And so it was, in such an agitated state, that Bingley found his friend.

"Darcy, I had waited to have a glass of port or brandy with you, but I see that you are restless. Is there not something that I may help you with?"

Darcy wiped his hand across his face as he sat down in one of the large chairs. "I think I'll have that brandy now," he said resolutely.

Bingley poured two brandies and sat down beside Darcy after handing one glass to him. "Would you like to discuss it?"

Darcy stared long and hard at the dark liquid in his glass. "Bingley, how is it that you come back from Longbourn in such a good mood, while I am only frustrated?" He gulped half the brandy down quickly. "Is there some secret that I am unaware? For I am sure that it is not conversation that makes you so giddy," he smirked.

"'Tis no secret, my friend. I see your frustration and I feel for you, for I have been there myself." Darcy looked at Bingley, incredulously. "Jane, well... I have the privilege of, well.... Jane has allowed me small liberties with her. Nothing beyond propriety, mind you. But yet, all the more glorious! And I return from our walks, quite light-headed."

Darcy smiled. "Yes, yes Charles. Elizabeth has expressed a desire for me to kiss her. But, but how am I to... squelch those things that might arise?"

"Do you love her?"

"Yes!" Darcy exclaimed testily as he rose from his chair.

"Does she love you?"

"Yes," he paced.

"And you would give her anything she asks of you?"

"Yes," he continued pacing.

"Then go to it, man!" Darcy spun around on his heels and Bingley raised his glass in a mock toast. "If I know Elizabeth as I believe I do, she will have no problem asking for more or telling you to stop."

"I never thought that..."

"Still, you think of yourself. I thought you might have learnt your lesson by now. You have a beautiful woman who desires your touch, the least you could do is to oblige her!"

"But I..."

"If the situation ever gets out of hand, think of something repulsive... My sister and Hurst come to mind," he chuckled. "Nothing could disgust me more than to think of them, in bed, together. Ugh!" he shuddered.

Darcy laughed. "Then I shall think of Mr. Collins and... and... anyone!" They both laughed heartily. Finally, after several silly minutes. "Goodnight Bingley and Thank You," he clasped his friend's hand and shook it firmly.

"Good night, Darcy," said Bingley as they made their way to their bedchambers.

"I was just about to bed," said Elizabeth as she flopped from her dressing table to her bed.

"Is there something the matter?"

"No," she said shortly.

"You cannot hide from me. I know you all too well. Did you and Mr. Darcy have a fight?"

"No, Jane. Nothing like that."

"Then what is it? Neither of you opened your mouth's during the evening."

"Jane, he will not kiss me," she said matter-of-factly.

"What?"

"I believe you heard me the first time."

"There is no need to snap at me, Lizzy. Why will he not kiss you?"

"He says that he," tears began welling in Elizabeth's eyes. "He says that he might not be able to control himself."

"Oh," Jane blinked and smiled. "Perhaps he is thinking of your reputation?"

"No Jane, he is thinking of himself. If he was thinking of me, he would give me what I want!"

"Come now, Lizzy!" whispered Jane. "Mr. Darcy has always thought of you. What if you are not able to turn him away? What then?"

"What is it that you do, Jane? For I know that you and Charles do more than just talk."

Jane giggled shyly. "Well, um, yes. We kiss, but... Well, it never goes much further than that."

"What is further than that?"

"Well... there is touching," Jane reddened and then changed the subject. "But you must always keep your head about you, Lizzy. There is no need to lose yourself with Mr. Darcy at this point. He will be your husband soon enough."

"Oh Jane, this is so frustrating!" she screamed into her pillow. "I know he is a passionate man. The way he looks at me, it makes me melt! I just want to know what it is to be in his arms. I have dreamt of it..."

"You dreamt of it?"

"Oh yes! We are at Pemberley and in bed and he, well, he kisses me and, well, other things," she blushed and stopped.

"It is obvious that you have passions and longings for him." Elizabeth nodded. "Then you must assure him that you will know when to stop, even when he does not know."

"You are right. He must be made aware that I can keep my head in all situations," said Elizabeth as she balled up her pillow. "I will do it tomorrow!"

And in such a state as this, Elizabeth and Jane went to bed.

It had rained the next day, the day after, and the day that. Darcy and Bingley came to Longbourn as usual, but their walks were curtailed and they were forced to remain indoors with Mrs. Bennet prattling profusely; even Bingley began to be frustrated at this prospect. Her constant interruptions to the wedding guest list, the flower arrangements, the gowns, the family, the important people, etc. had a profound affect on all who were witnesses to it. So, on that fourth day, when the rain had subsided, the gentleman arrived a little later than usual and with an alacrity that made Mrs. Bennet's head swim, the foursome made their way out the door before another utterance of silliness could be extended.

Again, Jane and Bingley went their way, while Elizabeth and Darcy went another. But this time, they went towards Oakham Mount, for it provided what they needed most-a little privacy.

Once, out of sight from all, Elizabeth leaned her head on Darcy's shoulder as they walked arm-in-arm through a clearing.

"You are beautiful as always, Elizabeth," whispered Darcy.

"I thank you, Fitzwilliam," she smiled and looked up at him. "I thought perhaps, you might have forgotten. For the last three days, you have not said as much as ten words to me and none of them regarding that promise."

"As you know, I do not perform well in front of strangers," he chuckled and pointed to a tree stump.

"You need to practice more!" she giggled and sat down. "We must work on that. Because I know that you are a man of your word and it pained you not to be able to call me beautiful," she smiled cheekily.

"I called you beautiful with my eyes. Did you not see it?" he said huskily.

"Oh, Fitzwilliam!" she laughed. "You are incorrigible!"

"But you love me anyway, do you not?" he bowed gallantly.

"Yes," she whispered breathlessly, as his face was a mere centimeter from hers. "I love you desperately."

Their eyes locked, the breathing of each became irregular, and an intense heat flashed between them.

Darcy carefully lowered himself to one knee, as their eyes remained locked. He stroked her face with one gloved hand, drowning in her beauty, and whispered almost to himself, "Help me," as he kissed Elizabeth on the lips.

The lightness of the kiss was purely magical to Elizabeth; if she had 'kept her head about her,' she might have fallen backwards off the stump, instead she leaned into Darcy to pursue the matter further. Initially, the kiss was tentative at best, but Elizabeth softly moaned her contentment and Darcy was lost. The kiss deepened, Darcy roughly grabbed Elizabeth by the shoulders, and growled with desire. This startled Elizabeth and she pulled back, Darcy in his frustration rose quickly and walked a ways down the clearing.

It only took a few moments for Elizabeth to collect herself and run after him. "Fitzwilliam?" she said as she grabbed his arm.

Darcy jerked away. "You are afraid of me. I know," he said despondently.

"No," she moved in front of him. "No." Elizabeth raised her hand to his face and turned it to her. "I was not frightened. I was startled, 'tis all." Darcy pulled her hand to his lips and kissed it. "It was the sound you made. It was so, so... animal-like!" Her eyes flashed with amusement.

"I have been known to be called a beast, but never to my face," his eyes danced. Then he turned serious. "Sometimes, I can not control the rumblings inside of me. But I will try, for you."

"I did not say that I did not like it," she smirked. "In fact, I find it fascinating."

Darcy could only smile, for Providence had given him a woman to match his own passions. "On occasion, if I growl for you, will you purr for me?" he teased.

Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise. "Whatever do you mean, Mr. Darcy?!"

"I think you know how to purr. I remember you doing so at Rosings." Elizabeth gasped. "You were chasing a gray cat one day as I happened by the Park and I heard you," he smiled and held her gaze. "That was probably the moment I knew I had to propose. Disastrous as it was, but nonetheless, I had to have you for my own."

"Forget incorrigible, you are impossible!" she laughed and ran down the lane.

Darcy caught up with her, pulled her into his arms. "Tell me what I want to hear," he breathed into her ear.

"I love you and trust you, Fitzwilliam Darcy," she answered dazedly.

"Umm hmm," he said and kissed her again, passionately. "You know me so well."

"You are so vain," she mumbled after she was able to catch her breath.

"Indeed!" and they kissed again.

If on a footpath through Hertfordshire, more particularly between Longbourn and Netherfield, and you think you hear the call of the wild. Fear not, for it is only Elizabeth and Darcy, practicing.

Through the next week of their engagement, things had become a little less proper between Elizabeth and Darcy; their private behavior might be called by some prudes as scandalous and some others, daring or pushing the envelope.

As was now their custom, once a week, Jane and Elizabeth would go to Netherfield for the day. Sometimes Mrs. Bennet would accompany them, other times Kitty, and less often Mary.

This one particular day, Mary was their escort. As they arrived at Netherfield, the three Bennet ladies were helped from the carriage by the two gentlemen in residence, and lead into the house. A midmorning tea was served and almost immediately afterwards, Mary headed for the pianoforte in the drawing room and became lost in her pursuit of perfection. Jane and Bingley headed for some unknown room, not to be heard from again until three, maybe four, hours later.

Darcy and Elizabeth headed for the study, with the pretense of looking over Bingley's financial records.

"Alone at last!" cried Darcy as he closed the door behind Elizabeth and locked it. "I have ached to be alone with you," he growled as he pulled her into his arms.

All Elizabeth could do was moan and purr her appreciation as Darcy kissed her earlobes, her eyes, and her neck. "Oh Fitzwilliam!" she managed to squeal and break away. "Aren't you at least going to open a ledger?"

"Now why would I do such a thing, when so much beauty is before me?"

"You promised!" she squealed again, as Darcy grabbed her around the waist and pressed her to his body.

"Did I?"

"Yes, you..." Elizabeth was unable to finish her proclamation.

Darcy placed a hard kiss upon her lips as one hand entwined itself in her hair. Elizabeth, in turn, slowly moved her hands across his chest, up his neck, and stopping to play with his earlobes. Darcy parted Elizabeth's lips with his tongue, darting, swishing, fencing with hers, and for several minutes, they were content in such a state as this.

At length, Darcy reached down to pluck Elizabeth off the floor and carry her to the sofa; slowly he placed her delicately on the couch and knelt beside her. As he continued the kiss, he lightly stroked her neck and the exposed part of her breasts. Elizabeth arched herself toward his touch, urging him on, and Darcy pushed aside her gown and pulled forth one of her rosy-tipped breasts. Elizabeth breathed heavily as Darcy fondled and massaged one breast then the other. In past rendezvous, this was as far as these two went, but as fate would have it, whenever there were several days in between them seeing and touching each other, the next time, they would venture further. So, in such a state as this, Darcy's mouth left Elizabeth's and he traced his tongue down her neck, down her breastbone, and down the crevice or valley between her breasts. He continued this torture for a bit, in and out of the valley, back and forth across her breastbone, and as he heard his beloved gasp, his manhood stiffened. This gave Darcy the go ahead he needed and wanted and he wet his tongue again and traced the tip and nipple with it in circular motions; he saw one redden deeply, swell, and harden, and it pleased him, so he went to the other. Elizabeth continued to purr and writhe in ecstasy as Darcy suckled her breasts to the point of painful attention and she groped frantic fingers through his hair.

Every time this man touched her, she wanted to scream with delight, but that was nigh impossible since they were really not alone. She kept her head about her, but only at the last possible moment. Because what Darcy was doing to her now, was beyond anything she had ever dreamt; she was all wet and creamy and did not know what it all meant. All Elizabeth knew was that she needed and wanted Darcy's lips upon hers at this moment, and she heard him groan as she roughly pulled him up by his hair. But she didn't care, she hungrily met his lips and feverishly kissed them until they were bruised. Elizabeth had tried to pull him on the couch onto her, but he never budged from his kneeling position. Darcy loved the fact that Elizabeth responded whole-heartedly to his pursuits and it pleased him to no end that she was as passionate and ardent as he, and that she might be more daring than he had ever dreamt. He continued to massage her breast as she crushed his lips.

At length, they were both spent.

"I love you, Elizabeth," he panted and kissed her hand.

"I love you, Fitzwilliam," she exhaled.

Darcy excused himself and ran up the back stairs to relieve himself, while Elizabeth used the downstairs toilet to freshen up.