Page 48 of Third Time is the Charm
“Thank you for everything that you did for Jane, and for Lydia,” she said, sitting up, bending her legs in front of her, taking the towel and beginning to pat the excess water from her hair.
“You don’t have to thank me; it was the right thing to do,” he said gruffly, uncomfortable with her recognition of his gratitude. “I haven’t had that many people in my life, close enough to me, to be able to do things for them like this. Your family is always a concern to me, I will always consider them like family to me,” he admitted, coughing slightly before continuing. “Because Charles is like a brother to me, and now that he is married to Jane…”
Beth listened as his half-hearted justification for his actions trailed off. She ducked her head knowing that Charles and Jane was only a small part of the real reason for his actions.
“I take it Lydia talked to you?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Beth sighed. “She’s so different now, I can hardly believe it’s her.”
“Heartbreak will do that to you. And I’m sure being pregnant only makes the situation worse, too,” he said gruffly, sitting down on the edge of the bed, near where her knees were folded.
“Is she ok?”
Darcy looked at her for a second before responding. “She will be. I saw this coming the first time I had to go out to Chicago after they moved… if you remember.” Beth nodded. “Even then, I saw her changing. Marrying George definitely shattered her dreams of what her life would be like, but she’s young, she’ll still recover.”
“If for no other reason than for the baby,” Beth agreed.
“She’s really good at her job though. I don’t usually follow up on employees, but in this case, I wanted to make sure…”
“Yeah?” Beth asked with a smile, remembering how Lydia had talked about her job and feeling warmth spread through her that Darcy had been looking out for her youngest sister, even though she’d given him every reason not to.
“Is this the first time you’ve been back… since…” he trailed off – ‘since she left,’remaining unsaid.
Looks like it was only the rest of her family that he felt the need to check up on.
“Yes,” she replied, looking away.
“Fuck,Beth, don’t,” he said harshly, running his hand through his hair. “You don’t know what I’ve been through to try and keep myself from looking into you, to make sure you were ok up there.”
She could hear how tortured his voice sounded and knew she was being petty and jealous for no reason; she’d left him.
For all the wrong reasons, too.
“What happened to us?” she whispered, her glassy eyes moving back to his.
“What didn’t happen to us, Beth?” he asked, facetiously. “We’re both quick to judge, quick to jump to conclusions, quick to jump into action.” Beth nodded, his words wringing completely true with every obstacle that they’d faced. “I don’t want to be quick about anything tonight,” he continued, softly. “Tonight, you are all mine, and I don’t care what it takes, I’m going to make time move so fucking slow tonight so that I can enjoy all of you – every inch that I’ve dreamt about these past five months.”
Beth swallowed hard, thinking that the physical part of the night had come to an end; even though her body ached with exhaustion, the mere thought that there was more to come reignited the fire into every cell. She couldn’t respond, she just stared into his darkening eyes as they roamed over her still-naked form, even though she’d done her best to sit and hold her towel so that most things were covered.
“What are you thinking?” she finally asked, biting her lip, wondering what was in store next.
“That you taste exquisite when you come,” he answered simply.
Well, that wasn’t quite the question she’d meant to ask.
His answer had her sucking in air as she felt wetness surge from between her thighs onto the white comforter.
“Again?” she asked with breathless incredulity, still wondering just how far he was going to take this –to take her.
“Gorgeous, I’ve thought of nothing else for months. There are so many ways I’ve dreamt about having you… the only way I’m going to stop fucking you tonight is if you physically restrain me,” he growled. Beth could see the towel shift as his erection pressed against it.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Chapter 15
Beth met his hungry gaze, his eyes flaring at her words. She couldn’t feel her limbs anymore, only the fire spreading through her veins waiting for him to make a move. With a mind of their own, her hand grabbed onto the towel that she’d draped over the front of her after soaking up the water from her hair; pulling it slowly away from her body, she dropped it onto the floor – all the while keeping her eyes locked with his.
Darcy’s jaw clenched as she revealed her chest to him again; her breasts swollen and tender, yet still aching for more of his touch. His gaze traveled lower, but was blocked because her knees were folded and pressed tightly together.
