Page 52 of Midnight at Pemberley

“Tell her to return in half an hour.” Their voices had awakened Elizabeth, and she snuggled into his chest.

“I believe you heard Mrs. Darcy.”

“I did, Sir. Yes, Sir.” The woman blushed with embarrassment.

However, before she could exit the room, Darcy called to her: “Sally, please lay out Mrs. Darcy’s riding habit, and tell Sheffield I will require similar attire. Then tell Thacker to have my horse and Ceres saddled.”

“Ceres?” Elizabeth was suddenly fully awake. “Ceres is here?”

“I sent for her yesterday. I paid your father ten pounds for his trouble. I meant to surprise you.”

“Thank you, my husband,” she said and spontaneously hugged him.

“Will that be all, Mr. Darcy?” The maid waited to be excused.

“Yes, Sally. We will ring when we are prepared to dress.”

“Yes, Sir.” She curtsied and was gone.

Surprise and happiness filled Elizabeth. “You did this for me?” she whispered. Her green eyes darkened in disbelief.

“You are my wife. I mean for you to be happy in this arrangement.”

“Where may we ride in the city?”

“Several parks hold riding trails, and as the Season is over, we will encounter only a few others. Once we travel to Pemberley, we will ride regularly. Such will provide me a chance to show you the entire estate.”

Elizabeth peppered his chin line with kisses. “You are the most charitable man. I cannot believe I ever once thought ill of you.”

Darcy rolled her to her back and loomed over her. “And when was that, Mrs. Darcy?”

“You know perfectly well when, Sir.” Elizabeth urged his mouth to hers. “When you thought me only ‘tolerable.’”

“I believe I tolerate you very well,” he said teasingly as he rained light, feathery kisses across her face.

Elizabeth instinctively wriggled her body against his, creating heat between them. Darcy drank of her mouth. Her lips parted, and his tongue sought hers. Elizabeth’s hands searched the muscles of his back before he caught her hands in his grip and raised them above her head. His lips trailed a line down her neck. He loosened the strings tying her nightgown and pulled it from her, exposing the swell of her breasts. His mouth followed his fingers down the crevice between her breasts.

Elizabeth’s moans encouraged his efforts, and Darcy cupped her breast in his palm before returning to plunder her mouth. Elizabeth arched into his touch.

His lips slid down the length of her neck, coming to rest on the spot he most desired. He kissed it and licked the point. Gently, he sucked on the indentation and felt his arousal increase. She made an inarticulate sound as he circled the spot, nipping the flesh. Elizabeth tilted her head to the side and wrapped her arms around him.

Without realizing she did so, her body responded by grinding her hips into him, flooding Darcy with desire. “Please,” she begged.

Darcy’s reason fought for control, but he broke the kiss. “Oh, God, Elizabeth,” he moaned into her hair as he buried his face in shame.

“You did nothing wrong,” she assured him. “You did nothing more than what I wanted. Our actions are as much my fault as it is yours.”

“As the man, it is still my responsibility,” he asserted.

“We are attracted to each other. Is that terrible?” she argued. “Some marriages are purely for convenience.”

“If ours were a normal joining, our attraction would have miraculous appeal.” Darcy rolled away from her and prepared to stand.

Elizabeth turned back the blankets and followed him to her feet. “I will not, Mr. Darcy, regret the fact that I desire my husband’s touch nor that I wish to lie in his arms and know him intimately.” Her bottom lip trembled. “William, do you not realize how truly exceptional our connection is?”

Darcy spun to face her. “You have lived with this evil for a few weeks. I have known it all my life. Our perspectives are different.”

Tears misted her eyes. “It is time your perspective changed because you are no longer alone in this. You may have known this curse for eight and twenty years, but we will deal with it for many more than that number. The decisions are no longer yours alone to make.”