Page 19 of Mr. Darcy's Storm of Temptation

"You are different since the scandal," she said softly. "Do you regret your decision?"

"Never," he said fiercely, pulling her behind a grove of trees.

"Then what troubles you?"

He was quiet for a moment, then spoke with unusual vulnerability. "I fear you will realize you are marrying me from gratitude, not love. That what I did for Lydia has created an obligation rather than affection."

"Fitzwilliam Darcy," she interrupted, reaching up to cup his face. "I loved you before Lydia's mess. I loved you before you saved my family. Your humility and growth made me fall in love with you. What you did for Lydia only confirmed what I already knew: that you are the best man I have ever known."

"You truly loved me before?"

"I have loved you for months," she admitted. "Since I read your letter, in truth. You showed me who you really were, and that man captured my heart completely."

He kissed her then with desperate hunger, his hands roaming her body through her dress. When he cupped her breast, she arched into his touch, no longer shy about her desire.

"Elizabeth," he groaned. "You are driving me to madness."

"Good," she said against his mouth. "I want you as desperate as I am."

"You cannot know what desperation means," he said darkly. "Every night I lie awake thinking of our wedding night, of all the ways I will worship you, of finally making you mine completely."

"Tell me," she begged.

"I will undress you slowly," he promised, his voice rough. "Kiss every inch of skin as it is revealed. I will taste you everywhere,Elizabeth. I will make you come apart with my mouth, my hands, before I finally claim you completely."

Her knees buckled at his words, and he caught her, holding her against him. She could feel his arousal, hard and insistent, and pressed closer.

"Two more weeks," she said breathlessly.

"Two more weeks," he agreed. "And then you will be mine in every way."

But those weeks were not without their trials. A week before the wedding, Lady Catherine de Bourgh descended upon Longbourn like an avenging angel.

Elizabeth was in the garden when the grand carriage arrived. She knew immediately who it must be and prepared herself for the confrontation.

"Miss Elizabeth Bennet!" Lady Catherine's voice rang out imperiously. "I would speak with you. Alone."

They walked to the grove, Lady Catherine's face thunderous. "I know what arts and allurements you have used to draw in my nephew, but it will not do! Do you think I would allow the shades of Pemberley to be thus polluted?"

"Lady Catherine, Mr. Darcy has chosen to marry me of his own free will."

"Chosen! A young woman of inferior birth, no connections, and now tainted by scandal! Your youngest sister living with Mr. Wickham! The man who attempted to elope with Georgiana!"

Elizabeth's temper flared. "Yes, Mr. Wickham is now my brother-in-law. Just as he might have been Mr. Darcy's, had hisscheme succeeded. Mr. Darcy understands that Lydia's actions are not mine, just as Georgiana's near-mistake was not his."

"How dare you speak of such matters!"

"I dare because I love him," Elizabeth said firmly. "And he loves me. Not because of arts or allurements, but despite my initial blindness to his worth. He has forgiven my prejudice, as I have forgiven his pride. We have both grown, both changed. And nothing, not you, not scandal, not all the world, will part us now."

Lady Catherine left in high dudgeon, but not before threatening to disinherit Mr. Darcy. When Elizabeth told him of the visit that evening, he laughed.

"She cannot disinherit me. And even if she could, I would live in a cottage with you rather than in Pemberley without you."

"You do not mean that."

"I mean every word," he said, pulling her into his arms despite the fact they stood in full view of the Longbourn windows. "You are my life now, Elizabeth. Everything else is just decoration."

Jane and Mr. Bingley had become engaged as well, setting their wedding for a month after Elizabeth's.