by Kyanna Skye
“Good to know,” she said. “Not sure about being Aunt Erika yet anyway.”
“It would be good if you’re not that aunt in jail,” he teased.
“I know, right?” she said.
The waiter returned with their food, and for a few moments they nibbled and didn’t talk. Erika was the first to break the silence.
“Other than locating me for my brother,” she said. “What exactly are you doing here?”
“I’d like to know you.”
She sat back. It was a simple answer, but not the one she expected.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes you do,” she pressed.
“Alright. I’ll tell you then. You’re a beautiful woman, and from what I can see, smart as hell. There’s no way you pull off museum heists without getting caught otherwise. I’m curious as to why you’d stay in this profession. But you keep hinting at some sort of problem or danger.”
“It bothers you?” she asked.
Alec paused before answering. “It shouldn’t?”
“People don’t tend to care. I’d have expected you to collect your check from my brother and be on your way.”
“Is that what you want?” Alec asked.
She picked up her glass, swirling the last of her drink around. “No.”
“Alright. I’m glad that’s settled.”
“I’d hope you wouldn’t tell anyone about my, uh, activities,” she said.
“I enjoy keeping secrets, Erika. I’m actually pretty good at it.”
“Really?”
“How could I have worked my former job if I weren’t?”
“No, not that. Just surprising, is all. What reason would you have to do that for me?”
“I don’t need a particular reason,” Alec said. “Other than if I don’t you’ll probably pull your gun on me again.”
“That was pretty rough, wasn’t it?” she grinned.
Alec shrugged. “You had your reasons.”
Alec felt oddly comfortable around Erika, even though he knew she was someone to be handled carefully. After dinner, they had desert and coffee. They talked about art and movies, music and places where they had been. Both were well traveled, though he had the feeling she probably had enjoyed her trips abroad more than he had. When they were done he walked her back to her car. It was dark by then. It was a warm night, and they stood staring at each other. It was time to make a move or part ways.
“I hate to see the night come to an end,” Alec said, reaching for her hand.
“Does it?” she asked. “I hardly think you want to see my apartment again. After that happened there, a change of scenery might be good.”
He was about to say something when she took a step forward. “I’d understand you probably don’t want to invite the girl who breaks into things over to your place,” she whispered. “But a nice hotel…”
Alec grinned. “Yeah. I know just the place.”
“Either you’re really trying to impress me or you have expensive tastes,” Erika said. “Because this place is lovely.”
It was twenty minutes later, and she was sitting on the edge of the bed in the suite he had secured for them for the night. She kicked off her heels.
“Both,” he replied. “Might as well enjoy the night.”
He was standing in front of the windows. The view looked out over the marina and the sea, the city lights which glowed below. He closed the blinds and turned to smile at her.
Alec took off his jacket, tossed it and his tie onto the couch on the opposite side of the room. Erika got up, crossing the space between them. She stopped when she was only inches away, close enough that she could feel his body heat without even touching him.
“I’m going to regret this,” she said.
“No you won’t,” Alec replied and drew her into his arms.
Erika caressed the back of his neck, drawing his face down to hers. The kiss was rushed, clumsy at first, but then they melted into each other. His hands moved down her back, and he gently rubbed her derriere. When they parted she giggled, taking a step back from him.
Alec was the one to move forward this time. He opened his shirt, and she couldn’t help but run her hands across his pecs and down to his abs. He pulled the shirt off, and she leaned forward to kiss his chest. He pressed his palm against the back of her neck and brought his mouth to hers again. She sighed as his lips made a slow, hot trail down her neck, the tip of his tongue teasing her skin. His hands went to the back of her dress, and she felt the air touch her skin as he unzipped it. She stepped back, and let the dress drop to the floor.
He got rid of the rest of his clothes while she discarded of her bra and panties. They stood there for a moment, naked, letting their hands search each other. Alec moved Erika towards the bed. He sat down and drew her onto his lap so that she was straddling him.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered.
“Not bad yourself, handsome,” she said, caressing his cheek.
They kissed again, and she let her hands roam his back. It was then that she felt the scars.
Erika leaned into him. He stopped kissing her for a moment as her fingertips traced the scars like a person reading braille. The marks were straight, and they crisscrossed each other. It was no surprise that a man like him would have scars, but it was the multitude of them which shocked her. At some point, Alec had been tortured. The scoring from a whip had left permanent marks on his skin. From what she could tell it had been done for a long time. Some of the scars had half healed when new injuries were caused, making the cracks as numerous as fissures along an interstate. Some of the cracks had little peaks to them. Punctures.
He looked at her with a question in his hazel eyes. She saw the vulnerability in them. “Can I see?” she asked, barely above a whisper.
Alec nodded. She sat down on the bed. He turned his back towards her. She could have imagined it, but she felt a shiver move through his flesh when she touched him. Leaning over, she kissed his skin, pressing her lips against each hard edge. Her hands went to his pecs as she did. He lowered his head. His eyes were closed. Erika took her time, enjoying how she touched him. She sighed every now and again, the low hum working magic against his flesh.
When he turned around to finally stop her, he didn’t speak but pressed her body against the bed. “Baby,” he whispered. He kissed her neck, while his hand gently cupped her breast. She felt his heat, the heaviness of him hovering above her even though only his lips and fingertips touched her skin. She wanted to feel the rest of him, embrace his full body, but he was teasing her. Close enough to feel his breath, she found herself breathing in time with him.
He kissed her areolas, one and then the other, trailing the tip of his tongue along her nipple. She ran her hands through his cool, silky hair, and he looked up at her. His eyes lit upon her with a wicked grin. He sunk his thumbs into the soft flesh of her hips. She moved, just a little twitch. The last thing she wanted was for him to know she was ticklish. Biting her lip, a small sound escaped her throat, and Alec made a low, knowing laugh against her ear.
The next thing she felt was his fingertips between her legs, stroking the most delicate spot of her skin. His touch started off gentle and slow and then increased with pleasure. She laid her hands on his shoulders, sinking her nails into his skin. He moved, lower, lips trailing to her belly button. Lower still, and she almost cried out from the pleasant shock of his cool tongue.
Erika had held back before, but she moaned, a long low animal growl from deep inside her chest. Her eyes grew blurry. When the first shiver caught hold, he moved. Entering her with one long stroke, he moved against her. She followed his rhythm. It was so good just to feel him… his skin against hers, his scent, and his body inside her. She closed her eyes.
Shivers moved slowly through her, at first, just a twinge, a spark, until she felt her body moving with waves of pleasure. She cried out for him.
“Oh yes,” he sighed, his own climax only moment
s after hers. They lay together, skin hot, breath and heartbeats still racing.
Chapter 6
Alec and Erika were laying naked together in bed. She had her arms around his waist, while his arm rested around her. Enjoying the quiet and their animal heat together, she hesitated before asking the question which weighed heavy on her mind.
“I’m probably being nosy. And you don’t owe me anything so if you want to tell me not to get into your business, I’ll understand. But do you want to tell me about what happened to your back?”
“I usually don’t tell people about it,” he said quietly. “When I first came back to the States, I wouldn’t let anyone see it.”
“How do you make love to a woman and keep her from seeing your scars?”
“Make sure she’s facing me,” he replied. “Don’t let her touch my back.”
“I do hope you’re not serious,” she said.
“As a heart attack,” he replied. “For a while there, I wouldn’t even work in my own back yard with my shirt off.”
Erika tried to imagine that. He must have gotten very used to wearing t-shirts whenever he wanted to exercise. She wondered how he felt about that. He was very active; really his body was so beautiful she thought it was a shame that he had to be self-conscious about the scars. She understood well how it was to look at something and be reminded of a past one wanted to forget.
“Well why did you let me touch your back?” she asked.
Alec frowned. “Are we having this conversation right now?” he sighed.
“Yeah, we are.”
Alec sighed. He ran his hand up and down over her arm. When she looked at him, there was a faraway look in his eyes. She could tell he was reliving the past.
“I went on a mission with my team in Central America. I was running point. There was… someone I was recruited to eliminate,” he said carefully. “I took care of the task. And I was on the way back out of the target’s home when I was caught by some of his men. They didn’t even have to go upstairs to know what I had been up to. This was an unscrupulous man, a hated person, and he was always receiving death threats. If it hadn’t been me to get rid of him, it would have been someone else. He was one of those people who moves behind the scenes, placing others in power, moving weapons and money and placing figureheads in place who would eventually take over as the face of the nation.
“There had been a couple of attempts to assassinate him which didn’t pan out, so I knew I was going into a dangerous situation. It’s always like that. You know the risks, but you do your job because it’s what you’re supposed to do. You try not to think about the consequences if the operation takes a wrong turn.”
“And it took a turn,” Erika said gravely.
Alec nodded. “I was taken captive. They questioned me of course. I wasn’t going to give up my men to them. It was something they took great pleasure in. I was water boarded. And whipped. I actually preferred the whip to being plunged into the water.”
“How long did this go on?” she asked.
He kissed her forehead and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Seemed like forever to me. I don’t remember a lot of it. Bits and pieces of it come back to me at the strangest times. Like, I will be sitting in traffic in my car, and I will suddenly have a memory of being driven in a van to the place where they took me. Or I’ll have dreams about feeling the scarf put over my face, and then feeling the water being poured over my nose and mouth.
“My team came and broke me out of there eventually. When it was over I woke up in a military hospital outside of Frankfurt. My friend Kiefer told me the trip had taken two days, and I had been in a coma for three days on top of that. I’d been held for five days before they broke me out. I was told they got there just in time. I had gone into shock when the men reached me and I was very close to death.”
Erika sat up so she could have a look at his face.
“You ever tell anyone else?”
“My therapist,” he said stiffly. “Not sure why I’m…”
She put a finger to his lips. “Don’t,” she said. “You don’t have to explain it. Just let it be.”
He took her finger and sucked it. She laid back down and his arms encircled her. They were both quiet for a while, but Erika was the first to break the silence.
“I’m going to say something and it’s going to take this conversation in a very drastic turn, but I want you to actually think about it before answering. It’s the kind of thing you’re probably going to need a couple things to consider.”
He let go of her hand. “Ah hell woman,” Alec chuckled. “What’s this about?”
She laid a hand on his chest. “I think you might be overqualified. And I hope you won’t be annoyed that I’m asking you. Look, I need someone to work with me on this one last heist. It’s my way out. And I usually have a team of people with me, but those were all Pascale’s employees. I need someone I can trust. And for whatever reason, it seems you’re crazy enough to trust me. Would you consider doing it?”
“Wait a minute,” Jesse chuckled. “You said yes?”
Jesse, David, and Alec sat together in the kitchen of their office. It was another early morning, and the three of them each had a mug of coffee. David had called the other two and asked them to come in. Kiefer was on his way from Shari’s house.
“I didn’t just tell her ‘yes’,” Alec corrected. “I said I’d think about it.”
“Wow,” Jesse shook his head. “First Kiefer, and now you.”
“Now me what?”
“You’re going soft.”
Alec’s eyes flashed. “Excuse me?”
“Come on, you know you’re only willing to do this because she’s a pretty girl. If this were Rick’s little brother and not his sister, the dude would be in jail, and you’d probably tell Rick he could go see him there.”
Alec shrugged. “So what? Look, she claims that she wants to get out of the life. Why not help her?”
Jesse and David exchanged a look.
“Man, I’m gonna say this even though you’ll probably want to kick my ass in a minute,” David said. “If she wants to go straight, great for her but why’s it our responsibility to help her to do it?”
Alec was about to answer when Kiefer walked in. “Oh, what did I come in on?”
Alec recounted his discussion with Erika about having one last heist and needing a team. Kiefer sat down and crossed his arms. “You think we can help her?”
“I do. I think we can also keep her from doing anything worse by herself.”
“I thought we were keeping ourselves out of trouble,” David said.
“Since when?” Jesse said. “You commit five felonies before lunch every day, David.”
“The plan was to keep a low profile,” Kiefer said. “Not necessarily follow every rule. We know what the limits are, and if she does anything unexpected we pull the plug. Not to mention it might be a good way to flush her boss out. I’d like to know who we’re dealing with.”
“You don’t think it’s a bad idea?” Jesse pressed.
Kiefer scratched his chin. “Well it might be but not like that’s really stopped us before.”
Finding out that his sister was close to being found was the best news Rick Hill had in months.
Since his mother’s death, he had been thinking a lot about the past and the rift that tore his parents apart in the first place. Not many couples divorced, divided their children between them, while one parent moved out of the country and literally never came back. There was an emotionally abusive component to the relationship; that was something Rick guessed because he couldn’t think of his father ever not being emotionally abusive to anyone he came into contact with. Why his mother hadn’t fought harder for at least partial custody or visitation rights, he couldn’t be sure. He was bitter about that as a youth. As a man, he accepted there was much more to the situation than he was privy to. His father wasn’t forthcoming to answer his questions. He’d never hear his mother’s explanation. But maybe Erika
knew enough to help him piece the truth together.
Though he had been too young to remember if there were arguments between his parents, he did remember a sense of His father was what some people would refer to as old school—raised to be the kind of man who focused on his work before family, being a disciplinarian over being the parent who attended baseball games or helped with science projects. Despite his shortcomings, Rick loved his dad fiercely. Some people were only able to tolerate so much closeness. It was a trait in his own personality, and he recognized it in his dad.
He’d taken on the family business, commercial real estate, from his father. As a teen and a young man in his twenties, it was the last kind of job he’d ever have imagined for himself. He’d imagined he’d have some kind of job working with his hands. He liked construction, had learned the trade of carpentry, which he still toyed with in his spare time. When he was sick of dealing with people he would go home and work on some project in his garage; either making a chair or a workbench or tinker with one many of his motorcycles. He liked to smoke, nicotine or weed, and he enjoyed being out in the desert or the forest. He and Alec had gone on many trips, some where they hardly talked, just rode or enjoyed the wild. They went fishing occasionally, when the weather was warm, even though it wasn’t always the best time to catch fish.
Rick had a habitual tan from being outside so much, and the expensive suits he wore covered his tattoos. While he enjoyed his work and the comforts it provided him, he very often found his mind wandering. He always wanted to be on a lake somewhere, the woods, or the beach. More so lately, when he was feeling stressed by both work and personal obligations.
Rick’s father, Lucas, had asked him to come up to his house for dinner. They did this fairly often—either dinner or breakfast once a month, to catch up on whatever was going on in each other’s lives. But he’d picked up on the tone of his father’s voice, the clipped speech which signaled there was something on his mind. He pulled up to the house around seven.
