Imperative: Volume 2, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (4 page)

Elizabeth’s eyes opened with Darcy’s hungry kiss as he devoured her mouth.  Somehow her gown had been removed and she was now lying beneath him, her arms and legs clasping his body to her.  Darcy licked her lips and lifted his head to smile at her.  “How do you feel?”

“Oh heavens . . .” 

Laughing happily, he kissed her then sat back on his heels.  “Oh love, if only there was some way for you to hear yourself. I treasure those sounds.”  The fading blush of her rapture was immediately renewed and delighted him even more, but it was his eyes, suddenly darkening with unmistakable intent that instantly took her breath away.  “Are you ready for me now, love?” 

“I was ready before.” Taking his erection in both of her hands, she fondled and caressed over him as he groaned.  He breathed in and licked his lips as fiery fingers of pleasure travelled over his body, until without warning, he pushed her backwards and drove inside.  Elizabeth gasped and he spoke in a soft growl words of passion and desire.  They kissed deeply while their bodies slipped and slid together, joining again and again and again.  Darcy was kissing all over her; touching her as she clasped his bottom and urged him in as far as he could go.  And then everything slowed.  “How are you, love?”

Elizabeth’s mouth opened and no words came out, so she waved her hands uselessly while he laughed.  Withdrawing, he leaned and kissed her gently, “I love you, too.”

“I love you, Will.”  She said at last and following his direction, turned onto her side.  Darcy settled behind her and they joined again.  Elizabeth was completely encased within his embrace.  He mouthed her throat while his hands caressed her breasts.  She held onto his arms and closing their eyes, they moved together.  Faster and faster, the steady wet slap of their bodies joined with the creak of the bed and their ragged breathing until at last Darcy clutched her hard and shook violently while his hips thrust a few more delicious times.  “Oh Lord.”  He moaned and shuddered.

Elizabeth laughed and looked back at the nearly comatose man clutching her.  “Will?”

“hmmm?”

“Do you feel better?”

“mmhhmmm.”

“I think that we have found a way to relieve the stress of our trip . . .”

“Ohhhh, yessssss.” 

“And ignore the noise of the inn?”

“What noise?”  He whispered and nipped her ear.  “The only noise I heard was my Lizzy singing to me.”

“Singing your praises, you conceited man?”

“hmm.”  He looked over her shoulder to catch the sparkle in her eyes.  Darcy felt around and managed to pull the quilt over them, then settled back down with her firmly in his arms.  “Go to sleep, Mrs. Darcy.  I think that you will need to rest your voice.  I anticipate a great many rapturous performances in your future.” 

Chapter 2

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“O
h Will, it is just beautiful.”  Elizabeth stood within his arms and surveyed the rolling hills dotted with woolly sheep.  It was a sunny afternoon, dry after days of unrelenting rain, and there was a definite hint of spring in the air.  All around them they could hear birdsong, and not too far in the distance were cows accompanied by their new calves.   Almost as soon as they had arrived at Sommerwald, she had taken him by the hand and insisted that after nearly four days of travel, they desperately needed to walk out the kinks in their bodies.  They had met the skeleton staff occupying the home, took a moment to refresh themselves, and were very quickly on their way, leaving their new servants gaping and their existing ones unruffled.  “And it is so . . . where is winter?”

Darcy squeezed her hands and leaned to speak in her ear.  “It is not exactly warm, love.”

“No, but it just seems . . . it is so different here.”  She looked up to him.   “Why?”

“The Gulf Stream flows nearby, it brings warm water and I understand; a milder climate.  But the colour you see now is nothing to summer, just imagine the most beautiful shade of green you have ever seen, and increase it a hundredfold.”  Her eyes lit up with curiosity and he delighted in it.  She knew how hard it had been for him to spend the past days confined to the carriage forced to look at his sister’s increasing belly, with the seeming constant threat of discovery hanging above their heads. Now that they were safely arrived, he was determined to change their focus.  “There is so much to see here.  We have the forest to explore and there are castles nearby.  I will take you to the beach and we can look upon the water.  We could even walk there, it not much more than a mile away.  Unless you feel brave and would care to ride?” 

Elizabeth tilted her head and looked up at him.  “Perhaps we could dip our toes in the water?”

“Mrs. Darcy, exposing your feet and ankles to all and sundry!  They are for my eyes alone.”  He looked at her very seriously, but the twinkle was there.  “I think you will find that the water is cold.”

“You just said it was warm!”

“It is March, love.  The sea is not warm.  We will look and listen.  There is something very soothing about the sound of the waves upon the sand.” 

“Your eyes light up when you say that.  I think that you look forward to anything soothing.”  They started walking again.  “I love the sound of a rushing stream, is it the same?”

“No, it is so much greater than that.  You will see.  We can picnic there, perhaps.  I want to see you by the beach, and see your hair dishevelled by the wind.  I have not seen you in such a way for far too long.”  Elizabeth blushed becomingly, and his hand drifted up her back to touch the long curls that bounced along her shoulders.  “Perhaps we will see the ships in the distance and wonder where they are going.” 

“Have you been on a ship?”

“Yes, I went to Ireland that way.  I was not a good sailor at all.” 

“Why?  Did it toss you about?”

“It tossed my stomach.  That is certain.”  He shrugged when she shook her head.  “I will sail with you sometime and we will see your reaction.”

“Where shall we go?”

Darcy turned to look in the direction of the sea.  “I would love to take you to Italy.”

“It is so far away.”  She whispered, and leaned on his shoulder. 

“That it is.  Perhaps we should begin with a rowboat on Pemberley’s lake, whenever we go home.”   Darcy wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him.  “Thank you for making the trip bearable.  I know how hard you tried, and I know how unreceptive I was.”

“You were trying just as hard with me and Georgiana.  She is truly feeling the weight of what we are doing for her and what is to come.  How many times was she regarded with disapproval?”

His frustration flared and his hand waved, “How could they know she was unmarried?  Her hand was gloved, how could they know there was no ring on her finger?  How could they see the pregnancy beneath her coat?” 

Elizabeth caught the hand and squeezed.  “Shame was written all over her face.  And I suppose it probably showed in our demeanours as well.”   His eyes closed.  “Will, we have come this far . . .  The worst is over.”

“How can you say that!”  He let go and paced away.  “Manning saw her, his mother and sister asked about her, all any one of them has to do is meet Aunt Grace and mention us travelling to Scotland with a Miss Cargill who matches Georgiana’s description!”

“Fine then, what if they do, is that so terrible?”

Darcy turned and stared.  “Of course it is!”

“But they are family, with their own shame!  Would they have the gall to judge Georgiana?”

“That is not what worries me.  An apoplectic letter demanding an explanation is one thing, but their reaction the moment that the information is posed to them . . .
that
is the time for it all to fall apart.”  He shook his head and began pacing.  “I can hear it now, ‘we met your nephew and his wife, how nice that he could take his cousin with them.  Cousin?  What cousin is this?  His sister is to travel with him . . .’  Good Lord, can you imagine it being posed to Aunt Catherine?”  

“Should we write to them and give warning?”

“And expose her to the very family we purposely invited to our home for a hellish Christmas to continue to perpetrate this ruse?  You just said that it would be fine for them to know!”

“I know.” 

Tearing off his gloves, he began twisting his ring relentlessly.  “Too many people know, Elizabeth.  You saw the faces of the servants when Georgiana’s coat was removed.”

“Yes.” 

“And what of the Walkers?  I gave them a twelve-month lease, but offered to waive the rent if they remained in London an extra month for the Season?  What are
they
thinking?  Who are they talking to?  You know that they would crow about the spectacular bargain they struck with me.”

“But everyone knows that you wished to honeymoon with me.”  Elizabeth soothed him and touched his back. 

He turned and faced her.  “
Does
Georgiana appreciate what we are doing?  Do you truly think that she does?”   

“I believe that she is hard-pressed to spend a quarter hour without thinking of some aspect of this.  It is on her mind constantly and that child moving within her will remind her as soon as she tries to forget.”  He closed his eyes and nodded.  “Everything will be fine, Will.” 

“What if it is not?”  He took her hands in his.  “We have to be prepared for failure.  We are here now, we pushed so hard to remain positive and focussed on arriving
here
.  What if she is exposed?  What if Wickham was not bluffing?  Would you mind having my sister live with us?  She would be ostracized; I am sure, as would her child.  I would not reject her.”

“Why do you think that I would!”  Elizabeth’s eyes reflected her hurt. 

“Oh Lizzy, please do not cry!”  Darcy hugged her, but she pushed him away.  “I am sorry, I . . . Damn it!  I know the sacrifices you have made for us . . . every day I wait for a letter from Longbourn . . .” Elizabeth sobbed, and he cursed himself again.  “Dearest, please, please . . . I have been holding my thoughts in so much and now they come out in this illogical mess.  I just . . .”   He sighed.  “I did not mean that you would reject her.”

Elizabeth wiped her eyes with her gloves and he immediately gave her his handkerchief.  “What do you mean, then?” 

“Would you feel that having her in our home would hurt our children?”

She searched his face, “Because it is one thing for a man to have a natural child, but another for a woman?  And you thought that it might somehow harm our children?”

“I wonder if
you
thought it would.  Personally I would throttle anyone who dared to harm our babies in any way, but we have never talked of this . . . and I want to know your opinion.” 

“I wish, Fitzwilliam, someday you would learn to just ask for my opinion before your tongue runs away with you.”  Elizabeth sighed and his lips lifted a little.  “And I thank you for asking.”

“I will always ask, even if it is incoherently done.”  He took the handkerchief and wiped her cheek.  “So?”

“There was no need to ask.  You have done everything that you can to protect your family from the moment your father died.  It is one of the things that I find draws me to you so strongly.”

“Lizzy . . .”

“Sometimes I wonder if I do most of the reassuring in this marriage, but I also realize that is because I do most of the talking.”  Darcy smiled.  “Your method is much more subtle, but no less effective.  Will, if the worst happens then yes, of course I would want her to stay with us forever.  We have weathered gossip before, we will do it again, and who knows, someone may just fall in love with her anyway.” 

“Well, that is hopeful.”  He touched her face.  “Thank you for thinking well of me.”

“You are a fool Fitzwilliam Darcy.”  She said softly.  As he bent down to kiss her, they heard a man’s voice in the distance and saw him riding towards them.  Darcy sighed and Elizabeth laughed softly, “Here we are in the middle of an empty field in Scotland, and we
still
cannot manage any privacy!” 

“How am I ever to fulfil my fantasy of ravishing you in the middle of a meadow?  I swear, the summer afternoon that I try we will open our eyes to find ourselves the main attraction at a circus.”  He murmured and jumped when her hand found a home on his bottom and caressed, ever so lightly.  “Mrs. Darcy . . .  Stop that now.” 

“No.”  They were facing the rider and she continued her fondling, slipping down over his firm seat to the warm haven between his legs.  “I love your thighs . . .”

“Elizabeth . . .”

“Soooo strong . . .” 

“Lizzy . . .”

“Soooo,
tasty
.”  Darcy groaned and tried to step away, but she just followed.  Their eyes met; his held warning, and hers, mischief. 

“I am not averse to torturing you, love.” 

Smiling widely at the approaching man, she said through barely moving lips, “I would like to see you try.”

“Ohhh, a challenge . . .” Darcy’s hand found a similar position on her bottom and rubbed without the slightest hint of delicacy. 

“Will!”

“Hmm?”  His hand dipped down and she felt a cold breeze blowing on the back of her legs.