Page 64 of Knowing Mr. Darcy

“I think you may be selling yourself a bit short, that is all.”

“You must call me Elizabeth,” she said.

“Elizabeth,” he said, and there was a hunger in his voice that stirred her.

She lurched for him and then stopped herself. “I want to kiss you again.”

His grin went nearly feral. “I am going to kiss you senseless every day for the rest of our lives.”

Her heart felt as if it had taken wings, as if it were soaring.

“Say it, if you please, aloud, that you will be my wife.”

“Oh, I suppose I haven’t done that.” She swallowed, nodding. “Yes, Mr. Darcy, I will marry you.”

He let out a huff of air and she saw him try to reach for her but restrain himself.

“My hand,” she said, offering it to him.

He snatched it up and brought it to his mouth.

She shivered.

He kissed all of her knuckles, gently, slowly, in succession.

Her eyes rolled back in her head.

A voice carried in, one of the servants, inquiring if there was anything that was needed.

He dropped her hand.

She raised her voice. “Thank you, we’re in no need of anything. Thank you for asking.”

He stifled a laugh.

She cringed. She whispered, “They saw.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Itdoesmatter.”

“It’s my error, not yours, Elizabeth,” he said in a deep voice. “I’m the one who can’t keep myself in check around you. And because of it, I’m marrying you, so all is proper.”

“I don’t think that’s the way it works,” she said. “I’m supposed to have some semblance of myself, to be able to resist you, and I can’t keep myself in check either.”

His smile grew very wide.

“Oh, that pleases you.”

He took her hand again.

“Mr. Darcy,” she said, and it was a plea, but she didn’t know what she was begging him for—to start, to stop, to leave, to stay?

He kissed her in the middle of her palm.

She sighed, letting her eyes flutter closed.

“A short engagement,” he said in a gravelly voice. “I shall go tomorrow to see your father, and I want the first of the banns read on this Sunday.”