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“Really?”
“Elizabeth, you are an incredibly attractive young woman. The reason I love you is the wonderful combination of your intelligence, wit, humour and joy but it is also for your looks and body.”
Darcy watched his wife blush before his eyes.
“I am sorry to have embarrassed you but you deserve the truth.”
“I am more surprised than embarrassed. It is amazing to hear yourself described by someone else. Did you admire me when you were in Hertfordshire?”
It was Darcy’s turn to blush as he nodded.
“Mr. Darcy!”
His head popped up to see his wife’s mischievous face. He had to laugh and kissed the top of her head.
“If I am confessing all my sins then you should know that for the last month I could no longer wear breeches in your presence.”
“Why ever not?”
In response Darcy gently took her hand and led it down his body. Her gasp was worth it.
“You provoke that reaction in me. It was impossible to be a gentleman in breeches.”
“Oh my.”
“Precisely. If you had been able to read my mind you would have slapped my face every day.”
It was Elizabeth’s turn to crawl up his body and kiss her husband.
“Yet you were the perfect gentleman with me, and I am now your wife.”
She bit her bottom lip and peered up at him from under her eyelashes.
“Will you show my what you were thinking, husband dear?”
Elizabeth’s squeal was stilled by her husband’s mouth. Their passion was ardent, romantic yet hot and steamy. Minutes later they flung themselves apart, lying panting side by side. The sheet on the bed covered their lower halves but neither made any attempt to pull it higher.
“You thought of me that way every day for the last month?”
“I did. Although my imagination was a poor substitute for the real Elizabeth Darcy.”
Elizabeth returned to her position that was already becoming familiar.
“We should ring for some food, given how much energy we are expending.”
“William!”
To Elizabeth’s shock, although it quickly turned to delight, Darcy rather than try to reach over her, slid out of bed and walked round to ring for his valet.
“William, do not ring the bell just yet.”
He turned to her and despite a blush she smiled.
“I had another thought. We have talked about this night but it is moments like this that I never envisioned. In my mind, I jumped from the wedding breakfast to being under the covers with you. On occasion, I would bathe in preparation but moments such as this never entered my mind. I had started to admire your physique but it was always clothed. The man before me is a statue of Adonis come to life.”
It was Darcy’s turn to blush but he understood her initial point. He had stepped out of his marriage bed, only his wife was there, he did not feel the need to slip into his banyan. He had a complementary thought and walked over to stand in front of the unlit fire.
“Would you join me please Elizabeth? Adonis’ lover was Aphrodite. I wish to see my goddess brought to life.”