Spiked Roses: The Complete Top Shelf Series

by Alta Hensley

  Matthew pulled away and smiled, but he said nothing more. He tucked the blankets around me one last time and made his way to leave.

  When the door closed behind him, I allowed the tears to fall. I wasn’t sure why I was crying. I wasn’t sad. I’d just received the first kiss of my life that truly meant something.

  I continued to sob, realizing I was crying because of the relief. Because for the moment, I was safe, I was warm, and I was free from my father’s grasp. For at least tonight…

  The only thing I did know, was his strong embrace helped ease the sobs shaking through my body. Something about Matthew calmed me.

  As my eyes grew heavy, I hoped to God that for once in my life, sweet dreams would indeed come.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Matthew

  Several days had passed and just as Aria’s health had completely improved, so had the weather. Spring was in the air, and as much as I loved the snow and the warmth of the fire, there was something special about the mountains of Colorado in the Spring. The days inside had been some of the best days of my life. Easy, casual, and natural. Tennessee had cooked us food that was absolutely sinful, and I soon realized he had missed his calling as a culinary chef. The three of us had played games, laughed, read books and drank bottles of wine I had been saving for the perfect occasion. If we all didn’t think about the circumstances of what brought us together, it would have been the perfect vacation getaway. I had even behaved and kept my hands to myself. I wanted her to get better, and as much as I enjoyed fucking her, I doubted I was helping her progress along by doing so. I knew she needed rest, and I had to behave myself. But it was hard. Really fucking hard.

  I had several messages on my cell, and I knew they were from the men back at Spiked Roses. No doubt they had information about Vittorio Costa and my shipment, but I had no real desire today to ruin the mood by hiking to the top of a nearby hill to get the cell service required to check the message without it breaking it up and to make a call out. It was too nice of a day and Aria was in amazing spirits, and I loved seeing the smile on her face.

  But I had to remember that business was business, and everyone was waiting on me.

  “Aria,” I called to her upstairs. “Come on down. I was thinking we would go for a little hike today and get some fresh air.”

  “Don’t worry about little ol’ me and if I need fresh air,” Tennessee joked as he walked by me. “I’ll stay cooped up in this house until I die of Vitamin D deficiency.”

  “Oh, sorry. Do you want to—"

  Tennessee laughed. “Hike? No. I’m just kidding. I’ll go sit in that large tub of yours and stare up at the skylight for all the vitamins I need. You better have the good oils and bubble bath.” He patted me on the back as he started to walk up the stairs. “You kids have fun. Don’t get into any trouble.”

  “Aria!” I called up again.

  “Coming. Hold on a second. I’m looking for hiking shoes,” she called back.

  Patience was not one of my virtues but paced back and forth while I waited. Luckily, it wasn’t long. She came bouncing down the stairs with a smile on.

  “Where are we going?” she asked.

  “I have to check my phone for messages and make a few calls. There’s only one area nearby that I can get a strong enough signal. It’s a pretty walk and even goes by a river.”

  “Great. Can I make some calls too?” she said with a playful smile. “It’s been a while since I’ve checked in,” she teased.

  “Ha, ha. Very funny.” I swatted her ass as I lead her out the door.

  The sun beat down on us as we hiked over a small hill and entered a meadow with the river I had told Aria about. We were both a little winded from the exertion, but it was worth the walk. “We have to go on top of that hill,” I pointed. “But first…”

  “But first what?” she said as she stared at the running water in the river. “We rest and put our feet in? Yes, that’s my vote.”

  I leaned forward to nibble on her ear and said, “Let’s get your clothes off.” She turned and looked over her shoulder in surprise. “To go swimming,” I clarified and chuckled.

  I was rewarded with a small smile and knew she liked the idea.

  When we came upon a bend in a lazy river, complete with a tall oak tree for shade, I reached out to help her down the bank.

  “Ready to get naked?” I asked, enjoying the devilish glint in her eye in response.

  “I didn’t bring my bathing suit. What if someone comes by? Tennessee?”

  “No one will come by, I assure you. Come on, it’ll be refreshing.” I laughed. “Actually, it will be as cold as fuck since that is melted snow, but I still dare you to jump in.”

  She smiled and nodded in response. “I’ll take that dare.”

  I was already shrugging out of my shirt while her fingers had barely made any progress on her clothing. As expected, I beat her into the water, diving into the deepest part of it.

  She was much slower and more tentative, as I expected, and when she finally began to inch her way into the water, she was still wearing her bra and panties.

  I began to walk slowly towards her, as if she was a doe I didn’t want to spook.

  In the shallows, there was no mistaking where my interests lie. Even in the cold water, I was hard and fully, impressively erect. The power this woman had over me at all times was bewitching.

  “You do swim?” I asked, coming to stand next to her.

  She almost, but not quite, glared at me. “Of course, I do. It’s just cold.”

  I could see the way her nipples were peaked beneath the material of her bra, although I would have preferred to have deluded myself into thinking that it was evidence of her own desires for me.

  I dove away from her then, into deeper water, and turned around to wait for her to come all the way in, but I wasn’t one to wait on anything I wanted.

  “Aria, you’re taking entirely too long. It’s going to be dinner time before you’re actually swimming,” I complained. “How about if I splash you to help things along?” I put my hand up in the water facing her as if I was going to do just that.

  “Don’t you dare, Matthew!” She smiled, but I knew she was serious. “You better not splash me!” she fairly screeched. “I’ll get in on my own time. It’s fucking cold!”

  I didn’t say anything to that, but commenced swimming in an arc around her, getting closer and closer to her. “What about if I grab you and pull you under?”

  “Then I’ll know never to come swimming with you again,” she returned smartly.

  I sighed loudly, but I had to admit that she was making progress. She was almost up to the tops of her thighs. “Dive in. You’re almost there.”

  “Don’t push me!”

  I dunked under and came up directly in front of her, my arms open wide as if I would hug her.

  “Stop that! You can’t hug me. You’re all wet!”

  She was yelling at me, but she was laughing too, and I felt as if a dead weight had been lifted off my heart. With so much rage that I had been holding inside, and the way things had started with us, it was good to see her laugh.

  God she was beautiful.

  As I slowly advanced, she backed up until she nearly stumbled backwards and my hand shot out to steady her, pulling her close instead inexorably against me for a soft, gentle kiss. But I could tell she was tense that I might pull her in with me, so I stopped there and backed off, and seconds later—her bra and panties thoroughly dampened by the contact with me—she surface dove into the cool water, popping up a good ways away from me.

  “You can hold your breath a long time,” I praised, swimming over to where she was floating on her back.

  “I told you I could swim. I just like to do things on my terms.”

  I huffed in response. “Stand up,” I said, holding her hand to steady her as she found her feet in the sandy bottom.

  She looked at me curiously, and I let go of her fingers to come to the top lace of her bra. “You
’re wearing entirely too much clothing to be able to swim comfortably, aren’t you?” I asked it as if I was going to give her the chance to say no.

  In seconds, she was naked in the water. I scooted out just long enough to put her bra and panties on the bush in the sun so that they would dry, then dove back in and chased her relentlessly, having the same advantages in my long legs and arms in the water as I did on land. I finally picked her up and carried her out of the river to lay her gently down on my shirt I had placed on a patch of grass before following her down to ravage her from head to toe, reveling in her soft sighs and ragged moans.

  As I broke off a long, deep kiss, I looked down her body to see peaked nipples, and knew they weren’t just from the cold. Taking one in my mouth and feeling her arch at the stark contrast of my hot mouth surrounding that cold, hard bud, so much so that I crossed between them to do exactly the same thing to its companion, feeling myself surge between her legs with the need to possess her completely.

  But I also needed to feel her quake beneath me, so I took my time preparing her relentlessly, kissing her, pinching and licking and flicking her nipples with my tongue. I let my hand wander down between thighs that parted shyly, a bit unsurely, as if she were a true innocent in this all again.

  “Open for me,” I soothed, gently pressing my advantage, fingers cupping her pussy, the tip of my middle finger boldly parting her lips right at her opening to feel that hot slickness that nearly drove me to the point of fucking her right then and there. Then boldly bringing my finger up to a clit that was stiff, straining, and throbbing, rising to meet my caresses as she arched her hips beneath me with an audible moan.

  Her fucking moans… nearly put me over the edge.

  I nudged her knees further open with one of my own as I began to position myself between them, leaning down to lick a nipple here, tweak one there, languorously molest her, only to leave off as I lay fully on top of her and entered her with one powerful plunge.

  Aria nearly screamed with the sensations my possession aroused within her, clutching at my shoulders as I began to surge against her, reaching between us to lay a big finger on her clit to rub it vigorously as I set an almost punishing rhythm, pounding myself into her.

  I worried that I might be going a bit too hard on her, but I didn’t feel as if I could even control it. Luckily, she didn’t seem to be in any distress… quite the opposite. She canted her hips up so that I had even more and deeper access to her, bringing my lips down to hers as I felt her muscles begin to tense in that telltale manner that said she was probably ahead of me down the road to the ultimate pleasure.

  And I was right.

  When she exploded beneath me, she screamed my name before I could cut it off with my mouth.

  I fucking loved the sound of it.

  “Scream my name again,” I demanded as I thrust inside her with even more force than before.

  “Matthew!”

  “Again!”

  “Matthew…” But this time her scream turned to a passionate moan.

  Seconds later, she wasn’t the only one to moan… nearly scream.

  Fucking Aria was different than fucking anyone in my past. My body responded to her differently. My mind got involved. My entire being demanded to be included. It wasn’t just a dick and a cunt. No… with Aria, there was so much more.

  As the spasms began to die down, I lowered my head to press my forehead into the blanket next to her ear. My ragged breath my only words spoke.

  And with a final thrust of my cock, she whispered, “I don’t ever want this to end.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Matthew

  But it had to end. This fairytale, this utopia, this self-imposed prison was always meant to be temporary. A means to an end. And as I checked my voice messages, I knew the end was now.

  “You need to pick up the phone, man” I could hear Lennon say. “Vittorio made all the arrangements and has your paintings with diamonds intact. He’s anxious to make the swap.”

  There was another message from Harley Crow. “What the fuck? Do you have a death wish? Vittorio’s pissed. He’s waiting for a response from you and wants his daughter back now. Where are you?”

  And another one from Kenneth. “I don’t know what you are doing or who you are doing, but it’s time to start thinking with your head and not your dick. You have loose ends to tie up here. We need Tennessee back too. I can’t deal with all the drama this place brings. Only he has the magic. I’m throwing in the towel. Bring him back, now.”

  I looked down the hill at Aria who was sitting by the river waiting for me. She seemed… happy. A smile was on her face, and she seemed like a completely person from the girl I had kidnapped. It could have been my imagination, or even wishful thinking, but when this ordeal was over, I hoped her remembrance of this time and of me would not be all dark and evil.

  Which was odd that I even cared what she thought.

  Who cares if she thought I was a monster? I didn’t care about that before. Who cares if she hated me forever and wanted me dead right along with her father?

  I did.

  I cared very much.

  I decided to call Kenneth so he could call a meeting and fill all the men in on the details rather than me calling each of them back.

  “It’s about time you called me,” Kenneth said when he answered the phone. “Honeymoon is over. I want Tennessee back, and you have a mess to clean up.”

  “I know. We’ll head back first thing tomorrow morning. I need to get the house closed up, pack and…” I almost said ‘say goodbye’ but caught myself. “Can you charter a flight for me again for tomorrow morning? I don’t know how long I have signal.”

  “Yeah fine. And what about Vittorio?”

  “Tell Harley to set up the meeting. I’ll have Aria Costa with me, and we can make the exchange tomorrow. First thing.”

  “You better hope you don’t end up dead.”

  “I’m not worried.”

  I hung up the phone and made my way back to Aria who looked up at me with the warmest smile. “Did you make your calls?”

  I nodded. “Made arrangements for us all to leave tomorrow.”

  Her smile faded. “Leave? Go where?”

  “We’re going to New Orleans. Your father will be meeting us there with what he stole from me. We’ll be making the exchange and you’ll be free to go home with him.” Saying the words bit at my insides. I didn’t like saying them out loud, and I definitely didn’t like the way her happiness from seconds ago seemed to completely slip away at my news.

  Aria remained silent and turned her head to stare out at the flowing water.

  “We should probably head back to the house and tell Tennessee to pack up and get the house ready for us to leave. We’ll have to throw out the food and stuff since I have no idea when anyone will return. I don’t use this house often.”

  She nodded and silently stood.

  “Aria?” I took hold of her arm and pulled her closer until she looked up into my eyes. “Have I upset you by telling you this? Aren’t you happy it’s all over? Or at least will be tomorrow.”

  She painted the fakest smile I had ever seen. “Sure. I’m happy.”

  “Why do I feel you are lying?”

  The fake smile remained. “Glad you’re getting your precious belongings back. My father isn’t one to lose, so I’m surprised by this is all. Congrats.”

  I didn’t release her arm. “I don’t like games. I can see something is wrong. What?”

  Her fake smile disappeared, and her lip quivered instead as she looked down toward the ground. “I guess I just…” She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. “I had just been living in a false sense of reality I suppose.”

  I released her arm and tipped her chin with my fingertip to force her to look up at me. I saw hints of tears in the depths of her dark eyes. “What’s going on?”

  “What if I don’t want to leave?” A single tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek. Her question was so
soft and so vulnerable that I wasn’t sure what to say in response.

  “Why would you not want to leave? Are you afraid? Because if you are, I can assure you that everything will happen flawlessly. At the end of the day, your father and I are businessmen, and this is going to go down like any other business transaction.”

  “And that’s what I am? A business transaction?” More tears fell.

  I was hurting her which was not my intent.

  “I don’t mean that to sound cold or heartless,” I said. “I’m just trying to tell you that you aren’t in any danger.”

  “I’m not worried about danger,” she snapped, walking away. “Don’t you get it? Fuck!” She stormed off, back toward the house.

  “Aria!” I called out, jogging after her. I took hold of her arm again. “Why wouldn’t you want to leave then? If you aren’t afraid, then why?”

  She jerked her arm away so hard that if I had held on to her, I would have bruised her. “For you, you prick! Are you so blind? Or maybe I’m the one that was blind. I thought… I thought that something was happening between us. But I guess I’m just the young, naive, virginal mafia princess who is also a stupid idiot.” Rage replaced the sadness that was just in her eyes. “But you said it yourself. I’m just a business transaction. I just didn’t want to hear you. But I get it now. Loud and clear. One possession for another. I guess I should be happy that I’m at least being exchanged for something of such high value.”

  “For me? What are you talking about? You would want to stay here for me? Forever?” The absurdity of her words had my head spinning. Why in the world would she even consider that? To be a prisoner forever? “Why wouldn’t you want your freedom returned?”

  “What freedom?” she shouted. “You’re just taking me out of one locked castle for another. Have you not listened to anything I have said to you about my life and my father?” She ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath as she looked up at the sky. “Never mind. I don’t know why I’m acting like this. You’re right. It’s not like we could keep living like this. It was temporary. Just a kidnapping that would have to end eventually.” Her fake smile returned. “I get it. I do.”