“Oh,” Elizabeth had breathed, before sinking into her thoughts. She never even noticed the tiny smile curling the corners of Georgiana’s lips.
Suddenly Georgiana pointed. “Look.”
Elizabeth looked and gasped. Before her was a beautiful building made of glass and stone. It was well lit and Elizabeth could see through the huge windows, which made up most of the front walls, to a great room that glowed with the softness of light-colored wood.
Elizabeth was stunned. She had expected it would be nice and rich, but nothing like this. This was a house out of her dreams. It was large and clean looking, with no wasted space or false ornamentation. The gardens around the front porch were lit and Elizabeth was struck by the beautiful display of flowers, which seemed perfectly balanced for the house. In her mind, Elizabeth could see the house in all the seasons, and she was pleased by how well suited it seemed for its surroundings.
As she parked, she saw Darcy waiting for her. He opened her door and offered his hand to help her out of the truck. “Welcome to Pemberley,” he told her, his eyes full of warmth.
She turned to him and said with complete sincerity, “This is the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen.”
Darcy smiled blindingly at her. “I’m very pleased you like it.” He led her through the entrance and into the great room. The room lived up to its name in every way. It was large, with a vaulted ceiling and a massive stone fireplace along one wall. Fine art mixed liberally with photographs on the walls in a way that was both random and pleasing. A pair of leather sofas sat facing each other in one part of the room, but the rest of it was left mostly empty to enhance the feeling of open spaciousness.
“Will,” Georgiana said softly, “I’m going to grab my stuff and go to Kimberley’s. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye, Lizzy,” she waved as she left the room.
Once they were alone, Darcy took her into his arms. She opened herself to his hungry kisses. The privacy of an empty room was something she had been longing for all day. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she felt his hands pulling her closer to his hard body.
His mouth broke away from her only long enough to plead, “Please stay here tonight,” before he fell back down to hers. Elizabeth kissed him back, trying to get as close to him as she could.
“Yes,” she gulped, in between kisses, as he lightly sucked her lower lip between his. “I missed you,” she cried. “Missed you so much.”
“Lizzy,” he moaned as he buried his face in her soft hair. “Lizzy, I haven’t been able to think of anything but you. I’m so sorry.”
“No sorries,” she insisted, “just kiss me again.”
He took her softly parted lips and brushed them with his thumb, caressing them gently. “Lizzy, listen, please, I have to tell you.” Her eyes drifted shut with an expression of exquisite pleasure. “Oh God,” he cried distractedly before kissing her again.
The pained tone in his voice pulled Lizzy out of her haze. Gently she turned her face away and buried it in his shoulder, as he caressed her hair, their chests rising and falling together. Elizabeth felt the pressure of her desire fade slightly. “What did you want to say?” she asked.
Darcy led them out of the great room and up a short flight of stairs to a door. Behind it was a huge, lavish bedroom. As Elizabeth stared, Darcy wrapped his arms around her waist and started kissing her neck. “I hope you don’t mind. It’s just that last time, we had a little bit of trouble reaching the bedroom.”
Elizabeth spun in his arms and determinedly kissed his self-satisfied grin away.
After a few moments, he pulled back and studied her face thoughtfully. “Can we talk now?”
Elizabeth bit her lip. “We can try.”
He guided her to the bed and they lay down together. Elizabeth was burning for him, but she was afraid enough of a repeat of last time that she was willing to go slowly.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened that morning,” he began. Elizabeth snuggled close to him and rested her head against his. “And I realized something. I realized that it’s not that I want you to be mine, Elizabeth; it’s that I want to be yours.”
Elizabeth heard the plaintive loneliness in his voice and she wrapped him up as close as she could. “You are mine,” she assured him. “Didn’t you hear that in the song?”
Darcy stared at her with a look of utter confusion. “What song?”
“The song I emailed you.”
“What?”
“I sent you a song,” Elizabeth exclaimed. Then she slowed down and tried to explain. “I’ve been thinking too, all the time,” she smiled ruefully, “and I tried to reach you. I went to the loft the morning after the VMAs and you were gone, so I went home and I wrote a song.”
Darcy’s eyes got progressively larger as he listened to her story. “You came to the loft?” he asked, his expression incredulous.
Elizabeth nodded as she sat up. “I tried to send you the song, but I didn’t have your email address, so I had Caro forward it to you.”
“Oh my God,” Darcy breathed as he sprang out of bed to the computer sitting on a desk beside the window. Elizabeth joined him. “When was it sent?” Darcy asked as he brought up his mail file. Elizabeth was shocked to find a dozen unread messages, all from Caroline.
“A week ago Thursday. That’s it, the forward,” she said, pointing. “Here, let me,” she told him as she sat down and took the mouse from him.
“I never read emails from Caro,” Darcy explained haltingly.
Elizabeth was stopped from asking why as she heard her song coming from the speakers. Her lips moved along with the words as she looked up nervously at him.
Slowly, he sat beside her, his eyes bright with wonder. He trembled with her song. “This is for me?” he whispered.
Elizabeth nodded, her arms reaching out to caress him. “You were right, Fitzwilliam, I couldn’t make love like that without being in love.”
The sound of his name on her voice tore through him and he grasped her close, covering her in kisses as he rubbed his face in her hair, letting her sweet fragrance wash over him.
Her lips quivered, her heart swelling with the love she needed to express to him. “You are so bright, so powerful, so sexy, and you terrified me because you were so sure of your feelings. But I know now, I knew within ten minutes of walking out of that loft, that I needed to go back to you. And that scared me too.” Her voice shook with the deep emotion running through her.
Darcy was kissing her, his lips pressing against her neck and moving up to her jaw. “I love you,” she cried before his lips found hers once more. They kissed hungrily, as all their yearnings were released.
“Lizzy,” he moaned between kisses, “I love you, my dearest.”