by Wells, Linda
At that moment, Darcy lifted his hips, and with one long stroke, entered his beloved, and claimed his wife and lover forever. Elizabeth was suddenly filled with him, and the sensation was overwhelming. Darcy paused, panting, waiting for her to adjust and hanging on desperately for control as the enveloping warmth and tightness demanded to overcome his last vestiges of restraint. When her eyes opened to look up to him, not with pain as he feared, but with absolute adoration, he gave in at last to his desperate need for her, wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and began to thrust, far, far too fast. He tried to slow but it was hopeless, she had to be his. Their eyes remained locked and he thrilled with her gasping cry each time he buried himself completely within. “Feel it, dearest!” He panted and kissed her open mouth. “Know how I love you! I want all of you!”
Feeling utterly possessed, Elizabeth voiced the exhilaration she was feeling as the rising tide built in the burning spot where their bodies joined again and again, and moaned as she gripped him harder and tighter, She clutched his shoulders as her eyes squeezed shut. “Oh …oh Fitzwilliam, I love you!” Darcy experienced every moment of her ecstasy, her muscles tight grip suddenly relaxed and he felt triumph with the achievement of her ultimate release. Her cries were music to him and he kissed her with joy when her eyes opened to meet his again.
Elizabeth stroked his back and the reassuring touch signalled that he could at last let go. She watched his face transform, exulted in his uncontrolled cry of passion and was elated when he pulsed inside of her. Darcy collapsed and turned to cuddle her while remaining buried within. They stayed entwined as they recovered; if anything they were wrapping themselves tighter together.
At last Darcy spoke hoarsely. “Are you well, Elizabeth? I have been thinking so hard of loving you.”
“I …I am well.” She breathed, and nestled against his shoulder. Her shape just naturally fit into his. Darcy’s heart was pounding, and he had no desire to let go. Elizabeth closed her eyes, concentrating on the way that their bodies were joined, and remembered every word of instruction that had been uttered to her. Nobody had mentioned this continued connection. “Fitzwilliam?”
“hmmm.” He sighed and held her closer. “Yes, my dear love?”
“How long do we remain this way?”
He smiled down at her. “This way? Do you mean unclothed?”
“No … I mean … joined.” She bit her lip and blushed.
Darcy chuckled. “Does it hurt?”
“No, not at all, I rather like being …” She paused and Darcy felt ready to burst with pride and kissed her.
“Then do you mind if we stay?”
“No … I just was wondering …” He caressed her glowing cheeks with his lips, and she hid her face against his chest.
“Do you like what we just experienced?” He asked softly as he stroked her back. “I promise; we will learn how to love each other so it will be better.”
“Better? I … I am hardly competent, but …I am overwhelmed with the feelings you …” She jumped when she felt him move within her. “What was that?” Elizabeth whispered.
“That was me, liking very much what you said.” Darcy said quietly. “I am no expert either, love. I just know the benefit of edification. I hope you will desire me as much as I want you.” Slowly stroking his hand up and over her breasts, he groaned. “Oh darling, they are so soft!” Elizabeth gasped then laughed when he buried his face between them and blew noisily against her skin. Darcy looked up to smile at her. “More?”
“More silliness?” She held his face in her hands and kissed him. “Please.”
“Mmm, it is time that you are tasted properly.” Elizabeth watched in fascination as he began to suckle her and moaned. “I think that I will happily spend my life nibbling upon you.” He raised his chest and rested on his hands, looking over her. His eyes drifted down to her flat belly, wondering if it would someday be swelled with their baby, then down to where his hips rested on hers, and lifting them back to withdraw, watched as he slid back inside of his home. Darcy shuddered and grew hard instantly. “More dearest?”
Elizabeth opened her arms and he contentedly settled into his place. “Teach me.” Her hands caressed back the hair that fell around his eyes. “Teach me how to love you.”
“Touch me.” He whispered. “Please touch me.” Drawing his head down she suckled his lips, and as his mouth opened, she did the same for his tongue. Darcy drowned in the pleasure of her attention and hardly felt Elizabeth’s nudge so they separated and lay side by side. When she released his mouth he found that she had moved her lips down his chest to kiss then lick his tight nipples. “Oh, Elizabeth …” All over his body her hands roamed, and reawakening to his intention, he rolled them over to love her again. Darcy kissed her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, and finally hovered over her softly smiling lips. “I think dearest, that you have much to teach me.”
Elizabeth’s tongue tenderly touched his. “I have already learned that all I want is you.”
Chapter 28
“Good morning.” Elizabeth whispered to her sleeping husband. She had managed to extricate herself from his possessive embrace and carefully sliding backwards, her feet found the floor and she stood for the first time since he had carried her to their bed, nearly twelve hours earlier. Sleep was not the main occupation that night. She discovered quickly that Fitzwilliam Darcy was a very passionate man and where in other places in his life he was reticent; here in the privacy of their chambers, he was warm and loving, even silly, and eager to demonstrate his feelings to her. As she slowly straightened, her body acknowledged the fact that she was a maiden no more. “Oh my.” She touched her belly; and shaking her head at the man sleeping peacefully, smiled. “You look far too innocent, Fitzwilliam Darcy!” Elizabeth found her nightdress folded neatly at the end of the bed, then quietly left to enjoy the new luxury of a water closet. Remembering her aunt’s instructions, she washed herself and applied the soothing balm that had been packed away with her clothes. When finished, she took up a brush to detangle her much-caressed hair, and at last saw herself clearly in the mirror. “Oh dear!” Elizabeth bent closer and touched her skin. “What have you done to me?” She was covered with red spots all over her throat and shoulders. Pulling her gown away; she examined her breasts, finding small bruises, all perfectly formed in the shape of Darcy’s mouth. She closed her eyes with the memory of his kisses and bites of passion. Elizabeth shivered, and hugged herself, and was not at all surprised to feel his hands slipping around her waist, and those same gentle loving lips retracing their way through the path he had forged the long night before.
“I woke and you were gone.” He said softly as she leaned into his arms. “I was afraid that this was all a dream.”
“What convinced you otherwise?” She smiled up to him.
“Well, there is a great deal of evidence of your presence and our activity in the room.” He smiled to see her blush and hugged her. “I rang to have fresh sheets put on, and have called for bath water and breakfast.”
“Both sound wonderful, we haven’t eaten since the wedding breakfast.”
“How do you feel?” Darcy looked at their reflection. “It was a …busy night.”
“To say the least.” Elizabeth laughed to see his face light up. “I am very aware of how busy it was. I am afraid that neither of us have had much sleep.”
“Is it painful? I am sorry. If it makes you feel better, I am feeling the effect of the exercise as well.” He laughed to see a triumphant gleam in her eye. “And what is that for, Mrs. Darcy?”
“It is only fair that you feel something! Look at what you have done to me!” She touched all of his love bites and glared. “How can I go out looking like this? How can I face my maid?”
“Your maid is well-paid to not say a word, and …what makes you think that we have anywhere to go?” Darcy whispered in her ear, “In my experience, the most effective method to relieve the soreness of an overused muscle is to exercise it frequently.”
“Oh?” Elizabeth shivered when his hands lowered to rest over her centre and began to rub, “ohhhh.”
Darcy nibbled her neck and raised the hem of her night dress to her waist, then slipped his hands between her thighs. “mmmmmm.”
“Fitzwill …”
Darcy began to lift her gown up over her head, and she clutched it, holding it down. “What is wrong?” He stopped his movement immediately and instead drew her back to rest against his chest. Studying her reflection he saw her eyes were cast down and she was blushing. “Elizabeth?”
“Please do not look at me.”
His brow creased and he held her tighter. “Why?”
“I am not … please do not look at me.”
“Dearest, I spent the better part of the night looking at you, what has changed?”
“That was in the dark, and you were holding me.” She whispered and hugged herself.
“Sweetheart, I know that it is hard to believe, but I could see you very well, and I loved everything.” He turned her around and resumed holding her, and kissed her forehead. “I know that you grew up hearing how unattractive you are, but remember, I fell in love with you even before you became the breathtaking woman you are now.” He tilted his head to see her eyes. “You do not believe me, do you?”
“No.”
Darcy remembered Mr. Gardiner once telling him that Elizabeth would want to hear his reassurance but would probably never accept it. Closing his eyes and kissing her hair, he thought about how to help her. “I have an idea.” He let her go and untied the robe he had slipped on, and let it fall to the floor. Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide to see his completely nude and very aroused body so clearly in the early morning sunshine. “There, look at me, dearest. I am not embarrassed for my wife to see me.” Reaching forward, he took her hands and rubbed them over his skin. “I am not embarrassed for you to touch me.” He lifted her chin so that she looked up and pointed to his neck. “And I am not at all embarrassed to carry the mark of your love.”
“Your clothes cover from head to toe! There is no comparison!” She protested.
Darcy smiled, seeing that he was distracting her from her thoughts. “Of course there is a comparison! Not every one of these marks will be covered by a cravat! My hair is not as long as yours.” He ran his fingers through the freshly brushed tresses. “No, your hair …”
“Is worn up, if you recall!”
“But you have a new maid who is familiar with the latest styles. I am sure that she will be very creative with you.” His lips twitched while she thought it over, and he stepped closer. “Now, shall I don my robe?”
Elizabeth startled from her musings and frowned. “Why?”
“Because you have not joined me.” He tugged lightly at her gown, “unless you would care to?” Not hearing a protest he lifted the gown over her head and it fluttered to the floor. “So very beautiful, my love.” Turning her around, they faced the mirror and he rested his chin on her shoulder as he embraced her waist. “Look dearest, each one of these marks means something.”
“What do you mean?” She sighed as his hands glided over her.
His lips brushed over her silky shoulders. “mmm, I will explain. This on your throat makes you sigh, and this one on your shoulder, makes you moan my name.” His caressing fingers moved up to fondle her breasts. “This one makes you shiver.” Back up his lips traced to her throat and just below her ear. “And this one, my dearest love, I have learned will make you find heaven if I kiss you just right.” Suckling her there, she pressed back against him. “More?” He whispered.
“Please.”
He smiled and caressed his hands over her, shoulders to waist, and gently rubbed and tweaked her nipples. “Now, Elizabeth, do you know what I see?”
“What?” She whispered and concentrated her gaze on his hands.
“The only woman in the world I ever want to love me again.” He smiled as she blushed. “And do you not think that when making such an important choice, I would want to do so wisely?”
“So you are saying that if I disagree with you, I would be calling you a fool?” Her eyes lit up and he grinned, and rubbed his hips against her.
“I leave it to you. Am I a fool or a wise man? Which do you prefer to call Husband?”
“No woman would admit to loving a fool.” Elizabeth stated with conviction.
“Then my logic is proven. If I am a wise man and I chose one woman to be in my embrace for the rest of my life, and you are in fact my wife, then … you are lovely.”
Elizabeth sighed to feel his lips at work on her throat and his hands smoothly gliding up and over her stomach and breasts. Her voice caught as she tried to maintain her composure. “Mr. Darcy, your theory must be flawed somewhere, but I will not choose to argue with you.”
Darcy smiled into her shoulder to see her spirit return, and continued to touch her, tracing his fingers down to wander through her dark curls, and stroking steadily over her tender centre. “Look dearest, look at us. It is beautiful.” When Darcy softly suckled beneath her ear, Elizabeth gasped to feel the fire travelling upwards through her body. Withdrawing his moistened fingers, he turned her around to hold her face in his hands and kissed her deeply, then bent to scoop her up in his arms. “Come back to bed with me.”
Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck and delicately traced her tongue over his lips while he moaned. “What of the baths?”
He laughed and kissed her soundly. “Oh … I forgot. I think that a bath for two would be ideal. I cannot wait to experience a wet Elizabeth.” He raked his eyes over her flushed form and then stared fixedly at her glistening thighs. “At least, an Elizabeth wet from something other than me.”
IT WAS SEVERAL HOURS LATER THAT THE COUPLE, now clean and fed, wandered hand in hand around the house. Darcy was dressed in trousers and a shirt; wearing slippers that Georgiana had bought him but had never worn, having never felt the freedom to be so relaxed outside of his bedchamber before. Elizabeth was wearing a simple morning dress; her stays remained in her dressing room. It was very comfortable to her and a very alluring gift for her husband.
“What do you think? It is only right that you put your mark on the house.”
“I have, I helped with the bed chamber.”
“But there are your private rooms. You have a sitting room for receiving guests, and your own study.” He led the way inside. “You see?”
“Oh.” She looked around and he hugged her.
“What is wrong, my love?”
“I know so little of what is to be done.” She said quietly. “I am ill-prepared for the position I have accepted.”
“No more ill-prepared than I was two years ago when Father died.” He said just as softly. “Dearest, I am just barely feeling confident now, and I admit, only to you, that I have moments of great panic.” Elizabeth looked up to see his honesty clearly in his expression. “I was so concerned when news of the fire came. I was certain that the house was gone, and grateful that Layton came with me. I wished for you to be there, too.”
“I could have done little but hold your hand.” She brushed back his hair and he smiled.
“But you see; that is what I needed.” Darcy hugged her tightly. “I know so little of the houses. I meant to learn all those things this winter from Mrs. Reynolds. Perhaps we can learn together, but by then, you will be the one teaching me.”
“Your confidence is gratifying.” Elizabeth rested her head on his chest and listened to his heart. “I … I enjoyed answering letters in your study.”
“You did?” He looked down. “Would you like to work together there?”
“I would be in your way.”
“Only if you were sitting in my chair.” He chuckled and kissed her nose. “I will gladly give you a place to work, but … I love my chair.”
“We will leave it to whoever arrives first.” Elizabeth announced. Then with a glint in her eye, she tore away from his embrace and took off down the hallway, “I think it will be me!”
DARCY SLOWLY OPENED HIS EYES and happily rubbed his face in Elizabeth’s hair, then looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms. “I love you so much.” He whispered, and sighed as she burrowed closer into his shoulder. Glancing across the room, he noticed the clock, and that two hours had passed since her escape and their torrid loving in his father’s chair. He looked around the room, imagining where she could put her things, not even really knowing what her duties would be. She whispered his name in her sleep and he smiled broadly. At last his gaze fell on the invitations and letters that had arrived since he left for Pemberley. Everything had to be rescheduled, but … not today. The only invitation that was mandatory to accept was the Creary ball.
“Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy.” He practiced the announcement as he imagined entering the ballroom. “May I introduce my wife, Elizabeth Darcy?” He smiled and hugged her closer. “My wife.”
“What are you speaking about, Husband?”
He found her sparkling eyes were open and smiling at him. “I am happy.”
“I am as well.” She kissed his chin. “Am I too heavy for you? Do you need to change positions?”
“What do you have in mind?” He tightened his hold. “I am not letting go.”
“There is a chaise in the library, I noticed.” She smiled and looked over at the book on his desk. “Perhaps you could read to me from that handsome volume.”
Darcy followed her eyes and his lips pursed. “I brought that back with me from Pemberley.”
“What is it?”
He reached for it and it opened automatically to a certain page. “Read.”