“Me too.”
A pause. “Want to take one together? Save some water?”
Will’s lips twitched. “For the good of the environment?”
“Of course. And you did mention last night that it was on your to-do list.”
He couldn’t help himself. He grinned. “You’re stalling.”
“And angling for shower sex. Is it working?”
Will all but flew to his feet and seized her by the wrist. “This is the last distraction,” he told her as he dragged her into the bathroom. “After this—”
“Coffee,” Elizabeth said, twisting on the shower.
“Coffee,” he agreed, hiking her into his arms as a spray of water hit his back.
“And breakfast.” She took his cock into her small, perfect hand and pressed the head against her clit before slipping him down to where he wanted to be.
“Most important meal of the day,” Will agreed. His words ended on a sigh as he slid into her pussy. “Shower. Coffee. Breakfast.”
“Then talk.” The words came out a moan.
“Uh huh,” he agreed before nipping at her breast. “Then we’ll talk.”
By the time they tumbled out of the shower, the water had gone cold.
It was the best start to a day Will had ever experienced.
* * *
Elizabeth hadn’t had many conversations that were anticipated by both parties. She’d rehearsed conversations she’d wanted to have and ended up having meaningful talks she hadn’t planned, but finding the right balance when both people knew they needed to talk was just awkward. The air itself felt charged, almost sentient.
But one of them had to be the one to broach the subject, and since she had quite literally landed on his doorstep and was invading his space—no matter how much he seemed to like having his space invaded—it only seemed fair that she be the one to bite the bullet.
She waited until Will settled on the opposite end of the porch swing, coffee in hand, before forcing her throat to work.
“My parents separated right after I graduated high school.”
Will paused, his mug halfway to his lips. “I knew your folks weren’t together anymore.”
“Well, yes, that’s the short version. The not-so-short version involves my father essentially dumping on me and my mom that he’d been unhappy in the relationship for years and had wanted out, but felt he owed it to me to give me a normal childhood.”
Will snorted, and her affection for him went up a couple dozen notches. “What’s normal?”
“Right? Such a dick move.” Elizabeth shivered, crossing her arms. “Thing is, I was… I am very close to my dad. I take after him, which scares me stupid sometimes. He and I seemed to have a secret language. He was always reading, attending lectures, broadening his horizons—things like that. My mom couldn’t have possibly cared less. And the really shitty part is I used to be in on the joke with him—we’d roll our eyes whenever she’d start in on something that annoyed us. But I thought that was what it was—a joke. At the end of the day, I thought he loved her like I do. That my parents really were opposites who had and continued to attract. Then after I’ve graduated, he comes clean, says he wants out, and my mom is just…devastated.”
Will set his coffee aside and shifted to look more directly at her. He didn’t say anything, just drew her hair over her shoulder, comforting her with touch.
“What Dad didn’t expect was this to be a bombshell announcement, which remains one of the dumber things he’s ever told me. He didn’t realize he was upending my life as much as hers.” Elizabeth pressed her lips together. “My mom had a massive nervous breakdown. She was… She needed help for a long time. I put college on hold. Well, I tried to go at first but she called me every five minutes and eventually got herself hospitalized, so I dropped out and made her my priority. I realized last year that if I didn’t make my education a priority now I never would, and I’d already put my life on hold for too damn long. I felt like a shit, but I needed to do what was right for me.”
“That’s not what I would call being a shit.”
“Well, thank you.” She raised her coffee mug to her mouth and took a healthy sip. “Last week, right before break, was my parents’ wedding anniversary. My dad called to let me know he couldn’t get a hold of Mom. He knows that… She’s had episodes around this time of year, and this year was going to be really bad because he’s probably going to tie the knot with his girlfriend sometime soon. So he called her to make sure she was okay.” Elizabeth shook her head, her gut clenching. “Normally something I do, but I was too wrapped up in my own problems for the date to sink in. Anyway, to make a long story short, I hopped a plane to Florida when I couldn’t reach her, either. I’m on her account and saw that her debit card had been used there recently.”
“You…just dropped everything and went to Florida.”
“In my defense, I was running on negative sleep reserves, stressed to the max about finals and distracted—” Elizabeth bit her tongue to keep the truth from spilling out, but one look in Will’s direction convinced her to put everything on the table. They were trying this for real, weren’t they? This honesty thing? “I was distracted because you suddenly were just…gone.”
Will’s eyebrows winged upward. “That distracted you?”
“Boy howdy.”
“I…” He frowned. “I want to say I’m sorry—”
“But you’re human and I kinda had it coming.”
“That’s not what I mean—”
“But it’s fair. I was… God, Will, I was so freaking dumb. And that kills me because I am not a dumb person.”
“Elizabeth—”
She held up a hand, forcing a smile. “We’ll get there. Let me get through this first.”
He tightened his jaw but nodded.
“Anyway, I got to Florida and realized that I am not an ace detective.” She shook her head, a somewhat hysterical laugh bubbling off her lips. “And wonder of wonders, my mother decided that was the time to call, right about the time I had a freaking meltdown on the freeway. Long story short, she’s off on an exotic vacation, now engaged to this multibillionaire who owns a bunch of casinos—Benito Delgado.”
Will blinked. “Your mother’s marrying Benito Delgado.”
“Yeah. She apparently won his heart after refusing to accept a check when she hit a jackpot.” Elizabeth laughed again, this time with more feeling. “The short story is, when I decided to go to college for real, Mom realized I meant business and actually got some help. She’s been seeing a therapist and is on medication. I’m happy for her, but I also… It just seems like I resented her for so long, giving up years of my life to support her, and the one thing that pushed her to get better was me not being there anymore.”
The chair creaked as Will slid closer to her, wrapped his arm around her. His now-familiar scent hit her nostrils, awakening parts of her body she honestly hadn’t thought worked properly until he’d come into her life. It wasn’t that she’d had bad sex—well, she had, but she’d also had really good sex. With Will, though… She didn’t know how to describe it, except it felt different.
It felt like more than sex. And though she’d tried to deny it, it had since the beginning.
He kissed her brow. “I think, more than anything, that shows you how much she needed you. That without you she had no choice but to do the work herself.”
“Yeah, and if I’d gone off the first time? Maybe she would’ve been happy these last few years.”
“Maybe, but probably not.” Will shrugged when she looked at him. “All you can do is guess. My guess would be that the help you gave her during those years is what enabled her to make that decision. If she hadn’t had that…”
Elizabeth’s eyes stung. She sniffed and tried to blink away her tears, but that did no good. “I really didn’t mean to go all sob story on you,” she said. “But that’s a part of why I ended up in Derbyshire. Mom and I reconnected and she told me to take some time for myself be
fore I went back to campus. She gave me money—a lot of money, actually, and… Well, I just started slowly making my way back to Meryton. She’s the one who pointed me at Derbyshire, and…the name sounded familiar. Now for obvious reasons. It was in your email.”
At that, Will tensed. It was the first time either one of them had mentioned it.
“I can’t say I didn’t come here because of you, but I wasn’t thinking about it. I booked with Hunsford House because they had an opening and I was planning on doing the bulk of my drive back to campus on Christmas. Figured there wouldn’t be much traffic.”
“And what were you going to do when you got there?” Will asked. “Spring semester doesn’t start until mid-January.”
“Probably ruminate over my life choices to an unhealthy degree.” Elizabeth swallowed, her eyes growing heavy again. There was little to no chance she was going to get through this next bit without crying. “I am so sorry, Will.”
“Elizabeth—
”Sorry doesn’t really cut it, actually. I was such an idiot and that just kills me.”
“I was an idiot too. I don’t think you have the market cornered on regret.”
“Yeah, but Wickham? I get snowed by a guy like that?”
Will sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “He can be…charming.”
Yeah. Like a car salesmen. It was a miracle she hadn’t walked away with untold gallons of snake oil to unload. Elizabeth shook her head again. “And I thought I was so smart.”
“You are. Elizabeth, I think you’re the smartest person I know.”
“But—”
“Being smart doesn’t make you immune. I am not humoring you when I say Wickham’s charming. His being charming is how he gets to be out there with other people rather than behind bars somewhere.”
“Where he belongs.”
“He had me fooled for years. And Georgiana.” He paused. “Georgiana is the other smartest person I know. And no one has punished her more for what happened than she has. She believed the wrong person. So did you.”
“And took it out on you,” Elizabeth said.
“As much as I’d like to think I was perfect, I was an ass to you too.” When she looked at him, she found his gaze focused on a spot on the pavement. “My assuming I could change what you wanted just because I wanted you to want something else.”
Did? Elizabeth swallowed but didn’t comment. She wasn’t ready to know the answer to that question.
“The parts of you that I enjoy the most are also the parts that I’m…not used to, with the women I’ve been with,” he continued. “You’re so open and passionate. You don’t shrink from a fight and you don’t seem to care what people think. That intimidated the hell out of me. It still does. And I treated that like it needed to be fixed.”
“I could use some restraining from time to time.”
Will shook his head. “No. You don’t need to change who you are to make other people comfortable.” He cleared his throat. “And what I said about you sleeping with me even though—”
“Will, it’s not necessary—”
“You’re passionate. And you are not shy about sex.” He paused, smirking. “Unless you’ve been busted by my sister.”
Elizabeth snickered and nudged his shoulder with hers. “Don’t think you can talk.”
“I almost think it was worth it just to watch you go that shade of red.”
“That’s a one-time thing, my friend.”
“I’m not going to ask you to prove it.” Will kissed her temple again, his lips lingering this time. “I’ve seen what happens when you grow up repressed,” he continued a moment later. “While my parents weren’t bible thumpers, they did shy around topics like this. And god knows I did after they were gone. I wasn’t about to give Georgie the birds and the bees talk, so I ignored the fact that she was a girl until it was too late. But in my head, sex was always that thing you did and never talked about. And you only did with people you at least liked. Or at least…didn’t hate.”
“Parts of me liked you a lot,” Elizabeth offered. Another pause. “I never hated you. Not really. That was part of the problem.”
“But you didn’t like me.”
“When I first met you, I thought you were a trust-fund baby who’d never heard the word no, or had the right type of legal team to make sure anyone who told you no disappeared.” She exhaled. “You’re hot and you have a ton of money. In my book that means you can’t be a good person.”
“You think I’m hot?”
“I think you know you’re hot.”
“It’s nice to hear it, either way.” Will favored her with a grin before his face turned serious again. “I’m glad you’re here. However it is you got here.”
Elizabeth pressed her lips together, shivered. “You mean it?”
“Oh yes.” Heat flared behind his eyes before he lowered his gaze to her mouth. “Best Christmas gift I could ever have asked for is you…being here.”
“You’re just a glutton for punishment.”
“Maybe. But if you’re doling out the punishment, I’ll take it.” He dipped his head and caught her in a kiss before she could blink. It was soft and sweet, but full of promise of things yet to come.
It was then it struck her how deep she was in this—whatever this was between them. Elizabeth released a low, steady breath, fear racing with excitement and other things she wasn’t quite ready to name. Will Darcy was someone she thought she could love, given enough time, and that was terrifying. Because love gave people power to hurt, to crush, destroy, and until right then, she hadn’t been sure she believed in it anymore.
But damn, he made her want to believe that what she’d found here could last in the real world. Yet everything that had happened since she’d stepped out of her rental car on Pemberley’s drive felt like something out of a storybook. This kind of thing simply didn’t happen to real people, and it certainly didn’t happen to her. How could anything here be sustainable?
It wasn’t just Will, either. It was his home, his sister, everything she’d learned since she’d been here. Squeaky clean and easy, and impossible to trust.
But she wanted to.
And that scared her more than anything.
35
She fit. Into every damn thing. Such that he was beginning to dread the inevitable day when she told him she had to leave. If he had his way, she’d stay right up until the start of the new semester.
Elizabeth belonged here. In his bed, his home, his life.
On Christmas Eve, Will and Georgiana typically exchanged Christmas presents and did the whole “leave cookies for Santa” routine as had been started by their mother. Invariably, they got each other a set of Christmas pajamas—another tradition their mother had implemented—and concluded the evening with a fireside reading of T’was the Night Before Christmas.
Never before had anyone else been present for this. It was a Will and Georgie thing, a way to keep their parents’ spirit alive, especially during a time when it was easier to feel their absence. Will had worried briefly that Georgiana would object to anyone joining in their private celebration, but his sister had insisted that Elizabeth take part.
She’d also made sure that Elizabeth had something to unwrap, though her Christmas jammies were a far cry from the traditional flannel awfulness they usually exchanged.
Will’s sister had bought his girlfriend a bona fide Santa teddy. White fluffy lining, sheer red fabric, and a black bow keeping the brassier together. Oh, and a matching thong.
Elizabeth, thankfully, had burst out laughing and tackled Georgiana in a bear hug. Which was fortunate, because he might have otherwise had to kill her.
That night, however, Will couldn’t say he begrudged his sister one little bit. When he walked into his bedroom to find Elizabeth in nothing but a scrap of red satin, he’d pretty much set the new mark for best Christmas ever.
“Fuck,” he said, stopping short of the threshold. “You look…”
There weren’t en
ough words in the English language to describe how she looked. The hem of the nightie—if it could even be called a nightie—barely kissed the top of Elizabeth’s thighs, leaving him no choice but to admire the smooth skin of her legs. Her breasts were supported by a built-in brassiere which did little to keep her rosy nipples from staring at him through the thin fabric. His eyes drew southward, past those soft, perfect globes and to the valley between her legs.
She wore panties, though they were even thinner than the teddy—the teddy that was lined with white rabbit fur along the bottom hem and across the neckline. Panties that, like the brassiere, accentuated rather than supported. Her pussy was at the mercy of his hungry eyes, and Will found himself torn between tackling her to the bed or standing like an open-mouthed dolt who couldn’t keep from staring. In the end, the latter won out. She was a wet dream come to life and all he could do was look at her. Stand and look at her, achingly aware of the painful hardening of his cock and the way he couldn’t seem to move his jaw from where it had landed on the floor.
“I was feeling particularly festive tonight,” she said, grinning. “And since I didn’t get you a present, I thought…”
“You are my present.”
“That’s the general idea.” Elizabeth took a step forward, her dark eyes going darker in a way that betrayed her own arousal, and Will had to force his feet to keep from moving, because knowing that she was turned on was its own special aphrodisiac.
“There’s something I want to do,” she said, hooking a finger into the waistband of his jeans to pull him forward, and he gave up the fight without even trying. Hell, he damn near stumbled in his urgency.
“Looking like that, you can do whatever you like.”
“When I did this the first time, it was to win.” She coaxed his shirt over his head before dropping her hands to his chest, making his skin sizzle. “I want to do it now because I… I like you. A lot. And I like making you feel good.”
A half moan peeled from Will’s lips. “I… I don’t know what to say to that.”
A Higher Education Page 38
