Kane's Ransom: A BWWM Mafia Romance Novel (24 page)

She walked her brother through her history, how she'd started chatting with Killian whenever he came in, how he explained his novel, his early semi-retirement - although he had never revealed his past to her. "Now, I think I know why, given that he used to be wrapped up in all this Mob stuff as well," she finished.

Alicia continued with her tale, explaining how, after receiving the ransom call about Marcus, she went to work panicked - and Killian noticed. He got the story out of her, and then, to her amazement, agreed to help her! He helped search through Marcus's apartment for clues, talked with the Zerelli mob, his old contacts, in order to find out more information, and even agreed to put up his own money to pay Marcus's ransom.

"So really, you do basically have to go along with him," she finished. "Since he was willing to pay your ransom, you could say that he owns you, now!"

"Hey!" both Killian and Marcus chorused at that, Marcus putting on an expression of mock offense at the implication, Killian actually looking nervous that Alicia's brother might take that slavery crack literally. Alicia raised her hands, unable to keep from smiling at the reaction that her little joke provoked.

"Although she is kind of right," Marcus reflected a moment later, after he'd calmed down slightly. He grinned ruefully at Killian, rubbing the back of his head with one hand, and then held it out to the other man. "And even though my sister apparently conveniently left out whatever motivated you to do all this for her, I'm still grateful, and I'm not going to say anything against it."

"Would you otherwise?" Killian asked, but he took the offered handshake.

Marcus shrugged. "Probably not. Rich guy, doctor, drives a fancy car, and even has some dark connections for making sure that the wrong people don't pull any shit on him? Hell, that sounds like the right kind of man to handle Alicia. No matter what color his skin might happen to be."

For a moment, Alicia saw Killian look truly shocked, before he recovered and grinned. "I think I've just received a hell of a compliment."

Another brief silence followed, during which Marcus turned his attention back to finishing off the rest of Alicia's food. She and Killian shared a glance over her brother's head, one which made Killian clear his throat again.

"Well, Marcus, what are you going to do now?" Killian asked, trying to make the question sound open and innocent.

Her brother shrugged. "Well, I'm free, but I'm not exactly in the clear, especially with the rest of the Curanos probably out for blood, now," he pointed out, wiping one hand across his mouth. "So it looks like I'll be heading out of town for a while, find a new job somewhere else where I can lay low for a bit."

Alicia had known that this was coming, but she still felt a pang of sadness at the idea of her brother, her only remaining family, leaving. "Do you know how long you'll be gone for?" she asked.

A shrug. "No way to say, really. Could be a few months, could be longer. But I'll make sure to send you something, let you know how to get in contact with me. I'll never be too far away for you to not know where to look for me."

The words felt kind, but Alicia still had to blink back tears. "Thanks, but I'm still going to miss you."

Marcus nodded, and then pushed his chair back from the table. He stood up, and held out his arms to his sister. She rose up, accepting the hug, returning it as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

"At least I'm leaving you in good hands, from the sound of it," he commented, squeezing her and murmuring into her ear. "Make sure he takes good care of you."

"He will," she promised him back, blinking furiously as she held him by the chest and pushed her face against him. She could smell the comforting scent of her brother, a scent that brought back memories stretching all the way back to childhood.

Finally, Marcus released the hug. While they'd embraced, Killian had pulled out some cash, dropping it on the table. "That should cover our bill," he announced, standing up to join them. "After all, I've suddenly got a lot more withdrawn cash than I expected to be carrying around - might as well put it to some good use!"

"Yeah, you do," Marcus commented. "Any chance you might be willing to send some of that extra money over towards me-"

"Not a chance," Killian replied firmly.

Marcus shrugged. "Eh, worth a shot. Maybe instead, you could give me a lift back over to my place so I can get it cleaned out?"

"Now that, that I can do," Killian said, letting the Wayne siblings walk out of the restaurant before following behind.

Marcus led the way, with Alicia behind him and Killian bringing up the rear. Alicia kept her eyes forward - but she let her hand swing back, opening her fingers and holding them out behind her.

A moment later, she felt Killian take her hand, giving it a brief squeeze and stroking the back of her palm with his thumb before releasing her. As before, his touch sent a little shiver running through Alicia's body.

They'd bring Marcus back home, she thought to herself. After that, they still had to go back to the hotel, had to finish checking out of the room. Although by this point, it was getting towards late afternoon - maybe they'd end up staying another night, since they were already there. Couldn't hurt, right?

But if they did decide to stay another night, Alicia decided as they headed out of the restaurant and over to where Killian had parked his car in a nearby garage, she was definitely not going to go to bed angry this time. She'd make sure that there was no barrier, either pillow or emotional, between her and the man sharing her bed.

And even in that massive king size bed, she didn't have any doubts that she'd be able to find Killian - and that she'd find him excited and just as eager to sweep her up once again in his arms.

Back in the hostage situation, Alicia remembered seeing a curious look in the man's eyes, remembered Killian opening his mouth as if he wanted to tell her something, something hard to get out. She didn't want to push him, but she felt like she might know what he wanted to say.

Maybe he'd tell her tonight.

Chapter twenty-eight

After they'd dropped Marcus off at his apartment, driving away as he waved goodbye to them from the street after giving Alicia one last hug, she glanced over at Killian. "So," she started, but then paused, not sure how to continue.

"So." He glanced over at her for a moment as they stopped at a red light, raising his eyebrows questioningly.

"The money." Alicia paused, but Killian didn't seem like he wanted to jump in and explain quite yet. "I, um, I wasn't expecting you to pull out your own money and be willing to give it up for me."

He shrugged his shoulders, looking straight out at the traffic. "Like I said, it would be a better use than if it just sat around and didn't help anyone."

"Well, I still want to thank you," she said, reaching out and taking his hand. "I know that I owe you for so much-"

Here, he did turn and look at her, his expression conflicted. "Alicia, I don't want you to feel like you owe me," he began. "I helped you, but I never want that to hang over your head, to make you feel like you need to repay me for it-"

Looking at him, Alicia despaired that he might never get the memo - at least, not through just talking.

So instead, she leaned in and kissed him, right there in traffic!

Thankfully, the light had just turned red, and she had time to even slip him a little bit of tongue before she caught the light turning yellow and pulled back so he could resume driving. For a second, however, Killian sat in stunned silence, and she had to poke him to get him moving before the cars behind them started honking.

"Wow. I..." Killian began, but then trailed off, looking over at her.

Alicia smiled at the man's confusion, how thoroughly she'd scrambled his brains with that kiss. "I do feel like I owe you - but that doesn't bother me," she said, speaking up while he still couldn't form a sentence. "And trust me, I'm going to make sure to find ways to repay you, ways that I think you'll enjoy."

Finally, Killian got the hint. "So, hotel?" he asked weakly after a second, turning into the downtown area of Dallas.

"Hotel," Alicia nodded, giving him a little smile as her heart raced and her stomach did a little flip of excitement. She crept her hand over to rest against his thigh, feeling his muscles flex inside his jeans. She felt nervous, excited, filled with almost unbearable anticipation.

By the time that they pulled into the front entrance of the hotel, she knew that Killian felt exactly the same way. He threw the car into park, nearly hitting the valet with the keys as they both hopped out. "Sorry about that!" he told the surprised young man, pressing a bill into his hands with a green flash but not bothering to stop as he hurried around the car towards the hotel's entrance.

Killian's hand grabbed Alicia's, and he swept her across the pink marble lobby to the elevators, not even bothering to check with the receptionist about checking out. The elevator doors opened promptly, and they hurried in, Killian's finger stabbing out at the door close button immediately to try and hurry the elevator along.

Even for that short elevator ride, the two of them couldn't keep their hands off of each other. Killian pulled Alicia up against him, pressing her back against his chest. Alicia grinned and wriggled her butt as it rubbed against his crotch, loving how she could feel him growing hard even through his jeans. She knew how much he wanted her, could feel it like waves of heat radiating off of him.

Although maybe some of that desire came from her, as well, she considered when the man's hands sliding up her sides made her shiver. Not that she minded! She leaned back, loving the way he gripped her, the way he steered her towards him as if he was about to plunge himself into her from behind right there in the elevator.

She wouldn't have pushed him away, would have urged him in deeper if he did so.

Alicia turned around, reaching up to wrap her arms around Killian's neck. He felt so strong, so confident and powerful, as he pulled her towards him! They both leaned back against the far wall of the elevator, their bodies colliding together with the metal wall and making a dull boom echo around the elevator.

Neither of them noticed the sound. Alicia opened her lips as she met Killian's, feeling his tongue come pushing in to meet hers with a thrill of sensation. Her lips tingled, and she hungered for more, pushing herself even more strongly up against him as if she could climb his body. His hands, wrapped around her, dipped down to grab her ass through her own jeans, pulling her up against him as if she could stick to him magnetically.

Finally, the elevator dinged as it reached their floor. Still tangled together in a knot of limbs, both of them clutching at each other, they staggered out and headed down the hall towards their room.

Killian finally pulled his lips away, gasping as he panted for breath, so that he could look down to stick the trembling key card in his hands into the slot on the door. Alicia clung to him, kissing at his neck, feeling intoxicated by his musky scent. She wanted to keep her nose pressed up against him all day, inhale all of him!

The key card slipped into the slot on the third try, and the door clicked as the lock retracted. Killian grabbed for the handle, and they both stumbled inside the room.

"Bed?" Alicia asked, her voice a harsh whisper as she sucked in a quick breath of air before burying her face back in the crook of the man's neck.

Killian just shook his head - and his hands around her tightened, lifting her entire body off of the floor and carrying her over to the closest couch!

They crashed down on the couch, Alicia landing on her back and Killian immediately coming down on top of her. They kissed feverishly, the younger African American woman's hands grappling with the older surgeon's shirt as she hauled it up to reveal his muscled torso. He sat up, peeling the shirt off of a body already showing a thin sheen of glistening sweat - and Alicia seized the chance to divert her attention to unbuttoning his pants.

Those came off next, leaving the man naked as he dove back down and kissed her! His hands slid over Alicia, now, pushing at her clothes and peeling them back from the soft skin of her body.

They twisted together, moving in unison to peel off clothes. With each layer shed, Alicia felt herself grow closer to this man, this powerful, dominant personality. She slid her hands over every inch of his bare skin, wishing that she could memorize his figure so that he could keep on touching her in her dreams when she fell asleep.