Playing Easy to Get

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  And God help him, he was helpless before her.

  Allison moaned as Vince rolled onto his back and pulled her against him. It felt so good to be with a man again. To be held, even if they were strangers. For some reason, he really made her feel beautiful. It didn't make sense, but she did.

  Wanting to please him, she straddled his hips before she slowly slid her body onto his.

  He hissed before he bit his lip and lifted his hips to drive himself even deeper into her. The look of pure pleasure on his face thrilled her. She couldn't remember the last time a man had been this happy to be with her.

  She took his hand in hers and held it close. She understood that she meant nothing to him and that when this was over, he'd probably walk away. The thought hurt and yet she still couldn't bring herself to stop this.

  She didn't know why, but she really wanted to be with him even if it was only temporary.

  Vince sighed as he teased her lips while her damp hair fell around them. Oh yeah, this was what he'd needed in the worst sort of way. No woman had ever felt better than Allison did. She rode him slow and easy, at least in the beginning. But after a few minutes, she quickened her strokes.

  Sensing what she needed, he rolled over with her until she was beneath him.

  Allison arched her back as Vince leaned back and thrust himself deep inside her. He moved faster and faster, spurring her pleasure on until she couldn't take it anymore. When she came, her orgasm was so fierce that she screamed out from it.

  She saw the fire in his eyes as he smiled down at her. He moved even faster until he joined her in that perfect moment of bliss. She cradled him with her whole body as she drifted back from the rippling edge. He felt so wickedly good as she ran her hand over the muscles of his back.

  She hadn't felt so at peace in a long time and for that she was truly grateful. Overwhelmed by the feeling she pressed her cheek to his so that she could feel his prickly whiskers. This really was a fantasy come true....

  Vince lay himself against her body while his heart raced. For the first time in years he felt a deep-seated peace and he didn't even know why. There was something magical about this moment. Something magical about her.

  He lay on top of her, unwilling to move while she played with his hair and ran her other hand over his back. "I'm not too heavy, am I?"

  "Definitely not," she said dreamily. "I like the way you feel."

  Growling as another wave of desire hit him, he wiggled his hips against hers, driving himself in a bit more. "I like the way you feel too."

  Allison smiled at him as he traced small circles around her breast. "I don't ever want to get up from here."

  "Well," he said, drawing the word out, "they do have room service and there's a whole box of condoms in the drawer." He gave her a hopeful look.

  She laughed at him. "You're so bad."

  She had no idea.

  Vince lifted himself up to kiss her, then paused as he heard something strange....

  It sounded like someone was in his room next door.

  "Where is he?"

  The voice was faint through the wall, but it was an unmistakable accent. He started to reach for his weapon only to realize that it was in his room...along with the men.

  Damn.

  He heard them kick open the bathroom door, looking for him. His anger mounting, he also realized he and Allison had left the sliding glass doors open.

  It wouldn't take the men next door long to figure out where he was....

  Sliding off of Allison, he held his finger to his lips to warn her to silence.

  "What's going on?" she mouthed.

  He held his hand up to caution her again before he gathered her clothes and tossed them to her. And then he remembered that all of his clothes were in his room next door.

  Double damn. He'd have to think of something quick or else the two of them were dead.

  As soon as she was dressed, he put her in the far back of her closet. "Stay here," he whispered, his tone barely audible, "and whatever you do, don't move until I come back for you. Do you understand?"

  Her blue eyes wide, she nodded.

  Kissing her hand, Vince grabbed the bathrobe from the floor, then made his way into the hallway. He was slinking toward his room when all of sudden two doors opened at the same time.

  His and Jeremy's.

  And Gino's number one thug was heading out.

  Chapter Five

  R eacting on pure instinct, Vince grabbed Jeremy into a tight embrace and turned his back to Paulie. "Just play along," he whispered into Jeremy's ear.

  Jeremy looked as if he'd just handed him the five-hundred-million-dollar winning lottery ticket. His face beaming, Jeremy wrapped his arms around him. "You got it."

  Vince heard Paulie make a sound of disgust behind his back. "Yo, faggots, take it into the room."

  That was his undoing. It let Vince know two important things. One, the bastard was distracted and two, exactly where Paulie was standing.

  With reflexes honed from the military and the streets, Vince lifted his arm and elbowed Paulie in the face. Staggering back, Paulie cursed as he realized who it was and went for his weapon. Vince caught the hand Paulie had under his jacket and slammed his fist into Paulie's jaw.

  The second thug, Gino's nephew Frankie, came out of the room behind them. Tall, thin and wiry, Frankie reached for his own gun. Before Vince could move, Jeremy karate-kicked him into the wall so hard, Frankie broke through the plaster.

  Dazed, Frankie slid to the ground to land in a thud on his ass.

  As Paulie started to get up, Jeremy kicked him in the head and knocked him unconscious. His eyes blazing, he met Vince's impressed stare.

  "No one calls me a faggot unless they're my friend or my lover."

  Vince could respect that. He held his hands up in surrender. "No worries here." He looked at the two men on the floor and laughed. There weren't many men who could have gotten the drop on Gino's goons. It said a lot that Jeremy had kicked their asses. "You handle yourself pretty damn well, kid."

  "Thanks. You too. Now you want to tell me why they were coming out of your room?"

  "Absolutely not," Vince said as he checked the clip in Paulie's gun. Luckily it was fully loaded. He slammed it back into place. "But I can tell you this. They're most likely not alone. These two are muscle and I'm sure somewhere else around here is the brain who orders them into action. So we need to find some way to secure them and get some help onto this island before one of you guys gets hurt in the crossfire."

  "Hurt how?"

  "Dead hurt."

  Jeremy's face lost some of its color. "Okay. Give me two seconds."

  Vince went to check Frankie for more guns--he found one in an ankle and the other in a shoulder holster. He'd no sooner unarmed him than Jeremy returned with two pairs of handcuffs. He handed them to Vince.

  "I don't even want to know," Vince said as he used one pair to cuff Paulie while Jeremy cuffed the other man.

  Jeremy frowned at him. "Where were you going in your bathrobe anyway?"

  "Where were you going in yours?"

  Jeremy smiled, letting Vince know he was probably about to rendezvous with one of the other actors. "Touche. I'll go get security...."

  Vince grabbed his arm to stop him. "You're going to need more than security. If I were you guys, I'd get the hell off this island before things get any worse."

  Jeremy nodded as he considered that. "What about you?"

  "Trust me, we'll all live a lot longer if you don't know that one."

  Jeremy inclined his head to him before he headed for the lobby.

  Vince took a minute to search the two thugs one last time to make absolutely sure they were clean before he headed to his door, only to realize that he was locked out.

  Oh yeah. That was good.

  His disgust ended as he realized something. They hadn't had a key card on them....

  How the hell had they gotten into his room?

  This didn't bode well. There w
as definitely another party pulling their chains. Sighing in disgust, he dodged out the side door back to the patio so that he could return to his room and dress.

  Vince let out a tired breath as he fastened his shoulder holster around him--something he'd stupidly thought he was through doing, then secured the other three guns. He had no way of knowing how many men Gino had sent after him, but hopefully it wasn't too many.

  He considered calling Z to let him know what was going on. Honestly though, he didn't have time. He needed to take cover before the brain came looking for Paulie and Frankie.

  His nerves steely cold, he returned to Allison's room and opened the closet where she was still sitting, right where he'd left her. Damn, she was beautiful and far more trusting than anyone had a right to be.

  He would kill anyone who hurt her.

  She looked up with her eyes round.

  He held his hand out to her. "It's okay. C'mon, we need to get out of here."

  She frowned. "But the fantasy--"

  "This isn't a fantasy, Allison, and I'm not an actor. I've been hiding on this island from people who want me dead and if they find us, they'll torture and kill us. Now, we need to go."

  "Us?"

  He nodded. "I knew I shouldn't have come over here to your room. If they ever find out about you, they'll hurt you just because you were with me."

  Allison swallowed. If not for the dark sincerity of his eyes, she would think it was part of the story. But one look at him said it wasn't.

  He was serious.

  "Why do they want you?" she asked as she took his hand and he pulled her to her feet.

  "Because I know too much about them. Who they are. What they've done. How they screwed me over. And they're afraid I'm going to the Feds--it's the only thing in life that scares them. I'm sure you've seen enough movies to know exactly the kind of men I'm talking about."

  "What are they? Mafia?"

  He gave her a droll stare. "Mafia is a word invented by Hollywood. It's not a term people in the family use." He paused and let out a deep breath. "But yeah, they're Mafia."

  "And what did you do for them?"

  She saw the pain and guilt in his eyes as he looked away from her. "Things I know I shouldn't have. Look, I'm not proud of who I am, okay? I let them lie to me and I lied to myself. Then one night, I came to my senses and I tried to leave. Unfortunately, they're not willing to let me go. At least not while I'm living."

  Her heart sank at his words. "Did you kill anyone?"

  He met her gaze unflinchingly. "Only those who tried to kill me first. I swear." He cupped her face in his hand as his gaze asked her to forgive him. "I really wish I wasn't what I am, baby. Believe me. But unless we hit the road, we're both history."

  "Why me? Can't I just stay here?"

  "I don't dare take that chance. These aren't the kind of men who just ask politely if you've seen me. I'm not going to leave you behind for them to question and torture for fun."

  Allison narrowed her eyes as anger welled up inside her. All her life, she'd been a good girl. She'd done what she was told. Had gone to church every Sunday. She'd worked a job she hated, had been loyal to a boyfriend who cheated on her and lied to her and in this moment, something inside her snapped.

  She was through just taking crap. There was no way she was going to lie down and let these people kill her just because they could.

  "Fine," she said, letting her anger swell even more. "You got a gun?"

  "Yeah."

  "Then give me one too. 'Cause if these assholes come after me, I intend to give them what for."

  His expression turned even darker. Deadlier. "This isn't a game, Allison."

  "Boy, don't I know it. But I'm a country girl, born and bred, who used to go hunting every weekend during the season with my grandfather. One thing he taught me early on is how to shoot straight and stand up for myself. Now give me a gun and put me on equal footing with these pricks."

  Vince wasn't sure if he should be impressed or scared. Deciding on the former, he handed her the .22.

  She wrinkled her nose at it. "What is this? A .22? You only shoot this if you're after a rodent or you just want to piss someone off. Don't you have a real weapon?"

  "Where did you get that language?"

  "The same place you got this crappy little gun. I don't normally talk like this, but when someone's out to kill me, I think it calls for a modicum of profanity. Now give me something good."

  Vince was amazed by his little Dairy Maid. Smiling at her, he pulled out Frankie's .38 snub nose. She opened the barrel like a pro and pulled out one of the bullets. She nodded as she looked at it before she returned it to the chamber. "Hollow points, not bad." She slammed the barrel shut and tucked the gun into her jeans. "Okay. Where we going?"

  She was taking this so much better than he'd ever hoped for. "Aren't you scared?"

  "Shitless, pardon my French. But you don't know anything about me if you think I'm just going to lie down and take this. Nobody comes after me and threatens me and just walks off. I'm not a doormat. I might be female, but where I come from that doesn't make me the weaker sex. It just makes me the more vengeful sex."

  He had to admire that about her. She was so much more than he'd even dared to hope. "All right, here's the plan...." He hesitated as he thought over their options. Come to think of it, they didn't have many, or any. "Okay. There's not one. Basically the plan is we don't want to get killed and we find some way to get off this island before they find us."

  "Gotcha. I definitely vote for the not-dying."

  Shaking his head, Vince edged his way back toward the door to the patio so that he could check their perimeter. The surf was still peacefully crashing ashore while the sea-gulls called out to each other as if everything were normal. Only he knew the truth. This day was far from peaceful or serene.

  But at least he didn't see anyone.

  Then again, that didn't mean much. He knew from experience just how well someone like, oh say, him could blend into the background until he struck. Whoever was working with Paulie could be lurking around any corner, watching them. So they would have to move slowly to get out of here.

  He turned back to find Allison staring at him. He offered her a smile. "We're going to work our way around to the front of the hotel and get on my motorcycle."

  "Okay."

  As they eased their way around to the side of the building, she proved herself. She must have been one hell of a hunter as a kid. The woman could move every bit as silently as he did. There were no missteps or mistakes. Allison handled herself like a pro.

  Vince kept his eyes peeled as they stayed close to the wall, behind the shrubs. Luckily, he saw nothing. Everything was quiet and normal.

  At least until they came around the last hedge. He froze instantly with Allison following suit. She ducked down, out of sight, while he continued to glare.

  There was a man in front of the door, talking to "Harry." And as Vince watched them, his gaze turned red. It was Tony, Gino's son and right hand. If Gino couldn't come himself, he'd sent old Tone out to get him.

  It figured.

  And Tony knew the little prick who was playing Harry. Well, by the looks of things. They were too friendly, and he knew enough about Tony to know he was never friendly with strangers. Harry had to have been the one to let Gino know where he was. Most likely it was just a freak case of happenstance.... Or was it? If Z's people were hiring actors, they were probably hiring them out of New York where they were based. Yeah, it was a big city, but in some ways, it wasn't big enough.

  It would actually be frighteningly easy, given the size of their families, to hire someone who knew someone.

  Damn it. How could he be so stupid? He should have thought about this before now. Harry had only been on the island for the last four days, getting ready for Allison's arrival.

  Now that he thought about it, he remembered little telltale clues that should have warned him Harry knew about him. The little bastard had even made a comment
about Mafia families.

  "I can't believe I didn't catch it," he muttered under his breath. But then it'd been easy. He'd wanted to be safe here and had convinced himself that no one would find him.

  He was a first-rank ass.

  Allison put her hand on his arm in a soothing gesture. Vince covered her hand with his and gave a light squeeze to reassure her. He kissed her lightly, before he looked back at Tony.

  It wouldn't take him long to figure out what had happened. Any time now he'd check that watch and go after Paulie and Frankie.

  Allison started to rise.

  Vince grabbed her and shook his head no. She held her hand up in a placating gesture.

  "Trust me," she whispered.

  Trusting people wasn't something that came naturally to Vince. But at this point, he didn't have much choice. He pulled his gun out, preparing himself to fight his way out of this if he had to, and watched from the shadows as Allison walked over to the men.

  "Hi, Harry," she said cheerfully, acting as if nothing were out of the normal. He had to give her credit, she was better than most of the actors here. "I'm really sorry to disturb the two of you, but I was wondering if I could take a ride on your bike? I'd really like to sight-see a bit before we get started tomorrow."

  Harry looked around suspiciously. "You didn't hear anything a little while ago, did you?"

  She shook her head innocently. "Just my radio. You ever listen to heavy metal? It's the best music in the world, but it's only good when it's really loud."

  His face softened as he reached into his jean's pocket for his key and handed it over.

  Without betraying a bit of nervousness, she thanked him, took the key and headed for his bike. Vince frowned as he watched her looking at the other bikes that were parked around it. She ran a loving hand over them as if she were admiring them.

  Why on earth wasn't she hurrying a little bit more? It wasn't like someone was trying to kill them or anything....

  He glanced back at Harry and Tony who were again talking and not paying attention to Allison.

  Suddenly, Jeremy came through the doors to grab Harry's arm. Jeremy wasn't quite as swift as Allison. Without hesitating, Jeremy asked the question that made Vince inwardly cringe. "Do either of you have the number for Mr. Zimmerman?"

  Harry immediately clued in. "Is there a problem?"

  "I would say so. Two guys just tried to kill Vince. He's got them hand--"