The Escape

by Alice Ward

  We made pizza, and sure enough, Kenzie tossed the dough in the air. Kylian did too, with marginally better results. But it was fun, and if the dough was a little tough when it was done, it didn’t matter.

  I looked around. We were missing something. “Where’s CeeCee?”

  The mutt had taken to her new home beautifully, and she loved meal times especially, always on alert for a dropped morsel.

  Madalyn and I looked at each other, and at the same time, we both bolted from our respective chairs.

  Sure enough, we found her in the big whelping basket we’d put in the sunroom. We also had one in the laundry room, the master bath, and Kenzie’s room since we weren’t sure which room she’d be most comfortable in. The little white dog was panting frantically, looking at us with pain filled eyes.

  “Poor CeeCee.”

  To prepare Kenzie and Kylian for the birth, we did break out the iPad and watch YouTube videos. I’d gone to the pet store and bought everything the instructions said was necessary. I even stuck a thermometer up the little white dog’s butt to see when she was close to delivering.

  The videos said that when her temperature dropped below one hundred, she’d go into labor within twenty-hours. She’d been fine this morning, but from the way she was panting, she wasn’t okay now.

  The hours went by at an excruciatingly slow pace as I paced the floor, tried to watch movies with the kids, go for a walk on the beach.

  “Are you nervous, Daddy?” Madalyn asked, a grin on her face.

  “He’s the granddad,” Kenzie reminded her. “I’m the Mommy.”

  Madalyn winked. “You holding up okay, Gramps?”

  I wasn’t. Not at all. As much as I hadn’t wanted a dog, I’d come to like the little thing.

  At nine that night, the first pup was born. It was tiny, slimy, black and white in color. The next one was pure white. The next pure black. Then a brown with black and white. It was weird.

  The vet had done x-rays and we knew there were only five pups. When the last arrived, I almost expected it to be purple, but it was pure white, like its mother and a brother. It was midnight by the time we cleaned up the basket with fresh towels and got the kids tucked in bed.

  Madalyn and I showered together, kissing passionately under the spray while we soaped each other’s bodies. She seemed to never be tired of my touch, never had a headache, never pushed me away.

  But the thing between us was still new. Fresh. No bitter disagreements had created ripples on the calm surface of our relationship.

  This week had been all about her, so I was surprised when she sat down on the shower seat, and took my cock in her hand, pulling me closer to her with it. I grew even harder as she stroked me up and down.

  “What do you want, Madalyn?”

  Very slowly, she leaned forward and licked straight up my shaft. Damn. Knowing I was the first she’d ever done this to was heady.

  I hissed as her fingers gripped me tight, her thumb tracing over the tip, spreading the pre-cum leaking out.

  She lifted her thumb to her mouth, tasting me, and I cursed. “You are so sexy.”

  She grinned some secret feline grin before dipping her tongue into the tip, circling it around the head. Planting my hands in her wet hair, I held it back while she explored, driving me insane. When her lips finally closed around me, and she took me into her mouth, I fought my need to climax.

  When she sucked, her cheeks dimpling in with the effort, I cursed, tried to pull her away, but she was having none of it. She held tighter, took more, not stopping until I hit the back of her throat.

  Her mouth stretched wide as she tried to take all of me, her hand wrapping around the inches she couldn’t yet take. “Tilt back your head a bit.”

  She did, and another inch slid in. Damn, she looked incredible with a mouth full of my cock.

  She sucked, adding pressure to the wet heat. The trifecta of every man’s dreams. I grabbed her hair, pulsing in and out, fucking her mouth until I couldn’t stand it a moment more.

  “I’m going to come.”

  Those deep blues met mine, but she didn’t stop. A determined gleam entered her expression instead. She sucked, stroked. This time it was her pushing me toward the cliff.

  My balls tightened, and I felt it in my ass and down the backs of my legs, all the way to my calves.

  “I’m serious. You’ve got to stop.”

  One hand left my cock, moved to my ass, nails biting into my flesh.

  She was determined, and who was I to rob her of this experience. I let go.

  My vision turned white as my balls released their hot load, I felt every exquisite millimeter of it shoot through my cock and into her throat.

  She gagged at first, then swallowed, gulping, taking me into her.

  Madalyn was breathing hard, so was I, my hands now planted on the tile of the shower as I struggled to stay upright.

  “You didn’t have to do that.”

  She stood and pressed her lips to my chest, her arms curling around me. “Oh yes, I did. I’ve been wanting to try it.”

  Kissing her wet hair, I remembered her romance novel. “Did Nellie do that to Jacob in your book?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Did I do it right?”

  I laughed. “I don’t think there’s a wrong way to do it, but your way was perfect.”

  She took my nipple between her teeth. “Good. That gives me the confidence to do it again.”

  My cock stirred, unable to get enough of this woman. Placing a hand on top of her head, I pushed her down. “No time like the present.”

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Maddie

  “You’re such a good mommy,” I said to the dog, stroking CeeCee’s little head.

  “Thank you,” Kenzie replied primly, putting the puppy she was holding back into the warm bed.

  I grinned at her, my heart squeezing in my chest as she grinned back. I was totally in love.

  We’d been in Montauk eleven days, and they’d been more bliss filled than I could ever imagine. Not just the lovemaking, but also this… hanging out with Xander’s children. Being a family.

  At the palace, we children never ate with adults. At dinner parties, we were introduced and then herded off to the nursery by our nannies. Mama would often come to say goodnight. If we were lucky, she would stay a little while and read a story or two. But not for long, never long enough. It was strange. We saw so little of the sweet-smelling woman with her golden hair always pulled up from her face, yet we all clung to her, even sometimes cried when she left. Soothed by our nannies.

  The mother bond, I realized now, was something instinctually engrained into each of us upon birth. A part of the deep, limbic brain that ensured our survival. It made our hearts remember to beat, our lungs remember to breathe in and out. And it made us want our mothers.

  As little as I really knew her, I wanted my mother now.

  I wished I could tell her how well I was doing. Assure her that her risk had been rewarded. Tell her “thank you” one more time. I owed her everything for leading me to the door that, once I opened it, gave me all this.

  Family.

  Kenzie was easy to love. She was such a happy child, inquisitive, and she liked being around me in return. Almost too much. It had been a surprise the first time she burst into the bathroom while I was sitting on the toilet.

  I’d yelped and pulled my robe tighter around me. “Is everything okay?” I asked her when she casually strolled in.

  She had just grinned. “Yep.” She’d gone to the mirror and taken my brush to stroke down her hair, then grabbed a lip gloss and dabbed it on her lips.

  With as little privacy as I’d had at the palace, I was generally alone in the toilet. Having company was a bit uncomfortable and unexpected. And why was Kenzie there?

  “Do you need something?”

  She opened an eyeshadow kit. “Nope.”

  When she kept inspecting the makeup I never wore, I cleared my throat. “Can I have a little privacy?”
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br />   Her head cocked to the side, and she had asked as casually as could be, “Why? Do you have to poop?”

  Xander had howled when I told him about that little scene later that night. The next time I used the bathroom, I’d locked the door, but Kenzie had simply laid on the floor, talking to me through the crack at the bottom. I’d given up and began to realize that children had no inhibitions. Nothing was off-limits.

  Well, it was that way with Kenzie. Kylian had limits, they just appeared and disappeared without warning. There were times when he was open and funny. There were other times when he was sullen, angry with the world. Xander had been given the name of a child psychologist, but he’d seemed even angrier after his first visit.

  “Do you think I’m crazy?” I’d heard him shout at his father.

  “Of course not,” Xander replied quickly. “It’s just always a good thing to talk to someone after something bad happens.”

  Kylian hadn’t seemed convinced and had stormed off to his room, slamming the door.

  “When will Daddy be back?” Kenzie asked as she picked up another puppy. Xander had a big meeting in the city he couldn’t miss and had left very early that morning.

  I glanced at the clock. “It’s only two, and he’s not supposed to be back until seven.” I held up my hand, lifting my fingers one at a time, and we started counting together, but in French, which Kenzie had been keen to learn. “Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq.”

  I clapped. “Very good.”

  She grinned. “Let’s do Spanish now.”

  And so, it began. We counted in Spanish, German, and Japanese. The last always made her laugh for some reason, maybe because she always shouted, “Go,” when we got to the number five, which was, in fact, go.

  Kylian wandered in and sat down beside us, looking at the puppies. It was another sullen day, and nothing I had suggested we do seemed to liven him up. But there was a little grin on his face as he picked up the brown, black, and white spotted puppy. It seemed to be his favorite.

  “When will their eyes open?” he asked, looking into the tiny face.

  “Hopefully in another couple days. Have you thought more about names for them?”

  Kylian lifted a shoulder. “I was thinking maybe Tres for this guy. You know, since he has three different colors.”

  I smiled. He hadn’t wanted to participate in the language lessons, but he’d been listening. “I like that.”

  Kenzie chirped in. “I like it too.” She looked at the other puppies with only one or two colors. “That gives me an idea. We—”

  The doorbell chimed and all three of us looked at each other. “Who could that be?” I asked, immediately alarmed.

  Not Kenzie. She was on her feet, running like an entire herd of elephants toward the front door.

  I chased after her, whisper-yelling her name. The alarm panel glowed red, a reminder the system was armed, and it gave me a measure of safety. This was the first time anyone had dropped by, and a sense of foreboding settled over me. I liked being here, nestled behind the dunes, hidden from the world that could be so cold and frightening.

  Kenzie was at the door and had flipped the lock and was turning the knob with both hands by the time I caught up to her. “Kenzie, don’t. Wait.” It was too late, the door was opening, and the warning of the alarm began its tone.

  “Mommy! Mommy!”

  Behind me, I heard a small, “Mom?”

  I stood there, stunned. The last Xander had told me, his ex-wife was in some pretty serious trouble, and he thought she’d be too busy digging herself out of it to bother us. She’d last wanted money, and I heard him arguing with her about it.

  But here she was, lifting Kenzie up to sit on her hip. The little girl looked so pleased, I knew I shouldn’t be jealous, but I was.

  Danielle Ford came through the door without an invitation, and I hurried over to stop the annoying alarm tone, pressing in the code. When she spotted me, her eyes narrowed, sweeping down to my bare feet. I was in my typical clothes. Shorts and tank, with a floaty peasant blouse pulled over it. Comfy and cute. My new favorite style.

  Pulling my glasses from the top of my head, I put them on, then finger combed my bangs. Slouching for good measure, I forced a smile on my face and stuck out a hand. “You must be Danielle,” I said, sounding as American as possible.

  During our time away, I’d let down my guard. I’d forget to wear the glasses or forget to keep my hair covering my face. On several occasions, I’d almost told a story from my childhood, barely managing to keep it to myself before blurting it out.

  She ignored my hand. “Who are you?”

  I rubbed my sweaty palm down my shorts. “I’m—”

  She gave a tight, superior sounding laugh. “The nanny? Am I right?”

  Kenzie shook her head, her arms around her mother’s neck, but all of Danielle’s attention was focused on me. “No, she’s Daddy’s girlfriend. They kiss and everything.”

  I bit back a gasp. We’d never defined our relationship to the children, or even each other, and I always snuck back to the guestroom early each morning. In front of the kids, Xander would kiss my cheek or forehead, but he hadn’t kissed me on the lips in front of them. Had he?

  Danielle’s eyes narrowed into slits, and I lifted my chin. So, what if we had been caught kissing? Kissing was good. There was nothing in the world wrong with it.

  “So, Daddy’s fu…” she cleared her throat, smirking at me, “kissing the nanny?”

  I relaxed my hands, forcing myself to not show any reaction to her jibe. “Xander is not my employer.”

  Lowering Kenzie to the floor, she didn’t even acknowledge Kylian, who had crept over to the living room sofa, quietly sitting down. She ran a tongue over her teeth, highlighting how very large her lips were. And when she crossed her arms under her breasts. Wow. Those things popped up over her top like overinflated balloons. She also towered over me. In at least five-inch stilettos, she was almost as tall as Xander.

  She was actually everything I wasn’t as a woman. Blonde, curvy, bombshell beautiful, and dressed to stop every man who came within a mile of her flamboyant presence. Seeing her chipped away at my confidence.

  What did Xander see in me after being married to her?

  A mystery for sure.

  “Where is my husband, by the way?”

  I refrained from adding “ex,” and said instead, “He’s away for the moment. I’m happy to make him aware of your visit when he returns.”

  Her eyes narrowed further. “And just who are you again?” She stepped closer, and I refused to be intimidated. Surely in those shoes, I could knock her off balance and outrun her in an instant.

  “Her name is Maddie,” Kenzie offered. “Daddy calls her Madalyn, but I like Maddie best. D’accord?”

  Danielle gazed down at her daughter. “Da-what?”

  Kenzie giggled, and said it the way we’d practiced it. “D’accord. It means okay in France.”

  Danielle pulled her lower lip into her mouth, and I worried that she might bite too hard, and it would explode. “Where did you learn that?”

  “Maddie. She knows all kinds of stuff.”

  An eyebrow lifted. Well, not exactly, but it acted as if it wanted to lift, and the woman’s eyes grew even colder. Xander’s ex-wife appeared to enjoy making the people around her feel small and worthless. She likely did it on a daily basis. She was well practiced.

  “Your daughter is very bright, and picking up new languages quickly. In addition to French, she’s also learning Spanish and German, and a couple other languages.”

  The beam grew beamier, nearly splitting the little girl’s face. “Salut! Hallo! Ciao! Ni hao! Ola!”

  Danielle held up her hand. “That’s nice, honey. Where are you learning all that?” She gave me a haughty look. “Your iPad? Speaking of which, I’ve been attempting to FaceTime you and never get an answer.”

  Feeling her mother’s displeasure, Kenzie took a small step back. “Daddy said we shouldn’t use them.
”

  The woman’s eyes slid to me. “Is this your idea?”

  I linked my fingers together. “I believe this is a discussion best saved between you and your ex-husband.”

  Her nostrils flared, and her glossy red lips pressed together. “I’ll be sure to do that.” She squinted. “You aren’t from around here, are you?”

  Years of intense practice stopped me from reacting. “Actually, I am, ma’am.”

  You’d have thought I punched her in the gut, and I couldn’t help but feel a little bit pleased. “You may call me Mrs. Ford.”

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Kylian twitch, and it lit a fire in me. “Are you sure? I don’t think I’d be boasting that surname just now.” It was out of my mouth before I could seal my lips shut. Moving slowly, I edged over until the boy was behind me. She still hadn’t acknowledged him in any way, so she might not have even noticed him in the room.

  Kenzie backed up a step when her mother’s hands clenched into two tight fists. “I suggest you keep your opinions to yourself.”

  “And I suggest you leave. And please call and schedule an appointment before you plan on visiting again.”

  She took a step toward me, and I held my ground. “Listen, you… you…” She cleared her throat. “I do not need to schedule time with my children. Today or any day.”

  She was wrong.

  “I suggest you reread the papers giving Xander custody. They clearly state that you will only visit the children on scheduled, supervised visits.” With her this close, I could smell alcohol on her breath. “For obvious reasons. And had you shown a modicum of respect, or had you displayed a measure of attention to both your children, I would have been pleased to grant that visit today. But considering you displayed neither, and you’ve clearly been drinking, it’s time that you leave.”

  Her eyes narrowed, and she scanned my face. “Why do you look familiar?”

  My heart thudded one hard beat in response. “Perhaps it’s because I have an average face.”