Elizabeth began to calculate how much of her married life had been spent in carriages but gave up the task as too depressing for the occasion. She looked at Darcy, who stared out the window at the increasingly familiar Derbyshire countryside.

They had taken only one diversion, so that Darcy could show Elizabeth the village of her aunt Gardiner's birth. It was close to Pemberley, and she enjoyed thinking of an infant Darcy in the town at the same time as her beloved aunt.

Having agreed to take the journey as quickly as possible, they arrived at inns exhausted by a long day on the road and departed early.

Darcy smiled as a familiar landmark came into view. "We shall be there soon," he said eagerly, reaching for her hand.

She took it and settled in beside him, her head on his shoulder as they came into view of his home. She felt him relax as the water and other features came into view, and she had the first glimpse of what a different man Darcy was at home.

As they pulled up, the servants were assembled to receive them. Bursting with pride and happiness, Darcy presented his wife to them. Many discreetly studied the girl with whom their master had eloped. The rest did not mask their curiosity.

"There is correspondence for you, sir, in your study," his butler informed him as they entered the home.

"Thank you, Seppings," Darcy said, much more concerned with showing Mrs. Darcy certain features of her new home than with business, which could wait until the morrow, if not longer.

Darcy, eager as a boy, implored her to come share his special retreats, places beloved of his childhood.

Willingly she consented to a walk to see the delights of Pemberley. He led her to a particular bank of a sprightly stream. Warm sun coaxed a magical luster from the grass, and its softness welcomed them. His arm about her, Darcy related tales of boyhood triumphs over trout, of his father's approval.

Elizabeth was charmed beyond measure. Her husband was more relaxed, more open than she had ever beheld him. She curled against him as they sat, twining her lower legs around his as she rested her head against his breast. Soon his other arm was also wrapped around her, and he was holding her close, looking into her eyes.

Her lips met his, and the touch thrilled him even more powerfully than ever before. That they were safe at home, away from all the trials and miseries to the south, he could scarce believe. His gratitude toward Elizabeth for seeing past his faults strengthened his powerful feelings for her, only increased by their travails together, and ignited an incandescent maelstrom within him.

Scarce knowing what he did, he drew her down with him. The soft grass tickled the back of his neck as they lay, she atop him, the feel of him rippling waves of desire through her.

His shirt gave way beneath her fingers as she kissed her way down his throat, clearing the path for her lips. His fingers hastened to bare his chest to her touch, then resumed their station on her back, clasping her to him.

Her weight was sweet against him, her touch thrilling his skin with every contact. When her lips followed, tasting his warmth, trailing pleasure in their wake, he moaned aloud, completely taken with sensation — and with her.

His scent and taste intoxicated her as she explored him. The sun-warmed skin responded to her, here in its native heath, as never before. Inexorably, they were drawn together.

Their breathing slowed, and she looked at him, joy lighting her features with the sun.

"I… oh, Elizabeth," he cried softly, hugging her to himself.

"My Mr. Darcy," she said fondly, caressing his face.

"Would you… would you call me Fitzwilliam?" he asked shyly. "Just when you please, of course, but sometimes?"

"My Fitzwilliam," she said, marveling that there could be yet more depth to his love for her.

Something deep inside him melted yet more, and his heart yearned against her.

"My dear, sweet Elizabeth," he breathed, inhaling her scent, imbibing everything about her on this warm, summer afternoon of pleasure. She shifted and the flesh between them stuck. Laughing merrily, they pried themselves apart then, urged by Darcy's recommendation of its delights, repaired to a pool in the waterway.

The cool water eased their stickiness, and a splashing battle gave way to a cuddle, their weight supported by the pool. Inspired by his childlike ease, she delighted in the strange but wonderful sensation of being wholly unclothed outside with him. Sooner than they would have liked, the breeze and cold of the water urged them back to the sunny bank, where they found clean clothes and towels.

Their walk compassed the bass pond, the lime walk, the orchard and the lawn where he had played ball as a boy before hunger recalled them to the house and their dinner. Carefully ignoring that the dinner bell was long ignored, the servants presented the meal as though none of them needed conceal a smile.

Wholly engrossed as the two were in each other, the servants may have smiled without fear, but each had long hoped for their master's happiness and felt his joy too deeply for smirks.

Darcy scarce had time to pace in anticipation before he heard his wife's knock at his door. She wrapped herself around him, leading him toward the bed. Their night clothes shed along the way, the two intertwined, skin to skin, under the vast woolen canopy.

"My dear Fitzwilliam," Elizabeth breathed, her fingers tracing patterns between his throat and shoulder.

"Beloved Elizabeth," he murmured, his arms clasped about her.

Their joy in each other tangled and twined as did their limbs around each other as they delighted in the contact.

"How do you feel so good?" Darcy groaned aloud as her hand brushed his thigh.

"I?" she asked teasingly. "I thought to ask how you managed to feel so wondrously good." She wriggled against him, and he leapt to attention.

"It does seem that part of you does rather emphatically appreciate me," she said, reaching to tease the tip with her fingertips. He gasped, desire flooding his body.

"Every part of me loves you," he gasped, his arms pressing her to him.

—

Dear Readers,

If this chapters seems short, you're right. That's because I had to cut a lot out to abide FFN's guidelines. If you are insatiable for detail, you can find the whole thing, (plus the story about how Lydia is enjoying herself at Brighton on my Patre()n, Kaurifish Regency Adventures. My patrons get new chapters weeks ahead of the free sites.

There you will also find my other explicit P&P stories, such as "The Master's Will" and my Netherfield Nights stories. I also just posted a poll, and I invite you to give feedback on what fic you'd like from me in the future.