“I'll get her,” I said, standing up, coming fully alert in that moment.
Killian held the big guy back and allowed me to pass instead. I sized the guy up as I passed him. He was big, as in wide, but most of that size wasn't muscle. He relied on his enormous frame to intimidate people and it probably got him out of plenty of fights. But, if push came to shove, I knew I could take him if I needed to. He wasn't in shape and wouldn't last long in a real fight.
The big guy was eyeballing me up and down the same way I was him, and in his mind, I would be willing to wager that he'd already won the fictional match as well. One of us was overestimating our abilities, and I was counting on it being him.
I knocked on the door and called out, “Kara?”
No sound came from within and a nervous tremor passed through my body. Had she snuck out while I'd been sleeping? My brother and his goons were watching me. A couple of them were amused, the other two seemed less than impressed.
Killian, however, had that normal, friendly smile on his face, as if he could wait all God damn day for me to get the girl up.
I knocked again, this time louder.
No answer.
“Just open the fucking door already, man,” the big guy said.
Killian turned his eyes toward the man. “Jim – ”
The sharpness in Killian's voice was enough to make Jim back down – even though Jim was twice the size of my brother. The harsh, but unspoken threat in his voice had been enough. It both impressed and frightened me, but I tried not to let it show on my face.
I turned the doorknob and opened the door just a bit. Glancing in, I saw Kara asleep in the bed and let out a small, silent sigh of relief. She hadn't run. Thank God.
Her dark brown hair was splayed out around her on the pillow, framing her head and making her look like Snow White. Her skin was porcelain and clear, and her lips were slightly parted as she breathed evenly. It was the breath of somebody in a deep, peaceful sleep. She looked so perfect, she didn't look real.
I stared at her for a moment before stepping into the room. She was covered up, so I couldn't tell if she was sleeping naked or if she had clothes on, and I didn't want the other guys to see her if the former happened to be the case. I shut the door behind me, and the sounds of grumbling from Killian's guys was silenced immediately.
As soon as the door closed behind me, Kara's eyes opened just a bit. She blinked slowly and sleepily at first, and then they popped wide open. She sat up in the bed, pulling the blanket even higher around her. I could see her hands trembling and fear etched upon her face as she searched the room, looking at every corner as if expecting to not be alone with me.
“They’re here aren't they?” she whispered.
I nodded, running a hand through my beard. “Yeah.”
Seeing the look on her face killed me. Last night, she'd been so calm and relaxed with me, more relaxed than she probably should have been, given the circumstances. But, we'd fucked, for God’s sake. Now though, she looked tense and terrified with her eyes as wide as dinner plates and her hands trembling.
“I won't let them hurt you,” I said without thinking it through.
There were more of them than there was of me. Sure, I was a fighter, but could I take all of them? And what if they had guns too? They probably did, knowing my brother like I did.
Kara's gaze met mine and her face suddenly calmed, looking somewhat less frightened. She believed me. I guess that was all that mattered to her. She believed that I'd get her out of this mess. I just hoped it was a promise I was going to be able to keep when the time came.
“Thank you,” she whispered, climbing out of the bed.
She wasn't naked, I was disappointed to see, but she was only wearing a t-shirt and panties. Her jeans were on the floor beside the bed. She didn't have a change of clothes on her. Hell, neither did I, come to think of it. She bent down to pick up the pants off the floor, and I couldn't help but check out her tight little ass. It wiggled as she pulled the jeans up over her hips, and I imagined what it would be like to fuck her from behind, driving myself into her with a view of that perfect, round ass.
As if she could read my mind, she glanced over her shoulder and smiled.
“Should you really be checking out the hostage like that?” she teased.
“Probably not. But then again, I probably shouldn't be fucking them either,” I teased back. “But we've already broken that rule.”
Once her pants were on, she sighed. I saw her steeling herself for what was to come. She clenched her jaw, narrowed her eyes, and lifted her chin defiantly. She was strong, she had guts. I had to give her that. In her place, most people would be freaking out, probably curled up in a ball on the floor sobbing their eyes out and pissing all over themselves. Kara was obviously made of much stronger stuff and I couldn't help but be impressed.
“Alright, let's do this,” she finally said.
We stepped back out in the living room, side-by-side, which seemed to amuse the guys even more as they chuckled and elbowed each other in the ribs. There were four large guys beside my brother, looking like some old-world gangsters, and making the room too crowded to stand in, so we stayed in the hallway.
“Tie her up,” Killian demanded of the big guy.