A Lady’s Choice

by Jane Hunter

  “Yes,” she replied quickly.

  With a quick motion, Mr. Darcy urged his mount forward and Elizabeth gasped as the animal broke into a canter. Elizabeth let out a little cry of surprise and leaned back against Mr. Darcy’s chest. This would be no gentle introduction to riding a horse such as this, but as the horse’s long strides took them through the apple grove, past the stables, and out into the rolling green hills of Pemberley’s wider estate, Elizabeth felt herself begin to relax.

  Mr. Darcy was right, after all, there were no prying eyes out here… no one to see them together. No one to question. And for the briefest of moments, Elizabeth allowed all of her feelings of confusion and desire flow through her once more. Mr. Darcy’s chest was hard and strong behind her shoulders, the arms that circled her and controlled the horse beneath them were corded with muscle.

  Would she be able to resist him if he tried to kiss her again? Or would she give in to the sensations that had rippled through her body at his touch.

  Mr. Darcy guided the horse through the fields and through a dense forest of tall pine trees. As they approached, Elizabeth pointed out deer and wildlife between the trees and laughed at the broad-breasted pheasants that thundered out of the underbrush as they galloped by.

  Elizabeth gasped as the trees thinned and then opened to reveal a lake hidden at the very centre of the forest. An oasis of birdsong and wildlife. Elizabeth turned to look at Mr. Darcy in surprise as he reigned in the horse and slowed him to a walk. “No wonder you ride so often,” she said breathlessly, “I daresay I’ve ever been on anything so fast in my life!”

  “We shall have to get you in the saddle more often,” he said with a smile.

  Elizabeth returned his smile, but confusion swirled in her mind yet again. There was nowhere for her to ride at Longbourn. What could he be hinting at?

  She watched him with an expression of vague surprise on he face as he jumped down from the saddle and reached up to help her down.

  Struck by a sudden boldness, Elizabeth batted away his hand and slid down from the saddle on her own accord. She landed gracefully in the ferns that surrounded them and looked at him expectantly. “Well? What is this place?”

  “Go see for yourself,” he said with a smile and gestured toward the lake. Elizabeth picked her way through the ferns and underbrush and exclaimed in delight as she was able to see the entirety of the lake. Wild swans and ducks floated on the glassy surface, and the morning sunlight filtered through the pine boughs and cast delicate shadows over the shimmering water.

  “It is beautiful,” Elizabeth called out. She looked over her shoulder to see a smiling Mr. Darcy come through trees with his horse following closely behind.

  He pulled the horse’s bridle over its ears and removed the saddle. The horse shook itself off and charged into the water. Elizabeth shrieked with laughter as it sent the ducks and swans scattering and pawed happily at the water.

  “There will be no saving this dress,” Elizabeth sighed as she looked down at the grass, mud, and water that had stained her gown.

  “However will you explain it?” Mr. Darcy asked.

  Elizabeth’s mouth fell open as she realized that she would never be able to properly explain what had happened. Not without drawing suspicion to the time she had spent out of the sight of a proper chaperone… and now here she was, alone with a gentleman in the middle of the woods, far away from anyone else. “I…”

  Mr. Darcy removed his jacket and laid it upon the ground. “Elizabeth, I have been heartsick over out last meeting, and can only hope that you did not feel disrespected in any way. I invited your uncle and aunt back to Pemberley in the hopes that I could speak to you alone, in private, and assure you of my affection.”

  Elizabeth did not know how to respond. In truth, she had been at war with herself—whether she could reconcile the two very different Fitzwilliam Darcy’s that had been presented to her in a very short amount of time was paramount in her thoughts.

  If he had acted this way from the very first, perhaps his proposal at Hunsford would have been met with a very different answer.

  Elizabeth swallowed thickly as he stepped closer and took her hand in his. Her heart fluttered painfully in her chest as she struggled to retain her composure. “Your affection aside,” she could barely manage the words. “What remains foremost in my mind is the way you have slighted my dearest sister. With no explanation as to the reason for his departure from Netherfield Park, Jane has been left to wonder what she has done to wrong Mr. Bingley so terribly.”

  If Elizabeth had been worried that Mr. Darcy would be offended by her bold words, the pained expression on his face swept it away in an instant.

  “I have very few regrets,” he said quietly. “But my involvement in turning aside Mr. Bingley’s affection for your sister—that is a very deep regret. And one that, if you would only ask it of me, I would do everything in my power to correct.”

  “Would you?” Elizabeth whispered her question, for Mr. Darcy was so close that she did not need to speak any louder. His lips hovered only inches from hers and her desire to close that minuscule distance was almost overwhelming.

  “All you would need to is ask,” he replied just as softly.

  “Then do it,” she said without hesitation. “Right this wrong. I cannot ask you to convince Mr. Bingley to love Jane, I can only ask that you admit to him your wrongdoing.”

  “I swear it,” he said. Elizabeth closed her eyes, unable to bear his closeness and the burning desire she could see written so plainly in his dark eyes.

  The kiss she had been aching for fell upon her lips with a searing heat as Mr. Darcy closed the space between them and pulled her tightly against his chest. Elizabeth moaned against his mouth and sagged against him. This was what she had wanted, she knew that now. He had promised to right the wrong he had done to Jane, and now—now she could give herself to him.

  His fingers tugged at the ribbons at her shoulder, loosening the neckline of her gown. Elizabeth felt a boldness overtake her, and instead of trying to keep her gown in place, she pushed it lower, giving his hands freer access to her body. She wanted him to touch her, dared him to. He dragged his lips from hers and groaned against her neck as her gown slipped down over her breasts and down to the grass at her feet. Clad in only her chemise, Elizabeth surrendered herself to her emotions, to the longing in her heart, and to him.

  Her arms came up around Mr. Darcy’s neck and her fingers tangled in his dark hair, pulling him closer, encouraging him. He responded quickly and his lips tracked over her tender skin with hungry kisses that left her breathless and gasping.

  She allowed him to support her with his strong arms as his mouth captured hers again and he bore her to the ground and laid her down upon his finely tailored jacket.

  Elizabeth gasped as Mr. Darcy’s hands roamed over her body. Her chemise was tugged high over her hips and her legs parted to allow him to lie between them. Mr. Darcy rose up on his knees, his tough leaving her skin only briefly as he tore off his linen shirt and cast it aside.

  Divested of his clothing, his bare chest shone in the morning sunlight and Elizabeth moaned as he lowered himself over her once more.

  His fingers pressed and teased at her most sensitive parts and his tongue trailed along her neck, licking and sucking at her tender flesh. Teasing and inflaming her senses in ways she had never known.

  She gasped as his lips found the edge of her chemise. His teeth tugged at the ribbons that held it in place until the creamy flesh of her breasts was revealed to his exploring mouth. A moan of hesitant pleasure was tugged from her lips as Mr. Darcy’s mouth found the pink peak of her nipple. The same feeling that had tugged at her sanity in the stables surged powerfully inside her, and that tentative moan became a gasp of surprise as the gentleman paused in his tantalizing suckling to pluck at her sensitive bud with his long fingers to tease it to an aching hardness.

  Elizabeth moaned thickly and her eyes drifted closed, unable to meet his eyes and face
the dark desire of his burning gaze. This was so wrong in so many ways. To be so pleasured, so desired… it was too much. Elizabeth gasped as Mr. Darcy’s attentions turned to what was hidden. Elizabeth moaned as Darcy’s fingers brushed over the silky skin of her thighs and against the heat of her secret womanhood.

  Mr. Darcy moved between her thighs quickly and confidently, and before she could say anything, her hips arched as Mr. Darcy brushed one finger against her quaking heat. With each pass of his fingers across her opening Elizabeth’s breath came faster and faster, and her heart fluttered in her chest like a wounded bird. Gently, and with agonizing slowness, Darcy parted her thighs, fully exposing her glistening, aching sex to his ministrations.

  Elizabeth’s eyes flew open and she let out a long, low cry as Mr. Darcy’s hot mouth dragged down her body and he applied his eager lips and tongue to the task before him. Elizabeth cried out at the first touch of his tongue against her feminine core, and it was a cry of surprise mingled with ecstasy and longing that she could not fight any longer.

  Elizabeth closed her eyes as Darcy’s tongue began to move, tracing circles around the centre of her desire. Elizabeth whimpered in expectation and need with every movement as Mr. Darcy licked at her most secret places. He sucked and nipped, licking at her slick entrance as he slowly inserted one long finger into her heated opening, parting her tender flesh gently.

  Elizabeth’s back arched at the sensation, crying out in unexplained pleasure. It was unlike anything she had ever experienced before and her glistening breasts pushed towards the sky. Her panting cries were barely muffled by her hand as she could feel something inside her building, a tightening deep inside her very core, coaxed tighter and tighter with each sweep of Mr. Darcy’s tongue and each movement of his hand. All at once, that exquisite tightening reached its breaking point and Elizabeth cried out at the sharp sweetness that coursed through her body, leaving her shaking and breathless as it ebbed away.

  Trying desperately to regain control of her breathing, Elizabeth moaned as Darcy’s delightful motions ceased, and he withdrew his hand from her shaking core.

  “Perfect,” he murmured and sealed his mouth over hers in a burning kiss that threatened to steal away all of the oxygen in her lungs. She felt a pressure against her feminine core, and her eyes flew open in surprise.

  “Are you afraid?” Mr. Darcy asked softly as he felt her hesitation.

  “No,” she replied softly.

  “Elizabeth...” Darcy’s voice was shuddering and deep, and with a quick motion he grabbed her hips and pulled her close, but Elizabeth tightened her thighs around his hips and turned sharply. Mr. Darcy looked up at her in surprise as he was suddenly on his back, staring up at her. Elizabeth smiled briefly, and then gasped as she felt the thick head of his manhood pressed against her womanly portals. She moved instinctively and then cried out softly as his length slipped slowly inside her until it reached the barrier of her maidenhead.

  Elizabeth tensed briefly and then closed her eyes and lowered herself down on his hard length. Mr. Darcy groaned loudly and Elizabeth’s own brief cry of surprise and pain was lost in the rush of sensation that rushed over her. She rested for just a moment, relishing the feeling of being utterly filled and stretched around his thick member. He was buried to the hilt in her wetness and she sat astride him as boldly as any horsewoman.

  Elizabeth leaned forward to press her lips to his in a heated kiss and Mr. Darcy hugged her close to his chest as she shuddered with sensations she had never known. He waited patiently for her to relax against him as his hardness throbbed within her moist depths.

  Slowly, he moved within her, and they rocked together, sweetly and sensuously in the fresh grass. Her cries were as soft and yielding as her flesh and Mr. Darcy held Elizabeth gently, and moved with her, matching her pace as her soft moans became soon became cries of joy and ecstasy.

  His breath was ragged against her neck as Elizabeth rose up on his hard length and his hands molded her buttocks and pulled her against him so he could plunge deeply within her.

  Elizabeth clung to the gentleman’s shoulders as the speed and depth of his thrusts increased, her nails dug deeply into his exposed flesh, and she thrilled at the reward of his own gasps and cries as his own climax neared.

  Without warning, Mr. Darcy gave a guttural groan and impaled her deeply with his hard length. Elizabeth cried out as her climax crashed against her, and she clung to Mr. Darcy, shuddering with release as her hot depths pulsated around him. They collapsed together in the grass, and Elizabeth nestled her head against his heaving chest and listened to her lover’s pounding heart and marveled at how it matched the pace of her own.

  “Will you grant me one favor, Miss Bennet,” Mr. Darcy asked haltingly.

  Elizabeth leaned on her elbow to look at him, her eyebrow raised skeptically. They had just shared so much in so little time, and now he was asking for favors… “A favor?” she repeated.

  “If I were to renew my proposal,” he said. “Would you answer be different?”

  Elizabeth sighed and shook her head. “Would it be the same proposal? Delivered in the same manner?” she asked.

  “No... indeed not,” Mr. Darcy chuckled.

  Elizabeth smiled. “I might reconsider.”

  Mr. Darcy rose up and placed a hand upon the side of her face. He looked into her eyes, the dark depths of his gaze consumed her, but they did not frighten her—now they filled her with desire. “Miss Elizabeth Bennet, I would renew my pledge… I do, and will continue to ardently admire and love you. If you would be my wife. If you would be the mistress of my heart, and the lady of this estate—”

  “I will,” Elizabeth said. She kissed him boldly, putting all of the emotion, confusion, and intensity of her confused soul into it. He groaned against her lips and spun sharply, rolling her to the ground beneath him.

  Elizabeth gasped as his erect member slipped easily inside her once more, stretching her with his girth, filling her completely.

  “Tell me again,” he whispered. “Say you will be my wife.”

  “I will,” Elizabeth gasped as he moved slowly and sweetly inside her. She raised her hips to meet him, encouraging his thrusts, pulling him deeper with her hands and her thighs as she welcomed him. “I will be your wife. I will be the mistress of your heart as you are the master of mine.”

  Mr. Darcy groaned deep in his throat as he thrust deeply inside her. His motions were quick and unschooled as he gave himself over to his own emotions, and Elizabeth cried out with her own passion and release as her climax crashed against her senses. She lay shuddering and panting beneath him as Mr. Darcy groaned and cried out at the peak of his own desire.

  He shuddered above her and lowered his hot mouth to hers. Elizabeth relished that kiss, meeting his lips eagerly. He had taken her twice now, but she had been his for longer than she wanted to admit.

  “We should return to Pemberley,” he said softly as he kissed her flushed throat tenderly.

  “Should we?” Elizabeth murmured.

  “Your aunt will be arriving soon, and we will have to find you a clean gown.”

  “Oh, yes,” Elizabeth said, suddenly remembering that her dress was stained and now lying in a bedraggled heap in the grass.

  Mr. Darcy smiled down at her before moving gently inside her.

  Elizabeth moaned and raised her hips and Mr. Darcy groaned deep in his throat. “I would stay with you here—but we must return.”

  “Only a few moments more,” she teased him and moved her hips once more, stroking his quickly hardening length with her silken passage.

  “We will have countless moments like these,” Mr. Darcy choked out. He kissed her deeply and Elizabeth sighed with disappointment as he moved his hips and withdrew himself from her secret depths.

  Mr. Darcy rose up and buttoned his breeches before helping Elizabeth up. They stood together and Mr. Darcy pulled up her chemise and re-tied the ribbons at her shoulder. She smiled and kissed him gratefully before stepping into
the ruin of her dress.

  “And where will we find a suitable replacement?” she asked.

  “My mother was a similar size,” he remarked casually. “I am certain that you will find that they are a perfect fit.” He smiled briefly. “You will look very well in any of them.”

  Elizabeth could only blush and nod her agreement as mr. Darcy tucked a wayward curl behind her ear and kissed her gently. “Do not doubt me, Elizabeth.”

  “I do not,” she said. And she believed it.

  Mr. Darcy smiled and then turned away to whistle sharply for his horse. Regardless of the fact that he had removed the animal’s saddle and bridle, she was surprised to see the horse trot back to him from where it was grazing at the edge of the lake.

  She did her best to wash in the still waters of the lake while Mr. Darcy saddled and bridled his horse once more, but she was not sure that she had been able to cool her heated skin more than a little with the clear water.

  What had happened here by the lake would stay with her for longer than just this moment. She would remember it forever. The sensation of having him so deep inside her would stay with her forever.

  “Elizabeth, are you ready?”

  She rose from her crouched position and smiled up at him as he reached out for her. “I am.”

  This time, when he crouched to help her into the saddle she stepped into his hand without hesitation and settled herself without his assistance. Mr. Darcy swung himself up behind her and Elizabeth leaned back against the solid wall of his chest with a certain comfort she had not known. He was hers now, and she was his. It was understood that they had shared something that no one else would ever understand. It was the beginning of her happily ever after, she could feel it now, something she had never thought of in the past. On that horrible day in Hunsford, she had thought that happiness was something far away that she would never attain.

  But as Mr. Darcy spurred his horse forward and his horse cantered on strong legs back toward Pemberley, Elizabeth knew that such things were within her reach. They had a heartbeat, a soul, and a warmth that she could hold and touch.