Elizabeth released a long sigh, her nipples hardening. She had so resented how much fun he was to look at not that long ago, and done everything she could to ignore him on every physical level. But that was then and she had permission now. She dragged her gaze down the hard lines of his chest, which was firm and broad without being bulky. He had the definition of a guy who worked out, toned abs and well-muscled arms to match, which would have been annoying had she not known him as she did now. Guys who looked like him were typically jerks.
He challenged the pretenses she’d established, and that terrified her.
Elizabeth dropped her attention to the front of his towel, which was beginning to tent. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from grinning, but even then, she couldn’t do much to help herself.
“Tell me that’s a yes.”
She forced her gaze back to his. “What’s a yes?”
“You’re staying in here tonight. With me.”
“I’m kind of a blanket hog. You might want me in another room.”
“I want you,” he echoed, dropping his gaze to her breasts and lower still until every inch of her skin was tingling with anticipation.
“Oh.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I’m not. Or I am. Or… I’m still trying to get used to this.”
He smiled at that, and some of the Will she was growing to love shone through. “To what?”
“All of this.” She gestured to the room. “Today feels unreal.”
“To me too.”
“And… I know we need to—”
“I’d rather not tonight.”
Elizabeth’s mouth went dry. “No?”
Will shook his head. “Just a little more time before we have to ruin it.”
“Do you think we will? Ruin it?”
“God, I hope not.” He broke away then and dragged a hand through his hair. “I want you to stay with me in this room. But I want to touch you too. I want…to feel you. And if that’s not what you want, I will find you another room. The invitation to spend the holidays with me and my sister doesn’t come with strings. So if you—”
Elizabeth dropped her towel. Sometimes actions were better than words.
Will held his breath a moment, his eyes raking over her body again. And this time he didn’t bother to conceal the hunger there and she was glad, because it set her aflame in ways she truly hadn’t known existed. His gaze lingered on her breasts a second before trailing lower, encouraging her to press her thighs together. Her clit gave a throb and hunger coiled in her stomach. In her hands. She wanted to touch him too. All over. In all the ways she hadn’t let herself before.
“Thank god,” Will muttered, and then his feet ate the space separating them until he had her face in his hands and had pulled her mouth to his in a sweet kiss—one that tasted of all the things she’d been craving.
Elizabeth flung her arms around his neck, grinning as his own towel fell to the floor. Then his hard cock was pressed against her stomach, hot and ready and damn, she wanted it in her mouth. Wanted to give him a new memory to replace the angry blowjob she’d given him in the maintenance closet. But she couldn’t pull her lips away from his long enough to convince her mouth there was a good reason to go south, and her brain refused to accept that she would remain upright if she let a hand drift between them so she could feel just how hard he was for herself.
She had just managed to slide her right arm down his chest when he caught her hand in his.
“Elizabeth.”
She gave a short mewl and forced her eyes open. God, he was close, his eyes boring into hers in ways that should have made her nervous. No one had ever looked at her the way Will did. Ever. The knowledge left her feeling breathless and a little dizzy, but starved for him as she’d never been for anyone.
“There’s something I’ve wanted to do to you for a long time,” he said. “Will you let me now?”
She swallowed, nodded. “Okay.”
The corner of his mouth ticked upward. “Wanna know what it is first?”
“Will I like it?”
“I really hope so, or I’ve lost my touch.”
It was completely irrational and not at all like her, but for some reason, those words made her tense with jealousy. Fleeting but potent all the same. Elizabeth clutched at his forearms and nodded again. “Then show me.”
Will took her mouth again, pulling her flush against his body before slowly turning so her back was to the bed. He walked her back until her ass met the edge of the mattress, gave her a parting kiss, then encouraged her to lay down.
“Fuck,” he murmured, dragging his gaze from her face to her breasts. “You are gorgeous.”
Elizabeth offered a soft smile. “So are you.”
He arched an eyebrow and met her eyes again. “Oh yeah?”
“Uh huh.”
“How long have you thought that?”
“Pretty much since the first moment I saw you.”
“You hid it well.”
“I have a natural distrust of pretty things,” she replied conversationally, as though she was accustomed to discussing things while spread out naked on a bed, her legs spread, every inch of her body on display. “Particularly pretty men.”
“And when the man in question just happens to say something particularly stupid, I assume…”
“It’s doomed.”
“No exceptions?”
Her smile widened. “Oh, I don’t know,” she replied. “I could be convinced.”
“Allow me to grovel, then.”
Will leaned over her to brush a soft kiss against one of her nipples, keeping his gaze on hers the entire time. She watched as those magic lips of his caressed the tip of her breast before venturing to the other.
“I could spend hours doing just this,” he whispered. “I want to.”
She shivered. “I think I’d let you.”
“I know you would.” He skimmed a hand up her side until her breast was cradled against his warm palm and rubbed his thumb over her nipple. “But not now. I’ve waited too long to do this.”
Then he began peppering kisses between her breasts, over her abdomen. He took a detour around her belly button, laughing when she giggled and jerked, and then he was shifting so his knees were on the floor and her legs were over his shoulders.
“Mmm.” Will grasped her hips and pulled her forward until her ass was hanging off the side of the bed.
“Will!”
“I’ve got you,” he whispered, scooting closer. “Won’t let you fall.”
Elizabeth gave a hard laugh and fisted the comforter for leverage. “Who’s worried?”
“Not you. You’re not afraid of anything.”
“That’s right.”
“Mhmm.” He slipped a hand around her thigh and slowly pulled apart the lips of her labia. A moan sounded at his throat. “Perfect. Everywhere, you’re perfect.”
“I don’t think—”
“So don’t think. Just let me tell you how perfect you are.”
Elizabeth bit her lip to keep in her retort, because the truth was far less flattering. The fact was she had very nearly ruined this. Hell, that she hadn’t remained a mystery, one she was too much a goddamned coward to try and solve, especially now. That Will could say that word, even think it in relation to her defied logic. It was too much to ask that he still want her—that he still love her, or feel even an inkling of whatever he’d felt before was asking for the impossible.
Yet he was with her, spreading her open and running his fingertips over her slick, sensitive flesh.
Then she felt the tip of his tongue circle her clit and all those less than pleasant thoughts blinked away for a few brilliant seconds. She gasped, her skin suddenly on fire. “Oh god.”
Will murmured something unintelligible in response and drew his tongue around her again. “You taste good,” he whispered before drawing a line between her clit to her opening then back again. “Worth the wait.”
“Will�
��”
“Shh. Just tell me if something doesn’t work for you, okay? Teach me how you like to be eaten.”
Shit. Elizabeth squeezed her eyes shut and gave up fighting. Sure, she might not deserve this, but she wasn’t going to turn it down. “Oh fuck. What you’re doing…good.”
“Mhmm?”
“I like the way you stroke my clit. That’s good.”
He rumbled another sound of approval and encircled her again, giving her enough contact to titillate without crossing the rather sensitive boundary into discomfort. The lovers in her past had treated her clit more or less like a Rubik’s Cube, giving it so much attention it took her out of the moment. From the very first time they had come together, Will had allowed her to set the pace, nudging her, teasing her, caressing her without making her feel like the last question on a particularly difficult calculus exam.
Another hint that he had done this a lot, which made her jolt with more unexplained jealousy. It was not sensible to feel territorial over him, yet she couldn’t help herself. She wanted Will to be all hers.
“Is there anywhere else you want my tongue?” he asked.
“It’s all…all good.”
“Do you like this?” He edged a finger inside her, and at her answering whimper, added another. “Damn. I could spend hours doing this too.”
“You’re making…ahh…quite the to-do list.”
He chuckled. “I think my list is just you. Elizabeth on the bed. On the floor. In the shower. Against the wall. Riding my face—”
“Will!”
“Watching as she lets me finger-fuck her.” He found a steady tempo, and when she peeked an eye open, she found him staring at the sight of her pussy welcoming his fingers again and again with something that was almost as much hunger as it was torment. “No one could blame me,” he said a moment later, flicking his gaze up to meet hers. “This is the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Will… I want. Your mouth.”
“Good. It wants you too.” He lowered his head again and this time, the laps his tongue took weren’t tentative, rather emboldened.
Elizabeth fell back against the mattress again. “Oh shit. Just that. Do that. Fuck, do whatever you want.”
“Don’t give me that kind of power unless you mean it.”
“I mean it.”
Elizabeth managed to open her eyes long enough to appreciate the devilish grin he aimed her way, then his mouth descended again and he had her clit pulled between his lips. A long howl clawed its way out of her throat and she tightened her thighs around his head. Will growled his approval, sucking at her harder still. Hard tremors seized her arms and legs, pressure bundling and pulsing until she was certain she would detonate. Will left her clit with a kiss and began lapping along her soaked folds until his tongue had replaced the fingers thrusting in and out of her. He licked and sucked and made yummy noises that alone might have gotten her where she needed to go.
“Wa… Will…”
He drew a wet fingertip around her clit and her goddamn cells blazed in response. “Right here,” he murmured before his mouth was back where she wanted it, pulling at that bundle of nerves as his fingers slipped back inside her. Then he flattened his tongue against her and pressed down, and it was all over. White hot euphoria came crashing down. Elizabeth bucked and gasped, her skin so hot she was sure it would melt right off. And Will didn’t let up. His tongue resumed the swirly patterns around her clit until her legs began to tremble all over again. Will drew his fingers out of her to grasp her by the hips and lift her pussy to his mouth.
“Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.”
She stole one final peek of him to find his eyes trained on hers, intense and hungry, and she tumbled over the edge all over again, her mind blanking as her body gave itself over.
When she next became aware of herself, she was lying on her back, completely on the bed now, and Will was beside her, gently caressing her brow.
Elizabeth blinked at him. Every inch of her was tingling. “Hi.”
He grinned and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Hello to you too.”
“Was I gone long?”
“You went somewhere?”
“Yeah. I think it was an out of body experience.”
Will grinned again, this time all male satisfaction. “Oh yeah?”
“Uh huh.” She reached up and ran her thumb over his lips. “I have a new appreciation for your mouth.”
“I’ve always had a soft spot for yours,” he replied. Then he was kissing her again and all the sensors that had waved a white flag were rallying back to their stations. Elizabeth whimpered and tunneled her fingers through his hair, spreading her legs in welcome. He fed her a groan and rolled so he was cradled in the valley of her thighs, his hard cock sliding along the folds of her pussy.
“I wanna feel you come again,” he whispered.
“I dunno if I have it in me.”
“You’re about to.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and smacked his shoulder. “You kinda wore me out.”
“Mhmm.” Will reached between to position himself at her opening. “That a no?”
“No. That’s a you’re gonna have to work for it.’” She shrugged and arched her hips so the thick head slipped inside her. God yes. “I know it’s not fair after those other orgasms, but I can’t really feel my legs and that’s your fault.”
“Worth it.” Will took her mouth again as he began to ease inside her, spreading her, filling her.
Until he stopped and jerked back.
Her eyes flew open. “What—”
“Fuck, I’m sorry.” Will was shaking his head, his expression almost pained. “Condom. Nearly forgot. Again. Would have. I—”
Elizabeth lifted her head and kissed him. “It’s okay. Skip it.”
“You’re sure?”
“I have that hormone implant to prevent pregnancy. I was on the pill, but my schedule became so harried I kept taking it at odd times.” She worried her lower lip between her teeth, hesitated, but decided he deserved to know. “My boyfriend at the time had a bona fide latex allergy, so I decided to make things easy and got the hormone implant. We broke up three weeks later. Until you, I hadn’t been with anyone else.” A pause. “And you’re the only person I’ve been with at all this year.”
Will searched her eyes for a moment, and she could only hope he heard everything she wasn’t saying.
“How long ago was this?” he asked.
“A few months before semester started.”
“Did you love him?”
“No.” That had ultimately been what had broken them up. He’d said the words and she’d realized she didn’t know if she ever could.
“Good,” Will said. “I… I’ve never had sex without a condom. Not once.”
“Will?”
He expelled a deep breath.
“I want to feel your skin. Just you. Nothing else. That’s what’ll get me there right now.”
He released a ragged breath and closed his mouth over hers. The next thing she knew, he was pushing inside her again.
Redefining her world again.
“God, you feel so good,” Will murmured at her ear once he was buried to the hilt. “So goddamn good. My Elizabeth.”
“Your Elizabeth,” she replied, clenching her pussy around him.
Will shuddered and kissed her again as he began to move. And she felt it then as she had that afternoon—that certainty that she was exactly where she was supposed to be. That somehow, despite everything, she’d gotten this much right.
In that moment she found perfection.
And she never wanted to let go.
34
When Will awoke the next day, his arm around Elizabeth’s waist, her naked back pulled flush against his bare chest, he understood two things with perfect clarity. The first being he was in love with her, which, while not necessarily a new revelation, meant more to him now than it had before.
The second was they had run out of exc
uses to avoid talking. Yesterday could be forgiven for the shock of finding her at Pemberley and subsequent determination to keep her from leaving. Last night had been something out of a dream—one he hadn’t wanted to disturb with the shadow of reality.
It didn’t take long for Elizabeth to stir. And when she blinked her eyes open, Will held, watching as she pieced together where she was and who she was with. He sighed when a sleepy smile crossed her face.
“You awake?” she asked softly.
“Yeah.”
“How long?”
“Long enough to enjoy watching you wake up. Not so long that it was creepy.”
Elizabeth snickered and rolled onto her back, her bright, vivid eyes meeting his. “I don’t think that’s for you to decide.”
“I’m perfectly impartial.”
“Uh huh.”
He stole a kiss off her lips, then frowned. “Sorry. Morning breath.”
“Yeah, but it’s okay. My morning breath cancels out yours. That’s how it works.”
“Well, in that case.” He kissed her again, taking his time and enjoying the way she softened against him. It would be easy, too easy, to roll her over and let his body assume control again. His cock was certainly on board with that idea, straining for the silken heat of her pussy, but he managed to get his head in the game and pull away.
No. They needed to talk. Really.
Elizabeth studied him for a moment with glassy eyes, panting. And apparently, she was on the same page. “We need to talk about things, don’t we?”
“It’s the responsible thing to do.”
“But sex is so much more fun.”
“I can’t argue,” Will replied, forcing himself to sit up. “But the sooner we talk, the sooner we can get back to this.”
“You raise a good point.”
If Elizabeth was optimistic about returning to his bed, then whatever they had to say to each other couldn’t be bad. Not that he had any reason to believe it was.
Except that talking meant dredging up the past and he didn’t much want to look in that direction.
“I’ll put the coffee on if you want to get dressed,” he said.
“Want is such a strong word.” Elizabeth wrinkled her nose. “I should probably grab another shower, though.”
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