by Alta Hensley
“I understand that,” I said. But did I truly?
“Do you?” he asked, clearly reading through my eyes. “Because I get it. I won’t lie and tell you I haven’t felt there is more between us. The last few days have been some of the best days of my life. I can admit that to you.”
“Then why do we have to end?”
“Aria… come on. Life has to return to normal. You, me, up here in hiding, is not normal. We couldn’t do this forever no matter how much we want it.”
I nodded, hating that Matthew was right, but also dreading what that meant.
“So, does that mean I go back with my father and never see you again?”
“I wish it could be different,” he said.
“But it could be. Why not? I’m a grown woman and could choose what I want.”
An eyebrow rose and he tilted his head. “Aria. I appreciate how open and honest you’re being with me, but you need to be just as honest with yourself.”
“What does that mean?”
“Could you leave your father of your own free will? Could you truly give yourself to me even if that meant going against his will?”
“I already did!” I snapped.
He shook his head. “No, you didn’t. I took it. I stole it. I made it happen because that is what I do.”
“But I wanted it. I just didn’t tell you. But I did. And I do. I want you, Matthew Price. There I said it.”
Matthew shook his head. “But could you say it to your father? And even if you could, I wouldn’t want you to. I’m an asshole and always have been. Money, power and success have always come first with me. I usually just fuck women and discard them like waste. I’m a fucking monster in that regard. I’m the pitch in the black. The only glimpse of light in my life is you. You and I are not the same and never will be.”
I pulled from his strong embrace. “I don’t care who or what you are. Just as you don’t care who or what I am.”
“When we leave here, the reality of life will kick in. A life for both of us that doesn’t blend.”
“How do you know?” I asked, fighting back the urge to break down and sob.
“Aria, this is final,” he dictated.
I had to do something. Anything. I needed to stop the pain inside. No more talk. I couldn’t hear his truth any longer. I didn’t want to face mine.
I closed my eyes for a moment, searching my entire being for the courage for what I was about to do. “Fine. If I can’t have you, then I want right now. I want right this second to feel you.” I tentatively pressed my palm to his chest. “I want to taste you.” I lowered my hand to the bulge in his pants. “I want to feel your cock between my lips.” I quickly undid his pants, releasing him from the confinement. “I want to show you that I can be just as dark as you if you would allow me. I want to rape you with my mouth.”
Matthew stood still, never making a move to stop me in my mission. I took this as a sign to continue on.
Maybe this was his language. No begging. No talk of reason. Nothing but filth and erotic indecency.
I knelt down, placed his hardened cock on the base of my tongue, and closed my lips tightly around him. Looking up into his eyes, I began to move my mouth up and down his shaft. Matthew never looked away. He never closed his eyes for a moment. He watched as I began my seduction. I tightened my lips and worked my tongue in small circles along the entire length. His taste, his smell, and his entire aura was everything to mesmerize me.
The weight of the demon rested on my tongue, and I nearly orgasmed because of it.
Matthew reached for my hair to stop me. “Aria,” he moaned.
I looked up into his eyes with his cock still in my mouth. I pulled it out enough to whisper, “Don’t, Matthew. I’m not the scared little princess you once took from her father’s house. I am a woman with desires, needs, and a hunger for you like nothing I could have imagined.” I lowered my mouth down to the base of his cock and slowly back to the tip. Removing his penis just enough to speak again, I rasped, “I want to be bad. I want to show you that I can dance in your world if you’ll let me.”
He closed his eyes and threw his head back in euphoric surrender. I knew I had won this battle. I smiled wickedly at my success and continued my quest to please Matthew like he had never been.
“Fuck my face,” I mumbled, ready to take it to the next level of kinky debauchery.
Suddenly the back door of the kitchen opened with a gust of wind. Standing in the doorway, was good ol’ Tennessee. Thin lips worked their way into a smirk as he crossed his arms across his chest.
“Oh, don’t mind me. Please continue on,” he offered with a chuckle. “It’s not like this is the kitchen we cook in or anything for fuck’s sake.”
I scrambled to my feet in shock and embarrassment, wiping signs of our act from the corners of my mouth.
“We were,” Matthew began, shoving his cock back into his pants, “just saying goodbye. It’s time to head back to New Orleans tomorrow.”
“New Orleans?” Tennessee asked, wide-eyed. “Our little vacation is over?”
“Yeah,” Matthew said, giving me a sad but also stern look that left no question his mind had been made up. “It’s come to an end.”
20
Matthew
I was an arrogant bastard. You had to be in business. Never show fear. Never show doubt. And most definitely show you are willing to bend. That’s how I built my empire to its strength, and I wasn’t about to falter now.
Luckily, I had six other business partners who were taking my security and my life seriously when it came to meeting up with Vittorio. My arrogance could have gotten me shot, or even worse—captured and tortured, if I did it my way. I would have just walked up to him with his daughter in my arms and handed her over as he handed over the paintings. Nice and simple. Black and white.
But it was far from that.
Vittorio had men. I had men.
And nothing about this situation or my situation with Aria was black and white. Gray was a murky arena that I could not just gladiator my way through toward victory.
I watched Aria walk to the middle of the large parking lot with two of my men on each side of her. Four men from Vittorio’s side also approached the middle carrying my paintings with them. I could see Vittorio Costa in the distance watching just as he could see me.
The exchange happened quickly and flawlessly.
And Aria never looked back as she joined her father on his side of the black terrain.
She never looked at me once. No goodbye. No fuck you. No hidden message. Nothing.
“Come on,” Lennon said. “We got them all.”
“It’s over,” Harley Crow said. “A deal’s a deal, and you both are honorable men for conducting the transaction cleanly.”
I watched Aria get into the back of a black SUV with her father. She still didn’t look my way once.
It’s over. The deal is done.
Matthew
* * *
“All right, gentlemen. It’s time we get Spiked Roses back in business fully. To up our game,” I began the meeting, trying to shake off the miserable mood I had been in for weeks. Business as usual needed to occur or I was going to lose my damn mind. “Tennessee has been back for a couple of weeks and has whipped the staff in shape. It’s time we offer a Tasting in the Tasting Room.”
“Hell yes,” Lennon said. “Long overdue.”
“Any ideas?” I asked. “We need a theme.”
“Leaving Vittorio Costa out of this, I liked what I saw at his party in Aspen,” Victor Drayton chimed in. “We could do it so much better as I saw lost opportunity. But a pet play theme is fucking hot.”
I hated hearing Vittorio’s name, but I also refused just to show how sensitive I was over the whole thing. Time to move on. Hell… it was way past time to continue to wonder how Aria was. Was she safe? Happy? In the arms of another man…
Fuck.
“Our staff would be the sexiest kitties around,” Kenneth said with
a nod of approval. “I could see every one of our members wanting to be a part of this.”
“It’s a good idea,” I said, giving my vote.
All the men agreed, and we began taking notes on what we wanted to see to give to Tennessee.
Business was back in order.
Focus on money.
Focus on the business.
Focus on anything but Aria Costa and her ghost.
Matthew
* * *
“You need to go to the Tasting and get your dick licked by a kitten’s tongue,” Tennessee said to me as he stood in my office right before the Tasting was about to begin.
“I’m fine,” I said, not looking up from the paperwork on my desk. “I have a lot of work to catch up on.”
“You’ve done nothing but work since we returned. I find it hard to believe that you are behind in anything,” Tennessee said. I knew the man wouldn’t take my hint and just leave.
“I’m not in the mood.”
“So, get in the mood,” he continued to push.
“Pet play really isn’t my thing,” I said, hoping that would be enough.
“Make it your thing.”
“Fuck, Tennessee. Leave me the fuck alone, alright? I’m not in the mood to attend the damn Tasting.”
“No, because whether you like it or not, you and I have crossed the line into friendship. You can’t eat my dumplings and not be a buddy. So, I’m standing here as your friend and not your employee. You need to do one of two things. Go get her back, which is what you really want to do, or get over her. Either way, you get your dick licked tonight. Either by her, or someone else. I think the choice is easy. Aria has a cute little tongue, though. My vote would be for her.”
“Fuck off,” I growled. My patience was gone. “This conversation is over.”
Tennessee crossed his arms against his smoking jacket in defiance. “The Tasting can’t run without me. And I won’t leave here unless you do. I’m done seeing you mope around, and I’m going to do something about it.”
I slammed my hands on my desk and stood. “Fine! I’ll go to the damn Tasting if it means shutting your ass up and getting you out of the office.”
I would make an appearance, have a drink, and then get the fuck out of there. I was in no mood to battle this out any longer with Tennessee.
Tennessee led me out of the office with a huge shit-eating grin on, clearly proud of himself for getting his way.
“It’s going to be one of our best Tastings. You should see the women. The leather costumes we put them in, the kitty ears, the tails… art I tell ya.”
“Great,” I mumbled, not giving a fuck.
When we entered the large room, I did have to give credit where credit was due. The staff of Spiked Roses were absolutely sexy, and the turnout was by far one of our best. The room was almost at full capacity and another body or two would have the fire marshal knocking on our door. The long, red window coverings contrasted with the black leather the women wore, giving off a gothic, erotic vibe that was always a favorite of mine. Women were on hands and knees, asses in the air that were plugged with a variety of tails, and our members were all dressed in their finest, ready to dominate the participants.
Before I could walk over to the bar to get a drink, a kitty crawled up to me and curled herself at my feet. I tried to not look or pay any attention, but in the corner of my eye I could see that Tennessee had done a particularly good job preparing this kitty. She wore a skintight leather leotard with a tail popping out from a hole cut in the back. Her butt plug tail was long with little white bows tied to the fur. Her mask covered all of her face except for cherry-red lips that begged to have a cock within them. I looked away to try to not even consider the temptation.
Her fingernails clawed my leg, and although the woman was doing exactly what she was paid to do, I was annoyed. The staff should be paying attention to the members. Not me.
I stepped back to give the hint I wasn’t interested, but she only reached out with her delicate hand and caressed my leg again.
I squatted so I could look her in the eye and quietly tell her that she needed to focus her attentions on one of the members as discreetly as I could. I didn’t want to reprimand a staff person at a Tasting and risk ruining the energy of the room.
“I appreciate your interest and effort,” I said, “but… Aria?”
“Meow,” Aria said with a twinkle in her eye and a wicked smile.
“What the fuck are you doing here? How did you get in here?” I stood up, and then I reached down and yanked her up to standing. I pulled her to a corner of the room and hissed in her ear. “You shouldn’t be here. I don’t even know how you got past the front door.”
“Lucky for me, I happen to be friends with the house manager.”
Fucking Tennessee.
I glanced down at her attire and felt a surge of primal possession. “What are you wearing? Why are you here as a kitty?” No fucking way was I going to allow this.
“Tennessee said—”
“I don’t give a fuck what Tennessee said. You are not allowed to be part of this Tasting. Did he hire you?”
She shook her head. “No, he just told me how I could find you. He was the one to push me to finally talk with you.”
“At a fucking Tasting? Dressed as a sex kitty? Are you fucking kidding me?”
Not being able to handle another second of knowing other eyes could see her firm little ass with a tail sticking out of it and getting hard by the vision, I took her by the arm and led her out of the room and to the office.
“Does your father know you are here?” I considered calling Harley Crow and telling him that Spiked Roses was in danger of an attack, but I needed to act on facts and not fear.
“No. He has no idea,” she reassured. “He’s in Monaco right now.”
“Why aren’t you with him?” I asked, taking off my jacket and covering her body with it. It was just the two of us, and I had obviously seen her naked, but I didn’t like having this discussion with her dressed in this attire.
“I haven’t been with him since I returned. Basically, I came back as damaged goods in his eyes. He no longer felt he possessed some flawless diamond. So, he just left me alone. Went about his business as if I didn’t exist. I think him seeing me was a reminder of how you won, and he lost.”
“I’m sorry. Had I known…”
“Don’t be sorry. That was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I actually could breathe for the first time in my life. It wasn’t like I was ever searching for Daddy Dearest’s approval. I was simply in survival mode being controlled by a very bad man. So, if his attentions are elsewhere now, then good.”
“Why are you here, Aria?”
She looked down at the ground and took a deep breath before making eye contact with me again. “I’ve been in contact with Tennessee ever since we left Colorado. He told me that you’re miserable. That you’re walking around like a lost puppy is the term I believe he used. And”—she bit the corner of her lip—“I was thinking that if you were even half as sad as I was, and if you were even missing me a quarter as much as I was missing you, well, then… I needed to try.”
“Try what?” My pulse quickened.
“I miss you, Matthew. I hate being away from you.” She took a tentative step toward me. “Am I alone in feeling this?”
“No, you are not alone,” I confessed.
“So then why are we not together?”
God, I loved her naive outlook on life. In her eyes, it was all so simple. But nothing about me was simple. Nothing about this entire situation was.
“If I could turn back time—”
“I wouldn’t want you to,” she interrupted. “Maybe our love story didn’t start off in the most conventional of ways, but I wouldn’t want it to change.”
“Love story? Are you hearing yourself?” I took a few steps away from her so I could give us both some breathing room. “How could you possibly stand there and use the word love?
”
“Because it’s the truth.” She closed the distance between us. “If you don’t love me, then tell me now. But I can’t leave here and not be completely honest. I owe it to me, and I owe it to this baby.”
Baby?
What the fuck?
Baby?
My face must have said it all, because Aria gave a weak smile and nodded. “I’m pregnant with your child.”
Jesus, I had been so careful… except that one time. That fucking one time. I was a careless fuck and now she had to pay the consequences for it.
She placed a hand on her belly. “And I’m happy about it. I want the baby, and I want you.” Her smile faded. “But I also understand that if this is not what you want, I’m prepared to do this alone.”
I stormed over to my desk and placed both palms on the cool wood to try to prevent myself from falling. Jesus fucking Christ.
Very slowly, I raised my eyes and looked at her. She was so calm. So serene. So, accepting of this new and shocking fact of impending parenthood.
I glanced at her belly and then back at her face, her lips, her eyes. “You’re sure?”
She nodded and her smile grew more. “Positive.”
Man up, motherfucker. Man up.
“Of course, you won’t be doing this alone,” I said, wishing my voice came out more powerful and forceful than it did. “I take care of what is mine.” I crossed the room and took her hands into mine. “And from this moment on, you and this baby are mine.”
Tears filled her eyes as she looked up at me. “I don’t want you to feel responsible for me just because I’m pregnant. I want you, and I want this baby, but I don’t want to force you. I don’t want to kidnap you.”
I pulled her into my arms and held her against me. Stroking the back of her head, I said the words I never thought I would say. “I love you. I will love this baby. And I will never let you go again. I may make mistakes in my life, but I never make the same one twice. I’m never letting you out of my sight again. I will never stare at your back as you walk away from me ever again. I’ll spend a lifetime trying to prove to you that you can count on me. That you can trust I take care of what is mine.”