Spiked Roses: The Complete Top Shelf Series

by Alta Hensley

  “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 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 is 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.”

  I was going to be a father.

  I had Aria in my arms.

  My head spun and my heart felt as if it struggled to beat. Could I do this? Could I be this man? Could I change who I was and everything that I once believed?

  Aria released a deep breath which sounded like one of relief. “So now what? What do we do?”

  “Whatever you want,” I answered, and I meant it. “I would be a slave to her every whim. She was owed that.

  Aria pulled away just enough to look up at me. “Can we go back to the house? Maybe not forever, but for now. Allow us to process and accept. I need to breathe, and the air up there is the air I want in my lungs as I carry this baby.”

  I nodded, loving the idea. Yes, that was exactly what I needed right now. Air. I needed the mountain air, Aria, and the time to plan.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Aria

  The morning light cast its wake-up call through the window. Waking up to a warm body and soft breathing by my ear sent a thrill through my core with the knowledge that the rest of my life would be like this. Even though I was still exhausted from the amazing sex the night before, and every day since we arrived back to our mountain escape, I had never felt so at peace before in my life. My body practically hummed in contentment.

  Wrapping his arms around my body, Matthew murmured against my neck, “I had a dream that I woke up and you were gone. Don’t ever leave me again. Even in my dreams.”

  I turned my head to look over my shoulder, my mind twinkling with mischief. “And if I do?” I teased as I pressed my bare ass to his hardness.

  Matthew slid his hands around my waist and pulled me tighter against him. I didn’t resist, but instead, positioned my body so that the entrance to my ass rested against his lengthening desire.

  “I would have to punish you,” he said with a nip to my ear. “Again.”

  I released a soft moan, tilting my head back in sweet surrender. I pressed my ass even closer, allowing the tip of his erection to enter past my tight opening. Not all the way, but enough to feel the biting sting of my taboo channel. Matthew splayed his hands across my mound and toyed with my clit, swirling his fingertip in circles. He already understood every inch of my body and had already mastered the skill of causing my body to hum.

  “Then I’ll just have to accept my punishment like a good girl,” I replied, sighing contentedly.

  With the tip of his penis still teasing my back entrance, he growled, “I just had you and should be satisfied, but I only want you more. You have a fucking intense power over me.”

  “You better fuck me now before I my belly grows so big that it gets in the way,” I said with a giggle.

  “Fuck, I have a feeling that will turn me on even more.”

  Matthew twirled me to face him, his hands hugging the roundness of my behind. Inhaling deeply, acting as if intoxicated by my scent, he moaned.

  He slipped a finger under my chin and tipped my face up to him. His lips met mine. They were warm and soft, yet aggressive in their assault. There was a new hunger, a new want. When his arms slipped around my waist, his finger sliding into the crevice of my ass, there was no tension or tightening from me whatsoever. Every inch closer his finger got to my puckered hole; my body softened against his. With a hungry press of his fingertip into my tightness, my full submission took over. I hungered for this, and he needed to make sure I never hungered again.

  “I want you here. I want to bury myself deep in your ass and feel the tightness all around my cock.” Pressing his finger deeper within my ass, he growled, “I’ll ask you once and only once for permission. If you say yes, I’ll conquer this tiny ass of yours and make it mine forever.” He pulled his finger out of my channel just enough to elicit a gasp I couldn’t hold back. “I want to be buried deep within your ass. So deep that I can feel your ultimate submission.”

  “Yes, I want you to. This part of me has never been claimed. It’s yours to do with as you please.”

  “It’ll hurt, and you’ll scream out my name. So, if you allow this, just know that it won’t be easy at first. My cock is far different than a plug or kitty tail.”

  “I don’t care. I want you to.” My eyes were still closed, my breath rapid as I clutched his arms.

  He got up and reached for the drawer, digging around searching for something. I opened my eyes to see him pull out a bottle and open it. He squeezed the substance onto his fingers and began to coat it along the length of his hard cock. Up and down he stroked himself, never breaking his stare from mine. “I’ll try to make this as easy as I can on you. But I can’t help the part of me that is fucked up. The wicked part of me who wants to hear you scream out my name and beg for mercy.”

  An animalistic urge took over me as he got back on the bed, flipped me fully onto my belly, and spread my legs wide. He grabbed more of the lubrication and coated my anus with it, dipping his slick finger inside my hole to lubricate my inner walls.

  “I want you to reach back with your hands and spread your ass nice and wide for me. I want to see your little pucker as I slide my dick inside of it.”

  I moaned as I followed his command, feeling juices of anticipation drip from my pussy while I gripped the flesh of my ass. The excitement of what was to come almost knocked the air out of me. The feel of the cool temperature of the room kissed my anus, and I moaned again, loving the feel of being utterly exposed to him. Nothing was concealed from his view. He hadn’t even put his cock fully in me yet, and I was already about to come, and I wished I had a free hand to play with my clit.

  “You are such a good girl. So obedient. I’ll have to reward you soon.” His final word was followed by a moan as the tip of his cock pressed against the entrance and slowly eased its way in.

  As the flesh of my asshole spread wide, I gasped and a small cry escaped my lips. The bit
ing pain, the sizzle straight to my core, and my throbbing pussy revealed that deep in my darkest fantasies I desperately wanted this.

  I wanted more. More pain, more possession, more of Matthew’s large cock stretching my delicate flesh.

  Matthew continued on, slowly taking my ass one small inch at a time. I remained in position but let out an almost howl-like sound when he finally planted himself all the way in. It hurt! It hurt badly, and yet the delicious sting had my body humming all over.

  “All right, baby. You can release your ass. I’m in you,” he growled. “God you’re so tight. So fucking hot.”

  “You’re so big. So big,” I whimpered.

  “Relax, baby. Deep breaths. All my dick to spread you.”

  He slowly began to slide out and then push back in with shallow motions. He went slowly enough, and easy enough that my body soon accepted the invasion. It wasn’t long before I was meeting his thrusts with the motion of my hips, silently giving him permission to unleash and give me a proper ass fucking.

  And taking his cue as a true alpha, he did just that.

  Fire erupted inside me, and I could no longer contain the scream that rested on the tip of my tongue. The inner walls of my anus pulsated around his plunging cock, and my scream blended with his growl of completion.

  I wasn’t sure if I passed out or if complete surrender cast a spell on me, but I closed my eyes and allowed sleep to take over, faintly remembering Matthew easing his cock out of me.

  Aria

  I smiled and looked deeply into his eyes. “I wish I could see myself through your eyes.”

  “So do I. If you could, you would see a beautiful woman who has captured my heart.”

  Without waiting for a response, he pulled me in and engulfed my frame in his arms. Lightning struck through me as his lips plummeted to mine. He captured my mouth, demanding full submission as he thrust his tongue past my lips. His body, his mouth, his breath—everything merged with all I had. A soft moan escaped his lips and entered me as he kissed with an intensity greater than any mountain storm. This man, this moment, this very second seemed to take everything I once knew, once felt, all away—leaving only a shell of a girl hungry for more. Hungry for passion, hungry for love, hungry for a future with a man who truly did care about her.

  Was I still his captive?

  Was I still his revenge?

  Was I still a pawn in his wicked game?

  “Matthew?” I whispered against the kiss. “I need to know the truth. What is it you want from me? Truly.”

  “I want you. I want this baby. I want a family and love. I know this more than ever as we have spent the time together just us in this house. It’s right. We are right in this world of wrong. You are my right. This baby will be my right.”

  I watched the way the sunlight peeked through the leaves of the trees, casting long sunrays through the window of Matthew’s bedroom—through the window of our bedroom. “You don’t even know me. Not really.”

  He reached for my shoulder and gently held me in place. “I know you. I may not know all the details of your past. But I know you now. I know the woman who stands before me. I have seen you vulnerable. I have seen your self-reliant strength, your wisdom, and your whimsical charm. And what I don’t know about you, I plan to learn. And I’m a very fast learner. But the question is if you feel the same. Do you see a possible future with me?”

  I cast my eyes to the ceiling, wishing we could just kiss so no words need be spoken. I could feel the burn from Matthew’s gaze as he waited. I remembered the words of my mother and tried so hard to believe them, but demons in my head were screaming.

  “What about my father?”

  “What about him?”

  “He’ll never allow this. When he finds out about the baby and his blood line continuing… God help us if the baby is a boy.”

  Matthew’s jaw clenched. “I have no intention of asking or caring. And he won’t come anywhere near my baby.”

  “My father will try to destroy you. Don’t you see how crazy this idea is?”

  “Your father is one man with an average size army. I have an empire. A ruthless empire that he wouldn’t dare provoke.”

  I remained silent. Matthew wasn’t safe. This life wasn’t safe.

  Happiness for me wasn’t safe. And my baby… my poor baby.

  “And now that I have you and this baby to protect, I will build my empire even stronger. No one will dare mess with me. No one would dare try to touch our family. And if they do, or if your father even tries, I will personally kill them with my bare hands. You are mine. This baby is mine. I will never allow my most prized possessions be taken from me. Never.”

  Even though my mind screamed I should choose safe. The rest of me demanded I follow my heart and give myself over to this man. To be the woman he saw. To be the woman I always wanted to be. A wife, a mother someday, loved.

  “So, the question still remains on how do you feel about me? Could you see me as your husband? Could you vow to love me forever?”

  “I want that so badly,” I whispered, still not looking up to him. I couldn’t. “I want that perfect love story. But I don’t know what being in love means. I don’t know what to do because other than my mother, I had no guidance in this.”

  A soft chuckle came from Matthew as he pulled me into his embrace. “I’m a man who analyzes and thinks about everything. It’s the businessman in me. But when it comes to love, I don’t think we need to think. We just need to feel.” He kissed the top of my head. “We let our hearts tell us what to do.”

  “And what does your heart tell you to do?” I asked with my face pressed into his chest.

  “To kiss you again.”

  I looked up into his eyes and smiled. Licking my lips, I whispered, “That’s what my heart tells me to do as well.”

  He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, softer than the time before. He gently nipped at my lips and added, “And my heart tells me to make you mine forever.”

  “As does mine,” I said between sweet and tiny kisses.

  “My heart also tells me to never let you go. To ask you to marry me and be my wife. Unless you want to always live in sin, that is.”

  “And my heart says for me to say yes. Yes, I will be your wife. I’m also down for all the sinning we can do.”

  The End

  About the Author

  ALTA HENSLEY is a USA TODAY bestselling author of hot, dark and dirty romance. She is also an Amazon Top 100 bestselling author. Being a multi-published author in the romance genre, Alta is known for her dark, gritty alpha heroes, sometimes sweet love stories, hot eroticism, and engaging tales of the constant struggle between dominance and submission.

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  Also by Alta Hensley

  Top Shelf Series:

  Bastards & Whiskey

  Villains & Vodka

  Scoundrels & Scotch

  Devils & Rye

  Beasts & Bourbon

  Sinners & Gin

  Evil Lies Series:

  The Truth About Cinder

  The Truth About Alice

  Breaking Belles Series:

  Elegant Sins

  Beautiful Lies

  Dark Fantasy Series:

  Snow & the Seven Huntsmen

  Red & the Wolves

  Queen & the Kingsmen

  Kings & Sinners Series:

  Maddox

  Stryder

  Anson

  Prima

  Mr. D


  Mafia Lullaby

  Captive Vow

  Naughty Girl

  Bad Bad Girl

  Delicate Scars

  Bride to Keep

  His Caged Kitty

  Bared

  Caged

  Forbidden

  For all of my books, check out my Amazon Page!

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