Page 49

As soon as they were settled, Darcy escorted Lizzy topside as the ship pulled away from land and made for the open ocean. Elizabeth had a stillness about her as she leaned against the stern rail, watching the grey buildings of New York fade into the mist.

They ate dinner in the second-class salon, sharing a long table with many other guests.

The room had a certain understated elegance: a pressed tin ceiling painted white to match the linen tablecloths, polished oak pillars modestly carved at the top, and comfortable, stylishly carved chairs.

Elizabeth kept up a chatter at dinner to all and sundry about her, but Darcy’s head swam with doubts.

If he should ask her if he was being too demanding of her, she would be honest with him, wouldn’t she?

And if she told him to cool his ardour for a time, what would that mean?

Did she not enjoy his attentions, or did she just need some time to, well, recover from their exertions?

Or would she say anything to please him because she loved him so?

“ My goodness, you’ve gone quiet.” Elizabeth slipped her arm in his as they walked the deck after dinner.

“ Have I? I suppose I have. Can we go back to our cabin now, Lizzy? I’d like to talk to you.”

A look of concern crossed her face. “That sounds ominous.”

“ No, no, not really. I…” He looked around at the other passengers strolling about the deck. “I just don’t want to discuss it here.”

***

There was no doubt in Lizzy’s mind that she loved Darcy, but he did seem to take sharp turns into the darkness just as things were going well.

What could he possibly want to talk about that warranted such a grim expression?

Was he regretting their whirlwind marriage already?

No, that couldn’t be it. He offered her a seat and then sat down across from her, leaning his elbows on his thighs and looking down at the floor.

“ Whatever is the matter?”

He turned his head side to side, still not meeting her gaze. Finally, he slapped his legs with the palms of his hands and looked her in the eye.

“ Am I demanding too much of you, Lizzy? You can be honest with me.”

She had no idea what he was talking about. “Demands?”

He intertwined his fingers and tapped them against his mouth.

“We have only been together for a short time, and you are new to… how can I say it… our being together .” He nodded towards her expectantly as if she was party to what he was thinking, and she searched for some meaning to all this.

“Lizzy, I don’t ever want to hurt you for any reason, especially physically hurt you… ” He raised his eyebrows again.

It suddenly became clear to her. “Oh… oh . No, no, I’m quite all right in that regard. You’re right, it does take a bit of getting used to, all this… togetherness . But I will tell you right away if I need to rest a while. I suppose all this fervour will wear off eventually anyway…”

He looked rather alarmed. “Do you really think so?”

“ Oh, I expect so, once we begin to live our real lives again. I think we should enjoy this time while we can, don’t you?” She smiled at him all this time, but then a surge of emotion welled up. “I do love you, Darcy.

He stood and took her in his arms, kissing her urgently. “Come along, then. Let’s go to bed.”

He perused the top bunk and then the bottom and then the top again.

“ It’s all right. We can begin the evening together here.” She patted the bottom bed.

Lizzy had fewer inhibitions each time they were together. He caressed and kissed her, eliciting responses from her body she’d never felt before. Tonight, she was wild for his union with her, and as she wrapped her legs around him, the movement of the ship rocked them.

“ Just hold me… let the ocean do the rest,” she whispered in his ear. He moved slightly so that they were as one, and she let the slight pitching of the ship and its surging back and forth bring them to the brink of ecstasy, holding them there for miles and miles.

Lizzy had never experienced anything like this before.

Darcy’s body seemed to fit with hers so perfectly, the heightened pleasure his skin, his warmth, the taut contour of his muscles emptying her mind of thought and filling her only with feeling.

She felt him… not only his body, but the essence of him, entwined with all that was her.

The slow surges of pleasure rippled over the tenderest part.

The moonlight penetrated the porthole window, illuminating his face, his dark eyes, exposing his naked soul as he joined with her.

How long they lay together in this exquisite agony she didn’t know, but eventually he lay sleeping next to her, propped up on his side in their tiny berth, his soft breaths coming in regular rhythm along her neck.

What she didn’t tell him during his awkward and completely endearing questioning of her earlier in the evening was that, each time they lay together and he was asleep, she would explore the concave contours of his body: the little indentation behind his ear, the valley between his neck and his collarbone, the squarish curves of his chest muscles.

Moonlight outlined the ripples of his abdomen, and the L-shaped ridge where his leg and his torso met.

His beauty was almost more than she could bear.

The morning after their wedding, she’d awakened him with a touch that ran along his hip and nestled in the curls on his chest. She would confess to him that he need never worry that the pleasures of the flesh were too much for her. In fact, her carnal desires could equal or perhaps surpass his.

She kissed him gently and his eyelids fluttered.

A dreamy smile crossed his lips. “Shall I go up top so you can sleep, my love?” Part of her wanted him there with her and part of her was so tired that the thought of this little bunk all to herself overrode her desire for closeness.

Before she could speak, he nudged her slightly, and she let him go.

He pulled his nightshirt over his head and climbed the ladder to the bed above.