Madison's Choice Read online

  “That’s a handsome boy you have there,” Robbie said softly as Madison turned back to the copy machine.

  “Isn’t he though? He’s a handful and into everything! Since school is out, he’s spending the summer keeping my dad out of trouble. Or maybe my mom is keeping them both out of trouble!”

  Robbie took a deep breath and went on, “What brought you back to Ocala?”

  “Well, after Grammatha died, I didn’t really have any ties to New Jersey, and I wanted Nickie to have a good family life. As a single parent, I think that cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents are really a big help in providing a stable environment for a child. I missed my family, and it just seemed like a good time to come home. This job was really the icing on the cake!”

  Robbie looked thoughtful and a little strange. Madison gave an internal shrug. People were always drawn to Nickie. He was an extremely good-looking boy with a gleam in his eyes and mischief in his heart. He was sweet and gentle and loved animals. He’s a really great kid! Deciding to have him was the best thing I ever did!

  Chapter Two

  Robbie sat in her car for several minutes and tried to gather her thoughts and steady her hands. She drove the twenty or so miles back to Eden Creek Farm in a daze. She still couldn’t process the pictures she had seen on Madison Snow’s desk. The likeness was so striking that it just could not be a coincidence. The young boy in the pictures was the spitting image of her own son, Michael, Jr., who was now sixteen. Kelly had told her that she and Madison had been good friends and that Madison had left Ocala unexpectedly about nine years ago. That kid is a Hamilton! But who is his father?

  Robbie parked her Suburban in front of the farm office and walked inside. It was only June, but summer was rearing its hot and muggy head. She took off her sunglasses and looked around for Mike. He wasn’t at the desk in his office, so she took out her cell phone and gave him a buzz.

  “Hey, babe! What’s up?”

  “Where are you? I’m at the office, and I need to talk to you,” she said a bit breathlessly. Her stomach was churning.

  “I’m in the stallion barn. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he responded. He sounded puzzled at the tone of her voice.

  When Mike walked into the office, he took one look at Robbie’s face and said, “What’s wrong? You don’t look good.” He was tall and well-muscled, but not bulky, with longish, wavy, black hair and the startling blue eyes of a Hamilton.

  “I was downtown, so I stopped at the club to drop off a check and get a copy of the bill I misplaced. I got to meet Madison, Anne’s new assistant.” She continued, “I also got to see the pictures of her son, Nicholas. Mike, he looks exactly, and I mean exactly, like Mickie—not just a strong resemblance. The pictures on her desk could have come from my desk. Is there something I should know?”

  “What! What are you asking? If I’m that kid’s father?” He was clearly astounded. “No, I am certainly not his father!” He slammed his hand on the desk for emphasis or in anger, she wasn’t sure which. “What did you say the name of Anne’s assistant is? And how old is the boy?”

  “Madison Snow. Her son, Nicholas, is about eight. He has raven- black, wavy hair and the Hamilton blue eyes. Truth to tell, he seems to be as much of a devil as Mickie was at that age.”

  Mike stood there quietly for a moment, obviously deep in thought. “Okay, if he’s about eight, he would have been conceived about nine years ago. We had an exercise rider by that name working here the summer before Ross’s junior year at FSU. They were dating that summer. You might not remember because you were busy chasing our kids around. But that was the year Ross’s stallion, Flashfire, was killed up on the road. You will definitely remember that. The girl accidently let Flashfire out of his stall, and Ross blamed her for the accident. They broke up, of course, and then both of them went back to college. I don’t think he ever saw her again.”

  “Of course, I remember Flashfire’s accident. And now that you mention it, I do remember Ross dating someone, but I don’t think I ever met her. Do you think Nicholas is Ross’s son?”

  “That would be the only sensible explanation, your unfounded suspicions aside,” Mike responded bitterly. He was obviously still furious.

  She was going to have to do some major damage control by the expression on his face. “I can see you’re mad, but please understand that turning around and seeing those pictures was a big shock for me,” she said contritely. “I only had that thought for a minute or two. I couldn’t help it! He looked so much like our son.” She hadn’t meant to accuse him of anything, but she could see that her expression had said more than her words. “I was just afraid that my somewhat smug feeling that our marriage is perfect was coming back to bite me in the ass!”

  “I can appreciate that, but your first question should not have been whether I was fooling around with an eighteen-year-old girl! And believe me, that may well come back to bite you in the ass!”

  “Please don’t be mad at me. I’m so sorry. We have bigger problems to deal with than your justifiably hurt feelings. I promise to make it up to you. What do you think we should do?”

  He seemed to think for a moment. “This promises to be a big problem, Robbie. Maybe we should plan to spend the weekend at the club. I can get a look at the pictures and maybe talk to her. I don’t think we should say anything to Ross until we have more information. Unlikely as it seems, there might be another explanation.”

  “All right. Let’s do that. Don’t be mad at me, okay?”

  He just looked at her. She squirmed nervously. “Right now I’m more hurt than mad, but who knows? That may change. I foresee a fanny warming in your future.”

  “I’m sorry, Master,” she replied with a twinkle in her eye.

  Chapter Three

  Late Friday afternoon, the Hamiltons pulled into the parking lot at Le Club. They followed a porter upstairs with their weekend bags. They had reserved their usual favorite suite, the Cape Cod Beach Cottage Suite, which was decorated in beach shabby chic with blue-and-white-striped denim slip-covered furniture, rag rugs, and a huge, comfortable sleigh bed. Robbie and Mike came to the club almost monthly, and this suite always felt like home to them.

  Robbie collapsed on the couch in the living room and said, “Well, what are we going to do?”

  “I think I’ll wander down to the office before Madison leaves for the day and reserve a theme room for tomorrow. That will give me a chance to look around and talk to her.”

  Robbie was a little anxious. She wondered what room he would reserve and if he did indeed plan to paddle her butt. She had to admit that she just might deserve it this time. Oh well, a little fanny smacking is part of the fun!

  * * * *

  Mike stepped into the management offices on the first floor and saw Madison through the door of her office. She was reading some paperwork and did not look up immediately, giving him the chance to study her unobserved. Maddie still looked the same. She was cute and petite, and she wore her long, dark hair pulled up into a loose bun, not the ponytail Ross used to delight in pulling. She was wearing a pair of gray slacks and a white button-down shirt which was not altogether successful in hiding her very feminine but athletic figure. A navy-blue linen blazer was draped over her desk chair. He saw the pictures of Nicholas over her shoulder and had to admit that Robbie had been correct. That kid is a Hamilton.

  He knew that no matter what explanation Madison might have. Ross was her son’s father. He did not know why she had never come to them for help. They certainly would not have turned her or her child away. If there was anything that was important to the Hamiltons, it was family, and especially children.

  * * * *

  Madison looked up and smiled. Then she felt the shock of recognition cross her face immediately as she realized that she knew the tall, handsome man in the doorway. He was a little older, of course, but he looked basically the same as he had that summer nine years ago. She remembered that Mike had been kind to her. He had not blamed her for Flashf
ire’s accident as Ross had. She imagined Ross would look pretty much like Mike now that he was twenty-nine. She had to admit, if only to herself, that she had frequently imagined just how Ross would look—and what he would say if he ever saw Nickie. She wasn’t sure how he would react. He would either be glad to have missed the pregnancy drama, or be mad as hell to have been left out.

  She had been young and inexperienced when she got pregnant. The timing could not have been worse. She knew Ross fully intended to complete his education and assume his responsibilities at Eden Creek Farm. He wanted to go into Thoroughbred training and racing with his brother. She had been too busy the last nine years raising Nickie to enter into any other relationships, so she didn’t have much more experience than she had back then. She just wanted to raise her son, and boyfriends didn’t enter into the picture.

  “Hello, Madison. How are you? Robbie told me we might have some things of importance to discuss.”

  “Hi, Mike. I wasn’t expecting to run into anyone I knew here. So you guys are members?” She had to wonder if Ross came there as well. Now that would be uncomfortable! Ocala was a small town that had grown into a small city in the years since she had lived there. But it was not so small that she had expected to run into the Hamiltons, and certainly not at the club.

  Their membership in the club was a surprise to her. Due to the confidentiality practices of management and the members, the existence of Le Club, never mind the names of the members, was extremely classified information. The club had been operating right in downtown Ocala for almost three and a half years without the governmental authorities or general public knowing exactly what went on there. There was a lot of curiosity about the Laurel Oak Estate, but no concrete information was available to the public. The Hamilton family was definitely upper-crust old Ocala. They were very socially prominent, and their farm had a tremendous reputation. Aside from that, they were known to just be good people.

  “I guess that would be a surprise. I can see the concern on your face, Maddie. No, Ross doesn’t usually come here. He’s been here for dinner a few times, but he’s not a member. I can call him if you have something you want to tell him.”

  “No thanks, not right now,” she said with a tremor in her voice. “I wasn’t even sure if he still lived here or if he was married with his own family.

  “No, he’s not married, and he doesn’t have a family,” Mike responded to her unasked question.

  “I guess you can see for yourself that Nickie is your nephew. There’s no use denying it. It was my choice to have him and my responsibility to raise him. I never intended to call on Ross or your family for help. I have my own family for a support system,” she said somewhat defensively.

  “And what makes you think you couldn’t have love and support from the Hamiltons as well?”

  “Mike, you know how things ended between Ross and me. He blamed me for Flashfire’s accident—not without some good reason—and I felt like he hated me. We were both so young with our educations ahead of us. I didn’t think it was fair to involve Ross under the circumstances. What good would that have been to any of us, including Nickie?”

  “I can see your point, and I appreciate your feelings, but Ross has a right to know he has an eight-year-old son. Do you really think he wouldn’t want to be involved in his son’s life?” Mike walked over to the credenza and picked up one of the pictures of Nickie and examined it closely.

  “I don’t know. I never really considered telling him at all. I’ve been basically on my own for nine years and have managed just fine. I had a lot of help from my Gram. I moved to New Jersey to live with her when I realized I was expecting. She insisted I finish my education and prepare myself to take care of both myself and Nickie. When she passed away, I moved back home. I have my sister and brothers and my parents to rely on. I don’t need anything from anyone else.”

  “What about Nickie? Does he need a father? Have you thought about anybody else but yourself?”

  Madison stood up and crossed her arms over her chest defensively. “That’s a low blow, Mike. Of course I have, especially when Nickie asks me about his father. I really need time to absorb this and to think about what’s best to do for all of us, and that includes Ross.” She had been crazy about the twenty-year-old Ross, but how would she feel about the grown man?

  “Think fast, Maddie. It’s not all about you. I have no intention of keeping this from Ross. We don’t roll that way,” he said with a determined look on his face. “We love and trust each other, and Robbie and I are prepared to love you and Nickie if you’ll let us. We would want you both to be part of our family. You and Ross will have to work out your own problems, but I don’t keep secrets from my brother.”

  “I understand, Mike. Please just give me some time to work this out in my own mind and time to prepare Nickie.”

  “You have until next weekend. I expect to hear from you soon.” He handed her his card. “Call me, or if you would feel more comfortable, you can call Robbie.”

  “Okay, Mike. Just let me think. I really never expected this.”

  Chapter Four

  Back in the suite, Mike told Robbie about his conversation with Madison. His stomach had dropped when he saw the pictures of Nicholas, but he had felt it only fair to give Madison some time to come to terms with the decision she had to make. He knew Ross was going to go ballistic. He didn’t envy the girl having to tell him he was the father of an eight-year-old son. So many precious years had been lost by both father and son. Given the circumstances of their breakup, Mike could understand why she had made the choices she did, but he knew it wouldn’t sit well with Ross. He also knew that, at the time, his brother had blamed Madison for the loss of Flashfire, whether that was a fair judgment or not. The fact that they had never seen each other again to work out their differences would make the coming confrontation even more difficult.

  “I have to admit that those pictures threw me for a loop. You’re right about one thing. Mickie and Nickie couldn’t look more alike if they were brothers instead of cousins.” Mike shook his head regretfully. “Ross has missed a big chunk of his life already, and so have we.”

  “I’m surprised you gave her so much time to make a decision. Can you see why I was so upset? Do you forgive me?” she asked tremulously.

  “I don’t think she will take too long to realize what she has to do. She seems like a reasonable and responsible young woman.” He lowered his voice to the steely Master tone and said, “As to whether I forgive you or not, sub, I think I owe you a punishment, right? In all the excitement downstairs, I forgot to reserve a theme room, so we will just have to attend to this here. Strip and assume the position…you know what position I’m talking about, don’t you?” He glared at her.

  “Yes, Master. I’m sorry, Master. It won’t happen again, Master.”

  “Don’t be impudent, or your butt will be the worse for wear.”

  * * * *

  Robbie stripped out of her shirt, jeans, and underwear. Technically, it was a violation of house rules that she even wore any underwear. She hoped that infraction went unnoticed. She was in enough trouble already! If a fanny warming would make things right, she was ready to take one for the team. Things had been strained between them since she had returned from the club with her news. The drive from the farm to the club had been tense and mostly silent.

  She quickly scrambled up onto the bench at the foot of the massive sleigh bed and bent over the footboard, bare bottom in the air, and waited for her Master.

  Her anticipation spiraled higher as Mike let her stew for a few minutes while he got something from the cabinet, and she waited for the first smack. She knew it would be a good one, and she tried to prepare herself.

  “Do you know why you’re being punished, sub?”

  “Yes, Master, because I didn’t communicate, and you think I didn’t trust you.”

  “You’re dancing with the devil here, sub. You didn’t trust me. There’s no ‘thinking’ about it.” He growled.<
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  “Wait a minute! Your brother gets some girl pregnant, she leaves town without telling anyone, and I’m the one in trouble?”

  “Sub…”

  She could tell he was getting angry again, and she backpedaled. “I’m sorry, Master. I didn’t mean it that way.”

  “You certainly did!” he said as his big hand came down on her bare bottom with a resounding smack, and she squealed. It was quickly followed by a second stinging smack. She could feel the handprints on her butt. He stopped, breathing heavily in anger. “I can’t do this when I’m mad at you. This is a punishment, not our usual play, and I don’t want that in our marriage no matter how furious I am.”

  She turned and looked over her shoulder, and she saw the stricken look on his face. She quickly got up and put her arms around him and said, “I’m so sorry, baby. I don’t want us to be mad at each other. Please forgive me for not trusting you, even for a minute or two, and let me make it up to you. Okay?” She hugged him tight. She really hated to see him upset. He was the best husband in the world, and she was ashamed of herself for letting him think, even for a minute, that she didn’t trust him. Their whole relationship, BDSM and otherwise, was based on trust.

  He still looked upset but interested. “What did you have in mind, sub?”

  She pulled him around to the side of the bed and pushed him down. “Let me make you feel good, Master.”

  Robbie opened the buttons of his shirt, displaying his magnificent chest, and then she slid the zipper of his jeans down, freeing his beautiful cock, which was currently rising to the occasion. She ran her hands over his broad chest and down his taut abdomen to the nest of black curls encircling his cock. She grasped the shaft and slowly and softly began to stroke up and down as she settled onto the bed beside him. She traced her tongue up the pulsing vein and over the top of the head, licking and sucking as she went, her eyes locked on his. Then she began to pay serious attention to the task at hand.