by Wells, Linda
“Will!” She cried and laughed, and he looked up to her with a blissful smile. Taking his head in her hands, she kissed him. “You are mad!”
Caressing over the soft, beautiful skin he kissed her. “I have dreamed of these, and here you have … oh love.” He smiled stupidly and then scooped her up in his arms.
She squealed and laughed when he bit her throat. “Fitzwilliam!”
Adams appeared and was about to announce the availability of bath water when he saw his master drop the mistress on the bed, and rip off his shirt to her cheer of approval. Wide-eyed, he hurriedly shut the dressing room door, and directed the housemaids to start carrying the buckets of water back downstairs.
Darcy removed Elizabeth’s half-boots and stockings and kneeled above her, staring down at her nude body, “Look at you.” His warm hands caressed over her shoulders and breasts, then surrounded their baby. He leaned and kissed her round belly. “I am home, my child.” Looking up to her he had tears in his eyes. “How could I leave my family?”
“Fitzwilliam.” Elizabeth sat up and reached for his breeches, unbuttoning them and sliding them down his hips. “Come to bed.”
“Of course.” He turned and sitting on the edge, tugged and pulled, then hung his head in frustration. “My boots will not budge. I have too many pairs of socks on.” Elizabeth moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She kissed his ear and watched him try again. “I will have to call for Adams.”
“Nonsense.” She climbed off of the bed and straddling his leg, bent down and lifted the boot, then looked back at him. “Come on then, you know what to do.”
Darcy sat motionless, staring at the sight of his nude wife, her bottom lifted high in the air, her glistening mound open and waiting for him, and her face, surrounded by tumbled down hair, looking back at him expectantly. He caught his breath and bunched the counterpane in his hands to stop from grabbing her and burying his shaft into the welcoming sight that second. “Lizzy …”
“Fitzwilliam, as often as I have imagined my naked husband striding around our chambers wearing nothing but his Hessians and a salute, I would rather feel his toes on my legs than leather.” She laughed and he woke from the journey into his imagination, and blushed. “What were you thinking?”
Placing one boot on her bottom, he smiled. “Pull these bloody things off and you will find out.” With a few tugs, Elizabeth ripped the boot from his foot and toppled onto the floor. “Elizabeth!” Darcy stood and started to come after her.”
“No, no!” She laughed and tossed it aside. “One more!” She again assumed the position of his valet and laughing, he placed his sock-covered foot on her bottom, and this time the second boot slid off without too much trouble. Elizabeth straightened and dropped it. “Now then. I am cold.”
He grabbed her waist and drew her between his legs, and happily began kissing her throat. “I see that, love.” His lips wandered down her breasts to find the tight, erect nipples waiting for his tongue. He suckled and nibbled, and ran his hands up and over her body. She moaned and he looked down to see the series of strawberries all over her skin. “Look dear.” He kissed her lips.
“I have a feeling that I am going to be covered with love bites very soon.” Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed. Darcy fell backwards on the bed, taking her with him, and they lay together, kissing softly. “Nobody will see us for months.”
“I feel free to decorate you most liberally.” He smiled and ran his hands over her. “You feel so different.”
“I have a feeling that positions like this will become a thing of memory before too long.” She caressed his hair from his eyes. Darcy ran his fingers through her dark tresses and studied her face, then in one swift movement rolled them over so he lay above her, still maintaining the contact, but mindful of the baby. “It seems that you have some ideas.” She laughed.
“You certainly gave plenty of inspiration in your letters.” He quickly slipped the rest of his clothing off, then returned to kiss her slowly. Feeling her hand gliding over him, he watched as she guided his length back into its home. “Ohhhhhhhhhh, yesssss.”
“You wrote to me how much you missed our lovemaking, Will.” Elizabeth suckled his lips, then held his face in her hands and stared into his eyes. “I wish that you could know the joy it brings to me.”
“Oh sweet Elizabeth, I am so lost without you.” Darcy began moving steadily. Elizabeth raised her hips, meeting him stroke for stroke, building their motion. Their heartbeats in unison, their breath rasping, their mouths devoured each other, and the loving couple easily found their rhythm once again, and very quickly found bliss. Afterwards they lay spooned together under the blankets, kissing and touching, whispering together. Darcy laid his hands over the baby, and jumped when he felt the movement. Elizabeth placed her hands over his and turned to see his face. Their eyes met and he nuzzled her ear, drinking in her scent. “I have no words for this.”
Elizabeth kissed the bare skin of his chest, “This is what I missed so much, being surrounded by you.” They closed their eyes and dozed together, and eventually fell soundly asleep for the first time in weeks. When Darcy blinked awake, he took in her peaceful face and hugging her, let his gaze travel over the familiar room. He noticed a handkerchief with his initials peeking out from beneath a pillow, and wondered if Elizabeth had slept with the token while he was away. Carefully manoeuvring his hands, he managed to snag it. But not before her eyes fluttered open. “oh.”
He smiled and peeked at her. “What is this, love?”
She blushed then lifted her chin. “Smell it.”
Lifting it up to his nose he bit his lip and blushed with her. “Sandalwood. Lizzy … You truly missed me.”
Her eyes grew wide. “I thought that I made that clear already.”
Hurriedly, he gave her a squeeze. “You did, love, you did … It is just so wonderful to have it confirmed so … Dearest, I slept with your lavender sachets under my pillow.”
“You did? Oh Will!” Elizabeth squeezed his hands, then began to giggle.
Darcy kissed her shoulder. “What is it?”
“I had contemplated our reunion and for some reason I imagined a trail of clothes leading from the front door, up the steps, and us not even making the bedchamber before we succumbed to some ferocious expression of desire against a wall in a hallway.”
“Well that certainly would have drawn the attention of the staff.” He chuckled and hugging her waist, rubbed his burgeoning erection against her bottom. “Do you know what I imagined?”
“Tell me.”
“I thought that you would be waiting for me.” He pinched her nipple and she pushed her hips back. “And I thought that we would fall into each other’s arms, then I would carry you up the stairs, drop you on the bed and ravish you the first time …”
“The first time?”
“Yes.” He kissed her ear. “The first time, before we even undressed. Then the second time as we bathed together, the third as we returned to our bed, the fourth as we fed each other, the fifth when I woke you in the night, the sixth when you woke me …”
Elizabeth laughed and turning in his arms, pressed her fingers to his lips. “You are full of glorious ideas. Shall we take them in order?”
“No, I have a new idea.” Darcy kissed her then licked his lips. “Mmm.”
“Does it involve a pair of recalcitrant boots?” She giggled as his eyes lit up.
“We can forgo the boots, if you will just … bend over for me?” He asked hopefully.
“Whatever you want, love.” Elizabeth laughed when he whipped off the covers and jumped to his feet, then reached to pull her up. She resisted his tug and he stopped to see what was wrong. “I will gladly be your valet if you will be my mount.”
A brilliant grin appeared and he lifted her up and off of the bed. Standing behind her, he stroked his hands down her shoulders and murmured in her ear as he covetously caressed her bottom. “I will take you on the ride of your
life.”
DARCY TURNED THE PAGE of Elizabeth’s journal, placed the ribbons to mark that he had read the daily descriptions of her life without him and closed the book, passing his hand over the cover. “If there was ever a doubt about your feelings for me it would have been banished with this reading.” He said tenderly, and thought of her last entry.
I miss you my Fitzwilliam. I miss the safety of your embrace. I miss your touch, your eyes, your beautiful voice, oh and your taste. I miss drinking the wine from your tongue and the sugar from your loins. I miss the scent of one man. I miss your cries of passion, I miss feeling your body tremble under my fingertips and I miss the feel of you coming into me. You speak of the warmth of entering me, but it can be nothing compared to the heat of receiving you. I am empty without you, love. Come as soon as you are able, I ache to be filled once again.
“We are too shy to speak these things out loud.” He smiled then chuckled. “The safety of our private thoughts first spoken only to ourselves, but now I have no doubt that we will be discussing them in depth.”
Setting the book aside, he glanced at the work piled on his desk. “There is so much to do here.” He began looking through the letters then let them drop, instead drifting back into the memory of that morning, when he spied her lying in bed when he woke, already in possession of his journal and catching up on his entries. Hearing her laugh, Darcy looked up when he noticed Elizabeth entering the room with the book in hand.
“What were you reminiscing about?”
“How happy I am to be here.” He smiled and stood.
“I marked an entry that I liked very much.” She blushed and watched as he opened the book and moved the ribbon aside.
To be without her is to be without my heart. To spend a day without once hearing her laughter is to be without the sun. To spend an evening without her voice is to be bereft of music. To spend a night without her touch is to be so very cold. I want you to hold me, dear Elizabeth. I want to come home and feel you hold me.
Elizabeth leaned against his chest to listen to his heart beating steadily, while she wrapped her arms around him. “I was feeling so low then.” He whispered, and kissed her hair.
“Do you feel better now? I do.” She looked up to see him smile. “I could use some sleep, though.”
Darcy laughed and kissed her. “I imagine that we both could.” Hugging her tightly he kissed her again. “Shall we begin? We have many subjects to discuss, and not all are matters of the heart, it was a busy time for you.”
She smiled and kissed his nose. “I will take such pleasure in the peace of being alone with you. I enjoyed our family being here, but I was not sorry to see them go.”
“I am grateful that they kept you company, dearest.” He said seriously. “Keeping guests happy was a distraction, it seems.”
“It was, and it was good to know Alicia and Stephen better, and Mr. Bingley as well for as long as he stayed.”
“He left when Jane did?” Darcy kissed her hair and they swayed gently together.
“No, he left when he received a letter from Miss Bingley.” She looked up to smile at him. “But we suspected you would return before long, so he felt that I no longer needed his exuberant cheer.”
“Hmm.” They remained embraced in companionable silence until Darcy continued the conversation. “Bingley told me before I left that he had appointed himself your protector in my stead.” He added softly, “He is very fond of his role as your big brother.” Feeling her laugh he looked down to see her smile.
“Well then my brother has his hands full with his other sister. Miss Bingley is difficult, I gather.”
“What has she done now?”
“Nothing new, I just feel for the poor man. She is ready to return to town and try again, and does not wish to wait for spring. I imagine the gossip over her faux pas with Wickham has died, she can only be seen as a victim now that he is convicted and to be sent away. Mr. Bingley left for Scarborough and will retrieve her before returning to his brother’s home. She says that she has learned her lesson and will be sure of her suitor’s credentials, and will not set her sights quite so high in the future.”
“Ah.” Darcy smiled. “Her attitude has been adjusted, I see. Good for her. I hope that she finds a suitable mate, however, I am eternally grateful that I am married to you and will not be the subject of her interest.”
“I think that you know my opinion on that topic.” She laughed and he chuckled.
Tilting his head, he brushed a curl away from her eyes. “Tell me, does Bingley’s unending happiness ever grate your nerves?”
“No!” Elizabeth squeezed his bottom. “What a thing to say! I thought that you were grateful for his good humour!”
Darcy kissed her and squeezed her bottom in return. “I am love; I am, though I sometimes wish that he would be more serious.”
She sighed, “He is capable of it. We had a serious talk about Jane.”
“Yes, I saw that and was glad of it, why he would fear my reaction to him seeking your opinion … well I suppose that I have threatened him a few times.” He chuckled. “I read your story about his falling off of the horse; I look forward to teasing him about that.” He noted her silence. “What are you not telling me?”
Elizabeth glanced up to see his raised brows. “What do you mean?”
“Lizzy.”
“Oh all right, I mounted Richard and rode around the hedge to locate him.”
“Elizabeth!” He cried and stared at her. “No!”
“I am clearly well,” she said stubbornly, “and he needed me.” Darcy stared at her and she stared back. The contest of wills continued as they fought silently, then ended when he drew her in for a passionate kiss. Elizabeth caught her breath and lay her head back against his pounding heart and felt his arms tighten around her. “I will not ride again.”
“Thank you.” Darcy closed his eyes and kissed her forehead, then clearing his throat, continued where they had left off. “Bingley expressed his interest for Jane?”
“ummmhmm.” Elizabeth snuggled into his embrace and he resumed stroking her back. “What do you think of the match?”
“Is it a match?” He asked softly.
“You do not like Jane, do you? You are still uncomfortable around her.”
“It is difficult for me to reverse my opinion once formed, but I recognize her efforts and appreciate the changes she has made.” Hearing her sigh he whispered, “You will allow me that hesitation?” She nodded and he kissed her temple.
“You do not wish her for your friend, though?”
“You are as close to Bingley as I, my love, he is your friend, too. What are your thoughts?”
“I want them both to be happy in their choices. I want my sister to find who she needs and not try to imitate us or any other couple. I want her to be safe and cared for, but I will not try to do more. It is between them.”
“Do you feel that Bingley is serious in his thoughts of her?”
“I think that Mr. Bingley wishes for love and attention because he is not yet comfortable in his own skin.” She felt Darcy’s laugh rumble through his chest. “What did I say?”
“So because Bingley would rather spend his time dancing than in solitude with a book it means that he is not ready to settle down?”
“Is that what I said?”
“I think so.” Darcy kissed her tenderly and stroked his fingers over her cheek. “Not everyone is like us, love.”
“I like to dance.”
“But you like to be left alone as well.”
“So do you.”
“Hence my example.” He hugged her tightly. “If they can fulfil each other’s needs then I will be happy for them, but I think that in a case such as this, I will step away and watch.”
“No matchmaking by us.” Elizabeth whispered. “That will not stop your aunt and uncle, you know. They have plans.”
“Then we will offer our friendship to their victims, whatever the outcome.”
“LYDIA
, PAY ATTENTION.” Jane said quietly. “This is very important.”
“Why?” She sighed and looked wistfully outside while her mother climbed out of the carriage. “I wanted to go to Meryton!”
“You have lessons.”
“This is all Lizzy’s fault! She is the one who made Papa think of school! I do not want to go to school, and I do not want to read! Why is that so important?” She slammed the book shut.
Kitty looked up from the drawing she was working on and whispered. “Do not let Papa hear you slam a book like that! He gets so mad if they are mishandled!”
“He loves them more than us.” Lydia’s bottom lip stuck out.
“Papa wants you to have as good of a life as you can, and that means that you must improve yourself.” Jane said patiently. “We all need to improve ourselves, and hopefully we will marry well.”
“Oh that is simple, all I need to do is smile, Mama said …”
“Lydia.” Jane said sternly. “Mama is wrong.” At last the girl’s attention was caught by the unprecedented tone in her sister’s voice. “You must have more than a smile.”
“Mama said that Mr. Harwick is marrying soon.” She said slyly. “You must be angry.”
“No, I am grateful. He is very much in love with Miss Stewart, he will be happy as he deserves to be.” She sighed. “I will find my future elsewhere, and you sister, should stop trying to provoke me and attend to your reading.” She pointed to the book. “Go ahead.”
Lydia wrinkled her nose. “You hate it as much as I do.”
“But I do it just the same.” Jane smiled. “Do you not wish to catch a man like Mr. Darcy?”
“No.” Lydia opened the book and started reading. “I just want a man in a red coat.”
Jane thought of Fitzwilliam and nodded. “Well, they can be quite appealing as well.”
“Do you know any?” Lydia asked eagerly.
“I do, and he is to be married very soon as well.” She tapped the book. “Read.”
“What are you girls doing?” Mrs. Bennet hurried into the room with Mrs. Gardiner following at a more sedate pace. “You know the Lucas’ are coming for dinner! Mary, where is she?”
