Page 13 of First Impressions
“I didn’t think you would be here.”
Again, with the ambiguously insulting statements. Beth wasn’t sure if he saw her presence as a good or a bad thing. Why couldn’t he just say what he meant?
“Well, let me just put these in water and I’ll pass them on to Jane. She’s in the shower at the moment.” Beth walked into the kitchen, grabbed two vases from the cabinet and split the flowers between them.
“He also sent this note.” Darcy set the envelope down on the counter,Janewritten on the outside.
Beth picked up the envelope, gave Mr. Intolerable a pointed look, and opened it right in front of him.
What was she doing?
She would never have opened something addressed to Jane, not that Jane would care, but in that moment, all she wanted was to see that man’s impenetrable reserve crack and have some sort of emotional response to her. She glanced up at him from underneath her lashes; she had definitely surprised him. He didn’t say anything as she opened the envelope, but his eyes widened in shock and his mouth had parted slightly. Watching his mouth derailed her thoughts right back to the moment before he kissed her, remembering what that mouth was capable of. His mouth closed, his lips set in a grim line, that slight movement jarring her from her memories as she quickly raised her eyes to meet his gaze. His eyes were a molten chocolate as he leveled her with a disapproving stare, clearly struggling to restrain himself from taking the envelope back and scolding her.
Well, this is fun.
Unrelenting, Beth raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to make a comment. When he continued to just stare, she smirked and pulled the note out of the envelope to read it.
“Miss Bennet, I believe Charles intended that for Jane to read,” is what he said.‘I’m going to have to spank you if don’t set it down,’is what he looked like he meant.
“Have you read it?” she countered, deliberately trying to provoke him.
“That is not the point,” he ground out.
“Well if he allowed you to read it, I am sure that, as Jane’s sister, I should be afforded equal consideration.” She began to unfold the note and the next thing she knew, Mr. Intolerable had backed her up against the wall, grabbed herwrists and held them hostage above her head. His face right next to her left ear, she heard his labored breathing.
“Miss Bennet, I must insist that you allow your sister to read the note first,” he said so quietly as his lips had come to rest on her ear.
“Mr. Darcy, I must insist that you let me go. You can’t control me!”
She heard a soft chuckle in her ear. “Oh, you have no idea how I could. How I would,” he said cryptically as he took her earlobe between his teeth and bit down lightly. “If you were mine, I would have you face down on the counter to reprimand you properly.”
As if to ensure that his point was well understood, his left hand reached around to rest on her ass, his thumb tracing lazy circles on her yoga pants.
Her body was on fire. With that statement, she felt a surge of wetness followed by a throbbing, dull ache between her thighs. Her mind was in a fog again, consumed by him - his words, his smell, his touch. Her head fell back against the wall and she moaned softly. She heard a strangled groan escape him before his walls crumbled. His right hand released her wrists as it moved to support her head as his lips came crashing down on hers. His left hand, that had been a light presence before, now gripped her ass cheek and pulled her hips into his. Her mouth opened immediately as she felt the evidence of his arousal pressed into her stomach, his tongue taking advantage of the invitation.
Beth was completely lost. There was a storm of desire engulfing her and he was the only solid ground that she was able to cling to. As their tongues dueled, she became inflamed and impatient, pressing her hips into his arousal. She heard him groan and his kiss became more fervent. At some point his hand must have left her head as she felt his fingers brush her ribcage, his hand moving upward to capture her breast. She hadn’t put a bra on this morning because she hadn’t planned on leaving the apartment or on having company, and now she was grateful for her laziness. She moaned into his mouth as he kneaded her swollen flesh, his palm brushing her t-shirt torturously across her hardened nipple.
Her arms had somehow made their way around his neck as she buried her fingers in his perfectly sculpted hair. Her senses were on fire. As if knowing how close she was to orgasming, his fingers grabbed her nipple and pinched hard; the jolt of pain, or pleasure, almost sent her over the edge. Her moan was loud and only partially stifled by their kiss. Beth would have melted to the floor if she hadn’t been wedged between Darcy and the wall as her knees gave way. The immediacy and intensity of their desire were like matches hitting gasoline - they both were instantly consumed. The onslaught to each of her senses was almost unbearable. Everything about his kiss was what she remembered; everything right down to his ability to disengage from her in an instant and appear as if nothing had happened, as they heard Jane from down the hall.
“Beth, is someone here?”
Beth leaned back against the wall, fairly certain she wasn't stable enough to stand on her own. Through the fog of desire that was rapidly dissipating she responded, “Mr. Darcy came to see you with a gift from Charles.”
“Oh, ok! I’ll just be a minute.” They heard the door shut as Jane went into her room.
Beth closed her eyes and took a deep breath, mentally and physically steadying herself for the awkward confrontation that was sure to follow. Her legs felt like jelly, her lips felt bruised, she was drenched and aching between her thighs. It took some effort to open her eyelids and look at the man responsible. Far from the statuesque figure she expected to see, she was surprised to find a myriad of emotions playing across his face. He met her gaze, his eyes still infused with desire, as if it took all his willpower to not push her right back up against the kitchen wall, but he quickly turned his head and looked away. His face drawn tight, his hand pulling at his already messed hair as if there was a battle going on inside him.
She wished she could go to him, comfort him, but knew that that would be the last thing he would respond to. He intended to keep his pain, and every other emotion except desire, discreetly locked away. Beth pushed herself off the walland took a step toward him, unsure of what she was going to do, just feeling like she had to be near him. At her movement, his eyes darted to her as he stepped back. Hurt by his sudden need to distance himself, Beth recoiled and hugged her arms across her body at which point she realized that she was no longer holding Charles’ note. A quick scan revealed it had fallen to the floor unharmed during their embrace. She bent down and picked up the note, glancing at Darcy and finding him watching her intently to see what she would do.
Unmotivated to continue her game, she turned toward the counter and placed the note back into the envelope. Pulled back into reality, Darcy quickly combed his fingers through his hair and righted his clothes, the emotion slowly dissolving away from his face. In a second, he had returned to the stoic statue that was his norm; the only remnant of his desire was the still distinct bulge in his pants that would probably not go away painlessly.
As soon as Beth had worked up the nerve not to let another passionate encounter pass by without any explanation, she heard Jane’s footsteps coming rapidly down the hall. Sighing to herself, she picked up the vase of flowers and the card just as Jane entered the room.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Darcy. Sorry for taking so long, Beth. You should have yelled to me that we had company.”
Sparing Beth the need to respond, Mr. Darcy continued, “I just stopped by to drop off flowers and a note from Charles. He wanted them delivered in person and I was instructed to wait for your response.”
With a blush and a smile, Jane walked up to Beth’s outstretched hands to take the envelope and smell the flowers. “They are beautiful.” She opened the envelope, glancing at Beth when she noticed that the seal was already broken, but let it go for later when she saw Beth’s almost imperceptible shake of her head. She pulled out the note and read it to herself, her blush becoming deeper and her smile becoming wider. She handed the note to Beth and took the vase of flowers to set them on their dining table.
