Vampire Darcy's Desire

“I did, Sir.Yes, Sir.”The woman blushed with embarrassment at her intrusion upon their domestic scene.

However, before she could exit the room, Darcy called to her: “Sally, please lay out Mrs. Darcy’s riding habit, and tell Morris I will need similar attire. And have the staff saddle my horse and also Ceres.”

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

“I sent for her yesterday. I paid your father fifty pounds for his trouble. I meant to surprise you.” Darcy’s smile told of the pleasure he took in taking her unawares.

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

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

“Certainly, Sally. We will ring when we are ready to dress for breakfast.”

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

Elizabeth kissed him immediately. Surprise and happiness filled

“You are my wife, Elizabeth. I would do anything for you.” Pure joy at seeing her excitement showed in his tone.

“Where may we ride in the city?”

“Hyde Park holds several riding trails, and as the season is over, we should have the park pretty much to ourselves. Once we travel to Pemberley, we can ride regularly. It will give me a chance to show you the entire estate.”

Elizabeth now kissed along his chin line. “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, Sweetling?”

“You know perfectly well when that was, Mr. Darcy.” Elizabeth laced her arms around his neck and urged his mouth towards her. “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 and energy between them. Darcy lowered himself across her and drank of her mouth. Her lips parted, and Darcy’s mouth pressed harder. Elizabeth’s hands searched the muscles of his back before he caught her hands in his grip and raised them above her head. Darcy’s 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 along the curve of her neck and down the crevice between her breasts.

Elizabeth’s moan only encouraged his efforts, and Darcy cupped her breast in his palm before returning to plunder her mouth. Elizabeth arched into his palm, lost to the pleasures of his hand and mouth.

Darcy’s lips and tongue slid down the length of her neck, coming to rest on the spot he most desired. He kissed it and licked the point, feeling her blood under the surface and knowing it could easily mix with the moisture of his mouth. Gently, he sucked

Without realizing she did so, Elizabeth’s body responded by grinding her hips into him, flooding Darcy with nearly uncontrollable desire as he continued to kiss along her shoulder and returning to tongue and suck at the pulse point. When she begged, “Please,” Darcy’s reason fought for control, and he forced himself to withdraw, although the effort was painful to them both.

“Oh, God, Elizabeth,” he moaned into her hair as he buried his face in shame.

Elizabeth tried to control her breathing, needing to calm her racing heart. “You did nothing wrong,” she assured him. “You did nothing more than what I wanted; it is as much my fault as it is yours,” Elizabeth reassured him. She wanted desperately to keep him locked in her arms.

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

Elizabeth tried to defend their actions.“We are attracted to each other. Is that terrible? Some marriages are purely business.”

“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, and I will not be portrayed as a wanton because I want to lie in his arms and feel the pleasure of knowing him intimately.” Elizabeth realized she argued for something totally out of their control. “Fitzwilliam, do you not realize how truly exceptional our connection is?”

Darcy wheeled around to face her.“I told you before; you have lived with this evil for a few months; I have known it all my life. Our perspectives are different.”

Tears misted her eyes, but Elizabeth fought to keep her emotions under control. “Well, it is time your perspective changed, because You might have known this curse for eight and twenty years, but we will deal with it for many more than that. So the decisions are no longer yours alone to make.”

Darcy stared at her in disbelief; his authority was rarely questioned. It struck him as amusing, and he started to laugh his rolling laugh—softly, at first, and then loudly. Elizabeth was struck with the absurdity. Were we not just arguing? Darcy came forward, scooped her into his arms, and twirled her around as he let his head fall back in a deep, room-filling laugh. “You, my lovely, are magnificent!”

His laughter was contagious; Elizabeth could not remain angry with him. Automatically, she locked her hands behind his neck and pulled herself closer to him.“And you, my Husband, are a conundrum.”

“Now that that is settled,” he said, still chuckling, “let us begin our day.”

“Did we settle something?”

“We decided we would disagree,” he stated matter-of-factly.