“He… comes to me frequently and it is wonderful. He holds me for a bit, then he… leaves.”
Lizzy was frowning. “What does he say when you ask him to stay?”
Jane looked at her with absolute mortification. “Ask him to stay? Lizzy, I could never do that!”
“Why ever not? He is your husband. You should be able to discuss all subjects. Perhaps he believes you want him to leave.” Lizzy clasped her sister's arms and intently met her eyes. “Jane, I will not presume to assert that your relationship with Charles should be as mine is with William. However, I will say with confidence that you have listened far too much to Mama's advice. I know several incontrovertible facts. One, sharing a bed with your husband, and sleeping in his arms is heavenly, joyous, blissful, and practical! I was not cold once all winter! Second, the intimacy engendered adds a depth to the relationship beyond comprehension. There is truly not a single matter William and I cannot talk about. We share everything.”
She linked Jane's arm in hers and resumed walking. “I know Mr. Bingley fairly well and believe you would be surprised at how deep his love for you. This is my suggestion. Tonight do not wait for him to come to you. Go to him instead and tell him how you feel. Be bold for once, Jane.”
“I do not know if I can do that, Lizzy.”
“Oh, for heaven's sake, Jane! This is Mr. Bingley and you: the sweetest couple in all of England. He will not bite you!”
That afternoon, after lunch and tea at Longbourn, Lizzy returned to Netherfield for a nap. Darcy and Bingley had been out all day; doing what, she had no idea. She woke to a shadowy room and the pressure of soft lips on her brow. With a happy sigh, she gathered her husband into her arms, pulling him onto the bed.
“Elizabeth, it is time to prepare for dinner. Lucas Lodge, you recall.” Despite his words he planted tender kisses along her neck.
“Later, husband. I have sorely missed you. What have you been up to all day?”
“Bingley wanted to show me some property twenty miles north that he is interested in. I found all manner of distasteful proofs as to why the manor and grounds were unacceptable.”
“You are a devious man, Mr. Darcy! Has anyone ever enlightened you to that fact?”
He assumed a haughty purse to his lips. “Only employing my business acumen in the service of a friend. I know for a certainty that the Hasberry estate in Derbyshire is far superior to this property.”
“And the fact that it sits less than fifteen miles from Pemberley has no bearing whatsoever?”
“Absolutely none. Now kiss me, beloved wife, and then tell me about your day. How are you feeling?”
“Very well. I had a delightful afternoon with my family, a refreshing nap despite the lonely bed, and a most enlightening conversation with Jane this morning.” She proceeded to tell him about her discussion with Jane.
“Interesting,” he murmured, relating his amusing conversation with Bingley about their room assignments. “Lends an added spin to the questioning. Not certain what I can do about it, though. As close as Charles and I are, we do not speak of such things. I am fairly confident he was as innocent as I was upon marriage. More so probably, as his education was not as inclusive and he is younger, less well traveled. His only journey out of England was when we went to France two years ago. I do not warrant him such a slave to convention that he would not deign to sleep with his wife though, and I know how deep his love for Jane.”
“I wish to see them as fulfilled and complete as we are.”
He hugged her to his side. “I know you do, beloved. Yet who are we to say they are not? All relationships are different. However, I will observe Charles and exploit any vantage offered.”
In the end, it was not necessary for either of them to act. All through the dinner party at Lucas Lodge, Jane seemed pensive, eyeing her husband with a lingering, thoughtful gaze. Darcy and Lizzy noticed, exchanging occasional knowing glances.
It was late when they returned to Netherfield. Lizzy was exhausted, actually having fallen asleep on Darcy's shoulder in the carriage. He assisted her up the stairs, murmuring their goodnights to the Bingleys. A brief backward glance as Darcy opened their door, revealed Jane clutching Charles's hand outside Bingley's bedchamber. The last picture visible was Jane snaking her arms about her husband's neck with clear intent before he had even latched the door. Darcy chuckled softly. Unfortunately, his night did not end as blissfully, his wife already soundly asleep when he reentered their chamber. He nestled close, stroking her face gently, happily gazing at her beauty for a half hour or more before sleep claimed him.
Chapter Two
Lizzy woke as the sun crested the horizon, the merest traces of sunlight entering the darkly curtained room. Darcy lay on his side next to her, one arm lightly draped over her abdomen, his top leg trapping hers. It was rare, even prior to her accident, to wake before him. Consequently, she seldom had the opportunity to simply stare at his sleeping form. She grasped her adventitious good fortune, especially as she diagnosed a state of total wellness for the first morning since early April! Her mind was racing ahead with urges growing as she lovingly admired him. He slept with lips parted, hair in utter disarray, face relaxed and so youthful. His body was akin to an oven in generating heat. It was wonderful in the winter, Lizzy had discovered, as she had not once been cold at night for the first time in the whole of her life. Now that it was summer, it meant that he tended to shove all the covers off, lying mostly exposed. Such was the case now. The thin blanket swathing her body was barely touching him, loosely cloaking hips, lower back, and one leg only. The remainder of his perfect physique was bared for her rapt inspection.
With a delighted smile, she ran dainty fingers through his hair, down to a firm shoulder and chest, edging closer to him incrementally. He slept on. How many mornings he had roused her in a similar manner were unfeasible to recollect. Therefore, the twinge of guilt felt at disturbing his slumber was overshadowed by her desires and the certitude that he would not be annoyed in the least.
Darcy, she knew, was a deep sleeper. He required little sleep overall, a mere six to seven hours more than adequate, and his body utilized the time proficiently by entering a state nearing hibernation. Therefore, she had the advantage and used it. Without haste and as delicately as possible, she removed the blanket and commenced caressing him. He sighed faintly a few times, stretched once, and rolled toward his back thus exposing more of him to her tender touch. He slept on, breathing regularly for quite some time as Lizzy thoroughly enjoyed herself.
Lizzy never wearied of simply studying her husband. Knowing the delights of his flesh and the perfection to his figure had on several occasions led to her embarrassment. Her decadent musings frequently invaded her during evenings reposing in the parlor. If Darcy glanced up and caught the gleam in her eyes as she stared, he would smile and wink or raise a brow. However, Georgiana had far too often been the one to notice the frankly sexual gazes between her brother and his wife or to interrupt them in an amorous embrace, to their extreme mortification. Yet, they could not seem to stop themselves. Last night, at the Lucas dinner party, Lizzy is almost certain her father saw her run a hand over Darcy's derriere. Earlier in the day, Mr. Bingley had walked into the library mere seconds after they separated from a particularly heated embrace with Darcy massaging one breast and Lizzy brushing the slight bulge emerging in his breeches.
This morning, contemplating the vision before her feasting eyes, Lizzy could raise only the slightest remorse. Honestly, as logical as it was to conclude that they needed to reign in their passion when in public, she had no desire to do so. Let the world know how ardently they loved each other, and if it disapproved, so be it. Lizzy would never regret a single expression of her devotion to Darcy, and she knew he felt the same. Lightly, she trailed her fingertips down the line of hair leading from breastbone to groin, circling then dipping into his navel. He slept on but the unconscious response as her fingers feathered over thighs, groin, and lower abdomen was instinctive.
Steadily, she emboldened her attack, adding kisses to the agenda, finally noting a variance to his respirations and a definite physical consequence to her ministrations. With a mighty sigh of pleasure, he drew her to his lips and kissed enthusiastically before briefly encountering her shining eyes. With a sultry smile he sighed again, closing his eyes and sprawling fully on his back, bestowing unimpaired access.
Never one to refuse an offered gift, Lizzy besieged his body with relish. Seriously kissing all over his muscular, downy-haired chest, Lizzy stimulated him in all the ways she knew he adored. She knew how sucking his nipples incited him, that lightly tickling down his rib cage and sides thrilled him, nibbling his ears drove him insane, and
