Page 15 of First Impressions (Passion and Perseverance #1)
“Well if he allowed you to read it, I am sure that, as Jane’s sister, I should be afforded equal consideration.
” She began to unfold the note and the next thing she knew, Mr. Intolerable had backed her up against the wall, grabbed her wrists and held them hostage above her head.
His face right next to her left ear, she heard his labored breathing.
“Miss Bennet, I must insist that you allow your sister to read the note first,” he said so quietly as his lips had come to rest on her ear.
“Mr. Darcy, I must insist that you let me go. You can’t control me!”
She heard a soft chuckle in her ear. “Oh, you have no idea how I could. How I would,” he said cryptically as he took her earlobe between his teeth and bit down lightly. “If you were mine, I would have you face down on the counter to reprimand you properly.”
As if to ensure that his point was well understood, his left hand reached around to rest on her ass, his thumb tracing lazy circles on her yoga pants.
Her body was on fire. With that statement, she felt a surge of wetness followed by a throbbing, dull ache between her thighs.
Her mind was in a fog again, consumed by him - his words, his smell, his touch.
Her head fell back against the wall and she moaned softly.
She heard a strangled groan escape him before his walls crumbled.
His right hand released her wrists as it moved to support her head as his lips came crashing down on hers.
His left hand, that had been a light presence before, now gripped her ass cheek and pulled her hips into his.
Her mouth opened immediately as she felt the evidence of his arousal pressed into her stomach, his tongue taking advantage of the invitation.
Beth was completely lost. There was a storm of desire engulfing her and he was the only solid ground that she was able to cling to.
As their tongues dueled, she became inflamed and impatient, pressing her hips into his arousal.
She heard him groan and his kiss became more fervent.
At some point his hand must have left her head as she felt his fingers brush her ribcage, his hand moving upward to capture her breast. She hadn’t put a bra on this morning because she hadn’t planned on leaving the apartment or on having company, and now she was grateful for her laziness.
She moaned into his mouth as he kneaded her swollen flesh, his palm brushing her t-shirt torturously across her hardened nipple .
Her arms had somehow made their way around his neck as she buried her fingers in his perfectly sculpted hair.
Her senses were on fire. As if knowing how close she was to orgasming, his fingers grabbed her nipple and pinched hard; the jolt of pain, or pleasure, almost sent her over the edge.
Her moan was loud and only partially stifled by their kiss.
Beth would have melted to the floor if she hadn’t been wedged between Darcy and the wall as her knees gave way.
The immediacy and intensity of their desire were like matches hitting gasoline - they both were instantly consumed.
The onslaught to each of her senses was almost unbearable.
Everything about his kiss was what she remembered; everything right down to his ability to disengage from her in an instant and appear as if nothing had happened, as they heard Jane from down the hall.
“Beth, is someone here?”
Beth leaned back against the wall, fairly certain she wasn't stable enough to stand on her own. Through the fog of desire that was rapidly dissipating she responded, “Mr. Darcy came to see you with a gift from Charles.”
“Oh, ok! I’ll just be a minute.” They heard the door shut as Jane went into her room.
Beth closed her eyes and took a deep breath, mentally and physically steadying herself for the awkward confrontation that was sure to follow.
Her legs felt like jelly, her lips felt bruised, she was drenched and aching between her thighs.
It took some effort to open her eyelids and look at the man responsible.
Far from the statuesque figure she expected to see, she was surprised to find a myriad of emotions playing across his face.
He met her gaze, his eyes still infused with desire, as if it took all his willpower to not push her right back up against the kitchen wall, but he quickly turned his head and looked away.
His face drawn tight, his hand pulling at his already messed hair as if there was a battle going on inside him.
She wished she could go to him, comfort him, but knew that that would be the last thing he would respond to.
He intended to keep his pain, and every other emotion except desire, discreetly locked away.
Beth pushed herself off the wall and took a step toward him, unsure of what she was going to do, just feeling like she had to be near him.
At her movement, his eyes darted to her as he stepped back.
Hurt by his sudden need to distance himself, Beth recoiled and hugged her arms across her body at which point she realized that she was no longer holding Charles’ note.
A quick scan revealed it had fallen to the floor unharmed during their embrace.
She bent down and picked up the note, glancing at Darcy and finding him watching her intently to see what she would do.
Unmotivated to continue her game, she turned toward the counter and placed the note back into the envelope.
Pulled back into reality, Darcy quickly combed his fingers through his hair and righted his clothes, the emotion slowly dissolving away from his face.
In a second, he had returned to the stoic statue that was his norm; the only remnant of his desire was the still distinct bulge in his pants that would probably not go away painlessly.
As soon as Beth had worked up the nerve not to let another passionate encounter pass by without any explanation, she heard Jane’s footsteps coming rapidly down the hall. Sighing to herself, she picked up the vase of flowers and the card just as Jane entered the room.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Darcy. Sorry for taking so long, Beth. You should have yelled to me that we had company.”
Sparing Beth the need to respond, Mr. Darcy continued, “I just stopped by to drop off flowers and a note from Charles. He wanted them delivered in person and I was instructed to wait for your response.”
With a blush and a smile, Jane walked up to Beth’s outstretched hands to take the envelope and smell the flowers.
“They are beautiful.” She opened the envelope, glancing at Beth when she noticed that the seal was already broken, but let it go for later when she saw Beth’s almost imperceptible shake of her head.
She pulled out the note and read it to herself, her blush becoming deeper and her smile becoming wider.
She handed the note to Beth and took the vase of flowers to set them on their dining table.
“Can I read it, Jane? ”
“Of course. He’s really so sweet and these flowers are gorgeous.”
She glanced at Darcy before opening the card and attempting to read Charles’ chicken scratch.
Jane,
I hope you are doing ok feeling better and that these flowers tulips brighten your day like you do mine. Would it be too forward of me to ask to take the blame for your fall? I would just like to be able to tell everyone how you fell for me like I’ve fallen for you.
Yours,
Charles
PS - I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
Beth smiled to herself at the corny, but heartfelt note.
He clearly spent some time thinking about what to say; the handwriting started off clear and then got sloppier as it looked like he rushed to capture his thoughts on paper; he also crossed out a few phrases and reworded.
It was heartwarming to see his whole thought process evolve on paper.
“Jane, that’s adorable what he wrote. Although quite a challenge to decipher it. I wonder if his writing is always this bad.”
“It’s much better than most of the lawyers’ notes I have to read. Good thing we transitioned to office email.”
“Have you read the letter, Mr. Darcy?” Her question repeated from earlier earned her a sharp glare as his right hand flexed apparently itching to make good on his threat from earlier.
“Charles always writes haphazardly. Usually he writes so quickly that he forgets a word here or there and that’s in addition to the phrases he crosses out and rewords.
” Ignoring her question completely so as to admit that he had read it, Mr. Darcy opened up about Charles to entice Jane back into the conversation.
“I think it’s endearing,” Jane said as she held and re-examined the words. “Please tell Charles that I will happily put him at fault for my fall and that the tulips are breathtaking. And thank you again for taking the time to bring these to me. ”
“Of course.” With that, Darcy turned towards the door, pausing as his eyes locked with Beth’s. “Miss Bennet,” he said to her so softly that Jane didn’t even hear him.
For the second time this week, Beth watched the most confusing, frustrating, and intolerably desirable man she had ever met leave with no explanation to her for his actions.