An intoxicated gleam had already overtaken his eyes, and his fingers were tracing lightly over her hips. “Tremendous scandal,” he agreed.
“All the more enjoyable,” she whispered against his chin. “William?”
“Mmm?” He tipped his head and was feathering teasing caresses down the fine edge of her ear.
Elizabeth rocked her head back, baring her neck to his advances and exulting in the paralysing shivers and tickles racing over her skin. Her head was twirling, languishing, and breathing became an afterthought. “One thing—will you—”
He diverted his attention to the underside of her jaw, the swell of her pulse, and his hands took full possession of her body. “Anything, my heart.”
“Hold me. Just... hold me...” Her eyes slid closed, a drunken sort of euphoria invited her to rest, to drown in this heaven.
William’s hands slid once more over her hips, and he drew breath, then pulled away. “Of course. You must be tired after everything. Would you prefer to make yourself more comfortable? I will step out and order something.”
Elizabeth permitted him to draw back and then leave the cabin but puzzled over it. But, perhaps itwouldbe better if she changed out of her travelling clothes. By the time he returned, she was waiting for him in a satin dressing gown that had been a gift from Georgiana and brushing her hair out at the vanity. His hard swallow was audible.
“I...” He cleared his throat. “I thought some tea and finger sandwiches?” He proceeded to set the cart before her chair and serve her. Elizabeth watched him tenderly—the way his eye caught the moment her cup was only half-full, the way he gave her all the sandwiches she liked best while he settled for the others. And when her appetite shifted from the meal to other prospects, he was quick to send the cart away.
“Do you wish to rest?” he asked. “The hour does grow late.”
When she hummed and smiled an affirmative, he went to the bed and turned it down for her himself, then carefully arranged the blankets over her stomach. His eyes lingered over her form at each pass, but his restraint was becoming maddening for impatient Elizabeth. She caught his hand as he was about to draw away.
“You promised to hold me.”
His lips parted. “One moment,” he answered huskily.
When he returned, it was with a light kiss to her temple and an arm cast lovingly over her middle. His weight settled beside her, his warmth almost a nourishing comfort for her to lose herself to. He sighed in deepest contentment, pulling her close and nuzzling his chin into her shoulder. Then, he went quiet—a tense, attentive stillness that was anything but peaceful.
“William... are you on top of the blankets instead of under them?”
He lifted his head. “You said you wanted to rest.”
“It was you who said that. I asked for something else.”
“Well... I thought you meant...oh.”
The change that came over him was swift. He tore the blankets out of his way and braced himself above her, his eyes devouring her. Elizabeth arched her foot to tease the side of his calf and watch the flame in him blaze hotter. He eased himself lower, his surrender achingly slow until his lips softly met hers.
“Elizabeth,” he sighed. “My life, my world.”
She sank her fingers into his hair, her other hand claiming his broad back. If he was temptingly gentle, she was fierce, giving him no quarter. She hooked her knee around his leg, tracing with her mouth the mischievous smile that played at his lips. Still, he held himself in check, though his body racked with famished shivers at her touch.
Undaunted, she nudged open the gap of his nightshirt to dip the tip of her tongue into the hollow of his throat, then along his collarbone. He shuddered. “Elizabeth!” he gasped helplessly, then said no more. With a growl, he slid his arms under her and rolled her over on top of him. His hands now free to explore, he indulged himself while she tormented his chest and throat with hungry kisses.
All the earth fell away to the rosy gold of this moment. The ship’s rolling, the cabin’s opulence might have been a sun-kissed meadow, or a long empty beach, or a rocky mountain peak. There was only his breath, his touch, the glorious union of body and soul. Instinct, power, abandon, desire—things of the deep joined in bliss with dizzying light. Her body came alive with the glory of a thousand butterflies, an exultant cry of suspense and laughter and adoration that felt as if it would never cease.
She held his head to her breast as the evening waned, and their hearts spun down to a steady harmony. The ship’s subtle bulk settled into the long, luxurious waves of the summer sea, rocking them away to dreams so sweet, so unbroken, that they only saw each other even when the darkness claimed them both.
Chapter 55
London
ThereturntoLondonwas everything jarring and offensive to Darcy’s senses. The eight days he had spent rapturously sequestered at sea with his Elizabeth seemed a distant paradise compared to the blank discouragement that was all the news of Mrs Bennet and her daughters. Worse, he had to see Elizabeth’s face when she learned that her mother and sisters were not yet accounted for. She, like he, had sustained herself on the sort of buoyant hope only possible when the truth is not to be had.
However, at least now, she had Jane. The two had clung to each other in tears and laughter at their first meeting—Mrs Bingley in sobbing relief that her sister was not lost to her after all. “Bingley,” Darcy said after their wives left the room, “I am going to speak to someone, and I was hoping Elizabeth might stay here.”
“Your investigator? He was here yesterday telling me everything he had learnt, which was not much.”
“No, there is someone else. Will you look after Elizabeth?”
