We present experimental results for the ionization of aniline and benzene molecules subjected to intense ultrashort laser pulses. Measured parent molecular ions yields were obtained using a recently developed technique capable of three-dimensional imaging of ion distributions within the focus of a laser beam. By selecting ions originating from the central region of the focus, where the spatial intensity distribution is nearly uniform, volumetric-free intensity-dependent ionization yields were obtained. The measured data revealed a previously unseen resonance-enhanced multiphoton ionization (REMPI)-like process. Comparison of benzene, aniline, and Xe ion yields demonstrates that the observed intensity-dependent structures are not due to geometric artifacts in the focus. Finally for intensities greater than $\ensuremath{\sim}3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{13}\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{W}/\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$, we attribute the ionization of aniline to a stepwise process going through the $\ensuremath{\pi}{\ensuremath{\sigma}}^{*}$ state which sits three photons above the ground state and two photons below the continuum.