“You are insufferable, Cousin! I would gladly trade my commission to gain at least a portion of the happiness you have found with Elizabeth. Indeed, you can have nothing to repine.”

Here, Darcy gave his cousin a look of warning, which only served to make the colonel laugh. “Darcy, you must face the music, old man—your wife is a highly desirable woman. It is a curse you will simply have to live with, but, apparently, it is a cross you will not have to bear alone.” He motioned then to Bingley, who was standing on the opposite side of the room, watching Jane go down the dance with the eldest son of an earl. The look of displeasure upon his face rivaled Darcy’s. Colonel Fitzwilliam grinned.

The dance ended, and Lord Abernathy escorted Mrs. Darcy back to the safekeeping of her husband, whose hand immediately went to the small of her back. “Thank you for returning my wife, Abernathy. I am most obliged to you. I daresay most of the other gentlemen in attendance this evening—if, indeed, they can be referred to as such—simply chose to keep her to themselves between sets.”

Elizabeth glanced sharply at him. Darcy’s haughty mask was firmly in place, as it had been when they had first met in Hertfordshire so many months ago, but then he focused his penetrating eyes upon her, and she could see something else—vulnerability. She was very soon reminded, however, that while she had danced every dance thus far, her husband had not, but not, Elizabeth knew, for want of willing young ladies to partner him. Indeed, whenever she had looked up from among her own attentive partners, searching for a glimpse of him, Elizabeth had not had to look far to observe Darcy’s stormy, protective gaze upon her, nor the many feminine eyes turned wistfully—and not so innocently—upon her handsome husband.

While Darcy engaged in small talk with Lord Abernathy and Colonel Fitzwilliam, his gaze all the while darting to his wife, Elizabeth formed a resolution and, when there was a pause in the conversation, intervened. “If you would excuse us, gentlemen, I would like a word with my husband before the next set is to begin.”

The two gentlemen bowed to her, and Elizabeth curtsied. She cast a meaningful look at Darcy, and they extracted themselves from the throng to search for a place where they might have a few moments of privacy. When his wife led him out of the ballroom and toward the family wing, where guests were certainly not allowed, Darcy expelled a lengthy breath. Surely this cannot be a good sign, he thought grimly as he began to fidget with his signet ring. Elizabeth placed her hand over his and stilled his action. Darcy swallowed.

They finally reached a small parlor—the very same parlor, he noted, where Elizabeth and Anne had met secretly at Christmas. Darcy reluctantly entered, and when he saw Elizabeth close and then lock the door behind them, he closed his eyes and braced himself for the chastisement he knew was coming. It did not, however, come. Rather than harsh words of reprimand for his display of jealousy, his ears received his wife’s soft lips as she bestowed a kiss upon his lobe. Darcy’s eyes widened. What on earth could she be about? “Elizabeth, what—” he began, his voice hoarse. Her gloved fingers silenced his words.

“Shhh,” she whispered. “I thought, perhaps, you might be in need of some reassurance and also a reminder of where my affections lie.” Her gaze caressed him as her tongue darted out to wet her lips.

Darcy’s eyes searched hers, and upon receiving confirmation of her words by way of her lips caressing his hungry mouth, a low, inarticulate sound tore from the back of his throat. In the next instant, he clutched Elizabeth almost violently, his lips hard upon hers as his hands roamed possessively over her body.

Elizabeth gasped at Darcy’s powerful reaction, her initial surprise soon replaced by a potent desire as he unfastened the top buttons at the back of her gown to free her breasts. With a groan, he took one breast in his mouth and suckled her. While one of Darcy’s hands pleasured her other breast, toying with her nipple and eliciting the most delightful sensations in Elizabeth’s body, his other hand had unfastened the buttons on the fall of his silk breeches. Not until he raised her skirts past her hips and she felt the heat of his potency against her naked flesh, did Elizabeth fully comprehend the ferocity of her husband’s need.

Darcy lifted her in his arms, his lips pressing the curve of her neck. “Elizabeth,” he gasped, “I need you—I need you desperately!” Then, with urgency, he pressed her back against the wall and drove his hard length into her with a shuddering cry. Elizabeth clung to him as he possessed her.

His fevered urgency sent a thrill through her that served only to push her own desire to new heights. Far sooner than she had anticipated, Elizabeth felt the beginning of her release. Her muscles tightened around Darcy’s arousal, and as Darcy could not stop himself from moaning words of passion and desire in her ear, she soon surrendered to the feelings of bliss that coursed through her body.

For Darcy, who had watched his Elizabeth laugh and dance with countless handsome and engaging men for half the night, whose feral need to possess her, to mark her as his and his alone was driving him mad, it was the point of no return. In the next moment, he found his completion with a violent thrust and a primal groan as he spilled his seed into her.

Darcy’s legs gave way, and he quickly maneuvered to support his wife as he sank to his knees, his breathing rapid, his heart pounding furiously within his breast. He clasped Elizabeth to him as he struggled to regulate his breathing.

After several minutes of silence, she laughed softly. “I believe, sir, it is safe to assume we have missed the Supper Dance.”

Darcy smiled and kissed her, teasing her lips apart with his tongue. When he pulled away, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I am sorry,” he said. “It was not my intention to forego any of my dances with you tonight.”

She raised a hand and stroked his cheek. “I know,” she said, “but you were hardly in a frame of mind fit for dancing. Please tell me you are better now.”

Darcy kissed her again, his lips a soft caress. “I am, thank you… although, I believe I owe you an apology. I never should have treated you thus, especially in the middle of a ball given in our honor. I hope I have not hurt you in any way.”

Elizabeth smiled. “I believe I am hardly complaining, Fitzwilliam.”

“No,” he said, “however, we will very likely be missed soon, and I would not wish for the truth as to why we were absent from the Supper Dance to become generally known.”

“No, I would imagine not.” Elizabeth grinned and rose, straightening her gown and checking her appearance in a mirror upon the wall while Darcy made himself presentable. When he had done, he refastened the buttons on her gown, and she ran her hands through his hair, coaxing his curls back into place. “There,” she declared. “Now you look every inch the handsome gentleman once again.”

Darcy frowned and made to run his hand through his hair to dispel some of the agitation he felt at her words. Elizabeth stopped him before he could cause any damage and gave him a questioning look. “You must think me an insecure beast to take advantage of you in such a way,” he muttered.

Elizabeth caught his face between her gloved hands and forced his eyes to meet hers. “No,” she said in a gentle voice. “I think only that my husband, whom I love more than any other on this earth, must love me to distraction. Believe it or not, Fitzwilliam, though your jealousy is not something I can condone, it is something I can, and do, understand. You have nothing to fear, my love. There is nothing that could ever make me turn from you.” To emphasize her point, she kissed him with no small degree of feeling. “Come,” she finally said as she laid her hand upon her waist, now slightly thickened from pregnancy, “I am hungry, and I daresay so is this little one of ours.”

Darcy gathered her in his arms, his hand caressing her stomach. “Of course, Mrs. Darcy,” he said with a small, pleased smile. “Let us find something with which to tempt you both. You must keep up your strength. I would not have you starve on my account.”

Elizabeth smiled and smoothed a curl from his forehead. “I know not of our child, Fitzwilliam, but I do believe I have quite enough to tempt me right here. I doubt I would ever starve with you to care for me.” She sighed. “I do love you so, my dearest. Never question it.”

Darcy swallowed and ran his fingers over the softness of her cheek, his voice hardly more than a whisper. “For as long as I live, Elizabeth, I never shall.”

*   *   *

The rest of the evening passed without incident. Other than an appraising look, a pointed cough, and a raised brow from Lord Matlock when Darcy and Elizabeth finally made an appearance at supper, their cheeks flushed and their skin glowing, no mention was made of their absence. It was generally noted, however, that Darcy’s sour demeanor seemed to have improved significantly. Rather than scowling at the many remaining gentlemen who were fortunate enough to partner his wife for the second half of the night, he focused his undivided attention upon her alone, his mouth turned up in the barest hint of a private smile whenever their eyes met as she went down the dance.

Elizabeth made sure their eyes met often.

Between sets, Lady Matlock took Elizabeth around to all of the notable dowagers and other esteemed guests in attendance. When questioned, Elizabeth spoke easily of her family and of her father’s estate in Hertfordshire, of her interest in books, philosophy, and music, and, to those who had the audacity to inquire, of her fondness for her husband. She happened to be speaking with Lady Sowersby and Lady Malcolm, both of whom had fast become her avid champions, when Jane and Bingley joined them and, shortly thereafter, the Gardiners. It was not long before their group was engaged in a lively discourse, to the very great satisfaction of Lady Matlock. It was obvious the two dowagers were equally as impressed by Jane as they had been by Elizabeth, and pleased, as well, by the intelligence and elegant manners of their Cheapside relations.