Hitman's Captive: A Bad Boy Romance (28 page)

“The plane?” Her brow
wrinkled and I could sense my posture shifting, gaze turning predatory as I
considered her.

“Yes girl, I promised you
endless new experiences…” I murmured it against her skin, my eyes hot on hers.

She nodded, against me,
eyes wide.

“How about we start by
joining the mile high club?”

Epilogue

Alessa

The cool breeze curled
around me, smelling of sea and spices and endless delicacies as I admired the
view in front of me with a soft smile.

The warm Greek island was
truly special, and the last month had been an exercise in overindulgence and
luxury.

Leo had insisted after he
found out.

My hand curled around my
belly as I waited for him, happiness suffusing me in a way I’d never imagined
possible. I’d been a little apprehensive telling him - but he’d been thrilled
with the news. I couldn’t have wished for more.

“Here.” I started a
little as he came up behind me, even though I’d grown used to his silent
movement over the past year.

I took the cool juice he
offered, and a kiss with it - his mouth tasting of summer fruits and heat and
mine
.
With effort, I turned back to the sea, putting the lustful thoughts away. There
was time for that later, and after missing the last three sunsets for similar
reasons, I’d insisted on coming out here tonight.

He settled behind me,
arms coming around to rest over my hand on my stomach, and I smiled at the
gentle reminder of how much he wanted this. How much it meant to him.

“Thank you, Leo. For all
of this, you know.” I looked over at the sun gleaming on the sea, the pinks and
purples just starting to come out now.

“Anything you want,
princess. It’s all yours.” I shuddered softly at his oft-repeated words, his
generosity and the loving protectiveness that was always there. He made me feel
safe like nothing else ever had, and after the way we’d left New York, that was
what I’d needed.

The sky turned a dozen
different shades as we watched, with the water reflecting the light, broken in
places by the constant waves and gentle movement of the vast ocean.

“It’s beautiful.” It was,
but I couldn’t keep the slightly wistful note out of my voice.

Leo voiced it
instinctively. “But you wonder if we’ll ever go back.”

I bit my lip. The last
year had been wonderful. More than that. Leo had kept his promise - instead of settling
in one place and making a home, we’d traveled all around Europe, staying for a
time anywhere we fancied. I’d seen Italy, and Spain, then France and England
before we’d come back to somewhere warmer, staying for a time in Portugal. And
now here. It was everything I could have asked for. But…

“I’ve loved everywhere
we’ve been. It’s just…” I hesitated, trying to explain the strange unease.

“You’re not sure you’d
want to raise a child there.” His voice murmured in my ear, seizing on my
anxiety with an ease that always surprised me. He chuckled at the look on my
face. “I’ve thought the same thing.”

Then he turned me around,
tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as he spoke, watching my eyes. “I talked
to Jay - about the situation back home. Just in case. Did you want to hear?”

I knew he’d kept in touch
with the older man, but I hadn’t asked about whatever was happening there. I
wasn’t sure I wanted to know. Once my fury at my father had faded, I’d felt a
twinge of guilt for the rest of my family. My sisters, mainly. I missed them,
and I didn’t really want their lives destroyed by my actions. And I wasn’t sure
how I’d feel if my family had cast me out and branded me a traitor either.

But I couldn’t hide
forever. And if I wanted to go back…

I nodded.

He kissed the side of my
mouth, trailed a line down my jaw, but got straight to the point as soon as I’d
made my decision. Leo wasn’t the sort of man to dance around a subject. “Your
uncle was killed, and your father’s strength is much diminished. The
bratva
came
down on them full force for a long time, but it looks like once your uncle was
dead, your father was able to make some sort of deal. The Italian mafia isn’t
what it once was. It still holds sway over a few parts of town, but not enough
for us to fear. And…”

I looked up at him,
feeling somewhat relieved so far. “And?”

“And your father let it
be known that he wanted to make peace with you. A couple months back. The whole
of NYC’s underground knows, since spreading it around was the only way he could
find to possibly reach someone who knew where you were. You still have your
family - as much or as little of it as you want.”

My breath caught in my
throat. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but that meant…possibilities.

“I could see my sisters
again.” The thought came out before I could stop it, and he nodded, looking at
me seriously before continuing.

“There’s not much more
news. Jay’s gotten close to Aleksi - giving me to him probably helped with
that. If we wanted to come back, the
bratva
wouldn’t oppose it either.
So…it’s up to us.”

I bit my lip, not at all
prepared for this to be a possibility. I might have wondered what the future
held, but that didn’t mean I’d ever seriously considered it…

I wasn’t sure whether I
could go back to New York, to live near my family and everything that had
happened. Maybe I wanted to see them, maybe. A little. But I knew I didn’t want
to raise my child anywhere near my father’s influence.

Leo spoke before I could.
“I was thinking, if we did go back, maybe we could settle somewhere else. It
would be safer, regardless of what assurances we receive, and…maybe it would be
nicer too.”

His hand ran through my
hair, stroking and playing as I let him speak. I hadn’t realized he’d been
thinking about this so much. “I always liked the East Coast - there was never
much work to keep me there for long, but it was the sort of place I could see
myself settling. We could keep these beautiful views, the nice climate…but we’d
be in America. Our child would be in America.”

A thrill ran through me
at the idea, a sudden sense of rightness settling over me. I looked up to him,
grinning. I wasn’t sure how he did this - work out my problem and fix it in one
smooth motion, but he’d almost made it an art form over the last year. I never
had to worry about anything when I was around him.

I hugged him tightly to
me and nodded. “I love it. We should…we should think about it. But yes. I think
it’s wonderful.”

His hand clasped the back
of my head and he bent to my ear to continue. “Maybe we can have a proper
wedding ceremony over there too.”

My mind flitted back to a
few months earlier, by the sea in Portugal when he’d proposed and we’d had a
wedding
party
all in one day. As far as I could tell, it had been an entirely
spontaneous gesture. He’d gone out to buy ice cream, had been gone for long
enough I was starting to worry, and then came back insisting that we had to eat
the ice cream at the highest spot on the cliffs surrounding the coast.

His proposal there was
one of the happiest moments of my life - especially as it was followed by my
favorite ice cream and then a trip down to a secluded cove by the sea, adorned
with flowers and soft blankets and the most beautiful food. We’d spent the
whole night out there, eating and drinking and talking and laughing - running out
to play in the sea and then returning to the privacy of the cove when our
teasing became a little
too
effective.

I shook my head as I
pictured it. “No. It was perfect. I don’t want anything else.”

We’d agreed to leave the
actual signing-the-documents
marriage
part for if we returned to the
States, but as far as I was concerned I’d had the proposal and the party. And
the following weeks had
definitely
seemed like a honeymoon. Hell, the
whole year could have counted, but those weeks were special. Like these ones
had been.

I couldn’t possibly
imagine wanting some tiny, staid ceremony with people who barely liked us.
“We’ll toast it with Jay when we get back - the rest of them don’t deserve a
look in.”

I could feel his smile
creasing the side of my neck. “
When
, hmm?”

I grinned too. I’d
decided the moment he’d suggested it, even if I felt like we needed
some
pretense
of thinking about it.

“What will you do there?
On the East Coast?” I looked at him with interest.

I knew he had no intentions
of being a hitman anymore, and wouldn’t go near the mafia again. He had enough
money not to worry about it, but I could picture him picking up all sorts of
trades for fun.

He gave me a smile that
lit up every part of his face. “I’m going to be a Dad, Alessa. I’m going to
make sure my child has every little thing I never got growing up.”

My heart fluttered in my
chest, and he squeezed me against his side as we turned to the sunset again.

It was an absolutely breathtaking
display, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before we headed back inside.

Not when I had everything
I’d ever wanted standing right next to me, just waiting to be enjoyed.

THE
END

This
copy of Hitman’s Captive also includes a bonus copy of HARD – keep reading to
enjoy it!

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BONUS
BOOK: HARD

A
Military Stepbrother Romance

Prologue

Bella

I
heard the click and pushed the hotel door open in one quick movement, refusing
to give the butterflies dancing in my stomach any chance to make me hesitate.

I
want this. I’ve wanted it for months.

That didn’t
change the way my eyes darted around when I finally drew up inside. The dimmed
lights of the spacious room let me skip over the rich furnishings quickly -
taking in the sophisticated, traditional decor and forgetting it a moment
later.

At
least until I saw the bed. That large, four-poster monstrosity immediately
brought to mind what I was doing here tonight, and my eyes flitted away and
back within a few seconds, alive with the same anticipation and hesitancy that
had plagued me all night. My heart rate jumped as I took it in, and I tried
unsuccessfully to tell myself that I wasn’t nervous.

A low
chuckle interrupted my thoughts, drawing me to a sight that always banished my
doubts and hesitations.

“So,
you actually showed up.”

Seth
leaned easily against one of the pillars of that extravagant, over-the-top bed.
His half-naked form gleamed in the low light, shadows highlighting rock hard
abs and a body more powerfully sexy than any eighteen year old had a right to
be.

He shifted
slightly and his muscles flexed under my gaze, inviting my eyes to run down to
the light spattering of hair that arrowed temptingly under his jeans.

Smart
jeans - a nice dark gray with an impressive lack of rips or tears. For Seth,
that counted as dressing up. The corner of my mouth turned up as I pictured the
Principal’s face earlier that evening when he’d shown up in jeans and a shirt
to our black-tie graduation ball - I was sure he’d be refused entry for the
outrage, but only an hour later he was sauntering across the dance floor, the
attention of every girl there regardless of what he chose to wear.

Somehow,
Seth had always been able to get away with anything.

His
hot gaze sent lust shuddering through my body and gave me confidence in my own
sensuality as the heat of his expression seared me.

It was
easy to rise to his challenge with a quick quirk of an eyebrow, the role
feeling familiar and natural as I ran my eyes obviously up and down his hard,
taut body, letting one hand settle on my hip.

“I
thought I’d see what all the fuss was about.”

His
eyes smoldered as they looked at me, every line of his body dangerous - and
unbelievably sexy. He shifted closer with a predator’s grace and I found my
breath caught as it always did, pulse beating hard in my ears.

Instinctively,
I wanted to rush to him, let my hands touch the firm heat of his muscular chest
while his arms encircled me - but I couldn’t move.

Lust
was already building within me, everything we’d ever done rising through each
movement and gesture now and promising so much more. I stood, caught
helplessly, as he approached.

That
slow, sexy smile as his eyes read everything in my expression lit my panties on
fire, making me fight not to moan aloud as his hand cupped my chin, a gentle
finger caressing my cheek while he tilted my head to hover moments from his
lips.

His
body held apart, he took me with just that one contact holding us together - a
sweet, sensual kiss warming my eager lips, keeping it slow and steady as I
longed for more, ached for more.

Oh
god…

I was
already gone. I tried to take it further, to push hard against his mouth, but
that one hand and devilish body controlled me utterly, forcing the slow pace as
he kept me in that chaste kiss for an age.

By the
time his soft lips opened to let his tongue dance with mine, I was lost in the
one simple, powerful sensation he was giving me, everything hinging on that
sweet penetration, on that almost-innocent joining of our bodies while my pulse
started beating with need in my center.

Just
as I was sure I was going to have to throw him down on the bed myself, he
withdrew, looking back at me with eyes that sparkled with amusement on top of
our shared lust.

“Well?”

This
time I did moan, not even trying to pretend my customary display of aloofness.

“God…dammit…”

I
pressed against him, my hands exploring his strong muscles unreservedly while I
let my lips graze his neck, tongue darting out to taste his flesh as his hands
came around to grip my ass hard, rubbing my soft body against the thick wall of
his - the sweetness he showed only to tease turning instantly to a burning need
that I knew would take me over completely.

I
smiled against the skin of his neck, shooting him a glance as my hands hovered
around his hips, taking a deep reassurance in how solid he was.

“I
liked you in that shirt, you know.”

He
chuckled again, the roughness of it stirring my blood as his lips brushed
across my temple.

“Too
bad, baby.”

Yeah,
he wasn’t going to be caught wearing that again - not even for me.

A
girl could hope…

He
drew back and ran his hands down my smooth satin dress, chasing the fabric as
it tucked in close to my body. The floor length gown was a regal purple, darker
lace covering the tops of my breasts until it met the silken material, the long
dress following my curves until mid-waist when it dropped sensuously to the
ground, layers of amethyst that shifted as I walked to give a glimpse of the
darker layer underneath.

It
flattered me in all the right places, and I’d never felt as sexy as I did that
night - my graduation…and, if I kept my nerve up, another milestone I was
longing to pass.

“I’ve
been picturing stripping this dress off you all night.”

His
dark promise thrilled me, but I found myself latching onto that spark of amusement
between us - a light touch that provided some relief to the intensity that
threatened to overwhelm me.

“But I
spent so long picking it out…”

One
strong brow rose over those deep gray eyes and his mouth teased mine again
while he watched me.

“Oh?
Surely the most important factor when picking out a dress is how quickly it
will make others want to get it off you.”

I
scowled up in mock outrage, pushing one hand ineffectually against his muscled
chest as I drew myself up.

“Maybe
among the people you know, jackass, but I can assure you I’m not that type of
girl.”

The
quick banter slipped out easily, a bigger part of our relationship than the
red-hot desire - the top-of-the-class ‘good’ girl and the notorious bad boy who
couldn’t stand each other. When he’d shown up at our school at the beginning of
the year, I’d made it obvious how disgusted I was with how quickly everyone had
seemed to fall over themselves for a few cocky, arrogant muscles. But for some
reason, that disdain had only drawn his attention.

I’d
put it down to the perverse desire for something he couldn’t have, and shot
down every mocking jibe he sent my way. Until our initial dislike slowly grew
into a reluctant respect for the others’ quick-witted responses, the competition
heating until we somehow moved beyond that simple understanding of our
enmity. 

And
then he’d kissed me. Sure, I’m convinced it was just another trick to get a
rise out of me, but it was the first decent kiss I’d ever had…and after that,
we couldn’t stop ourselves.

We
poured our passionate dislike into every touch, every kiss, every stolen,
secret moment - until my body raged for him at night and my blood lusted after
that hard, infuriating body I’d held myself so aloof from. And surprisingly, he
didn’t push us further - despite that devilish reputation, our little teases
played out for months without a single suggestion for more.

Or at
least - not a spoken suggestion. His body…well,
that
was hell-bent on
convincing me.

Which
meant that tonight had been my idea. The intelligent, driven academic girl. The
butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth good girl. The frigid, stuck-up bitch girl.
Inviting the most outrageous, inappropriate piece of delicious man-flesh to the
hotel room her father had paid for.

The
father who would never approve of his good, obedient daughter’s wild behavior.

And my
father was right about that, of course. I knew that. He always was. But that
couldn’t stop the driving lust, the endless curiosity - and surely, I couldn’t
be expected to go off to university still a virgin? Not that I was going to ask
my father that particular question.

With a
brief frown, I tried to push him out of my mind, the thought of his disapproval
sending a shimmer of unease through the hot lust I’d been enjoying just a
moment ago.

He’ll
never know. And you’ve done everything else he could ever have expected…

Seth’s
voice deepened with amusement while his hands explored the smooth dress he was
so keen to have me out of, bringing me back to the moment I wanted to lose
myself in as he stroked my ass with a firm confidence that had me rocking back
against him, his mouth stealing kisses from mine as he murmured into it,
turning our easy banter into something more as he stroked the pure desire
simmering within me.

“So high
and mighty, Baby-Bella, perhaps I should do something to take you down a
notch…”

I
shuddered at his words and let his mouth take mine again, meeting him with
every movement as my body pressed hard against his.

I
could feel my chest rising with every quickening breath I took, my breasts
sensitive and desperate to be free of the restrictive dress to take the
attention he promised so much of. I’d only felt his tongue against them once
before, and that had been what finally drove me to insisting on this night.

His
hands found the zipper to the side of the dress the moment I raised myself on
my toes to murmur in his ear.

“God,
Seth…do…”

He
laughed again, but it was strained this time, his own desire thick in his
voice, and the knowledge of what I was doing to him drove my need even deeper.
One smooth movement opened the side of my dress and his head dipped to kiss
along the laced edge still holding up at the top, my hands balanced against his
broad shoulders as I threw my head back and let him have what he wanted.

He
gave a couple of quick tugs of my dress down, before raising his mouth back to
me in a frustrated growl, his body pressing up against mine, hips rocking and
letting me feel his thick need for me for the first time.

God
damn.

What I
felt there was far bigger than I’d anticipated, and even as I felt myself
clenching with the need to feel him deep inside me, my nerves danced through me
again.

“How
do I get this damned dress off you?”

His
mouth covered mine as he spoke, teasing and nibbling at my lips while I tried
to reply, breathlessly gesturing with one arm.

“Over
my head.”

Before
I’d quite understood just what my answer to that question meant, he had the
bottom of the dress in two hands and was drawing it up and over my shoulders. It
slipped past me with an ease I wasn’t expecting and suddenly I was standing
before him in only the thin, laced material of my panties and bra, my elegant
high heels suddenly seeming to enhance my vulnerability instead of the sexual
confidence I’d felt only moments before.

My
face flushed instinctively as I found myself both trying to cover my exposed
body and push him away with a glare.

“Hey—!”

“You
asked for it, babe - and see, it worked. Not nearly so smarmy now are you?”

His
grin sent both lust and fury spiraling through me and as I stepped forward to
explode in indignation he folded his arms neatly around me, pulling me back
into him and letting me feel the sudden heat of flesh on flesh.

Electricity
sparked between us and I shuddered with the sudden intimacy as every part of me
longed to feel him all over. The warmth of his body overtook me and I couldn’t
help burying my head against his chest, inhaling his musky male scent as I let
my arms find his the hard muscles of his back.

My
sputtering embarrassment subsided into a moan as his hands glided across my
sensitive exposed skin. He came down to nuzzle at my bare neck, the roughness
of his stubble contrasting with his soft lips to make me breathless all over
again before he raised his head to look me in the eyes.

I bit
my lip at the intensity between us, lost in his eyes as I felt his hands
running through my artfully styled hair, pulling it out of its coiled position
on top of my head and gently taking it down to curl in waves around my
shoulders. His fingers tangled in my thick locks and caressed my scalp as he
shook it out, eyes taking on a strange gleam as his gaze lingered on my
red-gold hair glinting in the low light.

It was
strange for a moment, having it tumble down around me out of my usual practical
tie, but the look in his eyes was making me feel like a different person
tonight.