Page 40

JACOB

Ten years later

I park my car in the gravel driveway of my house, well, my castle, and as soon as I open the car door, my three blonde-haired daughters fly out of the front door of the castle, screaming their heads off, dressed up in their princess costumes.

“Mommy is dying,” Catherine, my youngest, shrieks.

Oh, dear God.

I sprint past Catherine, Elsa, and Aurora and into the grand hallway.

My heart beating faster than a freight train pounding down the tracks in my chest. I hear groaning from the kitchen and run as fast as I can in that direction.

Almost skidding across the black and white checkered floor in my dress shoes, I come to an abrupt halt, instantly relieved to see what the hell the girls were screaming about.

I hold on to the edges of the door and bow my head. “Oh, thank God.”

Skye is lying on the floor fake-dying as she groans, pulling red silk scarves out of the bottom of her jumper.

“They gave me a heart attack,” I laugh while trying to catch my breath and move into the room. Ten years in and I’m not sure the need to protect her with everything I am will ever go away.

“Shush, I’m dying. Play along,” she whispers, then lays her arms out to the sides, against the floor.

With every day that passes, I can’t help but love this woman more and more.

I’m standing over her now. Her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth, she pops one eye open to look at me.

“Say the line?” she murmurs.

Fuck, what was it again? Oh, yeah, I remember. “Oh no, my queen. Who did this to you? Was it the evil prince?” I crouch down by her side, playing along, and peek up to see if I can see who I am looking for.

Skye pretends she’s choking and croaks out, “It was the evil dragon.” Then turns her head to the side, pretending to be dead.

I rise to my feet and say loudly, “I will slay this evil dragon. Where is he?”

I hear a tiny roar from the pantry and I wait.

The door opens gently and with his hands up, in claw-like shapes, out walks my cute-as-fuck two-year-old, William, dressed in a blue and purple spotty dragon costume with padded scales and wings. He looks adorable.

“What did you do to my queen?” I point at him, trying to be serious and stifle the laughter that wants to break free from my chest.

William snarls, trying to look mean, but all it does is cause his button nose to twitch, making him look even cuter.

“You killed the love of my life and now I will have to slay you, evil dragon.”

William bares his teeth, snapping and snarling with intention. He knows the game better than me.

He moves over to me and pretends to breathe fire across my knees and thighs and I act out, falling to the ground. “Oh no, you burned my legs off. Now I’m going to die. Who will look after my queen and princesses? I will hate you forever.” Then I fake my own death.

Everything goes quiet for a second before William clambers on top of my chest and whispers, “Please, Daddy, not hate me.” My sweet boy.

I pop my eyes open, grab his sides and tickle him, making him instantly burst into a fit of giggles and squeals. My three girls run in and jump on top of me as they all try to tickle me back.

Skye sits up with a deep scowl on her face and says, “What about me, I’m the one that died. Where are my tickles?”

I give a knowing look to the kids with a cheeky smile, then I widen my eyes and shout, “Get her.” They all spring into action and our kitchen becomes a ticklefest until none of us can breathe.

I pick up one of the scarves and wave it in the air. “I give in. I can’t take it.” All six of us lie panting on the floor. Even little William.

“That was so much fun. Can we do it again tomorrow, Mommy?” Catherine asks sweetly.

I sit up and look around at my incredible family. Three white-blonde girls, Catherine, aged four, Elsa, now six, and Aurora, nine; all princess names Skye loved. Having just turned two years old, William, also a proper prince’s name, is going to be so well protected by his loving sisters.

Holding her out-of-breath chest, Skye looks at Catherine. “Absolutely. But I think William should be the knight. Dad didn’t do a very good job, did he? He left you to fend for yourselves.”

Elsa looks at me suspiciously. “I’ll be the knight tomorrow. I will save the queen.” She’s such a serious kid.

“No, me, me, me.” William struggles to his feet in his costume. When he stands up his dragon headpiece is covering his eyes, but it doesn’t stop him running out of the kitchen in the direction of the playroom and the girls all race after him, calling dibs on who is going to be the knight tomorrow.

I move onto my side and prop myself up. “Well, that was fun.”

Skye chuckles. “I’m reliving my childhood vicariously through our children.” She loves this princess stuff and now she has William, who loves nothing better than dressing up as a dragon, knight, or a prince.

Positioning myself on top of her, I rest myself between her legs. She looks at me with warm eyes and smiles.

“Hey, Butterfly.”

She gives me a small, almost shy “Hi” in return.

“I missed you today.” I kiss the end of her nose.

“You miss me every day.”

“I do. I should work from home.”

“You wouldn’t get anything done.” She rolls her head against the shiny floor, causing her long hair to fan out across the tiles.

She finally grew her hair back, making her look exactly like she did in high school. Choosing to wear it down almost every day instead of her space buns, which she reckons she is too old for now, although I disagree, she still looks so much younger than her years.

Around five times a year, Skye travels all over the world delivering keynote talks about what happened to her, and how she’s overcome her trauma. Her attack changed her life and career forever, but she used it to create a positive personal transformation. Going with her to every talk, I can see that she doesn’t just engage the audience, she energizes and inspires them. She’s a survivor.

It’s coming toward the end of the summer break and Skye hasn’t managed to write or illustrate one single thing. She said she didn’t want to, choosing to be a full-time mom for every summer and school break. She’s a wonderful, fun, and attentive mother.

“Two weeks then they go back to school and William starts daycare for a few days a week.” I assure her she will get back to work soon.

“I don’t want him to; I like him playing in my office while I’m working.” Her face falls, looking sad. She’s mentioned this a few times. She doesn’t want him to grow up too fast. She thinks the girls have, and she doesn’t like it one bit.

“But think of all the books you can write now. You have the next ten books to plot out.”

Her face lights up. “I’ve already had a great idea for it. I want to do a princess series.”

Of course she does.

“Right, Mrs. Clever Best-Selling Author, it’s time to get ready for date night.”

Every Friday or Saturday evening we go out, just the two of us, to the movies, or the theater, giving us a chance to catch up with family life but also remind ourselves that this is how we started, just me and her.

“I have a new dress.” Her eyes shine and she looks excited to get dressed up.

“Good, now go and put it on…” I kiss her on the mouth. “…and forget the panties.”

“Don’t ever change; don’t ever stop wanting me, Jay.”

“Never.”

“Why are we at the office?” Skye runs her hands over her aqua-blue silk evening gown as we ride up to the tenth floor of the Baxter and Bain building. The one my father gave to me not long after Skye and I married, when he handed me the reins of Baxter and Bain.

We’ve been out for a meal at Lincoln and Violet’s Michelin three-star rated restaurant for the evening and my wife looks edible in her dress. Not wanting the evening to end, I thought I’d fulfill one of her fantasies.

“Did you forget something?” Playing along, she looks at me with a knowing eye.

“Yes, your panties.” I step out of the elevator and make a beeline for my office.

“Are they along here?” she says sweetly behind me, knowing they are most certainly not.

As soon as she steps into my office, I slam the door shut and push her up against it.

“Good evening, Mrs. Baxter. Would you like to be fucked over my desk or up against the window this evening?”

“Over the desk,” she says through hooded eyes as she stares at my lips. “But on this side of the desk so I can see your reflection in the windows. I want to watch.”

I crash my lips against hers, diving my tongue into her mouth.

“Take off your dress,” I demand, then step back, and toe off my shoes.

She slides her long dress up her thighs, revealing her black lace-topped stockings and nothing else.

I throw off my dress jacket, then undo my tie and top button of my shirt.

“Take it all off,” she says, slipping her dress up over her naked body, letting it drop to the floor.

I know how much she appreciates my tattoos. It makes her wet for me. It always has.

Once I’m stripped to my waist, she walks over to me and puts her hand against my chest, prompting me to walk backward to the desk until I hit the edge of it.

“Have you been a good boy?” She smirks.

“Not even in the slightest.”

“Do you know what happens to bad boys?”

“They get their cock sucked?”

Running her hands down my sides, over my body that’s now covered in even more deep-blue butterfly tattoos, she drops to her knees, palms her hand over my now hard cock then proceeds to unbuckle, unbutton, and unzip my trousers in seconds, as if she can’t wait to taste me.

“Can you remember what you said to me all those years ago?” I ask.

“I can’t wait to taste you,” she whispers, sliding my trousers down my hips. I lift myself up from the desk to help her pull them off and free my cock from my boxers.

Without hesitation, she pushes me back against the desk, then licks her tongue around the weeping head of my cock. Cupping my balls, she grips her hand around my shaft and begins stroking.

She’s so fucking good at giving head.

“Suck my cock.” I thread my fingers into the back of her silver locks, urging her to do what I ask.

She pulls me into her mouth, sucking me so deep I hit the back of her throat. Then she moves, fuck me, does she move, sucking, stroking, and licking her tongue around my cock.

She grabs on to my ass to pull me deeper into her mouth and I have to slam my hands on either side of my desk to stop my legs giving way.

“Aw, fuck.” I slip my cock out of her mouth, pull her to her feet and plunge my tongue between her lips, tasting myself on her.

“Were you trying to make me come?” I move us around, then turn her to face the desk.

“Yes,” she pants.

I slap her bent-over-the-desk ass, making her gasp. “When I come tonight, I am coming inside of this pretty pussy.” I slide my cock between her folds.

Using my foot, I nudge her legs open. “Wider.” I push her black patent stiletto-covered feet out again, causing her to arch her back and tilt her ass further in the air.

Fucking perfection.

“Now, Mrs. Baxter. I’m going to fuck you over this desk. Is that what you want?”

I glide my cock through her wet folds, teasing her entrance.

“Yes, do it now.”

She pushes back as I slam into her.

“Jay,” she calls out.

Watching us in the reflection of the windows, she never takes her eyes off of me.

“Touch yourself,” I command.

She moves her hand to her clit and I watch her fingers move in slow, rhythmic circles.

“Now make yourself come for me, Butterfly.” My hands dig into her hips, giving me the leverage I need to fuck her, burying myself inside of her, exactly the way she loves it. Hard.

My sweet girl might look sweet, but she fucks like a fucking stallion.

Her mouth, in the shape of an O, tells me she’s about to come. I run my hands over the top of her lace and silk stockings, fucking her like my life depends on it.

“Come, baby, come,” I call out.

Her moans and cries become higher, the sound of her coming on my cock, making me explode as I shoot my load inside of her.

Her walls clench around my dick as if she’s trying to pull every last drop of cum from my body.

Not moving, not speaking, I trace my hand over the pale skin of her shoulders, as if tickling her back to reality as she pants against the surface of the desk.

I lay my body flat against hers and whisper in her ear, “Now back to your desk, or I may have to take further disciplinary action.”

Her deep chuckle vibrates through me. I lean back, kissing a trail of soft kisses over her naked skin. She’s fucking beautiful.

We dress in silence and I move across to the window to take in the view across the cove.

Warm arms slide around my hips, and I turn to welcome her.

“We have to go home. It’s getting late and we need to relieve my mom and dad from babysitting duties.”

“Just a minute longer.” I plant a soft kiss on her lips.

“I love you, Jay.”

“You’ll always be my first love.” I cup her face with my hands.

“And mine.”

“My first kiss.”

“And your last.”

She’ll always be my first and last everything.

And they all lived happily ever after… well, at least until the castle needed a new roof that winter… then they did… oh, but then there was the time William flooded the master bathroom and blew all of the electrics… and then, of course, Aurora smashed a lead glass window… do you know how difficult it is to source a glazier to repair a Grade A listed building? But, of course, Jacob found one; he always does… because he made sure his forever girl and their family were always happy… whatever, however, forever.