Vampire Darcy's Desire

what your intuition tells you, and what Mrs.Annesley believes to be your role in Darcy’s fate.”

Elizabeth realized the colonel had assigned her a job in asking for her insights. He would keep her focused on the task at hand, and she was thankful for his interference. How much she had learned of vampire legends and facts amazed her. After two hours, he took over the reins, and Peter climbed into the carriage.The coachman made his apologies to Elizabeth, but explained that the colonel

Elizabeth followed suit. She had slept very little the night before, and she would need all her wits to help Darcy defeat Wickham. She settled back into the luxurious seats of Darcy’s coach. They reminded her of him—warm and comfortable. Automatically, she turned her head into the material and inhaled deeply. She fancied that she could smell the man she loved—sandalwood and masculinity. Breathing in deeply again, she closed her eyes and tried to feel Darcy around her—the muscles of his arms tight and pulling her closer—the heat of his breath hot on the back of her neck—the hunger of his mouth as he kissed her.“Please, God,” she whispered, not wishing Peter to hear her prayer.

That evening, the colonel registered them as man and wife at a rowdy inn along the main road. They took a room over the bar, both of them expecting little sleep because of the noise.They had dinner in a semiprivate room with two other couples, so their conversation remained on mundane subjects—mostly his family in Matlock.

“Will they not wonder what happened to you?” she whispered.

“I sent word that I was called to Newcastle unexpectedly. My parents are used to my position interfering with family obligations.”

She blurted out, “Would you tell me about Fitzwilliam’s life? Surprisingly, I know little of his childhood.”

“My cousin was groomed from an early age to be the Master of Pemberley.…” Elizabeth listened for three quarters of an hour as Darcy’s cousin lovingly shared anecdote after anecdote about a young Darcy and the mischief the two of them often found themselves a part of.“Unfortunately, much of that carefree youthfulness left him at sixteen. My aunt, Lady Anne, never recovered from giving birth to Georgiana, and when the girl was but age four, their mother passed. Darcy felt the loss deeply. He promised his mother on her deathbed to protect Georgiana. Filled with guilt, Lady Anne begged Darcy’s forgiveness for allowing the curse to continue—for

“I am sure, Colonel, that my husband explained how we were caught in a compromising situation.” Elizabeth blushed with her own admission.

“Mrs. Darcy, you fool only yourself if you believe that your situation would have forced my cousin to do something he did not want to do. He could easily have thrown enough money at it to make it go away—money enough for dowries for you and all your sisters, for example. And although Darcy is the most honorable of men, you were not ruined in the worst sense. In the country, rumors might persist, but censure is not so daunting. There was something more, and Darcy knew it.”

“Would you not consider, Colonel, the possibility that Mr. Darcy married me simply to protect me from a danger he had brought into my life?”

“I have no doubt, Elizabeth, that Darcy pondered that fact when he first considered your union, but he could have protected you by simply withdrawing from you, taking Wickham’s interest with him. Darcy married you because he saw hope for his life in your eyes. With you, he knew some sort of unvarying viability.” Damon took her hand in his before adding,“You should have seen Darcy’s hot-blooded reaction when my father questioned his motivation for marrying you, my dear.Truthfully, Darcy’s reaction delighted my parents and me.We had watched him become more

His honesty disturbed her, and Elizabeth stood upon this proclamation. “You have provided me much food for thought. If you will excuse me, Sir, I will prepare for sleep.” She leaned in, as if to make a private remark to her husband.“I will make you a proper pallet in front of the fire if you give me a few extra minutes.”

“With pleasure, my dear,” he said loudly enough to maintain the illusion.

Thirty minutes later, the colonel slipped into their room. Elizabeth had dressed modestly for the night and burrowed under the blankets. Only the fire from the fireplace provided light. Damon chuckled when he saw how she had used the furniture to build a wall between them—to maintain privacy. He undressed down to his breeches before wrapping himself in the blankets and cushions she had placed in the makeshift bed.“We will leave early tomorrow. I told Peter to have the carriage ready by seven.” He spoke to the darkness surrounding them, but the colonel knew she did not sleep.

Elizabeth pushed herself up on one arm. “Colonel, will we get there in time to help Fitzwilliam?”

It was the words he knew they had shoved to the backs of their minds since the moment they decided to follow Darcy to Northumberland. “I certainly hope so, Elizabeth, for I fear Darcy’s recklessness could have dire consequences otherwise.” He heard a quick intake of breath, as his prediction became a reality for her. Trying to change the serious atmosphere, he teased, “Mrs. Darcy, are there any more like you in Hertfordshire?”

Elizabeth relaxed back into the bed, recognizing the ploy.“Your cousin thinks I am unique—more adventurous than proper young ladies of the ton.”

“Then I dare say, Mrs. Darcy, my cousin took the best of the litter.” With that, he pulled the blankets around his ears and pretended to drift off to sleep. Elizabeth Darcy was a mystery; for once, he actually envied his cousin’s life.

Four hours north of where they slept, Darcy settled onto a lumpy mattress in an attic room of a cheap country inn. He had ridden across back roads most of the day, angling his way from the westernmost part of Derbyshire towards the Lake District and then still farther north and east.As he tried to force sleep to come to his exhausted frame, he pictured the face of Elizabeth that day in the snowstorm when he told her he loved her. Because I did not get the chance to tell my husband I am completely and hopelessly in love with him. “Ah, Elizabeth,” he whispered while trying to maintain the picture in his head.Within a few days, she would be free of him forever.

CHAPTER 24

The second evening on the road, Elizabeth realized early in the day that it was New Year’s Eve. Since her marriage to Darcy, she had developed an idealized concept of what ringing in the New Year with her husband would be like. She marked it as a new beginning for their shared life. Darcy had admitted his love for her, and Elizabeth believed the date would change things for the better, making them truly husband and wife. Instead, she found herself in a country inn, trying to make conversation with her husband’s cousin, and despite her gratitude to the man for his help, he simply was not Darcy. She feigned a headache from the exhausting ride and retired early, but when the colonel finally joined her in their shared room, he could not help but hear the muffled sobs that broke the silence. Elizabeth cried for the loss of a great love, and the colonel wondered if he would ever know such torment and such pleasure.

For three days, Elizabeth taught Damon Fitzwilliam everything she knew about George Wickham and how to vanquish vampires. At each of the stops, they took on weapons and supplies as they found them. Silver and iron, and staves of ash and white thorn were bundled into blankets and tied securely to the Darcy carriage. In small villages, they bought several crucifixes, cloves of garlic, bags of salt, and wooden stakes. Even buying several bags of millet seemed prudent at one such stop. By silent agreement, they