Chapter Twenty-Six
By now, they had settled into a kind of routine, though the lovemaking itself changed from night to night. Sometimes Georgiana took her time undressing Caroline, deliberating over every single button until Caroline was ready to throw all her clothes into the nearest hearth. Sometimes there seemed to be no time for any removal of clothes, only bodies propped against a nearby wall, panting and writhing in mutual ecstasy. Today had been somewhere in between, which Caroline thought she might enjoy the most—alternating between sensuous embraces and rough hands palming all the most sensitive parts of her with wild abandon.
“Closer,” she gasped, wrapping her legs around Georgiana and pulling their bodies flush. “I need to feel every inch of you.”
Georgiana groaned and buried her face in Caroline’s shoulder, landing open-mouthed kisses on every patch of skin within reach. “You make me feel as if I am losing my mind.”
You make me certain I have already lost mine, Caroline thought.
Georgiana never stayed—once they’d finished their lovemaking, they returned to one of the communal rooms downstairs or separated to their own chambers. Tonight, though,Georgiana had looked down at her with something like longing, and the expression pierced her heart with such yearning that she could not help the words tumbling out of her mouth. “Stay,” she said, when Georgiana began to slide out of bed. “Stay a little, at least.”
Miss Darcy froze. “What for?”
Caroline ignored the twinge of hurt in her chest. Did she really need a reason to justify lying together once the act was over? “Could we just... lie together for a while? And then you may leave as you wish.”
After a moment, Georgiana nodded and lay back down, though she was much stiffer than she had been only a minute before. Caroline draped an arm across her, discomfort prickling down her spine, and waited until Georgiana relaxed a little before creeping closer. Even so, Miss Darcy did not seem exactly happy about their positions. Caroline sighed. “You may leave if you hate this so much. I will not ask you to endure it again.”
“I do not hate it. I simply... Is this not what lovers do?” Georgiana whispered. The pulse in her neck fluttered rapidly under Caroline’s fingers, which was odd; surely, she could not still be out of breath from their previous endeavours.
“I thought we just did what lovers do,” Caroline said, baffled.
“Never mind.” Miss Darcy turned her face away.
It was clear she’d said the wrong thing—good Lord, how often that had happened of late—but she had no idea why. “You do recall, don’t you,” she murmured, “that I would have no way of knowing what lovers do? For you have been my only one.”
Georgiana swallowed, turning back to face Caroline. The candle flame guttered behind her, casting a vivid halo aroundher fair hair. “I did not— I mean, sometimes I rather forget.” She hesitated. “You think of me as your lover?”
Caroline blinked.Rather a stupid question, given what we just did.However, she’d learned by now not to say the first thing which immediately came to mind. “That depends,” she said, choosing her words carefully. “What does it mean, exactly?”
“It may mean something different to every person.”
That was the most evasive answer she’d ever heard. Caroline waited, studying Georgiana’s face in the flickering candlelight, though Miss Darcy’s expression was an unfamiliar one. Georgiana sighed. “I suppose that it might mean a person whom one takes to bed. Or perhaps a person to whom one is...” She trailed off, running a hand through her hair, making it look even more of a glorious mess than it already was. “Inclined?” she finished, sounding surprisingly uncertain.
“Inclined?” Caroline repeated.
“Yes. Inclined.” Georgiana’s lips pressed together, and she seemed unlikely to say more. In fact, she rather looked as if she were holding her breath.
“In that case, I think it fair to say that I am very inclined towards you,” Caroline said, and braced for the impact her words might have. The silence stretched on and on, and just when she was beginning to think she’d made a mistake, Georgiana swooped down and caught her lips in a kiss so soft and tender that it fairly took her breath away.
Inclined, Caroline thought.Predisposed. Perhaps even preferred.All those words which had once seemed so silly to apply to another person were now starting to make sense.
“Will you come here, Georgie?” she asked, opening her arms. “Will you let me hold you?”
Hesitantly, Georgiana turned, sliding an arm across Caroline’s stomach, bringing their bodies flush together again. They’d been skin to skin only minutes before, but this felt different. Caroline’s skin tingled where Georgiana pressed against her, but the feeling left her dreamy and sleepy rather than wide awake. She wrapped her arms around the soft body, holding it to her tightly, and felt Georgiana hum with contentment. “Are you comfortable like this?”
“Very,” came the quiet reply, though something in her voice suggested it wasn’t a completely honest answer.
“Might we risk falling asleep together?” she murmured, aware that the edges of her consciousness had begun to blur.
“I shouldn’t really, but I—” Georgiana shifted. “Are you sure you want me to stay?”
“Of course I do.” The comfortable weight of sleep had already begun to descend, pulling her down into darkness. She wasn’t sure why it was even a question. What could be more pleasant than holding each other after a rigorous bout of lovemaking? “Don’t you want to?”
She was asleep before Georgiana answered.
In the morning, Caroline awoke to the shift of the mattress beneath her, the roll of it suggesting a body had recently vacated the area next to her. She blinked groggily as Georgiana gathered her clothes from the floor, evidently intending to be quiet.
“Where are you going?”
