After the Wedding (there may be kissing)

Well, is this a swoony theme this month, or what? I’ve been loving all these romantic reads, but my fan is about worn out!

Now, I will be quite honest. I was planning to write an exclusive for this theme because it was so much fun, but… I didn’t. You can throw your rotten tomatoes now (ducks and runs for cover). I’ve been typing my poor fingers off this summer out of sheer boredom, but it seems I finally needed a break! We have been doing some of our usual summery things, although not nearly as many as I would like, and I’m presently in a state of denial that in less than two weeks, the school year starts back up for us. *sigh* If you see someone lounging in the yard with sunglasses and an iced tea and earplugs, that will be me, ignoring the call of duty.

Anyway, you came here to read about kissing, so kissing it shall be. I’m sharing a few excerpts today, curated especially for your sighing pleasure.

Stay cool, everyone!

Half an hour, she had said. Only half an hour for her to prepare for bed—and all that word meant—after their private dinner at the inn. It might as well be five minutes for how quickly Darcy’s mind was racing. Yet, each time he glanced at his pocket watch, only seconds had passed.

He slowly unwound his cravat and laid it over his chair, his fingers trembling. His waistcoat was next, folded meticulously, and draped with care. For these few more minutes, he would possess himself, center and command all his actions, and school himself with patience. Because the moment he saw Elizabeth, clad in a diaphanous gown with her hair shimmering all around her, all hope of control would be lost.

Only a quarter of an hour had passed, and Darcy forced himself to be seated, to wait for the rest of his life to begin. His heart was in his throat, his eyes might have been dazzled with stars, for all the good they did him. He could make himself think of nothing but…

Soft steps moved in the room next door. An audible swish of fabric, and then, the sweetest voice in all the world began to hum. An angelic melody, the same one that had brought so much feeling and beauty back into his life. Darcy grinned and went to the door between their rooms at once.

“I beg your pardon, madam,” he said, “but are you experiencing difficulty sleeping?”

She came immediately to the far side of the door, and he heard her hand resting upon its paneling. “Indeed, I am. I am in need of some amusement. Pray, do you know where I might find it?”

“I am happy to amuse you however you would like. Tell me how I might oblige.”

“That is a very generous and unrestrictive offer. You may regret, sir, granting me so much leeway in what I might ask of you.”

“I doubt it very much. A lady’s wish must be my command.”

“Well, I could ask you to sit here in the dark and tell me all sorts of amusing tales,” she said from the other side.

“They will not be very amusing, if you are depending on me to invent them.”

“Then perhaps you will listen patiently whilst I regale you with all the gossip which ladies are supposed to find fascinating.”

“I will endeavor to do so, if it pleases you, but I might find it a cure for insomnia.”

She laughed. “Then, there is nothing else for it. You must sing me to sleep, sir.”

Darcy smiled. “I will, on one condition.”

“And that is?”

He gingerly tried the latch, found it unlocked, and eased the door open. There, with the glow of the hearth offsetting her glorious form and her eyes warm for none but him, was Elizabeth. She lifted her chin, still holding herself aloof, and arched a teasing brow.

“My condition is,” he answered at last, “that I will only sing while you are in my arms.”

Her eyes tipped up as she pretended to consider. “Perfectly shocking. Why, I hardly know you! You are merely the gentleman next door with the delicious voice.”

He stepped boldly into the room and wrapped his arms around her. A moment later, after many delirious kisses and much mayhem inflicted to his senses, she panted her mischievous observation. “I declare, sir, your voice is not the only thing that I find delicious.”

“No?” He scooped her up, relishing her delighted shriek of laughter as he carried her haphazardly toward the bed. They tumbled together, all hands and bodies and famished kisses, until the earth stood still, and there was nothing left but soft breathing and tender remembrances of the moment.

Darcy shifted her to his chest, fanning her hair over his bare skin so that he might feel her in every pore, and kissed her temple. Then, he began to softly hum to her. After a moment, she joined him. Their voices blended as their bodies and spirits had, and when the song died away, their breathing was still tied together in gentle sighs.

“I love you, Fitzwilliam,” she whispered as sleep began to claim her. “As long as I have words to say it, I will tell you every day how I adore you.”

“And I love you, my Elizabeth. As sure as the sun shall never sleep, so will be my heart for you.”

William had apparently spared no expense on their ticket. Elizabeth never knew that ship-board cabins could be so luxurious, and she marvelled for several minutes in helpless astonishment at the cabin’s many amenities and extravagances. William kept his distance until she turned around with an abashed smile for him. “I suppose the voyage will be comfortable enough. Surely, we did not need such a suite!”

“I beg to differ.” He slowly approached, holding out his hand for her to take. “I was hoping you would approve of it.”

She fingered the edge of his jacket, the rich brocade of his waistcoat. “I think there are few who could not approve.”

“Good, because I mean to keep you in here as much as you will tolerate.”

Elizabeth nodded seriously as her hands crept up his collar. “Do they bring meals directly to the cabins in first-class?”

“Indeed, they do.”

“And—” she was breathing softly on his lower lip now, her arms threaded round his neck— “will it be a fearsome scandal if we never appear on the passenger deck at all?”

An intoxicated gleam had already overtaken his eyes, and his fingers were tracing lightly over her hips. “Tremendous scandal,” he agreed.

“All the more enjoyable,” she whispered against his chin. “William?”

“Mmm?” He tipped his head and was feathering teasing caresses down the fine edge of her ear.

Elizabeth rocked her head back, baring her neck to his advances and exulting in the paralysing shivers and tickles racing over her skin. Her head was twirling, languishing, and breathing became an afterthought. “One thing—will you—”

He diverted his attention to the underside of her jaw, the swell of her pulse, and his hands took full possession of her body. “Anything, my heart.”

“Hold me. Just… hold me…” Her eyes slid closed, a drunken sort of euphoria invited her to rest, to drown in this heaven.

William’s hands slid once more over her hips, and he drew breath, then pulled away. “Of course. You must be tired after everything. Would you prefer to make yourself more comfortable? I will step out and order something.”

Elizabeth permitted him to draw back and then leave the cabin but puzzled over it. But, perhaps it would be better if she changed out of her travelling clothes. By the time he returned, she was waiting for him in a satin dressing gown that had been a gift from Georgiana and brushing her hair out at the vanity. His hard swallow was audible.

“I…” He cleared his throat. “I thought some tea and finger sandwiches?” He proceeded to set the cart before her chair and serve her. Elizabeth watched him tenderly—the way his eye caught the moment her cup was only half-full, the way he gave her all the sandwiches she liked best while he settled for the others. And when her appetite shifted from the meal to other prospects, he was quick to send the cart away.

“Do you wish to rest?” he asked. “The hour does grow late.”

When she hummed and smiled an affirmative, he went to the bed and turned it down for her himself, then carefully arranged the blankets over her stomach. His eyes lingered over her form at each pass, but his restraint was becoming maddening for impatient Elizabeth. She caught his hand as he was about to draw away.

“You promised to hold me.”

His lips parted. “One moment,” he answered huskily.

When he returned, it was with a light kiss to her temple and an arm cast lovingly over her middle. His weight settled beside her, his warmth almost a nourishing comfort for her to lose herself to. He sighed in deepest contentment, pulling her close and nuzzling his chin into her shoulder. Then, he went quiet—a tense, attentive stillness that was anything but peaceful.

“William… are you on top of the blankets instead of under them?”

He lifted his head. “You said you wanted to rest.”

“It was you who said that. I asked for something else.”

“Well… I thought you meant… oh.”

The change that came over him was swift. He tore the blankets out of his way and braced himself above her, his eyes devouring her. Elizabeth arched her foot to tease the side of his calf and watch the flame in him blaze hotter. He eased himself lower, his surrender achingly slow until his lips softly met hers.

“Elizabeth,” he sighed. “My life, my world.”

She sank her fingers into his hair, her other hand claiming his broad back. If he was temptingly gentle, she was fierce, giving him no quarter. She hooked her knee around his leg, tracing with her mouth the mischievous smile that played at his lips. Still, he held himself in check, though his body racked with famished shivers at her touch.

Undaunted, she nudged open the gap of his nightshirt to dip the tip of her tongue into the hollow of his throat, then along his collarbone. He shuddered. “Elizabeth!” he gasped helplessly, then said no more. With a growl, he slid his arms under her and rolled her over on top of him. His hands now free to explore, he indulged himself while she tormented his chest and throat with hungry kisses.

All the earth fell away to the rosy gold of this moment. The ship’s rolling, the cabin’s opulence might have been a sun-kissed meadow, or a long empty beach, or a rocky mountain peak. There was only his breath, his touch, the glorious union of body and soul. Instinct, power, abandon, desire—things of the deep joined in bliss with dizzying light. Her body came alive with the glory of a thousand butterflies, an exultant cry of suspense and laughter and adoration that felt as if it would never cease.

She held his head to her breast as the evening waned, and their hearts spun down to a steady harmony. The ship’s subtle bulk settled into the long, luxurious waves of the summer sea, rocking them away to dreams so sweet, so unbroken, that they only saw each other even when the darkness claimed them both.

Elizabeth Darcy closed her eyes and released a luxuriant breath. William’s strong fingers kneaded the back of her neck, releasing tension she had not known that she carried, and his lips caressed her ear. “William,” she sighed, “do you intend to lull me to sleep at once?”

The heat shivering over her neck intensified. “If so, I will be forced to carry you to the bed. After that, I make no promises that you will remain asleep.”

She chuckled and arched round to brush a soft kiss to his lips. “I am all anticipation, sir.”

He lingered for a deeper kiss, tipping up her head and threading his fingers into the thick cluster of silken ringlets on her crown. Elizabeth felt a prickle race along her skin as pins began to fall.

She groaned her delight as he teased and tempted, and then gasped in startled pleasure when his other hand began to stroke and explore over her silken nightgown. A moment later, her hair had been fully loosed, and he slipped an arm behind her back to lift her.

He laid her out upon the bed, pausing for a moment to admire her in all her sultry innocence, then stretched his body beside her. “Elizabeth!” he moaned hoarsely, then captured her lips. One hand stroked over her body, kindling shared desire until he caught his breath and hooked her knee, shifting his weight fully upon her and pressing intimately to her centre.

Elizabeth cast her head back, arching to his touch and meeting each eager pitch of his body as he kissed her exposed skin. She had known it would be something like this—giving herself freely to the ardour of her beloved, cradling his body to her own and bearing, for these few delicious moments, both the exultant pain and searing pleasure of his passion. She would pass through the flame, would offer to him the very essence of herself, and would rest in his embrace—changed, and forever his.

A deep, almost feral growl rumbled through his chest, and he coaxed her to raise herself slightly, then her gown slipped over her head. She closed her eyes, resting back against his forearm and waiting for the hot brush of his mouth over her skin, but he had gone still. She blinked.

He was gazing lovingly over her form, his eyes brimming with feeling and his breath halting. “Elizabeth,” he whispered, as his fingers burned their first, ardent path over her untouched flesh. “Tell me again that I am not dreaming—that this is real. Tell me that I am truly yours, and that when I awake, you will be here. Let it not be sorrow I shall face by the light of day! Let me not love you only in my dreams.”

She slid her hand up his chest, then beneath the collar of his night shirt, pulling him down near her. “Those dreams, William, they are another life. This life, the real one, I was meant to live with you. Even when torn from you, I could only be yours. So long as I have life in my heart, it beats for you, and so long as my eyes can see, they will search for you. I let you go once, and spent a year lost and alone. I shall never lose my life again to the cold! Nothing will ever take me from your arms, my love.”

He wrapped her up in his embrace and burrowed his face in her hair, then clasped her to his heart as he trembled with supplanted grief. Tears of blessing and peace filled his eyes, and he kissed her tenderly. “Elizabeth,” he murmured, “this is not right. One moment, my love.” He slipped from the bed, his fingers grazing her sensitive thigh as he moved from her.

Elizabeth lay back and closed her eyes. Whatever he was about, she would know soon. She heard the shimmer of fabric, then the room dimmed as one candle, then another, and another were snuffed. She opened her eyes to utter darkness. There was only the distant sound of a faint breeze whispering through the trees behind the townhouse, but a moment later, that too was silenced as he closed the window. Then there was only him, the warmth of his body, the flush of his breath, the scent of his hair and the thrill of his skin—all of him, touching and caressing and claiming her as his own.

She knew his desire, sensed how to give of herself. She offered him sweet surrender, but before he accepted, he rolled to his back and drew her to his chest. With one hand, he slid a coverlet over her for warmth, and with the other, he teased her hair to fall all round their faces, enveloping them in an intimate cocoon.

Elizabeth stiffened hesitantly. “William, are you certain?”

He slid his hands possessively over her curves. “This is as it should be, Elizabeth. Only you, here to sustain me. I have no need for light, or sound, or even for air, for you are my very breath and pulse. My bed was once my prison, but now it shall be my sanctuary. Love me, Elizabeth, and I shall dream of you to the end of my days.”

And she did.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! And mamas and papas marching off to school at home with your kids… may the odds be ever in your favor.

-NC