nodded. “In that case, I shall get to work immediately.”

  She frowned. “And I shall help you.”

  He grimaced. “You should be resting.”

  She rolled her eyes. “If I should be, so should you, Mr. Darcy, but our shelter shall not build itself. We must work together and hasten the process.”

  He looked like he would protest, but after a moment, he nodded. “You are correct. We should combine our efforts.”

  Lizzy ached all over later that evening as she laid on the sand outside the shelter they had built. It was a humble little structure, but it would do for now. Perhaps it would not survive a hurricane or strong wind and rain, but if they were here long enough to worry about it, they would fortify it further in future.

  At the moment, she just wanted to rest, though she couldn’t seem to bring herself to move from the fire to enter the shelter and lie down on the leaves forming a makeshift bed. When Mr. Darcy approached and handed her a coconut, she stared at it. “I have read about these, but I have never eaten one.”

  “Nor have I. I believe they are difficult to open.” He looked around at the collection of rocks they hadn’t used for the shelter, picking one with a suitably sharp edge. “I suppose we just break it open.” As he said that, he smashed the coconut on the rock. It took three good, solid hits before a crack appeared, and water started to drip out. He quickly brought it to his mouth, catching what was leaking forth.

  Lizzy was mesmerized by the sight of his throat working as he swallowed, and she had the strangest urge to lean forward and lick the residue of coconut water from his chin. She blinked, shocked at the idea and the way her body was suddenly warm in a way unattributable to the fire. She cleared her throat, saying, “I take it the taste must be pleasurable?”

  His gaze met hers, smoldering. “Most pleasurable. I have never tasted anything quite like it.” He handed her the cracked coconut, and Lizzy opened it the rest of the way to find there was still plenty of water inside, along with the meat. He cracked the one she’d held, and they spent the next several minutes eating and drinking in silence.

  “That was most satisfying, but we must find other food sources. I suspect subsisting on coconut would not be healthy,” said Lizzy.

  “Probably not. Tomorrow, I think I shall try to fashion a spear, if I can find a small enough rock with a sharp enough edge.”

  She frowned. “Why do you need a spear on this island, Mr. Darcy? I believe I heard monkeys chittering earlier, but they are quick and sly. I doubt we could catch one.”

  He grinned. “Likely not. I had a rather different task in mind. Have you heard of spearfishing?”

  Lizzy shook her head, leaning back against the sand as he told her what he had read in a journal. She frowned with doubt. “It sounds dreadfully difficult.”

  “I suppose, but what else do we have to do around here?”

  She smiled. “Yes, there is that.” She barely stifled a yawn that swept over her. “I believe I am exhausted, Will.”

  “As am I, Lizzy.” He stood up, coming over to offer her a hand out of the sand. When she stood up, he casually brushed sand off her nightdress. “I am surprised you did not wear your dress once we washed ashore.”

  She shrugged. “It is far too heavy for the hot work we were doing, Mr. Darcy.”

  “I assure you I shall be the soul of discretion and share this with no one”

  She smiled. “That is assuming we ever see anyone to share it with.” With those grim words, she nodded her head to him, went a few feet into the jungle to see to her nightly needs, and then returned to slide into the shelter a short time later.

  Mr. Darcy was already there, lying atop the leaves they had spread on the sand. It was certainly not the most comfortable bed, but she was too exhausted from the ordeal and the physical activity of the day to spare much thought for comfort, and she was asleep almost as soon as her eyelids closed.

  6

  While Darcy busied himself making a spear the next morning, Lizzy recovered more materials from the jungle and driftwood from the beach to build a signal fire. If they kept their smaller fire burning—and they had every intention of doing so, since it had taken the two of them quite a long time to figure out how to start a spark yesterday when neither one of them had ever even lit a fire in a fireplace before—they could quickly light the bonfire to signal for help if they saw a ship approaching.

  She looked up when Mr. Darcy cursed, shocked at his lapsed manners. “Is everything all right, Will?”

  He looked at her, flushing. “My apologies, Lizzy. These blasted fish are far too difficult to spear. I suspect the article I read was full of distortions and contrivances.”

  Her lips twitched as she moved away from the bonfire, holding out her hand. “I should very much like to try.”

  With a frown, he passed it over to her. “It is difficult, I warn you.”

  She nodded. “I do enjoy a challenge.” At first, she started out on the beach as he had been, but that seemed illogical to her. It took forever for fish to even come close, so she lifted her nightdress, her dress still in her satchel, and wrapped it around her waist. She ignored Darcy’s indrawn breath as she plunged into the water, standing still for what felt like forever.

  Her first few attempts ended ignobly, but she let out a cry of delight when the next time she tried, she speared a large fish. “I have one,” she cried out with glee as she turned to face him, grasping the fish firmly by the gills. She squirmed at the sensation before he took it from her.

  She expected him to be disgruntled, and he looked mildly displeased until he saw the fish. “Well done, Lizzy. I shall clean it if you would like to try to catch another?”

  She nodded as she turned back to her task. “You know how to clean a fish, Mr. Darcy?”

  “Indeed. I am quite adept at hunting and fishing. I have been doing so since before I can fully remember. Both my father and my uncle, the Earl of Matlock, were avid sportsmen. Uncle still does the occasional spot of hunting these days.”

  “It could prove quite useful for us then.” Lizzy paused, holding her breath as a large fish swam by before darting back to her. When it was near a rock, she rushed forward, shoving the spear forcefully into it. She had a wince of regret for the poor thing as it flopped against the rock for a moment while she tugged loose the spear. The fish started to slip away, but she reached out and grabbed it, thankful it was slowed by its current condition. She tossed it on the beach to Darcy, who was currently busy stripping skin and fish guts from the first catch.

&nb
sp; As she turned to walk toward him, deciding they had enough fish for the evening, she was unexpectedly overcome with arousal at the primitive sight before her. Right now, in just his breeches and boots, having shed his shirt sometime during the hot day, he looked nothing like the proud and disdainful scion of society she’d met the first night of the reception aboard the ship. Instead, he seemed savagely beautiful, and there was wildness in her heart urging her to join him.

  Before she could talk herself out of it, Lizzy reached for the sharp rock he was using to cut the fish and used it to slice the side of her nightdress. When it was to her knee, she turned the makeshift knife to make another notch, ripping it widthwise as well. She felt much freer, and she ignored his look of shock as she sat down near him. “Show me how to skin this fish, Will.”

  He shook his head. “It is an unladylike task and quite disgusting, as you can see.”

  Lizzy nodded but affirmed her resolve by stiffening her shoulders. “I see that, but it is still a skill I desire to learn. I might need to know how to do it to take care of myself at some point.”

  With a grunt, he told her to find a sharp rock similar to the one he was using. When she returned, he had waited, though he’d finished filleting the first fish. He talked her through the process, and as she finished up a while later, handing over the fish that he wrapped in leaves and placed near the fire as he’d done with the first fillets, he said, “That shall never happen.”

  She frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “You will not be alone to fend for yourself.”

  There was something in his voice, a tantalizing note that made it difficult not to believe him. Lizzy firmed her shoulders anyway. “No one can be sure of that, Mr. Darcy, so it is wise that I learn to take care of myself.” She frowned. “I do hope Jane is not in a similar situation. Mr. Bingley would surely look out for her, but I do not know that Jane could endure such hardship. Ever since she had scarlet fever as a child, her constitution is not as strong, and when cholera nearly knocked her flat almost three years ago, I fear she never quite recovered from that.”

  “I hope they are not stranded together on an island like us, deserted with just the two of them.” His lips twisted. “Mr. Bingley will assuredly find himself married at that point.”

  She glared at him. “My sister would be just as ruined, Mr. Darcy.” She couldn’t bring herself to call him Will at the moment.

  He turned to her, arching a brow. “You really think so? She would not have the better advantage, having acquired a wealthy husband who is forced into a position to offer for her to avoid her ruin? I believe Charles would be the greater injured. Ruination can be beneficial for some.”

  She glared at him. “I am just as ruined as my sister in this situation, Mr. Darcy, and there is no benefit.”

  His eyes closed for a minute, and he heaved a sigh clearly full of regret. “Yes, I realize that. When we are rescued, I shall preserve your reputation by offering for you.”

  He was so reluctant and so burdened by the idea that Lizzy’s mouth dropped open in shock, and for an instant, she had no words to express the depth of her outrage.

  He continued, clearly unaware she wasn’t feeling any gratitude for his sacrifice. “Of course, that would come with a generous settlement upon you and shouldering the responsibility for your family. Perhaps this is not the worst thing that has ever happened to you, Lizzy.”

  She struggled to breathe and control the urge to slap him. Her gloves were long gone, and she was certain she could leave a bruise if she tried this time, but the idea was disquieting. Lizzy was not particularly forceful or physical, except with this man.

  Squeezing her hands into fists, she stood up and strode to the water, intent on removing the fish guts from her hands. “It will please you to know I would never marry you under any circumstances, Mr. Darcy. Indeed, I had not known you an hour before I couldn’t imagine a man I would like less, and the idea of being tied to you for life is no joy.”

  He sounded shocked. “What choice would you have? We are compromised.”

  She turned back to glare at him as she scrubbed her hands. “I assure you I will never compromise about that, Mr. Darcy. Your fortune and your virtue are quite safe from me. I want no part of you or marriage to you.”

  With those words, she turned and strode down the beach, needing to get away from him. For the first time, she regretted she hadn’t insisted on maintaining two smaller shelters. It would’ve at least given her the illusion of privacy to escape him for a while.

  7

  Fitzwilliam regretted his words, or at least how he’d delivered them. He had been making a magnanimous gesture, and her revilement of it was puzzling. How could she not benefit from such an arrangement as being Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy? How could he do anything less than decorum dictated, nay demanded, and offer for her hand if and when they were rescued?

  The two of them were alone on this island, and with no chaperone, they could get up to all manner of impropriety. Society would insist on their marriage to preserve both their standings.

  His breeches got tight at the thought of all the improprieties in which they might engage. He cleared his throat as he realized perhaps he wasn’t as disadvantaged as he’d considered to start with. This opportunity gave him the perfect excuse to stop resisting his attraction to Lizzy and to claim her as his own.

  Especially here, on this island, it was a distant concept that she didn’t have the right social standing and was burdened by such a family. No one among their acquaintance could blame either of them for finding comfort in each other as long as they were prepared to behave appropriately and fall into societal expectations when they were rescued.

  Indeed, Lizzy was practically his wife already, barring only the formalities…and the wedding night. He groaned as need tightened his groin, responding to the mental image of her sitting on him, taking his length inside her hot, slick core.

  He banished the thought as much as he could, knowing he was no callow youth, and he refused to indulge in self-pleasure when there was a possibility she might catch him in the act. He could imagine nothing more humiliating, so he turned his attention back to preparing their fish.

  He was unsurprised when she returned almost an hour later, this time with the sweet orange fruits in hand. Neither of them knew the name of it, but it was oval with red and orange skin and golden flesh, with a sweet, slightly tart taste. They had both discovered a liking for it the day before. She handed him two without speaking and took two for herself before sitting down near him. He passed her leaf-wrapped filets he’d kept warm near the fire, and she opened the packet without looking at him.

  He cleared his throat. “My wording was unfortunate, Lizzy. I did not mean to imply it would be a great burden to marry you.”

  She looked up at him through narrowed eyes. “I suggest this is a conversation we do not revisit, Mr. Darcy.”

  He winced at the continued use of his surname. “Lizzy, will you please relent and call me Will? Let us talk this through. I did not mean to insult you. When the time comes to offer you for you, I shall do so gladly. We are practically already married, such as circumstances are arranged for us.”

  She scoffed. “We are anything but, Mr. Darcy. We have had very little impropriety between us, and it shall remain that way. Society will have no cause to insist on our marriage if we just explain—”

  He laughed, a genuine belly laugh, though he hated her to think he was mocking her. “I do not wish to disillusion you, but you must know how naïve that sounds. Society will think what they wish, and they will always interpret actions in the most sordid way possible. Indeed, the only way to preserve either one of our reputations is for us to marry.”

  She shrugged a shoulder. “We will be going to America. No one there will know me, and they certainly shall not know about this incident. I see no reason why we would ever have to marry.”

  He gritted his teeth, wanting to continue to persuade her, but he was afraid it would just push her
way rather than get her to concede to the necessity of their marriage. Now that he had embraced the idea, he was impatient for her to do the same, but he counseled himself to give her time and space. “Perhaps it will never be an issue then.”

  She nodded. “Undoubtedly.”

  He couldn’t help wondering if it would be an issue if and when she capitulated to the attraction between them. If that led to a child, he would have to insist on marriage even if she were trying to be stubborn. No Darcy heir would be born out of wedlock, and he doubted even Lizzy was independent enough to try to insist otherwise.

  Fitzwilliam did his best to maintain his patience over the next several days, behaving with care and concern, all with the goal of deepening their interactions. At first, she kept him at a distance, and though she called him Will, there was no sense that she meant it in a friendly or intimate way. It seemed to be a chore for her to say his name, but as he persisted, the days passing with frightful slowness due to lack of activity once they had secured food for each day, he could see her softening toward him.

  When he fashioned a chessboard for them and retrieved shells of similar colors but different enough to be two sets of playing pieces, he saw the first signs of true softening in her. She smiled with pleasure, and they spent the rest of the day engaged in chess. She was a formidable opponent, and Fitzwilliam was surprised to lose more than he won. He might’ve been irked if it had been someone else, but Lizzy was so genuinely vibrant and intelligent that he couldn’t find it in him to mind she could outwit him on several occasions.

  He had a feeling she could completely undo him, and he was eager for that to happen. They had been on their island for a little more than a week when he admitted to himself he was in love with her. Perhaps he shouldn’t have known her long enough, but between the time they’d spent here and on the ship, he’d fallen for her fine eyes, pert words, and womanly charms. He ached to possess her, though he was uncertain of her feelings for him.