Read Online Vampire Darcy's Desire by Regina Jeffers - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Regina Jeffers
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the saddle. He turned to her and said, “I am proud of you, Miss Elizabeth. Normally, it would take a person a week or more of lessons to be able to follow along with another rider.”
“ Truly, Mr. Darcy?”
“ Truly, Miss Elizabeth.” He nodded, and they started out of the stables. They rode in silence for nearly ten minutes. Darcy pulled his horse up near a copse of trees overlooking the estate house. Letting the reins loop around a nearby bush, he slid out of the saddle and then came around to help Elizabeth down. This time, he let her body slide down the length of his, and he did not move away. Instead, he trapped her between him and the horse and gazed at her. Something important existed between them. Of that, he was certain.
The corners of Darcy’s mouth turned up in a smile.“How long have I known you?”
She blinked, trying to explain the pleasure seeping into her veins.“Less than a month, Sir,” she said teasingly.
“Not long enough for you to call me Fitzwilliam?”
“Not in public.”
His hands drifted to her waist, and he pulled her closer to him. “In private, then.” He lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss started innocently enough, tender actually, but within seconds passion swept over them. Elizabeth slid in even closer to him, and Darcy’s arms instinctively tightened around her. “ Elizabeth, ” he moaned. Finally, he forced his mouth from hers. “Only a month?” he asked hoarsely. He kissed her temple.“Let us talk. Over here.”Taking her hand, he led her to some felled trees and helped her to sit. He took a place beside her and then took her hand in his.“Miss Elizabeth, I assure you, I do not normally respond as I have with you, and I cannot explain why I behave as such now. Please understand; I am a
man of honor. If you wish to marry, I will bring you home as my wife.” Will she accept? He choked back the fear she would refuse.
Elizabeth was shocked.What started as a favor to her aunt took a most unexpected turn. Her heart fluttered. And then she considered what Mr. Darcy—Fitzwilliam—said; or rather, what he left unsaid.“But you do not love me?” she blurted out.
“I never considered love,” he murmured uneasily and stopped short. He could not admit to her his desire to possess her, to fulfill his uncontrollable need for her.
“Do you want to marry, Fitz—Mr. Darcy? If you want a wife you do not love, any woman would suit you.You would not need me. ” Elizabeth removed her hand from his. “I do not normally act so recklessly. I enjoy our verbal battles more than I should. Most of the men I meet lack the acuity to understand what wit I may possess. I never set my sights on a man; I do not need to marry. In fact, I decided long ago only love—a passionate attachment—would persuade me to do so. Otherwise, I should be just as happy being Aunt Lizzy to my sisters’ broods.” She blushed profusely. “It is, I know, an eccentric stance. Nonetheless, it is mine.” Darcy stared at her, astonished by such a declaration, one no fashionable society woman—no lady of the ton— would make.
“It is—it has been my plan not to marry.” He could not look at her. How could he explain the turmoil she created in him?
“And your estate? Do you not need an heir?”
Elizabeth’s words rang in his ears. An heir? A child with her? He could not do it. He fought every day to control the evil in himself. He could not pass that wretched—that cruelly unfortunate trait down to another. “Pemberley will be left to Georgiana’s children. What I do, I do for her.”
“I see.” But Elizabeth did not see how a virile man such as Fitzwilliam Darcy could not consider marriage and a family. It made no sense! His reaction to her guaranteed—did it not?—that he possessed no perverted ideas of sexual relationships. After a long pause, where neither of them breathed, Elizabeth said with finality, “If neither of us wishes to marry, why must we end what we
started? I will be
“ Truly, Mr. Darcy?”
“ Truly, Miss Elizabeth.” He nodded, and they started out of the stables. They rode in silence for nearly ten minutes. Darcy pulled his horse up near a copse of trees overlooking the estate house. Letting the reins loop around a nearby bush, he slid out of the saddle and then came around to help Elizabeth down. This time, he let her body slide down the length of his, and he did not move away. Instead, he trapped her between him and the horse and gazed at her. Something important existed between them. Of that, he was certain.
The corners of Darcy’s mouth turned up in a smile.“How long have I known you?”
She blinked, trying to explain the pleasure seeping into her veins.“Less than a month, Sir,” she said teasingly.
“Not long enough for you to call me Fitzwilliam?”
“Not in public.”
His hands drifted to her waist, and he pulled her closer to him. “In private, then.” He lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss started innocently enough, tender actually, but within seconds passion swept over them. Elizabeth slid in even closer to him, and Darcy’s arms instinctively tightened around her. “ Elizabeth, ” he moaned. Finally, he forced his mouth from hers. “Only a month?” he asked hoarsely. He kissed her temple.“Let us talk. Over here.”Taking her hand, he led her to some felled trees and helped her to sit. He took a place beside her and then took her hand in his.“Miss Elizabeth, I assure you, I do not normally respond as I have with you, and I cannot explain why I behave as such now. Please understand; I am a
man of honor. If you wish to marry, I will bring you home as my wife.” Will she accept? He choked back the fear she would refuse.
Elizabeth was shocked.What started as a favor to her aunt took a most unexpected turn. Her heart fluttered. And then she considered what Mr. Darcy—Fitzwilliam—said; or rather, what he left unsaid.“But you do not love me?” she blurted out.
“I never considered love,” he murmured uneasily and stopped short. He could not admit to her his desire to possess her, to fulfill his uncontrollable need for her.
“Do you want to marry, Fitz—Mr. Darcy? If you want a wife you do not love, any woman would suit you.You would not need me. ” Elizabeth removed her hand from his. “I do not normally act so recklessly. I enjoy our verbal battles more than I should. Most of the men I meet lack the acuity to understand what wit I may possess. I never set my sights on a man; I do not need to marry. In fact, I decided long ago only love—a passionate attachment—would persuade me to do so. Otherwise, I should be just as happy being Aunt Lizzy to my sisters’ broods.” She blushed profusely. “It is, I know, an eccentric stance. Nonetheless, it is mine.” Darcy stared at her, astonished by such a declaration, one no fashionable society woman—no lady of the ton— would make.
“It is—it has been my plan not to marry.” He could not look at her. How could he explain the turmoil she created in him?
“And your estate? Do you not need an heir?”
Elizabeth’s words rang in his ears. An heir? A child with her? He could not do it. He fought every day to control the evil in himself. He could not pass that wretched—that cruelly unfortunate trait down to another. “Pemberley will be left to Georgiana’s children. What I do, I do for her.”
“I see.” But Elizabeth did not see how a virile man such as Fitzwilliam Darcy could not consider marriage and a family. It made no sense! His reaction to her guaranteed—did it not?—that he possessed no perverted ideas of sexual relationships. After a long pause, where neither of them breathed, Elizabeth said with finality, “If neither of us wishes to marry, why must we end what we
started? I will be
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