Hitman's Captive: A Bad Boy Romance (14 page)

But Alessa. That would be
different. After the time I’d spent teasing and provoking that innocent quality
of hers, it would be something else entirely to watch it slowly melt away into
the kind of sexual confidence that could tear a man’s heart out. And she’d have
it, too. She’d shown enough fire already that I just
knew
it would
filter through into the bedroom. And unlike any other woman, she wouldn’t be
gone the next day, so I’d have plenty of opportunity to build that confident
fire up inside her—

Fuck. Stop that.

It was one thing to
fantasize about my hands on her body, my mouth teasing those pert tits and
wandering down to suckle and play with her, or the way I’d awaken all those
half-formed desires…but I couldn’t forget this
was
Alessa. And that
meant none of it would be happening - especially not taking days to give her
the kind of experiences that she’d never forget. Letting myself think about
getting her in bed was dangerous enough, even if it was almost too instinctive
to stop, but going further than that…wasn’t something I did. Ever. And
especially
not
with Alessa.

Probably a good thing
she’ll never let you get that close.

As the sky started to
darken and the monotonous drive wore on, I reflected uneasily on the strange
disappointment that filled me at that thought.

If it had been anyone
else - if the situation had been the slightest bit different - I would’ve
planned and executed a heat-filled, slow seduction long before now. But Alessa
was my hostage. Despite how easily she made my cock harden and my heart pound,
I couldn’t bring myself to do more than tease her with hot promises.

I wasn’t going to force
her to deal with a real advance from her kidnapper.

Chapter Ten

Alessa

“My offer still stands…if
you want to find out what you’re missing out on.”

Leo’s words reverberated
through me, making me even more uncomfortable on the long journey away from New
York - from everything I knew.

I was alone with a
strange man - a killer, murderer, kidnapper…a sexy asshole who seemed to amuse
himself driving me crazy one moment and lighting me on fire the next - and on
my way to Chicago.

My fear flickered between
the idea of being alone in Chicago without a hope of my father finding me…and
the forbidden feelings Leo brought out of me.

Those words had voiced
the secret wish I hadn’t let myself think about. The idea of finally
experiencing something I wanted - of taking it for myself.

I should be repulsed by
his offer, but hell - it wasn’t my fault that my kidnapper happened to be
everything I’d ever fantasized about. The powerful presence, hard muscular
body, and…as much as I hated it, the cocky arrogance of a man with far too much
sexual confidence.

The kind of guy who could
make my first time as special as I’d wanted it to be. As amazing I’d known,
deep down, that it wouldn’t be with any of my father’s chosen men. With Viktor,
it would have been about satisfying him. But Leo…all he could talk about was
making
me
scream. And selfishly, I wanted that.

Damn it. Fine. You want
him. Doesn’t mean you’re going to do anything about it.

I couldn’t do anything
about it - I knew that. My father would be furious at me just for these
thoughts. He might not be here, and maybe those bad decisions he’d always kept
me from were sounding more attractive by the second, but I knew what was
expected. I was
Alessa Santini
and I couldn’t forget my responsibility
to my family.

Even if a small part of
me whispered that no one would know. Or maybe they even expected it - I’d been
kidnapped by a man without morals. That sort of thing was par for the course,
right?

Except Leo seemed to have
far more to him than that. Maybe he acted like an unrepentant killer, but…he’d
held me last night as if he’d cared - which I’d tried to push out of my mind
since the moment I’d woken up - and he hadn’t killed me, despite everything I’d
done.

Not yet.

I bit my lip, not really
believing what he said about letting me go in Chicago.

If he got me there, I had
no idea what would happen. How would my father ever find me?

Absorbed in my anxious
thoughts and the drifting landscape outside my window, I didn’t notice the
darkness until we started slowing - turning off the Interstate and onto a small
road. I jerked out of my half-doze and looked around, but didn’t see any signs
of the large city I was expecting.

A sudden half-aware panic
rose up inside me as the lights of the Interstate faded away.

Was Chicago just a ploy?
Was he really bringing me out into the middle of nowhere to kill me, despite
everything he’d promised? Why the hell did you trust the word of a killer,
Alessa!

“What—what’s going on?
Where’s Chicago?” My voice came out high despite my effort to keep the terror
out of it.

Leo sent me a puzzled
glance as he made another turning. “It’s late - time to stop before I pass out.
Chicago is another 4 hours away - you didn’t really expect us to make the trip
in one night, did you?”

I let myself start
breathing again. That wasn’t the reaction of a man about to kill me. I hoped.

Neon lights and an
off-road motel appeared in front of us, and I relaxed a little, giving Leo an
awkward shrug in non-explanation of my panic. I wasn’t going to tell him that
I’d thought I was about to die. And in truth, I had no idea how long it would
take to get to Chicago by car - I hadn’t left New York often, and my father
would never have considered driving when he could fly instead.

Leo pulled into the car
park as I tried to force my body into an alertness it wasn’t ready for. My last
thoughts before dozing off had been about getting back to my father, and I was
determined to work something out. Which meant paying attention.

We got out of the car and
I stayed close to Leo as we walked towards the motel. I might be trying to get
away from him, but the motel had a rough, worn look to it and the flickering
light in the car park felt more ominous than reassuring.

My eyes lingered on the
way the moonlight caught on the large muscles of his bare arms, dropping down
to appreciate the tightness of his ass before I thought better of it. Maybe my
thoughts pre-doze had been about escape, but
during
that half-dream
state? That had been all Leo. The echo of his words, the imaginings of how he’d
fulfill those promises, the thought of him naked…

I flushed as that came
back to me, glad that the dark night hid it well, and ducked through the door
he shoved open to the run-down place.

The bright light hanging
from the ceiling did more to cast shadows dancing over the place than actual
light, and I blinked as I waited for everything to come into focus. A wiry man
stood behind the ragged desk, paging through a large book in front of him with
half an eye on the television in the corner. I heard the telltale exclamations
of an angsty drama, making me discount the idea that he was extra-vigilantly
observing CCTV.

Leo stepped forward and
cut straight to the chase. “Got a twin room for the night?”

The man eyed both of us for
a moment - hovering over me for a long look as he took in the hat-and-glasses
ensemble, until Leo shifted not-so-subtly in front of me. I was just impressed
that he’d actually requested a twin room. After a moment, the man nodded and
swiped a key from underneath the desk before handing it over with a grunt,
waiting as Leo forked out some cash and dropped it on the table.

That was apparently all
it took to get us a room, and Leo took my hand as he started down the corridor
with determination. I managed to resist jumping in surprise, and then tried to
control the shiver that ran across my skin. Now was not
the time to get
worked up like that. He was probably only doing it to make us seem a couple and
lessen any suspicion.

The idea of that sent a
strange thrill through me anyway, and I reminded myself to behave as we found
our room. I needed to stop with these inappropriate thoughts.

Leo flicked the lights
inside on and then I was distracted by trying to cover my reaction to the bare
room. There were two thin beds almost side-by-side, with worn covers that I
hoped
were clean. The bare bulb blinked above us, and blinds with panels missing
let in some of the flickering light from outside. A small TV on top of the lone
wooden dresser stood next to the door leading into the bathroom.

A chuckle beside me told
me I obviously hadn’t concealed my reaction well enough. “Not what you’re used
to, princess?”

My nose wrinkled, but I
turned away from him, settling down with slight trepidation on one of the beds,
while he brought a few toiletries and supplies out of the shoulder bag he’d
removed from the car. I guessed he was used to this sort of thing.

At least there are two
beds.

My mind flicked back to
how good it had felt to be held close against his body last night, and as my
pulse leapt the traitorous part of me questioned whether I actually
wanted
a
separate bed.

“I’ll go first - get rid
of all the spiders for you.” He shot me a teasing smile as he headed to the
bathroom, and I wrinkled my nose.

“I’m not afraid of
spiders.” It was muttered, but he laughed anyway, the low sound tired even to
my ears. I remembered he’d been driving for hours - after being woken up the
night before, too.

Actually, I wasn’t sure
when he’d last slept properly. And he was still going. If his stamina and
alertness wasn’t part of the reason I couldn’t get away from him, I would have
been impressed.

The shower came on as
that thought crossed my mind, and I started. The door was still open, but the
bathroom was about as well-equipped as I’d imagined, and steam started flowing
out. For a moment, I was distracted by the thought of Leo’s so-close naked body
just behind that door, water running down hard, tattooed muscles, and the idea
of the steam’s heat around us as I stepped in—

Then I kicked that
thought, and realized that for the first time, his eyes weren’t really on me.
In the middle of a motel. Without handcuffs, or restraints, or anything
stopping me…from walking right out the door. I’d almost given up on the idea of
escape, and now that the opportunity was
right here
, it was suddenly
terrifying. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.

But…I needed to get away
before we got to Chicago. This place was closer to New York, and away from the
security of wherever Leo was planning on keeping me. There was still so much
that could go wrong - but damn it, I couldn’t just wait and let whatever he was
planning happen.

I glanced around
hurriedly for anything I could use to my advantage, but he’d taken the bag with
him into the bathroom - and I was sure the keys to the Toyota would be in his
jeans, next to the shower. That was no good, but hey…there were people here.
Someone must be willing to help me, right? And I didn’t know how long he’d be
in there for - I didn’t have time to plan this properly. This was the
opportunity I’d been waiting for.

My heart in my throat, I
turned the TV on and hoped it would buy me a little time, then gave one last
glance at the bathroom door and quietly slipped out of the motel room.

Outside, I felt the
strange lurch of freedom - and tried to work out what the hell to do with it.
We were in the middle of nowhere. I looked at the doors around me, but I didn’t
quite dare start knocking on them and hoping that someone could help me.

Instead, I headed back to
the guy manning the reception desk, trying to work out everything I could use.

I had my father’s name. I
knew there was a reward for me. And I had whatever natural goodness lurked in
anyone’s heart around here.

It would have to be
enough.

I waited until I was
around the corner - convinced that Leo might be alert enough to hear me
otherwise - then started running, the thin corridor passing quickly and giving
way to the small entry.

The man looked up in
surprise as I stumbled to a breathless halt in front of him. The run hadn’t
been anywhere near enough to wind me, but the adrenaline was making me breath
hard. Decision made, I went for it.

“Please, you’ve got to
help me. T-the man I was with - he kidnapped me. I have to get out of here.
Do-do you have a phone? My father…”

I stopped suddenly, not
sure whether to mention my father’s connections to the mafia. The guy looked
suspiciously down the hall, reacting far too slowly for me.

“Please. Quickly - he’ll
be after me any moment.” I knew Leo. I knew how fast he could move. The moment
he found me gone… “There’s a reward - my father will pay a lot of money. Just
please—”

I didn’t even know what I
was asking for, but he looked me up and down in slow consideration, my heart
beating hard in my throat as he finally shifted.

“A’rite. I’ve somewhere
ya can hide, girlie.” His voice grated on me, sending an unpleasant shiver down
my spine, but I seized on the offer.

“Thank you. Oh god, thank
you.” I mumbled it as he started moving back down the corridor, the way I’d
come, trying not to gush.

I was finally doing it. I
was finally going to be alright. This nightmare would be over.

I looked down the
corridor, expecting at any moment for Leo to come running down, eyes flashing furiously
as he pulled me out from behind the thin, gnarled man in front of me. But it
didn’t happen, and then the stranger was pulling out keys for what looked like
a supply closet.

Yes. Hiding. That made
more sense, anyway. Leo would suspect I’d run off, and then when he chased
after me, I could get away. I just needed to let my father know, and he’d come
get me.

The door opened and I
looked at the thin room, lined on all sides with shelves of linen and cleaning
supplies.

“Thank you.” I breathed
it again as I stepped inside and turned.

He nodded to me, flashing
a gap-toothed grin. “I’s tell ‘im you ran, if he asks. Then I’s come get ya.”

I nodded, trying to get
myself under control as he shut the door on me, darkness enveloping the room
again. I heard the key turning in the door, and anxiety surged briefly - but it
made sense. The door had been locked before, so it needed to be now as well.
Same reason I couldn’t turn the light on, however much I wanted to - it would
be suspicious. It was actually probably safer like this - if Leo charged into
random rooms in his search, this would be one he couldn’t access.

I was just feeling
paranoid after being kept locked away for the last few days. That was all.

Just don’t think about
what happens if there’s a fire.