Pride and Prejudice (Clandestine Classics) by Jane Austen, Amy Armstrong Page A

and slipped out of the room after Miss Bennet took her leave to attend to her sister. He rushed after her in the hope of conversing with her briefly, though he had no notion of what he should say. He found her on the upstairs landing, about to enter the chamber in which her sister resided.
    “Miss Bennet!” he called out.
    When Elizabeth turned, her face filled instantly with surprise at having been sought out by him.
    “Sir?” she enquired.
    Darcy knew not how to respond. He strode forward and stopped in front of Elizabeth. With a private curse, he lowered his gaze and, frustrated by his sudden unease, ran a hand through his thick hair and exhaled a long, unsteady breath. When he next met her eyes, he found no annoyance or impatience in their depths, only curiosity.
    Damn it. Elizabeth was captivating and the yearning to pull her into his arms and cover her mouth with his was strong. He inched closer and focused on her plump, rosy lips. What would be the harm in an innocent kiss? What injury would it cause to slide his tongue into her mouth and taste her as he was aching to do? Though Mr Darcy knew one kiss would not satiate his need, and he doubted she would allow even that. His desire was to ravage her—to take her body and possess it. He wanted to lie with her and enter her, to show her the ecstasy they could derive from one another. Elizabeth’s eyes widened and she pulled in a sharp breath when he moved closer still, and reached out as if to touch her, his mouth a hairsbreadth from hers.
    Time halted as they stared at one another in silence. Darcy’s gaze focused exclusively on her mouth. Her lips parted and her tongue snaked out to wet them. It was too much. A low moan tore from his throat and, without giving his design another thought, he pressed his lips to hers. The fire that ignited in his stomach as their lips connected was unlike anything he’d felt before. He slid his hand around to the small of her back to hold her in place as he deepened the kiss, and slipped his tongue into her mouth. She did not object, rather she opened her lips wider and welcomed him inside. He pulled her body to his and she gasped as she came into contact with the hardness that was confined in his trousers, pleading for attention. The kiss was divine, exactly as he had imagined it would be. The heat of her mouth, the taste of her, the tentative glide of her own tongue against his sent his body into a frenzy and the release he so desperately needed began to build in his loins. When the need to take a breath became too much to endure, he moved back, and during the brief separation he caught the surprised look on her face, and it was enough to bring him to his senses. What on earth was he doing? This could not be permitted to advance.
    “I…” He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. With great resolve, he removed his hands from her body and took a step back. Though he wanted her with every fibre of his being, he could not disgrace himself or her a moment longer. It was not proper. When Elizabeth’s eyes widened and her cheeks flushed a deep shade of pink, Darcy knew it must end.
    “Please tell your sister I wish her a speedy recovery,” said he, bowing deeply. He turned and quickly departed, very nearly breaking out into a run.
    Elizabeth stood outside the door to her sister’s bedchamber for some time after Mr Darcy disappeared. She could barely breathe and her lips still tingled from her first kiss. And what a kiss it had been. There could have been no mistaking the heat and longing in his eyes, and for a time she had thought he would take it further, had expected his hands to glide over her body, to touch her in places no other had touched before.
    She raised her hand to her lips, remembering the kiss, savouring it. Would she have allowed it to go further? Every sensible instinct told her she would have been a fool to permit anything more, but her body had other ideas. Though she was well aware of the impropriety, she