A Lady’s Path to Sin – Extended Epilogue

Five Weeks later

Hannah looked out the window and saw the huge house looming up on the hill. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“Is that … is that really your home?”

“It’s the home Father has given to us as a wedding gift.” Colin laughed and tugged Hannah’s arm. “Come back inside, Hannah, before you end up falling out.”

“I’m going to be …”

The carriage lurched, and Hannah gasped as she started to tip forward. Colin grabbed her and pulled her back in, both of them falling onto the seat. He cuddled her on his lap.

“You really are going to cause me trouble, aren’t you, darling?”

Hannah swatted his shoulder, her admonishments stopping as Colin kissed her. She felt his hand on her hip, shifting slowly down her leg until he was toying with the hem of her dress. His other hand cradled the small of her back, keeping her in his lap. Hannah broke off with a giggle as his fingers slipped under the hem.

“Careful! You do remember that I’m ticklish, don’t you?”

“I can’t help it. I just want to keep touching you.”

“You’ve been doing that since we got married while we were in Ireland.” Hannah shivered as Colin started kissing her neck. “But we’re going to be meeting people soon. We shouldn’t be doing this.”

“It’s just the servants. “

“Colin!” Hannah swatted his shoulder. “I’m still going to meet people I haven’t been introduced to. Do you really want their first impression of me to be a bad one?”

Colin sighed and sat back, still holding Hannah on his lap.

“I wouldn’t say it would be a bad impression. It would say that you were thoroughly loved.”

“Colin …”

“Alright, I’ll stop.” Colin kissed her quickly before setting her onto the seat beside him. “Besides, you may be right. I have a feeling Mother and Father are going to be there as well.”

“Why would they be at your new residence?”

“Father wrote to me. I only got the letter as we were getting onto the ferry and I forgot about it. Mother wanted to see us when we arrived, and as we’re going to go straight to our house, she would greet us.”

Hannah wasn’t sure what she thought about that. While she had managed to have a decent conversation with her new in-laws, she wasn’t sure if she could do it more than sparingly. It was a little unfair, given that she had married into Colin’s family, but it was going to take a while for her to get used to everything.

With Colin beside her, it would be fine. It didn’t stop the nerves, though.

Hannah took her husband’s hand as they carried on, hoping that Viscount and Viscountess Croft were kind to her today. Hopefully, she could get along with them outside of their tenuous relationship with her parents. From what Colin said, outside of their stubbornness, they could be decent people.

Hannah hadn’t seen much of that decency yet, but she hoped she would find it herself.

Finally, the carriage stopped, and the door opened. Hannah didn’t move. She felt rooted to the spot.

“Hannah?”

“Hmm?”

Colin shifted to face her, taking her hand up to his mouth and kissing it. He gave her fingers a squeeze.

“It’s going to be fine. I promise. Mother and Father are going to love you as I do.”

“I hope not exactly the same.”

“You know what I mean.” Colin kissed her cheek. “Let’s get out.”

Hannah waited for Colin to get out first, and then he reached in to help her. Hannah felt like her legs were going to give out on her. How could she be so nervous about encountering Colin’s parents? She was stronger than this.

Just take a deep breath and take it slowly. Colin is right. It will be fine.

As the door closed to the carriage and it trundled away, the front door opened, and Viscountess Croft came out of the house. She smiled warmly at her son.

“Colin. So good to see you.”

“Mother.” Colin kissed her cheek. “I got your letter. Just.”

“I’m glad. We’ve been making sure that this house is ready for you and your wife.” Lady Croft turned to Hannah, and there was a twinkle in her eye. “Hannah, dear. You look lovely. The Irish weather has put some roses in your cheeks.”

“Lady Croft.” Hannah curtsied. “It’s nice to see you again.”

Lady Croft took Hannah’s hand and squeezed it. There was genuine warmth in the gesture.

“Come on inside. My husband is in the morning room. We can have some tea. Or would you like it out on the terrace? It is a lovely day.”

“How about we have tea in the morning room, and then we can give Hannah a tour of the house.” Colin took Hannah’s hand. “We do need to stretch our legs after such a long journey.”

“That we do,” Hannah murmured.

Lady Croft beckoned them to follow her. Heading inside, Hannah’s jaw dropped at the sight of the foyer. It was huge, probably bigger than what she had grown up with. And it was spotless, almost sparkling.

“Is … this marble?”

“Actually, it’s simply plaster, but we had an architect who knew someone that could paint it to look like marble.” Lady Croft grinned. “You don’t need to go around telling everyone that, though. We don’t want to tell anyone our secrets, do we?”

Hannah couldn’t help laughing.

“I won’t say a word.”

The older woman beamed.

“I’m sure you will. Come along. You two must be tired after a long journey. Refreshments are definitely on the cards.”

Hannah wasn’t about to argue with that. Glancing at Colin, who gave her an encouraging nod, Hannah squared her shoulders and entered the morning room. Lord Croft was sitting at a chair by the window, one of the maids putting the tea tray down on the table. He stood up as they entered.

“Colin. How was your honeymoon?”

“It was beautiful, Father. The weather certainly held out for us.” Colin smiled. “It only started raining on the day we came back on the ferry. It was like Ireland didn’t want us to leave.”

“I can imagine. That place does like to make itself known in the most surprising of ways.” Croft nodded at Hannah. “Lady Hannah.”

“My Lord.”

“There’s no need to stand on ceremony with me. I hope we don’t need anything to stand between us now we’re family.”

“Even so …” Hannah began, but Croft held up a hand.

“It’s perfectly fine. We all said things we regret. Some more than others. I’m willing to start afresh for my son’s sake. And I hope you feel the same.”

Hannah looked at Colin, who squeezed her hand. He was with her the whole way. Hannah gave Croft a smile.

“I would like that, My Lord.”

Croft didn’t look like the same man she had met at her wedding. If anything, he looked calm. More relaxed. Like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Hannah liked that; the softer side was a good look on him.

“Please, be seated.” Croft indicated the settee beside him. “Then once you’re refreshed, you will be shown around your new home.”

***

“I don’t know what I was expecting today, if I’m honest,” Hannah said as she watched Colin get undressed. “But I wasn’t expecting your parents to be so warm and friendly.”

“I was as surprised as you were. They’re not normally like that.” Colin smiled, shrugging off his shirt. “They are really trying hard for me. They know I’m not above cutting them off if they don’t get along with you.”

“Are they really that determined not to have Michael as the next in line?”

“Father loves Michael, but he’s very … old-fashioned.” Colin sat on the edge of the bed and took off his shoes. “He wants things to be down the immediate line and no straying. I think he’s scared that Grandpa is going to come back from the grave and send him to the Devil for going against what he’s been raised into.”

“Very set in his ways.”

“Just so. But he’s softening enough to accommodate you.” Colin’s expression was warm as he looked over at her. “He and Mother were very kind to you. I’m pleased they did that.”

Hannah was as well. They had spent a couple of hours with Colin’s parents, taking them on a tour around the house for Hannah’s sake once they had their tea. Hannah was in awe of her new house. It was just magnificent, and the gardens were spectacular. She could see herself finding something new every day and never getting bored. Unfortunately, there were no tame squirrels around, but Hannah could hold out hope.

She had been able to talk to her mother-in-law, and found the woman was quite quick-witted and spritely. There was something about her that Hannah liked. Despite what had happened in the past, she was looking forward to building a good relationship with Lady Croft. Her husband was trying as well, that much was clear.

It was better than her father, anyway. While Lady Chalmers had been trying really hard to get along with Colin at the wedding, Viscount Chalmers had clearly struggled. He had kept his distance once he gave Hannah away, attempting to distract himself. Colin had decided to leave him be, not wanting tension on their wedding day.

Hannah felt a bit of regret that while her father had given his blessing, he wasn’t happy about it. He needed more time.

“I hope Mother and Father can do the same,” she murmured.

“I’m sure they will.” Colin tugged off his stockings and stood up to unbutton his breeches. “Although I think they’re going to have more to worry about right now. Do you remember what Michael wrote while we were on honeymoon?”

“You mean about Aunt Barbara and Quintin? They have been seen out and about in town, and your father … let’s just say he’s not best pleased about it.”

“I’m not surprised about that.” Colin shook his head. “He’s been very vocal about Quintin. I guess he thought he had managed to keep them apart for good.”

“Aunt Barbara has had some confidence since you and I made it known that we wanted to marry. I know she’s been going out more often.” Hannah smiled. “She was going to see him, wasn’t she?”

“I believe she was. They must have rekindled what they had before.”

“Will they be able to get the happiness they missed out on?”

“I’m sure they will. Besides, they’re older and wiser now.” Colin winked at her as he pushed his breeches down his thighs. “Heading to Gretna Green shouldn’t be a problem for them.”

Hannah couldn’t see Aunt Barbara doing that. Then again, she didn’t see herself becoming Colin’s wife, either, given their families and their history. Anything was possible.

“How about we stop talking now?” Colin’s eyes drifted over the sheet Hannah was holding to her breasts. “Or are you too tired to do anything else? We were quite … energetic earlier.”

Hannah giggled as she lowered the sheet to reveal her naked chest and lay back, arms above her head.

“As you can see, I’m very much awake. Maybe you can do something about that.”

“Oh, I certainly will.”

Colin pulled the sheets aside, eliciting a gasp from Hannah as the cool air tickled her skin, and then he was on her, kissing her thoroughly as his naked body covered hers. Her gasps turned to moans as he made his way down her body, lavishing attention on her breasts before pressing kissing over her stomach. He touched his mouth to the heat between her legs, which left Hannah writhing on the bed. Her hands twisted in the sheets as he drew out her climax, barely giving her time to catch her breath before he pulled her up in her pleasure again.

Somehow, Hannah managed to get away from him, scrambling away from Colin as he reached for her and pushing him onto his back.

“Now it’s my turn,” she whispered, taking his shaft in her hand and stroking it.

Colin moaned as she touched her lips to his member, using her tongue to slide over the warm, hard length before she slowly took him into her mouth. Colin had shown her this as a way to pleasure him, something Hannah had slowly got used to. Seeing how her husband reacted to how she tended to his body in this way, it became just as pleasurable to her. She loved doing this to Colin.

It wasn’t long, though, before Colin was tugging her up by the shoulders. Hannah protested as she practically fell across him, but Colin pulled her up to him and kissed her, palming her backside and giving her a firm squeeze, his tongue plunging into her mouth and sucking hers. Hannah clutched his shoulders as warm shivers went down her spine. They had made the most of having the house to themselves once Colin’s parents had left, sneaking around and making love in several of the rooms when the servants were elsewhere. It had been quite exciting, and Hannah had thought they had worn themselves out in their enthusiasm.

But from the way Colin’s body felt, his hard member pressing against her belly, he was not worn out at all.

“Sweet Hannah,” Colin groaned as he adjusted Hannah to straddle his waist. “You’re just too much.”

“Too much, am I?” Hannah smiled. “And you’re complaining?”

“Heaven forbid, I’m not complaining at all.” He gripped her hips and lifted her a little. “Far from it.”

He slid into her smoothly, and the angle made Hannah momentarily forget what she was about to say. They had done it in this position before, and it had been exhilarating. Like this, she could take control, and she could also look down at his handsome face and watch him enjoy the sight.

Hannah wanted him to enjoy it all.

Rolling her hips, Hannah carried on the rhythm that Colin urged her into, taking charge as Colin’s hands loosened their grip on her waist. She could feel heat knotting in her belly as she rocked, building more as she increased the pace. Her heart was stuttering, and her breath was coming out in gasps.

“Hannah …”

Hannah barely heard anything after that, her climax washing over her and roaring in her ears. Gasping for air, she shuddered over Colin, gripping him with her thighs. She was aware of Colin going through his own release below her, sitting up abruptly to clutch her to him, his angle changing and making Hannah’s orgasm spike again. He kissed her as both of them came down, cradling her close as they got their breath back.

“I don’t think I’m ever going to get bored of this,” Colin panted, nuzzling her jaw. “I’m sure I won’t be able to keep my hands off you now there are no restrictions.”

Hannah found herself smiling.

“That sounds like a promise.”

“Trust me; I’m going to make it a point to make sure you’re in my arms like this every day.” Colin kissed her neck and rolled them so Hannah was on her back. “You’re not going to get rid of me now.”

Hannah didn’t want to. Being in his arms every day sounded like a good idea.

THE END

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