Darcy's Undoing

by Delaney Jane

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  I Am Yours

  Had Elizabeth been able to encounter his eye, she might have seen how well the expression of heartfelt delight, diffused over his face, became him; but though she could not look, she could listen, and he told her of feelings, which, in proving of what importance she was to him, made his affection every moment more valuable.

  Elizabeth paced her bedroom, the sun shining over the floor in squares through the window. She could hear her sisters and mother getting ready in the dressing room next door. In an hour’s time they would receive Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy, and Elizabeth’s heart would not slow its hectic pace.

  She was not prepared to see Darcy so soon after speaking so frankly to his aunt Catherine. She had told her she would never promise not to marry her nephew if he were to ask. And the lady had all but said that since she couldn’t convince Elizabeth not to marry her nephew, she would instead speak with Darcy and convince him of it.

  Lizzy had no doubt that Lady Catherine had gone straight to Darcy and told him all about their conversation, which meant that he would be coming to Longbourn fully aware that Elizabeth had not only treated his aunt poorly but that she had made it seem as though she wanted to marry him.

  She had fully expected him to turn down the invitation to stay with Bingley. Coming to stay with the newly engaged Bingley would mean frequents visits to see Jane at Longbourn. But Lizzy would be here, and Darcy must know that, so why had he come after all?

  She could only assume that he thought so lowly of Elizabeth that anything his aunt told him was laughable and he would mock her when he finally arrived. She was his whore and nothing more.

  That or he would come to collect the vast number of books, which he had lent Elizabeth over the past months.

  That collection sat in a trunk beneath Elizabeth’s bed, the contents within each laying the foundation for some incredibly erotic dreams.

  Neither of those assumptions was pleasing to Lizzy. But since he was on his way to Longbourn within the hour there was nothing she could do, short of running away, besides get dressed and wait.

  She wore a blue dress, blue like the sky on a stormy day. Sitting in the parlor with her mother and sisters, she could not help the racing of her heart or the fluttering in her stomach.

  The men arrived shortly after the women had settled into the parlor. Lizzy couldn’t swallow as she looked up at Darcy. His dark eyes swept the room, finding her, and she froze.

  There was no contempt in his eyes, no mockery, no disdain. All she saw when she met his gaze was desire. Hot and greedy. Perhaps he had not spoken with his aunt. If he knew what she had said, he would not want her as his look suggested.

  He was looking at her the way he had been for almost a year; like she was his mistress and he was in need of a good fuck. So, perhaps her assumption was right. He didn’t care what his aunt said about Lizzy, because he only wanted one thing from her.

  While the thought made her heart heavy, it also sent waves of awareness rushing between her legs. Her cheeks warmed, and she broke eye contact.

  Bingley, wanting to be alone with Jane, suggested a walk, which Mr. and Mrs. Bennet politely turned down Mary also stayed behind. And so, Bingley, Jane, Darcy, Kitty, and Lizzy all went into the sunshine and strolled the grounds.

  Elizabeth was not able to meet Darcy’s eyes again. He walked with her and Kitty, none of them speaking. For Kitty’s part, she was afraid of the man, and for Lizzy, she was trying desperately to think of a way to resolve this situation.

  She glanced behind for her elder sister and found the path empty. She growled quietly. Wretched woman, she thought. Her sister had abandoned her.

  “Could we walk toward the Lucas’?” asked Kitty. “I should like to call on Maria.”

  Under the warm sun and bright, blue sky Lizzy and Darcy walked Kitty to Lucas Lodge. After dropping Kitty off, Lizzy and Darcy continued their walk, heading back toward Longbourn along a different path.

  She could feel him walking beside her, the size of him, the heat.

  The silence was going to kill Elizabeth.

  “Mr. Darcy,” said she. “I had vowed to keep my silence on this, but I can no longer do so.” She took a breath. “I must thank you for your part in helping my sister.”

  His cheeks colored, but he kept his eyes straight ahead. “That isn’t something you should have had to find out. I had thought Mrs. Gardiner better able to keep confidences.”

  Lizzy rushed to the defense of her favorite aunt. “You mustn’t blame her. It was Lydia who let it slip, and I would not rest until I knew everything. So I will thank you again. If my family knew, they could thank you as well.”

  “Well, you must know I did not do it for your family, as much as I respect them.”

  Elizabeth frowned. “Well, no, I did not think you had.”

  He glanced down at her, and though she wasn’t looking at him, she could feel his gaze. “What reason had you come up with for my part in your sister’s hasty marriage?”

  “Oh, well… I assumed that your past with Mr. Wickham had played a part in your decision to help them. I supposed that he had led you to believe that he would tell the world of your relationship with him otherwise.”

  Darcy stopped walking, and Elizabeth stopped as well. They were on a path in the woods, surrounded by trees, dappled sunlight moving over the dirt path. Just a bit farther along there was a pond that separated the Lucas’ property from the Bennets’. Lizzy could hear the soft croak of frogs.

  “Miss Elizabeth,” said he. “I thought I loved Wickham, but it was only his inventiveness in the bedroom that I was fond of. However, in comparison to another, those nights with Wickham were lacking.”

  She felt her heart squeeze at the thought of Darcy with another woman, though she knew he must have other lovers than just her.

  “Besides,” he smiled. “If he were to try to tell the world of our past, who would believe him over me? I am Mr. Darcy.” He gave her a wicked grin that made her toes curl.

  “You are indeed.” She could not help but smile, meeting his eyes finally and feeling her legs tremble slightly, the intensity in his eyes causing heat to pool between her thighs. “Then, pray tell, why did you help my sister?”

  He stared down at her, the space between them crackling. “Would you believe me if I said I did it for you?”

  Elizabeth’s heart stopped for a moment before swelling and becoming frantic in her chest.

  “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t think I understand.”

  He took a step toward her, taking a breath, the veil that hid his emotions so well cast off in that moment. He was nervous, anxious. “If your feelings are still what they were, tell me at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject forever.”

  This was not happening, thought Lizzy. She could only stare up at him, as her heart and mind warred.

  He stepped closer again. “Miss Bennet, I have not met another as like myself in the bedroom as you are. Your tastes and desires match my own, and all of this sneaking about has grown tiresome. I would have you at home with me, in our bedroom, where I can fully explore your desires, as my wife.”

  Was this better than being his mistress? Was he asking to marry her so they could fuck more freely?

  “You wish to marry me?” she asked.

  His smile was tentative. “I do.”

  “Is this not only a small step up from being your whore?”

  He flinched, and took another step toward her. He was close now, close enough that she could feel the heat of him radiating toward her.

  “I regret ever having made you think you were anything akin to a whore, Miss Elizabeth. Yes, I want you as my wife so that I may fuck you as much as I please, whenever and wherever, and in any way I want. That will be probably one of the best parts about being your husband, but it is not why I want you to be my wife. And if you do not know, then I doubt I can convince you. I cannot put into words how I feel
, why I feel as I do. You are mine and I am yours.”

  Her face flushed so deeply that he must have seen it. She hid her smile, glancing up at him from under her lashes. “Tell me, if I am your wife, in what ways do you wish to fuck me? Have we not already explored every avenue?”

  His smile was wicked. He closed the distance between them, reaching up and cupping her jaw with his long fingers.

  “Would you believe me if I told you I was holding back? You have yet to see the rooms in which I keep certain… tools. You have not even made a dent in my library.” His lips whispered over hers. “I would have you in my bed at Pemberley. I want to wake you with my mouth every morning, and have you screaming my name in the nights.”

  Her fingers curled into the lapels of his jacket. He kissed her lightly, his tongue darting out to touch her lips.

  “Tell me you don’t want me, and I will never ask again. Tell me you are not mine, and you will never have to see me again.” He brought his lips to her ears, his breath hot. “But tell me you’ll have me, and I will never let you go.”

  Elizabeth brought her arms up around his neck, and drew her lips along his jaw, kissing him beneath his chin.

  “Mr. Darcy,” said she, and he looked down at her. Her stomach clenched at his look. “I have always been yours.” And she pulled his head down to kiss him. He tasted of citrus and coffee.

  Darcy lifted Lizzy around the waist, carrying her as he walked. She wrapped her legs around his hips. Their kiss was sweet, loving, filled with the release of pent up longing. She could feel the hardness between her legs where she pressed against him, and it sent a spiral of desire through her. Her hips moved, rubbing against him, and he growled.

  She spoke against his lips. “I will be your wife,” she told him as he carried her through the woods. “But I have conditions.”

  His laugh was more of a rumble in his chest, and he finally stopped walking, setting her down on her feet, letting her body rub against the full, hard length of him.

  “What are your conditions, my lady?” Standing behind her, he began loosening the ties in the back of her dress. They had stopped beside the pond. The water lapped lazily at the rocks surrounding it. Lilli pads covered the far half. Pollen floated yellow in the air. It smelled of wild flowers and water and mud.

  “First of all, we shall only see your aunt Catherine when we absolutely must.”

  He laughed at that, and pulled her dress from her shoulders, kissing her exposed neck. She shivered. He helped her step out of where it had pooled on the ground. Her thin shift was nothing against her skin.

  “Second,” she went on, her heart hammering as his fingers trailed over her bare shoulders. “I will not be tamed. I am not some trophy to kept caged.”

  His voice was just breath in her ear. “I would never try to tame you.”

  “And lastly,” she swallowed, his lips making their way over her shoulder, her shift slipping down her arms, exposing her naked body to the sunlight. His hands snaked around her, coming up to cup her breasts. She shuddered. “You will not become soft with me.”

  He stopped kissing her, and turned her to face him. There was darkness in his eyes, and something close to amusement.

  “How do you mean, my love? Because as it is, I will never be soft again.” He grinned at her, and she gave him a smack on the arm.

  “I mean, you know what I like—what my preferences are.”

  He cocked his head. “What are your preferences?”

  She glared at him. Her cheeks warmed, his hands sliding up her sides to her breasts, his thumbs grazing her nipples into hard points.

  “For almost a year I have been your wh—your mistress. That will change, but the way you treat me in the bedroom will not.”

  His eyes were half closed as he watched her breasts in his hands. “Shall we begin now?”

  “Mr. Darcy,” said she. “I will be your wife,” she felt giddy at the thought. “So you will never have to ask me again if I consent. The answer is, and always will be, yes.”

  His eyes flashed. “Oh, my dear Miss Bennet, you may want to reconsider that. There may come a time when what I suggest is too much. Even for you.”

  Heat pooled between her legs at the dark thoughts chasing each other in her mind. “Well, until that day comes, you will not ask. You will only take. And I shall give and take what I want. Is that understood?” Though she spoke brave words, she quailed under his glare.

  “Very well.”

  He came at her, wrapping an arm around her waist and lifting her to her toes, her naked body plastered against his clothed one. He buried his face in her neck, kissing and sucking at the tender place beneath her ear with savage intent. Startled by the suddenness, she pushed at his shoulders, but he would not be moved.

  Lizzy grabbed at his jacket, trying to push it off of him. Darcy only kicked her legs out and before she could right herself, he brought her to the ground. The grass was soft and thick under her back, warm from the sun.

  He knelt, shrugging off his jacket, then his shirt. She had a moment to admire the strength in his chest before he was over her. He sucked at the hollow above her collarbone, making her sigh, and then he moved down to her breast, sucking her nipple into his mouth and lathering it with his tongue.

  She drove her hands into his hair, moaning, but he gripped her wrists in his hands, pinned them over her head, and then went back to her breasts, treating the other with same attention. Lizzy kept her hands above her head, twining her fingers into the long blades, as Darcy kissed down her ribs and her belly, nipping her just below the navel, and then to the inside of her thighs.

  Darcy took her knees in his hands and pressed them up to her chest, spreading her wide, baring her to him completely. He stared down at her a moment, bringing heat to her cheeks.

  “Beautiful,” he whispered, and bent forward. He was not gentle, but clamped his mouth over her mound with such intensity that she screamed, biting the sound off quickly.

  He did not slow, his movements vigorous, his tongue moving over her clit with a speed she had not yet known from him, his head shaking from side to side. Her legs shook and she was breathless, moaning and panting.

  He took his hands from her knees, but she kept them against her chest. His hand found her beneath his mouth, wet and ready, and he slid three fingers into her. Lizzy bucked against him, the invasion painful before her body accepted him. He drove his fingers into her, over and over, bringing her closer to release, his mouth working over her clit with vigor. He grunted and hummed as he devoured her.

  His hand left her a moment, then returned, and with it a sound like the lapping of water, but closer, slicker. She craned her head and found Darcy pumping at his cock with his free hand, slathering her juices over himself.

  She watched him, mesmerized, as he touched himself while pleasing her.

  No, she thought, she would have him inside her. She reached for him, and he smacked her hands away, his tongue working faster. Lizzy tried to cover herself, but Darcy smacked her ass so hard it brought tears to her eyes.

  “Darcy, please,” she whimpered.

  He looked up at her, his mouth hovering over her mound as his tongue flicked at her clit, his body jerking as he continued to stroke himself.

  “Please,” she said again, reaching for him.

  He frowned, the look more of amusement than anger. “You will be my wife, you do not need to ask,” he mocked. “Take me as I have taken you.”

  She glared at him. “I am not as strong as you are,” she said, breathless.

  “No,” he smiled. “You are not.”

  Before she could protest again or attempt to try and overpower him, he stood, stripping out of his trousers, and lying in the grass beside her. He pulled her over him, settling her thighs on either side of his head, planting his mouth between her legs, his arms wrapped tight around her waist.

  Darcy’s cock swayed hard beneath her face. She took hold, relishing the way his body jerked, and she stroked him, slowly, feeling the
length of him. Between her legs he moved faster, seeming to try and coax her into going faster as well, but this time he didn’t have another man to punish her into doing what he wanted. She could fight the sensations, put off her own climax just to make him squirm. Or, hell, she could come and still keep her pace.

  It was a game. They were both quite good at it.

  Lizzy lowered her face, bringing the tip of Darcy’s cock to her lips, coating them with the moisture gathered at his tip. She drew her lips down the side, kissing the veins, down to his balls, taking them in her mouth. He growled, driving his tongue into her and managing to make Lizzy pump at his cock with her hand before she regained control.

  She took him in her mouth, just the head, swirling her tongue, making a little popping noise as she pulled him from her lips. And then Darcy’s mouth left her. She was on fire, but he did not return to her, so she looked over her shoulder.

  Darcy caught her eye and then drew his fingers through her folds, spreading the wetness all over.

  “Mr. Darcy.”

  “Hmm?” He stroked her lazily, his fingers moving around her clit, no longer touching it.

  “Shall we call it a day then?” She barely got the words out before he slammed his fingers into her once so deeply it hurt, then went back to his lazy circles. “What are you—“ He did it again, drawing from Lizzy a gasp. She glared at him.

  He grinned. “I will take you in the manner with which you take me.”

  That was cruel, even for him. She wanted him to take her, completely, so she put her lips onto his cock and sucked him deep into her throat, sliding the length of him against her tongue.

  He groaned, slamming his fingers into her. Lizzy bobbed her head, pumping him as she sucked, pressing him into her cheek and far back into her throat. He was harder now, hot in her mouth.

  Suddenly, Darcy lifted her from him, turning her so that she straddled his hips. He guided his cock, panting as he pushed just inside, and then held her above him, his hands under her buttocks making it impossible for her to lower herself down onto him.