Sinful - Epilogue

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

Dear Reader, In the pursuit of full disclosure, I would like to explain why you’re reading this epilogue on my website and not in the book! The truth is, I was very much over my word count when I turned this book in. My editor was quite fine with the extra wording, but I knew that no more could be added. Writing and publishing is a business, and to add another 30pgs, in addition to all the extra pages I had already inserted costs money. That is the hard truth of it all—it came down to extra cost, as well as editorial/author considerations which I will explain. As I handed in the manuscript, I informed my editor that I wanted an epilogue and did hand it in to her. We discussed at length what to do. She loved the epilogue but felt that two love scenes within pages of each other, and with little sexual tension to build up to the scene diluted both the epilogue, not to mention the pivotal love scene at the end of Sinful. We discussed pros and cons and reader expectations. We were both quite torn. So, because she is an excellent editor, she left it up to me. I therefore had a very difficult decision to make. To remove the ending love scene, and add the epilogue, or to keep the love scene and not have the epilogue. Well, the love scene is just so darn important, not only to the story but to Wallingford’s growth. He needed it, and it’s powerful, and it just wouldn’t be right for the book to take it out to make way for the traditional happy ending. As well, the ending scene shows the incredible amount of love and trust Jane has for Wallingford. Her growth is also shown in this ending scene, as is her innate strength. However, after my decision was made, I was left with a sour taste in my mouth. As a reader, I would feel shocked, unhappy, and frankly quite cheated out of their happily ever after. I knew that as the author if I felt that way, readers would feel the same, and more likely doubly so. So, I asked Harlequin if they

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

would be agreeable to having me post the epilogue on my website as a bonus content for readers. And they happily obliged. I would like to apologize that it didn’t make it into the book, but I hope this will be a satisfactory alternative. If you have requested this epilogue, and have not yet had the opportunity to read Sinful, please be advised that there are MAJOR spoilers contained herein. All the best, and thank you for reading. I hope it brings not only closure and assurance that Jane and Matthew will be together forever, but also that sigh worthy happy ever after feeling. Matthew and Jane certainly deserve it! Charlotte

Sinful Epilogue

There is such a sense of completion, a feeling of rightness as I gaze at the vista spread before me. From beneath this ancient oak, the dappled sunlight casts dancing shadows on the verdant green grass, the water twinkles like diamonds as a beam of sunlight widens, brightens. And there in that magnificent beam stands my family. My heart is so full of pride and wonder—and love. My husband, tall, broad, his black hair in need of a cut, blowing in the late spring breeze; his strong arms, which hold me tightly each and every night, bared from beneath his rolled up shirt sleeves, never fails to awaken the feminine needs inside me. The steely cords of his forearms move like a graceful dancer as he bends forward to whisper into the sweet little ear of my son. I cannot help but smile as I write that. My son. For Edward, the darling, precocious little boy in my husband’s arms is my son. I have loved him from the beginning. He is mine although not an ounce of my blood stirs

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

within his. But that has never bothered me. Has never made him less in my eyes. When I gaze upon him when he is sleeping in his bed, I see my husband, and I see my mark as well—the confidence, the love that I have instilled in him. The affection of a mother to her child. He is my son. My gaze has lingered upon them too much this day. But there is such awe to be found in being a wife and mother. I don’t think I’ll ever understand the force of such love, the completion it can give. Once, I thought I needed to be something else to feel this unconditional joy. How wrong I was. That was the past. I choose now to live in the present. Our past is just that, behind us. I am no longer that woman, but a new one. The old fears are banished. I am safe and loved. My husband is safe, too. Freed from the past that made him cold and judgemental. A past that dictated what he was, what he needed to be in order to bury the pain. I marvel at how two damaged souls could not only have found love in each other, but redemption as well. Our coming together was unorthodox to most, but to us it was the most natural thing in the world. As I force myself to leave the heart warming image of Matthew assisting Edward in reeling in a little squirming fish, my gaze settles on a lovely young woman who is in the first flush of love. Sarah. Sweet, innocent Sarah. She has grown into a lovely young woman, her disability becoming less apparent with each passing year. She has been given unconditional love, and has thrived with it. Has grown and surpassed any limits I thought (most foolishly) to impose upon her. There are no true limits for Sarah, save the ones that the previous duke had imposed upon her. She is free of his tirades now, his suffocating pompousness. She is her own woman—a woman of worth and independence, a woman who needs the gentle guidance and understanding of a patient, loving man... Her father will not hear of it, I’m sure. But that is what a mother is for, to guide and help, to offer comfort and encouragement. To allow her little birds to grow

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

and fly. A father protects them from inside the safety of the nest, a mother gifts them with flight. As I pause in my writing, taking stock of my life, and the joys and riches that have made me the woman I am today, I am taken back by the gold on my finger. Such a simple band. No beginning, no end. No jewels to enhance it. Just a plain gold circlet that means more to me than any jewel. Tracing it, I realize what it represents to me. What it has always meant. To the world it means marriage. In the eyes of the law, our union is now legal. For these past three years, I have been a legal wife. My husband has been a duke, and me— I was once an illegitimate daughter of an aristocrat and prostitute, but now I am a duchess. Matthew’s Duchess. I cannot help but marvel at the journey we have travelled. It has come full circle, and Constance who was not at all surprised to find herself divorced immediately upon the death of Matthew’s father, rather enjoyed the scandal it had created. She is in America now, flitting from one man to another. She never writes to ask about Edward. Her role in the old duke’s plan is over. She is out of our lives, and embarking about hers. I wish her well. And If I were being truly honest, good riddance. The title of duchess means nothing to me, not like it once had to Constance. I never desired the aristocrat, but the man I returned to. In my mind, I’ve been married to Matthew since that one summer day by the lake, when I told him that a woman’s worth was what she wanted it to be, not what others thought it should be. From that day, I have lived my life exactly as I have always dreamt, that of an independent woman, free to live as she chooses. It has been five years since that day I returned to Matthew, and it amazes me still how fickle society is. While Matthew’s father was alive we were never received in polite company. Now, the duke and duchess are most sought after. A fact that Matthew and I laugh about. We do not need society’s approval. We have our

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

children. Our family in Anais and Raeburn, and Lady Blackwood. We have each other, and everything else can be damned. Matthew has his gallery which has grown and succeeded past anything he could have dreamed of. I have my work in the village, helping the ill, and this little journal. I have more happiness than I have a right to. I have a husband who has stolen my soul, and who keeps it safe and loved for me. I have freedom to be the person I want to be, and a man—a husband and lover—who not only loves that person, but treasures her. Her husband...The breeze blew, whispering across the tendrils of loose hair that tickled her nape. Jane stilled her pencil and smiled to herself. Lifting her face to the breeze, she savoured the scent of quince and apple blossoms as they floated languidly down from the waving branches to carpet the grass. Home, she thought, a tremor of pleasure coursing through her. Her home. Their home. In the distance she saw the ducal estate rising above the hill, once a place of such cold terror, but now, a home. One of warmth and laughter. They had made it their home, despite all the horrors that Matthew had lived through. The halls no longer echoed with haunting voices, but with laughter—Matthew’s and Edward’s. They had wanted this for their son, for him to grow up with pride and attachment to the estate. One day, Edward would no longer be the Earl of Wallingford, but the Duke of Torrington, like his father. It had been Matthew’s fervent wish that his son not feel burdened, nor fear the title that had once repulsed him. His father’s reign was over—and a new Duke was interred. In the three years that the old duke had been gone, the pall had lifted, and the shadows were gone. C losing her journal, Jane grazed the gold lettering on the front cover with her fingertip, ‘To Jane, my wife, my love, my very soul’. He had given her this journal on the day of his interment as the Duke of Torrington. How like Matthew to give her something that had more meaning than diamonds and rubies. “What are you smiling about?” a husky voice whispered as a long body dropped down beside her. “It’s a secret smile. A womanly smile.”

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

“Is it?” she teased. “I have no secrets.” “I should hope not,” he murmured as he pressed in close to nuzzle her neck, “although, I know you so well, I doubt you could hide anything from me.” She smiled once more, her gaze drifting to where two little boys were floating newspaper boats into the lake. “There it is again,” her husband murmured. “That smile.” A secret smile. Yes. Indeed it was. “I see you’re busy writing again.” “Indeed, I find it vastly amusing.” “Is it naughty?” he whispered seductively. She shrugged, teasing him. “Perhaps. It is about a scandalous duchess who was born far beneath the aristocracy. But she’s brought up to scratch-” “By a randy, dissolute rake who tutored her in the art of love, in some of the most depraved, scandalous ways.” She laughed, and he kissed her. “An autobiography, then. I knew it.” “I am happy, Matthew. More than words could ever convey.” “Did you doubt it, my love?” he asked, his expression sobering. “When you came to me, when I was still wed to Constance, when we could not be legally married, did you doubt your happiness? My ability to give it you?” Cupping his cheek she looked deeply into his magnificent blue eyes. “Never once, Matty,” she whispered. “Never once did I doubt us after that day you opened your arms to me.” He shivered, only the smallest bit, but she felt it, that lingering fear of being abandoned. “I’ve only ever wanted to make you happy, Jane.”

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

“Oh, you have made me the most happiest—and satisfied of women.” Pressing forward, Jane brushed her lips against his. “Mama, Mama,” Edward yelled as he came running up the little incline to the tree where they sat. “Eww.” With his face crinkled in repulsion, Jane could not help but laugh. Edward was five after all, and most opposed to kissing. “Yes, my love?” Jane asked as she caught him about his waist and tumbled him down to her lap, pressing kisses on his cheeks. “Mama,” Edward scolded, searching frantically over his shoulder, “Jase will see and he’ll make fun of me if he sees me in your lap being kissed like a baby.” “Nonsense,” she replied, “Jase is currently being carried by his Papa.” Edward stilled in her lap, the mischievous twinkle in his eye danced with merriment. “Lord Raeburn is carrying Jase like a baby,” he cheered, laughing as he held his belly. “I’m going to call him cry baby,” Edward taunted. “What’s this?” Jane asked, holding up his leg. “You’re cut.” “Just a scratch,” Edward said impatiently as he made to jump from her arms. “Let me have a look. We should clean this and bandage it.” “Mama, I am a big boy now. Not a baby.” “Don’t be in a hurry to grow up,” Matthew said with a grin as he ruffled Edward’s black hair. “Let Mama and I kiss you and hold you for as long as we like.” Edward stilled and looked between both of them, showing them a fierce frown. “Well, I cannot be kissed when I am off to Eton, Papa.” “I will kiss you on your wedding day, if I so choose, Master Edward,” Matthew teased, as he grabbed Edward from her lap and wrapped his arms around his little frame.

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

Edward rolled his eyes and reached into his short pants pocket. “I only came to show Mama this.” In his dirty streaked palm was a toad. A wet, slimy reptilian creature that looked up at her with beady eyes. “Oh, my,” Jane squeaked, “that’s...that’s...” “Here,” he said, shoving it towards her. The frog leapt from his palm, and Jane screamed, jumping up in a flash, her skirts swishing about her legs. “Oh, Blazes,” Edward muttered, chasing after the hopping creature. “Now I have to catch him again. Girls,” he muttered, as he waved Anais and Lindsay’s son over to him. “Help me, Jase. Mama screamed and scared him off.” “I hate gwirls,” Jase mumbled as he began to follow the path of the frog. “Me too,” Edward agreed. “But my Mama doesn’t count. She’s good most of the time. Just not with frogs, and spiders, and worms.” Jane laughed as she watched the two boys giving chase after the frightened toad. “I come,” a little voice called after them, “wait.” “Jase, darling, wait for Samuel to catch up with you,” Anais called after her oldest son. Jase sighed in exasperation. “I hate brodhers.” And the way he said brother made Jane melt. “Jase, you do not!” Anais scolded. “Tell your bother you’re sorry.” “Sorwy, pest,” Jase muttered. But he took his three year old brother by the hand and led him through the grass. “Not near the water,” Matthew called, and the three of them nodded, giving wide berth to the water’s edge. Instead they headed up the incline to the wooden fort that Lindsay and Matthew had made for them. For certain there would be a game of pirates or highwaymen and captive, being played in that little wooden cabin.

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

“Well, then, Angel. Shall we?” Lindsay murmured as he wrapped his arm around Anais’ shoulders. “Where are you two going?” Jane asked. “For a stroll.” Anais replied, although her blush spoke of something else entirely. “Yes,” Raeburn drawled. “A nice long one, behind the rhododendrons. Keep an eye on the boys, will you? It’s your turn as I recall.” “Enjoy,” Jane called, and watched as they waved back. Matthew snorted and settled in beside her. “Off to make baby number three, I fear.” His gaze suddenly swung to hers, and he arched his brow in invitation. “The day is rather fine for a dalliance, is it not?” “No it is not,” Jane said, her voice stern. “I’m taking my chaperoning duties very seriously your grace. I cannot abandon my post to diddle with you.” Matthew nuzzled her earlobe, then ran his tongue along the shell of her ear. “I love it when you talk common, Jane.” Jane flushed. “I’m still not leaving with you.” “Hmm, we’ll see about that. I am rather persuasive, you know. Dukes are like that, we get what we want, when we want.” Matthew was in the process of kissing her neck when a feminine giggle reached them. Her husband’s indigo eyes darkened as he looked over her shoulder. The sensual playfulness of a second ago was gone. “I’m trying not to watch, but damn it, Jane, I don’t like this business.” “This business of Sarah being twenty-two and courted?” she asked innocently. Matthew sent her a fierce scowl. “I don’t like him.”

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

Jane softened against him as she watched Sarah strolling leisurely beside Simon Baker, a country squire from Evesham. “I think a prince wouldn’t do for Sarah in your eyes.” Snorting with indignation, Matthew stiffened beside her when Simon reached for Sarah’s hands, stilling the wringing motion that signalled the fact she was nervous. Jane put a steadying hand on his thigh. “It’s nothing. He’s comforting her, Matthew, not making her uneasy. You see, he already understands Sarah, and her ways.” “Damn it, Jane, I don’t like his hands on my daughter.” “She’s twenty-two, Matthew and deserves the opportunity to love.” “She does love. You, me and Edward.” Jane rolled her eyes. It had not been easy to allow the squire to come calling. It was going to be even harder to convince Matthew that they should allow Simon to court Sarah. “A woman wants to be loved, Matthew—by a man,” she clarified. “Family is all very well, but you must admit that the love of the opposite sex fulfills a need that family never could.” “That thought makes me utterly bilious.”He frowned at her smile. “I fail to see what you find so amusing about this. She’s far too young for this carrying on, Jane. She doesn’t...she doesn’t understand what it is boys—men want.” “Under our care and guidance, Sarah has matured greatly. Certainly there is still a naivety to her, but she is not a little girl, Matthew. She understands the fluttering in her tummy when he smiles at her. She knows that she would like to have a kiss.” Matthew went still as a marble statue. His expression furious. “You told her the dangers of it, I assume.”

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

“I told her that it was important to wait, to make certain that she was kissing the right person.” “Jane...” he implored. “Well, what would you have me say to her? She is a woman, Matthew. She has needs, just like any other woman her age. I’m convinced that Simon Baker is a gentleman. He won’t push her. I believe that. Things are progressing very, very slowly.” “You informed him, I hope that if he hurts her, if he breaks her spirit, or God above, her heart, I’ll pull his entrails out from his nostrils.” “Of course,” she murmured, keeping her smile to herself, “although, my description was somewhat less...colorful.” “Christ, Jane, my Sarah...” She leaned against him, letting her head rest against his shoulder. “She will be safe with the squire, Matthew. She’s ready.” “But is he?” Matthew demanded as he watched the two of them walking side by side. “What do we know of him, other than he has an acceptable income, and he doesn’t gamble or beat his horses?” “I’ve already told you,” she murmured. “He is a nice young man, who is most respectable.” “What does he want with my daughter?” Matthew growled. “And for God’s sake, Jane don’t say it. Don’t tell me.” She smiled, and looked up at him, brushing away a lock of black hair that had fallen forward. “He was engaged last summer. To a woman who left him on his wedding day for a bigger title and a fatter purse. A man, she told him, who was worldly, and intelligent, and far more handsome. He was crushed. His mother told

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

me she feared that the depression that ate away at him would destroy him. But then he met Sarah at the fair-” “Yes, that damn fair. I rue the day I ever suggested we go.” Jane brushed her fingers through his hair and kissed his chin. “They need each other. They complete each other. She’s grown Matthew. She will always be a bit...behind the other girls, but she’s come so far. Give her a chance. Give him a chance.” “I still have so much guilt, Jane. Miranda did this to her. Because of me. Sometimes I can’t bear it. I just want to keep her safe—forever.” “You want to shelter and shield her and hide her away. Your father did that-” “I am by no means my father,” he snapped. “I know that. But your desire to keep her safe, to protect her feelings is just another form of imprisonment, Matthew.” They sat in silence, until finally he nodded. “You’re right, of course.” “There is no rush for them. I won’t allow Sarah to jump into anything. We’ll encourage a friendship, and let it grow.” “Your grace,” Simon asked, his voice uneasy. “Might I take Lady Sarah for a stroll?” “Where?” he growled. Jane nudged him in the ribs. He coughed and cleared his throat. “Where would you be strolling to,” he asked, striving for politeness. Simon looked at Sarah, and she smiled up at him, linking her arm in his. “The bridge?” she suggested. “The swans are swimming.” Simon straightened and gazed down at Matthew. “To the bridge, your grace. I would like to indulge lady Sarah on this fine day.”

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

“Very well,” Matthew grudgingly replied. “but mind that I can see you.” “Oh, Matthew,” Sarah giggled. “You’re a spoiled sport.” Matthew swung his gaze to Jane. “She’s been listening to you!” “Run along, Sarah,” Jane said, motioning them away with her hands. “It’ll be luncheon soon.” “And you’re going to stay to take lunch with us, aren’t you, Simon?” He looked down at Sarah as he led her to the path. “Nothing would please me more.” “Simon?” Matthew choked. “Didn’t you tell her that it’s bad form to address a man that is not your husband by his Christian name? Christ, Jane,” he glowered. Laughing huskily, Jane lay back on the grass and pulled him down to her. “What a protective, overbearing oaf you are.” She traced the frown lines on his forehead, and gently shook her head. “How will you ever survive it, if this baby within me is another daughter?” He stilled. His eyes darkening, his skin growing pale. “Jane...are you?” He swallowed hard, his gaze taking in her face, her bosom which was full and inching above her bodice, and then, finally, down to the rise of her belly. “Are you sure, Jane?” She nodded, unable to speak for the words were caught in her throat, mixed with her tears. Five years she had waited for this moment, to tell him that she was carrying his child. For five years, she wanted to be the one woman who could give him this, a child out of love. She had waited, and waited, asking him for a baby. But he had refused—not because he didn’t want their child, but because he wanted their child to be born with everything it was entitled to. Three years ago, he had become the duke. He had divorced Constance, and was free of his tyrannical father. He had married her. But in the years that they were

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

married, there had been no child. Jane had feared she was barren. Had silently worried in the darkness of night that she might never experience what Anais had—the birth of two beautiful children. Anais saw her husband in her boy’s faces, and Jane wanted that as well. She wanted to see two souls, hers and Matthew’s coalesced into one. Into a life that they had created from their bodies. “Jane,” Matthew whispered, his eyes glistening. “Jane,” he said again, this time more reverently as he lowered himself to her, capturing her gaze as he inched his mouth down to hers. He kissed her. Softly, then brokenly as he began to cry. “Are you happy, then?” she asked, her voice a bit wary. He looked up at her, and clutched her palm to his chest where his heart was beating as frantically as the wings of a hummingbird. “Jane,” he murmured over and over again, his hand sliding slowly to her belly. “Jane...” He was happy. She felt it, in that first hesitant, trembling touch of his fingertips. * * * Fingers replaced the orange blossom as Matthew continued his perusal of her naked body. “My God you take my breath away.” She laughed, pulling him closer for a kiss. “You’ve seen me pregnant for the last six months.” “And every time I see you naked it is such a miracle. What your body does, how, how it changes and grows. I never get tired of seeing it.” Matthew placed his palm alongside her swollen belly, waiting for the baby to kick, the gold ring he wore on his finger glinted in the sunlight that shone through the cottage window, giving Jane a heart full of love and joy.

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

“I should like to paint you this way, Jane,” he whispered, “heavy and full with my child.” “Do you think you should take the time?” she teased, “you have orders and commissions to fill at the gallery.” “Jane,” he said with mock disappointment, “you know everyone still believes me utterly jaded and sinful, why disappoint them by being punctual with orders?” “True,” she purred, pulling him down on top of her. “But first I want to be properly thanked before you begin the painting.” “Touch me, then Jane, and I will thank you all day and all night just as you deserve.” His love was more than Jane had ever dared hope for her in her life, or could ever believe in. He was a sinful man, sinfully handsome, and sinfully in love her. Their kiss ended, and Matthew continued to nuzzle her cheek, making his way to her ear. “Now then, Jane, where should I place this blossom?” Smiling to herself, Jane revelled in the fact that Matthew was still completely, unremorsefully sinful in bed. “Where would you like to put it?”

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

His smile was smug, full of wicked intent. “Let me think,” he murmured as he gazed thoughtfully at her body. “There are so many delightful places to choose from. Pregnancy has made you even more curved and luscious.” “I’m as big as a frigate.” “Have I ever told you how much I adore ships,” he murmured into her ear. “With large....decks,” he said as he cupped her breasts which had grown with each passing day. “Most definitely I do enjoy a long, appreciative sojourn touring decks.” Jane laughed. There was a new lightness to Matthew that never failed to warm her, to make her laugh. He made her feel comfortable in a body that was so foreign to her. His fascination with her pregnant state delighted her. At first she had worried that the changes in her body might trigger horrible memories for Matthew, but it seemed just the opposite. Matthew looked at her, touched her, as if it were the first time for him. “God, Jane, you’re as luscious as sweet from the candy shop,” he murmured has he traced her swelling breasts and belly. “I can’t get enough of you.” She smiled and rang her fingertips through his dark hair. “As you can see, there is plenty of me to go around. I’m quite certain that you can satisfy your appetite.” “Darling, Jane,” he said with a grin. “I could suck on you for hours. You shouldn’t tease me, you know.”

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

His wife smiled and stretched like a cat. She was glorious like this, her back arched and magnificent breasts tempting him. She was ripe, full, swelling with his child. There was a deep sense of male accomplishment in that fact. Every time he looked at her, he thought of the life they had created. He had never felt such fanciful thoughts with Miranda or Constance, but with Jane it was something altogether different. Something so beautiful and profound. His fingers were shaking as he skimmed his palm along Jane’s swelling belly. Their child would arrive in the next two months, and Matthew could barely wait to see he and Jane’s baby. Edward and Sarah were nearly as anxious for the arrival as he was. “Matty,” Jane whispered, “what are you thinking?” He smiled, kissed her navel before glancing up at her. “Barbaric thoughts.” “You’re very pleased with yourself, aren’t you?” He laughed and slid up the length of her body. “I am. It’s such a powerful visual to know that my seed is responsible for the life within you and the incredibly arousing changes in your body. “And, I, of course, have nothing to do with it?” “Jane,” he whispered, “let me have my moment of male glory.” She sighed as he captured her breast in his hand and brushed his thumb over her nipple. She arched, filling his palm, and he brushed the tip of his thumb

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

atop her nipple. Her fingers gripped the sheets, crushing the blossoms that slid from her belly. The air around them was heady with orange and feminine spice. “Beautiful, Jane,” he murmured, watching her unravel for him as he pleasured her breasts, “come for me.” In her pregnancy, Jane’s breasts had become sensitive, so much so that he could make her peak by only playing with her nipples. He liked it, watching her arch and writhe as he gently bit the tips and suckled her. Even now she was close, her legs scissoring on the sheets. Her quim gleaned in the glow of the fire and he ran his fingers down her, slipping into the wetness, parting her sex. He rubbed her in time to his sucking mouth, listening to her sounds of pleasures. Christ his wife made him feel like a man! The sounds she made, the gasping breathes that echoed in the still room spoke of her desire, his prowess, his innate ability to make her feel every inch the woman to his maleness. “Matty,” she panted, as she squeezed her thighs shut against his hand. “Not yet,” he commanded. “Yes!” “No.” He chuckled at her protest, grumbled as he positioned her. “Like this, Jane. Please,” he whispered, closing his eyes.

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

Jane, beautiful, glorious Jane knew what he wanted—what he needed. “Ah, Christ, yes,” he moaned as she took the head of his cock between her lips. “Jane, yes.” Wrapping his hands in her long hair, he clutched her head to his cock, feeding it to her as he slowly moved his hips. He had grown addicted to this, to Jane’s mouth and sweetly tormenting tongue. It was unbelievable to him how the act had ever been so abhorrent to him. She moved closer, taking him deeper. Releasing her hair, he spread her legs, placed one plump thigh over his shoulder then dipped his head low between her thighs. With a slash of his tongue along her quim, her deep moan reverberated along his shaft, arousing him to a primitive level. Hungrily, he devoured Jane, showing her all the passion and love he held for her. Gasping, she let go of his cock, unable to focus on anything else but the pleasure he was giving her. “Matty!” she cried as moved against him. Anchoring her hips with his palms, he rolled to his back, taking Jane with him. She was now on top of him, her quim rubbing over his lips and tongue. His hands found her breasts, and he kneaded them, listening to her cries of ecstasy. She was a seductress like this, her body moving in a mesmerizing rhythm atop him. Rising higher, she reached out and clutched at the headboard as he moved his mouth eagerly along her swelling flesh. With a few more swipes of his tongue, Jane was crying out, quaking violently against him.

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

Still shivering from her climax, Matthew pulled her down, anchored her hips with his hands and slid deeply into her, impaling her on his cock. Their moans were simultaneous, the pleasure instant. “God Jane, you take me so deep,” he growled, pushing into her once again. She was snug, clamping hard and tight around the thick base of his cock. She writhed on him, her hair flinging back over her shoulder as she sat up on him, smiling down at him like a succubus. “Take them in your hands,” he ordered, his voice hoarse. Dutiful Jane did as he asked, tugging and pinching at her reddened nipples. She pressed them together, and he nearly came at the sight. Nothing was sexier than Jane like this, loving him, teasing him with erotic glimpses of her pleasuring herself. As he watched her toy with her breasts, he slowed down his thrusts. In lazy, deep jabs, he penetrated her until she began to squeeze her breasts harder as she tried to take command and increase the pace. But he refused her—this one time, instead showing her a deeper thrust that filled her quim fully. “Please,” she begged, and he grew harder inside her. Watching her like this, Matthew was filled with such a sense of completion. She was gorgeous, sensual, and she was his wife. Pregnant with his child. Close to coming, he pulled her down for a long kiss. Their tongues touched and danced as they came ever closer to orgasm. “Ride me, Jane,” he demanded as he released her hips, giving Jane full rein to take him how she wanted. “Take my cock as you want.”

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

She rode him hard, her breath hot in his ear, her tongue moist on his neck. “Yes, Jane,” he encouraged, “take it all.” She did, and he exploded deep inside her, holding her close as he pressed his lips to her damp brow. “I do not know who sent you to me, Jane, but I thank him or her every single day.” Two Months Later... “Can you bear it?” Jane whispered to him as she caressed his cheek with the back of her hand. Matthew pressed against her as he looked down at the little bundle in her arms. “Our daughter.” His voiced wavered. “Jane, our daughter.” Christ, he had become a fucking watering pot! But this little babe, the miracle of her, the miracle of Jane’s love for him was so unbelievably perfect, that it defied words. “Another little girl to worry over,” she teased. “She’s perfect, isn’t she?” He looked away from their sleeping babe, to gaze into Jane’s beautiful, but tired face. “She’s perfect in every way, right down to her red hair.” Sighing, Jane rested her head against his shoulder. “Would you like to name her Elizabeth after your mother?” He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes. Jane’s labour had been long and he had stayed with her ever second. How she had suffered. Christ, he

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

had been terrified for her. The experience had taken years off of his life. With Edward, he had been in his study, praying for the safe arrival of his child. But tonight, with Jane, he had fretted about losing her. Had been terrified that both Jane and the babe would be taken from him. Even Raeburn had not been able to talk any sense into him. And when Anais had suggested he retire to the study with Raeburn, he had all but turned into a raving madman. Leave Jane? To suffer alone? It was impossible to think about. It was also simply unbearable to think of a life without Jane. He would not have missed this opportunity to watch Jane bring his daughter into the world—not for anything. He had been jealous of Raeburn after the birth of his sons. He had wanted the same experience, to witness his physical love emerge from his wife’s body. He feared it would never happen, until Jane, lovely Jane came into his life and had given him everything he had never dare dream to desire. “Matty?” “Hmm?” “Her name?” “Yes, her name. Let’s give her, her own, Jane. Not something from the past. The past is far behind us.” “Alright. I understand.” And he knew she did. No one understood like Jane.

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

“What do you think of Blossom, Jane? It’s terribly Bourgeois, I know, but it seems to suit her.” “Oh, I’ve always wanted to be Bourgeois!” Jane smiled up at him. “It’s so fashionable!” He frowned and she kissed his chin. “I rather like blossom,” she whispered as she traced the ruffled outline of his tattoo. “It has special meaning, doesn’t it?” “It does indeed, my love.” Settling deep beside him, Jane nuzzled against him. He put his arms around both of his girls and squeezed tightly. “Sleep well, Jane, Blossom,” he whispered. “I love you, Matty,” Jane murmured. “Thank you for giving me our daughter.” “God, how I love you, Jane. You are my life. You know that. It is my pleasure to give you anything you want.” He kissed Jane, then bent to kiss his sleeping daughter. Then, resting his head against the headboard he gazed out the window. An early season snowfall was just beginning. He could see the tops of the cedar trees were crested with snow. Everything was white and pure, and he sighed, fully contented. “May I come in, Papa?” Edward asked from the door. Sarah was behind him, holding his hand. “Come in and meet your new little sister, and niece. Her name is Blossom.”

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

“But it’s winter,” Edward announced as he came to sit on the bed. “But we will always think of Spring when we say her name, won’t we?” Edward looked down at his sister and shrugged. “She’s little.” “So were you,” Matthew told him. Edward frowned. “She has red hair.” Matthew watched as Edward’s little hand gently touched her head. “It’s like Mama’s.” “Yes, it is. But Mama is very tired, Edward. We must let her sleep for a bit.” “And then I can cuddle with her?” “You may cuddle with me now, my love,” Jane murmured sleepily. Matthew took Blossom from Jane’s arms and held her out to Sarah. Edward inserted himself between them and nuzzled his chin against Jane’s breast. “Mmm, you’ve come from the bath.” “And I didn’t even give Nanny a hard time about it.” Jane smiled and hugged Edward tight against her. “Mathew,” Sarah gushed, “she’s like a little doll.” He motioned for Sarah to join on them on the bed. Carefully she sat down, cradling Blossom and humming to her. As he looked around the huge ducal bed, he saw everything that meant the world to him.

Sinful Epilogue/Copyright 2010 Charlotte Featherstone

Outside the sky was darkening and the snow was falling. Through misty eyes, Matthew looked up, saw the moon glowing brilliantly and whispered, “thank you.” It was simple, but heartfelt. Never had a man been more grateful than that very moment when everything was utter perfection. With his family and his wife pressed up against him. His gaze met Jane, who watching him intently. He squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back. He loved her. And how she loved him back, he could never understand, but she did. “I have never been happier, Matthew.” “Thank you, Jane, for putting me back together. For making me whole. For never giving up.” Silence descended, and Matthew was content to listen to the winter wind, and the crackle of the fire as he watched his family around him. He was surrounded by peace. Love, and the feeling that at last he was something more than sinful.